We're Next!!!

I just found out this morning that we are next to get a referral for a baby boy! I am very excited. It doesn't look like it will end up being a baby that we met while we were in Ethiopia this Christmas. That is a little disappointing since I really thought it would be one of the babies we saw, but I know that when I see his face nothing else will matter! I can't wait to get that call and see what our baby looks like!

I am very curious about his name. We plan on keeping his Ethiopian name as a middle name and have several names that we like picked out, but I feel like I can't narrow it down anymore until I know what his Ethiopian name is. I think it is funny that we have been on the waiting list for 9 months, it is almost the same amount of time that you are pregnant. I need to post about our trip, I will try to do that soon.

The Sound of Silence

This has been a frustrating couple of weeks that have made me not want to post and sound too negative. There have been no referrals for a few weeks now. Apparently the lab that does the HIV and Hep B testing ran out of the substance that they need to do those tests. AAI is not making any referrals until the medical testing is complete, so nothing has been happening.

It feels good to finally know the reason for not hearing about referrals, we were beginning to wonder what was going on. We heard today that the lab did receive the substance but it will be about 10-14 days before the results are back and they are ready to refer.

Since we leave in 2 weeks I don't know if we will get a referral before we leave or not. If we don't, I am hoping that we might receive one while we are there. Please pray that things will start to move again and that the waiting children will be able to be matched with families soon.

Marching on...

We have officially moved on to March referrals! We are getting closer to our referral because we are one of the first April families to send their dossier. Our agency does not give out exact numbers, but we are pretty sure that there are less than ten families ahead of us waiting for a referral.

We have made a big family decision... we have decided to go to Ethiopia for Christmas! We have been thinking about the idea for a few months now and we have decided to go whether we have a referral or not. If we have a referral before we go we will be able to spend 2 weeks loving and bonding with our new baby.

If we do not have a referral, we will not be able to spend much time with the children. We will be able to visit, but we can't volunteer before we have a referral. We will be a little disappointed if we don't have a referral before we go, but we will still have a great time.

This is a chance for us to experience our future child's birth country and culture. We are taking Jackson and Olivia with us and they are very excited. We will not be taking them when we travel to get our baby, so I am glad that they will get this opportunity to visit now.

We are very excited and are looking forward to giving you all some great news soon! And I will definitely give more details about our trip as the time gets closer.