DTE March 19, 2008

Our first blog. First post to our blog. First baby. First adoption. Many firsts. To catch everyone up briefly, we started the adoption process late September 2007 with America World Adoption to adopt a son (0-12 months old) from Ethiopia. Our homestudy (1st part of the adoption process) was completed January 2008. Our dossier (second part of adoption process) was completed March 2008. Our dossier, a packet of paperwork needed to adopt a child, was sent to Ethiopia on March 19, 2008 (this is called our DTE date or "dossier to Ethiopia" date). The packet was picked up in Ethiopia by an AWA representative on March 28, 2008. All that we do for now is wait...wait...wait... For those who know me, I like to plan - so waiting without knowing is not always easy - well, never easy really, not knowing what age he will be, or when we will travel. and when he will come home to our family. But God's timing is right, and we will wait on Him. We are praying the timing works out for Roscoe, as he cannot leave his business in the busy times of summer and winter - for him to go, we need to travel Oct-Nov (a small window, yes!). That's just that way things are when you run your own business. The odds are against us as far as referencing the average wait times for recent families adopting with our agency. In addition to these matters, Ethiopia's courts close on August 6th this year and do not open again until October (date yet to be confirmed). So although we can get a referral in the months the courts are closed, we cannot get a court date scheduled until the courts reopen. The court date is needed to legally adopt the baby. The current wait time for a referral for a boy from our agency (timeframes vary from agency to agency) is 5-7 months. So this puts us in August-October for a referral - and a likely court date November-January as the courts will most likely be backed up when they return. Travel is 2-3 weeks after the court date. So we are in a season of waiting and preparing for parenthood.