Micah's first care package and other odds and ends

Well this week there are three more AWAA families traveling to pick up their children:

The Sparr Family - adopting a preschool age girl, Yabsira
The Tennant Family - adopting a toddler boy, Henry
The Savage Family - adopting and infant boy, Elijah

Check out their blogs to read about their "Gotcha Days"

The Savage's took a care package for our Micah with them - we are so grateful! It contained: 3 onesies, 3 sleepers, 1 sleepsack, 1 hat, 4 pair of socks, 1 blanket, 4 pacifiers, and a photobook with pics of Roscoe and I and other family in black and white and color - all fit nicely into a gallon bag. We sent 0-3 month sized clothing since his weight and length clearly indicated he needed this size! (I can't post his weight or length but you can get a good estimate of how tiny and precious our little man is!) He swims in some of his outfits that we see him in in pictures from previous traveling families. We are praying he grows quickly and stays healthy! Speaking of pictures - we have about 15 now! The Burks and Caldwells sent us pictures from their trips last week! Thank you Becky and Rebecca! Micah is sleeping in about half of them but smiling in others :) Becky is even holding him in one picture :) He is so cute and is growing some hair now! (only on top thoough) Roscoe and I think he looks like a tiny man! He is so handsome with distinct facial features :)

Nikki Savage wrote about our son on her blog...
Julia - your little one was also napping away with a little buddy. They were snuggling up - so cute!
Oh how cute! If you know me though you know I'm also thinking "I hope your little snuggle buddy doesn't have a cold!"

We went to see an International adoption specialist at Children's in Columbus on 12/18. The doctor looked over his biographical info and medical/lab report with us. She ruled out FAS and also says he looks "ok" although he is underweight and small for his supposed age. She thinks he may be younger than is reported on his documents. We still don't have an official birthday - not sure if we will get one. He has a birthday on his hospital records which I just chose quickly while setting up his appt with the IA doctor. So weird, I called today to ask a question about the bill and they asked me to verify his birthday - I hesitated a bit - I hope we can change it if we need to! They also asked "who am I speaking with?" I answered, "Julia Richardson." "Are you his mother?" I paused briefly, "Yes, I am" - then it hit me! I am his mother (well not officially yet but soon!)

A glimpse into what traveling will be like

There are currently 5 families in Ethiopia that will pick up their children next week to bring them home. You can follow their journeys on their blogs to get a glimpse into what traveling to Ethiopia is like and see the place where our son is staying. Four of the five families have blogs.

Burk family
Sloniger family
Stager family
Caldwell family

What happens Next?

Many of you have been asking when we go to pick up our son? I wish it was next week but that's not how the process works.

Micah is not officially our son until we go through the court process in Ethiopia and are granted guardianship by an Ethiopian judge (this is called passing court.

We do not have to appear in court, but a POA (power of attorney) with our agency stands in our stead.

A Court date must be scheduled for us. Paperwork must be gathered in order for this to be requested. More paperwork is necessary in order for a successful court date for us, in which case Micah will become an official Richardson family member. Court dates are usually scheduled 8-12 weeks after receiving a referral. A family who recently received a referral on November 26th has a court date of February 2nd. Hopefully we will get a court date for mid-February. Our agency will email us the court date as soon as they receive it.

It is possible that we will not pass court the first time. This does not mean that Micah will not be our son. It only means that all of the paperwork was not in order for the judge to approve our adoption and grant guardianship. 30% of families do not pass court the first time. If we don not pass court the first time, another court date is scheduled 1-2 months out. Pray with us that we are not among the 30% of families who do not pass court the first time.

As soon as we pass court, we will post pictures of our son for all to see! Until then, his beautiful face remains a mystery to many.

Travel is usually 2 weeks after passing court. We will travel to Ethiopia to pick up Micah and stay in-country approximately 5-7 days. During our stay we will do some shopping in local markets, visit the transition home (orphanage like home that is operated by our agency) to see and hold our son for the first time (Meetcha Day) and love on all the children who are waiting for their families to come take them home, re-visit the transition home a day after our first visit to pick up Micah and take him back to the hotel to remain forever with us (Gotcha Day), finalize paperwork for the adoption, obtain a visa for Micah at the US Embassy, and possibly visit the orphanage he was taken to when he was found.

We will then come home and begin our lives together :)

Today was our day!!

We received our referral call at 3:11 PM today (12/17/08). He is such a handsome little man! He is so petite and so beautiful! His eyes are so big - he has such a strong determined look on his face as if to say "I have a purpose - I'm a fighter!" Yes you are Micah - you're our little fighter! I'll post more later about what comes next. Now I'm off to the gym to work off all this energy in a spinning class! woohoo!

Here's to "hanging in there"

Next week???

I sure hope! No referrals this week that we know of. We're anxiously awaiting that "call" - 7 more working days left before Christmas - we want to see him before Christmas - that's our wish! It was confirmed we are at the top of the list for the boys and were told to "hang in there" because we're "so close"

So the wait goes on.... today I ran off my emotional energy at the gym, tomorrow I will bake - it's cathartic :) Got a lovely recipe for cookies from another mama to be waiting at the top of the list for girls - thanks Karen!

It's snowing now... we wait for "the call"

So yes, the first week of December came and went without a referral call. We are nearing our 9 month mark - fitting isn't it? (But really we've been waiting much longer - the ticker is for the wait AFTER all the paperwork was sent off).

Many families passed court last week - meaning that their children became officially theirs. After passing court, families travel within 2 weeks to pick up their children. For some, it was the second or third time in court due to paperwork problems that continue to plague most adoption agencies (laws tend to change without notice in ET). Some families did not pass court due to these issues - it's heartbreaking to know you have to wait longer just for some stupid paperwork error. It is all in place though to protect the children.

Anyway, we WAIT! I don't know how much longer I can keep saying "no referral - still waiting" and be polite :)