Thou Shalt Be Updated

Hello everyone!  Thou shalt be updated!

I will start with our recent fundraiser.  We had a garage sale a few weeks back.  It took me a week of working on it because so many wonderful people donated so much stuff.  It all took up an entire bedroom and most of my garage to store.  The sale went amazing!  We spent time praying for the success of our sale and were definitely blessed!  The amount left on our adoption home study bill that was due was $1600.  And guess how much our garage sale brought in?  Exactly $1600.  God moment?  I'd definitely say so!

Another fundraiser was hosted by the amazing Lauren Pinson.  She offered mini photography sessions with the proceeds going to our adoption fund.  I'd like to thank her and also Heather Peterson for participating!  Lauren took some pictures of us for advertisement, some of which are shown below!

The best news we have is that we are now officially on the waiting list!  As of the first of April, we are number 107 on the list!  We're expecting a long wait though, as only four referrals were made in March.  But the pains of the paperwork are behind us now, and all there is to do is... wait.

Not much else has happened, and I assume I will not have much to update you on in the next year or longer... so I will try to keep up with the blog with thoughts and random things that may not even have anything to do with adoption.  But I promise it will be interesting!

Have a great day!

My Long Awaited Update

I know it has been a very long time since I've updated you guys.  This is partly because very few major things have happened, and partly because I've been kind of depressed about the whole thing lately that I just didn't feel up to writing about the things that have happened.

When we initially applied for adoption, the entire process was estimated to be 5-9 months.  Well since then Ethiopia has shut down several orphanages that our agency partnered with, and therefore has lessened the number of children available in the program.  Ethiopia has also expanded the background checks on the children, also making things longer.  So at this point we are estimated to be a year and a half away from bringing home our baby.  Which, if that estimation is correct, means that the 5-9 months has turned into 2 years.  So I guess you can understand how that would make me depressed :)

I am trying not to be down about it.  I know that the timing is all up to God and that there must be a reason for the lengthened process.  But still, it's hard to refrain from being unmotivated about it all.  But I'm trying!

So here's what has happened:

We sent in our I-600A,  (This form is used by a U.S. citizen who plans to adopt a foreign-born child and enables USCIS to adjudicate the application that relates to the qualifications of the applicant(s) as prospective adoptive parent(s).)  went to our biometrics appointment at the Immigration Office in Dallas to be fingerprinted, and received our approval in the mail a few weeks ago.  Our dossier is completely compiled and ready to go.  We just have to pay the next payment before our agency can send our dossier packet to Ethiopia.  After that is sent, then begins the 12-15 month wait for a referral.  (to be matched with a child).

So there is a quick update just so everyone knows where we stand.  Our next fundraiser is another garage sale in March.  We have yet to pick a date, but we have a TON of stuff.  All the stuff is taking up our entire baby room right now haha.  So we're looking forward to that.  Continued prayers are appreciated!