New Number

Merry Christmas to us and our precious girl!

New Number

We're happy to report that we're now number:

We had to use the HWY 44 sign - it's the main hwy
that runs through our hometown.

Woohoo!

Moving On Up!

Two weeks of being on the "Wait List" and we've moved from #53 to #46!

Our agency sends out a weekly update to waiting families. This Friday's update brought BIG smiles to our faces and made us realize that our dream might be closer than we think. We thought we'd share a bit of our agency's update with you:

Referrals Have Arrived!!

What a great week it’s been for referrals. This week we surprised 6 unsuspecting families with the long awaited news of their referral. We are so excited for them, and are celebrating with them.  Congratulations to all of the families and the children.

They are:
Male – 2 months old – family waited – 10.5 mos
Female – 4 months old – family waited – 10.5 mos
Female – 15 months old – family waited – 8.5 mos
Male – 6 months old – family waited – 8.5 mos
Female – 6 months old – family waited 7 mos
Male – 5 months old – family waited 7 mos
 
As you can see, the wait times have gone down quite a bit at this point, especially for infant girls.

We had to read the last line a couple times to make sure we read it correctly. Wouldn't it be great if the wait to see our daughter's face for the first time was just 7 months away?! The thought of it makes us giddy!

However long the wait we know God has lead us on this journey to meet a very special child, created from our hearts, half a world away and everything will be done in his timing.

"For I know the plans I have for you" Jeremiah 29:11

Ethiopia Comes to the Ville

We tried Ethiopian food for the first time with our friends Nina and Wes and we're happy to report - it was AWESOME! 

Located across the street from Bowman Field in Louisville, KY  

(2804 Taylorsville Rd.)

Three of us shared this plate and yes, we ate it all up with our hands - no utensils.

Doro Wot, Doro Tips, Derek Tips, Injera, Kik Wot, and House Salad. Yummy!

After lunch we had some delicious Ethiopian coffee. We hope to get a similar coffee pot when we're in Ethiopia, they're really neat. 

We highly recommend Queen of Sheba. We feel really lucky to have such a great restaurant so close to home. If you're visiting or live in the area, stop by, you won't be disappointed!

It's Official!

Today we found out we're #53 on the Wait List!
We're officially "Paper Pregnant"!

Ride Like the Wind

Six months ago we announced our decision to adopt from Ethiopia.

Then we began the long paperwork journey to complete our Dossier.

And on November 8th we sent off our COMPLETED Dossier. YEAH!

Now we're waiting to find out when we're officially on the WAIT LIST. Our adoption counselor says it should take about 2 weeks (give or take). Stay tuned.

Bumps in the Road.

Last Friday, October 22nd was the greatest day! Why, you ask? Because we got our I-171H or our "Golden Ticket" as it's referred to in the adoption community.

We weren't expecting to get it so quickly, we were very surprised! The government's website says that the Department of Homeland Security's average processing time for an I-171H is 2.5 months (from the time fingerprints are submitted). Our friends have waited an average of 4-7 weeks. So, you can imagine why we were blown away when it only took one week (7 days) for us to get our I-171H.

We figured that we would be waiting on our I-171H to be able to send off our Dossier but in all reality we're waiting on the Illinois' Secretary of State, All Blessings International, and Kentucky's Secretary of State. We hope to get our Dossier in the mail by next Friday but if not next week definitely the week of November 8th. Please pray with us that all of our documents come in next week!

What happens after our Dossier is in the mail?

Children's Hope International will bundle our notarized documents into one document and send it to the U.S. Department of State to be authenticated. A second authentication is required from the Ethiopia Embassy in Washington D.C. We will then be notified when we are on the waiting list for a referral and our documents are on their way to Ethiopia (all of this should take 2-3 weeks).

We're getting closer by the day! Hopefully, we'll celebrate the holidays with our family and friends, knowing that we're officially on the wait list.

Win a Free Trip to Ethiopia!

Go check out Kari from My Crazy Adoption to enter a chance to win a FREE trip to Ethiopia! She is leading a mission’s trip to Ethiopia in February and is giving away at least one free trip! If you don't want to go to Ethiopia or can't, you can nominate someone who does want to go! Like us!

Here's how it works:

• Prize: Mission Trip to Ethiopia, February 17-26, 2011
• Prize value: $3100
• Number of winners: 1-2
• Number of Tee shirts to sell: 183 + 183
• Ending date of the giveaway: 10/28/10
• Where it can be won: My Crazy Adoption Blog
• The prize is from: www.mycrazyadoption.com
• To enter this giveaway, you can: purchase a tee shirt at My Crazy Adoption Store

One Step Closer!

This was an exciting week for us. We celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary on Wednesday, October 13th. We're hopeful that this anniversary will be one of the last anniversaries we spend without having "her" home and without having to book a babysitter. We had a great anniversary celebration and we're looking forward to celebrating many more wonderful years together!

Our Wedding Day

On Friday, October 15th we went to Cincinnati, OH to submit our fingerprints to USCIS. We left the house at 5:15am to make our 8:00am appointment at the J. W. Peck Federal Building, we were terrified we'd be late. Thankfully we didn't run into any problems and we arrived at the parking garage at 7:00am. The Federal Building opened at 7:30am and the Fingerprinting Office didn't open until 8:00am. We went through security and waited as people quickly formed a long line behind us.

Now that our fingerprints are submitted we're focusing on compiling everything needed for our Dossier. Once they are processed we will  receive our I71H form which will be the last thing we are waiting on to complete our Dossier and mail it to Ethiopia. Once our Dossier is on it's way to Ethiopia we will officially be on the WAIT LIST and the count down will officially begin.

The Interweb

Adoption blogs have been a great resource for us. We first came across the Stump family's adoption blog (by chance) in December 2010. The timing of this could not have been more perfect, we had just found out that another infertility treatment; that our doctor "just knew was going to work this time", had failed. We were left broken hearted and in search of comfort; we found that comfort in the Stump family's announcement to adopt from Ethiopia.

This was the first time that we really started to seriously think about adoption and more importantly adopting from Ethiopia. The Stump family has been a tremendous resource and a guiding light for us during this process and we cannot thank them enough. We really don't know if they truly understand the impact they have had on us and our decision to move forward with adoption. Thank you, Stump family!

Adoption can be an overwhelming endeavor; it makes all the difference in the world to talk to people that have taken a step ahead of you. We cannot tell you how many times we've read a blog post that has truly captured the way we feel; it's a beautiful thing to know that we're not alone and that others are experiencing the same overwhelming feelings and responsibilities that come with adopting too.

One of the main reasons we started this blog was to share our adoption journey with our family and friends but we also wanted to give back to the adoption community; publicize the orphan crisis in Ethiopia; lend a hand to couples coping with infertility and researching ways to create their forever familes; and to be a resource for families looking to grow through adoption. By no means, do we know everything about adoption or Ethiopian adoption; we're learning along the way ourselves, but it makes us happy to think that there are other couples out there, realizing their calling to adopt; and we hope that in some small way they'll find comfort and reassurance in our blog and make the decision to move forward and change their lives and the life of a child forever through adoption.

We received our fingerprinting appointment!

Yesterday was a good day!

Our friend Jahir is visiting us from Mexico; we took him to visit a few iconic places in Kentucky and ended the day with a delicious homemade Mexican feast complete with some of our closest friends.

The day started with us receiving our fingerprinting appointment at USCIS (via snail mail). Our appointment is scheduled for October 15th in Cincinnati, OH (only 3 weeks away!). Some of you may wonder why we are so excited about getting our fingerprints taken. The reason is, once we submit our fingerprints a final FBI background check will be ran on us, and we will be cleared by USCIS to adopt from Ethiopia!

The rumor is that we may have to wait up to 60 days after our fingerprints are submitted to get the final paperwork needed from USCIS to submit our Dossier. What is a Dossier? A Dossier is a packet comprised of all the forms necessary to complete an international adoption. Most Dossiers require birth and marriage certificates, background check clearances, fingerprint clearances, approved home study, employee letters, medical evaluations, photos, etc. Our Dossier will be sent to Ethiopia, translated into Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia), and then submitted to the Ethiopian government.

After our Dossier is complete and mailed to Ethiopia; we can officially celebrate because our long wait to receive our referral phone call and see our daughter for the very first time (via internet) will begin!

It's a Small World After All

We met a great couple last night, Nina and Wes. Ironically, they live only a couple streets away from us and are adopting from Ethiopia too! We shared the same Home Study Coordinator through All Blessings International (ABI) and she introduced us - we're really glad she did.

Nina and Wes received their referral two weeks ago and found out that they will soon be the proud parents of 2 1/2 month old twins (a boy and a girl)! We're so happy for them! They've been on an incredible journey to become a family and deserve all of the happiness in the world.

I think every waiting family imagines what their Referral Day will be like (I know, we do!) So it's emotional to witness someone else's Referral Day. Get your kleenexes out because we would like to share Nina and Wes' Referral Day video with you. CONGRATS NINA & WES!



Follow Nina and Wes' adoption journey http://whenwebelong.blogspot.com/

We're not the only ones who are excited ...

We're still waiting to receive our fingerprinting appointment with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). We've received two official looking pieces of mail from USCIS and got really excited about each one; only to realize that one was a receipt (for our I600A application and biometrics fees) and the other was another receipt for our application/file submission to USCIS. So, we're still waiting and as we wait we've been sharing our BIG news with all of our family and friends.

Everyone we've told has been so excited for us and that makes us so happy! Thank you to everyone for your support - we feel blessed. One person in particular that is "over-the-moon" is my 9 year-old sister Kelsy. We visited her this weekend and she gave us these:

 "Ness" is suppose to be neice.

She also gave me 2 sets of these:

She kept a set, gave me a set, and asked me to keep a set for "her" (our daughter). When she gave them to me she said: "Love, is because she will be loved", "the crown is because she will be a princess", and "the ring is because you have a lot of jewelry, which means she'll have a lot of jewelry". We love her! She is so excited to be an aunt and we are thrilled to give her the opportunity, she'll be the best aunt (as you can see).

P.S. In case you were wondering who "Nola" is; it's the name that we like the best for our daughter. It may change when we finally see a picture of her but for now it's our favorite. Her Ethiopian first name will become her middle name and of course, her last name will be Walker!

Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.

As many of you know we have been trying to start our family for almost two years. We have explored and experienced almost every infertility treatment there is and in the midst of shifting gears and preparing for a new treatment - we paused.

We began listening closely to our hearts, and one another and discovered what we both truly felt called to do was to adopt. The fact that we want children and there are children around the world longing for parents, just made us realize that somethings work out for a reason, and sometimes God has other plans for you.

Our next decision was easy; where to adopt from? We both knew that we wanted to adopt from Africa because of the extremely large number of orphans in need of forever families. Some people may wonder why we decided not to adopt domestically? The answer is simple. We choose to adopt internationally because of the cost; the shorter time frame; the fact that more people adopt domestically than internationally; the number of orphans abroad vs. the number of orphans in the United States, etc.

We've put together a video to explain why we've chosen to adopt from Ethiopia. We hope that this video will help you understand our decision and help educate you about the plight of orphans in Ethiopia.



Please visit our blog frequently to see where we are in the adoption process and hear about our latest fundraising efforts. We can not do this alone. We appreciate all of the support of our family and friends! The adoption process is long and filled with highs and lows, we will need all of you to get through it.

In the end you will have a new family member and friend; and we will have a daughter and be a family.

We absolutely cannot wait!