Our First Visit to the Doctor

And Baby Girl wasn't even there!  This week Brian took Baby Girl's in depth medical information to a pediatrician.  We found a doctor not too far from our home who specializes in international adoption medicine.  I wasn't able to slip away from work since it was the day before kids came back, but Brian was really pleased with the experience.  The staff has been extremely helpful since our first phone call, and it doesn't hurt that the doctor graduated from the same college as Brian (GO PACK)!  Our particular doctor has years of experience working with children who have been adopted internationally, and over the last several years, he has also cared for many children from Ethiopia.  He charted all of the information that we have on our little one and explained all of the lab results that we have for her.  So far, it looks like she is right on target!  The doctor also gave us tips on things that we should make sure to take for Baby Girl when we pick her up and things to take for us.  An added bonus is that our doctor has a wealth of information to support us if we experience any difficulties with Baby Girl's transition to life with us (such as sleeping, eating, attachment, etc).  We're excited to find such a knowledgable doctor, and we're celebrating the health of our sweet girl! 


Now we are all clear to receive our court date.  Based on information from our case manager, we are hoping that our court date will be scheduled for the end of October!

Drumroll, please!

We have a referral!  We are looking at the face of a precious baby GIRL!  She is 4 months old and a true gift.  There are no words that can describe our joy, so for now, we celebrate!  I promise more details will come soon! 

It Has Been 10 Months...

of waiting, and waiting, and waiting!  Today marks 10 months of being on the waiting list for a referral (not counting the months before of preparing our documentation).  Many days I find myself thinking, "this is an eternity!"  Even though waiting is so hard, we can take comfort in the promise of God's perfect will and timing for our lives and the life of our little one.  Even though Brian and I often say things like "I can't wait until..." I believe that we CAN wait, and I pray that this time of waiting will not be wasted, but instead will continue to be a time of growth and preparation.  So on this day, there is a mixture of emotions, from hope that we will be joined as a family soon, to longing for that phone call to come, to peace knowing that God knows and cares about every desire of our heart.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understandings.

In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

The Referral Clock

It has been a while since we posted an adoption-related post because all has been fairly quiet on the adoption front.  We have simply been waiting and praying.

Our agency doesn't share a "waiting list" with families as many agencies do, but they do have a referral clock which shows when the families who are currently receiving referrals were document ready.  We were document ready in August 2009 and have been waiting to see the face our sweet little one since then.  For the past few months, our agency has been providing referrals to families who were ready in June 2009.  Time seemed to literally be standing still on the referral clock as they worked their way through a record number of dossiers.  We got an email today saying that the referral clock had moved.  While we were expecting that the clock would have moved to July, we were thrilled to see that it had moved to August.  While we still don't know for sure how long we will wait for our referral, we are celebrating this small, but encouraging sign of progress!

We're Waiting!!!

That's right...our dossier was sent to Ethiopia today, and we are officially on the waiting list for a referral. I have to admit that patience is not my strong suit, but I have never been happier to be waiting for something. The smiles haven't left our faces yet!