4 weeks of waiting

These last 4 weeks have gone pretty fast! We were invited to our first conference call for waiting families at the beginning of the month. I cried when I got the email! I know, I'm so sappy! But it was very informative!! The best news being: The wait time has gone down!!! YAY! The wait time from being DTE(dossier to ethiopia) to getting a referral was 7-9 months. Well, for boys the wait time has gone down to 5-7 months! I think that is sooooo exciting! Also, Duni(our family coordinator) says that if you are asking for either gender it is VERY likely you will get a boy. Now, things in the adoption world change quickly, but for now this gives me HOPE. I have been looking at cribs, diapers, nursery decor! *sigh* It is really nice. I'm also considering using cloth diapers, so I've been doing some research on that. AND I found the baby carrier I want! I really like the Ergo Baby Carrier!! It's on the expensive side, so we'll see what happens! :) I want to enjoy this time of waiting and anticipating, though! I know that sometimes the days will crawl, but overall the time will pass quickly. So if it seems that I am not being content, call me on it! :) But, now I have to go. My sister just called and wants me to help her shampoo the carpets in the house she's moving into! The things we do for family! :)

Just for you, Amy...

So I know I've been really lazy about blogging! I was having some problems uploading our photos, but apparently the problem was me, because today they uploaded just fine! So here goes......

This is me with our newly authenticated papers!

Josue and I with our 3 copies of our Dossier...

This is the size of our Dossier! No joke, we had to mail 3 copies of that!

The very nice lady at our Post Office! What a sweetie! It was a weird feeling to let those papers out of my hands! At least she didn't think I was crazy!

Josue and I in the car with our USPS tracking slip! I checked that website at least a couple times a day!! Seriuosly.

Me at SOS

This is me after getting our papers authenticated at the Secretary of State! I had tears in my eyes when the lady gave me my papers back! *sigh* It was a great feeling! So, I celebrated by having a crazy weekend with my sisters & my good friend, Trudy! By the way, thanks Katie for going along with me to Columbus! That might bump you up to favorite aunt status! ;)

Photo Update

Here's a few pictures of our last day with our dossier! The first one is just when I was working on our photo pages. And the second is Sara notarizing the last of our paperwork! YAY! I'm also glad to say that our dossier has arrived safely in Ethiopia, and now we're waiting for our AWAA in- country rep to pick it up! I'll be sure to post when that happens!

Great News!

I know I haven't written anything in quite a while! BUT, that's because we've been busy finishing our dossier! And I am happy to report that we are officially done paperchasing! YAY! We are now in the "waiting" stage. It feels good to no longer be waiting for this or that paper, and then do this step or that step. No, our next step is the call telling us about our baby! *sigh* It's been a busy month, and I have pictures I want to post, but I'll have to do that later!

Finally.

And here it is. One piece of paper. Months of waiting. We have our 171-H!! Praise God! Who knew one little sheet of paper could make a grown woman cry! :) Now I just have to figure out what to do next!?! I think it's a pretty simple process of notarizing, certifying & sending! It feels strange to be so close to finishing our dossier. How will it feel to actually be Waiting For a Referral?!?!!? Wonderful. So, now we take a deep breath and away we go! It's been a crazy last couple of weeks, but God is faithful.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and it will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. Habakkuk 2:3

God's timing is not mine. And I'm glad for that! He knows the real reason we've waited. Maybe someday we will too!

and the waiting goes on...and on...and on!!

well, stil no 171H! but we're keeping hope alive! josue has the day off on tuesday, so I think he's going to call again then. because we can only call and talk to someone about this Monday through Friday 1 pm- 4pm! So, the waiting continues!! keep praying!