Here we go!

Suitcases are packed, tickets are bought, and taxis are scheduled. We've gotten our shots and called the boy's schools. The animals are covered, cell phones are charged, passports are at the ready. We. Are. Really. Going.

The girlies were moved on Tuesday from a local orphanage to our agencies transition home called Horizon House. They were seen by a doctor and seem to be healthy, albeit underweight. We go to court on Monday, December 12. Sometimes families "pass" court immediately. Other times a document or signature may be missing, which holds things up for a short while. We are hoping to pass court on Monday, but we have learned many times over that unpredictable is the name of the game in international adoption. Right now, I am just grateful that after a year of process, We. Are. Really. Going.

Court Date!

We've been waiting to hear from our adoption agency about when the Federal Court of Ethiopia would hear our case, so when the subject line in my inbox read "Good News" I jumped for joy.  Actually, I didn't really jump, I think I really just exhaled for the first time in a really long while...   This waiting is hard and, believe me, it's not at all one dimensional.  There are several "types" of waiting, chief amongst them are the:

• "I'm SO excited, I can't breath" type of waiting. 
• "I'm SO frustrated, what on EARTH is TAKING so long?" type of waiting. 
• "One day at a time" type of waiting ( requires LONG periods of meditation).
• "There must be something seriously wrong with our case, but even the adoption agency doesn't know it yet" type of waiting (welcome to irrationality).
• "My wait is NOTHING compared to that of a child waiting for a family" type of waiting (welcome to reality).

But ... I digress.  Because we are DONE waiting for a court date!  I know, I know, we have lots of future "waits" to come, most dauntingly U.S. Embassy clearance.  But today we are just celebrating. Join us! 

Milestones

I could have kissed the UPS man when he returned our dossier today.   It has now been notarized, certified, appostilled, and authenticated ... and I should add, meditated and prayed over (by me).  Seriously, the last signature was Hillary Clinton's (truly!).  I immediately drove it to our adoption agency in order to get it out of my hands and into theirs.  Here is the list of what the dossier included:


Agency recommendation letter
Two Power of Attorney Forms
Statement of Reason for Adopting an Ethiopian Child
Three Pages of Photographs (family members, inside of home, outside of home)
Original Home Study (15 single-spaced pages)
Letter of Employment for each Applicant
Financial Statement
Original Birth Certificate for each Applicant
Photocopy of each Applicant's Passports
Original Marriage Certificate
Original Declaration and Attestation of Health for each Application
Original FBI Clearance for each Application
Two Letters of Reference Per Family One Obligation of Post-Placement Contract
Photocopy of WHFC Agency License
US Citizen and Immigration Services Approval  (no small feat)

Whew, I'm exhausted all over again, but not too tired to share a celebratory toast with Phil tonight.  Every milestone counts!  We're getting closer girlies!

 

Language Lessons!



Ethiopia is often referred to as the "Cradle of Humanity."  Our girls are from Afar, the region where fossils of the humanoid, "Lucy" were found and dated to 3.2 million years ago.   More recently, even older humanoid fossils were found and are roughly 4.4  million years old.   The language of the region is Afarigna.  "H" at 6 1/2 will clearly be fluent in Afarigna and "F" will surly have some receptive abilities in the language.  While in orphanage care, the girls will be exposed to Amharic, and then once in the US, will need to learn English.  That's a tall order!  For our part, I am sloooooowly learning Amharic words and phrases so that we have some ability to communicate with the girls.  I'm also going to take pictures that represent basic needs (food, bed, potty, hug),  laminate them and put them on a big circular ring so we can point and gesture.  That should at least get us through the airplane ride!  Although our social worker recently reminded me that we won't see any of the other passengers again (that's a relief)!

Dossier in D.C.

Today's update is that I just spoke with our incredibly kind courier (Ray Hower:  703-282-6668) who told me that our Dossier is the Ethiopian Embassy and that I should have it back on Thursday or Friday of this week.  I can't wait to have that baby back in my hot little hands!  I remember feeling this way when I was working on my dissertation.  The whole house could burn down, but NOTHING better happen to that document! 

On another note, I heard a great podcast on the Creating a Family website (www.creatingafamily.org).    I love this site!  The podcast was titled Adoption and Attachment and the guest speaker talked a little bit about how important it is to prepare sibling for adoption.  She noted that a lot of preparation is required of pre-adoptive parents but that siblings are often overlooked.  That got me thinking of my own boys, and how to prepare them for the trip to Addis Ababba and for how life will change when "H" and "F" arrive.   Since this woman is based in Cambridge, MA (right around the corner), I think I'll schedule some time with her. 

Dehna hugni!  (Goodbye to women)
Dehna hun! (Goodbye to men)


Shelley

Paperwork Pregnant!

In adoption circles, we are considered "paperwork pregnant."  In other words, we have collected all of the official documents required for our adoption dossier.  For those of you who are new to this journey, imagine tracking down your birth certificate, your spouses birth certificate, your marriage certificate, state and federal police clearance letters, tax returns, letters of recommendation and doctor letters.   Just when you let out a BIG sigh of relief, you learn that each document must be notarized by a local notary public and then appostiled (don't even ask) by the Secretary of State.  Finally, you put all of your ORIGINAL documents (gasp!) into an envelope and FedEx it to a courier in Washington, D.C. who personally walks it through the authentication process at the Ethiopian Embassy and the U.S. State Department.   At this point, the adoption agency send it to Ethiopia where it is translated into Amharic (the national language).  Most families then wait to be referred a child or children.   Since we have already accepted the referral of "H" and "F" we get to bypass this step (Yea!).  Instead, our wait is for a court date to officially adopt the girls.  We  really hope this will happen by the end of 2011.  But then again, in the adoption world, time moves slower than a high-school study hall.  Remember those?

The Twisty-Turvey Adoption Process ...

 Several years ago, Phil and I watched a documentary about children who have been orphaned in Ethiopia via illness and/or poverty.  We were both so troubled by a story of a young boy who was left to raise his even younger brother.  At the time, all we could see were the faces of our own children and the despair they would feel without us (and visa versa).  I know that my own heart broke open that day, and I'm pretty sure that Phil's did too.   So ... last December, we committed ourselves to adopting, and immediately looked at agencies with programs in Ethiopia.  Just as we finished our home study, and began learning as much as possible about the country, the Ethiopian and US governments announced their intention to investigate inconsistant adoption practices in country.  With the potential for a major slow down in Ethiopian adoptions, and our concern that the extended time line conflicted with the reality of our ages (48), we applied to the Russian Program and began the process of orienting ourselves to a second country.    We did receive a referral from Russia (I'll write more on this in another post), but heart-breakingly her needs went far beyond what  we are able to meet.  And then, in early August, we saw photos and a brief description of "H" and "F"  on our agencies "Waiting Child" website.  


Do you believe in fate?  The girls are from Ethiopia!  They meet our request for siblings.  They fall within our preferred age range.  Their ages allow us to keep the natural birth order of our older kids.  Most importantly, they need parents and a family...     We contacted our agency and requested a match right away.  Them we held our collective breath(s) while the agency decided if we were right for the girls.  We are overyjoyed that our agency honored our request to become parents to these beautiful children.  It feels SO right... and we are SO grateful.