Lots of Great Referral News

There have been 14 referrals given out to families during the end of January and beginning of February. It has been a very exciting time for our program. There have been referrals for 2 infant males, 3 infant females, 1 male toddler, 3 female toddlers, 2 males over 5 years old and 3 females over 5 years old. This still puts our wait time between 9-11 months which means we should receive our referral between March and May. I think maybe panic mode might be setting in because I have been thinking about everything we need to get done to be ready to welcome this little one into our lives. My mind is racing and Travis is nice and laid back reminding me that everything will get done. On the unofficial list of waiting families we are between 6-9. There are 4 of us that have the same DTE but to think there is such a small number of families waiting ahead of us is an unbelievable feeling!!! I never thought we would finally be getting so close!!! We just ask that you continue to pray for the waiting families and most of all for the orphans all over the world!!!

7 MONTHS WAITING

Today marks 7 months since our paperwork was sent to Ethiopia. Right now the wait time is around 9-11 months waiting which means we will probably get our referral in May. I feel like there is a lot of stuff that we need to start doing since the arrival of our little one could possibly be just a few months away!!! We are still busy with our remodel project and I am really looking forward to getting started on the nursery!! There have been lots of families that have been traveling to Ethiopia lately to pick up their children. In October 5 families traveled, in November another 15 families traveled, and in December 8 more families traveled to Ethiopia. I promise to do better at keeping our blog updated!!!

January Has Been An Excitng Month For Referrals!!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas!! It is hard for us to believe that next year we will hopefully have a little one with us at Christmas time!! The month of December was a very slow month for referrals for our agency. Our wait time had gotten increased by 2 months because of the low number of referrals. However, January has already been a very exciting month for referrals which is such a wonderful blessing!!! 10 families have received referrals in the month of January. There have been 2 infant girls, 3 infant boys, 2 toddler girls and 3 toddler boys referred to families. Based on these referrals the current wait time for an infant girl is 9-11 months. This means that we should receive our referral somewhere between March and May. This is just unbelievable to think about. Where has the time gone?? We ask that you please pray for all the children that are waiting to be referred, those that have been referred that are waiting on the families to come and get them and we also ask that you pray for all the families involved in the adoption process. Have a Wonderful 2009!!

Some Fun Baby Stuff Has Arrived

We have gotten some fun baby items lately and I thought I would show you pictures of what has arrived. The wonderful ladies that I worked with in Gibson City had given us a gift certificate to Baby Gap and this is what we used it on. We got our bedding set and diaper bag and they are just adorable. On the reverse side of the quilt it has pink and white polka dots. It is fun getting these items I just wish I could show you pictures of a lovely nursery. But, it is not done yet-hopefully someday soon I can show you pictures.

We Are Half Way!!!!

We have been waiting for 5 months and 1 week now which puts us over the half way mark waiting for our referral. The time is quickly moving by and I kind of feel the panic mode starting to kick in that we have a lot of stuff to get done before we bring our baby home!!! Our agency has received lots of referrals lately including baby girl referrals which means our waiting time is still on track. They hope that in December all families with a DTE in March will have referrals. According to the unofficial list of waiting families we are #20 which is so EXCITING!!!!! Lots of families have been traveling to Ethiopia over the past fews weeks and have brought their children home. It is wonderful that they will be able to have them home for the holidays. We just ask that you continue to pray for our sweet little one and for all of the orphans over the world.

Where Have We Been??

I am sorry that I have been neglecting our blog and not keeping you updated on our adoption progress. We are still waiting for our referral. Right now the timeline looks like we will wait around 9 months for our referral which means we will hopefully get a referral in March and then travel 6-8 weeks after that. We ask that you please pray for us. We received some news yesterday from our agency regarding our adoption fees. Our fees have been increased by $3000 which may not seem like a lot to some people but to us this is HUGE!!!! We are already on a very faith driven financial budget and to add another $3000 is a lot. We have complete faith that God has brought us on this adoption journey and he will guide us thru it both emotionally and financially and we just ask that you join us in prayer that he would provide for us. We are not upset with our agency, we know that they had no choice in making this increase. They are providing the best care for our children and are doing wonderful work to join children with their forever families. We would rather pay the extra money in fees than see our agency close because they cannot afford to stay open. A number of things have caused our fees to increase. For example, the costs of things such as formula and diapers in Ethiopia have increased by 400%. We thank you in joining us in prayer. I promise to do a better job at keeping everyone updated on our progress. It is hard to believe that our dossier has been in Ethiopia for almost 4 months. The time is flying by!!! Thanks for stopping by!!

3 Families Just Returned From Ethiopia

Three families returned home from Ethiopia this week. We are thankful for their safe travel and we ask that you pray for all of them as they transition into being home. Click on the links below to read about their journey and see their beautiful children.

• Cox Family
• Ducommun Family
• Moles Family

Here's a little update on our progress-our paperwork has been in Ethiopia for 2 months which is hard to believe. The time has just flown by!! So far the estimated waiting time has remained the same. We are still guessing that somewhere in between January and March we should receive our referral and then hopefully get to travel to Ethiopia within a couple months after the referral. Thanks for following on our journey.