23 Months DTE

Over the weekend was our 23 month DTE-iversary!  It also marked the day when our sweet girl turned 4!!!

So here's where we are currently - AGAIN with the backwards movement - there have been a lot of families within our agency who have recently cleared embassy, so we are hopeful that may have an impact in changing these numbers SOON.  We have not had positive movement in awhile, and it can be discouraging!!

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 37

Young (under 4 yr) siblings =20

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 15

We are so thankful that God knows the story of our family - every last detail in it, and we can trust Him.  We are also super thankful for our sweet birthday girl!  I can't even begin to say what a blessing she is to our family.  She brings us so much joy, laughter, and fun.  She loves to sing and dance, and if she gets over the whole being shy in public thing, we just may see her on the stage some day!  She adores her big brother and misses him so much when he is at school.  She loves hearing about Africa and asks almost daily if we can go there someday.  I love her to pieces, and yep, she had her own pumpkin spice iced coffee on her special day.  She's her mama's girl!  (sidenote:  she still calls me mama and I love it!!)

22 Months DTE

No changes in the last month! 

21 Months DTE

Another month has passed and we did receive news that our agency has again needed to increase the wait time.  It is now 30-36 months and has tripled since we began this adventure.  It is also important to note that this is not necessarily what our wait time will be - it is the wait time of the families who have most recently received referrals.  Since we still have awhile until we get to the top of the list, it could increase even more.

We continue to wait with hope, but please pray for us if you think about it. This past month in particular has been a trying one.  Our kids are wondering if this adoption will ever really happen.  J with his tender heart has especially been having a hard time lately, with several tearful nights recently.  I don't want to give the impression we are wallowing in pity over here - we have an AMAZING family and we are really loving life.  We are also in awe over the way God can work in our hearts and is preparing us for WHOEVER might come into our family!

I haven't looked at our numbers lately, but for the sake of keeping track, here they are (unfortunately after staying the same for 2 months, we've had some regression again).

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 36

Young (under 4 yr) siblings =20

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 14

20 Months DTE

Wow, 20 months!  Unbelievable!!  Currently the families at the top of our unofficial waiting list have been waiting around 30 months until referral.  Although the trend is that wait times are lengthening, we are hopeful that we will have good news within a year.

There has not been much action in our agency over the last month (that we know of) with referrals, so our numbers haven't changed.  We are BEYOND excited for the many families traveling this month for court & embassy dates.  Court closures occur from some point in August to some point in October each year (for the rainy season), and we are THANKFUL that the Ethiopian courts did not close as early as expected this year, allowing a few more families to have their court dates before closures!!

The big news around here is that I was just able to promote again with Thirty-One Gifts!  I am now an Independent Director and soooo thankful for this opportunity!!!  If you have followed this blog for ages, you will remember that my journey with 31 began almost 2 years ago when a friend offered to do an adoption fundraiser for us!  I immediately fell in love with all the great products and signed up as a consultant myself.  All of the commission I make with Thirty-One goes into our adoption fund and has taken the place of doing lots of other fundraisers.  I believe that when we do receive our referral, we will Lord willing be in a position where we do not have to raise additional support for the fees associated with referral acceptance and travel!!!  What a blessing!  Along with this, I've been able to earn lots of product incentives, Best Buy gift cards, and other great surprises!  If you are at all interested in finding out more about our products or joining my team, please don't hesitate to contact me at my business email:  angiem31 (at) live (dot) com.  Find out what kind of blessing Thirty-One could be in your life!!!

**I am an Independent Director with Thirty-One Gifts, and the views expressed in this blog are mine alone, and not the views of the company.  :)

 

19 Months DTE

Another month has passed!  Hard to believe that 2 years ago around this time was when we were first starting all of our paperwork, and we've been officially waiting for 19 months!  We recently found out about some new implementations by the U.S. Embassy that will require more investigations and in turn, make the process even longer.  This journey has already been longer and more difficult than expected.  But I am realizing more and more that this journey is not about US anyway.  I am finding contentment in trusting that however long the wait, it is in God's timing to bring Him glory!

So thankful that there have been some referrals, including several from our agency's Waiting Child List in the past month!  Our unofficial numbers are as follows...

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 36

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 19

Siblings with older child =5

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 13

Happy 4th of July!

18 Months DTE

A year and a half since that envelope full of paperwork headed to Ethiopia.  So hard to believe it has been that long already!  


Unfortunately in the last month, nothing has changed as far as the numbers go.  We are still...

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 40

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 24

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 15

 

17 Months DTE

Wow - 4 months since I've blogged!  Thanks to all of you sweet friends who have commented, emailed, left FB messages and wondered where I was - yes, I am happy to report that I am still alive!!  :)  I've come to find out that blogging is one of those things where if you take a break from it, it's really really hard to get back into the habit.  But now is as good a time as any - so here's the update!

It has now been 17 months since our paperwork was sent to Ethiopia.  If you happen to be keeping track, that's one month longer than our original time-frame.  Currently the wait time stands at around 26-30 months, but we heard this week that basically for each month we wait, the wait time increases about a half a month.

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 40

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 24

Siblings with older child =6

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 15

So there's our adoption update....here's some other things that have happened in the last 4 months...hopefully at some point each of these will have their own post :)  .....

*J turned 7 years old!!

*thanks to my in-laws, the whole extended family was able to go to DisneyWorld for a week!!

*C is taking a gymnastics class once a week and having so much fun

*J is playing baseball again this spring

*we hosted a Japanese exchange student in March

*we went through the process of updating all our adoption paperwork, home study, fingerprints, medicals, etc 

*I'm still having lots of fun with my Thirty-One business!  I promoted to Senior Consultant and it has truly been a blessing in our lives - most of our adoption fundraising happens through 31 now!  I have a team of 9 lovely ladies and I'm hoping to promote again soon!!

Is there anybody still out there?  I'd love to hear your updates too!!

13 Months DTE

Yesterday marked 13 months since our paperwork was sent to Ethiopia!

(source)

 And our numbers on the unofficial waiting list....

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 47

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 27

Siblings with older child =7

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 17

Thanks for your prayers!