My Family, My Journey: Just Checking In...

Friday, May 15, 2009

Just Checking In...

OK, I realize this is my fourth blog entry in a week and you might be getting tired of hearing from me! Some probably think that all this blogging is because I'm getting antsy...well...ok, maybe I’m a little antsy...but mostly it’s because I suddenly have time on my hands (my busy season at work is finally winding down) and our friends' departure to Ethiopia, Mother's Day and our 5 month mark all seemed like blog-worthy milestones. This is just my regular Friday update and I was going to skip it but, as you can see, I feel the need to squeeze in one more...

I received a nice email from Ryan Brown at our agency yesterday. In spite of the fact that the subject line of his email read,“Just checking in…”, it made my heart jump when I discovered it in my inbox! My brain instantly went into hyper-drive to see if I could extract some hidden meaning, haha, but he really was just checking in to see if we had any questions about the process or our upcoming travel to Ethiopia. Alas, the only hidden meaning I could come up with was the fact that he wouldn’t be “just checking in” if someone was about to call us with our referral...so I guess I can let go of that fantasy for a little while longer!

The other thing I gleaned from his email is that Gladney rocks! I really agonized over which agency to go with and I didn’t land upon Gladney until the end of my search. Again and again they have proven to be the right choice. Thanks for just checking in, Ryan! You can read about Ryan and his beautiful family here (scroll to the bottom of their blog for the great story of how they came to adopt their first son).

It was a good week for referrals – two toddlers and one healthy, month and a half old baby girl! Congrats to this family and this family and this family! Also wishing good luck to the many families going to court next week!

I also want to mention this family, who were at the tippity top of the unofficial list all through the slow month of April. As a family gets to the top of the unofficial list many of us visit (stalk) their blogs on a regular basis, anticipating their happy news. On monday, instead of the news we expected, we learned that Hanna and Maarten have made the decision to put their adoption on hold. I do not know Hanna and Maarten, and I only recently started stalking their blog, but I cannot stop thinking about them. I just want to say that they are in our hearts and prayers.

With all the referrals this week, and with Hanna and Maarten's decision to bow out for a while, we bitter-sweetly move into position number 12 on the unofficial list. There are two families ahead of us who would accept a referral of an infant OR a sibling pair, but no one waiting ahead of us (that we know of) waiting exclusively for siblings. Hope blooms eternal!

"Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air." ~ Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Journal, July 25, 1839

3 comments:

Unknown said...: I've been following your blog and thinking about you as you await the arrival of your children. I know you will be a great mom. Back when we were friends in high school, you had a nurturing big sister quality that I appreciated. I was very apprehensive about becoming a parent, but having our son has been the adventure of a lifetime and the love I feel for him is indescribable! I hope after you are settled in with your kids, we can come visit you.; Sunday, May 17, 2009
Journey to Jaden said...: Thanks for your comments on my blog. I have has such a great experience reading your blog. I had no idea that you can see who loggs on and how ofen..too funny. Well I have felt that you were getting your referral any moment over the past 2 weeks so hopfully its coming soon!!; Monday, May 18, 2009
Mom said...: Thanks for this Sweetie. Such beautiful children – such beautiful people – you and Mark will create just the right home for TWO beauties!

Hope you and Mark are staying busy and enjoying the spring.

Hang in there Little Tomato (song from Pink Martini CD)!

Love,
Mom; Saturday, October 24, 2009

Timeline

*PAPER CHASE/5.5 MNTHS*
6-27-08: Register for orientation with local agency
7-16-08: Attend orientation with local agency
8-19-08: Decide to adopt from Ethiopia through Gladney. Best decisions ever!
8-28-08: Attend orientation with Gladney
8-28-08: 1st Home Study interview
9-25-08: Home study interviews completed & all Gladney paper work submitted
9-30-08: CIS fingerprints
10-2-08: FBI clearance
11-12-08: Home Study report completed
11-25-08: Gladney approval
12-4-08: CIS approval
*WAIT FOR REFERRAL/13 MNTHS*
12-11-08: Wait list!!!!!!!
4-21-09: Increased our age preference hoping to speed things up (HA!)
8-29-09: Heidi's medicals updated
9-15-09: Mark's medicals updated
9-20-09: Travel Immunizatons
11-10-09: Sent in request for CIS fingerprint updates
11-11-09: Gladney calls to review our age preference
11-17-09: Gladney calls again and tells us about twin boys who *might* become available. We agree to increasing our age preference in order to pursue these boys.
11-21-09: Receive CIS fingerprint appointment
12-16-09: Have CIS fingerprints taken
1-4-10: Referral!!!!!!! 28 month old twin boys!!!!!
*WAIT TO PASS COURT/4 MNTHS*
1-19-10: Start home study update
2-18-10: CIS fingerprints cleared
3-4-10: Home study update completed/sent CIS extension request
3-30-10: File submitted to courts!
3-31-10: Received court date!
4-22-10: Received CIS approval extension
4-23-10: 1st court date
4-28-10: 2nd court date
5-05-10: 3rd court date
05-06-10: 4th and final court date! We're a family!
5-12-10: Receive travel dates!
5-18-10: Travel!
6-1-10: Home as a family of SEVEN (four humans, three puppy dogs!)

Fun Facts About Ethiopia

•Ethiopia has been around for a very long time. The country's Rift Valley is known as the cradle of humanity - fossils of the oldest known upright hominid (4-million years old) were found here in 2005, surpassing the famous 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', which was discovered in the same region back in 1974.

•A thousand years before Christ, the Queen of Sheba, we are told, traveled to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon, married him, and had a son, Menelik. When Menelik reached maturity, it is said he left Jerusalem and took with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original 10 commandments, back to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church says it still has the ark in its possession. No one else makes such a claim...

•Ethiopia's official religion is the 1700 year old Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The Jews of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, are said to have been there for 3000 years. And its Muslim adherents have practiced Islam for 1300 years. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South.

•Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to be under colonial rule, other than a brief occupation by Italy during WWII. You can visit many restaurants in Ethiopia today due to the influence of Italy during the occupation.

•Traditional Ethiopian food consists of various vegetable or meat dishes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, which is a large crepe-like sourdough flatbread made from fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses a piece of the injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the sauces.

•The Ethiopian calendar is very similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar – each have 13 months, 12 with 30 days each and the 13th month at the end of the year with 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. The year starts on September 11th (12th in a leap year). The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so Ethiopia recently celebrated their millennium on September 12, 2007.

•Coffee can be traced back to the 9th Century where it is believed a shepherd discovered coffee beans in the highlands of Ethiopia, namely the Kaffa region. The Ethiopian people are very proud of their coffee and they show this in their well known coffee ceremonies. The Coffee Ceremony is a very important part of socializing in Ethiopia and to be invited to a coffee ceremony is always considered a sign of respect and friendship.

•There are multiple tribes with different subcultures and over 80 languages in Ethiopia. The Amharic language is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia and is the official working language for Ethiopia.

•Family in Ethiopia includes immediate and extended relatives, neighbors, and friends. Faith and family are the foundation of the Ethiopian culture. Ethiopians are very respectful and loving. The elderly are considered very knowledgeable and as a very important part of the family structure. Children are usually raised in a large community that includes extended family and neighbors, and siblings are expected to help take care of each other.