Court Date Countdown: Two

Two days. To quote one of my favorite wait list buddies on the eve of her court date, "it is taking some restraint not to write this entire post in capital letters and hyperbole".

Not only is it two more days until we know the outcome, but in less than 24 hours the review of our case begins (Ethiopia is seven hours ahead and there are two stages to the approval process).

It is also taking some restraint not to put a dozen exclaimation points at the end of every scentence.

For those who are interested in what's happening behind the scenes, here are some of the details. Remember all that paperwork we gathered back in the summer of 2008? Well, all that paperwork now lives in a file along with all the paperwork we waited for on the boys. Early tomorrow morning—probably while we are still asleep (if we sleep)—the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s and Children’s Affairs (MOWA) conducts the first review of our file. We won’t hear news of how things go with this review until Friday unless there is a problem (maybe not even then). I'm taking the no news is good news approach tomorrow.

Then on Friday, if MOWA issues a favorable opinion on Thursday, our agency’s attorney—to whom we have signed over power of attorney—will appear in court on our behalf. The Judge will conduct another review of our paperwork and the boys’ birth family member must appear and officially relinquish custody. I wish I could be there to look this person in the eye and tell them how much the boys will be loved, and how grateful we are to be the ones who get to parent them.

We will find out how all this plays out on Friday afternoon, typically between the hours of 12 pm and 3 pm Eastern time. I will be working from home, battling the butterflies, probably jumping every time my phone rings. There are two possible outcomes, and the realist in me is holding those possibilities in equal measure. From what I can tell after watching others go through this process over the past two years, it really is probably a 50/50 chance that it will be the outcome we desire.

In the event that our court date is delayed, we will be given a new court date, and the countdown will resume.

In the event that our adoption is approved, we will be given a travel date (be still my heart), and I will book our flights to Ethiopia that day. Travel is typically 3-5 weeks after the adoption is finalized and it will coincide with our U.S. Embassy appointment in Addis Ababa. The time in between court and travel is needed in order to obtain the court decree, the children’s Ethiopian birth certificates and their Ethiopian passports, all of which we will need for our Embassy appointment.

Our agency is given appointments with the U.S. Embassy every other week, and a little bird told me that in May those appointments fall within the weeks of May 9th and May 23rd.

I don't have to tell you what I am praying for with all my might.

TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."

Helen Keller