Referral high

 

We are still on such a referral high!   She is all we can talk about and think about.   If someone brings up a conversation with me that doesn't have to do with her I have trouble concentrating on them! :)

 

Thursday was a whirlwind of seeing our baby for the first time and then sharing our wonderful news with everyone we know.

 

Friday was the last day of our vacation and felt like a complete celebration day to Zach and me!

 

Saturday we spent 9 hours in the car driving home together and talking about her CONSTANTLY! :)

 

Sunday was a whirlwind of prepping our house for her referral party and printing off tons of pictures of her!

 

Monday was sharing our news and pictures of her at work!

 

Tuesday we heard from another traveling family that they got some pictures of her that we can expect when they get home!

 

Wednesday we had a family lunch to celebrate her.

 

Thursday- we're already to our one week referral-versary! I can't believe it's already been a week!

 

Every night I go to sleep thinking about her and every morning I wake up thinking about her.

I just can't believe how lucky we are.   She is everything we've been hoping and waiting and dreaming about for SO long!!!

 

 

REFERRAL!!!!!!

We received THE CALL today for a 6 month old baby girl!!!!  We are so, so, so, so excited!!!  We were super lucky because we happen to be on vacation so we were together when the Call came!!!  Zach had JUST gotten out his computer too so we were ready to go the moment Natalie called!!  After talking to Natalie for about 40 minutes we ran to the store to print off several pictures of our new baby girl and to buy an IT'S A GIRL balloon!!!  We've spent the last 6 hours telling our family and friends our great news!!! 

Listening to and looking through information on our little girl

Baby Girl Balloon used to announce the news to my family!

Family portrait on the beach at sunset on our referral day!!!!!!

FIFTH fingerprinting

photo courtesy of http://awakenyoursoul.wordpress.com/

 

Today was our fifth fingerprinting experience.  Since it was our third time at the USCIS office we're starting to recognize the fingerprinters by face....

We were kind of hoping THE CALL would come the one time Zach wasn't allowed to have his phone with him but we didn't get that lucky! 

the neverending wait

I have hesitated to write a bitter post detailing how hopeless and frustrated and beaten I feel just because I tell myself surely, surely soon I'll be able to post the happiest post thus far in my life.  I don't want to taint that elation with bitterness posted just days or weeks before and I don't want people reading those posts back to back and thinking, "Oh, if only she had been a little more patient.  Look, just 4 days ago she was thinking this would never happen and now here's her referral post!"  But seriously, I've been feeling this way for a long time now and I don't honestly think that after 26 months on the waitlist anyone could think, 'if only she had been a little more patient.' 

It would be one thing if there just weren't any babies or children that needed adoptive parents.  If all of the children in Ethiopia already had a loving family that could provide for them and THAT'S why we're left waiting.  But that's not why we're waiting!  There are children that need us as badly as we need them!  But I can't do anything to make it go faster.  I'm stuck with my hands tied.  I don't really even have anyone to blame.  I want to blame my agency but I constantly remind myself that surely, they are doing everything as quickly as possible to match children with families.  But then I remember that we've been waiting over 2 years on the waitlist to be matched and can't manage to come up with a good explanation as to how it's possible for things to move so slowly.  

In the beginning I made a paper timeline to mark our progress and over the months and years I've had to add significantly to it.  I just realized the other day that at the end of next month I'm going to have to add to it again.  My timeline is going to be over a yard long.  ARG!!  How frustrating!  And knowing that we could receive our referral today but that we probably won't.  ARG!!!  Frustrating too!  And that no one can give me an answer to how much longer we'll be waiting?!  SUPER FRUSTRATING! 

So... that's how I'm feeling right now.  Perhaps by finally posting this I'll cause our referral to happen and forever people will read back to back ARG/Eeeeeeee!!!!  posts.  So be it.  I dare the universe to make me have to post those back to back and to make me wonder

if I'd just been a little more patient........  



2 years

Soon, soon, soon!  We're hoping it's going to be soon!