We're leaving!!!!!!!!

I know it has been forever since I last posted, but things have been crazy around here. We got the news Monday that we will be traveling to Ethiopia in one week!!! We have so much to do. I can't believe we are finally going to meet our daughter. Dave and I will be going and leaving Owen with his Grandma. I know he'll be fine, but it is going to be so hard to leave him for ten days. My sister and her husband are traveling with us. All of us will be staying at the care center which works out so nice. Got to go and start getting things ready!

We got our referral!!

Finally, after 8 and a half months we received our referral. Here's the story:

Last Thursday I came home to a message from our local agency requesting translated paperwork for the child. I called them back stating that we didn't use them for Owen and that we had not yet received a referral, so I didn't know what they were needing. The woman put me on hold and then came back stating that someone would call me back to talk about it. About ten minutes later, she called back apologizing that she was new and that she meant to call our agency. I called Dave immediately and related the story. We both came to the conclusion that they must have a referral, but were missing some sort of document. So, the rest of the day and into the evening we anxiously waited for our call. By 9:00 pm we hadn't heard anything, so we went to bed sad and confused.

Dave decided to call our local agency the next morning to find out what was going on. He didn't get much information so he emailed our agency that deals with Ethiopia stating what had happened the day before and asked if we had a referral. The woman at that agency emailed us back saying how sorry she was that we went through that, that they did hand out a lot of referrals that week but we didn't have one. She also stated that we were number one on the list and that she hoped that she would receive more referrals by the end of the month.

Dave emailed me saying that he was taking a half day. So, Owen and I came home at our usual time and had lunch. Owen laid down for his nap while Dave watched TV and I worked on a blanket. We sat there very bitterly. At 2:15 the phone rang and I expected it to be our realtor to set up a showing for our house. To my surprise the caller ID said it was our agency in Minnesota. I answered it quickly and our representative said "You're not going to believe it, but we received a handful of referrals today". I quickly got Dave on the phone and we listened while she told us about her.

We are naming her Aliya Agegnehush Zitek and she was born February 5, 2008 in Morsito, Ethiopia.

When Owen woke up, we showed him her picture and the first thing he said was "She needs socks" and then he said "She needs a hat".

We are so thrilled and we hope to travel late May/early June.

Still waiting . . .

So, I thought for sure that we would have a referral by today. I even thought that it would be exactly today since two years ago today is when we received our referral for Owen. We have actually waited 7 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days longer than we had to wait for Owen's referral. It has been a really long week and now that today is half-way over, I have given up hope for a referral this week. And as the wait for referral gets longer, so does our travel date and now I don't think I will miss any part of work. I sure hope next week brings news.

First video online

I finally figured out how to download videos. Here is one to start. Enjoy.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We are done with all of Owen's "official" paperwork!

We received Owen's Certificate of Citizenship today in the mail. This was the very last document that required "official" put together and involved our government. It only took 7 months to get. By having this certificate, the US government can never say that he is not a citizen. He will have this the rest of his life with a picture of him at 18 months (a very cute picture though).
Although we are done with all of the "official" paperwork, we will still have to submit a written update of Owen with four pictures every year until he turns 18. These will be sent to the government in Ethiopia. A small price to pay to have such a wonderful person in our lives.

What is a referral?

If you are unfamiliar with the adoption process, then you don't know the steps. What Dave and I are currently waiting for is a referral. A referral is when we are matched with a child. Our agency receives information about a child that is eligible for adoption. They then look at all of the applicants to see who best matches up with the child. So we are waiting for an infant girl (0-12 months). The ticker above shows how long we have been waiting. Our dossier (all of the paperwork we had to collect) was approved on June 26th.
After we receive our referral, our case has to go to court in Ethiopia. We wait for our court date (up to two months after referral). Once we get through court, we then wait about two weeks for our child's birth certificate. After we receive the birth certificate, we then wait for a tentative travel date. So we can expect to travel approximately 12-16 weeks after we receive our referral.
We are so close to getting a referral!

Owen is Two!

Can you believe it? Owen had an "Elmo" party last weekend and really enjoyed himself. He is just so smart. He loves to complete puzzles and finds it funny when he puts a piece in the wrong place. In fact, he will look at you to see if you noticed. He loves to sing "A, B, C, etc." and "Twinkle, Twinkle". His favorite songs to listen to are "ABC" by Dora, "ABC-DEF-GHI" by Elmo, "Sunshine on My Shoulders" by John Denver and "Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani.



Current stats:
Height: 34" - 35%
Weight: 23# 10.5 oz - 7%
Head: 49.5 cm - 70%