We are home!

We are home in Washington today after being in Florida for ten days picking up our girl.  Everything went smoothly and while the build up has been filled with fears and anxiety, we could not be happier and it was all worth it!  Adopting domestically was not our original plan but after finding out our wait would be about triple the time we were quoted by CHI originally, we began pursuing other options.  We got a foster care license which we hope to put to good use when some time has passed and we have settled into being parents.  But ultimately we were quickly matched to a birth mom who has been absolutely wonderful, there are no words to describe how amazing she has been and what she has done for us, all the while being excited for us despite her loss.  We are so blessed to have her as a part of our lives!  I plan to post a more detailed account of our process and trip because I think it's important that the happy ending stories be accessible online too.  I know that a lot of the fears and misconceptions that Jason and I had about domestic adoption came from the thousands of horror stories that come up when you search for adoption information.  I don't want to say that our experience was typical, but I want to give hope to those people who felt the way I did.

We have a match!!!!

Hello friends and family!  Some of you may have been surprised to learn that we are in the process now of bringing home a baby through domestic adoption.  We made the choice to pursue domestic adoption when we learned that our Ethiopian adoption will be taking closer to three years than the 7-10 months they originally quoted us.  But let’s focus on the good, we have a match!  There is a beautiful birth mother out there who has chosen Jason and me to parent her baby girl due in September!  We don’t want to share too much of her private information online, but know that we are extremely comfortable with the situation and she is committed to carrying out this plan.

We are ready to bring this baby home emotionally and physically.  We will have everything we need by the time September hits.  As you know this is not our original adoption plan so the money Jason and I have paid so far does not apply to this situation.  If you would like to do so, we would still appreciate donations through the link on this site.  We will be bringing this little girl home regardless, but we do want to be able to bring her home in the best situation possible.  For those of you that don’t already know, our yard sale was a huge success and we appreciate everything you have all done so much!  If you want to continue to help us, we are so grateful! 

What we know for sure is this sweet baby will be so lucky to receive the love and support that you all have shown us.  We COULD NOT have gotten here without all of you!  Thank you!

Michelle and Jason

Update and upcoming fundraiser

Just wanted to let people in on what's new.  First, we are number 87 on our waitlist for Ethiopia.  That moves us up a spot, but unfortunately it isn't because there was a referral.  It seems that several families have dropped out.  Sadly, there has only been one referral in 2012 so far.  Praying for many soon.  So...because of this, our wait time has been increased to 2 years (10-12 months when we got on the list).  THis was a painful reality to hear, although we knew it was coming.  Jason and I decided we couldn't see ourselves waiting another 2+ years, so we decided to speak to our homestudy agency about domestic adoption.  They were kind enough to give us a domesic homestudy for a small fraction of what it would normally cost.  I want to stress that we are NOT out of the Ethiopia program.  Our goal is to have an adoption as we wait for our referral from Ethiopia.  Obviously this will mean more money and a different set of concerns and stresses, but we feel like it's what we need to do.  We have already been offered two potential matches (the first birth mother did not choose us, and the second was a situation we were not comfortable with, so we opted to not be shown).  But that was all within a month of being in the domestic program, so we are hoping, and should, have a match within the year (all of the families with our agency have been matched well within that).  We will keep you posted.  Thank you for your support, it wouldn't be possible with out our amazing friends and family.

And on another note, the possibilty of two adoptions makes our yard sale fundraiser that much more important!  It is going to be on May 26 and 27.  Those of you who have been kind enough to hang on to items for us, now is the time to think of arranging for pick up or drop off :)  Our garage is full and the house is filling up to!  It's been amazing how generous people have been!  Please let me know if you have items you'd like to donate!  Also, if you want to help out, we have several friends lined up, but the growing amount of stuff is getting scary and the thought of how we'll manage it all is mind boggling!  If nothing else, remember we will be celebrating at the end of the day Saturday and would love to see all of you there!

And the next day we are...

...and this time it is because of a referral!  Twin babies, one boy and one girl, were referred to a family waiting two years for siblings!  Congrats to them!  So that makes us 88 just one day after finally moving to number 89!  PRAYING that more referrals are coming this month, we could get used to these dwindling numbers!  Also, many of our adoption friends have made public the names they have chosen for the children they are waiting for, so they can be prayed and hoped for by name.  We like that idea too, so the name we chose for our daughter is...

:)

Now we are number...

I wish I could say it is due to referrals, but still no children have been referred since December.  We moved up on the list due to two families dropping out.  But a change is a change, so we'll take it.  Hopefully be posting a new number again much sooner than before!

One month...

Well we have offically been on the waitlist for one month...and we are still number 91.  Kind of disappointing, but hoping for some good news soon since one of the directors from the agency is actually in Ethiopia right now.  Maybe she can get the ball rolling again.  Here's hoping and praying!

No news is...good news?

Well nothing new to report on the adoption front.  I assume we won't hear anything until referrals are given, which will make our number go down.  It's been about 3 weeks with none, praying for more soon!  Jason and I were watching tv last night and I randomly said, "I want my baby now" and for a minute neither of us said anything.  We just thought about how much we wish she was here now, but how long we realistically have to wait, especially if these referral "droughts" continue.  What should be a year wait could be significantly longer as we sit at 91 and have an average of 4 referrals a month.  As you continue to think about supporting us through donation, please also pray that our road be only as long as we can handle.  In the meantime, trying to stay positive and do little things to keep her in the forefront of our minds :)