Little Man Update

I haven't talked much about our journey to our Little Man as they just hasn't been much to say until now. We are DONE with the paperchase. Dossier went out in the mail today. It took me so much longer to complete the paperchase this time but I have a little more on my plate than I did 2 1/2 years ago when I did this last time :)

So as I wrote out more checks than I write in 6 months today, photocopied a bazillion pieces of paper twice and tried to figure out how to fit all of this paper in an envelope, I got a little misty eyed. The journey seems more real now. Before it was just kind of out there like yeah we are adopting and we are officially waiting etc. But today it kind of sunk in. This is real. We just mailed off our entire life to bring our son home. We still have lots of waiting left to do but today I feel like our Little Man's space in my heart got a little bit bigger.

We are still at least 1 year away from seeing his face for the first time. Next summer. We could see his face in our email next summer. Wow. As to when he will be with us forever. Tough to say. The process is taking a lot longer with the two trip rule. Based on current estimated wait times which I am well aware may change but it appears we will wait around 20/21 months for our referral which puts us in July/August of next year.

We would then need to travel for court. However we will very likely hit court closure again next year. This year courts in Ethiopia are closed from August 6 (or so) until the end of September with the reality that it will likely be weeks into October before things are fully up and running. So if that stays true for next year, the earliest we would travel for the first time is next fall sometime. We had hoped our son would be home for Christmas 2011 but reality is setting in that he will likely not be home until 2012. I hope I am wrong but I am trying to not be overly optimistic only to be disappointed when things change. Been there done that and it is a nasty roller coaster ride that I am trying to avoid this time around.

I know the wait is long but really I am okay with it. First, I have Kiya to keep me plenty busy. It gives us time to work on her needs and medical stuff. It gives us a chance to hopefully get her out of diapers before baby brother comes home. Second, we stuck with the same agency even given the long waits because getting a son fast is not our goal. Sure we could have switched to some agency that would have produced a son for us in no time at all but at what cost???

So we hit 8 months of officially waiting this coming Sunday. Little Man, just know that Mom, Dad and your Big Sister are waiting for you. We will wait as long as it takes. We are praying for you, your first family and all those that will be taking care of you along the way.