Still Waiting.......

On Aug. 12 Bruce and I went to the USCIS (Immigration office) to be fingerprinted.  Now we wait for a form called 171-H.  A letter from Homeland Security informed us the wait time for that form is taking about 9 weeks from the date we were fingerprinted.  That would put us at around mid-October.  I am being optimistic and hoping it comes any day........I run out to the mailbox everyday hoping it's there.  My neighbors will think I am a crazy woman when that form arrives because when it finally does arrive,  I will probably be standing out there jumping and screaming with joy.   That's all we need in order to send our paperwork to Ethiopia.

Today we went to a seminar in Arlington, VA called "Ethiostork".  It's designed to educate us about Ethiopia and the adoption process.  The great thing about it was that the woman who spoke was also the Coordinator of Ethiopia adoptions for our agency (America World).  So she will be very involved with our referral.  She was born in Ethiopia and has lived here for 17 years.  Her mother runs an orphanage in Ethiopia which is connected with our agency.....so it was cool to meet her and be able to ask her questions.  The photo is of us with Duni today at the seminar.  We also were able to meet about 5 other families who live in the area and are adopting from Ethiopia.  The kids were troopers and sat through the presentation and then we all ate a traditional Ethiopian meal.....our first introduction to their food.  We had mixed reactions from the kids, but they did try everything.  We asked them what they liked about the seminar and Claire said jokingly  "I liked the Ethiopian Coke"  which was actually just regular Coke!!!  We did learn some interesting stuff about Ethiopian holidays, their government, how to incorporate foods & traditions into our lives so that our child will grow up with a sense of pride about where she was born. 

Great Times in CA and Homestudy Finished!

This has a been an action-packed month!  We traveled to California over the 4th to visit our friends and family.......it was good to see everyone.  As you can see from the photo, Madeline and Olivia are in heaven being with their friends (they miss them so much).

Our homestudy was officially finished yesterday!  That is a big piece of the adoption paperwork.  It will be sent to the Department of Homeland Security (immigration) and we will hopefully receive the required form (171-H) in the next 2 months.  Virginia is notoriously slow in getting those 171-H documents out.  Once we get that.......all of our dossier paperwork gets notarized and authenticated by the state and finally gets sent to Ethiopia.  

Last Saturday we went to a picnic where we met about 10 families from our area who have adopted Ethiopian children.  It was an amazing experience!  One family had 12 kids (6 bio and 6 adopted).  All of the kids had such a great time and we learned so much about the process and adjustments once the children are home.  

We are off to Baltimore this weekend for a short trip.  We haven't ever been there before, so we are going to a baseball game at Camden Yards, visiting the aquarium, and touring the  Inner Harbor. The Orioles are playing the Anaheim Angels.......think we'll have to cheer for the Angels!

Exciting week!

Well, (sigh of relief) , we completed two of the home-study interviews and it went well (at least I think so). Our social worker is great and really made everyone feel at ease.  She probably knows more about us now than most of our friends and family!!!  It really was nothing to stress over.....I can say that now that it's over :)  While we are off visiting friends and family in California, she'll be writing up the report.  Then we meet back with her on July 17th to review the report and then it gets sent for review (which can take 10-12 weeks) at which point we will receive a form called an I-171 that will allow us to bring the baby back into the US when it's time.  Whew!  So many steps to go thru.  But for the most part, the home-study it coming to a close and we will then start gathering paperwork for our dossier.  If all goes well, I am hoping we get everything on it way to Ethiopia in September......but much of it is out of our control, so we wait (and wait and wait)!

Moving Right Along

Our home study coordinator has scheduled our two in-home interviews for Friday (June27) and Tuesday (July1).  Say a little prayer that everyone will be on their best behavior!

Blogs of other families

These are some blog links of other families who have adopted from Ethiopia through our agency (AWAA).  I have added them to the Adoption Links and Blogs section on the right side of the blog. The first one is a family that lives in our town (Kidd family).  Watch the video.....it makes you cry it is so touching!  The second and third links are families that recently returned from Ethiopia and the last one is of a family that will be going over this summer to bring their daughter home.  Just gives you a look at what we will be experiencing next year.

We're Cleared!

We received an email from our homestudy coordinator that all of our clearances have come back (FBI and State).  So now we can start the in-home interviews! Each little step in the process feels like we are getting closer to bringing Ava home!

Why Adopt from Ethiopia

• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• In the 90's the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)
• Drought struck the country from 200-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school.  88% will never attend secondary school
• Coffee prices (Ethiopia's only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2202
• Ethiopia's doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.