It's official!

The word from our adoption caseworker:

"Congratulations!!! You are officially waiting for your Ethiopian children as of today 4/21/09!"

Next step is to fill out our I-600A, then fingerprinting and LOTS of vaccinations.

One more milestone down! I wonder how long we'll be waiting...

I hope it's not too long!

What it means to be from Maine

My co-worker came into the office this morning and said, "Spring is finally here! I shaved my legs."

Now THAT'S Maine!

One step closer...

This morning, I sent off our dossier to the adoption agency!!! Woohoo! One step closer to kids!!! Next, we have to submit our I-600A form to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). Once they get it, they will set an appointment for us to go down to our local Homeland Security office to get fingerprinted.

With all the different documents and copies of documents I've sent to our local adoption agency for the homestudy, and now to our international agency, I feel like I've been a horrible steward of the environment. How many trees have had to die in order for Nate and me to adopt? I maintain that if every parent had to complete adoption paperwork in order to have a child, the human race would die out. It's a frustrating process!

Alas, we are closer, but it's not over yet. As Tom Petty once said, "The waiting is the hardest part." And within a few days, that is what we will *officially* be doing. Waiting. Waiting for our two children, who are most likely living somewhere in Ethiopia as I type this. I just pray that they are safe and happy.

An unlikely Easter conversation with Grammie

We arrived at Nate’s Grammie’s house yesterday afternoon for Easter dinner, with food in tow. She sat down in her chair in the living room, let out a big sigh, and said, very matter-of-factly: “Well, I believe I’m dying.”

“WHAT!?” we exclaimed.

“I’ve been having the hardest time catching my breath lately,” she said. “Every time I think about my breathing, it just gets so difficult. I didn’t imagine dying would be like this.”

“Grammie, if it only happens when you’re thinking about it, then why don’t you try not to think about it?” said Nate.

“But if I try not to think about it, it just makes me think about it more.”

“Have you been to a doctor, Grammie?” I asked.

“No, but I have an appointment.”

“Good, you need to go see the doctor. And you’re not allowed to die any time soon. We’re already planning your 100th birthday party!” I said. (We haven’t been, but it seemed like a good thing to say, and I knew Nate would go along with me.)

“Really? That’s a ways off.” (Grammie is 84.) She paused for a moment, and got a look of mischief in her eyes. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, we’re hiring a stripper!” Nate said, slapping his knee. “What kind would you like, Grammie: a cowboy, a fireman, a police officer, a biker?”

“A STRIPPER?” she said, giggling, and you could see the gears in her brain moving. “Let me see...”

She mulled over the possibilities for a while, then finally said, “I think I’d like a young Marlon Brando type, from back when he was in that movie where he wore a leather jacket.”

“Not the older Brando from the Godfather, right?” I said.

“No, definitely not,” she said, laughing. “The younger one, when he was a handsome fellow.”

“So, we’ll get you a YOUNG Brando type, with a leather jacket and chaps,” Nate said.

“I think that would do,” Grammie said with a nod.

So, I guess it’s settled. Grammie has to live to see her 100th birthday so she can get her stripper!

And on the adoption front...

We're almost done with our dossier, which is the final paperwork that gets submitted to Ethiopia! I'm expecting to go to Augusta to get everything certified by the state at the end of next week or the beginning of the following week. Then our agency will send it all to Ethiopia.

We're going for TWO siblings, 60 months or younger -- we don't care about gender. I CAN'T WAIT!!! I just want to bring our kids home!!! It's so weird...I know they are almost certainly alive and living somewhere in Ethiopia, and I just pray and pray that they are safe!

Once Ethiopia accepts our dossier, our agency there will put us on the waiting list. We will only be offered what we've asked for, and it goes in order of who came first. Once we get a referral, the agency will send us pictures, biographical information, and medical information on the children, then we would be able to take everything to our pediatrician (we have already found someone who specializes in adoption and international medicine) to see what she thinks. We have the right to say yes or no. If we say "no", we go back on the waiting list, and the children are offered to the next family waiting for siblings.

Of course, I don't know anyone who has said "no".

This past Sunday afternoon, a group of Ethiopian adoptive families in Southern Maine got together and had a pool party for the kids at a local hotel. There's an Ethiopian restaurant in Portland, so we had the event catered...such good, spicy food!! There were about 20-ish Ethiopian children (and their families) there, and the kids ranged in age from babies to 8 or 9 years old. None of them had been here in the US for more than two years. You should have SEEN the kids tear into the spicy food! One little girl, who has only been here for a few months, turned to her mom and said, "Mommy, this is REAL food!" Most little kids would be horrified at the level of spice in the dishes, but I suppose if that's what you started eating, it's just normal.

There was a six-year-old girl at the event who told me I need to make sure I get a six-year-old daughter (which is not our current plan) so that she would have a new playmate. She also advised me that I need to paint my non-existent six-year-old daughter's room pink, and that she will be happy to help me select toys. She also said that it's easier living in America because she doesn't have as many chores. When she was living in Ethiopia, she had to take care of her family's chickens, sweep the floors, and take care of her younger sister (who was adopted with her). Now she just has to clean up her room and make sure she picks up after herself, but she assured me that she will have more chores when she gets older.

I swear, I have fallen head over heels for every one of the children I've met through this group of Ethiopian adoptive families. Each one of them is such an amazing blessing, and I can't wait until Nate and I get to meet our children!