Wait listed!

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!
We are officially on the waiting list for a baby boy from Ethiopia!!!  WOOHOO!!!!

The longest waiting family with our agency for a child from 0-12 months has been waiting almost 12 months.  I suppose that we should keep that in the back of our minds, but of course we hope it will be quicker than that. 

Here is a bit of interesting information that we received today in our email.  Some of it may be of interest to you about the "waiting" time frame as well as other info.

"We ask for your patience during this time and completely understand that “waiting” is probably the most difficult (yet exciting!) part for most parents.  We know that the “waiting phase” can be difficult because it is filled with unknown time lines and unknown information about the child who will be referred to you.  The time frames for referral wait times for adoptive parents depend upon the children who are officially available for adoption at any given time from the orphanages with which we work, the amount of time that is required for our in-country staff to prepare a referral (completing medical tests, completing medical check ups, gathering biographical and social information, making sure that children are available for adoption), and the amount of time that is required for orphanages to obtain necessary paperwork from local government offices.  The time frames are different for each child depending on his/her specific situation, the timing of the child’s paperwork from orphanages and government offices, and a family’s referral preferences/openness.  Our in-country staff send referrals to the U.S. caseworkers as soon as referrals are ready so we as the caseworkers don’t know and can’t predict how long each family’s referral wait time will be because we are waiting along with families to receive referrals from our in-country staff and the referral wait times can change over time."

"Medical conditions that are common and typical for children referred from Ethiopia include allergies, skin infections, parasites, respiratory illnesses (asthma, hyperactive airway disease, pneumonia, etc.), symptoms of malaria, malnutrition/underweight, stunted growth, stomach conditions, and some level of developmental delays.  Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, but these are some common/expected conditions that are seen."

2, 513 children were adopted from Ethiopia by families in the United States in 2010.  
Thanks for praying with us thus far.  Keep them coming as we are going to need lots of patience :)  
YAY again for the paperwork (on our end) being complete!