We got an update!

One of the people that traveled to Ethiopia last week to bring home their child was gracious enough to check up on B (Jeremiah) for us while she was there. Here's what she had to say:

"B is a cute little guy he seemed very happy the first day we saw him, he was in the shade and had a smile every time I would get his attention. The second day I saw him he was being fed by one of the special mothers. Hannah's Hope is an amazing place and he is being loved and cared for just as you would hope while he isn't with you. I pray that the time you have to wait goes by quickly, but know that he is safe and content there."

Thanks so much for the update Christine! Hopefully we can return the favor for some other waiting families when we travel.

We've had no concerns about the care that Jeremiah is receiving but it's nice to be reassured yet again by someone who has been there and seen our son being cared for.

Court Date

We got a call from our case manager Christy today with news of our court date. It was quite a shock to us. Not as much of a shock as the Brock family got, but still a pretty good one. Our court date is April 22nd. We were totally expecting something in mid-to-late May based on the dates other families were getting. Now we may be traveling to Ethiopia by mid-May. Most families travel 3 to 4 weeks after they pass court.

We're not sure what happened. Christy said a spot in the court schedule must have become available and somehow we ended up getting it. We almost feel like we should be apologizing to the other families who we've somehow gotten in front of. While we're thrilled at the chance we may be able to get Jeremiah sooner, we're also saddened that it looks like we may not be able to travel with our friends JB & Carla. Obviously there are no guarantees we'll pass the first time through but we hope and pray that we do. Who knows what will happen, but it has been confirmed yet again that it's not in our control.

For you non-AGCI families reading this, you should really follow that link I posted above and read about the absolutely amazing news the Brock's got today. They've been through some very difficult stuff in their adoption process so it was great to see their news today. Spoiler alert - they thought they were getting called today to be told when their court date was going to be. Instead Christy was able to tell them that they passed court this week! How great is that?!?

What's happened since The Call

Once we knew the gender of our child Monica started putting the pressure on to figure out what his name was going to be. She did the same thing once we had an ultra sound during her pregnancy with Sawyer and found out we were having a boy. My Grandma Beachy was also very concerned that we give this little boy a name. It didn't take too long for us to finalize a name. We're going to keep B's Ethiopian name as his middle name. His first name will be....Jeremiah. We've always liked that name but obviously haven't used it until now. Jeremiah 29:11 sort of sealed the deal. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

After coming up with the name, I was at Miller's Country Store paying for a few things and I spotted this plaque (see below) by the register with Jeremiah 29:11 on it. I couldn't pass it up. We'll put it up in his room. FYI - the little hippo in the picture is from Ten Thousand Villages. It was made by an artisan in Kenya. Anyone in the Phoenix area should visit the Ten Thousand Villages store that my sister manages. There is some really cool stuff there. If you live somewhere else, find a store near you. OK, shameless plug over.



On Monday (02/23), we were finally able to get all of our referral acceptance paperwork sent to AGCI. The International Pediatrician from Riley called us the previous Thursday (02/19) after she had reviewed the information and pictures we have of Jeremiah. She said everything looks great. On Saturday (02/21) the last piece we were waiting for, the social worker approval form, arrived in the mail. On Monday I was able to send our paperwork in along with JB & Carla's acceptance paperwork to AGCI. The cost of overnighting a package is a lot better when you can divide the amount by two.



We're now back in the waiting mode of the adoption process. The adoption process seems to be hurry up...wait...hurry up...wait...keep repeating cycle. Right now we're waiting to find out when our court date will be. I'm assuming we'll find out sometime in the next two or three weeks.