Next steps

I spoke with our caseworker from our adoption agency yesterday about what happens next. Here is the recap...

1. Our homstudy was sent to CIS (immigration). They will send us a letter in 4-8 weeks with an appointment for fingerprints. Then we go get our fingerprints taken and wait 4-8 weeks for the official approval from the U.S. government.

2. While we wait for CIS, our various pieces of paperwork get stamped and approved in the states in which they were notarized (CA,MN, TX, MI, FL).

3. Once we have the CIS approval and the paperwork is all back, our whole packet is sent to the Dept of State and the Ethiopian Embassy. At this point we are officially on the "waitlist" for 3 to 5 months.

4. After 3-5 months of waiting, we will receive a referral (Baby Barto). Yippee!!

5. We wait 2-3 months for a court date where Baby Barto becomes part of our family.

6. We then travel about 3 weeks after that.

This puts us in Ethiopia between Jan and May of 2009.

(The photo is of my darling Janis' daughter Audrey almost 3 years ago.)

Gladney Approved!

Our homestudy was approved by Gladney. We are one step closer to Baby Barto. I'm a little fuzzy on what exactly happens next, but I'll keep you posted.

Alison, my stepmom, made me this lovely quilt as a Mother's Day present. Baby Barto, you are sure loved!

Mother's Day

My mom sent me a Mother's Day gift for the "expecting mom." Isn't she the sweetest? Maybe next year I'll be celebrating Mother's Day as a mother. I took a picture of my altar to showcase the sweet frame my mom sent with a poem about Baby Barto.

Living It Up

As we actually move closer to becoming a family of 3, we are trying to squeeze in all things that will be hard to do with a child. We went to a Kanye West concert on a weeknight, did community service with my students today, have planned a bunch of trips for this summer and are enjoying lazy weekends. I've been think a lot lately about how our lives will change when we have a baby. I try to imagine how it will work, and it just blows my mind. I know we'll figure it out because I have lots of good role models. So, here's to sleeping in until 11 tomorrow!