Ethiopia State of Mind

Nothing much to update on the adoption front. We finished our homestudy and are currently waiting on the SW to complete the report & send to Gladney for review. Seems like its taking FOR.EVER...

In the meantime, I've been trying to keep busy and reading as much on Ethiopia & adoption in general. There's no me without you, From Ashes to Africa, Love in the driest season (Zimbabwe adoption)are some of the books I've read so far. Any recommendations on books to read ?

First Homestudy..

We had our first home study yesterday and went surprisingly well. We were so anxious but our caseworker was so laid back and we had a a good time. I'll probably be finishing all our home study paperwork this weekend (still waiting on some references) and will then schedule the individual sessions. I'm praying this goes smoothly.

On another issue...After some talks with hubby, and our caseworker, we decided to change our request from two siblings under three to one under the age of 6 months. It was a tough decision but I think it is the right decision for us right now.

PaperChasing

OMG..I'm speechless! The amount of paperwork one has to complete is unbelievable, but we are slowly getting there. I plan on mailing the Gladney application-Part 1-3 this weekend. Yay! That's one down and a gazillion to go :-). This process is teaching me that a lot is out of my hands & control and should just go with the flow. Hard to do, but with the Grace of God it can be done....
Next week, we get to schedule our homestudy. I'm more scared of this part than anything else. Keep you posted...

On your Marks...

Its been over a year since we (hubby & I )talked about International adoption specifically Ethiopia after months of intense research, and I'm happy to commence this journey, which I know for sure, will have its ups and downs (but praying for more ups).

We picked Gladney Adoption Agency after researching a few of them. We feel its the best fit for us and are really excited.

Last night we did the online pre-processing application & waiting to see where we go from here. I've been lurking a lot of Ethiopia adoption blogs over the last year, so I'm well versed on the process and time lines but will be mentioning them here as we go along for family & those newbies like me lurking out there :-)