Finally a Referral!

It has been so long since we began this process. But we have finally received the long-awaited phone call from our adoption agency...we have a referral! She gave us a brief description over the phone and said the pictures would be coming via e-mail. It was a baby boy, 3 months old. We finished the call and then almost immediately, the pictures were in my inbox. How exciting and very surreal. To open an email containing pictures of our son...crazy and scary and wonderful. He is so adorable. He has beautiful, creamy, caramel skin that is typical of many Ethiopians and his big brown eyes are gorgeous. We were expecting a thin child because many we have seen are emaciated - but he was not; his weight appears to be very healthy. In one of the photos, he was sucking his thumb...I melted. I am anxious to post the pictures, but there are very necessary rules (both written and unspoken) about protecting the privacy of children during the international adoption process, so until he is "officially" ours, I cannot post any photos.

We have accepted the referral and now our case will begin the process of winding through the Ethiopian court system. Should all go smoothly, we will travel to bring him home in December or January. We are hopeful, but cautious, as there could be road-blocks that arise. My brain is frantically trying to protect my heart as I fall in love with this precious little one. But a friend mentioned that we should celebrate what we have today. So that is where we are...celebrating what we have today. There is a lot to process emotionally - there has been throughout the duration of our adoption journey. I spend much time thinking about his mother, about her sacrifice to give her child a better life. About the sorrows of his family and of so many families all over Africa. We are thrilled that he will be joining our pack, but there is always an underlying thread of sorrow for what our precious son has been through in his short life.