Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.

-Ethiopian Proverb-

Saturday, March 27, 2010

We are in the Window!

On Wednesday, March 24th, we officially entered into the referral window! Yea!!! Hooray!!! On that day four months earlier, we received a text message that our dossier was officially hand delivered to the Toukoul Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via DHL. According to our agency, we should receive our referral between March 24th and May 24th! I find myself constantly jumping at the phone on business days wondering if any phone call I receive is "THE call". I have taken to stalking Ethiopian adoption blogs of other families who have adopted or are adopting through our agency because I'm looking for hints as to how long they waited for a referral! For those readers who do not know what parameters we requested regarding our future children, we humbly asked the director of the Toukoul Orphanage to please match us with two infant girls between the ages of 0 to 3 months of age at the time of referral who are either related or unrelated and in as good health as possible. I thought that these parameters were a bit too narrow, but according to Tami, the director of our agency, they are not! It amazes me to think that Laurel and Willow have been born and are out there somewhere. My mother's heart is constantly worried for their health and safety. I find myself wondering if they have enough to eat or if they are scared or sick. According to the Toukoul newsletter, the orphanage is experiencing formula shortages due to the current economic climate, and I sincerely hope that they do not start watering down the formula or adding sugar to it to round it out for the babies. This has been done in other orphanages in other countries when they have experienced baby formula shortages. We have the opportunity to bring over formula as orphanage donations when we travel to Ethiopia which is something we are more than happy to do! Most of the babies who are cared for at Toukoul are in such dire shape when they are admitted into care at the orphanage, most can only tolerate a specific formula that is made especially for sensitive, fragile babies! I wish that I could somehow tell our two youngest daughters that they are going to be okay and that they have a home and family who want them and love them unconditionally! I ask for your continued good thoughts and prayers for our family, our baby girls, and the children of Ethiopia.

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