The Journey

TRACKING OUR PAPERS- THEY ARE GETTING CLOSER!

FINALLY! WE HAVE OUR DTE (Adoption language for dossier to Ethiopia). All of our papers are on their way to Africa this very moment! We are officially waiting on our referral for our baby! No more waiting for government documents, no more waiting for signatures, no more waiting for anything else! Just waiting waiting for the moment where we get to see our baby's photo and get all of the information about him/her. During our waiting period, we still have lots to do! We still have to get our immunizations, prepare the baby's room and the house for the baby, and I am sure a long list of other things that will come up. If the wait is longer, we may actually have to have our FBI fingerprints, our form from Immigration, and our home study updated. I am praying that won't have to happen, but we have to make sure these documents stay current. We are currently tracking our papers via FedEx. They are currently not out of the US, but I will be sure to let you know when they reach ...

Most of our post are to inform our friends and family about how the process is going, but this post is for Baby W. Merry Christmas, baby! This Christmas has been one of the best so far. Even though you weren't here with us, you were talked about, you received gifts, and you were prayed for by Aunt Janeece.  Baby, mommy and daddy don't know if you will be with us next Christmas, but we are really hoping this was our last Christmas without you. You already hold such a special part in the Woodson and the Jones family Christmas celebrations, and we can't wait for you to be here. We are all so excited about you coming home. Mommy and daddy sometimes wonder if you are even born yet. If you are, we are praying you were held, loved, and comforted this Christmas since mommy and daddy couldn't be there with you. If you aren't born yet, we are praying for your birth mommy and that she is being held, loved, and comforted this Christmas. We currently don't understand the...

Finally! After a long month of waiting for this document, it has finally made its way into our hands. This document was the last piece of information that we needed for our dossier (our big pack of papers that goes to Ethiopia). This piece of paper states that we have been approved to be fit parents in the United States, and it gives us permission to bring an immigrant orphan into the US. Our dossier is currently at our adoption agency in Virginia. They are currently processing all our papers, and they are verifying that everything is correct. They want to make sure that everything is how the Ethiopian government requires it, so we don't have any major bumps along the road. I AM SUPER EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT AS LONG AS THINGS GO AS PLANNED, OUR DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) IS FRIDAY! YES! WE WILL BE TRACKING OUR PAPERS TO ETHIOPIA VIA FEDEX! This is a huge answer to prayer because we were worried about the holidays slowing things down. We want to again thank e...

I really need to stop and just thank my wonderful husband, Jeffrey, for being by my side through this whole adoption process. I know we still have such a long journey ahead, but it is so much easier knowing I have such a strong man walking with me. I know he is going to be the best daddy in the world. 

A few months ago, my dear friend, Kaitlin, walked into my classroom and told me she had a gift for me. "I bought you guys two photo sessions. One for before the baby comes and one when the baby is home." I was so excited and thought it was one of the nicest gifts someone could give us. It showed us that she truly understood our heart with this adoption. Since Kaitlin gave us the gift, I have told many people, posted about it on Facebook and now have posted a few of the photos from the preview shots that the photographer posted the day of the shoot. Many people have asked us if this was something required for the adoption and why we were having to do these photos. Yes, the government of Ethiopia and the United States have required us to send in pictures that included photos of us with friends and family, photos of our house and more, but this was not another thing to check off the giant adoption process checklist. We are not sending these photos to Ethiopia. The purpose ...

As many of you know, Jeffrey and I went to our FBI fingerprinting appointment today. This was very exciting for us! Once we receive this paper from immigration, we are ready to send all our papers to our adoption agency. All of our paperwork will be reviewed and translated; they said it usually takes about two weeks till they send everything to Ethiopia. So many of you have been asking us WHEN? WHEN? WHEN? Last week, I received some discouraging news through a conference call from our adoption agency. They said that the current wait time is 18 months once our papers get in country. As I heard this news, I began to cry. I feel like we are getting so close, but then this news makes it feel so far away. They said that things can change, but this is the current wait time for an infant. We are falling more and more in love with this baby everyday, and are so excited to finally see his or her little face. Many people have asked me why does this process take so long. The good thing is r...