Adoption Update!

There has certainly been no lack of activity in this house-just a Mama who has been remiss in reporting the recent events. In order to bring you up to speed, here is the latest news.

On March 4th we received Chaltu's (I will likely refer to her as ChallieJayne or Challie from now on) Ethiopian birth certificate. We were told by our agency that they were just waiting for the rest of the adoption and court documents to arrive so that they could file the paperwork to classify her as our relative (this is the I-600 in adoption/immigration speak). On March 11th, we found out that the local immigration office officially updated our approval to reflect an older child, YAY!
Then on March 22nd, our agency informed us that they had in fact submitted the I-600(and immigration verified that they received it on March 24th)!

So now what?

We wait for an embassy date in Ethiopia. This is when the visa interview occurs, and when she is issued a United States entry visa to come to the US! We don't know when or where, but we were told by our agency that it has typically been taking 6-12 weeks from the time the I-600 was filed to the embassy appointment. She will be escorted to the US, and although we do not know the exact port of entry, it looks like there is a good chance that it will be Washington, DC. We will drive there a day or so before and rest up before we have our "Forever Family Day." We were hoping it would be before her birthday, but since that is May 7th, it does not look like that will happen.

Reminding myself that it is all in His perfect timing.

I have posted some pics. Thank God for the families who have already traveled to pick up their children and volunteered to take pics of our sweet girl (THANK YOU AMANDA)! From the pics we have, we have determined a few things:

(1) There are a LOT of pics of her eating-she will fit in well with this family :O)
(2) She has a LOT of personality (will be very interesting with AlinaJayne)
(3) From the bruise on her forehead, she is as graceful as the rest of this family
(4) I may finally have a daughter who is short like me

The other thing we found to be amusing-there is a pic of her on the potty, and she has the exact same undies that AlinaJayne had when she was 3!

Check back soon. I promise to be better about keeping this blog updated! In the meantime, enjoy the pics.


(you can click on the collage to make it bigger)