Just a little addition to the last post

So funny, I forgot to say that each Alex and Nicholas want a different sex sibling.  Alex is pulling for a baby sister and Nico is pulling for a baby brother.  Funnier yet, Nico said to me the other day "Mom when Alex gets his baby sister and I get my baby brother we will both be so excited."  Whoa hold the phone, I think to myself, how do I break it to my bubs that somebody is goin get their feelings hurt because Mommy and Daddy only asked for one more, not two.  Nico is so sweet but so unrealistic LOL :).

Holdin on to Hope

And we wait.... (it really has only been like a month and a half but as most of you know I am a tidge dramatic (this is where you say a silent prayer for Rob lol :) ).  In the last couple of weeks our social worker did email and let us know that our dossier was received in Ethiopia, translated, and sent to the MOWA (Ministry of Women's Affairs).  So we are OFFICIALLY waiting, woo hoo(I know I said this in the last post but this is OFFICIAL)!  It is so wild but I actually find myself so attached to this child that I don't even know.  I often tell people that I think about how hard the first trip will be where we meet our child for the first time and how I cry just thinking about having to leave him or her.  Crazy I know because we don't even know if it is a him or her but I tell you he or she will be amazing just like Nico and Alex and I love him or her already.  Another great thing, I joined a group my friend from work started (who is also adopting from Ethiopia, Thanks so much Sue!) and we met for the first time last week.  WOW, I enjoyed so much talking to and hearing from all the ladies about their amazing journeys, some of which are home with their beautiful children and others who are in similar stages of the process as Rob and I.  The meeting was such a great stage to share, learn, and gather strength that the end result is soooo worth the wait.  It was also just neat to learn more about Ethiopia from those who have been there and chip away more in understanding a culture that seems more and more to be pretty amazing.  It makes me want to think far beyond adoption and find other ways to assist in helping this amazing culture of people gain more access to healthcare and offer opportunities to give orphans the chance to be well cared for in their own country.  Who knows what the future holds but I am open to suggestions and nudges (we shall see).  Stay tuned things are just getting interesting......

Numero 2 Post

YAAYYYY!  We received our approval from the USCIS, and we had our Dossier state sealed.  I just chatted with our social worker and we just have to sign ONE more piece of paper (we have signed like three thousand so far, what is one more, really.) and then the Dossier will be reviewed by the International Director and very soon be UPSed off to Ethiopia.  Our social worker said we can officially start our wait time for a referral (she is so sweet, I think the wait officially starts when your document arrives in Ethiopia but she wants to give us that shimmering thread of light to hold on to.  Thank you Kim.).  So this is super big news for the Binns', even though as I mentioned before, the wait currently is 6-12 months and that wait time could change at anytime for better or worse.  And so, we laugh, love, and pray.  Life is good :).  Toodles noodles.

Getting Things Started (1st post)

Hello All!  I know many of you are thinking, "The Binns starting a blog, this should be good."  Well stay tuned because the Binns have started their blogging journey about our adoption of our third child from Ethiopia.  We are hoping that this blog will be therapeutic for us, interesting for you, and lastly a good way to document our journey for all of our children to read later.

I won't bore you with the details (because many of you I already have, thanks for listening)but do know that it is a decision that we feel blessed to have made.  This journey has been so very similar but so very different from being pregnant.  Rob and I continue to hold on to the amazing gift that our child's biological parents will be giving us and how much they must love this child to do such an unselfish thing, to think of their child ahead of themselves.

Where are we at in the process:  We are currently finshing up our Dossier and waiting for our final approval from the USCIS.  So basically this means, soon we will begin our wait for our referral for our child.  The referral wait time is estimated between 6 to 12 months.  We are requesting an infant (I still crave that baby stage) so the hope is that the baby will come home between 6 and 8 months old.  Once we receive our referral we will travel to Ethiopia twice, once for a court appointment (a shorter stay about 5 days) and then our final trip where we go to the embassy and we are able to bring the baby home (woo hoo).  A lot still ahead but Rob and I are so super excited to begin our wait time for our child's referral (that is big news for us in a process that has been long).  Thanks for listening, toodles noodles for now.