Still Waiting...Unofficially

We are not patient. I spend my days helping 10-year-olds (who aren't really ten anymore, but everyday I remind them that they will always be ten to me) maximize every minute of their day. And I'm pretty sure the first complete sentence that Jimmy had something to do with me not driving fast enough. So how is it that we have been fated to wait an indeterminate amount of time before we get to bring home Ellie? First, we waited to see if we would be accepted into the Ehtiopia program. Then, we waited to start our home study. Now, we're waiting for passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, doctor's appointments, and on and on.

It's really not that bad and we knew what we were signing up for when we started this. But, for today, I wish we had a timeline that cleared away the mystery :) Mostly, I'm impatient today because we're almost there, I think. Jimmy has a doctor's appointment tomorrow and will get the last bits of our paperwork to finalize our home study. The next big deal when we get that will be something that goes to USCIS that officially allows us to get an adoption visa, submit our dossier, and become official "waiters."

From the looks of things, other families have been waiting about 12-16 months after submitting their dossier to Ethiopia. There was a pretty big slow down in Ethiopia last summer with adoption processing so we're hoping now that things are back on track that our wait might be a bit shorter. It's definitely been amazing how many wonderful adoptive families we've met along the way. I can't imagine doing this without their wisdom. As I write my way out of my impatience, I realzie that we're really just totally excited and our excitement increases with every tiny task that I get to check off of our adotion "to do" list.

Holidays and Home Studies

Okay, I may have missed a prime opportunity by ignoring Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but let's be honest, none of you actually has all of your holiday shopping finished. Besides, those are like Hallmark holidays and you are all way too smart to be suckered into spending on something so artificial. So, consider this my gift to you: a reminder that people are expecting gifts from you and the malls and other stores are a ZOO, so you should click on our Amazon link on the right and shop from the comfort of home in your pajamas. Really, could life get any better? I didn't think so. Happy shopping.

Storm Watch 2011 ;)

In case you're keeping track of our progress, we had to reschedule one of our home study visits because of the massive winds last week. I was pretty sure that the Santa Ana winds were a suburban legend created by Steve Martin in Father of the Bride (if you're keeping score that was a pop culture reference, but it's over ten years old, so I'm not sure it counts). Turns out that these are crazier than any tornado that I've ever seen. Most of the city was totally fine: however, our tiny lil' part of the world lost electricity and was cluttered with fallen trees. The good news is that we were able to squeeze in the home study this weekend. So, we are 2/3 of the way through the process. We bumped our last meeting back until after New Years. So, all should be pretty quiet on the adoption front between now and then.

If you've managed to get this far, I'm not sure why you haven't clicked away to Amazon, but you should. Go. Click. Shop.

Love,
Jimmy and Celeste

Thanksgiving

We're so thankful for few days off to relax.  It's been fantastic getting to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our family and having their help as we prepared for the first meeting with our social worker. We've got three more meetings with our social worker and then we're set to work through the huge stack of paperwork that goes with our dossier. Once we complete our dossier, we'll make our way on the official un-official AWAA Ethiopia waitlist. The current waitlist has about 70 families waiting for infant girls with an average wait time of 15 months. We're hoping that the changes in the way that the Ethiopian government is processing paperwork doesn't change the wait time too much.  If all goes as expected - which is so doubtful :) - we can expect a referral and travel to Ethiopia by May 2013.

Alive :)

We’re alive! Wow! Two crazy busy months! It seems like we've just found a minute to breathe. Jimmy and I have both made the transition back to full days of work with the added fun of school for Jimmy.

I am back in my comfort zone of middle schoolers and all of the crazy that comes along with spending 10 hours a day with them. Kiddos at my school did an awesome job on last year’s state test which is just a small reminder that the work we do is worthwhile. This summer I also got to see my first round of students off to college…they are everywhere from Los Angeles to Kenyon, OH. I couldn’t be more proud of their hard work and determination.

Jimmy and I celebrated our 7^th anniversary by taking Shirin kayaking in Newport Harbor.  She was quick to capture everyone’s attention in her extra-hot princess life jacket while proudly protecting us from savage seals sunning along the way.

As for the adoption process, we are working our way through online parenting sessions on international adoption that's required by our adoption agency. We are nearing the end of the 10 hours that are required so we are nearing our home study. Now that we are re-settled and back into normal life, we promise to do a better job of keeping you posted J Thanks for your continued support and your massive support through Amazon!

Music

I'm all about winning. I'm up for a good competition any day. Well, today I win.

Jimmy has always avoided anything but tinkering and playing around with his guitar. Tonight, my living room has been turned into a make-shift recording studio.

Ross and Jimmy have spent the last few hours tinkering and playing with recording equipment turned on. Those of you who have been pestering Jimmy for years to do something productive with his music will be able to see the fruits of your labor soon.

We'll post information on how you can download a few Ferguson Originals in the next few days.