Now what?

I've told and retold this story so many times but decided to put it here just in case there is someone that has not hear what "the call" means, what will happen next.

When we get matched with a baby it is called a Referral.
Our social worker from Gladney will call and say "I have a referral for you!"
Then Rolyn and I will rush home so we can be together to meet our baby.
We will call Natalie back and she will send an email with our child's file that will include pictures of the baby, all of their medical information as well as their background story. Then Natalie will walk us through all of this information and we will have a few days to accept our referral and move on to the next part of the wait. We will not be able to post any pictures of the baby online until we pass court. This is a very strict rule in all adoptions from Ethiopia. It will be hard as I'm sure we will want to scream from the rooftops and show EVERYONE our baby's sweet face.

Rolyn and I have decided that we will most likely keep the baby's background story between the two of us. We will not be sharing this for many reasons, but mostly because we feel it will be our baby's story to share when he or she is comfortable. I know this will be hard as many people are very curious, but it is what we feel will be best for our baby.

The next step will be waiting for a court date. The courts in Ethiopia close for the months of August and September so we expect a court date in October/November. Rolyn and I will be required to be present for this court hearing. We will have met our baby, but until we pass court will not be legally his/her parents. We will then have to return home (leaving our baby in the loving hands of Gladney caregivers) until we recieve our date to meet with the US embassy in Ethiopia. This takes approximately 4-6 weeks after passing court. Then we will travel to bring our baby home. Oh happy day!

I. can't. wait.