Did you hear it?

Did you hear that big sigh of relief that just went out into the world? In case you were wondering, it came from me. I was standing in our kitchen when Kellie, our adoption coordinator called to tell me that our dossier had been sent to D.C. for authentication. They should receive it back either Monday or Tuesday, and then it will be expressed to Ethiopia!

The other thing she said to me was, "It shouldn't be long now." Sounds like they have lots of children to place. Even if we were to receive a referral somewhat soon, we wouldn't be able to travel until it went through Ethiopian court. The courts are closed now for the rainy season and won't reopen until the beginning of October. Then, they will have a backlog that they will need to work through. Considering the insanity of M's job during December, it would actually work out best for us to travel after the first of the year. It would also allow me to finish out my quarter without getting a sub!

One of the difficult parts of all this is the inability to really prepare until we have a referral. Because we have asked for 2 of either gender, 0-36 months, there are about 7 different combos we could get. Makes it hard to do things like buy clothes and set up a bedroom -- although they will be in our room for awhile. Thankfully, we still have a lot of clothes and things from when J was a baby, so that will help. Unless we get 2 girls! Ack! Of course, it is possible that we will only get one baby, and that will make things easier, but I would rather prepare for 2 just in case.

You know, the first 6 months or so will just about kill us, but that's ok. They will be our children, and that is all that matters in our world.