We Got Our Referral!!!!!

I am very, very, very excited to announce............... We have a four-month-old son!!!!!!! I wish that I could share his picture because he is absolutely precious. He has a big smile and bright, shining eyes. They are so dark brown and beautiful. His skin is "caramel latte" color and his hair looks black and silky. I could go on and on.... Can you tell I am excited? I have made prints of the three photos that they sent us, and we have them posted everywhere around our house. My love for him is growing by the hour.

We got the phone call on Tuesday. Daniel was able to come home from work so that we could be together when we heard about him and saw his picture for the first time. We spent that day just taking it in, reflecting, praying. Yesterday we started calling and emailing all of our family and friends. Today I am ready to shout it to the whole world! We have a baby boy!

My heart is full, and I just want to head to the airport right now to go and get him. Unfortunately, the best case scenario is that we will be able to travel in late February or early March. For now we have to wait: first to be given a court date, then for our court date to arrive, then to be given our travel date, then for our travel date to arrive. At the least, this will take two months.

I didn't know how I would feel after we found out the details about our little boy. I thought that possibly I would feel even more restless and anxious than I did before we got our referral. But that hasn't been the case. I have slept so well the past couple of nights. I know now that he is well taken care of at our adoption agency's transition home. He is no longer in the rural orphanage where he was initially abandoned, where they possibly had no electricity, no formula, and far too few staff members. He is in a safe, clean place with great nannies and a doctor on staff. His smile is so bright and alive in the photo that they sent us. It helps me to feel peace that he is OK.

I do feel desperate to find out as much information about him as possible. We have so little. All we know is that he is from a small village in the southwest of Ethiopia, his mom was 22, and she did not list a father when she relinquished him at the orphanage. I don't know if he died or if he is just not in her life. I do not know what her situation was - sick, poor, or just otherwise incapable of caring for him. The meaning of his name is "Miracle" so I trust that she loved him from the day that he was born and did all that she could to make sure that he was going to be OK even if she was not. I don't really even know how to go about getting more information. But I am going to do all that I can to find out more about his short life story.

I wish that I could leave you with a photo that would definitely make you smile, but that has to wait until after we pass court and he is officially our son. Until then, just trust me - he's cute! :)