Brief Moment of Reckoning

We filled out paperwork to go on another wait list. This time for daycare. It takes several months of waiting to get in so we need to get started now.

I had a brief, out of body experience while filling out the daycare sign up form. You know those moments when the reality of something smacks you in the face, then sinks in a little further.

I wrote my name in the "Mother" box.

I had to look at it a few times. Blink a few times. My name and mother....these two have never showed up together in quite this way. There's a lot of adoption paperwork where I am listed as the "adoptive mother", or we are the "adoptive parents." Kind of impersonal and always qualified with the word adoptive. We filled out that paperwork asking to be considered as parents. This form felt different. This form was not for us, it was for our kid. It didn't didn't care about all that legal adoption stuff. It just wanted to know who the kid's mom is.

By Jove! That's me.

I looked at Dodd. Showed him his name in the "Father" box. Are you ready, I asked? "Oh yeah!!"

Someday soon we will be able to erase the question mark we had to write in the kid box and replace it with an actual name. Maybe it will be two names. What a marvelous day that will be.

To conclude this post, I leave you with the coming home video of an AGCI baby girl named Lucy Lane. Her mom has been generous enough to share this video. For all the AGCI families out there, you've probably already cheered and cried watching it. But for our family and friends who don't cruise the other blogs, I would love to share this with you. I hope you enjoy it.

New Numbers and Progress

We are excited to report progress on the Miller Family Expansion Project. We are now:

#7 on the boys list

#9 on the siblings list

The really cool thing is that progress in our situation means several children have gone home.

Speaking of going home. There are at least 12 AGCI children who will be going home soon to their families who have been waiting, waiting, waiting through a very difficult time. Ethiopia put a freeze on the adoption process for children who were considered abandoned. Many of these kids were already matched with their families and had scheduled court dates when the freeze went into effect. These families have had to wait this spring and summer without knowing what would happen or if they would be able to bring their kids home.

Recently there has been good news. Our caseworker said today that all AGCI cases have been released and court dates have been scheduled. Ethiopian courts normally close in August and September but for the first time, are staying open so these adoptions can be finalized and the kids can go home.

This is an answer to many fervent prayers. We are so happy for these families! Now we pray they pass court quickly!