July Numbers - Ahh good news!

• 53 on the girls list (last month 64)
• 39 on the boys list (last month 49)
• 15 on the siblings list (last month 22)

As you can see from the numbers, this has been a good month of positive adoption news. After a couple months with little movement, referrals came through like a flood this month! Besides that, court dates are coming really fast after referral, and embassy clearance, which has been so difficult in the past year is coming very quickly as well. The new rigorous investigative procedures Almaz put in place in Ethiopia seem to have slowed down referrals for some time, but are paying off now. Seeing the numbers this month even got Dodd's attention. They make us excited for us and just plain happy for the kids who are getting a family. Ah, blessed good news, we love you!

The good news AGCI foreshadowed last month was a new orphanage relationtionship. The orphanage, called Miskaye Children's Welfare Association, serves children from the Benishangul-Gumuz region in Ethiopia. The region, located in northwestern Ethiopia near the Sudanese border, is described as "a beautiful and forested area that is quite remote and has high rates for malaria." The children referred from Miskaye will not move to Hannah's Hope right away. They will stay in the care of Miskaye until after the court hearing. This is a different approach for AGCI and we are interested to see how it goes. 

A little waiting story I thought I would share. Bear and I were at a rummage sale last month. The woman was selling lots of girl clothes, all freshly washed and folded neatly in perfect lines on three different tables. Seeing Bear, she asked if I was looking for boys clothes and I said yes, but said that considering how well kept everything was maybe I should take a leap and just buy some girl clothes. This made her ask if I was expecting. I took brief moment to decide which way to answer the question. I really didn't want to have a long conversation at a rummage sale so I just said yes, no further explanation. She proceeded to ask how far along I was. Again I had to decide how to answer and decided to have some fun and go for it. "About 12 months," I said, no further explanation. I thought she would kind of get it since Bear was in my arms, but my response made her eyes pop, then the confusion set in. I did take the time to explain my answer and be a good adoption "educator", but I took some guilty pleasure in the initial shock value. A girl's got to have some fun in the waiting. :)

Our homestudy and clearance checks are about to expire so I am in the process of renewing them. I will be busy with that while hoping for another great month in August!