Getting started...

In October we got the ball rolling.  We called around to a lot of agencies asking about their Africa programs and getting as much information as we could.  We really don't know anyone firsthand who has adopted from Africa, so I felt a little in the dark trying to find an agency that seemed ethical and trustworthy.  Reading reviews on the Internet can feel like a punch in the stomach.  If you dig enough you read some pretty scary sounding stuff.  But after quite a bit of researching we found our agency.

We decided that we would put aside the hopes of having an adoption completed in a year, for the security of a process that appears to be very ethical.  So we applied, and were accepted into a program for an Ethiopian adoption.  There are a few countries in Africa that are open to adoption.  Some of them are pilot programs, where details are sketchy and the process is being developed around your adoption.  Ethiopia has been open to adoption for a while now, and the process there seems to be ironed out pretty well.  Having two little kids already, we just aren't open to leaving too much to chance with this adoption.

After being accepted we decided to share the news with friends and family.  Telling people that you are adopting isn't quite the same as announcing a pregnancy.  There was quite a mixed response.  Anywhere from excitement and support, to fear and concern.  Some of the responses were a bit disheartening, but many others left us feeling wholly supported.

The kids were pretty fun to tell.  Rykin is only two, and doesn't really get it, so his reaction could be equated to, "Meh, whatever."  Aydin is completely excited.  She considered what we were telling her, agreed that it was a good idea, and asked that it please be a sister.  She stopped me one night at bed time and said, "Mom we're going to have three girls and two boys!"  I replied, "Or we might have three boys and two girls."  "No," she said, "It can be three girls and two boys, or three girls and three boys."  I explained to her how this whole thing works using the example of snack time at school, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."  She now prays every night and at every meal for her baby brother or sister.  The week before Christmas she asked us when her baby brother or sister was going to be here.  "Not for a while," I told her.  She said, "Well maybe in three days when it's Christmas they can be here."  This is going to be a long wait for her.

A long wait for us all.