Referrals today! ALL BOYS!!

Good news today for some very lucky families! This is an email I just recieved -

Dear Families,

The Ethiopia team is happy to announce that we received 3 referrals
today. 3 beautiful baby boys. Two boys are 2 months old and 1 is 6 months old.
Congratulations to the happy families.

Sharon M. Turner


Soooo.....wow. Where the heck are the girls! I am excited to see some referrals come in, but BOY, THIS WAITING STINKS!!!!!!!

Last week, I had an interesting conversation with our agency about the possibly to change our request to a boy. It would move us up to #1 in line and it turns out, it would be very simple since it would be as easy as just requesting it! No additional paperwork or home study addendums. I have seriously thought about just changing our preference to either and see what happens. After discussing this with John, we just decided to wait a bit and see what happens in the next few weeks! After all, I think the very girly nursey furniture wouldnt sit well with a little boy!

Stay tuned........

Amara (ah-mah-rah) Zabel

Meaning of the name AMARA : In the legends of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) Amara is the name for paradise. Also, "amara" is a Kiswahili word meaning "urgent business."

Amara can also be a name of African origin, with two given suggestions. Firstly, it can be a female Igbo name meaning 'graceful'. It could also be a shortened form or nickname for the name Amarachi, which means 'God's grace' in Igbo. There are examples of it being occasionally used as a male name in such cultures.

~Amara Zabel~


Nothing new to post in our adoption world. We are still waiting to hear something from our agency! Its been a little too quiet, Its been three weeks and not any referrals for the families waiting.

My mom and I enjoyed a lovely lunch at Blue Nile Ethiopian restaurant on Sunday. We met up with many other KC families who are in the process or have already adopted! It was so much fun to see all the beautiful Ethiopian children. I didnt bring my camera and I am so mad at myself! Hopefully I can get a few of the photos from someone else who snapped a few shots.

All for now! Hoping for some exciting news sometime soon!

Eight Months and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

Eight Months....can you believe it? The adoption process is such a roller coaster of emotions that I could have never prepared for!! There are so many ups and downs. One year ago (acutally 2007) when we started the process, the timeline with our agency was different. When we completed our dossier, we were for sure we would have our little girl home by Christmas. The wait has been extended some, but I have a feeling that our referral is coming very soon. It has to be...because I dont know how much longer we

The good news is, our agency is opened back up today after being closed for two weeks for Christmas break. We were told that even through the agency office was closed, things can be still moving in Ethiopia and referrals can still be coming in, and the familes would have to wait until the week Jan 5th to hear anything. So we are hoping to hear this week that many families receive some referrals and court dates!

We are so ready to get that call see who our daughter is.