Step one: complete!

Justin and I submitted our application to AWAA on Tuesday, August 24th. The wait time to see if we are accepted is 10 business days. It's been 5 and it feels like it's been 5 months. How am I going to wait so long for our referral?? Ugh!! Praying for the health and safety of our developing child and his birth mother and a little patience for us :)

By the way- we requested a boy!

Here's how the process goes:
Step #1: Submit Application
Step #2: Receive acceptance for organization
Step #3-30: Homestudy (this includes physicals, discipline beliefs, description of home, inspection by fire marshall and DHEC of home, proof that our pups are vaccinated, and so much  more!) It is referred to as the "paperwork pregnancy"
Step #31: Approval of home study
Step #32: Wait for referral (that's when they find a child for us!)
Step #33: Receive phone call that will change our lives forever telling us they have found a child for us
Step #34: Go to Ethiopia & meet our son, go to court to apply for adoption (7-10 days)
Step #35: Go home (leaving our son in the orphanage of Ethiopia), will be the hardest 2-3 months of our lives
Step #36: Get phone call saying we can go back and get our son after all paperwork has processed
Step #37: Go to Ethiopia and bring home our baby! :)

Love you all!