Well, our journey to Adopt Elias took around 16 months to complete (which is actually pretty short), but we originally thought it would take much less time. When we started our process, referrals were taking 2-3 months. Our agency was new to Ethiopia and didn't have a very long wait list at the time. We actually stalled a little because we were afraid we would get our referral before we saved all of the money we needed. Because of that it wasn't until March 7th of 2008 when our dossier was sent to Ethiopia. At that time we expected a 4-5 month wait.
At just around the four month mark, another family whose Dossier was sent our day got their referral. This meant that we were close to the front of the line. That's when referrals came to a halt. The courts had closed for the rainy season and it seems referrals went on break with them (although that isn't the case for all agencies, just ours in this instance). It wasn't until Sept. 11th that we got our call (6 months, 4 days - two long months of thinking it could come at any second).
The morning we got our referral was quiet. I got my son off to preschool and turned on the TV to watch the 9-11 tributes. As I have done each year since, I remembered what I was doing that morning. After I picked my son up from preschool we went to meet my husband at his workplace for lunch. We had never done this before and Noah was really excited. We had a great lunch and Noah and I headed home. We were barely off campus when my cell phone rang. I pick it up and it's our agency director. I didn't think anything of it at first until she asked it I was sitting down, to which I replied "I'm Driving". After pulling over she gave me the news (Adam couldn't be reached on the phone and I was going to explode). I promptly turned around and went to Adam's Office. We looked at his picture together as a family.
Our first court date was set for November 28th, 2008. We were really excited about this because we would be able to have him home right before Christmas ( only two days, but he would be home for Christmas). Well, we failed court. We were heartbroken. As a way to cope with my disappointment, I ripped down several areas of wallpaper in my home, repainted and remodeled the bathroom. Nothing like a little home improvement to keep your mind off things. It worked wonders for making the time fly.
Our second court date was Jan. 15th 2009 and this time it worked. Two short weeks later we were on our way to get our guy. Worth every moment.
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