I waited as long as I could and I finally had to email my poor case manager today to tell her that it was my problem, but I was chomping at the bit horribly. We've been on the Ethiopian waitlist now for 9 weeks, which isn't bad. However, we've been on SOME waitlist (either Guatemalan or Ethiopian) for nearly 8 months. I'm ready to move on to the next phase!

We're now #10 for a referral. My case manager assured me that, while it probably doesn't seem like we're making much movement (she's right), the reality is that there have been a lot of boy referrals lately. Just as it sometimes seems as if everyone around you is pregnant with a boy or a girl, so it goes with this process. The pendulum should shift soon and we should see some more significant movement on the list. Also, two families ahead of us are open to a boy OR a girl, and one family ahead of us has different age parameters than we do, so technically we could be further up on the list than #10 very soon.

I asked if it was within the realm of possibility that we might be able to possibly perhaps receive a referral in April, and we were told that yes, it was within the realm of possibility that we might be able to possibly perhaps receive a referral in April. So that felt good.

It was also nice to learn that children come into Hannah's Hope all the time. I had previously thought that it was sort of a "three out, three in" process. I was pleased to learn that, as long as capacity isn't exceeded, kids can come in at any time. So it's possible that in not too long, we could receive that long-awaited phone call.

Stay tuned!