Cynosure

My Dictionary.com widget's word of the day is cynosure.
Substitute 'Baby N' in the example sentence below and I think it applies to the rest of our lives. Everything I see lately applies to Baby N and the rest of our lives. It's a bit ridiculous how our mindset has shifted gears so drastically so quickly.

cy·no·sure (sī'nə-shŏŏr', sĭn'ə-) n.
An object that serves as a focal point of attention and admiration. the cynosure of all eyes.

We've had loads of questions from family and friends asking What's Next? Very good question! There have been some recent shifts in-country regarding court proceedings and requirements. It's not uncommon to see changes put in place, but when they are - it takes a minute to get the dirt on what is fact vs. speculation. Now that all has settled and we have confirmation from our agency of the new rules (via email and a long conversation with our ever-patient caseworker) we know better where we are in the scheme of things.

Remember the ginormous amount of paperwork we were collecting, notarizing, copying and scanning for the first six months of this journey? Well, that is our dossier. It has lived in Ethiopia since July 10, 2009, where it has been translated to Amharic, scoured with a fine tooth comb by in-country attorneys and given a thumbs up. It is now awaiting Baby N's paperwork (orphanage intake forms and some other government docs). Once his paperwork is gathered (began the day after we accepted our referral) it is put with our dossier and both are delivered by a Gladney rep to the court in Ethiopia to request an official court date for our adoption. If this package is submitted to the court PRIOR to May 9th, we will be traveling once (upon passing court to bring home Baby N). If it is delivered after May 9th, we will be traveling twice (once for court date and then three to six weeks later to bring home Baby N).

In either event, we are anticipating travel before July.

The wait time for families finding out their court dates is 2-3 months from accepting their referral. However, The Schmidts (Congratulations!) received theirs in only five weeks. A few months ago, the wait was only 4-6 weeks. You see? This is why speculating is exactly that. Nothing is firm until you get word from your caseworker and each family's case is so very different.

A few positive thoughts are being sent to the families at the top of the Wait List, awaiting referrals for baby girls. Hang in there....you are so very close and we're all thinking of you.

and in closing (BIG BIG drumroll here folks....) HEIDI & MARK GOT THEIR COURT DATE!!!! April 23rd will be a day we are all awaiting to hear the news that the twins are coming home!

Okay, I am now off to watch ManU vs. Chelsea and get some baking done for our big dinner tomorrow.
Happy Easter everyone!!!