March Number Is Here~

Yes, we are 15-not much movement, but some!

There is one family that will officially be accepting their baby girl referral this week-so when they do, it will at least bump us down 1 spot. But officially, we are number 15 (14 after they accept their baby girl this week).
OK-so since we are officially number 15th this month-this is what I am gonna go by-since I don't want to get my hopes up anymore for movement-ACGI says that an average month moving 3 spots on the baby girl list is a "good and normal month"-so realistically (moving 3 a month) here is a time frame that I am setting to be realistic! :-). Lets pray it goes faster! It should-but again-don't want to get our hopes up....also, Ethiopia has a court closure around Aug./Sept....so IF we pass court by then we can travel, but we HAVE to pass court before that time-or we have to sit and wait, doing nothing until October.....so this is a little bit of pressure to get through!

Here is the timeline I set up-
March number=15
April number (anticipated)=12
May=9
June=6
July=3
Aug=referral
Court=Oct
Travel=November/December

Usually the stage is: accept referral of baby, 1-2 months later pass count in Ethiopia(baby is now officially/legally yours), 1-2 months later-travel to get her.
One thing I do know is that a order just came down from the State Department that the baby's visa paperwork has to be done BEFORE travel-what this means is that it could now delay the time between passing court in Ethiopia(which happens about 1-2months after you accept your referral of the baby) until travel time by up to a few weeks! We were sad about this-but there is nothing to do but ride the wave and stay on. :-) AGCI is holding a conference call on Wed. this week to answer questions about this and also to address some concerns that the media has been having about Ethiopian adoptions in general (bad press)-NOT about our adoption agency, but regardless, anytime there is negative press, the country gets pressure put on it....of course I am nervous about what this conference call will be about-but I don't think it will be bad. Keep praying-this waiting is really starting to get to us! It is hard!

So, since I picked Shamrocks to do our number in this month, on a boring or maybe interesting note-in celebration of St. Patrick's Day-which I learned recently is actually a Christian holiday, here are some facts about the Shamrock- :)

When Ireland was a land of the Druids, a Christian bishop known to us now as St. Patrick, came to teach the word of God. Although the origins of the shamrock are lost in antiquity, legend suggest that St. Patrick plucked a shamrock from Irish soil to demonstrate the meaning of the Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The plant was reputed to have mystic powers in that its petals will stand upright to warn of a approaching storm. The shamrock remains Ireland's most famous symbol. The shamrock is also commonly associated with the symbol of luck. In studying Celtic history, scholars have discovered that the shamrock was a charm to ward away evil.