New August Official and Unofficial Waitlist Numbers!

                                     Baby boy (3 months - 12 months)

There is the official waitlist numbers that we receive from our AGCI (our agency), and then there is an "unofficial" list that is based on the number of referrals made. Most of the unofficial list is tracked through other adoptive family's receiving their child referrals!

So.....Unofficially we are NUMBER 8!!!!! Single digits baby! This means that we really could receive our referral call within the next 1-2 months! YAY!!!!!!!

                                     Baby boy siblings (3 months - 3 years)

Low numbers please!

we were told by our agency that would be getting our new august waitlist numbers this week! We are really hoping and praying for some good movement on the list like last month! Please join us in prayer today as we pray for low numbers! We will let you all know as soon as the numbers our in!

It's kinda like being pregnant for two years straight......

 
Yes, my belly may not be any bigger and I haven't had complaints of morning sickness but I definitely feel like we have been pregnant for a very long time. This November will be two years we have been waiting for our little one(s) from Ethiopia. We are getting close, very close but that doesn't mean that this road has been easy. Unlike pregnancy, we really don't know the due date. Will we get the call tomorrow or will it be another 4 months? Are we having one child or twins (siblings)? We wait patiently (or not so patiently) for our new child wait list numbers. Some months we are encouraged by the movement and others months we are discouraged. We watch all our friends get pregnant, have their baby and then by now possibly a second. This adoption journey has been filled with so many struggles as well as joys. We feel that it has truly strengthened our marriage and our faith. We are asking that all of you pray for us as our journey is really just beginning. Please pray specifically that we would receive our referral in the next 3 months!

New summer adoption numbers for July!

                                         Baby Boy (3-12months)

                                                           

             Baby Boy Siblings (3months-3years)

We are excited to announce these amazing wait list numbers for July! We moved 6 spots each from last months numbers. We have averaged 4-5 spots a month since we started the adoption process. This means that if all goes well, we should be receiving our child referral in 3-4 months! Please pray that the rest of these months will go quickly as we continue to wait for our babies!

April showers brings great wait list numbers!!!

We were completely surprised to see such movement on our adoption wait list for this month! With all the talk about delays in adoption case approvals we were expecting to see a halt in our numbers but instead we moved up significantly! We moved 6 spots on the boy list and 3 spots on the sibling list!

                 Baby Boy Sibling group (3 months-3 years)

                             

        Baby Boy (3-12 months)

Our adoption shared a passage from Isaiah 30:15 with us this week that brought us great encouragement as we wait. It says; “…in quietness and confidence shall be your strength...” We would really appreciate your continued prayers as we journey through this incredibly challenging (and exciting) time for us! Thank you all!

March Waitlist Numbers!!!

Despite all that has happened with new delays with our adoption process in Ethiopia, we still received pretty good numbers for the month of March! 

~Sibling Boys~

 

~Baby Boy~ 

 What do the numbers mean?

Well, we moved up 6 spots on the boy list (from 35 to 29), and 2 spots on the sibling list (from 24 to 22)! Yay we are in the twenties for both now!

Joint Council Emergency Campaign for Ethiopian Children

Please Go to this link and sign this petition! THANK YOU!

 http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43714.html

Petition:

The Ministry’s plan to reduce intercountry adoption by 90% is a tragic, unnecessary and a disproportionate reaction to concerns of isolated abuses in the intercountry adoption process.

We support the Ministry’s goal of ensuring ethical adoptions that serve the best interest of children and serve all vulnerable children & families.

We respectfully urge the Ministry to consider the overwhelmingly positive, ethical and legal services provided to children and families through intercountry adoption. Rather than eliminate the right of Ethiopian children to a permanent family, we encourage the Ministry to accept the partnerships offered by governments, NGOs, and foundations.

Such partnerships could increase the Ministry’s capacity to regulate service providers, further ensure ethical adoptions and expand services to more families and children.

We, respectfully urge the Ministry of Women’s, Children's and Youth Affairs to reconsider its plan and to partner with governments, NGOs and foundations to achieve their goals and avoid the coming tragedy for children and families.

 

A test of our faith...

Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Please pray for us and our future children as we are really struggling with an overwhelming amount of discouragement right now. We want so badly to start our family and everyday that goes by gets more and more difficult for us. The waiting is almost more than we can bare at times. We know in our hearts that God has a plan for our future family and that our child/children are out there somewhere but it does not make the wait and struggles that come along with this process any less trying.

Please pray that this current decrease in the number of approved adoptions would be resolved and that our adoption agency as well as other agencies, can continue in their work of placing children with their forever families!

Please Pray!!!

Please pray as you read this update with the current adoption process in Ethiopia.

Statement on the Pending Reduction of Intercountry Adoption in Ethiopia
Last week the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs announced their intention to reduce intercountry adoptions by 90% beginning March 10, 2011. The Ministry’s plan for a dramatic reduction is apparently based on two primary issues; 1) the assumption that corruption in intercountry adoption is systemic and rampant and 2) the Ministry’s resources should be focused on the children for whom intercountry adoption is not an option. Without further announcements by the Government of Ethiopia, it is our understanding that the Ministry’s plan will be initiated this week.
The Ministry’s plan is a tragic, unnecessary and disproportionate reaction to concerns of isolated abuses in the adoption process and fails to reflect the overwhelmingly positive, ethical and legal services provided to children and families through intercountry adoption. Rather than eliminate the right of Ethiopian children to a permanent family, we encourage the Ministry to accept the partnerships offered by governments, NGOs, and foundations. Such partnerships could increase the Ministry’s capacity to regulate service providers and further ensure ethical adoptions.

The Ministry’s plan, which calls for the processing of only five adoption cases per work day, will result not only in systemic and lasting damage to a large sector of social services, but will have an immediate impact on the lives and futures of children. Moving from over 4,000 adoptions per year to less than 500 will result in thousands of children languishing in under-regulated and poorly resourced institutions for years. For those children who are currently institutionalized and legally available for adoption, the Ministry’s plan will increase their time languishing in institutions for up to 7-years.

Joint Council respectfully urges the Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs to reconsider their plan and to partner with governments, NGOs and foundations to achieve their goals and avoid the coming tragedy for children and families. 

A Little Adoption Humor

You Know You're Adopting When...

• You keep an extra copy of your dossier in your car just in case the house burns down.
• You stalk the mail person on a regular basis.
• You feel more connected to other adoption bloggers than you do to some members of your extended family.
• You’ve had more yard sales this year than you have had in your entire life.
• You are now on a first name basis with the employees at USCIS.
• You worry about, dream about, and are completely in love with a child you have never met.
• Your heart skips a beat when the phone rings.You have given your Case Manager a special ringtone on your cell phone (AGCI loves this one!).                                ~Provided by AGCI

Our New Year Wait List Numbers!

Baby Boy Siblings (3 months-3 yrs old)

*We jumped 5 spots this month!
And yes, that is the 24 TV show logo :-) 

Baby Boy (3 months-12 months)
* We jumped 3 spots this month!

God is in Control!!!

Our Merry Christmas December Wait List Numbers!

Baby Boy Siblings (3 months-3 yrs old)
Yay! We have officially entered the 20's!

 

  Baby Boy (3 months-12 months)
We jumped so many spots on the boy list last month and only 1 spot this month! The wait list is very unpredictable at times but we take hope knowing that our God is in control of this list and we will bring home our baby(s) at the exact time He has chosen!

Our November Waitlist Numbers!

           Baby Boy Siblings (3 months-3 yrs old)

 

Baby Boy (3-12months old)

Firetruck quilts for our babies!!!

Grandma Bennett made two beautiful firetruck quilts for her soon-to-be great grandbaby boy(s)! She presented them to Andrew and I during our Thanksgiving celebration today!

THANK YOU GRANDMA! 

We love them!

Thank you for helping "change" a child's life!

We wanted to give a BIG thanks to all of you who donated your spare change to our baby bottle fundraiser! We finally took all the change to the bank today to get deposited. After counting thousands of coins (with over 3,000 in pennies), the grand total came to:

$725.43!!!

With this money we were able to pay for the U.S immigration fees for our child  to come home!

Waiting...

Our journey continues and the lessons in patience seem to grow. We are excited to be done with our dossier and waiting for a referral! Our waiting list numbers can't get small enough fast enough! We knew this process would take time but it seem so much longer and slower as we get closer to bringing our baby(ies) home. We are thankful for all the prayers and support we have received through the process. Megan is getting ready to finish her RN and I am continuing my studies while we wait. I am thankful for the distractions to help us pass the time. I know that we will be on a plane headed to Ethiopia before we know it!

As a soon to be Father I can’t help but be a little anxious but mostly excited! I know that there will be challenges and many more lessons for me as this is all new to me. I am thankful for an amazing wife who is more than ready for a baby! I know we will be able to handle the challenges and I can’t wait to share the joys that will come with being a parent! 

We will continue to keep everyone updated as we hear more. We are grateful for your continued prayers for the right baby(ies) in the right time!

Andrew

NOTE: Megan has decorated the baby room and it looks great and the only thing missing is the baby(ies)! Click here for pictures!

Seattle AIDS Walk/5k Run Sept. 25th 2010!

Everybody needs their very own Adoption T-shirt! ;-)

We have several adoption T-shirts left over from the 1/2 marathon "run for a child" fundraiser! We payed $6.50 each for them so we are just wanting to sell them for that amount or for your donation! All proceeds will of course go towards our adoption fund! We have all sizes left! Just email us at: Megandrew7@gmail.com and we will get one to you!

This is the fun part!

I have had so much fun the past few weeks going to garage sales every Friday morning and cruising Craigslist for baby stuff! It has been amazing to see the kinds of deals I have been finding! The whole nursery is full of used baby items that were either given to us by friends, family and sometimes random people, or found at garage sales and Craigslist! We have bought nothing new! God is so good and has really been blessing us through others.

It's funny how the mention of our adoption at a garage sale influences the seller to lower the price. It usually goes like this: I am looking around at the cute baby boy clothes and ask "how much for this baby sleeper?" "All the clothes are $2 a piece" says the seller in a very matter of fact tone. She then asks "how old is your baby?" I respond with a smile, "Well, I'm not quite sure." Of course my response usually is followed by a disturbed look on that mother's face as she is probably thinking of what a horrible mother I must be not to know my child's age. I then go on to explain that we are adopting a baby and do not know the age as of yet. "oh...(sigh of relief on mother's face) that is wonderful!" I say the usual thank you and yes we are excited. As I continue to look through the baby clothes the mother says "how about 3 for a $1 in instead of $2 a piece?"
I don't mind paying full price for items, especially garage sale full prices but it is so nice to see how God blesses us in even the little things!

Help "Change" a child's life!

Help “change” a child’s life by donating your spare change!

All funds will go towards helping us bring home our adopted baby from Ethiopia!

Please let us know by email if you would be willing to fill up a baby bottle with your spare coins or dollar bills!

Our goal is to collect all the bottles by August 31st! 

This is our last adoption fundraiser before we bring our baby home!

Thank you so much for your support!

Andrew & Megan Charvet

megandrew7@gmail.com