Changing horses midstream

So. It's been a while. We've been spinning wheels. We've made no progress. We've been frustrated. We're changing agencies.

Right after Christmas our previous agency hit a snag when one of their cases fell under investigation by the Ethiopian government. We don't know the nature of the investigation, but we believe them when they say they were following all the rules, regulations, and ethical guidelines. We did tons of research and our previous agency is one of the most well established and highly rated agencies dealing with Ethiopian adoptions in the country, but Ethiopia is cracking down and that is a good thing.

We were told they hoped the investigation would take 2 weeks and until the investigation is cleared up there would be no placements, referrals, court dates, nada... Everything came to a halt. That was two days after Christmas and still no movement.

We so badly want this paperwork behind us. We were soooo close to finishing our paperwork having done our homestudy and having most of our dossier completed, but the previous agency needed our agency application completed which involved paying a big chunk of change, and we felt uneasy committing more financially to an agency with a case under investigation.

Enter Steve and Susan.

I met Steve and Susan at Jivamukti Yoga. (Second note to self of this nature: good things come when you just go to class) Steve and Susan are also adopting from Ethiopia, and will soon be returning to Ethiopia to bring their boy home with them. I can't tell you how excited Fredrik and I are to find another family adopting from Ethiopia! Another family to help us celebrate Ethiopian holidays, another family that will look like us, another family who will have lived a similar process. We've chatted, emailed, sweated and omed next to each other in yoga, and finally we had dinner. We picked their brains, they shared many stories, opinions, pictures and videos.

So now, after much thought, several phone calls and more research, we're switching to their agency. It feels good to have some forward motion again, even if we have to redo some things.

Not only have we switched agencies, and met Steve and Susan....we've been in touch with yet another family here in little ole Charleston with two small boys from Ethiopia! They tell us there are more families in the area. We are giddy with this news. Kysa and I are meeting Evelyn and K tomorrow for a playdate. I can't wait!

So even though we may have stalled out and possibly even backtracked a bit in the paperwork department, we have at least progressed in making a community for Mamoosh and our family, and that feels big. Really big.

And in the meantime as we feel frustrated that even the paperwork is taking longer than expected, I keep telling myself She is always on time....