IT'S A BOY!!!!

Yes, that's right.....we have a referral for a baby boy! Roger and I got the call yesterday, August 20th, at 5:08 p.m. We were not expecting it, to say the least, even though we were right at 8 months of waiting and we were told to expect 6 to 9 months. But isn't that the way it always goes? Just when you least expect it. Although I did have a dream last Thursday night that our caseworker called my cell phone and said, "Hi, Abby, this is Crystal. I'm just calling to let you know that I'm going to have some good news for you very soon, so be sure to answer your phone." Amazing. Needless to say, we are over the moon, beyond excited, and still processing our new reality. Thank you to all of our wonderful friends and family who have prayed for us, cried with us, shook their fists in the air with us, kept the faith for us, reassured us, and encouraged us. Roger and I have had so much fun sharing this amazing news with everyone over the past 24 hours. Your reactions and excitement is absolutely priceless. Last night was pure shock and now today I think it's starting to finally sink in. I know this because the minute I have time alone to really think about this sweet baby and what this all means, I cry just at the thought of him. This is just such an awesome place to be. Please continue to keep our sweet little boy in your thoughts and prayers, that he will stay healthy and happy and thriving and that we will hopefully pass court on the first try so we can bring him home ASAP!

A little info on our little man:

• He is approximately 2 months old -- date of birth listed on his paperwork says 7-9-09
• He looks amazingly healthy! He weighed approximately 9 pounds on 7-24-09 -- chubby for an Ethiopian baby!
• He has an Ethiopian name that we will use as his middle name and a first name Roger and I have picked out for him that we will share with everyone after we pass court (Sorry, Grandmas!)
• He has big, sweet cheeks and gorgeous brown eyes
• We are falling madly in love with him.

We would love nothing more than to share his beautiful face with everyone, but that will have to wait until we pass court. As for how things will progress from here on out, there is still a process. We are now waiting to learn of our court date. Ethiopian courts will be closing within the next week or so and will reopen the beginning of October. We will probably not learn when our court date is until AT LEAST October. Hopefully we will GET a court date before the end of the year and hopefully we will travel to bring him home in January or February. These are all estimates and that's all the information we have. We, of course, will post any new updates as we get them.

In case you were wondering who won the "guess our referral date" game, it was my mom who got it right on the nose -- August 20th!

I believe Roger will be posting our video of us seeing our baby's picture for the first time in the next day or so, so check back soon!