Not the announcment I hoped to make, but....

I had hoped to be writing on my blog today that we had decided to go full steam ahead as fast as we could with an adoption from Ethiopia for our fourth child. I spent all day yesterday researching the program, and looking at Ethiopian kids. But alas, my husband is just too practical-minded to go full steam ahead. We have a nice home and a good life, but we can't just go from $1000 fees for a second child in Ghana to $8,500 fee ($5000 to get started) to work with Adoption Guides in a night. We just can't put it on a credit card--literally can't.

It is *SO* hard for Eric to say no to me, even if it's only a temporary no. So I must trust his "we just can't right now."

But the good news is that "we just can't right now" applies to Adoption Guides. Their fees are very reasonable but $5000 is due right at the beginning. This morning I have learned what AAI's fees are within $500 the same (!) and their intial costs are "only" $2200!!! I just got off the phone with Eric and he said we can go forward with AAI as soon as we get our second child fee refund from LVI ($1000). He thinks we can scrounge up the rest! WOO HOO!!!!

So what about the rest of the fees that we still don't have at this point? Well, AAI has a 12-18 month waiting period for infants, so we would have plenty of time to fundraise and save the other $6500 we need for the adoption. It doesn't delight me that the wait for a referral is so long, but in a way it will be good. We will eventually get a baby home, and in the mean time we should have several months with Bright as the "baby" of the family. Waiting doesn't feel good to me, but I can see the good in it.

Some of you may wonder why we aren't waiting to see if we can get another referral through Eugemot (especially since Lois feels like Mama E will eventually change her mind). This is another Eric thing. As disappointed as I am with all of the bumps in the road to adopt from Ghana, Eric is 100 times that. He isn't just disappointed. He's angry and hurt and feels like we were sold a bill of goods. He would walk completely away from Ghana if it weren't for Bright. So he wants to pursue our fourth child elsewhere--someplace that is more established, and with an agency that has a longer track record. I would still be quite tempted to accept another referral from Eugemot, but it is an absolute "NO" for Eric at this point.

One of these days we're going to get kids home you all! Just watch!!! =-)

Love,

Anita