We got some long awaited news today! Our court date for Solomon Tsega's adoption is December 21, which means that if all goes well, on December 21 he will officially be our son, and we will have definite travel dates assigned at that point for some time in January.

Our case was submitted to court back on November 7 and our agency thought our court date would be a little bit sooner than it is, but the Ethiopian courts have been backed up and moving fairly slowly since they reopened in October from the two-month rainy season closure. Many families have been experiencing the ups and downs of having their case not pass court on the first try and having to wait for a new court date (and some families have had to endure three or four court dates before their cases were successfully passed).

We are hoping that the extra time in between our case being submitted and our hearing date will mean that there is a plenty of time for all of the paperwork to be in order (especially the approval letter from the Children's Commission that has been holding up some families recently). Since Solomon was abandoned we do not have to worry about a family member being required to appear at the court hearing which makes things a little bit more simple.

If our case does pass on the first try, then our agency is saying we should travel approximately three to four weeks later for our embassy appointment. Our agency has embassy appointments on Wednesdays, and I am guessing our embassy appointment will be on January 16 or January 23, but we will have to wait and see. (Have I mentioned that I hate waiting?) :)

So, now we wait out the next three weeks, and hope and pray everything is in order for the court date and that the judge approves the adoption on December 21. I cannot imagine a more perfect Christmas gift than knowing that Solomon is legally our son and that we have definite travel dates!

We have gotten some beautiful new pictures of him lately that make the waiting easier and more difficult all at the same time. As soon as he is legally our son I will share lots of pictures. You will not believe his beautiful brown eyes and pouty lips.

I will continue to share news as we get it. Thanks for following along on our process!


***Time is running out! If you have not yet participated, make sure you visit this post and enter the fun giveaway for National Adoption Month thanks to Curls.

* Picture from Liquid Library