Baby Ornstein- Blogstein

Meet Benjamin

2009-11-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

I can now legally post my (ok our) son's picture.

WE PASSED!

2009-11-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

We passed court in Ethiopia!

We are officially and LEGALLY proud parents of Benjamin Yared Ornstein.

Cant wait to be able to bring him back and share our lives with him.

Happy Friday the 13th!!!!!!!!!!

FYI- The Facts

2009-11-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

Not my usual type of post; I am cutting and pasting from a Co-ET adoptive parent's blog; thank you Jen and Ethiopianrelief.org

Good stuff to know!

Why Ethiopia?

In Ethiopia, approximately 1 in 10 children die in infancy, and nearly double that number die by their 5th birthday, due to infections, tetanus and diarrhea. Ethiopia is considered the 3rd worst place in the world to be born, better only than Burkina Faso and Djibouti. Of the children who survive, many will lose their mother in childbirth and many more will lose one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.

As more and more parents die, the capacity of extended family members to take care of orphans shrinks. Ethiopia has reached the breaking point where orphaned children are now forced into the streets, into difficult working conditions and/or into heading their households.

In 2001, 13.2% of the population, 3.8 million children, was orphaned. In comparison, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda resulted in 500,000 orphans and the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia resulted in 10,000 orphans. In 2006, American parents adopted only 731 orphans. 3,799,269 orphans remain vulnerable.
(courtesy of www.ethiopianrelief.org)

Good Stuff!!

2009-10-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hi there loyal followers (of blog...not my new religious cult)...

Well, guess what? Yes, it is true, we have a Court Date of November 13 (lucky Friday the 13th)...

We are very excited- when we pass this court date Benjamin will officially and legally be our child... problem is we cant bring him home until he is provided a Visa (no not the credit card)... and that wont be until mid to end of January. So, we are excited; we jumped one hurdle and the next one is to pass court!!! Then work on travel plans...

BTW, thanks all who helped with, attended and made "Michelle's" baby shower so special! We truly are blessed with good people in our lives!

Anyway, just thought we'd keep you in the loop!

Love,

D

ughh

2009-10-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are... October 1, 2009.... WAITING...patiently (ha ha.. for those who know me- patience isnt my strong suit).

ET courts now suposedly reopening 10/12/09 after rainy season and "restructuring". Also U.S. Embassy dates will take a bit longer in the future as their requiresments have changed.

Was somewhat optimistic b4 that our son would be in our home by year end- Now, not quite the same level of optimism... but trying....

On the more positive side- our son's name will be Benjamin Yared Ornstein! We have 11 pictures of him; he is gorgous.

Cant wait to meet him in person!!!!

It's a boy!!!!!!!! We just recieved our referral.

2009-08-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah us!

So excited!

I/We just got "the call" from International Adoption Net and we have a VERY handsome and HEALHY 4 month old waiting for us in Ethiopia. His name is Yared which supposedly is a biblical name (like his Pop's... Me... go figure) I'll have to Google it, later. He will have a more mainstream American name too... we have to figure (fight) that out later.

Anyway, I'm off to look at his picture and cry and make some calls...

Next step- wait for courts to re-open (September) and assign us a "court date"... then go get him... still hopefully by the end of this year!!!!!

XO
D and M

Uhhhggg!!!

2009-07-29T08:31:00.001-07:00

Well,

We just found out that the ET Courts will close this year after all :-(

They are closing August 21st thru endish of September- So, this will more than likely delay us travelling to pick up "baby Ornstein"- oh well, this too will pass and eventually we will have the perfect baby home with us!

Just thought we'd update you! Thanks for your concern.
D and M

Wow

2009-07-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hear Ye, Here Ye,

So, I asked our Agency for clarity regarding our # 3 "place in line" for Jr. Ornstein, I like to call him Frank...get it... Frankornstein...Frankenstein... ok, moving on... and was told:

"You're still #3, but you might want to get another cocktail ready.

#1 will only accept a referral of siblings,
#2 will only accept a child OVER 12 months.
SO...if we get in a single baby under 12 months, you're up!"

So, that pretty much means that the next child, boy or girl, really under 9ish months old will be our referral and child!!!

Just thought we'd let you know. By the way, what does one do with a baby????
Confused and curious,
d

Back by popular demand...

2009-07-13T14:43:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've been lax with my blogging... I'm a newbie... and busy, damn it!

So, a funny thing happened in CT... Well, lot's of funny and not so funny things... but overall vacation was good; wet but good...

"The News" - Our agency, International Adoption Net (in CO) is fantastic and to prove it they have called us and indicated we are #1 (ish*) for a baby boy and # 3 for a baby girl referral!!!!

That added sunshine to our somewhat cloudy vacation!!!! Also, freaked me/us out a bit... but vodka and lemonade helped calm me down.

What's next?

1) the referral (again, a picture and cleared medically as available to us)

2) acceptance of the referral- duh!

3) Ethiopian court... usually 1-2 months later EXCEPT we have to contend with the courts summer closing that occurs Julyish-Septemberish based on when the "rainy season" begins.

4) Once done with that court, Baby Ornstein is legally ours... but cant leave Ethiopia until approved by US court... another 1-2 months!!!!!

So, more hurry up and wait! But once we have the referral we will know the gender of our child and have a better idea of his/her age when arriving in US... that makes it easier to buy stuff, move stuff, paint, let you buy us stuff, etc... and we can get really freaked out and anxious.

So, now you are caught up- we appreciate your love and concern and welcome any questions or large financial contributions (I joke).

Seriously, so many people, friends, families and agencies have been so very helpful and supportive. I hope to soon add links for IAN and my neighbors, friends and adoption attorney A. Patrick Hamilton and his wife Debra! They have been wonderful and I'd highly recommend you talk with either or both of these organizations regarding your adoption needs!

I'd also like to thank the Academy... oh, different speech...

Oooh, looky how tech savy I am below...

http://www.adoptioninternational.net/

http://www.aphamiltonlaw.com/

That's all for now, folks.

Peace and Love,
D

Making progress!

2009-06-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Oky Doky-

IAN (our agency in CO) has updated us that we are #3 on the baby boy list and #6 for a girl... sounds like it's probably going to be a boy, huh?

I'm sure he'll be handsome and look just like his new daddy!!!

Not sure when the referal will happen- hopefully very soon- although it's scary as crap in some ways!

Michelle and I are trying to enjoy our last months BC (before child). We were in Paris in May and will spend some time in CT this summer. Also, trying to enjoy some happy hours, friends, shopping, etc... and sleep- while we can... My wife LOVES to sleep; she has a rude "awakening" coming...

That's all for now; ya'll come back now, ya hear.

In the beginning...

2009-04-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome!

Michelle and I (David) are very excited to be adopting a little one from Ethiopia. We are looking forward to many new experiences and happy times; we are excited to have you follow along and be a part of our new journey!

At this point, we are waiting for our "referral" (healthy and available baby to be identified/"offered" to us) and hope this will occur by fall of 2009. We also hope to travel-by the end of this year or begining of next year- to Ethiopia to pick up our little bundle of joy (and hopefully not too many parasites)!

We hope take it one day at a time and roll with the flow trying to realize that some things will probably get messed up along the way but eventually we will have the best baby ever home with us!

Last I checked, we are #9 on "the list" for a boy and #10 for a girl!

Very exciting. Back with more news when as it breaks....

xo

David and Michelle