Where Are the Fabertids?

**Edited 3/25**

Okay, so I keep waiting for a more appropriate time to give an adoption update. Like, maybe when something has actually happened. But I'm exploding with impatience this week. How very modern, right? I mean, we're able to do this amazing thing that might not have been possible not all that long ago, and yet I'm complaining about it taking so long. Let's just say no one has ever described me as patient.

We started the adoption process prior to any ticking clock issues, which was a good thing. Luckily we're not yet at the panic point. If I were feeling all reproductive right now, I'd likely be inconsolable. But as it is, I go from really enjoying the no-baby lifestyle to tears in zero seconds because I see a baby in the metro, or hold a friend's kid, or spot a memorable children's book in the nursery. I can't help but roll my eyes at myself. I can only hope dark chocolate and a good scotch can help solve this problem.

So where are we in the process? Well, our home study is done. As in done done, written up and everything. We imagine USCIS will receive a nice little package with our names on it any day now. So for the moment, you can all pray the office in Vermont is moving through I-600a applications at lightning speed. We have done all the paperwork we need for our dossier. The last thing we need is approval from USCIS, then our paperwork will be all ready to go to Ethiopia. USCIS can take anywhere from weeks to months to review a case, though, so it is hard to say when that will happen. We are hoping to have a referral (which just means we've been matched with children) by the end of the year if we're really, really fortunate. There's a pretty good chance our kids will manage to avoid winter in Quebec all together. Lucky them! There is no particular reason to think anything will go wrong, but we have learned that even seemingly simple things can turn out to be very difficult in this process.

In other news, we're thinking we are probably going to break down and tell you all what we're naming the Fabertids. Why? Because keeping the names a secret for another year is going to be hard. And also because we want to get prepared to share our lives with real people. It's pretty easy after a year of paperwork to forget that all of this will result in actual babies living in our house. But before we call our publicist, we thought we'd let you all weigh in. Here's your big chance to throw in your two cents.

What should we name the babies? What should we definitely NOT name the babies? Tell us your ideas in the comments section below or on the Zonkboard to the right. Don't worry about offending us, either. We're pretty certain that whatever name you think is just awful is not going to be a name we've picked. However, if one of the names we go with is one you suggested, you'll win a prize. We're not sure what the prize will be. Maybe a nice bottle of maple syrup. Or a box of snow.

**A few people have pointed out something that I forgot to mention. Our children will already have names that they were given in Ethiopia. We are planning on keeping at least one of those names, and may choose to call them by that name. We're not deciding that until after we have a referral. In some ways, you might think this makes the choosing of a name more important, but we feel like it takes some pressure off of us. They will already have names that are part of who they are, whether they or we like the names or not. We just get to give them second names if we want to that have meaning for us. It's a purely selfish endeavor in many ways. Honestly, they'll decide who they are themselves when they are old enough. I could go into how this ties in with our whole parenting philosophy, but that's a whole can of worms I'm not about to open up on this website. At least not yet.**