Referral or Travel Blind?

Well, I received some discouraging and then encouraging news from my agency this past week. I emailed my coordinator to see if she had any news because I truly thought I would be assigned to a region by now. My dossier has been in Kaz for about 7 weeks now. She said that summer always slows down because of people on vacations, etc. But she also said it has been the slowest summer that they have ever seen; figures!

On a conference call with the agency a couple of days later, they mentioned that referrals seem to be coming in faster for some strange reason right now. A referral is when you get a picture and maybe some medical information on a specific child before you travel. Kaz does not "hold" referrals so there is no guarantee that this child will still be there by the time you arrive in Kaz. Now, historically, traveling blind has always been faster. This does not seem to be the case at this moment. My agency also says that only 5% of their families lose a referral, which is a statistic I think I can live with. I also found out that you don't have to necessarily choose one option over the other. I can just do whatever comes up first. So, my coordinator is looking into the current referral situation to see if I can be put in the queue for a referral while I'm waiting to travel. Fingers crossed!!

I also spent this past weekend registering for my baby showers. It's pretty overwhelming when you realize everything you need for a baby; even a baby that will not be a newborn. Boy, they come with a lot of stuff for such little people!!

I'm planning to work on setting up the nursery over the next couple of weeks as well. I'll post pics when it is done.