And the winner is...

We have finally selected the agency we are going to use - Adoption Advocates International (AAI). They are located in Port Angeles, WA and were one of the first agencies in the US authorized by the Ethiopian government to assist in adoptions.

We feel really good about using AAI, as they were able to give answers to our questions that we feel comfortable with. One "hot point" was with regards to when we would take our child into our custody upon arriving in Ethiopia. The other agency we were considering told us that they strongly encourage families to leave the baby in the orphanage up until right before leaving for the US; meaning that the only "bonding" with the baby would be with other babies and orphanage workers surrounding. To think of the poor baby getting on an airplane for a 30 hour flight and a whole new life with a practical stranger...that didn't settle well with us. On the other hand, AAI encourages families to pick up their baby whenever they feel comfortable, and most do it within hours of arriving (probably after getting a little rest and a shower at the hotel first).

We have been told that once our dossier (the enormous bundle of paperwork) is complete we should plan on waiting 4-8 months to the time that we will get to bring our baby home. We have also been told that the youngest baby we should expect is about 7 months old.

We will be compiling our paperwork as quickly as possible, and praying that God will move everything along quickly - and that God will give us an even younger baby (it has happened).