Still waiting for a referral....

We try to be patient. We really do. It's hard.
I think I will email the adoption agency tomorrow and see what the status is. Last we heard there were "a couple" of families ahead of us waiting for a girl. We would just like to know if we've moved up the list, if ANYONE has received a referral in the past week. I try not to bug the agency often... I think an email once a week asking for updates is reasonable. Once we get the referral, we'll only have another stretch of what feels like forever to wait until we can bring our baby home!
Several folks have asked how we get a referral and what does that even really mean. Here's how it should go: One magical day in the hopefully not-too-distant future we will get a phone call from the adoption agency saying that we have been given a referral and that they have emailed us the information. We will then rush excitedly to the computer to see what they've sent. There should be some photos, limited medical information and, in some cases, even video of the baby. We then have 48 hours to decide if we will accept that referral. It is recommended that we have the info checked out by a pediatrician that specializes in international adoptions prior to acceptance to be sure there are no medical problems that could be identified by the med report or pics. We will contact the agency to accept the referral and anxiously move on the the next step.
While we proceed through the rest of the paperwork and court stuff at lightning-fast speed (we hope) the baby will be living with a foster family. The foster mother is paid (little) by the attorney, I believe. The government does not help care for the orphans. We should get monthly updates in the form of pictures and medical reports.
Now, if we could just get that first picture and medical report....