We're almost there!

On Friday Josh and I went down to an application service center to have our fingerprints taken for our I-600A application. They will be sent off to be checked by the federal government and then they will send us our form (I-171) that says we have been approved to bring on orphan into the US. This all has to be sent to the embassy in Ethiopia where we will have an appointment eventually with our child where we will get our visa to bring our child home. This assumes all goes smoothly and this is all still a ways off.

Back to where we are now...we are waiting on our last piece of paper (the I-171) and then we'll have our dossier complete. We will overnight our dossier to our agency who will review it and then send it off to be authenticated (translated I believe) and then the whole thing will go to Ethiopia! We will THEN be in line for our child. Right now our application letter states that we would like a girl (which we have written before) and the wait time for a girl is 9-11 months. That seems like a long time to wait but that is how long a pregnancy takes I have to keep reminding myself. I'm definitely learning patience here. I know that time needs to be treasured. It's time spent preparing, praying, getting our finances in order, and enjoying being a family of 4 for this season. I know that soon enough we'll have a little one who will have great needs so I'm hoping to focus on the two little ones who are growing up so fast now. I'm also trying to remember that I cannot go faster or slower than God will allow this process to go. While we are anxious to bring our daughter home we are praying for peace during the waiting. So here's to the last little bit of waiting on our final paper chase stage and to the next phase of waiting for a referral for our daughter!

Well Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

Thrilled to report that we just received an e-mail from our local Houston USCIS office saying that they have indeed received our home study and have reviewed it and our finger print letter will be in the mail next week!!! SUCH A RELIEF!!! SO EXCITING!!! Now if we get this excited over this news just imagine our jubilation when we actually receive a real life referral!!! To be honest that seems so far away I don't know that I can even imagine it actually happening! Oh the joy when we get that letter in the mail with an actual finger print date AND then the joy when we actually receive our I-171 form AND then the joy when we send off ALL the papers we've collected and worked on and have a DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) date! Joy, joy, joy! These are much better things to post about! Now I know they'll be more waiting and probably more frustrations but we're spending the weekend joyful and relieved.

On a different note...Josh is running the Houston marathon this Sunday. So proud of him and we'll be cheering him on that morning! He'll also be running the Austin half marathon with me on Valentine's Day...speaking of which I will be running 11 miles on Saturday in preparation. Who would've thought I'd be running 11 miles EVER in my life?? Ahhhh...with all of this good news my run should be quite JOYFUL! Enjoy your weekends! I know we will!

Nothing new

That title is a bit misleading...in a house with a 3 year old and a 22 month old there is ALWAYS something new! However, on the adoption front we have heard NOTHING new. I've e-mailed again and haven't heard anything and I keep thinking that our fingerprint appointment letter will be in the mail any day but each day I check and each day there is nothing there. I think of topics daily to blog about but am never sitting at the computer at the time they occur to me so no blogging has taken place. So I thought I'd post something...anything to keep the blog up to date. I know God knows where our paperwork is and who has it and every day is a day He has ordained for us to wait to lead us perfectly to the exact child He has planned to be part of our family. I'm just finding it a little humorous (in an irritatingly frustrating way) that we know other people are getting through this hurdle without delay and this is not the step we thought we'd be stuck on but such is the nature of international adoption. I'm learning to just live in the moment and to fully appreciate where we are right now.

SO...right now we are on the brink of Wyatt turning 2 and becoming quite independent. He's always heard telling me "WALK" when we go anywhere or "I do it". He's very laid back (as long as he gets some "I do it" time) and a ton of fun to hang out with. He'll ask for candy or donuts or whatever I shouldn't allow the kids to eat and I'll tell him no and he'll say "okay"...like "whatever...no big deal either way...I'm just goin' with the flow"...what child gives up that easily? He's always happy (unless Oliver has decided to hide his paci or steal his blankie or forcefully ask him to play in his room with him). The two of them together are a hoot...Oliver does NOT understand that Wyatt can't fully understand every request he makes so Oliver will ask Wyatt to do something like play with him in his room and then he'll tell Wyatt what the answer should be. Like this...Oliver: "Wyatt, do you want to play in my room with me?" Wyatt: stares Oliver: "Say yes" Wyatt: "yes" And off they go. They usually play pretty well together (unless above mentioned antics are taking place) and I'm thinking they'll be good friends. Oliver is also great at asking me everyday after I check the mail if the "letter about the baby" came today. I'm sure he's thinking...why are we always talking about this baby? What letter? Oh Oliver...hopefully one day soon you'll have another sibling to boss around and put words in their mouth for them and hide their pacis. In the meantime...we'll enjoy being right where we are...nothing new!

Looking forward

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Hope everyone enjoyed the first part of their holiday. We're looking forward to another short week of Dad working and being at home with us for a long weekend again! I have to say that I'm hoping that 2010 is the year we bring home our third child from Ethiopia (or at least have a face and tentative travel dates to pray over!). I am frustrated lately that it seems as if our adoption paperwork is stuck somewhere in never never land. I'm still waiting on that letter assigning us a time for our finger print appointments and I'm giving it time with the holidays happening right now. And it's not that we're not busy or even content with our lives as they are right now, but I'm frustrated that we started this and we've prayed for this and we've talked about this and we're ready to move along with this and it seems as if we're totally stalled out. So will you pray with us and for us? We need a jump start and we're hoping that letter is in the mail and will be here any day so at least we know we're moving forward with this. We appreciate your prayer and are looking forward to a fantastic 2010!

No words...

Watch this...

And then read this...

http://www.russellmoore.com/2009/12/01/jesus-has-aids/

Let's try this again...

So remember the post about how I like to get things taken care of with this adoption ASAP and get all stressed about it? And the post about how I overnighted our home study paperwork twice because the first one didn't get there fast enough and our case worker received it all twice? Well, I thought I would try on patience for a change so when I mailed our home study in to the USCIS office I kept letting it go when I didn't receive a confirmation letter. I kept looking for it (as mentioned in a previous post) but I just figured it was there and being processed very S L O W L Y. Well, last night I figured it was slow enough. I really have no clue how to go about finding out where our home study is or if it arrived or not. This office not only handles all orphan petitions but all immigration cases which means there are not phone numbers posted on their website. It's a big office with lots of local offices and I didn't have a clue how to go about checking on our application. So I got on our AWAA Yahoo group created just for those adopting from Ethiopia through AWAA (our agency) and asked those who were also paper chasing if they had heard anything since sending in paper work to the new address. Turns out yes they have and not only that but a woman who has adopted from Ethiopia who lives out in Katy (that we met a while back at a Tom Davis Chick-fil-a event) responded that there is a Houston CIS e-mail address. WHAT?? An e-mail address? How have I missed this in my EXTENSIVE, EXHAUSTIVE search of this website? SURE ENOUGH I get on to find it and there it is plain as day! Can we all see God's hand here? Love things like that...I digress. So I e-mail the Houston office last night and ask if they have received our home study not really expecting a response for a couple of days. By 7:30 this morning they have e-mailed back that they have not gotten our home study and until they are in receipt of this they cannot schedule our finger prints which is the last thing standing in our way before we mail off ALL of our paperwork and officially get on the waiting list for our child. SOO...I run around like a chicken with my head cut off and scramble all the paperwork together and make copies (one at a time on our home printer with Wyatt trying to pull them off to hand them to mommy!) and put the boys in the car and head to the nearest Parcel Plus and over night it all again! Deja Vu! Now it should be there again by 10:30 tomorrow morning. Never mind where the other one is or why it was signed for but nobody has it. I don't care (shouldn't I? quite a bit of PERSONAL information there!) where it is just as long as someone who SHOULD have it gets it somehow! Ugghhhh...craziness. And the poor boys! The craziness that ensued this morning...ahhh...I'll spare you the details but I am not proud of how I handle those little souls when I'm in a hurry and stressed like I was. Definitely something to work on!

So tips to those who are behind us on this journey. First off...check on things quickly if you don't get confirmation. Give it time (10 days to 2 weeks) but then e-mail away. Secondly, when it comes to mailing in your I-600A application and the decision to file your application before your home study is complete my only advice to you is that if you decide to file the application maybe hold the check to mail in with the home study so you have another way of knowing if they got it. But scratch that if you live in Texas like us because it just donned on me that we had to mail in a money order! Okay...so I guess my only advice is to have a great sense of humor and expect delays. Oh, and to remember when your youngest finds a lone crayon and is coloring on the white couch with it while you're frantically trying to make copies of important paper work scaring the you know what out of him when you yell like a banshee will only prolong getting back to making copies! Color away little Wyatt! We'll just throw it in the wash...

All I really want for Christmas is...

WATER! Yes...that is right. Water. CLEAN water. And I don't mean for myself here...I mean for those around the world that do not have the option of clean water. Clean water to wash their clothes, clean water to cook with, and most importantly clean water to drink. I can't imagine being a mom and not being able to provide the basic need of clean water. I also don't know if I can even imagine...I mean really IMAGINE what that would even be like? And while I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with this location that I live in that provides the basic necessity of water so easily to all of us I have been reminded how so many people in OUR world do not have this basic convenience. Look at the image above and really look at it. Now imagine if that were you and your child was thirsty. Your only option is to dip your child's cup down in that water to quench their thirst. No apple juice, no lemonade, no milk, no CLEAN WATER.

So before you buy another THING for Christmas...buy water. $10 will provide someone in Africa clean water for 10 years. My family wants for nothing and we do not need another thing so we will be asking for water. I will also be giving water this holiday season. And BOY DO I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT...now, my relatives may not be so keen to recieve water for Christmas but as I've been reminded lately from some encouraging fellow bloggers isn't it supposed to be CHRISTmas anyhow? Aren't we supposed to get caught up in how to glorify Him more and praise Him on this holiday built around His birthday? I will be the first to say that I don't do that...it has taken me 32 years and countless large and small gifts to really "get" CHRISTmas. And while I will give in to the consumerism of the holiday more times than I care to admit this season and will take gifts and give gifts I will also be asking for and giving water. How does one give water you ask? Perfect...let me tell you my friends!

Go here to charity:water and either donate in someone's name as a gift or buy a gift from their e-store. Or go here to Water 4 Christmas and give or see their Etsy store to buy gifts that will donate profits to clean water. Or go here where your $10 will make a world of difference to someone. Either way...please GIVE...let clean water be a gift you give this Christmas. Give HOPE. Give JOY. GIVE because Christ first GAVE to us. Give because we are called to give. Won't it feel good to say "I got clean water for children" rather than "I got more stuff that I didn't need nor have space for?"

Now...I will end with my FAVORITE new video...it changed my holiday traditions. My prayer is that it will change yours too!