The Amazing Race

Sorry I have been absent from the blogging world for a few days.  (Don't worry, I haven't been hiding under my covers having a total emotional meltdown; although I have had a few really sad moments thinking about where we're at with our adoption process.)  Overall it's been a busy week filled with really fun things: hanging out with my college roommate, taking Emma to see her first movie on the big screen (and using all my persuasive powers to keep her semi-quiet and in her seat for the whole hour and a half), helping a friend get ready for a super adorable ice cream birthday party, and finding lots of good deals to restock my 'fridge after camp.  (Something told me that Jeremy wouldn't survive too long on three eggs, cheese slices, and salad dressing.)

Today Jeremy and I took a R-E-A-L-L-Y early morning trip to the state capital (yes, AGAIN).  In order to get U.S. Immigration approval to adopt, you and any other adults living in your home have to be fingerprinted.  Unfortunately, while your approval to adopt (the lovely Form I-171h) lasts for 18 months, U.S. Immigration deletes fingerprints from their computer every 15 months.  So, while our Ghana approval is good until the end of November, the fingerprints necessary for that approval expire July 8.  In order to get new fingerprints, you are required to request an appointment time via mail.  You then receive an appointment letter with a random date and time that hopefully fits your schedule.  Our appointment was at 8:00 a.m. this morning...in a city over two hours away.  So fun.

I have to confess that sometimes (like 5:00 a.m. this morning) the adoption process feels a lot like that TV show The Amazing Race.  I'm not a huge Amazing Race fan, but I have watched it several times (and would totally love to be a contestant - any Amazing Race casting people out there reading my blog?).  Anyways, last night I went to bed thinking about all the crazy roadblocks and detours we've encountered in our adoption "race".  Instead of the kind of detours on the TV show (things like, "Find the one red bean among these three million white beans"), we run into things like, "Get two physicians and one notary to be available and in the same place at the same time" or "Wake up early and travel to your state capital to get gold seals on these 13 papers.  Then, remembering to bring enough change for all the meters, navigate to the FedEx location and send this stack of papers across the ocean."  There are times in this process when I am insanely jealous slightly envious of people who get pregnant by accident.  I don't say that because I am wishing to be pregnant, but because an easy road to our little ones (and a nine month wait) sound absolutely incredible right now!

Alright, I'm done venting.  I am sure that all of these crazy hoops we are asked to jump through will be 100% worth it when we hold our little ones for the first time.  Sometimes the end of this journey just seems incredibly far away.

We haven't heard anything new regarding our paperwork.  Several sources have confirmed the email we got from Nina saying that our country will not be giving any more SDA appointments until after the closure (which people are guessing will be about three months, beginning July 11).  We are praying for a few specific things in regard to the closure.

1.)  Although our paperwork was submitted on June 2, it has not been officially registered with our country yet.  In order for it to be registered, someone from the SDA will check our dossier to make sure everything was completed (and signed, and notarized, and apostilled) correctly.  Once we are registered, we will be in line to adopt when our country reopens.  We should find out this week if our paperwork passed the test.  Please pray that everything is in order.  I'm not sure whether we would have time to correct mistakes and send papers back to our country before July 11.

2.)  As things stand right now, we cannot move forward with our adoption because our special need is not on the special needs list.  We are very optimistic that the current list will be expanded.  (In fact, Nina recently emailed and said that "everyone is sure" the list will be broadened.)  However, it hasn't happened yet.  Please pray that MANY more special needs (things like hydrocephaly, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, FAS, and HIV) will be added to the list.  It breaks my heart to think of little ones with these needs waiting and waiting and waiting for families.

3.)  We are not the only family who is feeling stuck and defeated right now.  There are many families in process with our country who could use prayer.  Some, like us, don't know if they will be able to move forward with their adoptions.  Others are attempting to adopt specific children and have to wait three more months with the knowledge that their precious kiddos are not home.  Are not being hugged by mommy and daddy at night.  Perhaps are not getting the medical treatment they need.

My pillow is calling me, but before I head to bed I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you.  Thanks for your prayers.  Thanks for your words of encouragement.  Thanks for letting your hearts hurt along with ours.  We are beyond blessed to have friends and family like you.

A Closed Door...For Now

We got some news that I really didn't want to hear yesterday evening. (If you haven't been following my blog for very long and you want the complicated backstory on this post, you'll need to take a minute to read about this closure and this new law.)  Nina emailed to tell me that our country will temporarily close to adoptions on July 11.  Rumor has it that the closure will last about three months, as our country switches adoption authority from the SDA to a new agency yet to be created.  Last time this happened, there was only a two-month closure.


The closure itself is disappointing, but it's not the worst news.  The new law prohibiting international adoption of children under five without special needs will go into effect July 11. As I mentioned before, our special need is not on the special needs list.  (Actually, the list is very limited and does not include many special needs like spina bifida, cerebral palsy, FAS, cystic fibrosis and others.)  Because our paperwork was already submitted to the SDA, I have been holding my breath for an appointment date before the closure.  This would allow us to complete our adoption process before the effective date of the new law.  


Yesterday Nina let me know that the SDA is processing dossiers and giving June appointments to anyone submitted in May.  Everyone else will have to wait until after the closure.  And after the new law goes into effect.  We were submitted June 2.  We missed the cut-off by two days.  TWO DAYS.


I honestly have felt mostly numb since reading Nina's email (and slightly sick to my stomach).  I'm actually thankful for the distraction of camp.  Thankful that I'm not home dwelling on the fact that the littles ones we have had in our hearts aren't coming home this summer...or maybe ever.  I feel sad and empty, but there are still a lot of reasons to hope.  A lot of reasons to keep praying.  A lot of reasons for us to stay committed to this crazy journey.


In the midst of feeling like I've been hit by a train, I'm trying to praise the Lord for what He has done through this whole process.  He has blessed me with a beautiful, ornery, precocious two-year-old through adoption.  He has opened my eyes to the incredible need in Eastern Europe.  He has taught me a TON about special needs that I have, in turn, been able to share with so many others.  (And that I will share more about here very soon.)  He has blessed me with new friends who share their amazing hearts for hurting children with me.  He has provided financially for our family so that we have no adoption debt at this point (even though I feel a little like we've been pouring money down a pit for a year and a half).  God is good, and He is faithful - even in this crazy time.  But, AAAAAHHHHH, this is still so hard.


Thanks for your prayers, love, and support.  I have heard from so many of you over the past couple of months.  What an encouragement to know that college friends; family; people we know only through adoption; our church family; and many, many others are lifting our adoption to the Lord in prayer.  That's AMAZING, and it blesses me beyond description. 


I know there are times of intense emotional struggle waiting for me on the road ahead.  I am sure that I will lose it a time or two (or ten) as I process this situation, but with all my heart I choose to praise the Lord in this storm.  I choose to trust that He is faithful.  I choose to believe that He is good.


Look what He has given me already.

Summer Camp = SO. MUCH. FUN.

Summer camp = Friends

Summer camp = Laughter

Summer camp = Sports (Does she look tough or what?)

Summer camp = Water

Summer camp = Ice cream 

(Okay, so a lot of things in my life = ice cream, but I'll take any excuse I can get. :)

I have the incredibly fun privilege of serving at a camp for 3rd-6th graders for a week every June.  My friend Erin talked me into coming five years ago, and I haven't missed a summer since.  This is Emma's third year at camp, and she thinks it's the greatest place on earth.  (Well, next to that place where uncle Matt and Mickey Mouse live, that is.)

We are having a blast this week.  Emma has been hanging out with her AWESOME babysitter, Rachel, while I help out with sports and evening events for the campers.  Tonight we're off to Sock War.  (200 kids.  200 socks. 50 pounds of flour. Two giant garbage cans of water balloons.  What's not to love?)

We don't have any updates on the adoption front.  Please keep praying.  Thanks!

UPDATE: I couldn't resist adding a few pictures from Sock War last night.

Is this one cute sock warrior, or what?  Emma had an absolute blast!  She hung out near the water bucket and sprayed a whole lot of people who are a WHOLE LOT bigger than she is with this squirt gun that is almost bigger than she is.  Watch out Jr Camp 2018...here comes Emma! :)

Rachel caused almost as much trouble as Emma.  (And she definitely clobbered at least one completely innocent bystander.)  

This was the best tough face we could get out of Emma.

Another Roadblock

As I mentioned here, the government in our country recently passed a bill prohibiting international adoption of children under five unless the child had certain medical needs, was being adopted by a relative, or was part of a sibling group.  In order for the bill to become law, it needed to be signed by the president.  Once signed by the president, it would go into effect in 30-40 days.

When we first heard this news, we weren't exactly sure how to process it.  First of all, the president had not yet signed the bill, so there wasn't a definite timeframe for its official passage.  Secondly, the list of medical needs had not been made public.  I felt pretty confident that our special need would be included.

Well...the bill has now been signed.  I believe the president signed it Tuesday, which means it becomes law sometime between July 7 and 17.  And...our special need is not on list.  

I have been told that the SDA will submit an appeal next week, asking the government to broaden the special needs list.  I have no idea how likely it is that their appeal will be granted.  I have a hard enough time understanding our government, let alone a government halfway around the world!

There is a small chance that we could be invited to travel soon enough that the law would not cause a problem for us.  We would need to be in country about two weeks without the law going into effect, so we would have to travel very soon.  Nina (our facilitator) is going to the SDA tomorrow, so she may have some news for us.  There is also a chance that the government will be willing to expand their list at the SDA's request.  Both of these scenarios would allow us to continue with our adoption as planned.

Honestly, I feel like this is just one more reminder (as if the first 372 weren't enough) that God is really the one in control of this...of our lives...of our children (even the one sleeping right upstairs).  

Please pray for us as we process this news.  Pray that we would be able to bring home the children God has for our family.  As you pray, though, please remember that this law affects so many children and families beyond just us and our two little ones.  Children with the special need we are considering are rarely adopted in their own country.  If this law stays in place as it currently stands, there will be many, many children forced to stay in orphanages for five years with almost no chance of a family coming for them.

Lord, you see these little ones and you love them more than I ever could.  Please keep the doors open for them to find homes.  Give us and the other families in our position peace as we wait.  Help us to trust you as the one who loves the hurting, the broken, and the vulnerable.  Help us to hold on to the truth that you are loving and you are faithful. 

Daddy the Superhero

The man I married is 100% guy.  He's 6'2", played linebacker in high school, and eats more mashed potatoes than anyone I know.  His idea of a date night movie is usually something like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Braveheart, or Gladiator.  (Honestly, he has tried to convince me on numerous occasions that all three of these are incredibly romantic.  And I think he was serious.)

Lately, however, you can often find him doing some not-so-tough-guy things, 

like getting these...

Applying this...

And accepting invitations to lots and lots of these...

Want to know why?  Because my big, tough husband has completely given his heart to a certain brown-eyed two year old.  And that means he is usually willing to forego Rambo for Tangled, put off a home repair project to get a make-over, or turn off talk radio to pop in the Beauty and The Beast soundtrack.   He is an amazing daddy who adores his little girl.

In return, Emma is absolutely convinced that her daddy hung the moon.  He is the one she asks for every. single. day. when she gets out of bed in the morning (and she is always disappointed when he's already left for work), the one she wants to "stay and cuddle for a few more minutes" at bedtime, and the one she is going to marry when she grows up.

Daddy is Emma's superhero, plain and simple.  

He runs faster than lightning.

You can touch the stars when you sit on his shoulders.

And he's the only one who can scare away all the crocodiles that manage to sneak into Em's room every night right at bedtime.  (I tried to get a picture of those mean crocodiles; really, I did.  They're just so darn elusive! :)

Emma and I are incredibly blessed to have Daddy the superhero in our family.  As I look at these precious pictures of my girl and her daddy, it breaks my heart to think that the two little ones who will soon join our family have probably never met their daddies.  In all likelihood, they've never played tag in the ocean (or even seen the ocean), curled up to take a nap with a loved one, or had somebody offer to chase away their monsters every night at bedtime.

I absolutely cannot wait for our next two children to meet the man who will be their daddy.  Cannot wait to see them bask in their daddy's love for them.  Just like Emma and me, they will be so blessed to have Daddy the superhero in their lives.  And I know they'll think he hung the moon.

My greatest hope for our future children is that getting a great big dose of their daddy's love every day for the rest of their lives will give them a tiny glimpse of their Heavenly Father - the one who has loved them all along.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
   is God in his holy dwelling. 

Psalm 68:5

It's Official!

Our dossier was submitted today, so we are officially in line to be issued an appointment to travel to Eastern Europe!!!  It is so exciting to have reached this point! After our L-O-N-G wait to receive Immigration approval, the past week has been a whirlwind!

We probably won't have any other details about our travel plans for at least two weeks.  In 2-3 weeks, our facilitator should be able to pick up a letter from the SDA (the government agency that handles adoptions in our country) giving us an appointment date.  Judging by other families currently in process, our appointment date will be 2-3 weeks from the date our facilitator receives that letter.  (A few families who just received their dates will be traveling in two weeks!) At this point, it looks like the June closure is not going to happen; however, it is still a possibility.

We walked to DQ for Blizzards tonight. Yum!  On our way home, we stopped at a picnic table to eat and enjoy the beautiful evening. (Yes, the monsoons have finally moved on.)  As we were sitting there, it suddenly hit me that we could be a family of five before the end of the summer.  Actually, we could be meeting our new children in 4-6 weeks - WOW!

Alright...I need to go clean out a closet or organize a dresser drawer or something! :)  Have a great day!

DELIVERED!!!

The tracking status for our dossier officially says "Delivered"!  All those pages that represent all those hours of work have made their way safely across the ocean a whole day early!  (If you ever have to send something incredibly valuable halfway around the world, I totally recommend FedEx.  Their tracking is awesome - I got to watch our package hop around Europe - and they have gotten both of our packages to their destination at least one day early.  Our first package was actually four days early.)

So...what happens next?  Nina, our amazing facilitator, has to take our documents and her translation of our documents to be notarized.  (Yes, hard as it is to believe, they actually want one more signature and stamp on our paperwork.)  She is hoping to do that tomorrow.  After that, we can be submitted to the government agency that handles adoptions in our country (the SDA).  That can only happen on a Thursday.  Because our package arrived a day early, Nina is hoping to submit our documents this Thursday!!!  


After we are submitted, we wait for a letter from the SDA giving us a date to visit their office for our "adoption appointment".  (I'm sure there's an official term for that appointment, but I don't know it! :)  Our appointment will probably be 1-2 months from our submission date.  So...if everything goes as planned (which would be amazing but not necessarily likely), we should be traveling sometime in July or August.  I'll share more details later, but we would probably bring our little ones home about five weeks after our appointment.


It's so exciting to have taken another step in this process!  Thanks for your prayers.  We will soon be able to consider specific children, so please keep that in your prayers.  We are so excited to "meet" the little ones God has for our family.  (When I took our paperwork to the state capital the other day, Emma asked if I was bringing back her brothers and/or sisters.  Then she informed me that she "wants a sister first".)

Alright...back to my yard projects.  I am finally tackling a corner of our yard that has desperately needed to be landscaped since we moved in (ummmm...four-and-a-half years ago).  I am tearing out grass and weeds, and Emma is collecting her own personal earthworm and roly-poly zoo in a yogurt container.  She's quite the zookeeper, and I think most of her charges are actually making it back into the dirt alive - except for ones she thought were thirsty and needed the whole yogurt container filled with water to drink.  Oops!


I am thankful to be out in the sunshine (even if I am pulling weeds).  I hope the sun is shining where you are!  Thanks for taking the time to be a part of our crazy life.