Surprise Blessings!

Photos taken 12/14!

We had something amazing happen last week!  While I was reading a blog from a family who was on their "meet ya" trip this week in Christy's country, I recognized Christy's city!  This family was able to bring their son to stay with them for 3 days instead of visits twice a day like we had!  Then she commented that now they have to find things to do.  I contacted her, as I had seen that she had the same translator/driver that we did (Yavor), to see if it would be possible to check in to see if the thickener I was able to have brought to Christy was working and how the supply was lasting.

Not only were they able to do that, but Yavor was allowed to visit Christy and take photos!  He said she was quite tired (probably just laying down for a nap).  He also found out that the thickener is working well, and that the supply I sent should last a long time.  The nurse also requested that we send her some orthotic hose to help with her legs as she is super flexible and they think it would help to limit her movement.  It would take yet another miracle, actually a series of miracles, but we might just be able to pull it off and get her some "hip huggers."  I will work to get the hip huggers to our adoption agency attorney over there through a family who is going over there for their first trip in early January, and then she'll need to give it to Yavor and he would have to be going to her city with another family and have time to go to Christy's group home in order for us to get them to her, but it is possible...Please pray that we will be able to do this for her.

Her email was so fun to read, I'll quote it here:

"Dear Ruth!

We were able to go to Christy's group home today twice. The first time we went and Yavor went in and the nurse wasn't there until 12:00. This was in the morning. Yavor got to see Christy, and the care giver told him that Christy was doing really well, but she didn't know about the thickener, or anything about the supply of it needed. She said he should ask the nurse. Yavor said Christy was doing really well, though, and the caregiver told him that she'd had a medical appointment the week before and that went great!

So we went and had Jerry's visa picture taken and then we went to the mall and had lunch and then came back to the group home after noon. I said to Yavor, "see if you can get some photos of Christy and tell them her American Mama would be soooo happy!"...so Yavor took my camera and went in to check with the nurse. On his way in he said.."Now you realize that I probably won't be able to take any pictures, but I"ll try anyway!"...and then when he came out he brought me these on my camera!

Oh Ruth! She's so beautiful! I'm so thankful that we got to encourage you in this way! I said to Yavor..."Bravo!" "Bravo!"..he was beaming that he got to do that!

So..the report from the nurse:

Christy is doing great. She's off of her heart medicine now and only on her brain medicine. She's growing and actually outgrowing all of her clothes! She doesn't need any more thickener at this time. It's working well, but she has enough for a long time to come she said. Also, she mentioned wanting some stretchy ortho type socks or tights that would help to keep her legs straighter. Not sure what that meant, but she thought you might know, and if you could send those, that would be great. When you come for picking up, you'll need to bring her bigger clothes, the nurse said!

Okay..love to you!! Praying this blesses your day greatly!

 Mary!!!

Um, yeah!  That totally blessed my socks off!  And she's a woman after my own heart with all those exclamation points!  LOVE IT!!!!!!

As far as our adoption stuff goes, we were able to get our fingerprints done last Thursday, and I will be mailing them in through an FBI Channeler.  This way we should get our background checks back in about 2 weeks instead of 6 - 8 weeks!  Then I will have to send them to Caring Hands (a service that hand delivers documents to the US Secretary of State in Washington DC to get apostilled) and we will have them send the apostilled background checks directly to our adoption agency!

I am still hoping to hear any day now that our second stage dossier has been submitted.  These fingerprints/background checks will not be needed until we are assigned a judge/court date (and they might not be needed at all, as it depends on which judge we get), so this is not slowing anything down.

So here are the steps we still have left to go through:

-Article 5 translated/authenticated and  added to complete dossier submitted to Big Wig (approx 12/18)

-Complete dossier goes through 1 month of passing through lots of hands (finish approx 1/20)

-Gets signature from big wig (approx 1/27)

-is taken to the courts. (approx 1/31)

-assigned to a judge (approx 2/14)

-assigned a court date (approx 2/20)

-court date/adoption granted (approx 3/1)

-adoption gets signed court decree from the judge (approx 3/10)

-new birth certificate is applied for (approx 3/11)

-travel dates given once new birth certificate is done (approx 3/18)

Then we get to go bring her home (end of March?)

We also were blessed to have one of our photos of our visits with Christy put in a video that was just released today!  Please share this video, and consider participating in the 2013 



And please read about the Winslow family and there visits with their precious children last week.  This is the family who worked with Yavor in order to get updates on Christy! They still stand in need of funds to complete their adoption, so please consider donating to their grant!

Thank you Mary Winslow!

Thank You Yavor!!

Thank You God!!!

I thought the paperwork was done...

Just when I thought we had finished all paperwork.....a judge on the other side of the planet has to shake things up.  One of the six judges in Christy's country has consistently required updated/less then 6 months old FBI background checks.  For families who got this judge, this meant a delay of weeks or months.  So to avoid this problem, all families are now required to get this done, just in case.

So today Daryl and I got our fingerprints taken at the  sherrif's office, and tomorrow I'll.start the process of getting the background checks going.  This will also require getting them apostilled in Washington DC.   More hassle amd more expense....but in the end everything is worth it to bring Christy home.

I am hoping to hear any day that our second stage dossier has been submitted.....

Done with our side....

We have passed our Article 5!  This was the last stop for our paperwork on the United States side of things.  Our Article 5 meeting was on Wednesday at the US Embassy in Christy's country.  We passed through with no problems!  Our paperwork will now be handed to our attorney over there, and it will be translated and authenticated.  Once it is complete (some docs are still on their way over there), it will pass through the gauntlet of that government's offices getting all the needed "stamps of approval."

Also, our last documents have now been appostilled and are on their way to our adoption agency, and from there they will join all the documents that are with our attorney over there.  So all my work is done as far as paperwork goes.  At least it should be.

Here's what is left....

-Article 5 translated/authenticated and  added to complete dossier submitted to Big Wig (approx 12/16)

-Complete dossier goes through 1 month of passing through lots of hands (finish approx 1/20)

-Gets signature from big wig (approx 1/27)

-is taken to the courts. (approx 1/31)

-assigned to a judge (approx 2/14)

-assigned a court date (approx 2/20)

-court date/adoption granted (approx 3/1)

-adoption gets signed court decree from the judge (approx 3/10)

-new birth certificate is applied for (approx 3/11)

-travel dates given once new birth certificate is done ((approx 3/18)

Then we get to go bring her home (end of March?)

Yay!  The list is getting smaller all the time!

Article 5 meeting on Wednesday!

Our Article 5 meeting will be held on Wednesday!  To quote my last blog post - "At this meeting the US Embassy representative will review our home study, dossier and the child's information and will approve the adoption to continue (Lord willing!).  Sometimes they have questions about something and require additional paperwork.  If they approve everything, they will issue the Article 5 the following day.  We get notification of this via email!"

 Also, I resubmitted the two documents for getting their apostilles.  They should get back to me by the end of next week and then we will forward them ASAP to join the other documents!

Here is a concise list of events yet to happen with this adoption, created from my last blog post:

-Article 5 received,translated and authenticated (>1 week).  

-Article 5 and complete dossier submitted to Big Wig (approx 12/16)

-Complete dossier goes through 1 month of passing through lots of hands (finish approx 1/20)

-Gets signature from big wig (approx 1/27)

-is taken to the courts. (approx 1/31)

-assigned to a judge (approx 2/14)

-assigned a court date (approx 2/20)

-court date/adoption granted (approx 3/1)

-adoption gets signed court decree from the judge (approx 3/10)

-new birth certificate is applied for (approx 3/11)

-travel dates given once new birth certificate is done ((approx 3/18)

Then we get to go bring her home (end of March?)

I've done the approximate time frame on a slightly longer than average time line, so it could be longer, but hopefully will be faster!

Christy was fascinated by Daryl's stubble!

Right now I'm working on building a wardrobe for Christy.  I checked all my clothes in storage, but Esther was really hard on the sizes that Christy will need, so I'm going to have to do some shopping before the gotcha trip!

Oh, and if you are going to do any of your Christmas shopping on Amazon, please use my amazon link in the side margin to start your shopping, as that will help us prepare for bringing her home! Thanks!

Another Big Step Closer!

Today I received the letter that says our I800 application to immigrate Christy was approved!  So the US is willing to allow her to join our family and come to live in the US.  Yay!

On a side note, this week the family of a little girl that we recognized while we were visiting Christy are leaving to bring their little girl home. I have arranged it so that they are bringing "Thick It" to allow Christy's care takers to thicken the water they give her making it easier for them to give her water, and easier for Christy to take the water without choking!  They are also taking some toys that I sent.  Most of the toys are for all the children there (they all LOVED the toys we brought for Christy to play with and left most of them there).  But one we purchased just for Christy.  She has severe reflux (common in children with Down Sydrome), so they keep her in her highchair for 30 minutes after eating.  She is usually left alone during this time with nothing to do.  So we are sending her a toy that attaches to the tray (with a suction cup) so she'll have a toy to play with while she sits in her chair!  Isn't God amazing to orchestrate that a fellow Washington State family is adopting a little girl who lives in the same group home as our daughter???

This is Christy's room, her own highchair and play crib for sleeping in.

We still have many more steps yet for our adoption to take, while we wait.

Right now I am waiting for the documents that we sent to get appostilled to come back.  Evidently, the Washington Secretary of State has different policies from most of the other SOS's in the US, so I have to re-do both documents...actually it becomes 4 documents.  We had "bundled" our medical updates (Daryl and Mine) together, and we had done the same with our local police background checks.  They were rejected.

I have gotten her police background checks (they now require that the notary be done in the police office).  We are waiting for the medical updates to come back so we can do a cover sheet for each medical update form, and then we'll send both right back to be apostilled.

So here's what happens with our paperwork.

Now that our I-800 has been approved, it is sent to the National Visa Center.  It takes up to 7 days process the approval and forward it to the US Embassy in Christy's county.  This will trigger the setting up of a visa interview.

Christy loved to "taste test" things...like your clothes, your face...your arm.
She's such a lovely, unique little girl!

At this meeting the US Embassy representative will review our home study, dossier and the child's information and will approve the adoption to continue (Lord willing!).  Sometimes they have questions about something and require additional paperwork.  If they approve everything, they will issue the Article 5 the following day.  We get notification of this via email!

Once the Article 5 is received, it is translated and authenticated, which takes a little over a week.  Then this is submitted to the right big wig along with all the second stage dossier documents that we have sent in.  This will mean that our dossier is officially complete.

At this point, it goes through a series of steps that  take about a month to complete.  Basic paper chasing, too boring to list here.  Once it goes through all the right hands and receives the required signatures, the dossier is taken to the courts.

Once the dossier is sent to the courts, it is assigned to a judge.  This take 14 days, officially.  Once assigned to a judge, the judge has 7 days to assign the court date.  Some judges require additional information from the adopting family before court, others do not.

On the day of court, the adoptive family is represented by an attorney.  We are notified via email the day of court about the outcome.  The adoption is granted unless the judge of prosecutor asks for additional information, in which case, court will be postponed....

Once the adoption is granted, there is a 7 day wait period before the adoption is finalized, and after that it takes 3 - 5 days to obtain the signed court decree from the judge.

Once the court decree is obtained, the new birth certificate is applied for, which takes up to 5 business days.

We will be given travel dates for our "gotcha trip" after the birth certificate is obtained.

Then we get to go bring her home.  The second trip requires at least 12 days in country, so we will be away from home about 2 weeks.  There is quite the process that happens once we get her in our arms again...but that is for another blog post!

Please pray with us that we will sail through this process with no more snags, and that the political climate in Christy's country will remain stable so that many more orphans can come home and be with their forever families!

Happy Birthday Priscilla!

Today Priscilla turns 3 years old.  

Three years ago Priscilla was born to a first time mother, 4 weeks premature, via C-Section.  That day her mother found out that her baby girl had special needs and a medical condition - that her baby's heart had a defect.  I often picture her mother as being hard-hearted.  That upon hearing that her child had Down Syndrome that she just walked away.  But we do not know that.  In Priscilla's country most of the people are poor, and most women work to make ends meet.  Facing the difficulty of raising a child with special needs and ongoing medical needs is difficult even in the best of situations, but in Priscilla's country this is nearly impossible for most people.  I'm sure that Priscilla's biological mother remembers the day Priscilla was born, and the day she said goodbye to Priscilla.  I don't know her heart, but I'm sure it was not an easy thing to do.  Today I pray for Priscilla's mother that she will know the love of God and He will save her soul and that someday, somehow, she will know that her precious little baby girl is so loved that we are coming from the other side of the world to bring Priscilla into our home and give her the love and care that she could not.

Today Priscilla has no idea that she has a family working so hard to adopt her.  She probably doesn't even know it's her birthday.  She, in all likelihood, will not get to have a cake or open presents.  But, Lord Willing, this will be her last birthday that goes by without fanfare.  I was also reminded today that even though we are not with her on her birthday, she is not alone.  Our heavenly Father, who orchestrated all the events in her life in order to bring about her being adopted into our family, is by her side as He always is.  He remembers the day she was born.  He knows the hours she was conceived and He created her to be exactly as she is and determined even before she was born that she would become our child through adoption.  If you haven't read it yet, please take a minute and read my blog post about how Priscilla's Story Really Started in 2008!  I share there how we can see God's handi-work that dates back to before Priscilla's birth, and how He began something the month she was conceived that would ultimately lead to our reaching out to adopt her!

And God gave us a gift for her birthday - today we found out that last Thursday we had been approved to adopt a child from a Hague approved country.  We were gone camping last week, so we  didn't find out until today, Priscilla's birthday, that we had been approved.  God knew that today would be hard for me, so He made it possible for us to get this good news today - isn't He so loving!  And I just heard that this document arrived in today's mail!  Yeah!

So now our I800a application has been approved.  We should get the approval letter through the mail very soon - maybe even today!  Once it arrives, I'll head in to town to get it notarized, and then send it off to get apostilled in Olympia.  Once it returns, I send it on to join the rest of our dossier.  Once it's translated, then everything is authenticated and then it our dossier is finally ready to be submitted!

Once it's submitted, it will wait it's turn to get reviewed.  Then once it is approved and gets the officially signature, we will get our referral and we will be notified that we can go on our first trip to meet her!

Right now, things are a bit backlogged in her country due to a change in the government, and they also take the month of August off as a holiday.  So the best we can hope is that our referral will come sometime in September, but it could be well into October before we hear anything.  It's looking more and more like our trip to meet Priscilla will be in very close proximity to our son's wedding.

I just keep reminding myself that every step of this journey is in the control of my heavenly Father and that our first, and second, trip will be exactly when He has determined it to be best for us to go!

Progress, Well, Kind Of!

So, we are still awaiting our USCIS approval for our I800a (application for permission to imigrate a child - it's really approving our family and making sure we are not involved in human trafficking).  I called yesterday and our application has not been assigned an officer yet, even though we got our fingerprints done for this over 2 weeks ago.  Last spring I was reading about approvals coming just days after the fingerprinting, but now approvals are coming 4 - 6 weeks after fingerprinting.  I have no idea why things have slowed to a crawl over at USCIS, but I keep reminding myself that God is still on his throne and even this is not out of His control.

On a brighter note, after more than 3 months of no dossiers for families waiting to be processed so they can go meet their child being processed, there is a meeting finally planned to do this next week.  Please pray that nothing will hinder this meeting and that these adoptions will all be processed efficiently so that these little ones can know that they have a family working so hard to rescue them!

We, sadly, are not even in line for those meetings yet.  Our dossier has been in translation (and might even be done with that), but it can't be submitted until it has the I800a approval (see first paragraph).  Once we get our I800a approval letter, we need to get it notarized and appostilled (that takes about a week or more) and then we send it to join our dossier.  Then we can be submitted.

Delay after delay.  That seems to be the story in many adoptions.  I just have to keep reminding me that no matter what, God ordained this adoption, miraculously funded it, and He will bring it to completion in His PERFECT timing.

Early this morning I had a great thought!  When we go to meet Priscilla, I will teach her "Baba" how to do some of the therapies that we are doing with Esther!  Then she can benefit from it even before we bring her home!  And they are so simple, even my younger kids can do some of the therapies!

One thing I do know is that it will be absolutely amazing when we do get to go meet Priscilla.  I can't wait to be able to share with you photos of her in my arms!

Our Dossier is Finished!

Our documents arrived from Olympia today!

I was all ready for them after creating the family photo pages to include with all the rest of the documents!

Here is what we have worked so hard to put together over the last 4 months!

What you see there is:

Home Study

copy of passports

miscellaneous boring documents

5 sets of FBI fingerprints, apostilled in Washington DC

More boring documents

A commitment to doing follow up home visits after she's home

Photo pages with photos of our family, home and activities:

Now we are waiting to get an appointment to have our finger prints taken for the I800a (immigration application), which we will have to drive to south Seattle to get done (not going to be fun now with that bridge in Burlington gone).

After that, we will be waiting. Waiting for what?  Waiting for our "referral".  What's a referral?  In the world of adoption, it is the invitation - the invitation to travel to meet your child!  We expect this will happen sometime in July or August.

So, now it's time for some nesting - home projects to get done while I have time to do them!

I included an entire sheet of photos for Esther as it shows that we have dealt with nearly everything that Priscilla has and will experience.  It also shows that we value her as a large part of our family and is not seen as a burden but as a delight and a blessing to our family.

The Second Trimester....

I find it very interesting how similar adoption is to pregnancy.  When you think about adoption, it's like the time when you aren't pregnant yet, but hope to be/plan to be/think you might be pregnant soon.  When you commit to a child, it's like a positive pregnancy test.  When your adoption plans are interrupted it's like a miscarriage - you grieve for the child you won't be able to adopt.

We committed to adopting Priscilla back in January.  I liken the last 4 1/2 months to the first trimester. The going it tough, and there's nothing to show for it.  You are working so hard on something you can't put your hands on.  You're tired all the time and there's always more to do than you have time or energy.  Then, you finally reach the end of this first trimester - the home study arrives!

We are now entering into a new phase of our adoption, the second trimester if you will.  We are waiting to "see" our little girl.  The hard work is done, I'll have more time and energy to function from day to day.  I have a list of projects to accomplish before she joins our family.  I'm sure, just like the second trimester in pregnancy, there will be days that it will seem like this isn't really happening.  Life will seem"normal" and there will be very little to remind me that we are adopting.  Except for those occasional little reminders, similar to those precious first kicks/movements, like getting our fingerprints done for the I800a, and submitting our dossier. I'll need to prepare and plan.

In about 8 weeks we will get to "see" our "baby."  To me, this will be very much like the big 20 week ultrasound (only better as we'll get to hold her and love on her!).  But it will be the first time we truly lay eyes on her.  At that point everything will seem so much more real.  Our hearts will be bonded with her and it will be SOOOO hard to walk away and not "see" her again for so many, many months!

After that, we'll be in our last trimester - the hardest part.  There will be so much to do to prepare, as I know I will be unable to accomplish much of anything once she is home, for months even.  We'll get her bedroom ready, get clothes for her set out (we'll know her size by then).  We'll have more paperwork to submit to finish the adoption.  But, mostly, we will be waiting.  Anxiously waiting.  Praying for her to stay strong, to remain healthy.  Each day will seem longer than the last.  Going "overdue" due to delays in the red tape/legal process will be excruciating.

Once everything is ready and the time has come, Daryl will take me to bring her home.  We'll leave our other children, and come home with their new sister.  Then everything will slow down, we will focus on our new blessing and keep tight for a while.  Time to bond, time to learn about her.  Time to allow her to adjust to her new world and new time zone (so like a newborn that is on the wrong time frame, awake all night, sleeping all day!).  Keeping exposure to anything outside our family to a minimum as we care for her and bond to her.  Taking her to doctor's appointments to make sure she gets the best start here as she can.

And, eventually, finding a new normal for us. I always find it takes at least 3 months to find a new normal after having a baby, but as I get older, it has taken longer and longer.  With Carese it was nearly a year. With Priscilla, it may take that long as well.  Our friends and family will need to be loyal and patient as we go through the process of making Priscilla a part of our family.  But it will all be worth it.

But, there are many ways that adoption is so very different from a pregnancy.  While we are waiting, our child is in an orphanage on the other side of the world, spending most of her day in a crib.  Not receiving the therapies, medical care and proper nutrition that she needs.  No amount of my eating right or being careful to guard my health will help her.  Granted, if I'm eating right and working on my health, I will be in better shape to care for her, but it doesn't help her right now.  When an adopted child joins the family, they are not a clean slate.  They have been damaged.  They have learned to cope in ways that a baby should never have to cope.  They have learned to never expect their needs to be met.  They have learned that crying does not bring about consolation.  They have learned that at night, there is no one to care for them, they are on their own.

And, unlike pregnancy, it is not 9 months, give or take a few weeks. It's more like a year, give or take a few months!  A year that YOUR child is not in your arms but living in a cold, sterile environment learning to rock in place to self-console instead of sitting in my lap, in my arms, rocking in our purple princess room.

So, when is our "due date"?  We really have no idea.  Sometime next winter.  October at the earliest, January or later if things don't go well.  Another winter in an orphanage for a little girl who has battled pneumonia 4 times in her first 3 winters.

Please pray with us that our paperwork will sale through all the red tape.  That we can go get our precious little girl in October rather than January or later.  Pray that she remains healthy.  Pray that we can make all the needed preparations in our home for her.  Pray that we will be healthy for our traveling to meet her and to bring her home.  Pray for our family as they prepare to hold up while we are gone.

But even more.....

PRAY that others will see the needs of these children to be adopted!

EVERY life is worth saving.  These children will NOT be OK if left where they are.  Unlike children in need of adoption here in the US, they are not in homes.  They are  not receiving therapies to help them grow and learn.  These children face a death sentence if they are not adopted.

If you are pro-life, then you should consider the plight of these precious children, loved by God, who desperately need a home.  These are children abandoned because they are not perfect.  But in God's eyes they are perfect.  In God's eyes they are worth every penny, every sleepless night, every sacrifice of time it takes to bring these children into a home where they can be loved, cared for and taught of the ultimate adoption.  That they can be adopted by God Almighty and be His child.

Adoption is the ultimate outreach to a sinful word.  Adopting is being a missionary, an evangelist.  An adoptive family is a physical manifestation of the spiritual reality of salvation.

If you can't adopt, the support adoptive families through prayer and financial giving.  If you can't give financially, give some physical help to a local adoptive family.  And everyone can do this - advocate for children who are waiting for their forever family to find them.  Share the plight of these forgotten children.

If you think you can't adopt because you don't have the money, I say "pshaw, that's nothing."  I know because we have experienced God's provision in a way that astounds me every day.  If God is calling you to adopt, He is MORE THAN ABLE to provide such an easy thing as money!

Plus - did you know that there are 3 children listed right now who have enough money in their Reece's Rainbow Grants to nearly pay for their entire adoption?????

Check them out:

Nolan is almost 10 years old
He has been transferred to an adult mental institution
His life is in imminent danger
But he can be adopted!
He has over $15,000 ready and waiting to be used
for his adoption!!!
Can you save him?

Iris has over $16,000 to use for her adoption!
She loves to care for the other children in her orphanage
Here's is a blog post about her:
http://www.tinygreenelephants.com/2013/02/beautiful-iris-video.html
This country is fast -
most children are home in 7 months!

Maria is an 11 year old sweetie pie!
She has $15,000 for her adoption
Are you her momma???
She's in the same ORPHANAGE as Iris
(hint, hint, hint!)

A Red Letter Day!

Today two things we have been waiting for have happened within hours of each other!

Our Home Study is Completed!  

AND

Our Matching Grant has arrived in our Reece's Rainbow FSP!

But first, the final numbers on our funding!  When our matching grant began, we estimated that we needed around $21,000 to complete the adoption from that point forward.  We set our goal of raising $10,500 to use for our matching grant.  Our matching grant also matched the value of items donated, so that kind of made things a little complicated, but it all worked out so amazingly well!  Our matching grant was for up to $14,000 (half of the entire cost of the adoption, including expenses we had already covered).  

So here's the totals:Monetary donations/commissions earned (FSP or directly to us) = $10,476Value of items donated for auctions/sold & proceeds sent to us = $3193

Total of Matching Grant - $14,000

Notice that - they rounded up! Astounding!

So, in summary, we are fully funded.  We even have extra funds in case our projected costs are less than our actual costs (especially for plane tickets)

We also found out last week that the process for filing the dossier has changed slightly, speeding things up.  Before you had to first apply for the I800a (application to immigrate a child), and then once you have the I800a approval, you would include that in your dossier and send that off.  Now, you send off your I800a and dossier as soon as they are ready, and then send the I800a to join the dossier once you get the approval!  This will save 4 - 6 weeks of processing time!  Good thing I've been steadily working on the dossier items!

Right now I have the I800a completely ready, just waiting for signatures and that Home Study, and I also have everything for the Dossier ready, waiting for signatures, notarization and then off to get apostilled.  Once everything is notarized/apostilled I can send in the Dossier.  This should mean that I can send in the dossier by the end of next week if all goes smoothly!

And that means that we will be traveling to meet Priscilla sometime around the end of July or August.  Her birthday is August 5, so would you pray with me that we will be traveling the week of her birthday?  Her birthday falls on the Monday, so in all likelihood, if we travel that week, we would meet her on her birthday!  She would probably have no idea of the significance, but when she's older, it would mean that she did not spend her third birthday alone!

We also did some re-arranging in the girl's bedroom as Elizabeth didn't like sleeping in the bunk, and having a bunk above Esther's bed made it nearly impossible to get Esther in and out of bed without putting your back out.  So here's some updated photos of their bedroom.  Carese sleeps in the white crib, Priscilla will sleep in the brown crib, and Esther sleeps in the bed to the right of the brown crib, and lastly, Elizabeth sleeps in the bed next to Esther's bed.

That's another project I have to tackle this week - I almost forgot!  I have to make up new photo sheets to send in with the Dossier showing our home and our family, or should I say "her home and her family!"

So, we have made it over the biggest hurdles - the home study and funding for our adoption.  Isn't that amazing!  From here on out it will be mostly waiting, waiting and more waiting.

I'm  planning on taking a week off from the internet once I have the I800a and Dossier submitted, but I'll update the blog if anything important happens.  I've been spending WAY to much time online since this adoption started, and we have so many project around here that we need to get done during this waiting period, since after Priscilla comes home, projects will take a back seat for a long time!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement through these past few months, and we appreciate your prayers that this next step will go smoothly as well!

Yum, Yum!

frozen, straight out of the freezer

Fresh out of the package
frosting comes in nice little package

When we got our starter pack for the Butter Braids fundraiser, it came with three loaves of bread!  We have tried two of them - Strawberry/Cream Cheese (in the photos), and Cinnamon.  They are delicious!

Here's the photos of the process!

partially risen, about 5 hours after opening

Adoption Progress Update.  We were supposed to have our first home visit on Monday, but Carese spiked a high fever on Sunday so we had to reschedule.  Now we are scheduled for next Monday.  Carese is very sick (double ear infection, pneumococcal bacterial infection, and we have to watch for signs of meningitis), so prayers are much appreciated for my tiny princess!  She's running high fevers, but will still drink, so that is good.

We are ready to apply for our passports, and that will happen when  Esther's new glasses are ready for pick up as we need to go to town to apply.

Just before putting in the oven - it really grew that last hour!

Our four home visits may only take 2 weeks to complete, then another week for the social worker to complete her report.  Our FBI background checks should come back around the middle of March, and then we'll be done with our home study, Lord Willing!  Then it will be on to serious Dossier preparation.

Out of the over, cooled for about 20 minutes
drizzled the frosting over top

Things around the house are really taking shape.  The kids are really pitching in and doing lots of little projects around the house that would fall under the category of "spring cleaning" which we were unable to do last spring due to the arrival of Carese in March!

We have received donations from several people this week (check out my FundRazr progress in the sidebar!) and my Facebook auctions are going really well. I also have my first sponsor on my "Sugar Free for Priscy."

YUM!!!

By the way, I used the name "Priscy" there as we heard her called that in a video we have of her!

We are working on a Spaghetti Feed + Silent Auction locally for April and things are starting to come together.  I have several donations from local companies already, and I'm close to getting some more!

Our next big cost will be our I800a application.  This is the application to get approved as a family to immigrate a child via adoption.  This costs over $700 for the application, but there's also the cost of shipping and preparation of the forms that are sent with it (apostilles).  The I800 is completed after the first trip, before the second trip and is specifically getting permission to immigrate the particular child you are adoption.

So far, I have $200 towards that cost as of today.  All of that $200 I did not have as of last Saturday so I am much encouraged that my Lord is providing for our needs before they are needed!

 Our February Auctions end tomorrow night, and all proceeds from that will be added to that $200.  We have had several items donated for our March Auctions, and we've been working hard to make new items too!  Our March Auctions will be only 2 weeks long to make it possible to have items shipped in time for Easter/Resurrection Sunday/Spring Break!

Doing Something Every Day

Adoptions take time, home studies take time.  When I look at everything that will need to be done to prepare our dossier I freak out a little.  But then I remind myself that other people have done this, some more than once!  I just have to take it one step at a time.  My goal is to do at least one thing each day  to facilitate the adoption.  Right now my paperwork has all been submitted for our home study.  The next step is the 4 home visits. 

To prepare for the home safety check I have ordered and received 3 carbon monoxide and 1 smoke detector, an ammo safe and a gun safe.  I also purchased child locks, a child gate and fire extinguishers.   Now we need to get them installed!  This week and last I worked on tidying and organizing my bedroom and the little girls bedroom.  I know, probably the easiest rooms, but they will stay that way the longest too.  We submit photos of our home and where she will sleep with the dossier, so I was keeping that in mind.  It worked to my advantage as the worker in Priscilla's country requested those photos now!

I've made a list of what I hope to do in each room, and the children are helping here and there too.  The boy's bedroom is next, but since half my family is down with the flu, it might be a few days before we get to that room.

I'm also working on a few things for the dossier/adoption requirements - earning educational credits (online courses about adoption, bonding, medical issues and more), finding someone to do our psychiatric evaluations, finding out how to get a second set of fingerprints cleared,  and getting passports.

Today I received in the mail our first set of apostilled documents!  I will be sending those to Priscilla's country as soon as I find out where to send them!

On a bright note, we have received $35 in our Reece's Rainbow FSP grant, andpok several of our, A Seventh Sister Facebook Auctions now have bids!

I am blogging from my tablet which means all photos are posted at the end of the pat, sorry about that