Waiting...

This is the craziness of adoption...hurry up and wait. We have gotten all of our documents together for the Dossier. We are waiting for our I-171H form to come. In the meantime, we are mailing our documents to the Haitian consulate in Miami for authentication. Most of our friends have sent their documents to Chicago and have gotten theirs back in a week. We have been told by several different sources to mail ours to Miami. We should get ours back in 2-3 weeks.
Please join us in praying for a QUICK turn-around in Miami. If we do get ours back in the promised time, our sweet adoption minister, Erica, is going to hand deliver our Dossier to Haiti. How cool is that!?!?!?!
After that, we will wait some more. I know God is teaching me something.... if I could just figure out what it is...  :)
Until then, here are a couple of other pictures of our precious little man!

more progress!

We got our appointment for getting fingerprinted in the mail today! This is another milestone. We'll go get our fingerprints as soon as we can then wait for the next form- 171H. We'll send some papers to the Haitian consulate and wait a little more. When we get ALL of this together, we send our Dossier to Haiti. These are the ONLY steps we have left to get our little man on his way home!! Keep praying!

Our son...Bobby

This has been an amazing week to say the least. I have been praying fervently that God would show us His will, that He would close or open doors showing us EXACTLY what He wants us to do in this adoption. Would we actually get two children or just one? Would it be two girls, two boys, or one of each? What would their ages be?
On Tuesday of this week, I had to go to church to see our Adoption Minister (and very sweet friend), Erica. Erica asked me to pray, to pray for a little boy who needs a home, Bobby. He currently lives in Jeremie at our church's orphanage. He is 3 years old and is not thriving under his current conditions. Erica asked us to pray and see if we felt that Bobby would be a good fit for our family. He is underweight and undersize, but totally on track cognitively. He will require some special TLC when he comes home. Honestly, we didn't feel a drop of hesitation. It was a solid yes!! As we prayed through the night, we got an overwhelming YES from God. I called Erica back to tell her and she told me that was all they needed. Bobby just needed a family and he would be able to be moved to his "creche"- a safe home for kids who are going to be adopted. We now know who our little boy will be!!!! It will be BOBBY!!!
For now, God has given us the opportunity to bring Bobby home and into our family. Maybe another time, maybe later, we will adopt again. But for now, who could say no to this child God has given us?

What are we doing?

So where are we in this process? First of all, you have to realize how LITTLE I really know. I mean, seriously, I have a dear friend Emily who is walking me through every single step, holding my hand too! Without her, I couldn't even pronounce Dossier (which by the way is pronounced Dah-see-ay). As you read through this, don't be surprised when a more knowledgeable friend of mine comes in and corrects me. I'm just saying, I know very LITTLE!! :)
The first step, big step, is a home study. This is, as I explained it to my school kids, an investigation of you and your household to make sure you're not a "bad person." You have to get letters of recommendation, interviews, doctors' clearance, etc. It's quite amazing! You go in for a interview (both Seth and me) then they come to your house and do separate interviews and tour your home. When they are finished, you get an 8 page report that is your life. It's quite eye-opening to read your entire existence as summed up in 8 pages!
So, we are finished with the home study- CHECK!
Next, you start furiously working to gather the paperwork for the Dossier. This is about a million papers. More doctors appointments, bank statements, letter of employment, a psychiatric evaluation (yes, I've already heard every single joke!) background checks and much more. Lots of it must be notarized, some county certified (which verifies that your notary is legit) and then a few others State Certified (which verifies that your County and Notary are legit).
In the meantime, you must send some papers into the US Gov't to get fingerprinted, get fingerprinted,get lots of things translated into French creole (Haiti's language), send it to the Haitian Consulate in Miami, wait on another form to come saying you were fingerprinted. All of that goes INTO your Dossier. You send it all to Haiti and then they decide for you. WHEW!!!
So, WHAT ARE WE DOING?
We have finished the Home Study. We have filled out all 913 of the forms needed for the Dossier. We have gotten them all notarized. We are waiting on the form to go get fingerprinted. This week, we will send our papers for translation and wait some more.
The good news is that I am really good at waiting. I am extremely patient and laid back, so this part is a real breeze for me! OK IT'S NOT!!! :) I am dying. I mean really, how long does this take??
But here's my conclusion..... none of this was my idea, none of this is my timing either. God had this plan long before I was ever told about it. He knows how it will all come out too.
I would like to ask you to pray, though.
First, please pray for my sweet kids- NO not these kids here in my house, they're FINE!! My kids in Haiti who I have not yet met. Pray for God's protection over them, that He send his angels to comfort them. Oh, and a group from our church visited the home where our kids are now yesterday (no, we don't know them still). Erica, our minister, said they were playing Christian praise music for the kids. Doesn't that just bring tears to your eyes? It did mine!
Second, please pray for this process. There are SO many hurdles and obstacles. Please pray for God's provision on this process, no lost paperwork, speedy government workers, smooth sailings.
Third- just pray for us. You know one of my favorite past times is to worry!! I heard this amazing speaker this weekend say that God told her (upon hearing bad news) to fast- to fast from WORRY! Isn't that inspirational? One day I'll try that! :) Please pray for our family as we adapt to the changes that will surely come. God will provide!

We're doing it!

So, part 2 of Am I really doing this??
About 9 months ago now, Seth and I were sitting in church. Our church had decided to build a village in Jeremie, Haiti. In that village, there would be a school, a church, and an orphanage. As time went by and the construction began, we would see new footage of the kids and the village. One Sunday in particular, there was a video that tore us both up. We cried, separately but together and went home. I knew that day that we were supposed to adopt, we were CALLED to adopt. I didn't like it ONE BIT!! I have a good life, a normal, predictable, CONTROLLED life that I have made my way! Why would I want to mess with that?
So we were sitting on the couch that afternoon and Seth said "did you feel like God was saying anything to you today at church?" I said NO. He said "really, nothing?" I said "NO, okay maybe something but I'm NOT saying it!" I didn't have to ask, I knew he had the same stinking message.... He said "well I feel like we're supposed to adopt." DANG, this is no good.
I admitted that I too was told we were supposed to adopt and again, we both cried. I spent the better part of the next 7 months in denial for the above mentioned reasons. Finally, after being tormented in my spirit, I gave in, I told God YES, I would obey.
Since that time, I cannot tell you the affirmations, the blessings, the surprises this journey has held already. It's amazing. We are such a short time into this, but already, we see the hand of God.
So, for those of you that may have felt a little (or a lot) surprised about our decision, don't feel bad. You weren't nearly as surprised as me! :)

Am I really doing this?

So, we all know I can talk, but can I type? I'm not so sure.... Martha told me several months back that I should write and I laughed. But tonight as I heard Seth telling her of our adoption details, I realized that several of you don't know where we are, what we're doing, how it's going..... I'll never forget, my sweet and hilarious mother-in-law said to us upon being told we were adopting "WHAT, the last I heard you were getting a lab, now you're getting a kid??" C- this is for you!
Here are my hangups... my friends blogs are sweet, sappy and spiritual. I don't think that any of you reading this will have to look far to know that I will be one of the more sarcastic NOT sappy blogs you've read! So, here's my catch- I will use smileys constantly. If that bothers you, I'm sorry. It will make me feel better that I've conveyed I'M JOKING so no one gets mad at me. :) See, now you know.
Oh, and feel free to delete every update or never read them. I'll never know anyway! :)