"That was why!"

Today was Nightlight Christian Adoption's annual adoption picnic at Parris Mountain State Park. I had a wonderful time talking to fellow adoptive moms and dads. I got to talk at length with a mom and dad who have already adopted one cleft lip, cleft palate child and are in the process of adopting another. They were such an encouragement and source of some much needed information to calm my fears as far as feeding a child who has cleft palate.

I also got to speak to a couple who hosted two Ukrainian orphans at the same time we hosted Sasha. They ended up adopting those precious girls and traveled in January of 2010. They had a rather turbulent visit to Ukraine because it was the middle of winter. There was snow and ice everywhere all day, every day. She said taxi rides were scary, it was bitterly cold and they were not able to get out and go sight seeing because the sidewalks were pure ice. It was during that conversation that God very clearly said, "That was why, Julie!" You see, this family started the adoption process at the same time we did, however, they got to travel three months before we did. That was three less months away from their daughters. We, however, hit a three month road block in our adoption process for Sasha....we didn't have Brennan's birth certificate. Our homestudy could not be "complete" without that birth certificate which means our file was stuck. Nothing could move forward until that birth certificate arrived. By the end of that three month wait, the Louisiana Vital Records office knew me by name. I called them nearly everyday to make sure our application was not "falling through the cracks". BUT now I know why! We would have been a miserable mess if we had traveled in January. I would have quite literally pulled my hair out if we were not able to get our two and four year old out of our apartment everyday for fresh air and sunshine. But God knew that! So, He worked it out so that we would arrive in the Spring time when the air was warm and the snow and ice were no where to be seen.

God is good and His timing is perfect!....You might have to remind me of that if/when we hit road blocks with Rebecca's adoption.

Fingerprinted

Well, we have once again been fingerprinted. I think this makes our sixth time. Our homestudy should get to USCIS tomorrow and then our file will be complete. They normally approve files in 30 days. I, of course, am praying for less.

Soccer Pictures

I LOVE the boys soccer pics. They are precious!

One Step Closer

Just over three weeks ago, our adoption agency e-mailed me two tracking numbers. One of the numbers was to track our homestudy to the S.Carolina Dept. of Social Services Office in Columbia. The 2nd tracking number would activate once DSS approved our homestudy and sent it on to Homeland Security (USCIS). I have been clicking that 2nd tracking number all week because I knew it normally takes three weeks for them to approve a homestudy. Last night I decided to click it one more time right before we went to bed and it had been activated, our homestudy IS on its way to USCIS. We are so excited to be one step closer to Rebecca.

We got the call!!!

I never imagined that we would receive our referral call on Saturday, but we did! Last year when we were anticipating our travel call for Sasha, I changed the ring tone on my phone for our agency so that my heart would not jump into my throat every time the phone rang. I could not believe it when my phone starting ringing with that strange ring tone on Saturday. My first thought was, "what is that?", then "that sounds like Nightlight's ringtone", then "why would Nightlight be calling me on a Saturday? This can't be a referral call." But it was, it was our referral call!

Here is our Rebecca Eden born September 10, 2009. She was born with cleft lip and cleft palate. Her cleft lip was repaired at Maria's Big House of Hope, the hospital that Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman started in memory of their daughter Maria.

Look at those chunky thighs! I can't wait to get my hands on her!

First Swim Of The Season

The guys decided it was time for the first swim of the season yesterday. I still think it is a bit cold, 78 degrees, but they were determined. Sasha lasted about 10 minutes. Xan and Brennan lasted nearly an hour total, but their teeth were chattering.