Moving forward!!!!

Well, the past few days have been insane! We have had to deal with the fact that our Ethiopia Adoption dream was not going to be a reality. A few people have mentioned the Democratic Republic of Congo program to me; a lot of people are switching over from Ethiopia. Our agency only does Ethiopia and China, which are both out of the question for us. So, I contacted someone I knew from our adoption with Sara, and she mentioned Congo. Long story short, there are over 5 million orphans there in desperate need of homes. I feel so naive not knowing about the horrible things that go on in Congo. There is a beautiful 2 1/2 year old girl available and we all fell in love with her. She is just gorgeous!

So, now we are scrambling to gather additional documents needed, etc before we leave for vacation on Monday!

Does everything happen for a reason???

This is so hard to write, but I wanted to give an update. Just when we thought this was too easy, it WAS! We found out yesterday that because I had Cancer more than 8 YEARS AGO, Ethiopia will not let us adopt! We are heartbroken, BUT it may open another door for us. We definitely want a second child, we know that. This just puts a big bump in our plans. We will keep everyone updated. Pray that we make the right decision.

Fingerprint Appointment!

I was shocked yesterday when we got notice of our fingerprint appointment already! Last time it seemed to take so much longer! We are all pretty excited. Things seem to be moving right along. We are waiting for the courts to open, hopefully next week. Then we should get some answers.

Getting There!!!!

So, we got notice today that our Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition has been received, which grants us permission to bring an orphan child into the US. So now, we just wait for our fingerprint appt (3rd set of fingerprints). Other than that, we should be going on a list very soon to become eligible for a referral in Ethiopia. Fingers crossed!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost there!

So, in case you were wondering, this is what (most) of a Dossier looks like. The Home Study is missing, but our agency is finishing that up. So now, all of these lovely documents can go to our Agency and then they are off to Ethiopia!!! We have hit a few bumps, but hopefully everything will work out! Pray for us!!! We are looking forward to this journey.

Summer fun!

We are having a great Summer. I am so lucky I am able to spend time with Sara this Summer at the pool, the zoo, etc. She is going to camp 2 days a week while I work and is loving it. Wish Summer could last forever! The adoption is moving right along. We are working on all of our documents for our Dossier. Slowly, but surely...

I am working on a bedroom theme for the new little one (Hanna?). I thought cupcakes would be cute. What do you think? Sara says she wants a Justin Bieber room, so she will probably take over the drum room.

The drought in Africa right now is very disturbing. I pray for these people! Can you imagine having to walk hours and hours in the heat for food with 6 children? We are so lucky we have what we have.

Progress!

We had our 2nd Home Study today. There was not much to it, just verifying the information from our last one. Now, all we have to do is get our medicals and a few other minor documents and we can apply for 1-600 (approval to bring an infant child into the US) and we can start working on our Dossier (documents needed to send to Ethiopia).