2 months ago

Amazing that January 30th, after seeing a sweet baby girl's face the night before, Buddy and I were discussing what international adoption means and the costs of it. The Bible says if you are willing and obedient, you'll eat the good of the land. We've been willing and obedient and He has done His part in caring for us well!

It is finished! (almost)

We got news today that our CANIS report is in and our home study will be sent to our agency Monday!!! Now we can get our fingerprinting appt. done and get our dossier complete!!! Oh, how exciting! My parents came over to celebrate dad's 60th bday and we FINALLY got a family picture! Amazing how complicated that can be! When we sent pics to Hannah, we had not had one of Buddy and I since I was 8 months pregnant or all 5 of us since Caleb was 3 months.

Our car is up for sale, now, as a 5 passenger vehicle will not be sufficient! They don't look kindly on kids hanging out in the cargo area or on the luggage rack. Just teasing. Off to minivan land for me! We believe, as everything has for this journey, that it will be quickly sold so we can be ready for Hannah.

We're contemplating a garage sale to raise money. My hesitation is that we have never had a successful one and have given a lot of things away recently. So we're open to donations! We'll have to do it soon, so we'll be praying about when to do it.

More paper work!

Another road trip to meet Buddy for a notary visit. I got more things sent off to the Sec. of State today and hope we'll do this again soon! Again, we're so thankful for the Lord directing our paths on this. It's been His help that has kept us on track. We believe this will be a testimony to His goodness.

More time with the notary!

Today was a day of some accomplishment. I found out more of what I need apostilled for the dossier ASAP, so I quick printed out what I could and when Buddy got home from work, off we went to the bank to visit the notary. One of the forms was done incorrectly, I found out after we got home. I forgot the dates are written differently in every other country, it seems. So, Hannah will be 3 May 6, not June 5 (05.06, 06.05). So it'll be a quick trip in the morning to meet Buddy to get that one notarized. We had hoped to get her by her birthday so we could celebrate with her. Robin said since we've been moving at warp speed through the process, we may still be with her! Sooner than we thought...

We really need wisdom on how to travel, one trip or two. The thought of being gone from Caleb that long really stinks, so 2 trips would be a lot easier on us. We'll know what to do.

I got our package for Hannah sent off to Martha today. It's pretty simple, but I hope she'll like it. More will come later.

Still no word on the CANIS report, but it's coming soon!

Friday, I wired money so our country could start with the formal referral process. I asked Robin at HA how long she thought it would take. She said a few weeks. Well, today we got an email with a document that was all Greek to me, but I'm sure it's what we've been waiting for so we could make some really big strides.

Good Monday!

I've been catching up this morning after a weekend spending time as a family in Branson. My parent shared our cabin and were a blessing to be with. Caleb thoroughly enjoyed Silver Dollar City! My camera battery died, so no great pictures to share. =(

While we were there, we got to celebrate Resurrection Sunday at our church away from home. It's so wonderful to know that Jesus is no longer on the cross or in the tomb. He's seated at the right hand of the Father- victorious, and because He lives, we have victory, too! We have a Helper, we have Hope, we have Provision for everything we need. Makes me want to cry to think of His goodness toward us. Oh, what a privalege having been adopted by the King!

Laundry has been more of a chore lately with 5 to wash for. Knowing # 6 is on the way has helped us realize our faithful washer and dryer need to be passed on to someone else who can be blessed with it. Ever since I heard about front loading w&d's, I've wanted one. It's been on my "vision list" for a few years. Well, today Buddy told me one of our friends is giving us about 1/2 what a new set will cost! Ok, the tears keep coming seeing God's blessings. It's kind of like- ok, Lord, what are you going to do today? Something GOOD is going to happen today! (Did I mention I'm an ORU alum?) But it's true, He keeps showing up for us.

I emailed OKDHS adoption division to see if we could get the ball rolling on our fingerprinting appt. However, they MUST have the homestudy in hand to set the appt. I'm really hopeful that will be this week. As things have progressed on this whole adoption, it'll go through quickly.

The kids were ready to go back to school. Catherine had learned 3 new sight word lists, which is about 36 new words, during spring break. Samuel just hung out and enjoyed reading for Game cube time. They both had a blast on the new swing set, even without the slide on yet! Caleb got the pleasure of green beans and avacados (thanks Denise for that tip). This morning he rolled from back to front, to back, to front. Which means we're really going to have to keep an eye on him!

Another family who are adopting from the same country are going back on Saturday. I'm thrilled to be able to send some things to Hannah! It has to be small and light. Hmmm. I'll have to be thinking and acting in a hurry! Thanks for being willing, Martha. You're a blessing.

More good news

Good news on 2 things! First, I checked email after I blogged last and found out we're only waiting on the CANIS report to have our homestudy complete! Then last night I got an email that our country is ready to make a match for us already! Of course, that means we need to send in a big chunk. Funny thing, our tax return was direct deposited this morning! Things are picking up speed and we're happy to be along for the ride.

I spoke with someone from a ministry we support and told him we're adopting. He said the sweetest thing to me- "I got a witness that there will be grace for the adoption process and for parenting. That's pure religion, not the false kind." Well, we believe it, after all, that's what Hannah means! So encouraging to hear these words as we keep trusting him.

Caleb has decided he likes green beans! He chowed down without any problems yesterday. I'd forgotten the wonders of multicolored spit up! I'm excited to see him doing so well. He's so happy and content most of the time.

We're off to Branson for the weekend with my parents. Lots of fun for all of us and Caleb travels like a pro.