The Whole Life Adoption Book

I've been reading this book, by Jayne E. Schooler, and it has so many good quotes in it. I thought I'd share a few.

"Our adoption changed the character of our family forever. We are not a Caucasian family who has adopted a minority child. We are a minority family. We always will be."

An adoptive Dad

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I love this quote because of the "our family is a team philosophy". That's the approach John & I take. I often tell Mark, "We're a family & we stick together." Sometimes we talk about how much we are looking forward to adding more kids to our team.

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"Adoptive parents who bridge the adjustment barriers understand two things. First, their child has had a tremendous loss - loss of both parents, geneological ties, cultural heritage, to cite a few..." Family Ties

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We are trying to prepare the best we can & pray that we will be able to help all our children be the very best, and the most free & joyful, people that they can be. We're definitely asking God (& counting on Him!) to give us tons of wisdom!

Home Study Change

Ok, so our next home study meeting is going to have to be rescheduled. AHHHH!! It was supposed to be this Wed. night. It's hard to be patient, but I'm trying not to stress about it & am surprisingly quite successful at it (most of the time!) Thanks for your prayers for all those of you who are supporting us that way! Thank you! Thank you!

The big thing we did get accomplished this week was getting the Immigration papers in the mail. This is a BIG deal. They should get our packet on Monday, so we are praying everything will be done to their satisfaction & that we will get our approval FAST! We still need to be fingerprinted too but they will pick the time for that & we will dutifully show up! (You don't mess around with Immigration!) We also hear we are going to be assigned an adoption representative so if we have major questions or problems we actually have a person to ask that will be at least somewhat familiar with our file (along with all other adoptive families in our state.) Apparently the USA tries to expediate adoption paperwork...sounds hopeful.

Another less important (but fun!) thing I did this week was buy furniture. I found a large wicker dresser & night stand at the Goodwill for a deal. I LOVE wicker furniture & we will either use the pieces in our master bedroom (we don't have a dresser yet) or for our child's room if we get a girl. The furniture is solid & in good shape - just needs a fresh coat of paint. I have this color called "Ivory Coast" that I think will look so great! Can't wait to get painting!

13th Anniversary

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary! We are going out to eat to celebrate this weekend, but tonight we are having a "family party" with pizza, movie & popcorn. I am so thankful I got to marry John. He is the kind of husband who opens doors for me, and walks so that I am on the side away from traffic. He takes the time to listen and to consider my thoughts and needs on even small issues. He is an excellent man - honest, kind, hardworking, fun & a great husband & Dad and...my best friend.

"Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails."

I Corinthians 13:4-8a

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I love that Scripture & am thinking I should read it everyday to remind myself of what love (& what God!) is really like. It's so easy to get busy & to forget to cherish the people we love most, isn't it?

Superman (broad chest) Pose

Mark & Cousin Olivia

First Home Study Meeting...Check!

We met with our social worker, Kim, last night for our first home study meeting & I think it went pretty well! I asked John to casually tap my knee to signal if I was talking too much (a problem if I'm nervous!) & I guess I did OK because I never got "the tap". Kim seemed very relaxed and laid back & when I saw that there were dog dishes in her bathroom (we met at her house) I thought that we must have found the exact right social worker for us! Thank You God! Our next meeting is July 30.

We also found out we can mail in our first Immigration petition so we are preparing that paper work to get in the mail asap. Things seem to be going pretty smoothly & we are soooooooooooo thankful!

Restrained Whining

Thanks to those of you who are praying for our adoption. I found out recently that our Immigration paperwork could take anywhere from 7 weeks to 4 months! The 7 weeks didn't sound too bad, but 4 months sounds like such a looooooooooong time! And...we have to file two separate petitions at two different times along the way in the process. The closer I get to adopting, the harder it is to be patient! I am aching to hold my little one(s) in my arms & to tell them (& to know for myself!) they are at home & safe with Mommy & Daddy at last! We will get to the Immigration office as soon as we can, but it is an hour away & we need to get there super early on a week day to ensure we even get seen,(no appointments & long lines) so we are trying to find a day John can take off from work asap... Thanks for listening! :)

Random Thoughts

Our family seems very adoption minded these days. One of our hens has adopted a tiny baby turkey! It's funny to see this gawky little one cuddled up to our fluffy hen. I've been trying to take a picture of them together but so far they are camera shy. The baby has been named "Pilgrim Peepers".

The other day I was at a restaurant with a play area & I noticed two adorable children that looked African. Sure enough, they'd been recently adopted from Uganda. They were sooooooooooo yummy cute! Makes me long to hold my own little African(s) in my arms asap!

I've been reading a lot lately about adopting children from Africa & adopting older children. There's so much to learn & I'm finding that other adoptive parents are one of my very best resources. Learning about all the things that can go wrong has been a bit scary, but I am reminding myself that surely we won't have ALL the possible problem-scenarios happen! There are just going to be LOTS of unknowns for us to depend on God for.

Home Study ...Again!

OK. We're trying to start our home study again. Our meeting is next Wednesday evening, July 16. We'll be meeting with our assigned social worker, Kim, who sounds like a very nice lady. I am excited and nervous at the same time!

John & I are also trying to carve out a week day when we can travel to the big city to submit our I-600 at Immigration. We'll be asking for official permission to bring one or two children into the country. It could take anywhere from seven weeks to four months to get the papers processed so we want to get at it asap.

Thanks for your prayers!

Mark Likes Cats!

I LOVE this picture!

North Dakota Road Trip

Mark & Ben (our very funny dog) in North Dakota.