Thursday

Nothing yet.

Wednesday

I didn't hear anything from Haiti today. Since we've exceeded three working days, I sent a new email as they directed me to do if I didn't get a response in three working days. We'll see what happens now. Prayers would be appreciated - thanks!

Is This What I'm In For??

I follow the blog of a family who has adopted twins from Haiti, which is what we are doing. Their boys are a year and a half older than our boys and they just had a new baby. The boys have been home for over 3 years, so their situation is very different from ours since all three of ours are coming at once. Today they posted the top ten unsupervised moments of their twins. If this is what I'm in for, I'm terrified! Prepare to laugh:http://johnson-mccormickfamily.blogspot.com/2008/07/top-ten-k-o-in-unsupervised-moments.htmlJust keep in mind that they've had THREE YEARS to work on schedules, routines, discipline, bonding, and attachment. More than likely the baby is coming just before we go to get our boys. If this is what I'm in for, I'm going to need you all to pray very hard for me!This, I think, is the closest thing I've had to a reality check about what life is going to be like. Wow.

Tuesday

I checked email a whole lot more today than yesterday. I didn't receive one from Haiti, though. That is okay. I learned tonight that the boys haven't had their medical appointments yet, so that still needs to be taken care of before visas can be issued. Pray with me that those appointments happen soon. I'm still resting in God's perfect timing of this. We have A LOT going on and He knows what is best.

Feeling a Little Better

I'm feeling a little better. The stuffiness and coughing aren't gone, but I feel like they have lessened. My sister in law emailed me and told me that if I have a fever I need to get on some antibiotics. I'm happy to report that I have no fever. I'm not happy to report that my back pain has gone from bad to worse. What scares me the most is that it is right in the middle of my back which makes me wonder if the baby is facing the wrong way. I'm okay if I sit or lay down, but walking is a real challenge. Sometimes I can't walk without holding on to something for support. Not good. I swore I wouldn't waddle, but waddling is my only option at times.I officially feel as big as a house and have this feeling of not knowing what to do with myself. I can't remember anything unless I write it down, so I'll get up to do something and then wonder what it was I was going to do. I'm also trying to drink a gallon of water a day so I pretty much live in the bathroom. When we did our tour of the hospital the labor and delivery nurse told us that drinking that much water really makes a difference during labor. She didn't say what kind of difference it would make, but I'm guessing it's a good thing. If you've never done it before, I challenge you to drink a gallon of water. It is not easy and you'll need to start early. You have to be real intentional about drinking throughout the day if you're really going to drink that much water.Yesterday a few friends came over. One of them scrubbed my bathrooms and dusted my bedroom (we have cats and hardwood floors, so it was a yucky job) while the other one occupied her kids. It was SUCH A BLESSING. I cannot clean my bathrooms at this point and they were getting yucky. Plus, this friend used to clean houses for a living so she does a phenominal job. She spent more time in my bathrooms cleaning them in one day than I probably have the entire time we've lived in this house. God is good to us and just continues to take care of our every need.I'm scheduled to go to the doctor on Friday, but I would love love love to go into labor before then. I'm sure we will have the induction talk again if I don't go into labor before then. I DO NOT want to be induced, so please join me in praying that my body does what it's supposed to do before the doctors lose patience with me. Thanks!

I just have to say...

...THANK YOU for all the encouragement these last few weeks. So many of you have left comments of prayers being said, praise to our awesome God, and encouragement. You all rock.

I am not good at leaving comments on other peoples' blogs. I'm not a chatty gal in general, so I guess that gets extended to blog comments. So, if you are a reader and not a commenter, no worries. I totally understand!

I also just have to say that I have a whole lot of peace going on right now and I know that is coming from God - not me! Things are going from crazy to insane here at our house and God just keeps filling me with peace. For example: There are ground cookies in the rug in my living room that have been there since Wednesday. And I'm okay with the fact that I haven't gotten to it yet. Yes, I think it is gross and I'm thankful that no bugs have figured it out yet, but I just haven't been able to take care of it yet. Maybe today.

I actually went a number of hours yesterday without checking email. I had friends over, but they are the kind of friends I could check my email around. And I didn't even think to do it. That is God.

My mom is coming for a visit on Thursday and usually I would freakishly be cleaning and getting ready for that. But I'm not. And I don't know if I will. If you think to, please be praying for her tomorrow and Thursday as she travels. She's driving in from Michigan and is splitting the trip between two days. She has struggled with blood clots in the past, so please also pray that her legs do okay during the drive and that she remembers to stop often and walk. On a happy note, she is bringing Arabic food with her, which is my favorite and something I cannot find here in VA. She was up nearly all night on Sunday making grape leaves and she's bringing other yummies, too.

Okay, that turned into a much longer post than I intended. I mainly just wanted to say thank you for the prayers and encouragement.

Monday

No news today. But honestly, I wasn't expecting to hear anything today. We'll see what Tuesday brings. God's timing is perfect.

Sick

Last week I started not feeling well with a stuffy nose and sore throat when I woke up. I thought the stuffy nose was just pregnancy related, but when I started coughing junk up on Thursday I knew it was more than that. So, it's official. I have a cold. A friggin' cold at 38 weeks pregnant. I coughed enough last night that Papa Bear spent part of the night on the couch. I made the doctor aware of the cold on Friday and she gave me some options, one of which is antibiotics. I didn't feel that sick at the time and I really don't want to take antibiotics. I also don't want to be coughing up a lung during labor. Please pray that I begin to feel better. I would really like to go into labor, but I'd also really like to be feeling better first. Thanks.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Okay, that was a good Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I just sent an email requesting our visa appointment in Haiti. OH MY GOSH. I've been told that I may receive a stock reply and that I may need to call them next week, but I cannot believe we are at this point. OH MY GOSH.

Freakish checking of the email should begin on Monday morning.

Please pray for favor as we move into this LAST STEP.

OH. MY. GOSH.

**I received the stock reply that I was told about. It tells me to allow three working days before expecting a response as well as what to do if I don't get a response in that time frame. That means I'll freakishly be checking email Monday-Wednesday! Let's pray I hear from them sooner than Wednesday!**

I-600 Approved

I called Haiti just a little while ago and confirmed that our passports were presented and our I-600 file was approved. The I-600 is also known as the "orphan investigation." It's expensive paperwork that is used to determine that we are adopting orphans. The US is very particular about the definition of an orphan, so this paperwork is a big deal for the US side of things.

Next is visas. I'm not clear on what exactly needs to happen leading up to the visas being issued. I've emailed our adoption coordinator asking for clarification, so I'll post what I learn when I learn it.

We are pumped. We are literally at the VERY LAST STEP in this very long adoption process. We couldn't be happier!

Please continue to pray with us that our visas are issued before our fingerprints expire on 8/23.

Today's Appointment

Well, we had an appointment this morning and here's what we learned:
We had an ultrasound to be sure the baby is head down. He is. He has a big head.
In fact, the whole baby is big. Like at least 8 lbs big. I'm not excited about that.
I have not dilated any more. In fact this doctor called it a half a centimeter. I'm not excited about that either.
They recommend induction next week if I don't go into labor on my own. I'm not excited about that.
We discussed that induction can lead to c-section. Trying to deliver a great big baby can also lead to c-section. I don't want a c-section so I asked what she though would lead to c-section more - trying to deliver a big baby (as in waiting and not inducing and possibly going 40 weeks) or being induced. She said the statistics at this point would be about the same.
I was told to walk a lot and have sex a lot. I asked about castor oil and she gave me the go ahead but said it would make me feel bad. Since I'm already feeling miserable, I'll just add to it with some castor oil. After the appointment we went to Walmart and the mall and walked a ton. We also bought a new homecoming outfit for the baby since he will probably be too big for newborn clothes (which is what the first homecoming outfit is). Walking wouldn't be so bad if every. single. step. didn't hurt so much. I'm having bad sciatic nerve pain with every step. We still need to hit a health food store for the castor oil.
That's it for now.

Ready

Okay, I've reached the point in this pregnancy where I'm ready to have this baby. Yesterday I began to have some discomfort in my back. It has grown into horrible pain when I walk. I'm pretty sure it is sciatica. It only hurts when I walk, but oh yeah - I'm supposed to be walking a bunch. I'm not going to whine, though, because a lot of women deal with this through much of their pregnancy and if I only have to suffer for the last month, well that's okay with me. I just hate having limited mobility. I've got things to do, people to see! So, I'm ready. I'm totally fine with this baby coming any time now.

Great News!

I woke up to great news this morning!! The other passport has been printed!! Yay God!!

Of course, this news comes with a bit of a hitch. It just wouldn't be our adoption if it didn't.

According to our facilitator, beginning this week you have to keep your fingerprints current until the visas are issued. Our fingerprints expire on 8/23. I'm waiting to hear back on how likely it is to get our visas within the next four weeks.

Getting our fingerprints updated won't be a problem. We've done it before. The problem is in getting the updated fingerprints communicated to the right office in Haiti. It took me 2 months earlier this year to get our current updated fingerprints communicated to the right office in Haiti.

So, this is where you come in. We beg you for your prayers. Please join us in praying that our visas our issued before our fingerprints expire. God can totally do it.

I'll keep you updated on what I hear. Something to think about: If our fingerprints don't become a problem, our boys will be home in a month. WOW!!

One Centimeter

Just got back from the Dr. Everything is good. My Strep B test came back negative, so I will not need antibiotics during labor. Hooray for that. The Dr. also said that I'm one centimeter dilated and that the baby is at -2 station. She said she could feel his head. It's unlikely we'll be having the baby this week. We'll see what next Friday's appointment brings.

Need a Little Patience...

Yeah, that's a great Guns N' Roses song - and it totally describes what I need when it comes to this second passport.

Getting the news of one passport was a high and a low all at once. It's progress with no forward movement. I've rode out the high as long as I could, and now I'm feeling the low of waiting for the other passport. I check our family page what seems like a zillion times a day, just hoping that this time there will be good news. Sometimes this time is only five minutes since last time. Sometimes I get up in the wee hours of the morning to check since the person who does our updates is 3 hours behind us and may have posted information after I went to bed. I'm a little neurotic about it, I guess.

I was surprised when we were told that passports take up to two weeks because that seemed like such a short timeframe. Well, we are past week three on this second passport. I should have known better than to expect them both in two weeks time, but I did.

And then there's a part of me that thinks, "See - you shouldn't have gotten their room ready. It was bad luck." Not that I believe in luck... but maybe Murphy's Law.

Don't misread me - we are still moving forward as if they are coming home soon. Baby gates are in the process of being installed. The minivan is getting a good cleaning and then I will take it to the fire department to have car seats installed. We are building a wall, hopefully this weekend, between our dining room and office so that little hands can't get into a bunch of books and papers and so that Chuck can work from home without little people trying to help him.

In the grand scheme of things we are very close to having our sons home and we know that. I know that many of you who read this are still what seems like light years away from bringing your kids home. And believe me, I understand. Our process has been longer than long and we are just hoping the end of it doesn't get long and drawn out, too. We still have some hoops to jump through and we are tired, but we will make it. So much of the waiting and longing and crying has all been so surreal. It's like watching a movie and then realizing that it's your reality. I sometimes wonder how we've made it this far and the truth is that God has carried us. He has sustained us this long, and I know He'll bring us through to the end.

So, with what patience I can muster, I'll keep clinging to God and checking for news.

Update

I haven't posted in a while, so I guess I'm due for an update on the ole blog.My carpal tunnel has gone from bad to miserable. There were a few ways I could move my arm before to make the pain stop, and now nothing works. When it hurts it just hurts and it hurts BAD . It usually does this sometime between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. No fun. On Friday I asked my doctor if she could recommend anything to ease the pain and she said, "Have a baby." Cool. I'll get right on that.Most women complain of not being able to sleep in the last month of pregnancy because of how uncomfortable their whole body is. I would have absolutely NO problem sleeping if it wasn't for this carpal tunnel crap. Yes, I'd be up to pee every hour, but I'd go back to sleep.At my Dr. visit Friday, after measuring my belly, the doctor said, "It's safe to say you'll have a fairly decent size baby." I was really hoping for a small baby. Like in the 6-7 lb range. This Wednesday marks the 37 week mark, which is when a baby is considered full term (don't pay attention to my Baby Gaga counter - it doesn't register that we are in a leap year). On Wednesday I plan to go to my friend's house and jump on her trampoline. A nurse at church told me she did this during her first pregnancy and delivered a week after jumping on a trampoline AND three weeks early. I'm all about having this baby well before the due date. I've decided that God makes the last month of pregnancy so miserable that you don't care what you have to go through to stop being pregnant. I'm there. Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if it wasn't so hot, but it's July. And I live in the South. And I don't like to sweat.That's all for now. I go to the Dr. again on Friday. I'm assuming they'll do a pelvic exam and I'm hoping to hear I'm at least a cm or 2 dilated. That would be great news.

We've Been Busy

We've had a busy day here at our house as we've worked to get the boys' room ready. We still have one wall to decorate, and we're not sure what we'll do. We bought all kinds of appliques and for some reason they will not stick to the walls. So, we used them on the closet doors and dresser instead. I nearly cried when we made the beds. I just can't wait to tuck them in!

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We've put our futon in their room so that we can be in the room with them (comfortably!) if they need us close by. We aren't too keen on having kids and blowout diapers in our bed.

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I've been going through some crazy nesting this week. I have organized drawers, closets, vanities, and clothing. I'm beyond tired right now, but so pleased with all we've accomplished this weekend.

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I pray that it is very soon that these two little guys come and turn my neat, quiet, organized world upside down. I'm sooooooooooo looking forward to that!

One Down, One to Go

Good news - one of the boys' passports has been printed! It's not at all uncommon for one passport to be printed before the other, even if they were submitted at the same time. We are so thankful to God for this news. Please join us in praying that the other passport is not far behind. Thanks!

A Guarded Heart

Today is the two week mark since we got out of MOI. We were told that passport printing could take up to two weeks, and here we are. Now, it is very possible that the passports are indeed printed and we just haven't heard that yet. Sometimes communication from Haiti can take time. Or, the passports aren't printed yet. God knows and I'm leaving that in His hands this morning.

The next and final step is getting the boys their visas. All the paperwork that we need to submit for that has been in Haiti for a week now. Some people are getting visas very quickly and others have waited months. We have no idea how quickly or slowly this will go for us, though it seems that (some) families who filed their I-600 in Haiti (which we did) are waiting less time.

So, we could be very close to bringing the boys home. And I can't seem to wrap my mind around that. You'd think I'd be jumping up and down, but it's more like I'm holding my breath. I have this desire to get their beds made and stock the cupboards with kid friendly foods and put up baby gates (that I hope they'll respect) and put the safety locks on the kitchen cupboards, but I can't help but guard my heart from disappointment and the way I do this is to not get things ready. I've gotten things ready before. We had a whole nursery ready over a year ago when we got out of IBESR. I've bought tons of diapers, only to give them away.

I honestly don't know how I'll respond when it is finally time to go get them. I had a dream last week that we were called and told that they had our visas and we could book our flights. The feeling I had in my dream was indescribable. I immediately picked up the phone to call American Airlines, but then decided I needed to talk to Chuck first. It was like I didn't know what to do because I was so excited and shocked.

A lot of kids from our orphanage have gone home recently and it sounds like several more are heading home this week. So, there is definitely some movement going on. Many of the kids who've gone home or who are slated to go home were quite a ways behind us in process. While I'm thrilled that they are home with their forever families, it still hurts knowing that my boys are still sitting in an orphanage, their homecoming long overdue.

And so I wait - wait for news on the passports - and wait on getting things ready here at home.

What Has Happened to Viva??!!

There are not many things I splurge on in life. I'm rather cheap and I don't mind buying generic or store brand for the most part. However, I am a total paper towel snob. I pay top dollar for Viva. Back when I was into shopping with coupons I'd buy Viva even if I didn't have a coupon. Back when the commissary (military grocery store) didn't carry Select-a-Size Viva, I bought the full sheets even though I prefer the select a size.

I say all this because I'm so disappointed right now. I'm on my second role of linty Viva. Out of nowhere my beloved Viva has started leaving lint on everything. I can't deal with that. Is this a fluke or are others experiencing it??

If the madness doesn't stop with my next roll, I'm going to have to go to Bounty, which has always taken 2nd place to my Viva.

Sorry to get all dramatic over paper towel, but I just can't believe this is happening!

Food Help, Please...

As we draw closer to bringing the boys home, we find ourselves trying to prepare in more and more ways.

One of the ways we are trying to prepare is in the food department. Since we don't have kids, we have no idea what to feed them! So, I'd like to use this post as a sounding board from all of you out there - what do you feed a 2 1/2 year old. And if you've brought one home from Haiti, is there anything specific I should know when it comes to food?

Please, please, please share your ideas. I need ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is my hope that we can come to a place where the boys eat what we eat for dinner, but I know that will take time.

I thank you in advance for helping us out!

Alicia Needs Your Prayers

Last summer Chuck and I had the pleasure of getting to know Alicia, who is the sister of some of our good friends. Alicia would come with them to small group each week and was really digging into what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. We loved her great questions and her wild stories. She was a lot of fun to be with and we were all sad when she went back to Tennessee.

Last night Alicia was shot in the wrist and in the chest. She is in stable condition right now, but has a bullet lodged next to her spine. At some point, surgery will be performed, and we are asking you to pray that she would come through it completely okay.

I'm honestly not sure if she truly knows Jesus. I'm so thankful that her life was spared last night. I ask that you also pray that she would come to know Jesus through all of this if she doesn't already. She has experienced some really hard things in life, and this just adds to the list. I'm praying that God's love would really be evident to her during this time.

And if you think of it, please pray for her family as well. As you can imagine, this is really hard for them. Our friends and their 3 boys are driving to TN tomorrow to be with her.

Thanks.

June Photos

Noah

Samuel (on the nanny's lap)
Noah (in the left bottom corner)

I have to say, the picture of Samuel disturbs me. He is obviously unhappy. I just wonder what is going through his little mind.

Soon, buddy, soon.