Adoption Update

I thought I would post an adoption update to report where we are at and some of the things we learned while spending time with Sonja from MLJ this past weekend.

We have been waiting for our 171H document, which is the approval of our Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (I-600A). I called to check on the status of it last week and just this morning. They couldn't find it this morning and said they would check on it. I was a little frustrated. But, guess what I found in my mailbox this afternoon? Our 171H approval! It states, "It has been determined (by the US govt.) that you are able to furnish proper care to an orphan(s)..." Yippee!

As soon as we receive the adoption papers from C-country, showing that all three of our kids have been legally adopted in their country, we can send in our next (and last, I think!) document. I've been told our in-country adoption papers should be arriving any day. Our next/last document to send in is the I-600, which is a petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative.

So, here is my estimated current timeline: Send in our I-600 in 2 weeks + 6 weeks for the I-600 approval + 4 weeks (for two embassy appointments) = about 12 weeks until our kids come home!

When you break it down into 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 4 weeks, all of the sudden it sounds like our kids are coming soon! AHHHH!

People ask us a lot if we are excited. While we are definitely happy and grateful to be adopting three kids, "excited" isn't exactly the word that describes the feeling I have. Maybe it does for Jason, I'm not sure! Because we are adopting three kids, we are expecting it to be C.R.A.Z.Y and very difficult for awhile when they get here. While I am definitely looking forward to looking at our kids' faces and wrapping my arms around them and while I can't wait for them to finally have a family to belong to, I can't exactly say I am "excited" for the chaos that will inevitably ensue. Let's just say I'm enjoying the calm before the storm right now. (And I'm trying to finish Abram's baby book/adoption story before then, too!)

Our time with Sonja over the weekend was so great. All five of the families from Cornerstone who are adopting from MLJ had lunch with Sonja and sat around for two hours asking questions and hearing more about C-country, the process, the kids, etc. What a blessing! Sonja has met our girls and she told us how sweet they are. When she talked about how much the orphans dream of having a family to belong to, I started to lose it! We learned that MLJ has a social worker that meets with our girls once a week to help them process their being adopted. I love that they are doing that. She said we should get a report from the social worker right before they travel.

Someone asked what the kids eat. She said a lot of chicken and rice (whew! I can handle that), hot dogs and other fairly normal stuff. She said they aren't allowed to have much, if any, sugar in the foster homes. :) Sonja said the foster moms grow to love the kids a lot. She said the moms will love getting pictures of our kids once they are with us, so they can see them in their forever families. I have a new-found love and respect for our kids' foster moms.

Well, that is about the extent of what I remember from our time with Sonja. Getting to hear so many more details was like making the fuzzy picture I have in my head much more clear . . . and REAL.