Two HUGE Answers to Prayer This Morning

This morning shortly after I woke up I got a call from Pryanka, our adoption counselor at WACAP.  She said CARA (the organization in India that oversees adoption) finally put Deena's information on the CARINGS website (we have been trying to do this for many months... the CARINGS website is the site that they load children on in India so they can be matched with families), and WACAP was officially able to match us with her!!  Our information was still on the CARINGS website from when we adopted Ramya, and though they aren't sure why because we are the only family still on there after adopting, it meant they could use that information to match us!  Well, they may not know why, but I know why.... God can move mountains and He heard your prayers for us!  This is a HUGE and very reassuring step in our second adoption.

And wait, it gets better!!

I hopped on my e-mail to send a message to Oasis, our homestudy company, to inquire about our homestudy approval.  It's been sitting on a judge's desk for months and we have been waiting for approval that whole time.  Well, before I had a chance to e-mail I saw an e-mail had come in saying OUR HOMESTUDY IS APPROVED!!  YEAH! 

The next steps for us are to get approved federally through the US, and then through India.  This means a ton of paperwork, lots of notaries and all kinds of crazy things we have to do.  There will be many hoops we have to jump through.  Please be praying we are able to get this all done quickly.

Thank you again for your prayers, and please keep them coming!!  Exciting things are happening!

ONE STEP CLOSER!!

Rejoice with me! Today we got news that the paperwork was received by the orphanage. The last step is to apply for Ramya's passport, and then I get to hop on a plane and get my girl HOME!! It could still be between 2 weeks and 2 months, but we are officially 1 step closer and on our final step!  I read all the paperwork, and I have to say, this is my favorite part....

 

 

... shall consider her as their own child...

 

I like the sound of that.  She is my child, now and forever!



An Adoption Un-Update and Our Upcoming Vacation

Today I heard back from Amy, the liaison helping us figure out what is going on with our adoption paperwork and approval.  She was in a training today and low and behold, there was Commissioner Clark, the judge in charge of our adoption!  She called me for our case number and was having the judge look it up to give her some information on it.  Basically, the judge was trying to say it was probably our adoption agency's fault, but I've talked to our agency many, many, many (did I say many??) times, and I know they have been on top of things.  I hope Amy can help us get to the bottom of everything!

In other news, we have a vacation coming up next week and we couldn't be more excited.  I really, really, really struggled with whether or not we should go on vacation this year.  I am finding there is a really fine line between living and enjoying our lives right now and planning for the adoption and the future with another child with a disability.  I always feel torn on what we should do.  I had planned to not go on vacation this year, but then re-thought the idea when my mom told me that they had gotten a two-bedroom timeshare in California and that we would be able to stay there for free.  Then I thought about how long it would be until we could take a vacation if we waited until after the adoption went through and we went to bring home Ramya.  That could very easily be 18- 24 months out still.  So, there's that 18-24 months, plus all the time after we bring her home where we need to lay low.  I'm a vacation girl, so that seems like a very long time to me. 

The plan is to drive up to Anaheim, stay for a few nights and go to Disney, then head over and stay with my parents in their timeshare.  The timeshare and our hotel in Anaheim will have kitchens, so I will be able to cook and save some money on the food side of it.  We will drive which saves some money as well.  Plus we are not paying to stay with my parents for that week.  Disney, of course, is not cheap.  That's the part I struggled with the most.  I decided to go, though, because I remember reading in The Connected Child that you should keep newly adopted children away from noisy places, especially like amusement parks and fairs and other places that would be very overwhelming and overstimulating for them ( a child in an orphanage is used to a sterile, white, quiet environment).  That would mean probably not going for a year or so after the adoption as well, if even that soon.  So, basically, I caved :).

Kyla is coming along with us for part of the trip.  She has not been to Disney since she was 4 years old, and is SO excited about the trip.  I'm even more excited just seeing how excited she is :).  Of course, there is Conner and Madi too, who ask me every day if we are going to Disney that day. 

I have a lot going on right now with trying to finish up Dossier paperwork and church curriculum, plus do what we need to for vacation, so I'm a bit stressed out, but I know it will all work out in the end :).

A Step in the Right Direction, I Hope!!

Well, Senator Bundgaard wasn't joking when he said he was going to see what his office could do to help us out.  Today I got a call from a lady named Amy who is the legislative liaison with the supreme court.  She is working with someone else to try and figure out who can help us speed up the adoption and exactly what they can do.  She has a call in with the judge in charge of our adoption here in Arizona and is going to 1) request that our 90 day maximum waiting period (each time you change or update paperwork, they can re-set the 90 days they have to respond to you) is not extended from sending in photos to a different department like they requested and 2) try to get a timeline on when we can expect to hear back on whether we are approved. 

While we still have no concrete answers, I'm excited to at least be moving int he right direction!  YEAH for that!