Our New number

Last referral month (June) we received word from our agency that the Thailand office had sent word that things would be delayed.  So, we waited and waited, and waited some more.  Due to conversations with our agency, I wasn't expecting much of a number change. Dear friends, I am happy to announce we have a new number on the wait list, and I couldn't be happier!!!!!  (Well, I could if all the waiting were over and she were finally home :) )

After I told the boys the new number change, Luke was riding his bike while waiting for Daddy to come home and kept repeating: We're going to have a sister (giggle, giggle), we're going to have a sister...  Just as I was ready to video him  Jamie came home and I captured this instead. (Video below may not visible on all devices.)

We're all elated in the new status change! Having a new number might seem inane to you; however, it means PROGRESS, and of course, helps establish a timeline.  Incidentally, September is the next referral group. Could September be our referral month, our match month, the month we get her picture?!!!

PS: Please pray that everything is on time in September so I know SOMETHING by the end of the month. Also, I've been told that it is very LIKELY that we will receive a September referral!!!!

-KW

We're Getting Closer

God has been so gracious to us in this process and He continues to provide financially.  (Check out the thermometer!!)  Over the past few months we have had a few families and churches give to our adoption  fund.  One family, in particular, sold a sizable item and donated the money to our fund.  We are so thankful that so many share our passion for the orphan. To be a recipient of such generous acts of kindness is humbling.  These gifts took us totally by surprise.  Surprises are good  great!

Since this is June, a referral month, we could be matched with our daughter!  I'm trying to balance wonder, excitement, and realism.   In a nutshell, 3-6 children are released into our adoption program every 3 months. Remember my number?

I do believe that numbers 1-5 are all asking for girls as well, but I'm not absolutely certain.   (For some reason our agency likes to keep a few secrets...)  In all likelihood our match will happen in September or December...  And with that match we will receive pictures!  ***Squeal!!!

Then after the match, we will wait on Thailand to officially approve the match and invite us in country to get our daughter.  The current travel trend is a year.  So,  there's still a bit a waiting.  :)  

  

My girlfriend gave me this Christmas gift.  But isn't this the perfect adoption waiting gift?!

I've been saving it for a chocolate crisis!  I'll let you know when I break the glass, haha. And I do believe I'll savor each and every bite!   

-KW

Our new number and I'm itching to shop!

There is a lot of waiting involved in adoption.  But, it is oh so exciting when your wait list number changes.  Currently we are a head of schedule which is wonderful since we have been in process for 18 months now :) The last few months, I have really wanted to buy my daughter something. This year's Easter dresses were so tantalizing!  To date, I haven't bought anything yet!  Can you believe it?!  You see, I'm not sure exactly what month she will come home or what age she will be.   However, I do know that I HAVE to have a dress or shirt similar to this one, but with more of a tutu!!!  http://www.etsy.com/listing/163911980/step-aside-barbie-theres-a-new-doll-in?ref=sr_gallery_9&ga_includes%5B0%5D=tags&ga_search_query=new+doll+in+town&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_view_type=gallery

Without any further ado our new number is...

Yay, we are getting closer! Thank you for following our story and for all the love and support you continue to give us.  We are incredibly blessed!

Are we crazy?

We received notice that we would have to submit a Psychological Exam as part of our adoption process.   (The requirements in international adoption can change quickly.) Oh the labor pains on this one :)  So we made appointments to have our heads examined.  We got our #2 pencils and began a 567 question test.  Yes, you read that correctly 567 questions to figure out if we are crazy!  I felt not so ebullient by the time I was finished (and a little crazy, ha).  But good news, we passed!  After I received my letter of clearance, I just had to laugh at one comment that was used among other comments such as: made eye contact, no evidence of thought disorder, no mental health concerns, etc.

(A shout out to my 'quality' breakfast friends!)

On another note, March is a referral month.  So we should be getting our new number very soon.  We are currently number 11 and should be down to single digits very soon.  Our program averages between 3-6 children referred to families every 3 months.  However, for some reason, last referral month didn't have any children :(  If the numbers in the coming months are large, we will learn who our daughter is in September.

Thanks for following our journey to give our daughter her forever home!  

Updates in the New Year

So it turns out that boys names are much easier for us to pick!  We have several names we are considering but haven't quite found the perfect combination yet.   For fun I did a F*cebook survey of everyone's favorite names.  Here are the results in no particular order...  Please feel free to add to the list in the comment section.  Your comments are fun and help make some memories while we wait!

For the month of December, Jamie decided that we should add a new element to our advent time. Each night, we prayed over our same request.  Guess what my request was?  I prayed for another adoption donation.  And, guess what God did again?  Yes, he faithfully answered.  We had two donations made to our Lifesong Account in the month of December!  We are getting closer to bringing home our daughter.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to so many!!!!  I confess, I really get giddy to see that thermometer rise.  God's provision has been miraculous.  I (we) feel so humbled to be on this journey.

   

And, here is our new number.  We are expecting a December referral!  

Please pray for our daughter as she most likely has been born.  Oh, how we long to meet her!

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.   John 14:18

Modern Day Miracles

Our adoption journey has been full of amazing twists and turns.  There have been many long hours pouring over paperwork, grant applications, fund raising work, conversations, and much more.  To be sure, there have been times of frustration and unrest.  We have learned that adoption is not for the faint of heart.  As many of you know, adoption is costly.  We have invested our savings, sold jewelry and many other personal items to raise funds. We have had small and some not so small donations along the way.  Our homestudy, dossier, and I-800A are all filed.  To date we had been able to meet all our financial obligations for the adoption.  And if you missed the last post, we are officially on the waiting list. :)

When we said yes to adopt, we knew this would be an act of God to provide financially.  Last week, on Sept 20 to be exact, we received our second decline (read rejection) in the grant process.  I was really upset by this news and cried out to the Lord.  I asked the Lord if I had misunderstood what He wanted for us and to reveal Himself to me.  I also prayed if He really did want us to adopt, to allow money to start coming to us.   Yes, I was doubting and afraid and fully acknowledge I looked like an Israelite.

Later that day Jamie shared with me that a pastor friend had called and his church would be taking up a love offering for us.  "That's great." I replied.  Did I remember what I had prayed?  Then that night I received  a phone call from a friend stating that her and her husband would be sending us $500!  I immediately stopped and shared my prayer with her.  My prayer had been answered (doubly) the very day I prayed.  How kind of God to confirm His plan to me before I went to bed.

Now this is where the story gets REALLY exciting.  The picture below is from 1997 at Camp Patmos when I was a camp counselor.  Before I had met Jamie, before I had ever thought about adoption, God was at work writing this story of adoption.  My path crossed Stephanie's who was also on staff.  We recently reconnected on Facebook, and she too is a pastor's wife and has a heart for the orphan.   Six days after my prayer, Stephanie called and shared her church would be giving us $10, 000!  Look at all those zeros!!  Now here's what is really, really incredible-the church is 75 members strong and in the last year and a half they have given $58, 300 dollars to adoption!!!!

We are overwhelmed by God's grace and glorious provision in our pursuit of our little girl.  We are so thankful that a small church in CT and an old friend from student camp (15 years ago) have a heart for the orphan.  All of this has collided in our life in an miraculous way! It has been 2 days since receiving the news and we are absolutely floored and praising the One who has adopted us in Christ.

With a cooperative effort from so many (our church family, a small church in CT, and many friends) the thermometer continues to rise!  Check it out!  The remaining amount just seems like change... To God alone be the Glory!

We are so thankful a huge mountain has been moved. The next group of referrals will be in December. We are moving up on the wait list- we're currently

We are excited to tell our little girl one day 

all the marvelous stories of her homecoming!

Dossier Complete!

Whoohoo our Dossier is completed and our agency will ship it to Thailand TODAY!! Here's a glimpse into the process... We followed a huge to do list and finally we were able to take it to our state house for a seal.

Next we hired a courier service to obtain our seals from the Dept of State and Thail Embassy in DC.  We used a trackable service to send the dossier, as many many hours (months) of work was in that package.  I was slightly obsessive tracking our package :)

 The boys helped me ship it off after swim lessons.  I had just had my passport photo taken.  The woman gave me instructions not to smile with teeth.  Before snapping this shot, Aaron asks:  Can we smile with teeth?! (Don't you just love it!) And yes, I was every bit as obsessive tracking this package too!

So what's next?  More paperwork!!  And no, I'm not kidding.  On this round we'll be working with United States Citizenship and Immigration.

But now we are officially on the wait list for our little girl. Our number is:

We still have a long way to go--about 3 years till we bring our sweet heart home. But today we are celebrating that we didn't make any mistakes in our paper work, that nothing was lost in the 2x it was in the mail, and that we are one step closer to our baby girl.  And that friends, feels pretty amazing!