Fingerprint appointment

Last week I broke down and emailed our local USCIS office regarding our fingerprint reprint appointment. Even though it had only been three weeks since we sent in the request for an appointment, we were still getting antsy. We have many concerns that our expiring fingerprints are going to slow us down.

I got a very quick reply from them and they told me our fingerprint appointment was scheduled for February 22 at 12:00 pm. Our current fingerprints expire on February 25. I know that it can take many weeks for our new prints to make their way to DC and then to Addis. All I could think about was how thrilled I would be to pass court, (once we get a court date, that is), but we would have to wait to receive an embassy appointment until our fingerprints arrived at the embassy. We don’t want to be delayed by weeks or months.

So, Friday I sent out an email to friends and family members, who in turn emailed it to their friends and family members. We asked for those people to pray for the following:

1. Guidance. We are considering contacting our local US Immigration office via email, or just showing up in person, and asking for an earlier fingerprint date. We want to make the right decision.

2. Favor. Please pray for favor with those involved. Please pray that they would have mercy on us and grant us an appointment that is sooner than our original one. Please pray for the right person to respond to our email or be at the entrance desk if we go there in person.

3. A quick court date. Please pray that we would find out about our court date soon. We think if our court date is scheduled before our fingerprint appointment, it would help us have reason to move our appointment. After we pass court, we will legally be her parents!!!!

4. No delays. Since December, we have been praying that the fingerprint issue will not delay us. We believe it will not. We have faith it will not. Please join us in praying for the same. Please pray that all necessary paperwork and our new fingerprints would be quickly processed in our local US Immigration office and at the National Visa Center in Washington D.C., and then would quickly arrive in Ethiopia.

5. Our daughter. Please pray that she is healthy and happy. Please pray that people are holding her and loving on her. Please pray for her growth and development.

6. Other families. There are at least two other families in the exact same situation we are. Please keep them in your prayers. We don’t want them to be delayed either.

Yesterday I decided to email USCIS and ask them if they would consider giving us an earlier appointment and explained why I felt it was important. They emailed me back today and we get to go into their office tomorrow at 8:00 am!!!! This is 11 days sooner than our original appointment. We are thrilled. We are now hoping that we can give them our FedEx account number and see if they can use that to help ship everything more quickly.

Thank you all for your prayer. It is amazing to see the power of prayer at work. We have faith that this will not delay us.

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“We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.” – Psalm 33:20-21

update

Oh my goodness. We have gotten the sweetest pictures over the past few days. Beka very generously delivered a little package to our sweet girl when she was there to meet her precious son. She took three beautiful pictures of her and then surprised us with a short little video. She is spitting up during most of it and looks pretty overwhelmed, but we LOVE it! It is so nice to see her moving. Beka wrote this description of her:

“Your sweet M. is a beautiful baby. I touched her and talked to her...didn't want to pick her up because she looked very content and I didn't want to mess with that :). She was wearing the sweetest little cardigan. She is even more beautiful in real life! She has a sweet soul. Seems very happy and content. She even gave a little grin for the camera. I love those gummy baby smiles!!!”

We also received an update from Gladney. It included a great picture of her with her thumb in her mouth and showed off her big brown eyes. This is what the update said about her:

“This little doll is quick to smile with the slightest interaction. The smallest brush of the cheek or pat on the tummy elicits wide grins and kicking feet. And, I believe, she’s already pretty ticklish! I just sort of casually tickled her little ribs today and got quite the giggle for such a little one. What a doll!”

It has now been five weeks since our world changed. It seems like such a long time ago when we first saw our daughter. We are absolutely in love with her and each day we go without her stings a little. We know she is in great hands and we can tell from the pictures and the descriptions just how happy she is. We are so blessed to have these.

Three families received court dates for February 16!!! There are only two families ahead of us now on the unofficial list. Any day now… any day.

let tomorrow be the day...

As I write this, it is 7:00 am in Ethiopia. I am praying that this will be the day we get our court date! Tomorrow is Michael’s birthday. I can’t imagine a better birthday present, than finding out our court date!!! January 27, 2010 sounds like a great day to find out the date, doesn’t it? We are praying that all of the other waiting families will also find out their court dates SOON!

three months old

Our daughter is three months old today. We wish we could be there with her, but we know she is in good hands. It is nice that we can rest easy knowing that the staff at the Gladney Care Center is taking such great care of her.

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Congratulations to all of the families who received court dates and referrals this week. There is nothing quite like finding out about your child for the first time. I know Michael and I will never forget that moment. I am sure finding out you have a court date is exciting too. I would certainly love to find out. Hopefully we will hear something next week!!!

an update

We received our very first update on baby M. yesterday!!! Oh my goodness, she has grown a lot! The measurements we received with her referral, which were taken on December 8, were 7.9 pounds and 19.7 inches long. She was almost 7 weeks on December 8. The measurements taken on January 14, at 12 weeks old, were 10.1 pounds and 20.9 inches long. We are so grateful that Gladney updates us every two weeks.

In addition to the information about her growth and development, we received a picture of her. The picture brought tears to my eyes the moment I saw it. She has the biggest grin on her face. She looks so happy, which makes our hearts swell.

The update came with mixed emotions. We were so happy to see her and read about her development. However, it really made us realize how much we are missing. We are happy she is growing, but everyday that goes by is another day we will spend without her. We can’t wait for the day that we can spend every moment with her. Soon we will go from seeing one picture of her every two weeks, to holding her in our arms. Heaven.

ouch!

I just scheduled the appointment for our travel vaccinations. Gladney suggests we get vaccinated for the following:

Yellow fever
Hepatitis A and B
Tetanus
Typhoid
Meningitis

The grand total for vaccinations for the both of us is $804!!!! They told me they were going to give us receipts with codes on them and we could file it with our insurance, but that they do not accept insurance. I scheduled the appointment for next Wednesday, but when I told the lady on the phone that it was my husband’s birthday, she made me change the appointment. She said he shouldn’t have to come on his birthday! We are going next Thursday instead.

So, for any adoptive families who have traveled or will soon travel, I have a couple of questions:

1. Did you get vaccinated for all five? (We will not be traveling outside of Addis)

2. Did you find a place that accepted insurance?

grease, sweat, and a small bundle

Well, tomorrow makes three weeks since we received our referral. What a whirlwind it has been. We went straight into 12 days of extreme busyness. We had a production of Grease with our 7th-12th grade students. We spent 15-17 hours at the theatre most days. It was really hard to not be able to spend hours a day just thinking about our little girl and getting ready for her arrival. Our students did a great job with the show and we are so proud of them. Living life with kids who are passionate about something is such a joy. I have to get on my soapbox and say that parents need to make sure their kids are passionate about something. If they don’t have interests and passions when they are kids, they will not, in my opinion, transition into adulthood as easily as those who already know what it means to be passionate. They will be lost. This is just my 2 cents.

Here are a few pics from the show. This is a glimpse into our world. This is the world where talented, driven and dedicated teenagers live and the world where hairspray, sweat and a musty theatre, smells like home. This is the world of musical theatre.

(This '66 Mustang convertible was loaned to us, by a guy we didn't even know. Amazing!)

This week a special little package is going to be hand delivered to our little girl by sweet Beka. She is in Ethiopia right now meeting her son for the first time. We are so thankful that she would be kind enough to take a package with her and to take pictures of our daughter.

My sister got little M. some clothes to go in the small bundle. Aren’t they cute? We also sent a photo album with pictures of us and some of her family members. It didn’t photograph well, so I didn’t include a picture.

Michael and I are really feeling a strong desire to go get her. We have no clue how long it will be before we get to hold her. Several people have gotten really quick court dates lately, but that doesn’t mean we will. There is so much we have to do to prepare for her arrival and to prepare to travel. Sometimes, I just don’t even know where to begin. This waiting is MUCH harder than spending over 11 months waiting for our referral. It has only been three weeks, so I can’t imagine what three months will feel like.