Update

This is an update I typed up to family - figured I would post it here...


We are just in the process of scheduling our social worker home visit. That is the FINAL step to completing the home study. Once the home study is complete, we can move on to getting the international portion of the work done. This involves another set of FBI fingerprints/backgrounds checks, more medical forms, copies of important documents - like birth certificates, etc. This process will most likely take 2 months. We have been told that our timeline would put us traveling sometime in November or January. Our agency wouldn't want us to travel in December, due to the holiday and the fact that the important people in her country might not be working during this time.

As far as travel time goes, we are looking at about 4 weeks in her country. This sounds very overwhelming at first, however with MOST international adoptions the travel is at least that long...just broken into 2-3 trips. With her country, the process is combined into a single trip. This is VERY nice considering once we get to her country, she gets to be with US!!! The entire time we are there, will be time to bond and learn about her and her culture.

In the past few days, we have learned a lot about her past medical history. It's difficult to read how her first years of life were. She had heart surgery, breathing issues, she was malnourished, and even battled pneumonia. Her story reminds us of some of the struggles that Christopher went through as a premature child. Of course, she has been diagnosed as having Down syndrome - but we feel that this is NOT WHO SHE IS. She has it, but it does not define her as a human. She is loving, sweet, playful, shy and absolutely gorgeous. Reading her likes and dislikes sounds SO much like our boys! Curious George is one of her favorite tv shows! She likes to eat spaghetti! Um?! Typical 4 yr old, right?! We can see her playing with Christopher and all of her cousins - fitting in just perfectly!

God has moved mountains in our lives to make this happen. We have seen miracle after miracle concerning this process. We give credit to all of our loved ones in Heaven that have been praying for this. We know our guardian angels have been pushing us in the right direction. And we feel that St. Therese and St. Rose have especially played a roll here. Just as the birth of a biological child is a gift from God, we feel that Rose is meant to be a part of our lives and that she has great gifts to offer our family.


And - in case you might have forgotten...One more week to enter!

Bonding Thoughts

I know that some of you are probably pros at bonding with your new little ones...but I am new at this, so I think about it quite often. We have a king-sized bed, so it's fairly easy for our kiddos (age 3 & 6) to come into our bed at night after bad dreams, etc... But wrapping my head around the possibility of an extra child (4 years old) in our bed, made things a bit more interesting. I just came up with an idea! We have a crib that is converted to the toddler option. Won't this make an EXCELLENT co-sleeper? It can be pushed up, next to our bed! Just like any other co-sleeper, but large enough for a toddler! Yippee! Any other help with bonding is GREATLY appreciated! I have our EllaRoo Mei Tai Hip washed and ready, as well as our Ergo. I know that at 4 years, she could be too big, however I have a hunch that she and Christopher are going to be VERY close in size. Also, I am a stroller addict. If you know of a great option for our trip, let me know. I have a Baby Jogger City Mini that I will most likely take, but I am always up for ideas on something that will be more practical or easier to travel with.

Time Schedule Re-Do

I am beginning to feel like we should be looking at January, not November. After talking today to a few people, it seems like our home study won't be complete until mid August. Poo! I know that we have one or two things to do to complete our part, then we have the home visit to schedule. I guess I am usually the 'glass half full' kind of person, so I always looked at the time line optimistically. Hoping that we can speed up the process once we are past the home study. God's timing is perfect! And a reminder.... The beach trip giveaway is July 31st. You have plenty of time to share and donate. August will be our auction filled with crafts, gift cards and other fabulous gifts. If you would like to donate an item to the auction, please let me know! Thank You and God Bless!