Makin' a list... checkin' it ... twice?

Well, in response to mrs. salty, I do have a list, thanks for the suggestion! Many know I basically have a list for everything. I rely on lists to keep me on track. :) Especially during these last few weeks, I've made and rewritten several lists. The one I have now has been about half way crossed out. I like leaving the list until almost everything is crossed off because it makes me feel like I'm actually accomplishing stuff. :) We only have a few major things to do for the trip, including packing. It's a little nerve wracking as I'm afraid we'll forget something. Oh well. So, that's where we're at... checking the list... several thousand times! :) woohoo.

Carpets clean! Ah...

Well, we are on the flip side of this week. Less than a week before we leave. Wow. I had a few friends help me put the car seat in my truck the other day. Talk about a reality check. Every time I go somewhere, there it is, the reminder that someday very, very soon that seat will be filled. Incredible.

I've been getting stuff done around the house, in preparation of our return. Yesterday we had our carpets cleaned and what a great feeling that is! I still have lots of little things to do but we're in the home stretch now. Work has been coming in for me this week so I've been trying to balance my time... it hasn't been easy. :)

God has been so faithful in helping me control my anxiety. I nearly had a breakdown earlier this week but when I was able to take a moment and talk with God, He took care of things, in me and for me. For instance, the new medical requirements have now been taken care of. We received everything we need this past Tuesday. It worked out beautifully. (Thank you Doctor's office for all your help!)

That's all for now. I hope to post a couple more times before we leave so we'll chat again soon!

The countdown has begun

Well, I'm nervous, happy, busy, happy, anxious, happy, dizzy, happy, on the go, happy, flippin' out.. and happy!

This final week has started and I'm adding stuff to my list almost faster than I'm crossing stuff off. I still have to finalize the new documents with our doctor but hopefully that will work out soon. We have to get a new router for our computer setup. I spent precious hours on Saturday working on it but it didn't help. Eh, it's cool. It will get taken care of, eventually, along with all the other stuff.

I want to say Thanks once again to all our wonderful family and friends for their support and encouragement. We are really very blessed to have such wonderful people around us.

That's the update. Have a great day! -michele

Two Surprises! (long post)

I received two surprises yesterday. First thing in the morning I was feeling a little overwhelmed by "things" and decided to spend some time just praying, not reading the Bible (which is still good) but just really pouring out my heart and then listening to God. I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the things that were on my list. As the day went on I received an unexpected package from my sweet cousin up north. She sent me a bunch of wonderful little things like magazines and sample packets of things along with some organic snacks and a canister of organic cereal. All kinds of things that we can use. It was all very wonderful and extremely thoughtful! I thanked God for planning this gift to arrive the very day I needed a 'pick me up'. That was a great surprise!

The second surprise came about 6:20pm. We got an email that said as of March 1st there are new requirements for the medical documents we are to bring over to Moscow. Basically we need to get more stuff done... See the doctor again... get more paperwork notarized, etc. At first I handled it ok, but after hashing things out I just kind of, well, let's just say I got really, really frustrated.

I thought we were done with all of this paperwork stuff and basically just had packing left. Now there is yet another "issue" we have to deal with before we leave. This was not a great surprise.

Today, after speaking with a friend, we realized that God knew all of this and had everything planned out. It becomes a kind of cliché but it's really, really true. We had complained that our court date was further away than expected. Turns out, if it hadn't been set up for that date, we would really be scrambling, or maybe even in a position where it would be impossible to complete the necessary documents. The other thing I had kind of complained about was that our doctor decided to do a full blood work panel, instead of just the ones the Russian government required. There were many, many more results on the lab reports and I didn't want the doctors over there to give us grief or raise a red flag about anything on there. Again, it turns out that the very things our doctor tested us for that I thought shouldn't be on the report are now the things the government is requiring. How awesome is our God! I should know it by now... God can be trusted.

So, long story short - things are tough, things get better, things go really bad, in the end God is really Good.

Starting our 6th Trimester

We are on the verge of beginning our 6th trimester. (See ticker way below). It's not your typical pregnancy, but it feels similar to one none the less. We started with tons of paperwork and have gone through this process growing with anticipation for our son-to-be. We are anxiously awaiting his arrival and are swollen with love and desire for him. There's so much more to be said about the similarities but I think you understand.

I received our (hopefully last) necessary documents for our upcoming trip. I will be making one more drive to Tallahassee (Lord willing) early this week and then everything will be in place for our departure. The countdown starts this Saturday! Please continue to pray for us as the travel portion of this expedition takes a heavy toll, not to mention the time in Russia amidst people who have a fairly different culture from our own. It will be a great experience and we look forward to it, but we desperately need to be led by God's wisdom in everything we do and say.

Thanks for all your prayer thus far. We know God has been working on our behalf and we are so grateful!

Flights Set, Visa in transit... All Systems Go

So the title is a little weird... We've got 24 days to go. Sounds like a lot but we know it will go faster than we expect. I've booked our flights, decided to do it on our own instead of use an agent and I am praying there aren't any problems down the line. It is very strange seeing our son-to-be's name on the flight confirmations. It is a good kind of strange though. :)

Our Visas should be back in a couple of weeks. The good thing about this longer than expected wait is that we don't have to pay the expediting fees like when we only have the typical 2 weeks notice.

We're trying to get the house and gear ready for our departure/return. We're still praying the fellow adopting couple will get the same court date as us. They will probably find out next Wednesday so please keep this in prayer. It would really be nice for both of our families if we traveled together.


Happy Valentines Day.
(Our family coordinator suggested we make this special since it will be the last one we have without having to find a baby sitter! Woohoo!)

COURT DATE!

We heard from our family coordinator this afternoon. We have an official court date! We are so thrilled to finally be at this stage. I will give you more details later but we leave here in exactly 4 weeks from yesterday! This is further away than expected and kind of disheartening but we know that God has it all under control and we trust Him completely. We get to see our little boy very soon! Woohoo!

Next Phase

We had our home visit tonight to fulfill the last of the requirements for the Home Study Update. As usual, it was very pleasant and not too grueling. We're hoping our report will come quickly. I found out that this update will need an apostille so that means at least one more trip to Tallahassee before we head out to Russia.

We also found out that our Petition is on it's way to Russia, as of this past Monday. The earliest we could hear something about a court date and travel itinerary would be next Wednesday the 11th. So, we're back to "waiting". Well, meantime we are preparing for travel, collecting all the necessary clothing and accessories. This will help so we're not scrambling at the last minute.

On a side note, the family that got their referral and petition at the same time we got ours is having a slight delay in getting their petition off to Russia. At the last minute they found out they need one additional document from their state (they should have it very soon) before they can send it off. We would really like to travel with this family so please join us in prayer that we end up with the same court date, God willing. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Luca!!! I miss you!

The deed is done

Simple news: After some issues this morning, we were able to get the Petition notarized (2x). Drove to Tallahassee. Got the apostille. Overnighted it to our agency. Got back home at 9:30pm.

Finished, Finito, законченный, fini, beendet, the end.

FINALLY!

WE GOT THE PETITION!

What does this mean? We now have a relative estimate of traveling in 4 - 6 weeks!!!!!!

What about the home study update? Still have to do that since it will expire while we're there.
How do I feel? Unbelievably amazing! Indescribable! This brings an even greater reality that we will be parents to a wonderfully adorable little boy.
What am I doing right now? Jumping up and down in between typing these words! (I'm a little dizzy so I think I need to stop.)
What's next? We sign and notarize this document and then I drive to Tallahassee for it's apostille. I will then send it to our agency who will then send it on to Russia. Takes about a week to get there. After it's translated our regional facilitator will submit all of our paperwork to the judge on a Wednesday (submissions only happen on Wednesdays). If it looks good, then the judge will assign us a court date and then we head over there about 5 days before that date.

Thank you, everyone who has prayed for us. We know that God is still working out things perfectly on our behalf. He is awesome!

The Pediatrician

We had our first ever Pediatrician consultation yesterday evening. I won't go into details but it was interesting and comfortable. I can't wait to be able to bring our little boy in to see the doctor because that will mean we actually have our little boy!

There hasn't been any news of that Petition yet, but we're continuing with the Home Study Update paperwork. It can be discouraging at times. We really thought we'd be traveling this week. It will be at least 2 months before we return with Jack. As you can imagine, we're frustrated and tired of all the rigamarole.

That said, we truly appreciate your prayer and know that God is working on Jack's and our behalf.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Well, the good news is that we're next in line to get our 'petition' so that should happen any day now. (does that sound familiar?) The bad news is that it was recommended we complete the Update to our home study, rather than just do an amendment. This is where the ugly comes in, if you know what I mean.

Yes, we knew we were cutting it close with our Home Study expiring Feb. 28th. We were advised, way back in October that it wasn't necessary to go through the hassle to update the home study, probably because they thought we'd be over there by now. (so did we.) With court being as tough as it is, I understand it is best that we complete the update so everything is current and there's no chance of anything expiring while we're there. It's a high price to pay, literally, for this security. Thankfully we've been blessed with a financial gift that covers our home study update fees. What an awesome God!

So, my latest "freak out" moment has been due to a concern that this Home Study Report Update, which could take a while to complete, could be required to be submitted with the Petition. (Remember, we need the 'petition' in order to get a court date. The court date will determine when we go back.) I don't have a final answer, but we're figuring and hoping this won't be needed since it won't expire until after we arrive there. We're hoping the judge won't need it to set our court date.

Ok, you have now been updated.

No Sign

We are through Day 2 and there hasn't been any sign of our Petition yet this week. We've still got a few more days though. I've really been learning the concept of Trusting in Jesus. It's like I'm taking a college class on the subject and every hour of the day I'm doing home work! It's a good thing though. I'm praying nothing hinders our Petition from coming through, and I'm also relying on Jesus to work things out for our good and also that things will happen at the perfect time. God is so gracious. We've been so blessed and still are every day, over and over.

Just wanted to give you a heads up. Keep praying! Thanks!

More Paperwork

Update: We were advised to complete one more piece of paper that extends our age range parameter, for the sake of the US Embassy in Russia. I just found out that in order to get this extra sense of security we have to complete even more supporting paperwork. With more paperwork comes more fees and more time.

We're also still looking for that pesky petition to arrive in our email's inbox. I think part of the delay has been due to their Christmas (on Jan. 7th) and New Year's (the 13th) holidays.

This past week has been my most difficult week emotionally thus far. God is so Faithful though. This scripture has really helped me so I thought I'd share:
Psalm 29 (the whole chapter is powerful but here are the last two verses)
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
11 The LORD gives strength to His people; the LORD blesses His people with peace.

Thanks and keep praying!

Thank you, everyone, for your continued prayer. I've heard good reports about how things are still moving along in the usual fashion in Russia, concerning adoptions. We still need to pray, though, that it continues.

We have another urgent need at this point. It concerns our court date and our paperwork. In our paperwork filed with the US government we have been allowed to adopt a child up to 18 months old. Jack's going to turn 18 months in the middle-end of February. We really need our court date to be scheduled before that. I'm not sure, with our petition not having come yet, if that is even possible. Though, with God all things are possible. If it doesn't happen in the specified time frame, we will have to spend more money and more time updating our paperwork. NOOOOOO.

Please continue to join us in prayer for this matter. Thank you all so much. To God be the Glory!

DESPERATE FOR PRAYER

Please take a moment and offer up prayer for all the American families who are in the process of adopting from Russia. Many might not know, last summer in Virginia there was a father who forgot his 21-month old son in his car while he worked all day. The boy had just been adopted from Russia three months prior. The boy died and just recently the court found the father not guilty. I'll post the links below to a couple of news reports, but it is very clear that many in the Russian government are extremely unhappy, outraged really, with this verdict and can potentially halt, or prolong the adoption process if they get their way.

As you can understand, this would devastate us after already having met and bonded with who we expect to be our son. Please, please stop and fervently ask God to intervene in this situation. We were hoping to be on a plane back to Russia by end of January. At this point that doesn't look likely, and it's possible it could be longer than even the middle of February.

When reading these articles, you will be able to pick up the irritation for the situation from the Russia media.
http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/18-12-2008/106849-hot_car_death-0
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081217/118913479.html

My heart is so heavy. Please help us pray.

Happy New Year!

Still waiting to hear of our Petition. Can't wait to fill the spot in between the dogs. :) All is well though. We are looking forward to how different 2009 will be from any previous year!

We are patiently waiting to hear any news of our return to Russia. We know God is working behind the scenes. I've begun collecting our travel supplies and it's starting to get more and more real that we will be going back in about a month or so. woohoo!

We hope you had a wonderful start to this new year. We wish you a wonderful and blessed year!