Administrative Review

Our children had their visa interviews this morning. Unfortunately, their cases have been placed in "administrative review". This is becoming the norm for families adopting from Ghana. Since the National Minister issued a moratorium on all adoptions in April we believe that the U.S. Department of State is respecting the National Minister by asking for a special clearance letter before approving any visas for cases that went to court after the moratorium. Our placement letter was issued before the moratorium but our court date was after. Our lovely congressman, Phil Gingrey, is working on our behalf to find out more. Hopefully, it will not take long and we can get them home soon! Not the news we were hoping for today but God is still in control and we are trusting His perfect timing.

On a separate note, Gabriel seems to be doing much better following his hospital stay last week.  He was admitted on Thursday and diagnosed with Stage 4 malaria.  Apparently, he was quite weak and sick. They treated him with intravenous antibiotics and shots. He has to continue with the shots for a total of 7 days. Unfortunately, the shots are causing his blood sugar to drop. Poor kid has had a pretty rough week. I heard that he was discharged from the hospital and he was "all smiles". Thankfully, he was able to make it to the visa interview early this morning in Ghana. I wish the results were more favorable but at least we are one step closer to bringing them home.

On a positive note, I did get a sweet picture of Debo's growing hair this weekend. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all your prayers and support. We are very blessed!

Also, sweet Liz has been doing some great cheering this Fall.  The 6th grade Junior Hoya team is winning a lot of games and I'm pretty sure that is because they have the best cheerleaders! ;-)

Hair!

So one of the topics of conversation that always seems to come up when you are a white girl adopting an African child is...hair. Everyone wants to know your plan.

Well...this white girl barely thinks about her own hair so trying to think about someone else's hair is almost beyond me. Thankfully, there are some very lovely well experienced mamas around me who have been and will be helping me out...ALOT! (Feel free to give me some tips!)

The thing is...Debo doesn't even have hair yet. They shave their heads in the orphanage and keep it very short for many practical reasons. It makes total sense. But, because of this, I have never seen my daughter's hair.



Until today!!!!

I had no idea that they were going to start growing out Debo's hair in anticipation of her homecoming! I wanted to ask them to, but that seemed so selfish since it is more work for the staff.  Because of this, you can imagine my gratitude when I saw this picture on facebook this morning.  My girl is growing hair!!! I imagine this is very exciting for her because she is totally a girly-girl. This is just one more sign to her that she really is getting ready to make a change. It is a confirmation to her (and her brother) that we are, indeed, coming and that we are coming soon. 

I really hope that hair doesn't have a lot longer to grow before we get there! ;-)

Here are a few more photos I got today. Enjoy! 

She is learning to write the letter "B" while rocking her new hair!

Love that smile!

This is Gabriel loving on one of the only babies at the orphanage, sweet baby Dougie! He is VERY well loved by everyone there! How could you not love that face?!?

Getting Closer

Our POA was able to pick up the visa packets for our kids on Wednesday. Yay!  Now they are getting their medicals done.

On October 21st at 7:30am they will have a visa interview. If they pass and our case is not put under a review then their visas should print that Friday and we will fly to Ghana on October 26th.

There is a possibility that our case will be placed under review for no specific reason and that could delay our travel by a few weeks.

I will keep you posted as we know more. We will not know anything else now until the 21st.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. We are closer than ever and feeling very excited!

Dear Lord,
Thank you for the peace you have given us during this waiting period. Thank you for consistently reminding us that these children are first and foremost yours and that you love them even more then we can imagine. Thank you for taking care of them and putting them in a loving orphanage filled with beautiful children, staff and volunteers. Thank you for all the photos that we have been able to enjoy.

Please be with Gabe and Debo as they go for their medical appointments. Calm any of their fears and hold them close. I pray that they both remain healthy and well and strong.

Please be with the US Embassy workers and the visa process.  I pray for an immediate pass at the interview stage and for a smooth process in the remaining steps.

Thank you for being in control and caring about all the details and for giving us glimpses at your big picture. We trust you and look forward enthusiastically to the remainder of the journey.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

A year older....

I am very happy to be a year older! On October 4th my wombmate (a.k.a twin) and I celebrated our 36th birthday. Some think we are old, others think we are young. I think it is great! I am extremely grateful for my life and I feel VERY blessed for all of you who are walking life's journey with me.

I just spent 4 days with my twin sister and our children. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories. We barely squeeze our current brood into the minivan and when we arrive where we are going we look like a small circus. What will everyone think when we arrive in two minivans and we add a couple of cute Ghanian kiddos to the brood?!?! Welcome to the big top!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our time together.

As far as the adoption goes, things are moving along. We received approval for our Power of Attorney to pick up the visa packets for our children from the US Embassy in Ghana. Hopefully he was able to get those today. Then the children will be taken for a medical exam, including some immunizations and a TB test. After those are completed they will be given a date for a visa interview (which always happens on a Monday or Tuesday.) I am hoping our children will have their interviews on October 21st and then if they pass their visas will print on Friday and we can go get them and bring them home. Unfortunately, since there was a stop placed on all adoptions in Ghana right before our court date many of the cases are being placed in "administrative review". That has happened to two of our friends that are right before us in the process. There is usually no explanation or set time frame for the "review" so it continues to leave our travel date very much up in the air. We are hoping and praying for October 26th but we recognize God's sovereignty in the timing and ultimately trust that.  I'll keep you posted. 

Thanks so much for all your prayers and love!!! I look forward to the day when these cuties will join us!!! It won't be long now!

We got approval!!!!

This has been a GREAT day! This morning I was blessed with this amazing picture of my two sweeties!

 And then....I received an email from our Immigration Officer....

"Yes I did mail the approval letters a few weeks ago. Have you received the approvals yet? If you have not received the letters let me know and I will print them out again."

SO WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED!!!!!  Praise the Lord! 

I am "virtually" holding these two faces in my hands, pulling their faces close to mine, looking into their big brown eyes and saying, "We are coming for you!!"

Bummer that we didn't get the letters like we should have but thrilled that we have been approved. 

A few prayer requests:

1) That we will be issued a visa packet pick-up date quickly.

2) That the team in Ghana will be able to get the kids to their medicals easily and that the children will tolerate all their vaccinations and medical tests well.

3) That we will be given a visa interview date quickly and that they will both pass the interview. 

4) That we can get good travel arrangements (flight, lodging, care back home).

Typically, from this point it takes about 3-5 weeks until travel. Woo Hoo!!  

They are still yours God but THANK YOU SO MUCH for letting me be their mom!!!!!!!!! So grateful!

By the way, here are a few more photos we have taken in the past few weeks. My parents came for a great visit. Liz had Homecoming. Cael is loving baseball and guitar. 

Punctuation gone wild!

Well....
Every day I consider writing a new blog post and every day I think, "Maybe today I will get some news that I can share. Maybe today I will run to the mailbox and there will actually be something from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Maybe I will open an email from our Immigration Officer. Maybe we will get a phone call. Maybe we will get some news that will move our adoption forward. Any.News.Would.Be.Nice!

I got nothing people.  (I know that is not perfect grammar, but somehow it feels more rebellious and serious and criminal-ish to just use poor grammar and make up words and add a lot of periods to sentences.)

So....seriously...I got nothing!

It has been 16 weeks since we originally submitted paperwork for our children to get approved for their visas. It has been 12 weeks since we got pink slips in the mail saying they needed more information. It has been 8 weeks since we resubmitted the paperwork they requested. In the past 8 weeks we have heard..."your cases are still under review" "your officer is out of the office this week" and "your cases will be completed by the end of this week." That last response came on September 10th. So...even with snail mail (sorry dad!) you would think that something would have arrived in the mail last week. Right!?!?! or Saturday? or Today?

Nope! Nothing! Blah!

OK....now that I have had a little pity party let me tell you how I really feel. Yes! I am frustrated. Yes! I feel sad for my sweet kids who are eager to be a family (the ones here and in Ghana). Yes! I am tired of having two beds perfectly made when there should be kids messing them up every night and kicking the covers on the ground. But.....AMAZINGLY....we really have great peace! Truly! I trust God's perfect timing and know that He is in control of this whole thing. I also know that these children are not my children. They are and always will be God's children and He doesn't need me to care for them quite yet. He has asked me to care for two right now and I'm trying to do my best each day. He has asked me to pray for and trust Him with all four of my kids. He is trustworthy. I know this. So....we continue to wait.

Thanks for asking. I'm so sorry that I haven't been doing a very good job keeping you updated.

P.S.  Today is Adam's birthday. Happy birthday to the most amazing man I know! I am so thankful to walk through life with you and share these kids with you and wake up next to you each day!

Waiting is Hard

When I start getting more then the usual texts, emails and questions about the adoption I guess it is time for another blog post.

Let me start with the good news. Liz and Cael have had an awesome start to a new school year. My 6th grade girl and 4th grade boy have wonderful teachers and classmates. They are doing great!

Regarding the adoption...I was just kinda hoping that the next post would be some good news. Some real information. I got nothing for you. :-(

We are still waiting! It is a drag. We just got word that both of our kids were sick last week...vomiting, typhoid fever and bladder infections. UGH!

We got the papers we needed for the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and we emailed and overnighted them on last Monday. Hopefully we will get an approval this time and hopefully it will come soon.

After we get the approval we will request a visa packet pickup for our kids.  Our POA in Ghana will pick it up for them and then they will get a visa medical done. That takes about a week to complete. Following that we will request a visa interview appointment.  Hopefully we will get a quick response. If they pass the interview (which always happens on Monday but doesn't always happen on the first try) then their visas will be printed (which always happens on a Friday).  Hopefully, the visas will print the same week but that is not always guaranteed.

Until approval comes we wait....and pray....and cry....and wait...blah! It could be as early as 4 weeks from now or it could be longer.

In the meantime, here are a few sweet photos I found on facebook of our cuties.

 Thanks for praying for us.  We can tell that you are and that God cares so much. We trust His perfect timing and we know He loves and cares for Gabe and Debo more than we do. Until we are entrusted with their care we will trust their perfect Father to take care of them.  After they are entrusted to our care we will trust their perfect Father to continue to take care of them.