Paperwork, Paperwork, and more Paperwork!

It has only been two weeks since we received pre-approval for Annabelle, and we have already accomplished so much.  Because we have been through all of this before, we already knew what things we were going to need to get done.  We are working with two agencies - one in our state to do our home study and one that is out of state that works specifically with the Philippines and will be our placement agency.  We contacted both and were able to talk them into sending us all the paperwork at once and ahead of time, so we could get as much accomplished as we could while Jason was on vacation.  They usually have an order that they send it all in so you don't get too overwhelmed.  Plus, they usually like to have money first before they will send anything.  Luckily our agencies were very understanding and accommodating.  We already knew which things would take the longest, so we got started on those right away.  We have definitely felt the Lord's hands in this process helping to move things along at a much faster rate then we would have been able to do alone.  It just reaffirms to us that we are doing the right thing and have made the right choice in adopting Annabelle.  After just two weeks we pretty much have everything done to complete both sets of documents that we need for our home study and our dossier (the set of documents that our placing agency will send to the Philippines for us).  The only things we have left now are all outside our control, and we will just have to sit and wait for those things to start coming in.  For those who are curious as to what is involved with an international adoption, here is a list of the things we have done or are getting done:

-criminal and child abuse checks from every state and country we have lived in since we were 18
-an FBI background check which we needed a set of fingerprints to accomplish
-had to order certified copies of birth and marriage certificates
-every member of our household had to have a physical/medical report done
-the couple adopting has to have a psychological evaluation done which includes two specific tests.  The first test was 567 questions and the second was 172 questions and took about 3 hours total, including a third test our psychologist added.  We were also interviewed separately for 2 hours each.
-we had to complete a 10 page questionnaire for our home study
-have a home visit from our social worker that lasts a minimum of 4 hours, where she interviews each family member separately and checks out our home (we are having this done on wed.)
-find 3 people to write letters of recommendation for our dossier and 4 people to be references for our home study

That's all the big stuff.  There are a bunch of other papers we had to fill out and/or sign, but those were all pretty easy compared to the things I mentioned above.  Because we have been able to get so much done the last couple weeks, it looks like we might be able to have our home study done by the middle of January and maybe even everything we need to have our dossier sent to the Philippines.  I'm not sure how quickly the Philippines is processing dossiers right now, but they are typically approved around 1-2 months.  Once we are approved we will receive our official match with Annabelle.  After we send them our match acceptance we start all the immigration paperwork.  Depending on how quickly all of that paperwork goes through, it will be between 3-6 months before we can travel to go pick Annabelle up.  If everything continues to go smoothly, then it looks like it will be early summer that we will be able to get her.  That still seems so far away, but I know that the time will go by very quickly and she will be here with us before we know it.

Meet Annabelle

We aren't allowed to post any pictures on the internet of her until we have gone to the Philippines to pick her up, so here is a drawing that Breanna did of her:

Her name will be Annabelle and she just turned one in September.  She goes by a different name in the orphanage, but Annabelle is her second given name and is what we have chosen to name her.  She is beautiful and perfect in every way except for one thing - she has no limbs.  She was born this way.  It is a very rare condition.  It will be a huge obstacle in her life and will also be quite a challenge for us, but we believe that she will grow up to do amazing things in her life despite this challenge, and we are so excited to get to be part of that.  We don't feel like we are a family that is qualified enough to care for a child with so many challenges, but we know we can love her.  We know, because we already love her, even though we have never met her.  We can love her unconditionally and give her a home where she will always know that she is loved by us and also by God.  We will do whatever we can to help her reach her full potential and to be happy.

When we first found her on the waiting child list my first thoughts were about what potential she would be capable of achieving being born with this disability.  I did some research on the internet to find others born this way.  The first one I came across was Nick Vujicic.  He was born in Australia with no arms or legs and is now a Christian motivational speaker.  I cried when I watched this video of him.  He is so inspirational:

After watching this and also hearing inspirational stories of others with similar conditions, I realized that Annabelle would be capable of so much more then I would ever have thought possible.  This is when our family seriously began to consider adopting her.  Joshua and Eva never needed any convincing.  They wanted her from the first time they saw her picture.  I remember having a talk with Joshua about her and telling him that she wouldn't be able to do a lot of the same things as him.  I asked if he still wanted her for a sister and he said "her have eyes, and her have ears - her can hear, and her have brains".  He was only thinking about what she would be capable of.  I wish we could all think that way.  Because Breanna is much older, she had some reservations about it, but after giving it a lot of thought she also wanted this little girl to be a part of our family.  Jason and I had some reservations in the beginning also, but we feel so strongly that she is our little girl that nothing else really matters.  I have no doubt that she is going to bring so much joy to our family as well as to so many others.  The name "Annabelle" actually means "joy" which is why I decided to title this blog "Our Path to Joy".  We are so excited that our journey to bringing her home has officially begun and can't wait for that day to get here!

Finally!!!

I guess I should have waited a few more days to write my last post because "soon" came much sooner then I was expecting.  We just received an email this morning informing us that the Board has chosen us to adopt the little girl we requested.  This is not an official match yet, but they are putting her on hold for us in order to complete and submit all the paperwork required.  At this point, it is unlikely that they will not match us with her after everything is submitted.  We are beyond excited about this!  I was really sick last night and had a horrible night, so I was a little late in checking my email this morning.  Luckily the girls hadn't left for school yet, so I was able to share the exciting news with them and then we all called Jason together.  He told me to send him the email, because I don't think he believed me.  He's not always the most optimistic person, so I think he was expecting this not to work out for us.  I think he is very happy though.  I know the kids are.  I heard them talking on the way out the door saying that this was the happiest day of their lives.  They are so excited to share the news with all their friends.  What an amazing Christmas present we have received today!  I got tears in my eyes when I read the news.  God is so good and I am so thankful for this precious blessing He is giving us and trusting us with.  I feel honored that we were chosen to be her family and I can't wait to meet her and hug her and kiss her all over!

Now we have a couple months worth of paperwork to do and then more waiting.  If everything goes well, then we should be matched with her by March and then travel sometime during the summer to pick her up.  This is going to be a very busy next couple of months, but it will be so worth it!  

Still Waiting

Well the couple weeks more we were told we would have to wait has now turned into a month and we still have no answer.  I finally emailed our agency director to see if she could find something out for us.  Just sitting around waiting was driving me crazy, and I was beginning to feel like we had been forgotten.  I just got a response today that she was able to talk to one of the social workers in the Philippines and was told that they will be reviewing our case before the Board soon.  I have no idea what their idea of "soon" means, so I still have no clue as to how much longer we will have to wait.  This is so frustrating!  We could have had all our paperwork and home study done in the time it has taken so far just to receive an answer.  I am just thankful that this is a busy month and should keep our minds off of the wait for awhile.  I guess one good thing about not receiving an answer yet is that we can spend the month focusing on Christmas and our family instead of rushing around getting a home study done and filling out a bunch of paperwork.  This also gives us more time to save money.

I am trying so hard to keep my faith alive that this will all work out, but it is not easy when so much time has gone by.  I just have to keep trusting that we are in the Lord's hands and that if this little girl is meant to be a part of our family then everything will work out in His perfect timing.  I am just not the most patient person and really hate waiting.  I know this is nothing compared to our long wait for Joshua so I shouldn't be complaining, but it is still so hard.  I am really hoping that we hear something this month.  That would be the best Christmas present ever!  If not I'll just keep pushing on with the hope that we will hear something soon - whenever that is!