Things Adoption Has Taught Me

• Your joy can be thousands of miles away. A HUGE chunk of my heart is in India and I can feel it. Sometimes I know that I smile alot less. The wait has been so hard. Especially the last few months.
• There are so many small joys in the world. Like staring at a picture for hours on end. By the excitement of opening an email titled update. The joy of knowing the name of the woman who gave you the greatest gift ever, your child. (BTW, Ananya's has a new name, Ananya Sophia Rina)
• Lots of stuff will fit into 1 fed ex envelope. No, really. You wouldn't believe the things you can stuff in those suckers.
• Traveling to another country makes me very anxious. I am anticipating the trip so much. I just am afraid we are going to get lost getting her visa or in immigration. Lots of small details.
• You can meet new and wonderful friends everywhere. I have become so close to so many other people through the journey. We now are going to Alaska eventually because we have good friends there.
• CHILDREN ARE A GIFT FROM GOD. Need I say more??
• Fedex envelopes really do hold alot.

Hoping we travel soon. I think it may be as few as 3 weeks now.

LEGALS!!!!!

This is a beautiful picture taken in India by friends of ours.

The good news is that we are getting closer to our trip. YEAH!

On December 19th, we received news that Ananya's legals were signed.

Her passport was applied for on December 21st. Double YEAH!

Normal wait time is 4 to 6 weeks. We will find out soon if it will be any sooner.

We have so much to do before our long journey. We will be leaving before long. Thank all those who have prayed and cried with us.

Continue to pray for all the families waiting to travel. My friend Kristi (Daya's mom) will have her case heard the first week of January. Hopefully they will be in India soon.

Finally some happy news.

December 12, 2006

TODAY IS A DAY TO REMEMBER!!!!!

We received word that the judge has signed our case. I'm still holding my breath until Friday when the lawyers can pick up the completed paperwork. There have been so many ups and downs on our journey. Its wonderful to be moving forward.

Please continue to pray that the passport process goes quickly. Please pray for the families that are waiting. It will be a great joy to have all these children home.

YEAH!!

The Wait Continues...longer.

We received a new court date. December 11th. I don't have much faith that this judge will do anything. Our appeal to the high court got delayed because of a strike. We are waiting for the date that it was rescheduled. We can only pray that someone does something to bring our baby home to us very soon.

Please pray for all the families that have court dates in the next week.
Jadyn, Ananya, Daya and Jay need to come home.

Sending love and holiday cheer to our precious daughter.

She's Getting Bigger!!!!

Here is another new picture and isn't she the sweetest thing you have ever seen. She is getting big. So, so big. I'm in LOVE.
On to the court process:

Our case was approved on November 22nd. However, the judge didn't sign the papers and hasn't signed any since. The lawyer is appealing the Supreme Court again on Tuesday. The Director of CARA is going to be at the appeal. This is a huge deal. CARA is the national adoption organization (they set the rules). We can only wait and pray and hope. There are many families caught up in the wait. 14 of us now. Please keep all of them in your prayers. We all need this to end very soon.

Some News...

Here is a new picture of our precious. This isn't the photo we were told about last week. There is another to come. She is getting so big. See Grandma she has some nice toys to play with.

Our court case was heard today. OUR CASE WAS APPROVED. The judge however did not sign the papers because our middle name was not on all the paperwork. He is also holding out for clear pictures of our passport. They are hoping that the copies will reach India by Monday and he can sign away. We want to be Ananya's legal guardians. The process is moving even if it is SLOWLY.

All that I can ask for is prayers. My family needs strength right now. Ananya is in God's hands and he is taking care of her. We need the strength to wait a little longer before we hold her.

Please also pray for dear friends of ours. Their case was scheduled to be heard on Tuesday and probably isn't going to be hear until next week. My heart goes out to this mother. This is a nerve racking time for many families.

As we sit down to give thanks tomorrow, remember all of the families that are waiting. Remember our children and pray that each one receives an extra hug from their Ayahs. There are lots of Mommy's and Daddy's greiving the loss of each day we are all apart.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

A Wonderful Day with Gods Blessings!

Today is a great day. We received word that we have a court date.

November 22, 2006

The judge in Kolkutta India will hear our case and hopefully assign us Guardianship of our precious daughter. It is a great weight off our shoulders to have a day to look forward to. Other good news has come today. The orphanage has taken new pictures of all the children and they will be sent to us. Yeah! A new glimpse of her face will be glorious.

We received a height and weight update. She is 7 kg (15.4 lbs) and 74 cm. That is another 1/2 lb gain in 2 months. YEAH!

Please pray with us that the court processes all of the papers as promised. Keep all of the children in your prayers.

Terrible Wait

Many said that the wait for an adoption is difficult. I did not doubt them, not in the least. Their words however did not prepare me for all this. There are moments that I think this is never going to end and I'm going to go crazy. Most of the time anymore, I feel numb. Like I don't have any grief left. God has helped me with the endless explanations of what is going on. He has given me patience to explain over and over the process we are waiting on. I have moments where I want to cry, alot of these moments. I'm so excited and yet heartbroken that the process has stalled.

For those of you who don't know. Two different judges have refused to sign guardianship papers, not just ours but all in general. 11 families are waiting for this step. There are about 4 more who are closely behind waiting on NOC.

This process is proof that God is in control. He has brought us a child that I've never had a doubt that she should be with us forever. He is making us wait, and I can only hope that He is holding her as He is giving me the strength to wait out the prcess.

I can only ask God to please let me hold my baby soon. Keep her safe while she is away.

We love you Ananya.

Day After Day...

we wait. And wait. And wait. Patrick and I have gone to San Francisco. We had a great time. It was nice to be away for a little while. This was my first plane trip so it was good to have a "trial run" for India.

We are still waiting for the judge to sign our guardianship papers. There are 11 families waiting from our agency now. The judge isn't signing any documents for any adoptions. Our lawyer is appealing the higher court to try and get results. So we wait.

Ananya is about to turn 19 months old in a few days. Her most recent height and weight updates came this week. Our girl is 14.7lbs and 73 cm. This makes her really tall and skinny. Her weight puts her into 6-9 months clothes. Her height puts her into 12 month clothes.

The wait is very hard for our families and all the familes that are waiting. I can only pray that the courts are able to process our guardianships before the end of the month. The Indian holidays are approaching and the celebrations last 9 days. But for now all we can do is wait and wait and wait.

Her Name

Ananya means

matchless, incomparable, without a second, no other, unique

Sophia means

wisdom

This is our wonderful daughter's name. To us it is special. It is her given Indian name. Her name is strong as I hope that she is.

Come home soon baby doll. Mommy is missing you badly.

The First Baby Shower

The first baby shower is over now. We had about 35 people. It was nice. Everyone brought orphanage donations. We have 14 bottles of shampoo, 11 bottles of lotion, 20 bottles, and 6 crib sheets (there were other odds and ends as you can see). I've had some clothes donated to take with me as well. We have 2 suitcases filled with things. All that shampoo and lotion is heavier than I thought. Anyone who was at the shower, I would like to thank you for your gifts. It was wonderful of you to spend the day with us. The waiting still drags on but it will be over soon I know. Soon I will forget all this waiting as I'm busy with my 2 angels.

Waiting

I just don't know that the wait is ever going to end. It's hard to believe that in maybe 2 months we will be the parents of 2 kids. That is so wonderfully amazing that I can not even describe it. I'm so anxious to get over there. It has been a month since we received our NOC and it really feels like YEARS. Patrick is taking the wait so much better than me right now. I guess it helps that he has been insanely busy at work. I have a list of things that need to be done and I can't figure out where to start. I've started packing. I need to go get the suitcases that my wonderful friend, Elizabeth, is letting us borrow. I have washed all of the baby clothes. It was 2 loads all together so I really don't think this munchkin needs any more at this time. Our first baby shower is on August 20th at Grandma's house. There will be at least one more to follow. I hope that we get alot of donations for the orphanage (as Grandma put it so wonderfully, Ananya has everything she needs and would like to leave some things for her friends.)

In about a month we travel to San Francisco for 4 days. It will be the 2nd time in 8 years Patrick and I have gotten away from home alone.

We were informed by Dillon that a new judge has replaced the other new judge who wasn't doing his job. Hopefully by early next week the families ahead of us will have their guardianship papers signed. I hope this for them so our case will move up.

This wait is getting harder by the day. I look almost every day at new pictures posted on blogs and on the Dillon site of the children who are home. My mind has temporarily decided that this is make believe and there isn't a baby at the end of the process. I can't even begin to imagine the day is coming when I finally after all this time can hold my DAUGHTER.

I love that word. My daughter. Our daughter. Anthony's sister. It amazes me.

I've rambled enough now. Those that know me personally will know that even now I could dwell on the subject for days on end.

The Wait Continues

I just wanted to post a few pictiures of our preparations for the big journey. The last is of part of the blanket I am making for her. The days are breezing by and yet at the same time they seem to drag on. It has been alittle over 3 weeks since we recieved our NOC. We are waiting for guardianship to be granted. The last several cases have seemed to have taken 4 weeks. I have been marked off of the schedule at one of my jobs after our trip to San Fransisco. I hope we get to travel that soon. Ananya is 17 months old. I can't wait to meet our baby. I have already started to pack as a way to pass time. The end is near and we'll all be together.

NOC!!!

We have wonderful news. We received our No Objection Certificate for Ananya on Monday July 17th. This means that travel is a whole lot closer. We could travel in the next 45-90 days. This means Ananya will be home before Halloween. Her first pictures will be adorable. We are excited and stunned. I wasn't sure that we would have her home before Thanksgiving. We are now waiting for her Guardianship papers from the courts in Koulkuta. This exciting journey is about to end and another is about to begin. Our family is excited. Anthony can't wait to be a big brother. Please pray that we are able to take him with us. He wants to go to India and see where his sister was born. He wants to tell her about it.

Our family is about to grow in physical size (our heart has belonged to Ananya for months).

YEAH!!!!!!!!!

The Newest Pictures

These are the newest pictures of our precious. They arrived just today and we couldn't wait to share them. She is growing every day and is becoming an absolute string bean. Hopefully, we will get word soon that we have NOC and the process can continue. She is the most precious thing I have ever seen and I could just hug the computer right now. Hoping Ananya will be home soon.

Ananya Sophia

This is 12 months.
This is 9 months.

I think this is around 5 months.

Introductions

I have decided to start this blog to journal our family's adoption journey. We started the process about a year and a half ago but feeling no need to hurry. Our preliminary application with Dillon International was completed March 14, 2005. Our formal application was not completed until September 27, 2005. We started our Home Study October 5 and completed it January 11, 2006. Around this time the process sped up significantly. We enquired about a waiting child and recieved Ananya's information on January 23rd. We completed our dossier on May 9th and returned Ananya's acceptance paperwork on May 18th. As of June 25th, we have our passports (except Anthony's) and we have 171-H from the US government. Our paperwork was sent to India around June 1st. We are waiting for NOC at this time from the Indian government. We hope to have our baby home before Christmas.

Ananya was born February 25, 2005 in Kolkutta, India. At birth she weighed 2KG, about 4.4lbs. Around her first birthday she weighed 6.5KG, 14.3lbs. Everyday our baby is growing and we can't wait to meet her.