PROGRESSION

Over the weekend I gathered the last of the items needed for our registration dossier. This is the first of two LARGE packets of paperwork that will be sent to Rush's country. The last items needed were the photos of our home and an 8x10 family photo. Getting a two year old to hold still for a photo with a gal that wasn't exceptionally great at getting or keeping a little ones attention made for quite the adventure!! Whoosh.  I was going to attempt to have the gal capture a "two-year old photo" of Rowdy, but dropped that idea fast. Luckily, we held his attention long enough to snap a pretty good photo.


Also, over the weekend I learned an AMAZING piece of information...the region that Rush is in doesn't require you to have the USCIS approval before you can submit that first batch of paperwork and receive a travel date to go meet her!!! WAHOOOOOO!! Are you kidding?!?! I was thinking this whole time that I had to get the papers together (which were pretty much done...) and then WAIT for the USCIS approval (1-2 months) THEN send in the paperwork to her country and WAIT for a travel date (2-3 months)...but alas...i am able to do them simultaneously!!  That was a HUGE piece of info that I am so grateful it was pointed out to me by another mother who claimed she learned by trial and error during her process. She happens to be heading to court next week for her little boy (THANKS KATHY!!!). You can imagine, facing months of a process ahead of you, it is AMAZING news to find out you can do two things at once! 


SO, Monday morning I had Lance come into work early with me and get our Registration Dossier documents notarized. We scanned and emailed them to our agency so that they could look them over for any errors before getting them all apostilled (which costs $10 a document!!! WOWZA!) Had one form to redo which we did today and then took all our documents down to get the official gold sealed cover page to each and every document...41 to be exact...yah, and that's just batch 1 of 2 heading to her country!! And to be honest, at $10 a document I was imagining something MUCH more elaborate...I was not impressed,boring white paper, with a gold sticker in the corner.


Tomorrow should be the day we send our beautiful documents on a journey that will require many stops and will pass through many hands...hopefully getting through in His perfect timing...to grant us a BEAUTIFUL gift...meeting our daughter for the first time!!!!!!!! I continue to pray everyday for my heart to align with the Lord's perfect timing for us, for her, and for this process. He knows best and we are just along for the ride...I need to enjoy every step, knowing he is drawing us closer to Him with every day, and getting us closer to her, a little girl he created for us...what a blessing!  


I am thinking we should hear sometime this week, via snail mail that we have been assigned a biometrics appointment (fingerprinting) at the FBI office in Portland for our USCIS processing. Typically once we get our fingerprints done to when we receive approval is about a month. 


Please pray for Rush's heart...we know she has "congenital heart disease" and needs to be seen by a cardiologist ASAP once home, but we have NO idea the severity of that diagnosis.  So please pray for her little heart...that the Lord would heal her and help her stay strong and healthy while she waits. Prayer is a powerful tool, and we know our Lord HEARS us!! So please this week, lift up our little one and her need for medical attention.

I wanted to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to every person that has donated to help cover the costs of her adoption expenses. We are overwhelmed by our needs being met by our family, friends, and even strangers. Living in a world with so much bad...it is a inspiring thing to be a part of something that brings out the most beautiful aspects of the human heart. Thank you for being a part of our story...more importantly for being a part of hers. God bless each and every one of you!