Apparently we were on hold for a background check clearance for Oklahoma that was taking forever. We couldn’t get anyone to call us back or respond to our emails about the status of our request. Finally about two weeks ago I just called and left messages and emails for anyone I could be transferred to until someone finally called me back. And you know what it turns out I was waiting for?? A form letter from the state of Oklahoma that says they do not process background checks for non-residents! That's what I was delayed months for? Seriously?!? (ok, breathe, Stephanie, breathe....)
Regardless, I got the form I needed and we quickly mailed in our I-800a form to the U.S. government. This is a provisional approval to adopt internationally and takes about three months to process, which includes yet another background check. Once completed, we will get our 797 form from the U.S. and our agency can finally send our dossier to China where we can be "logged in" and officially eligible to receive referrals for a child. Yay!
It's a crazy thought, really, that our child has most likely been born already. He (or she) is probably in an orphanage now and may be alone and hungry. It feels like a punch in the stomach when I allow myself to think about it for too long so I try to focus on getting them here and trusting that God loves this child more than I do. We pray that they somehow, by some miraculous work of God, know there is a family waiting for them. A family who will love them unconditionally. We pray that they are warm tonight and getting love and good medical care and nutritious food to eat.
But someday, our new child will be home with us, and this means we need to prepare another baby's room! We hadn’t planned to do this until we were officially matched, but we got a letter in the mail last week that the baby store where we bought Brooklyn's furniture was going out of business and selling all their items at great discount to get rid of everything. Since we love that store and wanted to take advantage of a good deal, we went Saturday to check it out. To make a long story short, we are now the proud (and broke) owners of new baby furniture. We love it and it's the same brand as Brooklyn's so we know we'll be happy with it. This is the first "tangible" thing we've really purchased so far and it's surreal thinking about setting up this nursery. It's really going to happen....
We celebrated Christmas last week in Fredericksburg with some good friends and had such a great time together. We are so blessed and are soaking in these moments with Brooklyn now as she's still our only one. And, even when she's a stinker, we are loving every minute of it! We even got some pictures with Ahn the Panda!
Our next update might not be for a few months until we get that 797 form back. Until then we're just waiting, waiting, waiting.....In the meantime, we'd love it if you'd keep us and our China baby in your prayers.
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