Nowhere in Sight

I spoke with sister yesterday.  I had to send her some money.  She is having difficult time getting the birth certificates and death certificate. She had to travel to Accra to get things moving but she didn't say at the end of it whether she had them or not.  I think we are at about 8 weeks of waiting for these documents.  Unfortunately,  the officials haven't been overly helpful even with the money she gave them.  She was quite upset about it all.  On top of that, the phone went dead and the line kept making a clicking sound.  With the bad connection and the accent, I couldn't understand the half of what she was saying.  I think my husband was snickering in the next room as I was yelling into the phone and saying, "Hello?  Hello?"  After the "conversation" my husband says, "Well, that went well."

I realize, through all this, it may well be into next year before we ever meet the girls.  And we still have to sit down with DH and discuss exactly what our plans are.  I just couldn't let sister travel all over for us and not have some funds to do so.   My mom is coming tomorrow  for a night and I am hoping that DH and I can go out for a date night and discuss some things.

Discerning

I am very excited because I found a bunch of Ghana adoption blogs.  I can't believe it has been a year since we started the whole adoption process.  There really isn't anything to update in our adoption process just that I am pregnant.  So, now we begin discerning.  We decided not to go ahead with it a few days ago but I had no peace with that decision.  So now I am praying and hoping and praying.  My husband needs a new job for his sanity.  One job he has found would actually come with a raise which would help ease the financial burden of doubling the size of our family. With three children added to our family, we will  need a new house and a new car. So we basically have to raise 7000 dollars to go ahead with the adoption financially.  How does one do that?  Of course, the easier choice is to say no to the adoption.  My husband is worried about me and rightfully so.  It is nice that he is considering my burden. Will I be able to handle going from one child to four with very little support network?  He works long hours.  The truth is we do have friends who have been super generous with their offers of support.  And I would have to call upon them.  I will have to be a little more resourceful and a little less concerned about how my house looks and what I cook for dinner.  I really believe that yes it will be hard but God will provide the grace as He has for so many other families.  Sister M said, "What you get will be your reward"  meaning L and T.  There are so many things that will have to happen to make this adoption possible, SO MANY.  There are SO MANY  obstacles. But I believe God would like us to go forward until the obstacle is insurmountable.  Then His Holy Will will be made crystal clear.

White Mother

Apparently, the dress I sent T. was "borrowed" by someone.  T. went after the person and earnestly asked her, "Give me back my dress.  Don't you know that my nasara mother sent that to me?"  So cute from a three year old.  Nasara means white.

Garage Sale #2

On the weekend, we had another garage sale to raise money for our adoption.  We raised $225.  We were pretty happy with that.  And plan to do another one when/if we get or court order.

We Got It

L. and T.'s father signed paperwork today without any problems or delays.  Apparently, he was very grateful that his daughters would be looked after. My contact told me that there is no need to panic about impending court order.  We still have a lot of time.  Still, it is pretty exciting to have that crucial piece of paperwork taken care of.

Exciting News

Today the authorities will travel to meet L and T's father and get the relinquishment papers.  I wonder what a father like that may think when he knows that someone wants his children. The money my SIL sent will be used for gas for travel and for their birth certificates. I am not sure where we are in the paper trail process but I am hoping we are coming to the end and we will have our court order soon.

A Great Post

If you have ever thought about adoption or wondered what motivates people to adopt or you just want to read one woman's christian perspective, then this is a must read. She is adopting her 5th child.  The child is 14 years old and weighs 14 pounds.                                                         http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2012/04/whatever-god.html

Risk Review

Today we had the risk review on the girls.  It went very well.  The doctor was very nice and informative. I learned a lot about malaria and sickle cell. T. has sickle cell trait so that is not serious.  If all is accurate with their medical reports, then the girls will only have to have blood tests, immunization updates, stool samples  upon arrival.  And then again 6 months later.  The dr. also plotted T.'s growth on a chart.  She said the girls are small but that they are proportionate.  Unfortunately,  they never sent us L.'s stats.  But we are assuming she is similar to her sister.  Now, we just continue to wait for our court order.

Money Matters

Today we heard from Sister M.  She said that perhaps things would move along a little faster with some financial assistance.  Thanks to my sister-in-law for sending over some money.  We don't want money to be a deterrent at this point. 

Cute Story

The girls were going to mass with Sr. M to St. Francis Xavier church.  When the girls were told where they were going, T piped up, "Xavier is with his mommy."  So cute that they are thinking of their brother and making connections.

A Little News

I heard from Sr. and the news was sweet music to my ears.  The DSW has been working hard for us. And has only the relinquishment papers to gather.  I am not sure how long it will take.  Meanwhile the girls are fighting over their “brother’s” picture and showing it around to everyone.  Too cute.  We have yet to do our risk review with the pediatrician.  I am very excited to be taking these little steps forward.

Package #2

I am sending off another package to Africa.  It makes me feel like I am doing something on this end.  Otherwise, we are just waiting.  Waiting. Waiting. The lady at the post office was so kind because I  was over the weight limit by 1 gram.  So it was going to cost 42 dollars. By cutting around my envelope she got it down to 21 dollars.  A big thank you to the post office lady. L and L, I  hope you enjoy package number 2. 

Reports Received

We have received the medical reports on the girls.  The only concern is sickle cell.  We will be meeting with a medical consultant to discuss this.  We also received the social dev. reports on the girls and it was so nice to read a little bit about their personalities.  T. is shy and L is the go getter.  L and X and are going to butt heads I am sure.  L likes so sing and corrects people when they are not saying the right words.  Too funny!  Too familiar! 

The other exciting news is that they finally received our Christmas package.  It only took 3 MONTHS!  Ugh!  I thought mankind was advancing but that seems like caveman speed to me.  The girls were very happy with their package and were showing everyone the picture of their brother.  I am going to send them another package because it warms my heart to hear how much they like it.

We are still a long way from really being anywhere.  We haven't heard from  Ghanaian officials and finally that is what we are waiting for.  I am not sure why they haven't even sent us a confirmation but I will just have to accept that. 

Update

I haven't updated in a long time.  We heard from Sr. M this week.  They did the medical reporting on the girls.  Unfortunately, T. has sickle cell trait.  From my understanding she is a carrier.  She has never been sick and Sr. M was quite shocked to learn of this as she had been tested prior with negative results.  Neither of is very concerned about it for now.  Also, our dossier has arrived. The nuns have been contacted by DSW and due diligence has been started.  As the Sr.s have no paperwork on our girls this could take quite a while.  So, first up is the girls' birth certificates.  They will have to go to court to get them.  It is always so nice to hear from Sr. M.  It makes things a little more real and likely to happen.  When we don't hear for a while,  there is a feeling of detachment from the whole situtation.  Hopefully, the DSW will contact us soon and we will receive a proposal.

A Glimmer

Today we heard from Sr. Monica and she was going to take our girls for their dr.'s appointment (part of the requirements on the Canadian side of things).  We hadn't heard from her is  such a long time that it gave me renewed hope for the long journey ahead.  Thank you God for that little glimmer.

Dossier

Finally, finally, finally, we have sent our dossier to Ghana on Feb. 6, 2012.  Oh lord, it has been a long time coming.  It will get there next week and we hope to hear within two weeks of that.  That may be a little ambitious on our parts but that is the hope.  And we can't live without hope, can we?