Fingerprints & other details...

Just a quick update (two posts in one day - wow!!) to say that I finally got a letter from USCIS today regarding my fingerprints. They failed again. Stinks. So now I need to get my prints taken here, and send those off to Oregon State Police. It should take about 2 weeks once I send them in, for me to get the clearance letter I need from them. (Thankfully I've only lived in one city for the last 5 years, so I only need to deal with one office!) Then I send that letter back to USCIS so that they can process our application. This is really becoming frustrating!

We also were able to talk to our adoption lawyer this evening and found out that the process in Congo is currently taking longer (as we had heard). From everything I heard today, I don't really expect us to be able to go get the babies before the end of October at the earliest. Please keep praying for the process to go smoothly and as quickly as is possible. Pray for our foster family, too, as good things are going on for them, but our babies add a lot to the mix! And speaking of our foster family, let me just say again how GREAT they are, and how blessed we are to have them!!

In addition to a longer time frame, we also found out that there are a lot of new costs with the new way things are being processed in Congo. And more time means more foster care money, as well. We are trying to trust God with all of this, and remember that He will help us to complete what He has called us to do. It really is amazing how much peace comes from simply knowing that we are acting within the will of God. The good thing that we learned from our phone conversation today is that when we finally do get to go get the babies, we should only be there for a matter of days. A lot of the footwork that parents in the past have done, will now be done through a representative. Being there for a shorter time really helps with my peace of mind about both of us travelling (which I really feel is necessary with two new-to-us toddlers flying halfway around the world!!) and leaving Megan behind. So I guess there's the silver lining in the increase in waiting time and expenses. It helps to find one. =)

Judgement Day!!

Yay!! We've just received word that we got our judgement today for our babies. After a 3o day appeal window, they will be legally ours!! I can't even describe how happy and excited I feel. I think this news makes me finally feel legit - like I can start planning for them and thinking of them as "ours". Maybe it's a little like getting past that 1st trimester when you're pregnant? I know with Megan I didn't really want to plan much until getting past those 3 unstable months.

So now, during this appeal window, our lawyer in Congo will be working on getting the documents we need for them to come home. Also, on the US front, I still haven't heard any news about my second set of fingerprints. I'm hoping this is good news, since when I failed last time I had a failure notice and new appointment letter within 2 weeks. Zach's additional documentation that was required was due yesterday, so hopefully all of that is being processed now and we can get things moving again!

Noah and Lauren are still doing really, really well. =) They have both more than doubled their weight from when they first entered foster care - I think they are at 23 & 24 pounds, now. They continue to make great progress in catching up to where they should be developmentally. I've been told that Noah is pushing out a whole bunch of teeth right now - poor guy! And they are both getting close to walking, especially Lauren. It has been so much fun to Skype with them and see all the progress that they are making. They are both saying a few words (including mama and daddy which is just the BEST!) and again I think of how blessed we are that they are in an English speaking home. I know it will help with their transition immensely.

So, it's a good day for us!

Update

Whew! I've had to blow off some virtual dust from my blog here. It's been awhile! I have a hard time knowing how to write in order to keep you all updated, but still to stay within the privacy confines that I've been asked to abide by. Trying to figure out what's okay to write and what's not is confusing for me, and I end up writing nothing at all. I will do my best to keep you updated, though, and if you have questions, email and I will speak more freely.

First of all, thank you for your prayers. I know so many people have been praying for this process and it really does mean the world to us. We are not anywhere near where I thought we'd be in this process by now. I've had trouble with USCIS not being able to get my fingerprints - apparently about 3% of the population has lousy fingerprints, and I'm one of them. So after my first attempt and failure, I received another appointment for a whole month later to try to take them again. I had that appointment on June 30th and I'm pretty sure they're going to fail again. The prints are taken digitally and as they are taken, it pops up "fail" or "pass". Three of my fingers failed this time. Stink. So assuming they fail again, I will need to do it the old-fashioned way - here in Deschutes County at the Sheriff's Office with regular old ink. More money, more time. But hey - these are my labor pains. =) Why they make me drive to Portland twice for something that I can do here in Bend does not make any sense to me, but that's government for you! There was also a bit of information missing from Zach's home study, and so we are having to do another paper chase for him. At least we are delayed together. Pray that we will be able to get that completed quickly. USCIS gives him until July 25th to send the additional paperwork in, or they will deny his application. Getting paperwork requires other people doing the work in a timely manner, and I've had a lot of stress about this particular part of our process. I just don't like being out of control, I guess. =)

On the Congo side of things, I am not able to write as much about (feel free to email or ask in person, though), but we are still very much waiting, waiting, waiting. Pray that the documents we need will be able to get from Place A to Place B. This is the hang-up right now. What should have taken around 2 weeks is past the 2 month mark now. It is frustrating, but I am still at peace and don't have any reason to think that this is anything more than a delay. I am really trying to trust God's timing. I've really felt Him at work in my life, preparing me to be the mama these babies will need. I am praying that nothing gets in the way of His will for these babies and for our family.

The happier news is that they are both THRIVING in their foster home. Again and again, I am just so very thankful for the two families who've taken them in while we work to get over there. They are at their second foster home now, as planned, and they are growing and making such good gains. All healthy babies grow quickly, but these two seem to get a month older each week. Since moving to foster care at the end of March, they have almost doubled their weight, and are getting close to being able to walk on their own! Of course this makes me so happy, as it's exactly what they should be doing, but it is so hard to not be there for all of it. I don't feel like I can complain too much, though, because we get to Skype with out babies regularly!! I can hardly believe this blessing, and it has been so helpful as we've been matched with them for over 4 months, now. And we still have at least a few months to go, it would seem. =( As far as a real guess about when we'll be able to go get them, I'm not really trying to figure it out anymore. Partly because it's easier to just let the days kind of mesh together without a certain time I'm looking to, and mostly because I really don't have a clue! But back to Skyping with the babies - the last couple of times I have talked with them, Noah has been pointing at me and saying "Mama". I LOVE this. Can't even really describe it. Of course, I'd like it to be technically and legally true, and sometimes I have a hard time thinking of myself as their mama yet, but oh, I do love them like a mama loves her babies. I long for them so much, but I am just trusting in the fact that no matter what happens, God has called our family to these two. Knowing what the end result would be from all of this, He designed for us to be matched with these two babies. I really have no doubt about that. There have been too many "coincidences" that led us to this place for me to think anything else. And even beyond that, there's a peace in my heart that comes only from being certain that I am on the right path in this regard. So I rest and wait and sometimes cry from frustration and the longing for them to be home. And I pray, pray, pray.