Changing Adoption Directions

We have been waiting in the Colombia adoption program for three years now... logged in and waiting. In April we spoke again with our caseworker at our agency asking for any hope they could give us. They really didn't have any unless we would consider increasing our age range which was 0-4 years and adopting 3 or more children at once. We considered it and spoke at length with our caseworkers at our homestudy agency who encouraged us to go with our gut feeling. We knew 2 children would be a challenge for us, and three at once looked a little overwhelming to say the least.  We prayed about it and discussed it and decided that we did not feel like we could do three at once. To remain on the list for 2 children ages 0-4 years was looking like another 4- 7 year wait.  Unreal, I know.  (RED TAPE).  I researched many other adoption avenues but nothing looked like it would work out for us.  We got a call from our agency while we were at IHC asking us if we would consider switching countries and adopting in the Special Needs Program from China. We told them we had already tried China and had been rejected because Mike is missing a hand.  They assured us that things have changed and China makes exceptions.  We were not convinced.  We texted a picture of Mike to our agency for them to forward to China to inquire if an exception could be made for us.  The following day they called back and told us that they had been informed by the chief Welfare Officer in China that it would not be a problem.  Soooo... we started more paperwork and had more visits with a new homestudy agency. Our paperwork for our dossier has all been turned in and our homestudy is being reviewed by our agency.  As soon as it is approved, it will be sent to Dept of Homeland Security / Immigrations for their approval.  Once that approval is received (takes approx. 2 months), our dossier will be sent to China and our new wait will begin. From all reports, it should be a much shorter wait, but time will tell....

Another Update

It's hard to believe it has been six months since my last post. My sisters will definitely be amazed that I have at last added something to my blog! Pertaining to adoption, we are approved and on the list in Colombia. We recently had our homestudy updated and are waiting for our immigration approval update and fingerprinting appointment. When that is completed, we will be good to wait for another 18 mos. before we have to complete any more paperwork. Hopefully our adoption will go through by then, but that is uncertain as our wait time could be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. We have done quite a bit of work on the "kids room" and it could be called almost ready. That of course depends on the age of the kids. If one is an infant, we will need to add a crib, etc.
In other news, Peanut is now 17 months old and is very protective of her property and her people. She does not care for the UPS driver as she thinks he is stealing things when he comes to pick up the packages we are shipping! So "beware of dog" if you decide to take something from this property!
Thursday of this week, 2 friends and I headed to Valley Forge, PA for 2 and a half days of Creating Keepsakes Convention - fun classes and awesome shopping. I really have enjoyed doing this for the past three years, but this year is likely my last, since I hope to be a mommy or be very close to being a mommy by this time next year.
This coming Thursday Mike and I will be celebrating 5 years of marriage. It's hard to believe 5 years have passed already. It's been a wonderful 5 years with a wonderful man! I thank God for my hubby.

New Post!!!

Amazing, isn't it??? A new post! Life is busy, busy, busy. I desperately want it to slooooooooow down. We are shorthanded at work so.... it means lots of extra hours and stress.
On the adoption front, we received a "previo" in November 2009. A "previo" is a request from Colombia for more info. We also discovered that our agency failed to include our FBI clearances in our dossier and that they are expired and must be redone. So we were refingerprinted and sent in our request in November and still have not heard anything. C'mon our "rap sheet" isn't that long !!! Last I knew there was nothing on it:) We also have answered many questions in great detail about our parenting views, skills and experience... Experience???? Uh, hello people, that's what we're working towards here - BECOMING PARENTS. We turned in the first set of info in Dec. and were informed that it wasn't enough, so our Home Study agency prepared many essay questions for us. Sounds like a test from college days! We answered those and had an interview with the social worker and I think that part is finished. Now, if only those FBI clearances would get here, we might could move this slow boat along.
We actually managed to get away for Christmas. Planned to go to Nebraska to Mike's parents, but a snow storm and a sinus infection, ear infection and bronchitis put a stop to that. When all conditions improved we journeyed to Indiana to the home of my dear "oldest"sister, who I might add, will be celebrating a milestone birthday this year! The entire Weingard clan was there, all 27 of us cosied up in Dixie's beautiful home for 3 days. A good time was had by all! I have no pictures to include because I have been remiss in getting them on to my computer. I rarely get on the computer at home any more. I think that may be in direct correlation to the fact that I am on one all day long at work and I never was a big "computer person." Though I must say, my computer skills have improved greatly in the last couple months, by default. Someone quit, I had to learn said someone's job!
Oh, I almost forgot to update you on Peanut. She has grown like a weed is 10 months and is approx. 90 lbs. She had surgery 2 weeks ago and will never be the same again. Some parts are missing now. But we are all fine with that! She has recovered beautifully, goes to work with me and snoozes at my feet under my desk. Well, it felt good to write all that, even if there is no one out there reading this!! I now have officially updated my blog and my "lack of readers" on my status.

Peanut!!

My puppy is growing! No, she doesn't sleep on our bed, but she does visit on occasion!

Happy Birthday in Heaven!

Today you would have turned 65! But you're in a place where you will never get older, you will never have pain and never cry. Here on earth the pain is still great and sometimes I don't know if I can stand it. The pain of knowing I'll not hear your voice on the telephone again, I'll never hike another trail with you, never go camping with you, never have another lesson from you about the stars. It's hard knowing that Mom faces lonely nights and weekends. Sometimes we thought you talked too much, but now I just wish I could hear you one more time! Every holiday that comes around brings thoughts of you and what you would have done to celebrate, how you would always point us to Jesus, for without him we wouldn't have any holidays. The tears still come and the pain is still there but there is a peace knowing you are safe in Heaven. I love you and miss you, Daddy, more than I can say, but someday I'll see you again!!

Our new baby!!

Just a few pics of our new baby - Peanut! She's absolutely adorable!! She is a South African Boerboel (mastiff family) We just got her today and she already follows me around. She is 8 weeks old and a little over 10 lbs! The cats don't know what to think!

Ravi Zacharias - "The Problem of Pleasure"

Ravi Zacharias spoke at Brooklyn Tabernacle on Sunday, May 17 @ 3:30. I've heard him many times on the radio and have read many of his books. My sweet hubby was kind enough to take me 2 and a half hours to hear him.
The message was awesome. I would gladly have skipped some of the music there to hear more preaching. He spoke on "The Problem of Pleasure" and gave 3 principles for choosing our pleasures. He first encouraged everyone to write out a personal mission statement to help us apply these principles. Principle #1 "Anything that refreshes you without distracting from, diminishing or destroying your ultimate goal is a legitimate pleasure." #2 "Any pleasure that jeopardizes the sacred right of another is an illicit pleasure." #3 "Any pleasure, however good, if not kept in balance will distort reality and destroy appetite making it an illicit pleasure." He also referenced Susanna Wesley's definition of sin - "Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience,obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself." What a lot of food for thought! He preached over an hour, but it sure didn't seem that long. I had taken my copy of his book "Jesus Among Other Gods" and was able to get it signed by him. Mike had never heard him on the radio or otherwise, but he's hooked! He downloaded two of Ravi's books to his ipod and was listening to them as he mowed today.