We have been so blessed with our precious son, Blaine. I remember thinking that if we could ever just have one child it would be enough. But this little boy is so amazing that we want more!After several years of many unsuccessful infertility treatments and a miscarriage, we decided to adopt. After a very short stint with a domestic agency, we decided international adoption would be best for us and felt led to Russia for many reasons.
After checking out many agencies, we signed up with Alaska International Adoptions in January of 2007 and have been so pleased! We have completed tons of paperwork, had a homestudy prepared and a recently a homestudy update since a year has gone by, been fingerprinted 5 times (more than most hardened criminals!), been cleared by the FBI, the DPS, USCIS, had medical exams and blood work..... Then we waited almost 9 months for our agency to receive its reaccreditation in Russia (for those unfamiliar with adoption in Russia, it's a long story). We have not always been patient but have tried to remember that God's timing is perfect. Reaccreditation was a late Christmas present for us on December 28!
Now for the "real news" I mentioned! Our dossier was registered in Khabarovsk on January 10 and we have already received a referral for a precious little baby girl!!!! She's 18 months old with gorgeous blue eyes! We will get to go meet her soon, maybe even this month. We are so excited and nervous! After we meet her, we will have to come back home to wait for a court date, which will probably be several months later. Then we will return to Russia for court to make her officially ours! This is quite a process and we definitely need your prayers. I will update when we have more news. Stay tuned!
7 comments:
I love your new blog! I'm so happy to hear about your referral, and hope that you get a travel date very soon. I will pray that everything moves smoothly and quickly for you. I love you all, and I'm very excited for you!
Good idea to blog about it. Yes, you will definitely want to remember all these details so that you can share your experience w/ others like yourself considering the same route. You have got me all excited now, and I can't wait to see this little принцесса !
That's Russian for princess !
Big Texas goot goot ~ love you guys ~ carol ann
Praise God for your faithfullness! I will continue to pray for your family and your special addition in Russia! I am so thrilled for you and pray it will be a speedy process. Love yall! Misty
I'm so glad you have a blog now to update us on the adoption. So neat....I hope this goes fast and that God will continue to bless every step of this remaining process. And the pictures are beautiful!!
Congratulations! I know this has been a long time coming but like you said, God makes the schedule. I'm very excited, and I have seen the pictures, she's a cutie. Love you all very much
nWahoo! Another friend to carry on down the line! Do you think our children will be babysitting each other's children? I can't wait to get our Princesses together and have a great big tea party! We are so excited for you FOUR and are proud to call you friends. Can't wait for all of the hugs and kisses from that baby girl! Sharing our prayers with you ! We love ya'll!
Dede & I have joked that it seems funny that pre-adoptive parents have to undergo all of these clearance measures whereas the "average" parent needs little more than the cover charge for a wild night at Graham's with a few Coors Lights.
But hey, I geuss this adoption stuff is kinda like my favorite line from Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own:
"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."
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