Hanging on the Christmas Tree

Decorating the Christmas tree is always a special time for our family as we remember and enjoy all of the ornaments we have collected over the years, including an individual picture of Avery and Eli every year and many, many sweet handmade ornaments made by them. This year, I had to look away for a few moments while I unexpectedly had a few tears in my eyes. I really felt the absence of our little one tonight and how I so much wanted them to be with us enjoying this time. As a small gesture to acknowledge them, we said a prayer for them and hung a special ornament on the tree. I hope next year a little hand can hang that very same ornament on the tree him or herself. A note about this ornament. Our church has an annual Advent Christmas night and they sell things made internationally. This ornament was made in Colombia using orange peels. Very sweet and beautifully made. Last year, we purchased a multicultural nativity made in Peru. Many prayers will be needed during this special season. Hanging stockings, lights and so many other things are reminders of the void in our lives and how we yearn to bring our child home.

No new news on the adoption timeline. We hope early 2013 brings news for us and positive movements for Colombian adoptions as a whole.

On a more lighthearted note, we finished the annual Christmas card photo session. Definitely something Michael does not look forward to, as I (so he says) can get a little stressed trying to get that perfect family picture, dog included! So, what's wrong with a few bribes? Anyway, this year lived up to the hype and Eli entertained us the entire time with funny faces....Here's one to enjoy!

MELISSA

 

 

 

Living (Happily) In The Waiting

I was having coffee with a friend recently who is also adopting and I heard myself say "I am so thankful for this wait." What??!! I said it about five times while shaking my head up and down while the reality was sinking in.  It was hitting me for the first time that this wait has made me into a better person...I will never be the same person I was over two years ago...WE, as a family, will be forever stronger. We have learned so many new truths and grown in ways that would have never been possible without an experience such as this. I have learned to still live happily while not having something I want really, really bad. I have learned not to let a delay or rumor send me into a flurry of worry. Our family's priorities have changed. We have learned to appreciate the adoption process in Colombia, including the fact that they require so much detail about us so the best families are found for the children and most recently, the level of research the government performs to make sure a child is truly in need of a home (there is a new mandate declaring that all children available for adoption in Colombia must have had family members contacted to the 6th degree before a child can be relinquished).  We are learning Spanish (slowly but surely, still on CD 1 of Rosetta Stone that we purchased for Christmas!).

There are still valleys and there are times that I want nothing more to cradle and hold our little one in my arms (poor, almost 5 year old, Eli gets held and rocked like a baby way too many times a day!!).
While living happily in the waiting, we are still dreaming, hoping and clinging to trust! "Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God." - Brennan Manning

Instead of craving clarity, lets seek to trust God now and enjoy these blessings he has provided at this time in our lives!

MELISSA

Our Story / Adoption Update

We have always wanted to create a blog to keep family and friends updated with our adoption and post pictures once we travel to Colombia, but Melissa felt she just wasn't creative enough and may be one of the worst bloggers out there! So....it took almost two years, but here's an attempt at joining the blogging world.

Our adoption process didn't start overnight. It has been growing in our hearts for many, many years. We always hoped and prayed for semi-large family and after two (fun!) pregnancies and raising these two beautiful personalities and loves of our lives, it made sense to start our dream of growing our family through adoption. We always knew it would be international adoption and felt called to Latin America, primarily from our love of the culture. We started our research for a country and chose Colombia for many reasons, primarily its stable program and reputation for excellent care of its children. Next, we chose our agency, Gladney Center for Adoption. Not once have we looked back and wondered if we should have chosen a different country or agency. There have definitely been some "bumps in the journey" but we are very much at peace about both choices.

The scavenger hunt began and our dossier (compilation of adoption paperwork) was completed in December 2010. The "plan" (for those of you familiar with the adoption process, you will understand the quotes) was for our dossier to be presented directly to one of three private orphanages (IAPAs) Gladney worked with. Turns out the orphanages wanted to finish some referrals before accepting a new family, so we made the decision to submit our dossier to ICBF (child governing agency in Colombia) so we could be assigned a number and be in the system. We were quickly approved by ICBF with no additional questions asked. For many months after that, we hoped to transfer into a IAPA. Finally, at the end of 2011, our dossier was transferred to Chiquitines, in beautiful, Cali, Colombia. We were (are) THRILLED! This is a well respected, established home and we still only know a small piece of how well they love the children at their facility and we sleep at night not knowing our child yet, but knowing that they are being taken care of and receiving love already. Chiquitines had a few questions for us and after getting the information they needed, we were approved February 9, 2012 for 1 child, 0-35 months, either gender, any race and are now deep into the dreaded wait.

Waiting for a referral is filled with wonder but it is also very, very hard. At Chiquitines, our wait is not based on chronological order, so they choose the family and child that are the best match based on the criteria we selected. So, we could have been matched the day after we were approved (would have loved that!!) or up to 24 months. Average wait is currently 6-12 months. So....based on that average we could be in Colombia before the end of this year. This is our hope and prayer!! We are beyond ready to starting spending every minute with our child and having him or her join our family and hear one more laugh around our house. Our future child has a big sister and brother who absolutely cannot wait a minute longer to share love with their new sibling. The "new baby" is talked about many times a day by them.

For those of you stopping by and reading down to this part of our story, we are so thankful for your support and will need it for months/years to come. We have met, some just on-line, so many wonderful families going through the same process and have been inspired by you all. Thanks be to God that none of us will ever be the same again!

Melissa