Waiting for Godot

Me in a tree! It was actually pretty far up.

Who is Godot? I'm not talking about the play by Samuel Beckett, in which two people wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive--who, in fact, never does because he doesn't exist. No, I'm talking about the IRS. After waiting months for our refund we finally got a letter from the Taxpayer Advocate Office requesting all the same info that the review board requested. After reading the 10-page letter I realized that this "office" really just exists to make me feel like I am doing something productive. Nothing will actually speed up the process. Not Senators, advocates, or us.

Now on to happy news:

We've officially been waiting for TA for one week! Wahoo! I know the waiting will get harder with each passing day, but this is the last thing we wait for. After we receive our TA our agency schedules our consulate appointment and we book our plane tickets.

While we were in New York, I sold a painting! That money will go directly to LilyBeth's adoption fund. If you want to see my paintings, hop over to my facebook page, Sharon Ward Acrylics, and take a look. I really love painting people, mostly African. I find a peace in their stoic faces that is so beautiful. I am participating in an art festival on August 27th here in Portland, Maine, and am working, my tail off to get enough paintings for the show.

Something else happened in New York: Josh was able to meet his biological sister. She was born this past February and is adorable. Here they are at that very first meeting:

Off to New York!

I can take a break from worrying about our TA for a few days because we will be in New York for the long weekend. Going to Grandma and Grandpa's house is loads of fun for the kids. Eight acres of fun farmland with trees to climb, ponds to play in, and horses to feed makes for a fun weekend. The drive out is a little crazy but we have fun once we get there.

I was sad to read a blog about a family who has been waiting for their TA for 6 weeks! Bummer, I'm really praying ours comes fast! Our agency said they would request an expedited TA because of Lily's medical needs, but because it's not an "urgent" medical need we will probably end up waiting the normal time.

What is the normal wait time for a TA? I have no idea! I have read blogs where the TA is taking 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, now six weeks, and one that was issued the same day as the Article 5! While the Chinese adoption process is very predictable, there are things that are unpredictable--like the TA. Ugh! I will simply go crazy if I have to wait 6 weeks! That would mean we don't travel until July or August! I know it's not in my hands, cuz if it was Lily would have been home 9 months ago!, but I still my TA in June, by the 13th would be great (for all you CCCWA people who happen to be reading this.)

Pray for us this weekend as we make the decision about whether or not to apply for a loan to complete the adoption. (*Thank you very much IRS for holding our refund--mucho sarcasm here.)

Anyway, have a great weekend and don't think adoption.

I'm done--that's it--I have no energy left

Article 5 Day!!

The first draft of this post was long and whiny, but today is a day to rejoice--because:

By the time I post this, our Article 5 will be on its way to Beijing!! Next up is our TA. I can't believe I am even writing this. This journey has been so long--they all are. We have been looking at LilyBeth's photo for six months now and in just a couple more months (maybe even one) I will be holding this little girl in my arms.

Tomorrow

In less than 24 hours our Article 5 is scheduled to be picked up and delivered to CCCWA! Then we receive the last document that will put me on a plane to Beijing. I'm excited, and nervous, and a little crazy. I have no idea how long it will take for the TA to be issued, and no idea when our consulate appointment will be scheduled, and no idea where the money will come from, but I know that God is in control and I am not.

Until then I have requested some updated photos of LilyBeth from our agency. I have been requesting photos from them and from the care package people, but have had no luck so far. It's really disheartening since our only photos are from March 2010! I know I will get to see her in person in a month or two, but it would be nice if I could pick her out of a lineup! Oh well, maybe we will be the only family getting their baby that day.

It's lonely in the blog world this time

One of the hardest parts of this adoption has been the lack of blogging buddies. When we adopted Thomas there were no blogs to be read. Oh, I'm sure there were some out there, but I didn't know that. It was our first time adopting and there was so much to do! His adoption took only eight months from the very beginning until the day he came home. I didn't have time to search the internet and had no idea that there were blogs.

When we adopted Grace, our agency had a listserv for families to stay in touch. Through that we were able to find blogs. Many, many, MANY blogs by families who were in the Ethiopian adoption process. I found it so helpful to follow others' journeys and was able to email people who were traveling to get their children. Many people were able to take pictures of Grace for us so we could get regular updates. Then there was a glitch! Our adoption was put on hold (along with many others) because of some falsified documents regarding another child--not ours. I can't tell you how helpful it was to have people praying for us, to have a place to beg for those prayers, and to read encouraging comments from people I still hadn't met yet. Then, two months later it was our turn to travel. I loved being able to pack precious gifts sent by families waiting to go get their children. I took photos of all the children who were matched with families--even took a few videos. Those photos meant so much to the families waiting to travel. But this time it's so different.

I've only found a couple of blogs for families waiting to adopt from China. It's a totally different (electronic) world. I don't know if the families are just not interested in keeping up a blog, or if there's some other listserv out there that I haven't heard of. All I know is that it feels so lonely in this waiting. Soon enough we will be on a plane with anticipation growing every mile, to meet our youngest daughter. I will be excited to meet other families in Beijing and Guangzhou--Guangzhou especially! But, I am still sad that I haven't been able to make those lasting adoption-momma friendships that I made during Grace's adoption. P.S. I love you guys! I love learning about how God has called you all to continue adoption, to advocate for the fatherless, to help mothers be able to keep their children, and to spread the Gospel into areas of the world that haven't heard it yet. Keep up the good work and know that I cherish your friendships.

It's looking like July

Our agency updated me with some dates: Our Article 5 is scheduled to be picked up on May 24th. Then it's a few days to get it to CCCWA (formerly CCAA). Once there it takes about 4 weeks for TA. That puts our estimated TA at June 24th. That's too late for the June travel group, but so early for the July travel group. We would wait 5 weeks to travel for July.

Now, there's a slim chance (very slim) that our TA could come in before June 13th. That would mean the CCCWA would have to process it in 2 1/2 weeks. If that happens, we would travel at the end of June. (* I can't believe I'm even talking about our TA! It's been such a crazy journey and now we're almost there!)

I'm still freaking out about how we will manage child care for our other children while I'm in China, but I know God is SO good and everything will be in place by the time I travel. Until then we have a very busy month. Thomas and Grace have a dance recital this weekend, we go to New York to visit Mike's family next weekend, the following weekend I go up north for a legal seminar, and then I have a few weekends off to pack and get LilyBeth's room organized.

And I just "met" another mom who is traveling in July to adopt TWO boys from China!

Please keep praying that the IRS will come through with our refund soon so we can purchase our tickets to China when the time is right.

I'm getting so excited!

Our Article 5 should be issued this coming week. After that we just wait for TA which should arrive in 2-4 weeks. However we are seeking an expedited review so our TA could come much sooner! I am praying that we can travel in June. I can't wait to meet this little girl.

We still don't have all the money together and will be praying and trusting God that everything will be here when it needs to be.

I can't wait to post about our TA.

The Rollercoaster Continues

To say that alot has happened this week would be an understatement. Two days after we learn that Lily's medical needs do not require emergency treatment, we got a full medical update. She spent two weeks in the hospital with an acute upper respiratory infection, and we learned that there ARE several more medical issues than we knew of. Ugh!

I won't get into details here, but we are praying for good news when we get her home. She will be seeing several pediatric specialists as soon as she gets home: urologists, geneticists, endocrinologists, cardiologists, and a neurologist (this is just a routine check-up. Her MRI's and CT scans show normal brain development.) But her condition looks more complicated than we originally knew.

We are about one week away from our Article 5--and 2-4 weeks from TA. Please stand with us in prayer as we await more news, money, and our TA.!

You know, it's funny that with all the medical updates we've received we've never gotten another picture of her.

Medical Update

Praise God! We learned yesterday that LilyBeth's medical issues do not require immediate surgery. In fact, she can wait until she comes home to have the surgery! The best part is that our agency will request an expedited TA so she can be seen in the US this summer for medical appointments! We don't know if the TA will be granted, but we are prayerful that it will be. We are so happy!

Now our continued prayer request is pretty serious. I spoke with the IRS last week and it appears we will not have the money we need to travel in time. We know God is in control of everything and we wait expectantly that He will provide what we need in time to travel.

So.....here's the timeline now: If we get an expedited TA, we could travel in June--if not, July. I know this child is the one God meant for us. He has met EVERY need and every prayer so far. I cannot doubt that He is preparing everything. P.S. I can't wait to meet this little girl!

Medical Issues

Just a day after rejoicing over our GUZ letter and we get an email telling us that LilyBeth has a medical issue that could require immediate surgery. What?! The orphanage wants to know whether we still want her even though she may have this issue. Ummmm.....she's been our daughter since November, OF COURSE we still want her. God made her just the way she is and we accepted her just the way she is.

Now we need to find out what the circumstances are and whether or not she will require immediate surgery--or could it wait until she comes home? Of course not being able to talk to the doctor and get the exact concerns makes it tough to make a decision. All my instincts say to get her home ASAP and have any medical procedures done here so she can recuperate with family (even though we will be complete strangers to her). But if it can't wait, any surgery in China could mean a delay in getting her home.

To top it off, the IRS STILL has not released our income tax refund! They requested receipts from our prior adoptions, as they did many adoptive families this year, and we provided it, but they still haven't reviewed our file or made a determination. We need this money to complete Lily's adoption. Talk about testing my faith! But I know God will finish this work He started, and His timing is perfect, AND he called us to adopt--so, I trust that the money will be there when we need it. Not a moment before, but right on time.

Keep Lily in your prayers please as we await updated medical info.

GUZ!!

Yes! We got it today! I'm so excited!

Now ASIA will apply our DS230, and in two weeks our Article 5 will be sent to CCCWA. Hopefully, we will then receive our TA in 2-4 weeks later.

It's very unlikely--although there is a TINY possibility--that we will travel in June. More likely it will be in July. Unfortunately we can only travel at the end of the month. I'm not sure why that is, but ASIA sends its travel groups at the end of the month. So if we don't make the June list, we will have to wait until the end of July.

LilyBeth will be 2 on July 10th.

Our adoption party is August 21. Wahoo!

Next up: GUZ

After receiving our I800 approval last week, I am expecting the GUZ number this week. I'm not really sure what that means, but I know I need it to get a TA!

Now that we are only about 10 weeks away from a travel date, I'm starting to think about packing and leaving my kids for 2 weeks--ugh! I hate being away from them for even one night, much less two weeks. But I am blessed to know that they will be in good hands while I am away, and so many people will be helping out.

My sister, Jen, and a friend from church, Jenny, will be traveling with me. It will be so much fun! Exhausting, but fun. I can't wait to have miss LilyBeth home.

We got an update on her health last week. She is doing well, and growing, but I haven't gotten an updated picture yet. That part is killing me! What does she look like? Is the orphanage growing her hair or still shaving her head? Is she potty trained? Can she talk? Has she seen our pictures? I have so many questions. But they will all be answered soon enough.

I pray every day that God will prepare her for our family and help her to bond quickly and trust us.