Adoption paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork

A lot of people are shocked at how quickly everything seems to be going. You can say that again! We are still in shock! As long as all the money falls into place (we still need $20,000, and you can help by donating directly through PayPal or buying one of our cool shirts), we should be flying to Uganda THIS summer to bring our kids back.

We have had 2 successful homestudy meetings, and are plugging along on our homestudy paperwork, adoption classes and miles of paperwork for our dossier. We are trying to complete everything as quickly as possible so we can apply for adoption grants and be ready to fly as soon as we have referrals and a court date. There is a LOT of paperwork to get through. I've spent a lot of time running around town, waiting on hold and mailing papers back and forth to get things right. We are praying that every piece of paper falls into our hands when it needs to and everything works out according to God's plan. We will let you know more details when we know them, but for now it is lots and lots of paperwork.

Being "paper pregnant" is very different from being actually pregnant. I don't know which I prefer yet, because they both have positives and challenges. I think, for me, the biggest challenge with being paper pregnant is we have no definites. We don't know when we will be flying to go get our kids. Even when we get in country, there is no guarantee that the Uganda judge will grant us visas for our children. In international adoption, there are no absolutes until the children are here in the states and the US government has granted them a green card and the judge approves the adoption. Until then, there is a lot of chance involved. This not knowing is hard for someone who really likes plans, which is part of the reason I haven't been blogging.

It isn't fun to blog the mundane drudging on of the unglamorous pursuit of an adoption. It would be much more fun to post pictures of the kids that will join our family or the month long trip we will take to Uganda or something other then the tons of background checks and referral letters and fingerprints and doctors visits and bank letters and photocopying that is the guts of the adoption process. I don't have any cute pictures of a growing belly or a cute nursery to share, because we don't know the ages of our kids. Instead, I have words about the boring-ness (yes, I just made up a word) of this waiting on letters to be returned and faxes to be sent and papers to be notarized.

So, while we wait, will you pray for us? 

-Pray for our kids that are most likely living in an orphanage in Uganda at this very moment. 

-Pray for their safety and for the orphanage workers who are loving on all the kids in their care. 

-Pray for the Uganda lawyer, our homestudy agency and the US government that they would process our paperwork quickly and efficiently.

-Pray that Asher's and Alethea's hearts will be open to love another brother and sister.

-Pray for Craig and I as we prepare for what might be one of the most challenging years of our lives.

-And lastly, pray for the money we need to come in. And if you are part of the answer to that prayer, we thank you!