What Size Shoes (Will) She Wear?

If one didn't think we were studying up already, we sure have started now!

It took us a while to realize we are meant to adopt; it took us longer to figure out from where we should adopt; and it took us even longer to decide on a placement agency to help us with the adoption process.

However, now that the ball is rolling and we're up to our knees in paperwork, we're reading up on some of the ins and outs of parenting adopted children and, well... parenting in general. We found this cute book on Amazon, which was free thanks to Swagbucks! "Adopting a Toddler: What Size Shoes Does She Wear?" by Denise Harris Hoppenhauer. (Our child will most likely be between 11 and 36 months when we bring him/her home.)

I have a list of several more books that look interesting: "The Russian Word for Snow," "I Love You Rituals," "What I Want My Adoptived Child to Know," "Playful Parenting," etc. The list is endless, really. Something a nerdy book-lover such as myself gets all excited about! Even if they don't turn out to be helpful, at least it's something to keep us busy as we wait until we can bring our child home!

Word is Spreading!

Well, outside of our immediate family we began telling people of our adoption just a few months ago. It seems, however, that word is spreading. How exciting!

I've been so wonderfully surprised to see so many people look almost as excited over our journey as we are! The "congratulations"—just as I would imagine we would receive if we announced I was pregnant—have been unexpected, but oh-so-heartwarming! It makes me think, what was I timid about in the first place?!

We finally have a day scheduled for our interview with our placement agency! We'll be driving up in the beginning of April with folders full of required, notarized documents which will be put into our dossier, translated into Russian, and submitted so that we can receive a referral (information about our potential child/children)!

Without getting into the details, Derek and I might have witnessed the first time our particular future child/children have been referenced. It's odd... I've never been referred to as a "mother" in any way, neither have I ever referred to any person as "my child," whether directly or indirectly. But today, this all is feeling even more real! Our child/children are out there... now... continents away... and lonely. While I've been praying for our babies for months, today it's hitting even closer to home that our children are out there, desperately needing our prayers to God on their behalf.

Please join us in praying for our children today. Pray that they feel our Lord's love and comfort, and that it prepares them to accept the love and comfort we will be committed to giving them once we can bring them home.

CHECKLIST:
• Received final copy of our home study
• Coordinate/schedule trip to placement agency

Horrible, Just Horrible

I recently came upon an article from Russia about a child abuse case here in the US. Allegedly, a married couple who had adopted twins from Russia beat their son so badly, he tragically passed away.

The Moscow Times article linked to above states:
U.S. police have arrested the adoptive parents of a 7-year-old Russian boy for homicide after an autopsy found more than 80 external injuries on his malnourished body, Channel One state television reported Tuesday.

The case reignited Russian anger over U.S. adoptions, a delicate issue in U.S.-Russian relations in recent years, and could tangle efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to "reset" ties that deteriorated under the previous administration.

Complicating matters, the boy died in August, and the Education and Science Ministry, which oversees adoptions, accused U.S. authorities of failing to notify their Russians counterparts within the time frame required by international law.

Sickening. Absolutely sickening.

The article goes on to say:
Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov said cases of Russian children dying in adoptive U.S. families "have become systematic recently," Interfax reported Wednesday.

From 1996 to March, at least 15 Russian children appear to have died at the hands of their adoptive foreign parents, including 14 in the United States and one in Canada, a spokesman for the Education and Science Ministry said by telephone Wednesday.

There are thousands of US families that would make wonderful parents to lonely Russian orphans—giving them a life infinitely better than one spent institutionalized. And the children would, in turn, make these families' lives infinitely better and more complete.

Unfortunately, however, there are parents like the ones in the article. And sadly, situations like these make it much more difficult for couples like us to be a “forever family” to these orphans.

Take an excerpt from this other Russian article for example, headlined “Another adopted Russian boy beaten to death in US”:
In response to (the boy’s) death a Russian senator has forwarded a proposal to introduce a temporary moratorium on American parents adopting Russian orphans, information agency RIA-Novosti reported.

Valentina Petrenko, the Head of the Parliament’s Committee on Social Policies, said that the situation should be discussed with the US Department of State, but for the time being, no Russian children should be adopted by American couples.

I pray for everyone in that family, particularly the twin sister left now without her brother and—undoubtedly—without parents yet again. I also pray for the loving and hopeful prospective adoptive parents (PAPs), that our journeys will not be hindered by such evil.

D'oh!

So, we sent in our I-600A to the United States Immigration and Citizenship Services a little more than a week ago. Pretty much, the form is meant to give our government a "heads up" that we are adopting internationally. We will then be asked to fill out more forms, get fingerprinted, etc. as required by our country.

Our check made for the processing of the I-600A was deposited last week, according to our bank statement. We got excited!

After checking the mail this weekend, we received a letter from USCIS. At first glance, we noticed the letter was on "official" paper, watermarks and all. We got REALLY excited!

We read the body of the letter and... D'OH!

It seems our application was incomplete. While we did send a $670 check for the processing of the form, we did not send in the required amount for our biometrics (fingerprinting). Oops! This isn't the first mishap in the process, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Luckily, it's a quick fix.

We also received another packet from our placement agency. They received our application and cashed our application fee check. Woot! But with that came a few more items we have to fill out. Many are duplicates of what we had to do for our home study, so hopefully it won't take too long.

So, unfortunately no checklist this post. Only more things to add to our "To Do" list. I feel like the sixth season of "Lost"—instead of answers, we frustratingly only get more questions. We'll keep trodding along though!

Focus on the Positive, Right?

Yesterday was a rough day. I can't even explain why it was rough without hearing myself sound like a whining "Debbie Downer." Seriously, nothing terrible happened... it was just one of those days that I let all the little negative things that happened get to me.

There's no need to go into details—not on a blog that may become public again one day, anyways. Pretty much two people were outright rude and disrespctful to me. One has treated me that way in the past, so I usually try to brush it off. The other was someone I don't know personally, but still got offended nonetheless.

I know, I know. I shouldn't let silly stuff like that bring me down—especially when there was quite a lot that got accomplished that same day! We received a rough draft of our home study from our social worker. It looked great! We have just a few things we need to clarify and change for her and we should be all set! We filled out and mailed the I600-A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) along with the required $670 fee. *GULP* And we filled out and mailed our application to the placement agency we plan to use, along with its required application fee *GULP* *GULP* Despite the holes in our pockets that day, there was a lot to celebrate.

So, why is it when we finally feel like we're making headway on this stretch of God's path, things start to go wrong and we get flustered and lose focus...?

hmmm...
yeah...
I think we all know the answer to that...

I've always loved the imagery of Matthew 14:22-33. At some point, the Lord commands us all to "come." Peter was doing just fine after answering Jesus' call and focusing on Him. Peter was walking on water for crying out loud! He was doing something man deems impossible. Then Peter loses his focus. He notices the storms and winds, becomes fearful, and sinks.

If only we weren't so easily distracted by the storms and winds of life. If only we could ALWAYS keep our focus on the Truth and the Light. But even when we don't, I'm so thankful that God reaches out his hand and pulls us back up.

Next time maybe I can keep my focus, enjoy the journey, and skip the soggy shoes.

CHECKLIST:
• Submit I600 A to USCIS
• Send in placement agency application