Disappointed

Ok, I must admit that I am disappointed.  Our lawyer did not file our papers for a court date.   I know he is the expert and that we can trust his opinion, but I still am disappointed.  I feel like the July court holiday is looming.  But again I must remind myself, this is no surprise to God and He has a plan.  So today I will be grateful for that.

I also want to give one more shout-out to the Blog Storing Up Treasures for their 10K in 20 Days contest.  Just a reminder, they are trying to raise $10,000 in 20 days (8 days left) to help 26 adopting families.  We are #21 on their list.  One family will be randomly selected to win $5,000.  The others will each receive $200.  They are asking for donations of just $5 or $10.  There are tons of great prizes available for all who donate.  What a blessing!

Visas and Judges

I'm so glad to be able to tell you that the US Embassy is starting to issue visas to families with legal guardianship cases.  This is amazing news!  Before this week, no legal guardianship visas had been issued this year.  I guess all of our noise-making in Washington last week worked... and all of the prayers.  Some of these families have been waiting since January, so they are so ready to be home with their children.  What does this mean for us?  These families are paving the way for us and setting precedence and we rejoice with them and their families.
Either today or tomorrow our case should be filed with the Ugandan courts.  From there we will be assigned a judge.  Then depending on that judge's schedule and case load we will be given a court date.  Here is the tricky part... I'm told not all of the judges want to give the correct wording, one favorable judge is on vacation for a few weeks, and another is on medical leave.  There is now a backlog of cases b/c of the delays in recent months.  And remember, the courts close for a month starting in mid-July for holiday.  So PLEASE PRAY for us to get a judge willing to give us a favorable ruling and in a timely manner.  Thank you so much for all of your love, support, and prayers.  You are such an encouragement to us!

Happy Birthday!

I can not believe today is Mercy's 1st birthday.   Cody and I debated on how we should mark the occcasion.  We finally decided on just a family night.  I also planned to make a cake, but with the garage sale the past 3 days and the fact that we'd attended two birthday parties and one wedding in the last 24 hours, we opted for frozen custard instead.  We ate dinner at Freddy's Frozen Custard... the burgers are yummy and the new berry crunch concrete was delish!    Avery prayed for our dinner and added at the end, "And Happy Birthday to Mercy, and send her here now. Yes, now! Amen." 

After dinner, we rolled (we had to roll b/c our tummies were so full!) over to Target and bought Mercy a few gifts. We decided on a couple of little outfits and a teddy bear. Also, two sweet friends bought Mercy some birthday gifts. We are so blessed by our fabulous friends who are forever encouraging us. We love the beautiful frame and the adorable album!

When we started pursuing this adoption there was no doubt in my mind that she would be home by now.  I remember my mom saying, "Well, maybe you'll have her home by her birthday."  And me thinking, "Of course!!".  But obviously, God had a different plan.   Anyone who knows me very well knows that I like to be in control of things.  I like to know what's going to happen and when.  I like to have a schedule and a calendar mapped out, so I can keep everything running smoothly.  Anytime I've been waiting on a big event, I like to "keep track" or have small milestones to conquer in the meantime.  Now, these are not necessarily things I share with people because I do want to people to realize how truly neurotic I am.  These range from everything from "the next time I have to buy makeup we will have moved" to "by the time this coupon expires the new baby will be here".  Or "I probably won't make my next allergy shot in 3 weeks" to one of my favorites, "we will be on vacation by the time this milk expires".  These are just little things I keep before me as reminders of how we are progressing towards any goal.  Here's the problem with this neurotic behavior as it relates to adoption- many of my milestones have come and gone... ok, pretty much all of them.  Her birthday was the biggest one of these for me.  I kept telling myself that she would be here for her birthday.  But she is not, and that's ok.  Why?  Because, thank God, we are working on His timetable and not mine.  He knew everything that's gone in the past few months before it happened.  Nothing surprises Him.  Why would I want my timeline, when he's the one that created time?  So I'm moving forward, trusting the Lord, and continually reminding myself that God is in charge-- not me.

A side note to Mercy:  "Some day, I will print all of these blog posts off for you and put them in a scrapbook (or I'll bribe one of my friends into doing it, since I'm very un-scrapbooky).  I want you to read this and know how much we love you on this day.  I doubt you did much today to celebrate this milestone, but I want you to know that we did.  We woke up thinking about you, we prayed for you, we wore our Mercy t-shirts, and we told all of our friends and family that today you turned 1.  People all around the country thought of you today, sent special message to us, and prayed for you.  And I promise that when you do get home we are going to throw a huge party.  You are loved baby girl."

I know in the grand scheme of things our adoption is really not taking that long.  There are people that wait years to bring their children home.  So, today for Mercy's birthday, I will count my blessings and pray that one day soon I will hold her in my arms.  But God, our milk expires on the 28th, my next allergy shot is on the 1st, and the Libraries of Love team leaves on the 5th! 

**I did get an e-mail from my attorney today.  He said that he is working on our case this weekend and may be filing our application with the courts early next week.  Now realistically, that could mean weeks from now, but I am encouraged!  Please pray for us to get a favorable judge and a quick court date.

Ups and Downs

The affidavits that needed to be signed and then hand-delivered back to our attorney arrived at his office today.  Woo hoo!  This was no small task, so we are very grateful that this step is completed.  It's one move in a positive direction.

The bad... there are still troubles with the Embassy and the courts.  I will again spare you all of the details because it is a jumbled mess.  The gist of it is that there are a couple of people that appear to be anti-international adoption and they are making life very difficult for us and the other families. We rec'd some specific details about the handling of this whole situation and it is mind-boggling how this can happen at our US Embassy.  I have again contacted our Senators and Representative.  I heard back right away from both of my Senators' offices.  They promised to make some calls for us and get back with me.  Please pray for hearts to turn and for minds to be focused on what is best for these children.

It seems impossible right now, but the first "Libraries of Love" team leaves for Uganda in 2.5 weeks.  I would love to be there with them, especially since I will be traveling alone at first.  To have the love and support of so many friends and family right there in Uganda would be amazing.  I know with God's help this is possible.  And if not, I'm very excited that they will get to check on my baby girl for me and bring her some gifts.  Get more information on the amazing work they will be doing this summer here.

The Room is Ready!

After much work, procrastination, and other random delays, Mercy's room is now ready.  It may be hard to tell, but we painted the walls a pale yellow.  (Pardon the poor photography and lighting... it's a weird time of day where with the curtains open or closed the lighting looked funky) They were very bright yellow before and covered in dirt and grime from Emma's dirty feet. =)  We decided to leave Emma's old twin bed in the room.  We thought it might be a good place for Emma to sleep when company is in her queen-size bed and who knows, Mercy may end up in it before long.  I don't think she's ever slept in a crib, so we might be in for some nighttime adventures.   So, it's a bit crowded in this little room, but I think it will work. 

Cody and I put the crib together last night.  Believe it or not, we got it put together with no instruction booklet and with no arguing!!  Let's just say we are not quite engineers, but we finally figured it out and had some good laughs in the meantime.

Avery decided to "help" me in Mercy's room.  She decided that she really needed to help hang clothes up.  Now these were, of course, clothes that I plan to take with me, so they really don't need to be hung, but who can say "no" to this face and it kept her occupied for awhile.   While hanging clothes, she said, "My goodness, Mercy is going to look so darn cute in these clothes!"  I agree.

 And even, Morley is anxiously awaiting Mercy's arrival. Ok, he really is just waiting for her to drop bits of food to him and give me a reason to snuggle in the recliner more, but he was posing so nicely for this picture.

And I just love this addition to Mercy's room.  This is a coat rack that Cody's grandmother painted years ago.  It hung in Emma's room forever, but she's now replaced it with monkeys and decided Mercy needs it.  Hanging on it are two sweaters I love.  The pink one a precious lady from my parents' old church in Louisiana made for Avery.  She knew all of the struggles with infertility and miscarriages we had experienced and prayed for us diligently.  Then she made this special sweater for her when she was born.  The yellow one was my sweater as a baby.  I love the color.  I'm afraid it might be almost too small for Mercy, but surely I can squeeze her in it for one picture. 

And this is a mobile that Emma and Avery made for Mercy this weekend.  They love to do crafty projects on their own.  They took tiny toys they got from a machine at the bowling alley Friday night, tied them on ribbons, then added an African hut made from banana leaves that I bought a long time ago.  Then they tied it on a stick Emma made in art class and added a few animals that Emma drew and Avery colored to the end.  I love that they are so excited for their baby sister.  Now I realize this whole thing poses all kind of choking hazards, so don't worry it will be hung far out of reach.

And finally, before I bore you with all of my pictures, this is Mercy's first stuffed animal.  I think it is too cute.  My friend, Laura, gave it to me.  She bought it for her new addition arriving shortly from China, but then found out they were getting a son. For some reason, she didn't think he'd appreciate the cuteness of the poodle.

Paying it Forward

I just ran across a very cool blog about one adoptive family that wants to "pay it forward". They are trying to raise $10, 000 in 20 days to help 26 adopting families.  They are asking people for just $5 and $10 donations.  Then at the end of the 20 days they will randomly pick one of the adoptive families to get $5000 and the rest will get $200.  Plus, anyone who donates is entered to win a slew of great prizes.  What a great way to help others and pay back the blessings they have received during their adoptions.  I just happened to make the cut and got on their list as #20!  Check out their blog here for more details on how you can donate... you can read more about their lives and how they've experienced the joy of adopting both internationally and domestically.

Baby Steps...

Things are moving forward for us... in baby steps.  There are some important papers that must be signed by some officials in Mercy's district (kind of like a state or county) and then delivered in person to our attorney in order for him to proceed with getting us a court date.  One of my dear Ugandan friends is working today to get this done and then delivered as soon as possible. The problem is it's about a 5 hour drive to the lawyer's office, so we're working on the best way to get this done.

Also, some people are working very hard behind the scenes to resolve the visa situation. This could result in some positive changes for everyone. Please pray for them for guidance and wisdom.

10 days until Mercy's birthday.  Wow! I'm really hoping to get some really good news before then.

Signs Your Children Have Heard You Talking About Adoption...

I overheard Avery playing "adoption" the other day.  She was sitting behind a makeshift desk with a little notebook.  Here is her dialogue:

"So, you want to adopt a baby? Uh-huh... yes, a baby girl named Mercy.  She is 1 year old, right?  Uh-huh... let me look through all of your papers.  I have lots of things here.  Ok, that will be 70 million 83 thousand dollars.  Yes, you have to pay me now.  Thank you."

She pretty much has this thing figure out, don't you think?

Mother's Day Wish

This Mother's Day weekend I did a lot of reflecting.  This could be in part to the massive sinus/allergy headache that loomed all weekend.  Because of this headache, I spent a lot time lying in bed with my eyes closed and thinking.  I thought about how one year ago, Mercy was nowhere on my radar and adoption was a far-off thought for "some day".  I was anxiously preparing for my next mission trip to Uganda and asking God to move in a mighty way and teach me something new.  I thought about how one year ago, some woman in a village in Uganda was just a couple of weeks from giving birth.  I thought about the aches and pains of being 9 months pregnant, but then I also thought about the excitment and expectation that time brings.  Little did this woman know what the next few weeks would hold.  It's amazing how much things can change in one year.

I read a blog post from another Uganda mama this morning.  She came home with two sweet little boys from Uganda late last year.   I loved the way that she described all of her feelings for this her first Mother's Day.  So I thought I would share them with you too.  You can find it here.

I'm so grateful for the lessons I've learned this past year.  I'm grateful for this adoption journey, the good and the bad.  I'm trying to appreciate it all and see God's plan in all of it.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family supporting us along this journey.  Some of our biggest advocates live in the small town of Winchester, IL.  I've mentioned these ladies before, but to jog your memory... I met these ladies three years ago on my first trip to Uganda.  My friend, Kim, attended our church at the time and decided to go on the trip... and then invited her mom (a pastor's wife) in Illinois and a few others from her church.  Little did I know that these women and I would form a lifelong bond.  We've shared many laughs and amazing experiences and together developed a heart for Uganda.  Since we first announced that we were going to adopt Mercy, they have been our greatest cheerleaders.  Their church has had a special prayer time for us, they've bought t-shirts, and sent special gifts and encouraging notes.  This past weekend, Kim went home to Illinois.  She came back with three large bags of goodies for us... pretty much, all of the things needed to finish up our packing lists. 

Wow! And let me tell you, these women know how to pack.  When you travel with the Winchester ladies, you name an object you need and they will somehow pull it out of one of their many bags. =)  Thanks Cornerstone Baptist Church!  I really am going to come visit you some time and you truly are a blessing to me and my family.