We've had a great day at the Rosenlof's. We've had more wonderful things dropped off from good friends and neighbors. Cris and Bri, you spoil us. Miss Brinn, Lexi will LOVE the bunny you picked out for her. Thank you so much, sweetheart!
I spent the bulk of the evening repacking and prioritizing what we have been given. I smell a Gospel principle coming...There's something to be said for taking stock of what you have and recognizing in the process what you've been given. And then being grateful for it.
With some rearranging and not too much repriorizing, we were able to get more items in fewer suitcases. It was literally a blessing (thanks Nate and Rob). The peace you brought to our home and the promise of my stress being lifted was immediately manifest. It's amazing how much space you can save by rearranging how you squish the kid's diapers into the suitcases. I fit all 50 teddy bears that Mom R's ward made for the kids in a smaller suitcase WITH a bunch of other toys. It's like an entire suitcase of joy! (and a couple of sheets, thanks Teri.) :) Things just really came together.
We got our last minute papers notarized. While in Haiti we hope to be able meet with the US Immigration (called USCIS now - they're under the Department of Homeland Security these days). If our paper work is right and if that meeting goes well then we can be granted permission for USCIS to do the search for Lexi and Nathan's birthparents simultaneously to the Haitian ISBER process. (the normal process is that the US Government waits until Haiti has spent their year going through things and THEN they go out and attempt to locate the birth parents in a country where people don't have phones, emails or homes in many cases. They'll spend a lot of time trying to track them down and then bring them into PAP for an interview with USCIS. Our government wants to know that the parents know their children are gone forever when they're adopted. The birth parents can change their mind at that point and we really don't want that to happen.) Anyway, if this is approved for us then we don't have to have an additional US wait at the end of this already long process - we can do "concurrent enrollment", as it were, and have both governments working simultaneously. Novel idea, eh?
My whole world is going to change in 36 hours. Leavin'.... on a jet plane.... Brent admitted that he's nervous that Lexi won't like him. I can't imagine how any child couldn't love having Daddy Brent. I think one snuggle and they'll be stuck on each other. I've seen many a baby snuggle into him and just be content in his arms.
I was reminded tonight that there's a purpose to everything that happens. There are reasons that we've been married for 10 years and haven't been able to have children. There are reasons that we've been working on adoption in one form or another for 6-8 years and nothing's happened yet. I was reminded that God is aware of us and that we're doing the right thing. The big reason nothing's happened yet is that my little Nathan is only 4 months old. We wouldn't have him if anything had worked previously. I can only begin to catch a glimpse of how much our lives are going to change; begin to fathom how much our lives, as a family, are about to start.
Melissa tells me that her Haitian children just kept patting her hair and her face - so many different textures that are unfamiliar. Just a few more hours until I can officially feel like a mom, and a "Mama Blanc" at that.
We're coming, Lexi and Nathan. We're coming.
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