Well, I don't have much to report. Our dossier has almost been in Russia for 3 months. It looks like we have a long wait ahead of us. I've been catching up on reading a ton of adoption blogs tonight and visiting the FRUA website, which I almost never visit. Looks like 4 couples from our agency have switched to new adoption agencies. I would like to say I'm surprised, but I'm really not. The recent personnel turnover and lack of communication, coupled with no word on accreditation and longer wait times...makes the decision to switch very appealing. I know I've thought of it.... and I haven't even been waiting as long as others. But we have invested too much time and money into our agency right now. So, we will wait and see what happens with accreditations and referrals.

On the FRUA frontier, word is floating around that at least 2 agencies are saying accreditation is imminent. I'm not sure who they are, but I'm sure it is not ours. Our agency keeps things sealed until official word is out. So, who knows what could happen.... our agency could be one in the next batch that might be accredited in the next several weeks.... or not. :-)

Finally, November is National Adoption Month. I remember 2 years ago being ready to begin the process, and then learning we might be moving...so we held off. Last November we signed on with our agency and soon after began all the paperwork..... Two years...and two more before that I prayed to be able to adopt. 4 years now.... some of my friends who have known Chris and I, know how long we have been talking about this. Hopefully by next November we will have two little children home with us, and we will be celebrating November in earnest. :-)

Life with the Duggars

We had our cable television upgraded two weeks ago....and now instead of 12 channels, we are able to get 74 or something like that. Too many to even imagine! Anyway this evening I came across a show on Discovery Health that I just saw for the first time. It follows a family named Duggar, who, husband and wife, have 16 children. All their own, not a blended family at all! I just thought this was such a cool show. The mom is amazing. So, quiet and reserved, you can tell it's her natural tendency. She was going into labor with her 16th child, and she was sooo calm. Now maybe after 16 you get pretty good at being calm, but it must be a natural tendency as well.... I mean you can't fake it during contractions, while a camera is rolling. It's a momentous life changing moment, and can be stressful. I was amazed to watch her and her husband interact, so sweetly and lovingly. It was just awesome, and she really made me want to be a better mom and wife.


Years ago in Pennsylvania, I had a neighbor who was and still is a good friend. She was not only my friend, but my prayer partner..... she would come to my house and we would sit at my kitchen table with a box of kleenex in the middle, and we would pray. Sometimes we needed the kleenex and sometimes not, but we would share our hearts and pray! Anyway, when I saw this show, I immediately thought of my friend, as we would purpose and pray to be better wives and mothers. I checked my email last night before going to bed, and who should I receive a long letter of what the Lord is doing in her life?? Yep, you guessed it, my sister in the Lord, now separated half a world away in China....but still encouraging and as uplifting as ever!

Anyway, those are my thoughts today.... quiet and contemplative as I think about both of these women and what a blessing they must be to their families.

Two months down.....

Well our dossier has officially been in Russia for two months! I wonder if it has even been translated yet? For those of you who are further along in waiting, did your agency call you to tell you when your dossier was translated or registered? Maybe because we are hoping to adopt two children, and our dossier stays in Moscow until a region opens up...maybe it just sits there until that happens? I don't think I understand that process.... Anyone have any insight?

I know if we were adopting just one little girl, our dossier would go to the region that was best suited for us. Then it would be translated and would be registered with the local Ministry of Education. Then when a match was found in that region, depending on where we are in line, we might have a referral. But I guess I just don't comprehend the wait and process for a sibling group. (Only that it is looonnnnggg). :-)

I suppose the beginning and end of this process is when God says it's going to start and when He provides the little ones he wants for Chris and I.

Speaking of little ones. I had such a sweet moment last week just playing with and carrying around a friend's little daughter. (under 2). Oh what a joy she was to chase after, giggling and turning around to see if I was still following her. She has such an infectious laugh, and put a smile on my face that day at the park. I just am so thankful God gave me that moment to have, as it stirred up the desire in my heart for those little girls he may have waiting for us.

Sometimes in the waiting, and not being physically pregnant, it doesn't "feel" like you are even in the process of adopting. Sometimes it seems so far removed from everyday life.... I've heard this is a normal feeling of adoptive parents. It's weird.... I wish I could describe it. Sort of detached, and then I suppose as things get closer, or when you are at the referral stage things become more real. The only part of this stage that to me seems tangible is our dossier. This I have gathered, typed, stapled, held in my hands, and then released off to a foreign country. This inanimate item is the most tangible thing I have to this adoption right now. So, that is why I treasure moments that are given to me.... (like the one in the park with my friend's daughter). It reminds me that there is a child (or children) at the end of this process. Children who need us as much as we need them.