First Approval!

We finally got "the call" we have been waiting for 10 months to come!  On July 17th the Thai  board responsible for approving adoption cases reviewed our file, and said YES for us to adopt Watsana Charoensuk!  (aka Norah)  This call came to Dave, and at the time we were driving in separate cars.  He pulled over and so I did too, and he yelled out the window that we had "GOTTEN THE CALL!!"  I raced out of the car, jumping, yelling, crying, laughing, without any shame in the middle of the CVS parking lot!  It hit me in that moment of how much I love my daughter.  All this tension building of waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting...  And she isn't really mine yet but I love her and how do I manage these feelings when I've never even met her... and my most natural response was to cry and and act like a crazy person when this wonderful news came!  Our daughter is waiting half a world away and now we have been given permission to go get her.

The next step of this process now is to get clearance from the US immigration to bring her to the United States.  This step takes a few weeks to get approved.  Once that happens we will receive our travel dates and be on our way to Thailand!  I filled out and sent all we need to, and now we wait.  Again.

Thankfully, we just got an update on her.  Updates only come every 4 months, and I LOVE update time!  New pictures and a progress report!  From the sound of the update, Norah's foster family is really prepping her for her adoption to our family.  It says she likes to look at our pictures and is getting ready for placement into our family!  Her new measurements are 24lbs., 31" tall and 18" head and chest circumference.  No shoe size yet.

 This little dress we sent to her last September.  It's so good to see that she is with a foster mom who loves her and really takes good care of her!  I know that will be a hard transition for Norah to leave her foster family!

Financially READY!!

THANK YOU to everyone who has given toward this adoption!  We have officially met our goal financially through your gifts and fundraising!!  Here is a pic of our last garage sale, just a few weeks ago.  It rained, it was cold, it was windy, but we STILL managed to raise lots of money:)

It's Almost June...

I remember this time a year ago... We were waiting for a match, and had no idea who our little girl was.  I just knew good news would come in June!  And then it didn't.  Tears and frustration.  And now, as This June approaches, I am really believing for our first approval call to come!  I guess this waiting game keeps going through all legs of this journey, and I'm getting pretty well versed in it!  We did get new pictures a while ago, sorry I haven't posted.

  For everyone following this blog, we have been informed by our agency that we are not allowed to put pictures of our daughter up on an "open" blog site, so we have removed it from any search engines.  Would you please check with us before sharing with anyone?  You have been authorized to view it because we have invited you to.  Just send our way anyone's email that you would like us to send an invitation to!  Thank you!

Update on Finances

First, I want to thank everyone for your support in praying for us, Norah, and our process!!  We really feel surrounded by such an outpouring of love and interest in our adoption.  What an honor!  Dave and I sent out a newsletter a few weeks back to most of you just updating our journey, and the financial goals we still hope to reach before we travel.  I just want to clarify, because there was some confusion in response to the letter.  David, Sam and I will be traveling to get Norah when Holt tells us to come, whether all the money is raised or not.  The finances has nothing to do with getting her any faster.  We wanted to invite others to support us in the process, because there is a beauty and strength in partnering with friends and family in this endeavor.   It invites others into our process deeper, and it gives others the opportunity to share in some rich blessings. 
I want to thank everyone who has given!  It's wonderful to get notes in the mail and emails from people who are thinking of us and hoping along with us for a speedy homecoming.  I have the best friends and family:)  As of today, we are still hoping for around $6K. 
We are able to send Norah another package here in the next week.  I love package-sending time!  Holt has restricted it to every 3 months now instead of 2, because of the influx of mail and all the effort it takes to send everyone's packages.  We need to update a pic to her of Dave's new look:)  He recently got glasses, so here is the new Dave...

Any news yet!!??

So the next step in our process is waiting for that dang phone to ring, and for our agency to tell us we have "first approval"!  So when Holt called my phone Thursday, I about jumped out of my skin!  Alas... they were just checking in on us, to see how we are doing, and if I had questions.  AHHHH!!!  No news yet.  Well, I guess there is progressing news.  We are in the middle of about 20 families waiting for first approval, and it still may be a few months before we get our much awaited call.  I/we are doing ok, but it's getting frustrating.  Our little girl is half a world away, and she needs to be here! 

In the meantime, we are reading and learning how to parent an adoptive child well.  I guess we can be preparing as we wait 'eh?  AND we are collecting more stuff for another fundraising yard sale that we will do the end of April.  I have not brought myself to take down my Joy Room yet to prepare her nursery.  I think I probably won't do that until we do get our phone call, because that still leaves me 6-8 weeks before we travel. 

I don't know if I mentioned in previous postings, but we will be bringing Sam with us to Thailand!  We are excited to have him with us!  We really thought and prayed about the boys coming, and there was something that I just couldn't shake about leaving them home.  Wisdom says to leave them at home, but my heart wants something different!  So we sat the boys down and asked them what they wanted.   Sam exuberantly made a case to come, and explained to us that he feels like he would be missing out on an incredible opportunity, and he wants to be a part of the first meetings and interactions Norah will have with our family.  Case well taken.  I turned to hear Will's thoughts on the matter, and he said, "Nah, I want to go to Grandma's!"  So we sat on it awhile, had more conversations and prayer around it, and felt like it would be wonderful for Sam to come, and Will to stay with Grandma! 

Its February!

It's February, and I have not posted in TWO months!  This is like my journal too... very large gaps in my entry dates:)  We continue to wait and wait and wait some more for Norah.  We did get new pictures in December.

 OK so I know I am partial to this girl, but come on!  It doesn't get much cuter!  We are over the moon excited to know Norah is in great health.  The update in December did not say much else, but the pictures say alot! 


We got information from Holt in December that we would have to go through a psychology consult and test as a new Thai-side regulation.  We would not be eligible for first approval without it.  So Dave and I had to each take a 575 true/false question test to evaluate our mental state, and also have a one hour counseling session seperatley.  Can you believe we passed just fine!?:)  Sheesh.  I love this girl.  She's worth every minute of time this is taking. 

Alot of people have asked exactly why does it take so long?  What is the next step?  I even had a family friend convinced that if I gave the agency a huge amount of money, we would have her home already... yeah, no it does not work like that!!  So the next step we are waiting on is called "first approval".  The board in charge of adoption cases in Thailand (for Holt and all other agencies working with orphanages and foster families) is called DSDW (department of social and developmental welfare).  They only meet twice a month to review applying family's files and approve them to come to Thailand to get the children.  This is what they call a "first approval".  I really don't know what is all involved in these meetings, but the estimated time for "first approval" is 6-9 mos after a family has been matched with their child.  For us that happened in September.  When that happens for us we will get tentative travel dates, but will have to wait for our official letter of approval called "article 16" which comes a few weeks after our first approval call.  That letter makes it real and we may book our travel then.  Travel will probably take place a month or so after our article 16 letter comes!

missing Norah

I'm missing Norah today.  Every day.  Alot.  I was told we would be getting an update soon, maybe the end of the month, and nothing yet has come.  I really am in a good place with all this waiting.  In some respects, it feels easier on this end to see her face in a picture, and imagine life with her.  But imagination is ALL I have!
I want some new pictures.  I pray for her every day.  Lord, keep my heart patient...