As I sit and write this I'm looking at 2 strollers, a baby monitor, and a high chair waiting to be opened and assembled. After waiting such a long time I can't believe that we are about to have a little boy in a couple of months (or sooner!)
Update on our process:
Our paperwork is moving along smoothly still. Our 800 paperwork was approved- this is where we applied to the US Dept. of State to adopt Kohl (before we just had approval to adopt, but then you have to get approval for your specific child).
Tonight I completed another form. I'm not 100% sure what it is, but I think it's the form we submit to the US Immigration offices where they will allow us to bring Kohl back into the US.
We are still waiting on something called our "cable letter." I honestly have no clue what that is.
After the cable letter, we then wait on something called Article 5 pickup. Again- no clue!
But after Article 5, the next thing we hear is TA- Travel Approval. After we get TA we have to complete our travel within 3 months. Of course we want to get there as soon as we can.
So after waiting over 27 months, we are almost there folks! (For anyone who has only just started following us, we were with the Colombia program for 2 years before switching to China program).
Most people adopting already have their visas by this time, but we have to wait until we know we can travel to get our visas because Chris will have a different kind of visa (very limited) since he is a minister.
Our social worker has been saying we will probably travel in October, but I am really thinking it may be sooner than that! I've emailed her tonight to see what she thinks now that we've had more movement with our paperwork.
Kohl is already one very loved and spoiled child! Our awesome church family gave us a shower on Sunday. He got lots of goodies and lots of gift cards/cash to purchase additional items he will be needing. We've started getting his room together (so much fun!!) and I promise to post some pictures once it's complete (and once he's in it!) Thank you especially to the Sunday School class that hosted my shower. :)
And today we received an update on our precious boy. You are allowed 3 updates in the process. You basically get to ask about 10 questions and they will try to answer them. Unfortunately while we thought we asked great questions, the translation back didn't help too much! Example: What size diapers does he wear? M (Medium) Since our diapers aren't sized that way we still don't know what size! What kind of bottle does he take? A normal one And that was pretty much the way all the answers were... but we did get another video (we got 2 videos back from his birthday)! He is scooting/half walking all over the place and looks like he loves to play with a cell phone so he will fit right in with the rest of America!
We're seriously so excited!!
Please pray that all the details will work out as we finish this up. Some may also not have known that I will begin a new job in a few weeks as a Pre-K teacher at Kitty Stone Elementary in Jacksonville. I'm hoping everything will work out ok with me starting that and then having to be gone to get Kohl. Chris will also be starting his PhD this fall and he has to go to Amsterdam for 2 weeks for that. Please pray that everything with this will line up with our timeline.
Please also begin praying for Kohl and his transition. What he will go through is going to be very tough. Please pray for God to prepare his little heart for what will happen and that we will be everything he needs to get him through his grief of leaving his foster mother, his country, everything he's ever known.
Thanks for sticking through this journey with us!
