The process...and dogs

For those of you wondering where we're at in the process, we received a draft of our adoption study (aka home study) last week, sent the corrections to our Social Worker, and should receive the final legal document this week (hopefully). Our I-800A is ready to be sent of to the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services), and we will do just that as soon as we receive the final adoption study.

And if you're wondering what an I-800A is: it is an application for determination of suitability to adopt a child from a different country. The particular country we are applying to adopt from, according to our agency's country program specialist, requires by law that this application be approved in the U.S. before we can submit our dossier to that country. And so...word on the street is that our I-800A will take 3-4 months to be processed. Once approved, we will send our dossier to the country and hopefully be accepted to their list of waiting families. And then the wait for a referral begins. Our agency estimates 9-12 months for a referral (after we are on the official waiting list), and then 5-8 months after we accept a referral until the child is ready to travel. So we are being conservative and going with the longest scenario, planning on a 2 year wait. Of course, international adoption is unpredictable, and we aren't even on a waiting list yet, so this is why I am not ready to put on our blog which country we believe our child is from. Many of you know, anyway.

In the meantime, I wake up each morning with a longing in my heart for this child who I pray unceasingly for. The idea of waiting for 2 years gets me down sometimes. But then, I just ask God to pour out his Spirit on my life and heart, and that He will use me. God always meets me where I'm at...whether it be through Scripture, loving words from my husband, or encouragement through new "blog friends" who are somewhere in their adoption journey. And as for the God using me part...more on that in a different post, as I really want to share what the Lord is doing in my life.

So, while we wait...here's some doggy pictures from the last month.

Dale came to visit!!! Left to Right: Maddy, Macy, and Dale. Maddy is the mama to Macy and Dale. Dale's owner is my stepsister, Rachel. In this picture, they are eating ice cream for dogs called "Frosty Paws." I know my girls would have less happy life without their ice cream...haha.

Dale, Maddy, and Macy...waiting for their ice cream.

Dale, Maddy, Macy...just lounging.

Macy, Maddy, and me. We are champion snugglers.

We call Ryley our "papa." He's a good papa...he made ants on a log for us girls. I forgot until after ate them that dogs are not supposed to have grapes...or the dehydrated version.

And so, we settle in for another work week. Walleye fishing season ends today, so we are about to head out to the ice shack for one last hurrah. Then my dad will be making his way over here at the end of the week for a guys' weekend...the boys will be heading to South Dakota to do some more ice fishing. I think Ryley will enjoy his fishing time without his girls bugging him...but I know he'll miss us. I'm so thankful that Ryley and my dad are good friends.

Holiday in Jamaica

Finally posting pictures from our vacation in January. There is one picture in this set of our good friends, Ryan and Marianne, who took care of Maddy and Macy for 8 nights. Which is amazing to me...they already have 2 great danes of their own, 2 cats, and a baby! It was so nice to know that our dogs were well taken care of, though...

Ryley and I had a great time in Jamaica, and it was such a blessing to have a whole week together. We were very stressed out before we went. Our first home study visit, as I mentioned, was the day before our flight was scheduled to depart for Montego Bay.

On that afternoon of our meeting with our Social Worker, she informed us of a program that was opening up, an opportunity to adopt from Ecuador. Right now, Children's Home is the only U.S. agency that can facilitate adoptions from Ecuador. She said the program was looking for around 10 families for referrals that would be occurring in March and April. We were so confused, as all of a sudden so many options had opened up.

Anyway, our adoption was and remains to be at the forefront of our minds. So getting away with my best friend to relax and enjoy ourselves really couldn't have come at a better time. We truly did focus on our love for each other while we were away from reality. Oh, and by the way, we did not go with the Ecuador program, as tempting as it was to potentially receive a referral so quickly.

FINALLY telling my in-laws...

We are getting ready to share our plans to start a family with Ryley's parents tonight! I'm very excited and nervous, all at the same time. I have left the timing of this announcement up to Ryley, and now it's finally here. They at least have some indication of our desire to adopt, as it has been mentioned before, but they have no knowledge that we are actually moving forward.

After we tell them, I feel like we can share this news with the "general public." Although, I struggle on how private we should be...especially since this will be a long road ahead and it seems almost trivial to share something that will (hopefully) happen two years from now. But I dream of this child every day, so it's all very real to me.

I look forward to sharing the country program we have applied to soon, along with all the details. Although I still haven't shared this blog with very many people...