The Laundry Mountain: May 2012

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

FINALLY, Some Good News!

WE HAVE OUR LSCs!!!!!

Yes, I'm shouting out the news that after 95 very long days of waiting, we have the official referral document for both of the children we are waiting for! We got the call yesterday while driving across Iowa on our way home from a week visiting family in Chicago. Mr. B. was driving and I was just dozing off in the passenger seat, since we had gotten up at 4 AM to get loaded and get out of Chicago before the rush hour began, when my phone rang. When I saw that it was GWCA calling, I felt a chill of excitement, hoping it was what we had been waiting for for so long. The news is still soaking in. We got home this afternoon to find the precious Fedex package on our doorstep. I will post pictures later, but I just want to add that I got the I800 forms all packaged up and got our I800s out the door. Now I need to start unpacking. We have a sack of dirty laundry that is about the size of Santa's toy sack. But before we start the work, we are going to eat ice cream to celebrate.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Happy Birthday Fermin!

Six years ago a little boy was born in Guatemala. We got his referral when he was 2 weeks old. Here is one of his referral pictures, the earliest one we have of him, taken when he was 9 days old:

We kept his first name of Fermin, and chose his middle name, Gabriel. Here is our handsome little guy:

Fermin is a very methodical and cautious boy, who keeps tabs on all his younger brothers and sister. He has the cutest smile that lights up his face, and a very fun laugh. He is always the one who can find a missing shoe, or remember who had the last turn in a game. He loves to eat and he is otherwise known as Fermin Bear. Happy Birthday Fermin!

Still waiting, but some good news.

Yesterday was day 83 of the wait for LSC/LOA. I have been feeling increasingly frustrated by the wait, and worrying how little Therese was doing. We have waited all of March and all of April, and part of February and now May. This wait is just too long. These kids need to get home! What made my day yesterday was to turn on the computer and find an update with new photos of Therese in my email. What a joyful relief to see her new measurements--she has grown almost an inch and gained 6 lbs since September. She is still tiny, a size 2T, but now she is 2T for both height and weight. Her previous measurements just barely put her in 2T for height, but in the 6-12 month weight range. It is easier to wait knowing that she isn't starving. The pictures were so cute, and I wish I could post them. Hopefully soon we will get LSC so we can share them. In one picture she is holding a cookie and looking quite pleased with it. In another she is doing the Asian photo thing--the peace sign with two fingers. This is the first photo we have ever seen of a real smile. She looks much less fragile--her face is even a little chubby. And, she has HAIR!! All the other photos we have show her with a completely shaved head. I wonder if they started letting her hair grow when we sent the birthday party package in December. The pictures and update made me a very happy mommy. Today we are at day 84, and I'm feeling calm because several people on Facebook with LIDs very close to ours got LSC today. We haven't seen many at all in the last couple of weeks. So we know the C3WA is working, and hopefully we will be in the next batch.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Still Waiting.......

We are still waiting for our Letter Seeking Confirmation from China, for 78 days to be exact. I'm not known for my ability to wait, but I thought this time around it would be easier. During our first international adoption process, we had no children so I had plenty of time to obsess about every detail. Our domestic adoption happened so much more quickly than we expected that we were just caught off guard by our little Christmas present--a baby girl. This time, I have 4 children to care for, homeschooling, violin lessons, and not to mention housework and cooking, but I'm more nervous than during any other of our adoptions. I think knowing that Therese needs to get out of that orphanage, not knowing how she is doing, is a big part of it. We don't know about how her SB is affecting her bladder, and her kidneys. Every month longer that she tries to walk on her clubbed feet, her bones will be that much more deformed and out of place. I'm afraid she is starving, and that can have serious effects on a growing child--except that she isn't growing, or very little. I have lots of pictures and video of our little guy, but that just makes me more impatient, because we can see just how funny and cute he is, and I want to meet him. When I saw people getting their LSCs after 55 days of waiting, and the average on the chart on the chinaadopttalk site was 75 days, I didn't think it would take this long. This is the first holiday that we can see has delayed our process. The CCCWA was on holiday the first part of this week for International Worker's Day. Which means that no one was there to approve documents, so the earliest we can expect to get it will be Monday, which will be day 81. I cannot wait to put their pictures up here, and announce that we have those precious pieces of paper.

Chip In for an adoptive family

A family adopting a little girl who urgently needs medical care that she can get here in the U.S. could use some help as they need to travel very soon. You can chip in here.

Easter Vigil

This was the first time that we have gone to Easter Vigil since we have had four children. Knowing that it is a three hour service, we just didn't think it was wise. This year I was determined to get to the Vigil. Everyone had naps in the afternoon and it actually went very well. The youngest two children fell asleep on the pew about halfway through.

Yes, I let all four of my children, all 5 and under, hold lighted candles!

Jose and Fermin paid close attention to the whole service. Here is Fermin with his candle:

Blessing with the new holy water:

"This is my body."

We haven't had doughnuts after Mass for the 40 days of Lent, so the kids were very happy to have them again. Doughnuts at midnight--that is the first time we have ever eaten them at that time.