31 year old baby in the house

Well, Nashville went well. One lesson learned - all our friends who were fingerprinted on Wednesdays waited HOURS for their 5 minute fingerprinting. We showed up on a Thursday and were in and out in a half hour. Would have been less, but my arms were "uncooperative" with the computer taking fingerprints. It has to be just right or they do it again. Who knew I had over 40 fingerprints?

But now, I am home. Sick. I don't think I've had a fever like this (102.5) since becoming an adult, and let me tell you, I didn't like it. Not one bit. Docs aren't sure if it's the flu or a viral sinus infection, but just for fun, my body added an ear infection. So I'm on a couple of designer drugs (my very first "z-pack") and feeling a bit better. Just being able to sit up and type is a plus. But it will be a few days until I'm good again.

All this has got me thinking. I hear about families having sick kids and sick parents in the house, and suddenly, I don't know how they do it. I was absolutely worthless for 36 hours, and I don't carry much market value now. Amy has been great - getting things for me, letting me feel ok about being worthless, and spraying the house down with Lysol after I went to bed. So I'm trying to imagine what it would be like with 2 babies in the house - an infant and a helpless 31 year old. Whew. Hard to imagine. But parents do it every day. I guess we will too.

It's just one of those moments when you realize how different life will be when Salem gets here. You realize how adjusted you are to "just the two of us." They say everything changes when kids come along, but I never thought about Salem changing the way we are when one of us is really sick.

All this has just prompted me to pray for Salem's health. She's probably still in her Chinese mom's womb, developing and growing. Pray for her to grow strong and resilient. Pray for her immune system, that it will develop normally. Pray for the health and safety of her Chinese mom, too. Thanks.

Nashville Bound

I would have used an exclamation mark, but the top row of keys on my keyboard stopped working two weeks ago. [need to go to staples...]

We got our home study back today thanks to Mary, our awesome case worker. That means we're heading to the INS office in Nashville on Thursday to get our fingerprints taken by the Feds. This is great news, as a lot of couples spend a lot of time twiddling their ink-stained thumbs waiting for their INS report to come back. The earlier we get the process started, the more likely we can get our packet off to China by Amy's birthday.

Thanks for all the prayers. I couldn't imagine the process being smoother thus far. Pray God will keep His merciful hand on us.

Home Study Pending

Sorry for the long moment of silence on the blog. We have been working to get our home study finished so that we can travel to Nashville to have our fingerprints taken for the INS. Last week we received the invitation to come, but we have to take our completed home study with us when we go. So far, we have everything but a few documents, and we hope to have it all in place for Mary and Peggy to review before we leave. We are shooting for next Thursday. Please pray that we can have everything ready by Thursday. Time is ticking and we want to be the best stewards of the pocket the Lord has given us. Again, the results can take 6-9 weeks. April is just around the corner!

A bit of a shock came to us this week when we found out that another couple, who have already had their dossier logged in China, announced that they are PREGNANT!!! In the initial handful of paperwork, candidates for adoption have to sign a pregnancy statement which basically says that you understand that if you get pregnant during the process, your paperwork is frozen. Once a couple enters into the world of adoption and all that the actual process entails, becoming pregnant is bittersweet. Thankfully, just last month, a change in administration in Grand Rapids (Bethany's Home Office) has considered a change in this policy. It looks, as of now, that once a family's dossier is logged into China, it is so to speak "unfreezable". However, the validity of this is still pending. For the Apps, it was exciting news, but a reality check. They want to continue with the adoption, but Michelle is due in August. They had anticipated traveling to China in August or September!!! Sooooooo........it looks like David will be traveling alone to bring their daughter, Hannah, home. Their other two children are so excited:)

Keep praying. It's so exciting to see how the Lord unfolds His plans:) Love you all!