Officially "Mommy" and "Daddy!"

Today Zach and I became "Mommy" and "Daddy."  I would say this is official considering we were called this about 1,000 times in a 2-hour time span :)  I don't even know where to start with today because I am still trying to process everything... but I can say that today was an answered prayer.  Over a years worth of prayers from so many people were heard today!  I truly felt God's presence as I hugged my kids for the first time. 

The plan is for us to hang out with the kids again tomorrow evening and then they will officially move in on Saturday morning.  Praise God for these beautiful children and for taking us through this trialing process in order to eventually have them as ours.     

*We are sorry if we have not called everyone back yet!  We have been on the phone with family all night (particularly some very excited grandparents!), but we will catch up with everyone soon!

Slowly Moving Forward...

Well, we had our looooooooooooooong awaited staffing today.  To sum it up we are moving forward and will have our court date this Friday at 8:30 a.m.  As of right now, there is no way of knowing what will happen.  The foster mom, CPS and professionals that have worked with the kids will testify... then the judge will have the final verdict of who the kids will be adopted to.  CPS did talk to me about testifying about my education/background and I am not sure at the moment if I am going to do that. 

We have 2 prayer requests:

1. That the judge will ultimately make the decision that is best for N & R. 

2. Selfishly I hope that this will be a quick verdict.  We were told that it could take up to a week (which means three) to hear the judge's decision or he could make it that day.  Everything that you think would be joyful about this process has been so disheartening.  "You were chosen for the kids, BUT... We are going to have the staffing, BUT... it almost makes the situation feel impossible.  Zach and I have waited so long with one delay after another, I just pray for the peace of a final decision and finally the opportunity to feel joy about our kids.

Thank you for every one's calls, thoughts and prayers!  We are beyond blessed with the support that we have had during this process! 

Beyond Delays...

I am posting this because we need more prayers than we ever have during this whole adoption process!  We received a call from our adoption coordinator this morning that our meeting (the one that has been postponed several times) is not going to happen next week.  The kids' foster mother showed up yesterday with a lawyer and is going to try to get approval to adopt the kids.  I can't go into the details, but basically we now have to go to court and the judge has to decide what is best for the kids.  Our staffing meeting (the one we have been waiting for) is now scheduled for August 22nd and the court date is set for August 26th.  We were told that it typically takes about a week before hearing the final decision from the judge.  Zach and I are basically numb-- I really didn't see this one coming because we were so close-- but we know that God is in control.  He has to be or why else would Zach and I consider going to court for kids that we have never even met before... pure craziness... I know! 

Our prayer request is that the judge makes the decision that is best for the kids and that we are able to handle the outcome.

Delay #43297429387928758

I received a call from our adoption coordinator last night that our final presentation meeting that we had rescheduled to next Tuesday probably will not happen.  CPS is saying that the kids have to have a wellness check-up before we can even meet for the staffing-- apparently this has been known, but the earliest the foster mom could get an appointment was August 15th-- I am not really sure why we are just now finding this out, but I would drive myself insane trying to figure out everything with this process.  Our coordinator is working to see if we can still have the meeting and then wait to meet the kids until after the doctor's appointment-- if not the earliest we would be able to have the meeting is August 16th.  Either way, school starts in 2 weeks and my concern was that it was just going to be too overwhelming to get new parents, move from their foster home to a new house and start school all within a couple of days.  So I talked to our coordinator and since we are doing straight adoption-- they said it is our choice if we want to start school a week or two late.  I did feel less stressed about all of the delays when I found that out.

So our prayer is that we would completely give God control of when this meeting will happen.  Zach and I talked last night that maybe the kids need more time to prepare for this transition.  Or maybe we do too :)  It is extremely frustrating at this moment, but I know looking back in 6 months I will understand why everything happened when it did.

Another Delay...

Found out today that the adoption meeting we were supposed to have this week has been postponed until next Tuesday afternoon due to the CPS supervisor being on vacation until next week.  Really nothing else to report... just wanted to keep everyone updated since lots of people have been calling.  Thank you for every one's prayers and support! 

Almost There!

Zach and I did receive the kids' case files hours before we left for vacation last Tuesday!  We spent many hours in the car reading them and then on Friday we let our adoption coordinator know that we were ready to move forward.  The next step is to meet with the kids' caseworker to get all of our questions asked, start the paperwork and set up the first meeting with the kids.  I do not have a definite time line, but the plan is for the kids to move in within the next couple of weeks.  We are sooooooooooooooooooooooo excited and thankful that our prayers have finally been answered!   

More than ever we need every one's prayers during these next couple of weeks.  With meeting the kids, transitioning to live at our house, getting to know each other, starting school, etc. it is going to be a crazy month! 

Still Waiting...

Well... Zach and I did not get the case files last week like we were told.  There is a slight chance that we will get the files tomorrow before we leave for vacation, but I am definitely not getting my hopes up.  If not, I am hoping that we will be able to pick them up when we get back from the Ozarks.  We are just continuing to place everything in God's hands because we definitely have NO control over anything in this process!

Thank you for every one's prayers and please keep praying for Natalia and Robert... for God to be preparing their hearts for this transition if it is his will!