I don't have to lie anymore

Well, okay maybe deceive people by being super vague, but it sure felt like lying. Now that time is over. We have accepted a referral for a 16 month old boy!! We are thrilled. We actually got "the call" two weeks ago (hence the lying), but we have been praying and working to have his medical records reviewed. We had our final questions answered today, so we called our agency and told them it was a yes. This whole thing has been surreal. Our dossier was in Russia for just about a week when we got our referral. I was totally unprepared and I still feel pretty unprepared. JJ has been much more calm, at least on the outside. He has been praying about the timing of our adoption and he felt peace about how quickly things were happened. I was caught totally off guard. Our agency actually called as we were driving home from the appointment to have our fingerprints taken. I thought I was going to pass out or throw up or maybe both. I have had two weeks to adjust, but I am still in some emotional upheaval. How will we make this work in three weeks? Oh yeah, we travel January 18th. We are going to Kotlas in the far north west. We have quite a bit of money to find from some place to get us to Russia. Once again, I just did not think things would move this quickly. I haven't even applied for grants. So, we will reach out to our family and our community and trust that God doesn't leave you hanging if this is His idea from the beginning. We are taking a giant leap of faith, because we really want to bring this little guy home.

A little bit here and a little bit there

We have finally started purchasing a few things to get ready for a trip to Russia. We picked up a few stacking cups when we were picking out stocking stuffers for our nieces. I got online and finally ordered carry-on luggage. I had done a ton of research earlier in the year, so I knew exactly which bags I wanted. They came in this week and I am very happy so far, but the real test will be how they handle during a trip. Today JJ had a doctors appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, so we had some shopping time in a town with a much bigger selection of stores. We picked up a photo album so we can leave pictures behind between trips 1 and 2. Just in case you didn't know already it is a pretty bad idea to go shopping two days before Christmas, but we made it. We tried to see if there were more males in the mall than an average day. I would say yes, but maybe I'm biased. The doctor has scheduled JJ for a scope of his knee January 21st. They actually don't know what is wrong. The MRI only shows a bruise on his bone. He torn the ACL in this same knee 13 years ago, so it may be related to that original injury. I hate that he is in pain most of the time, but I also don't want him to have surgery. We are praying he will be healed one way or another. We are also praying for wisdom as we continue to wait in our adoption journey. Wait is a verb, right? I'm trying to stay active. Tomorrow I plan to clean out the room that will become the baby's room. Then we will be a little bit closer to our goal!

I-171H

So, if I knew how to type excited yelling that is how this post should begin. We had our fingerprints done a week ago Friday and our I-171H came in the mail today!!!!! I did not expect things to happen that quickly. I have been blown away lately at our adoption process. JJ is happily calm. He has been praying specifically about the timing of our adoption journey this whole time. Either I have less faith, which is entirely possible, or I just lean toward worst case scenario, whichever case is true I have been shocked at the progress we are making. We have also blissfully begun our Christmas break. =)