Nine Months Later...

Some days I don't even recognize my old self. I've changed so much in the past year - and for the BETTER! I'm in awe at the work the Lord is doing in our little family! 

I clearly remember the day last February when the doctors and nurses at Amplatz Children's Hospital discharged us and sent us on our way saying "you've got this mom!"  Part way through our 5 hour drive home we stopped for lunch, but mostly to hook Charlotte up to her feeding tube. I vividly remember bursting into tears in the middle of the restaurant because I was struggling with her tube and pump. I was certain I was going to do something wrong and hurt my new daughter. 

Fast forward 9 months. Today I hear Charlotte fussing down the hall. Going to investigate I find her g-tube button on the floor with formula and blood dripping down her belly. Instead of bursting into tears, like I did 9 months ago just hooking her up, I merely hollered down the hall at Eden to bring me Charlotte's emergency kit. 3 minutes later she's all patched up, new button in place, and back to normal. Time to get lunch on the table. 

If someone would have told me all the twists and turns our lives would have taken this year I would have laughed and never believed them. I'm so glad the Lord didn't reveal it all to us in the beginning. I think I would have been too afraid to follow His leading in our lives. I am so thankful for His grace and strength in my everyday. 

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:11-13 NIV)

Gettin' Up to Date...

Let me catch y'all up to speed on what's been going on with Charlie Jo.  This might be a long one.  I have been meaning to update for quite awhile, but time keeps sneaking away from me.  Most of the updates have to do with her medical needs, so let me get started...

One thing most of you are unaware of is shortly after arriving home Charlotte received a diagnosis of Hepatitis B.  We were pretty shocked in the beginning.  We knew very little about Hep B and didn't know what it meant for her future.  Our wonderful pediatrician here at Altru ran some more tests, answered a bunch of my questions, and made us a referral to a specialist in Fargo.  Unfortunately that appointment was 6 months out.  Yes, 6 months to wait to get answers.  Our ped ran blood work occasionally, mostly to monitor her liver function.  We read up on it, talked with other adoptive moms who had children with the same diagnosis, and learned all we could learn.  Fast forward 6 months and we finally met with the specialist.  He ordered a ton of test.  These were the tests that took 5 attempts to get.  Twice they didn't draw enough blood, once I requested they draw the lab while she was under general anesthesia during an MRI (more on that later) but the phlebotomist accidentally pulled out Charlotte's IV so they had to wake her up, once they just couldn't get enough blood and I made them stop.  Fifth time was a charm.  Poor baby!

Anyway, all the poking was totally worth it!  After multiple tests, it was determined that Charlotte does NOT have Hep B and it also showed that she never had Hep B.  Praise Jesus! Apparently there will be an investigation of the lab because false positive Hep B tests like the ones they did for Charlie are unheard of.  If nothing shows up in the lab apparently she may get to be a rock star of medical journals.  I'll chalk it up to a miracle.  

Another big test that occurred was testing for seizures.  Charlotte has always displayed an odd tick.  She will roll her eyes up and to the left.  I didn't think much of it, but apparently because the tick was always exactly the same it needed to be investigated.  She had an MRI and an EEG completed.  Thankfully both those tests came back unremarkable.  Yay! The neurologist said it still may be seizure activity, but it isn't causing any issues neurologically.  He said it will likely resolve on its own by age three.  He offered to start her on anti-seizure medicine, but we declined because it isn't causing any issues for her so why introduce a medication.  Thankfully our doctor felt the same!  It also ruled out any issues with her skull itself.  Charlotte's fontanelle is still open, which is odd for her age.  We are thankful that there aren't any noticeable issues and we will just have to watch and see what happens.  It is likely due to her lack of nutrition early on.  

Another big thing that happened was we had a little cancer scare. Because Charlotte has Trisomy 21 she has a 10-20 times higher likelihood of developing Leukemia.  We noticed that Charlotte had some petechia on her arms.  After a couple weeks I finally took her to her pediatrician.  He didn't think much about it at the time and told me to just monitor it.  A couple weeks later and it was not getting any better, it was actually getting worse and spreading.  Petechia can be a sign of Leukemia.  I took her back to the ped and he was now more concerned.  He ran some lab work and the results further concerned him.  He called down to Roger Marais Cancer Center and got one of their docs involved.  I visited on the phone with one of the cancer docs and he was concerned, but not overly concerned.  He had set up to have a bone marrow biopsy done the next day, but later that afternoon he changed his mind.  He knew we were coming to Fargo in 4 days to see the specialist about her Hep B so he ordered labs to be done at that time.  He asked us to just walk over to the cancer center after our other appointment.

  Ok, let's be honest here, being in a pediatric cancer center is pretty scary place.  Very scary actually.  It kind of shook me up a bit.  I don't like to think about the reality of having a child with cancer.  Those kids and parents are incredibly brave.  

We waited for a long time and he finally came back and said we were much too boring to be seeing him! Yippy!! It was determined that Charlotte had a very wonky reaction to a virus and likely has fragile platelets.  

I'm likely always going to get anxious about that darn petechia.  Leukemia is forever going to be in the back of my mind.  I will try not to worry about it.  I will pray frequently about it.  And we will just roll with it like everything else.   

I'm sure very few of you made it to the end of this incredibly long post.  It's been a CrAzY couple months around here.  But, the whole point of all this rambling is to say Charlotte is doing GREAT! She is healthy, happy, growing, eating a ton on her own, bonding, playing, talking, signing,  and on and on and on! She is a true delight!

The Sweetest Sound

I put my five bigger kids all to bed and scooped Maisie Jane up in my arms. Secretly I was very much wishing I could just go put her to bed as well. I'm tired. I wanted to just sit quietly on the couch and attempt to organize the chaos that is my thoughts. But, I knew she wasn't tired yet, so I made the choice to continue putting one foot in front of the other and continue to do the next right thing (not that snuggling that sweet thing is such an awful chore, but y'all get what I'm saying 😉) and boy was I rewarded tonight. This little stinker is soooo stingy with her smiles. I thought she'd never crack that smile, but a couple weeks ago she FINALLY did!  Tonight she was locked on her momma's face soaking in every word I spoke. We were loving it and then it happened...her first giggle. The sweetest sound.  It was nothing more than just an outpouring of love. For those of you who say my hands are just too full of kids...if only you could just catch a glimpse of our hearts. All eight just pour over with love.

It's Ten After Eleven

It's ten after eleven and I just changed the last diaper of the day and am sitting down to feed Maisie one last time before bed. Minutes ago I put up one more load of laundry and finished loading the dishwasher and pushed start. At night when I finally get to turn in for the night I always think to myself that I don't think I could possibly be more exhausted.  And then the next day begins...

I hear the words of the kind lady at Target telling me to enjoy these moments while the kids are young because they disappear so quickly. At first I think to myself that she blindly remembers only the bliss of a house filled with littles. Surely she doesn't miss the late nights. The endless diapers. The load upon load of laundry. The fact that someone is always hungry and therefore the dishes are never completely done. She certainly can't miss stepping on sharp little toys or refereeing countless sibling squabbles through the day. Does she really miss losing sleep because of worry over a child's heart and not knowing how to lead them? Or lying awake praying without ceasing when there's a health scare. Or just when the gravity of the reality that you are shaping a life...a real, live, breathing life that has been placed in your arms and you are 100% responsible for and you feel like you are making mistakes at every single turn. Surely she can't possibly miss these hard moments. 

The longer I thought about it, the more I realize that these are the EXACT moments she misses. Because for every one of these moments there are exponentially more moments that are joy-filled - moments that leave you breathless wondering what in the world you ever did to deserve such wonderful children. All these moments are exquisitely intertwined together. They are completely inseparable. They are motherhood and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I will NOT wish a single one of these moments away!

And now I'm off to bed because I don't think I could be anymore exhausted than I am at this moment... 

I'm back...

"Why aren't you blogging any more?"

This has been a question I've fielded frequently over the last 6 months.  Well, life got pretty CrAzY around here for me.  Just when I felt like I was settling into our new routines with the addition of Charlotte our sweet Maisie made her appearance and we were back to square one.  But, thankfully life feels soooo much better today!  So, that's one reason, but not the only reason...

One of the biggest reasons I've been so quiet is because of evil internet trolls.  Yuck! They drive me crazy.  These trolls are people who hide behind the anonymity of their computer and leave some of the most vile and hurtful comments.  Most of you reading this can't even imagine the things they've said to me and about our family (and NO I will not share them with you! No good would come from it and I refuse to ever verbalize them aloud!  Don't feel bad, I don't usually even tell Dave the specifics.  It's nothing but garbage and no one needs discussions about trash!) 

Edit: the trolls attack mostly because we adopted a special needs child internationally. There is a small group of people very loudly opposed to adoptions; specifically special needs and internationally. 

I needed to take a break from them.  I was newly home with Charlotte and pregnant and hormonal.  It was something I just wasn't in the place emotionally to be able to handle.  As I'm sure you may have noticed before, but that is why my blog comments are set to be moderated and why I don't/can't allow free commenting. So, feel free to comment away and I will happily approve all appropriate comments, but I just can't allow the horrific ones to be publicly displayed.  I will NOT give the trolls such power!

This blog is mine.  It's about my life.  It's my journal of sorts.  I love sharing our lives with y'all.  I love showing you what real life looks like for us.  The good, the bad, the ugly.  I love raising awareness for children with special needs and for orphans around the world.  So, what you'll read is life from my eyes.  Some might be funny, some might be scary or sad, some might be cute, and some might be boring to you.  I'm writing because I want to - because having a cup of hot coffee with y'all isn't possible but I want to share this life with you.  

So, welcome back to my living room! I've missed you!

We are HOME!!

It's been a whirlwind of a couple weeks.  Dave and Charlotte arrived home on Christmas Eve.  What a great gift and a Christmas we will never forget.  We are all settling in nicely and enjoying each other.  Aside from lots of doctors appointments, we've pretty much laid low at home.  Charlotte is adjusting well and is bonding more and more each day.  Each spontaneous smile or reaching up her arms is such a treasure.  

Waiting for their new sister's plane to land

Welcome HOME sweet baby girl!

Thank you to everyone who playing a part in getting our daughter home.  We will forever be grateful! We couldn't have done this without such amazing people around us.  Thank you so much! 

We've said this adoption is both the greatest and the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives.  We are looking forward to the future with so much hope! 

We have a DATE!!!

November 5, 2013 

we will be leaving on a jet plane.

Traveling half way around the world to meet our daughter for the first time.

Our sweet daughter we love so much and have never touched.

I'm so overwhelmed with emotions and having a hard time focusing on anything else right now.

I am focusing on soaking in as much time with my 4 older sweeties right now.

Trying to have some quality time, make fun memories, and shower each other with lots of love. 

I'm hoping I can keep it together to say goodbye to these bumpkins! 

And, then, my sweet baby girl will suddenly be placed in my arms and again I will be forced to keep it all together.  

Be gracious with me...I'm going to fail miserably at both these tasks!

Oh sweet princessa, momma and daddy are almost there!!

Be Inspired!

In case you missed the big announcement, we have officially moved to the top of the waiting line! We will be the next family receiving their travel date!

I am officially thrilled, terrified, anxious, excited...

You name it, I've probably felt it this last little bit!

I've been so focused on the financial piece of our puzzle. It is an important piece, but it isn't the most important.

A sweet friend of mine shared this video with me today.

It was EXACTLY what I needed to see. 

Please watch it and be inspired!

One of our prayers is that through our adoption other families would get excited and their hearts would be stirred to prayerfully consider adoption for their own family. 

We can't change the world, but each of us has the potential to completely change one child's world!

Matching Grant

We have been given the gift of a $350 matching grant.

What a blessing!

Our FSP needs to read 

$2285.52

Once we raise the $350 they will match it making the total $700.

That amount will cover one of our plane tickets over to get our baby girl!

Can YOU help us meet our goal today?

Make a TAX Deductible donation HERE

Thank you!

Is this it???

As a new week is about to begin, I can't help but wondering if this is our week! Please, let it be!

I'm not sleeping much.

My mind doesn't focus on much else at this time.

I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for what is about to happen. However, can one ever truly be prepared? At this exact time I find myself worrying most about my other four kids.  How am I going to kiss them goodbye knowing it will be weeks before I hug or kiss them again?

They are going to be well loved and cared for and probably will have a great time playing with the cousins.  But, I also know there will be moments they miss us.

Or, what about when they get scared and I'm not there to squeeze them.

Or, what happens if they get sick or hurt.  I know they are going to want mommy.  But, I won't be there.  They'll get plenty of hugs, kisses, and love, but not mommy love.  

I feel guilty.

I feel afraid.

I feel sad.

Just typing this makes my heart ache and tears flow from my eyes. I'm going to miss them so much!

But, I'm going to a sweet baby who has never had a mommy to hold her when she's scared.  Or rock her when she's sick. Or kiss her when she has an owie.  I'm going where I need to be. 

When all is said and done, the memory of mommy being gone for a few weeks will quickly fade and life will return to normal for them.  

Life will never return to normal for the fifth. That's the point. As time goes on she will forgot feeling afraid, lonely, and abandoned.  As each day passes, those memories will forever be replaced with hugs and kisses and more love than she even knows exists.  

Soon, baby girl, soon!

Mommy loves you!

A Gentle Whisper...

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you

compassion...

How gracious he will be when you cry for help!

As soon as he hears, he will answer you.

Isaiah 30:18-19

We have been experiencing His graciousness in such a real way.

We ask, He answers, and yet we still catch ourselves trapped in the cycle of worrying.  

It's such a disturbingly comfortable place to be in.

Why?

Maybe by worrying I feel like I have some sense of control. Because, you know, worrying always gets things done, right?? Oh, wait...

Then I wake up and I recognize the cycle I've once again succumbed to and I rest my soul back in the arms of the one who truly has everything under His control.

It feels good.

I feel refreshed, calm, peaceful.

I cry to Him for help.  He hears my cries.

Sometimes, like today, when I've been worrying about the financial reality of our adoption, He gives me a tangible reminder through the generous gifts of others.

Most other times He just gently whispers in my ear...

Do not let your hearts be troubled....

John 14:1 

Oh how quickly it goes....

Is it possible! We are 5th in line!

FIFTH!!!

I cannot believe how incredible fast this is all going!

We are so excited, scared, anxious, etc.

But, our arms ache to hold our sweet angel.

I find myself daydreaming about what her eyes will look like.  Or how soft her hair will feel when I touch it.  Or what she will smell like.  Will she cry when I first hold her? Will she like to be cuddled (oh I hope she will.  I'm preparing myself for the possibility of her not liking to be touched much, but I'm praying for the opposite!)

But, I am also filled with great anxiety.  The unknown is sometimes overwhelming.  The thought of leaving my other kids for 3 weeks is terrifying.  They will be in great care while we are away, but I've only even left them for a weekend once.  I'm not sure how this will go.  I wish we could figure out a way logistically and financially to bring them with us, but I know it's really not an option.  It would be much to difficult and stressful to bring them along (not to mention safety concerns!)

Please keep praying for us.  Keep sharing our story. We need your support! Check out our fundraising thermometer on the right.  Y'all have been soooooo generous, but we have a ways to go! Can you help move us up?

Number 10

Two more families received their travel dates today!

We have officially moved into the #10 position!

Next it's single digits.  Can I get a WooHoo??!!

The families today were submitted 7 weeks ago and travel NEXT WEEK!

Eek, I'd be freaking out! It really is a good reminder that I need to tighten up a few loose ends just in case we don't get much notice either! Oh, it'll be so exciting!

Now, I'm off to call the bank to start the process of getting our money situated.  For some reason, the U people want new, unmarked bills so we have to specifically order them from the bank.  I don't want to get caught scrambling with that part in the end! We need to bring approximately $15,000 in cash with us.  Scary! Anyone want to travel with us just to be our personal body guards??

I really liked the 2 steps closer today!

Pumpkin Hats For Your Lil' Pumpkin

Wouldn't your lil' pumpkin look so cute in this hat?!?

A very sweet lady from our church volunteered to knit us some hats to sell in order to support our adoption.  Way too sweet of her!

And just look at these hats!

I mean it, look at how stinkin' cute there are! 

(Honestly, they are MUCH cuter in person...I may not be known for my photographic abilities...I try!)

You know you want one!

They would fit babies to toddlers.  They have a nice stretch to them.  She also said they will wash up with no problem! 

Seeing as it is the beginning of fall, you better get your sweetie all decked out for the season! You won't be disappointed!

To order one (quantities are VERY limited at this time!) all you need to do is follow these simple steps:

1. Make a $18 $15 payment to our FSP by clicking right HERE!
(These identical hats are going for $20-$24/ea on Etsy right now!)

2. Forward me the confirmation email HERE!

3. Wait for your fun package to arrive! I will do my best to ship within 24 hours! I don't want you to miss any time enjoying this cuteness!

Come on, join our team today! Order your cute hat and help bring our own cute package home!!

2 weeks and counting...

It has official been 2 weeks since we were submitted.

This waiting business is hard.

I've learned the following:

1. I am terribly impatient!

2. Who are we kidding? There is no number 2! I honestly hate all this waiting.  It's like torture!

It seems like there was a bunch of us who all were submitted at the same time.  Now, no one is being issued dates.  It's painful to watch more names (Ok, maybe not painful because that just means there is one less orphan soon!!) be added to the list and no new dates given.  It's time to start checking off some names! Let's get going people! Mommas and daddies are aching to hold their kiddos!

I know, I know, this is just how it goes.  Hopefully soon we will have several dates handed out.  There are a lot of people who have been waiting much longer than us - I need to be patient and wait my turn.  But, I don't want to ;)

While we wait, we need some new fundraising ideas.  We've done lots, but still have a loooong way to go to be fully funded! Anyone want to help us out? Don't forget about our giveaway going on.  Read about it HERE!

If you'd like to make a donation to our baby, please click the following link:

"Treva" for the Scott family

Prayer Requests:

*Pray those travel dates start coming fast and furious!

*Pray for our still great financial need

*Pray our baby girl stays safe and healthy while we all wait!!

SUBMITTED

We received word today that our dossier has been submitted to the DAP team!! This means that all our paperwork we've painstakingly been plugging away at for months is now in the hands of the official department of adoption team! Eeeekkk! I just can't believe it! We are getting so very close to holding our baby girl!

We don't know exactly how long we will have to wait now.  The next thing we will get is our travel date.  This could come in 3 weeks or in 12 weeks.  More than likely it will come some time in the next 5-7 weeks and then we would travel 2-3 weeks after that notification.  It is so close!  Part of the unknown is that they recently came out with a new expedited petition for adoption.  Families who are adopting children with certain disabilities can be allowed to use this new form.  Charlotte's disability is one of those allowed.  However, it is so new that we aren't exactly sure how it will speed things up.  Nothing we can do about it anyway, so we will just pray that the Lord gives us the green light when it's the right time.  We are not worried about it...just dying with anticipation!! It's just like a waiting on a pregnancy and not knowing exactly when that baby will make their debut! Very exciting!!

Now, in all this excitement is reality.  We are still about $15,000 short of being fully funded!  We've been working so hard! I sell at the farmers market every Saturday, Dave is working extra shifts at his second job, held a garage sale, selling our stuff, doing benefit night at Pizza Ranch, etc.  We are willing to work and work HARD to bring this money in! We've also applied for numerous grants, but we are concerned that our travel date will come too quickly for decisions to be made by the organizations.  Grants are typically only disbursed a couple times a year and most have to happen before we travel.  For all the grants we had to have a completed home study, so our window of opportunity was/is very small!

Can you help us meet our goal? Would you be willing to pray for us, donate financially, or give us any fundraising ideas? We need your help bringing our girlie home safe and sound!

A HUGE thank you to all who have helped us raise so much already!  God has blessed us!!

Stacy

The LORD answers prayers...

And my God will meet ALL your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. James 4:19

By now you've probably read about our mixer fiasco from earlier today.

Less then 2 hours later and the LORD has answered our prayers!

I was sitting on the couch reading the 12th book in a row to Niko when I hear a knock on the door.

Eden answers the door.

"Is your mom home?"

I moment of panic sets in.

Who is here?

I look awful today!

My hair is in a pony tail. I have no make-up on. I'm wearing a ratty t-shirt.

My house is a mess. 

I've been sick. My kids have been sick. I had lots of baking to do today.

We were just making do today!

No one was supposed to stop over today.

I went to the door and saw 3 very sweet faces.

Faces of a family I have grown to LOVE this past year!

People I am so thankful I get to live life with!

They had a surprise!

I saw their grins and heard the words

"You need to keep baking to bring that little girl home!"

I no longer cared that I looked like a train wreck or that I was sweaty from baking all day in this heat and humidity.

I hugged them both.

My heart swelled.

I could hardly contain my amazement.

After a brief conversation I carried my new pride and joy inside.

I no longer could contain my joy!

I wept!

My husband was gone, but the kids were there.  They had been with us earlier in the day when the mixer broke. They had prayed with us earlier.  Thanking the Lord for all that He has given us and putting our trust in His provisions and proclaiming His victory over Satan.

I hugged my three older kids and we prayed together thanking the Lord for providing for our needs so quickly!

Minutes later, my husband came home from a men's night at our church.  The guys had gotten together to do their yearly golf scramble and steak dinner. He came home with $200! At the golf scramble, the guys could buy mulligans and all the money went to us! We had NO IDEA they were doing this for us!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Goodbye My Old Friend...

I remember so clearly the day we first met.

It was Christmas some 15 years ago.

In a little wrapped box contained 15 little letters

K-I-T-C-H-E-N-A-I-D  M-I-X-E-R

I was so excited to meet this new friend that Christmas.  My love of baking had just begun. I was just learning the joy of making bread and the satisfaction of making cakes that people loved to look at and eat!  I had really wanted a Kitchenaid, but as a poor college student it was well outside my budget! My parents surprised me with one that Christmas.  I am so rarely surprised.  I tend to pay attention to tiny little details so not much sneaks past me, but this one certainly did surprise me! I wasn't expecting such a nice gift at all! I remember jumping up and down and being so excited! That trusty mixer and I have been together for a long time.  My joy of baking grew (not to mention my skills! I thought I was good back then, but truthfully I probably wasn't the best!).  Up until today, there have been few days that my mixer friend and I didn't spend some time together.

That all ended today...

My good ol' friend blew up today.  I was busy mixing the last of my dough for the 4 dozen buns I needed to whip up today when I went to turn it off, but before my hand reached the knob there was a loud and heart breaking CLUNK! My poor mixer said it was her time to be done.  She had mixed enough cakes, whipped enough frosting, and kneaded her last batch of dough.  So sad!

Goodbye old friend! You will truly be missed!

Ok, so the events of my story are completely true...just written in a little tongue and cheek.  My poor mixer did bite the bullet today.  Now, any other time I would just be totally bummed about it, but not necessarily as discouraged as I am feeling today.  Remember, I recently began selling baked goods at our local farmers market.  It was much more successful than I had even imagined.  Now, without a mixer my baking days are done.  

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy" James 1:2 NLT

I will CHOOSE my attitude in this!

I will NOT remain discouraged!

I WILL trust in the LORD!

We feel like Satan is wanting to discourage us and our efforts.  We firmly, without hesitation, believe that God has called us and has blessed our adoption.  Satan is none too pleased!

I could easily get really upset and anxious over such a seemingly small thing as a mixer breaking.  

It looks like we will be traveling in about 8-10 weeks if nothing major comes up.  We are so thrilled!! I can hardly stand it! But, we are about $15,000 from being fully funded.  A lot of money has come in, but we have a LOOOONG way to go in a short period of time.  We've been working our tail off fundraising.  We never want to be accused of sitting on the side lines just asking people to fund us.  We have worked hard and are willing to continue to work hard!  The farmers market is A LOT of work, but worth it in the end by the amount of money it brought in for our baby girl.  Now, unless the Lord somehow blesses us with another heavy duty Kitchenaid type mixer, those days are done.  We just can't justify taking that amount of money away from Charlotte.  Our profits would never be worth the work and time it takes.  We will keep working hard and TRUST that the Lord has an alternate plan to bring in the funds.  

If you have any good ideas for fundraising, please share with us! We need your help!

He has favor on us!

On Saturday I sent our home study to the United States Custom and Immigration Services (USCIS).  I paid the big cost to have it overnighted by UPS.

I know, I know, overnighting things through the postal service is much cheaper, but for some reason, when you send it USPS it gets delivered somewhere else in USCIS and has a tendency to be lost for 7-10 days! You would think one government program would want to support another government program, but, logic isn't always evident...and I digress...

So, like I said, I paid the big bucks to overnight it through UPS and I tracked it and saw it was delivered yesterday.  I gave them a day to get it logged in and then gave them a call today to check on the status.  They said they had it and our fingerprint letters were sent out today.  The letter should arrive in the mail next week.  It will give us an appointment date and time to head to their offices in Fargo to get fingerprints.  We won't wait for that date.  We will go the next morning and hopefully they will let us be printed early (most people have great success with going early!).

After she told me that our letter went out I asked her if we had been assigned an officer yet and she said, "No, you won't get an officer until we get your fingerprints back." So, me being willing to beg, asked her about the possibility of getting a medical expedite.  Our doctor had included a letter of support regarding a medical expedite due to the fact that Charlotte is so tiny and the real possibility of her being in heart failure.  The lady I was talking with on the phone said that a supervisor had to make the decision of approving a medical expedite or not and that she would happily transfer me to her supervisor.

I spoke with the supervisor and explained the situation to him.  He asked a few clarifying questions and then said he would call me back in a few minutes.  Ten minutes later he called and said he assigned us an officer and that he told her it was to be processed as a medical expedite! I was stunned! He explained that we still had to do our prints first before they could do anything, but after that it would be expedited! God is so good! This saved us weeks - possibly months of waiting! Praise Him!

Then, today, I was mailing off my entire dossier packet (our dossier is just all our necessary documents for the adoption) to be apostilled (remember, this means to have them verify the notary is true).  I was going to overnight it to Bismarck and then pay to have them ship it back to me and then turn around and overnight it back to Bismarck because there is a very sweet family heading over to U to pick up their 2 boys at the end of the month.  They were going to hand carry our dossier and hand it off to the in-country facilitators.  Yay for not having to pay international shipping!

Anyway, I was thinking it seemed such a waste to pay all those overnight shipping charges when I was shipping it right back to where it came from anyway.  I had the brainstorm to see if my friend could just pick them up when the secretary of state was finished apostilling them.  I really wasn't expecting them to allow someone else to get them, but they said it was no big deal! And, my friend said she lives 5 minutes from the capital and she wouldn't mind grabbing them for me!  Yay yay yay! Another big blessing today!

This picture is me in the post office this evening.
My entire dossier is in that envelope.
 I was putting my paper baby in the mailbox.
I was anxious! That paper baby is everything (but 1 document) that I need to go get my real baby! I worked long and hard creating that paper baby. Now, I anxiously put it in other peoples hand.

I kissed my paper baby.
I prayed over my paper baby.
And...

I  slid that baby down the slot...May He continue to show favor to us!

Farmers Market

I spent Friday mixing, measuring, baking, cooling, and packaging. It was a lot of work. 

It was tremendous fun. 

I was tuckered out! 

Our adoption is going so quickly! Yay! One day I was praying and asking The Lord for some additional fundraising ideas and He really spoke to me about using my gift of baking to help our cause.  

Those who know me know that I LOVE to bake.  It's one of the few things that make me feel proud. I really get such joy about of watching people enjoy my baking creations.  So, I decided to take my baking out of the walls of my home and to our local farmers market.

I'm really shy. 

New things make me super nervous.

This was terrifying to me.

But, for my daughter, I did it. I baked my heart out, I talked with strangers, and I tackled something new and scary.  I am so thankful I did it! I had a BLAST! People enjoyed my goodies (at least I think they did!). The Lord greatly blessed this endeavor! 

Next week, I will be back. Selling more deliciousness and telling people about this wonderful little girl I get to call my daughter!

Come see me on Saturday and buy yourself a treat! 

Stacy