M3 is an official member of Ft. W now! She is our daughter under the law over a year after she became our daughter in our hearts. And, once she became ours, I am permitted to post her photo publicly. The government only restricts the publishing in a public forum of children who are available for adoption. M3 is soooo not that girl anymore!
This is my daughter.
This photo was taken during the summer around the time my husband was preparing to deploy.
We are now in the position to be waiting to hear a confirmation of our Embassy date. We will travel the weekend prior to this Tuesday's appointment and be in Ethiopia until the end of the week in which the appointment occurs.
When I say "WE", I mean M3's daddy and me.
It appears that if we are assigned the date the adoption agency has discussed, my husband will be home in time (barely) to go with me to pick up our girl.
I will admit that last night when I prayed about today, I pretty much said to God, "This would be a great time to make your reasoning on all these delays clear. If it was your intention all along that we go as a parenting team to pick up our girl, I can find no reason why tomorrow shouldn't be our day as we are in the clear for Hubs to be able to go." And, it was a big ta-da moment today when our caseworker said, 'You passed.' Which, I then made her repeat because I completely didn't hear what she'd said because I had to flee the classroom to take her call and the huge door was shushing closed behind me right when she said that all important sentence.
Now the focus becomes making sure the orphanage director relinquishes her and takes her to the foster care center in the capital city. I am relieved to have legal standing finally. Should this process at all show any of the kinks or hinks that some of my fellow adoptive parents have experienced, I will not hesitate to board a plane to personally encourage said director to honor the court's order. That is a good feeling; a position from which I prefer to negotiate to be sure.
The girls were THRILLED when I told them after school. We celebrated with a nice dinner out and both girls said it would be one of the first places we take M3 as that is only fair. M2, who has been reticent about the adoption of late and reluctant to speak about it, has been talking non-stop about her new sister. I really think this disappointments of the delays made her question whether this would ever happen and if, perhaps, we were pulling her leg. I only hope that when M3 hears the news, if she were feeling at all like M2 prior to today, that she snaps out of it, realizes we were serious and starts planning for us.
Planning is going to be crazy. And, it will make the time between now and when my husband returns feel like a blink. I can't even imagine. This is going to be a crazy whirlwind. I'm happy to drag you along for the ride!
Wonderfull news! Congradulations and God bless.
Posted by: AC | 08 February 2010 at 09:08 PM
YEAH!!! I'm so excited for you all! And she is so beautiful!
Posted by: dutchgirl | 08 February 2010 at 09:17 PM
Yay! Ah! Congrats! Whee! There really aren't enough positive words, and you have yourself a gorgeous girl there too who I know will thrive in your home! YAYAYAYY!
Posted by: Tara | 08 February 2010 at 09:51 PM
WooHoo!
Posted by: Teresa VanHove | 08 February 2010 at 09:58 PM
THANK YOU, guys! :)
I'm still walking around with a stupid smile on my face. It's kind of funny as even the dogs are asleep so I'm not really smiling AT anyone...I'm just smiling. LOL
Posted by: Guard Wife | 08 February 2010 at 10:34 PM
Congratulations! That brought tears to my eyes.
Posted by: Monica | 08 February 2010 at 11:53 PM
I don't think "drag" is the right word. We're behind you because we want to be. And there's nothing "stupid" about your smile. Just seeing M3's picture makes me smile.
Have you been able to tell your husband yet?
Posted by: Amritas | 09 February 2010 at 11:02 AM
Congrats!
Posted by: David M | 09 February 2010 at 11:34 AM
congratulations :)
Posted by: Suzanne B | 09 February 2010 at 12:09 PM
@ Amritas--Yes. I called my husband immediately after receiving the call and left a message on his computer's Skype account. Within 10 minutes, he'd called me back. He was in his room puttering around, waiting on me to call, but his computer didn't 'ring' and he happened to notice the message light. He's very excited and happy too. :)
Posted by: Guard Wife | 09 February 2010 at 01:06 PM
That is sooooo wonderful! Yes I think God did want you and your husband to pick up you new daughter together. Can't wait to hear when you BOTH bring her home!
Posted by: Juliannahaz | 09 February 2010 at 01:24 PM
smiling and breathing, and sleeping at night! This makes my heart, and soul, happy....and peaceful
Posted by: AWTM | 10 February 2010 at 12:08 AM
Oh my gosh. She's absolutely gorgeous! I'm so freakin' excited for you!
Posted by: Wife of a Sailor | 21 February 2010 at 08:41 AM