New pic of Micah!

Well, here is a new picture of Micah taken just 10 days ago. We can see him growing right before our eyes as we have been fortunate enough to get new pictures almost every month since we accepted his referral. It's hard to believe that he will be 10 months old in just 6 days. He looks a little sad to me here, but maybe he just woke up from a nap. At least he is wearing blue jammies instead of pink. :) I want to just grab him up and give him a big kiss on those cheeks. I can also see two tiny little teeth poking through on the bottom. What a precious little gift we have been given.

Through all the doubts, fears, questions, frustrations, waiting, etc., all I have to do is look at this little face, and the Lord calms my heart. Bringing Micah home is the favorite thing that I am looking forward to in 2009. I am hoping and praying for quick news from the judge when the courts reopen in January. The Lord has continued to be faithful and this Christmas has provided us with some unexpected funds from friends and family to go toward our travel expenses. We are just trusting that it will all be there when it is time to go get our little boy! :)

Micah's Angel

Merry Christmas! We had such a wonderful Christmas today. There was beautiful weather outside, we ate an awesome lunch at Ma-maw's and we had the whole day to just be with family! Although my husband, David, and my daughter don't feel well, it was nice to just be together all day with no plans and no place to be! We all opened our stockings this morning and talked about what we are going to do for stockings next year when Micah comes. Our stocking holders spell out PEACE and we will need another spot! Also, his stocking won't match the ones we have now. I've actually checked out some patterns and I think I am going to try making some...we'll see how that turns out. :)

David and I do stockings for each other every year and this year, I found this Willow Tree Angel inside. It is called "Angel's Embrace" and is a little angel holding a small child. He told me it was for Micah. Since Micah could not be with us today, we like to think that his guardian angel was holding and hugging him for us this Christmas. The inscription says, "Hold close that which we hold dear." I was doing ok today, trying not to think about Micah not being with us, until I read this. Well, next Christmas, Lord willing, we will be celebrating Christ's birth with 4 children!

Scrutinization Finished!

I got the word this morning that the scrutinization of our documents by the court attorneys in India is complete! Our documents are back at the orphanage along with a letter of recommendation that we be approved for guardianship! Yeah! I was praying that we might hear something before the courts close for the holidays next week.

Now, we wait for a court date. We are not notified of the date because it can be scheduled and then re-scheduled several times before the judge actually hears the case. However, on the court date, the orphange attorney will represent our family in court and then the judge should sign the guardianship papers!

It is impossible to know when, but my prayer is that we would be able to travel and get Micah by his first birthday which would be on March 5th. It does seem unlikely when you look at time-lines. I have also learned not to get your hopes up because so much in adoption is unpredictable. However, my Father is a God of miracles and I have felt in my heart for a while that He is working on our behalf to bring Micah home to us very soon! So...we continue to pray and give thanks!

Counting Down...

Well, it's officially 12 days till Christmas! I think that this is when it's hard as a kid to wait. Christmas is soooo close, yet so far away. :) We have several Christmas traditions that we do for the 12 days till Christmas that help us count down the days. I thought that I would share them here with you... My husband gets me a candle each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas. He has done this ever since we were married 13 years ago and now he lets our kids play a part in bringing them to me. :) Last year, we bought the "Adornaments" set from Focus on the family. It is a devotional book and set of 12 ornaments that can be hung on the tree, each representing a name of Jesus Christ. Each night we will read a devotional about that particular name and then one of our kids gets to hang the ornament on the tree! We save all of our Christmas letters, photos, cards, etc. from the year before and place them in a basket under the tree. Each night, after the devotional and hanging of the ornament, we will pull out a couple of cards or photos and pray together for that person or family. I am a pretty calm and patient person I think. A lot of the mom's on the forum say that their husbands are the calm, patient ones, but I guess in our family it is reversed. I think, however, I have just begun to feel the anxious excitement that you feel as you count down to Christmas. Micah is soooo close, yet still so far away. We really only have 4 major steps left, but it could all happen in January, or it could still be months away. With adoption, there is no way to tell. So, I thought I would share with you what we are counting down on the adoption and ask you to pray for us this Christmas as we are waiting for Micah. First the attorneys must scrutinize our documents to make sure that everything is there and in order. We are hoping that this part might be finished by the end of December. After this, we are given a court date for the judge to sign our "guardianship" papers making us Micah's legal guardians. We have seen this take a couple of weeks for one family and months for another family, so only God knows. Once we have guardianship, then Micah's visa and passport are applied for. This process has been averaging about 15 days. When Micah's visa and passports arrive in the US at our adoption agency, and when we get our interstate ICPC approval, then we can book our plane tickets to travel! I love this time of year...the Christmas music and lights, the decorations, the worship focused on Christ's birth, giving gifts to others, the food, the Starbucks gift cards...! :) I hope that you are having a wonderful Christmas season with your families.

9 Months Old!

Yeah! Today Micah is 9 months old! It was kind of neat that yesterday I got an update on his size. He is currently (according to the orphanage in India) a whopping 15 1/2 pounds. He is the exact size of Laurel, the little girl that I babysit, and she is 6 months old. :) I gave her an extra hug today just to imagine that I was hugging Micah. It's going to be a long December I'm afraid with nothing much happening in the courts. I hope that when the courts reopen and the judge gets back to work in January, that he starts the ball rolling quickly. I want to hug little Micah for real. :) Nathan, my 4-year old son who is very much a momma's boy, is still going back and forth. I'm wondering if he will be ready for Micah. Some nights while I am sitting by his bed waiting for him to fall asleep, he will say, "Mommy, when are you going to get Micah? I want him to be here." Then there are days like the week of Thanksgiving. I didn't have to watch Laurel that week and on Monday he asked, "Mommy, where's Laurel?" I told him that she was going to be staying with her mommy that week and then he said, "Good." I asked him why he didn't want her to be with us and he answered, "Because she cries and wants you. I want to be the only one who loves you." :) That almost made me cry. It's made me a little nervous too. I don't want him to resent Micah joining our family. Maybe once January comes and we start trying to get his room ready to share with Micah, he'll be more on board. I guess it's good that I have been babysitting too...maybe Micah's homecoming won't be such a rude awakening.

Finally Shopping!

Well, I have officially joined the ranks of the mom's who have been shopping for their children who are not home yet! This week I made my first two purchases. I ordered this Usborne Book called "Baby Dinosaur." It is a soft, touchy-feely book, with little footprints they follow through the book and crinkly flaps that they can lift and look under. I thought it would be something fun for the hotel and plane ride, but good for the senses as well. I didn't realize until it came and I got to look inside, but the story is about helping baby dinosaur find his family! Can you believe it? And, on the last page, under a little leaf, are the baby dinosaurs 3 little siblings just waiting for him! It perfectly fits our family. I thought that was so cool.

I wanted to get a blanket for Micah...not that he'll need it to keep warm or anything since it's so hot in India. I did, however, like the idea of him having something to snuggle with, and since Nathan has always carried around a little blanket, I thought I would get Micah one. I found this one at Target and loved it. Again the dinosaur...don't know why I'm getting dinosaur stuff since his room won't be that...oh well. The blanket was just sooooo soft and I loved the blue and brown.

No more purchases though till after Christmas. :) In January is when we are going to try to find bunkbeds for the girls room so that we can move their little low beds into the boys room. Then I can start shopping for matching bedding, etc. I think that is going to be fun, and something the girls can help me with. I think it will also help to make everything seem a little more real for Nathan! I think starting to get the rooms ready will actually help all of us fill in the time left these last long couple of months of waiting.