And yet another week has come to an end...

...with no adoption news. All we have heard was from another adoptive mom that talked to the orphanage director. She was told that our files are supposed to be done with the one missing stamp/signature on Tuesday. I'm still not sure what all is going on, but from my understanding there is still the other stamp/signature that will have to be obtained once the orphanage gets the files back before it can go back to MOI. Then my friend said that she was told that MOI has closed down for two weeks to reorganize, but I don't know what two weeks they are closed for (last week and next or the last two weeks or the next two weeks???). Once we finally get back to MOI and get out of MOI it will probably still be a few more weeks for them to print the passport and obtain the visa. The US really stinks when it comes to international adoption. If only they would let us bring home our son, we wouldn't have to deal with all of this heartache. Why don't they let people bring their children (children that are legally their children) home to live with them? The past 8 months and the rest of the time we wait is all because of the US. And all of this hassle is only for Michael's plane ride home. Once the plane lands in Florida, his Haitian passport and US visa are no longer necessary. But he has to have the passport to get the visa and he has to have the visa in order to be allowed on a plane headed for the US (where he should already be living). Please help me bombard our senators and congressman with requests to change the laws in regard to visas for adopted children. We need to see this change for all of the other families in the future who will adopt internationally. Why make these babies/children and their families wait for so long for them to come home?

Adoption?

Adoption is a huge part of our family. I never would have dreamed of saying that, but I am so thankful that the Lord directed our paths. I always believed the verse about God directing the steps of a good man, but I never imagined that His direction would take us to where we are today. In May of 2002, God blessed us with our first little miracle. Matthew Aaron was born and he changed our lives. We enjoyed every minute of life with a new baby. We began trying for #2 when Matthew was very young. However, secondary infertility caused us to be unable to have another baby. Growing up with a brother and sister very close in age to me, I wanted my kids to enjoy the same closeness. We began infertility treatments in the fall of 2003. However, I had the unfortunate referral to a very rude doctor. Combining a rude doctor with hormone therapy is not a good idea. After a few short months, I told Aaron that we had to decide what was more important my mental well-being or having a baby. We then decided to stop treatments. I still strongly desired another child, so I began researching adoption on the internet in November. By February of 2004, we had decided that adoption was the next "step" that God was leading us to take. So after all the research, we decided to adopt from Guatemala. We chose Guatemala because of the short travel times and the very young babies available. So we started all of the paperwork and our homestudy. Around March, my cousin brought a young pregnant girl to church with her and that was the start. April 10th, Alisha was born. Of course that wasn't her name at birth, but I'll save more of that story for another post. We continued to try on our own to get pregnant, but had no luck. In December 2005, we lost a baby to an ectopic pregnancy. In January of 2006, we started infertility treatments with a new doctor that was very kind. In February of 2006, we started our second adoption. This time we chose to adopt from Haiti. We got our first pictures of Michael when he was 6 months old (Feb. 06). In early February of 2007, we found out that baby #4 is on the way. This is going to be an exciting year. I'll post more about each adoption and infertility journey that we faced. I am hoping that someone will come across this blog and see how a mighty God can direct our lives in ways we never imagined. Through a lot of pain, stress, and trials God has given us a fabulous family with a bond that is unbelievable. I used to question God, and now I have learned to say "okay God, I don't kow what you are up to this time, but I'm gonna let go and let you lead".