Chase's Marshall Island's Family Picture

Chase brought this drawing home from school last week. It is one of the very first pictures he has drawn of our new family of four. It made me realize that Chase really gets this. He asked me just today if we could please go get his baby brother tomorrow.

The picture is our family of four in an airplane over the Marshall Islands. I love this!

It's official...Immigration Approval!!!

It is official! We received our immigration approval letter in the mail yesterday! I checked the mailbox late last night and it was there! I can't believe how quickly it came. Things are really falling into place, but we are still trying to be guarded. We know there are still so many things that could happen. It is getting hard not to get our hopes up. The baby boy will be four weeks this Sunday (Mother's Day) and can officially enter the program at that time. So.... we wait....

No news is good news!

Today the little baby that is waiting and could be our son is three weeks old! Our Dossier's are in the RMI and being reviewed by the attorney for any issues. We have not heard anything and at this point, no news is good news. So... we continue to wait and hope. In the meantime we are continuing to read our books (five books that have to have book reviews done on each). I have completed two and am working on the third. This past week we finally started organizing the basement to prepare for moving Chase's playroom down there. We still have to organize Chase's closet and install shelving. Then we can start on the baby's nursery. We have picked out the fabric for the crib bedding (well, I should say I have and I hope Chris likes Peter Rabbit.. haha). Some of the baby items have made their way upstairs and there are signs of a baby-to-be in the Herrell house. It is getting exciting. We are as always, cautiously optimistic!

Remembering Sunday, April 11, 2010

I will never forget Sunday, April 11, 2010. It was a truly beautiful Spring Day. We went to church and then spent the day playing outside with Chase. We played a few basketball games and I watched Chris and Chase play baseball. That evening we sat in the cool grass and watched all the neighborhood kids play. I remember leaning back in the grass and saying, "what a perfect day". It was just one of those days that stays in your memory for no particular reason. But I have another reason to never forget this day... the day that a baby boy was born in the Marshall Islands! We received the call on Tuesday, April 13th that a baby boy was born and we were up! That means if this wonderful birth mother all the way across the world does decide to keep her baby in the adoption program, that he is meant for us. April 11, 2010.... this could be my baby son's birthday...

The Waiting List

So, on March 16 I found out we had jumped to number 13 on the waiting list. When I asked our program coordinator for a VERY rough estimate, she said we could maybe think to get our referral in five months. That would put us late August to early September which is exactly what we have been hoping for. She said most of the people ahead of us have requested baby girls. Since we did not specify, that might make things move faster. If three baby boys are born, then we are up! I couldn't believe it! She said not to paint the nursery blue, yet, though. We could still get a baby girl. We are so excited to see the progress! We know we are still at least three months out from our immigration approval, but if we would receive a referral before we are paper ready, then I know that wasn't the child God has planned for us. I know He has already planned exactly the child we will adopt. I can't wait to meet this baby and the baby's birth family. What an experience we are going to have! Lucky number 13...

Checking the Mailbox...

So, last week our I-600A was finally sent to immigration after several setbacks and delays. We started our home-study process in November. If you told me we wouldn't have our home-study in the mail with our I-600A for almost five months I wouldn't have believed you! But as time goes by, I am understanding why they say this is a long process. Most things are just out of your control. Chris and I just do all of our part as quickly as we can and then wait. There is a lot of hurry up and wait. So, today I began checking my mailbox for our immigration letter. The first letter we will receive is one saying they have received our I-600A. Then we get the letter about when to go for our FBI fingerprints. And then, hopefully in no more than three months, we will get the letter saying we are approved by immigration. Then we can officially get our referral for our baby. So, today started my first day of checking that mailbox. And this really is a big deal. If you know us, our mailbox is up the street from our house and we rarely check it....maybe once a week. I am sure our mail carrier is going to be happy to know that she won't have to stuff letters in the box anymore. I will be there every day :)

Homestudy pictures

We had no idea how much paperwork was involved in the adoption process. Here we have our homestudy packet ready to go to our agency for review! This was finished in November.