Adoption Update

Adoption papers signed and filed with the court. Next step the final hearing to finalize the adoption. This is scheduled to take place on January 12th at 9:30 Chilean time or 7:30am EST. We are SOOOOO excited!!! As my mother just said today, "When God moves, HE MOVES!" We are SOOOOO blessed!!!
As for the adoption tax credit, we have paid all of the agency fees already, so maybe we can claim those for 2010 since we actually paid them in 2010. We'll see.

ANOTHER step closer

We have our permanent residency!! Actually the adoption agency lawyer alerted us that we needed to go pick them up, so we ran downtown with all 4 kids in tow, and got them!! This was last Tuesday. Then we had to get notorized copies of all of our certificates, before dropping off those copies and copies of our permanent residency to the adoption agency. Now, there are 2 steps left.

The first step with happen tomorrow. We have to go the courthouse and sign the legal petition for the adoption of the girls. We have to do this in front of a judge. Then we'll have one more audiencia with a judge to finalize the adoption. We are still praying that this will happen NEXT week, so that on our tax returns we can claim the girls and we can get our adoption tax credit/refund back. This means we'll get back all the money we've spent thus far in the adoption (because it's been less than $10,000 - which is the credit amount per child). Please pray with us!!

My girls are 2

My princesitas, Eliana and Esther,

I have to say that as your birthday is here today, I'm not sure how I feel. On the one side, I'm excited that we can finally celebrate your special day. But on the other side, there is little significance of this particular day for me. I also don't want to admit that you're 2. I want you to grow and learn, but I want you to stay little. What does make this day special is that you two are here with us and we can celebrate together. You are FINALLY home!!!

On this day, December 15, 2008 your biological mother, gave birth to you after 37 weeks of carrying you two around. As active as you are now, I'm sure you were pretty active in her womb too! I'm glad that she was able to "hang on" for 37 weeks so you two would have the healthiest start possible! She gave you life and loved you both enough to know that she couldn't provide the kind of home that you needed. I'm thankful for your biological mother and her sacrifice to allow us to know you and to mold you into the image of Christ. I'm thankful that God decided from the beginning of time that we would be blessed to give you the kind of home that your biological mother wanted for you.

For me, our special day is October 25, 2010, the day you finally came home!!! You are both extra special and in this brief time, I have seen you grow and learn new things. I love hearing you talk to us in either Spanish or English! I love hearing you talk to each other in your special twin language. Eliana, you love to watch and know how things work or why things stay together or come apart. There isn't a mystery you won't try to solve. Esther you love adventure with boundaries and security. You'd try anything once.

I pray that as this birthday passes into another and another that we will look back on these past months and realize how much you've grown and what a blessing you both are to our family.
Happy Birthday my dear babies, who really aren't babies anymore. Grow strong and healthy!
I love you!!
Mommy

Steven Curtis Chapman-All I Really Want for Christmas

Updates and BIG NEWS!

First of all - Yes I am planning to post an adoption shower entry, but my friend and fellow missionary has all the really great pictures and we keep missing each other to pass the CD that she made for me.

Second, I got a call this morning from the adoption agency lawyer. She apparently has been checking on-line on our permanent residency status. She said that they are ready!! She also says that once this is done and we've got copies of all of our documents then we're good to complete the adoption. All that being said, we could complete the adoption by the END of 2010!! WOW!! HOW FAST!!

Third, a few notes for future reference. Caleb and I were remembering the day we brought the girls home and the roller coaster of a day that we'd had. Caleb remembers "running up to us to ask if we'd gotten foster care custody and if we were going to get the girls. Then we had to tell him that we were going to wait one more day." That's when he confided in me that, "when we told him that we were going to wait one more day, he went to the bathroom and cried and prayed to ask God to bring his sisters home that day." Low and behold, the director of the agency called and told us that the girls were ready for us and to go and get them. Caleb's prayers and heart cry were answered. I praise God that Caleb and Hannah have such a heart for others!!

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

An AMAZING video

The last month or so in pictures

Esther all dressed up for her first Sunday at church.

Eliana on a Sunday about to visit church for the first time

and playing with her big brothers soccer goalie glove.

Eliana reading a flyer from a local pharmacy.

That smile is CONTAGEOUS!!!

Esther in her new "Lumpilo" (Columpio = Swing)

Just after taking a tubby

Esther, Mommy, and Eliana

Cuidado Personal

Today, we were officially granted custody of the girls!! We are SOOO excited and a bit relieved. It was nice to know that if this judge didn´t like some of the reports and needed more information, that we had 3 ladies who knew our story, know us and know the girls waiting to testify on our behalf. During the proceedings, I took out 2 of my most favorite pictures from recent days that have each girl smiling. They smile so often now and even Eliana is attaching well. This morning when we left, Eli cried for about 5 minutes and she kept holding her arms out for me to hold her again. Now that is IMPROVEMENT!! Praising God!!

The next MAJOR step is the adoption. In order to finalize the adoption we must have our permanent residency. This should be granted to our family sometime in December or at the latest January, but here in Latin America you never count your chickens before they hatch. So, being kind this judge gave us foster care custody (cuidado personal) for 6 months and then we can extend it basically until we get our visa. We hope and pray that we won´t need to use that full 6 months because we also have to leave for the states in late June/early July. This will require additional paperwork, which will need more time to be completed, so we are praying for the finalization of the adoption in January or February. Please keep praying for the 6 of us!!

The girls

They are doing GREAT!! Today we all went to Sunday School. It was so nice to see the church PACKED out for Sunday School and then even more people showed up for church!! Praise God!!


The girls did well, although Eliana still goes completely emotionally blank and it's as if she transports herself to a whole nother world. I worry about this, but know that all I can do is continue to hold her, protect her, and tell her over and over, that I will ALWAYS be here and that I'm NOT going to leave her!


Here are a few more recent pictures...
Esther
Eliana

Eliana

Esther

The 2 girls on our stairs playing with Daddy's shoes.

Break Throughs

So attachment... Most parents don't think anything of it. I know I didn't until a friend of mine brought her two boys home from Haiti and blogged about it. For many of these kids that are adopted from orphanages, they have no concept of what is a mommy or daddy. Most of them have hardly ever seen a man, let alone had one hold them or give them love. Every woman they see is just someone else to meet their needs. Attachment is hard to achieve. You've got to consciously work at it. I, Heather, have been holed up here in the house for over 2 weeks trying to form a schedule and connections with each of our new daughters. For their future security and emotional wellbeing they need to begin to identify me and Doug as the ones who will take care of them. Well, we've seen a few possitive indications of them becoming attached to us.

First, about a week and a half ago, I was over at our neighbor's home checking in on Hannah and Caleb. I had Esther in my arms and Eliana was asleep in the house, and Doug was home. I decided to try and "experiment" out on Esther. I tried to "pass" her to my neighbor and she would have none of it. She wanted to stay with "MOMMY!" YAHOO!!

Second, my wonderful missionary friends threw the girls and I an adoption shower. What a blessing!!! I'll post pictures in another post hopefully soon. At first, I wasn't planning to take the girls, but after being holed up the house for over 2 weeks, I decided, let's try it. They did GREAT!! At first they stayed REALLY close to us, but then after a while, they branched out and used Doug and I both as "bases." They came back to us when they needed/wanted anything. Eliana was so cute. When Esther wanted to go see her daddy who was sitting just a little ways away, Eliana decided that she would come back to sit with me. Well, she came with arms outstretched virtually running to me. What a wonderful sight for me!!!

The third happened just today. My friend and fellow missionary Jenn had brought us pizza for dinner, but since her husband was still "working" in ministry, she had 3 out of her 4 kids and still had to go buy more cheese for her pizzas at home. Well, I suggested that she leave the 3 kids with me. Her youngest, Kendra is such a sweatheart. She doesn't like big dogs, and Kiwi, our dog is a BIG dog. Well, Kendra started to cry when Kiwi would approach and so I picked Kendra up to consol her as her good "Aunt" Heather should do. I walked into the living room holding Kendra and Esther looked up, got this betrayed, jealous look on her face and was ready to throw a temper tantrum. I explained to Kendra that I had to put her down, but that she was now safe and away from Kiwi. I immediately picked up Esther and loved on her and told her that she is MY little girl and I will NEVER leave her or trade her in for anyone else!

I think this Sunday we'll attempt the crowd at church and see how the girls do! During my research I've found that if a child is under the age of 4 before they "come home" that it only takes 1 year for the complete attachment process, if done correctly that is. So, sometime in Fall of 2011 we should be well on our way to raising emotionally secure and loved little girls.

Adoption Quote

Did you know that November is adoption month and that yesterday was orphan Sunday? Well, in honor of this month, my friend and fellow adoptive mom posted this quote on her facebook page. I love it and so I'm sharing it here. It truly represents the reason we are here on this earth and why we do what we do here in Chile!

"My friends, adoption is redemption. It's costly, exhausting,
expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed him."

~ Derek Loux

Esther LOVES water

Video of Esther playing by the pool we just set up. I love her excitement. This was taken after over 20 minutes of her doing the same thing. I can't wait to see her actually get IN the pool!! Have to buy floaties first!!!


Esther's Video

My Favorite Pictures

These are just a few of my favorite pictures from the past week and 2 days. I can't believe its only been 6 days since the girls came home, and then again it seems like a life time and that they've always been here.

The moment we saw them for the very first time!!!

Esther the second day we spent time with the girls getting to know them.

Esther sliding at the orphanage. She would get the HUGEST SMILE when she'd slide down to her new big brother.

Caleb took this AMAZING PHOTO

The moment we got the family in the car to go home for the first time.

Our first family photo

Esther

Eliana

Caleb and Hannah with Eliana just before bed on the first night.

We did this to Hannah's hair when she was younger so we did it again with Esther just for fun.

These two just LOVE hats.

Eliana - sick and sucking her thumb

Crazy Day turns into CRAZY WEEK!!!

Ok as promised, I'll explain the "Montana Russa" or "Roller Coaster" that we were on on Monday October 25. We got up on Monday thinking that we were going to go to court to be awarded foster care custody. Our plans changed when we got a call aroun 9:40 that the court appearance had been cancelled and that they'd have to reschedule. I called my friend and fellow missionary, Jenn Rubin, to let her know that we would not be dropping Hannah off at her home for her to watch her while we went. Doug went and got into jeans and a tee shirt to do some much needed yard work and I started laundry while I talked to Jenn. Then Doug's cell phone rang. I got off the phone with Jenn only to hear the adoption agency's lawyer tell me that the appearance was back on, only with a different judge. I immediately called Jenn back to tell her we'd still be dropping Hannah off and Doug ran to change back into his suit.

Due to this loss of time with plans changing we were REALLY stretching to get to the courthouse on time. SOOOO we RAN about 2 blocks before I couldn't breathe and we had to "just walk REALLY FAST." (Exertion Asthma and Santiago's famous SMOG will do that to you!! - YUCK!!!) Anyway we got there in time and then waited, and waited, and waited, all the while making kind of uncomfortable small talk with the lawyer.

FINALLY when they called our name, only the lawyer was invited into the "courtroom." She was in there for over 10 minutes and when she came out we learned that we would NOT be awarded Foster Care Custody that day. We could tell our lawyer was discouraged and honestly we were too, but we also realized that this has gone EXTREMELY FAST and so we knew a few more days didn't change our desire to adopt the girls or the rest of the circumstances. However, we did wonder about whether we could take the girls home that day. We waited to see the written order from this judge. You see Judge A had given us the priviledges of meeting the girls, taking them out on walks or away from the orphanage for the day, and even to bring them home permanently. Then we suppose on Monday Judge A would have given us Foster Care Custody. But Judge B wanted more paperwork. So we waited for Judge B's "verdict" and wondered if she would revolk Judge A's ruling from the previous Friday giving us temporary custody.

Walking back to the metro we hardly talked. We got on the metro and were pretty discouraged wondering and having to wait to hear if we could or could not go and get the girls. Then we got a phone call from the director of the adoption agency. She wanted us to come in to talk to her. We explained that we had to go get the car, get something to eat, and then we could go talk to her, before we went to get Caleb from school. I also had to get permission to leave Hannah with Jenn for quite a bit longer, so that we could go to this improptu meeting. (On a side note, I have to say that our ABWE family truly is our family away from family!!)

We grabbed some groceries and McD's before heading back out to the adoption agency. When we got there, the director and our social worker explained that this in the new norm that they are going to have to work with. Judge B wants to know why we are the best parents for these girls. This used to only be done with international adoptions, but now they are beginning to require it with "national" adoptions too. We qualify as "nationals" because we will have our permanent residency in order to complete the final adoptions.

They also explained that Judge B DID NOT revolk Judge A's ruling from Friday and we could still go get the girls! By this time it was 2:45. After the 11:00 appearance, we had planned to be able to go home, clean up the house a bit, and relax. Then we'd get Caleb at 3:15 and then head over to get the girls. I had also learned that Eliana had a doctors appointment at 9:00am the on Tuesday morning. We had SO MANY EMOTIONS that day and were exhausted, that even thinking about getting 4 kids and us out of the house by 8:00 am, was too much. So with the director, Denissa we decided to get the girls on Tuesday after Eli's doctor visit.

We left the office, relaxed, excited for Tuesday to come and planning to keep Caleb out of school so that he could go with us to get the girls. When we got to Caleb's school and our mission's school, Caleb came running up to me with a HUGE grin asking, "Did the judge say, "yes?" When I told him no and that we were going to wait to get the girls the next day, his face fell. After explaining everything to him, he understood and really did want to miss school so that he could be there to get the girls. 2 minutes later, Doug came running up to me telling me that Denissa had called the orphanage to tell them of the change and that the girls were all ready for us with their bags packed. We had to go then and there and get them.

We grabbed Caleb and ran to get Hannah. We drove as fast as we could legally and got our girls. I was quite the day of roller coaster emotions, but it is SOOOO good to know that God is in control the roller coaster. He is the steady hand that guides the "ride" and we are only on the "ride" to give glory and honor to HIM!!

Tuesday, we got up EARLY and we did it!! We actually managed to get all 6 of us out the door and to where we all needed to be, actually we were a little bit early. God is good!! The girls are amazing. We are SO EXCITED TO HAVE THEM HOME!!!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are all a blur to me. Oh wait, Thursday I took them to our pediatrician and they were given a clean bill of health!! Saturday, (today) we headed to a wedding of some good friends of ours. It was a wonderful day in the country, and it was SOOO nice to get out of the city and bare witness of God's blessing to our family as we adopt these precious little ones!!

So what does the future hold. November 18th we head back to family court with just about the whole team from the adoption agency backing us up, to explain why we are the best family for the girls. Then LORD willing, we'll be granted Foster Care Custody. Then once we have our permanent custody in hand we petition the court for a final adoption hearing. This will probably take place sometime in January.

Prayer Requests

1. Esther seems to have trouble with gas during the night. I've purchased antigas drops and we'll see how that works.
2. For us to continue to get to know them as little people.
3. For sleep and strength.
4. That we'd continue to be a testimony for the LORD in this WHOLE process. Already we've had no less than 7 people tell us that we must have a direct connection to heaven. Our social worker even told the orphanage director that if she needed prayer to contact us and we'd pray for her, since had that connection. I simply replied with, well you can have that connection too!! We pray that we plant, water, and possibly harvest seed during this process. We already have encouragement from a receptionist and custodial worker there at the agency, who are both believers.

CRAZY DAY!!

I'll have to blog tomorrow when the girls are napping about today. Needless to say it was a "montana russa." I'll explain that term tomorrow for all of you, but for now I'll share a few photos of our BEAUTIFUL family!!!

Esther
Eliana

Picking up the girls today to come home!

Caleb with Esther

Our first family picture! Finally our family of 6!!

Memories

This weekend was JAM PACKED with visiting the girls everyday! Friday Doug and I met the girls for the first time. Eliana sat quietly on the floor just taking everything in. Esther clung to an orphanage worker. Both had just been awoken from their naps and were not quite ready for new faces. We gave them their bottles and then Esther wouldn't let go of me. Eliana errupted into a ball of play and inhabition. After a little while Esther warmed up and they both played and we had fun tickling them and hugging.

Saturday, Doug and I visited again and the girls didn't seem to have any issues with coming to us for their bottles. We fed them their milk and then walked them to a "park" of sorts. We played ball and blew bubbles before returning to the orphanage to play out in the front "yard." One memory I don't want to ever forget, was my feeling when the girls snuck around the corner to try to enter the orphanage to be with their friends and "aunts." My heart sank thinking, "wait, you're mine now and I'm not ready for my time with you today to end." Then I heard one of the "aunts" tell them to go play with mommy and daddy. It was then that Esther came running around the corner. I held out my arms and she came running to me arms outstretched and grinning from ear to ear. Then immediately after that Eliana did the same. My heart was full at that moment!!

Yesterday, the whole family went to visit the girls. Caleb and Hannah watched and tried to make eye contact as we fed the girls their afternoon bottle of milk. Then we went into the back yard of the orphanage to play. Caleb and Hannah did a great job of playing and helping the girls. It was so neat to sit back for a moment and watch my FOUR children at play together. What a blessing!!
After playing for about an hour and a half the "aunts" had a little going away party for the girls. During this time, one of the "aunts" told me that after Doug and I had left on Saturday the girls were playing and pointed to the door asking for daddy and mommy. Then my heart was filled again with emotion and a little bit of heart break when we had to leave. Not necessarily because we had to leave again, but because from her high chair, Esther raised her hands and said, "vamos." (Let's go.) I had to tell her tomorrow my love. She started to cry softly.

Now, "tomorrow" is today. The "future" is now. Today is the day we meet the judge and petition for foster care custody until we can get full custody when the adoption is finalized in just a few short months.
God is AMAZING and we continue to pray that GOD RECEIVES THE GLORY!!!

We have LOTS of pictures but we can't post any publically until we get foster care custody. Tune in later today or tomorrow for pictures of our BEAUTIFUL family!!

Meeting

Nadia the social worker called today to tell us that the judge ruled that we can get to know the girls TOMORROW and that we can take them out on Saturday for a little while. Then on Monday we have a court date to HOPEFULLY be granted foster care custody!

While on the phone with Nadia I asked her whether this normally happens so fast and she said no, but that when God's hand is in it, who can question. She is not saved, but from her mouth to God's ears!! God be praised for HIS witness to her and the others. We have not shrunk back from declaring God's glory and HIS will in this whole thing. To God be the glory!!!

We'll post photos when we can, but we'll probably wait until we for sure have custody.

Our children

So, here is SOME of the long awaited news. We found out on Tuesday more about the children that God has for our family. Sorry we can't show pictures yet, but when we can we will.

They are TWIN GIRLS! - the ONLY sibling group that this agency has up for adoption. (Talk about God making it clear which kids belong in our family, and TWINS no less!!!)
They will be 2 YEARS OLD on December 15th!
Right now their names are Anais and Xiomara. They are healthy. They are SMALL. When they were born they only weighed around 3 pounds 5 ounzes, but their biological mother is only about 5 feet tall and very thin.

Anais, the "oldest" means pure and saintly. We're planning on calling her Elizabeth Ana or Eliana for short.
Xiomara means bright star. We're planning on calling her Esther Saye. We had planned to name her Eva, but since Esther means star just like her current name we switched to Ester. (Eva Garcia I hope you understand why!! - I know you were excited to share your name with our little girl.)

As of right now, the judge has all of our paperwork, petitioning for foster care custody. This part could take a while, but God is in control and we want HIS timing! Once we have our permanent residency which we are assured should be here SOON - or at the latest by the end of January, we can petition for the final adoption decree. YAHOO!!!

For now, I have to continue reading LOTS on attachment. I have a bit more shopping to do. Shoes. Baby Gates. Get some borrowed items from fellow missionaries to use until we leave for furlough in just 9 short months. And finally, meet and bring home our new little girls!

Documents are HERE!!

Finally!! In GOD's timing our marriage certificate (the scanned copy) was legalized by the Chilean consulate and arrived here on Friday, October 15. Tomorrow the 18th I'll take the legalized copy to have that legalization legalized here in Chile and then take the papers to the adoption agency.
From there the agency will petition a court date to present our family for "fostering" or personal care. They will petition the court for various fostering rights. 1. Would be to visit the children and get to know them in their orphanage. 2. Would be to be able to take the children out for the day. 3. Would be to be able to bring them here into our home to live. The judge will have 7 working days to decide his answer and then get back to the agency. In the mean time, we'll get to see pictures, hear the children's story, and share more information with you. The judge's response could be any one of the 3 answers or he could say that he'd like to meet us before he puts kids in our home. THIS could take another month.
IN OTHER WORDS... we could have the children within the next 2 weeks if the court date is arranged fast and the judge likes our profile OR it could be another 6 to 8 weeks.
Everything the adoption agency tells us is that they expect us to have the children pretty quickly, so we're operating under the impression that we could be a family of 6 within the next 2 weeks.
PLEASE PRAY for GOD's timing, our patience, the children's transition and attachment to us.

New Development

OK - the Chilean consulate is going to legalize the copies of the originals that I have here. PRAISE GOD! Now, is the matter of finding those missing documents. This could lead to identity theft for me, so please pray that these documents and that FedEx package are found still unopened and mailed back to the consulate!

Lost Documents

So, it's not just in Chile that documents get lost. They do in the US too!! YUP! We had our appointment with the adoption lawyer yesterday and realistically we could have our 2 "new" kids in the house by my birthday October 15th, BUT they NEED our marriage certificate!!!

I called the other day to find out where the consulate of Philadelphia was with this and they told me that they had drop shipped our documents and payment to the consulate in NY. I then called NY and ONLY because I had followed up they realized after over a week that the documents were drop shipped to FedEx, but that they never arrived in NY. SO, now where are we? They are still looking and they realize their error. The Chilean consulate is doing everything they can and I think heads are rolling at FedEx.

For now the lady that I spoke to in Phili may be able to help me with the scans that I have sent her via e-mail of copies of the certificate and the apostile. These are originals that we had from when we went to Costa Rica. Since they've seen and held the other originals, they may make a HUGE exception and legalize the e-mail scans and then mail me the legalization. Then when the legalization gets here, I'll attach it to the originals that I have.

PLEASE pray!!! This is not out of the hands of GOD! He knows exactly where our documents are! Pray for patience for us and that we can still adopt these two precious ones that are awaiting us in an orphanage.

Meeting

Today Doug and I meet with the lawyer of the adoption agency and the social worker, Nadia, about the paperwork we MUST have to continue this process. This will help clarify when we need what paperwork and how quickly we can get the children waiting for us.

PLEASE PRAY for our paperwork!! I found out yesterday that some of our paperwork had to be transferred from Philidelphia to New York. Pray that we can get it SOON and that maybe we can see photos of the kids that are waiting for us.

STILL PRAYING

The only new info from last week is that the children that they have waiting for us are still waiting and that we can't continue in the process - ie moving on in the 2nd step of the process or with fostering the children until we have more clarity on our paperwork. PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!!

Our marriage and birth certificates should be in the hands of the different Chilean consulates in the USA and so we are praying for a FAST turn around to get them back to my in-laws so that they can FED-EX them down here ASAP. Then we'll move on with the processing here.

It has been HARD not to get attached to the idea of these children! Who knows maybe God has other children for us. I just pray that God would lead and guide through it all.

As of now, we've made some changes in our home. We moved Doug's office into the maid's quarters to free up the larger "office" to use for the new kids. This will allow them to be on the first floor of the house for play and general activity during the day. Also hopefully we'll avoid the stairs issue for a little while anyway. We moved around Caleb and Hannah's rooms and changed their beds. Caleb now has a loft bed with a built in desk and Hannah has a HIGH bed that is SOOO comfortable, I want to sleep in it! I'll post pictures as we get things cleaned up from moving all around.

PRAY!!

Please pray!! On Monday during our meeting we were told about a set of children that fit what we qualify for (2 siblings under the age of 3) and even more, that are in many ways, answers to our prayers. We can't give details and even Caleb and Hannah don't know the details, like age and sex because we are waiting on government paperwork. Therefore we need prayer!!

1. Even though Doug and I have not seen any pictures and only know the age, sex and that they are healthy normal children, it is SO HARD to wait knowing that they are spending their days and nights in an orphanage.
2. Please pray that this isn't Satan's handiwork tempting us with children that are close to a direct answer to prayer, skewing our path to the children that God has for us.
3. If these children that have been mentioned are to be little Amundsons, please pray that God would miraculously supply the paperwork we need and fast.

There are 2 sets of paperwork we need right now.

1. Our permanent residency visas. We need this to finalize the adoption. Doug went yesterday to acquire another extention stamp on our paperwork and the lady was surprised that we hadn't received an apointment date to finalized our visas. Doug spoke to a manager there and he told us to write a letter explaining why we need the process sped up.
2. Our US marriage certificate and Doug's and Heather's birth certificates. We need these in order to get temporary custody of the children even if we don't have our permanent residency yet. These certificates have been to 3 different offices in the US including various Chilean consulates for legalization. This is a process that we and my in-laws started over a month ago. Once we receive the legalized certificates from the various Chilean Consulates in the US we can then take them to the department of interior here in Chile to have them translated. This I'm told can take a couple of weeks. Once they are translated then we register them with our "town" government. Right now our marriage certificate and Doug's and Heather's birth certificates are winging their ways to their perspective Chilean consulates. Please pray that these are processed FAST and then can be sent via FEDEX to us here in Chile so we can start the translation process.

A little side note - even the non-Christian social worker is seeing answers to our prayers as she mentioned that these kids' path of readiness to be adopted has mirrored our path of preparation. Therefore, as she put it, we've been moving hand in hand in this process. Now God needs to show us if we are supposed to take them by the hand and lead them through life.

God knows the answers to all of these prayers and we are continuing to pray that GOD would give us the children HE has for us and that these 2 children that we know about would find and be granted their forever family soon, even if it isn't us. Please pray with us!!

We qualify for...

OPTION #4 - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU GOD!!!

During our visit with the social worker and phycologist we were told how our evaluations went and that we do indeed qualify to adopt 2 children. These children must be under the age of 3. The next step is kind of waiting. We need to have our permanent residency visas in hand before the adoption/s can be completed. We could get foster care status, but what happens if... and then Caleb and Hannah are already attached to 2 children and vice versa. We'll see. For now we must pray that we can get our permanent residency status quickly. Doug has to go to the offices tomorrow and do a little pushing, which anyone who knows Doug, is hard for him to do. Please pray that God will put him in touch with the right people who will help the process and not get irritated enough and lash back by delaying the visa process longer.

We are still praying for twins and wait on the Lord to answer in HIS timing with HIS children, whether twins or not. Pray that we will see and hear HIS response as to the children are to be a part of this "forever family."

We have a date...

to receive our results. Next Monday the 13th of September at 1:00 pm EST we'll be sitting down to discuss our options with the adoption agency. This is when we'll find out which option 1,2,3,or4 we qualify for. We'll update again after the meeting to give you the low down. KEEP PRAYING!!!

Doug's Last Interview

was today and therefore we are awaiting the "final response" as to which option we qualify for. Please keep praying for option 4 - that we'd be allowed to adopt 2 biologically related children under the age of 2. Preferably twins.

On another note, all of you adopting parents, I need help!!! Because things are going well and all indications that we've received thus far from the phycologist and the social worker are that we'll be able to adopt, I am compiling a list of helpful adoption resources. I need people to respond with adoption parental guides/helps/resources as well as adoption themed books for adopted children or the siblings of adopted children. Just post them in my comment box or even better, send me an e-mail at... dhamundson at abwe dot cc . (Sorry I spell it out to avoid spam.)

Adoption Poem

I ran across this poem today and love it, so I thought I'd share...

Legacy of the Adopted Child

Update

For those of you praying us through these adoption interviews, THANK YOU and we want to update you on a few schedule changes. Doug's meeting for today at 3:00pm has been changed to NEXT Wednesday the 25th at 9:30am. Heather's meeting for Friday has been moved up to THIS Wednesday the 18th at 11:30am. So here's the remainder of our schedule.

Heather this Tuesday 10:00am with the Social Worker, Nadia
Heather this Wednesday 11:30am with the Phychologist, Lorena
Doug this Thursday 12:00pm with the Social Worker, Nadia
Doug NEXT Wednesday 9:30am with the Phychologist, Lorena

Then we'll have one "final" meeting of this interview/homestudy process to be given the "verdict" of whether or not we can adopt.

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!!!

Phychoanalized

My kids (the ones we have here at home) were phychoanalized yesterday. Hannah did go first and the only tough question that I can gather from her was what she missed from school because she is home schooled.



Clarification : Homeschooling is VERY rare here in Chile and we were questioned by the social worker about why our kids are not in school. She indicated when she was here last Tuesday that this may cause us trouble in the adoption. We´re trusting God with what He´s called us to do and will continue to homeschool as long as we feel God leading. If that means no more kids, then that is how God closes the door.



Hannah had to draw 4 pictures of various things. She had to describe the house that she drew and the trees. She came back pretty content and smiling saying that she really liked ¨Miss Lorena¨ better than the social worker who had come to the house and asked them questions.



Caleb also had to draw various things and describe them afterwards. The only question that Caleb had that was hard was how he and Hannah are disciplined. Caleb responded well and sought to clarify with his limited vocabulary. I´m proud of how he handled himself and once he even had to say something in English for her to look up later.



Doug and I have 2 more added appointments next week. That means that between the 2 of us we have an appointment Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. But that will END our interviews!!! Then we wait to be called back in for the verdic of our options. Remember we have 4 options.

Please pray for option number 4 of adopting 2 siblings. We are praying specifically, as I was taught by one of my parental role models, Sandy Longo, for boy and girl twins younger than 1 year. I´m not saying that will be God´s answer, but I´m simply having faith that God will answer in HIS way, in HIS time!!

Kids' Interviews Today

Please pray for Caleb and Hannah this morning. They have their meetings with the phycologist. Hannah will go first since she likes to talk. Then Caleb will go second and can reclarify anything. I'm praying that both kids have the vocabulary IN SPANISH to clarify well the difference between spanking and beating as well as raising one's voice and yelling. God knows the outcome and we are praying too that God would guide the interpretation of all that is said in ANY and ALL of these interviews that we've had/still have coming.

Little Sophia

For those of you that enjoy reading about adoption stories, this one is precious! Terry is the daughter of Jim and Gail Christian long time missionaries in Chile where Terry and her 2 younger sisters grew up. God has lead both of Terry's sisters back to Chile to minister with their own families, but God is using Terry in great ways in the US. Please pray for Terry and her family as they await Sophia and even if you have just a few dollars to spare, help them with their adoption fees!!

God bless you little Sophia!! We're praying you home!

Our in home visit

will be on August 3rd at 3:00 pm.

Also, there is a new couple here who just shipped their container and graciously included a double stoller for us. We are SOOO excited!!! Double strollers are SOOOOO expensive here, so even if God closes this door of adoption : ( we can easily sell the stroller for equal or even more than what we bought it for.

Doug's interview OOPS!!!

Yesterday I was contacted by the psychologist who is going to evaluate us. She offered us an appointment today, Wednesday, so we took it! We've realized in this process, flexibility and availablity can GREATLY spead up the process. So today at 3:00 pm we had our first meeting with Lorena and our second meeting overall.

Lorena was great and thankfully we were in a room with no gas heater!! She asked us about how we met. She asked about Caleb and Hannah and how they get along and what they fight about, because we all know that even missionary kids fight!! Then she asked when and why we chose to adopt. If you have read this blog from the beginning, then you know from my very first post that from the moment Doug and I started dating, or just about that first moment, that we would someday adopt. This was mainly because of the doctors telling me that I had polycystic ovarian syndrom and therefore, might never have kids. Well as Doug was seeking to explain this to her IN SPANISH I must remind you, he told her that because I had been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis that I couldn't have kids. Well, that sent shivers and laughter out of me. What went through my head and then out of my mouth was. "NO!! If you tell her that, she's going to think that I'm going to die and then we'll never adopt. No, I really have Polycystic Ovarian!" Then after we were all laughing, I said jokingly, "There goes that adoption out the window!!!"

Praise God, even after Doug's little OOPS, we have all of the appointments for our interviews. Here they are in order.

July 30 12:30 PM Doug and Heather
August 4 11:30 AM Heather only
August 6 10:00 AM Doug only
August 13 10:00 AM Caleb only
August 13 11:00 AM Hannah only
August 16 3:00 PM Doug only
August 20 11:30 AM Heather only

We still have 2 more "meetings" to schedule. One is in the midst of this when Nadia the social worker will visit our home. The second is after all of these interviews are over, then Doug and I will meet with both Nadia and Lorena to get the results of the interviews. There are 4 results that could be decided.

1. We can't adopt ever. - We are just too screwed up to adopt any other child.
2. We can probably adopt after therapy. - We're only a little bit screwed up.
3. We can adopt no problem but only 1 child
4. We can adopt no problem 2 children

We are obviously praying for #4. We are confident in what God is doing and we pray that all goes well. Thanks for praying with us. As meetings come and there are things to tell, I'll update and of course I will let everyone know the results.

1st one down...

MANY to go.
Our first meeting for our ¨homestudy¨ yesterday went well. It was basically the social worker asking us questions about how we met, when our kids were born, and about our family. It was pretty easy. We had to make our first payment and then the psychologist is going to call us to set up our next meeting. She told us that since our schedules are so flexible, that we might even finish this first part of the process in only 2 months instead of 3. COOL!!

Therefore, PLEASE keep praying for us, that God would bring us the children HE wants in our home!

OUR FIRST MEETING

is scheduled!! July 14th at 9:30 am (EST) we will meet with the psychologist. Then for the next 3 months or so, we will be actively working on our "homestudy." This process is TOTALLY different from a homestudy performed in the states, or so I'm told!! For 3 months, once each week, one or all of us, have a meeting with a psychologist to talk about our lives. There are NO boundaries. They ask about EVERYTHING you could think of. They will interview our kids. They require a photo book of our life and past. These next few months should be intense, but well worth the end result!!! At the end of the 3 months the psychologists, based upon everything we've shared, will decide whether we can adopt 1 or 2 children. If it is 2, THEY MUST BE BIOLOGICALLY RELATED!!! They do not allow the adoption of 2 children who are not biologically related at the same time!

Once it is determined how many children we can adopt or even IF we can adopt, then we proceed with another 3 months or so of classes. After those requirements are fulfilled, we wait for a call. While we wait, the "agency" looks for the children that will match our family and then presents the case to the judge. Once the adoption is basically finalized, they call us and say, "You're kids are ready, come get them tomorrow!"

In other words, in as little as 6 months from now, we could be the proud parents of 4 children.

Please continue to pray for...

• GOD'S children for our family! We don't want the kids we think will fit the best. We want to impact these kids' lives for GOD and so we want GOD to select them for us! This is obvious in the process because we don't even get to meet the kids before their are actually ours.
• Patience in the process
• Our permanent visas to come SOON!!! We are in process for these and have been told that we can begin the process, but cannot have any children in our home until we have our permanet residency in hand. Please pray that they will come by the end of 2010!!!
• For Caleb and Hannah as they answer a psychologist's questions, without us in the room; that they would know the Spanish words to communicate with and that they will communicate clearly what they want to say.

We praise God that although our current monthly support level is LOW, that we have saved this money over the years to be able to adopt now. Plus, as many of you know of adoption, it can be VERY EXPENSIVE! I'll be completely honest here. For this adoption, it will "ONLY" cost us around $5000. Now that is CHEAP compared to other adoptions of OVER $30,000. We praise the Lord for HIS PROVISION and thank HIM for what HE will do!!

We'll keep you posted!

A VERY MOVING ¨VIDEO!¨ Won´t you consider who´s happy ending your family could be??

ANSWERS!!!

Finally after all of this waiting we have answers!!! We had our meeting with Fundacion Mi Casa today at 11:00am. Denise the lady in charge of their adoption program interviewed us and got all of our information. She was FABULOUS!!! She answered all of our questions. Here´s what we´ve learned.

There are 3 parts to the process.

The first is about 3 months or so of interviews, mainly with psychologists to determine that the couple/family is fit to adopt and if so, how many kids. This also includes a visit to our home, interviews with our older kids etc...

The second and third step include all the legal stuff and final placement of the child.

We do not get to meet the child/children before we get the call to ¨come get your kid/kids.¨ I takes UNDER a year from start to finish!!!

So, if we were to start today, we could have 2 more kids BY August!!! WOW!! However, we have to have our Permanent Residency visas BEFORE we can finalize an adoption. Also, if we don´t finalize an adoption within one year of our first Phych visit, we have to start that part of the process all over again!

Therefore, we are waiting until July to start the first part of the process. By that time, I will be done teaching Biology at the ABWE mission school and will have more time to ¨nest.¨ We are excited to see God answer prayers. We are still praying for twins younger than age 3, but we trust the LORD for HIS answers to our prayers!!!

We´ll keep you updated!!

A new interview date

Ok, after a long couple of months and failed communications, we finally have a new date to go to our first interview with the national adoption agency.

Next Thursday May 6th at 11:00 EST we will officially begin our adoption process. This meeting could make or break the adoption process, but we know and are secure in the fact that GOD is in control!

Please pray with us as we begin this process that we would glorify HIM and that He would guide us to the children, regardless of age, that HE has for our family!

Possible Start???

When I was running sprints in high school and then again at Houghton College, we worked on our starts the most. It TRULY is one of/if not THE most important aspect/s of running a race. I am so guarded to call this a "start." We don't false start the process and excitement of FINALLY beginning this process of adoption, if God closes this door or window.

Here are the facts. As a foreigner living in Chile, we must have our permanent residency in hand before we can complete an adoption from Chile. We are in "tramites" or in the process of obtaining our permanent residency visas. We have the paperwork stating that we are in that process and therefore I decided to inquire of a Chilean adoption agency as to whether or not we could at least BEGIN the adoption process and then finalize everything once we have our permanent visas. THEY SAID, "YES!!"

Therefore, we have an appointment for March 1st at 10am Chile time or 8am (EST) to discuss what we are looking for, whether or not they see us as qualifying for their program and so on. After that interview they would begin the "homestudy" portion of the adoption. This will entail invasive physcological testing, family interviews, and an evaluation of income. Please pray with us that God would have HIS will accomplished!

I've often said, "I don't care what color my children are, I don't care where they come from, (although I'd LOVE a latino child) I just want the children that GOD wants us to raise!" Please pray with us that as God opens this "window" that He will make clear the children that HE has for our family!

When God closes a door...

...Somewhere He opens a window.

God just keeps shutting doors to us adopting. Closed door to adoption from Haiti due to the post-earthquake government. Closed door to Nicaragua as that process isn't off the ground and is REALLY LONG AND EXPENSIVE. We still have a few doors that we're knocking on, but it is TRULY frustrating!!!

I do remember though that when God asked us to be missionaries that we promised to give our lives and "die" to our desires and live for HIM. If He chooses that we should not adopt, my heart will be broken, but I know that only GOD can truly mend it! His plan is always best, whether I like it or not!!

Maybe knocking on doors isn't where God wants us, maybe it's checking the windows to see if their open?!?!

Adopting Children from Haiti

When Love Takes You In is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that really touches my heart. I am celebrating with our friends and fellow missionaries who FINALLY have their 2 adopted Haitian sons home! We are praising God with them. For more info on their journey, please visit their website here.

Please also pray for us, as we are looking into the option of adopting 2 of these Haitian children that become refugees here in Chile. Chile too, like the US is opening its doors to these FABULOUS children who need love and a home. Maybe this is how God is directing us to the next 2 little Amundsons?!?!?

Throughout this process of waiting, I've wondered WHEN LORD? When? Well, we are on to another step in the waiting process. In order to adopt from Chile, we must have our PERMANENT residencies. This process can only be begun after you have lived in Chile under your temporary residencies for almost a year. Therefore, last week, we sent in our permanent residency applications. Please pray that these will be carried on a wing and MANY prayers, so that we can get those visas and begin the adoption proces.

But for now I was touched by this video that another friend who just completed a Haitian adoption shared on her blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfJIgpPtbBc&feature=related