Mailing off our referral acceptance paperwork!

Andrew and me mailing off our referral acceptance paperwork. In the background is our friendly UPS worker, Andy, flexing for us!

We returned from Disney World to a frenzy of activity at home. After Luke and Brooke barfed their way through the Orlando airport due to them getting motion sickness on the "not so magical express" (By the way, if you ever want to get something past security just have your child start vomiting violently right before they go through the body scanner. They will let you through with anything!) we finally arrived home to begin the next stage of the acceptance process.

Tuesday:

We arrived home on a Tuesday morning and immediately set to work plowing through mountains of paperwork, hours of calls with our case worker and social worker, and sitting down spending several hours filling out our transition plan for when we arrive home. I had prayed that God would maximize our time somehow and He did! Somehow we managed to get through everything that day and still get the kids off to their activities that evening and care for a still sick Luke. I also was able to plan Luke's birthday party that night. Nothing like throwing together a birthday party at 11:00pm on a Tuesday night for a party that Saturday.

Wednesday:

I went into work to have my training day with the teacher I would be taking over for when she went on maternity leave. As we went through pages and pages of lesson plans I tried not to be overwhelmed, but deep down I was. I kept thinking about how I was ever going to get everything done. In the back of my mind I knew that we had to complete an updated home study, visit the international pediatrician, have more phone calls, get papers notarized, the list goes on and on. I just prayed that the teacher didn't have the baby until I was able to get through the next few days.

Thursday:

Morning visit with the international pediatrician. This was a wonderful visit and we loved the doctor we met with. She was so patient, kind, and answered all of our questions. Plus, she gave K a great report of health. Of course it is hard to determine that on paper, but as of now everything looks good. When she comes home for good we will bring her back in right away for a big check up. We left the doctor's office and I went home and filled out more paperwork, met Matt to get more papers notarized, then returned home to put everything together to be mailed off that afternoon! Whew! I picked Andrew up at the bus stop and we headed to the UPS store to mail off our acceptance paperwork. Since we were already delayed a few days by being gone and I wanted it in our agency's hands before the weekend, I decided to pay the ridiculous overnight fee like I always do. The people who work at our UPS store are so incredibly friendly and I asked them to take a picture of us with the packet before we mailed it off. When the woman asked what was so special about its contents and I told her they both went nuts and were so happy for us. Even one of the customers in the store became all excited and began telling us all about her adopted granddaughter. It was very special for Andrew and me to share this happy moment with strangers who were so happy for us. What a gift! So as Amanda, the UPS worker, went to take our picture she yelled for her brother, Andy, to flex in the background. We all laughed at the picture and I told them I would be posting it on my blog. Next, we rushed home to pick up Luke and Brooke and headed back to Matt's office to have an hour long call with the attachment specialist that evening. What a day!

Friday:

Finally, I could take a breath and spend a little bit of time processing the last 9 days. I did this as I walked the dog that morning. Then, it was back to a mad scramble to plan the rest of Luke's birthday party the following day. I also received confirmation that our packet arrived safely in Oregon! Hooray!! That night we were able to take the time as a family and go see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at a church up the road from us. This was so fun for us as our family loves musicals and this is one of my favorites! The best part for me was hearing the song "Go, Go, Go Joseph." For whatever strange reason I have used this song to push myself through the hard times. Like when I am running a race and get to the end and am feeling tired. Or, when I am just busy and need to keep going. I sing the words to this song - "Go, go, go, Joseph you know what they say... Hang on now Joseph you'll make it someday.... Don't give up Joseph fight til you drop... we've read the book and you come up on top." So yes, I admit I am weird, but I thought it was perfect timing that I hear this song that has always helped me push through!! Thank you God for even that small detail!!