Busy

Still here. No word. I have been schooling the kids during 8-2, and working on pre-India prep and housework during the rest of my time. Squeezing in swim practice with the boys twice a week, and some play-while-the-weather-is-good free time at the park and in the 'hood. Busy.

The kind of Busy that makes me smile because it means that we'll soon be finding that New Normal we have hoped an dreamed of for so long. It's going to be crazy, and hectic, and I just might cry a lot, but I can't wait to dive in!

I'm making calls left and right about medicines, and baby wearing wrap thingies, and visas, and flight costs. Preparing.

This weekend, I went through the 7 or 8 boxes of girl clothes I've been saving in the garage and pulled out all the dresses in the 18mo. - 3T range. Since we don't know how big she'll be, we're just hoping that the loose fit of dresses will do the trick. Lots and lots of clothes from other families (Thanks Ang, and Amy!) and Lael's old stuff. I've rounded up about 8 dresses, and hope she fits into some of the waisted items when we return. I don't really know.

I was just telling Mary today that we're going to be flexible. We have to be. I was saying that in regard to sleeping arrangements. But, really, we have to be flexible in ALL areas and find out what makes her most comfortable. Clothes, eating, sleeping. I might as well be a new parent because all of the stuff we've done before might as well just fly out the window! Maybe not, but a lot of it!

At the start of the post I said, "no word". Actually, we do know that we will not be traveling in September. Our in-country coordinator is booked up with an unprecedented number of families having their own Gotcha Days in September. As the children are in facilities all over India, he can't take everyone at once, and families must take turns- the next opening is in October. We're waiting on paperwork, anyway, so it likely would have had to be October regardless of the coordinator's schedule. Honestly, as fast as I hope to see Dorothy, it puts me at peace. Just knowing *something* has a certain comfort to it. it takes me off pins and needles for a few weeks. I feel like we'll need every bit of that time, anyway, to "get all our ducks in a row" as they say here in the South.

Yesterday, I spent time trying to work out what vaccinations and medicines we may need. Malaria, typhoid fever, and Hep A are the three things Eric and I will probably want to combat. All this stuff is so expensive! I hadn't totally realized this until now, so that is discouraging. Our local doctor can't do the typhoid, so that has to be arranged with a "travel clinic". The cheapest travel clinic I could find charges $48 per person for a consult (mandatory) before doing any injections or prescriptions (at additional, per treatment, cost). I've researched a ton, received info from our agency, and read EVERYTHING on the CDC website myself, so I'd prefer to just get in and get out and not do a stupid consult, but...whatever! And, malaria medicine is ridiculously expensive- about $10 per pill x 16 doses x 2 (or three) people = A LOT. Additionally, I filled up a cart of over-the-counter medications the other day at CVS to put in our luggage. For a natural family like us that almost never takes anything, it's a bit shocking. Pepto, benadryl, melatonin, advil, immodium, probiotics, bug spray, antimicrobial wipes, Emergen-C.... and some of that I had to buy the adult version and the pediatric version! I hate keeping track, but I can easily see the drug budget hitting $700+. Yikes.

That's it for now. Recounting it all makes me exhausted.

Back to schoolwork!

NEW PICTURES!!!!

Still no smile. We'll fix that soon, I hope. Doesn't her hair look so much thicker? And she looks slimmer, and taller, and like a big kid. Her eyes, as always, are unavoidable. *Sigh* I know I'll just look into them for hours if she'll let me. And, purple!- so cute in purple!!!!

About the previous posts:

1. roof. We will be getting a new roof! Praise GOD for breaks in life. After van repairs, dishwasher repairs, medical bills, a broken dryer (all in the past few months!)... this is a very welcome outcome!

2. travel to the U.K. Thank you, all, for your hopefulness and encouragement and suggestions. We have stopped pursuing this as an option. I did think of the "meet in the airport" option. However, remember the higher fee for extending time in England (making it a multi-destination trip)? Apparently, that applies to changing the layover time, also. I messed around online with itineraries, and each time I changed the departure from England to allow more time at the airport (6 hours vs. 2 hours, for instance) the fees would change. In essence, we'd be paying the $500-$600 extra per ticket to stay for lunch and to hug my family. That's an expensive lunch! Additionally, "hoping for the best" while in India doesn't work, either, because if the visa processing were to take too long, we might have trouble getting her passport back (not to mention that we would have had to buy tickets before ever setting foot in India). We consider this a closed door and are moving on. I'm just praying for miraculous ability to see them a few months after Dorothy being home. That might mean me flying to England alone with Dorothy- we'll see.

So close

This whole time we've been waiting to travel, we've looked at flights. How long it takes from Nashville to New Delhi. How much it costs. Where the flights stop.

A few months back, we realized that a number of flights changed planes at Heathrow. And that is where our dream began. We talked about how nice it would be to stop there for a few days in London to see my family instead of just changing planes and heading to Nashville. "Wouldn't it be incredible to have Grandma see Dorothy?", I'd say. "And my aunts". "And to have a good long break between flights". Ahhhhhh.

Stopping for a few days complicates things, though. Turning it from a "direct flight" into a "multi-destination flight" (even though locations aren't changing AT ALL) adds about $500-$600 to each fare. That adds up.

Apart from cost, we had to weigh how badly we'd want to be home, to see the kids, to get into a routine. And who knows what kind of difficult adjustment Dorothy will be going through- it could be really rough!

Thinking all that through, we hadn't come to a complete decision about what we'd do. However, I called my Grandma to tell her about our guardianship ruling and she was so thrilled! At that moment, I felt like I'd pay any amount of money to get our newest daughter to her great grandma!

After hanging up with her, I started to come back to the informative e-mails from our agency about packing, travel documents, and visas. And then my dream began to unwind.

Indian citizens need a visa to enter the U.K.

Ugh.

So, while Eric and I just need a passport, Dorothy would need a visa to leave the airport. Applying for a visa is essentially applying for permission to enter the country. And you fill out forms, and submit your passport to acquire this.

We won't have Dorothy's Indian passport until we are in-country with her.

And the UK Border Agency that handles visas informed me today that processing takes at least 15 days. 15 days that we won't be able to stay in India for.

A dream unravels.

The sunflowers are shining and my world is spinning!!!!

WE HAVE GUARDIANSHIP!!!!!!!!!

Just when I felt like I couldn't take the wondering any longer, we got good news today.

Eric called and it rang and rang because I was dealing with a little girl and her brother who were fighting and scratching each other in retaliation over offenses (seriously! those aren't my kids, are they???!). And then I hear my cell phone ringing, and then the house phone again (this time I get it... crying children can wait).

"Where have you been????"

"Well... Lael and Dean were fighting and-"

"We passed courts!!!!"

"Huh?"

"We passed courts!"

"Eeeeeek! [happy tears]"

I cried out of relief, out of joy, and exhaustion. Then, it felt all fine and good except that we STILL can't just travel tomorrow. Humpf. So, then I was somber. Happy. But not elated. Amy called and said, "why am I happier than you?!" Ouch. Shouldn't be that way- and it's not- it just sounded like it over the phone, I guess. From that point on, I've been happily celebrating the NOW, and the SUCCESS of this prayer being answered by a gracious, loving God, that knew I was sick over the wait ("a hope deferred makes the heart sick").

The reality is that we've got about 1-2 more months of waiting before we can travel. And, that stinks. On the up side, it is a much more specific time frame than any stage previously. It will take about 2-4 weeks to receive court documents here at our agency (and have them translated), and another 2-4 weeks for their Texas office to process ICPC with Tennessee. Maybe a little under, maybe a little over- but it shouldn't drag on indefinitely. And, we're talking about U.S. process. So, if there are any snags, we can call offices and expect that things can travel overnight by Fed Ex or something, right? Right??

Needless to say, I'm absorbed in reading all of the extra e-mails that came from our agency. Things like "what to pack", "sample itinerary", and "process for obtaining a visa" for India. Eeeeeeeek!!!!!

And, because of this, it shouldn't be too surprising that we didn't finish school today. And that's okay. A double heaping of Math tomorrow will fix that. Today, today we celebrate!

Our little girl belongs to us. Us.

Thank you, God.

Roof, Roof!

Okay, this has nothing to do with a dog- it actually has to do with a a real roof.

Here in Middle Tennessee, tornadoes and large hail and strong winds happen. Almost every year. Some are worse than others. During a particular storm in 2008, I saw the largest hail I'd ever seen- it was about the size of nickels to quarters!

Well, this can "bruise" the roof and cause it wear terribly, crack, and break, aging it well ahead of it's normal end date. On our cul-de-sac, almost everyone was having their insurance company replace their roofs due to storm damage.

We called our insurance company, and they denied the claim. Having had about 4-5 roofing companies come out with estimates, we got lots of opinions to the contrary. But, with a roof over our head that wasn't leaking (yet) we didn't feel ready to shell out of pocket for a new roof ourselves. I was bitter, and frustrated every time I heard the pounding and hammering going on around us- it felt like everyone was getting new roofs except us! [pout] "I want a new roof!"

This spring, there was another storm and we soon found that a leak was coming in through our dining room. Turns out, in April there was another sizable storm with severe wind that has disturbed countless homes in the area. We had a handyman patch the issue temporarily, and he recommended we place a claim with insurance.

Having dealt with them the previous year, and be shot down, I didn't feel like wasting my time on it immediately. Yeah, yeah, I'll get around to it. But then I didn't. See, the leak wasn't coming in anymore and I got busy.

This week, I finally had a roofing company come out (not just a handyman) and they were insistent that a new roof was necessary and they "couldn't believe" an insurance company would disagree. All cynical like, I said "we'll see" and told him I'd follow up with him after a call to insurance. Which I placed yesterday.

So, today, the adjuster called me back and gave me a list of roofers they work well with and said we could deal directly with them without an adjustor's appraisal (because they trust these roofers and would rather not waste their time, I guess). He was very matter-of-fact and much less difficult than whomever I spoke with last year. He didn't use "if" language, and used more of the "when you get your roof" language. This was all very encouraging to me and I am cautious but hopeful.

So, while this is itty bitty in the realm of What Is Important In Life, I would appreciate prayers for favor and happy well-wishes sent our way when the roofing guy comes this afternoon. A new roof, out-of-pocket would cost 6-10 thousand dollars. However, if it is covered, we only owe a $500 deductible. Not to mention house value and peace of mind.

Say it with me, "Roof! Roof!"

Matt and Kristy

This weekend, Eric and I flew to California for a friend's wedding.

We relied on the awesomeness of friends and neighbors and my dear brother-in-law, Tim for childcare so we could make the trip without the kids. As fabulous as this sounds (no kids!), it was primarily motivated by cost. Having already been as a family to California for my brother's wedding in March, this needed to be a quick trip and a much less expensive trip.

We arrived at LAX in the evening on Thursday and made our way up to the mountain community of Crestline. I couldn't see much, but when we circled Lake Gregory, with the moonlight reflecting on the water, I knew that this was going to be a beautiful wedding location. We helped Matt and Kristy finish up their favors, and I got to enjoy the pre-wedding chatter of the bride and her two sisters as well as a dress sneak-peek!

Matt has been a friend of mine since my senior year in high school, and one of Eric's close friends since his high school days. Kristy is now welcomed into the "friend family" and she is a perfect pairing to Matt. It feels so good to see a well matched couple enter into marriage.

Friday, we went where we were needed and then attended the rehearsal in the evening. I wasn't in the wedding, but Eric was a groomsman. Dinner was at an Inn overlooking the extreme valley below (we were 5,000 ft. up). Breathtaking. The area is called Rim of the World and I don't think there is a better description.

Each day seemed to be filled with fabulous catching-up with old friends. We stayed up waaaaay too late talking the night before the wedding. Kept the groom up until 1 or so.

The wedding day, I cherished an extended breakfast with Erika while all the men went to Billie Bears for their own breakfast (the previous breakfast was at Loose Caboose!). Gosh, I miss that girl! She mentioned that it was probably the longest time we've had together, uninterrupted, since Eric and I married. So sad, yet understandable.

The actual wedding was so terribly perfect. I could sense that lots of friends were part of the effort- doing flowers, serving drinks, arranging decorations. And the location couldn't have been more full of natural beauty. The ceremony was sincere and well spoken (they were married by a friend), food was great, talk was fun, and it's always amazing to be dressed up with my sweetie (goodness, he's handsome!). We were the very last ones to leave and hated saying goodbye to dear friends we'd reconnected with.

The following day, we left and made our way back toward the coast for our departing flight. It felt so strange to be in Southern California and NOT see our family. They were only about 1 1/2 hrs. away, but there wasn't time. :-(

There was just enough time, though, to have that horrible feeling of being caught between worlds- missing our kids and our home and our friends and neighbors.... and missing the California air, the mountains, and old friends. Can't we all just move to the same street and live happily ever after??!!

*thanks to Erika for many of these pictures. I only had my camera phone... which takes better pictures than I thought (like that first one...gasp!) so I will certainly not shy away from it next time!