Paperwork Problems

At this point, it has been 3 months since we met the boys for the first time. The first month and a
half-ish, the two states were negotiating the contract. When the boys came to visit, the ICPC was just being sent off.

Here's what I knew about ICPC then (from Internet research):

It wasn't supposed to take too long. It's basically the boys home state going through a checklist, checking off that we have everything, sending everything to Colorado, Colorado doing the same thing and sending it back saying approved, then we get the call saying come get your boys! It could take a week to two weeks.

Well, well, well. About a week after our ICPC was sent off, we got a call from our county. "Hi, we need to schedule your home study and we're sending you some fingerprint cards in the mail." "Uh, WHAT?!" We told them we had a home study and we'd done fingerprint cards, background checks, child abuse checks (in every state we've ever lived in) and they were basically saying that none of that was any good and it had to be done through the county instead of through an agency. We couldn't be too mad at the girl calling because she was just reading what the paperwork Nevada had sent said.

Oh, by the way, we went through a private, small agency to get all this done. So, of course, the head of our agency was in AFRICA that week. We called our caseworker, here in Colorado, and told her what the county had said and she immediately said she'd call and get it taken care of because it made no sense. While she was working on figuring out the problem, for about 3 days we thought we were going to have to go through EVERYTHING again. I was MAD.

Finally, by the end of the week, our caseworker and the county person called us and told us that the paperwork had been filled out wrong. There was just one box that needed to be checked. Easy fix, right? Wrong. There are no easy, quick fixes. The paperwork had to be REDONE and RESUBMITTED to Nevada, then sent to our county, then Colorado.

"Ok, so once it gets to Colorado and they approve it that's it, right?" We asked.
"Yes." They all replied.

Fast forward a week to yesterday. We call our caseworker. She tells us that Colorado has approved it and sent it to Nevada to be approved. WAIT, WHAT?! Yeah, once Colorado approves it then Nevada reapproves it (I guess) and we should be getting the call ANY DAY NOW.

We have been told ANY DAY NOW for about the past two weeks. Every time we think it's over, there's something else that pops up.

This process has made me remember something that somebody, somewhere at some point in my life told me:
"The devil doesn't want you to have the things that are good and right for you. If you are going after something that is right for your life, he is going to throw every obstacle at you but that's how you know what you're doing is right."

If there has ever been anytime in my life that this quote has fit perfectly, it's NOW. There have been SO MANY OBSTACLES trying to get our boys here. We already know that this is what God wants but that quote is getting me through this trying time.

So, here's to ANY DAY NOW, which could be this week, next week or next month. Our boys will get here when they're supposed to. And life will change dramatically and we can't wait but we are trying to enjoy these days where it's just the two of us.

xoxo
nikki

It's Fixed

When the boys were here visiting D noticed these pictures on our wall:

And asked me why we had these states on our wall. I answered that those were all the states that we had lived in. His next question was where Nevada was. Without thinking, I answered we've never lived in Nevada. His response "Me and Q live there". Immediately I told him that he was right and we'll have to fix the wall. Well today, I finally fixed it:

It's truly incredible how much love I have for these two little humans who have only been in my life 3 months. I also had some pictures printed from Shutterfly to hang on our wall and when I showed them the pictures over FaceTime they were so excited. They even remembered taking them! D asked me where I was going to put them and I asked him if he wanted me to wait until he gets here and he can help me hang them which he was really excited about!

We are missing them so much and although FaceTime is awesome, it is also hard to see their faces and not be able to hug them. We are just going day by day, hoping to hear that our placement has been approved by both states. This process has been slow and hard to handle on some days. Like that one day when the county called me and told me they had to do a new home study for us and we had to have our fingerprints redone. Yeah, that happened. Thankfully, it was all a HUGE misunderstanding and our home study and fingerprints that we already have were correct. And then other days are good. Like when Cliff and I go shopping at 10pm and I think about how soon we won't be able to do that. I'm living in the moment right now. Not planning for the future, just taking every day as it comes. Trying to be positive.

When life gets too hard, I always fall to my knees. God knows His plan for us and all we have to do is have faith and trust in Him. The timing will work out how it's supposed to. The boys will get here when they are supposed to.

xoxo
nikki