How I spend my time.......

Shopping of course.... Such great deals now for next summer... Let's hope my guestimates are right when in comes to his size. Our latest update was 16.7 lbs and 27 inches long. I'm taking it in stride, since we were told that Ahly was 17 lbs and when we got her home she was just of 14lbs.

So where are we, well we are waaaaaiiiiitttttttinnnng! The Calcutta courts are closed until November 3rd. All we need is the judge to hear our case and sign the guardianship papers. Appears we missed it by one day. Another very blessed family had their papers scrutinized the day before ours and received guardianship the last day courts were in session.... I keep telling myself there is a reason for all this - faith in God is what we have to have. So pray we are on the docket right out of the shoot on November 3rd - - sure would be nice. Really our only chance of having Dreyden home by Christmas is if the case is heard during that first week of November!

So we(I) shop - I call it therapy too (hehe) Here's a sample of what we've gotten.

This one actually says "my first tree stand" - while the baby is in a highchair! Had to get it for Daddy.

I really love the elephant one!

I'll definitely post more as it happens, but for now - it may be quiet until November...

1 more step down

We just received word that all our legal documents have been scrutinized. We now just wait on the Judge to sign the guardianship papers. At this point, we don't know if we lucked out with a court date this week. I would certainly doubt it. If we didn't, then we're looking at some time in November. Still faster than we thought. Once this is done then just a few last strings to tie up

1. Get passport for Dreyden to enter the US (about 3-4 weeks)
2. Get ICPC done (contract between our State and Oklahoma) (done while passport being issued)
3. ONLY when 1 & 2 are done - Make hotel and airline reservations.
4. Finally bring Dreyden home :)

Pray that things continue to move quickly - - I really want my baby boy home by Christmas!!!!

surprise!

We got new pictures today. He is changing so much.... Looking more like his 5 month pictures than his 7 month. Good and healthy with baby fat!!!! (not that you can see it on these pictures) Gotta love it! We found out that a family that filed and received their NOC right before us has had their legals scrutinized and are now just waiting on the Judge. Hopefully, our scrutinization will be right behind them too now. Should would be great to travel this year yet :)

Totally hear him saying "Hello, I'm right here - what's the hold-up????"

catch-up time

Now that we have received NOC and are beginning the loooong wait for guardianship, I thought I'd take the time to post some pictures and update on the last two weeks.

First, our little angel started pre-school - - where has the time gone. As you can tell by the pics it started out great and then she got nervous Now we've also been doing some camping and got a few nice pictures of Ahly building her first sand castle.

And lastly, we decided that our bedroom needed a makeover - so out came the paint and our little helper too!

Things are moving......

We just received word that our NOC (No Objection Clearance) has been granted by CARA (Central Adoption Resource Agency). This is the first step of the 3 step process. We are now on our way for scrutinization by the court, followed by a guardianship hearing with the Judge. It would be really nice to have this done in the next 3 weeks, because the courts are literally shut down for the Month of October.(for religious holidays) THIS IS NOT LIKELY. The Judge has been known to take 4-7 months for these next two steps. We are praying that this is not the case for us. Maybe he'll feel like leaving October 1st with a clean desk !!!! Oh that would be so nice :)

Please pray for a speedy process - it would be the best Christmas present ever!