We're All Together

So much since the last post....

When we were dropped off at 10:30ish we were told by Percy that he was going to bring Grace to us between 4 and 5. We noticed however in our brief tour of the area that people seem to move at their own pace and clocks are seriously non existent. So, we prepared ourselves for Grace and Percy to be late and arrive closer to 6ish. At 6:45 Dallan went down to the front desk to ask them to call Percy since we hadn't heard anything. After a call, we learned that Percy had gotten stuck in some traffic and would be about 40 minutes more. Again we added and hour for local pace. At 8:30 we wandered down to the restaurant to order some dinner and ask again about Percy. They said he was close. At 9:45 we still hadn't heard or seen anything so Dallan once again went down to the front desk to be connected to Percy but there was a new man working the desk and he had no idea what or whom we were talking about! By this point I was pacing and freaking out. We didn't know what else to do so I whipped out the laptop and was in the process of sending Jen (the Director at the Agency and our social worker) an email about the whole thing. I seriously was beginning to wander if we'd ever see this little girl! No sooner had I typed the address in the line we heard a car pull up and Dallan went to the window. Sure enough it was Percy and a woman from the orphanage with Grace. Dallan waved, Percy waved back and we headed down to the lobby to meet them both.

Juliet has been Grace's main caretaker thus far. She was a beautiful woman and completely dedicated to our little one. It made me happy to know she was being so well taken care of and that so many people loved her. After a few minutes of talking shop with Percy about today and Juliet about feeding/sleeping routines we were sent on our way.

Climbing those stairs with Grace and her gear was so surreal. Here she finally was in Daddy's arms. She took to Dallan right away and giggled at all the noises he makes. They danced a little and played airplane while I fixed her bottle. Then I got some snuggle time and fed her her bottle and changed her diaper. She has these ponytails all over her head that I have wanted to remove from the first picture so I started on that but the things are in tight and on the second one she had had enough! She can definitely scream when she wants! Luckily it was just sleepiness that had washed over her and after a couple minutes of gentle bouncing she was calm enough to change her into pajamas and rock her to sleep. Dallan snuggled her on the bed while I prepped the 4am bottle feeding (which, yay for us she hasn't needed yet!) and then we put her to bed. We have no other option but co-sleeping right now, which we are against; but laying there with her in between us was something I was unprepared for. I watched her all night through every peep and movement (and seriously this girl is a worm; all over the place all night!). She is still asleep as its 5:30 here but we're as awake as can be. More later....

AKWABA

WELCOME! We are finally here! We got in this am after the longest, most uncomfortable flight ever! We are waiting for our daughter to arrive from the orphanage and then we'll be set for the next week. More posts later...

Fit 2 the Core

My friend Emily and I have been working out at Fit 2 the Core for a few months now. We've been going an average of three times a week for an hour's worth of circuit training. In the past couple weeks we've found our niche at 5am (yes, I'm actually up AND working out then....). Emily's been having great success; every time she's on the scale she's down something and you can totally see her body changing. It's been great to see her go, but.... I can't tell a difference at all. I'm actually up 5 pounds and everyone keeps telling me that "muscle weighs more than fat" and while I can feel the muscle, I also don't feel any different and I was really starting to get discouraged. Well, today we went and had our measurements taken and it was GREAT!!! I've lost four inches in my waist and three in my hips and about a 1/2 inch from my neck, arm, thigh and calf. WOO HOO it's finally paying off!!!

Ghana Make a Long Flight...

We just booked our airfare to Ghana!!!! We leave early morning on the 7th and return the afternoon of the 17th. We will need to make two trips (at least I will, Dallan will be in Texas for the Air Force) so Grace won't be coming home this time but the days are limited and we're almost there! We will get to have her with us the entire time we are there so just 9 days to go until we are holding our daughter for the very first time!

Goodbye US, Hello Ghana

Dallan and I will be leaving on May 9th to spend the first of two trips in Ghana. We are FINALLY meeting our daughter!!!! It's been a surreal situation and after 5 years of trying it seems so crazy to just board a plane and have her in our arms. We couldn't be happier or more overwhelmed. Anyways, more details to come soon but if all goes well Grace will be home around mid June!

Newness...

I realized as I checked my email today that I hadn't checked any one's blog in quite awhile so I decided to leave yahoo and venture into the blogging world and do you know what I found? I discovered that two friends are waiting to be mommies; one for the second time and one is a first timer. My sister Chelsea is also expecting as are my sister in-laws Jazmine and Merilee. I also have two friends expecting in May and June (and another just delivered the cutest little man...). I love the spring; everything is new and fresh and I'm reminded in abundance this year how miraculous new life is! What a year 2009 will be for adorable new kids!

Time for an Update...

We should have known that when things were going so well that we'd eventually hit a speed bump....This whole adoption process has been so strangely wonderful and emotional. Grace's case went before the judge on February 26th and was approved! The social worker happened to be in Ghana at the time helping some North Carolina families get their little ones home (apparently there were some complications with background checks). We were told that she would get back to us in a few days and get us a travel date. We have patiently waited since then. On Thursday I couldn't help but drop an email as it had been a week. Then we waited and waited and waited. Finally today Dallan made a phone call and said he'd call me when he had talked to her. When I saw his name on my caller ID about an hour later while I was a Target I just about freaked out I was so excited. I couldn't wait for that date to hold my little girl in empty arms. That's not the news Dallan had to share with me however. This is the news, copied directly from my email.....

"Hi Kirsten,

Attached you will find a few pics that were taken of your baby last week. I
just spoke with Dallan and I explained to him that we currently have two
families in Ghana picking up their babies, and we have found that the US
Embassy in Ghana is conducting much more thorough orphan investigations than
we had originally anticipated. This is actually good news for both the
babies and the birth mothers, even though it will lengthen your wait time
and change your travel plans, as it will ensure that the babies have been
legally relinquished by their birthmothers.

In order to meet the stringent US Embassy requirements we are taking the
following pre-emptive measures:

1. We are doing matching birthmother/baby DNA
2. We are arranging for voluntary birthmother interviews.

In order to do this, however, we must first make sure that Esi's birthmother
has a legal form of identification, such as a voter registration card and/or
a passport. If she does not have this our coordinator in Ghana will be
tasked with making sure she arranges for it. Once she has ID, we will take
her and the baby to the medical center for DNA testing. This test takes 4-6
weeks to complete.

After the DNA testing is complete we will request that you and Dallan fly to
Ghana to file your I-600. This should be a short trip of 3-5 days. At this
point, it is taking roughly 3-4 weeks for the I-600's to be adjudicated.
Once the I-600 packet is ready you will return to Ghana for the visa
interview and to pick Esi up. We anticipate that this trip will take about
10 days.

I hope this answers any questions that you might have. As you know, this is
a pilot program so we are learning as we go! Stay positive, she's almost home.

Cheers,"

Don't tell me to stay positive; I know there isn't much else I can do but that so isn't what I needed to hear! YUCK!!! I could barely keep my cool in Target as I thought of her empty room for another two months. I find myself praying, "please don't crawl - I don't want to miss EVERYTHING!"

I am trying to remind myself that there is ALWAYS a plan and that Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. I can guarantee we will look back and thank Him for the blessings of this trial. Just for now, just for tonight though, we're gonna cry. Keep us in your prayers would you?

Here's the latest picture of our angel along with the liaison that's helping us get her home; Percy. She's so cute with her little hair-do!