One Month

Yesterday we celebrated our first month together as a Forever Family!  Just wanted to share a quick picture before mama heads to bed :)

Home At Last!

We have gone to India and returned home with our son!  What an experience.  Life is forever changed, for the good and the not so good.  Such a place of beauty (especially the people) and at the same time so much need.   

We returned home Sunday afternoon and it is now Wednesday very early morning.  The adjustment so far has been going as well as can be expected.  No one is sleeping well but the kids enjoy each other almost all the time.  Emerson is learning to share toys and Jatin is learning to tolerate constant hugs and kisses :)  Ainsley is along for the ride.  She loves watching her brother and sister and they are both so great with her.

Jatin calls Ainsley "baboo" (baby in Marathi or Hindi??) and touches her face and hands so gently.  This reassures me that he was loved at Bal Asha...he has seen caregivers touch babies that way.  He has felt the same touch I am sure.  Jatin is FULL OF ENERGY.  We did not see this side of him for the first several days.  It's like he is just too excited, he can't hold it in!  Every new toy (or household object) is a new something to explore, furniture is meant to be climbed and jumped from, and light switches are for turning on and off.  We are being firm but kind with him and he is learning the rules of his new household.  He is trying new foods and especially loved the vegatable soup and grilled cheese we had for lunch yesterday.  It is 1:48am and he just walked out into the kitchen :) Dada is on his way back to his room with him.  Did I mention adjusting to the time change has been really tough??

Emerson goes between really being interested in Jatin and wanting to play with him, chase him, and hug and kiss him to not being so sure.  At times she's not ready to share her most prized toys and even toys she barely looked at before Jatin joined us.  And she's not always alright with the attention that he gets from us.  She's been wanting to be held a lot and just seems unsure at times.  We are sensitive to this and try to reassure her the best we can.  We are also helping her to learn how to play with another child--she hasn't had much experiecne with this, but her big brother has.  He is so kind to her.  She fusses, he gives her what she wants...I wonder how long that will last??  Ha!

I will try to recap our stay in India soon.  Reading others' experiences really helped us and I'd like to be able to pass a little bit along to help someone else.  

Travel Approval--any day now!

We are waiting on the last step before we get travel approval.  C'mon immigration!  We have a little boy to bring home.  It seems crazy to be preparing to go.  We started this adoption journey so long ago and the wait is finally almost over.  Jatin will be home and I will sleep better knowing that all of my children are under the same roof.  Well, sleep maybe not so much-but there will be such a sweet peace in my heart. 

Daddy and I love you so much, Jatin!  We will be holding you in just a few weeks now.  Emerson is excited to meet you, too.  She talks about you everyday.  Points at your pictures around the house, lays on your bed, plays with your toys, shows us where you will sit at our kitchen table.  You are so, so loved.  By your earthly family and more importantly, by your heavenly Father. 

WE ARE COMING, JATIN!!

When we spoke to Lisa on Friday, she said to prepare for travel in 3-4 weeks!!!   Our IL clearances have arrived and Jatin's passport is at his RIPA.  JOH sent our new homestudy to immigration and asked that our case be expedited.  We could have our travel approval as soon as next week!!  Please keep all of us in your prayers as we prepare to travel and become a family of 5!

We are getting there...

Yesterday we heard from our agency that we have our IL clearances.  We are now only waiting on an IL endorsement letter, the go ahead from immigration (we updated our finger prints on 12/21/12), and to hear that Jatin's passport in at his RIPA.  Then it's time to travel!!  THIS IS THE YEAR!  We are going to meet our son soon.

Sleepy Mama is Back

Well, after going private months ago and only blogging a handful of times--we are back to public and I'm back to blogging-when I can keep my eyes open :)  SO MUCH has happened since my last entry.

1. Justin accepted a job on August 24th in Illinois
2. We welcomed our second daughter, Ainsley Caroline, into our family on August 25th.
3. We moved from Cleveland to about an hour south of Chicago on October 10th.
4. Jatin turned 3 on November 13th.

After moving we learned that we'd have to REDO our homestudy in Illinois, not just update it like we thought.  Thankfully, this process has gone pretty quickly.  Our homestudy has been written and is now being reviewed.  We have our fingerprinting appointment set for immigration.  Jatin's passport hasn't arrived at BAT yet.  Hopefully our paperwork and his passport are all ready at the same time.  We are now thinking February or March before we travel.  What a roller coaster!

Thanksgiving Day- 2012

 Picture of Ainsley at 11 weeks

WE PASSED!!!!

Just got off the phone with Lisa from JOH.  I can hardly believe it--WE PASSED COURT!!!!  This is unbelievably fast!  Lisa estimates our travel timeline between November and January now.  Things are going to get super crazy around here...but we know our God has everything in His control.  He won't leave us alone for a minute.  What a wonderful, wonderful surprise!  I can't wait until Justin comes home so we can celebrate as a family!  Maybe Olive Garden?  That's where we go when we are celebrating!  We officially have a son!  My eyes are welling with tears.  I just want to go get him-like NOW.  First things first.  His little brother or sister has to arrive first (due date is the last day of this month!)  What an August this is turning out to be and it's only the 1st :)