Finally

INTRODUCING ADDISON LEIGH PENNINGTON--Proud Mama, Nikki Pennington Proud Great-Aunt..... ME!

Mission-Possible

Fingerprinting...CHECK. It felt a little CSI, a little Mission Impossible...we walked in, got frisked by security (hehe, ok, frisked isn't the best verb), sat and watched other families (some were adopting child #2), were escorted into a small room, and asked a series of questions (ya know, top security stuff like, "Is your maiden name spelled correctly?") Then we had our fingers cleaned and then a technician pressed them on to a glass screen. Yup, no ink pad in sight. Our prints flashed up on the screen, the technician waited to see if they were a go, then went on to individual prints. My tech was a little stressed (long day of holding hands w/ strangers) and kept telling me NOT to roll my fingers. The Sadler in me said, "Um, I'm not. I'm letting YOU do the rolling." So, she got snippy with me twice (AND LOOKED YOUNGER THAN ME!) so I filled out the mandatory comment card with "Good" instead of "Excellent" for the technician. SO THERE! *sticks out tongue*

Blah blah blah...Tony said she'll probably mark my prints unreadable, and I'll have to redo them. Ha. Ha. It's never smart to tick of government employees. Right, Tony?

AND

...and we found out that if our fingerprint form expires (the one we're getting printed for today) in the next 18 months, then we have to pay $600.00 for a new one! That's $600.00 less to spend on our Abby! Sheesh!

I got your comment Cammie and Josh. The journal to Abby is a good idea. It is SO good that I started it about a year or more ago! eheheheh. I've been writing to our child for so long. Just letters and miscellaneous thoughts. It was neat in February of this year though because I got to actually address my letters and thoughts to our baby girl. Then, once we decided on Abby, I've been able to write to her by name. We also have this blog to show her later. It will show her how much we have loved and prayed for her over the months. It will also show her how much her family and friends love her!

I know God has a little one that will be a PERFECT fit for our family. I'm just SO excited to meet her!

God is faithful, and so I will be too.

*sigh*

I know, I know, God's timing is perfect and we'll have many months of waiting and delays. But word on the street is that the wait time is going up once again. I know, I know, we knew it was going to go up, but it just stinks! Ok, that does it. I need to buy something for Abby. Look out Tony!

There, I vented. Thanks for listening.

Passport Dance

WHOO HOO, we're doing the passport dance! Bet you're wondering what that looks like!

We got the passports in yesterday, and we already feel like international travelers!

That's one small step for man, one giant leap toward Abby!

Thanks for all of your encouragement yesterday. It means a lot that we have such a supportive set of friends and family. Abby's forever family. I'm proud to say you're mine too.

Just a thought

Abby was weighing heavily on my mind yesterday. I was just thinking about her and wondering if she has been born yet. (I have a hunch that she has) Every day I grow more and more in love with a little girl that I have yet to see. I needed something, a touch from Abby or something. God was faithful. While walking through the house, I went into Abby's nursery. I walked to her side window and looked out. We're blessed with a beautiful Japanese Maple tree (I think) that is in full bloom and pink and glorious. Well, as I stood there and looked, I began to notice hundreds and hundreds of ladybugs moving about and flying in and around the tree. For those who don't know, ladybugs are a sign of good fortune for China adoptions. It was a beautiful sight, and no doubt one that I would have never noticed had God not led Tony and I down this path to parenthood. It made me happy, sad, and peaceful. Our Abby is going to come home soon.

Check, not checkmate, just check

WHOO HOO got some good news! We received our fingerprint appointment from Citizenship and Immigration Services through the Department of Homeland Security. Sounds impressive eh? This means our homestudy is final and we're moving on!


The dish:

• The appointment is for April 26 and it will take a couple of weeks to get the results back.
• Our passports SHOULD be here any day!
• Once we have fingerprint approval, we get all our documents State sealed.
• We send it to Chicago for authentication.
• WE FINISH OUR PARENT WORKBOOKS.
• We send it to FTIA for translation
• WE SEND IT TO CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok ok, we're excited. Anyone who has done this before can understand our joy.

Thanks for tuning in for updates! We love you all! GOD IS GOOD!

We interrupt this blog for a political annoucement

We will be holding a public meeting to elect KRISTY RENEE ANDERSON as Mayor of Webster, Indiana.

Although Webster does not currently have the position of Mayor in its governmental books, KRISTY has vowed to rewrite those books! She's ready to move in, clean up, and take initials (she said she doesn't have time for full names).

Where does she stand on immigration? terrorism? ice cream sundaes? We'll get these and other probing questions answered at the upcoming debate. Her opponent? None other than, um, no one! (Everyione is too scared to run against her!)

Therefore, I implore you vote for change, vote for integrity, vote for KRISTY RENEE ANDERSON, for your next Mayor of Webster! Vote early, and vote often!

Paid for by those wishing to keep Kristy on their good side.

Picture

Grrrrrrrrrr cannot get the BEAUTIFUL pictures of Addison to work. Rest assured, I WILL conquer this...she may be 16 and ready to drive, but I WILL do it!

IT'S A GIRL!

Ok, no pictures yet, but IT'S A GIRL!

Details:

Addison Leigh
6 pounds 7 ounces
19 3/4 inches long
Born at 2:38 p.m.

Proud grandparents: Ronnie and Renee
Prouder great-grandparents: Marilyn and Bill

BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL!
Doncha wish I had pictures? I will soon...stay tuned :)

OK OK, an update

Ok, so many of you requested an update...so here goes.

• Tony checked on the status of our passports and they should be in next week.
• Our final copy of our homestudy should be in Friday.
• We should have our fingerprinting appointment in Indy in the next two weeks.
• We need to get a picture of the outside of our house but we're waiting for pretty mulch and flowers.
• I need to beat Tony to get him to work on more of the parent workbook.
• Everything needs taken to Indianapolis for the State Seal.
• Once that is complete, we can take everything to get it authenticated in Chicago. (Well actually, we have a courrier do that for us)
• Send everything to FTIA to be translated.
• Send our DOSSIER TO CHINA!

Did you notice that we have new additions to our blog? We now have a countdown until Dossier Day (June 12) when we send, or rather take, everything to FTIA in Evansville. This is the ladybug located at the top of the blog. We have also added a clock that will keep everyone posted on China time. This will let you know what Abby or her birth mother might be doing when you pray for her/them. For example, "Dear Lord, please let our Abby be sleeping peacefully, warmly and safely. Allow her to be dreaming of happy things, happy families, and joy that is to come. Amen." Ohhhh, there are lots of prayers I want to type, such as sound sleeping for her birth mom, peace with her decision, healthy eating choices, etc. etc.

Anyway, chugging right along! I'm trying to figure out how to add a list of links on here. Some of you will like some of the websites I've been looking at! Just stay tuned!

Speaking of stay tuned...STAY TUNED for late breaking news regarding Nikki's little one. She could be pushing right this second....YIKES! I'll post more later and possibly pics too!

Scripture

I found this scripture today while I was reading (now now, the kids were doing a benchmark writing). Anyway, I thought it was AWESOME!

Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your daughters from the east and gather you from the west. - Isaiah 43:5

Amazing, huh? GOD IS GOOD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our family this month!

Cammie, Robby, Nikki, Missy, Nikki's little one (any day now!)

Am I forgetting anyone????????

Good News and Bad News

Ok, so the good news first. We got a lot acomplished over the past week. We got our local criminal history checks back on official letterhead, we wrote our petition to adopt and got it approved, we worked on our parent workbook, we edited our homestudy and sent it back in, and our passports should be here any day now! I'm pretty impressed at our progress!

Now for the bad news. FTIA (our adoption agency) just posted on their website that the timeframe we're looking at from our Log in Date (LID) until referral has lengthened. Below is a copy of what they wrote.

"Families who are currently receiving referrals from the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) waited approximately 10-11 months after the dossier was officially logged in to the CCAA. This date is often referred to as the "Log In Date" or your "LID." FTIA is able to confirm the LID date with you about 4-6 weeks after your dossier is submitted to our office. Please Note: While we will always be happy to provide information regarding the most recent group of referrals as far as the time between their LID and referral, we cannot and will not attempt to predict when future referrals might arrive. Although it is tempting to try and guess, we do not want to provide information that is not based on fact to our families. We must also remind you that this time frame changes. The continuing trend presently is that we anticipate the wait to become longer and encourage our families to be prepared for such.

The biggest direct impact for the increase in wait time can be seen in the number of dossiers submitted to the CCAA in 2005 versus the number of children available and paperwork ready for matching. Because of a long-term stable program, quick time frames, etc. the number of dossier submitted in 2005 increased dramatically. The U.S. Department of State gave the statistic of approximately 7900 children adopted from China to the United States alone in the fiscal year of 2005. On the flip side, there has been a more subtle decrease of children who are available for international adoption. This could have been caused by better economic standards in China, increases in domestic adoption, changes in social policy, etc.--many less noticeable factors. Of the children available, the orphanages are working on getting children "paperwork ready" to be matched with families. There may also be indirect factors influencing time frames also, but this seems to be the most visible. Right now it is just taking longer to match children with families. We do want to recognize that while this is very difficult, it is not out of the ordinary to see time frames lengthen and shorten. A couple years ago the wait was up to 15-16 months and then dropped gradually back to 6 months; in turn it has been getting longer again. We anticipate the wait times to gradually increase over the next few months and will continue to update our literature, web site and information."

Just thought we'd update everyone on our journey to Abby. PLEASE PRAISE God for His faithfulness, and PRAY that God's timing be perfect (kairos) for when we meet and bring Abby home. Galatians 6:9--look it up!