Documents Sent to the Orphanage!

We found out our adoption agency sent all our materials (application, care package, etc.) to the orphanage yesterday!!  Getting closer...maybe end of next week??

No News (obviously)

I called the orphanage yesterday (October 17) to ask what size diaper Zac is wearing, what he eats, and whether he takes a bottle or sippie cup so I can go ahead and purchase those things since obviously he will be coming home in a couple of days! The adoption coordinator at the orphanage said, "A couple of days?! I don't even have an application for you."  (whatever that is!) Apparently she has never heard of me before. She has nothing. I was under the impression the orphanage has had our case file for a long time now, that all she was waiting for was our photo album that was supposed to have already been sent to them by LAN. Nope. She assured me she would call me immediately when they received our application (there's that word again!) from LAN, but as of now they have zero information about our family or who Zac is matched with.  I have to say I am shocked and mortified about that. Trying to stay peaceful, trying to stay calm, trying not to think about it 24/7.

Ughghghg I hear the enemy whispering in my ear again, "This will never happen. This is not going to happen." Get thee behind me Satan in the name of Jesus. I am trying to stay positive...

There's a whole lot more I want to say about this. A lot. But I don't want to write too much on this public blog. So I am going to do some homeschool/teacher paperwork so I don't have to think about it anymore. What else is there to do but completely forget about the fact that we could have a baby tomorrow, or three weeks from now, or NEVER?!

i800 Approved!

We found out our i800 was approved and was mailed out to us yesterday! Such a huge relief!!

The two agencies chatted about our case (stateside and Kenyan) and now the agency can send our care  package to Baby Zac. I had assembled our care package and dropped it off at their office before we left for vacation at the end of August. So I am happy they already have it in their possession and can just drop it off.  That is the first step. Next the orphanage sets the date for when we are allowed to start the bonding process. They say it usually takes two weeks to prepare the child for the bonding process, but given the fact he is so young then maybe they will waive that two week period. Honestly, in my opinion this two week period is completely unnecessary. His mommy and daddy and brothers and sisters literally live 30 minutes away (or less if no traffic!) so why can we not get him immediately? I have to say I will be very, very upset if they set a date that is far out.  Today is the 16th. Zac needs to be with his family! Why would they want to keep him any longer?  So we'll see...

Trying to be patient.  But this is so stressful!!

Care Package for the Baby

We are trying to think about what we want to place in Baby Zac's care package.
I have read somewhere (on a China adopt blog) that disposable cameras are a good idea. Not sure about that one though.
So far I am thinking: baby blanket, stuffed animal/rattle, small photo album of our family and house, and a few laminated photos hole-punched so they can ziptie them to his crib (thanks TH for that idea!).
I realize we may never see any of these items again, too, so I am not sending anything irreplaceable.
And he is only 15 months old, so he may not understand any of this at all. But we can try!
I have been sleeping with his baby blanket every night so it will have our scent. That sounds really weird but maybe I won't be completely foreign to him when he sees me for the first time on Gotcha Day!