Updates and Lysol Wipes

I am officially kind of emerging from my flu-ridden world.
That is, if "kind of" means still in my pajamas, on the couch, under a blanket, but sitting up as opposed to laying down and/or passed out.
That is a good step in the right direction if you ask me!

So instead of entertaining myself by lysol wiping absolutely EVERYTHING in our home, I decided that my first task would be to spend some time giving all of you a much needed and much belated update on everything that is going on in our adoption world.

If you have been following our crazy lives, then you know some crazy stuff is happening...and happening fast. So, we thought that we would address some of the major questions that we've been asked in the past few weeks.

So hold on to your hats people...here we go!

YOU ARE ADOPTING AGAIN?! WHA?!?! MORE INFO PLEASE?!?!

Yes. Yes we are indeed! At the beginning of January, we felt God tugging on our hearts to do more than just sit around and wait for a referral from Ethiopia. But we had NO idea what that entailed! As we prayed, talked, and looked at information, we both discovered that our hearts were in the same place.

Adopting an older child.

Eek! That is so not how you are supposed to start a family, right?! I mean...at least not for your first kid! Maybe down the road when you are older, huh?! (this is just a sample of part of my early thought process...)

Since the beginning of our adoption process, I had seen a little girl on our agencies site that was older. I was constantly drawn back to her beautiful face, but never really thought anything of it. When Erik and I both realized that we were being called in that direction, she was my instant thought. She grabbed both of our hearts in a moment and there was no question but to pursue her and bring her home to be a part of our family.

SO HOW OLD IS SHE, WHERE IS SHE FROM, WHAT IS HER NAME?


She is 5 but will be 6 by the time we bring her home from South Africa!
And we could not be more thrilled!

The moment that we made our official decision, Erik was basically 6 steps out the door to buy her a backpack and nail polish.

Yup. He's gonna be a great dad.

She does also have a name however we are not able to share on our blog at this time. We will tell you that it is a beautiful, South African, perfect name.

And seriously, what doesn't go well with "Anderson"? Maybe "Shmamberson"? But come on...

WHEN DO YOU GET TO BRING HER HOME?

We don't have any official timeline right now, but our hopes are that we will be able to travel to South Africa this summer sometime to bring her home.
It is all pretty dependent on how quickly we can get our paperwork done!
Yes...that is right....
ALL OVER AGAIN.

We are currently updating our home study and working on putting together a new Dossier for South Africa (which is a BEHEMOTH if you don't recall from this post).

But...
Worth every second.

So here are three cheers to Notaries, State Seals, and Immigration!

WHAT ABOUT YOUR ADOPTION FROM ETHIOPIA?

We are still VERY much adopting from Ethiopia and still feel like that is where God has pulled our hearts to as well.
Our timeline with that adoption has not and will not change because of our pursuing a second adoption. Ethiopia allows families to do concurrent adoptions and with the wait time that we were given (24-29 months) for a referral, our Ethiopian adoption could still take a while.

God certainly has huge plans that we could never in a million years have fathomed. But when you are willing to take a risk, jump in head first, and bet the farm on God...
He usually shows up with something unbelievable, undeniable, and absolutely unexpectedly perfect.

So our hearts eagerly await bringing home our child from Ethiopia who will join us and a wonderful sister.

HOW CAN WE BE HELPING/WHAT CAN WE DO?

We continue daily to be overwhelmed with people who say they are praying for us or people who just want to check in to see how things are going. It is unbelievable and so encouraging!

This may come as a shock, but we LOVE to talk about adoption!

So keep asking questions and keep praying!

As you all know, this process is NUTS...like roller coaster nuts. There are a lot of ups and downs, curves and corkscrews, and sometimes unexpected bumps.

We won't always have all the answers but we will always be as open with you as we can be!

As far as prayer goes, here are a few specific things that you can be praying for:

1. Pray for our daughter. She is a beautiful, joyful, and spirited young girl who is waiting for a family. Please pray for her safety, health, and her spirit as God prepares her and us to become a family. This transition will not be easy but it will be beautiful. 

2. Please pray for the process to move swiftly - paperwork, notaries, authentifications, home-study updates, and verifications. The faster the paperwork is approved, the faster we get to bring home our daughter. 

3. Finances! By saying yes, we have taken on two adoptions at one time. The cost of 1 adoption is about $32,000, so we are now looking at a cost of around $64,000 to bring home our children. God has been SOOOOOOOOOOO faithful and we have been so supported and loved throughout this process already by so many people. We've been working extra hard, taking on new jobs, and saving like crazy. Specifically, though, this adoption process from South Africa is going to move significantly faster, therefore requiring us to have to pay for it much more quickly. Please be praying that the amount of money that we need at each step will be available and that we can trust God fully to provide as we walk forward! 

4. Please pray for Erik and I as we walk through this process. That our hearts would remain steadfast, our eyes would remained focused on the Lord, and that we would continue to fall more in love with each other as we build our family. 

I often say that I don't know how people could even dream of going through the adoption process alone.

We don't even have words to describe the amount of love and support we have been show and how many people have wrapped their arms around us and carried us through this journey. 

We are so excited to share this next piece with you all and can't wait to introduce you all (hopefully soon) to our precious daughter! 

So for now...

That is the latest Anderson Way of Life Update. 

Signing off.

(I'm such a nerd.)