NAMES, GENDERS AND AGES - OH MY!

Thankfully, within the last week we have gotten everything else we needed paperwork-wise to Nichole's desk at Children's Hope.  It all should have been there by 10:00 this morning.  (This should be all that Colombia needs in order to give us an official referral match with the children!)  We knew Nichole was flying back from Colombia last night and that she would be in the office for a few hours today, and just in case she had a chance to forward our paperwork on to Colombia, we wanted it ready for her!

We knew she would be in today - we just didn't know when.  I thought if we did hear from her it would be in an email, so I was really surprised when Kevin came over and said he needed to see me in the office - quickly. 

I didn't have a clue. 

I heard Tyler yell from the kitchen, "Did you get a phone call?" 

I still didn't have a clue. 

Kevin replied in an unbelievably steady voice, "Yes.  That's why I need your mother." 

I'm starting to catch on.  

"Yahoo!" yelled Tyler. 

How did he figure it all out before I did???  

At the door Kevin had to explain to me that Nichole had called!  He said that she had names, genders, birthdays and where they were from!  Ever hear the expression, "Be still my heart?"  I'm not sure if it fits, but I think mine stopped for a few seconds.  Words can not describe how I felt just KNOWING that we were going to get to hear this information. 

We quickly left the children in the house, letting them know we would be back soon to share with them what we found out, and headed over to Kevin's office.  I grabbed pen and paper while Kevin made the call - Oh, no!  He had to leave a message!  I asked if he tried Nichole's direct line and got that for him.  Still busy.  I theorized that Nichole was on the other end giving another family good news and that it could take awhile, so I headed back to the house.  Kevin and I agreed that he would call me on my cell when Nichole called him,and then I would come back to the office.

Back at home, as I walked in the door I yelled that we didn't know anything yet because the phone was busy.  I didn't want the kids getting their hopes up for information just because I walked in the door.

I got myself settled down again at the same place where I am now - yup, in front of the computer.  In just a few more minutes MY phone rings and it's Nichole!  She must not have received Kevin's message to call him at the office.  I had Nichole wait a minute while I got my shoes on and headed back over to Kevin's office.  (His office is above our detached garage.  We wanted to talk to Nichole there b/c we have a nice land-line, otherwise it is just my cell phone with poor reception).  He was surprised when I showed up!  I gave Nichole Kev's office number and had just enough time to grab the pen and paper while waiting for her to call back.


The ages and the genders of the children couldn't be more perfect.  Here is what we learned:

The oldest is a boy and he is 9 years old.
The next is a girl and she is 6 years old.
The next is another girl and she is 4 years old, but will be 5 in December.
The youngest is another boy and he is 3 years old (we thought originally 2 years old).

That means if we travel in January to pick them up, our children will be: 13, 12, 10, 9, 6, 5, 4 and 3!  Oh my - look at it the other way!  They will be 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12 and 13!  It's going to be FUN!  Oh, and as another adoptive mom pointed out to me - we will have 8 children within a 10 year time-span.  I love it.

We did learn their names, but I'm not sure if I can share that yet.  I'll ask next week and then post here if I can.  We also learned that they are from Florencia.  While researching Florencia I found the blog of another family who adopted a sibling group of 3 from the same area.  I'll put that on my side bar.  As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to read through their entire blog!

One of the things that we were hoping for is that we would travel by the end of the year, but that doesn't look like it is going to happen.  Nichole said that ICBF (Colombia) was very disappointed with this as they really like to see the children with their new families as soon as possible, and they hoped we were an I600 family.  If we were doing this adoption under what is called "I-600" then we could have traveled in about 2 weeks.  But since we are what is called an "I-800" family, it will take our government at a minimum of 5 weeks to process all the paperwork they have us fill out.  Bah.  Humbug.

Fortunately, I am a BIG believer in God's perfect timing and that all things are for His glory.  I am totally excited to be a part of this adoption adventure and grateful that He has opened our hearts to building our family through adoption.  The waiting will be hard, but when we do finally get to meet our children it will be all the more sweeter because it is His perfect timing - and not ours (which isn't so perfect).

Can't wait to share more information with all of you!

In His name,

Karen

OH!  I forgot to share how Carissa, Tyler, Laurel and Lyric responded to the news.  Tyler was happy to hear that the 3 year old was a boy - he is finally (after 12 years) getting himself a brother.  We said the next two were girls and everyone was really happy about that.  Finally, we said that the oldest, who was 9, was a boy.  Tyler, who was on the other side of the room from me and sitting on the couch, jumped up, ran to me and tackled me in pure joy and happiness.  Laurel is happy that at least one of the older ones is a girl.  Carissa is just happy she is getting more siblings.  And Lyric, we told her she was going to be a big sister.  So far, she's really liking it!