it's becoming more real

there are days that i forget that we're waiting to adopt a baby, it's so surreal! i'll just be driving along with my 2 boys in the back seat & then think, "oh my gosh, we're #2 on the waiting list to adopt a baby from Uganda!"
this is all the Lord's doing! all His timing! ALL for His glory!!!
i need to be more faithful to pray for our baby. i am so grateful for the aunties that are caring for our baby even now... it's 5:45 in the morning in kampala. our baby will be waking up soon. i rejoice that this sweet one is in the Lord's hands. He holds them with His right hand.
i just watched these 2 "gotcha day" videos from families that have already adopted... pretty much i cried A LOT! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
al

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LMFqU1WaVE&feature=player_embedded
www.youtube.com/watch?v=duyL9UjLrdM&feature=player_embedded

we can now legally leave the country :)

so i had to apply for another passport to get my last name changed. :) & we had to apply for the boys' passports...
WE GOT ALL 3 OF THEM IN THE MAIL OVER THE PAST WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they said it would take up to 6 weeks & it only took about 2... praise the Lord! we're one step closer!
we also received an update from our agency, that there's no update. :) His timing is perfect!
please continue to pray for our sweet baby.
al

#2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we found out about a week ago that our family is #2 on the waiting list!!!!!!!! 2 families in front of us have received baby referrals & 2 families asked to put their processes on hold for a while, so that moved us up pretty quick. God is so so good & His timing is perfect! our adoption agency told us that they are working on our referral & they should have it to us "soon"!!!
we cannot wait to see the pictures of our sweet baby's face! to be able to give them a name & show the pictures to our boys & explain that this is their little brother or sister!
we're just a little excited!!!!!!!!!!! :)
al

purpose in the wait

we are about number 6 on the waiting list for a baby. the babies home recently hired someone who will go through all the babies' paperwork & place babies with families... prayerfully that means it will happen quickly. :) we have decided to take the boys with us to Uganda when we pick up our sweet little one. our family is so excited!!! we can't wait to post & let everyone know we are buying our plane tickets! ;) thank you for your continued prayers. His timing is perfect! we still need about $2,500.
al

BEYOND EXCITED!!!

OUR GOD IS SO GOOD! His timing is perfect! we just received our approval from US Immigrations to adopt from Uganda!!! I want to pack our family up & go get our baby RIGHT NOW! :) we had our biometrics (fingerprinting) done on May 10th. now we will send some more money in & our agency will send our baby preferences to the babies home in Uganda! we will just be waiting on the Lord & His timing to bring this baby home to us.
I am filled with so much joy & so many overwhelming emotions for this baby that we don't even know yet! how much more does our Father rejoice over us as He calls us His own & adopts us as sons & daughters!!!
thank you to all who has supported us, please continue to pray for us!!! we are one step closer!!!
al

paperwork sent to immigrations!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! our homestudy, copies of birth certificates & marriage certificate, our I-600a application & application fee have been sent to US immigrations! we put it in the mail yesterday! we are quite excited! we will probably be waiting a few weeks to hear from them. in the meantime we'll start working on our dossier. God is so good! we feel more excited everyday!

Russell Moore (author of Adopted for Life) is speaking in Jackson, Tn this Thursday at Fellowship Church. the church's adoption & orphan ministry has offered for families that are adopting to setup a booth to raise money. so cool! we will be selling our hymn cd, car decals, comedy dinner tickets & cupcakes! :) please pray the Lord blesses our efforts.

fundraising:
*we are now selling fair trade organic coffee through justlovecoffee.com - we get $5 for every bag sold
*Uganda car decals $6
*hymn cd (<<click the link to donate & download our cd)
*millie's bake shop is open for business! a dozen cupcakes for $25. like it on facebook!!

love u all,
al

home study complete!

hello!

our home study is complete! we went to read it over this past friday. there are a few corrections that our casework needs to make & then she'll be sending it to our adoption agency for approval. (our agency has to approve it because they know how Uganda likes the study to be written.) we will then send our home study & the I-600 form to US immigration for approval for international adoption!!! after we are approved by them we will have to go get fingerprinted again. then shortly after all that we will send our information to the babies home in Uganda & wait for a baby referral!!!!!! 

it is so crazy to think that our baby could be in Uganda right now in the babies home, on it's way there or still in it's mother's womb. the Lord could be knitting our sweet baby together EVEN NOW! our God is so so great! His purposes are good! this baby is His! 

our hearts are growing more & more everyday for this sweet life & for orphans all over the world. there are currently 147 million orphans worldwide! Father, thank You that You know everyone of them by name! You see their hurt & fears, You hold them! lead our family in how we are to be more involved in helping orphans. all for Your glory alone. amen.

love you all! thank you for your continued prayers & support!

al