Waiting

AJ is waiting for us!

I was thinking of the book Charlotte's Web this morning. It's one of my favorite children's book, and there is a line on waiting that is quite profound to me.  

"Life is always a rich and steady time when you are waiting for something to happen or to hatch."

While waiting for AJ's passport is frustrating at times, I find that it is also a rich time in our family. Everyone takes turns encouraging each other because it is an emotional roller coaster.  Lots of hugs have been given.  We have used our time much more wisely than normal.  There is the need to make sure everything is ready daily.  We have made extra effort with Brody to have good quality time with him as he will not be traveling with us.  There have also been sweet conversations with Brody as we confirm in his heart he is loved greatly, and our love for him will never change.  Brody in return has had exciting conversations with us as he plans all the things he wants to do with his brother.  All the precious words said lately have made family life rich indeed!  

When waiting we can dwell on all the negative things or we can be thankful for the positive things that are happening.  Taking a step back to put life in perspective is very important. Good is happening daily so why not enjoy it! 

Update-

*Week 5 of waiting for AJ's passport

*Passport status changed to "printing" yesterday 

*We have been told Anirudha is eager for us to come

*We are excited he knows about us 

*We have his clothes packed and ready to go

Sweetness

It's been the sweetest week!  We have been celebrating our written court order making Anirudha James Brice officially our son.  We can't wait to go get him very soon!  Today is Valentine's Day which I like to call the Day of Sweetness.  This one seems extra sweet because of the celebrating of AJ and being snowed in together.  We keep talking about what would AJ think of all this snow.  In fact every conversation ends up being about AJ.  FUN!
What would he think about this food?
Do you think he would like this in his room?
I wonder if this shirt will fit him?
Can we get another one of these toys for AJ?
One of these kids could end up being Anirudha's best friend!

While he has already worked his way in our hearts, it's been nice to actually start working him into our lives.  We have been getting his room ready.  Ryan has spent hours working on travel arrangements.  We been talking about how to make him comfortable at home.  Brody is talking about all the things he can show AJ this summer like the pool, the ocean, the zoo, the museum, the library, etc.  It's a joy to make plans for AJ and to do things for him!  Seriously, to finally be able to do things for our son is the coolest thing!

Ever have a dessert so sweet you didn't know how to handle it?  That's what our life is like right now!  Pure sweetness!  We have been amazed at how great family and friends have been to us with their words of encouragement and excitement.  They are just too sweet!

Happy Indeed

Smiles and the happy dance happening at The Brice House!

We are happy, happy, happy!

Happy because the court has give us a verbal agreement that AJ is ours!

Happy because we should get the written agreement next week making AJ officially ours!

Happy because the orphanage said they would apply for his passport the day they get the written agreement!  Please pray passport is done quickly.

We will travel as soon as AJ's passport is ready.

Whoo hoo!!!

We are so excited!

Hoping we can travel by the end of February.

What a journey this has been!  

Thanks for riding along with us.

Four years of waiting has been worth every minute to have him as our son.

Four years Brody has waited for his brother.

Wow!  Just wow!

We can hardly believe our time has finally come.

We are happy indeed!

We have had a few friends ask how they can help.  There are still some travel needs we have, and the other needs we can worry about when we get home.  We have a tax deductible account through Adopt Together if anyone would like to donate through that.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

www.adopttogether.org/Brice

Thankful

My blog break is over.  After months of being frustrated, we are once again moving forward.  S*RA finally released our papers and sent them over to C*RA.  C*RA being really awesome, had everything ready and our NOC was issued the next day.  One day!  We are so thankful for them having everything prepared after months of waiting.  The orphanage who I think is one of the best in India, worked fast to move our case to court.  They submitted papers quickly and sent us a few things to sign.  The past couple of weeks are just full of things to be thankful for.  So now we wait.  Court could take weeks or months.  We are preparing just in case it moves quickly.  We get to order visas (A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter or leave a particular country)!!!  We will apply for a six month visa. I'm so ready to go get AJ!  

Thankful we are one more step closer to our boy!

A Negative and a Positive

The Brices in the Bahamas

I like to write about good things so when I stay silent for a while it's typically because I don't like the current situation.  Life is filled with ups and downs, and an adoption is not an exception to that rule. I kept putting off posting an update because I hoped the situation would resolve quickly.  As of the moment, it looks like getting AJ home is going to take a while.  Having him home in 2013 is pretty much impossible.  We are still under the impression we have our S^RA approval however they have managed to somehow put a hold on it.  In fact there are many families, who are stuck in the process.  And while I could probably write a whole book on what's going on right now, a short way to put this is there are two different interpretations to a law.  So we will have to wait until it is resolved before we can move forward.  This may have to be resolved in high court against the state which we have no idea what that would be like or how long it will take.  We feel very blessed at how supportive the orphanage has been. There is not a doubt at how much they care about the children there.  C^RA has been very supportive too, and they have been trying to take care of the conflict as well.  We will patiently wait for an answer.  We ask you to please pray for AJ's case anytime we come to your mind.  He is already a loved little boy by many people.  Thank you family and friends who have been encouraging us.  Your sweet words give this mama's heart comfort. 

Because I like something to be positive, here are few of my favorite photos from this summer!

 We truly did have a great summer!

Christmas in July

Some Christmas joy is going around our house.  Sure it's July, but I a couple of things to celebrate. 

1- Hallmark Ornament Premiere weekend just happened!  Such a fun day!  The Brices loves Hallmark ornaments!!!  AJ's Nanny and Pops are so excited about another grandson, and they were delighted to get him his first Christmas ornaments.  These are first in a series, and I think the Santa Certified train is too cute.  I hope we have AJ by Christmas, but regardless of when he comes home, he is loved and thought of daily.

2- We got pictures of AJ this week!  They are precious.  I can't get enough of his sweet face!  These pictures are an unexpected blessing.  An internet friend who is adopting a child from the same orphanage was there over the weekend visiting her child.  I had emailed this awesome woman to see if she could get a picture of AJ, and she kindly said she would try.  Well, she gave more than I expected.  She emailed many pictures, and she gave information about him.  It was a priceless gift.  I loved reading details of his personality and what his day is like!  We are so thankful to her for taking the time to give us these pictures and information.  So grateful! 


So if you hear me singing Christmas songs, just join on in on our celebration.  It's good to celebrate all gifts...big and small.  

Surprise!

We got a fun surprise yesterday!  Another email!!!  Those of us in the adoption world get so excited about emails.  Every bit of movement is encouraging. So here's the news-  our SARA was approved (State Clearance).  Whoo hoo!!!  Now we just need the NOC before getting into the court system.  We are delighted with how smoothly all the paperwork has moved thus far.  And yes, I just knocked on some wood.  HA!  Seriously though, I'm impressed with all the people who have worked hard to  get paperwork done in a timely manner.  We're all smiles!