Familiar Faces

We’ve begun to settle into a routine, with our 2-hour visits each morning and afternoon, with lunch and errands in between and then home for dinner in the apartment each night.

Each visit begins with waking Lily Grace from her crib, in a room of 14 cribs, changing her diaper and feeding her, then playing with her – either on a blanket spread on the floor or bundled up and taken outside for a walk around the grounds of the baby house. Lily Grace has begun to realize that we come as a “package deal” – if one of us is holding her, she is now looking around trying to find the other. Eye contact is coming more easily and frequently, and nothing melts our hearts more than looking into her eyes and seeing a smile break out on her face.

In a few days, we will have our official meeting with the baby house doctor, who will go over all of her medicals, give her assessment and then field our questions. We’ve been impressed with the doctors, nurses and care giving staff at the baby house – they do a lot with a little, and clearly care deeply for the children in their care.

After two weeks of visiting, papers will be filed with the court on our behalf, and we will wait and see what court date will be assessed. It will likely be in late October, followed by a mandatory 15-day waiting period, then a week of processing through the embassy. At this point, the estimate of coming home in late November seems to be on track.

We deeply appreciate all of the prayers and well-wishes that have poured in – it buoys us and reminds us that indeed, we are all one big adopted family.

Steve and Tonya