I feel like we have left our friends, family and fellow "stalkers" just hanging, and for that I apologize. As of right now, the boys' information is in translation (it arrived at our agency last week from Pereira). The translator is very backed up so it is taking a little longer than expected. After four years of waiting for parenthood, a few more days won't hurt us, so we aren't too bothered by this. Until we get the info and accept the referral though, we cannot post their picture. Trust me when I say that they will be heartbreakers one day...we are going to have girls calling our house at all hours of the day!
Here is what we do know: Carlos Samuel is 6 years old. Luis Angel and Daniel (just Daniel) are 4 year old twins. That is all we've got, but for now it is enough. Oh, for those that don't believe in the power of prayer, I have to tell you that when we were going through infertility treatments, I prayed for twins EVERYDAY, and now, we have twins. God answers prayer, maybe not in our timing, but he does answer prayer.
My mom came to visit this weekend and we got to go shopping for clothes for them. It was so much fun to share this excitement with her. Picking out t-shirts and shorts is more fun than I ever thought possible.
Wow! Boys...all boys! This is just too amazing for words.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Oh My Goodness...
OK, I was going to wait to post until we had a little more information, but I am bursting at the seams and I just can't keep it in. We got THE CALL today. The long awaited call. The one in which our case worker let me know that parenthood will not allude us for much longer. We don't have many details. We do know that we are the proud parents-to-be of 3 boys! We will post more information as it becomes available (which could be a few days).
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Birthday Preston!
Today is our goldfish Preston's 8th birhtday. I (Andrea) won him at a carnival 8 years ago today! Can you believe it?
Monday, April 21, 2008
Update...Sort of
First off, thank you to everyone who has responded with suggestions to our doggie-dilema! We know that this situation will work itself out. Hopefully we will be able to find a house sitter. From what we are hearing that seems to be the ideal solution.
Now, for a little bit of news. We got an email from Sarah (our caseworker) today. She wanted to give us what little news they have, and that news is that according to our program director, ICBF (Colombian child services) is waiting for a specific sibling group to be legally released for adoption to match them with us. Our agency doesn't have any information on them and won't have any until an actual referral is made.
Please pray for us. Troy and I are used to getting our hopes up and then having huge disappointments follow soon after. We have grown so accustomed to believing that parenthood is this very unattainable state of life for us. Most importantly though, please pray for these children. Every day that the legal process delays their release to be adopted it also prevents them from being in the care of parents who love them--those parents are hopefully us! Also, as these children wait to be released for adoption they are either in an orphanage or in foster care. Please keep them in your prayers as they go through major life changes that they can't possibly understand at such young ages.
We will keep all of you posted as we find out more information!
Now, for a little bit of news. We got an email from Sarah (our caseworker) today. She wanted to give us what little news they have, and that news is that according to our program director, ICBF (Colombian child services) is waiting for a specific sibling group to be legally released for adoption to match them with us. Our agency doesn't have any information on them and won't have any until an actual referral is made.
Please pray for us. Troy and I are used to getting our hopes up and then having huge disappointments follow soon after. We have grown so accustomed to believing that parenthood is this very unattainable state of life for us. Most importantly though, please pray for these children. Every day that the legal process delays their release to be adopted it also prevents them from being in the care of parents who love them--those parents are hopefully us! Also, as these children wait to be released for adoption they are either in an orphanage or in foster care. Please keep them in your prayers as they go through major life changes that they can't possibly understand at such young ages.
We will keep all of you posted as we find out more information!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Calling All Dog Lovers...
Look at these sweet faces?
Sylvia, 2 years, 3 months
Baxter, 10 months
As we prepare our house and continue to fundraise, one detail about our impending trip becomes more and more abundantly clear... We desperately need some one (or a couple of some ones) to watch our dogs while we are in Colombia. The good news: they are really cool dogs, sweet, full of personality, completely house broken, crate trained, entertaining, and really cuddly. The less good news: we will be gone for about 4-5 weeks and they both weigh between 50-60 lbs. We aren't really sure that we can afford to board them for a month or more in addition to all of the other costs we are are incurring during that time, and we don't want to hire a pet sitting service because they will only come in and walk them a couple of times a day (anyone who knows our dogs knows that this will make them stir CRAZY). Any suggestions?
Sylvia, 2 years, 3 months
Baxter, 10 months
As we prepare our house and continue to fundraise, one detail about our impending trip becomes more and more abundantly clear... We desperately need some one (or a couple of some ones) to watch our dogs while we are in Colombia. The good news: they are really cool dogs, sweet, full of personality, completely house broken, crate trained, entertaining, and really cuddly. The less good news: we will be gone for about 4-5 weeks and they both weigh between 50-60 lbs. We aren't really sure that we can afford to board them for a month or more in addition to all of the other costs we are are incurring during that time, and we don't want to hire a pet sitting service because they will only come in and walk them a couple of times a day (anyone who knows our dogs knows that this will make them stir CRAZY). Any suggestions?
Friday, April 11, 2008
Milestones
Well, the month has come and gone and we have no referral yet. It was a busy month though. We had an appointment at the USCIS office to get our fingerprints updated. We went to the Sheriff's office to get another set of fingerprints taken to send to the FBI for background checks. We each had a physical so we could have our medical letters updated, and we had our supervisors update our employment letters. We still have to get some of this information back so we can get it apostilled and sent off to our agency and then on to Colombia. I am hopeful that we will have this done by the end of next week. At that point we will be caught up until the next round of paperwork expires (let's hope for a referral before that happens).
On March 29, Troy and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. We were so excited to be celebrating what we consider a big milestone. We went to Columbia, SC (pun intended) to go to the Riverbanks Zoo. It was amazing. They have gorillas, penguins, koalas, flamingos, and a herd of four elephants (my favorite) just to name a few of the animals. The only hitch was that I had some sort of virus that had me all stuffed up and coughing my head off for most of the trip. Needless to say, what was supposed to be a romantic weekend getaway ended up with Troy nursing me while I was doped up on Robitussin. We are planning a “make-up” day at a time yet to be determined.
Another milestone that is rapidly approaching is the one year anniversary of the day our dossier was sent to Colombia. This just amazes me because time just simply flies by and I am not sure where it all goes. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that we were just starting this process. Then again, sometimes it seems like this is the longest road I have ever been on.
Finally, we really need prayer. I don’t know that we have used the BHB blog as a forum for prayer requests much, but it may be time to start. Please pray that our referral would come soon. Please pray too for those we have met through this process who are also waiting or are getting ready to travel to meet their children (check out the links at the right). Pray that we would find the motivation we need to do the work around the house that needs to be done to make room for 3 more Eisenbergers. Pray that we would be able to raise the last $5000 that we need to raise. We continue to be amazed by how much God has provided for us in all of the various ways we have needed it throughout this process—it only confirms that we are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.
On March 29, Troy and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. We were so excited to be celebrating what we consider a big milestone. We went to Columbia, SC (pun intended) to go to the Riverbanks Zoo. It was amazing. They have gorillas, penguins, koalas, flamingos, and a herd of four elephants (my favorite) just to name a few of the animals. The only hitch was that I had some sort of virus that had me all stuffed up and coughing my head off for most of the trip. Needless to say, what was supposed to be a romantic weekend getaway ended up with Troy nursing me while I was doped up on Robitussin. We are planning a “make-up” day at a time yet to be determined.
Another milestone that is rapidly approaching is the one year anniversary of the day our dossier was sent to Colombia. This just amazes me because time just simply flies by and I am not sure where it all goes. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that we were just starting this process. Then again, sometimes it seems like this is the longest road I have ever been on.
Finally, we really need prayer. I don’t know that we have used the BHB blog as a forum for prayer requests much, but it may be time to start. Please pray that our referral would come soon. Please pray too for those we have met through this process who are also waiting or are getting ready to travel to meet their children (check out the links at the right). Pray that we would find the motivation we need to do the work around the house that needs to be done to make room for 3 more Eisenbergers. Pray that we would be able to raise the last $5000 that we need to raise. We continue to be amazed by how much God has provided for us in all of the various ways we have needed it throughout this process—it only confirms that we are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Big news...
Yesterday afternoon we received the best possible news short of actually receiving our referral (for those not familiar with the lingo yet, a referral is the assignment of children to a family). As I was preparing to leave work, I came across an email from our case worker Sarah. She was giving us the long-awaited update on our paperwork which has been hanging out in the city of Pereira since mid-November. Here is what the email said:
"Great news :) Just spoke with Raul [our agency's Colombian program director] and he thinks you will be getting a referral VERY soon (within the month) from Pereira. SO....he is asking you to look at your documents to see if any need to be redone."
This is not in any way an official promise of children, but it is cause for us to hope big. It may take longer than a month, but it sounds like the powers that be in Pereira may have children in mind for us. In the meantime, we are doing what they are asking of us and getting our paperwork updated. I had already sent off a request letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to get our fingerprints updated (they expire in May). Our next steps include updating our medical and employment letters, as well as our FBI clearances (yes we have to have two separate sets of fingerprints updated). Other than that, we just keep hoping and praying that our official referral will come anyday now!
"Great news :) Just spoke with Raul [our agency's Colombian program director] and he thinks you will be getting a referral VERY soon (within the month) from Pereira. SO....he is asking you to look at your documents to see if any need to be redone."
This is not in any way an official promise of children, but it is cause for us to hope big. It may take longer than a month, but it sounds like the powers that be in Pereira may have children in mind for us. In the meantime, we are doing what they are asking of us and getting our paperwork updated. I had already sent off a request letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to get our fingerprints updated (they expire in May). Our next steps include updating our medical and employment letters, as well as our FBI clearances (yes we have to have two separate sets of fingerprints updated). Other than that, we just keep hoping and praying that our official referral will come anyday now!
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