More photos and updates!!

We've received so many new pictures of Kai in the last couple of days that my heart could burst!!! I just keep staring at his beautiful big brown eyes all day! So thankful for this adoption mama who is sending all of us waiting families tons of photos and updates. These updates are so so precious to me and I'm holding on to every photo and description we have of our little man. Mostly it makes my heart ache to have him home....TODAY would be good;) Actually back it up to July 4th when we received his referral...I would have hopped on a plane that day too! But instead I'm waiting patiently and trusting God and putting my faith and hope in Him that every single day that passes is one day closer that we get to meeting our boy. 6-8 weeks isn't too far away really? Here is a little piece of information we got today: Seraphin--2T. He slept a loooong time! He got up after everyone had already eaten, so he sat down by himself---so quietly and took a good 45 minutes to eat! He was very playful outside--loved chasing bobby around playing tag.

Also, our 30 day wait is done TODAY!!!!

Happy Birthday, you are 2!

We received a surprise today in our email. Kai's corrected updated information for our I600. I glanced over the info and everything was the same except for his birth date which read October 23, 2010. It took me a moment to realize "oh wait that's TODAY!" Not only is it today, but it's the 23rd! (We originally thought it was Oct 25th). Let me tell you...he couldn't have a more PERFECT birth date. Let's start off with the first birthday in this family...Keegan September 23rd, Kaiden October 3rd, Keane October 13th, Kai October 23rd. Are you catching on? Somehow our kids all have birthdays that fall exactly ten days apart and all have the number 3 on their birth date. How amazing is it that God would place Kai in our family knowing that he would fit perfect?! I'm in awe...total awe. I know it may seem silly to some people, but that's confirmation to me that God is in total control of bringing Kai into our family. I just love this! Not only did we find out today was his birthday but we also received a sweet picture of our Kai that was taken today. It was the first time we saw his smile and my heart melted. His eyes light up when we smiles. He is beautiful.

We also finished filling out the I600 tonight. We are filing stateside and that is the LAST of the paperwork and one of the major final steps before we can travel to bring him home!! A LOT of good news today. Feeling the anticipation of being so close to bringing Kai home!! Many, Lord my God,are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5

As we wait....

As we wait...this is the hardest part. Our son is at the transition home in Kinshasa waiting for us to come and bring him home. We are getting updated pictures from families traveling but my heart aches to hold my son and bring him home to his family. Our life goes on here but Kai is missing. The empty chair at the dinner table, the second toddler bed that sits empty in Keane and Kai's room, three little boys wrestling on the beach instead of four....he needs to be here. We need him to be here with us. Praying that all of our paperwork gets back to our agency soon so we can go ahead and file our 1600. Praying I can stay sane these next few weeks.

Kai took his first plane ride today.

Kai took his very first plane ride today. We received an email from our caseworker that he arrived safely in Kinshasa. He is now out of the orphanage in our agency's transition home!! When I read the email I just cried. Out of mixed emotions of happiness that we are that much closer to bringing him home and I felt a sadness for him. Everything he has ever known for the last two years of has been the orphanage. I felt sad for him that he is probably scared and confused and has no idea what is going on. He did travel with a few other children so I hope that was comforting to him and that he will have a couple familier faces with him at the transition home. The really good things is he is safe, he is secure, he is getting three meals a day, medical care and love from the nannies that are there. We've seen pictures from the children that are there. They are all smiling. Another adoptive mom referred to the transition home as a "summer camp" before we go to pick up our kids. I pray that Kai will have fun with the other kids, I hope to see a smile on his face. I'm thankful that he is now somewhere safe. The other really awesome thing is while we wait families who are traveling ahead of us to pick up their children have offered to take pictures of all the kids who are waiting for their families!! I'm so excited we will get to see more pictures of our handsome boy (I hope to get a shoe size) and when we travel we will be returning the favor for other families! Where does this put us on the timeline for bringing him home now? I'm estimating 2-3 months...but I really can't say for sure. We are filing our 1600 stateside and we still have to pray the birth parent interview goes smoothly (as in arranging flights, etc). The embassy is requiring all birth parents to fly to Kinshasa for a face to face interview. I understand why. They want to make sure the adoption has been done in an ethical way. Tonight we went out and bought Kai a couple more outfits to send to him in the transition home. I've only ever seen him in 1 outfit at the orphanage which was all pink (shorts, shirt) and red shoes. We went out and got him some plaid:) Also some cars and suckers to share with the other kiddos. The Elmo birthday card...he turns 2 on October 25th!! Happy Birthday to our son..we love you so much and are counting down the days till we get that call that says, "you can book your plane tickets."