Happy Birthday, Victoria Rani!!!

It's officially 12:00am in India as I type this which makes it your birthday, Victoria! Happy Birthday my sweet princess! I pray you have a wonderful day with your foster family. I know they love and care for you. But, oh, how we wish you were here so we could celebrate your life and special day with you, but we know God will bring you home soon. Your mama is quite sad today because you're not here and it's taking longer to get you than we thought. But I am continually thankful and happy, too, that God is bringing you into my life.

Tomorrow, on our July 15th here in the United States, we will enjoy cake and sing to you. Will, Logan and I are going to set up some of your toys in your room to celebrate. They have been waiting for me to finish painting your furniture so they can put the finishing touches on your room and I'm finally done painting! I hope you like pink!

Did you get the present we sent to you? We hope you like the princess magnets we chose for you. On your 4th birthday, know that you are the most beautiful princess, created by your loving Father, hand-picked just for our family and we love you very much! I can't wait to hug you and play with you!

Love,

Mama

Brief, very brief, update

Here's an update from VCT:

"Victoria-- Ruth, VCT's attorney, is in court and says nothing has happened as yet., She is hopeful the judge will issue the notice for the refiling of the 2 cases which means that the case will come in for hearing soon. We have no idea as of now how soon that would be. " --end of VCT update.

There are 2 cases because another family is in the exact same situation as us.

Yep, that's about it. Thanks in advance for your continued prayers. It has now been a month since our whole process came to a halt.

More Bureaucracy

We received a call from Dean a couple weeks ago and he said that the judge which has our case is being "transferred". Judges are rotated in India. So VCT's attorney, Ruth, is trying to get our case to a new judge so we don't have to WAIT for the replacement to come in. We got an e-mail from Dean yesterday that said Ruth was meeting with the judge and the judge was going to make some sort of decision on how to proceed. That's a long story made quite short. There is another family in our same situation. Keep praying!!!! We should know a little something more today - hopefully before the 4th. Just knowing something helps in the waiting.

An Unexpected Update!

We unexpectedly received an update and two new pics of Victoria. Yeah! We're thinking they're calling her "Rani". Hmmm. We've been wanting a nickname, but figured one would evolve after she came home. And we had considered calling her Rani. Love that name, too! Below is the update from VCT. Please note - I think we shall refrain from putting crayons in the little desk in her room. We're glad she is adjusting to her foster family so well.

"VICTORIA RANI--
Victoria Rani has made some improvements in her communication. She speaks a few telugu words (language of Andhra Pradesh) and a bit of English. She says 'Ani' for 'Rani' when asked her name. She walks behind her foster mother when she sweeps and swabs the home and points out little things. She loves to go out and chooses her own dresses. She is very fond of her foster father and spends quality time with him in the mornings and evenings. She looks forward to the evenings when her foster sisters return from college.

Her wake up time is 6.30 when she has her milk. After her bath she is given her breakfast about 8.30 and she loves Dosa, which is a pancake made of ground rice and lentil. She is not too fond of sweets and prefers her chicken egg and other non vegetarian food.She has 21 teeth which makes it easy to go for her choice food.:-)) Rani scribbles on paper and on the walls in her home. She is of course corrected, but it does happen once in a while. She is wary of strangers and bonds only after much assurance from the family." --end of email

Frustrating Setback

We got a phone call from Dean, head of the India Department at Holt, on Friday and he basically said this: We received verbal guardianship the end of May and VCT, the orphanage, told the judge NOT to write the court order yet because we had not received this other letter yet from our government. Well, the judge went ahead and did the court order. Now the court order is dated before this other letter - which is out of order and is not allowed.... VCT, the attorney and the judge talked in closed chambers and asked if they could just change the date, but they can't/won't. So now we're back to the beginning. Dean said it would be two more months - until what he wasn't sure. I'm going to call and ask a few more questions tomorrow. We know God can push this through again very quickly and we're believing for that! Please pray with us. We want Victoria home soooooooo bad!

Friday was such a hard day. In the midst of all my frustration and breaking heart, I realized even more how I dearly love Victoria and how much she belongs in our family. Of course, our God is so good. He immediately gets to work and starts teaching me things, encouraging me and growing me. He told me to wait on Him and not the process. No where in the Word does it say for us to wait on circumstances, outcomes, time lines, processes, etc. We are to wait on the Lord! So I am trying to focus more on Him.

Also, Billy was gone on an overnight fishing trip and shortly after I called him with the icky news, he found this really cool neck pillow at their cabin - the kind of pillow you wear on a super long plane flight. He just knew God was confirming that we're eventually going.... And I began to be concerned about finances because flights to India are fairly cheap (it's all in perspective) in July/August being it's monsoon season - hotels as well. They are likely to go up in the fall. However, we received an unexpected check in the mail on Saturday. Once again, God proving His faithfulness and that we can trust Him!

We knew going into this process that there would likely be delays, especially as our case went through the world renowned bureaucracy of India's courts. Dean warned us of this. So it's no surprise, but doesn't change the frustration of it all. We are thankful for Holt, our agency, who is very on top of the situation and do all they can for us, communicate with us and encourage us. They speak very highly of VCT, the institution that oversees Victoria's foster care, too. So we know we have a team doing all they can to get our girl home.

We have our immunizations, the room is painted (still need the border up) the travel folder is being assembled and I'm not going to stop packing! When I broke the news to the boys, their biggest concern was that Indiana Beach would be closed by September and that Granddaddy and Grammy wouldn't be able to take them there. I'm glad that's their biggest worry. :) Even though I was all choked up telling them, I played it off as not a big deal (WHATEVER!!!) and that we WILL be getting her before too long. They are so excited to get their little sister and I was concerned especially for Will, who is such a "feeler".

Please continue to pray for favor for our case and for Victoria in general.

Will's Big Purchase

Will came home from school the other day with a ....... doll! Not the norm for our 1st grader. His class is studying economics and they have a store in the class. They earn pennies and can spend them on Friday when the store opens. Will saved his pennies for two weeks to buy the doll for Victoria! He's even a savvy shopper! He said, "Mom, I had my eye on it and it went from 30 cents to 20 cents!" He took a risk of being teased as well. What a man! I'm so proud of him.

When all of me is overwhelmed, I will cling to the Rock!

Yep, that's what I'm doing. As our travel date becomes closer and closer, there is simply more and more to do and think about! We are taking one day at a time in preparing for Victoria and our trip to India. As I plan, I am surprised at how truly multifaceted this trip is. I'm thankful we have experience traveling with small children before, but never a girl, whom we don't know, who speaks little English, who likely will be grieving, whose paperwork cannot be lost, in India of all places!

Preparations still include, but are not limited to, finishing her room (wall paper is down, have yet to sand and paint), gathering together all the needed paperwork (still waiting for some), reading over the highlighted parts of "The Connected Child", getting shots, doing two rummage sales to help on the financial end and general packing. Which brings us to an exciting milestone. I officially began packing tonight! So, since I've seen blue for the past 7, almost 8, years, do I pack all pink just to get it out of my system???

I'm thankful for my God who has continually given us peace over every step of this process and even though at times I am overwhelmed with all of it, I know He will continue to wrap up the loose ends before we travel and won't let me forget a single document. He's just good like that!

We are truly praying we can travel in mid-July. It simply works really good with our schedule here. Please believe with us that we can go then. We do know God's timing is perfect and He will send us when He's ready.

Pray as well that I can be focused and organized as we make travel plans and for favor in getting great deals at hotels and on our airline tickets. We are using a travel agent Holt recommends.

As much as we love to travel and are looking forward to the trip itself, we can't wait to simply get Victoria home and begin our lives together. Those cheeks need some kisses from her mama, those toes some tickles from her dada and that head rubbed by her big brothers. We were all standing in the kitchen one evening and we showed the boys how tall Victoria was and where the top of her head would be. So they pretended to rub and pat the top of her head. They do it when they watch her video, too. What a gift she will be to them and they to her!