painting our baby's room

After moving Max into the dorms, we've had a little time on our hands... so after numerous layouts and virtual mock-ups, we settled on the baby's room design. We chose two pinks with an orange to paint with the brown that was already there (the former office). A lot of measurements and marking of the walls but it was all done in a weekend. Of course after the first coat, it was time for a girls night out. I did my part and left for the night while Matty finished it. He preferred it that way anyway, a Creative Director never needs someone else around to direct his masterpiece.

putting together our new crib

So, we've put one into a dorm it's time to think where the next one will stay. We are being told we are getting close on the list of waiting families. Definitely toward the top. We never wanted to complete a room prior to being sure we were really really close. It's time for us to at least start thinking about a baby room. The timing was right since we moved Max to move some rooms around to get the best use of space in our home. We ordered the crib and it came in quicker than planned. So it motivated us to move the rooms and begin pulling our space together. A crib is in our house. Seriously.

maxwell moves into the dorm at SCSU

What a day. Filled with such pride and happiness for Max and of course surreal that we're already at this time in life. Move in day was fun and his dorm is a great set up. Of course it's so odd being back in St Cloud only this time moving my son in. Wasn't I just there? Well, ya, that was a few years ago.

getting our dossiers ready for overnight shipping

So here we go again..... At this point we feel like professional paper gatherers. We are total pro's at pulling together a massive dossier and can do so in record time. After a long summer of hoping and crossing our fingers for Vietnam and USA to find a resolution and renew the M O U agreement, it became clear to us around August that not only was this not going to happen, but that we would not receive a referral in time for the expiration. With not too many great adoption options for us (several year wait, too old for some, most have closed, etc etc) we needed to dig deep. Honestly how we even stumbled on our new program is still amazing to me. We researched this program and made some quick decisions.

Vietnam came to a close and we were obviously beyond sad. The emotions, time, and money spent was almost overwhelming to even think about at times. We didn't want to stay bummed too long since that wouldn't get us any where. More motivated than ever, we signed on to the Mars*hall Islan ds program and began yet another dossier. This could happen in 6 months or even less we are being told. But let's face it, we've been here before. So, we move forward with positive attitudes. But at the same time realists. Onward.....

maxwell's high school graduation

The ceremony was at the Tar*get Center. It's hard to believe Max has graduated high school, the time goes by so fast. We are so proud of him and the young man he has become!

meeting with senator Klob*uchar

Many members of congress have worked so hard to renew the MOU with Viet*nam. A group of us met with Sen Klob*uchar Saturday to give her more information about each of our situations. She is unbelievably supportive and we know that she is working to do everything she can. She took time out of her Saturday, literally flying in from a meeting and on her way to a family friends funeral but still made time to meet with us in between. Let's hope this get us somewhere....

she's gonna be a rockstar baby

we received our 171-H today!

We went to dinner at one of our fav neighborhood restaurants, First Course, to celebrate.

our home study documents were sent to USCIS

And now we are just waiting for our 171-H.