Baby Update

Well, the last few days have certainly been a roller coaster!

Here's a simplified update on what's happening:

• Because Anna had been made eligible for international adoption, the process is more complicated than we had initially thought.
• Since we have legal visa and residency status in the Czech Republic, they can move her back to domestic adoption status and allow us to adopt her, but this will take a little time and needs to be approved by a new person (from a different government ministry) who is currently out of town.
• We have a meeting with that woman on August 8th.
• In the meantime, we have been given the go-ahead to begin visiting her at the orphanage.
• We will be spending the afternoons (and perhaps evenings) this week over there, getting to know her and observing (and eventually participating in) her routine, in order to prepare us and her for the transition to our home.
• We may be able to bring her home as early as next week, although that may take longer.

At the moment, we're trying to find access to a vehicle so that we can use the time we have this weekend to buy some last few things we need for the baby room (a dresser, which will serve as a changing table, and a rocking chair.) We hope to get the room all set up this coming week.

We received a long-awaited package in the mail today of baby clothes that I ordered on ebay in mid-May. We thought it was a lost cause, but it's finally here and actually has a lot of little outfits that should work for her. So, we don't have as much of a need for older toddler baby clothes (which I had listed on our website.) That was a good thing. (I love all the tiny clothes! :-)

Well, enough updating for now. Please be praying for us. This has been an emotionally intense time (with less sleep than we would prefer!) and we're feeling pretty tired. But also deeply happy and hopeful. Praise God for this unexpected blessing!