Remember me? Boy, is all this adoption stuff time consuming, or what?!? Hey... there's a learning curve with everything, I'm told. It shouldn't surprise me that it's taken a while to get used to the new lingo, meet all these new "friends" who guide you through the process, and run in rabbit trails gathering information and documents for the final application. I get even MORE tired just thinking about it! LOL!
For my friends on Facebook, some of this will be old news... so bear with me and the others as I catch everybody up, mmmkay? ;) One thing I've realized is that things change DAILY and what was considered set in stone one day, can change in a moments notice. I'll try to keep everyone updated as best I can. So let's get to it:
We have decided that we will give our sweet little girl the name "Evie" as her first name. It was going to be short for "Evangeline," but Chuck said that was such a big, long name for such a little girl (that and the fact that he said he didn't know if he could even SPELL it. Cop-out!) and because we were going to call her "Evie" and not "Evangeline," he explained we should just name her what we will call her. I wanted to argue that I think it's very southern to have a "proper" first name that isn't a nickname, and that Evangeline is just so beautiful, but I relented just because (1) he made a valid point and (2) we have so many more decisions to make that I figured we needed to agree to move on. Marriage is all about compromise, right? Let's just hope he remembers what an agreeable wife he has the next time a decision needs to be made! LOL!
As for a middle name, the jury is still out. Bernice is still a contender as well as Hayden, McKnight, Lee and Charles, which are all family names. I love the names like Mercy and Glory, but they do not "go" with her first name, so they are put on my mental shelf for future reference if ever this situation were to arise again. ;) I also love the name Hope and it keeps presenting itself in conversations and in written words between friends, so it's on the short list too. I'm also loving Laine (which would be a form of my mother's middle name "Elaine"), so I'm going to reach out again to all of you to give me your opinions, too. You all did GREAT last time so let's hear what y'all have to say. Names are SO fun!
I received an e-mail the day before yesterday telling me of some changes to Evie's scheduled surgeries. Her emergency medical visa was denied but she has gotten approval to be a patient on the African Mercy (a naval battleship outfitted as a floating hospital with American trained doctors and nurses). Now they tell me she is scheduled for blood work on the 19th of April and surgery to repair her lip on the 20th if her blood work comes back okay. She will stay in recovery on the ship for 7 days and then her next surgery will be scheduled after that according to her rate of recovery. Pastor Samson will be taking her to her appointments on the ship. I wish I could be with her. Please pray for the nurses to treat my baby like their own while she recovers. I can't imagine what she'll be thinking is going on. :(
We are plowing full speed ahead with the rest of our adoption paperwork and it's grueling. I feel guilty taking the time to write this update, even, when it seems like I should be working on what I can to get farther along in the process. Ahh, mommy guilt. Even for the child that is not yet mine! What am I saying... of COURSE she's mine. Silly mommy. Anyway, the circuit clerk's office denied my passport photos because they said my glasses were cutting off my eyes. All this after I sat and filled out 3 pages of an application, went to the bank to get the cash that needed to be paid to the clerk for a "clerks fee" in addition to the $110 for the passport itself, and then she tells me about my photos. Sigh. I almost flung myself out of her second story window! That was last Thursday. A week later, I'm still no closer to getting that stupid passport. But, I've had good reason:
We have been busy collecting donations for our yard sale that we are having Saturday to benefit our adoption and our garage is FULL. Like an episode of "Hoarders," full. I need to take a picture... cuz it's AWESOME! People have been so great bringing stuff by and I've gone and gotten a truck load from Anniston and a van load from a friend's house and we are just pumped to make some money this weekend for our little Evie! I should be out there sorting and pricing right now, but I'm blogging instead. Priorities. ;) Chuck is off tomorrow so he can help me. Cuz there is LOTS to do, people. I'll let you know how we did on Monday.
So on that note, I'm gonna scoot and start my "Flight of the Bumblebees." Just wanted to take a few minutes and touch base with all of you. Pray for our yard sale that the people who need what we have to sell will come. And pray for sunshine. Lots and lots of sunshine.... :D
