Addy Rose

Choosing a child's name is never an easy task! Throw adoption into the mix and it is a whole lot more complicating! 
Birth name? 
New name? 
Meaning?
African?
American?
The list goes on.

After contimplating all our options and getting advice from other adoptive parents, we have decided to give our baby girl a name WE (her mother and father) have chosen for her.  She will be welcomed into a new family with a new identity, a new story. She will share our life and our story.

When parents name a child, they are welcoming him (her); their identifying him (her) with them, forever.

Russell Moore "Adopted for Life"

We will more than likely never know where her name came from (whether it was from her birth parents or one that was given to her so she had something to be called).  We  also wanted to keep some part of her past with her, and therefore have chosen to name our precious baby girl:
Addy Rose 

We both loved Addy from the start, but were a little thrown off as to how popular it is (typically Addison)....once we saw her face and decided on her middle name (Rose, which is derived from her current name), Addy just fit. Growing up, I LOVED the American Girl books.  Growing up in small town ND, I didn't know a single black person...the only connection I had at the time was with one of my American Girl favorites, Addy. 

Someone at church today asked me if the excitement has worn off yet.....umm, no way;)  We still can't quite believe we have a baby girl waiting for us in Africa.  It's quite surreal and overwhelming.  Even though we cannot hold her and see her face to face, the love we have for her pains us.  These next six months (give or take) are going to be extremely tough and emotional. 

As soon as we tell someone our news, the first question is always, "When can you go get her?"  When we respond SIX MONTHS no one can believe it. 

Here is a little break down of our painful wait:

• Right now our dossier is being translated (hopefully it will be done soon!)
• Dossier sent to the DRC
• Notification of dossier received in DRC
• Scheduling and completion of Court date (usually 30 days or so after dossier is in DRC)
• Completion of 30-day non-appeal time (30 days)
• Child’s post-adoption documents processed (30 days or so)
• File the I600 in the US (8 weeks)
• Arrange our embassy appointment in Kinshasa (DRC) and coordinate TRAVEL to Kinshasa

Oh dear Addy, how we pray you are being well cared for.  We pray you are healthy, comfortable, and loved on.  I wish I could go to sleep and wake up with six months gone so you could be in my arms. 

One of my girlfriends is expecting a baby in October and said something about us being on the same page waiting for our children.  I can tell you after three pregnancies, this is a much different feeling.  Yes, in both instances there is the waiting and hoping and dreaming.  But with international adoption, the waiting is much different than a pregnancy.  The pregnancy is like what we just got done with!  Heck, we started the adoption process last June...which was 9.5 months ago....we have just gotten DONE with our pregnancy!  Our child has been born but we cannot hold her, see her, touch her, or feel her.  Our sweet Addy is living fatherless in an orphanage a half a world away. 

Our next update of sweet Addy will be our monthly picture we'll receive.  For now we'll continue to pray for her and dream about seeing her face to face. 

Love from our family to yours!