What a morning! We had to wake up JP to get to the embassy for our 8:00 appointment. We went to the “restaurant” for breakfast to feed JP and these 2 very nice gentlemen asked to join us so that we could eat while they fed JP! They are from a church in Tennessee here doing work in some orphanages. As we quickly ate they inquired of our story and we shared it with them. They offered to keep us in prayer as we told them about the embassy situation. While we were packing up a few more people from their group came in and before I knew it we were in a circle of prayer on our behalf. How cool is that. God keeps putting people in our lives to encourage and uplift us. We thanked them and got in the taxi to head to the embassy. About ¾ of the way there we ran out of gas! The driver called his partner to come get us. Thankfully we still made it to the embassy on time. We were sitting and waiting a few minutes before 8:00 and we sat there until around 10:00 when they finally called our name. The other couple adopting from Rwanda told us that they have had a few senators from back home sending emails to put pressure on the embassy to get the visas processed ASAP. The visa interviewer said that he was 98% sure that the visas would be ready to pick up at 3:00 on Tuesday!!!!!!! The problem is we do not have flexible tickets and he was certainly not guaranteeing that the visa would be ready when expected so to be safe he recommended that we try to get flights for Thursday. (The only other day the embassy is open next week). He did sound pretty confident that if it wasn’t ready Tuesday, it WOULD be ready Thursday. We are looking into what the cost would be to come home early, but Praise God …the worst case scenario is that we come back on schedule. The hard part is over now we just wait and pray that everything goes smoothly and the visa is processed without any problems. JP is quite the celebrity around here. There is a gentleman who works here in the restaurant and everytime we come in he takes JP and walks him around and introduces him to all the people in the restaurant. It is so funny and quite nice to be able to eat without him grabbing at everything on our plates.
By the way… I just heard that my friend Peter in Rwanda had a baby girl!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Mr. Grabby Pants!
Today we brought JP back to the doctor for some immunizations and to pick up his lab results for the embassy. We already knew this, but he tested negative for HIV again. My pediatrician at home told me that if a person tests negative twice, then there is no chance of fearing a “false” negative result.
After the doctor’s appointment we walked around the mall for a while and had lunch at the food court. JP is getting stronger when on all fours and we expect him to be crawling the first week we are home and we can set him on the floor. Everything here is tile so we have him practice on the bed. He has been very talkative, saying mama, dada, and mimics us when we make a kissing sound. He tries to grab at everything, my glasses, my fork, my drink,…everything. We are praying that Cam will have enough patience for Mr. Grabby Pants!!! We have been praying the past 2 days that the embassy tomorrow will have mercy and push the visa through in 24 hours. If so, we can try to get on the next flight home!!!! If not, we may be here 10 more days or longer. We would appreciate your prayers in this, we are sooooo homesick.
After the doctor’s appointment we walked around the mall for a while and had lunch at the food court. JP is getting stronger when on all fours and we expect him to be crawling the first week we are home and we can set him on the floor. Everything here is tile so we have him practice on the bed. He has been very talkative, saying mama, dada, and mimics us when we make a kissing sound. He tries to grab at everything, my glasses, my fork, my drink,…everything. We are praying that Cam will have enough patience for Mr. Grabby Pants!!! We have been praying the past 2 days that the embassy tomorrow will have mercy and push the visa through in 24 hours. If so, we can try to get on the next flight home!!!! If not, we may be here 10 more days or longer. We would appreciate your prayers in this, we are sooooo homesick.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Kenya
We arrived in Kenya last night and checked into the guest house...the only annoying part was that they brought us directly to a "bishop suite" which is twice as big as the standard room and we did not request it so it took a few minutes to get them to find us a standard room and thankfully they were able to because about an hour later Brock had gone down to the receptionist and there were a bunch of people trying to get a room and there weren't any...! We left here this morning at 7:15 to arrive at the Embassy at 8:00. We had to wait about an hour to speak with an immigration officer. When we sat down in the waiting area we were seated right next to the only other white person in the room. We began chatting and found out that she has been living in Kenya for 9 months with her 4 children waiting for her adoption (of her 5th child) to be finalized. She is adopting from Kenya and they require a 9 month residency. I thought 3 weeks was bad and this poor woman has been doing this for 9 months! Anyway she was a believer and was sooooo helpful. After we got our medical packet she said that we could use her cell phone to make an appointment. Then she invited us back to her house to wait for the doctors appointment because she lived right near the medical offices. We went and met her children who were all precious!
So today we got much accomplished. We got all the paperwork needed for the Embassy and had our medical appointment and also got his blood drawn for the HIV test (yes, he already had one but the embassy requires another by their "trusted" physicians). We need to go back on Wed. morning for JP to get a few more immunizations and to pick up the bloodwork results. Then we have our visa interview scheduled for Thursday morning at 8:00am. Soooo...it was a very productive day.
Here's the kicker though.....you knew it couldn't be that easy..right!!!
Well,the Embassy is closed 3 days next week for holidays! Another couple who is adopting was told this morning that they would probably not be able to pick up the visa until the week of the 15th. They are at the exact same place in the process as us and we found this out when we ran into them at the medical office. We are just going to have to pray that we can persuade them on Thursday to have it ready for us on Friday or at least one of the days they will be open next week. The website says that the visas are ready for pick up 24 hours after your interview but they are saying that it takes 3-4 working days. So I am going to print off the website page that says they are ready 24 hours later and just pray that God will go before us and work it all out in a way that doesn't have us sitting here for a week just waiting for a piece of paper. JP is doing great...and we are doing just fine too!
So today we got much accomplished. We got all the paperwork needed for the Embassy and had our medical appointment and also got his blood drawn for the HIV test (yes, he already had one but the embassy requires another by their "trusted" physicians). We need to go back on Wed. morning for JP to get a few more immunizations and to pick up the bloodwork results. Then we have our visa interview scheduled for Thursday morning at 8:00am. Soooo...it was a very productive day.
Here's the kicker though.....you knew it couldn't be that easy..right!!!
Well,the Embassy is closed 3 days next week for holidays! Another couple who is adopting was told this morning that they would probably not be able to pick up the visa until the week of the 15th. They are at the exact same place in the process as us and we found this out when we ran into them at the medical office. We are just going to have to pray that we can persuade them on Thursday to have it ready for us on Friday or at least one of the days they will be open next week. The website says that the visas are ready for pick up 24 hours after your interview but they are saying that it takes 3-4 working days. So I am going to print off the website page that says they are ready 24 hours later and just pray that God will go before us and work it all out in a way that doesn't have us sitting here for a week just waiting for a piece of paper. JP is doing great...and we are doing just fine too!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Passport, guesthouse, contractions....
OK...so a few things have happened since my last update! On Friday we went souvenir shopping all morning and then came back for a quick lunch before heading to the Immigration Office for the passport. We ran into Pastor Augustine in morning and he called the Director and he apologized for the passport not being ready on Thursday and assured us that it would be ready today. Praise God...we went in the office and it was ready and waiting for us! We were so excited...one more thing done and now just lodging to find (in 2 days!). When we were in the immigration office Brock was holding JP and a Rwandan man came up to us and said, "Your baby???" (with a puzzled look). We said, "yes, he is our boy!" The man started giggling and patting Brock on the shoulder and said, "Strange, very strange!" It was so funny...he could barely speak english, but he knew enough to make us laugh!!!
After getting the passport we continued the hunt for lodging in Kenya...it was not looking good and I am so thankful that Robin kinda took over the search for me using the internet and making the phone calls... We were starting to get a little nervous and yet I knew it would all work out eventually. We called a few places and there was no room for us anywhere. YIKES! At about 5:00 that evening we finally got through to a Methodist Guest House in Nairobi and they had room and the receptionist said that they are only 2-3 miles from the US Embassy. We were so relieved for God's provision of a place to stay. You can check it out online to see pictures...it looks really nice; a pool and a business center so I should have wireless internet so that I can try out the phone program on the laptop and hopefully talk to the kids soon. http://www.methodistguesthouseke.com/ Then today Robin was talking to a friend of hers telling her about it and her friend had actually stayed there before and said it was very nice. Praise God AGAIN!!!
Today JP was being kinda fussy..he has cut 2 teeth this week!!! So we left him here with Robin thinking he would take a good long nap while we went to the orphanage to pick up JP's immunization records. When we returned much later she said he only slept 20 minutes! Little goober!! She said he ate non-stop all day! I might need to get a part time job to cover the new grocery bill!
At the orphanage we asked how all the babies were doing and the sister said that they were all doing much better. It turns out it was NOT meningitis after all. The docotrs came to run the tests and it was something else entirely...some virus. A few babies went to the hospital but it sounded like it was more to prevent the spread to other kids.
After the orphanage we went to run a few errands and then we were going to visit Peter and Ruth at their home. When we got there we learned that Ruth had begun having contractions. She said they started earlier that day and that her water had dripped a little. I started timing her contractions and they were about 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds long. I told her that we should go pack her bag because it was almost time to go to the hospital.. By the time we got in the car to bring her to the hospital her contractions were about 2 minutes apart. You would not believe the condition of the roads we had to travel on to get to the hospital....I don't know how she handled all the bumps so well. She was quite a trooper. Just another evidence of God's perfect timing...if we did not visit her when we did she may not have had a ride to the hopspital. She had no idea she was ready to go to the hospital...we had to explain the timing of contractions and what it all meant. She is adorable with the most beautiful smile. I think instead of catching a church service we may go to the hospital to see the baby before our flight to Kenya.
We didn't get back home until 5:00 so poor Robin had JP all day with no nap! It's hard to believe we have only been gone a week...it feels much longer.
After getting the passport we continued the hunt for lodging in Kenya...it was not looking good and I am so thankful that Robin kinda took over the search for me using the internet and making the phone calls... We were starting to get a little nervous and yet I knew it would all work out eventually. We called a few places and there was no room for us anywhere. YIKES! At about 5:00 that evening we finally got through to a Methodist Guest House in Nairobi and they had room and the receptionist said that they are only 2-3 miles from the US Embassy. We were so relieved for God's provision of a place to stay. You can check it out online to see pictures...it looks really nice; a pool and a business center so I should have wireless internet so that I can try out the phone program on the laptop and hopefully talk to the kids soon. http://www.methodistguesthouseke.com/ Then today Robin was talking to a friend of hers telling her about it and her friend had actually stayed there before and said it was very nice. Praise God AGAIN!!!
Today JP was being kinda fussy..he has cut 2 teeth this week!!! So we left him here with Robin thinking he would take a good long nap while we went to the orphanage to pick up JP's immunization records. When we returned much later she said he only slept 20 minutes! Little goober!! She said he ate non-stop all day! I might need to get a part time job to cover the new grocery bill!
At the orphanage we asked how all the babies were doing and the sister said that they were all doing much better. It turns out it was NOT meningitis after all. The docotrs came to run the tests and it was something else entirely...some virus. A few babies went to the hospital but it sounded like it was more to prevent the spread to other kids.
After the orphanage we went to run a few errands and then we were going to visit Peter and Ruth at their home. When we got there we learned that Ruth had begun having contractions. She said they started earlier that day and that her water had dripped a little. I started timing her contractions and they were about 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds long. I told her that we should go pack her bag because it was almost time to go to the hospital.. By the time we got in the car to bring her to the hospital her contractions were about 2 minutes apart. You would not believe the condition of the roads we had to travel on to get to the hospital....I don't know how she handled all the bumps so well. She was quite a trooper. Just another evidence of God's perfect timing...if we did not visit her when we did she may not have had a ride to the hopspital. She had no idea she was ready to go to the hospital...we had to explain the timing of contractions and what it all meant. She is adorable with the most beautiful smile. I think instead of catching a church service we may go to the hospital to see the baby before our flight to Kenya.
We didn't get back home until 5:00 so poor Robin had JP all day with no nap! It's hard to believe we have only been gone a week...it feels much longer.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Passport problems...oh dear!
Hello everyone. Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day. We just hung out here at the house for most of the day until it was time to go pick up the passport. Pastor Augustine stopped by in the morning and he called the director of immigration to make sure that the passport was ready. He said is WAS! However, when we got there to pick it up they said it was not ready. GO FIGURE... We had dinner at Pastor Augustine's house last night and when I told him what happened he said he would take care of it today. So we are praying that the passport really will be ready today so that we don't have to change our flights! Also the guest house that told us yesterday morning that they had rooms and would hold one for us emailed last night to say that they had guests that wanted to extend their stay so they could not accomodate us after all. So we are back on the hunt for a place to stay in Kenya with 2 days to figure it out! I'm sure it will all fall into place and we will be exactly where God wants us to be. I think today we will go to the Genocide Memorial and of course to Immigration to get the passport and maybe there will be time for a little shopping. We will see. I guess that is all for now.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The latest...
Yesterday we left at 8:30 in the morning to go on a safari. It took 2 hours to get there and then it was a 4 hour loop through the game park. It was really cool. We saw water buffalo, giraffes, warthogs, hippos, baboon, velvet monkeys...etc. The giraffes were my favorite. JP was so good all day in the car. We didn't get home until after 7:00pm.
Today is the day we pick up JP's passport and we might go to the Genocide Memorial too.
A few things we have noticed about JP.....
He wants to be held 24/7
When he is tired he rubs and scratches his head
He is really smart...I will make a noise or a face and he will stare at me for a minute as I repeat a few times and then he does it.
He is tough too...he just whacked his head on the table and doesn't even cry...by the way daddy was in charge at that moment not me....
His feet are so small compared to his chubby body
He can sit up by himself but no crawling or standing yet, but I think he'll be crawling very soon.
He sucks on his pointer and middle finger when he is tired.
For those of you who might be concerned about the meningitis outbreak at the orphanage...let me try to set your mind at ease...They had viral meningitis which is usually not life threatening if treated properly. Yes, it is contagious however we have had JP for 5 days now and he continues to be the picture of health. The symptoms for viral meningitis in babies are...
fever and chills
NO interest in eating
lathargic
vomitting and diarehea
fussy when handled
JP is the polar opposite of ALL of these symptoms. The incubation period is usually a few days so if he was going to get sick...he should have started with at least one syptom by now. Also...Rich and Robin have over 30 years experience in nursing and they have commented more than once at how healthy he is...not even a diaper rash..his biggest problem is a little constipation! I hope that helps and that you can be assured that he is doing great and being monitored!
We just made our Kenya arrangements this morning. We will be staying at the Heart Lodge with the couple we met the other day. They gave us the brochure and when we called they still had room! YIPPEE!
Today is the day we pick up JP's passport and we might go to the Genocide Memorial too.
A few things we have noticed about JP.....
He wants to be held 24/7
When he is tired he rubs and scratches his head
He is really smart...I will make a noise or a face and he will stare at me for a minute as I repeat a few times and then he does it.
He is tough too...he just whacked his head on the table and doesn't even cry...by the way daddy was in charge at that moment not me....
His feet are so small compared to his chubby body
He can sit up by himself but no crawling or standing yet, but I think he'll be crawling very soon.
He sucks on his pointer and middle finger when he is tired.
For those of you who might be concerned about the meningitis outbreak at the orphanage...let me try to set your mind at ease...They had viral meningitis which is usually not life threatening if treated properly. Yes, it is contagious however we have had JP for 5 days now and he continues to be the picture of health. The symptoms for viral meningitis in babies are...
fever and chills
NO interest in eating
lathargic
vomitting and diarehea
fussy when handled
JP is the polar opposite of ALL of these symptoms. The incubation period is usually a few days so if he was going to get sick...he should have started with at least one syptom by now. Also...Rich and Robin have over 30 years experience in nursing and they have commented more than once at how healthy he is...not even a diaper rash..his biggest problem is a little constipation! I hope that helps and that you can be assured that he is doing great and being monitored!
We just made our Kenya arrangements this morning. We will be staying at the Heart Lodge with the couple we met the other day. They gave us the brochure and when we called they still had room! YIPPEE!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
God's perfect timing!
It is now Wed morning and we are going to go on safari today since we have no adoption paperwork to do. I’m so excited!!! JP is such a good baby. He sleeps through the night and is very happy and playful. He is so funny…he can be laughing one minute and then turn very serious the next.
One other thing I forgot to mention was how God’s timing was so perfect. When we met up with the other couple at immigration yesterday they told us that the babies at the orphanage were suffering from an outbreak of meningitis. It seemed like such a quick decision at the time to only have 3 days to get ready to travel but now we know why. It is very possible that if we had not left when we did…JP could have become VERY sick. Just another example of how God’s timing is PERFECT!!!
One other thing I forgot to mention was how God’s timing was so perfect. When we met up with the other couple at immigration yesterday they told us that the babies at the orphanage were suffering from an outbreak of meningitis. It seemed like such a quick decision at the time to only have 3 days to get ready to travel but now we know why. It is very possible that if we had not left when we did…JP could have become VERY sick. Just another example of how God’s timing is PERFECT!!!
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