Lela's Room is ready!

Now, all we need is Lela! We have had so much fun getting Lela's room ready. Just yesterday, we received a couple of baby dolls we had ordered. I just know she will love them! I hope she likes lots of pink, because her room is full of it! It's funny, I kinda miss getting all the paperwork together....at least then I felt like I was "hurry-ing" the process along. Now, there is nothing left to do, but wait! It's hard to wait, knowing she is so far away from us. Keep her in your prayers!
Kathy
"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth..." Isaiah 45:2a

CNN story on Vietnam Adoptions

For those of you following the turmoil happening with Vietnam adoptions, please click on this link to a 4-minute CNN news report. You must listen to a commercial first, and then the adoption story will play.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2007/11/30/cho.adoption.delay.cnn
This helps to explain some of the issues going on in Vietnam right now. Thankfully, we will apply for Lela's visa before we travel (new procedure), so this should not be an issue for families going in the future.
Remember these families who are in limbo in prayer. I can't imagine how hard this has been.
Kathy
"Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD." Psalm 31:24

Her Name is Lela Grace

We finally decided on a name for our baby girl...Lela Grace Irwin. She will be given a Vietnamese name, so we may keep part of it as a 2nd middle name. We will decide that later. We are excited to finally have a name. Now, we just need to get her home!
Kathy
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

Happy day

One of our 4 families in Vietnam received word today that their baby's visa has been granted and they are headed home!! Remember the other 3 families in prayer, as they work toward this goal.
Kathy
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4

Good news.....2nd post today!

We just received word that our paperwork (dossier) is headed to Vietnam. In the adoption world, we call this DTV (dossier to Vietnam). This is truly a milestone, especially with the happenings as of late.
Keep praying!
Kathy
"O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people." Psalm 117:1

Waiting....but hopeful

Not a lot to report about the meeting today....other than, it appears that no drastic changes were made & adoptions will continue for the time being between the US and VN. I'm sure cases will be scrutinized more closely --- and this is a good thing. The US & Vietnam have a planned meeting in March to re-sign country to country adoption agreements. My hope is that relations will continue at least until this time. Of course, nothing is rock solid when dealing with international adoption.
Our 4 families continue in VN. Keep praying.
Keep praying that our faith will be strong through this, as it appears we are still moving forward. I made a comment to my Sunday school class about a month ago that I was shocked at how smoothly this adoption has been. Bam! Shouldn't have said that! Pray that we will follow as the LORD leads - be it through storms or smooth sailing.
Kathy
"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:14

Vietnam adoption troubles

I thought I would share a link with you in case you would like to follow the turmoil happening in Vietnam concerning adoption. http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/adoptionstatement1107.html
In turn, our adoption agency has halted all new applications to Vietnam. This is a little scary, but thankfully, we are far enough in the process, that we will still proceed. Of course, our prayer is that the USCIS will not close down US adoptions completely, like they did from 2002-2005 (due to similar happenings). The USCIS has called for a meeting that will take place on Monday. They have asked all licensed agencies to attend. This is worrisome. The USCIS has placed a new procedure that should help identify potentially unethical cases before families travel, so I hope this will help with future cases. Our 4 families are still in Vietnam and our agency has lawyers in place in the US and in VN, trying to release the babies' visas so they can come home. Keep praying for these tired, emotionally drained families.
As for us, we feel strongly that the LORD led us to adopt from Vietnam. And we fear for the orphans of this country if the US shuts down US adoptions there. Pray that we will not worry and trust as the LORD works out His plan.
Dennis & Kathy
"The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe." Proverbs 29:25

Pray for Vietnam Adoption Process

I'll not go into great detail, but some upsetting happenings are going on in the adoption world in Vietnam right now. 4 families from our agency (as well as many others from other agencies) are in Vietnam, fighting for permission to return to the US with their babies. They have been there nearly 6 weeks (planned on 3 weeks) and have no word yet of when they can return. Several have spouses and/or children at home. Please help us pray for them and the entire Vietnamese adoption situation.
Thanks. Kathy
“For Thou art my hope, O Lord God: Thou art my trust from my youth.” Psalm 71:5

Paperwork is done; waiting period begins!

Today we received our I-171H (last immigration document) back from our state capital with the state certification. So we fought the clock to get our entire paperwork mountain (aka dossier) to the post office by 5:00pm tonight. Our dossier will make a quick stop in Oregon to be reviewed by our adoption agency (PLAN,Inc) and then on to the Vietnamese Consulate!!



This is a snapshot of our dossier (paperwork to Vietnam)



This officially ends our paper chase. Now we enter the waiting game. We now wait until the Vietnamese government matches us up with our baby girl. When we receive this "referral," we'll receive a few pictures, a medical report & brief history (if known) and her location. Our agency works out of 5 orphanages from 3 different provinces. She will likely be between 5 and 8 months old at the time of referral. Shortly after the referral, we will get our travel date, which is typically 1-4 months after the referral date.
Help us pray for the government officials as they match us with a baby girl.
In Christ,
Dennis and Kathy
"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba Father!" Romans 8:15

Another step closer!!!

Today we received our I-171H form ---- this is an immigration form that puts the final stamp of approval (here in the US) for us to adopt an international orphan. We've been (patiently) waiting for this form for 6 1/2 weeks now. And finally, today it arrived!
Tomorrow, we will take this last document & go through all the hoops like all the other documents (notarized, county certified, to state capital for state certified). When we get it back from the state capital......we will be ready to mail the entire packet to the Vietnamese Consulate (final step before the Vietnamese government receives it).
We are getting ready here at home. My sister and her husband have us stocked with 2 pack-n-plays. A college friend made me a couple of "girly" spit cloths! Fun stuff!! One of our close friends is expecting a baby girl next month. At her baby shower last week, we made fun because she received baby nail clippers with magnifying glasses on them (like me....she is past 40 years old). She was quick to remind me that I'll be wanting some too!!! And she is right!! Good to know some manufacturers are thinking about us "older" moms! I know we are in for an adventure. This waiting has been hard.
Oh, and by the way, (in case you were wondering) we will be adding posts everytime we get another step closer. And for the 3 weeks we are in Vietnam, I'm sure we'll post just about everyday. How wonderful that our friends and family can share this adventure with us via the internet. And I'm sure I'll load up our blogsite with lots of baby pictures!! Thanks for your interest. Keep praying for us, our new baby & our baby's birth mom!!!
Dennis and Kathy
"You are the defender of orphans LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless..." Psalm 10:14

Beginning the adoption

Hello! This is our first BLOG entry for the Irwins. Kinda fancy for us!! Our family is in the process of adopting a baby girl from Vietnam. We began the process about 3 months ago. Wow.....who would have thought the paperwork would be so involved. Our homestudy was completed last month and we have collected around 20 documents. Most of these have been notarized, county certified, state certified (Dennis always adds..."and fortified"), and will soon be authenticated by the Vietnamese consulate. We have been fingerprinted at the state capital & are close to the end of our paper chase! Shew!!!
We are currently waiting on an immigration document to arrive in the mail (form I-171H). When we receive it, we can send our entire package of documents on to our agency and then on to Vietnam. It will then be translated and go into the Vietnamese government system to be matched with a baby girl.
This "paper pregnancy" has been very consuming, but it has been exciting, every step of the way. We expect our baby girl will be between 5 & 8 months old when we bring her home. We hope to have her home by next summer.
We have 2 beautiful biological children: A boy (age 12) and a girl(age 9). We feel that the LORD has called us to add to our family through international adoption. As the process moves along, we become more and more excited about meeting the baby girl that the LORD has planned for our family. We talk about her a lot & we all debate on what we will name her.
We have began working on her bedroom which makes the process a little more real. Big brother is developmentally delayed and has a hard time understanding some things. We're hoping that getting the room ready will help him understand a little more. We're not real sure he understands that he will have "another" little sister. It seemed at first he thought we were going to trade his sister in, but we've assured him that, like it or not, we are keeping Big Sister!! Ha!
Big sister is ecstatic about being a big sister. We've pulled some of her old baby clothes out of the attic & she volunteered to wash them, fold them and place them in "the baby's" dresser. She's been trying some of them on a doll (that she's estimated to be the size of a 5-8 month old). We are all anxious to bring our new baby home.
We are very excited to share our experience with you all. I'll probably post when we have a more news -- when things are progressing. Please pray for us as we seek the LORD Jesus Christ in all these happenings! Please also help us pray for our baby's birth mother -- that the LORD will give her a peace concerning her difficult decision. Pray for her health & most importantly, that she will somehow come to know the LORD if she doesn't know Him already.

Thank you for sharing this special time with us!

Dennis & Kathy
"Don't be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the East and gather you from the West." Isaiah 43:5