The countdown has begun....

We are so excited that we finally are at a stage where we can answer the age old question from everyone who has followed our family through this journey of "When will she be home".   At this point we believe Mirlande's passport has been issued, which means any day now we will enter basically the VERY LAST PHASE of the process which is called USCIS (essentially immigration).  This phase is on the U.S. side of things and is fairly consistent in time frames.   Delays can still come up in this phase, so we appreciate prayers that this will go smoothly, but more times than not things do go smoothly.    So that means in 4-6 weeks Mirlande will be HOME!  We are praying it is 4 weeks.

The Daniel Family

With that in mind there is a lot of last minute scurrying going on to prepare for her.  I am so grateful for my employer, who has been so supportive during our adoption process, and with them I will be able to take the whole summer off once Mirlande gets home.  Claire is really looking forward to this as well.   When we do bring her home we will be in a stage called "cocooning", which essentially is being very intentional in providing Mirlande a very small environment where we aren't venturing out much or interacting with many outside of our family, but instead will be at home really focused in on connecting as a family and walking alongside Mirlande as she adjust to her family.    I also will be working with Mirlande on helping her prepare to start school next year in 5th grade.

We also will have a very structured summer, as kids that come from hard backgrounds really need structure in order to feel safe.  This isn't exactly in line with my personality, so this will be stretching me, but I am working on a schedule that involves lots of structured playtime, reading/writing/math practice, very healthy and interactive meal plans, and mostly lots of fun.  Claire is looking forward to Field Trip Fridays, where we have decided (if all goes as plans) that Fridays will be our fun day to venture out.

In my last blog I mentioned Mirlande's big plans for her going away party outfit at the creche, here is the fancy dress she picked out:

Mirlande's fancy outfit for her going away party 

We also are getting together party supplies for the going away party that we will through for her at the creche to say goodbye to all her friends and all the staff at C4C.    We do have one special element you can be part of.    We have decided that Mirlande's "story" of how she came to our family and how she came to C4C is in fact just that, her story, and it is not ours to tell.  That being said, without providing any details, we are aware of two people who are very significant to her past that we hope to meet, or at minimum pass on some letters and  gifts to them.    As our gift we had quilts made for them and we have attached ribbons to the quilt, which each ribbon represents a prayer that we have prayed for Mirlande, her adoption, or these two people.  That being said, if you have supported us through prayer in this adoption and would like to be part of this prayer gift, we would love if you sent us 2 pieces of ribbon (no more than 12 inches each) and we will attach them to the quilts.   If you won't see me in the next few weeks and don't have our mailing address shoot me an email at klisst@prodigy.net or message me on facebook and I will give you our address to send the ribbon to.   We hope this will be a very special gift for two very special people to us and to Mirlande.

Quilt 1- You can see some of the ribbons tied on already.  I love the scripture in this verse "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding, seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your path- Proverbs 3:5-6" 

Quilt 2- A very talented woman at our church made this one and we just love is filled with words of praises.  

We can't wait to see this face in just a few weeks- LOVE.THAT.SMILE!

We are in the home stretch now

After three years it is looking like we are in the final stretch and we could not be more excited to bring Mirlande home.   I shared on facebook a few weeks ago that we got her adoption decree which changed her name to Mirlande Daniel and allowed us to finally share a bit more about our sweet daughter.   

So here is where we are at now, currently we are in a stage called MOI, basically a rubber stamp stage checking to make sure everything was done correctly.  We expect to be out of this stage very soon.  Next, her passport will be issued, that should take 1-3 weeks.  Then her file will go through USCIS (essentially immigration).  This phase typically takes 8-10 weeks, however, recently there have been families moving through as quickly as 4 weeks. From there her VISA to travel home should be issued very shortly after USCIS is finalized and then guess what, she is HOME!   So we could be looking at homecoming as early as May, or very realistically in  early June.   Praise Jesus for bringing us to this point and making our beautiful family in this way.   

One of the awesome things about Mirlande being older, she is 11 now, is that she can tell us what she wants and does not want.   It is typical that all families through a party at the creche when it is time to go home.  Mirlande has big plans for this....specifically for her wardrobe.  She is quite the fashionista and typically goes through 3-4 outfits a day.  You know, a girl has got to have the right outfit for every activity in a day.   Anyways, for a year now she has been telling us she wants a very fancy white dress, we were given specifics on length, material, fit, style.  I just LOVE this. So just this last week we sent her pictures of a few dresses to choose from and she had a clear front runner, which we ordered for her.  It was SO exciting to be finally ordering this dress, the homecoming dress.  We still need to pickup some heeled dress shoes and a veil....yes, she said she wants a veil, or at least some sort of headpiece.   What a crack up this kid is.  

She also has told us that when she flies home at the airport she wants a BIG welcoming with lots of people, including all the people who traveled to Haiti with our church.   

Claire is getting very excited to FINALLY have a sister here at home.   She says playing on the trampoline by herself is so boring.   Claire and Mirlande get along beautifully.   Claire has been to Haiti twice to hang out with Mirlande, and it is astonishing how well they connect and play with each other.  Both of them just laugh and giggle ALL.THE.TIME together.   

Mirlande is also very funny. She is the one in a group who will be playing jokes and keeping people talking and trying to make everyone laugh....that is after she gets over her initial shyness, which comes out here and there.   I can't wait to see how having a jokester in the family is going to add to all the FUN we have together.

Hoping soon to share with you that we have exited MOI and are ready for passport printing!