Well…it turns out the highlight of our trip to Nairobi was that we got good food at the Java House (I even had apple pie!).  Unfortunately, the embassy was not so great.  The man we spoke with was really very nice and tried his best to help us.  He’s the “adoption expert” but doesn’t have any influence on the visa process which is what we really needed.  He went to the USCIS office and they told him that our custody and guardianship order doesn’t count as legal custody because legal custody in Kenya can only be granted by a high court justice and our custody was granted by a magistrate.  He did suggest that we request the high court justice issue a letter or note with our final adoption stating that he/she suggests our custody/guardianship order from two years ago be viewed as legal custody.  Robert (the adoption expert) said that might help the USCIS people feel more comfortable granting us a visa.

He didn’t say that there was absolutely no way for us to get the I-130 visa in October, but he certainly implied that it wouldn’t be easy.  He said we could look to a visitors visa as a fallback, but that’s not guaranteed either.  We know that visitors visas are typically not granted to children who have already been adopted because there is basically no reason for the family to return to the foreign country.  The fact that we took Eden on a visitors visa before and came back and that Ben has work here and comes here frequently would help us, but we can’t count on being given a visa.

So…that leaves us with a big decision.  Do we continue with the adoption process now, wrap it up and hope that we can get one of the visas to come home before Dec. 1, or do we stop, apply for a visitors visa before we do the adoption and then come back later and do this all over again, knowing that we would probably have to stay here for 2 years?

Ben and I both feel like we really just need to get this finished.  We are tired of having it hang over us and tired of Eden not being “officially” ours.  We’ve worked so hard to get everything together to do the adoption now, we don’t really want to stop.  Also, the fact that I am pregnant is good incentive for them to let us go back…we won’t have such a good reason if we would come back to Kenya and try this again later.

It is very frustrating to feel like the US is battling against us and we’re so tired.  Tired of being away from our home and families, Ben is tired of working weird hours here, I’m tired of the rain, tired of the ups and downs…we’re ready to be home.

So for now the plan is to continue with the adoption, apply for the I-130 visa in October and if that is denied apply for a visitors visa.  Please start praying now for the process.  Especially that the USCIS would be kind, sympathetic, reasonable, etc and just grant us the I-130 visa.  We really appreciate your support and prayers!

It’s hard to believe that I am already 16 weeks!  This pregnancy seems to be going much faster than Andy’s, probably because we are so busy.  I’m feeling pretty good these days.  I sleep every chance that I get and avoid beef as much as possible.  I haven’t felt the baby move yet, although I keep telling it to jump and leap so that I can feel it.  We have our next ultrasound on Sept. 5 and as long as the baby cooperates we should be able to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl.  I’m anxious to know so that I can start calling “it” by name and make plans for the nursery.

Yesterday while I was eating my breakfast, Eden turned to me and said, “Mommy, I’m not an angel.”  Thinking that someone had said this to her regarding bad behavior, I asked who told her this.  She then informed me that God told her.  While she was riding her bike He told her that the angels are SO busy and that they are always praising the Lord.

It was a very enlightening discussion; I can’t believe how grown up she is!  I can’t think of any other explanation for her newly acquired knowledge as we have never discussed angels before and I can’t think of any movies or songs we’ve listened to recently that might have brought this on.  I’m so thankful that she shares these things with me and for her sweet heart.  I also think that I will encourage a lot more bike riding from now on!

Caroline from Little Angels came to our house today for a home visit.  She arrived around 10:30 and went over all of our paperwork and watched the kids play for a bit.  Then we answered a lot of questions for our joint interview, had lunch, and then each did an individual interview and concluded with a quick tour of the house.  It went well and she seemed happy with the information we gave her.

As always there was a mix of good news and bad news.  She is going to try to complete her report quickly so that the committee can review (and hopefully approve) Eden’s adoption this month as they only meet twice a month.  She was not able to get the district children’s officer to write a letter, but she was able to experience some of the frustration that we have had with them and said she would include their lack of help in her report.

We have a few things to gather for her which we will hopefully be able to do this weekend or Monday and then she can proceed.  Overall, we felt very good about her visit and really appreciated her time and help as well as the information that she gave us.

On Wednesday we are traveling to Nairobi for the day to meet with someone at the embassy regarding Eden’s visa.  We are anxious about this meeting and hope that they are able to answer our questions and give us good news.  It all hangs on whether our guardianship order from 2009 gives us legal and physical custody and whether the courts had the right to give us guardianship.  I’m not exactly sure how we prove those things, but hopefully it will be clear to the embassy that everything has been done properly.  If they determine that everything is fine we can apply for her visa in October.  If they think that things are not correct, the 24 month waiting period would begin when the adoption is complete.

Please pray for safe travels for Ben and me, that the kids will do well without us for the day and that the embassy will grant Eden an immigrant visa in October!

Ben, Eden, Andy and I are very excited to let you all know that soon we will have another Wolfe in the family!  Baby #3 is due January 28, 2012!  I have been much more sick than I was with Andy and have struggled with my limited food options here when certain things sound good to me.  I’m now 13 weeks and still can’t stand the sight of raw meat or the smell of meat cooking.  I have been able to eat chicken again over the last couple of weeks as long as someone else prepares it.  We’re all hoping that I feel better soon!

Eden is very excited and has already told us several times that she is sick because she has a baby in her belly.  She thinks the baby is a boy and likes to pat my tummy and give it kisses.  Andy doesn’t really care, but if you ask where the baby is he will pull up his shirt and show you his belly.

We have had a couple of ultrasounds already and everything looked good.  We’re planning on having another one in a few weeks so that we can find out if we’re having a boy or a girl.

This puts a lot of hiccups in our plans for coming home from Kenya.  We really need to leave by November in order to be home before my third trimester but it might be hard to get the visa for Eden to travel back to the US by that time.  Please pray with us that we can all go home together in October or November and for an easy pregnancy and healthy baby!