Andy is growing up way too fast.  He is getting quite independent and adventuresome in his old age.  He loves to “wrestle” with Eden and Ben and enjoys playing outside.  He has started squealing a lot which is hard on the ears, but it’s squeals of joy so it’s still pretty cute. Andy is very funny about being told “no”.  He hates it and it starts a complete meltdown when he can’t do something he wants to do.  However, he normally sits on the floor crying for a few seconds, then comes running over to Ben or me for hugs.  He is still a good snuggler and has gotten much better about the hitting.  He really loves his Twiga and carries it around with him so that he can quickly curl up with it on the floor when he needs a little love.  🙂

I recently took the kids down to the IU office to weigh them.  Andy weighed about 30 lbs and Eden weighed about 28!  I can barely carry the two of them together anymore, even though they both still want picked up a lot.  We had to move a chair in to Andy’s room for bedtime because he is too heavy to hold while we sing and pray with him.

Andy’s favorite toys right now are cars and trucks.  He can find a car or truck in pretty much any book and then just wants to stare at the picture.  He loves to drive his Tonka cars through their little garage and has a couple of big trucks that he pushes all around the house.  He also likes to spot them when we’re out driving so most of our car rides are filled with Andy yelling from his carseat, “Car!  Truck!  Bus!”.  He is still very happy and easy going and we’re enjoying this fun stage.

Our lawyer met with the district children’s officer today to discuss our case. Diana had reviewed our file over the weekend and wanted to talk about some things with Were. They met this morning and she told him she has no objection to us being granted the exemption! She will go to court with us on the 25th in case the magistrate has any questions.

After we get the paperwork finalized for the exemption on the 25th we can apply for the adoption! We are so thankful that God has worked everything out so perfectly and with such speed!  Thanks for all of your prayers!

Well, we didn’t get the exact answer that we wanted, but darn close! The magistrate said that he doesn’t have a problem with granting us the exemption as long as the district children’s officer says that it is ok. For those of you that remember our dealings with the district children’s officer (Phillip) at the start of our process with Eden, you are feeling nervous, which is how Ben was feeling. The good news is that there is a new district children’s officer now who I’ve heard is very nice. Were is going to see her tomorrow and she just needs to either write a letter or come to court with us on July 25 to give the magistrate her approval. This does delay us from filing for the adoption right away, but all in all, it’s pretty good news! 🙂

Our lawyer is hopefully going to court this afternoon around 2 to plead our case for the exemption so that we don’t have to live here for 3 years. Please be praying that Were presents our case well and that the magistrate grants our request. We are not going to court with him because the hearing is during the kids nap time. We will post an update as soon as we hear a result!

We haven’t made very much progress on the adoption since we’ve been here, but in the last few days we’ve finally talked to the right people and have gotten some good information and good news!

Ben talked to a woman named Susan at Little Angels in Nairobi and she told us that since we already have custody of Eden, we can go ahead and file for an exemption on the 3 year residency requirement.  We should be going to court soon to apply for the exemption.  Even better is that the 3 year residency requirement isn’t actually a law, but a recommendation that the adoption agencies have.  Also, the three months of post-placement visits that have to be made by a social worker are not necessary for us.  She told us that is to allow time for bonding between the child and the family, but obviously we have already done that.  The last good thing Susan told us is that as soon as our exemption is approved we can go ahead and apply for the adoption.  That should take 2 court dates but then we should be done.

Today I talked to the District Children’s Officer in Kapsebet who used to be over the Eldoret area.  She helped with the adoption of another little boy from Sally Test several years ago.  She said that we can go ahead and do the adoption here in Eldoret, then we can go to Nairobi and see the Children’s Officer there.  They will give us a letter saying that the adoption is finalized and that’s what we take with us to the US Embassy.

It sounds like it should be fairly easy and move pretty quickly, but even so, we probably won’t be able to come home before October.  That’s because the US has a law that says a child adopted abroad (not through the international Hague convention route) has to live with the family for 24 months before they can get a visa to return to the States.  Our 24 months roll around on October 13.  We will certainly ask for permission to come home earlier, but doubt that will happen.

Please continue to pray for the process.  That the magistrates will be kind and willing to help us and that we are able to get court dates in a speedy fashion.  Finally, pray that the US Embassy employees will be compassionate and let us come home early!