Visiting 12 orphanages all over India; 67 specific children, 47 of whom have waiting families. This is a huge undertaking for anyone, but is the task of our agency rep who left for India on April 10th. With this trip comes the promise of a small delivery to Treya on our behalf and with a little luck a new photo for us and, dare I wish for it, a video of our 15 month old (today) cherub.
Last Wednesday, at the urging of our agency, we xeroxed the four copies of our dossier (a total of a couple hundred pages) and sent them over night with an earliest possible arrival to Oregon. The package immediately was express delivered to India, so our rep, last Monday, could hand deliver it to SOFOSH where our little Treya is now living. This would start our clock ticking, hoping that in 6-8 months we would find ourselves on a plane bound for India.
Even the best laid plans can be foiled, and they were. I just happened to have the paperwork we needed to send in the car with me at work that day. The xerox machine performed beautifully, without even so much as a single jammed paper. The delivery man arrived on time and could guarantee the 8:00am delivery. Everything went smoothly in route up to leaving the office of the agency. Who would have thought that the snag in our plan was a plumb of ash blown 3.7 miles into the air from beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. Really? A volcano? These are the unpredictable turns that exist in adoption that give this mom almost more gray hairs than I can keep dyed.
The good news? Well, we have wonderful representation! The rep in India has rescheduled her trip to SOFOSH to accommodate our dossier's late arrival. This is huge. I am thankful beyond words. The bad news? CARA is behind in issuing the NOC (No Objection Certificates), what we are waiting for next, extending the average wait for this step to 2-4 months. Will we be united before Treya's second birthday? I desperately hope so!
On the home front, tonight Devi practiced making room for Treya in the bathtub! It was darling. Laying on her back, she squished herself over to one side of the tub, pretended to put her arm around her little sister and soothed her with a comforting conversation about not being afraid of the water. PRECIOUS!
Recent Devi jaw droppers are...
Does Puerto Vallarta have "art" in it?
Why is India so hot?
Does it take more than two carabiners to climb Mt. Everest?
And then there was this conversation....
Devi: Mom, do we need to go to the airport to get Treya?
Mom: Yes, we do and it is going to be a very long plane ride.
D: Does she belong here?
M: Yes, just like you.
D: Does she belong in India?
M: Yes, she does right now. We can't go get her until the judge says it is okay.
D: When she comes home, is she going to stay here forever, like me?
M: Yes, just like you.
D: Where are the ayahs? Are they taking care of her until I come for her?
M: Yes, sweet pea, they will take care of her until we can go get her.
D: Can we go today?
M: I wish we could. I wish we could.
And while preparing our garden beds for planting comes the biggest news of the week...from the depths of her soul, Devi found the courage to....
HOLD A WORM!
Days later, she is still incredibly proud of herself.
In a moment of silliness, we get a glimpse of Captain under panties!
Nothing like a juicy apple, a bunch of flowers and dancing to live music toannounce that the Farmer's Market is BACK!
10 comments:
Julie, you have a wonderful rep. working for you! Adoption has all kinds of things happen....volcano!..that is a first :-( I pray your NOC will come quickly and your precious daughter will be with you for her 2nd birthday.
Loved reading Devi's conversation and jaw droppers. How precious it is that she is already planning ways to help her little sister even before she comes home. You have a very sweet girl.
April :-)
Sorry, Julie. Darin is my husband and he was logged in when I posted this comment. It is really me, April that left the comment. My apologies!
A BABY is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase!
Heartfelt BABY CARE blog ... keep it up!
Thnks &Rgds
So great that your dossier will be hand delivered! Hoping your NOC comes soon,ours came in 5 weeks,maybe yours will be sooner!:)
Isn't that something about that volcano?:) Love the bath tub moment and how Devi's little heart longs for her sister! UGH,a worm,I will not even hold one! Devi is much braver then GIGI!:)
Have a great week,so glad you are right there at the countdown of waitin to travel!
I love it, a volcano! Of all things. You can only account for so much, and a plumb of ash is not one of those things! I'm so so glad your rep is willing to wait to hand deliver your dossier. Then you can rest easy that it is really there. It's nice to hear that amidst the paperwork and photocopying, you have a sweet Devi to keep you in stitches! What a smart cookie you have, asking about carabiners and art in Puerta Vallarta! I can just picture her in the tub making room for little Treya, how incredibly kind and thoughtful of her. I cannot wait for her and Treya to be united. Sisterhood is an amazing gift!
Emily :)
Of all the possible snags to hit . . . a volcano?! REALLY??? As if there weren't enough potential mishaps through this process!
I am so hoping you have Treya home before she turns two! We will be praying for speedy NOC for you.
With love,
Nancy
ok, we're praying for green lights the rest of the way for you. no more holds, delays, or volcanoes. that baby sister needs to come home!
I sure hope that extended NOC time frame doesn't pan out. After all of the hard knocks you have endured already, it would be much more fitting for you to have a super speedy NOC!!! I'll be praying for that! Love all of the Devi-isms. She is so spunky. (Shaili has that outfit that Devi is wearing in the last pic. Fun to see it on Devi, too!)
:)Kristi W.
Gotta love a girl who wants to know about carabiners :)
Cannot believe the obstacles you are overcoming this time around!
Kristy
Dear Julie & Patrick, thanks for this beautiful blog. I wonder if you could help spread the word about Ira, a Finnish girl adopted from India, who has cancer and urgently needs a bone marrow transplant from a matching donor in order to survive. We are trying to reach Indian-born people across the world to help save little Ira's life. See our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102527359787042 - it contains links to many different marrow donor registries and organizations around the world, so people can register with the one nearest to their home.
We are in a race between life and death now, and we don't want to lose this little girl. Please help us if you can.
Many thanks in advance,
Titia
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