Lauren news...

We have 1st ruling!!!!!!!!!!! What an exciting call to get today. Our Social worker called me a little while ago to tell me the great news. She said that our 1st ruling (also called Civil Ruling) was the fastest one that they have had come in. Just 17 days since our hearing on July 10th! Wow! I had prepared myself for at the very least a 2 month wait that would have landed us in early to mid September and then traveling in October - November or even December. Now it looks like we could actually be travelling in early September.

Now that we have the 1st ruling we have a mandatory 10 day waiting period for our final ruling. After 10 days the judge can make Lauren legally our daughter. Our social worker said that she has been seeing final rulings come in 3-5 weeks after the 1st ruling. We are hopeful for a quick final ruling but as in all international adoption cases it could take longer.

Well- It's officially time to go shopping:) I have been holding off on shopping for clothes for Lauren. Our hearing took so long I was imagining not being able to have her home until Thanksgiving or Christmas so I have been waiting for all the fall clothes to come out. Also, I wasn't really sure what size she was wearing until she was wearing our outfit this last update.
Lauren's measurements as off June 30th are height 24.4 inches and weight 15.8 pounds. I believe she is in 3-6 months clothes right now so I am going to go shopping for some 6-9 month outfits for the fall.

Oh happy day!!!

Lauren's July Video!

We have video! Here is our girl in motion. I think she is creeping in the video. Oh my!!!! Crawling is not far off for this girl. She is such a cutie pie. I just love her little personality:)

Enjoy

July Updates of Lauren

Yippee! We have new pictures of Lauren. We actually received them late Wednesday when I was not at home/near computer. Our agency just changed the format for sending them and although I could view them, I could not separate the pictures out to post ( or e-mail). A HUGE thank you to fellow blogger Michelle for figuring it out and making the picture files for me:)



Here is our sweet girl. She is looking happy and healthy. The last few updates we have received I have noticed cute little hair clips in her hair. I love that! I am guessing that means she doesn't mind having them in:) I must shop for hair accessories soon!

I couldn't tell if I had sent the outfit she is wearing. In the pictures it looked like a one piece. I was starting to worry that I had sent all the wrong sizes for her or that the clothes I sent really were not working out. I even went shopping for new clothes and all different styles to find something that would fit and be comfortable. Then I realized that it IS a little dress I sent over... that it has matching bloomers. I really am a novice in the baby girl department!

I so love this girl. I cannot wait until I hold her in my arms.

Fellow blogger Michelle got some very good news yesterday on her final ruling. She is getting ready to travel in early August to get the ever gorgeous Tessa. If you would like to watch the magic unfold follow the link Hello, Hola and Ni Hao.

Enjoy the new pictures and I will continue to work on getting the video uploaded.

Court Hearing (check), Summer Weather (finally)

Friday was the big day for our court hearing. Our hearing likely took place while we were sleeping on Thursday night. I watched the clock until 11 pm and send little prayers and words of encouragement to Taiwan for Lauren's birth mother, our case worker and the judge assigned to our case. I woke up at 1:00 am and 3:30 am and sent more prayers and encouragement. When I woke up on Friday morning I knew that our case should have already been heard. It was a relief to know that everyone has done their part to help bring Lauren home and now the judge needs to review all the information and make his ruling. I have been waiting by the computer and phone nervously today in case there is news of our case. No news is considered good news so that is what I am hoping for. I am still nervous that the judge will need another bit of information or has a question about our case. Lets hope not.

In other news...It finally stopped raining. Thank God! It truly rained for over 3 weeks and when it wasn't raining it wasn't especially warm. We had a small break in the rain on the 4th of July which was good. The boys decorated their bikes and participated in the Independence day parade. They did a great job and were able to steer their bikes and throw candy to the crowd (the highlight for Jake and Matt). A big thanks to Uncle Paul for running out to the store and picking up the candy in the morning. Here are my boys at the end of the parade enjoying the Popsicles that were given out.



The boys have been enjoying the beach. They are fearless in attempting to catch the perfect wave.

Matt is REALLY good at catching waves and riding them all the way to the shore. What a cutie!

On yet another rainy day at the beach we decided to go crabbing. We bought some bait and the boys threw out their weighted traps. Here is Jake pulling his trap up with a crab .

Matt is the only one who is not afraid to pick up the crabs and throw them in the bucket.

Here we are taking in the view. We took our crabs home and my Mom made us some delicious crab sauce. Jake was not sure of it but ended up liking it.

We are still awaiting updates on our girl. They definitely should be in this week, so check back in with us.

Six Months and a Hearing Date!!!

We have a hearing date!!! We got a call from our social worker today with the great news. But wait, it gets better, the hearing is July 10th. Yup...this Friday! I am so excited and relieved to finally be in the courts.

This is the 1st of a 3 part process that we need to go through. On Friday we have social workers working on our behalf who will represent us in court and present our documents, homestudy, and photo album with pictures of us, the boys, our house and where the baby will be sleeping (we used pictures of Jake's Nursery). Lauren's birth mother will at the hearing and she will state that she is in agreement with our adoption of Lauren. I cannot imagine how hard Friday will be for her. She has met with social workers and has made her wishes known but still must attend the hearing and state her intentions to the judge formally. My heart aches for her. Once the hearing occurs, the judge takes all of the information presented to him and will make a judgment. This judgment is called 1st ruling and and can take 1-3 months to occur. After the 1st ruling is issued there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period for all parties to reconsider. At this point it is just a formality. After the 10 days and when the judge gets around to it (possibly 10 days later or 1-3 months) the judge will issue his Final ruling which officially makes Lauren our daughter in the eyes of the law. At that point we will be invited to travel to Taiwan to bring Miss Lauren home. Let's hope that all our ducks are in a row and the judge moves our case swiftly through the court process.

Our Lauren turned 6 months old on Sunday. It feels like time is going by so slowly when we are waiting for her, yet it feels like she is growing up so fast. We are due for new updates soon. Maybe we will see her beautiful face this week.