What I got instead of a house . . .

First, it's so nice to just talk about everyday stuff instead of the crazy adoption! :)
Josh and I had planned to look into purchasing a home that we could come home to in between moves, on leave, etc. We find that we need a good 30 days to see both sides of the family and that gets harder and harder to do! So, we started setting aside money to use as a down payment. We decided on a place that was about half way between both sets of grandparents. It would be so nice to put our furniture and things that don't always go with us on every move in the house. I found a house in a great location but it was a little on the small side. Then again, we just wanted some place to crash every so often for about 30 days at a time.
Then we got TWINS! :)
Most of you know that we weren't quite planning on TWO babies! Although you don't have to get two of everything, there are some items you HAVE to have two of such as carseats, cribs, high chairs, etc. Formula alone was over $300/month!!! We saw our down payment start to dwindle.
Then this adoption ended up costing thousands more than we were expecting. That drained the savings a little more.
Before we moved to Morocco, we sold our Honda and stored our Nissan sedan. The Nissan is only a few years old and we thought that we may even be able to get by with just one car when we returned.
Then we got TWINS! :)
There was no way we could fit all 3 children comfortably in the back of the Nissan. Add to that the luggage and gear to just go to the grandparents' for the weekend and we have a big problem!
So we realized that we needed a mini van. Now I know there are some out there who hate the idea of a mini van. It definitely screams family inside.
Growing up we lived near a Navy base. When the day was done at the base, it was almost impossible to make a left turn into our neighborhood on green because it was bumper to bumper traffic with Navy guys in the driver's seat. I remember my sister and I scoping out the cute ones and she told me to avoid the ones driving a mini van because that meant he was married. :)
Anyway, I never minded the idea of a mini van. I always like the Honda Odysseys ever since they came out and figured one day I may get to drive one. I asked friends and family what features I would want to look for with a mini van since I'm playing single mom of 3 for the next 2 years.
My sister said to definitely have a luggage rack. This way you don't have to pile everything inside for a long trip. Right now I think the two portacribs and the double stroller would fill the back of the van! I definitely need space!!!
A dear friend of mine suggested having the automatic doors where you push a button on the key chain and the sliding doors open for you. I figured this would be a huge benefit with twin toddlers!
So I set out looking for a van that HAD to have those two features. Any other features would be a bonus.
Josh was home in the US for a whole 4 days before he had to report in for training but he managed to get me a mini van. I had been e-mailing and negotiating with the dealer for about a month before so by the time Josh got to the states all he had to do was sign for it.
So, here is the Honda Odyssey I ended up with:




I ended up with a LOT more features than I was looking for but that's ok. I thought it was a blue color but it's actually a green color. I can't wait to actually see it and drive it.
Rachel
P.S. I don't have to live in the mini van!!! I have a house to live in, but I'm renting :)

Blessings

I had really debated about posting this because I am afraid that I will forget someone and feelings will be hurt. If your name is left off, please forgive me and my very distracted brain. If you'll let me know that I left you off, I'll add you to the list. :)

I feel like I should say thanks to all those who have helped me on this "adventure." Those who know me well know that I really like my independence sometimes to a fault. I don't mind helping others but I really hate needing someone to help me. This experience has forced me to rely on others and let them help.

In order to protect anonymity, I'll only use first names. Some of these people have very well-earned titles and when I normally address them I use their title and last name. However, I feel that with the internet it's best to just stay with first names, so here goes (in no particular order):

1) My loving husband, Joshua - If he had his way, we'd have a dozen children. He loves kids and he is a great father. However, my sanity can only handle so many. I thought that number was 2. Apparently, it's 3! :) My heart still skips a beat when I hear his voice on the phone. :)

2) My terrific little boy, Andrew - This kid has had to roll with the punches!!! From losing his spot as only child with Mom and Dad's constant undivided attention to having to sit quietly in an unairconditioned building when it's 110 degrees outside while we wait for a judge to sign a paper, to having to go live with his Aunt, Uncle and cousins he barely knows while we sort out this mess. I'm so thankful that I've been blessed to be his mother.

3) Holly - Where do I start? Transportation, babysitting, phone calls, visits, unbelievable patience, flying back to the states with me and I know there is more. Especially in the past two weeks, she has been my rock! There is so much that I admire about her.

4) Mary - for telling me about this adoption opportunity in the first place. I won't hold it against her that she thought it would be easy and cheap. :) It IS worth it though!!!

5) My family - for listening to me vent about the process over the phone and for contacting Bill for help. My sister and her family have done so much to help us transition back to the states from getting our utilities turned on, to receiving our shipment to taking care of our son. It's been nice to have a few less things to worry about. She's even getting the house ready for a possible hurricane. My family has also made it clear to not worry about the hurricane and just get SOMEWHERE in the US an someone will come get us.

6) Ali - For the promises of chocolate desserts, mailing a TON of things, phone calls, e-mails, flair on facebook, etc. She is truly a wonderful friend and I'm thankful that I can call her my best friend. I can't wait to be closer to her so we can spend more time together.

7) Zoubida - I think it would take pages and pages of writing to share all that she did! Whenever I hit a roadblock along this process, Zoubida managed to make some calls and get things moving again. She is an amazing person.

8) Fouzia - Like Zoubida, she made calls on our behalf to get things moving. She also had Andrew over for a day while we were stuck in our house without our things and Andrew was bored out of his mind. Fouzia has a sweet spirit about her.

9) Touria - Touria was the one that got it all started for us. She would spend her days off visiting orphanages around Morocco. She initially told me that there was about a 6 year waiting list for a girl. I knew our next one was to be a girl and I told her that I would try here for a girl and if it didn't work out then I'd adopt a girl in the US. I'll never forget when she called me and told me that there were twin girls available and how no one wanted both, but others had offered to just take one of the girls. The idea of twins was shocking at first but I'm glad I said yes!

10) Hamid and Ouafa - These two work for the foundation that runs the orphanage. Either one or the both of them would accompany us each time we went to the courts. I honestly lost count how many times I went to that courthouse!

11) Cindy - Cindy came in July from the states to adopt two boys. She experienced the unexpected and called me to tell me she understood when I was terribly upset about Josh and Andrew having to leave ahead of me.

12) Jeffery -This poor guy replaced Josh's boss a few weeks before Josh's job was done. He saw me in the embassy one day after Josh and Andrew left and made the mistake of asking me how I was doing. I fell apart right there! He was truly concerned and offered anything to help.

13) Andy - He was there when Jeffery asked how I was doing and I made a fool of myself breaking down. Later that evening he called to check on me and ask if there was anything he and his family could do.

14) Tom and Nancy - These two are very busy people but they took the time to step in and help when it looked like there was nothing that could be done. I greatly appreciate their efforts and the time they took to help me.

15) Lori and Dan - They gave me a place to sleep and food to eat when I had to move out of my house until I was able to move into Jai's house. They have wonderful kids who were so great with the girls. Lori did some translating for me as well. I think they saw me at my worst (all sad and pitiful missing my guys)!

16) Jai - Jai is new to the embassy. His wife just had a baby in the US so he went home for a few weeks to be with her and will bring his family back when the baby is old enough, etc. He graciously offered his home to me and the girls while he was away. It was nice to be able to spread out and not disrupt anyone's family routine, etc.

17) Ted and Lynn - Ted offered many times to help by running background checks, making phone calls, etc. Lynn was a great sounding board and even e-mailed me from the states to check on me when she heard it was getting tough.

18) Haziz - This guy fingerprinted us several times for all the clearances we had to do. He also personally accompanied Josh to some government offices when our paperwork was stalled for 2 months.

19) Ahmed - This guy fingerprinted us even more than Haziz! He always dropped what he was doing to get our fingerprints done because he knew how important it was to us.

20) Caroline and Jake - Such a sweet couple. They visited us back in February when they were looking for a house and then they moved to another city in Morocco in May. We really like this family. I wish we were geographically closer. Anyway, despite their distance, they kept in touch with what all was going on and offered their love and support.

21) Maggie - She called me one day after the guys were gone just to check on me. I really needed that phone call right then. Thanks!!!!

22) Tammy - For stopping for a few minutes to see how things were going and to offer anything to help. Like Maggie's phone call, running into you was just what I needed right then.

23) My embassy community - I don't think I've ever been so close to a group of people like I have with this embassy community. Everyone offered love, support, anything they could to help. I think my girls were the most popular kids at the embassy. I couldn't take 5 steps with them without getting stopped so someone could admire the girls. Anytime I go to the embassy without the girls people stop me to ask where the girls are and why didn't I bring them!!!

24) My LFR sisters - These wonderful ladies have offered prayers, words of comfort, love and support. They are even making sure I have a place to stay if the hurricane prevents me from getting to my final destination in the US. I'm so grateful for the support they've given me through this entire process.

25) My in-laws - My inbox frequently has sweet letters with well wishes and encouragement. Those meant a lot during this "adventure." Like my family, the offer to come get me anywhere in the US has been extended as well.

26) Dennis and Cathy - For the advice early on in the process when we were trying to decide if this was the right thing to do and for the love and support throughout. We are thankful you guys are part of our lives.

27) Those who left comments on the blog - It's nice to know someone is reading this and that I'm not just talking to myself! :) Seriously, the kind words were so needed. I'm hoping my future posts for a while will be fun, upbeat and "life is good" type posts. It's more fun to write about the good stuff! :)

28) Julienne - For shipping baby things (like formula) at the last minute to us because it would get to us faster from you than any other method.

29) Bill - He's our congressman and although he's not part of the political party I usually vote for, he's got my vote! He became our advocate with Rome and as you can see, we got results!

30) My Heavenly Father - What a comfort it was when I would pray about this to know these girls were ours and were meant to be in our little family. I honestly feel that I was stretched beyond my comfort zones but I learned so much and feel that I have grown from it all. However, I have no desire to go through something like this again!!! :)

I've fretted over this post for days knowing that I have forgotten someone. I hope I'm wrong, but if not, please know that I am appreciative of anyone and everyone who played a part in helping these girls become ours.
With great joy,
Rachel

The most beautiful thing I've seen in a while! :)

I got the following e-mail a few minutes ago:
We are pleased to inform you that your application has been approved.Please find the approval notice attached. We are sending by courier your approved application and supportingdocuments to the American Embassy in Casablanca.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :)

I have no voice today and I called Josh (for like $4/minute) to whisper the news to him. :) I'm so happy I'm ready to cry.
Next step is as soon as the papers arrive in Casablanca we'll go there for the day to do the visas. Then we can fly out the next day. So, because of the weekend and the holiday it won't be before Wednesday of next week but hopefully it will be by Saturday of next week.
I am so relieved!!!!
--Rachel

Happy 1st Birthday to Leah and Leila

Today is Leah and Leila's birthday! I have them all dressed up to go with me to lunch with the ladies at our American club. Tonight we will have dinner with L and D and their kids.

I got them dressed up and realized that Leah has grown out of her cute little pink Mary Janes. Oh well. I guess I'll need to go shopping when I get to the US. :)

Here are two pictures from this morning. I'll add more as the day progresses. Enjoy!

The girls had a good time at lunch. Leah wasn't quite sure about her cake but Leila dug in! If you hold up your finger like you are showing the number one Leah will do it back. This morning I kept saying "You're one today!" and holding up my finger and Leah starting doing it with a big grin on her face. :)

Leah:

Leila:

I'll post more pictures from dinner tonight later!

These are from tonight at L and D's house:
Leah:

Leila:


With L and D's children:



Singing Happy Birthday:

Leila really liked her piece:


That's all for the day. The girls came home and crashed! It was a long, but wonderful day. I'm thankful for such good friends that helped make the day special. I had honestly planned to not do anything and just wait until we got back to the US. I'm glad it worked out this way.
--Rachel

A step back

I picked up the translation today and it was almost exactly the same as the first document that I had that Rome said wasn't good enough.
I had my friend Z call the judge and he explained that was all he could do because basically Rome wants the judge to give us permission to take the girls but the judge feels that he doesn't have the authority to give us permission because he granted us custody and we can do what we want with the girls. I honestly see both sides and feel we are getting lost in the translation and arguing semantics.
One example is Rome wants the judge to say the custody is irrevocable but the judge said it's obvious it's irrevocable b/c it says we have custody until the girls are 18 or the husband buys them from us (I find that part funny!). *SIGH*
So, under the advice of those with experience with this within the embassy I e-mailed Rome and explained this all to them. I don't know what else to do.
Morocco's attitude is "The girls are yours, take them and get out of here!" This US office in Rome's attitude is "Well, you need to reform the court system of this 3rd world country to get them to do things exactly the way we want them."
I understand they are following regulations according to their interpretation and the regulations are there to protect the children from things like being stolen from their parents, etc. but it is VERY clear in the court documents that these girls were abandoned and their birth mother took an even more rare step by signing a statement with the police revoking her rights as a parent.
All the right people in the right places are aware of what is going on so we'll see what happens. It's VERY frustrating meanwhile!!!
I'll keep you all posted.
--Rachel

More progress!

So today I woke up at 5:45am and loaded the girls' carseats, stroller, portacribs and diaper bag and took the girls to H's house at 6:15. I then took H's van to Meknes (2 hours away) to meet the judge to sign the paper that Rome wants.
I had packed something for breakfast in the car but forgot to eat it on the way. I wasn't hungry so I forgot.
I met the lawyer, H, and he had me follow him to this one courthouse and we waited for over an hour. H doesn't speak much English so we relied on gestures a lot. I was getting stared at a lot and the song from Sesame Street "One of these things is not like the others" was running through my head. It seemed worse today. Then again, maybe it was because I didn't have children distracting me so I noticed it more.
OK, this next part is gross but I have to share. :) If you have a weak stomach, skip down to the part after the astericks!
So, I'm waiting for the judge and I hear this guy coming up the stairs coughing up phelgm and I heard him spit it out. Now I'm thinking "Surely he didn't just spit that out on the stairs of the courthouse!" Then he came up the stairs and sat next to me. He again starts coughing up the phelgm and I saw the CLEAR plastic bag that he was spitting in! I thought I was going to be sick; especially since I didn't eat breakfast! I was trying to be polite but also turn away so I didn't have to see his bag. I don't know if my green face or the way I turned my body caught the attention of the policeman but he came over and started questioning the guy. The guy appeared to be homeless so he may have just been looking for a place to hang out. All I know is when the policeman finished talking to him he got up and left!
***************************************************************************
So, the judge came an hour late and apologized. Although my friend, Z, explained what I needed the day before, the judge wanted to know again what I wanted. Fortunately I had a French translation of the phrase that Rome was demanding and in broken Arabic, French and English explained what I needed. He said ok, wrote some stuff down and then got on the phone.
Then he dismissed Hamid and I and Hamid asked me to call Z to translate.
Z explained that the judge that was going to sign was on vacation but we would go to his house and he would sign it there.
Hamid and I ended up going back and forth between the courthouse and his office and on our last visit at the courthouse, Hamid said the judge was here and he signed the document. By this time it was 1pm. I took Hamid back to his office and hit the autoroute back to Rabat to get the document to the translator. Normally, the translator takes about 4 or 5 days to translate a document like the one I got today. I was hoping they would be able to do it faster.
Fortunately H's car has diplomatic plates so the police never stopped me for going a bit over the speed limit.
At some point during the day when I called H to check on the girls she asked me if I had heard from the Ambassador's secretary because she was looking for me. I didn't get a call but I figured there was something to report from Rome.
I got to the translator's office in Rabat before they closed and they asked what I needed and I will admit that I batted the eyelashes, flicked the hair and smiled a LOT and asked if there was ANY way they could have the document translated by noon tomorrow. He asked me where Josh was and I explained how he and Andrew had to leave last week and how the girls and I were all alone and how we needed this one document translated and then we could go home! I was prepared to pay extra for the rush job but the guy said he'd do it for regular price. I then headed to H's to get see the girls and have dinner with H.
When I got to H's she told me that she had just forwarded an e-mail from the Ambassador's secretary. Basically Rome responded to the Ambassador's inquiry and made it sound like "All she has to do is 1) get her homestudy ammended 2) get the document we want with the specific words from the judge and 3) get her background check back from the FBI."
I shot back with 1) my caseworker faxed the ammendment LAST Friday but they claim that never happened. I have since asked my caseworker to scan me a copy so can send it again to Rome. 2) I managed, with the help of friends, to get the judge to sign what they wanted but they are still frustrated that I needed something different than the other Americans and 3) M in Casablanca should hear any day now about my FBI check but that I also had a contact with the FBI who had my fingerprints on a digital file and could send them to the FBI office of Rome's choice and have a background check within 48 hours but so far they have declined. I went on to explain that I have asked Rome if there was anything else that was needed and that they have told me that they will tell me after I get these 3 things resolved first but that it would make more sense to tell me NOW what I need to fix and give me the opportunity to do it now rather than sit on it.
So I had a delicious dinner with H thanks to her wonderful housekeeper and the girls were happy but tired from a fun day with H.
I got home and put the girls to bed and took a nice shower and plan to enjoy a good night's rest.
Tomorrow I'll pick up the translation and then scan and send it to Rome. Hopefully my background check will be finished as well and my caseworker will have sent me a digital copy of the ammendment so I can re-send that to Rome.
Please keep the prayers coming and hopefully I'll be done with Rome any day now. It will take about 2 days from when Rome is finished before Casablanca can pick it up and then they'll need a full day to issue the visas. Figuring all that in plus Labor Day weekend, I'm hoping to be home sometime next week. We'll see. I'm trying not to get my hopes up though!
--Rachel

A little progress

Got a response from Rome today and they still want these specific words in a document. They also claim they don't have my homestudy ammendment (my caseworker faxed it to them last Friday).
So, I called my Moroccan friend, Z, and she called a judge and after some phone calls back and forth I have to get out of here by 6:15am to drop the girls off with H and then drive 2 hours to Meknes where the judge will sign what I need.
Hopefully, it won't take all day and I can rush back to Rabat and take the document to the translator and beg them to translate it in a day. Then I'll get it scanned and send it to Rome and wait to see what else they'll throw at me.
I'm feeling ok about it. Keep the prayers coming that it will work out soon!
--Rachel

There MAY be a solution!

I think my friend (H) and I MAY have found a solution!
What Rome is looking for is one paper that says all that they want it to say. Instead, you have to follow a paper trail of 3 court orders to get it all.
My friend (H) came over this evening (I think to check on me because as bad as I've been feeling, it HAS to be showing on my face, etc). We looked at what Rome was asking for and looked at the translations of the court documents and found what we THINK Rome wants over 3 court documents.
Bear in mind, it is next to impossible to get a straight answer from the people in Rome. For example, I asked them for clarification of what they wanted and they quoted themselves AGAIN and then talked about something unrelated. *SIGH*
So, I sent an explanation to Josh via e-mail and asked him to reword it in his firm way and we are going to HOPE and PRAY that they will be satisfied with what we present to them. When my friend left, I had an overwhelming peaceful feeling. I hope that's a good sign that it's going to work out!
--Rachel

way to kick me while I am down!

So Rome's latest things are:
1) Wording of part of the homestudy
2) Wording of Moroccan court order to take the girl out of the country

The first one cost me $210 but will be done.
The second one is a HUGE problem. Rome INSISTS that it HAS to be worded a certain way but the judge here refuses to reword it because other American couples have used this format with no problems. Therefore we are STUCK!
I talked to our Ambassador and he is going to talk to the Ambassador in Rome to see if anything can be done but I"m not optimistic there.
Meanwhile one Moroccan friend, Z, is going to look at the translation to see if it could be worded the way Rome wants it without changing the meaning of the document since nothing translates perfectly word for word.
Another Moroccan friend knows some judges (not sure if she knows the one that I've been dealing with) and will see if she can help me convince one to sign the wording Rome wants.
This is so stupid because other American couples have had the same form with no problems. Why the problem with us?
Oh, and I also asked Rome if there was anything else since they seem to point out the problems one by one thus causing everything to take longer. They wrote me back and said "Please be advised that we can confirm finalization of your case only after review of the missing documents and of your file in its completeness."
So there is no way of knowing if there are any other problems (which could lead to MORE trips to the courthouse 2 hours away) until I resolve these two issues.
I am so frustrated and really do not know what to do at this point. :(
--Rachel
I'm definitely not getting out of here Tuesday and I'll be surprised if I get out by the end of next week.

It's always one more thing! GRRRR!

First, Josh and Andrew made it back to the states with no problems. Josh forwarded an e-mail to me from Rome saying that they didn't like the wording of one of our forms so we have to re-do it. This means tomorrow my friend and I will go to Meknes (2 hours away) and get this signed.
When asking for clarification in the e-mail about exactly what they wanted I suggested they let me know if they need anything else since they've had this paperwork for 6 weeks! They e-mailed back saying there was a minor mistake on the homestudy and that the caseworker would need to submit an ammendment. Fine. Great. This had BETTER be it!!!
So, I e-mailed our caseworker and asked for her to get this taken care of ASAP. I plan to go back to Meknes to get the final papers with the right words and hopefully I can send it all back electronically and all will be well.
I'm feeling better today than yesterday but I still have that knot in my stomach from missing my guys. :( I will be highly unlikely that I'll get out of here on Tuesday, so maybe by the end of the week. The girls will be one next Thursday so it would be nice to be in the states by then!
--Rachel

Josh and Andrew left Morocco today :(

They left the house at 5:15am and I moved out of the house by 9:30am. I'm staying with some friends until Saturday. Saturday I'll move into a home of someone who will be out of town for a month.
My heart is heavy. I miss those guys so much already! Josh will have to leave Andrew on Sunday with my sister so he can go report in to DC. I worry that he'll miss us too much and be miserable. I really hope he doesn't.
I REALLY hope and want to get out of here next Tuesday but realistically it will probably be late next week at the earliest.
I don't have my phone access to the US (Vonage) because it hooks up through a router and my internet is through a USB stick until I can get home. That is also hard because I talk to those close to me frequently.
Prayers that the time will seem to fly by and the girls and I can get out of here ASAP are appreciated. I don't like being this sad. :(
--Rachel

Why yes, I AM bored!

I rewrote the song Sloop John B by the Beach Boys to go with our experience here in Morocco. Despite what the song says, the paperwork is NOT back from Rome yet.
I'm hoping to get out of here next Tuesday or Thursday but I'm not holding my breath. I'm hanging in there though!


We come on the little plane
My husband, son and me
Ramadan’s here and nobody is sane!
They’re partying all night
Oh what a sight!
Well I feel so broke up
I want to go home

We hear it’s easy to adopt.
Which is just a crock!
Social worker charges an and arm and a leg!
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up
I wanna go home

The trips to Meknes begin
The bank account total descends
The paperwork -- make it all go away!
More dirham gone
Why don’t you leave me alone, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up I wanna go home

The translator’s getting rich
Which paper is which?
I don’t know if I can take anymore!
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why dont you let me go home
I feel so broke up
I wanna go home
Let me go home

They’re fingerprinting me again
The visas will be done when?
I’m starting to feel very tired and all worn!
Let me go home
Why dont they let me go home
This is the worst trip I've ever been on

So get me back to the states
I’m in dire straits
The paperwork’s back from Rome
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why don’t you let me go home


--Rachel

What's new

OK, so I'm now up to giving an update on the past few days.
To explain this as simply as possible, we are at the next to last step. We've found this office to be very uncooperative. E-mails go unanswered or have short, curt answers like "check the website" when the website doesn't address our question, they don't answer their phone very often and act annoyed when they do.
One example was some documents that we sent to them via Fed Ex overnight mail (this cost about $150). We e-mailed him the day we sent it and the day after when we received confirmation that it was delivered. They knew the time crunch we were on and everything. Josh called every day for a week waiting for them to pick up. Finally, they picked up a week later and confirmed that they received that paperwork THAT day. Josh said, "we got confirmation that it was delivered there a week ago." The worker proceeded to admit that it was delivered to their mailroom but they didn't bother to pick it up for a week. GRRRRR!
So, the latest we got an e-mail from them saying that Josh's background check came back but mine was rejected and they were re-sending it. They then ended the e-mail with "Please refrain from contacting us for at least two weeks!" WHAT?!
So we were left not understanding if I needed to get fingerprinted again, if they scanned and sent a copy or what. From the time they sent the fingerprints to the time we got notice that they came back was 3 weeks. I fell apart thinking that I possibly had another 3 weeks here without all of my family.
So, with the help of our senator, a friend with the FBI and the lady who will do the last step, we are hoping to get this thing pushed through. There is no reason it should take another 3 weeks and everyone is trying to get in contact with this office in Rome to tell them to make this happen soon.
I should know more Monday. Josh and Andrew will leave Wednesday. It is almost 100% unlikely that the girls and I will get to go then. I'm hoping that this will be done by the end of this week or sometime next week.
Prayers are still appreciated!
--Rachel

It's not looking good

I'm too upset to write much but it looks like the girls and I will be here for a few more WEEKS at least. Josh and Andrew will leave next week. Josh will drop off Andrew with my sister and her family (if he'll go) and the girls and I will move into a hotel or stay with friends as we have to move out of our house next week and we will have no car. I also may not have any US phone access as it goes through my router. My heart is breaking. what has kept me going is the fact that we were all together.
--Rachel

Blog Designs

I am done tweaking for now but I wish I knew how to get rid of the white lines around my title box. Oh well. The closest I can get is to put a purple one.
ANYWAY, I posted some of my different designs at my other blog:
http://princessladybugcreations.blogspot.com/
I'm still looking for a few more people to let me design for them.
--Rachel

Don't mind me again!

I'm tweaking the blog.
--Rachel

An update on the visa/adoption mess

So here is an update on the visa/adoption mess!!!
Right now Rome has our paperwork and is waiting on ONE piece of paper (fingerprint cards) from the FBI in the US to process our packet. It usually takes 2 weeks. Last Thursday was 2 weeks. As soon as they get that a caseworker will review the packet one last time and send it via Fed Ex to Casablanca (in our expeience this happens 1-2 days after it is mailed). Then when it gets to Casa, we will go over there and if the workers are in a good mood, they'll process the girls' packet in one day and we can leave the next day if needed!

Josh HAS to leave by the 21st because he needs a few days to pick up his car, recover from jet lag and take the 2 day trip to DC to start his training. We have talked scenarios and my sister and her family have graciously offered to take in Andrew (school there started today) and let him stay with them until I can get there (my house across the street is waiting!). I don't know if Andrew go willingly to my sister's because he barely knows them. I will let it be his decision but it tears me up inside thinking of him in the US and me and the girls in Morocco.

Meanwhile the airlines won't let me fly alone with 2 babies so I'll have to fly someone with a passport (no one in either of our families has a current one) in to fly with me and the girls which means mega bucks!!!Sooooooooo, we need prayers that those fingerprint cards get to Rome ASAP!!! I've seen the power of prayer throughout this entire fiasco and KNOW it works.

For the most part, my spirits are up. I am quite homesick and feel like I am kind of wasting time just sitting here day in and day out waiting. Little things are getting frustrating like Andrew wearing holes in his socks but I only packed so many and it's next to impossible to find white socks for him here. I keep thinking that we'll be in the US soon and can buy him some good, white socks! We ran out of formula and diapers and switched to the Moroccan brands so the girls have sugar in their formula and leaky diapers!!!

However, we are togther and that helps. The thought of the 21st coming and having to say good-bye to my guys tears me apart!!! So, that is where we are as of 10am today!
--Rachel

Still in Morocco . . . no end in sight!

We've been trying to call USCIS in Rome to check on our packet but we can't get anyone to answer. We also e-mailed but based on past e-mails we've sent, we don't expect a response. So, no idea where we are in the process. yippie.
Meanwhile, we found out today that we, in fact, DID have insurance on the car! So now we should get reimbursed for the money we forked over last week. YAY!
The girls had a terrible stomach thing last night. Both were vomiting non stop. I was down to m last set of sheets for them (I have 6!) in less than 3 hours!!! We were also down to their last set of PJs. Leila was the most pitiful. She let me wrap her up in a blanket and cuddle her. She's usually like Andrew was at that age (pushing his way free to get into everything!). They woke up around 2am ready to eat. Apparently they felt better and their stomachs were empty!!!
They are fine today! YAY!
I've been spending my time playing around with web design and digital scrapbooking (nothing else to do!). I'm working on designing blog pages. If any of you out there would like something different with your blog for FREE, contact me. I'm trying to get some prototypes together before I start a website or something about them. I'm also doing it in a way where you don't lose all of your widgets (your list of your friends' blog, your pictures, etc) that you add.
If you want to see some of my pages that I've done, you can see them on my other blog at http://princessladybugcreations.blogspot.com/.
--Rachel

The differences between Leah and Leila

Even though Leah and Leila are identical twins there are several differences so I thought I'd share some.

-- Leah weighs about 3 lbs. more than Leila.
-- Leah has a small, white birthmark on her jawline.
-- Leila has a small red dot (commonly called a stork bite) on her nostril.
-- Leila also has a small red birthmark just above the back of her knee.
-- Leah has more hair.
-- Leah has 6 teeth. Leila has 5.
I think that is all the physical differences. Now for the personalities!
-- Leah is more clingy than Leila.
-- Leah prefers her Daddy and gets VERY jealous if anyone else is being held by her Daddy.
-- Leila doesn't care who holds her. She wants the attention, but doesn't care who gives it.
-- Leila is the aggresive one.
-- Leah typically reaches milestones (crawling, standing, etc) first.
-- They both fight over toys. Leah steals it and sits in front of Leila and plays with the toy. Leila steals it and crawls away as fast as she can making it harder for Leah to get it back. Leah sits there and cries.
-- Leah is the more charming one. When I get out the camera she smiles and tilts her head. Leila expects me to work to get her smile. :)
-- Leila does the sick baby immitation (video is in an earlier post)
-- Leah says "Da-da", "A-doo" (for Andrew)
-- Leila says "Ma-ma", "baby" and "bye-bye"
-- Leila used to throw her bottle and the toy she sleeps with into Leah's crib until we pulled the cribs apart. Now she throws them on the floor EVERY night. Leah has started to throw her toy too but she holds on to that bottle!
-- Right before Leah goes to sleep she turns her head to the side and puts her thumb in her mouth. She was doing that in the orphanage too.

I think that is all (or at least all I can think of). :)
--Rachel

More Andrew-isms

The other day on the way to a friend's house I was reminding Andrew about being on his best behavior. So I said "Make sure you are a good boy!" His response . .. "And charming?"

Another time I was talking to him about his oldest cousin who is 17 and is about to start her senior year of High School. I told him how she could drive and that if he was nice to her she may take him somewhere sometime like a store to look around. His response . . . "Does she have any money?"

--Rachel

Some pictures, etc.

Last week we made it down to the medina to try to find Andrew a brown djellaba. This is the traditional dress Moroccans wear. The difference between a djellaba and a kaftan is that a djellaba has a hood. Interestingly enough the hood kind of comes to a point when it's on a person's head so I tend to do a double take when I see white ones since I am from the South. . .

ANYWAY, the brown djellabas look like Jedi robes so Andrew wanted one. Here he is in his "jedi robe":

I like his tough face. :)
Then I saw some cute dresses on little girls and wanted to find some for Leah and Leila. Here are some pictures of them:



By the way, Leah is in the blue and Leila is in the purple.

On another note, I created my first packaged digital scrapbooking items. You can see them on my other blog http://www.princessladybugcreations.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
--Rachel

*SIGH*

Well, today I decided to go up to the embassy with Josh and visit with some friends and eat lunch. One of my Moroccan friends (F) wanted Andrew to come to her house this afternoon to play with her children. She has a pool, playstation, and all the things a 6 year old boy would love. I agreed and dropped off Josh and the girls at the house and headed out.
I was turning into F's neighborhood and a car hit me. Since I was turning left and the car was speeding, it was my fault. Fine. I have insurance. I don't care. Tell me where to sign and I will. Well, I called F and she sent her husband and son to come get Andrew. He was getting scared because there were LOTS of onlookers surrounding our car. Finally the embassy people came to translate, etc.
Turns out a worker at the embassy cancelled our insurance last week because we were leaving but didn't tell us! She is currently on vacation this week and next week so we'll have to talk to her supervisor about this horrible mistake.
So, it was explained to me that we would have to take the other car (which was a Mercedes) for an estimate and I would have to pay it before I could leave the country. I could tell by looking at the car that I'd have to pay for a bumper, fender and light. I was also quite ticked off that this worker at the embassy did this.
So we head to the police station for me to store my car because I can't drive it. They open the gates to the police station so the car will be behind the walls of the station. Then they suggested I remove the radio and any other valuables. I was thinking "Shouldn't a police station be the one place that would be SAFE to store my car?" Then we head over to the Mercedes dealership for the bad news. I could tell by the body language of the workers there that they were very rude to the owners and the person with me from the embassy (H) explained that they said that it would be 3 or so days to give an estimate and that they would need to keep the car for about 22 days to fix it. This couple couldn't go that long without their car. Then H got on the phone with some friends, etc and suggested we take it by a friend of a friend's body shop. We got there and the estimate ended up being about $1600 which was MUCH less than I expected. H explained that had the dealership done it, it would have been at least $3,000.
So we head back to the police station and the officer decided that since it wasn't technically my fault about the insurance that they would not fine me. Five hours after I left to drop off Andrew, I returned home sunburned, sweated down and tired.
We missed our appointment to pick up our translations so Josh will do it first thing in the morning and hope for the best there. Since the car is not insured, we can not use it anymore. We are quite frustrated about that because we will now have to pay a taxi or driver to go run all of our errands because of this person's mistake.
Meanwhile Andrew is still at F's house. He called to tell me that he was having a wonderful time and F asked if she could keep him until "tonight." It's almost 8pm and he's still there. I'm glad he's having a blast. Poor guy really deserves that will all the stress at home.
As for me, I'm not letting this get me down. I would like some good things to happen soon though. Getting to fly home this weekend would be VERY NICE. We'll see. . .
--Rachel

Yesterday

I slept so hard last night but I woke up feeling exhausted from sleeping! It was a long day yesterday and I needed that rest!!!

So, we got an e-mail from Rome (where they are handling part of this visa process) and they wanted some additional documents. Now, when we ask any questions the answer is ALWAYS "check the website." The website said NOTHING about these docuents. We have met a new friend here at our embassy who used to do visas at his previous embassy and he said he thought it was odd for them to be requesting these documents too because they should be able to process the visas with the documents we have already sent them. At this point, I don't want to argue about it with them because I feel we can get these forms quicker than we can convince them that they don't need them.
So we talked with the orphanage and they said we could have the forms we were requesting but they needed our translated homestudy (which we had sent to the translator's weeks ago because we knew that they needed it).
Our translated homestudy was supposed to be ready to pick up on July 31st. However they called us that day and said that they needed more time (they had it for about 2 weeks already). Josh explained that we coud not progress with leaving the country without it and that we HAD to have it on Monday morning. By the way, the homestudy is 8 pages in English.
So yesterday we decided to get to the translator's office when it opened at 8:30am. Our window is still missing from our car (repair guy makes appointments to meet us but doesn't show up) so we have to have one adult stay with the car and one adult go inside to pick up the translation. This means all kids have to go. We get to the office and had to park about 1/2 block away from the office. We decided JOsh would go in because we needed them to do us a favor and translate the documents we were getting later that day in a day's time. Josh was sweet and went into a store and brought us drinks to stay cool while he went in to the office.
The only way to describe how to get to this office is that you look for this dark, crumbly, marble staircase in between this store and the coffee shop. The stairs pretty much empty into the translator's office. Josh called me a few minutes later because he wasn't sure he was in the right place, etc. More on that in a second.
Meanwhile we are sitting in the car and Andrew asks "Mom, is my mouth bleeding?" I turn around and realize that top, front tooth that has been lose forever is wanting to come out. Now, those who know me well, know that I absolutely can NOT stand loose teeth. I would rather have a child vomit all over me than flick a loose tooth with their tongue in front of me. When I was teaching my students knew not to bother me with their loose teeth. I'd send them to another teacher for help on that! It makes me so nauseous.
Next, Andrew says his tooth is out so I handed him a bottle of water and tell him to put his tooth in the cap. I can't really watch any of this. So, Josh calls and Andrew hands me his bottle of water, it was red from all of the blood. I got sick and told Josh to come back and help me deal with this.
Josh came back and disposed of the red water and I volunteered to go check out the translator's office. I discovered that the office wasn't open yet but on my way back to the car I ran into one of the translators and said hello, etc. Since it was about 8:40am I figured that they must open at 9am. I said "You open at 9am?" His response? "OK!" In his defense, it IS easier to do written translations than to have a conversation in another language.
I went back to the car and explained to Josh that he was in the right place but they weren't open yet. He decided to wait with us and after about 5 minutes I didn't see the translator anymore and suggested that Josh go see if they were open yet. Josh goes in and comes back about 15 minutes later with the translations and said that they would do our other translations in a day since we had to wait for the homestudy. GREAT! :)
So then we head over to the embassy to pick up our rental car so that we could go to Meknes (2 hours away) to get the other documents from the judge there. We get to the embassy and didn't see a rental. Turns out that they couldn't get us one. So we ended up borrowing a car. The only problem with this car was the A/C didn't work once you got to about 40mph. Since we were traveling on the autoroute for the most part, it was a hot trip. The kids were cooperative but by the time we got there at 12:30 they had been in a car/carseat for 4 hours total. We give the orphanage the translation and they tell us that it should be in Arabic and not French. Here, either language is used for official documents so it was a little frustrating to hear this when it was never specified before.
We take the lawyer over to the courthouse and he suggests the kids and I wait in the car. Great, no problem! The courthouse is concrete with no A/C or fans. At one point the girls are hungry and I'm out of water to mix the formula. I text Josh and through my trusty "?" (which is the only thing I can successfully text on this phone) let him know something is up. He returns to the car with drinks and the girls stop screaming their heads off and enjoy their bottle. Andrew and I spent the time singing songs, watching the iPod, playing games on the iPod, switching seats, etc. We were basically locked in an idling car with the A/C on. Josh would text me every once in a while to tell me what was up. At first the judge said no about getting the documents that day. Then he changed his mind. He wanted to homestudy in Arabic but said he'd take the French for now but we still had to get to Arabic to him (It's about $300 for the translation). Then Josh said that the court closed at 3pm but opens at 7:30am so we may have to return the next morning. At this point I'm thinking that I would lose my mind if I had to sit in this car again with these kids. Later Josh texted saying it was all going to happen that day. YAY! So, knowing the courts closed at 3pm I got excited as the clock approached 3pm. 3pm came and went. FInally around 4pm Josh and the lawyer emerged.
We dropped Hamid off, got the last document we needed from his office and arrived at McDonald's at 4:30pm. This was the first time the girls had been out of their carseats! We grabbed a quick bite and headed back to Rabat.
We got home around 8pm and put all of the kids in the bath. We were all quite stinky from sweating all day in the car. It was a long day, but it was nice to get all of the things done that we had hoped to get done.
Today's plan is to get the documents dropped off to the translator, pick them up at 5:30pm, rush over to FedEx and then go out to dinner.
Tomorrow we'll e-mail copies of the documents we sent via FedEx to Rome and hopefully they'll process them ASAP. We'll see.
We are hoping to get out of here this weekend but realistically it will probably be Tuesday, the 12th.
--Rachel

Long day, but progress was made

First, I'm soooooooooooo tired so this will be brief. We got a LOT done that we needed done today. I think this is truly the first day with the adoption process that we we got every single thing done we hoped to get done!
I'll write more tomorrow.
--Rachel