Oct 20... Happy Birthday Natalia... We Love You...

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to remain patient. In 5 months we have gathered almost all the necessary documents required for International Adoption. Now the completed home study and an application must be sent to the Department of Immigration. The coveted I-171H approval is the last document all adoptive parent wait for to complete their dossier. Upon receiving this document we then will be able to submit our translated apostilled dossier to the country of Kazakhstan. The waiting is almost unbearable. Leah (Natalia) is so much a part of our daily lives now, its as if she is already here. We are totally attached to her.
In the mean time we are fast approaching our daughters first birthday which is Oct 20.Orson had sent us updated photos of our daughter late Sept (I wont post them here out of respect) which served to strengthened our bond to her. We are thrilled to see how much she has grown, yet also sad to think she is emotionally alone without a loving family to make her feel special. Our hearts are heavy wanting to share the love we have with her NOW.
Nannie (my mother) decides we will all get together and celebrate Leah ( Natalia's) 1st birthday. She makes reservations, buys balloons, party hats, cake and candles. We gather that evening, place Leah's picture around the table and celebrate the birth of our special daughter. The wait staff join in our celebration and we take pictures to one day share with our daughter. This celebration is part of her adoption story and the pictures will convey how much we longed for and loved her even before she was physically with us. Instead of sonogram photos we had referral and updated photos of the child to be our daughter. We prayed for Leah (Natalia) that night as we have done since first accepting her into our hearts......


 
 

I have purposely drawn a heart around the face of Natalia out of respect.