Dear Baby,

Each morning when we wake up, we say a prayer for you and whisper “good night and sweet dreams.” We pray that you are safe and warm, and we pray that God is preparing your little heart to meet us. He has been preparing us to be your parents for a long time, and we are so excited to meet you and hold you in our arms.

We see pictures of your city and your temporary home, and we wonder if that crib in the corner is yours. We wonder who you are and what you are like. We wonder what the days ahead of us hold. We wonder about many things, but of these we are certain: you are precious in God’s sight, and He loves you with an unconditional and amazing love.

At night when we lay down, we pray for you and from thousands of miles away, we smile and tell you that soon we will be there with you. We imagine smoothing your rumpled hair and kissing your forehead so that you will know at the beginning of every day that you are treasured and loved.

We have been making preparations for your homecoming. Your daddy affectionately calls your room “the clown room” because it is a bright cheerful blue color. You received your first toys the other day – generous gifts from Rosie and Nate. These children told us that these things they were giving were for “the baby.” We receive precious notes and phone calls from friends and family who cannot wait to meet you. We are having a party to celebrate you in a couple of weeks. (Don’t worry we’ll save the ponies and balloons for your arrival). :)

We long to know you and hold you.

Semey-Bound

Yesterday we learned where Baby Wyss lives! Our dossier was sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Education in the Semey Region. This region is in Eastern Kazakhstan, near the Russian border. During World War II, it was a place where many writers, artists, and political dissidents were exiled. Today, it is the birth place of our little one!

Now, we will wait for the MOE to release our dossier and send us a letter of invitation to come to their country. This process could take months...or weeks!! The excitement is palpable.

Thank you again for your love and prayers.

Kazakhstan - Undiscovered, Untouched, Unforgettable

Check out this short video to see where Baby Wyss lives. (Ignore the narrator's corny voice). Enjoy.

Hurry Up and Wait

These last couple of weeks have been a rollercoaster of anticipation and activity. We're not sure if we should anticipate meeting our son or daughter in a month or five months (or longer)!

And so we are proceeding as normally as we can...we received our travel immunizations earlier this week. We joked about the bowling ball sensation in our arms; however, after a few days of aching, I decided it wasn't funny anymore. The good news is that we shouldn't get typhoid while we are traveling. :) We had several other shots too. The county nurse who administered our shots and gave us our foreign travel consultation was fantastic - very excited for us and very thorough in her explanations of what to eat, what to pack, etc. (we were paranoid about infectious diseases lurking around the house for several days). The other employees in the office were kind and enthusiastic about our little one; it was fun to share our joy with others. :)

We also have submitted requests for our state and federal background checks, and we had our physicals today. It has been confirmed again that we do not have leprosy or any other communicable diseases. We also painted the baby's room a cheery color, and my mom and I went shopping for some "gender-neutral" baby clothes...so we're making progress and enjoying our preparations.

We received news today that our dossier is at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will likely be there for the next couple of weeks. Our coordinator told us that July and August are very slow months as officials go on "holiday" at that time. For now, I guess that we'll hurry up and wait.

As the time draws closer (we try to remind ourselves that two or three months is a great deal closer than several years), we are finding ourselves eager and impatient. Please pray that we would rest in God's plan for our family and that we would trust in his perfect timing and provision.