While You Were Sleeping...

Well, I'm not certain, but possibly, while we were sleeping (or any time this morning, really), our case should have been submitted to the court in Lubumbashi. Again, I'm not totally clear, but I think this means that our court date should occur very soon. Basically, our file will be reviewed, given something like verbal approval, but we will wait 3-4 weeks for the final, official court decree signed by the judge.

If all goes well with this court date, then I can finally breathe a big sigh of relief and know that JN is on his way to becoming one of our family! I haven't heard, yet, of a family not passing court, so I'm being optimistic. Also, our agency has recently hired some new associates in-country that are supposed to help ensure that all our (very important!) paperwork is in proper order for upcoming Embassy and Visa appointments, etc.

I don't expect to hear anything today (and possibly not even this week), but it is exciting to know that across the ocean and across the Democratic Republic of Congo, our case could be sitting in a very important spot right now!

Around here, we are preparing for summer as the girls will both be out of school soon. It's finally gotten hot enough to plant all of our veggies and get some sprinkler time in. Everyone is ready for pools to open and for a beach trip we are taking in June.

As for getting ready for the newest family member, I am (somewhat superstitiously) waiting until we hear about court before putting major preparations into motion. At this point, I have picked out bunk beds, bedding (man, finding boys' bedding is much harder than finding it for girls!), and a few other odds and ends. I'm big on list-making and getting things in place way ahead of time, so I'm itching to have his room finished, clothes packed and toys organized. Hopefully soon!