moving right along...

the past few weeks we have been up to our necks with adoption paperwork, seriously, we have never gone through a more thorough process than this! Sign here, notarize there, copy this, scan that...I'm actually quite surprised we haven't had to give a urine sample yet! ha. Anyway, yesterday K and I were at our Dr.'s office getting our physicals, tomorrow the kids are getting theirs, next week we get fingerprinted for FBI clearance...blah, blah, blah. It's been a little (okay, VERY) overwhelming! Well, when I left the Dr. yesterday I checked my voice mail and it was a lady from OKC calling to ask if she could squeeze us in for our home study next week! I about wet my pants. It's starting to seem so real. I have to admit I did have a little panic attack last night that it was moving all too fast, until I talked to a friend who has adopted twice. She reminded me to look at the big picture. It sometimes takes months for them to complete a home study, and then we will be put on the waiting list which will then take another 8 months, roughly, to even receive a referral. So, I just have to keep that in mind, while it seems to be moving right along now, I KNOW we will have some very lengthy waiting times ahead.

So if you think of us next week (Tuesday and Wednesday) say a little prayer for our home study process, we are a little nervous (as well as giddy with excitement), don't know quite what to expect!

what keeps me up at night

I might have just found my new guilty pleasure for after the kids are in bed! After all, I could use just one more thing to distract me from laundry, paperwork, dishes and bills. I'm headed to the store first thing tomorrow to buy more of the "for 6+" kid's puzzles...

In an effort to keep everyone updated, we submitted our “Group 1” paper work today. Next, we will be submitting our I-600A form (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition).

This first step is more or less an in depth background check. Once we get officially approved by our agency and CIS (Citizenship & Immigration Services), we’ll get our home study scheduled. During the home study someone is going to come interview us to make sure we aren’t nuts.

After we get through this initial step, it should take 3-5 months for all of this to be approved. Upon approval we will then get on the official wait list. At that point it will take 7-8 months for us to get a child referred to us, then another couple of months for our court date and travel date!

Thank you all for your continued prayers!

The Robbins Nest

brown vs. blue

for those of you that know them, the eye color gives this one away!

News from the Nest

Alright friends. We have some news. BIG news. Ever since Rhett was born, God has placed something on our hearts. Actually, He placed it on our hearts years ago, but in the past six months, He has been speaking to us...ever so clearly. And so, with Him leading us, we have made the decision to add to our family. We have applied to adopt a baby girl from Ethiopia!

There are currently 147 million orphans in the world, almost 5 million of those are in Ethiopia. We have been striving to have a heart more like His, and He is a father to the fatherless, a friend to the orphan and the widow. He loves mercy and acts justly. He cares for those in need.
With this decision comes many uncertainties. We don't know how this will play out, we don't know where the money will come from, we don't know exactly when we will have our baby home, we don't know how others will view our multi-racial family. We have been told our expectations will change many, many times throughout this process. But a few things are certain. We are passionate about this. We love being parents. We will strive to be obedient to God.

Yes, we have our hands full. But oh, how our hearts are too! Children are a precious, precious gift. "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes Me." Matthew 18.5. We look forward to sharing the highs and lows of this journey with you and please keep our family in your prayers as we continue to seek God's will.

Much love,
Kirk, Becca, Grace, Ben and Rhett

Merry Christmas

Wow, has it really been 25 days since my last post? December has flown by. We've had a wonderful Christmas month! How awesome is it to know that even though the world is falling apart, people are hurting, children are suffering, countries are at war...those who truly BELIEVE have the hope and peace of our newborn King! Now that's good tidings of comfort and joy!

Now, since I'm not one for lengthy posts, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day. Here are a few highlights of our Christmas 2009, mind you this is from my (Becca's) perspective, can't speak for the rest of the family, but I think they'd agree on most of these.

A white Christmas morning. Scrapple. Sleeping IN. twinkly lights. strong coffee. our family of 5 ending up in one room on Christmas Eve night. chubby baby thighs. TOMS. Swedish meatballs. Decoupage. celebrating baby Jesus. snow ice cream. Giving. watching the Christmas day parade. hot cocoa with marshmallows and candycanes. gumballs and Thomas the train.

click here for pictures. From our nest to yours, Merry Christmas eveyone! (ok, that was a little dorky).

Tasty Tuesday

Dried Cherry & Almond cookies with vanilla icing

Gotta love me some Giada! I'm cheating a little bit today. I haven't actually tried this recipe out yet. It was in my in-box today from Food Networks 12 days of cookies. I printed it out right away and can't wait to make them, they sound delicious. If they turn out good, I think I'll put them in goodie bags for some friends and co-workers for Christmas! Click here for the recipe.