Upside Down

Things are a little Upside Down, and we are doing really well!  

Nichole, Mica's birth mother, signed a Designated Surrender of parental rights on Monday.  (Designated meaning she named Kevin and me specifically, and surrender meaning she relinquished parental rights, pending any interaction with Mica's biological father.) 

Mica, Kevin and I will be appearing in court this Thursday to acknowledge the Surrender and to begin the ICPC  process, which allows us to take Mica from Illinois back to Michigan.

We thank you for your prayers for all paperwork to move expeditiously from and to whom it needs to flow, that IL and MI ICPC offices approve and pass on the paperwork quickly and that we get to go home sometime early next week.

I'm so excited to go home, hopefully SOON!  In the meantime I'll suffer through exploring the city with sweet baby Mica!  LOL!

Micah 7:7 (The Message)

 ⁷But me, I'm not giving up.
   I'm sticking around to see what God will do.
I'm waiting for God to make things right.
   I'm counting on God to listen to me. 

Lyrics from Upside Down by Jack Johnson:

Who's to say

What's impossible

Well they forgot

This world keeps spinning

And with each new day

I can feel a change in everything

And as the surface breaks reflections fade

But in some ways they remain the same

And as my mind begins to spread its wings

There's no stopping curiosity

I want to turn the whole thing upside down

I'll find the things they say just can't be found

I'll share this love I find with everyone

We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs

I don't want this feeling to go away

Blessings to you all.

In love,

Deanna

God of this City

My cousin Dana is in Pattaya Thailand, and here is her blog named "Beautiful Feet."  

Today she writes about this song:

You’re the God of this city 
You’re the King of these people 
You’re the Lord of this nation 
You are 

You’re the Light in this darkness 
You’re the Hope to the hopeless 
You’re the Peace to the restless 
You are 

There is no one like our God 
There is no one like our God 

For greater things have yet to come 
And greater things are still to be done in this city 
Greater thing have yet to come 
And greater things are still to be done in this city

Inspiring.  

Waiting is the Hardest Part

We are so blessed to share Russ and Alessandra's apartment here in Chicago!  This neighborhood is awesome and walkable.  The apartment is cozy.  Russ' cooking is fabulous.  We are enjoying the little (but big) things in life: laughing at Mica's silly faces, making Play-Doh hotdogs with M.  Living in the present.  And we will be taking a trip to Trader Joe's in a few minutes with TWO children!

We still have no idea how long we will be in Illinois.  Mica's biological dad is considering whether or not he is supportive of the adoption plan.  So we wait.  Yet we fully embrace the present.  We pray for him.  We pray for Mica.  We pray for M and her comprehension of a thing as tough to "get" as this!

We give it up to God over...and over...and over.  Which most of the time isn't hard to do with a joyful four-year-old and a cuddle-bug eight-day-old.

Kevin arrived here last evening and will head back home on Monday.  So my world is even more complete with him here.  I breathe a little easier with my partner close by.

When I feel afraid, want to pull-in and protect, I breathe (sometimes cry) and sing this song:

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever

Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God

The everlasting God

You do not faint

You won't grow weary

  

You're the defender of the weak

You comfort those in need

You lift us up on wings like eagles

We thank you, dear friends and family, for your prayers of support, your emails, texts, thoughts, Facebook posts, likes, cards and much more!  Knowing you care and support us makes this dichotomous situation more manageable.  We love you all and are so blessed to be a part of an amazing community.  Thank you.

Thanksgiving

We are enjoying our time in Chicago!

It is wonderful and comfortable to be at Russ and Alessandra's apartment.  My mom and M arrived on the train today and are staying for 11 days.  Kevin  will be arriving on Friday to stay the weekend.  My dad will arriving via train next week.

Mica is simply splendid.  Little cuddle bug, eating lots, opening his eyes more and more.  The cutest little sideways yawns you've ever seen.

Nichole is doing as well as can be expected, I think.  My emails with pictures and little stories aren't getting to her, so I'm working on setting up an alternative method for us to digitally communicate frequently.  I miss her a lot.  She says she takes comfort in knowing how well Mica is doing.

After eleven days apart, M and I had lots of quality time today touching, hugging and kissing...and dancing, spinning and singing.  My mom cuddled with Mica for hours on end, caressing, loving, praying.

We have heard hopeful news that our case workers and lawyers plan to finalize the adoption in Illinois within the next two weeks and then we wait for the ICPC paperwork to clear both IL and MI.

And in the meantime, we get to enjoy splendid time together in THANKSGIVING!

Get ready Chitown...here we come

Sweet baby Mica is amazing!  Doing baby things:  sleeping, eating, peeing, cuddling...  :)

The not-so-great news is: We are running into some legal and logistical issues regarding his adoption.

We are overjoyed at his birth, but this adoption may likely be a long and potentially tenuous road. (Sorry, we can't disclose more detail.)  

The plan as of 7AM today (Monday) is that I will leave the hospital sometime today with Mica and stay in Chicago at my brother and sister-in-law's home.  Mica and I may be there for more than six weeks.  

We hope and pray that today's paperwork process goes smoothly and quickly.  We pray for strength and peace of mind for Nichole.  We pray for my four-plus hour drive to Chicago with a three-day-old baby to go smoothly.

M and my mom are planning on joining us in Chicago this Wednesday; SSSOOOO excited for that!  Kevin hopes to go back and forth as well.

We do trust that God knows whats best for Mica, and we hope and pray that his place is with us!  

Please pray with us that all issues are resolved swiftly and decisively for his adoption.

Micah 7:7 (The Message)

 ⁷But me, I'm not giving up.
   I'm sticking around to see what God will do.
I'm waiting for God to make things right.
   I'm counting on God to listen to me. 

Blessings,

Kevin, Deanna, M and Mica

Introducing...

It's a boy!
Mica Marteen (spelling still being decided upon) 
8#
21"
Born 12:56pm
Mom and baby are doing great!
So are Kevin and I!

It's a Boy!

This might have been the longest day in history. 

Highlights:

1. Nichole had an ultrasound.  It's a boy!

2. C-section is schduled for Friday at noon!

3.  I'm going to bed.  'Night all!

"Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart. Be ready. Here comes life." -Maya Angelou