Our agency has seen a few referrals coming through in the last couple of weeks. They're excited. We're excited. And the ball just keeps on bouncing along. Now that all of the paperwork has been done for almost two months, we're just sitting here twiddling our thumbs. I wish I had waited on the bedding, now that I know we're getting one boy and one girl. Everything I see that's more cutesy girly or fun plaid for little boys, I wish I had just fought the urge to nest a little bit longer. We've started buying baby books with pictures and words, and we spend lots of time walking through the toy department in stores. But it's getting hard to contain the excitement. Time to take up a hobby.

Well, we know it won't be yardwork!

Speaking of, last weekend I helped my husband install a new blade spindle, the drive belt, and three new blades for our riding mower. The worst part of the whole thing was using a garden spade to scrape and scoop out molded, compacted grass clippings that haven't been discharging when I have mowed for the last four weeks. But other than that, it wasn't bad. I felt right proud of myself for my contribution to the job.

The weight watchers attempt is moving right along, but I still haven't added in the exercise factor yet. I am half a pound away from 15 lost. I have slowed down to a little over a pound a week, but it's a pound in the right direction. Kind of like waiting for a referral, you just get up and make decisions and live each day, knowing that it is bringing you closer to the goal. I think Christ understood the gradual nature of our becoming more like Him than WE do sometimes. He told us to daily take up our cross. He told us through Paul to forget what is behind and press on toward the goal. So, we're pressing on.

Congratulations to the waiting families who are finding out more about their new little bundles of joy. We can't wait to join you!!

And we still have kittens if anyone is interested in some strange looking, hard to capture, feral barn cats.

Steps forward

I read an interesting article yesterday that gave me a lot of peace of mind. I have been praying and have had friends praying about the lack of stability of Nepal's government and the questions that some international investigations have raised about their adoption practices. The undersecretary to the Ministry for Women and Children and Social Welfare in Nepal (MWCSW) has accused the Hague secretariat who oversees international adoption protocol of working against Nepal, rather than working with them to overcome what they see as weaknesses. There was an annual meeting in the Netherlands where countries were reviewed for their practices, and Nepal was not present because they were not properly invited. Despite their absence, the committee and secretariat discussed their policies and procedures, not giving them the opportunity to hear or clear up any questions raised. According to the Hague's own procedures for how they oversee other countries' business, this should not have happened. Nepal is calling for a technical foul for several reasons.

1. The whole documentary that raised questions about them in the first place was filmed and shown without proper approval and oversight from their Ministry of Information and Communication. They could not speak to verify or deny any of the allegations raised in the film, or to background check any of the sources contacted in the film.
2. The Hague convention should not have discussed this documentary as any indication of Nepal's adoption procedures without having a representative from MWCSW present.
3. The Hague convention should have properly invited Nepal to the annual review or not discussed their case

In their own words:

The Ministry had nominated an official to participate in the said program, but due to not receiving a confirmation letter from the Permanent Bureau of Hague Conference on Private Internation Law, the Ministry was unable to participate in the program. The Permanent Bureau had not sent a program schedule as well, but the Ministry came to know about the schedule through Terre des hommes Foundation in Nepal.

The documentary "Paper Orphan" was in the schedule, which was prepared without legal permission of the concerned authority of Goverment of Nepal. Thus, this was illegally prepared by the Joseph Aguettant, Terre des hommes Foundation in Nepal. The documentary has presented the events of 15 years back, which does not reflect the present reality of inter country adoption of Nepal. The Ministry has reformed the old process and made new Terms and Conditions of Inter Country Adoption in 2008.

In connection with the above background, the Ministry has become very serious and started investigation in this regard.

Nepal has already signed the Hague Convention and is in the process to ratify it. Recently the Ministry has formed a High Level Committee to recommend the Goverment of Nepal to address the Hague Convention. The Committee will also suggest to review the existing law relating to inter country adoption system in Nepal.

The Ministry would like to request the Hague Secretariat, diplomatic missions and other stakeholders to work in collaboration for the best interest of the child.

There's more to this, but I'm not an expert in international law. If you want to know more, go to the PEAR website to read the article. A disclaimer, tho, PEAR shares a lot of ties with Unicef, and if you read the BaptistPress article about how Unicef set up the relief workers in Haiti to make them look like kidnappers (they've all been released and acquitted of all charges....hmmm), then you know you have to take all of their reports suspiciously. But when PEAR is reporting that Nepal wants help and wants fairness and openness in their international adoption proceedings, then it's safe to say the report is accurate.