Christmas!

We are both glad the Holidays are behind us and we can not wait until next year to celebrate with Leah. We have both been thinking of all of the traditions we can begin with her and it makes us so excited. Even though we were a bit glum missing Leah we had a nice Holiday... we went to Lincoln on Christmas eve and spent the day with the Brehaut/Porter gang and came home that night to visit with the Moore/Michaud gang when they got home from church. Christmas day we went to Portland and had a great time at Uncle Matt's... we are still stuffed from the meal!

Apparently we were not the only ones thinking of Leah on Christmas as she got a lot of presents! When Andrew was a kid after they opened all of their presents they displayed them on their beds so when family dropped by to visit they could see them. So, we did the same for Leah- we put all of her presents in her crib! Some of our favorite gifts: Cousin Braden has great taste and sent Leah an adorable outfit from Baby Gap, Maggie Metzler got Leah a wooden elephant, Ty and Courtney got her tiny jeans and an adorable shirt, Grammie Rozanne had "Mommy and me" aprons made, a mini "clean canteen" bottle, and got her a mini purple soccer ball.. and Great Aunt Brenda got her a bunch of stuff but my favorite was the organic, maine made baby lotions and soap.

Thanks Everyone!

Varsity!

This has little to do with adoption but tonight Leah's Dad has his first ever Varsity basketball game as a Ref! He is VERY excited... Congrats Andrew!

The actual Certificate

Apparently this rarely happens, but today MAPS got a copy of our actual NOC, from CARA. We were excited- makes the step feel even more real and complete! Kate our India coordinator scanned it and emailed it to me- so I decided since this blog is a bit like our "baby book" it should go on here!

Today we also got the last of the bloodwork results we needed for the scrutiny committee... long story, but let's just say luckily for us the catcher on Andrew's baseball team has a mom who may or may not be in charge of the lab!

We also received our "Travel packet" in the mail today - which makes this feel even more real!!! Pretty neat that we are getting close enough to make some initial plans. We now know where we will be staying, and that we will have a hired driver in both cities and such so knowing all of that makes it a bit more comforting.

We had a huge storm here yesterday! We LOVE the snow, but not so much the cold... trying to decide if we can brave the temperature to go skiing tonight at the local "mountain"... We went snowshoeing this morning and it was so pretty with the sun out... watching Bella was the best part! She was a riot!

Things are looking up for sure! We are both on vacation for 2 weeks! Andrew will be reffing a lot and I will be working at some HA basketball games but we did find a couple of days to go away skiing- can't wait for that!

Bal Asha has NOC

It's official... Bal Asha has our certificate! Great news!

So now our paperwork goes before the scrutiny committee (sort of a health and human services group) who "scrutinizes" everything before it is sent to the judge to again double check that everything is in perfect order for the judge. This is normally a 3-4 week process. Luckily, they have already told us that they think this committee will want Hep B tests for us and another copy of our 2007 tax returns so we are getting those done and on the way to the committee.

Once this group signs off on our paperwork it is sent to the High Court of Bombay where a judge will review our case and grant verbal guardianship. This part sometimes takes up to 6 weeks.

So a few more steps but the ball is rolling a bit... very exciting!

NOC

We have word from CARA (Central Adoption Resource Agency) that our NOC (No Objection Certificate) has been issued. We emailed to check the status of it, and they emailed back telling us- they are more efficient than some of our gov't agencies we have dealt with!

So, Bal Asha has not yet received the actual Certificate yet as they mail it and it can take up to 2 weeks but this is still wonderful news in time for the Holidays! We had thought the NOC would take 12 weeks so this is great as it has been about 7 weeks. At this point we go through a scrutiny committee (who wants another copy of our 2007 tax records and more blood work) and then our case goes before a judge. So, Leah may join our family sooner than we thought!

13 months old!

Today Leah is 13 months old and we got a gift- a new picture of her and one of her caretakers. Minal, the MAPS coordinator in India had visited Leah and everyone at Bal Asha on Wednesday before the attacks began and took this picture for us. They also updated us on her measurements- she is tiny, but growing so we are happy for that! Daddy is sad her curls are cut off but I assured him they will grow back out!

Happy December!

Attacks

The terrorist attacks in Mumbai have left us feeling less than Thankful over this Thanksgiving. However, we are happy now to report that we have heard from the staff at Bal Asha and from Minal, the MAPS coordinator in India, and all is well. Leah is safe and sound. Now we hope and pray for things to resolve before we travel to India to bring her home. A very upsetting few days....

The Election

As this blog is a bit of a diary for Leah we would be remiss if we did not mention what happened last week. We are proud that Leah is lucky to have been born in an era and will be raised in a country where it is possible for a black man to be elected President, in a time where people have come together to stop the cycle of bigotry that has been passed down for generations.

More importantly it seems that our country now has momentum to change and fix so much of what has gone wrong — from economics to the environment, to war and humanitarian disasters — that instead of leaving Leah with a burden almost impossible to climb, there is hope that we may in fact leave a world that is better.

Birthday party pictures

My niece Michelle - she and Megan came to "babysit" the little ones...

Told you the cake was adorable! Thanks Michele!

Kade - Leah's fellow Hunter!

Maggie is wishing Leah was here to play with her instead of all of these boys!

1st Birthday!

Yesterday (November 1st) Leah turned one. It was a bitter sweet day for us... bitter because we want her here NOW and sweet because our "Hampden gang" of friends threw her a Birthday Party/Baby Shower. We were both overwhelmed by how generous everyone was from the menu that featured Indian food to the gifts it was all too much. THANK YOU EVERYONE.

A few highlights... Michele Metzler showed off her cake decorating skills once again and made an adorable elephant cake for Leah! My cousin Ty and his new bride Courtney hosted the party in their new home and gave her a radio flyer wagon Ty "assembled". Kade Bartlett gave Leah a camo hat from Cabelas to match his so they can go hunting with their Dads and I guess that means Jamie and I will go shopping when that happens!

Lots of other great gifts and again the outpouring of love from everyone was so special. Here are a few pictures courtesy of Jake of course..... Oh and I just realized it is rather amusing to see pictures of the "Mom to be" having a beer at her baby shower! Special thanks to Ty for getting us "India Pale Ale" to drink! Clever.

It's Off...

All the paperwork that we got on Saturday is done- Michele notarized everything yet again and after a trip to Augusta to have it apostilled (notarizing the notary) we mailed it to MAPS in Portland and MAPS double checked everything and sent it all to Bal Asha. So, now the waiting begins again.... At this point we wait for the courts in India to grant us NOC—THE “NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE”.

Last night we got a bunch of baby hangers to start organizing Leah's closet... I know, it's a surprise that someone has already started shopping for her!

In other news Uncle Anthony is home from Scottsdale for a visit so Andrew is pretty excited to see his brother. Also today is "Papa Jim's" and "Aunt Courtney's" birthday- Happy Birthday!

Special Delivery

Yesterday we received a huge packet of Leah's child referral documents. We had been waiting for this awhile so we were very excited to see the FedEx truck pull up. These are such things as granting power of attorney to the officials in India to act on our behalf in the court system and our declaration that we will "do all towards Leah as if she were a biological child of ours". So we need to sign all of this and have it all notarized and apostilled in Augusta by the Secretary of State. Very excited to get this ball rolling!

First Doctor's App't

Leah had her "first" app't with Dr. Carmack her pediatrician today! The only thing was she was not there! Dr. Carmack had already gone over her medical reports but wanted to have an app't just to touch base. She is wonderful, she is one of only two doctors in Maine that have this official interest in International adoption. She is a mom to six, five biological children and one daughter adopted from Guatemala. She will meet Leah on day 3 or 4 when she arrives back in the United States.

One more...

Here is a close up... she does not look all that happy in this one...

A new picture!

We got a few more pictures of Leah today... It sent us both into a tizzy and neither of us could concentrate on work! She is already distracting! She is growing up for sure! My Dad just saw the picture and thinks her nose looks like his! We are so pleased that the orphanage sent us more photos, many people only receive the one referral photo.

Announcement

The best feelings are those that have no words to describe them. We are overjoyed to announce the referral of our daughter . . . .

Leah Aasawari Harmon
Born November 1, 2007

Currently residing in Bal Asha Orphanage
Mumbai (Bombay), India

We hope to have her in Maine in 4 to 7 months!