The adoption process

I have a question for anyone reading this blog that has a child from Uganda- what is the process of going about actually adopting them? Is there a specific waiting time that immigration requires or do you just follow the adoption laws of your state? I tried calling immigration but could never speak to a real person no matter how many prompts I followed. Love those automated phone systems :)
Everything at home is good but hard. Both girls have had some adjustment issues. They are equally jealous of eachother. Not sure if that's good but balanced at least. Kaya who is 3 is much more clingy now and wants Mom to do everything for her. Masseh sees this and then wants me even more. Not very much fun for dad or mom either for that matter. Both girls have very strong personalities. Masseh's first English words other than mom and dad were "no, mine and get". Usually no is followed by yelling Kaya's name at the top of her lungs. On the positive side though, they both really seem to like eachother and are very sweet to one another as long as the other one doesn't have a toy they want. They love to hug and kiss eachother and always want to know where the other one is at. I think as Masseh's knee heals they will have even more fun together. I think a lot of Masseh's frustration stems from not being as mobile as she would like. She still isn't able to walk. Her surgeon had hoped she would be by this point. We go back next week for a check-up. She is standing though and can limp along if you are holding her hand or if she is standing next to something. We did find out that she tested negative for all blood diseases so it looks like her anemia was from her illnesses. Her levels have been fine since her 2nd blood transfusion. She will be retested in a few months. Health wise she actually would have been fine if she hadn't contracted malaria. Malaria and the treatment weaken your immune system making you more susceptible to secondary infections. It turns out she had typhoid fever that was a salmonella bacteria that went to her blood stream and settled in her knee. We are very lucky that she survived.
Also, to any other Uganda moms, do your children have problems taking naps.? Masseh didn't take regular naps in Uganda and now will only sleep for 20-30 minutes a day. That is not enough for a 1 year old or her mom :) She also hates to not have someone in the room with her when she is falls asleep. She now sleeps fairly well at night which is a huge blessing. So overall things are going well just getting use to one more adorable little girl!

Update

Masseh has been home from the hospital for a week and a half. Unfortunately she was only home for 24 hours before she started throwing up, having diarhea and had a fever. We were very scared that she had another infection and would have to be hospitalized. They did some testing and decided it was probably just a stomach virus. Poor girl cannot catch a break with her health. She has fully recovered and I believe we haven't had throw up for at least 4 days. We do, however, change sheets and clothes multiple times a day due to the antibiotic and skinny legs that don't fill out a diaper very well. We were grateful that Kaya didn't catch it although there was an unfortunate nursery incident at church involving throw up on the nursery leader. She did seem to feel great after that though. Masseh is doing better every day and is now laughing and dancing to music. She is very attached to me, a little too much as she screams when I put her down or Derrick takes her away. She's just trying to figure out her life and wants to know that mom will be there for her. Her leg is still very swollen and she still can't walk although she moves it much more. She wants to get up and go and it is frustrating to her that she can't. We love having Masseh at home and love to watch her and Kaya interact with eachother. It felt like such a long process to get her and yet here she is. We are so grateful. She is so easy to love!

Together at last

Masseh got released from the hospital yesterday. We are so happy to have her home. She is feeling so much better. She can't walk yet and is still in some pain but smiling and happy. Kaya loves having a sister and wants to do everything for her (feeding, diaper changes, carrying her etc.) Masseh isn't so sure how she feels about the help and is sure to let Kaya know that. We can't express how grateful we are for everyone who has helped us in the last few weeks. Thank you so much for the words of encouragement and to those who helped with Kaya and spent time with us in the hospital. It meant so much to have everyone's support and love. We are so excited to get to know our new daughter and be together as a family.

Home sweet...hospital

Masseh and Derrick got in on Wednesday afternoon and it was wonderful to see them. However, after looking at Masseh's leg and blisters I decided to take her straight to the children's hospital. Not much of a homecoming. Derrick and Kaya went home and me, Masseh, and my sister-in-law went to the hospital. Masseh has a bone and joint infection in her knee. She had surgery on Thursday night and is still in the hospital. They aren't sure when she will be released. They are having trouble getting the inflammation levels in her blood to go down. They have gone up two days in a row and they are concerned she may have infection somewhere else or the bacteria is resistent to the antibiotics they are giving her. Hopefully we will know more soon. Thanks for all the prayer and encouragement. We are so happy that she is in the U.S. and hopefully will be home soon.

We are in Amsterdam! Masseh did pretty well- ran a fever and was grabbing her knee but fell asleep again after meds. We will want to have her thoroughly checked out when we get home. Robert is a big help though he's also faking a leg injury to smuggle home an African carved walking stick- he could win an Oscar let me tell you.... We can smell home and cant wait to see everyone, especially Janet and Kaya. LOVE!

Visa In Hand!

Stop holding your breath Janet- the Visa is in my possession and we are set to fly tonight! I'm all packed and Kagabo will meet us later and at 10:20 pm we'll start our journey home. I didn't sleep alot last night as you can imagine so hopefully I dont poop out until we get to SLC. Masseh is sad today-wanting to be held alot- I think she senses something big is about to change. Kaya got like that right before we left her to come to Africa. Well I love Uganda (the people, culture, food, etc.) but I am happy to be headed home to be together with my complete family for the first time ever! We again thank all of you who have loved and supported us through this process. We truly could not have done it without you. I thank God for blessing us with this beautiful little girl to go with the beautiful little girl we already had. I am so excited to show her off- a proud papa I am. See you soon Janet and Kaya girl. Thanks be to our Heavenly Father!

Plane Ticket

Derrick, your email is down but I wanted to let you know a few things for tomorrow. I called the airlines to change Masseh's name which turned out to be a big hassle (what isn't?). They told me that they have a new program where I can actually pay over the phone and not be issued a paper ticket like I had been told this morning. So, she is paid for and should be ready to go. Use the number I put on the email this morning to print off your e-tickets. Double check and make sure that her last name on her passport and visa is Kyomuhendo. The NWA person said it can really cause problems if they don't match. I also have your ticket number so I will try to email that to you. If the email is still down in the morning call me. Also please please let me know as soon as you have your visa so I know that indeed you really got it. You can email or call even if it's the middle of the night. We can't wait to see the two of you. Love you so much.