A President's Quote and The Hardest Worker of Them All

Andrew Jackson once said, "You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing." Obviously that could be in reference to any of the various parts of adoption, but I think more so it applies once the referral has been given.

For the last few days, I have seen my wife working harder than I thought humanly possible. We all know that she's a driven person and capable of accomplishing more than many countries, but after seeing her fly all over West Michigan during the day, handle Ally with precision, and still maintain her sanity I am amazed. I think she deserves an award or something. She has managed to get every last piece of paperwork organized, signed, notarized, and sent out that can be done to this point. Our I800 has been completed and was sent to Texas on Monday, and then today she put the finishing touches on getting medicals updated, psychologicals updated, work items updated, the updated home study, DS230, and FBI fingerprints all put together, notarized, apostilled, and sent over to Bethany to send to Colombia this week. And she made an awesome dinner for Ally and me tonight. Oh, and she squeezed a bunch of work hours in there, too. She is truly amazing. Great job Momma (as Ally often calls her)- we're proud of you!

So at this point we're in waiting mode. One thing we (OK, she. I can't take credit for anything other than signing my name a bunch of times) are doing is getting the paperwork and photos together for our visas so that when we get the call to go to Colombia in a few weeks we can go to Chicago for those, then leave. Oh, and then there's the packing. And packing. And packing. And now that we have Ally to go with us, packing more. There's just a lot of stuff that you need to bring with you on a 6-8 week excursion. And sometimes the wait there is longer, so you have to be prepared. It's not like a hunting trip where 2 pairs of underwear, 3 pairs of socks, 2 t-shirts, a pair of jeans, and camo will last you for a week. Or two. Even with having our clothes washed there you still need a lot. So that's yet to be done, but at least we're moving forward and on top of it, thanks to Becky.

Becky and Ally went out today and picked up some clothes for Will. Ally even picked out a couple outfits for Will all by herself:

Ally is so proud of this selection... when she showed it to me she said, "Look Daddy! It's says 'Big Sister' on it!" Well, not quite, but I knew what she meant. She can't wait to go get little Will and was really happy about the fact that Mommy let her pick out a couple things for him today. So we prayed tonight that Jesus would keep him safe, and then off to dreamland she went. Ally has been so excited since learning that she has a brother who won't want to play with her toys. I'm not sure if he's ready for this yet though:

But I'm sure her baby brother will love her as much as she already loves him. We're gonna have some fun in Colombia, and we can't wait to get there! We ask for prayers for smooth sailing as far as the paperwork and approvals go (some of you may remember the wait we had with Ally) and that Will stays safe and healthy while he waits for us. We're getting closer to a family of 4, and we can't wait to secure our new little blessing!

Scott, Becky, Ally, and (soon to be) Will

Round Two- Heading Back To Bogota

Well, we're finally heading back! On Wednesday afternoon Becky called me while I was at work. She left me a voice mail and simply said, "call me back as soon as you get this." Considering that we've been on "the list" for almost 3 years, I didn't think anything of it. Sure, we were hoping that we'd be able to go back to Colombia this year, but not this early in the year (oh, and for all you non-Colombian families out there, please note the spelling of Colombia. It's not Columbia, it's Colombia. Can I get an 'Amen' from the congregation!).

To set the stage, Beck had said to me last Tuesday night: "What do you want for your birthday?" To which I replied: "Nothing. Well, a referral sure would be nice." I think my comment was more sarcastic or off the cuff than anything- I guess I just never thought about it. Well, when I returned her call she said: "Remember what you asked for for your birthday? You got it!!" And I remember thinking, "Doggone it- what'd I ask for again?" Oh the joys of growing old. But then she said, "we have a son!" And I just sat there, not really sure what to say. Then it clicked: tractors, cars, and mud on the pants?!? Suh-Weet! Don't get me wrong- I absolutely love time with Ally and playing games, but I'm looking forward to some boy stuff too. So we now are the proud parents of an almost 14 month old.

So we decided to wait to tell Ally until Friday after I got home from work- she went to school Thursday and Beck's sister's Friday, so we didn't want to take a chance of her spilling the beans to people too early. Plus we were getting together with my family Friday so we figured it'd be a good time to tell them. So when I got home from work we pulled Ally into the family room, got out the video camera, and had her sit in the chair. I asked her, "Ally, what do you pray for EVERY day?" Her reply: "A brother and a sister, Daddy!" So I said, "Well, Jesus gave us a brother!!" Ally: "Oh man, I wanted a sister!!" But after Beck told her how cool it would be to have a brother because he wouldn't take her toys, etc., she got super excited and has been anxious to go get him. About a hundred times a day we hear: "Momma! When do we leave to go get Will? Daddy! When are we going to Colombia?" It's been a riot around here the last 24 hours. And she wore this to my sister's last night, and all day today:

So we now feverishly attempting to put together all the paperwork, etc. Our goal is to leave in the next 4-6 weeks, but as we found out with Ally, it's not our timing. And Will's referral isn't, either. It's all God's timing, all the time. And we can't WAIT to get back to the country we love and that has blessed us with our children.

We'll be posting as we continue the journey, but here's the little fella who's got an excited big sister:

William Michael Schrotenboer- born December 19, 2008
















As always, we covet your prayers. I think Ally has it right, as her prayer has gone from "Dear God, I wish I could have a brother and a sister", to now "Dear God, please help my baby brother to come quick". Amen, Ally!