Home at Last

We are finally home!! After 25 hours from when we got up on Sunday to when we walked in our door(with only a few hours sleep on the plane) we got to hug our kids, see their smiles and sleep in our own bed!!!!!!!!!! Our plan was to sleep as long as possible but at about 5:30 am our littlest one woke up and was sick and we know a Mom's job is never done. I have to laugh because everyone is back to sleep , except Russ and I! Oh well, thankfully it is a holiday and we have no plans but to get out the gifts for the kids.

We want to thank all of you who have left such encouraging notes and prayers. We are very blessed by such great support. We feel very optimistic that things will be resolved and these precious ones we have began to fall in love with will be ours soon. But we know that God's ways are best and we have to leave it in His hands and lean on Him.

We have a busy week ahead with a birthday for one of our boys tomorrow(HAPPY BIRTHDAY D!), games and the end of school( it will be great to have my kids home all day! You almost do not realize how much you miss them until you see them again). Getting back in a routine will be nice and will hopefully make the time go by quickly.

We will update you as soon as we hear something. I want to mention a very special thank you to my parents for taking on 3 kids and all the crazy things that go with it( including TWO illnesses while we were gone). It can be tiring when you are used to it so I know that they will probably sleep for the next week. You two are wonderful!

May God bless you all and pour out special blessings for your loving support!

Light in the Darkness

As we posted the earlier post today, I noticed the verse of the day - Isaiah 42:16 "I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, and paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone."

This verse gave us great comfort in the stress of our day. But I wanted to let everyone know that not 30 minutes after our posting, we got a call to meet with officials at 8pm. They set up a special meeting with us to make things clear on what was going on and why and what our options are. We do not have any definite answers and might not for a few weeks but we are definitely NOT in the dark about what is going on. Thank you Lord!

Prayers needed

As well as the last two days have gone today has been just the opposite.  We are facing the reality that when we leave on Sunday we will still not know if we can adopt these two little ones and it may take several days to a week just to find out that we are not able to adopt.  Monica and myself ask you for your prayers that a decision is made quickly.  We sincerely appreciate all the love, support and prayers that we have received.  No matter what the outcome please keep theses little ones in your prayers and for our safe travel and strength during this difficult time.

Another Wonderful Day in Russia

I never thought that I would be saying that in my entire life until we started this adoption process. And I might add that physically it is not that wonderful. But emotionally, our hearts grow more for these children everyday. We had great visits today with both of them. It will be so exciting when we finally get to pick them up and they can see each other again. Today we showed our son a picture we took of his sister. He could not believe how big she was. He loves playing with cars and talks up a storm. He puts up with the fact that we can not understand him and just continues to play. He is so precious, he gave me a kiss on the check today which just melted my heart. I am concerned that he does not really understand what is going on and that when we finally come to take him home, he will not want to come. He does not know what all lies ahead and I think the change will be hard for him. Pray that we will prepare him the best we can tomorrow and that he will be excited for our return.

Our precious little girl, cried again when she saw us but stopped as soon as we picked her up. That makes me happy for so many reasons: first I hate to see her cry and second, I am praying that when we travel home, she will feel comfort in our arms during such a scary time. I do not think our son will have a problem with the travel, in fact, I think he will be excited about riding in a plane.

We finished all the paperwork today(at least for here) and want to get home just because we know that the sooner we get home the sooner we will return.

We decided to venture out to the Kremlin here is Astrakhan today and did enjoy what we saw. We could not find the sourviner shop we were told about, maybe tomorrow. The biggest problem that we are having is the heat. Yes, we are in Russia and the temp today was suppose to hit 88 F. Friday and Saturday it will be in the 90s!! I do not know what the weather will be like when we return to Ohio but it will feel cold I am sure. They are estimating that we will be back sometime in July/August when the temp is around 100 - 110?!?!?! We are definitely making sure we have air conditioning. 

We are just very blessed to be here for many reasons. But in talking to our coordinator today we know that our children(and the son of the other couple that is here) have amazing health for being in orphanages. She just can not believe how lucky we are  - well I know that it is not luck but a wonderful God.

Well, I am going to get going, we have a big night planned, a movie on the laptop in the room!! Hey, when you have only Russian TV and don't want to venture out after dark - This is a big night.

Dasvidania(Da svi da niya) One of the 5 Russian words that I know

Great Day!!!

  Monica is taking a break so she allowed me to blog - she won't be sorry.  Today started off great since we both used ear plugs last night and actually were able to sleep over the noise - ( remember we have no air conditioning and the windows are open since its in the 80's).  I can't tell you how nice that was since we have been unable to really sleep that well and I guess our bodies just needed the rest.

Anyway our hour long trip to see our son ( I can't tell you how happy that sounds right now), was easy since we are getting used to the scenery except for the cows that just run loose and sometimes just stop in the middle of the road.  Once we got to the orphanage when we saw him he came over and gave me a great big "high five" and monica a very cordial hand shake.  From there and for the next two hours we simply played with cars, action figures and bubbles.  Just try and imagine not seeing bubbles before and then getting to play with them - he loved it almost as much as monica and myself.  He reminds me so much of our other boys in the way he plays.  From the noises he makes and the things he does, it just like our other two .  The only bad thing is that the two hours goes by so fast.  Today when we left he gave monica a hug and myself one ( I really squeezed him and held onto him for extra time and I think he really liked it -  I. loved it) !

We then came home for our break in the middle of the day and this is equally special since we are able to see and talk to our children back home through i-chat ( thanks Nigel ).  I can't tell you how wonderful it has been for Monica and  myself to see OC, DC and LC every day - amazing technology but and even more amazing blessing.

After this we went and see our daughter ( # 2) and even though she started to cry after we just got there she really warmed up and even smiled a few times and said three words - her name and also MAMA and PAPA - that makes the whole trip worth while.  Before I go I just want to say that you to all of you who have been praying for us, our children at home and our soon to be children - Thank you and we love you.  God is soooo good.  

In closing Monica and I still can't believe we are in southern Russia right now.  We even wandered  out this evening to go to dinner and I had to laugh because we look so much like tourists.  It just reminds me of the the movie my cousin Vinny where his girlfriend say " yea you blend" - well that us.  Once again thank you for all your prayers - keep um coming

Spending Time with the Kids

What a great day we had getting to meet the kids! Because of their age difference, they are in different orphanages and we had to drive an hour to our precious boy. The meeting went great and he seems very healthy and well adjusted. We had a great time playing with him and he was very inquisitive. By the end of the visit, he was taking pictures of us - they turned out pretty good too!

On the way back, we stop to meet our precious girl but it was right be fore lunch and we only got to see her for about 10 mintues. She is very shy and apprehensive and just stood and looked down almost the entire time. We were hoping it was because she was hungry and that there were many people in the room. We went back later in the after noon. FOr the first 10-15 minutes she just stood there, looked at things but would not pick up or play with anything. After we got out the bubble and with a little coaxing, she would start to try to pop the bubbles. We spent 2 hours with her and by the end, she would let me hold her hand to take her somewhere and even let me pick he up. She seems healthy too and is just so adorable. THey tell us she does talk but she has not for us yet. We are hoping by the end of the week.

So today went very well. We had a problem this evening trying to get in contact with our doctor because of the internet being down but it did get done and we are so grateful. Thank you so much for the prayers, we have been so blessed by God and He is guiding us along every step.

Continue sending the prayers our way - we know that there is NO WAY we could do this and get through this journey without them.

Yes, We Are Still Alive And Doing Very Well!

Well, it has been a long 4 days and not having internet access has been really hard for me. But we are Wi-Fied now and loving it.  

Just a quick recap of the past few days. THe travel to Moscow was great but long. No delays, fairly smooth rides - prayers answered! Our hotel in Moscow was great! THe European soccer championship game is Wednesday of this week so there were tons of soccer players and people around the hotel. Russ said the team was Manchester United.

Our flight to Asktrakhan on Sun  was a little more eventful. They are very picky with the weights of luggage so we had to check and extra bag. But then our one carry on would not fit, over or under the seat and the crew spoke very little english. In the States they just gate check your bag and give it back to you when you get off the plan but Russ had to sit spread eagle over the suitcase for two hours. When we landed we found out that the hotel we were suppose to stay at was booked and that we could not go there until Monday so they found us another place - it was more expensive but very nice, even though there was not internet hookup.

Monday we moved to the other hotel that we planned to stay at. I could talk forever about it but basically, we have a sewer smell in the bathroom, no AC(temporarily out because of construction - note that it was 78 F today and will be 89F by Friday) and RUss and I could have been on Russia's FUnniest Home Video as we tried to get 4 suitcases and 2 adults in an elevator that would not hold more then 4 people tightly fit.

Anyway, to get on to why we are here - it was not for a luxury vacation. Our original plan for Monday was to visit the Ministry of Education to do our interview and get info about the children. This was thought to be done in the morning and we would get to meet the kids in the afternoon. However, we did not get to meet until 4:45pm so we will not get to visit them until tomorrow.

We have seen pictures of them and they are adorable. We can not wait to meet them tomorrow. We will not be able to post any info about them or their pictures until we get custody of them on the second trip. Please pray that the meetings go smoothly. That we have safe travels( one of them is in an orphange about 50 minutes away) and that we will get good information about their medicals.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. We can feel them working and when something does not go smoothly, God has blessed us with calm spirits. We have a great coordinator and interpreter and they have helped so much. And when things start to go bad, God has blessed us with the memory of the elevator above and all we can do is laugh.

All for now - hope to update soon(sorry, the update was not as quick as I originally thought)

36 hours 20 minutes and Counting

Well, I think we are about ready. We received our visas yesterday and they are correct(Prayers answered). Today we received our international phone, the rest of the crisp new money and ....... my doctor's medical(More prayers answered) I must say that I was at the ultimate stress level trying to set up something with my doctor to get the papers notarized - it was a very rough and stressful road but it is done. Now I just have to get the papers to Russia - they are more precious then gold right now( or should I say gas?).

Tomorrow will be packing day. Hopefully it won't be that bad because everything is laying in our living/dining room. I just have to figure out how to get it in our suitcases without being over the weight limit.

I must say that I can breathe much easier tonight and have started to get excited again about leaving, stressing over the paperwork took all the excitement out of everything. I even woke up early this morning because of a nightmare that I had that my doctor had lost all my labs and would not fill out any of my paperwork! 

I am really starting to miss the kids and they also realize that there is not much time left before we leave and are starting to have little breakdowns. My best advise to them is to cry it out and pray to Jesus for comfort - that is what I will be doing.

Thank you all for your comments and prayers and support. It means so much to us. 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

First, I have to say that it has been a wonderful Mother's Day. We went to church, went out to eat and just hung out at the house(which I almost never do). OK, I did do work on the computer while watching TV with the kids but it was still a relaxing day.

Brian, Guess what was the first song we sang in church today? You guessed it, Rock of Ages! God's timing is just so good.

Things are moving along quite well and much of the copying of papers and writing down phone numbers is done. DD and I completed about half the photo albums for the kids tonight, they look so good. We are actually making 4 incase the ones we leave get lost.

A little over 4 days to go and I have done some packing, which mainly consists of tossing things into the suitcases - but hey, at least they are in the right place.

Plan for the week(If the Lord wills - James 4:15):

Monday: Complete the things on the TO DO list,  show Mom the ropes when she comes over, bake brownies for the kids birthday at school, pick up a few things at the store, get car serviced for Mom before we leave, go to DS 1st baseball game.(Is that too much?)

Tuesday: Finish what did not get done on Monday, go to the store and purchase the rest of the things we need, do laundry, start packing, have lunch with kids at school,celebrate because the visas arrived.

Wednesday: pick up medical papers, get notarized, verified and appostilled, send copies to CHI, pay bills, pack some more.

Thursday: Finish packing, sign up DS for football in the fall(so soon?) have a great dinner and evening with the kids.

Friday: Leave to meet our precious gifts( in 3 days)

Again, thanks for all the comments and keep us in your prayers!

Only 6 Days to Go!!!

Wow, I can not believe how the time has passed. When we first found out that we had 3.5 weeks before we left, I thought that we would have plenty of time.  Knowing that in one week from now we will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, I don't know how I am going to get it all done. 

This week was not as productive as I thought. Our visas were suppose to come in Wednesday, but because there were 4 Russian holidays I will not get them until Tuesday which will be fine as long as they are correct(Prayer #1 - Please have visas arrive early and correct). Russ received his medical report and blood work and x rays and all looks good from what I can see(answered prayer). I thought I was going to get my medicals this week but instead received a call that one of the blood tests did not get done and I needed to have more blood taken. The test will take 2-3 days so I am looking at getting my papers Wednesday, then have to get them verified and appostilled(Prayer #2 please have this go smoothly and no redos). Met with IA doctor to get things setup to send the medicals to him to review when we are there.

International Phone ordered and on its way. Laptop and home computer set up for video conferencing with the kids when we are there(Thanks to my dear friends computer wiz son - Thanks Nigel you are a life saver!) 

Packing, going slowly. As I get things I toss them in the suitcases. We have most of what we need, I just have to start organizing them and hope that everything will fit.

I want to thank you for the comments. It really means so much to hear positive support. Our agency keeps telling us to focus on the kids and do whatever it takes to go with the flow and stay kind and under control. So I have been preparing myself for difficulties when we are in Russia but I have not been prepared for the difficulties that I keep running into here. It just seems like everyday something goes wrong or people start questioning us about why we are doing this and it just tears me down. But I must say that with each day and difficult situation as I begin to question myself, I remember that it is God who has changed our hearts and put the desire in them to bring these children into our family. And it is God who I must turn to for support and comfort and in turning to Him I am filled with peace and strength.  Habakkuk 3:17-19 is one of many versus that is my prayer:

"Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my high places. "

Only 6.5 days until we leave and and 9.5 until we get to meet our precious children! I can't believe it is almost here.

If I don't get a chance to blog before Sunday - Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's and Mom's-To-Be!

Making Progress(with things not people)

Well it has been 10 days since the call and only 15 more days until we leave. I can't believe it had been 10 days already! Things are getting done slowly but surely and I am able to still keep up with all the normal activities around our house. The big things are taken care of(almost). 

* Plane Tickets - In hand

* Hotel Reservations - Made

* Visa - will be here next week with hopefully enough time to correct if there is an error

* "New" Money on order

* Doctor's visits and blood work complete(just waiting for results and final papers from the doctors)

* New suitcases purchased(the wheel were broken on our cheap ones on our last trip - don't want to actually "carry" the luggage half way across the world)

*Outfits in different sizes for the kids purchased(this is to try to size them up when we are there to know what size to bring on the second trip)

* Albums purchased to put family pictures in to leave with the kids(Still have to put them together)

* Toys purchased to bring to the orphanage to play with the kids

* Gathered up clothes to bring

(For those of you who are list freaks like me check out this link under Favorites)

So things are going well - there is much more to do and I am still hoping that I will get it all done along with all the things I want to do with my precious ones here. I have to admit, the excitement is somewhat wearing off and even though I can not wait until I get to meet my new angels I am really starting to miss my angles that I have to leave behind. It is just such an emotional rollercoaster.

So with that said, I have to vent about my frustrations with telling people. When you have been living, breathing and thinking adoption for months, if not years, you have this illusion that when you tell others they will be so excited that you have reached a major milestone - NOT. Don't get me wrong, there are so many friends and family that are overjoy for  you and wanting to help in any way that they can but it is those few that really bring you down. And today was one of the worst that I have encountered so far. It was someone that barely knew me and I could tell that they thought that this was not a wise thing to do(probably because we already have 3 bio kids and why would I want to go against the social norm). They kept asking me if I had done this or thought of that, like this was a decision that I had made on the spur of the moment. I felt like I was 13 and trying to justify to my parents why I want to go out with my friends. In these moments I just have to turn my thoughts to my Lord and how I know that this is the path that He has laid before us and that there are two children who yearn for a Mom and Dad to love and protect them no matter what.

Sorry for such a long post - sometimes you just have to vent.