Bittersweet...

It is so exciting to see new babies born and at the same time bittersweet. It is hard to know that these people only had to wait 9 months and have a mostly guaranteed timeframe. Several of my friends, family, and acquaintances became pregnant long after we started this process and have already had their babies or are close to having their babies. Don’t get me wrong, I would not change this and I am thrilled for these people - it is just hard to wait. Adoption has so many ups and downs. I would say that getting our referral was by far the biggest up and until very recently, the excitement of that had not warn off. Gladney has done a tremendous job of providing photos for us and also we have had some WONDERFUL friends that went out of their way and took pictures when they picked up their children. Our sweet boy has already brightened our lives and given us more joy than I could have imagined. I can’t imagine what it will be like to actually meet him the first time. I can’t wait! Our court date is March 16th and today marks nineteen days left until court. After that it is three weeks until we travel. Although that seems like a long time, I think it is necessary for all of the planning and preparing for travel. I have had our bags semi packed for several months but I am still glad that we have a little while to get things in order and finalized.

I am waiting to ask specific travel advice until we pass court but if anyone has ideas let us know! We would love them. Esp. for packing our bags. We already have the 2 gal. Ziploc bags to put our clothing, etc. in. Our baby has been sick for a while, as many of these children are being in such close proximity with each other. He has great care, but I am thinking Pedialite might be a good thing to take even though it will add a couple of lbs. to the weight of the bags. Also how many bags were you able to take, and has anyone paid to take extra bags? I know it depends on airlines, still, it is helpful to have a heads up! What about money. It is a large amount to take and I don’t feel comfortable having that much on me! Also what about gifts/donations to the ladies at the Gladney center? I know about getting banana’s for beggars, boys at Koffe, etc. and have read about great ideas for them. Lastly, if we stay in a guest house are there any recommendations w/a great location? Gladney said Sat. and Sun. are typically our days. We want to shop for some things to take home with us- is this hard to do with an infant (I realize we can’t take him out in public)? Did you just pay for someone to watch your child while you went out or did you just stay in and not do that? I know, lots of questions. I would rather be over prepared than anything!

In the paper

My grandma made the paper yesterday! She is always volunteering for various things and was recognized for volunteering 14 years at the Soup Kitchen.

Another Post

We are so excited for tomorrow as 5 families go to court. We are anxiously awaiting the outcomes of their cases and feel that they will pass. We have been praying for them and feel that the Lord will provide and we will get to see their children's sweet faces for the first time tomorrow! However we also know it's Gods perfect time.

Last week we went to a GFA meeting. It went really well. It was fun to meet new people. We met a family that was adopting from Russia that we LOVED talking to. They were so nice and are in the long process of waiting for their referral. I can't wait to hear their news. They have been waiting a long time. When we started looking into adoption we looked at every program we could think of. We looked at international and domestic adoption before we made our decision so we were educated on making the best choice. I knew a lot about Russia and it's process but there had been a lot of changes even since we last looked. It is funny to me how different the processes can be!

On another note we are anxiously awaiting our court date! This weekend we hit close to 25 days until court and it also is my birthday! We've been really busy but the days are going by quickly and we can't wait to hear how our case will turn out. Please continue to remember us in your prayers! K has turned 5 months old and our most recent news says that he is doing well. This is what we were sent a few days ago: "He was tired when I came to see him and a little fussy from valiantly fighting off sleep. K was quieter and less playful today. He liked to walk around and look at things as long as I held him upright."

He is really changing and it is fun to see him turn into a little boy. The pictures are so fun to get. Gladney has done a great job and so far we have got a new one each month! I can't wait to have him home to watch him change daily.

Marriage Enrichment

Not sure what any of you think about Focus on the Family, but Chelsea and I usually enjoy the pieces they have on our local Christian station - 89.3 KSBJ. The link provided below will take you to the home page, and you can stream different broadcasts they have. We believe these may be helpful to you and your family as well as your marriage.

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/

Simply click on the microphone, labeled "Listen to Daily Broadcast."