A Dozen Reasons & More

I am sooooo excited!!!!!!

2011-02-20T11:50:00.000-08:00

First of all, I huge Thank You to those who have donated to Carson's family so far!! Its going to be such a special moment once he is finally home with his family! I so hope I have the pleasure of meeting him once he is home too as well as his wonderful family!. He truly has touched so many people and I am sure its just the beginning! Please take the time and donate to his family if you have not so far. You can donate through the chip in on the left hand side of my blog. We will also be giving away a sweet set of stacking dolls donated by another adoptive family. They came from my Kullens country and lil Carsons as well, so they are pretty special. Check out pics of them below on another post for details!!!

Ok....so on to some Amazing news! I have spoke about some of the sweet lil kids in Kullens orphanage before but I still have not posted pics yet since we do not know if some are available for adoption. We got to meet a very special little girl who happens to be one of Kullens lil friends. Her name is Nastya and I am sooo proud to say she has a family coming for her!!!! Shes a beautuful little girl with apert syndrome and she has the most amazing smile! She greeted us everyday when we visited and would wave and smile so proudly.

I am so excited to announce Nastya's family and you can check out their blog HERE I almost forgot to also add that they are adopting another little girl from the same orphanage on Reeces Rainbow named Moira, she has arthrogroposis. We did not get to see her while we were there though. She must have been in a different groupa. You can also help out their family by donating to their fund at Reeces Rainbow

So on to the cute pics!! Here is lil Nastya, isn't she beautiful!!?? Here she is with our Kullen and another special lil boy on Reeces Rainbow that needs a family desperately. His name is Xavier and his diagnosis is fetal Alcohol syndrome. He is such a loving lil guy. Hes very skinny, walks or shall I say runs all over and boy can he give the most amazing tight hugs!! Maybe this is your lil guy? I sure hope he finds a family soon!!

Here is sweet lil Nastya........Have I mentioned how excited I am that she has a family??

Here is lil Xavier on Reeces Rainbow. He is one sweet lil boy and needs his very own family...could this be you?? We personally can tell you lots about him as well as give more pictures. If you are interested in him please contact Andrea at Reeces Rainbow (bamaroberts@comcast.net)
Here is what Reeces Rainbow has to say about him.
Boy, Born October 21, 2007

This darling boy was born with FAS. (fetal alcohol syndrome). He is such an affectionate little boy, and will thrive in a family setting. He is academically delayed, but active and social and doing pretty well. As a result of his FAS, he does have a heart condition (atrial septal defect), which has caused him some respiratory difficulty at times. It is not documented that this is pulmonary hypertension, but the sooner he can have surgery for his heart, the better he will be, regardless.

Kullens 2nd Birthday....Take 2

2011-02-11T05:09:00.000-08:00

Kullen celebrated his 2nd Birthday with a Family!!!! How awesome is that? A family that truly loves him no matter what!! It still makes me cry when I look at him sometimes knowing his fate in his country was not good. I am also sad for his birth mom as she will never know his wonderful smile and the love of such a wonderful, smart, sweet little boy! He is just amazing and I am certain that everyone that meets him will agree!

Check out him at his first Birthday party! He was a bit nervous but he absolutely LOVES cake!!! He also loves opening presents! We are sooo truly blessed to be his family!!!

Help Needed For a special Little Boy !!!

2011-02-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

First of all, I need apologize that I have not been more dedicated as I hoped I would be once bringing Kullen home but things were crazy with Christmas and all. There is a sweet lil boy who is very near and dear to my heart that I have blogged about before, Carson on Reeces Rainbow! He has had a committed Family for sometime now and they need our help!! Do you remember this sweet face??

The thought of Carson in an orphanage in Eastern Europe brings tears to my eyes , especially now that we have been there! Its no place for any child , let alone a child with EB (epidermolysis bullosa) like Carson has! If you are not familiar with Eb, you can check out this link for Debra.Org or there are many other sites out there that you can read about EB.

Carson is a sweet little 7 year old boy who was born on April 17, 2003. Carson was born with a rare skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa. You may ask what is EB?
Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a rare genetic skin disease that causes the skin to be so fragile that the slightest friction can cause severe blistering–inside and outside the body. Today there is no cure. Severe forms of EB cause patients to live with constant pain and scarring. The worst forms of EB lead to eventual disfigurement, disability, and often early death.

Its so very hard to imagine a child with EB in an orphanage. Persons with EB need specialized bandages and extremely special care. I know this because my daughter Mavis has this condition. We are now helping his family by raising the needed funds to cover his adoption because God has sent the perfect family for him, but they need some help. EB can already cause many financial burdens and we would like to help take away the financial barrier for his adoption.

If anyone out there has ever met my daughter Mavis, they know how amazing she is even with her EB. She has taught everyone around her about EB and has certainly touched so many peoples lives! Shes truly amazing! We are now asking everyone to help Carsons family bring him home where he belongs!!

Here is Carsons blog in case you would like to meet his new family, The Cannells. They are amazing and I am sure he will fit in perfectly! They are also no strangers to EB either since they have a daughter who has this as well. You can even follow their progress on Face Book so check it out!!

Also.......I was given a very cute little set of stacking dolls or matryoshka dolls by another wonderful adoptive Family to help with our adoption, the Gowers and you can check out their blog HERE as they are home now with their lil Princess Mina. We did not get to use them but we are now going to be using them to help the Cannell family. This set is very special since it was bought by the Gowers in their lil girl, Mina's birth country which happens to be Kullen and Carsons as well. So now anyone that donates through my Chip in at the top left of my blog will be entered in for a Give Away of this cute lil set. I will draw a name when the Family gets a travel date and please remember no amount is too little, every little bit counts!!! This donation will go directly to Reeces Rainbow for the Cannell family and is a tax deductible donation!!

Please feel free to add the chip in to your blogs as well so everyone can get in on the drawing!!! If you need the link, please send me message!! Thank You all for your help!!!

Kullens 2nd Birthday....Take1

2011-02-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

You may wanna know what the take 1 means? Well, we had cupcakes on his real Birthday, January 21st since many of the kids were not home and it was a busy day! So, I am calling it take 1 since we had a bigger party a couple days later!

The boy was scared to death of us singing to him but he so LOVES cake!!! He simply cannot eat enough cake!! He put the lil cupcake up to his mouth and just kept chomping on it without even pulling it away from his mouth!! It was soo cute!! He also got a Step2 Choo Choo wagon for his birthday although we have way too much snow to take it outside for a spin right now! Kullen and Ziah enjoyed riding in it around the house though or that is until Taegan ran them too close to the coffee table and scuffed his lil fingers. OUCH

Here are some cute pics to share!!!

Kullen and his little brother Ziah

2011-01-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

Kullen and Ziah are becoming quite the lil buds. Kullen is 2 years old and Ziah wont be 2 until May so they are pretty much 4 months apart in age. Kullen is much smaller and quite a bit behind due to being in an orphanage but we are seeing so much progress each and every day. Ziah can be quite the bully and Kullen does not yet stick up for himself although he has bit Ziah a couple times. Ziah has been busy teaching him everything he knows and Kullen surely pays close attention. He can seriously climb on anything and if he cant, he knows to find something to stand on so he can. He is even starting to babble alot and now says "Ma Ma" and "Juice"! They are just really funny to watch play and laugh together!

Check out the cute pics we got of the 2 of them in their matching/ stylish Gap polo shirts! They would not sit still at all!!

Kullens First Christmas!!!!

2011-01-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, Ok , Ok....I know its almost Feb. I am a little behind.....better late than never right? I just had to share this, especially the pictures because they are just too cute not to share!!

Kullen loved his first Christmas!! He absolutely loves presents and he would even open the other kids' if they did not do their own fast enough!! he is one busy lil guy so its hard to get pictures of him sometimes.

Check out this cuteness!!!!

Kullen eating his yummy Cinnabun muffins Christmas morning. He sure loves food most of the time now, cant you tell!!??

Kullen enjoying his gift opening and everyone elses!!! He loves busy toys and his new magna doodle. He also loves to climb on everything! He may be little but we have already learned, nothing stops him!! LOL

Ok, now check out what my kids call a "fo-hawk" that Kullens hair is in. Its a lil mo hawk type on his head and hes also in his Christmas outfit!! How stinkin cute is this??

Ok and now on to the Christmas cookies!! The kids love to actually sit on the counter and "help" me make cookies. Sometimes they are just too much help, so check out my lil helpers!! Do you think I have enough help??

Doctors visits and such........

2010-12-31T08:22:00.000-08:00

Kullen went to his first doctors visit after being home a week or so. He was very nervous and shy and does not like people touching him at all even if they are not hurting him. He did pretty good and only wimpered a little bit as we offered him lots of Gerber puff that have become a favorite of his. Our doctor even offered him them to try and help ease him a bit.

We dont really have any idea what medical tests have been done while he was in his country but were given 2 pages of medical info we are trying to get translated. It looks like he has had some sort of shots but not to sure what yet.

He weighed in at 17lbs 10 oz and is only 25 inches long. We had no idea where this put him at his age since he is almost 2 and they did not have a growth chart for him yet. They did call me the next day as they got one and hes not as high on the growth chart as we had hoped he would be. He is at the 5th percentile for weight and the 5th percentile for height and thats on a chart made for kids with dwarfism. We are pretty sure nutrition plays a big part in all this. Hoping we see progress in the next few months since he eats so much better now.

We ended up getting lots of blood drawn to test for lots of things as well as to see what immunities he may have to certain things from immunizations he was given. He did not like this at all but was actually better than I thought he would be so I was surprised. We have not gotten any results back yet so I am guessing its nothing bad or they would have called us.

Kullen will hopefully be getting therapies very soon. We are just waiting for an evaluation soon. They are certain he will qualify and I cant wait to see the progress he makes. I know it was amazing to Mavis when she was little and I am sure it will be for Kullen as well.

We even have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor where they will be doing lots of x rays and so much more. We are anxious to find more out about his lil bones and what we as his parents can do to help him. We really wanted to take him to one of the doctors who are experts where dwarfism is concerned but feel we need to find a local doctor to begin with first.

I am very nervous about this appt to say the least! I see the way is little joints move and just worry so much about him. I know that the flexibility in kids with what he has is normal but it does not make me worry less. His poor little legs are so weak and theres no muscle in them at all. His knees even move forward easily just as they do backwards. His back is also a big concern to me. His spine is quite arched and its so very noticeable when he is in the bath tub. We just love him so much already and worry about him. I hope we are able to get him the medical attention he needs right away to prevent so many things. I just know in his country things would be so bleak for his future. Please say some special little prayers for Kullen in regards to his medical issues he may have.

The adjustment begins..............

2010-12-31T07:31:00.000-08:00

It breaks my heart to see Kullen struggle with things he should not be, things he would not be if he had a family to love him from the day he was born just like all our other kids. Its simply not fair but he has made so much progress.

The first week was pretty tough. He simply would not/ refused to sleep. Many people thought it was simply jet lag since the time where hes from is 7 hours ahead of us. I just knew better because he then would be sleeping but just at different times. He did not sleep at all! He would scream horribly once you laid him down in the crib and if he did finally go to sleep it was only for an hour and he woke screaming hysterically. George and I talked about it because he slept great while they had him the 2 weeks they were there, even the nannies remarked that he was a great sleeper. We then realized that he was afraid of being left in the crib. I am sure it happened quite alot there and he got used to being out of it with George and Paige because they had no crib or playpen for him to sleep in. We just would pat his back and reassure him that hes ok and after a week or so he began to sleep better and realize that he is not going to be left in his crib for long time periods. He now sleeps so much better.

Food continues to be tough sometimes but he has made huge progress. He would only eat soup, bread and oatmeal but now eats so much more. He will try more things and actually likes them but he still has many issues eating. He did not even know how to feed himself since I think they fed him. You could put food on his tray and he would just look at you completely puzzled as to what to do. Having Ziah who is almost his age has helped alot. He has learned to just look at him since hes sitting in the high chair next to him and see what he thinks. He will now feed himself most times and even uses a spoon or a little fork and does great.

Little things bug Kullen and I know its because there was not alot of stimulation in the orphanage. Theres certainly alot of it here so hes adjusting. The kids at first wanted to treat him like a baby since hes so small. They would pile toys around him and then barricade themselves behind the toys. Poor guy could not even explore or move. They now know he can do so much although they still want to carry him all over the place!

Other little things that Kullen is adjusting to are things most kids learn at a very young age. Like when you push a ride on toy and run into things how to move it and keep on going. Stuff with figuring out toys and just simply falling on his bottom would cause a lil panic in him.

One of the hardest adjustments has been excepting love and comforting. This is so very hard and sad. It breaks my heart to see him push away love. He dont all the time but many times he just wants to suck his lil thumb and comfort himself as he is used to it. He is making progress though and we continue to be patient with him.

He is sooo smart and he really does understand so much already. at first it was hard knowing he did not understand our language but hes now showing so much progress in this area and amazes me everday at how much he has already learned. His poor lil brain must be on overload!

He also whines over lots of silly / dumb things. If someone is in his way or takes a toy he is heading to he will get upset. So many new things for him but all in all hes making such great progress. The kids all love him and he truly loves them. Ziah and him seem to be figuring each other out which is so cute. They already have their own little communication things going on.

Check out the cute pics from home the first few days as he explores new foods, toys, his surroundings and his new family!

Cute Kullen pics George and paige took before they came home!

2010-12-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

Kullen still loves sunglasses, he loves trying on hats and even clothes that are much too big like Paiges sweatshirt!

Kullen enjoying his first Oreo cookie! Yea....familiar American food in Eastern Europe

Kullen playing with Daddy!

The Ride home

2010-12-31T06:47:00.000-08:00

First of all, Please forgive me for my lack of posting. Its been so nice not to be stuck to a computer! Theres alot of that in an adoption process doing this paperwork and that paperwork, not to mention the Skyping we did just to communicate all the time they were there. We were also busy with Christmas preparation, buying and wrapping, kids Christmas programs, sports and so much more. I also felt like I took so much away from my kids through the process and truly owed them my time completely. Its been so nice actually but now I am back and ready to update as I know so many of you are wondering whats going on, hows Kullen doing and so much more. Thank You so much to my loyal readers and friends through all of this! Its truly been an amazing experience that is far from over!!

Kullen had a very tough time with the flights home. During the almost 24 hours that they traveled, he barely slept at all. He was miserable so George and Paige kept taking turns with him and trying to sleep. I am so sorry to all the people that were probly very angry listening to him cry and whine the entire time! My heart breaks for him as everything is just so new to him and I wish they understood.

We had lots of people waiting for them to get home. We even had cake and balloons waiting! There would have been more people but the flights were delayed so they ended up getting in later than expected.

They arrived at around 9:45 and poor lil Kullen was so overwhelmed and exhausted! It was so nice to finally be able to hold him again and especially sweet knowing he never has to go back there again!! He has a family who loves him so much and he is ours!!

We quickly got out of there so we could get everyone home and to bed. Kullen got to ride in a carseat for the very first time and he wimpered a lil bit but fell asleep within minutes. Once home we just took his coat off and put him in his bed. He did not even flinch and slept the entire night.

Heres some pics of him on the way home, poor lil guy is exhausted!

They are on their way!!

2010-12-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

They have his visa finally!! All is good for travel and they are at the airport as I type waiting to head out on the first plane! Say some extra prayers that all goes well and they arrive home safely! I so hope Kullen does well on the trip as its going to be so long!

They were able to get his SDA pics and I cannot wait to share those and his homecoming pics!! Please be patient as it may take me a day or so to get them posted! Their last flight arrives at 8:30 pm Tuesday and they are in for quite the party!!! Anyone wanting to join is welcome!!

Some Kullen cuteness!

2010-12-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

Thought I would add some cute pics of Kullen George sent me. He sure is one sweet little blessing. Praying all goes well tomorrow and they are on their way home Tuesday! Keep all 3 of them in your prayers!! Check out the cute pics!!

Things just did not go in our favor today!

2010-12-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

I have sat here for hours trying to figure out what to write, but as you can tell from the title, things dis not go so well. To say that I am not happy is an understatement. I really just wanted to scream! I honestly though that today had to be a good day and things were going to work out for once. It just was so not the case but they certainly tried!

They were up early and pretty much ran all day. The embassy agreed to make an exception and process Kullens visa the same day as everything else!! Yea.... Well, the passport was still not in hand although they did have faxed copies to proceed with. Kullen had his doctors visit, all paperwork was completed. The problem was that the actual passport did not shop up before the Embassy closed and they needed to see it before they could officially sign his lil Visa. I cannot say that no one tried to make this happen as many were running for us but it simply was not enough time to get it back there in such traffic. So this leaves them just hanging around through the weekend again and then off to the embassy Monday morning but theres no real reason to hurry. They cant fly out till Tuesday morning.

They are bored and missing everyone just as we are missing them we honestly are far from bored. I feel awful for George and Paige being stuck there so much longer as its not just another day. George is away from his family and he is a very hands on dad. He does everything with the kids when he is not at work and we all really miss him! He also loves his job and misses that too. I know that sounds crazy to most but he really does! Things are so not the same without him.

And Paige......we so never intended for her to miss school this long. I hope and pray her teachers have mercy on her once she is back. She was only supposed to miss 2 full days and 2 half days. She will actually miss 8 full days and 2 half days. Thats alot of work for her to make up. Shes also very worried because shes a varsity cheerleader. Shes so afraid shes going to lose her position on the team and where she was placed in the routine. Its pretty important to her and I so hope the coach is understanding as this long was not planned and its certainly not her fault.

Kullen is doing great and they have not emailed me any new pics to share. He still is pretty stubborn with different foods. He is however very bored just playing and exploring one small room since they dont go outside for days. Its pretty cold to go walking outside there right now. They have been in the capital for 8 days and counting. The 4 walls of that room and boredom are setting in for him too. When we Skype he will wave to me, blow kisses and even play peek a boo. He is a very good imitator and he is so smart. I cannot wait till he is here so he can be loved and hugged by everyone each and every day.

A few things I have a hard time with and thats others assuming that since he has dwarfism , that he is not healthy. He is healthy, he will just be shorter since his bones dont grow like ours do. Yes he may need surgeries to help him but he is healthy. He is not sick at all. People say the same things about our Mavis who has EB. She has different skin but she too is healthy, just has different limits to keep herself safe.

We are so Thankful that God has given us the opportunity and that he choose us to be Kullens parents!! We are the lucky ones here people! I just do not understand why people would question why we would want him? I can only think, Why would we not want him!!! Have they not seen his beautiful face and his smile that can light up a room? We can tell already that he is certainly going to teach us so much and we cannot wait till he is finally home where he belongs, and thats with his family!!! He has already waited 2 years.....please pray its only a couple more days til they are home!

Soo extremely frustrated!

2010-12-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

I simply dont even know where to begin. I really wanted to update again sooner but I did not want to be a downer and scare others in the adoption process but I guess its part of the process. So here it is anyways. Its just too much right now. We knew that with Kullens country there could be some unknowns but by this time we are just done! I want them home and they are just so sick and tired of sitting there doing absolutely nothing!

Pretty much what is going on is that Kullens passport has not come back yet. This is holding everything up, just like when they would not change his tax number and wanted us to wait 2 days for it. That held things off 2 days. His passport was supposed to be there yesterday and the embassy appts had to be canceled for yesterday. Oh and guess what, it did not come today either!!! They keep calling to try and get some answers and seem to get different ones from each person. This is all so frustrating!

We have no idea what to expect and its not even looking good for them to be home for the weekend. They may even have to be there for appts on Monday. I sit here in tears as we are helpless. This is so not what we expecteed and we truly thought once we had Kullen that things would finally be good, but its not the case. If one more person asks me, "when are they coming home?" I am simply going to scream!!!!

I am here at home living like a single parent and I so do not like it. I miss George as hes always been my support, the one I lean on when I am down. Its very hard to lean when hes down as well and so far away! I have always been a strong person but I am starting to re think that. This is taking a huge toll on me and my family.

I am very thankful for our friends and family who have supported us through this process during our emotional breakdowns and complaining. We certainly need all of them more now than ever.

Adoption is surely not for wimps but i surely am at my limits!! Please keep us in your prayers and storm Heaven with prayers for our family.

As a local church has posted "dont worry, pray" I think it was personally meant for me right now and I am trying to just leave this to the big guy upstairs but my human nature keeps getting in the way. God give us Strength!!

Things about Kullen......

2010-11-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

George and Paige are back in the capital now as they arrived Thursday night. They are now waiting for Kullens passport to come back so they can have the embassy appointment. They also need to get his medical appointment done. All this needs to be done before they can come home and we are hoping it all gets done very soon. We miss them all so much and cant wait till they get home! They are getting pretty bored there and really want to be home like yesterday.

Kullen and Paige have become best buddies. He loves her and they are having alot of fun playing together. Its such a wonderful experience for Paige and she will always understand where Kullen came from. It will certainly be a special little bond for them to share. I also hope that her going has taught her so much about his country and his culture not to mention how lucky we as Americans truly are.

Heres a couple pics of Kullen and his big sister Paige

He loves his bath. We were warned that it may be pretty traumatic for him. At the orphanage kids are not put in the tub to be bathed. They are just given sponge baths every so often so this was Kullens very first real bath! I am sure he will love it even more once hes home and getting a bath with the other kids and playing with all the toys! Check out the pictures. His face certainly says it all!! My favorite picture is the one where George was making faces and Kullen has the biggest smile on his face!!

Kullen is doing great. He continues to show his lil personality each day. Hes very stubborn especially when he wants something. George told me yesterday that he actually walked across the living room floor. They were shocked and he kept trying to do it more. I guess hes going to not wait to walk till he gets home like I had hoped! I am missing it! He loves going out as hes very nosey and loves to watch people and just about anything.

He does however continue to be a very fussy eater. they are having a hard time getting him to eat or try anything. He will only eat soup with bread in it and plain bread. We are so glad they brought some soup from home. He will also eat oatmeal which they brought from home. The only things he eats are almost gone so they are getting worried that he wont eat anything else. I have been instructed to stock up on these things for when he gets home. We are hoping that in time he will start to try things and eat what we do. I am hoping that he will see the other kids eating stuff and start to try them and like them.

Please pray that they can get the appointments done and then get back home safely/quickly. Things at home are not the same without them here. Please also be in prayer that lil Kullen will start to feel better. Hes been sick and hes taking some medicine they hope will help.

Heres a couple more pics, just because they are cute! Love him stylin in his lil Gap outfit too.

Gotcha Day!!!!!!!

2010-11-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

The Post we have all been waiting for!

I am so excited and I am thinking this is my favorite post, although once everyone is home safe and sound may be another favorite one! Today was Gotcha Day!! Some of you may not get what I mean but today was the day that George and Paige broke Kullen out of the orphanage. He will never go back there and now will finally know the love of a family as he should of from the time he was born.

George was a little worried that maybe he would not remember him once he got there. The nannies told them, via facilitator that once we left every time the groupa door opened he would look for us and cry once he did not see us. Poor lil guy! George walked in and seen him on the floor playing. He immediately looked up excitedly and started crawling to him as fast as he could. George scooped him up as he waved his arms happily. He just kept waving to everyone as he just had to know he was getting outta there. Check out how his hand was waving in the picture!

We really expected to have this some huge big deal as it really is to us. We wanted to document everything with pictures and hoped that we could get some of the nannies with him in the pictures but they refused. George and I had talked about this day for so long and it was not a big deal to them at all and was pretty rushed actually. They gave them his bag of clothes I had picked out for his Gotcha Day. I had to pick a Hanna outfit of course, polka dots even better!! They cleaned him up, got him dressed so fast and even put his snowsuit and hat on. Guess they did not want them sticking around. Here he is in his snowsuit all ready to go.

They got to hang out all day with Kullen at the apartment and play. He is very smiley and seemed to enjoy the attention . They are however having a hard time getting him to eat and he refuses most everything except bread. Could use some suggestions there. He did eat a little baby food our facilitator suggested. We also found out a cute lil surprise about him that we did not know. He sucks his lil thumb when he is tired. He never did that at all for any visit we had. It was just so cute to see once George sent me pictures. He took a pretty good nap especially since he was not in a crib or anywhere familiar.

Tomorrow they will get the passport pic done and then pick up his new tax number and head to the capital to finish up things there. Since they had to wait a couple days for them to get the tax number changed it puts them back a couple days. They may not be home till the end of next week now. George was pretty upset as he will be away from work longer than he planned. He did not plan to go back anyways since I was supposed to finish things up so him going back in the first place was pretty tough. He loves his job and hates not being there or even home. He takes alot of pride in his work and his family so this is pretty difficult all around. We also cannot wait till they are home. Please pray the rest of the paperwork and necessary things are done quickly. Continue to pray for Kullen and his adjustment to his new life.

Prayers needed!!

2010-11-23T19:34:00.000-08:00

George and Paige have had a very busy day running all over to get needed paperwork done. They were not able to even go see lil Kullen today. They were able to get his new birth certificate and George thought it looked pretty neat since its not in our language. All I could think of when he told me that was it will be interesting to use once Kullen is old enough to sign him up for t-ball. Pretty funny because that really is what I thought of since no one will be able to read it anyways.

They were able to get the court decree which allows us to be able to take Kullen out of the orphanage. Praise God as this is so much more important than court. Anything still could have happened once court was over. Now this means that its truly official!!! now to finally get him home

They also hit a snag in the process though and this is where we need the prayers. They need to change Kullens tax code or something like that. I guess its pretty similar to our social security number so its pretty important. Maybe some other adoptive families can clarify the info for me and everyone else to understand better. They had to drive almost 2 hours away to get this done but once there they refused to just do it quickly while they waited. Georges words were I guess they do not get the sense of urgency in this. They told them they need to come back Thursday to get this which is a huge bummer and can make things take longer. Please pray that they are able to get this and not have any more problems with paperwork and getting needed things done. I so miss them already and lil Kullen needs to get home soon!!

On a good note, George thinks tomorrow will be Gotcha Day!!! Oh my goodness!!! I cannot believe it! I am so hoping and praying that once I wake up there will be good news and hopefully pictures sent to my email!!! Please pray for Kullen!! This is going to be so tough for him and I just ask you all to pray for him and his transition. Pray for George and Paige as they get to know him and learn to best take care of his needs. He does not understand english at all and everything is going to be so different for him. Thank You so much to all who have continued to pray for us through this journey and hopefully tomorrow we will have some great news to share with you all!!

Finally an update!!!

2010-11-22T06:40:00.000-08:00

I need to apologize for my awful lack of blogging in the last week but so much has happened and so much is happening right now!

On Thursday November 11th we had our court in Kullen country. It was a bit longer than I expected and I was soo nervous. It was not what you would expect for court in the USA. It was a little less formal and no courtroom. That was probly a good thing or I would have been even more nervous. They asked lots of questions about us and our children. What our children thought of the adoption and a child with Kullens needs. The weirdest question they asked was probly if we attended a church that believed in having many many children. They asked George this. LOL He replied that we do belong to a church but no that they do not believe this as no one in our church has as many children as we do.

So on its official. At the end of court they declared That

Kullen Anton Sharp
Born on January 21, 2009
Adopted November 11, 2010

It was so beyond exciting I gotta say!!!! We then made a very tough choice. We originally intended for me to stay the 10 day wait but decided I was going home too. It was just too much being away from my kids and I literally just kept crying when George was getting around to leave. We also did not feel comfortable with me being alone for so long. We made the flight plans for me to come home as well but never told the kids at home.

We went to visit Kullen before we left and it was so unbelievably hard leaving him. I know he understood and it broke my heart. We went to take him back to his groupa and at the door he started shaking his head and holding his hand up in protest. I started to cry and just hugged him promising to be back soon. We got into his room and he continued to cry and so did I. His nanny tried taking him and he totally refused to go to her even though she was trying to help him and knew this was tough for him and us. She pointed to the little chair and motioned for me to sit him down while she got him a drink to settle him down. He did quit crying but it was so hard to just walk away and leave him. I cannot wait till he is home safe and sound!

On our way back to the capital we got a phone call that was not good. Our good friends and neighbors son had passed away unexpectedly. We knew that we made the right choice in both going home now.

Flights were really long and tough and flying does not agree with me at all. It was absolutely horrible and worse the second time around for me.

The kids were really excited to see us both home!! I was so impressed at how well they were taken care of and not that I doubted that they would be but its just alot to juggle. We cannot thank Wendy enough for loving our kids and taking great care of them! She was away from her family most of the time and juggled so many things!! Thank You Wendy!!!

Things have been super busy at home as usual and I have been getting things around to return to go get Kullen. We decided to have George go back instead of me although its very difficult for him to leave his work. They have been great and we cannot thank them enough. I also do not do well traveling and it will be much easier on the kids at home to not have to be juggled around again. It was tough on them once we got home as they always thought we were leaving them when ever we walked out the door. I feel so awful that I am not the one going back to get him. I have waited for this for almost a year now and I just feel awful not going and I really wish I could handle the traveling part better. I just cant wait to finally hold my lil guy in my arms again but it will be in our country and he will then be an American citizen.

George and Paige left yesterday to go back to get Kullen. They arrived this morning and are very tired with pretty much non stop flying and no lay overs. They are heading right to Kullens region as I type and thats a 4 hour drive. They are soooo tired and could use lots of prayers right now. Please pray that the process goes quickly and smoothly so they can get home with Kullen. So many things are unknown in the country right now and so many things can hold up the process. Theres alot of waiting on paperwork and more paperwork. Please pray for their safety and for Kullens adjustment. This is the only life he has ever known and its going to be tough for him. Bless his little heart and I cannot wait to add more pics as they send them to me.

Tomorrow may be Gotcha day or maybe even Wednesday.......I cannot wait!!!!!!!!

Court is Today!!!

2010-11-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

You read the title!!! We found out for sure yesterday that court is today at 2. This means that the 10 day wait starts tomorrow. We could be back home maybe the weekend after Thanksgiving if there are no more major issues! George will be leaving tonight after court. He has to head back to the capital and do some Embassy paperwork on Friday and will Fly out at 5 am roughly. He cannot wait to go home!!

I on the other hand am staying. I honestly do not want to because I miss everyone and everything so much. I miss all the familiar things from home. I miss my KIDS!!!!!! Its so much harder being away from them than I ever thought it would be. Its going to be so much harder to be here without George. I will have no one to keep me company or make me dinner and do the laundry. He really has been spoiling me!!

I love visiting with Kullen though and he has so much personality. I just ask that you all pray for him. His transition is going to be really difficult for him in so many ways our lifestyles are very different than his. Pray that he adjusts easily and fits right in. Visiting is kind of hard. Hes getting very bored doing the same things at each visit and so are we. We have been cutting our visits a little shorter since we are limited as to what we can do and where we can play. I cannot wait till he has his own home to explore as well as so many siblings to learn from and play with. His morning visits tend to be pretty rough, still not sure why. He seems a little off then, possibly not a lil morning guy! Afternoon visits go very well and we have alot of fun playing and giggling!! George has taught him how to stick out his tongue and he does this every time he sees the mirror in the playroom with a huge smile. He even covers his eyes to play peek a boo!! I keep trying to get pics of him doing either but he always quits when the camera flashes! What a lil bugger!

Thank you soo much to everyone that Wished us a Happy 20th Anniversary! We ended up going out to dinner at the same old restaurant we had went to before. We even invited Anya along as we just love her company and to learn so much more about this country and the culture here. We then went to the grocery store to stock up on food so I will not need anything for awhile.

Note to those who asked.....We are now 7 hours ahead of everyone back home! They already did some sort of time change before we arrived.

I am already counting the days till Wendy and Paige get here to finish up and keep me company. I cant wait to show them so many things and for them to see and learn about here as we did. I cant wait for them to meet Kullen. They are going to Love him!!

I am so bad as I did not upload any pics last night, so no pics today!! Its only 8 am here and I just could not sleep so I figured I better give everyone an update!!

Its another day.............

2010-11-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Actually its been 8 days since we left to come here. It already seems like forever. We certainly are missing our kids soo much. I miss all the stupid things I always complained about before such as laundry, juggling kids, running here and there, my kids fighting and arguing, so pretty much all the things about being a mom of 12. I am just missing home, my family, my friends and my life I am used to.

We are still not sure when our court date will be but hopefully very soon. We would go to court at midnight if we could just to get it over with. After court will start our 10 day wait and most likely it will be longer than 10 days. If it ends on a weekend then your wait is longer and you cannot do anything on a Monday. Hmmm.......still seems like a long time huh? Just imagine being here!!

I never posted a blog post yesterday but yesterdays morning visit was very hard. Kullen had a very hard time and just cried most of the visit. I just cuddled him most of the time. Its just frustrating since we do not speak the language. We cannot ask when he ate last or if he is ready for a nap. It certainly would be much easier if we spoke some of his language. We ended up realizing that he was probly hungry and tired. The evening visit yesterday was great!! We went outside and played in the leaves with him. He just loves touching them and even trying to crawl in them. He is really nosey and curious when there are other kids around. There were other kids playing outside and he just loves to watch everything they do. The kids were collecting chestnuts and having so much fun giggling and laughing.

Todays morning visit we met with the orphanage director to gather up a bunch of our donation items to take to Kullens group. We ended up taking most of the little toys since they do not have many there. They immediately hung up the mirrors on the playpens or cribs. They even have to mark all the things we bring them clothes wise with a sharpie marker. This identifies to the laundry area which group the clothes belong to. All clothing worn is labeled, even each sock. I cannot wait for him to wear his very own clothes that fit him better and that do not have marks all over them.

Anya met us at the orphanage and she was able to answer so many questions for us. We truly appreciate all her help as we keep learning so much. I would highly recommend finding someone who can translate if you are coming over here, as you are able to learn so much more about your child, the culture and the history. He was a lil grouchy this morning as well but was not as bad as yesterday so we kept playing outside walking around. When we took him back Anya was able to translate for us the daily schedule they follow and the things hes used to eating. Its going to be so different for him in just what he eats once home. The kids are never given cold drinks at all until they are much older and its very common that children drink warm buttermilk. I am not sure if its the same as ours at home or not. We were able to even see where he sleeps, hes in crib 12. All are labeled for each child in his group. George even was able to help feed him his lunch and hes actually a very good eater they tell us. It was soo cute as the 3 lil ones sit at their table and eat while the younger ones are fed bottles. We even were able to take pictures of the kids in his group. I dont think we are allowed to share them publicly though. I got to hold the sweetest little girl who is 7 months old and has down syndrome. She was soo precious with her lil sprout hair do. I even got to feed her the lunch bottle while George helped Kullen eat.

Today was such a special treat to be able to actually go into the groupa and hear about the other kids and Kullens world. I owe that to Anya because without her we would not have been able to communicate with them. After leaving we went with Anya to a very nice restaurant for lunch. It was really good but I do not like curd cakes and they are pretty common here. Its basically cottage cheese with eggs mixed in, rolled into a patty and then floured and fried. You can even add fruit toppings......George did not mind it but I am not eating it again. Oh and we have a wonderful picture of what is called a Turkish toilet, or what I would call a squatty potty. I am so glad they do NOT have them in our country. They are all over in this country!! Be thankful we do not have them as well as the sand paper toilet paper! I am not kidding...its like the rough, brown paper we use to wipe our hands on in a public rest room!!!

On to the pics!!

So much to share..........

2010-11-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

First of all, I need to add something very important and touching. This may not be easy for anyone to read as it was not to me either but I feel it must be read. If change is to happen, people must know. Its so much harder for me to read this as this could possibly be our lil Kullens fate if we were not here for him. His country needs our help and our prayers. This link comes from another family that recently adopted a little 6 year old boy named Aaron . He is so sweet and amazing and his mom, Julia has truly touched me with each and every post. She truly has a way with words. Please read their last blog entry HERE I am certain you will be touched but will it move you to act? So many orphans in the world need our help, what can you do to help??

Today was a super busy day. We went for our morning visit but we were not able to visit in the playroom, we think it may be closed for cleaning on Sundays. We did however get to play in the little room right inside his lil groupa door. Kullen seemed a bit off this morning and through some hand motioning and stuff we figured they were telling us not to feed or give him anything to drink as his lil belly was feeling a bit off today. We could tell as he was not as smiley but we still had a good visit. Dont mind the pink sleeper he has on in pics. They just put on them whatever fits them although daddy promised that once he is home he will never wear pink again!! LOL Daddy got to blow bubbles for him and he was not too sure about it at first but then thought that they were actually pretty neat. We also got to go outside and let him play in the leaves. I dont think he has ever been on the ground or touched the leaves. He loved them but we had to head back inside as it gets dark very early here.

After our morning visit we met up with Anya. Shes lives locally and she was introduced to us by email from another adoptive family that has been here a few times, Elizabeth. She is soo wonderful. We walked around the town while she told us so much about the history! I so wished that I could have just taken notes. We loved listening to it all. We even went shopping and bought many items that have meaning in this country for Kullen to have once he is older. Shes even going to write it all down for us to keep with his items we bought. I think it will truly be a treasure to him once hes older so he will understand where he came from. We even went out to eat here which we were afraid to do since we dont speak the language and no English is spoken here. We tried a few very popular dishes here that are eaten every day. I am not always good at trying new things but I tried them. I just love borsch. Its a wonderful soup and I guess many make it a little different. I cannot wait to get more. It was actually fun trying new things especially when you had someone to actually tell you what it was first. I so wished I had my camera at this place . It truly was something you dont see everyday. We are hoping to go back sometime this week and I will take pictures then. Thank you so much Anya. We are truly blessed to be able to have your guidance here and look forward to learning so much more.

Well, we are getting really tired and need to get the pics uploaded that take forever with SLOW internet connection.

I miss everyone back home so very much and I know they are being taken care of very well. I cannot thank everyone enough for all their help and prayers. It means so much to us!! Please be in prayer for us as we go further into this journey. So much can happen and continue to pray for our family at home and Kullen through this adjustment period.

The Culture here is soo different.........

2010-11-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

I am honestly very surprised at how different the culture is here. Its a beautiful country but very old school. All buildings look very old on the outside and most people live in apartments. The cars are interesting as some are new, others are very old and you do not find the rust on cars like you would back home. I am really surprised at the amount of litter on the sides of the roads and in yards. You just do not see that back in the states, there is litter at home but nothing like this. There are little markets where you can buy stuff, kind of like little flea markets that are big. They sell everything, seriously!! Such as household items, food, produce, clothing, shoes, power tools, and probly anything you can think of! Trying to buy things is pretty challenging since we do not speak the language. We just tell them English and they kind of laugh. We seem to figure it out though.

Kullens orphanage is a really good one. They love the kids and speak so gently to them. We are able to go right into Kullens groupa and even chat and hold the other little ones. I know 2 that are listed on Reeces Rainbow are in his room. One is little Xavier with fetal alcohol syndrome. I get to love and hug on him every day. He is sooo smiley and friendly. Today I picked him up and he hugged me soo tightly and did not want to let go. He is also so very small. This little guy needs a family so badly!! He is also the only one in his groupa that walks all over! We also see little Nastya with Apert Syndrome. She is also very sweet and smiles so much when she sees us. There is also a very pretty little baby girl with DS in his groupa. I dont think she is listed but shes very sweet and cute with her little spout hair do on her head. We need to get her listed. There is also a very , sweet tiny little girl but we dont know what she has. The nanny did tell us that shes a year old. Hard to believe that when shes around 10 lbs maybe. She was pretty active and could hold her head up and scoot all over though and shes very smiley!! For anyone coming here the orphanage is great and very caring. Its just soo heartbreaking to see so many little ones that need a family. Please consider coming to get one of these precious angels!!

On to little Kullen and some pictures!! We are having a great time with him. He still seems very shy and I am certain his lil personality keeps coming out more each time we visit him. He now knows that when we go to his groupa that we are there for him. He gets all smily and excited. He has even cried when we drop him back off to leave, which truly breaks my heart! Its only a little longer but we already cannot wait for that day. He loves to be thrown gently up in the air and giggles every time. He loves to be tickled and loved on. We got to take him outside and play even. Its not really super cold here, maybe in the 50s but they surely bundle them up like its 10 below!! Poor lil guy is so hot in his big ole snowsuit and cant even move. He loved the slide and to swing. George made me get on the kiddie swing even though I kept insisting that I might break it. The playground equipment is very old here although there is one new set. There is lots of little play areas for the kids to play on and they go outside for walks quite often. He is so smart and loves the little stacking cups we brought him. We were both amazed at how he figures out which cup goes into the other. He is quite the little problem solver! He also seems to be very patient, so not like myself as George would say!

*****Only one LP question today. We notice he is very rattly and sounds like he has a cold. I know many of you mentioned issues with stuff like this. He breathes through his nose only so we are not sure if this is why too. Should we be concerned or just chalk it up to him having a cold? Thank You soo much to all who answered the questions we had yesterday.

What an amazing day!

2010-11-05T05:54:00.000-07:00

I cannot even put into words all the emotions we truly felt today. We had to be up and out the door by 4 am to head to our region. It was a long and extremely bumpy ride and it again set off my awful motion sickness.

We got to the orphanage and I actually recognized it from pictures that another adoptive mom showed me, Elizabeth. The orphanage is very neat and clean and even on our first visit you can tell how they love the children and take the best care of them possible. All nannies were wonderful and so sweet to Kullen as well as our selves.

We went immediately to the directors office where she asked a few questions about our family. We showed her all the pictures we brought and she just could not stop saying what a beautiful family we have, which we already know! The doctor came in and went over his medical info as it was being translated to us. I may share that info at a later time.

I know you all are just dying for all the good stuff so I will skip over alot of what happened. Kullen was brought in to us and was really shy and clung to his nanny who really shows her love for him. She gently talked to him while we offered him a cookie. He was still very uncertain and got the cutest little pouty lip although he did not cry. They all say hes a very calm and clever baby.

He is absolutely beautiful and I cannot even express how I feel seeing my baby that I have dreamed about for so long. I still cannot believe we actually got to see and hold him today, as it all seems surreal. I praise God for getting us to this point in our journey because we truly owe it all to him.

Kullen is amazing! He is not actually walking but can stand by himself and walk holding onto one hand. He can scoot/ crawl/ and climb on everything. He is actually very active once we were left alone with him and he warmed up to us. He does the cutest thing when he sits up after crawling. It kind of looks like he is doing a little slpit. He loves to sip juice from a juice box and loves cookies. He is so smart too and can stack little rings onto the base very easily.

Here is where I need help from all you LP parents or LPs themselves. We have a few questions and will likely have lots more!! He is extremely flexible in his legs and I think thats pretty common, right? He also has a lil bump on his lower spine before his lil bottom. What could this be and does it meed medical attention right away? It kind of goes down a bit once he is standing up right. The also told us his head Circumference is 51. Is this common for a child who is almost 22 months. We would truly appreciate any advice you all could give us. Please send me a message through FB, the contact form at the top or even leave comments on this page.

Theres is much more to say and to tell you all but we have to get around to go visit again so on to the pictures as I know thats what you really want to see and probly already scrolled down to look at them!!

A few pics and such!!

2010-11-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

We promised the kids we would put a few pics up for them to see and everyone else.

This Pic is of Our first shopping trip here. It cost us 117 hryvnia, not sure we spelled this right. Thats a little under $15. Pretty weird being told such a crazy amount for things! George of course had to try a couple beers and he says they were good but needs to try a few more to compare them to. Yea right George! Also, note to other families coming here! Do not buy the water pictured here! Its water with gas as they call it here, basically carbonated water. We made this mistake first shopping visit despite being warned! Not so cool to brush your teeth with. Ask for water with No gas! We also bought some sandwich meat to eat quickly in our apartment. We honestly have no idea what it is and we are calling it "mystery meat" but it was ok, kind of like a chicken or turkey bologna. We also bought a few other things to try and they have Coke products here too!! Yea.....now if they only had Cherry Dr.Pepper things would be good!

Here are a few pics of a beautiful church by the SDA office. We dont really know what its called but its huge. We could not go up the stairs since they are working on the stairs and the church.

Here are a few pics of the apartment we are staying in. Its nice but small compared to what we are used to...lol The bathroom is really small too and there is the tiniest little washer in there!! I have never seen one so small. We have huge front loaders at home and you can seriously put lots of stuff in them! Nevermind our laundry on the drying rack in the livingroom, they dont have a dryer, so it needs to just air dry. All in all its not so bad and I just know I have seen pics of this place before from a few other families who have been here. We forgot to take any pics of the outside of the building but we will tomorrow. There are seriously lion statues out front!!! I will get pics to prove it even for those who think I am making it up. I tried to get George to sit on one just to take a pic but he would not do it!! Gosh hes no fun!! lol

SDA appointment!!

2010-11-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

Our SDA appointment was really quick. Yulia picked us up and we drove all over to get there. People really do drive crazy here. I would kind of compare it to NYC but there is not as many cars there, just more people walking. Cars will literally pull in and out within a tiny bit of distance, kind of scary. I would never , repeat NEVER drive our big ole beastly 15 passenger van here!! We also think its funny that people actually park on the side walks!! I knew they did as I had seen pictures but honestly, they just park where ever they want!! Can we say Tickets? Thats surely what would happen here and a hefty fine to go with it!

On to the good stuff............
Well I thought our Appt was going to be really official but nope. Just a lil office and his file. She asked a few questions about our kids. Ages and how many we have, boy was she surprised. We are used to it though. She asked why we would want to adopt a special needs child. We told her about Mavis and how special she is and how shes touched our lives. She seemed ok with that!

I noticed on the top of his lil file the most amazingly cute little boy!!! Oh my goodness!!! Hes beautiful in the picture they had of him, which we already knew!! He even had long wispy blonde hair. In the only 2 pics we have they had already shaved it off. We are going to let it grow back as it looks soo cute. George afterward states, I did not really realize his hair was so blonde. I did because I had blown up his lil pic and studied his sweet lil face so many times! We asked if we could keep the pics as other families get to switch em out sometimes. But they said no. We can have them when we are done and back getting ready to leave with him. They also had a sweet lil naked newborn picture of him in there. We just oohhhed and ahhed over both precious pictures!!

They told us that he was born to a single mother who left him at birth. So very sad as I could never imagine how one could do this. He also has no siblings. They did tell us he has a heart condition they say is minor so we will have it checked out once at home. That was news to us though. They also do not actually say he has achondroplasia, which is a type of dwarfism. They just say something with his bones, cant remember the actual wording of it but that he will be shorter. We will see what the doctor says later on.

So thats it for the Appointment update!! We go back tomorrow to get our actual Referral and then we head to Kullens orphanage on Friday!! Wow........We are finally going to meet him.....Praise God!

Our Adventure has Begun!!

2010-11-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

We are here in Eastern Europe!! We are soo tired!

First of all, I gotta say how extremely hard it was leaving my kiddos and I honestly cannot believe we did!! I miss them all so much already!! I love and miss you guys!! Be good!!! We did not take any pics yet so hopefully tomorrow since its dark here already.

It was crazy I must say and I will honestly admit that I am not a fan of flying!! It certainly did not agree with me at all. George did just fine though. I do not ever want to fly again but I gotta get home when this is all said and done so I know I must. The longest flight was over 7 hrs and it was complete misery. We felt like we were stuffed in there like sardines. Theres no way you could sleep even if you tried. I probably could have fallen asleep in the aisles if they would have let me though! Sleeping sitting up does not work for me.

Once we arrived in the airport we quickly got our luggage. We looked for a driver with our name on it but there was none. We then just sent an email to the RR group and soon enough a driver was there. I was a little bit worried though Still think its kind of weird that we just jumped into a car with a complete stranger, in a foreign country and the driver spoke no English!! Wow.....all the things we would tell our kiddos not to do we just did! After getting in the car, George notices a few things. Not surprised in his line of work...LOL. He notices the car is on Empty, check engine light is on and driver has no seat belt on..... We then had to wait for someone to come show us our appt. Its nice and cute and will work since we should only be here a couple days.

We then talked to Yulia , our facilitator and she will be picking us up at 10:30 in the morning for our SDA appt. Hoping all goes well. We will also get our phone from her then. She explained to George where the store was so we are heading there now to get some needed things!!

Will update more tomorrow. Please keep everyone in your prayers!!

Big prayers requests!!

2010-10-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

We leave tomorrow and I am in need of lots of prayers right now so please understand my ramblings!

First of all, Please pray for our friends, Mike and Wendy. They will be taking care of our 11 kids while we are gone, not Lexi since shes in college. They will be juggling their 4 children ages 11, 9, 5, and 2 and our kids ages 17, 15, 13, 11, 10, 8, 5, 5, 3, 3, and 17 months. Just in case you did not get that.....Its 15 kids ages 17 to 17 months! That certainly is alot to juggle. Its even bigger since they do not live in our town so they will be going back and forth maintaining 2 households. Please pray that all goes well for them. Pray for their children as well as ours because this will be an adjustment for them all. They are great friends and wonderful Christians and I know our kids will be in great hands!! I am a mom so I will still worry though. I simply cannot thank them enough for taking care of them for us.

Please pray for all the other people that will be helping with our kids. So many friends and family will also be helping in so many other ways, whether its picking up kids and dropping them off to just checking in on everyone. We just would like to pray for them all.

Then please pray that we travel there safely and all goes smoothly. I am very nervous about being so far away from my kids for so long. I am worried about being in another country where we do not speak the language and the culture is so very different. I then also pray for little Kullen. His little life is going to change drastically. Its going to be so hard for him leaving the only place he has ever known. There are going to be many new things for him to experience that may be very tough on him. He too will be needing lots of prayers!

I am excited but oh so nervous! I cannot believe we will finally be meeting our little guy in less than a week! Its going to be amazing! So many emotions going through me right now! We are going to need lots of encouragement and support. I also thank all those that introduced themselves!! Its so wonderful to know we are sharing our journey with so many people! God sure is amazing! Let our journey begin.......our next post may be from Eastern Europe or somewhere along the way.

Attention Lurkers!!

2010-10-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

Since we leave so very soon, I just think now is the time for you all to come out from hiding!! Please consider becoming a follower of our blog and leave us comments introducing yourselves. We would so welcome support and encouragement. God has certainly been amazing to us along this journey and we cannot wait to share our adventures with you all. Thank You all for following along and we hope to be as truthful about our journey as we can. I am certain its going to be an amazing journey with lots of happy things but also lots of hard things. Please keep us all in your prayers!

I know many families choose to make their blogs private during traveling times but we have chosen to keep it public. We just feel this is very important to share our journey. If we can inspire someone to consider adoption or to even help others adopting we have done our part! There are so many orphans in the world that need families and all things are possible with God.

Orphanage donations and a bit of an update

2010-10-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about all the wonderful donations we have received to take to the orphanage! A huge Thank You goes to the wonderful Boyscout Pack in Naperville IL. My great friends Debbie and her son Ben told their Boyscout Pack about the donations we needed and they bought some amazing stuff. A huge suitcase full of great things!!! I was in total sock to see so many wonderful things!! Thank You all so much and I hope you guys are able to follow our journey!

A big Thank You goes to Courtney C as well. She sent a box full of needed items too. I cannot believe every ones generosity! It certainly is amazing!! George went to a meeting at work this week and he was so surprised when they too presented him with a card signed by everyone and a big bag full of items for the orphanage!!! We now have so much stuff!! Thank You soo much everyone!

Here is a list of items we have to take so far
54 pairs of socks
148 onesies/bodysuits in various sizes
36 hats for winter/summer
16 small toys
3 crib mirrors
3 pairs of tights
35 pairs of underwear
11 pairs of comfy pants
10 blankets
12 sleepers
4 pairs of gloves
2 pairs of slippers
7 burp cloths
4 washcloths

How amazing is this??!!! We have a huge suitcase full and would love some more underwear in small sizes as well as socks. I am sure those are greatly needed items!! Coming from a mom of 12 kiddos , you simply cannot have enough of those items. If anyone has and new packages they would like to donate please let me know and remember we leave on Monday so time is running out!!

This is really happening!!!

2010-10-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe this is really happening!!! I have so much to do and each day brings us so much closer to leaving. I have to get everything ready here for the kids, writing daily schedules, Medical info for the kids, grocery shopping and lots of planning.

I also have alot of packing and planning to do. I am so afraid I am going to forget something important. Its hard to decide what to pack even as I am sure its going to be cold and anyone that knows me, knows how much I hate the cold!!

Its also very exciting as we will finally be meeting Kullen in just 2 weeks time!! Praise GOD! We will finally get some answers to all those silly questions about him. Is he walking?, what makes him smile?, what does he like to eat?, what size clothes is he wearing?, How big is he?, Whats his personality like?, can he talk yet?, and I could literally go on forever with all these questions! I am so very excited. This has been quite the journey and now I am sure is where it gets even more interesting!

We have flight arrangements and we leave on Nov 1st so we get to spend Halloween with the kids before we leave. We will also be having a Big Thanksgiving dinner before we go since I will likely not be home by then, we are hoping George is though. George and I will also celebrate our 20th Anniversary on Nov 10th while we are there!

Please be in prayer for our family as this entire journey affects all of us in so many ways. Pray that the Lord will guide us and that we do not have any more unnecessary hurdles. There are so many unknowns that can happen once in country so please pray for the entire process to go smoothly. Please just lift our family up in prayers!

We have a date!!!!

2010-10-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

I really dont know what to think as we have waited for this for along time!! I am honestly now kind of freaking out as we will be heading to a foreign country where we do not speak the language. We will be leaving our kids home and still do not have all the details for them all smoothed out and I am scared!!! I am just praying that things get worked out so we can go get Kullen without worrying if our kids are being taken care of because right now I need that peace of mind. I love them all so very much and boy am I now one worried momma!! Things are really hitting me!

I am also excited at the same time that in 2/12 weeks we will be meeting our little guy for the first time!! It just brings me to tears to think of him and all the changes that will be happening for him. Kullen is so loved and he will finally know the love of a family!

Our date is November 3rd so we will be leaving a couple days before that. Our flight plans are not completely set but we are hoping to be able to be with the kids for Halloween.

Please be in prayer for my family as we go though this journey. Pray that our children are well taken care of at home,Kullen and his adjustment, we are safe traveling and that all goes smoothly while we are there. Its going to be an amazing journey and a beginning to Kullens new life.

One Whole month......and orphanage donations again!

2010-10-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

One whole month is how long my dossier has been in Eastern Europe. Oh wait.......one whole month plus one day but who is counting? Not me!! We are still waiting on a SDA appointment date and honestly I am so scared it could be coming so soon. Am I ready for this? Are we ready for this? Is my family ready? I am really starting to get nervous that its making me crazy. I just dont know. God knows the right timing and we are in prayer that he will make all the pieces to this complicated puzzle just fall into place. I so pray it will be this easy and that I have hair left in the end!! LOL

We are planning on bringing needed items with us to Kullens orphanage. We decided to bring new items that most people forget about. They are not always the most fun or cute items to buy but probly the most needed. We will be taking socks, heavy tights, underwear, hats and undershirts/onesies. Please when you are out and about shopping and if you see some good deals we would really appreciate your help in gathering these items. They need to be pretty small in size too because this is a baby house orphanage so they are birth up to age maybe 6 but the kids in the orphanages are very small usually. Plain color socks would be the best kind so they are easier to match when they go to the laundry room. They use alot of thicker type tights. Even the boys wear tights under their clothing to keep them warm in the winter when the orphanage is colder. They could use boys or girls underwear and especially training underwear in smaller sizes. Any type of hats would be great as far as winter or summer. Kids there rarely go outside without a hat on in summer or winter. Boys wear girls hats alot so please buy some lil boys hats as well. I know girls hats are so much cuter though! Small undershirts as well as onesies are also greatly needed to keep the lil ones warm when its cold.

We also will be taking smaller type toys such as rattles and tethers. Developmental things to help the babies because they are so behind usually. Bright , cheery toys and they could use lots of little links to hook toys in the kids' cribs because quite a few of them spend alot of time in their cribs.

We really want to be able to take alot of stuff that they need because they have over 100 little ones in Kullens orphanage. If you are able to help please let me know or you can just drop stuff off at our house. Please spread the word to everyone you know that may want to help. Maybe your workplace or church would like to do a little drive to help. We CAN make a difference for these little kids, every little bit helps!!! Remember, with God all things are possible!!

Waiting, Waiting and more Waiting!!!

2010-10-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

We are still waiting on an appointment date to get our official referral for our lil Kullen! Its soo hard to wait but honestly I have so much to do and keep me busy! I have alot of things to get around for us to pack as I am sure I am going to forget something, I always do! I am busy getting the house cleaned and ready for our lil guy! We have his crib all set up and just waiting. I will post pics of that soon but I need to get a few more things on his walls!

Please be in prayer for our family as we prepare to leave our children and go across the world. Its going to be extremely difficult and we will be needing all the prayers we can get.

Also, We will NOT be fundraising anymore for our own adoption journey! We are all good! Praise God for allowing us a way to Not fundraise anymore for ourselves! We will however be fundraising for a special reason and I so hope you all will help with this as well. Its an extremely special reason, just wait and see!!! Details to come!!

October is a very special month!!

2010-10-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is why October is a very special month to us!!

Well, I am not sure if all of my readers know this but our lil Kullen has a form of dwarfism. We think he has a type called achondroplasia which is the most common form of dwarfism. He is beautiful no matter what and we love him so very much already!

Last year it was made official – October has been declared as Dwarfism Awareness Month.

So I’m spreading the word about dwarfism and there are soo many families that have supported us along the way. I have posted about quite a few of them in the past and now I am spreading the word about another family. Jamie Murphy is am amazing mom to 2 sweet lil girls, one of which has a form of dwarfism. Caty is 5 now and in Kindergarten and shes just amazing. You can check out the MURPHYS blog.

LITTLE PEOPLE OF AMERICA RECOGNIZES OCTOBER AS NATIONAL DWARFISM AWARENESS MONTH

October has been declared National Dwarfism Awareness Month by Little People of America. Little People of America (LPA) is a national support organization for people with dwarfism and their families. LPA provides peer, parent and medical support for the dwarfism community.

LPA began in 1957 with actor Billy Barty and 20 short-statured friends. The first LPA meeting was monumental for a group of people who were severely mislabeled and misunderstood by society. Today, Little People of America is a thriving international organization providing much needed support, education, educational scholarships, and community outreach.

In declaring Dwarfism Awareness Month, LPA hopes to raise positive awareness around dwarfism, address common misconceptions, and increase opportunities for people with dwarfism around the country.

“People with dwarfism are no different than any other person. We may just need a well-placed stool. Our members are children, college students, business professionals, doctors, engineers, mechanics, artists and teachers. We can do anything an average-height person can do,” says Lois Lamb, LPA President and a person with dwarfism.

"Raising a child with dwarfism is new for most parents. Being part of LPA has made a tremendous difference. My daughter and I both have great friends and role models. High school is not an easy time for most teens, but neither of us feels alone in dealing with any extra challenges," says Joanna Campbell, average-height mother of a teen with dwarfism.

More about LPA and dwarfism:

* There are over 200 distinct forms of dwarfism and skeletal dysplasias.
* People with dwarfism are generally not taller than 4' 10" at adult height. The typical height range is 2'8" to 4'5".
* Eighty percent of people with dwarfism have average-height parents and siblings.
* There are an estimated 30,000 people in the United States and 651,000 internationally with a type of dwarfism.
* In July 2009 the word "midget" was declared inappropriate and offensive. Preferable terms are: having dwarfism, short stature, little person, lp, and the medical terminology use of dwarf. A person's name is always the most preferred.
* LPA has registered a complaint with the FCC over the use of the "m" word. Our goal is to raise awareness around the offensive impact of the word in order to eliminate use of it in media, popular culture and in everyday language.
* LPA has 6500 members across the United States and includes 70 chapters active in all 50 states.
* Skeletal Dysplasias affect bone growth, but generally do not affect cognitive abilities.
* LPA hosts an annual national conference each July which draws 2500 attendees for a week of activities, including educational and medical workshops, sports, and social networking and events.

For more information about National Dwarfism Awareness Month, please visit www.lpaonline.org or call 1-888-LPA-2001 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-LPA-2001 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-LPA-2001 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-LPA-2001 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Events supporting National Dwarfism Awareness Month will be occurring throughout the United States all during the month. Contact the chapter in your area, or the Regional Coordinator for Dwarfism Awareness Month listed on the website.

The National Dwarfism Awareness Month program is dedicated to increasing public knowledge about people with dwarfism.

Mission of LPA "LPA is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with dwarfism throughout their lives while celebrating with great pride Little People’s contribution to social diversity. LPA strives to bring solutions and global awareness to the prominent issues affecting individuals of short stature and their families.

Its also very special to us as EB Awareness week is the end of October!! EB stands for epidermolysis bullosa and my daughter Mavis has this condition. You may ask.......What is EB?

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a rare genetic skin disease that causes the skin to be so fragile that the slightest friction can cause severe blistering–inside and outside the body. Today there is no cure. Severe forms of EB cause patients to live with constant pain and scarring. The worst forms of EB lead to eventual disfigurement, disability, and often early death.

You can learn more about EB from Debra, which is a non profit organization that helps those with EB

This is my Mavis and her bestest buddy Taylor!!! They both have EB and they are such amazing girls!!!

finally announcing our winners!!

2010-10-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

WE FINALLY GOT EVERYONE'S CHOICES BACK!
WINNERS ARE AS FOLLOWS
#1...$50 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO ANGELAS CAKES AND GOODIES
FAITH MILLS #341021 DRAWN BY TAEGAN

#2...HANNA ANDERSSON DRESS SET
SARA LOVE #341071 DRAWN BY MAVIS

#3...SET OF 3 BOOKS
JENN GREENE #341088 DRAWN BY MENZO

#4...COLOR WONDER SET
GERRI WINSTON #341073 DRAWN BY ZANDER

#5...$25 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO SUGAR AND SPICE
KATE BETTERIDGE #341105 DRAWN BY OBRION

#6...TOLO TOY CAR
MEGAN GROMMES #341113 DRAWN BY MAISY (OBRION'S FRIEND)

#7...GAP SWEATSHIRT
FAITH MILLS #341009 DRAWN BY TAEGAN

#8...AMERICAN GIRL SET
GERRI WINSTON #341083 DRAWN BY MAVIS

#9 AND #10 THERE ARE NO WINNERS FOR AS NO-ONE PUT NUMBERS INTO THEM!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS !!!

We were SUBMITTED!!!

2010-09-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness!!! We were finally submitted today! You may ask what does that mean?? Well, It means that our paperwork was submitted to the SDA who handles adoptions in Kullens country!! They will now look it all over and give us a date to be there to get his official referral. We could possibly get a date with in the next 2 weeks. It also means that we could be traveling to Eastern Europe in as early as a month!! I cannot believe it!! We have soo much to do and so many things to think about.

Please be in prayer that everything looks good to the SDA and that I do not worry so much. Its going to be oh so hard to leave my kids!!! I am already worrying about them and who is going to take care of them. I have only left them for a short time before and I am worried but I know God has his own plans. I just have to trust him.

Stick Family Decal fundraiser and an update!

2010-09-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

Our last fundraiser ended last night and I really want to thank the 11 people who helped us raise $250.00!!! That so amazing and a huge help for our adoption. I have not drawn names yet because there are 2 people who did not tell me which items they wanted their tickets in, so to be fair I am waiting for their response before drawing names. Hopefully we can get it finished up today so everyone can find out what items they have won.

Thank You for your prayers!! The issues that I was worried about in my last post has been resolved and is now not a problem!! We got word from our team in Eastern Europe that our dossier looks good and now we wait to be submitted to the SDA!!! How exciting!!

We have now started a new Fundraiser as well. We are now selling Stick Family Decals for your vehicle! We have some on our van and its so fun to see peoples faces as they count how many kiddos we have!! You can check out all the details by clicking the top tab labeled FUNDRAISERS , or by just clicking HERE

My last plug for our fundraiser...........

2010-09-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh..........I really want to thank the 5 people who participated. I only have 4 names as someone donated and I never got an email. Please email me if I did not send you your numbers as you must be the one I am missing!!!!!! I dont want you left out!!!

There is one day left so please check it out!! Spread the word please. There is some great stuff and we really hoped to do really well the first time around. Go to our fundraising site at the top and click on the fundraising tab! Check out the neat stuff we have this week! You could be a winner!!!

Also please send us some more prayers that we get submitted this week. I just got word about some other issues we may have that are not good right now. Please be in prayer that they can be resolved asap and that all is good for Thursday. I cant say whats up right now but its a pretty tough subject for us.

Ahhhh...........Random Thoughts

2010-09-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

I am just a lil bit bummed....Ok alot bummed as I really had hoped we would be submitted today. They only submit on Thursdays. So that means another whole week to wait. Our dossier has been in Eastern Europe 11 days now! I know, I know, I know I have gotten this far but I just really though I was a lil closer to the prize. Its just so hard to wait when your child is in another country with no family there to love them, when we are here and ready for him now! Its been a long, emotional process I gotta say. I know God has directed us and guided us on this path. I know he is with us now and he knows when is the right time for us to go get him!! I trust him!

Kullen is also now 20 months old!! Its been yet another month we count how old he is. I miss all the things I am already missing! Does that make sense?? I see lil Ziah who is now 16 months do so many new things each and every day just as all my kiddos do. It just reminds me of all the things we are missing with Kullen already. We already missed when he first smiled, when he got his first tooth, and when he got his first haircut and so on. Theres so many things I have cherished as a mom with all my kids that I wont get to have with him. I am just ready to finally get to have those first moments with him. I know there will be many new and exciting first moments we will get to cherish!! I just cannot wait!!

Our first online Give Away is not doing so well. Please check it out HERE or you can go there at the top of my blog by clicking on fundraising. We have some great items that were donated to help us raise money needed to go get Kullen. We have more stuff for next week as well. We need all the help we can get here so please spread the word. Its going to help a child who has no family to finally have a family. How important is that?? I could not imagine my kids not having a family. Its just heartbreaking when you truly think about it. Kullen is just a little innocent child who deserves a family just as all children do. Wont you please help?? Please look at his lil picture with those big beautiful brown eyes. Hes just an innocent little boy who needs us! Hes soo precious. I cant wait to finally see him in person and have more than just 2 pictures of him! This is my favorite one and he is the reason we are doing this! Praise God for such a wonderful lil blessing!

Our BIG GIVE AWAY

2010-09-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

We have finally started our online Give Away and we are so excited! We are hoping this will add funds for our adoption. We will have all details on my fundraising blog. You can find that by clicking the tab at the top that says fundraising or by clicking HERE. We are praying this will be a huge success. We will be adding new things each week so please keep checking the FUNDRAISING Blog!!!!

First Day of school for the kids!

2010-09-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

I hate waiting!! I am completely impatient . So to pass the time I am adding pics of the kids' first day of school that was Sept 7th . I hope you enjoy the pics of my crazy kids!! Here comes picture overload!! You have been warned! Gosh I love them all so much! Sorry no pics of our oldest , Alexis as shes a sophomore in college and I am sure she did not want her mom there to embarrass her! I so totally would have done it though!!

We will start with the little twins who started pre-school 3 days a week. Here are the 3 year olds, Mathias and Matayah
Here is the first day, only a mommy and kids meet and greet day.

Here are the silly monkey twins on the real first day!

Our 5 year old Kindergartners, Menzo and Mavis, They are sooo silly!

Here is Taegan on her first day of 3rd grade! Shes going to be 8 on Oct 5th! Check out how long her hair is!! Its beautiful but a pain to comb sometimes!

Here is Obrion on her first day of 5th grade. She is now in the middle school and just turned a whopping 10 on Sept 14th!

Here is Zander on his first day of 5th grade! He is in the middle school now and he is 11 years old!

Here is Madison on her first day of 8th Grade. This is her last year in the middle school. Shes a teenager now....13

Heres Paige on her first Day of 10th grade. I cannot believe shes a sophomore in High School. She will also be 16 in December! Watch out people in our town....she will soon be driving!!

Ahhh....on to the last kiddo here in school. Here is Brennen on his first day of school as a Junior in High School. He is 17 years old and thinks hes too old for his mom to take first day of school pics anymore!! lol

Some good news and a little bit of my impatience!!

2010-09-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

We heard news that our dossier looks good!!!! Thats awesome news!!! The impatient part is that we probly wont be submitted next week as we had hoped. I guess theres a few dossiers already there waiting!! I am just sooo bummed and really hoped that next week would be it. I am just so anxious to meet my lil guy and get him home!! We have waited so long for this to happen and have literally jumped over so many hurdles and now the prize seems so close, yet so far away!! I also hoped that it did not run into November for all the Holidays coming up but so far thats what its looking like. It will also be cold and anyone that knows me, knows what I think of cold weather.........its hibernation time!!! Good that we are close though so keep us in prayers as God knows whats right even though I had other plans.

More good news is that lil Lylas family finally got word on her condition. Shes still alive....praise God, but they are working quickly to get her home where she can get the medical attention she needs. Their blog is HERE. Please be in prayer for them all

The BEAST arrived!!!

2010-09-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy but I wanted to update everyone that our dossier arrived in Eastern Europe on Monday. Its now being translated. We are praying that its all good and that we wont need any more documentation so hopefully it can be submitted to the SDA soon. Then we will need to wait for an appointment!!!!

I am really starting to get excited!! I cannot wait to meet my lil guy!! What will make him smile? What does he like? What ways does he like to be soothed? How many teeth does he have? Is he really walking yet? I could literally go on forever asking all these questions!!!

I am also getting more nervous about leaving my kids. I have never left them unless I was in the hospital having another baby and that was only a couple days. I am trying to focus on lil Kullen so I dont think too much about missing the kids but its so very hard not to.

Please pray all is good with our dossier and for my kiddos that we are leaving home. Its going to be a huge adjustment for them to be without their parents!

We are coming Kullen!! We love ya lil guy and your room is almost ready!!!

The BEAST is on its way!!!

2010-09-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Beast, also known as our dossier is in its ways to Eastern Europe!!! Praise God!! I cannot believe it!!!

We woke up very early (5am) to drive to Albany to have all our documents apostilled. The almost 5 hr drive was pretty long. I cannot thank Tammy C, my navigator with the help of Tom Tom and my sister Denise, who was the kids attendant enough for all their help today. It would have been such a different ride with the kids and myself all alone!! Thanks so much guys!!

We got there and waited while all 33 documents were done which ended up costing us a whopping $330 because they are $10 each. They actually got them done pretty quickly probly because my crazy lil nephew and my 3 crazy lil ones were running all over in there! I am certain its not because they were in the car so long, naw that cannot be it or maybe it was the stinky smelly diapers that 2 of them made once we got there!! Oh well....Its done!

I then checked each document very carefully so we could send it off while we were there. It ended up costing us a whipping $152 to send the BEAST off!! I was literally shaking while I had to write the slip. Its just such a huge step in our adoption process.

We now ask that you pray it arrives quickly so it can be translated, submitted and then we will be given a travel date!! Also pray there are no issues with our paperwork as that can be a huge delay!!

Oh baby Kullen.......we are so much closer to bringing you home!!! We cannot wait and we love you so much little guy!!!

Please be in prayer for lil Lyla!!

2010-09-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

There is a sweet family that only lives a couple hrs from us and they too are adopting from the same orphanage as our lil Kullen. They just got word that the lil girl they are adopting is in the hospital and they are not sure she will survive, Or if she will even be well enough to be adopted. Please be in prayer for The Spitz Family and lil Lyla!! Please pray that she gets well. They are so very close to bringing their baby girl home! Lyla is not even a year old and has mosaic down syndrome and she has the most amazing blue eyes!! You can see her on my blog to the right by her name or you can check out THE SPITZS WEBSITE

Please lift Lyla up in prayer and her family that loves her so much already! I could not imagine getting this kind of news about Kullen because he already feels like part of our family!!

We are praying for ya Lyla!!

We have The Golden Ticket!

2010-09-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I actually have the Golden Ticket in my hands. It came today in the mail. I was pretty shocked to say the least. As Willy Wonka says.......I have a golden ticket. Wow... I cannot believe how awfully boring and plain this important paper is. I was warned by many other adoptive parents that you may not even realize what's actually in your hands. I guess I was just expecting so much more from this one little piece of paper. We are now officially USCIS approved. Praise God! We are so much closer to bringing Kullen home where he belongs !

Items needed to take to our orphanage.

2010-09-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

We are planning on bringing needed items with us to Kullens orphanage. We decided to bring new items that most people forget about. They are not always the most fun or cute items to buy but probly the most needed. We will be taking socks, heavy tights, underwear, hats and undershirts/onesies. Please when you are out and about shopping and if you see some good deals we would really appreciate your help in gathering these items. They need to be pretty small in size too because this is a baby house orphanage so they are birth up to age maybe 6 but the kids in the orphanages are very small usually. Plain color socks would be the best kind so they are easier to match when they go to the laundry room. They use alot of thicker type tights. Even the boys wear tights under their clothing to keep them warm in the winter when the orphanage is colder. They could use boys or girls underwear and especially training underwear in smaller sizes. Any type of hats would be great as far as winter or summer. Kids there rarely go outside without a hat on in summer or winter. Boys wear girls hats alot so please buy some lil boys hats as well. I know girls hats are so much cuter though! Small undershirts as well as onesies are also greatly needed to keep the lil ones warm when its cold.

We also will be taking smaller type toys such as rattles and tethers. Developmental things to help the babies because they are so behind usually. Bright , cheery toys and they could use lots of little links to hook toys in the kids' cribs because quite a few of them spend alot of time in their cribs.

We really want to be able to take alot of stuff that they need because they have over 100 little ones in Kullens orphanage. If you are able to help please let me know or you can just drop stuff off at our house. Please spread the word to everyone you know that may want to help. Maybe your workplace or church would like to do a little drive to help. We CAN make a difference for these little kids, every little bit helps!!! Remember, with God all things are possible!!

I was speechless......both times!!

2010-09-03T05:28:00.001-07:00

I called our officer at USCIS yesterday to see where we were with our approval. She said a few things that had me extremely upset. I could not speak as if I were frozen. What she said had me so worried that we would not get our needed approval to go get lil Kullen. I immediately prayed and asked others to for us as well. I cried......I cried alot!!! It was not a great day for me.

I then just tried keeping myself busy with the kids. At around 6 pm I got a call from our officer. My heart sunk thinking she was just going to tell me the dreaded news over the phone. She began by telling me that she started looking over all our info right after we talked. She told me flat out that we were "APPROVED"!!!!! She said she had to call me because after our other conversation she could not leave me hanging through the Labor Day weekend!! Oh My Goodness!!!!!! I thanked her so many times, I cried and mostly thanked God, all out loud!! She must have thought I was crazy and insane!! Thank you so much Officer H for not letting me hang all weekend thinking awful things!! Thank you for making this the best Labor Day we have ever had!!! I cannot believe we will be on to the next step soon!!! Kullen baby ........Here we come!!!!! Now we wait for the "golden ticket" to come in the mail!!!

Online Auctions Starting soon!

2010-08-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

We are busy getting Auction items and Gift Certificates around to start our first online Auction to benefit our Adoption. We are still in need of Auction items and gift certificates so if you have a new item ,a business or even a special talent or craft item you make and you would like to donate something please let me know asap! We can use all the help we can get to raising the needed funds to go get lil Kullen. I am hoping to get this started by next week. All items would be great for Christmas gifts or even to purchase an item as a gift with a gift certificate. All this would be for a good cause so we can use all the help we can get to make this first auction a huge success!!

If you dont have an item to donate or a gift certificate,you can still help!! We could also use any monetary donations possible. Our chip in is available to the right and this donation goes directly to Reeces Rainbow to our family's adoption fund. Please remember this is a tax deductible donation!! We would so love to see this amount go up as every time we log on its like Christmas seeing the wonderful gifts we have been given. Thank you already to those who have already contributed, your generosity is amazing

We are still in need of prayers as we oh so patiently wait for our USCIS approval. We are hoping this comes soon so we can get our dossier to Eastern Europe right away. Oh....by the way our dossier is complete and just waiting for that one lil "golden ticket" from USCIS.

Yard Sale/ Bake Sale Update!!

2010-08-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have great news to share!! We made a little over $1400 in 2 days!!!! Praise God! That is certainly a huge help for us!! I so need to thank all of the people who generously donated items and their time! I owe a special thanks to Rose for her dedication to helping me through it all! Shes amazing! Thank You Rose for your hard work and dedication!

The little girls ran the bake sale and made around $70 the first day and around $40 the second day. They were so cute luring in customers welcoming them to our sale and explaining all about what its for!

We are still waiting on USCIS approval. I sent in their requested info and it arrived on Monday. I even left a couple messages with our officer but still have heard nothing back. Please keep sending us prayers to get through this step so we can move quickly on to the next!!

Amazing Generosity!!!

2010-08-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

I really have to say how Amazing people have been to us especially complete strangers. I found some wonderful friends whose children have a form of dwarfism and they have since shared our blog and my name on FB. They have all been Wonderfully supportive in so many ways.

One such new friend is a sweet woman named Stephanie Garrett. She and her husband have 4 beautiful boys and 1 sweet little girl. Their daughter Mary Madeline has a form of dwarfism and was also adopted Internationally from Poland. Their family gave us a very generous donation to help with our adoption and we are forever greatful. It still amazes me that people who dont know us personally can be so giving. God has certainly shown his hand in our adoption process! You can check out their family blog HERE

THANK YOU SO MUCH GARRETT FAMILY AS THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO US!!

It happened............

2010-08-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

The dreaded PINK slip arrived!! This is certainly going to slow down the process that we need to get moving. We have literally worked so hard to get everything right. Please pray that we can get them what they need and in a timely manner so we can still meet our deadline!

A Huge Thank You!!

2010-08-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

I really think that when we began our adoption journey , our paperwork should have read "Welcome to the Adoption Roller Coaster ride, buckle up and brace yourselves, your in for quite a ride!!" I am not kidding!! There are so many things that can happen and alot of time does. There are also many unexpected things as well as obstacles that need to be overcome.

Through this process I have leaned on so many people for support. Mostly George as we are in this together. He has absolutely been amazing and I could never ask for a better husband!! Thank You hunny for everything you do!

I also need to thank so many other people. I am not going to name any names here because there is literally tons of people who have offered support in one way or another. If I were to name names I would probly leave someone out and then have to keep re-editing this post to add more people so I am not going to do this. You all know who you are! You are the people who I have talked to, whined to, cried to, vented to, and the same people that still offer such wonderful support even after listening to me!! I cannot thank you all enough!!

Most importantly I owe a huge Thank You to God for making all this possible because without him, none of this is possible!

The Gower Family!!

2010-08-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

The Gower family is in Eastern Europe to get their precious new little girl Mina that they are adopting. She is so sweet and has captured my heart with her big blue eyes!! Mina has a type of Down Syndrome called mosaic down syndrome which is less common. I just thought some of you may want to follow their adoption journey just as I am right now. Its an amazing thing to be a part of I must say as we watch a family get to know each other for the very first time!! What very sweet moments! The Gower Family blog

A child with EB needs a home!

2010-08-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

This little boy was listed at Reeces Rainbow today and what he has medically is very near and dear to my heart because he has epidermolysis bullosa just like my Mavis. We dont know for sure what type but he certainly is beautiful and deserves a family as well. Please spread the word for this little guy as I will be advocating for him much more once our adoption of Kullen is finalized!!

Carson (48)
BOY, Born April 17, 2003

So happy to see have updates on this boy! Carson was listed with us several years ago, and we lost touch with his orphanage. He is already 7, and still living at the baby house. Carson is a very very smart and functional boy! He has light brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes. He was born with congenital epidermolysis bullosa. He absolutely needs improved medical care and a loving family!!

From his caregivers: Carson is the size of a 4-5 year old. Understands absolutely everything but cannot talk since his tongue muscle is not working (cicatricial sclerosis?), the tongue accreted to lower palate because of emersed vesicles. Needs plastic surgery of tongue. Very nice boy.

EB is not an easy condition to deal with, but Carson is so smart and will make such a wonderful son. He has a glowing personality and will do great in a family of his own.

please contact Andrea at bamaroberts@comcast.net

MORE PHOTOS AVAILABLE.

Fingerprinting Done!!

2010-08-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

We went to Syracuse yesterday for our fingerprinting. It was super quick and I still do not understand how finger imaging can cost $80 for each person. It literally only took 3 minutes maybe each! Crazy I know but its done and now we are on to the next step. I was kind of shocked as I expected the Federal office to be kind of big and important but it just blended in with all the other building and it was actually kind of hard to even tell it was the right place because the sign was pretty small. Also a note to anyone, possibly Summer that may be going to the same office. Parking is horrible around the office as its on a pretty busy street. We ended up driving around until we found a spot. We were only in there maybe 20 minutes and that was for 3 of us to get them done. George ended up getting a parking ticket even though we paid for parking. I guess he was within 10 feet of a fire hydrant although another car was parked on the other side and the distance was the same but they did not get one. UGGHHH..that will cost us $35!!

We still need lots of prayers for our approval to come asap and that we are able to get them the documents they need to support the approval. We have got to meet the deadline because the thought of Kullen staying in the orphanage for his second Birthday is simply not acceptable!!! We would also have to start over getting documents as by then they would all expire!!! Please send us lots of prayers!!

Trying to be positive as today is not going so well

2010-08-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

I literally have so much to do and its hard to remain positive sometimes. I drove my oldest to work today and my mirror on my van just fell off!! Then I get home and the girls dropped and broke my favorite baking stone.....thats real bad.....no cookies now! I also did not get Lexi's fingerprinting appointment letter in the mail.
I then had to call our officer and things are slow there. She did fax it to me so Lexi can still go tomorrow. She is still reviewing our case as theres tons ahead of ours and she has some questions regarding ours that she needs to speak to her supervisor about. I am praying we can get them the right documentation so as to not slow down our process more. We still have that deadline in Kullens country!!

During all this frustration I am trying to maintain my house and be the best mom I can be while doing paperwork, fixing documents, making phone calls and so much more. Please say some more prayers and we can use all the positive thoughts anyone has today! Is all for a great reason!!

We need your help!!!

2010-08-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

We are having a big yard sale to benefit our adoption and we need your help!! Who does not have stuff just sitting around that you dont want? Wanna get rid of it for a good cause? We can pick it up even. Any good condition donated items will work from clothing, household items, furniture, baby items and so much more. If you have anything that you would like us to pick up please send me a message through the contact me button at the top to arrange for pick up! Please pass this info on to all your friends, neighbors and family!! Remember every little bit counts and helps us get closer to having the funds needed to go get Kullen!

PLEASE NOTE I HAD TO CHANGE TIME SO WE ARE IN MORE NEED OF ITEMS MUCH QUICKER!!!

It will be at the Rotary Park going into Canisteo Aug 20th and 21th, so we dont have much time! We will also be needing help pricing items, moving stuff and to work the sale itself. If it sounds like something you could help with please let me know as the more help the better success!!

The little kids wanna help as well so we will be letting them sell baked goods, water, soda, hot dogs and maybe more so we could use help with those items as well.

Remember we also needs your prayers for our journey as well as prayers for our fund raising success because without God, this is not possible!!

We will also be excepting cans and bottle donations at any time!!!

Thank you for all your prayers and support!!

Our USCIS officer is so sweet!

2010-08-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

Our officer is just amazing. I am hoping/ praying that we can get our approval quickly with her help. I called last week to leave a message as we have not gotten Lexi's appointment letter. She called me back today and said it was mailed out today and if I dont get it by Thursdays mail to call her right away. We need this so Lexi can go with us to get Fingerprinted on Friday.

We talked a little more and she gave me more info that I need to mail her a few things to support our HomeStudy. She even is going to call our SW to get some info that we need. I am still hoping/ praying that this will help having this heads up notice. I am sending her everything she needs out today hoping to avoid the dreaded pink slip.

Thank you God for giving us a very nice officer! We still need lots of prayers for all this to go smoothly to get our approval!!

Fingerprinting appts for USCIS

2010-08-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

George got his fingerprint appt last Sat. and I actually got mine 2 days ago. Both are for Friday Aug 6th.....so its this coming Friday!! WOOHOOO We are still waiting on Lexi's fingerprint letter as she needs to go as well and we need to go together. Its almost 3 hrs away and we cant make 2 trips! Please let it come tomorrow!!

We have been thinking about Kullen alot as we watch Ziah learn so many new things!! We cant wait to see him discover new things just as his little brother! We wonder each day what Kullen is doing and if he is loved by the workers at the orphanage.

We have talked to another family that has been to his orphanage when they adopted their 2 new lil ones. We originally thought we were the first ones going to this region of Kullens country. She has given us alot of info reguarding the region as well as the orphanage. She said they truly take good care of the kids and love them which gives me comfort knowing this. Thank You so much Kisha!! I hope to talk to her soon so we can learn so much more before we go!! Here is her blog and you can see her beautiful kiddos, Tanner and Anna that were adopted from Eastern Europe as well! KISHA'S BLOG

Please pray we get Lexi's fingerprint appt soon. That USCIS approves us quickly and that the fundraisers that we are starting to plan take off well!! Thank You all for your wonderful support!!

Does this postcard look familiar??

2010-07-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

PLEASE CLICK ON POSTCARD TO VIEW LARGER!!

Maybe this postcard looks familiar? Hello and Welcome to our blog!! I know some of you visiting here may be looking for the very first time so this may be news to you and that is why we are sending out this postcard or emailing it to everyone we know. We are adopting a little boy who is 18 months old from Eastern Europe. He is beautiful and we cannot wait to bring him home. When we travel to go get Kullen this blog will be a source to share our journey with everyone back home. Feel free to comment, ask questions, offer support, and send us your prayers. Also please check out our sponsor page Through Reeces Rainbow HERE as we could use all the support we can get!! You can also donate using Our Chip in at the right of our blog. All donations are tax deductible!! No amount is too small as every little bit helps!! Thank you for taking the time to come visit and I hope that you come back to follow our journey.

Urgent help needed!! The race against time begins!!

2010-07-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

I got an email from Andrea at the Ministry that is helping with our adoption. She said that Kullens country closes for dossier (our adoption paperwork) submissions from November 1, 2010 till Feb 1, 2011. This is not good news!! We have been working so hard at getting everything done to bring him home asap. We also know the reality of adoptions and that everything is not in your control. We are waiting on our fingerprint appt and approval from our Gov( USCIS) to adopt a foreign orphan. We need urgent prayers that there is no questions from them so we can get our approval quickly and our paperwork over there asap. We certainly do not want him to be waiting any longer and especially into the next year!! We already had bumps with our homestudy and we pray there are no bumps in this area. So now the race against time begins....please pray for us!!

We also received a letter in the mail yesterday that has us pretty concerned. We had planned to just get a loan to fund our adoption from our local bank. Well, we lack some equity in our homes value to get the full amount we need. So basically we will be short probly $7000. We need some help as I am not one to beg but this is so very important!! Kullen needs to get home here with us asap!! Please consider helping fund our adoption.

Please send us prayers that God will help provide the funds needed and that we are able to get everything needed to Kullens country before this deadline.

Again.....check out this little face! He is a beautiful little boy that so needs to be here with his family that loves him! Please really consider helping and praying for our family?

How Amazing is this?

2010-07-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have been doing lots of research on dwarfism so we can prepare better for Kullens needs. In doing so, I have since become friends with some wonderful people who also know quite a bit about dwarfism for different reasons. Some may have this themselves and others have a child with it. All of them have been super supportive to us as we have asked so many questions and they in turn have given so many answers and suggestions!! I am so greatful to them all as I have been taking notes to refer to.

There is one little girl out there that holds a special little place in my heart. Amelia was actually born on the exact same day as our Kullen! How amazing is that? Two little ones were both born on the very same day in different parts of the world both with achondroplasia! Please check out little Amelias blog HERE as we are hoping to meet up once Kullen is finally home with us. She is an absolutely beautiful little girl!!

I cannot even imagine how Kullens birth mom must have felt on the day that he was born. My heart breaks for her as in her country children that are born with differences are not excepted. I know that she must have loved him and I cannot imagine how hard it was on her to leave him. I can relate as when Mavis was born with EB (epidermolysis bullosa) it was so hard. I could not imagine having her in another country that does not except differences. I am glad she was born here in the USA where we are more open to differences and we also have the medical help, family/ friends support and resources needed to take care of her. I cannot even think of having to make that kind of choice. She has brought our family so much joy and we know for certain that Kullen will as well!!

Good News I hope........

2010-07-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

I was worried that our application to USCIS was lost. I waited a week and finally called them but they were having computer issues so she could not look it up. She was so sweet and so very nice as I explained that I was worried my documents were lost. I explained that it took us so long to finally get here and she remarked how much she loves her job and helping children get forever families!! How sweet. She suggested seeing if our check to them was cashed. I called the bank right after that and guess what? IT WAS CASHED!! So now I wait to get an appointment in the mail.....wonder how long that will take?

We are busy getting our bedrooms moved around so we can have Kullen and Ziahs room all finished. I will post pics as soon as its done! We also need to make some name signs for their room as well. Its going to be so cute and I cant wait to have it finished and ready for when he comes home! We already have his bedding even!

Keep sending us prayers that all gets approved and we get our appt soon so we can send off all our dossier papers to Eastern Europe

Red, White, and Blue......yea I know I am behind!!

2010-07-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

I know its a little late for this but better late than never right? I am just passing time as we wait to get our letter with appointments for yet again another fingerprinting! We still have no word if our application arrived as tracking is not working as it was forwarded.

Here are the crazy kids on the 4th of July. Check out the sibling love!! Some days I think its just an act and other days I know they truly love each other!! Oh how I love those crazy kids!! The only thing missing is Kullen but we have plenty of red, white and blue for him next year!!!!

Getting nervous here!!!

2010-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here I go again as I cannot sleep!! We sent our paperwork to USCIS and after tracking it, It now says its being forwarded to somewhere else. I sure hope its going where it needs to be and is not simply lost. We have waited so long to be able to get to this point as so many roadblocks were in front of us. They have all been lifted with much prayer and alot of help from the "big GUY" upstairs!! Please pray that its heading in the right direction so things can get moving.

I can honestly say this has been much harder than anticipated and being pregnant is much easier in ways. I guess because I know what to expect so to speak. Not that you are always in control then either, just that I have been there before and not in the adoption shoes. When you are pregnant to get to bond with that little one and each new little flutter or kick is a special moment. I am just so frustrated as Kullen will be 18 months in a few days and we have missed so much already. I cannot sleep thinking about him and cant wait till he gets to come home. I know that there will still be so many new things for him to learn here and we will make many memories. I am trying not to think about his little personality as I really have no idea how he will be and I want to get to know him and not just make up things about him in my mind . Please say a few little prayers for us so that we are able to get all the approvals we need fairly quickly so Kullen wont be without us much longer.

The next step.......Now we wait!!

2010-07-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

The next step has begun in our journey to go get Kullen. We finally got our homestudy copy and all our info was sent to USCIS today for government approval of a foreign orphan. I dont know what to think as we have waited to be able to do this for so long it seems. Things can move quickly from here. I am excited but please pray we dont have any issues with our paperwork and we get our fingerprinting appointments quickly and our approval. That little golden ticket is so important in this process! Now the waiting begins as we finish up all our dossier papers and finalize funding options.

We need your help !!! Please understand that this is not easy for us at all. I understand that a lot of people might think we shouldn't adopt if we can't afford it our selves. Its not that we can't afford to take care of Kullen and the rest of our family - We most certainly can and we do. It's just that we don't have $20,000 on hand for the up front costs. Yes, we can take out a loan as we are preparing to do just that. But if we can get some help from our community, friends and family it would be such a HUGE HELP! I know so many of you out there have possibly thought about orphans and what you can do to help. You can help one special little boy who many of you will love as you get to know him and just think how special that moment will be for you as well when you first meet him knowing you helped bring him to his family!!! Please think about it.

Now the waiting begins......

UGGHHH.............Here we go again

2010-07-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

I should not be surprised actually but here we hit another little bump. Why does NYS have to be so difficult in this adoption process? We are needing a State police Clearance for our dossier, which is our paperwork that needs to go to Kullens Country. No big deal as we already had this done for our homestudy....wrong! That cannot be shared with us so we need to get our own. This will be a fee of $61 each again and we will need to go there and do this again. Its pretty difficult with Georges work schedule to find time to squeeze the travel there in and him being away from work. We knew we would have to do this for our USCIS approval but not again the same as last time just to obtain a copy. Its just one more piece of this frustrating journey.

I am trying to think positive though as theres one special lil guy waiting for us in this process. He is depending on us so we need to just trudge along. I am glad at least we figured this out now and our dossier is not held up last minute because of this. So we have a little time to wait and we now need to fork out more money in fees.......hey....its only money right??

Please pray that we dont find any more little bumps although I am very optimistic myself in this area.

Finally a Name!!!

2010-07-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

We have finally decided on the perfect name so I can refer to our lil guy by name!! We were going to originally use his real name but have decided not to. We will still use that as his middle name though. So, from now on we can call him by name which is KULLEN. What do you all think? I know.....Its about time!! Now we need to bring Kullen home!! Theres just so much to do and alot of just waiting on everyone else!!

A Song with a special meaning....

2010-07-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me knows I am not particularly fond of country music. I came across a very special song a couple years ago and thought I would share it here as it pertains to so much in our family now and will always.

This is a beautiful song called "Don't Laugh At Me" by Mark Wills. Its so touching to me because it relates to people who pick or laugh at others because they are different. We are all different in our own way and I wish more people could see and embrace the differences in this world. Its been special to me since I found it because of our lil Mavis who has EB. People look at her and us strangely at times due to the amount of sores on her little body. Its even more special as he says "Dont laugh at me, Dont call me names. Dont get your pleasure from my pain. In Gods eyes we are all the same and someday we will all have perfect wings!" It relates to pain which she has on a daily basis, I know its not the pain he is referring to but it relates that way to me. Also that in Gods eyes we are all the same which I wish more people realized. And the part where it says someday we will all have perfect wings is special to me. With EB the symbol for it is a butterfly as the skin is fragile like a butterfly's wings. When a lil one with EB passes away its referred to as they got their wings so its very special to me for all these reasons.

You can also see where this song can be special to so many others for so many reasons. I can relate this song to our new lil guy too as he has a form or dwarfism and I know how some are prejudice against conditions like this. It breaks my heart that some cannot see people for who they are inside and not what they have or simply whats on the outside. I have followed so many blogs of families adopting Children with down syndrome and I can see this relating to them as well as people see them differently as well.

I am posting this song to share with everyone out there as I am sure there is someone in your life that this song will remind you of. Please say a little prayer for them that others can begin to except them for who they are.

I just had to share this...........

2010-06-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

I have been following too many adoption blogs lately as we are educating ourselves before our travel journey begins. I have read so many things that just melt my heart for these poor little ones!! People continuously ask why we want to do this? Well, have you ever really looked up orphanages in other countries? Maybe it would make you really understand our intentions. Its heartbreaking to say the least. What child here in our country weighs 15lbs at 5 years old? What child here in our country is left in a crib all day long and given a tranquilizer 2 times a day to keep them sleeping? Thats horrific dont you think? Well this is the reality for some children including a little girl now named Hailey who was adopted out of that situation. Unfortunately she left behind many little ones that still live that way each and every day. My heat breaks for them! You can read this blog HERE
Its about the most wonderful family that has 3 boys of their own. They have adopted 4 girls, 2 are recent from the same orphanage and both girls have down syndrome. Check out this blog and go back to read as theres so much info there that would just melt your heart!!

We are hoping and praying our lil guys orphanage is wonderful as some really are. They really do love the kids but they need a family . In some countries, children with differences are not excepted and its sad that society does not except them either. We wont know much until we go there to get him, so for now its an unknown .

It also makes me angry that some people would think we may be doing this for the money?? What money is there to make in adoption in a foreign country? I do not understand how others can say this as we have 12 kids . If we were selfish and all about money, we certainly would not have 12 kids!! It also costs almost $25,000 to adopt. People will never understand as some are just plain selfish. We do not care that he will be different. We will love him no matter what just as we would our own biological kids. It will be no different. He will have challenges in life but he will have a family who loves him to help him every step of the way!! People just need to really open their hearts and look into things that they know nothing about before judging.

I am soo Excited!! And a NEW look to our blog!!

2010-06-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

One step closer to meeting our lil guy!! We got word that all our important papers are being submitted to the SDA in his Country!! Please pray all goes well!!

We also have our Homestudy almost finished!! A huge YAY!!! I edited a copy of it the other day and I am now patiently waiting for the other parts to be added before completion!! Then we are on to the next step!!

I also want to say how excited I am that Our Sponsor page is now NOT at $0.....Its so nice to actually see something to go towards our adoption!! A huge Thank You!! Our Sponsor Page is through Reeces Rainbow and is completely tax deductable through them! You can check it out by clicking on our button at the right of our blog or even at the sponsor link at the top of the blog!

We also have a chip in going for those that prefer that way and thats how you can support us with our puzzle fundraiser.

Most importantly...we appreciate your prayers!!

Check out the NEW blog design!!!!!! A huge Thank You goes out to Lu who dedicates her time and talents to helping others in their adoption journeys!!! She did an amazing job and I simply cannot thank her enough!!!! Its just perfect!!

****My kids are now officially out of school for the summer!! Today is the beginning of summer vacation!!! I am hoping to have a great summer with absolutely no fighting!!! A mom can wish....right!!???****

Fundraising and adoption update

2010-06-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

We have been busy saving money for our adoption as its going to cost us well over $20,000, but its well worth it!! We had a yard sale and made almost $400 which we will do again in a month or so.

We are now working on a puzzle piece Fundraiser. We have a beautiful puzzle with this picture of our lil guy on it.

We are asking just a $5 donation for each puzzle piece and then your name and where you are from will be put on the back of your piece. Once the puzzle is completed we are going to glue it together and frame it. He will then always know who helped bring him home.

We thought it would be a cute and easy fundraiser and if anyone is interested in purchasing a piece or two to help us we would greatly appreciate it as every little bit adds up! Please pay for your puzzle piece through our CHIP IN button on the right of our blog. Also include the name you want to be put on the puzzle piece. I will be posting a puzzle picture update as we sell so you all can see our progress. I am so excited!!

Our first important papers arrived in our lil guys country today!!! How exciting......next step is a finished homestudy and then the next day it will be off to the government for approval to adopt an orphan.

Here is our first important papers to bring our lil guy home. Just so you can understand the process better. Here is 6 papers that had to be legalized before sending them off. They had to be notarized....a huge thank you to Holly as shes notarized so many things for us!! Then the notary had to be certified which was $3 a piece...thats $18. Then they had to be sent to Albany which cost us over $40 in FedX fees.....thats now $58. While there they had to be apostilled which is $10 each document, ......thats now $118......then we had to mail them ouf to our lil guys country which cost us $108.................Total is now $226 for these 6 pieces of important papers!!! Its all worth it when you look at his lil face!!

Woooo Hoooooo....One step closer to out lil guy!!

Other fun stuff we did in Cincinatti, Aquarium and silly stuff

2010-06-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

While we were at the Conference in Cincinatti we got to have a little fun afterwards as well. I am not a huge fan of long trip with the kids as the ride is always the hardest part. I am certain Menzo and Mavis asked on the way down, the famous question, "Are we there yet?" at least a million times in an over 8 hr ride!! On the way home I was actually surprised that they never said it once!!

I hate leaving the kids home as we only took Lexi, Menzo, Mavis and the baby, Ziah. Its so hard being away from them for any period and its going to be really hard when we travel to go get our lil guy! I think it was hardest on Mathias and Matayah as they are almost 3 and do not actually understand much about mommy and daddy leaving. They were great for Wendy and my sister Denise. I cannot thank all our friends and such for taking one of our kids while we were gone!! Thank you Marcy and Adrian, Harley and Tammy, Dan and Stephanie, Tim and Tabby, Mike and Michelle, Mike and Wendy, Stephen and Terri, and Brian and Denise! You are all the best!!

We had alot of fun in the hotel as the kids love staying in them. They love riding the luggage carts and the escalators as they went up and down a million times even though Menzo was still afraid to get on them but was ok once he was actually on it.

We went to the Newport Aquarium an we seen soo many cool things from Sharks, to turtles, jellyfish and so much more! I loved watching the kids look at the big sharks up close to the glass as they sat right next to it. How amazing it is to see them so close! We even were able to pet some sharks although there was no way I was going to pet one of those things!! Menzo loved it and Mavis finally decided to pet one herself!

We also got to ride a horse and buggy around the city with the kids. Our driver was soo nice and explained so many things to us and we loved Garfield park and I especially loved the history behind City Hall.....What an amazing building!!!

We also visited Fountain Square where there were lots of people outside each night and a different band playing while people watched and danced. The kids thought it was too funny. Menzo kept asking why there were soo many "chickens" in the city? LOL He is referring to pigeons!

I also think that we were the only crazy people at the Conference that during the lunch buffets we practiced our musical talents. We played the glasses that had water in them just like on Miss Congeniality. Menzo was pretty impressed as he finally was able to make some sound out of his glass with a few days practice!

Kelsie also gave Mavis a lil gift. It was a beautiful picture for her room of a butterfly. In case you did not know, a butterfly is the symbol for EB as their skin is fragile like a butterflys wing.

We also went out to eat at a place called Cadillac Ranch which is sort of a bar but had a rock and roll theme to it. It was decorated with guitars and pictures of musicians. It was pretty neat. The kids were impressed with the mechanical bull they had there as well. Menzo really wanted to ride it but they would not let him although they did get to sit on it. We could not get anyone else to ride it so they could watch as George said, "Hes too old and it would probly break him in half!" Hes only 38 though so I think he should have given it a try for the kids' entertainment.....and mine!

All in all, it was a fun trip but I missed the kids so much and I am glad to be home!!

EB Conference in Cincinatti Ohio

2010-06-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

Wow.....What a super busy week we have had. I did not get to say that we were leaving for a Conference as we were soo busy packing and getting all the kids settled.

First of all, some of you may be wondering......"What is EB?" Well EB stands for epidermolysis bullosa and it is a rare skin condition my daughter Mavis, who is 4 was born with. She is also a twin to Menzo but he does not have EB. We were shocked when she was born as we had never heard of EB before. With this a person lacks a protein in their skin, or in easier terms , she lacks the glue to keep her skin on. She then literally blisters from rubbing, clothing, the heat and so much more.Its hard to call it a skin condition as it affects so much more than just skin. She has been through so much in her little life but shes amazing, tough, sweet, funny, outgoing and so much more. We dont see her as a child with a disability but a little girl just as everyone else but she has some challenges. There are many forms of this from mild to very severe. Many with this do not live through infancy and their teens. There can be soo many complications from EB. Mavis has a more mild form so far although we are not completely certain of this as her DNA says negative for the type they think she has.

They hold a Conference for this once every 2 years. The first one we went to ,Mavis was only 10 months old and then at 2 1/2 years old. This is our third Conference and we decided to help in the kids room this year as so many families have never been to one before. My husband George, Our daughter Alexis, her good friend Kelsie, My neighbor and good friend Seana and her son Mikel all went to help with the kids room.

The kids are absolutely amazing and I had so much fun helping them do so many things! Its amazing to see the kids do so many things as others simply see what they cant do. Here are a few pics from the Conference and if anyone has any questions regarding EB, please feel free to ask as we are pretty open to questions as educating others is very important to us.

Our lil guys name and we need some help !

2010-06-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

First of all I need to explain ....... We have finally decided on a name! On Reeces Rainbow our lil guy is referred to as Eamon. This is not a name we chose or his real name. This is simply his "stage name" This is to protect his identity. I am having a very hard time when I write about him as I tend to call him our lil guy as I call all our boys lil guy when they were little. We actually call him by name here at home but since we have chosen to keep his real name I cannot publicly call him by name. Its even hard to refer to him as Eamon as thats just not his name. I hope this helps people better understand this and feel free to ask questions if you have any.

We also need help from all you readers that have a child with dwarfism . He is 16 months old and we want to start preparing for when we bring him home. What should we know beforehand? Suggestions....anything? Please share! What did you wish someone would have told you?

I am also trying to decide what to buy him as far as clothing and shoes. What sizes by age to buy him. Do I buy smaller sizes than I would originally for a average height child? What about feet? Do they tend to be smaller too? We have a little one that just turned 1 so we were kind of guessing to buy around his size? Would this be right or totally wrong?

I just think its so very sad that he is 16 months old and he owns absolutely nothing!!! How very sad that is as I know that even before any of my babies were born they owned things that we had bought anticipating their arrival. Its extremely heartbreaking as when we officially go to get him, he will be handed over in simply a diaper as he does not even own the clothes on his back. I want to be able to bring him clothes that are appropriate for his size so he can officially own things. I know thats not the most important thing as we mostly want to love on him but he will be needing clothes and shoes to bring him home in. We will know more when we actually go get him but I want to be prepared. All the suggestions that you can give will be greatly appreciated!! I have already bought him some really neat toys to bring for him to play with him on our visits! Thank You sooo much for all your info and support!!

Following the signs.........

2010-06-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, we have always thought about adoption and knew that one day we would adopt. I found Reeces Rainbow ( www.reecesrainbow.com ) by accident one day just looking around the internet. Accident? I think NOT! I do think somethings in life are accidental but I do not think this was an accident.

Since browsing RR soo many times just looking at all the sweet lil faces of lil ones that need homes is soo hard and I must admit, very addicting. I am certain I looked at each child and read their lil profile over and over. I looked up so many conditions that I literally knew nothing about. I am so much more educated now on so many medical conditions and I am amazed looking at these sweet lil faces looking/ begging for their forever family.

There was a sweet lil girl that just drew me in by her beautiful blue eyes. Her name was Mina.....I looked at her and read more about mosaic down syndrome which is what they said she had. At the time we just did not think we were able to adopt so I looked at her sweet lil face and prayed she would find a family and promised to donate to her until she was committed to. Well, I did not know that it was not going to take long as she disappeared from the page. I was a little worried and sent a email asking about her and I was informed that she now had a committed family. I was soo excited as that was a prayer answered! I have since followed her little journey as shes going to have amazing parents and a beautiful big sister. Shes certainly going to be loved and doted on there I am sure! They submitted their dossier and are waiting a travel date and I am sooo excited for them. You can read about her here
MINA'S BLOG

I actually did not think we would be able to adopt right now as we had a few small bumps in the road. After seeing Mina I knew we needed to move forward no matter what as there is a little one out there waiting for us but we did not know it yet. Its amazing how so many of those little bumps could be resolved with a little determination......well alot in a few cases. I think many would have given up by then.

When things were looking pretty grim, I prayed....ALOT as to what we are supposed to do. Is this really the path we are meant to follow? I know in my heart I wanted to not give up but was this really GODS plan or just mine? Well, riding in the car one day coming home from a trip, I kept praying and asking for guidance as we were getting worried. Are we truly meant to do this? I opened my eyes and looked at the side of the road and I seen a sign on the side of the road. It was not right next to the road but back by the fence away from the road. It was a great picture of Jesus, just like the pictures the kids bring home from Sunday school. I looked closer and he had his thumb up as if hitch hiking. On the front of him it said......Going My Way?? Oh my......I closed my eyes and looked around, blinked a few times and it was really there!! WOW....what a sign as I knew immediately that I had to keep going!!

We continued to trudge along in the process even through all the hurdles. We has decided to pursue a child with dwarfism as we read alot about it when our one son was little as they thought he had a form of dwarfism when he was younger. They thought he had some form or proportionate dwarfism which can be caused by hormones. After years of testing it was said that he did not. We just knew we wanted to adopt a child with special needs as so many people over look them. It just seemed like this was where we needed to go.

Reeces Rainbow had no children with this at the time so we decided to pursue a blind dossier for our child until we seen lil Eamon.......I fell in love with him. We originally were still going to go blind but I simply knew and could not think of him with any other family but ours!! I cannot wait to go get him as I know........HE IS WORTH THE WAIT!!!!!

Impatiently Waiting..........

2010-06-09T05:50:00.000-07:00

People who know me very well know I am very impatient when it comes to waiting! I can certainly say that this adoption process is going to teach me patience or at least George hopes so! I have patience, dont get me wrong especially with the kids. I just do not like to wait for something that I want. I know I have passed this trait on to a few of my kids and some days I am not fond of their impatience when they want something so I do see the other side to this.

I am impatiently waiting for our homestudy to be complete finally

I am impatiently waiting for my apostilled papers to arrive back so they can be sent to our facilitator in Eastern Europe.

I am impatiently waiting to send our info on to USCIS for approval.

I am impatiently waiting to send my dossier to Eastern Europe as well.

Most importantly, I am impatiently waiting to go get our lil boy!! I cannot wait to hold him, cuddle him and get him to smile. I cant wait to see what he can do and what we are going to help him with. We have no idea where he is developmentally. We also have no clue what medical needs he may have once we get him home.

We are busy learning all we can about dwarfism and the medical issues that can happen with it. We are also trying to find doctors who can help us with his needs once we get him home. I am also trying to get in contact with other families who have dwarfism or even little ones with it. We know they are going to be a huge resource for us once we travel and post about him and even once we bring him home. I am certain we are going to have lots of questions about soo many things. We know how important other families and parents have been to us with Mavis and her EB needs so I am certain this is going to be the same. We have tons of help from the EB community and I am hoping we will find the same with the LP community.

A big thank you to Jennifer for telling so many about us and our adoption. We are hoping you all can be a huge help to us so we can learn everything we can. Feel free to give suggestions on everything and anything you can think of! We are so excited to learn!

Here is what I am impatiently waiting for!! Hes just soo cute and we cant wait to bring him home!!

Our Sponsor page!!!

2010-06-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

We now have a sponsor page through Reeces Rainbow, which is the wonderful ministry that is helping us with our adoption. If anyone would love to help us bring home our sweet lil boy we would most certainly be greatful! We would also love all the prayers we could get to help our long process move smoothly so he can come home as soon as possible!
http://www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorsharp.html

Been super busy..........

2010-06-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

Things have been crazy busy here as it was a long Memorial Day weekend. We had houseguests and we had an amazing time getting to know them. Our nephew, his wife and their son came to visit as we lost contact with them years ago. We are hoping we are able to keep visiting quite often as they live about 4 hrs from us!!

Also, I dont think I feel any older but I am now 36. WOW........It seems like yesterday that I was in my twenties!! My birthday was Sunday and we adults got a little time away from our busy chaotic house. Thanks so much Peter and Rachel for visiting and for the amazing dinner out!! And I will Never forgive you all for embarrassing me.........HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Good News!!!! We sent our important documents to be apostilled so they can be sent to our lil guys country!! I am really thinking all the document fees are going to be absolutely insane!! I cant imagine how much it will be to legalize all the rest! Today I only had 6 documents and to certify the notary it was $3 each and then the $10 fee for each apostille! So thats a total of $78 and then the $40 to send them all there and back!! Ouch........We are ready though and simply cannot wait!!

I cant wait till our Homestudy is final so we can get our Gov approval....then the really exciting stuff happens!! We will get to meet our lil guy!! Its so sweet looking at his lil picture as I often wonder what he is doing? Is he happy? I cant wait to give him kisses and make him laugh!!! I cannot wait to see a big smile on his sweet lil face!! I cant wait to see him play with his brothers and sisters. So many things to look forward to. He has a big family that cant wait for him to finally get home!!!

We are also working on final name choices. We know his real name but we cannot publicly share it until he is finally home with us! We want to keep his name either as his first name or middle name. We are not sure yet.

Meet the little Twins!!!

2010-05-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

First of all.........Oh my....I actually have followers!!!! I am amazed that people want to read about our crazy family!!!! I think our family is awesome and I would say that people who know us love us....I hope! I hope those that dont know us in real life begin to love us as well and maybe will have a big family themselves.

George now has a passport as well although he is not excited like I was when I got mine! Its ok....I did a happy dance for him while he looked at me like I was absolutely crazy!!! One more piece of the puzzle. Now on to get our POAs done and sent to our lil guys country so he can be put on hold for us. I cannot believe how real this is becoming. I am beyond excited and I am sure George is getting excited as well. He had us all laughing so hard yesterday. He downloaded an app on his blackberry to translate our language to our lil guys country. We all kept trying to say different things and it was too funny. The language barrier is going to be an interesting part of our journey as well.

I figured I would introduce some of the kids from now and then so I thought I would start with the little twins as I posted about Ziah (our baby) already in his Birthday post. Here goes...

Meet Mathias and Matayah.......They will be 3 years old the beginning of August and are only 9 minutes apart in age with Mathias being the oldest. WOW.........We have come so far with them and I cannot believe they will be 3 soon. Their pregnancy started out as triplets but between 8 to 12 weeks our third lil one disappeared, so they would have been triplets.....God help us....lol They were such little peanuts and had sooo many issues for the first 2 years as far as growth was concerned. Mathias was also born with bi-lateral clubbed feet which we knew about at 19 weeks gestation. They wore newborn diapers at 6 months old and weighed a little over 8 lbs. At a year they were 14 and 15 pounds......They both were walking at 13 months and looked so small walking. They are known as the monkey twins as they can climb anything.....seriously....I am not kidding!! They were small but would amaze you with what they could climb. The both were my only kids who climbed out of their cribs at almost 2 years old and the barely weighed 20 lbs then.

They now are almost normal size for their age and are just soo funny. Mathias is a super happy guy who loves everyone and is going to be quite the lil clown I am sure. He loves to dance and be completely silly.

Matayah is so going to be quite the drama queen as she loves to whine instead of use her words. She is soo loving and cute with her little curls. I call her my "curly girlie"!

Here are some cute pics of them although they are not in order...still figuring out how to do this blog thing!

Its a .......................

2010-05-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

BOY!!!

So much has happened in our adoption journey that has not been what we entirely expected. We hoped/ prayed things would move along quickly but we are still working on our home study. Things are finally looking good for us and I pray we do not find any more bumps in the road.

We finally had our home visit yesterday. I really like our Social worker although I was a bit worried. I was not nervous at all but actually pretty excited! I was a bit worried as George got hung up at work a bit and was a little bit late but all went well. We both were able to talk to her easily. I was so proud of my husband as he is such a wonderful guy and he is truly a great dad and really impressed me during the visit! Hes is so my best friend as we have been married for almost 20 years now!! The little 3 were napping during most of the visit so it was pretty quiet.....I know...pretty rare at our house but it really does happen!! The kids all then came in lil spurts as each different bus dropped them off after school. The kids were excited and she asked them lots of questions which they loved. I think it was a little crazy but as expected with 12 kids here and a stranger in the house! I hope we impressed her with our family and our parenting. She then told us she would get moving on writing it all up and I hope its quick as I so want to send in for our USCIS approval!!!

Now.......on to the extremely important stuff as I am sure you all already scrolled down as I said it was a BOY!! Cheaters!!

We originally were going to do a blind dossier, but then Reeces Rainbow got a lil boy that melted our hearts!!! We thought he would have a family but each and every day it just killed me to see his sweet lil face not on the My Family Found me page!! After much prayer and talking, George and I felt it was time to finally put him there for us!!

Here is our sweet lil boy who is 16 months old and hes perfect and beautiful! He has the biggest most stunning big brown eyes I have ever seen! I told George that one day I would get my brown eyed baby as all 12 of our kids have big blue eyes! He is waiting in an orphanage in Eastern Europe for us to come and rescue him and give him the family he has deserved since he was born. In his country minor differences are not accepted and he happens to have a form of dwarfism. This means that he will just not be really tall. I am certain he will face many challenges such as medical, prejudices, different obstacles and so much more. I know we can help him, love him, and give him the family he deserves! Here is our soon to be newest member of our family. He does not have a name yet as we are still deciding but will let everyone know as soon as we/ I....lol decide!! ( George is bad at names....he will agree that its my choice!)

Our new lil guy............Look at our sweet, beautiful lil boy! I simply cannot wait to finally meet him!!

My Birthday Boys Big Party!!

2010-05-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ziah had he Big Birthday party on Sunday. He was feeling soo much better thankfully. We had lots of people over for a cook out and even a water baloon fight!! It was a long day but so much fun!! Here are some pics from the day and hopefully a lil video if it will upload here. Ziah made a huge mess and ended up getting cake smeared in his own eyes. I had to run and get a wash cloth while my oldest still videoed with him not so happy!

Ziah also had his 1 year check up today!! My boy is 19lbs 12 oz and he is 33 inches long! Wow....according to our doctor he may be a tall one....lol Who would have thought??? He is in the 75th percentile for height and only the 1oth precentile for weight!

We have passports!!

2010-05-22T19:01:00.001-07:00

I honestly did not think something as simple as a passport would truly make me so happy! I was actually very excited to finally get our passports, well at least mine! Georges did not come today though but hopefully soon. I guess I am just so excited as this is one more piece of the puzzle. I now cannot wait to actually use it and I never in a million years thought we would be traveling to another country but I am really excited to get moving on our adoption journey.

Well, today was a pretty busy day, well its honestly always a busy day here!! Obrion and Taegan had a softball game this morning that they won!! Yea to my girlies as they have an awesome team with some great lil girls!!

Madison also had her very last modified softball game and they did not win but their team is great and they all have so much potential. I think next year they will do so much better!!

Mavis had her first dance revue of the year. She danced beautifully although I honestly hated her costume! My girls have danced for 16 years although the rest decided not to this year. Out of all those years I have never not liked a costume this much. It was nothing pretty as a sweet lil 4 year old girl would want to wear but a not so cute furry bear costume!! yuck!! I know they danced to bear songs but they could have worn a pretty tutu and then wore a headband with lil bear ears. It just looked more like a halloween costume is all. Despite the costume she did a great job and I think I am quite biased but she really was the cutest lil dancer there!!! She made that ugly costume look good!! She also was able to leave her arms out as they look pretty good for right now and are not bandaged yet although I am certain its coming. Its getting warmer and the heat causes soo many issues for her fragile skin. I am hoping to finally learn how to add pics here and then you could see how incredibly cute my girlie is and how awful the costume really is!!

Mavis at the dance show with curly piggies

Here is my sweet girlie in her not so pretty Dance/ Halloween costume. This was a few weeks ago at dance pictures and a different hair do

Amazing How fast one year can fly by.....

2010-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Today is my 12th childs 1st Birthday!!!!!! Seems like yesterday that he came into this world weighing 7lbs 13 oz. He really gave us quite the scare with his birth as his lil heart rate did not tolerate labor very well. Thankfully I have am amazing OB doctor that is wonderful and all worked out just fine! Happy 1st Birthday lil Ziah Beckam. We all love you so much and hope you feel better soon so you can enjoy your party this weekend!! He has been one sick, miserable guy this past week.

My poor sick boy on his Birthday

Eating his cupcake that he did not even want to try

Today was actually kind of quiet as its rainy here and all the kids' sports were canceled for today. WOW......that is a nice break for a change to not have to run all of them where they need to go and no sitting in the rain to watch games.

Lots of adoption news as so much has happened. I have gone from really discouraged to moving forward. I know there are going to be plenty of more bumps in the road so I am certain this may seem minor later. We are hoping and praying our homestudy will be completed with in the next couple weeks. We have all our documents in and our home visit is scheduled for Monday. I thought I would be nervous but I am actually not. Well, at least not yet. I am sure if you ask me that on Monday, I will be going crazy trying to make everything perfect!!

After that, We get to finally submit our paperwork to USCIS for approval to adopt a foreign orphan. That can take some time and we will need to be fingerprinted again. During our wait time we will need to get all our dossier paperwork finished so we can be ready to send them to Eastern Europe to be submitted!

Happy 13th Birthday Madison!!

2010-04-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

We have another Birthday as it seems like there is always one around here although August is the worst month as both sets of twins were born in August. WOW....I simply cannot believe Madi is a teenager now! Well Officially a teenager!!!! 13 years ago today we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our family as she weighed 6lb 15 oz. She was our 4th child and that would make her the 3rd girl. So at our house shes #4, as they all have a number....pretty big joke at our house! She gave us a pretty big scare when she was born as she was 9 days early and induced. Her cord was wrapped around her head once and her tiny little body twice, very tightly. We are sooo very thankful that she was ok as God certainly was watching over her!! Our doctor said there was no way she could have gotten any bigger and simply called it "divine intervention" that she was induced early and we agreed. Shes out in our camper right now with a couple friends over having a lil party. Ya know....girly stuff, make up, movies, music and just plain sillieness!!! Happy 13th Birthday Madi....we love you soo much and enjoy your lil party!!!!!

Today we finished gutting the one bedroom. I wish it were quick to rebuild just as it is to demo it. Would be so nice to have the room done in 2 days. We still have so much to do and I am still waiting for the SW to call and schedule our home visit. I also think we have the slowest Homestudy agency ever, as I am impatiently waiting for it to be done so we can send in our paperwork to USICS to get approval. This summer travel is not looking very good as the homestudy is taking quite awhile. I dont know, maybe this is the way its supposed to be.

Happy 19th Birthday Lexi !!!

2010-04-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today I need to say a Huge Happy Birthday to our Daughter Alexis. She came into the world 19 years ago, weighing 7lbs even and 20 inches long! I can still remember it like it was yesterday as we were so scared yet so excited. She was a beautiful baby and is now a beautiful young woman! We have watched her grow and learn and become what she is today. We are so proud of her as shes now a freshman in her first year of college. Lexi......We love you so much and we hope you had a wonderful 19th Birthday!!!! We had alot of fun all coming to college to celebrate with all your friends and we hope your noisy, silly siblings did not disturb too many people in your dorm!!!!

A New Beginning.......

2010-04-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am calling this post a New Beginning. You may ask Why? Well, I talked to a very wise person last night in my adoption journey( for 2 hours I might add) and she reminded me that we really should Blog and keep track of every little step. I just felt that since we do not have an intended child yet that I really did not have much of a story to tell. I long to see that sweet lil face that God has chosen specially for our family. I long to dream and have hopes for that child as well. I want to begin to plan how our family will change and where this new child will fit in. I just want to be able to blog as other adoptive families do as their journey unfolds. Like this wise person told me all this that I feel is unimportant will certainly be important to one little child someday when they are much older. I then realized that she was absolutely right!!!! I know this for certain as I am sure I would have my regrets for not documenting our journey as I have regrets for not documenting things with our daughter Mavis' struggles. Those regrets I will have to live with as those memories are etched in my memories and in my heart.

So.....moving on here. I am hoping to blog everyday and it may include adoption tid bits and even a lil bit of our daily life. I really am bad at uploading pictures but I will get around to learning how to do that daily. Please be patient as I may need some computer help so suggestions are welcome!

As far as our adoption process is concerned, I feel that our Home study agency is quite slow compared to others' agencies. We have had our paperwork in for quite sometime and we still do not have a home study home visit. I am certain they will call soon now as we had been holding off on some remodeling till after the visit. Today we started to move forward with the demolition part of our remodeling so I am sure now they will call. This includes a bedroom being gutted of all its lathe and plaster and will likely be doing the same to our main bathroom as well. So, everything that was in that room has been piled in other rooms for now. Oh it really makes a big mess too and its only the beginning of this part. Whats the Social Worker going to think of us now??

I am working on our dossier papers as well and I am actually hoping we can get them done right the first time although I am sure it wont happen. Our doctor has gotten all our physicals filled out and we need to get them notarized. The bank has their part and I have alot of other papers that are pretty much just print, sign, notarize type things to do. I am wondering if the dossier may be the easy part....shhhhh....I wont say that out loud though.

AHHHH..............I also have to say how I was woke up this morning as its actually quite comical now that I cleaned up the mess and have had time to look back on our day. We had planned to go to the Zoo today with the kids so we needed to get up and get around quickly....yea....quickly with 11 kids is not always an easy task with teenagers and toddlers in the mix. I knew the 4 kids were up, the 2 sets of twins ages 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 are very early risers and they will usually play for a lil bit till others wake up. I try to lay there just a measly few minutes longer but that usually does not happen. All of a sudden I hear Mathias (2 1/2 year old) screaming and then the sound of rushing water!! Oh no.....not a good sign!! I jump out of bed and run to the bathroom to find that Mavis (4 1/2 year old....aka...mother Hen!) put Mathias who is potty training on the big potty, no biggie. Well, they kept flushing the toilet and then overflowed it while my lil guy was sitting there and water running up and over his lil bottom!! He was a bit scared with good reason ! So we had quite the bathroom clean up this morning to make us late.

We ended up having a great time at the zoo today. We were a bit disappointed as its still early in the season and many of the animals were not back at the zoo for the summer. I just love seeing the lil ones faces when the animals surprise them like the seals did as they swim right next to them through the glass. We always love watching the lil merkats as they are great entertainment with all of the silly things they do.

After leaving the zoo we went and got food and had a picnic at a local park. Its soo wonderful to have warm weather so the kids can play outside. I also realized that this year Mathias and Matayah do not need us to watch them and have us follow them everywhere they go. They are old enough to do so much on their own now and I am amazed and sad at the same time. They are getting soo big especially when they started out in life so small!!

Please say a special prayer tonight about our adoption journey that God will direct us to the lil one that we are meant to have and guide us as we have tons of paperwork, financial aspects of adoption and eventually travel to another country.

Our Leap of Faith....

2010-03-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

We have decided as a family to begin "Our Leap Of Faith" or so thats what we call it. Its going to be an amazing journey as we are being called to Adoption. I know some will think we are absolutely crazy but thats ok as we already have 12 children so we are pretty much crazy already! We can most certainly have more children of our own but God is calling us to help save another child thats already here. We do not know who that child is yet but we hope to in the next couple months. This lil one will most likely have some sort of special needs although we are not certain yet what type of special needs. We are no strangers to special needs or special challenges as we call them as our 4 year old, Mavis was born with epidermolysis bullosa. Thats certainly another post though. But for now we are working on our Homestudy to begin the long process. For those out there thinking about adoption, we are just beginning and theres soo much paperwork! I am so excited, nervous, scared, impatient, and soo much more that I cannot sleep already. Please keep our family in your prayers as we travel this journey to adopt a special little one that is born of our hearts!

Big Families.......

2010-03-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

You know you have a BIG family when you go to the store and you see people's heads bobbing up and down as they attempt to inconspicuously count the members of your family. or... You're all out somewhere and people ask one of the following questions: [my thoughts or comments in after each question]

Are they all yours?"!
(This one gets really old! Yes...they are all mine,as their jaw drops in amazement.)
Same marriage?"
(Yep... We have been married almost 20 years now!)
And you birthed them all?"
(yep, all of them ,( so far) and afterward people will argue with me that they think I am lying or something! )
Wow, all yours... did you have any twins?
(yep, 2 sets of boy/ girl twins although quite a few of the others could look as if they were twins as well)
Are you going to have any more?
(They about faint when I say "yep, maybe !")
I could *N-E-V-E-R* handle all those kids!"
(Well, Thank you....I guess I am glad God chose to give them to us and not you then!)
What kind of job do you have???"
(Well, I am just about everything you can think of and so much more!! !!)
You must be very rich!!"
(Yes, rich indeed)
Do you work?"
(work? are they serious? we have 12 children. What do you think I do all day long?!!)
Better you, than me!"
(I love every minute of it...well most of them!!)
Are you Mormon? Catholic? Crazy??
(yep.....CRAZY , how did you guess?!!!)
I wanted more kids but I have terrible labors and so I can't!
(I think all labors can be awful as some of mine have been as well but the reward afterwards are amazing!!...)
I wanted more kids but I'm just not cut out for it!
(God certainly has a plan or you could call it a sense of humor!)
Don't you know what causes that!?!?
(This is where you just play dumb as that gets them!! !!)
We'd have more kids, but we can't afford them.
(Well, its amazing how you really can provide with Gods help!!)
We don't have enough room for more kids.
(Well we just have them all piled in one room!! I am certain that is how people picture us!! We actually have a BIG 9 bedroom house!)
We don't have enough patience for more kids.
(Well... Pray for patience or simply pick some up at the grocery store, mine seems to always be out so Prayer seems to work well!!)

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