Run Down

Now  you could take this post title two different ways...either
A. I am about to give you a list of what has been going on here.... or
B. I am " run down"...or
C. both

Unfortunately option "c" best describes my week.  So here's the "run down"....

Monday our I-797 arrived in the mail (FINALLY)...so I needed to get all our paperwork in order and fax it to our agency for them to look over.  I also had to call our homestudy agency and have them send us our clearances.

Tuesday after lunch I ran to the county courthouse to notarize clearances and a few other papers.  Before I went, I decided to check with the Secretary of State to see when I could go up to apostille my papers.  She said I could only have them done Wednesday morning by 8:30.  So I ran home, packed, and loaded my kids in the car.  We made the 1 1/2 drive to my sister's house so the kids could stay with their Uncle Steve while Aunt Holly helped me drive the next four hours to Albuquerque. (I fall asleep at the wheel way too easy, so going by myself was not an option.) We also picked up my mom on the way.  Apparently we have not had a girl's night out since my niece was a toddler and my mom was in chemo the first time (so roughly 13 years ago).  It was about time to escape. ;)

Wednesday we left Albuquerque and drove to Santa Fe.  Santa Fe is not a fun city to drive in...way too many one way streets.  And then we zoomed (ok, my mom does not zoom, but we slowly zoomed) through the capitol building looking for the Secretary of States office.  Once found, I was informed that they would only apostille about 2/3's of my documents.  (Apparently the adoption agency failed to mention that I would have to mail all the other paperwork to the states they originated from.)  Holly, Mom, and I also squeezed a mini shopping trip in there too.

Thursday I spent most of the day figuring out where my paperwork needed to go.  So I filled out forms and wrote checks for the rest of the paperwork. Oh and we fit birthday cupcakes and presents in...for my littlest guy!  He's two now!

Why do they have to grow up?

 

Friday I gathered up all my paperwork and headed to the county courthouse again to notarize one more piece of paper and then buy envelopes for all the documents that needed mailed. I decided that Micah, Noel, and Matt needed to do school since they missed wednesday, so they stayed home; I took Orrin and Matt with me.  About ten minutes in to being at the courthouse, I realized that I should have had all my kids with me, because Micah was supposed to be at a 4-H shooting practice, so I raced home and got the kids and drove back to town. When I pulled up at the shooting range everyone was sitting there waiting for me.  Embarrassing --I hate being late!!!  So I again dropped off  Micah and ran back in to town to mail my documents and buy a picnic lunch for the kids.  After the 4-H shoot was over, I drove the kids to the Tularosa River to play in the water and they promtly forgot all of my wild and crazy antics for the day.

 

And now I sit here in a vegetative state hoping that next week will not be like this week.  I hope we can get all our paperwork back easily and I can send off our Dossier to the adoption agency.  But you just never know... oh, and speaking of vegetative, apparently Orrin's week was just as hard as mine...

Turning two is aweful hard on a kid. 

 I hope my post isn't as boring for you as it was for him. :)

 

What's next?

Today was one of those days that you get all excited about something only to be brought back to harsh reality.  Yes, today I went to my mailbox and found our Immigration Approval ...the one I spent every day last week driving over the the post office to see if it had arrived. (No, I never learn.) 

And I was so excited that I emailed our agency and asked her "what's next?". Now let me warn you.  When adopting, if you have just  passed a huge milestone, never ask what's next!!!! Never! Because it is much more fun to bask in a victory than to wallow in a letdown. Why do I say this? Well, of course, because my case worker answered my question honestly....

She listed all the things that have to happen before we go see our little girl (apostille, dossier, translation, referral, applications) ...and sadly that involved long periods of just WAITING!  Am I good at waiting? Uh no!  

So tonight I sat down and decided that I again needed to revisit some verses on patience (apparently all my past lessons have been forgotten).

 

  Romans 8:25

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

James 1:3

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

James 1:4

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

 

Yes, I needed these.

So I am going to take the next couple of days to prepare our Dossier for sending off to Olivia's country and then I am going memorize these verses.

 

And to those of you who are wondering....yes, adoption is alot like pregnancy (minus the stretch marks).  Right now I feel like I am 9 months pregnant and my doctor just said "Yeah, I am thinking this baby just needs some more time....I'm thinking about two more months should be good." 

Wanted: A Family

Today is a great day!  Why?  Did we get our immigration paperwork back?  Fat chance! Grrrr.

 

  So what happened?

  All of the kids (Micah, Mabel, Libby and Riley) I have posted about over the last month now have families coming for them!  Now I know it probably wasn't my blog that helped them get a family, but it's still exciting! So since I am on a roll, I decided not to quit.... today you get to see a few older children.

 

Dawn

Dawn has been institutionalized since she was 3...she is now 8.  She talks very little, but according to her description she loves music.  This girl deserves a life outside of an institution....look at her smile!!!

 

Casey

Casey has CP and is bed-ridden; he looks like he is maybe 5...he's not; Casey is actually the same age as my niece....

This is my niece.  She does not have CP but I just wanted you to see the difference in size.  Casey needed a family to love and care for him...and he sadly he still does.  He's  reaching the adoption age limit soon.  What does this mean?  It means, he may never see the world outside of his crib EVER.

 

Rania

Rania is also getting close to aging out.   She is also close to the same age as my niece. 

 

Help me keep on my streak here...share these kiddos.  There are families out there for them....I need your help to make sure they find them! :)

 

 

PS. I will be calling immigration AGAIN today. So hopefully I will have some news soon.

 

PS #2.  God is absolutely amazing.  And I think he might even have a sense of humor...I pushed the publish button for this post and the phone rang.  Who was it?  The immigration case worker.  She told me that we are APPROVED and our paperwork is in the mail today!!!  Now I could just go up there and edit away my negativity, but then you wouldn't be able to see God in this situation. A verse I have had on my fridge comes to mind....

 "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Cor. 12:9

 

ATTENTION:  Each child's name is a link to the sight where you can find there info.  Yes, this sight (Reece's Rainbow) does have permission to post their faces, fundraise, and help find them families.  None of the children I post about are from Russia, since Russia is now closed to adoption.

 

 

 

 

One of Those Days

So it has been one of "those" days around our house today.  

 

Part of this stems from our homeschool ski trip yesterday.  I hate to admit I am old but good grief, I am feeling it today.  I am sore and wind crisped...and sleepy! But thankfully, so are my kids so I don't have to blame my age. Right? We are one sorry bunch to be around.  I should just declare this a housewide "Nap Day".  

 

Secondly, I finally called the USCIS office to find out why our approval has not arrived and they said it still is in processing (whatever that means).

 

Oh yes, and thirdly, I found a mangled pull-up in my wash.  Do you have any idea what a pull up does when whipped around a front loading washing machine with a load of dark clothing.  Not pretty!

 

But there is a light at the end of our rather bleak day.  I decided to check the "my family found me" page on Reece's Rainbow . And guess what I found!  Two of the little ones I told you about in my last post have found a family!  Micah and Mabel are both listed as having families that have commited to bringing them home. Hurray!   Now it is time for little Libby to find her family!

 

So instead of looking at the things which I cannot change --like Olivia's paperwork and my sore body...and the "PULL-UP"; I hope I can look at the things which my great God can change--like the lives of orphans and the hearts of Christians. Because He is just that amazing.

 

"God of the universe,

do You hear the cries that pour out from all the earth,

can Your hands reach down and heal the hurt of the broken.

God of the universe,

when we hear the cries that pour out from all the earth,

will You give us hands that reach and heal the hurt of the broken.

God over everything,

will You give us eyes to see all the light we bring,

will You be the voice that causes our hearts to sing for the broken."

--Bebo Norman--

 

Little Drops

The other day I mentioned to a friend that sometimes adopting Olivia seems like a drop in a huge bucket.  There are so many orphans.  And does it really make a difference to adopt one, when there are obviously so many out there?

 Today I ran across a blog post by an adopting dad who mentioned the same thing; only he thought of the child they are adopting as a "non-drop".  I wonder how full the bucket would be if Christians would step forward and keep one drop from falling in the bucket? 

 

So I thought I would introduce a few "drops" today.  These are just a few kiddos that can be caught before they fall in the bucket. 

 

Micah

This little guy just tugs at my heart.  His description says he is a healthy down syndrome child, who is developing very well.  He had a heart repair surgery and recovered well.  Is he not the cutest?  Now I just have to mention here that this guy is in a relatively easy country (cost run $19-$25k--trust me this is very inexpensive; 2 trips of 5 days, and I believe only one parent has to travel). 

 

Libby

This little girl is just so stinking cute.  She also has down syndrome and is listed as healthy.  She is on one of the fastest programs (some children have been brought home within 7 months, $25k, 2 trips).

 

Mabel

Mabel is the reason I found Reece's Rainbow.  A fellow Etsy shop was trying to raise money for her adoption.  And although she has close to $8,000 in her fund she has still not been adopted (total for her country is $25k, so with her fund her adoption would only cost $17k)  She is 8 years old (Doesn't look it does she? - she is the size of a 3 year old). 

 

Thanks for humoring me and reading my posts.  I know all people are not called to adopt.  But we are all called to "care for the fatherless".  Maybe you read this and thought "It's not for me."  We'll then repost, because someone somewhere out there is about to have a heart changing experience when they see these kids. 

I know I did.

 

Ps. You may wonder why I can show you these kids pics and not Olivia's...well, let's just say her country is a little more stubborn. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You

This is for you... you know, who you are! Don't laugh too hard. :)

 

 

Also I will be removing our "chip-ins" this coming week some time.  We really do appreciate what all of  y'all have done to help bring Olivia home.

 

I still have a lot of handmade items to sell in Livi's Gift Shoppe and will probably continue making things until we bring Olivia home.  To pay for those though, you will have to use our waysthatyouchangeme@gmail.com paypal account

 instead of the "chip in". 

Valentines Day

I know y'all can't see pictures of Olivia just yet and so on this Valentine's Day I thought I would share a quote I found that kind of sums up what this adoption has been for me....

 

I can honestly say that I was not looking to adopt at this time.  I have looked before...you know, before we had 5 kids of our own. Way back when it would have been "easier" to adopt.  But I have learned that God is there directing our steps no matter where we think we might be heading. (Pv. 16:9) And His timing is always perfect.

And I know that seeing a picture, doesn't make everyone want to adopt. But I think God used the pictures of the reality of orphans to wake me up and see beyond my little world.  So for Valentines Day, instead of sending out Valetine cards I am going to show you Valentine  faces...who knows maybe next year they too can share V-day with a family.  It just so happens that I found kiddos that have the same name as mine....fun! :)

Micah

 

Riley

 

Both of these kiddos are on Reece's Rainbow and have Down Syndrome just like Olivia. 

Happy Valentines Day!