We Have A Court Date!!!

It is December 6th! Praying for miracles for the judge to rule in our favor, for the documents they want redone to be easy ones, for the $7739 we still need to be here in God's timing and for a quick trip so we can be home with our other kiddos for Christmas!

The Past Couple Weeks

This past couple of weeks has been getting our dossier ready and sent. Then applying for a grant/loan through A Child Waits Foundation. We should hear the preliminary yes or no this week. Our oldest had some serious soccer games these past two weeks. The ending left me a little bitter. I am a Mom and I don't think she got what she deserved. The worst thing is seeing your daughter upset. I can tell you carrying around that bitter feeling has taken a lot out of me the last couple days. It zaps you. I prayed today for God to help me help myself to let it go. God knows I am human and I am a mother. I know feeling like this is normal. That look you see when you look into your daughters eyes and they are hurt. It's just a little tough to let go. Yes, like I said, I am working on it.

We are about $7739 away from being funded (thanks to a donation from BioPlastics and a dear friend)...barring any crazy fees or huge airfare hikes. We need our white button to the right to say $28,813 to be where we need to be. I am really hoping for the grant/loan to come through. This week we should have our littlest girls' room ready. We picked up their beds last week. We have their bed sets ready. We just need to paint and set up. For those people who say you can't love a child you only met or visited for four days-maybe for you or others, but for me and my husband it is possible. I know we didn't give birth to them, but the feeling is the same as the very first second you set your eyes on your newborn as they placed him or her in your arms. We love these little girls very much. It's not just about getting them for me or us. It's not about the fact that they make us so happy (which they do,) but it's about two little girls who need a family. It's about two little girls that will grow and be loved. It's about the fact that we have open arms waiting for them. It's about two little girls who we know will have issues, but are willing to accept them. It's about two little girls who will need us to have patience along with the love. It's about two little girls God brought to us. A beautiful little blonde and brunette who without finding a family and being adopted, will have no chance at a life outside of an orphanage. To me that is enough. Two little special enoughs. They are enough. Exactly enough. No matter what anyone thinks or ponders, we love these little girls and cannot imagine our lives without them.

Dossier Sent To The Agency

Our second dossier has been sent to the agency. Monday we went to get everything apostilled and it was not an easy day. The copies of Ohio birth certificates didn't work. So, we had to go and get 4 birth certificates for our children born in Ohio, take them back and have them apostilled. It was a fixable problem...but nothing is ever painless. We are ok with that. God has given us the ways to fix the problems. Got to have labor pains somehow, right? So, now we are praying that none of the paperwork is wrong. Our visa apps have been sent. We are back to trying to figure out how to get the rest of the money we need for the adoption. God has shown me he is here many times through this adoption. I know he will work it out in his own due time. We thought we were down to needing $7,913...but I forgot to add the girls tickets home...so we are back to needing about $9,833. Asking people for help all the time is really humbling, but to get to my girls is what we have to do, so ask away we must. Please continue to pray and spread the word if you can. To get to where we need to be...the white box to the right should say $28,813. I know it can happen. I just know it can. Somehow, someway it will.

Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Getting Closer

Due to our last donation of $2,500 from the Buddy Walk of North Canton and the continued prayers/donations from our friends & family-we are now only $7,913 away from our goal for our court trip. We hope to have our documents completed and off to our agency on Monday or the latest on Tuesday. Thank you all so much! I am going to post a prayer to St. Anthony:

Wondrous Saint Anthony, glorious for the fame of your miracles, you had the happiness of receiving in your arms our blessed Lord as a little child. Obtain for me from His mercy this favor that I desire from the bottom of my heart: that we are able to complete our adoption of Phoebe and Isabella and bring them home safely all together as a family.

Since you were so gracious to poor sinners, do not regard the lack of merit on the part of him who calls upon you, but consider the glory of God, which will by exalted once more through you, by the salvation of my soul and the granting of the petition that I now earnestly present to you.

As a pledge of my gratitude, I beg you to accept my promise to live henceforth more faithfully according to the teaching of the Gospel and to be devoted to the service of the poor whom you ever loved and still love so much. Bless this my resolution and obtain for me the grace to be faithful to it till death. Amen.

In Exactly Two Months

In exactly two months, my Isabella Daria will be 3 years old. 3 years without a family. 3 years of no birthday cakes. 3 years of no presents. 3 years of it passing without a celebration. This year I hope and pray to God that the situation changes. I hope that either we are there with her on her birthday or we are on our way home. Right now we are $10,448 away from having what we need to travel. We hope and pray that somehow, someway it all is there when we need it. Phoebe's is in April. Two little girls who prayerfully will not have to spend another birthday without their family (US!!)

The Second Trip

WE DO NOT HAVE OVER 16K IN OUR FSP ANYMORE-A GREAT DEAL OF IT WAS USED IN THE FIRST TRIP. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR WHAT WE NEED FOR THE SECOND TRIP. THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!




We are chest deep in paperwork..trying to get it done. We want nothing more then to get there as soon as we can. I actually sat down and was able to figure out what we are looking at money wise for the second trip. For the second trip, Matthew is going to go home after the court date. Praying that it is in our favor, I will stay and visit with the girls daily as he goes home to be with the kids. After the 10 day wait is up, Matthew will return to help get the girls ready to come home. Now, I have done many things...but taking care of two 2 year olds, my suitcases and theirs, immigration and customs...etc etc Well, I don't think one person can manage it alone. So, he will return. This estimate may be on the low side or the high side. It helps to have been there before. If it goes down or up I will let you know. If we somehow find more money on our own, I will let you know that too. So, here it goes:

$4,200 AIRPLANE TICKETS (1400 for both of us round trip and a second trip for my husband)
$4,000 FOREIGN FEE
$2,000 ORPHANAGE DONATION
$2,000 FOR OUR MEDICAL EXAMS
$2,300 FOR TRANSPORTATION ($100 Each day for approx 23 days)
$808 FOR THE GIRLS VISAS
$300 FOR THE GIRLS MEDICAL EXAMS
$2,300 FOR MEALS (About $100 a day...but if my husband and I have to we can do with less)
$2,760 FOR LODGING (About $120 a day)
$600 FOR OUR VISAS
_____________________

$21,268 (GUESSTIMATE)
-10,450 (What we have in our fsp and grant money)
________

$10,818

So there you have it. God's will, God's bill right?

I just want them home. My family and friends know that. God knew that before I did. Prayers are deeply appreciated. Oh, and for those of you that feel the need to post something nasty..don't bother. It won't make it past the editing floor.

Since We've Came Home

It has been a really busy week. We got home at probably 2 a.m.Sunday morning. I had to work Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon I was wiped out. I was having trouble getting to sleep because of the time change. Finally we got a good nights sleep and were beginning to feel better. Wednesday the youngest boys had a field trip to the pumpkin patch. Wednesday night our oldest son had a football game. I stayed up that night to finish my daughters Senior Soccer Collage. Thursday I slept in and did some chores, then Thursday night was my daughters Senior night at her soccer game. Then I had to work again today. Needless to say it has been a busy week. It's good to be home. I missed my kids, but my heart is breaking for my little babies across the sea. I have emails for what paperwork is ahead of us. Boy does it feel overwhelming, but it can be done. After all, we have two faces to connect to every t crossed and i dotted. There is a absolute, real, concrete reason to do these papers. They are not fictional or a dream. There are two little girls living their lives out in an orphanage that need a family. That is the reason the paperwork has to be done.

Many people has asked what the country was like. It was different. The food was good, but different. The people didn't smile much in public, but the ones close to you do. They have Coke and Pepsi. They drive really fast...I mean really fast. Sometimes making up their own rules I think. They do dress in darker clothing, but they do wear colors. What I found fascinating was the huge heels a lot of the women wear. Also, they eat meat and cheese with every meal. Seriously, I could get used to that. That's one thing I don't get...how do a lot of the women stay so thin?? Please, give me the details. In the city it is really busy and fast paced, but when leaving the city you see farms and land. We even went by a farm where they were digging up potatoes by hand. We saw some really neat monuments of times present and past, but I cannot really say because I do not want to take any chances. Someday I will explain what I saw.

I have been thinking a lot about the girls. How I absolutely hate that they are in an orphanage. How I hate how they don't have their own things. How I hate that they have lived their lives without a family. How I hate that they don't get rocked to sleep at night and have to soothe themselves in whatever way they find soothing. How sometimes its survival of the fittest. How I hate that people can't see them for the God given gifts that they are. Then I remember that although I hate these things, I cannot really judge someone or another country for the way they do things. Do I think it's right? No. Do I like it? No. Do I wish it could be different? Yes.

We used a great deal of our fsp for our first trip. I am not sure what we need to finish our adoption money wise. I haven't had time to figure it out. I am going to try and sit down on Tuesday to figure it up. I will post it here for the ones that want to know. We love our little girls so much. I cannot imagine our lives without them. For the ones that question why we don't adopt here. We have. It's not about where a child is from for us. It's about the plain and simple fact that if they don't find a family to be adopted, they are transferred. They lose their chance as they get older to find a family. There are no second chances. Adoption into a family or no other choice. Children with special needs and adult with special needs have a place here. For me, that is all that matters. I want my girls to have a family and a place...just like they have found a place in our hearts.