pictures!

I figure everyone can use a break from listen to me talk all the time :)  so here are some pics of the kids!

He loves to build this upside down!

Field trip to Cosi!

The man!








Eta: Thomas was looking at these pics and pointed to the one of Eli and said, "that's me right?".  I told him that it was Eli and he said, "oh, so all four of us together."  That's right buddy, all 4 of you :)

growing

So, one thing jared and i have trouble with is asking for and accepting help.  I know this journey is going to help us grow and learn together.  I called my doctor last week and they said they had a cancellation and could squeeze me in for a physical on monday (tomorrow).  Well, great.  But  my daughter has dance on mondays at the same exact time, and we skipped last week b/c my husband had a day off :)  Normally i would just have asked for a different day.  But i decided to step out of my comfort zone and ask for help.  I called my brother and asked him if he could take Gwen to dance, and called a friend and asked her to watch my other two kids.  It was kind of hard oddly enough but they were both so willing to help.  Huh...interesting.  People are willing and able tohelp when ASKED.  Something to think about as we go through this process!

defensive

I had my first lets say interesting experience since announcing we were adopting.  I had to call the kids doc to arrange for them all to get physicals.  The nurse i was speaking to asked "just how many kids were we adopting".  Not rudely exactly, but not all that nice either.  I said, "just one", and then thought, why am i qualifing this?  So i joked "only 6"  :)  And she said, so that makes....to which i replied, 2 boys and 2 girls.  But really, why does it matter?  If i want to bring home 6 kids and feel capable, well then thats ok too right?  I think it just rubbed me the wrong way.  Doesn't matter in the long run, just something i've been ruminating on since it happened.  I know i need to move on and of course i will, just i've been stuck on it for some reason...

don't you think they look alike?

I keep thinking how much Eli looks like two of our kiddos.  Here, check it out for yourselves!

ack!!!

ACK!!!!!  Social worker is coming out on Wednesday for our first visit for our homestudy...I'm nervous!!!!  She was very kind and said she wasn't going to take a white glove to the house or anything...which is good, cause we've got three little kids here!  I count it as a good day if they are fed and cleaned and played with...

Here is another pic of ELi!  I love this pic, he looks like he is thinking "stop taking my picture already"

Where are we?

So, where are we in the process to bring Mr. Eli home?  We are rushing rushing rushing to get all the paperwork done that we can do.  We know we will have to wait at some point for governmental processes but we don't want to have to wait on things that we can control. 

Funny story about getting our fingerprints done.  We went last week to get our electronic fingerprints done.  Electronic prints are sent the same day to our agency.  If you have to do it the old fashioned ink way it can take up to 2 months to get the results done.  Obviously, we wanted it done quickly.  So we pack up the three kids and go to the fingerprinting place.  Mine were done quickly and with no problems.  Jared, on the other hand, was another story.  The lady kept trying and trying.  I guess you have to have 7 (or 8 i can't remember) prints show up at least 70%.  She kept asking him if he was left handed b/c none of the prints on his left hand would show up.  He does work in IT (on computers) so types a lot.  Anyway, after trying for a good 15 minutes she said it wasn't going to work. I felt my throat get really tight and i asked her quietly if there was anything else we could try.  She said that another fingerprinting place in mason had gotten a new machine and they used ink but then did it electronically.  I asked her if she knew how long the results would take and she said it was definetly longer than straight electronic but she wasn't sure beyond that.

So i grabbed up the kids really quick and went out to the car and cried and cried and cried.  Poor Jared came out to the car and found me in a puddle.  The thought of  having to wait to send off our homestudy to bring our boy home b/c of this was more than my Mama's heart could bear. 

Luckily, the fingerprint lady called us and directed us to the site in Mason. When we got there the lady told Jared that she wanted to try the plain electronic and she got him on the first try!  Wow!!!!  We were sooo relieved.  Of course, i think Jared was most relieved that i wasn't going to cry anymore lol :)  I told my friend Lowellette later that even though i wasn't pregnant my hormones were apparently going strong!

So, we have our fingerprints done, our fire inspection done, reams and reams of paperwork done.  Our first meeting with the social worker is on Wednesday!  I'm excited and nervous! 

We'll keep you updated!!!!

Heroes among us

I'm in tears.  My lovely little Eli has a very large grant that is going to be put to very good use bringing him home.  I found out who raised the money for him.  A couple with a little guy with down syndrome is raising money for all these kiddos.  I'm overwhelmed with their generosity.  What can you do to express your gratitude to someone for helping bring your child home, finally home to a real family, not an institution? 

Big, Exciting, Fabulous news!!!!

So, some of you know and some of you don't....but our big exciting news is that we are adopting!   We are VERY excited and hope that all of our friends and family can be EXCITED with us!  Over the last year our eyes have been opened to the terrible condition that children with disabilities in many other countries are living in.  Most of these children are living in orphanages with very few caregivers, limited food and toys and not enough affection.  Our new son is 4 almost 5.  He has down syndrome.  He has blong hair and blue eyes!  He looks like he will fit right into our family!  We are working feverishly to get all of our paperwork done so we can go get him!  We are hoping he will be home in time for christmas this year.  I will be using the blog to keep people updated so check back often!

and here is our lovely new addition!

stuff

well, we possibly have news...exciting news.  But im not sharing yet!  Meanwhile, here are some pictures of my beautiful children!