This Christmas

Wow! This was quite a Christmas for me and not in a good way. It was hard on many levels. To save the embarrassment for my 10 year old lets just say there were some issues. On my end those issues brought out all the emotions that I have unknowingly been bottling up for weeks. Let's just say that it wasn't pleasant and it kinda lasted for days (still reeling from it). My poor kidneys are still throbbing...my MSK has been acting up. My four year old hasn't been sleeping well because of having croup so I wasn't sleeping which absolutely did NOT help things. The whole holiday stress was getting to me and I dearly miss my soon to be daughter. We didn't receive word like I had hoped that our case had been forwarded on and I found out that it is STILL pending. (What???) My heart is just aching today for my baby girl that's halfway across the world. I'm taking some time today to just sit and renew. Listening to worship songs, reading the Word, and doing as little as possible. My heart is just crying out to God to bring good news and to move mountains! Please Lord my soul needs this today.

Prayer

I'm usually not one to share a lot of things because I feel like my "needs" are not that big or I don't want to appear whiney but right now during this adoption my mind has changed. I will fight and battle for my baby girl to get home. I truly believe that prayer works and I'm going to continue to ask when there is a need. Right now there is a need for our case to be sent to Ethi*pia to the US Embassy there so that we can start moving forward. We had sent in our paperwork and were asked for an RFE (request for further evidence). This took about a week to get from ET and hopefully by now is on our officer's desk so she can review it and decide if it's enough to send on. Please be praying with me that we hear by this week that our case has been forwarded onto ET. I am going to continue to pray boldly and specifically knowing that it's in His hands and timeline but I can present my desires to Him right? If you feel led to please pray along with me for mountains to move and for us to get to our dear Scarlett quickly. Thanks!!!

Today I got out the crib and changing table from the basement. I was going to wait to do this but thought "Why not?" and did it. I've been getting out clothes and other things slowly to go through and see what we have so that was all out already. I must admit I am whooped!! I'm trying to squeeze two little girls things into a room that already had ALL of one such little girl's things. It's tight but doable. I think we're going to be really organizing the closet to hold a lot more things and really utilize the space much better. It seems way more real now that things are starting to be put together and I can see that she is going to be coming. Sometimes to be honest I really wonder if this is actually going to happen and then God gently reminds me that He started all of this and will complete it. I also sent off our power of attorney form to be authenticated in Washington, DC and also everything to get our visas! Crazy sauce!!! I keep reminding myself that each task completed means that we're one step closer. I'm praying that we hear soon that our case has been sent to Ethi*pia so that we can get our PAIR letter. This means that things can really get rolling! Praying, praying, praying continuously.

Scarlett

My baby turns 3 months old today!!! We are working so hard at coming to see you precious one! Until that time I know that God is wrapping His wings around you and loving you extra special for us!!!!

Gavin's Flag Football (They were number 1 this year!)

Gavin's Birthday (back in October)

Brodie and Claire's Birthdays (way back in September)

Fundraiser!!!! (This has ended)

We're starting out our first fundraiser since getting Scarlett's referral with these awesome shirts!! We get $11.00 for every shirt sold so please spread the word. Also, I would suggest going together on shipping since you can get up to 5 lbs. (not sure how many shirts that would be) for the shipping cost.
The money we raise with this fundraiser is going toward travel expenses for us on our two trips to Ethiopia. Thanks so much!!!!!
http://chromebuffalo.com/a/cb?drive=340

A Name (part 2)

We've decided on a name and I am so in love with it!

Scarlett "Y" (we can't share her Ethiopian name here yet) Bailey.

This song. Oh this song! It speaks truth of my life through this adoption and what all has happened in the last year of my life. It's my heart cry and what I cling to. Just beautiful!!!

http://youtu.be/bJ-kxZs3emw

A name.

Joel and I have talked off and on about names for our new little one and just haven't come to an agreement yet. I'd love to hear any and all suggestions that you might have. I just can't believe that we're actually at this point already! Only God!!!!

Just sent all our referral paperwork off except for one paper that had to be sent somewhere else. I'm praying that everything is accepted and we can move on to the next step. I've been working my butt off in getting things printed off, filled out, necessary people contacted and everything notarized. Here's to having all our i's dotted and t's crossed!!! Praying boldly for quick movement!!

IT has happened!!!! The day has finally come that we have received our referral!!!! We are overjoyed to have a beautiful little 6 week old baby girl!!!! We are so over the moon in love with her already and are working hard to get all the referral paperwork done and sent in. We got the call this last Friday, the 18th and are praying that we can go for our first trip soon. We were told that it might be 3 months so boldly pray with me that it might happen sooner and that from here on out everything runs smoothly. This mama is ready to get her home!!!!!

I heard this song today and just had to add it here since it seemed to fit into my sharing of my life in the last year. All of the hard was not in vain. Praise God! Listen, be moved, and pass it on.

http://youtu.be/qyUPz6_TciY

This last year....Part 1

Recently I was catching up with a dear friend and was explaining what my life had looked like for the last year. There have been many times that I've wanted to share on here all that I shared with my friend that day but my heart just wasn't ready. Now to be honest I'm not sure that I'm ready yet but the Lord keeps nudging me and asking me to be transparent. With that said here it goes......
The end of last August we got a call that our 16 year old nephew, Trevor, wasn't able to keep anything down and they were taking him to the ER. Once they were there they were told that he had developed Type 1 Diabetes and they were sending him to a larger hospital in a city close to us. When he got there an extremely rare thing happened. Trevor went into a diabetic coma and his brain began to swell. The doctors  gave us a very bleak outcome and we sat in shock and just prayed. Very slowly the risk of losing him became smaller and smaller and he started to make improvements everyday. He stayed in the pediatric ICU for weeks and finally was transferred to a regular room where he started to do intense therapy. Finally at the end of November he was able to return home. PTL!!! He is in a wheelchair, does physical therapy, has done hyperbaric treatments, and is now looking at going back to school for a short amount of time each week. He's improving all the time and has come so far!
On Sept. 22nd of last year we had a birthday party here at our house for both Brodie and Claire since their birthdays are only 4 days apart. During this party my Dad suffered a mini-stroke and it was a very long night with getting him to our local ER then waiting for him to be transferred to that same larger hospital in the city where Trevor was at. (What a blessing that was.) Our big sign was we could not understand a word he was saying. It was like he was talking a foreign language and it became very scary for him. Thankfully within the next day he was back to normal and no serious issues were detected. Although after this he did start to have some big anxiety issues which ended him on some meds and back in the hospital for a short observation.
Then on Oct. 29th we got a call while we were already in Joel's parents town shopping that his Dad was at the ER and they found a large tumor in his sinus region. This came as a huge shock to us all and was discovered because of a nose bleed that just wouldn't stop and what they formally thought was a sinus infection. He was transported to Columbus to a hospital that specialized in this sort of cancer. He underwent a nasty surgery to remove the tumor, then another one right after to fix a leak of fluid from his brain, and yet another one for another smaller leak. He was extremely weak after this and would have to wait a couple months to have another scan. We found out after this scan that the tumor was back and appeared even worse than the last one. The next step would be months of intense radiation and chemo. They would be required to move 4 1/2 hrs away so they could treat him properly. He had a lot of problems with his eye sight, completely drained of energy, and a case of needing two units of blood right before he was supposed to come home after his treatments. He has been told now that he is cancer free and slowly on the mend. We praise the Lord for again this awesome miracle!
The day after my father-in-law went to the ER I ended up there myself. I hadn't been feeling well for awhile and after feeling a bit worse and doing some internet research I thought maybe I had appendicitis. We headed to the hospital and after some scans and bloodwork they told me that I had a UTI and something they called a spongy kidney. I had no idea what they were talking about but they referred me to a urologist to look into that further. They also let me know that I had several kidney stones and a large one in my left side (funny because I didn't have any pain there). This started my welcome into living with Medullary Sponge Kidney (it's actually in both kidneys) and after 3 lithotripsys I am now facing a different procedure because the others aren't working like my doctor would like. I have also just recently been diagnosed with Hyperparathyroidism and am scheduled for that surgery the beginning of October. Hopefully that will be successful and will cut down on my excessive stone formation. Passing stones is not any fun and cutting down on that would be WONDERFUL!!!
Then onto November 17th....we were headed home from visiting Joel's Dad after his surgery in Columbus. We had stopped at our friend's house since it was on the way when I received a frantic phone call from my sister. My 24 year old niece had a been in a serious car accident and with the poor reception on the phone I made out "brain injury, life flighted". That drive home was horrible to say the least plus it had gotten very foggy so my nerves were shot. She was in a coma for a couple of weeks and it was so hard seeing the similarities between her and our nephew. She has three young children and this was so very hard for them. Once she was cleared to leave ICU she ended up at a nursing home where she received hyperbaric treatment which did wonders for her. She started out pretty much comatose and ended up talking, walking, and very much back to "normal". She did extensive therapy and is still making improvements all the time but is home and able to care for her children but still is extremely tired quite often. Yet again we have to give all glory to our wonderful Creator for this miracle!!!
I've decided that I'm going to do a 2nd part to this because so far there has been so much to take in and to be honest I'm exhausted from writing all of this. Stay tuned when I share my vulnerable part....how I felt emotionally, spiritually and some of my PTSD if you will.

Sweet Linny!

I simply must share this precious and very sad little girl with you. She is 3 years old and has already had so much suffering in her life already.  I pray and hope that a family will step forward for her quickly. Take a look and please pray that her family is moved to get her soon and that she feels His love today. (I just can't stop thinking and praying for her!)

Check her out here: http://twentyless.com/linny/

If you feel led to give so that whoever her family may be will have less of a financial burden please visit this site: http://reecesrainbow.org/57048/linny

The Battle

Feeling like I'm in the desert lately.

 I'm trying so very hard to keep my eyes on Him but it's such a battle.

My anxiety and fear are flaring up and I feel like I'm in the midst of a real war.

 I feel forgotten lately and really wonder why we have been called on this road. Have we been called? Did we hear Him right? Doubt creeps in....are we supposed to look somewhere else? Is it ever going to happen?
 It's not just the adoption, it's life in general for me. Unhealthy fears, medical issues, the timing of things happening in our lives, feeling like a horrible parent a lot of the time. There have been so many tragedies with our families in a short amount of time that I think I've been knocked off my strong foundation.

 BUT.....God is still there whispering in my ear just when I need to hear it. Yesterday I did my devo and found this verse written on a random scrap of paper so I looked it up.
      "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Heb. 11:1
At this time God was whispering...."Child do you know that I called you to this? (adoption) I answered "Yes Lord I do believe this."
Again God whispered "Do you believe that I would call you to something and not complete it?" I answered "No I know that you'll complete it."
Yet again He said "Well, then just because you don't see things happening doesn't mean that I am not moving or working on behalf of you and this child."

WHAMOOOO!!!! Talk about getting an answer!

Even though there appears to be absolutely no end in sight and my humanness wants to become angry and mad at Him, our agency, the gov't, or anyone else for that matter I must cling to what He whispered in my ear. None of this makes any sense to me and is so hard but I must press on. Not just the adoption road but in life. If you think of it please pray for this battle that I'm facing.....I would so appreciate it. Much love my friends!
I just keep coming back to this song lately. Check it out! http://youtu.be/iaVPupbNFAo

Summer past time!

Well, we're in full swing baseball season right now! Enjoy some pics of my #7 & #9.

Our first trip to the zoo this summer!

May Number!

Well being the end of the month you might be expecting me to post our waitlist number but from now on that's not going to happen. Our agency has decided since things are moving so slowly and that they don't feel that giving us a number every month is an accurate way of letting us know how we are progressing forward. So I personally am going to keep track the best I can on what "number" we are so that we as a family can have a general idea of where we're at. The kids have just started keeping track of our number by tearing off our paper chain each month and they love doing it so everytime I hear that there's a referral I'm still going to let them tear one off. So far this month I do know that there has been two referrals but a family that lost their referral just went back on at #1 so we are actually #38. Please be praying that mountains would move in Ethiopia and that those little ones that truly need a loving family would be paperwork ready so that more referrals can be given out. We are growing very weary and are just leaning on The One who brought us to this.

Last Day of School (Tuesday May 28th)

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to put the kids pics from the first day of school next to their last day of school.

What do you think? Have they changed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well it's that time again.....Our April Waitlist Number!

Valentine's Day Boxes- IPod & Shark
 

Brodie lost his 1st tooth...hard to tell since his other teeth have already grown in.
 

Soon to be hopefully "Big Sis"

Even adoption is constantly on the kids' minds.