The News

Like I said in a previous post, Trevor and I got to get out of our small little town and journey to the big city for our one and only in office visit with our case worker, Deborah. But before the big interview, we had the dreaded shots.

Is there a resemblance? Trev wants to know if his face is turning yellow..yellow like the color of the bucket? He feels like he has fever...

Maybe it's because we caught yellow fever.. The vaccine that is...



See that nurse..She was so incredibly happy for us. The sweetest lady..

See dufus tightening up his arm. Yep he cried like a little baby afterwards because it hurt so bad!!

 So I'm being just a little dramatic. It wasn't that bad...

We found this to be quiet hilarious. Trevor was very disappointed since this is what he tends to do while waiting patiently in the doctor's office..Blow up the glove like a balloon hand.. But not here...No sir. We are NOT paying $5.00 for his little entertainment!

We then went to meet with our case worker at Little Miracles International. Trevor had to give us a little humor before we went in because I was SUPER nervous. I mean, I know ultimately it's all in God's hands, but our case worker is the one who decides if we're "fit" to be parents. This is scary business!!!

 Do I look frightened? I should be..we're on the 13th floor!!

Notice the "binder"? It goes everywhere with us! And my handy dandy filing system!

About to meet Deborah!

The interview was very painless. She was so incredibly sweet and full of lots of information. She said asked us questions about our self and our upbringing. What we do for a living. Why adoption? Why Congo? Although we were completely speaking from the heart, you still wonder if you said the right thing! One thing she did say was, "Yall definitely move fast." It kind of startled us because yeah I guess we do. We dated for 2 months, got engaged, got married 3 months later at the age of 20, had 2 kids by the time we were 26 and our third one is on the way. But we definitely reassured her that this decision was not made without seeking God, His will and plan for our lives and much time in prayer. We know when we have peace about something, it's God. And when it's His doing, we know that all of it will work out! Two hours later, we were on our way to...

JASON'S DELI!!!

 This is one of our most favorite places to eat. We were a little bummed because we are on a gluten, sugar free diet and Jason's is known for their sandwiches..which is served on BREAD! But little Jason's came through by serving gluten free bread (as if it really mattered...we were going to splurge anyway!).



To our astonishment though, the doctor gave us some news.




 Some news that I know will eventually set in.



It's not making sense to us because Trevor did get, well, you know, fixed...




But our God has greater plans for us....




We found out....

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WE'RE EXPECTING!!!

 Thanks Nothing Left to Paint for the absolutely amazing idea!!

After we met with our case worker, we did find out that our dossier will be submitted by December and we'll be put on the list for a referral. Of course this is just an estimate, but we should be expecting our baby to come home about June-July!!

Sweet baby we're praying for you right now. We know God has his arms wrapped around you so tightly!!! We're coming...



Our Trip to Lubbock

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to Lubbock to stay with my folks while Trevor had all of the gas lines replaced under the house. Needless to say the trip went as planned but the gas line replacement did not get done while we were gone. Therefore the clothes remained on my floor for yet another week! I think God was trying to teach me something..Maybe to remain in love at all times, or to have a little patience, or to count all things joy? I don't know but it didn't work ;-)

We slowly made our way to Lubbock and got there on Monday afternoon. That night we went and ate at Rib Crib then had oh so yummy yogurt at Cup of Yo. It is a tradition of our family's to visit the yogurt shop every time we come into town. Since Big K was 2 he has been saying, "Cup of yo!"

On Wednesday we were able to meet up with Jama and her kids Laiken and Westin. They have been our friends since we lived in Lubbock. Big K was only 2 months old when we left there so he really hasn't had the opportunity to play with the kids. That changed at Legacy Play Village! They had a great time running around and climbing up the big play area. We then went to the new Chick-Fil-A and oh was it yummy!!!

We spent everyday playing with his little buddy Gatlin. Which means I got to spend everyday with Jordan! I love hanging out with her because we're so much alike and have great fun. She just had Gentry. Very soon her and little K will be able to play! I'm so sad I don't have a picture of them. Luckily on Thursday we had a very good rain so we met up at the mall play area and played and ate at yet again, Chick-Fil-A (this was our 3rd trip there). By Saturday Big K told my parents, "No Chick-Fil-A, let's eat at Chicken Express!" What's the difference?!?! Our friends from Dalhart were actually in town so Big K was surprised when he got to play with Avery!

 Our tough face

Our sad face

Trevor and I were able to have a date night Friday night with 10 of our closets friends from Dalhart. They all came to Plainview for the Tim Hawkins comedy concert. We had the best time and laughed oh so hard!

If you look close, you'll maybe see him..Yeah we were that close..Not!

Nana and Papa were chosen as the lucky ones to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's while we were gone!!

Not only was I fortunate enough to have 1 date with my stud, but we had 2! Saturday afternoon my parents watched the kids so Trevor and I could go see:

 I would recommend this to both men and women. We loved it!

We then got to eat at the brand new...Can you guess it?!?!



CHIPOTLE!!! Oh was it a marvelous day!!

Right after our date, we had the dreaded family pictures with my brother and sister-in-law, us including a 3 year old and 6 month old who was ready for nap, and my parents. Surprisingly enough, they turned out awesome, the kids did amazing and no family feuds!!!

 



Oh how I love visiting Lubbock, and the places, and the eatery and my friends, but oh how I miss the simplicity of Dalhart!!

Oh How I Love

Oh how I love getting out of Dalhart for the day.

Oh how I love getting out of Dalhart for the day to head to the big city!

Oh how I love getting out of Dalhart with just my stud!

Oh how I love getting out of Dalhart to to find out something life-changing...

And surprising...

And out of our "plans"...

And...

**To be continued**

The Advantages of Having a Brother

YOU GET TO PLAY IN DIRT!!!

This morning we were outside playing and picking weeds out of the completely dead garden and I ran inside to wash my hands. Upon returning big brother decided to let sister play in the dirt! Needless to say he spent the next 10 minutes washing off the bumbo and all of the toys while I changed and cleaned sister!!

The Forgotten Child

Saturday while I was reading in "The Binder", I came across the article The Forgotten Child. Here is a little from the article so you have an idea of why we're doing what we're doing.

     Just who are the children we are adopting in Congo? They are abandoned children, relinquished children and foundlings. They are brought to the orphanage, given up willingly by their biological parents, found in rail stations or wandering the streets, placed on porch steps or left for the state at maternity hospitals. Sometimes they are police relinquishments due to neglect. They are victims of poverty and the ailments and addictions that go hand in hand. There are many ways a child becomes an orphan. They typically come from desperate economic situations sometimes from situations so bleak, we can't even fathom.
     Where does our child live right now? In an orphanage, Life is the same day to day. The schedule is rigid, the food bland and the activities redundant. Some well-equipped orphanages have wonderful activities and motor play for children; most do not. Children do not receive the basic stimulation necessary for proper development and as a result, can become hypersensitive to different types of stimuli and non-responsive to others. We often see children who are very small for their chronological age, children who are developmentally delayed because of orphanage living, children infected with intestinal parasites, children with rickets, children heavily sedated, children tied down in bed, children with physical deformities and normal brains, placed with severely retarded children. The basic food product is porridge. It costs too much to provide regular balanced nutrition. The most important issue in an orphanage is feeding. As a result of state under-financing it has become impossible to give the children the accepted norms of feeding and to make the meals well balanced. Orphans starve regularly.
     Within the last decade, the orphanages have received little financing on repairing the buildings, or payment for the public utilities and the result: the roof leaks, the sewage needs repairing; there is no money to pay for light, water or central heating. There is sometimes no adequate running water for proper cleanliness or hand washing. Our agency has seen children being bathed with laundry detergent and rinsed with non-potable water drained from radiators. Quite frequently the orphans have parasitic intestinal infections that they have gotten from poor water supply. The hot water situation in the wintertime is desperate.
     The children begin potty training before a year of age. They are sat on porcelain potties right after eating, sometimes right there in their cribs. The children go to the potty with a very regimented schedule. Eat, potty... Eat, potty. Many of the children wet the bed at night, because they are not allowed up during this time.
     The absence of sewing and knitting machines and instruments for metal or wood work does not allow the staff to teach crafts and house-keeping to older boys and girls, which is very important for them as their independent adult life begins at the age of 16-17 when they are turned out to the streets, with no skills to cope in life. It is very important to give professional education to the orphanages' graduates and to help them become employed, but there are very few programs. There is little chance for the parentless child to find a job and make his own way in life. As results, once released to the streets, the children, among the orphanages’ graduates, have a very high percentage that turn to crime, become drug-addicts and prostitutes. Many end up in prison or worse, murdered or commit suicide.
     The last statement got me and I spent the next 15 minutes crying. THESE CHILDREN HAVE DREAMS, JUST NO OPPORTUNITIES TO FULFILL THEM. It's not their fault. They just weren't allowed the opportunities as the other kids.

I suddenly had this HUGE sense of urgency. I don't want my baby to ever have to endure these kids of conditions.

Baby boy...mommy and daddy are on our way. We ARE coming to get you!

Carrots, Peas and Broccoli

Sung to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Carrots, Peas, and Broccoli,
Vegetables are good for me.
For my snack and in my lunch,
Veggie sticks are great to munch.
Carrots, Peas, and Broccoli,
Vegetables are good for me.

I worked really hard on Saturday steaming, processing and making little K's yummy baby food. Carrots, peas, broccoli and brown rice cereal. I carefully poured into the ice trays and washed all of the dishes. When she woke I was SO excited to give her her first baby food of carrots. To my surprise this is how she chose to repay me...By spitting it out, rubbing it on her face because she was trying to stop the spoon from going in her mouth. I think she might have gotten her momma's eating habits. YIKES!!! So I've chose to sing this song to her fifty times a day so maybe she'll begin to believe it :-)

Where We're At

Saturday we got our BIG "binder" in. This is a very important part of the journey and one we have been waiting on for a long time. "The Binder" has every piece of information we wanted to know about the adoption journey, everything we need to do step by step, what to expect in the next 9-12 months and every stat and everything we need to know about the Democratic Republic of Congo (did you know French is the "official" language (although they speak Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili) and you only pass items with your right eye because the left hand is only used for personal hygiene?!?!).

I spent all day Saturday during feeding times and nap times reading the binder and stayed up super late Saturday. It made me beyond anxious to get our little baby! Here are the steps:

• Obtain 3 copies of all of our Vital Statistic Documents
• Complete our USCIS (Department of Immigration/Homeland Security) I600A and I864 documents (These are requests for our child to become a US citizen and showing that we can support this child). **Done but can't be send off until we have our completed home study. Once we send it off and they approve, they will send us a letter with a time and date to show up at the USCIS office in Amarillo for fingerprints**
• Start immunizations immediately. It takes 7 months to get all required vaccines. Here's our list:
• Yellow Fever
• Typhoid
• Meningitis
• Polio
• Hep A
• Hep B
• Tetanus
• Schedule our home study **Done**
• Get a passport **Done**
• Set up a filing system with 14 different labels **Done**
• Set up a FedEx account **Done**
• Complete our TEN hours of education **working on that every day during nap and every evening. I graduated 3 years ago, I'm not suppose to sit through any more lectures!!!**
• Complete our dossier. This is the most important document we will ever complete because it's what is sent to Congo and they will match us with our baby based off of the information submitted.

All of our documents and referral letters (thank you so much to those who took the time to fill out the referrals for us) are into Deborah, our social workers office and case is ready to be started. We get our first vaccine and meet with Deborah for our first office visit next Thursday! After that she will come to our home the following week and visit with us for FOUR hours and tour the home! We will then wait about 2 months for her to approve us then work on our Dossier. From there it will take about 2-3 months for our child to come home!!!! We are getting so much closer! Everything has been tedious but moving so smoothly. Continue to pray the rest of the process goes just as well!

Making Room...

It's amazing how the thought of adding 1 little person could change so much! Nah, really we've had plans to re-do our fireplace. I was just wanting to add rock but Trevor's been wanting to move the fireplace off the floor and add a hearth. Well, he got his way. But only because to pass our home study, we couldn't have a fireplace on the floor because a child could fall in it. Really...what are the chances of a child falling into the fireplace compared to the child hitting their eye, head, etc on the corners of the hearth?!?! But I am glad we decided to do it. It is looking very nice.

Unfortunately though, when we dug into the project last week, we found out our gas lines are aluminum. The gas eventually rots out the inside and will likely cause my house to blow up one day if it leaked! Since we don't want to take the chances of that happening, we're having to have all of our pipes replaced...this week! Therefore, the fireplace is at a standstill until the pipes get finished. And since the original fireplace was smaller and they discontinued making that size (of course) we had to make our closets a little smaller to fit the larger fireplace (as if I had tons of room to donate to the fireplace from my closet...) my room will continue to look like this until the gas pipes get done and we can dry wall the closets!!!!!!

Notice Big K thought he needed to be in the picture and yes those are Trevor's shoes..in our bathroom.

We have also upgraded our car from a tahoe to a suburban. We tried putting 3 car seats in the bench seat in the tahoe and it just wasn't happening. Plus I couldn't even fit my double jogging stroller in the back of the tahoe (I mean I wasn't complaining...it was a great excuse to not go jogging ;-)). Within 1 week we had some amazing friends buy my tahoe and I purchased a new one on my own. Try buying a vehicle while your husband was on a remote dirt bike trip in the mountains with no cell phone! It was one of the hardest things I've done! But it all worked out so perfectly. The suburban is the same year model as my tahoe and with 20,000 more miles but it does have 2nd row captain seats and works perfectly for our new family of 5. The Lord truly blessed us and lined everything up so perfectly! The only problem is, there's enough room for the stroller ;-)

Please continue to pray for me. 1. That I continue to remain joyful and remember that it is ALL WORTH IT and 2. That I don't kill my husband!!!

Hopefully finished photos will be coming in a VERY timely manner!!

So Inspiring...

About a week ago I decided to do a little search around the internet on adoption blogs. Whoa Nelly are there a ton! Well I came across a site that had about 10 "gotcha day" videos. Needless to say, I sat there and watched every one of them, for 2 hours (and yes there was a huge pile of laundry on the couch behind me but I didn't care)!!

I called my mom and husband just crying my eyes out. I asked, "Can we start our own orphanage???" I just wanted to bring all of those other babies that were crawling around or playing outside home!

I know those who are in the adoption sphere have seen this video. Those who haven't, please take 9 minutes to watch it. It will be well worth the time. It's so encouraging to me because I know in 9-12 months that that will be us...bringing our little +1 home!

Then this is her 1 year later video...