UPDATE

Just a quick update on the adoption. We received word last night that the judge signed off on our guardianship papers!!!!! I am telling you there seems to be a trend going on these days. Every time I leave town or leave the house for the evening FANTASTIC news shows up in our email inbox! I was running errands last night before I was to meet a friend at Marie Callendars for our weekly treat and chat. I was standing in Target checking out when my cell phone goes off. The battery was about dead so I was surprised that it rang in the first place. I picked it up quickly and my husband says "We just got an email from a lady named Tami. Do you know anybody by that name." What a FUNNY guys, right???? I knew exactly who he was talking about and he then says "The judge signed off on the legals for Alesha's guardianship!" I am so happy I can hardly contain myself as the checker is looking at me and scanning my items. I am so flustered as I try to hold the phone, scan my credit card that I tell him I will call him back in a minute. The checker looks at me and says congratulations on whatever news you just received. Apparently my face said it ALL, because I didn't say anything, except what? and really?. I told her I was sorry I was on the phone and I didn't mean to be rude (it a pet peeve of mine when people are just chatting up a storm when people are trying to provide a service to them). I then tell her we just received word that the judge signed off on the legal documents for our daughter that we are adopting. She says that is great news and that is definitely a call you didn't want to miss. I left the store jumping out of my skin with probably the BIGGEST smile you have ever seen on my face. When I got to the car I called my husband back and we celebrated and then I panicked a bit thinking of everything that needs to be accomplished in such a short time! Then off to meet my friend and share the good news over a delicious lemon muffin!! FYI, Marie Callendars has the most amazing, huge, lemon muffin and it is only $1.89! It is SOOO yummy.

So what is next you might ask. The paperwork will be submitted this week for Alesha's visa and passport. Our agency will apply for ICPC travel clearance next week and then we will be set to book our flights to INDIA!!!!!!!!!!!! My mind is having a difficult time shutting off these days. I went to bed last night at around midnight and then laid there wide awake until about 2 a.m. with a billion thoughts running through my head!! I have decided that I need to just prioritize the MOST important things so they are completed and the rest will just have to fall through the cracks. Those who know me, know that this is going to be REALLY difficult!!!! I love to have all my ducks in a row and have everything completed perfectly right down to the littlest thing!!! At this point I just want to have my daughter home and if little things don't get done before I fly to get her then so be it. My priorities right now are getting malaria meds for all 4 of us, buying a car seat for Alesha, so we can bring her home from the airport, working on purchasing the items we need for travel and getting everything in the travel packet completed!

We finished painting Alesha's room on Sunday. It needs a lot of detail work, but at least the main part is completed. I sent off for the boy's visa's Monday morning so they should be here within a week or so. I am still in shock that we will be traveling in May to bring our baby girl home. It has been such a long journey and we are finally at the end. The thought of having Alesha in my arms brings tears to my eyes! Our boys are jumping out of their skin with excitement!

This has been such an exciting week with Liberty flying to pick up baby Ben, and Gidget, Laura and I receiving guardianship. Thank you judge for your speediness! I had a dream early this morning that I was able to meet my blogging friends in India. It was really fun! I hope this dream comes true. Alesha, we are SO close to meeting you for the first time. I pray that you won't be too scared and that God will prepare your heart for all the changes that are before you. We love you so much and will do everything we can to make your transition to your forever family as easy as possible. I am longing to hold you in my arms, give you lots of kisses, and tell you how much I love you. It won't be too much longer baby girl, hang on, mommy is coming!

SECOND SURPRISE!!

Our baby girl is not only sitting, but STANDING!!!! I was shocked to see this (see last post).

Not only is Alesha standing, but she wants to tell you something.

"MY MOMMY AND DADDY ARE NOW MY LEGAL GUARDIANS!!!!!"

Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen!?
I am LOVING the dress and her precious little face. I just want to kiss my computer screen!!!!

I just got back in to town after being gone since Sunday without Internet access. I will post more in the morning, but had to let you all know of this amazing news! We are in shock, crying tears of joy, and praising God ALL at the same time!!!!

SURPRISE!

These pictures are such a blessing to our family! We haven't had any recent photos of our baby girl so these are precious to us.

I can't believe how big she is getting. The last report we received she could only sit up with help and look at her sitting up so big with her pretty dress on!!!! Makes this mommy really happy to see this. I have been praying that Alesha would get stronger every day and be able to sit up by herself and here is visual proof of an answer my prayers!

I cannot believe how much she has grown. In our last photos she looks like this tiny little baby and now she looks so grown up! Can't wait to get her home so she doesn't continue to grow up without me. Have I told you lately how much I am in love with this little girl!!

Alesha's Bedding

I finally picked out a bedding set for Alesha's room. I had been looking around for several months trying to find something that I liked that didn't cost a small fortune. I just prayed that when the timing was right I would find it and know it was the set to buy. So one day I was looking on Craig's list and I saw this ad for a complete bedding set with extras for a baby girl's room. Of course I clicked on it right away. The ad listed everything that was included

Crib skirt
Crib bumper
2 sets of sheets
Crib quilt
Lampshade
Light switch cover
Diaper holder
Growth chart
3 wall hangings
Brand new baby blanket
2 window valances
1 flower floor rug

It stated that the set cost $500 new and she was selling the ENTIRE set for $100.

I thought the set was ADORABLE and so fun and was SURE that this was indeed my daughter's bedding. Keep in mind this is all happening on the Friday before Alesha's first birthday (March 1st) and I decided that since Alesha wasn't going to be home like I had hoped I thought I would just purchase her bedding as her birthday gift. A little something to take the sting out of her not being here.....back to the story....

I quickly emailed the seller and said that I wondered if she still had the set available and that I was VERY interested in purchasing it for our daughter that we are adopting from India. Please let me know ASAP. I compulsively checked my email over the next hour hoping for good news. The email shows up and it says "First, congratulations on your adoption! At this point I still have the set, but a lady said she was coming to pick it up for the last two days and didn't show, but assured me that she was coming today." I was crushed!!! I really felt like this was the set. So I email her back and say that we are really excited about our adoption and can't wait for our daughter to come home. If the lady decides not to show up today, PLEASE call me, because I REALLY would like the set and I won't make you wait for me to pick it up. At this point I send the email and to be honest started crying (already beyond emotional that I won't be spending my daughter's first birthday with her) and I pray that if this is indeed the set that is planned for Alesha the lady won't pick it up and if she does there is something else out there and I just released it.

Of course I check my email again and there is another message. It says "The lady is not coming if you want to come look at it call me and set up a time after 12:30. I am jumping for joy at this point!!! I call her back and she tells me this is only the second time she has posted anything on Craig's list and people say they are going to come and then never show up. She said she decided to call the lady and find out if she was coming or not and the lady said that she bought something else, but she didn't bother to tell the seller this. I told her I would be right over to take a look. The boys were so excited to go and check it out with me. The set was in perfect condition. She told me that her daughter wouldn't sleep in her crib (she ended up sleeping with them ) so her room was basically for show. It was absolutely perfect. I thanked the lady and told her what a blessing this set was and how I really appreciated her making the call to the previous potential buyer. I showed her pictures of our precious daughter so she would know who the bedding was for. She fell in love with Alesha and was so happy for our family. She also threw in a brand new in the package changing pad cover.

We rushed home and the boys couldn't wait to put everything together in their sister's room. I was just blown away at what a great deal I had gotten. I was so amazed and thankful at how God had been there for me during such a difficult time. He had blessed me with a beautiful bedding set for Alesha at a price that was perfect, from a seller who was excited about our adoption. Simply amazing how everything fell into place after I released it to Him! God is SO faithful!

My mom bought this duck for Alesha, cute huh?

Our homeschool group had a couple representatives from the House of Reptiles come and show our group a number of very cool reptiles. The boys thought this show was very cool and touched everything they were allowed to touch. Some of the reptiles were off limits to touch for the kids. This guy was extremely comfortable with every reptile, spider, snake, etc that he showed.

Scorpion - They have a fluid inside them that makes them glow.
If you shine a light they turn blue so you can find them when it is dark...cool!

I am NOT a fan of spiders. This creeped me out.

He is so casual for having a spider this big crawling up his arm!

Can't remember the name of this one, but the both boys pet it.

Young alligator. Pretty cute at this size.

This alligator sat like this for quite some time. It looks so funny.

Notice he kept the head away from the kids....good idea.

It had been devenomized.

I told the mom sitting next to me that when you see a tool being

held by a handler you know the danger level just went up!

This snake was mean and not in the mood to show off!

CREEPY!

FREAKY!

Can't remember the name of this one, but it was really

mellow and super soft. I even touched this one.

Not something I would wear around my neck!

This snake was really long.

Luke touching the boa constrictor - Martin did too,

I just didn't get it on camera.

Bouldering

A few weeks ago we met some good friends for lunch and then headed over to The Circuit in Portland. It is a great bouldering gym with all kinds of climbing levels to choose from. Martin and Luke had a BLAST! This was their first time and they did fantastic. If they had actual climbing shoes I can only imagine what they could do. Both our boys have been climbing machines since day one! It was fun to see them conquer what they put their minds to. It was a great day and after 3 1/2 hours of bouldering they appeared to actually be a bit tired...this is rare. Thank you Anja and Lia for a fun day.

Younger children's area. Climb up the wall, slide down the slide

Next level up. Climb up wall, walk down ladder.

Luke doing some bouldering on different levels

This was tough!

This next series is of Martin. He wanted SO badly to get

to the top of this boulder. It took him multiple tries, but he

finally nailed it. I was impressed.

Closer

Switching angles.

Almost there

He nailed it! He was SO excited.

Similar? What do you think?

When I first saw Alesha's referral picture I thought I saw a lot of resemblance to our son, Luke. As I was looking through old photos I found this photo of Luke at about 6 months old. I am amazed at how much these two really look alike. Do you see it or is it just me?

Happy Birthday Dad

Today my dad would have turned 62 years old. I can't believe it has nearly been 17 years since he passed away. I miss him so much. There have been countless times that I wished he was still here. So many milestones he has missed. I am so thankful that in the last days of his life he accepted Christ as his Savior. How thankful I am that one day I will see him again.

This is an old photo, but it makes me smile every time I look at it. My dad loved kids and did silly fun stuff kids would do, like swinging. I miss his laugh and just having him around to talk to. Happy Birthday, Dad. You will always be in my heart. I love you!

Hail and Snow mix for March!?

Last night as we were finishing up dinner we heard VERY loud drops pounding on our skylights. We looked outside to see a significant amount of hail and snow mix falling out of the sky. The ground turned white very quickly and then as fast as it came it left. The rain came and washed it all away. Luke, was SO excited he ran outside and managed to make a mini snowman in about 5 minutes flat. Pretty good work for such a short window of resources :-)

Alesha's 1st Birthday Party

Here are a few shots from our family of four celebration of our precious Alesha's first birthday. In our hearts we SO wanted to be in India to celebrate her special day with her. Since we couldn't, I prepared an Indian dinner, the boys baked and decorated a cake (pink frosting with red writing), we bought some balloons, cards, a new pretty pink picture frame to frame one of my favorite pictures of Alesha, and had a mini celebration. I held it together for the most part the day of her birthday, it was the day after that I broke down. I am just happy to say that we will be able to celebrate her 2nd birthday as a family of 5! We are looking forward to a BIG birthday bash :-)

Happy Birthday, Alesha!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, ALESHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is our precious baby girl's 1st birthday!!! As I think about not having my daughter with me on her birthday it makes me think of her birth mother. I am so thankful for her birth mother choosing life for her baby. I pray for her today as I am sure her heart is aching along with mine. We are so thankful God has given our family this precious gift. We stand is awe of how God has put all the pieces together and look forward to bringing our daughter home soon.

We are going to cook Indian food for dinner tonight and have a little party just the four of us. The boys have already baked her cake and will decorate it this afternoon. We will take pictures and I will post them in the next couple of days.

I am so thankful that we have moved on to the guardianship phase of the process. Hopefully it won't be too many more months before we have our daughter home. There will be lots of other birthdays and other special days to celebrate with her.

Alesha, we love you so much and look forward to the day when we can fly to India, hold you in our arms, tell you how much we love you, give you tons of hugs and kisses, and then bring you back home with us as a family of 5.

Love always,
Mommy, Daddy, Martin and Luke