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

Yellow Belt

Our youngest son, Luke, tested for his yellow belt in taekwondo this week. He had a list of skills and terminology he had to demonstrate and then he needed to break a board with a front kick. He did a great job!!! The board broke on the first try. We are so proud of him. He is now an official yellow belt. His old white-striped belt was tied in a knot and presented to him to keep. They tie the previous belt into a knot as a symbol not to forget the knowledge and techniques associated with that belt.


A practice kick before the board break.


I snapped the photo too quick. He broke the board I just missed the actual break!


Luke, with his instructor.


Proud to have broken the board.


Thickness of board


Working on another kick.

NEWS!!!!!

What does that spell - NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE!!!!!!!
(in short, India doesn't object to us being Alesha's parents )

These letters are SO important to our family. This means we are one step closer to our precious baby girl, Alesha! We will move on to the Kolkata courts hopefully by the end of this week or beginning of next. This step tends to take quite a while to accomplish, but we we are trusting in God's timing. We have all been doing the happy dance around our house and rejoicing in answered prayer. We want to thank all of our friends and family who have been praying for us and continue to pray for us through this long journey. You are appreciated and we can't wait to introduce you to our little girl when she finally arrives home.

Hang on baby girl we are coming! We LOVE you with all our hearts!!

My FIRST EVER massage

Tonight I experienced my very FIRST professional full-body massage. It was AMAZING! I felt very relaxed when it was finished. I was a bit nervous going into this, because I didn't know what to expect. I am VERY modest and wasn't sure how that part was going to work out. My fears were unwarranted as I felt very comfortable and relaxed. It is apparent that I have a LOT of VERY tight spots in my shoulder/neck area. She had to work that area for quite a while. The massage lasted 1hour 30 minutes. and was just lovely. The best part was that my mom gave me this massage as a gift. I love you mom. Now I know what to tell my hubby to get me when he asks me what I want.

Celebrating 60 years of life!

My mom's 60th birthday was February 6th, and my brother and I hosted a huge birthday party for her at my house. My brother and family came down from Spokane for the weekend. It was fun to watch my mom's reactions as she answered the door to see who the next guest was going to be. We didn't make it a surprise party, but who would be attending the party was a surprise. With all the family and friends who made it we had appox. 40 people celebrate her life. The next day, she said "That was the BEST party I have ever had. I have never felt SO loved!" Mission accomplished :-)

My mom is SO deserving of a great big fun party. She is such a fun person. My mom is so special to me. She is my best friend, a follower of Jesus, she is giving, compassionate, loving, passionate, encouraging, dedicated, hard working, has a servant's heart and the list goes on and on. Anyone who has had the privilege of having my mom be a part of their life is very blessed. Thank you mom for ALWAYS being there for me. I love you so much!! I am looking forward to many more years of making memories with you. Love, Sis

Our baby is 11 months old today

Today our precious Alesha turned 11 months old. I am sad when I think about the fact that another 30 days has passed and she still is not in my arms. Everyday that passes she is getting older and I am missing her change, because she is not here. It occurred to me today as I was more irritable and just not myself that subconsciously my frustration with the fact that she is not home really gets to me.....even when I try to deny it.

On the brighter side of things, here is another photo I received. This photo makes me laugh when I look at it. This is quite the outfit and I like how she is holding her fingers. This photo is a visual answer to prayer for me. I had been praying from last month that Alesha would be able to sit up. This is a huge step for her. I was happy to hear and see that she is doing well and looks like she has gained some weight from the last photos I received....always a good sign :-). It will be fun to see how quickly she will develop once she gets home and gets lots of one-on-one attention. I am also looking forward to watching her try to keep up with her brothers.

At this point we are still waiting on the NOC "No Objection Certificate" The next step with be the guardianship step, which includes the scrutinizing of our paperwork, a court date, the judge granting us guardianship and then him signing off on the paperwork. After this step we wait for Alesha's passport to be issued and get ICPC clearance. After all this is completed we can book our flights in India!!! Our prayer has been that we would be in India for Alesha's first birthday, March 1st. We realize that this would be a miracle of God for this to happen! As we have prayed for this we believe that God has the power to make this happen. He has the power to supersede paperwork and governmental steps in order to bring Alesha home in HIS timing. We are also aware that God may not want us to be in India March 1st. We can say that if that is the case we know that God has a reason and we are trusting in Him alone.

Happy 11 month birthday baby girl! We love you so much and can't wait to have you home forever. Hang on, we are coming just as soon as we can.