Showers of blessings....

My awesome co-workers in the Accounting Department totally surprised me with a shower luncheon.  Can't believe I had no idea and was completely surprised.  They had the cutest cake and two baskets - one blue and one pink - filled with summer pool items.  How sweet!  Thank you everyone for blessing me and welcoming the kiddos with excitement!!!!

Then this past Thursday, our church Life Group gave us a shower and blessed us with more goodies.  We are definitely ready with clothes for the kids.  This is a huge help to us since we are bringing home two little ones, which means there is lots of stuff needed...

And my friend, Leslie, made this adorable blue dress...amazing and absolutely so cute!!!  Can't wait to dress my baby girl in it!!!

Thank you everyone!!!! 

Mini Shower in a Box!

My mom totally surprised us a week ago with an awesome package!  Instructions were that we were to FaceTime her when we got the package and were ready to open it.  We followed instructions and guess what was inside...a mini baby shower - complete with oodles of presents and confetti!  It was so sweet and such a blessing to us.  The outfits are adorable.  Our kiddos are ready for summer.  Here's some pics of the goodies...

Ready for the pool including sunglasses!

the kiddos' "going home" outfits....

 Tons of cute stuff, but I have to say this dress is my favorite.....

Thanks Mom!  Love all the goodies and I'm sure the kids will too!!!   Thanks for taking the time to spoil us and make us feel special. 

....and I just have to mention that watching us open all the gifts just wore out the cat, Jet, but he found a good spot for a nap...

The Judge Said Yes!!!

I'm a bad blogger.  Haven't kept up with my blog very timely.  What's happening???  We traveled overseas for court on early this month, and heard the sweet word we've been waiting to hear...Yes!  The judge said yes to our petition and now we just have to wait 30 days for the ruling to go into effect.  We are headed back to get our "babies" in just two more weeks.  Can't wait!!!!

Thank you to all friends and family who kept us in your prayers for a favorable decision by the judge.  We feel so blessed!!!

Waiting....

We should be really good and patient at this by now, but we're not.  All documents have been completed and sent in.  Now we are waiting for a court date.  We expect to get one in June or July at the latest.  I have to admit this part of the waiting process is the hardest for sure.  Now that we've met these little ones, we think about them constantly.  I everything I do, they are in the back of my mind.  I think about them in the car with me, eating dinner at the table with them, taking them to the zoo for the first time, putting them to bed at night.  Will they be afraid of the dark?  What kinds of food will they like?  Will they be nervous on the plane ride home or will they be excited?  - Can't wait to color with them, sing them songs, wipe their runny noses, clean playdough out of the carpet, soothe them after a bad dream, help them explore their new world of sights, sounds, foods, etc.  We just are so excited to bring them home.  Each day feels so long waiting for the court date.
In the meantime though we have kept ourselves busy - finishing up a few projects around the house, getting our medical paperwork done, preparing at work for next trip out of town - anything we can get done ahead of time because we know once we get home with the "babies" we will pour ourselves into them.
God has blessed us with so many friends...we've met other families who are in the waiting room with us too.  We've met another couple who just came home with her little one and can give us advice on what to expect on each part of the trip.  My sis-in-law's circle of mom-friends is passing on a ton of toys, clothes, and shoes that their kids don't need or outgrew.  This has been a huge blessing to us.  This has kept me busy too - washing all the toys, sorting the clothes by sizes, organizing their rooms....

So, for now we wait.  Did I mention that this part of the waiting is the hardest...??  :O)

Trip 1 to Russia

Wow, the past few weeks of our life have been complete whirlwind.  One week after our referral we were given the news that we would be on a plane headed to Russia in 14 days!!  So we became "busy-bees" purchasing flights, ordering visas (that we received 1 day before we left - whew!!), obtaining all items needed for travel, etc.  - Then on March 23rd we headed out overseas to make our first of three trips to Russia to complete the adoption process.  This first trip was to meet our "babies" and officially accept the referral (as if there was ever any doubt) on paper.

First, I have to say that it is a looong flight to get to our final destination in Russia.  It took a total of 3 flights and 1.5 days to get there.  Please don't take this for complaining though, it is 110% worth it and we will do whatever it takes to bring them home!  The airlines were great.  Our agency's facilitators met us at the airport and took care of us the whole trip.  They were absolutely wonderful!  First day we arrived, we got settled in our apartment and caught up on some much needed rest. 

The second day we had our interview, and then we got to go meet our children for the very first time!!!!  We made our journey to the orphanage and had our first visitation time.  They brought in our sweet little girl and she came right over to us - we were sitting on the floor - and she plopped right into my lap and began tossing a ball back and forth to Dean.  This little girl is absolutely adorable.  So sweet and precious, yet has a little hit of spitfire in her personality too... Needless to say - our hearts are completely overjoyed! 

Then about fifteen minutes later they brought in our little boy.  This little guy has a smile that would light up any room anywhere.  We have never seen such a beautiful, bright, genuine smile.  He just grinned from ear to ear and was so full of energy.  He is such a sweet thing, and so excited and full of life.  He had such a blast playing with us, and his big beautiful smile was present the whole time.  What adorable children they are!!! 

What completely melted our hearts was at the end of the first visit when then one of the facilitators must have told our little boy to give us a hug goodbye....he happily ran over to Dean, gave him a big hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then he ran over to me and did the same. How precious!!! 

Throughout our first week in Russia, we got to visit with the children several times and each visit went great. The children are happy, healthy, and it is easy to see that the caretakers really care about the children and take good care of them.  The first trip went by so fast and we were sad to have to come home. However we are trying to make the time go by fast by staying focused on doing whatever the next steps are to complete the process.

We feel so blessed and thankful to have the opportunity to be the parents of these children.  We know that the transition and that parenting in general will take much energy, work, will have some rough moments, but we are so ready, so excited, and absolutely cannot wait to bring these little ones home to love them, be their parents, and make them a part of our family forever. 

So what is next?  We are getting together some additional paperwork that is now needed after our first trip so we can get a court date.  We are hoping that in the next month or two we will return to Russia for our court date, get to see our "babies" again, and prayerfully get a "yes" from the judge.  We are hoping that by mid-to-end of summer the whole process will be complete and we will be able to bring these two beautiful children home. 

Sorry but we cannot post any pictures of them or mention their names just yet for sake of confidentiality until they are legally our children.  Also sorry for the long delay in updating our post.  As soon as we returned home, we were so busy playing "catch up" at work and getting the ball rolling on our needed paperwork that we got a little behind on managing our emails and blog. -- We do have to give a huge THANK YOU to all of our friends and family who are giving us so much support and encouragement.  So many people are praying for us and these precious little ones.  If they only knew that they are already loved by so many friends and family who cannot wait to meet them and who are praying their way home....

On behalf of our "babies" - Thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and prayers!!!  May you be blessed for your kindness!

Referral!!!!

On March 2nd we received the phone call we've long been waiting for - our referral!!!  We have been matched to two precious little ones - a boy and a girl - who are siblings and need a family.  We were totally surprised because we personally anticipated receiving the referral near the end of our approximate time frame, which was somewhere around February-April (preparing our hearts for the long wait I guess).  So it was an incredible delight to get the phone call that Friday morning and hear the wonderful news!!  Needless to say, we are absolutely beyond excited and cannot wait to meet our children.  It took only moments for them to grow on our hearts, and we feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be parents to these children. - We cannot share details at this point, but we can tell you that these children are beautiful and we cannot wait to bring them home.

So what is next?  Well, we actually got more news that we will get to meet them in less than two weeks from now!  We are leaving for our first trip to Russia on March 23rd and will get to meet our babies!!!  The past week has been such a whirlwind with so many preparations and things to take care of and plans to make - all while completely excited and finding it hard to stay focused.  We are just thrilled to pieces that we are in the "final phase" of the process. 
So stay tuned for an update on our progress as we continue on this journey.  

As always, we thank you for your interest, covet your prayers for our little ones and for safe travel, and thank you for sharing in our excitement and anticipation!

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14

1.  This weekend one my favorite local annual events took place....the giant used book sale at the state fairgrounds!  Admission is free and there are gazillions of used books all organized in categories - and all for sale super cheap...$1.00, $2.00, $0.50, etc.  Love it!  We were there a couple of hours and stocked up on some kids books....

2.  Also, this Saturday I received my Friends for Adoption goodie from Melissa.  This is adorable........

...and this little book is so uplifting.  Thank you Melissa!

3.  Another thing I meant to mention is that last summer we had the awesome opportunity to attend a picnic with other families who have adopted through our agency.  We had a great time making new friends, hearing their stories, and meeting the precious children adopted into their families.  When we were leaving, one of the ladies gave us two tickets for the amusement park.  They don't expire, and she gave them to us to take our future children to the park.  Her gesture was so sweet and encouraging!

Happy Miscellany Monday!!!  Here's how YOU can join the fun....lowercase letters