WE GOT TICKETS!!!

We went Saturday morning to get our air plane tickets, I had no idea what it all in tailed. I figured it was like getting tickets for a concert, you know what show you want to go to (or the place you want to go... Kiev) you pick the seats you want and away you go right? Not at all, you really got to know what your doing to get the best deal and there are so many things to consider; lay overs, how many times your willing to stop and switch planes but also watching the amount of time you might have to get from one plane to the next... Grrrr! Also depending on what you chose it will affect the price. We live in Milwaukee, WI but the Chicago O'Hara airport is bigger so to fly from Milwaukee to Chicago would have added $600 per ticket... crazy!!! we are just gonna drive the 2hrs to get to O'Hara! I thank God for my Mother-in-Law and her friend Jean who seemed to have everything on lock down!!!! They knew what they were doing and really helped to get it done!!!!! Thank you ladies I can't even express what it meant to me to have you help us!!!! So our tickets are for Sunday January 30th we are flying out from Chicago at 3pm!

The words everyone is waiting to hear...

It has been a long road, way longer than I ever dreamed it would be. We have had many ups and many downs but we have been blessed to see Gods hand at work through it all! We got an email this morning with our SDA appointment... DRUM ROLL PLEASE... February 2nd 2011!
Now before you have the reaction I had which was... "WHAT that's more than a month away, how can I wait another month and 1/2 to hold those little ones, tears tears tears??????"
I had a good cry and I let all the positives sink in...
*We have more than enough time to make all of our travel and staying arrangements
*Our air fair should be cheaper
*I can re-pack (which I love doing)
*My Mother-In law said there is a nasty storm a brewin in Europe so we should steer clear of that
*We will be home for Christmas and the New Year
All these things are things to focus on but this morning when I got this GREAT news I couldn't see any of this all I saw was that I had to wait yet again until I could hold those two precious little ones in my arms.
One mother that I am friends with told me that everything I am going through will just make it all the more worth it (translation: The longer it takes the more I'll cry!!!!)
For a lot of the other mothers that are adopting sometimes I get so jealous of you because while your waiting you have other children in your homes to hug and kiss and focus on while you wait, I don't doubt for a second that it is still hard to wait but a least you have someone to take your mind off of it sometimes. I have two already done empty rooms staring at me!!!!
I do feel better now, and I am SOOOOOO Thankful that we can say "WE HAVE A DATE" instead of "I DON'T KNOW, WE ARE STILL WAITING" when people ask us what's going on. Thank you all for your prayers and we ask for continued prayer for us as we are preparing for the last step of this journey!!!!

SO Much to do!

There is so much to do and I'm a planner, Fred's a let it play out kinda guy... Grrr! I don't want to be caught with my pants down so to speak so I have packed the kids bag like three times I'm finishing our laundry to pack our bag. We went to the credit union today to order our "newer" bills and they lady said she would do what she can she doesn't know if when she puts the order in if she can be that specific but she will try!!! Also Fred and I are on the hunt for money belt... anyone???? We are gathering all the take along paperwork and I am making sure work will run smoothly while I'm gone. I wrote the families I work for a little letter to let them know I'll be gone and we are making sure we have people to cover our responsibilities at church. I made a check list... I love check lists!!!! I can't help but feel like I'm behind somehow... or like I'm missing something. I think it's just that there is so much to do that I get nervous I'll leave something out!!! Keep Praying!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving has always been my VERY favorite holiday and now I know WHY... It is offical we are SUBMITTED!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise God and thank you all for your prayers and support!!!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!

New News!!!!

I know it has been awhile since I have updated my blog. I have come on a few times but I just had nothing to say. Fred and I have been VERY busy redoing 14 very important documents, I think we could drive out to Madison with our eyes closed!!!! Lets see we got all our document done and sent and then Sunday night Nancy emailed me and before I even opened I had the biggest pit in my stomch. I opened it and read it... Of course there was another mistake!!!!! So after crying my eyes out, yet again I got online and emailed Fred's work to see if they could redo his employment letter. Praise God the next morning she called and the letter was done we drove all the way to Cudahy (about 30mins from our home) got the letter drove to my Mom & Dads house to scan and email it, We didnt get a responce right away and it was already 11am Fred hadn't slept and I have to be to work by 2pm so we thought ok lets just head to Madison. Thank God for email to your phone because just before we got on the freeway to head 1hr 1/2 to Madison I got an email the the REDONE letter was wrong... GRRRRRR!!! Now Im am very honestly ready to give up at this point, Fred is tired and hungry, Im hungry and trying to keep my head. We turned around and when home. Once we got there Fred called his HR lady and explanied what happened, after trying to not only understand what we needed ourselfs but having to explain what we dont understand that we need to someone that needs to do it for us... we all started making sence. (did you follow that???) Barb was more than happy to put this on her priority list. She got it done we drove back to Cudahy (about 30mins from our home)when Fred went i to pick it up Barb asked if there was anything else she could do and Fred said yeah could you scan this and email it to my wife (jokingly) Barb took the form from Fred and did jut that!!! That saved us from having to drive all the way back to my parents house and we were able to hop on the freeway and start our trip to Madison yet again!!! Three hours, a tank of gas and $35 (to pay to expidite the certifing process) later we are home. I had to call into work (Thank God for the BEST STAFF in the world) Fred still hadn't slept or eaten... WE WERE BEAT!!!! We made dinner and Fred had about two hours to sleep before he had to go back to work. Tuesday morning when he walked into the house he looked very much like a zombie!!! He passed out as soon as he walked in the door. I felt awful so I prayed "Lord if there is any way the Secratary of State can call this morning so I can go pick it up without Fred" see the thing is I have to be to work by 2 or 2:30 so they would have to call by 12 for me to have enough time to drive there and back before I start!!! Well thank you Lord they called at 11am and my Mom and I jumped in the car and headed back out there once again!!! I got to my Moms house scaned and emailed it then I headed to work.
I don't know if I have said this before but for whatever reason I am SO afraid of Federal building or any building of importantance (sometimes the library even freaks me out... CRAZY I know) Through this process I have been make to overcome that fear but I still get a little shakey. So after work I went home and Tanya and I talked for a bit then decided to head down to the airport post office. We got there filled out ALL the forms that go along with a global express package and paid $93 to send one sheet of paper to Ukraine... can you believe that? I was just prasing God it wasn't $110 like the last two time we shipped this paperwork. They accepted my document at 7:26pm, after we were done the man said we made it just in time before the trucks went out they leave at 7:30pm... the lady ran out to hold the truck to make sure our package got on!!!!
So there you go that is where we sit... We are praying sooooo veryy hard that we get submitted tomorrow so even if your not a praying person PLEASE consider taking it up just for today!!!!!

New Update... Grrrrrr!!!

OK the other night we got an email that said 11 of our documents expired and we have until November 13th to get them in! I don't think I have to tell you how scared I was and I will admit that I completely broke down! Thank God I have Fred he did something very uncharacteristic of himself... he sat down next to me, he kept his cool and he just put his arm around me. In that moment I just thought to myself wow look at the man he has become since our marriage began, God has done such a work in us and our marriage! So even though we were both mad and hurt and upset we started working on what we could that night we emailed all the people that needed to help us redo our forms and got responses the next day. I know God doesn't always show you why you need to go through something but I prayed and thought if he could show me why we have to wait more and go through this at least it will help me to stay focused. I'm sure this isn't the only reason but a huge "brick" fell on me yesterday. I have a confession, before we found out that these forms needed to be redone I was very afraid of having to go to Ukraine. I was scared of the air plane, of the language barrier and culture barrier. I was afraid of the food, of the people and of the unknown! After getting this news and thinking the worst (that I'd never get my children)I have to say the fear of never getting to hold my beautiful babies was far worse than the fear of what I have to do to get them! All my fears about Ukraine seem silly now and Fred and are closer than ever. This has also helped Fred and I to focus on God and not on ourselves! So even thou this stinks I have all the faith that God's time will be perfect I hop I can just keep my head while I have to wait!
We already have all of our redoes started and half of them are done and ready to be sent to Madison!!! PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!!!

Here's Where We Stand...

After a stressful and emotional week... that I wont even get into but I'm sure many of you can understand where I'm coming from! I emailed our coordinators to see if I could get an update on our status and I got an answer... not the answer I was hoping for but an answer none the less. Our dossier hasn't been submitted yet they are hopeful that it will be submitted by the end of this week, which is great news but not if you thought you were already submitted... grrrrr! I am however SOOOO thankful for the people around me that have been able to encourage me and just be there for me to cry to!!!! Fred and I are learning the true meaning of... "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!" knowing God is in control is probably the only thing that is getting me through. I think the weirdest feeling I have ever felt is knowing that I can't doing anything but wait but not being able to wait I can't even explain it. There's absolutely nothing I can do to make this go faster but I can't wait... I can't wait... I know I have to but I cant! Can you explain that because it doesn't make sense to me, how do I make myself feel better! I knew this was going to be hard but I didn't know it was going to HURT so BAD!!!!! I need to consume myself in God's word and keep myself busy I think that will do it!

I'm Running Out...

I'm running out of things to do to prepare, I have cleaned the house top to bottom, I have cleaned all the toys, I have changed and rearranged their rooms right now I'm working on doing all their laundry and steam cleaning the furniture. Next the basement I guess, then maybe the garage? What's funny is I'm sure that once we have a date I'm going to think "Oh no I need more time"! I know this will happen but it is getting excruciating to wait, I didn't think that doing their laundry would affect me so much but I had to bit my lip a few times so that I didn't cry.
On a funny note Fred and I were getting ready for a special date night on Saturday and I went into the kids bedroom to rock in the rocking chair and pray while Fred was in the shower... totally fell asleep! I'm glad Fred woke me up we had a lot of fun we went out to dinner and then to Comedy Sportz it was Great!

WOW SOOOOOO Busy!!!

I feel awful that I haven't posted in so long let me tell yu what has been going on: Fred and I finished all our loan paperwork and have submitted it so please be praying that we recieve the rest of our finances to bring our babies home! We are appling through a Christian organization and hope to get approved soon. We have also been working on complieling paperwork that will be need for the American embassy once we travel... more work thanI thought it was going to be. But now for the most exciting news... if you didn't know Rorie and Cole will be Fred and my first children so as far as having things that a child needs we were very unpreparied but last weekend my Mom and Best friend had a baby shower for me and Fred. It was very overwhelming to me becasue here bringing us gifts were all the people that had worked so hard to help raise money for our adoption. I wondered to myself is there no limit to what these people will give, is there no limit to what God can provied? NO... there is no limit to Gods love, blessing, and mercies that he shows everyday to us and for that Fred and I are truly humbled and greatful to our family and friends! Now according to tradition a baby shower is an event that is shared between women, but our shower was unique. Because we were adoption we were able to incorperate some fun things from our children's culture; My cousins and I made Ukrainian Snow Cap Cookies and a Ukrainian Berry Ice Tea. Fred made a Ukrianian Kielbasa and Cabbage soup. Now my husband LOVES to eat so when he was told that the shower was for women and that meant the food to he wasn't very happy so along with his best friends Sean, they devised a plan to make themselves acceptable to join in our festivities... I'm just going to show you...

My husband Fred is the pretty blond on the left and Sean is the handsome brunette on the right or is he a red head? I havent laught so hard in so long!!! Needless to say we allowed them to stay!
The other exciting news is that Fred and I have completed the kids bedroom and well as thier play room, the rooms are so fun I have a hard time not being in them all the time! I sit in thier bedroom almost every day and just pray, I can't wait util they are asleep in thier beds and I am praying over them!

This is thier bedroom that thier Dad took his "sweet time" to paint!




This HUGE project started out as just a simple blue wall... then Fred and I added whit clouds... Then we had green paint left over from thier bedroom so naturally we need grass... Then what was blue skys, whit clouds and green grass without a tree or a sun or glow in the dark stars? I admit we may have gotten carried away but it was so much FUN and Fred and I did the whole project together! I'm so tankful for how close we have gotten over the last six months, I didn't think we could get closer but it is amazing the love and respect that we have for one another that I dont think we had before! In the last two weeks I have celebrated my sixth wedding anniversay with my BEST FRIEND and husband, I had a wonderful baby shower with my friends and family and today I celabrated my 27th birthday... and the only thing that I can think of is how great it will be when this time next year I have two little ones throwing thier arms around me to give me the b=very best birthday gift of all... thier hugs and kisses!

Everything is Mailed!

We got that last Dr.'s form that has been such a pain in the butt, I went and made copies of everything and then went to the 24hr post office and "Express Guaranteed" (1-3 day) mailed all our documents to Ukraine, they will be there but Tuesday afternoon! Praise God I can't even tell you how good it feels there has been to many times in this process that I felt like it was never gonna happen and now I feel good. I'm sure nothing compares to actually holding my babies in my arms! Please keep us in your prayers!

Pauline

This precious girl has been on my heart the last few days, her name is Pauline and I think she is the most beautiful little girl. Her profile on Reece's Rainbow says:
"Oh, I am SO happy to finally have new photos and info about this beautiful princess!!!! I believe she may have Mosaic Down Syndrome, we are trying to confirm that. She is very high functioning, healthy, active, and social. She will do so well in a family environment. More photos available, outstanding agency partner in this region! MARRIED COUPLES ONLY, PLEASE"
I ask you to help me pray for a loving family to commit to bringing this little angle into their life's and hearts!

My Husband is a Super Hero!

OK let's talk about yesterdays adventure... All of our documents have been approved except Fred's medical document has expired so I made an appointment for yesterday @9am. We went in to talk to the Doctor (who was VERY apologetic about all the mistakes that happened with this document)and he ordered new blood tests for Fred and told us the results would be back by Friday (that means I'll be at the post office Friday afternoon to mail that form to Madison). For those of you that don't know my husband Fred is a BIG man, he is 6ft. tall and 300lbs, this big strong man has only one fear that I have found in our six years of marriage and that's needles! Not only does he hate needles but he has awful veins. We once had to go to urgent care and it took two nurses and six needle pokes for them to find a vain, poor guy! I prayed so hard that his blood tests would go good and they did the first time around but yesterday it took two nurses and five pokes. They put the needle in and then poked around for a bit, I couldn't even breath. I wish I could have been in that chair for him, my veins pop right out, I don't even really need that elastic band they put on your arm. But he sat there for 45mins as they searched and searched for a vain they could use! I'm so proud of him! We joke that adoption is the opposite (in terms of pain) of pregnancy. Here I was standing by his side reminding him to breath and assuring him he was doing good and that it was almost over... Fred said he thinks his pain was worse then child birth! That's why God gave women the "blessing" of child birth he knew men couldn't handle it or at least not FRED!!!! I LOVE YOU KAROL!

Inching closer!

My Mom got a new computer that has a scanner that WORKS!!!! So we were able to get all our documents emailed over and everything was approved EXCEPT... Fred's DARN medical document! His DR is gonna hate us and we have to go back to him tomorrow morning and Fred will have to get a new physical and blood work done (please pray for him... and me!) which we will have to pay for I believe because insurance only covers one physical per year... yuck! But whatever it takes to get this done! We are closing in!!!

What a DAy, What a DAy!!!

So yesterday was Cole's (Everett) birthday, and I did something pretty amazing... I baked cupcakes for Bible Study! He must be pretty special for me to do something like! No I like to bake I just cant seem to find time for it anymore, I can't find time for doing much other than PAPERWORK! Every time I think "OK this is it we are done and going to be submitted" time runs out for one of our forms and has to be redone. You see at the beginning of all of this I was like a powerful locomotive ripping through paperwork like crazy, doing all that I could to get things done so I could get my babies. Then came the road blocks and Lord knows I did all that I could to get passed them but some things are out of my hands no matter how much I called or showed up, unfortunately this adoption was not important to every company/person I had to deal with. Now that those forms are rolling in the forms I worked so hard and fast to get done are expiring, I'm just so fearful that we are going to end up having to redo everything and not get it done within the allotted time. Grrrr! I don't know how people can go through life changing events in their life (like adopting two kids form the Ukraine)with out God to lean on. My only refuge is that I can give all of this to Him, it's not always easy but I am learning to. I really want other Moms and Dads that are in the adoption process to know that while working so hard for the dream of adopting a sweat baby you may get caught up in the hussle and bussle of gathering paperwork and making sure that everything is correct and redo those forms that are not. You may get so frustrated that it is EXTREMELY hard to see the end goal (and for a new parent it's hard to know whether all the frustration is worth it), sometimes along the way it feels like "is this real, are there really kid(s) half way around the world waiting for me?" These feelings I believe are normal feelings but beware of them and don't let them slow you down or get in your way. I am so blessed that when I have these feelings (which lately has been a lot) I can give it to God! I read a devotional yesterday that pictured your walk with Christ as a tandem bike ride, it said if we let God direct our path and sit in the front we are bound to see amazing things because all we have to do is "PEDDLE" but when we are in the front we are so busy trying to get where we are going we miss out on all the scenery along the way. So Fred and I are trying our best to give this to God and just "PEDDLE"!
This devotional was preparing Fred and I for the day God had in store, Fred and I thought we only had three forms to get redone and we would finally be ready to submit but as I went through the checklist that was provided for me I realized that we had more mistakes to correct than I thought. Our marriage certificate was obtained in March which is to old for us to send so we had to go back to the court house and get more copies, then our stinking doctor redid his form but this time didn't do it on letter head so I had to find a way to get his name and address typed on the top of the page, then we had a few last forms to get notarized and then off the Madison to get every thing apostilled! Only when we got to Madison (FINALLY) the lady told us "OK it should be back to you in about five days"... "WHAT" said a very hungry and tired third shifter who hadn't slept because his crazy wife had this great idea to drive out to Madison to get everything DONE once and for all! Fred was not very polite and asked if we could pay extra to get the papers expedited, she very kindly said "well we could but it will take at least 24hrs for that to happen"! The first thing our of Fred's mouth was "I wasted my whole day for this I could have been sleeping" but when we reached the bottom of the building and stepped off the elevator (that is to old for motion detectors and Fred got closed in the doors and pulled them apart like the incredible Hulk... it was so funny) his spirit was calm and he looked at me and said that he had a lot of fun and he enjoyed the senary! Despite the craziness and another day gone and still not submitted, we had a good day and I got home in time to bake Cole some cupcakes that we shared them with Bible Study!
I Love You Cole and I promise I am working as hard as I can to come and get you!

Answer to Prayer

The mail came today!!!!! We got our USCIS approval in the mail today!!!! I'm so thankful, Monday Fred and I will be driving to Madison to get our final three forms appistiled! Then we will send in the check list and last we will submit everything to Ukraine!!!! Then the last wait until we fly... I pray, I don't think I can handle anymore waiting on this side of things! Also for those of you that know Friday was my last day of camp, I hope to go back next year to volunteer but it's not the same! I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had in running the summer program for so many years and I hope that it has prepared me to be a great Mom. I'm very proud of myself I have cried as much as I thought I would!!! YET!!! On to the next chapter of my life!

Feeling Good Today!

After a very anxious week and a rough Saturday I am feeling good today! My Daddy came over today and helped set up the cribs! Next step painting the play room and their bedroom!
Other good new: A man that swims at the Holler Park pool where I run my summer program donated a $200.00 gift card to our site for new toys! I went out today and bought toys, games and play dough! I can't wait to go to work tomorrow and show the kids!!!
PRAISE God for all the little BLESSINGS!

Will we EVER get there???

I feel like with every step forward it's only an inch and I need to make it that full mile! I'm tying to keep busy and wait patiently but I just thought I would be so much further by now. Sweet babies I promise we are on our way! In good news we got the play room set up and we got the cribs/beds yesterday, all we need to do is paint! Like I said we are keeping busy until that stinkin' approval comes! We will be working on loan/grant application this weekend, we plan to use the money we raised as a down payment so pray all goes well there! Also I'm getting VERY anxious so pray for Fred and Tanya as they have to live with me and deal with my craziness!!!!

Who ever said that technology was a good thing????? Good news thou we finally got the last pack of paperwork faxed over once we get an approval I can get it send it all to Madison !!!!! Moving closer but I feel so far away, Please keep praying!

SOOOO Blessed!

I just feel so blessed to have the family I have and to have the support I have. I have been down lately but this weekend has really encouraged me, my Aunt and my Mom put together another "DREADED" rummage sale and as we were sitting in the damp, hot, humid air waiting for people to come and buy stuff I looked around and realized we were making memories, A lot of my family members were there talking and joking and really enjoying spending time together, I feel like our family has gotten together more since these babies have come into our lives than ever before! PRAISE GOD! That has been my slogan the last few months "Well, we are making MEMORIES" what ever your going through, good or bad realize that once its over its a memory, a story that you can share and hold on to! It has been raining the last few days in Wisconsin and so alot of streets are flooded and when there are signs that say, "Road Closed Due to HIGH WATER" you probably should listen. My Mom did not listen to that very sign, we left the rummage to get everyone lunch and we tried to take a short cut back in stead we were met with this sign. Now instead of doing what the sign said and turning around my Mom went around the sign and the roads were good for a while but then there in the road straight ahead was the lake of water, still determined (IN a LEXUS SUV)she just drove on until my cousin Jodi pointed out that the electric pole looked like it was kinda deep. She came to her senses and turned around not before I could get in a good scare... I yelled "Oh no water is seeping in my door!!!!" You should have seen their faces! While during this it wasn't so fun now I have a great story/memory of that day! Don't take anything for granted... even the not so great things!

Oh I got so wrapped up in my blessing I almost forgot to tell you... there is a family that I have been in contact with that is traveling to the same orphanage that Cole and Rorie are in and I got word that this mother sees Rorie everyday and says she is a happy lovely girl! To most that doesn't sound like a huge update but to me just knowing someone saw her and she is happy makes me feel so great I can't wait to see her myself!!!!

I wish I could FREEZE time

I feel like there is so much going on in my life right now it is so hard to focus... I know what needs to get done but the harder I try to organize my life the more I have no control and the bigger mess I make. I have to give this to God and trust that he can fix the messes I make!!! Fred has agreed to take more responsibility with the last bit of adoption paperwork so that I can focus on my highly stressful job, I'm very thankful but I just pray that he works as hard as I would if I didn't have this highly stressful job!!!LOL!!! I know this doesn't sound very nice but I just don't have time for NICE I have two babies I need to get home!!! Keep us in prayer, I need for these last steps that seem confusing to just seem that way but actually be very easy!!!!
On the up side I went with Tanya and my cousin Jodi to Target tonight and I got a really nice highchair for Rorie on clearance!!!!

I Need a Kick in the Pants!!!

I have been feeling so sorry for myself lately... sad that things aren't moving faster, sad that I feel like I could be doing a better job, sad that I am having a really hard time with the summer camp I run, the list goes on and on!!! I need to get my focus off the things that are weighing me down and back on the on God and his will for my life and the lives of these beautiful children! I need to get back in the race, not only am I not running the race God has given me I think I have completely stopped and have taken a break. Lord give me a kick in the butt to get out of this funk I have gotten myself into! Please being praying for Fred and I!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Today is our BEAUTIFUL little girls Birthday and in that honor we are hosting a Kickball Tournament to celabrate but more important to raise money to get her and her little brother home!!!!! I pray someone is giving her a big birthday huge for me today!!! It brings me comfort to know that by next year she will be celabrateing her birthdday with a family that loves her!

Ups and Downs

This last week has been full of ups and downs, doubts and in the end I saw Gods faithfulness!I don't even know where to start... I think I'll start at the end! I learned a few very good lessons; 1. We serve a VERY BIG GOD, who can make anything possible when we feel like there is no possibility! 2. Sometimes the people that are not related to you are the closest family you have! 3. I am done putting my faith in my self from now on my faith is in Christ! I'm sure I learned more lessons than that but those were the top three!
Fred, Tanya and I sent out letters to different companies and local teams to get donations for our Kickball Tournament, we got a pretty good response but I thought we would have gotten more of a turn out. While I was bummin about that I came home to a mail box full of letters and free tickets! What is so amazing about the tickets we did get? The companies that helped us out were places that stated on their web site that they only help out non-profit organizations, not individuals! We got tickets to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Wave, the Admirals, the Mil. Co. Zoo, the Mil. Co. Museum, and the Betty Brinn Museum. It is so amazing to me, with every turn on this journey I can see God's hand leading the way!
Now that I got all these baskets for the tournament I started freakin about the teams and people to come and bid on these baskets I worked so hard to put together. (Again taking my eyes off of God and focusing on the waves raging all around me.)I invited people on facebook and it felt like nobody was coming, I had the same feeling before our first rummage and we did great, so why am I having such a hard time putting my faith in God now? Because I have let the world and the craziness that is my life get in the way of my walk with Christ. When I wen back to his Word God blessed me with some phone calls from people that can't wait to come out and help in way they can! We also had some more team that are interested in playing witch I'm very excited about because it was getting a little scary there for a minute!!!
I'm sure there are other details that added to my frustration this week but the straw that broke the camels back was that; I just don't understand how some people can be so completely self absorbed that they can't take time out of their schedule to be there for their ONLY sibling when that sibling needs their family's support the most. I come from a family that no matter what if you are in need they are there even if you are not on the best of term nothing is stronger than family... or so I though, apparently this is NOT the case in other families! PRAISE God for the Church family he has provided and the wonderful family that He has given ME!!!!!!

Life is CRAZY!!!

The last few weeks have been SOOO crazy! There is just so much going on, I pray that God keeps me focused on him through out this journey. I feel like the rocky water is yet to come. There is so much going on around me I feel like it is so easy to doubt God and take my eyes off of him!!! Please be praying for our Kickball Tournament... I have a secret "I'm very nerves it's not going to work the way I planned, I pray people show up!!!" I have to trust God, easier said than done!

Fred and I are going for our federal fingerprints Tuesday!!!! And we sent our last pack of papers to Madison!!!! I would love to have everything "paper work wise" done before summer camp starts, camp takes up so much of my time and more important my energy! It would be nice to just have to wait through camp! Either way I'm gonna praise God through it all!!!

Our Last Rummage!!!

Well that rummage was A LOT of work!!! But worth it we made $700.00 for our adoption fund! Now on to focuse on our next fundraiser... Kickball Tournament. We are looking for 8 teams of at least 11 players to participate in our tournament. There is a $100.00 enterence fee to help pay for the feilds. It will be held at McCarty Park June 26th (which is kind of cool because that is Roryann's birthday), the first game startes at 10:00am! There will be a consecion stand and 50/50 raffels. Even if you don't have a team to play for we invite you out to cheer and have some fun!!!!

WOW that was fast!!!!

We just sent in all our paper work to USCIS for approval and to get our date for federal fingerprinting and we already have a date!!!!! We have been really busy getting ready for the rummage this week Thursday and Friday, you got to know how much I love these kids because I am doing another rummage/bake sale... I'M CRAZY ABOUT THESE KIDS!!!!!!

I went to Kohl's last night with Tanya and I bought my very first little top for Rory! Those of you that don't know we think we have settled on names... Roryann Christine Karol and Cole Louis Karol???? What do ya think???

Rory means "Great" or "Famous Ruler" and Ann means "Gracious"
"Gracious Ruler"

Cole means "Victorious"!

I have the history and some Bible verses to go with their names as well I'll have to post them later!

USCIS

We had a little bump in the road with filing our USCIS forms but they are in, they should arrive there by noon today! Now let's pray for a quick turn around and an approvel!
After our time away it has been extremely hard to get back in the grove of things I have so overwhemled and I found myself thinking how in the world did I do all of this; school, AWANA, housework, work work, preparing for the smmer program, doing fundraisers, preparing our adoption pperwork, etc...
While I was having his pitty party for my self that NO ONE showed up for I realized I didn't do it all of this before on my own how could I have? We can't do anything in our own strength it is just going to turn into a mess, God carried me through a lot of the tasks I had to undertake and wouldn't know the second I realized this and repented and prayed God showed me how to prioritize everything. It is still a lot of work but I don't feel overwhelmed and I have a plan!!!!!

Been gone a while

Our trip to Washington DC went well. I'll be honest I had a hard time enjoying myself I just kept thinking about the kids and how different the trip would have been if they were with us. I know DC would not be a trip for small kids that is for sure but I couldn't help but think of what it will be like to take family trips, Oh I just can't wait. I also felt guilty because for a whole week I couldn't do anything adoption related and that killed me. Not that there was a lot I could do we are just waiting for things to come back to us but I wasn't waiting by the mail box to receive anything that might come, I wonder how my mail man felt without seeing me at the door everyday! JK
Now that we are home; down to business, Fred's passport came in the mail so I can finish the rest of the paperwork and have everything sent in by the end of the week. Then all I have to do is focus on fundraisers and WAIT!!!!!!!!!

May Day 2010

Had a wonderful trip out to Maryland where we are staying and had an outstanding day in Washington DC today for May Day. It was so cool to be around other believers as the cry went out for revival in our land and for our country to turn their hearts back to God on this day of prayer. We are spending the rest of the week out here relaxing and enjoying some time off of work until Friday. Internet connection is kind of limited (basically running off of our phones) so we will try to post when we can and should have some pictures posted up pretty soon as well! Thanks to all those back home who were praying for us!

Nerves!!!!!

Wow what a week I can't even begin to tell you all that is on my mind! I started school again yesturday (yikes), Fred and I are taking our parenting classes, and trying so hard to get all the adoption stuff done right the first time! Everytime I think I am ahead of the game I get knocked down a peg or two! Our Home Study is complete and we have the money to submit it to Imagration! I pray so hard that that goes supper quick. I knew waiting was going to be hard I just didn't know how hard and every day that I DON"T have my children with me hurts so bad! Imagine what it must be like for them! There is so much I want to get done this week because we leave for our Washngton DC trip Friday morning. We are heading down for the National Day of Prayer, I can't wait to be surrounded by a sea of other believers. Part of me feels guilty that for a whole week I will not be doing aything adoption related... other than praying!!!! I guess that is why I feel such a huge ergencey to get EVERYTHING that I can get done, done this week before we leave! Keep us in your prayers!

The Run Around

HELP!!!!! I need a "traveling" Notary Republic, My doctor's office doesn't have a notary and they can't take our medical records to the local bank because of HIPPA and they won't let us take the forms to our notary... GRRRRR what do I do? I'm gonna kidnap a notary and make them go to my Dr's office, Watch Out If You Are a Notary Republic!!!!!! Our letter from our lender is also proving to be difficult to get back done properly! My passport is here but because Fred has an expired one we have to either send back his old one or send in a lost report to get a new passport reissued. I feel like I take a step forward and five steps back! I know it is going to get better but... WHEN!!!!! Sometimes I just can't wait to kiss these beautiful babies all over XOXOXOXO!!! I love these babies more than I ever thought I could, it's going to get better I KNOW IT!!!

What an awesome God we serve!

This weekend we held our first big fundraiser to help bring the babies home. The rummage sale went off without a hitch! In the days of preparation leading up to this weekend, Amanda and I were discussion realistically what our thoughts were for the outcome of the fundraiser. We both agreed that somewhere between $500 and $600 for the two days would be great. At then end of the day on Friday, I sat down to count the money...it came out to exactly $1000! This absolutely blew us away. So going into Saturday in our eyes, anything that we made would just be a bonus. As the day started, the traffic seemed to be a little slower than the previous day, but we were still in good spirits from the amazing results of Friday. After a long Saturday and finally getting everything cleaned up, about 7:30 at night I sat down to do a final count for the weekend. I don't think that this was a coincidence and was nothing short of a miracle, we made exactly $1000 again on Saturday!! From the bottom of Amanda and my heart to anyone reading this post who had any involvement in this weekend from donating items, baked goods, volunteering, praying, or just showing up and walking around, we couldn't have done it with out you guys and thank you just isn't enough! With the results of this weekend solidified and brushed any hint of doubt that was in my mind about the ability to raise the serious kind of money that we are looking to raise. Like my good friend said this morning at church, "It is impossible to out give God!"

On another nice note, when I got to work tonight I had a message waiting for me on facebook. One of my very close friends from high school left me a message saying that they would donate $40 a month until we get our babies home!!! The blessing are never ceasing and after this weekend and then some wonderful news from my friend, if you don't believe that God is alive and active today in our lives, we need to sit down and have a chat......

First Big Fundraiser

This weekend is our first BIG fundraiser Friday and Saturday from 9am-4pm we are having a Rummage/Bake Sale at our house 1305 S. 74th St. West Allis! PLEASE stop on BY!!!!

Feeling Good!

The end of this week has been SO much better than the beginning! We found out that we got the fields at McCarthy for our Kickball Tournament Fundraiser on the date that we wanted (June 26th) which is Rorie's (Anna) BIRTHDAY!!!! Then the Pocket Peelers came in so we are now selling those for only $10.00... get 'em while they are HOT!!! Then today I got my "Proof of Employment letter" done. Monday both mine and Fred's medical papers will be complete and ready to be sent in for certification in Madison. Also today we got our first packet of papers back form Madison all certified so tomorrow I can mail them out to our dossier coordinator! Hopefully our passports will be coming next week as well and we can finish the rest of the dossier paperwork! Oh yeah and we are mailing in our request for State Background Checks tomorrow as well! So much to be done but thanks to our Bible Study Thursday night I am not going to be afraid and I am going to know that God is guiding my path and with him in charge I KNOW I will be OK!!!!!!! We SERVE a MIGHTY GOD!!!!!!

Kickball

Good News... we got three diamonds at McCarthy Park for Saturday June 26th! If you don't know Fred and I are having a Kickball Tournament for a fundraiser. We would like to to get at least 8 teams of 11 players or more per team. We are asking each team to donate $100.00 for the entrance fee. There will be hot dogs, brats, candy, chips, baked goods and soda for sale! Not only will be be getting together for a good cause but June 26th is also our daughters 2nd birthday and since we can not spend it with her we ask that you spend it with us at the park either playing on a team or cheering a team on!

Emotions...

I follow two other Mother's blogs and today I read things that made me feel... BLAAAHHHHH! One Mother talked about how her arms ached to hold her baby and I can completely understand that kind of pain. Sometimes I feel like it's never going to happen. I feel like I'm constantly running after paperwork but I never move fast enough. I am so proud of Fred he has done everything I asked this week but because I have been working in the mornings this week I feel like I am falling behind! I wish the mail worked lighting speed!!!!
Another Mother talked about how the need for speed in this process is so important. She talked about another Mother who has just come home with her baby from Ukraine and she talked about things she saw in the orphanage there. They went unexpected to the orphanage and saw the children in a wooden play pin each tied to the slots. This does NOT help the way I feel. If nobody wants these children why can't I just go over there and get them and hold them and kiss them. I can't wait to have them with me!
It's gonna get better RIGHT?????

Happy Night Before Easter

Next year at this time I will be laying out cute little Easter outfits for my son and daughter to wear to Church! Today my Aunt gave us our first little Easter gift that is sitting next to a picture of our family and is waiting for our precious little ones to come HOME!!!

What a Blessing!

As most of you know Fred and I are having a Rummage Sale to raise money for our Adoption. My Aunt Cheryl has been a big blessing and encouragement! Today Fred and I went to her house to pick some things that were donated to us for our rummage and before we left we had made $52.00 without even trying! I praise God for my whole family they have been SOOOOO supportive and encouraging! I love them and I pray this whole experience brings us all closer together!

Check It Out!!!

Fred and I found a new fundraiser... Pocket peelers, Take a look at the side under FUNDRAISERS and check it out! Let one of us know if you are interested!

4:08pm

Today at 4:08pm I mailed our first packet of papers to Madison Wisconsin to get certified! On to the next set of forms and waiting for our passports to get in before we can finish some other forms! FORMS FORMS FORMS... I can't wait until all have to do is WAIT!!! It feels good to be moving forward!

What a DAY!!!

We took the weekend off of adoption running but we had a blast at our Church's AWANA Grand Prix! I won 1st place for design in the adults division! I think everyone had a lot of FUN!!! I can't wait for regional April 24th. Today it was back to the grind! I am so happy I got a whole stack of forms notarized and even though it took the better half of my day I finally got all those forms scanned and sent to Lyndi! I praise God because I didn't get those forms sent until about 10pm tonight but Lyndi was able to get back to me right away so now tomorrow morning I can get all these forms sent to Madison to get apostilled! I hope this paper work craze will be over soon! Keep praying!

From The Beginning...

I thought it might be nice to share where the title to our blog came from it's kind of a long story but a very good one! As most of you know Fred and I have been trying for close to three years to conceive a child naturally and have been unsuccessful. It has been awful to watch people all around me have children and take those beautiful blessings from God for granted. It is equally as hard to continue to be unsuccessful and everyone around you tell you "Oh it's ok, it will happen for you I KNOW IT!" or "Did you try... (fill in the blank)" I know the comments are coming from a good place, people want to encourage but one day the pain of watching another person that didn't even want to have a baby get pregnant was too much. I fell on my face before God and prayed that if having children of my own was not something that He had in plan for my life right now that the desire would go away so that it didn't hurt anymore. I believe God is a God who answers prayer and who loves us so much he does not want to see us in pain or hurting! Now that being said this belief is only able to be a belief through TRUST! So I prayed this prayer and I had no idea how he was going to take this desire away, a desire that has been so strong for so long in my life and make it all ok! Like I said, it takes a whole lot of TRUST which is Faith! Fred and I have always talked about adoption we just thought it would be an option we looked into down the road. I know it sounds funny and a little ridiculous but I remembered an episode of "King of Queens" where Doug and Carry couldn't get pregnant and decided to adopt and when they did and the baby was coming home they found out that Carry was pregnant. For whatever reason the idea stayed on my mind. A few days later I was working with one of my participants and out of the blue he wanted to look at his baby pictures. Those pictures struck me and got me thinking, that evening I went home and started looking up adoption for children with disabilities (I'm not sure if at this point I was really thinking about adoption as a real possibility or if I was just trying to trick my body and maybe a little bit God too?)abut before I knew it I found Reece's Rainbow. The next few weeks I read everything I could find about adoption (which if you know me personally you would know that is huge because I HATE to READ anything that I don't NEED to read)but before I knew it God had answered my prayer. It is funny how He works and answers prayers, I would have never guessed this was how he was going to change my path. He didn't take my desire away but he changed the desire of my heart to fit the plan he has for my life and now I could not image my life without this this crazy, scary process in it! With every step forward we take the more I see what my FAITH can do! Praise God in ALL THINGS! A lesson I have learned well!!!

I Think I Finally Got It!

This Blog buisness takes some getting used to but I think I got it! My Daddy comes home tomarrow and I heard he did NOT like flying AT ALL!!! Poor guy but I am happy I get to pick him up form the Airport! I have been working on this blog for much to much of my night I think I am going to head to bed! Night!

Our Family and Friends Letter

Dear Family and Friends,
Fred and I have decided to start the next chapter of our lives together… PARENTHOOD!! For those of you that don’t know Fred and I were married five years ago, September 25th 2004! After being married a year we became HOME OWNERS, which was a FUN and STRESSFUL adventure! Not long after that we rescued our pup Suki from the Wisconsin Humane Society! Fred and I have always wanted a large family and about 2 and a half years ago we started trying to conceive. After a year of trying I went to the doctor and went through some NOT so fun tests. Thankfully all the results came back OK, but we were still having NO luck getting pregnant. When you’re trying so hard and nothing is happening it becomes very frustrating, as I’m sure you can imagine, so one day I got down on my knees and prayed to God that if having children was not in my future that he would take the desire away from me so that it didn’t hurt anymore. After a few days I was feeling better and I was on the internet and thought “Hey, why don’t you Google “adoptions”, just to see what pops up. Fred and I always talked about adoption but we planned to look into it after our birth family was complete. As I looked into it more and more I believe God answered my prayer, He didn’t take my desire to be a Mom away he just the changed my desire to fit His plan for our life. I found an adoption ministry that is run by a Christian woman and she helped guide us to the point we are at today! Fred and I are now committed to two beautiful children, a little girl her birth name is Anna and she will be 2yrs old June 26th (My Mom and Dad’s anniversary), and a handsome little chunk named Everett he will be 1yr old Aug. 22nd. Both of our children live with Down Syndrome. People may wonder why we chose to open our hearts and home to children with a special need and the answer is this plain and simple… No one wants them. We are adopting from the Ukraine and over Seas children with disabilities are not treated at all, they are taken from their parents and placed in an orphanage where they only stay until they are four, then they are moved into the institutions where they receive even less care than the orphanage. I have heard it said that most children do not make it past a year in the institutions. This broke my heart and that is when I knew what God’s plan for our life was. As our Friends and Family we wanted to include you on this HUGE decision in our life, we are at the beginning stages and already it has been a roller coaster of emotions. Fred and I are asking for your love, support, encouragement and prayers. These are things we need or I don’t think we will make it through! We set up a blog that we encourage you to follow along with us as we are on this adoption journey. www.whatchwhatfaithcando.blogspot.com There is a small link to our sponsorship page where you can help financially as well, all donations through this link are tax deductable, an international adoption will cost about $18,000 to $20,000. We have some fundraiser ideas in the works but if you think of anything that would help to raise money please let us know. Thank you for taking time to read this and thank you in advance for any kind of help you can offer Fred and I, we truly believe this is the path God has for us!

Sincerely,
Amanda & Fred Karol
akarol25@yahoo.com (414)550-0342
calvarysoftball09@gmail.com (414)550-6986

Balance...

I am having a hard time balancing work, Church functions, school, bills, house-hold chores and ALL THE PAPERWORK that goes along with the adoption process! I wish I could take time off work to get all this stuff done! I am afraid that with all this paper work I might miss something or not get something in on time! I wish this was easy but as my husband says "If it was easy then we wouldn't learn anything!" Please Pray for me to find a good balance!