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!!!!