Congratulations to......... Eric and Tara

Go check out the slide show of their sweet boy Malak. After a long wait of ups and downs, they "finally" are the official parents of this precious boy and will be traveling to pick him up very soon.

www.littlesilvestriboy.blogspot.com

CONGRATULATIONS!!! to the Silvestri, Woods and Ries families.

My sweet boy turns "5"

We had Blake's 5'th Birthday Party on Saturday. The weather was not as cooperative as I hoped but, the kids managed to have a fun time anyway. Blake chose to have a Star Wars party which was fairly easy to come up with games etc... We started off dressing the kids in Jedi outfits(thank you Stephanie, she made them for me!) and light sabers. Kaylin held a Jedi training session so the kids would be prepared to defeat Darth Vader. Yes, my husband made a surprise visit in a Vader costume (he looked pretty hot!)the kids had to use the force to open our garage and then amidst a small amount of smoke Darth Vader appeared. SOOOO FUN! A few kids were not so sure about the costume but eventually warmed up to the beating of Darth with light sabers. We had Wookie Water for drinks (apple juice), Vader Veggies and Pretzel Sabers.

I think the party was a hit, I only do BIG parties for the 1st, 5th, and so on. We have so many family members close by it is to hard to do KID and Family parties every year and I personally don't want to have multiple parties. The 5'th Birthday was a success!

Blake had so much FUN!!!!!!

I will come to you...soon!

Last week was extremely busy in the adoption world for us. We were contacted by our agency and told a few of our reference letters needed to be redone because they talked about us adopting from Ethiopia....Whoops! I'm sure the Indian officials were thrilled to read that, but the way I see it, it was part of the journey. So we had to have those re-written, notarized and stamped from the Secretary of State. These had to be in the mail by Friday so they would arrive with the rest of our stuff this week. I guess the courts are closing in India as well and made this quite urgent.

It was a huge relief to know that "All" of our paperwork is now in India, so I was super excited for about 3 hours. Then, I had a conversation with one of our caseworkers and she said this.....Your NOC approval will come soon and then it will be about 9-12 months before you will be traveling to pick up your little girl.!? I was speechless, frustrated etc.... Are you kidding me? We have been told that we would be traveling no later then December and now the earliest would be February.

That is sooooo stinking long, we will have had our referral for over 1 1/2 years before Ava gets to come home. She will be 2.5 years old, no longer a young toddler.
I am just sick and frustrated about the whole thing...:(

We are on our knees daily praying for a miracle!!!! I just want our little girl to be home. Will you pray with us????


"...and I pray that now at last in God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you." Romans 1:10

A girl and a "loved" horse

Here is one little girl who would rather clean a stall than her own room!


Tuesday was a sad day. My mom has two horses that my daughter would claim as her own and we had to say good bye to one (Brandy) today. She is going to a new home with three kids who are just learning to ride and will use her for 4-H. Kaylin did not cry until we left, she did not want to cry in front of all the people at the barn. She has had many sad moments since. :( My kids love horses and I am so thankful for all that they have learned from my mom and sisters about riding etc... Nana, we hope you find a new horse soon! Here are some pictures of the kids spending time with Brandy for the last time.




One last goodbye!

Oh Happy Day!!

The sun is shining, my husband brought me 2-dozen roses at work and we got an e-mail this afternoon from Lisa with an update and new adorable pictures of Ava.

She looks so big I can't believe it. We will be getting the video tomorrow and I can't wait. Here is what Lisa wrote to us about our little girl....... Aparna (Ava) is doing great. She is such a happy baby and loves to show off. She was taking her first steps when we were at the orphanage and I got it on Video. She loves to dance to music and loves to patty cake.

My heart aches to hold her and make her smile!! I get so emotional just thinking about all she is learning and doing without us. I am praying for a miracle so that we can get that girl home sooner then October. Please pray with us!

Were anxiously waiting ......

to hear from our case worker Lisa hopefully tomorrow about her visit to India. We can't wait to share precious pictures and video of our little girl.

Sick Kids and Rejuvenation?

Yep, I'm here to say it can be rejuvenating when your kids are sick.

Well, the last week my kids have been sick and we are on the up and up, I hope. It started out with Kaylin coming down with a fever last Monday night and then I took her to the doctor to find out she had strep throat so she missed 4-days of school. Blake came down with a fever on Thursday night and manages to still run and play during the day and crash every evening with a burning hot fever. I finally went back to work today and had Eric stay with the kids, he took Blake to the doctor and they said he just had a virus. I do have to say this was the most pleasant sick time off I think we have ever had. We were HOME for 4-straight days, that never happens. We had some needed down time that was rejuvenating for all.

What do you do when you are at home with sick kids for so long.....

Watch tons of movies...this was the first few days, we had to go back later in the week for more.

Read a whole lot of your adoption parenting book

Catch up on laundry!

Here is a picture of Kaylin sleeping, this is what she did for several days. You know if she is sleeping all the time something is wrong, our girl doesn't miss a thing!