2 weeks!

In about 2 weeks we will be boarding a plane and when we get off we will be only a short car drive from Oksana. That is just crazy to think about. In less than 3 weeks we will be face to face with her. Unreal....absolutely unreal. We've been doing tons of prep work to prepare for our trip. We've gotten our dog taken care of, our lawn taken care of, the boys are already planning the fun they will have with grandparents, we are taking pictures for her photo book, and a little bit of packing has begun. Today we went shopping for some last minute items:

We don't know what size Oksana is but we have a friend with a daughter the exact same age that happened to be at Kohls while I was there so I did my best guess on her size and bought her this:


I love these pajamas all ready to be packed. The white material with the multicolored hearts are the pants:


We also got her this backpack that we will fill up with fun stuff for her plane ride home:


If I didn't tell you that fear was creeping into my excitement I'd be lying. Our lives are just weeks from changing forever and a lot of "what ifs" have been following me around since we got our travel date. I guess that's normal. If not it won't be the first time I've been considered abnormal :).

We Got It!!!!!!!!!

Last night when I went to bed I knew I'd probably wake up to an email from our facilitator regarding our SDA appointment. I was up and down all night having dreams about getting emails from him that explained the extra documents they needed or the documents that they wanted us to fix. Finally at 4am I couldn't take it anymore so I checked my email (yes, I did go to bed with my phone next to me so I wouldn't have to wait for my computer to start up) and there it was!!!!!! Our SDA appointment is June 14th! I woke Larry up to tell him and we talked a bit and then decided there was no way we were getting back to sleep so we got up and booked our flights. After being up for about 1 1/2 hours we both headed back to bed tired...and relieved!

Sitting in the Barcalounger

The other day someone told me that her friend says that when God puts her in His waiting room she always chooses to sit on the bench because she doesn't expect to be in there long. As the years have gone by she has realized that it is best if she just gets comfortable sitting in the barcalounger because she's likely going to be there for awhile! Can you relate? I sure can!

Some days it is easier to wait than others. When there is a lot of action in the waiting room, or you see evidence that your time in the waiting room is closer to nearing its end, waiting isn't so hard. Then there are days like today. No new news, a day with nothing to do, facing a 3 day weekend (Monday is a holiday in Oksana's country) before the possiblitiy of any action. These are the days when even the barcalounger is getting uncomfortable.

Maybe Tuesday we will get official word of our SDA appointment....oh please Lord let it be Tuesday. Rumor has it that those of us who were submitted on May 6th will be in Eastern Europe in the 3rd week of June. If that's true we are possibly about 3 weeks from leaving and close to a month from meeting Oksana. Her days as an orphan are numbered!

Delays, Babies, and Violins!

I got news yesterday of another delay. It seems that the person in charge of setting appointments with the SDA (State Department of Adoptions), which determines our travel dates, is a week behind because of a vacation. The lady indicated that she might be caught up by Friday. I won't hold my breath but you never know. A disappointment for sure but just add it to the list. It's starting to become expected. It's not just us either.  So many of our friends are facing delay after delay in their adoptions.  Adoption is hard but worth it!

In other news....we are thrilled to welcome our neice Auriana Loraine into our family! She is 5lb 15 oz and 18 inches long.


And to add to our fun news, Evan had his first violin recital last night! It was very fun and he did a great job. He has only been playing for 9 months and is really enjoying it. Here are some pictures from his big day!

Evan posing for photos and looking very handsome in his tie even if he did think it was torture :)

Checking out his music one last time before playing.

Evan and his instructor Mr. Hayward

Evan with Brecklyn who did a duet with him.

Still Waiting

We are hopeful that we will have a travel date this week! Tomorrow would probably be the earliest we would hear anything. We've been doing little things to prepare...taking pictures for Oksana, buying items we will need for our trip, etc. We also do have a life outside of adoption....shocking, I know. My goal was to finish our school year before we got a travel date and last week that goal was accomplished. Now we are spending our remaining time with field trips and activities. We've gone strawberry picking, had play dates with friends, went to Jump Zone, tomorrow we are going to a program on insects offered by a local state park, and Evan has a violin recital tomorrow night. I'm trying to pack in as much fun as possible before we leave.

This is also an exciting week for us because Larry's sister, Valerie, will be having her first baby on Wednesday! Little Auriana is breech so she will be having a c-section. I'll post pictures when I get some but for now here are some pictures from our morning strawberry picking:

SUBMITTED!

This morning I woke up and made a mad dash for my computer to see if I'd heard from Oleg. Sure enough there was my email saying we were submitted and will likely be traveling in early June! My neighbors probably heard me scream! In about 2 weeks we should hear back with a definite travel date. I'm SOOOOOO excited!

Two beauties!

I am so excited today because beauty number one has found a family! This is Alina:

When Larry and I were asking God who we were to adopt both Oksana and Alina weighed heavy on our hearts. Both girls have CP. We finally decided that because Oksana was older and at higher risk of transfer we would inquire about her first and see where that led us. As you know it became clear that she was to be ours :), but since then we've waited and waited for someone to see precious Alina and recognize her as their own. We were overjoyed to see her in the "My Family Found Me" section yesterday!

Beauty number two is still waiting for her family and I want you to see her just in case she happens to be your daughter ;). Meet Lisette:

Isn't she beautiful? I'd be lying if I said I hadn't seriously considered going back for this little girl after we get Oksana settled. When the time is right I need to ask God if that is what He wants, but until then what I really want is to see her get a family NOW!!!! Every picture I've seen of her is in that crib. Please pray with me that this beauty would know life in a loving family!

Psalm 112:7

Tomorrow is a big day. Our facilitator is hoping to submit our dossier to the State Department of Adoptions (SDA). There has been a 4 day holiday (Sat-Tues) in their country and he seems unsure how that will affect his ability to submit. They only accept submittals on Thursdays so if he can't submit tomorrow we will have to wait another week. Just thinking about that makes me want to crawl in bed and not come out. Which brings me to Psalm 112:7. I blogged earlier how at every significant step in this process we face set back. I've found myself mentally preparing to not be submitted on Thursday, because that seems to be the theme of this adoption, and I'm becoming fearful. I'm expecting bad news at every turn because I've gotten so much of it so far. Then I remembered sitting in the car about a month ago listening to the radio and hearing their verse of the day. It was Psalm 112:7:
He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
This is what I will now say to myself all day when those fears and doubts creep in. I will not fear bad news and will report tomorrow what happens.