Our paperwork for our child

I spent $35 to overnight the paperwork to someone who is going to our country on Friday, which will save us $100!  It also means that it will be getting there in person and probably sooner than the snail mail.  SO this means that our child in Eastern Europe is now put into a different location on RR until the paperwork goes through and then we will be committed to that child! Excited and relieved that that paperwork is correct and done and will be even more relieved when we hear that it is accepted after being translated!  We would appreciate your prayers on our behalf and our child's!  thanks, Connie for the whole family

THE HOME STUDY and the commitment papers for our son!

The home study went wonderfully.  She was comfortable with us and we were comfortable with her.  Victoria was so exhausted from VBS that day and the day before that she fell asleep on the couch that she was sharing with the social worker! It was adorable!  Catherine was just about out when the SW asked her what she thought of having a little brother coming.  Her eyes were even blood shot as she looked up at me. Alex didn't go to bed until 3am either so she was also tired but she made it through the main part of the home study. As soon as she knew she wasn't needed she was out!
The tour of the house went VERY quickly.  She knew that we were a family who would love this boy immensely and that was what she cared about.  She had questions for us that we answered and she wrote down what we said then we had questions about some paperwork and then we were done.  It was three hours.

We started working on the paperwork for our son the very next morning.  We had tons of questions but the problem was that our social worker had surgery and was out until this week, our home study agency's workers are family and they had their huge family reunion those two days, and the lady who has helped us immensely was on her way home from Bulgaria!!!  We finally found an ER number for a social worker who was 'on call' who helped us incredibly by doing the paperwork that we HAVE to have for tomorrow!  He went way out of his way to get it done for us!!!

I got emails today from our lady who has been helping us from our adoption agency and she just got home from seeing her daughter in Bulgaria whom they are adopting! She very lovingly answered all of our questions even though she had just gotten home to see her family!

SO that means that tomorrow we are going to see another very good friend of mine, Tracy, to have our paperwork notarized then off to the Cities to get our paperwork apostilled at the Secretary of State's office, that is VERY overwhelmed by all of the people who are needing things done before the apparent shutting down of our MN gov't,  to commit to our son!  NOW, we just need to find someone to be with the kids and we can get this done!!!  It is more than likely going to be a very long day!  Scott leaves the next morning to go back to work.

The pre-home study day!

I am going to start on the day before our home study! A fight happened again for us to give up and give in to doing the easy thing of just forgetting the adoption of our son and going on with our lives.  Scott was told that his train was cancelled so he had to drive nine hours after work.  Our eldest daughter, Liz, was planning on coming over to help us get the house in order but called to let us know that she had not even had the chance to leave her parking spot due to the fact that her car died and had to be towed.  She had to spend $350 to get the car working again. She wasn't able to come and help. Scott called to let us know that his work had let him off two hours early and also to let us know that a fuse blew so he didn't have the ability to open his windows, have air conditioning or have blinkers that worked! THEN our city got hit with rain that many said they had never seen the likes of in their entire lives!  Two of our daughters went out back to try to save water from coming into the basement using two wheel barrows (one with a flat tire and one with a whole in the bottom) and five five gallon pails.  They were dumping water out to the lawn every fifteen seconds!!! They did this for forty-five minutes until.....our 16 yr old came in crying (which she does NOT do) letting me know that she thought she broke her toe!!!  This is also the daughter who was leaving four days later for a missions trip to Ireland for five weeks!!!  SO all stopped and off we ran to the Dr's office at express care since it was 5pm!  She was soaked to the bone & freezing for the hour and one-half that we were there.  She had a contusion to the foot!  (she went to Ireland with crutches and a boot)  The two of us got home and were met at the door by two of the girls, letting us know that our basement was flooding. I heard a loud 'vacuum' sound coming from the basement. At first, the girls didn't think i should see it but then they knew i had to. It was the worst our basement has ever been.  Alexandra had been thirty minutes away from being done with the cleaning/organizing of the basement before the rain had fallen from the sky!  We had gotten @4" in one hour in our neighborhood.  It sounded like it was different all over town.

We called my eldest daughter and her fiance who both came over and worked their butts off. One of my very best friends had read my FB post and called to say that she was coming (it was late too).  One of my daughter's friends had been at our house the entire day after doing VBS that whole morning and stayed until late. Our neighbors helped with cleaning and also bringing over a rug doctor AND sharing their fans and dehumidifier with us. Another family took the extra loads of laundry that needed to be done. People prayed! Scott called late to say that he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore...he had worked a ten hour shift then had driven eight hours.  My girlfriend said that we needed to go get him! SO after much argument from Scott, we went to get him....it was almost 1am!  We were bummed that we only had to go @thirty minutes to get him as we had really looked forward to actually having time together...we never get to see each other.  Scott and i got home around 1:40am and to sleep around 3am...we both needed to get cleaned up and introduce ourselves to each other ;}).  (Scott let me know that his car just started working again after he had driven aways!)

We had a dentist appointment for Alexandra & we were out of diapers and goats milk and other necessities so i had to get to the store too.  We also had a therapy appointment for Sophina. We got everything as done as it could be by 1:55pm!

understanding.....

I have been trying to figure out why in the world there is almost always an 'other-world' fight going on when it comes to adoption. Why does the devil and his army care one rip about a family saving a child.  I have finally figured it out as i have gone through some MAJOR mind fights through this time. IT IS NOT JUST THE CHILD THAT THEY ARE FIGHTING OVER!  The reason for the fight is due to what happens to OTHERS when these children come home.

I see what Sophina has done just to our own family, then extended family and then friends.  Jesus is glorified!  Then there are the children like Kirill whose life is changing people by the hundreds, actually even thousands.  PRAYER was happening all over the country! People were sharing with their prayer groups, churches, friends, and co-workers and....if they were like me, people at the grocery store;}

I decided this morning that if there is going to be a fight, then we should be prepared!  BUT i'd also like some help!  Will you be prayer warriors with us? PRAYER IS NEEDED!  We are in need of prayer through this whole time! SO will you put us on your fridge or on your prayer list or on a mirror?  Pray for our child too! You could even do like my dear Mother-in-love & share our prayer needs with YOUR prayer group!  thank you so much, Connie

The final EIGHT days!

Just a DAY before my father came to visit for a week we found out that our home study will be NEXT Wednesday! SO combine that with the fact that our PCA is on vacation for the next thirteen days, my father is here so meals are definitely different than normal, VBS starts the day after my dad leaves so i won't have the girls to help with Sophina so i can clean and our Sophina is taking AT LEAST SIX HOURS a day JUST TO EAT her meals right now....i am knowing that i am going to need help.

We have no idea as to what kind of social worker we are going to have. We could have the kind that everyone wishes for where all she cares about is what kind of people we are and if we will love and care for our child that is coming OR we could have the kind of person that scares people enough that some don't even choose to adopt!  The kind that checks the house with a white glove, questions your mind as to why you're even thinking of bringing another child into our home.

We could just hope for the first one or we can try to be prepared. We have tried to start a list, going from room to room to look at each room with an evil eye;})  THEN i went around the house the other day, looking for the girls and i saw things that i never let my mind see....weeds in the garden that is right in front of the entryway...LOTS of weeds, plus then there is the pile of BIG garbage that is waiting to go to the curb when they have that 'clean up day' through the city and then since we girls have never used a weed wacker....well, there are weeds around every tree.  Two newer screens are ripped out at the bottom.  Well, i think you are seeing the picture.

Inside the house, it needs a spring cleaning plus a little more;}  My father leaves Saturday night SO i won't get home from the airport in time to do anything.  I am wondering if anyone would be willing to help on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. We could get a lot done with Sophina asleep....so if anyone could help from 1:45-4:45pm on any of those three days, i would greatly appreciate it.  The only other times that would work would be 10:30am-Noon or 7-8:30pm on those same three days.

I know i am being bold in asking but a lot is at stake so i am asking with great hope. I also know that the timing couldn't be worse since most of my friends are probably involved with VBS so i know that it is a lot to ask.  OK...well, off to be with my dad!  Our one thing we are doing is going to the softball game tonight. I hope it doesn't rain so we can go;}

PS.  Will you do me an even greater favor by praying for Sophina and i as she is still learning to drink from a cup?  It is a LONG process and emotionally draining but it HAS TO HAPPEN so i do it. It has been a LONG draining process that rarely sees HOPE.  Please pray for that to change.  Thanks so much for those who are praying for us...wisdom, discernment, peace and knowledge are needed greatly through this whole process.  lovingly and blessed, Connie

NEED PRAYER

You know how since almost day one of finding Reece's Rainbow i have put a new child onto my wall and asked for you all to pray for that child?  Well, i have a different prayer request right now.
I am asking that you will LIKE this posting on my FB wall if you will pray THIS upcoming prayer OR if you pray your own prayer on behalf of OUR FAMILY and our child-to-be.  We need wisdom to know who to choose and when to choose!  What better way to gain wisdom than to ask of God....like it says in the Bible!
Dear Jesus, we are begging for Your wisdom, discernment, & knowledge in our decision making process.  We don't know what we are doing in this area nor do we know the timing or the child SO we are asking that You will guide us in a VERY PURPOSEFUL WAY!  Will You please give us such a sense of peace in knowing whom to choose that there will be NO DOUBT?  We SO want to do Your will in this and so we are willing to wait and we are also willing to get to it right now but we need Your guidance.
I pray Lord that You will protect us and give us an amazing time with the social worker on the 22nd. I pray that Your will will be done and that we will look good and be acceptable and capable parents for this new little one.  I pray for Your grace to abound on us that day in particular!
Lord, i pray for an incredible outpouring of support from Your people. I pray particular for prayer warriors who will be praying consistently for us and our family AND OUR CHILD to be.  I pray that You will bring us people's expertise in the times when we need them and in the way that we will hear them also.  Help us to be people who will be humble and listen to the advice of those who have gone before.
I pray that You will help us get the paperwork done quickly and that we will have all that we need done asap so we are prepared for this child.  I pray that You will help the finances to come in quickly so we can get the little one as soon as possible. I pray that there will be emotional support in abundance. I pray for our children and our child to be loved and accepted and cared for.
I pray that our hearts will break for what breaks Yours! Lord, help us to be people like the greats of old...like George Mueller (sp), Amy Carmichael, and others who have been sacrificial in their lives so that Christ would be honored....they cared so much about people...like You did....help us to be like that! In Jesus' name, Amen
Will YOU pray for our family? Will YOU pray for this time of  massive decision making? We would very greatly cherish your prayers on our behalf!  Thanks!  Connie on behalf of our whole crew!

OUR HOME STUDY IS SCHEDULED

OUR HOME STUDY IS SCHEDULED FOR THE 22nd OF JUNE!!!!   AAAHHHHHH!!!!!
How exciting!!!! SO pumped!!!  Anyone interested in giving me a call to help me be ready---message me on FB if you need the number;})  WoooHOOOOooooo!

GREAT IDEA FOR A FUND RAISER

I am holding off on giving out my recipes for the wonderful treats that the girls and i baked today. Krista Voelker has given me a great idea on selling goodies AND INCLUDING THE RECIPE to raise money for our little one that is coming!  We could do it once or twice a month! NOW, which recipe would we start with?  AND, the problem....i NEVER make the same thing the same way twice;}
(BTW, the treats went away like crazy! Such fun! BUT....exhausted!)

Heard from both agencies

Heard from both agencies tonight and we are all caught up, just needing to get started on the Home Study which is scary.  I have to take Alexandra down to Saint Paul to do an interview with just her since she will be gone to Ireland...don't ask me when that will happen.  The Home Study has to be done while Scott is here so we will be setting that time up with the social worker hopefully tomorrow so we can get his train ticket ordered! The home study is where they check out the house and they check out the home too! To have you understand how unnerving that thought could be just think of someone doing that with your family. Asking all kinds of questions about your family, your life, your house, and such.

Sophina's miracle THIS WEEK!!!

This past Saturday i didn't have a PCA and so that means that i don't have someone to help get Sophina her drink from a cup.  You see, it has been two months...maybe more, that we have been trying to get her her milk using any means possible.  I have been to the store to try ANYTHING that could help!

Bottles of every kind, cups with many different kinds of tops, to taking the lid off and just having it open. It would be about 40-60 minutes of work to get anywhere from 5mls-20mls. of liquid.  Just to let you know, 5mls is the same as a teaspoon!!!  If you don't believe how hard this has been just ask our PCA or the 4 girls still at home...i have had to have a time out twice.  It's exhausting mentally and emotionally. We try to do this as often as we can, up to four times a day.

Back to this past Saturday, the first feeding, i tried what i had been trying lately....a lid that kind of looks like a nipple for a bottle.  It was an hour and she had MAYBE 10 mls. BUT during that time it wasn't a big fight like it normally had been. The next time, i decided that i should try to squirt some into her mouth and she did better! Maybe about 15 mls! The next time, i tried a cup from Tupperware that was NOT like anything i had tried before and she let me. AGAIN, it was only a little but it was doing well. That night, it went well again.  I thought that i should text our PCA but usually when i had done that in the past, it goes backwards, so i didn't.

Sunday morning, i went to feed her with high hopes and it was a disaster! I was near tears! I cried out to the Lord.  "Lord, what am i suppose to be doing?  HOW MUCH LONGER???  WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO DO? Should i be waiting?  Am i pushing her more than i should be?"  I wish that i could show you what it took to get her to drink!  Let's just say that i would get my exercise.

Now, enter the sermon on Sunday.  If you were there, do you remember when Pastor came up in the middle of the last song and asked something like...."What is it that you think God is taking too long to answer?"  Immediately, my response was that of Sophina's eating. I immediately felt peace that i didn't have to worry about this anymore....this was up to God...it will be in HIS time!

Sunday afternoon i had to take Alex across town to take her to a grad party. I was bummed that i was having to take her across town, then would have to go home to wait for Sophina to wake up, feed her (which would take who knows how long, take her and Catherine (who didn't want to go away from playing outside) to go 1/2 mile from where i was!  I got a text and so i saw that it was our PCA, Tiana! She was wondering what time she should come! She would be taking care of Sophina and i could go to the party for Anne!!!

At the party, i told Dawn Becker how amazing it was that her just barely 1 year old was downing blueberries, strawberries, crackers, and anything else in sight AND she was drinking from Dawn's water bottle! I shared with her about what was happening and how it is what i needed to stop fighting what God was trying to teach me. As i was talking to her, it hit me like a ton of bricks......the last five children that i have read about coming home to their families from their countries...four children are completely malnourished like the pictures you see from the days of the concentration camps. One is coming home RIGHT NOW! The family couldn't get him to drink for anything and he is sadly very malnourished.
Another died before he made it home....the weekend of Mother's Day.
I digressed.....what hit me was when Dawn asked me if we were prepared for that kind of child.  I let her know that we had talked about it and knew that it was a great possibility!  THAT may be the reason why i have gone through this LONG battle with Sophina? You may think that that is the end of the story but that....is just the beginning! Chelie Canning, Dawn and i talked about the sermon on Sunday and i felt refreshed with a whole new attitude.  It will be in God's timing!

After THREE HOURS of being with other people without any of my children....it WAS amazing, i went home.  Tiana told me that the feeding had gone incredibly well!!! She did well again that night.  The next morning, i went to put the 1/7th of a cup of goat's milk into her Tupperware cup as normal.  The Holy Spirit asked, 'Do you have faith?'  I remembered the people who prayed for rain and THEN TOOK UMBRELLAS the next day.  SO i poured it to half the cup!!!  She fought me just like normal for the first drink but then for the next hour, she took sips and she drank more than 1/2 of what i had put in!!!  I was thrilled!  She did it again at lunch and drank well again!  She did well again that night for Tiana.
Through this whole time we would try to get her to take the cup herself but she would freak out and push it away from her face!  She did really well yesterday again.  She would take an hour but do about 1/4 to 1/3 of the cup! Today, she took forever again...taking an hour BUT SHE DRANK a little more than 1/2 a cup!!!!  AND SHE DRANK THE LAST PART ALL BY HERSELF!!!!  Neither Alex's or my phone camera worked so Victoria tried to get a shot of it.  I give God all the glory and i believe in miracles because i have seen many AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM!!!!

  

Welcome to our adventurous life!

I have no idea what i am doing so i have a 16 year old, a 12 year old and a 10 year old here to help me out!  We will see how this works! Well, they are all gone now;}  HA haa ha
This is going to be to journal our adventure of adopting a child in need that has Down Syndrome from Eastern Europe!  We have already sent out paperwork in to Adopt A Child Agency and for our Home Study down in the Twin Cities.  I sent the first paperwork out with a BIG check, which will NOT be the last, to Scott in North Dakota with an envelope inside that already had the postage for him to send it on to California! They should have received it one week ago tomorrow.
Our other agency, Summit Adoption Home Studies, Inc. down in the Cities should have gotten their HUGE amount of paperwork TODAY! That also had a HUGE check in it which is just the beginning.
SO now we wait for the next set of paperwork and while i am waiting i have to do a BIG amount of gathering a LOT of information!

One of the hardest things for me is to know that i have to gather the paperwork as fast as i can and we have to do it as fast as we can but then.....we wait! UGH!  We are definitely going to learn way more about the patience of Job.  Let me tell you that a week feels like a month!  A weekend like two weeks.  This past Friday, i got a message that there is one child who fits the description of who we are wanting...in case you don't know, it is a child below the age of 5 who has DS and is from Eastern Europe.  THAT is all we know until SOMETIME this week! WOW! SO this week may be when we know who our child is going to be or we may need to wait for another month or maybe even longer. I hope not but God's timing is best.  Well, here is my first blog.