The phone interview is done and went well...I think. My poor husband might have said two words! LOL Now we wait until Thursday. The sweet lady we spoke with today will present our family (and the other family) to 3 to 5 committee members and they will decide who is the best fit for baby girl. I cant imagine how hard this process must be for those committee members so please pray that the Lord will lead them in the best decision. Once the decision has been made, the same lady we spoke with today, will call us. We should know by noon Hawaii time. Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement. This process is very difficult but the Lord is getting us through. So, for now, we wait...
8.30.2011
8.29.2011
My flesh wrestles...
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" Proverbs 3:5
"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
I know these verses. I love these verses. Right now my flesh is struggling with these verses! In less than 96 hours we will know if baby girl will become a part of our family. I truly want to lean on the Lord and to cast my worries, fears, doubts, and anxieties on Him but IT IS SO HARD!!!
Lord, give me peace.
"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
I know these verses. I love these verses. Right now my flesh is struggling with these verses! In less than 96 hours we will know if baby girl will become a part of our family. I truly want to lean on the Lord and to cast my worries, fears, doubts, and anxieties on Him but IT IS SO HARD!!!
Lord, give me peace.
8.23.2011
Committee!
ACK! I just received an email from our adoption agency stating that our family along with one other family will be considered for baby girl's adoption at the selection committee on Thursday, September 1. My heart started racing instantly! This is going to be the longest week and 2 days of my life. We will have our phone interview on either August 30th or 31st, still waiting to hear back on that.
Family and friends, please continue praying for us and for this precious little girl. Yes, I selfishly want her to be my daughter but more than anything I truly just want a good home for her. I pray that no matter where the Lord places her that she will be loved and raised by godly parents. God's plans are perfect and I am leaning on Him to carry me through this time.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
8.19.2011
Moving forward
We have decided to move forward with the adoption of baby girl. So, what's next? Yep, more paperwork. This is by far the hardest paperwork I have had to fill out yet. These are not yes or no questions. These are not simple questions with an easy answer. These are in depth questions about every aspect of adoption and the special needs our child has. I pray that the Lord will lead us in answering these questions.
Now that we have chosen to move forward a few things need to happen. Any other family that is currently reviewing baby girl's file will have two weeks to let the agency know if they would like to pursue her. Once all families have come back with an answer there will be a phone interview scheduled. Once the interview is done and all paperwork turned in the agency will let us know when they go to committee. The committee is made up of 5 or so people. These people will go through each family's files and interviews to decide who is best suited to bring baby girl into their family. WHEW! Can you say nerve wracking? You would think by now, being a military family, we would be used to waiting...hurry up and wait seems to be what we do often. This will be a short wait when compared to the wait we will have to endure to actually travel and pick up our child but it will be excruciating nonetheless! Please continue to be in prayer for our family and this little girl. More than anything we want her to have a good home with loving, godly parents. More than anything we want His will to be done!
Now that we have chosen to move forward a few things need to happen. Any other family that is currently reviewing baby girl's file will have two weeks to let the agency know if they would like to pursue her. Once all families have come back with an answer there will be a phone interview scheduled. Once the interview is done and all paperwork turned in the agency will let us know when they go to committee. The committee is made up of 5 or so people. These people will go through each family's files and interviews to decide who is best suited to bring baby girl into their family. WHEW! Can you say nerve wracking? You would think by now, being a military family, we would be used to waiting...hurry up and wait seems to be what we do often. This will be a short wait when compared to the wait we will have to endure to actually travel and pick up our child but it will be excruciating nonetheless! Please continue to be in prayer for our family and this little girl. More than anything we want her to have a good home with loving, godly parents. More than anything we want His will to be done!
8.18.2011
Letting the cat out of the bag!
I am terrible at keeping secrets, not other peoples secrets, just my own! Originally we were going to wait to share our news until "things" were more concrete but I just cannot contain myself any longer. So here is the story:
Once a month, or so, our adoption placing agency sends out an email of children that were not able to be matched with a family and that will go on to the waiting child photolisting(on their public website). In June we received one of these emails. I scrolled through the email and looked at these sweet faces with their gorgeous, almond shaped eyes looking back. I read their short "biographies" and smiled at their beautiful faces. As I came upon the last picture...ok, cliche here....my heart actually skipped a beat. I felt, right then and there, like I was looking at my daughter. It is hard not to feel something for every child you see on that photolisting but this one was definitely different. My daughter took one look at her and said,"That is my little sister!" Unfortunately, this little girl was only 6 months younger than our baby and our agency prefers to keep 9-12 months between the youngest child at home and the adopted child. I contacted our agency anyway and a few days later we were told that she would have to be on the photolisting for quite a while before they would consider us. Heartbroken, but trusting in God.
I prayed for this little girl to find her forever family and I went to our agency's website daily hoping to see the words " I have a family" typed across her picture. After a few weeks of not seeing this I couldn't stand it anymore and I contacted our agency again. I needed to know what "quite a while" meant. Were we looking at weeks or months until we could ask to reveiw her file and be considered to be her forever family? The day after I sent the email I did see the words "no longer accepting requests" on her picture. This means that many families have asked for her file and generally within a few days to a week she would have a family. I admit to having a slight pang of sadness that she wouldn't be ours but then I went on to Praise The Lord that she would be home with her family in a few months. Our agency did eventually get back to me saying that they just weren't willing to make an exception about the age difference at that time but they would note our interest in her file. Rejected again.
I continued to go to the website daily waiting for those words so I could rejoice in the Lord for this precious little blessing. Nothing. About a week later, on August 15th I received an email from our agency asking us if we were still interested in this little girl!!! UM...YEAH, we are still interested! We received her medical file on August 17th along with more pictures. I am so in love with this girl and the feeling is mutual throughout our home! We will be sending her file to a couple doctors that can go through her medical needs and tell us what to expect. Once that is done we let our agency know if we are still interested (I have no doubt we will be) and then they go to committee. This is where they take all families interested in her and decide what will be the best home for her. This will still happen even if we are the only family going to committee.
So, now we wait and dream of our sweet little girl. Yes, we consider her ours right now. We know it will be difficult if they tell us no but we also know that God has a wonderful plan for her and His will, will be done! Please keep our family in your prayers and the fate of this child. Thank you.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11
Once a month, or so, our adoption placing agency sends out an email of children that were not able to be matched with a family and that will go on to the waiting child photolisting(on their public website). In June we received one of these emails. I scrolled through the email and looked at these sweet faces with their gorgeous, almond shaped eyes looking back. I read their short "biographies" and smiled at their beautiful faces. As I came upon the last picture...ok, cliche here....my heart actually skipped a beat. I felt, right then and there, like I was looking at my daughter. It is hard not to feel something for every child you see on that photolisting but this one was definitely different. My daughter took one look at her and said,"That is my little sister!" Unfortunately, this little girl was only 6 months younger than our baby and our agency prefers to keep 9-12 months between the youngest child at home and the adopted child. I contacted our agency anyway and a few days later we were told that she would have to be on the photolisting for quite a while before they would consider us. Heartbroken, but trusting in God.
I prayed for this little girl to find her forever family and I went to our agency's website daily hoping to see the words " I have a family" typed across her picture. After a few weeks of not seeing this I couldn't stand it anymore and I contacted our agency again. I needed to know what "quite a while" meant. Were we looking at weeks or months until we could ask to reveiw her file and be considered to be her forever family? The day after I sent the email I did see the words "no longer accepting requests" on her picture. This means that many families have asked for her file and generally within a few days to a week she would have a family. I admit to having a slight pang of sadness that she wouldn't be ours but then I went on to Praise The Lord that she would be home with her family in a few months. Our agency did eventually get back to me saying that they just weren't willing to make an exception about the age difference at that time but they would note our interest in her file. Rejected again.
I continued to go to the website daily waiting for those words so I could rejoice in the Lord for this precious little blessing. Nothing. About a week later, on August 15th I received an email from our agency asking us if we were still interested in this little girl!!! UM...YEAH, we are still interested! We received her medical file on August 17th along with more pictures. I am so in love with this girl and the feeling is mutual throughout our home! We will be sending her file to a couple doctors that can go through her medical needs and tell us what to expect. Once that is done we let our agency know if we are still interested (I have no doubt we will be) and then they go to committee. This is where they take all families interested in her and decide what will be the best home for her. This will still happen even if we are the only family going to committee.
So, now we wait and dream of our sweet little girl. Yes, we consider her ours right now. We know it will be difficult if they tell us no but we also know that God has a wonderful plan for her and His will, will be done! Please keep our family in your prayers and the fate of this child. Thank you.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11
8.10.2011
8.08.2011
Medical procedures
July wasn't all fun and games. We also had a few medical issues to deal with. My poor husband is still dealing with an infection in his mouth. We are praying they finally got it this time (after 3 surgeries). His leg is healing slowly but surely. I had an HSG done. They injected dye into my fallopian tube to see if there was a blockage. I will be discussing this more in a later post. Then there is Kyle...poor little man. He was climbing a tree and lost his footing, slid down and sliced his leg open on a small piece of branch that was sticking out. It wasn't pretty...LOTS OF BLOOD...a panicky mama....lots of tears...needles and stitches. Whew! Fortunately, as daddy says, girls like scars. Good thing, because it's a good one! I did take pictures but I will spare you. :)
Praise the Lord our medical needs are quite minor compared to many. We feel very blessed to have great medical insurance to take care of the needs and for the overall wonderful health of our family!
Praise the Lord our medical needs are quite minor compared to many. We feel very blessed to have great medical insurance to take care of the needs and for the overall wonderful health of our family!
8.05.2011
Date nights!
Back in Virginia we traded date nights with a wonderful family. This was an awesome arrangement! This just also happens to be the family that has played a huge role in our deciding to adopt. We miss you, McRoberts family! You can read about their adoption journeys here: http://mcrobertsclan.blogspot.com/
Anyway, needless to say, the military has seperated our families and we just pretty much gave up on date nights. Bad idea! The problem now is that my 1 year old doesn't really like to be away from me. It's not a pretty sight, although he is getting better. So, we started at home date nights! My hubby and I take turns planning the menu. We have decided to do this every other Saturday. We feed the kids early, get them bathed and send them upstairs with a movie and strict orders to NOT COME DOWN unless the house is on fire! :) The 3 older are perfectly capable of caring for the 1 year old while we enjoy some quiet time and a yummy, adult dinner. You know, real food! Food that my kids wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, AKA THE GOOD STUFF. I started off our first date night with zucchini fettucine with a lemon herb sauce and chicken. For desert we had vanilla ice cream surrounded by cinnamon chips (tortillas cut up into triangles and baked with cinnamon) and topped with chocolate syrup. Oh, we had artichoke dip earlier in the day for an appetizer. Yummy! I didn't think to get any pictures of this.
Two weeks later it was my dear husbands turn to plan the meal. OH MY...it was AMAZING! My man pulled out all the stops, let me tell you. Are you ready for this? The appetizer was shrimp cocktail. I know, not a big deal. Wait for it. Our main course consisted of Savory Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Skewered Grilled Potatoes, Sauteed Garlic Asparagus, and Sirloin Steak topped with Garlic Butter! OH MY YUMMY! If that wasn't enough, dessert was Haupia (coconut) and Chocolate Pie! Pretty sure I gained 10 lbs. that night. It was fantastic and I got the pictures to prove it.
Now it is my turn again. ACK...any suggestions???
Anyway, needless to say, the military has seperated our families and we just pretty much gave up on date nights. Bad idea! The problem now is that my 1 year old doesn't really like to be away from me. It's not a pretty sight, although he is getting better. So, we started at home date nights! My hubby and I take turns planning the menu. We have decided to do this every other Saturday. We feed the kids early, get them bathed and send them upstairs with a movie and strict orders to NOT COME DOWN unless the house is on fire! :) The 3 older are perfectly capable of caring for the 1 year old while we enjoy some quiet time and a yummy, adult dinner. You know, real food! Food that my kids wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, AKA THE GOOD STUFF. I started off our first date night with zucchini fettucine with a lemon herb sauce and chicken. For desert we had vanilla ice cream surrounded by cinnamon chips (tortillas cut up into triangles and baked with cinnamon) and topped with chocolate syrup. Oh, we had artichoke dip earlier in the day for an appetizer. Yummy! I didn't think to get any pictures of this.
Two weeks later it was my dear husbands turn to plan the meal. OH MY...it was AMAZING! My man pulled out all the stops, let me tell you. Are you ready for this? The appetizer was shrimp cocktail. I know, not a big deal. Wait for it. Our main course consisted of Savory Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Skewered Grilled Potatoes, Sauteed Garlic Asparagus, and Sirloin Steak topped with Garlic Butter! OH MY YUMMY! If that wasn't enough, dessert was Haupia (coconut) and Chocolate Pie! Pretty sure I gained 10 lbs. that night. It was fantastic and I got the pictures to prove it.
8.02.2011
4th of July
We spent 4th of July on the Army post this year. There were shopping booths, rides, food, animals and all kinds of other fun stuff! The kids had a blast. We did get a little wet but then again when you live somewhere tropical you are never really safe from the rain. Here are some pics of our Independence Day celebration.
It was a great day, but then everyday is a great day when I am with my family!
8.01.2011
Did you miss me? :)
I am back from my internet hiatus. Ok, so I didn't actually do very well, but I learned a lot and still spent much less time on the computer than usual. I learned that I have an amazing group of family and friends on Facebook. I do not have to deal with any drama which is a huge blessing as I know many of my friends do struggle with that. Facebook is a great way for my family to keep in touch with our family in various parts of the US and our wonderful friends we have met over the years at different military installations. It is also the first place I go when I need prayers! So, no more "facebook fasting" for us. Instead, it will be everything in moderation!
We have set up some new rules regarding electronics and just plain got rid of some temptations. We had 2 computers set up in the house, now we are down to one. We will be selling our Nintendo DS's...anyone interested??? The children are now given a certain amount of time to spend on the computer (when it is for entertainment) and the Wii. They get 120 minutes that starts Friday evening and ends Sunday evening. Once they have used those minutes that is it until the next weekend...oh...and no rollover minutes! LOL No TV during the week, including movies. We dont have cable but Trav and I do have a couple shows we watch through Hulu or Netflix. I think that about sums it up for the electronics. There was some slight resistance at first but it didn't last long.
The Richardson clan had a fairly eventful month and I will be blogging about it over the next couple weeks so stay tuned! Happy August!
We have set up some new rules regarding electronics and just plain got rid of some temptations. We had 2 computers set up in the house, now we are down to one. We will be selling our Nintendo DS's...anyone interested??? The children are now given a certain amount of time to spend on the computer (when it is for entertainment) and the Wii. They get 120 minutes that starts Friday evening and ends Sunday evening. Once they have used those minutes that is it until the next weekend...oh...and no rollover minutes! LOL No TV during the week, including movies. We dont have cable but Trav and I do have a couple shows we watch through Hulu or Netflix. I think that about sums it up for the electronics. There was some slight resistance at first but it didn't last long.
The Richardson clan had a fairly eventful month and I will be blogging about it over the next couple weeks so stay tuned! Happy August!
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