Chuggin' along & Prayer request

We're making progress towards the finish line! I've got some documents done for our dossier, our medicals are coming up, AND - our I600-a should be in MO! It arrived in Texas last week and was being sent from there to MO (I don't know why, but they all go to TX and then are sent to MO). I imagine it should be there very soon. We will then get our federal fingerprint appointment, get those done, and wait to get our approval! Once we get that piece of paper, we can send our dossier overseas to be translated and then SUBMITTED once Country reopens! I feel like we're finally moving. February isn't that far away, and with all the holidays and birthdays between now and then, time should fly by.

One possible hitch in our plan is an upcoming vote in Country. This vote, if it passes and is approved by the president, will close all international adoptions between the US and Country. ALL families in the adoption process right now will come to a screeching halt and we'll be forced to wait it out and see what will happen. All of our special needs kids are at such risk, because if they age out of the baby house while Country is closed, they will be sent to institutions. Some will still be available for adoption, some might not be. Joshua will be four in April, and could be institutionalized any time after that. Please pray that Country will NOT close, or that it will remain open for special needs adoptions. Pray for all the families in process, as many are worried they will loose the children they have been dreaming about and loving from across the ocean. I am worried as well, but I am trusting in the Lord. I feel so strongly that Joshua was hand-picked for us. Things other families have said have backed that up. I'm believing that God WILL bring him home.
I love my husband. I asked him, "What will we do if Country does close?" His reply? "Yeah, me too." :-) I love that man.

Ok...now on to Brennan! One year ago yesterday, we brought our tiny little peanut home from the hospital! After eight weeks in the NICU, it was so good to have him home! He was still on oxygen and a monitor, eating only about an once and a half at a time, and struggling with reflux, but now he is a PERFECTLY healthy little boy who loves to run around the house! I can't believe how much he has grown! He recently went through a growth spurt. At the beginning of the week he could walk right under my parents' table, and by the end of the week he didn't fit! He bonked his head trying to go under!

Brennan recently discovered books! He'll find one and bring it over to you, then wait for you to put him in your lap. He just gives you this look like, "Hello? WHERE do I belong?". He only likes books that have flaps or are touch and feel though! He doesn't really get the point of just listening to you talk, he does that all day! He also thinks DVDs are books and he gets really mad if you don't 'read' them to him. We're trying to teach him that DVDs are for "shake shake shake". I think our DVDs are not going to last long... I remember saying when he was just a little preemie that he was going to be good at tantrum throwing - and I was right! Even without siblings to teach him, he knows how to throw himself around and scream when he doesn't get what he wants - which is often when you're one. At least he screams with his mouth closed. Seriously. I dread the day when he figures that one out! Last weekend at his grandparents house, twice he got mad, stomped away from us, and dramatically (but carefully!) dropped to the floor! He didn't cry or anything, just watched our reactions. Of course we were laughing at him - probably not the best for teaching him not to do that. Mostly he spends his time being very cute. He can 'run' now, and one of his favorite games is "I'm gonna get you!" He can play that for a looong time - I need to get in better shape! He also loves to make us all clap. He stands in the middle of the room and claps, and we all start clapping and saying "Yay!". When he stops, we stop. When he claps, we clap. He thinks it's the greatest thing! That boy is such a ham!
I think he gets it from his dad... 

Shopping with a purpose

I am trying to buy all my Christmas presents from adoption fundraisers or in other ways that benefit others. There are so many options out there, especially if you have a little girl! Check out the Sader families' dresses at rlcreationsinc.com, they are gorgeous! Or metal-crafted crosses at Alaska to Africa. Look under the RR family fundraiser tab on my blog for more!
Or look here for long lists of goodies:
Domesticated Diva
Christmas Frenzy
A Place Called Simplicity

Have fun shopping!

Our Homestudy is Approved!

I don't have it in my possession yet, but we are officially approved! We are Certified Good Parents! That means we can move foward another inch. I'll be sending in our I600-A application (immigration) tomorrow, if my little chat with the social worker goes well! The application fee is increasing next week, so we want to send it in ASAP. The rest of our dossier is coming together too. My goal is to have it in the mail before Jan. 1! Of course, that depends on getting our 171-H (immigration, the I600-A) form quickly.
It also depends on Country not closing to international adoptions. They recently had a vote to place a moratorium on int'l adoptions, and it went through. There will be a 2nd vote, but we don't know when that will be. If that vote goes through then the president has to sign off on it. It wouldn't be permanent, but we don't know if, when, or how long. We don't know if special needs adoptions will stay open even if the moratorium is put in place, but there are people working to make this happen. These kids are at such risk. While Country is closed, special needs kids would be aging out of the baby houses and transferred to institutions, where they have little chance of survival. Unless Joshua's heart condition is better than we think it is (which it may be - you just never know), than there is no way he would survive an institution for long. So we are praying that we can get to him, no matter what happens in Country! I'll be working hard to get our dossier together quickly!

Meanwhile, on the home front, Brennan is adorable. :-) His new word is "gotchu" for "I got you!". He LOVES it when we chase him, and he's getting really fast! He walks like a little boy now, instead of a baby. Often he walks around the living room picking up his "treasures", and he'll just speed back and forth waving his arms around making happy noises! I am so blessed to be his mom :).  

Waiting Child's Lullaby

(I kidnapped this!)

KISSES IN THE WIND...A waiting child's lullaby

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, or at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are...what's taking us so long?
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin.
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring you kisses that I send to you each night.

A post for Brennan!

Is it possible for this to be going to slowly and too quickly at once?...Because that's what's happening. And that's all I will say about that.

At the age of 13 months, 11 months corrected, Brennan knows two signs and says six words. Okay, mostly half words! He says "mo mo" for more, for example. But it counts! What a smart little boy! He's so smart, in fact, that in the last two days he's walked into the wall three different times! That poor boy does take after his mama.
We've been dealing with serious, uh, rear end issues ever since Friday. I'm starting to think maybe he is lactose intolerant after all. I really, really hope not, because cheese is his favorite food and yogurt is one of the few ways I can sneak healthy food into him! This boy will not eat whole vegetables unless they are pureed. Fine, we have a blender. But no, he is a Big Boy now and won't eat baby food! I don't know how to get him past the texture of veggies. For now we've gone back to formula until we can figure out if the milk is making him sick or not.
Brennan had his first overnight away from home this past week! I surprised Ken by having his parents pick Brennan up on the way home from work. It was tough to be away from my baby, but I did enjoy myself! Don't tell anybody. I love that little guy to pieces, and I'm mentally blocking out the fact that I am going to be gone for 5 weeks this spring. I'm actually starting to think that I will come home for the ten day wait, and go back alone. We'd have to find more money to do it that way, and I'm a little leery of traveling in a foreign country all by myself. I'm not really the adventurous type, so we'll see.
First, we need to raise the money to get there in the first place! We are having a fundraising concert and silent auction on December 3rd at our church in Blaine. I hope I will see you there!