We met Charlie!

For those of you who may not have made it over to our other blog...We met Charlie on Friday! He is adorable, sweet, tiny, and curious. He's slowly getting used to us and today seemed happy to see us. He likes to touch everything!
We will be in-region until we have court. We don't know when this will be yet, but probably around the 28th-29th. In the meantime, we will be visiting Charlie and enjoying our time in a foreign country!

It's our day!

Today we were submitted! That means the countdown has begun, and we could be travelling in as little as 4 weeks! That's best case scenario, but it's what I am hoping for!

We also finally decided on a name*, so I will finally share!
It is...

Charles Gabriel! We will call him Charlie.

Also, little Masha found a family!! I am so happy!!


*Name subject to change at any given moment, and then perhaps back again, based on reason or whim.

Sorry to leave you hanging...

...but we got hit by the flu and I have been sick all week! Today is day 9 and there is no end in sight. Tomorrow Ken has to go back to work, which means that I will have Brennan all to myself! I don't know where that boy gets all of his energy from - even when he's sick, he spends most of the day running around the house yelling and destroying everything! He's lucky he's so cute, or I'd go crazy! ;) He now knows 15 signs and has a few emerging signs. There's one sign he does that we're not really sure what it means. I think it might be "cereal". It definitely means something to him, we just have no idea what! Brennan has discovered where the snack cupboard is, and I find him in there about 7 times per hour. That boy's little belly is getting rotund! :) His obsession with laundry baskets continues. In fact, it's grown to include anything he can climb into or on top of! We really need the snow to melt so we can go climb outside!

Now our adoption news...there isn't much. We should be submitted on Thursday, but there's no guarantees! Last Thursday morning I got the news that we hadn't been submitted, but I was expecting it, so I was only a little disappointed. This week *should* be our week, and we should be travelling in 5-7 weeks! I've heard legends of families travelling 3-4 weeks after submission, and I am hoping that is us! We started this process in August, so we have been waiting for quite awhile!
Another little boy in Littlekid's orphanage passed away in November, and we found out this week. He was just one year old. He had down syndrome and a heart condition, just like Littlekid. His heart wasn't fixed (like Littlekid) and he died. It makes it seem more urgent that we get to Littlekid!

I can't wait to hold my little boy!

Getting closer...

Happy (late) birthday to my sister Alyssa and my favorite husband Kenny!

At this point in the adoption process, months are just something to GET THROUGH and come out on the other side that much closer to our child. But January is full of birthdays! I need to slow down a little bit and be thankful for all my loved ones born in the wonderful month of January! For example, my dear, darling, wonderful husband, who is (and always has been) my rock. Without him, I'd be lost. Love you Monster!

Now, on to less mushy things. We are getting so close to Littlekid, I can hardly stand it! It's no longer something off in the distance; it's a REAL kid, and we're REALLY going to get him. We should have our dossier submitted in mid-February, and I hope to travel in March sometime! We could be in his country in two months! It's possible! I have had to restrain myself from packing. Of course, I was ready to start packing the moment we committed to him! I'm keeping myself busy making infinite to-do lists - Ken says I need a list to keep track of my lists! I'm also getting the boys' room ready. They have a walk-in closet, which was/is full of boxes of clothes, books, orphanage donations, and toys! Everything is now completely organized and I am quite proud of it - even though it is still a closet full of boxes! There's 3 boxes of BOOKS alone - the next stage of books (ages 2-3), a box for ages 4-5, and a 'big kid' box! Yeah, I plan ahead. While I was organizing, Brennan helped by putting clothes from the sell box into his dirty clothes basket! It was more for me to clean up, but it kept him busy for a good 10 minutes so I just let him go. :)

~*~
Brennan now does 6 signs and recognizes a few more! He's picking them up more quickly, and would probably know more, except I haven't really been teaching him more. :) Right now we are working on mom, dad, water, blanket, cat, and where duck. I'm going to add on grandma, granpa, car, dog, and change (like diaper change). Now that he knows that signs mean something, he watches my hands more closely when I am signing and tries to copy me. I was only going to teach him a few signs to help us communicate better, but he still doesn't talk so I might start signing a lot more. That means I need to expand my vocabulary! I'm also working on learning Russian (hard!) and sometimes my brain just hurts. I've stopped speaking any Russian to Brennan, because I'm focusing on teaching him sign language and ENGLISH, for crying out loud. But maybe one day we will be a trilingual family!
Brennan is a little smarty pants, even without words. My favorite current Brennan trick is how he claps for himself when we say "Good boy"! It's too cute. He's also quite naughty! He's not allowed to play with the cat food, which he KNOWS. But he'll go over there and oh. so. slowly bend down, and if you don't tell him "No", he'll pick up some cat food...and then he usually gives it to me anyway! It's so funny how he knows he is doing something he's not supposed to, but he tries to get away with it! He's already smart enough to look and see if you are looking; I am going to be in trouble when he gets older!

This Thursday I am having my wisdom teeth out. I have never been put under, and I hate teeth, so I am really not looking forward to this! Luckily I have an awesome husband, and parents who live close by and will help me with Brennan while I am on pain meds. Actually, I am secretly looking forward to Saturday, because B will be gone all day and I will be able to lay around the house, (mostly) guilt-free! Pray for my surgery and that I don't chicken out!

Still here!

I've been so busy! And I am not a person who likes to be really busy; I'd rather be at home with my family. So I cannot WAIT for October, when I have (slightly) more free time!

We've had our second homestudy appointment, but unfortunately, we're still waiting on Ken's background clearance so we can finish. We had to send another form of to Indiana, where Ken went to school. I am not a fan of Indiana. Hopefully his clearance will come back quickly, and we can finally finish our homestudy! Our worker is doing what she can to help us, so that's nice. By the way, it is NOT an easy task to get documents notarized when you and you husband work opposite hours. But we did it! At times like this it is very tempting to just quit my job. But, it isn't time for that yet, so I keep chugging!
We're not moving as quickly as I would like, but we have time. We're aiming for the spring, when LittleKid's country will reopen for dossier submission. But I still want to move as quickly as possible, so we're READY. In the meantime, I've been collecting clothing donations for LittleKid's orphanage, and having garage sale fundraisers. This past weekend we had a sale at my aunt's house. On Saturday, I left for work about twenty minutes before the end of the sale. After I left, a woman came and chatted with my aunt about LittleKid. She handed my aunt a check for our donation bucket and left. My aunt looked at it and it was for FIVE HUNDRED dollars!! It's nearly a week later and I am still in shock! How amazing is that? How blessed we are!

This Sunday is my baby's first birthday! We're having a monkey-themed party, and we're having trifle instead of cake. Apparently, this is an AWFUL thing to do. :)
Brennan keeps getting better at walking! He can go halfway across the room without falling now! He's pretty cautious, but he's been getting more brave and even walking away from furniture that he's holding on to. He walked from one of his toys to the other, and was pretty proud of himself! He also has a second word - "woof!" I didn't even teach it to him. We were sitting on our deck and the neighbors dog was barking. All of a sudden Brennan busts out with a "woof, woof" right back! It was way too cute. Now whenever he hears a dog barking, no matter how far away, he starts woof-ing! I think he says "more" too, ("mo, mo") but I am not sure yet! I can't believe a year has passed since my little guy was born!

Joy and Frustration

I've decided that for the next few months, I will only pick up ONE extra shift per week. No more! I've been picking up every shift I can so we can save up money. But that really wasn't bright! I'm behind on housework, and more importantly, I miss having all day to spend with my son.
I am very glad that I was at work yesterday, however, as I had a great spirit-lifting moment. On Thursdays, we take the residents to a church service especially for adults with special needs, called People of Praise. It is wonderful and the staff love going as much as the residents! Now, lately I've been feeling frustrated with some things having to do with our adoption. But as I was sitting at People of Praise, I looked around and saw dozens of adults worshiping the Lord. Dancing, singing, praising in whatever way they were able. There's always a few that make there way up to the stage, too! And I thought, This is why we're fighting for our children. International adoption is not easy. It's costly, and you have to deal with different countries' (at times difficult) governments and laws. But it's worth it. We bring our kids home where they not only have a family who loves them, but a chance to learn and be healthy. And, a chance to freely worship with others just like themselves, surrounded by staff and volunteers who CARE about them. Isn't that great? I felt much more at peace after that, and today, some of the things that were frustrating me were resolved! Hurrah!
This last week I have learned so much about adoption, LittleKid's country, his region, and even his orphanage. I have connected with families who were praying for LittleKid before we even knew he existed! How awesome is God? That He would have people praying for our boy, while we were praying for God to sure us which one is OURS! I'm just in awe. So overall it's been a pretty great week, even with the frustration. It seems to just be part of the adoption process!

I was planning to write about Brennan too, but I am WAY to tired. So stay tuned for cute Brennan updates!

Guess who's on the "My Family Found Me" Page?

It's LittleKid!
We had our first homestudy appointment today and sent in the paperwork for our commitment to JOSHUA! He's such a darling little boy with down syndrome. He's a three year old who desperately needs heart surgery, has the cutest little cheeks, and he's tiny! "Joshua" isn't his real name, but we're not really sure what we'll name him yet. We might just keep it Joshua! He won't be home until next spring.
I am SO excited about this new adventure in our lives. I am so blessed to find people like me - people who care so much about these little children in need that they mourn those who are lost and rejoice when a child finds a family - a child they've never even met. In the last few months, I've seen many children blessed with families, and it's wonderful! But there are so many more who need a mom and dad. Many of these children will be sent to institutions where they will spend the rest of their short lives lying in cribs, starving, with NO ONE to hold them, sing to them, or tell them that they are loved. Please consider adoption (ask me how!) or, if that's not for your family, consider sponsoring a family or a child. Reece's Rainbow gives in so many ways, and you can too.
*steps off soap box*

That's not really where I intended to go - so now we'll move to my other favorite topic - Brennan!

 Brennan has a new love. It's plastic, greenish yellow, and squeaks.
Yep, it's a hammer.
He carries it with him everywhere! Grandma's house, Target, everywhere! He crawls with it, stands up with it, cruises with it. Oh, and hits Mama with it! I have no idea what made him so attached to this hammer, but if you try and take it away from him, watch out!
Brennan is taking more steps now! He takes a few steps between two people. It's mostly falling with style. But there's been times where he'll get three solid steps in before crashing! And yet, he still can't stand! Actually, I'm not really sure how well he can stand, because he just. won't. do it! Brennan's getting to be such a little smarty pants. He's figuring things out pretty quickly these days. I love to watch him complete simple tasks and marvel at human development. Really, it's amazing to me that this baby, who 11 months ago couldn't even eat or breathe on his own, can now crawl, walk around tables, and pick up little pieces of bread and eat them. In another year, he'll be doing so much more. I really love kids :).