Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!

Guess you assumed from the title of the blog that you are an awesome prayer warrior and I will be thanking God for you for the rest of my days! You wonderful friends prayed up a miracle here in St. Petersburg and the judge waived the ten days! I will let you take a moment to let that sink in....................... still need another moment? Okay, me too! :)





Okay, now, may I say that we asked God to intervene and interject His mighty saving power into our circumstance here in Russia. Every Russian told us it was not possible, it would never happen, and they even went so far as to have us sign Powers of Attorney on Friday so we wouldn't have to do it today after court because they were sure we would not be able to stay to do the work ourselves. However, Brian and I prayed very specifically this morning that God would allow us to boldly ask and receive in His name and Jesus' name and I am telling you that nothing short of a miracle happened here today. Our facilitator grabbed me from behind when she said the decision was immediate. Everyone in the courtroom dropped their jaws and then started to look around like, "What just happened?" But I knew what happened, God was working and I really knew, from the very beginning that He would show Himself to us in a big way. I wasn't sure what that way would be, but I knew He would show up and leave no doubt that He had been present with us.

Talk about a faith moment! I was sitting in that courtroom today, palms sweating, literally unable to say my name without stuttering when I first stood up to speak, but I knew God was there with us. I felt His presence, as I often have in the adoption process, and I knew that He was working on our behalf, whatever that might look like.

I'm very sad not to see my sweet beautiful boys tomorrow, but I am SO THRILLED to have my daughter and know that I will not have to leave my little boys behind again for any reason in the near future.

We do not have Mary Margaret with us tonight. It was advised that we leave her at the baby home tonight so that we could very quickly do the things tomorrow that needed to be done. We will pick her up tomorrow and have her with us for the rest of the time. I will post a photo later. Right now I am not on our laptop because Brian is using it to change our flights.

Brian is very worried about leaving his work for an extra two days. If you have any prayer stamina left in you, please do pray that his client is very understanding and nothing negative happens career-wise for him. But for now we are just floating on a cloud and working on all the details we need to work out to get ourselves through the rest of the week in Russia.

Praise GOD!!! And thanks to every one of you who prayed us through this! We will be home on Saturday, just one day short of landing on the Fourth of July! Mom, I wish I had brought Marsha's outfit with me after all! :)

Carol, I have SO much to tell you about court.

Love to you all, and check back later for the full glory of our court day family photo! Guess what, we have a daughter! :)

Matthew 25 (yes, just read the whole chapter, it's worth it!)

Babushka Reprimand, Sunday, June 29

Okay, funny thing happened this morning. We got to the Dom Rebyanka around 10 AM and the translator went up to her room to ask them to get her ready for outside so we could play with her out there. So when she comes out with her, she said that the caregivers ask her to tell us to stay away from the other children. Seems we were "ruining their discipline." hehehe Even other people's kids we spoil! :) Anyway, she went on to say that the caregivers said that after our little play session yesterday the kids were just wild and they did not follow the rules. So today we were only allowed to play with MM and not with everyone else. Which was really just as well because we had a great day with the M and M.


She still cried when she first saw us. She didn't really want anything at all to do with us. But Brian brought out the Gerber puffs today and that did the trick. After she figured out that we had food, she was happy as a lark. Bribery is not beneath us! :) Anyway, we walked (and walked and walked) laps around the Baby Home. Brian started to kick a rock and she would kick it too. Then she would let go of my hand, run over to him for a little bit of dried fruit, and then run back and grab my hand. She was like a little bird.


Don't get me wrong, it's not like she was jumping into our arms or anything and she still wouldn't even let Brian hold her hand. We still have alot of work to do, but she relaxed alot for sure. She particularly got happier when I would speak the very few words of Russian I know to her. So I think the key is going to be to learn a few little phrases at least that I can say over and over to her. I know some main ones, do you want to eat, sleep, walk, etc., but it might be nice to learn a few other things to have a little more to say to her other than things to do. I would like to learn the names for animals so we could look at books, etc. I know the sounds the animals make in Russian (believe it or not, Russian animals speak a different language too), the frog says, qua qua for example, but I don't know the names. Maybe I will get Marina to give me a list of those translations.

We went to St. Catherine's Catholic Church today for mass. The mass we attended was being said in Polish. So of course, Brian and I couldn't understand a word of it. But the nice thing about a Catholic mass is that if you are Catholic, you know the order of the mass and you can follow along, even if you don't know what the priest is saying. So we knew when it was time to say the creed, the Our Father, etc. And we got to take communion. It was really interesting actually because the priest dipped the host into the wine and gave the communion on the tongue, both blood and body at the same time. I have never seen a priest do that in a Catholic church, but it seems like a good and sanitary idea in a country where TB and other communicable diseases actually do still exist. So anyway, it was really a blessing to attend the mass. I enjoyed it alot.

During the mass, we heard the rain start to POUR outside. I mean coming down in BUCKETS! It was thundering, the whole thing. Of course, this morning it had been beautiful, so we were totally caught unaware. Anyway, we had to run the whole five or six blocks back to our hotel with no umbrella. My sweet husband gave me his jacket for my head and he went without, so he got soaked for sure. I was relatively dry when we got back, except for my feet.

Don't forget, lots and lots of prayers needed for court tomorrow. I foremost am praying for a positive decision from the judge, but beyond that, I would so love an immediate decision. She is just starting to warm to us, it seems so hard and senseless to leave her here for another two weeks and then come in and yank her out of the orphanage first thing. For sure she will not understand if the next time I show up I am taking her into a whole new world. I am really torn about leaving her, but I have to get home to my boys, they need me too. Please just pray that by some miracle, we are able to bring her home this time. We know that God is in control of this situation and that He may choose not to intervene, but we also know that He is able and that He can overrule this judge and we just ask Him to act on her behalf tomorrow.

Psalm 115:3

"Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him."

St. Petersburg Saturday, June 28

What a gorgeous day in St. Pete. It must have been 80 degrees today, just beautiful! Anyway, we slept in and then went to the Hermitage around 11 AM. One site you will see all over St. Petersburg is stray cats. They are everywhere. In Moscow, we noticed MANY stray dogs, but in St. Pete, it seems to be the cats. I counted five in one alley today, and there must be at least that many hanging out just outside our hotel (they fight all night, but I haven't heard them, Brian told me.)

We were met in the line to the Hermitage by a lady who offered to take us in through the tour group entrance and we could skip the one hour line to get inside. So we said yes, we went in with her and paid her about $12 more than a general admission ticket would have cost.

Inside the Hermitage is amazing. There are over 1,000,000 pieces of art in there. Sculptures and paintings by Michel Angelo, works from Raphael and several other French and Italian masters you would recognize. It's hard to believe that the Russian Tsars actually called this place home. You wouldn't believe the ornate details in every room. It was very interesting to me because I had read a book about Alexandra and Nicholas II, the last Tsar family. It was amazing and I am so glad we made time to do it.

We left the Hermitage at around 2 for lunch and I actually ordered in Russian. I was so proud of myself. I learned alot of Russian before our first trip here in 2000. I have been to Russia six times now and can honestly say I have not said more than "Wvi gavarichi pangleski" to anyone. Oh sure, the occasional dah, nyet, pazhalasta, etc., but I haven't actually tried to converse because I have stage fright. Anyway, today, we got the only guy at KFC who DIDN'T speak English, so I told Brian I could handle it. I am a total nerd for being this excited about ordering two chicken dinners in Russian, but hey, it's a new experience.

At 3 we headed to the baby home. What can I say, MM was NOT glad to see us. The only positive thing I can tell you is that she definitely recognized us. :) She started to cry the minute she saw us. After a few minutes, she settled down and tolerated us for the better part of an hour. Then her group came outside to play and that was all she wrote. The caregiver said something to the effect of "You're going to America" and she started howling. Mind you, she didn't know exactly what the caregiver meant, but she knew that she was talking to her and that she wanted to be with her and not with us. So, we ended up playing with all the kiddos again today. We had a ton of fun. Actually, what happened was that Brian played with a truck, making all kinds of noises for the boys. I sat near MM as she was sitting on the swing with one of the caregivers. I just sat close to her and tried to make eye contact as much as possible while playing with several of the other kids and talking softly to several of the little girls who were sitting near us. Then the group was going to take a walk, so she was not having any part of holding my hand. So, Brian took the hands of one little girl and two boys. I took two boys. Our translator took a little girl, and the two caregivers took the rest, including MM, and we walked all the way around the building in this odd little parade. I tried to get some photos of her looking all happy and stuff, but the minute I got out the camera, she started crying again! :) We are visiting her twice tomorrow, so she should have a very fine miserable day. But that will be the last time we get to see her this trip, if the ten days aren't waived, so we want to make the most of our time. I think she is going to completely freak out when I walk out of that orphanage with her. Today we were walking around the building and I wanted to go up close to the gate, she got to a certain point and wouldn't budge further. She knew the rule was she was not to go close to that gate and she was not having it. It will be quite interesting to see her reaction to a car and many other things. I think it will be fine once she realizes that I am the one she knows the most in the outside world, and I am the source of food and comfort. It will all work out so I don't want you all to be worried about me. But you can keep your prayers coming, we need those!

After the visit, we came to a restaurant with the translator and had some Russian pies (in Russia, pies aren't necessarily desert, they are filled with everything from cabbage to meat, potatoes or traditional fruits.) It was yummy. She went over all the court preparation with us. Boy, is that intimidating. I think we will be happy to have that over with. Our court is at 12 noon on Monday, which is 3:00 AM at home, so if you wake up in the middle of the night Sunday, don't forget to say a little prayer for us. They said court could last from one hour to five hours!!!! Can you imagine?

Hebrews 11:6

"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists andn that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

Lazy Days - Friday

As you might guess from the title, this has been a relatively slow day in St. Petersburg.

We got up at 8:55 for our 9:30 meeting with our driver and translator. We left for the baby home around 9:45. The M and M was not very happy to see us today, to say the least. When we went into her group, we could hear her crying in the back, so she was already upset about something. Then she set off about two others and there was a whole cacophony of crying toddlers. When they finally brought her out to us, she was not crying... until she saw us, then the fountain started again and she was on the verge of a tear the rest of our visit. She would calm down and play for a minute or two, but she would quiver her chin at the slightest thing (even when I tried to switch which hand I was holding during our walk) and the littlest thing could set her off.

We walked, sat and played with stickers, and tried to get her out of her mood, but the best part of the day was when her group came outside to play. She went and got in the swing with another little girl sitting RIGHT beside her (it looked like a front porch swing, but smaller, for three kids) and they swang and smiled. We actually heard her speak! And in the mean time, the other kids were going to take full advantage of two free and willing adults. One little boy threw a ball to Brian, he threw it back and the little boy caught it and started laughing this awesome contagious laugh. The next thing you know, about four kids have balls and are throwing them simultaneously at both Brian and me. The balls are flying everywhere, into the flower bed, over the swings, etc. etc. It was fun and the kids were loving it. The caregiver even joined in at one point. They were all laughing and the one little boy who started the whole thing got sillier and sillier to get more attention. He reminded me of Jack because he started tossing the ball into the air and letting it hit him on the head, etc. Just to be in the middle of the action. I played with two little girls, one named Masha, who was the same little girl who said the "Mama and Papa have come" comment last time. She and I were kicking the ball to one another. The other little girl is a child I had seen many times on the database and actually one my friend Nicole had asked me about. Nicole, I am happy to report that this little girl is alive and well and BEAUTIFUL and living in MM's group in her same baby home. She is tiny compared to the other kiddos, but has the most gorgeous curly long hair and hazel eyes. She was very coquettish and would not throw the ball, but would hand it to me and grin from ear to ear beneath her eyelashes. :) It was actually one of my best memories at a baby home ever. I hope that tomorrow, we will be able to play with the group again. As they were leaving to go inside, they all began to wave and MM waved and said "Paka" to us several times. Although she thought she was getting back to the safety of her group, I think in reality she got to observe us from afar and I hope that helps her warm up to us a bit more tomorrow.

After we left, we went by the notaries office to get some papers ready for court. While we were there, they were able to get all the papers done that we will need for the staff here to get our papers in order without us IF the ten days is somehow not waived. I would please like to encourage each of you to stop RIGHT now and ask God to interject His might and power over the judge into our situation. Ask Him to waive the ten days for us. I meant to bring the Bible up here with me so I could quote the verse exactly, but I don't have it, so I will have to paraphrase, but the very verse I quoted the other day says that the same power God used to raise Jesus from the dead is the power He interjects into our lives if we have faith. I have prayed in total faith that God is going to intercede here on our behalf. I have packed her things and packed as if we are bringing her home. The staff here is telling me there is no point in even asking for the ten days to be waived because she absolutely will not waive it, but we know that there is One who is able to do mighty things and we are asking you all to call on that Power on our behalf. I miss my boys something mad and I almost had a cry session at the notary office this morning just thinking about them. So the thought of leaving them to come back here alone is not an exciting one. But beyond that, it's harder on them than it is on me. And even beyond that, I want those extra two weeks to have her in our life and start the bonding process, start the life that she has waiting for her. And start the rest of our lives as a family. It's not as if it's the end of the world if we have to come back. God has already given us amazing grace through the things He has provided for us already. We have seen His hand and His care in all of this process. And if that is what is required, of course we will do it. But it seems so senseless for her to spend another two weeks in a place where she's not special. When she could spend those two weeks in a place where a multitude of family and friends have been praying for her for a very long time and waiting so longingly to meet her.

Okay, now to the lazy part. When we got back to our hotel around 1:30, we went for lunch at a place called Bili Jili. It's a pizza parlor with outdoor seating. The weather here is GORGEOUS and we enjoyed ICE in our drinks! Wow! What a treat. Afterward, we walked through the Mikailovsky Park near the Savior on the Spilled Blood Church and sat on a park bench reading our books. It was a setting from a novel or something because as we are sitting reading, two "babushkas" were on the next bench and they were feeding the pigeons in front of us. It was so pretty and relaxing.

Today there were brides EVERYWHERE. It's a Russian tradition to have the bride and groom drive all over the city having their photos made while the parents are at the reception entertaining guests. So we saw ALOT of brides today.

Then we returned to the room, called the boys on Skype. If you don't use Skype, you need to! It's amazing. We talked for about thirty minutes for less than two dollars.

Anyway, after that, I laid down and took a one hour nap while Brian joined a conference call and did some work. Bliss! :)

Now I am off to have some dinner and then probably walk around the city and take in some of the draw bridges in the evening as they are lit up and beautiful during the white nights. The sun doesn't actually set here this month, so it's very light outside 24/7.

Thanks for following along with us and please keep praying for Monday!

We Made It!

After 27 hours of travel, we have arrived at the world's tiniest hotel room! Seriously, Brian and I have to move aside to let the other one pass when navigating the room. And we are in twin beds! We booked a queen or king room, but they had none left when we arrived, so we are in twins. Ugh! Oh well, I think I could sleep in a barber chair tonight and not wake up. I am beat.

We had a five hour layover in Atlanta, where luckily, Brian was able to meet Uncle Bill. Things were so crazy getting out of town, that Brian didn't make it to the bank before it closed. Uncle Bill had to go to his bank and get us crisp money and meet us at the Atlanta airport. Brian gave him a check, but thank goodness for Uncle Bill!

This is Brian in the Atlanta airport, trying to get some work done while we wait. Doesn't he look so happy!?

We did not sleep much on the plane from Atlanta to Moscow. I watched three movies, The Other Boelyn Girl, Definitely, Maybe, and Atonement. Don't bother watching Atonement unless you need a reason to kill yourself, it's seriously depressing! I am also about half way through the book Charlie loaned me called Mountains Beyond Mountains. It's great!

We arrived in Moscow around 10:45 AM. We had to transfer to Terminal 1 to catch our domestic flight to St. Petersburg. No biggie, just a different terminal, right? There's a shuttle. WRONG! This is Russia folks, nothing is as easy and straightforward as it would seem. LUCKILY, I had chatted with a girl from Moscow on the plane and she said she would help us hire a car to get us to the other terminal, which was about ten kilometers away. Lucky we had her because she starting haggling with the drivers right away when we walked out. The first guy wanted $100 to take us, she told him what for and said keep walking. So she called her friend, who said she would take us in her car. But then when she was about to put our things in her car, another driver came up and asked our friend, Lena, if we needed a car. This time she negotiated to pay about $20. BIG DIFFERENCE! Anyway, we were blessed to have come back to Russia with enough Rubles to pay the driver, however, when we were evaluating our Ruble situation, she and her friend both started pulling out money to pay him. Talk about a good samaritan. Brian and I said we will have to remember that and pay someone else the kindness if we are ever in that situation in the US. It was very nice of them to help total strangers this way, but luckily we did not need to borrow money because we had enough.

Then we got to the Terminal 1 with our FOUR checked bags and THREE carry ons (people who know us are laughing because we HATE to overpack... boy, did we overpack!) Anyway, we got to the right terminal, but then we had to pay the equivalent of $120 for excess baggage fee. We didn't realize that there standard was different and since we met the 50 pounds per bag limit for international, we never thought about it. Oh well! Live and learn. We were just blessed that we had it to pay, we haven't gotten to exchange money yet, so that was all leftover stuff from last trip.

One funny thing that apparently is also different in Russia is that when we were in the air over St. Petersburg waiting to land, the girl next to me ANSWERED HER CELL PHONE! It rang, she answered, said a few words, and then hung up. Then she proceeded to text about three people while we were landing. That was not a very happy feeling considering how they always say that it MIGHT interfere with the navigational system of the plane. Oh well, we're here and we're safe!

So, I am in serious need of a shower, some food, and a bed! We are exhausted. I want to try to get some good sleep tonight because I know tomorrow will be a crazy day. I hope (and feel certain) we will get to see our M and M in the morning. Also, my friend Natalia is here visiting her parents so I am going to try to connect with her. Maybe we can stay up a little later tomorrow and take in some of the White Nights.

Paka for now!

On your marks, get set....

I think I am as ready as I will ever be. I have made my list and checked it twice. God has graciously given me this day, when I really can't leave to go anywhere because the FedEx requires my signature. So in His wisdom, I know He was protecting me, even when all these visa stresses were occuring, He knew I would need this "down" time to regroup, hold my kiddos tight, and get my house in order. So many times in my life, I can look back during times that felt like I had been abandoned and see that in reality, God was holding me tightly and preparing the road for me. But in my frailty and humaness, I too often don't trust and believe that it truly is all working together for my own good. Again and again, God proves Himself to be a loving and gentle Father. He proves to me over and over that He parents me perfectly, giving me boundaries and restrictions in the areas that are best for me, but indulging me in every area He can. I am finally at peace with the travel plans and anxiously awaiting seeing my little girl again... and most anxiously awaiting bringing her home. Either way you slice it, she'll be home this time next month!


Ephesians 1:18-21
"May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age, but also in the one to come."

So close, but yet so far

What an eventful 48 hours this has been. Then again, it's been pretty quiet. On Friday afternoon I hear from the NY consulate that I need another piece of paper from Russia. I frantically try to get in touch with our travel agent, who issues the paper (at a cost of $40), but it was not the one I needed. So then I call and e-mail again and they finally get us the one I actually needed for the consulate. So I e-mail that to the sweet person who is trying to help me at the consulate (I'm sure she rues the day she opened my application packet) and WAIT WAIT WAIT for Monday morning so that I can hopefully hear that she has my two FedEx paks, my two vouchers and invitations, and my two money orders and can process all this convoluted mess of stuff into an actual visa in time to drop it in the FedEx for Tuesday delivery. I wish I had paid for morning delivery so I wouldn't have to spend all day Tuesday wondering if I am leaving.

If you are reading this post, PLEASE pray that our visas arrive AND that they waive the ten day wait for us to bring our M&M home in this one trip together. Please claim this scripture with us and for us, as we wholeheartedly believe that we are keeping His command in this adoption. We wholeheartedly believe that Jesus is the son of God. And we genuinely strive to love one another in all that we do. We believe that it is the Lord's will that we would care for this orphan and receive her into our home and family. We believe that it is never His wish that any child should suffer, particularly orphans, and in believing Him in this promise, we believe our desires are pleasing to Him. So we boldly claim:
1 John 3:22-23
"and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us."

Visa stress

Well, the second package went today to the Russian Consulate with an additional $150 in it. Because I am not able to get a double entry visa, I had overpaid for a single entry visa by $50. I asked them to just accept the "donation" and process the application anyway, but alas, they couldn't accept overages. SO, since I had to FedEx today for Monday delivery, I had to attach an additional $150 to up the fee to the same day visa service. All this is becoming almost comical because for some reason I can't seem to ever get the money order right when I apply for my visa. Remember, I had a money order issue last time. Anyway, as long as we get the visas on Tuesday, we'll be fine. But I am going to be biting my nails til then.



All the flights are booked, even the Moscow to St. Pete (thanks to my husband who knew I was ready to have a nervous breakdown, so he took it from me.) I have a hotel reserved at an okay rate (everything is very expensive right now.) And I am ALMOST packed for me and Mary Margaret. So, if we can get those visas, then we'll be set to go. Please continue to pray that our ten days is waived AND that we get the visas back on time.



Daniel 10:8, 10, 12

"So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strenght was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength." " Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees." "Then He said to me, 'Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.'"

Hold the Phone

Okay, hold the phone. I had no more than checked the arrival of our visa application with the Russian Consulate when I get an e-mail saying that I can't have a double entry visa if I am going as a tourist. Would have been nice if the agency I paid $40 for Visa support had known this to save me more FedEx fees. SO... now I have to go cancel the money order (don't know if you remember the ORDEAL this was last time... think 45 minutes at the bank with multiple bank staff trying to get it done) spend $20 to FedEx the new money order to New York, pay $20 to have them FedEx the visa back to me, because they can't use a visa that is over the exact amount. So in effect, I am going to all this trouble to save myself $10. Does any of this make sense? You're probably having a hard time following the story at this point, but let's just say I had a few choice words for my computer when I got the e-mail from the cosulate on the problem.

I'll say this, the Consulate was very timely in informing me of the mistake. I'll hand it to them that they could have just stuck it back in the mail to me and not even told me, so I am not angry with them, just with the fact that I had this sinking feeling that something was going to be wrong. It's just too complicated and intricate to do with the distractions that I have going on while trying to take care of all this stuff. I knew there was a possibility that I had a mistake. Kuddos to the Russian Consulate for notifying me in a time that I could correct my mistake and still get the visa. Literally, tomorrow is the last day I could have possibly taken care of this and still left on time Wednesday.

The storm before the calm

I know it came backward, but there was a total storm of activity and emotion. The storm seems to be making it's way off to some other place now and the skies are starting to clear a bit. Today when my husband agreed to take the Aeroflot debacle off my hands, I felt the tension just ease away. Seriously, can NOTHING work the way it should? I went through the booking process on the Aeroflot web-site about four times and they never took my reservation and every time I went back through, the flight I had selected previously was sold out. PLUS, the flights started around $47/person/leg and we ended up paying around $200 because 1. they went up every day and every time I logged in and 2. the taxes were actually MORE than the flights. UGH! But it's done now, thanks DH!

I'm lucky not to be heading to St. Petersburg in crutches. I am sure glad there was no one here to see the little show I just put on in the kitchen... I heard the pot of water I had put on the stove start to boil over, so I RUN into the kitchen to catch it... on the way I hit a puddle of water left by Connor's wet swim trunks and BAM I hit the floor in about two seconds flat. I think I will have a VERY nasty bruise on my right hip by tomorrow, my right wrist is probably a little strained and now I have a massive headache. Too bad no one was here because if you're going to provide that kind of comic opportunity, someone needs to be around to laugh at it. I know my mom will be sorry she missed it, she is notorious for laughing anytime anyone gets injured in her presence! We used to joke with her about it, but now I notice it's a habit I've carried over to my kids, there's just something really funny about someone falling. Ask my friend, Amie's mom about how that feels, I think she's still holding a grudge for the time Amie laughed at her for falling and flinging her purse halfway across the parking lot... but I diverge!

Last night I went over the my friend Kendra's house. Amie met us over there and we had a big massive clothes swap. I have the oldest boys, so I hand down my stuff to Kendra, and then she hands it down to Amie (not that alot of my stuff is worth handing out after it's been through three boys.) Then Amie has the oldest girls, so her stuff goes to Kendra and then to me. Then of course, Kendra has some of her own new stuff that she passes to both of us. So it was a massive swap. I was the biggest beneficiary last night because I got two huge totes of clothing that was HEAPED to the point where I couldn't put the lids on. The girl will not be wearing anything twice for the rest of the summer, that's for sure. I think I might actually get to buy a few things for winter, but summer is definitely going to be a fun fashion show! :)

Okay, off to check a few more things off the to-do list and hang out with my little fellows for the afternoon. I'll keep you posted, but the real thing that is still hanging over our head is the visas. I have mailed the applications, but I am terrified that I have not filled out the air bill correctly or something like that and we won't get them by Tuesday. On that note, I'm off to check the tracking number to make sure it's arrived in NY.

Mark 6:56
"Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured."

Giddy Up

Well, it's time to climb back into the saddle. Why am I having so much more difficulty getting my travel organized this time? Well, let's see, it could have something to do with the fact that we might be coming home July 1, we might not. We might be returning from St. Petersburg on July 1, but we might be staying there. We might have to move to an apartment on July 1, but there might not be one. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the apartment I thought I was booking, someone beat me to, and so I had to change to a hotel. Then I had visa invites being issued by two separate agencies... cancel that. Okay, now I have one agency and two visa invitations, but one of them was supposed to be for double entry, it's not, so now they have to fix that little issue. Did I mention that every day that ticks off the calendar, the charge for the actual visa is more expensive?

Oh yeah, and I got the last ticket Delta had on the last possible day that I could possibly return for my third trip. So I have to stay a few days longer than I anticipated. Marina, hope you're ready to spend a weekend with me in mid-July because I will be lonely there without my buddies!

So... STRESS!!!! I would rather just pull a blanket over my head and read a book because this is all totally overwhelming me. Let's see, what's left to do? Book tickets from Moscow to St. Pete on the day we arrive, write speech for court, pack, get the visas, get the cashiers check for the visas, get all our tax returns and pay stubs we need for Embassy, get two more documents that are needed for court and have those certified and apostilled. Hmmm... how am I going to fit parenting three boys on summer vacation into all this "to do" list?

John 15:5
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Fun, fun, fun!

Today I had a little tiny reward for all my months of work and years of praying for this daughter of mine. I packed her bag for Russia! :) WOW! That was SO much fun. I pulled out the dresses, put the bows in a baggie along with some "hairy dos" (as Connor says) and picked out which socks and tights would go with each outfit. I packed her little cape and her little white Mary Janes (and the pink ones too.) What fun! I put in the bag of toys the neighbors gave us for the plane ride home. I packed a duplicate of the lift the flap book we left with her at the orphanage in May. I packed lots of little packs of puffs and cheerios (I figure food is a good bribe if she has moments of anxiety.) I had to pack her "fuggy" (a pink bumpy blanket trimmed in satin.) I have four new dolls for her, two of whom have hard bodies, so I will choose one of them to travel with us too. I bought her a little dress a while back with a matching doll dress, so I will pack the doll in the matching dress.

I have purchased all the gifts for the various folks. The gift we got the translator is fabulous. We went together with another family from our agency and bought her a Coach messenger bag. It's so cute. I debated keeping it for myself as a diaper bag, but I figured it wasn't really a splurge I could afford at this point in time. We have gifts for the orphanage, but we are planning to buy most of it there as they usually need diapers and we can get them there without having to travel with them. We got them sippy cups too, I think I bought about 50 sippy cups for the kids. :) I would like to get them something fun that the children would really love, but I am not sure what they need, so we will just buy it in Russia.

I am down to two apartments to choose from, so that will be booked, hopefully by the weekend.

I am just so over the moon about this trip. I can't wait to see our little M and M again. JOY JOY JOY!

Forget the nest, it's party time! :)

Well, my nesting session was cut short by the good news about a court date. I certainly didn't get it all accomplished this week like I had hoped (I was probably overshooting my reach to expect all that anyway.) Once we had reason to celebrate, I told the boys to forget the schedules and rules, we were "on vacation." Since we aren't getting a real family vacation this year (between Russia and Scotland, it's a little hard to find the time or the cash) I just decided that this would be our vacation. We've ordered pizza, eaten total junk food (I've fixed all their favorites) scrapped the chores and the schedules and let the clean house go. Did I mention I finally mopped today because our feet were starting to stick to the floor when we walked! :) It's been such a fun week connecting with the boys, relaxing, and just having fun.

I've gotten the flights booked using miles, thanks to a couple of generous friends for helping out with that. I've almost gotten the lodging booked. I will need to get the Visas next week since there is a Russian holiday today and tomorrow so I can't get my invitation. Brian will be home Saturday and we can finalize the details then.

The fun thing is that I have started packing for her! :) I realized that I needed to pack everything as if she is coming home with us, because there's still a miniscule chance the judge would waive the ten days OR that I would end up staying over. Now THIS is the fun part of this process. All the hardest parts are over (except court) and we get to do the very real tasks of preparing for this little girl to join our family. This is where it all starts to pay off, where the dreams start to become reality. It's so exciting. So many people have prayed for this child for so long and now they are about to see the fruits of their labors.

On a side note, my friend Michelle is traveling to Russia this coming week to meet her daughter. I am requesting prayers for her as she and her husband need safety, peace, and protection for their boys that are staying behind. I am praying that God will give them undoubtable understanding that the child they are adopting was meant to be in their family. Please pray with me for them.

Psalm 31:24
"Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord."

He broke my chains, now I can lift my hands!

That is a line from my all-time favorite praise song, "Shackles" by Mary Mary. "He broke my chains now I can lift my hands, and I'm gonna praise You! Yes I'm gonna praise You!" So, today we are PRAISING!!!! We got our court date! We are going to court on June 30, 2008! Brian is quite the international traveler, now, don't you think? I mean, three international flights, four countries, multiple cities, in only six short weeks!

Ya-Hoo! What can I say... our flights are booked (we actually were able to use miles... another big PRAISE!) and we're working on a hotel (forget the Marriott, they wanted 222,000 points for five nights! ugh!) And all that's left to do is VISAS, oh my gosh, the Visas... gotta go get to work. More later! :)

Exodus 15:2
"The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him."

Fly on over to my nest

That's right, I am doing some MAJOR nesting. I think it's really safe to post about this because my DH is in Scotland, so I doubt he's blogging, but for Father's Day, I decided to surprise him with a clean and organized garage. So, after a FULL day of cleaning, SWEATING, throwing away, moving, SWEATING, organizing, SWEATING, and using power tools (did I mention it was hot?), I can now actually park my very large SUV in our garage. :) (I know it's bad for the environment, but I can't exactly fit four kids in a Ford Focus!) My husband actually hates it when I park in the garage (it's his "room" and he likes it a certain way.) The kids and I never cooperate in helping him keep his "room" clean. We trash it! I mean, totally abuse it! And he quietly cleans up after us. Granted, we have to endure him throwing away a few of our things, but he doesn't fuss, which is amazing! Anyway, what does this have to do with M&M's adoption, you might be asking yourself. Well, I'll tell you what... I'm nesting! Yes, it's official. I've been on this bent for a few days now... that's overachieving for a self-proclaimed ADD sufferer. I have focus and I am putting my energy to some major use. My house was so clean on Friday that when my 19 year old babysitter showed up she said, "Wow, it's clean!" Now if a 19 year old notices, THAT's CLEAN!

The other thing I have been doing is stalking eBay. I found these precious dolls. They are called Berenguer Dolls. They are the same ones you can buy at Target, but the ones at Target are classified "play dolls". I want one of the collectible dolls. These things are SO lifelike that you could seriously send out a baby announcement and no one would suspect a thing! However, I'm not willing to pay $50 for a doll for a two year old, but I keep thinking I'll find one with an ink mark or a tear or something that I can live with and still afford. I'm determined for my little girl to have one of these! :)

This week I plan to organize and purge the rest of the house. I need to finish sewing her new duvet cover because it doesn't have a back on the cover yet. After that, the room is totally done and I can take photos of it to complete the judge's photo album. I'll post photos here when I'm finished. I know there are photos already here, but I had to redo everything when I found out she was so young... can't really see her sleeping in a queen sized bed after all. (I thought she would be closer to three at referral.) Anyway, it's really looking so cute! I also want to clean out some closets, get some stuff into the attic, and do some light touch-ups on some paint. If I can accomplish all this in a week while my husband is out of town, then I think I can successfully keep my mind off the adoption. And the added bonus is that the last time I went through this surge, we got "the call" shortly thereafter, so maybe this is intuition telling me to get it in gear because she's coming home. Coming home... doesn't that sound great!?!?

John 1:12-13
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

We Made It!

We made it through the first week of the judge being back from vacation. I am feeling pretty good about myself right about now because I really thought I would be two jumps ahead of a fit by now, but I have actually found the week went by pretty quickly. I know that they are waiting for this piece of paper. I know that S in Moscow can track it down if things delay too much. I also had the privilege of following my friend T through her successful first trip this week, which was very good for my spirits. I was so excited for her that I sort of forgot to obsess about myself.

Brian is leaving on Saturday for the trip of a lifetime. He and his dad are going to be playing St. Andrew's together. They are going with his two brothers-in-law. This is a dream he and his dad have had of doing together for most of Brian's adult life. This is something that was on his "life list" of things to accomplish. I am very excited for them! We knew that this was the ONE WEEK of the entire year that we could not possibly travel. To play St. Andrews, you have to get into a lottery and if your name is drawn, you go on the day they tell you to be there. You can't just book a tee time any old time you please. So there was no way for him to rearrange this trip. Not to mention, there were three other people who would be affected by any changes we made. So we are breathing a collective sigh of relief that Brian will have this trip behind him and the calendar is wide open from here on out. We can be on a plane as quickly as we can get our visas and tickets booked, so anytime next week will be fine for getting our court date... hint hint if anyone with any influence is reading this! :)

All this to say, I am sure that now that my husband is gone out of the country, my friend T is back from Russia and my friend M is a week away from traveling (read, there will be no one for me to live vicariously through next week), I will be back to obsessing about myself! But for this week, I am just going to pat myself on the back that I made it through the first week, I got my last piece of paper overnighted successfully, and it's out of my hands. Literally, the whole thing is out of my hands, God is in control now and that's a pretty good place to be. Certainly it's in better hands than when it was up to me.

Hebrews 13:5
"Never, no never, will I leave you nor forsake you."

Guess What!

Okay, sorry to fool you with the title, it's not "that" what... but it is a little morsel of news. See, we in the adoption community live for, we hang on, crumbs of information! I got an e-mail yesterday from our stateside director of Russian adoption saying that she heard that they are just waiting for "the letter from Moscow" to be able to schedule our court date. I am aware of this "letter" and know theoretically what it is, but I'm not fully sure of what it is for or it's purposes. So I am just hoping that there is nothing holding the letter up, no snag, just summer delays and that it's on it's way. So, at least that's a little crumb of news for me and for you. It's at least proof that they know we are out here waiting and missing our little princess. It's some indication that they are trying to get us back to her. I will feel so much better after the court date is scheduled.

I have been thinking alot about those ten days between the court decision and taking custody. I don't know how I can bare to leave her again. But I don't think I can bare to be away from my boys that long either. Who needs me more? Mothers shouldn't be faced with decisions like this. I would love to just be with her every day at the orphanage, play with her within her group and get her more used to me so that she wouldn't be so stunned when we leave with her. She is so cautious and shy, I am afraid that it will really upset her the first few days that we are outside the baby home. I know that is alot of change for a little one of her age and especially a cautious child. I know it's a major change for such a little girl and I am thinking that those ten days just being with her might ease the transition for her. But of course, best case scenario, the ten days gets waived, we both stay the full time to get the business done, Brian and I are there together to pick her up and bring her home. That would be a miracle, I know, but I do still believe they happen. So if you want something to pray for, a quick court date with a ten days waived would be ideal! The one thing I do know is that God is hear with us. Jesus can feel our suffering for her. I also know that God is with her. That's the hard one to accept, I know He is caring for us. But to trust that He is caring for her too is the harder one for me. I want to be the one caring for her, but in reality, she's in no better hands than when she is in His caring embrace. I guess the bottom line is that I am afraid God will ask me to walk through something painful in regard to this adoption that I am afraid to walk through. I'm so afraid He will require something of me that I know will tear me down and consume me. But I know that I know that I know that I know that He will be there with me in that too. Once again I find myself in a position to "give it up" and trust my Father to hold me gently.

Okay, enough rambling. I'm really just trying to pretend like I have something to report. And I know all the blog stalkers are sick of logging in to no new posts, so I'll end your torture now! :)

Psalm 34:4
"I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears."