Winter Wonderland in March

I just cannot believe this weather! As soon as Kaden wakes up from his nap, we are going to go outside and build a snowman. I hope we can find a safe place to do that, because the snow is so deep, poor Kaden will be up to his armpits in it!

Here are some pictures of our winter wonderland. This is quite the sight for March. We've had snow in spring before, but never quite this much that I recall. The roof above our stairwell has a 3 ft. drift. This is the view of it from our upstairs hallway window. Ryan is going to get it off this afternoon because once it starts to melt, we will have major leaks!


This view is from our kitchen window. There is a 4 ft. bank of snow from the south side of our house that goes to our neighbor's house. There are actually two lawn chairs completely buried out there by the tree. You can see pictures of them from the night before at DropShots:


And here is Ryan's work truck, buried in a bank of snow:

Today the news of Cindy's neurology report has really sunk in. Although we missed out on yet another month of her life for this appointment, we have gained so much more in return. I was fully prepared to take her to the nuerologist, physical therapy, etc. Now we don't have to! We won't be rushing around from appointment to appointment, we won't be scraping to makes ends meet to pay big hospital bills, we won't have to find childcare for Kaden during physical therapy. We can just stay home and enjoy our perfectly healthy, happy, normal baby girl! Wow. God is so good!

Plus, one of my original goals during this wait was to have Kaden completely potty trained. I did not want to have two children in diapers. Well, guess what? We have finally reached our goal. Kaden has not had an accident all day and is even going #2 in the toliet! I am so proud of him. After months of trying to convince him that this was the way to go, he is finally motivated and willing to do it all on his own. What a big boy!

So this has been a really neat weekend. We are snowed in as a family, enjoying our news of Cindy, celebrating success with Kaden, and looking forward to the spring to come. I hope you have a great weekend too.

Exciting Update!

No, she isn't coming home yet, but I do have exciting news!

As you know by now, the reason Cindy did not come home right away after her paperwork was complete is because they were waiting on a follow-up neurologist's appointment. We had hoped to do that here, but our desire was never conveyed to Korea.

So, she had her appointment on March 18. We just got the report today. Cindy is no longer a "special needs" child! Everything that put her in the Waiting Child program has resolved itself. She is rolling over, sitting on her own, and even crawling. She is completely caught up developmentally. Wohoo!

I was not prepared to have a crawler already, so I need to recheck the house, but this is all excellent news. On top of that, she had her visa physical yesterday. We will find out next week if she needs a Class B waiver or not. Most children who are referred through the Waiting Child program need a waiver. The waiver is a signed statement by us that indicates that we realize she has medical needs and we will address them once she is home.

So here's the deal. If she needs the waiver, it will be several more weeks before she is home. If she doesn't need the waiver, she could be home as early as next week or the first full week of April. Since she has been "cleared" by the neurologist, I am very hopeful that she will NOT need the waiver.

Please storm the gates of heaven in prayer. I really, really, really want my whole family together for Easter. It's a very special holiday to me, and this mean the world to me. Let's pray her home!

Sportacus!

You're probably wondering what my blog title refers to. Well, that would be Kaden's latest fixation. We have a Nickelodeon DVD with several of their Nick Jr. shows. We bought it primarily for the Dora & Blue's Clues episodes on it. But, there is also an episode of a show called Lazytown on the DVD.

At first, Kaden was scared of the villian on the show and didn't want to watch it. Now, he is fascinated with it and wants to watch it over and over again. Since we only have this one episode, we all know it by heart.

He is particularly intrigued with the hero of the show, Sportacus. In fact, Kaden has decided that HE is Sportacus and wants us to call him by that name, not Kaden. He has given me the name Stephanie, the main girl character on the show, and has deemed Ryan as Robbie Rotten, the villian.

It has been trying at times watching this show over and over again and going by the names Stephanie and Robbie instead of Mommy & Daddy. BUT, we have discovered some great perks. Since Kaden is determined to be the REAL Sportacus, we have found that we can use that to our advantage. For example, we often remind him that the REAL Sportacus would eat only healthy snacks, go to bed on time, pick up his toys, etc. Guess what? It works!

Kaden has been aboslutely delightful this week. We have not had any tantrums, he has not been in timeout, and he's even been going pee pee in toliet. Once we convince him that Sportacus does not poop in his diaper or constipate himself, we will have hit a home run!

Last weekend we took Kaden to the zoo, bowling, and out for pizza. It was the trip there and back that sparked the Sportacus pheonomena. Anyway, we had a really great time with him and enjoyed a fun weekend as a family of 3. You can see lots of pics on my DropShots account. We met up with some friends and had a really great time. Kaden can't wait to bowl again.

There's nothing new to report on the adoption front. I am slowly getting over my anger and frustration with the unncecessary delay that was caused by our agency's unwillingness to communicate our wishes to Korea. There's nothing we can do about it now, so we're doing our best to forgive, forget, and move on. We have no idea how much longer to expect the wait to be. I'm still hoping Cindy will be home by Easter.

Calming Down

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has e-mailed words of encouragment and provided prayers. I really appreciate each and every one of you. Now that I've had time to calm down and put things in perspective, my outlook is much better!

I am doing my best to put a positive spin on this. The past few weeks have been very stressful around here. You can read my previous blog posts to see why! We're still dealing with the aftermath of the credit card issue. I want Cindy to come home to a peaceful and calm environment and not a home filled with stress and anxiety. So, I think God has just provided us with a few extra weeks to get matters taken care of so we can enjoy our time with her when she gets here.

At least now we know where we stand! There's not much of March left, so if they do still make her go to the neurologist's appointment, it will be in the next two weeks. There is still hope that she could be home by Easter. I am clinging on to that hope. It's been MY desire to have her home before she turns 9 months old, but if that is not GOD'S desire, then I need to let it go.

Poor Kaden didn't know why I was so distraught today. He knows I am sad because Cindy is not home, but he thinks that she just doesn't want to come home. I'm afraid he blames her for my sadness. It's hard to explain it to him. When I was very upset earlier, he came up to me, hugged me, and said, "I'm sorry Cindy won't come home Mommy, but don't be sad. I'm here."

So, thank you again for your prayers and please don't stop praying!

I'm so upset!

Cindy had a nuerologist's appointment back in January. It didn't tell us anything we didn't already know and were open to. I noticed a note on the neurologist's report that said, "Follow up in 2 months." By the time we got this report, we were already well through the process and Cindy's P3 had already been sent to the agency. So I knew we weren't far from her being ready to travel. So I contacted our agency and asked them to please ask Korea NOT to hold up travel because of the follow-up neurologist appointment. I let them know that we would do the appointment as soon as she was home.

The response I received basically brushed off my conccern. I was told that she would likely not have everything needed to travel by then anyway and not to worry about it. But, when we found out that she got EP on February 17, I did worry about. So, since it's been a full MONTH since everything has been "paper ready" for her to get her visa, I asked our agency to please contact Korea and find out what was going on. My worst fear was confirmed.

They've been waiting on the neurologist's appointment this ENTIRE time. I don't even know when it's scheduled for, but the response I got was "after her nuerologist's appointment, they will do her visa physical and then apply for the visa." I am just so upset to know that my message was never conveyed to Korea. Granted, they could have said they would not let her leave until she had that appointment. But, they also might have said, "ok" and gone ahead and applied for her visa. She could have been home for WEEKS by now!

Thank you for letting me vent. I have no idea how much longer to expect the wait to be now becuase I have no idea when her appointment is or when the next visa physical will be. But my dreams of having her home by the time she turns 9 months and/or by Easter are shattered. I'm trying very hard to trust God's timing on this and to believe that this holdup happened for a reason, but my faith is very tested right now. This is not the lucky St. Patrick's Day I'd hoped for. :(

We've been hacked!

Grrr.....On Saturday I got a strange e-mail from Netflix telling me that we had a duplicate account and I needed to delete one of them or our credit card would be charged for both. I called them and they told me that the 2nd account was opened in Ryan's name, but with the same credit card they already had on file for me. Of course, Ryan had no idea how it happened since we've always just used the 1 account. We shrugged it off.

Then today, we got a package of medication in the mail from Pet Meds. We did not order anything from them. The invoice showed that it was ordered by Ryan on Friday and that it was paid for with our credit card. Again, Ryan had no idea what was going on! He called Pet Meds and they gave us the e-mail address that was connected with the order. Ryan told them it was a fraud, they are refunding our account, and we are sending back the medication. Why someone would order something and have it sent to us is beyond me unless it was done as a joke.

So, then he called Mastercard and they checked our account for fradulent activity. They were already suspicious and were trying to contact us for verification. Someone booked a trip with an online travel agency today and the total cost was over $2,000. Because this made them suspicious, they denied the payment without verification. I am so glad they did. Way to go Mastercard! They have immediately closed our account and will be sending us new cards with new numbers. So, in the meantime, we are without a credit card. It's the only one we have. I guess that will keep me from doing any more retail therapy while we wait for our travel call!

I'm still trying to figure out how this happened since we both still have our cards in our possession. Well, actually they are shredded now! It was obviously done online. It has me worried wondering which website the leak came from. Most of the things we do online go through PayPal, and the breach doesn't seem to be there. I can't think of any time recently that I would have just entered our credit card number as payment. I think I'll blame Ryan. Hee...heee...heee.... :)

Anyway, once we get our new cards I'll have to go through the hassle of changing a lot of our automatic payments to the new number. I can think of at least 3 accounts that are connected to it. Luckily, most of those payments aren't withdrawn until the end of the month, so I have time to resolve it before our accounts are closed for lack of payment. That is, if I remember!

So, that's the big excitement for us around here today. No phone call yet. I'm going crazy waiting for it. In the meantime, I'm also battling a bad sinus infection. At first I thought it was just allergies, but medication doesn't help and it doesn't go away. So I have a doctor's appointment Wednesday afternoon. I really hope an antibiotic will do the trick. While I'm over there, I can stop by and visit Dad. He's having his hernia surgery Wednesday morning. Then Thursday morning, both Ryan & I have dentist appointments. So I guess it's a blessing we haven't received Cindy's travel call yet.

I think that if we got the phone call on Friday and went to pick her up on Tuesday the 17th, that would be just about perfect. But who am I to say? No matter what date God has planned, it will be perfect. Let's just hope I can hold on until then!

LOTS of praises!!!!

We just found out that Cindy has her Emmigration Permit! Praise the Lord! And, get this. She has had it since February 17. So, our travel call could literally be any day now. I have a friend who predicts it will be tomorrow. Can you believe it? Cindy should definitely be home sometime this month. I'm still in shock!

Plus, I have even more good news. Trista is doing well and is basically cancer free. They believe they got all of it when they removed the tumor and her lymph nodes. She can return back to school and doesn't have to see the doctor again until May!

Also, Dad's biopsy came back that the mass on his lungs is benign. It's not cancerous! Has this been a great day for good news or what? I'm feeling quite giddy!

The Nursery is Ready!

Despite being sick this weekend, I finally got the nursery finished during a few moments out of bed. It feels good to have it all put together, ready for Cindy to come home!

We went with pale green walls and a pink and purple butterfly theme. The nursery had been done in Winnie the Pooh for Kaden. I knew it would take several coats of primer to cover the mural I had painted for him, so I left it and just "girlied" it up with some butterflies!

Here's a view into the room from the doorway:

This is my favorite corner, the reading nook. The butterfly quilt was hand pieced and quilted by my mom. I made the wall plaques with simple 99 cent wooden craft squares and 50 cent wooden shapes:

There are butterflies on the dresser knobs I made too:

Here's the mural I did for Kaden. I'm glad I found these butterfly clings at Target so I didn't have to paint them on. The pillow in the crib was also made by Tisha. Thanks dear friend!

Here's a closeup of her name, another simple craft project:

The dolls on the shelves were made by my friend Tisha. The boy doll is actually Kaden's, but he wanted his baby to sit on a shelf too:

If you want to see more pictures, you can check them out at DropShots.com. Contact me if you need the password by e-mailing me at starwarsfans98 at gmail dot com.

Come home Cynthia Sue. We're ready for you!!!

8 Months Old

Happy 8-month birthday sweet Cindy Sue! I hope she will be home before she hits the 9 month mark on March 28. Poor Mommy might go crazy if she's not!

At the moment, poor Mommy is sick, sick, sick. Kaden has been very ill, so I knew it was just a matter of time before I got the worst of it too. It started with a fever and general fatigue, but has now developed into a full blown flu/cold thing. My head is stuffed up, my nose is running, my throat hurts, my ears hurt, and my stomach is churning.

The nursery is almost done. I had hoped to finish it up and take pictures today, but that is now on hold due to illness. I have been in bed all day and will be returning there once I'm done posting this blog entry! So, prayers would be greatly appreciated for health and patience.

New Well Baby Check!

Well, still no word on Cindy's Emmigration Permit. But, we did get a new medical report today! She had her last check-up on February 19. She has grown a lot since her checkup a month ago. She is now 15 pounds and is 26 3/4 inches tall. The physical therapy seems to be helping because they now list her as rolling over. Hurray! She's also reported as "circling", so she's at least thinking about crawling.

Because of her delay in gross motor skills, she is listed as 6 months developmentally. She'll be 8 months on Saturday. But, her fine motor skills, social skills, and langauge skills are all right on target for her age. She is already saying "Omma" & "Appa" (mommy & daddy in Korean). Unfortunately, they did note that she is very shy around strangers. So I have a feeling that it could take several weeks, if not months, for us to see the "real" Cindy after she's home. I don't know how long it will take for her to be comfortable with us and to let her personality truly shine.

Getting updates like these are bittersweet. It's so wonderful to have some news on her and to know that she is 'real', but it's also hard to realize that she is growing and changing without us. I feel like I've missed out on so much of her life already. Please pray that her EP is granted quickly and she can be home by mid-March!

In other news, we are a household of sickies right now. Kaden and I have both had fevers. He has a lot of congestion in his chest and mine is sinus related. So, we are both taking medications and feeling "icky". Kaden woke up several times last night coughing terribly and crying for us. He didn't nap well today either, so I really hope he gets over this quickly. The poor little guy is miserable and tired.

Also, please pray for Dad. He will be having a biopsy on a suspicious spot on his lungs on Monday. We are fairly confident that this is simply a benign mass of scar tissue from his last bout with pnemonia, but there is always the chance that it is something more. So we are praying that the biopsy confirms it is benign and not malignant. He will also be having surgery for a hernia soon and will have to postpone his knee surgery to another date.

The Footprint On The Wall

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, but when we moved the crib in the nursery to paint, we found that Kaden had left a footprint on the wall. It was a tiny footprint. He has always liked sticking his feet through the slats of the crib. We just never realized it was there until we moved it!

Anyway, the footprint got me to thinking and I wrote a poem about it. Here is my scrapbook page of the footprint and the poem. (click picture to view full size)

Still nothing to report on Cindy. The refurbished nursery is coming along. I'll be sure to post pictures when it is ready!

Still Waiting

Well, it's been over a week now since Cindy was submitted for an Emmigration Permit, but we still have not heard that it has been granted. It seems to take around 2 weeks, so we're hoping to hear something next week. We really appreciate everyone's prayers for us. They have definitely been felt. We aren't nearly as "restless" about it this week, but more able to just be at peace. It's still hard though!

I realized earlier that I haven't done any updates on Kaden lately. He is such a joy! He is definitely full of personality. Lately he has really been into pretending. Every day, he has new "characters" for us to be. Today I have been Jill and he has been Jack and we've been going up the hill and then falling down. Yesterday we were Olivia and her little brother Ian and we acted out several of their antics. (If you've read the Olivia books, then you know what I mean!)

Kaden also knows how to spell his name now. He came right up to me the other day and asked me, "Mommy, did you know that my name is spelled K-A-D-E-N?" I replied, "Yes, I knew that, but I didn't know you did!" He's not even 3 yet and can already spell his name. He can even type it for you on the computer. His intelligence blows my mind. I'd love to have him evaluated by a professional to see what his IQ is and how it compares to other kids his age. I'm awfully proud of my little smartie pants!

Submitted for EP!

We got an e-mail today letting us know that Cindy has been submitted for an Emmigration Permit! This doesn't mean she has it yet, but at least we are one step closer. It takes approximately 3-4 weeks for the Emmigration Permit to be approved, but I am hopeful that it can be approved more quickly than that.

Once she has the EP, the agency will submit it, along with all the other necessary documentation, to the U.S. embassy in Seoul. They will then issue her visa. Yeah! Then it's just a matter of the agency finding her an escort and setting up a flight. Kaden came home just 2 months and 11 days after his referral. If Cindy were to do the same, she would be home on March 20. I am hopeful that she could be coming home very close to that date. Of course, earlier would be even better!

Tricia

1 Month Today

Well, today is February 9. That means it's been 1 month since we first saw Cindy's sweet face. It seems like an eternity ago! I've had a rough day wanting her to be home so badly.

All I want for my birthday tomorrow is news that she's been submitted for an Emmigration Permit. Nothing can happen and the process cannot continue until she has that permit. It's looking now like mid-March would be the absolute earliest she could possibly be home. It's more likely to be in April. I'm hoping she'll at least be home by Easter.

So, I'd appreciate your prayers. Some days of the wait are harder than others, and this one has been particularly hard. I know I need to "let go and let God", but that is so difficult to do when you're a natural born control freak. His timing is perfect, but surrendering to it is another matter entirely!

Updated Information!

When I faxed Holt our I-600 approval yesterday, I asked if there was any way we could get an updated photo of Cindy. Ask and you shall receive! Today I got an e-mail with two new pictures! Isn't she adorable? I can't wait to hold her! I love her long skinny fingers. Future pianist? It's also great to see that she's already used to wearing clippies in her hair. I'm looking forward to that!

She had a well baby check done on January 20. She is currently 26 1/2 inches tall and weighs 14 pounds. She is taking 5 oz. of formula every 4 hours. It didn't say if she is doing cereal or baby foods yet. Cindy is still not rolling over or scooting at all, so she is in physical therapy and we will need to get her in therapy as soon as she is home. But she is right on track with everything else deveopmentally, so just her gross motor skills are affected by the PVL at this point.

Please continue to pray for the process!

One step closer!

I never made it to the post office yesterday to get the mail. So after lunch today, I asked Mom & Dad if they minded running by there really quickly on our way home. My heart skipped a beat when I opened the mailbox and saw an envelope from USCIS. In just one short week, we already have our Visa Petition approval!!!

Several people asked me in church today if we'd heard anything and I told them, "No. We're just waiting on the U.S. and Korean governments to do their parts." Well, guess what? The U.S. government did their part! So, now we are just waiting on the Korean side. Cindy will need to receive an immigration permit before they can apply with the U.S. Embassy to get her visa to travel home.

Obviously everyone's prayers have been heard, so please keep them up! God is working in mighty ways and much faster than I could have even dreamed. You know what's neat? Cindy's I-600 approval was dated January 28, 2009. That was Mom's birthday and the day that Cindy turned 7 months old. My birthday is February 10, so I'm hoping that my birthday gift will be hearing that she has her immigration permit. Dad's birthday is February 21, so I'm pretty sure he wants a travel call for his birthday!

Home Safely!

Well, it was a long, grueling trip, but we made it! We've been in Indiana since Friday and were worried about the weather on our journey home. We hit some slush/freezing rain around St. Louis and again around Kansas City. We took it slow, going an average of only 50 mph most of the trip, but we made it home safely at 10:30 last night. We did see a total of 6 accidents along the way. Praise God we weren't one of them!

We had a good visit with Ryan's family. Trista has been officially diagnosed with neuroblastoma, but we don't know much more at this point. They are still doing testing to find out how advanced the cancer is and how far spread it has become. Then the oncologist will be able to develop a treatment plan. Trista is doing very well recovering from her surgery and we have great hope that she has the "spunk" needed to kick this thing!

On the adoption front, there is nothing new to report. We have fully done our part, and all we can do now is wait on the U.S. and Korean governments to do their part! Hopefully the paperwork will move through the necessary channels quickly and without delay. In the meantime, we look forward to receiving Cindy's lastest medical reports and hopefully an updated picture. We also are busy working on her room and preparing the house for a small child again.

The Force Is Strong With This One!

If you know us well at all, you know that we are HUGE Star Wars Fans (in fact we met because of Star Wars). So, I just couldn't resist. I had to turn Cindy into our youngest padawan! She will grow to be a great Jedi warrior, just like her brother before her. He has mastered the Jedi mind trick and is a skilled negotiator.


Cindy's acceptance papers have been signed, sealed, and delivered! Let's just pray now that we did everything correctly, and they make it to Korea in record time. I will be sending off the I-600 application today, and we are doing our fingerprinting tomorrow morning. So, all the pieces are in place. All we can do now is sit back and wait and ask God to work her files through the goverment system!

Once our I-600 application is approved, it will be sent to the National Visa Center. They then send it on to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Sometime during all this, the adoption agency will submit Cindy's file to receive an immigration permit. She needs the permit to then get a visa. The embassy will set a date for Cindy's visa "interview". The adoption agency completes the necessary paperwork and then her visa is issued. Once she has the visa, she can come home! It's a lot of beuracracy for a baby, but it is what it is. So let's just pray it all through!

Please also continue to pray for Ryan's neice Trista. She made it through surgery fine, but is in a lot of pain. Her tumor was the size of a canteloupe. They are not sure what type of cancer she has at this point. We are heading out to visit her this weekend.

God is good!

We got our FedEx package today with the mountain of paperwork to fill out and send back to the agency. Most of it has to be notarized and all of it has to be filled out accurately with no errors. I am so worried! I had plenty of time to go over each and every detail when completing these forms for Kaden's adoption. Now that I am a mom and have a toddler running around, I'm concerned that my "mommy brain" is going to mess something up. Pray for me!

But, we were very excited and shocked by something in our acceptance paperwork package. Our invoice was much less than we expected. We received a grant directly from the agency! God is so good! We will also be applying for grants from God's Grace Adoption Ministry and Shaohanah's Hope. If we can receive both of those as well, we will only have to pay about $10,000 out of pocket. That's amazing!

I would also like to ask for prayers for our neice Trista. She is having surgery on Monday. We want to be there with her, but it's a long trip and short notice. We have all this paperwork to complete and will be fingerprinted on Wednesday. So, I think we are going to try and plan a trip for after the surgery so we can help her as she recouperates and/or take her to any follow-up treatments. We'd appreciate your prayers for her health and for our travel decisions.

I'll leave you with a cute video of Kaden. Doesn't he make a great big brother?


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

It's a girl!!!!!

You can totally disregard the last line of my previous post. If you think God doesn't have a sense of humor, think again! 24 hours after being told to expect a 6-8 month wait for referral, I was staring into the beautiful eyes of my daughter.

So, without further ado, I give you Cynthia Sue!



This past weekend was the longest weekend of my life! We got the phone call asking us to review her file at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, January 9. So, we had to endure the weekend before being able to call and accept her referral on Monday morning! After that, we had to wait for an "official match" from the waiting child committee and our local social worker. About 30 minutes ago I got the official call!

Cindy was born on June 28 in Busan, South Korea. Her Korean name means benevolent and clear. We have no idea how long the process will take from here on out. I am really, really, really kicking myself about the whole homestudy debacle now. I hope that doesn't slow our process down too much. Anyway, it generally takes 3-6 months for the babies to get all the necessary visa clearances to come home. Let's pray that's closer to the 3 month side!

God is good!

Prayer Answered!

Well that was fast! I posted about our I-600A application a few hours ago, and now have an answer. No, unfortunately we did not receive our fingerprinting letter. But, I at least know why now. (Insert embarrassed face here.) I forgot to send the HOMESTUDY with our application. (Insert embarrassed face slapping self on forehead.) Can you believe it? I'm chalking it up to pre-Christmas stress.

Anyway, I had e-mailed USCIS back on Friday asking what the hold-up was. They e-mailed back today saying, "We are waiting on your homestudy." When I was doing some filing the other day, I ran across an extra copy of the homestudy but had figured it was just that - extra. Guess not! So, I sent the homestudy today and hopefully we will be fingerprinted and good to go by the end of January.

Thanks for your prayers!

PS: I talked with our waiting child adoption coordinator and she said to expect about a 6-8 wait for referral. So, we have plenty of time to get the I-600A approval. Time to settle in a not stress until summer!

Adoption Update (more like a prayer request!)

I have never been a very patient person. This fact is even more evident during the adoption process! We sent our I-600A to USCIS on December 15, so 3 weeks ago. I really thought we would have received our fingerprinting letter by now. We have to have that letter in order to go to the USCIS office in Wichita and be fingerprinted with the FBI. Once they have our prints, they can process our I-600A application and give us approval.

So, I've been stalking the mailbox, hoping that our fingerprinting letter will come! I'd appreciate your prayers that it will come soon before I go crazy. I'm also still waiting for the monthly update letter from Holt International. This e-mail lets us know how quickly referrals are coming, if any major changes have been made in the adoption program, etc. It usually arrives the first week of the month. So, like the mailbox, I've also been stalking my e-mail inbox!

Other than that, we don't have much to report. We're still just waiting on the referral of our little girl. Please pray that we receive our I-600A clearance BEFORE we are matched with our baby. If we are not, it will just take that much longer to get her home. It's hard enough to wait for a referral, but it's even harder to wait for them to come home once you've been matched. We want that part of the process to go very, very quickly. No paperwork hold-ups! Thanks for your prayers and support.

BTW: I added a fundraiser in the sidebar of the blog. If you would like to help us with the adoption costs, we would greatly appreciate it. At the time of referral, we will owe approximately $20,500. That's definitely an overwhelming amount, but we trust that God will provide. Thanks!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's officially 2009. Can you believe it? I can't. I'm excited for this year, since we will go from being a family of 3 to a family of 4, but other than that, it's just another year. As I get older, calendar dates mean less and less to me.

Ryan and I spent New Year's visiting a friend and also my brother. We had good visits. After that, we went shopping and found some good deals. Kaden stayed home with Mom & Dad. I think he had a fun day. So, all in all, our first day of 2009 was a sucessful one.

I have not been feeling very well the past couple of days. I've been very dizzy, nauseous, achy, and having back pains and abdominal cramping. So, I don't know if it's just a flu-type thing or what. It feels, in a way, like a kidney stone. I've been drinking a lot more soda than water lately, so I won't be surprised if it is. I guess if I don't get to feeling better over the weekend, I'll need to make an appointment first thing Monday. We have to start our insurance deductibles all over again, so I'm hesitant to go.

One of these days I'll get around to updating my blog to a January theme instead of Christmas. I still need to do that to my house too, LOL! I used to have a spotless home, but lately, it's all I can do to keep dishes and clothing clean. We have piles of things growing all over, and I'm not sure where any of it permanently belongs!

Anyway, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I'd also like prayers for my neice, Trista. She is facing a very tough 2009. :( There are lots of things in store for this year, both good and bad. Let's hope the good outweighs the bad!

Post Christmas Blues

I've had a "blah" day today. At first I thought it was just typical post Christmas blues, but after a lot of introspect, I realize it more specifically relates to our adoption. In all likelyhood, our daughter is already out of the womb. We were very lucky that Kaden was in already home and in our arms for his first Christmas. It makes me sad to know that we missed Cindy's.

Not knowing how long it will be until we receive our referral is driving me crazy. The long wait for Kaden's referral was hard, but at least I had a timeline. This time around, I have no idea when to expect it. Every time the phone rings, I jump. Then I look at the caller I.D. and feel a little letdown when it doesn't display "Holt International" in the I.D. line.

I think this song by Third Day puts it best. Just replace the word "China" with "Korea" and you'll see what I mean.

Twas the Night Before Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's a video of Kaden reciting "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Sorry it's so dark. You can view lots more pictures and videos at DropShots. Have a great day!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

It's in the mail!

Ryan took our I-600A to the post office today. It should be on it's way to USCIS this afternoon. That's one step down in the process to our daughter!

We have a "countdown to Christmas" in our dining room. I couldn't believe it when I looked at it today and it said there's just 9 days left. I'm never going to make it. It came way too quickly this year. When it comes to busyness, when it rains, it pours. We've been constantly on the go lately. The Christmas cards and gifts that need to be sent probably won't make it until the new year. I don't even know if I'll have Kaden's gifts ready in time. Maybe I'll just pull a few all-nighters!

Anyway, Kaden is excited for Christmas and made up his own little song a little while ago. He was going around the house singing, "9 days 'til Christmas, 9 days 'til Christmas!" So, he is ready even if I'm not! He also has been amazing me lately with his memorization skills. He literally has almost the entire poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" memorized. He can go quite a ways before getting stuck. After that, if you just say the first few words of the next phrase, he can pick it right back up. It's amazing! I wish he would let me record him. He's all of a sudden "camera shy" again after his singing debut.

Before I sign off, I do have a prayer request. I can't say much about the situation that needs prayer at this point, but we would really appreciate all the prayer support we can get. Please pray for God's guidance, discernment, and peace in the outcome. Thanks!

Adoption Update!

It finally came! We got our copies of the homestudy in the mail yesterday. This means the main agency should receive it and put us on the "official" waiting for referral list by the end of this week or early next week. Hurray! That's the best Christmas gift I could ask for.

Now I just need to fill out the I-600A form, gather together the necessary accompanying documents, write a ridiculously large check, and mail it all to USCIS in Kansas City. In a few weeks we'll be fingerprinted in Wichita for FBI background checks. Once we have our I-600A approval, there's nothing left to do but wait to be matched with our baby girl! How long will that be? There's no telling. The current wait for a healthy baby is 1 year, but since we are doing the Waiting Child program, it could be anywhere from a couple of weeks up to the full year of waiting.

On the homefront, Kaden has been entertaining everyone lately with his singing. I knew he'd love Christmas music, and I was right! He's been a huge hit on the Holt Web Forum and I have added him to YouTube, so he may become quite the little star. But, our little "star" has had a major attitude lately. I don't know whether he's hitting the Terrible Twos late or the Terrible Threes early, but our normally sweet son has been replaced with a monster.

Anyway, you can watch videos of him singing on YouTube or DropShots. He's also slowly learning the words to Frosty the Snowman. I haven't been able to get him too interested in any other songs. Those 3 seem to be it. But, he does love to have us read him "The Night Before Christmas" and actually has quite a bit of it memorized already!

Since money is a bit tight this year, I probably won't be sending out as many Christmas cards as I usually do. So, if you don't get a card from us, don't take it personally. It's not that we didn't think of you, we're just in the process of adopting! So, here are two digital cards I have created using "Fresh Snow" by Randi Oh Designs and Sweet Digiscraps. It's available at Gotta Pixel and A Cherry On Top.

The Highs & Lows of our Mini-Vacation!

My good friend and college roomie, LaDonna, got married this past weekend. She lives in Springfield, MO so we decided to make a weekend out of attending her wedding and then spending a few days at Silver Dollar City.

It was quite the eventful trip! Rather than trying to tell all the stories in detail, I think I'll just list the highs and lows in chronological order as a bulleted list.

• Low - Kaden's poop explosion on the trip out, resulting in messes all over the van and his car seat, going through an entire pack of wipes, and the loss of his snow pants which had to just be thrown away.
• High - Visiting with Ryan & Sam Cannon and their kids and the fact that they were gracious enough to let Kaden take a bath at their house to get rid of the poop smell!
• High - LaDonna & David's beautiful wedding and getting to visit with Elkie, Sam, Anne, and LaKeisha. It was great to reconnect.
• Low - Kaden vomitting on the trip from Springfield to Branson.
• Low - Having to wait in a line for over 30 minutes just to get into Silver Dollar City.
• High - Kaden entertaining the waiting crowd by singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of his lungs and being told he is the best show in Branson!
• High - The amazing 5-story Christmas tree light show, light parade, Geyser Gulch ball pit, and Frosty the Snowman show at Silver Dollar City.
• High - Being very impressed that at the Frosty the Snowman show, they present the GOSPEL story to everyone present. Way to go SDC!
• Low - Branson traffic on the way to our hotel and again the next morning. It really stinks to only go 1.5 miles in 1.5 hours!
• Low - Kaden being 1/4 inch too short to ride the swings and elephant ride and him calling out to the ride operator, "But what about me?"
• High - Kaden enjoying the 3 rides he was tall enough to ride, the Living Nativity pageant, the train ride (which once again presented the Gospel!), meeting Santa, riding the Flooded Mine ride two times because Kaden loved it, and much less crowded SDC on day two!
• Low - Kaden's shoe falling in the water in the Flooded Mine. It was recovered, but unwearable the rest of the night.
• High - Stopping to see Tisha & Noah on our way home Monday.

So, that's our trip in a nutshell! There are tons of pictures and video clips to see on DropShots. I recorded the big Christmas tree and Kaden wandering around the stage at the Frosty show. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

David & LaDonna Fraley

Tricia, Elkie, LaDonna, Sam, Keisha, & Anne

Kaden pointing with fascination at the 5-story tree

Kaden enjoying the ball launcher at Geyser Gulch

Kaden standing front & center at the Frosty the Snowman show

Kaden riding the ladybugs

Kaden and Santa

Family self-portrait on the train ride

Kaden & Noah - Look back at this post to see how they've grown in 14 months!

Adoption Update - Well, sorta!

Sigh. I know God's timing is perfect, but I sure am getting anxious about our adoption. The social worker assures me she will have our homestudy ready to send to Holt by the end of the week. I sure hope so. Until we are officially on their "list" we are not eligible to be matched with any of the waiting children that become available. They get a new batch of referrals at the beginning of each month. So, I always wonder if we have "missed out" on a perfect match because we aren't on the list yet.

I also worry because I've been hearing more and more reports of decreased referrals from South Korea. Wait times are increasing to about 2 years for the regular program. So, I have a feeling that the waiting child program will receive more applications as people attempt to shorten their wait, therby actually lengthening it for all of us already in the program! Also, South Korea has announced they will be closing all international adoptions in 2012. So, this is our last chance to get a sibling for Kaden from his same birth country. It could, in all likelyhood, take the entire 3 years for us to get our referral.

But, if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. I used to say that I wanted my children to be 4 years apart in age anyway. So, I shouldn't be worrying about it! But, I would appreciate prayers that everything will go smoothly from here on out and that I won't be obsessed with the long wait each and every day. I need to be enjoying my time with Kaden and enjoying the here and now as opposed to wishing for the future to be here.

Thanks for letting me rant!

Long Day!

We went to the "big city" today. As usual, we tried to make the best of it by fitting as much into one day as possible. We started off with getting Christmas photos taken at Portrait Innovations. I took the very first appointment of the day so we could get in and out and get more accomplished. But, that meant that we had to leave home at 6:30 a.m. and since I didn't sleep well last night, it made for a long day. It also means that I don't think I did a very good job choosing our portrait packages from the 53 photos available. You can see all the photos at our DropShots site (if you don't know the password, contact me!). But, here are the ones we ultimately ended up printing:

After photos, we went to Target to buy a new camera. Unfortunately, our faithful little Kodak Easyshare 3.1 has bit the dust. Awhile back, Kaden got ahold of it and dropped it. The zoom button fell off. We kept trying to put it back on, but it ultimately got lost and is gone for good. So, no zooming. Then, the rechargable battery has not been working. The camera works for maybe 5 mintues at a time. Worst of all, it somtimes won't even turn on at all. We have to click back and forth between the on and off buttons and pray it will work. So, it was time for a new camera.

After camera shopping (see the results of our purchase later) we met with a friend at a great Asian restaurant called Pei Wei. It was so, so yummy! I hope we eat there again sometime soon. Then Kaden was ready for a nap, so we parked outside the mall and Ryan and I took turns going inside to just look around. After Kaden's nap, we headed to my doctor's appointment. The good news is, the doctor and I think we can put off my hysterectomy for awhile. The bad news is, it is still inevitable and will definitely need to happen. So, I am just praying for God's timing and that my pain levels will continue to remain low thanks to my new diet. It has to stay a permanent lifestyle change and not just temporary in order to keep working!

After the appointment, we hit the zoo. I love having a memebership. It paid for itself after just two visits. We have been there at least 10 times this year, so it's well worth the money. We had a great time and it was a beautiful day for walking around the zoo. We also got some great shots with the new camera. Going from a 3.1 megapixel camera to a 10.1 is quite a change!

All's well now!

I had a bit of a scare this weekend. I started to go "numb" in my arms, hands, feet, and legs. They kept falling asleep and even after they would "wake up", I'd still feel like a cold liquid was running through my veins. I was extra tired, dizzy, and had to be careful when I'd stand up. One time I got up too fast and Ryan had to catch me before I landed on the floor.

So, I went to the doctor this morning. Well, I got the riot act! It was the "Never start an extreme diet without first consulting your doctor" speech. It turns out that by cutting out all sugar, including natural ones, and cutting out yeast products, I wasn't getting any carbs at all. So, I have made myself hypoglycemic and my body is retaliating. We don't have the results of the blood tests yet, but at this point she is figuring that by allowing good carbs and natural sugars back into my diet in moderation, I will not have to be medicated and should be able to maintain my weight (I've lost over 20 pounds now since mid-July). Anyway, I am glad that Ryan forced me to go to the doctor. She said it could have gotten much worse had I continued on this way. So, lesson learned. If you start a diet, consult your doctor!

In other news, it's been 1 month today since our homestudy. Our social worker has had several delays because her mother has been in and out of the hospital. She e-mailed me today that she will be making the final changes to the report this week and will have it to Holt by the weekend. Let's just pray that Holt accepts it quickly and without any changes so that we can get the official copies and move on to the immigration paperwork!

Big boy bed!

We've been wondering how/when to get Kaden out of his crib and into a toddler bed. He never once has ever, ever tried to climb out of his crib. He's always been perfectly content in it and didn't seem too interested when we'd suggest a "big boy bed".

Well, yesterday after lunch I let him watch cartoons for awhile and he made himself a cozy little bed out of our ottomon. When the show was over I told him it was time to go upstairs for his nap. He asked if he could take his nap there on the ottomon. I figured, "This won't work." I told him he could but that if he got up and didn't go to sleep, I'd put him in his crib.

Much to my amazement, he never moved off the ottomon! He was in the family room, surrounded by toys, and just laid there until he fell asleep. I was so surprised that I told Ryan about it when he got home, and we agreed to go ahead and convert his crib to a toddler bed to see what would happen.

The first night, he slept clear through the night with no problems. He never got out of the bed before falling asleep, and he didn't even get out after he woke up in the morning. He waited for Ryan to come get him! The second night, he also did well, but did fall out of the bed. We need to buy a bumper guard. So, all in all, our fears about Kaden waking up and climbing out of bed several times a night seem to be unwarranted. He's done great!

Here's a picture of him all excited to be in his "big boy bed". He is very proud of it. He was pretending to be asleep, but was still smiling for the picture!



I taught a class on Digital Scrapbooking last night. I didn't have a lot of students, but those that came said they learned a lot. It was so fun to have my laptop hooked up to the big screen T.V. I think I could get use to that! I plugged the big screen monitor into the laptop, then used a wireless mouse & keyboard. I think it would be a great set-up to have at home. We'd have a big screen T.V. and I could use it to scrap with while sitting on the couch. Being able to see all my photos and elements that large was so fun! But, there is definitely no big screen T.V. in our future. :(


Have you heard the saying, "No news is good news"? I don't think that applies to adoption. I have not heard back from the social worker since she sent us the homestudy to proofread. I am hoping she fixed the few minor errors and got it sent to the main office for approval. But, I don't know. It's hard sometimes to just let God be in control of the adoption process. I often want to grab the reins!

I can't do math!

In my last post, I said that our adoption fundrasier was now up to $2,200. It's actually $1,700. I counted $500 of the donation twice. I think I need to go back to college! Anyway, that's still an excellent amount and we are so appreciative of our wonderful church body.

Speaking of church, we had a really fun event yesterday. We gathered as a community in the park for a wonderful pork roast picnic. Kaden's favorite part of the festivities was the giant inflatable slide. He went down with a few of the local college guys first and then with Ryan. Eventually, he wanted to go by himself. He's such a little daredevil!




We got a rough draft of our homestudy today. Our social worker's mom is not doing well and has been in and out of the hosptial. So, she's not sure when she'll be able to get it edited and sent to the main Holt office, but hopefully it won't be too much longer. Once they approve it, we will receive an official, notarized copy to send on to immigration. We'll have to be fingerprinted through the FBI to receive federal clearance. Then all that is left to do is to wait for a referral and try to save up as much money as possible for the invoice that accompanies it!

God is so good!

Sometimes God just knocks your socks off! Today we got a check from our church treasurer. We had received a few checks in our fundraiser bottles last week that were made out to the church, not us. So, she took them and then wrote one check to us. Added together, the checks totaled $500, half of the total amount we raised.

Well, when we opened the envelope and saw the check we about fell over. Apparently a few more checks trickled in for the fundraiser. With the addition of these new donations, our new total is......get ready for it......drumroll please.......

$2,200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am shock. Thank you so much everyone. I was so excited to have enough money to pay the USCIS fee. Now we also actually have a "nest egg" started toward the BIG fee that will come at the time of our baby's referral. It's great to know that we are another $1,000 closer toward being able to pay that huge invoice without taking out a ridiculously large loan. God knows what we can and can't handle and God is GOOD!

In the name of Jesus!

A few months ago, Kaden started waking up several times at night because he'd had a bad dream. We taught him that when he was scared, he could call on Jesus to make the scary things go away. It definitely helped, because we'd hear him call out to Jesus in the middle of the night, and then he'd go right back to sleep.

Lately, Kaden has been "scared" of everything. I don't know if it's because of the Halloween season or what, but he's become quite the scaredy cat. He also uses it as a convenient excuse. If we need to go change his diaper he says, "We can't go upstairs to change my diaper. There are monsters in my closet." If I ask him to go get his shoes so we can go somehwere, "I can't get them by myself. I'm too scared."

Well, the other day we were at my parent's house. My mom asked Kaden to go into their office to get something. Kaden replied, "I can't. There's an alligator in the office. I'm scared of alligators." Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

T: There is no alligator in the office Kaden.
K: Yes, there is.
T: No, there's not. Now get in there.
K: But, I'm scared.

At this point, I started to tell mom about how he's scared of everything these days. While talking, I saw him inching closer and closer to the closet door. Then all of a sudden, he put his hand out in front of him and said in his most evangelistic voice:

"In the name of JESUS alligator!"

Then he walked right into the office. It was sooooooooo funny!

This past week was a lot of fun because Ryan's parents were here from Indiana. Kaden had a great time with Mam Maw and Pap Paw. He was very sad when it was time for them to leave and told them he wanted to go to Farmland too! I think we convinced him that he should stay here with Mommy & Daddy. But, we promised him that we are going to go to Indiana after his birthday sometime in May.

So, later that day, after they had left, Kaden and I had the following conversation.

K: I'm 3
T: No, you're 2
K: I'm 3
T: Kaden, you're 2. You haven't had your birthday yet.
K: But I want to be 3 so we can go to Indiana.

How he put all that together himself is beyond me! I am constantly amazed at my little guy's intelligence.

Harvest Farms & Adoption Update

Saturday we took Kaden to Harvest Farms to pick a pumpkin. It was so much fun! They had a great play area, a petting zoo, a hayride, and lots of other fun activites. Of course, there was pumpkin picking as well. Here is a scrapbook page of the festivities. I'm blaming Ye-In for the top photo! He had just taken his other hand down off his face when I snapped the shot.



After the pumpkin patch, we went out to eat to celebrate Ryan's 32nd birthday. He is now as old as me! Sometimes I really hate being the "older" woman. I had to turn 30 first, will turn 40 first, will turn 50 first, etc.!

In adoption news, we haven't heard anything yet since our last update. I am really hoping that our social worker was able to get our homestudy typed up this past weekend as planned. If she did, then she should be calling or e-mailing soon to let us know that it's done. Then she will fax it to us to proofread. Once that is done, it must be approved by the main agency office. Once it's approved, she will make the official signed, stamped copies and we will be "officially" waiting!

After we receive our official signed, stamped copy of the homestudy, we submit it along with a form called the I-600A, official copies of our birth certificates and marriage liscence, and a hefty to check to the immigration department. We already paid out twice as much for the homestudy itself. So, we decided to do a fundraiser through our church to raise the money for the immigration paperwork fee and to recoup the cost of the homestudy.

We handed out baby bottles and prayer cards two weeks ago and asked everyone to fill them up with change and return them in two weeks, which was yesterday. During Kaden's afternoon nap, Ryan counted and sorted all the change. There was over $200 just in coins! When you add in the checks and cash that were received as well, the grand total came to $918!!! Do we have an awesome church body, or what? Since the immigration fee is $965, this is perfect. We can't thank everyone enough for their support.

When Kaden woke up, came downstairs, and saw all the money laying on our coffee table, his eyes got really big and he said, "Whoa. Is that money for me? I'm gonna need a bigger piggy bank!" Ryan did his best to explain that the money was not for him and what it was going to be used toward. So then Kaden said, "Oh. It's my sister's money." He understands much more than we give him credit for sometimes.

Catch the Blog Train!

We're having a great party over at All Things Visual. Come join the fun! There's games, challenges, freebies, prizes, and a chance to win a $20 gift certificate. Plus, check out Kelley's new products including hybrid albums. Ride our blog train and collect enough quickpages to fill a Maya Road 5-ring album. You can snag my contributions (pictured below) by clicking HERE. Then go on to Lynette's blog to pick up two more great pages and the next blog link!


Speaking of hybrid Maya Road albums, I recently completed one! I took all of the layouts I have created using Kelley's products and resized them to fit onto these cute cards. I decorated the box using "Cowgirl's Dream". I'm really happy with how it turned out. To see the full-size versions of each of the layouts, just go to my gallery. The card box and cards are available HERE.

Join the Party!

Yours truly is hosting a template challenge on Saturday, October 18 at 1:00 p.m. in the All Things Visual party forum. One lucky winner will receive a $5 gift certificate to the store!

Also, check back here on Friday. We are having a blog train and will be giving pieces to complete a full 5-ring tab album by Maya Road. Kelley now has these available at All Things Visual. You can see the album here. You don't want to miss the beautiful quickpages we've created for it!

Quick Update

It turns out we don't need the Indiana background check after all. Yay! The State of Kansas only requires that you go back 5 years and Ryan has lived here for 11 now, so no problem.

Also, I have updated the subscription section of my blog. Apparently the one I was using before went out of business. So, to subscribe, simply enter your e-mail in the field to the right. Then you can have my blog entries sent directly to your e-mail, and you don't have to remember to check the blog. It's much easier to keep up that way. I subscribe to several blogs and would be lost without FeedBlitz!

We had our homestudy today!

We had our homestudy visit today. It went really well, but we found out that we need to have another background check done for Ryan. Because of the Adam Walsh act, you have to have clearance from every state you have lived in since age 18 in order to adopt. We didn't know this before, so now I'm going crazy trying to figure out how to get the appropriate forms. Those of you in Indiana, I'd appreciate your help in acquring these!

Anyway, once the background check has cleared, our social worker will type up the homestudy report and fax it to us to proofread. She'll then make any necessary corrections and send it to the main Holt office. They will approve it or ask her to make changes. Once it's approved, she will make 6 official, notarized copies and send them back to the main office. Then we'll get a copy to submit with our USCIS paperwork and we will OFFICIALLY be on the waiting list for our little girl! Yeah!

We are doing a fundraiser through our church to help offset the cost of the homestudy and USCIS fees. We have also asked for prayer for patience, provision, perfect timing, paperwork, and peace. Right now, paperwork is the really big one!

Here's a picture of our family taken today. I can't wait until there is a 4th member!

It's a Boy!

My sister delivered a beautiful baby boy today.  He was born at 4:48 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs., 14 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.  Emily had been scheduled to be induced this morning, but went into labor on her own while getting ready to go to the hospital!  She was in labor for 10 hours before the doctor ultimately ended up taking Isaiah via C-section.  Emily had invited me to witness the birth, so I was disappointed to miss out that experience, but just wanted what was best for my sister and nephew.  Her labor never progressed to where it needed to go, even after receiving patonin (sp?), and with Isaiah's size, the doctor felt a C-section was in Emily's best interest.

Here are some pictures of the big day.  It is now way past time for me to be in bed!

Is it really October?

Where did September go? Man time seems to be flying by these days. Ryan is busy harvesting, but should be done this week. Yeah! Before we know it, he'll be full time with the phone company. We are looking forward to having him home in the evenings.

This past weekend, we went to a picnic for families who have adopted through Holt International. It was so fun to connect with other adoptive families. Kaden had a great time. He still doesn't do very well playing with other kids. He prefers to be with adults. But, he did pretty well about waiting his turn, not pushing and shoving, etc. so I think we are headed in the right direction. They had a really fun playground at the picnic and he didn't want to leave.



I was able to speak with our social worker at the picnic. She will be coming to do our homestudy either October 11 or 12. Hurray! I am so glad to finally have this scheduled. Now I just need to work, work, work on getting the house ready.

I went to the sack sales today to get some great deals on new clothes. I was able to fill two sacks full and pay only $10 for a bunch of clothing for myself, Kaden, and our future daughter. They never have much in the men's department, so Ryan missed out! But, I was in desperate need of some clothing that actually fits since I lost 15 pounds since July 15. I am planning on losing even more (need to start exercising now and not just dieting), so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothing that will, hopefully, not fit in a few months. That's why I love sack sales!

Tractors and Toilet Paper

Kaden got to ride in the tractor with Daddy today. He loves to do that and once Ryan begins full-time at the phone company he won't get as many chances. So, I plan to let him ride with Ryan as much as he wants during the upcoming harvest!

As we were in the van and leaving town to go out to the farm, I noticed something blowing in the wind down the street near my parents' house. So, we drove past there to investigate. It turns out they were TP'd! Since we live in a college town and Dad works there, this happens at least once a year.

So, I parked the car and pointed it out to Kaden. Then we had the following conversation:

Me: "Kaden, what's that in Grandpa & Grandma's trees?"
K: "I don't know."
Me: "It's toilet paper."
K: "Ewwww.......that's nasty! Toilet paper goes in the potty, not trees!"

In his cute toddler voice, it sounded more like, "Ewwww.....dat's naseee! Toewet papuh goez in da poddy, nawht twees!"

Most kids would say "gross" or "icky". But, I do tend to use the word "nasty" quite often and so does Ryan, so I know Kaden picked it up from us. He has quite the vocabulary!

More Kaden Funnies

Kaden has picked up on some things from Ryan. They, luckily, are good things and a credit to his character. Ryan is always very complimentary of me and often tells me how nice I look or how much he likes what I am wearing. So, every morning now Kaden compliments me on my appearance.

Now here's the funny part! Kaden is too young yet to know what is appropriate to comment on and what is not! Here's what he had to say today as I was getting dressed:

"Mommy, I like your green bra. It's very pretty."
(Yes, I have a green bra.)

And as we put clothes in the dryer later today:

"Is this your yellow underwear Mommy? I like it a lot!"
Then he proceeded to put it on his head and shout "Underwear, underwear, underwear!"

Oh my! He does compliment me on my outwear as well, so that's a relief. He's also picked up on other things from Ryan too. Ryan rarely calls me by my name. He usually refers to me as "Hon", "Babe", or "Funny Bunny". So, I'll give you three guesses what Kaden's been calling me lately!

"Can I have a snack hon?"
"Thanks for getting my teddy bear babe."
"Funny Bunny! Funny Bunny! I need my sippy cup."

Usually when he does this I just look around as if trying to find another person in the room and then ask, "Who are you talking to?" Then he smiles and says, "Mommy! I mean Mommy!"

Finally, he has listened in on enough of our conversations to have figured out that we have other names that other people call us. The other day Ryan and I were having a conversation and apparently Kaden didn't feel we were giving him enough attention. He yelled at us, "Hey! Ryan and Tricia!"

We have quite the precocious 2-year-old!

Our part's done!

We received our homestudy packet yesterday. Since we've done this before, I knew exactly what would be in it and had prepared as much ahead of time as I could. So, this morning, I sent it all back to her. That means everything we can do to be ready for the homestudy has been done (paperwork wise). Now we'll just be waiting on our references to get in and the KBI & SRS background checks. Once those have been received they will invoice us and schedule a date for the homestudy. I really hope it can be done soon. I hate waiting!

But, while we wait, we have a lot of housework to do. They don't like to see any peeling paint or any type of remodeling at all. We have to have a "safe" environment for the children. So, since our house is very old, we have a lot of work to do to get it up to snuff. It's amazing how much it has deteriorated just in the past 3 years since Kaden's homestudy. There was no peeling paint back then.

Anyway, things are progressing. The case worker has recommended that we go ahead and put in our waiting child application too. I was going to wait until our homestudy was complete, but she said the wait list is long enough that it would be better to get on now. The chances of us getting a referral before the homestudy is complete is very unlikely. So, we might as well have our names in the queue so that when it is ready, so are we!

I think we are going to be launching a fundraiser soon. The homestudy fee and I-600A fee (which is filed with the homestudy) have both gone up significantly since Kaden's process. It will be $3,000 total. So, we are going to distribute baby bottles at church and ask people to fill it up with change for us. Every little bit will help. I'm trying not to freak out ahead of time about the $20,000 bill that we'll get with the referral. God will figure it all out, but it sure is daunting.

Adoption Update

Well, it's been 2 weeks now since we submitted our application for baby #2. Time is already going quickly! We still haven't received our homestudy packet, but there was a message on our answering machine earlier from the case worker. So, I'm guessing she was calling to let us know it's on the way.

We missed her call because we had full morning. We left home at 7:45 and drove to the police station where we were fingerprinted. After that, I had a doctor's appointment while Ryan had a dentist appointment. Then we switched and I went to the dentist while he went to the doctor. Finally, be both had HIV and tuberculosis tests. So, at least we got several steps of the homestudy done and out of the way without even having the packet yet!

When we do receive the packet we will be faced with a mountain of paperwork. The fingerprint cards will need to be sent to the KBI along with payment to have background checks run. We will also have to send a form to SRS with payment to be cleared with them as well. Then there's the ever-so-fun 16 page questionarie full of personal questions to complete. Add to that a full financial worksheet/statement, employment verifications, certified copies of birth and marriage certificates, and you pretty much have our entire life on paper! After Holt receives all of this plus our medical reports from today and our personal references, we will be able to proceed with the actual homestudy. Oh, and don't forget the payment for that! They won't schedule the homestudy until that hefty check has been sent.

We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to jump over the hurdles that are adoption. If the above list sounded bad, wait until you hear about the I-600A, I-600, FBI fingerprinting/background checks, I-864, etc., etc. When we do finally get a referral and accept, we have about 16 documents that have to be signed and notarized in QUADRUPLICATE!!!

But, all the hoops are worth it. We are very excited to be on this journey for a second time. Kaden is such a blessing and we know God has big things in store for us with baby #2. I saw a T-Shirt the online that I would like to save up to buy (it's $29.50 which is a bit pricey to me). But, I love what it says:

WARNING!

I am in love with a child I haven't met yet.

I am in the process of adoption.

I am subject to cry at any moment.

Please bear with me until my referral comes.

EDIT: The case worker just called back. She is going to send me everything she can electronically so we can get the ball rolling. The added benefit to this method is that I can just fill everything in on the computer and e-mail the documents back. It saves postage! The other great news is that we don't have to do the full 16-page questionnaire again. She said to simply update any information that needs updated and leave the rest blank. They asked a lot of questions about our childhood, how we met, etc. Since all that information stays the same, we don't have to fill it all out again. Hooray!