baby blessings…

The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic but so full of unexpected blessings! 

I'll try to recap the events since my last post in a list form for easier reading. But first, check out this amazing photo of Seoul, S. Korea…

compliments of http://thebesttraveldestinations.com/tag/korea/

1. We received "veggie baby's" first Well Baby Clinic from Korea. She is still noted as "cute and fine"…the terminology on their reports always makes me chuckle. Maybe it's just the translation that suffers because I would have put her in the "beautiful and devastatingly adorable" category.

2. Later, we received another blood panel report from last month which freaked us out because it stated that her phenylalanine levels were "markedly elevated" from the previous month. yikes!!!

3. The next day, we finally heard back from our metabolic specialist in town with GOOD news regarding the 30+ pages of medical info on her disorder. It looks like she has a milder form of PKU *praise the Lord*! And the "markedly elevated" blood levels were still within the "good control" range. (thanks for the unnecessary coronary - probably another result of lost in translation) Time will tell how strict we will have to be with her diet, but basically we will be monitoring her PKU through a vegetarian/vegan/gluten free diet…and NO beans, nuts or seeds. Surprisingly, there are a lot of foods that she CAN eat - just NOT the typical American diet - which is FINE by me! Here's to positive thinking!

4. God has been providing for us to bring home "veggie baby" through some totally unexpected ways. We received a brand new, beautiful baby crib, mattress and changing table - a completely unexpected surprise! And last week we received two very unexpected donations for our adoption expenses. One came from a church in Scotland who hosted a bake sale to benefit our adoption! The most amazing and humbling part is that I've never even met the members of this church - except for ONE member who was a roommate from my college years. Wow - what an expression of God's love. We were speechless!

5. My super talented and artistic sister has spent many, many hours refurbishing furniture and designing items to sell in support of our adoption. I can't thank her enough for the long nights and hard work she put into all of that. You are awesome, sis! 

6. My sister-in-law, the master crochet-er/seamstress, has also been feverishly working on market bags and crocheted creations to help bring "veggie baby" home as well. The items are super cute for babies, kids, AND adults (we both wear them). I will be selling these at the community garage sale this weekend in the North Main area (come out, all you garage sale divas) and at the Family Adoption Fundraiser that Julie Zimmer is hosting for us on August 6! (my family and friends are priceless!)

7. Finally, in regards to the uncertainty about the EP situation in Korea and not knowing if we will be able to bring our little girl home this year or next…it probably goes without saying that I have been praying for a miracle a lot lately. I usually end up praying myself to sleep about it and last night was no different. I asked God for peace (and a miracle) and told him I know he controls the situation and "the kings heart"…I think I drifted off at that point. So this morning I decided to read the "Proverb of the Day" and guess what the first verse told me - "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turns it wherever he will" How cool is that to hear God respond like that! It is ultimately up to him when we will be able to bring our baby home and it's great to know that he is also in control of the EP situation in Korea! We are believing that we will be able to bring her home this year - maybe even before her first birthday.

There have been so many little blessings that I could probably write a book. I know I'm forgetting to mention something (which is why I need to post on here more regularly) but hopefully I've communicated enough to show my gratitude and awe.

So, what's next? More waiting and hopefully shorter but even more exciting blog posts in the near future…

death, taxes & some good news…

So, this week's kind of been a big deal. We've been preparing for an unpleasant (to put it lightly) tax season since last year by working extra hard, putting in many long hours, late nights, sacrificing desires and really curbing our spending.

It has been a painfully long year of looming uncertainties and dark waters, to be honest. I tried to stay positive but ended up worrying excessively, dwelling on regrets and sprouting way too many gray hairs (nothing is worth that, I've decided). After what seemed like years of waiting and hoping, our CPA finally had our taxes ready yesterday. I prayed as I (sped) to his office that I would be able to accept the news and move on without…bitterness? We had been preparing ourselves mentally for the worst and I was totally amazed (once again) to find out it wasn't as painful as it could have been. It wasn't pretty but it wasn't a total train wreck either. God is good…

We had actually debated waiting to start our adoption process until taxes were finalized this year BUT I'm so THRILLED that we DID take that leap of faith on Christmas morning because TODAY we were notified by Holt that our home study for CHINA was APPROVED! We just saved ourselves about 4 months in this adoption process by moving forward with it last December. So, what does this all mean? Time to write some more checks (painful) and fill out more paperwork…actually, I'm going to start on that now...how could I possibly sleep? This song pretty much sums up how I feel now…

What a relief to leave last year in the dust and move on with our lives…it literally feels like a weight was lifted off my shoulders when I woke up this morning. 

http://1x.com/artist/Stripso/photos

family blessings…

 

So much has happened since my last post, I'll try to recap it all…

Work is still crazy busy (thankful for that) and takes priority over my blogging these days. I'm working to bring our babies home!

So, first off, I had a nice visit from my mom last week who came in town to babysit my nieces. She folded all the laundry that had swallowed up our queen sized bed, we ate out a few times and watched multiple Shirley Temple movies with my sweet little nieces. (have you seen that Target commercial with her background vocal? - It's my fave!) I felt like a kid again for a moment, which was awesome. It was a nice break from the normal grind.

In the meantime, A LOT was going on behind the scenes with our China home study. Since we are working with Holt who is based in Oregon, we are required to also have a local agency to handle our home study. Once Debi, our amazing social worker, finished her tedious job, our local agency had to approve the study and then send it out to Holt for "pre-approval" (in case any changes needed to be made before the actual approval)…

…of course we had to stop at Spill the Beans

PJ always has to be the center of attention…

The VERY SAME DAY my mom flew back to Florida, my sister and her family (sans niece Ashley in college at PCC) came into town for the weekend. This was another awesome escape from reality and we had a blast as usual even though I had to work. We managed to carve out some free time for an afternoon downtown, some walks around the neighborhood and a Saturday afternoon of sprucing up our front yard which brings me to praise #1 – Brad and I had been putting off doing any landscaping around the house since we had moved in…almost two years ago. All of that waiting and patience paid off because one of Brad's co-worker's and his amazing gardener-of-a-wife generously offered us a plethora of plants from their beautiful land. I was amazed and so grateful. It gets even better, after Kara and I had retrieved the plants and were back home Brad told us that the check out guy at Lowes GAVE him a really nice hose sprayer because the price wasn't marked on it. hello, how often does THAT happen!? Does he not know how to use the intercom system…"price check on isle 3"? Brad also got 3 bags of top soil for FREE because the bags were ripped… again…speechless! I was content to put up with our dull and lifeless front yard. I think God must have been tired of looking at it too and He knew we weren't going to spend money on landscaping any time soon. Thank you Lord! My wonderful sister, the master-gardener was here to help us plan and plant the rest of the afternoon. Love ya, sis, you're the best - it  would not have happened without you!

Matt gets his "tan on"…

I just can't say enough about my family…my bro-in-law, Matt, is a very talented craftsman and also hilarious dude, as you can see in this photo, I glanced out at our patio and he was "getting a tan"... anyway, looks like he needs one. He also helped us out with a house project while he was here Friday. Thank you so much! Now I'm getting weepy…Sunday brunch at our house, my sis presented us with a really sweet encouraging card with some moolah that Matt had raised for our adoptions by "fixing beeper collars"…they told me what that means but all I know is it is something related to hunting and dogs. I feel so blessed that they are so excited and supportive of our adoptions that Matt put the time and energy into doing this for us and our future babies! *Kleenex break* We love you guys!

Brad and I feel very blessed to have some really terrific friends and family

who have been wildly supportive of our decision to adopt. 

We wanted to publicly throw a BIG THANK YOU out there to those of you who 

were willing to take the time and energy to provide such sterling 

referral letters for our home study paperwork.

It means more to us than you know!

谢谢