Paperback Writer

My days of doing paperwork are over! At least for this adoption. Serbia has all our paperwork!!! Jasmina from the orphanage emailed me and said they have everything, and it looks good!! of course, the ministry has to agree, but one step closer. It will be translated, then go to the ministry. I am so excited. we feel so much closer to getting our sweet daughter.

We can work it out

Here is a picture of cute Daniel, Scott's baby brother. I love it when he comes to visit!

So we started the boys on chore charts. If they do their chore , they get a sticker. I just came out to the living room and Luke was methodically removing the stickers from Terry's chart, and putting them on his own. I guess that is one way to get your chart full! Luke has been so very 2 today. And I keep reminding myself I am going halfway around the world to bring home another 2 year old. They keep you busy, but they sure are fun. Terry had a visit today with birth father. He came home with 3 dollars in his pocket. usually when he comes home with something, there is a big fight between him and Luke for it. But today, he willingly shared and gave Luke a dollar. that was really sweet. Later, they had some Teddy Grahams for snacks, and Terry ate all his first, while Luke would eat one, go play a while, eat one.... etc. So Terry came and asked me if he could eat Luke's. I told him no, Luke was getting around to it. Later, Luke was sitting on my lap playing, and Terry came in and said Luke shared his snack with him. I said "did he really share, or did you just take them". Luke quickly said- "It's okay mommy, it's okay. I shared with Ninny (that's how he says Terry's name)" I am so glad they are having a sharing kind of day.

Got to get you into my life

Yesterday we found out it may be possible for us to adopt a 4 year old girl in Poland with Down Syndrome. She is a girl we had inquired about a while back, but they told us "no" because Poland likes for the adopted child to become the youngest in the family. Stupid rule in my opinion. We even tried using the excuse that these boys are still in legal state's custody, and don't "belong" to us yet. They still said no. I got an email yesterday saying they are reconsidering. They have decided maybe they need to be a bit more lenient with special needs children, and that the youngest child rule should only apply to biological children of the adopting family. YAY! We have still not gotten a final "yes", but we are hopeful. It just feels like she belongs here. Her name is Kasia. Slooks like she's a little spit fire. She has dark brown hair and Electric Blue eyes. Such a little doll.

Daniel came to visit last night. He'll be here for 2 weeks. He is so much fun to be around. Last night at prayer time, after the boys said their prayers, We asked Daniel to say the family prayer. When he was done, Luke said "good boy, Daniel!" It was so cute. Then this morning while the boys were eating breakfast, luke was looking at a package of wipes that had a picture of a baby on it. He pointed to it and said "that's Ookie". That is how he says his name - Ookie. He is doing really well with his "L" sounds, except in his own name. anyway, after he said that, Terry said "no Luke, that's not you. That baby is white, and you are brown". It is so interesting when they start noticing the difference. We tell him that God "upgraded" them to a lovely shade of brown. They are such beautiful boys, they could be green with purple polka dots and they'd still be beautiful.

We also decided to sponsor a boy in Africa so he can go to school. His name is Aristide, and I included his picture. He is so handsome! He will be entering the 9th grade. I found him through the website for Until All Have Homes. That is the site we initially found Elena on, so I trust them. When they say 100% of the money goes to the child, they mean it. We are busy saving every penny for our upcoming adoptions (hopefully there will be 2), but I kept having such a strong feeling that if we continued to give, the Lord would continue to bless us, and we'd be able to have the money needed to adopt. It's another one of those "feel your way" kind of things. I hope I can continue to "feel" my way through these adoptions.

Here's hoping we have 2 girls home by Christmas!!

Baby You Can Drive My Car

If laughter is truly the best medicine, parents should never get sick. My kids crack me up. Out of the blue this morning, Terry said "mom, can you teach me how to drive?" yeah right! funny kid. beep beep,mmm beep beep, YAH!!

We have also decided to step up potty training with Luke. Yesterday, he was going into his typical "hide" mode because he had to poop. I grabbed him and put him on the potty, and he actually pooped in the toilet! it was very exciting. How nice would it be if he was potty trained before Aunika came home?
We didn't get to finalize Luke on Aug. 9 :( Now we have to wait some more. It should be done by the end of the year for sure. Final court for Terry is TOMORROW! I get nervous. The judge may make a decision tomorrow, or she may take up to 60 days to do so. I hope it is sooner rather than later.