Today is the day!

Finalization day for little Dylan!!! YAY!! We are so excited to have this step DONE. He is legally a Spencer boy now. Finalization takes place in Illinois (we don't have to be there) and the lawyer will get all the necessary paperwork sent out tomorrow. Then Wednesday is his first birthday. Can you hear me singing the Hallelujah chorus?

This friday we take him to the temple to be sealed to our family. For anyone unfamiliar, I guess you could call it the religious version of finalization. We are very excited. He is a precious child. He makes us all smile. And he brings me great Joy. And for the icing on the cake, this friday is also our 13th anniversary.

We also have another new little face around here, that we hope to be able to adopt. Yes, another boy-- another 3 year old boy! I'll post pics and updates as I am able, but for now, we need to keep that private.

Sadly, no encouraging news of our Serbian daughter. We love her, and can't wait to meet her. We try to remain faithful, remembering the Strength with wich the Lord placed her in our hearts.

We learned the hard way Saturday night that Luke has asthma. Not a fun night. It was Scott's birthday, so while Luke had a cough, we still went out to eat. Just a very casual meal, nothing fancy. As I said, Luke had a cough, but nothing slows that kid down. I don't worry about him until he DOES slow down. He had been going at a billion miles an hour all day. When we were out, he kind of suddenly slowed down, and asked to go home. I knew then that he had more than a cold. We got into a warm shower, to see if the steam would open him up a little. Then we got him ready for bed, and put him in our room. We have a toddler sized bed we keep in there for sick kids, or if someone has a bad dream and wants to sleep close. Luke definitely gets the most use out of it. I was rubbing his head and singing to him, wondering if I should find an urgent care to take him to, when he sat up and said "Mom, I just want to breathe". Okay, time to go. Took him to urgent care, and his O2 sats were 88. after 2 breathing treatments and a lung x-ray (clear), he was able to maintain sats at 93, so they sent us home with oral steroids, and albuterol (we already had the nebulizer) and instructions to do breathing treatments every 2 hours. After the first 12 hours, we were able to go to every 4 hours, and now he is just using it as needed. My sweet luke does have a tendency to worry me. Luke and Asthma will not mix well. The kid never slows down. I don't know much about asthma yet, but I'm sure i'll be learning soon. His follow up with his Ped is next week.

just a quick note before bed. I've gotten way behind again. Landon had to disguise Tom Turkey so he wouldn't get eaten for Thanksgiving. He decided to disguise him as Santa. It turned out really cute. It was assigned as a family project, so we all got to help. We had fun. Landon's sense of humor is really developing. I'll post pictures of his 6th birthday when I'm not so tired. ...... so it might be a while. Big news in the Spencer household, but we'll keep you all in suspense a bit longer on that, too. No, unfortunately, it is not about Aunika.

Dylan's adoption will be finalized in Dec!!! we are excited. the court date is Dec. 29, but now all the reports are in, we are seeing if the attorney can move it up for us.

Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree - Maria

**pictures of Maria posted with permission of her orphanage director**




This is Maria. Isn't she a doll? She lives in Serbia, in the same orphanage as our daughter. She was born April 30, 2006. This is what the Reece's Rainbow website has to say about her:
Little Maria is so beautiful! Her giant brown eyes and dark brown hair are irresistible! Maria just turned 2 years old, and is free and clear for international adoption.
Maria was born with an ASD II, but it seems it has closed up on it's own. She has been monitored by a cardiologist, but is not on any medications and is doing wonderfully! She was born with a hemangioma on her lower lip, so she will need to see an ENT and a plastic surgeon to remove it (if you so choose).

a family that was in Serbia stated that the hemangioma was not too bad, and another mom with some experience in the area, says they often go away by themselves. This is the little girl we have chosen to sponsor as a family for this years angel tree. Please make a donation to her. 100% of your donation goes into a grant fund for her. and donations are Tax deductible! And if your donation is at least $35, you will get an ornament with her picture on it (as long as you make your donation by Dec. 15). Visit http://www.reecesrainbow.com/angeltree2008.htm and click on Waiting Angels Gallery , then look for Maria to make a donation. Donations can be made via paypal or USPS.
Better yet, are you interested in adopting her? Serbia is typically a very quick, easy country to adopt from. Our adoption is very atypical. Our daughter has not yet been cleared for international adoption. Maria has been. Just something to consider....
And not to detract from our sponsorship is Maria, but look at this little guy named Alec (from Eastern Europe) and our Dylan. Couldn't they be twins?

Wellllll.... The homestudy update is over. she was here for about and hour and a half. I am just glad I don't stress as much as I used to. She said she'll have the report to us in about 2 weeks. that's not too bad. I would nove for it to be tomorrow, but since we have to have our USCIS fingerprints re-done as well, probably no rush on the homestudy. I sent our check and request to have our fingerprints redone, but they sent it back. apparently as of about 2 months ago, they stopped taking personal checks. Got the Money order, and will resend the request tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be as quick as last time.

I've decided to focus our Angel Tree attentions on Maria, I think. I asked Jasmina to send me some more pictures, and info on her. We'll see how that goes.

Magdalena's family is travelling for her soon. We are glad she has a family to go to. It will be nice to have our turn eventually. I think I'll start packing some basics, just to get one thing off my mind. I tried that once before, over a year ago. You can see how well that turned out for me. I was determined not to start packing again until we had definite word, but families are not being given that much notice. maybe I'll just pack the travel only items. It's hard not to feel excited and hopeful around the holidays.

well, my head hurts, and it's time to fix dinner.

I hope there is a great nationwide voter turnout today. I voted a week ago-- no lines for me. Early voting is very big here- don't know about the rest of the country.

Here is a picture of Luke from last night. He kept getting out of bed, we kept telling him to go back. finally, he fell asleep at the foot of the stairs. so cute.

My littlest Punkin

Buddy walk from Oct. 25

This year's buddy walk was a lot of fun. We met lots of new people. We carried signs saying Honoring Dylan, Remembering Jacob, and Awaiting Aunika. The best part of the day was getting to meet Max! Max lived in the same orphanage as Aunika. His family was in Serbia adopting him around the same time I was in Chicago with Dylan. I got to give Max lots of snuggles. I'm so glad he's home. He looks great!

here's pics of him with his mommy (Shawnie), Max meeting Dylan, and the 4 of us together.

Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree Project!!

It's November 1, and that means the Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree is BACK! http://www.reecesrainbow.org/angeltree2008.htm

Reece's Rainbow is a registered 501(c)3 charity which promotes and facilitates the international adoption of children with Down syndrome exclusively.

Our Angel Tree is the perfect gift opportunity for your friends and family, and the GIFT OF A FAMILY for an orphaned child with Down syndrome this Christmas. From today until December 31, you have a very special opportunity to view all of our waiting children and offer them gifts in the form of adoption grants, so families can afford the high cost of rescuing them!

With your sponsorship gift of $35 or more, you will recieve a beautiful porcelain ornament with your child's photo on the back. This is a very meaningful and personal gift, and life-saving at the same time! We have almost (100) children on our Angel Tree this year, all waiting for families and eligible for grant donations.

In only 2 1/2 years, donations from individuals like yourselves have made it possible for (120) children with Down syndrome and other special needs to find a family of their own through Reece's Rainbow. They have been saved from orphanages and mental institutions around the world. Our Christmas Angel Tree is our most important fundraiser of the year, and our goal is to find families for (30)+ children between now and December 31! Your donations towards their adoption grants greatly increase the chances of that happening!

The dire need of these children never ceases. Your small gift can literally change the course of their lives, so each of them may be HOME with their own family by NEXT Christmas! The average cost of an international adoption is $25,000, so every penny you can give truly does make a difference. Donations can be made via credit card through Paypal, or you are welcome to send a personal check. International sponsors are also welcome, and we can ship ornaments amd gift cards overseas for you!


Please visit our Waiting Christmas Angels Gallery and sponsor one or more of our orphaned children with Down syndrome today!

Forward this announcement to everyone you know, and share this special opportunity to really make a difference in the life of a child with Down syndrome!

Any questions can be directed to Andrea Roberts at http://us.mc528.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=bamaroberts@comcast.net All donations are tax deductible, and 100% of your gift goes to your sponsored child!

God bless each of you this Christmas, whether you are Christian or of another faith. The need transcends faiths, ethnicity, geographic borders. Thank you for your continued advocacy and support for this ministry, and for sharing this opportunity with everyone you know!


Andrea Roberts, Executive DirectorReece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministryhttp://www.reecesrainbow.org/

Halloween Pics

Landon was Darth Vader, Luke was Luke Skywalker (it's what he tells people his name is anyway), I was a witch (fitting, huh?) and Dylan was The Incredible hulk. Dylan's birth grandparents brought him the costume when they came for a visit. Luke and Landon wanted Dylan to be Yoda, but it was much easier to use the costume he was given. maybe next year. They all looked very cute. and yes, my teeth were supposed to look that way, I didn't forget to brush.

Dylan is such a little smarty pants. This week, he's finally started making some consonant sounds! he says ya-ya, wa-wa, ba-ba, and MA-MA!!! yay!! Okay, I know it is just a sound, he's not calling for me, but I still like the way it sounds. his other neat trick is that he's clapping his hands. SO CUTE!! we have to get him all worked up and excited first, and it takes him a couple of tries, but he's doing it. He was so cute tonight for halloween. I'll post pics tomorrow. all the boys looked adorable. We actually had 2 fun nights. last night was the trunk-or-treat at church, and tonight they went around the block. Me and Dylan stayed home to pass out candy. Daddy took the boys trick or treating.
side note-- I had a dream about my sweet Jacob last night. I was holding and snuggling him. It felt good to hold him again- even in a dream. I woke up longing to hold him for real. I sure miss my little man.
adoption news-- Our HS is expired, so we contacted the agency, and the good news is, she can come Monday! The bad news is, she's coming Monday. Guess what we'll be doing tomorrow? There really isn't too much to do, just some general tidying. Since we are foster parents, it seems our home is inspected all the time, so I no longer worry about the little things. just a bit of clean up to make it look spit-spot. Our fingerprints are also expired, so I sent the request for a new fingerprint date. Last time, it only took 2 weeks for the appt, so I'm hoping it will be quick. our I-171h is good until Jan, so I hope we go before then. we shall see!

On the adoption front-- here is a brief re-cap of everything that has happened since Jan. '08 in 100 words or less.

We finalized Landon's adoption on April 1--exactly 3 years from the day he first came to our house. There was much rejoicing throughout Spencer land. Landon was one happy boy. He wanted to go out to eat at "Red Crab". He loves shrimp.

Oh- not on the adoption front, but news nonetheless- We had also just moved into a new house about a week before this photo was taken. We wanted a bigger house so our family could grow. It seems to be working.

We had also taken placement of little Tristan (the little blond in the photo). He was placed with us as a possible adoptive placement, but adopting from foster care is unpredictable. Our sweet little guy went back home just 2 weeks ago, and we miss him a lot. Especially Luke. They were very close. I wish his family the best, and pray they will be a good family for Tristan to be raised in. They have all our contact info, but so far, have chosen no contact.

In May we journeyed to Chicago to meet our newest son, whom we named Dylan. Dylan's adoption has been unique for us in that it is an open adoption. He lived with his birth parents until he was 4 months old. They decided at 2 months to make an adoption plan for him, and then went through several files, and weren't able to find the right family. We heard about him through an email on our Reece's Rainbow Yahoo group, and knew we had to send our homestudy. They chose our family, and we are still in awe at that. He comes from a wonderful family of Russian immigrants, who truly wanted to make the best choice for their son. They love him and miss him very much. We are privileged to be able to share our sweet boy with this family. He is pure gold. His birth grandparents just came out for a visit, and it was fun having them here, to show them how much Dylan has grown in the past 5+ months. They brought us all many gifts. Grandma Sveta also made us Blintzes. Yum!!

And all this time, we were still trying to get our sweet Aunika home. She is constantly on our minds. We got news just yesterday that things seem to be moving on her file, and they are hopeful of having her legal status cleared soon. I'm afraid to get my hopes up, but We pray it won't be much longer. We scheduled our homestudy update, and also have to get re-fingerprinted. I hope all our paperwork comes together quickly. We rushed through it all the first time, then sat and waited for a travel date. and waited. and waited. Then all our paperwork started expiring, but we still had no news, so we decided to wait, instead of rush through it all again, just to have it expire before we travelled again. Let me tell you, we get very tired of being asked if we have any news from Serbia, and having to say "no". We are praying that this time, everything will come together, and we can go get our daughter soon.

okay, so that was WAY more than 100 words, but seriously... who's counting?

*warning: picture contains EXTREME cuteness. If you are not used to such extreme cuteness (those of you poor souls not living with a T-21 angel), you may need to avert your eyes.

yes, I know, this outfit is WAY too warm for this time of year in AZ. but he's going to outgrow it before it gets cool enough to wear. and he looks so good in red. the overalls have zip-off legs, so I did take them off to make into shorts, and I rolled up his sleeves. But then I discovered this cute little outfit is going in the give-away pile. No snaps on bottom for easy diaper changes!! ridiculous! I had to take them completely off each time i had to change a diaper. so not worth it. He looks super cute in all his clothes, so we can live without these. He looks super cute bare naked also. what a blessing this sweet boy is.

okay- off to bed now.

another example of why life with a 3 year old is great. Luke has fine motor issues. getting dressed is just beyond his patience level most mornings. this morning I was quite insistent, and this is the result. both shorts and shirt are backwards. as a side note, his unders are inside out and backwards. but he did it himself. Did I leave him that way? you betcha. We ran a multitude of errands today, all with him looking super cute with his backwards clothes. we are carving pumpkins tonight-- should be fun!

my super sexy sock. it's still too warm here for this, so i won't be wearing another "cover-up" sock over it. i'll just be mismatched for awhile.

*gasp* I know-- me-- the sock lady-- mismatched. somehow i'll survive.

So my friend Shawnie asked me at the Buddy Walk why I never update my blog. hmmm.... good question. Answer: I'm too lazy. pure and simple. I think I was taking the whole thing a little too seriously. and that is just not me. I'm going to stop worrying so much, and just write. it will probably be mostly rambling. oh, well. The real me is quite sarcastic. the problem is, sarcasm doesn't come through too well in print. Ya know how in computer world, all caps is considered YELLING??? well, I decided for the purpose of this blog, that when i want to be sarcastic, i'll try to remember to use italics. no promises, though. So another of my problems is that I always think I have to go back and catch up on everything I missed from the past. Now, I'll just write whatever I happen to be thinking about. no agenda, no organization whatsoever. and because I write better when I'm writing to someone else, that's how i'll write my blog-- i'm writing it to all you out there in cyber-land, to my vast following, my fan club of 2. Deal? Oh, and this will not be just an adoption blog. My LIFE is adoption, so this will be a blog about the life and times of the Spencer clan.
nuff said.

*Life with a 3 year old is so much fun! Luke is out digging for dinosaur bones at the moment.
Oh, and I've officially become my mother. I am wearing one of those fancy, super sexy compression stockings. I fell down my *&%O#*&)% stairs a month ago, and my leg is STILL bothering me, and has lots of swelling. sign of getting old I suppose.
Maybe later, if your lucky, I'll share with you my tips for making a fantastic halloween costume.
Love to all my fans,
Lisette

Funny things by Landon

Landon cracks me up sometimes. The other day we were all driving to the store, and he was chattering away in the back seat. every two seconds, it was "hey, mom...." After about the 173rd time he had said "hey mom...." in a 15 minute period, I guess my tone betrayed a bit of exasperation as I said "what, Landon". He was quiet for about 2 seconds, then said "you need another Landon that doesn't talk too much.". I laughed so hard. I told him I didn't want any other Landon's. He's the only Landon for me! Plus, I'm pretty sure I can't handle more than one. Then, while we were in the store, we had been looking for socks for daddy. He had apparently been studying the pictures on the packages of underwear, and said "hey, mom... why doesn't dad have muscles?" I said he does have muscles. He has lots of muscles. Landon said "no he doesn't. Just the brown guys have muscles." Score one for he brown, muscle-bound model from the underwear package.

And we have recently completed another adoption. This one is of a fluffy puppy. Her name is Firefly. Our other dog, Ladybug, is starting to forgive me for bringing a puppy home. She is awfully cute. The "girls" will have a great time playing with each other.

Our Christmas was lovely. Very low key. The kids just got one gift from mom and dad, and a couple of things from Santa. The rest of our Christmas budget went to Jovan's (in Serbia) grant fund. I sure hope he finds a family soon.