"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~ Jeremiah 29:11

I hope his plans include our little girl..

Is this name too long?

'Hope Isabel-Ana'?

I really like it and it has my mother's name as well as my mother in law's name. Though not everyone is a fan..what do you think?

DORMANT!

I am still alive guys..I am just at a stand still right now. I promised Freddy that we would try all the resources possible to help pay for this adoption. I am constantly filling out forms and applications for loans and grants..and believe it or not, if you look you will find! I am knocking I pray a door opens with one of these applications. We have high optimism..because God is there and God is good.

I cannot really do anything else right now because I must wait for the swearing in (broken record). We are taking in this time to tie some loose ends in other areas of our lives, like our rental property that will probably go for sale in April.
I am being the cautious one now..Freddy has become more passive, and I the worry wart! We had a wonderful time at the birthday party, all our nearest and dearest friends attended (99%), and so it could have not gone any better, but I am pooped and I am very dormant right now. Please, I ask again that you pray for us.

Completed the Homestudy!

Looks like the Homestudy is a done deal, yeahhh!

Our social worker did an excellent job despite Freddy sounding like a genius and I uhmm.. dunno..not as exciting..hehe I am being such a girl I know..why do I gotta suck like that huh? I don't think Russia is going to care that I sound boring..even though I'm NOT! Hey its been a stressful day for me today. I went from Karate classes to Walmart to buy birthday party supplies for Frederick's 7th B Day. I spent like 45 minutes translating spanish to english and vice versa for two friends..then I come back home to get my Homestudy emailed to me, which brought tears practically to me face..and after I got passed interesting Freddy I had to force myself to finish reading boring me..couldn't you atleast add that I'm multilingual? Sheesh my head is spinning..I got knots of pain in my shoulders because of the stress. I really need to lighten up! I atleast got to play outside in my garden today..which felt good, it felt like partial me again. I am starting to get my ideas about what tree I want to buy next and where we will plant it..this is expensive and very tiresome..so I can't afford anymore plant killings or lack of watering. I prayed for my Jacaranda trees to not be dead..and sure enough I saw leaf buds..Praise the Lord!

So how was your Thursday? Out of all the days in the week..I like Thursday least of all..Bahhhumbug!

We are planning a garage sale soon..again..I pray God will be there with us again..because I can't do it alone its very draining. I pray for strength, and for my friend M, who is always very near & dear to my heart.

Amen.

Something to say to the cynical at heart...

"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was important in the eyes of a child" -Author Unknown


It is amazing to feel so many different emotions at the same time..sometimes it can be exhausting and overbearing..other times, its less noticable and more promising. If I could control everything..things would just go by really really fast and swell...wouldn't they? But I can't control anything! Only God can do that, only he is in control, and only he knows why. Why am I not filling out the I-600 for USCIS right now...why can't I just hand in a copy of my 'American Passport' already..oh Why why why??? Why were so many hopeful families affected by Russia kicking out a bunch of Homestudy agencies? God truly knows why and how and where and when..Today I observed like 12 new babies on the photosite (most of you know which I am talking about), and all I can say is..so many beautiful children just waiting for a family..I remember almost all of them born in 2007-2008..

Though which is my 'Hope'? Which one is you my love? Where are you? I just want a glimpse..I hope that I will 'just' know, when we are face to face with eachother..I pray that God will lead mommy & daddy to you babygirl..your brothers are so excited and ask about 'Isabel' all the time. Noah peed in the potty today for the very first time (on his own), I asked him.."now are you ready for your baby sister?" "Cause you are a big boy!" He had the biggest smile and said "YES!" God Bless him..he's too much.

Sometimes I forget to pray for the adoptive parents in the same process as us, and so I want to take this moment to do so..give them strength to keep going Lord..give them hope, that there will be a child for them...and of course, last but not least..God Bless the fatherless Lord..be a blanket over these children who wait for the love that they deserve.

Amen

Ceremony Date!!!

Well...my neighbor came by, and she said she recieved our mail in her mailbox and guess what it was??? OUR IMMIGRATION LETTER for the American Citizen Ceremony! HOORAYYYY its finally here! It will be held at 8:15AM on APRIL 1st..HAHA ..Hmm hope this is not a bad April Fool's day joke?

I thank God for answering our prayers!
This letter is finally here with a date..that means that once again, we have a path to walk on. Today's Homestudy session was short but exhausting, and because we got stuck in traffic and arrived late..we may have to meet again with our social worker..sigh..oh well we're almost done.

Ending our Homestudy on Friday

Well today Freddy will do the taxes so we will be up to date. Then I will take this to our social Worker on Friday our last visit, and finish up our Homestudy. All I can do from there is gather up our Homestudy, make copies of it, give it to our Agency, and send it off for grants which can't hurt. You gotta try right?
Then, we have to wait for me to swear in as an American so I can finally petition for an American Passport! Sheesh everything is complicating for me..why is that?

Also before I meet with our Social Worker, I have to make a trip to the Doctor's office (my husband's doctor) because my very reliable one..wasn't so reliable! He's on vacation, (now the secretary tells me). So I am just going to my Husband's doc, and have him check me off...goodness Thank the Lord we are healthy! I am also hoping, that the doc being a D.O. instead of an M.D. is acceptable....ohh the worries. Lord, please release me of these worries.

My social worker is quite the doll; she told me to stop worrying about the I-600a (petition for Orphan as immediate relative), because it won't take as long as I thought (2-3months). So maybe she is right, in the meanwhile we will start our Dossier and preoccupy ourselves with that..right?

We're Home!

Well we are home!

All went wonderfully!

We only attended Universal Studios, it was our first time and it was great! We saw Barney for Noah (he loves him for some reason), we went to Lego world in Downtown Disney, and look where we are standing..right in front of St. Basil's..Russia is following us around all over now..I hope this is a glimpse of our future;)

We attended the reunion and that too was a blast! Boys got to swim, and could not have asked for better weather. All the families we met, were amazing, along with their precious Angels. The whole experience only inspired us about our own little girl one day.. I want to thank all the families for being so welcoming and for being so informative..I even look forward to starting the journey with the families who have not brought home a child yet.

Now I pray for my Immigration Ceremony notice to arrive..please help pray for us, the power of prayer is so important and so strong when its more than one;)