Trick or treat

WOW, That was one fun tonight. We went on a hay ride that dropped us off at every street. The kids would get out and run house to house down the street. For most families that's o.k., but when you have 7 its not. I was always looking for each and every child to make sure they stayed together. I felt I had it under control when a mother came up to me crying. ( This is one of the same moms that did not support us adopting anymore kids because we had to many to even take care of in the first place) Appartenly she had lost her youngest child. While talking to many different people her daughter had walked away and disappeared for over 3o minutes. We all gathered together until we found her. I know she was scared to death, but I hope she realized anyone can have a hard time with their kids, not just because you have 2 or 7. She thought 7 kids you would never be able to watch them closely and take them anywhere. Well, I felt a lot better tonight that it really doesn't matter how many you have, It can happen to anyone. It was hard, but we managed!! They all had a blast anyways. Tomorrow Ill put there pictures up.
We are all waiting until Monday. Or facilitator was suppose to get our paper work turned in last Monday, but instead had to do it this Monday. If it does not get turned in our paperwork will expire on Thursday. So please pray she is able to get it all turned in!!! This is a huge deal for us. Something that is making us crazy to think about. I'm having an endoscopy done to find out why I keep getting ill so Ill be out of it anyway. Ill write again Tuesday to let everyone know if we were approved or not.
We found another family traveling on the 18th. We were told that we might travel before that, but I doubt it now. It looks like we could end up having a Russian Christmas!!!
I hope everyone reading is having great success with there adoptions, or there kids that they have already brought home!! You guys feel like family now, You have all been a great support system for us all. Goodnight, talk to you on Tuesday, with I hope good news!!

Going Crazy

Well we thought we were suppose to know something by Tuesday of this week because we sent our Dossier off last week. We were told that our facilitator would sub mitt it on Monday.
We have been waiting until tonight when we learned that our facilitator has not picked it up from U.P.S. yet???
I feel like time is against us now. We have a few pieces of paper work that expire on November 5th. We are so afraid that they will not get it in time and that we will have to re-do it all. That had been what has happened to us alot along this forever journey.
I have been so stressed out here that I am going in for an endoscopy on Monday to see if I have an ulcer. I guess its just a mixture of things.
My son has had alot of problems in school with disrespect. To me and my husband that is one thing we just will not accept is being disrespectful. I go nuts when I hear that MY son is getting into so much trouble. Everyone tells me its because he is adopted and because he didn't get enough love when he was born, but I would like to feel that we have made up for that. He was only 4 when we adopted him, and I know he was loved by his grandmother. He is a very small child for his age,so others say that is his issue?? I really don't know. I'm at the point now that I am going to see a therapist with him. I just really hope he is not acting out because of the adoption. He loves kids so much. He is so gental and kind to babies . He said he would have alot of them himself. I just keep praying that God will tell me what he needs to change this behavior.
On top of that I have this adoption that has just been taking way to long. I love these babies so much now that I just can not stand the waiting anymore. I so desperately want to be there to hold all of them at once!!!!
We have done all the shopping for clothes, and strollers, and cribs. It just sits there waiting.
So, that's where we are, just waiting. I guess it wont be until next Monday now that we have an answer. Time to put the other babies to bed!!

Fundraising???

We still have not heard anything about our paperwork. I guess I thought we would be told something right away. Apparemtly Yulia will turn it in on Monday and they will go over it. I guess on Monday we will hopefully know something.
At this point we are about 10,ooo short. We will be able to get the money by borrowing it, but we would rather not. So I'm thinking about doing another fundraiser, or even trying to Auction something off. I dont have all the details yet. I know I will be taking an extra child with me to that will add another 1,500 to the cost of the trip. Im just not to comfortable leaving the youngest 2.
I have spent the entire day reading every ones blogs, and looking up adoptions on YouTube. I don't remember when I have cried so much. I am touched, and I am moved to do something more. I know people tell me I am doing a lot, but I know there has got to be more.
I know somewhere in life I will own my own group home to help kids with D.S. I just can not get enough!!!
I'm going to to talk to my husband tonight and we will try to think about another way to raise some money. Ill let everyone know tomorrow, Thanks, Leah

Dossier

Well today is Tuesday and still no word yet.
Missy, yes I'm tracking it everyday. We do know that it got there today. There was a few days of bad weather i guess, which does not make me feel real great about flying.
My Dr. has already prescribed me my Xanax to knock me out!!!!
I'm looking everyday on Craigslist to buy baby boy bedding, and baby boy clothes. No luck yet. Its probally smarter for me to wait until I get there to see how big he is anyways. I'm so excited to be bringing him home with the girls. I have always wanted that sweet little baby boy, now Ill him!!
We are just waiting to see what happens from here. I will keep everyone informed. Its all in Gods hands!!
Missy. I try to leave messages on your site, but for some reason it will not let me. I wanted to know if you already adopted, or if you are in the process of adopting? Thanks, Leah

Tuesday

O.K. Tuesday is the day that the dossier is suppose to get to the Ukraine. Please continue to pray for us and our babies that everything is approved. I guess after that we will get our travel date.
Until then we wait, patiently( yeah right).
I will fill everyone in when we finally get the phone call we are waiting for!!!!

Thanks to all

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has helped us along the way. A special thanks to Missy, and Elizabeth whom don't even know me. You guys have been faithful followers that have encouraged me along the way!!
Thanks to Meridith, and Andrea, and McKenna who have also been there walking us threw this process. McKenna, we would not have done this if it was not for you!!!
I'm so grateful that we are almost there. I know there will be a special joy when they are in our arms!! I owe it to everyone that helped get us here!! Thanks so much for your prayers, and comments!! LEAH

Dossier is on its way

I'm not sure if I spelled that right, but I tried to at least. The point is that it is FINALLY on its way there. We overnighted it today. Now we are just keeping our fingers crossed that everything is approved on that end.
This has been such a long journey and now the end lays ahead of us. What a good place to finally be in.
I guess after that they will send us a travel date!!

I'm going to go chase my 3 year old now who is trying to get my coke as we speak.
Please pray that the rest goes well from this point. Thanks so much, Leah

Delayed Again

We are going crazy!!!!!
We were approved on Oct. 1rst. The mail went out on the 2nd. We have checked the mail everyday, and nothing has come. What is taking so long????
We are now afraid its lost because we just moved into a new home!!

We went to get our paper work appostiled today and they turned us down for it because the person that notarized one paper has recently gotten married. Therefore her last name has changed and it was not the same on the paper. The second paper was turned down because the date did not match.
Now we have to come all the way back to San Antonio and see if they can re-do it(which they did not want to do in the first place) We are burned out, and so tired right now.
Tomorrow we will try to go back to Austin to re-do this again, but man where they hard to deal with there.
In the mean time we are still waiting for the USCIS paperwork in the mail. Is that normal to take this long. I'm thinking it was lost or something. In the mean time we feel like we are being blamed for not having the kids home right now. People are saying that they should have been home by now and that we are putting their lives at risk because we are not there yet.
WOW, that is just frustrating, after ALL that we have done, especially this week. We have gone threw hell to bring these girls home. Yes, we have had to deal with things longer than most people, but that does not mean that this is our choice. We have no control over what happens right now. We are simply waiting for people to get things approved. Its hard, this is the end, and it seems to be taking longer than when we first started this process.
For those that think we are delaying this , and that think we are leaving them their longer than they should be, just know that we love these babies like they are ours already. We have worked so hard to bring them home and have been just as disappointed as they have that they are not here yet. By no means is this our fault, and it offends us greatly that anyone implies this!!!
We will continue to do our work and pray that the rest of this flows smoothly!

Taking sooo ,long

Today is Monday. We had hoped to get all of our paper work sent out today so that we could get our travel date.
When we sent all our paper work to look over it seems we still have things to re-do. Being a holiday, some of them we can not get done. We are getting so frustrated as are other people in Reece's Rainbow. I know that some people think we are taking our time with all of this, but we are just as impatient and waiting for our babies as everyone else is. In the start of this we thought we would be traveling early September. Now we are mid October and still fighting to get this done.
We are trying so hard to get it all done so that we do not get into Nov. when they shut down the adoptions. I'm not sure why it had taken us so much longer than it normally takes everyone else, but I'm sure its all going to be worth the wait once we get there.
I'm still working on Grace my daughter that gets herself worked up and so ill. She will be staying with a friend of hers and their family. I was hoping that it would be exciting for her to be there, but now that we are rushing to get everything complete she is getting a little bit sick again. I just don't understand how someone can make themselves physically ill over fear.
It hurts me so bad to know that I am doing this to her. If I could just send Tony I would, Or if I could afford to take her I would!! I know this is something everyone has had to deal with, I'm just very very weak at it!!
Tomorrow the banks are open so we can finish one of the last things we need, then we will travel to Austin the same day to get the final processe done. Hopefully by tomorrow night we will have our dossier on its way.
Then, last step, the travel date. That's when I guess Ill break down and know this is really about to happen. I have NEVER been out of the country, and only flown twice. I'm TERRIFIED to fly. I told myself at a very young age that I wanted to adopt many kids when I was older, but I told myself, I would only do domestic because of my fear of flying. Now I'm about to face one of my biggest fears of all times. I'm really going to have to drug myself up with something to even get on a plane. Any suggestions??? What lets you sleep the longest??
I was actually wondering if I needed to set up a will for my kids before we flew there. Is that silly, or do people really do this?? I know I'm panicking!!!
Please pray for fast results in all that we do to prepare for the final end of this process!! Thanks

Its a boy!!

We have decided after a few days of praying and thinking that we are going to bring home Arthur. We have never had a baby boy before, so this will all be new to us.
We decided that Anya has many conditions that we do not understand at this time. It would be easier to adopt another baby with the same disabilities would be easier for us, than having to deal with 2 different disabilities. I'm going to make it my mission to take alot of pictures of Anya when I'm there so that we can try our best to find her the perfect home.
As far as Artur goes, I cant wait to hold that little boy. We have had our hearts set on him since we first started this process, but we new we could not handle 4 babies at once.
Please continue to pray that we get a travel date soon so that we can get these babies home.
Now I must set out to find boy clothes and boy toys fast because I do not have any as of now.
Its finally getting exciting again now that it drawls to an end!!!

Approved!!

We received the news yesterday that we are approved. We are going to travel soon to bring our babies home. We have not felt this excited since we started this process.
We do however need alot of prayers for Anya. We have done alot of research on her condition, and it really scares us a little bit. The sites say that she may even die before she turns 1. I don't know much about brain malformation either. We are seeking God right now to please help us answer these questions. If anyone knows anything about her condition ,please email me as soon as possible.
We have alot of paper work to get complete fast, then we will submit our Dossier off on Monday.
We are finally at the final stretch of this journey. We can not wait to travel , see the Ukraine, and to meet our new babies.
Please keep Anya in your prayers and pray that God will lead us to the right choice if we bring her home, or not. Thanks, Leah