I can't believe that it has been six months since we brought Michell home to live with us. The time has gone by so quickly but at the same time I feel like she has been here forever. She came into our lives and into our family and quickly found her place in all of our hearts. We all love her so much. There were so many things that I worried about while we were waiting to bring her home. So many unknowns. I wondered how my big kids would act or if they would love her as much as i anticipated that i would. I wondered how Micah would handle having another little person running around the house. I wondered how my family would be with her, would they accept her as one of our own. Although i knew i would love her i didn't know if it would be different than the love i feel for my kids. All of those questions seem so silly now.
My kids were so accepting and they love her so much. Madeline (my emotional child) could not wait for her to come home and was already in love before she even met her. Mackenzie (my reserved child) held back her feelings until we came home with her and she finally knew she was part of our family and Mason (my stubborn yet go with the flow child) was just happy to be a big brother again after being the baby for so long.
They all love each other and it still warms my heart to see them all together. They laugh, play and fight just like true siblings but they all love each other very much and that makes me one proud mommy.
As far as everyone else, i don't know why i was even worried. They were all vested in this as much as us and they all love her to pieces!
Michell is doing great. The language difference I feared would be difficult to overcome has been completely non challenging. She has been here for six months and can pretty much say and understand anything in English. What I thought would take a long time has happened in a few short months. The problem now is not learning English but helping her remember her Spanish. She still talks to her mommy on the phone every few days. It is good for both of them. She has started asking to call her sometimes and we always let her. I know it makes her mom feel good to hear her and know she is ok and happy. She gets to talk to her extended family in Honduras at least once a month too. They are always excited to talk to her and she is excited to talk to them too. When she is playing around the house she has a pretend cell phone that she brought home from Honduras. She always walks around the house talking on it and she always pretends she is talking to her mom and her Abuela (grandma). It is really cute but makes me sad sometimes too. I know she must miss them.
She has had many first since coming home. We have gone to the zoo, she has gone go cart riding, and today she had her first haircut ever. She was so excited. She wanted to get it cut like Dora but her daddy did not approve so we compromised on about 4 inches. That's about how much it had grown in the last six months. She is still wearing size 3 - 4t clothes and size 7 or 8 shoes but i can tell she has gotten taller. The dress she wore to her interview in Honduras came well below her knee back then. She wore the same dress to church last Sunday and it was above her knees.
When she first came home she was so shy and unsure when meeting new people. I know it must have been really overwhelming to her. All these strangers around all of the time plus not being able to understand what they were trying to say to her. Well, she has gotten over that for sure. She hasn't met anyone she doesn't like and is more than happy to talk to anyone who will talk to her. She is a really good eater. She tries new things all of the time. She doesn't always like it but she will at least try things without making a fuss.
She loves to go shopping. She is always helpful around the house like picking up after herself and her messy brother. She is very much like her dad when it comes to her things. She likes them to be in order. It may be a mess to anyone else's eye but she knows exactly where she likes things to be and she will make sure they are put away like she wants. She has to basically make her bed before she gets into it at nap time and bedtime because she likes her sheet to be just right before she gets under it. She has the sweetest little voice and frequently walks up and hugs my legs and says "I love you too mommy" without me prompting it at all.
It has only been six months since she has been here but i feel liked i've loved her a lifetime already. I cant imagine our lives without her. She has completed our family in a way we didn't know was possible.
So i guess the most silly question in my head was if i would feel the same about her as i do my kids and the answer is simple.......she is my kid. The End :)
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
The Last Three Months.........
The last three months.....wow. I don't even know where to begin. I can't believe that Michell has been here for three months already. In a way it just all seems normal like she has always been with us and then again i can't believe that it's already been three months because it seems like we just brought her home. She is doing great. She has learned so much English you would never believe that she didn't know any when we met her. She is such a happy little girl. She loves to sing, she loves her brothers and sisters and Dora is her favorite cartoon.
When we went to get her we were told she was still drinking a bottle 4 or 5 times a day and we witnessed this the first couple of days we were with her. Her first full night with us she woke the next morning around 5 a.m. and said she wanted her bottle. Martin gave it to her. That was the last bottle she had :) I had been given different advice from people about the whole bottle issue. Some said just don't give it to her once you have her others said take it away as soon as you can once you are home with her and others said let her have it a while so she can adjust. Anyway, we realized right away that she wasn't drinking it because she "needed" her bottle. She was drinking it because she was hungry. Once she was with us she started eating, and eating and eating. She never asked for it again. When we got her home it was the same way. She woke up eating and went to bed eating. I would have to sometimes tell her she couldn't have any more or she had to wait a while to eat again because she was hungry all the time. That went on for the first couple of months and she quickly gained about 3 lbs. She weighed 30lbs when we brought her home. Over the last month that has slowed down....a lot. I think she now realizes that there will always be enough food so she doesn't have to eat everything at that moment. She doesn't snack all day long along with three meals. She eats like a normal three year old child now instead of a growing teenage boy!
Her and Micah get along great. They play well together and both are learning to share. It took Micah a while to get used to her but they LOVE each other and they are really cute together. She also loves her big brother and sisters. She gets really excited when we go see them or when they are here at the house for a visit. They all love each other!
It has definitely been an adjustment for me and Martin. It has been a test of patience, of love, of trust, of everything, but we are doing great. We wouldn't trade anything for the blessings we have and we are stronger as a couple because of all of this.
Michell talks to her mom at least a couple of times a week. We have done several video calls and we have sent a care package to her mom with lots of pictures and videos. She usually talks to her grandparents and other family members at least once a month sometimes more. They miss her so much and it makes me sad sometimes when i hear them talk to her because you can hear the sadness in their voice but they are trying hard to sound happy for her.
This weekend she had a video call with her mom for about 30 minutes. (The longest time we've been able to keep Michell interested) The last 10 minutes was her running around playing, doing flips on the living room floor, singing ABC's for her, doing patty cake, etc... but her mom just watched and cheered her on. When Michell finally said bye and closed my laptop she quickly opened it back just to peek and see if she was still there. I told her we would talk to her again soon. I sent her to her room and told her to make it pretty (clean it) which she usually takes much pride in doing. After a few minutes she walked back out with HUGE tears in her eyes. I asked what was wrong and she just shrugged her shoulders. All I could do was give her a big hug and tell her that both her mommies love her very much and that her other mommy misses her too and she would get to talk to her again really soon. This completely broke my heart. She tries to be so brave even at 3 but i know she misses her mommy and that breaks my heart to see her sad. Of course she was over it within a few minutes and i was still crying about it when Martin walked back in the house a few minutes later. Even now i get teary eyed just thinking about it.
This is so hard. It's hard knowing that you are doing the best you can for someone but at the same time you are also causing pain. I told Martin I'm sure her mom cries too when she gets off the phone or walks away after a video call and that makes me sad to think about.
There has been an overwhelming amount of joy and happiness brought to our family by this experience but it is still a very emotional journey we are on. I just pray daily that we do whats right for everyone involved and that we always let this little girl know how much she is loved by everyone in her life.
It makes it all worth while when for no reason she crawls up beside me and gives me a big hug and says I love you mommy :)
When we went to get her we were told she was still drinking a bottle 4 or 5 times a day and we witnessed this the first couple of days we were with her. Her first full night with us she woke the next morning around 5 a.m. and said she wanted her bottle. Martin gave it to her. That was the last bottle she had :) I had been given different advice from people about the whole bottle issue. Some said just don't give it to her once you have her others said take it away as soon as you can once you are home with her and others said let her have it a while so she can adjust. Anyway, we realized right away that she wasn't drinking it because she "needed" her bottle. She was drinking it because she was hungry. Once she was with us she started eating, and eating and eating. She never asked for it again. When we got her home it was the same way. She woke up eating and went to bed eating. I would have to sometimes tell her she couldn't have any more or she had to wait a while to eat again because she was hungry all the time. That went on for the first couple of months and she quickly gained about 3 lbs. She weighed 30lbs when we brought her home. Over the last month that has slowed down....a lot. I think she now realizes that there will always be enough food so she doesn't have to eat everything at that moment. She doesn't snack all day long along with three meals. She eats like a normal three year old child now instead of a growing teenage boy!
Her and Micah get along great. They play well together and both are learning to share. It took Micah a while to get used to her but they LOVE each other and they are really cute together. She also loves her big brother and sisters. She gets really excited when we go see them or when they are here at the house for a visit. They all love each other!
It has definitely been an adjustment for me and Martin. It has been a test of patience, of love, of trust, of everything, but we are doing great. We wouldn't trade anything for the blessings we have and we are stronger as a couple because of all of this.
Michell talks to her mom at least a couple of times a week. We have done several video calls and we have sent a care package to her mom with lots of pictures and videos. She usually talks to her grandparents and other family members at least once a month sometimes more. They miss her so much and it makes me sad sometimes when i hear them talk to her because you can hear the sadness in their voice but they are trying hard to sound happy for her.
This weekend she had a video call with her mom for about 30 minutes. (The longest time we've been able to keep Michell interested) The last 10 minutes was her running around playing, doing flips on the living room floor, singing ABC's for her, doing patty cake, etc... but her mom just watched and cheered her on. When Michell finally said bye and closed my laptop she quickly opened it back just to peek and see if she was still there. I told her we would talk to her again soon. I sent her to her room and told her to make it pretty (clean it) which she usually takes much pride in doing. After a few minutes she walked back out with HUGE tears in her eyes. I asked what was wrong and she just shrugged her shoulders. All I could do was give her a big hug and tell her that both her mommies love her very much and that her other mommy misses her too and she would get to talk to her again really soon. This completely broke my heart. She tries to be so brave even at 3 but i know she misses her mommy and that breaks my heart to see her sad. Of course she was over it within a few minutes and i was still crying about it when Martin walked back in the house a few minutes later. Even now i get teary eyed just thinking about it.
This is so hard. It's hard knowing that you are doing the best you can for someone but at the same time you are also causing pain. I told Martin I'm sure her mom cries too when she gets off the phone or walks away after a video call and that makes me sad to think about.
There has been an overwhelming amount of joy and happiness brought to our family by this experience but it is still a very emotional journey we are on. I just pray daily that we do whats right for everyone involved and that we always let this little girl know how much she is loved by everyone in her life.
It makes it all worth while when for no reason she crawls up beside me and gives me a big hug and says I love you mommy :)
Monday, March 4, 2013
It's A Dora Kind of Morning........
There are clean dishes that need to be put away, a sink full of dirty dishes, beds to be made and toys all over my living room floor, but the kids are watching Dora so I'm going to take a few minutes to reflect on the past week. It has been an adventure!
We left Honduras last Tuesday after 8 days. When we got to Miami we got held up with immigration for 3 hours so we missed our connecting flight to Dallas. We were not happy about that but we were just glad to be one step closer to being home. We made it to Dallas sometime before lunch and back home after picking up Micah around 4 or 5. Micah was so excited to see us but not so happy about us bringing home Michell. He was really mad and kept screaming at her but on our two hour drive from Longview to Simsboro he kind of got over it. We had them sitting on the sides so they couldn't reach each other but after about 30 minutes of staring back and forth they started reaching for each others hands. It was really sweet. By the end she was playing music and he was clapping and dancing.
The next day it was back to the doctor with Micah because he was basically sick the whole time we were gone. He had another ear infection so we are on our 4th round of antibiotics in 4 months. Thursday night Michell started running fever....ugh. Not sure what is going on with her but we have been stuck in the house for the most part. Martin is fighting a sinus infection too so I have been playing nurse for everyone, taking my vitamin C and hoping that I'm not next. I do not need to be sick!!
I start back to school tomorrow. Not looking forward to it but just have to get through it. I made a B in all three of my classes last quarter so I was pretty happy with that knowing how distracted I was the entire time.
Everyone has been asking how she is adjusting and all I can say is that she has been so good. Even with her being sick she has been great. She has talked to her mom on the phone everyday. She is happy when she talks to her and her mom seems to be doing ok too. I am thankful for that. The only time she has asked to go home was Saturday night around 1:00 a.m. when her fever was around 104. She was so sick. She still wasn't crying for her mom but just asking Martin to take her home. That was hard but we got through it.
She is great around us but gets very worried when she meets new people. Im not sure if she is scared that we are going to leave her with someone else and then we are going to go away but when we have introduced her to anyone she usually sits in my lap with her head buried in my neck and wont look or talk for most of the time. Once she realizes the people are leaving and she is staying with us then she is back to her normal cheerful self. Hopefully that will get better as time goes on.
The big kids are all on spring break next week so we will have a house full.......I cant wait! It will be the first time the kids will get to see her in person. We have done Skype calls with all of them and she talks to them on the phone but I can't wait to see them all together.
The language barrier hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. She is learning English fast and we do ok. There are times when I have to call Martin and ask "what is she saying?" usually when she keeps repeating something and I cant figure it out. Most of the time I can figure out what she wants and she does the same with me. I have learned more Spanish in the last week than I have in the last 3 years I've known Martin.
Me and Martin still keep looking at each other and saying can you believe this is all real. We have prayed about this for so long. All I can say is that God is Good and he has taken care of us. The day we brought her home was exactly 2 years since my sister died. I believe that she has been up there talking to God about this for me. I'm glad she knew about Michell before she died and she knew we wanted to bring her here to live with us. I think she would have been really proud and I know she would have LOVED her.
We left Honduras last Tuesday after 8 days. When we got to Miami we got held up with immigration for 3 hours so we missed our connecting flight to Dallas. We were not happy about that but we were just glad to be one step closer to being home. We made it to Dallas sometime before lunch and back home after picking up Micah around 4 or 5. Micah was so excited to see us but not so happy about us bringing home Michell. He was really mad and kept screaming at her but on our two hour drive from Longview to Simsboro he kind of got over it. We had them sitting on the sides so they couldn't reach each other but after about 30 minutes of staring back and forth they started reaching for each others hands. It was really sweet. By the end she was playing music and he was clapping and dancing.
The next day it was back to the doctor with Micah because he was basically sick the whole time we were gone. He had another ear infection so we are on our 4th round of antibiotics in 4 months. Thursday night Michell started running fever....ugh. Not sure what is going on with her but we have been stuck in the house for the most part. Martin is fighting a sinus infection too so I have been playing nurse for everyone, taking my vitamin C and hoping that I'm not next. I do not need to be sick!!
I start back to school tomorrow. Not looking forward to it but just have to get through it. I made a B in all three of my classes last quarter so I was pretty happy with that knowing how distracted I was the entire time.
Everyone has been asking how she is adjusting and all I can say is that she has been so good. Even with her being sick she has been great. She has talked to her mom on the phone everyday. She is happy when she talks to her and her mom seems to be doing ok too. I am thankful for that. The only time she has asked to go home was Saturday night around 1:00 a.m. when her fever was around 104. She was so sick. She still wasn't crying for her mom but just asking Martin to take her home. That was hard but we got through it.
She is great around us but gets very worried when she meets new people. Im not sure if she is scared that we are going to leave her with someone else and then we are going to go away but when we have introduced her to anyone she usually sits in my lap with her head buried in my neck and wont look or talk for most of the time. Once she realizes the people are leaving and she is staying with us then she is back to her normal cheerful self. Hopefully that will get better as time goes on.
The big kids are all on spring break next week so we will have a house full.......I cant wait! It will be the first time the kids will get to see her in person. We have done Skype calls with all of them and she talks to them on the phone but I can't wait to see them all together.
The language barrier hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. She is learning English fast and we do ok. There are times when I have to call Martin and ask "what is she saying?" usually when she keeps repeating something and I cant figure it out. Most of the time I can figure out what she wants and she does the same with me. I have learned more Spanish in the last week than I have in the last 3 years I've known Martin.
Me and Martin still keep looking at each other and saying can you believe this is all real. We have prayed about this for so long. All I can say is that God is Good and he has taken care of us. The day we brought her home was exactly 2 years since my sister died. I believe that she has been up there talking to God about this for me. I'm glad she knew about Michell before she died and she knew we wanted to bring her here to live with us. I think she would have been really proud and I know she would have LOVED her.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Two More Days!!!
Well, as everyone probably knows by now our visa appointment went great! We were so nervous but everything went fine. The day didn't start out that great. First of all Martin tells me that morning that Michells mom said when they went to Michells medical appointment the doctor said that most kids have to have a DNA test done to get their visa approved. This is the last thing I wanted to hear. I was trying to avoid that because that would mean we would not get to bring her home. Our appointment was at 7 am. along with about 200 other people. We got to the US Embassy about 6:30 and people were already lined up. There were two lines and we didn't know which line we were suppose to be in. Martin started asking people and they told us we needed to be in the line on the left. Around 7 this girl from the embassy came out and started walking down the line to check our appointment letters. When she got to us she said you need to be in the other line. We went to the other line and asked if this was the line for the visas they said no, you need to be in the other line. Of course everyone is speaking Spanish so I'm just following Martin around. We go back to the other line and then someone says no you need to be in the other line....oh my goodness. I'm about to scream, Martin is beyond frustrated and at this point no matter what line we are in we are last!! So we go walking back to the other line when this very nice man who spoke English stopped me. He asked to see our interview letter. When I showed him he said this is the line you need to be in. Finally. On top of going back and forth this is a very scary place. It is the US Embassy but it is guarded by Honduran Police who were each carrying a huge gun around plus at least one on their hip. Walking back in forth talking in a language I don't understand. There were also people walking all around you begging for money or trying to sell you something. I just tried to stay against the wall and not make eye contact with anyone. Did I mention I was the only white person in the crowd so it's not like anyone noticed me.
Finally about 7:15 they started letting people in the Embassy but only a few at a time and of course we are at the back of the line. I didn't think we were ever going to make it to the door. When we finally did we had to go in through medal detectors and security. Once inside you take a seat and wait to be called. Luckily we brought things to entertain Michell because we knew it would be a long wait. When they finally called us to the window this really nice man started going through all of our paperwork and asking us questions. He asked me how many times have you been to visit since you and Martin were married. I told him this was the first time. He said OK well the only other thing I need I pictures of the baby with Martin and pictures of the two of you together. I handed him the album of pictures with me and Martin and the kids. Then I told him I didn't have any pictures of Martin and Michell together except screen shots from their Skype calls. He said how many times have you visited her. Martin told him he had not been here before. He said you've never been here. Martin said no. He looked at both of us took the album with the Skype photos and told us to have a seat and someone would be calling us for our interview shortly. We both walked away feeling completely defeated. I kept telling him don't worry if we have to do the DNA test it will be fine we will get it done as soon as possible. So a few minutes later we are the first ones called for our interview. We nervously walk into this little room where this lady is sitting behind glass with a microphone thing around her head to talk to us. She asked if we wanted her to speak to us in English or Spanish. We said English. She asked who Martin was and he told her he was Michell's dad. She said oh good they didn't tell me you were here for the interview. She asked Martin several questions about his relationship with Michells mom, when did you meet, how long were you together. He answered. The she asked him about us when we met, when we got married, what kind of wedding did we have. She the said it was so smart of us to take pictures of the Skype calls. She said everyone always says they Skype but we don't know if they really do. She asked us if we had a notarized letter from Michell's mom saying she could come live with us. Of course we did. I handed it to her and she said well basically your visa has been approved. Come back today and pick it up at 2:45. Then she said don't buy your plant tickets yet cause you never know what might happen just wait until you have the visa in your hand.
Well, we went back that afternoon and of course there was something wrong ours. They had Michell's marital status as Married. That is what stopped us from being able to come home and what kept us in Honduras now for another 4 days. We are so ready to get home. I cant wait until the kids get to meet her. She is excited too. Every time we see an airplane she wants to know when we are getting her ticket.
I was really worried about how she would adjust without her mom but she has been so good. The day we went for our interview and found out it was approved her mom, step dad and uncle left to go back home. She has talked to her mom everyday on the phone but she hasn't been upset or anything. The only time she has cried since she has been with us is when she bumped her mouth and busted her lip open a couple of days ago. She asked Martin one day if her mom was coming to get her and he told her no. Later that day she said "my mom is at home but she's not coming" She hasn't asked about it since. That makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I'm glad she is able to talk to her family and not be upset. She has talked to her mom, and both her grandparents and she was really happy to talk to them. I'm sure that her mom is glad that she doesn't cry too. Martin talked to Michell's grandmother the day after our interview. She said when Michell's mom got home she went straight to her room and cried a lot the rest of the day. That breaks my heart but I know that she feels like she made the right decision.
So we are pretty much held up in our apartment counting down the days until we come home. Please pray that we get that visa tomorrow!!!
Finally about 7:15 they started letting people in the Embassy but only a few at a time and of course we are at the back of the line. I didn't think we were ever going to make it to the door. When we finally did we had to go in through medal detectors and security. Once inside you take a seat and wait to be called. Luckily we brought things to entertain Michell because we knew it would be a long wait. When they finally called us to the window this really nice man started going through all of our paperwork and asking us questions. He asked me how many times have you been to visit since you and Martin were married. I told him this was the first time. He said OK well the only other thing I need I pictures of the baby with Martin and pictures of the two of you together. I handed him the album of pictures with me and Martin and the kids. Then I told him I didn't have any pictures of Martin and Michell together except screen shots from their Skype calls. He said how many times have you visited her. Martin told him he had not been here before. He said you've never been here. Martin said no. He looked at both of us took the album with the Skype photos and told us to have a seat and someone would be calling us for our interview shortly. We both walked away feeling completely defeated. I kept telling him don't worry if we have to do the DNA test it will be fine we will get it done as soon as possible. So a few minutes later we are the first ones called for our interview. We nervously walk into this little room where this lady is sitting behind glass with a microphone thing around her head to talk to us. She asked if we wanted her to speak to us in English or Spanish. We said English. She asked who Martin was and he told her he was Michell's dad. She said oh good they didn't tell me you were here for the interview. She asked Martin several questions about his relationship with Michells mom, when did you meet, how long were you together. He answered. The she asked him about us when we met, when we got married, what kind of wedding did we have. She the said it was so smart of us to take pictures of the Skype calls. She said everyone always says they Skype but we don't know if they really do. She asked us if we had a notarized letter from Michell's mom saying she could come live with us. Of course we did. I handed it to her and she said well basically your visa has been approved. Come back today and pick it up at 2:45. Then she said don't buy your plant tickets yet cause you never know what might happen just wait until you have the visa in your hand.
Well, we went back that afternoon and of course there was something wrong ours. They had Michell's marital status as Married. That is what stopped us from being able to come home and what kept us in Honduras now for another 4 days. We are so ready to get home. I cant wait until the kids get to meet her. She is excited too. Every time we see an airplane she wants to know when we are getting her ticket.
I was really worried about how she would adjust without her mom but she has been so good. The day we went for our interview and found out it was approved her mom, step dad and uncle left to go back home. She has talked to her mom everyday on the phone but she hasn't been upset or anything. The only time she has cried since she has been with us is when she bumped her mouth and busted her lip open a couple of days ago. She asked Martin one day if her mom was coming to get her and he told her no. Later that day she said "my mom is at home but she's not coming" She hasn't asked about it since. That makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I'm glad she is able to talk to her family and not be upset. She has talked to her mom, and both her grandparents and she was really happy to talk to them. I'm sure that her mom is glad that she doesn't cry too. Martin talked to Michell's grandmother the day after our interview. She said when Michell's mom got home she went straight to her room and cried a lot the rest of the day. That breaks my heart but I know that she feels like she made the right decision.
So we are pretty much held up in our apartment counting down the days until we come home. Please pray that we get that visa tomorrow!!!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
8 hours and counting.........
I will start by apologizing for this post. I have so much to say that I can't possibly get it all out but I will try with this long, shortened version.
I promised I was going to keep up with this while I was gone but it has been a crazy two days. As of this moment we have about 8 hours until our interview. I know I should be sleeping but my brain wont shut off long enough for me to close my eyes. At least Martin is sleeping and he needs to rest, he will probably be the one answering all of the questions tomorrow.
So to catch everyone up on what's been going on. We had the kids for the weekend. I spent most of it trying to finish school work to end my quarter before we left. Got the kids home Monday and we stayed with friends in Dallas for the night. Of course I spent probably the first 2 or 3 hours held up in their bedroom trying to write a term paper that had to be finished before I left. Anyway, got that out of the way, didn't get any sleep and then left for the airport about 3:15 am to catch a 5:45 flight. Of course between me and my friend neither one of us could get to the airport (even with my gps on my phone) partly because of the road construction and partly because I have no sense of direction. Anyway, we make it to the airport around 4:15 or 4:30 and I'm feeling somewhat panicked. I hate flying out of DFW don't know my way around ugh just hate it. So we go in and find this really nice American Airlines employee who helps us get checked in with our passports, gets our bags checked and prints out our boarding tickets. I had looked online and it said our terminal was D gate D18. He carefully explains exactly how to get to the gate and we are on our way. We get there about 5:00 and nobody is there. Of course it's early in the morning so I'm just thinking we just got here before everyone else. I check the board and it shows our flight is on time; OK I can relax. Me and Martin are sitting there talking and nobody comes. Finally, I ask Martin, "What time is it?" He says 5:30.....WHAT??? My heart automatically starts pounding in my chest as the panic rises. He has never flown before so he didn't know what was suppose to be going on. I look at our boarding passes and it says Gate C17. OMG, we go running across the airport bags in hand. Have to go up a floor, take the shuttle bus to gate C, down a floor and get to the gate at about 5:40. Nobody is there except the people behind the counter. I show her our boarding pass because I cant speak I'm so out of breath, she says "oh, you made it! We just paged you over the intercom" The plane is waiting for you. Thank Goodness!! We board the completely full plane with everyone looking at us like YOU were the ones holding us up....great. We find our seats, find a place to store our bags and the pilot comes on to tell us they are working on some maintenance issues and we are going to have a slight delay...really? I'm a mess and we haven't gotten off the ground.
Fast forward to Miami, everything is fine with the flight except for I had this really nice man sitting next to me who spoke Spanish to me the entire flight even though I told him I don't speak Spanish. Finally after a half a day of flying and no food we reach Honduras. We get through immigration and customs fairly easy. We get out of the airport and there are seriously hundreds of people just standing there staring at you. Some want money, some want to carry your bags for money, some just want your bags. Luckily we had a shuttle service scheduled to pick us up and he had a huge sign with my name so he was easy to locate. We follow him to this beat up little car that doesn't look like it will make it down the road. Once on the road all became clear.....these people do not know how to drive! The streets are small and packed with cars. Two lane roads are barley big enough for two cars and motorcycles come speeding up between the cars going 50 mph. like nothing. Nobody stops for signs and everyone honks at everyone. There is no yielding they just creep into ongoing traffic until someone finally stops to avoid hitting you. So that was a lot of fun. Again luckily, our hotel was only about 10 mins from the airport.
Fast forward to our first meeting with Michell......when we get to the hotel they tell us that they are already checked into their room so we get settled and Martin calls their room. Michell answers, she is so excited, they are on their way to our room. Me and Martin are both pacing the floor and he says I don't know what to do, I just want to grab her and hug her. I tell him don't do that or you will scare her. He says my heart will break if something goes wrong and she cant come home with us. At this point I am fighting back tears and then we hear her coming. She is laughing and happy and excited.....we open the door and as soon as she sees us she starts crying hysterically and runs to her mother screaming lets go mommy, get me out of here. This continues for about 15 minutes or so. Martin tries to talk to her but she is crying so hard. I'm just standing there not knowing what to do. She was with her mom, her step dad and her uncle. All of them are trying to calm her down and get her to talk to Martin. He brings out the baby doll we brought for her and she starts smiling through her tears. She takes the baby but still wont get close to Martin. Another 10 minutes go by and she is talking to him but she still wont get near either one of us. Martin looks at me with the saddest eyes ever and says I just want to touch her hand. I told him to wait until she was ready. We go get the pictures of the two of them from their Skype calls. She points at herself and says "Michell" then she points and Martin and says "Mi Poppy" That was it, she finally figured it out and they have been stuck like glue since :-) You would never know looking at them that they just met in person for the first time yesterday. He is such a good daddy, and her mom has really been good with all of this. Once Michell was fine with Martin she has just kind of stepped back and let us take care of her. She is just kind of watching from the sidelines and I know this is hard for her, but she is just letting us get to know Michell and vice versa. We spent the rest of the day with all of them and things were great. That night when they got ready to go back to their room. Her mom asked if she wanted to go with them or stay and she wanted to stay with us. We kept her for another 45 mins or so and just talked to her and colored with her and got her ready for bed before taking her back to her mom.
This morning we were up at six, got dressed and called their room to see if she was up. Her mom said yes, she is waiting for you. We went over to get her and she was waiting at the door. She is so cute I cant even explain it. We spent all day today with her and now the thought of leaving her here is what keeps me from sleeping tonight. I don't know what we will do.
Here is this child that until yesterday we didn't even know and now we cant imagine not having her. How does that even happen? She cant understand me and I don't understand her but I love her so much already. I just want to take her home. I want to let her soak in a bath tub and wash her hair. I want to wash away the dirt that looks like it's tattooed on her skin. I want to clean her fingernails so you can actually see the pink we painted them today instead of the dirt that shows thru. Don't get me wrong. She is a very loved little girl by her mom and she does the best she can but things are different here, much different and we all want her to have a better life.
I've had conversations (with Martin translating) with her mom. She LOVES this little girl and she is so brave to be doing this. I have so much respect for her. She said that people keep asking her why she is doing this. Why she is letting her go. I told her I understand. I told her that I know that there are people that think bad of me because I let my kids go live with their dad but I didn't do it because I didn't love them. I did it because I loved them enough to put what they needed and what was best for them above what I wanted and needed.
This is not easy.........and now we have 7 hours.
I promised I was going to keep up with this while I was gone but it has been a crazy two days. As of this moment we have about 8 hours until our interview. I know I should be sleeping but my brain wont shut off long enough for me to close my eyes. At least Martin is sleeping and he needs to rest, he will probably be the one answering all of the questions tomorrow.
So to catch everyone up on what's been going on. We had the kids for the weekend. I spent most of it trying to finish school work to end my quarter before we left. Got the kids home Monday and we stayed with friends in Dallas for the night. Of course I spent probably the first 2 or 3 hours held up in their bedroom trying to write a term paper that had to be finished before I left. Anyway, got that out of the way, didn't get any sleep and then left for the airport about 3:15 am to catch a 5:45 flight. Of course between me and my friend neither one of us could get to the airport (even with my gps on my phone) partly because of the road construction and partly because I have no sense of direction. Anyway, we make it to the airport around 4:15 or 4:30 and I'm feeling somewhat panicked. I hate flying out of DFW don't know my way around ugh just hate it. So we go in and find this really nice American Airlines employee who helps us get checked in with our passports, gets our bags checked and prints out our boarding tickets. I had looked online and it said our terminal was D gate D18. He carefully explains exactly how to get to the gate and we are on our way. We get there about 5:00 and nobody is there. Of course it's early in the morning so I'm just thinking we just got here before everyone else. I check the board and it shows our flight is on time; OK I can relax. Me and Martin are sitting there talking and nobody comes. Finally, I ask Martin, "What time is it?" He says 5:30.....WHAT??? My heart automatically starts pounding in my chest as the panic rises. He has never flown before so he didn't know what was suppose to be going on. I look at our boarding passes and it says Gate C17. OMG, we go running across the airport bags in hand. Have to go up a floor, take the shuttle bus to gate C, down a floor and get to the gate at about 5:40. Nobody is there except the people behind the counter. I show her our boarding pass because I cant speak I'm so out of breath, she says "oh, you made it! We just paged you over the intercom" The plane is waiting for you. Thank Goodness!! We board the completely full plane with everyone looking at us like YOU were the ones holding us up....great. We find our seats, find a place to store our bags and the pilot comes on to tell us they are working on some maintenance issues and we are going to have a slight delay...really? I'm a mess and we haven't gotten off the ground.
Fast forward to Miami, everything is fine with the flight except for I had this really nice man sitting next to me who spoke Spanish to me the entire flight even though I told him I don't speak Spanish. Finally after a half a day of flying and no food we reach Honduras. We get through immigration and customs fairly easy. We get out of the airport and there are seriously hundreds of people just standing there staring at you. Some want money, some want to carry your bags for money, some just want your bags. Luckily we had a shuttle service scheduled to pick us up and he had a huge sign with my name so he was easy to locate. We follow him to this beat up little car that doesn't look like it will make it down the road. Once on the road all became clear.....these people do not know how to drive! The streets are small and packed with cars. Two lane roads are barley big enough for two cars and motorcycles come speeding up between the cars going 50 mph. like nothing. Nobody stops for signs and everyone honks at everyone. There is no yielding they just creep into ongoing traffic until someone finally stops to avoid hitting you. So that was a lot of fun. Again luckily, our hotel was only about 10 mins from the airport.
Fast forward to our first meeting with Michell......when we get to the hotel they tell us that they are already checked into their room so we get settled and Martin calls their room. Michell answers, she is so excited, they are on their way to our room. Me and Martin are both pacing the floor and he says I don't know what to do, I just want to grab her and hug her. I tell him don't do that or you will scare her. He says my heart will break if something goes wrong and she cant come home with us. At this point I am fighting back tears and then we hear her coming. She is laughing and happy and excited.....we open the door and as soon as she sees us she starts crying hysterically and runs to her mother screaming lets go mommy, get me out of here. This continues for about 15 minutes or so. Martin tries to talk to her but she is crying so hard. I'm just standing there not knowing what to do. She was with her mom, her step dad and her uncle. All of them are trying to calm her down and get her to talk to Martin. He brings out the baby doll we brought for her and she starts smiling through her tears. She takes the baby but still wont get close to Martin. Another 10 minutes go by and she is talking to him but she still wont get near either one of us. Martin looks at me with the saddest eyes ever and says I just want to touch her hand. I told him to wait until she was ready. We go get the pictures of the two of them from their Skype calls. She points at herself and says "Michell" then she points and Martin and says "Mi Poppy" That was it, she finally figured it out and they have been stuck like glue since :-) You would never know looking at them that they just met in person for the first time yesterday. He is such a good daddy, and her mom has really been good with all of this. Once Michell was fine with Martin she has just kind of stepped back and let us take care of her. She is just kind of watching from the sidelines and I know this is hard for her, but she is just letting us get to know Michell and vice versa. We spent the rest of the day with all of them and things were great. That night when they got ready to go back to their room. Her mom asked if she wanted to go with them or stay and she wanted to stay with us. We kept her for another 45 mins or so and just talked to her and colored with her and got her ready for bed before taking her back to her mom.
This morning we were up at six, got dressed and called their room to see if she was up. Her mom said yes, she is waiting for you. We went over to get her and she was waiting at the door. She is so cute I cant even explain it. We spent all day today with her and now the thought of leaving her here is what keeps me from sleeping tonight. I don't know what we will do.
Here is this child that until yesterday we didn't even know and now we cant imagine not having her. How does that even happen? She cant understand me and I don't understand her but I love her so much already. I just want to take her home. I want to let her soak in a bath tub and wash her hair. I want to wash away the dirt that looks like it's tattooed on her skin. I want to clean her fingernails so you can actually see the pink we painted them today instead of the dirt that shows thru. Don't get me wrong. She is a very loved little girl by her mom and she does the best she can but things are different here, much different and we all want her to have a better life.
I've had conversations (with Martin translating) with her mom. She LOVES this little girl and she is so brave to be doing this. I have so much respect for her. She said that people keep asking her why she is doing this. Why she is letting her go. I told her I understand. I told her that I know that there are people that think bad of me because I let my kids go live with their dad but I didn't do it because I didn't love them. I did it because I loved them enough to put what they needed and what was best for them above what I wanted and needed.
This is not easy.........and now we have 7 hours.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Here We Go..........
Can't believe in a few short hours we will finally be boarding a plane headed to Honduras. It is so exciting and yet I'm nervous, scared, worried and just praying and hoping for the best. I can't believe after three years we are finally going to get to meet her. After 7 months of working on this we are finally going to see her face to face. We are so excited.
It has been a busy week trying to get ready to leave. So many things to do. The kids were with us all weekend but unfortunately most of my weekend was spent trying to finish up school work. It seems like it went by in the blink of an eye.
We bought Michell a Innotab which is kind of like a kids version of an I Pad. It has games and movies on it. (Things to keep a 3 yr old entertained while being held up in a hotel for a week) Anyway, the kids recorded a video for Michell in Spanish saying hello to her and telling her their names and that they loved her. It was so cute. It makes me very emotional to see how loving my kids are. I didn't know how they would accept all of this with Michell. They absolutely adore Micah but I was worried it might be different with Michell but it's not. They are excited about her coming. The girls are excited about having a "little sister" and Mason is just excited about having another little person to play with. The girls went shopping this weekend and came back with a pair of shoes for her. It just makes my heart smile to see that they love her too.
We dropped the kids off this evening with their dad and we are staying with a friend in Dallas. She is taking us to the airport in the morning. I will try to keep everyone updated the best I can and hopefully we will have good news to share very soon.
Until then, we have a very specific prayer request......please pray for a safe trip for us and please pray that her Visa is approved and that we get it Thursday.
Thank you again to everyone who has following our story. I will be blogging from Honduras for those who want to keep up with us.
Good Night, hope I can sleep :)
It has been a busy week trying to get ready to leave. So many things to do. The kids were with us all weekend but unfortunately most of my weekend was spent trying to finish up school work. It seems like it went by in the blink of an eye.
We bought Michell a Innotab which is kind of like a kids version of an I Pad. It has games and movies on it. (Things to keep a 3 yr old entertained while being held up in a hotel for a week) Anyway, the kids recorded a video for Michell in Spanish saying hello to her and telling her their names and that they loved her. It was so cute. It makes me very emotional to see how loving my kids are. I didn't know how they would accept all of this with Michell. They absolutely adore Micah but I was worried it might be different with Michell but it's not. They are excited about her coming. The girls are excited about having a "little sister" and Mason is just excited about having another little person to play with. The girls went shopping this weekend and came back with a pair of shoes for her. It just makes my heart smile to see that they love her too.
We dropped the kids off this evening with their dad and we are staying with a friend in Dallas. She is taking us to the airport in the morning. I will try to keep everyone updated the best I can and hopefully we will have good news to share very soon.
Until then, we have a very specific prayer request......please pray for a safe trip for us and please pray that her Visa is approved and that we get it Thursday.
Thank you again to everyone who has following our story. I will be blogging from Honduras for those who want to keep up with us.
Good Night, hope I can sleep :)
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Emotional Doesnt Begin to Explain This........
Today has been a very emotional day for me. Through out this whole process it has been a very weird, emotional, spiritual journey. The closer we get to the end of this the more emotional I get about the entire process. Although, we have dreamed and talked about his day for the last three years it stills seems almost unreal that it is coming to an end and that she will hopefully be here with us very soon. The thought that something could go wrong and she wouldn't come back with us is almost more than I can think about.
Since the purpose of this blog is to someday share with Michell the journey we went through to bring her to our family it cant go unmentioned the greatest sacrifice of all to make that happen and that is her mother giving us this gift. Not a day goes by that I don't think about what she is going through and what she is giving up. I have cried many tears thinking about how her heart must be breaking. As happy as we are that she is coming into our family, I know that she is also leaving behind a family that loves her very much and will miss her.
This is very hard for me. My big kids don't live with me and I know what a heart wrenching decision that was for me and I knew I was going to get to see them and that they would still be part of my life. I cant imagine having to make that decision and not knowing if I would ever see my child again.
I go between emotions of thinking about how devastated I would be at this point if she changes her mind to thinking about how devastating this is to her and how she will be able to let her go when the time comes. All I know is that I'm sure there will be many more tears cried over the next week or so. I just hope I can hold it together so that we can get through this.
The most important thing I want Michell to know about all of this is that her mother loved her very much and made many sacrifices for all of this to happen. As we are planning a new life with a new family member, she is planning a life without her little girl. I know things will be hard for her and that makes me very sad. I pray that God will give us all the strength we need to get through the next week and beyond.....
Since the purpose of this blog is to someday share with Michell the journey we went through to bring her to our family it cant go unmentioned the greatest sacrifice of all to make that happen and that is her mother giving us this gift. Not a day goes by that I don't think about what she is going through and what she is giving up. I have cried many tears thinking about how her heart must be breaking. As happy as we are that she is coming into our family, I know that she is also leaving behind a family that loves her very much and will miss her.
This is very hard for me. My big kids don't live with me and I know what a heart wrenching decision that was for me and I knew I was going to get to see them and that they would still be part of my life. I cant imagine having to make that decision and not knowing if I would ever see my child again.
I go between emotions of thinking about how devastated I would be at this point if she changes her mind to thinking about how devastating this is to her and how she will be able to let her go when the time comes. All I know is that I'm sure there will be many more tears cried over the next week or so. I just hope I can hold it together so that we can get through this.
The most important thing I want Michell to know about all of this is that her mother loved her very much and made many sacrifices for all of this to happen. As we are planning a new life with a new family member, she is planning a life without her little girl. I know things will be hard for her and that makes me very sad. I pray that God will give us all the strength we need to get through the next week and beyond.....
Thursday, February 7, 2013
12 Days and Counting......
Oh my goodness, I cant believe we have less than two weeks before we will be on a plane headed for Honduras to FINALLY meet her. I don't know if we are more excited or if she is.
It's hard when Martin calls because we are so excited and her mom is trying to be really brave through this whole process but you can hear her sadness coming through the phone. She finally has the medical appointment set up. She will travel to Tegucigalpa (about 4 1/2 hrs away from her home) on Thursday the 14th for her appointment on the 15th. She will have to go back on Sunday so she can take her back Monday for the reading of her TB test and to get the medical results for us to take along to the interview. They will just stay in town because we will be there Tuesday afternoon.
I have been consumed with school for the past several days and don't see an end to it until next weekend. It has been really stressful trying to finish two weeks ahead of schedule but I know it will be worth it when i can leave town and know I don't have to come back and try to get my head back in the books to take finals. I'm glad all of my teachers were understanding. I still have a term paper to write, two more tests, three finals, one big project and several small ones left to complete in the next 10 days......I'm tired just thinking about that.
With school it has been hard for me to concentrate on anything else. I miss my big kids horribly. Madeline has been busy with school and Mackenzie just finished up her last basketball game for the season this week and has been busy too. I never know what I'm going to get with Mason. Sometimes he talks my ear off and other times I cant get him to concentrate on our conversation because he is too busy playing some game while we are on the phone. Our schedules haven't given us much time to talk lately so I cant wait to see them all next weekend.
Micah is great. Getting bigger everyday and doing more. He is running all over the house and into everything. He loves being outside and gets really mad when we try to get him to come in after playing. I hope Michell likes being outside too because that is where we spend a lot of time. I'm getting sad thinking about leaving Micah for the first time when we are gone but i know he will be in good hands and i know he will be fine. Hopefully we will be ably to skype with him while we are gone so we will get to see him.
I'm getting more nervous the closer it gets. I've felt so confident in this whole process until now and now I'm kind of freaking out. I told Martin the other day that I know, and have always known, that there is a possibility that she wont be coming home with us this time but I haven't really let my mind entertain that thought. I can't even imagine what that is going to be like if it happens. It will be so hard to leave her there after getting to finally spend a few days with her. So with that being said I have a few very specific prayer request for those of you who have been praying with us: 1) Please pray for a safe trip for us there and back. 2) Please pray that they approve her visa and she gets to come back with us this time. and 3) Our interview is Thursday so IF its approved they could issue the visa that afternoon or it could be Monday of the next week (they don't issue them on Friday) So our last prayer request is that they issue the visa on Thursday so we can be back in the United States on Friday.
Thank you again for everyone who has been keeping up with our story and praying for us. We really appreciate it.
It's hard when Martin calls because we are so excited and her mom is trying to be really brave through this whole process but you can hear her sadness coming through the phone. She finally has the medical appointment set up. She will travel to Tegucigalpa (about 4 1/2 hrs away from her home) on Thursday the 14th for her appointment on the 15th. She will have to go back on Sunday so she can take her back Monday for the reading of her TB test and to get the medical results for us to take along to the interview. They will just stay in town because we will be there Tuesday afternoon.
I have been consumed with school for the past several days and don't see an end to it until next weekend. It has been really stressful trying to finish two weeks ahead of schedule but I know it will be worth it when i can leave town and know I don't have to come back and try to get my head back in the books to take finals. I'm glad all of my teachers were understanding. I still have a term paper to write, two more tests, three finals, one big project and several small ones left to complete in the next 10 days......I'm tired just thinking about that.
With school it has been hard for me to concentrate on anything else. I miss my big kids horribly. Madeline has been busy with school and Mackenzie just finished up her last basketball game for the season this week and has been busy too. I never know what I'm going to get with Mason. Sometimes he talks my ear off and other times I cant get him to concentrate on our conversation because he is too busy playing some game while we are on the phone. Our schedules haven't given us much time to talk lately so I cant wait to see them all next weekend.
Micah is great. Getting bigger everyday and doing more. He is running all over the house and into everything. He loves being outside and gets really mad when we try to get him to come in after playing. I hope Michell likes being outside too because that is where we spend a lot of time. I'm getting sad thinking about leaving Micah for the first time when we are gone but i know he will be in good hands and i know he will be fine. Hopefully we will be ably to skype with him while we are gone so we will get to see him.
I'm getting more nervous the closer it gets. I've felt so confident in this whole process until now and now I'm kind of freaking out. I told Martin the other day that I know, and have always known, that there is a possibility that she wont be coming home with us this time but I haven't really let my mind entertain that thought. I can't even imagine what that is going to be like if it happens. It will be so hard to leave her there after getting to finally spend a few days with her. So with that being said I have a few very specific prayer request for those of you who have been praying with us: 1) Please pray for a safe trip for us there and back. 2) Please pray that they approve her visa and she gets to come back with us this time. and 3) Our interview is Thursday so IF its approved they could issue the visa that afternoon or it could be Monday of the next week (they don't issue them on Friday) So our last prayer request is that they issue the visa on Thursday so we can be back in the United States on Friday.
Thank you again for everyone who has been keeping up with our story and praying for us. We really appreciate it.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Finding it hard to sleep.......
22 days and counting! That seems hard to believe. I can't believe in just a few weeks we will be on a plane and hopefully bringing her home. The closer it gets the more nervous i get. I think i get less sleep every night. I go to sleep fine but then it seems around 1a.m. I'm wide awake staring at the ceiling. Last night i just decided to get up. I hate tossing and turning.
We have been busy trying to get things ready. I feel like we are in the home stretch of a pregnancy where you know it could happen any day and you are just waiting. You know when your due date is but you still don't know what to expect. It is just a lot of nerves and excitement and just very emotional. I know Martin is feeling the same way. He told me he doesn't know if he is nervous or just excited but he keeps dreaming about us being on the airplane.
We have been so blessed with good friends who are just as vested in this as we are if that is possible. We met with our best friends this last week and they gave us an unexpected surprise. We were at dinner with them when we were handed a gift. Inside there was a check. They said they wanted to help us with our trip. I immediately started getting teary eyed and Martin even got choked up. This has been such an emotional roller coaster and has definitely been a leap of faith. We had no idea what to expect when we started this journey but we just jumped in having faith that we would know what to do and have the resources to do it. God has definitely provided for us at exactly the right time. I really feel he has blessed us through out this process and will continue to see us through this. There have been so many people who have sent good wishes or have taken the time to call and ask how things are going. We know people have been praying for us and it really means so much to us that people care about our family. We are beyond blessed to be surrounded by such good people in our lives.
We called and talked to Michell and her mom a couple of nights ago. All is well with them. She is suppose to call this Friday which is the 1st to try to get the medical appointment set up. I hope we finally get that taken care of. Other than that I am working on completing my classes before we leave. I got an email yesterday about registering for the next quarter and I don't even want to think about that yet. One of my teachers told me that I may need to cut back on my classes. She said it is important for you to finish but your kids are only babies once. I know this is true but it is so important for me to finish......and before my oldest graduates from college! That is my goal, to finish before her. Seriously, I should graduate in the spring or summer of next year 2014. I really am focused on completing then. I feel like I've been doing this forever and I just want to be finished! Every time I want to give up I can hear my big sister in my ear pushing me on. I know she would really be proud of me.......enough of that, I can't even think about that or the tears will really being flowing. I miss her so much. Especially,over the last 7 months since we started this process. She was my biggest supporter and the person i went to for advice so i know we would have had a lot to talk about lately.
So my mission the last couple of days has been to find a Hispanic baby doll.....my goodness. I didn't know this was going to be such a challenge. I have searched everywhere and googled and everything else i know to do. Even with American girl you can not get a medium skin girl with black hair and brown eyes even though you are suppose to be able to create one "just like you". Anyway, finally found a doll last night that will have to work. I ordered it and it should be here before we leave so we can take it with us.
We pretty much have her room together. Well, as much as we are going to. Martin wants to wait to buy bedding until she gets here so she can pick out what she wants but I did buy some pink sheets for her bed. We still have some touch up paint that we need to finish and we want to put a ceiling fan in her room.
We are getting the big kids the weekend before we leave and I'm looking forward to that. I really miss them. I haven't seen Madeline since Christmas so it will be nice for us to all be together again.
I will keep everyone updated as we go along. Sorry this one was a lot of rambling....maybe due to lack of sleep or could be the 3 cups of coffee I've had this morning :)
We have been busy trying to get things ready. I feel like we are in the home stretch of a pregnancy where you know it could happen any day and you are just waiting. You know when your due date is but you still don't know what to expect. It is just a lot of nerves and excitement and just very emotional. I know Martin is feeling the same way. He told me he doesn't know if he is nervous or just excited but he keeps dreaming about us being on the airplane.
We have been so blessed with good friends who are just as vested in this as we are if that is possible. We met with our best friends this last week and they gave us an unexpected surprise. We were at dinner with them when we were handed a gift. Inside there was a check. They said they wanted to help us with our trip. I immediately started getting teary eyed and Martin even got choked up. This has been such an emotional roller coaster and has definitely been a leap of faith. We had no idea what to expect when we started this journey but we just jumped in having faith that we would know what to do and have the resources to do it. God has definitely provided for us at exactly the right time. I really feel he has blessed us through out this process and will continue to see us through this. There have been so many people who have sent good wishes or have taken the time to call and ask how things are going. We know people have been praying for us and it really means so much to us that people care about our family. We are beyond blessed to be surrounded by such good people in our lives.
We called and talked to Michell and her mom a couple of nights ago. All is well with them. She is suppose to call this Friday which is the 1st to try to get the medical appointment set up. I hope we finally get that taken care of. Other than that I am working on completing my classes before we leave. I got an email yesterday about registering for the next quarter and I don't even want to think about that yet. One of my teachers told me that I may need to cut back on my classes. She said it is important for you to finish but your kids are only babies once. I know this is true but it is so important for me to finish......and before my oldest graduates from college! That is my goal, to finish before her. Seriously, I should graduate in the spring or summer of next year 2014. I really am focused on completing then. I feel like I've been doing this forever and I just want to be finished! Every time I want to give up I can hear my big sister in my ear pushing me on. I know she would really be proud of me.......enough of that, I can't even think about that or the tears will really being flowing. I miss her so much. Especially,over the last 7 months since we started this process. She was my biggest supporter and the person i went to for advice so i know we would have had a lot to talk about lately.
So my mission the last couple of days has been to find a Hispanic baby doll.....my goodness. I didn't know this was going to be such a challenge. I have searched everywhere and googled and everything else i know to do. Even with American girl you can not get a medium skin girl with black hair and brown eyes even though you are suppose to be able to create one "just like you". Anyway, finally found a doll last night that will have to work. I ordered it and it should be here before we leave so we can take it with us.
We pretty much have her room together. Well, as much as we are going to. Martin wants to wait to buy bedding until she gets here so she can pick out what she wants but I did buy some pink sheets for her bed. We still have some touch up paint that we need to finish and we want to put a ceiling fan in her room.
We are getting the big kids the weekend before we leave and I'm looking forward to that. I really miss them. I haven't seen Madeline since Christmas so it will be nice for us to all be together again.
I will keep everyone updated as we go along. Sorry this one was a lot of rambling....maybe due to lack of sleep or could be the 3 cups of coffee I've had this morning :)
Thursday, January 24, 2013
How many more bumps in the road......
Well, this has certainly been a journey. Every time i turn around it has been a bump in the road (and still continues to be) but i will not let it get me down. I can finally see the finish line and i am determined to see this through.......with my sanity intact.
So we get our interview date last week and then i realize yesterday that it just so happens to fall during the last week of my quarter which means i will be gone during finals. GREAT!! So I make an appointment to speak with my teachers. I go to school bright and early this morning only to be told that 2 of the 3 are not there because they are home sick. At least I got to talk to one of them and she is going to let me finish the week before we leave. I am so glad. I am hoping the other two will do the same. It will be one less thing off my plate before we go on this trip.
Another update, we thought we had everything in order for her Michell's medical appointment. Her mom had called and made the appointment for Feb. 12th. When she called they told her it would be 6,000 lempiras which is around $350. After reading more on the US embassy website regarding the medical appointment I told Martin that I thought that is how much it would be if she had to get all of her immunizations but as far as we know she is current on all of her shots. So after talking to Michell's mom Martin decided to call back and ask how much it would be if she didn't have to get shots. When he called he told the lady that his daughter had an appointment on the 12th. She quickly told him there was no appointment. He gave her Michell's name and still she said no appointment. She told him they were going to be closed the whole month of February and wouldn't open again until March. So he called back and talked to Michell's mom. She said she would call and find out what was going on. When she called the lady told her the same thing....no appointment. She told her she was given a confirmation number for the appointment so the lady asked for the number. When she gave her the number the lady said oh yes that is an appointment number but we had to cancel it because we are going to be closed......sigh, I've learned not to expect things to be easy when it comes to this process but i usually suffer in silence behind the scenes and try to figure it out. This time it was Martin who was freaking out. He was so worried that we wouldn't get an appointment, that all of our work was for nothing, that none of this was going to happen. This is the first time I've seen him stress about anything during this process and for once i was calm....yay me! Anyway, there were two other doctors listed that we could use so Michell's mom called both of them and was told they couldn't make the appointment until the first of next month so she is suppose to call back then and schedule her appointment and it will be 7000 lempiras regardless if she's had her shots or not..... sigh, So now we wait again.....
So we get our interview date last week and then i realize yesterday that it just so happens to fall during the last week of my quarter which means i will be gone during finals. GREAT!! So I make an appointment to speak with my teachers. I go to school bright and early this morning only to be told that 2 of the 3 are not there because they are home sick. At least I got to talk to one of them and she is going to let me finish the week before we leave. I am so glad. I am hoping the other two will do the same. It will be one less thing off my plate before we go on this trip.
Another update, we thought we had everything in order for her Michell's medical appointment. Her mom had called and made the appointment for Feb. 12th. When she called they told her it would be 6,000 lempiras which is around $350. After reading more on the US embassy website regarding the medical appointment I told Martin that I thought that is how much it would be if she had to get all of her immunizations but as far as we know she is current on all of her shots. So after talking to Michell's mom Martin decided to call back and ask how much it would be if she didn't have to get shots. When he called he told the lady that his daughter had an appointment on the 12th. She quickly told him there was no appointment. He gave her Michell's name and still she said no appointment. She told him they were going to be closed the whole month of February and wouldn't open again until March. So he called back and talked to Michell's mom. She said she would call and find out what was going on. When she called the lady told her the same thing....no appointment. She told her she was given a confirmation number for the appointment so the lady asked for the number. When she gave her the number the lady said oh yes that is an appointment number but we had to cancel it because we are going to be closed......sigh, I've learned not to expect things to be easy when it comes to this process but i usually suffer in silence behind the scenes and try to figure it out. This time it was Martin who was freaking out. He was so worried that we wouldn't get an appointment, that all of our work was for nothing, that none of this was going to happen. This is the first time I've seen him stress about anything during this process and for once i was calm....yay me! Anyway, there were two other doctors listed that we could use so Michell's mom called both of them and was told they couldn't make the appointment until the first of next month so she is suppose to call back then and schedule her appointment and it will be 7000 lempiras regardless if she's had her shots or not..... sigh, So now we wait again.....
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!
So as most of you know by now I called yesterday and was told we finally have an interview date scheduled. I was so excited! Our date is February 21 which is a Thursday, 35 days from today. We have already started making plans. I booked the hotel yesterday. I have been emailing back and forth with someone at the hotel that we were wanting to stay at. He told me a couple of weeks ago to let him know as soon as we had our date because they were pretty full for February with some dates completely booked. Luckily, when i went to make our reservations there was one room available for the week we needed that had a living area and kitchen in it. It's more like an apartment than a hotel room. We really wanted this so we would have a way to cook instead of always having to leave to get something. Also with the living area we will have a place for Michell to move around and play.
I'm very nervous about traveling to Honduras since i have read that it is the murder capital of the world. The most important thing for us is that we were staying in a safe place. After emailing back and forth with this guy from the hotel I feel that we will be in a safe and secure area. The hotel itself is located in what is suppose to be a "safe" residential area. He also said they have a security fence around the entire hotel as well as cameras that are monitored 24 hours a day. They also have security guards at the hotel at all times. He also told me they have a driver at the hotel that can take us anywhere to need to go like shopping, back and forth from the embassy etc..so we don't have to rely on taxis. In a country like this you don't know which taxis are safe or not. Anyway, with all of that squared away i feel pretty good. Of course with safety comes a price but I'm trying not to think about that part. I am just praying that God will continue to see us through this journey both financially and in every other way.
I booked our plane tickets this morning so that is another thing checked off the list. It really seems like it's going to happen now. After all of our planning and researching and working it seems like it's finally coming together. Everyone keeps asking if i am nervous about everything and honestly I'm not. I feel like we are prepared. I have researched enough that i feel like we have everything in place for the interview itself. I just hope that we get this done without the request of a DNA test which will put us months behind getting her here instead of her coming back with us next month.
As far as being nervous about her being here, I haven't allowed myself to think about that yet. I know it will be challenging and i know it wont be easy for any of us but i am confident we can make it work and help her through this difficult transition.
There is still much to do before we leave. The medical appointment for Michell was made this morning. She has to be examined by an embassy appointed doctor to make sure she has all of the immunizations required in the US for her age. She will do this on the 12th. Once this is completed we will finally have everything required.
We still have to figure out our plans for Micah since we aren't taking him with us. This is another thing i have tried not to think about much. We will be leaving him for the first time and that makes me a little nervous. He will most likely be with my mom but I'm still sad about leaving him. We still have to contact banks and credit cards about traveling out of the country. I have to go talk to my teachers about being gone for a week and hope that i will be able to make up what i miss. Still much to do and my list keeps growing but i know we will get it all taken care of.
Its just a good kind of anxious that i feel now. Ready to go, get it done, and get back to the rest of our kids.
Don't know that i will have much to update before we actually leave but I'm taking my laptop so that I can blog while we are away and everyone can know how things are going.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us during this process. I truly believe that God has a plan for all of us. Even though I have been very impatient at times he always has a way of turning it around and showing me that his timing was exactly the way it needed to be. I am so thankful for everything that has come together so far and continue to believe that he is guiding our every move.
I'm very nervous about traveling to Honduras since i have read that it is the murder capital of the world. The most important thing for us is that we were staying in a safe place. After emailing back and forth with this guy from the hotel I feel that we will be in a safe and secure area. The hotel itself is located in what is suppose to be a "safe" residential area. He also said they have a security fence around the entire hotel as well as cameras that are monitored 24 hours a day. They also have security guards at the hotel at all times. He also told me they have a driver at the hotel that can take us anywhere to need to go like shopping, back and forth from the embassy etc..so we don't have to rely on taxis. In a country like this you don't know which taxis are safe or not. Anyway, with all of that squared away i feel pretty good. Of course with safety comes a price but I'm trying not to think about that part. I am just praying that God will continue to see us through this journey both financially and in every other way.
I booked our plane tickets this morning so that is another thing checked off the list. It really seems like it's going to happen now. After all of our planning and researching and working it seems like it's finally coming together. Everyone keeps asking if i am nervous about everything and honestly I'm not. I feel like we are prepared. I have researched enough that i feel like we have everything in place for the interview itself. I just hope that we get this done without the request of a DNA test which will put us months behind getting her here instead of her coming back with us next month.
As far as being nervous about her being here, I haven't allowed myself to think about that yet. I know it will be challenging and i know it wont be easy for any of us but i am confident we can make it work and help her through this difficult transition.
There is still much to do before we leave. The medical appointment for Michell was made this morning. She has to be examined by an embassy appointed doctor to make sure she has all of the immunizations required in the US for her age. She will do this on the 12th. Once this is completed we will finally have everything required.
We still have to figure out our plans for Micah since we aren't taking him with us. This is another thing i have tried not to think about much. We will be leaving him for the first time and that makes me a little nervous. He will most likely be with my mom but I'm still sad about leaving him. We still have to contact banks and credit cards about traveling out of the country. I have to go talk to my teachers about being gone for a week and hope that i will be able to make up what i miss. Still much to do and my list keeps growing but i know we will get it all taken care of.
Its just a good kind of anxious that i feel now. Ready to go, get it done, and get back to the rest of our kids.
Don't know that i will have much to update before we actually leave but I'm taking my laptop so that I can blog while we are away and everyone can know how things are going.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us during this process. I truly believe that God has a plan for all of us. Even though I have been very impatient at times he always has a way of turning it around and showing me that his timing was exactly the way it needed to be. I am so thankful for everything that has come together so far and continue to believe that he is guiding our every move.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Tick Tock Tick Tock.........
This is the sound i hear in my brain all day long as i watch the clock and wonder if our case will be scheduled for an interview today. I was told they schedule interviews the second week of each month and today is Friday. Everyday I have called and everyday they tell me the same thing that our interview has not been scheduled yet and to check back later. Man, i know i have prayed for patience but obviously i need to pray harder because i feel very impatient. I just know that once the interview is scheduled i can start to plan for what is going to happen. I can buy plane tickets, i can book hotels. I just hate sitting here with my mind going crazy and not being able to do anything.
So I decided to fill some space and catch up on this blog. We have started getting her room ready and that is exciting. Martin is so mellow and just goes with the flow. He doesn't get overly excited or upset about anything which is good because i get overly emotional about everything. Anyway, i asked him the other day if he is getting excited and he says it still doesn't seem real to him. He said when we are there and they finally tell us we can bring her home then he will be excited. I know he just doesn't want to get his hopes up and then be disappointed. I just pray that won't happen.
During the Christmas break the kids were with us. Mason came and stayed with us the whole break even though the girls had to go back to Dallas. We started talking about building Michell a kitchen and by the end of the break Mason and Martin had it completed. It looks so good and I cant wait for her to see it. We had our monthly Internet chat with her last Sunday in the middle of working on her kitchen so we let her see it and she was so excited. Every time we try to set up a web call something always ends up happening. Either my computer is not working or they are having a storm and cant get connected something always seems to be going on. So Sunday she was suppose to call us at 10 am so we could see the baby. I had my computer up and running waiting on the call. 10:30 rolls around and we finally get everyone connected and their web cam pops up. Michell is sitting in a chair with the biggest frown on her face. She is bored and mad because she has been sitting there for 30 mins waiting and she doesn't want to talk to anyone. When we finally get our camera working Martin starts showing her the kitchen and she got so excited. Her face lit up and she started pointing and asking him if it was hers. I cant wait until she is finally here and can play in her room with all of her things.
As soon as we get an interview i will post it ....until then I'm practicing my patience :)
So I decided to fill some space and catch up on this blog. We have started getting her room ready and that is exciting. Martin is so mellow and just goes with the flow. He doesn't get overly excited or upset about anything which is good because i get overly emotional about everything. Anyway, i asked him the other day if he is getting excited and he says it still doesn't seem real to him. He said when we are there and they finally tell us we can bring her home then he will be excited. I know he just doesn't want to get his hopes up and then be disappointed. I just pray that won't happen.
During the Christmas break the kids were with us. Mason came and stayed with us the whole break even though the girls had to go back to Dallas. We started talking about building Michell a kitchen and by the end of the break Mason and Martin had it completed. It looks so good and I cant wait for her to see it. We had our monthly Internet chat with her last Sunday in the middle of working on her kitchen so we let her see it and she was so excited. Every time we try to set up a web call something always ends up happening. Either my computer is not working or they are having a storm and cant get connected something always seems to be going on. So Sunday she was suppose to call us at 10 am so we could see the baby. I had my computer up and running waiting on the call. 10:30 rolls around and we finally get everyone connected and their web cam pops up. Michell is sitting in a chair with the biggest frown on her face. She is bored and mad because she has been sitting there for 30 mins waiting and she doesn't want to talk to anyone. When we finally get our camera working Martin starts showing her the kitchen and she got so excited. Her face lit up and she started pointing and asking him if it was hers. I cant wait until she is finally here and can play in her room with all of her things.
As soon as we get an interview i will post it ....until then I'm practicing my patience :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)