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 :)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
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 :)
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