Almost here

Heather's room

Zach and Logan's room

Lennah and Delylah's room

Well we are going to head up and get the kids this weekend. We have been working so hard at getting the house ready, the girls prepared, and just ourselves prepared. It is crazy that we will be a family of 7 in just a few days.

I have finally gotten all the rooms ready. It was a lot of work to consolidate, get rid of stuff, and just about reorganize most of the house but I am very proud of how it came out.

Lennah and Delylah now share a room and I am so happy with the finished product. We used Delylah's dressers which were French white and we had gotten really lucky and found bunk beds that matched that color wonderfully. I also did the room up really girly and went with pink and blue. I repainted the letters on their walls from when they were babies and just picked up some really cute girly decor. They are loving there new room.

Heather has a very girly tween room. I had Lennah's black furniture and I had this vision of hot pink, black, and white so I just went with it. I found some great bedding and thank goodness for hobby lobby because they had the cutest accents that just went so well with everything.

The boys have a superhero lovers dream room. Keith collected comic books when he was younger so I had found some marvel comic bedding and had an idea. I found some comic book photo frames and wound up using what we had as wall art. I also decided I wanted the boys to have book shelves since I am an avid reader and their furniture didn't have any shelving. I decided to paint some wood to match the bunk beds and what do you know it came out great. We were also lucky because we didn't have to buy dressers since we had re-furnished some old furnture years ago and it just goes with the room.

Overall Keith and I have worked really hard making a home for the kids; we just hope they love it when they get here. Now for the drive on Sunday and then packing the kids up in the car on Monday. The babies are staying home with my parents. Hopefully my mom won't pull her hair out of her head too bad while we are gone.

I am sure next week I will have lots to post.

A long Wait

Happy Birthday Sheridan

Lennah loves ribs and literally cleaned the bone

You think international adoption takes long and that domestic adoption would be a breeze but of course not; nothing is simple in adoption. We feel as if we are waiting forever to bring the kids home and every time we turn around they keep pushing back the date on when the kids will be here. AHHHH! It is so frustrating. Well now they are telling us the end of June the kids should definitely be here by; which is not what I hoped for since our goal was to be able to have as much of a summer with the kids as possible once they got here. We are also frustrated because we knew some paperwork would have to be renewed but we keep getting emails in waves and I am just frustrated because it would be nice to be told everything at once. I guess I just need to vent. Well now that I am done with that I could get to the past month.
So for the past month our house has been hit by a redecorating tornado for all the kids. We have finished up the boys room for the most part. They have marvel superhero bedding in a vintage print so we thought it would look super cool with their new chrome bunk beds and blue walls. Overall I think we have done a good job. But now I have to rearrange the toy room in order to accomodate a guest bed for when we have visitors. Now that we are also looking at not getting the kids for a few extra weeks we now have extra time for working on the girls rooms. We hopefully will get to Lennah's and Delylah's room this weekend and then work on Heather's the following weekend.
This past weekend we did have an adoption option get together which was great. It was nice seeing some people we haven't seen in a while. We also were able to meet Elise who just came home from China a few weeks ago (what a cutie). It was also Sheridan's 6th birthday so we were also fortunate to spend time with him. I just love watching all the kids get together and just hang with other adopted kids. It is great that there are groups around so our kids can see that there are so many other families out there like ours and it is also great to just have that support from other people who feel as strongly as we do about adoption.

Easter and other events

The Girls' Easter Potraits

She knows she is beautiful

Easter Sunday Best

Delylah scored tons of eggs on the hunt

Lennah hunting easter eggs

Coloring Easter eggs

Tangled Movie night with Evie, Elana, and Allie

We have been very busy the past two weekends and they are most likely going to become more jammed packed since I have to get the house ready for a family of 7. Last weekend we went on an Easter egg hunt at my parents church. The girls always love doing stuff like this and just had a fun old time. But this time of year we always seem packed with parties and other events and on the same day the girls had the neighbors birthday party and a tangled movie party planned. We really enjoy when any princess movie comes out so we planned to have some of our friends over to watch tangled to have some mommy and girl time. The girls had a good time catching up with Allie, Evie, and Elana and of course it is always nice when mommy gets to have some adult conversation. But I have to say all good things must come to an end and by 8 o'clock that night from all the partying earlier the girls were done in. This past weekend we had more parties and of course Easter sunday so again it was just another busy weekend celebrating Jesus and all the other things in our lives we are so fortunate for.

We did however find out last night that the kids will be getting here a few days later than planned because the school system they are in have to make up some snow days at the end of the year. This is both a good and bad thing; good because it gives me more time to prepare but bad because I want to maximize the summer and spending time with the kids before we all go back to work and school.

As for prepping we got some paint for the boys room which means this weekend we will be working on painting. Luckily we never painted our guest bedroom beyond the contractor paint that was here so it will be an easy job. I am still driving myself crazy trying to find bedding for the boys that is versatile enough for a 9 and 12 year old. I think that is such an in between age because you don't want to make it too kiddie or too teen. AHHH! dilemmas. I am waiting to decorate Heather's room until she gets here since she has seemed indecisive on what colors she likes and stuff. I am also having problems getting the girls to agree on comforters since they are going to be sharing a room. If Delylah likes it Lennah doesn't and vice versa.

To top off all the happenings we have also been planning our trip to go visit Keith's grandmother and Dad in Florida for July so the kids will be bombarded with 2 trips in their first few months here. We are so excited to get to share these experiences with them for the first time since they have never been to the beach. Of course I am still super excited about our trip to Disney and have definitely gone overboard on booking character meals and such for the kids. We figure we might as well splurge on our Disney trip since it is a special occasion and we have been talking about doing a Disney cruise next year with friends that we know for sure if we spend that kind of money a Disney world trip will be off the table next year for sure. We both just cannot wait to see the kids' faces when they see that castle for the first time.

Shhhh It's a Secret

We are super excited and the kids will not know our surprise until the time is a lot closer. We booked a trip to Disney for September. We really had no plans on going to Disney this year but Heather, Logan, and Zach have never been outside of Ohio and the more we talked about it the more we wanted to give them an unforgetable vacation. We aren't staying on Disney property because a family of seven would be crazy expensive but we traded a timeshare to stay at a resort that we have been to before and absolutely love. Even better it can accommodate all 7 of us. So we are going to Disney. We are going to wait until the last possible minute and then tell of the kids together. We haven't said a word to Lennah and Delylah and I am going to have such a hard time keeping quiet once Heather, Logan, and Zach get here but we are going to try. I am thinking it might be really cool to videotape the announcement when we tell the kids.

Backing up, Back Home and Feeling Good

On Saturday we spent almost the entire day with our new children. It was another great day. On Saturday we went with all the kids to a museum called Boonshoft in Dayton. I think it was a great place for the little kids since most of the exhibits were geared towards young children. It was also great for the big kids because they just loved going there and spending time with the girls and us. The kids all played and chased each other around the museum. I have to say they all occupy each other and I actually feel that having 5 will be almost easier than just 2 kids because they all keep each other entertained. We then went to lunch with all the kids and the some of the foster family. The foster family had spent time with us and the kids. I have to say at first I thought it was strange that you spend the time with the foster family but talking to the foster mom really gave me insight into the children, what they have been through, and how far they have come so I am greatful for that time we have spent with them. I also was put at ease on her feelings about the children moving onto a permanent home. She assured me that they wanted the children to be adopted and they got into foster care to help kids and had no intentions of adopting. She shared with me that this was always there goal and as much as they will miss the kids she is at peace with them coming to live with us. It made us feel so much better because you are thinking gosh I am taking these kids from the home they have known for the past several years and the foster family is going to be agonizing over them leaving. So Sunday we visited with the children for the last time before they come live with us. When we got to the house they came out and were just so excited to see us. After spending the weekend with the kids and getting to know them we just feel so at peace with our decision to adopt older children. Yes we have heard horror stories and the stories of challenges people who adopt older children face but these kids are so loving and sweet that we know it was meant to be. Our goal when we decided to adopt was to ensure the saftey of both Lennah and Delylah and we feel that God has matched us with children who not only will love us as we will them but also love the girls and be great big brothers and big sister to Lennah and Delylah. I have absolutely no fears about the girls being harmed in any way. God has truly blessed us soon to be 5 times over and we could not be any happier. Now we just have the 8 week wait until they get to come home.

Goodbye Virginia, Hello Ohio

Yesterday we spent the last little bit of time we had left at the resort before heading to Ohio. To end our trip we took the girls on pony rides and to the petting zoo at our resort. It was a great way to end the trip and the girls had a blast riding the horses. Honestly the horses was well worth it but the petting zoo could have been a little better. Then again kids enjoy anything. It took all day to get to Ohio because we head to head through West Virginia which was completely unenjoyable. The mountains were horrible to drive through because we had to go so slow which really just made the trip dreadful. But we made it here.

As for Ohio. Today we woke up, ate breakfast, wasted some time, and then headed to meet the kids social worker. That was just usual going over paperwork. THen from there we got to meet the kids. The kids came right up to us and were super excited. Honestly we are still shocked at how well they took to us. It was totally unexpected. Keith and I kept joking yesterday that we might encounter a scene like in the movie Problem CHild where the kid kicks John Ritter in the shins and runs away. Nothing like that happened. Zach was cute because he referred to Keith and his dad when he was talking to his foster sister. Heather just started rambling on to me about all the things she likes to do. Target is her favorite store which made me estatic. Logan took to the girls right away and went into full big brother mode. Honestly we could not have asked for it to go any better and the kids seem pretty excited as well. Logan is a little skeptical about moving so far away but the worker and foster mom assured us that he is getting more used to the idea and we should have nothing to worry about. I don't know what I am allowed to do legally so I am not posting pictures of the kids just yet.

Thanks to all who have kept us in your prayers.

Virginia and just 2 days away

For Spring break Keith and I took the kids to Virginia for vacation. Tonight is our last night here and I have to say we have certainly have had a good time. We are in the Shenandoah Valley and have thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We got here Saturday night and of course the kids had to hit the indoor pool. Both of our girls are like fish and love being in the pool so being at a resort with an indoor pool is a bonus to the kids. Also at our resort there is an indoor waterpark which of course the kids have loved. We spent all day Sunday and Monday there. I have to say it was definitely a good waterpark for the kids and it was a lot like the waterpark we visited last July when we visited Wilderness in the Smokies. We also have lots of lakes, ponds, mountains, and just about everything else here. We figured we would take advantage of the surroundings and take the girls to feed the animals while we were here. The girls loved feeding the ducks and the geese and also managed to feed some fish they had in the pond near our condo. Anyway yesterday we took the kids to visit the Luray caverns and an antique car museum. Lennah was not really into the caverns plus she totally needed a nap. She may not have been into the caverns but she instantly found a friend that happens to be staying at the same resort as us and lives in the Atlanta area. Lennah just has that personality where she can make instant friends. Today was the best day of the trip (at least for mommy and daddy it was). We took the girls to see Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and visited Michie's Tavern. Monticello was wonderful and an all day adventure. Luckily they have kids activities there. The girls had a blast pretend cooking and playing with some of the replicas of writing utensils and other stuff. I have to say the grounds to Monticello are beautiful and the view of the mountains incredible. It was also a great history lesson and I really hope that Keith and I can instill a love of history in the girls that we both have.

Unfortunately tomorrow afternoon we have to leave Virginia but we are cutting our trip short to go meet Heather, Logan, and Zack. We are nervous and excited all at the same time. I think it was be a totally different experience from what we had when we adopted the girls because these children are so much older and will already have developed strong personalities. We are just praying that everything goes well and we have a great meeting with our new children.

Just thinking

So I need to become more diligent about posting especially documenting our newest adoption journey. So Wednesday we are going into the office and having a conference regarding everything that will take place with the placement of our new children. This is a totally different ball game for us compared to adopting internationally. We need to also iron out details with the agency on traveling to meet the kids. So as of now the plans are to cut our trip short to Virginia and head to Ohio to meet the kids. Unfortunately we will not get to take them home with us since they will need time to get to know us. So far the plans for them to be placed with us in June; which works out perfectly since I will be home from work for the summer.
Since we made the announcement that we are adopting we have had so many mixed responses from people (I think this is important to share). When adopting Lennah we got the questions why not just adopt a US baby or why pay for Invitro so you can have your own baby. When adopting Delylah we got the questions about why we were adopting a baby that was African and not white. Now we have had the responses like you don't know what you are getting into and these kids are going to be crazy.
The truth is no one knows what to expect when they adopt or have biological kids. We know not everything will be roses and we will have major stress and battles ahead of us. But we definitely know that we will try our best to parent these children as best as we can and show them the love that we can. Of course our biggest concern is Lennah and Delylah's safety so from everything we know these kids are not violent so we are not putting our girls at risk and nor would we so we truely believe we are making the right decision and following the path God has chosen for us. We feel that with every direction God has led us down the path we are supposed to be down. I guess what I am trying to express is that people who have little to no clue about adoption really don;t think about the comments they make to us or about our families. I really wish more people would think before they make these comments and be more supportive of people who choose the life we have chosen. I also wish they could understand that millions upon millions of children go to sleep at night without someone to tuck them in, kiss them goodnight, say prayers, or even read to them.

Lots to Share

Mother Daughter Tea at the Southern Museum

So it has been a long time since I have blogged. That was because my laptop was in the shop for a month (yes a long time) so I haven't been able to upload photos and all that fun stuff so I figured I would hibernate while I waited. Since the last time I blogged we have just been having some good family fun. Last month my mom, myself, and the girls went to a mother daughter tea. It was a fun gathering and the girls had a blast playing dress up, making crafts, and meeting new friends. We have also had some great weather the past several weeks and that gave us the opportunity to head to the park and have some fun with the girls. For some reason the kids cannot get enough time at the park. For some reason the past few weekends we have also had a lot of birthday parties to hit. We even have one this coming weekend. So every weekend has been jammed packed with stuff to do.

And finally today we got the phone call we have been waiting for since January. Back in January our agency called us and shared with us that we were sort of selected for a sibling group of 3. Well they had to wait for the other worker to have a matching meeting before we were officially selected. So today we got word that the meeting took place this morning and we will officially be becoming a family of 7. Yes you read correctly a family of 7. We are going to meet the kids next month after we head to Virginia for vacation. They will then hopefully come here for a visit in May and then June they will be placed with us. It's hard to image that soon we are going to go from two little girls to having two boys and another girl running around the house.