Nonsequitors

Today, I picked Maia up at 6:45. We drove Matthew to Boy Scouts and then had to go to the grocery store since we've been out of town and had NOTHING in the house which was edible. Maia and I had a pleasant evening together with stimulating conversation. It went something like this:

6:45 pm
Me: Hi Maia! How are you sweetie?

Maia: Mommy, go back to work! I want to stay and play with my friends! (Then she ran away and thought she was the funniest thing on earth.)

Me: Come on sweetie, we gotta go! Matthew has boy scouts and we've got to be there in 15 minutes!

Maia: but why? why does he have boy scouts? is there girl scouts? i don't want a snack. i'm not hungry. i don't want to sit in my car seat. mommy, why don't you have a car seat? where are all the cars going? are they all going to boy scouts? are they going to the gym mommy? are they going home? why? mommy- it's light out. is it morning? why is it light? why isn't it dark? it's not night time. mommy it's not night time.

Me: Bye Matthew! We'll be at the grocery store - see you later!

Maia: but why? i don't want to go to the grocery store. i don't want food. i'm hungry and thirsty. mommy, i want water, and milk and chocolate and macaroni and cheese. i don't want to go to the store. i want mickeldonald's. no i not being naughty. i tired. i hungry mommy. i thirsty and tired too. i want water. i want water. i want water.

Me: We have to go to the store first, and then we'll go home and eat.

Maia: but why? why mom? why? i hungry. i want to get a bag too. mom, put the fruit in my bag, ok? next time you get fruit, use my bag. (as she pulls three bags off and opens all of them with great fanfare.) i want apples. i want bananas. i want strawberries. use my bag mommy. i want CHEESE! i want orange cheese. no orange! i want yogurt. i want milk. i thirsty. A cart! mommy, I push this one. (A little cart for those her size. - She only ran in to a few dozen people...) Mommy, put food in my cart. Mommy, why did you put those eggs in YOUR cart? I want them in my cart. Hi - what's your name. but why? is that you daughter? (asked to a little boy in the cart...) i don't have a daughter. i have a baby when i turn five. right mommy? then you be a grandma. ask me my name. i'm diego. lol. lol. lol. i want this barbie doll mommy. (No.) but why? i want these socks. (No.) but why? Hi - what's your name? but why?

Me: OK, time to check out Maia.

Maia: but why? i hungry. i thirsty. Hi - what's your name? i diego. mommy, do you want gum? why not? do you like gum? you chew gum. but why? why do you like gum? why? mommy, can I have gum. (No.) but why? what did you just buy? (Tic tacs - they are mints). Oh. but why? Can i have one? (Maybe.) I love mints. I want a mint. Hi - what's your name? i diego.

Me: Let's go to the car - be careful - hold my hand.

Maia: but why? so i can be safe. i no want to hold your hand. i want to hold your shirt. choo-choo. choo-choo. choo-choo. mommy - it's getting dark. is it nighttime? why isn't it morning? is it going to rain? why is it windy? is matthew at boy scouts? but why? i hungry. are we going to go this way? (No, we are going to turn left.) but why? mommy, is this the way home. this isn't right. this is the wrong way. why are we going this way? i want to go home. i hungry. i thirsty. is this the right way? mommy, this is the wrong way. why are we on this road mommy? are we going home? but why? i hungry. why are you putting that up? (the garage door.) why don't you just leave it closed? why you open it?

Me: OK sweetie - we're here.

Maia: but why? i hungry.

Me: ok - let's eat! (it's 8:30 p.m.) we'll have eggs for dinner.

Maia: but why? i hungry. i thirsty.

she stopped talking while we ate...

Maia: i tired mommy. my eyes are watering. i tired.

Me: ok, let's go to bed.

Maia: but why? i not tired. i tired. night night mommy. i love you.

Me: i love you too, maia! more than you can even imagine...
9:22 p.m.

Planned Long Ago

Praise God, from whom ALL Blessings Flow!!

Praise Him, all creatures here below!!

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

Can we say it again? Praise God, from whom ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!

You remember last week, right? A wonderful family was finally able to complete their excrutiatingly long adoption process and bring home their twin daughters from Kazakhstan. Oh how sweet that was! (IS!) I was beyond moved to finally see their entire family together, at last!

There was just one thing still missing.

My sister, her husband and their four children were still waiting to bring home their precious one from Africa. Still waiting for the referral photo. Still waiting to hear ANY information that might lead them to believe that this will happen anytime in the future, let alone daring to wish for it to be in the near future. Still waiting... waiting... waiting.

For those of us that have adopted, we all remember the wait, right? Just awful. Plain and simple. It's totally out of your control. You can do nothing! Your part is over. The paperwork is turned in. Now you wait. You can't call anyone and ask 'when' because no one knows. You can't ask why this person got a referral before us when we submitted our stuff first, because no one knows WHY they got a referral out of order. No one knows why NO ONE has gotten a referral in MONTHS when there are so many families ready and waiting and so many children sitting in orpahages getting older. No one knows why this policy has changed again, for the 3rd time in 6 months. You just wait. Tick tock. Tick tock.

But then, one unsuspecting Monday, it all changes!

You get a call.

You get an email!

YOU'VE GOT MAIL! and this email has an ATTACHMENT that will forever change your life!

You gather around the computer and open the attachment, ready to see a picture of your newest wonderful blessing.
And what do you see??

You see the most incredible picture you've EVER seen in your life!!

A picture of a gorgeous little girl AND the cutest little boy you have ever seen!!

Yes - that is right!!

A referral for a BOY and a GIRL!!

Can you believe it??

It is so amazing!

I love them already and I haven't even seen them or touched them yet! I never got a referral photo of Maia - it doesn't work that way in Kazakhstan - so I met her in person first. I didn't understand, to be honest, falling in love with a person through a picture. It's just not possible, I thought. I mean, it's not real until you see them, hold them, touch them. Boy - was I wrong!

Love at first sight! Or, insta-love! No doubt. I fell hook, line and sinker and am ready to spoil my newest niece and nephew! Oh, but now we wait for the court date. We wait for travel dates. More waiting.

But wait, there's more...

If you call right now... you too can get on a plane THIS WEEK and head for Africa to get your children. No need to wait a month or six weeks - you can come NOW. That's right, pack your bags for a life changing trip to Africa.

All you have to do is get three weeks time off for your husband with less than one weeks notice (when there are only two of you in the office and the other one is supposed to be on vacation next week.) Make arrangements for your youngest child to stay with someone while you are away for three weeks. Pack for yourself, your husband, and your three oldest children, who are all going to Africa. Coordinate with you Mom (who is also traveling with you) and make sure you all pack what you need for all SIX of you on the way there and all EIGHT of you on the way home. Make sure there is somewhere, anywhere, set up for the newest blessings to sleep upon arriving at home. Make sure you have a car large enough to transport everyone (since you do not at this point) Buy something for the newest blessingS to wear once they are placed in your care. (Do this by converting centimeter measurements of their feet, and length, etc. and try to compare that to sizes at Target. Take ruler with you, if necessary to see if foot will fit in shoe. Take snacks and toys for three oldest children to keep them entertained on the LONG flight(s) as well as wondering what the new blessings might be wanting to play with for their long flight home.

Let me be the first to say what many are thinking - I do NOT envy my sister this week, at all!! As much as I would love to be the one traveling for additional blessings, this week BEFORE travel is stressful - and that's being kind. It is like the 'labor' part of the pregnancy (without the epidural). Not to be envied in the least. The time of the whole experience no one really talks about to those that haven't yet experienced it, because if you knew ahead of time what went in to this week, you may decide not to go through with it. No - as exciting as the incredible news was to recieve on Monday - and the even more exciting part about leaving THIS WEEK - that brought about its own insanity that wasn't expected.

What keeps you going are the pictures you have! (in this case) What keeps you going is knowing that in less than a week - you will have met your blessings and held them and loved on them. What keeps you going is knowing that the wait is finally coming to an end. Just a few more days of 'pushing' and you are all through!

So push through dear sister. You've almost crossed that finish line! Much like the marathon you once ran - just make it to that finish line!! (Then you can collapse, so to speak.) Then you can snuggle up, as a family of EIGHT and reap the rewards of a race well-run.

What was once Planned Long Ago... we can now:
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!

O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. Isaiah 25:1.

Update

In case you visited yesterday when I was unable to attach the video I was mentioning... - it is now attached below. Enjoy!

They are Home Forever!

I have had many people come in to my life through the wonderful world of adoption. I have met many of these people only online at this point - but that doesn't make them any less my friends than people who live 2 miles away. One common thread linked us all together, but true friendships have been born out of this amazing process and journey. Keep in mind, this particular family was in this process before I traveled and brought Maia home. Two short weeks from now, Maia and I will have been home for three years... so this sweet family has been waiting for their precious girls as long (longer!) than I have even known Maia. That is incomprehensible to me as I feel like Maia has been in my life FOREVER! Their patience and faithfulness in this process is beyond comparison. Let me just say, I would have given up LONG AGO if I had been dealt any ONE of the 'cards' they were dealt. The deck certainly seemed stacked against them at times, but they perservered, and in the end, their faithfulness has truly paid off, they were DOUBLY blessed! Praise the Lord!

Last night, after three and a half years of being 'in process', the Gobble family arrived home with their beautiful twin daughters from Kazakhstan (who are nearly 4 years old) and reunited with their daughters Brooklyn and Bailey that were waiting in the US for them to all arrive back home. This video brought so many emotions to me that I am nearly speechless. (And that is not easy to do... make me speechless.) I had to pause it multiple times just so I could wipe away the tears and actually see the video. Tears of happiness, joy, relief - all of these come to mind - as this family is finally together, forever! I know all of you who have adopted know the feeling you have when you get to the airport. For those of you who are in the adoption process as we speak, or those who haven't been through it - there are many stages in an adoption - each of which is celebrated. However, for me in my personal experience, as well as watching this video of the Gobble's, I have to say that landing at the airport, and coming through those gaits and seeing friends and family come to greet you is by far the most emotional part. It is as if right then the 'birth' has occurred, and the new life begins. Indescribable joy and relief that the process of adoption/the so called pregnancy part is over, and the new life and living with the new additions at home has begun.

Breaking kids out of the baby house is great! But for me, I was still a LONG way from home at that point. We were still in a foreign land, I was tired of being away from home, and had many long flights to get through with a little one before that whole part was over, we had troubles at our own Embassy, and I still didn't have my entire family together. One of us was still back home waiting for us to get there. So for me, the airport, after 2 months of travel (in a part of Siberia, in winter..., unable to understand the language, missing Matthew!, travel (upset) tummy the last two weeks we were there), and 24 hours of travel (and believe me, this is equally as painful as giving birth... if not more so), was the best, the climax of our story, the end! The airport was the birth to our new life.

SO - I know that is why this video of THEIR homecoming brings such raw emotions to me! The last of those that started this process with me has now FINISHED - and we are all home with our babies... FOREVER!! Praise the Lord! MY adoption is now complete since we are ALL home with our children!!

**Now if my sister and her family could finish up with their adoption from Rwanda... that would really top everything off!! New niece/nephew to love on - I can't wait!!

I don't know if this will touch everyone the same way it has touched me - but this video is second only to the one my sister made for me after I got home with Maia. Please know that you can view this even if you don't 'do' facebook as it is a public page. You can also "like" their page on Facebook and when the whole documentary is ready and additional footage in a few days or weeks, you will be able to view that then there as well. (Of course, I'll try to post that as well at that time.)

Ready for tears of happiness, joy and relief? :) Enjoy...

http://www.facebook.com/BlazingRockProductions

(The video should be towards the top of the page - The Gobble Homecoming. It is 3 minutes, 32 seconds long.)

It's Been a While

Summary in words:

Christmas goodies
Making Christmas cookies (or eating dough??)
Choosing a goodie from Santa
Checking out Santa
Matthew's best Reindeer imitation
Visit from cousins
COLD visit to the pumpkin patch
Gymnastics
Maia turns 4
Matthew turns 15
August vacation at the beach

Summary in pictures:

Maia jumps off the diving board! July 4, 2010

Memorial Day 2010

We went to the beach (my parents house) for Memorial Day. It was a full-house, and a really fun time! Mom, Dad, my brother, Bobby, my sister, Regan, and her four children - Marie, Caleb, Kate and Ezra, and me and my kids were all there. The only one missing was Regan's hubby, Joel. A couple of days of perfect beach weather! Since we were all together - we celebrated Father's Day and gave dad his presents. They all made tie-die t-shirts which came out really well! Maia "surfed" in her baby pool - and then added about 25 toys. Donuts. Cupcakes. The fun never ended...

My sister's kids are 8.5, 7 (almost!), 5 and 2.5. Maia is a bit over 3.5. So, Maia and Ezra are 14 months apart, she's older - and they are the same height. So cute together!

Here are some pictures from that weekend - I couldn't narrow it down too much more.