Homestudy ALMOST complete!

I just have word in that ALL paperwork is finally in at the homestudy agency and they should have a draft written up for us within 2 weeks!  So sometime the week of the 18th, I am guessing!

I am very excited to have some type of date to put down, as it is now showing the progression of our adoption.  I have looked at other adoption blogs of families going to the same region and I have noticed that usually once the official homestudy is submitted to the agency, the court date is usually about 2 months after this submission date.  So under a normal time frame, this gives a little over a month to submit the dossier and hear back from the government on the date, and just weeks to schedule the flight, pack, and go!

Based on other people's blogs, it appears that the Ukrainian government is taking a 2 month break starting around July 12th from adoptions.  So of course this affects us, as it will push out our court date inevitably. So a 2 month turn-around could end up being 4, or even more!  I also have heard news that they are only allowing adoptions from our region if the child is considered high risk.  I am praying that we will find favor in the eyes of the government to be able to adopt Evan, and they don't deem him for any reason to be "unadoptable". 

We have recently received additional confirmation from God about this adoption and we have such peace over it all!  I only bring up the above details, not because I'm worrying, but only as specific prayer points for you, our readers, to be praying for!

My heart just breaks for Evan, and as much joy as I receive from David- it is still very hard because I know my family is not complete!  We have a son that is waiting for us, that needs us, and I just want him home safe and sound.  More updates to come whenever we have word....

David's Feeding Session

I'm going to try to make a promise to myself and to David to work on a proper feeding session daily.  Here is a decent session (sorry for the double screen- it looks like blogger.com's embedded video player doesn't support 3-D videos):

Though it's not as a perfect feeding session as they do in playgroup, it's better than me just feeding him and not giving him an opportunity to try his "hand" at utensils!

Here is some steps to a "perfect" feeding session for a 1-2 year old:

1) First get a little chair and table setup
2) Attach a suction cup bowl that will not pull off
3) Sit your little one in the chair, pull up their sleeves, and wash their hands with a spray bottle filled with mostly water and a little bit of baby shampoo as a cleanser.
4) Have the child do the "fishy song"- put their hands on their cheeks and rub them up and down and in circles to "wake up" their mouth muscles.
5) Show the child 2 types of food to start out with.  Encourage them to point, or reach to choose something to start with.
6) Put a little bit of that food in their bowl with a proper utensil to eat it. Only a little bit at a time!
7) Let them try to eat it, help them if they are getting frustrated or distracted.
8) When the food is gone, ask them if they want more, and encourage them to sign the word "more".
9) If offering 1 new food type have them sign the word "please", if offering 2 then pointing will do!
10) When they are finished eating have them put their utensils and dishes away in a dish tub.
11) Wash their hands again (and face) and you are finished with your perfect eating session!

So you can see why it's hard to always do all the steps! But in a short time period David has been doing much better at feeding.  It's about giving him the opportunity to try and not always doing it for him.  This will give him more independence, and more self esteem!  I know this will be a life lesson I will take with me for raising David and Evan.

Yesterday I have been informed by my husband's friend that he turned in his reference form to the homestudy agency. So that was the last form needed to finish up everything!  I hope we can get the homestudy finalized soon!

David's Photo shoot

Here are some more of our Father's Day pictures for you all to enjoy:

Homestudy Report: Waiting for the agency to write up the report and contact us to schedule our final interview!

So busy!

Tomorrow we are going to the bank to get our financial forms notarized, so I can send off to the homestudy agency.  I am waiting for 2 more forms to come in from friends/family and I will have everything done for the homestudy.  We will just need to have our final interview soon.  I am told that they will being their report even if we're missing the final 2 forms, so I am very happy that they are working with us on that!

My husband's friend is in town- he drove over his vehicle from New York, and we will be purchasing it from him for a great price.  The main reason we need to buy his vehicle, is because it is a 4-door.  I have a 2-door which is very difficult for me to manage with a car seat and little David.  I can't imagine having this car with 2 boys and 2 carseats/booster seats.  I don't think a 2nd seat would fit at all.  So this car is an answered prayer!  We should be able to sell the 2-door for just about the same price as the 4-door that's a year newer and has a lot less miles on it! 

But bad timing... last Friday someone hit my car while I was stopped at a light.  Only a little bit of damage done to the bumper, but I need to send into the repair shop.  I need to sell me car by next Friday, when our friend leaves town, and I haven't even heard back from the insurance claim people.  I called yesterday, and a claim on the other girl's insurance was filed or just about to be, so I have to wait for a call back.  Though this is just a little hiccup, the extra stress sure takes time away from other priorities!  Extra dents is a bad idea when I need to get the most possible for the vehicle.

I received some wonderful donations last Saturday for Evan.  So I have them all up on craigslist as of tonight. I am praying for some buyers, and I hope to bring in about $500 from the donations, that will help us so much!

Even though things have been a little hectic recently, I am so thankful to be blessed with my wonderful son, David.  He is such a joy!  He has the sweetest spirit about him, that is kind, gentle, and VERY loving.  He melts my heart, and I just can't begin to imagine how wonderful it will be to have Evan home soon!  Everyday when we talk about Evan- David just gets the biggest smile on his face...  Soon there will be TWO big smiles in front of me!

David and Adoption Updates!

David's 17-month milestones:

David is growing up so quickly! He looks like a little boy more than ever!  I am just such a proud mama, I love him dearly.  We are so happy to someday soon bring Evan home!  Here is what David has been up to:


-David can now push himself from tummy up to sitting!
-David can pull to stand most of the time.  (It depends on what his hands is holding on to- if it's rigid or soft)
-David is cruising fine
-David is always trying to climb on me!!! He's finally moving so much more than ever!
-David can understand commands like: Pat your head, pat your mouth, pat your legs, clap your hands, rub your tummy, lets jump, lets stand, all done!
-David consistently will sign the following: "more" "daddy" and "all done".  We are currently working on "please" and, of course, "mama".
-I feel like David is really understanding me so much more, I love that we're communicating!  If I say/sign "do you want to eat?" he will get so happy and clap his hands.  It's simple, but he's understanding me now!
-David has 3 teeth so far!  2 top molars, and 1 bottom front tooth.  He doesn't seem to be teething at the moment!

Now for our adoption!  We are trying so hard to get the home study finished, but there are just little hiccups.  Like the agency told me that my references didn't need to have the forms notarized.  So they send in the forms, and now they're saying they need it notarized.  So it just adds weeks to everything to try to get everyone to get their paperwork notarized and mailed in.  So the very last needed reference/friend is in town, and we will be taking him to the notary on Monday so he can get it done!  We will also get our financial form notarized, and hopefully we will have everything turned in then at that point.  Then we will be waiting for our final home study interview and for the final report to be written for our approval before it is sent to the adoption agency. 

This process is taking so long, but I know as soon as we are done everything else will happen so fast!  Every night (and day!) I am praying for Evan.  My heart just aches for him, I just need to be patient.  Looking back, I will realize that God was perfecting the timing for everything.  No matter how much I want to rush this, some things are just out of my control.  But God is always in control.  So amen to that!

Tomorrow I have some wonderful yard sale donations for Evan!  I will be picking up some good-quality furniture.  I am so excited for these donations!  We are tentatively planning on the 2nd weekend of August for the yard sale.  My vision for this is to have lots of help, to have a bake sale and a gift basket raffle at the sale.  I hope to have everything organized, and I hope to have the sale advertised in the newspaper, and on craigslist as well.  I have lots to plan for this sale, any tips or volunteers are greatly appreciated!  :-)

Making Headway!

OK, so this week would be week 7 since the FBI processed the payment.  Their website says it should only be up to 6 weeks to get the results of the background check.  So I called my home study agency and they said that they already got our results (and never told me!).   So I am very excited- James and I are going to finish everything up here this week to finally get the home study complete!  Maybe we can get it done in the next day or two... The only thing left is James' autobiography statement and getting our financial forms together.  Piece of cake!

We are thankful for everyone's support and prayers over us and over little Evan!  This weekend, we received personal confirmation from God over many matters of our life and we are so ecstatic to know we are walking in His will with this adoption.  God is doing some AMAZING things in our hearts, giving us such vision for our future.  Thank you Jesus!

David's 16-month milestones

I can't believe that David is 16 months old already!  He is growing up so quickly- literally.  He is such a big boy for having Down syndrome!  I gotta take him into the doctors soon for his next check-up to see where he is on the growth charts.  For his 1-year he is about 50%tile for all boys for height and weight, and about 95%tile for Down syndrome boys height and weight. 

I'll just mentions some new things that David is able to do:
-He easily knows how to clap his hands, pat his legs, high-5's.  This stuff is simple to him now.
-He will sign "all done" and "daddy".
-He is cruising on his own!  I just need to put some snacks on the other side of the sofa as "motivation"- since toys don't seem to cut it.
-He's army crawling a lot to motivating things.  I'll have to excite him with something- he's not looking across the room at something just there and deceiding that he'll crawl to it.  So just simple baby-proofing for now. So far what motivated him are: my camera, car keys, food, and sometimes the tambourine.
-He's getting in 3 teeth at the moment.  2 top molars- bilaterally, and one center tooth on the bottom.  He hasn't gotten any recent fevers!  Praise the Lord!
-David is so close to being able to push from floor into the sitting position.  He'll be so close, and then he'll push his legs straight out of habit and get out of position to get up.  We're working on this...
-David can pull to stand if there is something easy to hold on to at the perfect level.

There's a lot of little things to post... but I don't have time at the moment, David just woke up from his nap!