Happy Birthday Little Man

Today Little Man turns 8 months old. Happy Birthday my sweet boy. Wish we could be spending this day with you but that is not to be. Praying and wishing I do not miss your 9 month birthday. Take care and I will be keeping you in my thoughts always until the day mommy can hold you again. Love you much!

Merry Christmas

Just a short post to tell Little Man Merry Christmas. Santa brought you some surprises and we will wait until you get home and your sister said she will help you open them. Lindze told me yesterday that what she wanted for Christmas was for Santa Claus to bring you home on his sleigh. I got some new pictures of you and you are growing up so fast. We love you and hope to see you very soon.
Love,
Mom, Dad and Lindze

Nothing New!

Well I have not felt like blogging lately due to the state of affairs with our adoption. The country we are dealing with have seemed fit to stall all of us parents out and make our babies stay in an orphanage until they I guess develop a heart enough to sign some letters. Pretty simple huh! Just sign the stinking letters. How hard can that really be to put your signature on a piece of paper!
Anyway if you can believe it, I am in a better mood than I have been for the past month. I am trying to maintain a Christmas spirit for Lindze's sake. I had hoped my son would be home by now but that is not to be. I am going to try to attach a few photos of my girl after her Christmas program today at church. She played one of the angels. She was so cute. If I get any good news I am sure I will get back to blogging regularly but until then I do not know.

Happy Early Thanksgiving

Just a post to say that I got some new pictures of little man and he is not going to be little man by the time we get there. He is growing like a weed. He has these chubby cheeks that you just want to pinch. I can tell that he must be getting okay care because he has a smile in like half of the many pictures I received. He is just adorable and it makes me miss him so much especially considering he turned 7 months old today. I owe J big time for getting these to me today of all days. We are hoping to get some kind of an update maybe by the end of this week as to what is going on with getting our babies home. We need to pray hard that this wait comes to an end very soon!
Happy Early Thanksgiving to all of you guys out there. I have to work Thursday night so you guys out there enjoy the day and we have to remember to be thankful for what we have right now and also for what we have waiting for us in a country far far away.

Happy 7 Month Birthday

Just wanted to wish my little man a happy 7 month birthday. I miss you and love you and so want to bring you home soon.
Love,
Momma

Kids Are So Receptive

I did not realize how receptive my daughter was to things going on around her. I had been on a major downer lately regarding not bringing Little Man home and not having any clue when with all of the problems in his country. I have tried and thought I was being successful in maintaining a pretty positive disposition around Lindze. I actually try to save the tears for bedtime or just when she is not around. Tonight at bedtime her prayer brought me to tears. She prayed for her baby brother to be home soon. She also prayed for her mommy to not be so sad all of the time and that "God please bring brother home for Christmas so mommy would be happy and not cry". It took everything I had to hold it together while I was putting her to bed. I guess I am not doing a good job of maintaining that happy disposition I was talking about if my almost 5 year old is picking up on how sad I have been. I will have to work a little harder on hiding my feelings. I don't know what I would do right now if I did not have Lindze. She is the light of my life.
Nothing new on the adoption front. Still waiting for some people in a certain country to grow a heart and sign some letters for all of us waiting. Keep the prayers coming!

Strike a Pose

Nothing new on the adoption front. Just continuing to wait for some kind of an update. Promised a picture of my Little Tinkerbell Lindze so here she is. Isn't she just the cutest!!!

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish all of you guys out there a Happy Halloween. I am going to make an extra special effort to enjoy it because of my sweet Lindze. I had thought there might "possibly" be a chance that we would be with Little Man during Halloween but we are not. Lindze is going to be Tinkerbell this year and she is too cute in her costume. I will try to post pictures at a later time. I got off the first four hours tonight in order to carry her trick or treating. She is so excited so it should be a fun night.
No further news on the adoption front so we will have to see what happens next week. Happy Halloween Little Man. We love you!

Depressing Days

I am sure everyone has heard of all that is going on in our babies country. These have been the most depressing days lately. We have families who have been waiting since earlier this year to bring their babies home and some who have traveled very recently and some who are just waiting for a referral of their precious child. I just don't understand how a few set of people can keep these babies living in an orphanage when they have families and homes waiting for them. Do they not understand that not putting their signature on a piece of paper is leaving so many people with a giant whole in the middle of their heart. I will not go any further with my ranting because I really don't want to offend anyone with what I have to say. I am going between mad, sad, and depressed.
We just need to be doing some heavy praying that God will see that these people do the right thing. We also have to pray that he will take care of all of our little ones over there and take care of all of us who are having the worse days of our life.
I love you little man and I am sorry I can't bring you home anytime soon.

6 Months Old Today

Today Little Man is 6 months old. Happy Birthday to my sweet boy. It is also 3 months to the day since I last held him in my arms. There is no good news on the adoption front only delay after delay. I so look forward to the day we can travel back in order to bring him home but I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel at the present time. We can only hope and pray for the best. The last set of pictures helped a little but watching him grow through photos is so very depressing. Mommy and daddy will see you soon and we love you.

Pictures

I got some new pictures of little man today and they were too cute. He was asleep in a few of them but he was cute nonetheless. I so miss him and was hoping we would get some good news this week but did not. We have been waiting 3 months to go back and get him and I know that is nothing compared to some of the other PAP's out there. I stay in one of those "blah" moods because he is constantly on my mind. Lindze is always aksing me when is brother coming home and I just tell her soon. She prays for him at night and it just makes me cry.
We have officially finished his room finally. My work had a baby shower last week so I am done with his room and everything I needed for it. Hopefully one of these days I will be able to post pictures of him and his room for all to see. His room is a mess right now because it is the packing room. My best friend and I went today to shop for when I travel. She was helping me figure out what all I really needed to carry for a 6 month old child. Our suitcase is going to weigh a ton.
Well, hopefully next time I post I might have some good news but we will see. Oh and I want to thank Teresa who is visiting her little girl right now for all of the wonderful pictues of our boy. She put a bright spot in my week.

Prayers

I just wanted to ask all of you guys out there to keep our family in your prayers. My cousin died tonight in a MVA. He was in his early 30's and the father of 3 sons. Thank all of you out there for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Back To The Real World

Got back from vacation today. Very short and sweet due to inability to burn vacation time because hopefully Little Man will be coming home soon. It rained Tuesday so we just went browsing the outlet stores. That was okay if you did not have an almost 5 year old saying "are we going to shop all day?" Wednesday was breezy but we were able to swim nonetheless. I only went in the Jacuzzi and the heated pool. Lindze did not seem to mind the cold as ice kiddy pool but momma stayed wrapped in a towel because the wind was blowing the ice cold water on her. Lindze really like the "cacuzzi" as she called it the whole time we were in there. My mother in law is already making plans for next year and she seems to be looking forward to have two kids to love on while we are there. I had so hoped he would be home before we went but that was not to be. We will just have to enjoy watching him on the beach next year.
Anyway we are back and I have to go back to work tomorrow night. Tom is off until next week (lucky dog). One huge plus today as we were getting ready to come home was I did get a picture of Little Man on my iphone. Thank you to my fellow ICF buddy. He looks great with chubby cheeks and all. I miss him terribly but feel a little better because he does look like he is pretty healthy. I just want to hold him so bad when I look at his photo. Hopefully one of these days I will be able to post his photo so everyone can see how handsome our Little Man is.
I want to send out prayers to all of the families who are right now in or are about to go to Kyrgyzstan to pick up their babies. You guys are all in my prayers and congratulations on your Gotcha Days!

Beach Vacation

We are leaving in the AM after I get off for 4 fun filled days at the beach. Lindze is so excited about going to the beach. It has been a year since we took her on a vacation and we think this is well deserved. Hopefully soon we might hear something about when we can return to pick up our Little man.
Hopefully in the next few days I will have new pictures of Little Man. I have 2 different families who are going to try to get me some photos. We have not seen anything on him since the last week of August so I am extremely excited. I wonder how much he has grown in the last month.
Oops, got to go. Patients calling. Will update about vacation when we get back!

5 Months Today

Our Little Man turns 5 months old today. Happy Birthday sweet boy and hopefully mommy will see you very soon. We love you so very much and miss you more with each passing day.

Baby Shower Part 2

Well the baby shower went great. There was tons of food and tons of people. It was a combination of my church, Toms's parents church and Tom's side of the family. Because they chose to have it on a weeknight due to my night shift schedule, people ate as they walked in and then I started unwrapping very soon after it started. I think it worked out well except right when I started unwrapping I asked my mother in law if she had a camera and next thing I know, no one had a camera. Can you believe it? No camera for the shower. My father in law was sent home and all he could locate was a disposable so sorry I will not be able to post actual pictures from the shower but I have gone and taken a few photos of some of the stuff he got. My sweet boy has a lot of people who just know a little of him who already love him. I have had to promise to make sure he comes to both churches so everyone can love on him when he gets here. I truly love all of our friends and family and appreciate them keeping our little man in their thoughts and prayers.
The attached pictures include a quilt made by a very special person in my life. The hat on Pooh's head was made by Lindze with the help of my mom. Isn't it just too cute? My best friend managed to get her hands on another Britax carseat because we needed one more. I also put some pictures of some of his winter outfits.

Baby Shower

Well Lindze and I are off to another baby shower for Little Man. She is so excited. She says she is going to help mommy open presents. I will try to post on what our sweet man gets when I get the chance. Well I got a little news regarding our Little Man today but unfortunately nothing can really be confirmed until the end of October so all I can say is pray that it goes well. I have been going from no news to bad news to good news so I don't want to get my heart set on anything but I can at least pray and keep my fingers crossed. I will be sure to update when I get an actual confirmation but like I said it might be a little while before I know for sure if anything has happened. Don't we all just love the world of International Adoption.

Still Waiting for News

I haven't posted in a while because not much has gone on lately. I hope to get new pictures of Little Man around the beginning of October if B is able. She said she was going to try. I haven't received any updates since C and J were there in August. I wonder how much he has grown. We still have a few more things to do with his nursery which of course includes Tom hanging those pictures still. We have a shower this Thursday night by my mother in laws family, her church and my church. I have been instructed to stop buying him clothes because of this shower, the last shower and the one my fellow nurses are giving me in October but how can I stop myself from buying such cute outfits when I see them (and at such great deals). I truly went overboard on him at the most recent consignment sale and I still have one more to go to. I will try to take a few pictures of his really cute outfits and post them when I get a chance.
We still do not know when we will actually travel but I have been given a "tentative" time frame. I will believe it when I see it. There is someone with the Tokmok court who is gone for a month so I think all of our paperwork will just sit until they come back. I have made no travel plans so until I do I will just assume that nothing is really happening. I just hope and pray that he gets good care when the weather cools down. I hope they have figured out a way to keep our kids warm in the coming month.
Well off to get ready for the day. Lindze is in dance class on Wednesday mornings so off I go to drag her out of bed. Keeping those who are traveling in the coming weeks in my prayers and hope you guys returning for your second trip enjoy your Gotcha Day.

3 Weeks until the Beach

Yippee! The countdown has begun until we take Miss Lindze to the beach. I wish we could be gone longer than 3 days but I am saving up vacation time in order to get paid for at least 3 of my 8 weeks of maternity leave with Little Man. We have not heard much of anything on the adoption front. Actually I don't think anyone is hearing much of anything right now. It is sort of like no ones dossier is getting processed in Kyrgyzstan at the present time. Anyway B is going to see her little boy in October and I am so hoping she can get updated pictures of our sweet boy. The last set we got was almost a month ago so I am looking forward to seeing how much he has grown.
We are almost finished setting up Little Mans room. I am waiting and have been waiting for Tom to hang a few pictures and then I just need to do a little bit of organizing. We have another baby shower next week so I guess I will have a few more things to put up after that and then his room should be set. I have cautioned people about getting him clothes because we do not know when he is coming home. I should talk after buying him like 10 outfits at the consignment sale last week but how could I resist when some of those outfits still had the original sales tag on them. I had decided unless I was taking him to church in his pj's that I probably needed to pick him up some cute dress outfits.
Anyway life is moving right along aroung here. Lindze has started dance class and of course she is totally loving it. It only lasts 6 weeks at a time and I have promised her that after her brother gets here, we will look into taking the year long dance class if she wants. She is really looking forward to her little brother coming home. Every night when she goes to bed, she always includes him in her bedtime prayer. I think she is going to make a great big sister. We have already bought them matching Christmas outfits and I cannot wait to get their picture taken together.
Well 4 more hours until my 3 day stretch at work is over and I can finally enjoy a good nights sleep and get back to my daily ritual of bothering J at our agency. Hoping and praying for the wellbeing of my son and all of those out there who are also waiting. Keep those candles lit!

Still Waiting

Well life is continuing in the Lunn household. Lindze is back in Mothers Day Out and I continue my daily e-mails to my coordinator to find out if there is any news. Next week Lindze will start back in dance class and she is so ready for that. We have decided that because nothing is going to happen soon with our adoption that we will go to the beach in early October (unless we have issues with all of these hurricanes that keep forming). Lindze is so hyped about playing on the beach and in the pool. We have not been on vacation since last October so I feel it is about time. We just decided we could not deprive Lindze of this just because we sit around waiting for something to happen when it probably will not.
Anyway next week I am participating in a consignment sale. I have decided to put all of Lindzes clothes since she was a year old in the consignment sale. That equals a lot of clothes. They completely fill up Little Mans closet from one side to the other. All of his stuff is in different stacks all over his room. I cannot wait to finally put his stuff up. We are hoping if we make anything that we can purchase stuff that we need for Little Man.
I am hoping and praying that something starts to happen in the next few weeks with Little Mans adoption but I guess we will see. I have heard that this winter Kyrgyzstan is planning on turning off the electricity for about 8 hours a day due to issues they are having. I cannot imagine my son laying in a crib with no heat and me not there to take care of him. I hope everyone keeps him and all of the other babies in their prayers and just know that God will protect each and everyone of them until we go back and pick them up.

Happy 4 Month Birthday Little Man

Not much to report. Just want to say happy 4 month birthday to my sweet Little Man. Love you and miss you and hope to see you very soon!!!!!

New Pictures Today

Got new pictures today of Little Man. Thanks a bunch goes out to Cheri and John who are visiting their little boy for the first time. Cheri said Bakyt our facilitator took the pictures and let me tell you he is no photographer so some of the pictures are kind of blurry. The ones with John holding him look pretty good. He just looks so sad in the pictures that it just broke my heart when I saw him. I miss his little smile and his beautiful little dimple and I saw none of that in these pictures. I wonder everyday how often he is getting held or even given any attention. I just want to get on a plane now and go and pick him up and tell him how much his mommy and daddy love him and miss him and want to bring him home. One positive note is Cheri has said that he seems very healthy so that is a small comfort that he is still thriving while living in the orphanage.
We are still not being given a definite date as to when we will be returning to bring him home. Jackie has said that the embassy for some reason is still holding our dossier so they seem to be one of our major hold ups. I figure no one is hearing anything from the Kyrgyzstan side of things and I know there are a ton of us waiting to go back for our pick up trip. It seems everybody in Kyrgyzstan likes to take tons of time off at the same time so nothing gets done which is such a downer because there are all of these beautiful babies on the other side of the world who are just waiting for "government figures" to come back and do their job so these kids can be brought home. I am just so frustrated at the whole situation. I will just keep on praying that something will progress so we and all of the other families can go back.

Nothing New

We are still in the waiting stage for when we will travel back to pick up Little Man. I have been told that the end of October is more likely our return travel time but that of course is not set in stone. I am very excited because Cheri and her husband are traveling at the end of this week and they are going to get us more pictures of him. He turns 4 months on the 26th and I so miss him. I have sent him a care package of winter clothes because we will not be there until after the change of weather. My agency is also hoping to get some updated pictures of him. I wonder how much he has grown in the last 3 weeks. I hope that the nannies are putting him in his 3-6 month outfits instead of stuffing him into his 0-3 month outfits. I so wanted to take a pair of scissors and cut the feet out of his pj's while we were there so he could actually stretch out.
The baby shower was fun this past weekend. He got several outfits, bibs and blankets. We are will probably have to take several back because they are shortsleeved and by the time he gets home he will not need summer clothes. He got his little baby einstein activity jumper and my 8 month old nephew broke it in for him quite well. Apparently while his mom was setting up for the shower they put him in it and he had a little accident in it. I was far from upset. I thought it was pretty funny because you would have to meet sweet little Gavin. We have decided when Little Man comes home, the 2 of them are going to be into everything considering how close in age they are. Anyway it was great to see family that I don't get to see very often and it was all set up so nicely. I have a picture of the cake that they got. It was so creative.

Waiting and Waiting

I have realized in the last few months that I am a very impatient person. I do not like to wait for anything. Hey, I have been waiting for our little Zoey from China for the past 2.5 years but waiting for Little Man for the past 3 months with I guess another 3 months to go has made me a very impatient person. I guess I am going to have to take a deep breath and just chill out. It is out of my hands at this point.
One really good thing I have to look forward to is that Cheri another PAP from my agency is going to visit her little boy next week so I am going to get updated pictures of little man. She is also going to take him some diapers for me. I sent her a care package today with winter outfits in it because I don't think we will be traveling until November so I wanted him to have some warm clothes. I cannot thank her enough for this. We carried a care package to her little boy in July. It is great to have other PAP who are so willing to help each other and be there for each other when we are having a crummy day.
My sister in laws thought I would potentially be going back to Kyrgyzstan in September as I was originally told might happen so they have planned a baby shower this weekend. They are so sweet to go to all of the trouble especially since I have to work both Sat and Sun nights so they are planning around my sleep schedule. They have assured me that it is going to be short and sweet as I can make it to work on time. I'll update later on on how it goes. We still have items from when Lindze was little but she came home at 1 year old so I am finding that I need items for little babies and of course for little boys. Our house right now is pink with tons of baby dolls. I think that Lindze has decided that her new little baby doll will be her brother. Poor little man!
Hopefully next time I update I will have better news other than no news regarding going back to get little man. As of now our dossier appears to still be somewhere at the embassy. I have heard that some families have gone to court and will be traveling in October to bring their sweet babies home. Congratulations to all of them!!!!

"When are we going back?"

That has been the question of the day since we have been home. My original response was hopefully soon. With all the changes in Kyrgyzstan such as a new committee forming to look at dossiers and some new passport timeline, my new response is hopefully before Christmas. I figure that is the most pessimistic timeline but considering when we started our China process the wait was 12 months and we have now been waiting 2.5 years I might as well look at the dark side and not the bright side with this adoption too. It just rips a hole in me knowing Little Man is going to have to spend more months living in an orphanage instead of thriving with a family that loves and misses him so much. I cannot imagine how some of the other families who have been waiting months to bring their child home feels. I figure the only way to get through this wait is to put our trust in God and pray that with his guidance all of our babies will be coming home to us soon.
On a positive note some families returned earlier this week from Kyrgyzstan with their babies. Can't wait until they start posting pictures of their new arrivals. Also hoping and praying that a friend of mine went to court today and can hopefully be traveling in a couple of months.
Well insomnia has become my way of life since we have been home. I keep wondering if it is from the trip or from working night shift but my new wake up time is 2-3 AM and let me tell you there is nothing on TV at that time. The only good thing about it is I never get tired at work anymore. Hopefully my internal clock will straighten itself out soon so I can actually sleep when the sun is down but until then I guess I will have to function on about 3-4 hours of sleep.
Off to do clothes, cook supper and get ready for work.

Back to Normal

We have been home for a couple of days and it has been great to be home but I miss Little Man so bad it hurts. The trip home was more than miserable. I ended up with a wonderful stomache virus on the first flight home which continued into the rest of the trip. We missed our connecting flight in London and I started wigging out that I could not miss seeing Lindze. Luckily our airline was able to get us on a later flight to Chicago then to Nashville so we got home 4 hours later than scheduled. Lindze was there at the airport to meet us and her smile was such a ray of sunshine after leaving Little Man behind.
We have settled back into our normal routine. Tom has gone back to work and I go back Friday night so I have a little more time to get over the trip. There are all kinds of rumors swirling regarding this new committee in Bishkek so I am not on the positive side that we will be going back for our return trip anytime soon. He turned 3 months on our last day there and I am sure I am going to miss his next few months. He cried on our last day when we were leaving and I just feel like he knew we were leaving him. I am sure he does not get held for 2-3 hours straight like we held him when we were there. I just hope and pray that he is getting good care while we are gone and that we see him very soon!

Things I Miss

Everyday when we go out I think of all of the things I have been missing since we have been here. Here are just a few-
1. Lindze
2. Molly
3. Family and friends
4. My own Home
5. Seatbelts
6. Cinnamon dolce Latte from Starbucks
7. Having a converstion in Engish with someone other than Tom
8. american TV
9. My iphone(I cannot believe how naked I have felt without it)
10. Brushing my teeth with actual tap water
11. Foods we can pronounce
12. did I mention Lindze
13. Nana and PawPaw's bacon and biscuit
14. Cereal with normal skim milk not goats milk (I am dying for a bowl of raisin bran
15. McDonalds or Dunkin donuts (these are faves at work)
16. Talking to someone and not having to look at a translator for interpretation
These are just a few. When I come home the only thing I will be missing is Little Man and I will pray everyday that he is getting cared for and loved by someone until his mom and dad come back for him. I ask that everyone iclude him in your prayers until we get to come back for him. We see him for the last time today :( so tonight we will be getting our things together for the big journey home. We head out at 0415 so I hope to see everyone soon. Keep us in your prayers as we travel. Love to Lindze, family and friends. See you soon!!!!!!!!!!

Fun Day #4

Today has been a fun day full of different activities. We started out going to the big department store called "Zoom" where we shopped for items for the kids. One level is like a giant flea market where you go from one area to another hoping to find a better price. We found a very cool handcarved picture with Kyrgyzstan's legendary hero carved in it. Our little man happens to have the legendary heroes name so we picked up several things with his picture on it. We bought Lindze a hand painted doll and a purse. We could have shopped for hours but we did not want to be late for our date with little man.
We got to the orphanage and little man had on 2 outfits, a hat and they made us put a blanket on him in order to take him outside. Poor little hot baby! He was fussy again so we rocked him to sleep and just watched him and he is so cute when he sleeps. They allowed us to feed him again which was a treat. He just watches you as you are feeding him. I really hope he knows how much we love him and how much we are going to miss him when we say good bye tomorrow. I imagine poor mommy is going to have tears again because we have no clue how long before we will see him again.
Tonight we went out to eat with a friend of our adoption agency coordinator from the states. He spoke no Engligh so his assistant who speaks a little English went also. We ate Korean food whereas we had no idea what the menu said so he ordered for us. Poor Tom who hates vegetables and weird plates was forced to eat the unknown in order to not offend. I myself thought it was delicious. A little bit of sushi and many other entrees. He then took us to see the Village of the Kyrgystan Legendary hero so we could take many many pictures. We got to see the mountains of Kyrgyzstan up close and it was a breathtaking experience. Oh and he also got us some traditional Kyrgystan hats which Tom has threatened to kill me if I post a picture of him in his. Quite hilarious!!!!
Well before I sign off for the day I once again want to ask for prayers for my travel buddies as they have had to make a very difficult decision this week. I will not go into any details but please keep them in your prayers.
Kisses and hugs from momma, daddy, and brother to Lulu.

Happy Baby Day 3

Today when we got to the orphanage Little Man was sound asleep in the crib in the front room. They were expecting us and once again poor thing had on 2 outfits but he did not seem to mind. They let us carry him outside to a covered play area where he slept in my arms for another 30 minutes. I did not have the heart to wake him up. When he did wake up he was a little fussy but they had given me a bottle with water in it to give him. He was mostly smiles today. He let his daddy carry him around and it was so sweet. Daddy seems to be getting more comfortable holding him now. After we had played with him for a while they said it was time for his bottle but first they were going to measure him again. They stripped him naked and can you believe he did not cry. Considering how covered up he normally is, he probably considered it a vacation from clothes. Anyway Little Man weighs 11.9 pounds and is 24.4 inches long. This is all according to our translator. He weighed 8.1 and was 20.5 inches when he was born. He is a big boy if I can say so myself. It will be a while before he catches up to his cousin Gavin though. Anyway I gave him back to the nanny but all of a sudden they allowed me to feed him his bottle. I got to feed him today for the first time ever. It was great. They then took him to put him down for another nap. It was a great day of seeing Little Man!!!
We did find out this week through the orphanage director that Little Mans reliquishment is not unlike his big sister. I thank God everyday that he brought Little Man and his big sister into our lives. I also pray for their birthmothers and the decisions they had to make when they gave birth to these children but it is because of this that Tom and I have such a special family. These women will always have a special place in my heart.
I want to ask for special prayers for our traveling buddies Betsy and Bryan as Betsy has very been sick and they have a lot going on.
Lindze, we love you and will see you soon!!!!

Birthdays (early and late)

Just wanted to say Happpy Late Birthday to Corbin! Happy Birthday to Mom! Happy early aniversary to mom and dad. Love you guys and will talk to you again after we have seen Little Man!

Day 2 with Little Man

Can I tell you how hard it is to switch your clock from one time to another. Tom seems to sleep at every opportunity he gets. By the time we get use to it, we will be headed home. It is very hot here and today we got to ride with our facilitator in a car going over 85 miles per hour with no seatbelt and no a/c. It takes an hour to get to the orphanage and the whole time you are riding your life is flashing before your eyes. The way they pass someone is to honk or don't and pull into the center lane and hit the gas and play chicken. A couple of times today I had to catch my breath because I thought we were going to hit the oncoming car. It is kind of like the nascar speedway except NO SEATBELTS!
Well Little Man was a little fussy today and daddy kept passing him to me when he got fussy. We took some outfits for him. We were told they like to keep them covered up so we carried cotton pjs that had footies but we also carried a couple of summer outfits. Well today they had on a long sleeve pj's with the short sleeve underneath. Frankly I would be fussy too if I had on 2 outfits in an 85 degree room with no a/c. He has his own personal nanny and she finally allowed us to take one of his outfits off of him. She also let us give him a bottle with water in it. It was great to get to feed him something for the first time. She said they get hot and have to have extra water. We did manage to get some smiles out of him today. He has the sweetest smile. When I had to put him back in his crib, he just started crying and I so hated to leave him but thankfully his nanny was on her way over to feed him. We got to talk to the orphanage director and through our translator we got more of a medical and family history on him. There are a few minor issues but they say they are "curing him". I hope to get more on him tomorrow and send it on to his doctor in the States so he can evaluate him. He does not have any of the diseases that I have been worried about. I will continue to thank the Lord everyday for this precious miracle that has come into our life. When we come home, Bakyt has assured that he will keep an eye on him and provide for him whatever the orphanage says that he may need.
Well we are suppose to eat with other families so I have to be off. Tomorrow we are going to be taken to see a statue of a legendary Kyrgyzstan hero that Little Man has the same name of. I figured it would be something he would like to see when he got older. After that off to see Little Man again. Keep us in your prayers.
Heather, Give Lindze a big hug and kiss from her momma, daddy and brother.

Mom and Dad Meet Little Man

Today I met Baykt and our translator for the first time and we took the big ride to the orphanage. We met the director and then a nanny came out holding the sweetest and most handsome little man who just so happened to be our son. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to hold him for the first time. He never cried the whole time. We got to hold him for a full hour and then I got to rock him to sleep. Tom put his little mobile up in his crib and may I say he is most fascinated with that thing already. His daddy made him smile several times. I think he is laughing at his bald head:) Baykt asked me later on what I thought and all I could say is that God has sent me another miracle. I thought that with Lindze and now I know it with Little Man. He just held my hand every time I held him. He seems to be doing well developmentally and he is not as big as he seemed in our most recent pictures. I cannot wait to go back tomorrow and see and hold him again. I also must say that Tom was a little nervous holding him but he did pretty good. We are taking plenty of pictures and I will show them to family when I get home.
I have heard that my little Lindze is having a great time at her Nana and PawPaw's so that makes me feel better but I miss her dearly and cannot wait to get a big old kiss from my girl. I will deal with leaving Little Man closer to that day but I know it is going to be hard. I just hope I don't get all emotional like I did when Lindze said goodbye.

We're Here!!

Well we made it and let me tell you that flying that much is for the birds. Our flight from Nashville to Dulles was uneventful. Dulles airport obviously forgot to pay their electric bill as we sat and sweat for an hour. We then flew on United to London where Tom got to enjoy a wonderful meal that I have started calling the unknown meal because we still don't know what he was eating. We then had a 6 hour layover in Heathrow that turned into 2 additional hours sitting on the plane waiting for the wonderful food people to stock the plane. Then we had to wait our turn to take off. The only plus of that flight was we got to meet up with our travel buddies Betsy and Bryan. Anyway we were picked up at the airport and now are waiting for a phone call in order to go see Little man. The hotel is okay but we are having a few internet issues and the breakfast buffet has a few unknowns also but it was edible.
Anyway the next time I check in hopefully I can tell you a little bit about little man if we ever make it over there.

Countdown Until We Leave

It is 0215 and I am sitting here looking at the clock and thinking wow in 12 hours from now I will be in the air headed to see Little Man for the first time. Am I excited?? Beyond!! I have kind of had a permanent grin on my face all weekend at work when I think of seeing him. Tom and I still have a little packing to do when we get off from work this am but it is mainly trying to actually close the suitcase and making sure we don't exceed the weight limit set by the airlines.
I am going to try to post as much as we can when we have the time so bear with me. I just ask that everyone keeps us in their prayers during our journey and also keep little man and Lindze in your prayers. Lindze actually so far seems much better than I am. I am going to try to keep it together this morning when we say our goodbyes at least while I am around her. She will be okay once I am off because her Nana and PawPaw and Heather are going to keep her entertained while I am gone.
I will be sure to post and let everyone know that we arrived safely. Take care!

Pictures

Today a prayer was answered. We finally got 2 more pictures of little man and I have to say he is the most handsome little boy I have ever seen. I have been on cloud nine ever since this AM when I got them from Jackie. She is such a lifesaver. I have to say he has grown a ton. He has the fullest cheeks and the prettiest dark hair. Tom and I have decided that he has more hair than Lindze had at a year old. My family is over the moon that we have new pictures right before we leave to see him for the first time. We are having to rethink clothes for him for the trip because he seems to be a pretty good size little boy. I cannot wait to hold him for the first time.
Well the packing is stressing me out because it does not look like we are going to be able to get everything in our 2 checked bags. We are carrying some items to another baby who was just recently born for his parents who will not get to travel for a while. We have decided if we have to pay for another checked bag well so be it. As long as we can help out another baby we will do whatever we have to do.
Well only a few more days and we will finally be holding our son for the first time and I cannot wait. We are suppose to see him for the first time on Tuesday after we get a little nap from our flight. We will see him everyday until we leave on Sunday. We will be able to stay from 1-2 hours depending on the orphanage directors discretion.
TICK TOCK the clock is winding down until we leave!!!!!! Until then I will spend as much time as possible with my other sweetie Lindze.

One More Week

One more week until we are holding Little Man for the first time. I so wonder how much he has changed since he was 2 weeks old. I think that the wait for him has been harder than the less than 2 month wait for Lindze. I knew Lindze was mine as soon as we received her picture. I guess with Lindze and the one trip I knew she was mine and that really nothing could go wrong. I have heard that with Kyrgyzstan a child could be claimed by their family even after we take the first trip. I am not saying that is bad for him but it would be devastating for my family after getting attached to just the picture we have now. I also cannot imagine how big a basket case I am going to be until we go back a second time to bring him home for good.

I am also doing a little freaking out in my head about traveling so far away from Lindze and leaving her for the first time ever. I am just going to pray everyday that she is safe and that we come home to her safely. She seems at the present time to be dealing well with us leaving
her and I hope that lasts until we say goodbye or momma here is going to fall apart too.

Well it looks like there will be some other families in Kyrgyzstan picking up their babies while we are there so hopefully we can get together one night or something. I think they are all staying at different hotels than us.

I need to get back to some fun fun packing now. I just ask that if anyone is reading this that they will pray for us in our travels and pray for little man and for his big sister that we are leaving behind with family.

Embassy

Got notified by Jackie that my dossier is finally at the Embassy. So we will see how long they are taking to process them. No new updates on Little Man so we will just have to carry all sizes of clothes for him and hope that something fits. Same thing goes for diapers. Just praying that he is healthy and being taken good care of. Looking at his picture just makes the longing worse. The day that I will be holding him is coming up soon.

2 more weeks

In two more weeks we will be holding little man in our arms for the first time. I just keep watching the calendar until that day. The only hard part is that I will be leaving Lindze for the first time ever since she was placed in our arms in China on January 30, 2005. I have never gone a day without seeing her sweet little face. I don't think it will phase her half as much as it will Tom and I. We have been working on getting webcams on my computer and her grandmothers computer so we can communicate as much as possible. I told her she would be the first one from home to lay eyes on her new little brother. She seems pretty excited. Everynight when she goes to bed she prays her her litle brother. I could not have asked for a more precious daughter. I thank the Lord everyday for her.
A family is returning from Kyrgyzstan tomorrow after picking up their son and I am hoping for some sort of update on how Little Man is doing. If not I guess I will find out soon myself. We have been busy getting stuff for the trip. I work at a hospital and got one of our doctors to write some scripts for us for the trip. I always worry about getting something when I am out of the country. In China they told us to put a washcloth over the faucet in the sink so we would not forget to brush our teeth with bottled water. Nothing would be worse than getting some stomache ailment while trying to enjoy our son for the first time. We can only hope for the best.
Well the countdown continues until we leave!!!

A Few Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Little Man's crib. I added one with Lindze because she was styling in her new nightgown. I also have been shopping for outfits so here are just a few that we have. I cannot wait until I can post Little Man's picture for all to see.

Little Man's room is almost ready!!

It has taken me forever but his room is almost done. I have managed to organize all of Lindzes clothes in order to make room for all of Little Man's stuff. His crib is completely done and my mother in law is working on his valance. Tom and I have been shopping for items to carry to Kyrgyzstan for him and the orphanage. My suitcase will weigh a ton of course but it will be worth it if I can leave him a few things in our absence. I have no clue how big he is now so we are having to carry 2 different sizes of clothes. His referral picture at 2 weeks showed a pretty good size newborn so I just don't know what size to carry. I will know in less than 3 weeks. YIPPEE!!!
Well another friend of mine got a referral for a baby girl. It seems the program is moving along pretty well these days. My dossier is on its way to the US Dept of State then on to the Embassy so not much longer. Hopefully this means my wait between trips will not be too long. I will just have to pray that the wait is short.

Two Months Old Today

Little Man is 2 months old today. Happy 2 month birthday. A little over 3 weeks and we will finally get to lay our eyes on our sweet little boy. They will probably be the longest days of my life. I have asked Jackie at ICF if she can get an update because we have heard nothing on him since we got our pictures and I just wanted to make sure he was doing okay.
We also celebrated our furry child Molly's birthday today. She turned 6 and she got new treats and new toys. I could swear that dog knew it was her birthday because she was so excited this morning.
Well I read on Betsys blog that she and her husband are leaving the exact day we are leaving and coming back on the same day. That would be wonderful if we were on the same flight. It is going to be great to share this experience with another family from the US.
Well short post this time because I am working on Little Mans room.

One More Month

Well in one more month Tom and I will be seeing our little man for the first time other than the picture we got at 2 weeks old. I cannot imagine how much he has changed. Another family from our agency is there now picking up their little boy and they were going to try to get an update for us or maybe even a picture. I have been told that the employees of the orphanage are very protective of the little ones so I may not get an updated picture. This has been the longest wait ever but it is almost over. I only hope that for our 2nd trip that we will not have to wait too long. We have known about little man since he was 4 days old and our agency wanted us to wait until he was almost 3 months old before we traveled. Time is truly dragging.
I found out today that Betsy and her husband are traveling the same time as us and that is very exciting news. I was so hoping that another family would be there when we were. She is even going to try to get a room at the Silk Road. I also read on Marias blog that she is going to get her little girl after all. This is truly a miracle from God. I am so excited for her and her family.
Tom and I went shopping today and picked up some things for little man. His room is far from ready as we are trying to get rid of 3.5 years worth of Lindzes clothes (that we were saving for our daughter from China). There really are no hand me downs for him as he would probably not look too good in pink and of course his daddy would throw a fit. When his room is ready, I will try to post a picture of it.

dossier done again

YIPPPEE!! My dossier (the updated one) is at my agency and is getting translated. I am now suppose to send off "dinero" for the US Dept of State and the Kyrgyz Embassy. I have not heard that the embassy is open but I am being told that my dossier is off to there next. I pray this means everything is on track for Tom and I to go back soon after our 1st trip to pick up little man.
I have been working vigorously on his room. I first have to get rid of 3 years worth of Lindzes clothes first. Who would have thought that a child could accumulate that many clothes in 3 .5 years. Well I have stacks to go to different areas. I am attempting to put stuff in consignment this year. Way too much work if I can say so myself. Heather is bringing by some stuff for little man that a family was getting rid of. I can't wait to see what she has.
Anyway I am keeping my 6 month old nephew today so I can get use to taking care of a child that young. Lindze was 1 when she came home so 6 months old are a little more work than she was. He is a sweet and happy baby so it truly has not been bad (minus all of those nasty diapers). I've only been checked on once by his parents which is a record compared to the at least 6 times they checked on my last time. Well gotta go check on Mr. Gavin.

Hooray!! We finally have hotel reservations at the Silk Road Lodge. Things are finally starting to fall into place. We still have quite a wait before we go but at least we can be assured that all plans are made. Tom and I have started to buy a few things for our Little Man. It is hard to figure how big he will be when we visit and when he comes home but we are buying nonetheless. It is so strange to have a son yet him be so far away and all we can do is imagine how much he is growing and how much he has changed from his two week picture that we received. Well short post today! Off to get ready for swimming classes.

Well nothing much going on with the adoption. I did get my new documents notarized this weekend. I am so lucky to work with girls who are so willing to assist me with my papers. Anyway the embassy is still closed and now I am hearing that the agencies are going to have to get reaccredited with Kyrgyzstan. Of course just another holdup with the process.
I e-mailed Jackie and ask he if there were any updates on our little man and she said she would speak with Tatiana. He is one and a half months now. I wonder how he is doing. Is he getting held? How much has he grown? I cannot wait until the day I can hold him in my arms and tell him that his mom and dad are there. Until that day God will just watch and protect him for me.
Tonight during bathtime, Lindze said "momma I'm different from everyone". I asked what she meant and she said "I'm the only one with dark hair" and I told her that she would not be "different" for much longer and she said "because brother is coming home." I cannot wait until that day. Our forever family is almost complete!!!

Well as we can all tell from how long it has been since I was last here, I am not a big blogger. I love reading them but I just don't commit too well to mine. Anyway since the last time I was here, I have a referral for a sweet little boy. Little Man is a little over one month right now and Tom and I are traveling to see him in July. This wait is basically killing me but in between doing stuff with Lindze and getting travel plans made, I have plenty to do until we leave. We have made all of the flight plans and now we are stressing over where we are going to stay. I have talked to several people on the yahoo group so I have a few recommendations. I just freak out on making reservations on the internet. I told Tom we are going to end up sleeping on a park bench and he said we would find "a nice park bench if it came to that."
Anyway I heard from a friend of mine in Kyrgyzstan today that her baby has "an infectious disease" and she has had to turn her down as a referral. I pray that they make it through this okay because this is like the death of a child to those of us who have seen and held our child. It got me worrying about my little man and I called my coordinator at my agency and asked if his lab test could be done before we traveled and she said she would try. I just pray every day that he is healthy and being taken good care of and that he will be in my arms soon.
Well the embassy is till not open so all of us adopting are still playing the waiting game. I am still waiting for my FBI fingerprints to come in so I can finish my additional dossier paperwork.
Oh well the life of international adoption!!!!

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan weather conditions and forecast : WorldTimeServer.com

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan weather conditions and forecast : WorldTimeServer.com

wasted day

Well I am sitting here listening to Lindze talk about any and everything. Lindze is my 4 year old daughter who thinks she is at least 10. Today has been a day of getting nothing done. My notary got held up at the doctors office so I was not able to get some of my documents notarized today. I just found out it is taking a month for the Kyrgyz embassy to work on each families documents which is definitely going to put us not making the April deadline which is a real bummer. My homestudy did not arrive in the mail so I could not send my paperwork to CIS. The only plus of the day is that my child is not sick anymore which is a blessing because I start my 3 night schedule at work on Friday and at least the babysitter won't have to deal with a sick kid anymore. Well off to work on more documents for my dossier!

Oh how I love paperwork

I am sitting here just typing away while Lindze sleeps for the night. This is my first attempt at blogging so bear with me. I have been working on sending CIS a change of country form and I am praying that it takes less than 4 months for them to approve me. My China agency has finally completed my updated homestudy for Kyrgyz so things are finally looking up. Hopefully if all goes well, I should be getting many of my documents notarized tomorrow after I take Lindze and my nephew to mothers day out. Well anyway Tom is about to wake up to get ready for work so I guess I will sign off for now. Hopefully I will get the hang of blogging before long.