Catching Up

I have some catching up to do....
Capone: In my last post wrote how Capone was not in the best of health. He was weak, not eating, and just not acting like himself. We took him to the vet and found out that he his potassium was extremely low. After about a week of trying to nurse him back to health, he still was not eating and very weak. I spoke again to the vet and made the difficult decision to put him to sleep. I just did not want him to suffer any more. On the day of the appointment I came home from work to pick up Capone. I thought that I would try one more time to try to get him to eat....AND HE DID. Not a whole lot but it was progress. We took him to the vet to be looked at again to insure he was on the way to recovery. His blood work showed that his potassium was increasing. He also seemed to getting his personality back. That night we took our special cat back home! I was alittle nervious because this all happend two days before we were to leave for Ecuador. We are lucky enough that we have an amazing cat sitter that adores Capone. We called her since we've been in Ecuador and she said Capone has improved tremendously. He is eating, playing, and seems to be back to his old loving self. It was such a relief to hear that news! He is truly a cat with 'nine lives'!

Ecuador: We have been in Ecuador for a week and are having a good time. We went to Giuseppe and Vivian's wedding our first night here. It was a beautiful wedding and great party. The rest of our time here we have been shopping and hanging out with family and friends. Tonight for Christmas Eve we will go to church and celebrate with Giovanni's family and Vivian's family. On Christmas we will exchange presents and celebrate with Giovanni's family. For next week are going to try to go to Zerro Blanco, a wildlife preservtion in Guayaquil, to go hiking. We also have talked about going to Cuenca for a couple of days. For New Years Eve we will be going to Salinas (the beach).

My dad: It is difficult to be so far away from my family at this time but I am thankful that I have been able to keep in contact with them while I have been here. My dad is still about the same. He has fallen a couple of times and is very weak and tired. He still is not eating very much. I hope that he will be well enough to spend Christmas with the family, if only for a little while.

For now I wish you all a Merry Christmas.....Feliz Navidad!

This year it seems very difficult for me to get in the holiday spirit. Its not that I don't think this time of year is special and magical, I have always loved this time of year. I guess its because of everything that is going on. This time last year we were excited thinking about how our next Christmas we could be celebrating with our child. Instead, we will be spending another Christmas thinking about how our child is probably somewhere out there spending Christmas without their forever family.
We are going to Ecuador to spend Christmas with Giovanni's family. I am so nervous about leaving and spending this time away from my dad and family. I know that this will be a struggle.
I have been spending this week trying to nurse Capone back to health. He was not eating and was not his happy, loving self. I took him to the vet and found out his potassium was extremely low and he was dehydrated. I thought that the low potassium would have been a common thing since he has been taking lasix for his heart condition but the vet said that side effect only happens in humans not cats. So I have been giving him a potassium jell four-five times a day and giving him an IV with potassium once a day. Yes! I have an IV bag, tubing, and needles. I have to stick the IV needle in the scruff of his neck and try to keep him still until he has the appropriate amount of fluids. I don't think that he is improving. He still is not eating, very weak, not cuddling or purring. It breaks my heart to see him like this. I'm afraid that if he doesn't show some improvement really soon we will have to let him go. I'm not looking forward to having to saying good bye to him.
I hope that in the coming weeks things will settle down and I will be able to somewhat enjoy the holiday.

Aristotle, Greek philosopher and scientist
Moses, major prophet in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism
Muhammad, central figure in Islam
Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children
Alexander Hamilton, US founding father
Herbert Hoover, US president
Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa
Eleanor Roosevelt, US First Lady, civil rights activist
Tecumseh, Native American leader
Malcolm X, political and civil rights activist
Edgar Allan Poe, author
J.R.R Tolkien, author
Louis Armstrong, musician
Johann Sebastian Bach, composer
Ray Charles, singer
Ella Fitzgerald, singer
Faith Hill, singer
Billie Holiday, singer
John Lennon, musician
Kristin Chenoweth, Broadway singer
Carol Burnett, entertainer
Ice-T, actor
George Lopez, comedian
Marilyn Monroe, entertainer
Babe Ruth, baseball star
Scott Hamilton, figure skater
George Washington Carver, scientist and inventor
Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's

What do all these people have in common?
They are all orphans! Some were adopted as infants, some raised in orphanages, foster care or by relatives. Its amazing to think of how some had come from nothing, yet grew up to be someone who had so many amazing things to offer. As National Adoption month is coming to an end please remember to pray for the world's orphans, the people who care for them, adoptees and the families who will encourage them to face adversity and become all they can be.

May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.

~Numbers 6:24-26

Happy Thanksgiving!

Update

It's been a little while since I have had a chance to update everyone on everything that is going on.

The Adoption: Many of you already have heard that we have finally been approved by Ecuador! So now we have an "idoneidad". We also found out that our dossier has been sent to 3 regions in Ecuador; Quito, Cuenca, and Riobamba (I think Riobamba is the 3rd region). Normally dossiers were being sent to just one region. I am not sure if they changed this for everyone or just for us. This all means that we are officially waiting for a referral. We were also told that they just got a new referral for one of their regular program families (same program as us). So things are SLOWLY starting to move again. They reiterated that still no family has waited longer than 18 months for a referral.

My Dad: I took a flight to St. Louis late last Thursday. I was able to see my dad the following Friday. He seemed to be having a very good day. In the late afternoon when I returned for the second time with my sisters, he was all dressed and asking if we were going anywhere. We asked him if he wanted to go get something to eat. We ended up just doing to Stake 'n Shake (some thing kind of fast). When they brought him his food he had the look of 'what the h _ _ _ is this!' Although he ate very little, it was good for him to get out. He had been in bed for over a week. He was pretty good on Saturday too. It was a nice day outside so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the weather. The last couple of days he has started going down hill again. Very tired, staying him bed, confused, and not eating. He still seems in good spirits and will crack a joke every now and then. The hospice nurse said his good days could have been because of the excitement of having everybody back home again. Tomorrow we are hoping he will be well enough to make it to my sister's house for Thanksgiving dinner. If not we will take Thanksgiving dinner to him.

New Job: On Friday I was finally offered a new position at work. I have been working temporarily in this position for the past month and absolutely love it! I will be teaching kindergarten -2nd grade students with Autism. I am so excited for this opportunity! Even though I will have to go back to school once again to get an endorsement in Autism. But this is definitely what I should be doing and were I belong.

So even though things are difficult with my dad and our adoption journey has had many twists and turns there are some good things happening for us. We will continue to try to stay positive and be thankful for all the blessings we have.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yesterday...

Yesterday I turned 31...
Yesterday I found out my dad might have only two weeks to live...
Yesterday I found out we have finally been approved by Ecuador...

So many emotions but my profound sadness overwhelms them all!

A Broken Heart

My heart is breaking today! We received some disappointing news. I got an e-mail from CHSFS (our Ecuador adoption agency) and it was not the news we wanted to hear. The e-mail informed us that they have observed that families are experiencing a longer than anticipated wait for a referral. There have also been recent changes in staffing at the Central Authority in Ecuador and changes in adoption officials in several regions throughout the country. They are not able to specifically predict how these changes will impact the adoption process, but they are anticipating a slower process during the transition. Due to all this, CHSFS is adjusting the estimated referral timeline. They now are estimating the wait for a referral to be approximately 1-3 years after the dossier submission ( it was 3-18 months). They are encouraging families to explore the possibility of dual-listing with another international or domestic program. Through dual-listing, families are able to pursue a single adoption while waiting in two different international programs for information about a child in need of permanency. When the family receive placement of a child through one program, their application in the second program is automatically withdrawn.
Reading this e-mail brought tears to my eyes. I could feel my heart breaking in my chest. Even as I write this post, I feel my chest tighten and its hard to breath. We knew when we decided to adopt that the adoption process is unpredictable at best. I knew that with my type A, control freak personality the waiting period would be extremely difficult. But to wait THREE MORE YEARS! I just don't think I can do it. I know I should try to stay positive. I know I should have faith and trust in God. I know that God has a special plan for us. I just wish it was a little easier. I wish God would share his plan with us.
I don't know exactly what we will do. Just wait it out. Dual-list with another country. Dual-list domestically. We have a lot to talk about. A lot of questions to ask people. Could we even financially afford to dual-list?

Just when I thought we should be getting closer...

Polictical Unrest in Ecuador

We have eagerly waited the month of September for news of our "idoneidad". It looks like we will have to continue our wait. We got news today that Cuenca Referral Committee had, indeed convened, but then disbanded as soon as they heard of the news that all government offices were closing due to the protest in Quito. We had heard earlier today about the protest in Ecuador and of course were concerned for Giovanni's family living there. It wasn't until we got an e-mail from our contact at CHSFS that I began to realize how this all could effect our adoption process. Not only will we have to continue to wait for our approval but any ongoing unrest or governmental changes could completely disrupt our adoption process. It's a scary reality of adoption that I was hoping we would not have to face.

www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/30/ecuador.violence/index.html

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11447519

Updating Home Study

Since sending off our dossier six long months ago, we had not really had a need to revisit the 'adoption binder'. After all, that's the blessing or curse of being in the 'waiting' phase of this journey. Today though I dusted it off as I prepared to update several documents needed for our home study update. Its hard to believe that its almost been a year since our home study. Looking through the binder made me think....Did we really fill out ALL this paper work? So much time, effort, and tears surround it all. I am grateful that this home study will not be as involved as the initial. There are several document to update and our social worker will make another visit to our house (time to get cleaning). This all has to be done by November. Soon we will be having to update document from our dossier also; many are only valid for a year.

We did receive some news from CHSFS regarding some movement in Ecuador. The news pertaining to us and our position in the process is that today they held a general meeting in Quito of all the agencies and committees (generally they meet separately based on the different regions). Although I am sure the main topic of conversation will be referrals, CHSFS is also hoping that while at this meet they will discuss if there are any new dossier approvals. We are anxiously waiting for news of our "idoneidad" (approval). It would be great to to receive good news this month. I think it would help put a positive spin on things as we begin renewing much of what we worked on for the past year. I continue to pray that we will soon be one step closer to bring our child into our family.

The Parallels

Since Giovanni and I decided to partake on this adoption journey I have been reading anything I can get my hands on pertaining to adoption. Books, websites, blogs, research articles, forums, magazines...you name it, I'm trying to read it. They are all about the risks, attachment, best parenting practices, honoring birth parents, Lifebooks, challenges etc. etc. And I am sure that this choice in reading material will continue for a very long time.

I just finished an amazing book, 20 Things Adoptive Parents Need to Succeed by Sherrie Eldridge. Sherrie is well known in the adoption world and a great contributor. She herself is adopted and provides parents of adoptees great insight. This is the second book I have read of hers and I have attended webinars where she has been the guest speaker. Much of what she writes about speaks to me but something about a section I recently read really hit the nail on the head sort of speak. I though I would share.

Sherrie was explaining how bring a child into your family through adoption could in some ways be likened to physical conception, labor, birth, and delivery. She calls it The Parallels of Physical Birth and Adoption. She explains it as the child being Conceived Again in Your Hearts, Labored Continually through Challenging Circumstances, Birthed at Last into Our Lives, and Carried Always in your Heart. The section that really spoke to me was Labored Continually through Challenging Circumstances. This is what she wrote:

Just as women experience incredible pain during birth, some parents experience great pain during the process of adoption. You may be ready for delivery of your child, but the birth mother changes her mind at the last minute. That's adoption labor.

You may have spent hours on a bumpy train to Ukraine to get your baby, or months and years waiting for your foster child to become legally free for adoption. That's adoption labor.

Perhaps you had to wait, wait, wait, for the red tape to be unraveled or for the hearing for the finalization process to be scheduled. That's adoption labor.

You may have listened to a social worker detail the horrific abuse your child has endured. That's adoption labor.

One parent learned that the birth mother of her child had been raped. Devastated by the news, she wondered if and how she should tell her child. That's adoption labor.

At times the pain can be so great that you want to scream, "Why do we have to go through this scrutiny? All we want is to provide a good home for a child who needs one. Biological parents don't have to go through this. Why do we? The home studies, the red tape, the legalities. When will it ever end?" That's adoption labor.

Your labor pains may become more intense as you attend friends' baby showers and there you are, still waiting. That's adoption labor.

You may feel intense pain, like the mother with three special needs children all under the age of three, when her friend begged her to adopt a severely hurting baby. The thought of raising a child with prenatal exposure to alcohol and cocaine, plus a missing hand, was more than she could fathom. Her husband "negotiated" with her for a month and she entered adoption with her feet dragging. That's adoption labor.

You have gone through so much to bring your children home, Your pain is just as intense as that of a woman giving birth, possibly more so. But society at large doesn't acknowledge this pain unless you're a movie star or your story is sensational enough to merit coverage by a local television show. "Why give a baby shower or bring in meals? After all, you got your child the easy way." Isn't this what many of you have experiences from our uneducated society?

Oh, yes, you do have hard labor, but joy comes after intense adoption labor, when you bring your child home.

Dad's 79th Birthday Party

My dad turned 79 this week! We were able to go back to St. Louis for the long Memorial Day weekend and we celebrated my dad's birthday a little early. The family got together for an Italian dinner. I think my dad was very happy and enjoyed having everyone together to celebrate. I loved seeing the smile on his face.

Toronto

We were able to escape the craziness of this summer for a short trip before I had to return to work. Giovanni's brother Lorenzo came for a visit and we decided to take a rode trip to Toronto. We went to the Royal Ontario Museum and saw an amazing exhibit on the Chinese Terracotta Soldiers. We saw the spectacular view of Toronto from the CN Tower (the tallest free standing structure in the Western Hemisphere). We also spent a day in Niagara exploring the falls. I was in complete awe at their beauty. On our final day we toured Casa Loma and went to the Ontario Science Centre. It was a great trip!

Mixed Emotions

As my summer time in St. Louis is coming to an end, I am flooded with mixed emotions. Of course I am happy to be going home to my husband (and cat). I'm just anxious and nervous about leaving my dad. I know that he will be in good hands. It is just difficult to think about not seeing him everyday. It makes it even harder to leave when I have to hear him say, "What am I going to do without you?" He is worried that he wont be able to go to church, music programs, and outings without me being there to take him. I told him that there are people who would take him if he lets them know what he wants to do. I hope that they remember to check on him and encourage him to attend activities. I think that has helped make a huge difference in his state of mind. Even though my time here has been an emotional roller coaster, I am thankful that I was able to be here and spend this time with him.

Thankful Moments and Memories

Yesterday was such a wonderful day. I was able to convince my dad to go on an outing! Once a week they have a planned outing for the residences to go on. This week it was to the Ameristar Casino. We had been talking about going all week and he seemed on board for the trip, but you never know if he'll be up to it when the time comes. When I arrived to his room he was all dressed but when I told him we were going to the casino he said he thought that he was getting ready to go out somewhere with the family. He said he wanted to pass on the casino. The nurse walked in about 15 minutes before the bus was set to leave. When she said they were about to leave for the casino, my dad asked what casino they were going to. The nurse said Ameristar and dad looked at me and said, "Ok, let's go". We hurried up front, loaded the bus and we were off!

We had a great time! We played on three slot machines; one penny and two quarter slots (neither of us are big gamblers). On the last slot machine we won $35 and we both looked at each other and said, "Ok we're done!" We ended up winning $53 altogether. After that we went into one the restaurants, drank some ice tea, and talked. It was great seeing my dad laughing, having a great time and interacting with some of the other people on the trip with us. Even though it was just a 2 1/2 hour trip, it was a little adventure for us. It reminded me of all the fantastic adventures I had with my dad when I was growing up. I am so blessed to have all those moments and memories and thankful that I have been able share all these new ones with him. In the words of my dad "we had a good time, won some money, and had some fun" what else could we ask for?!

Giovanni sent me beautiful flowers yesterday! I was very surprised. It was just what I needed to cheer me up and remind me how blessed I am to have him in my life. He is my life preserver! Whenever feel like I am sinking in troubled waters, he is right there to help me and pull me back into safety. Thank you mi amore!

I have been home for about five days now and will be returning to St. Louis tomorrow for about another four weeks (until I have to return to work Aug. 30th). It has been great being home; spending time with Giovanni, being in my own house, sleeping in my own bed, and cuddling with Capone....living our normal life, if only for a little while.

Still no major news on the adoption front. We got an e-mail from CHSFS saying that some people have finally received their approvals (not us though). The three regional referral committees met in July but no referrals were made to U.S families. They are speculating that there will be no news in August because it tends to be a month that many go on vacation in Ecuador. We were told that our contact in Ecuador has written letters and made appeals asking for the UTA to push to deal with the long pending cases and she did receive a promise to do so. I am hopeful but lets just say that I'm not going to hold my breath.

I can do all this through he who give me strength ~Philippians 4:13

Giovanni has been spending his summer traveling A LOT for work and this week he ended up in Bloomington, IL, which is about three hours away from St. Louis. Since tomorrow is Giovanni's birthday, I decided to surprise him by coming to Bloomington to pick him and drive back to Kalamazoo with him. Even though I was able to somewhat pull off the surprise (he said he suspected something was going on because I was calling him more than usual throughout the day) things have not gone fully according to my plan. My plan was to meet and surprise him, then once he was done with his test at the plant, drive home with him. But of course things don't always go as planned. There were problems at the plant, things were taking longer than expected, and it looks like we will be staying the night in Bloomington. Which is ok I guess, just was kind of looking forward sleeping in my own bed. The most important thing is that I can't wait to spend the next few days with Giovanni and celebrate his birthday. Oh and I can't wait to see Capone ;)
My dad seems to be settling in a little better, which is somewhat of a relief. He has begun to be a little more sociable with the staff at the nursing facility (anyone who spends just 5mins with him falls in love with him). We have also been able to get him out of his room and go for rides exploring the building. He LOVES going by the child development center they have in the facility. He watches the children during play and nap times. Last Friday he surprised me and went to a happy hour show they were having. Its important to me that what ever time he has left he is able to have the best quality of life as possible!

Wait, Hold, and Pray

The theme of this year seems to be "Wait, Hold, and Pray".



Wait...We have been waiting anxiously for words from Ecuador regarding our adoption. As the wait gets longer and longer, it also gets harder. Especially since we are not fully sure what we are waiting for. We could be waiting for Ecuador to approve our dossier (which is the normal part of the process, but we have been waiting longer then the estimated time frame). We could also be waiting for Ecuador to say they need more documents from us. And then there is the possibility that we could be waiting for a straight referral and news we have been matched with our child. We are closely approaching the year mark for many of our documents, which means will have to begin renewing many of the documents from our dossier. This will include our home study. I am also waiting for my dad. waiting for him to get better or get worse....possibly waiting for God to call him.



Hold....I have been in St. Louis for over a month. The time here is strange...at times it feel life i just got here, other times it feels like I have been here longer than a month. Some days go by fast and some days go by so slow. I wonder if this is normal, considering everything that is going on right now. I wonder if this is normal when you are putting your life on hold. This summer Giovanni and I had a lot of plans. Plans to prepare the house for the arrival of our child, trips and travels, and to just enjoy what we hoped to be our last summer as just the two of us. I know that three month might seem like a long time now, but in the big picture of life it is minute. I don't think that I will ever regret being here for my dad and family.



Pray...I tell myself everyday that God has plans for me and he will never give me more than I can handle. Honestly, some days this is harder to believe than others. I continue to pray in hopes that my prayer will soon be answered.

Hard Decisions

My family has had to make some hard decisions over the last several weeks. Last week my father was finally discharged from the hospital, moved to a nursing home (I just hate those words), and placed on hospice. Our ultimate goal is to keep him as comfortable as possible during the time he has left with us. We are continuing to spend as much time with him as possible, although he spends a majority of time sleeping. I wish that I could say he has good and bad days but it is more like good moments and bad moments. We continue to lean on each other for support.

Update on my Dad

Many of you know that I have been in St. Louis for the past three weeks helping out with my dad. I thought that since I had a little free time I would try to update everyone. Over the past month my dad has been on a steady decline; memory, fatigue, sleeplessness. Since I have been here he has been in the hospital twice; he is currently the hospital now and has been for the past five days. The first time at the hospital they found he had low potassium, which could have accounted for the fatigue. They also did an MRI which did not yield good results. They found that he had amyloid angiopathy; which can be described as blood slowly seeping out from the blood vessels in his brain. It is something that could eventually cause a massive brain hemorrhage. Because my dad is on blood thinners for a heart condition, the medication makes this condition even more dangerous. We were told that there is really nothing that can be done for this and it has been the main cause of his memory loss. After three days, when his potassium levels were normal, they sent him home telling us that he needed 24 hour supervision. This time period was very stressful. One of us was with him 24 hours a day. We took turns sleeping in the same room as him so when he woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom someone was there or so someone was there to help him start his morning routine when he woke up for the day. At the same time we were trying to find some kind of assistive living facility for him. These days were physically and emotional exhausting; both for all of us and my dad. He has started to become more and more depressed and ready to give up. After about four days being home from the hospital my dad was suppose to have a follow up visit with his Dr. Well that day he made up his mind that he was NOT going anywhere. The Dr. office called an ambulance to come to the house and said that since he would not go to his follow up appointment he needed to go back to the hospital. He still was NOT leaving his house. After crying, begging, pleading he still would not go and since at THAT moment my dad could answer all the EMT’s questions, they had to say that he was capable of making his own decisions and they could not just take him under our request. The EMTs were amazing and they did get him to promise to go the Dr. the next day; which he thankfully did. The visit to the Dr. office lead us back to the hospital due to possible dehydration and low blood pressure when my dad would sit or stand (this was causing to almost pass out every time he would try to walk).
Right now my dad is still in the hospital. One of us is there up at the hospital from 8am until 9:00pm to ensure we are able to talk with the Dr. They are working on improving his blood pressure, which will hopefully increase his energy and ability to walk more steadily. Physically everything seems to be improving, but mentally and emotionally he still is not showing improvement; which is a huge concern. I am not sure what will happen next. We are meeting tomorrow to talk with the Dr. as a family and determine our next course of action.
It is difficult to see my dad, a man of such pride, who was always quick as a whip and physical up for any adventure like this. It tears me up inside knowing that he is in so much emotional pain and turmoil. We are trying to stay positive, keeping him talking about the amazing life he had (I love hearing stories from his childhood), laughing at the witty comments he has for us and the nurses. I am thankful that Giovanni has been able to come down here. He came down when my dad went into the hospital the second time. He is traveling for work this week but will be returning to St. Louis Friday or Saturday and will stay here for a couple more days. You have always been my rock! Thank you Sara, my dearest friend! You have done so much for me and my family. You have been the key to me keeping my sanity through all of this. Thank you Marsha! I can rest a little easier knowing that Capone is being looked after by such a loving person. Thank you to my sisters and brothers! It great to know that we have each other to lean on. Thank you to everyone out there who has kept me, my dad and my family in your prayers.

Four Years and Counting

This week (Wednesday, June 3rd) Giovanni and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. It was hard to believe that it have been four years since I walked down the aisle and married my best friend. At same time it feels like we have known and been together forever. We have been though a lot over the course of the past four years and I know that as our journey together continues there will be even more obstacles to overcome. But I know that as long as we work together and continue to have our faith in God that we can get through anything.

Memorial Day Weekend

This year we spent some of Memorial Day Weekend in Saugatuck, Michigan. It is known as “The Art Coast of Michigan”. There are some great unique shops, galleries and restaurants. We met some friends down there, did some shopping and took a boat ride along the Kalamazoo River into Lake Michigan.

There were some amazing homes and beautiful boats along the Kalamazoo River!

Here we are going down the Kalamazoo River towards Lake Michigan.

You could see Oval Beach from our boat ride on Lake Michigan.

After the boat ride Giovanni and I had a great dinner along the waterfront. The energy there was great! There was a band playing on the patio and people hanging out on their boats docked right in front of us.

After dinner we drove to Oval Beach to watch the sunset. It was so relaxing and beautiful! We had such a wonderful time in Saugatuck that we are already planning on going back there again sometime this summer.

A Long Way from the Rake Mishap

As many of you may know we are not the savviest DIYers. Painting the inside of our house was a big undertaking for us (we barely survived that). When we first moved to Michigan and became homeowners, I don’t think either one or us realized what we were getting ourselves into. I came from a family where my father was very handy and could do just about anything. Giovanni came from a family/society where it’s just easy to hire someone to do the job for you (it's also way less expensive). So far we have survived on trial and error, help from family when they come to visit, what I have picked up from watching my dad over the years, and hired professionals. As we have become more and more comfortable with our home improvement abilities we have taken on more and more projects. Just a couple of months ago we installed shelving units in our walking closet; something we would have hired someone to do a year ago. With spring upon us we have decided to take on……the yard work! The past three years we have paid someone to come out and cut, rake, etc. our yard. After weeks of discussion we decided to give it a try. Today we went out and bought all the appropriate equipment….lawn mower, weed eater, and yard waste bags. We spent much of the afternoon outside doing yard work; lucky for Giovanni my back/ribs are doing much better and I was able to help. I pulled weeds in the garden, picked up sticks, cleaned off the patio and patio furniture…. Giovanni was in charge of the lawn mower and cutting the grass. I was so proud of him! He has come a long way from the rake mishap!

Brescia Updates

Adoption Update: We have no new news on the adoption front. We are just continuing to wait until we hear anything. We continue to read about adoption and attended classes or meetings on adoption every chance we get. We are trying to stay busy in hopes to make the wait a little more bearable. We have begun to try to reorganize the house and selling things we no longer use or need. I also have begun to work on my Spanish more regularly. All in the hope of bring home our baby soon.

Masters Update: I got word last Tuesday that I passed my comprehensive exam for my masters program. I was a little disappointed that I did not pass with honors but words cannot express how excited I was that I passed. This past Saturday I graduated from Western Michigan University with a Masters in Special Education with an endorsement in Learning Disabilities. What a relief to be finally done with something I have worked so hard for. So what’s next?! I will probably take a short time off from school but I have plans to start a program to earn an endorsement in Autism. My work at Croyden has helped me to develop a strong passion for working with students with Autism. Every day is an adventure and challenge; I love it. Who knows I might just decide to stay in school and get a PhD.

Capone Update: Yesterday was a very stressful day for me! I took Capone in to the vet for a routine check up and vaccinations. During the exam the Dr. noticed an abnormal breathing pattern. He took x-rays and Capone had a significant amount of fluid in his lungs and was going into congestive heart failure. We really didn’t know if he would make it through the night since cats generally go downhill fast once they have been diagnosed with this. I decided to take Capone to a 24 hour emergency facility so he could be monitored through the night by a Dr. This morning I got word that Capone did very well during the night and could come home. I need to continue to monitor him and he is currently on four different kinds of medication, which he will be for the rest of his life. All the money we used on him is well worth it. He is an important part of our family. He was a very timid stray we took in while we lived in Joplin, Mo. It took me almost three months of feeding him every day before he finally let me pet him. Ever since then he has been glued to my side. I often joke that his name should be shadow since he follows me EVERYWHERE! The house was very empty last night without him. It is so wonderful to have him back home and recovering. He is a very special cat!

We happily welcome the change of season. It is great to be in the middle of a Michigan spring. I am loving the sunshine and the mild temperatures. I am finally finding the time to write a little bit about what has been going on at the Brescia house. We had a wonderful Easter celebration. My sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and dad came up for what is becoming a yearly trip. I enjoyed their visit, although it was way too short. I wish we lived closer to our families and were able to spend much more time together.

For the past month I have been studying for the finally step in obtaining my Master’s. Yesterday I took the comprehensive exam for my program. I think that preparing for this exam was one of the most difficult things I have had to do during the course of my educational career. I was so anxious the felt like I was going to be sick before and during the exam. I still had those feelings of anxiety several hours after the exam. I think that it went well; we will see if I pass or fail in a couple of weeks. Besides the exam results, I am all set to graduate on May 1st with a Master’s degree in Special Education.

Adoption news…a couple weeks ago we got an e-mail for the adoption agency informing us that our dossier has been submitted to the Ecuador Adoption Authority, and is now undergoing review. We were told that the review which results in “idoneidad”, or approval, is taking 3 months or more. They have also seen some take more than 5 months, and sometimes they just aren’t notified that it was approved, so that could account for the lengthened time. So the wait continues. We have been taking about what we could be doing to help prepare for bring home our child but not knowing the gender or age will make some things difficult. But we will do what we can and continue to pray.

Exciting News

We got some exciting news today! I received an e-mail that our dossier was send to Ecuador today…that was faster than we thought it was going to be. This is a huge milestone for us. I have heard from other adoptive parents that once the dossier gets sent out it feels like you’re just found out you are pregnant. Not quite sure about that feeling but I am defiantly excited. And I can only hope that we have just a 9 mouth waiting period ahead of us before we can finally be united with our child! To everyone out there reading our blog, please keep us in your prayers so that this trying process continues on fairly smoothly and quickly. This is by far one of the most momentous choices I have made in my life. We thank everyone out for their love and support through this journey.

Let the waiting begin

Today we were finally able to send off our dossier! We are done hunting down documents, done with the notary public, done getting things appostilled….at least for a little while I hope. We will have to wait until CHSFS receives our dossier, looks over the documents, and approves it to be sent to Ecuador. So what do we do next? WAIT! Wait for our dossier to be sent to Ecuador. Wait for Ecuador to approve us. Wait to be matched with a child. Wait for approval to travel….we just have to wait. I think that out of this whole process this is going to be the hardest part for me. As many of you may know, I am a planner and organizer. I like to plan out my day, week, my future. Making long term plans has become more and more difficult, because some much of the future is still unknown to us. When will we find our child, when we will the three of us become a family… only He knows all the answers.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding.Seek his will in all you do,and he will show you which path to take."Proverbs 3:5-6

Get 'Er Done

We have been working on our dossier since December and are almost done. We are waiting on one document (psych report) and the wait is beginning to get frustrating. We were supposed to have our final meeting last Tuesday to go over the report. That appointment had to be rescheduled because the psychologist decided to go to a conference that day. We rescheduled for last Thursday. We went to the appointment, thinking that she would have the psych reports completed, and she didn’t. She said that she would have them done the following day and I could pick them up after work. I got a message the next day from her saying that the office is closing early on Friday so I would have to pick up the reports Tuesday after work. This whole thing was frustrating as is because we had planned on going to Grand Rapids Saturday to get the psych report apostilled. Today it just got even more frustrating. I got a message on my cell from her; she needed some more clarification on some items, items that were discussed in our sessions. She also stated that the MMPI-2 (a personality test) that we took weeks ago and discussed at our Thursday appointment did not come with a section that she would like to include in our report (and she just realized this today?!). She said that she would have to send it back and wait to receive that section on the evaluation. Which means we would have to wait another week probably. This is frustrating! I called and had to leave a message answering her questions and telling her to call me back regarding the timeline. I have not received a call back yet. After work I had to go to the mall to pick something up. As I was walking in I walked past a person that looked familiar. You know how you think that you recognize someone but just can’t place were you know them from. Then it hit me…it was the psychologist!!!!! Too bad she was gone before I realized it was her. I would have been like, “Lady, what are you doing shopping at the mall when you have my report to be working on!” Golly Gees people…get things done when you say they are going to be done!

Bundle Up

Since we are here and hopefully we won’t be here forever, we have decided to try to take some weekend excursions and explore Michigan. This weekend we went to Frankenmuth. They call Frankenmuth ‘Michigan’s Little Bavaria’. It is a quaint town that was founded by German missionaries. There are unique little shops and German influenced buildings. The world famous Snowfest was going on this weekend in Frankenmuth. Teams from all over the world come to participate in ice sculpture and snow carving competitions. So we bundled up, saw some amazing sculptures, and ate some German food (yum yum).

Almost There...

We have been so busy trying to get all our paper work for our dossier done….we are almost there! This past week Giovanni and I went up to Grand Rapids to have our fingerprints taken for immigration (I-800 A). We also had the majority of the documents apostilled while we were up there. Right now we are waiting on three things….our psych evaluation (we have our final appointment Feb 9th), immigration approval, and the photo album we made about ourselves and our family. Once these are completed we will be ready to send in our dossier to CHSFS. Hopefully after CHSFS looks over the dossier, it will be approved to be sent to Ecuador. I pray every night that this process continues to move along fairly smoothly; although at times very tedious and wearying. There are three families who just recently left and traveled to Ecuador to be united with their children. This is great news to all of us families in waiting. I can’t wait until the day that I get to write about getting a referral, preparing to travel, and being uniting with our child.

Back into the Swing of Things

I t has definitely taken awhile to get back into the routine of life after Christmas break. As we have been settling backing into the swing of things we continue to trek along in our journey. Last week we got notice of our immigration appointment time. Next week we will drive up to Grand Rapids, MI to have our fingerprints taken. We will try to kill two birds with one stone and also have the majority of our dossier documents apostilled while we are in Grand Rapids. Giovanni and I have also both had our first psychological appointments. Yes everyone, we have to be psychologically evaluated as part of the adoption. It is something that I think every parent should have to go through. We had to meet with the psychologist and take a psychological exam. It was interesting talking to the psychologist; she had me draw a picture of a house, tree, and a person. She said that she would be able to tell a lot about me from my drawing (I have heard of this before). From my drawing she concluded that I am an open person, with realistic expectation of myself and others. I welcome others into my home/life and have a warm and safe home life. She also pointed out that the way I drew my tree indicated that I have experienced trauma early in life (probably the death of my mother). Giovanni drew a palm tree in his picture, indicating he is looking towards a relaxing future. Maybe we will end up in HawaiiJ. I am interested in seeing the results of the MMPI-2, a 557 true/false question test we took last night. That should indicate if we have any serious personality flaws. We should have the results of that test in a couple of weeks (fingers crossed).
I am loving the fact that we have been able to check off a lot of things on our list….it just means that we are one step closer! We have a few documents to be apostilled, make a photo album about ourselves, and the psychological report then we will be done with the dossier. Soon we will just be waiting on the psychological report, which we were told should be done early February. Once our dossier is completed it will be reviewed and then submitted to Ecuador. Then we wait and pray, pray and wait.