Yesterday, we dressed in costumes for work. We actualy had 25-30 folks dress up and that is awesome for our hospital! We had: Big Mama (who lost her little puppy) - hilarious, 2 clowns, 2 witches, Three Blind Mice, the evil queen, Cat in the Hat, Beatleguise, hippy, rock star, hillbilly (me), flapper, bad angel & Greek goddess (twin sisters), cowgirls, army man, goddess of love, etc. We had the best time and so did our patients who voted in the costume contest.
This time next year, I will be putting my energy into my child(ren)'s costume, not my own. Such a great feeling. I can hardly wait!
We also had a small, baking sized pumpkin decorating contest. Our staff showed out! We gave pumpkins to each department/shift and the only rule was that they could not carve them. The winner was "Reggie Rehab" from the therapy department. They took children's overalls and placed them on a quad cane for stability, stuffed them and had the pumpkin as his head. They even made a little walker for him! Too cute.
I just love all of the fall events and can't wait to share them with our child(ren)! We don't necessarily celebrate Halloween, but we do enjoy the Fall Festival activities.
Eagerly awaiting this time next year,
R & T
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Almost Overwhelming - in a Good Way!
So much to do and so little time!
Tim sent most of the paperwork to the State Department for Apostille. We still have the Home Study Addendum, State Background Check, etc. that should arrive from our Social Worker via mail tomorrow.
I have been emailing with our translator and she said that she expects us to travel in December. She still has not heard when the SDA will shut down or if they will in December.
I have read where folks are traveling 2-3 weeks after their appointment dates, so that would put us traveling in December.
I am nervous about leaving work for that long and neither of us have ever spent Christmas without our families. But, we know it will be more than worth it have our child(ren).
Please continue to pray that the SDA appointment will go well and that we will graciously accept God's will, whatever it may be.
Love,
R & T
Tim sent most of the paperwork to the State Department for Apostille. We still have the Home Study Addendum, State Background Check, etc. that should arrive from our Social Worker via mail tomorrow.
I have been emailing with our translator and she said that she expects us to travel in December. She still has not heard when the SDA will shut down or if they will in December.
I have read where folks are traveling 2-3 weeks after their appointment dates, so that would put us traveling in December.
I am nervous about leaving work for that long and neither of us have ever spent Christmas without our families. But, we know it will be more than worth it have our child(ren).
Please continue to pray that the SDA appointment will go well and that we will graciously accept God's will, whatever it may be.
Love,
R & T
Friday, October 23, 2009
Almost ready to Apostille for the 2nd time
We have all of the updated paperwork with the exception of the home study addendum. We had a little problem on getting one of the medicals back, but we have now passed that on to our social worker and should have everything back in time to get it to Ukraine within the next week.
It seemed like such a long time when we found out about the submission date, but the time has really passed quickly. As much as we would love to have our children for Christmas, we are concerned about being in Ukraine during the holidays. Of course, we will go whenever we are told to do so, but hate the thought of having to spend additional time there while the government offices are closed for the holidays.
My HR Director had me complete the FMLA request this week. Our company is a national company, but we do not have a huge workforce. She said that we need to get it forwarded to our home office because she doesn't think they have handled a FMLA for this type of adoption before. Which reminds me. - I need to email our facilitator and let her know that I will need a copy of the appointment letter scanned to myself and HR. They will need something official and that is all I can think of to provide them in advance of the trip. Any suggestions from those of you have been there, done that?
I am excited and ready to get started on the room for the child(ren.) It is hard not knowing if we will come home with one or two children and the ages/sexes.
My sister has a trundle bed that she is giving us. I bought a duvet cover that has bright blue, light blue and green stripes on it and have purchased sheets in solid colors that match. This should work for either sex and can be prissied up with some ruffles, etc. if we do get a little girl. We will just move the furniture and get that bed ready before we leave. We can adjust accordingly when we get home and I am sure that our parents, brother and sister will help if we need anything set up before we get back.
I just cannot believe that we are this close now. I have tried so hard to hold my excitement in case we submit and have to re-do something and get a new submission date, but sometimes, I just can't hold it in.
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel further in this journey.
Love,
R&T
It seemed like such a long time when we found out about the submission date, but the time has really passed quickly. As much as we would love to have our children for Christmas, we are concerned about being in Ukraine during the holidays. Of course, we will go whenever we are told to do so, but hate the thought of having to spend additional time there while the government offices are closed for the holidays.
My HR Director had me complete the FMLA request this week. Our company is a national company, but we do not have a huge workforce. She said that we need to get it forwarded to our home office because she doesn't think they have handled a FMLA for this type of adoption before. Which reminds me. - I need to email our facilitator and let her know that I will need a copy of the appointment letter scanned to myself and HR. They will need something official and that is all I can think of to provide them in advance of the trip. Any suggestions from those of you have been there, done that?
I am excited and ready to get started on the room for the child(ren.) It is hard not knowing if we will come home with one or two children and the ages/sexes.
My sister has a trundle bed that she is giving us. I bought a duvet cover that has bright blue, light blue and green stripes on it and have purchased sheets in solid colors that match. This should work for either sex and can be prissied up with some ruffles, etc. if we do get a little girl. We will just move the furniture and get that bed ready before we leave. We can adjust accordingly when we get home and I am sure that our parents, brother and sister will help if we need anything set up before we get back.
I just cannot believe that we are this close now. I have tried so hard to hold my excitement in case we submit and have to re-do something and get a new submission date, but sometimes, I just can't hold it in.
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel further in this journey.
Love,
R&T
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Still waiting.......
I picked up our Medical Reports last Wed. and Tim noticed that his was a copy, not the original. So, he is supposed to pick up his original on Monday. After that, we can send to our social worker to get our addendum to the home study and then he will drive everything to the State Department in Columbia to have it apostilled.
Then....everyting will go to our facilitator to be translated and submittted on 11/23/09.
Keep us in your prayers!
Then....everyting will go to our facilitator to be translated and submittted on 11/23/09.
Keep us in your prayers!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Joy Boxes
While we were at Myrtle Beach, it dawned on us that we had heard nothing about the Joy Boxes that our church usually does for the Ukraine orphans. Last year, we shopped for the contents while we were at the beach. Today, as we walked in - there were the boxes!
The boxes have a very special meaning to me. Years ago, my mom brought a VHS tape to me from a lady she worked with. It was a tape of their church delivering the Joy Boxes to the Ukraine orphanages. The precious little children broke my heart. I wanted to go there at that very moment and bring all of the children home! The Joy Boxes that we send each year are delivered by the members of the same church that made the tape that I saw.
Last year Rice Memorial Baptist did boxes for teens, as we will be doing again this year. I will always remember the joy on the teen's faces when they got combs, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Things that we take for granted are treasures to these children. And to Tim and me, the child(ren) that we adopt from Ukraine will truly be a treasure.
When we began visiting at Rice, I was very excited to learn that their primary mission work is in Ukraine! I know that God led us to Rice and that this is all His will that things are working out as they should per His will.
So while we complete paperwork - for hopefully, the last time - fill some Joy Boxes, continue our Rosetta Stone program, pray for all the orphans of Ukraine and pray for our child(ren) and their caregivers.
Love to all,
R & T
The boxes have a very special meaning to me. Years ago, my mom brought a VHS tape to me from a lady she worked with. It was a tape of their church delivering the Joy Boxes to the Ukraine orphanages. The precious little children broke my heart. I wanted to go there at that very moment and bring all of the children home! The Joy Boxes that we send each year are delivered by the members of the same church that made the tape that I saw.
Last year Rice Memorial Baptist did boxes for teens, as we will be doing again this year. I will always remember the joy on the teen's faces when they got combs, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Things that we take for granted are treasures to these children. And to Tim and me, the child(ren) that we adopt from Ukraine will truly be a treasure.
When we began visiting at Rice, I was very excited to learn that their primary mission work is in Ukraine! I know that God led us to Rice and that this is all His will that things are working out as they should per His will.
So while we complete paperwork - for hopefully, the last time - fill some Joy Boxes, continue our Rosetta Stone program, pray for all the orphans of Ukraine and pray for our child(ren) and their caregivers.
Love to all,
R & T
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Getting Closer
Well... haven't posted in a while. Been working on getting the paperwork done for submission. Our facilitator needs the paperwork by 10/31/09. This time around, I thought it would be easier and in some ways it is, but it seems like everything is taking longer. We mailed the physician's paperwork almost two weeks ago and haven't heard back yet. We will call tomorrow and check on this. I have an appointment on Wed. and hopefully I can pick it up then.
We have been out of town this past week for a vacation at Myrtle Beach. We really needed a break from work and running around, so we decided to take our normal week. It was nice to see the children there at Broadway at the Beach - riding rides, the two little boys who ran down all out down the beach to their grandmother and the cute kids in Red Robin. It was nice to know that we should have our little one by the next time we visit.
We got our laptop, so we should have at least some access while we are in Ukraine. We will be using Skype, so we need to get the family all set up on it as well.
We have been picking up some clothing along the way such as boots and leggings for layering. We will really have to limit ourselves because last week, for the beach, the car was packed! We wouldn't have room to take a child if we had one. There is no way we can lug that many clothes around Ukraine. At least we know if will be cold there. This week at Myrtle is always a challenge. We take shorts and jeans, short sleeves and long sleeves, and more shoes than we do in June.
Thanks for hanging in there. I am sure we will have more to report as the time get near.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Love, R & T
We have been out of town this past week for a vacation at Myrtle Beach. We really needed a break from work and running around, so we decided to take our normal week. It was nice to see the children there at Broadway at the Beach - riding rides, the two little boys who ran down all out down the beach to their grandmother and the cute kids in Red Robin. It was nice to know that we should have our little one by the next time we visit.
We got our laptop, so we should have at least some access while we are in Ukraine. We will be using Skype, so we need to get the family all set up on it as well.
We have been picking up some clothing along the way such as boots and leggings for layering. We will really have to limit ourselves because last week, for the beach, the car was packed! We wouldn't have room to take a child if we had one. There is no way we can lug that many clothes around Ukraine. At least we know if will be cold there. This week at Myrtle is always a challenge. We take shorts and jeans, short sleeves and long sleeves, and more shoes than we do in June.
Thanks for hanging in there. I am sure we will have more to report as the time get near.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Love, R & T
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