Random acts of Kindness abound

According to Wikepedia, a random act of kindness is defined as " a purportedly selfless act performed by person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases, even an animal. There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile :) or be happier. Either sponteneous or planned in advance, "RAok's" are encouraged by various communities. An oft sided example of a random act of kindness is, when paying the toll at the toll booth on a highway, is to pay for the car behind you as well."

I found it appropriate to share what a very nice friend is doing for me, since all my "friends" in the blogging community practice random acts of kindness daily in all the prayers and encouragement we give each other. I feel so incredibly blessed to have "met" so many truly wonderful, caring people on this journey!

Anyway, on my run with my fabulous running buddies this morning, I was lamenting on how I was going to be able to pull Thanksgiving dinner off this year. For the past few years, we've always gone to Joe's cousin's for the holiday, who lives only 5 minutes away and is a FABULOUS cook! I have slid by on bringing veggies and my famous weight watcher "Pumpkin cupcakes". This year, however, Joe's cousin is going to a family reunion of sorts with her husband's family. DARN THE LUCK! However, I have done Thanksgiving before and Joe does a mean turkey, so I was not too stressed. Now-that is not worth lamenting over, I know. BUT, there is more to the story. We have been wanting to replace our carpet (the bedrooms and excercise room) with wood floors for awhile now. We got a quote, and it was like 3x more than we expected. October came and went, and we had been too busy to go the store and try to find something we liked that was more affordable. Our procrastinating paid off-as they had gotten a great deal on a shipment of wood--Brazilan cherry--and it was within our budget (sorta). Great news--they started YESTERDAY! I was clearly NOT thinking how much work this would entail for us as well. We spent the weekend getting EVERYTHING off the floor and Joe disassembled furniture. It's all stacked around our house-on the lanai, in the garage, EVERYWHERE. We slept the last 2 nights on our mattress on the floor in our room. It's like camping-Sean thinks it's groovy fun. Anyway-they said they could get done in 2 days. Now, it's 4 bedrooms and an excercise room--and the rooms are not really that small. Yesterday, they got Sean's room done. Granted, they had to spend the morning ripping out carpet, and really only had the afternoon to get Sean's room done, but still, there is NO WAY they will get done today. So, Not only am I not really a cook (but I can follow a receipe and I am on weight watchers so I can make some good weight watchers thanksgiving things) but my house is a DISASTER AREA! wow, that was a long lament. Anyway-that was what i was telling my fabulous running buddies this morning at 5 am. One lady, who I've only met recently, said, "Oh, I MAKE volumes of stuff!" How many people are you having? She SERIOUSLY invited me over to come get some of her HOMEMADE butternut squash soup, some homemade cranberry sauce, and she said she was making stuffing today. She offered to make ME extra stuffing! I could not believe she was even serious. She told me to call her before 11 because she was going to Panera to get bread for the stuffing and she needed to know if she needed to get more. I was flabbergasted that this very sweet woman, that I only recently met, is offering to help JULIA CHILD my Thanksgiving!! Now, this is the same lady, that a couple months ago after the rumors of the "age bill" that would limit adoptive parents to age to 50 first surfaced, and i was lamenting about it on our run, who wrote me a note of encouragement about the adoption process and how everything would work out.
Melinda is OBVIOUSLY a very very nice lady and I am just so very blessed to have wonderful people in my life who practice random acts of kindness as a daily ritual.
Now, I don't need the stuffing after all, as Joe's cousin Elaine is bringing turkey and stuffing (yay!!) and we're not having dinner until after 5, so I am feeling so much better. I can get up, go run the 5k and 10K Turkey Trot, then come home and whip up some fabulous weight watchers sweet taters and green beans and get the house together. Plus, my hubby,although an "old man" at almost 52, is a TASK MASTER and he works so hard and fast. He even painted the guest room this weekeend as well as everything else he did.

I would like to take this time to thank all of my new blogger buddies for being such an awesome and amazing support network and for your candor and ability to speak from the heart. I can't imagine going thru this journey without all of you. Let's all be grateful for our MANY blessings and practice random acts of kindness EVERYDAY!

Love you all!!

Warm your heart kind of story

As it is National Adoption month, and I find myself on this incredible journey, I found it fitting that I should share this wonderful story with my fellow adoptive blog faithful friends. This is going to be long, so please bear with me.
Everyone has their own story on how they opened their heart to adopt a child. For some, it's infertility, for others it's because they were adopted and always knew they wanted to adopt, for others they just felt a calling to adopt. The reasons are vast and various and wonderful. We came to adopt because we wanted another child. We thought we just wanted one, but when my sister had her second baby (3 years ago!) and I went to visit her and see the baby, I fell hopelessly in love and came home wanting to be a mother again. My husband is a true sport-a father to a 27 year old son, 25 year old daughter, and then our son, age 9, and is opening his life to yet another child, and he's got 10 1/2 years on me! Before this conversation had even taken place, I had met a wonderful lady while volunteering at field day at my son's school, when he was in first grade. We immediately hit it off, and come to find out that years ago, she worked with my husband-such a small world. She and her husband have 2 children, and when I met her, they were foster parents to another child. Laura is a wonderfully spiritual person and her and her husband have the biggest hearts and are the most incredible family that I have ever met. Laura's mother in law was approached by a man who knew of a little girl who needed a place to live for a year while she had surgery at Shriner's hospital. The little girl had been burned in a fire when she was 7 days old, the netting on her bassinet caught fire and her entire face and hair was burned. It's an incredible story, but this little girl, who came to them at 4 with no boundaries, is now a thriving 8 year old who is now reading and writing and just doing fabulously, and in process of her 2nd surgery to help remake her face. If you would like to read more, Laura has made a blog. She said I inspired her to make a blog..ME-how cool is that. :) The school has really embraced Lina and she is just this beautiful soul.
http://amiracleinthemaking.blogspot.com

ANYWAY, they decided to adopt Lina, and they had to go to Columbia to officially adopt her, since that is where she was born. While they were there, they went to the orphanage where she was left after she was burned, and they were giving toys to the children there. Her husband came home and Laura was still waiting in Columbia with Lina, , and imagine my suprise when he told me that Laura would be coming home soon, BUT, with another child as well.
One of the children that they met at the orphange touched their hearts. They set the wheels in motion and had to get a new i-171h to adopt him, which was done in record time. John came to Florida with his new parents, age 6, and didn't speak ANY english, only spanish. He is an adorable child with an incredible wit and he's an incredible athlete. You can see their family picture if you go look at Lina's blog above.
Let's fast forward a year-John is now a happy, well adjusted 1st grader that speaks fluent english. In fact, he picked up english a couple months after arriving. He just broke some school records in athletics for first grade. He jumped 9 FEET in the running broad jump, among others. He just rec'd a "key of excellence" from his teacher for always doing his work in his neatest handwriting and always doing his best. Last week, while I was talking to another mom, John came up to us and was waiting politely while we finished talking. I said, HEY buddy, what's up? I'm so proud of you-way to get your key of excellence! He said, thank you! I said, so what's up? He said, "I just wanted to give you a hug". He gave me the biggest hug and then went to class. Needless to say, I was in tears and so was the lady I was talking to.

It's hard to fathom how much John's life has changed since he was adopted by this wonderful family. When he got into the 50 book club, and he broke the athletic records, and he received his key of excellence, I just kept thinking-what a blessing this child is!! He has the warmest, sweetest smile and he's just amazing. It would take me pages and pages to describe the differences in these children after being adopted by this family. It truly makes your heart swell. It reminds me of that Lion King song.."The circle of life" as their lives affect so many people around them.

I had met Laura before we had even considered adoption. I was so amazed by her and her family and we just "hit it off" as friends. When I approached her about adoption, she said, "I always KNEW there was a reason that I met you", and a week later she had made an appointment with her adoption agency for us to go together on a fact finding mission. Now, it's 6 months later and my dossier has been in Kazakhstan for 3 weeks and we are decorating a nursery.

I am blessed to have someone like her family in my life, so that I can see first hand what a difference those children make to everyone around them. The feeling is really indescribable when I see Lina and John. Not only have their lives been forever changed, but the affect they have on other people's lives as well.
When I get anxious or worried about this process, I call Laura who immediately puts my anxieties at ease and reminds me of how good God is!

And to think, I inspired her to do a blog. It's crazy!

So, I'm sorry this is SO very long, but I wanted to try to put into words my feelings on adoption, to make my contribution to National Adoption Month.
I had no idea I would love this journey so much and meet so many incredible people along the way. To the people who tell us "You are making such a difference in a child's life", yes, we are, but really "They are making a differnce in our life" and that is WHY we are doing it!!
The waiting can be hard, but the rewards are beyond amazing!

Update!

I got an update today from my most wonderful case manager. I really like her-she is always so friendly and so helpful and understanding even when I ask her a million questions. Since our dossier has been in country 2 weeks today, I was wondering if she thought we'd travel this year. I really didn't think we would, but I need to make plans as it's our year to visit my families abode in Dallas for Christmas. We go to Dallas every other year since my inlaws live here in Florida. It's so much fun as everyone comes home (I have 4 other siblings, besides me) and all the cousins are about the same age so everyone has so much fun. I was told that we would not go until next year, so I can book our holiday flights. That is actually great with me, as I would rather go home and spend the holidays with my family because they are so fun. But, I'm also worried about that bill that's rumored to pass that would limit the age of adoptive parents to 50, since my hubby is already 51, but he looks 25 and is smokin hot! No one seems to know for sure about this bill, but I am noticing that agencies are all changing their websites to the max age of 50. However, a post came accross the yahoo boards that stated , and I quote
"The draft code on marriage and family was published in September. It was only
submitted to the government a few weeks ago. It still has to pass both the lower and upper chambers of parliament and signed into law. Even if this legislation were on the fast track, it would take at least 6-8 months to pass. My only caveat is that the current law could be quickly amended to impose some further restrictions, but I have heard of no effort to do that. I think that those prospective adoptive parents who are older than 50 who are already in the process of adopting from Kazakhstan
and who expect to be able to bring their children home within the
next 6 months should not be affected by the new legislation."

That made me feel better too.

Interestingly enough, in my yoga class, a girl next to me, who was my partner during some partner poses in REVOLVED triangle (my least favorite pose) asked me if I knew this gal, and I said, No. She said, well, are you a runner? I said, yup, and she said, have you adopted a child? I said, not yet, but I am adopting a child, and she said, from a foreign country, and I said, yes, Kazakhstan..why? This other lady had told this girl about me (I was talking about it another yoga class) and this lady today has been dealing with infertility. Her eyes got all watery and she almost made me cry. We are going to lunch next week after yoga to talk about it. I talked to her after class for awhile. I just think it's so awesome how God works, he is letting me introduce another couple into the wonderful world of adoption. I told her it's a secret underground club of blogs and such and what a fabulous journey it's been.
She was so nice and she's a really good yogi too. It's also interesting that the whole reason I started yoga almost a year ago was that I was taking a break from running (dr's orders) and doing yoga to "chill out" to try to get pregnant. In that time, my heart led me to adoption, and I still love yoga, and even thought I am running again, I am DEFINTELY chilled out. Yoga really did change my life, and it all started with the quest for a child. It's hard to not have faith in God when he keeps showing me all these wonderful ways to enhance my life.

Sorry for the ramble--I'm just happy and I love it when I see God at work in my life!

Cabo San Lucas ROCKS!

We just got back from a 5 day vacation thanks to my sister and my NEW BROTHER IN LAW, Chris, who had a "destination wedding" in Cabo San Lucas. It was so much fun!!! In case you can't tell, Nicole and Noelle, my sisters, are twins. :)



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Noelle was a stunning bride, and Sean was a very proud ring bearer. He is a boy who HATES to dress up, but I have to say, he does "clean up nicely" and he took his job very seriously. He walked down the aisle with his cousins and he stood up during the ceremony next to his other cousin, a junior bridesmaid. They were BOTH crying.

I asked Sean why he cried (as he often makes fun of his mother for crying over EVERYTHING, as I am an emotional sap!) and he said, BECAUSE EVERYONE IS SO HAPPY!
Sean and his youngest cousin (My sister's son) who is almost 3 were BEST BUDDIES! We shared a killer 3 bedroom condo and Sean was up at 5 am with Will every morning. He just loved playing with him. It really warmed my heart, as watching him gave me a glimpse of what a GREAT big brother he's going to be. He was very protective of Will. Will LOVES his cousin Sean and Sean loves him. It was just beyond precious!!!







It was so nice to get away and just enjoy our family. Everyone was very curious about "Baby Kaz" and some good friends of my parents even know SEVERAL people who have adopted from Kaz as well! WHO KNEW??!! It's a small world.

But alas, now it's "back to life, back to reality", and I came home to find out that so many people are getting their LOI'S to Kaz! That is super exciting!

I am feeling better and better about the prospect of 2 trips. I love how God makes things work out for the best. I really feel that 2 trips is so much better for our family. Even if we get a quick court date, we can still go back to get the munchkin and bring Sean with us. Plus, I keep thinking of more benefits. I won't get terribly out of shape from not running for 8 weeks is another reason. I just don't think I'd run in frigid temps, by myself. My husband doesn't run, and I would just be scared. So, only 2-3 weeks with no running is much more easily done-and easier to get back in shape. Even though 2 very long plane trips don't sound fun, it will all be worth it in the end. I love to read, and think of how many books I can get read on the plane!! Sean is also a great traveler. He will be busy with homework and he becomes a very focused child when he has nothing else to do but sit on an airplane.
No new news on the LOI front, but our dossier will be in country 2 weeks on Friday. My family is like WHEN ARE YOU GOING? I kept saying...WE DO NOT KNOW!
"One must be flexible and patient in international adoption"