“…once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.”
~Proverbs 24:12



Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Are You Ready?

The question of the hour has turned from "Have you heard anything yet?" to "So, are you ready?" To which I ask... Is anyone ever completely ready for parenthood?

I'm a planner by nature. A worrier too. It can be a toxic combination. Part of me keeps thinking about the books on motherhood and parenting a toddler I haven't finished reading...not to mention the stack of books on attachment, over-stimulation and parenting an internationally-adopted child. While their room is set up for the most part, it's not completely finished. There's still much to put away. I have yet to know how to properly install their car seats. We have no shoes for our little ones. I could go on and on.

But deep down...when I really let myself think about it... God's got it all in control. He had our path to parenthood in control when we felt helpless and lost. He had the financial aspect of adoption in control when it looked like the monetary mountain was insurmountable. He had the timeline in control when we worried we would be apart from our children on Christmas. He's got it all in his powerful, capable hands.

So parents... if you had one piece of advice or one thing to tell me that would help prepare me for parenthood, what would it be? Am I crazy for having fleeting moments during which I feel completely unprepared?

Monday, November 15, 2010

We Have a Court Date!

PRAISE GOD! I know that so many friends and family have been praying for our family (of four!) and specifically that we will be home by Christmas. The chances of that happening were really slimespecially according to some of our agency reps who were trying to keep our feet on the ground.


Well, I'm so thankful that we worship a miracle-making God! We got the call at about 2 p.m. this afternoon informing us that our court date is set for December 9. We will leave no later than December 6 and be able to see our children for the first time again on either December 7 (if we have time right after we land in St. Petersburg) or the next day. It would be wonderful if they recognize us, but even if they don't what a reunion it will be!!!


We will probably leave the day after court to get back here to tie up some loose ends before we bring our babies home. There is a mandatory 10-day waiting period after court before we are able to take them from the baby homes. At this point, we are unsure if the 10 (work) days includes Saturdays or not. If it does, we should be able to pick them up on the 21stC's birthday! If not, we're looking at the 23rd. I don't want to get greedy, but it would be AMAZING if we were able to bring them home before the first of the year. Financially—thanks to taxes and a hidden benefit for adoptive families from "Obama-care"—it would be very helpful. But, God's got us this far. I have no doubt that He will provide for our needs, whatever they may be. The third trip can be about 8 days or so. So if we can get them on the 23rd, we'll be pushing a 2010 return. We'll see.


Either way, it looks like it will be a Russian Christmas for the Hunters! We should be able to be with our kiddos on Christmas! It may be in a country that views December 25 the same as any other day, and it may be in a tiny, crowded hotel room, at it may be without a Christmas tree, but it most certainly will not be without God's miraculous beginnings, and the love of a forever family.

The Winter Palace at Christmas

Thursday, November 4, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY B!

Happy birthday my sweet little man! I desperately wish I was with you today to help you realize just how special you are. However, I have faith that todaybecause of His infinite love (particularly for orphans) and the many that are praying for you here in the Statesour Lord is doing a fine job of showing you just that. You are in great hands, B. The best. Nevertheless, I selfishly wish you could also be snuggled up in my arms.

Ahhh... I miss B. To celebrate his birthday, I had plans to make a large Russian family meal. A very unpleasant stomach virus may have spoiled those plans, but nothing could spoil our excitement over B's big day. Derek and I went out to eat (I still didn't do much eating...) with my parents, who had exciting news to share with us. World travelers that they are, they informed us that they found an "amazing vacation deal" which will take them on a cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow this spring. How amazing is that?! They will get to see where their grandchildren spent the first part of their lives. I can't tell you what it means to me to see them so excited over the possibility of experiencing our family's heritage. Everything is just fitting together so perfectly. God has a way of doing that, doesn't he?

In addition to dinner, we stopped at Target to get the birthday boy his first birthday presents! Readers, shhh! Don't tell B what he's getting! ;-) We plan on having a birthday bash for each of our kiddos once their home, on their 1/2 birthdays. Perhaps at least one of these gifts will stay unopened for the big day!

Friends, thank you rejoicing over B's birthday with us. And thank you for understanding that, though today is a wonderful day to celebrate his birth, it's also difficult in that we can't be with him. Well... here's to many more birthdays (celebrated together) to come!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Home Sick

Two blogs in one day about illness?

Well, they say home is where your heart is. While I'm getting over the stomach virus, my heart is aching to be with my children. Particularly today.

November 4 is B's second birthday! And while that is definitely a reason to celebrate, it's so hard knowing that I won't be able to spend it with him. I won't be able to make it special for him. I won't be able to help him blow out his candles and wipe the cake from his adorable cheeks once he has gotten into it.

I had planned on making November 4th special here, even though we don't have our kiddos. I was going to make authentic beef stroganoff (the VERY easy recipe I've been using is nothing like the real stuff in Russia!), but I highly doubt anyone would want to eat anything prepared by my hands after the last 48 hours. Knowing this, my sweet mother sent me a text which proves that mothers truly know exactly what to say at exactly the right time.

"Forgot to say bought ingredients for borscht. Maybe delay a day or two until you feel better? 'B' is already 2 by Russia time!"

It didn't occur to me, but she's right. It's already November 4 in St. Petersburg. HAPPY BIRTHDAY B! I miss you so much...


Stomach Bug

Ugh! I don't know how I caught it, but I had heard it was going around. The stomach bug. :-(

I seriously would not wish this on my worst enemy. Not that I really have a worst enemy... but if I did...you get what I mean.

Being this sick made me think... what if I had come down with this six months from now? How do you moms do it? How do you handle being so sick and then so weak from dehydration and not eating while still taking care of your children? I rarely ever call in sick to work (maybe twice since I've been with my current employer of four years?), but at least I have that "luxury." Moms? Not so much. Just because the thought of food makes you literally sick to your stomach, doesn't mean your kids can go a meal without eating.

So moms, tell me. How do you do it?

Monday, November 1, 2010

Adoption Awareness Month

Happy November!

In 1995, President Clinton proclaimed November as National Adoption Month. National Adoption Month is a time to celebrate family and to bring about awareness that there are hundreds of thousands of parentless children in orphanages and foster care throughout the world. It is a reminder that every child deserves a forever family.

Our family was recently asked to be featured in a online magazine called Six Seeds in honor of Adoption/Orphan Awareness Month. During the month, our story will be online to help generate adoption awareness. Readers, I am petitioning you to please visit the site and leave a comment. For each comment made, Six Seeds will donate $2 towards our adoption. The comment can be anything at all.

http://sixseeds.tv/s/content/adoption/663-adoption_the_hunter_family

If you feel comfortable doing so, PLEASE share my request with your friends, family, blog readers, twitter followers, etc. This is an easy and very quick way to make a HUGE difference for our family.

Thank you so very much!

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