Bah Humbug!!

Throw up, clean up....throw up, clean up....throw up, clean up:(.... That's pretty much how we spent Christmas this year. My six year-old started getting sick on Wednesday with the stomach flu, and my two-year old got an ear infection... Christmas Eve, my six year-old is still sick...by Christmas morning, he was still throwing up..and so was our two-year old!! UGGGGHH!! So we missed every Christmas gathering we were planning on going to...including going to the grandparents...very sad...poor kids...

But, today they're better! Praise God! Mommy was about to lose it:\! I don't do well when my kids are sick, I feel very helpless..and I just want to make it better, you know?

And today, I cleaned like a mad woman!! Did I mention the snow all melted and it rained on Christmas Day!

Okay, adoption related...did you hear about the Northwest flight 253 incident? Did I mention we almost booked with Northwest from Detroit to Amsterdam? Yeah, great, now something else to worry about!!

We're also waiting for our FBI fingerprints to return so we can apostille them and take them with us on our first trip...yes we had to redo..they want new ones if it has been more than 8 months since you had them done...we were right at 8 months:(..also had to do new medicals to take with us also...so, here we are stalking the mailbox yet again!


We have made lists upon lists of things to take with us and I'm just ready to pack and go...but I'll spend the next 3 weeks getting my kids ready for us to go..they have NEVER been away from us at all and I'm worried....but, actually, they're probably looking forward to a little break from us:). I have to say, my hubby and I are looking forward to just being ALONE! We haven't even had a weekend to ourselves in about 10 years!! So, this is the "trip of a lifetime" in more ways than one!

Can't wait to hear about more referrals coming in! Hang on families!

Happy New Year!

Let It Snow!!!

It looks like it's going to be a "white Christmas" here in the midwest and we are loving it!! This week is full of cookies and fudge and pie and turkey(only a Butterball will do!)and dressing and potatoes and biscuits and.....well, you get the picture! We continue to watch every Christmas movie available, but will save our favorite(my husband's favorite), A Christmas Story, for Christmas morning... I love the traditions and smells and hoopla surrounding Christmas, don't you?(EVEN crowded malls...LOVE it!)

But, it's time to slow down and remember why we celebrate Christmas..our Savior's birthday! I'm looking forward to worshiping on Christmas Eve at our church and being with my family...these are my favorite gifts.

About the adoption......we are booked on a flight to Bulgaria and ready to leave tomorrow, but our dates aren't till January:(...so we wait....and while we wait, I obsess about plane crashes, turbulance, missed connections, and pretty much anything that can go wrong on an airplane flight...what holds those birds in the sky anyway:\? You may laugh, but it took me HOURS of obsessing to find just the right airline and flight...and I STILL have to connect in Chicago..do you KNOW what Chicago is like in January????? I try to control everything you see...

I've been quiet about the concerns of the group posts lately, but I want so much to believe that this program in Bulgaria is improving every week! So, I will keep asking the tough questions of my agency, and keep my eyes wide open...because after this adoption...we may be heading right back there again:). There, I said it, it's out...we should have requested two, but my hubby was nervous(and me) about the process and how God was going to provide, but He has shown that He is faithful! So....we are able(even if we're not, HE IS) to adopt another child and I can't NOT adopt another one... I've always had Ethiopia on my heart as well, so maybe it will be there...we're asking questions about it all now...got to make a plan you know! It keeps ringing in my head what someone recently said.."WE are God's plan for the orphan!" I want to be a part of that plan!(I use way too many exclamation points)

The Richard Family-2009

Some of my homemade attempts at taking Christmas pictures:).....

When it rains....

.....it POURS! Okay, here we are trying to raise, find, steal(just kidding!) the money necessary to travel when our refrigerator totally DIES last night! AND, my husband may need a root canal asap! So, please pray for us if you think about it today. Praise God, we got him in to see the dentist today(which is a miracle), so we're hoping she can take care of it without breaking the bank for us:).

We are in a constant battle with the enemy aren't we? We try to do good, he tries to keep us from doing it... Thank the Lord He is fighting for us today, because we need it!

Did I mention that at this moment my two-year old is covered on the lower half of his body in Carmex lip balm and red marker(NOT the washable kind)! Blog more later...

Renae

Incredible Song-By Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
And prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas To Us!

FINALLY, we have our "official" referral and travel dates for our little girl! We will be traveling January 17-23rd for our first trip.....this is a LOOOONNNGGG time away, and I'm trying REALLLLY hard to be positive and not hate holidays at this moment for interrupting my plans!!! Typically the wait to travel after the official papers arrive is 2-3 weeks....mine is SIX WEEKS! Okay, enough "bellyaching". But just wait, those of you who are yet to be matched or yet to request a child, you think THAT waiting is(was) hard? Wait till you see his/her face! You'll be very intolerant of any obstacles that get in your way and keep you from getting to your child too:).

With the official referral, we also got a new picture of her and she looks like she has grown so much. I have to honestly say that I'm kind of grieving the time I didn't have with her as a young baby...I know this is probably normal and will pass once I get to see and hold her, but it's just really difficult to know that the process is still months away from being over. Months that she is going to grow and reach milestones that, once again, I'll miss. UGGH! I think the enemy is trying to rob me of my joy, what do you think?

So, what to do now....? Well, I'm waiting for the travel packet so I can start planning the trip, I need to go Christmas shopping, make some homemade goodies(okay, they're "made in my home"..DON'T JUDGE ME!:)), shop for my new daughter and her caregivers....that's two weeks filled....hmmm, what to do the next 4 weeks...I know...I forgot to worry, fret, obsess, and drive my friends and family crazy! There! Six weeks full of holiday cheer!

More cheer later!
Renae