Paris en route to Bulgaria

We actually got out of our house feeling as organized and prepared as we could be...what didn't get done and could drive me crazy, I am completely ok with. Thanks to our friends and family for offers of help to get us on our way and for caring for our kids while we are away.

We have had a wonderful two days in Paris. It is almost 2 am and we are just back to our room after dinner. Jet lag and naps have allowed us to enjoy the "nightlife." Although Paris doesn't seem to need much sleep either! We will leave our hotel about 9:30 am to head to the airport and be on our way to Bulgaria. We have really enjoyed our time here, but have talked mostly about what Monday will be like and getting Mahaela. I think we all have a little bit of nerves building as we anticipate what our lives will be like.


Job 23:10 is a verse that has always been meaningful to me. It's a promise I have clung to many times and especially through this adoption. "He knows the way that I take, when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." It has always given me the hope of a "good" ending or else molding me to be more Christ like due to His refiners fire! (Both would be my desire.) When this adoption has thrown us a curve or tested my patience, I knew it was for my good, and I assumed it would have this positive outcome of a completed adoption. Well, I am about to meet my treasure of Gold! I feel so blessed. God has known all along where this course would take us and what the ending would be...Mahaela JoMae.

Tomorrow we will arrive in Sofia and settle into our apartment. I'm sure we will leave very early Monday morning for the orphanage in Haskovo. I am excited to be able to take a full suitcase of donations from our family and friends (I had just mentioned that warm clothing would be nice.) People gave so much!
Here is a list of the items we were able to give:
21 gloves/mittens
11 hats
22 onesies
9 sleepers
1 scarf
6 tights
22 pairs socks
6 sweatsuits
1 coat
4 pants
17 shirts
8 sunglasses
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Our Amazing Family and Friends!

We had the best night!! Our Hauter Family gave us a surprise party for our 40th birthdays. Bill and I both turn 40 the week after we return from Bulgaria. We already thought we were getting the best gift ever by bringing Mahaela home--and we are! But our sweet family and best friends surprised us tonight. We thought we were going to dinner with friends and had to pick up one of the couples and as we pulled up to the garage, there was the big sign hanging on the garage door. It was a surprise to both of us and one that we never could have imagined. The best part was the complete excitement and affirmation we feel from them all as we get ready to go get Mahaela. Here is what they were all wearing when we got there...

Notice Mahaela's initials in the heart and her anticipated Gotcha date. They are a blue/gray color, almost like a dark jean color. They are so cool. Even the kids had tshirts, in a baby blue color. They are a treasure for sure! We had talked about doing tshirts and it never worked out. I'm not creative and it just kept taking a back seat to other things. Our family all got tshirts as a gift. We absolutely love them. You can bet this will be a square on Mahaela's tshirt quilt someday! I wish I had a picture of our family wearing them, but I didn't know I would need my camera!

I am so glad I didn't ruin this awesome surprise. Until Friday morning I still felt like we might bail out...I just felt on the fence about going out. The Lord absolutely worked it out. It wouldn't have taken too much to talk me into it though. I'm well aware that these fun nights out without kids are going to be a thing of the past for awhile--at least that is what I am expecting. Thank you to my wonderful friends and family.

As an update...Monday and Tuesday were very productive days and I felt like I was getting some big things done. Aubrey's room is painted, guest room/junk room cleared out, Mahaela's room ready. Furniture in it's places in the girls rooms. Wed, Thurs, Friday turned into unproductive, busy days. Tomorrow is a prize with no games on the schedule! I keep trying to pace myself, crossing things off my list. What's important will get done, the rest doesn't matter.

I wanted to post a couple shots of Mahaela's room. It is exactly the same bedroom we have had for 6 years now, since Lindsey was a newborn. I'm happy to have another girl to fill it.

We left a picture of this room with Mahaela on the first trip. We hope she recognizes it and feels secure in her new room. Soon, soon, soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY GIRL!!!

Happy Birthday to my little brown-eyed girl on the other side of the world. It is just morning where you are, just after the stroke of midnight here, and you are my sunshine! I am thanking Jesus for the life that you were given, for the life you were given a chance to live. You are precious in His sight and you are precious to us.
We can't stop thinking about you. Daddy and I are so excited to just sit and watch YOU and be with YOU. We are getting so close to that moment.
Being THREE years old is awesome. It is such a precious age! I hope your package came in time for your special day. Enjoy sharing your treats with your friends. We will see you so soon.

Love you, Mahaela!

Hugs and Kisses,
Mommy and Daddy

Comments that come when filters are off:

Some people really don't have a filter at all. Some people make comments to give us something to think about in case we haven't thought of it ourselves yet. I have read the lists of things that you should never say to someone who is or has adopted. Not having a child home yet, I don't feel overly sensitive about comments like, "are they real sisters?" or "where are her real parents?" I understand where these comments come from. They are mostly from people who think positive, but are just very curious. The comments that annoy me or will annoy me are the kind like "their last one was adopted and she just gave them such a hard time." You know, the horror stories. Or "life was great for that family and then they ruined it by adopting." These comments serve no purpose. They are hypothetical. By the way, if our life appears ruined years from now, it has nothing to do with making this "poor choice" to adopt. It has everything to do with God testing us, wanting to reveal himself more fully to us. God never promised a perfect life. He just promises to always be with us. I have complete assurance in that.
But, back to comments that people make...here is a short exchange that Bill had with a co-worker. It went something like this:
"So what exactly is wrong with her?"
"How will you take care of her?"
"Have you thought about this?"
"You know she may not live long."
Bill just responded with short answers and a smile/smirk.
I think he wanted more time to maybe talk us out of it! Crazy!

I completely understand how a caring person may have a conversation with us, asking these same type of questions. The above exchange was mindless, foolish, and out of ignorance.

Here are the answers to those questions:

She has a congenital heart defect. She has had surgery and will require more.

We will care for her to the best of our ability just as we have cared for our other children and just as countless families have cared for their children with a serious, chronic disease. We have the means, the support, the resources to give her the best care possible. She deserves our best.

We have thought about this, but more importantly, we have prayed about it. God brought her to us. She is ours. We are confident and have perfect peace that before the beginning of time He knew Mahaela and knew He would set her in our family.

As Bill responded, she most definitely has a decreased life span. She is high risk. But she may live a wonderful, "long" life. Medicine is always changing and her prognosis is unpredictable. None the less, we cherish getting to live life with her. We can't live today dreading what may come tomorrow.

Just wanted to share. We are very open to comments, questions, discussions, but some people need to put on their thinking caps first!


Less than 2 weeks, we will tuck her in at bedtime!!

Mommy #2

Mommy #2...and that would be Aubrey. She is so excited to meet Mahaela. She is packing and making lists for me to pack. She has Mahaela's bag almost packed! She has been my encouragement today. She was wishing it was Friday night because she was wanting to pull an all-nighter with me. She would have tonight if it wasn't for church tomorrow. She told me she was so proud of me today--for getting so much done and "for adopting." So sweet. It was a fairly productive day, but not a great mommy day. I am so thankful for my sweet neighbor who had Lindsey almost all day. I was feeling so guilty because I left the boys and Lindsey home during Aubrey's basketball game and was gone much longer than I wanted to be. Each time I called to check up on them, the boys said Lindsey was with the neighbors. She had a great day of playing. Certainly eased my guilt. She and Reese came in at one point to ask if Linds could go to the pancake supper in town. Both of them had wet heads from playing in their jacuzzi tub in swimsuits. How fun is that? She finished off the night with a barbie movie, came home and immediately fell asleep on the floor. The boys were on their own most of the day, but enjoyed brain waisting TV and video games to their heart's content--"Mom of the Year."
Aubrey got her hair cut after her games. The boys had their evals for basketball. Then Aubrey and I went to get paint for her room and use some coupons that expired today. Got Aubrey some boots. Put together a crib for Mahaela that I bought at IKEA last weekend. She is still in a crib and this style was very similar to her crib now--minimalist. I had started painting a dresser for one of the girls a couple days ago and was really disappointed with the finish. The finish was rough and very "chalky" feeling. I bought a new quart of another brand in the exact same sheen, but with much better results. The dresser has a hutch with it also that is a nightmare to paint. I painted it blue for Jake, 9 years ago. That paint job looked awesome. This paint job, not so great--maybe I'm rushing it?? 2 coats down. Maybe 2 more to get it done. Hoping to do that tomorrow and be done with the furniture. This dresser will go in Lindsey's new room and Lindsey's furniture will go to Mahaela.
I have some big goals for this week: (Don't bore yourselves...this list is for me!)
Paint Aubrey's room
make and purchase caregiver gifts.
get my Sunday School curriculum in order to hand over to my replacement--waiting for God to reveal to us who that may be??
Clean out my Sun. School room a bit
Clean guest room--Hoarders Anonymous, I'll just leave it at that
finalize Mahaela's room
finalize Lindsey's room
Get rid of summer clothes from boys drawers
Get carpets cleaned in a couple rooms
all the while keeping up with the house so that I can be ready to pack next Monday, Tuesday

Hoping some adrenalin gets me through the week...nothing like working under pressure. As Aubrey reminded me, I am a procrastinator!

Orphan Care and Plane Tickets

We had an Orphan Care Meeting at our home tonight with a great bunch of people. It was really encouraging--just a great blessing to be with others who also have a heart for the fatherless.

Well, I was all happy and proud of myself getting plane tickets last night...only to wake up to a vague email and no actual ticket confirmation. First guy said not to worry--after I waited on hold about 45 minutes, took a shower and everything. He said we would hear within 24 hours. So I felt confident to wait for news...but then reality set in. I was getting worried that something was not right with our three tickets. Mahaela already had a ticket # issued. Then another phone call a few hours later when I couldn't take it any longer. Blood pressure sky-rocketing! It was maddening. The only thing he could tell me was that there was no way I was going to get confirmation because Delta would not agree to the fare that I had already given my credit card payment for. I've seen the "bait and switch" when you go to actually pay, but I have never had it after you actually submit payment. Completely Bait and Switch! But after 12 hours had passed tickets continued to climb as there were very few seats left on our flights. He told me it would be $800 more to book the same itinerary (and again wait up to 24 hours for actual ticketing.) Crazy. Thought I was having a head bleed! Called back again after I cooled down a bit and then listened to the whole story again from another Expedia agent. Coming up with a price was like throwing a dart at a moving dart board...she quoted about 3 prices and finally came up with I would owe another $475. I had just a few more hours before I would need to cancel Mahaela's ticket if I thought we couldn't be ticketed on the same flights. So I just had to buck up and pay the difference. So funny, not funny-haha, that I spent hours trying to find the best deal and in the end I just bit it and didn't even care any more! Tonight, I at least have flight ticket numbers and confirmation numbers. Seems like everything is ok. Called Delta to remind them that she is a minor traveling with us because we were ticketed separately. I will call Air France to tell them the same later.
I'm so thankful to have two weekends ahead of me before we leave, although tomorrow will be busy with games. Such is life. Wish I could have two Saturdays every week!

CHA-CHING!!

I just purchased airline tickets. Probably not a smart idea at this time of the day, but I just wanted to get it done. We leave in a day less than two weeks! Yippeee!
$4199.90 total cost for 4 tickets. Overall, I am happy because Bill through at a budget for tickets a while back and I stayed well under that. We paid about $1500 per ticket for our first flight over in July. This time we were about $1000 per ticket. Mahaela's ticket cost more than ours! I really got the flights that I wanted which is always great. No 6 am flights, nice layovers, no unnecessary stops--how I like to fly!
Now, if you are looking to fly to Bulgaria, don't compare our numbers straight up...what I was getting around to saying is that we are making a stop in Paris for 2 nights! It's a real bummer to fly all the way to Europe and not see as much as you can. Since Aubrey will be with us, we really wanted her to see something else. This whole experience is a chance of a lifetime on so many levels. Bill and I will celebrate our 40th birthdays with this little jaunt. We both turn 40 the week after we get home, so this is how we justify it. But still, we are flying to Paris and Sofia for about $500 less per ticket than our first trip.
Every step makes it feel more real. Thanks to many of you for the well wishes, prayers, and comments. They are all appreciated.