7 Quick Takes

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Sorry to have fallen behind on blogging again. It's an understatement to say that we've been busy around here! I think we are all finally adjusted to the new  boys in our life, and are finding our new normal.

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I had an awesome week this week because I got to meet Carla (and her awesome hubby)!!! And... we forgot to take pics. :( Carla has been such an inspiration to me, and was such a lifesaver while we were both in Ukraine. We FaceTimed almost daily, and it kept me sane!! She's such a beautiful soul, and I am so blessed that she came to my house. Leila, Danya, JoAnna, and Eli all came too.

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This family is in extreme need right now. Their little boy Sergei was just adopted from Crimea, but they are facing delays. Their other son, Crosby's court date has been canceled time and time agin, and now they will have to leave him behind in order to get Sergei home for medical care. Folks, this poor sweet Sergei looks like he came out of a concentration camp. The photo I saw of this little love is haunting me. I wish I could share it, but I hope you can take my word for it.

I'm going to get real here, you can skip your Starbucks, or your lenten fish fry, or your dinner out this weekend, and donate to this family. I know you can. Please consider it. If you can't, please pray and share this need.

Help Sergei and Crosby!!!

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So, months ago, I called the school district to set up Mak's evaluation for an IEP... They sent me the paperwork, I filled it out, and scheduled his eval for April 15th. I was pretty annoyed that it was so far out, but I just dealt with it. Then, I got a call yesterday saying that they are not our district and that our eval is cancelled. Uh, perhaps this is something they should've checked months ago?! Anyway, I finally got ahold of our correct district and they scheduled us for April 25th.

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Baby boy is 6 months old! :)

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Hope you all are having a blessed Lent. We are probably headed to the fish fry at our parish tonight. Tomorrow the girls are having their hair cut. I'm tired of the screaming over tangles!!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes

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We have been home with our sweet boy for 3 months! Here's a full blog post to update.

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Lent has started, and it's my favorite time of year. Not because I enjoy it, really, but because I like to be challenged in my faith.

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There has been a lot of drama lately involving anti-Reece's Rainbow people, and I've had enough. I fully support RR, and until I see concrete evidence otherwise, (which I doubt exists) I will continue to do so. They saved my boy, and 1,000+ others. I am forever grateful, and people need to stop acting like toddlers and do some good in the world.

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We received our airport pics just a few days ago from Inloveness Birth Photography. She did such a beautiful job. I spent all that evening crying like a baby. It is hard for me to remember most of that day, because I have never been so tired in my entire life. So, it was especially touching to see it in beautiful photographs. Here's two of them, but I want them all to have their own post, so I'll post them all later.

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If you are looking for Easter dresses, look no further! You can shop here, and help an orphan at the same time!!

Dress Sale for Lanie 

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We had some rain last weekend... A lot of rain in 24 hours results in flooding here in the desert. I took this photo on Sunday, when I had to take my crazy children out of mass and wait for Kyle and the other kids to finish.

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Kyle and I went out on a date last weekend. It was the first time we had ever paid for a babysitter, and we had a really good time. We went to Bobby Q's, and really enjoyed our meal. Samuel came with us, of course, but it was still really nice to get out. :) We did family portraits that morning, and I think they're spectacular. Seeing all of my sweeties up on my wall is making me so happy.

Happy weekend!

No meat today!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

3 Months Home!

Things have been a whirlwind since coming home in early December. The holidays, doctor's appointments, and normal day to day stuff has kept us very busy.

Maks is doing great. He sleeps and naps well and is almost always in a good mood. He did catch a cold, and was pretty sad while he recovered, but he's feeling much better now.

He bonded very quickly to me, because I am the one with him the most. Daddy kind of fell by the wayside, which, if you were following our journey in country, you know that he had more of a connection at first with Kyle. He cries when I leave for errands on the weekends, but that's good bonding time for him and Kyle. The other day, we had a breakthrough, though, and Maks actually cried when Kyle left for work! Maks is doing great with bonding in general. He does not go to strangers easily anymore, which is huge progress.

I took him for a haircut and he actually called out, "mama!!" for me, when the lady picked him up to put him in the seat! I was so proud at that moment, because it was the first time I knew for sure that he was using mama correctly.

He had an ENT appointment and his tonsils and adenoids need to come out. His tonsils are about the size of Texas, but I am afraid of surgery, so we are praying and trying to figure out when to have it done. He also had a dental appointment and had NO cavities!! And, he sat through the whole thing with no complaints. He is a total rockstar.

He is walking better and better each day, but he will probably need to get some sort of orthotics, because he's turning his ankles in. But, he is doing so great, and balancing much better. It's making my life a bit easier, because I can actually have him hold hands with me and walk, instead of hauling out the stroller every time we go somewhere.

One of the cutest things he has started doing is giving actual kisses. Usually when we try to kiss him, he gives us his forehead, but lately he's been making an effort to actually make kissy lips.

He loves tickles, the baby, his sisters (even though they are done 'honeymooning' and are now fighting regularly, like any proper siblings), and his mommy and daddy. He enjoys music, dancing, books, especially books with animals, he loves to make animal sounds. He hasn't really picked up anymore words this month, but his receptive language is AMAZING. He's too stubborn right now to learn many signs.

He has STOPPED throwing toys!

So, did we luck out or what? He has been nothing but a blessing to our family.  A gift from God that I doubt most people could imagine.

We are just your average family. We struggle in many ways, but we knew we could help at least one orphan, and so we did. Reece's Rainbow made that possible, and I will forever be thankful to them. The team we used in country was amazing.

Please pray for Ukraine, and all of the orphans there. That their parents will not allow fear to creep in and will continue to fight for them and adopt them. And please, check out Reece's Rainbow, you never know, your child might be there and you don't even know it yet.