COURT DATE

Sorry to be so late posting here, but WE HAVE A COURT DATE!  Praising God big time here!

Court will take place on October 22nd.  We do not have to be there for that, as in our children's country we are represented in court by our attorney.  We should travel a few weeks later.  Lord willing our kids will be home by Thanksgiving!

Please continue to pray for them as they wait and that everything goes well as we plan the trip and with court and the paperwork after court!

Travel Challenges for Trip #2: White Food?

So I thought today that I'd ask for your help in a different way!  Our sweet Charity poses some interesting challenges for the pickup trip.  Charity ONLY eats WHITE FOOD.  Once home we will begin to work on this challenge over time slowly and we will have various things available to us in order to make sure that she is getting adequate nutrition (Thank God for vanilla Pediasure!  lol). 

Right now I'm compiling a list of things that I can take to feed her on the airplane ride home mostly.  The hotel we stay at will have fresh white yogurt and milk.  They will also have toast which she likes soaked in tea. 

Let me just remind that she is ADORABLE!  You can read more about her HERE.  I think she is hilarious and I love stubborn, so this is just a minor issue.  (wink)

So, Charity only eats VERY SOFT WHITE FOODS and our travel home will consist of approximately 24 hours of travel. 

I have some ideas, but would love to hear your ideas of food that will clear airport security for her! 

Don't forget our giveaway going on to help bring them home!  I have lots of gifts to draw for to thank some of you for helping us in this last leg of bringing them home!  CLICK HERE TO GO SEE MORE! 

The Final Piece!

Yes, one week from today I will pick up Nicholas!!!  He is the last one to be picked up of our 5 Bulgarian Blessings.  I can't wait to finally have him in my arms!  He is such a cutie and though we expect he will be quite the handful, I am so crazy about my little man!!

I will get to pick him up on Wednesday, July 18th!!!!

Yes, he is in constant motion so much that he is a blur in many pictures! 

Look at that smile though!!

He's spent years in an institution!!

Yet, he still has that smile!

I'm coming Nicholas!  

One more week and you will start what forever always should have been like for you!

One Week from Today!?!

You ask, "What are you doing this time next week?".


Well since you asked!


It will be Gotcha Day for Anita and Ahnja!!!!!!!


Yes, I will be picking up Anita and Ahnja and they will never go back!!


They'll be adding lots of motion and noise to my hotel room about this time.  Ahnja will probably be telling me off in Bulgarian and I won't even know what she is saying.  :)  She'll probably be trying to take over the care of the other children and I'll be gently redirecting that I am in charge and have it under control.  :)  I bet she'll be looking through her new clothes and trying on shoes to make sure they fit.  I bet Anita will be too!  Anita will be trying to figure out this new world  and life.  I'll be figuring out what they will eat, but I think those two are going to be EASY on that accord.


Yes, in two weeks I will already have 4 of my Bulgarian Blessings in my arms!

One Week from Now or Two Weeks from Now

One week from this moment and I will be preparing to hold Aleshia in just a short time!!!!!

Then in one week we will head to pick up Keith!!!!!

I will literally be hours from having two of my babies in my arms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Two weeks from this moment and I will be at the airport and be reuniting with family and friends and introducing our 5 Bulgarian Blessings to people who love them very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just TWO WEEKS until we are HOME!!!!!!!!!

Anita and Ahnja - A Little of the Schedule

Anita and Ahnja will be picked up on the 2nd Gotcha Day!  I will get to pick them up on July 17th!  I don't yet know who will be first of the two.  I can't wait to go and pick them up!!

Yes, these are the two with a lot of SPUNK!

I won't have a translator with me the whole time like Brent did though!

That means I am going to be told off and not know what she said!

I surely can't wait!

Can you imagine how well these two will do in a family?  

Ahnja is 10 years old.  She grew up in the orphanage where Anita is now.  Then she was transferred to the institution where Nicholas is now.  Then she was thankfully moved to the group home.  She KNOWS other children have families.  She wants one and I can't wait to let her see that she has one who loves her so very much!  

Anita is going to have a big transition.  She has lived in that orphanage her whole life.  She is going to have to lose everything she's ever known to get what she's always needed but never known was out there!  Her next stop would have been the institution where Nicholas is.  :(  So thankful that she never had to make that transition.  I can't wait until she and Julianne are making mischief together!  I can't wait until she learns what a family is and how loved she is!!

The Baby Shower is almost over, so your chance to be a part of that is almost over.

Stay tuned on this blog for pictures, videos, and updates!!!!  

Send up lots of prayers for travel and transitions!

Soon!

Very soon I will be holding my babies.  In two weeks, we will all be settled into our hotel room and waiting for the last pieces of the puzzle to come together so that I can bring them all home.

Right now the bags are packed!  I even have their activity packs for the long trip home ready and in the bags!  I need to add sippy cups, washcloths, bottles, makeup, and my diabetes supplies.  That is all that is left!

Even the Baby Shower is nearly finished!  Go check it out if you are still hoping to play a part in bringing them home!  Click HERE!

Please be in prayer for each of the kids.  Pray that God prepares their hearts for things that they don't even know to hope for yet.  Their worlds have been very small up until now.  So much stimulation is coming and we are praying that God somehow eases that so that the trip won't overstimulate them so much.

This blog will very soon be full of wonderful pictures and videos of children who no longer live in group homes, orphanages, or institutions!!

A Package for Ahnja

We haven't sent a package to Ahnja until today.  The caregivers where she is told her that we were the ones who left her when she was little during Brent's last visit.  Our hearts broke and Brent tried to explain otherwise.  We were afraid to send anything, because we really didn't want to stir anything up further.  Since we know we are going to be there to pick her up soon, we wanted to let her know we were thinking of her and get her back excited about coming home.

I tried to find things that would be small and things that would excite her.  She is such a girlie girl and so grown up in many ways.  She is also full of SPUNK.  So here is the package that left today and will arrive around the 9th of July.

A butterfly outfit

A hat with sparkle

A purse

Pink and white jewelry

Butterfly stickers

A butterfly necklace (it came with two in the pack and I will wear the other)

A note to her in Bularian that our wonderful attorney translated for me

and 

A singing card

Please pray that it is well received and the staff don't cause any more grief. 

Pray that it gets her excited about her new life - as a very loved member of our family!

I will be picking she and Anita up in 13 days!

The Baby Shower that our friends are doing for us online is still going on.  Please go check it out!

One Special Waiting Child and a Huge Bonus Prize

I always do waiting children on the weekends.  Today, there is a little girl who is weighing very heavily on my   heart.  Sweet Marsha has untreated hydrocephalus.  She needs a family to bring her home quickly and get her treatment.  She is in the same place as one of my little ones and has been horribly neglected.  Her ONLY HOPE is for a family to adopt her and get her hydrocephalus treated.  Our Cody has hydrocephalus and if she'd had a shunt to begin with, then it would not have been a big deal at all.  Unfortunately she did not.  Now the pressure in her head is continuing to build.  I can't even imagine how much her head must heart.  I spent much of yesterday sobbing over her.  My heart is broken.  I can't stand that she is laying there waiting to die over something that was so simple to solve, had her medical needs not been so severely neglected.  PLEASE HELP HER!  I am BEGGING for someone to be God's hands and feet for this sweet and suffering child!!!!!

Click here to go and read about her on Reece's Rainbow or email Shelley shelle337@gmail.com

  


The Bonus Prize I mentioned and other info can all be found at THIS LINK FOR THE BABY SHOWER A FRIEND IS HAVING FOR US.


By helping to "buy a gift" at the baby shower you will be entered to win a "party favor" prize and when all the boxes are filled someone will win their choice of a $150 gift card OR $150 donated to the child or family of their choice on Reece's Rainbow!!!  


Go check it out.  I leave in 13 days to go and get my 5 Bulgarian Blessings!!!

Another Sign They Are Unroes!

Well there was is another sure tell sign that my Bulgarian Blessings are Unroes!  They have appointments with our medical provider set and on the calendar.

We all see a wonderful lady named Anita.  She is so good with my kids and has already started getting even the specialist appointments set up.  She has helped us through more things than I can count.  If she wasn't the one taking care of my kids then I would be fretting much more, but I always know that she takes care of them just as she would if they were her kids.

Anyone wonder where our Anita Faith got her name???  Yes, my calendar now has an appointment for Anita to go see Anita!  lol

Yes, my tiny Anita Faith will not be just looking at pictures of her family for much longer!

This close feels so good and I am thrilled to have their names on the calendar

 for THEIR appointments!

Keith and Aleshia - A little of the Schedule!

Ok, so the Baby Shower is still focusing on Keith and Aleshia right now and there is so much more about them to tell.

They are the first two kids that will be picked up.  I will leave on July 13th and arrive in Bulgaria on July 14th.  On July 15th, we will travel to Aleshia's region and spend the night.

First thing on July 16th, we will pick up Aleshia!

Then we will drive to where Keith is and pick him up!!

Then we will take them both back to the capital city with us!!!!

I am so excited to hold them!!!

No more of being so unstimulated that he has to occupy his time this way!

Mommy's lap is where she will be sitting!!!

I think this will work well for strengthening those legs and stimulation!

Soothing is much better in one of these than what Keith is use to!

A walker to work with should be good for them both!

Best if all though:

When they need comforted Mommy's arms will be FOREVER available.

When they need to learn, Mommy will be so excited to teach.

When they need anything, there will be a whole BIG FAMILY ready to love them and take care of them!

To say I'm excited is the understatement of the world!  I've longed for that moment since I first laid eyes on them!!!  

Keith and Aleshia!

Today the lady throwing our online baby shower is focusing on Keith and Aleshia.  They will be the first two to be picked up and they will share a "Gotcha Day"!  Her post focusing the baby shower on them is HERE.

So I thought I'd focus on them today on the blog too!

Keith is 5 years old and Aleshia is 6 years old.  Neither of them can even sit up without support yet.  Aleshia was transferred to a mental institution when she was only 3 years old.  Keith has been in his tiny crib in that same orphanage since he left the hospital after he was born.  He's been in a "sick room" for over 2 1/2 years at this point, even though he was initially moved there because of a respiratory infection.  :(

Both of them have a long way to go developmentally.  Keith has a lot of growing that he needs to do.  Right now he will still be riding in an infant carseat, because he was only 12 pounds when Brent was there. We've got a lot to do in order for him to begin to grow in size and develop the skills to sit, crawl, stand, and eventually walk.   Aleshia is bigger, but seems to have something going on with her hips.  We will be working to see what is going on with them, as well as see if she can gain the ability to sit up and to bear weight on her legs.

Here is my favorite video of Keith I think:

Here is my favorite of Aleshia:

So very soon I will hold them.  

Their forever will begin and the days in an orphanage and a mental institution will be over.

Here is the stroller that will take them through the airports:

Here is Aleshia's bed waiting for her:

Here is Keith's bed waiting for him:

The swing, bouncer, and walker are put together.

It is almost time to go and get them!!!!

Baby Shower!

Yes, since our 5 Bulgarian Blessings will be home soon our friend put together a wonderful online baby shower.  :)  Another wonderful friend put together a beautiful online invitation with the kids pictures and names.  More wonderful friends have already started the gifts.  :)  There are even party gifts when each box is complete!

Here is a link to go and see:  Click Here for the Baby Shower

This is also your chance to have a part in their homecoming!  Such a great idea and we appreciate it so much!

We've not had a shower since we were pregnant with our one bio child in 2001, so it really did make me all teary!

So close!  I am leaving in just a few weeks!  I can't wait to hold them!!!

TRAVEL DATES!!!!

This won't be long because my head is spinning and tears are still running down my face periodically.

I will leave here on July 13th!  Praising God so much that I can't even describe it!!!  I thought it was going to be another long weekend of waiting.  Then in the middle of the night, just before 4am my time, I got the email!!!!!

I still have to work out the details, but I can tell you that with them saying I can come - I am going!

Praise God extra today, because HE IS SO WORTHY!

Orphans no more and the orphanages, institutions, and group home will no longer hold them, because they will be in MY ARMS!

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!

The Excruciating Wait

The wait is excruciating.  I don't even think I can put it into words.  I so badly want to go and hold my babies - to go and bring them home.  I ache each day for word of a travel date.  My bags are pretty much packed.  All of their clothes are packed into gallon size ziploc bags and labeled.  I figure that way they will be easy to locate and will be clean even if the bags are messed with in security.  Baby food and formula are packed for the children who need that.  I still need to put some orphanage donations and their activities for the trip home into the luggage.

I have been putting off assembling the two strollers.  I will start on that now in an effort to keep myself busy.  This waiting. . . . .   Oh how I hate this waiting.

Soon.  We will get them home soon and I will spoil them with the love they should have had all along.  Soon.

Yes we are still Awake!

It is 3:39am here at the Unroe abode.  Brent and I are still awake.  Court is in about 20 minutes!!!!  We will pray as court is beginning and then wait for news.  I have no idea how quickly we will hear something.  I guess after a little while I will try to sleep and wake periodically to check my email.  lol

Soon.  Very Soon.  They will be "ORPHANS NO MORE"!

Almost Court Time!!!!!!!

If you are on my Facebook, then you know the countdown for how many hours left until court has been going for a few days.  As of 9pm Eastern Time, we only have 7 more hours until court!!!!!!!


YES, YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY -  7 HOURS!!!!

In 7 hours
Keith Isaac
Aleshia Noelle
Anita Faith
Nicholas Cole
and
Ahnja Joy

will be

ORPHANS NO MORE!!!!

Please pray for court to go smoothly, but we are fully expecting God to pull this off without a hitch.

He is AWESOME like that!

Still Preparing

There isn't any news, but I thought I'd let you know what we are doing to prepare here.  Last night I determined that it was finally time to look into some travel cots as well as see what other things I could find to ease travel a bit.  So, I went to one of my favorite websites for great kids merchandise.  You can go there through THIS LINK.

I ordered some travel cots that fold up and would even be good for the kids to sit on during a long layover (praying we don't have any that are too terribly long!).


I also ordered a set of diaper bags  that attach the the stroller.  I'm thinking these would make a nice "carry ons" and will be easy to get around the airport since they attach.  These come with two in the set.



I ordered this activity stander as well.  It folds up and I'm hoping to manage to get it into my luggage so that Aleshia has a way to stand up in the hotel.  It will also be great to take with us places once she is home.  It will allow us to let her be standing and a part of Sunday School class or other activities on the go.  The height is adjustable, so we can use it for Keith as well.  :)  It is very reasonably priced for these type of things, which is something else that I love about One Step Ahead.  :)


I have been trying to figure out a good way to feed Aleshia and Nicholas on the trip.  They both eat only pureed food.  They are use to regular meals being pureed, so not baby food.  I found this neat gadget to puree their food with so we are set on that too.



They have tons of great stuff there.  I've always found their stuff to be high quality and not just what you find in an every day department store.

If you want to go check them out for special needs stuff, travel stuff, or just kid stuff, then please use my link.    They give me a $10 credit if you order from my link and it can help pay for the crazy stuff I'll likely need when these kids get home!

Hope you enjoy looking around in there.  They have great toys, clothes that provide sun protection, great safety gadgets, gear, and even outdoor toys.

Waiting to Hold My Babies

Well, I am so anxious to go get the kids that I can barely stand it. I wish I had a date, but of course I don't.  I just want to go get them and bring the home and take care of them myself.  The worry of having my children so far away just eats at me.  There is no way to know if they are sick or well, hungry or fed, been touched today or not, or laying in a wet diaper or just changed.

If you have ever waited like this, then you get it.  If you've never adopted, then imagine that your child was kidnapped and being held hostage.  You'd paid the ransom that you'd been allowed to pay, but you were still waiting to be allowed to make the final huge payment and have the child put in your arms.  You had begged and pleaded.  You were told you just had to wait for that message to come and then once things were decided they'd have a meeting to declare the hostage situation finally over and you could come and pick up your child 3 weeks later.

Put yourself there.  Imagine the despair and the desperation.  Then imagine what your children would be doing, thinking, and living through.  Imagine the wondering if they'd eaten, were they hurt, were they sick?????

Yes, that is my life right now.  I just want to hold my babies.  I want them set free!  I want them in my arms.  I want to make sure they are well, bellies full, clothes clean, baths given, hair combed, and lots of hugs every day.  I can't do any of that until the process moves through its many twists and turns.

Please pray for my children.  I know that Keith is in a horrible place.  I know that Nicholas's institution is very undesirable as well.  Ahnja, Anita, and Aleshia are probably "ok", but they need out and into a family as well.  They are not taken care of by any means like a child in a real family.  Ahnja is at a boarding school all week and at a group home on the weekends.  Anita is in an orphanage and doesn't like to be close to the other children.  Aleshia is in an institution where they do their best, but she needs a good bath and to learn what love and family is!

Please pray for God to hurry our process through for us.  All of the children need to come home quickly, but Keith's situation is urgent!

If you'd like to be able to make really great digital scrapbooking items like this, 

then go to THIS  post and read how to do it!

The lady who did that guest post made many of the things you see on the blog, 

then another wonderful lady fixed the look of the blog for me.

There is awesome scrapbooking tips and "how to" in that post 

as well as a free photobook that you can get!

I didn't know until she wrote that post that she was donating money from the kits to

Keith's adoption, so go check that out as well.  :)

Small Update

Our paperwork from the meeting that went well on Tuesday has been translated and is at authentication.  It will be submitted to the MOJ next week. 

Please pray that the paperwork continies to fly through and that our babies are in our arms soon.

We are continuing to prepare for their arrival here at home.  :)  Nesting times 5 is hard work!!  lol  I've not had a baby swing in our home since Dayton outgrew his in 2002, but I do now!  Pictures will come soon!

Thanks for your prayers and keep them coming!  God is so good!