But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

 -Our agency got notice that we are only about a week away from expecting our pre-approval from the USCIS office :D (The US approving Levi to be a citizen)
after we get the USCIS pre-approval – then it'll go to the embassy in Levi's country – that will take about 2 weeks and then they complete their stuff which can be 2-3 weeks (keeping prayers said and fingers crossed that his county moves at the said pace) and then Giorgi can schedule a court date for us. He usually tries to give families a 2 week notice– so at the longest, maybe only about 7 more weeks till we go! :) 

Levi with our friend Delahne when she was there adopting his foster sister in June 2010..Can't wait to be in her spot ♥

(♥ U Levi)

He said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Cor. 12:10

I just wish it could all be a lot more simple is all.

(♥ U Levi)

Teach me Your way, Lord, and I will live by Your truth.Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11

London, Tbilisi, and Isaac

We got our copy of our I-800 package that's at the USCIS office waiting approval right now. :) It's the last step we need for our travel date. Their web site says it can take up to 90 days or as little as 2 weeks to get approval. I get excited just thinking about it all :)

London :)

So we started looking at ticket costs again last night & thankfully their still running about $1,000. each. So thankful we won't be traveling during the Summer months when the cost goes up. Mat really wants to spend a full day in London, so we started looking at costs to go there first since layover times just weren't long enough. Funny, but it ends up flying from LA to London then from London to Tbilisi on one way tickets takes the total cost for all of us to go down by about $1,800.! So looks like this is the route we might be taking :) Unlessss, we can get a better rate from Golden Rule Travel (they specialize in adoption travel) We might go through them anyway just for peace of mind. When we traveled for Isaac they we're great with us; making sure we got good seats, good deals and no penalties for having to change flight times and days. If your due to travel I highly recommend them :)

Tbilisi, Georgia

What I'm really, really excited about though is meeting him..HIM. This little boy whose held our hearts captivated for so long now. I can't wait to look into his beautiful brown eyes and kiss his little tender cheeks. When ever I think about how much love our hearts already hold for him I'm amazed all over again how God just puts this unmeasurable amount of love there..all for a little one we've never met. It's similar to when your preggers, but it's different.
 I remember caring this picture around with me where ever I went of this little boy...........
 From Jan. 27th, 2008 till the day we met him on July 10th, 2009.
In our hearts he was already our son. We loved him and were so excited to finally met this little kid who had held our hearts even without knowing we even existed. I remember how we had these long talks about what we thought he would be like. Wasn't he just a sweet looking cutie? ♥
 Wondered if he would like us, if he would bond with us or not. Wondered how we were going to feel when we met him..would this euphoric feeling fade? What if he wasn't what we thought he was going to be at all? What if he was a total terror, lol :) In the end..he was our Isaac. Different in many ways then what we had imagined, but better :)
 

First time meeting our awesome monster

I know that's how it's going to be with Levi too. I carry 2 pictures of Levi around with me today and I know both me and Mat have this idea of who he is. Even the kids have this idea of who they think he is. We all wonder if he's going to a quit one, or loud. Is he easy going, laid back or tough to please with alot of issues? Here's what we imagine him to be like..We imagine he's the easy going, laid back type of guy. Kinda like our Eli. We envision this little love bug that we'll be able to sit and snuggle with (alot like we do with Eli) and who won't demand alot of attention, but who we'll have to make sure gets it. (like Eli :)

3 year old Levi ♥

6 year old Levi ♥

The truth is..we have no idea what he's really like. What he likes or doesn't. If he's a good eater, Smiley, ppassive to the point that it's going to take work to pull him out of his shell, a whiner, demanding, loud, quiet, tender, affectionate or one that pushes you away? We really have no idea, but it's totally okay..cause in the end, God knows who he is and that he belongs right here and that this little guy that goes with me every where in my wallet is one that's going to add to our family a joy. Just like each of our loves have & do. How exciting!

(♥ U Levi)

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath.”

We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.
Psalm 39:4

(♥ U Levi)

"Time goes by so fast. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you." Author Unknown

(♥ U Levi)

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11

I know this doesn't seem like much, but Eli playing with the shower head really is a BIG HUGE deal (Hence my taking pictures of it :) He's always hated the sensation of the water hitting him from the shower head. It didn't matter if it was from up high or at his level. He's just not been fond of how the water coming from the shower head feels on him. But in every other way, Eli LOVES water & would live in the bath if I let him. The other day when he was getting his bath I couldn't find the little hand bucket we use to rinse his head (another sensation he hates is water being poured on his head). Rinsing his hair has become an art we've had to learn to master in our home, lol. So when I couldn't find the bucket I decided to use the shower head. In an effort (again) to have him not freak out I just let the shower head dangle in front of him for a bit. And dangle for a bit it did..without Eli touching it & making sure it didn't touch him. After about 2 minutes of water running I tried to introduce the water to him again. This time though I turned it down REAL low, like a dribble. And he reached for it, and he wasn't afraid!!! Bit by painfully slow bit I turned the pressure up until I got this...

I love this kid like there's no tomorrow!!
I love how God's used Eli to help me appreciate the simplest of things..like him enjoying the water from a shower head ♥ Who knew? :)

(♥ U Levi)

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.~ Psalm 127:3

Everyday is a new adventure here in our home...and I love it :) We have our basic routine that runs our early mornings up through our afternoons, but it's still done with the spirit of adventure evvvery sinnngle day. This morning we got up, did a quick clean up and while breakfast was being made ~by my Ay, and hot coco being passed out, by my Ru~ & Mama checking e-mails & getting tax receipts printed, Isaac took to capturing memories of  himself & our morning :D

Camera's facing the wrong way, Uki!

Now it's upside down, silly boy :)

Ahh, and yes..this is why our early morning clean up was needed :)

Rubee with morning coco..thanks sweetie ♥

Ayla over the stove :)

Brodie boy

Nala girl

Ay sitting next to me (see the computer screen? :)

And when he was all done capturing memories of this morning on his own he came & sat on my lap and handed me the camera telling me it was my turn to capture some moments...

Children are such a gift! Thank You Lord for mine...♥

(♥ u Levi)

Finally approved..kinda

So we've been in an ongoing battle with our insurance over the boys receiving speech therapy. It's not been pretty but being realistic, we simply can't afford to pay for private services for 2, soon to be 3 little loves who need this. So we've fought and fought to be able to get what we've could. About 4 months ago we switched issuance carriers and started seeing a doctor who is on our side and is working with us to be able to get our boys the therapy they need. In the mean time we've I've become the therapist. There are tons of wonderful video helps to be found on Youtube by professional speech therapists who offer there videos as helps for families just like mine. And I love Qadoshyah's blog, Got Down Syndrome?, too. Her blog is loaded with helps! Then there's the National Down Syndrome Association of Orange County. They have a really great library filled with all that a family could ever want or need. About 6 months ago they called me because I was on the waiting list to be able to check out all their resources for Talk Tools. Seems that they had a donation of an upgraded set (the one they had was all on VHS) so they offered the set they had on VHS to me...to keep! (about a $200. value if bought new, even on VHS!) It's everything I need..all the learning sessions, like 14 -17 hours worth, along with the workbooks and how to use them :) Now, if only I could find the time to set aside to watch them all. :(
So back to what this post was started for..Weeeeell, we finally got an approval! Kinda. Our insurance approved my boys to be able to receive...wait for it, waaaiiit fooor it...20 MINUIT'S A MONTH!!! Whhhhhaaaaaat?! And the worst part is that they only approved a location that's in Oceanside, almost 2 hours south of us. *Deeeeep heavvvyyy sighhhhhh. But, at least it wasn't a flat out "No" which has been the case in the past.
So, in all my ambition and drive to see how great it was going to be & what I can learn I loaded up my Isaac (O' and did I mention that they boys don't even get seen on the same days? Haaa..) and headed down south. The therapist we saw was named Sherri and she was very kind, showed a great amount of patience for my son and was horrified at the fact that he was only approved for once a month. She said she'd start a book to be kept with his file so that when he comes the therapist he sees won't have to use all the time getting to know him and about him like she was having to. That was nice of her, but I honestly don't think I'll be going back. She didn't do or tell me to do anything I didn't already know about or how to do~ and the gas in our SUV is a killer for a measly 20 min. session where hardly anything at all is going to be learned once a  month. But, I did ask her questions and just picked her mind as much as I could while she was available to do so. She filled my arms with some more resources, my head with more web-addresses and said 'Good luck, and good-bye'.  I guess it wasn't a total waste, just not totally worth it either. :( 

*to turn off the music just scroll down to  my Playlist and hit the pause, then you'll be able to hear Isaac 'talking' :)

A bit about Isaac..he's a mover and has energy bound tightly 24/7 within him. :) To start the session Sherri was trying to get him to corporate with her requests, but he's so all over the place that it made it hard. Not to mention she had about 4 different things on the table he was clamoring to get to.

After a short session at the table she tryed him out in the 'cube chair' and he did much better there along with the fact that only one thing was now in front of him to demand his attention. :)

Dear Papa..Happy Birthday :)

Dear Papa, Thank you for everything you give me. Like my bed, my cloths, my home, my food, and your love. I love you...love Rubee   

Dear Papa, Happy Birthday! Uhhhh, I love you...love Naomi

Dear Papa, I love you. Thank you for being my dad. You're awesome. You bring me to the skate-park and you bring me to Jiu-Jitsu classes. I kick butt for you! I learned how to kick butt thanks to you. I love you...love Zekiel

Dear Papa, Thank you for everything you do for me. Your a great Papa and I love you. Love the daughter that loves you most :D.. love Ayla

Dear Papa, Thank you for wrestling with us and letting us win. Thank you laying with us at night so we're not scared when we go to bed. Thank you for pushing us to be more then others think we can be. Your the best. ...Love, Isaac and Eli

It's not a great picture, but it's a real life one, lol :) Happy Birhday Papa!

Dear Handsome, I can be a good drama queen, a bit overly passionate about my feelings, an insecure pile of jelly, a control freak, and giddy childish at times too. I can forget to keep our home spic-n-span tidy, or be an ogar about it being in tip-top shape. I can either be a really big handful or let things roll of my back with no big deal. I can be a push-over or very manipulative to get my way. But through all my many moods of me you've stood by my side. Your my rock, your my tender arms to lay in, your my guy who holds my hand while I'm wearing sweats and looking beat as we walk through the store. Thank you for telling me I look pretty even when I know I don't :). Thank you for reassuring me when others get me down. I especially love how your gentle in a very powerfully strong way & how you love our kiddo's  so tenderly and so much... . You, my Handsome, you are just one really awesome guy & I'm so thankful God choose you for me. Happy Birthday Baby!!..
♥ you like there's no tomorrow.. :) ....love, me.

Harold and Joe..go, go, go...♪♫ (i ♥ u)

Tax Refund is different than Credit..

URGENT: Please Sign The Petition!
Please take a moment to go and *SIGN THE PETITION* that is being circulated to make adoption costs fully refundable in the 2012 and 2013 tax years.

This tax refund has NOT been renewed at this point. Because the wording of things is a bit tricky some people rejoiced at hearing that the tax CREDIT had been renewed. But a credit is VERY different than a refund.

Please sign the petition and please consider sharing on your Facebook and your blog.

Thank you, friends!

(♥ U Levi)

The small world of fb..

Our adoption of Levi has been such an on-going/off-again thing for the past 3, almost 4 years now...& now with it being soooo close to him finally coming home we've been given more info. on him and one of those things is his bio. parents names.
When we first came home with Isaac one of the first things I did was look up his bio mom and dad's names. I've found several women who could be my Isaac's bio mom & one who could be his dad (they weren't married)
..but Levi's bio mom~Levi's bio mom is for sure no mistaken his mom~he looks just like her. It's left me feeling odd to see her, to see that he looks so much like her. She looks so sad :( & that makes me feel sad for her. Levi was her 4th pregnancy. First 2 were miscarriages, 3rd died at 8 months of heart failure & then she was blessed with Levi, but after one month home with him decided to take him to the orphanage. On his RR profile it listed that his family had a hard time leaving him there and visited with him often until his first b-day. After that it was only his maternal grandmother who came anymore. When we commitment to him he was 3 & he was moved to his foster home. We were told that his grandma started to come visit him there too. She would bring food to the family. Later we were told that his bio parents came to see him on his 4th birthday, but his mom refused to hold him or touch him, but introduced him to his little sister :( His father held him briefly and with silent tears handed him back to his foster mom. That was the last time anyone in his family came to see him that we know of. In late '09 we submitted our dossier for him for the second time (the first was in '08 before the invasion of his country that halted our adoption) when we did, we found out that in his file there was missing paperwork that was needed showing his bio mom had relinquished her rights to him. She was found & asked to sign the papers so we could move forward, but she refused. The adoption was stopped. :(  Sept. of '10 we got a call letting us know that he was again available with all needed paperwork in place. We don't know the circumstances of it all..if she signed of her own free will or because his county relinquished her rights due to her not taking him home herself...but we do know they were signed. So here we are again. I'm thankful to be here, but it's heartbreaking too. My heart hurts for this women who has these big beautiful brown eyes, like Levi's, and they just look so sad. In the past we asked if we could offer to let this be an open adoption. We were told we could. If it's something she wants, then I'm looking forward to getting in touch with her once he's home. I think she'd like to know about him..I would.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18

(♥ U Levi)