One Year Ago!

One year ago today we received our referral for Valerie. I'll never forget that feeling as I read over and over the very tiny bit of information we first received.

The email simply said:

Dear Cindy,

The Department has issued a referral for you - a girl, light featured, Valeria, DOB August 26. According to her referral letter, her diagnoses look average. My question is Valeria is half year older than you requested, will you consider her referral and we can work further on getting more info or would you like to turn her down due to age and ask for a younger referral?

Best Regards, Olga

She was older than what we had originally requested but we had been praying that we would get the referral that God meant to be our child so I immediately emailed Olga back and said we definitely will consider her, please get us more information. Two days later we received another email with her medical report and current pictures. Irina, the coordinator in Khabarovsk had gone to the orphanage and taken the pictures that week! When I saw her, I knew that I could never turn her down. She looked beautiful and scared and I wanted to go get her right then. I read over the medical and it scared me to death with all kinds of horrible sounding diagnoses but Olga assured me they were fairly typical of what they see on most medicals from that orphanage and she also put me in touch with Dr. Skurkovich, an international adoption doctor. He said Valerie seemed to be more light, more fragile, and certainly 4 or even 5 months delayed in development compared to the average US child but nothing that wasn't correctable. He gave a low-risk assessment. She had no physical signs of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Doesn't she have amazing eyes? I blew these precious pictures up to 8 x 10 and printed them off. I stared at them and prayed for her constantly for the next month until we traveled to Khabarovsk to meet her! They say not to fall in love with your referral because you might meet her and decide she's not the one or she might be adopted by a Russian family before you are able to complete the adoption. I heard that advice but didn't heed it. I was definitely already in love!

A Really Nice Day with My Family!

Today was a great day. There was no school because of MLK Day. We all slept in until about 8:30 and I stayed in my pajamas until after lunch! I played with the kids all morning. I made pizza for lunch and we were all together to eat it. Todd was working at home today so during Valerie's nap, Blaine, Champ (the dog) and I took off on a really long walk in the pasture. It was a beautiful day with warm sunshine and a cool breeze. We had the best conversations about everything in the world. Blaine found a few treasures to bring home. Out of the blue, he said, "I love you, Mama" and it made my day! We stopped off at Mamaw's house on the way home and he wanted to stay and help her with some yard work so I came on home alone. Todd took off to build some fence so Valerie and I went on a walk and had a little special time with just the two of us. While we were walking, she said, "Hand, Mama" which means she wants to hold your hand. She grabbed my hand and kissed it like I always do to her! She is getting to be such a little sweetie! She has also learned to say, "luboo", which means I love you. Todd grilled some burgers for supper and again we were all home to enjoy eating together. I wish everyday could be like this. But I guess if it were, it might not seem so special. I'm counting my blessings tonight!

Cowboys

Here are some pictures of my cowboys on one of our cow works in early December. Polly Sue and I were the Chuckwagon Gang and we shot these pictures when we delivered their lunch.Todd

Blaine


The whole crew
Can you spot little Blaine out there with all those big men? He loves to work cows!

3 Generations!

Todd, Blaine, and Larry

4 Generations of Cowboys!

Bub, Larry, Todd, and Blaine

Christmas Cuties

Here's a few Christmas pics of the kiddos. GranJan got these cute pajamas for them and they both wore them all December. Actually they are still wearing them! We used these 1st two pictures on our Christmas cards this year. Valerie - age 2

Blaine - age 6





We had an extremely fun and very messy time making Christmas cookies. Valerie thought the sprinkles were pepper and she shook them on saying, "pepah, pepah". All of Valeries cookies were completely coated in "pepah"! We enjoyed eating them and Santa must have also because he only left a few crumbs!

I'll post a few more soon.

7 Months Ago.....

Seven months ago today a judge in Khabarovsk, Russia told us that our adoption was approved and we became the proud parents of this precious little girl! She has grown and changed so much and we are more in love with her every day!

She is much taller and slimmer now and looks more like a little girl and less like a baby.

Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas! As usual it started on Christmas Eve and went on for several days with get-togethers with different parts of the family. We were exhausted (and fatter) by the time it was over but are so blessed to have such a big and loving family! This year was extra special because it was Valerie's first Christmas with us. So fun!!


Christmas Eve we went to Todd's parents and Polly Sue fed us a delicious steak dinner and we exchanged gifts and enjoyed the afternoon together. Christmas morning we had a ball watching the kids discover what Santa brought them. Valerie calls Santa Ho-Ho. Ho-Ho was very good to both her and Blaine! Then Larry and Polly Sue and all of my family came over to our house for breakfast. We all had a good visit, ate too much, and played with the kids' new toys. The whole crew went outside and watched Blaine shoot off his new Coke/Mentos geyser (Way Cool!). Then it was off to my parent's house to open presents and have our traditional Christmas fajitas. Mom and Dad make the best fajitas! We spent the rest of the day playing, resting and visiting with Ginger, Mike, and Bryan. The day after Christmas, Todd's cousins came into town so we went down to Nana and Bub's house and had another round of Christmas with Jami and Todd and their kids, Brooks and Paige, Jason and Jackie and their kids, Jaxon and Connor. Todd's Aunt Jan had cooked a brisket and so we had yet another wonderful feast. The next day Todd's cousin Cy, his wife Meredith and their pretty little Kylie came so we all got together again.

So much fun, too much food, not enough sleep! All of us were spoiled with so many great presents but the best gifts of course are the ones money can't buy. God has given us the gifts of love and family and best of all, our salvation, which is why we celebrate Christmas!


I have tons of great pictures that I am trying to post tonight but my pitiful dial-up connection is not cooperating. I'll try again tomorrow.

A Whole Month in One Post!

I can't believe I've put off blogging for a month. This will be the condensed and very random version of the past month (bullet style)! I think the kids might enjoy reading about our family life someday so I hope to be a better blogger in the future.

• The last weekend of September the kids and I went with my parents to a Carrell family reunion in Huntington. It was a 10 hour car trip one way so pretty tiring. It had been 4 years since I'd been to a reunion so it was wonderful to catch up with all of my Dad's family again. I was also proud to show off Valerie! She and Blaine had a wonderful time. Blaine got to meet and play with his cousins and caught a crawdad at Uncle Earl's house! Valerie got tons of attention and everyone let her eat off their plates!


• We've been to several volleyball games to watch Shelbi play. She is a middle hitter and is awesome! The Lady Lobo team is great and it looks like they will be District Champs. Can't wait to watch some playoff action! Valerie claps her hands and says lolo (lobo) and ay (yay).


• We conferenced with Blaine's teacher and he is doing great in 1st Grade. He made all A's on his first report card! He is reading better all the time and is starting to take Accelerated Reader tests on the computer. In Blaine's words, "Mrs. Coldewey is cool!" She lets them do the smarty pants dance when they do something good. I've got to get some video of this!


• Valerie has started going to Children's Day Out and loves it! She cried the first couple of days, now she runs ahead of me to get to her classroom. She is SO social! CDO has had visits from the fire truck, police officers, and EMT's this month. Most kids were afraid of the loud sirens. Not Valerie, she danced to it!


• We celebrated my brother, Bryan's 33rd birthday on October 6 and Todd's 36th Birthday on October 20!


• Todd's Aunt Martha passed away at the end of September. We really miss her and pray for Bruce during this time. She loved Blaine so much and was already crazy about Valerie in this short time we've had her. Martha was a special lady!


• We have had Valerie for 4 1/2 months including our time with her in Khabarovsk. Since June 2, she has grown 4 inches and gained 5 pounds!


• We have met twice with the Early Childhood Intervention team. They assessed Valerie last Friday and she does qualify for services with them. She will get Speech Therapy twice a month. This therapy is really training for us to learn how to work with her to improve her speech, especially her articulation. She is consistently saying more than 50 words but she is very difficult to understand. She seems to understand most of what we say. She is a bright little girl and we are so proud of her!


• We had a ball at the Heflin's Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. We made a jack 0' lantern with TONS of teeth! Blaine is big enough now that he can help carve. Valerie enjoyed sticking her hands in the slimy seeds! It's so fun to line everyone's lighted pumpkins up outside and admire the creativity.


• Todd is going to be changing jobs and we are really praying for direction and guidance. He is a super smart guy and a very hard worker so I know everything will work out fine but I don't like times of unknown. However, I do know Who holds the future!


• Valerie and I went to the Sandhills for a playdate with another group of moms and kiddos from church. After she learned to not eat the sand, she had a great time and even went down the dunes on a disc.


• Blaine is going to be Batman for Halloween if he doesn't wear out his costume before then.


• I'm not sure what I've been doing this month but always seem to be busy and tired! I think it has something to do with the 2 year old.


• We are also following our football team who is having a great season. Blaine's teacher's son, Kevin is on the team so Blaine has a new hero to look up to. I love to go to the games but usually feel a little beat up after holding Valerie through the whole thing.


• My friend, Donna, gave me a gift certificate for a massage way back before we went to Russia but I never was able to use it. I finally got my massage last week and it was WONDERFUL! I could do that once a week!


• I finally got Blaine and Valerie in to get some pictures made. Valerie doesn't yet know how to pose. I would get her situated, tell her to smile pretty, and she would say, "no", get up and walk over to me. I think we got one good one of her when we made her laugh and several of the two of them together. She doesn't understand smile, but if I say "show me your teeth" we get a little fake smile. They should be in tomorrow.

Like I said, random and abridged. Almost all of those bullets should have been a post of their own, complete with pictures and this was just the things I remembered off the top of my head. Here's a vow to do better. Hopefully.