Will she ever move in???

Well, another weekend closer to the big move. We are going to a therapy appointment tomorrow with Marty and this will be the deciding factor of how soon this will happen. If the therapist thinks that things are good and if there are no concerns, then it will be a go much faster than we thought. It could be within 2 weeks (I hope). It's getting so hard to leave her on Sunday nights. For us and for her. We can tell as we get closer to Ellinwood that she is quieter and more withdrawn. The mother in me just about dies when I have to watch this and know that she wants to stay with us, but we have to drop her off. Soon....I have to remember....soon. They told us no matter what it would be in September....so that's good. Well, anyway, I just wanted to share a little note on how things are progressing.

Poem

I was looking for special adoption gifts and poems, etc...and I found this poem that I thought was so beautiful. I printed it out with a pretty font and I plan to mat it and frame it and give it to Marty when the adoption is finalized (probably around March/April). Here it is....just don't cry on me (yeah right):

Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone
But still miraculously my own
Never forget not for a minute
You weren't born under my heart
But in it

I don't know who wrote it, but it touched my heart.

Yet another weekend

Ok, we have Martaysha again. We are so ready to just have her move in with us. The weekends are going so well. We have a meeting tomorrow with a St. Francis worker (the one that really decides when it's time to move her in) and our social worker told Martaysha to bring up the fact that she wants to move in already. Our worker thinks that it might speed things up, or at least keep them on track. Martaysha is so excited for this Sunday (well, she's usually excited about Sundays...but this one is different) because she gets to sing with us on our worship team. In fact she asked to do a verse of a praise song, solo. She is such a good singer. She can hit every note with quite a bit of accuracy. Boy, does that warm my heart. I think it's so wonderful that God gave us a daughter that loves music as much as we do. She even asked me tonight if she could play the flute in church sometime. I told her if she practiced up a song, then she could. I have special music sometime in the month of September (I think towards the end) and Marty and I decided that we would sing a mother/daughter duet for it. We are going to pick out a song tomorrow and get her a copy to listen to and practice up for that time. Actually, if we can get things worked up good enough, we might sing a special next Sunday in Alta Vista. We are going there for Labor Day weekend and I know my parents and I will be singing a special at their church. How exciting. Someone actually mentioned to me (I can't remember who) that maybe we could be the next Judds.......well, ok we wouldn't be the Judds, but we could do a few duets. It's still so unbelievable that we finally get to be parents. In fact we were having a talk with Marty tonight about how sometimes it's hard to see what God is doing at the time, but looking back it's easier to see why some things happened. I brought up the month of April and the fact that we didn't get those two little girls. I was so devastated, but looking back I have no regrets because I can't imagine life without Martaysha. I know that God knew that we would get Marty, so He couldn't give us those other girls. What a great lesson to remember.....God does have plans for us that are good for us and not to harm us....even if we think they don't look the best at the time.

Another weekend

Well, we had yet another weekend with our precious daughter. We got to take her clothes shopping on Sunday. I thought it was fun. I actually had more fun finding clothes for her than I do for myself. And I love picking out clothes for me. But I had to giggle at Scott. He is so a stereotypical daddy. All I kept hearing (and I'm glad I did) was "Why do they make shirts like this? Are they all this bad?" LOL!!! I was glad that he was there to make sure that no indecent clothes got past. He made Martaysha get a white tank top and a white t-shirt to put under pretty much everything that we bought. Ok...I was right there with him. I agreed with everything he said. It was just so funny to see Scott. It's been different to watch him as a dad. It's not a bad thing, but it's just not a role I've seen him in until now. He's a good one, I'll tell you that. He won't admit it (too much) but I think he misses her just as much as I do when she's gone for the week. He's always telling her that he can't wait for her to live with us. He's so sweet. And I'm also very glad because I was looking at the basketball schedule for Healy and I will get to go to every game of Martaysha's. Anyway, gotta go for now. I'll blog more later.

Some pictures of our beautiful daughter!

Here are three pictures that I have of Martaysha. She and two boys at church were playing with our camera, so I wasn't sure what I would end up with....but these were my favorite pictures. Enjoy!

Prayer Request

Hi everyone. I just have a small prayer request for you all. We are really working on the social workers and other workers that are in charge of the adoption. We had been told that they wanted to go very slow with the process and even moving her in. Well, because things are going so well and Martaysha is begging to move in with us and get on with life in her new family we have been bugging some people that need bugged. It sounds like maybe they are starting to change their minds and maybe considering that our situation can move a little faster. We are not for sure how fast they will let us move, but I get the feeling that if we don't move a little faster than we are, Martaysha might get restless. Just be praying that they will change their minds and allow her to move in. We talked to Martaysha last night on the phone and Scott asked her why she liked us so much since we weren't that special. She told him that we didn't have to be special. I thought that was sweet. But anyway, just keep praying that things will move the way they are supposed to. Thanks a bunch.

*Update: I talked to our social worker, who talked to the other workers (you know how that goes) and right now they don't want to move any faster than 6 weeks. I get a little discouraged by that, but I also understand that there is a process to this. I am just trying to stay positive and remember that she is our daughter even if we have to wait for 6 weeks to get her moved in. We will work with it and praise the Lord for what He has done so far. But keep praying, because I know God can do anything. He may choose to change things, or He may keep them on the path they are going. It's all up to Him....He can see the big picture.

Weekend

These are the two pictures we took this weekend at Scott's parents house. We wanted to have pictures to show people when they asked about her. Here they are....we will be getting better ones done probably on the weekend of the 23/24th of this month.

Scott's girls!!!!

Our weekend went so good. She fits so perfect in our family. We got to do so many mother/daughter things. We tried on clothes, did some make-up and hair, we both love jewlery. It was so great. She was a total sweetheart this whole weekend. I don't think we will have any major problems....just the normal teenage ones that come with having a teenage daughter. She opened up to me some already (which I guess tells me she's comfortable with me). We had to bring her home last night and Scott and I talked on the way home that the van (we bought a new van on Friday) seemed way too quiet. Then today at lunch Scott said...."it's just not the same, it's too empty." He misses her just as much as I do....which is so sweet. He wants to just move her in. It's just like any daddy, I think he's already wrapped around her finger....lol. We are picking her up again this Friday (well I am) and we will have her until Sudnay evening...again. I can't wait for this to be over and have her her permanently. And she mentioned it quite a bit that she just didn't see why they couldn't let her move in with us. I think she has a theory of making that work....she left a bunch of stuff her. A pair of shoes, jewelry, some pictures. And she told me she was leaving them....I think she slowly plans to move things in until finally she won't have anything left at the foster home.....I kind of laugh at that. At least she's excited to move in and wants to be here. She's ready for a new family so bad. But anyway, enjoy the pictures and the update.

Keep watching

I just wanted to tell you to keep watching my blog. I am going to take pictures this weekend of us and Martaysha and I plan to post them asap. I have had a lot of people asking if we have pictures of her, so now I will have them. Pray that this weekend goes well for us. I'm a little nervous yet, that she'll get here and decide she doesn't like us. I don't think that will happen, but it's just one of those little voices that I fight.

Visit

We got to see her. Her picture doesn't even do her justice. She is so beautiful. Scott already said he was going to have to chase the boys away....and he said he plans on doing it. We have a protective daddy on our hands. And as we talked on the way home last night, he even said he already started feeling like her dad. It was a slow start to our evening, both she and I were a little shy...but by the time we had to leave I didn't want to leave her there and she didn't want us to go. She is going to be staying with us this weekend for a visit. I think it will go a little faster than they think it will and that she'll be moved in very shortly after school starts. I can't wait for that day....seeing her just made it so much more real that she's my daughter. The love just started over-flowing. Adoption is so truly a gift from God. Now I do know that things will not be perfect...she will make mistakes and of course so will we. But she is a perfect match to our family. We are interested in the same things, and we get along very well. When Scott would joke with her she got to where she'd just throw it right back. You can imagine how much that spoke to Scott. Oh...I can't wait to get her in our home. I love her so much and she's my daughter.

Picture of Martaysha

I thought maybe some people would enjoy seeing a picture of our new daughter. (she's on my mind just a little) I've been told by Scott's family, my family, and her foster mother that we look alike a little. That's all I'll say for now...enjoy the picture:

Today is the day!!!

Well, today is the day that we meet our daughter. I have butterflies. I just got done with her scrapbook that we will give her tonight that has pictures and letters from our families. I hope she likes it. I can't believe it's here already. But yet, it still doesn't seem real. It's like I know what's going on...but like it's just a dream, or maybe it's all fake. But I bet after tonight it will all be as real as anything. And maybe after we meet her I will start acting normal again....instead of running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get things done. I get the feeling that tonight might also be kind of hard. I think that Martaysha will ask to come home with us. Our social worker will be there with us since it's the first visit.....and a part of me kind of hopes that she will say "go ahead. just take her home." But the other part of me says that she will make sure that the weekend visit is a later date. Either way, I can handle it. It helps knowing that she's ours no matter what. The only way this won't happen now is if we say no.....and that just isn't going to happen. I also can't wait for everyone around us to meet her and get to know her. I think it's hard for them to feel like it's real. That's just the way it goes I guess. Well, since it is like 3:15 in the morning, I should go to bed. That way I get some sleep and am a little rested to meet Martaysha. I'll post when we get back (either tonight or on Wednesday) just so everyone knows how things went. Keep praying.

Meeting Marty

Well, we set the date and time to meet Martaysha. We will be going to see her on Tuesday and will get to her foster home about 6:30 or so. We are so excited. I've been such a basket case all week, and I feel like I'm finally turning back into a normal human being. I'm still excited, but the excitement has turned from wacky and crazy, to just normal excitement. Keep praying for us that we would be Godly parents and know the right decisions to make in different situations. But we are sticking with God on this, and plan to let Him guide us fully in our parenting. Thanks for all the prayers we have already had go up for us. That includes people praying that God would bless us with a child. It's finally here, God has chosen this time for us to be parents. Isn't He awesome?!?!?