Ok, many of you already know that the ICPC lady has driven us insane. The cardiologist that Julianne sees was trying to finish me off. I mean, how can a doctor's office say they DON'T DO LETTERS! So finally I called again yesterday. I determined that I wasn't getting off the phone until someone cared! I cried so hard and pleaded for help so that I can bring Cody home. (I have a headache still today from the crying bc it isn't my norm, but good grief. I can only take so much and I was at my breaking point!)
Well, I go them to agree to sign a paper from our agency and they got him to do it SAME DAY! That is a major PRAISE! God had to have orchestrated that, because I had begged and cried before. So all the letters have been faxed to Mended Reeds!
I believe that our worker went ahead and faxed them yesterday to ICPC. PLEASE PRAY THAT THIS WOMAN BACKS OFF AND DOES WHAT NEEDS DONE FOR US TO BRING CODY HOME! I fear that getting through this hoop just means she will find a different hoop. I don't know what else she could possibly want, but I don't want to find out either. Please go to God on behalf of Cody and us to plead that He softens her heart toward us to let us bring Cody home.
Thanks for all the prayers!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Blessed to be Her Mommy!
Tonight she fell asleep with me holding her. When she first came to us from Texas, she wouldn't do that. She would only go to sleep without us touching her. Tonight, as she turned around while watching television to put her head on my chest, I marvelled at our far that has come. The first time she fell asleep with me holding her was in a Sunday night church service at our church. I almost wouldn't get up to go home! lol
I am her Mommy and I am so happy to be. I can't wait till Cody and our little ones from Eastern Europe get home. I want to see how long I have to wait to get them that comfortable with me.
I sure do love being a Mommy!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Ground Turkey Meals
I use ground turkey much more often than beef. It is a lot healthier and frankly I don't eat beef. I buy the ground turkey at Sam's in a package that has 2 packages connected that total 5 pounds.
I put 5 lbs of ground turkey in my (very large) skillet
Add a little water and minced onion and brown the meat
I season this with mostly Taco Seasoning, but sometimes a little Chili Powder as well
Then I add 2 bag of thawed (in microwave) Mirepoix blend (I get this at Krogers when it is on sale for like 98 cents a bag) that consists of chopped onion, carrots, and celery
I add two cans of Rotel (or off brand similar) tomatoes
Then I add one can of black beans when it is close to all done so they don't get mashed up.
I serve this over chips as the meat for a Nacho Belle Grande type of dinner.
This will also go into soft taco shells and be served as the main dish the next night.
We will have it a 3rd night (not consecutively or they get tired of it lol) as the meat over a salad with tortilla chips broken over it and salsa or other Mexican food sauces. I usually serve a side with this of some time of bread or put shredded cheese into soft taco wraps and bake to go with it.
I get a 4th meal out of it by adding that same meat into my Spaghetti sauce for a Spaghetti dinner.
By this point we've had 4 dinners (each serving 14 people with some left over) by using 5 pounds of meat. :) They get some vegetables and fiber snuck in as well without even noticing. I also don't have nearly the prep time that it would take to prepare 4 meals if the meat wasn't already done.
CHEAP, EASY, YUMMY, AND FEEDS LOTS OF US! :)
I put 5 lbs of ground turkey in my (very large) skillet
Add a little water and minced onion and brown the meat
I season this with mostly Taco Seasoning, but sometimes a little Chili Powder as well
Then I add 2 bag of thawed (in microwave) Mirepoix blend (I get this at Krogers when it is on sale for like 98 cents a bag) that consists of chopped onion, carrots, and celery
I add two cans of Rotel (or off brand similar) tomatoes
Then I add one can of black beans when it is close to all done so they don't get mashed up.
I serve this over chips as the meat for a Nacho Belle Grande type of dinner.
This will also go into soft taco shells and be served as the main dish the next night.
We will have it a 3rd night (not consecutively or they get tired of it lol) as the meat over a salad with tortilla chips broken over it and salsa or other Mexican food sauces. I usually serve a side with this of some time of bread or put shredded cheese into soft taco wraps and bake to go with it.
I get a 4th meal out of it by adding that same meat into my Spaghetti sauce for a Spaghetti dinner.
By this point we've had 4 dinners (each serving 14 people with some left over) by using 5 pounds of meat. :) They get some vegetables and fiber snuck in as well without even noticing. I also don't have nearly the prep time that it would take to prepare 4 meals if the meat wasn't already done.
CHEAP, EASY, YUMMY, AND FEEDS LOTS OF US! :)
Monday, April 25, 2011
Picture and Big Prayer Request
I need anyone who reads this to PRAY REALLY HARD! I need ICPC to clear and Cody to be a step closer to home. I want to hold him so badly. I also need to get everything off to USCIS this week for our international adoption. Our homestudy should have been notarized and ready. I am terrified about the paperwork that I have to send out. I am scared silly that something on it will be wrong and delay things. PLEASE PRAY for both adoption processes. My heart is so full of love for my little ones and so heavy over paperwork and agencies that are identified by their initials.
Here are some pictures that I took last Sunday (We spent Easter at home and had church here bc flooding closed our church this week.) of the 12 kids who are home and here with me. Pray that there are more faces in our pictures soon. :)
Here are some pictures that I took last Sunday (We spent Easter at home and had church here bc flooding closed our church this week.) of the 12 kids who are home and here with me. Pray that there are more faces in our pictures soon. :)
Friday, April 22, 2011
My Letter to ICPC (that they will probably never read)
I wrote this letter last night to the lady who is torturing me from ICPC. I sent it to my worker and asked her to forward it. I knew that she would read it and tell me the truth about what she thought. She emailed me back and said she'll send it on Monday if I would like, but that she doesn't think it will help. As of right now, they are asking for things they are allowed to ask for. It angers me incredibly that they are asking for these things ONE AT A TIME, instead of asking for them all at once in the beginning and making the process faster to bring home my son. I have to share the letter somewhere in order to get what I really think off of my chest so here it is.
I am writing this email as a plea for my little boy. Cody has spent his whole life in foster care and now is missing another holiday that should be spent with a family that adores him. I met Cody over two years ago. He was in the same foster home as my daughter Julianne. I fell in love with him while we were there. His red hair, blue eyes, and sweet personality made him irresistable! He wanted our attention so badly and was so close to our daughter as well. You can only imagine how hard it was to pull away with our daughter, who I had waited so long to hold, while he cried at the door. The complete joy of having her and heading home to our children was subdued by the tears in my eyes as I watched them pull him from the door crying. I knew that he still didn't have a family and that I just took the little girl who in his heart was his sister.
I understand that you have a job to do. I understand and also desire that homes are made sure to be acceptable before children are placed. I wish that the foster homes that most of my children came from were to have had half of this type of scrutiny applied to them! Children deserve the best and most of my children came from foster homes that I wouldn't leave my pets in. I am blessed that Cody is in one of the better foster homes that we've been to, but it still isn't a forever family.
I am begging you to just tell us what other hoops you want us to jump through. I've been doing adoptions for many years and I am very use to jumping through hoops. Thankfully, we have been blessed to work with Mended Reeds that is willing to jump through all these hoops for us as well. I must admit though that the hoops you are asking for seem extreme. I've spent the day begging and crying to try and get letters from everyone you wanted them from. I've had nurses tell me that a cerntain doctor won't do letters while I begged. I have then had to find alternative ways to try and do what is asked. See, I am a good circus dog and I am use to jumping through hoops to get my babies home. I find it much more difficult to be told to make others jump through hoops for me. Specialists do not like to be circus dogs. I do believe I have found ways to prove the things you have asked for after many tears.
I want you to imagine for a second that you were in a similar position. I'm not sure if you are a mother or not, but just imagine yourself as a mother. Imagine that your child is being held hostage. You are told that you can finally get your child into your arms. You are given the "ransom" demand and you run, scurry, and hurry to try and meet it quickly. Then imagine that each time you do this, the "ransom" is set higher and more difficult to pay. Imagine how helpless and emotionally exhausting that would be. Time after time I have paid the ransom for my children. I have gone above and beyond what I have been asked to do, because that is what Mommies do for their children.
My children have all come home and excelled beyond what they were ever believed to be able to do. I have proved myself over and over. I'm not a first time parent. I am a mother who has been blessed with many children. Birthparents are allowed to give birth to as many as they want (even if they don't take care of them!) and never are questioned with the scrutiny that we subject ourselves to time and time again as parents via adoption. We should be able to give homes to children who already exist, but are being denied the basic right to have families who love and adore them.
Please understand that Cody is a real person. (I attached a picture that his foster mother sent since we have been in regular contact with her and kept her updated on Julianne since she came home.) A real child, just like one you might give birth to yourself. He was handed a rough blow before he was ever born. He as shown miraculous improvements and genuine determination to over come many of those difficulties. He is a child first and foremost that deserves a family. He deserves to be adored by my husband and I and the 12 brothers and sisters who long for him each day. He deserves to go to bed at night in a room prepared for him and shared with a big brother who can't stand to sleep in there any more because it reminds him that the bed is empty and Cody is still not here. He needs his forever Mommy to tuck him in and tell him how loved he is and a Daddy that will teach him to hit the ball with the baseball bat. He deserves a real home and a real family life. Foster care is a horrible place for a child. It is aweful that so many have to stay there, but Cody has an alternative. Cody has parents who have longed to have him with them for over two years already. Cody is adored by a family who has proven over and over that they have the ability, determination, and love that it takes to raise children in a long term and permanent family.
My husband and I have proved time and time again that our children are our first priority. Cody is already ours in our hearts and he is a priority. We have proven that we will fight for what is right for them and that we love them beyond compare. God has blessed us with the ability to have a large family. I would take that right to the Supreme Court before I would ever back down from a child in need of a family that God lays on my heart. I can keep jumping through hoops, but it is just wasting Cody's time. Each day is another day missed with his forever family. Each day is more memories that he doesn't get to have.
Please, I beg of you to just let us have our son. He needs us and we need him home with us.
It will probably be the middle of next week, because of the holiday, before I can gather all of the letters that you have asked for. Please be ready with everything else to approve this case and let us bring our son home.
Sincerely,
I am writing this email as a plea for my little boy. Cody has spent his whole life in foster care and now is missing another holiday that should be spent with a family that adores him. I met Cody over two years ago. He was in the same foster home as my daughter Julianne. I fell in love with him while we were there. His red hair, blue eyes, and sweet personality made him irresistable! He wanted our attention so badly and was so close to our daughter as well. You can only imagine how hard it was to pull away with our daughter, who I had waited so long to hold, while he cried at the door. The complete joy of having her and heading home to our children was subdued by the tears in my eyes as I watched them pull him from the door crying. I knew that he still didn't have a family and that I just took the little girl who in his heart was his sister.
I understand that you have a job to do. I understand and also desire that homes are made sure to be acceptable before children are placed. I wish that the foster homes that most of my children came from were to have had half of this type of scrutiny applied to them! Children deserve the best and most of my children came from foster homes that I wouldn't leave my pets in. I am blessed that Cody is in one of the better foster homes that we've been to, but it still isn't a forever family.
I am begging you to just tell us what other hoops you want us to jump through. I've been doing adoptions for many years and I am very use to jumping through hoops. Thankfully, we have been blessed to work with Mended Reeds that is willing to jump through all these hoops for us as well. I must admit though that the hoops you are asking for seem extreme. I've spent the day begging and crying to try and get letters from everyone you wanted them from. I've had nurses tell me that a cerntain doctor won't do letters while I begged. I have then had to find alternative ways to try and do what is asked. See, I am a good circus dog and I am use to jumping through hoops to get my babies home. I find it much more difficult to be told to make others jump through hoops for me. Specialists do not like to be circus dogs. I do believe I have found ways to prove the things you have asked for after many tears.
I want you to imagine for a second that you were in a similar position. I'm not sure if you are a mother or not, but just imagine yourself as a mother. Imagine that your child is being held hostage. You are told that you can finally get your child into your arms. You are given the "ransom" demand and you run, scurry, and hurry to try and meet it quickly. Then imagine that each time you do this, the "ransom" is set higher and more difficult to pay. Imagine how helpless and emotionally exhausting that would be. Time after time I have paid the ransom for my children. I have gone above and beyond what I have been asked to do, because that is what Mommies do for their children.
My children have all come home and excelled beyond what they were ever believed to be able to do. I have proved myself over and over. I'm not a first time parent. I am a mother who has been blessed with many children. Birthparents are allowed to give birth to as many as they want (even if they don't take care of them!) and never are questioned with the scrutiny that we subject ourselves to time and time again as parents via adoption. We should be able to give homes to children who already exist, but are being denied the basic right to have families who love and adore them.
Please understand that Cody is a real person. (I attached a picture that his foster mother sent since we have been in regular contact with her and kept her updated on Julianne since she came home.) A real child, just like one you might give birth to yourself. He was handed a rough blow before he was ever born. He as shown miraculous improvements and genuine determination to over come many of those difficulties. He is a child first and foremost that deserves a family. He deserves to be adored by my husband and I and the 12 brothers and sisters who long for him each day. He deserves to go to bed at night in a room prepared for him and shared with a big brother who can't stand to sleep in there any more because it reminds him that the bed is empty and Cody is still not here. He needs his forever Mommy to tuck him in and tell him how loved he is and a Daddy that will teach him to hit the ball with the baseball bat. He deserves a real home and a real family life. Foster care is a horrible place for a child. It is aweful that so many have to stay there, but Cody has an alternative. Cody has parents who have longed to have him with them for over two years already. Cody is adored by a family who has proven over and over that they have the ability, determination, and love that it takes to raise children in a long term and permanent family.
My husband and I have proved time and time again that our children are our first priority. Cody is already ours in our hearts and he is a priority. We have proven that we will fight for what is right for them and that we love them beyond compare. God has blessed us with the ability to have a large family. I would take that right to the Supreme Court before I would ever back down from a child in need of a family that God lays on my heart. I can keep jumping through hoops, but it is just wasting Cody's time. Each day is another day missed with his forever family. Each day is more memories that he doesn't get to have.
Please, I beg of you to just let us have our son. He needs us and we need him home with us.
It will probably be the middle of next week, because of the holiday, before I can gather all of the letters that you have asked for. Please be ready with everything else to approve this case and let us bring our son home.
Sincerely,
They are Holding my Little Boy Hostage
I beg your prayers for his adoption to move quickly. Ohio's ICPC is driving me insane. They keep saying we have to provide something else or that our agency has to provide something else. We've heard that they are being told to deny every adoption that they can from out of state. Evidently some children have come from out of state and their adoptions have disrupted. That puts them back into care, but this time the state of Ohio is footing the bill. You'd think that, since our first adoption was over 9 1/2 years ago and all ours are home, that we'd have proved ourselves by now. I have 18 and 19 year old daughters that still live at home, when many bio parents would have put them into the MRDD system to be housed. It also isn't like Cody is some delinquent child. He's a cute little 4 year old who has overcome so much in his short life and NEEDS a family.
Please pray that they will move this thing forward rather than delaying with endless attempts to find some reason to deny him a family! It is like they are holding him hostage and every time I think I paid the ransom they just change it to another ransom demand. It is exhausting and my heart breaks each day for this little boy who deserves a family to love and adore him forever. Please take this before God for us. The devil must really be angry at what God has planned for my little boy, because otherwise he'd not be fighting it so hard.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
I know this picture is a little blurry. I just thought I'd share that THIS is how I FEEL RIGHT NOW! The day I took this picture I was trying to take some pictures to send to Cody. She let me know very clearly that she was DONE with getting her picture taken. I can't help but think she is adorable even showing a mad face. lol
I very much feel like the face she is making and the idea she is trying to get across. I am DONE with the waiting. I am tired of waiting for ICPC to move on Cody's adoption. I am tired of waiting for Central Registry checks on my oldest daughters. I am ready to have all my kids home.
The thing that is DIFFERENT is that no one cares if I am TIRED and DONE. Julianne is cute and we love her so much that we CARE. The government offices that do all of the things (or don't do them) that I need done for my adoptions don't care that there are real children waiting and mommies worrying.
SO I STILL WAIT!
I think I'll go back and re-read my post about the cost of adoption now. I think God means for me to "get it" and I'm instead feeling ticked off. Maybe He is ok with me being ticked off because He too is tired of the people in charge wasting the lives of children? I am going to have to pray about that.
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