I'm two weeks old!

Look how smart I am, I can already count to two!

Hi everyone, it's me - Baby C. I turned two weeks old yesterday and I went to see my pediatrician. Guess what she did?! She pulled my belly button right off!!! Who does she think she is? I must say, though, that it feels much better not to have that crispy thing hanging around anymore. So, now I can take a real big boy bath!

She gave me a new kind of formula that is special just for preemies (Enfamil Enfacare) and it gives me a few more calories per bottle.

I had gained a little bit, I weighed 5 pounds 4 oz and I've grown longer! I'm now 18 & 1/4 inches now.

I need to go now, it's time to eat again!

Talk to you later!!

Baby C

You just never know where the road will lead!

All this time we've traveled this crazy long road of adopting (May 12, 2005 - July 29, 2008!), I never would have dreamed the road would lead to a location only 1.4 miles from my front door!

I also never dreamed the gift at the end of the road would be a newborn baby and a BOY at that! But what a precious boy he is.

I'm sorry I've not been on to keep you all posted. I'm sure I'll get better, but this newborn stuff is all new to me! He's so tiny and the reality of having complete responsibility over one so small is at times overwhelming, especially during one of those stretches wehre I've only had a couple hours sleep!

I'll try and post more soon. But until then I'll share some more pictures of C, our little man!

Here he is with D's spotted leopard Webkinz. If you've seen webkinz, you know they're not very big! I need to get a specific stuffed animal, like Debbie does with Izzy, so you can see how he grows. I'm ready for him to sprout a bit! Here's a "freebie" of Big Sister! These are her Big Sister flowers, and she looked so pretty after church yesterday that I just had to get a picture of her!

OK, I'll stop teasing you now . . .

Last Tuesday, just one day after we learned about our agency receiving accreditation, we had a very eventful day!!!

At a little before 2 Hubby called me from his cell phone. He was in Dallas to drop D off to visit her grandparents for a week.

He asked me if I was ready for a bombshell. I immediately thought they'd had an accident or something. But no!

He said our local OB, had called him. He had a lady about to deliver and she wanted to place her baby for adoption. She just wanted the doctor to find the baby a good home. He asked Hubby if we would be interested? He gave a little history and it sounded like "a go" to us!

So I called our lawyer, and his office phone just rang and rang. So I called his home, no answer there either. So I called our pastor's wife to get the lawyer's wife's cell phone (are you following?)

Anyhow, I just drove straight to the lawyer's office (a couple miles from my house) and waited for him to finish with a client.

While I was waiting for the lawyer, I called the doctor myself to make sure I had my facts straight before I met with the lawyer. Dr. tells me now that she'll deliver within 30-45 minutes and she wants to meet me first.

So, I hurry at the lawyer and then I drive to the hospital in a very surreal state of shock! The doctor introduces me to the bio parents and I quickly give them our life history and tell them why we want to adopt. Then they look at each other and nod their affirmations to each other. Then the doctor comes in and says, M I'm sorry to hurry you, but you really need to push. He asked if she wanted me to go out or stay in the room and she said, "no, she can stay - it's her baby."

So, at 3:20 p.m. he was born and cried pretty well right away. The nurse brought him to the bassinette right by me and I stayed right there with him. He got 9/9 on his apgar scores.

I followed the baby to the nursery and stayed with him till 3:30 a.m. when I came home to get a few hours sleep.

He weighed 5 pounds 1 oz, 17 inches long. He has lots of dark hair. He was born at 34&5/7 weeks so he is a preemie. His lungs were not quite ready, so on Wednesday morning he took a ride in the ambulance to the nearest "big" city to go to the NICU. He needed some extra time and help to have his lungs develop more fully. He did develop jaundice too, so spent several days under the bili-light. He had to stay 6 days and we came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

A whirlwind, miracle week for sure!!

We have a NEWBORN son!

SURPRISE!!!

Edited: As I went back and read over this, I realized I'd failed to mention that Hubby arrived from Dallas about 1 - 1/2 hours after C was born. I took him in to meet C and then right after that to meet the birth parents as soon as he arrived. He went home to sleep from 10:30 - 2 then he stayed with C while I went home from 3:30 - 6. We stayed with him all night in the nursery, the hospital was wonderful to us. Of course there were no other babies in the nursery that night, so it was convenient.

Ready to know the big news???????

Where have I been?!

There's been some pretty interesting stuff happening around here this week. I'm anxious to tell you about it, but it'll be a couple more days. Stay tuned . . .

We interrupt your blog reading for an important announcement . . . .

Step 1.Click RIGHT HERE


Step 2.Please rise from your seat, stand and sing with me


Step 3. Scroll down







scroll down

HALLELUJAH !!!!!!!
We have received ACCREDITATION in Russia!
Let the fun begin . . . . AGAIN!
Finally!

We had a conference call with our agency on Friday afternoon and they let us know that it had happened. But they asked us not to post it publicly until the certificate was in hand. Do you know how hard that news was for me to KEEP!

The certificate ceremony was held today in Moscow

at 12 noon (last night while were sleeping).

Buckner International Adoption is accredited!!
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!!!

p.s.
Just a little "coincidence??" The accreditation was approved
1 year later, to the day, that we found out about losing Viktoria. July 23.

p.p.s.
I just realized another "coincidence." I started this blog on July 28, 2007 one year to the day that we received this good news.

Just posting to post

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted.

We had Vacation Bible School last week, so if you have ever worked in VBS before that should be a 'Nuff Said reason! Add to that the fact that my husband is over the department that puts VBS together and has to head everything up, you'll see that VBS consumes our household once a year. Although VBS is great, 12:30 on Friday of the week of VBS is really great too - when it's over!

So, now I have to get finished on the last stragglers of my paperwork and the thing I'm dreading the most is making a new photo book. Two reasons for that - now it has to be notarized and apostilled and the original shows our family 3 years ago. Now hubby and I haven't changed much in those three years, but D was 4 and now she's nearly 8. So, she has changed a ton! Plus add to that a new house and all, we have to have a new book - sigh.

So, that's what I'm going to be working on today.

Have a great Saturday - don't melt!

Got Toilet Paper??

When our case manager was here yesterday for our home study update, we were going over a check list thing as all home studies seem to have. But this one I've never seen before. On one of the questions it asked if the family was able to supply toilet paper and soap?!

Let me just say, if we can't afford toilet paper and soap what on earth are we doing adopting a child from Russia!!! Now, there again, after it's all said and done we may have to go back to corn-cobs when the money runs dry!

Anyhow that just struck me as funny and the more I think of it the funnier it gets!

Home Study Update - Today

I have been so busy, I haven't had time to get on here and let you know that we are having our homestudy update today at 1 p.m. CT.

I'll report later.

*** Ok, I'm reporting back. Everything went just fine - as it usually does. I always get so nervous beforehand and want to get every single thing perfect in the house. This time it was just extra stressful in a way because we are still in such transition. But on the plus side, the house hasn't had much time to get dirty yet, so cleaning wasn't too bad.

Of course we talked a bit about the little boy who died in VA. Everyone (at the agency and the families waiting) are on pins and needles waiting to see if this will effect accreditation. Our agency's paperwork is literally sitting on the desk of the Ministry of Education waiting to be stamped with the final approval. Terrible timing.

Yes, we have even more paperwork to do. Isn't there always "more paperwork?" But at least maybe this batch will not be for naught.

I'm ready to relax and eat bon-bons for a few days. But I gotta get busy on that paperwork!

Huge prayer request on so many levels!

There has been another adopted Russian child to die. It is so terrible for the whole family. The 21 month old boy has only been home 3 months and his father forgot he was in the backseat of the SUV when he went in to work.

The father collapsed from the shock of finding his son dead and remains hospitalized.

"Oh God, help!"

Free Subscription to Parenting Magazine

Wow, this is really neat. It almost seems to good to be true, but the lady at Freebies 4 Mom says it works!
http://freebies4mom .blogspot. com/search/ label/Freebies

I just spent about 20 minutes watching Johnson & Johnson commercials and "earned" a year's subscription to Parenting magazine!

I am unpacking books

While unpacking books, I came across this book, "The Right Fit" by Sinead Moriarty. If anyone would like to read it, I'll send it along!

A Good Site - Describing Russia's Orphan Population

This site is one of the best I've read. It describes many details concerning Russia's Orphan Population.

D's "disease" and a very interesting web site to check out

Hey y'all.

D has Fifth Disease. So, that is what the mystery rash is. Now that I know what it is, I can thump my head and say, "duh!"

And for the interesting website, this lady had resolved to cook every day of 2008 in her Crock Pot. She is even going to be on Rachel Ray next week, on July 9!!!

This is very interesting to me and hopefully I'll gain some great recipes from her site. These hot Texas summer days are great times for crock pot cooking.

**Edited to change the Rachel Ray date, her segment got bumped up from July 23 to the 9th!

More paperwork

I'm working on getting some updated paperwork done in hopes of THE Good News coming soon.

I take D to her doctor tomorrow for her medical check up to submit medicals for registering in Smolensk. Wouldn't it be great if this all could be finished before the 3 months are over and we have to re-do them yet again. (I think this is the 6th time as it is.) I know, that's beyond wishful thinking!

Ok, back to printing out more medical forms.