Waiting and Wondering

Currently in our journey to bring Milana home we are in the waiting place. If you have ever read the book Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess you know all about the waiting place. If you know me at all you know I have no interest in staying in the waiting place for any length of time. But that is where we are now. And I have a feeling this is a place we will be periodically throughout this process. Regardless, it isn't an enjoyable place to be. Especially when your goal is to bring your baby home to you.

Some of the things we are waiting for aren't too bad. We are waiting for some forms to be mailed to us and some forms to be completed at the doctor so I can pick them up. One of the things we are waiting on right now is our passports. Mine should be arriving any day now. Chris went and applied for his passport yesterday so hopefully that will come in the next 2 weeks. Without our passport numbers we can't complete any of the forms we have left in our dossier. So here we are waiting.

While we wait we are constantly wondering. Throughout the day I can't tell you how many times I look at the clock and wonder what Milana is doing right now. I woke up this morning and it was lunch time over there. I couldn't help but wonder what was she having for lunch. Did she have enough to eat. What did she eat.

Now I am wondering if perhaps it might be nap time over there. If it is will there be anyone to read her a story before she goes down for her nap. I wonder what it will be like the first time I get to read her a story. I wonder how she is feeling right now? I wonder what it will be like to meet her for the first time. I wonder if she will know when we get there that we are her Mommy and Daddy. I wonder what it will be like to finally get to hug her and tell her how much we love her. I also wonder if she knows her Mommy and Daddy are working really hard to come and get her and bring her home.

Things Are Starting To Move Along...

This has been an exciting week so far! It started with finishing our Home Study Monday night. We are now waiting for it to be written up. Hooray!! That is one big thing out of the way!

Yesterday things got even better when I sent some important paperwork to Milana's country! That was so exciting! I went to UPS last night and they told me it would get there on Friday!! It is so exciting to be able to bump these things off little by little. Of course there is still so much to do!

We also got news yesterday that Texas Roadhouse in Wake Forest is going to give us a night to fundraise. We are going to have "our night" on Thursday, April 8th and we will get 10% of everyone's purchase that brings in our flyer. I am so excited that they are giving us the opportunity to fund raise through their restaurant!!

I also got news from a friend who told her church about our adoption and they are willing to help. They will be contacting me soon which is also very exciting!

I am just so amazed at the help and support that people have been providing our family with. This is just so exciting and we feel really blessed that we have gotten amazing support from people!

Speaking of support and amazing things. I almost forgot to mention that my exciting week actually started at the end of last week. Friday night I had the opportunity to get together with four other NC Reece's Rainbow Moms. Three have already adopted and one is in the process of adopting (like me). It was so great to get to meet all these women and hear their stories! I also appreciated the heads up on the bathrooms. I'm really considering depends :)

Let the Paperwork Begin

I received a packet yesterday evening containing a great deal of information and paperwork that needs to be completed in order to adopt Milana. I must admit that it sure is a lot to digest! With that said I'm already trying to figure out what I can get completed and when. There are about 5 or 6 forms that need to be signed, notarized, checked, and sent off immediately - I'm talking yesterday :) So I am working on making that happen. Once I can check that off as sent I can look and see what I can tackle next.

One of the most important things I need to get done (aside from the above mentioned forms) is to have Chris get his passport application in. That is super important. There are tons of forms that ask for our passport numbers and we obviously don't have that part of the process done as of yet. I must admit he'd have had it done had I not gone w/o him to get mine. It was sort of an impulse to just go when I had some free time.

I have to admit when I looked at the packet I was initially feeling a little overwhelmed. Then I remembered what my friend Kristin said about something. She said it wouldn't be a worthwhile endeavor if it wasn't hard. And of course she is right.

Feeling Blessed

I feel truly blessed today. I went to a friend to tell her about our adopting Milana and to share with her some other information as well. She was so thrilled about the adoption and wants to sponsor us. She has offered to contact the minister at her church to see what they can do to help out! Another friend who attends the same church was there as well and they both are on board as far as helping out!! They have asked if I will get up in front of the congregation to speak (which I will gladly do, but will be a nervous wreck should I do that) and they said they would both stand w/me and hold my hands. (This is good because I may faint).

It seems every time I start to feel a bit worried about whether or not we will be able to raise the money something happens and we get support. I can't begin to explain how greatful I am (and of course my family is too) for everyone who has jumped on board and offered to help in some way! It means so much to us!!

We just can't wait to bring Milana home to us. She is already to loved by her three big sisters and her Mommy and Daddy!! We know she is going to bring us so much joy!

Thank you so much to everyone for their support and prayers!!!

It's Official!!!

I am so excited about all the things that have been happening in the last week or so! We have officially committed to Milana. She is a 2 1/2 year old beautiful little girl with down syndrome. If you would like to see her picture and/or make a donation so that we can bring her home to us please go to www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorwojcik.html. We appreciate any and all help that you can give us.

We are also very fortunate that a family had chosen to be Prayer Warriors for Milana. They were praying for her to find a family and also helping to raise money for her. From what I understand Heather and her family had become Prayer Warriors for Milana just a few short days before we committed to her. Thank you so much Heather for doing this! We appreciate your help in fundraising for Milana! It means so much to have all the support we can get!

An Exciting Few Days

I can't even begin to describe how exciting these last 2-3 days have been. It started when Chris asked one night (out of the blue) when we can commit to a child. What a good sign that was!

The next night I got an email saying our pre-approval from our social worker had made its way to Andrea and she wanted to know if we knew who we wanted to commit to. Talk about people being on the same wavelength!

We did decide and are matched with a child. Currently we are in the process of getting all our paperwork to Reece's Rainbow so that our commitment can be "official." Once it is official I will reveal who are new child is. Believe me when I say I can't wait to tell the world! 

I also got a really neat surprise tonight! I was working on getting the girls through the nighttime routine when the doorbell rang. I answered it and low and behold it is the familiar face of a soon to be good friend whom I had never met before. It was Kristin (and one of her boys) who had stopped by on her way back from Kohl's. She had bought an outfit for Nadia (who she is adopting through RR) and she also bought an outfit for my cutie pie as well. This was so sweet! We - well I have already decided that our little kiddos will be best friends. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to those play dates. (Peyton and Riley are looking forward to them as well). This is all so exciting!!

Oh! One of Chris's friends had called him at work after hearing the news - we sent out letters to all the people on our Christmas card list in order to help with initial fundraising such as home study costs. He was really excited for us. Which was nice.