Merry Christmas Adam & Agnieszka!!

A fellow blogger gave me permission to re-post her entry from last Christmas. I wanted to continue the tradition and pass on the message of Hope this Christmas. It's a pretty powerful and emotional song. The Truth is... as the song states...Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child and His perfect gift of love.

And I want to add....Merry Christmas Adam & Aggie! You are our Gift of Love!

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are
But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white, Make angels in the snow
But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life And prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll tell you from my heart

I wish you Merry Christmas

Not Flesh of My Flesh,

Nor Bone of My Bone,

But Still Miraculously My Own.

Never Forget for a Single Minute,

You Didn't Grow Under My Heart - But In It.

My sisters & my nieces hosted a Toddler Shower for Lee and I this weekend. It was a wonderful time and we are truly blessed. Every one's generosity has me speechless and feelings of excitement and anticipation keep growing and growing inside of me. We can't wait for Adam and Agnieszka to meet the many loving, kind and caring people that exist in our world.

The very first gift I opened, believe it or not, I started to become teary eyed.

I wasn't expecting to, but it just happened.

I reached into a gift bag and pulled out a beautiful plaque which looked like this.

Journey.

"I know the plans I have

for you," declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and

not harm you, plans to

give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

I read it aloud and in hindsight this gift, at that moment, was perfect.

It meant God was present.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a bible verse that has become a guiding light for Lee and I. Often we recite it at different times, but it is those times when it appears unexpectedly and randomly that we are reminded there is such a great and powerful director orchestrating the most beautiful love song ever to be played in our lives.

From there we went into a whole lot of O's and Ah's and a pretty funny moment when everyone was telling me about letting Play Dough dry first before vacuuming it up off the floor. I winked but replied "Why would there be play dough on the floor?" :)

Then everyone started telling me that our home was not child proof enough. But I have every electrical outlet plugged up? We then together counted a minimum of 5 glass vases and one wall mounted candelabra that had to be put away for a few years.

Then we got to the TOWER OF SAFETY!

Let's count them: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR Car Seats!...... Whoa.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I Found the Chair!!

It is hard to believe only 2 weeks have gone by since we returned because if I had to guess I would say it feels like at least a month or two. Time is moving very slowly.....including the next phase of paperwork. It's my understanding that we are awaiting the children's birth certificates from Warsaw in order to submit to USCIS. So, I am thankful the holidays are upon us because it gives me the opportunity to keep busy and go shopping!! :) and if I am out shopping I can't help but stop at The Carter's or The Children's Place stores and marvel at all the cute stuff. It is wonderful to have met the children and have a sense of what they would look like in the clothes!

From a previous post I promised to show everyone the trick to turning on the lights in your hotel room! Here it is!


After we walked into our guest room, Lee and I spent about 10 minutes checking every plug and turning every switch trying to figure out the lights. Finally, I headed down the hall to Magda's room to humbly ask for help with turning our lights on. I felt so silly! She was kind and patient and explained the key card has to be placed into the slot.... and Presto! Every light came on! (to our defense we had been up for well over 24 hours and we were not at the top of our game!!) It was pretty funny!

After some well deserved sleep we felt better about conquering the issue with "running out of battery power". Ha! The transformer plug was so heavy that when it was connected to another plug it pulled out of the wall and would never charge. There was a definite moment of panic before we put our heads together and came up with this!



Lee and I both feel strongly that we need to get our children some basic building blocks to play with when they get home. How else would you learn to do something like this! :)


Another "funny" we had was interpreting this next picture...... I thought for sure the circus had to be in town because the little girl in the picture was holding some candy on a stick! or a balloon! (Everything is "on-a-stick" in Wisconsin at the Fair) The realist that Lee is promptly informed me that it was a cross walk (oh, I knew that I just thought it would be fun to go see the monkey's!! Te, He, He)



Okay, one more......




This was Agnieszka's favorite chair. It's made by Fisher Price and her caregivers carried it to her where ever she was. I bet she could sit and play all day long with it. On our last day, I told her that Daddy promised to find the chair and have it at home waiting for her. Well, after a quick search on the Internet, we discovered the chair had been recalled!! I was relieved to discover that a fix had been issued by Fisher Price, but they weren't selling the chair any more.

THANK GOODNESS for E-BAY!!!
I FOUND THE CHAIR!!! and hopefully it will be delivered next week! Hallelujah!
Here's hoping your holiday is filled with Hope and Excitement of the events to come!

Today, Lee and I are struck by some self discovery.... At different times throughout this process there have been mounds of paperwork, or apostilling difficulties or delays for a stamp which have placed visions of villans in our heads. Individuals who were making the process harder or more aggrevating. Truly, however, that isn't always the case. There are others in this process which deserve much recognition. The real heros of the adoption process are many, but I had forgotten about the caregivers. Maybe "forgotten" isn't the correct word, but I had not put a face to these individuals. There was no face on those whose hugs are the only hugs my children have known or whom they can remember being loving and kind. There was no face for those that have fed our children day after day and changed all their dirty diapers and have nursed them back to health when they have been sick. Today we said good bye and it was about the most difficult thing we have ever had to do. It was all I could do to communicate my appreciation to the caregivers by saying "thank you" over and over and over again as I reached out my hands from my heart. It is the blessing of the Caregiver that I will add into my prayers tonight, and it is their story and their face that we will never forget to include in our story.

Another Great Day!

We had yet another great day! We spent 1 1/2 hours walking around with Adam and Agnieszka throughout the village and around their orphanage. They were so excited at everything they saw and squealed in delight at the sight of people walking their dogs and cars whizzing by. It is so thrilling to see a child discovering something new! We are having some technical difficulties with re-charging batteries, so we may be out of "juice" soon. All is well, though. I have started a list of things I want to be sure to inform everyone of and will be sure to post when we get home. Funny things to make traveling 5000 miles away from home a little smother..... Like how to order bottled water without getting just plain Hot water (without tea) and how to turn your lights on in your hotel room. Sounds crazy, but there is a trick to it!! :)

Make it a great day! Live Love Laugh!!

What an incredible Day! It was rainy and cold on the outside, but warm and sunny on the inside. Both figuratively and literally! These pictures were on our first meeting with Adam and Agnieszka. Their orphanage is a clean, happy place filled with bright painted rooms and lots of toys. Throughout the day, we got the genuine sense that their care givers really loved the children and have been very nurturing. We spent the first half of the morning with the Director of the Orphanage Center and the Director of the specific orphanage Adam and Agnieszka reside. Followed by some brief questions pertaining to why we choose Poland and were we prepared for the challenges of parenting, we were lead to a rather large room to play with children. As we were lead to the doorway, both Lee and I were unaware that the children were already there. We stepped into their world almost unexpectedly, however, instantly were overcome with complete joy. Wow! is really the only word I can come up with right now. It's either that or the studdering......"A A A A A aaaaaa" scenerio. We were able to feed the kids lunch, see their sleeping areas, bath areas and even put them down for a nap! The second visit was after lunch and just as energetic. "I alone know the plans for you...." and God said those plans are GOOD!

Getting Ready to Turn the Corner

Over the past couple of days many have said "This is so exciting, how do you feel?" My first reply was a studdering "A, A, A, Aaaaaaa". My second reply to the question was "I am so overwhelmed!" and on my third reply I was lucky enough to send it via e-mail so I could articulate a little more precisely the exact emotions. But what are those exact emotions because there are so many? I think I have figured it out.......Do you know that moment just before you turn to walk down the aisle at your church and marry the man of your dreams? Now hold your breath as you recall the exhaustion from the months of planning every minute detail, the anticipation of turning the corner and seeing all your loved ones gathered to bear witness, the flood of memories of those in heaven but somehow knowing they are standing right next to you watching and encouraging your journey, and the Love of God beating so hard in your heart that you feel as though it could burst. Take that moment and stretch it out for 10 days and that is exactly how I am feeling. Lee and I are blessed and I can't wait to turn the corner.

We Have Dates!

I am shouting from a Mountain top - We have dates!!!

Can you hear me?

I can't begin to express the excitement we are feeling right now! We leave in 10 days. We are finalizing our travel arrangements and are planning to be in Poland on Sunday, 11/15. We will meet our CHILDREN (WOW) on Monday, 11/16 and Tuesday, 11/17 and then will travel home on Friday. It will be a very quick trip. Our heads are spinning, our hearts are racing, and our cheeks hurt because we are smiling so much! Here is our preliminary Packing list:

(2) Scrapbooks with family pictures
(2) O-Balls (they pack flat - great idea I picked up from another blog)
Crayons and Coloring Books
(4) sock puppets
A Journal to take notes (and to trace the children's feet and hands)
A measuring tape to document their sizes.
(2) Stuffed Animals
Small I-Pod Docking Station and I-Pod loaded with Children songs.
Snacks (not sure if the orphanage will allow us to give them snacks, but we thought we would try)

A Christmas Children's Book

Are we missing anything?

Yahoo!!!! This feeling is simply unbelievable!

Check out our CRIB!

So Mtv called Lee and I and wanted to interview us for their hit show "Cribs of famous people Adopting from Poland"....But we turned them down! Oh, it's late and our sense of humor is wacky. Lee would like me to clarify that it is MY sense of humor that is wacky. Actually, this was a recent late night scene at the Weyers home as we tried to put together our daughter's room. The first hand-me-down crib was missing parts, the second borrowed crib was jimmy rigged and it just wasn't the right color, the third crib was purchased after I had a melt down. We are now experts at putting cribs together - which you will discover if you are adopting a younger child is NOT an easy thing to do. Be sure to read all the directions and have lots patience!! No word yet on dates. Pretty crazy - huh!

Unfortunately, we don't have 1st travel dates yet and have just decided to SMILE! (sometimes it is that cranky, irritated smile, but for the most part it is genuine and happy.) Like this Big Red Barn Lee and I found on Hwy 83. I bet really happy animals live inside! Ha! As we drove past, I let out a "Awwwww!" and Lee instantly knew to stop, pull over, and hit reverse! He reads my mind like that at times and I love it.....Didn't even have to ask!



In celebration of our 3rd wedding anniversary we took a drive on the back roads of rural Wisconsin heading North to Pike Lake State Park. With no real agenda, we went searching for God's beautiful fall foliage and we found plenty of it!



Our final destination was to the top of the Powder Hill Observation Tower. Otherwise known as the second highest point in Southeastern Wisconsin. It was actually pretty spectacular, cold but spectacular!

Happy Fall Ya'll ! Go take a Road Trip!

No Dates Yet!

I thought that I would just get that out in the open right away.  No dates yet.  We have been told to be patient and flexible and that is what we are doing.  We are not stressing about it because the scrapbooks for each child are not done yet! We are waiting on the "Commission to Meet" which is basically a stamp on our paper work that says the courts say it is okay to visit. The orphanage director and our children's legal guardian have both signed off saying it is okay to bring us abroad, however, we wait for the Stamp! From there, we expect about a 2-3 week notice to travel.   In the mean time, here is what we have been up to......


This is the Dinomite Closet. The picture hardly gives the organization justice, but let me assure you it is fabulous!  I now do not have an excuse for wearing one navy sock and one black sock to work!  :)


This is our son's room! It is a camping theme room. You can't tell in the picture that well, but in the far right corner is a JOHN DEER GREEN toy box. It was a toy box from my childhood (back then it was red) and I almost gave it away about 6 months ago, but something told me to keep it.   It was probably my Mom yelling from Heaven "don't you dare give that away, I stored it for you for  a zillion years!" I am so glad I didn't because it will now be around for a zillion more!



These are those darn little drawer/cabinet locks - that took hours to install. Yes, the tupperware cabinet was left open and free for little hands to play with. I wonder how many times I will find myself shoving all the tupperware back into place?? Ha!


And finally, this is our daughter's room, but there is more to come. We are awaiting the crib's arrival (a hand-me-down from my sister and the cute dresser to be complete!)


Most of all I must send out many thanks to Lee's family who came to visit and worked many hours helping us to get this far. All the while Lee was at Drill and I was at work. It takes a village!

PS - Lee and I made it through Baby's R Us and successfully spent $200 dollars.   I liked it before when I just left overwhelmed and crying!!!  Ha!  I love this Journey!  Hope everyone is well and enjoying the beautiful fall colors - Who has broken down and turned on their heat?

Some Good Advice

I received some good advice from a friend who told Lee and I to keep busy during the next couple of weeks and months and get done every little project we have ever wanted to complete. Part of the reason behind this is because you don't want to get caught up in the  "hurry up and wait" game and right now we are awaiting Poland's official acceptance of our acceptance.  Plus, life just may not accommodate your time table later on.

SO, with that being said our projects include:

*Remodel the master bedroom  closet (it is going to be Di-No-Mite!)  

*Buy and assemble little boy furniture

*Finish my family scrapbooks to current date ( I am slightly behind)

*Paint Daughter's room

*Refinish my Mom's  tiny dresser with mirror (I am going to have to show you a picture when it's done because it is really cute)

*Clean Basement (ugh)

*Start addressing Christmas Cards (I know that sounds crazy, but it did make the list)

*Organize my recipe cards

*Put camping gear away for the season in the crawl space.

*Give Dog a bath (Lee's list)

And in typical "Martha" fashion I have tried to start all these projects at once and now the house is a mess, so we'll have to add Clean House to the list.   Ha!  

Have a great week everyone!!

Glitter Text @ Glitterfy.com

On 9/8 we received an e-mail from LSS NY stating they had a referral for us to consider.  That was at 9:18 am, however, Lee and I weren't able to coordinate time to talk with them until 5:30pm that evening!  I think that might have ranked up there as the longest day of our lives! When we finally connected, Sue from LSS stated "this referral is a little bit different!"  .....and Lee and I looked at each other - Huh?   "that's because it is for 2 !!"  At which point our jaws dropped and our eyes began to swell and we were completely overcome.  Wow!  

Ask and you shall receive!~

We were given pictures and medical reports over e-mail which we quickly sent to the International Adoption Clinic at the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee for review, and after lots of prayer and loving discussion with our families We ACCEPTED.    Our son is almost 3 years old and his younger sister is 17 months.    Travel plans are in the works and I will post more about that soon.  It caught us a little off guard when LSS asked  "How soon are you able to travel?"   (again the jaw dropping thing) - Hopefully sooner rather than later.

I can tell you that we have "tried" going to Baby's R Us twice and each time left completely overwhelmed.   Is there a reason why there needs to be 50 different types of  car seats or strollers?!     I have since decided to concentrate on creating 2 scrap books to bring with us loaded with pictures of ourselves and our families as this is something I know much more about.   

Honestly, this is an incredibly stressful time and emotionally charged and  my thoughts often wander to the birth parents and what a wonderful gift of love they have given.  We promise we will welcome their children with arms and hearts wide open forever and never forget how grateful we are to them.  

We received a referral & are getting ready to go 90 mph!

It is always a sure sign at the Weyer's family house that something is "a happenin' "  if the flowers out on the porch start to wither.  It means "we have a lot going on" and forget to water the plants.    So stayed tuned! ....hmmmm........ should I say that twice?

Where will all the GEAR go?

Lee and I went camping for 18 hours (4pm-10am) yesterday.  This tent represents about 1/100th of the total GEAR.  Yes, I am a site camper (Lee is a back woods camper).  If I am going to go camping, I want to be comfortable.  There, I said it.   I like to have access to all the amenities.  It just makes me happier to know that a ....well, fairly clean, flushable toilet is within a 5 minute walk, or running water is within an arms reach, and for certain...there has to be somewhere to plug in a radio or a frying pan to make bacon in the morning!   It's a hoot!  I know it!  But that is just me.  We loaded up the truck Saturday afternoon and did not have one ounce of extra room.  For just ONE night, we were loaded down!  This got me to thinking.....WHERE  is all the KID GEAR going to go?  We had much discussion about it over dinner and our campfire.  The kid gear LIST got very long and we were at one point stressing a bit, and then we decided it didn't matter.  We would figure out how to take it all with us somehow!  The point to remember is to just continue having fun together, the gear will follow (in the trailer we need to buy)..........Oh, and let's not forget all the DOG gear too!  Have a great week everyone!!

Flank Steak Marinade:  Simply FANTASTIC!

1/4 Cup Oil

2 T Lemon Juice

2 T Soy Sauce 

2 T Grated Onion

1 Clove Garlic

1 tsp  Celery Sauce

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

(Marinate MINIMUM 1 day!) No more than 8 minutes per side on the Grill!

We are just goofy!

This is what you look like about 3 seconds after your dog licks your face in the pitch dark!

The Gift of a Rainy Saturday Morning

The gift of a rainy Saturday morning..... Last night I fell asleep exhausted, stressed, mentally drained and without any spirit.  I had enough of the day and was ready to put it behind  me...as far as I could.  Not really anticipating

a brighter tomorrow, I fell asleep.  I slept rock solid; one of those nights when all the muscles in your body break apart and you awake in the same position you laid down the night before.  The clock said 4:50am and on a normal work day this would be 10 minutes prior to the alarm began shaking my world.   Instead.....it was raining.....a soft rain, not buckets, just  ever so soft droplets and a quiet roll of thunder.......I rolled over and fell back to sleep.  The gift was given and I was receiving.  Approximately 10 hours after laying my head down in despair, I opened an eyelid.......again.   The sun wasn't shining, it was dark, it was 9 am, and I was starting to feel alive again.  I crept around the house, made some coffee, and enjoyed the quiet time to reflect and ponder.    These types of "perfect" Saturday mornings don't come around to often and I was going to embrace  it.  In fact, what if this type of Saturday morning where the rain and rest came together with exact timing never came again?.......hmmmmm, I think that would be okay, because maybe that meant it was time to fill our home with laughter, and morning cartoons,  Daddy's pancakes and the beginning of day with a child.   The waiting continues, as well as, the anticipation and excitement......and the rain.

Polka Days 2009 in Pulaski, WI

Lee and I found ourselves this weekend in Pulaski, WI watching the Polka Days Parade. Polka Days is a festival that has been in existence since 1978. It wasn't a Rose Bowl Parade.....it was Better! Where else other than the good 'ol Midwest can you find as many John Deer Trackers and 18-Wheelers as there were spectators! And Lot's of Polish Sausage and Brats! The best part was again spending time with each other and our family. The second best part were the Combines. Seriously, have you ever been up close to one? The are gigantic!
We continue to wait for a referral and are enjoying the summer! Next weekend, MAY be a camping weekend - we'll see.
Have a great week, everyone!

47,200,000

That is the number of sites that come up when you google "The Waiting Game". There were 6,880,000 for "Paper Chase". It is official....we received our USCIS approval in the mail on Saturday and have completed the "Paper Chase" and have entered the "Waiting Game". Although I didn't look through all the sites (Ha! Ha!) I don't recall reading anything about how long the wait may be, however, it is all in God's hands. His timing will probably be perfect. (Spring would be nice) (Winter? not so nice). Nonetheless, this weekend Lee and I plan to move our office into the basement and begin reconstruction on our child's bedroom closet. We are going to sand, finish, and paint the guest bedroom furniture and begin to consider paint colors. It was either do this or go camping and since the Mosquitos are SO BAD, I voted for hard labor! Make it a great week, everyone!

Here we are at Polish Fest 2009 held at the Henry W. Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee. First and foremost, we had a blast with our family and clearly a very close 2nd were ALL THOSE PIEROGIs & POLISH SAUSAGES !!! .....and cold beer, but we won't go into that!

The Polish Dancer's were amazing and full of incredible energy! Even at almost 90 degrees they smiled and kept us entertained.

I really have no idea what kind of warriors these are, so I guess I will have to keep reading up on my Polish history.

Non-Stop Polka from 12 noon to Midnight is what the festival advertised and they weren't kidding! It went on and on and on all day and on multiple stages!

Here is our Family!

Clearly, I really liked the Polish Dancers! This was the Syrena & Syrenka Polish Folk Dance Ensemble.

This was Stas Venglevski - Accordionist. One of his songs was the "tornado" polka becuase of how fast he played. Which was ironic because a real tornado had been reported in the area the day before!

The family again...I think they are getting tired. Who wants to POLKA????

Don't we look like "Fun-Parents-To-Be-Someday?"

Truly the Milwaukee lake front is beautiful and Maier Park is a great venue. The lake breeze was a life saver!

ahhhhhh......Just one more!!!

Okay, last one I promise. They just look like they were having so much fun!


I saved the best for last...Through this blog, Lee and I made a connection with a couple who adopted from Poland on three seperate occasions. We met at the fest and had the privledge to meet them and their family. When I had said the research possiblities would be endless at Polish Fest, I never imagined we would discover a live referral! They were wonderful people and I hope we meet again at Polish Fest 2010 with our children! Wouldn't that be something?

A field trip to Homeland Security

I thoroughly expected my finger tips to be BLACK for this post! I was all excited about showing them off as "proof" that Lee and I had really gone to get our BIOMETRICS done. Oh well! Now, my job will just have to wonder if I played hooky for the afternoon!!
Lee and I had a nice afternoon driving downtown and exploring the city a bit. We found a great deli and enjoyed a delicious grilled roastbeef, cheese and sweet red bellpepper panini. Yum! We were prompt for our 3 pm appointment and only had to wait a few minutes. The finger printing process was very interesting. They roll each of your fingers out on a flat surface, kindof like a Xerox copier and the image appears on a computer screen. The staff then presses a button with their foot and a picture is taken which appears on the screen. I seriously really wanted to ask a bunch of questions, but do you know the feeling when it is best just keep your mouth shut to avoid raising suspicion? I kindof felt that way. The security guards were probably profilling us and I wanted to shout out "We are ADOPTING and We are SOOOO Excited!!"



This is the Homeland Security building in downtown Milwaukee. Since I couldn't bring my camera inside, I asked Lee to drive past so I could take a picture. Well, this UPS truck pulled up right as I was about to take the picture! Which was probably a good thing because there was a security guard standing out front and I am sure he would have looked at me funny while taking pictures of the federal building! I was taking my time snapping a lot of pictures when Lee said so sweetly "honey, will you please get into the car now?" I love him for wanting to keep me out of trouble! Again! It is all for the blog and to document the Journey! Stay tuned......Polish Fest is 2 weeks away. The research possibilities will be endless!