The Infamous Pink Slip

Oh, bother. We got a pink slip. It's such a pretty color, but you know it is never good news. Always means a ripple erupted in the processing of your I-800A. Our home study needs a correction, however I am pretty sure it will be handled with a quick addendum and then turned around and sent back to Lee's Summit, MO pronto. Good 'ol Fed Ex profits again! LOL! Also, we are learning that two trips may not be as hard of a rule as we thought. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping to get good news regarding only having to make one trip. There is consideration being discussed to bring us in 3 days prior to the start of our bonding period inorder to meet the director. Which of course we have already met, but sure! Two trips for us with someone in Kindergarten and another in pre-school along with OT appointments, etc. etc. just gets alittle complicated to schedule. Pray for one Trip! Over Christmas would be cool!!! :) …and let me tell you the hike to the top of this sand dune was very hard, but the view was incredible. Running down the sand dune was much better!! Attached is a picture from our recent vacation to the Oregon Coast. It was wonderful!

Paper Work Complete

A quick note to document that we sent all our dossier paper work into our NY Agency, mailed the I-800A and filed the paper work for Adam & Aggie's US passports. Whew! It took two months and it wasn't all that bad the second time becuase I had made copies of everything from the first go around and didn't have to spend a week trying to figure out how to Apostille documents. Our one hick up was our apostilled documents from the state of Wisconsin sat over night on our porch after the Fed Ex man delivered them while we were at work and well…..it rained. Re-Do! Clearly, that would have NEVER happened the first time around because I would have been watching like a hawk, but it is what it is. There were no short cuts to take that we discovered and I laugh becuase we will even have to get our finger prints taken again. As far as I know they are still the same……..except they expired! LOL! We have requested (although we haven't received confirmation) one trip vs. two and plan to take Adam and Aggie with us. The challenges will be great, but the rewards will be too so we decided to go for it and plan accordingly. Everynight we include our baby sister in our bedtime prayers and ask God to watch over her and ensure she knows we are ALL coming soon!

On Our Way to Poland ~ Again

Yes, it's true. We are On Our Way to Poland ~ Again. We may be crazy and out of our minds to some, but for us God is sending us to Poland to complete a family. Months ago my heart was really speaking and tugging with the thought…"what would Lee and I do if Adam and Aggie had a sibling". I ignored it multiple times because I was sure others would think I was crazy. When I finally spoke with Lee, I was surprised he was open to having a heartfelt conversation about it. I think our discussion may have lasted about a week, but we finally decided that we would not adopt again. However, if we were presented with a referral for a sibling we would proceed immediately to keep the family together. Meanwhile, fast forward to the end of May when a call came in from our previous agency. "There is another child, a sibling, are you interested?" A burst of tears proceeded an overwhelming and enthusiastic Yes! I have never been so sure of an answer as I was at that moment. In retrospect, I am sure God was whispering months ago… "Be Ready, Be Prepared I am taking you on another journey". I don't have all the answers as to how we are going to manage this; traveling with 2 toddlers, financially affording this outrageous process, and mentally entering the "waiting" game again. But we have already seen Him working in our lives and bringing us all together. So, today we officially announce we are back in the game!

Just a little tid bit.....

Because my life is all about potty training at the moment, I have to share a little tid bit to those out there that are also enjoying these exciting times. Aggie is progressing very well in the potty training department, in fact, we played the "no more diapers" game last Tuesday and have been in big girl underwear ever since. Exciting, right? Well, my tid bit is...... when you embark on this adventure be sure to tell your day care provider that it is NOT necessary to return poopy underwear to you. When there are messy accidents, and there will be messy accidents it is OKAY to just throw the soiled underwear away! Literally, off the body and into the garbage. Okay? This is very important to remember because there is nothing more gross than carrying home stinky underwear!! :) and that is all I have to say about that! Have a Fabulous Day!

It was a Big Day

I just had to post .......ADAM IS FINALLY POTTY TRAINED! Seems like a very personal thing to write about, but somehow I know we are not the only ones who have had challenges with this topic so I have to share. Lee and I have tried EVERYTHING since we returned home from the Cheerios trick to "showing" him how to do it. We have encouraged, praised, and have spent countless hours sitting in the bathroom explaining exactly "how it is done". Let me tell you that listening to Lee explain peeing to a 4.5 year old has been hysterical! I bet we have even logged OVER 100 hours watching potty videos. (Favorite is Potty Power - very catchy tunes, be careful!) I had resolved a while ago that our little guy was holding on to his diaper because it was one thing he could control in his life. Can't blame him really. If my world had been Topsy Turvey since it began, I think I would enjoy the luxury of just allowing someone else to clean my butt for a while too!! Well, what finally did it was this.....A couple of weeks ago I bought tablets that turn your bath water colors. These colors meant everything to Adam - he loved them. If Adam "sat on the potty and tried", he got to pick out a color to throw into the tub and watch the water turn. We decided to change the rules a bit a couple of days ago and told him he could only pick a color if he actually WENT. That evoked a lot of drama, so the next day we simply said "No more Diapers!" (another song in the Potty Power Video). He ran around the house naked having a lot of fun for about the first 2 hours. Then he really started to agonize because he really need "to go". There were tears, there was "mommy, please!", he even sat on his diaper changing mat with his legs in the air and yelled "diaper!". It absolutely broke my heart to say No. Then, in the crying mess, he couldn't hold it any longer and went! Lee rushed him to toilet! We were cautious it was a fluke, but 5 minutes later he stood up and pee'd all by him self again into the toilet! I can't begin to explain how proud he looked. As if something finally clicked and it registered "I CAN DO THIS and IT's OKAY!". "I'M A BIG KID NOW" (another song on the Potty Power Video) It was relief on Lee's face that warmed my heart too. Lee has been trying so hard to help Adam and his patience and hard work finally paid off. Let's not forget that I had been also praying so hard recently asking for major guidance for me and encouragement for Adam. I love the power of prayer - it's amazing. Ever since that BIG DAY, Adam will jump up from whatever he is doing, run to the bathroom, and go! aaahhhh, I think I see a manicure in my future with the diaper $$$ Saved. One child down, and a Aggie to go! Literally! Good Luck to everyone out there in the midst of potty training. It WILL happen, just be patient. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Aggie!

This is Mini-Mouse...ahem..I mean Aggie! She turned 3 today, and all I can say is...She is growing up so fast!

Ecard generated with Smilebox

First and foremost, Lee, I, Aggie and Adam want to thank all our family members for joining us for a wonderful Birthday Celebration for Aggie. Even Grandpa John! who skyped with us earlier in the day! This was her first birthday in the USA and it really was a fun time. It warmed up just enough that Lee didn't entirely freeze while BBQing, however, it wasn't quite warm enough to sit outside. Soon - Spring will be here soon! As with Adam's birthday and a Weyer's tradition, we read the story "On the Night You Were Born" by Nancy Tillman. Mommy got choked up as usual and had to stop on occasion to keep from completely breaking down in tears. We got through the story with only a few of Aggie's hands in her cake but not before we had to feed Adam a cupcake to keep his hands out of the cake too! There were presents galore. Everyone was so generous!

On a little side note, there is a birth-mother and father out there somewhere whom my mind was thinking of today. I prayed they could feel the joy and happiness Aggie felt inside and I prayed they knew how lucky Lee and I felt about their "Gift of Aggie".

Family Day!

A Love letter to Adam & Agnieszka


Dear Adam and Aggie,

FAMILY DAY. I doubt you understand the magnitude of this day at this time; however as time passes you will grow to learn how significant it really is. You will marvel at how it all came together and you will feel the warmth it brings your heart.

It’s bigger than any Hallmark holiday or snow day from school. It’s surpasses a trip to Monkey Joe’s or even Disney World. It’s larger than the largest ice cream and brownie sundae with hot fudge sauce and sprinkles, combined!

Family Day is a gift from God! Do you realize He orchestrated it all? From all different pathways, He brought the 4 of us together at the exact moment the judge said “Congratulations!”. (well, it was Magda our translator who actually said it…te, he, he!☺).

Throughout our journey, life had to happen “just right” for it all to come together so magically. We had to have a lot of faith and trust to keep going even though it felt really hard at times. We had to believe in something much larger than ourselves!

We will cherish this day every year with you, and every year we will share our story of how this day came to be. Through laughter and joy, we will celebrate the gift of family, count all our blessings, and thank those who have loved and supported us. But Mostly,….. we will pray. We will pray the gift of family is bestowed unto every little boy and every little girl around the world……and then we will hug! ☺

Happy Family Day!
Love always, Tata and Mommy