Broken Arms and Dreams

Well, most of you have heard by now that our sweet, 6 year old, Jake, broke his arm on Sunday afternoon. Evidently he thought he was Superman and tried to fly off the swing when it reached its highest point. Landing wrong on his arm, he got a supracondylar fracture. Basically it's the bone right above the elbow. The two bones just snapped off their course, you could say. He went into surgery that night to put 3 pins in his arm. He has a full arm cast, (navy blue to match his baseball uniform) that weighs about as much as he does! So far, we've really only had one rough night, and a few tears. His meds are keeping him from a lot of pain, fortunately. He's been in bed for 2 days and he is up and around today...well, sort of. He did ask if he could go over and play on our neighbors waterslide today. It's going to be hard to keep him down for 6 weeks! In three weeks he gets the pins removed, and the following 3 weeks are the most critical as far as movement goes. That's going to be the toughest 3 weeks I'm sure. But through all this pain, he has still kept his sweet sweet spirit! Last night, during our prayers (Jake's been sleeping with me the past 3 nights-poor Daddy's on the couch:( ), he remembered to say a prayer for his baby sister, that God would keep her safe and healthy and that she would see us in her dreams. Uhh, melt my heart!!! Speaking of our little princess, I found out yesterday, that a family who turned their dossier in 3 weeks before we did got their referral last week! Eek! They are adopting from the exact region we are-Krasnoyarsk! They requested a boy or girl, between 0-toddler age and got an 8 month old girl! It's surprising because girls are harder to get. They were told it would be 6 months before they got a referral and got one just under the mark! Not sure if I should be super excited or if I should start freaking out! Help me, Lord!!! This could be coming sooner that we expect. Of course I keep thinking of the time right now and how if we got a referral soon, I wouldn't be ready. It's not in "the plans" now to get a referral. We've just been hit with a major hurdle with Jake's arm. SOOO not ready, but I keep being reminded of the verse that our agency uses, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, not to harm you, but to prosper you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. So, it was NOT in my plan for Jake to break his arm, at the beginning of baseball season (Scott's the head coach and my father is the assistant coach)!! It would NOT be my plan for us to get a referral right now. But, I need to be reminded that my life is NOT my plan, but HIS and He has such a good one! I just need to trust him and follow his lead. Easier said than done, right? So, I am going to, "trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my OWN understanding." I would LOVE it if you all would continue to pray for our family. Especially Jake!!!

Brief "waiting" update!

So, the waiting continues....

We did, however, receive from our Family Coordinator, an email with a very LARGE attachment of things we need to have ready for our first visit! It's basically another, huge, long, tedious, tiresome, stressful DOSSIER! Another one, seriously? Seriously!! Moscow has our original dossier and they won't give it to the Krasnoyarsk courts, basically, they want an entire original one. OK, so I can do that! I've saved everything on our computer from the last time. I just need to put new dates on them, wait until the last minute to notarize and apostille them. The only tricky part is that a lot of documents will expire in a year, like our marriage certificate and some others. Our Family Coordinator said not to re-do them yet, because they are good until August! That's cutting it really close! It's sort of like a gamble. We are to have our social worker on stand-by too for when we are getting close to our homestudy expiring. That might be a whole new issue. If you remember, it took her 2 months to get it to me...eek!

We were told that the majority of our wait was over and they believe we will be receiving a referral within the next 2 months!!! Yay!!!! She said Krasnoyarsk courts are doing really well and there aren't many delays...Here's to crossing our fingers!

I've been asked what exactly is a referral. A referral is a picture of the child (video if they have it), medical records and any information they have on her. It is up to us to send that information to an International Pediatric Specialist (at Dell Children's). He will be able to look at her history and her picture and determine if she is a somewhat healthy child, or has serious medical issues. Then we are to accept or decline that referral. We are going into this whole-hearted and know that God is in control, but we would really love for him to give us a big thumbs up!!!

I did have a huge wake up call that same day. A few hours after I got off the phone with our Family Coordinator, (the agency is based out of Virginia), I got a call on my cell phone from a number in Virginia! I'll be honest, my heart came up in my throat!! OK, God, yes, I am clearly NOT ready! It turns out it was a wrong number! Just when I was feeling all cocky and excited that my wait might be only 2 more months for a referral, God threw me a curve ball. He has a great sense of humor:)

So, prayers for us during this time would be appreciated:
1. (Always), that God would protect her, keep her safe, healthy and happy and for her to see us in her dreams.
2. That she would be held a LOT!! (got this one from my cousin, Paige! Thanks Paigey)
3. For me to get the papers organized and ready to go! (Light a fire under me:) )
4. For Scott and me to start learning Russian. We purchased Rosetta Stone to learn Russian, but it's been sitting in the box for 2 months.
5. That when we get the referral, God will give us and the International Pediatric Specialist the wisdom to accept or decline (which we really don't want to do), due to health reasons. GOD MAKE IT CLEAR!!!

Our family covets your prayers and I know our future little miss princess does too!