The Quilt Raffle Winner is...

Jane Erickson! I hope you enjoy your princess quilt! :)

Thank you so much to everyone that participated in the raffle! We really appreciate your kindness so much!! Thank you!!

Dasha News

We found out today from our facilitator that Dasha will not be available in Oct. like we were told in July. We found out that it will be the end of the year. :( We were hoping to have her home by Christmas, but it's not going to be possible. The only way is if they pass the law waiving the international waiting period for children with DS. Still praying that will happen. We are really saddened by this because we want our little girl home with us so badly. But we do have peace in knowing that she was moved in with the babies. I actually had a feeling come over me when I found out that she had been moved. First, I was so thankful to God! Then I felt like God moved her to a better room because she will have to wait longer. Turns out that feeling was right. I am really thankful that God is looking out for our little Dash. Please pray that we will be able to travel for her as soon as her wait is up. I have been longing for this little girl since I met her in April. Spending time with her in July was an answered prayer, but bonding with her for three weeks is making this wait a lot tougher on me, in particular, because I spent so much time with her. Part of our family is still over there...it's just hard. And honestly, it doesn't make it any easier with Chloe already missing from our family. There will always be an empty spot in our family, no matter how many children we have, until we all get to Heaven and have that BIG reunion. I just wish we didn't have two empty spots. Hopefully that won't be for much longer.

I know God is in control of it all and if it is His will, we will bring her home as soon as we are allowed. On the up side, God has blessed us with a perfect little boy and I am so thankful that we have him home and did not have to wait for him too. He is such a joy and a blessing to have in our home. We love him more and more every day, every minute really. He is starting to kiss and hug now. He's so sweet. The wait will give him more time to continue to adjust and I will be able to get an extra trip or two in to NC before we are able to go for Dasha. John Paul will be staying with my mom in NC while we are gone. So he will have more grammy bonding time before we leave. There is a reason for this wait, God doesn't make mistakes. I know He'll keep my Dash safe. I just hope some how she knows how loved she is.

Another mom, Lisa, that just saw Dasha while she was adopting told me that she was making a kissing noise. I taught her how to do that in July. :) I was so touched to hear that she is still doing it. Maybe she remembers me?

Still Waiting

We are still waiting to find out when our dossier will be submitted. We haven't heard anything at all in 11 days from our facilitator. The last thing we heard was "hopefully tomorrow". She has three other families over there now, so I am certain she is very busy. We are hoping to hear something soon though. Another family had to wait 21 days from the time their letter was submitted until they gave them a date they could submit their dossier. Tomorrow will be 21 days for us. But I have no idea if they are still working within the same time frame. Hopefully they are and we will hear something soon.

John Paul is doing well. He is starting to clap his hands a lot more. He has started to take more interest in the baby signing time videos. I have been trying to get him to sign "eat and drink". He has started to tap his fist on his face. I'm trying to figure out if that is his way of starting to sign. It's not hard hitting like he was doing in Ukraine, so hopefully it is his way of beginning to sign.

I told him "no" yesterday and he said "O" back to me. It was the cutest! He was saying "mama", but he has put that on hold for the last few days and is saying "dada" a lot more. He has the sweetest little voice. He's babbling a lot more and is getting really vocal.

Cardioloist Update

We have a BIG praise report! John Paul had his echocardiogram today. They also did an EKG. The EKG showed that he does have a murmur, which we already knew. But we did not know the cause of it. The murmur is something called a Still's murmur and it is innocent. It will not cause any problems for him now or in the future. It's a vibration that is made when the blood is pumped through his heart. And the echo, in the doctor's words, was "uneventful". There are no holes or open valves, nothing! All of the blood flow and pressure is just like it should be. Praise God! We were told in Ukraine that he has an ASD heart defect, but now we know for certain that he does not. The doctor even told us that we do not need to follow up with him for any reason because there is absolutely nothing wrong with his heart. And I trust this doctor because he was the only doctor out of three that found Chloe's small hole in her heart. He's great. I about cried when he told me the good news! What a HUGE answered prayer!! Now he can get his teeth cleaned without worry! :)

He also started clapping his hands this evening while we were eating supper. I guess he was happy about his good news today too. He even picked a small piece of cornbread up and put it in his own mouth! He has NEVER done this before and I have tried so hard. He swallowed it whole, but hey no complaints here. I am so thrilled that he just put something in his mouth! He did it two times after that too! Then he drank some of his Pediasure from his glass until it was empty. I was going to refill his glass for him. We both grabbed for his Pediasure bottle at the same time. So I took my hand back to see what he was going to do. He picked up the bottle and poured what was left into his glass! Then he sat the bottle back down, picked his glass up and drank the rest of it! Rick and I sat there in awe. Amazing! I forgot to mention that he also dropped a piece of cornbread into his drink (on purpose) and then drank it. lol! Have I mentioned how much I love this little guy?! What a miracle he is!

Our dossier for Dasha hasn't been submitted yet. Please pray we will get some good news soon! We should hear something before too much longer, but the waiting is so hard. We sure do miss our little Dash! We lovingly call her Dash because when I met her in April and emailed back home about this little angel I met, the "a" key stuck and everyone thought her name was Dash. My mom said she thought, "what kind of a name is Dash"? lol! So it stuck! I call her my Dash. :)

Bath Time Fun

It is so amazing to see my little guy having so much fun and enjoying his baths now! In the beginning he was terrified of the entire water/bath scenario, and would scream and cry. Now he absolutely loves his baths! I have learned that a morning bath, rather than a bedtime bath, makes for a happy John Paul all day long! And when he gets one in the morning and night he is super ecstatic! He just gets happier every day. He is starting to take more interest in the TV and loves to watch Sesame Street, especially Elmo. So far he hasn't taken much interest in the Signing Time videos, but I am hopeful that he will soon. He understands when I say eat, bed time, bath time, and potty. He imitated a little girl on Sesame Street today. She was moving her hands like she was stirring eggs. He did a similar motion and it was obvious that he was imitating her. So I am hoping that he will take more interest in the signing time videos soon. Not only will they build his vocabulary, but we will be able to communicate better. Right now I am just reading his body language and it is effective for the necessities. It's so nice that we have bonded enough that I can tell what he is thinking or wanting by his facial expressions and actions. Pretty cool because in the beginning there were tantrums because he was frustrated that he could not express his needs. It's really neat that we are getting in tune to each other. :)

He's getting up and down the stairs really well now and he is doing very well walking. He is starting to walk better in grass and is balancing a lot better when he transfers between the sidewalk and the grass. He's starting to babble a lot more and is saying mama clearly. He is getting very motivated and is exploring his environment wonderfully. It's amazing how much he has changed.

He has his cardiologist appointment next Monday at 1:00, for his echocardiogram. Prayers for positive results will be greatly appreciated.

We are still waiting to find out when our dossier will be allowed to be submitted for Dasha. Please pray that it will be soon. :) Our petition letter was submitted last Monday, but we are still waiting for permission to submit the dossier. Thanks!

Measurements of The Quilt for Raffle

I have been asked the measurements of the new toddler girl quilt up for raffle.
The pillow is 16" X 21". The quilt itself, including the 2" ruffle, is 42.5" X 61".
My mom made one (different design, but same size) for Chloe for my baby shower, and when I used it later, it fit her toddler bed perfect with enough overhang to cover the sheets and then some. It's like a mini comforter/bedspread and will be beautiful with a crib ruffle underneath if you would like to do so. I used it without one and it was the perfect length for my little angel's toddler bed.

Just like I mentioned about the previous quilt, this will also make a beautiful baby gift! It truly is fit for a princess! Over 30 hours of loving labor have gone into making this quilt and pillow for some special little princess out there.

Let me embarrass and brag on my mom here. She has over 35 years of sewing experience and the quality in this quilt reflects that fact. She does not even use a pattern. She creates the layout of the fabric squares in her mind and then makes the quilt accordingly. A lot of thought goes into the design alone. No two quilts are ever made the same. She takes pictures of each of her creations just to certify the uniqueness of each and every quilt. Sorry to brag mom, I'm just so proud of you and the love and support you have shown through our adoptions. And I am so proud that you would use your God-given talents to help us raise money to bring our princess home! Thank you for the quilts you made for the raffles and also the quilt you made for our little princess, Dasha, when she gets home. I know you are cooking one up for John Paul because you have been asking me about trains and colors! LOL! I'm onto you! :)

Again, we really appreciate your donations!!

New Quilt Raffle!

Hi everyone! Thank you to everyone again that contributed to our last quilt raffle! We appreciate your support more than we can express!!

My sweet mom did it again! Now she has made a toddler size girl quilt. This quilt will fit a toddler bed and it also has a matching pillow. It is also a part of the Chloe Bean Collection of quilts and will arrive enclosed in a plastic case with a card that explains the sentiment behind the Chloe Bean Collection of Quilts. Click here if you missed our previous post explaining the collection. This particular quilt is called "Princess Dasha".

I announced the winner of the previous raffle yesterday evening if you scroll down past the BRAND NEW pictures of Dasha you will find it. :)

And John Paul is doing just great! I'll post some new pictures and tell what he's been up to soon! He has his appointment with the cardiologist on Sept. 22nd at 1:00. Prayers that we will get positive news on his echocardiogram will be greatly appreciated!!

Again, thank you all so much!!