Yeah!  I’m so excited, I have blog followers!!!  Yes, I’m easily amused as you all can tell.  I just wanted to say Hi to everybody – so HI :)

I haven’t found a soundtrack for our adoption yet.  I had a couple that were suggested to me (thanks C!) but I already have both of those.  I am thinking maybe of getting a Sara Groves CD. 

I am waiting to hear back from our social worker about our homestudy.  We have everything done and are just waiting for him to get our background check from North Carolina.  We have one meeting with him that’s scheduled for the 13th and hopefully the next week we will have the signed homestudy!  The next step after that is to submit our I-600A and request for FBI finger prints.  The I-600A will cost $670 and the finger prints are $80 each for Mike and I.  I’m glad we have all that money set aside.  I’d rather just pay for things than have money in my bank account – it just tempts me to spend it. 

I am hoping that in the next couple of weeks we will get new pictures of our sweet Naya girl.  There are two families going to her city to get their children (Hi Jodi and Nancy!).

I’ll try and make a post with pictures soon, I’m not sure where our camera is right now.

Additionally, if you have a Biblical girls name we are taking suggestions.  It can’t end in an A sound though because her middle and last name will both end that way.  We are open to Biblical names that aren’t used as names in the Bible such as Jubilee and Hosanna.  Yes, we are stuck for a name so help please!

Are you out there?  Is anybody out there?  Does anybody even read this blog?  If you do leave me a comment and say hi because I’m feeling a little discouraged right now that nobody is reading my blog (well, except maybe Carrie – Hi Carrie!!!)

     Well, the title pretty much sums it up.  It was a long day.  It feels like I’m just spinning in circles sometimes which makes time just drag on.  It’s hard not to get discouraged when things don’t seem to be moving forward.  First thing this morning I got a blank e-mail from our social worker for the home study.  I e-mailed him back to tell him all I got was something blank but I still haven’t heard back from him.  I did talk to the receptionist or helper he has working in his office and got a few half answers.  I was told they were still waiting on one reference and the back ground checks from Wyoming and North Carolina. 

     The older children walked the dogs this morning.  They have three in our neighborhood they walk Monday though Friday for a dollar each dog.  It is a good, not too stressful, job for them.  I hate that I have to sometimes remember to send them over to walk the dogs though and I hate that sometimes I have to juggle their dog walking with the things I need to get done in the day.  But, I’m glad they have a job that they can learn about responsibility with.  I like that they are able to make some spending and saving money that I don’t have to provide for them.

     After the children walked the dogs we did some school.  I ordered some new school books that we really need because the older children are nearly finished with what they are currently working on.  I also called the second hand home school store near the Taylor’s and found out that I have a $25 dollar credit.  Yippie!  I am hoping it’s enough to buy Spelling Power.  I will probably pick up a few other things that are on my school list there that I’ve noticed they nearly always have.  I’m planning on packing up a few things to take down when I go to the doctor on Tuesday and hopefully kill two birds with one stone.

     We had lunch and then packed up the van and headed for band and choir.  I must say, I am MUCH happier with this bank program than the one we were part of for the past two years.  The children have learned so much and the programs at the end of the year sound awesome.  I’m happy to be sitting in my seat enjoying the music and not cringing because it sounds like nobody even saw the music before. 

     While we were waiting for some of the children to be done with band the phone rang.  I picked it up and the lady on the other end was asking if it was the Taylor’s residence.  I thought it sounded like Betty, the secretary/helper from the home study agency.  Sure enough it was.  I guess she was trying to figure out where to file our guardianship paper.  It turns out that they got the back ground checks from Wyoming today and the last reference.

     When I got home we had a lot of mail.  We got birth certificates for Mike, our marriage certificates, and an overpayment check for our mortgage. 

     Mike is working late and Titus isn’t feeling the best so I guess I need to hit the publish button and get myself into bed.

      I have a soundtrack to my life.  Does that sound strange?  When I hear certain songs I remember where I was and how I felt when I first heard that song.  So there are songs I associate with my first son being an infant, songs I associate with living in Germany, and so on.  I love the fact that my life has a soundtrack.

     So, I’m looking for a CD to start playing now so that I will always associate those songs with this special time in my life.  The songs that will make me remember all the joy, anticipation, and paperwork that makes bringing Naya home so special.  Do you have a suggestion?  Let me know of the CD you think I should buy and start playing in earnest that will become Naya’s soundtrack.

     The last week I’ve been busy doing paperwork for the adoption.  There are so many papers it makes your head spin.  There are papers for the home study, papers for the dossier, papers for passports and papers just because they think you have nothing else to do.  I have everything for our home study done except the second doctor’s appointment and sending away the verification of Mike’s employment.  I filled out all the passport forms and sent mine away.  Mike and I will have to go in person to request a new passport for Elisha and a passport for Titus.  I sent letters this week requesting our marriage certificate and a copy of my birth certificate as well as applied for Mike’s online (New Hampshire totally beats Wyoming in the area of requesting certified documents.)  Tomorrow it’s back down to the bank to have more things notarized and then send all the forms away to make sure they are right.

     I hope our social worker gets back from his time away and is ready to work next week.  I want our home study done!  I need to check my HUGE list of things to do and find out what the next steps are.  Some of the steps you can do at the same time but then sometimes you just end up against a wall and have to wait for things, like the home study, to be done before you can do anything else, I think I may be at that point.  I know as soon as the home study is done I can send it to USCIS and request our fingerprinting appointment but then it’s back to waiting. 

     There is a family that has been at Naya’s orphanage the past couple of weeks.  We are really hoping they were able to see Naya and get some pictures of her but for now we don’t know.  We are praying for their family to get their court date soon.  They got stuck in the middle of some things and had to come home to wait for a court date.  I can’t imagine the pain of having to leave your precious child in another country.  I am praying that Hunter is in his Momma’s arms where he belongs before too many more days go by!

     On another note our children have been sick.  Jubilee has an ear infection.  Her nose looks like it is a green sludge factory.  Now Beth is running a fever and overnight has picked up Hosanna’s croupy cough.  I hate to hear my little girls coughing.  Hosanna sounds nearly hoarse so we stayed home from speech this week.  I hope next week brings healthy children!

     It’s turning out to be a good Saturday at our house.  We started off the day a bit slow so we didn’t want to wait long enough to make our usual large Saturday breakfast.  Instead, Mike, Beth, Jubilee and I went to Haggen to get doughnuts. 

     While the kids cleaned up after breakfast Mike and I started in on our second online adoption class.  The first class proved to be time consuming and very badly done.  Although we ended up learning some new information I wouldn’t recommend this particular set of classes unless there was nothing else available.  The second class went much faster, probably because there was no homework involved.

     After we finished our class we made sure everybody was dressed and headed to the bank.  Mike and I took Titus and Elizabeth with us, too.  We stopped at Rite Aid to buy some blue pans so we could get our Power of Attorney and Child Specific Request notarized.  Beth found a little coloring packet that seemed like a good idea to bring to the bank so we ended up buying that for her too.  Beth was really good at the bank but Titus was getting a little tired of being out and was thinking about what he could eat.

     We rushed to Albertsons and got a few groceries.  I forgot to pick up the stuff I needed for our church potluck tomorrow so we had to check out twice.  We got home and made some BLTs for lunch. 

We also found a HUGE bone for the dog.  We cooked it just a little and then gave it to her.  Boy, she thought she had died and gone to heaven (except we don’t believe animals go to heaven because they don’t have souls)!  

     I cooked up some hamburger for the enchiladas I’m planning for the church potluck.  We are supposed to make something red so I hope this qualifies.  I had Elisha start in on a red cake I picked up but she barely started when she discovered we had no eggs.  So, I guess it’s back to the store for me.

     Tonight Elisha, Titus and I will go to a Messanic Dance class.  The girls had been taking a class that Tina made just for the children.  They had a ton of fun and I have to admit, I did too.  Elisha and I found out about the adult class so we’re going to check it out.  It really gets your heart going and it’s a great way to Praise the Lord!

¹I will bless the LORD at all times;
   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
²My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
   let the humble hear and be glad.
³Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
   and let us exalt his name together!

⁴I sought the LORD, and he answered me
   and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him are radiant,
   and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
   and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps
   around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
   for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger;
   but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
¹² What man is there who desires life
   and loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good;
   seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
   to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
   and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
   and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
²⁰He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
²¹ Affliction will slay the wicked,
   and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
²²The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
   none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Tonight at dinner Beth and I had a brief discussion that went like this

Beth: “What kind of chicken is that?”

Me: “It’s fish.”

     Saturday we started the long process of moving rooms.  We need to make a fourth bedroom in our home so that when Naya arrives we have room for her.  We started by moving the boys to what used to be the playroom, just off the living room.  It seems like it was time to purge their room anyway so we got rid of a lot of junk as we went.  Their room was really a mess under the clean appearance.

We spent much of the day just moving their stuff out to the new room and putting the toys in the living room.  Believe me, by about half way though the day it only looked like a bomb exploded in my house.  We took their bed apart simply to get it out the door and then reassembled it, after cleaning it, in their new room.  It looked much better when we got the bed in place.  

But then my husband came in and suggested he didn’t like the bed there and thought it should go against the far window.  I was so glad we didn’t have to take the bed apart again.  We just flipped it around and it fit right into the spot he had picked out.  The boys were so excited to spend the night in their new room!

They still have to put some of their things away but it’s coming along nicely.  Mike is going to find out about getting some cubical panels that we can put just behind the couch (you can see the top of the couch in the picture) to give them a bit more privacy.

The boys old room is mostly cleared out now.  It’s amazing how much bigger it looks without anything in it.  Now we are starting to fill in the gaps of the ugly paneling with some putty.  We will let it dry and then sand it smooth.  After that is done we may have to repeat the job just to make sure there are no gaps left.  Then comes the fun part, painting!  The plan is to paint the walls and the ceiling white so no matter  who uses the room it will work.  I hope to get a new light fixture too just to spruce the room up a bit.

Stay tuned for the next part of our adventure!