My baby is growing up!

This past Friday night my oldest son,Nicholas,attended his first dance.We went out shopping that afternoon for some clothes. Of course he headed straight for the Kenneth Cole Store( thank the lord that it is an outlet!)Thanks Kevin for planting that seed of fashion in my 13 year old! Anyway he had a great time at the dance. At this age there was not a lot of dancing.I imagine the girls were on one side and boys grouped on the other!Like a group of animals evading a predator! Wow, I feel old! It seems like yesterday Nick was just a little baby and wanted to be carried around.Now, he could carry me ! Anyway I will leave you all with some photos of the big event!Next year he will be in high school. I imagine that the next dance photo will have a girl standing next to him! I am way to young for this!!!

The Wait

Yes, We are still here! Sorry I have not posted in a while but there has not been any new news on the adoption front. We have been patiently waiting for the Russian holiday to be over . We are really hoping that there will be some new activity this approaching week as they all return back to work! So...in the meantime we have been keeping busy trying not to think about how much longer till we receive "The Call"!!! This week a friend traveled for her 1st trip to met her daughter. She was so kind and generous to share such a special time with all of her fellow PAP's. I know that hearing her thoughts and experiences helped renew my hope that this will one day be a reality for us as well.Thank you O! These past few weeks I have reflected about the waiting portion of my paper pregnancy and how difficult it has been.But what has been on my mind this week is how difficult it must be for those children that are waiting.These children see some of the other children in their group leave with their new families. As time goes by they probably ask themselves when is it going to be my turn or why haven't I been chosen.For some, they will be lucky and get wonderful families that will show them the love of a Mom and Dad.For the others,they will wait... forever.I hope and pray that each child will know the love of someone in their life, whether it be a family or a devoted caregiver.These thoughts have put my waiting in perspective.It has been over a year since we first started on this journey ,in comparison some children have been waiting their whole life.
I will leave you with some projects that we have completed .One image is of the putting green( with a dry creek w/a bridge!) for the kid's and the other is the drapes in Bret's office.Yes MO,I really finished them!These projects really have helped the time go by . I will not say faster but have helped me cut back on the number of times I check the caller i.d.,emails and blog stalking!I do believe that Dr. Phil could devote a whole show to the additions of PAP's!!!!!
Nicole

Oh Yes Michelle... More shopping!!!!!!

I have to admit I am not a person that goes to the mall on a regular basis. I know alot of you might find that hard to believe! I went back to the mall to pick up two items that I had on hold . After reading Michelles blog about her shopping extravganza at the Children's Place, I felt compelled to see if there was anything that I had missed for the orphange. Well ... I walked out with five huge bags full to the rim! They had a sale that I could not pass up! there was not one item that I purchased that was more than .99 ! Their hats and gloves were only .49! I had missed a sale rack the day before that had all heavy coats that were just .99! I was only able to find 2 left. As soon as I got home, I found two sales associates in other states that might have some in boxes. Keep your fingers crossed that they find some! How great would those coats be for those children.
This shopping trip yielded:

2 heavy coats
42 pj's
15 pairs of gloves
23 sweaters
11 fleece pullovers
6 hat
________________
Grand Total:$ 86.00!!!! I will leave some photos of all of my treasures ! Enjoy! N

The benefits of retail therapy!!!

Just what the doctor ordered! There is something about shopping that just makes you feel better! I set out on a mission today to stretch the dollar bill as far as I could! I set a budget(which I totally ignored) and got tons of clothes for the children in the orphanage.The girl at Gymboree went in the back and pulled out a box of hats and gloves for .99 each!I also hit Carters and made out like a bandit there too. I figured this was a productive way to kill time while waiting for the call. I will leave you guy's with a few photos of some of the goodies !Enjoy!

N

Granny

One week ago today ,we received a call that Bret's mother had passed away. She had brief but no less courageous fight against the cancer that ravaged her body. This passed week has been spent reflecting back on happier times spent together as a family. Nancy was above all else a wonderful grandmother.She lived her life through each one of her four grandchildren.Where most women first learn the news that they are moving into "grandma" status,they thought of being labeled with one of the traditional names, accompanied by the stereotypical images, really horrifies them. Not Nancy! She relished in the fact that her two boys had each entered fatherhood and gave her the greatest gift of all...Grandchildren. She was then referred to as Granny. She picked the title out that to most brought images of a elderly women with a cane sporting a grey bun. She was far from that .I regret that our daughter will not ever know her and miss out on the love that Granny would have showered her with. Nancy would have provided this child with the understanding and perspective that someone who was adopted themselves could provide. We love and will continue to miss her everyday.We take comfort in knowing that she is not suffering anymore and that she is finally home.
N

I171-H !!!

The USCIS Houston office is on top of their game!That is a statement that would shock most in the adoption arena. Especially with all of the families that have suffered waiting for that one piece of paper ! To my shock ,we received our I 171-H this past Saturday! We were scared that this one piece of paper would delay us being registered . Russia now requires the parents to have their I171-H in hand to register in a region. We sent our original application to the USCIS on January 7,2008 . On March 11,2008 we learned that our application was thrown away because the Houston office does not accept personal checks! Despite what the USCIS online information or the customer service line states, check with your local office to see what their polices on this are!Anyway... we refiled on March 12,2008 and had our approved 171-H in hand on April 12,2008!That was only a 32 day turnaround. We had a lady by the name of Ess that was so helpful . I believe if the Department of Homeland Security hired more people of her caliber there would not be children waiting and families struggling to get this crucial piece of paper . Now, we are really ready !!! ... if only the phone would ring!

Friday

The saying "Thank God it's Friday" just does not invoke the same feelings it did just a few short weeks ago. On January 25,2008 my precious grandfather, John Jackson Marshall,made his final journey home. We were all so blessed to be there with him as he left us .I could not imagine a better way to leave this earth than being surrounded by all who loved you in this life. His love and devotion to my grandmother ,his family and his faith made him such a remarkable man. Fridays for me are a mix of joy and sadness. I am sad for the loss of such a wonderful grandfather but also filled with joy that his suffering has ended and he is whole again. His life has served as such an example for so many people.I wanted to share his wonderful legacy that he had shared with all that crossed his path. I hope that his life continues to serve as a example of what a positive impact one person can have in this world!I love and miss you lots Papa! I am leaving with one of my favorite photos of Nana and Papa praying with one another.Now that is a love story!

N