Clouds

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter Sunday.  I was reading some excerpts from my Womans Devotional Bible that I wanted to share.  It is a devotional reading by Amy Carmichael and it was placed in Psalms.  I have always found comfort of spirit in Psalms and I often read this devotional except when Im feeling down.

     "This evening the clouds lay low on the mountains so that sometimes we could hardly see the familiar peaks.  Sometimes the stars, too, were nearly covered.  But always, just when it seemed as though the mountains were going to be quite lost in the mist, the higher peaks pushed out, and whereas the dimmer stars were veiled, the brighter ones shone through.
      Even supposing the clouds had wholly covered the face of the mountains, and not a star shone through the piled up masses, the mountains would have stood steadfast and the stars would not have ceased to shine.
     Just so, our feelings do not cover up God's facts.  They may blow up like clouds, and cover the eternal things that we do most truely believe.We may not see the shinning of the promises- but they still shine! And the strength of the hills that is his also, is not for one moment less because of our human weaknesses."

Just because I can't see the stars or mountaintops sometimes because of the clouds....I know that they are still there.  My faith is strong as the mountain and as bright as a star that God's timing is perfect.

Kids room!

Progress!  We are getting our bedroom carpet installed tomorrow!!  Our guest bedroom where my in laws stay is officially becoming the children's room. We have painted it, stained the doors and moved everything out.   I must say, when we moved in 3 years ago I told my husband that we were not going to do anything with this room until I was pregnant.  Well, I feel fat and bloated, hormonal, sensitive, and my children may not be in my belly but they are growing in my heart....every day.  The bunk beds are going to be delivered maybe in a week or so.    This weekend we changed the ceiling fan for a light fixture since the top bunk will be an issue. We are going to keep them as 2 twin beds for now so when my in laws visit from out of town, which they do often, no one will have to sleep on the top bunk...lol!

Spring has finally sprung here in the Northeast (thank God because its been a harsh winter). I look forward to getting outside in the dirt and getting my garden in order.  Springtime always renews my spirit and recharges my mind and this spring is no exception.  Ive also started jogging to try to get rid of those extra winter pounds and get ready for summer!

 I now watch my 2 nephews on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which is great practice for my husband and I taking care of small children.  Its so nice to come home from work and see those two.  My sister tells me how excited they are to come here every week and it makes me so happy. My 6 year old nephew is sooo excited about the bunk beds and has already asked me about sleep overs with his cousins:)  My Mother is getting more impatient than I am about her little Polish grandchildren.  Time for us is actually going pretty fast because we have been busy.  As I said before, sometimes I feel in denial that this is actually going to happen!....Maybe its just a defense mechanism that my mind is using so I don't get stressed out.  Yay for defense mechanisms!!!!  LOL.  I still constantly wonder where my children are now.  I feel privileged to be able to share in everyones family story here and it gives nothing but hope!  I hope everyone waiting is keeping busy and doing well.  I hope all of the families here are bursting with joy and enjoying their little ones.

During the numerous discussion of our plans when the children arrive, we have untimately decided to have them share a bedroom.  After thinking about it at length, we feel that as siblings in a whole new world with all new people, that the children would feel comforted to share a bedroom at least for a few months to a year.  One of the reasons that we decided to adopt siblings is because we feel that it will be wonderful for them to go through life together.  All the love and nurturing in the world may not help them at some point in their life feel an identity crisis, not knowing a biological relative. I comforts me, this mom to be, to know that they will ALWAYS have eachother, even after my husband and I pass on.( not to sound morbid)

 Last weekend, my husband and I were casually looking through children's furniture stores to explore our options.  I must say...it felt soooo good to feel like a mom and dad for us.  We were having a ball when we spotted bunk beds that we LOVED!!!!!  They were solid Ash wood (one of the strongest woods) and the  rail on the top bunk was very high( which made mom feel good!)  They are able to be separated into 2 separate twin sized beds when the time comes as well. It seemed like the stars aligned as well becasue they were on sale!!!  So we went for it!!!  We did question ourselves because of the uncertainty of when a referral might come...it still might be a while.  But in our heads.....we were positive in thinking......Its really going to happen!!!!!  And it gave us a great boost of happiness in our 6th month of wait.

This is the pic I took inside the store when we bought it!!!!!

Today, I also began to put together photobooks for the children.  I finally found adorable little photobooks at a local store approprate for toddlers.  I started to sort through my thousands of family photos and decide which ones I should include so our children can see their forever family and home for the first time!  I plan on keeping the photobooks with them in Poland until we return for our second trip to bring them home! Our cousin did this with her two boys adopted in Russia 10 years ago and she said it was a big hit with them. Their caregivers said the they would look at the pictures everyday!

Jak sie masz

So, on the advice of my Polish blogging buddies(thank you everyone)  I have been studying Polish using Pimsleur and I have to admit that I really love it.  Just the fact that I can listen to and from work is great!!  The Rosetta Stone is good for building vocabular but the Pimsleur really helps you to speak. As Kara had said, if learning things like "The woman is buying three white shirts" would help me speak to my children it would be great but I would rather learn "Bardzo Dobry!" I have several friends and co-workers that are fluent in Polish and I tried some out on them and THEY ARE SO IMPRESSED!!!  Of course I am only on unit three and so can say "I undersatnd Polish a little" and "I am American" but nontheless they were shocked. To a Polish man that I have never spoken Polish to at work I said "Dzien dobry"and he smiled and said "Jak sie masz".  But when I relpied in Polish with "very good, and you?"  his head spun around like HUH???  It was great!  I can't wait to rock some out in Poland! HaHaHa.

I have also been on the hunt fro some Polish childrens songs.  Does anyone have any sugestions?.  In an older Post I reccommened the website mamlisasworld.com.  Its a great site and has childrens songs from Poland with translations:)

Thank God for weekends......

So to beat the winter blues, my husband and I went across the river to NYC to see a broadway show.  Being that my husband is a HUGE football fan, I bought him tickets to see Lombardi on Broadway at the Circle in the Square theater in Times Square.  It was based on the life of Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest coaches of all time, and the namesake of the Vince Lombardi trophy which is given to the Superbowl champions every year.  It is very ironic that he made himself a name as the coach of the Green Bay Packers, the Superbowl Champions this year!!!  It was an awesome play and we were in the 2nd row.  Since Im sure most of you guys are of my generation you would be excited to know that Judith Light(mom from Who's the Boss) and Dan Lauria(Dad from the Wonder Years) starred in it and we were only a few feet away.  (Can you tell I was excited?)

As we were walking out of the play, I had the opportunity to help a man who was having a heart attack at the theater..I know that might sound weird as a general statement but I am a registered nurse and just jumped into action without a second thought!! EMS arrived shortly after and I hope he is doing well....It made me very proud of my profession.

Super Bowl Sunday was hosted at my house with my family and my two nephews provided us with tons of entertainment dancing like crazy goofballs to the Black Eyed Peas halftime show in their pajamas:)   I have already taught them "Stolat" and they can't wait to teach their cousins from Poland everything they need to know about being in the famiy and being an American!

Today marks 5 months of waiting

My husband tells me that we should just live our lives as normal during this waiting period.  Go on day to day as if nothing was out of the ordinary so as not to get stresed out about the waiting.  He doesn't want me get upset or anxious.  I have a very hard time with that.  Every day I think about my little ones.  Where they born yet?  Where are they?  Who is taking care of them?  Are they hurting?  I already feel that "mother bear" instinct and it feels so natural.  My heart is so overflowing with love for my children to be I feel as if its going to burst!  I just can't wait to look into their eyes for the first time and tell them they are safe and how much they are loved.  Thinking of that moment makes me so happy as I tell myself.."be patient".

There are so many wonderful Polish adoption blogs and Im so glad to hear everyone sharing their stories.  It makes me feel less isolated.  Especially because adpotion from Poland is not a very 'hot topic" in the adoption world.  I have added myself to follow many of you and feel free to leave comments on my page.

In other news we ordered the carpet for the childrens rooms!  Stain resistant of course!!!:)  We are preparing for another ice/snow storm tonight...UGH....spring can't come fast enough!

Such a freshman Blogger....

I realize that I am so very far behind with this blogging buisness.  Most of you guys starting blogging when you first started your process and had a place to vent your frustrations.  Unfortuately being the control freak/ stress bag that I am, during the whole process from May to Sept when we were in the thick of our paper trail, I could not concentrate on anything but the paperwork.  It consumed me and my poor husband was the one whom I vented to. This is our neatly binded two inch thick adoption paperwork that has been sitting with dust on it for 4 months:)  It has EVERYTHING in it!!  Binded of course because I can be a knucklehead at times and dont want to loose anything. (told you I'm a control freak:)

 Now we are in the 4th month of our wait and bored of just doing my Polish lessons on Rosetta Stone and in the car to and from work.  Being buried under 2+ feet of snow does not help either.  So now that I don't have paperwork to frustrate me, I have this blog thing that I am having a very hard time figuring out!!!  Ugh....lol. 

I was on facebook but deleted my account because people simply had silly things to say. But at the same time found myself so interested in the silly comments and was spending too much of my day reading status updates...Does anyone else feel that way?? At least reading the blogs it is nice to hear the stories of other families that are going through the same process.
I have also been trying to find children songs in Polish.  I would like to know a few at the least to be able to soothe my children while in Poland if they were frightened or upset.  Can anyone suggest some?  I found a nice website with translation if anyone is interested.
http://www.mamalisa.com/?p=664&t=ec&c=70

Lets start from the beginning...

Well, we are in our 4 th month of waiting for a referral from Poland for two children and I must say it hasn't been too bad yet. I have been keeping busy learning Polish and reading EVERYTHING I possibly can on being an adoptive parent and how to nurture adoptive children.  The love part of course comes easy.  I also have been spending alot of time on You Tube watching other people's adoption videos and I must say, it has really been wonderful to get to do so.  Ive realized that It really will happen!  It is a priviledge to be able to share in other families journeys and I highly recommend it!  Get you Kleenex ready though! Im starting this blog to be able to communicate with and support some other families going throgh the process of adoption from Poland.  I have read some wonderful blogs and I want to be able to share our journey as well.

Well, keep warm everyone.  Everyone in the northeast ahs been dumped with some major snow in the last few weeks.  My poor Frosty the snowman lawn decoration from Christmas is so buried under snow right now he will probably not get out till March!!!