Since my last post, we have been busier than ever with our everyday lives and adoption preparations. Samantha and Callie began school, with Sam being at the junior high building and Callie at Pre-K in Alexis. Callie has been pretty tired by the early evening! It shocks me to think Callie will be turning 5 in November! Sam has some pretty exciting news to share; we have begun using a new insulin pump which allows her to not give herself insulin injections several times per day. With this pump there is a pod attached to her body which administers the insulin. The best part is that there are no tubes attached to her body and the system is as close to painless as can be. I am so proud of how she is learning to take care of her diabetes. This semester at WIU I have taken over as the undergraduate adviser which I have enjoyed as I am able to work more closely with the students. I am currently teaching two courses as well, and supervising in the clinic. I miss having a full caseload of families personally, but enjoy seeing the students be successful as students and clinicians. I continue to work with a few families as I don't think I will ever stop being a therapist myself! Chad continues to work very steadily thanks to the good weather. Sometimes we wish he had a whole weekend off but that extra day on the paycheck can make a big difference too! Now to the adoption update....
We received very EXCITING news last week. Our dossier has been received in our region in Russia. The coordinator there has contacted our agency to let us know the boys are definitely still available for adoption and we will be traveling soon. The coordinator is working on acquiring firm travel dates for us. In a lot of ways the reality of our much anticipated plans is setting in for us. I find myself thinking about things like "next time I do this we will have the boys" quite a bit. We continue to hope to have the boys home for Christmas. Our fundraising efforts continue as well. Our local Applebees in Galesburg has agreed to allow us to hold a "Flapjack Fundraiser" on Saturday, October 9th from 8-10am. We are selling tickets for $5 each which includes pancakes, bacon, and juice/coffee. We will be able to keep $4 of every ticket sold. We are very thankful for Applebee's commitment to their community. We are also hoping to be chosen as a grant recipient next month as we are being reviewed by one of the granting agencies we applied to a few months ago. Finally, Chad and I have made an appointment with our bank to see about additional financing options we may have to complete our adoption. We are a bit overwhelmed at the amount of money we will need easy access to during our trips. I cannot imagine traveling to a foreign country with so much money! It is good to know we have a great agency of people in case we hit a problem while we are in Russia. It is also a relief to know we have a wealth of friends of family supporting us here in the US as we travel. I would like to end this post with an experience I had last week. I have been waking up Chad in the middle of the night as I have been talking in my sleep. We determined I must be feeling anxious or stress from the lack of control I have over our adoption process. Chad encouraged me to have faith as this will come together for us. Since he told me to "have faith" I have slept soundly (no 3am talking in sleep) which he greatly appreciates!
