A man of few words!!

Well, we got it done!! Brian’s autobiography. It was painful!!! Almost like giving birth. Brian is definitely a man of FEW words. Well that’s okay, it’s done!!!!

Home Alone

Home alone again!!!

Was suppose to go to Illinois today!

Was suppose to go to Illinois today to get documents but that has all changed since I fell. We have used my portion of the ticket to fly Amanda here so that she can help out around the house. I am not able to get up and get around except to go to the bathroom. She will be a huge help.

Can't do ANYTHING

I stayed at home by myself and worked on parts of the application. There are many things that have to be obtained and many things that have to be filled out. We are working real hard at getting everything done.

Surgery is needed

B who I worked with at the church (she quit to stay home with her daughter) called because she heard that I was hurt. Her husband works at a clinic. I had called the doctor’s office where I went on Monday and they stated it would take 2 – 4 days to get approval for the MRI. B’s husband could get me in for an MRI and to see one of the best doctors’s at the clinic today. C called me to inform me that B was on her way. B came to get me and away we went. Had x-ray’s taken, saw Dr. H, he too confirms that it is not the ACL. In the process of popping out and back into place, I chipped a couple of bone fragments off the back of the knee cap. He felt it was not necessary to have an MRI done, since he has to go in there and take out the bone fragment, he can scope the knee and take care of any other problems at that time. Surgery is set for May 5th.

Not an ACL tear

Went to see a doctor about my knee. Praise God, it is not my ACL. I probably dislocated my knee cap as I fell and when EMSA straighten the leg to stabilize it, the knee cap popped back into location. I am waiting to get an MRI.

Help!, I've fallen and I can't get up!

We were working out in the yard today, and I lost my balance and fell. EMSA had to come and transport me to the hospital. Initial x-ray indicates possible ACL injury. I’m in a lot of pain and needless to say, not much has been done today with regards to Darci.

Will this mound of paperwork ever STOP

Working really hard today on getting all of the necessary paperwork that is needed to send along with our application. Brian will be nailed to a chair tomorrow to write his autobiography. S proofed mine today, and it is ready to go. Emailed N about some questions pertaining to our application. She quickly emailed me back with the answer. Working with Dillon has been so WONDERFUL!!! They are so helpful and are very quick to answer any question you have, and if they don’t know the answer, they quickly find the answer and get back with you. I am so glad that we are working through them.

We have passport's

I went to J's and looked at a crib. She is selling hers in a rummage sale. We have decided to purchase the crib. Our passports arrived in the mail. YEAH!!! We can go to .

Doctors, doctors and more doctors

J from Dr. Z's office called and told me that Dr. Z had the letters ready and she wanted to fax them to me for my approval before she sent them to Dillon. Dr. Z came through with flying colors. His letters were wonderful. He stated that we were both asymptomatic and that we were both emotionally and mentally stable and that our illness does not interfere with our ability to parent a child. That evening when I got into the car the song that was playing was “Who Am I” sung by Casting Crowns, lyrics by Mark Hall, music by Casting Crowns

Tax Day

Tax Day !!! Have to mail our taxes. Got a call from the Doctor’s office and all my lab work was normal. Yeah Darci, mommy is healthy!!! Brian will have to go next week to have his blood work done, since he did not get it done when he had his physical. 2 men put their heads together and thought they knew best, NOT!!! I emailed D about mentioning God in our autobiography and how to properly address . She answered our questions. She is great!!

Mom's healthy

Had my physical done today, everything looked good. Am going to T’s house to cook meals. She has a homemade gourmet business and we cook meals and pay her for the ingredients. It’s mass cooking and we get 7 meals. Great thing!! It more meals for us since it is just Brian and I. Soon Darci will be helping to eat these meals. The favorite part of the night was going to Steak ‘n’ Shake afterwards with T, T and K. YUM YUM!! Psalms 54:2 “Hear my prayers, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.” God does hear our prayers and the words from our mouths. I am so thankful for this.

Taking care of babies

Worked in the nursery for K’s "Mom’s , Mentor ’s and McDonald’s" program. Got to be in the room with K. She was adopted from . Sure was a good girl. She came to life when we brought out the teddy grahams box. When I look at her, I think about Darci and where she is and what she is doing. Waiting for that day when we travel to to pick her up.

More doctor's

Got my appointment scheduled for my physical. Found out from Dr. B that Brian does not need to have the Hep. B series of shots. He was relieved. Brian did not have any blood work done as they were unsure so I got that clarified today and he will have to go in and have this done. Brian will not be home tonight. He started his new job and had to go to Tulsa to get all of the paperwork done and he will stay the night in Tulsa , so I plan to start on my autobiography. It has to be 3 – 4 pages in length and I do not like to write, so I am praying that God will lay the words on my heart. Thought a lot about Darci this morning, wondering where she is and what she is doing, is she born?? All those questions that come streaming over one’s mind and the song that was playing on the radio was “Awesome God” and indeed He is an awesome God. He has this whole thing laid out and it will all come together when it is suppose to come together. Worked on my autobiography tonight. Has 3 pages single spaced and only ½ way finished. God is good!!

Another workshop

Went to Norman to the pre-adoption workshop. I went at lunch time so I could see the meet and greet families. I want to soak up as much information as I can on the traveling, bonding, formula, etc. It was really good. There was one family from with 2 beautiful daughters and 2 families from . I learned a lot. Talked with N who is a Dillon Social Worker for the OKC area. She may be our social worker. I did learn that we are able to send a care package to Darci; however, we need to do it immediately upon receiving our referral. When we get our home study letter, that is the next major step, I plan to get a lightweight blanket and a small soft stuffed animal to have Brian and I sleep with and then send it when we can. I will also include a camera for them to take pictures. The other thing that I learned was that by going to the workshop it will count as another home study visit. We are down to just 2. Hopefully that can be done within the same week. The song that hit home today was “I Am A Friend of God” I am a friend of God and He calls me friend. Oh how true!!

Physical

Am going to call the doctor to schedule my physical. Booked my flight to Illinois to get all of our documentations. Birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decree from my 1st marriage. I can get everything online, however I cannot get the divorce decree online, so I decided to just go back and get everything in person.

More documents

Received one of the documents from Texas . Went to T’s party tonight. Brian tried to call, too much static. I was excited to talk to him, but couldn’t hear him. Maybe he will try to go to town tomorrow tonight and call. Hope so!!!

Passport's

Went to the passport office this morning with the birth certificates. Brian has his physical today. He is leaving today to go turkey hunting in southeast Oklahoma with his friend P. The doctor gave him his physical back, but it’s a godsend that he did. There are 4 blanks on the physical that are not filled out. I am trying to call Brian; however, he does not have a good signal so I have to wait for him to call me so I can ask if he had blood work done. If not, he will be going back to the doctor.

Wow, they want to know everything

Filled in most of the application this evening. They want to know EVERYTHING!!! I understand, they want no stone unturned. Asked for prayer during staff meeting today. The paperwork seems so overwhelming, and the worker bee that I am, I am determined to have it all done right now!!! God is however teaching me that I must do things as I can, not push ahead when I do not need to. Everything will get done when it’s suppose to get done. Got on the internet tonight, checking the yahoo groups. The last thing I did was check the S’s web page. The S’s are from Mt. Zion, IL Small town right outside Decatur . She noticed from a post that I was from Decatur , so she emailed me and told me about herself and her family. They were leaving for in 4 days. Their story is utterly amazing. I have been following their web page as they post pictures. Today they had pictures of when they recived A. The tears were flowing. She is so precious. No tears when she was handed over to her new mom, all smiles. This is my prayer for Darci. She is in the Father’s hands. He cares for her until He transfer care to us. I pray for smiles and no tears.

Our Ultrasound

Darci is somewhere in China!!!

It's here - LOTS OF PAPERWORK

Cancelled Brian’s appointment and rescheudled for Wednesday the 6th. YEAH!!! The packet came. LOTS OF PAPERWORK!!!! Quite overwhelming. Will get started tomorrow.

Why China??

A lot of people wonder "Why China?" The reason is that instituted a one-child policy back in the 80's. This means that a family could have only one child. also does not have social security so it is the responsibility of son's to take care of his parents. When a female grows up and marries, there is no one left to take care of her parents. Because of this, many little girls have been left in an effort to try and conceive a boy. While leaving a child is illegal in , families will go to great lengths to ensure that their little baby girls are left in public places (market place, train stations, hospitals, police stations, etc.) and usually they will travel many miles to do so, so that Chinese authorities cannot trace the baby back to them. There are some exceptions to this rule. In rural areas, parents may have 2 to 3 children as long as one is a female and they can afford to pay the fine associated with going over the child limit. This fine can be upwards of a years pay for a farming family. The other thing that must be noted is that each child born to a family must be registered in order to receive medical care and the right to get an education. Many families cannot afford to pay the fee so they will leave their female child. Some children born with medical issues are also left as the family cannot afford to pay to obtain medical treatment. I am sure many mothers agonize over the decision to leave her precious little girl, but are many times forced into that decision by her husband and her in-law's. There are many orphanages in China, however, not all orphanages are approved to adopt internationally. China has established a central agency known as CCAA ( China Center for Adoption Affairs) in Beijing . All agencies who are approved to adopt through China will send a person's dossier (All the required documents, birth certificate, marriage licenses, letter requesting to adopt, physicals, police clearance, background checks, financial statement, & home study and official US government paperwork) to CCAA. Our agency will send dossier as soon as they have anywhere from 5-10 depending where people are in their paper chasing stage. Sometime they will wait and other times they will not. Our dossier was sent to on February 13, 2006 (what a wonderful Valentine to send to ) along with 9 other families. Once the dossier arrives at CCAA it is placed in stacks by the month and day they came in. Then the long process begins. When orphanages have paper ready babies, they send those records to CCAA, CCAA then reviews dossier and begin to match babies with prospective families. Once a match has been made, then the referral is sent to the agency. The agency then notifies the family. Our agency requires us to read or hear-- depending on if you come to their office or are called by your caseworker--the medical records of the child, once you agree that you will accept the referral then they allow you to see the picture of your baby. The reason behind this is to allow families to know the child's medical history (what little there is) before you see the picture, they do not want you to fall in love with a picture and then hear something in the medical report that maybe you were not prepared to deal with.

Still No Application

No application packet. I want so bad to call Dillon and ask, but I am not going to. I am trusting that it will come when it is suppose to come. I am testing my own patience and trusting God to give me the strength to do so.

The Family

Brian and I went to high school together and met in history class. We both sat in the very back of the room and this is where the love journey started. A year after we graduated we met up again and this time the relation took off and we were married 6 months later (that was 25 years ago). Our oldest daughter Amanda joined our family and things were GREAT!!! A couple of years later Kayla made our clan a foursome. We feel very blessed to have been given the privilege of raising them. We have made many mistakes along the way, and God has taught us much as we have raised these two precious girls. We love them very much and when the time came and the little girls we once knew had grown up to become young ladies and it was time for them to leave the nest. This mother was not too happy and I wrestled with God many times, but God in His infinite wisdom taught me that we must let go and allow them to group up and begin to make their own choices. At times the relationship has been rocky, but we have continued to forge though and there has been a new closeness in the relationships that I thank God for each time I think about them. With that empty nest, this mother was not done raising children. After awhile I must admit it was kind of nice just being Brian and I, however that urge was still there. God began to work in our hearts as we sought Him to fill that need.

No April Fool's Joke - NO APPLICATON II

Still no application packet from Dillon. If it doesn’t arrive tomorrow, then we will have to reschedule Brian’s appointment. Just waiting for more paperwork. Went to the passport office at the court house today. Brian met me at work at 3:30 and we left to go downtown. Had to be there by 4:00 pm. Drove like a manaic to get there, found a parking spot and walked all over creation trying to find what door to enter in. ( Oklahoma doesn’t know about signage) Found the building, walked in the door at 4:59:59. Started giving all the documents needed with the application, I realized I had NO birth certificates!!!! I could not believe that I had forgotten them. We are standing at the elevator and all Brian could say was “glad it’s not my mistake!!” Oh well!!! We’ll be back!!! (Our application was mailed to us on this day, I found this out afterfact, when discussing dates with our case worker)

Our Journey to Darci

Welcome to our Journey!! We are Brian and Debbie from OK. God planted the adoption seed in our hearts a few years ago and in March 2005 He gave us the go ahead. We are using Dillon International as our adoption agency. We attended a pre-adoption workshop in Arlington, TX in March, 2005. We brought along our adoption application and prayed that if God wanted us to continue this journey that He would make it very clear to us during that weekend. He did indeed. We turned in our application 1 and waited to hear from our agency. Three weeks later we got the phone call that said our initial application was approved and they would be sending part 2 of the application process. This application is the LONG one!!! There were so many papers that when I got the application I felt totally lost thinking "I will never get through this", well I did!!! We forged through and dived into the mountain of paperwork. Birth Certificates, marriage Licenses, Passport, Pictures, Autobiographies and the list goes on and on!!! Finally on Monday, May 9th I overnighted the big packet to Dillon and they received it the next day. May 25 the 2nd part of the application was approved and the home study was ordered. Here we GO!!!