Whew, I'm Beat, but I've Got an Update!

I know I have sort of fallen off the face of the earth, but soon, we will be back in full-swing!  Today was the last day for us to babysit Baby K, the little girl we were watching 4 days a week, other than occasionally as back-ups.  Even though I know that this is what we needed to do for our family, we will really miss her!  She is a sweet little girl and the kids saw her like a sister.  Conner has decided we need to see her for lots of play dates both before and after Ramya comes home.

Now begins our journey in to homeschooling and, hopefully, getting Ramya here with us so we can start our journey as a family of five.  I am so crazy far behind on things and I am hoping to use this time before Ramya comes home to catch up on life a bit.  I know you never really catch up, but I am hoping to go from 10 steps behind to only 1 or 2. 

Conner will start Kindergarten at home in a few weeks.  We will be using My Father's World for our curriculum (though, knowing me, I will change it around a lot ;)) and we also have an awesome art curriculum we will be working through.  I have my Master's degree in education and four years teaching under my belt, but I am still nervous!  Madi will do activities here at home, but will also go to Preschool two days a week.  She is SO excited!  On a lighter note, today Conner spelled "bat" by himself and informed me he was done homeschooling because God already gave him a really smart brain.  I told him nice try!

Today while Kaylynn and Madi were napping, I was feeling sad about saying goodbye to Kaylynn.  To distract myself, I opened my computer and checked my e-mail, only to see that we have our first court date!  YEAH!  God knew exactly what I needed to hear today!  It was a good reminder of why we needed to stop babysitting and focus on getting things in order... we have a daughter coming home to us soon!  August 23rd is the first date for court.  I can't remember how many days we will need total, so I e-mailed our adoption coordinator and will update when I know.  Please keep our first court date in your prayers.  Pray that the courts move quickly and efficiently so we can get our little girl home.  We will not be traveling to India for our first date, as that is not protocol for this part of India.  Instead, someone from the orphanage will go and represent our family.  Please keep that person in your prayers as well.  Of course, we always hope you will pray for our sweet Ramya ;).

Oh, I almost forgot!  We got photos of Ramya opening her first gifts from us.  We were SO excited!  Ramya seemed to love them all and is getting lots of use out of her babylegs and knee pads according to the orphanage.  She really seemed to enjoy her photo album.  There was also a picture of her standing with nice straight ankles!   We were totally blown away.  The only photos we have seen of Ramya standing show her on her ankle bones.  It looks like she is making great progress!  Once she gets here, I am thinking she will need good AFOs and either a walker or walking sticks, then she will be good to go!  The orphanage also says she tires easily, so she made need a wheelchair for long distances, we shall see.
Thank you again for following our journey and for praying with us as we walk it.  We really appreciate each and every one of you!  Here are a few photos of our family taken recently:

My Kiddos Current Favorite Book

Madi found this book at the library (used on the "to buy" shelf) and wants to read it MANY times throughout the day.  I love that it is informative, without being too informative, and uses words that are easy for the kiddos to understand.  They have great illustrations as well.  I love the picture of a baby in a sling in the book too :).  If you are expecting a little one and your other kiddos are curious about what is going on in there, this is a perfect book to use to explain it to them.  Just thought I'd share!

An Interesting Look at Ramya

I recently joined a group on Facebook for families that have adopted children from the orphanage that Ramya just left.  One of the moms on there has been following Ramya's journey and is really excited that we are adopting her.  She gave me links to two articles written about her (her name was changed, but she is child number 2 in the first article).  It's kind of neat to go back and read the things that they wrote about Ramya.  Because we weren't in the "adoption loop" when we found Ramya, we didn't see anything written about her, except for the medical files and such.  We are just so excited to get her home!!

http://www.rainbowkids.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=696

http://www.rainbowkids.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=736&fb_source=message

Our Two Latest Amazon Purchases

Again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who makes sure to purchase through Amazon using our link.   We really can't tell you how amazing it is to have that money ther when we need something for Madi (and Ramya) that insurance won't cover.  Here are our two latest purchases that we bought using our Amazon Associate's money:

1)  When we saw the video of Ramya the orphanage sent us, we noticed her little knees were all scuffed up.  In an effort to bring her some comfort, we purchased some leg warmers from babysnazz to mail to her.  We also bought her some knee pads, but I have to look up the company's name, since I can't remember.  They are on their way to India as we speak, along with a stuffed animal, a small lovey, a photo shutterfly book, a soft photo album, a book about riding on airplanes, and a book about adoption.  Woo hooo!

2) Madi got a new, updated medical ID bracelet.  On the front is the info about her medical needs and on the back is her personal info (name, our phone numbers, etc...).  I'm hoping she'll let us put it on her soon, but so far, she's not having it!  It is very cute, though.

In other news, we have no adoption updates, but this is to be expected.  Madi is going around telling everyone that her sister lives far, far away.  I know she doesn't get it, but it's still really cute!  She likes looking at Ramya's photo on our fridge.

Here is our Amazon link if anyone is needing it.  YOu just click on the link and shop and purchase as usual.  Please feel free to "share" it!

http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=missmadi-20