Small world!!

Over past couple of weeks I have had the privileged of connecting with a few families that are adopting children from SKB in Karijipally India. That's the orphanage where my niece was at and we visited when we went to pick up Pala. I cannot even begin to tell you the joy and excitement that it brought to my heart knowing that I had met their children and could share the special time we had shared with them. We made a special connection with these children and I so glad we were given the opportunity to do so. I really hope that I have given them a sense of peace knowing that their children are well cared for and very much loved. I'm very excited to see how much they light up once they are with their forever families.

I found it very hard to leave one little girl in particular. We'll call her "Angel" to protect her identity since she does not have a family yet. She arrived at SKB a couple of weeks before we went to visit. She is 8 and very beautiful and smart. I don't know her circumstance nor do they matter to me... she has a place in our hearts. We spent a lot of time with her while there and talk about her all the time. The timing is not right for us but God put her in our hearts... so we are just trying to listen to him. I'm not sure if he's telling us that she is meant to join our family or if I'm supposed to advocate and help to find her her mommy and daddy.... I pray every day hoping for an answer or something but still nothing. We sent her a teddy bear (wearing an angel dress) and an angel necklace just to let her know that someone in this big world is thinking about her and praying for her. What ever our ever loving Lord has in store for us we are listening. If it is meant for us to pursue adopting her, the agency will not even start the process until we have been home for 1 year with Pala... so we are looking at about 2 years before being able to bring her home. My heart breaks but ideally she needs a family that is "paper ready". So... if you think you might be "Angel's" mommy or daddy please contact me so I can tell you all about this wonderful little girl that has captured my heart.

Please say a quick prayer today!!

Hi everyone!!

As I said in my last post, Shad's brother, his wife and older daughter are in India picking up "S". Well a trip is never complete unless there is hiccup some where right?! Well they hit their hiccup... they were due to fly home Friday at 4 am India time and their flight was delayed until 2:30 pm... and delayed again until 4:30 pm... which means they will completely miss their connecting flight here in states by well over 12 hours. They are having trouble finding a flight home because there are 4 of them. We ran into this on the way to India and there were only 2 of us!! They have been there 2 weeks and just really want to come home to their other 2 children. It had already been a rough past couple of days and they really didn't need this. There were over 50 flight canceled leaving Delhi in the last 2 days due to smog. Please keep them in your prayers... along with anyone else that has been effected by this.

Thanks so much!!

Prayers answered!!! With delays and rerouting they arrived home safe and sound on Saturday evening. A little on the tired side but other than that they are doing great. "S" loves her little sisters and seem to have a natural bond.---- Thanks again for keeping them in your prayers!!

Better late than never :)

I know I'm a little late on posting Christmas pictures but I misplaced my camera cord and finally found it. I've been a bit scatter brained lately!! They are out of order but I'll try to label them as I go.

Some of the cookies the kids made with Mama Dee

Pala's holiday dress

Much bigger crew at the Alsworth holiday gathering. I think my in-laws are up to 12 grandchildren. (2 are missing from the photo) Poor Kira insisted on her mommy holding her for the picture because she was afraid of Santa.

My kids and nieces and nephew on the Peet side during our Christmas Eve celebration.

Pala in her holiday dress for the Alsworth gathering.

Pala just looking cute!

Pala with Santa at the Alsworth gathering.

Decorating cookies at Mama Dee's

Enjoying a good laugh with Aunt Annie

Helping mommy with the laundry

Santa was good to all of us this year. We actually are blessed to have most of our family near by. Pala fits in perfect with all of us. As I've mentioned before we had been on a dead run from the time we got off the plane from India with her. We no more than celebrated Thanksgiving and we start right in with Christmas. We celebrate the holiday with Shad's family 2 weeks before Christmas, then have our annual cookie day with my mom the Saturday before, celebrate with my side of the family on Christmas Eve, then of course Santa visits us Christmas morning. In between there are all of the boys holiday concerts and parties at school and some how I even managed to do my shopping. Not much fun with a 15 month old I might add.

Pala had her 2nd doctor visit since we've been home and everything is going great!! Still tiny for her age but doing well. She's a whole 18lbs and 30" now. She is catching on to things quick. We've begun signing to help with the whining and it's helped quite a bit. So far she has learned "eat", "more", "thank you" and "milk". She is eating everything under the sun and loves to share her half eaten apples (or anything else she's eating) with anyone who is willing... it's not usually me... gross. Very kind of her but soooo gross! :) Pala gives kisses and "five" all the time. She is a little busy body!! We've had to tot lock our kitchen cabinets because she is exploring every little inch of the house. She does tend to favor one side over the other so we are going to contact EI for an evaluation. We'll see what they say. I could just be over reacting but hey... she's my daughter, I'm supposed to worry.

Matching "Mommy and Me" bracelets.

The boys were off from school for 2 weeks and we took advantage of our museum membership and ventured off to the Buffalo Museum of Science and the Rochester Science and Discovery Center during their break. The Buffalo Museum of Science was not worth the 2 hours it took to get there but we will be going back to Rochester. The kids had fun there and learned a lot. Treyton and Cooper are playing basketball this winter and Treyton has begun another exciting year of OM. World's are in Michigan this year... hopefully we'll be scheduling another road trip this spring. :) Wish them luck!!!

My brother-in-law and his wife are in India now. They picked up our niece on Tuesday and are in Delhi now filing paperwork and doing a little site seeing before coming home. I can't wait to see "S" again!! With their permission, I will post pictures of their homecoming next weekend.

A recap of 2009...

Well, the day after Christmas marked our 1 month anniversary of being home as a family!! We've have been blessed beyond belief this year and it's had to believe that it's almost over. It was a year that I thought was never going to end. Pala's adoption seemed to drag on with one delay after another but I was reminded over and over again that EVERYTHING is in God's timing and IT will make for a perfect story in the end!! We celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family and plan to bring in the New Year quietly together this year playing "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Rock Band". :)

2009 brought our family many many joys!

In January my brother-in-law and his wife accepted the referral of their 4th daughter "S" from India. Although at the time I was extremely jealous because as you know I was still waiting for our "call". By the way they will be leaving to bring "S" home on the 10th!! I am so glad we were able to visit her while we were in India... it's a memory that can never be erased.

March was the birth of my niece Elly, both Austin and Cooper's birthday's... and the much awaited "call" about our precious Sweet PEA. I think I was on cloud 9 for quite awhile don't you all agree?

April began our LONG dreadful 19 week NOC wait.

May brought us another niece, Lexi... born on Shad's birthday!! He kept telling his sister that she was just going to have to wait until his birthday and what do you know... Lexi listened to her Uncle Shad!! :) Treyton's OM team traveled to Iowa for OM World's Competition. We all had a blast... it was a great trip for all of us and it helped keep our minds off the adoption for a week...and we also lost our dear friend Bobby unexpectedly.

June, July were our typical camping months along with our Compassion child's birthday. So glad the Lord allowed us to visit him in India... emotions are starting to flow again...

August was Treyton's birthday. Wow how time flies!!

September we celebrated Miss P's 1st birthday without her but found out we were granted guardianship in record time!! This began our wait for her passport.

October was Tony and Meghan's wedding.

and... November... well what more can I say... November was the month that we were finally able to meet Pala in person!! An emotional trip that will never be forgotten!! :) As much as I had screamed and hollered because the day wasn't coming fast enough... it was HE who knew what was best. The Lord had it all planned out right from the start. I was meant to be be here to witness the birth of my new nephew Cameron... he was born and the very next morning I received the call from our caseworker giving us travel approval. Coincidence? I think not!! Through faith and prayers we were brought home to celebrate Thanksgiving as a family. November also began Shad's dream of being in politics... uhg, let the fun begin right?!

We end the year with December and the birth of Christ... what better way to celebrate!! (and the engagement of Bridget and Tom!!) :)

Although we experienced a few hiccups along the way the Lord blessed us many times over in 2009 and for that I am thankful. May the Lord walk with you and bless you as he has blessed our family in the New Year!!

Trying to catch up!!

Things are so different around here!! Not that I'm complaining or anything but... I find myself so tired and exhausted at the end of the day!! :) Wow!! It's a lot of work having a tot weeble wobbling around the house again!! Fun... but exhausting!! I'm out of practice. I don't remember the boys being so much work and there were 3 of them. There's only 1 Pala!! Do you think being 8 years older now could have something to do with it?! Ha!! Not to mention we came home right at the busiest time of year for us so we have been on the go go go!!

Our doctor's appointment went great! Pala is a whole 17 lbs and 28" tall. At 15 months she is only wearing 6/9 months clothes!! She is the same size as both of my nieces which are 6 and 8 months old!! A little peanut!! We had a bout of lice and because of her hair being sooooo thick it has taken forever to get the nits out. So needless to say, she does not like her hair played with anymore. :( Other than that she has some definite signs of malnutrition and a small belly button hernia. The spot on her bum that was believed to be vitiligo is nothing more than a birth mark. She is eating (at least trying) everything that we have for our meals. Fish, chicken, bananas and oatmeal seem to be her favorites. I cannot for the life of me get her to use a sippy cup... milk/formula in a bottle and juice or water in a regular cup. At first she didn't like taking a bath but now I can't get her out of there!! :) Pala is sleeping all through the night in her own crib and in her own room!! The co-sleeping didn't work for her... not that we didn't try. She was up and fussy every couple of hours when she was in our bed. I put her in her crib one night so I could get a couple of hours of good sleep and she slept through the night and has done it ever since!! I was amazed!! I'm kind of sad actually because I thought it was a big part of the bonding and attachment and I thought I was going to mess that up some how but believe me... that is going wonderfully!! Some days she is a little velcro monkey but I'm used to it now. She loves to cuddle and love on mommy!! That won't last forever so I guess the housework can wait!! (Don't tell Shad I said that please! Ha!!!) She has this little thing with crossing her fingers and pointing at you and growling... haven't figured that one out yet! Assuming it's something her brothers taught her!! Ha!! Yeah... can't wait to see what else she picks up on!! I just remember all of the mean things I used to do to my sisters growing up.... eeeks!! They are all really wonderful and helpful with her. She is a true blessing for us. The Lord truly knows what's best for us and he couldn't have given us a more perfect gift this Christmas!!

From the fullness of his grace we have received one blessing after another. ~John 1:16

We're alive... for the most part!!! :)

A Thanksgiving with a blessing!!
This picture was take Thanksgiving afternoon!
That was the morning we arrived home from India!!
What a precious little smile!!

Well last week was certainly a test of patience from the Lord but with all of the support and prayers from everyone back home we made it through!! We laugh now that it has been 23 months of "pregnancy" with 10 days of excruciating labor!! :) We are all adjusting well. I'm still a little tired but we have also been on the go since we got home it seems like. When we got off the plane in Buffalo I saw the most beautiful site in the world... my 3 boys waiting for us!! Pala saw them and started babbling! It was too cute! She wanted down so she could run to them... what a sight... she reached her arms out for Treyton just like she had been with him since birth! The way she is bonding is like we were just away for a mini vacation!! She is a true blessing!! We have our 1st post placement visit today. I don't think Anita believed me when I told her how wonderful Pala is adjusting. I know there are some rough times ahead but the way things are going right now will make them easier to get through. We will take them one day at a time.

I want to share a little bit about our trip... If you had asked me last Wednesday if I would ever go back, the answer would have been "NOT A CHANCE!!" That's how bad I was feeling about the trip. I've had time to reflect and pray about it a few days now and both Shad and I agree that WE WILL VISIT AGAIN but with no agenda!! Cooper asked us how many planes we were on during the trip so we listed them all out showing the boys our boarding passes. You are not going to believe this... in 10 days poor Shad had been on 11 different planes and I had been on 9. That is ridiculous!! It was exhausting just remembering all that. :)

Here's my two cents...

Don't try to do everything in one trip. Start out with the attitude that you WILL go back some day with your child. Make this trip about your child not about what you may or may not miss out on. You'll enjoy yourself a whole lot more and if a "hiccup" occurs you won't be devistated by it.

Our "GOTCHA DAY" was nothing like I had anticipated. I had it all played out in my mind that Pala was going to want to come right to me. All I had to do was go slow and she would warm up quick. My heart was broken when she didn't want anything to do with me!! I loved this little girl long before I had ever seen her face and I didn't even get a smile. Shad and I stayed at ISRC for 2 hours waiting for her to warm up to us. She warmed up to Shad a little but screamed blood murder if I even looked at her. I knew from reading and talking to other families that it was a possiblity but after hearing from other traveling families what a wonderful little personality she had I thought "That won't be the case for me." Things quickly changed and Pala is certainly my little angel.

My recommendations for hotels are the Kenilworth in Kolkata and the Hyatt Regency in Delhi. I found a better rate booking the Kenilworth online directly through them and requesting the "Winter Package". It included all of our taxes, airport pickup, head and foot massage, breakfast and dinner, and a few piddly other things. Do get your massage... what a treat!!! Don't get the head massage on a day that you plan on being in any pictures though!! :) Use their driver... Nayeem. He is wonderful and worth the extra that you have to pay. He speaks Bengali and helped soothe Pala while we were in the car. He really went above and beyond for us!!! He even knows a little Passport photo place that is super cheap!!! Get them in Kolkata and out of the way before going to Delhi. Nayeem's mobile number is 9830899357. Request him when you make your reservations!!
We stayed at 3 different hotels in Delhi and my favorite was the Hyatt. Quite pricey but I felt very safe and never went hungry! :) We stayed at the Intercontinental on our first stop in Delhi before visiting our Compassion child. It was a very nice hotel but we felt like every time we turned around we were getting screwed. They hated giving change... big or little! The food was OK but nothing like the Hyatt!! The third hotel experience was with the Parkland.... all I'm going to say is "Stay at your own risk!!". The room was nice but service was awful. It was loud and the food sucked!! Not to mention we had been transferred from a different Parkland because they didn't have us in the system and then after an hour when they found our reservation they didn't have a room for us.... this is being taken care of by our travel agent. Erle was very kind to us and was not happy when he was told of the problem. I don't think you'll have to worry about Erle at Azumano Travel recommending the Parkland again after it happening to both the Labonte's and us all in one week. I can't say it enough... bite the bullet and stay at the Hyatt. I'm sure you can find cheaper rates online than what we were forced to pay since we just showed up desperately requesting a room after being at the Parkland. Let's put it to you this way... we were so unhappy at the Parkland that we paid for the night that we checked out just to get out of there. The service was horrendace. We asked for a driver at 8:30am and at 10:15 he was still not there. Why? Oh, because they never called for one until 10:00 because they forgot!!! That was for our "Embassy Day". HYATT, HYATT, HYATT!!!! Our driver at the Hyatt was wonderful too!! Kishan... request him!! His mobile number is 9818736618. Tell him you want to go to the Chicken Inn for lunch!!! Yummmmmmmo!!!!! Kishan took us there when we told him we were starved and wanted to go somewhere that was airconditioned with good food!! We pulled in and he said "How's this?" Shad and I both just looked at each other and then looked at him and he said "Just trust me!" Glad we did... it was great!!!

I'm off to take Pala to her first doctor's visit with Dr. Kassas. I'm leaving you with a few photos from our travels and a couple since we've been home. I'll try to post a bit more details about our journey when Pala lays down for her afternoon nap.

Thank you for all of the prayers!!

Thanks everyone for your prayers!! Pala's passport was a quick fix in Kolkata. Shad and Ms.Roy were able get it fixed with no problems. It was a huge inconvenience to us but it is fixed. Today at the Embassy the staff had totally different attitudes towards us. I almost think that they thought we were just going to give in and not push the issue of having everything done by today and stay a few extra days for their sake. Not the case!! They were totally surprised to see us back today. We were told it was a miracle that it was cleared up so quickly! In our case I have to agree. The Embassy tried telling us that it was going to take 2 days but they would see what they can do. There is NO reason for it to take 2 days!!! To all travelng families... stand your ground and be firm. So, any hoo, I am happy to say that this is certainly one Thanksgiving that I have a lot to be thankful for. At around 8:30 tomorrow morning I will be able to give my 3 favorite boys in the whole world the biggest hugs they have ever gotten because we are coming home!!! Packing up and heading to the airport in an hour!! See you in America!!! :)

What more could go wrong?!

Well, we've hit another road block. This adoption has certainly been a challenge for us. Although I can say Miss PEA is an absolute dream!! She is doing VERY well with us now. Oh, the road block.... well, yesterday we went to the doctor for our medical visit for the Embassy and Pala's birthdate is wrong on her passport. It says 2009 instead of 2008 for her year of birth. So after a very long day of trying to get someone here in New Delhi to help us... Shad flew back to Kolkata this morning to try to get it taken care of. Pala and I have transfered to the Hyatt Regency. It's gated and I feel much more comfortable here. It's quite pricey but safety is my main concern right now. Do not stay at any of the Parkland hotels... I repeat... do not stay at any of the Parkland hotels. What a fiasco!!! Kristy L will agree with me!! We had a terrible time with them. We were supposed to stay at the Parkland Greenpark on Sunday... even confirmed our reservations there... when we got there to check in we weren't in the system, then after getting a bit nasty... oh, my there we were but they didn't have a room for us!!! They transfered us to a different Parkland out by Nerhu Place and it was not pleasant. The room was nice but the noise was awful. We couldn't make calls from our room or use the internet. "They were having some problems with them" we were told but we could give them the numbers we needed to call and they would connect them for us. So, we tried that.... 15 minutes later (and some longer) we were connected. Grrrr!!! The service sucked!! Well, not all of it, there was one bellboy that was an absolute sweetheart! Yesterday we asked for a car @ 8:30 am so we could go to the doctor appointment by 9am and at 10:15 the car was still not there. We were told it would be there in 20 minutes and that they had just called them. As if that didn't start my day off well!! Then we went to the doctors office (1st on the list). It was nice but busy. We really didn't wait all that long but the receptionist kept saying "Your daughter 2 months?". No, she's 14 months... again "No... your daughter 2 months?" "No" I said speaking very slowly... "No, she is 1 year and 2 months." Then she showed me Pala's passport. My heart sank!! Now what do we do?! The doctor called us into his office and did the exam, then explained that he couldn't write the report until the passport was fixed. We should go to the Embassy and explain the situation and see what they think would be the best way to handle it. So, 2 hours at the Embassy, they sent us to the Regional Passport office in Delhi. At the passport office they yelled at Shad and told him it was his fault there was a mistake and said he was getting involved because it was US adoption case. So back to the Embassy we went to let them know what had taken place and they started yelling at Shad. Shad raised his voice and started getting a little crappy with them and the guard came over. The guard was very nice and couldn't believe that we were being treated this way... that was OUR Embassy. After 2 hours of being treated like total crap we were no further ahead and were told that next time we should look at things more closely. So we went back to the hotel and called Ms. Roy, booked the first flight out this morning to Kolkata for Shad only (at Ms. Roy's request because of some sort of protest march going on). They will go to the passport office in Kolkata and hopefully get this taken care of. Needless to say we checked out of the awful Parkland and are now at the Hyatt. Way more than I wanted to spend but we are safe. This trip has been a nightmare and I can't wait to get home to my boys!!! Doesn't look like we are going to make it to the Taj... but I'm to the point I really don't care. I just want to be home on US soil!!! When I can find the humor in all of this I will try to post some positive parts of the trip. For now please please please say a prayer for us!! I really need this mess to be over with so I go home to have Thanksgiving with my family!!! I'm sooooo homesick right now and I feel trapped in a really bad dream that I can't wake up from.

"PALA" Day!!!

Pala day is finally here!! We've had a rough go at it but we are making it work! :) She's scared right now so there's been a lot of crying going on. She's trying to figure out what's going on. We will be taking it easy when we get home. Right now she is sleeping with Shad. :)

I miss you boys!! I can't wait to see you!!

A few pictures of our trip

We finally have a few minutes to post some pictures. Internet is a minimun of 600 Rupees per day. That's about $15. It doesn't seem like a lot but when you add it all up for each day... and you only have an hour or so to use it, it really adds up.

There really is no order to these but I know everyone has been waiting to see some. I miss my boys sooo much it's not even funny. I'm glad that we were able to do all of the things that we have but it's too long to be away from home. :) Not to mention we have actually spent more time either on a plane or in a car than doing anything to exciting.

Some of the children at the Compassion site

Dilshad presenting me with flowers at our arrival to Compassion

Dilshad with his mom and dad

The director of the site is in purple.