Gidget-Delhi Day 1

Gidget and Shane arrived in Delhi late early Monday afternoon. Maiya slept the entire flight! They went to Dr. Chawla later in the afternoon for Maiya's medical appointment. Unfortunately she did not have a good experience with him. So, she's NOT recommending him. That's too bad because we loved him. :( Oh, well. All 6 shots that were needed were done in 1 trip to the doc though so it CAN be done. Tuesday is a day of rest for them at the Hyatt. Maiya has had a few crying spurts so they are not planning to venture out. Maybe time at the pool and walking the grounds... nice and relaxing! :) Embassy Day is Wednesday! They are ready to come home to their boys! They are tired and recommend a day of rest in both Kolkata and Delhi. Gidget said not once has she been scared or uneasy. She left all of the negativity back home and went with a fresh mind and she enjoyed her time in Kolkata a whole lot more then Delhi so far. :) We laughed and I asked if she wanted to go back to India with me next spring and her response was "Ha!Ha!... Nope! That's quite alright!" :)

They have Maiya (Reela)!

I spoke with Gidget yesterday afternoon and they have Maiya! I was in the middle of my niece's 1st bday party and it was late when we got home so I wasn't able to post last night. :( She said it was a wonderful meeting. They used the same driver that we did, Nayeem, and he was just as wonderful to them as I said he would be. Maiya cried a little when they picked her up but all is going well now. Nayeem took them to the same place he took us and got their Visa pics out of the way. Today is their resting day at the Kenilworth and they fly to New Delhi on Monday. Their plans are flexible for the early part of the week so hopefully they will be able to get some much needed rest. Until I hear more... :)

Gidget and Shane are in India!!

Just spoke with Gidget and she asked me to give everyone an update. They're in New Delhi right now resting at the Radisson before catching an early morning flight to Kolkata. They are just a few short hours away from meeting their sweet little princess! Gidget's sinuses are acting up but other than that the trip is going well. The first time travelers have survived the first leg of the trip! :) Please pray for them during the remainder of their trip and that Gidget's sinuses clear up so she can get felling better. She's hoping to find some Sudafed at the domestic terminal in the morning. I'll keep you posted when I hear from her again!

Where we left off...

When we left off, we were headed to Binghamton University for the NYS Odyssey of the Mind competition. Treyton and his fellow team mates did a fabulous job and placed 4th. It didn't qualify them for the World's competition in Michigan but I am VERY proud of them.

As you recall we had 2 birthdays squished into the hectic OM weekend too! :) Austin 13 and Cooper is 9. Time has certainly flown by. Especially since coming home with Pala. We ended the trip with an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. Shad's brother Shane and his crew joined us along with our good friends, the Moreland's.

Pala's Christening ceremony was beautiful. She screamed almost the whole time! :)
It was held March 21st. Exactly 4 months from the day we met her at ISRC. I even wore the same tunic that I wore back on November 21 to pick her up. Amongst other things, I am putting together a slide show of all of her Christening pictures. No promises of when that will be done though. :)

Pala enjoyed her first trip to Uncle John's farm where she got to see the goats, cows and donkeys.

Kylie and Austin decided to go for a ride! No worries there... they are cousins!

Easter morning came before we knew it! It was a whirlwind of commotion!! Easter is our day to host our family gathering and some how we manage to keep it all together. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a wonderful gathering. When it was all said and done, we had about 25 people squeezed into our tiny little house celebrating Jesus! We normally don't have that many but as we got talking to some of our other family members and they mentioned just going home after church service we insisted that they come over. Not to mention we are walking distance from the church. How could they say no?! HA! There will be no excuses next year... unless we aren't here... :)

The boys got right up Easter morning and showed Pala her Easter basket. Normally there is a rule that they have to wait for Shad and I before getting into them so we have the camera ready, ect but this year they were excited for Pala so it was a free for all! :)
and... as you can see Miss PEA already had her jammies stripped off by the time she came downstairs.

Blowing kisses outside of church before the egg hunt.

Cooper and my niece Alana with their egg filled baskets. There were over 1000 eggs for the hunt!
Right after Easter Pala had about a 2 week bout with pneumonia. She is now back to her normal self and is cutting her final 2 teeth... eye teeth! Fun wow! :)

Pala's first ice cream cone! :)
She wore just as much as she ate! I wish I had video taped it! Next time! Baseball has begun so there will be lots of hot dog and ice cream cone eating!

"ANGEL" Update

Angel celebrated her 10th birthday yesterday! We had cake and "opened" this little outfit and movie for her. We will be popping it in the mail to her this week. The cake had her name on it and I didn't take the time to photoshop it out of the pic so I can't post it. :( Sorry about that!

Before when I told you all about her, we thought she was 8. Paperwork has arrived at the adoption agency and she is 10. Didn't mean to mislead anyone if you may have been helping to find a home for her. I honestly did not know. It was just my guess. The case worker at the adoption agency contacted us about 2 weeks ago and has discussed Angel's case with us at great length and...

Drum roll please....

We have decided to take a HUGE leap of faith and pursue her adoption! There is a lot of red tape to go through and it could also fall through but we believe strongly that this is the direction we are meant to go. It will be an emotional journey for our family and we would really appreciate your prayers. We have no idea how the finances will fall into place but we are trusting in the Lord that if this is His will then He will provide for us. Right now the committee on older child adoption at the agency is reviewing our current homestudy to see if indeed we are a good fit for Angel. Then they will contact the orphanage and the director will talk to her about our family structure. She knows Shad and I and that we were in India to bring Pala home but I'm not sure if she is fully aware that we have 3 boys also. If she wants to join our family then we will move forward. It's important to us for her to be part of the decisions right now. She has to want this too. So, now, we just sit back and wait.... this is really hard for me! No matter what she decides we will still remain in contact with her. God didn't place her in our hearts for nothing! :)

I am also planning a Dillon International Family Weekend in Binghamton NY the 3rd weekend in August. As things progress I will post more. :) Let me know if you may be interested in coming.

"Pala Day" video

Here's a little video of our "Pala Day" through to her Christening. Her Christening Ceremony was exactly 4 months to the day from the first day we met our little Sweet PEA!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!

Yep, another birthday here at our house!! I told you it was another big day!! I didn't plan that very well now did I?! Ha!!! My not so little guy anymore is 9 today!! Hard to believe!! To add to the excitement we are headed to Binghamton today for Treyton's OM competition so the birthday boys get a bonus of going away for the weekend and staying at a hotel. Wahoo, right?! Ha!! I'm a little nervous about Pala... she likes her own bed so it could be a very long weekend. Not to mention she HATES to ride in the car unless we are just ramming around town. It's about a 3 hour drive for us.... did I mention Pala hates riding in the car. :) I think a nice glass of wine should be waiting for me when we pull in to the hotel. :) One can dream!!lol Pictures to come next week!! Happy weekend and congrats to everyone who got guardianship this week!!! Yeah!!!

Happy Birthday Austin!!

Well, my son is now a teenager!! Eeeeks!!!! Today Austin turns 13. Not until 7:10pm of course :) Any teenage advice would be appreciated!! Ha!!! He has asked me to prepare an India meal tonight so I am off to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I had already anticipated this "want" so I gathered all of my spices at The Asian Market a few weeks ago when we went up to my niece Subha's birthday!! Good thinkin' Mama!! I will post pictures sometime next week when things settle down!! Tomorrow is another big day for our family... stay tuned!! :)

Adoption Tax Credit Extended and Increased

Adoption Tax Credit Extended and Increased

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March fury!

We've had a couple of really beautiful days lately Pala and I have been able to go for walks and play outside. It seems nice to have blue skies and sunshine again. We've had post placement visit #2 and should be able to petition the courts for final adoption in early April. I have had a rough go around with the social security office the past few months but finally found someone who would hear me out (and boy did she ever hear me out!). I was quite nasty but they are finally going to issue a SS# for Pala! It is a federal office so the rules are across the board. FYI- once your child has his/her green card you may file for a SS#. You will need their passport/VISA and the green card...that's it. Do not let them tell you otherwise! The card will only have the child's name as it appears on the green card. You will have to amend the SS card after finalization to include the child's middle and last names and adoptive parents names. A simple task but it took me 3 trips to our regional office and a very nasty attitude. I had documentation that was sent to me from one of the reps that I spoke to through the 800# and they still argued with me that it couldn't be done. YES! It can!

This time of year is busy season for us we have all kinds of March birthdays to celebrate and Treyton's Odyssey of the Mind competitions. This year his team and 5 other teams from Wellsville placed 1st at the Regional tournament and are now off to States at Binghamton University next weekend (which also happens to be Austin and Cooper's birthdays!). We will be gone the entire weekend!! A little break away from the ordinary. Cooper wants to go to
Chuck E. Cheese one day so that is on the agenda at some point. It happens to be right down the road from our hotel! :) Austin hasn't really decided what special thing he would like to do yet so I guess we'll figure it out when we get there.

and as if between 3 niece's, 3 cousin's, 2 of my boy's birthdays, and Treyton's OM I decided to squeeze in Pala's Christening this Sunday! Ha!! Hello... March is off limits from now on! :)

Pala LOVED playing in the snow for the first time! The temp was way to cold for her to be out a lot but we did manage to get out a few times this winter.

This is just before church one Sunday! Everyone adores her! Then again, who wouldn't! Ha!:) We attend a very small church and she has the run of the place. It's been that way for all of my kids actually. It's kinda like having 10 extra sets of Grandparents for them! :)

Austin is trying out for the High School golf team this year! He's only in 7th grade but wanted to give it a shot. There isn't a modified or JV level otherwise he would stay with his age group. He's young and will has LOTS of opportunities to tryout again if it doesn't work out for him this year. Pray that he doesn't lose his spirits along the way.

Treyton and Cooper are playing Little League Baseball again. Practice begins tomorrow night. They will most likely be on different teams this year. Treyton has the opportunity to move up a level if he wants to tryout. I'm all for it!! I know it sounds crazy but I strongly believe that each of my children deserves to shine and not have to compete with each other to be better than the other. It will mean more running for me but I feel it would be selfish of me not to give Treyton the chance to advance just because it would be easier on me. Many people have told me "but Treyton shines in OM...". Come on!!! Is he only allowed to be good at 1 thing?! I have NEVER held my kids back from trying new things! That's how they learn and grow as individuals! Life is full of opportunities. It's our jobs as parents to teach our children how to find them.

That's a little bit of what we've been up to since my last post. More to come after the Christening, birthdays and OM competition! :)

Calling all you thrifty moms (and dads) out there...

I'm on a mission to "trim the fat" in our budget here at home. I thought I was doing extremely well until I looked back at some old magazines (2005... I know...why are they still laying around?! right? Ha!!) that I had and I came across a "getting out of debt" article. I've read tons of these as I'm sure you all have. Some advice makes sense and some may not for your family. It really got me thinking of when I first got married. We got married young...I was pregnant and in college...Shad and I were both living with our parents and after the wedding moved into a mobile home...Shad did have his college degree and had moved back home about a year before we got together to take a full time job. We were starting a family on less than $20,000 a year!! Ouch!! How did we survive?? Yes, that was 14 years ago and times were different but OMG!! I have to admit I was spoiled and back then if there was no money in the checking account I broke out the credit card... if that didn't go through I applied for another one. Very foolish, I know. Now... I am a nag about where ever penny is going!! It killed me to eat at Red Lobster this past weekend. I finally gave in after being hounded to death by everyone and after we paid the bill and were in the car headed home everyone agreed with me that our "Seafood Feast" at camp is WAAAY better. More food for more people and less money!!! Although it did bring back a funny memory for Shad and I... Austin must have been about 10 months or so (he'll be 13 next month) when Shad and I went out to dinner at Red Lobster and we were enjoying the evening with our son. Austin has had seafood since he could eat solid food!! Talk about spoiled!! :) He was just gobbling up the lobster and crab legs... well so we though... Ha!! On the way home we found out that he was storing it all in the roof of his mouth! Everytime I turned around to check on him he was chewing on something... he was teething so I didn't really think much of it until I saw him moving something white around in there... the roof of his mouth was jam packed... he was laughing so hard when I found his "stash"! Remember I said we were POOR... same dinner, our credit card was declined!! Ever have that happen?! It's quite embarrassing!! Especially when that was your only means of paying for your dinner!! Shad and I sat and stared at each other for about 10 minutes. I remember thinking "Oh shit... what are we going to do?! I'm not going to do dishes!!" Let me tell you a little bit about myself back then... I did not do anybody elses dishes but my own and it was easier to buy new then it was to do laundry. I remember looking around for the closest exit trying to figure out how to get out of there. We had about $20 still in the checking account so we could swipe the debit card for part of it but that still left about $30 to come up with. It was a good thing that I didn't clean out all of my spare change in the car and my purse because we took turns going out to the car trying to scrounge up enough money to pay our bill. After about an extra 20 minutes of drinking water and eating the free biscuits we had enough to pay our bill... we left it on the table and got out of there as fast as we could... $10 cash that Shad had in his wallet and the rest in change... needless to say the waitress didn't get a tip!! We were lucky to have enough to cover the bill. We were laughing so hard that Shad had to pull over!! Ha!! We laugh just as hard to this day whenever we pass a Red Lobster!! I hope my little story helps to bring back a memory that tickles your funny bone!!

OK... so back to my point of today's post. We are a one income family like many of you are and the question gets asked almost everyday by someone out there... "How do you do it?" Well, How do I do what? It's almost always about affording Pala's adoption but this time it wasn't... this time there was no awkwardness in the question. A genuine question about raising 4 kids... the stress, the groceries, all of it. This inspired me to reach out to all of you and ask you to share ways that you save or have saved in the past to get out debt, save for retirement or just to cut back. How do you cope with the stress of the kids and hubby? I haven't posted very often because I don't feel like I have anything to write about but you know what... LIFE is worth sharing. This is a very challenging time for many and I think that by sharing our tips and struggles can help each other. My challenge for all of you reading this is to occasionally throw out there a "thrifty thought" or "tummy tickler". Who knows, it might be the encouragement someone needs to get through the next day.

Thrifty Thought for today...

What is the most inexpensive dinner you have ever made for your family? Give the approximate cost of the entire meal, how many it fed (were there leftovers?) and please share the recipe if it requires one. Title your post "Thrifty Thought Recipe"

Challenge others to get on board!! Happy blogging!!