Quick Note...

Wow, we have been home eleven days! Time flies! Things have been going GREAT! Srecko is doing so well, other then the new language he is learning it feels like he has been here for a very long time, if not forever. He is learning the alphabet and has the song almost perfectly! He is learning colors, numbers, counting to five so far and writing his letters...he LOVES to see his successes!! As do all children...his eyes light up like a bright shining star!

The boys love having a room together, they play really well and they are both ALL boys! :) Kristina plays with Srecko more in an organized way...she is a girl after all! So Srecko is enjoyed by both siblings. Other then white milk, he seems to enjoy mommy's cooking. Jovan doesn't like white milk either...oh Srecko doesn't like sliced cheese. We learned that while we were in his country.

Let's see, we went to church on Sunday and the kids sat with us. We let the kids color and read books during the sermon...Srecko sat with his eyes glued to our pastor like he was soaking everything in!! Or maybe he was letting the Holy Spirit wash over him. Pastor was talking about peace. Until you know God, will you have peace with God!

Being a mom is such a wonderful person to be!!!!! I love it, and you all can NOT believe how thankful to God I am that he has blessed me by making me a mom! Hearing my kids giggle, and even struggle together is music to my ears. Things that they say, sometimes what they do, watching them succeed, just everything about them I love!! Don't get me wrong, my kids are not perfect...after all they are just kids and are learning everyday!

We have plans to go visit parks, go camping, go to the zoo, and the splash park! ALL of my kids LOVE water so playing in water has top priority in their eyes!!! Today we are planning on surprising my mom for her birthday. She is camping and the kids would love to see her! So for supper we are headed to visit her. Now, I think we are going to do some outside chores and planting. Kristina and I will be picking rocks from a pile we dug at while my parents were having some work done on their house. Hot and heavy work...then some splashing in water. Don't worry, it is NOT forced labor...she works hard so willingly! She hauls brush, digs rocks, shovels dirt and snow, sweeps, and does household chores. I hope that I can help her continue that willing spirit for the rest of her life...what an awesome servant to God she would be! Jovan does all of those things...but he needs some encouragement! :) But that's okay we are learning that everyone was made differently and they don't all like the same things. :)

I feel like I am just rambling...so much in my head, it's just tumbling out! :) Enjoy your day!

Home Sweet Home...

We are home! Arrived after some glitches! Home is great and Srecko is fitting in and going with the flow! After a few of us getting up in the night for the storm...this family is NAPPING after lunch today! Catch up later! Thank you God for allowing us to get home safely!

News...

Boy, I have been SO very bad at blogging during this journey!!! I really blog in my head but I get too tired or busy to blog! Basically days 3-whatever number we are on have pretty much been the same.

Let's see...Highlights have been Srecko speaking some words in English, meeting some wonderful people that have meant something to our children, playing with other children in Srecko's group to make memories for him, falling down

hard on one knee and watched it swell before our

eyes!, having the best time with my hubby walking and looking at sights, and the biggest highlight is this...

Yep, he's ours!! Isn't he a cutie? This was taken the last day we visited him before the adoption ceremony! We are happy! God has moved many mountains to get us to this point right now! I promise that I will post, I have many pictures with stories! :) Praise God with us and the many obstacles that he has worked through for us!

Day 2/3...

Let' see day two we were very tired...it takes a lot out of you to land and the very next day start your adoption process. It would be good just to have an extra day to breathe. Anyway, thought someone might want to know. So we got up and got ready to go to the orphanage. We see him twice a day. Morning and later in the afternoon. It is nice to have a little time in between for resting or sight-seeing. Day 2 we rested, I was not really feeling the best...just plain icky. I took a nap the whole time between visits. Felt better and then not so good. Went to play with Srecko in the morning just fine. Kind of the same thing, bubbles, coloring and saying things in English. Afternoon visit was okay, but tough for me. Felt ill like feeling like I was getting the flu. We ended up not staying the whole time, the social worker told me to go and rest.

Well, we went home all right and boy was I feeling ill!! Like the loose my tummy kind, and sure enough that's what happened on my way up the stairs to our apt! Lost my lunch! After that I just went down hill and had a high fever that wouldn't go away!! After staying in bed for the day and my mom telling me to look for the good in what was happening I started to improve by evening! Thank you God!

And I was so blessed to be able to be healed as we were going to Srecko's school for the last day ceremony! Oh my, it was the best and of course it brought tears to my eyes! All three kids had a school something this year! K and J had plays they did and Srecko had his ceremony of sorts. We met his teacher that loved him so much!! And met other people as well, it was great!

In the afternoon with Srecko's visit we had a wonderful time outside...he has such an infectious giggle!! You can't but help laugh along with him! We walked home, we were on cloud nine!! Then we went to McDonald's for dinner! And for a walk after that! :) Bedtime was late to be able to talk to our kids about their last day of school. Then to bed...

Surprised?...

So many people have told me they were surprised that we are here with our son. Well, there was reason for that. Here in Serbia there was a mess (to say the least) that needed to be fixed before adoption rules/laws could be followed correctly!!! We have adopted from Serbia twice before using the help of a woman, and have now learned and understand what happened with her dishonest and criminal heart. We loved her and thought her to be a friend, someone who I thought really cared about us and our children. How do I really know... maybe she just wanted money. I won't go into that right now... Let's just say, we once were very supportive of her...not anymore. And this is a decision we made on our own, and let me tell you it was a tough one to make!

Now, I am surprised myself that I was able to keep quiet about us returning! But we really didn't for sure know we were coming until ONE week before we got here. Up until the week before we were waiting to hear if we would even be allowed to adopt him! So, when we got the email with the date to come I was in shock!! I had almost lost hope...mourning a loss!!!! It is a hard feeling to describe! After those thoughts ran through my mind, then the email came!! Then we shifted into high gear!! I had made many lists and had him partially packed from so long ago, so that wasn't such a big deal. A list can help in many ways...until you loose it! :) But we didn't do to bad at packing. A few things we (I) forgot to pack...no biggie!

Two days before we were to leave I started to not feel well! Some what like flu like but not quite, but I sure felt AWFUL! The day before we left I really doubted we would be able to make it. I begged for God to help me get over my sickness...so I would pack a little, lay down for a bit, pack a little and so on. Thank goodness the kids were in school! My house was not quite in the way I wanted it...but oh well, my family can handle everything!

The flight into Chicago was almost every negative adjective you can think of!! Scary, bumpy, fearful, and so on. Hope you understand! We were supposed to have an hour layover. No biggie can handle getting to the gate. Well, after we almost slide off the runway with us literally getting a hard turn to the right...like swerving to hit a pot hole in the road. We arrived at the terminal with NO NO NO chance of catching our flight!!! Oh, how I begged God to help us...I thought our world was turning upside down! Our God is so good, so strong and so mighty! Ya wanna know what happened? Do ya? Well, our gate to catch our flight to Germany was THREE gates away!! We could see the number even ahead of us! Praise and thank you God!

Okay, so we were some of the last people on the plane! On a VERY crowded plane! And get this...we were not even sitting together for almost an eight hour flight! I died, but thanks to God there was one whole empty seat on the plane and you want to know where it was? Got a clue? Yep, right next to me!! And we sat next to a lovely couple who were expecting their second child from Bosnia. And she spoke English! So every couple of hours either she or I would count down the hours until we got to Germany! It was a good flight.

We got into Serbia and to our apartment that we rented close to the orphanage to be able to walk most places we wanted to go. Yay! Each time we have come we have stayed in different apartments. This one is the smallest and most sparse. But as they say, location location location! :) It will be a little snug with our new son...but cozy is in right?

Now I will crowd together our flight into Serbia and our first day. We went to our MO meeting at promptly 10:00am. It was a great meeting! Comfortable and felt very honest and we were able to ask any question. This was not like before, we were told to not ask questions and not say anything. Well, we had a couple of questions and we were also able to tell a little bit about our already adopted children and what we thought our family would be like. They were all very happy for us and were genuinely interested in us and asked many questions about the children after the meeting! It was wonderful! Then....we got to go to the orphanage!!! They told us he told them to hurry up the meeting and bring his mama and tata to him! How sweet!

So, here he is!!! A little distracted to look at the camera though!!! Who could blame him waiting so long for his mama and tata!!! So many people to see him! We had to put on those lovely coverings! :) And we played with bubbles, cars, balls, and even looked at letter books. We stayed with him for a little over three hours that day. What fun!

We walked home and we were pinching ourselves that we were here again!! After changing clothes we decided to take a walk and get a few groceries. After all of that I got one MAJOR blister that I am still trying to heal at this point! :) Then tata made grilled cheese sandwiches and we called home and saw the children. Jovan told me not to let anyone take me! I about died...my poor son is so afraid I will not come back that even one week and one day later he is still telling me to come home in two minutes! Can't wait to tell him we are coming home!

Then we crashed and woke up to day TWO.