Day 3-Prasun

November 3, 2008.
This day is a great anniversary in our house.

"Today was the day. I'm gonna keep it short today and try to update tomorrow. It's a fluke that I have an internet connection.
Prasun is too sweet and too cute.
He is very confused and shell shocked by all the changes right now. I've gotten him to sleep right now for the night. I'll write more later. I can barely stay awake."

Taken from Prasun's Home. Written after we got to the hotel from the orphanage.
November 3, 2008 was the 2nd time I held Prasun. This time forever. No takesy backsy. Mine, mine, all mine.
It was the journey to learning all about my boy. I know him so well now. I know when he's stubborn, mad, tired, full. Everyone knows when he is happy. Prasun shares that. He is a ray of sunshine.
I can't imagine our life without this boy. I wouldn't want it. I'm so glad we took the plunge. Even when most people thought we were crazy. We almost decided to adopt before we got our suitcase unpacked. (Truthfully, I decided before I even packed them. I knew.)
The process was long. It was expensive. We really didn't have a back up. We just got home from India. I was emotionally worn out from waiting so long.
I would do it again in an instant just to have this little boy. He's awesome.
You never know what kind of blessings you could be missing. Between 1.4 and 1.65 MILLION orphans are waiting for a mom and dad.
Are you going to step up?

Day 2- Our First Glimpse

Nothing will ever beat the day that I met kids.
The day Anthony was born. Awesome!
The day I held Ananya. Relief!
The same day I got to hold Prasun. A gift!
(In case you're new to our story, we met Prasun when we picked up Ananya. Came home and immediately started collecting paperwork again.)
These 2 have been together for so long. The shared a crib in India. I don't even know how long. These 2 are inseparable now.
The road was long. The road was hard. This is the road we find again and again. I can't save them all. I'll save the ones God blesses me with.
I'll praise Him every day for these blessings.

30 Days for Adoption

I took this video from HIS HANDS HIS FEET TODAY because this family is adorable. You can see their heart to be His hands and feet. One of favorite blogs.
I'm going to try to post everyday in November. I'm going to try to give everyone 30 reasons to consider adoption.
I'll share my heart. I'll share our life. I might even share some websites with photo listings.
Adoption is near and dear to my family's heart. We didn't adopt as a second choice. This has been our first choice to have children. Orphans are kids. No child EVER deserves to be thought of as a second choice.
Would you like to be your spouse's second choice (like on the Bachelor)?
My kids are absolutely fabulous. God had a great plan when He chose us to be their parents. I'm thankful for this blessing 365 days a year.
So could you let God change your life with 1 of the 1.4 million orphans?
Trust me. Its big.

Life

So long since I've updated. Just really didn't want to because I just want Varsha home. Working toward that goal is wearing me out. Emotionally, I'm ready for a break. I know my break is coming.
We are 2 months into our school year.
Anthony is in the 8th grade this year. I just don't know where the time is going. We are working on lots of accountability. Getting work done without being told 15 times. Doing work completely and well. He is doing alittle better.
We are reading some classic literature. 1 book per month. Study guides to review the books. Writing summaries of history reading.
Anthony is turning into a chicken farmer. We have 15 chickens and 2 ducks. Anthony takes great care of them on his own. We have lots of eggs obviously.
I've got lots of field trips planned. I have some things I want Anthony to work through.
-Babysitting class through the Red Cross
-Extreme environment class through Red Cross
-Online Hunting and Gun safety class
-Small patch of garden for him to tend
-continue with band playing trombone
-beginning money management concepts including having a checking account and using a debit card (lot of supervision)
Some things that are not necessarily for this year:
-Dave Ramsey teen class
-One year Adventure Novel
-finding ways earn income
Ananya and Prasun are maturing. I can't believe it. I looked at Ananya about 6 months ago and realized the baby was gone. She was my daughter, a little girl. I also realized I had to change how we treated her. It was giving her dignity to be carried around all the time. We bought new strollers. We got high chairs so they can sit at the table like little kids and not babies. I've started considering our school options. I have to figure out the best way to teach both of them. It is alittle complicated. I have to consider each of their strengths. I have to figure out which skills to push them to accomplish and which skills aren't as important. I have to figure out how to teach Ananya to read without hearing her do it.
I've tried Time 4 Learning. It seems to work well. We'll probably go with it for now.
I'm hoping to have a good schedule when I'm done fundraising (working extra). I'm hoping for
-3 days of "school" on the computer for each child
-2 days of therapy for each child
-daily read aloud together
-Bible verse and catechism memorization
-Reading lessons at a child lead pace
I definitely have some things to work on personally. I need to be more consistent in my routines. Some changes to make me healthier. Some changes to keep me focused.
-Become consistent in eating healthier choices.
-Include regular exercise
-Spend time each day reading the Bible
-Plan some fun things that I want to do and/or learn (canning jelly, baking projects, sewing projects).
-Consistent with my personal chores (household cleaning schedule) and ensuring that the kids are keeping up with their responsibilities.
My biggest problem area lately is something I need to work on NOW.
As Mom, I set the mood for our house. If I'm joyful, then the others will follow. If I'm nasty and grouchy then they follow that. If I'm spending my time doing what I want without doing what I have to do, then the kids will follow that example.
As of today, I'm chosing JOY. I'm going to thank God for what we are walking through. He is doing great thinks in our house. I know that our family is being an example to others without saying a word. Our actions are speaking louder than our words. I have to make sure my actions are telling the story I want others to hear.
We will just continue to wait to hear from India. I'll try to keep Varsha's blog updated with adoption updates.
I hope you all have a great fall. I'll try to come up with some things to say that will inspire my friends.

Update

It's been awhile since I've updated anyone about anything.
What can I say, life has been very busy for me.
We finally have our paperwork on its way to India (or already there). We finish immigration paperwork here. I'm emailing for Article 5 tonight. Hoping to see some movement soon. Craving my baby.
We are focusing on fundraising here. It is SLOW going. Hoping to get some donations and find some great fundraising events.
The kids are doing great. Ananya is learning to read. It's slow going because I'm using phonics and that isn't the easiest way to teach a child with severe speech problems. I'm doing it purposefully because she is making so many new sounds too. That is great. She seems to understand it so that's very good.
Prasun is walking and getting stronger. We aren't seeing the huge gains we had been seeing but slow and steady is good too.
Both kids got their new Special Tomato strollers (I Love Them!). They are alot more comfortable in them. Hoping to get new high chairs/booster seats for them at some point.
We've been so busy making changes in how we do things around here. We are finding some things that work and some that don't. We are changing some things for just a short period of time and some for long term. Of course all families do this. Change is necessary. Its hard when its not necessarily the change that you want to see, but the one that has to be made.
Well I'm going to get off the computer now. Going to a great 4th of July party with some amazing families. Hoping to see more of them in the future. Hopefully I'll also have some more pictures to share.