Introducing...

Charu Faith Paulzine

We are so in love with this little girl and we can't wait for her to meet her big sister!!!

India is amazing and we have been soaking up every second of India, getting to know Charu, and falling in love with this amazing place that Charu has lived at for the past 2 years of her life!  I'll post more soon, I promise.  Tomorrow we have a going away ceremony in the morning and then we fly from Cochin to Delhi.  It's going to be a long day and Charu is going to be going through a lot.  She's doing really well so far, but I'm sure there are going to be some tough days ahead!  Please pray for her little heart to heal.  

Amsterdam

We made it to Amsterdam and are waiting for our 5 hour layover before boarding our 9 hour flight to Mumbai, India.  From there, we will have a 6 hour layover before boarding our last (1 1/2 hour) flight to Cochin, India before going to meet our little peanut!  We are getting excited, but are very exhausted already!!!  We'll post more when we can!

Looking back...

Dear Allie,

You are so loved!  We have cherished every moment we've been able to spend with you and thank God every day that you were brought into our lives.  Leaving you on Friday is going to be one of the hardest things we'll ever have to do, but we know that you are going to be in good hands!  We also know that having a sister is such a special blessing (I should know I have two great sisters and daddy has one).  You are going to make an awesome big sister!  

As I look back at all of your pictures, it makes me a little teary.  When you were placed in our arms, we prayed to God that you would be ours forever.  God granted that prayer and we couldn't have asked for a more amazing little girl.  I know that C is going to bless our lives as much as you do each day and that God has a special plan for each one of you!  We love you so much!!!

Love always and forever,

Mom

Pictures

It's no secret, I LOVE to take pictures and (like most families) I am the person who takes 99% of our pictures in this family.  On the day that Allie was born, we were in the waiting room from about 9:00 am or so until she was born at 10:12 pm.  That afternoon, we were informed that they would call us back by T's room when the baby was born.  They would then bring him/her out to me and I could carry him/her to the nursery.  All day we watched dad's lovingly carry their baby's to the nursery with the nurse right next to him.  They nurse always looked happy, but it was the look on the dad's face that was priceless!

When we were finally called back to T's room, I quick handed the camera (just a small point and shoot at the time) to Cory and he took one picture.  Even though the picture blurry and isn't perfect, it is to us!  This picture shows the emotions we were feeling, how fast everything happened, and it's just us.

Cory wasn't able to come into the nursery because there were only three hospital bracelets given for each baby.  One had to go on Allie, one on T, and then I wore the other one.  After Allie was all cleaned up, the night nurses snuck us into the circumcision room.  It was there that Cory was able to hold his little girl for the first time.

Still waiting to hold his daughter for the first time!

As I look at these pictures, I have to wonder what it's going to feel like a week from now when we are half the way around the world meeting our second daughter for the first time.  I can't fathom the emotions that we are all going to feel and can't wait to share the pictures from that moment!!!

11 things we are thankful for on 11/11/11

1. Our two beautiful daughters...we are beyond blessed! There were many times that we came to forks in the road through our journey to them, tough choices had to be made, and we thank God for the choices we made because they brought us Allie and our newest little peanut lovingly referred to as "C".

2. We are thankful that after seven years (on the 27th) of marriage...we still make each other laugh and we honestly are each others best friend.

3. Great friends! We truly have some of the sweetest, most caring and sincere friends in the world!

4. Amazing family! We almost never leave Allie and my parents are going to watch her when we are gone. It is going to be hard being away from her, but grandma and grandpa adore her and I know they will all have fun!

5. A wonderful community- A local sewing group heard about C and us going to India and they volunteered to sew items for C's orphanage. They sewed 75 cloth diapers, 14 aprons for the staff, and even decided to donate $100 to SKB! How amazing is that?

6. SUPPORT- I have "met" truly amazing people through our blog who either have adopted or are in the process of adopting. They have become our support system through our wait and will continue to support us after C gets home. It's hard to put into words the love I have for these special people. We will continue to pray for each and every one of these families and we can't wait for the day that V, R, Lauren, Nandu, and all of the other precious children come home.

7. Caffeine...enough said!  I feel like that little kid on the Disney commercial that says, "I'm too excited to sleep"!

8.  Have I mentioned how great my husband has been?  Through all of the infertility and adoption processes...there have been times that I could probably have been considered a little nuts (he might say a lot nuts) and through it all...he's been there as a shoulder to cry on and a strong arm to lean on.  I just love him!

9.  We are thankful that this Christmas, we will finally be a family of four!  We prayed C would be home by Christmas, but we never thought it would happen.  God is great!

10.  We are thankful that C's orphanage is such an amazing place.  You can tell by the pictures and from stories from other people that they truly love each and every kid.  They even make a beautiful birthday cake for each child on their birthday!!!

11.  Most of all, we are thankful for all of the moments that we will experience over the upcoming years...the birthdays...the first days of school...the popcorn and movie nights...the tears and the laughs...each and every moment will truly be cherished beyond words!

One week from today

We will be driving to the Cities!!  I'm so nervous, yet also very excited!  Have I mentioned that I have two HUGE fears in my life...one is snakes and the other is flying!  Maybe flying to India will help overcome my fear of flying?  One can only hope!!

Have a great day everyone...the count down is on!  I only have 3 days left with my 19 little firsties...Tuesday is my last day teaching for the year!  CRAZY isn't it?!

Tickets are booked!

We've waited almost three years to type those words!

It's such an unbelievable journey that started out in a country we fell in love with and will always hold a special place in our hearts.  After all of the changes in the Ethiopian program our hearts began to change and we began to wonder if Ethiopia was right for our family.  We began to pray for God to give us a sign.  One morning, on my way to school, I began to plead with Him.  I asked for some sort of sign that we should stay with our current path to our second child, or to leave the Ethiopian program and add to our family in a different way.  At that very moment, this song came on the radio.  I knew that God was speaking to me and I felt peace.  When I arrived at school, I logged into my computer and onto the CHSFS waiting children's list (like I did every Monday).  It was then that I saw our daughter's face and I knew at that moment she was supposed to be our daughter.  Something about this little peanut spoke to me.  I knew that He leading us to our daughter who was waiting for us in a country that we didn't know too much about.  God truly is amazing and he has a way of reaching out to us when he knows that we need him.

Fast forward eight months and many wakeful nights and I can say that we are finally going to meet our little girl!  We've stared at her picture for so long that I feel as though I already know her and we can honestly say that we love her so much already!  I can't wait to meet her and for her to get to know us.

We will be flying out of the Minneapolis airport on Friday, November 19th and should arrive in Cochin, India on Sunday, November 20th at 7:45 am.  By that afternoon, we should arrive at C's orphanage!  We will spend a few days at the orphanage and then fly to Delhi on November 23rd.  We will stay in Delhi to complete the Visa process and will be leaving Delhi at 1:30 am on November 30.  Our plane is scheduled to arrive back in Minneapolis in the early afternoon on November 30th!

Although we know that our journey as a family of four is just beginning, we also know that God will be there to help us through the tough times we will go through and that with His help we will become a strong and loving family of four that we've waited so long to become!