Progress!

Today's progress was, well, progressive! My little sister (she's 23!) came over to the house this morning to help clean and organize. Chad stuck to the outside and we tackled the inside.

Inside news- The good news is that the house looks very good on the inside. Unfortunately, often times in a deep clean or an organizational situation, the more you clean the more junk you unveil. We have a huge stack of "garage sale" items in the middle of our kitchen. We got rid of four trash bags of, well, trash! It's unbelievable how much junk two people can accumulate. Example: Things in our kitchen that we have, yet never use- Quesadilla Maker, Waffle Maker, rice steamer, and not one but TWO fondue pots! You get the idea. Tomorrow after church I may tackle the clothing "situation" as in only 70% of our clothes actually fit in our closet and drawers! We'll see how that goes.

Outside news- Chad borrowed a pressure washer for the weekend so come rain or storm he was going to pressure wash, darn it! Unfortunately for him, it did rain AND storm. All day long. A slow cold drizzle nonetheless. He took a two hour "break" to go to the church to set up the gym for the Contemporary service in the morning, but other than that he spent all day out in the cold rain pressure washing the house, the sidewalk, the patio slab, and the x-spider colony that was the playground. I took a picture of him at work, here it is.....What a trooper! You can really see the difference in this picture-there is a line where the window starts of before and after!

One more MAJOR accomplishment today- I FINISHED THE ADOPTION BOOK!!! YIPPPPEEEE!!!! I was so looking forward to the day I could write those words. I took the test a few minutes ago and I failed.

JUST KIDDING! I got a 100% Wow! I have never been known for my test taking skills- the test was 78 questions long and I didn't know the answer to the first question! But that was the only one I struggled with, the rest was relatively easy. That first question sent me into a "uh oh" moment, but I recovered nicely and passed with flying colors! Thank goodness- We have concluded the "educational" aspect of the adoption. We have both taken our online 8 hour course and passed and now the book (the other 2 hours) is done too! Now we can shift our focus to paperwork. Yeah.

Quick Update!

We received this e-mail last night and I got it first thing this morning- I wanted to pass this along because I know so many of you have been praying- Also check out how our "bring the baby home fund" has grown! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! We are almost half way there! Now the note from Anya- I cut out the good parts! What a blessed Friday, oh happy day! PRAISE GOD!

"We have a positive report to follow up on the information we passed along to our parents on February 20. The head of our Moscow office has received confirmation that the State Duma has not taken any action on a possible adoption moratorium, nor is considering such a moratorium at this time. The motion made last week by one State Duma deputy has not even come up for discussion by a parliamentary committee at this point. So there has been no further action on the matter, and for now we believe this motion will not go forward legislatively."

"On a positive note, we would like to let you know that we do currently have families traveling to their regions to meet referred children, and families getting court dates and bringing children home, as recently as this week. We say this to encourage our families and point out that despite all of the above, adoptions have not stopped in Russia."

Tomorrow is clean house day- if I can "un-bury" myself- I'll write you tomorrow! Thank you again for your support and your prayers-

What's in a name?

I know it's early......but when I start daydreaming (at work, watching t.v., even at church.....I know that's bad, right? But at least I'm being honest.....my mind drifts to the baby and all things baby- the disaster area that is my home with a home study quickly approaching, the paperwork "what exactly does aposelate mean?" and a NAME! People often ask me "so what are you thinking for a name?" I throw a few out there- we really haven't settled on anything, but I mention a few and people often turn up their noses and say "Oh....well that's o.k." or "that's not bad....." I'm not blaming them for that reaction- I'm not 100% in love with any name yet, I've never had a "list" of names like some of my girlfriends have and when they've started having kids they just go down the list and there we go!

I think dealing with teenagers on a daily basis too you have a lot of preconceived ideas about certain names, and you don't want to pick a name that may be ammunition for any picking, teasing, or bad rhyming possibilities. For a girl you need to think of the monogram! Ashley Savannah Deetz sounds just fine but what if she marries a boy with a last name Smith? You must be careful with the vowel! And you don't want a "Samuel Aaron Deetz, S.A.D" or "Christian Owen Deetz, C.O.D" And all names that have too many vowels or beginning with the letter D is out! If you pick a "vowely name" (I totally made that word up) You have some serious letter rhyming (R-E-E-D D-E-E-T-Z) or a "double d" scenario. I love the name Darcy, as in Mr. Darcy and I think it's just plain cute- but Darcy Deetz, come on! So after a name meets that criteria- then you do the rhyming test and the "riding the bus pick on you" chanting test "Rose, Rose, picks her nose!" Take those off the list immediately!

Another reaction I've had with people my age after they disapprove of the names we like is "Well I'll tell you my favorite names but you CANNOT steal them if I tell you!" Part of me wants to plug my ears and say "then don't tell me!" what if I really love their names? I'm warning you- I'm a desperate woman-I will steal your name! But I've been tempted to listen to all the names and then say "We'll those are....o.k."

If you would like to make a name suggestion, I promise I will not make fun of you! But I think our name choice may be the only part of our journey that may remain a secret!

Today's accomplishments!

-Sarah completed her online 8 hour Hague adoption training! I have been working on it about an hour each day on my lunch break and tonight while waiting for Chad to get home from staff meeting at the church, pushed through module 5,6, &7. I really enjoyed the training. There were lots of videos to watch with International Adoption Doctors, families that had adopted from all over the World, and even an "older" adopted child from China that talked about adoption. Turns out she was most likely in her 20's as she said "my husband and I are considering adoption" She looked about 12 years old! Chad is close to finishing his online training too and should be done by the end of the week.....

-Chad installed a smoke detector in what will be the baby's room. The good news is he only got shocked once before he decided to turn off the breaker.

-Chad went to Lowe's and purchased a fire extinguisher needed for our home study. (Sarah bought those electrical plug thingies and drawer/cabinet locks a few days ago) I stood in awe and then panic as they sell "guards" for things I hadn't even thought of....."OMG the baby might crawl into the dryer/refrigerator/toilet/tub/sink/washer/oven/ trash can and/or dishwasher. I never even thought of that! They might bump their head on the coffee table/kitchen table/ end table/ wall corner and/or chairs! They may crawl out windows or get their fingers pinched in door jams! Luckily there is a WHOLE AISLE dedicated to "baby proof" your home! It may take us 45minutes to open the lid to the toilet, by then we'll have had an accident on the floor and it'll take us another 45 minutes to open the pantry door to get the mop out. But the mop bucket has a sealed lid so the baby doesn't fall in so we'll have to go outside to wet the mop with the hose to clean up the mess! Oh no we can't get the door open, those darn door locks..... Just kidding!

Beliye Nochi

During the summer months in St. Petersburg the city witnesses a phenomenon called "White Nights". The nature of the White Nights (Beliye Nochi) can be explained by the geographical location of St. Petersburg. It is the world's most northern city located at 59 degrees 57' North (roughly on the same latitude as Oslo, Norway, the southern tip of Greenland and Seward, Alaska). Due to such a high latitude the sun does not go under the horizon deep enough for the sky to get dark. The dusk meets the dawn and it is so bright in the summer that street lights are not needed.

I think it is appropriate in this part our our journey to talk about light and darkness. When it seems as if darkness (the unknown, doubt, questioning, fear) is swirling all around us, we look to the light. The light of hope, peace, and faith in God our father. It is the same light that has surrounded us on every part of our journey. We have been blessed beyond measure. God has lit our path and shown us his way, he continues to exceed our greatest expectations. Why would this be any different? When the darkness creeps in, we can dwell in fear and doubt or we can choose to dwell in God's magnificent light- we are choosing the light!

"You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light." -2 Samuel 22:29

Spreading Straw and other random thoughts!

This weekend was extremely busy in the Deetz household- filled with lots of activities with the Youth and church! I think I was home roughly 1 1/2 daytime hours on Saturday and Sunday combined. But here are some random thoughts as my mind is pulled in a million directions!

Random thought #1-
It has been brought to our attention that donating on the C.W.A. website has another step we were not aware of- You must fill in a "project" in section 2. The project that gives directly to families is called "family builders fund" Then below that you fill in our specific information including our address. If you have any questions about this form (b/c C.W.A. uses the same form for all donations, please call them at 1-828-693-7007 x 312.) From 8-4:30 Monday-Friday. We truly cannot say thank you enough for giving. So far we have raised about $4,500. But we still have a long way to go. Our next chunk will be the biggest lump sum- about $11,000 that will be due after we complete our home study (See random thought #2).

Random thought #2-
Our home study has been scheduled for March 14th! Yeah!!! One step closer. Please pray for me and Chad as we will be cleaning like we have never cleaned before in the next few weeks! People say they don't look in your cabinets or under your bed- but better safe than sorry....

Random thought #3-
I think the spiders are finally gone. There have been no more webs in a few days.

Random thought #4-
We are almost finished with the book (100 more pages!!) Pray that we pass the online test. Despite my chagrin I have read something that has "stuck" with me- It's a Russian Proverb, here it is "If you know where you are going to fall, you would spread some straw" or going back to my girl scout days "Be prepared". I have finally started looking at the abundance of material, diagnosis, conditions, diseases and disorders as knowledge that will prepare me for whatever comes our way, whether it is minor or major. I am drinking in the words and hiding them away to expect the best and be prepared for the worst. The same with the discouraging
e-mails. We are "staying the course" and expecting nothing but the best. It's in those times when God exceeds your expectations that you know you are truly blessed.

Prayer Request....

When I came home from BUNCO tonight with the ladies, We received this e-mail from our document coordinator, Micheal Arrowood. He assures the Russia families that there have been proposals from the government like these in the past and the agency will keep us up to date if this is anything we should worry about. I just wanted to pass this information along to you so that you can keep us and this situation in your prayers. Here is the meat of the e-mail. When we get e-mails like this (this has been the third one) they usually contain very little information......

"On February 19, 2009 a Russian State Duma deputy from the Communist Party faction, N. A. Ostanina, submitted a draft resolution to the Duma for its consideration under the title 'To V. V. Putin, Chairman of the Russian Federation Government, Regarding the Possibility of Temporarily Suspending Adoption of Children Who Are Citizens of the Russian Federation by Citizens of the United States of America and Non-Citizens Living in That Country'."

When we first choose Russia, the very next day we received an email about Russia's outrage due to a U.S. Federal Court decision involving a little boy that was adopted from Russia whose father left him in a hot car for 9 hours while he went to work. The little boy died from heat exhaustion and the murder charges were later dropped and the father was acquitted. Russian officials were outraged about the care of their children in the United States.

You can read the whole article here- www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/world/europe/04adopt.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/A/Adoptions

Does this mean that we are on a downward spiral that will ultimately end in Russia closing there doors to Americans? Or has it always been like this? Are these common occurrences?We have no idea! It's difficult for us to discern what is a small false alarm and what is an all out panic fest due to the small amount of information we are given. Everything to us seems like any day now, we are going to receive a call that says- Game Over, take your business elsewhere. Walking on egg shells are not fun! But we appreciate all of your prayers and your support as always. We are trusting God's plan for our lives and know that he is in control! Not just in our home, but in Russia too.....