Just found out today that Kahlia only weighs 16 1/2 pounds. Makenna was 17 lbs at 12 months and they were worried about her! According to her weight, she would only be wearing 9 month clothing, but I don't know how tall she is. I'm bringing mostly 12 month clothes - they are summer things so I think we will be fine (shorts and summer dresses are easier to "fudge" sizes then pants and long sleeves are!).

I'm feeling really good about being ready to go. Well - except the house organization part (sorry mom - I'll do my best!). It's hard keeping up with swim team for 2 kids, baseball for 2 kids, school, and getting ready for an international trip to bring back another member of our family!!! Lots to juggle, but feeling the Lord's peace. I want this whole experience to bring glory to God!

Tonight was supposed to be David's first Tball game. He was SO cute in his new little uniform. Had him all ready to go then found out last minute the game got cancelled due to rain/muddy fields. He was SO disappointed. We took a picture anyway. So cute!!! :-)

Makenna got a much needed new bike for her birthday yesterday - she was so excited! It was her third day of celebrating her birthday this week - gotta love that! Brendon, on Wednesday, was given the Citizen of the Month Award - he was SO proud of himself- believe me - that is quite the accomplishment. He worked VERY hard to get that - not easy for a squirrely, can't sit still or keep his mouth shut kind of a kid! :-) We were SO SO proud of him! :-)

What a weekend! Makenna's birthday party was Saturday - it was lots of fun, even though several kids who said they would be there didn't show up. We quickly learned on Sunday the reason why. I had written Sunday on at least half the invitations...so, with a little quick thinking - Makenna literally had 2 identical birthday parties - only with different kids each day!!! I don't know how that happened, I felt SO stupid, it's a sure sign that we have A LOT to think about right now!!! It turned out ok, Makenna was happy, and it makes for a great story in years to come... :-) My brain is going in 100 different directions with questions, reminders, things I need to buy, things I need to ask, things I need to do - AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I'm not going completely crazy though. I feel like everything is coming together - I know we have A LOT of people praying for us and I KNOW God is watching out for us. I am SO VERY excited - but even more excited to get back. The whole trip and the unknowns makes me feel a little anxious.

Didn't hear from OHSU today, so I will give them a call tomorrow. It's late and I want to get some good sleep tonight. Good night! :-)

GREAT NEWS TODAY! We found out that Kahlia has been approved on our insurance plan, and they will be sending us her card and ID number next week - we should get that before we leave on our trip. Also, I called OHSU today, and they are hoping to be able to get her in at 2:00 for an echocardiogram and meet with a doctor at 3:00 on the friday we return - May 14th. We will find out on Monday if that will work - hope so!!! I am SO relieved knowing that the insurance aspect is all taken care of. Now, I need to have my brain change gears a bit - Scott's dad flew in last night for a 5 day visit, and Makenna's birthday party is afternoon - should be lots of fun for her! :-) I love my kids, love my family, feel SO VERY BLESSED right now!!! :-)

Scott and I just booked our flights tonight...we leave early morning on Thursday, May 6, and arrive back in Portland midday on Friday, May 14. :-) Quick trip, almost 24 hours travel each direction plus our in country flight to her city of Pune. We get to see her the day after Mother's Day - Monday, May 10. Glad to get this taken care of, only we were HIGHLY disappointed - didn't get to use our air miles to get free tickets - instead our credit card is going to take a $3,500 hit - ouch with lots of bruises!!!!! :-(

So the court documents were insufficient for our medical insurance company - hopefully with us sending our NOC clearance docs it will clear it up - since that's all the paperwork we will get from the Indian gov't. They said the papers didn't clearly state that we were her legal guardians. We better get this taken care of QUICK - I don't want to hassle with insurance uppity ups - just want to have something easy for a change. Is that too much to ask?

YEA!!! Wednesday, April 21 - we passed our final hurdle. We got verbal confirmation that we passed ICPC, and we are FREE TO MAKE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS!!! :-) It is all so very exciting, but honestly, there are mixed emotions going on in our household right now. Brendon is having a really tough time with all this change happening at the same time. He's not used to Scott being gone so much with his campaign duties, he no longer has his own room as of Sunday night, and now his biggest fear is that we will no longer have ANY time to spend with him. He just wants everything to go back to the way it was. Real, valid feelings the poor guy. He actually cried in my arms today. :-( We had a good heart to heart, and I promised that when he needs some "talk" time, that I will make sure to give him the individual time that he needs - and that's a promise I intend to keep! His love language is "time" - as is mine - so I understand completely how he feels. After our really nice heart to heart talk - I asked him if he felt better about everything, and he said - yes - 75% better! I feel pretty good about that.
Hopefully tomorrow we will find out the actualy day we will be flying out, and then we see if we can actually get those tickets free! :-) In just over 2 weeks, she will be in our arms. SO MUCH TO DO BEFORE WE GO! Scott's dad flies in tomorrow from Arizona for 5 days, Makenna's birthday party is on Saturday, a few more documents to get notarized...oh my!
I had my first dream last night about going to her orphanage and seeing her for the first time. It was a really good dream, we'll see how the "real experience" goes! Ready, set, here we go for a wild ride! :-)
Good night all - I'm sleepy, but will close out my day with a happy heart. Thank you Lord!

It's been a stressful couple of days. Our court papers were FedExed to the Texas ICPC office on Tuesday, April 13. It could take as little as 7 days and as much as 3 weeks for final approval within the two states. After ICPC approval, I was told that we will travel VERY soon because of Kahlia health condition. It's hard not knowing how many weeks we have - I like to be able to "plan" and the unknown is killing us!! It's also REALLY hard for Scott and his campaign not knowing when we will travel. I'm getting nervous about all the unknowns that will be coming our way over the next couple of weeks.

Called our insurance company today to ask about what we need to do to make sure Kahlia is going to be covered as soon as she gets here. They said that we need to submit official court documents from India when she is officially ours (we didn't even have them ourselves) within 31 days of the court date. We are at 26 days already now!!! Wow - I am SO glad I called when I did! We need to not mess this up since we are going to have THOUSANDS of dollars of medical bills this year for her!!

Please pray that we will be able to use our airline miles to get free tickets there even though we will have very little notice. Scott doesn't think we will, but I am holding out hope that we will!

Today Scott walked door to door for over 4 hours in Reedsport, had a tea party gathering at noon that he spoke at (David and I were there too), and tonight he is at another tea party gathering in Coos Bay. Busy, Busy day! Scott needs lots of extra prayer for strength, stamina, and faith that GOD IS IN CONTROL!

Looking forward to our future, as unsure as it is... :-)
-Michelle

We got new pictures today of our little Kahlia. Her hair sticks straight up because nobody ever brushes her hair, but Brendon told Scott he likes her hair because it sticks up - somehow that doesn't surprise me!! We got to see her two front teeth today for the first time today. All other pictures that we have received her mouth has been closed. We still didn't get a smile, but hopefully we'll see one in person real soon! :-)

We got word today that they sent off our court documents to the ICPC (Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children) office in TX. Once approved there, then they send it on to the ICPC office in Oregon. Once they approve the documents here, they contact the TX office by phone or fax who then contacts our agency (IFS) and they let us know!! They say the process usually takes 7-15 days could be a little more. With our luck - it will be more, but we will see...