Reeses Rainbow-Wish us Luck!

We are Super excited that we have a fundraising page on Reeses Rainbow. Our little sweetheart has been being advocated for by Reeses Rainbow for a long time. We found her on there. Now she has a family, and they are trying to help us raise the funds. Amazing, right??

http://reecesrainbow.org/72940/sponsorparker-3

Encouraging news!!

SOOOOO, today my beloved twinsies had eye doctor appts. Turns out they have perfect vision, but that isn't what we are here to chat about.

I already have an appt set up for when we get Leanna home, with this same Dr. that we saw today. Leanna needs to see our eye doctor, to then get a referral to a specialist for her cataracts. While we waited for Ryans eye drops to kick in, I started chatting with our Dr, and told him all about our little Bulgarian Princess. He was so amazing, and is super excited to meet Leanna and help us on this journey. So, here were a couple of the tidbits I took away from our convo::::

1.) Children are able to regain vision/build muscles up until they are 8 years old-ish. Leanna just turned six.....so, this is great news!!! It means that, unless we discover additional problems, there is hope of Leanna regaining some of her vision!!

2.) We found out that we will have to travel to either Spokane or Seattle for her treatment, which isn't a biggie since we have family and support in both locations. BUT, I heard today, for the first time, that Leanna might not be a good candidate for surgery immediately after her arrival home. There are several factors, including her size and development...etc. BUT, that doesn't mean that her little eyes wont be working and improving! If we need to wait on surgery, there is a good chance that Leanna would be fitted with contacts. This way she is seeing better and her little eyes are learning to work a bit harder. Why not glasses? Well, in the good Doctors words, "They would weigh 10 pounds."

Hmmmmm, what else. I think that is most of the news from the Doctor. But, all good and all encouraging. Frankly, I really feel Blessed any time I speak with someone who is excited about Leanna, and anxious to meet her. When this is coming from a Doctor, it just makes me feel confident and at peace.....This guy really WANTS to help. love.

In other news, my amazing Care Group is organizing an epic yard sale to help with some of our final expenses. I really don't even have the words to describe this group of people, but I will try.
Loving
Generous
Supportive
Compassionate
Godly
Family
ok, the list would go on and on....but, you get the idea. So grateful for this amazing group of people!

Lastly, Seans co-workers did a Breakfast Burrito fundraiser at his work, and it was amazing. I really, really appreciate these people. They know Sean, but they don't know the rest of us very well, and they don't know Leanna.....and yet, they gladly gave of their time and energy to do this for us. Wow. So grateful.

Ok my peeps, I need some beauty sleep as I have to go get ANOTHER medical form filled out tomorrow. Apparently my last one is 6 months old and that is a tragedy.....so, im off to be overhauled....again. yay.

Hello From Our Daughters Home Town

Here is an update!!!
We have LOVED our time with Leanna! every minute. I think both Sean and I came into this visit praying that God would prepare our hearts for whatever condition we were going to find her in. Also, we prayed that our first meeting would be love at first sight for us all. God not only answered our prayers, but Blessed us beyond what we had hoped.
Leanna is a funny, giggly, active, beautiful little lady. When we first set eyes on her as we walked through the orphanage, I was struck by 2 things. 1. she is TINY. and 2. SHE WAS WALKING!!!! What??? We were told she didnt walk. The orphanage staff even told us they had given up on her ever walkinng, and that this was a miracle.
Leanna walked right up to us on that first meeting and gave me a huge hug. She has been like that every visit, not only is she comfortable around us but she LOVES all the attention she is getting!!! There is no question that she has some vision, I have been blown away by it actually. It is obvious that her vision isnt great by any means, but she does have some. Praise God! In regards to her delays, yes, she definately has some. There are a few things about her that we are not sure whether it is vision related or delay related. But, Praise God that both Sean and I have absolutely no doubt that Leanna is our perfect gift....and we are going to love her to pieces.
We got to enjoy 1 visit mon, 2 on tuesday, 2 today (wed) and then tomorrow we will see her in the morning and we will be taking her to get her visa photos taken. Then we have to say goodbye for now. ugh, not lookinng forward to that....at all.

In regards to Bulgaria. We have had a great experience. Our translators are so sweet and fun. We have really enjoyed spending mealtime and our visits with our translater, Sveta. We are also traveling with an Italian couple who are visiting their little boy, so they have a translater too named Plameta, and we love her too. Both translaters speak English really well.
I dont think Sean and I have ever eaten so much!!! HUGE meals and very yummy. This country really likes bread, cheese, cream, yogurt....basically, im in heaven. They also love to eat all kinds of different animal organs, but I can spare you all of that info.
a traditional breakfast here is our equivilent to fry bread....enough said. Im fat and happy.

The ladies at the orphanage seem incredibly kind. Bulgarian people seem kind of standofish as it is rude to engage people you dont know. But, if you engage them and let them know that you want to visit with them, they are so sweet and kind...and soft spoken. My favorite staff member is the orphanage psychologist. She was in most of the pictures we recieved in Leannas referral info. It is so obvous that she loves Leanna.

We have also met the orphanage Dr and Director and both of these ladies were kind, helpful and seems thrilled that we were going to be Leannas family.

 Church that we walked through.

 Enjoying a traditional Bulgarian lunch.

Leanna Laurie Deva Parker

Well, nothing like seeing your blog is on a massive list of Bulgaria Adoption Blogs to motivate you to write a post! I needed the kick in the pants, I have stuff to say!!!

 

So, we travel THIS MONTH! This is just to visit, but Ill take it! I am trying to be really guarded. I am going to want to pick Leanna up and just snuggle her....but, I am a stranger to this sweetie. Kind of a sad perspective, but it is true. She will probably be scared of us. My prayer is that by the end of our visit, she is warming up to us enough that when her caretakers talk about "Mommy and Daddy coming back for her" she knows who we are, and isn't afraid!

 

We will be in Bulgaria for 1 week! Just Sean and I. My Lovely mother is going to be here with the other short people. My kids are stoked to have Grandmama come. Frankly, I feel like chopped liver.

 

So, a couple other tidbits. We DID have a conversation with our agency about our plan to change Leannas name once she is home. Her Bulgarian name is "Deva." We will be giving her the name Leanna Laurie Deva Parker. Our agency was fully supportive and gave us kudos that we wanted to keep her Bulgarian name in the mix. So, WHY are we changing her name? Im so glad you asked! A couple reasons. We really want Leanna to  feel like she is, and has always been, a "Parker." Our other childrens names are Joel, Ryan, Luke and Megan. We really wanted Leanna to have a name that fit with the others. ALSO, We try to give our children family names for their middle names. My moms name is "Laurie." so.....Leanna Laurie. One of our sons doesn't have a family name for his middle name and is having a bit of a complex, but that's another story. Silly guy!

 

I also found out that we are allowed to take pictures at our visit! yaaaayyyyy! BUT, we cant post them on media sites. So, friends and family can request them and we will shoot you an email! Just to answer again the question about why we don't have pictures of Leanna on our blog. If this was a private blog, we would share pictures. However, we choose to keep this open to the public so that others can read our story and also so that people who have donated to our fundraisers can follow along.

So, here is a tease. You get her hair and cute little arms. Cant wait til we can share her photos..... Trust me, she is gorgeous!

 

 

Please continue to pray for financial Blessings on our family. God has provided hugely for this adoption. HUGE. But, we aren't quite there.....close, but not quite!!

http://www.gofundme.com/1xkacg

Trip 1---Coming sooooon!

So, most of you know that we will have to make 2 trips to Bulgaria. Our first trip is basically us accepting an invitation from the Bulgarian Government to come and "visit" Leanna. Then, we sign a paper saying we "accept" our match.....which just sounds crazy. details, I guess.

 

After we leave, Both the US Government and the Bulgarian Government have to start doing their work, making the adoption legal in both Countries. I don't know what all they need to do, but I know its a lot and that when I have read that info, my brain feels like it might explode.

 

When we can go pick up Leanna fully depends on how quickly both governments work. Worse case scenario, 3 months. Best case....it goes quick. But, we aren't holding out breath for that. We find that going with the longest timeline is best, as then we are pleasantly surprised when things move quicker.

 

So....all this to say.....

OUR FIRST TRIP IS IN JANUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*****insert happy dance here*****

 

We get to spend 3 days with Leanna at her orphanage....we will stay in the town where she is. We will also have to do a few logistical things....and then there is time to take in the culture and do some touristy things.

 

Cant. Wait.

 

We have been doing some shopping for our Roma Darlin to pass the time. We have gotten a couple outfits for her, a few toys for her orphanage....and of course some snuggly blankets and lovies to leave with her. We have also gotten a couple recordable books so she can learn our voices in our absence.

 

 

 

 

News and Strangers

It feels like forever since I have posted. Trust me, it isn't for lack of adoption info...it has more to do with insane schedules and a nasty cold that has been visiting our house.....

 

Ok, NEWS!!! Today, I repeat, TODAY.....Bulgaria will be reviewing our case and, Lord Willing, tomorrow we will get news. Basically, this meeting is the final hurdle before Bulgaria recognizes Leanna as being ours. So, after this meeting, once they realize AGAIN how awesome we are, Bulgaria will send a document to our agency. Once this document is received, we will get to schedule our first visit to Bulgaria!! I get all the terminology confused....not sure if this is an "official referral", or an "official match" meeting.....you get to a point where you just nod and go with the flow.

 

This is HUGE though. We get this document, then we visit Leanna within 6 weeks!!!! THEN, the goal is to bring her home approx. 3 months after that!!!! It still feels far off, but at least there is an end in sight!

 

SOOO, another little tidbit of news, the same day we got this news, I walked out to the mail box and noticed that we had 2 letters from various grants we had applied for. One was from JSC (this one I was pretty sure we would get)....the other was from Show Hope. I opened JSC and was sooooo bummed to see we didn't get any financial aid. I almost didn't open Show Hope as I was even more certain we wouldn't get aid from them...but, I opened and BOOM! $4000 grant!! Ok, perspective here.....we got this grant letter with 15 minutes of me finding out we would be traveling....traveling costs a lot of money. How cool was Gods timing?!?!?!

 

I also want to add that we applied for 5 grants, and we got 4 of them. How amazing is that??????

 

Now, my ponderings. I have been soooooo blown away by the love and generosity of strangers. Let me explain....Sean and I have had to get some thick skin during this process. Our experience is that people either are completely passionate about adoption/our adoption....or they are completely not. There really isn't a middle. People that are passionate about adoption are always trying to find ways to love us and support us...through prayer, encouraging words, donations, hugs, facebook posts....etc. People that aren't passionate for adoption basically think we are nuts. We have too many kids. Leanna will be too much work for us. We shouldn't adopt if we don't have the money. Sean and I will never have the joy of an empty nest since we keep having children....etc.

 

The interesting thing is that it doesn't matter if we are talking about friends, church family or relatives......people are for it, or against it....so, you understand our "thick skin."

 

So, that brings me back to strangers. We have been shown so much love, kindness, and generosity from people that don't know us. They know our story. They are passionate about adoption, and they want to see Leanna come home. I have learned so much from these people. I have had strangers donate to our online stores/auctions. Not only are there donations, but many send us encouraging letters.....I have even had people include little extras for Leanna....hair clips etc. One sweet gal send her donation, and some lovely bath salts for me....saying that she was sure I could use them. lol. She was right, and I was so grateful for her thoughtfulness. I have decided that I am going to be one of those strangers. A person that just loves others. A person that encourages people, and loves people....no matter what. I am so thankful for my friends, the strangers.

Busy Busy Busy.

I know I am waaaaayyyyyy past due for a post. Trust me when I say that it has been so crazy here. Busy Busy Busy!! However, I am praising God for the chaos as I have been Blessed with several opportunities that are helping us raise money for our little Leannas adoption!!!!

 

This past weekend was Womens retreat. I was asked if I would like to do a Bingo game and a silent auction there for our little lady. The theme of retreat was "Hope" and the amazing speaker was going to be speaking on her Ethiopian adoptions. Of course, I totally jumped on board. Long story short, this led to several amazing and GENEROUS donations....most of them coming from people who don't know us, nor do they know Leanna. These people just heard our story and were happy to help us out. How cool was that???? Our auction was amazing and Bingo was a blast. People were so kind, loving and willing to do what they could to Bless our family.....whether it be financially or prayerfully.

 

Now I am moving on to our next 2 events, one is a table at our Church Holiday Bazar (again, donations have been amazing and generous, my table will rock!). Then, after the bazar is the dinner/dance that we are putting together along with some sweet friends adopting from the Congo. That event is going to be AMAZING!!!!!

Feel free to pray for my sanity and for time management. These opportunities are Blessings, but I am always spread super thin. To say I get overwhelmed would be a huge understatement. Praise God for the friends and family that surrounds us with prayer and gives us strength and encouragement when we need it.

 

 

In regards to the adoption, we have officially submitted all of our documents for our dossier. This is HUGE. We had a doozy of a time getting 2 final documents. Our caseworker had sent everything else so that momentum didn't come to a complete hault....but, those documents were a huge stressor on us, and I am so glad we are done with that part. So, the next step is waiting for our first travel dates!!!! I cannot wait to see our sweet daughter, but I am already dreading having to leave her there. Guess I will cross that depressing bridge when I get to it.

 

 

Prayer- Please pray for strength and wisdom. Pray that our hard work will be Blessed by good attendance at our upcoming events. Pray for Leanna.....her health, her heart and her future transitions. Pray that God will use our experience to open up others minds and hearts to adoption.

 

 I was chatting with my Mom last night about that last one. I constantly have to remind myself that a lot of people just don't understand what we are doing. We hear, Why would you adopt if you dont have the money? Why would you go to another Country when there are children in the US? Why do you want ANOTHER child? Why would you ever take on a special needs child? These questions used to break my heart and offend me. But now, I welcome these questions. I welcome these opportunities to speak about our hearts and our calling to love and defend the fatherless. These beautiful children of God.