More 3rd Birthday

We wanted to have a little party for Fallyn with her friends here once we were back from Iowa, so I put together a simple party with minimal planning and effort since it was a bit last-minute.

Fallyn with her tea set I got last summer at a yard sale. It's French, and it's delightful! You'll never guess which one she wanted her tea in. Pink pink pink for this girl. She's wearing the birthday dress Daddy got for her. This is a special tradition Rick started last year--a new dress for the birthday girl (and any other girls we'll have later) from Daddy. This is a bit extra special because we rarely buy anything new.

The spread. We had a "tiny" theme. Tiny carrots, oranges, cupcakes, bears, rabbits, and tiny Reese's Pieces. Over in the top left corner was our simple, inexpensive party favors. Bottled water with a drink packet tied on!

The cute little cupcakes up close. Fallyn helped decorate them. Since I didn't do a special cake or time-consuming cupcakes or anything, the sugar flowers on top were my little splurge ($3.99 for 20 I think). We have started a birthday tradition of buying buttercream icing from the cake supply store. It's sooooo yummy, and a really good price, considering the amount of ingredients I'd have to have, the time it'd take to go to the grocery store, make it, clean up...plus this is the perfect consistency. 1.5 pounds of wholesome goodness for $4.99. Then we have a lot of leftover icing to snack on for the next 2 weeks....yummmm!

Flowers from the garden.

Jordan (their cousin), and little Miss M! We were blessed to have several friends (and some of them with their little ones) stop by! Fallyn even received a few gifts--special big girl toys, like a My Little Pony, a Polly Pocket... all of which she carries around the house all the time in various bags/purses, along with her stash of birthday cards which she just loves!

Aunt "Bicky" (Becky) made some PRECIOUS little dolly dresses for Fallyn! Wish you could see the detail! Beads, pretty stitching... Fallyn dressed her babies, lined them up, then went and got a camera.

Fallyn is THREE!

Kind of old news, now....her birthday was very early August while we were in Iowa! Someday I'll get more Iowa pics up, too...and then other birthday pics from later at home.... The kids and I were in Iowa for a week, and Rick joined us the last 3 days. For now, here's pics from her actual birthday--our last day in Iowa. We ordered a cake from a lady in a neighboring small town--yummmmmm. Had lunch after church back at Grandma & Grandpa Neill's. Good Iowa meal of Iowa beef and Iowa corn. Aunt Linda, Uncle Bill, Roseanne/Hunter, and Lesley/Jordan/Riley were there, too. Rick had stopped at a Vietnamese grocery store on his way out of Wichita and bought her a fancy little outfit (PJs?). Bill and Linda had a gift for her, which she just loves! Grandma Neill's gift was a special necklace--we went to a bead shop in Corydon the day before and Grandma footed the bill for all the girls to make something (as bday gifts and belated bday gifts). So fun! Fallyn's wearing it in the above pics. It's got pink, of course, and a tiny heart charm.

We just can't believe our baby's 3. Sounds so cliche, but it's the truth! My plan for her to stay 2 forever didn't work out so well. *sigh*

3 things she says that we love:

(1) Pudding = POO-nee! Chocolate pudding = Cah-gee POO-nee!
(2) Move = Woop! "Woop dis, please, Mommy!"
(3) When she yells things at the top of her lungs as we leave her room after tucking her in, usually, "I WUUUUUUUV YOOOOUUUU! BYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEE!"

3 things about her:

(1) Loves all things tiny (she is NOT little, she's TINY. Twinkle-twinkle TINY star, not LITTLE star).
(2) It's easy to get her belly-laughing, especially when she's super tired! Been that way since she was so small!
(3) Still loves her blanket, still sucks her thumb as she falls asleep. Thumb off to one side of her lips, edge of blanket smushed into the other side on her gums/lip. I don't know why she likes that (it gets all wet!), but it's like a drug as soon as she starts (i.e., eyes start to roll back in her head immediately and she's pretty much gone). She's done that since she was a baby, though.

3 Things We Get Such a Kick Out Of:

(1) When she gets in big-girl talking mode--her gestures, expressions, tone....so funny!
(2) How precise she is--eating soup so perfectly, following actions to songs, how perfectly she handles her baby dolls (and real babies!), etc. ...she's been waaaay ahead of her game since she was 12 months old. Although gross motor delayed, she made up for it by being really far ahead in fine motor! For some reason, it's just a delight to watch her!
(3) How she packs up so much stuff to get ready to go. Sometimes she'll find every accessory she can, and also load onto her person multiple purses with all her necessities, backpack, a bundled up baby and baby supplies... She often walks around all day toting around some kind of bag stuffed with who knows what, or a toy stroller loaded to the max with all kinds of stuff as well as bags and purses galore hanging off it, too. Just totes it everywhere, doesn't necessarily get into it!

Calvin's 3 things: "I like to play kitchen with her, clean up with her, and watch TV with her."

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl! We love you sooooo much and you are such a delight to us!

Story of a Diamond, Part II

Read Part I first, if you haven't already!

Turns out, my mom has wanted an anniversary ring for quite some time.

Turns out, my dad likes my mama a whole lot and likes helping orphans, too. AND.... this year is their 30th anniversary! (so young, so young!)

So you probably know what that all means....the story AND the diamond are staying in our family! The ring will become a family heirloom someday, so the story and the ring will be passed down... A story of God's answer to a little prayer, a story of God's heart for the orphan that happened right in front of our eyes, a story of Grandpa Vail's generous heart that helped bring another grandkid into this family (this just one of the ways) and make one less orphan in the world, helping other children in Kyrgyzstan, and something shiny to go with it all! :)

Together with my parents we'll decide what exactly to do with the money. Some will go toward the adoption of one of Grandpa Vail & Grandma Pam's grandkids, and some will go toward a project in Kyrgyzstan. I've been talking to John and some things might be in the works...

...SO STAY TUNED FOR PART III!

Mom was hoping she'd win because of the anniversary ring she dreams of, but she was happy I won it, of course. Now she'll end up with it anyway. She's a deserving gal. She's never asked for much and has worked hard her whole life--first as a city-girl turned farmer's wife (a HARD job) and stay at home mom, then later as other things...she continues to work very hard as an orthopedic Nurse Practitioner (commuting 70 miles, rounds, call, surgeries...) and now is working even harder since she's added a doctoral degree to her plate.

This phone conversation transpired quite some time after I knew that Dad was going to buy it:

Me to Mom: Hey Mom, guess what I just realized! If Dad is buying the diamond--"
Mom: "Then YOU'LL get it someday!" [as I'm the only daughter]
Me: "Well, I was going to say I just realized it'd be in our family forever and how neat that'll be...I was envisioning a grandkid having it... Oh WAIT, but then I could hock it AGAIN and have more money for orphans! Sell it twice!"

I kid, I kid... :) After all this--it's pretty much priceless!

Story of a Diamond

Near our house is a corner called Lincoln Heights. Saturday August 6th was the 60th anniversary of the nostalgic, beloved, quaint little shopping area. I took the kids to Watermark (bookstore in Lincoln Heights) and entered my name in the drawing for a diamond on the way out. Went in 4 more shops and entered there, also. That evening a drawing was going to be held for a .6 carat diamond, valued at over $3,000 retail.

Took the kids home for naps, and I prayed that afternoon that God would let me win that diamond to somehow use it for orphans--sell it or something. I wondered if it was OK to make a deal with God (I promise I won't keep it if I win it!). I told Him that if someone else had a good purpose for it, then that'd be OK, too. I'm constantly thinking, "What else can I do?!" Money is not important, yet it is so important! It's important because of what it can do for the orphan and the poor! Money is not eternal, but what it can do for a life can have eternal implications! And if we won, then we'd be able to give more!

The 60th anniversary celebration was that evening, 6-8pm. We had free dinners, popsicles, goodies for the kids, live music...it was lots of fun. I watched as they pulled out the slip for the final drawing--the diamond. HE SAID MY NAME!!! I was stunned! I went forward to shake his hand, and went back to Rick and my mom, who were stunned, also! I told them I know I'm not keeping it and that I'd explain why later (my prayer). I went ahead and told them as we were standing there.

So of course I immediately thanked the Lord in my mind, and immediately started thinking of how we can turn this into something useful to orphans--i.e., cash. My mom was quick to say that if God did this step, then He'll take care of the next, too! Praying for that now!

God saw fit! What a neat answer to prayer! He has a purpose for that rock!

Oh how I love seeing evidence of His heart for the fatherless! It's everywhere! And how humbling to ask something of the God of this universe, and receive it. Wow.

Kyrgyzstan Adoption Updates

We are updating our homestudy. It's good for 12 months, so we had submit a bunch of new documents and we'll have another home visit in the next few weeks. We had to submit new fingerprints, new background checks (local, KBI, and FBI), employment letter, proof of insurance, financial sheet, physicals for all 4 of us...and lots more! We have had such a nice break from the paperchase since last summer/fall, but it wasn't too painful.


Lots of people ask if we know how long it will be till we travel. The answer: we have NO IDEA. If you want to read a little about the Kyrgyzstan delays on the Joint Council on International Children's Services website, here's the link. Start at the bottom of the page and work your way up to read chronologically. I'd encourage you to at least skim it to get an idea of what's going on, although no one's really sure what is going on. But lots of you ask, so there's the best place to go.

And no, we don't know who our child(ren) is yet. We anxiously await the day we see our child's face and hopefully when that happens, things will be back up to speed and we'll get to travel soon after to bring him/her home!!! I have absolutely no basis for saying this, other than my own mere speculation, but I'd be EXTREMELY suprised if our adoption was complete in less than 12 months from now. I'm guessing it'll be well over a year from now. But who knows...there is just no way to know. We take comfort knowing that God is ultimately the one in control, not another country's officials.

Please pray for the officials of Kyrgyzstan and the state of adoptions. Pray for all the efforts being made on the U.S.'s end (JCICS, US State Dept, agencies, etc.). Pray that the 65 families that have their referral (and have had them a looong time) will be able to bring home their children soon. The families are suffering, but of course it's the children who suffer most from this standstill. So sad.