Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
5 days
Until it is officially official. 5 days, that's it. Wednesday we are going to celebrate! Once I get word that our court decree is in my agencies hands and everything is A okay, I will announce our adoption publicly. I am SURE I will have people upset with me that I kept it from them but we couldn't take a chance with Selah's future. She has already spent enough time in the orphanage, we didn't want our adoption to drag on for months and months because someone opened their mouth and caused "big noise" as my agency would say!
I got some more pictures today. This will tell you how small she is. She is the 3rd oldest child in the group and the smallest. The girl in the back is 7, Almas to her right is 5 and she is next. 3 out of the 8 kids you see here have families. Makes me smile and sad all in one. So many children in the world need mommies.....
I got some more pictures today. This will tell you how small she is. She is the 3rd oldest child in the group and the smallest. The girl in the back is 7, Almas to her right is 5 and she is next. 3 out of the 8 kids you see here have families. Makes me smile and sad all in one. So many children in the world need mommies.....
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Bye Bye Almaty
Next time we land here it will be to bring our daughter home!!! I really hope the next 5-6 weeks fly by!!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Court Day...
****THIS INFORMATION IS STILL TOP SECRET FOR NOW. WE WILL ANNOUNCE IT PUBLICLY WHEN OUR 15 DAY WAITING PERIOD IS OVER*****Please do not post anything about this anywhere, Thanks for understanding! We value your friendships and trust you with our daughters future!
I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.
1 Samuel 1:27
One year ago (Sept. 2009) God led Brad and I to Kazakhstan on a mission trip to Kazakhstan to bring supplies for Two Hearts. That was the trip that would Forever change our lives again. I fell in love with a little sweet heart named Balnur. I was bound and determined to fight for her to have a family. My fight began shortly after we returned home from our trip. I knew that God was working in my heart, I just knew that if he was wanting us to be the family for her, he would have to move in Brad's heart. Little by little Brad would open up to the thought until one night it hit him, we needed to fight for this little girl. Our journey to our second adoption began in mid-november 2009. We quickly gathered our paperwork and were waiting for our Immigration approval when we got word from Kazakhstan that there was no way we could adopt her. Unfortunately her "paperwork" is not in order and there is not way to get it in order, Ever. I was crushed, I knew that this was God's way of closing the door.
Brad and I prayed about it and after about a week many talks and lots of prayers and we decided that if we said no to another child, we would be abandoning them both. We stepped into this adoption on faith, we followed God's calling and he led us here for a reason, so we went ahead and submitted our paperwork in April, hoping to adopt another sweet baby that was waiting at the same BH. We hit many more bumps and waits along the way but in July we got the call to travel to Kazakhstan. We traveled to Kaz on August 18 and on August 20, we met our 4th daughter. She had the most BEAUTIFUL almond eyes we had ever seen. She was so full of life and from the minute we laid eyes on her, we knew she was supposed to be ours! We know that God had a plan for her, we know the reason Balnur was not available at this specific time is because this child needed us more. We bonded with her for 17 days and then returned to America to "not so patiently" wait for our court date. ( For all of you that wonder what will happen to Balnur, we found out while we were bonding that they are going to fix her papers now so she can find a family, PRAISE THE LORD!)
We got our court date and we headed back to Kaz on October 8. We went to court today (October 12), it was quick and painless. They asked us 3 questions, how much money we made, if we both worked and how did Addison feel about our adoptions? Then we waited for 5 agonizing hours for a verdict. In the end the Verdict was ......................YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!God's hand was all over our process, our timing, our adoption, our daughter, our children, our in-country team and us. Trust me if you follow God's call, he will lead!! Just sit back and enjoy the ride! I have never felt so close to God as I have through this process. There is so many times he calmed my heart and let me know that he was in charge.
1 Samuel 1:27
One year ago (Sept. 2009) God led Brad and I to Kazakhstan on a mission trip to Kazakhstan to bring supplies for Two Hearts. That was the trip that would Forever change our lives again. I fell in love with a little sweet heart named Balnur. I was bound and determined to fight for her to have a family. My fight began shortly after we returned home from our trip. I knew that God was working in my heart, I just knew that if he was wanting us to be the family for her, he would have to move in Brad's heart. Little by little Brad would open up to the thought until one night it hit him, we needed to fight for this little girl. Our journey to our second adoption began in mid-november 2009. We quickly gathered our paperwork and were waiting for our Immigration approval when we got word from Kazakhstan that there was no way we could adopt her. Unfortunately her "paperwork" is not in order and there is not way to get it in order, Ever. I was crushed, I knew that this was God's way of closing the door.
Brad and I prayed about it and after about a week many talks and lots of prayers and we decided that if we said no to another child, we would be abandoning them both. We stepped into this adoption on faith, we followed God's calling and he led us here for a reason, so we went ahead and submitted our paperwork in April, hoping to adopt another sweet baby that was waiting at the same BH. We hit many more bumps and waits along the way but in July we got the call to travel to Kazakhstan. We traveled to Kaz on August 18 and on August 20, we met our 4th daughter. She had the most BEAUTIFUL almond eyes we had ever seen. She was so full of life and from the minute we laid eyes on her, we knew she was supposed to be ours! We know that God had a plan for her, we know the reason Balnur was not available at this specific time is because this child needed us more. We bonded with her for 17 days and then returned to America to "not so patiently" wait for our court date. ( For all of you that wonder what will happen to Balnur, we found out while we were bonding that they are going to fix her papers now so she can find a family, PRAISE THE LORD!)
We got our court date and we headed back to Kaz on October 8. We went to court today (October 12), it was quick and painless. They asked us 3 questions, how much money we made, if we both worked and how did Addison feel about our adoptions? Then we waited for 5 agonizing hours for a verdict. In the end the Verdict was ......................YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!God's hand was all over our process, our timing, our adoption, our daughter, our children, our in-country team and us. Trust me if you follow God's call, he will lead!! Just sit back and enjoy the ride! I have never felt so close to God as I have through this process. There is so many times he calmed my heart and let me know that he was in charge.
Thank you all for the prayers, Thank you Balnur for leading us to Selah, (we will always pray for you), Thank you Kazakhstan for giving us another beautiful daughter, Thank you Ardock and Tatyana for being such a Great in country team, Thank you Brad for being the best husband in the whole world, Thank you Lindsay & Charlie, Grandma & Grandpa, and Grammy and Papa for taking care of the kids while we traveled, Thank you Gayla, Billy, Jessica and Stacie for holding down the office so Brad could be away, Thank you prayer warriors that faithfully prayed for our adoption, Thank you Kim for taking care of Two Hearts stuff while I am gone, and Thank you everyone else that has supported us and loved us along the way!
We head home tomorrow for another "not so patient" wait. Hopefully this time away will not be very long and we will be on our way back soon so we can all be together FOREVER !! We are ready to have all of our family on one continent!!!!
We head home tomorrow for another "not so patient" wait. Hopefully this time away will not be very long and we will be on our way back soon so we can all be together FOREVER !! We are ready to have all of our family on one continent!!!!
Today October 12, 2010 we welcome Selah Niana Annelle Segebarth in our family forever, she captured our hearts long ago, but today she is no longer an orphan!
Our family’s like a patchwork quilt,
With kindness gently sewn.
Each piece is an original,
With beauty of its own.
With threads of warmth and happiness,
It’s tightly stitched together.
To last in love throughout the years,
Our family is forever!
Our family’s like a patchwork quilt,
With kindness gently sewn.
Each piece is an original,
With beauty of its own.
With threads of warmth and happiness,
It’s tightly stitched together.
To last in love throughout the years,
Our family is forever!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Tomorrow...
IS THE BIG DAY. We were prepped for court today are feeling pretty positive and excited at this point. Brad has his speech in his head and I just have to talk about how much I already love her and tell them that I will be the best mommy in the world to her. Easy, Easy, I don't even have to write it down!!
Brad and I decided that is was better for Selah to not see her this trip. We talked about it and prayed about it for a long time and decided that if there was 1% chance it could affect her in a bad way, was it worth it? We decided NO, it was not worth it. I cried this morning knowing I was 2 hours from my baby girl and I wasn't going to see her, but the mommy in me wants to protect her heart from any hurt and they said she was sad after we left last time,. No way do we want to be the reason for her sadness. So, I am sure most of you think we are crazy, but we did what we thought was best for Selah. Next time we see her now will be Forever and she will never have to be sad about us leaving again!!
Please pray for us tomorrow, pray a postive outcome, pray for the judge and prosecuters soft heart, pray for Selah as she waits. Thank you all. We will let you know as soon as we do!!!
Brad and I decided that is was better for Selah to not see her this trip. We talked about it and prayed about it for a long time and decided that if there was 1% chance it could affect her in a bad way, was it worth it? We decided NO, it was not worth it. I cried this morning knowing I was 2 hours from my baby girl and I wasn't going to see her, but the mommy in me wants to protect her heart from any hurt and they said she was sad after we left last time,. No way do we want to be the reason for her sadness. So, I am sure most of you think we are crazy, but we did what we thought was best for Selah. Next time we see her now will be Forever and she will never have to be sad about us leaving again!!
Please pray for us tomorrow, pray a postive outcome, pray for the judge and prosecuters soft heart, pray for Selah as she waits. Thank you all. We will let you know as soon as we do!!!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
WE ARE HERE!!!
It is surreal. I can't believe we are here, it seems like we just left. It hit me that after this trip we will have 4 daughters! WHOA, that's all I have to say about that. ;)
Thanks for the prayers to get us this far! Tuesday is right around the corner!! Off to bed...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
WOW what a....
B-U-M-P-Y flight. They even made the flight attendants sit down!! I slept maybe 1 hour, Brad slept right through the bumps.... I HATE flights like that! Here is hoping to a less bumpy, less eventful one to Almaty!! Missing my girls at home already this time but happy we are on our way to court!!
Here we go!!!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, October 8, 2010
And we're off!
Leaving Chicago now. Pray for our girls at home. Lindsay for strength and stamina to keep up with the littles. Addison is coughing and hopefully not having recurring symptoms of pneumonia, and Haven had the stomach flu for 56 hours this week. Please Lord watch over them!!! Keep them all safe and Healthy!
Here we come sweet Selah. Soon you will be forever ours. Can't wait to hold you in my arms! Our court date is Tuesday, please pray for a favorable outcome and a fast trip back to our baby girl!!
See you on the other side....
Thanks for the prayers!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
God always shows up on time
I was missing Sweet Selah so much this morning. Wondering what to do when we got for court. Do we go see her and risk her being traumatized about us leaving again? Do we not see her and let her memory of us fade away? I don't know what to do. All of my heart wants to see her when we go even if it is for 2 minutes, BUT is it worth it? Is it worth her always wondering when we are going to leave again. I want the next time I see her to be FOREVER! I am afraid we will cause more damage than do good if we go see her. See she is not a baby (not that I think babies aren't traumatized) But she is 3. She knows we left, she knows we haven't been there for 4 weeks today. Am I fooling myself that she will be sad if we leave her again? The mother in me does not "hope" she misses us, but I "hope" she remembers us and doesn't think we are always going to leave. So I was feeling all of us these emotions this morning and then I got these.....
And then my heart felt better. I cried when I saw them, because I miss her so but I know she is happy! The lady that sent them to me said this:
"She looked great and so independent. I told her that Mommy and Daddy loved her and I gave her a big kiss for you!"
Oh God, thank you for showing your perfect timing!
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