Without you.........

Happy Mother's Day to all of my children's birth mothers.  I don't know if I will ever get the chance to tell you face to face that I owe alot to each one of you. 

Without you I would have never become a mom.  You have given me the most priceless gift that anyone has ever given.  How can I ever thank you for all that you have done? 

I think of you often and talk about you with your birth child.  I pray that you know that your son or daughter is healthy and happy.  They are loved and cherished more than you can ever imagine. 

From the time that I was first married at the age of 20 I had wanted to be a mom.  Even if I only just one.  I would sit in a spare bedroom that we had a rocking chair in and pray daily for a child to call me "Mom".  I prayed and dreamed of this child for 5 years before she came into our lives.

After seeking out fertility treatments and years of trying to have our own biological child we turned our attention to adoption.  A friend of ours' had heard of a baby girl in Cleveland that was looking for parents.  Funny.....we were looking for a child to call our very own.  What a perfect fit!!!

Jessica came to us at the age of 14 months.  She was absolutely beautiful.  She still is.  Jess was born to a birth mom that knew that she could not raise her.  I was beyond happy to accept the call to Motherhood.  Jess will always have a very special place in my heart.  She was my first child.  We seemed to grow up together.  I learned how to be a parent and she learned how to let me. 

Our son Adam was born 4 years later.  Once again to a birth mother who was unable to raise her little guy.  Adam was our only child that we adopted at birth.  On a June day when I was in my first full year of nursing school a private adoption agency called and wanted to know if we could come immediately to the hospital because our birth mother was in labor and wanted us there quickly.  We had originally been told that it would be at least 3 years before we had a child.  I was ok with that.  I had 3 years left of college.  But on that June day I became a mom to my second child, a boy.

My heart was full and so were my days and nights.  School during the day and up all night with a preemie baby who took an hour to eat 2 ounces of formula and he had to eat every 2 hours.  I did not sleep in a bed for the first year.  I sat in a rocking chair holding my precious boy while he slept and ate.

When our children were 7 and 1 1/2 years old my husband and I divorced.  I was now a single mom that was trying to finish nursing school.  I had sworn off men and didn't care to ever date anyone.

Little did I know that God had other plans.  Within 2 months of my divorce I was married once again to a wonderful man.  We seemed to have the same heartbeat.  We didn't know where one of us stopped and the other one began.  Who would have known that I would find love again?

Within 6 months of our marriage I found myself raising my 8 year old stepdaughter, Marsha.  I legally adopted her right after she turned 18 years old and was able to sign for her own adoption.  I have had 12 years of raising this fine young lady.  She is married now herself and planning a family one day soon.

God began to tug on our hearts for the adoption of children from other countries.  We were blessed with a 20 month old little boy from China in 2006.  Philip is now 7 years old.  Philip was born with a cleft lip and palate.  Unfortunately his parents must have felt that they could not take care of him.  Philip has been nothing but a gigantic blessing in our lives.  I wish that I was able to tell his birth mother how he is doing.  I pray that she has peace in her heart about the decision that they made for their son not long after birth.

In 2008 we adopted Gavyn from Vietnam at the age of 7 years old.  Gavyn is just a very neat kid.  He is very smart.  He loves geography, history, and learning about all of the wars.   Gavyn has done wonderfully transitioning to the United States.  He is presently finishing up 4th grade.  Plays football every year and is a straight A student.  Where is Gavyn's birth mother?  Truthfully I don't know.  He was being raised by his grandparents after his birth mother put him up for adoption.  Maybe one day we will be able to return to his home country to show his biological family just how well he has done for himself.  I see big things in Gavyn's future.  No doubt that he will go onto college and pursue some amazing career.

Last year we adopted a 7 year old little girl from Armenia. Carolynn was born with multiple birth defects and was released for adoption at birth.  Carolynn was born with much resiliency.  She is a fighter, a conqueror, and definitely has had the will to defy death and her disabilities.  After raising our 2 older daughters it is a pleasure to once again have another girl in the house.  Carolynn is a huge blessing and a Joy to have in our lives.  I wish her birth mother a Happy Mother's Day as well.  For Carolynn's birth made her a mom.  I have no doubt that she has thought of her daughter several times today.  I pray that she also feels God's peace and knows that the decision she made for her daughter was a good one.  Carolynn is a strong young lady who loves the Lord!!

On this day I celebrate the fact that another little Armstrong will be added to our family this year.  We don't know exactly when but anticipate to hopefully be by the fall.  Silas, in our hearts is already our son.  My heart is full of joy, happiness and love that I have been given by each of my children's birth parents.  To you ladies, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul for your gift of life.  I thank you for choosing life for your child.  Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Paperwork

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.......!!!

Will I ever be happy when all of this paperwork is done?.  I have been working for 7 months now on documents that will eventually be our dossier.  Now you ask why 7 months?

Well there seems to one delay and re-vision after another.  Some of the documents were re-done several times over.  Not all of these documents personally originate with me.  So that makes it more difficult. 

We had to get approximately 6 personal references.  Three were required by our home study agency.  Three were for our placement agency.  And they both had different requirements that must be met in each reference letter.  Yes, the standards did get intertwined and some of our faithful friends had to rewrite their letters for us.  We are so grateful for all of you standing by us through this.

Now that our home study is complete I have been working this week on getting our I-800A application and documents gathered and sent out.  Praying that it does not take long to hear from USCIS about an appointment.   We are going to actually try a "walk up" for our fingerprinting instead of adhering to the appointed time that they send us.  Hoping that this will cut some time off getting our I-797C approval. 

Our last document that needed county certified was completed this week as well.  We took our home study to Stark County and within a few minutes we were finished at that office.

I had called the Ohio Secretary of State's office on Wednesday morning to make sure that their Cleveland office was still operating and was told that it was.  I even continued to ask the woman on the other end of the phone several questions making sure that my trip to downtown Cleveland would not be wasted.  After we left Stark County we immediately headed to the Ohio Secretary of Sate to have all of our documents certified.  I was so excited to be at this point of the process. 

We found a perfect parking space right next to the building that we needed to visit.  Hard to believe for this area of town.  As soon as we enterned the building the security officer asked which office we were there to visit.  We told her and she went on to tell us that Secretary of State no longer had an office there.  In fact, they closed it over a year ago!!!!

I was NOT happy at this point.  She was telling me that the only office left open was the one in Columbus.  And that woman told me just a few hours before that the office in Cleveland was still there.  We drove way out of our way to try and get these documents completed and that was not going to happen. 

I even called the Secretary of State's office again.  A different lady answered the phone this time.  I asked her also about the office in Cleveland.  She went on to say that the office had been closed for quite some time.  I let her know that I had been told that the office was still there and had traveled to that destination to only find out that it was no longer there.  So she not so politely told me that "no one in this office would ever tell you that".  I wish I had recorded the former conversation.  Oh well.....!!! 

I overnighted our State documents this morning.  Hopefully they will be processed soon so that I may get them sent out to the appropriate Embassy to be authenticated. 

And the process continues on...........