Life's a Journey.... here's a glimpse of ours.

It's his third but first and not his last.

Matvey turned 3! Matvey is home with his forever family!

Matvey had a Birthday!!

Just 5 weeks ago he was place in my arms for the very last time by the nannies that took care of him for the past three years. I am sure he has never had a birthday celebration with cake and ice cream. I am sure there were no special birthday wishes and gifts. And I am 100% sure he didn't have a family to sing him happy birthday.

Just weeks before we met Matvey for the first time I thought to myself:I wish we were adopting a baby too. I was longing to snuggle with a little one.

OF course I knew God led us to both Matvey and Varvara, I wasn't really wishing we were adopting a baby. Then after the first time meeting Matvey I thought "We are adopting a baby". I expected him to be small like an 18 month old not like a nine month old.

This was taken in July

Matvey is the sweetest baby. He loves being held, he loves being kissed and loves being hugged. He is beautiful and we love every inch of him. God knew I desired a little lovie that I could hold and love to pieces. He gave us Matvey.... and Varvara too:)

Today alone there were 58 Happy Birthdays to our little guy and that doesn't count the 10x I sang happy birthday to him. Can't forget the birthday kisses from dawn 'til dusk.

Our little man will not ever spend a day in a cold empty crib. He will never be forgotten on the day he was born. We will celebrate his birth for the rest of his life.  We will thank God for his life and we thank all of you for helping us rescue him from the loneliness of his future. We know we could of not done it with out God but we also know we are all responsible to be His hands here on earth until He returns. You were his hands and we will be forever grateful.

Michigan is getting colder by the minute. As I headed out Saturday morning the temperature gage in my car read 15 degrees. My hands froze most of the morning. You would think after living here for 38 years I would enjoy this type of weather but I don't. But, I do enjoy these type of weekends and it has been over a year since I had weekends like this. Although I was busy it was a relaxing kind of busy. I was busy with things that didn't matter if they got done or not. Nothing was urgent and nothing was so important that I couldn't do the things I really wanted to do like hang out with my family.

This weekend was perfect for:

It is so nice to be back in the grove of life. The process of adoption consumes your life and you don't realize it until you have the freedom to do as you please with no paper work hanging over your head. With no fundraising or emails to answer. I am so thankful we are done with that chapter. I would not change a minute of it but I am so glad it is over. Just so you know I have not forgotten about "The Least of These" and I will continue to post and say my pleas for them. I will continue to spread the word and help anyway I can. The are millions of orphans and there are million more family who can help.



Here are Three More Videos!

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/lS2UHl23AOU

So, rewind one year ago. We were only five months into our adoption process and had only committed to Varvara. We thought we would travel by the end of December; little did we know we wouldn't travel for the first time until seven months later. During this time God had been telling me that Matvey was our son and we needed to commit to him but I let fear stop us from doing it. There was no way we would be able to raise over $45k and they probably would let us adopt two anyways. Little did we know it would cost nearly $56k. I remember checking Matvey's status weekly and sometimes daily to make sure he was still on there ;) At the beginning of December last year Matvey received a Christmas Warrior he had an angle who raised money, prayed for him and hung his picture on her tree. I was worried and wondered if they were going to commit to Matvey. I knew God said he was our son but the fear was so big at that time. Little did I know the blessing that would come by saying yes to God and saying yes to our son. Matvey's warrior was not only a mother who has a heart for the lost ones but also her daughter. This is what Kathryn says about her little girl Emerson: " Emerson is such a sweet girl (not just because I am partial : >) )  with this amazing and innate sense of empathy.Last year when we got our ornament she was so intrigued by him.  She wanted to know who he was ...we would pray for children who did not have safe or loving homes of their own.   She would ask about him frequently and was beyond happy to know that he had a mommy and daddy and siblings that would love him and take care of him.   We put up the tree tonight and she was so excited to see his ornament!" Our little Matvey is still moving the hearts of those who fell in love with him last year. Want to see Little Emerson? She is just beautiful and I am sure God has great big plans for her.



The babies didn't participate much in tree trimming......

Varvara just had way too much fun with beads :)



Our babies to the Lord today. He blessed us with them and we now have returned them to Him. We pledged that we would raise them in the ways of our Lord.

We prayed for them, we blessed them and we loved on them.

I shared this letter to our children with our family and friends.

Dear Varvara and Matvey~ We know that some people feel as though you did not join our family as Isabella, Abigail and Keegan did but we know you came to us by God's love and that is exactly how all our children came to us. Someday we will share with you the journey that brought you to us. It is a of our faith journey but for now the most important thing we want you to know is that we love you. We know that we are not the Daddy and Mommy God originally planned for you but all things are glorified by God and he planted you both in our hearts a year and half ago. This is where our love for both of you grew and grew.  We are humbled that He would trust us with what was once His hidden treasures. He tells us in Isaiah 45:3

I will give you hidden treasures

riches stored in secret places

so that you may know that I am the Lord.

We know that He is Lord, we are blessed. And no longer are you hidden.  On this day we pledge to teach you all we know of our God; His love, mercy and Grace. We also trust God in our lives to guide us in all the decisions of your future. You both will forever be part of our family.

Love, Daddy and Mommy

Thank you to all my family and friend who came to be part of our day. We love you and are so thankful for every single one of you.

 These past three weeks have gone so well. Everyone seems to be adjusting well to the changes in our home. I find myself sometimes just waiting for the bomb to drop. Not that I want it to but seriously I feel as though Varvara and Matvey have been with us since the day they were born. I forget they once had a home far far away; that they once had comfort in the arms of other caregivers. Of course it's nothing like having your very own mommy but they loved them dearly. I saw it in their eyes as we said good bye for the very last time. I felt it in the hugs they gave as we walked out the door. I wonder if they miss them. I wonder if it feels different now that they are gone. I know I would miss them and I know it would be different with them gone. I bet they miss the way Matvey hisses when he is staring at you. That's right, he hisses very quietly like a snake. He gives the very best hugs, wrapping his arms around your neck and laying his head on your shoulder. Who wouldn't miss that? I can't forget the way he looks with his big blue eyes when he drinks his bottle; it is so super sweet. Also he is a character always making us laugh always bringing sunshine into our day.

Funny Photo's of Matvey...... I told you he was funny!

We can not forget Varvara. There are so many things that we would miss about her. For one thing she has a fiery spirit. She knows what she wants and does not have much patients for it. That would be food. This girl loves to eat. She could out eat a grown adult if we let her and she does not like to wait for food either. She sits on the mat in the kitchen and cries the whole time I prepare dinner and there is no one who can distract her. Okay maybe for a minute, but then she heads right back to sit down and cry. I have now served her roughly 100 meals and snacks, you would think by now she would realize I would never skip her at meal time ;)

That isn't all she is about though, she loves to brush your hair. She will do it as long as you let her. She wants to love you to play with her feet but she doesn't. Every time I change Matvey's diaper I play with his feet and she comes to lay next to him so I can do the same with her but she doesn't really like it. I practically can feel her skin crawl :D but we do it anyways or at least as long as she can stand it.

Varvara has now learned how to give the "Plummer" hug, you have to squeeze real tight while saying "eeeezzzzz", she does them real well. Varvara also loves putting on cloths, it doesn't matter what it is she will put it on. Scarves, hats, vests, Matvey's sock which are way too small. He is wearing a size One or two in infant size.

Varvara always has funny little sounds she makes with hand gestures and she talks with her eyes. I will post videos soon so you can see what I mean, it is so funny.

Here are some fun photo's of Varvara. Enjoy!

I just love her face here :)

Here she was trying to put the bottle in my mouth.

One of the photo's I have with Jason in it. By the time he gets home we are too busy for photo sessions.

Brushing my hair or should I say ripping through my hair? ;)

First time poppin Popcorn!

As long as it has butter and salt she liked it.

Varvara is always trying to look under the camera at me.

The classic Bean. We spent an hour going up and down the driveway.