Walt and I on July 4th

Well, just thought that I would say I don't advocate tanning! I didn't realize I had gotten so dark, but it is just a farmer's tan. I try to protect myself from the sun as much as possible, but don't always remember. I spend a lot of time outdoors in my garden and with my flowerbeds. My husband, on the other hand, could care less about getting too much sun! I nag and nag, but all he tells me is that I would be a rich widow!!!! O.O Hello........but who would I get to nag?

Flower Girl

Bridget in a field down the road from our house. I can't believe how tall she is getting. I just wish that she was putting on more weight. She continues to eat like a horse, I just don't know where she puts it!!!

Back to the Future!

Not sure what these were! We came across this building on our way to the cinema. There were several old buildings being renovated.


This was 2 blocks away from our apartment. I almost expected to see a knight jousting or something!


This steeple was our landmark. Our apartment was not far from it.


This is just one of the towers that were in this city. At the center of the market is a tower that was probably used by guards way back when to protect the castle. It was so odd to see it with a McDonald's right next to it!




There was such an odd mixture of very old with new in this city. I truly felt misplaced in time. The cobblestone streets that you could almost here the horses' hooves echoing on the stones, yet the only horse power was in the cars driving on the streets. There were also several "entrances" to side streets or maybe even a whole new universe! We would turn a corner and there was another doorway to a tunnel or stairs that led waaaaayyyyyy up to another part of the city. It was all so surreal.



This is my favorite building. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was just so awesome to be standing in front of! I almost felt like I was in Russia!

Life goes on.........

Family picture taken this Spring.

It's been 8 months since we brought Bridget home. I am really looking forward to taking her to some of the waterparks around here. We do have a trip to Wonderland Park in Amarillo, Texas planned in August. I took my other 2 kids there when they were little just because it was a place I use to go to when I was a kid.

Bridget has been getting better as far as learning our language. She still can't pronounce words that start with w or th. She might end up having to go to therapy for those letters!. But, I do think that she will be able to get it eventually.

Better Late Than Never!

Well, I guess I should put up pictures of Bridget's birthday! I look at the older pictures on here and am truly amazed at the difference I see in her in just 7 months! I just wish that she would start putting on more weight! She is getting taller, but can barely wear a size 8! She got a bike for her birthday, but I think that she was more interested in the ball than the bike!

More pictures

Well, at least I had 3 bars that day! ;)Okay, if your dyslexic, it makes since! lol (No clue what they were looking at!)


Kirsten and Bridget on a bridge over nothing.


This was taken in our swing in the backyard.


This is our "store" room! Ignore the mattress!


Isn't she just soooooo cute?

Can you believe it's been almost 4 months?

Time is just really flying by here. We arrived home on October 18th and it is now into February already. In many ways it seems like she has always been a part of our family. She is blending in so well. She has picked up many new phrases. I think that by next Christmas she will be speaking English not just understanding it. We don't know for sure how much of our language she does understand. She says okay a lot when we talk to her and we THINK that she is understanding but we find out later sometimes that she didn't understand what we were saying. Then there are the times when she makes it really clear that she isn't understanding us. She has this face that she makes and then shrugs her shoulders at the same time. It's too cute!

Walt and Gina


Bridget

Tucker

Kirsten

Chance

One of my favorites of Bridget.

Bridget playing her guitar.


We got her a guitar as she seemed really interested in Kirsten's. We also got her a "computer" that hooks up to the tv. She really likes to be on the computer so it seemed fitting that we get her one of her own. I like the one of her standing by me. She just looks so pretty in that one, even with her messy hair! I dread when she gets to be a teenager. I think that a convent might just be a good idea or a cabin in the woods where no one lives around us for miles!

We got a couple of kittens during Christmas and they pretty much destroyed my tree. By the time Christmas morning arrived, the tree was leaning and many of the branches had been pulled off and had to be put back on. (fake tree) I could NOT keep them out of it! So, we did have to throw the tree away by then end of Christmas. Course, we needed to get a new one anyway. It was pretty old. I just have a hard time wanting to spend money when I just know that we can get one more year out it! ;)

Merry Christmas!

First, let me wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope that December has been good for everyone at this point and not stressful. We are having a simple Christmas this year. It will be just us at home with our new daughter so it will be peaceful and enjoyable. We were able to be with our church family yesterday with carolling and dinner at the church. We truly enjoy our time spent with them. Bridget was actually trying to say Merry Christmas, thanks to Uncle Mike!!! ;) On the way home from the church, she kept saying Merry Christmas as loud as she could! I don't know if she is understanding Santa Claus or the tree or the lights,but she is sure enjoying them. We took the kids out a couple of nights ago to look at the lights and she was trying to say pretty when she saw homes with lights on them. I am so looking forward to Christmas morning. I am determined not to overwhelm her with presents because I read that it is not good to do that. I think Walt may have to take the checkbook, debit card and any cash away from me!!!

I thought that I would share some pictures of Thanksgiving with my friends and family. The first one is of Bridget helping with the cleaning before Thanksgiving. Don't ask me why she has the swimming mask on, but she has been wearing that thing on and off for some time now. The 2nd one is of Bridget and Chance finishing off the sparkling cider we had and the 3rd one is of Kirsten and Bridget horsing around.

Miss B

Well, we decided to take Bridget trick-or-treating. We were going to wait until next year so that she wouldn't be scared by any of the costumes that she might see or decorations. However, after getting to know her a little more, we decided that she would be fine. She likes to scare us and likes to be scared! We didn't get her costume until Halloween so there wasn't much to choose from and that is why she is dressed as a witch. She started out looking a little confused as to what we were doing, but as the evening progressed she got the idea and was constantly pulling on Kirsten to hurry up and get to the next house. It was really fun to watch her.

I would also like to say that I have decided to change my nickname for her from Miss B to.....drum roll please.......Noodle Girl! To stress my point, she just came to me and asked for mac and cheese for breakfast! I have never met anyone who has such a fetish for noodles!!! Everytime I ask her what she wants for dinner, she wants noodles! Her favorite, so far, is cold mac and cheese! EWWWWWW!!!!! So, Kirsten fixes a HUGE pot of mac and cheese once a week so that Noodle Girl can have them for dinner when she wants to. (Kirsten loves to cook! There is a God and He loves me!!!) ;)

As for how we are adapting, Noodle Girl has taken to living with us as if she has never lived anywhere else. We are learning her language more than she is learning ours I think! She has a strong personality. She is a bit of a tomboy though. She LIKES to watch football even when she is by herself. She LIKES to watch monster trucks even when she is by herself. She actually turns the tv to the HISTORY channel when she is watching tv by herself and can watch cartoons if she wants to! My son, Chance, has always loved watching the history channel so it works for him that she likes it too!

We have learned that we have to be VERY, VERY careful what we say and do around her. She picks up things quickly! Too quickly! The other day we were watching the Cowboys play and they fumbled the ball and I said "Oh, Man!" just as she was coming out of her room. She looked at me funny, laughed and then went up the stairs repeating, "oh man!". Kirsten was messing with her and gave her a puppy dog look with her bottom lip sticking out and now Noodle Girl does that to us when she wants something and we won't do what she wants! It is too cute!

This is at the same water fountain in Tartu just before our court appointment. We had about an hour to spend some time walking around and seeing how beautiful the city was.

This is my favorite picture of Bridget. She fell asleep while reading her dad's motortrend magazine with her play glasses on. She started putting them after she saw her dad put his on!

This is Igor (pronounced Egor). He was our contact/guide for everything we had to do over there. He was truly a blessing.

This is a picture of Bridget and the woman who has cared for her for 7 years. It was very heartbreaking to split these two up. I did hug her several times and try to get her to understand that Bridget would be well taken care of but I know she was heartbroken.

This was at the orphanage at dinner time. Bridget is on the end in the black dress.

This is their version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, also located in Tartu.

This is a water fountain in Tartu which is were our court was. It isn't very far from Elva.

We have lift off!!!!!

I just got a call from our agency and we can go get Brigit in the fall! I can't believe that it is actually happening. It seemed like it was never going to reach this point! After I get done running around in circles a few more times, maybe I'll be able to function and figure out what I should do next! There are a ton of things to do. Good thing I have Melonie to rely on! Thank you Melonie!!! You are an angel!

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

I came across this verse and thought that I would post it. I think that it is a wonderful verse.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand it's own way. Love is not irritable and it keeps no record of when it's been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith. It's always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.

Got new info on Brigit today!!!

Here is what was sent to us today in an email:

She is expeditious and has an active take in her surroundings. She is a very helpful child. She notices the things that need to be done and where she can help. She manages to serve herself very well and helps her mates if needed.

She is active with her hand movements. She likes to draw, build, knock up. (I get from this that she is creative. Which will work great because Kirsten and Chance are creative.) She is helpful and friendly. She likes to clean, help her teacher. She does get along well with her mates in a friendly way. She is a brave and active communicator.

That is not all it says, but it gives everyone an idea about who she is and what I saw when I visited with her. I could tell that she was very independent.

What would you do if you became instantly wealthy?

That guestion has crossed my mind often over these last 2 years. Before we started this adoption process, I might have said, oh...... (after tithing) I'd take a long vacation with all of my kids and I'd buy them all a new car. I would get out of debt (including the mortgage) then retire on what was left. But, now I feel with what we have been doing with the adoption, I think that one of the first things I would really want to do would be to adopt as many children as I would be allowed to. It is sooooo overwhelming to see that there are so many children in this world without a family. I never really thought about the numbers until we started this adoption. It is really heart wrenching to KNOW how many children need a home. I look at some of the faces of these kids on various adoption websites and think to myself, I wish I could give her/him a home. I think about the children that are at the orphanage with Birgit and just want to bring them all home with me. Especially this one little boy, Raiko. He has a heart problem. I would never have guessed it when I met him. He was very polite and a happy little boy and energetic. He just looked so much like he needed someone to sweep him up and take him away to a family. Could I request of anyone who reads this site that you pray for him to find a family? I don't mean that he is any more special than others of that particular orphanage. He just kind of planted himself in my heart that day I was visiting with Birgit and I would love to see him get a home.

Another Day in Adoption Limbo

Well, here I sit again just looking at pictures of Birgit. I have come to the conclusion that this is a lesson in patience for me. I just hope that I pass!;) The time isn't actually going as slow as I thought it would. It is going to be the 4th of July soon and then Walt will be going to Estonia to visit with Birgit sometime between the end of July to the end of August. I am going to pack a bunch of stuff for him to take for Birgit and the kids at the orphanage. We didn't intend for him to go alone. We were just going to wait for our court date, but due to certain circumstances, he will need to go and see her then I will go for the court date. I think that this will work out better though because then she will be able to see that someone really is trying to adopt her. It must be frustrating for her. I think that if I were in her shoes, I would want to be with my family right now! Not waiting for them and waiting and waiting......

Won't be going til fall y'all!

Well, I found out that the Estonia courts are closed July and August. Also, because we didn't get a notice for court within the last 2 weeks, we won't be going during June. I feel kind of disappointed, yet, am relieved because we are not ready to go get her. I can imagine she might be ready for us to come and get her though. At least I hope she is! So, we will spend the next 2 or 3 months getting prepared to go in Sept/October. (Oh, by the way, this is a picture of Walt and I during our trip to visit my sister, who I haven't seen in 5 years, in Las Vegas and my son in California, who was heading to Afghanistan.)

Received a form from Estonia court

We actually received this form about 1 month ago. There have just been so many other things that I have been doing that I hadn't taken the time to post. The form that we received was for her birth certificate. We had to put what we wanted her name to be. I had hoped that we wouldn't have to actually commit to anything until we had a chance to talk with her about her name. So many people have a hard time with Birgit. Since it is Scandinavian for Bridget, we thought that we would call her Bridget. So, her new name is going to Bridget Allie. Allie after my wonderful grandmother who passed away 5 years ago. Also, we were thinking that we could be getting our court date in June or July. I just found out a couple of days ago that the courts in Estonia take the summer off. Soooooo.......it isn't likely that we will be going until the fall. I am kind of sad that we won't be going soon, but it does give us more time to be prepared for it.

We are approved!

We got our I-171H in the mail today! I can hardly believe that it only took a month! I have been hearing some horror stories about it taking 2 or 3 months and was convinced that is how it was going to be with us. It only took 2 weeks from the time we got fingerprinted before we got the approval in the mail! What a relief. Now all we need is to get our court date and then we can finally go and get our new daughter. To think that it only took 2 years to do it!

Just waiting......

Here is another picture of Birgit. I took this during my trip to visit her. I can hardly stand the waiting to be able to go and get her. I spend every day wondering what she is thinking or doing. Does she think about us? I did get to leave her with some family pictures. Maybe she is looking at them and getting some comfort from knowing that this is going to be her family.

Bridget

This is Miss B. playing with the paper dolls that I took with me.