Try try again!

I did not watch my blog like I said I wanted to. To those that have been here and I've missed, I'm sorry! Sometimes I forget that I'm an adoptive mom. Sometimes I forget that Tori hasn't been here all her life. She forgets too. I am so blessed with how well things have been going that I forget about the tears because paperwork didn't move as fast as I wanted to. I forget that I waited for what seemed like forever for her to get here or for even knowing who she was. I like that I forget.

For my fellow adoptive parents that are looking for ways to fill the time while you wait and you stumble across my blog, I promise you that you too will forget. You will forget the sleepless nights and the heartache from having to wait and wait.

An update on Tori: she is doing fantastic!! She doesn't remember Lithuania or not living with us or the orphanage. She doesn't get upset when it's brought up, but she just doesn't remember. She may someday down the road, but for now she just wants to remember always being here. Tori has finished Kindergarten and did well. She still receives help in speech trying to catch her up. She still puts words in the wrong sentence order and uses some tenses wrong. She's doing so well that it's hard to remember that she didn't speak any English just 2 years ago. We still have her attending Lithuania school with her brothers. She got to preform some traditional Lithuanian dances with her classmates at a local arts festival. We still deal with a little discipline issues, mostly being sneaky and doing things she knows she shouldn't. She can be impulsive, but she's improved a ton since she got here.

Please let me know if there is something you want to know about whether it be about our adoption experience (although you can read about most of that in past posts) or something else.

Blessings!!

I'm so excited!!

I am back to my blog after over a year hiatus. Life has been so busy and going so well that sometimes I forget about the journey we went through not that long ago. I was told while crying over the latest frustration or set back that one day I would look back and it would all seem so small or that I would forget about the heartache once I had my sweet baby girl in my arms. For the most part they were right!! If I stop and think about it, I can remember how hard it was and painful it was to wait. It certainly not something I think about often. Life has been just too sweet and busy with my four great kids.

Since we have adopted, I have met two wonderful ladies who have and one who is currently in Lithuania now adopting. It brings back so many memories. Not of the pain, but of the excitement of it all. The sights, smells, and tastes of Lithuania. (I miss the food!) And the thrill of finally seeing Tori for the first time and how small and fragile she seemed. She's a force to be reckoned with now. She certainly holds her own with her three older brothers. She has grown up so much over the past year and half. Yesterday she lost her first tooth. Where did my baby go?!?

Anyway, trying to post to the blog of the woman in Lithuania now, I logged onto my blog and found a couple of comments from women who have or are waiting to adopt from Lithuania. Sadly, one of them was a year ago. I remember while waiting trying to find anyone I could reach out to to talk with about adopting from Lithuania. So to them, I apologize. I would love to connect if you are still willing and wanting. It's exciting to see that children are being adopted from Lithuania despite the changes the country has done to their adoption policies.  I pray for all of them!

I plan on watching my blog more carefully and thank you for stopping by. God bless!

~Carolyn