Friday, May 31, 2013

Starting Freezer Meals

   At the end of my pregnancy with Jedidiah I had to do something, especially for the 12 days that I went overdue! I made lots of freezer meals which were wonderful. He was born November 12 and I did not cook a meal until after Christmas. So this week as I thought about what I could do while I wait on our home study paperwork and for the next few months of waiting I thought I would start again at the freezer meal stock up. I know with almost twin boys joining the family in addition to being away from home for over a month I will not feel like cooking. I plan on tripling one of the meals I make during the week and freezing the two extras. I found this is the easiest way for me to work it into our schedule. It really isn't too much extra work. I will have to hide the meals from my husband though, he already commented last night that he thought I was cooking them for him while I was in country. I told him I would rather he made macaroni and cheese the whole time I was gone because it is going to be chaos when I get back!:) I will probably leave some meals prepared for when he will be home alone with the kids. At this time our plan is to both go for the first trip. We should be gone 2 1/2-3 weeks in which we meet the kids, go to court and are approved to adopt. We will then come home for the 10 day mandatory wait. Then I will go back with my mother to pick up the boys and apply for visas and passports. Once we receive those it is homeward bound. We should be headed out sometime this fall I am hoping for September but Joey keeps reminding me to not put a time in my head. Anyway I am planning on wintery meals, chili, soups and such plus those seem to freeze better:) If you have any favorite freezer meals and would like to pass them along, I might give them a try I have time!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Car shopping stinks!

   My husband and I are not car people. We don't get excited about the newest and greatest vehicle out there. We do get excited about a car that works for us and is paid off. I will me painfully honest, I hesitated to commit to a second child because I knew that meant we would need a bigger vehicle. I hate car shopping and car salesmen and the whole deal. Plus I love my van. Anyway we went and looked for a brief moment at the Toyota Seinna 8 passenger van. That was my top pick, not a massive crazy thing but it was a no go:( the back latch covers the side seatbelt and the front middle doesn't look like it could safely hold a car seat. So now we have pretty much decided on the Nissan NV. I will admit it is a very cool van. It is convenient for all the kids to get in and out. But it just came out so the odds of us finding a used one are slim to none. We are hoping to wait until after the boys come home and then maybe find a 2012 NV when they are trying to get the new 2014's out and maybe get a deal. We will see, until then I get to wrap my mind around driving a Nissan Titan truck engine with a 12 passenger bus on the end of it:)
    In a separate car note, I was involved in a hit and run accident on my way to work Sunday evening. As I was going down Rt3 east a man in a white sports car hits me and the car next to me from behind. He then accelerated into the second car again. I was in shock not quite realizing everything that was happening. As we all pulled over to the side, the man that hit us gets out makes some rude comments to the second car then gets back in his mangled vehicle and speeds off. We all stood in shock not sure what if anything we could do. After about 20 minutes the police show up and take about two hours to take statements and pictures. The poor other driver was hit harder then me and had a terrible headache and it was quite hot outside. After finishing up I headed off to work arriving around 8 pm. After about an hour my neck and back were starting to bother me, nothing terrible just annoying aches. Work was busy and just grabbed a some Motrin. Around 2 am work slowed down and I really struggled to stay awake. I think the adrenaline kick from the accident and then the motrin relaxing me made my body want to crash. I made it through the shift and headed home at 8am were I did crash. So very thankful my children were not in the car and no one was seriously injured. The police call this morning and said they caught the man that hit us and he is in jail being charged with two counts of felony hit and run.

Friday, May 24, 2013

He has a name!

   Well after much debate, I gave in and let Joey have the name he picked:) Our newest little sweetie will be Jeremiah William Breakfield! He is already loved, prayed for, and spoken about frequently in our home.
    Yesterday the glow of adopting fell off and reality set in! We need a new van. I am so not happy about it. I LOVE MY VAN! It is perfect in every way. Power doors and back, dvd player, leather (a must with many sloppy kids) and heated seats. We have had our van since having Hannah and I am so attached. I know it is just a thing and I don't need it but it is just so darn perfect for our family. Joey and I are on different ends of the spectrum when it comes to a new vehicle. He wants a new massive 12-15 passenger van. I want a used 8 passenger minivan. I can see the need for a huge hunk of junk when the kids get bigger but for right now they are all very young and small. They are all also in car seats or boosters and will be for at least 3 more years. I guess the upside is we don't have to get anything until we come home with the boys but it is still stressful to think about funding the adoption and then funding a new, or new to us, van. I guess now that we have done all the paperwork that we can at this time I can now focus on fundraising, anyone want anything from Mary Kay!:)

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

What could be better?

  I don't know many things that could be better then an adorable little squishy faced blessing from God other then TWO adorable little squishy faced blessings from God! Meet our newest little addition, and don't be fooled by the cute pink outfit he is a boy and is joining our family. He is in the same city as Nehemiah but not the same orphanage so we will have a little more running around to do in country but they are so worth it! We also finished our home study visits today so now we are only waiting on the written draft to be approved.
30517140847 Alaric

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Home inspection done!

   Yesterday we met our social worker and had our first interviews and home inspection. The kids did great and were good helpers cleaning. They are very excited about their new baby brother and ask about getting a few more frequently. Claire came and asked general questions about why we want to adopt and why we chose Nehemiah. She was wonderful, she is a Christian so she understood our comments about being called to adopt. Everything went very well and we are meeting with her again today for our second visit which will be separate interviews about our marriage. We have completed all the necessary paperwork for the home study and are only waiting on the fingerprint and background clearances which should be here soon, we sent them off over a month ago. For the Dossier we are only waiting on our employee letters and the home study portion before we send off for our USICS (immigration).
   So we have really done all we can do to prepare paperwork wise, now we are starting to turn our focus on fundraising. If you didn't notice I got our cute little donation button from reeces rainbow and that is a direct link to our family sponsorship page. Any donation goes directly to us and is tax deductible. Currently we have raised $2000 between donations, yard sale, and Mary Kay sales. We have spent around $6000 for our home study and paperwork fees. I was very annoyed to find that my physical was not covered under our insurance because they refuse to bill it as a physical because the doctor had to sign a form for me! ARG plus I didn't realize how expensive HIV testing is! $160 each. It is all worth it in the end, these are all little things that minor bumps in the road.
  On the home front Joey and I are headed out this weekend to a cousin's wedding. We are going alone!! Joey's mom graciously volunteered to watch the kids and said take the weekend as an early anniversary trip. Our anniversary is June 12 so it is right around the corner. We will be going to NC about 4 hours from home which will give us lots of time to talk in the car, something we don't have lots of time to do with so many little ones running around. Is it sad that I am most looking forward to the car ride? Quiet alone time with my hubby! a close second will be uninterrupted sleep:)

Monday, May 13, 2013

The paperwork!

   Joey and I had a busy week but we accomplished lots of our paperwork for the dossier. We have a few left to get together and get notarized then we will be off to Richmond to have them apostilled. So not really overly exciting news but we are moving forward, next week we have our three homestudy meetings with the social worker. After she finishes our write up we can apply to US immigration.
    Here are the pictures my husband was able to take after church on Mother's Day, it is always interesting to try to get a good picture of four little kiddos:)






Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Getting things rolling!

   Wow it has been an exciting day and it is only early afternoon! My mom called this morning and asked if she could drive down to visit, which was a perfect opportunity to get our finger printing done since Wednesdays are the only day you can get them. Right after we finished our finger prints (which was pretty cool, computerized not the old ink way) we got a call from our social worker. Since we have completed most if not all of the paperwork, she set up all three of our home study appointments back to back to back! So in two weeks we will have completed our required visits and be that much closer to bringing little Nehemiah home! It feels so good to have things moving ahead and being able to check things off the long list of to dos.
    Our children's pastor sends out an eblast of parenting information and this weeks blast had an article about adoption. The article confused me, maybe it is just because I am a mother or a Christian but I don't find it hard to image me loving my adoptive child? I already do! It was like when I wanted to be pregnant there was love for the anticipated child. When we started the adoption process I had love for the anticipated child. It matters very little where he is coming from I love him. I find already it is hard to fall asleep at night knowing one of mine is not safe in my home with a full belly, warm, comfortable and safe. I worry about him just like my other children. (I know I shouldn't worry I am working on that:) Parenting is hard and there are moments I don't like my biological children and their behavior or actions or how they smell:) But I always love them. I am not trying to be insensitive to adoptive parents that say there was not an instant connection with their child. I don't know how I will feel when I finally meet Nehemiah. I just know that for now "will I love my adoptive child" is not a question I am thinking about:)

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Title annoyance

I have been trying for two weeks to make this pic in my title and it won't upload? Any suggestions?

How we named our little guy

    From the very beginning of our adoption journey I knew that God had prepared a boy for us. I have no idea how I just knew it would be a boy. It felt even better learning that most adoptions are of little girls and there are far more boys waiting to be adopted then girls. If you follow my blog you would remember that what started this whole adopt process what the Bible study Nehemiah by Kelly Mintor. So that pretty much explains the first name:) God spoke so clearly to me in the study that we were to adopt and downs syndrome was His special gift to us. Nehemiah was a courageous leader but also a man whose heart broke for the things that break God's heart. That is the perfect man in my opinion, strong kind leader that isn't afraid of his emotions:) I pray our little one can grow to fit his Godly name.
    The middle name is for my dad Robert (Bob) Kamphuis. Although he is not my biological father, he is my dad. No one could have done a better job of being dad without ever trying to replace my daddy or step on his toes. He took on what most men would run from, a widow with three children (already having one of his own). Not to mention having to deal with the crazy VW side of the family:) He may not have adopted me on paper (not his choice but mine) but I know he adopted us into his heart. We are excited to complete the circle and give our little adopted blessing his name, and show him the same love that was shown to me and my brother and sister.
     We are still waiting to hear from our social worker to set up our first appointment but we have all the paperwork done for the home study other then the finger prints which can only be done on Wednesdays. We filled out paperwork to start compiling our dossier and are excited to get that going as well! Thank you to everyone who has been praying and commented on the cuteness of our little guy!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Meet our baby!!

We would like to announce Nehemiah Robert Breakfield (Dane) as he is known now. Isn't he just so cute! I can't wait to cuddle and squeeze his little face!

DANE for the Breakfield family — VA

30209132708 DaneJoey and Victoria met over 12 years ago at Liberty University. They always knew children were in their future. Fast forward to 8 years into marriage and 4 biological children later they felt the call to adopt. Joey was adopted at the age of 3 and it has always been in their hearts. God brought them to Reece’s Rainbow. The family is thrilled about their future additions to the family. We are excited to see God work in the steps to come.

5/6/13—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at breakfields.blogspot.com
$0.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

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Video

  So I couldn't get this video to load but I posted it on my facebook page go and see!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IBotp_EOqiA

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Getting Educated

  For the past three days Joey and I have been working on our online education courses needed to complete our home study. We finished this morning, so it looks like the only thing we have left to do is our finger prints and the kids physicals (they have an appt for next week). We should be starting our visits with the social worker soon as well. We would like your prayers as we continue to pursue the option of a second child. At this point in time all the children we have inquired about are in different regions then the little one we have already committed to. If it is God's will for us to adopt two I know He will lead us to them, but it is an emotional roller coaster.
   Today is also a special day because my beautiful Hannah Joy turns 5! It sounds so old. Wow, time just flies by, I won't even try to explain what a blessing she is to our family, or how I felt the first time I put that little pink dress on my daughter. Okay I have to stop...already crying:)