5...

Our very long To Do list is almost complete. On the list today was an appointment with our pastor, Dr. James Merritt. We wanted to talk with him about our trip and have him pray with us before we leave.

Anyone who's been to our church even once knows that Dr. Merritt is a huge UGA fan. So, I had to keep my Tennessee purse hidden until after he prayed for us so that there weren't any hard feelings! Just kidding, but we did have a very nice visit with him. He gave us information on a missionary friend of his that lives in Ukraine, so hopefully we will be able to hook up with him while over there. And he prayed for our trip and for our adoption. He also talked about how he looks forward to us participating in the next parent/child dedication service once we’re back home. :)

This evening, we “installed” the car seat in my car. Who knew you had to have an engineering degree to know how to do this? But in the end, we completed the task and it isn’t going anywhere! Did you notice? It's a perfect match to the car's interior. No, that was no accident. Zack picked it out, and the color was a very important part of the decision.

Now we’re sitting around, waiting for the doorbell to start ringing. The trick-or-treaters will be coming by soon. The candy is sitting by the door, and the jack-o-lantern is lit. Okay, it’s a store bought plug-in – we’ll do the real thing next year! And speaking of next year – this time next year, we’ll be busy putting the finishing touches on our little one’s costume. How cool is that?!?

5 Days!!

6...

For those who had asked about them, let me say that the space bags are working out very well in helping us pack more in a small space. We made a huge dent in our packing last night, and in fact we are very close to being finished!

Not much else to report today, so I thought I’d share a few more photos from the weekend.

Friday at Cinco:

Farewell Party on Saturday:

6 Days!

Too Cute

Ok, so anyone who knows me for more than 5 minutes knows I am a little bit fond of plaid button front shirts. I had to meet a guy at the Mall of Georgia today to inspect his vehicle and he called to say he was running late, so I ran in Old Navy and picked out these cool shirts for our little guy. Hopefully they will be the right size. Just thought I would share with you how proud I am of myself for shopping for him.

How cute is he going to look in this plaid front sweater?

8...

What a fun weekend we’ve had…

The fun started Friday – Zack & I arrived at Cinco for what we thought was going to be an evening of just hanging out. As it turned out, our awesome work friends had put together our very first ‘baby’ shower! They totally hooked us up with lots of great stuff, including toys, gift cards, and a car seat. Thanks to all of our friends at Infinity that contributed to the gifts and that attended the get-together!

Saturday was another great day. We had friends & family stop by throughout the afternoon. The party got going around 1:00, and the last of the crew didn’t leave till nearly midnight. In addition to LOTS of good food and conversation, we of course enjoyed watching UGA and the Vols end the day with wins. It was fun to visit with everyone one last time before we leave.

My mom and step dad spent the night and went to church with us this morning. Afterwards we went out to lunch, and during lunch Mom said, “It just hit me that this is the last time we’ll go out to eat with just the two of you”…. Wow. This is starting to seem real. It’s really starting to hit each of us from time to time, usually just out of the blue. It’s so exciting, but also overwhelming. Not the adoption or the travel or the language barrier… but the fact that we’re going to be parents! I hope that the mommy & daddy instincts kick in when we meet LG!

Now that the house is quiet again, the packing has begun. LG’s room is a total disaster, and the packing is far from finished, but we’ve started. We have something going pretty much every day between now and next Monday, plus 5 more days of work.

8 Days!

10...

I’m back from Texas! It was a fast-paced, 3-cities-in-4-days week, but that made the time go by faster so that was nice. And now we’re in the home stretch of the countdown – only 10 days to go!

Don’t forget that the Bon Voyage party is tomorrow... if you didn’t RSVP, that’s OKAY! Feel free to drop by for a few minutes (anytime between 1 & 5 PM), as we would love to see everyone. This is NOT just for family. It will be friends from work, high school friends, adoption friends, old friends, new friends, adults, kids, parents, siblings, nieces... you name it! Email us if you need directions.

We’re going out this evening with a bunch of friends from work for a Happy Hour/get-together, so we’re looking forward to a fun evening with all of them!

I’ll try to post pictures of both of these events over the next few days (if I can remember to get the camera out and snap some!).

10 Days!!

2 Weeks

Not much to report. Things are running pretty smoothly. I took Jenn to the airport this morning. She will be in Texas until Thursday. I have a few things that I am going to try and get done around the house while she is gone, but mostly I am just going to immerse myself in work so that the time will pass quickly. I am posting a photo of Jenn painting her little rocking chair that she had when she was a kid. It is complete now, but I just too lazy to go and take another photo.

Our football team got romped on Saturday by what I thought was a weak Alabama team. Oh well, the sun still rose and we made it. We talked to our friends Kelly and Amanda last night and they are doing well. In fact, they should be leaving to come home next week which puts them just over 4 weeks. We are hopeful that we can get home that soon as well.

We got the LG a backpack on Saturday and are having his name put on the back. I think it is going to look really good.

Things are progressing nicely and Jennifer's to-do list is shrinking fast. We are holding tight to God's promise found in Deut 31:8 that He, Himself is going before us and will be with us and will not leave us nor forsake us. We are very excited, scared and nervous.

Swing Set

A month or so ago, Jenn and I started noticing that our house and yard would be really boring for a child. We had put in a koi pond back in the spring, but there is only so much time you can spend watching fish swim. Our neighbors on both sides have really nice swing sets for their children. We thought it would be a good idea to get one for our Little Guy as well. We went to several websites and stores, but we soon realized, we didn’t want to pay over $3000.00 for a swing set.

A lady in our life group at church suggested we check out Craig’s List. We found a couple that we were interested in. Jennifer’s dad and I actually went and checked one out over in Marietta, but it turned out to be a bust.

The next Sunday we were supposed to drive to Canton to see another one. That afternoon before we left, Jenn’s dad Charles called and said his wife, Lori, had seen one on their bulletin board at church for FREE! They went that afternoon and checked it out for us and told us it was in pretty good shape. We went the following Saturday with my dad and brother and met Charles and Lori at the people’s house to load it up. It was in pretty good shape, but needed a little TLC.

We spent the next 10 days working every afternoon on it and now it looks like brand new. We pressure washed it, stained it, put a roof on it, and anchored it in over 700lbs of concrete. It will officially get broken in at our going away party next Saturday… I’m sure our Little Guy won’t mind his cousins and a few Ukrainian friends trying it out!

Okay, here's the Before...

And here is the After...

19 Days!!

Q&A for the day

Deanna always asks such good questions! Here are my <long-winded> answers...

So what are you packing?

We’ll be there for 5 – 6 weeks, so we’ll need a lot of stuff. But there will be times when we’ll be lugging our bags up and down stairs, or having to hold them in our laps in compact cars, so we need to pack light, in small bags. But it is typically VERY cold in November, so we need lots of layers. And we don’t know what size our child will wear, so we had to buy multiple sizes. And there will be a lot of down time, so we need lots of books, movies, etc.

Based on all of that, we plan to take a total of 2 fairly small rolling suitcases, and 2 – 3 carryon bags. Here’s a brief, basic version of our packing list (you should see the detailed version!)… and because the list is long and our bags are small, I’ll probably be buying some space bags for our clothes!

Medicine for us and the child
Snacks (peanut butter, granola bars, etc.)
Wet wipes, Hand sanitizer
Travel packs of tissues, Toilet paper
Zip lock bags in a variety of sizes
Toys
Sheets, Towels
Kitchen Sponge, Clothes line
Flip flops
Various sizes of kid clothes
Clothing for us (Each: 3 prs pants, jeans, 5 shirts, long johns, sweater, coat, 2 prs shoes, hats, gloves, scarves)
Books, magazines, DVDs
Laptop, headset
Digital camera, Camcorder
Flashlight
Converters/adapters
Paperwork
2 small photo albums
Lots of toiletries (travel size for carry-on; larger for checked bags)
Travel clock
Hair dryer

And what are the suggestions for the flight home with a boy who's never been on a plane?

We’ll have the laptop with movies and cartoons – Zack has lots of Pink Panther and we thought that might work well since there’s no language barrier with The Pink! I am attempting to learn key words and phrases (do you need to go to the bathroom, are you hungry, do you want a snack, are you thirsty, do you want a toy, are you sleepy, etc., etc.). Beyond that, if there are any suggestions from experienced parents, please share!!

And how will you get him a passport?
Our in-country facilitator will help us get through that process once the adoption is final. All of that has to happen before we head home.

Thanks for the questions - if anyone else has any, ask away! BTW, I just noticed that we’ve surpassed the 10,000 mark on the hit counter… COOL!

24 Days!

It's Getting Closer...

Nothing too exciting to write about, but I figured I should post for those of you who check here often. We’re still wading through a very long To Do list. We have a lot going on and it’s keeping us busy, but I guess that makes the time go by a little faster.

Just 3 ½ weeks to go, and we’ll be on our way! Please keep praying for our appointment on November 7 – that God will reveal our son to us that day, and that the journey will go smoothly.

(Don’t forget about our get-together on October 27. We’d really like for all our friends & family to drop by!)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

25 Days!

The Big Countdown

One month from today... just one short month from now we will be leaving Atlanta and heading for Ukraine!

I can't believe it's getting so close... and yet we still have so much to do :)

If you haven't read the previous post (10/2/07), be sure to check it out. We'd love for all of our local family & friends to join us on October 27! If you can make it, please post a comment to that blog entry.

31 Days!!

Save the Date!

ATTENTION:
All local Friends & Family…

We really want to see everyone before we head for Ukraine, but our travel date is fast approaching and our schedule and to do list are keeping us super busy. With so much on our plates right now, it will be impossible to get together with each of you one-on-one. So…

You are all invited to an
"Open House/Bon Voyage” get-together at our home
Saturday, October 27, from 1 – 5 PM

Bring your favorite finger food and drop by any time that afternoon. Nothing formal or fancy – just a relaxing afternoon to hang out & visit before we leave!

If you have never been to our place or if you need a refresher on directions, email us at dovefamily@bellsouth.net.

Also, please either email us or post a comment here if you think you’ll be able to attend, so that we can get an approximate head count. Thanks - hope to see you there!

34 Days!

A Fun Evening

We had a great dinner this evening with our good friends, the Presnells (Danny & Dee Ann, their son Preston and his girlfriend).

We first met them the summer of 1996. Preston had just recently been diagnosed with cancer (very similar to the kind I had when I was 18), and Zack would keep him company during the day while Danny & Dee Ann were working. That summer gave Zack a better understanding of what I had gone through (we met towards the end of my treatments) and also gave us the opportunity to get to know an amazing family.

Two years later, we were honored to have Preston serve as the ring bearer in our wedding. Since then we get together with them – though not nearly enough – for dinner, etc. Danny & Dee Ann have always been incredibly supportive of us, and Dee Ann has been one of our biggest readers and supporters during the adoption.

Preston has grown into an incredible young man. He graduated from Georgia Southern this summer, and just got his first “real world” job! He is also the founder & executive director of an awesome website for cancer survivors: The Life Linkage Network. It is super cool – if someone you know has cancer or is a cancer survivor, they need to check out this site. He's created an environment where cancer patients & survivors can connect and support each other - we are excited to watch it continue to grow!

Thanks to the Presnells for a fun evening and for dinner. We appreciate your support, and can’t wait for our son to have the opportunity to get to know all of you!

38 Days!

Nostalgia

When I was 3 years old, Santa brought me a beautiful pink tricycle. It had the prettiest pink & white flowered seat, and a white basket decorated with brightly colored plastic flowers. Oh, I loved that trike!

I don’t have many things left from my childhood, but somehow the tricycle managed to stick around all these years. When we started the adoption, Zack said we should get it out and clean it up. The problem is, we didn’t particularly want our son riding a pink trike. Don’t get me wrong – I know real men wear pink, and Zack sports a pink polo shirt from time to time (which I really like, but I digress). But a pink cycle is a different story!
So Zack came up with the idea of taking it to a body shop to get it fixed up. It was a long shot because the rust had really done some damage. But after weeks of taking different parts to different shops, and doing a little work ourselves, I have to say that the result is nothing short of awesome!

One shop powder-coated the body electric blue and the handle bars, silver. Another shop did an awesome job on the wheels. I re-covered the seat with foam and black vinyl. Zack found black handle grips and pedals and got them in place, and reassembled the whole thing.

It wound up costing a lot more than a new tricycle would cost (actually, Zack says more than 3 trikes) – but I love that I have something to pass down to our son! I can’t wait to take a picture of Little Guy riding it – then I can do a side-by-side of me when it was pink, and him now that it’s blue.


I’m also including a picture of the cool birthday cake that Zack’s mom got for us last week. It was Zack's birthday, but we celebrated both of our birthdays since we’ll be in Ukraine for mine. She went to get the cake at Wal-Mart, and through a strange conversation found out that the lady working there is from Ukraine – so she wrote on it in Ukrainian. We’re guessing that is says Happy Birthday, but Nataliya can probably tell us for sure. Anyway, thanks to Ben & Barbara for the neat cake and for our gift!

41 Days!

Little Guy Fundraising Update

The thing that probably scared us the most at the beginning of this journey – other than the fact that we’ll actually be responsible for raising a child! – was the cost of adopting. But we knew that if this was God’s plan for us, then He’d provide a way to make it happen. And we’ve made great progress so far.

We want to send out a big thank you to these folks for helping us get this far:
Lee Biddy
Jeremy, Kathy & Madeline Lee Bullington
Charles & Lori Chase
Jeff, Deanna, Jeffrey & Georgia Davis
Tommy & Kathy Davis
Ben & Barbara Dove
Emmie Dove
Josh Dove
Harold & Betty Edge
Danny & Dee Ann Presnell
Randy Smith
Bob & Betty Jo Wright

We’re saving like crazy, and learning to be frugal in so many ways…

• For the past 7 months I’ve been serving as Zack’s barber
• We’re eating at home almost every night
• Our spare change jar is starting to fill up
• I don’t go out for lunch at work very much anymore
• And I think Macy’s & Old Navy are concerned about the inactivity on my accounts!
• We even went through the house last night & did an e*bay round-up. We listed books, DVDs, and other odds & ends. (I probably should have mentioned that all proceeds are going to our adoption!)

We are definitely getting close, but still have a little ways left to go. So if you feel you are able to contribute financially, you can email us at dovefamily@bellsouth.net.

Thanks for supporting us with your prayers, love, emails, finances, and general well-wishes! We praise God for providing for us this far in our journey, and we continue to put our trust in Him as we get closer to the final leg of our adventure.

46 Days!

Happy Birthday Zack!

To simply say that God blessed me with a great husband would be doing a disservice to God, to His blessing, and to the man who has been the best thing in my life for the past 12 years. To say I’m fortunate is yet another understatement. I sometimes wonder what I did right to end up with someone so great - someone who will put up with me and all my craziness. But I know without a doubt that I married the man that God chose for me.

Happy Birthday to my husband, my best friend, my happy ending. I thank God for you every day. I know that you are going to make an amazing father, and I look forward to this next exciting chapter of our lives together. I love you.

Enjoy Your Special Day!

48 Days!