Just foolin' around...

Kiah showcasing her new earrings

.....and her new gloves!!!

Kiah with a sweet smile

Daddy and messy face Jake wrestling

Jake indulging in some snacks

Jake and his pouty look

Kiah ready to go shopping.

WE RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM LUKE'S ORPHANAGE!!!

This morning we received the long awaited email from CHINA!!!

Let me start with a little background info.... as many of you know, we are waiting for our Travel Approval (TA) to adopt our new son Luke. He has a cleft lip and palate and is waiting for us in Nanjing, Jiangsu. His lip was repaired in March 2006 at the age of 5 months. On Feb 5th we received an email from his SWI director telling us that he was on the list for palate surgery with the Smile Program. She wanted to know whether or not we wanted him to have the surgery and if so, they would schedule the surgery within the next couple of DAYS. We didn't waste a second and emailed back that YES we wanted him to have the surgery. This was a great opportunity for him to have this repair done in a familiar setting with doctors, nurses and care givers he was already accustomed to. Our hearts ached that we would not be with him but we KNEW this opportunity was a gift from the Lord. I asked in our reply email that the director email us back with a status. I was *hoping* she would email us once the surgery was complete but we didn't hear back from her. In my anxious state I emailed her last week and almost begged for an upate. I have been just so anxious about hearing SOMETHING ... ANYTHING.

This morning while I was drying my hair I decided that I would no longer worry. I was sure that the Lord was watching over Luke and that he was fine. I decided I would just give all the worry to the Lord and rest in his peace. I prayed this to the Lord and I felt at peace. WELL... not 2 hours later I log into email and I receive a WONDERFUL email from the SWI director letting me know that he did great and that she will be sending us some pictures SOON!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!

Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.

Psalm 28:6-7.

An important day x 2!!!!!

Today marks a very special day in 2 ways!!! Today, Luke turns 16 months old!!! We wish we were with him to give him a kiss and a hug!!!

AND… today marks day 50 in our wait for TA!!! The average wait is about 100 days so TECHNICALLY we are 1/2 way there!!!

We are almost finished with the kids rooms. Jake's room (Kiah's old room) is 90% done. We are just waiting on the valance from JC Penny and GOOD WEATHER to spray paint some netting and some wicker baskets. Kiah and Luke's room is about 80% done. Still a work in progress. Kiah's toddler bed is up and the crib is up for Luke. Each has new bedding and dressers. We are just completing the decorating now. The kids bathroom is also getting a facelift. We hope to have this all completed in the next month. We have also started gathering things for our trip to China. This month has been very busy with so many birthdays and Chinese New Year. We went to a great Chinese New Year party with the FFNOVA group on Saturday and we celebrated Kiah's "family" birthday party on Sunday. LOTS OF FUN and I will post some pictures tonight!!!
Please continue to pray for my Mom and for Luke. My mom is going back to the doctor's today and we imagine she will be having all her testing done over again. She wasn't happy with the results of the first round of testing. We continue to pray for her full and complete healing. As you saw from my previous posting, still no word from China about Luke. We hope to hear something soon since CNY is over. Prayers for Luke's continued recovery are appreciated!!!

Then the Lord answered me and said,
Write down the vision
clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;

If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.
Habakkuk 2:2-3

waiting... and waiting.... and waiting....

Well.... it has been almost 3 weeks since we received the email from Luke's orphanage about his cleft palate surgery. I really thought we would have heard something by now about his status and the outcome of the surgery. We didn't really expect to hear anything this week though because of Chinese New Year. Most places in China are closed or running on minimum staffing. The anxiousness that has been growing over the past 3 weeks has now turned into a dull ache. Like the head cold you just can't shake. No matter what you do or where you are.... it's right there in the forefront of your mind. I know the Lord is watching over him and taking care of him. I feel confident through the Lord that his surgery went well and he is recuperating fine. I just want that email from China CONFIRMING all of these things.

We are going to pull ourselves together and HOPE for word this week. The wonderful thing is that every day that goes by is a day closer to bringing him home. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

LOOK HOW SHE'S GROWN!!!

Olive Garden - 2/21/06

Olive Garden - 2/21/07

Kiah opening her presents.

Kiah getting ready to open presents and Jake... ready to assist (AKA... open Kiah's presents FOR HER!)

Everyone needs a set of Dora underoos!!!

Kiah working hard to rip open the wrapping.

Kiah with her Cinderella clock, Dora lamp and Hello Kitty undies. Guess both kids figured I wanted to see their cheeziest grins!

Kiah turns 2!!!!!

Munching on a breadstick

OK MOM... enough with the pictures already!!!

Gotta love the chik'n nuggets!!!

A stunned Kiah listening to the Olive Garden staff clap and sing some sort of birthday-like song to her.

This pic was taken right before she blew out her candle.... AND right before she decided to grab the handle of that HUGE steak knife that was lodged in the cake and pick the WHOLE CAKE up off the plate!!!

Today Kiah turned 2 years old!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIAH!!! We went to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner and then came home and openned presents!!! I will post the presents pictures seperately. This day will always be a day for celebration and also reflection as we think about Kiah's birth mother in Yingtan, China. Without her birthparents, she wouldn't be here with us and she wouldn't be the beautiful loving girl who we love and enjoy so much. We also reflect on the fact that her birth parents had to make the difficult and heartbreaking decision to adandon Kiah so that she had a chance at a better life. We will never know the circumstances that surrounded her birth and adandonment. However, we will forever remember her birthparents when we celebrate her birthday each year. We pray that the Lord watches over them and brings them peace.

Kiah, we love you girl! You are a wonderful beautiful daughter and we are beyond happy that the Lord chose us to be your parents. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!


This year's Lunar New Year is on February 18th. It is the year of the pig. Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. According to legend, in ancient China, the Nián, a man-eating beast from the mountains, which came out every 12 months, could silently infiltrate houses to prey on humans. The people later believed that the Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. Guò nián, which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passover of the Nian.

Saturday fun.

Kiah and Jake

Katelyn

Kiah.... in her tinkerbelle undies and Cinderella sandals. I think these shoes are a tad too small. The crunched up toes kinda give it away. Evidently Kiah is taking after Katelyn's thought process.... You must suffer for fashion!!!

Dancing Queen

Katelyn's Sweet 16!!!!

Katelyn and Tyler

(please excuse the mantle.... I was in the middle of rearranging pictures and didn't realize I hadn't finished until I held the Katelyn and Tyler photo shoot!)

All SMILES

Katelyn turned 16 years old today. WOW!!! Do I feel OLD!!!! Anyhoo, Katelyn and her boyfriend Tyler decided to have a fancy dinner together to celebrate. Usually we take Katelyn out on her birthday but these 2 had made elaborate plans so we let them go. Tyler ended up getting the "boyfriend of the universe" award with all of the gifts he bought!!!! CLOTHES, PERFUME, FLOWERS!!! And he's ONLY 17! He then took her out to dinner at PF Chang's in Fairfax! It was like a mini prom with them both dressed up and lots of pictures! We are celebrating with our family party on Saturday and we will take Katelyn... AND TYLER out to dinner tomorrow night at Olive Garden. OG is no PF Chang's but hey.... what can you do.




I had to add the above picture. This is Katelyn's homecoming picture from Oct 2006. I should be obvious from the paper covering the poor boy's face that she DID NOT go with Tyler. Katelyn placed this paper on EVERY ONE of her homecoming pictures. I guess I will printing some of the "katelyn and tyler" pictures posted above to replace the homecoming pics. Can't have random pieces of paper taped to pictures all over the house. TEENAGERS!!!!

Hanging out at home...

Jake and Kiah on their "inside" bikes

Kiah riding her bike with her bunny. She always sits on that poor bunny's neck. I guess that is one way to keep him on the bike!!!

Kiah and Katelyn flashing their PEACE signs.

Poor Kiah.... still trying to get both fingers up at the same time....

Luke's cleft palate, III degree

(The roof of his mouth is open.)

Today I am going a little crazy so I thought I would post here. We received some very good yet unexpected news on Monday. I opened my email on Monday morning to see that we had received an email from one of Luke's orphanage directors. This is very unusual and we were very surprised. She said that Luke was currently on the list to receive cleft palate surgery through the Smile Program. She wanted to know whether we wanted him to have surgery. She said that if we agreed, the doctors wanted to schedule it within the next 2 days. I didn't have to think about this at all… I immediately knew the answer was YES.

It is very scary for us to have him go through surgery without us. I have played this back in my mind all week as we wait for word from his SWI. HOWEVER, I am comforted by these thoughts: he is familiar with the doctors, nurses and caregivers, he will be having the surgery in the same hospital he had his cleft lip surgery and the sooner he has his palate fixed the better it will be for his speech. The downside is that he will not have the total love and attention of a family there by his side every minute.

We pray for him daily and we know that the Lord is watching over him and keeping him safe. We firmly believe that it is the Lord that is providing this wonderful opportunity for him. We have been praying for his safety, comfort and healing. We have been praying that the Lord blesses the doctors and nurses and his caregivers with knowledge and expertise for a smooth, quick surgery and recovery. We had hoped to hear back immediately from the SWI director to let us know that they are proceeding and when the surgery would take place but we haven't heard back as yet. I imagine she will email once the surgery is complete and she has something to report. I am trying to fight the thought of him with his palate and mouth all bloody from surgery, crying in one of those cage cribs with no one to comfort him. When those thoughts creep in I immediately start to pray. We hope to hear something soon and we ask for everyone's prayers in the meantime.

Today is day 33 in our wait for our Travel Approval (our invitation from China to bring Luke home).

We received a wonderful piece of information on Wednesday. My mother's blood work came back clear except for her cholesterol reading which came back a little high. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

We are still waiting for the x-ray and mammogram results so please keep her in your prayers.

We hope to post good news about Luke's surgery and the rest of my mom's test results soon!

I wanted to post an email scripture that I received some time ago. Whenever I read it I am reminded to be faithful and expectant of the Lord's presence and blessings. My mom's blood work coming back clear was a HUGE blessing. I admit, I cried huge tears the first 2 days of her feeling sick. I felt very scared. Then on the 3rd day I remembered something Joel Osteen had said a couple of weeks ago. "We must remain FAITHFUL and EXPECTANT of the Lord's blessings. Keep in an attitude of Faith while the Lord works. Thank God that the answer is on the way. Don't talk to God about how big your mountains are. Talk to your mountains about how big your GOD is. "

Faith Is Action
Christians have the capacity to believe God for far more than we are typically willing to ask Him to do. Instead of demonstrating a solid conviction of His faithfulness, we often act out of a weak, halfhearted belief. The Lord is wait-ing for uncertain believers to come to Him in complete trust. The people living the richest spiritual lives are those who anticipate the Lord doing great things, they exercise the gift of faith. Exercising faith cannot be passive. Notice that an action word follows every mention of faith in Hebrews 11 (prepared, obeyed, and lived). Instead of folding hands and waiting for God to do something, believers need to get busy. Our first responsibility is to go before the Lord with our petition, sometimes more than once. Then, we must consciously decide to trust Him for an answer and wait with assurance and anticipation that He will follow through on His promises. God did amazing feats through the lives of the men and women. As believers, we have the same potential for Him to work powerfully in and through us. Of course, the Father does not ask us to tackle more than we can handle. Start today by giving Him the small anxieties that plague you. Or ask God for one change you want Him to make in your life. Like an under-used muscle, faith might at times become flabby, but by putting it into action, believers can build a strong, tough trust. As our assurance builds, we believe the Lord for progressively greater things. In return, He will use us in ways we never imagined.

Katelyn's new little brother!!!

We are happy to announce that Katelyn has a new little brother!
His name is DJ and here are his stats:

David Allen Blendowski, Jr. "DJ"
Date – December 20th
Time – 9:18am
Weight – 7lb 8oz
Length – 20 inches

This is a little belated since he is 6 weeks old now. I have been meaning to scan in a picture of Katelyn and do a side by side pic of the two of them but I haven't gotten around to it yet! Katelyn and I will be traveling up to NJ this weekend to meet this new little man!

Joshua Brayden Misitano!!!!

We would like to welcome JOSHUA BRAYDEN MISITANO to the world!!! April had her baby yesterday afternoon at 3:54pm!!! WOO HOO!!!

Here are the stats:

Joshua Brayden Misitano
2/5/07
3:54pm
7lbs 10oz
19.6 inches long

Mom and baby are happy and healthy!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Katelyn and Tyler.... the saga begins.

Katelyn has her first REAL boyfriend. She will be 16 on 2/12 so we decided to allow them to "date". Turns out the kid is super nice, friendly, nice family and has manners!!! WOO HOO!!! Here are some pics of them ice skating a couple of weeks ago. The hearts are courtesy of Katelyn. I guess being "in love" makes you not want to wear a coat while ice skating in 20 degree weather!!!

Please lift my mother up in prayer!

I have a very special prayer request that I would like to send out.

My mother has not been feeling very well and on Tuesday, 1/30 she ended up going to urgent care. The doctors believe there may be an issue... the doctors don't know what. They are doing testing... blood work, x-rays, mammogram, etc. They are trying to rule out various things including lupus, cancer, etc. I am trying to remain faithful and pray that this situation will turn out to be nothing. I would appreciate any prayers during this very difficult time. Please lift up any prayers to the throne of the God and ask for strength and my mother's total and complete healing regardless of the outcome of the tests. My mother is the center of our family. I KNOW that there is awesome power in prayer.

A couple of weeks ago we made the final decision that our whole family would be traveling to China to pick up our new son and my mother will be accompanying us. She will be heartbroken if she cannot go. I really appreciate your help. My whole family thanks you.

-Nicole