Where We Are

I think I'm long over due for an adoption update. We've been working hard trying to get our dossier all sent off. I had it all completed last Friday. The first step was to send it to our agency and have them double check to make sure everything was right. Since Andy was in Greensboro Mon and Tues, we just decided to have him hand deliver it. I was 100% sure everything was there and right, but I guess that's why we need an agency. Apparently, Bulgaria is a stickler for everything having your full legal name - forms (which I knew), signatures, notes from the notary - everything. So, although we don't have to completely redo all of it, we do have to print out another over 100 pages worth of forms, re-sign them, re-notarize them. Then, we'll be done with stage 1. I'm still hoping I can get that done today, and then it's off to stage 2. We have to take all the documents to Raleigh to get them apostilled (authenticated). You can't make appointments anymore, but if I drop them off before 10:00 I should be able to pick them up at 4:30 on the same day. After that, finally, we'll be able to send them to Bulgaria. I'm so glad that this is the last paperwork we'll have to do for a while!

On a more positive note, we had a huge answer to pray on the financial side. Along with turning in our dossier, we are also supposed to turn in our next payment - $3,500. We didn't have it - we didn't even have a third of it. Last week we had a phone interview with an adoption grant organization. The interview went really well, and they had an amazing prayer time for us at the end. We were supposed to hear back from them in 2-3 weeks, but they called us back in 3 days and let us know that they are sending our agency $3,000 - just in time for our payment! Praise God! 

I'll leave you with two prayer request. While Andy was talking with our program coordinator this week, he found out that the timeline on our adoption is much longer now than we had anticipated. She told him that it could take up to another 2 years. I'm trying not to be too discouraged because if nothing else, I do know that we are not following Bulgaria's timeline but God's. If He has a little boy for us sooner than 2 years, He'll make it happen. I know that if He has us wait 2 years, there's a reason for it, but I'm praying that God will speed things up!!

Pray for not only our little boy, but for the other 7,000 children in Bulgarian orphanages waiting to find love. Here is a video of some of those children.  

No Longer . . .

a baby

I think there's just something about a first haircut that ends babyhood. Although it's really just fooling myself for me to think my 4 1/2 year old is a baby, she is. She is my baby. Whether it makes sense or not, I think that's really why I've put off her first haircut for so long. (Plus, she spent the first year and a half of her life completely bald, so I didn't have much to work for a while!)

Before

After

One thing I love about Kerri's hair is the cute little ringlets it makes. I've never been sure if it will stay that way or not. I blow dried it all straight after her cut to make sure that it was as all even, so I guess I'll have to wait until after bath time tomorrow for the answer because I can't convince her to take another one now.
Here's my sweet baby who's no longer a baby.

How Do You Know . . .

. . . when your tooth is ready to come out?

I think it's when it becomes horizontal instead of vertical.

On second thought, maybe it's when your favorite place for it is tucked between your lips.

Either way, I'm thinking the tooth fairy is going to be paying Emma Lee another visit any night now! (Of course, I've thought that every day for the last two weeks!!)

Johnsons Unedited: Emma Lee on Bodies

So, Emma Lee randomly picked this topic as what she wanted to talk about this time. I'll admit it - I was a little afraid about what she might say. Lately they have both really been interested in the differences they see in my body vs. theirs. Fortunately, that didn't come to her mind as I was recording ;).

I love how you can see her thinking about what to say next. It really was all randomly coming off the top of her head. I cracked up at the speaking game part - you know where you talk and talk and talk until your breath gets all gone. Guess that's what they're playing in the back seat every time we get in the car!


Johnsons Unedited: Emma Lee on Bodies from Michaella Johnson on Vimeo.

 

Updated Count

Here's the first official picture of all seven cousins!

L-R - Rachel Beth, Joshua, Emma Lee, Leigh Anna, Ryan, Kerri, & Ethan

Happy Daddy's Day!

Andy, I love you even more for how wonderful a daddy you are to our girls. Thanks for being so amazing! Happy Father's Day!

Emma Lee with Daddy

Kerri with Daddy

Daddy and His Girls

Recipe for Fun

Take 5 Cousins. Preheat the day to about 87 degrees.

In 3 large bowls, mix in some water

(soapy

and plain)

add a paintbrush for each and use as needed.

Step back and let the fun begin.

Wait until just before they have had enough

and then serve with lunch.

VBS

Our week of VBS at church officially started tonight!

The girls were super excited - even more so this year since they put about 40 hours in at church this past week helping us decorate. I mean, who wouldn't be excited about spending a week in a rainforest??!!

It's What Summer Is For

You'll be seeing a lot of these types of pictures this summer. It's all we want to do :)

How Many?

Yes, that's right. There are nine of us.
It doesn't happen too often where we all manage to get together at the same time (and this is definitely not the greatest picture of us all), but here's the latest shot of us. 

L-R:  Stephen, Dad, Anna, James, Karah, Nathan, Jeremy, Me, Mom.  


It will really be a while before it happens again because my little baby brother is getting ready to head off to Iraq for a year. Keep him in your prayers!

I'm so proud of my baby. 

Johnsons Unedited: Kerri on Silly Bandz

Here's the second edition of our Johnsons Unedited videos (see the first here). Better late than never, right?! Kerri decided to talk for the video (lately she's been a little leery of it for whatever reason). Her topic of choice was silly bandz. She has developed quite an attachment to hers. For someone who can never find her shoes, has lost more hair bows than I can count, and who leaves a trail of her possessions wherever she goes, I wasn't too excited about giving her an armful of decorative rubber bands for me to end up finding stuck in the vacuum cleaner at some point and time. She's really surprised me though - they've stayed with her 24/7. She eats with them, sleeps with them, takes her baths with them. I haven't seen her without them since she got them. So, without further ado - Silly Kerri with her silly bandz:


Johnsons Unedited: Kerri on Silly Bandz from Michaella Johnson on Vimeo.

A Discovery

Can you tell what this is?

We discovered a nest built in the funniest place around our house. The girls have been keeping an eye on it ever since they discovered that it had little eggs in it. The eggs hatched sometime last week, and we discovered these sleepy little babies.

  The camera woke them up, and they wanted food!

Seeing these little baby birds brought back some memories of my childhood. I hand raised some baby mockingbirds after their nest was knocked out of the tree from my mischievous (not exactly what I called them at the time!) brothers.

Did you know that baby birds need to eat every 15 min. from sunrise to sunset? Whew! 

I'm doing my best to keep the girls from getting too close, so I don't have to relive that part! : )

 

Get you tell yet where their nest is? 

 Guess it will be a while before we use our hose!