Archive for May, 2008

Almost But Not Quite

We’re looking for a new house to rent. Even if we can’t buy we still need to get out of the place we are in. We need to get away from the neighbors. Also we have to get a fenced yard for James Elijah’s sake. I was thinking it would be nice for Howie too. He will still be young enough to need a fenced yard, especially since he is not going to be used to having the freedom of his own yard to play in. I think it will help him to know his boundaries.

We looked at a house yesterday that was in the perfect neighborhood. Just a few blocks from the elementary school Christopher goes to. Of course next year he will be in middle school so it doesn’t matter for him. It’s a great school though and it would be nice to be that close for Howie’s sake. If he comes home at age 5 or 6 he will be starting school a year after coming home. I want to homeschool him until he learns enough English to attend public school.

The house also has a great backyard and a screened in back porch that would be a great place for the kids to play. There was a big kitchen which is awesome for me. I like a lot of room to cook. The only problem is that the place is just 3 bedrooms. That means James and Christopher would have to share a room. The problem with that???

Where would we put Howie? Ya, the house was great but it’s not any bigger than where we are now. We still filled out the application. We have been looking for awhile now and it’s hard to find something in the neighborhood we want. We’ve been in the house we are in for 3 years now and for the past 2 we have been trying to find a better place but in this same area.

Getting the house meant not getting Howie. It is just that simple. It was breaking my heart to even consider the idea. House or Howie? We have to find a better house. It’s not fair to our children already in our home not to. So we applied.

I left it up to fate. If we got the house then maybe we really aren’t supposed to get Howie. At least not yet. We got a call late this afternoon. A lady looked at the house today and she was able to move in right away. We would have had to wait until June. The owner rented the house to the other lady.

Fate? I don’t know. I’m still not real sure I believe in all that stuff. Still, there were so many crazy things that happened on our journey to James Elijah that I can’t help but feel fate played a part. Maybe fate was telling us something today. We couldn’t get that place because it didn’t have room for Howie.

My husband had visions of family BBQ’s and fun on that back patio and in the backyard. I had visions of cooking up some amazing meals in that big kitchen. Once we heard someone else got the place those visions vanished but it didn’t make either of us sad or upset. Instead they were replaced once again with visions of bringing home a son. Visions of Howie.

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Still Working On It

We are still working on getting a new house. Scheduling conflicts have kept us from meeting up with the lady from the bank about a mortgage. Hopefully later this week or next week! I am really wishing and praying for this to work out. Buying a house would cut our monthly living expense in half. That is a lot of money we could put toward the adoption! It would give us about a 3rd of what we need to complete the adoption and get Howie home.

I am actually excited about the idea of a new house too. I have so many ideas for what I would like to do with Howie’s room. Well, it will actually be Howie and James Elijah’s room. The two boys will share a room and I think that will be great for both of them. Both having come from orphanages where they were used to sharing a room with a dozen other kids… well, they should take some comfort in being together and not all alone in a room.

My fingers are crossed that I can post good news next week.

edit:   well I didn’t have to wait for the end of the week. we’ve got bad news already. we are not going to be able to buy a house right now. we have too much debt and our credit is less than perfect… those things combined mean we won’t qualify for the mortgage right now. this is a huge blow to the adoption plans AND to my emotions right now.

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