Wellness Drive -- Adoption Fundraiser!

With the help of another Adoptive Mama, we are hosting a dōTERRA fundraiser!!
As a Wellness Advocate I offer this for other Adoptive families over at Funding Forever Families, so it's such an honor to have one to benefit our family!

If you're on Facebook, check out the event! My friend Tanya is doing a giveaway too!

Tanya has also made a recording to tell you all about dōTERRA essential oils. It's about an hour, but it is such good stuff!
https://www.anymeeting.com/WebConference-beta/RecordingDefault.aspx?c_psrid=EF58DD85874F

Feel free to contact me if you want any additional information, or if you have any questions!!

We absolutely love our oils and I would love to share this journey to Wellness with you!

Matching Grant!!

UPDATE: 7/21/2014, our matching grant has expired, but we were able to raise $2,998!!

Thank you doesn't even cut it. Your support is so invaluable. Muchas gracias.



Praise God!! We just found out that we have received a matching grant from Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc organization! Hand in Hand will match all donations made on or behalf, dollar for dollar, up to $3,000!!

If you feel led to assist us financially via a tax-deductible avenue, please send all checks made payable to "Hand in Hand Christian Adoption" postmarked by July 18, 2014 to:

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
Ryan & Jessica Scheel
18318 Mimosa Ct.
Gardner, KS  66030

**it is important not to put our name on your check, rather only on the envelope!

Thank you SO SO much for your consideration!!

Celebrating Mothers

Today is Mother's Day. Today we celebrate mothers of all kinds. Mothers to adopted kiddos. Mothers to biological kiddos. Birth mothers. Foster mothers. Step-mothers. Mother-like figures in all of our lives. Today we celebrate you!

Hubs flew out for work today at noon, so for E and I, today was unlike every other day. Nothing crazy special, nothing out of the ordinary.

She doesn't get it, and that's ok. We just went on with our day like normal. Cleaned the house, made our meals, and went to the grocery store.

Today I am grateful that I get to be the mom of such a sweet, sweet girl. I am not a perfect mother, but I love her to the moon at back. And I get to see that pretty face each and every morning. And I get hugs and kisses each and every evening.

Today I am also heart-broken that I do not get to be the mother to a sweet boy in Kyrgyzstan. I do not get to see his sweet face every day. I do not get hugs and kisses from him. Today, as always, I pray that he is loved and cherished.

First time I laid eyes on E

First time I laid eyes on A

Nepal

It was never our intent to have just one child. It has always been our intent to build our family through adoption.

So .. the time has come for us to start another adoption process. Another crazy, anxiety-driven, ah-mazing journey. This time we will be heading to Nepal.

Way back when, in 2007 when we first started on this crazy train, we briefly looked into Nepal. We've always felt a pull to that part of the world.

And so it begins!

As is only customary in our crazy little family, we're starting things off with a bang! Some local Adoptive Mamas have gotten together and are having a Noonday Collection party and a Clothing Swap fundraiser for us this weekend!

If you cannot contain yourself, and want to support us (err MUST have some of Noonday's gorgeous goodies), head over to  www.heidifry.noondaycollection.com and make your purchases before Saturday afternoon.

Not only will your order will qualify you for an entry for a giveaway of a beautiful pair of earrings, but anyone who buys $100+ gets a $20 voucher from Heidi, and another $20 will go to our adoption fund!!

Please feel free to follow our FB page as well, An Incredible Journey Home! It seems easier to do brief updates to FB, although I do plan to still update the blog :)

xoxo

Attachment Dance

Healthy Attachment with any child is crucial. But with adoption, you have to really prepare yourselves going into it. You have to be proactive. Often times you have to try and make up for years of unhealthy attachment with multiple caregivers.

When E came home last year we were very intentional about our cocooning and our Attachment efforts. We created very strict boundaries with friends and family so that she would start to form a healthy attachment to us. Her parents. Her only 2 caregivers. Her Forever Family.

We've come a long way. There were behaviors in the beginning that really worried us. Most of those behaviors have subsided. Some, we're still working on.

We really stressed "Family" from the beginning. This is our "Family". We only kiss "Family". We only hug "Family". Only "Family" can carry us. You can only hold hands with "Family".

That really worked well in the beginning to keep her from running up to people and try to hug/kiss/hand-hold etc.

Now that our Attachment as a Forever Family is pretty secure, and her language is starting to develop, things are changing. We recently went on vacation with Ryan's family to Mexico. We had to re-explain "Family" to E. She was confused, "This my family too?"

Yes, this is your family. But, we only kiss mamí and daddy. You can hug grandma and grandpa, and Aunt Heather and Uncle Eric, and Ezra. "I can??"

As important as it is to set boundaries, and emphasize family, it's equally important to know when to broaden the definition. Grandmas and Grandpas are family too. And aunts and uncles. And cousins.

Having boundaries is still just as important. But she was ready. She has a mostly secure Attachment to us, and understands that this family is FOREVER. But our family does include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins ...

Holding hands with Grandma & Grandpa at Disney

Riding Mater's Junkyard Jamboree with Grandma

Getting ready to board the plane for Mexico with cousin E

Pool time with cousin E

Today you are SIX

Today is your birthday.

Today you will be 6 years old.

Today and always, I love you to pieces.

Today we will celebrate your life.

Today you are SIX.

Spring Break is Over!

This week was Spring Break for E, and every.single.day she has been BEGGING to go to school. It doesn't help that I was feeling under the weather most of the week, and she was probably bored out of her mind! And we didn't have our normal weekly routine, because, let's face it ... It's Spring Break!

Because of our extended family vacation/trip coming up at the end of this month, we didn't really plan anything fun. Poor girl, with her sick-y mamá she didn't get to do much.

She's so great though. She doesn't quite know what to do to help me feel better, but knows something's not right.

The first day was the worst, and I remember telling Ryan that night that I was amazingly surprised how NEEDY she became all of a sudden. She seems so independent. But as soon as I couldn't do much, she needed me to do everything!

But I'm on the mend, and Monday is just around the corner!

We did get in a ski day this week though, and I was able to take a few videos of her. She's gotten so good in just one short season. There was a moment a few weeks ago where she got scared all of a sudden, and wanted nothing to do with skiing anymore. That was short-lived, and just the trip before this last she was going over the small jump on the bunny hill, and was having a blast!

Emilia-Isms

This girl of mine cracks me up every.single.day. Sometimes I'm good enough to write down what she says. This post is just a compilation of some of her comments!

"I want ski aaahh da time."

Singing ... "Here's my mamá, call me baby."

"You like it this shirt?"

"Daddy's too funny."

"This a freckle mamá? Take it off!"

"Who wants go schwiming?"

"AAAHHH! Hahaha! You fall down! I lub it!"

"Daddy, where's my shim shoot?"

"Good morning mamá. I, I love you like a love song baby."

"Daddy, you fall?" XC skiing, pulling her behind in the trailor.

"Dora! Last warning ... 1 ... 2 ... 11 ... 14."

"Thank you that skiing mamá. I lub it."

"Let's do dis, okay? Okay? EMILIA! Okay ... let's go!"

"I love it that skiing daddy."

"Dat's funny."

"Ooh. I not like dat breaf."

"OOOhh! Ouch mamá, I need a headband per my owie."

"Where's my sister? I have figh (five) sisters."

"I need go this way. Why? Cuz I lub this way. This my mom's way."

"My other daddy? I haf two daddies."

"DAADDDY! I'm hiding, peaking. Wanna pay a lil bit?"

"Ok, wait a second minute."

Just today, "Mamí, you not like dat crap?"

And some mamí and daddy-isms that were too good not to write down ...

"It's not fair for you to be upset with  me because I'm scared of that Bison!"

"Well ... if you feel ugly on the inside ... "

"Please don't teach her how to dance and take her clothes off at the same time."

There are many, many more. Life sure isn't boring around here.

This week

This week. What a week.

This week in 2014 we went on a work road trip with daddy. Ryan has been working a lot and we really wanted to spend some extra time with him. E and I did some touristy stuff, and got to do night skiing for the first time!

National Bighorn Sheep Center

Snow King Resort

This week last year, we had court in Ecuador, and Emilia's adoption was finalized. She was a SCHEEL (Actually a Scheel Scheel)! And we were in the final stretch to come home!

This week two years ago, we lost Akyl.

I can't even begin to describe the roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere and I'm not prepared. Other times I feel like I'm waiting to be hit by a train.

This week.  

Welcome to Earth

I posted last night on FB that I was sad to have missed the Olympics Opening Ceremony. For at least 6 years we have not had any cable. It was all part of our budget cuts for when we originally started our adoption in 2007. And really we just never got it again (every time we checked into it, the costs got higher and higher!). We DO have a tv, and do rent Redbox movies (when we get coupon codes for free or discounted). We also have had Netflix, but after 6 years, we've seen nearly everything available on there! I'm not savvy enough to figure out Hulu and Vudu (is that real?), so really it's just been Netflix.

I've had some very sweet friends reach out to us and offer to let us come over and watch the Olympics - thank you ladies!!

As E and I were out running errands today, I received a message from yet another friend about some sort of converter thing-a-ma-doo. I dismissed it, and said, "That thing is $50!". We continued running our errands, and on the way home, I had a brilliant idea!

I did a U-turn and went to Radio Shack. I asked the guy if he had a converter of some sorts.

He said yes.

I told him that I really just want to watch the Olympics.

He stared for a moment. Then said, "Yep, how old is your tv?"

What in the world did the age of my tv have to do with a converter thing-a-ma-doo??

He started to explain how the old converter works vs. the new one, blah, blah. I had to stop him. I don't know anything about the old nor the new. I just want to watch the Olympics. Will this little black box help me?

In the end we walked out with a shiny little black box called for only $49.99.

AND I'm watching the Olympics!! Yay me! But now I'm wondering how in the heck did we make it this long without knowing about this magical box??

In addition to the Olympics, we'll also get 10 or 12 other channels! There may be some tv watching parties in the future, watch for an invite!!