Tuesday, May 28, 2013

6 Months

From my dear friend J today, 6 months after Henry left us for heaven...

Grief is....Forcing nonsense into your brain.
Eventually it sticks in there...all crooked, like a square peg in a round hole. But you'll get it in there in time, and with God's grace.


Our iPad/Kindle Giveaway really could use a last BOOST of entries before our drawing on Sunday, June 2!

Please click HERE to get details and leave a comment after you donate and/or share.

Thank you for sharing in this walk with our whole family.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Picture Packed Friday Post!

Thank you all for accepting my challenge and reaching our goal for entries this week into our -

iPAD/KINDLE GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!

If you don't know what this is click HERE and read all about it first....I'll wait....

But before you get to see the promised Henry pic, I thought I would give you a few bonus ones...

We (and by "we" I mean mostly my amazing husband and our two home-from-college sons!) worked feverishly the last week to "switch" and add to our "boys room" and "girls room" upstairs...

Here is the new and improved "girls room":


We already had the double bunk on the right and added this bunk, where we plan our new big girl will get to sleep on the bottom:

She will also get the drawers on the side of the stairs and under the bed...

My 8yo got this new/old dresser (many thanks to my dear friend K!) which Paul refinished and painted and the girls enhanced with the room's flower motif:


And then we added a new tall but thin bookcase and  re-configured the one closet to fit our 4 year old's dresser and leave hanging room for lovely dresses for 4 lovely girls:


Our girls are BEYOND EXCITED to share their room with their new sister (and with baby sister once she gets old enough to move out of mommy and daddy's room).... and if anyone out there thinks they NEED a separate bedroom for each child in their house, I cannot more emphatically state that your children will be making memories and experiencing JOY beyond compare by sharing a room (and bedtime stories and clothes and hair accessories and secret whispers after prayers) growing up!!!

So now to the main event...a private never seen outside my home Henry picture....

When you go to Henry's country to adopt, you sit in the government office and they take out files, the file of the child you hope to adopt documents his/her medical condition, availability for international adoption, and has actual physical picture(s) of them....we were able to "trade" the picture you see on the header of this blog (one of 3 pictures we had of Henry, all taken at the same time) for 2 pictures in his government file that we had never seen before....


My sweet baby boy....probably about 3 months old...look at his chunky cheeks...The malnourishment and constant aspiration pneumonia had not set in yet...look at the small pic...he looks scared...

I cry every time I see these pictures...if only I could have gotten him home then...if only I could have stopped the severe lung scarring that happened that first year of his life that contributed so much to his death...if only I could have had a few more months with him before I had to say good-bye....

All I can do is work as hard as I can to get our newest children home...as fast as I can...for THEIR sake AND because Henry would want us to....

Please feel free to share this post to share our Giveaway even more! It closes on June 2 and you will have a GREAT chance to win an iPad OR Kindle Fire...

Here is the LINK again.

And here is our final picture for the weekend....God Bless all our men and women who have served, most especially those (and their families) who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.


Saturday, May 11, 2013

ANNOUNCING the DOBROVITS ADOPTION iPAD/KINDLE GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Our Online Facebook Auction that finished last Sunday was an amazing success!

Here is the whole family celebrating!!


(Actually it was Sabrina's 14th Birthday and we had dinner at Red Robin to celebrate THAT!)

The winning bids for 100+ items totaled $3268....most donations are in our FSP right now but some checks are being mailed so we should be at about $9000 when we get everything in...

What a blessing! So many thanks to Megan Stout who was the driving force behind the Auction and to EVERYONE who shared and bid and WON!!!!

Our next fundraiser is going to be fun and exciting and also has wonderful people making it happen!!!

Children's Therapy Services in Frankfort, Illinois (and its amazing founder Linda), where Henry went for OT (Bernie) and PT (Norah), has donated an iPad...

and the lovely Lauren DeStafano, orphan warrior extraordinaire, has donated a Kindle Fire...

and YOU CAN WIN!!

Here is how it works:

Donate $10 to our FSP and leave a comment below that you gave (no need to advertise amount, I will get this info from Reece's Rainbow) and you get 1 entry to the iPad Drawing...

Donate $25 to our FSP and leave a comment below (same as above, just say you gave and I will keep amount private) and you get 3 entries to the iPad Drawing
AND
1 entry to the Kindle drawing...

Want to be really awesome and donate $50?? You get 6 entries to iPad drawing
PLUS
3 entries to the Kindle drawing...

Just SHARE this Giveaway Extravaganza on YOUR blog or Facebook Status and leave a comment below that your shared (or PM me on FB) and you will get 1 entry to the Kindle drawing...

The iPad drawing will be OVER when we reach 500 entries (the Kindle drawing may have more or less)...Our IRL friends will be donating as well so I will keep you posted every few days on how many more slots are open...

This Extravaganza ENDS on June 2, 2013, at 6pm Central Time when we will draw the winner LIVE in our backyard at our 2nd Annual Dobrovits Summer Celebration for our Ella's First Communion, our Sabrina's 8th Grade Graduation AND the adoption of our newest blessings!


So click here to give:  http://reecesrainbow.org/57151/sponsordobrovits-2

Then COMMENT below (that you gave and if/where you shared)

Then check for updates on our progress...we are moving fast and this coming week I will share where we are in the international adoption process and exactly what our need for funds is and why....

and then, finally...

Have a blessed Mother's Day!