September 22, 2009

I can not believe it has been a month since I posted. Our lives are so busy now. No one warned me of the time it takes to have a teenager. There is the driving back and forth to school, then back to practice and back again to take Marcus back to GOV. But of course I would not trade it for anything.
So since my last post alot has happened. On the 28th of August Marcus stayed the night. It went really well. David and him ended up sleeping on the couches while watching movies. This seems to be a trend in our home for the weekends. This weekend we also met one of Marcus' friends Kelvin. He went to church with us and hung out at the house all day Sunday. Kelvin is 17 and will be aging out of the system in December. David and I feel lead to guide Kelvin in this extremely difficult time. Imagine not having anyone or anywhere to go when you turned 18. No one to help you enroll in college or school, get an apartment, turn on utilities. I thank God everyday for the parents that I have! It must the most difficult thing to ever deal with.

So during September we have gotten to have 2 home visits per week and all weekend from Friday after school until Sunday night. Our weekends usually consist of Friday practice, Saturday game and movie night, and Sunday Church and hanging out at home (Kelvin is now spending Sundays with us).

On the 6th we had lunch with a very special family who has been through this whole process and is guiding us and helping us with the process. All the boys (Marcus, Kelvin, and Devin) had so much fun playing video games and shooting guns. It is so nice to have someone who has been here and to bounce things off of.

On the 17th Marcus had his judicial review and we received the ok for him to move in. So on Friday the 25th Marcus will leave GOV for good and move in with the crazy Sabo family.

We are so excited that he will be here all the time. I hope this move is not to much on him. Please pray that God leads us all and that the transition is smooth.

I want to thank all my friends and family for their support during this stressful time. You are the dearest and best friends I could ever ask for.

And a special thank you to one of my Best friends for all she does for me. She is always offering to watch the kids while we visits or appointment to be at. She constantly calls to make sure we are doing ok and make sure there is nothing she can do to ease our load. So thank you very much, you know who you are.

What a week we have had. On Thursday I took Marcus to practice and then he came back to the house to hang out. Then on Saturday we met him at his school to get his schedule and check out Boone High. After that we took him and a few of the other boys out to breakfast at McDonald's. I love getting to know all the kids at GOV. They are all very well mannered at least around us. After that we were headed off to his first football game. He did great. He had good hits, good throws and some great catches. He is an all around good player. I know he hated knowing I was taking pictures of him but after the games he asked to see them. (I knew he secretly wanted me to take them)














After the game we headed back home to hang out some more and have some dinner. Little did I know what was in store for me. Some how we ended up having a water fight in the back yard. Everyone was soaked including my neighbors! LOL
I think Marcus and David have started a great bond of picking on each other. They are constantly trying to out do the other one. It is so neat to watch them and see how there relationship is growing.
On Sunday we took Marcus to Church and then back home to paint his room. We told him he could paint it but he had to do the work. Well he did alot of it, but David did alot more. The room is a little brighter than we thought it would be, but Marcus likes it.

Marcus had to go back early Sunday because he started school on Monday. He said he likes most of his classes and most of his teachers. I was so excited and so sad on Monday. What a great memory he will have of his first day of High School, but I was not there to see him off or to be there when he got home. I can not wait until he is here in our house with his family!!! I know this has to be a slow process but I just want to speed things along.

This week we get to see him 2 weekdays and all weekend. Five days of Marcus is going to be great. And on Friday he get to spend the night. We actually just received a copy of the court order today. I am so super excited I hope he likes it here.

August 18, 2009

Well it has been a super busy week. Marcus had his Olympics last week every night for a week. We had a great time watching him run, swim, play ball and all the other events he did. It was nice to see him everyday for a week, however that is over.

Now we are back to one visit per week except for weekends. Marcus was able to spend all day Saturday with us and all day Sunday. Saturday we spent the day at home just relaxing and David, Marcus and I saw GI Joe that evening. Can you believe GI Joe is back....

On Sunday we took Marcus school shopping. We got back pack and school supplies. And then the big bang ($$$$) hit. Clothes! He needed everything, socks, undershirts, shoes, pants, shorts, dress shirts, and much much more. We had fun but now we need to tighten our budget.

Solomon and Josiah seem to be getting along well with Marcus. Solomon ask for him though out the day and every morning. I can not wait till the morning when he ask and Marcus is here!!

We have a visit scheduled for Thursday night to watch the Colts and another Sat. and Sun visit. We hope to have the court order to have him Stay over night by next weekend.

Please continue to pray for our family and that God will continue to lead all of us down his path.

Peace and Love

August 11 2008

Today my little boy turned three. It is crazy how fast time flies by. And I am continually amazed by Gods grace. Today is such a special day in my heart. For those of you who don't know, David and I were told we would never have children. To their amazement I did get pregnant but miscarried on Aug 11, 2005. One year later I gave birth to Solomon David Sabo! A healthy and super happy baby. On this day I not only celebrate my babies life, but God's promise to me to have a family. Thank you Lord for all you have done for me and especially for my children. All of them.

On another note, we had a great visit with Marcus this weekend. He joined us on Saturday at a hotel in Kissimmee with a water park to celebrate Solly's birthday. This was the first time he had met Solly & Siah. Things went great. He got along very well with both boys and all our friends and family that came by also. I expected him to be ready for some down time away from us, however he was upset when he found out he could not stay the night, or come back on Sunday. Visitation is a slow process and he did not understand that. We did have a nice LONG talk about the process and how it was in every body's best interest to take things slow (even if I don't want too). Then we talked about the schools close to us, his room, and about upcoming visits. We are fortunate to get to see him 4 days this week for GOV Olympics. Even though we are only allowed one visit this Sunday we still get to attend this event on Mon-Thur so we get a few extra days in there. YEAAA!!!!

He fits in so well with us, it is like we have known him forever and cant imagine not having him in our lives. We have also met some amazing kids at GOV so if anyone is thinking of adopting let me know. David and I feel it is our duty to share and communicate to others how God has used us. We hope others will have the same heart to take in and LOVE a child as God calls us to.

In His Love Always,

Angela

At dinner with the Collins Marcus (smiling which he says he doesnt do)

Our first family photo

Solomon chasing Marcus & April playing with Josiah

Marcus meeting Solly

August 7, 2009

What a week I have had. We painted Josiah's room in preparation of moving Solomon in with him. It turned out Great!

I am lucky that April my neighbor was able to come over and help out.

I hope to have everything done and have both boys sleeping in there in two weeks. then I can get furniture for ***** room. I am so excited that things are moving along very well. He called once this week to get our address and phone #'s for some forms so that he can spend Saturday with us. I am nervous that he will be overwhelmed by the kids and a few friends we have meeting us. But I figured that he will have plenty to do at the water park.

Today was Solomons 3yr doctors appointment. He is healthy and happy! He was so funny, the doctor was telling him to listen to mommy and buckle up, eat good and so on, Solly agreed by saying yes to everything until bedtime came up.

Dr. Coffman:go to bed when mommy asks.

Solly: NOPE

Dr. C: why not

Solly: I am not tired

Dr. C: but you have to listen to mommy

Solly: NOPE

Dr. C: yes you have to obey mommy all the time

Solly: NOPE

It was so funny. Dr. C could not help but laugh at my stubborn little man. Over all the appointment went well.

Again I ask that you continue to pray for our family and especially *******. Thanks

August 2, 2008

What a great weekend! We were looking so forward to meeting ****** for lunch and it went way better than we expected. We were told that he is shy and doesn't talk much at first. But let me tell you he out talked both David and me. We learned lots of fun things about him like what foods he likes and dislike, what kind of movies he likes and so on. He also asked us questions about the our kids and where we live. We could not have asked for a better time. After lunch we went back to GOV (where he lives) and got to see his room and then played a little basketball. I cant believe it is going so well. I am amazed by God's grace in this situation. I was ready to deal with lots of red tape but so far God has paved the path for a easy process.
We asked ****** if he would like to join us Sat. for a day at the water park for Solomons birthday and he said yes without hesitation. So on Sat. he will meet Solly and Siah and get to spend the whole day with us. I hope in a few more visits he may be ready to stay overnight, but I don't want to rush him. I hope to post some pictures of him soon, when he is OK with me doing so.

Today our family tried out a new church, Fellowship Orlando. We all liked it! The kids had a great time and the service was awesome. I am really hoping to get connected to a church soon. I know that David and I both want to be plugged in and now that we hope to take ***** soon we are looking for a great Youth Group also.
Please continue to pray that God leads and guides us to find the right church and for the relationship with ***** to blossom.

July 31, 2008

Wow I cant believe tomorrow we get to have lunch with *******. I am so excited and super nervous. We are going out for Pizza and then back to where is stays to hang out. Tonight David bought him a colts jersey (his favorite football team) and a NY Yankees baseball cap (his fave baseball team). We had so much fun shopping for just the right gift I really hope he likes it. From what we have heard he is into any kinda of sport. We will not be taking to kids to lunch just yet. We want to let ***** get to know us before throwing two toddlers at him. I will say that i am excited to see how Solomon will do with him. He prays for ***** at every meal although I don't think he understands exactly who ******* is yet.
Please pray that all goes well and ****** doesn't think we are too crazy....

July 30, 2009

Well it has been a few days and things are progressing. On Tuesday we were able to read **** file and learn all about him. We were prepared to hear some bad things, however he seems to be a really good kid. If we could have hand picked a child on paper it would have been him. I think he is going to fit perfectly into the family. The only worry I have is that he is a picky eater, but we know he likes pizza so I think we can deal with that. After reading his file we were able to have a conference with his case workers, supervisors, and therapist. WE are SO excited to finally have our first outing with him. We will be meeting him on Saturday for lunch (pizza) and then going back to where is living now and checking things out and hopefully shooting some "hoops". Am I getting the lingo right?
So after our meeting we are hoping we will get to start more regular visits with ******* without a case worker present. We have a weekend at a hotel and water park planned for next weekend, so we are hoping he can join us on Saturday for some fun.
Please continue to pray for God grace and devine intervention with the process. I know I am nervous and I cant imagine what he must feeling.....

July 27, 2009

Wow what a weekend. We had friends come up to Orlando from Cape Coral to visit. They have 2 little girls, 4 & 3 that the boys loved playing with. We packed a lot into the weekend. Monkey Joe's, Sweet Tomatoes, Ikea, and lots of food and playing. I love when you get together with old friends and things just pick up right where they left off. God has defiantly blessed our family with great friends.
This week will also be filled with lots of fun stuff. We have our Disclosure meeting on Tuesday, on Wednesday we are having dinner with another couple who have recently adopted a teenage boy, and we hope to have our first meeting with ****** the end of the week or this weekend.
Please continue to pray for our family that we will follow God's leading not our own!!

July 24, 2009

Today has been great. We spent the morning getting things settled back in after our trip to Punta Gorda. We had a great time visiting with friends. After cleaning up Solomon helped me make some home made pizza's.

He did a great job, I think he ate more cheese than he put on the pizza's. Then Josiah helped mommy clean up.

The pizza's were super tasty and we had a blast.

Soon after lunch Josiah again fell asleep while playing. He plays way way to hard. We are looking foward to some friends coming into town today for the weekend. We are blessed to have great friends that come visit ofter.

Thank God for all your friends and family!

OK, so I understand children have curiosity, however not once, not twice but three times today Josiah has gotten into the toilet bowl. This happened last month and I thought we were done. Today while I was at the gym Josiah climbed in once again. Then this afternoon I was talking to our case worker and he did it again. So I showered him changed him and with in 3 min. he was in there again. We have tried child proof locks (not Josiah proof), he can open the doors and can get though gates. I think we will dead bolt it tonight.

I hope this makes some of you laugh at a young mommy.

Also we got a for sure date of Tuesday morning for our disclosure meeting. Please continue to pray for our family during this time.

Hello all,

Well I have some great news. We finally got our APPROVED home study!!! WE are so excited. I believe our disclosure meeting is the beginning of next week and we can meet with ***** and his case worker the end of the week.

God has been so good. I know I complain about things taking to long, but most people I talk to say it has taken them at least a year to get where God has gotten us in 4 months. WOW

So I will keep you all up to date on how things are progressing.

In the mean time I have a cute story. Last Friday after lunch I let Solomon and his Friend watch a movie before nap time. I put Josiah in the exersaucer and went to check my email. So about 5 min. later it was way to quiet so I look over at Josiah and this is what I find.



Crazy huh, 5 min of playing can really wipe you out. LOL

July 19, 2009

For those of you who don't know David and I for the last 4 months have been taking steps in the process to adopt a teenage boy. A friend asked me to give an ideal of what the process has been like thus far. So I will try and remember everything, but I am sure I will leave a few things out.
Let me start by saying that I have always wanted to adopt since I was little, so when doctors told David and Myself that we may never have children we started discussing the topic. Well as most of you know David and I did have two kids. (God knows and doctors don't!) Anyways so after Josiah was born adopting was laying heavy on my heart. So for the next several months David and I talked generally about adopting. It was not until March of this year that we felt the time was right to explore the process and see what all it would in tel. On March 16th we took the informational class which consisted of a few hours giving a small synopsis of how the process works. After that we decided to go ahead and take the MAPP class. (Model Approach to Partnership and Parenting). This class was eye opening. On March 26 we took the first class, or orientation. Followed by a month of MAPP training two nights a week. And thank you to the Aust family for watching and caring for the two little ones while we learning and gaining information on foster care and adoption. The MAPP classes are for both Foster and Adoption, and I believe depending on who does the class it will learn towards more foster or more adoption. Our trainer was a case worker for Foster Care. She was a great teacher, however she tried on many occasions to get us as well as others to foster rather than adopt. Knowing they need good families to help them foster these children, I do NOT understand why they would try and change a family from wanting to take a child FOR LIFE and ask them to be a temporary care giver. Anyways, the MAPP class's purpose is to:
-Prepare you for the role of fostering and adopting
-Decide if the time is right for you to foster/adopt
-Work with agency to assure safety, well-being, and permanence for children
-Decide if you are willing and able to partner with other adults important to the child

Over all the class was great. We learned alot about ourselves but most importantly that there are too many children in foster care and that God was calling us to help.
During the class we learned that Devereux was backed up with Home Studies for almost a year. So we decided that we would contact Kids Hope United which was able to start on our Home Study right away. Our last class was on May 11th and David and I had our finger prints done on May 14th thus starting the home study process.
Since then we have had 3 home visits by a wonderful case worker! And since we were having trouble getting fingerprints back Kids Hope made special arrangement for us to attend the Adoption Event on June 27th. At the event we met about 5-6 teenage boys that all touched our hearts, however there was one young man that we think we clicked with very well.
Since the event we have just recently gotten all fingerprints back and our Home Study is at the State for approval. We should have is back early this week.
Our next step will be our "disclosure meeting". This is where we will get to read all information on ***** that Kids Hope has. They do this so that families will know exactly what they are getting in to. As well as we may be meeting with doctors, therapist and case workers. This part of the process is extremely important to me. Because David and I have two small children we have to ensure that their safety is number one. So please be praying that is all goes well this week. After the disclosure I believe that we can start getting together with *****. From what I have been told ***** wants to take things very very slow. Which is OK with us. We understand he has been though so much and we want this process to go at his speed!

So I hope this explains some of the process of adopting out of Foster Care. If anyone reading this is interested in getting more information about Foster Care or Adopting I have given a link to the Metro Orlando Heart Gallery where you can get any information you may need.
http://www.heartgallerymetroorlando.org/

July 13, 2009

So the day started off good with a nice work out and then the library. We always have so much fun at the library. Solomon loves to play with the computers that he does not know how work, but just moving the mouse around seems to be good enough for him. Today was Josiah's first time crawling around and picking out books. I think he chooses them by taste. And of course we could not forget the movie. Every week my little T.V. junkie gets to pick a movie out. Today it was Robin hood.
Speaking of the little guys are getting up from their nap as I type. So I guess that is all for today.

July 10, 2009

Well we finally got out of the house after being inside for 3 days. I hate when one of us is not feeling well. Being inside with 2 rowdy boys for a few days is CRAZY! I hate that we live in a society where you can not open you door and tell the kids go have fun. I remember growing up and never being inside. We found all kinds of games and trouble to get into outside. Now you have to watch them every second. I wish David and I had about 20acres gated off so no crazy people could get in. Then the boys could run around outside, play in the dirt, climb trees, all while I sit in the air condition house. Just kidding. But I do wish we lived where they could run freely with out worry.
However I am grateful for what God has given us. We have a beautiful home, wonderful family, and are blessed beyond measure.
I pray that my children know how blessed we are and that they be forever grateful to God for all He does for us.

July 9, 2009

So I have been thinking about starting a blog for a month or so and finally took the big step. I needed an outlet to my everyday life. I am the wife to the most wonderful husband I could ever have hoped for. He is my rock and keeps my sane in this insane world. We currently have two children. Solomon who is almost 3 and continues to amaze me everyday. Josiah just turned one and makes me love harded everyday. We are also in the process of adopting a teenage boy. We are super excited that God trust us enough to care for another child. I expected the process to go by alot slower than it has. Our first orientatin was in May and in June we met the young man we would like to adopt. He is 14 years old and loves sports. Because of all the hurts he has been through we are taking things a little slower now. We are hoping to take him to a Yankees game at the end of July. But of course we are still waiting on the approved home study. Everything is done, except my mother-in-laws finger prints. Hopefully not to much longer though.