A Week of Firsts

I wanted to post before now, but I caught a nasty bug that wiped me out for three days... I was really out of it... I even forgot it was Father's Day when I woke up on Sunday. Not good. Sincere apologies to my husband, my father, and my-in-law :0(
By the grace of God, I recovered, our kids lived, our house survived, and I was forgiven. Praise God for all of those things! Oh- and praise God no one else in the house has gotten sick!!!!!

Sickness aside, the past week has been wonderful! I just love the way a 2 year-old lives life full tilt! There is nothing like having a front row seat to that joy! C has experienced so many firsts in the past week, it would be impossible to list them all. Some of his absolute favorites are catching lightning bugs with his brother and sisters, playing the piano, swinging, kissing his sisters, watching Mickey Mouse (Misha Maow) Clubhouse (this is fitting, since we are Disney freaks), going for walks in the stroller, scanning the sky for airplanes (air-pains), meeting the neighbors, patting the dog (yes, he finally decided yesterday that he and the dog are friends now), making pancakes (he says pan-kins) with mommy (and then eating them, of course!), and going to Wal Mart (hmmm... is something wrong with him?).

So much to do, so little time! Of course, we have to be careful not to allow too much fun in a given day, or overstimulation will cause bedtime to be difficult. C is still learning to let Mommy or Daddy soothe him, so if he is too overwrought, he will still fight cuddling a bit. We are in awe, though, that he has allowed most of his wall to come down so quickly. He is already a far cry from the little boy who did not not allow any human touch at bedtime just a few weeks ago. At that point, we had to force him to be held and loved (the experts advise this). This is heartbreaking to do, and would cause him to scream his poor little heart out... the deep-down-in-the-throat kind of scream that would rattle his entire body, just as a newborn who cannot be soothed would scream. He can fight much harder than a newborn (and he has a better set of lungs), though, so we would both end up drenched with sweat by the time sleep would come to rescue him.
This kind of screaming has not been heard in our house for a few days now, which is a huge relief not only to us, but to our girls, whose little hearts would just break every time they would hear it. We have noticed C's crying has become more 2 year-old like at bedtime now. We know it is normal for crying to occur at bedtime, so we don't expect this to subside. After all, we are putting a stop to all of the day's fun. We know any 2 year-old would be a little put-out by this fact :0)

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for our son and for his little heart- it is opening now to the love we have to give, and we are looking forward to filling it to overflowing! God is faithful!!!!!!!!

Lucky guy!!!!!

Say cheese!

We're Home!

We made it home late Wed. night after 24 hours of travel and only 5 hours of sleep for C during that time. He and A did amazingly well! Only a few fits- and a few of those were thrown by D and myself!

Words cannot adequately describe the flood of emotions D and I felt as we walked into the airport... Home sweet home... there is nothing better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God bless the U.S.A.!!!!And the 2 most beautifull sights of all were the faces of our precious girls! The tears of joy flowed. Thank you, Jesus, for watching over them while we were away!

Since we've been home, C is adjusting well and seems to bask in the love and attention of his new family. He is absolutely thrilled with his backyard, in particular. Yesterday he got to help daddy and the other kids fill up the pool- he had a blast! Playing with the hose just thrilled him.

This morning it was off to the Dr. for a check-up this morning and was so well behaved- the Dr. and the nurses just fell in love and were so thrilled to finally get to meet him in person (they had done quite a bit of paperwork for us during the adoption process). C also got his hair cut by daddy just now. He looks so cute! He was so proud of himself and kept saying mala dyets (good job) to himself for about 5 minutes afterward. All in all, C has had quite a day! We can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...

Before... After... Sooooo handsome!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost Time To Go HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've been here in Moscow since last Wednesday and all is well. C is doing extremely well! He has really made amazing strides in the short time he has been with us. We don't have a stroller here, so we hold him quite a bit throughout the day (we go to the market, out to eat, sightseeing, etc.), and this really has seemed to help with attachment. He seems quite comfortable being held by one of us now, and even seeks to be held when he is tired, scared, hungry, or hurt. He is such a sweetheart- he loves to give and receive hugs and kisses regularly! It is amazing how quickly C is learning English. His favorite new words are car, bus, choo-choo (we rode the subway several times), dog, uh-oh, more, all gone, hi, bye-bye, and come on. C has also seen the serious side of having a mommy and daddy- THE CORNER! He has visited it quite regularly and is not too fond of it! Now when he is being naughty and he is asked if he needs to go to the corner, he replies quickly with a strong "NYET!". He is also learning that he can eat slowly and that no one will take his food if he sits down to eat (he used to inhale his food as quickly as possible and would often hide in a corner while eating). He has tried many new foods and has decided he LOVES corn-on-the-cob (on a stick at KFC) and ice cream, amongst many other things. He has attempted to drink our soda several times and makes the worst face you have ever seen while shuddering- it is quite funny! We have found ourselves offering it to him several times just to see his reaction- what cruel parents :0(

We've had a lot of fun here and have met a lot of wonderful people here! There are many adoptive families here at the hotel. Andrew even made a friend with a little 7 year-old girl being adopted by an American family here. They had a blast together jumping rope and wrestling! He was thrilled to be her first American friend and even more thrilled that she will live only a few hours away from us.

Despite all the fun, we are ready to come home. Only 2 more days! All of our paperwork should be finished up by tomorrow. We will post lots more pictures as soon as we get home- it is expensive to pay for internet service, so I am posting this on the lobby computer.

Please pray for us- especially for the plane ride home!!!!

Gotcha!

Well, yesterday was Gotcha Day! We picked C up at the orphanage at 3:00 PM, changed him into his clothes, said goodbye to the caregivers and the orphanage director, and drove back to the hotel. All in all, C did extremely well! He looked a bit nervous, but absolutely loved the car ride. Once we got back to the hotel, he took about an hour or so to explore the room and everything in it. Then we made dinner for him and he ate everything- including all of his carrots! He even asked for more! Now if we can just keep it that way...
Bedtime was difficult for C, but after about 20 minutes of screaming, he fell fast asleep and slept all night. He woke up this morning happy and ready to play. Andrew is loving having his little brother with us finally!
Please continue to pray that C's transition goes well- thanks for all of your prayers so far!!!!!!!

Enough talk, we know what you really want...

MORE UPDATES

At the orphanage

Last Friday,
we got to watch C with his group (they put on a puppet show for the kids), which was a treat. It was great to see how he interacts with the other kids and his caregivers. We were already in the room with C when his group came in and sat down . They all called to him to come sit down- it was so sweet! As soon as they did that, he ran right over and sat next to a little girl who was patting the seat, wanting C to sit next to her. During the puppet show, the caregivers would occasionally call for group participation, either asking a question, or wanting the kids to sing / clap along to a particular song, and C was completely into it- he just loved it! During all of this, he would look back every minute or so, to make sure we were still there. Oh, my heart felt like it would burst- half sad, because of what C will be losing, and half overwhelmingly joyful because of this mother-son bond that is forming between us.

This past weekend,
the orphanage was closed to visitors, so we had two whole days to explore the city. We started out feeling a little timid, but with lots of time on our hands and a desire to fill it, we decided to jump right in and explore. The weather was quite chilly, but that didn’t stop us! It actually snowed on our walk to the market- Andrew thought that was very funny, given the fact that it is almost June. We had been to the local market twice before, but this time we really took our time and found a lot more to buy (to eat) than we had the first few times! It’s funny to try to figure out exactly what the food item REALLY is- even though I can read the Russian words, I am not always so sure what the package/jar/box contains. Sometimes the picture helps, and sometimes not. All in all, we did pretty well!

We also found the children’s store, which is quite large and sells just about everything you can imagine. cost of the ones at home. D and I were amazed at the prices as well. Even a basic umbrolla stroller goes for about $50.00- we bought one at home for $12.00! Guess Mr. C will have to wait until we get home for a stroller ride (we didn’t bring ours to Russia b/c of weight restrictions on the plane).

Eating out has been an adventure here too! We have mostly stuck with what we know, like KFC, pizza places, and Subway (which are all a bit different than they are at home, but close enough), but we have also branched out and tried the unfamiliar. Our favorite so far has been the Irish Steakhouse. The name may lead you to think this would not be so unfamiliar, but the name is VERY misleading. It turns out the Irish Steakhouse is really a Russian disco/pub. It is fairly dark, there is techno music playing entire time, and none of the food is Irish at all- it is actually Russian. Ordering our food there certainly required stepping out of our comfort zone, but we ended up loving it there- yum! We even went back a second night. On the second night, Andrew and Jeremy got out on the dance floor and danced the robot- they even got a thumbs-up from the D.J. :0)
Yesterday,
we finally got to go see Mr. C again! We had a great visit! I was thrilled to see that the two days away didn’t phase him at all. He warmed up to us right away, and even offered kisses without being prompted. He said Andrew’s name for the first time today too, which really thrilled Andrew. D and I are anxiously ready to take C with us, although we really are trying hard not to wish this time away. We know it will come soon enough, and we really want C to have these last few days to warm up to us just a little more, before he has to leave the place that always been his home and the people who have always been his family.

The more we see, the harder it is for us. We know bringing him home will be a blessing to all of us, but that does not change the fact that there will be loss too- especially for C.

Just four more days…

Today,
We took a break from going to the orphanage today- the ride there and back is incredibly tiring and costly. On top of that, we all need a break from that room. Spending 2-3 hours in the same room every day with the exact same toys will wear on any kid, and both C and Andrew needed a break. We will resume our visits tomorrow.

The weather was much warmer today, so we decided to explore the riverfront down in front of our hotel. It was so nice to be outside! Here are some pictures...

Our Trip So Far In Pictures

Well, we are now in the "uptown" hotel- we have internet and have even had hot showers today! Not that taking a bath in a bucket was so bad- we actually thought it was kinda fun! Our visits with C are going great and we are anxious to keep him for good! We still can't post any pics of our newest addition just yet (tune in next Fri. for those- that's when we will pick him up), but here are some from our trip so far...

Court Successful

Well we both feel like we were cramming for college finals...going over all the notes we took with our facilitator and translator...anyway at 1:52PM Krasnoyarsk time the judge decreed that C was now one of us!!! Andrew was able to come into the courtroom to hear the decree read. When we were done we shook hands with the judge and she held her hand out to Andrew and he shook her hand like he was a grown man and not our little boy. As you can see by the picture Andrew was wearing his new suit which he calls his "business suit."

Here is a picture of us outside the courthouse after our hearing

More to come later....

Today we saw our son

After our long trip here and taking a bath out of a bucket for the first time in our lives we finally made it to the orphanage. As we walked in we saw C being walked down the hall. I told Lyn there he was and she began to cry. We then were taken into the visiting room and began our first visit with C in what seemed like an eternity. He was again very quick, but nervous to warm up to Lyn and within a few minutes him and our son, Andrew, were following one another around the play area. Andrew summed it up the best, "Baby brother is awesome!!"


COURT TOMORROW!!!!!

Well, we’re here in Siberia! Here’s a recap of the last three days…

Friday, May 16^th

Completed our medicals successfully! This adventure consisted of seeing 8 different specialists over a period of about 4 hours. We were required to bring some labs we had completed in the U.S. last month and then spent maybe 5 min. max with each Dr. (with quite a bit of waiting in between Drs.). Once all of the consultations were completed, we received a stamp of approval from each specialist. We were then given the documents with all the pretty stamps to present to the court in our region.

The traffic in Moscow back to the hotel was horrible! Once we got back, we walked to KFC for dinner and had some interesting things to eat- it is not quite the same as back home! No mashed potatoes- bummer!

Saturday, May 17^th

Caught up on sleep and walked to Red Square with the Parks (the other adoptive family here from our agency). It was really hard to grasp the reality that we were actually standing there! It was amazing! After seeing the sights and taking lots of pictures, we ate lunch at McDonald’s- yum! Our 7 year-old son, Andrew, was in heaven! The food at McDonald’s was pretty close to what we are used to.

At 5:45 P.M., we again set out in the crazy Moscow traffic- it was even MORE horrible! Wow, it really rivals any of the big city traffic I’ve seen in the U.S.! As my husband likes to say, it seems as though the traffic lanes are merely taken as suggestions here. This can make the experience quite scary!

We arrived at the airport and went through security without a hitch. Praise God! I was so very relieved- on our last trip we were stopped and questioned about our visas.

At 9:30, we took off, headed for Siberia. One step closer to our baby boy!

Sunday, May 18^th

We arrived here in our region early this morning. Our flight here was uneventful, and we are thankful for that. Just after arriving, we were met by our facilitator here and told that our hotel would not have any hot water all week. No big deal, really, right? Things became a little more concerning on our drive to the hotel, though- especially when we drove right past it! I was quite confused, but remained calm. I have learned to just try to relax here and just go along with whatever is happening.

After we crossed the bridge, leading us to the “south” side of town, we pulled up in front of a different (slightly dilapidated and somewhat seedy-looking) hotel. This is when we found out the hotel we were planning to stay in (and had stayed in on our last trip) is booked until Friday. Our facilitators looked nervous as we checked into the hotel, so I became slightly nervous too. Then we were told there is no internet here and there is no way to call the U.S. from here. That’s when the tears started to form… I had told my girls we would call them when we arrived here. After several minutes, one of our facilitators found out we could purchase some kind of phone card to connect us to Moscow. Once connected, the operator dials your home # for you and connects the call. I’d never heard of such a thing, but we bought the card and called. And it worked! We got to talk to our girls. That made everything right again!

After a long nap, we walked down to the Yennesy River for some air and exercise. The view from our hotel is beautiful, with the mountains framing the river. We can even see a ski resort up on the side of one of the mountains not too far away. It was a pretty day today, sunny and about 70 degrees or so. We could see a lot of people by the river from our window and we were excited to get outside and check it out! Once we got down to the river, though, we were amazed at the amount of broken glass and trash strewn all about-how sad. I had to keep a close eye on Andrew, to make sure he didn’t step on any glass. Not a very nice place for children to play, although there certainly were lots of them down by the river today. Hmmmm…..

On to brighter note… tomorrow we see our son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're HERE!

After 2 years, we are finally here in Russia to get our son! Praise God! It's really quite surreal.
We had a fairly uneventful trip and our oldest son is here with us. He did incredibly well on our trip over! After a 5-hour nap this afternoon, we were refreshed and ready to explore- we were thrilled to find a Sbarro for dinner!. Now it's off to bed- our medicals are tomorrow!

Fun day with our girls

We had a great day today with our girls!

Beans sitt'in pretty!

Ash climbs the rock wall!

2 days and counting...

Well, it's almost time to go! D and I spent Friday evening and all day yesterday at a wedding out of town. It was hard to leave the kids, but the wedding was for a close high school of D's and he was a groomsman, so we went. Even though I missed the kids, I'm so glad I did! The wedding was beautiful and we got to spend some time with another one of D's close friends from high school and his wife (Jason and Sharon- thanks for letting us stay with you guys!). We don't see D's childhood friends very much, so it was really nice to catch up. Thank you, Grandma F. for staying with the kids for us!

We got home late last night (actually it was today already), and I was awakened around 7 A.M. by 3 little cutie pies kissing and hugging me, and shrieking, "Happy Mother's Day!". I was still very tired, but so happy to see them! The first thing that crossed my mind was that I would only have 2 more mornings with them our girls before we leave. Oh, I am going to miss my girls! I just love cuddling with them every morning! What sweeties! I heard Beans praying later, she was asking God to please make the trip to Russia just 5 days. Later, she asked exactly how many days we will be gone. I didn't have the heart to tell her, so I told her tomorrow I will give her the countdown calendar so she can see how many, and so she can mark off each day while we are gone. Time is so hard for a 5 year-old to understand... it's even hard for me to understand sometimes.

Tomorrow, D and I get to go on a field trip with our girls and their class to the zoo. We are so grateful for the chance to spend an entire school day with them just 2 days before we leave. And then tomorrow night, we will have a family night BBQ. This will be our chance to see everyone and spend some quality time together before we go. We are giving the girls heart lockets to wear while we are gone, so they'll get those tomorrow night. I have also written them several letters that will be mailed to them every week while we are gone. I hope these things will help them to cope with our being away. Beans told me Friday (with tears pouring down her face) that she won't be my baby anymore when C comes home. Whoa... that broke my heart! She hasn't said that for awhile. We have had many talks about the same issue, but I guess she just needed reassurance again, so obviously I did just that (and I'm sure it won't be the last time).
I explained that she will always be my baby and that C can never take the spot in my heart that belongs to her- that it belongs to her forever. She smiled the hugest smile right when I said this and the tears immediately stopped. Oh she is so sweet! Ash is too, of course, but she is clearly much more confident in our love for her. And she seems to really get it that God is in control. Wow! I don't even get that a lot of the time!

Oh Lord, please hold my girls close while we are away. Fill them with your love so their hearts won't be hurting. Help them to know how very special they are and that you are in control.
Help them to understand that their baby brother needs his forever mommy and daddy and please continue to fill their little hearts with love for him.
In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen

Russia, Here We Come!

The past few days have been a whirlwind! We have been rushing around trying to get our visas, plane tickets, hotel reservations, and general itinerary ironed out. We're also trying to get the packing done and all of the other errands done that we will not be able to get done for the month we are in Russia. So many little things to think about. For example: I always pictured returning to Russia in March, so I never worried about the grass needing to be cut. But now it is May, and we need someone to cut the grass. Thankfully, we have already found someone willing- thanks, Don! All of this while still trying to leave our daily lives...
I am such a perfectionist that I have a VERY hard time making my mind slow down long enough to relax and revel in what is about to take place. I am trying so very hard just to be still and savor every moment I have with our girls before we leave. It is starting to hit me now how hard this is going to be... And yet we are all excited at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I think about it from God's perspective, there is nothing to worry about. He will hold our girls close while we are gone and He will make everything happen- it doesn't matter if I do everything perfectly or not. Praise God for that!
So for the next week, I will be coming back to read this post at least several times a day, so I can be reminded that our girls WILL be O.K. and that we WILL get everything done that NEEDS to be done. If you see me or talk to me, it wouldn't hurt to remind me to be still and relax. I would be grateful for the reminder!

Our Last Goodbye

Just a few weeks after my husband and I began our adoption journey in search of our son, we were able to tell my grandma the news in person. She was living in an assisted living home several states away at the time, and she hadn't really been quite herself for a few months, so we weren't sure whether or not she would even understand what we were telling her. When we first arrived, she didn't even remember who we were, and my heart sank... I wanted so badly for her to rejoice with us and for her to truly understand that she would be blessed with another great-grandchild! You see, when she was herself, my grandma would have literally jumped for joy at such news. And a great-grandchild from Russia! She would have found that absolutely thrilling! She would have asked me right then if she could go and tell all of her friends (and anyone else- even perfect strangers- she might meet along the way). That's how my grandma was, full of unconditional love and overflowing pride for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She never missed an opportunity to tell everyone about all of us- never in a boastful way, rather in the sweetest and most infectious giggly way. I wish I could have bottled that giggle! And the way her beautiful eyes lit up and sparkled like bright sunlight on crystal blue water...

But on the day I had the opportunity to tell her about our son, I thought I would not get the chance to hear that giggle, nor the chance to see that sparkle. But then, something amazing happened. I saw and sensed a glimmer of my grandma... Maybe it was something in her eyes, or something she said. I really don't remember. All I do remember is I decided to tell her. I smiled at my husband, and he nodded in agreement. He had sensed it too. So I leaned in close, and told my grandma that we were planning to adopt; that she would have a great-grandchild from Russia. She smiled and turned to look at me, and I saw it! That sparkle! What a beautiful sight that was. Then I saw a tear slide silently down her cheek.

What an incredible gift God gave me day. I knew as we drove away that that would be the last time I would ever get to talk to my grandma. I have seen her since, but that was the last time she was ever really herself. I also sensed that she would pass from this world just before it was time to bring our son home. My grandma passed away last Thursday. We got our court date today. Just enough time to say goodbye before beginning to prepare to go to Russia to bring our son home to his forever family. Thank you, Lord, for your perfect timing...

We will miss you dearly, Grandma. Our son will hear so many wonderful stories about you. And best of all, he will hear about how much he was loved and wanted by a great-grandma he never even knew.

Two Amazing People

On Christmas Eve, the day after my husband and I returned home from our first trip to Russia, my mom called to tell me that my uncle (on my Dad's side) and my aunt (on my mom's side) had both been diagnosed with aggressive forms of cancer. This was hard news to swallow, but we prayed for two miracles. We also knew God's will would be done. Just a week later, my Uncle Jim passed away. My Aunt Carole held on a little longer, but lost her battle last week.

I have always lived far away from both my Uncle Jim and my Aunt Carole, and I never got to see either one of them nearly as much as I would have liked. Regardless of this reality, I have always held a special place for each one of them in my heart. Even though they are now gone from this Earth, they have forever changed who I am and how I live my life.

My Uncle Jim was a big guy with a New York accent, a great sense of humor (he loved to laugh), and a heart of gold. He was the type of guy who was completely pure and true- he never pretended to be someone else. If you didn't like that, too bad! He, along with his wife (my dad's sister), raised 2 amazing sons- 2 of the sweetest and most respectful guys I have ever known... they are true gentlemen. This speaks volumes of who my uncle was.

One of my earliest memories of my Uncle is of the time he took all of us kids fishing. I think it might have been my first time. He taught me what I needed to know, and then let me have at it. I clearly remember standing on the pier, watching my bobber start to move. My uncle was helping one of the other kids. Suddenly, something was pulling HARD on my line. I quickly went from excited to terrified. The fish was pulling so hard, I thought I was going to gett pulled in with it! I screamed with all my might, and my uncle came running right over to save me. And save me he did! He helped me reel in a pretty big fish! After that, he praised me for not letting go. He kept telling me how tough and how brave I was. That was a big compliment from such a big, strong guy! I was thrilled. Later on, he told the story of how strong and brave I was to my mom and dad and anyone else who would listen. Uncle Jim became one of my heros that day...

If you had asked me during my growing up years what kind of man I wanted to marry someday, I would have told you a man like my Uncle Jim. And you know what? I did- minus the New York accent :0).

Some lessons I have learned from my Uncle Jim:

1) Take time for the little moments and truly be present in them.
2) Take time to encourage others.
3) Teach your sons to be gentlemen and to respect their mother.
4) Enjoy life!
5) Always be there for your family.
6) Be true to who you are- don't compromise.



My Aunt Carole was an AMAZING lady. I don't like to even try to put her into words, but that is all I have, so I'll try...

Aunt Carole blessed all she met with the most incredible unconditional love- she was friend to all. She gave 100% of herself 100% of the time. She truly wanted to know everything about every person she ever met- she was genuinely interested. And she was very direct- if she wanted to know something, she would ask you, and if she had an opinion, she would share it with you. She wasn't perfect and never pretended to be. And boy, was she funny! Her zeal for life could not be contained. She was THE BEST cook, and always made gourmet meals. My husband does not like to try new things, and is a fairly picky eater, but Aunt Carole's food was the exception. If she made it, he couldn't wait to eat it- even if he did not recognize any of it!

Aunt Carole had her priorities perfectly straight. Although she loved a neat and tidy house (did I mention how much she loved a tidy house?), she knew what was most important. She (along with my uncle- my mom's brother) raised 2 wonderful kids. She also had 2 incredible grandchildren. She loved kids- whatever delighted them delighted her. She often chastised me for worrying so much about the mess my kids would make in her house. She would say, "They're kids! Let them play!". And she didn't just say this, she lived this example. I am forever grateful to her, for this is one of the most important lessons of motherhood. I strive to be the kind of mother she was.

Lessons I learned from my Aunt Carole:

1) Truly love others- even strangers.
2) Speak the truth in love.
3) Don't miss out on the important things in life by getting caught up in the small details.
4) Be yourself- you don't have to be perfect!
5) Have fun!
6) Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself.
7) Be devoted to your family (and feed them well).

Both my Uncle Jim and my Aunt Carole were truly exceptional people and I have learned so many important life lessons from each of them. They richly blessed my life (and the lives of so many others)... Although I am deeply saddened because our son will never know Uncle Jim and Aunt Carole in the literal sense, I will always strive to instill in him the lessons I have learned from them. In this way, my son (and all of our children) will carry a little part of my Uncle Jim and a little part of my Aunt Carole with him always.

With Surrender Comes Peace

Well, tomorrow is my little boy's second birthday, and some of you have asked how I'm doing, knowing that we will not be with him on that day (thank you so much for caring enough to ask!). My answer to this question is, of course, complex. The first part to the answer: I wish he could be right here, right now... but he can't. The second part to the answer, and the part that amazes me: I'm O.K. with that. To expound on that even further, I actually feel a sense of excited anticipation.

This feeling surprises me... I used to say I would surely fall apart if we didn't make it to Russia by April 15th. Since our son's birthday falls really close to the four-month mark we had been told to expect, I used this date as kind of a "worst case scenario" deadline for myself.

WARNING: (this is directed to all prospective adoptive parents who following behind us on the adoption path) DO NOT DO THIS TO YOURSELF!!!!!!!

I know my positive outlook on this otherwise grim reality is a gift- and it can be directly attributed to the people who have covered us in prayer and love through our adoption journey.
All of the support we have received from others (especially my best girlfriend, Robin, who has been soooo incredibly supportive- thanks girlfriend :0) ) throughout this time has been incredible. It's so comforting and uplifting to have so many people so deeply entrenched in this journey with us. God has moved so many hearts to pray for us and for our son, and this has made all the difference to us. Those prayers and love have enabled me to surrender to the fact that God is completely in control of EVERY detail of this entire adoption journey. The wrestling with God over the timing and specifics is over... praise God!!!... and it has been replaced with an incredible peace.

"I have told you these things,
so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

Raining Eggs

I finally did it! Here's the video from our Easter egg hunt at church. Pretty cool, huh? The kids were thrilled!

Please Pray

This was the announcement from our agency yesterday...

As we have noted on our blog, another child adopted from Russia to the United States was recently killed by his parents. Russia takes the death of one of their children very seriously, and as this now makes 14 children in total who have been killed in the United States, we have been concerned as to what ramifications this latest case may have on the process. In the past, we have seen increased document requirements, greater scrutiny on parents, a further restriction on mental health diagnoses and treatment in prospective adoptive parents, and requests for documents from US governmental authorities as a result of children’s deaths.
We have now received word that one of the regions we have recently begun working with again has decided to halt adoption activities for one month, citing this incident as the cause. I would ask that families pray for the Russian authorities, that they would have wisdom during this time.
I would also ask for prayer for the people involved in this tragedy, particularly the other children who were in the family.

The region in Russia first to respond to this tragedy is not ours, but a similar response could come from our region at any time. Of course, we pray that it does not.

Please pray!

Pray for the family involved in this tragedy.
Pray specifically for the mother (who has been charged) in this case. That she seek repentance if she did commit this crime, and that the truth will set her free if she did not.
Pray for the families affected by this tragedy. There are thousands of orphans in Russia waiting to come home to their forever families at this very moment.
Pray for wisdom for the Russian authorities. They want to protect their chilfren, and we want this as well.
Please pray that tragedies like this one are averted in the future.

Although our faith that our son will come home remains unshaken, our hearts are hurting right now. We mourn every time a child loses his life at the hands of a parent.

One child is too many.

Please Explain

Several people have asked me in the past few days to explain a little more about the adoption process from here on out, with the main question being, "Why don't you have a court date?". The reason I haven't posted on this subject is twofold:
one- because there are so many factors, and two- I don't know all of the factors.

Here is what I know...

We are waiting for a court date to be assigned. These are generally assigned in the order by which the families traveled for trip one. Remember, there are several other agencies working in our region, which means there are other families in "line" in addition to the families from our agency. We are next (along with another family) within our agency. The court will take 2 families from our agency per court day. Adoptions are only processed on Tuesdays, so there is one possible court day per week.

In order for a court date to be assigned to us, all of our documents (dossier) must first be reviewed again by our facilitator. He needs to ensure that they are all in his possession (he has his own copies and our regional facilitator has her own copies as well- hers are the ones that will physically be turned in to the judge), that they are all done correctly, that they are all current / not expired, etc. It is our understanding that this process is complete or nearly complete.

Next, our physical dossier will be brought to the courthouse by our regional facilitator and presented to the judge. The judge then reviews the dossier (checking for the same things listed above) and assigns a court date. This could happen in one day, or it could take several weeks for a date to be assigned, depending on the judge's satisfaction with the dossier. He may ask for additional support documents and/or for documents to be re-done before a court day is assigned or even after a court date is assigned. Basically, additional documents can be requested at any time- even during the time we are physically in court (eeek! hope that doesn't happen!).

After a court date is assigned, this information must be relayed to/confirmed by the adoption agency's staff here is the U.S. During this time, our entire itinerary is planned out and every day we will spend in Russia is accounted for. We will be informed of our court date once our court date is confirmed and the general itinerery is mapped out.
Here's a rundown of the general itinerary (approx 27-30 days)...

1) Medicals
Spend several days in Moscow, during which time the medicals will be completed. We are required to have several labs done here in the U.S. and bring the results to Russia with us. We will see 8 specialists (oncologist, neurologist, etc.) and they will sign off on some paperwork for us to bring to the region with us.
2) Pre-court visit
Travel to the region and have at least one pre-court visit with our son. This is required by the court. I am fully in favor of this one and look forward to fulfilling the wishes of the court!
3) Prepare for court
We will spend several hours with one of our facilitators prepping for court the day prior to our actual court date.
4) COURT!
This will take about 2 hours, during which time we will be questioned about all things pertaining to our life, who we are, and what kind of parents we will be to our son.
5) 10-day waiting period
Our region (along with most regions in Russia) requires a 10-day waiting period post-court before we can be forever united with our son. We are told the purpose of this is to allow parents and children to build a stronger bond before the child is taken from the only home and caregivers he or she has ever known. During this time, our son stays in the orphanage and we are allowed to visit as often as the orphanage allows (this seems to be just about every weekday in our region).
6) Gotcha Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This will be the day we get to take our son with us :0) It will be amazing to actually get to walk out of the orphanage with him in our arms!
7) Paperwork
We will spend a few days in the region after gotcha day getting our some of the identification paperwork our son will need- new birth certificate, etc.
8) Return to Moscow
We will spend our last few days in Russia getting more paperwork (U.S. Embassy, etc.)
9) Fly home!
Our son will meet the rest of his forever family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that's it! After we return home, we will be required to complete several post-placement reports over a span of 3 years. A post-placement report is simply a report that is written by our social worker, detailing our son's well-being and progress in his new family/home.

Please pray for a court date to come soon, so we can become a forever family as soon as possible!

Words to live by- out of the mouth of a 5 year-old

Each of my 5 year-old girls got a beautiful cross necklace as a gift from their grandma and grandpa several months ago. The necklaces are highly treasured by the girls and are worn quite regularly. The other day, one of my girls came up to me out of the blue and said, "Mom, whenever I am sad, I just look at this (holding the cross up) and it makes me happy". I asked her to repeat what she had just said to her dad, so she did. She then flashed us a beautiful, carefree smile and skipped away. How simple, I thought... that's all there is to it. Thanks for the reminder, God!


"Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you"

1 Peter 5:7


"I am leaving you with a gift- peace of mind and heart.
And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.
So don't be troubled or afraid." John 14:27


"Always be full of Joy in the Lord. I say it again- rejoice!"

Phillipeans 4:4