Category Archives: Second Adoption

Such Incredible Chances

June 21, 2012 Molly 9 Comments

Dear Baby Gus,

18 days to go. In 18 days you will be with me. 23 days until you are in our home, with your papa, big brother and big sister.

This isn’t the journey we thought we were beginning back in September. Our journey to you has been one of broken hearts and bumpy roads. My heart aches a bit when I think about it all, but knowing you will soon be a part of our family makes it all worth it.

We began this journey for a little girl, 3 years old. We felt certain that she was supposed to be our daughter. We knew there were some uncertain details, but we had complete peace about our decision. Despite some little hiccups, everything came together and we met this sweet little girl in November. She was a little firecracker! We signed the official papers to pursue her adoption.

In December, we found out that there was a local (to her) family that was interested in adopting her. We cautiously prayed about what this meant. We decided to move forward with adopting her, until we had a clear “stop” from the Lord.

In January, shortly after receiving news of our upcoming court date to adopt her, we got that “stop”. The local family had filed official papers to pursue her adoption and as a local family, they had priority over us. There was nothing we could do.

That night, after we got the news, we felt so confused, uncertain. Everything had been such a clear “go” up until that moment. We felt such a clear push from the Lord in every move. And just that, it all fell apart.

Do you know that we have an amazing support system? Calls, texts, emails– from family, friends, even strangers. Late that night, after your papa went to bed, I found the website for your orphanage, and browsed the photos of all of the children. Then I saw this…

For the first time since we got the news, I smiled. Oh, love, you are so cute.

I wanted to get on a plane right that moment and scoop you up. But, I still wavered for another day, while your papa was certain that you were the one. I had been so certain that we were bringing home a little girl, that I struggled with the sudden change of plans, especially how abruptly and painfully it came.

Everything seemed to fall together, when we expressed interest in you. Our agency confirmed your availability. We said yes!

Just two weeks later, we were on a plane to meet you. We received your official referral on February 14, 2012. I won’t share the details here, but the fact that we even got your referral is evidence of the divine hand in your story.

You were so overwhelmed by us that first day. You watched us. When we would do something funny, you might crack a smile, but it wouldn’t stay long. The orphanage doctor came in and told us how you usually smiled. I was afraid she would think we weren’t the right family for you.

The next day, and the day after that, you seemed to be warming up to us a bit. You love to be loved on. Kisses, eskimo kisses, rasberries, you love that physical attention, like your big sister.

After three days of visiting, we said goodbye. Our court dossier just needed one piece of paper, with your name on it, to be filed. We rushed to get it done when we got home. The first people who could take it for us were some friends travelling for court to adopt a little girl from your orphanage. They had our paper in hand, and we knew they would be delivered safely.

Well, the day they left, we got a frantic email from them, asking for prayer. Our region was canceling all court cases, and theirs would be the last one heard. Only because they were literally on the plane when the news came in.

That was when I unravelled. I was scared we might lose you, too. I didn’t know when I’d see you again. I was sad, and scared, confused and angry. I felt… raw.

But, in the same season, we were so loved. Tears and prayers from everyone who knew our story, it seemed.

Gifts to renew my resolve and my spirit. Like one Thursday morning when a dear friend sent me new photos of you. One of the best gifts I ever received was to see your face, knowing that was taken just hours before.

A couple of weeks later, 2 months after your region shut down, we received news of our court date. What sweet news! We had to wait another month for it, but we knew when we’d see you again.

May 27, 3 months and 11 days after we said goodbye, we saw you again. You were so uncertain of us at first, but after a little while, you were comfortable enough to fall asleep in my arms.

After two days of visits, we had our court hearing. With trembling legs and shaking voices, we stood up to ask the judge if we could be your family. And she said YES!

You would be my baby and I would be your mama.

Little love, this story fills me with such joy. The ending, knowing that we are yours forever, that makes me so happy. And the journey, the bumpy, bittersweet journey with a God who holds our hand every step of the way, that makes me so joyful too.

This journey is ending. Soon, you will be here and our journey as a family of five will begin. A new journey with bumps and twists of its own, and… I can’t wait.

Love,
your mama

“I see your smile
And it’s so much sweeter
After all that I’ve been through
And when we laugh
I get a glimpse of forever
And I praise God that I found you

And anytime someone asks me
How it all unfolded
I’ll tell them
Such incredible chances
Make for marvelous love.

Just like the sun lights up the moon
This love is a reflection
Of more than just me and you
Our lives were less than ordinary
And while I couldn’t see past tomorrow
God was making history

Oh my, what a beautiful story of love.”

-Mandi Mapes, Story of Love

Second Adoption

Introducing…

May 29, 2012 Molly 18 Comments

August Andrey

Born February 1, 2011

Adopted May 29, 2012

Today was a day we’ve waited for for months. We’ve prayed about and cried about and anxiously anticipated. Today, he’s ours.

He seemed to know it, too. You can tell me it’s just because it’s our third visit, and he’s finally comfortable with us, or because we had him stripped down to his underwear, but I’d like to think it’s because he knew that he’s part of our family now. He’s a lover and a goofball, just like the rest of us.

See what I mean about the goofball part?

He loves to be grabbed and held, just like this. Tickles are okay, too.

It made me think of an old photo of Lena. He reminded me so much of his sister in that moment. There was another moment today, playing, of course, when he reminded me so much of his brother. I was barking like a dog, and he ran away, giggling, just like Reed used to do.

Thank You, God, for a story better than one I ever could have written, for a better ending than I could have imagined. For this amazing child and the painful journey that brought us to him.

Second Adoption

A Monday in Moose-cow

May 28, 2012 Molly 5 Comments

A’s orphanage is in a park. A huge, beautiful park. Think Central Park in New York City. So, we are driving down the road today, to get to it, and there are all of these cars pulled over. We drive by them and then, both our driver and our facilitator shout something out in Russian and they proceed to back up the street! “An elk!” our facilitator tells us.

There, she was. I think this is actually a moose, also known as a Eurasian Elk. The funny thing is, we’ve got on lots of hikes in Moose country in the US, and people have said things like “there’s a moose! Right up there!” and by the time we get up there, it’s gone. So, in a huge city, and we finally see a moose.

Anyways, onto the reason why you read my blog…

A was not too happy to see us, again. He seems to do well once we’re away from his caregivers.

He is still just checking out Aaron. Not sure if he likes him for more than a couple of minutes. I told him that this is okay, because Reed clearly has a preference for Papa. Lena doesn’t have strong feelings either way. So A is allowed to prefer me. 🙂

A liked this little merry-go-round, but only if I would push him. Do you see how he is holding on to my finger?

My favorite part of the day, right there.

We had him try on some clothes today. By try on, I mean held them up, because he wasn’t crazy about the idea. It looks like he is in about 12m clothes. His pants and jacket set yesterday were 9-12m.

We have court tomorrow, at 10am, which is 1am Central time. Please pray that our hearing is successful and goes smoothly.

Second Adoption

First Stop: Baby A

May 27, 2012 Molly 8 Comments

We made it to Moscow! We literally went straight from the airport to the baby house.

He was not happy to see us. I can’t blame him. We are strangers, so of course he doesn’t want to leave his nice caregiver to go with us.

But, we went outside. Our facilitator grabbed a little push tricycle for him. He was okay with that… we pushed him around for a bit, took him out and more tears. I distracted him… this boy loves kisses, raspberries and eskimo kisses. You can tell he doesn’t quite no what to make of it, yet, so he leans in for another one.

We started to get some more tears, so I sat down on a swing with him, and just gently rocked back and forth. He made himself comfortable. And barely moved for 20 minutes. I sang to him and he just cuddled up. I am not sure if he ever actually fell asleep, but definitely close to it.

He was starting to slip off my lap a bit so I moved him. He didn’t mind.

He laid like that, until Aaron got closer to him, then he sat up, alert. He does not know what to think of Aaron. He has probably not been around too many men, especially not ones who want to play with him. So, I put A down after a few minutes, and we walked around. He can walk independently, but is still a bit unsteady, so he prefers to hold a hand. He did not want to hold Aaron’s hand, but later reconsidered…

We spent the rest of our visit walking around and playing with the gravel, which he tried to eat.

Excited to go visit him tomorrow! Hopefully he will feel a bit more comfortable with us for the entire visit.

Adoption, Second Adoption

May 26, 2012 Molly 3 Comments

We’re in DC now, 2 hours until we take off for EE. Everything is going smoothly so far.

It took us 6 minutes from the time we walked into the airport in KC to get through check in and security. Seriously. 🙂

And for the record, yesterday, we never even got boarding passes. By the time we found an employee to help us, there was 20 minutes until our flight, and to her own admittance, she had no clue what she was doing. The other hour and ten minutes were spent in line or trying to work the self service kiosks they demand you use or trying to hunt down someone to help. The airport recommends you come 90minutes early for a domestic flight, which we believed we had since we had a layover in DC.