Can I be honest? I've been tired. Really tired, I think. I slept terribly last night, and woke up mega-crabby tired. I think it's the fact that the emotion from court hasn't quite settled down yet, and the jet lag still rears its ugly head every so often. Well today, after our morning visit - I took a nap. And I woke up a whole new woman! Thank the Lord - because I know it was wearing on me - and I'm sure it was wearing on Jake & Rach, too!
We walked to our afternoon visit, all in agreement that it would be really, really, really nice to have a car. The walking is getting old. We're pretty sure it's about 4.5 miles a day, plus four 15-minute metro rides. You can only see the same buildings and sidewalks so much!
When we got to the orphanage, we decided to just hang out on the couch. It seems to upset the staff too much to ask them to unlock the playroom. Although, they are upset if we sit on the couch in the hallway, too.
Carter greeted me with some giggles again when the nanny brought him to us, and he was pretty giggly throughout the whole visit.
Just love when this tongue makes an appearance :)
Also love when I get a second or two to give this boy some love.
Love to love him!
Love his little vest...don't you? We just laughed when we saw it. Not sure if it's a vest or bathrobe...but either way, it's pretty silly :)
We brought some of his jeans along to try on today, and I'm sorry we didn't get photos...because he looked absolutely adorable! They fit perfectly - 2T it is!
About halfway into our visit, a nanny came out with a plate of mashed apples. She wanted us to see her feed Carter! He ate slowly and cautiously, probably because he wasn't in his groupa. And also, probably because we were there. But it was good to see him eat.
Notice how tenderly the nanny strokes his cheek? I didn't get the feeling that she was putting on a 'show' for us...I think God has answered our prayers of the nannies favoring our boy.
Thanks for the fam photo, Rachel :)
We also practiced walking some more, and my oh my! This guy is really getting the hang of it! Toward the end of our visit, he walked totally unassisted and unprompted from the couch to me. It really won't be long!
Yes, I'm sitting on a giant pig. The floor is cold.... okay?! :)
Now, we just finished a dinner of pork and cheesy risotto (made by Jake!)...it was so good! Tomorrow we'll probably go to both visits...can't wait to see our boy again!
A few funny things from today...Rachel bought some tea at the store. So this morning, Jake made her a cup. He said 'here is the sugar - and this one is the salt'. Rachel put some sugar in...only to find that it wasn't sugar. Ha. We all had a good laugh about her salty tea :)
Also - Sarah B - Jake must really be missing you today! He keeps calling Rachel 'Sarah' :)
Thanks to all of you for following along! Much love to you!
One Thing I Know For Sure: This boy's going to be walking like crazy in no time!
This morning's visit was another 2 hours spent on the couch, in the hallway. But it was good...Carter was a super happy boy, and we had so much fun watching him laugh!
At the beginning of our visit, we wrote a note to the nannies and asked if we could watch Carter eat lunch after our visit.
"Da, da, da!" - which means 'yes, yes, yes'. Call us crazy, but we took it literally. More on this later.
When she brought Carter out to us, he came to me right away, and was laughing. He took a few steps toward me, unassisted. He's never done that (at least not in our presence) before!
We brought along a few of his clothes and shoes to see if they would fit. We have been worried that the 24 mos/2T would be too small. Well - we were wrong! We brought a 24mos sweatshirt, and even over his layers it was slightly big. This is good! He'll grow into it soon, I'm sure.
We also tried some shoes, based on the outline that we made of his foot on our last trip. We bought size 6 shoes....but they were a little big. Should have gone with a 5 :) But they'll work for now!
Hey guys - I really like these new shoes you got me!
I love to hug my mama!
Since he did so good taking a few steps toward me when the nanny brought him out, we decided to walk him around a bit, and see if he would do it again!
He LOVED walking back and forth from me to Jake - he just thought it was hilarious! And he did a great job!
And of course, we spent lots of time enjoying this boy's laughter. It's contagious!
After a little while, a nanny brought Carter a sweet croissant filled with...fig? Or something. At first, he showed some interest in taking it from me - he was definitely thinking about it. But once we got it close to his mouth, he turned away. He's just not ready to take it from us yet. The level of trust isn't quite there yet. And that's okay. It's a work in progress...and it's moving at his pace...we're getting there :)
Which brings me to something I've been meaning to blog about, but just haven't done it yet. Some of you have emailed and asked about Rachel being on this trip, and how it might affect our attachment and bonding with Carter. Obviously the first days/weeks/months of attachment are vital in establishing a positive, successful parent-child relationship. First let me say that we are cautious about how much time he spends on her lap or in her arms. He sees her, he plays with her, he laughs with her, but it's usually from my lap. He has sat on her lap, he has been held by her - but it's only been for a minute or two. She understands fully that the point of these visits is to work on US bonding with Carter. She's along to spend time with him, yes - (amongst other reasons...!), but she gets that the visits are really about us getting to know Carter, and Carter becoming comfortable with us. We're blessed that Rachel understands all of this, and is willing to cooperate!
With that being said, if you are coming after us - and are contemplating bringing an older child or adult helper - we would say that for us it has been a great fit. It's probably not for every couple, but it works for us. Before you do this, be sure that you're compatible with this person. I'm sure this trip would be long and miserable if we didn't mesh with Rachel. Also, be sure that this person fully understands attachment and all that goes with it (only parents feed the child, only parents change the child, only parents meet the child's needs, only parents comfort the child when he's upset/crying, etc.) - at least for the first few weeks. So, if you're lucky enough to find someone who you think you could spend multiple weeks with (during some of the most emotional and stressful weeks of your life!) and who also understands adoption/attachment - then we say 'go for it'!
Anyhow...back to the visit :)
After our visit, we went back into the groupa and reminded the nanny that we were going to watch him eat lunch. Remember, she said 'da, da, da'. :)
Well she started going on & on in Russian. She didn't seem too happy. So we called Eugene to have him talk to her and translate. He told us that she said it's a 'general rule' that nobody watch the children eat.
Hmm...that's funny. 2 hours ago, you said 'da, da, da'. What changed?! We're pretty sure the grumpy office lady made a visit to the groupa, and it probably came up in conversation. I'm sure this office lady reminded the nanny of the 'general rule' - and that was that.
So - we left. A little disappointed - but it is what it is! We'll head back this afternoon for more fun!
One Thing I Know For Sure: It's soooo nap time now....
We didn't visit Carter this afternoon, so if you're here for photos of him...I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow! We decided to explore a little bit, and take the metro to a different part of the city.
We ended up taking the blue line to Petrivka - we heard there was a large department store near there called 'Ashan'. Apparently the Hillsong Church is also near there. We plan to go there this week - so I'll update about that after we go. There were a few things we needed for the apartment, and we've heard that we can get everything that we need from this store. So off we went!
First off, taking the blue line from Kreschatyik is....different. You walk through a long tunnel to get there. Just follow the crowd - that was our motto. When we got off at Petrivka, we walked toward McDonalds (we read somewhere that we should head toward McDonalds) - and just kept stopping people and saying "eez-vee-neet-yeh? Ashan?" Which means 'excuse me- ashan?'. Actually, I should say that I kept stopping people and asking them. Jake was afraid. He would say 'you should ask that person...' but never wanted to ask them himself. It kind of cracked me up :)
Eventually we made it there. Wow! It's just like Wal-Mart! Really - if you ever need anything while you're in this region - go to this store! We got a strainer, a sturdy bowl (for mixing stuff), a spatula/pancake flipper, 2 mugs (one for coffee, one for tea!), a tea kettle (not just for tea, but for heating water for our oatmeal), an ice cube tray, a small flat iron (for my hair, not my clothes), and a comb (because, yes - I forgot mine...). We paid about $30 for all of it. They also had clothes, groceries (but don't go here for groceries - there are stores much closer), shoes, electronics, etc.
As we were leaving Ashan, a police officer stopped us. He was in our face...and we just said "english?" he pulled out a water bottle that was in Jake's backpack. I'm pretty sure he thought we stole it. We motioned that we brought it in with us, and he let us go...but I'm not sure he totally believed us. We all had a good laugh about it. We just spent $30 on all this stuff...but we stole this bottle of water. Right.
It was really interesting to see another part of the city. It's much - MUCH different than where we are staying. The street we walk to get to the metro is the most upscale street in the entire city (so we've been told)...it's clean and it's modern. And that's nothing like this other part of town. It was an eye opener to see what the rest of the city is really like.
After Ashan, we decided to take Rachel to Celentanos :) Not native food, we know. But we're easing her in slowly! I had a calzone - Jake and Rachel split a pizza, and for dessert we all shared an apple and cherry pancake. And 3 sodas - all for about $16.
Rachel is keeping the Coke bottle - because it has cyrillic on it :)
Yep - we really loved this coke bottle...
Proof that Jake was there.
Every time we've been here, we've had to wait. But tonight's wait was ridiculous! I'm pretty sure we were there almost 2 hours. But, we left with full tummies :) Can't complain, right?!
Now we're all catching up on emails and I think we're going to watch the greatest movie of all time...The Sound of Music! Rachel has never seen it (shocking, I know!) and I could watch it every single weekend :) The first time I saw it was when I had a little lady in my preschool class who just loved it - so I thought "If this movie entertains a 3 year old, I've gotta see it!". That's when I fell in love with it!
Tomorrow we plan on going to both visits - so there will be more interesting posts tomorrow :)
One Thing I Know For Sure: I'll be going to bed singing 'I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence in rain...." :)
Our morning walk to the orphanage was cold. Like - 25 degrees, cold. But autumn put on it's best show for us as we walked. The leaves were falling all around us, and for a minute - it almost felt like we were back home.
When we got to the orphanage, the nanny got Carter dressed for us - and while she did, a little love who is listed on Reece's Rainbow ran right over to me. She put her hands up - I held them - and she laughed and laughed. I can't wait to get home and start advocating for her. She is a tiny little peanut of a girl...so dainty and petite.
We took some hats that Jake's mom made and we typed up a note in Google translator, and then sent it to our iPad. We explained that the hats were for the kids. And then we asked if someone could unlock the stinkin' playroom downstairs!! Luckily, she understood and sent someone to do it.
We got to the playroom, and Carter pretty much froze. He didn't want to play. He didn't want to be tickled. He just wanted to be held. He was nervous. He was overwhelmed. Total sensory-overload.
We've been in this room once before, but it was on our last trip. Carter was very sick that day, so we thought his strange behavior was attributed to that. Now we realize that it's the room. It's the different environment. It's the bright colors.
We forgot that our boy has spent the last 3 years in the same 3 little rooms. We have been so blessed to see Carter just laugh and giggle - he is such a happy little boy. But we needed this reminder. This reminder that he has some of the 'baggage' that comes with living in an orphanage.
It was a good reminder. Yes - he's doing great. Really great. But let's not forget where he came from.
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Since he was so cuddly for most of our visit, we decided to see what's underneath all those layers! And we love what we found!
Rolls! A chubby belly!
Carter loves this kids music app on our iPad. It plays drums, a xylophone, and piano.
He likes that he can just gently touch it, and it makes music.
Just love this face. He's concentrating so hard!
Towards the end of our visit, he started to become a little more comfortable. He giggled a little bit, and was feeling a little more brave to crawl around. I'm sure after a few visits in this room, he'll be fine.
At one point, he was just relaxing on my lap. Little legs crossed, just so content. After some tickling, he started squeezing his little belly - look for it in this video...that's what we're laughing at, in case you don't catch it on your own :)
Because we were in a closed room with a rug, we had to take our shoes off - it's just a cultural thing. So Jake had his shoes off, and Carter was trying to pull Jake's sock off, too. We got a good laugh out of this....
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After our visit we stopped at the Billa to get a pineapple, bananas, more water, and some other little things (including MORE chocolate, for the 2 addicts that I'm living with...!). We're not sure if we're going to our afternoon visit, or if we're going to do some sightseeing instead. We all agreed that we need to go see a sight every few days - otherwise it will be the end of our trip, and we'll be hurrying around - looking at all the sights, but not really enjoying any of it.
I'm starting to really love this city. This is an emotion I never expected. I love these people. I love this place. I love being mixed with the people, intertwined with the culture. And while it will be really good to get home - I know it will be hard to leave.
One Thing I Know For Sure: No - Jill - by 'sightseeing' I don't mean going to the other McDonalds, instead of the one we usually go to :) Jesse & Lisa...Rachel's going to have her fill of Eastern European History by the time we're done!
Today we set our alarm clock for 7:00a...and when we heard it go off, we all decided we should just go back to bed :) So we slept until around 11:00a, and then decided to unpack our bags. We never got to unpack on our last trip, because we were always needing to be ready to move apartments! So it was really nice to settle in.
We headed to our afternoon visit and just took a leisurely walk there.
Thanks for the pic, Rach!
When we got there, Carter was just coming out of the nap room and he seemed happy to see us. They asked us to wait in the hallway for him and as we walked out, we heard him fuss a bit.
Today's visit was filled with lots of giggles and a few snuggles. We're realizing that all the snuggles that we got during our last trip were probably because he was feeling sick. The 'real' Carter seems to be much more outgoing and active. We're glad we had the chance to bond with him through snuggling on the last trip...because we don't know how much we'll get on this trip! So - when he does want to snuggle, we are sure to take full advantage.
Jake had fun playing this new game with Carter today....and Carter sure liked it too! We all enjoyed watching him laugh and giggle! What a little lover.
This boy sure loves his papa!
Love this face. And he loved this squishy thing. It lit up, too - and he just couldn't get enough!
Doesn't get much better than this!
What is cuter than a boy with bubbles?! Sure love this guy!
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Tonight we had spaghetti with some beef pasta things :) It was good - and we were HUNGRY! Tomorrow we'll try to go to both visits - hopefully we'll be ditching this jet lag soon :) And we're also going to try to ask the nannies to unlock the playroom tomorrow so we don't have to sit on the couch!
Also - I told my grannie that I would leave Rachel's blog for all of you. She's blogging this journey, too - and it's been fun to hear her perspective on each day! Go check it out!
One Thing I Know For Sure: I sure missed those giggles :)
Let me start at the beginning of our day! A different driver, Eugene (who we also like very much!) picked us up at our apartment around 11:30. Which was about 20 minutes after he called us. So, we threw our stuff in our bags and got dressed for court. That's how it goes here - you just have to roll with it! So we did. We moved in to our new apartment and left for court. We got there about 50 minutes early, so Eugene took us to a cafe for some coffee. He gave us an excellent history lesson about this city and the Russian language. We learned many things that we would never learn on wikipedia :)
Right at 2:00p, Yulia walked up and away we went, in to court. Originally, Yulia thought Rachel would be able to stay in the court room if we just said she was a 'relative' - well, somebody said no, that it was a closed hearing. So we had to have Rachel sit in the hall! This made me so nervous! She's 100% our responsibility, and she's sitting in a hallway with a bunch of people awaiting their court hearing! All I remember saying was "stay put - do not move!!".
Just before the judge came in, Yulia said "All you need to know, is stand when the judge enters. At the end, you say that you want to move forward with the adoption, you want to change his name, and you want to be put on record as his parents." So we both started immediately reviewing these 'rules' in our head. We actually never had to say any of that. My point? Don't panic during court. It will all come to you when it's supposed to :)
In the court room was us and Yulia, the prosecutor (who was wearing sweatpants and ugg boots...), the judge, two jurors, the orphanage director, and the child services representative. When the judge walked in, we stood. At this point, I was feeling good. She asked Jake basic questions like our address, place of birth, etc.
Okay, easy stuff.
And then the real questions started.
Why are you adopting a child when you don't have your own biological children yet?
Why are you adopting a child with special needs?
Why don't you adopt from America?
Are you unable to have kids?
What do you know about kids with Down syndrome?
Why will his life be better in America?
How will you take care of him?
When will you have your own children?
How can you love this child as much as your biological children?
Okay, now we started to panic a bit. Yulia seemed to be a bit nervous, too. I think that's what made me panic.
Then they started asking about our house. How big? How many rooms? A yard? How many bathrooms? Wait - we have a book with photos of our house! We passed the book over, and as the judge flipped through, she paused on the photo of Carter's bedroom.
"Is this...the boys' room??" She seemed shocked.
"Yes - that's his room."
This is when the doctor winked at me. And I knew we were golden.
Then it was the doctors turn to speak. He talked about our first meeting - and he told the judge that Anton immediately hugged me, and made eye contact. He told her that he hugged and wouldn't let go.
And the judge and jurors lost it.
They all three broke down crying. One of the jurors continued crying through the rest of the hearing.
And the doctor winked again :)
The the doctor said "Anton? Picture?". Well...we didn't have a picture of Anton with us. Luckily, Jake had the iPad - so we got it out and showed the judge and jurors photos of our first visits.
More tears.
The judge had a few more questions about Anton's biological family. She directed most of them to the orphanage director. He explained that they haven't visited in 6 months, and they have signed away their rights. He told the judge that Anton's grandparents came to visit every birthday, and the judge seemed concerned that they would come this year and wonder where he was. He said no - they wouldn't come again.
They wouldn't come again, because his parents found out this week that Anton was being adopted by an American family.
And in his words - "They were very - very positive. They want an American family to take their child.".
It made me emotional to know that they've been informed. They know their boy is going home. To a family. In America. It was hard to hold back the tears.
So - after the doctor explained this all to the judge, they went to deliberate.
This is when Yulia told me that this judge has never done a special needs adoption before. Ever.
I'm so glad she waited until now to share this! I would have probably been a nervous nelly!
They all came back into the room, and told us that they were in favor of this adoption. They all agreed that this boy would have a better life in America. And they agreed to record us as his parents.
I cried. They cried. The doctor hugged us. And that was all.
It's officially official :) He's ours. Our boy.
Carter Benjamin Gibson. :)
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Since we were able to move before court, we had time to make it to our afternoon visit! We were so glad to be able to see our boy!
We arrived and he was sleeping. Well this time, I was able to snap a photo :)
They brought him out to us about a half hour later...and for the first time, he was excited to see us. He was laughing and smiling, and reached right out for me. Oh how that does this mama's heart good!
The Gibson Family :)
Ok, guys - can we quit taking photos? I'm so ready to go home...
I finally have my own family!
Thanks, Rachel - for taking all the sweet family photos :)
Shortly after they brought him out, one of the nannies came back with his puppy :) We were so glad to see that he still had it. She motioned that he slept with it.
Sometime during the course of our visit, little man pottied on me. He was wearing a diaper - but like everything else, it was too small for him. So - I took him back to be changed, and I had to laugh as the nanny tried on 2 different pairs of tights, and 4 pairs of shorts before she found any that were big enough for him :)
Our only photo of Rachel & Carter together.
Let me just say - Carter is obviously feeling so much better. The nasty cough and congestion is gone. And when the cold left, the sassiness came. This boy is a little dickens. We saw a side of him today that we've never seen before. He was loud, and laughed at everything...especially when mama & papa told him 'nyet'. I think I've got my hands full!
Yep - you've got your own family, little man. Life is sure going to change for you!
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So that was our day in a nutshell. Afterwards (around 7:00p), we went to Friday's to celebrate (this was the first meal of our crazy day!). Jake & Rachel played table hockey on the iPad :) Rachel won :)
And to celebrate this exciting day - we had dessert!!
Look - Horner Family! I won out this time!! Apple Crisp!!
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One less orphan in this world tonight...amazing, isn't it? What a blessing this boy is. Thank you, Lord.
"God sets the lonely in families"
Psalm 68:6
One Thing I Know For Sure: God is so, so good. What an incredible gift.
It's morning in Eastern Europe, and last night was a bit rough. We were all tired at 7:30p - so we went to bed, hoping to sleep until morning. Well - I guess technically we did sleep until morning...ha. We were all up at 2:30a. We watched a movie, and went back to bed around 5:00a until about 9:00a.
Around 1:30a, while Jake & Rachel were still asleep - I was awake. I was laying in bed, and just couldn't sleep. Normal for jet lag, I guess. I grabbed my iPod (which has been so helpful on nights that I can't sleep!) and listened to some worship. I started praying for our court hearing, praying for our boy, praying for our trip...and I just started to feel so overwhelmed for this amazing gift that is about to be paced in our arms. How are we so blessed? Why did God choose us for this amazing journey? I feel so privileged that He did choose us. Blessed that He spoke to us. Honored that He called us.
We feel so unworthy of this amazing gift. Really - how did we get so lucky?
What a blessing it is to ride this amazing, beautiful ride.
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We will have court today in just a few hours. 2:00p our time, 6:00a home time. Please pray for a smooth hearing and process. We're not feeling nervous right now...but I have a feeling it will hit us when we walk into the court room.
We're also moving today. At least, that's what they say :) If we move before court, then we'll be able to make our afternoon visit and see Carter after court. But...if we don't move until after court, then we'll have to wait until tomorrow to visit. Oh, I hope we can see this guy today!
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Our friend & helper, Rachel, is doing super! We keep asking her if she's homesick (she is only 15, after all!) and she keeps laughing and saying 'NO!' :) She's a trooper! We're so thankful that she's with us - even just for the extra camaraderie.
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I'll update after court...pray, friends!!
One Thing I Know For Sure: Really, what a ride this is. Thanking GOD!
We made it to Carter's country - without any problems!
We had some really sweet friends see us off at the airport...it was nice to have them there to pray with us before we set off on this last step of our journey! Thanks, everyone! We love you all!
Ok - totally stole these photos from Rebekah G's blog! Good work, photographer-in-training!
Hugging Lisa G before we left! Love this woman!
The trip itself was pretty uneventful. The only thing I can remember that's even remotely worth blogging..........
Yes...Starbucks :) We had to take photos, because this was Rachel's first ever Starbucks experience! She had a vanilla chai, and loved it! Sorry, Jesse & Lisa...I think we've created a monster.
And, why the sad face, you ask? Well - it was Rachel's first Starbucks, but it was my last for at least the next 3 weeks. That's enough to make anyone sad :(
The long 8 hour flight went by really quickly for me this time...the trick? Don't look at the clock. The first time I checked the time, we were down to 2.5 hours left! Phew! I didn't sleep much - in fact, I can't really even tell you what I did during those 8 hours! I can't remember doing anything, other than playing Angry Birds for an hour or so. The other 7 hours are a mystery.
When we got to the airport, of course 'Uncle Niko' was there to get us. He brought us to our apartment and helped get us settled in. This apartment is pretty far from the metro station, so tomorrow we will move. BUT - we can't believe how nice it is!! There is actually a huge jacuzzi tub in the bathroom! It's the nicest we've had by far.
Niko said we will have the same apartment that we had when we left, which is great. We loved that apartment, and it was pretty close to the metro (and Friday's!). So, we'll be excited to get back to that place tomorrow.
Tomorrow we also have court. Our hearing is at 2:00p (6:00am at home!). Please pray with us that everything goes smoothly and that we get through with flying colors! Also, please pray that we'll all sleep really well tonight, and wake up rested in the morning. I hate the thought of being exhausted during court!
One Thing I Know For Sure: Feels so good to be back...!
As this blog is posting, we are in the air...probably somewhere near Greenland. I'm probably counting the minutes until this flight is over - Jake is probably sleeping - and I'm sure Rachel is crocheting (that is, if she was able to sneak her crochet hooks on to the plane!).
And Carter...well - I'm sure he's sleeping. But I wonder if he knows what awaits him. I wonder if he knows that in a few days time, he's going to have a mommy and a daddy. I wonder if he understands that he's going to come home and be loved and hugged and spoiled.
I'm sure he's clueless.
Soon, we'll be visiting him at the orphanage again - riding the metro - and walking...a lot. I can't wait to get back to that place - to that boy.
As long as we're talking (or...as long as I'm typing...!) I just have to say...thank you. If you're reading along, thank you. If you've left encouraging comments, thank you. If you've prayed for our family, thank you. I can't say it enough. The amount of love that we've felt on this journey has been so incredible. We are forever grateful for every single one of you! We may never meet you - but we love you!
With that being said - we know that this trip might get long. We are praying for a November 12th 'home' date...our facilitator said it is possible. But - we could be here even a week after that. We are blessed to be bringing along our 'helper' - Rachel. We know that we'll all have an incredible trip...and we're so grateful that she's given up a month of her life to come with us!
What's my point in all of this?!
Keep praying. Please. Pray for no homesickness - pray for Carter - pray for court - pray for a speedy process. Now is not the time to stop praying. In fact, we need those prayers now more than ever before.
We'll be there soon, bud!
Thank you - thank you - thank you! I can't say it enough.
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On another note - would you please say another prayer - this one for a sweet friend. Today, she buried her daddy. It was a shock - and they are hurting tonight, no doubt. Life is a mystery - and as much as I love words, I have none that can fix this. Nothing I say or write can make this better. I wish I was home, so I could spend some time loving on this dear friend. But I'm not.
So for now, prayers will have to do. No - prayers will be even better :)
Love you, girl. Praying you through this valley.
One Thing I Know For Sure: My next post will (should...) be from Eastern Europe!!
I got another nasty blog comment. This time, by someone named 'janie'. Really - for all I know 'she' could be a hairy old man. She brought up one of the top used arguments against adoption - that we're 'buying' our baby. Ha - yea...we've all heard that a million times. Nothing new, 'Janie'.
And I have to say, Janie - the contents of your comment really speaks to your intelligence level. Did you even read the post? You commented that we're abandoning him - but if you had actually read it, you'd know that we're going back to be with him. So...I guess the 'abandonment' comment is irrelevant. If you're going to waste your Friday night leaving angry comments on strangers blogs (wow...sounds like a riveting social life you have...) then at least have your facts straight.
I'll say it again - move along, ugliness. You're not welcome here. Want to post your opinions (slanted as they might be)? Great! You're welcome to do so - on your own blog!
One Thing I Know For Sure: I've got too much of a life to worry about your comment...you should get one too!
Faith is sometimes difficult. For me, very difficult. I need logical explanations and estimations. Taking that proverbial “plunge” makes me sick to my stomach at times. God knows how to get my attention though. He shows himself so real to me that I can’t what he is calling me to do.
If you haven’t realized it yet, this is Jake stepping into post a little about this wild and crazy ride we call adoption.
Wednesday this week our world was turn upside down a bit. We received an email from a mom that had adopted from the same place we are adopting Carter from. We were so excited to learn that the 10 day wait period includes weekends! This is a big deal because our time frame to bring Carter home instantly shrunk! That is cool. The sooner we get that love bug home the better.
Hearing this news meant we were faced with a big decision. Should we continue with our plans as they were or decide to make the longer stay and save money in airfare costs? I still have some time available to be away from work, but I didn’t want to cut it too close and have to take more time off. They have been so accommodating and understanding.
This is where the faith part comes in. I knew we would incur fees for having to change our flights. Spending more money. I hate spending money, and on top of that I hate spending more money. It would be $350 for us to change our already-booked flights. Okay God can you work this out? Sure, and he did. More on this later on.
Yesterday was the day we had to make a final decision on what we were going to do. Make 2 more trips or leave Saturday and wait things out and arrive back with our new addition. If we chose the later of the 2 options that meant that Rachel G. would be making this trip with us as our helper.
I stopped home yesterday for a quick sandwich and to talks things over in detail with Ash. As we were discussing this decision I got a phone call from a company that was trying to remedy some damage they had made to our house during a recent delivery. Nothing major that I can’t fix myself, but annoying nonetheless. The gentleman said “Jake we would like to settle things with you by offering you a check for the damages. How does $350 dollars sound?” I told him that would work and thanked him for taking care of things. I hung up the phone amazed because our changed fee for air fare was………….. yes $350. Wow, thanks God. I am feeling better already about making a decision to stay longer than expected. Back to work I went, we would make our final decision when I got home.
Back from work and I was dreading having to make a final decision. I have a hard time making decisions. Do we stay for 3-4 weeks or do I come back and work to bring in some money? Tough. I was leaning toward making the 1 trip rather than 2 more trips but I just needed a little nudge. Ash had her mind made up, and I was just holding things up. She said “Let’s just have some faith.” Struggling. I went to check the mail. Wow. Nudge? No, more like a 2x4 straight across the chin. Thanks God. I found a letter from some dear family friends Ruth and Phil C. Ruth wrote and encouraged us about our journey. We had no idea that they knew were following along! Totally awesome. The letter just melted our hearts. God’s way of showing us to trust Him. And the timing of this letter was incredible. Only God. Not only was there a letter but also a very generous check. We were told this is to cover some of our upcoming expenses and a little something for Carter, maybe a toy airplane. Amazing. The decision was very clear.
So, Saturday we leave. The 3 of us. Rachel, Ash and Jake. Then in 3-4 weeks we come home. The 4 of us. Rachel, Ash, Jake, and Carter. Can’t wait.
One thing I know for sure: I can’t wait to tell Carter all of these stories!
