More News Today!

We finally have our date at the DAP to get our official referral for our beautiful Charlotte Rose!  We leave by train tomorrow for Kiev, we were going to leave Sunday but the overnight train was completely booked.  So, we will hang out on Easter Sunday, hopefully find a church there for services, then have our referral sometime Monday, and pick it up on Tuesday.  We will then take the train back to our region on Tuesday night, arriving Wednesday morning, and probably do a whole lot of running around for paperwork for her like we did the other day for Atticus.  THEN we will get to meet our sweet little girl!

We are so excited to finally meet her!  Tim especially has been saying that he can't wait, even more now since we have heard so much about her from her former nannies from the orphanage Atticus is still in.  They loved her so!

There are so many pictures of her on the walls outside her groupa's room-- posters with her picture all over them.  It makes us even more excited to meet this special girl who everyone seems to have loved and doted on so much.

I really hope everything goes as well with her as it has with Atticus!  He has been such a gem.  He is so sweet and smiley, yet pretty laid back and quiet.  Not sure he was feeling the best today though.  Looks like his two top molars are still coming thru and there is another tooth coming in as well.  As a result he felt a little warm and his nose was super runny.  Sounds like a little of it has gotten into his chest, so a visit to the dr about that will definitely be in order.  We'll be going anyway to get everything else checked out anyhow, what's one more thing right?

Otherwise he seems very healthy.  He is doing even better than I ever expected.  Got to take a good look at him today since he wasn't wearing a onesie.  :)  No diaper rash, little bit of a tummy on him, cute outie belly button  ;)  and overall healthy looking.  Thanking God for that!  He has surprised us with his muscle control too-- no floppy head or legs for him.  He sits well on my hip when I carry him, and was even practicing walking across the floor today!  One leg in front of the other just fine!  He sits up well and is able to follow objects quite well from side to side.  He tries making all sorts of babbling sounds, and can pass objects from hand to hand too.  All in all, really really impressive!

The doctors did diagnose him with "light mental delay" not medium or severe, and I think they are right on target.  The orphanage head doctor was even talking about how he has heard of kids with Down Syndrome going to college nowadays.  I told him yes, I knew that.  Many amazing strides have been made in the past years, and I would love to hope that our son will have a bright future in front of him.  Mama and Papa are going to make sure we do everything possible to make that happen!

Well, not much more for today.  We had two great visits with our baby, ate at McDonalds for dinner, got our train tickets and some other paperwork we needed and just hung out.  Really enjoying our time here so far.  Does make us grateful for the good old USA though when you see some of the poverty around.  Think of the worst part of lets say, New York City slum areas, and then multiply that by a few.  And this region we are in is the vacation "resort" area too because it is by the seaside.  Will have to post some pics later to illustrate.

Here's a few to view from our visit today.  Enjoy!

Despite the balmy 70 degree weather, he is still fully outfitted in 3 layers plus socks,hat and jacket.

Love it when he makes this silly face!

One of the best pictures ever as far as I am concerned.  Love between a Papa and his new son,  so apparent here  :)

      

Our First Visit!!!!

Yesterday we met our sweet son, Atticus Grant, for the first time!!!  It was a whirlwind of activity for sure.  We arrived a little late from Kiev by overnight train, and met our facilitator Marina at the station.  After hustling through the crowd, and stopping to use the bathroom-- a squatty potty at that, haven't seen one of those since China!!-- we loaded our luggage into the trunk of a fairly tiny car, squashed into the back seat, and off we went.  Marina gave us the details of our day-- meet with social worker, drive to orphanage, meet with head doctor, lawyer and groupa's doctor, meet baby, then off to other lawyer to draw up more paperwork, then she would head back to Kiev herself on the train to bring all the info she needed to submit our second referral for Masha.

Well, as always, nothing went according to plan, everyone was on their own time schedule.  So, off we went to the orphanage FIRST to meet our son!  Fine by me!!  I was very excited which helped alleviate the fact that we were all dog tired from very little sleep on the train and nothing to eat since the night before.  But once we met him, none of that mattered.  :)

We entered his groupa's room by the double doors and waited in the hall.  Marina was talking with the orphanage's therapist and she was translating for us.  Then in walked the nanny with our cute little bundle of love in her arms!  Oh what a sweetie!!  He looked even better than his pictures, so much better than we imagined.  I lost it of course as I held this sweet child I had prayed about for soooo long.  Finally, finally it was him and we were here and he was to be OUR child.  Thank you Lord!

He was so sweet and calm with us, loving being held and talked to.  He has such bright blue eyes, almost see through, they are mesmerizing.  And the cutest chubbiest cheeks, and light blonde hair--- he will fit right in with the rest of our family!

We took some pictures and video, loved on him for a short time and then we were off again.  Back out to the social worker first.  We had a great time talking with her.  We were very nervous at first and she commented to Marina that we looked grave and suspicious of her.  But of course we explained it was only nerves.  This lady HAS to like us or she won't stand up in court for us to say we should be this child's parents!  But we eased as we started talking.  She asked us many questions and seemed very pleased with our answers.  She LOVED seeing the album of pictures we brought-- loved that the children were so active and thought our house was lovely.  Also quite impressed at Tim's talent and how much of it he constructed himself  :)  So, a good and positive visit.  Whew!!!

Then off to the lawyers office to sign paperwork we went.  Then back to the orphanage where we waited and waited for the head doctor.  He also turned out to be a very kind man, also loving our pictures and quite glad that we were here to adopt a "Downs" baby, because the people of his country "will not have them."  I was happy that he was happy.  He and Tim also hit it off at the mention of motorcycles :) and construction too.  He said how nice it would be if Tim would come back over the summer and do some work constructing playthings at the orphanage, he would have plenty for him to do.  Maybe a mission trip in the future????  Who knows?!

Then we got to see our little butterball for a few more minutes, and then off we went with Marina and our driver to our apartment.  Finally.  It had been a very long day, we were exhausted and very hungry too.  They showed us the bus we should take to the orphanage, the supermarket, pizza restaurant and a Mc Donalds, then we were to the place we will call home for the next month or so. 

It is a lovely apartment, even nicer than our last and cheaper!  And, it is non-smoking which is a huge plus.  It has a very modern kitchen and bathroom and lovely large bedroom and living room.  Plenty for us and close to a lot of things.

We took the bus by ourselves today to visit Atticus again.  He continues to amaze us with his strength and his smarts!  He stands quite well, no floppiness on him!  He loves to smile when tickled and play games like peek-a-boo.  He already has a favorite toy out of my stash too-- an elephant that vibrates when you pull the string.  Loves it!  He is quite a cute little fellow and I simply cannot wait to get him home to his new brothers and sisters.  They are going to adore him!

Well, I will leave you with a few pictures of the day.  More to follow that we just haven't gotten onto the computer yet, and a video too!  Please keep praying for us on this journey.  We still have a lot of time here yet and still haven't gotten to meet our second sweet blessing.  I am still nervous and excited about that at the same time.  God has proven over and over though that He knows EXACTLY what He is doing.  We will trust and obey.



The group of RR parents waiting to get our referrals from the DAP!!  So excited!!!



Hallway of the train.



Our Cutie Patootie!!!  Love.



Me crying of course.  :)



Papa!!!




Sister!!!!





This one kills me!  Love it!!




Front of the orphanage




Some play equiptment outside



DAP Appointment!!

We had our appointment successfully at 9am this morning! We actually got to see both our children's referrals today. We were only expecting to see one because they are now officially in different places since Masha was moved to the institution. Serge is trying to get the director to agree to allowing us to get both referrals at once since we saw and accepted them both today and not make us come all the way back for essentially nothing. He said 90% chance no, she won't allow that, but we can hope and pray right?

We will find out tomorrow what the decision is and go from there. But, the exciting news is that we board the train to their region tomorrow night!!!! After the DAP appointment again tomorrow we will be taken to the train station and leave on our 18 hr ride to our children's region. If we are only allowed one referral at a time we will see our son first. I am so excited to meet him! Better bring lots of tissues in my purse!!

Please pray though that they will kindly grant our request for both children's referrals at one time. It would save so much time on our part. We could go right to requesting a court date!

Otherwise, all is well here. There has been a delightful mix of weather since we arrived, some snow, some rain, some sunshine. And the city is really marvelous, such beautiful architecture!

We have been able to eat some great food, meet with some RR friends while here and do a little sightseeing. So far, so good! Will try to figure out how to upload some pictures and share those later.

Thanks for the prayers, please keep them coming!

We Are Here!!!!!

Yeah! It still seems very surreal to say we are here. I was beginning to think this day would never arrive!

We had two very uneventful flights which is just how I like it. Another RR family, the Clantons, we're on both with us and even got picked up by the same driver at the airport. Nico for those who have been here before. He is amazing and very kind just as people have told us, and even though he brought a van, the poor man still had to struggle to put 3 of us, 4 of them and ALL our luggage in it. It was a tight squeeze to say the least.

Our apartment is vey nice, but reeks of smoke. There is an adorable market right outside where we bought a little food last night.

It has gone from cloudy and pouring to sunny to snowing since we arrived and now it is just cloudy. So we are venturing out to the big market in a few, then to the local Ukrainian buffet tonight. Heard it is good.

Will write more later and hope to post some pictures too.
Tomorrow is an early morning, our DAP appointment and we get to meet the infamous facilitator Serge for the first time. :)

Pray all goes well for us with our referrals!!

We're Leaving On A Jet Plane!!

Well, the time is here!  Oh my word how long I have waited to utter those words.  I cannot believe I am actually going to be on my way in less than 24 hours to go get our babies!!!!!

I can't say time has flown over the last 13 months.  It hasn't.  But we have managed to get through the wait with a lot of prayer and a lot of patience I didn't know I had.  It hasn't been fun, but as many have reminded me along the way, it is God's timing, not ours.  He knew from the beginning what would happen and when.  He plans it all perfectly and it is up to us to execute the plan.  Well, that time is now, and I am ready to go!

I must say, there is a lot of nervousness mixed in with all that excitement.  There are so many unknowns, so many possible bumps in the proverbial road that we are to trod over the course of the next month or more.  I know He knows those too, and He will lead us through any hardships that might come, but it is still scary.

As always, I ask for your prayers.  Pray that we have safe travels both to our children's country and in it.  Pray that their health is good and ours remains that way.  Pray for a smooth and uneventful trip all around.  And pray for our other children and their caregivers while we are away.  We are blessed to have such wonderful, responsible kids and such thoughtful and helpful friends!!!!  Though we will of course still miss them TONS while we are gone!

So, the packing is done, the plans are made, I will rest easy once I am on that plane.  (maybe)  But I will try  :)

We will try to keep you up to date if you have been given access to our blog while we are away.  If not, we'll see you after we get back from the other side of the pond!!!  Here we come Charlotte and Atticus-- Mommy and Daddy can't wait to meet you!!

We Have An Appointment!!

Hallelujah!  One year and 5 days after we officially began this adventure, we have an appointment for our babies!  Praise God.  Truly I praise Him.  I praise Him knowing that His timing is perfect, whether I agree with it or not.  I praise Him for granting me the patience and will to persevere all this time.  And I praise Him that our children's country approved our dossier and sees us fit to adopt two precious children from their country.  PRAISE!!!

I am so overwhelmed right now I don't know what to do with myself!  I have been anticipating this day for so long but now that it is here it is so surreal.  There is much to do-- meal offerings that have been made for feeding our kids while we are gone need to be scheduled, as do various helpers, the babies' room needs to be finished, bags need to be packed, airline tickets are already in the works, more (yes more) paperwork needs to be filled out, and all within a very short time.  Craziness is now setting in upon the Rowe household!  But happy craziness  :)

We still covet your prayers throughout this process.  This is far from the end or a done deal, in fact this is really just the beginning.  There are appointments to be had, court dates to be set, lots of meetings with facilitators, nannies and orphanage directors in our future too.  Please pray that the Lord guides us through it all, that we have safe passage there and back, that we know the right things to say at the right time, and that we are able to complete this whole process in a timely manner.  There is still lots riding on the opinions of others-- the judges, the prosecutors.  They wield the power in it all.  We hope they have mercy on us and our children.

As well, I will be making my blog private again when we travel.  This is at the advice of our facilitation team.  We don't want to take any chances on anything we say being misconstrued or used against us in any way during this adoption, so if you would like an invite for when I make it private, send me an email or let me know in the comments below.  Only people we know well will be approved at this time.  We hope you understand, it is for the safety of our adoption and our future children.  :)

I can't even express adequately how extremely HAPPY I am that this day is finally here!!  All the paperwork and the re-do's and the waiting, it will all soon be worth it when we are able to gaze into those tiny faces and tell them at long last that they have a mama and a papa who will love them FOREVER.  Adoption is such a blessing and a gift!  I am a very blessed woman and we are a very blessed family. 

Happy Birthday Grayson!!

Today is my littlest buddy's 9th birthday!!  Nine years ago today he was the best 30th birthday present any momma could ever receive!

 

Little Boys
Author: Unknown

... Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,
With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,
Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.

They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while
Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!

Yes, we share a birthday so happy b-day to me today too ;)

We had a fun day today celebrating together with breakfast out......

then some shopping, lunch with friends and then tonight seeing the movie The Lorax by Dr Seuss.

This past Saturday was his birthday party-- a soccer theme complete with soccer game in the muddy front yard since it had monsooned the night before.  The kids were covered head to toe, but they had a blast nonetheless.  (Hope the parents weren't too mad!)

We had originally thought we would already be gone to Europe for our adoption by this time, so I hadn't planned anything.  It turned out pretty well considering I pulled it all together in a couple of days!  And I think all the kids really had fun which is the most important thing.  I know Grayson did!!

 

We put our kids' soccer jerseys over each chair.  Scary that we had enough for 12 places!

Trophies and soccer balls in grass made up the table decorations

 The dessert buffet!!

 Coloring some soccer pictures

 My attempt at cupcakes!

 Schuyler and the birthday boy!

Brothers being weird.... like usual!  ;)

 Opening presents!!

All in all, it was a really fun day.  I feel so blessed to have this sweet boy in our lives, and thankful for each and every day I get to spend with him.  I am equally thankful for the wonderful children he calls his friends.  It is a great comfort to know he is surrounded by such loving and kind children as he grows.  Thanks to everyone for sharing his special day with us!!! 

Grayson, your dad and I love you so much!  We are very proud of the young man you are becoming and consider it a privilege to watch you grow each day.  We thank God for entrusting you to us and pray that we can be capable, loving parents for you in your life.  You are a wonderful boy and I pray you have another year full of health and happiness!!!