New Pictures!

Those of you who have been in our shoes know that there is nothing more exciting than new pictures! Last night I checked my email to find a message from a family who had met Oksana while adopting their daughter last summer! She sent pictures along with a description saying that Oksana is lovable, loves to laugh, and has a smile that brightens a room!


I can't wait to see her with a sweet little girly hair cut! Those orphanage hair cuts just don't work for me :)!
We've learned that our marriage certificates should be fine which is good news. Unfortunately we also learned that USCIS is sending out a request for more info before they can finish processing our I171 giving us clearance to bring Oksana home. We should find out what they need Saturday or Monday and we hope that as soon as they have whatever they need they will get this wrapped up quickly!

Excitement That Mixes With Fear

Adoption is exciting....very exciting. I longed for God to open Larry's eyes to the blessings of children with disabilities, and when He did I was overjoyed! Then when God used that same husband to call us to adopt internationally I was scared but it was still exciting. Then we saw Oksana and again, even though it seemed scary, there was an excitement about this little girl coming into our home. Even Clayton felt it. Every time the phone rang or an email came he'd rush up to me and say "Is that about the adoption?" Everyone walked around our house for months with the words "I can't wait to meet her" coming from our mouths. But as with many things that God calls us to there is also a reality behind that excitement. It's taken us awhile but reality and fears are starting to set in.

For Clayton it started with his buddy Thomas. Thomas has been blessed with a wonderful sister who arrived in their home 2 years ago from China. One day Clayton came to me and said "Mom, I'm starting to have second thoughts about adoption." When I asked why he told me that Thomas said that he was excited about his sister too but now she just gets on his nerves! I was actually glad that Thomas said that. It gave me a great opportunity to remind Clayton that she WILL get on his nerves! Evan gets on his nerves and without a doubt Oksana will too. She's a real kid just like everyone else. Yesterday we all had a talk about changes that will take place when she gets here. In many ways it will be like having a baby in the house again only she will be 5. Still....she will need to learn to walk, talk, and be potty trained. She will take a lot of my time. Of course we always balance that with the joy she will bring, the wonderful big brothers they will be, and that when Evan was born these things all happened to Clayton and yet he can't imagine his life without his brother now. They are still excited for Oksana...but reality has set in.

Then there is me. The former Special Ed teacher who dreamed of adopting a child with a disability. This is a dream come true. I've been so blessed to have been able to talk to people who have met Oksana, and I know a bit about her personality, but still fears creep in. For me it started with the books. In an effort to learn as much as possible about adoption I have read some really scary stuff. Things that have made me have to put my book down and walk away for awhile. Then the "what ifs" kick in. The "what ifs" are a not fun things to walk through. They steal my joy, but they are reality for many families who choose this road. A dear friend who recently adopted posted on Facebook, "Adoption is not for the faint of heart". So true. Just when I thought that I was following a dream come true I've realized that God tricked me ;) into a journey that would cause me to need to rely on Him more than ever! And that alone, my friends, makes this a blessing despite any "what ifs"!

Realize, I'm not saying that we are second guessing our decision or that we aren't extremely excited to meet our sweet girl and get her in our arms. I'm simply saying that there is so much unknown that comes with any adoption, much less a 5 year old girl with CP who lives in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. I'm thankful to not travel the road alone, and know that she was chosen for our family by the Lord. That gives great peace and battles the "what ifs". Our family will be molded and shaped in ways we could have never imagined by this wonderful girl, and while I know the road won't always be easy, it is a journey well worth traveling to save Oksana!

The Waiting Game...

I've had some people ask for an update on Oksana but unfortunately I don't have one. I did email our faciliator and he only told me that her surgery was planned, not urgent, and successful. I don't know how often he is at the orphanage, but I do know that he has a family coming next week to get their daughter so hopefully I will get an update around the beginning of April.

We are also waiting on word about our marriage license. There seems to be some confusion about the way Missouri does theirs and we are trying to find out if it will be accepted in Oksana's country. We're not sure what we will do if they don't like it but we will figure something out. In the mean time we are still waiting on our approval from immigration and we got a whole stack of documents apostilled. Here they are looking all official :):



We got an encouraging phone call today from Larry's mom. My inlaws own an auto body shop. My mom decided to bring baked goods to sell to customers, as well as the staff, to raise more money. Today a man who owns another shop that they do business with came in and heard about Oksana. They found out that he has a child with a disability and gave $100 towards our adoption! We are amazed by the ways that God is providing for us! The closer we get the more excited we get. It won't be long now!

Surgery!

Yesterday we woke up to an email from Oleg, our facilitator in Oksana's country, that gave us quite a shock. He informed us that Oksana had surgery recently. He had been to the hospital to bring her some goodies and had attached pictures. My first reaction was "WHAT?!?!". Then as I opened the pictures I realized it was a surgery related to her CP. I have emailed him to ask if he has details and I am waiting to hear back. I have a friend who was a nurse at Shriners Hospital in St. Louis and she gave me a good guess as to what the surgery could have been. I'm waiting for official word though. Here are the pictures he sent:

This is the grocery cart full of stuff that he brought to her! We are so thrilled that he took the time to visit her and have been very impressed with him just from our limited contact with him already.


This is Oksana at the hospital. Oleg thinks that she is back at the orphanage by now. My friend indicated that she may be in these casts for up to 2 months. Notice the 2 cookies in one hand, 1 cookie in the other, and she's looking in the bag:). What a precious girl!


We are, of course, still waiting on our clearance from immigration. We sent off 2 grant applications and are excited to see what comes of that. It won't be long!

Homestudy....check!

Larry picked up our homestudy this morning and already sent it off to USCIS (immigration)! We now only need 1 more piece of paper to complete our dossier! Unfortunately that paper will probably take about a month to get here but we still have plenty to keep us busy this month. We are working on grant applications and have them just about ready to send out and we have a stack of papers that need to be apostilled. I still don't fully understand the appostille process. Basically it's certifying documents that have already been certified at the price of $10 a document! All I know is it has to be done so that is also on our list for this month. There's never a dull moment around here!

Oh and I wanted to post a picture of Oksana's dresser after Larry painted it:

Fingerprints...check! Homestudy....delayed

Ok first the exciting news. We can knock fingerprints off of our checklist which is getting shorter and shorter! We had to drive 5 hours round trip for a 1/2 hour appointment, but it was well worth it! Our boys spent the afternoon with friends so it gave us time to listen to some wonderful teaching on the radio and talk, something that rarely happens with 2 boys in the back of the van!

Now about the homestudy. Please pray. It is such a huge piece of the puzzle and it was supposed to be finished by the end of February, but on the 28th we got an e-mail from our social worker saying that he was behind because his son had an emergency apendectomy. Certainly an understandable reason to be behind! He has said we will have it by the end of this week. We are praying that nothing else will affect getting that homestudy in our hands!