Lots of PICTURES and a VIDEO!

We are adjusting....it is going great but nonetheless, a huge adjustment.

We have this precious little girl who runs around our house and brings us such joy and delight with her dazzling smile and precocious spirit.  Sadie is a feisty little strong willed doll baby!  We love her and her personality is the best.  She loves to laugh and loves to make people laugh even more.

We are all quite smitten with her!  The kids just love her to pieces..seriously it's crazy.  I think we should have brought 4 little ones home so each child had their own....lol!  They fight over her!  Yes, fight over who changes her diaper to who sits next to her at the table to who gets to carry her out of the car to who gets to carry her into wherever it is we are going!!! wheeeeew, I love the help but it can be too much sometimes.  The other day we were at the park and I was putting Sadie in the swing and 3 separate times 2 different children stopped the swing to put a blanket on her or to kiss her or to swing her harder....I said, "enough...step away from the baby" in my stern voice.  I would rather it be this way then they not care..

Our parenting of Sadie looks so different this time around and so it is an adjustment in that sense.  With my 4 other kiddos I parented different in some ways then how I am with Sadie.  I loved getting them on schedules.  Teaching them to go down to bed or nap without sleep aids(ie. bottles, blankies, rocking to sleep first. etc.) Sometimes that involved a little crying before hand but then they would get in their routines and love it.

With Sadie girl it's completely different:)  For attachment reasons we do things a bit differently.  Bob or I rock her to sleep and then slip her into her crib.  She usually stays there for about 1.5 hours and then wakes up...to which we usually put her in bed with us and she is fast asleep.  We sometimes move her back to her crib or most of the time she sleeps the night with us.  She is afraid of being by herself.  We also give her a bottle at night before bed.  She has a blankie that she loves and when she gets tired all you have to do is show it to her and she plops that cute little thumb in her mouth.  PRECIOUS!!!

It's hard to believe that she has only been with us less then a month!!!  I can't imagine our life without her!!! She just perfectly fits with our family!

Now I know you are just waiting for the pictures so here they are...can't wait until one day I can show her face!!  Bob took this video with his phone and it is poor quality...but hilarious...a glimpse of her personality!!! Love it!

sportin my new shades

she loves to look out the window...where she lived before they didn't have windows on her level

swinging with my big sissy

A girls gotta look real cute while strolling her baby doll

My motto is: start em young!!!

mommy is feeding me yogurt and I LOVE it but she has her mouth open and I am wondering if she thinks I am gonna feed her..hmm

Here I am on Daddy asleep but you can't see my full face yet:( but I am really cute..at least that's what they keep saying

I am such a funny little girl when I get a hang nail I just can't let it go until I get it

I'm still workin on it

yes that's me....I am an accomplished pianist

mommy gave me special markers that are washable for kids my age...see how well I draw? that was just my practice tree;)

I'm glad they are washable cause I really don't like my hands like this

I can't wait for the beach cause I just love the water!!

my family thinks I am so cute!

PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYING!!

I know that I have not updated you all on our lives recently.  I will do so in another post which I have been working on but have been quite busy adjusting to having 5 children...I am loving it...but life is busy(understatement).  I know that we will get in our groove here soon and then my posting will hopefully be a little more frequent then it has.

BUT,  today I had to post this.  Two separate friends sent me the link to this blog "No Greater Joy Mom" about a different post.  When I finally got to it this post(below) was what I saw and my heart is hurting.  There is a precious family who has stepped out in faith and has followed the Lord's leading in adopting this adorable little boy.  His name is Kirill.   Please stop by the Davis Family blog and leave them an encouraging comment as they are clinging to the One who is HOPE.

PLEASE READ THIS STORY AND JOIN ME IN PRAYING!!!  We are the hands and feet of God and we can pray on behalf of the least of these!!  It is our joy as believers to bear one another's burdens and to love, encourage, and lift them up in prayer!!

Tesney and Greg traveled to a country far away TWICE.  They met their beautiful boy. They fell head over heals in love. They snuggled him, loved on him, whispered promises of the glorious future that awaits him in his new family, and told him just how passionately they loved him.  They were smitten.

They were invited to return to that country to attend court.  They did that just last week.

For five long hours they were questioned.  

The judge deliberated.  Kirill's future rested in her hands.  She alone had the power to grant him a family, or deny him one.

Contrary to every bit of advice she was given from others in the courtroom that day...

She said, "NO!"

"You cannot adopt this boy.  He is better off in an institution than in a family."  The judge felt that his needs were better served in an orphanage than in a family. She stated he was "socially unadaptable" because of his "medical condition."

Outrageous!

Kirill was denied the RIGHT to have a family--simply because he has Down Syndrome.

The family returned home last weekend.  Broken, but not defeated. Hurt, but refusing the give up.

With courage in their hearts and fierce determination, they are rising up and fighting with everything that is within them.  They are working around the clock to put the necessary paperwork together to appeal the decision.  

BUT.

In the natural, things are not looking favorable at this stage.  The news so far has been bleak.  All the information they have received this week about their impending appeal is very discouraging, to say the least.

Yet, this is one of those times in life where we CHOOSE not to look at what we can see through our human eyes.  But rather, we choose to see things through the eyes of faith--for that is what we are told to do as followers of Christ.  The Bible is full of amazing stories of God coming through for His people in impossible situations.  Each and every time God called them to have faith, even just as tiny as a mustard seed.  God commanded His people time and time again to press in and trust Him, even as they faced their humongous giants.

The book of Hebrews describes faith as the "confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Friends, God is raising up an army of people to pray for this situation.  I'm pleading with you to join in--to pray, to fast, to spread the word and to NOT waiver in your faith that sweet Kirill will come home.

Like I said in this post, this is a spiritual battle!  This is not a war against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and the forces of evil that try to hold orphans captive.  This battle is not just for Kirill, friends, but for many, many other orphans that can be adopted out of this region.  A successful appeal will open the doors for countless children to get out of orphanages and into loving homes.  There is so much at stake here.  So, so much.

But it all begins with one little boy.  One little angel who matters.  One little lovie who matters to God and to his family who had to leave him behind.

I put myself in their position and I just cannot even imagine having to physically walk away and leave my children in the orphanage.  

Please will you help me today?  Will you spread the word about Kirill far and wide?  Will you storm the gates of heaven and intercede for this child, his family, and the other children in this region?

Please.  

I am reminded of David as he stood before Goliath.  A little dude standing before the huge giant.  All he had was five small stones and a sling--and the absolute assurance that His God was able to fight the battle on his behalf.  That was all David needed--and all he needed to know.  The Lord was able!

Today the battle for Kirill feels gigantic.  But, like David, we have an assurance.  A promise.  A hope. A commander of the army who is far greater than any other.  His name is the great I AM.  He is leading many of us into battle to pray for this situation.

Will you join us?

Will you pray?

Will you face this giant with us?

Will you hold up the arms of the family who is fighting on the front line?

I appreciate it so very much.

And I know they do too.

And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

Exodus 33:17-19

Now, show us your glory, Lord!

More pics!

When we flew home the airport we used was about 1 1/2 hours away so a little too far for a airport welcome home.  However, our church was willing to allow us to have a little welcome home there.  So when we got home we stopped in our house to see our kids first and let them meet their new little sister and then hopped right down the street to be welcomed by friends and family!

We were exhausted but the adrenaline kicked in and we were so happy to show off our little girl!

my 5 beautiful kids...can't wait until we can show Sadie's face!

Thank you Margaret for taking these pictures!

Thank you to Kelly who graciously whipped up my order for my "got love? adopt" T's at the last minute so we could have them for our coming home night.  We had gone back and forth with wanting to make a  shirt for our adoption but truthfully once I saw Kelly's t-shirt that's all I wanted...I just loved it and couldn't come up with anything more perfect..it was so "us"!  Her t-shirts go to helping bring home their son or daughter from Korea!  loved being a part of that too!  They are also selling travel mugs in various colors, bags, bumper stickers and colored "got love?" t-shirts as well.  I think I might just have to see about getting a colored t-shirt as well....if she has any left!

You have to check out this video...LOVED it!!  As believers we are all adopted in to God's family!

We have a Toddler in the House!!!

Okay, so I know you're thinking...what in the world?!  She just drops us in the middle of this "going to get the baby" and leaves us hanging!!  I did.  It got complicated.  I could totally bore you with all the details but I will spare you.  Long story short...we had internet/connection problems.  Computers not charging...the whole voltage/pluggy thing/outlets.  We packed a special conversion for the outlets...didn't work.  Went and bought another...didn't work.  Yaddadda blaah blaah...anyway...

We are home and loving our little Sadie!!  She is all and more then we dreamed of!  God is good...all the time!  Yes, there are many adjustments going on but I have to say we are doing really well other then the jet-lag;)  Our kids LOVE her and yes....fight over her as well.  She is the princess in the house!

To give you a quick synopsis of our time in HK:

We picked Sadie up on Wednesday and said goodbye to the foster mom.  This was very hard and tears were shed on everyone.  Both the mom and sisters wrote letters to Sadie...oh how we will treasure those letters to share with her one day.  As we said goodbye, Stella, our social worker handed Sadie to Bob and we drove off in the car.  Tears just streaming down my face.  What an emotional moment!  Sadie did not cry but looked very sad.  She didn't know what to make of the whole thing.  But, she definitely knew something was very different.  She wanted to sit with me and so I held her the whole way home.  From that point on I was a little bit of comfort to her as her world was turned upside down.

I wore her in the sling a lot.  Which I thoroughly enjoyed!  She latched on to me but struggled with Bob.  This however, is quite common for a child to latch on to one parent and not the other.  In time, she will attach to both but in the very beginning this is "normal".  I just had a flashback I have to share.  The Tuesday before we left for HK our small group had our family over to pray for us before leaving.  One of the prayer requests Bob shared was that if Sadie was going to reject a parent he wanted it to be him.  God chose to answer his prayer...and yeah....I'm married to that guy!!!  What a heart he has!

Rejection, no matter how you slice it... it hurts.  It just does.  No matter how much you prepare...you just can't.  I watched my husband love when it wasn't easy...when he was pushed away, swatted at, screaming in his ear and yet he pursued her.  He loved her even though she isn't able to receive his love...yet.

Bob and I both found ourselves thinking many times over again about Derek Loux and what he wrote while he and his wife were picking up their 3 special needs children in the Ukraine.  You might get tired of hearing his name on here...I drop it often.  But God used his life dramatically in our adoption story and many others!  It never gets old to me!  His words and thoughts are so true and Bob and I thought of him and what he wrote here many times over during our stay in HK and it helped us greatly to remember who we are, what we are here for, and mostly who we are in need of...our Savior.  Here's a part of his story...

Renee’ and I are sitting in the office of a telephone company in Novograd Valenski, Ukraine, using wireless internet.  We are in the middle of adopting three special needs boys from an orphanage here.  Two of the boys have Down Syndrome.  Roman is high functioning, energetic and happy.  Dimitri has serious mental retardation, failure to thrive, and though he is five years old, he is the size of a 1 year old.  He has sores on his face, a distinct smell of death on him, and yells out if we try to do anything with him other than hold him. Because he has less ability to respond and learn, he naturally gets less attention and care from the orphanage workers in this world of limited resources.  The harsh reality of the “survival of the fittest” principle is a life and death struggle that this little boy is losing fast.  Our third boy Sasha, is a brilliant six year old who has Spina Bifida (the condition our son Josiah died from in 1996). He is like a learning sponge that can’t get enough! He is happy and alert and thirsty for knowledge and experience.  So with two of our boys, we get an immediate return on any investment we make.  With Dimitri, there’s not much immediate gratification. In fact, it’s unknown when and if there will be a return at all. This is the kind of situation that makes the carnal, fallen, human reasoning think, “Why try?  What’s the point?  What will this produce?  What good will this do?  Why not select a boy who has more potential?  This looks like a lost cause.

Two days ago we drove for hours into the Ukrainian countryside to the village where Dimitri was born. We met with officials there and signed papers and answered their questions. We also went and saw Dimitri’s house. The day had been long, we were still recovering from jet lag, I was beginning to really miss my six daughters at home and all the familiar things our fragile human hearts entangle themselves with in feeble attempts to feel secure. Sitting in the dark on our very long drive back to Novograd that night, the Holy Spirit began to whisper to my heart, and new understanding about redemption began to take shape.

I was thinking, “Man, adopting this little boy has been so much work. This is exhausting, expensive, uncomfortable … and it doesn’t feel very rewarding right now.” What am I doing in some little Soviet car in the dark, in the middle of rural Ukraine in frozen December, as the driver dodges cats and potholes? What if Dimitri doesn’t improve at all? What if we get “nothing” out of this? … Ahhh, there it was; that dark, fallen, unreedemed, selfish human love, rooted in the tree of the knowledge of “good and evil”. The love the Greeks called “erao” love. The love where we treat someone as precious and treasured for what we can get out of it. This is unlike “agapeo” love, the God kind of love that treats someone as treasured and precious for their good, not for my good. It’s when I love a person in order to meet their needs, having no expectation of them meeting any of my needs. At a whole new level, God is working His kind of love into my weak heart, and He’s using little Dimitri to do it.

On the drive home that night, the Lord whispered in my ear, “This is Redemption. Derek, do you know how far I travelled to get you and bring you back? I had to be separated from my Son, in order to get you, just like you are separated from your children in order to get these boys. Do you know how expensive it was for Me to purchase you? It cost me everything. Do you know how broken, sick, damaged, twisted, dirty, smelly, and hopeless you were? And at the end of it all, you had nothing to give me or add to me. I did it for you. I emptied myself and became nothing so that you could have it all. This is redemption.

My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him. And when He redeems us, we can’t even really appreciate or comprehend it, just like Dimitri will never comprehend or fully appreciate what is about to happen to him … but … he will live in the fruit of it. As his Daddy, I will never expect him to understand all of this or even to thank me. I just want to watch him live in the benefits of my love and experience the joys of being an heir in my family. This is how our heavenly “Papa” feels towards us.

Today, settle your busy heart down and rest in the benefits of redemption. Enjoy the fruits of His goodness, and stop trying to “pay Him back”. You’ll never get close you goofy little kid.

Tears for me every. single. time.  Beautiful picture of Redemption.

Here are a couple of pics that Kim took of us while finishing our trip in HK.  I can't tell you how thankful we were to have Kim and her family there.  What a treasure..a gift to meet with her, talk with her and share our hearts together...our love for our Savior as well!  Thank you Kim...we love you and your family!

her sweet lil' feet

right before meeting Sadie for the first time!  Proud parents of 5 children

We are not able to post pics of Sadie until her adoption is finalized in 6 months.....ugh...yes this is so hard because I have video and sweet pics of her that I would love to share...so trying to figure out if I should go "private" on my blog or not...if anyone has any thoughts let me know!

I have more on our HK trip to come!  Thank you so much for praying for us and encouraging us throughout this whole process!  We are so blessed and thankful for the Body of Christ!

Second Visit

Today we got to go visit our girl again!  Not knowing what to expect since yesterday went so well.  We were told that sometimes that happens and then the second visit not so well.  This would be very common. 


As we got there we got a little smile and then it took about 15 minutes for her to warm up to us.  She was considerably more tired today and a little more clingy to her foster mother.  The night before she had stayed up until 12 playing with her foster sisters.  They are all very sad.  It just really crushes me to see them upset.  Today her sweet foster mother began to cry on the couch and Sadie got up and walked over to her.  She is really sensing that something is happening.  


Today we go and say goodbye to her foster mother and take her back to the hotel with us.  We are so filled with every kind of emotion possible.  This precious FM has loved her like her own.  Sadie has been her little buddy for the last 15+ months.  This woman could not have done a better job with Sadie and preparing Sadie for her transition.  But it is going to be very hard! 


Yesterday, Stella, our social worker here in HK took us to her office to give us the necessary paperwork to travel home and......she gave us a life book for Sadie.  We have a book that is filled with pictures documenting every month since she was born until the present....because of her foster mom.  If that wasn't enough, she is giving us several cd's filled with pictures that the foster mom has taken since her birth!!  We were overwhelmed!  We are so thankful to Stella and her foster mom for taking the time, caring for Sadie, and giving us this priceless gift that we will treasure and that Sadie will love as she gets older!


We are really enjoying our time here in HK but we are ready to get home and to have our children meet their new little sister! We miss our kids!!!!!   We can't wait to introduce our new little addition!


Right now I am fighting a bunch of different emotions because in a few short hours we go to say goodbye to the only family Sadie has known.  I am all over the place with this and dreading that goodbye.  We CAN'T wait to get our girl!!  Also though this mother has just loved so unbelievably and we are reaping the benefits from the time and love that she has put into raising Sadie.  There is not a doubt in my mind that Sadie will struggle, cry, maybe even withdraw a little because her attachment to her FM is so strong.  She NEEDS to do this.  She needs to grieve.  She will attach again to us but it will be a process.  One that we will work very hard to form.


Will you pray for us today?  Our hearts are soooo excited to get our baby girl but we are definitely struggling with the goodbye part.  We feel so connected to this foster mother for all that she has been and is.  She is such a sweet spirit and to have watched the way she has interacted with Sadie these past few days has been a privilege.  God answered the prayers we had for a loving environment and care for our baby girl as we waited on the other side of the world.  We are humbled by His amazing love. ( I am having a very hard time uploading pics for some reason:(  I will try again later)


He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  Psalm 147:3


And my God will meet your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19


Great is our Lord and mighty in Power; his understanding has no limit.  Psalm 147:5