We used some of our data from our iphone and skyped home for a few minutes on our morning visit today. I have to say this might be one of my favorite video's cause we had a sweet moment caught on camera. Notice how she looked at me and turned 3 times for kisses?? Love, love, love this girl!
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
What would international adoption be without some unexpected twists? Especially in Ukraine!
This may be a little redundant for those in the adoption world but I will go ahead and explain for those family and friends who are not all too familiar.
Just before the July closure here in Ukraine they passed a new law that stated only children over 5 could be adopted by foreigners or those under 5 with certain special needs. They came up with a very short list(which will hopefully be expanded soon to include many more) and down syndrome is on the list. As the closure neared they decided to keep adoptions open for those with special needs and children over 5 while they restructure their adoption program.
Just a few weeks before we arrived there was a family here, also from Reece's Rainbow, who is adopting a boy with mosaic down syndrome. Their adoption was denied because the judge said mosaic down syndrome was not on the approved special needs list. This in itself is just ridiculous because down syndrome is down syndrome and this child will still face the same institutionalized future if not adopted. This family is now appealing and prayerfully will be allowed to still adopt.
Fast forward a couple weeks and we are now approaching our Sept. 5th court date. We got a call late this afternoon from our facilitator that the state department of adoptions will not issue our approval for court because they are afraid of the same thing happening with our case as the other family. This is just plain silly to me as Ivy does not even have the diagnoses of mosaic anywhere in her file. We fall directly under the law so this should not even be an issue. Yet some how it is.
First this family's adoption was denied, currently one family is being held up(ready to come home with 2 sweet ones but cant) due to some medical issues that just shouldn't be happening, and then our situation. The enemy just can not stand that precious lives are being rescued. It eats away at him and he is trying to put every road block and opposition in our way. We already know God wins, we just need to carry on in prayer.
So what this all means is that best case scenario we will have to reschedule court, and hopefully that can happen very soon. Worst case is we have to come home without Ivy until they resolve this issue and we can continue on with the rest of the process. We absolutely do not want to have to leave Ivy and draw this process out. We need things to be resolved and quickly. We have already been gone from our kids for 3 weeks with another 3 weeks left if things can quickly be resolved. I just cant imagine being gone any longer. :o(
Please pray for mountains to be moved, confusion to be resolved, and babies to come home!
This may be a little redundant for those in the adoption world but I will go ahead and explain for those family and friends who are not all too familiar.
Just before the July closure here in Ukraine they passed a new law that stated only children over 5 could be adopted by foreigners or those under 5 with certain special needs. They came up with a very short list(which will hopefully be expanded soon to include many more) and down syndrome is on the list. As the closure neared they decided to keep adoptions open for those with special needs and children over 5 while they restructure their adoption program.
Just a few weeks before we arrived there was a family here, also from Reece's Rainbow, who is adopting a boy with mosaic down syndrome. Their adoption was denied because the judge said mosaic down syndrome was not on the approved special needs list. This in itself is just ridiculous because down syndrome is down syndrome and this child will still face the same institutionalized future if not adopted. This family is now appealing and prayerfully will be allowed to still adopt.
Fast forward a couple weeks and we are now approaching our Sept. 5th court date. We got a call late this afternoon from our facilitator that the state department of adoptions will not issue our approval for court because they are afraid of the same thing happening with our case as the other family. This is just plain silly to me as Ivy does not even have the diagnoses of mosaic anywhere in her file. We fall directly under the law so this should not even be an issue. Yet some how it is.
First this family's adoption was denied, currently one family is being held up(ready to come home with 2 sweet ones but cant) due to some medical issues that just shouldn't be happening, and then our situation. The enemy just can not stand that precious lives are being rescued. It eats away at him and he is trying to put every road block and opposition in our way. We already know God wins, we just need to carry on in prayer.
So what this all means is that best case scenario we will have to reschedule court, and hopefully that can happen very soon. Worst case is we have to come home without Ivy until they resolve this issue and we can continue on with the rest of the process. We absolutely do not want to have to leave Ivy and draw this process out. We need things to be resolved and quickly. We have already been gone from our kids for 3 weeks with another 3 weeks left if things can quickly be resolved. I just cant imagine being gone any longer. :o(
Please pray for mountains to be moved, confusion to be resolved, and babies to come home!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Rockin' her skinny jeans
Out of all our visits, only the last 2 from yesterday have been inside. Normally when they bring her to us they just say 'outside' and away we go. Since we had our facilitator with us on our visits yesterday she asked if we would like to go out or stay in. We opted to stay in so that we could play on the floor with Ivy and have a chance to see her in action. She can't get down outside so although we were told she crawls very fast and walks holding on to your hands, we hadn't a chance to see it yet. Plus the room is a little more private with no nannies wondering around watching.
With the privacy I felt more comfortable to try on some clothing to get a better idea of her size. The day before I held up her jeans to her and it must have been the position she was in but they looked like they would be huge on her! I was slightly freaking out because everything I brought is 12-18 month size and so is most everything at home for her. Alas, my instincts were correct and 12-18 months fits her perfect. She weighs all of nothing though so we definitely need to put some meat on her bones!
We finally got to see her get down and play and move! She does crawl very well and loves to practice her walking by doing laps around the room. She has a mind of her own and knows which way she wants to go. If you try to steer her any other way she protests with some squeals and grunts. She is also very observant and loves to watch our facial expressions. She loves to see herself in our video camera and smiles and points at herself. Definitely need to get her a mirror!
I'm happy to see she is eating solid food. We were told we can bring her bananas and cookies. So far she loves both! We love to watch her eat cookies because she nibbles so cute on it and when she gets to what would be the last bite she flips it and nibbles, flips and nibbles, until there is just a crumb left. I was worried when she got near the end she may try to shove it all in her mouth and choke but she does quite the opposite! I haven't got a real good look in her mouth but she seems to have several teeth on top and just a few on bottom.
She really is as happy as she looks in all her pictures. I believe she has been well taken care of and has bonded with some of the workers there. A few times she has seemed a little agitated but is very easy to calm down. Getting to know her has been so fun and I seriously can not wait to bust her out of there!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Ivy Cuteness
This girl couldn't get any sweeter! Today was our first day with 2 visits and how I loved getting to see her twice! Tomorrow is their independence day here so we wont get any visits. Thursday we should resume with our 2 daily visits. We are hoping to hear on Monday when our court date will be. They are warning us that it could be many weeks away so we need lots of prayers for a speedy court date!
Today's cuteness!
So lucky to have a grandma who makes gorgeous headbands! http://www.etsy.com/shop/JuJuBeesAndCo
Today's cuteness!
So lucky to have a grandma who makes gorgeous headbands! http://www.etsy.com/shop/JuJuBeesAndCo
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Meeting Ivy
I've read these posts many times and know you all just want pictures first. And I cant help it either, she is the cutest!
The moment we dreamed about has finally happened. All we had known up until this point was her birthdate and down syndrome diagnosis. We had one blurry picture and no information on her health. None of it mattered though because God clearly showed us she was meant to be ours from the beginning and whatever else was just, whatever. Of course we wanted her to be healthy and happy, but that isn't always the case. We are so happy to learn her medical and family history with no surprises. She has a hole in her heart which does not require surgery at this point. That is her only health concern but obviously we will have her checked over well at home and go off that information.
She is an absolute ball of sunshine! She is very playful, full of smiles, and interacted well with us. Rob was playing with her and touching her nose. She really liked this and would laugh and then put her little head out and nose up so he would do it again. If we are tickling her or making her hands clap and she wants to do it again, she will move our hands in place so we will repeat. Today we had our first official vist and got to take her outside. We were allowed to feed her a banana and she gobbled it right up. She seemed a little fussy after that so I'm not sure if maybe she was upset that she didn't have more? After a few minutes of walking around with her she became very relaxed and snuggly. She had the drunk look, half opened eyes, and smiling/giggling at everything. It was really cute.
She is super tiny! We were told she weighs 8kg which is around 17 lbs, but I'm thinking more like 15. Its hard to tell what size clothes she wears - 12 months would be best but if its a range I'm not sure if it would be 6-12 or 12-18 months. I brought all 12-18 and took some with us today to hold up to her but didn't get a chance since we were outside the whole time. I did try her 12-18 month shoes from Old Navy and they were just a tad big but fit ok. That makes me think 12-18 months clothes would be ok too with some growing room.
So now we settle in to our visits and get to know Ivy. We get two 1.5 hr visits per day mon-fri and one on sat. mornings. We are so thankful for God's provisions and blessings. This journey so far has been incredible and we look forward to watching Ivy blossom and become all God created her to be!
The moment we dreamed about has finally happened. All we had known up until this point was her birthdate and down syndrome diagnosis. We had one blurry picture and no information on her health. None of it mattered though because God clearly showed us she was meant to be ours from the beginning and whatever else was just, whatever. Of course we wanted her to be healthy and happy, but that isn't always the case. We are so happy to learn her medical and family history with no surprises. She has a hole in her heart which does not require surgery at this point. That is her only health concern but obviously we will have her checked over well at home and go off that information.
She is an absolute ball of sunshine! She is very playful, full of smiles, and interacted well with us. Rob was playing with her and touching her nose. She really liked this and would laugh and then put her little head out and nose up so he would do it again. If we are tickling her or making her hands clap and she wants to do it again, she will move our hands in place so we will repeat. Today we had our first official vist and got to take her outside. We were allowed to feed her a banana and she gobbled it right up. She seemed a little fussy after that so I'm not sure if maybe she was upset that she didn't have more? After a few minutes of walking around with her she became very relaxed and snuggly. She had the drunk look, half opened eyes, and smiling/giggling at everything. It was really cute.
She is super tiny! We were told she weighs 8kg which is around 17 lbs, but I'm thinking more like 15. Its hard to tell what size clothes she wears - 12 months would be best but if its a range I'm not sure if it would be 6-12 or 12-18 months. I brought all 12-18 and took some with us today to hold up to her but didn't get a chance since we were outside the whole time. I did try her 12-18 month shoes from Old Navy and they were just a tad big but fit ok. That makes me think 12-18 months clothes would be ok too with some growing room.
So now we settle in to our visits and get to know Ivy. We get two 1.5 hr visits per day mon-fri and one on sat. mornings. We are so thankful for God's provisions and blessings. This journey so far has been incredible and we look forward to watching Ivy blossom and become all God created her to be!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Day 3 - SDA Appt and 2 new pictures of Ivy!!
Our appointment was not until 2:00 pm today so we had time to have a lazy morning. I woke up at 10 am and skyped my bff. It's so nice to be able to see and talk to family/friends back home. Definitely helps with the homesickness. A skype kiss isn't the same but it's better than nothing :o) I should clarify, I didn't skype kiss my bff, I was referring to with the kids lol.
After getting ready we walked to the bakery down the street. This was our actual first time buying/ordering without help or the worker speaking English. I just pointed to what we wanted in the glass so no communication necessary. We got something that was big and stuffed with powder sugar on top. We had no idea what was inside but figured you cant go wrong when powder sugar is on it. We also got one each of three little things to try out. Turns out the stuff in the middle was apple and it was yum! The pastry dough was really good and fresh, better than home.
By the time we were done eating it was time to change for our appt. and wait for the driver. We met Serge at the SDA and were told to get in his car. He went over any questions we had and explained a little how things work. This guy is quite funny and really sweet. You can tell he really loves helping these children find families. He took us in a side entrance, up some stairs, and in to a little room where a lady was sitting at her desk. We gave him the picture we had of Ivy and he went and switched it with a pic from her file. He handed me this:
Is this not one of the most beautiful babies ever or what?!? And she is standing all by herself!! She looks like a little happy ball of sunshine.
The lady also gave me another pic from when she was younger. I was surprised by this since we did not ask for it and we had nothing to exchange it for. These are blessings to have and we are so thankful we got 2!
Seeing these makes it even harder to wait to meet her! It looks like we may not be meeting her til Monday because our facilitator in that region will be busy with another family on Friday. We are so ready and excited, Monday can not come soon enough!
The appt. in general was very easy and relaxed. We were given information from her file and then told a little about ourselves and shared the photo album we made. That was it and we were done within 10-15 minutes. It is 4:00 pm now and we are just waiting to skype the kids before they leave for school in one hr.
After getting ready we walked to the bakery down the street. This was our actual first time buying/ordering without help or the worker speaking English. I just pointed to what we wanted in the glass so no communication necessary. We got something that was big and stuffed with powder sugar on top. We had no idea what was inside but figured you cant go wrong when powder sugar is on it. We also got one each of three little things to try out. Turns out the stuff in the middle was apple and it was yum! The pastry dough was really good and fresh, better than home.
By the time we were done eating it was time to change for our appt. and wait for the driver. We met Serge at the SDA and were told to get in his car. He went over any questions we had and explained a little how things work. This guy is quite funny and really sweet. You can tell he really loves helping these children find families. He took us in a side entrance, up some stairs, and in to a little room where a lady was sitting at her desk. We gave him the picture we had of Ivy and he went and switched it with a pic from her file. He handed me this:
Is this not one of the most beautiful babies ever or what?!? And she is standing all by herself!! She looks like a little happy ball of sunshine.
The lady also gave me another pic from when she was younger. I was surprised by this since we did not ask for it and we had nothing to exchange it for. These are blessings to have and we are so thankful we got 2!
Seeing these makes it even harder to wait to meet her! It looks like we may not be meeting her til Monday because our facilitator in that region will be busy with another family on Friday. We are so ready and excited, Monday can not come soon enough!
The appt. in general was very easy and relaxed. We were given information from her file and then told a little about ourselves and shared the photo album we made. That was it and we were done within 10-15 minutes. It is 4:00 pm now and we are just waiting to skype the kids before they leave for school in one hr.
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