July 22 & 23 Update

We picked up our referrals from SDA in Kiev shortly before 5pm on Wednesday then dropped off the Schultz family from Maryland at their hotel then we were on the road about 5:15pm to Nikoleav. It was suppose to be a 5-6 hour drive but ended up being 7 hours. It was a very tramatizing ride for me and if I never make it again I will be so happy. Well, I should be fair and say the first half wasn't so bad...it was a divided highway but not having seat belts made me so nervous. Some say the train ride is horrible others say it's not so bad. I will go with the "not so bad" and take the train back to Kiev when the time comes. I can NOT go through with that drive again. It would be a night train leaving at 8pm and arriving at 6am.

We got to our apartment in Nikolaev around 12:30am. Giligan, our landlady, greeted us and showed us around and what do to. She is so funny and so nice. She speaks Russian, German, and English.

Our first night was a VERY emotional night. It started with the tramatizing ride and then just the unknowns of what the next day would bring. We were only hours from meeting the boy that has been "growing" in "my" heart since Nov. 2008. I was worried about how Darrell would do. He has voiced his concerns about his worry of the "what if's" for a while now...what if he can't love Isaiah...what if he has many health problems that they didn't tell us...what if he is more than we can handle, etc. We got up early after maybe 2 hours of sleep. Sasha, our facilatator in Nikolaev picked us up at 8:30am to head to the City Hall to meet with the social worker for some paperwork. We were told the social worker would ask us questions but she didn't. We then all when to the orphanage, including the social worker to meet with the orphanage director. We were given Isaiah's medical history. He was the first child born to his birth parents. They left him at the hospital in the maternity ward and signed off as parents because they learned he had Down syndrome. A few weeks later he was brought to the orphanage. We got his birth measurments. We also learned that he had heart surgery on July 23rd, 2009. He was admitted into the hospital in Kiev on July 22nd and discharged on July 29th. We learned this information on July 22nd 2010...exactly 1 lear later. He had 2 small holes (not sure of the spellings) but it was minor and he only has a small scar on his back near his heart. He was in the hospital a couple other times for colds, coughs, etc. There is an organization in Switzerland that donates money to kids who need surgeries. Isaiah was a lucky recepient to have had this surgery...not all kids are so lucky. Right now there are 2 little girls in this orphanage who are in the hosptial having surgery thanks to this organization.

After this visit with the orphanage director we were asked if we wanted to meet the child. We said yes. It all happened so fast and we did not get it on video. I saw him as soon as I walked in the door. I didn't know if I could walk right in as nannies had all eyes on us and I felt out of place. So I started slowly walking and no one told me to stop. Isaiah was in his little padded play area with no toys. I picked him up and squeezed and kissed and hugged and kissed and squeezed him. It felt like a dream that FINALLY came true. He was perfect and so stinken cute. I was so hot so I handed him over to Darrell. I was worried that he wouldn't want to hold him but he took him and held him and he said that he felt that everything was going to be alright and many of his "what if" worries vanished. We were able to spend about an hour with him. It was snack time and they took Isaiah and put him in his highchair table and montioned for me to sit down and feed him. I was shocked that I was given this opportunity so soon. Isaiah will be eating mushy food for a while from what I could tell. Alisha told me in the past that Isaiah can drink from a regular cup and I was so impressed as our Joey still struggles. Well after the baked apple snack that I fed him then the nanny handed me a cup of apple juice. I slowly starting putting it to his mouth so he could drink some and the nanny took my hand and showed me how to do it...basically pour it in his mouth and he has no choice but to swallow or let it run out. I felt so sad for him. We then took him outside AFTER the nanny handed us a hat to put on him. All kids wear hats outside. It is so cute seeing them. Since it is so HOT here they all only have on little undies and hats...that's it. Isaiah never once acted scared. He acted like we've been his mom/dad since forever. He cuddled with us, touched our faces, seemed to want to give kisses as he would move his face into our face, stared at our faces, smiled, giggled and NEVER cried a once. It was amazing and so welcomed. He is so lovable and so sweet and so perfect.

Before we went outside with Isaiah we were asked if we wanted this child and we both said yes. They then went to start the paperwork when we went outside. A short while later Sasha came out and said there is a problem. They discovered that on the paper that the birth parents signed that they said only to be adopted in Ukraine. Sasha said it always says both in country and internationally. We could not move forward until this was settled. The birth parents needed to be notified and asked if this child could be adopted by an American family. The birth mother has never visited Isaiah. One of the grandmothers did a few times and then stopped as she felt there was nothing she could do to help him. The orphanage director only had the phone number to this grandmother so she was called. The grandmother then called the mother/father to let them know. We were told the would come the next morning to make the decision. They live about 2 hours from Nikolaev and have just recently given birth to another baby. I was so worried and started crying and Sasha said she is so sure everything will be fine. Darrell said we would have to believe it was God's will IF Isaiah didn't come home with us.

FRIDAY, JULY 23rd, UPDATE...

We met with our landlady at 8am so she could show us how to use the bus system to get to bigger supermarkets and to help us shop. You wouldn't think it would be so hard to shop for food buy try it when everything is in a different language. Every now and then we would see an English word. That was our first experince using the city bus. Quite interesting.

We were a little late getting to the orphanage. The family was suppose to be there at 11am. So I told Darrell that we were going to sit in the front entrance area where there is a couch so we could see them walk in. They wouldn't know us or Isaiah. Well, 11am came and went and so did 11:15. We then went outside to catch a breeze (did I mention it is so HOT here??) and at 11:25 2 older gals and a younger gal came walking up the steps. The younger gal and one of the older gals were crying. I knew it was them. Darrell was sitting on the top step holding Isaiah and I was standing. The young gal kind of looked over Darrell's shoulder to try to see Isaiah. I'm assuming they went up to the orphange directors room. We took Isaiah back to his groupa at 11:30 and sat on the couch. We weren't told to but we wanted to find out what the fate of this little boy whom we wanted to take home to give him a chance at a much better life would be. Sasha had the day off but she had a friend step in for her. She talked with us while we were waiting. The birth mom and her mother came to the entrace area and looked at us and then Sasha's friend and them said a few words and the mom/grandma went back upstairs. Sasha's friend said she told the birth mom that she doesn't need to be sad...that this is a good and very beautiful thing happening. The birth mom told her she didn't know what she was talking about. A while later we were told they wanted to meet us and talk to us. So we walked into the room where both grandma's and the birth mom were sitting and crying. The orphanage director was showing them a photo album of other kids with Ds who were adopted by American families and telling them how well they are doing. In 2 years if Isaiah wasn't adopted he would be transferred into a mental institution where he would likely spend the rest of his days in a crib. The first question they asked us was if we really did have another child with Ds and we said yes. I handed the birth mom our photo album and they all 3 were looking and crying. They got to Joey's picture and stared at it and commented on how he doesn't look like he has Ds. They asked why we wanted to adopt him. After more chit chat between them and director were we then asked if they could have updates with photos. We agreed. We knew their tears were genuine and our hearts were breaking for them. It was very hard not to cry. This seemed like a big bump in the road b/c it is delaying our adoption process b/c we can't move forward until they sign the paper but I told Darrell maybe God allowed this to happen because this family needed some sort of closure. We do know the birth parents split up for a while and it very well could have been b/c of them having this baby with Ds and then giving him up for adoption. This probably has affected them deeply and secretly and their hearts have maybe been breaking everyday since they left him. We will never know but I want to believe good came or will come out of this delay that is not easy for us. The birth mom and mother of the father said they would talk to the father and tell him that they trust us. So now we wait until tomorrow to hear. I'm not even going to begin to think what would happen IF this goes the direction that would break our hearts. We are just trusting and praying that God has Isaiah's best interest in mind. The fate of this little innocent boy could end up on 2 different ends of the spectrum. We may not be the perfect family but we believe we can give him a much better life.

We've asked a few people what Ukrainian's think of Americans coming to adopt because we sense that we are not at all liked. We were told that it isn't that they don't like American's but rather the adoptions because of the stories they hear from what happens to kids in America that are adopted...for instance, the mom who send her adopted child from Russia on an airplane by himself with a note back to Russia. Well, we American's aren't too happy with that mom either. There was supposedly another adopted child who died from being forgotten in a hot car.

Please pray for God's will and IF the will is not in our favor please pray we are able to accept this. It would be a VERY VERY hard thing to understand after many many months of loving this boy and working to bring him home to us.

Phew...the parts of my fingers that are left from the tramatizing ride on Suicide Highway are now tired from typing this novel. Someday the driver will find 10 finger stubs stuck in his seat.

Good Night from Nikolaev.
ps...sorry from any typos. I didn't proofread.