Gotcha!!

Today was a WONDERFUL success! After spending half the night awake changing Lily's diapers (I'd say we changed at least 10 absolutely awful diapers during the night. . .poor baby) and starting the day with Lily throwing up over breakfast (she ate WAY too much yesterday and her poor digestive system just couldn't handle it), I was a little nervous about how we would all make it through this day and live to tell! Although, we definitely had our rough spots, for the most part, everything has gone very well.

We drove to Lukovit first this this morning where Alayna's mother, grandmother and grandfather were waiting for us. Aside from Lily throwing a tantrum throughout most of the meeting, it was an incredible experience for all of us. Alayna's birth family is wonderful. They love her dearly and, although they are sad that she will be so far away, they are so happy to know that she will be loved and cared for and have the opportunity to reach her full potential. I was deeply touched when Alayna's grandmother took me in her arms and told me that, she had been blessed with two daughters and now she had three and when Alayna's mother kissed my cheeks and told me that I would forever be like her sister. It was an emotional meeting for us all and I will be forever grateful for the blessing of having these wonderful, loving people in my life (and Alayna's). What a truly incredible gift.

Mama Valerie, Mama DiDi (Dimitrina), Diado Mitko (grandpa), Baba Violeta (grandma) and Tatko Richard.

Alayna met with her birth family to say a final goodbye before we arrived this morning and her mother explained to her that she was blessed to have two mama's that love her and that today she would be going home with Mama Valerie and Tatko Richard so she was ready to go when we arrived. While we were meeting with her family. her caretakers were preparing her to leave. All of the children from the orphanage were playing outside when we arrived and were still out there when we left. As we walked to the car with Alayna, everyone followed us yelling "Goodbye" and "We'll miss you" (in Bulgarian of coure).

Leaving the orphanage

Alayna did fairly well as we drove away from the orphanage, but about 10 minutes in to our drive back to Sofia, she broke down and began to just sob. My heart ached for her as I watched her grieve the loss of her friends and family. She cried on and off for most of the trip home, but by the time we arrived in Sofia she was fine.

Before returning to the hotel we had to stop by the immigration office to apply for the girls passports. As soon as we left the car and walked into the building Lily began to wail (one thing we know for sure. . .there is absolutely nothing wrong with this girls lungs!!). She screamed and cried and kicked in my arms the entire time we were in the immigration office and she refused to be comforted. I can't wait to pull out her Bulgarian passport when she is a teenager and show all the boys what Lily looks like when she doesn't get her way :-) As soon as we left the building and got back into the car it was like nothing had ever happened. I think she has already given me a few gray hairs!

We spent a low key afternoon in the hotel room. Alayna enjoyed coloring, listening to Bulgarian children's songs on my iPod and talking to her aunt, uncle, brothers, sister and grandma via Skype. Richard and Alayna went downstairs and ordered pizza for dinner. I think this pizza will probably feed us all for the rest of the week, don't you?



I am very glad that I took the time to learn enough Bulgarian to be able to effectively communicate with the girls (and, of course, I continue to learn more each day as I talk to them). Alayna is a social butterfly and it has made bonding and attaching much easier because I understand what she needs/wants and can respond to those wants/needs without a lot of frustration caused by the language barrier. There have been a few times when I have not understood her (and I pretty sure she cussed me out in Bulgarian at one point), but for the most part, we have been able to communicate very effectively.

Alayna is an amazing girl. She gets around without a wheelchair VERY well (although the orphanage did allow us to take one with us (neat story about that later) she hasn't used it much). She absolutely LOVES the bath. She took two baths tonight and wanted to take a third, but we eventually talked her into waiting until tomorrow morning! She has also tried on just about every article of clothing (including every pair of socks and every pair of underwear) that we brought for her! She is destined to be a daddy's girl. She loves hanging out with her daddy and I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual. They have already developed a "secret handshake" (okay, it is just an "exploding" fist bump, but it is hilarious to watch). She seems to enjoy her mommy time as well, but for the most part, I am just the translator for her and her daddy (which is actually very good because Lily still needs a decent amount of my attention).

Alayna and her daddy! Two peas in a pod!

Both of the girls (and Richard) are now sleeping peacefully. Your thoughts and prayers were heard and we have been blessed with a truly amazing day! Tomorrow and Wednesday will be "down days" as we wait for the girls passports to be processed (they should be ready to pick up on Wednesday afternoon). We will make up for those low-key days on Thursday which we will spend at the polyclinic in the morning (in order for the girls to be issued Visa's, the US requires a medical exam) and the US Embassy in the afternoon. The visa's should be ready by Friday and our flight departs on Saturday morning at 6 am.

We are overjoyed to FINALLY have both of our beautiful girls with us and we cannot wait to get them home! Please continue to keep the girls in your prayers. They are doing well, but they still have a long road ahead of them as they process through all of these changes in their lives and transition into our family.

A Unique Situation

Tomorrow is Alayna's "Gotcha Day" and we are so excited to finally have our girl in our arms! We have not shared this with many people but, when I met Alayna for the first time in March, I learned that her birth mother and grandmother still write/call/visit her several times per year (every birthday and Christmas as well as various holidays throughout the year). This revelation brought with it many different emotions as well as some stress in regards to how this might effect Alayna's adoption.

Once the adoption was finalized I asked Toni if it would be possible to contact the birth mother to let her know that Alayna had been adopted so that she would have a chance to see her daughter and say goodbye before we brought her home. For this to happen, the local social services had to approve the contact. The day before we left for Bulgaria, Toni contacted me to let me know that social services had approved, the birth mother had been contacted and that she and the grandmother had been to visit Alayna that day. To my relief, they were very happy to learn that Alayna had been adopted and were excited that she would finally receive the medical treatment she needs. They also requested to meet Richard and I. We gladly accepted!

We are very happy to have this opportunity to sit down with Alayna's birth family and get to know them, ask questions and continue our contact with them once we return home so that they can continue to watch Alayna grow and reach her full potential as the beautiful daughter of God that she is. We know that this relationship between two families that love her with also be beneficial to Alayna.

Tomorrow will be a very busy and emotionally charged day. Please pray that our meeting with Alayna's birth family will be positive and that we will be able to share our hearts for Alayna with each other despite the language barrier. Please pray that this transition will be smooth for Alayna and that she will be able to understand what is going on. Pray that we will be able to help her process through the change to the best of our abilities. And please, please pray for Lily. She is making great strides, but tomorrow will be a big day for her as well and we are a little nervous about how the events of tomorrow will effect her.

Today was another wonderful day and we feel that Lily has taken some very positive steps forward already. There is much to tell and I promise that those things will not be left unsaid, but it is going to be an early morning and a long day tomorrow and my bed is calling my name (oh, wait. . .I think that was Richard!).

Thank you all for your prayers and also for your encouraging comments! Those things are what keep us going when the going gets tough!

The Gift

Six years ago today, Evan was born in a small hospital in a tiny town in Eastern Ukraine. I was not there to witness his birth or the heartache that followed, but on this day, each and every year, I am grateful to a beautiful, courageous and strong woman who gave life to the little boy that brings unspeakable joy to my heart every day!

Shortly before leaving for Ukraine, we learned from a friend, of an independent investigator, Gene Sagin, whose primary focus was to locate Ukrainian birth parents for adoptive parents. After we arrived in Ukraine and had met Evan, I began to have this nagging feeling that I needed to locate Evan's birth mother to let her know that Evan was okay. I filed the thought away in the back of my mind and, ocassionally over the next year, it would make its way to the surface again.

Finally, in June 2009 that nagging feeling pushed its way, with some urgency, to the forefront of my mind and I knew it was time to act upon the promptings I had received to locate Evan's mother and to share with her that, not only was Evan okay, but he was thriving. I finally contacted Gene and, within a week, his report was waiting for me in my inbox.

Her story is truly tragic and one that is filled with pain and heartbreakingly difficult decisions, especially for one so young (just 18 at the time Evan was born), but because of her strength and her courage against what, I am sure, seemed like insurmountable odds, Evan is alive! Her story is not mine to tell, but what I can say is that, she could have chosen to take the easy way out. She could have chosen to end her own suffering. But she loved her son so much that she fought for his life before he was even born and she paid dearly for that courageous decision. And, after all that she had suffered just to bring Evan into this world, I can only imagine how devastated she must have been on this day, six years ago, when her sweet baby boy, who she loved so dearly, came into the world "severely disabled" and she was told that he would live no longer than a month.

I received contact information for Evan's birth mother along with Gene's report. I knew immediately that I needed to write to her to let her know that her courageous fight and her suffering had not been in vain. That, because of her strength and her courage, Evan is alive and he is thriving today. What welcomed news this was to Evan's birth mother (and his grandmother), who both thought that he had died many years ago! What a blessing it has been for both of us to be in touch this past year (comical as it may be between my broken Russian and her broken English) as we share in our love for this amazing little boy who brings so much joy and inspiration to everyone he meets!

Lidia, you have truly given me one of the greatest gifts I have ever known! Evan is pure sunshine and he brings joy and light to everyone he meets. It is because of your strength and your courage that he is here, touching lives everywhere he goes. My respect and love for you run so deep and I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for the gift that you are! May He bless you every day for your faith, courage and strength.

Happy Birthday Evan!