That last necessary apostilled paper from the Commonwealth of Virginia was delivered by the man in the brown truck at about 3:15 this afternoon!!! I'm feeling a little like Jochebed must have felt when she laid her precious bundle in the treacherous Nile. After all the kids got home from school we drove over to Twin Falls. There I carefully, nervously, excitedly slid about 57 sheets of paper accumulated over the last 4 1/2 months into a stiff -cardboard Fed Ex envelope and addressed it to a certain far away city in Eastern Europe!! Our dossier--the paper baby--is totally in God's hands now and is supposed to reach its destination in 3-5 days. The count-down doesn't actually start until 3:45 p.m. tomorrow which is the time of the next Fed-Ex pickup.
Let me tell you, the kids and I seriously prayed over that stack of paperwork that God will hold it in his hands and get it safely to its destination. My concern is even greater than the last time around because earlier this year the shipping company accidentally lost an extremely important adoption-related original document--namely Caleb's birth certificate. I know they are human and I'm sure their overall percentage of completed deliveries is great--but I will be so relieved to hear that our precious package has not fallen prey to any crocodiles and is safe in our facilitator's hands.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
En route
I just checked UPS tracking and that sweet letter from Virginia is in transit on its way back to us. I cannot believe we are actually almost done with the dossier paperwork. The interesting thing is that we sent the paperwork for Caleb overseas October twenty-something of 2007, got our travel date on Dec 26 and had SDA appointment on Jan 25. Of course, this time I'm hoping for travel to Eastern Europe in November or December :) One can always dream!
Jesus, please keep little R. safe. You know my concern about whether he's getting enough to eat, what negative behaviors he could be learning in order to survive, whether he's healthy. Jesus, please help at least one worker to have a particular interest in his well-being. Please keep his heart open to affection and his mind open to learning. And help the other kids there as well.
And Lord, thank you that our pastor mentioned in his sermon this morning that every child with Down syndrome has value. Absolutely. I so appreciated that validation.
Jesus, please keep little R. safe. You know my concern about whether he's getting enough to eat, what negative behaviors he could be learning in order to survive, whether he's healthy. Jesus, please help at least one worker to have a particular interest in his well-being. Please keep his heart open to affection and his mind open to learning. And help the other kids there as well.
And Lord, thank you that our pastor mentioned in his sermon this morning that every child with Down syndrome has value. Absolutely. I so appreciated that validation.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Ruslan
I am advocating for the adoption of a little boy named Ruslan. Ruslan is very cute, has Down syndrome and was described to me by the SDA of Ukraine as 'a very good boy.' I know their description had nothing to do with behavior but I think with his level of functioning. He is only 5 years of age just like little R whom we are in the process of adopting.
In addition to DS, Ruslan has the diagnosis of Hepatitis B. When we were told about him at the SDA (which is something like Ukraine's State Dept of Adoption), I did not want to accept his referral partially because I was afraid this disease would put my other very impulsive children at risk (since they might not always remember to use universal precautions.) I had totally forgotten they have all been immunized for Hep B. (And truthfully, we didn't feel able to adopt two at once anyway) Now Ruslan has been transferred to an institution but adoption is still possible. Interestingly enough, it does not seem that he has been segregated from other children as I understand is usually the case with children with infectious diseases. Some have even questioned whether he just tested positive for Hep B because his birth mother had it.
If you'd like to see a picture of him please follow this link http://www.reecesrainbow.com/olderboys.htm and scroll down until you get to his name.
I am in the process of learning more about hepatitis B. There is good information at a website listed at the link above as well as another site specific to adoption and Hep B which urges parents not to let Hep B keep them from adopting a particular child. I have an online friend who has a child with this diagnosis and she has assured us that the disease is very manageable.
Please pray with me that this little boy has a forever family soon.
In addition to DS, Ruslan has the diagnosis of Hepatitis B. When we were told about him at the SDA (which is something like Ukraine's State Dept of Adoption), I did not want to accept his referral partially because I was afraid this disease would put my other very impulsive children at risk (since they might not always remember to use universal precautions.) I had totally forgotten they have all been immunized for Hep B. (And truthfully, we didn't feel able to adopt two at once anyway) Now Ruslan has been transferred to an institution but adoption is still possible. Interestingly enough, it does not seem that he has been segregated from other children as I understand is usually the case with children with infectious diseases. Some have even questioned whether he just tested positive for Hep B because his birth mother had it.
If you'd like to see a picture of him please follow this link http://www.reecesrainbow.com/olderboys.htm and scroll down until you get to his name.
I am in the process of learning more about hepatitis B. There is good information at a website listed at the link above as well as another site specific to adoption and Hep B which urges parents not to let Hep B keep them from adopting a particular child. I have an online friend who has a child with this diagnosis and she has assured us that the disease is very manageable.
Please pray with me that this little boy has a forever family soon.
Wrong AGAIN but God is at work
No, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia does NOT process requests for authentication the same day they receive them. I'm sure they would if I was a walk-in but it's a rather long walk :) I just checked the return tracking number (we supplied the return postage) and the package with that last piece of paper we need for our dossier has not yet been sent on its merry way toward our household.
And wouldn't you know it, when we finally got that verification of employment from Kevin's job last Friday, I noticed the notary's commission expires Feb 2009. For those not familiar with adoption from Eastern Europe, all the dates on every form are supposed to be valid for at least 8 or 9 months when you submit the dossier. So . . . unless there's a miracle and we get a travel date in November or EARLY December I am going to have to do this lovely letter all over yet again.
But the exciting news is that when we submit the dossier we are also supposed to wire $2000. At the start of this week that was not exciting news--it was rather terrifying because at this second of our lives we just don't have that much cash lying around and the only solution I could come up with was going further into debt on our credit card. I finally got up the nerve to tell Kevin about the $2000 on Tuesday because I was afraid he'd freak out. But he absolutely did not. He began telling me about a Christian radio program he'd heard that day of a person needing a large amount of money for some ministry and how people just began supplying the need. (Let me say here how wonderful it is to have Kevin so absolutely on board with this adoption.) Then Kevin started remembering how we have money coming from several different things. For instance, his part time job in a nearby town pays $65 for each time he mows their city park and they pay it in one lump sum. Their fiscal year just 'happened' to end the last of September and they owe him for 20 mowing. The same town reimburses him for money paid to get the various licenses he needs to manage their water/waste water systems. That's 4 X $45. We picked up a copy machine for the church and never got around to turning in the receipt: that's over $300! I don't know about you but I think I'm seeing God at work here.
So please, to any reader who might possibly be considering the adoption of a child with Down syndrome--or any child, for that matter--please know that if GOD is calling you to do it, He will make it possible.
And wouldn't you know it, when we finally got that verification of employment from Kevin's job last Friday, I noticed the notary's commission expires Feb 2009. For those not familiar with adoption from Eastern Europe, all the dates on every form are supposed to be valid for at least 8 or 9 months when you submit the dossier. So . . . unless there's a miracle and we get a travel date in November or EARLY December I am going to have to do this lovely letter all over yet again.
But the exciting news is that when we submit the dossier we are also supposed to wire $2000. At the start of this week that was not exciting news--it was rather terrifying because at this second of our lives we just don't have that much cash lying around and the only solution I could come up with was going further into debt on our credit card. I finally got up the nerve to tell Kevin about the $2000 on Tuesday because I was afraid he'd freak out. But he absolutely did not. He began telling me about a Christian radio program he'd heard that day of a person needing a large amount of money for some ministry and how people just began supplying the need. (Let me say here how wonderful it is to have Kevin so absolutely on board with this adoption.) Then Kevin started remembering how we have money coming from several different things. For instance, his part time job in a nearby town pays $65 for each time he mows their city park and they pay it in one lump sum. Their fiscal year just 'happened' to end the last of September and they owe him for 20 mowing. The same town reimburses him for money paid to get the various licenses he needs to manage their water/waste water systems. That's 4 X $45. We picked up a copy machine for the church and never got around to turning in the receipt: that's over $300! I don't know about you but I think I'm seeing God at work here.
So please, to any reader who might possibly be considering the adoption of a child with Down syndrome--or any child, for that matter--please know that if GOD is calling you to do it, He will make it possible.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A Day at the Zoo
I hope no one will be offended by that title. I not refering at all to furry creatures such as lions or tigers or bears (oh my!) It's just that life at my house is sometimes rather crazy. We have five children because I have very seriously considered the adoption option and I love it! I love children. I love being a Mommy. Without adoption I would be childless.
Mostly our kids are just kids but you get a few diagnoses like 4 kids with ADHD, 1 of those with PDD as well, some sensory integration difficulties and auditory processing challenges and attachment concerns and fetal alcohol exposure and mild cerebral palsy and most recently Down syndrome tossed into the mixture and things are rarely dull. Don't get excited--it's not NEARLY as bad as all those words sound--but it's not boring either :) Oh, there ARE actually two furry creatures who reside here-a dog and a cat and I really think the dog has ADHD, too.
Last night I took the kids with me to Bible study as usual. Kevin had a City Council meeting so could not be there. Of course I gave everyone a stern "Now I don't have to remind you how we are supposed to act here, right?" before they streamed out of the car. In Bible study our crew sits on the back two benches with children spaced widely apart to try to minimize how distracting we are to everyone else. Also everyone else sits in the middle of the auditorium while we sit in the section to the pastor's right. My oldest who is 14 bought time-out within a few minutes (his misbehavior was already well in motion before we ever got to church) so I put him in a side room that has a big window to the auditorium and told him to stay there. I went back into the service and sat down. The daughter beside me was scribbling all over her notepaper, flipping it loudly back and forth, laying on the bench, patting me, reaching behind me to Caleb, etc. The daughter in front of me and to the left was gesturing rather wildly that she had some kind of problem. Unbeknownst to me she had a DEAD KITTEN wrapped up in the pocket of her sweatshirt and it was stinking. (please roll your eyes here!) My middle son James arrived from football practice and sat down directly in front of me with pads and cleats still in place. About that time the oldest son showed up beside me and told me he wanted to try again. I told him that I'd told him to stay there. He didn't budge so I again got up to escort him back to his bench in the side room. Back to Bible study. Not too long later I notice the lights going off and on in said side room. Back to side room. Correct son. Back to Bible study. And where is Caleb all this time? the one with Down Syndrome whom we were warned about that would be such a wild horror of a child? He was quietly sitting in his place on the pew looking at his Bible story book, and writing on some paper even with me getting up and down so many times.
Thankfully God gave everyone at the zoo a good night's sleep and I woke up this morning feeling much less stressed. OK, so I did find an open can of peaches sitting neatly on the cupboard shelf in front of my Total Raisin Bran this morning. Thankfully, they were freshly opened and still tasty and thankfully they were IN the can and not decoratively, stickily poured on anything. Wow! I had 3 servings of fruit in one meal--peaches, raisins in cereal and apple juice. Not bad for a new day at the zoo.
Mostly our kids are just kids but you get a few diagnoses like 4 kids with ADHD, 1 of those with PDD as well, some sensory integration difficulties and auditory processing challenges and attachment concerns and fetal alcohol exposure and mild cerebral palsy and most recently Down syndrome tossed into the mixture and things are rarely dull. Don't get excited--it's not NEARLY as bad as all those words sound--but it's not boring either :) Oh, there ARE actually two furry creatures who reside here-a dog and a cat and I really think the dog has ADHD, too.
Last night I took the kids with me to Bible study as usual. Kevin had a City Council meeting so could not be there. Of course I gave everyone a stern "Now I don't have to remind you how we are supposed to act here, right?" before they streamed out of the car. In Bible study our crew sits on the back two benches with children spaced widely apart to try to minimize how distracting we are to everyone else. Also everyone else sits in the middle of the auditorium while we sit in the section to the pastor's right. My oldest who is 14 bought time-out within a few minutes (his misbehavior was already well in motion before we ever got to church) so I put him in a side room that has a big window to the auditorium and told him to stay there. I went back into the service and sat down. The daughter beside me was scribbling all over her notepaper, flipping it loudly back and forth, laying on the bench, patting me, reaching behind me to Caleb, etc. The daughter in front of me and to the left was gesturing rather wildly that she had some kind of problem. Unbeknownst to me she had a DEAD KITTEN wrapped up in the pocket of her sweatshirt and it was stinking. (please roll your eyes here!) My middle son James arrived from football practice and sat down directly in front of me with pads and cleats still in place. About that time the oldest son showed up beside me and told me he wanted to try again. I told him that I'd told him to stay there. He didn't budge so I again got up to escort him back to his bench in the side room. Back to Bible study. Not too long later I notice the lights going off and on in said side room. Back to side room. Correct son. Back to Bible study. And where is Caleb all this time? the one with Down Syndrome whom we were warned about that would be such a wild horror of a child? He was quietly sitting in his place on the pew looking at his Bible story book, and writing on some paper even with me getting up and down so many times.
Thankfully God gave everyone at the zoo a good night's sleep and I woke up this morning feeling much less stressed. OK, so I did find an open can of peaches sitting neatly on the cupboard shelf in front of my Total Raisin Bran this morning. Thankfully, they were freshly opened and still tasty and thankfully they were IN the can and not decoratively, stickily poured on anything. Wow! I had 3 servings of fruit in one meal--peaches, raisins in cereal and apple juice. Not bad for a new day at the zoo.
A Tale of Three Moms
Within the last week I have had the privilege of meeting two other moms of boys with Down syndrome in Twin Falls. The first was a mom I have known for quite some time. She and her husband have an adorable son with DS who is now in kindergarten (and other sweet children as well.) She had heard of our adoption plans but we hadn't seen each other since our trip to Ukraine. She was absolutely delighted to meet Caleb and I reminded her that her family was an inspiration to me as we were facing so many negative reactions to our plans to adopt a child with Down syndrome. Her comment that "every family should have one" rings in my heart.
The second encounter came just 2 days ago as Caleb and I were meeting my parents for lunch at Burger King. A young lady was helping several small children out of a car and asked me how old Caleb was. She told me that she also had a son with DS who is just 6 months old and mentioned what a surprise he was since she is only 21. She and the children with her sat right next to us though the restaurant was certainly not crowded. I got the feeling she was observing Caleb. Of course, he was hungrily scooping mac and cheese into his mouth, chatting happily with Papa and Grandma who just dote on him, and overall just being his cheery little self. I kind of purposely talked about the form I have been trying to fill out for Caleb's speech therapist (trying to identify words Caleb seems to understand as well as those he says totally on his own) and the special needs support group we attend monthly. And I very warmly and wholeheartedly congratulated her on her son and remarked how cute he is. No pity. No 'bless his little heart' I'm HAPPY for her. As she was preparing to leave, she came over and told Caleb good-bye. I hope we were as much a blessing to her as my friend and her family were to us earlier in our DS journey.
The second encounter came just 2 days ago as Caleb and I were meeting my parents for lunch at Burger King. A young lady was helping several small children out of a car and asked me how old Caleb was. She told me that she also had a son with DS who is just 6 months old and mentioned what a surprise he was since she is only 21. She and the children with her sat right next to us though the restaurant was certainly not crowded. I got the feeling she was observing Caleb. Of course, he was hungrily scooping mac and cheese into his mouth, chatting happily with Papa and Grandma who just dote on him, and overall just being his cheery little self. I kind of purposely talked about the form I have been trying to fill out for Caleb's speech therapist (trying to identify words Caleb seems to understand as well as those he says totally on his own) and the special needs support group we attend monthly. And I very warmly and wholeheartedly congratulated her on her son and remarked how cute he is. No pity. No 'bless his little heart' I'm HAPPY for her. As she was preparing to leave, she came over and told Caleb good-bye. I hope we were as much a blessing to her as my friend and her family were to us earlier in our DS journey.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Virginia Paper
As many of you already know, one particular piece of paper mailed from Richmond,VA was in our mailbox on Friday!! I turned around and UPS'd it back to Virginia to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office. It is supposed to arrive there on Tuesday morning and be back to us by Thursday or Friday with an apostille in place. This is the spot where the letter came up missing last time around so I am praying history does not repeat itself. I so hope to mail out the dossier by Friday evening.
October, by the way, is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. I feel like such a newcomer to the world of DS but I would love to invite any of the readers of this blog to www.reecesrainbow.com where you can learn valuable information, read mind-boggling statistics and have your eyes opened to the needs of orphans around the world who just happen to have an extra chromosome.
October, by the way, is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. I feel like such a newcomer to the world of DS but I would love to invite any of the readers of this blog to www.reecesrainbow.com where you can learn valuable information, read mind-boggling statistics and have your eyes opened to the needs of orphans around the world who just happen to have an extra chromosome.
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