Friday, February 28, 2014

Happy Adoption Day Julia Babes!!


Two Years!!

Two years ago today we adopted Julia!

Those two years have gone by fast!

Julia has grown!
She wore a 2T when she came home
she is now in size girls size 6x!

She was a bit shy and wasn't sure what it meant to be in a family
today she is filled with joy and sass and loves being in a family
she is an older sister, a younger sister, and an aunt!

She is confident and learning
gaining control over her emotions 
and her wiggles
long enough to color and learn
numbers and letters and sounds and all
she loves to have books read to her 
and 
as she grows she understands more and more
about the beginning of her life
and has questions 
and tears
and anger
and sorrow
and longing
It isn't easy
this redeeming a life
but God is with us
giving us what we need
when we need it
and we are filled with Joy!
Happy Adoption Day
Julia
We love you!!
 
The judge who granted our adoption holding Julia - February 28, 2012

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Eleven Months!






Hannes has been home for 11 months now...



Last year at this time we were still waiting for our court date.  

We had met him on February 13
and we visited him 
every day, 
twice a day...
 
We were getting to know him
it was amazing 
and fun
and hard,
very hard. 
 
We weren't his parents yet
but we were going to be his parents
and that in-between was 
fun and difficult.
 



And now, nearly a year has gone by...


He is blooming!

He seems to have exploded in his learning this last month.

He is playing much more purposefully with his toys

He recently began sitting still for a time
(we actually finished a meal at a restaurant!!)

He has learned that cuddles are nice and will come to get cuddles now

He gives hugs and kisses - in response to a request and a few times he has initiated it!

He will come when we call him (so he knows his name)

He will stop what he's doing if we say no
(well, he is 2, so most times he will listen)
 
He is beginning to prefer us to others

He interacts with his brother and sister - entering into their play

He has learned slowly, but steadily over the past 11 months
and we are so in love with him...

 Like Father, Like Son...        
In one month, he will have been home for a year!  

What a year it has been...

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Today and a year ago today....

Today

we sit in the surgery waiting room
looking at our beautiful son as we wait
to fix the last of his congenital birth defects.



One year ago today

we were in Kiev, Ukraine
at the government office of adoptions.

We were officially matched with Hannes

we saw his file
heard his history
and got a list of his diagnosis's.

We were given official permission to visit him
and decide if we wanted to adopt him.

Today was the beginning of our journey 
of love and new life
together.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Take Two...


Sorta blurry, I know 
but he's always moving around!

This little guy
is a bundle of 
energy!

He goes non-stop from the moment
he gets up to the moment
he goes to bed...



He loves life!
We love him!

We ask for your prayers again...

Hannes will be going into surgery again
on Tuesday
to repair a urological congenital birth defect.

This is the same surgery we attempted the week of Thanksgiving.
That surgery was halted
and we did some follow up testing.
Everything came back good
so we are going back
to do this again.


We will keep you posted!