Blessings!!!

So many wonderful blessings today!  Conner woke this morning with a full wet diaper (praise God), and he was also HUNGRY and THIRSTY!!!  Conner moaned and sang and crawled around for a while after waking, then crawled over to the high chair (when he saw Baby E getting ready to eat) and expressed that he was ready to EAT.  Conner shocked us all as he eagerly ate a full bowl of finely pureed and watered down oatmeal with mashed banana and milk.  Then he saw Tara with a glass of milk, and he squawked and squawked, showing us he wanted some, too.  So, Conner drank a large glass of milk.

 

He wanted more of everything, but I was so concerned about refeeding syndrome (as well as Conner vomiting!), we only allowed water for a couple of hours after his big, huge meal.  Conner ended up with a belly ache after filling that tiny, shriveled, empty tummy so full, then he crashed out next to Matt on the couch.  All of this happened before Cooper even woke up for the day!

 

Matt moved Conner to his tent bed, but he cried, so he laid down with him on the big bed, where Conner slept soundly, comforted by his Daddy.

 

Then I woke Cooper up, fed him breakfast (same thing as Conner), and then we all got ready to go to the US Embassy for our appointment.  We were picked up at 12:30PM, stopped by the medical examination office to pick up our sealed medical reports, then headed over to the US Embassy.  We were concerned we wouldn’t make it there in time to get our visas because traffic was so bad.  Our appointment was at 2PM, but we didn’t arrive until 2:30PM.

 

But, it all worked out just fine, praise God.  After getting approval through security to proceed into the Embassy, we opened the doors to the visa and immigration office to hear a family say, “Oh, look, it’s Cooper and Conner!”  We were a bit surprised, but then this mom said she’s following us on Facebook, and she and her family were adopting a girl they’d hosted this past summer.  There was also an American man adopting a boy that he and his wife had hosted this past summer as well.  This boy reminded me SO MUCH of Vlad…same age, same hair/eye color, same mannerisms…he really looked and acted like Vlad’s twin.  It felt a bit bittersweet to watch this boy in action, as he reminded us so much of Vlad.  In fact, I saw this boy at the medical examination office yesterday, and this boy ran up to me and said, “Hello” in English, with confidence.  I actually thought he was Vlad at first glance, but didn’t get a chance to talk to the boy because we had to go.  Matt met us in the parking lot yesterday at the medical office, and he commented that he saw a boy who looked like Vlad.  Then we run into this boy at the Embassy.  Just sort of strange.  Wonder what God’s up to with that?!?!

 

Anyway, things were easy-peezy at the Embassy.  Out of all of our international adoptions, this was BY FAR the best and easiest Embassy visit.  They had me sign papers that technically should have been signed yesterday when Matt went for the first visit, then they told us to wait up to an hour for the visas to be put into the boys’ passports.  25 minutes later, the visas were ready and we were leaving the Embassy!  HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!  All glory to God, as this timing is truly a miracle with all of the complications and delays in Kremenchuk with the passports!

This photo shows the new American Embassy in Kiev (the big building behind Matt).

 

Our facilitator and her husband gave the boys traditional Ukrainian shirts as a special gift for them to remember their country.  I was SO excited to receive these because I REALLY wanted to buy some for the boys, but hadn’t had a chance to get them.  THANK YOU, NINA AND DENIS!!!

 

We were praising Jesus for this day, for all He’s brought us through, for choosing us to be the parents of these precious boys, for sustaining these boys and giving them life, for Conner’s increased appetite today, for delivering the boys’ passports and visas, and for getting us on a plane to Texas Saturday.  Conner and Cooper may not realize the value of those little blue books, but we sure do!!!

 

Then Baby E (Tara and Jonathon’s baby) joined our boys for the photo festivities, adorned in her traditional Ukrainian dress and floral headpiece.  Such precious treasures who gave us many laughs as we tried to photograph the 3 of them!!!

 

We’re SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to be going to Texas tomorrow (Saturday).  Please pray for safe, easy travel, that the boys would be content (and quiet) travelers, that the boys’ health would be stable, and that we would not have any delays or issues.  Our pediatrician is working with the hospitalist at Dell Children’s Hospital to develop the best care plan for the boys.  We are waiting to hear back from him (should know something within a few hours), but right now, we’re getting packed up and ready for bed.  We’re getting picked up at 4:45AM, so we’re going to try to snooze some before our big day (24 hours) of travel.

 

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and support.  We’re so grateful for you!!!