We made a trip back to Birmingham today to have our first official homestudy interview. In addition, we signed commitment papers for a 2-year-old little girl in Bulgaria. She, like Melina, is a child with special needs. This precious, sweet baby has Down syndrome and her heart has caused some significant issues in the past. However, she's had surgery in Bulgaria to correct the major problems. She may still have problems that Dr. Biggio called 'residual', but we don't think that she'll require more major surgery once she gets to the states. Her heart will definitely be something that will need to be monitored, along with her entire respiratory system due to having pnuemonia multiple times.
All in all, right now she seems generally healthy, and we'll pray she stays that way. Unfortunately, we don't have an 'American' name for her yet! I'd really like to stick with a flowery name, but we're getting down to where there just aren't that many left to choose from . . . I mean, names that wouldn't sound ridiculous. I mean, I wouldn't name my baby 'Larkspur' or 'Ragweed'. I'm scouring websites, though, in hopes of finding JUST ONE that we haven't seen yet on the other 479 sites I've already sorted through. We're also keeping our eyes and ears open for a Bulgarian name that would fit our little girl, too. Some of those are just . . . well, I just don't like them. I'd like to be able to pronouce her whole name in a single breath. We'll eventually find just the right one.
Until then, we're gonna look at that single, solitary picture we have of her (and we'll share that when I've been given the ok . . . along with others that we're hoping the agency will receive) and stand in amazement of God's continued goodness and this plan he's chosen us to carry out. For us, its not a 'job'. Its a privilege, and its one we'll be forever grateful that he's given us.
More news to come!
Paige
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Final Update
God's ways are higher than ours. I keep repeating this over and over in my head. As I look back over the last couple of weeks, we were so sure of the child we were bringing home. There were so circumstances that made us truly believe that Melina, as we named her, was ours. However, we're beginning the process of letting her go and moving on to eventually choose another child. Melina, or 'Serenitta', is being adopted by another family. I can truly be happy for that precious little girl, because she isn't being left behind. She'll have a home . . .a family that, I'm sure, will love her and care for her every bit as much as we would have. I just wish that she could've been ours.
That's the HUMAN side of us. Its what we wished for, but God obviously knows there's another child in Bulgaria that needs us more. Another child that's set apart specifically for us. I had my moment earlier today when Craig called to tell me the news that was relayed to him from our agency. I didn't know how we would take down her pictues just yet, because for many days now, she's been ours . . .but that was in our heads. We took ownership of her right away, because that's how we love.
In the next day or two, we'll probably begin the process of picking out another child. We'll pray, again, that God would lead us to the child that HE wants us to take as our own. In the meantime, we'll continue with trying to get our homestudy together. We went today to be fingerprinted and I went to have my passport picture made for my renewal. The world continues to turn.
So, in a nutshell, we're fine. A little emotionally drained for one day, but I'm sure this is just the first of several speedbumps we'll encounter on this journey. I'm taking it as God preparing me for the rest of the way. I'm going back to what I said earlier, that God rarely calls us to an easy task. If things were easy, I think many more people would follow him, including myself. I'm not sure how many times I may have said 'no' to God because whatever he wanted me to do seemed too difficult. However, we have no doubts that, right now, whatever this task may lead to, we're following him.
Continue to remember us in your prayers, as well as all of these children that so desperately need families. One of them is ours, and he or she is waiting on us.
Much love to you all . . .
Paige
That's the HUMAN side of us. Its what we wished for, but God obviously knows there's another child in Bulgaria that needs us more. Another child that's set apart specifically for us. I had my moment earlier today when Craig called to tell me the news that was relayed to him from our agency. I didn't know how we would take down her pictues just yet, because for many days now, she's been ours . . .but that was in our heads. We took ownership of her right away, because that's how we love.
In the next day or two, we'll probably begin the process of picking out another child. We'll pray, again, that God would lead us to the child that HE wants us to take as our own. In the meantime, we'll continue with trying to get our homestudy together. We went today to be fingerprinted and I went to have my passport picture made for my renewal. The world continues to turn.
So, in a nutshell, we're fine. A little emotionally drained for one day, but I'm sure this is just the first of several speedbumps we'll encounter on this journey. I'm taking it as God preparing me for the rest of the way. I'm going back to what I said earlier, that God rarely calls us to an easy task. If things were easy, I think many more people would follow him, including myself. I'm not sure how many times I may have said 'no' to God because whatever he wanted me to do seemed too difficult. However, we have no doubts that, right now, whatever this task may lead to, we're following him.
Continue to remember us in your prayers, as well as all of these children that so desperately need families. One of them is ours, and he or she is waiting on us.
Much love to you all . . .
Paige
Update
We've received a preliminary update this morning. So far, its not what we wanted to hear. We now know that the other foundation that received Melina's file wanted it because they have another family in the US that has also expressed interest in her. What we don't know is how far along this family is in the process. That may be the gamechanger. If they're simply reviewing files to choose a child, then we still have a decent chance that she'll be ours. If not, then she may be gone for us. Our advocates at Lifeline were having a meeting with Toni at 10, so hopefully we'll have more details then. I'll post again later. Whatever happens, may God's will be done.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The First Test
We need your prayers.
We received some news this morning that's pretty disturbing. For some unknown reason, the foundation meeting that wasn't supposed to happen until September 20th happened yesterday. Obviously, our commitment papers hadn't yet arrived, so Melina's file was still considered active in the adoption system.
The different foundations that meet choose files based on a number system. Its pretty simple. I mean, my kids do this all the time. They draw numbers, and whomever draws first, picks first. Toni, our liason in Bulgaria, didn't get to pick first. Another foundation did, and they chose Melina's file. What we don't know is WHY they chose her file. That's the question that determines whether or not Melina is ours. The foundation that chose her is a new foundation (as of June), so Janna (at Lifeline) believes that it would be early for them to already have many families that are signed and waiting to adopt through them. Tomorrow begins a Bulgarian holiday, so we're forced to wait until Monday to find out the outcome. Its very possible that Toni could request the file back from the other foundation, based on the fact that our commitment papers should be there by then. They could simply give her the file and everything would be as it should. Another possibility is that they wouldn't give her the file, but they would agree to hold Melina as ours. We would have to swap foundations in Bulgaria, but it would still be a workable situtation. We just wouldn't be able to go through Toni. Worst case for us is that this foundation picked Melina's file because they did, indeed, have a family and also have commitment papers. If that's the case, then this is over. Melina would go to someone else to raise.
That's a heartbreaking statement for me to type. It wasn't supposed to happen this way at all, and now we begin a tremendous waiting process that is going to be very, very hard. We still believe 100% that God chose Melina for us. We're hoping that this is yet another test of our faith, but we need prayers NOW. PLEASE pray that Melina is still ours and that God will speak to these people that work with this other foundation. Pray that we'll be able to bring Melina home as we've hoped to do from the very beginning.
This is one of those hard parts we knew we'd have to encounter somewhere along the way. We just didn't know it would happen so early. However, God has a plan, and more than anything, we want to follow him.
Just pray.
Thanks, everybody.
We received some news this morning that's pretty disturbing. For some unknown reason, the foundation meeting that wasn't supposed to happen until September 20th happened yesterday. Obviously, our commitment papers hadn't yet arrived, so Melina's file was still considered active in the adoption system.
The different foundations that meet choose files based on a number system. Its pretty simple. I mean, my kids do this all the time. They draw numbers, and whomever draws first, picks first. Toni, our liason in Bulgaria, didn't get to pick first. Another foundation did, and they chose Melina's file. What we don't know is WHY they chose her file. That's the question that determines whether or not Melina is ours. The foundation that chose her is a new foundation (as of June), so Janna (at Lifeline) believes that it would be early for them to already have many families that are signed and waiting to adopt through them. Tomorrow begins a Bulgarian holiday, so we're forced to wait until Monday to find out the outcome. Its very possible that Toni could request the file back from the other foundation, based on the fact that our commitment papers should be there by then. They could simply give her the file and everything would be as it should. Another possibility is that they wouldn't give her the file, but they would agree to hold Melina as ours. We would have to swap foundations in Bulgaria, but it would still be a workable situtation. We just wouldn't be able to go through Toni. Worst case for us is that this foundation picked Melina's file because they did, indeed, have a family and also have commitment papers. If that's the case, then this is over. Melina would go to someone else to raise.
That's a heartbreaking statement for me to type. It wasn't supposed to happen this way at all, and now we begin a tremendous waiting process that is going to be very, very hard. We still believe 100% that God chose Melina for us. We're hoping that this is yet another test of our faith, but we need prayers NOW. PLEASE pray that Melina is still ours and that God will speak to these people that work with this other foundation. Pray that we'll be able to bring Melina home as we've hoped to do from the very beginning.
This is one of those hard parts we knew we'd have to encounter somewhere along the way. We just didn't know it would happen so early. However, God has a plan, and more than anything, we want to follow him.
Just pray.
Thanks, everybody.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Melina Aven Stewart
I'm sure most of you saw a few days ago that we have happy news! Our newest daughter, Melina Aven Stewart, is waiting for us in the city of Ruse in Bulgaria.
Melina's third birthday is today. I said a special prayer for her this morning, hoping that she realizes that today is her birthday, and praying that someone would do something special for her. We can't post pictures until the Bulgarian government receives our commitment package (we go to Birmingham to get that squared away tomorrow), but rest assured that when we do, you'll certainly see them! They've sent several pictures so far. Some are recent, and some aren't. What we CAN tell, is that she's a beautiful, dark-haired, dark-eyed little girl.
Melina has a condition called Apert Syndrome (http://www.apert.org/apert.htm). My doctor that I had with the twins, Dr. Biggio, was kind enough to look over her medical history to give us a better understanding of what her condition involves. We know that once she gets to the states, she'll require several surgeries, and we think the majority of whatever work she'll need will have to do with orthopaedic issues. Her hands and feet appear to have significant webbing, to the point that it doesn't look like she really has fingers hardly at all. Judging by the pictures, though, she seems to have compensated for that. We have photos of her throwing balls around in a ball pit, so she definitely has some use. Just based on what I've read and seen, I suspect she'll probably have to have some significant vision correction, too. I'd encourage you to look at the link I provided above to give you a better understanding of her diagnosis.
We don't know right now when our travel time will be. There's MUCH to do before we get to that point. However, our agency is doing things a little backwards for us by trying to get that commitment package to Bulgaria before the 20th of this month. September 20th would typically be when her file would be sent to another adoption agency, so we definitely don't want that going back out. She's ours now :).
If there's anything more to update once we get back from Birmingham tomorrow, I'll post tomorrow night. Thanks for the prayers for us and our sweet girl! Keep 'em coming!
Melina's third birthday is today. I said a special prayer for her this morning, hoping that she realizes that today is her birthday, and praying that someone would do something special for her. We can't post pictures until the Bulgarian government receives our commitment package (we go to Birmingham to get that squared away tomorrow), but rest assured that when we do, you'll certainly see them! They've sent several pictures so far. Some are recent, and some aren't. What we CAN tell, is that she's a beautiful, dark-haired, dark-eyed little girl.
Melina has a condition called Apert Syndrome (http://www.apert.org/apert.htm). My doctor that I had with the twins, Dr. Biggio, was kind enough to look over her medical history to give us a better understanding of what her condition involves. We know that once she gets to the states, she'll require several surgeries, and we think the majority of whatever work she'll need will have to do with orthopaedic issues. Her hands and feet appear to have significant webbing, to the point that it doesn't look like she really has fingers hardly at all. Judging by the pictures, though, she seems to have compensated for that. We have photos of her throwing balls around in a ball pit, so she definitely has some use. Just based on what I've read and seen, I suspect she'll probably have to have some significant vision correction, too. I'd encourage you to look at the link I provided above to give you a better understanding of her diagnosis.
We don't know right now when our travel time will be. There's MUCH to do before we get to that point. However, our agency is doing things a little backwards for us by trying to get that commitment package to Bulgaria before the 20th of this month. September 20th would typically be when her file would be sent to another adoption agency, so we definitely don't want that going back out. She's ours now :).
If there's anything more to update once we get back from Birmingham tomorrow, I'll post tomorrow night. Thanks for the prayers for us and our sweet girl! Keep 'em coming!
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