In two more days we will meet you for the first time. You have no idea what is in store for you. I wonder if you have been told that there are people coming to see you. A man and a woman who want to be your Mommy and Daddy. I wonder if you know what a Mommy and Daddy are. I picture you at the orphanage sometimes, seeing other children being picked by nice mother’s and father’s to be their children; I picture you wondering when and if anyone will ever come to get you. We are coming Kole! It seems like all your Dad and I have done is wait and now we are waiting some more ‘til we can be with you, but you have been waiting for more than six years for someone to rescue you. You won’t have to wait much longer, little man.
I have pictured the moment we first meet you with great anticipation and anxiety; I think I may have pictured it a thousand times. You are so happy to see us and you call us “Mommy” and “Daddy” right away. I imagine hugging you and kissing your face. I’m crying; it’s a “happy cry” as your brother Lane has learned to call it. You’ll learn too, your Mommy is way too emotional; as is your brother Lane. I keep picturing you hugging your Dad and riding on his shoulders. I have dreamed so many times of what it will be like when we take you by the hand and lead you out of the orphanage, and the joy I will feel in my heart knowing that you will never have to return to that place. I hope your little heart will be filled with joy too. I picture your face staring out the car or airplane window in amazement. I imagine you playing with your brothers at home in our living room. Everytime I imagine a moment with you in it, it’s in slow motion like I am watching a movie where I am happy crying because all the drama has been resolved, and David Gray or Alexi Murdoch music is playing in the background.
I hope you like us. We love you already with all our hearts. I know it may take you a while to want to hug us or to want to be hugged. That’s going to be hard for me; I hug and snuggle your brothers a lot, but they don’t always want to snuggle either. They are busy boys. I know you will like them. Lane is so excited to teach you all about trains and he can’t wait to jump on the trampoline with you. They made you a teddy bear that is sitting on your bed at home; Lane picked out a Star Wars jedi outfit for it. I know you don’t know what Star Wars is yet, but I’m sorry to say that when you live in our house there is just no escaping hearing something about Star Wars being mentioned on a daily basis. I’m sure you will have many epic light saber battles with your Daddy and brothers in the back yard. You’ll be sharing a room with your brothers, and Lane has asked many times if the two of you could just sleep in a tent on his bed every night like you are camping.
Lane is loud and funny, kind and sensitive. I know he will make you laugh; he is so silly and he loves to entertain. I hope you like music, because we play it constantly at our house. I love to pick up your little brother Hudson and dance around with him and Lane. Lane borrows Mommy and Daddy’s cd’s and puts them on in his room, way too loud and dances around. The other day he asked if he could borrow a cd “like maybe the Beatles or something else cool.” Usually he asks someone to come and dance with him. I’m just warning you, you will be forced to dance, but don’t worry if you haven’t any rhythm, no one in our house can actually dance; that just makes it more fun.
Hudson loves to play and he laughs and smiles constantly, but don’t take his red ball away from him, or he might bite you. He will play catch with you all day if you wanted. It’s one of his favorite things to sit on the floor and bounce his red ball back and forth, and he’s getting really good at catching it. I hope you are a heavy sleeper, because Hudson wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes just babbling and talking, and he’s loud.
The week before we left Georgia to come to Ukraine Lane helped me pick out a pair of sneakers for you. I have no idea what size feet you have, but I just really had the urge to buy you a nice pair of sneakers. Your Dad thinks they are a little ugly, but I think they look cute; your Dad has horrible taste in shoes anyway, he would wear his Chacos 24/7 if I let him. Lane was slightly disappointed that we didn’t buy you some light- up Sketchers like his; Lane thinks that every kid needs to have a pair of sneakers that light up. I don’t have the heart to tell him those are really nerdy; I’m just hoping he outgrows the light-up shoe phase at some point.
Your Dad is just as excited to meet you and bring you home as I am. We talk about you ALL the time. I think your Dad and I look forward to different moments with you. He can’t wait to teach you how to play video games and take you to your first movie. We both just can’t wait til we are all together as a family. There are so many things we talk about teaching you; we wonder and laugh about what you might think of our crazy family or the way we do things.
I can’t wait to teach you about how I was an orphan too until God rescued me and brought me into his family. There are so many things I want you to know about our great God, but mostly I just want you to really know Him someday, like your Daddy and I do. I hope that even now you are sensing His love and protection. We have prayed every day since we first saw your picture that God would protect you and keep you safe until we could take you home. I love you so much Kole Isaiah Miles. Just two more days son.
Update From Abroad
We had our appointment at the SDA this morning. We sat down with an SDA worker, she pulled out a big file with our names on the front and our facilitator translated for us. She asked us about ourselves, our home, our family and why we wanted to adopt Kole. We showed her pictures of Lane and Hudson, and we explained why we wanted to adopt Kole and how we fell in love with him the first time we saw his picture.
We were so relieved that Kole was still available for adoption. We knew there was always a small chance that before we could get here he could be transfered out of his orphanage, or another family could have adopted him.
They then told us about Kole. He was abandened at birth in the hospital by his parents. I started to cry a little bit, partly because I was thinking about this beautiful boy having to spend these first 6 yrs. of his life in an orphanage, but also because I was thinking of how difficult it must have been for his parents. The culture here is just so much less accepting of chilren with Down Syndrome or any special needs. And I know how often even in America we hear ignorant comments or receive long stares. I can't imagine how sad it must have been for those parents to have a child here and feel like they couldn't keep him because of how they and he would be treated.
The SDA worker decribed Kole as emotional, sociable, and well-behaved. Sounds a lot like our boys, minus the well-behaved part :). We saw pictures of him when he was younger. He had chubbie cheeks; he was and is so adorable. He was not smiling in any of his pictures. I really just can't wait to see him smile, to hug his neck, and kiss his face, tickle him, and play.
Our official referral papers will not be ready until tomorrow evening, and we will go pick them up at the SDA. Because it will be the weekend the orphanage and the offices in Kole's region will be closed. So we have to wait to travel there on Sunday. We will meet Kole Monday sometime. That was a little disappointing to hear; we had so hoped it would be possible to spend the entire weekend with him.
So for the next few days we will just be here in Kyiv. More waiting... :)
We were so relieved that Kole was still available for adoption. We knew there was always a small chance that before we could get here he could be transfered out of his orphanage, or another family could have adopted him.
They then told us about Kole. He was abandened at birth in the hospital by his parents. I started to cry a little bit, partly because I was thinking about this beautiful boy having to spend these first 6 yrs. of his life in an orphanage, but also because I was thinking of how difficult it must have been for his parents. The culture here is just so much less accepting of chilren with Down Syndrome or any special needs. And I know how often even in America we hear ignorant comments or receive long stares. I can't imagine how sad it must have been for those parents to have a child here and feel like they couldn't keep him because of how they and he would be treated.
The SDA worker decribed Kole as emotional, sociable, and well-behaved. Sounds a lot like our boys, minus the well-behaved part :). We saw pictures of him when he was younger. He had chubbie cheeks; he was and is so adorable. He was not smiling in any of his pictures. I really just can't wait to see him smile, to hug his neck, and kiss his face, tickle him, and play.
Our official referral papers will not be ready until tomorrow evening, and we will go pick them up at the SDA. Because it will be the weekend the orphanage and the offices in Kole's region will be closed. So we have to wait to travel there on Sunday. We will meet Kole Monday sometime. That was a little disappointing to hear; we had so hoped it would be possible to spend the entire weekend with him.
So for the next few days we will just be here in Kyiv. More waiting... :)
Here At Last
We arrived yesterday around 1pm Kyiv time. Going through immigration and customs was simple and fast and the people here are so friendly. Our facilitator had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport; our driver's name was Nikolai. He spoke great English and he drove like a New Yorker. Nikolai drove us to our apartment; it looks a little shady on the outside, but after we climbed 3 flights of stairs and went into a small, unlit hallway we entered our apartment. It is actually quite nice and very clean. We were exhausted from not really being able to sleep on the plane so we slept well in the apartment.
This morning we got up and headed out to see the sights. The city is busy and there is so much to do. We walked to St. Michael's Monastery of the Golden Domes which was destroyed under Stalin and only recently rebuilt in 2001. Outside the monastary walls there is a stone and iron cross which stands as a monument to the victims of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933. Down the hill from St Michaels is St Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev's oldest standing church. The architecture and details on these buildings is ornate and beautful.
We spent some time in Independance Square where the "Orange Revolution" took place in 2004. Across the street is the monument of independance which was erected in 2001 in celebration of Ukraine's 10 yr anniversary of self-rule and freedom from the USSR. Near that monument is also a statue of founders of Kiev; 3 brothers and their sister. The sister, Lybid, supposedly chose the spot where Kiev was to be and named it after the oldest brother "Kyi." The younger brothers were Schek and Khoriv. And yes I am getting this from our guidebooks.
The history of this country is both sad and fascinating. We are loving our time here so far. Today we walked everywhere. Tomorrow morning at 11am (4am EST) we have our SDA apt. Pray that all goes well! Probably the next day we will take a train to Kole's region. We just can't wait to see him and hug him.
This morning we got up and headed out to see the sights. The city is busy and there is so much to do. We walked to St. Michael's Monastery of the Golden Domes which was destroyed under Stalin and only recently rebuilt in 2001. Outside the monastary walls there is a stone and iron cross which stands as a monument to the victims of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933. Down the hill from St Michaels is St Sophia's Cathedral, Kiev's oldest standing church. The architecture and details on these buildings is ornate and beautful.
We spent some time in Independance Square where the "Orange Revolution" took place in 2004. Across the street is the monument of independance which was erected in 2001 in celebration of Ukraine's 10 yr anniversary of self-rule and freedom from the USSR. Near that monument is also a statue of founders of Kiev; 3 brothers and their sister. The sister, Lybid, supposedly chose the spot where Kiev was to be and named it after the oldest brother "Kyi." The younger brothers were Schek and Khoriv. And yes I am getting this from our guidebooks.
The history of this country is both sad and fascinating. We are loving our time here so far. Today we walked everywhere. Tomorrow morning at 11am (4am EST) we have our SDA apt. Pray that all goes well! Probably the next day we will take a train to Kole's region. We just can't wait to see him and hug him.
Going Soon!
We finally got our court date this week and bought our plane tickets. We go in July for our first of two trips and Kole comes home with us our second trip. It is so exciting to think that in just 3 weeks we will be with Kole. Pray that we would be a reflection of Christ's love to all we meet there and that we would have opportunities to build relationships with whoever comes across our path. Pray for Lane and Hudson as they will be staying with friends and relatives while we are gone. We have never left them for this long and it difficult for me to not worry about them.
Hopefully the next time this blog is updated it will be with pictures of Kole Isaiah Miles with his Mommy and Daddy.
Hopefully the next time this blog is updated it will be with pictures of Kole Isaiah Miles with his Mommy and Daddy.
Vote For Hudson!
Every week Parent Magazine selects at least 50 photos for their cover contest. A photo of Hudson was selected for this week. Vote for Hudson and if he is the number 1 photo this week he moves on to the semifinals. The winners get to be on the cover of Parent Magazine. I say it is about time they had a real cutie on the cover. I am not certain, but I do not think they have ever chosen a child with Down Syndrome for their cover before.
Click on this link http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/316446 and VOTE FOR HUDSON!
Correction: There are at least 4000 pictures and Hudson is #155 today (June 8).
Our Journey To Here.
Nearly every adoption grant that we have applied for has asked us to include a copy of our "adoption story" and how we came to have the desire to adopt. When we sat down to write out our story we saw more and more how God has woven together even the littlest details in our lives to bring us to this place where we are adopting a son who has Down Syndrome into our family. So here's our story, all of it; it's not short, so you may want to go grab a cup of coffee first.
Drew and I talked about adopting even before we were married, so we always knew that somewhere down the road, God would grow our family through adoption. We wanted a large family and I knew I was no Michelle Duggar, so adoption seemed like a logical choice. We see adoption as perhaps the best earthly picture of what our Heavenly Father has done for us in making us His sons and daughters.
It was February 14, 2008, Valentine's Day, and Drew and I were on our way to see a Fetal Medicinal Specialist because on the previous day my OB had seen something on our ultrasound that concerned her. We prayed during the car ride over, believing that God was in control. After more ultrasounds at the specialist's; the Dr. told us that he believed our son had Trisomi 18 or Trisomi 13. He said that we should expect to lose our son by 20 weeks. Well, we prayed for a miracle and God answered; at 20 weeks Hudson was still growing and healthy. When we learned around 28 weeks that Hudson had Down Syndrome; we were relieved and overjoyed that he was going to be OK! I know for many people hearing that they will have a child with special needs is earth-shattering. But, for us it was good news; Hudson was going to live, and we really never felt sad or disappointed that God chose to give us a son with Down Syndrome. Hudson has brought immense joy into our lives and we see in him a picture of grace, every time we look at his sweet face.
Rewind to March 2005. We were expecting our oldest son Lane and although he was a "surprise" we were thrilled! At my first ultrasound apt. my OB saw something that concerned her. It appeared that Lane had a fluid mass at the back of his neck. So she referred us to a Fetal Medicinal Specialist. This fluid mass is often present in children with Down Syndrome or some other chromosomal anomaly. At home, the night before we were going to see the specialist, I remember sobbing. I told Drew, "I just don't think I can handle being the mother to a child with special needs." When we went to the specialist, he did not see the fluid mass they had seen the previous day; Lane was fine. I am ashamed at the selfishness in my heart then and that my faith was so weak. What a difference 3 years made. I went from weeping over the thought of having a child with special needs to rejoicing over having a son with Down Syndrome. Praise God for changing my heart. We view all our boys as a treasure.
Since having Hudson we have seen what a privilege and blessing it is to parent a child with special needs. We knew shortly after he born that we wanted to open our home to orphans with special needs, particularly Down Syndrome. We just didn't quite now how God would work out His plan.
So, fast forward to February 17, 2010. I am sitting in the waiting room of Hudson's Pediatric Therapists' Office and another mom (Kristi Cox) and I start talking and she begins to tell me of Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Orphan Ministry. I knew immediately this was how God was going to once again bless and grow our family. That evening I started looking at the website. I contacted Andrea, the Director of Reece's Rainbow to get the initial paperwork. Drew and I were certain that we wanted to adopt through Reece's Rainbow.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Feb. 18-20)- We started looking through pictures on the website, praying, and talking about how this would work out. How would we ever decide on which child to adopt? But we were confident that God would direct. Saturday, Drew was away at seminary, while I was looking at more pictures and saw Nikolai (Kole). I was just immediately drawn to him, maybe because he looks so much like Lane and Hudson. After Drew got home and we talked some more, we emailed Andrea to find out what country Nikolai is in.
Sunday, February 21 - When Drew saw Nikolai's picture again, he too had an overwhelming sense that he was the one we needed to adopt. We found out that Nikolai is in Ukraine. Andrea sent us our commitment papers. We were so excited and continued to pray for God to providentially work everything out, just as he already had. We knew that God was telling us, "He's your son, you need to commit to adopt him now."
Monday, February 22 - We sent in our commitment papers for Nikolai! And we began working on the mounds of paperwork, getting our homestudy set up etc...
Tuesday, February 23 - We received an email from Andrea, the Director of Reece's Rainbow telling us the following
"just wanted to let you know....you just saved Nikolai from the institution. They were DAYS from transferring him. Our facilitator called and they said they will hold him."
By institution, she means a mental institution, which is where most children over age 4, with Down Syndrome who live in Eastern Europe and Russia will spend their lives. I couldn't stop crying. Nikolai (Kole) was nearly 6 years old, but God had been keeping him at the orphanage for us!
So here we are, May 6, 2010. In one month or so we travel to Ukraine and shortly after, we bring Kole home! And God has provided over and over again for our adoption. When we committed to adopting Kole in February we hadn't even begun to save for adoption; we really thought that adoption was going to be much further down the road for us. Now God has provided over $16,000 of the $25,000 needed for Kole's adoption.
We can't praise and thank God enough for all he has done. And we are just so grateful for the many people who have given toward Kole's adoption. We hope that when we are in Ukraine we will be able to have opportunities to share how great and mighty our Creator is. He created these beautiful children with Down Syndrome; they are not mistakes to be locked away in mental institutions. These are precious lives, as are the lives of all children. We hope that Kole's adoption is only the beginning of our family's journey of caring for orphans.
Drew and I talked about adopting even before we were married, so we always knew that somewhere down the road, God would grow our family through adoption. We wanted a large family and I knew I was no Michelle Duggar, so adoption seemed like a logical choice. We see adoption as perhaps the best earthly picture of what our Heavenly Father has done for us in making us His sons and daughters.
It was February 14, 2008, Valentine's Day, and Drew and I were on our way to see a Fetal Medicinal Specialist because on the previous day my OB had seen something on our ultrasound that concerned her. We prayed during the car ride over, believing that God was in control. After more ultrasounds at the specialist's; the Dr. told us that he believed our son had Trisomi 18 or Trisomi 13. He said that we should expect to lose our son by 20 weeks. Well, we prayed for a miracle and God answered; at 20 weeks Hudson was still growing and healthy. When we learned around 28 weeks that Hudson had Down Syndrome; we were relieved and overjoyed that he was going to be OK! I know for many people hearing that they will have a child with special needs is earth-shattering. But, for us it was good news; Hudson was going to live, and we really never felt sad or disappointed that God chose to give us a son with Down Syndrome. Hudson has brought immense joy into our lives and we see in him a picture of grace, every time we look at his sweet face.
Rewind to March 2005. We were expecting our oldest son Lane and although he was a "surprise" we were thrilled! At my first ultrasound apt. my OB saw something that concerned her. It appeared that Lane had a fluid mass at the back of his neck. So she referred us to a Fetal Medicinal Specialist. This fluid mass is often present in children with Down Syndrome or some other chromosomal anomaly. At home, the night before we were going to see the specialist, I remember sobbing. I told Drew, "I just don't think I can handle being the mother to a child with special needs." When we went to the specialist, he did not see the fluid mass they had seen the previous day; Lane was fine. I am ashamed at the selfishness in my heart then and that my faith was so weak. What a difference 3 years made. I went from weeping over the thought of having a child with special needs to rejoicing over having a son with Down Syndrome. Praise God for changing my heart. We view all our boys as a treasure.
Since having Hudson we have seen what a privilege and blessing it is to parent a child with special needs. We knew shortly after he born that we wanted to open our home to orphans with special needs, particularly Down Syndrome. We just didn't quite now how God would work out His plan.
So, fast forward to February 17, 2010. I am sitting in the waiting room of Hudson's Pediatric Therapists' Office and another mom (Kristi Cox) and I start talking and she begins to tell me of Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Orphan Ministry. I knew immediately this was how God was going to once again bless and grow our family. That evening I started looking at the website. I contacted Andrea, the Director of Reece's Rainbow to get the initial paperwork. Drew and I were certain that we wanted to adopt through Reece's Rainbow.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Feb. 18-20)- We started looking through pictures on the website, praying, and talking about how this would work out. How would we ever decide on which child to adopt? But we were confident that God would direct. Saturday, Drew was away at seminary, while I was looking at more pictures and saw Nikolai (Kole). I was just immediately drawn to him, maybe because he looks so much like Lane and Hudson. After Drew got home and we talked some more, we emailed Andrea to find out what country Nikolai is in.
Sunday, February 21 - When Drew saw Nikolai's picture again, he too had an overwhelming sense that he was the one we needed to adopt. We found out that Nikolai is in Ukraine. Andrea sent us our commitment papers. We were so excited and continued to pray for God to providentially work everything out, just as he already had. We knew that God was telling us, "He's your son, you need to commit to adopt him now."
Monday, February 22 - We sent in our commitment papers for Nikolai! And we began working on the mounds of paperwork, getting our homestudy set up etc...
Tuesday, February 23 - We received an email from Andrea, the Director of Reece's Rainbow telling us the following
"just wanted to let you know....you just saved Nikolai from the institution. They were DAYS from transferring him. Our facilitator called and they said they will hold him."
By institution, she means a mental institution, which is where most children over age 4, with Down Syndrome who live in Eastern Europe and Russia will spend their lives. I couldn't stop crying. Nikolai (Kole) was nearly 6 years old, but God had been keeping him at the orphanage for us!
So here we are, May 6, 2010. In one month or so we travel to Ukraine and shortly after, we bring Kole home! And God has provided over and over again for our adoption. When we committed to adopting Kole in February we hadn't even begun to save for adoption; we really thought that adoption was going to be much further down the road for us. Now God has provided over $16,000 of the $25,000 needed for Kole's adoption.
We can't praise and thank God enough for all he has done. And we are just so grateful for the many people who have given toward Kole's adoption. We hope that when we are in Ukraine we will be able to have opportunities to share how great and mighty our Creator is. He created these beautiful children with Down Syndrome; they are not mistakes to be locked away in mental institutions. These are precious lives, as are the lives of all children. We hope that Kole's adoption is only the beginning of our family's journey of caring for orphans.
Making Progress!
Well, I haven't written an update in a while because we have just been waiting, waiting to get some paperwork back so we could send our completed dossier to Ukraine. Last week we faxed a copy of our completed dossier to our facilitator in Ukraine, so she could proof read it, and so the translator could start translating.
We just got word today that we only to need to fix two documents and they are very small, easy fixes. So our dossier should be en route to Ukraine tomorrow! Then in a couple weeks we will have a definite travel date. Looks like Kole will be home in time to experience South Georgia during the hottest months of July and August :)
God has continued to provide and continued to bless this adoption through the generosity of others. To date we have saved/raised/been given/pulled together $16,000 toward our total cost of $25,000. About $3600 of that has been through donations. We now only have a $9,000 "deficit."
It has been exciting and encouraging to get letters and donations in the mail and to watch our donation fund through Reece's Rainbow grow each week. Lane and I have a good time doing our "donation dance" in celebration, and Hudson just laughs and claps when he sees us acting like the loonies we are.
Drew is finishing up this semester of seminary in a couple of weeks. I don't how he manages to work so much and study so hard and still be the awesome husband and father that he is. I know he will be glad to catch up on some sleep, at least for a couple of weeks between finishing seminary and traveling to Ukraine.
Hudson is having his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears on May 12th; his surgery was postponed because he was sick with Bronchitis. Pray he stays well now so he can have his surgery and hopefully experience some relief!
Now that all the paperwork is done I feel a great sense of relief and it is a little easier to focus on the fun part of all this; getting Kole's bed ready, painting wooden letters so he can have his name over his bed like Lane and Hudson do, and putting together a photo album to take to Ukraine so we can show Kole pictures of his brothers, his house, his car, his relatives etc... We just can't wait til he is home!
We just got word today that we only to need to fix two documents and they are very small, easy fixes. So our dossier should be en route to Ukraine tomorrow! Then in a couple weeks we will have a definite travel date. Looks like Kole will be home in time to experience South Georgia during the hottest months of July and August :)
God has continued to provide and continued to bless this adoption through the generosity of others. To date we have saved/raised/been given/pulled together $16,000 toward our total cost of $25,000. About $3600 of that has been through donations. We now only have a $9,000 "deficit."
It has been exciting and encouraging to get letters and donations in the mail and to watch our donation fund through Reece's Rainbow grow each week. Lane and I have a good time doing our "donation dance" in celebration, and Hudson just laughs and claps when he sees us acting like the loonies we are.
Drew is finishing up this semester of seminary in a couple of weeks. I don't how he manages to work so much and study so hard and still be the awesome husband and father that he is. I know he will be glad to catch up on some sleep, at least for a couple of weeks between finishing seminary and traveling to Ukraine.
Hudson is having his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears on May 12th; his surgery was postponed because he was sick with Bronchitis. Pray he stays well now so he can have his surgery and hopefully experience some relief!
Now that all the paperwork is done I feel a great sense of relief and it is a little easier to focus on the fun part of all this; getting Kole's bed ready, painting wooden letters so he can have his name over his bed like Lane and Hudson do, and putting together a photo album to take to Ukraine so we can show Kole pictures of his brothers, his house, his car, his relatives etc... We just can't wait til he is home!
