Somebody was given a little bang trim overnight :-0 I'm sure the nannies were just trying to be sweet and freshen up Sydney's hairstyle. It's the thought that counts...right?!?
Bangs grow back!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Settling in...and a bang trim!....Day 12
The daily visits to the orphanage are going very, very well. Everybody looks forward to the visits each day. Sarah and Sydney are full of energy and love to play together. They get so excited when they see Jeff, Rachel and Holly coming for them and they get really sad when it is time for their visit to be over. Bonding already!!!! What an answer to prayer!!!
Somebody was given a little bang trim overnight :-0 I'm sure the nannies were just trying to be sweet and freshen up Sydney's hairstyle. It's the thought that counts...right?!?
Bangs grow back!
Somebody was given a little bang trim overnight :-0 I'm sure the nannies were just trying to be sweet and freshen up Sydney's hairstyle. It's the thought that counts...right?!?
Bangs grow back!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
We have a court date!!!.....day 10
Yep, you read that right. God moved that big ol' mountain and paved the way for a quick court date to boot! August 19th at 10:00am...Court is in session!
We were assigned a judge yesterday and she took all day today to review our case and make sure all of our paperwork was in order. It was. Then around 8:00pm local time today, she had her assistant call our facilitator to give us the good news about court. Our facilitator was "shocked" that the judge would even agree to hear our case and double "shocked" that our court date was scheduled in just 10 days instead of the usual 3-6 weeks! Amazing! I LOVE it when God shows off!!!
Jeff and the girls will stay in-country until court and then come home during the 10-day wait. (There is a 10 day waiting period after court to give time to protest the courts decision) Please pray nobody contests the decision. Sarah and Sydney need to come home to us. They have waited almost 4 years for a family. NOBODY has ever came to visit them, not once, in almost 4 years.... until Jeff, Holly and Rachel came Aug. 5th.
Please pray the judge and prosecutor will agree to let us be Sarah and Sydney's mommy and daddy. We would be so honored to call them our daughters! They already are in our heart.
Here are some pictures from today's visit. Sydney's cough is gone so she was allowed to play outside. Jeff did not know it is a BIG no-no to let children sit directly on the ground in this particular country because it is believed sickness will come. Oops! One of the nannies ran over to him with a blanket and told him to have the girls sit on it instead. Lesson learned! Sure hope Sydney's cough doesn't return tomorrow ;-) All of the pictures below were taken right before the nanny gave Jeff the blanket.
Enjoy!!!
We were assigned a judge yesterday and she took all day today to review our case and make sure all of our paperwork was in order. It was. Then around 8:00pm local time today, she had her assistant call our facilitator to give us the good news about court. Our facilitator was "shocked" that the judge would even agree to hear our case and double "shocked" that our court date was scheduled in just 10 days instead of the usual 3-6 weeks! Amazing! I LOVE it when God shows off!!!
Jeff and the girls will stay in-country until court and then come home during the 10-day wait. (There is a 10 day waiting period after court to give time to protest the courts decision) Please pray nobody contests the decision. Sarah and Sydney need to come home to us. They have waited almost 4 years for a family. NOBODY has ever came to visit them, not once, in almost 4 years.... until Jeff, Holly and Rachel came Aug. 5th.
Please pray the judge and prosecutor will agree to let us be Sarah and Sydney's mommy and daddy. We would be so honored to call them our daughters! They already are in our heart.
Here are some pictures from today's visit. Sydney's cough is gone so she was allowed to play outside. Jeff did not know it is a BIG no-no to let children sit directly on the ground in this particular country because it is believed sickness will come. Oops! One of the nannies ran over to him with a blanket and told him to have the girls sit on it instead. Lesson learned! Sure hope Sydney's cough doesn't return tomorrow ;-) All of the pictures below were taken right before the nanny gave Jeff the blanket.
Enjoy!!!
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| The orphanage |
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Day 9...Great visits and a little hug from Sydney!
The visits with Sydney and Sarah continue to be such a joy! Today, Jeff got a little surprise in the form of a tiny little hug from Sydney. What a sweet treasure to get!!!!!
Sydney was said to have a cough again today so she had to play indoors. We are grateful she did not seem sick with fever nor did she cough during the visit.
Sydney was said to have a cough again today so she had to play indoors. We are grateful she did not seem sick with fever nor did she cough during the visit.
Enjoy the video!
*scroll down and pause my playlist so you can here the video*
*scroll down and pause my playlist so you can here the video*
Sarah, daddy, Holly and Rachel continue to enjoy their visits outside!!!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day 8...New pics!
Jeff, Holly and Rachel had a nice visit with the girls this morning. Sydney was said to have a cough so she had to play inside, but at least they let her come play. She never did cough while she was with Jeff so that is good. Maybe it was more of a 'swallowed-the-wrong-way' type of cough that the nannies heard. We'll see how she is doing tomorrow.
Thank you all so much for your prayers! We should be assigned a judge either Tuesday or Wednesday and our facilitator will ask for a pre-trial meeting to see if he/she will hear our case. Jeff and I fully believe they will agree to hear our case and that there will be no more hiccups in our adoption process. God has this!
I'll update as soon as I know more.
Sydney playing inside
Sarah playing outside
And some fun pictures from around town.
Thank you all so much for your prayers! We should be assigned a judge either Tuesday or Wednesday and our facilitator will ask for a pre-trial meeting to see if he/she will hear our case. Jeff and I fully believe they will agree to hear our case and that there will be no more hiccups in our adoption process. God has this!
I'll update as soon as I know more.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Day 7...PRAYERS PLEASE!
As many of you know, Jeff and I are adopting in somewhat of an unusual manner. Jeff is adopting as a Married Individual with my full and absolute consent and encouragement. I will adopt the girls once they arrive in the US. The country we are adopting from allows for this type of adoption by law, as does the USA. We adopted Matthew and Michael this way with no problems. Praise God!
However, if a judge in their country does not agree with the law, he/she can refuse to hear the case and well...I don't want to think about what will happen then.
We received word from our facilitator that this may happen in our case. PLEASE, join Jeff and I in storming Heaven with prayer that the judges heart will be softened, that he/she will agree to hear our case and that he/she will allow Jeff to adopt the girls so that I can adopt them once they arrive in the US. We should hear within a few days if the judge will allow our adoption to continue and then hear our case in court.
Our girls will be transferred to an adult mental institution if we are not allowed to adopt them; Sydney in Jan, and Saran in March. We cannot even fathom this. Jeff and I are believing and praying they will come home to us. Thank you for standing in agreement with us and praying along side us on this journey.
However, if a judge in their country does not agree with the law, he/she can refuse to hear the case and well...I don't want to think about what will happen then.
We received word from our facilitator that this may happen in our case. PLEASE, join Jeff and I in storming Heaven with prayer that the judges heart will be softened, that he/she will agree to hear our case and that he/she will allow Jeff to adopt the girls so that I can adopt them once they arrive in the US. We should hear within a few days if the judge will allow our adoption to continue and then hear our case in court.
Our girls will be transferred to an adult mental institution if we are not allowed to adopt them; Sydney in Jan, and Saran in March. We cannot even fathom this. Jeff and I are believing and praying they will come home to us. Thank you for standing in agreement with us and praying along side us on this journey.
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| Sarah and Sydney |
John 14:18
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you"
Saturday, August 6, 2011
New pictures....and a VIDEO!....Day 6!
The visits with Sydney and Sarah continue to go very well. Jeff, Holly and Rachel get to visit the girls one time a day anytime between the hours of 9-11:00am for 1 to 1 1/2 hours each day, M-S. There are no visits on Sunday. This is what Jeff said about today's visit:
"What a great visit we had today with the girls! The workers let us take them outside and play and they seemed to love it. The weather was beautiful. The girls are so sweet and affectionate towards each other. We can definitely tell that they know each other very well. We took Sydney out first then the worker brought Sarah out after about 5 minutes. When Sarah saw Sydney she gave her a big hug and they both smiled. They really are precious. Sarah is already putting her arms up for us to hold her. She likes to be held and talked to. Sydney is a little more reserved. Sydney is also very independent. She wants to do everything for herself -- and she does quite well."
**Scroll down and pause my Playlist first so you can hear the video**
"What a great visit we had today with the girls! The workers let us take them outside and play and they seemed to love it. The weather was beautiful. The girls are so sweet and affectionate towards each other. We can definitely tell that they know each other very well. We took Sydney out first then the worker brought Sarah out after about 5 minutes. When Sarah saw Sydney she gave her a big hug and they both smiled. They really are precious. Sarah is already putting her arms up for us to hold her. She likes to be held and talked to. Sydney is a little more reserved. Sydney is also very independent. She wants to do everything for herself -- and she does quite well."
**Scroll down and pause my Playlist first so you can hear the video**
Enjoy the pics!
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| Sarah |
 |
| Sisters! |
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| Sydney |
Friday, August 5, 2011
Today is Justin's 2nd 'Heart-aversary'
Two years ago today, we handed over our 3-month old baby to the man who would rebuild his tiny heart, Dr. Charles Fraser at Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston, Texas. That is not a moment in time I will ever forget. Not knowing if we would ever see our baby alive again on this side of Heaven is something no parent should ever have to experience.
The whole process was gut-wrenching to say the least, yet, we had a peace that must have been Divinely given because we gladly handed Justin over to the surgical team. We knew that Justin's time on this Earth was coming to an end if the surgeon did not act quickly, and by the grace of God, He performed miracles that day through the hands of Dr. Fraser! What an answer to prayer. We prayed for Justin to be healed...and he was! No, not divinely, but God moved through the surgeons hands for 8 hours that day and Justin was healed none the less!
Justin had a Complete AV Canal defect, which for him meant that he had no triscuspid valve, no mitral valve, no septum seperating the left side of the heart from the right side as well as two secondary holes that had to be repaired. He did have a singular central malfunctioning valve and the surgeon was able to rebuild all the missing structures with Justin's own tissue from the pericardial sac that surrounds his heart, and parts from the central malfunctioning valve...along with "hundreds and hundreds" of stitches. Amazing!
The pictures below were taken in the surgical ICU just moments before the surgical team came for Justin. (The camera date is off by one day)
Today, Justin's heart continues to function fantastically. He is still on one heart med and daily oxygen for low sats, but we expect him to go off these last two things very soon. He only see the cardiologist once every six months now and that will soon be bumped out to once every year.
I just love how God worked this day today. Not only are we giving thanks for Justin's 2nd Heart Anniversary, today was full of joy as Jeff, Holly and Rachel met Sydney and Sarah for the very first time. Perfect timing once again!!!
We are so grateful to have Justin here with us and thank God for blessing us with not only him, but all our children!!!!
The whole process was gut-wrenching to say the least, yet, we had a peace that must have been Divinely given because we gladly handed Justin over to the surgical team. We knew that Justin's time on this Earth was coming to an end if the surgeon did not act quickly, and by the grace of God, He performed miracles that day through the hands of Dr. Fraser! What an answer to prayer. We prayed for Justin to be healed...and he was! No, not divinely, but God moved through the surgeons hands for 8 hours that day and Justin was healed none the less!
Justin had a Complete AV Canal defect, which for him meant that he had no triscuspid valve, no mitral valve, no septum seperating the left side of the heart from the right side as well as two secondary holes that had to be repaired. He did have a singular central malfunctioning valve and the surgeon was able to rebuild all the missing structures with Justin's own tissue from the pericardial sac that surrounds his heart, and parts from the central malfunctioning valve...along with "hundreds and hundreds" of stitches. Amazing!
The pictures below were taken in the surgical ICU just moments before the surgical team came for Justin. (The camera date is off by one day)
Today, Justin's heart continues to function fantastically. He is still on one heart med and daily oxygen for low sats, but we expect him to go off these last two things very soon. He only see the cardiologist once every six months now and that will soon be bumped out to once every year.
Today, Justin is a very active little boy full of energy and life.
I just love how God worked this day today. Not only are we giving thanks for Justin's 2nd Heart Anniversary, today was full of joy as Jeff, Holly and Rachel met Sydney and Sarah for the very first time. Perfect timing once again!!!
We are so grateful to have Justin here with us and thank God for blessing us with not only him, but all our children!!!!
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