They belong!!!

   Our court date was October 29th at 9:30 in the morning Eastern Europe time which meant 1:30 am my time.  I stayed up just feeling like I needed to be awake while my attorney was representing us half a world away.  What an incredibly strange feeling to have children legally added to your family and yet neither parents nor children were actually present at court.  My husband and three children here were fast asleep and I anxiously checked the clock and refreshed e-mails in the dark....that made me think about what my other two children were doing?

   Elliott, at 5 years old and not even 30 pounds, hasn't started walking independently or putting words together to form sentences.  While I spent the better part of 8 hours a day with him on trip one, when I would walk into his room to get him he was usually sitting in the middle of a floor with no toys or interaction.  There were other children and staff members, but the children were much younger than he and none of them seemed to have a concept of what "play" meant.  At 9:30 in the morning Elliott had likely finished breakfast and was sitting in the middle of the lonely room just like he does and has done for more than 5 years.

    Lance, now 3 and less than 15 pounds, lives in a crib in a room big enough for two cribs and that is literally it.   He is alone almost all of the time...not even in a room with other kids to look at or listen to.  He squirms and moans in pain regularly as his body tenses but never relaxes.  His head has molded on one side to match the shape of his mattress....the one he has lived in around the clock for more than 3 years. This was undoubtedly where he was during court.

    Please don't misunderstand me, there is staff at both of these places that care about these children  who want to see them find homes and be happy.  The reality is, though, they are not their family.  They will find other jobs, be moved to a different group, take vacations, and go home on weekends and at night.  They can never show the children the love of a family because truthfully they are not their family.   So while, Elliott and Lance laid or sat in their rooms just like every other day, a beautiful woman with a heart for the children of her country stood before a judge as he told her that he would permit their adoption.   Two little lives changed forever.  Two children who will never again be called orphans.

                              I am so honored to formally introduce my oldest son:  Elliott

                                                     And my middle son:   Lance

THEY ARE NO LONGER ORPHANS!!!!!!!!!! 

We will wait a few more weeks for the official court decree and their new birth certificates with their new family name and then we get travel dates.  Right not we are hopeful that we will have them in our arms the beginning of December!   Thank you for your continued prayers.