Adoption History to date
Here's our history. Please note that we have to keep the name and city confidential to ensure privacy until the adoption is final. Please contact us with the your questions and we will tell you what we can!-Dan and Nancy
Thursday,October 20, 2005
My phone finally rang with the phone number I've been waiting to see for months now....our agency's number!! I was on the way to taking Holden to swimming lessons at the time. Hayden was in the car as well because he had the day off from school (Minnesota's fall break). I had about 8 minutes to talk before arriving at the Foss swim school. Our social worker, Cindy, asked if we were ready to hear about another referral. I eagerly said "Yes!" She went on to tell me some vital stats about this little girl....her name is L****, she was born in April of 2004, region of Kcityname in Eastern Russia, her height/weight, and some limited medical info known about her. I told Cindy I could hardly wait to see the pictures and she said she'd email them to me at home. So they were waiting for me there while I was at swimming lessons. I could hardly stand the wait! I called Dan and told him the good news. We were both anxious to see her. I told him I would call him when I got home and we could view the pictures at the same time. Then I called my good friend Dia to ask her to pray for us. We just needed clarity and were so hoping for a healthy little girl. After declining 2 referrals since July, we were becoming a bit discouraged. I left a message for Dia since she was visiting her parents at the time. (More about Dia's phone call later.) I could hardly keep myself still at swimming lessons. I was alternating between smiling, getting tears in my eyes, and tapping my feet. When the lessons were over, I quickly got Holden showered and dressed and out the door. Our original plan was to head to Chuck E. Cheese after lessons but I told the boys we had to take a detour home first to see L****'s photos. They were not exactly thrilled. I promised them icecream though later in the day. So we headed home. I called Dan to tell him I was forwarding the email from Cindy. I had not yet opened it myself. Seconds later, we viewed the photos at the same time. The boys looked too this time. We were oohing and aawing over her. She was so cute! We instantly had a good feeling about her and she appeared very healthy to our untrained eye. We were on cloud for the rest of the day. I stared at her photos at Chuck E. Cheese all afternoon...and read up on Russian travel in my Russian adoption book. Dan made an appointment with our International Adoption Doctor Clinic in Washington state. We couldn't get in until Tuesday, October 25th at 4 pm. Our doctor would review L****'s photos and medical information and give us an evaluation of her. It would be a long wait........
Sunday, October 23rd, 2005
We had a fabulous weekend. It was spent at the cabin. We enjoyed sharing our news with both sides of our family. Emir/Jerry and Tim/Sarah got to see the pictures in person. My parents and Linda saw them via email. Everyone is hoping she is the one! We are all ready! We are continuing to ask for prayers that we will know one way or the other if L**** is to be our daughter. Two days until our doctor's phone call.
Monday, October 24th, 2005
I met my friend Dia for our 6:15 AM morning walk at Cleary Lake. I couldn't wait to see her. We had not talked since I left the message on Thursday. We practically ran to each other for a hug. She asked me how I was feeling. I told her we were totally pumped up and were really thinking L**** might be the one. Then Dia said she had something to tell me. She said about 3 weeks ago she had been praying for me during our Bible study. I had been particularly down that night. The waiting, the fear, the uncertainty was just getting the best of me. She said God told her we'd get a referral on a Thursday and her name would be Lily or Lillian. Dia believe the Thursday part but thought the name sounded a bit out of the ordinary for a Russian girl. So she put that out of her mind. Then she waited for Thursday to come to see if it really was a referral day. That one came and went. So did another Thursday and maybe another. But finally we DID get a referral on a Thursday and guess what her name was???!! So when I left a message for Dia that day, she said she almost dropped the phone. When she relayed these things to me, I just had tears of relief. God was showing me confirmation through my dear friend. It was almost unbelievable, but anything is possible for God. He showed me his awesome power this day!
Tuesday, October 25th, 2005
Today is our phone call day! We are counting the hours. As I was emailing Linda (my sister) today, I came upon a revelation. I shared my favorite "adoption" verse in Isaiah 60 with my Bible study group last night. It was the verse I read in a Beth Moore study last year that led us to adopt a girl. It speaks of becoming "radiant". I have always loved that part of the verse. That's how I feel---radiant and full of joy in my heart. Well, in contrast, in one of my down times a few weeks ago, God led me to Psalm 34. I just figured out today that it also speaks of becoming radiant (after giving all your fears to the Lord). After reviewing both of these scriptures, I just chose to assume L**** is the right one until proven otherwise. I don't want to keep the joy in any longer. It's so fun to dream about her being our little girl.
Isaiah 60:
4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.
5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
Psalm 34:
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Linda also emailed a scripture to us that gave Dan and me goosebumps. She was telling us about God denying or confirming something through 2-3 witnesses. We had had several confirmations thus far. When she looked up the verse, it talked about a "third visit" (like third referral??) It just spoke to all three of us and we were totally amazed! 2 Cor.13:1 This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Okay.....so 4 pm finally came! We had the boys set up with a movie and snacks--junk food works miracles. And we had our work station all ready to go...blank paper, L****'s info and pics in front of us, glasses of water, and pens. :) The call came at about 4:10 pm. Dan put his cell phone on speaker phone (we no longer have a land line) and we started our conversation with Dr. Davies. We were expecting our other doctor to call, Dr. Bledsoe, so we were caught a bit offguard by hearing a man's voice instead of a woman's voice. But we soon got over that and were quite anxious to hear what he had to say. He gave us a review we are very comfortable with. We spoke for about an hour. He gave us a list of questions to ask about her to get more detailed information. So we did that. But we hung up feeling almost 100% sure that she was the one meant for us. It was the best feeling ever! We decided to tell close friends and family. We couldn't keep the joy in any longer!! I spent most of the night on the phone or the computer. :) It was exhausting but very fun.
Thursday, October 27th, 2005
Our agency got back to us already with answers to the doctor's questions. After reading those, we are definitely accepting L****'s referral. I called our social worker to formally accept! She was really happy for us. She knows it's been a long road for us with several detours along the way. We will not work with her again until after L**** is home with us. She will do the post-placement visits.
Here are some fun things to read about L**** from her forms: "the girl is outgoing and intellectually curious--very interested in earrings of her caregivers, she reacts emotionally when talked to--with a gesture and a smile, she loves to play with toys, she is the favorite of the staff, she loves to jump in her crib holding onto the rails, she walks holding on to one finger of her caregiver, her sleep is sound, her appetite is good, she babbles".
So many of my friends are calling and emailing. I guess news travels fast! One friend said she feels like I'm a celebrity! I thought that was so cute. I am so fortunate to have this support system here. I love Prior Lake.
By the way, we plan to keep L****'s first name and call her Lily. We are working on a middle name for her. Dan, Nancy, Hayden, Holden and Lily Moritz. That has a nice ring to it! :) Holy moly---we're gonna be a family of 5 soon!!! I am going to have 3 kids. =)
Friday, October 28th, 2005
We've now entered paperwork mountain again. Who knew there was this much to do once you accept a referral??! Oh my goodness! I have become panicked over it. I spent much of the day on the phone making doctor appointments and asking questions. We have to get lots of blood tests and some expire in 30 days. So we need to time everything perfectly. We have to have an exam before trip 1, during trip 1 (in Russia), and before trip 2. We also have to make sure our medical clinics have notaries and not all of them do so we had to do some doctor switching. We will be at 2-3 appts each next week for various tests.
We have about 15 forms that need to be notarized and apostilled (something you do through the Secretary of State--it's a certificate of authenticity of the notary). I had to send a copy of our marriage license to the IL Secretary of State to get apostilled. All of the others I can get done at the MN location. My good friend Lisa is a notary so she is a lifesaver for all these notarized forms. Thank you, Lisa!! I have been busy taking photographs around town and of our home. They want photos of parks, the library, schools, the doctor, and every room in our home. We have to do a proof of employment form, proof of insurance, proof of home ownership, police clearance letters, net worth statements, power of attorney, description of the home and child's bedroom, many medical forms, etc.. I found myself getting very overwhelmed and discouraged today with the amount of things to be done in such a short amount of time. Dia gave me good advice. She told me to focus on meeting L****...on holding her for the first time. I have to hang on to that.
I am SO excited to travel. It will be my first trip out of the country. We hope to go sometime between mid-November and mid-December to meet her. The boys will not go along for the trips. It is too expensive and we're not sure how they'd handle all the waiting. Trip 2 will be about three months after the first trip. I will start working on travel visas next. I've never printed this many documents in my life!
Tuesday, November 1st, 2005
We have been so busy this last week getting things ready for our dossier. Lots and lots of paperwork to do...and travel visas to prepare. I was getting a bit bogged down by last Friday. But now I'm almost done and feeling on top of the world. SO looking forward to meeting Lily.
Well, today we got a bit of a shock. I was checking out at Target and got a call from Dan. He told me Silvia and Cindy (from our agency) were on the phone and he was going to conference me into the call. I say ok. I think we're just going to talk travel dates and all that. Turns out that wasn't the case. They told us to prepare ourselves for some shocking information. L**** has a sister that is available for adoption! And would we be interested in pursuing her as well?? She is approximately 3 years old. We believe her name is R*****. We were dumbfounded. After about a minute of silence, they both said "Nancy and Dan, are you still there?"
They just wanted to know if we're interested in sisters before they gather all the medical info and pictures. Whoa! This is a major thing. Can we go from 2 to 4 children? Can I be a good parent to 4 kids? How can we say no to a biological sibling for L****? (although our agency said to feel no pressure or guilt whatsoever if we do decide to say no) We have gone through every doubt, fear, joys, what-if, pros, and cons all day. Now it's a matter of prayer. We are definitely more excited about it than not. The boys think it sounds awesome, which really quite surprised us. I think we have decided we can't really make this decision w/o her picture and other medical information. So we will request that tomorrow morning. We will have her evaluated as well before we accept her referral (if we decide to accept).
After Target I was headed to Chuck E Cheese. My mind was so preoccupied that about halfway there Holden says, "Mom--I have no seatbelt on!!" Oh my goodness. I'm so responsible.
I know God has a plan...and I think this might be part of it, but it still threw me for a loop. We need more prayers for clarity!! Dan did bring to my attention that my favorite adoption verse has the plural form of daughters in it. I find that absolutely amazing.
Isaiah 60:
4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.
Two boys and two girls. Maybe that's what God intended for us. It's alot to soak in, but it's fun to imagine.
posted by Dan @ 7:49 PM
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