We are Coming Home!

We were approved by the US Embassy this morning.  We have all the paperwork and forms completed and we will be coming home as planned. So thankful to God for answering our prayers and yours.

We received an email this morning from the US Embassy stating that they would process Olivia Ann's visa. but until we made the visit to the Embassy we thought it was best to wait to tell everyone until we actually had the visas and immigration documents in our hands. This morning the Embassy trip took about an hour, in and out like there had never been a problem at all. Praising God for another mountain He moved on our behalf and on the behalf of adoptions everywhere.

In our hearts we knew God had chosen these children for us but we also recognized that Satan was attacking because he was loosing the battle to keep children in orphanages away from families. Thanks to all of you so very much for fighting the battle with us and being there with us through the storm.

Greg and I both cried when we got in the car at the Embassy, it was finally over, all the tears of pain and fear washed away by tears of joy and praise to our Most Powerful Heavenly Father.

We are so happy that we will be able to introduce you to Olivia Ann and John Mark soon.  We can't wait to see many of you at the airport in Montgomery Friday night at 10:43. 


Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
MercyMe, Bring the Rain

Ready to come home with all the needed papers!

INS Form Completed...still Praying that is Enough

We were able to get in touch with our amazing agency representative Terri, very early this morning. She managed to get in touch with the INS officer who originally worked on our case and the INS officer completed the form we needed immediately and forwarded it to the Embassy in Russia. Terri indicated that the officer was more than helpful and truely concerned about our difficulty and was eager to help. Greg and I know the INS response was the answer to all your prayers.

Now, we wait and pray that the form is enough and this crisis will be over. Unfortunately we will not know until 2:30 in the morning or a little later...middle of the night for all of you and 11:30am for us. This form should be all the Embassy needs to complete the visas for the children and to allow all of us to return to Montgomery, AL on Friday night at 10:43.

One more issue to pray for is regarding the US Embassy processing time for the paperwork tomorrow afternoon. This process will need to be expedited in order for us to leave on time. Originally, the Embassy required two days to do what they will now prayerful need completed in one afternoon.
(another complicating matter is that our visas expire Friday...praying that will not become an issue.)

God did move another mountain today, a US government agency mountain and we are so grateful and forever thankful. The messages you have sent us via Facebook, email or the blog comments have been so encouraging. We would not have survived the last 24 hours without your love, support, prayers and encouragement. Thank you all so much! Christian friends are some of God's greatests gifts. We love you all and are forever indebted to you for the love you have shown us throughout the adoption process and particularly the last few hours. We do feel your love and God's presence.

So thankful that we can sleep tonight knowing you are all lifting us up in prayers all over the country. Thank you for the encouragement that the battle belongs to the Lord. As my dear friends Uduak and Sharon reminded me "Decree what you want to the Lord and it will established unto you" and to take one hour at a time, sometimes God gives us challenges we can not bare to think about but He will help us through it all.

We will update tomorrow as soon as we know something.

Update...Now we Need new INS Approval

We went to a doctor here this morning at noon. We were told as you read in the last post that a doctor need to say in a written form that this is a correctable problem for Olivia Ann. $400 later we obtained said form from an Embassy approved doctor and the Embassy declined to approve the paperwork.

Now the Embassy says we have to have a new INS form in order to be able to resolve this issue. We have no idea if the Immigration Services will approve the form at all much less on short notice.

Please pray that God will move a mountain today, and that mountain needs to be the INS.

A Request for Help

Update on our situation....

Our agency sent in an updated home study and the US Embassy denied it.  Our appointment for with the embassy has been canceled until we get this cleared up.  So we are going for option two.

What we need is an US pediatrician (can be any pediatrician not just ours) who will send in a letter to the US Embassy and have it documented that Olivia Ann's condition is minor and correctable. 

According to what we have been told in Russia, once you have cerebral palsy diagnosis you have it for life.  But in the US you can have infant cerebral palsy and it is correctable with massage and physical therapy (our international adoption doctor at UAB indicated this as did Olivia's doctor here).  So right now she is considered special needs and we were not approved by the INS to adopt a child with special needs.


We can even do a Skype or Facetime video chat if a US pediatrician needs to review her.  We just need some help from a pediatrician as well as the Great Physician above. Since it is midnight in the US getting anything done until tonight is a challenge.

We also have an appointment with a doctor here at Noon to see if they will/can help us out.  We will let everyone know as soon as we find something out.

Please continue to pray for us.

Urgent Prayer Request

Today our translator/Beacon House facilitator called to say we have a US Embassy paperwork problem. The issue creating the problem is that the orphanage medical paperwork indicates that Olivia Ann is a special needs child because of her issues with her right hand and leg. The orphanage even diagnosed it as cerebral palsy. This evidently has caused a huge problem because we are not approved by the US government to adopt a special needs child. Our home study does not include special needs wording nor does the I600 so we have a huge problem.

Until it is resolve the Embassy will not process our paperwork and therefore we will not be able to leave Russia with Olivia Ann until the issue is resolved. We have contacted our agency and they are working very hard to resolve the problem in some way. The home study must be changed or the doctors at UAB Adoption Clinic must right a letter to the Embassy saying Olivia Ann does not have special needs...all this needs to happen today to fix the problem.

Please pray this issue will be resolved by 11am Russian time so we can complete our Embassy interview and come home as planned on Friday. Ultimately, the Embassy says we can not adopt Olivia Ann without resolving the issues so please pray for us and the Embassy and all those trying to resolve the problem. Greg and I know God is a Powerful God and He is Able to fix this problem. Thank you in advance for your prayers.
Trusting God and trying not to worry.

Embassy Doctor Appointment and More

This morning we had our doctor appointment for the US Embassy. The USA wants to make sure the children do not have any contagious diseases. Our check up did not reveal any problems so it is safe to return to the USA. The doctor said that the orphanage had diagnosed Olivia Ann with cerebral palsy but we will let our pediatrician, Dr. Brannon, and the doctors at UAB International Adoption clinic check into that before we go with that opinion. Olivia Ann only weighs 22 pounds but the doctor said she was doing great since she weighed 4 pounds at birth. The doctor did not weigh John Mark, I guess it was obvious he is fairly healthy. He is a chunk compared to his sister.

By the way, we managed fine this morning getting everyone ready for an 8:30 appointment. I thought it was pretty impressive for the first time.  John Mark loves to take a bath and would play in the tub a long time if you had time, which we did not this morning. Olivia Ann on the other hand cries when she sees the bathroom door open. She does not like the bath at all, however this morning she did better with it than yesterday. Greg played with her more and it went much smoother but she really does not like it. It is pitiful how she cries just seeing the room. Not sure why and I might not want to know why.

It was raining today but we thought we would wander out to find lunch anyway but the children were getting too wet so we just came back to the apartment for some soup. We brought a few soup mixes with us, Laurie bought for us. It has been great help since finding food around here seems to be a challenge for us.

After nap we Skyped with Tucker and Granny, Tucker would barely let Granny sit in the chair, he wanted to see brother and sister and did not want to share the space. Tucker seems to be doing well without us, which is not shocking considering he is with Granny. They were headed to the fair to see the animals today. He is going to ride the rides on another trip unless he cons Granny into it today. We talked to Tara, Patrick and the boys today too. It was fun to let them see the children. Carson has been so excited about our adoption but not nearly as excited as his mom. We also Skyped with Aunt Sharon. It was great to visit with her also. It is exciting for us to be able to show off Olivia Ann and John Mark even before we arrive at the Montgomery airport Friday night. We are very thankful for adoption supportive friends. We would not have survived the process without all of you.

Tomorrow is predicted to be a day of no rain in the morning so we can go out and about the city a little. We have a Moscow tour set up for Wednesday afternoon so maybe we will get those must have Russian photos with the children in front of the Kremlin and other historic sites.

Olivia Ann is ready to strike a pose any time the camera appears.

Ready to go to the Embassy doctor's appointment.

Rare moment when John Mark is looking and Olivia Ann is not. She is fascinated by her brother.

Deep conversation.

John Mark loves the animals in the books we brought.

Olivia Ann loves all her clothes and shoes...she really likes these boots and is not concerned if they match the outfit.

Olivia Ann and John Mark fuss over this photo book of our family.

Restful Day With Children

Today John Mark slept until 9am, however Olivia Ann did not. She was up at 7am. Since we all went to bed so late Greg and I were hoping they would sleep in and John Mark did. Olivia Ann did not have a good night at all, so we are hoping for better tonight.

We just played at the apartment this morning. John Mark is eating anything we give him and Olivia Ann is not. She barely eats much at all. We are praying that will get better soon.
Nap time was challenging today for Olivia Ann. She was exhausted but did not want to be laid down. Finally after an hour of working, she was asleep enough for me to lay her down. John Mark went to sleep fairly quickly and slept three hours. Olivia Ann slept an hour in her bed and and hour on me.

After nap we called Tucker and Granny to video chat and Tucker was glued to the computer. He was so happy that both Olivia Ann and John Mark would say his name. It sounds like Tucky when they say his name, it is so cute and Tucker loved it. He and Granny seemed to be doing well and we had a nice chat with them. We called Nana and Papa next and let them talk to the kids. Renee was there too and it was great for all of them to see John Mark and Olivia Ann and for us to see then as well.

Both Olivia Ann and John Mark are learning their names quickly. Remember we kept their Russian names but are not calling them Polina or Baytimir. They both are very responsive to being called John Mark and Olivia Ann. They have been learning our names too. If you ask either one where is Mama or Daddy they point appropriately. Today after our video chat with Tucker, Greg asked John Mark where is Tucker and he pointed to the iPad. They have both been fascinated with the family photo album and Olivia Ann gets upset when John Mark is looking at it or carrying it around.

In between phone calls we went out and found an expensive grocery store. It was nice just get out a little and walk around. The double stroller Lora gave us is wonderful. The children love riding side by side in it and it is easy to move around.

Bedtime went much smoother tonight than last night, probably helped that we had a normal schedule today. Olivia Ann seems to be sleeping better tonight already so maybe she will have a good night.

Looking at a book

Looking at the iPad with Daddy

Ready for bed

And Now We Are a Family of Five

Twenty two months of paperwork and more paperwork and then all the waiting, tears, and more waiting and tears our big day was finally here. To us the waiting seemed like so much longer than twenty two months. We were so excited to finally be able to love on these babies for a lifetime to come. As one friend put it very well, God has big plans for these precious children and we are so thankful, honored, overwhelmed and excited to be his vessels to put those plans into action. It is so hard to describe all our feelings from today. The joy and happiness was overwhelming. At both orphanages tears rolled down my face as we left. I think it was a combination of many things, the realization of so many answered prayers by us and all of you and you add the fact the caregivers at each orphanage seemed sad to see both children leave. I know they were loved while in the care of the orphanage and that was heart filling too.

Here are the details of the day:
We finally arrived in Syzran about 6pm on the 7th. After being up and traveling about 28 hours we found it easy to go to sleep but did not rest well be causing of thinking about the events to come.

We meet Sergey for breakfast and checkout out of the hotel about 8am. We arrived at the orphanage about 8:20. We were greeted by the doctor/director of the orphanage and we waited for the caregivers to bring Olivia Ann to us. In a very few minutes they brought her in and handed her to me. The caregiver abruptly left and we changed her clothes and got ready to go. Sergey seemed in a hurry to go to the other orphanage so we left. Olivia Ann seemed to remember us a little and was happy to put on new clothes and was especially excited about her shoes. She did not whimper a bit when we got in the car and seemed to be fine. We left and she just looked around as we drove away. She seemed to be taking it all in. She was not bothered by the car at all or we thought. Soon Olivia Ann was asleep and I thought wow this is going well. The next thing we know about forty minutes from John Mark's orphanage she sat up look around and promptly threw up on me and her clothes. I caught most of it in my hands, instinct I guess...Greg said why did you catch it, I said catch it or have an even bigger mess. I am sure she was very car sick from the travel, the roads are terrible, Sergey's driving is awful as we have mentioned before and to top it of it was hot in the car. All of that would make anyone car sick so a two year old who had never been in a car it was almost expected. We cleaned her up as best we could in the car and traveled on to the other orphanage. We went in the orphanage and just inside the entry way Olivia Ann got sick again. I was carrying her in and barely managed to get my head out of the way of a big mess. Needless to say this time I was forced to change back into the clothes I wore on the flight to Russia. Dirty clothes from a long day travel were a much better option than nasty clothes. Anyway after every one was cleaned up Olivia Ann was playing and seemed to be fine.

John Mark's group was outside when we arrived and after we managed to get everyone cleaned up frm the car sickness the caregiver brought John Mark in to us. He walked right to me with a big grin on his face. He was carrying the photo book we left with him the first trip. Olivia Ann just watched John Mark. They played independent of each other and really just watch each other from time to time. The orphanage caregiver brought lunch for John Mark and Olivia Ann. John Mark ate almost all his lunch and Olivia Ann ate her soup. Then John Mark left for a nap and Olivia napped in Greg's arms.

Right as lunch was over Sasha our translator arrived with our friends Eric and Elizabeth. Eric and Elizabeth adopted a little boy Alex who is about three and a half. Elizabeth and I went with Sasha to get snacks for the plane ride and lunch for the parents. Lunch came from McDonald's. Greg was happy about that, something we recognize for lunch was a good thing. Sasha helped us pick out some things the kids would like on the plane.

Once we returned to the orphanage, nap time was soon over and we had to prepare to leave. Sergey asked us about our tickets and found out we did not have a piece of paper from Aeroflot for a baby in arms and this appeared to be a problem. So we quickly packed up to go. John Mark cried when we got in the car but settled down quickly and we were on out way to the airport. Soon Olivia Ann went to sleep in the car and we were relieved she did not get sick again. John Mark watched everything going on as we traveled. His big brown eyes got even bigger as he watched the world around him go by. He traveled fine and when we got to the airport Sergey went in to solve our ticket problem. After all was said and done we had to pay $125 for John Mark because we did not get the baby in arms paper earlier. We felt like there was no way to win the argument...even though a baby in arms is generally free but without some paper they were not letting him on the plane without a real seat. At this point we just had to pay it and go on, the language barrier, even with Sasha translating, was going to keep us from doing anything but paying the fee and move on. So anyone traveling on Aeroflot Russian airlines...you must have a piece of paper from the airlines for a baby in arms or buy another ticket. Lesson learned.

Our first flight with the children went well. John Mark cried when we sat him down to put our stuff down but was fine once we were all sitting. Thanks so much to my sister-in-law, Laurie, had packed the best plane snacks ever. We snacked all the way to Moscow and no one cried or got very restless. Of course that was an hour and half flight, we will pray that Friday goes as smoothly.

Val meet us at the airport in Moscow and took us to our apartment. Both kids slept on the hour ride from the airport to the apartment. The apartment is nice and will be fine for our week here. Getting little ones to sleep was a little of a challenge. John Mark went right to bed but Olivia Ann did not want to be laid down so she fell asleep in Greg's arms and then he put her to bed. Olivia Ann did not sleep well at all. She cried out in the night a lot, never really awake but crying and restless. All in all the night was not too bad, considering all the changes in John Mark and Olivia Ann's last 24 hours they are adjusting better than to be expected.

Dressed and ready to go.

Director helping us out with Olivia Ann's hair bow... Something we know nothing about.

Ready for the ride!

Calm before the storm

Watching John Mark, she doesn't know what to think.

First photo together.  Looking at photo book we left with John Mark

Looking at his photo book

Dressed and ready to go

Dressed and ready to go to bed

In Moscow waiting to board Plane for Samara

Our flight arrived a little early which was nice since we needed to meet Val. Val is our translator for the Moscow visit. Thankfully he agreed to meet us in Moscow this morning to pick up all of our luggage except one piece and he also kept the double stroller for us. Since we will return to Moscow tomorrow night we did not need all the luggage and the first flight with the children will be easier without all the luggage.
Our flight from NYC to Moscow was not very restful. Our seats were in between 2 groups of Russian men who were loud and really obnoxious.  We don't sleep much on the flights anyway but it was practically hopeless this flight.
We will meet Sergey in Samara for our two hour drive to Syzran. We will spend the night in Syzran and in the morning go to pick up Olivia Ann. In some ways it is very hard to believe that we are finally to this point in the adoption process. It is really going to happen now.
Next post will be after we return to Moscow with Olivia Ann and John Mark Saturday night. Please pray for a smooth transition from the orphanages tomorrow and a smooth first flight.

Waiting to Board the Plane in NYC for Moscow

Greg and I arrived in NYC without any problems. The Delta agents in Montgomery were very kind and even though one bag was over weight they let it through without fee. Our wonderful friend Lexie was our taxi driver today to the airport.  Tucker got in the car too and pretended he was going with us. I think the fact that we were home such a short time made him a little bit less excited about us leaving again.  I know he and Granny will stay busy and have a lot of fun.
Thanks to all of you for your prayers and well wishes over the last few days. A special thank you to David Johnson for teaching Accounting I today,  being able to leave the class in his capable hands made my school schedule much easier.
Greg and I really appreciate all the encouragement you have given us throughout the adoption process.  Please continue to pray for our trip and for all our children.