There and back again...

Airport time! While running out the door, stop and take a picture!

We successfully made our first trip and we have made the crazy, though expected, decision to finalize this adoption!  Our journey was long it took us 3 days to get there and we had to spend a night in a hotel and one in an airport, but we made it to the country.

We met our child, which was a very scary experience at first. But after a couple days of freaking out over this enormous decision (or for Abe a few hours?), asking every possible question you can think of, and getting to know him just a little we warmed up to the idea.

We were able to play with him for two hours twice a day for a Monday and Tuesday. We got to play on two little playgrounds, eat lunch with him, and show him several toys. His favorite thing seems to be the slide. We knew from his paper work that he has some delays, which are very normal for children with backgrounds of neglect and loss.  His background is no different, so it makes perfect sense.

Wednesday we were able to take him on a car ride. This was a HUGE deal for him. You could probably count the number of times he remembers getting to ride a car on one hand! He was very excited. He even told Abe "come on, hurry" when he had to stop at a light. We went to a big park and he was very overwhelmed by everything at that point. Abe had to just pick him up and carry him. (I am NOT looking forward to airports!) I don't think he even knows what an airplane is or has ever seen one. Hopefully he will like airplanes, too!

Our plane leaving country.

Our language lessons paid off as well as we could effectively order meals and communicate at least a few things with our little guy. Our translator was rather impressed, she said we know more of the language than any other parents she had met. Of course I felt that we needed to be able to understand much more and that I had forgotten half the words I learned.

We were able to talk to his foster mother as well as his teachers at his day center on Thursday as well as visit with him 2 more times. They were all very nice to us and answered all of our many questions. And believe me I had alot!  Our son has had many losses in his life, but has been doing well recently, thanks in part to the therapy and care he has been given. Of course all of that will be disrupted again, so he will have to grieve those losses and adjust to a completely new environment and parents. It will be very scary and sad for him, and very hard for us. Bringing him home will be the beginning of a very new life for all of us. Parenting even a normal, healthy child through adoption is very challenging, especially in the beginning. We have learned that generally the first three months are the hardest. Then it starts stabilizing into a new "normal" around 6 months home. We will continue to need your prayers and emotional support as we go through this transition.

On Friday we got to see him for the last time and just played like usual. When it came time for him to leave, he did not want to more than on all of the other days. We did not tell him, that we would be leaving, but somehow he seemed to sense it. We were also able to sign some very important papers.

We are looking forward to going back now and waiting on immigration approval before our adoption petition can go through the international court system. In the meantime we are collecting necessary updates to our paperwork, so we have been working on that the past two weeks.  We will be getting his room ready and prepare the best we can for his arrival. We have an estimated 5-6 months to complete this process. So we are hoping that trip #2 will be this September.