the state of David's room now...

We couldn't leave you long with those horrible in-between paint job images. Tonight we installed the next stage of wall treatment...some pretty word art we bought at the Kinnell's fundraiser (to help them bring home their two boys from Ethiopia)! Tomorrow we're making a trek to IKEA to buy a dresser and bookcase so the room will be filling up and looking not so bare. And I received confirmation that the curtains were shipped today!

The trip to IKEA is part of an overall day away to celebrate Nathan's birthday (#35). His Mom and Dad are going to meet us for lunch before our shopping trip -- and we haven't told Ellie. I think it will be a fun thing to witness her surprise!

Hopefully the next images will feature his room looking a little less stark and bare!

Enjoy your weekend!

Painting David Reni's Room

Several weekends ago I went away to a women's retreat in Ohio and while I was gone little 'elves' came in and painted David Reni's room. This was actually the only room in our apartment that was never painted when we moved in so it has been long overdue for a paint job.

This week we painted all the trim and now the room awaits the finishing touches... Curtains have been ordered and a trip to IKEA is planned for Saturday! More pictures soon!

Whew...

I've noticed that Nathan has lately taken on the responsibility for posting to our family blog -- and I'm so grateful for that. To say that the last month has been full, would be to put it mildly. I want to remember these days, that they're not a blur, plus give a little update for those of you seeking adoption updates.

Number one question these days, "Do you know when you will be traveling?"
A: We have no clue. Complicating (?) everything right now (that we have our referral) is the fact that our initial immigration approval expires May 26. In anticipation of this expiration, we had a home study update started at the end of March, which we were able to ammend when we learned about David and the possibility of adopting in the 'special needs' category. We sent away our completed packet to USCIS over a week ago and need to receive our extension before we can apply for and send away the I-800 (about a two week wait). When that is approved, it triggers a cable to the US embassy in Albania which prints a letter that our Bethany representative can take to the courts to schedule a date. We are trying not to stress or be anxious about our hopeful summer timeline. Thank you for your prayers that our renewal paperwork was in order and doesn't get kicked back!

ELLIE
As you can imagine, Els has been more than excited about the imminent arrival of her brother. Explaining and unknown timeline has been even more challenging.

Yesterday we attended her transition meeting with her teaching team at the Early Learning Village as we all prepare her for Kindergarten in the fall. It was humbling and overwhelming and encouraging all at once. We learned a lot about her behavior at school that we were unaware of (or had limited awareness of). To summarize a 90-minute meeting briefly, it seems that she knows all the stuff a child needs to know before entering Kindergarten, but significant modifications are having to be made to accomodate her learning and behavior. They have been 'pushing' her a lot which has resulted in numerous meltdowns and tantrums (we were shown a chart listing the days of the week and the times of day when the meltdowns occur). A lot of them come as a result from not wanting to do the task they are asking of her (primarily writing or drawing or coloring). More than once they mentioned what a strong will she has! We left the meeting with a better idea of what we need to work with her on this summer to help prepare her for school next year! The team unanimously agreed though that all day kindergarten will be really good for her and her innate need for a solid structure to her day.

After school we ended up taking Ellie to the doctor. She was thrilled (seriously -- she even brought her Fisher-Price syringe to give Nurse Elizabeth a shot). She's had a significant amount of congestion from allergies for the past several weeks and the OTC meds didn't seem to be helping. Finally, she complained that her ear hurt and we felt a low grade fever and had it confirmed that she was developing an ear infection. A couple of hours and meds later, we've got her on better allergy meds that already appear to be working.

WHERE CYDIL'S BEEN THIS MONTH...
I've been blessed this month with an opportunity to photograph patients for Ellie's pediatrician's office. The families I've met have been amazing and the children absolutely precious. Many of them are families made through adoption so that was an immediate connection. I'm posting photos on my photo blog: http://cydilphoto.blogspot.com/ if you are interested in seeing some of our new little friends. I am so grateful for some wonderful friends and Asbury students who have been assisting me with the project (special shout out to my former SASF neighbor, Donna, who recently retired and has the freedom in her schedule to help me at shoots, even when they are sometimes rescheduled, and scheduled again due to rain!). And special thanks of course to Nathan for taking on more "Ellie-care" during this time, lending his genius photoshop skills when I've been stuck, and all-around pinch-hitting.

Finally, in the midst of all this, we are preparing David's room. It is helping make his arrival feel more real. At the same time, our home was already feeling 'cozy' and 'losing' our family room makes it feel even cozier as we try to find places for its contents! Anyone need a love seat? I hope to be posting photos of that soon! I can't wait for it to be done and feel 'settled' again before we leave!

Thanks for reading!

Shriner's Open House

This Sunday there was an open house at the Shriner’s Hospital that we will be frequenting regularly with David when he gets home. It is an amazing facility and the people we met seemed very compassionate for the kids they help. Every part of the hospital is ‘kid friendly’ with jungle and ocean themed x-ray rooms and little Jeeps so the kids can drive themselves to surgery. They make the prosthetics on-site and are able to test multiple options for each patient in the motion detection lab which uses the same motion tracking technology Hollywood and video game designers use for animation. We left the open house thankful that such a high-quality facility is just 40 minutes from our house! Isn't God good!

Ellie enjoyed visiting the hospital, but she did want to make it clear to us, "For my brother, not for me!"

Ellie named the bear on the operating table, David.

A 'real' broken bone! Ellie was fascinated.

They can decorate prosthetics with anything.
(I think something OSU Buckeyes themed might look good.)

Ellie enjoyed the 'Nemo' room which got even cooler to her when she saw some sample x-rays taken in the room.

Ellie thought the statue of Mike from Monster's Inc. was interesting. She begged us to leave the long way just so we could walk by it again and take this picture.

It's Official!

We got an e-mail this morning confirming that the AAC approved David's referral for us! We will post more later this evening about what lies ahead! Thanks for your care and concern!

Ways You Can Pray for Our Adoption

Forgive the bullet points... we've been without internet all week (thanks to the flood wiping out some crucial fiber optic lines along the Kentucky River) so we have a little bit to share quickly:

• We learned that the Albanian Adoption Committee is supposed to be meeting on Friday. Pray that they will indeed meet as scheduled and that they would recognize our letter of intent to adopt David Reni and formally refer him to us so we can proceed with obtaining a court date.
• Pray that the court date will fall sometime in early June. There are two court dates which must take place and we have a delicate timeline to walk to complete his adoption before the August "recess". We would love to have him home and transitioning before the new school year commences. We believe God cares about and is concerned about these details.
• You can pray for Ellie as she is getting quite impatient to go and 'get' her brother. A few days ago a couple walked down our driveway with a baby carrier in arms. Ellie yelled, "It's my brother!!!" and ran to meet them. We're not sure she totally grasps how far away he is from us. On the other hand, we watched "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on Sunday which featured a 7-year-old girl with a similar condition to David Reni, Ellie left the room and returned with her leg in a paper bag, exclaiming, "I lost my foot! I need a new leg!" (click here to watch the episode online)
• Pray for David Reni that he will continue to grow and thrive under good care from the nuns at his orphanage and that his little heart will be prepared for this big transition when the time comes.
• Most people have nine months to prepare for the arrival of a baby. While our adoption journey has been much longer than nine months, we feel we have nine months of preparation to cram into potentially a few short weeks.

Thanks so much! We love and appreciate you all! Check back for updates on these updates!

Nathan's thoughts on waiting...

What do you do when you are waiting? Adoption is full of waiting and I don’t really enjoy that aspect, but there is some benefit to waiting. This past Sunday, our pastor shared about how the disciples waited after Jesus’ death and Resurrection – they went fishing.

As a brief aside, I am not sure if we have ever talked about our home church in this blog, but we have been blessed to be part of a vibrant body of believers at the First Alliance Church in Lexington for more than 11 years. The worship and teaching from the Word refreshes and challenges weekly. Nearly every week on our way home from church, Cydil and I find ourselves discussing something from Pastor Elliot’s message. He often mentions the sermon the Holy Spirit preaches around the sermon, and God has often preached directly to us through our pastor’s messages. Recently we have seemed to hear everything through the lens of adoption.

Ok back to the waiting disciples. Jesus had told them several times when warning them about his death and resurrection that they were to go to Galilee and wait for him there. The angels at the tomb told the women to remind the disciples that Jesus was going ahead of them to Galilee. So they went and waited. But where was Jesus? What should they do while they wait? According to John 21, Peter decides to go fishing and six other disciples join him. They fish all night and don’t catch anything, but they were really killing time anyway. The next morning Jesus calls from the shore and asks how many fish they have caught. The disciples have to admit what no fisherman wants to admit – no fish. Then came Jesus’ crazy suggestion that they try the other side of the boat. When they do they have a miraculous catch. They couldn’t even drag the fish into the boat, they had to drag the nets to shore, but the nets didn’t break. That is why they were able to count 153 fish. There are more details, but God’s message to me was encapsulated in this part of the story.

1. God sometimes asks us to go and wait for Him to show up. We have felt that in many ways we have been waiting in Galilee for a while now. We didn’t know that David Reni would be how Jesus would show up, and it did take a little bit to recognize Him on the shore.
2. It’s OK to do something while you wait. It has been even harder to wait these last weeks now that we have some information. The adoption committee will be meeting in the next 10 days. Since our last adoption post, we have painted David’s room (pictures to follow), filled out more paperwork, researched hotels in Elbasan, and talked a lot with Ellie (who is having more trouble waiting than we are)!
3. God’s miraculous provision follows obedience. As crazy as throwing the net on the other side of the boat may have seemed, they would have missed the amazing catch without their obedience. We weren’t expecting David, but have already experienced God’s favor as we have moved forward in obedience.
4. The nets didn’t break. This detail may seem insignificant, but I felt a peace from God with the thought that whatever the challenges of this adoption, God has equipped Cydil and I with what we need and with God’s help, our nets won’t break in the process.
5. When God works, there is value in ‘counting’ and ‘reporting’ what He has done. We hope this blog will be a place where we can report the 153 or so God sightings that are and will continue to happen.