Gotcha Day - in pictures

Friday we had a great day celebrating 3 years of William!  I checked him out of school early and we went home & met up with Zack & Daniel.

We took them to Five Guys for lunch, then went to see Santa.



William wants a spinning Light Sabre & a Star Wars DS game





Daniel wants candy & a present :)





Daniel & Santa went dancing




Daniel was shy - Santa tried to cheer him on
















Back home, we gave him a small gift: some candy, silly bands, and a couple of new chapter books. He's really become an excellent - and avid - reader!


Gotcha Day gift





Daniel was excited for his brother




Star Wars Silly Bands




This boy is crazy about bubble gum



That evening, we attended a Christmas concert at our old college. On the way home, we stopped downtown and the boys were thrilled to have dinner at the Varsity! 

So thankful for this precious gift from God!

Gotcha Day - 3 years

It's been three years since we walked out of Centre Opiky in Mariupol with our little guy. Three years since he said good-bye to the detsky dom and went away with his forever family.

So today we will get to update these pictures... :)

The Ukrainian Babushka

Three years ago today, we met the only connection we have to William's past. A kind and loving woman, William's babushka. We are so incredibly thankful for the role that this sweet lady has played in William's life.

You can read about that day HERE. Read about the events leading up to the meeting HERE.

Thanksgiving in Ukraine

3 years ago today, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Ukraine. The previous day, we'd gone to court where we were declared the parents of William Hoyt Dove.

Read about our court hearing HERE.

Read about Ukrainian Thanksgiving HERE.

Nov 19, 2007

A precious picture from 3 years ago today... he's growing up WAY too fast.

Three years ago today: November 18

Three years ago today, we experienced our first Ukrainian church service.  You can read about that experience HERE. It was one of the many things that has really opened our eyes to the reality that there is a need for God all over the world.

Today, I worked from home so that I could go to Daniel's preschool for their Thanksgiving lunch.  It was lots of fun, and nice to see him in his classroom setting. This Thanksgiving, we have even more to be thankful for than before!

Looking back: William & his groupa

11/11/07: It was a stormy day in Mariupol - we later learned that a hurricane had swept through the area, damaging a lot of areas along the coast.

We stopped by what would become our favorite grocery in Mariupol, Abzhora, and bought bananas and juice for William's groupa. Then L&L (facilitator and driver) drove us to the orphanage.

Our little guy was slowly beginning to warm up to us. We started with snacks, and then played for awhile. We learned that he likes apples with peanut butter. The peanut butter was obviously new to him (it's almost impossible to find it in Ukraine) but he really enjoyed dipping the slices into it.

There were some Legos in the room, so we played with them. It was fun watching as he thought and tried to come up with a plan. We tried on some more clothes, including the jeans and shoes that we’d bought the previous day. The shoes were too small, so our facilitator took them to exchange them for us.

When it was almost time to leave, William led us to his groupa room upstairs. He proudly helped us hand out bananas to all of the children, making sure that everyone was included before sitting down to enjoy his own.

It was good to get to spend a few minutes with the other children. We took a few pictures, so that we'd have them for William as he gets older. I wondered what would happen to those children.

Fast forward to March 2010: a blog friend who was in process to adopt from Ukraine found a youtube video that she shared with me - and as it turns out, it was about the adoption of one of William's groupa friends! The little girl's mom & I have since connected and shared pictures and stories. How wonderful to know she's now part of a family. I was able to give her a picture of her little girl from the day we served bananas.



William in bedroom - 2007



William in bedroom - 2010



Fast forward to June 2010: we went back to visit William's orphanage. Only one child from his groupa remains. The rest have either been adopted or are back with their biological families. So happy for them, and so sad that Dima is still there. 

Thankful

This picture was taken 3 years ago today - the day we met our William.

Nov 7, 2007: The day we saw his picture

Three years ago today, we met with SDA officials in Kyiv, Ukraine, and we saw William's sweet little face for the first time. God gave us such peace when we saw that face among several others.

You can read a bit more about that day by clicking HERE and HERE.

Quick post

Busy day, so I'm just now getting around to blogging. William's soccer team started their tournament this weekend. 2 games today and 1 tomorrow - and they won both games today!  The top 2 teams in their bracket will advance to next weekend. Excited that they're doing well, but this has been a LONG season!

3 years ago today, we arrived in Kyiv. Culture shock doesn't begin to describe what we were experiencing.

Little did we know, there was a precious little blondie that was about to steal our hearts...

Oops - missed a day!

Wow, I didn't get far before missing a day of blogging this month! But hopefully this post & the one below will more than make up for it.

Three years ago today, Zack and I set out on an adventure that forever changed us.

Three years ago today, we boarded a plane, headed for Ukraine.

You can visit our original adoption blog and read our November 2007 posts by clicking HERE.

Get ready - it's time to reminisce!

He doesn't remember

Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to drive over and visit William's orphanage.

For me, it was a more emotional experience than I'd expected.

For William, it was not at all familiar. He didn't remember anything, and was very uncomfortable with all the attention and hugs he received from people he doesn't remember at all.

But we tried to explain to him that it was good for them to see how well he's doing in America. It's good for them to understand that when a child is adopted, it is a positive thing. And it has the potential to make things easier for families that go to that orphanage in the future.

Here are a few pictures from our visit.

William standing next to his bed. He looks so tall in there now.

The bathroom for William's groupa

William in his groupa room - I remember Zack sitting on the end of that sofa and changing William into HIS clothes.

Here he is with some of the children at the orphanage. Zack & I were especially fond of the little girl on the front row in the white bonnet. She was such a sweetie!

Zack and I both spotted this little boy and immediately recognized him as Dima from William's groupa. William didn't remember him. He was nervous about the pic, so I had to join them to make him more comfortable. We're not sure if Dima remembered him or not - he said no at first, but after a little conversation said he did remember him.

Dima was the only boy we saw from William's groupa. I pray that means the others have all found their families. And I pray Dima will find the same.

Q&A

While we wait, I thought I'd answer a few questions we've received...

Josh asked,   "When will you guys travel? Or do you know yet?"

No, we don't know yet. Facilitators typically return to the SDA about 10 - 14 days after submission to find out the appointment date.  So our facilitator will go back sometime next week to find out.  We're guessing mid-June, but we'll see.  Maybe I should start a contest to see who can guess our date :)

Sharon asked, "When you go in for the appt, what will you do? Be matched? Stay for awhile? Come home with your child/children?"

At our appointment, we will be shown profiles of children that match our request (in terms of age/gender/health/etc.).  With William's adoption, we were shown 7 profiles - his was "Lucky #7!" The profiles typically consist of a small picture, and some limited information on the child. We will choose a child from one of these profiles and travel to that child's region to meet him or her. After meeting the child (and provided everything goes okay with that meeting), we will then begin the paperwork to accept the child's referral and to request a court date.

After court, there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period. Once the 10 day wait is over, we can pick up the court decree. At that point, we'll begin efforts to get our child's new birth certificate and passport. The timing of this can vary from region to region. In rare cases, it can be done all in one day - in many cases, it takes several days.

Our trip to get William took 33 days in total.  We arrived home on the 33rd day with our son. This trip could be longer than that, there are so many unknowns and we have to just be ready to roll with the punches!

Andi asked, "Are you guys going to be in Kiev? We have a couple in our church that are moving there in about two months."

We will be in Kyiv for the first few and last few days of our trip. We'd love to meet your friends!  Email me and we'll see if we can make it happen!

The McEacherns said, "I'd love to know your thoughts on this adoption vs. William's adoption... differences in your mindset about waiting, paperwork, etc"

The process itself has been a lot different. And so has our mindset!

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

We went into this with more realistic expectations thanks to experience. We knew to be ready for things to change at a moment's notice. We learned that timelines are merely suggestions, and there are no rules. And of course, the waiting has gone by more quickly thanks to having William with us!

HOME STUDY

This was less stressful because we'd done it before. AND our social worker from William's adoption did this homestudy as well, so we weren't starting from square one. She already knew us, our house, our backgrounds, etc.

DOSSIER PREP

Once again, less stress since we knew what to expect. For instance, with adoption #1, it took us a total off 11 (yes ELEVEN!!) visits to the doctor to get our medical forms filled out correctly. This time, thanks to some pre-planning, they were correct the first time.  We also knew where to go and what to do for all the necessary items as well, so less uncertainty.

There were a couple of new items added to the dossier package that we didn't have to do last time, but nothing overly difficult.

I-600A

This has been our biggest source of stress this time around. We sent it on December 17. We were fingerprinted on February 1. We finally received our I-171H (US approval) on April 15 - after a number of emails and phones calls begging for help. 119 days total. This time around, this step was MUCH slower than William's adoption. His was 49 days start to finish, and that included a delay where our paperwork had been put in the wrong stack at USCIS and overlooked for a number of days.

DOSSIER SUBMISSION
In 2007, U.S. dossiers were accepted on Mondays. You were not given a submission date ahead of time.

Each Monday, we'd learn how many dossiers had been submitted, and our approximate number "in line". I was calculating and making predictions on a weekly basis as to when we might actually get submitted.

This time around is a totally different ballgame! Back in October, one of our Ukrainian facilitators presented our home study and was assigned a date to submit our dossier: May 6th.  This allowed us to consider when we really needed to start on paperwork to make sure none of it was more than 6 months old at the time of submission (documents older than 6 months will likely be rejected by the SDA).

APPOINTMENT DATE

Turnaround time from submission to appointment date is a LOT faster (at least as of this posting) than it was last time. Our 2007 timeline was:
July 16: Submitted dossier

Aug 30: Received notice of appointment date

Nov 7: SDA Appointment

So we endured 45 days before we learned when our appointment would be. And it was another 69 days of travel prep before our appointment.

The current 'norms' are like this:
Facilitator submits dossier
Facilitator returns to SDA about 2 weeks later
Appointment is typically 2 - 3 weeks after that (can vary, but this has been the norm lately)

I'll be glad to do some more comparing later on in the process, but that's abot all I can compare right now.

I'll be glad to answer more of your questions.  So click HERE and ask away!

We Are The Truth – an adoption blogger day

Today has been designated We Are The Truth Day, and adoptive families are encouraged to share their positive adoption stories.

Tragically, on this same day, Russia has announced that it is suspending U.S. adoptions (click here for more info).  They have not stopped them altogether - we must continue to be vocal about the good stories! We also need to pray that the U.S. delegation traveling to Russia next week will find a way to come to a mutually beneficial agreement with Russia, one that protects the children involved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The adoption process is emotional and full of uncertainties and risks. But then again, how is that different from pretty much anything in life? Life doesn't come with any guarantees either.

Our adoption story began in 2002 when we decided to start a family. Little did we know, a precious blonde hair blue eyed baby boy was just a few weeks old at the time.

After a few years of no luck on the baby front, doctors began wanting to do extensive testing and start procedures that would help us get pregnant. We prayed about it, and God clearly showed us that His plan was for us to adopt. (That was His plan all along, it just took us a while to listen and realize it!)

On February 7, 2007 we officially committed to adopt a child from Ukraine, a country we knew virtually nothing about, but a country God clearly laid on our hearts.

Exactly 9 months later, we were sitting at Ukraine's State Department of Adoption, and were shown the picture of the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. And two days after that (Nov 9, 2007), we met our son.

On December 7, 2007, we arrived at the Atlanta airport to the welcoming cheers of 6 grandparents, an uncle, and a sweet friend. Our journey was complete, but our adventure was just beginning.

I feel like we went into the adoption well informed. We knew that there were negative stories out there. We knew there was the possibility that our child would come to us with deep emotional and psychological scars.

We were blessed with a smooth transition. Sure, there were rough times. For instance, there were times at the beginning where punishment of standing in the corner resulted in "William nee like Mommy. William nee like Amelica" (William not like Mommy, William not like America). And he always had to be with one of us, no matter what. That meant if I walked into the kitchen to get a drink, he was right behind me. If I went the bathroom, he was at the door.

But all in all, he did remarkably well. Our attachment process went smoothly. We explained to friends and family that Zack & I needed to be the ones to provide for all of his needs - EVERYTHING - even things as small as tying a shoe or walking him to the bathroom. And we needed to be the ones to provide comfort as well.

Almost 2 1/2 years later, our little Ukrainian-American is - well, not so little anymore!  He's grown by leaps and bounds, but not just physically. He loves school. He enjoys playing soccer and basketball. He is a great runner. He is a good friend, and a valuable member of our family.  On December 6, 2009 we rejoiced as he made his public profession of faith, telling everyone that He believes in Jesus and accepts Him as His Savior and Lord, and followed that with believers baptism.

We love him more than we could have imagined, and we can't imagine life without him. He truly is our gift from God.

William knows where he came from. He was 5 1/2 when he came home, so he remembers a little, but not much. We are open about how our family came to be, and we talk about things on an age-appropriate level. We know more questions will come as he gets older. For now, he is content knowing that he was born in Ukraine, but his home is with Mommy & Daddy, in America.

We are thankful that Ukraine allowed us to come to their country for our adoption. We are thankful for the caregivers that watched over William at the orphanage. We are thankful for the kind director at the orphanage. We are thankful for the birth mother that chose life. And we anxiously and excitedly look forward to returning to Ukraine in the coming months to bring another child into our family through adoption.

Favorite Photo Friday

December 3, 2007

The day we finally got to take our boy with us!

I look back and thank God for blessing our journey and for all the progress made since coming home.

I look forward with excitement and anticipation about experiencing the same blessings and progress with our next child!

Can't wait to meet you, little one!

Playing blog catch-up: Gotcha Day revisited

I finally got some pictures off the camera, so I'll try to share a few on the blog today.

First, here is a look back at Gotcha Day.

Our Gotcha Day "tradition" is a small gift, and William's choice for dinner: home cooked or pick a restaurant. Last year it was a meal at home (read about that here). This year, he chose dinner at Ippolito's, and dessert at Rita's. His gift included a children's book about adoption, and a stuffed Stitch (from Lilo & Stitch).

After dinner, we got out William's blog book and wrote in it. (When I was putting the blog into blurb, I added pages in the back for gotcha days, including a place to put a description of the day's events, a picture, height, weight, and things like favorite food, movie, song, color.)

There are a couple of pictures we try to take each year. One revisits one of my favorites from our time in Ukraine: Zack & William leaving the orphanage.

The other is one we took in the van on our way from Mariupol to Donetsk to complete all of the paperwork before heading to Kyiv. We had prepared a little backpack for William, and in it was a stuffed lamb that my mom had bought for him.

Two Years Ago Today...

We were finally home!

I am thankful that God provided health and safety on our journey. I'm thankful that we found our son and that he was healthy. I'm thankful for the caregivers that watched over him, and the director that advocated for him. I'm thankful for our stateside facilitator and for an amazing Ukrainian facilitation team. I'm thankful for our missionary friends who cared for us while we were there. I'm thankful for family and friends that greeted us as we arrived home.

And as we celebrate "America Day" today, I'm also reminded of a little girl in Eastern Europe who still needs a Daddy & Mommy. She has well over $1000 in her adoption fund that will help the family that is led to adopt her. I know she will thrive when she's part of a family that loves her, supports her, and provides her with the therapy and care that she needs. Please continue to remember and pray for Vera. And spread the word - you never know who God has in store for her. It might be you, it might be someone in your life.

2 years as a family

This video was made about a month after William came home.

Notice how his name sounds like Villiam (he was still working on those W's!).

And how "one" sounds more like "un".

So precious.

We are thankful that 2 years ago today, we were able to take custody of him and take him with us for good. Here are a few pictures from our "gotcha day"...

A Favorite

One of my favorite pictures from our time in Ukraine was taken 2 years ago today...

I'm so thankful for this precious boy that God entrusted to us.

And I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband, and the amazing father that he is to William.

Nov 10, 2007

You can click HERE to read about what we were doing two years ago today, including the description of William officially "claiming" me as HIS mommy.