He loves the children!

After the adoption is final, I will post his picture. But for now, I want to talk about the orphanage director. He is a great man. He truly loves the children in the orphanage. He wants them to be adopted, and he is so happy when families come to visit the children they are adopting. He can't understand or speak English, but there is no miscommunication about his support and love for all of us.

We've had the pleasure of bringing Annie on our journey, and he has showed great attention to her. Our first visit he had such compassion on her thinking it was hard on her to come so far away (well it was, but she was just sleeping that day). Since then, he will come and find us so he can tickle her and talk to her in his native language. Today, he was busy talking to two very important women (I know this because they were wearing white coats like him, hehe) :) We were about to leave, but he stopped what he was doing and started talking to Annie, he picked her up and was just loving on her. Then he turned to one of the women and told her we were American and there to adopt Micah, and that court was tomorrow at 3pm (I understood all of that in his language). He was excited!

After reading another families plea today for prayer for their court hearing tomorrow because of their orphanage director NOT wanting them to adopt because they are American, I just have to thank my Heavenly Father for our blessings on this journey.

1. We were given another boy on the day of our 1st visit because of simple human error, but we were able to quickly identify Micah and straighten out the paperwork in just four days (normally would take another month).
2. We started advocating for the "other boy" right away and there is someone showing interest in him; pray that their decision is made quickly and that he will have a family by the end of 2011.
3. Because of the setback, we thought we might be here an extra week, and humbly asked for *more* donations for lodging. We received over $1400 in two days yet only thought we needed $350 (check our blog in a couple days to see why this became a bigger blessing).
4. After thinking for 7 months that Micah had a heart condition, we found out he has none! He is healthy and needs very minor attention to some areas -ears, nose, throat (ENT), flat feet, and probably vision.
5. Micah bonded with us immediately. We said it again today that he KNEW us the moment he saw us, like he had been waiting for us. We had prayed he would know us for the past 7 months.
6. He is in one of the best orphanages in the country. We are so blessed to be here in the capitol where people are hurried along, but will take time to try and communicate with you even if you speak English (most of the time).
7. The director supports adoption! He is not against the children going to America, or losing government assistance.
8. Despite our initial setback, we got a quick court date with an adoption-friendly judge, who is CHRISTIAN! We've only heard about her, but I'm looking forward to court tomorrow. However, We are not counting our chicks before they're hatched and are still praying for her favor.
9. Barry is going home with Annie in two days to see our other children after almost 4 weeks away from them (longest time away from us prior to this was only 2 days)!
10. I will be coming home with Micah after a total of 7 weeks instead of 8, when we thought it might be stretched to 9.
11. Our facilitation team is amazing and works very hard. They do so much behind the scenes that we don't really know about until something goes wrong. We have been blessed to see a lot of how much they really do for us. They are kind, supportive, and very helpful. I will really miss them when we say our final goodbyes.

I really could go on and on, but so far we feel the blessings of our Savior every day. We know His hand is in everything we are doing, and we feel very blessed to be going through a "good adoption story." We are praying for our friends in other regions and countries where things aren't so good. We pray for their adoptions to be successful and for them to have peace until they are home with their babies.

Court for Micah's adoption into our family is in less than 24 hours. Prayers are welcome.

13 visits down! :)

Things are still going well with Micah. I cannot believe we have court in three days... it just doesn't seem possible. Of course we are so grateful for a quick court date, but we know that only Heavenly Father could've made that happen as fast as it did, so thank you ALL for your prayers and to Him for listening :) In three days, we expect to be named Micah's parents, but we will not have the official court decree for another 14 days or so. Then it will take one more week to get all the final paperwork processed (his new birth certificate, passport, and visa). So I will be home with him tentatively around July 1... two weeks before we had scheduled! That will be so amazing if it works out. But it could also take just a few more business days, so it may be July 5-7. Still, before July 15th!!

We are making lists for Barry to get things done once he comes home and before we get Micah home. Things like extra locks up high, a safety barrier for the back deck, and moving things around in the house (almost baby-proofing again)... Micah has a lot of typical orphanage behaviors that we will have to work on, but know they won't last too long once we get him home. He's a WONDERFUL child with a beautiful spirit and he's amazingly loving... but he likes to throw toys, and spit, and push, and yell... and he really likes pulling my glasses off my face!

Peek-a-boo

He's already learning quickly that we don't like the spitting... I softly brush his cheek and firmly say "NO! NYET!" and shake my head and he'll shake it back at me (not defiantly, but to show he gets it). He's pulling the glasses off less now, and today didn't throw any toys with me. We got to have some time in the indoor room and he played very quietly... he set up a picnic with stuffed animals and a cup and saucer, then put a bunch of blocks down next to them, but he didn't throw them! That was a miracle :) I am trying to work with him on being gentle, but I think today he was just more mellow than usual. I love that cuddly boy! :)

Visit #9

Yesterday, we moved into our 4th, and hopefully final, home here in Micah’s country. As long as there is not a time limit on how long we can stay, we will be staying here until we go home. It is only two metro stops from Micah’s orphanage, and we are a quick 5-10 minute walk to the metro station from our apartment. Everything we need is very close to us (groceries, restaurants, stores, and parks). The apartment is very small, but sufficient for all of us (we are still sharing with the Goldens – well Rachel until Joel gets back in a couple weeks). Rachel has the bedroom and Barry, Annie and I have the living room because it is a bigger “room” at the back of the apartment… there is no door to our room, but you don’t have to walk through it to get to the other rooms, so it’s private enough for us. The sofa bed is the most comfortable thing we have slept on since we got here! The bathroom and kitchen are tiny, but have everything we need. We are really happy to be here after living so far out for a week and a half. We’ll take tiny any day over the hour commute with the bus and metro rides we had. Now we will walk more than we are on the subway (5-7 min ride), but the walks are short! Oh, don’t ask about the scary elevator… reminds us of Tower of Terror ride at Disney’s California Adventure! But we have to take it because we are on the 9th floor… pray for us! LOL

We had an amazing visit with Micah yesterday. Things get better every time we see him. He still gets very excited every time he sees us and just wants to be hugged and kissed over and over when we first get to the orphanage. His laugh is so beautiful and contagious. He loves to be held and squeezed and tickled. He never stops beaming the whole time we’re with him. We love our time with him and are glad to be closer to be able to do both visits every day now. I brought out a book and the iPad again, and he actually sat and played with both for a while. He loved the iPad songs and danced and sang to all of them… even did some hand movements with some of them! He is still signing “more” with me each time I ask him to do it. He was very interested in what was going on instead of rambunctiously running all over (he did that too, but could stay focused for a short time on what I was showing him). When he did decide to run around, he’d run back to each of us with the biggest smile and hands up in the air for another big hug and kiss. Those two hours went by way too fast. I think I love that he knows us more than anything else. Just a few short weeks and we will be able to bring this sweet boy home with us!

Funny story of the day: I was cuddling with Micah and telling him to say “mama” over and over and over… sounded something like “mama, mama, mama, mama” finally he decides to speak and out comes “PAPA!” (which means Daddy here) LOL… too cute!

**Just found out court is Friday, June 10th at 3pm!**

In 6 years

Today Barry and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary. So much has happened in that time that it feels like that number should be MUCH higher. I love him more today than the day we married, as I hope most married folks can say :)

In 6 years, we have moved five times all in the same general area.

In 6 years, Barry has finished active duty Marine life, and was rehired as a civilian with the Marine Corps.

In 6 years, I have been a school secretary, preschool operator, and a stay-at-home mommy.

In 6 years, we have had three babies and two miscarriages, and are bringing home our 6th child in a few short weeks. (Pause: does the math not add up? HAHA... Fischer and Morgan were "mine" and "his" when we met, then we had three together in a very short amount of time. And now we are adopting.)

In 6 short years, I have learned about my husband... who he is, what he loves, how he operates, his hopes and dreams. I have also learned about myself. We have grown individually and as a couple. We have grown closer to our Lord and Savior. Our eyes and hearts have become softer toward things in life. We have become closer to each other. And our bond is stronger than ever.

Us in the Podil area of K, behind us on top of the hill is St. Andrew's Cathedral from previous blog posts... the SDA office is right next to it and we're about to walk up the road to it!

6 years ago, we could have never dreamed of what we have today. We never would have thought we would be adding 4 children to our family in that short amount of time. And we would have never thought we'd be traveling to a new country, and for sure we never thought we'd be adopting. Yet here we are. Celebrating our 6th anniversary in a foreign country, and adopting our 6th child.

At Cafe de Paris... best place we've eaten here! It was delicious! Right down the street from the SDA office (this is after walking up the steep hill "St. Andrew's Decent".

Some may think we're crazy. And in some ways we are! But the love we have for God, each other, and our children cannot be questioned or denied.

In 30 years when we look back on this year, I can say my husband took me to Europe for our 6th anniversary :)

At the K Opera House... went to see our first Russian Ballet (well our first anything ballet). Thanks again Rachel for giving us the day/night out! That was a wonderful anniversary gift :)

Only we will know what that truly means... not the lavish Western European dream vacation, but where Heavenly Father wanted us to be in Eastern Europe, saving an orphan from institutional life. In a country not many would pick for a vacation spot, although the capitol city is beautiful and lots of fun. At an orphanage every day seeing our son and others in their "groundhog day" life, even though it's one of the best in the country it's still an orphanage. And if they're not adopted, they will go to a mental institution.

We are on a mission that God sent us on to save an orphan. We are here to save Micah, and to help advocate for others who were born in a part of the world where babies are not accepted if they are different... if they are born with a disability, an extra chromosome, a "defect"... they are discarded and left at the hospital, even if their parents were married and really wanted a baby. I cry every time I see the newborns lined up in their carriages outside, just lying there waiting for something. Wondering why their mamas left them behind. Waiting for a new mommy and daddy. And the older children, playing seemlessly with other orphan kids... riding around in circles on their trikes and toys. Every. Day. Waiting for a family and knowing what a family is when they see their brothers and sisters leave with mamas and papas.

These kids need homes. They need love. They need a family. They need a mom and dad who will love them unconditionally. Some say "I can't do that." "It's not for me." But when God calls you to do something, He will give you the tools you need to do it. God calls the world to care for the orphans and widows. It's not just for us or a select few. The children in this orphanage do not all have a disability... but the ones who do will most likely never be adopted by families in this country. They will live out their lives in a mental institution. Some may die in the first year after being transferred from the baby house. Or they will age out and be put on the streets to fend for themselves with nobody to turn to.

If you can't adopt a child, PLEASE donate to a child's grant to help his or her family bring them home. We have picked a child to advocate for: Aaron. Most of you know his story and why we are praying for this sweet kid. Please go to his grant page and donate a small amount of money. Give to him as our anniversary gift.

We are asking that everyone donate a minimum of $10. This is not a lot to ask. Many of you have given to other organizations, or were moved to sponsor a child from a TV infomercial... you donate to charities all the time. Or you give a few bucks to the guy on the corner. This is a plea for a boy we have held. This request isn't to upset or make anyone feel guilty or angry... it is to ask you to help save an orphan in a way I know most of you can... financially.

$10 is thrown away every day on fast food, pedicures, manicures, getting your "hair did", car washes, chocolate cake, coffee, ice cream, a new outfit... you name it! $10 is not a lot in America.

$10 in Aaron's country is what an average construction worker makes in a FULL 10 hr day of work.
http://reecesrainbow.org/aaron512

Aaron is 2 1/2 years old. He needs to learn to walk on his own so he can get out of this playpen. Donations will help him be able to do that with his forever family.

This is what we have done in 6 years. Now that our eyes have been opened to the needs of others, think of what we can do in another 6 years! Love you all!

**Loved the comment about being "Cheaper by the Dozen" in the next 6 years. HAHA!

Four littles!

I just came across this picture that a friend posted. It was created in September 2010 and made into a shirt for her son that read "Adopt my friends". I just found it today and it made me cry. ALL of these littles are being adopted. Three of them have their mamas and papas in country and are going home within the next month. The last has a family diligently working to get to him. Let's help advocate, pray, and support Antonio (aka CARTER)! http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorgibson-2 http://www.homeiswhereitsat.blogspot.com/

Thank our Heavenly Father for providing families for all these children! :)

Random stuff

The Goldens arrived Sunday... meeting them in person felt like we'd known them for years, just like I thought it would be. We've had fun hanging out with them and showing them around a little. We went to dinner with four other RR families on Monday night; what a refreshing break from the daily routine we've had this week!

Getting to and from the orphanage is draining. We take a bus to the metro, then walk to the orphanage. One way is about an hour; we get to be with Micah for two hours, then head back home for an hour. By the time we walk in the door, we are pooped! It's all worth it, but wish we lived closer. It's been hard mostly because we have Annie and her stroller to contend with on these rides. She has been SO good, but she gets bored and antsy on the metro. The last few days of traveling have been tough on her, so today Mommy is letting her take a break, and Daddy is going to the orphanage by himself.

Our visits with Micah are going very well. He is so happy and full of energy. He recognizes us and comes running with open arms every time. He loves being held and bonding with both of us with hugs, kisses, and tickles. Yesterday, we got to witness the most wonderful nanny singing songs to and holding Jackson (the Golden's son). We stayed a distance from them for a while and just watched. Then Annie went running for the hut, so we let her go play and Micah followed. I tried to tell the nanny that his Mama and Papa were coming, but she didn't understand me. She let us hold him and play with him. I hugged him and said "Mama and Papa are coming in two days!" Barry picked him up to love on him, and Micah got jealous!!! Too funny... he already knows we are his! I just thought that was truly amazing after only four days. He dosen't do that at all with Annie.

Chloe had the flu the other day. I wanted to fly home so badly just to hold her. It's been really hard being away from the other children, especially when I know they really want us there. Gracie cried last night wanting us to come home. It doesn't get easier.

We've been talking about whether Barry should go home or not to wait out the court date since we've already been here two weeks, and we thought it would take 3-4 more weeks for court. Yesterday, we called our facilitator and asked when we would know about court. She said 1 week. I told her we were asking because we were trying to decide if Barry should go home and wait. She said she doesn't recommend him to leave because we could possibly have court one week after that! That was good news. Now let's hope that really happens :)

Agenda today: clothes shopping for Micah (just a few things to get him home).

We finally made it!

Orphanage visit day 1
We walked 25 minutes to the metro, rode 12 stops, got off, and got lost! We had directions from another RR family, but we took the stairs up to the left instead of going straight to the end. Thank goodness for a kind cab driver who took a call from our translator and pointed us in the right direction! Overall, it took 2 hours to get to the orphanage yesterday, but we were right on time at 9am.

We got to spend 2 hours with Micah, then had a 5 hr "lunch break" before we could see him for the 2 hour afternoon visit. That was a hard 5 hours to find something to do. We walked to the nearest McDonald's, which we thought was just up one metro station and ended up being two (about 3 miles), spent quite a bit of time resting there, and took the metro back. We still had two hours to kill, so we walked around the orphanage grounds with Annie trying to get her to take a nap...never happened. But we met a nice Canadian couple adopting a 20 month old. They've been here 5 weeks and we were the first English-speaking family they had seen on the grounds! She was so excited to speak English. Their court date is Friday, so we won't see them for too much longer.

We rode the metro home, but stopped to have dinner on the way, so our total ride home was 2.5 hours.

Total walking miles: 8 (not exaggerating). Total time gone: 13.5 hours. If we don't come home skinny, there is something seriously wrong.

Okay, now onto the part you really want to read about... Micah. The day went so great. He came running down the ramp from his room and ran into Barry's arms. We got a really good video of it, but for some reason it's not loading right now (it's been 2 hrs since I tried). I will get the blog posted and try again later. We took so many pictures so for the sake of time, I posted this album on Snapfish: http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=7422420013/a=99581526_99581526/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Bottom line: Micah was happy, enjoyed his toys, played well with Annie, ran, ran, and ran some more... all he wanted to do was go around all the paths, then he would run for the front gate and shake it. I picked him up and said, "Soon enough little guy... you'll get to see and smell all those cars and people and dogs, soon enough." He loves being held and snuggled, and laughs so hard when you tickle him. He loves kisses from Mama, but doesn't like Daddy's stubbles... he moves away from him when he tries to kiss him, but he'll put his forehead to him and bond with good eye contact and laughs that way.

He LOVED the little blue mouse we found at the market here for around $8.50. It sings something in Russian. So he would dance with it, and make it dance, and OH HOW FUNNY he was with it. When it would stop, he would run toward me, throw it at me, and I'd tell him to say "more". He would open his arms as wide as he could and say, "MORE!" (in English).

He also loved the blocks. I want to say I don't think he's ever played with blocks because he was overly excited, kicking them around and throwing them everywhere. Annie had a few near-hits. After some time, we got him to calm down and play "easy" with them. He would put them in the bag and dump them out, over and over and over. He has really good hand-eye coordination and loved putting toys away. He'd put one in and say "Da" (yes in Russian). So I'd say "da" and "yes" and "dobre din" (very good), and "good boy" each time he put one in nicely. We brought out the blocks three times over the day and by the end he did really good with them.

I was very impressed with his running and walking skills. He was able to step over curbs and know when to be more careful when the steps were bigger. He and Annie got along great. He's definitely going to need 3T clothes (which we have none of). I'll have to try to exchange some of the clothes that we bought or were given as gifts, but I took off all the tags and washed them before we came, so I might just donate the ones we brought to the orphanage and start over when we get home. There's a great kids clothing store not too far from us that has Target prices, just to get him home.

We sang "happy birthday" to him (two days late). He loves to be sung to. I sang "itsy bitsy spider" too, and then he was off to do some more running. He's very active. I have to say that I know he's going to wear me out, but I'm so excited he's that active. We came here not knowing anything about him other than the fact that he had DS. But I knew he had a light shining in him, and he is letting it BURN! We're going to have so much fun with him when he gets home. It was so hard to take him back to the nanny... he started crying (1st time all day) when she took him and made him go down the hallway. We can't wait to go back and play some more, but it would be nice to play inside too. It was probably 70-75 degrees. He was dressed in three layers, a jacket, and a hat when they gave him to us... we quickly took of the jacket, but if we take off the hat they get mad at us. The director even told us to put a jacket on Annie (she was in short sleeves). How are you going to argue with a man speaking in Russian? So we put it on her, but she took it off, lol. Today she will wear long sleeves to avoid the jacket lecture.

(I just realized I didn't post anything about his medical condition that we learned on Friday -- healthy! No heart condition! DS and mental delay, flat feet, cross eye, and that's it!!! The only hospital stay he's had was in 2008 for bronchitis.)

We are grateful to be here. It's so hard to be away from our other children, but we know we were called by God to save this little angel. We are grateful we have the right son now after a week of straightening out logistics. We are grateful for our facilitation team here for making things happen so quickly for us (some people are waiting up to a month for a 2nd appointment). And we are grateful for the sweet young lady at SDA who felt compelled to get our referral to us early on Friday so we could spend the weekend with Micah instead of having to wait until Monday. There was a hiccup, but we caught it when it was small, and now we are moving along again.

Next step in adoption process: receiving a court date (hopefully we'll know in the next week when it will be).

Other upcoming news: The Goldens arrive today! We can't wait to meet and spend time with our new friends adopting Jackson and Josiah at Micah's orphanage!!!

2nd SDA Appt

Today was our 2nd SDA appt. It was very quick, quicker than the last one. I'm emotionally drained right now and won't go into too much detail until the adoption is final, but Micah's health is good, and we will see him again soon. Unfortunately, soon may not be until Monday and that is the part I'm wiped out about. I just want to crawl in a cave and not come out until then. Please pray for strength for both of us. This is not the news we wanted to hear today, but we are really trying to stay positive. Soon this little boy will be ours for eternity, so a few more days isn't really a big deal in the scheme of life. We'll know for sure tomorrow, but not expecting the earth to move for us just to be able to visit for two extra days. We are hoping to get some paperwork done though... just pray. We are really emotionally drained (both of us).

On the bright side, we are so blessed to have our extra week of lodging taken care of in just 10 short hours thanks to all of you and those who have re-posted our need. Thank you so much! May the Lord bless each and every one of you and keep you all safe. All our love, Shelly

I don't want to do this.

UPDATE!!***I'm in tears. I posted a need this morning and we've already received $570 in donations! This is beyond what we thought we might need for just one extra week of lodging. Thank you so much everyone!***

I really don't. If you know me well, you know I hate asking for help. I've had to do it way too much over the past 6 months and I really thought we were done asking. However, the little mishap of the switching of information and pictures has caused us to be in country for an extra 7 days. Not only is it hard on us emotionally to have to wait longer to visit Micah, but we're missing our other kids that much more too. And the part I dread mentioning... it's costing us more money. Rent here is $350 per week. It will go down to $175/week when the Golden's get here on Sunday. Potentially in the end we may not be here that much longer, IF our court date is soon. But we have no way to know right now.

So the last of the begging from the pit of my stomach, could you help us raise just a little more to cover at least our lodging for this extra week we may be here? If it helps, Micah's "real" birthday is today (it's Thursday, May 26 right now here in his country). On what we thought was his birthday on January 24, I asked everyone to donate $2 for his 2nd birthday and we raised almost $100! So maybe if everyone donated $3 for Micah's 3rd birthday, we could have the same outcome? It would really help us so much. And I'm sorry to ask this. I really am. It pains me to type this. And with any "extra" funds we get, it will go to pay off the adoption loan we have to Barry's mom. It's not really extra, it will just lessen our debt in the end. With the most humble of hearts, I truly thank you all. Your support in this strange and difficult time is so appreciated.

Love and prayers!

http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorray

Updates

We found out today that our new SDA appointment will be on Thursday at 3pm... please pray it goes well, but more importantly pray that we can get our referral the same day or early the next morning in order to start the adoption paperwork before the weekend. By getting it started, we will also be able to start visiting Micah every day (even the weekends!) We need this badly so we don't feel like we just wasted an entire 7 days away from our girls... we are homesick today and having to wait three more days is hard on us.

We also moved into our new apartment. It's about 15 minutes outside of the center of the city and we'll be traveling by Metro to get everywhere now. The reason we moved is because our bed was broken in the other place and it took this long to get a new place that was big enough for us and the Goldens when they arrive on Sunday. This new apartment is so large and beautiful, it's perfect! There is a grocery store right across the street that has everything (even diapers and toys) - and it's SUPER cheap compared to the last place we shopped.

The playground right outside our apartment; you can see it from our living room window.








The only downside is nobody likes it here when we ask if they speak any English. This is the part of town where people live, not tour, so we are cramping their style I guess, lol. I got scoffs, talking back in their language with laughs, rolling of the eyes, and just plain rudeness today. I can say hi, thank you, and goodbye in their language, and we really are trying, but we can not carry on a conversation without some English. It's been typical that we can point at what we want, and they'll put the prices on a calculator and show us... so when I asked for the calculator today, the woman was frustrated. Another woman literally tossed our yogurt at me. I was flabbergasted. Oh well... they'll get to know us around here, so they'll have to get used to us, or vice versa.

It puts a new meaning on accepting others who don't speak our language at home. I did not come to this country expecting people to know English or for them to embrace the fact that I did. But there is a language barrier nonetheless and up to now everyone has done their best to communicate without anger or disgust. I see in America how many people will get very angry if visitors to our country do not speak English. I've heard "go back to your own country if you can't speak our language." English is an international language, but it is not the "national language" of America. America is a melting pot and people speak many different languages. There are people here in Micah's country visiting from Germany and France that we've run into on the streets, and they speak English because it's a universal language. They laughed because not very many natives here speak English, even though they teach it in the schools. But none of us expect them to speak our languages of choice or knowledge. Now I'm on the other end of the spectrum and people are expecting me to speak their language. I don't think I've ever done that to others in my adult life. I really wish others wouldn't as well. This would be my only complaint about anything really so far... and it's only in this new area. Perhaps not visitor-friendly, but one woman did ask us if she could help, and that was very comforting... something I will take with me when I go home and hear someone struggling to communicate in English.

Talk to you in a few days!

It would only happen to us!

Today was the big day… the day we were finally going to meet Micah! I was a ball of nerves this morning awaiting our cab ride. At breakfast we prayed that everything would go well today. We had to stop at the social worker’s office to get our referral signed and approved; then we were finally on our way to the orphanage with our facilitator, Yulia.

When we pulled up I was instantly amazed and how great everything looked. I knew the buildings had been remodeled in 2005, but everything looked brand new. We drove around and parked, walked into the waiting area and Yulia asked us to sit down. The director came out and they asked us to go outside because Micah was outside right now. We were a little surprised because usually they sit with you first and go over all the information, then they bring the child into the director’s office. But today, Micah had a cardiologist appointment at 12:30, so they wanted to make sure we saw him before he left… so away we went. The children in the groupa were playing in one of their little play hut areas, (we saw Johanna White first) and the nannies brought Micah to us right away, told us a bunch of stuff about him and I just started bawling… I was holding him and kissing and hugging him, then gave him to Barry, and once we were told he likes music, he busted out the iPad (that I won just a few weeks ago in a $20 raffle "thanks Mom to Mom!") and started playing music. We got him to clap and laugh and he was having a great time.

Looking back, we both noticed that Micah didn't look the same in person as his pictures, but we were so excited we didn't question anything and thought maybe his pictures were just "off".

It was then I decided to get off the grass and go take some pictures of the other children for some of our friends who are coming to get their children very soon (Jackson Golden and Johanna White). In the back of the play hut behind all the kids, I saw a little boy who looked identical to the picture we’ve been holding for 6 months. It was Micah! We were given the wrong child! We were in disbelief and crying and not sure what to do. Yulia said this has never happened before and was VERY confused. She said, “but this is the child you asked for” and repeated his personal information. We said, “Yes, that’s his information, but he (pointing to our Micah) is the boy we’ve come for… the one we’ve prayed over for 6 months!” She didn’t understand, so we showed her his picture and her jaw dropped. "How could this happen?!" She ran to the director’s office and came back with information.

Our Micah's birthday is May 26, 2008 not January 24, 2009 (his 3rd birthday is in three days!) WHAT?!!!!

Our heads started spinning. What do we do? The referral we have is with the right information, but with the wrong picture. We were loving and holding "Misha", but we couldn’t leave the boy in the picture behind; he’s our son! I felt bad putting Misha down, but I had to see our Micah. The nannies were very confused… it was sheer pandemonium. I don’t remember much, but when Micah got a good look at us, he got the biggest smile, ran to me with his hands up, and I just scooped him right up. I’m pretty sure that’s against orphanage rules, but oh well. Nobody stopped us. Nobody shooed us away. In fact, they let us go into the hut and play and hold all the kids. They let us take pictures. They kept commenting on Annie (they called her Anya) as she played with Johanna White and the other littles in the hut.

Our very first moment together. He knew who I was!

Pretty Johanna and another boy wondering what's going on.

Me holding Jackson Golden while Micah honks my nose.

Trying to listen and figure out what's going on.

First hug with his "Papa"... he was meant to be our son!

After a very few short minutes (much shorter than we had with Misha), Yulia asked us to go to the director’s office to figure out what to do. I cannot describe the feeling we both had leaving Misha behind. It was heart-wrenching to say no to a child. But Yulia consoled us by saying that he’s younger and has more time to find a family. "Maybe God brought you here to help save him too, just in another way."

Misha is SO cute and sweet. He turned two on January 24, 2009. He’s had heart surgery, cannot walk without help, and has not been able to talk so far. He does communicate, just is mentally delayed because of the Down syndrome. He has a chest protrusion because of the lack of muscle tone in his body (common in kids with DS). He does show recognition and love, we got him smiling and laughing, clapping and dancing to the music. He let us hold, hug, and kiss him. He clung onto our thumbs with a force so strong you had to pry his fingers off to let go… he wanted to walk! He desperately needs a mama and daddy. Oh how I cry thinking of that little boy. Unfortunately, we asked to be approved for only one child, or we’d bring him home with us too. But, we cannot deny that Micah is our son; the son we’ve come thousands of miles for and there is no way we’re leaving him here.

What we later came to find out is that a family who visited the orphanage took a picture of Micah and told Reece's Rainbow it was an updated picture of the boy they had listed as "Micah", which was actually Misha's file and information. 

So back in the director’s office, a lot of talk was going on in Russian… a lot of confusion on what to do next. The director said he can’t give us information on Micah without an official referral. Yulia said we had to have another SDA appointment for another referral. What does that mean? Days, weeks? We don’t have extra time on Barry’s vacation schedule, so he may have to go home and wait between our next SDA appointment and court now; we just don’t know.

Luckily, we very quickly raised the money for that if it needs to happen. We were baffled, sad, and happy, and found a reason to laugh. This could and would only happen to us… craziness added to our already crazy lives. We praised God with Yulia that we were outside today, that Misha had a heart appointment or we wouldn’t have seen Micah at all. On an average day, Misha would’ve been brought into the director’s office, we would’ve signed forms for his adoption and nobody would’ve been the wiser about Micah. Unless by some miracle chance we saw him outside at a later date and questioned it then… then we would’ve had to start all over after spending a lot of days or possibly weeks here for another boy (one who deserves a family, but not the one we were called to save at this time.)

Finding out Micah is turning three-years-old in three days means he is closer to being transferred to a mental institution. If it wasn’t for us being here and pointing him out, and the mix-up with his photo with the other boy’s information, that would have been his destination for sure, because nobody would have known about him (THANK YOU C for taking his picture last summer!) Who knows how the mix-up occurred, but it doesn’t really matter because all of this is a GOD thing. It was meant to happen. Misha is younger and has more time to find his forever family. We will be advocating for him now. We will be his warriors!

As far as Micah goes… somehow his information was never put in the database at Reece’s Rainbow or the facilitation team’s database here. Somehow he got overlooked at one point (perhaps he was sick or in the hospital or not there yet, who knows!) But what I do know is that God is a loving God and one who knows ALL of His children by name. And He keeps watch over all of His flock. God designed Micah to be our son, and us to be his parents. We’ve known that since day one. It took some sort of mix-up for us to find each other on that early November day. And I will be forever grateful for it.

Funny that the baby picture we have of Micah is actually of Misha, and that we celebrated his birthday on January 24th (which is actually Misha's birthday). With God’s loving kindness, we will be able to celebrate Micah’s 3rd birthday with him in three days. (His birthday is two days after Barry’s! Happy birthday honey!!!) With that said, we have the wrong size clothes, he is much bigger than we expected since he’s 7 months older… time to go shopping!

Let me tell you, Micah is meant to be in our family. He’s a spitfire and will fit right in at our place. After he ran into my arms, he took my glasses off. I was able to grab them and put them back on. Then he grabbed them again and threw them. Then he honked my nose. He has tons of energy, is very communicative and looks very healthy. Any mental delays he has “look” mild, which is what we expected by looking at his picture. He is very happy and smiles a lot, and that LAUGH is contagious.

We will have to move into a one-story house for sure when we buy next year because our stairs will be very tempting for him, lol. We will also have to be very consistent with expectations because that boy is ALL boy. I am beyond excited and can’t wait to bring him home. We don’t know the timeline from here until tomorrow. Yulia was able to run around today to get the papers where they needed to go and request a new appointment. She is hoping we can get in tomorrow. If so, we’ll have his referral Wednesday, and get to officially meet him on Thursday (his birthday!) Then we will find out his personal and medical history as well.

A day in the life of the Ray family! In a foreign country. I hope you are all laughing and praising God like we are. It’s a small setback in the big scheme of things, and it will all work out. Please pray for sweet little Misha that we can find him a forever family too… http://reecesrainbow.org/aaron512

Thank you all for your love and prayers. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: WE FEEL THEM! And so does Micah or he wouldn’t have seen his mama and daddy today. We'll be able to go back in 2-3 days (hopefully on Micah's birthday!)

Here is Misha with one of the caregivers, then the rest with Barry and Annie:






UPDATE January 3, 2014: We are the proud "aunt and uncle" of Mikhaylo "Misha" Aaron Chellson. David and Melissa Chellson quickly committed to him after reading our story in 2011 and brought him home in 2012. They have become some of our dearest friends. Luckily, they live in California too, so we are able to see them on occasion. They are returning to Ukraine to adopt a baby girl and we are helping them raise her ransom. Watching the Lord's hand in all of this is really amazing. We are all very blessed!

A day in the big city

I had imagined it, but never thought I'd be a world traveler. And I definitely never thought I'd come to this country of all I could choose from. But let me tell you, this place is great! We are having such a good time exploring. I'm so grateful Micah has brought us here.

Yesterday, we picked up the official SDA referral and will be traveling to his orphange on Monday to meet him for the first time. Until then, we had fun wandering around the city for five hours today. It's very easy to walk everywhere and find your way around. And it was great exercise!


Annie wanted to say hi to her sisters and Fischer! She was trying to kiss the camera.

Us with A --- feels so weird to only have one of our children with us.

Shovchenko Park

Looks like a mini Central Park.

The University.

A statue in the park--- don't know who he is (the statue, not Barry).





Dads pushing their kids on the swings... where are the moms?! :)

Horses to ride around the park.

And little carts for the kids.

It was between 70-75 degrees today and this little one was bundled up for a Fall day with hat and all.

St. Volodymirska Cathedral

This is a beautiful cathedral... I just love the blues and golds.

Inside it was like a market... there were stands thoughout the church with things for sale. Felt kind of weird to be shopping in a church... reminded me of the story of Jesus turning tables over in the temple courts. But still it was beautiful inside as all cathedrals are. And there was still a spirit of reverence as women had their heads covered and people did their rituals inside.

Botanical Gardens

The entrance pillars and walls were scraped up and had graffitti all over them... not very welcoming, but once inside it was gorgeous!

This sign says Botanical Gardens... at least I'm assuming so :)

The place was filled pathways that wound down and uphill... very stroller-friendly!

A just loves chasing the birds! She got really close to his flock without scaring them off because they were eating. I had to get her away from them before they started trying to eat at HER.

She wanted to pick this dandelion and was so meticulous about making sure she didn't squish it. She let me put it behind her ear for this pose (my FAVORITE picture all day!) After I photoshop the plastic bag and curb out, I will print it for my wall at home.

A group of young women were happy to take this picture for us :)

The flowers were absolutely beautiful.

The Golden Gate

This was one of the main entrances to the city back in the day when it was surrounded by walls. The entrances were called golden gates, and I think there were four of them. This is a reconstruction because the original didn't survive the war. However, some of the wall is still there inside this building that we toured for only $1.25 each!

Random pictures:

A schoolhouse. I love their sign :)

Every weekend, the center of the city closes off the main road for celebrations and festivals. Today was European Day and these are some of the costumes and happenings.

The Opera House

Tickets are so cheap here, and there's a ballet playing on our annivesary June 4th, so if we can find a babysitter, we may try to go :)

We found a bride in the Botanical Gardens and got some pictures of her gorgeous, fluffy dress.

The sweet and very friendly missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We had dinner with these guys last night. All four of the ones we met today are from Utah - go figure.

Cool signs around town of things we recognize, know, and love (well at least me for Sting)!

The building with two "towers" sits above the GINORMOUS underground mall. It's so cool down there; we'll be going again and taking pictures.

Costumes... the first one is almost identical to the one we bought for Micah. We have no clue what the 2nd one is, but he's all over the place!