Meeting Bartek (B.J.)

We had such a busy and emotional day yesterday! We waited two years to meet our son and it is so hard to explain how we felt when they brought him out. We had to keep in mind that he has been in an orphanage and that we cannot expect him to look 100%. With that being said, we completely fell in love with him! He did look quite a bit different than his picture, but that could be because his picture was 4 months ago. We did find out that he hadn't gained any weight, still only 17 pounds, but has grown taller. His limbs are pretty long, but he is only in a 12 month size clothing and those are even a little large! He is still being fed a bottle and only has a few cans of soup/baby food a day. We think that once his diet changes, he's going to grow like a weed!

We were briefed by the orphanage director, doctor, and pshychologist and were very impressed with all the information they had for us. We even learned all about his biological parents, including names! Wow! His mom was 5'9'' and his dad was 6'4" We think that B.J. will grow to be very tall once he starts growing! The orphanage is very clean and has about 30 babies under two years old. Most of the babies are under 6 months and quite a few are newborns! It is very clean, but very understaffed. When we play with B.J. there are about 6 other babies in there with us! It breaks our heart that everytime we pick him up the others just cry and reach for you! I really would love to take two home! Bless their hearts! I spent some time crying yesterday for those sweet beautiful children! I asked how long they would be there before they were adopted out and was told that they would not be because the mom was still trying to get them back. In other words, the children stay in the orphanage until their mommies get their lives back together. It is so sad, but at least the child is safe!

We have had a great time with B.J. and he seems to be taking to us well. He was a bit shy at first not wanting much to do with us, but that didn't last long. He loves to hug and be held and loves to laugh and giggle. He has a very healthy curiosity and climbs all over us! He also loves to play, with everything! I will be posting video once we have custody (Friday) and you will see what I mean! He just started crawling correctly about a week ago and we have been working on his walking the last two days because he appeared so stable on his feet. Today he stood up in the middle of the room and took 3 steps towards me before he fell into my arms. We were so proud of him and are sure he'll be walking in a week! We did have a few medical concerncs, but will discuss those with the doctor on Friday. Either way, he is our son and we will do what needs to be done! Thanks for your prayers and we will post more later! God Bless You!

We've Arrived!

We made it, but not without a whole lot of tiredness! There's nothing like going 24 hours without sleep! We were so wound up, that we didn't sleep a wink on the plane! We feel so blessed, that everything went smooth! Praise God! Thank you for your prayers! As soon as we arrived at the exit of the Warsaw airport, we met our facilitator! She took us right to our hotel (very nice resort, will post pictures later) so that we could get unpacked and get some rest. Tomorrow she will take us to meet our son (Yeah!) where we will be briefed by the orphanage director, doctors, social workers, etc. about Bartek (BJ). Then they will bring him out to us! We will then go and see him everyday until Friday. Finally, we will be able to take him to our apartment in Warsaw! Please keep us in your prayers! Tomorrow is a big day!

The Date Has Arrived!

Wow! We can hardly believe it, but we are taking off for Poland tomorrow! The emotions are so hard to explain! I would describe us as a bundle of nerves. Excited, nervous, anxious, thrilled, scared, happy, etc. At any moment, we slide from one emotion to the next in a very unpredictable fashion! I suppose it's due to the fact that we have never experienced anything like this. That makes sense right?! We waited two years for this and now that it's here, it's hard to know how to feel. I'm sure it will all even out once we get there and are given our little boy! Some sleep might help too! We have spent the last few weeks packing and unpacking and trying to figure out what to bring and what we could do without. When you think about it, we pratically have to bring an entire nursery! We were told the apartment has nothing for a baby so bring it or buy it there. Because we have it, we are trying to bring it. However, making everything fit in the weight and size limit allowed has proved to be difficult. Our carry-ons have been especially difficult. Our weight is always over by a few ounces. I'm about to start strapping things to my body just to get on the plan! Oh well, we'll let you know how it goes!

We drove to Chicago tonight (are staying with relatives), so that we would be closer to O'Hare airport for our 2:30 flight. Our trip here was quite interesting in that we drove alongside a severe storm all the way. What a trip! The lightening was amazing! I would have enjoyed it had I not be terrified of being struck! In all, God brought us through safely!

We are due to land in Poland at 9:35 Sunday morning (Warsaw Time), which would be about 2:30 in the morning here. So hopefully Sunday, we'll be able to post about our trip! We are hoping our apartment has Internet in our unit. Then on Monday, we are due to go the orphanage to pick him up! Just like that! All this time and they just hand him over! We are so excited, but know that the little guy might not be to thrilled to go with a couple he's never seen before! We'll leave it up to God and go along with the ride.

On another note, we had two beautiful showers were we received many, many items for B.J. One was at our church and one was hosted by my school with teachers/staff that I work with. To say we were overwhelmed by the generosity would be an understatement! We feel and are truly blessed!

This is our last USA post! We hope to write again as soon as we arrive on Polish soil! So please stay tuned and please continue to keep us in your prayers!

The Best News Ever!

We can hardly believe it, but WE HAVE TRAVEL DATES! YEA! We are very overjoyed, but I can say without a doubt, that this has been the most stressful week of my life! I'll start from the beginning because even though it's only been two days since the call, I think I have acquired many gray hairs and a heart disorder!!!!

Monday, July 6-We were driving home from a vacation in PA with my parents, when we received "The Call" from our agency. She told me that she had heard from our facilitator that our dates had been made and she would know more concretely on Wednesday, July 8. She then said to me "They want you in Warsaw on Sunday, July 12 so you will have to leave on Saturday." After picking myself off the floor of the car I then responded "This Sunday? Are you for real?!" After her "Yes!" response, I got off the phone and proceeded to tell the rest of the family that we had 4 days to pack for a 7 week trip. Needless to say, we all about went into panic attacks! I never imagined we would only have 4 days to pull everything together!

After the call, we all went into overdrive trying to think of everything that had to be done in "4 DAYS!" One thing we thought of was our dreaded finger print renewal. After discussing this with our agency, I realized that we had really made a mistake rescheduling our fingerprints (due to being out of town) because our prints were due to expire Wednesday, July 8! Our agency said to not let them expire as it could land us in a world of trouble and possibly cause us to lose BJ!

Tuesday, July 7-We flew to the post office to see if our renewal fingerprint appointment was in the pile of mail. Sure enough it was, but the appointment date was July 22. To late! I called the number and all she could say was "Drive to your CIS office with your letters and they might try to fit you in!" So we got in the car and drove 3 hours hoping they would accept us. Once there, I told them that we really needed their help as we were due to expire and leave the country on Saturday. After about 20 minutes and a bunch of questions later they informed us that they needed "proof (an itinerary)" we were leaving the country before they could do it. So I had to contact my dad to access my email to get a phone number of the travel agent I had contacted the night before. Luckily he had already reserved a flight for us. After giving this information to the CIS worker, we sat and waited for another 10 minutes. He then comes out and says that it wasn't good enough, we needed to actually pay for the tickets. So, we go back outside, call the "WONDERFUL" travel agent and booked our flights. We then go back into CIS, tell him that our travel agent will fax him our flights and within 3 minutes they finished our fingerprints and out the door we go. All this excitement took about 2 hours!

Wednesday, July 8-We received a call early from our agency telling us that our travel dates had changed. We are now leaving on July 25 and we are much relieved! Our fabulous travel agent changed our dates right away! I'm so glad that is one area we don't have to worry about. He has really taken care of us. If you need a good travel agency for your adoption or mission work, I highly recommend Golden Rule Travel. They are Christian based, very accommodating, and can get some very good prices.

This is it for now! I will try to update you later on more info about our travel! Thank you for your prayers! God has heard them and has done so much for us in the past 48 hours. God Bless you all!

Love,
Melanie