Day 7- The day we met our babies!!

Boy today was a long day. Tyler and I didn't end up going to sleep until about 3:00am and woke up at 4:00am. Serge got to the apartment at about 4:45am, and we were on our way. So I am not sure if you have ever done this but when you spend an entire 3 and a half hour car ride praying for your life, it's scary. We had heard Serge drove alittle fast, but it made Italian drivers look like drivers our in the country. At one point we stopped for gas, and Tyler and I each said we loved eachother since we didn't know if we were going to make it alive. I felt sick for the first hour and poor Hunter threw up. (Again mom close your ears)...So of course we had Hunter lay down in my lap without a seatbelt so he could feel better, as we drove on the roughest roads I have ever felt at about 150 KM/ hour. But Praise God we made it! And I mean that is a miracle from God!

We made it into Kirovograd and the first stop was our lawyers office. It was beautiful, not like anything I have ever seen. Than she gave us a cup of tea and some cookies. If you ever decide to adopt from Ukraine there is something you should know. Don't get too comfortable or take your coat off, because you can be sitting there having a conversation and than all of a sudden they get up and say its time to go!! So after she looked at our paperwork we all got in the car headed for the baby house(orphanage).

When we pulled up, I was relieved to see the orphanage. It looked really good for an orphanage and that probably means they take good care of the kids. Than we had to put these little show covers on to protect the kids. After that we headed up to the orphanage directors office. She was sweet and kind and greeted us so warmly. This is another huge blessing because I know it doesn't always go like that. Of course Hunter stole the show while we were waiting. He was such a ham today which is understandable. We are trying to be understanding about this and at the same time encourage him to not be so obnoxious. Finally Kate our translator came and we were off to another room.

When we walk in the big room that must be a multi-purpose room for the kids, there they were sitting on a couch. They picked up Emma and handed her to Tyler and than they handed Asher to me. It was love at first sight. He is bigger than I expected and I was so happy to see he can hold his head up and he looks so strong and his hair has been cut! But I will be honest here...it was difficult at the same time. When someone hands you a baby...a child you have been praying for for years, it is overwhelming. All of these thoughts went through my head like...how can I love this kid and can I care for them like they need? All day I have thought about this and I know that the reason why we adopted these 2 specific kids was because God told us to. And if He told us to, than he will help me to love them and care for them the way they need. Tyler and I switched babies and I got to hold Emma. She looks really different than in her picture. She is not as strong as Asher and to be honest again I can tell she has more mental retardation than Asher. We were given their medical reports by the orphanage doctor, and were pleased to hear Emma has had one of her eyes operated on!!! And she can see, when you put something in front of her, she sticks her hand out to grab it. She makes the most beautiful sounds....dadadadaddaa. I was so excited to hear how vocal she was. She also just got her first tooth!! and she loves eating her hand. Sometimes her eyes roll back in her head but I am not sure what this is from. I think God showed me today that Emma is extra- special and I pray He will give us the strength and compassion to care for her. Hunter was so excited to play with his brother and sister. Asher really loved Hunter and any time he would make a noise, Asher would look at Hunter. He liked to play with Hunters hair too. In the end, for the 45 minutes we got to spend with them, we are so excited and overjoyed to finally have met them.

We have praises which I am hesitant to post. I say hesitant because it seems there is always some sort of miscommunication. But today Serge said that we only needed to pay $1,500 for both children for the 10 day wait waiver, and whatever over they were going to cover. Also he said the expedited passports would only be $300 each. So we were able to pay for all of these costs, as well as our travel here, and our apartment in Kiev. Also we were happy to know that our taxi to and from the orphanage is only 100 grivna or $12 a day!! These are all huge blessings!!

Another Prayer request is that Serge can get our Italian Interpol Report. The USA sent theirs but Italy has not sent theirs yet and without that we can't get a court date. Please pray that Serge can get that today or tomorrow!! We are still hoping for a court date of Friday of this week or Monday of next week. Our plan is to leave for Italy the 24th of December, but we will not buy our plane ticket until we get our court date. If we can get home on this date than we will be heading to Baltimore on the 29th. We would love it if people could meet us at both airports!!! We will stay in West Virginia with my dad for a night or 2 and than head south to South Carolina so we can start their medical stuff stat!!!

Thank you everyone so much for all your love and prayers!! We can tell that people are praying!!