Adoption Here We Come!

So Saturday, May 28th we left Atlanta and we arrived Sunday morning in eastern Europe. Unfortunately we still can't post publicly yet about where our adoption is happening. All our bags arrived as well and that’s almost more of a miracle. We got to the gate about 12:30ish or about 6:30am EST. After we got to our hotel, we rested for a bit and then went for a walk to find someplace to eat. We had already told Austin that he would have to be up for trying some new foods over the next month or 2. But lucky for him we came across a McDonald’s and he got himself a Happy Meal while we found this neat little Hummus Bar. It was pretty good. We then just hung out in our hotel room and ended up crashing around 5:30pm.

Yesterday was a travel day. After our driver picked us up from the hotel at check out we were taken to a strip mall where we walked around the shops, purchased some tennis shoes, movies, drinks, and of course chocolates! At 3 it was time to pick up one of the gentlemen, George, who is helping us during our stay, from the airport. Then we started the 3 hr drive to the city where the little boy we are adopting is. During the drive a lot of the scenery reminded us very much of the Midwest in the U.S with the corn fields, round hay bales, etc. We arrived in on a beautiful evening, and got checked in to our new "home"/hotel for a week and then headed to find some dinner. Most shops close at 5 but restaurants were open. After dinner we walked around and explored the square that we will be staying in. We were very excited and nervous about meeting the little boy we are adopting the next day. 

Today, we woke up at 7 got ready and headed to breakfast. We were all pretty nervous not knowing how today would go. At 8:45 Adam, the other gentleman helping us, met us downstairs and we headed to meet with the Social Worker team that has been working with our new son. Everyone was very friendly and eager to answer any questions we might have and let us know they were here to support us. This was very comforting knowing we have a team here and in the US helping our family be a success.

The social worker rode with us the hour-ish drive to the foster family’s home. With each turn we felt more and more nervous and excited. We finally arrived and we had no clue how this would go. Adam said that we would only stay about 1-2 hrs to slowly adjust the little boy to us and our faces. Then we would slowly increase our time together each day to help the transition. So here we are getting out of the car, hearts beating out of our chests. The foster mom opens that gate and our new son runs out and jumps in my arms saying Momma (tears)! That smile, those happy eyes! I hand him over to Tony, Poppa, and he calls to him. He is introduced to Austin and both really don’t know what to make of each other. They hug and all is well. Then he runs off to show us around the yard and we are introduced to the foster mother.

He enjoyed the car we gave him and was fascinated by Austin's light up shoes and Fitbit. He tried them both on. :)

He is obviously still trying to figure things out, but he is doing a great job. We enjoyed playing ball, rocks, soccer, and scooters. We also had a cake and juice for a dessert and a very filling lunch all made by the foster mother. It truly was a feast. Our new little boy is a great eater and enjoying his soup with noodles, carrots, and meat. Adam asked him if he wanted us to come back tomorrow he said yes. Adam even got him to say his first English word ‘bye-bye’ as we were leaving.
Please keep in mind that while we want to post pictures, we still can't post any that will show our new son or will show where we are....yet. Thanks for understanding!

It was truly a great day and we feel it was such a gift from God to experience this journey.