Thursday, June 30, 2011

Day 21

We are on day 21 in the Dominican Republic. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks of Co-habitation with our little guy. We will have 2 more weeks of to complete that phase of our adoption.

Alex is doing great! He is keeping us on our toes for sure. He moves faster than I can even think! For example.... We are staying a couple of nights in a resort in La Romana (super nice with A/C and hot water!!). As we are getting in our room and unloading bags, we notice that Alex is quiet. In that short period of time he has dunked the remote in the toilet. Seriously? How does he come up with that so quickly?? That is just one example of many! ;-)

The girls are doing great as well. They love the ocean and enjoying some snorkeling. This is a nice little getaway for our family. We love to be near the water and so does Alex. He plops himself down right where the waves come in and plays in the sand forever.

We miss home - but have decided that we are all good when we are together - no matter where we are. We are making the best of our time here. I will say that after this little time in a hotel room as a family of 5.... I am more thankful for the house we are staying at in SDQ....even without A/C and hot water!

This adoption has been full of ups and downs. Even while we have been in country. We now have HATW's lawyer working with the lawyer we know here. She is using her as a resource. As of right now, Madelaine is in the process of filing for our reduction. As I mentioned earlier, Alex needs surgery on his hernia. We have a consultation already set up in Charlotte for August 8th. We are praying the judge will take that into consideration and shorten our time.

I am not sure we will all be back for his consultation date. We have been informed that after the Co-habitation we will still have another 30 days in country for the "Appeal Process". We did not know this information. We found this out while we have been in country. JT may come back home after our Co-habitation is complete and I will stay here in the DR with Alex. We are not sure about the girls yet. We will keep you posted.

Please continue to pray for us. Pray that God would show favor on us and we could all be home before school starts. That is bothering me the most.

Even though this has been difficult at times - we truly look at the blessings around us. It is a beautful country, our family is together, everyone is healthy and most importantly-- we have a new addition to our family-- a busy, funny, sweet little guy named Alex.


Love to all-


Photobucket

Friday, June 24, 2011

Day 15 in the DR

We are on Day 15 in the Dominican Republic. Who's counting though?

Alex is doing great. He is a funny, sweet little guy. He says Ma-Ma, Pa-Pa and a lot of other words in Spanish that we do not understand! He gives sweet kisses and loves to hug. He loves to ride in a car or van. People do not use carseats in the DR. Crazy...I know! So he sits in the seat beside us or in our lap grinning ear to ear!

We have met up with the other HATW family. They are adopting a sweet little girl named Daniela. It has been such a blessing to us to connect with them and share our journey. We went to Juan Dolio beach yesterday with their family and had a blast! The beach was beautiful! Alex loved the pool and ocean. He fits into our family just fine!

Life in the DR has been such an adjustment for our family. We take so many things in our country for granted. Full-time power, AC, hot showers, easy transportation and garbage pick up! To name a few... :-)

Our girls are doing great. As I have said before, I am so proud of them. They have shown us what they are made of....they are strong and adaptable. Their only complaint is boredom. I can't complain because they have really caught up on some reading! :-)

We are planning more outings especially with the Tucker family. It is good for all of us to get out and about. We are typically an "on-the -go" family!

Please continue to pray for us. We are still uncertain as to how long we will be in the country. God knows the plan he has for our family. We trust Him and believe He has the best in store for us!

One thing is for sure....There is no place like home!!!!





Photobucket

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Our Big Day!


Yesterday was pretty amazing. We arrived at CONANI around 10:30. First we met with social worker to go over some more paperwork. She also gave us a few more pictures of Alex. That means so much to me- although none were of him as baby

Our meeting with the doctor was next. Before we went in the room - here comes our little man. He was dressed in the cutest little " Dominican" outfit. It was light blue linen shirt/short set. He came straight to me and I picked him up with lots of hugs and tears.

We had a great meeting with his doctor. She gave us so much information about his schedule,food he eats and all the medical info she had. We also got his updated shot record/blood work.

Alex is scheduled for hernia surgery June 30th here in the DR. A team of Italian doctors are coming to do surgeries needed for children in orphanages. We were told the cost of the surgery would be covered but the decision to have it here or not was ours to make. The doctor was very adamant about the urgency of the surgery. The hole has not closed as it usually does with most babies. It does cause him pain and there is always the possibility of the hernia rupturing.

Jt and I do NOT want to do the surgery here. We want to be home with our doctors.

We don't want to cause him more pain in waiting, but feel the decision will be best for us all.

We are talking to our lawyer about reduction in length of stay here. She said that a much needed surgery might help the judge with that decision. That would be the only good thing about our guy needing surgery. The only thing.

We finished up with all of the sweet ladies at CONANI and headed back to our temporary casa.

Alex had trouble getting to sleep last night- but once he did he slept through the night.

He's had a good day with a few tummy issues. Took a two hour nap- much needed. It is very interesting learning about our sweet boy. He definitely has ways of self soothing. He plays with the collar of his shirt and does this little sucking noise. It makes me a little sad.

Please pray for us as we figure each other out. I know this must be hard for him. Although- he is still the sweetest - most loving little stinker. ;-)




Photobucket

Friday, June 17, 2011

Day 5- Gotcha Day!


Is today! June 17, 2011.

After 2 1/2 years...this is the day God has chosen and has known since before Alex was born.

Praise to Our Father for choosing us to be his parents.

Pray for smooth transitions for us all.

Love & Blessings-
Alex's mom


Photobucket

Day 4- Prayers for Alex


We had our 4th socialization period with Alex this morning. He warmed up to us pretty quickly and then proceeded to remind us what 2 year old is all about!!

We had to tell him "no" a couple of times and then he melted down. It hurt to see him cry. I asked his nanny if he felt ok today, because he had a runny nose and cough. She said he was fine.

After he had a good cry/fit, I held him and rocked him back and forth. He settled down and started to fall asleep. I told JT that he did not look like he felt good.

Several hours later we got an email from CONANI saying he has a fever and diarrhea. The house doctor had seen him and we may not get to start our cohabitation period tomorrow. They are going to see how he feels and let us know in the morning.

Say a prayer for little guy.


Photobucket

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Day 3- Mr. Personality




Great visit with Alex today. He was quite and shy for all of 10 minutes. The sweet boy came out if his shell and laid the personality on us!!! He is so funny and seriously cracks himself up! We LOVE his laugh!!

I think the 2T clothes I brought will fit him. Not potty trained yet. He is in size 4 diapers - maybe ready for 5. He will need to have surgery on his herniated umbilical cord when we get back to the states for sure. He loves to eat his little snacks and can suck down a juice box in 2 seconds flat!!

We are going to be in for the ride of our lives...our little guy is busy, funny and just the cutest!!!

He called JT papa today. :-)

Both girls having tummy issues. They are on antibiotics. Please pray they will be 100% soon.

We are on day 6 of DR life but who is counting????



Photobucket

Day 2- Super Alex!


Hola from the DR!

Today was our second day with Alex. They arrived at 10:00 and we were all waiting for him. The psychologist wanted to see more interaction with JT today because Alex is not around a lot of men.

He came straight to me climbed in my arms and put his head in my chest. Loved it... But had to share him! We proceeded to play with balls and cars. The sweet boy turned the switch on!!! Mr. Personality came out. He is so funny and sweet. JT and Alex really connected today.

We can't wait for tomorrow!

Funny story- late yesterday afternoon Olivia called JT and I outside and told us to hurry. She said there is a cow in the road! What??
Sure enough a little boy was navigating a herd of cattle down our street 3 feet from our front door. Next time Olivia says she sees an animal, I may move a little quicker!

Please pray for Bailey- she is ok but having some tummy troubles.

Love to all-


Photobucket

Monday, June 13, 2011

Meeting Alex!



Hi everyone!
I am a friend of Angie's and I am blogging
for her while she and JT are in the DR.
Here is the email I just received from her.
Today is a great day!

What a morning! Surreal to say the least.

Alex is precious!!!!! He was very quite and shy. We got our first smile right before he had to leave. He liked to be in my arms and would lay his head on my chest. Very relaxed. The social worker, nanny and psychologist will be back tomorrow at 10 and he will get to stay for a couple of hours.

We are crazy about him. God is so good.

We will try to send pictures but are having a few technical difficulties.



<span class=