Monday, February 22, 2010
1st Birthday Bash!
Note: Be sure to mute the player on the right side of the screen so you can hear the video. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
1st Birthday Invites
We are having a very small birthday party with just the immediate family on Saturday, and I just had to share the adorable invitation that I purchased from E-bay! I was so pleased with the seller as she was great to work with. I definitely recommend her!
If you are having a hard time seeing the invite, double click on it and it should open bigger in another window.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Maura's 1st Church Service
Yesterday, we took Maura to church for the first time! We have to be very careful about getting her out around a lot of people but at this time, she is feeling good and has had 2 synagis shots to protect her from RSV and all her flu shots, so we thought it was time. How wonderful it was to be together as a family of 4 and heading to worship! Of course, people were so excited to see her - afterall, they've been praying so hard for her to get home and be healthy - and people did great with not getting in her face and those with colds admired from afar. She made it through the first song and then started babbling, so Jason stepped-out with her and headed to an area with monitors so he could still participate in the service. She was asleep when I caught-up with them between service and Sunday School, so we took her in class with us until she woke-up and then I stepped-out with her. It was just an amazing day!
We love Northside Baptist and have really missed worshipping together as a family. We've also had to miss quite a few Wednesday night services because Jason is working longer hours and I can't bring Ashton due to not being able to have Maura around a lot of people, so it's so wonderful knowing that our lives are slowly getting back on track and into our routine per se. One thing about Northside that is so appealing to our family is the focus on family. There are activities for all ages but even more importantly, there is great emphasis on raising children in a household with strong Christian values and morals. It is so important to surround ourselves with fellow believers who love God and lives reflect their dedication to Him....Northside believers do just that and we are so thankful for them!
It blesses our hearts when Ashton comes home talking about his lessons and then even more so, as he continues to talk about them throughout the week. Ashton is only 5 but his love for God is already so strong and he vocalizes it frequently, and we are so thankful for this! Next week, Maura is being dedicated, so we can't wait for that! We certainly aren't perfect parents but we are trying to raise them to love and honor God in all their endeavors.
"Train up a child in the way he shoud go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Gotcha Day Video!
Don't forget to mute the music player on the right side of the screen! You won't be able to hear the video if you don't. Thanks for viewing!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Answering Your Questions
I've been getting several e-mails a week about America World, Maura's health, adopting again, Ethiopia, etc. Well, I've been working on this post for a couple of weeks and since I've got extra time today and the dial-up is actually working well, I can hopefully answer some of your questions.
America World - Our adoption agency
If you have followed our journey for any length of time, you will know that our journey started in Ukraine but we had a horrible experience with the Ukrainian government and our in-country facilitator who worked with AWAA; our first daughter from Ethiopia died 4 days after our adoption was approved; the US Embassy in ET wouldn't acknowledge receipt of our updated fingerprints and we almost didn't get to travel; and once we got home, we found out our daughter had congestive heart failure. Your questions have had one basic theme - was our adoption agency at fault for any of this? Next, would we use them again or recommend them?
Ukraine - I would not recommend this program unless you are specifically wanting a child over the age of 6 with rather substantial special needs. I would recommend adopting a known child and not traveling blind. By this, I mean adopt a child that you have had an opportunity to view the profile before travel instead of submitting a dossier and then traveling to have an appointment to be shown available children. I have absolutely no trust in Ukraine's adoption department and the facilitator that we used through America World turned-out to be quite a shady character.
I will be honest in that we were less than impressed with the AWAA program for Ukraine - at least how it was operated in 2007 and early 2008 BUT I don't think that our problem was necessarily with AWAA but instead it was in their choice of facilitators. Now, I will also add that our Ukrainian family coordinator is no longer employed with AWAA, so I don't know anything about her replacement. My impression was that adoption agencies actually have very little influence or control over Ukrainian adoptions. The agencies basically serve as a go-between for the families and the in-county facilitator who actually walks you through the majority of the actual in-country process. It is imperative that you have a highly connected and favorable in-country facilitator. A lot of people who adopt from Ukraine do not go through an agency but contact a facilitator directly, however it worked-out better for us to have our agency because they helped us get back $$$$ that was rightfully ours. After months of bickering with our facilitator and a lot of corresponding with AWAA, they went to bat for us and we were satisfied enough that we stayed with the agency and switched programs to Ethiopia. Also, AWAA worked with us to make sure we received credit for funds previously submitted to help offset some of the costs of the Ethiopian program.
Ethiopian Program
This program is wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone. Now, I can say that knowing that there were a lot of "bumps" in the road for us even with this program.
Yahoo Chat Group: One of the biggest advantages to this program is the very active private Yahoo chat group that AWAA maintains. I have a lot of people whom I consider very dear friends because of this group. They are an amazing source of strength as we can all relate because we are going down the same path. You will find that a lot of the world just doesn't understand adoption. People will try but unless they have firsthand experience, oftentimes they just don't understand the pressures, stresses, anxiety, costs, joy, etc. This Yahoo group is like my extended family and God has used them to minister to me so many times! Jason didn't quite understand the therapeutic nature of this group but once we were in-country and he saw how easily our families blended because it was like going to a family reunion, he finally understood. If you adopt through AWAA, join this group!
Medical Conditions of Children: Our first daughter died after getting diarrhea, pneumonia, and ultimately sepsis. Could AWAA have done anything differently to keep her alive? I have pondered this question over and over again until the day I got to ET and visited her grave and the hospital where she received care. Upon arriving in ET, I discovered from independent sources that the hospital that AWAA takes the sick children to is the best pediatric hospital in Addis Ababa. It is private and very expensive - AWAA paid every bill relating to Ashure's care. I don't know if Ashure had any underlying medical condition that caused her health to quickly deteriorate, but I do know that Ashure was loved and received the best possible care a third world country can offer.
As for Rohama's medical condition, the congestive heart failure went undetected. Upon her admittance into Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, we contacted AWAA and requested a copy of her entire medical file from ET. We received the file within the hour. Testing had been done on Rohama that should have shown her heart condition but it did not. There was no evidence that any test results had been tampered with. Physicians at Vandy have stated that the TH physician and/or nurse should have been aware of her rapid heartbeat but that it is unlikely that they would have diagnosed her with congestive heart failure. Also, it is very, very expensive to test for genetic conditions, so absent a reason to test, the Vandy physicians stated that AWAA should not be expected to do so. I have asked several Vandy physicians what AWAA could have done differently and all have stated that they did what they could do in a situation like ours - they loved our baby and provided for her needs and absent reason to conduct further testing, they did everything they could have done.
Do we fault AWAA for referring a special needs child to us? Absolutely not. We have the specific child that God had planned for us and it was God who went about the placement in an unconventional manner. We are very happy with Maura Rohama and are trusting that God will continue to bless our family and provide for all our needs. He has entrusted her into our care and we gladly welcome her!
Condition of the Transitional Home: I did not tour the entire TH. We spent most of our time in the baby room and outside of the toddler playroom. From what we saw, the facility was clean and the staff were very attentive to the children - oftentimes hovering over the new parents to make sure we did things correctly. The nannies loved on our baby and were even hanging out the window to tell her goodbye on the day that we left. Maura was sick when we picked her up, so the staff made sure we had more than enough of the specialized formula, electrolyte solution, and suppositories. We are very happy with the care that Maura Rohama received at the TH.
The physicians at Vanderbilt's International Adoption Clinic have been very surprised at Maura Rohama's quick development. They were also pleased with the learning toys and activity sets that we saw at the TH as many times internationally adopted children do not have access to these things - per the docs anyway.
Adopting Again
We are frequently asked whether or not we will adopt again. The answer is, we'll see. We would love to adopt again and would start the paperwork tomorrow if we could but there are a lot of factors to consider. For one reason, while we do still have an extra bedroom and plenty of seats in our vehicles, the size of our bank account matters. Adoption is expensive, and we now have a child who visits at least one doctor every week and is on a lot of medicine. Right now, I'm not working so that's a change too. We want to make sure that we can provide a comfortable life for the children who are currently thriving in our home. So, we'll wait how God directs us - He always provides, we are confident in that. We are anxiously awaiting the answer to this question just as much as you are!
Oh, and would we consider America World again - ABSOLUTELY!
Waited a looooooooong time for this!
I have waited and waited and waited to do this - paint my little girl's toenails! I have now painted Maura's toenails twice and she loves it as much as I do. I bought the quick drying polish so she wouldn't have to be still for so long, and it works great. She wiggles a little but overall she does fantastic. She loves it when I blow on her toes. After it dries, she pulls her little feet up to her face to examine them - too cute. She flexes her toes in the air as if she's saying, "Ah, such beautiful toes!" What fun it is to be a mommy with a little girl to dress-up like a doll. Ashton always says, "You're not doing that to me!"
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
