Embassy...Check!

We are completed.  Done.  Finished.  Cleared.  Ready to fly!!  Thank you God for taking care of everything.  Amazing how God worked everything out according to His plan (no problems this trip...at all!!).  He must have some big plans for this little guy.  :)  Can't wait to be a part... Thankful He chose me to be in this...:)  Thanks for the prayers.  Now we have all playtime left... Not sure what we are going to do tomorrow, but I think we are heading to Old Arbat..:)

Flying out Saturday morning!

Steph


P.S (from Brad) This has been an interesting trip for me too (actually not a trip).  I have worked from home this week and watched Alia while Steph and my mom went to get Alek.  Alia's been great (cough..cough..) most of the time.  :-)  It's been a great time for the two of us.  Thanks to all the family and friends who helped me this week.

There were so many uncertainties through this process, but we both believe that we were called to go.  I knew that He can be trusted to keep us where His Spirit leads us.

New updates from Moscow

Well, Alek has been with us now for about 6 hours. Started out a little rough (he cried quite a bit at the baby house, especially when his favorite care taker came in to say goodbye), but he quickly adjusted. Oddly enough, the first smile was while changing his diaper. :) He LOVES having his diaper changed (I know! Weird right?)! He giggles the whole time (from the time you lay him down until 

you pick him up... & then he's still happy).
He likes electronics more than his toys. He got a hold of my camera and held it up to his ear & said something that sounded like a Russian "hello". He climbs up and down and all around on furniture already.
So far, he's quite happy and easy going (I'm sure that will change on the plane though... He is quite an active little guy). He follows me around all over and cries if I walk away or if nana picks him up (although, he loves to play with nana... As long as she's not holding him). That is a really good sign ... He knows who's the mommy. :)
We went out to dinner tonight and walked one of the very busy streets. He soaked up everything! It's pretty obvious he hasn't been out much.
We skyped with Alia and Brad earlier... Alek kept trying to grab Alia's head. I can't wait until they meet!
All in all... Awesome day! Feeling very confident (even after the rocky start) that he will adjust well & fit in great. He's going to love playing with all of the kids. I think he'll probably be able to keep up & hold his own pretty well. ;)
More tomorrow... Hope you enjoyed the pics! :)
Love you all and totally feeling the prayers! Keep them coming. Thanks!

3rd trip...

Well, here we are... Back in Moscow.  This time it is Brad's mom (Anita) and I (Steph).  We flew in today and I get Alek in my arms tomorrow!  I am SO looking forward to tomorrow!  :)  Praying that my little guy feels comfortable, safe, & loved with us.  I know it will be a hard transition for him, but... It is so much better for him (even though he doesn't know it yet & won't understand it all right now.
We will be in Moscow until next Saturday because there is a lot of paperwork to be completed before he can leave Russia with us.
Keep checking... I will post pictures as soon as I can! ;)
Thanks for the prayers!
Steph

Prayers needed...

Typing with a heavy heart tonight...
Received some very disturbing news on Alek's adoption today. Everything is fine and final on Russia's part, but it seems there is a US official who doesn't want to sign off on the visa (which we HAVE to have to bring Alek to the US). He has a reason, but it seems to be personal, not political or legal and has nothing to do with us (seems he is upset at someon

e else, but taking it out on us). Anyway,we are unsure of our next steps, but know we need to pray first, before taking any action.
Please join us in prayer. Pray that God will work this out for us so that we can bring our son home soon. We know that even though it seems to be a HUGE issue' there is nothing to big for our God. Thank you all for your continued prayers.

"Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God...

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?""

Court

Court was today.  The missing papers were never even mentioned.  There were normal questions. All of our paperwork, Brad & I, our interpreter, the baby house director, a member of the ministry of education, the judge and just 2 others were present.
Court was scheduled for 12:30.  When we arrived, there was a 10:00 & 10:30 who hadn't even gone in yet.  The wait was long... We had no clue what to expect.  The chairs were about as uncomfortable as our minds. We stood there in the waiting area thinking about what kind of mood the judge might be in.  Was his tummy growling as loud as our tummies were growling?  Finally, it was our turn.  20 minutes later, we heard the word "accept" and then we were dismissed and congratulated. That was it. :) I told Brad that we must have to have paperwork issues just to remind us of how much God is in control.  It's a reminder that our lives are not our own, our children are not our own, our money is not our own, and our plans are not our own.  God's plan is always so much bigger than our own.  Sometimes we can choose to just trust, other times we are forced to trust.  Either way, He deserves our trust, He wants our trust, And at times He demands our trust.  I trusted Him... I just worried a little too. ;).  I also believe that these kinds of troubles increase our prayer lives (& yours too).  I know you were all praying and we are extremely thankful !
Right after court, we were taken to see Alek.  He walked in to the room like such a big boy!  At first he didn't want to come to us.  I don't think he remembered us at all.  We received permission to take him outside.  He didn't warm up to us quickly.  We needed to take a picture for his passport and visa.  I asked if we could wait a while because he seemed terrified.  He stayed quiet and just looked at us very seriously.  Finally, after about 20 minutes ... A smile.  Just then, they came and took him.  Time to eat.  Seriously, 3 minutes later... He's back and doing much better. He was ready to play.  We played, and he laughed.
About 5 minutes before it was time to go, 2 caretakers and 3 little girls came out to play.  Alek immediately took off after them (he's walking super well now).   He followed them right into a little gated area to play.  I quickly figured out that these were his room mates and it was playtime.  He couldn't miss it.  He smiled at us and came back to the gate occasionally to say hi or let us pick him up for a minute.  When his caretaker picked him up, he smiled and laughed.  I knew it was time to go.  He's in good hands until we are invited to come back and get him.  It is definitely going to be an adjustment for that little guy.
Sounds like sometime near the 15th of September we will be welcomed back to get our son (still sounds really weird to say or type that).  I have a whole lot to do to prepare my home and family for the changes ahead, but we are ready to become a family of 4!
Thanks again.  I will hopefully be able to post pictures soon. :)
Love,
Brad, Steph, Alia, & Alek

He's ours!

The court accepted our request to be his parents! :).
More info soon, but we are starving and very thirsty from a long day.  We are going to run out for a bit and we'll post more later.  Thanks SO much for the prayers.  We really felt them!

Hello again... from Russia

Hey, first... sorry for the time without posting.  For some reason, we can only post from certain computers... which is a pain.
So, here's the quick version of what has happened in the last month...
We got home from our first trip, found out that Russia wanted us back for court pretty much 30 days later.  We DESPERATELY tried to get everything turned in and were successful with everything EXCEPT immigration (which happens to be pretty much the most important thing).  We were not able to get it in time for court on July 23.  Then, it was rescheduled for August 20th, then July 31, then August 6th (so, here we are... that one actually "won". :)
Court will be in about 5 hours.  Here's the situation.  There were a few items that were requested very last minute before we left.  Although we tried as hard as possible to get the forms requested, have them notarized, and get them apostilled..., we were unsuccessful.  There just wasn't enough time and the documents are currently at the apostille office. :(  (We, however, are here... in Russia).  We already had everything set to leave, so we left.  Obviously the plane wasn't going to wait for us.
So, in about 5 hours ... we find out.  We pray that what we have will be enough.  We look back to a post during Alia's adoption.  It was the night before court and there was a HUGE paperwork disaster.  We were told that we probably wouldn't be able to complete court (this was not our paperwork issue either... which was the worst part).  All night long we prayed.  The next day, God worked miracles and the documents were not even discussed.  4 years later, here we go again.
We are very thankful that we know God has put all of this together and can work another miracle for Alek.  This whole process has been all about God's miracles and we trust that although it may be unclear right now (and even possibly in the court room), God is in control.  Brad and I have not had any control over the first 15 months of Alek's life and have the same amount of control right now... none.  However, we know that God loves that little baby and has taken care of him up to now... and won't ever stop taking care of him.
So, we will go to court knowing that whatever happens is still in God's plan and we have to trust.  That's all we can do.  We were actually able to get a little bit of rest and we are ready.  We are ready for... whatever God has in store.
We will post as soon as we are back here and have internet connection.
Love you all!
Please pray!
Steph, Brad, Alia, and Alek

Today we had to choose a name for you...

Fornthose of you checking both, this is copied from Facebook. Sorry, I've been trying to post different things, but there just wasn't time today. Aleksandr Joel Davis - that's the name we wrote down for you today. We kept the Russian spelling of your first name as it is part of your heritage. Joel means, "the Lord is God" - Joel 3:25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. 27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed." Your life may have started out less than perfect... And there has and will be some important time lost (as we continue on the course to get you home). However, we know that the Lord is God and He has worked this out amazingly and with great purpose. We can't wait to see what He has in store for your future... And... You'll have your choice of great nicknames... Alex, Alec, Sandr, AJ, Joel... They are all good. Our coordinator told us today that you are very vocal (which we know already... Didn't take long to figure that out). She also said it isn't normal for a 13 month old in a baby house to be walking as well as you are. We can't wait to get you home to really get to know you (although, your little nyet & da - yes & no -fit with the coordinator today did show a lot of what is in store) and welcome you to your new family. Wait until you meet ALL the people who are waiting to meet you and love you! :). First flight for home is at 5am (home time) Saturday (tomorrow). Please pray for safe travels, smooth flights and possibly a quicker flight home from New York (dreading the 22 hour layover there!) Thanks for more prayers. See you all soon!

A few pics...

So, I wish I could just put a pic of little man on here for you all, but... I can't.  After court is when I believe we can post pics.  We did take a lot though... :)

Really what you need to do is imagine Alia as she was when we first brought her home, now add about 10 pounds, now add bangs and give her short hair (well, a little bit of a bowl cut... not shaved like hers, he has lots), then put her in some overalls... ok... you are really close. :)

It's amazing actually.  Never underestimate the power of God.  He can even bring a family together from 3 different countries. We showed our translator a picture of Alia and she said, "Wow! They actually look like brother and sister!"

Oh, and for now... just going to keep calling him "little man".  We have to name him tomorrow, but... we are still a bit unsure on what name we are going to give him.  His social worker at the hospital gave him the name Aleksandr.  The baby house calls him "Sasha".  We were going to rename him, but Alia says his name is Alex and that is what she is going to call him.  So, we need to figure out a middle name.  I can think of lots of great boy names that have Alexander as the middle name, but nothing is flowing for me with Alexander as the first name.  So, we will keep thinking and praying.  Oh, and I just can't keep the Sasha thing...

We started at noon today.  Waited for an hour at the first stop, then had to drive for a long time to get to second stop, then finally made it to baby house, just in time for naps.  A very sweet lady woke him up from his nap and brought him in so we could see him really quick. We got to hold him and take one pic.  He was in his jammies... looking super cute.  We received all of his medical information and everything they have about his family (pretty much nothing).

After that, we had to leave for an 1 1/2 hours, so we decided to eat.  Went back, and they walked him in the room sportin' overalls, shoes, and nicely combed hair.  He looked like a little doll.  They call him "Peach" for a nickname and also "pumpkin".  Peach, because his skin is so soft and perfect... pumpkin, because he weighs 20 pounds (guessing on that one... they told us why peach, but not why pumpkin). :)

So, we were only supposed to have him for a couple hours at most, but an emergency situation happened at the baby house and our driver had to help out.  We were able to hang out with him for an extra hour (not happy for the emergency, but thankful for a little more time). :)

I mentioned on Facebook about the picture of Alia.  That was probably one of the coolest times.  He just kept that picture in his hands and kept looking at it and smiling.  I tried several times to give him different pics, other toys, etc... nothing.  He was not going to give up that pic and he was going to make sure I didn't try that again. :)  Very cool.  He just kept saying her name too... and daddy.

He liked me ok and let me hold him and smiled lots, but he LOVED Brad.  Anytime Brad would move, he would crawl toward him and lean on him... as if to say, "Don't leave".  They made funny faces at each other and made funny noises.  He tried to copy everything that we did.  We played ball, stacked cups, made noise by hitting the cups together, stomped on the floor, etc.  Hoping that tomorrow is nice and we can take him outside (because the room we were in was small, hot, and boring).  Of course they will bundle him up, but hopefully not with a ski coat!. :)

Well, its after midnight and tomorrow is going to be a little early for us "vacationers".  Guess I better try and get some sleep. Here's a few pics from our day... one is about as fun as I can do...   :)  Only 3 more days until we are home... can't wait to hug my Alia!

I'll post more tomorrow, but don't know the schedule yet.  I know we get to go back to visit in the morning and hopefully again in the afternoon, but we'll see.

Love you all and goodnight (or day). :)
Steph

Guess who!  Cute ear, huh?

Outside of the MOE, this is the "Referral Angel" statue.  The Referral is what you have to have to go visit any specific child.  Anyway, it's a well known statue... so we took a pic. :)

Our "place" at night.  Cool, huh?  Check out that traffic at 11 pm on a Thursday night!  It's 12:45 now and there are at least 3 cars just driving down the road holding down on the horn.  Its insane!  Now 2 + emergency vehicles just went by.  This place is seriously crazy loud!

Ours is the second building... I think. :)

The buildings keep changing colors and flashing.  Check out the sky at 11 pm... still not dark.  

We had to wear these at the baby house. :)  I KNOW Ron is laughing at this one! :)  He is thinking about the box of these shoe covers that I keep at my front door. ;)

Good night all... will blog more soon.

Success!

Today was AMAZING! God is SO good. We have a little boy. He is beautiful (looking much like his big sis oddly, or not oddly enough). We saw God's hand and quickly understood why the rush of the past couple of weeks. We HAD to get there. He's ours! Anyway, it was many hours of our day to even get to meet him. We are really hungry now and have to pick up a couple of things. It's 9:30 pm, so we need to run out. When we come back... I will post lots more info on here. Thank you all SO much for your prayers and support. We felt them big time! I didn't Want to make you wait any longer. :) More soon...

Sorry...

Sorry about the most recent blog. I typed it on my iPad with spaces and lines, but... It didn't copy that way. So, it's one long paragraph. :)

So good to have friends...

We are SO very thankful for all of our friends! You all are awesome! So encouraging. Your prayers help us make it through each day here. We can't thank you enough. Thanks for commenting on the blog and Facebook. Gives me something to do when I can't seem to sleep in the middle of the night. :) Also helps me remember to post because I know people care about what is going on here. ;) I forgot to tell you a cool story from yesterday... Some college kids stopped us on the street and asked if they could ask us a question and video the answer. We said sure (I mean...what else did we have to do anyway?). They didn't tell us what the question was, they just started taping. Guess what it was... "What is God to you?". Nice! I actually love that question! Totally not what I was expecting, but very happy to answer. What a great chance to witness a bit in the middle of a crazy busy pedestrian street in Moscow. Gotta love chances like that! Today we were VERY excited to have lunch, shopping time, and chatting fun with some new friends. They are here for the same reason and it was wonderful to have something different to look forward to today. :) Their meeting is directly after ours tomorrow. Then we will go to different baby houses to meet our kiddos. Please don't forget to pray. Here's a few specifics: -Peace with any decisions we have to make. -Trust that whatever happens is exactly what God wants and He will be our strength. -Knowledge to know if we need to pay for a doctor to clarify any medical needs or worries (we did not need this with Alia... We were totally sure that she was ours, so nothing else mattered). -Good sleep tonight -good impressions with the baby house director and workers. (this is a huge deal) -understanding and remembrance of all of the information that we will hear in a very short time -as much time as possible with our little baby There's SO much, but this is a great start. Thank you all again. Unless I'm awake all night and just happen to feel like I have something important to post (which may or may not be a good call for me to make at 2am), you probably won't hear from us until we have some news. We probably can't post any pics. Sorry, but this is normal. Of course, we will take tons! Maybe I'll do some creative editing... Hmmm...Guess you'll have to check back and see. I asked Brad at least 3 times in the last 2 weeks, "Are you sure we have to do this?" (while crying my eyes out). Each time he replied, "Absolutely. There may be a little baby in this foreign land that has no hope without us. Maybe a little guy that is supposed to be our son and we have to save him. We can't NOT go. We have to go.". That isn't the answer I was hoping for each time. I told him I didn't want to go... I didn't want to do this again. I was hoping for a country where you go for a week or so and then come home with your baby, not one where we have to go 3 times and leave the baby again... I hate that. Yet, In my heart I knew we had to go. Thank you God for this opportunity. The words to one of my favorite songs comes to mind. "Please take from me my life, when I don't have the strength to give it away to You." Another favorite song, "Got some rocks in my shoes, fears I wish I could lose, that make the mountains so hard to climb. And my heart gets so heavy with the weight of the world sometimes. There's a bag of regrets, should've beens and not yets that I keep on dragging around. And I can hardly wait til the day I get to lay them all down. But i know we're gonna make it and i know that everything He says is true. It's just a long way home (in more ways than 1)." God, may we be faithful to do what You have called us to do while here on this earth. Reveal your will to us. There are definitely rocks in my shoes tonight and fears I wish I could lose, but... I look forward to the morning.

Hello. It's 2am and yep, I'm awake. Can't seem to get this time change down. :) Brad and I had a wonderful day today. We enjoyed moving at our own pace and exploring some local Moscow. We were able to find the supermarket (which is good because now we can get juice and water MUCH cheaper! We both agree that we really like the area of Moscow where we are. People are mostly friendly and no one really stares at us because we are not much diferent then they are (at least until we speak). ;) Even many times, people speak to us in Russian first and then change to English when we try to respond. Many of them even know some English. We received our call today for our second appointment and then after that we will meet our child. We will have the meeting at noon on Thursday (this will be 3:00 am home time on Thursday morning)...for any of you who just happen to be awake then. :) if you like your sleep (as do I... Normally), please just remember to say a prayer for us before bed Wednesday night. At this point, I have no idea what to expect. We know what we came here for (in our plans), but trust that God already knows exactly what is going to really happen Thursday. We know that God had great plans for bringing us here (or it wouldn't have worked out the way that it has ... That alone was a miracle). Looks like one more day of exploring and then... The day we have waited for. :) Please pray for us... As well as the little baby that is about to have a totally rocked world. Can't wait to announce... And we will as soon as we can. Oh, and please also pray for some paperwork that is currently being ordered and worked on at home. Many of the clearances that we still need come from places who don't exactly work on the timeframe that we've been given. We know that God can get those docs to just the right people who can process them quickly and in His time. Love you all! Steph and Brad

Our 4 hour walking tour today... we must have walked at least 10 miles.  We were able to see much of the tourist areas today.  Lots of culture! 

After the pics, there is some info about our meeting today... 1 of 2.

St. Basil's Cathedral - Beautiful!  We went inside, but weren't able to take pictures.  Very beautiful inside with a quartet of men singing traditional songs of Russian Warriors.  They were awesome.

Don't mess with this gun.  Look at the size of those bullets. :)

At the entrance to the Kremlin.

Inside the Kremlin walls.

Red Square

So, the first of our "meetings" was today.  We were totally not prepared, but not our fault.  Our luggage has still not arrived (supposed to come tonight between 8pm and 6am).  

Anyway, no make up, hair washed with body wash not shampoo, Brad in shorts (totally bad!), and we had been walking around the area for 4 hours (also not our fault, the agency set up the tour for today... I tried to change it twice).  Lets just say we were looking great!

We explained about the luggage and they just laughed (I think it was an understanding laugh).  They asked us several questions and looked at our paperwork.   There were a couple of questionable moments (which is normal), but then things started to really improve when they saw our family photos.  They asked many questions about why we wanted to adopt here. We explained that we were happy that our daughter and this child could share much of the same cultural background and many of the same items that remind them of where they are from (gifts that we bought for Alia from Kaz are very similar with some exactly the same as here),  Anyway, it was accepted.  So, now we wait.  They will ask us to come meet with them again.  We just don't know when.  Hopefully soon. 

Please keep praying for us.  There is still so much ahead, including the meeting with the baby.  

Sounds like we should know more by tomorrow night. 

We'll keep you posted.  

Love you all!

Steph and Brad

Here we go again!!!

Well, here we go again. :)  Brad and I are sitting in a hotel in Moscow, Russia.  We left home yesterday (me crying my eyes out because since the day that we HAD to leave Alia at the baby house in Kaz, once she was mine... she's never spent the night without me).  However, her passport didn't come in time to make this trip with us.  So, she is staying with family for the week.
Our flights were great, but... our luggage didn't make it.  Please pray that it gets to us soon.  Although we had the most important stuff with us, we still really need what is in those bags.
We are in a great location and have already checked out the area around us.  It is a VERY NICE 75 degrees here. :)  Loving that!
Anyway, our first appointment is tomorrow... looking forward to that, but... won't meet the little guy until later this week.
So, even though it is 10:45 pm, its still pretty light outside.  I, however... probably need to head to bed.
We'll post more soon.
Love you all!  Thanks for the prayers (really, I was so worried about the flights and they were great... well, as great as a flight can be).  Please keep praying... there is SO much more ahead of us this week.  many decisions, craziness, worries, problems, etc... only 1 knows the future of this week and He sure has worked this out amazingly for us to even be here right now.  Can't wait to see what God has in store for us and for a special little guy who needs a family.