the past few days....

Parenting is no joke! (pretty sure most of you are laughing already....) Monday bedtime was so difficult. Screaming for three hours. No joke, literally screaming for hours. It was awful for all of us, and by the time it was over Wes and I were spent. It started with bath, and ended three hours later when, at 10pm, he finally was out. Only to wake up at 5:45. Tuesday was a good day all in all. He only fought us for 30 minutes each at nap and bedtime. We took him to McDonald's, gave him a Happy Meal. All was right in the world! Today....since we didn't bathe him last night we decided to after breakfast this morning. It's not the sound of the wather that bothers him. It's the tub. It's slippery and overwhelming I think. Even with a towel in the bottom it's still traumatic. I wonder how he was bathed at the orphanage. We are pretty sure it was standing up in a sink, being roughly handled and sprayed with a sprayer. He does like it when I massage his head with shampoo, but not enough to over come the horrifying screaming. We know this is just a thing we need to work through, but it breaks my heart and even causes me to cry when he's upset like that. I can't stand it! We had planned to go to the zoo this morning, but with the bath going the way it did none of us had the energy. Instead we walked up the street to the cathedral (gorgeous!) and wandered around, finishing with lunch at an Italian place. Some of the yummiest pizza ever. Our son ate just as much as I did, and loved every bite! So far the only thing we've given him that he hasn't liked is grapefruit! Now we're waiting for him to wake up. Will probably go to dinner in the hotel restaurant and then it will be bedtime. Even with the "hard" stuff so far I know we are in the exact place we are supposed to be, and that this is nothing we can't handle. Just part of raising a child who hasn't ever had parents before! Love to all reading this, thank you so much for praying for our son!

Gotcha Day!

You read that right. It's been a big day in our family. Today we picked up Colton Daniel Whiteaker from the orpahanage and drove him away forever. It was truly bitter-sweet knowing we were seeing Baba Mila, and the ladies who have loved our son, for the last time. Mila told us that both of the children she has cared for the past few years are leaving with adoptive families today. I can't imagine her sorrow and joy all at once! She said she has prayed for this day, which totally calmed my heart. The drive from his hometown to the capital city was long, about 5 hours. He did amazingly. We know he has never been in a car this long, so we were impressed. We did nap for about 30 minutes or so, which was good since we went straight to the passport office to apply for his passport and have his photo taken. Once we got back to the hotel we played with the Rhodes boys for a while, and then reazlied just how tired he was. Against my better judgement it's 5:00pm and both of my boys are asleep. I don't plan to let either sleep for long because we all need to sleep tonight. We could not thank you all more for your love and support over these past 14 months. This adventure is truly just beginning. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, we are new at this parenting thing, and can already tell it will be tough, but rewarding.

Dear Danny: the last night...

Dear Danny, Tonight is the last night you will ever spend in an orphanage. It's just after 7pm here, so I imagine you are finished with dinner and getting ready for bed. We really aren't sure how much you have been prepared for tomorrow, but we pray that you come with us willingly to begin your new life. I hope that you find this new life to be exciting, as it's got a lot going on in it! By this time next week you will have met all 4 of your grandparents, many "aunts" and "uncles" and so many friends. Your Dad and I can't wait for the world to meet you! Your new life includes being part of a family, which I know you won't remember, but you've been part of one before. I know your birth-parents believe they did the right thing when they dropped you off at the children's home....I hope we are providing for you in all the ways they didn't feel they could. In our family you will soon be the big brother! Our prayer is that you and your brother grow up to be incredibly close and love one another in a way only brothers can. Tomorrow we will come to pick you up, and drive you into the capital city of your birth country. It will seem a little hectic, but know it's to get you home as quickly as we can. Be ready Little Man, we are coming! Love, Mom

the last "Sunday Prayers" post....

That I get to write before traveling to bring our boy home.  What an amazing journey this has been.  From loosing our daughter 17 months ago to leaving on Friday to pick up our son.  With another baby in my belly.  (One that is bound and determined that I will be awake no later than 6am, no matter what day it is!) God has been ever faithful to us during our first three years of marriage.  I will not sugar-coat it.  Marriage is tough!  Marriage with job changes, lost babies, adoption, etc is very tough!  But I know with every ounce of who I am that He is faithful, and His grace is enough, even for a sinner like me.

We've been told numerous times over the past year that we are "good" people for choosing to adopt a child with special needs.  Let me tell you something: No We Are Not!  We are just people who fell in love with a serious face in a photograph.  Then we met him....and now we are in love with a precious laugh, and infectious smile.  He's a mimic, and 100% will throw anything you put in his hands boy!  And we can't wait to see him one week from tomorrow!

Our house is not completely ready for him, and at this point probably won't be by the time we leave.  But we are ready for him.  There is no doubt about that.  His bag is packed...ours are not.  All he's done the past four years is wait.  All we've done since we first saw his photo is pray for him and love him and count the days until we could be with him.  And now we are here!  If you haven't prayed with or for us before I am going to very humbly beg you to do so this week.  It will not be easy, adjusting to life with three, one of whom has no idea what family is.  Here are this week's (and maybe the next few week's) requests:

1. Colton Daniel: that he is as ready as ever to come home with us.  Our prayer is that Baba Mila and the orphanage staff have prepared him as much as possible to live in a family and that he recognizes our faces from our photos, and feels immediately comfortable with us. Pray that his first trips to the doctor are easy, and that there are no surprises medically speaking.

2. Baba Mila: what do you say to the woman who has probably kept your son alive for 4 years?!?!?  Thank you is just not enough.  There is no gift in the world that seems adequate.  (But I do really hope she likes the necklace we got her.) Please pray for Mila's heart and soul.  I do not know where she stands in faith, but I pray with every part of me that she follows and loves God.  I pray that she will not be saddened by his leaving, but joyful for him and us as we begin our lives together.

3. US!  I feel like I've asked for thousands of prayers the past year or so....but please.  Pray for our marriage, our jobs, our families, our friends, our sons (both!), our lives. We know it will take massive amounts of faith and prayers to get through the first few months of having our son home with us.  Please pray we have only kind words for one another.  Pray that we are on the same page as far as parenting goes from day 1.  Pray that we don't get so wrapped up in being a mom and dad that we forget to be a wife and husband.

Thank you all so very much for following along this far.  This adventure is only beginning!

Sunday Prayers: Amazing God!

Do you remember when we were in Bulgaria and got "scammed" into paying for another little girl's visa photo?!?!?  Her mom found us yesterday!  She is home, or on the way home (not totally sure) now!  I love love love how God works, and things come full circle.  This wonderful lady reached out to our US facilitator to let her know that she had seen Danny and that he was adorable! God is so amazing to give us just what we need.  This might be my first mother's day, and it's without our son, but it's so much more special for this news!

In other news we will be in B two weeks from now, making the journey to his orphanage.  I can't wait to get my hands on him!  Here are this week's prayer requests:

1. that Danny is fully prepared to join our family.
2. that he is excited to learn how to live in a house with parents, and dogs, and soon a baby brother
3. for our travel: I will be 25 weeks pregnant when we leave for B....please pray for our health, and that the airlines take pity on us and give us better seats so I can spread out a bit.

That's it!  Pretty simple, and greatly appreciated!

Sunday Prayers....so close!

Good Morning!

We have lots of stuff planned for today, so while my dear husband gets ready for church I thought I would write a quick post.  Thank you again (I'm probably thanking you for about the 2,956 time) for following along this journey with us.  We are so very grateful for our supportive friends and family.  Without you I'm not sure we would have made it this far.  It's hard to believe that in one month our boy will be here, in Texas, living with us!  We couldn't be more thrilled!  I have some travel related prayer requests today, and they will probably be the same for the next few weeks.  We will leave the last Friday in May to go get our son!

1. Danny: that he is as prepared as possible to make this long journey with us, and learn about life in a family.
2. US!  We are truly hoping to catch a quick weekend away next weekend, just to connect and be together one last time before little people enter our world.  Pray we can disconnect from the world for at least 2 days.  Please also pray that we are able to accomplish more than we can imagine in our jobs so that our time away from work is easy and stress-free.
3. Travel: pray for no travel delays, that our luggage gets there with us, that we get every where we need to be, exactly when we need to be there.  Pray that our drive from Sofia to the town where he has lived the past four years is uneventful, and that we have good rest the entire time we are in B.  (Please pray all these things for my friend Mandy Rhodes who is traveling at the same time we are.)

That's it!  We are so thankful for each of you!

PS: Don't forget, we are still fundraising for the orphanage roof, if you are so inclined to make a donation please click on the Chip In box to the right.  Any help is greatly appreciated so the orphanage can continue to provide hot food to the children.