Airport Pictures

Waiting for our little ones...

Our first hug!!!

Compassionate Care: Melodie from AOH with Odesco, Jenkins and Mercy

Together at Last

A Day of Transition...

Last night, Mercy and Odesco did remarkably well...they both slept on quilts and sleeping bags next to our bed. Each of them woke up once, used the potty and were easily redirected to bed. Odesco did have a short time of sniffling and whimpering when we first put him down but, he finally fell asleep after rubbing his back for a few minutes.
Mercy woke up this morning first ...I brought her downstairs with me and we snuggled on the couch together looking at a Richard Scarry book...she whispered words with her thick Liberian accent as I pointed to pictures on the page...she was opening up a little bit and I was relishing every moment...I even caught a few glimmers of a smile. Later when the rest of the house was in full swing, we began to see a different side to both children. We decided going to church would be a bit too much for them so we spent the day playing , adjusting and visiting with our many eager friends who came to see the newest members of our family. The kids' words were flowing easier and the flat affect/lack of any expression was replaced with smiles and even some giggling. Mercy finally gave us a big smile when Daddy pushed her outside on the swing...she didn't last too long out there though due to the cold air! B3 and Mercy had a ball today making "soup" out of counting bears and colored pegs and Mercy loves "platting " doll hair and embellishing with all sorts of hairsnaps, barettes, ribbons etc. B3 was a bit frustrated that she can't yet braid like Mercy but I think she will catch on soon enough. The girls wore coordinating outfits and at the end of the day B3 told me she couldn't believe that Mercy was her sister and that she was so glad! Odesco and all the boys romped, chased, wrestled and had quite a bit of fun together. He still is not speaking much but occasionally we hear his sweet little voice with the adorable Liberian accent. We spent quite a bit of time today just orienting the 2 of them to life in our home...food in the kitchen area only, say please and thankyou , take plates to sink after eating etc...they seem to be catching on and a few times Mercy said," Please" without prompting. Both of these gifts from the Lord let us know when they don't want to do something! They stubbornly refuse to make eye contact and need firm redirection to encourage obedience but, I must admit, for our first day together, I'd say it went better than expected!! They especially seem to go into "shut down" mode when new people stop by to visit...toward the end of the day though both kids managed to squeak out a glance in our vistors' direction and a soft,"Hello". So, if you do come for a visit, please don't be offended if you get a less than friendly response...I have a feeling this is an area that we will be working with Odesco and Mercy on for quite a while!!
Tonite' Jenkins (our kids say his name so it sounds like "Chickie") came for what we hoped would be a joyous visit but it seemed to evoke sadness in his little heart...it is so hard to know what is going on inside these precious ones as they need to process so many emotions and changes...I look forward to asking them 5 years from now what this trip to America was like for them and what they were feeling!
This evening,when it was time to put Odesco down for the night, he did his quiet definace stance where he just refuses to move...M carried him to the makeshift bed in our room and Odesco began crying loudly (now we know he has lungs to rival Mercy's!!). This wasn't any ordinary cry but a deep gut wailing...at first I thought he was just mad he didn't get his way but then it really did seem like he was very sad...and this made my Mommy heart sad...as I rubbed his back and he wailed, I quietly cried my heart out too. I want to make his heart stop hurting but I don't know the depths or causes of his hurts. The reality is, I can't take back the years of pain for either of our adopted children...but I need to trust their Heavenly father to fill in the gaps and the details we will never know about~
After several minutes of his relentless cries, I finally realized that perhaps Odesco was missing his routine at AOH and his bedmate, Emmett. I asked him if he wanted B4 to sleep next to him and this seemed to quiet him down. So, right now B3 and B4 are curled up next to Odesco beside our bed and B3 and Mercy are sleeping at the foot of our bed. Eventually they will transition into their own rooms but for now this seems to be the best scenerio. Mealtimes today were quite comical as these children have huge appetites and tried everything we gave them. They are not shy about asking for more food and Odesco especially wastes nothing on his plate...we will have to monitor both of their intake though, as they have never had the experience of being "full" and would probably eat continuously if we allowed them to.
Tonite', my heart is overflowing...I still can't believe that our children are finally here. While I know there is so much transitioning that needs to happen, I can already see the Lord grafting and knitting these 2 little ones into the fabric of our family...what a miracle it is ! Thanks for checking in...thanks also for those of you who have lavished us with meals, prayers and just genuinely rejoiced with us in God's goodness to our family. We are so grateful!!
With much love from our buzzing household!

HOME AT LAST...

Just a quick post to let you all know we are home, safe and sound! All the kids are bathed and asleep for now :) Who knows what time their little internal clocks will decide to wake them up?! We had an amazing day...I promise cyber boy will be put to work to download our pics and I'll post some tomorrow.
Mercy's expression for most of the day was quite similar to the look she displayed in her last photo with Melodie...she has quite a strong spirit and is definately a gal who knows what she wants :)...there was very little talking today but she was able to communicate what she wanted. Mercy and B3 played with Kelly dolls and tried different hair thingies in Mercy's short but beautifully braided hair. ( I am so grateful to the nannies for this!!!) Odesco was also very quiet but finally gave us a smirk before bed and B2 figured out he is quite ticklish and managed to get a giggle out of him!! He also has a great arm and loves to toss a ball around, enjoys building with duplos (as we were told) and is a great train conductor with the Geotrax we have set up in the living room.
Both children have amazed us with their appetites! The food budget just went out the window, I think :)!
The ride home was a bit overwhelming to Mercy and let's just say she has a fine set of lungs...how grateful we are for God's mercy in sparing us from a cross country journey so soon!! She was able to settle down and did sleep for a bit...Odesco also slept for a bit of the ride.
I am unable to articulate or even wrap my brain around all that has happened...it is so humbling and hard to believe that these 2 precious children have been entrusted to us by the Lord...it is clear there is major transitioning to come but God who clearly set us on this path and chose these precious ones to be a part of our family will supply every bit of strength and wisdom needed to parent them.
Our other 4 children have done so well... I am so proud of how they have tried to make their new siblings feel at home ...B3 didn't even balk when Mercy took her American girl doll to bed with her...now that is sacrifice :)I know it might not be so easy in the days ahead but for today, God gave them all the grace to be other oriented and I am so grateful.
Well, I am emotionally and physically drained but so thankful the Lord brought them to us today...Melodie told us that it almost didn't work out again...oh, thank you Lord for sparing us of that test!
Pictures, tomorrow...I promise :)
Thanks for sharing our joy...
All my chicks are in the nest!!!
MamaB

ON THEIR WAY!!!!

We received this picture a few days ago...(Mercy, Melodie, Odesco,& Jenkins)
I just received word that our precious children are homeward bound!!! They are on the plane headed to Brussels and then to JFK where we will joyfully receive the newest members of our family tomorrow afternoon:) I can't even describe the flood of emotions going on right now...total relief that the wait is over...anticipation regarding our meeting and how they will do saying goodbye to Melodie (an AOH employee who has become very special to Mercy, Odesco and Jenkins and shown love to them over these past several months), concern over the transition etc, etc..
But, the most overwhelming theme in my heart is ,"HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL!!"
He has faithfully led us down this path of adoption, He has faithfully chosen Mercy and Odesco to be a part of our family, He has faithfully equipped us and carried us as we dealt with the many disappointments and challenges and now I can say with full confidence, He will faithfully give us everything we need to parent these precious ones and graft them into our family because, HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL!!!
Thanks so much for continuing to pray for us...the days ahead will be filled with joy and challenges, I'm sure...
I will try to update tomorrow.
Rejoicing in His goodness, wisdom and perfect timing!!
Mama B...whose nest is about to expand...WOO-HOO :)

The Lord is my strength and my shield...

Odesco with his bedmate and pal, Emmett (Odesco is on the right)


Blessed be the Lord!
For He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
In Him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
My heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.
Psalm 28:6,7
This was my bible reading this morning and I chuckled as I read about "my pleas for mercy", since of course, I was reminded of my literal pleas for Mercy, our precious daughter continents away! Later at coop my friend shared that she had read the SAME passage this morning and penciled into her Bible Mercy's name and the date....how kind of the Lord to remind me in such a tangible way that indeed, He has heard our heart cries for our children...Mercy especially has been on my heart due to her ear infection and He has heard my pleas for Mercy and my pleas for His mercy!!

This evening I took B3 to the library with me and she picked a picture book off the
shelf called "Bringing Asha Home".Interestingly enough, it is a book about adopting a baby girl from India and in it, the author highlights the waiting...showing one season drifting into another and still no Asha. At one point the Daddy receives a phone call and sadly explains to his family that they will have to wait longer to bring their precious daughter home. Finally they get the long awaited call saying it is time to pick up Asha and the Dad flies to India to get his daughter...the scene at the airport is described in beautiful detail as mother and little son are united with Daddy and daughter...I was undone imagining our homecoming story and had a hard time reading ...my older, most sensitive boy (he,he) asked,"Um, Mom...are you going to read the book or not?!" Anyhow, this book was a great read and definately identified with the seemingly endless waiting of a child( and parent!)for their adopted sibling/child.

Guess you are all wondering when the long awaited arrival of Mercy and Odesco (and sweet Jenkins) will be...well, we learned today it will not be on Thursday, but Lord willing, we will hold our precious children on Saturday...I will update as we hear more.

I wanted to mention one other wonderful blessing...2 days ago I received an email from the adoptive mother of Odesco's bedmate...Several weeks ago I had tried to find her, and thought I did but it was not this little fellow's mom so I just let it go. Well, Emmett's mom was also hoping to make a connection with me so that we can maintain some contact for our boys' sake and she saw a post I had made on the AOH board and decided to email me...evidently Odesco and Emmett are sweet friends and play very well together. I love the adorable picture above of the 2 of them giggling on their bed.I am so grateful that a piece of our little boys' past can be preserved . What a gift from the Lord!
Thanks for checking in and caring for us ...we feel your prayers!
Resting in Him!!
Mama B

He's Always Been Faithful To Me...

Well, this afternoon while we assumed our children were flying over the big blue ocean, we received a phone call from AOH delivering the news that Mercy, Odesco and Jenkins never flew out of Monrovia this morning. There was a mix-up with tickets and there was not room for all 3 children on the flight. Thankfully, the children thought they were going to the airport to see the airplanes in preparation for when they would travel to their new homes....they did not realize that today was supposed to be that day so they were not affected at all by this disappointing turn of events. For now the plan is for them to travel out of Liberia on Wed. and to arrive in Dulles on Thursday~ all this is still unconfirmed but I will be updating as we hear!

Today in worship we sang a song that I will post in a moment. Before receiving this phone call from Donna, I was trying to find the words to this song to post on here...now, after the fact the rich truths of this song resound in my heart. Another tangible evidence of God's kindness to me is that today, one of our pastors spoke about what "thanksgiving" truly is.He wasn't speaking of the holiday but the fact that happiness in God yields thanksgiving to God; regardless of our circumstances.He then went on to outline practical steps in what this ought to look like. One point was that complaining is rebellion against God...ouch!! What a timely reminder to NOT complain about this turn of events but to instead believe that God's plan is perfect and His ways are flawless~ This is truly God's provision to me...He knew my heart would have drifted and I needed to hear that word today!!
So, by God's grace alone, I'm choosing this day to count it all joy and able to rejoice through the tears that were shed~His grace is sufficient because in my weakness, He is so very strong!!

He's Always Been Faithful
vs1
Morning by morning
I wake up to find
The power and comfort
Of God's hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have needed His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

vs2
I can't remember a trial or a pain
he did not recycle to bring me gain
I can't remember one single regret
In serving God only
And trusting His hand
All I have needed His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

vs3
This is my anthem this is my song
The theme of the stories
I've heard for so long
God has been faithful He will be again
His loving compassion it knows no end
All I have needed His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me

The End of the Beginning!

We got the phone call!!!Yes, this is actually coming to fruition!!! Our precious ones are coming home on Monday afternoon and flying into Dulles. I marvel at the sovereign wisdom and timing of the Lord...how kind He has been even in the midst of all the disappointing "false labors"...this is the real thing and the contractions are getting closer :)

Please pray for supernatural energy and grace for their escort who is a volunteer with AOH...pray also for Mercy who has an ear infection :(

My cyberboy (B2) will help me post the homecoming pictures on Monday....can't believe we are almost there!!

Thanks so much for standing with us as we walk on this adoption journey!

Giddy with anticipation!!
Mama B~