Accepted!

Yesterday we received an email from our new agency telling us our application had been accepted! We are going to be a pilot family for an agency that has extensive experience in over a dozen countries but they haven't worked in India yet. We are thrilled to be able to help pave the way for future India families! Next week we will have a conference call with our case worker to discuss our next steps. Realistically, we are still looking at probably two years before we bring our next child home. We know what to expect this time and we'll just roll with it. :)

Coming Soon - a big sister!

Oh India. 

Throughout our adoption journey with Ryan we didn't think we could muster the strength for another India adoption. They're brutal. The unknowns are terribly difficult and the lack of consistent timelines can make anyone insane. It's definitely not for the impatient. ;) I think we tested that theory a time or two. But once we went to India, we knew God would call us back. We knew he placed India in our hearts for a very distinct purpose. While we may never know all of those reasons, for now we know he's called us to adopt a sister for Katie, Braden and Ryan. In the past several weeks God has opened so many doors and we are boldly walking through them, anxious to see where this will lead. We know this will be difficult and we know the sacrifices involved. We also understand that if we don't adopt, who will? There are too many children waiting for families. Far too many. Some of them die because they don't receive the care they need. Some of them have absolutely no future if a family doesn't come forward. To us, that's unacceptable. 

“We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” – Radical by David Platt.

Back to school

Ok, hi. So as you can see blogging has taken a backseat lately. School started a few weeks ago for Ryan and I haven't had time to share about that. We spent several weeks leading up to the start of school visiting Ryan's preschool. There weren't any teachers or kids there so we would go and look at his classroom, play at the playground and talk about what fun he was going to have. We did this for several weeks. He became so used to seeing the general area that one day when I drove down Main Street, Ryan looked out the window and said, School School!  At open house big sister stayed with him in his room while the parents went to the sanctuary for our little briefing. The first two days of school Katie went with Ryan and they stayed for half the day. IAC recommended we do that for two weeks and gradually get him accustomed to school but we didn't have that option. The first day was hard and daddy was a little choked up dropping Ryan off with scared eyes and a sad face filled with alligator tears. It became easier and easier though and after the first full week, Ryan was running into his class and not even looking back to daddy for a hug. He really seems to love it. His teachers say he's very sweet and cooperative. The only thing we've heard is he doesn't play with toys or play outside on the playground equipment. We've noticed at home he still doesn't voluntarily play with toys. Since he didn't have a lot of time for purposeful play before he came home, we do a lot of modeling and hand over to hand to show him HOW to play. We play WITH him a lot at home. Kids that come from orphanages often don't know how to play as odd as that sounds. So far that's the only concern we've heard of. His teachers are very supportive of helping him adjust to school and we're thankful for that!

A welcome home like this is priceless! He loves his Daddy!

And when Mama gets home ---

Towards the end of the summer, Ryan started showing signs of wanting to learn letters. He loves educational apps on the iPad and he enjoys puzzles, blocks and books with letters. He even knows a lot of letter sounds. I took this video a few days ago. He can name some of them verbally but he can identify all of them by pointing to the letter. He has an amazing memory and he's obsessed with letters!