The Santor's Bulgaria Adoption

Over a year home

2011-11-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

We've been meaning to update the blog since Gotcha Day, September 23rd.

We have been keeping busy. Jen has been diligent homeschooling the kids. We did not have intentions of doing school with Andrew this year. He still seems to be a little behind in his language and we thought it might be too much. However, Andrew had other plans for himself. He wants to do whatever his siblings do, not to mention, he is self motivated. So, Jen quickly threw together a few things.

So far, Andrew has learned all his shapes (even ones his older siblings didn't know), he recognizes numbers up to 10 and can count to 39 with a little help, plus he begged to learn how to write his own name. Now he knows the names of the letters in his name too, plus "c" for Cora, "r" for Rachel, "t" for Tobin and "h" for Haley. Andrew knows his colors too and loves to color.

His favorite part of the day is "Jesus Time". The first half hour to hour of every school day is started with some quiet time to pray and read and draw with Jesus. Jen prays a small prayer to start and then everyone spends time with Jesus either by reading the Bible (the girls who can read) or by drawing pictures (the boys). When everyone is done with that they all take a turn praying. Andrew asks most nights if we'll have "Jesus Time" when we wake up. He loves to pray. All he knows of prayer now is "thanky for...." and then he fills it in with just about anything. Most of the time it's "thanky for church, for daddy work, for van, for house..." Every now and again it's "thanky for Tobin bleed" after Tobin gets hurt. I guess he knows better than the rest of us how to be thankful in all things.

One of the things we've realized over the past year is just how much we've missed with him. It's mostly the little things in training that we don't think of. Like how its not appropriate to write on cars with rocks (No really. Its a good thing Aaron works in auto restoration.). Of course we also see it in his understanding about who Jesus is.

Although it was encouraging this past week ; Jen told Andrew to go sit on his bed when he was misbehaving during school. She was going to deal with him as soon as she could get the others started on their work. She heard talking in his room and had the other kids keep quiet so she could listen. Jen heard him talking to Jesus and saying Amen. He then yelled out, "Mommy, I'm all done." His attitude had changed.
Andrew does not remember much prior to being with us. He thinks we were there in Bulgaria with him in the orphanage. He really does not remember much from there other than what he sees in pictures. We ask questions, but haven't gotten much out of him. The most he's remembered is "going downstairs with a small mug with black in it with the Doctor". He remembered this one night while we were eating soup and there happened to be a coffee mug on the table at the same time. So, as you can see we haven't gotten much out of him.

Andrew has had one minor cold for a short couple of days since being home. We have had no issues with his hydrocephalus. He is a healthy boy. He is growing in height, but not weight. He eats well and loves fruits and vegetables the most. His favorite foods are tomatoes and apples. We do not eat fast food very often, but he doesn't like it when we do. Although he does love candy, cookies and soda.

Andrew was potty trained when he came home and has stayed that way. For several months he wore diapers at night, but once the box ran out, he wanted to be a big boy like Tobin. He wet at night quite a bit in the beginning and we would not make a big deal of it and just wash the sheets a lot. We woke him up every night, but he'd still wet. Then he seemed to stay dry for quite some time and we thought we were in the clear. It wasn't too long and he was wetting again. We know he's only 5 and that boys do tend to wet at this age, so we don't make a big deal of it and still wake him once before we go to bed. Plus he never seemed that bothered by it. However, we do believe there may be some connection to his emotional state. We have noticed that he wets the most when he seems to have several days in a row with a little bit of attitude or when there has been several changes in our schedule. Over the last month he has started to get upset about it and tells us he is sad when his bed is not made because the sheets are in the wash.

Andrew is occasionally scared people will get him. We let him know we are his mommy and daddy and will take care of him and keep him safe. One night Jen told him that if somebody tried to come and get him that daddy would fight him. He seemed very content with that answer. If he says somebody might get him we ask him what will happen and he says, "Daddy fight them." He still doesn't like to be in bed without Tobin in the room, so when Tobin comes out to tell us something or go potty, Andrew comes out of the room as well if he's awake.

Dear Gift of Adoption: 2011

2011-09-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

We were blessed with 3 different grants through our adoption journey. One was from our church Grace Covenant Fellowship, one from Showhope and another from Gift of Adoption. The video was put together by Gift of Adoption in order for them to raise money for future grants. Our story is the last one. Enjoy!!!

This month is Gotcha month and it is amazing to think that it has almost been a year since Andrew left the doors of the orphanage forever. Andrew is doing so well. We have had such tangible moments of seeing his attachment.

We had a dinner to go to in August, but none of our family was available to watch the kids. Up until that point we have only allowed family to watch Andrew. We ended up having a friend watch the kids. The older 4 knew her, but she was a stranger to Andrew.

We explained as best we could to him who was watching him and how we'd be home while he was sleeping. He didn't seem to mind. We weren't sure how he would react and thought that he might try to get really cute with her, sit in her lap and that there could be a bit of manipulation.

There had also been a few times in the month before where Andrew would go get something that wasn't his without asking and decide it was his to play with. So obviously we were concerned that he may try and pull something while we were out.

We arrived home and came in to the living room. Immediately Andrew came over and sat down right next to her. Then Jen picked him up to show Andrew something and he clung to her and wouldn't let go. Our friend said he did totally fine and didn't do either of what we thought.

Just to help explain what is so amazing about this night, Andrew is not a cuddly kid. He lets us hug him and kiss him, but he never iniates affection. If we're watching a movie and try to cuddle him he will shrug you off. A few days before this night Jen was talking about how she really could use some affection from our son iniated by him. Here it was. God knew what she needed and he gave it to her.

The next night Jen went out before bed time, so Aaron put the kids to bed without her and Andrew cried for mommy. He has never done that before.

Since that week Andrew has been very cuddly. He will walk up to one of us and just lean on us looking for love. He asks to be picked up and wants to be in our laps cuddling while being read to. We're thanking God for all He has done. It is so wonderful to see your child feel more and more safe and more and more a part of the family.

A few weeks later Jen was putting some old pictures on Shutterfly. They were from 2009 before Andrew was home or known. Whenever he sees pictures of the 4 other kids without him he asks where he is. We always explain to him that he was in Bulgaria and we were trying to find him. That he was in another mommy's belly and how she couldn't take care of him, but that God brought us to him.

This time he looked at Jen and said,"I don't want to do that again." Jen understood what he meant. Then he said, "I don't want to go there again," meaning the orphanage. She assured him he would never go there again. This was another big change. Usually he sees pictures from Bulgaria and says that he wants to go there, but apparently those days are over. He now wants to be here with his family.

It is amazing to think about how our biological children go through these same phases, but of course they're suttle and we hardly notice them. With Andrew we're able to see drastic changes, literally within a day's time, and it fill our hearts with joy.

Referral picture and some extras

2011-07-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here is our only baby picture (left) of Andrew given to us with about 15 other pictures from the orphanage. The picture on the right is our first glimse of Andrew (our referral picture). What a precious little boy, our son. We saw the life in him through his eyes and knew he was ours at first glance.

We used An Open Door Adoption Agency here in Georgia. We were super impressed with this agency as we have stated numerous times. We had an opportunity to write up a testimonial for their website and wanted to share it. To see our testimonial click here (We're the second one down under Andrew).

Family National Association is the Bulgarian side to our adoption agency. Click here to see their homepage. If you scroll to the bottom you will see our pictures on their home page. Click on Photos/Reviews at the top of the page to read our review (first one under Review for USA) as well as see our pictures (under Photos for USA). We were very impressed with this agency. They also have a section listing special needs children that they have access to written in English. A long way down on the list is the number for our son and next to it is written ADOPTED along with many others. It brings joy to our heart to see this.

Last, but not least, here is some fun video our boys. They love music and play their guitars most every day. By the way, Andrew is singing to God and saying "Send your power". Yes, it sounds like shampoo, but we hear it often. Some days it is easier to understand than others. This is Andrew's favorite song to sing. He made it up one day while he and Tobin were playing "worship".

Summer Events and Birthday Boy!!!

2011-07-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 15th was Andrew's 5th birthday. It was his first birthday home with his forever family. After being home about 4 months and watching as others in the family had birthdays, he's been counting down until it was his. Finally the day arrived. We had one family over to celebrate on the actual day since some of our family is out of town and we won't have a big family party until later in the month.

On our Gotcha Day, we were given about 15 pictures of Andrew. Some of them included pictures of his 2nd, 3rd and 4th birthdays. His hair is always done crazy in these pictures. We were told that there was one woman who really liked his hair that way, so they would do it up for his birthdays. We call it "crazy hair" when we look at the pictures with him. So, when his day finally came he asked for "crazy hair" and we were more than willing to accommodate.

It has been almost 10 months since we brought Andrew out of the orphanage. Since the last time we blogged he has grown another inch, but only gained a half of pound if that. So, our big 5 year old is now 42 1/2" tall and about 32.6 lbs. He's only about 4 lbs. lighter than our smallest at 5 years old. So, he's definitely a Santor.

We just had our post placement this week. Our caseworker is heading to Latvia and had to get this done in time to send it off to Bulgaria for translation. Since it will be one year the end of September.

We did a lot of travelling the month of June. Our first weekend was spent with Aaron's family in Tybee Island for a family reunion while his sister was here for her R&R (she's deployed with the army). We spent the weekend with all 13 cousins on Aaron's side. The oldest being Cora at 10. Yep, a lot of little ones. Andrew really loves his cousins and aunts and uncles.

His first trip to the ocean was back in November '10 right after we got him home. He tripped and fell just as an inch of water washed up around him. Overwhelmed, he shrieked until we picked him up. The water this time at Tybee was stronger. Andrew went right in the water and played around in it for quite a while. We have a brave little guy with hardly any fears.

The following weekend we headed up to NY and MA to visit our families. Another round of seeing grandparents, great grandparents (there are 6 of them), aunts, uncles and more cousins (on Jen's side). Usually we drive through the night and while Andrew is no longer vomiting on car rides, he still seems a bit uneasy through the night. He yells, cries and kicks all in his sleep while we drive. However, he did not do any of it this trip. It is so exciting to see how well he is attaching and adjusting just in these little things.

While we were in NY, Jen's cousin generously offered to take the kids rock climbing. We all had a great time and it was yet another new adventure for Andrew. He didn't quite get the hang (pun intended) of climbing without clinging to the rope but he had a blast asking "Please more." He kept wanting to go higher. He did great until we asked him to rappel back down. He took a few steps back and panicked. He clung to the rope with both hands. More shrieking. Now all he could scream was "Please go home!" We eventually worked him down, and of course he immediately wanted to go back up.

We were gone for about 10 days and the following weekend went on a camping trip. It was Andrew's first time, but he looked like such a pro. All the kids like to walk around in the woods at night with their flashlights. It's kids only and they call it a "night hike". Well, Andrew joined right in. At home he seems a little afraid of the dark. He won't go to the bathroom in our room if the lights are out and he doesn't like to go to bed unless Tobin is in there and the closet light is on. Here in the woods he didn't seem to notice the dark, even when we put the kids in the tent to go to bed without us.

We were able to go swimming at the lake as well. This is the only place we've seen him be somewhat afraid of water. He loves the pool whether he can reach the bottom or not. The ocean was no big deal. Playing in the river was a blast. He begs for a bath most every day and pours buckets of water over his head and has learned to hold his breath underwater. The only thing we can figure is that it was murky lake water and he couldn't see the bottom.

The next weekend was the 4th of July, so we headed up to Helen, GA. We spent the entire day there going tubing down the Chattahoochee River, grilling out, playing in the river and then watching the fireworks. Again, all firsts for Andrew. He absolutely loved tubing. We weren't sure what he'd do during the fireworks. There was a big bang and then the sky was lit up. Andrew turned around, looked at Aaron and said,"This is fun." He had a huge grin on his face throughout the rest of the display.

Yes, that was a whirlwind and we didn't plan it that way. We all survived and had so much fun as a family. We did have a little bit of re-adjusting to do with Andrew after being away from home and having so many new things and people around, but it never takes long. He just gets a little bit of attitude, disobedience rises up a little more than usual and he becomes very independent, not wanting mommy's or daddy's help. Nobody else notices it besides us. Just a little bit of time holding mommy's or daddy's hand or sitting in one of our laps for a short time usually does the trick.

We love our kids!! It is so amazing still that Andrew is home with us!! We are so thankful to God that He truly handpicked Andrew for our family.

Recent video of Andrew

2011-05-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

We finally figured out how to upload video.

Yes, this is how crazy life is at our house most of the time.

Oh, Andrew is the one in the red pajamas.

Enjoy!!!

The last few months

2011-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

We finally did go to the neurologist at the end of March to have them tell us more about Andrew's hydrocephalus. We headed down to Atlanta with him and had x-rays and a CT scan done. Andrew was quite the trooper. Immediately after, we went over to the neurologist's office for a consultation. He really didn't give us any new information. He did, however, confirm that Andrew has the mildest form of hydrocephalus. The shunt and all were in place (not quite where he would put it, but each neurologist has their ideal). We will need to lengthen the tubing that drains the extra spinal fluid from his brain. He has some extra tubing in his abdominal cavity, but not enough to get him into adulthood. So, in the next 2 -3 years Andrew will have to have surgery for that. The doctor said he likes to just replace the tubing so it won't become calcified. This means they will make a small incision at the base of his neck where the valve for the shunt is and another one near his bellybutton in order to take out the old tubing and replace it with a new one. This is a simple procedure, considering what more could be needed, and we are grateful this is all that will need to be done.

We never did write anything about Andrew's size. He came home a few months after he turned 4 wearing size 4 clothes. He was 30 lbs and 39 1/2" tall. As of March (6 months home) he only weighed 32 lbs. and was 41 1/2" tall. He has, however, started to wear size 5 tops. We cannot get him to grow any quicker.

We have had 2 post placements so far. Our caseworker, Cathy at An Open Door is amazing. She asks questions, but it's not intimidating at all. We give her the photos required and any other documents needed. I think we get talking so much she ends up being here longer than she is supposed to. She's been with us since we made the switch to Open Door and has been an encouragement along the way. We love having her come and do the visits because she was such a part of the process of bringing Andrew home and now she gets to see the end result of her working with us. Don't know if we mentioned it already, but she went out of her way to meet us at the airport for Andrew's homecoming. We had not met prior because their office is several hours away and we had done our home study with another agency. It meant so much to us for her to be there and show her support.

We received about 15 pages of documents in Bulgarian from the orphanage the day we took Andrew out. We have been wanting to translate them even though we knew it would mostly be the same information we already had. Finally we had some money and found a woman who lives in the states now (but lived in Bulgaria most of her life) who was willing to translate them for a reasonable fee. As we expected, most of the information was more of what we already knew; however, one document listed some of Andrew's firsts. Just this document alone was worth the money we spent. We now know when he first rolled over from his back to his tummy and when he first rolled over from his tummy to his back. We also know when he first sat up assisted and not assisted and when he first walked assisted and not assisted. What a treasure!!

Another fun little piece of information we found out was his blood type. Things seem to be in neat little packages for us. The girls and I have the same blood type and Aaron and Tobin have the same blood type. We joked about how Andrew will probably have the same blood type as the boys and sure enough he does. Not a big deal to most people, but significant to us and apparently God figured it was too. It's just so crazy to see how God totally knew who our son was and didn't leave out even the simplest of details to make him feel more a part.

It took over 6 months, but we have finally adjusted to being parents of 5 kids. Things are running a lot smoother now and we are more able to enjoy time with all of our kids.

Andrew has been home for 8 months now and is doing so well. As soon as we can figure out how to upload videos we will post some.

April 26th

2011-04-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

It was exactly 3 years ago yesterday that we first made the decision to adopt, and exactly one year ago yesterday that we met Andrew for the first time.

We went back and reread our blog entry from the day we met Andrew. It's funny the things you remember, and the things you forget. We are so thankful that we took the time to write out the details of that moment. It is amazing to see how different we were even then, and how God's grace and provision have changed us forever.

Odds and Ends We've Been Meaning to Write About

2011-02-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

Seeking Counsel

We are so thankful to have a church family that supported us in our adoption. There are several families that have adopted as well. A couple months before we travelled to pick up Andrew we took one couple out to dinner and gave them total freedom to "wreck" all our false expectations about bringing an adopted child into our home. "The wounds of a friend are faithful" and we trusted their input completely. They were very encouraging and even gave us articles to read concerning attachment and other adoption related issues. It is such a blessing to have people like this in our lives.

Home School

One piece of advice that was offered was to lower our expectations for home-schooling the other children when Andrew came home. Initially we shut down school for several weeks. We gradually worked our way back on track but still we have drastically downsized the amount of material covered. It has been a juggling act with 4 kids in 4 different grades and a 4 year old looking for something to do. When he sees the others get their books out, he grabs his notebook and crayons saying "Andrew school?" He is not mischievous and into things, but he does get bored and interrupts. Many times throughout the day Jen hears, "Andrew hungry", "Andrew color" or some other jibberish just wanting to be heard.

Language

We can see his frustration with the language, as many times he will just blurt out made up words just to be a part of the conversation. He will even call someone's name just to get their attention but then just says "Um, um, um" His big achievement around New Year's was that he began speaking in sentences. It all started with us showing pictures to the grandparents and suddenly we heard Andrew say, "This is Cora, this is Rachel" as he pointed to each person in the picture.

Just in the last few weeks he's begun replacing his name with "I" or "Me". Although many times he still speaks in the third person.

Travel

Just after Christmas we travelled 18hrs to Massachusetts and New York to visit extended family that had not yet met Andrew. We were thrilled not to have to deal with his anxiety vomiting in the back seat. He seems now to understand that we will always return home. It looks as if that phase has passed.

Dentist

Andrew did have some major tooth decay, most of which was not too noticeable. However, the dentist did feel that it would be good to fill them to avoid future pain since he will have some of the teeth for another 5-6 years. His first visit went well and the dentist was able to fill a few teeth in one quarter of his mouth. Unfortunately, on the second visit, Andrew remembered the previous visit too well and wasn't able to sit still knowing what was coming.

Early February, we took him to be sedated in order to have the remainder of his teeth filled. Jen held him while they sedated him and then had to wait in the other room for 2hrs. They called her when he began to come to. An assistant quickly carried Andrew to the van, handed her a sheet of instructions and sent them on their way. It was one awful hour long ride home with Andrew screaming and flailing as much as the seatbelt would allow. An hour after being home, the sedatives were still making it hard for him to keep his balance. He had a little pain in his teeth at dinner and breakfast the next morning, but after that our little trooper acted like nothing ever happened.

Pediatrician

Andrew finally visited the pediatrician in January. She didn't have much to say. All his blood work looked good. He did need to catch up on a few shots which meant 3 in January and 4 more last week. He didn't like them at all and screamed quite a bit, but quieted down before we left the office. Again, he's a trooper and didn't act like anything was wrong after we left. We did assure him that he would not have anymore shots for a long time. Now when someone says "doctor", Andrew says, "no more shots". The big thing we're waiting on is a visit with a neurologist to see what they think stateside about Andrew's hydrocephalus. Our pediatrician's office got a visit set up for us in Atlanta on the 28th of this month. We'll keep you posted.

Attachment

It has been almost 6 months since we took Andrew out of the orphanage for good. He is adjusting so well and is definitely attached to us. However, we have only gone out and left him with Jen's sisters a couple of times for a couple of hours. We still do not send him to Sunday school class and don't plan on it until the Fall. He turns 5 in the summer and can go to class with his siblings in September when they switch out the classes.

Maybe we're over protective, but we can still see a change in his attitude towards us when we have left him or even when we have large gatherings. We even noticed a little attitude in him during church on Sunday mornings if we didn't hold his hand coming into the building. These attitudes were extremely mild and not noticeable to others, but we could sense them. For the time being we feel that it is beneficial for him to stick with mommy and daddy. We were the same way with all the others their first year of life, so why do it any differently for Andrew.

Diapers

Andrew came potty trained. What a huge blessing!!! However, he does wear a diaper at night. Somehow he can sleep through anything and doesn't wake up to use the potty. We even have to have him in a diaper for car rides over a couple of hours because there is a good chance he will fall asleep and wet. We have been prepping him that when he turns 5 and stays dry all night he won't have to wear diapers anymore. He gets so excited, especially when you tell him that he'll be like Tobin and will be able to wear underwear to bed. Aaron's big chant that the kids still use today, "No more diapers, pee pee on the potty!!!!!" worked for the other 4. We'll keep you posted.

Prepping the kids

Before leaving to bring Andrew home we sat down with the kids and talked about what life might look like with a new brother. We told them for a season everything we did would revolve around Andrew and bringing him into our family. He would have to adapt to us as well, which would take time. We told them that they may feel neglected at times but we encouraged them to talk to us about it. At the same time we as parents saw this as a great opportunity to walk alongside our children and help them "consider others better than [themselves]"Phillipians 2:3

We went out to eat one night and a woman asked our daughter, Rachel, if the boys were twins. Without missing a beat she replied, "No, they're 10 months apart." The look on her face was priceless. She then asked if they were all siblings. Again Rachel matter of factly said,"Yes." Now her husband had a look."How do you manage?" he asked. We told him that somedays we don't.

What impresses us is that it never occurs to our children to mention that Andrew has been adopted.

We also explained to the kids that at first, Andrew would not be disciplined the same and it might appear to them as if he were getting away with everything. We told them that discipline would change as our relationship with Andrew grew. Today Andrew is "loved "to the same measure as his older siblings.

Shoes

A tiny tidbit that worked for us concerning the shoe issue with most adopted children: Andrew wanted his shoes on all the time, which wasn't a problem in Bulgaria. However, we do not wear shoes in our house. Knowing this might be a problem, we bought Andrew slippers as soon as we got home. This way he could have inside and outside shoes. It worked! It actually worked so well that within a matter of days he didn't even bother to wear his slippers and went stocking footed around the house. We don't know if it will work for others, but figured we would make mention of it anyway.

I love you

For the first few weeks of bringing Andrew home we would say, "obicham te" and he would respond back "obicham te". After that we started to say "I love you" and he would respond back with something that sort of sounded like "I love you". While this was amazing and brought joy to our hearts this past week we cannot express the new emotions that came when Andrew said on his own, without prompting, "I love you". This just happened last week when one night he said it to Jen and the next night to Aaron. The third night at dinner, again without prompting, and having nothing to do with the converstaion he said, "I love mommy, daddy."

We love our son more than words can express and are so thankful to God for bringing him into our family.

Sofia - The History of Europe | София - Историята на Европа

2011-01-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a glimpse of the capital city, Sofia in Bulgaria. This is where our son Andrew's orphanage was located. We were able to see all but one of the buildings in this video as well as many others. Enjoy!!!!

2 months home and readoption

2010-12-14T18:44:00.000-08:00

It has been just over 2 months since Andrew has come home. In the last month we realized that it feels like Andrew has always been here. Sometimes we think he feels that way too. The other day he was looking through some old pictures and came across one of the other 4 kids. After studying it for a while he looked at Jen and questioningly said, "Andrew?" He was confused as to why he was not in the picture.

Last month we travelled to Hilton Head Island for a short weekend trip and about an hour into the drive Andrew began moaning in the back seat. Jen turned around to check on him trying to find out what was wrong. She finally got out of him that his belly hurt. We tried to pull over but did not make it in time. We realized that the last time we packed everything up and left early in the morning was when we came home from Bulgaria. Oops. Although nothing momentous took place that weekend we noticed an immediate change in Andrew's overall attitude. It seemed like Andrew had really connected with us and now was truly a part of our family in his own mind.

A few weeks later we headed out to Gatlinburg, TN for a short family weekend. This time we talked about where we were going and how we would come back home. He seemed to understand, but apparently he still got anxious and ended up throwing up just as we got into town. No warning signs again. Hopefully, our 18 hour ride up north after Christmas will go a little more smoothly.

Both trips he did completely fine on the way back home. So, it definitely is not a car sickness thing.

We did have an opportunity this past weekend to go to Christmas party, which meant leaving all the kids with Auntie Jessie and Uncle Craig for a few hours in the evening at our home. We didn't have any idea how Andrew would react since it was the first time he would have mommy and daddy gone at the same time. He loves our extended family and we were not worried about him other than wondering if he would be too o.k. with us gone. We were relieved the next morning when we went in his room and saw that he had thrown up in the night. It sounds weird, but knowing that this is how he deals with anxiety, we were happy to know it was not all o.k. to him that we were gone for the evening.

He is bonding so well. Once in a while we do deal with a bit of an attitude from Andrew towards Jen. He decides for a moment that he doesn't want anything to do with mommy and only daddy. So, Aaron takes these opportunities to teach his son not to be rude and to respect his mommy. Occasionally, there ends up being some discipline involved. It's hard on Jen and even Aaron during these moments, but they are far and few between.

It has taken 2 months to get Andrew covered with our state medicaid program. So, we have yet to visit our pediatrician. The week after Christmas we will be able to see her. In the meantime, we have been able to visit the dentist. Unfortunately for Andrew, all the candy he got for being the favorite or to keep him from throwing fits has caused him a mouthful of cavities. Good news is that they are all baby teeth. He loved the dentist and could not wait for his turn. He still wants to go back even after having a quarter of his teeth filled on the second visit. We get to go back this week to get another quarter filled. His teeth are not black, which we were happy about, but you can see the decay. Since he could lose his teeth in a year, the dentist is not sure as to whether or not to fill the front teeth, but he said we had enough to start with before we decide that.

Well, here is the news so many have waited to hear. We've been asked, "Last we knew you needed a few thousand dollars more and then next we knew you were flying to get Andrew. What happened?"

As God would have it, on the day we were flying out to get Andrew from Bulgaria we called home to have one last check of our email before our long flight across the ocean. There it was - an email from Gift of Adoption stating that we had been awarded a grant in the amount of $3,500. God had provided exactly what we needed as we needed it. He had covered all $36,000 that it took to bring our son, Andrew home!!!!! Thank you, Jesus!!! There we were in the middle of the Chicago airport amazed at our God, Provider.

Obviously, we had to put the plane tickets on a credit card to order them, but fully expected God to provide the money. We have been waiting for the grant money to come through so we haven't mentioned it publicly until now. We got the credit card bill and then one day last week we received the grant check and were able to pay the bill.

This past Monday, December 13th we went to the courthouse in town and readopted Andrew stateside. No, we did not have too, but we had already run into a few problems with medicaid and could only imagine what other things in the future might be a problem. We had a lawyer friend take care of the legalities and we had enough adoption funds left to pay all expenses for this last step as well. God is faithful until the end!!!

So now the chapter on bringing Andrew home is closed. This next chapter will be full of new adventures as we live life with Andrew. At the start of our journey we committed not to go into debt to fund the adoption. We knew that if adoption was the path that God wanted us on then He would provide every penny. When things got down to the wire, we found assurance in the fact that if we took out a loan to pay for any part of this it would be our doing, but if God came through we would have nothing to boast in except His faithfulness.

We are truly blessed!! And, yes, we do have our hands full with 5 kids!!!!!

1 Month Home

2010-11-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

We had our 1 month post-placement visit today. All interaction with our case worker, Cathy, from An Open Door has been over the phone, with the exception of a brief moment at our Welcome Home Rally at the airport. So, we enjoyed spending time with her in person today.

It's hard to believe that it has already been a month since we brought our son home. Our time in Bulgaria seems like a distant memory. And who was that child we had with us?

Our Sashko has decided that he now enjoys being called Andrew. Jen would ask him (in Bulgarian) what his name was and he would answer, "Sashko". Then she would ask him again and then answer for him, "Andrew?". Every time she did this he would giggle and smile. She did this a few times about a week and a half ago and let it be. The next day at lunch he pointed to himself and told his siblings "Andrew!". So we decided we would start to call him Andrew. Almost immediately we noticed an overall improvement in his attitude.

While we will not keep him from his Bulgarian roots, it seems that a "clean break" for the moment is better during this time of transition. Even pictures from Bulgaria or speaking too much Bulgarian seems to confuse him and cause him to disengage from us. We do have tons of mementos from the country and orphanage that we will tuck away for now and save for a more appropriate time.

Fits and tantrums have completely subsided. Meal time is no longer a hassle. As a matter of fact, when we sit down to dinner, Andrew will push his milk aside and start eating immediately. He will actually ask for permission before he takes a sip.

While Andrew is not at all shy (in fact he's quite a flirt!), he now looks to us before greeting extended family members and friends.

It's amazing how quickly Andrew has learned English. He does understand most everything we say. We will ask him a question in English and often he will respond in Bulgarian. When he hears us say certain words in English, like "more", he repeats the word in Bulgarian, "oshti". He has been using many English words and phrases; he copies us all the time.

We have decided to re-adopt Andrew stateside while everything is fresh in our memory and paperwork has not been lost. We have a court date set for December 13th. It has been a little tricky trying to get insurance coverage for him due to the specific documents they are looking for. We figure there will only be more headaches in the future and re-adopting will eliminate those.

We did the math before we started the adoption, but didn't realize how big a family of 7 was until we got them all together! Or how fun!

When we realized that we would be bringing him home soon, we made preparations to have many of our responsibilities delegated out until after Christmas. It really has been one of the best things we did for our family. Nightly wrestle matches, story times, and horsey rides have been great not only for Andrew but also for our other 4. They have done remarkable during this time of adjustment as well. We are so proud of their sacrifice, prayer, faith, and hard work throughout this entire adoption journey. Now that Andrew is home we are amazed at their selflessness, care and love. There is no difference to them, Andrew has always been one of us.

Travelling Home!

2010-10-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Waiting in Sofia airport at 4:30 a.m. and lollipops for all take-off and landings.

Walking around Frankfurt airport for a 3 hour layover and falling asleep only a half hour before boarding.

Car ride home from the airport. No issues with the seatbelt. Yay!!!

Day 7, Day 8 and Day 9

2010-10-16T11:41:00.001-07:00

Hanging around the apartment and the infamous door.

Views of Sofia from the top of the National Palace of Culture.

Hadjidraganov's Houses http://www.kashtite.com/index_en.html

Toy camera and toy phone were the best toys we brought.

Sashko loves shower time.

Day 5 and Day 6 in Bulgaria

2010-10-16T10:37:00.001-07:00

Church of Sveti Sedmochislenitsi and Rotunda of Sveti Georgi

Sveta Nedela and Statue of St. Sofia

Mineral Baths and Party House

Yuzhen Park (South Park) with Mt. Vitosha

Zhenski Pazar (Market)

Trolley ride

Day 3 and Day 4 in Bulgaria

2010-10-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

The National Palace of Culture

The Russian Church and Alexsandar Nevski Memorial Church

Margenitsa Restaurant http://www.magernitsa.com/

Zoopark

Pictures Day 1 and Day 2 in Bulgaria

2010-10-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Gotcha Day at St. Sofia Orphanage

Santor Pizza and Unforgettable Taxi ride

Playing in Yuzhen Park (South Park)

1 Week Home

2010-10-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

We've now only just begun to settle into a "real life" routine. Aaron is self employed and being that there were no paid days off while we traveled, he returned to work first thing Monday morning. Jen went straight to work as the now mother of 5.

On two separate nights, early on in the week, we had invited different family members over to meet Sashko. Of course they were excited when he came to them and called them "lellya" and "cheecho"(aunt and uncle). Unfortunately, soon after they left Sashko would revert back to behaviors where we had experienced breakthrough.

Our immediate plan of action was to let all family know that for now we couldn't allow them to hold Sashko for any length of time. They would only be able to hug and kiss him and then send him to Mommy or Daddy quickly. This killed us since our family has been so supportive and has been anticipating his arrival as much as we have. However, we believe this short term boundary will produce long term joy for all.

Also, we stopped referring to family members using Bulgarian words. We had thought this would help him adjust to our family life. What we found was that it was actually hindering it. In the orphanage world "lellya" and "cheecho" are just nice people that pop in and out of your life and most of the time are easily manipulated into giving you what you want. Sashko is in a new reality now which will require new patterns of thinking and a new vocabulary.

By the end of the week other family visits and outings went much smoother.

Sashko adores his three older sisters, and they enjoy any opportunity they have to dote over him! Sashko thinks Tobin is pretty cool, and Tobin is being very patient with his new little brother. He doesn't quite understand why Sashko shows no interest in playing swords or army. Today Tobin gave him a long stick to use as a pretend spear and Sashko began to sweep with it. We are encouraging Tobin to keep trying and reminding him that Sashko never had an older brother to teach him these games.

Sashko loves calling Daddy on the phone at work and runs to the end of the porch when Aaron's truck pulls up at the end of the day. Obviously, Jen spends all day with him so Sashko is more attached to her, but Aaron will take whatever he can get and tries to be intentional with his time in the evenings to bond with Sashko. Aaron has found that he has to purposefully remind himself of this and be thankful for every small step in their relationship.

The first couple of nights bedtime was a battle, but now Sashko brushes his teeth , puts on pajamas and hops into bed without complaint. When we brought him home he was still waking up in the middle of the night. One morning we awoke around 4:30 a.m. to find Cora, Tobin, and Sashko at the foot of our bed. Sashko was fully dressed, had folded and put away his pajamas, and was now turning on lights, shaking and kissing his brother and sister to wake them up!

At first he would come to mommy and daddy's room at random times of the night. He eventually figured out that Mommy and Daddy were only going to put him back to bed. So then we began to find him sleeping on the floor of his sister's rooms. We're really not sure how we put an end to all this, except that we just told him in English as we put him to bed each night to stop doing it. He now sleeps through the night in his room with Tobin.

Fits are now few and far between. At mealtimes he now knows that in order to have a sip of his drink he needs to take a bite first. He was initially terrified by the dog and cat, now they don't even phase him. All in all he really is adjusting well. Better than we had expected. Thank you, Jesus!

We all love him so much and are truly thankful that he is now part of our family.

Sashko's Homecoming

2010-10-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Home

2010-10-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

All day Friday we were packing and getting everything set to travel the next morning. We visited the park one last time and joined our new friends for dinner. We arrived back at the apartment around 9:30pm, put Andrew down to bed and finished putting the last minute items in the bags. We crashed at 11:00 pm.

Our first flight from Sofia to Frankfurt was at 6am, so we needed to leave the apartment by 4:15am, which meant we would have to wake up at 3am. We woke Andrew up at 3:30am, fed him a light breakfast and we were out the door. He was only fearful stepping on to the plane but was fine with flying otherwise. In fact, he fell back asleep before we even took off from Sofia.

Andrew napped again for about a half hour during our 3 hour layover in Frankfurt. He napped twice during the 10 hour flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta. The only problems we had were when we told him "no" a couple of times and he would throw a fit. Unfortunately on a plane there is nowhere to take him when he behaves like this so we had to deal with him in our seats. All things considered, he really did alright. If you wake a 4 yr old child at 3:30 in the morning and stick him on a plane for 10 hours, you are most likely going to have some moments.

We landed in Atlanta and were greeted by family and friends. Andrew was a little stunned until he noticed his brother and sisters. Then we got a smile and some giggles. We seat belted him into our van with no problems and began the 1-1/2 hour drive home. We stopped along the way for a light dinner with the crowd from the airport. Tobin and Andrew had so much fun together.

All the kids fell asleep on the way home from dinner only to wake up as soon as we pulled into the garage at 11:30 pm. Andrew got a quick tour of the house and then it was time for pajamas and bed. We made Tobin wear matching pajamas so Andrew would want to wear some as well. We tucked all the older sibling in bed first, and then brought Tobin and Andrew into their room. We showed Andrew his bed but he said he didn't want to sleep there and immediately hopped into Tobin's bed and curled up next to him.

Our kids had us up at 8am, so we decided to head to church. Andrew was a bit shy but as the worship started he was clapping and bouncing to the music with a big smile on his face.

Here are some facts we haven't been able to share until now:

At the orphanage they called our son, Sashko, which is short for Aleksandar. His full name is Andrew-Aleksandar Thomas Santo, but for now we're just calling him Sashko.

He turned four this summer!

Sashko's special need is Hydrocephalus, better known as "water on the brain", which he had surgery for at 3months old. He has a shunt from his skull with a drainage tube into his stomach. Its all under the skin and doesn't seem to bother him. We may have to do replacement surgery in a couple of years as he out grows the current shunt.

He lived in St. Sofia orphanage in the capital city of Sofia, so both our trips were spent there.

We recommend:

Golden Rule Travel http://www.goldenruletravel.com/default.asp for booking our flights both trips over to Bulgaria.

Also, our agency is An Open Door Adoption Agency, Inc. http://www.opendooradoption.org/

A broken door and a chance encounter

2010-09-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

By the end of yesterday we felt as if we had really gained some ground in regards to bonding, communication and, for now, managing Andrew's tantrums. Then at about 12:30 last night, he began his nightly routine of waking up and getting out of his bed. We repeated everything that had worked before, but with no success.

In one last attempt, we laid him in his bed, told him it was time to sleep and shut the door. We heard him scream, get out of bed, pound the floor and then quiet. Success?!? Before we had a chance to exhale there was another scream and a crack. We ran and opened the door to see Andrew standing in shock with tiny glass shards in his hair. We looked at the back of the double paned, frosted glass door to see the inside pane shattered. Apparently pounding his fist into the floor was not dramatic enough for him, so he decided to use his head on the back of the door.

Andrew was not hurt in any way. He immediately realized what he had done and jumped into bed and lay still. We did not have to say a word.

This morning we woke up with knots in our stomachs. How much would this cost? Would anyone call the authorities on us? Are we screwing up our son?

We contacted our agencies in Bulgaria and the States; everything has been handled and tomorrow we will find out the cost of the damage. Our agency here in Bulgaria, as well as the landlord have told us not to worry and have been very supportive. They were all just happy Andrew was not hurt.

When we woke up, it was obvious that Andrew still carried some guilt. We reassured him that we love him and continued on with the day. We've read enough not to be surprised by this behavior, so we are not disappointed in any way. We love him as our own because he is our own. He is an amazing little boy and we are so blessed to have found him! He really is a joy to us and we can't wait to see him thrive even more at home. We are so proud of him and how well he has handled all the change.

The thought occurred to Aaron, "the father bears the offense of the rebellious son". What a picture of who our heavenly Father is and what He has done!! Suddenly the cost of the door just seemed so small and we were at peace.

This morning we walked back over to the US Embassy and picked up Andrew's passport and visa. We are done!!!

On the way back through the park we decided to go a longer way home to the apartment. We turned left and walked towards a woman and her son. She looked right at us and suddenly said, "Hello" in English. We were surprised and said, "Hello" back. She then pointed to Andrew and said, "We know him."

We looked at her in shock as she proceeded to explain that her husband and she had adopted the boy with her from the same orphanage. She recognized Andrew because he was out in the hallway nearly every time they went to visit their son. Next thing you know the two boys were playing and laughing as we talked. It was cold today so she invited us to head to an indoor playground with the two of them.

We then talked for another hour about our boys, the orphanage, good and bad issues we were dealing with. It was so amazing to have met up with her and encouraging to the both of us. She's actually from Bulgaria and her husband is from the UK and they are living here. He was working when we met so we arranged to have dinner together at a restaurant nearby tomorrow night. We are really looking forward to it!

Tomorrow will consist of packing up everything and probably a trip to the park before dinner out.

U.S. Embassy Visit

2010-09-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Despite the rain we decided to walk through the park to get to our visa interview at the US Embassy. Our appointment was for 2:30 and we were told to arrive by 2:15. We left with plenty of time to spare and it was a good thing.

All morning long Andrew had been throwing temper tantrums over the smallest things we would ask him to do. Apparently he's feeling more comfortable with us. Just as we were about to leave he threw a fit over Jen trying to look at his belly. Five minutes away from the doors of the embassy Jen asked him to put on his hood because it was raining. At the apartment we can let him throw himself to the ground during a tantrum, but in the park it was wet and muddy.

During our time here we've decided it's best to just ignore the fits and remove him from the situation. So far that has worked pretty well since he now realizes that he's not getting any attention for his behavior. Over the course of the day the fits grew less intense and shorter in duration. After dinner we came home and were able to get him dressed in his pajamas and his teeth brushed with little trouble. When it was time to go to his bed, he went willingly without any resistance. He even asked Mommy to come.

We went out to eat for pizza at a local restaurant for dinner. Throughout the entire wait Andrew kept saying "Pizza" and would give us a huge smile. We had our first pizza with pickles, interesting combination. However, we're not ready for pizza with mayonnaise, ketchup or corn just yet.

The embassy interview was quick and painless. We were hoping to get a picture of Andrew outside the embassy. Fortunately we found out this was not permitted before we tried it. Who would of thought?

Tomorrow we pick up the visa and Saturday we get to go home. We're really missing the rest of the kids and can't wait for them to meet their brother in person.

Out and about

2010-09-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went back to the city. We visited the Zhenski Pazar Market and stopped at a few sights along the way. Note for future adoptive parents: At the far corner we found beautiful clay pottery for the best price. We discovered a little shop in the subway under the Presidency. It was there we found better prices on the hand carved wood items. Traditional clothing seemed to be cheaper at the Alexander Nevski Cathedral.

Andrew trekked with us again without complaint. At the end of the day he was completely worn out; however, bedtime was the last thing he wanted to do. We did our normal routine, but he woke up as we tried to sneak out of the room. Then the wailing began. We eventually got him to bed, but it did take some time and patience on our part. Here's to tag-team parenting!

Each morning he does end up in our bed between 5 and 6 A.M. and falls back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. This we don't mind because it does allow for bonding. We've just never been able to pull the all night sleep over with our children and actually wake up rested.

Today we had the Medical Exam. Good news was it was cheaper than expected and pretty much uneventful. Andrew was shy, but to our surprise he did not freak out. We've noticed he has a tendency to "shut down" with a blank stare when he doesn't like something. We could see him start to head in that direction but somehow he pulled out of it.

After this we returned to Zhenski Pazar Market. It wasn't so much for the shopping as it was for the fact that when we got home yesterday Jen forgot that we had wrapped the pottery in a sweatshirt. As she unpacked the backpack from the day the pottery smashed on the floor. So we returned to buy a new piece. It wasn't a big deal because the pottery is really inexpensive.

Jen is fighting a cold so when we got back to the apartment, she rested while Andrew and Aaron walked to the bank to exchange money. He does alright as long as one of us is with him. He actually enjoys taking trips to the curb to empty the trash with Daddy. He is adjusting well to us and is picking up on more English. He understands many phrases in English that we don't know the Bulgarian words for.

We've seen such a transformation with Andrew in less than a week. His fearfulness has diminished and he even walks with more confidence now. Earlier on he would only attempt to climb the play equipment halfway up. Today he was looking over his shoulder to see if we noticed him standing on the top without holding on. On one playground, he would run to the end of the plank, grab a bar and kick his feet out over a ladder. It is amazing watching what a difference the love and care of a family makes on a little boy's life within a few days.

Tomorrow we got to the U.S. Embassy for the visa interview. It's only a short walk through the park from our apartment. Then on Thursday we'll return to pick up the visa.

On a lighter note, yesterday Andrew was wearing some pants we had brought him that were a little big in the waist. All day long he was pulling on them to keep them up. At one point we were crossing a street at a crosswalk when we both felt him trying to pull his hands away. The light was about to turn red so we squeezed his hands telling him "ne, ne, ne". We kept him walking pulling him up while he was saying something to us in Bulgarian. When we reached the other side of the street we heard him giggling and looked down to see his pants around his ankles! Who knows how far we had been dragging him like that. We eventually figured out that he was saying pants in Bulgarian, but a different word than we were told.

Short post for a long day.

2010-09-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

We can't really say much about today. Only that we were able to spend some time at the Zoo with someone that Andrew was familiar with for one last goodbye. They were both very close, and it was a mistake we would be willing to make again. Unfortunately, it set his attachment with us back a day, but it provided much needed closure for them. We are glad that it happened today and not later in our stay.

The past two nights Andrew woke up around 1 a.m. The first night he was visibly frightened and so we instinctively brought him into our bed.

The second night it was evident that he was just simply wanting to hang out. So we spent about an hour putting him back down to bed repeatedly as he would get back up and come in to our room. At first we took the time to love on him and reassure him that we were there since he was whimpering some and crying. As time progressed, we would tell him in Bulgarian "No, I love you, fall asleep, it's time for bed" and at this point there was no crying. Towards the end we just said "No. Go to bed". Finally, he just stayed in bed and fell asleep on his own. It was worth the time we put in for future nights of better sleep.

We'll see how tonight goes.

Bedtime tonight was a little easier. Still a struggle when it was time to put on pajamas, but after that things were much better.

No plans for tomorrow except to take it easy and enjoy our son.

Thru the streets of Sofia

2010-09-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

As much as it killed us to do so, we finally broke down and entered a McDonald's. You really don't have much choice when your 4 year old starts holding himself doing the "pishka" dance in the middle of Sofia. Inside, the only difference we noticed was the cooler of Heineken's for sale on the counter. Outside was a book market we remembered from our previous trip so we stopped for an ice cream cone.

Today was one of the few days where we had absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to be. So with our Bulgarian phrase book in hand, we decided to venture into the city. Our goal was to make it to Aleksander Nevski Cathedral, barter for some souvenirs, order a meal from one of our favorite restaurants here, and take a trolley home. All without causing an international incident. We made it! Our only close call was when we passed in front of a political march of some sort.

Andrew did amazing. Its about 2 miles from our apartment to the cathedral and he walked the entire way, with only two stops. Not a single complaint or attitude. We walked about halfway back from the cathedral to the restaurant (http://www.magernitsa.com/). For this leg, Aaron carried Andrew most of the way. While in the restaurant, Andrew was also very well behaved. We decided we had worn him out enough, so we took a trolley back to the apartment.

It was quite an adventure for us trying to translate Cyrillic letters on street signs and matching them with Latin letters on our English map. It was also fun trying to speak Bulgarian in order to get around and make purchases. We were told on our first trip that you could get around Sofia pretty well knowing only English; however, we have not found that to be the case.

Bedtime was more of a struggle tonight. Andrew has caught on to our routine that pajamas go on right before bedtime. So tonight he did not want to put on his pajamas. He cried and through his tears informed us "neescom"(don't want). We won that battle, only to have him put on his sweatshirt, thinking that this would somehow prevent going to sleep. We took off his sweatshirt amidst much protest and carried him to bed while he screeched. We brought in a glow-stick and blanky bear in order to negotiate him laying down. It worked except for some sporadic whimpering. We brought in the laptop and lay with him as he fell asleep (only minutes again) to Franklin the Turtle overdubbed in Bulgarian.

One of the challenges we face is the balance between compassion for all the change in Andrew's life with the need for him to know boundaries for behavior. That becomes even more complex when both of us are out of our normal surroundings, not to mention a language barrier. So we ask God,"who gives generously to all without finding fault", for wisdom.

On our own

2010-09-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

When we left the orphanage yesterday, they told us that Andrew typically wakes up around 6:30am. Yikes!! So we were pleasantly surprised when at 8am this morning Andrew walked into our room with a big smile on his face. Apparently an eventful day with no nap completely wore him out.

He seemed completely relaxed around us today and gave no indication that he wanted to go back to the orphanage. Jen made eggs and toast for us this morning, but again Andrew was only interested in a banana. In the moment Jen was inspired with some divine wisdom and told him that he could have more juice if he would take a bite of egg. That settled it and he finished his eggs.

We took a long walk in the park this morning. We stopped at a few play areas but finally rested in a big field. We brought toys and played until we were hungry.

We came back for lunch. Andrew scarfed his sandwich and we made another attempt at a nap for him. No go. So we tried having some chill time with a video. That lasted for about 2 seconds. We are so thankful to have a week alone with him to bond before we return home. However, that's one week alone with him. It's been a few years since we've been parents of one. At home the kids can keep each other entertained. Here, its just us and we are out of shape for this line of work.

Relief came in the form of a Skype call from the kids at home. Its amazing to see them connect with him online. He smiles, responds and interacts with them more than anyone else he's seen.

After the call we went for another walk in the park. At our first stop in a play area, Andrew climbed to the top of a piece of play equipment and called out "Mama!" for Jen to see. THE highlight of her day.

Its been amazing to see Andrew's progression even after just a short time with us. He has always been incredibly cautious and not very sure-footed. Even at the end of the first visit, Aaron could barely pick him up without it completely overwhelming him. This afternoon he was running and jumping all over the park. Aaron was rough housing with him and even throwing him up in the air( reasonably of course, as all Dads do ). Yesterday and this morning he would not walk with us near water, even while holding our hands. This afternoon he wanted to stop at a bridge and throw sticks in a creek (his idea).

We came home late for dinner, but Jen cooked some chicken. Some trouble with eating but that may have been due to the granola bar in the park to tie him over and the glass of milk he guzzled as Aaron was setting the table.

Bedtime went well. Andrew cried as Jen sat down on the bed with him and rubbed his back. Aaron stroked his forehead as he fell asleep within minutes between wimpers with another glow stick and blanky bear in his hand.

We Have Our Boy!!!

2010-09-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

While our travel to Bulgaria was uneventful, it was uncomfortable. After 24 hours of travelling, we arrived in Sofia running only on the cat-naps we were able to get in during our trek across the Atlantic. We forced ourselves to stay up until 8pm local time in order to get a good night's rest before our first full day with Andrew. However, our systems were so out of sync that we still ended up waking up regularly throughout the night.

We missed our alarm and waking up an hour later, we began frantically getting ready.

We had arranged to have a "diaper donation" to be delivered this morning. When we arrived the delivery was waiting with a bill for over $100 what we had purchased. Fortunately, our agency was able to get the whole thing straightened out.

Meanwhile the workers had brought out Andrew. He recognized us immediately and we began getting reacquainted. Inside he was changed into clothes we had brought for him. The orphanage workers had prepared a backpack for him to take with us. It included the photo album we brought him in April, some toys and a few pictures of him during his time there. Andrew helped us hand out gift bags to the workers, doctors and directors. One doctor actually had gifts for us. A hand stitched wall hanging, a pillow case for Andrew, an authentic Bulgarian apron and another hand stitched wall hanging made by her mother 70 years ago!

Leaving was not nearly as dramatic as we had pictured it, only a few tears. We do know that one worker that he was especially close to chose not to come today out of fear that it would just be to difficult to take for the both of them.

We took a cab from the orphanage to the passport office. He hopped in the cab with a huge smile, and even asked to remove his back pack so he could hold it like we were. He behaved perfectly for us at the passport office which consisted of at least an hour of standing in line.

We left there and walked a short distance to play at a nearby park.

Then our first meal together at Santor's Pizza! Here again, he behaved perfectly. He sat still in his seat, and throughout the meal he would copy everything we did. It seems that if he gets something in his mind, he has no reservations about trying if for himself and asking permission later (i.e. drinking with out a straw, using a fork, pouring water from the bottle into his glass). He devoured two slices and we were out the door.

Then another cab ride. By this time we were noticing signs of fatigue. It was about the time for his scheduled nap. So we were actually trying to keep him awake so we could put him down at our apartment and avoid him falling asleep and awaking having only had a power nap.

Apparently, between leaving the orphanage, exhaustion, heat, two slices of pizza and the general stress of the morning he had had all he could take and proceeded to throw up ( I mean THROW UP!) in the back seat of the taxi. Twice. The driver quickly pulled over and we got Andrew out of the car and began to clean him up. We decided we were close enough to walk the rest of the way so after cleaning the back seat, paying the driver 3 times the cost of the ride to appease him, we stripped Andrew of his vomit soaked pants and walked the rest of the way back to our apartment through the streets of Sofia with our new, naked son ( shirt, diaper, shoes, and socks up to his knees ).

When we got back to the apartment, we tried to give Andrew a nap. However when he saw Jen shut the blinds, he had panic in his eyes and backed out of the room mumbling something.

He never got his nap, but we spent the rest of the afternoon playing indoors and introducing him to his family via Skype. It was evident he was still in shock. Although there was a moment when he loosened up while talking with his siblings. He never spoke to them, but he did interact showing them a book, smiling and even trying to throw a ball to them.

Our wonderful translator, Maria stayed with us until 4:30 to help with the adjustments. There were a couple of moments with a few tears as reality set in. He allowed us to pick him up and comfort him. At one point he began repeating English as we read through a picture book.

We made dinner at home to avoid any more excitement. At dinner he pushed his plate of pasta and sauce away only to eat a piece of Jen's home made bread, a banana and some cheese.

We walked to the store to pick up a few items and finished the day with him falling asleep in his bed, curled up between the two of us with his new glow-stick bracelet in one hand and his blanky bear in the other watching Franklin the Turtle on the laptop.

Travelling!!!!!

2010-09-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

We just got word yesterday of some possible travel dates, the earliest being this Tuesday, Sept. 22nd. So, we decided not to wait another moment longer. We bought our tickets today and will be flying out this Tuesday, Sept. 21st. We will bring Andrew out of the orphanage on Thursday, Sept. 23rd. We are so ready to bring him home.

Every year we take a family vacation to Hilton Head Island the first week in October. It's our favorite trip as a family. This year all available funds were spent on two trips to Bulgaria instead. So we promised the kids we would take a long weekend. As we debated which dates we would travel, we soon realized that we would not be able to make the long weekend to HHI. As we gently broke the news to our children, their immediate response was "WHO CARES!!! We want our brother home!" We are so proud of them. Our entire journey has been a family endeavor and we could not, nor would we have done any of this without all of them. We'll write more on that in a later post.

Our first trip came upon us suddenly and with a weeks notice we were scrambling to have everything in place. We knew this trip was coming so over the past 5 months we have been slowly collecting items we would need for this trip (toys, clothes, travel items, etc.). That being said, a week to get ready is still just a week and we again are scrambling to make sure everything's in place. From mowing the lawn, to arranging rides for the kids, to setting up skype on our home computer -we are busy.

This week our oldest daughter and (now)oldest son each have birthdays. Our large family party for both will have to be postponed. In the meantime we're having two, much smaller birthday/family night parties before we leave. Complete with milkshakes, root beer floats, games, and finishing Prince Caspian, they're sure to be fabulous!

Since our last post God has provided $7,090. We are still needing another$3800, but for God there's no time crunch. We are continually reminding ourselves of all that He's done in the past. Last trip the final $1200 didn't arrive until 2 days before we left. He is faithful to complete what He started, and we'll rest in that. We are currently waiting to hear from an adoption grant that we've applied for. Ironically, we'll hear from them no later than the 21st, the day we fly out. God's funny.

We can't wait to be able to share Andrew with all of you!! Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support. There has been a tangible grace on our family at every step.

Introducing Andrew-Aleksandar Thomas Santor!!

2010-08-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

We have just received word this evening that the Bulgarian court has approved our adoption. He is officially our son!!! We had been checking our email ALL day, knowing that our case was being heard today, and had finally given up on hearing anything. Jen checked one last time around 6:30 while we were heating up dinner and getting ready for the college home group we host. There was the email! We all started screaming and kissing. We've been wired ever since. You can imagine how difficult it was to put the kids to bed tonight!

We are told that the actual court decree will take another two weeks. After that the Bulgarian agency will work on getting his new birth certificate and paperwork required by the Hague convention. We will not know our travel dates until this happens, but we are expecting no later than early September.

Money for the remaining amount continues to trickle in. On Monday night, our 3yr. old niece emptied her piggy bank into our donation jar that sits on the counter. We've learned to thank God for every penny of provision and not discard even the smallest gift.

We are still needing over $9,000 to finally bring our son home. This amount includes air fare, agency fees, medical exit exam and a weeks worth of accommodations while we travel. If you would like to be a part of bringing Andrew home please click on one of the fundraisers listed on the sides of this post. Just in the last few weeks we've received $40 from a friend at church, $10 for a loaf of Jen's bread, the piggy bank money from our niece, and even a $10 donation via the "Donate" button on this page.

Another friend from church is offering a photography class. The cost of the class will be donated to our adoption fund. Just to have someone help by taking up our cause is a tremendous blessing and we are so grateful.

God has provided every cost upfront from the first $550 application fee. So we are in no position to doubt his provision now. This is His story and He will be faithful to finish what He started.

On a side note:

Two weekends ago Jen suddenly felt the urgent need (nesting?)to make sure everything was in place for Andrew's homecoming, even though we had no news. We needed two dressers for the boys and wanted bookshelves to organize our home (specifically the home school materials that had accumulated in piles throughout the house).

We decided to take a trip to IKEA to see what we could find. We found two solid wood dresser within our budget, but were not sure if the dimensions would fit so we decided to go home and check the measurements. On our way out the door we notice the "As Is" section. There we discovered two 4' w X 6'h solid wood bookshelves. $62 a piece, marked down from $250! We grabbed them.

When they were assembled at home they not only fit all of our home school supplies but also all of Aaron's books that have been sitting in boxes in our attic for the past 7yrs. We took some measurements and realized that it would not be difficult to build in a corner desk between the bookshelves. Jen's mom and dad eagerly planned the whole thing out so that once we had the money we could finish it off.

The following weekend we returned to pick up the two dressers that we now knew would fit; however, this weekend there was only one on the shelf. As we spoke with a service guy in the "As Is" section, Jen's dad noticed two solid wood dressers already loaded on a cart, bigger and better than the two we were trying to buy. $49 a piece, marked down from $200!

Jen's dad was determined to make our desk happen now and suggested quickly looking down an aisle for desk tops. We found an exact sized piece of wood for the desk and the shelf above only $20 a piece, so now we wouldn't have to wait. The very next day her parents came and worked until 1a.m. to finish the desk.

Altogether we bought 2 brand new, solid wood dressers, 2 brand new, solid wood bookshelves and a custom built, solid wood desk for only $328!! Again God provides.

Article 5

2010-06-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

The Article 5 letter has been received by the agency in Bulgaria. They will translate and legalize it this week and could have it to the MOJ by next week.
We are missing our son and cannot wait until the day he is home forever.

U.S. Embassy interview

2010-06-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

We just got word today that our embassy interview in Bulgaria was successful. For anyone who does not know, the agency in Bulgaria sends a representative for us to be present for the interview. So we were not there in Bulgaria this week.

We do not know details of what next. We do know that they are waiting for the embassy to issue the Article 5 letter. They'll need to translate and legalize this information and then will present it to the Ministry of Justice. We do not know a timeline from there as of yet.

We will keep you posted. Thank you for your prayers and all your support.

I800 news

2010-06-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

Today we received the provisional approval for our I800. It took exactly 3 weeks to get here from the day they received our application. One more step closer.

We don't know the process fully, but the next step is for the Bulgarian agency to meet with the US Embassy to submit documents. From there, the US Embassy will issue a letter that will in turn be translated, legalized and sent to the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria to give consent to continue on with this adoption.

We are excited to be moving forward with the process and pray that all will go smoothly.

We also received $70 more for our adoption in the mail today as well. Thank you, Jesus for Your provision and encouragement!!

Paperwork is done!!

2010-05-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

We've been back from our first trip to Bulgaria for a month now and have jumped right back into the swing of things. We do miss Andrew terribly and our best treatment is to keep ourselves busy, which is not hard to do. We usually do alright until we see a picture of him or begin to daydream about going to our favorite places with him.

Once we got back we started filling out our I800 form. We needed some documents from Bulgaria and in a little over a week they arrived. So, we mailed in the I800 almost 2 weeks ago now. We do know they received it and are processing it. Hopefully, it won't be too long before we hear something.

Since getting back we have received around $1,300 from various people. Only $10,000 or so to go. We are so blessed to have friends and family supporting us in our adoption. It is amazing to see God provide to bring our son home through so many people. We applied for 2 adoption grants prior to our first trip, but were denied. Since returning we have applied for one more grant and are waiting to hear from them. So maybe we'll get some good news in the next month or so. Either way, we know God will provide all our needs. He called us to adopt and He is faithful. At this point He's already provided $26,000. What's another $10,000 when our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

We did want to mention how much we enjoyed Bulgaria and how we really cannot wait to return. Not only are we in love with our son, but also we have fallen in love with the country of his birth. Bulgaria is now a part of us and our family. We are now 1/7th Bulgarian! While we were there we asked as many questions as we could about their history and culture which is now a part of our history and culture as a family. We hope to return many times in the future.

We also wanted to mention how amazing the agency in Bulgaria is and how efficient they are. They have and continue to work tirelessly for the families in their care.

Our translator, Maria was amazing as well. She went above and beyond every day. Not only did she translate for us, but she became our tour guide as well. She even kept track of the time for us and made sure we were where we needed to be at the right time. Maria was the perfect match for us in that she was willing to walk all over Sofia with us when time permitted instead of taking public transportation. At one point she even paid our cab fare because she felt responsible when we ran out of time.

We were amazed at her wisdom during our time with our son. She was mindful to make sure that we were the first ones he saw when we arrived and not her. Whenever our son asked her for help, she pointed him to us. Maria worked well with us and knew what to translate at the appropriate times without having to ask.

We are missing Andrew and want him home now, but we are trusting in God's perfect timing. Scripture is full of exhortations calling us to remember the works of the Lord. As we look back, we realize just how much God has worked every detail together in his plan. The fact that our home study took a year to complete was necessary to bring us to the only moment we could have found Andrew. Even while we were in Bulgaria, the comment was made to us that it was amazing how things had "lined up" perfectly for us. Whether we ever understand the timing or not, we know that God is trustworthy and works all things together for the good of those who love him.

Last Day

2010-04-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Today we signed official documents to move forward with the adoption of our son Andrew. We had the visa fee on hand, so we were able to pay that now while in the agency office. That fee is now required before the 2nd trip. This is the most exciting paperwork we've ever needed to have notarized!

We arrived at the orphanage today with gifts for the staff in tow. We set them down inside and went out to greet our son. One of the caretakers brought him over to us and we immediately walked back to a secluded sandbox in the shade on the back of the property.

We brought new toys and he was content for sometime as we played. At one point he began to walk away from us to head for the other children. We called for him and he looked over his shoulder and took off running. Jen pursued, scooping him up and bringing him back to our bench. Another tantrum, although not nearly as severe as yesterday's. Jen held him on her lap and continued to say to him, "I love you" in Bulgarian. Aaron brought out the laptop and began to play videos we had taken of the three of us. This seemed to do the trick. So we spent some time watching them and holding him.

When Andrew was done with the videos he got down out of our lap and began to dig in the sand with some other toys we had brought. Aaron joined him and the two of them finished the morning on a high note.

When we returned in the afternoon, Andrew came out to meet us and immediately went to the bag to find the toy he had been digging with this morning. However it was time for presents and so we asked Andrew to hand them out to each of the women who have cared for him since birth. He absolutely loved it!

As we walked outside holding his hands, we passed a gated area where the other children were playing. He observed them but otherwise showed no interest in being with them. We returned to our bench. Andrew got right to the sandbox and Aaron joined him. As Aaron displayed his finest skills as a sand pile builder, Andrew copied every move.

Once again Andrew grew tired of the game and began to head towards the other children. Jen called for him and when he ran, she chased him down and brought him back to the bench to sit out another fit. Aaron brought out the laptop for more videos. The tantrum died down even sooner. We sat close holding hands and stroking his head while the videos played. We let him pick the videos out and press the play button. When the videos finished we gave him a snack and played another round of "ask nicely".

Jen left because she had the opportunity to see Andrew's crib, bed, shower and general living area. We have really had the chance to connect with the staff at the orphanage. They even told us to stay as late as we wanted to. Jen was able to talk with some of Andrew's caregivers about his time there. In talking with all those involved, it has really been the hand of God clearing the way before us, everything from volcano ash to the fact that if he hadn't been on the special needs list we never would have found him, to the fact that the decision had been made to take Andrew out of his program (special needs) and make him available for domestic adoption if international parents weren't found in the next few weeks. Praise God for his faithfulness to the fatherless!!!(Ps 146:9)

While Jen was away Aaron and Andrew spent some time together. Just the two of them. All week long the workers were asking Andrew to talk more. They would tell us that he does not stop talking about mommy and daddy. We weren't sure if they were just trying to make us feel good. When Jen left Andrew just began chatting away. Aaron could only understand a few words but it was wonderful to see Andrew content with no one else around but Daddy. He loves putting things away so the two of them packed up for the day.

Jen returned and the three of us continued to wander and play different games as several of the staff came out to wish us well. We stayed until 7 and we noticed that even Andrew seemed to be delaying the inevitable.

We weren't sure what we needed to say to him, if it would make sense or even if he would remember it. But when we heard him ask if we would be coming back tomorrow we knew we had to say something. We told him that we would be leaving for a very long time, but that the next time we come we would take him home with us. During the week Jen wrote him note telling him how much we loved him and will miss him. She told him how we needed to go home and get things ready for him. In it she explained that first it would have to get hot out, and then it would get cold, and then when it got even colder we would come and get him. Our translator wrote a copy in Bulgarian for us and we taped it in his photo album. One caretaker read it to him immediately with tears in her eyes.

When it was time to really leave we told him we loved him and would miss him. He then told his nurse he wanted to let us out. So, she walked with him to the buzzer to open the gate. He was smiling as he let us out, blowing kisses the whole time.

We will miss him terribly, but we know that leaving him now means we are that much closer to bringing him home.

What an amazing week! We are so blessed! Thank you, Jesus!

Day 4 with Andrew

2010-04-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd walk went well. Again this rarely happens so we are so thankful for every new experience we get to share with him. Today's was a business walk as we went to a photo shop to have Andrew's picture made for his visa when we return after the adoption is finalized.

As we left the director instructed us to hold his hand tightly as he would be afraid of the cars. We both took his hand and followed one of the caretakers to the shop. As cars passed Andrew didn't even flinch. There wasn't even any body language that suggested any anxiety over being outside on the road with us.

When we reached the photo shop the caretaker stayed in the one roomwhile the translator went in the other with usand helped. At this point Andrew did begin to be a little uncertain of things. New place, new people, weird equipment all over the room. Jen asked the translator to explain to Andrew what we were going to do. Andrew still wasn't ok with everything so Jen took her picture first and the photographer showed Andrew. Then Jen lifted Andrew up to the seat and the two of them took their picture together. The last time Jen stepped out of the picture and Andrew sat still though still not completely at ease. Usually Jen will have to ask if she can hold him, this time when the pictures were over Andrew lept for he arms. Her "mother-bear" instincts kicked in and she was somehow able to carry him all the way back to the orphanage. She loved every minute of it and didn't care that her back hurt or that her pants were getting filthy.

Once we were back at the orphanage Andrew only wanted to play with the other children. He again began to throw a tantrum. Jen was able to have him ask nicely to go with the kids, but of course we were disappointed, yet content to enjoy what he was able to give us. We can only imagine what must be going through his mind right now as so many changes are happening or are about to happen. So we sat down in the same area where he was playing and tried to coax him with the red backpack. Nothing seemed to work. Some of the caretakers brought him a piece of candy. Not helpful. We tried a few more items but he was still resolved to do as he pleased. Finally, the caretakers just told us to leave and comeback later. "He's just tired" they told us.

He did have quite a morning. The caretaker that went with us had only started working there a couple of days before we showed up, and our normal translator was not able to make it for our morning session. The caretakers, we later learned, don't want the potential parents to dislike the child and not proceed with the adoption so they will often run interference. For our part, it is awkward to be "not-quite parents" to Andrew. We as parents have a procedure for handling situations, but until he's fully ours, where does our authority begin and end?

This afternoon we got there a little early while Andrew was still sleeping. When he woke up they sent him out with a cup of water and a snack, still groggy from his nap. We tried to talk with him, play with him and get him interested in the red backpack. No response. He wanted to go inside so we followed him. He wanted to go back to the other children, we didn't let him. Another tantrum. We decided maybe if we could get him outside around the playground that that would spark something. As Jen picked him up he flung his head back into a door jamb. More screaming.

Fortunately one of the caretakers that knows him came around the corner, calmed him down and carried him outside. We followed her to a bench where she sat him down and told him to spend time with mommy and daddy, they love you. She then told us that he was stubborn and we were to be just as stubborn and not let him win. Those were just the words we needed to hear. We then reassured her that we were in this for good, and that we knew we would have to face these battles at some point. She told us that she was glad that we were so well prepared and were not scared away by his fits.

As soon as she left, Andrew again wanted to be with the kids. We told him he had to stay with mommy and daddy. Then the fits began. Jen picked him up and walked to the furthest point in the yard away from the building. He kept crying "There, there, there.!" (In Bulgarian, of course)pointing back to the building. Jen just continued to hold him and tell him she loved him. He refused to stop screaming and crying. Finally Jen sat down on a bench holding him while he continued. Jen moved to the ground with him still in her arms kicking and crying.

At some point we noticed that the crying changed. He wasn't trying to get away anymore. He actually stopped a few times and would be distracted with something. He would start again but now more whining than crying. Jen brought out some of the blocks we had brought but Andrew was still not interested. Our translator remembered us playing with the blocks and knocking them over. So she tried. Quiet.

The rest of our time together from that point on was delightful. Andrew sat in Jen's lap content. He showed no interest in going anywhere. We gave him a water bottle to drink from. He loved opening and closing the lid. Every now and again the lid would get stuck so Jen would ask, "Ishkash li promosht?" (Do you want help?). Andrew would say "promosht". Then Jen would say "Mozhe li" (Can I please? - Telling him to ask nicely) and he would say "mozhee" (Can I please in a toddler way ). Jen would help him open it and before he could take a sip she would say "merci, mama" and he would say "merci" and then take a sip. Every time he would say a word he would get a huge grin on his face. We did this for quite some time and loved every minute of it.

He wanted to play with all the toys. He was very loving and affectionate. Near the end of our time we asked him to help clean up. He loves to organize things so he was excited to help. He opened the bag to put some things in and noticed a package of wipes that did not belong. So he called to Jen saying "mama" and handed them to her. This was the first time he called her mama without being prompted to. He gave us hugs and kisses goodbye, but something was different about today. Where before he had to be instructed to do so now there was a willingness about him.

Tomorrow is our last day with Andrew and we don't know how we're going to be able to leave him for so long. We are pleased to know that at least three of the staff have known him since he was a baby. He has been well loved and taken care of. We have been very impressed with the care he has received from the staff. He's actually one of the favorites and has been able to do many things outside of the orphanage. We're alos glad to know that they have kept records of his milestones which we'll have access to when we pick him up. The home is very nice and has many toys to play with. The yard to the orphanage is quite nice as well and they do spend a lot of time outside in the fresh air. If he had to be in an orphanage we are pleased that it was this one.

On a side note: Yesterday we were being tourists and were approached by a man asking for money for a child with cancer. Our translator told us he was paid to do this job and that not all the money always goes to the cause, so we walked away. As we did, he told us in English, "Don't be like the Germans." We laughed. We asked the translator what he meant and she said she had no idea.

Day 3 with Andrew

2010-04-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

Today we brought Andrew the photo album we made filled with pictures of our immediate families. During the morning we had wandered around the grounds a bit following Andrew and trying to find something that he was interested in doing. At one point he saw some lilac flowers in a tree and began to point at them. Jen asked our interpreter to ask him if he wanted Mommy to help him reach it and he said yes. So, she got to pick him up and hold him while they picked the lilac. He was smiling the whole time.

At one point Aaron sat on the ground and asked Andrew to come sit near him to see what was in the red backpack today. At first we showed him a small plastic container of dinosaurs. After asking politely he tore the container open, dumped out all the dinosaurs and then began to play with the container! Well, its a good thing we had those dinosaurs. Otherwise what else would we have had to pour out of the plastic bucket and put back in again!

After losing interest in the plastic dinosaurs, Andrew again went for the backpack. He asked for the puzzles and Aaron invited him to sit on his lap. He did so without hesitation and sat there as we went through a couple of them.

As soon as we noticed him getting bored, Aaron reached for the photo album. Andrew frantically reached to open it and as the first page fell open he became perfectly still. Aaron began to point out each person, "Mommy, Daddy, sister, brother" We had taken a picture of us with Andrew on our first day together and our translator had it printed out for us. Andrew's face lit up with a grin as we turned to see his picture with us in the album.

For the rest of our time together that morning and then later that afternoon, he would not let that album out of his sight.

When we returned after lunch we showed the album to the orphanage doctor. She was delighted to know more about the family she would be giving Andrew to. She also was very impressed that we had printed out the Bulgarian words of our family members and taped them alongside of the pictures. As she finished Andrew came around the corner and saw the book. He ran towards the doctor and pulling him up next to her she began to "read" the pictures to him.

The afternoon we played different games with Andrew. Other children were playing nearby but everyone recognized the importance of the three of us having as much time as possible together. So we were a little more on top of his wandering on a whim. At one point he began to throw a tantrum, but Jen scooped him in her arms and began to run around the yard with him. Andrew laughing and giggling the entire time. Distractions work well with him for now.

Our very last moment of the day he had another tantrum and Jen was just able to simply hold him until he was able to ask politely. While she was holding him she just kept repeating "Obiechem te" (I love you). The tantrums may sound like an awful experience, but first of all they weren't that bad, and second, they were major bonding moments, as godly discipline always is.

When we left today he gave us hugs and kisses again. We said obicham te (I love you) as usual and his nurse told him to say it to us like usual. This time he actually did tell us he loved us for the first time. He blew kisses at us like he does everytime we leave and he always looks back one more time and blows one more kiss.

We are so excited because our agency told us we need to take him to get pictures made for the next steps in the process, so we get to take him with one of the orphanage staff out of the orphanage gates again. We may walk or take a taxi, so it will be another time to bond with him as we explore the city.

On a side note. Many women here, especially older women) have blue, red, or purple hair (we're talking really crazy colors) and we've been told it's not on purpose. Obviously there is a problem, maybe with the hair dye?

Around Sofia

2010-04-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Sofia for you to enjoy. Read post below for today's update.

Our apartment (4th balcony up)

Day 2 with Andrew

2010-04-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

When we arrived at the orphanage this morning all the children were outside. One of the caretakers saw us and called for Andrew. As she took his hand she walked him across the lawn stopping to pick up a dandelion for Andrew to give to his new mother. Of course he didn't quite know what to do with it once he got to her, but Jen scooped him up anyway and greeted him with a big hug and kiss. As she set him down, Aaron began trying to coax a hug out of him. Andrew just laughed and jumped back into Jennifer's arms.

This morning we returned with the red backpack. This time however we began to work with Andrew on asking rather than just grabbing. We didn't want to be in the same situation as we were yesterday waiting for him to finish his snack before engaging with us. The immediate benefit to this was that it forced him to begin to converse with us as well as set up some initial boundaries. When he would ask, we would immediately respond with lots of praise and affections. At one point he even began to pout a little bit, only to break into another smile when we began to talk to him.

We brought him shoes and a new jacket. Immediately he sat down and began to pull his old shoes off asking us to put the new ones on. Standing up he tore off his jacket and began trying to put the new one on. He let Aaron help zip it up for him. Many times throughout the day other children would be calling for him through the windows. Often they would see us and call out "Uncle!" Or "Auntie!". Andrew would run over to the window and yell at them to go away. It bothered him that others were calling his mommy and daddy, uncle and auntie.

The rest of the morning we simply played whatever game Andrew wanted to play: moving gigantic plastic blocks and sliding race cars down the slide.

For lunch we walked the city of Sofia and picked up some more sticker and picture books. Our interpreter / guide brought us to a restaurant where we had the most amazing authentic Bulgarian meal. Don't ask us to repeat what they were called, but here's some pictures:

When we returned in the afternoon, one of the caretakers brought out Andrew's afternoon snack of cream and fruit for him to eat with us. He wasn't interested so we went outside. We played with a couple of the new books we bought him but were often interrupted by the other children through the windows. On a positive note, with some effort Jen was able to call him back to us several times. Jen also got to play a peak a boo game through the playground slide and fence. It made Andrew giggle so much. Unfortunately we missed that on video.

A caretaker at the home brought out some pictures of Andrew's life there. We had only seen the most recent picture and one from when he was 14months old. She left and returned a short while later to ask us if we wanted to take Andrew for a walk with her outside the orphanage. What a phenomenal blessing! This is virtually unheard of! Not to mention that our time was to end at 5 and we didnt get back from the walk until 6.

She took us to a park and through the interpreter we were able to ask her all sorts of questions about Andrew's life. We continued walking and she had mentioned that at the river the two of them would throw sticks into it. So as soon as we reached the bridge Aaron was quick to grab a branch and began breaking pieces off for Andrew to throw in. Real simple, but probably Aaron's favorite part of the day. From there we held hands with Andrew through an open market and back home again. We bought him a banana at the market and he ate it all. He had never eaten a banana with the peel on. He didn't talk throughout this walk, but he observed everything. He is very smart and takes everything in.

Our First Day with Andrew

2010-04-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it was two years ago today that we made the decision to begin the adoption process. It is completely mind boggling to think about how the past two years have stretched our faith and opened our eyes to the love of the Father in a way that we never could have imagined. Today we saw the firstfruits of every prayer and every step of faith that we have walked with your love and His grace.

Our case worker arrived at 9am and took us via taxi to the children's home. She had been there a week earlier so when he came around the corner he immediately saw her bag of cheese stick snacks and grabbed them from her purse. As we sat there we were introduced to the director who informed us of our allotted time there. Later his doctor came in to tell us how she had been there since the day he was born and had actually taken him home with her to visit. She gave him two forceful "Bulgarian - grandmother" kisses and told us we had the favorite.

We spent some time just simply talking with him trying out our few self taught Bulgarian phrases with him in an attempt to see some sort of reaction and make a connection. At first he was only interested in finishing off that bag of snacks by himself. Aaron pulled out our camera to record a few seconds of video. Still he only stared blankly at us, crunching on his snacks. As soon as Aaron played back the video on the camera, a sly smirk stretched across his face. We were in!!

Next Aaron pulled out one off the egg - shakers we had brought as toys, from his red backpack. Andrew paused from the snacks to observe Aaron as he held out the shaker for him to play with. Andrew took it with great interest only to set it down next to him and finish his snacks. Jen pulled out some of the underwear we brought him, and then he got it!! He quickly ran over to her and began to ask "What is this?" in Bulgarian. Jen helped him open the package, he took out all the underwear, put it back in, took it out and then dove for the red backpack of wonders.

He loved the first outfit we brought him. Folding and refolding it. We've noticed that he is very particular about having everything in its place and spent a good bit of time taking toys out just to put them back again. Not much interest in the cars, or the coloring book, but he loves the cardboard picture book. We scored big with the sticker book that we brought. The rest of the morning we spent on the floor with him helping him put each sticker in its place.

It was time to leave and we were helping him carry all his loot back to his room when the caretakers began to talk with him in Bulgarian. All of a sudden our interpreter's eyes widened as she turned to tell us that the caretakers had asked him who we were and he responded "mommy and daddy." We asked her if she knew if the workers a told him to say that but she had no idea. He blew kisses to us as we left. Either way it was the first high point of the day.

For lunch and the afternoon we played tourist with our translator as our guide. We enjoyed getting to know her as well as some of the Bulgarian history and culture.

3:30 we returned and as we came around the corner we saw Andrew come running out with his complete outfit on. He was so excited to show it off for us. Later as we were playing we noticed he had even put his underwear on over his diaper!

They told us we could take him outside to play with him. We asked him where he would like to play and he took us to the slide. At this point it would have been great to have our other kids along, but there we were. So it was now up to good old Dad to do what Dad's do best. As Aaron slid down the way too small slide screaming like a little girl, Andrew erupted in an adorable giggle that begged Aaron to repeat the scene several times over.

Jen had been inviting him all morning to sit on her lap and let her read to him. At one point she convinced him to sit for just a second before he was distracted by something else in the red backpack. So you can imagine her delight as later on when Aaron offfered his lap, Andrew turned and ran straight for Jen to sit with her. We pray that our son at home will be able to adjust to his new brother competing for time with "mama"!

When it was time to leave again, the caretaker took his hand and started to walk with us following. Then she saw us and told Andrew to hold mamas hand. He did immediatly. Jen said "tatko" (daddy) and looked at Aaron and immediatly Andrew took Andrew's hand. So, for a brief moment to the front of the building we were hand in hand, a family. His caretaker told him to give hugs and kisses to mama and daddy, so he did. She asked if he wanted to see us tomorrow and he said, "da" (yes). We said obichame te (I love you) and he blew kisses to us as we left. He even peaked over his shoulder as he walked away and looked at us one more time. We are so in love!!!

We're here!!!

2010-04-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

We made it to Sofia sometime around 12:30 p.m. here.

All travels were smooth. We had enough time during layovers, but not too much time. When we got to Atlanta and received our boarding passes, the lady at the counter realized that we did not have seats together for the long flight from Washington DC to Munich, Germany. The plane sat 2, aisle, 5, aisle and then 2. So, she put us togther in the middle of the five seats. She said we would have more leg room and she would not charge us for it. We didn't know what she was talking about until we got on the plane. We were upgraded to Economy Plus which gives you 5 inches more leg room. That was nice to have. Then the aisle seat next to us was empty. We told the gentlemen next to us that if it stayed that way we would move over and give them more room. The one guy said that the chances of that happening were slim to none, so I told him I'd take the slim. Sure enough a couple minutes later an announcement was made that the cabin doors were closed. I told him that slim won out. He told us "You must be living right". That was way too funny.

Anyway, no one in Sofia was there to greet us due to the change in our flight schedule. So, we called our interpreter who got a hold of the person picking us up. They were on their way, so we only had to wait about 20 minutes. They never got news of the change. The man who picked us up owns the apartment where we're staying. His son came with him and knows some English. On the way we were talking and asked about exchanging money, so he took us to a place to exchange it. We got to the apartment and put our stuff in and looked around. The man and his son, Dancho are super nice and helped us out with so much. Dancho even took us to the grocery store and we bought a few things for breakfast for the week and of course, ice cream!!! We are so thankful for Dancho because we wouldn't have been able to do any of this without knowing the language.

When we called our interpreter for help, she told us she would meet us at 9 AM at the apartment Monday morning and we would then head over to the orphanage. We have no other information. We don't know what to bring, how long we're going, what else is planned for the day. It is so funny. This whole adoption has been about trusting God and being still. It continues to be. We will go with the flow. If nothing else, it'll all make for some good stories.

We'll leave you with the first funny story:

Apparently our cell phone had a hard time figuring out the local time on its own. So, we finished shopping, bought some pizza, came home, ate and put things away. We looked at the clock and saw it was 8 P.M. here. We were exhausted and hadn't got much sleep, so we decided to go to bed for the night. Next thing you know we wake up, it is still light out and our cell phone is telling us it is 11:30 a.m., Sunday morning. We knew it couldn't be Sunday a.m., but were very confused. We actually got on facebook and messaged Aaron's sister to find out what time it was in the U.S., so we could calculate the 7 hours ahead. Well, come to find out it was just now 8 P.M. here and we had been sleeping for three hours. So I guess we got a nap in before our big night's sleep!! Maybe we were more tired that we realized!!

Flying!

2010-04-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

We're in the airport waiting to board our flight to head to Bulgaria. This past week was a bit crazy. Trying to prepare for a trip for the other part of the world in one week was quite the ride.

In the middle of the week we had a friend stop by and tell us that God told him to pay the remainder of what we needed for this part of the adoption, so a $1,200 check later and we had it all. Praise the Lord. He is faithful!!

On Thursday, Jen was taking our daughter to gymnastics when all of a sudden the van started to shake and screech and jerk and grind. She pulled over in a parking lot and called for help. Our niece and her friend came to the rescue. They took Rachel to gymnastics and then Aaron showed up. We realized the brake pad had come loose because a bolt that holds it on was gone and nowhere to be found. Aaron drove up and down all over 2 towns to find the part, but couldn't find one. We even had ambulance EMT's try to help, calling around to hole in the wall shops. We were able to drive the van home safely, but still needed a bolt. Jen's sister and her husband are watching our kids for the week and need the van to go anywhere. Aaron searched high and low on Friday only to find out that the bolt is only made by Mazda and has a unique thread that can't be duplicated. So, we called Mazda dealers only to find out that not one dealer in the state of Georgia has the bolt. So, we had to order it and the earliest it will be here is Tuesday. We are so blessed with amazing family and church body and have several of them coming to the rescue to take care of the van while we're gone and cart the kids wherever need be for Jen's sister.

In the middle of this our brother-in-law ended up in the ER on Friday due to some health issues. He is fine now, but we had a moment of concern not only for him, but for our kids and who would watch them while we're gone. Again, our amazing church body and family was ready and willing to step in and help. They were quick to encourage in the midst of all of this, letting us know they were there for us for whatever we needed.

We needed to leave our house by 7 A.M. this morning and at 6 A.M. we received an automated call saying that the first flight of our trip was cancelled. We were put through to an agent and within a matter of minutes she had our entire flight itinerary changed and ready to go. We are now leaving Atlanta and hour later, but arriving in Bulgaria an hour earlier.

All this to say that our God is big and faithful and in control. He gives peace in the midst of the storm. There has been a tangible grace on us as we have prepared for this trip this week.

While we do and will miss our kids terribly, we are excited to meet our son. The other end of the trip we will miss our son terribly, but be excited to see the other 4 at home. Maybe next trip we can all go.

Travelling!!!

2010-04-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

We received all our official paperwork today from the MOJ as well as an invitation to travel and a more recent picture of Andrew!! He's going to fit right in! We need to buy plane tickets still, but looks like we will be heading to Bulgaria next weekend.

We like dates, they are important to us. The day we will meet our son, April 26th is exactly 2 years to the day from the day we made the decision to adopt. We didn't actually get to officially start the process until July of that year when God first brought the money neeeded for our application fee.

We could have waited if we needed to, but we knew the date was significant. Besides, this is the best time for Aaron to miss out on work.

We are truly blessed to have family close by and willing to help. Jen's sister and brother-in-law, along with their 3 year old daughter will actually move in to our house for the week to take care of our kids. We are so thankful for their help.

We won't know for sure until plane tickets are bought and an apartment is secured for us in Bulgaria, but we are close to having all the money needed for this leg of our journey.

We know this week will be very busy packing and planning, but we are so excited to meet our son for the first time. We are also excited to be able spend the entire week in the capital of Sofia.

God has truly surprised us and blessed us through this process. It seems like it has taken so long to get to this point and at the same time it has come quickly.

We don't know completely what to expect after this trip, but we're hoping and expecting for Andrew to come home sometime in the Fall.

More Provision

2010-04-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to encourage everyone with updates of how God has continued to provide to bring Andrew home. This week we received $120 for 2 loaves of bread. Then this morning we received a check for $100. Thank you so much for those who supported us this week. God has continued to keep the funds pouring in to bring our son home. We are so thankful for every amount that comes in. God has multiplied money so many times in this adoption process. We are so blessed!!!

Here are some Easter pictures of our family.

God continually provides!

2010-03-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

In just one week from knowing our request for Andrew was accepted, God has brought in half of the immediate money needed!!!

A friend had called Jen last Friday to order a loaf of bread and 2 dozen cookies from www.wickedgoodeats.etsy.com and then proceeded to give her a check for $100. Then over the weekend Aaron's mom managed to sell 4 of Aaron's CD's at their church for $400. This morning we woke up to a phone call letting us know a check for $1,000 was in the mail. God is good!! He called us to adopt which we knew we could never afford, but chose to obey anyway. Then He continually blows us away by His provision.

We are planning on putting a photo album together to bring with us for Andrew on our first trip so he will have it until we bring him home. We really wanted to write the family member names and how they're related in cyrillic so that his caretakers can read it to him while we're gone. We weren't sure how to go about that and asked for help on a yahoo group we're a part of. We have blessed by a man and his wife (strangers to us) who have offered to translate the words and names for us from English to Bulgarian in the cyrillic letters. What a blessing!!!!

2010-03-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since our last post. We were sent information on one child over a month ago and asked for more information about him. We had some questions regarding what his needs would require of us. On March 11, our agency "accidentally" sent us information on another little boy (thinking it was the boy we inquired about). This new little boy seemed to better fit what we were looking for, so that evening we asked our caseworker to request him for us.

By Monday morning we had officially requested him with notarized papers. By Tuesday we got word that our agency in Bulgaria received our request and had submitted it for us. We were told they might discuss it in Friday's meeting. We didn't hear anything and thought we'd have to wait until the following Friday. Best case scenario would be that Tuesday when the council met again, but we definitely weren't holding our breath for this. In the meantime, God had given us 2 scriptures to hold on to and put together.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God..." for Proverbs 21:30 "there is...no plan that can succeed against the Lord."

He gave us peace that He would bring our son to us and if this little boy was our son, then no plan could get in the way of it happening.

So, Monday morning we asked our caseworker when they thought we would get word. We were out for a good part of the day, so when we got home around 5:45 P.M. we checked email from our caseworker. We opened it figuring it was in response to our email, but instead it was an email informing us that the Intercountry Adoption Council had accepted our request for this little boy on Friday. Praise God!!!!!

We can't give anymore information other than he is in our age range and was on the waiting child list. We will be calling him Andrew and will keep part of his original name as his middle name. We were not intending on adopting a child with special needs, but we started praying that if God wanted us to, that He would make clear to us what we could handle. When we read this boy's report we felt peace about his need.

So now we wait for our formal invitation to travel.

We are still in need of around $3,000 in order to travel for our first trip over to meet him (which could be in the next month or so). About 4 months later we can bring him home, which will require approximately $10,000 more. These amounts not only include travel expenses, but facilitator fees, interpreter fees, admin. fees, orphanage donation, etc.

Though it looks like there is so much more to raise, we are encouraged by the fact that God has already provided $20,000 to date. At the very beginning of this journey we determined that if God called us to adopt, then He would provide every penny. At every step of the way, we have had exactly what we needed when we needed it. So our faith in unwavering as we know He will finish what He started.

So, in the meantime, we continue to do what we can to raise the funds necessary to bring him home. We have opened a storefront on Just Love Coffee selling Fair Trade coffee. $5 of every bag sold will go towards bringing Andrew home. Go to http://www.justlovecoffee.com/littlebrother.

Just a reminder, we are still selling t-shirts at http://www.adoptionbug.com/littlebrother. We bought the ones written in Bulgarian for our family and absolutely love them. Above is a picture of our kids wearing them.

We have original worship CD's still available for sale and all proceeds from these will go towards bringing Andrew home. Just click on the "Add to Cart" button on the side bar to order.

In all your encouragement, support, and prayers, you are "looking after the orphans" (James 1:27). Thank you all for coming alongside of us in this journey.

2010-02-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

In case any of you noticed, the Rachael Ray show aired our friends story, but did not include Aaron's music. We're not sure why, but God does. They did have Aaron sign a license agreement for them to use 2 of his songs for that particular show. The producer did say that this was the first time that he'd been in a church where he actually wanted to use the music. We did send him off with a copy of the CD, so who knows what can or will happen in the future.

Just a reminder about our 2 fundraisers. Feel free to pass on our information to others.

We will be recycling ink cartridges and toners and getting some money back for those towards our adoption. So, if you live in the area, contact us and we will collect them from you. If you don't live in the area, but would like to use this as a fundraiser for yourself go to http://www.advantagecartridge.com/. If you mention our name we can get a $20 credit.

We also are selling 4 styles of t-shirts on an online store in which we will get anywhere from 26%-43% for our adoption. These fundraiser tees consist of designs that may have some themes related to adoption (family,faith,etc.) but are not specific to adoption only. Therefore, they should still appeal to all. Please visit www.adoptionbug.com/littlebrother or click on the t-shirts in our sidebar to see sizes and prices.

Our favorite is the one that says Faith, Hope and Love in English and BULGARIAN that's pictured in the top of this post. Those of you adopting from Bulgaria should check it out!

Thanks again for your prayers and support!!

Adoption News!!!

2010-01-29T16:34:00.000-08:00

Our friends Nate and Catrina Brock (http://travelstocertainty.blogspot.com/) brought their little girl Dania home last week after 4 years of waiting. Thanks to any of you who helped through prayer and calls to your government officials!! Because of the conditions surrounding her homecoming(earthquake in Haiti) their story has become national news which meant a week full of interviews and camera crews.

They decided to allow all of this in order to give glory to God and continue to raise awareness of the needs of Haiti. As a result, we had a film crew and producer from the Rachael Ray show join them for our church service last Sunday. We have been told the story will air February 3rd.

An added blessing, a producer heard some of Aaron's songs during worship and has decided to use two of them as backround music while the story is aired. We signed a license agreement and have asked that they do what they can to promote the CD in order to raise adoption funds.

Our agency has informed us that we are now registered with the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria as of Jan. 15, 2010. Yay!!! We are now in their system and have been "put in line" for a referral. We are being told this could take 12-18 months. We know that God has this process in His hands and will work everything out perfectly in His time.

We have launched 2 new fundraisers!!

Please check them out and feel free to pass the information along.

First, we will be collecting used ink cartridges and toners for recycling. We found a company that will pay us for the these as well as pay for the shipping for us to return them. The company is http://www.advantagecartridge.com/. We get a $20 credit for anyone who signs up, mentions our name and sends in their 1st qualified shipment. This company recycles laptops, ipods and cell phones as well. Check out their site to see what qualifies. We can get more boxes, so if you know of a business or organization that might be interested in supporting us in this, let us know.

Second, we found a company online that sells t-shirts as an adoption fundraiser. We were able to pick out 4 styles to sell at an online store. Go to www.adoptionbug.com/littlebrother to see our personal page. We will make 26%-43% depending on the size and style of shirt. All we have to do is direct people to their site and the company takes care of payment and shipping. Once we end the fundraiser they will mail us a check for our part.

For those of you who are also adopting from Bulgaria, our favorite design has the words Faith, Hope and Love written in Bulgarian.

We are real excited about these opportunities. We continually pray for creative ideas from God and He has continued to supply us with them.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support. We love you all!

2010-01-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

One of the families in our church is bringing their daughter home from PA. Here's a PA news story on them. Praise God!!!!!

http://kdka.com/local/parents.adoption.orphans.2.1438966.html

2010-01-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Something else we can do to help the orphans
I have copied the below information from a friends blog. We have 2 families in our church who are adopting from Haiti. One family has a child in the same orphanage that the entry is written about. Please read and send emails to your Senators to help bring these orphans to their families quickly.

"Our daughter and her husband are in the process of adopting two children (Wendy & Josiana--brother and sister) from Haiti. The two children are in an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. Fortunately, no one in the orphanage was hurt in the earthquake, but now they are threatened with a severe lack of drinking water and food.

Beyond for sending money to one of the relief agencies, there is little we can do as individuals to help. EXCEPT...

Like Wendy and Josiana, there are hundreds of Haitian orphans who are awaiting final approval for adoptions to families in the U.S. The building in Haiti where the adoptions are processed was destroyed in the earthquake. It may be years before the processing can resume.However, the U.S. can grant temporary visas to all orphans whose adoptions were pending before the earthquake. With the grant of visas the oprhans could then come to the U.S. to live with their adoptive families, but be classified as "foster care" children until the final paperwork is completed.

In granting the visas, the evacuation of the hundreds of orphans stuck in this limbo will free space in Haitian orphanages for the thousands of new orphans that have been created by this emergency. Please note that under U.S. rules, any family that applies to adopt a foreign child must first be certified as a foster care family, so there is a safe-guard system in place to insure that these oprhans who would come here under this plan will be safe.

PLEASE, PLEASE. Contact your U.S. Senators asking that they put pressure on the United States Citizenship and Immigrantion Service (USCIS) to grant "temporary visas" to all Haitian orphans now in orphanges awaiting the completion of their adoption process.This is a real way to help and it will cost nothing. You can send Emails by going to the website for the United States Senate (http://www.senate.gov/) and finding the links to your two senators' websites.If you have contacts or friends in any agency of the U.S. government who could push this idea with USCIS, please reach out to them to help, too.Thank all of you for your concerns, good thoughts and most of all prayers for my family these past few days. ~Ed "

Feel free to post this on your blogs or facebook and spread the word. In doing this we are helping the orphans be with their forever families.

Thank you!!!

Grant Money

2009-12-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

Some very exciting news: On Monday of this week we received a letter in the mail from Show Hope. The letter informed us that we had been awarded an adoption grant in the amount of $4,000!! As you can imagine we are very excited and once again amazed at our Heavenly Father's provision. We still have more to go, but we are encouraged that to date we have raised over $20,000. He is faithfully directing our every step throughout this entire journey.

Our status for now is that our dossier has been received in Bulgaria and we are waiting to be registered with the Ministry of Justice sometime in January.

The holidays are keeping us busy for now. LOTS of family time, preparation, and fun. Occasionally we stop to ask the kids what they think "Little Brother" would make of all this noise, food and activity. It's sort of a family game. (i.e. "Do you think Little Brother will like fried turkey?") I think it helps with getting us all ready for his arrival by making us consider what he'll be going through.

After the New Year we plan to get out our Bulgarian language CD again. It's been fun practicing the phrases we've learned so far with our children. We try and speak Bulgarian in as many everyday situations as we can.

We'll also be praying for more creative fundraisers. We have a couple ideas that we need to look into more to see how practical they really are. But for now we are content to enjoy this season and reflect on its true meaning.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Eventful Weekend

2009-11-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

We got an email on Friday from our agency informing us that our dossier has been mailed off to Bulgaria. If we weren't waiting already, now we really are waiting. It first has to get translated and then the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria has to accept us and then we get registered. From what we have been told and have read, this process may take about 2 months. Once registered we wait for Bulgaria to send us a referral. As of now, we are being told that takes anywhere from 12-18 months.

In other news, the fundraising is going well. We spent the weekend at The Harvest Festival here in our town selling homemade baked goods and crafts. On Saturday, Aaron and a few members of the worship team played a few of his songs on the main stage.

We sold 10 loaves of bread, 12 or more dozen cookies, 2 huge loaves of pumpkin bread, 1 huge loaf of apple bread, and several dozen cupcakes all made with fresh ground whole wheat. We also sold a big batch of baklava made from a real live Greek. We also sold a handful of homemade greeting cards, a couple hand painted ornaments and a few of Aaron's CDs.

We had many other crafts donated for us to sell;however, people were more interested in the food. We tried selling homemade dress up capes and had the kids be advertisement. They walked around in their capes with a sign on their backs (thanks to their father) that read "Dress Up Capes for Sale $5 (kids not included)". Our advertisement was great, but still no capes were sold. Our 9 year old was a great salesperson. She smiled brightly, packaged cookies and then would figure the money. She was a huge help.

We had family and friends constantly hanging out with us at our booth and had tons of fun. It was such an encouragement to us. Throughout the weekend we had numerous opportunities to meet and talk with many local people who have adopted or who were adopted. These conversations were also an encouragement.

Thanks to all the friends and family who helped by donating items to sell, setting up and tearing down the booth, lending us a canopy, buying our stuff, hanging out with us and supporting us in so many ways. We appreciate you all. Because of God's provision and all your help we were able to raise $558. Thank you, Jesus!!!

USCIS Approved!!!

2009-10-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

We received our first USCIS(U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) fingerprint appointment for Oct. 2 which unfortunately fell right in the midst of our vacation. We hesitantly rescheduled expecting this to set us back 3+ weeks. We were pleasantly surprised when our new appointment was set for Oct. 12. Only a 10 day difference.

Our appointment was set for 11 am. We arrived 30 minutes early. We went in to make sure we were in the right place (it didn't look very official) and they took us in immediately. We were finished 20 minutes later, 10 minutes before our appointment was scheduled. Cool! So we went on a lunch date!

We were expecting another 3 weeks before approval would come, but to our amazement we received our approval notice today!! Just 10 days after our appointment.

In Sept. we held a Pampered Chef catalog fund raiser. This time we received a $96 check for the adoption fund. A week later we received $100 cash from a friend. This past week we held a jewelry show combined with a gold purchaser. Between the two we received $132. Not to mention that one woman offered to host a show provided that the proceeds would go to our adoption fund! What an encouragement and blessing to have someone else promote our cause.

Today we just received news that Aaron would be performing at our local yearly harvest festival. This usually brings out the whole town so there is great potential for selling his CD. Also we will be manning a table of home made food and crafts. Some of which Jen will be making and other items friends and family have donated. Every bit we make will go directly to bringing our son home.

We have applied for the Show Hope grant and will receive notice in December as to whether or not we qualify.

All the rest of our dossier has been completed so it is just a matter of mailing our approval to our agency. They will handle getting all documents authenticated with apostilles (certification of the notary, this stuff is riveting, I know). Once our agency receives all these authenticated documents, they will forward them to Bulgaria for translation.

So for now we are done with paperwork and the waiting begins. We are continuing to raise the remainder of the funds necessary to bring our son home. For those of you interested we still have plenty of CDs available . . . and cookies make a delightful addition to any holiday gathering!!

Thank you all for your continued support. We deeply appreciate it!!

Pampered Chef Fundraiser and other news

2009-09-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

The day after our last post, we found out that the other couple who requested the same boy as we did got their dossier to Bulgaria before us and they are in the process of adopting the little boy. We are told by our agency that Bulgaria is a first come first serve country. You get put in line according to the age and gender of child you are requesting. In our case we were requesting a "special needs" child and so we could get out of order. However, as we understand it, when 2 couples request the same "special needs" child, the couple who has their dossier in Bulgaria first is able to adopt the child. It was a bit hard, but we are thankful that this little guy now has a family and we wait to see which little boy God wants to bring into our family.

So for now we hurry up and wait. We are waiting on the USCIS to give us dates for biometrics fingerprinting and then their approval. Plus we are waiting on our FBI fingerprint clearance. It’s just a matter of weeks before they’re back and then the dossier can be complete. We have finished all other paperwork for it.

It has seemed so far in our journey that our adventure has carried us on a pendulum swing from chaos to quiet. It appears that we are now once again in another season of quiet. In the past we have found it easy to lose faith in these moments. Now we have learned to seize them and draw near to our heavenly Father knowing that He has something amazing right around the corner.

So in the meantime we busy ourselves with other important activities. Currently Aaron has the month off from leading worship at our church. We have been intentional about making sure we use this time to focus our energy on family and strengthening our relationships with those God has brought into our lives.

We have received the Phrases For Children CD with Bulgarian phrases on it and really enjoy it. We have learned a few words and phrases already. Our kids giggle when we talk about bringing little "brat" home(phonetic sp.). We do recommend it. It won't teach you the whole language, but just some helpful words and phrases to help communication with our adopted child. Plus it is fairly inexpensive. I believe it was around $20 with shipping.

We are still selling Aaron’s worship CD and Jen’s cookies and bread online. For anyone who would like to sample some of Aaron’s CD before purchasing we've added a link at the top of the blog.

We have had a Pampered Chef Fundraiser and did real well. Since then we have had a few people ask if we would do another Pampered Chef fundraiser because they had things to order and wanted us to benefit from their order. So, here we are again. This time we are doing a catalog show. This basically means you can order Pampered Chef items and do not have to take another night out of your hectic schedules to go to a demonstration. You can go straight to the website and order online or you can see Jen and look through a catalog here in Toccoa. We know it’s a little early to think about it, but Christmas is not too far away.

If you are interested in ordering Pampered Chef online go to www.pamperedchef.biz/jackieturk. Once at the website click on “Shop online” at the bottom left hand corner of the page. It will ask you if you’ve been invited to a show and what the hosts name is. Type in “Jennifer” in the first box and “Santor” in the second box. Then click on “Jennifer Santor” on the search result page. You’ll be brought to the catalog online page and can order. As long as you see “Jennifer Santor” in the top right hand corner of the page, your order will benefit our adoption. Order by September 30, that’s the close of the catalog show. Also, during this month of September, stoneware is 20% off.

HOME STUDY IS FINISHED !!!!

2009-08-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

On Monday August 3rd, we received an email from An Open Door Adoption Agency. At the very beginning we had been considering adopting from Latvia and Open Door was an agency with a program in that country. However, God had other plans and directed us elsewhere for the time being.

The email stated that there were two special needs boys available for adoption from Eastern Europe. We noticed one of their birthdays was only a few months after our son's. So we took a closer look. The boy was from Bulgaria! We immediately responded asking for more information. Everything we've read on him so far has been exactly what we've been looking and praying for. We called Open Door to request him and found out we weren't the only ones. However, this is not a closed door yet and there are many things that come into play in the decision as to where he is placed.

So for now we are content to trust the Lord and leave everything in his hands. God knows who our son is and will be faithful to bring him to us. In the mean time we are pursuing this child which has meant switching agencies. If he is ours we are working to make sure everything is ready as soon as we hear. If not then we will at least be that much closer to being registered in Bulgaria.

As it turns out we were at the best point to switch agencies and were able to do so with minimal expense or trouble. In fact, without realizing it, our home study was completed on Aug. 14, the exact same day we submitted our official request for this boy. As of the 19th we were officially accepted by An Open Door Adoption Agency.

On the 22nd we received our home study in the mail and immediately applied for four grants. ( I guess we're kind of intense. ) On the 24th we mailed out our I-800A application and had most of our dossier papers notarized.

Lately it had seemed that funds had slowed, but in the middle of discovering this little boy we were overwhelmed with etsy orders ( http://www.wickedgoodeats.etsy.com ), From the Depths of the Earth CD orders, and unexpected donations. All of which totalled well over $1,000 during the week Aug. 12th - 19th. We have now raised 1/3 of the total needed. Thank you everyone! Thank you Father, you are always so faithful!!

During this time we also found out about 2 different children's books about boys adopted from Bulgaria. One we just got off ebay is called Just Waiting For My Family by Terry M. Mandeville and the other we are about to order is called The Mom with the Red Lipstick: An Adoption Memory of a Little Bulgarian Boy by Lydia Kordalewski.

We also have been wanting to order a Bulgarian language study, but couldn't decide which one. We just want to learn enough to help our boy adjust and all the language studies seemed like too much and too complicated. However, we came across a book and CD that is for parents adopting from Bulgaria. It's simple phrases like "We are going on a plane now. I'm your daddy forever. Are you hungry? I love you forever. Do you need to pee?" It's called Phrases For Children by Fred Des Chenes. Here's the link for that http://www.phrasesforchildren.com. We haven't actually received it yet, but it has been shipped and we are looking forward to it.

Looks like we get to rest now and wait.

Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

Psalm 38:15 "I wait for You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God."

CT clearance came!

2009-07-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update for everyone. We just found out this morning that Aaron's CT CPS clearance came through. So, now we have all we need for the homestudy and are waiting for approval. Hopefully, this won't take long. We're planning on trying to apply for a couple of grants which most seem to release funds in September. We should get our applications in on time if all goes well.

Next step will be immigration stuff and paperwork for the Bulgarian dossier.

Thank you all for prayers and support!

An Amazing Day

2009-07-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

We discovered that we had miscalculated how much we would need to pay for the finished homestudy. It was actually $1400 instead of the $1000 that we had previously written. No big deal. We'll just need to sell a few extra CDs. However they were not scheduled to arrive until August 17th/18th, which did not leave us a lot of time. So once again we commited to prayer.

Yesterday morning we received an email that the CDs would be arriving today!! We were so excited! 2 1/2 weeks early!! This would give us more time to raise the remaining funds. That night at our small group bible study, we mentioned that the CDs were on their way, but asked for prayer that God would provide the remaining amount needed. One member prayed that the money would come the very next day. Jen also had been praying for some time that the money would come before the CDs arrived. At 12:03 a.m. we received the full $1400!!! The CDs arrived this afternoon. God is alive, He is good, and apparently he still has a sense of humor!

Now we are praying and waiting for Aaron's CPS backround check from CT to be cleared.

The cost is $15. You can either click the Paypal button on the side of the page, or send us a check and we'll ship it out ASAP. Aaron and the team have been working hard since October to get this CD ready. We've been eager to have it knowing that it is our biggest fund raiser for our adoption. So, order now, not only will you get a worship CD, you'll help bring "Little Brother" home. All but some change will go directly to our adoption fund.

Quick Update

2009-07-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

We just found out yesterday that Jen's CPS clearance from MA just came through. However, we also found out that Aaron's from CT is still not done. We were not aware of this before. Our case worker thinks it should come this week. That is it for the home study. Finally!!

We need to pay $6,000 to complete the home study. So far God has already provided $5,000 through cookies and donations. Last week we received an anonymous $116.03 in our church mailbox. We also had another $100 total in smaller donations. It's amazing to see even the smallest amount given add up to so much!

We also got confirmation that Aaron's CD will arrive at our house and be available for sale on August 17th/18th. We are still taking orders and will ship them as soon as they arrive.

It's been too long.

2009-07-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the CD is officially completed and has been mailed off to be duplicated. No promises, but if everything goes smoothly they should be ready in 3-4 weeks. Getting to this point has consumed most of our time over the past month, so we've not been able to update our blog until now.

We are still waiting on Jennifer's Child Protective Services check to come back from Massachusetts. Also, we are now in the Bulgaria program with Bethany. While we are excited to see all that God has for us there, we are still waiting for the program to officially be ready. All of this can be somewhat frustrating as it has now been one year since we started and we still haven't finished our home study. At the same time we know that God has His perfect timing in all of this. Our struggle is learning to trust.

In the mean time, He is continuing to show Himself faithful. It always seems that when we are at our weakest, without faith and without hope, He sends a blessing to encourage us and remind us that He is still at work bringing our son home.

On June 5th, we had friends visit us with a check for $1000! Shortly after Father's Day we received several Etsy orders, which we hadn't had in months. Since then we've received donations from friends and family ranging from $50 -$200! We've also been able to pre-sell over 3o CDs. Many of these sales came with extra donations.

So for now, as we continue to wait we are working to be diligent in prayer. We are asking God that Jen's CPS would be resolved quickly, and that we would have patience and faith as He continues to provide. We are praying for our son, that God's hand would be on him, protect him and keep him safe and healthy.

From the Depths of the Earth

2009-06-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

We are expecting Aaron’s CD within the month. This CD has 10 original worship songs on it written by Aaron. He plays guitar as well as sings and is accompanied by our church’s worship team. Please let us know if you are interested in purchasing this by sending a check to ensure that a copy gets to you as quickly as possible. We need to be ready to put the order in within the next 2 weeks. We are asking for $15 a CD and all but some change will go directly to our adoption. You can make a check out to Aaron Santor or click on the "Add To Cart" button here on our blog to pay with credit.

Bulgaria? . . .

2009-05-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 17th we called Hope for the World to see if anything further could be done in Albania. The director told us that, due to the fact that there would be no telling how long everything would take to get up and running, we should not wait for them.

We decided beforehand that whatever his recommendation was, that it would be our final answer. We would not be angry with God nor would we question Him. He is in control and He knows what He is doing. So now we would move on and pick another country.

We looked through all of Bethany's options yet nothing touched our hearts like Albania. Besides we found we were ineligible for many countries. We were not in a huge hurry because we were still waiting for Jen's CPS check from Mass to return. So we were just left with asking God where to go from here.

On Monday, May 20th Jen got a call from our case worker. We told her Hope For the World would not be an option. Jen asked questions about all the other countries Bethany offered. She told Jen what we already figured and what deterred us from the other countries they offered. She then told Jen that they were just informed a few days prior that Bulgaria was opening up and we could think about it. As soon as she mentioned Bulgaria Jen felt peace. When Jen called me at work with the news of Bulgaria, I felt at peace as well.

We weren't sure how we'd be able to give our hearts to another country after falling in love with Albania. But we feel that our willingness to trust God and not question him has released a genuine work of grace in us. Our love for Albania has been supernaturally transferred to Bulgaria.

Part of the peace I felt initially with the news that Bethany was closing the Albania program was that at every point before this when we didn't know what to do we prayed and God answered powerfully. So we were trusting that He would be the same yesterday, today and forever. At the beginning, we didn't know what country or agency and He brought Bethany and then Albania to us. This time we didn't know which country, and He brought Bulgaria to us.

According to one article we read, Bulgaria is the poorest country in Europe. It was finally freed from Communism in 1990. It appears that it would only require 2 separate trips, maybe 7 days each.

So for now we wait to hear back from the case worker as to how we are to proceed with Bulgaria. We pray that there will be no restrictions due to our family size or our income.

Change in Country?

2009-05-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

Last Friday the 8th, we received a call from our case worker at Bethany. She informed us that Bethany would be closing their Albania adoption program. We knew that Bethany was one of only two agencies in the U.S. authorized to offer adoption from Albania. Our case worker said we had the option to either switch countries or agencies with a completed homestudy.

We immediately called International Childrens Alliance (the other agency) only to find out that they were not taking applications at this time due to the fact that they are not Hague certified.

We found all this out literally minutes before Jen was to leave for the weekend on a ladies retreat with our church. So with no time to talk with each other or process anything she was off for two days and I was left with the kids.

When she returned Sunday afternoon, we had resolved not to question God or be angry. It's amazing the work that God has done in our hearts throughout this adventure that he has led us on. Jen has been all over the world with different missions organizations. I have not had the opportunity, but would love to travel as she has. However, we both were pretty content to live out our lives here and serve God in Toccoa, GA. So you can imagine how surprised we were to discover during these two days that God had been working on our hearts, connecting us with the country of Albania. I never in a million years thought I would feel any type of burden for a country. I could understand feeling this way if we had fallen in love with a child there, but a country?

Although our hearts were wrapped up in Albania, the country and not just our son, we would be willing to choose another country. But which one? We were at the beginning all over again. As far as we were concerned God had led us to Albania, so at this point one country was as good as another if it wasn't Albania.

We decided to check into one connection we had come across along the way, Hope For The World. We knew they ran at least 5 orphanages in Albania, so we would see if they had any other information. Although, we already knew there were no other options. You cannot adopt independently from Albania and the 2 agencies that were approved by Albanian government were now not an option. But we sent an email anyway asking for help.

I sent the email Saturday night and by Monday morning we had received an email from the director's daughter stating that her parents were off fundraising, but that she had contacted them and they would get back to us soon. Before Jen could contact me, the director had called my cell to ask questions and find out from us what was going on. He was very passionate about his kids in Albania and told us to give him a week and he would see what he could do or find out.

Well, it was a week yesterday, so I called him today. He confirmed that Bethany and ICA were closed doors to adopt from Albania. However, he said that Hope for the World was working on becoming an adoption agency for Albania in the U.S., but will still not be ready for some time.

We are considering waiting until Hope for the World is ready but have some questions for them about how things will work. Their answers will determine the next step for us, either choosing another country with Bethany or continuing to pursue Albania with a small delay.

We will keep you updated as soon as we know. In the meantime we are continuing to raise funds and God is continuing to show himself faithful. Over the past several weeks we have received over $700 randomly from friends, family and the mailman. Although we have not received many online orders through the Etsy shop, Jen has been baking nonstop for orders placed offline.

Jennifer's sister Jessica has begun an Etsy store of her own. Jessica is an amazing artist and has begun making her own greeting cards for different occasions. She has decided to sell these to help bring in money for the adoption. She will not be making any money for herself. Her site is CardsToConsider.etsy.com

Update on fundraisers, the boys and more...

2009-04-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Our story on the local radio station came off great! It was actually played nearly every hour throughout the day. I'm sure that we've yet to see what God has in store for us through this opportunity.

Orders continue to come in from our Etsy store. Most Mondays, Jen is baking and shipping. We have had many orders from local friends which are not counted on the site. Our friends http://www.redpajamas.etsy.com has sold quite a few raffle tickets for a Sweet Tunic to help raise funds for us. We will also get 20% of her sales and so far she has sold several items. Soon, Jen's sister Jessie will be opening an etsy shop selling handmade greeting cards and all proceeds will go to our adoption. Etsy is definitely working for us.

There is a local market here in town open on the second Saturday of every month. Starting in May we plan on selling some of our baked goods and homemade gifts made by Jen and other family members. We'll see what comes of this Sage Street Market for us this summer.

The Pampered Chef show closed last week and the product is already coming in. We had a $1447 show, which is completely amazing for around here. An average show that we've done here is about $200-$300. Thank You, Jesus! We get 15%, plus Jackie Turk, our Pampered Chef consultant donates 2.5% out of her own pocket after the show reaches $1,000. So, we now have $256 more towards our adoption fund.

Aaron is in the final stages of recording his CD. We can see the finish line. At this point all the work is out of our hands and so we're spending our time working out the details of copyright and duplicating for distribution.

We heard back from our case worker stating that the little boy on the waiting child list is actually matched up with another family. We then did some research on the other little boy, who looked like Tobin and in the process got in touch with 3 other families who have adopted, or are in the process, or have been to the orphanages over in Albania. We also have been somewhat introduced to an organization called Hope for the World based close by in McDonough, GA. They actually run several orphanages over in Albania and help with sponsoring children there. Anyway, through some of our contacts and this organization we were able to find out that the little boy is not adoptable. We are happy to hear that he is healthy and has a single mom who plans on getting him back hopefully soon. One of our contacts showed us a picture of another boy who turned 3 while she was there in February. He is also dark headed with brown eyes like our oldest and youngest. She wasn't sure if he is adoptable or not, so she is having her contacts look into his status also. Who knows. I just think it is so neat how God has connected us with all these different people. It's just wonderful support. We figured that if none of these boys are adoptable then God had other reasons for us connecting with so many new people. We'll see what that is all about.

WNEG 630 AM

2009-04-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

We sent cookies out to 3 radio stations. One of which is WNEG 630 AM, our local station here in Stephens and Franklin County. I did not recognize an email last Tuesday that had in the subject box, "interview request". With all the hustle and bustle of getting word out and baking cookies, I totally forgot to ask Aaron about the email. After posting the last blog entry this past Saturday night we cleaned out our inbox. Aaron came across the mystery email and opened it, only to discover it was a request to interview us about the adoption from the news director at WNEG. So, this morning Aaron went in and they recorded an interview. Charlie Bauder, the news director, told us it will be on air tomorrow at 8 A.M. and 12 P.M. and possibly other times throughout the day. We are so excited how God is making our story known. We are so encouraged by all the support we are getting. God is good. He is our Provider.

Recent Pictures of Our Amazing Children

2009-04-04T20:55:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of our kids.

2009-04-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

What A Week!!

2009-04-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Our last post talked about all that happened on Monday. My sister gave us the idea to mail some of our cookies to local radio stations as a means of getting the word out and generating some orders. So Monday morning we sent a sample of our cookies to three different stations and waited to see if anything would come of it.

Wednesday morning Mike Shelley, morning announcer at 90.9 WRAF announced our cookies as the official(for that day anyway) cookies of the morning show. He also wrote about it in his blog http://mikesshownotes.blogspot.com telling a little bit about us and posting a picture of the cookies, or what was left of them. WRAF is the flagship station for Toccoa Falls College and actually broadcasts into several states in the southeast as well as over the internet. Unrelated to this event, we received another cookie order that same day.

Thursday morning, Kevin and Taylor, morning show announcers for Atlanta's 104.7 WFSH, shared our adoption story on the air commenting on our cookies, Aaron's CD to come and our fundraisers. Amazingly, Taylor commented that she had actually worked for Bethany Christian Services at some point in the past. They said they would post a link to us on their site. Within hours, a listener and fellow etsy shop owner had contacted us to say that she would be posting a link on her blog and had just twittered her 100+ followers.

After hearing all this on the radio we went to check our email and sites. We had another etsy order from a family member who also made a $250.00 donation through this blog. Jen immediately got to baking. As she was driving the kids to an appointment, she got another order for 2 batches of cookies and 2 loaves of bread. She came home to bake those and upon checking the mail found a check from another family member for $500.00

Friday Jen finally got a break from baking and was able to spend some time catching up on other things that needed to be done. That afternoon she got a call from a family member saying that they would be sending a check for $100.00

This morning while I was out working on the CD, Jen was home baking again. This time she was filling an etsy order for a friend who lives here in Toccoa. When she got home, she found two letters in the mail each with a $50.00 check. Earlier this evening we received an email discussing the details of an order for 4 batches (96!) of cookies to be shipped in the coming weeks.

I heard a sermon recently where the speaker shared how too often we simply ask God to bless whatever it is we're doing when what we should be praying is "Lord what are you doing?, I want to join with you and be a part of it." Then the blessing flows in abundance.

The book that has had the greatest impact on our prayer life as a family has been George Mueller's biography. Our whole family has been faithFULLy praying for months asking our Father to provide the funds necessary to bring our son(a.k.a. Little Brother) home. At some point during the past week, one of our daughters exclaimed "I've been wanting to see a miracle with money like this!!" With every order and donation they yell out "Thank you Jesus!!" without any prompting from us. We are mindful to thank Him for every blessing and to continue to persevere in faith that He will provide exactly what we need when we need it.

Psalm 92:4 "For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands."

An Amazing Day!

2009-03-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today has been amazing! God is really providing for our adoption. Today has been such a reminder that God is in control and He will provide. We just need to continue to trust Him.

In just about 2 hours time we were so hugely encouraged. Jen came home to check our email and facebook and all. She found 2 more cookie orders on wickedgoodeats.etsy.com Just minutes later she found a note on facebook from an old college friend of ours.

Our friend also has an etsy shop, selling homemade children's clothes, aprons, little boy's ties, blankets, etc. She put a link to her site and told us to check it out. Jen immediately had tears in her eyes as she read the page. Our friend is raffling off for $1.00 a little girls tunic she will make and all proceeds will go to our adoption. We didn't ask her for this and didn't know anything about it until she sent the link. What a blessing having someone else promote our cause for us. She also gives people an option to just donate to us. If this wasn't enough, their shop is also donating 20% of their earnings for April to our adoption. Wow!!! Please, check out their shop. Her items are beautiful and original. http://www.redpajamasdesigns.com

A couple hours later we were notified by paypal that a family member had just donated $100. Thank you so much!! An hour later another family member wrote asking for our address in order to send something to our adoption fund. Again, wow. God is so good and so big and so in control.

We are so encouraged today and just wanted to share all this with everyone. God's word says to proclaim His mighty deeds and so here we are doing just that. Psalm 145:3 "Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom."

On a side note, we just added Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies to our etsy shop.

2009-03-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we launched the Etsy shop (WickedGoodEats.etsy.com) selling Jen's baked goods and we immediately received two orders. Soon after we received an offline order from a friend. He asked for one batch of cookies, but to our surprise sent us a check for over three times as much. Within the next few days, we added whole wheat bread to the store and received an offline, loaf-a-week order from a friend who lives locally. We will soon be adding other items as well.

Also, there's a local market in our town during the summer months where we'll be able to sell some of our home made baked goods and crafts. Jen's sister is amazing with scrapbooking and has offered to make greeting cards to sell for the adoption. Jen herself will be sewing pajama bottoms, hero capes for boys and princess capes for girls.

We sent out email and snail-mail letters to many family and friends updating them on the adoption and fundraising efforts. We promptly received a check for $100.00 from an individual who has only met us once! In addition they took the time to compile grant and tax information regarding adoption.

Between the Etsy shop and mass emails, our outdated, overused computer was suddenly having serious problems. I have a laptop for work, but that too is becoming outdated and is only available to Jen in the evening when I get home. Buying a new computer was financially not an option. So we prayed and asked God to provide a computer. Why not? It just might work.

A week later, some close friends came into possession of a 1-1/2 year old computer and thought we might need a newer model for all the adoption work we are doing online. We never asked anyone for a computer, yet God heard us and answered!! Hallelujah!!!

One of the longer parts to the adoption process in Albania is waiting on a referral for a child. We've been in touch with one family in particular who have adopted from Albania and have been a tremendous help and encouragement. They actually brought home their daughter this past December. She has some medical problems, but they deal with them because they love her and know she is their daughter. In talking to them, we were encouraged to maybe look into a child with some needs other than "normal" institutional issues. So, we contacted our case worker to look into any boys from Albania with special needs that we might be able to deal with. At the same time we had seen pictures of some children in an orphanage in Albania from this past October. A couple had been over there at an orphanage and posted pictures of the kids on their blog. They did not know the status of any of the kids, whether they are adoptable or have any health problems. We scrolled through the pictures and were amazed at one picture of a little boy. He looks so much like our son, Tobin. We were blown away. We showed his picture to some family members and they completely agreed. Our son, Tobin, actually asked if the picture was him and when we said no, he said, "I want that boy to come to our house and live with me." So, when we contacted our case worker, we asked her to look into the possibility of this other little boy as well. Our case worker has contacted the Albanian program director about the possibility of both these boys. Now we are waiting to hear back. We don't know for sure whether either of these boys is our son, but we wouldn't put it past God for him to work in this way.

We don't know who our son is yet, but we love him so much already and cannot wait for him to come home and be a part of our family. Our kids pray for him everyday, especially Tobin. He also asks every day, "When is 'Little Brother' coming home?" We don't know how long the process is going to take, but we will not stop until our son is home.

Pampered Chef Fundraiser

2009-03-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

On April 7th, Jen will be hosting a Pampered Chef Fundraising Party in our home. We will be able to receive a percentage of the total sales towards our adoption fund. Anyone wishing to order can do so online. The cut off date is April 13th. The address is pamperedchef.biz/jackieturk Click on Shop Online. It will ask you if you have already been invited to a show. In the first box type "Santor Adoption" and then click Search for Host. Santor Adoption Fund/Jennifer Santor will appear. Click on it to shop. Be sure to ask for direct shipping so your order will not end up here in Georgia.

Please let anyone you know about this option to order. Most people like Pampered Chef products and would order something from them, especially if they knew they were helping one child find a forever family.

WickedGoodEats.etsy.com

2009-03-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

We've been grinding our own wheat now for over two years. Jen loves baking with it, and we love enjoying the fruit of her labors. She is a phenomenal cook. Our house has become a virtual white flour free zone!

Back in May, Jen was talking with some close friends about the adoption and different fund raising ideas. One of them suggested that she needed a divinely inspired idea for fund raising and that they should commit to prayer.

A few weeks later, Jen had the idea to sell her homemade, whole wheat baked goods online. Since then, we have been working on finishing all the paperwork for the home study and just simply trying to live life. With the holidays behind us,paperwork done and money due, God saw fit for this to be the time.

So we've opened an Etsy store. We are currently only selling cookies, but will soon add french bread. If you type in the above address it will take you right to the store.

We will be keeping everyone updated on future fund raisers. On April 7th Jen will be hosting a Pampered Chef Fundraiser Show. We will make a percentage of the total sales. If anyone is interested in putting in an order feel free to contact us, even if you don't live in the area.

Also, over the past several weeks we have received two $50 checks towards the adoption. We feel that this is God's way of encouraging us that He IS going to provide. We are thanking Him through every step!

Currently . . .

2009-02-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

We have finished the 8-hour online Hague certification!!! As far as we can tell we've finished our part for the home study. We're waiting to hear back from Bethany as to what's next. In order to have a completed home study we will need to pay Bethany's fees. After that we will begin working on the dossier to send to Albania. Half of the Albania country fees will be due at that time. We are completely trusting God to provide.

In the meantime, God has been placing people in our lives as well as re-acquainting us with friends from the past who all have connections with Albania. From a possible guide during our stay, to an old school friend's missionary parents in the country, to recent adoptive parents of a child from Albania. As much as He is letting us see right now, He is in control and has already gone before us.

"For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you . . . ." ~Deuteronomy 20:4

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." ~Deuteronomy 31:8

The CD

2009-02-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

Over the past nine years, I've been writing songs. I've never tried to make anything of them, I never really thought anything of them. It's just something I've always done. Some were written for my children. Some have been worship songs. Some are worship songs coinciding with my children's births.

Sometime ago Jen began asking me to make a recording. I would always respond to it with "Yeah, I'll get around to it." From time to time other people would ask if I ever thought about recording. Their encouragement usually included a reference to how much money I could make. Interesting. My response was always the same, "Yeah, I'll get around to it."

A few months before we felt God was calling us to adoption, we sang one of my songs at church during our worship service. Afterwards, our pastor's wife whom we love and have the utmost respect for, pulled us aside. "You really need to record these songs." As I attempted to give her my well rehearsed response, she abruptly interupted me, "No. I feel this is from the Lord. You really need to record these songs. I feel like it has something to do with your future."

Okay, so maybe God had something in store with all of this. I still didn't want to make a big deal out of it. What do I know about recording? How would I even begin to put something like that together? Besides the songs really aren't that great. So I figured I could make a real simple recording, just me and the guitar. After that we'll see what God does. As the weeks passed, the idea faded to the back of my mind waiting for me to get around to it.

Suddenly we find ourselves starting the process of adoption and wondering how we were going to fund it. Jen and I were at our kitchen counter discussing different options. Our conversation had run its course with no real solution or strategy found. I turned to walk away when it hit me. I turned around to see Jen's face, she was thinking the same thing. The CD!

God's timing always amazes me. I never would have put recording a CD as a central part of our adoption. I would have kept it separate. But that's the beauty of it. I'm 33 with a wife and family. I do not have the time for, nor am I interested in becoming some kind of huge star. The reason we're recording is to bring a child into our family. If I ever even try and make it about me everyone will know it. I'm totally free to make this recording without trying to build a career out of it.

I have been blessed to be able to lead worship with a phenomenal team. They have volunteered their valuable time and tremendous talent to assist me in this endeavor. One of the members is actually taking on the task of producing/recording the entire project. Our plan is to sell the CDs online so you'd be able to download it, and sell hard copies per order to save on packaging costs. I thought I was going to have to figure out how to get the CD online on my own, but just this past week someone approached me about helping me with this. We'll keep you updated as to when everything will be ready.

Currently . . .

2009-01-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

We are finished all the paperwork for the home study and we are about halfway through the 8-hour Hague certification. Once we have received our Hague certificate all home study requirements should be complete. Then all we will need is to pay the home study fee and we can begin the dossier to send to Albania.

A Couple of Neat Events

2009-01-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

First, as everyone knows, the auto industry has been hurting and with it so has my paycheck. We are trusting God completely and he has been absolutely faithful. After the first of the year we received notice from Bethany that due to economic circumstances we would have to resubmit our financial paperwork. We knew that it was likely that we would not meet NCIS standards. We commited this to the Lord in prayer. The case worker emailed us saying that it would not be necessary to resubmit the paperwork; they would just use the information that our accountant gave them last year. This was actually a projection for this year which was based on what I had made over the last few years, which does meet NCIS standards.

Second, we were told that Jen's passport would take three weeks. As you can see from the timeline in the previous post, it took only 10 days!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Timeline - 2008 - Present

2009-01-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

September 2nd - Began recording CD

September 23rd - We had our first meeting with our case worker. Lots of paperwork to sign, and lots of paperwork to take home.

November 4th - Fingerprinted for the state of Georgia at Toccoa Police Dept.

November 22nd - Meet with case worker at Bethany in Atlanta for our individual interviews.

December 8th - Blood work tested at Health Dept.

January 5th - Physicals

January 6th - Jen mails application for passport.

January 8th - Septic Inspection.

January 10th - Case worker visits our home. Started the required 8 hour Hague certification.

January 16th - Animals updated on their shots. Jen's passport arrives in the mail.

Yard Sales

2009-01-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

Sept 20 & 27th - We held two yard sales to raise money for the adoption. We contacted as many people as we could (mostly in our church) to donate items for the sale. For weeks it was stacked and stored in our garage. So much so that I ended up having to park on the street.

We are so thankful for the friends and family that God has given us. Many donated stuff to sell. Several friends came by the day before and helped price and tag everything. Jen's parents helped load and unload an entire garage-full of stuff both Saturdays. Our wonderful friends, the Ord family, loaned us their trailer for both days, let us invade their front yard for the first sale, cooked us breakfast and lunch, and gave up their entire Saturday serving us. Other friends stopped by throughout the day just to keep us company and show their support.

The second Saturday we were able to use a local business' parking lot right on the main strip in town. The Salvation Army was conveniently located directly across the street. At the end of the day we donated the remaining unsold items to them.

The first Saturday, we made $555.55. No kidding. That's five 5's for our fifth child. Now I'm not one to make too much of this sort of thing, but every once in a while I've got enough sense to pay attention. I told Jen that there was something more to this, although I wasn't sure what. We prayed and asked God to show us if there was more to the numbers. I know that throughout scripture certain numbers have signifigance(i.e. 3=trinity,7= completion). I would have to research the number 5.

The next day I was sharing this with a good friend at church. It turned out that he had spent some amount of time researching this very thing. Giving numerous examples from scripture, he explained that the number 5 signifies God's grace and provision! Another confirmation that God would supply our every need along the way.

Between the two Saturday's we raised $898.75. At the same time, over the course of our journey we'd been receiving anonymous donations in our mailbox at church. So altogether, between yard sales and anonymous donations, we've received $1551.75. Thank you, Jesus!

Application Fee

2009-01-19T20:48:00.000-08:00

Originally, we were expecting to receive enough in our stimulus check to be able to cover the cost of the $550.00 application fee. However, Uncle Sam let us down. So at this point our only option was to pray. So we asked God on June 17th to provide the money.

We continued praying for a month. We never asked for it from others. When asked where we were at in the process, we responded that we were waiting on the $550.00 for the application fee.

We were heading up north for our yearly trip home to see our families. Jen was hoping that, by the time we left, the application fee would have been paid. She really wanted to be able to tell our families that we had "officially" started the process.

As the date of our departure drew near she asked how I intended to pay for the fee. I told her that it would pretty much have to fall from the sky. We were, after all, about to leave on a 2,000 mile road trip amidst record high gas prices. It wasn't like we had $550.00 just lying around. So we kept praying.

Sunday morning, July 13th, we found an envelope in our church mailbox with exactly $550.00 cash. This was the start of God's provision, and the moment we realized that He even cared about our silly little desires. Thank you, Jesus!! You are so faithful!!

May 30th, 2008

2009-01-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

We attempted to fill out the online application. We accidentally sent it only partially finished. We would have to wait until Bethany received it, realized it was incomplete and sent it back for us to finish it.

Normally, Jen would have freaked out because she is highly task oriented. We had heard enough from other families that there would be plenty of delays along the way, but Jen was determined not to have any of them due to us. However, she had peace. She knew that everything, including the timing, was all in God's hands. Within the week we were able to have the application filled out and the process had begun.

Orientation

2009-01-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

We had our orientation meeting on May 21st 2008. Here we would have the opportunity to meet with the director of international adoption with Bethany, have any questions answered, and hear testimonies from other families who had worked with Bethany.

We were specifically searching for a country that would not require such a long stay. At this point, all we knew was that God apparently had directed us to Albania. That night we found out we would have a long referral period with Albania and a long stay once we were there. We figured they would try to redirect us to another country, something that would suit us better. As we talked with the director her response surprised us. She said that if Albania is where God directed you then go for it. The staff at Bethany are all about finding your child and believe that it is all in God's hands. Finances or time should not hold you back from adopting. Their experience seemed to reveal something of the mystery of God's sovereignty and how our stumbling onto Albania was not an accident. What an encouraging confirmation!

We made the decision beforehand that we, in no way, would incur any debt in this process. We knew that if God was calling us into this, then He would make total provision. So, if He was going to fund this adoption then He would cover all of it, including time off from work and travel expenses.

Why Bethany and Why Albania?

2009-01-17T13:26:00.000-08:00

Immediately, Jen began searching the internet, devouring everything she could about adoption. Of course, Googling adoption wil bring up 14 gazillion websites offering their services. Some were religious, some were not. Some were more expensive, some were less. Some went only to certain countries, some went only to certain other countries. We suddenly found ourselves having to identify not only what our values in this process were, but also finding an organization that best lined up with what we wanted.

Then there was the matter of choosing a country. Did God have a specific country that we were to be looking at. It made no difference to us, but again only certain agencies worked out of certain countries. Should we choose an agency and then pick the country, or vice versa? Every day I would come home from work and receive a briefing on all the information Jen had found online that day. At the same time we really wanted to get started but the first orientation meeting in our area was a month away.

At one point, Jen asked me if I was at all excited about any of this. I told her that truthfully, I was completely overwhelmed with this decision. I would be happy if I could just pick a child out of a catalog, or something. Every option made the decision more difficult. She asked what we should do, I responded,"Let's just pray that God would make it clear."

The next day, May 7, 2008 Jen was talking with a friend who asked if we had looked into Bethany Christian Services(Check it out http://bethany.org/). When I got home we looked at their site and were amazed at the scope of their work. Suddenly, there was no other option. Why would we use another agency that only swapped our money for a kid and then was gone? As we looked further, we saw that they were offering a special orientation meeting that month, 2 weeks earlier and an hour closer.

As we searched the website, we saw that they provided adoptions from Albania, a country we hadn't seen with any other organizations. As it turns out Bethany is only one of two organizations that are allowed to operate in Albania. Doing a little more research we discovered that Albania is considered a third world country in Europe. It was then that we remembered Rachel's criteria for adopting (see previous post). Within 24 hours God had answered our prayer and led us straight to the agency and country.

Some other points in our decision for Albania

70% Muslim population

During the Holocaust gave harbor to the Jews

War torn until recent years

The Beginning

2009-01-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

As a couple, we always had adoption on our hearts, just in the back of our minds as something neat to do. If nothing else, our lives would be given to provide a home and family to a child without one.
After having kids of our own, the thought fell to the wayside. After having four, we were ready to be done.
In the early spring of 2008, Jen began remembering this desire and started asking questions. My response was sure it would be a great thing to do, but with all we had on our plates already was God calling us to follow him in this way. I always knew that any needy child would be welcomed and loved in our home as one of our own, but was this really God's plan for us.
Jen asked the kids if they would be willing to adopt. They were all on board except one, our second daughter Rachel(6). Jen told the kids that Daddy wasn't sure if God wanted us to do this, so they needed to pray that I would hear from Him what we were to do.
As a family, we were reading about Roland and Heidi Baker's work in Mozambique. There they work with orphans that literally live and eat in the dumps. It was after reading one of their stories that Rachel agreed that we should adopt. However, her one criteria was that we had to adopt a child that had eaten out of the trash!
On April 27th, 2008 a woman at our church was giving an update as to where they were at with their adoption. As she spoke, it suddenly occured to me that if God had placed the desire and capacity in our hearts to love and welcome a child as our own, then He intended for that to be filled.