Trust

All three fellas are fast asleep, so I'm grabbing a few quiet moments to reflect on our our actual Gotcha Day. While this day is so anticipated and seemingly joyful for us as parents, not all children are so thrilled with the idea of leaving home. It is not your idea or my idea of home, but to the orphaned, it is the only home they have ever known.

We made arrangements this morning to take him this afternoon. We agreed to be back at 3:00 for playing and preliminary goodbyes. Vismay did not sleep during nap and told Agnes Auntie (his favorite) that he wanted his mommy and daddy. When we arrived, he told her several times he was ready to go.

The developmental specialist met with us briefly, and she shared a little of his journey in his care. Vismay was born with spina bifida and as a result, hydrocephalus. Yes, those are big scary words, and they weighed heavily on our decision to pursue him. We know some of the issues that may come, but for now, his progress and prognosis are truly miraculous. She worried over him for months, especially since he did not stand or try to take steps until 2 years old. He was late in language and motor development, but trust me, this child is not delayed any longer. He's bright, articulate, and very persuasive (very).

Agnes Auntie changed his clothes (and added more powder), and he came to meet us with the specialist. She asked him who his best friend is, and his reply? "Mommy and Daddy!!" It was all I could do not to lose it.

This brings me to the thought that keeps playing over and over in my mind. We are asking SO much of this child. Leave your home, your toys, your clothes, and your food. We are pretty confident we have all of those things and more, but still, this is just plain hard. I'm overwhelmed by his trust in us to love him and meet his needs. When he was scared walking to the hotel, he didn't cry. He reached for me to hold him. When he was overwhelmed by the cars and incessant honking on the streets, he held on to Jake so tight and let Daddy make a song out of the beep, beeps. I know very well this is the honeymoon period, but I am so grateful for these good days to make eye contact as much as possible, return a million smiles, and overreact to boo boo's. When the grief comes, and we know it will, God has given us this wonderful gift of a foundation of trust.

Leaving Ashraya. We wanted to say so much to the ladies, but just couldn't. We will try again tomorrow.


Such sweet caretakers. They love and kiss these children all day.


Walking to the hotel. Mama was a hot mess. Thank you, Jake, for not photographing from the front.


Backpack! This thing was a hit. I finally peeled it off his back before bed. He bathed and put it right back on over his pj's. He loaded and unloaded it a dozen times, but everything goes back in very carefully. These are truly his treasures.


This kid loves anything with buttons--cameras, phones, etc... Our little techy corner of the room is just irresistible.


We would not have ventured back out except that the shoes we brought were WAY too small. Just a block from our hotel, there is construction on a rail system bridge, so the construction was way too much commotion for Vismay. Dad held him close, and they sang their way through the noise.


He was totally in to getting new shoes, and he felt Luke should consider wearing some of the pj's stuffed in the magic backpack.


Dinner and the backpack again. He found the photo albums we sent to Ashraya in my bag and immediately transferred them to his. He looks at our pictures over and over.

Tomorrow we have a meeting at 2:30 with the lead social worker, Radika. This will be our time to ask questions and receive the final paperwork. We are hoping and praying with all that we have that the passport will come in tomorrow's mail. If not, Radika will go to the passport office on Wednesday to appeal again. I really, really hope to have great news for you all tomorrow, but we will just do whatever it takes while loving our sweet boys here in India.