We are Coming Home!

We were approved by the US Embassy this morning.  We have all the paperwork and forms completed and we will be coming home as planned. So thankful to God for answering our prayers and yours.

We received an email this morning from the US Embassy stating that they would process Olivia Ann's visa. but until we made the visit to the Embassy we thought it was best to wait to tell everyone until we actually had the visas and immigration documents in our hands. This morning the Embassy trip took about an hour, in and out like there had never been a problem at all. Praising God for another mountain He moved on our behalf and on the behalf of adoptions everywhere.

In our hearts we knew God had chosen these children for us but we also recognized that Satan was attacking because he was loosing the battle to keep children in orphanages away from families. Thanks to all of you so very much for fighting the battle with us and being there with us through the storm.

Greg and I both cried when we got in the car at the Embassy, it was finally over, all the tears of pain and fear washed away by tears of joy and praise to our Most Powerful Heavenly Father.

We are so happy that we will be able to introduce you to Olivia Ann and John Mark soon.  We can't wait to see many of you at the airport in Montgomery Friday night at 10:43. 


Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
MercyMe, Bring the Rain

Ready to come home with all the needed papers!

INS Form Completed...still Praying that is Enough

We were able to get in touch with our amazing agency representative Terri, very early this morning. She managed to get in touch with the INS officer who originally worked on our case and the INS officer completed the form we needed immediately and forwarded it to the Embassy in Russia. Terri indicated that the officer was more than helpful and truely concerned about our difficulty and was eager to help. Greg and I know the INS response was the answer to all your prayers.

Now, we wait and pray that the form is enough and this crisis will be over. Unfortunately we will not know until 2:30 in the morning or a little later...middle of the night for all of you and 11:30am for us. This form should be all the Embassy needs to complete the visas for the children and to allow all of us to return to Montgomery, AL on Friday night at 10:43.

One more issue to pray for is regarding the US Embassy processing time for the paperwork tomorrow afternoon. This process will need to be expedited in order for us to leave on time. Originally, the Embassy required two days to do what they will now prayerful need completed in one afternoon.
(another complicating matter is that our visas expire Friday...praying that will not become an issue.)

God did move another mountain today, a US government agency mountain and we are so grateful and forever thankful. The messages you have sent us via Facebook, email or the blog comments have been so encouraging. We would not have survived the last 24 hours without your love, support, prayers and encouragement. Thank you all so much! Christian friends are some of God's greatests gifts. We love you all and are forever indebted to you for the love you have shown us throughout the adoption process and particularly the last few hours. We do feel your love and God's presence.

So thankful that we can sleep tonight knowing you are all lifting us up in prayers all over the country. Thank you for the encouragement that the battle belongs to the Lord. As my dear friends Uduak and Sharon reminded me "Decree what you want to the Lord and it will established unto you" and to take one hour at a time, sometimes God gives us challenges we can not bare to think about but He will help us through it all.

We will update tomorrow as soon as we know something.

Update...Now we Need new INS Approval

We went to a doctor here this morning at noon. We were told as you read in the last post that a doctor need to say in a written form that this is a correctable problem for Olivia Ann. $400 later we obtained said form from an Embassy approved doctor and the Embassy declined to approve the paperwork.

Now the Embassy says we have to have a new INS form in order to be able to resolve this issue. We have no idea if the Immigration Services will approve the form at all much less on short notice.

Please pray that God will move a mountain today, and that mountain needs to be the INS.

A Request for Help

Update on our situation....

Our agency sent in an updated home study and the US Embassy denied it.  Our appointment for with the embassy has been canceled until we get this cleared up.  So we are going for option two.

What we need is an US pediatrician (can be any pediatrician not just ours) who will send in a letter to the US Embassy and have it documented that Olivia Ann's condition is minor and correctable. 

According to what we have been told in Russia, once you have cerebral palsy diagnosis you have it for life.  But in the US you can have infant cerebral palsy and it is correctable with massage and physical therapy (our international adoption doctor at UAB indicated this as did Olivia's doctor here).  So right now she is considered special needs and we were not approved by the INS to adopt a child with special needs.


We can even do a Skype or Facetime video chat if a US pediatrician needs to review her.  We just need some help from a pediatrician as well as the Great Physician above. Since it is midnight in the US getting anything done until tonight is a challenge.

We also have an appointment with a doctor here at Noon to see if they will/can help us out.  We will let everyone know as soon as we find something out.

Please continue to pray for us.

Urgent Prayer Request

Today our translator/Beacon House facilitator called to say we have a US Embassy paperwork problem. The issue creating the problem is that the orphanage medical paperwork indicates that Olivia Ann is a special needs child because of her issues with her right hand and leg. The orphanage even diagnosed it as cerebral palsy. This evidently has caused a huge problem because we are not approved by the US government to adopt a special needs child. Our home study does not include special needs wording nor does the I600 so we have a huge problem.

Until it is resolve the Embassy will not process our paperwork and therefore we will not be able to leave Russia with Olivia Ann until the issue is resolved. We have contacted our agency and they are working very hard to resolve the problem in some way. The home study must be changed or the doctors at UAB Adoption Clinic must right a letter to the Embassy saying Olivia Ann does not have special needs...all this needs to happen today to fix the problem.

Please pray this issue will be resolved by 11am Russian time so we can complete our Embassy interview and come home as planned on Friday. Ultimately, the Embassy says we can not adopt Olivia Ann without resolving the issues so please pray for us and the Embassy and all those trying to resolve the problem. Greg and I know God is a Powerful God and He is Able to fix this problem. Thank you in advance for your prayers.
Trusting God and trying not to worry.

Embassy Doctor Appointment and More

This morning we had our doctor appointment for the US Embassy. The USA wants to make sure the children do not have any contagious diseases. Our check up did not reveal any problems so it is safe to return to the USA. The doctor said that the orphanage had diagnosed Olivia Ann with cerebral palsy but we will let our pediatrician, Dr. Brannon, and the doctors at UAB International Adoption clinic check into that before we go with that opinion. Olivia Ann only weighs 22 pounds but the doctor said she was doing great since she weighed 4 pounds at birth. The doctor did not weigh John Mark, I guess it was obvious he is fairly healthy. He is a chunk compared to his sister.

By the way, we managed fine this morning getting everyone ready for an 8:30 appointment. I thought it was pretty impressive for the first time.  John Mark loves to take a bath and would play in the tub a long time if you had time, which we did not this morning. Olivia Ann on the other hand cries when she sees the bathroom door open. She does not like the bath at all, however this morning she did better with it than yesterday. Greg played with her more and it went much smoother but she really does not like it. It is pitiful how she cries just seeing the room. Not sure why and I might not want to know why.

It was raining today but we thought we would wander out to find lunch anyway but the children were getting too wet so we just came back to the apartment for some soup. We brought a few soup mixes with us, Laurie bought for us. It has been great help since finding food around here seems to be a challenge for us.

After nap we Skyped with Tucker and Granny, Tucker would barely let Granny sit in the chair, he wanted to see brother and sister and did not want to share the space. Tucker seems to be doing well without us, which is not shocking considering he is with Granny. They were headed to the fair to see the animals today. He is going to ride the rides on another trip unless he cons Granny into it today. We talked to Tara, Patrick and the boys today too. It was fun to let them see the children. Carson has been so excited about our adoption but not nearly as excited as his mom. We also Skyped with Aunt Sharon. It was great to visit with her also. It is exciting for us to be able to show off Olivia Ann and John Mark even before we arrive at the Montgomery airport Friday night. We are very thankful for adoption supportive friends. We would not have survived the process without all of you.

Tomorrow is predicted to be a day of no rain in the morning so we can go out and about the city a little. We have a Moscow tour set up for Wednesday afternoon so maybe we will get those must have Russian photos with the children in front of the Kremlin and other historic sites.

Olivia Ann is ready to strike a pose any time the camera appears.

Ready to go to the Embassy doctor's appointment.

Rare moment when John Mark is looking and Olivia Ann is not. She is fascinated by her brother.

Deep conversation.

John Mark loves the animals in the books we brought.

Olivia Ann loves all her clothes and shoes...she really likes these boots and is not concerned if they match the outfit.

Olivia Ann and John Mark fuss over this photo book of our family.

Restful Day With Children

Today John Mark slept until 9am, however Olivia Ann did not. She was up at 7am. Since we all went to bed so late Greg and I were hoping they would sleep in and John Mark did. Olivia Ann did not have a good night at all, so we are hoping for better tonight.

We just played at the apartment this morning. John Mark is eating anything we give him and Olivia Ann is not. She barely eats much at all. We are praying that will get better soon.
Nap time was challenging today for Olivia Ann. She was exhausted but did not want to be laid down. Finally after an hour of working, she was asleep enough for me to lay her down. John Mark went to sleep fairly quickly and slept three hours. Olivia Ann slept an hour in her bed and and hour on me.

After nap we called Tucker and Granny to video chat and Tucker was glued to the computer. He was so happy that both Olivia Ann and John Mark would say his name. It sounds like Tucky when they say his name, it is so cute and Tucker loved it. He and Granny seemed to be doing well and we had a nice chat with them. We called Nana and Papa next and let them talk to the kids. Renee was there too and it was great for all of them to see John Mark and Olivia Ann and for us to see then as well.

Both Olivia Ann and John Mark are learning their names quickly. Remember we kept their Russian names but are not calling them Polina or Baytimir. They both are very responsive to being called John Mark and Olivia Ann. They have been learning our names too. If you ask either one where is Mama or Daddy they point appropriately. Today after our video chat with Tucker, Greg asked John Mark where is Tucker and he pointed to the iPad. They have both been fascinated with the family photo album and Olivia Ann gets upset when John Mark is looking at it or carrying it around.

In between phone calls we went out and found an expensive grocery store. It was nice just get out a little and walk around. The double stroller Lora gave us is wonderful. The children love riding side by side in it and it is easy to move around.

Bedtime went much smoother tonight than last night, probably helped that we had a normal schedule today. Olivia Ann seems to be sleeping better tonight already so maybe she will have a good night.

Looking at a book

Looking at the iPad with Daddy

Ready for bed