This past week has been a complete whirlwind as we worked at finalizing paperwork for the adoption, taking custody of Avery/processing immigration paperwork, & finally traveling home.Yes, we are back on U.S. soil as a family of 4! :)
This next stage of the process will be a major transition for our family & especially for Avery. Everything in his little world has been completly turned up-side-down & everything that was familiar to him in his previous surroundings has changed & been replaced with a new & different way of life that at times can be very scary to him.
Dispite all the changes & the language barrier, things are going very well. We speak enough Ukrainian words to him to be able to help him to understand what we are talking about & he is a little sponge just soaking up and repeating all the English that he is hearing.
Watching Avery discovering the world around him has further impressed upon us just how huge of a transition this truly is for him. Many things that we take for granted are completly foreign to him. Elysa's presence has been a huge help is helping Avery through this time of transition. She takes her job as the big sister very seriously! :)
He is expecially cautious about the food...our food here in the U.S. is very different from what he was used to at the orphanage & he is not interested in many of the things that we offer him, but we are slowly finding things here and there that he likes to eat.
Our time in Ukraine was quite an eye-opening adventure that we will cherish and appreciate for the rest of our lives.
As excited as we are about the adoption, we are saddened by the number of orphans in Ukraine and that so many of the them will never experience the security & support of a loving family. It is our prayer that one way or another they will find their way out of the system & into loving families.
We are truly blessed to have had the opportunity to bring Avery into our family. His personality fits our family perfectly!
We also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has walked this adoption journey with us & offered prayer support through-out the entire process. During our time in Ukraine there were many times when we truly felt those prayers & are grateful for them.
We appreciate so much the wonderful support group of friends and family that continue to be an encouragement to us. THANK YOU!!!
