Goodbye Girls (for now)

We have been having a great time the last two days!  There were a few rough moments but overall, things have been really great.  We have swam a few times but mostly Elysee wants to just play in the room with us.  She has turned into a clown!  She is really funny…doing just about anything to make us laugh.  She has started to help feed her sister and to try to calm her down during her rare fussy moments. 

Each day a few more friends have gone back to the foster home and each time she gets sad for a little bit but not for long.

 

We have just put both girls down for the night for the last time for a while.  We will say goodbye to both of them tomorrow morning.  I think Elysee will be happy to go back to see her friends and she is living in a really good place so although it will be sad to say goodbye, I am leaving her knowing that she is in good hands with lots of people she loves.  It will be very hard to say goodbye to the baby so please pray for peace for us.  Our flight leaves tomorrow and we should arrive in Roanoke on Tuesday night.  I am so sad to leave our kids here but very excited to see Eva and Eli J  I am very thankful for the abundant blessings the Lord has given us. 

Please pray for safe travels, good health and protection for both girls, and that we will be able to return very soon to bring them home. 

Bon Soir!

Lynsey

Thursday and Friday Adventures

We didn’t have internet last night so I am doing two days at once!

Thursday:

This morning started off better J  Both girls woke up and Elysee was smiling and she ate breakfast and played with us for a few hours before we went outside to meet up with her friends.  This is HUGE!  She played with the baby too which was really cute!  They had never met each other before this week so they are not used to each other either.  A little later we went to the pool and she did have a few rough moments but mostly she was all smiles letting her friends pull her around in a little boat.  When we started to come in for lunch she began to scream again and her sweet friend came over and told her to eat so she climbed up at the table and I put the computer in front of her with a picture of her and her friends swinging and she smiled and ate and talked to us for a while.  She does NOT like macaroni and cheese but loves chicken, boiled eggs and yogurt…lots and lots of yogurt!  One of the other moms offered for Elysee to take a nap with their children so that went really well this afternoon. 

Adam kept both of the kids while I went to the foster care home this evening with a few other parents.  In his words, one of the other moms that stayed behind had a squirt gun and she ran around squirting the kids while Adam showed them where to run and get away J  Their little legs were no match for the adults and the toddlers were completely soaked!  Soon after that, several, equally soaked, diaper clad toddlers J  It was a lot of fun and Adam had a good night bonding with Elysee while playing with her friends.  Some of the other moms that stayed behind made dinner and Adam, Elysee and the baby ate in another couples room.  It was quite an event - feeding three toddlers that do not speak your language!  The highlights were the little boy better known as the comedian, stuffing his face with a fist full of pasta and shaking his head vigorously…picture long pieces of spaghetti hanging out of a 2 year olds mouth swinging back and forth while he laughed!  And Elysee declaring she was finished by emptying the remains of her plate of fried fish on her head!  He he!  The end result was full kids, a big mess and a several spouses who were thrilled to see the van of parents pull in! 

I had a good evening traveling to the foster home where Elysee currently lives.  I rode in a van with four other parents, two ladies from our agency and one Congolese driver.  We drove into the nicest part of Kinsasha which is where the foster home is located.  It was huge by Congolese standards!  There are five bedrooms and four bathrooms for 30 kids right now.  When we pulled into the compound, all of the children and the workers were out front singing and dancing welcoming us!  It was the sweetest thing!  We went in for a tour and I got to see where Elysee sleeps and meet all of her little friends J  Once we were through with the tour, they put on very loud music and all the kids and nannies danced and sang and man, can they dance!  I can’t wait to see Elysee dance to some African music!  We also gave each of the kids there a bag of Easter eggs with candy and a toy and they were thrilled!  They immediately began eating all of the candy J  This was a wonderful opportunity!  I got to take tons of pictures and video of where Elysee lives, her friends who live with her  and her caretakers so she can have them forever. 

After we left the foster home, we went to the grocery store which was my first experience with buying food here, Adam whet last time.  It was a pretty nice grocery store with lots and lots of choices!  Everything was VERY expensive though.

When I got back to the room, we brought Elysee into the room kicking and screaming again for a shower and I decided to go and get Papa Samuel who was in another room (he lives at the foster house, and is the house manager) to get him to calm her down and sure enough, all he had to do was walk in the bathroom, speak very sternly to her to stop and she was quiet for the rest of the night!  After the shower, she did not want to get out of the shower so we let her stay in there for a really long time and she eventually came out on her own and got dressed.  She sat in the floor and played with her doll and a toothbrush until almost 10:00 and then Adam asked her if she wanted to go to sleep and she got up and got in bed.  NO TEARS J  Praise God!

The baby is wonderful!  We feed her a bottle at night after her bath and she goes right to bed.  She usually wakes up twice to eat which I think is pretty normal and then usually goes right back to sleep.  Sometimes we have to walk her around but that is it!  It has been wonderful getting to see all of her giggles and coos!  She is precious and loves to cuddle!

Friday:

This morning everyone was great!  Everyone got up all smiles!  Elysee would not eat but she was really happy and we played for a bit together before I had to get showered and ready to head to the orphanage that our baby currently lives in.  I rode with two of our Agency workers, two other moms and the same Congolese driver (Pablo).  We drove to a very different part of town.  We spent about two hours at the orphanage.  I am serious when I say, I will never be the same.  Please pray that the baby’s court process goes smooth and quick so she can be moved to live with Elysee at the foster home. 

When I got back to the hotel, it was Adam’s turn to go and visit the foster home so he could see where Elysee lives J  The baby and I and Elysee all hung out in our room together J  Elysee did not want to go to the pool with her friends!!!  She wanted to stay in the room and play with me!  I was thrilled!  We colored, played with stickers, sang songs, read books…it was great!  When Adam got back, we skyped with Eva, Eli and Grandma.  It went really well and the kids got to say hi to each other which was fun.

Later we had an egg hunt with the kids at the hotel which was GREAT!  They had never done that before but after they realized there was candy in the eggs they were really excited!  Elysee ate most of her candy tonight and then brought her bag in and put it on a shelf so she could find it in the morning J 

Bath and bed went great tonight with no tears from either kiddo!  Thanks for all the prayers…they are definitely working! 

The first couple in our group will be leaving tomorrow and saying goodbye to their kids.  Pray for them please.  One of their kids is the little boy that Elysee loves so much so pray for peace for her as well when he leaves.

Lynsey

Keep Praying!

Oh my have the last 36 hours been hard..sigh…

Yesterday afternoon, Elysee just started to really not like us.  I don’t know any other way to explain it.  She would not come to Adam or I.  She would hug and laugh with others but not us….I cannot even explain the feeling in my heart when she cried when I tried to pick her up.  My heart truly hurt.

At one point, she was screaming and crying in our room, screaming the same thing over and over and I just prayed for her and asked God to help.  I finally realized what she was screaming sounded a lot like a little boy’s name that was staying in another room with his parents from our Agency so I took her over and sure enough…all he did was touch her face and say her name and she instantly calmed down.  This was the first time I really thought through that these kids are her family.  Lord, thank you that she has friends she loves. 

We have made wonderful friends on this trip and I am so thankful for them.  I was swinging Elysee outside while she was screaming and I was trying to calm her…unsuccessfully and one of the mom’s came out and said, “Remember, God sets the lonely in families and he is here.”  Lord, thank you for our new friends. 

There are four other families here from our Agency, each with two kids.  We all ate together last night and when it was time for us to give the baby and bottle and Elysee a bath, we headed back to our room and Elysee immediately began to cry.  We gave her a bath for the first time (well really a shower)and she screamed all the way through it.  Then I lotioned her and put her jammies on and she continued to scream.  Then I sat on her bed, holding her in my arms while she screamed for over an hour.  I started to think I couldn’t do this, that I wasn’t strong enough but I knew that was not from God so I began to repeat scripture over and over.  I kept telling myself that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  I prayed and prayed…at first for God to pour out his comfort and peace on her soul and calm her.  Then a little later, just that he would make her fall asleepJ   Then, I began to sob because I truly felt like God was letting me see a glimpse of what it is like for her.  She was so alone and scared.  Lord, thank you for allowing me to truly see her pain.

Today, we got up and she would not eat.  I took her outside and we met up in a room with some of her friends and she finally began to smile and eat.  A little later we went to the pool and I tried and tried to get her to play with me, smile at me, really anything but she wouldn’t.  Then I tried to hand her a cup and for whatever reason, she threw herself on the ground and began to scream.  I had no idea what to do but then a lady walked over that had come from Elysee’s foster home and she picked her up and talked to her for a few seconds in Lingala then put her in my lap and she was fine.  It was the first time all day she had let me touch her J  Lord, thank you for Mama Linda being there.

One of the other mom’s did talk Elysee into getting in the pool and we had a really great time!  She let me hold her a little and then she let Adam play with her…I was so excited!  Then we ate lunch with some of her friends and when it was time for nap we headed to our room and she began to cry again.  She started yelling the little boy’s name over and over again so we went and got him and he came into our room, looked at her and said, “Elysee!  Lala!”  (sleep!) and she immediately calmed down and got in bed J  Lord, thank you for a friend to calm her.

Tonight we went swimming again and then headed back to the room to take a bath and she started screaming again.  I immediately turned on the praise music and Adam started bathing her.  She continued to scream.  We got her lotioned up and put her jammies on and she continued to scream.  Adam took her over to see the little boy next door and she calmed down until Adam brought her back to the room.   I was bathing the baby and getting her ready for bed so Adam sat down on her bed and held her and told her he loved her over and over in Lingala.  She cried and cried so Adam and I decided I should go and see if Debra from our Agency was here, we thought maybe she could calm her but she was not in her room so I headed back and I could hear her screaming from outside.  I walked in and she started screaming, “Mama! Mama! Mama!” and I looked at her and put my arms out and she reached for me J  I held her in my arms and she immediately stopped!  I cannot explain the joy I felt in my heart...I told her I loved her over and over in Lingala until she fell asleep on me and then I laid her in bed.  Lord, thank you for this little step…

Thanks for praying for us…we know God is doing great things here and we are so thankful he has answered our prayers to be His hands and feet here this week.

We Made It!!!

We made it!  We arrived last night around 6pm which was just a little bit later than planned.  We met Xavier from the hotel right when we walked through border control with a big smile and a friendly handshake!  It did take quite a while to get our luggage but the process wasn’t too bad and we began the drive to the hotel around 7:30 which was about 30 minutes from the airport.  The drive was interesting….it was dark and raining and the driver was honking the horn constantly and slamming on the brakes.  He even rolled down his window to yell at a few people J  Adam and I were both surprised by the amount of people on the side of the roads…they were everywhere! 

We got to the hotel right about 8pm and our contacts from our agency and four other couples with their kids met us outside and gave us a very warm welcome.  I of course was so excited I am not sure I even said hello to all of them before I asked if Elysee was there and one of the ladies said we have a little surprise and there they were!  Both of them!  They were barely awake since it was past their bedtime but we got to hold them and kiss them…it was definitely one of the best moments in my life.  It felt exactly the same as when I held Eva and Eli for the first time J 

We went into our hotel room and did not even lay Elysee down on her bed before she was asleep!  The night went pretty good.  We didn’t have a bed for the baby so she slept in between Adam and I which I was really nervous about and then Elysee was laying next to us on a twin bed and she was all over the place and just about fell out of bed a few times so I was up a lot putting her back in the middle of the bed.  The baby only woke up once to eat and then it took her awhile to go back to sleep but she didn’t cry J  She just played.

This morning we woke Elysee up at 7 because they said she usually gets up to eat at 6 and she was so tired that she fell asleep at the table sitting up…literally…Adam caught her before she fell over!  So we put her back to bed for about an hour and then she got up and was a little happier J  She ate a piece of toast and a granola bar for breakfast and played patty cake with me for a bit.

Adam went to the grocery store which he said was a lot like a CVS combined with a grocery store and got us some food for the week.  When he got back we decided to take the girls over to swim but Elysee was not having that!  I am sure she had never seen a pool before and even though all her friends were in there, she did not want to get in so we went back to the room to make lunch and she started to cry and cry and cry.  She was screaming the same word over and over.  I can’t even explain to you what this did to my heart!  I had no idea what she was saying so after a bit, I walked her over the office to see if Xavier from the airport was there and he was and he immediately took her in his arms and said…we be back… and he took off with her to find one of the ladies that works at the hotel and they calmed her right down.  They carried her back to our room and got her some M&M’s and talked to her for a bit about us being her mama and papa and how we loved her and we had food for her and she was going to have fun with us…and then she sat in my arms clinging to me while she ate a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, some yogurt and a granola bar!  Then I climbed in bed with her and she fell asleep holding my hand and the Tiana doll we brought her J 

The baby is full of giggles and toothless grins!  She is eating and sleeping well so far and seems to be a really happy baby.

Please pray that God would give both of them a sense of peace with us.  Elysee seems to be a little scared but that is probably normal.  She has lived in 5 places in her three years of life with multiple new caregivers and we are just two more to her right now that she does not know.  Pray the Lord would bond us quickly and give us a love for each other that only he can give. 

Continue to pray for Eva and Eli too…Susan said they are doing well but Eva was a little upset last night because she didn’t get to say goodbye to us on Skype…our connection kept failing.  And silly as it may seem, pray that our internet works enough to call them every day J

Thank you for your prayers!

Lynsey

Brussels

Good Morning!  Adam and I are sitting in the Brussels airport waiting to board our last flight of the weekend!  We should be in Kinshasa around 5:45 this evening (12:45pm EST) and then we are headed to the hotel to meet Elysee!  I cannot wait!

Yesterday, our flight from Washington to Brussels was pretty good…we were both able to get a few hours of sleep in J  When we got to Brussels, we checked in our hotel and headed out to see a bit of the city.  We had a really fun day!  We ate Belgian Waffles and Belgian Frites.  We also bought some Belgian chocolate to take back to the room and have been eating it since then!  I told Eva we would bring her some back but I think we are going to have to buy some more on our way back through next week J  We went to the Grand Place & the cathedral both of which were very beautiful. 

Grand Place

Manneken Pis - He He!

 Waffles :-)

Cathedral

We were able to Skype with Eva and Eli last night and they both seemed to be doing really well!  They were getting ready to have an Easter egg hunt with our family and were very excited. 

Please continue to pray for safety, peace for all six of us and for our time with our girls this week.

Thank you!

Lynsey

We Can't Wait!!!!!!

The last two months have been a whirlwind of activity!  We booked our flights, started preparing for our trip, finished up tax season, finished preschool...sigh...it has been exciting, busy and very stressful! 

Tax season ended (for me) last Saturday so my mom and I quickly cleaned our house which hadn't been done in...well...let's just say awhile :-)  Adam and I began packing and packing and packing.  We received over 100 pounds of supplies to take to the orphanage that our baby is living in right now.  We received lots of medicine, vitamins, antibiotic ointment and formula that we will deliver some time next week as well as $820 to purchase food for the orphanage when we get there. THANK YOU to everyone who made these donations possible!  We are in a state of constant amazement at the generosity of our friends and family!

We are just about completely packed and are ready to leave in about 53 hours...but who's counting?!? he he!

This week has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. 

Eight years ago this Saturday, April 19th, we got the phone call that my dad had passed away in an accident.  This remains to be the hardest day of my life.  I can remember that call like it happened last night and still brings overwhelming sadness to my heart when I think of it.  I so wish he were here to see me as a wife and mother...to see my kids :-)  I know he would love playing with Eli, they both have an extreme love for cars!  And I know he would be amazed at our little Eva....how she can be exactly like me in some ways and not at all in others.  He would laugh that I ended up with a strong-willed little girl and I know he would tell me that it is only fair that I have to raise a child with the same qualities that he did!  I wish he would one day meet Elysee and her little sister. 

When I booked our flights on this day, I thought that maybe it wouldn't be a great day to leave.  It's always an emotional day for my family and I just wasn't sure but it worked out that this was the day we needed to leave so that was that.  I have thought about it a lot this week and I have decided that this was another blessing from God.  April 19th is always such a sad day for me but, this will be the year that the Lord blesses us with great happiness on this day!  It will forever be the day we left to go and meet two of our children for the first time!  The week that followed my father's passing was a week filled with horrible sadness and many, many tears but next week will be filled with lots of joy!  Oh how I love that the Lord has done this for me! 

I was also a little sad that we are not going to be here on Easter Sunday to worship our Lord with our friends and family and especially our kiddos but I am thankful that the Lord has reminded me this week of why we entered this adoption journey to begin with....

We are doing this because of his great love for us! 

We are doing this because we want to be Jesus' hands and feet on this earth to these two little girls. 

We are doing this because he asked us to and what could be a more fitting form of worship for Easter Sunday than to physically go and visit them! 

So now we are just ready!  I cannot wait to be there and to hold them in my arms...finally! 

We would like to ask you for some specific prayer requests :-)  Please pray for peace for Eva and Eli while we are gone.  Eva has had a few sad moments but is mostly excited about the fun she will have with her Grandma, PopPop and Nana!  Eli on the other hand has been a bit sad the last few days so please pray that God would give him peace.  Please pray for safety and peace for Adam and I and for a wonderful week with our daughters.  Pray for bonding between the four of us and pray for energy for Adam and I!  It has been awhile since we have taken care of a 4 month old and a three year old!  he he!  Please continue to pray for the paperwork we need to start the court processes for the baby...we are only waiting on one more document and pray for a favorable determination from USCIS for Elysee.  Most importantly, please pray that we would keep our focus on God this week....that he would open our eyes and our hearts to see his people as he sees them and that he would guide our actions to show his love to everyone we meet. 

Thank you so much for your continued support of our family on this journey. 

Lynsey