Embassy Appointment and Bath Time

We just skyped with Tom, Caleb and Julia so we have a little update on their day.  The appointment at the Embassy and the clinic, where Julia had to have her pre-going home physical, all went fine.  Tom and Caleb are learning so much about Julia now that she is with them full time.  One thing they have learned is that when it is Julia's meal time, you better have a meal made for her.  She is pretty much happy if she is fed on time.  Tom gave her a bath today and he said she loved it.  In fact, he said she was a crazy girl in the tub and seemed to really be enjoying it.  While we were talking with Caleb for a little bit, Tom was trying to get Julia to sleep for the night by rocking her in the stroller.  She did fall asleep and it was so cute to see her over the computer.  Tom is doing such an awesome job taking care of Julia and finishing up the adoption process in EE.  I'm so glad Caleb is there to help him.

We had a "little" blizzard here on the east coast last night.  Actually, I think some of the drifts were about a foot or more high.  I had a friend come and plow most of the driveway and then a neighbor came over and helped me with the rest of the clean up.  The kids, here at home with me,  had a chance to play in the snow.

I found out today that a friend at our church has a ton of baby equipment that she would like to offer to us.  I was blown away.  She has a high chair, pack-n-play, exersaucer and car seat for us.  She also offered us a toddler bed, since Julia will be getting our three year old son's crib and he will need a toddler bed.  I am so thankful for her generosity.

Our family has truly been blessed through this whole process.  We are so grateful to God, our church, our friends and our families.  I was explaining to my children the other night how God has truly shown us many of His miracles during this journey.  We are all forever changed.

Back in the Capital

Tom, Caleb and Julia are back in the capital.  The train ride from her region was a little rough.  Julia was o.k. the first two hours and then she decided she was done with this part of the adventure.  Well, they had about 5 hours left to the journey, so Tom and Caleb tried everything to comfort and distract her.  Snacks ended up being the solution.  This girl loves to eat!

Embassy visits will fill the next two days and then they will head home on Thursday.  Please pray that Julia will be relaxed on the plane rides.  The flight from Germany to D.C. is long as it is, imagine adding an unhappy little girl to the mix. Yikes!

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Christmas news from Eastern Europe

Tom and Caleb picked Julia up today after she attended her own Christmas party in the orphanage.  We were able to Skype with them and things seem to be going really well for them and Julia.  Tom said she ate a huge dinner.  She ate the meal that Tom prepared for her and then she dove into the meal that he had prepared for himself and Caleb.  What a relief that she is eating well.  The only challenge Tom had tonight was getting her to go to bed.  After several hours of trying to get her to go to sleep, she finally gave in at 11 pm. 
They will all be leaving Julia's region tomorrow to head back to the capital city.  They will have two US Embassy visits to make and then, hopefully, they will be headed home early Thursday morning.

We had a nice Christmas here at home, but we missed Tom, Caleb and Julia greatly.  We are so grateful that she is officially our daughter and with Tom and Caleb.  We can't wait until next Christmas when we will all be together as a family.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Happy New Year to all!

Video cuteness and the best Christmas Ever

Dear Friends.  Tom here, interrupting Caleb's excellent blogging coverage.  He is sound asleep in bed where I need to get back to myself.  Had some network challenges getting videos uploaded, but they are ready now.  Switched them to my Vimeo album because we were having some other technical glitches with uploads under his album.

Every father should be this lucky!

Moon Angel from Tom Lococo on Vimeo.

Miss "J" demonstrating her awesome fine motor skills.

Julia New Ring Stacker from Tom Lococo on Vimeo.

Miss "J" doing what she really enjoys the most - biting things.  Not in a bad way, just in a way that gives her some comfort and allows her to explore things orally until we can get her little eyes better focused.  We see glasses in someone's near future.

Ring Stacking and Biting from Tom Lococo on Vimeo.

When our luggage was delivered tonight our facilitator confirmed her passport will be available Friday which means the last remaining impediment to Gotcha Day is just about clear.

It is looking increasingly likely that Gotcha Day will be Christmas Day, the day that Jesus Christ was incarnated as man, yet still God, in the form of an innocent baby in Bethlehem.  It reminds me of our Lord's words that we will see him most clearly in the eyes of every poor child or person we serve.  This Christmas I am seeing that most clearly in the deep blue eyes of this little baby girl in Eastern Europe.  Thanks to Him for this moment, and to the heart of a mom for orphans that would not rest until justice had been done for at least one of the "least of these".

Merry Christmas to all.  We are looking forward to being amongst our friends and family in the US soon to start a whole new year together, with blessings beyond measure.  May God bless you all this Christmas.

Patience and Miracles

Hello Everyone. Hope you're all in the Christmas spirit and ready for the day to come! Over here we are making ourselves our own little set of Christmas celebrations for the day, and it feels very much like Christmas at home, just without our precious family :(

Today's visit with Julia was one of the best, but at the same time one of the shortest and hardest. We got there a little late as our driver needed to get our facilitator to a couple places as well, and pick up the Winkles so they could visit Bohden and Yuri. By the time we got there, the Winkles and us had already lost about half an hour of our time. Julia was in a very happy and interactive mood today, and just as we were really (and I mean, wholly and entirely) getting comfortable and playing really really great with her, her caretakers came in a half an hour early to get her for lunch.

While it may be better that she got her meal when she did, it was very sad to have our visit halved today. We so wish we could bring her back to the apartment with us. We really totally want to be able to play, laugh, and be with her all day. But for now, we are learning a lesson of patience and trust that God will take care of it. On the plus side though, cute videos and pictures abound.

Julia: "Your hanging me upside down 20 minutes after  giving me cheerios? Gee, the workers are right. You Americans ARE crazy."

Another positive note: Julia's passport will be back from the country's capitol tomorrow and we could indeed be looking at picking her up Christmas Day or the day after. Please pray we can have our sweet little Julia in our arms soon!

P.S. - Our luggage arrived today!!!! Now we have American food to eat and clothing for our baby girl.  Yeah!

Another Crazy Day

Hello Everyone. Sorry if this post seems a tad late as opposed to my usual schedule. I have spent the last 2 hours filing and organizing the tons of photos from the last three days or so that had accumulated into a giant mess. It feels good to be organized again :)

Anyway, Today was another full day of events. things started off with Julia, and the visit went well, even though she was a little cranky because of a little head cold going around the orphanage. We yearn to be able to play with her all day long and cater to her every need. None the less, her funny little personality and cuteness still keep us coming back.

Julia's chair climb from Caleb Lococo on Vimeo.

We got to share our visit with The Winkles, who are adopting two little boys, Yuri and Bohdan. So precious. They are so much fun to hang out with and we had an absolute blast of a night, walking around town and having Pizza at my parent's favorite pizza place, Celentano's.

Delish. Later that night, we toured the city in all its Christmas-glittering glory. It was simply gorgeous.

Christmas Tree in Freedom Square from Caleb Lococo on Vimeo.

Tomorrow will be a day of visiting and getting ready for a certain upcoming gotcha day! Please pray that the passport comes back from the Country's capitol soon so we can finally complete our adoption of sweet Julia!

Exhaustion, Perspective, and hours sitting in a BMW

Hello Everyone! Happy to be back a-bloggin' about all the happenings in EE. Me and Dad are exhausted from a crazy day of paper chasing and visiting with a very special little girl. But without further adieu, let's get to the happenings of today!

So as you can tell from the title, a lot has happened today. Me and Dad got a nice early start to our day and were out the door to join Tatiana (our facilitator) and Valentin (our driver) for a day of driving around like mad men getting all papers necessary to finish the process of getting Julia her Passport and other important forms.

First stop was the court house to pick up the court decree that Jules is officially ours! So excited to be through 99% of the gauntlet and finally seeing an end in sight. From there, a matter of getting Julia's birth certificate in order to get her passport. Getting this, however, felt like a process in and of itself. Tatiana was in the office by herself for about an hour and a half before she called Dad in from Valentin's sporty little BMW. Her and Dad were in there for another half hour or so, but when they came out we had a birth certificate and an adoption Decree!

           During that time, though, I thought about a little fact of the whole story that surrounds these special orphans  I hadn't before. I knew that most of the time they hung out in their cribs, and got taken out for meal times and diaper changes. I was getting seriously annoyed just sitting collecting dust in the back seat of a sports car for two hours. These precious little souls sit in the same place, looking at the same surroundings, almost 24/7. It's not something that comes immediately to mind, how tough something like that can be. But I felt like  I had a new perspective on what my little sister's life had been like, and I won't forget it.

       From there came a mad dash for a quick lunch before moving on to bigger and better things. Me and Dad made good use of our 15 minute break, exchanging currencies and grabbing a quick meal to go from the local McDonald's. After that came the real meat of the day! Julia was going to need her picture taken for her passport, and hence we would be picking her up and bringing her around to enjoy some time together! A nurse came with her and we spent the rest of the afternoon (about 3:15 to 6:15) spending time with her while we got all of her passport stuff together. Because we were in constant motion,  I don't have any good pictures for you :-(  We will have a normal visit though tomorrow, and  I will have plenty of new pictures of our baby girl then.

      I really broke the ice today with her, and she seems a little more comfortable with me which was a very satisfying feeling. We snuggled together in the car some while Dad caught some Z's on the way back to the orphanage. When we had to give her back tonight it was a little bit harder to do. We should have her in our arms forever by Christmas or the day after though, so our spirits are still high and excited.

After that, we did a little bit of grocery shopping in Dad's favorite store, Billa.

                   (It's officially strange to walk into a store and have NO English labels :D)


Thank you all again for your supportive comments. We appreciate them as you guys go through your own processes, adjust to life with your new additions, and counsel us newbies as we learn along the way. 

I will have new pictures of Julia tomorrow and will have plenty of pictures posted to a public web album VERY soon. See you then!