Families Are Forever

Today we were blessed to meet the mother of our future child and her 2 yr. old son. What a wonderful day it was! We met Katerina & Nevelle at the airport this morning with flowers for her and a new toy for him. I've never been hugged so tight before. It took everything in me to hold back the tears. All morning Katerina kept putting her arm around me and saying, "I'm just so happy to see you Annie." I felt the same way.

It was a good 2 1/2 hour drive to the maternity home from the airport so we stopped for lunch on the way. Zach took Nevelle (the true definition of a 2yr. old boy- total ball of energy!) to the play area at the restaurant so Katerina and I could talk, mom to mom. We both spoke from our hearts, held hands across the table and cried grateful tears. I will never forget that moment, in the middle of a Chick-fil-A. :-)

Throughout the drive we chatted and got to know Katerina as best we could. We asked all about her Czech background and culture, learned her favorite movie, music, sports, hobbies, etc. We laughed a lot, something I prayed for specifically (thanks Lord). :-) The details of the conversation wouldn't interest anyone but us, but I can say with certainty that we fell more in love with her. We bonded quickly with Nevelle and he seemed to trust us instantly. In just one afternoon it seemed we became a family, and I guess in many ways we are. We will be connected to them for the rest of our child's life.

When we got to the maternity home we helped Katerina settle in to her room. Nevelle immediately found the playroom full of toys and he was on cloud nine. The home was nothing to boast about, but it was very spacious and cozy feeling. Katerina received a warm welcome and she told me she felt very comfortable there. Before leaving I gave her a bag of new clothes I'd bought for Nevelle (perfect too, b/c she had to remove 30lbs. of clothes from her luggage at the airport in Baltimore b/c her suitcase was overweight!) and a Visa giftcard to help her with groceries and other needs. She cried and gave me the longest hug I've ever received. Money is just money, but the blessing of giving her the lift she needs to get through this period in her life is priceless. She is making the greatest sacrifice a mother can make and we're benefiting from it...the least we can do is make sure she can buy groceries. While unpacking her bags she pulled out a copy of the profile book we made for the adoption agency. She said, "I take this with me everywhere I go. I'm never without it." I didn't have words.

We left her and Nevelle after we sure they were settled and had everything they needed. We promised to visit, and we even planned to take them into San Francisco for a day and show them the sights! Katerina's never been to California before so we thought we'd show her everything we can while she's here. Once she gets her medical coverage taken care of and an appointment set with her new doctor I'll head down there to visit the doctor with her. I'd especially like to be there for her next ultrasound and hopefully find out the gender of the baby.

We know so many of you were thinking of us and praying for us today. Know your prayers were felt and deeply appreciated. We continue to stand amazed at all the people God has put in our lives to support us during this process. We couldn't get through it without you! Thank you also for praying for Katerina. I told her we had friends and family praying for her and she was so grateful and touched.

Tickets are booked

Just booked airline tickets for Katerina and her son Nevelle to fly to Sacramento on Monday! So crazy! Paperwork and everything is in. Katerina has spoken directly to the wonderful couple who owns the maternity home in Merced & she feels comfortable with the situation. We've paid for her to remain in the hotel in Maryland until Monday to ensure she stays off the streets. We can't wait to meet her & Nevelle and spend an afternoon with them both. We're also looking forward to meeting the people at the maternity home and seeing for ourselves where Katerina will be staying for the remainder of her pregnancy. They assured us they will get her on welfare & MediCal asap, and they were already able to tell us where she'd be going for doctor's visits and what hospital she'll be delivering the baby at.
Zach and I are most looking forward to putting an end to the constant phone calls, emails, etc we've been having to make for the last few weeks to orchestrate this move. We're hoping and praying we will be able to breathe easier and relax a bit once Katerina is here in CA. We know she'll be well taken care of by the maternity home and that will set our minds at ease.
January 1st is comin' awful quick! :-)

from Maryland to California

God is good and He continues to open doors quicker than we expect throughout this process. After lots of researching we compiled a list of potential housing for Katerina and her son Nevelle. We had a jam-packed weekend and didn't expect to even begin calling places until Monday (today). We were also told by Jennifer at Little Angels to prepare for lots of rejection. Most transitional/community housing have long waiting lists or they don't accept children older than an infant. We figured we'd have our work cut out for us. But... on Friday while I was at work and Zach was home studying, he decided to take a break from the books and make a small dent in the list of phone calls. Low and behold, he found a place that was able and ready to take in Katerina and her son right away!! We were SO grateful. It's a Catholic-based maternity home in Merced (abt. 2 hours south of where we live), run by a wonderful couple who have a passion for helping homeless pregnant women. They help them get their lives back on track and counsel/train them for motherhood. In Katerina's situation though, they are completely on board with affirming her decision for adoption. The couple has actually adopted two children of their own so they understand our side completely.

We are currently waiting on paperwork from them to send on to Katerina so we can get her ready to move. As soon as the paperwork is filled out and her place in the home is reserved, we'll move her out here (we're hoping by Thursday or Friday of this week). They'll help Katerina get on welfare, and her "rent" will be approximate one third of what she receives from welfare. We'll cover this cost for her. Her food will be taken care of by the home and she'll be placed on MediCal so her medical costs will be covered as well. We'll continue to pay for her cell phone, but that's basically it.

We've spoken to Katerina about our plan of action and she's very willing to make the transition. She told us she really doesn't have anybody out there in Maryland (which broke our hearts) and that we've already done so much for her that she'll do whatever we'd like her to do. She's been enjoying good sleep and hot showers in the hotel we've put her in, and she said our baby continues to "kick, punch and jump" in her tummy. She said it felt like "popcorn popping in her tummy." :-) Based on this information alone, Zach is convinced it's a boy. :-)

Now comes the hard part

As if this entire process hasn't been hard enough! We've been in LOTS of contact with our pal Jennifer over at Little Angel Adoptions. She makes all the magic happen. :-) We've been completely assured that sticking with Katerina and working through this chaos is the right thing to do. Our lawyers aren't concerned about her situation- she's simply a young homeless woman who's a foreigner to this country & needs our help. Nothing shady about it. (Whew!)

So, we've decided (after getting lots of counsel from Little Angel Adoptions) that moving her & her son out here is the best thing to do for everyone involved. We're hoping to do so in the next week or two! Jennifer was able to reach Katerina & the crisis pregnancy center she's working with to get all the information we need. Zach has also spoken to Katerina twice today (yay!). We've paid to have minutes added to her cell phone so we should no longer have communication issues (wahoo!). We've also put her up in a hotel for the next week while we work on finding her housing here in California. This way we know she & her son are off the streets. She couldn't stay at a shelter w/out going through social services (a 3 week process), so this was the best way to help her for the time being.

PLEASE PRAY that God will provide housing for her here in California! Jennifer has already started making phone calls for us & there just aren't many places without a long waiting list or that accept mothers with children over 3 months old. We have a list of places we've been given through church or other resources and we're praying something works out soon. We'd really like to avoid having her stay with friends or someone from church- we'd like to keep firm boundaries as far as how connected she is to us. Our task tonight & the rest of this week to call around to any place we can and work out housing for Katerina, as well as take a hard look at our financial situation and work out a good plan. Once she's out here we'll be paying for most of her basic needs until the baby is born, plus our finalization fees once the adoption is official. Lots to work through!

The last few days have been pretty stressful for Zach & me both. We know the Lord is going to work everything out just as He's done so far, but we simply have a lot on our plates right now. Please pray we can continue to have a calm & peace about the situation and that we will continue to rely on God & our marriage to get through this. We know it will all be worth it & that 4 months will pass QUICKLY!! Before we know it we'll have a precious son or daughter. =)

Thank you so much for praying. Your love & prayers have been felt!!! We were able to speak with the adoptive parent coordinator at Little Angel Adoptions tonight (Khimm) and she really helped lift the weight of stress & anxiety from our shoulders. She's adopted a son through Little Angels and as it turns out her son's birth mother was also homeless and put her in a similar position as the one we're in. She was extremely empathetic to our situation and listened to us vent our frustrations while affirming us at the same time. She agreed that we should not get too invested in Katerina before speaking with our lawyer and learning more details about her situation. However, she suggested that if we heard from Katerina again that we could pay for a hotel room for her just to ensure she's off the streets until we can work out a plan with our lawyers. Obviously we would pay a hotel and not send Katerina any money directly. Should we end of walking away from this situation down the road, any money we've invested in her thus far could be reimbursed to us. Tomorrow we will be able to get in touch with Jennifer, another coordinator at Little Angels who has all the information about Katerina & can give us more insight into her situation. She'll also be able to talk out the possibility of moving Katerina & her son to California, risks involved, etc. We're looking forward to getting some of our questions answered.
We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and prayers offered to us by YOU, our incredible friends and family. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for rallying around us during this entire process, not just the last 24 hours. Some of you prayed with us this morning at church and we were brought to tears- words can't express how much it means to us!

Prayer needed

Last week we were in amazement that Katerina (the birth mom) had not asked us for any kind of financial compensation during her pregnancy, even though she admitted she was out of a job & had lost her home. We had decided to pay for her cell phone, however, simply because her service would get turned on & off and we wanted to be able to stay in communication with her. We haven't had a chance to set that up yet though. On Thursday we received a request from her via the crisis pregnancy center she's been getting help from. After some consideration (and we're also thinking some major influence from a counselor at the center), she has decided to ask us for A LOT of financial help (ie: rent, utilities, groceries, doctors bills, etc). The grand total she's asking for far exceeds what we're able to give. In addition to the enormous amount of money we've already paid for our legal fees & home study, we'll also incur expensive fees when we finalize the adoption in Maryland (not to mention our travel expenses). All together we simply can't afford to financially support her for the next four months AND complete an out-of-state adoption. Our lawyer has given us an alternative option, which is to move Katerina (and her 2yr. old son) out to California for the remainder of her pregnancy and to deliver the baby. This way we would not have to pay any out-of-state fees, and she could be put on MediCal which would eliminate any medical expenses for us. We would only need to pay for her basic needs like food, rent & cell phone bill. If we can place her transitional housing/community housing, this would also make better sense financially for us than finding her an apartment. Financially and legistically this would simplify our lives- no traveling to the east coast, no additional fees. However, it's quite the committment to move a total stranger across the country and we just don't know what her plan is after the baby comes. We don't want any strings attached, but it's hard to keep it simple after a move like that. We're desperate to sit down with our lawyer & his wife to discuss our options and get counsel from them, but they're out of town for the holiday weekend and unreachable until Tuesday.

In the meantime... Katerina texted us in the middle of the night saying she had no minutes left on her cell phone and that she had no place to sleep. Her son was staying with his father and she was wondering the streets, depressed and alone. We were at a loss. From thousands of miles away, what on earth could we do? We tried to ask her where she was exactly so we could call local police or a shelter, but she never replied back. We were so emotional and we felt completely helpless. We hated knowing our sweet baby & its mother were out on the streets, unprotected. We immediately began praying and texting everyone we knew to pray for her as well. THANK YOU to those of you who were awake & responded in prayer!!!! Zach and I both felt such a peace, knowing God was hearing all our voices and He was watching over Katerina and our baby. This morning at 7am she texted us again and said she was alright. PRAISE THE LORD! She said she will try to call us this afternoon.

We've been trying to call the pregnancy center where she's been receiving help to make them aware of the situation. We'd like them to help her find a shelter or place to stay until we can work things out to help her. Unfortunately they're closed for the holiday weekend. Until we hear from Katerina and get an exact location for her, we have no way of sending her help or money. Please pray God will open a door for us to do this! Zach and I both feel that moving her to CA seems to be our best option. We can't bear to go through this over the next four months, leaving her to the streets and hoping she can find food & shelter from day to day, for her sake & our baby's sake. Also, please pray that if it's the Lord's will that we be able to reach our lawyer sooner rather than later to start discussing a plan of action. We need lots of discernment as we work our way through very new territory.

We love you friends & family for your faithful support. If the Lord is leading you to lend financial support to Katerina, whether with money or giftcards, please let us know. Know that your prayers are always the most powerful and effective thing you can do for us & Katerina!

The baby room

Here are some pictures of the baby's room, which I finally completed today! All it needs are some essentials (ie: a diaper pail), and we'll be all set. :-) And not that it matters, but for those of you with a detailed eye, we do have a crib skirt but we had to lower the mattress for our friends' 14 month old baby to sleep in when they visit. So, the crib skirt was removed temporarily. :-)
DO note, however, my late grandfather's beautiful rocking chair, still in perfect condition.