Christmas 2013

My Dearest Dimitry,

This year, you hoped for a home. We really, really tried My Love.
You've grown since we held you last. 
Another season of your life has passed, and still you wonder when we will come.
We are closer than we have ever been, Dear Boy.

I pray for your heart as time goes by.
You don't even remember a home with a mama and daddy who set rules and give out hugs and kisses, or siblings to wrestle, play and grow with.

I wish you'd never have to wonder if we love you "as much,"
or feel sadness or guilt for the friends left behind when you join us.

I hope you know the love we have for you comes, not from the sacrifices made, but from the sincere desire to call you Son.

You are a blessing and God's child on this earth,
and we are so very excited to watch you grow as one of our family.

Soon, we will be there;
Soon, you will never have to wonder again where you belong.
Soon, you will be home.

xxoxxo,
Mama Dena

New Adventures

This morning,
a little past 5AM CST,
everyone dear to me left for our next adventure,
without me.

Talk about tough.

Load up your babies, your best friend and spouse, your puppies,
your parents, your father-in-law,
and watch them drive into the darkness of not-quite-morning.

Some tears were shed.

If anything makes this mama feel vulnerable,
it's letting go of the loves of my life,
and staying behind.

Through the sobs, I literally dropped to my knees and prayed to my Jesus:



Please Lord, 

guide them and protect them. 
Allow Your angels to make the way for them
and travel alongside, as well. 
Carry them in Your hands. 
Deliver them safely.



It took a while for me to fall back to sleep, and it was a bit tough to get up again.
I knew my mother-in-law would be waiting for me at church, so I made my way to another set of goodbyes.

We have been greatly blessed by a wonderful church family over the past 8 1/2 years.
The embraced us when we arrived with our 6 month old son,
and helped us welcome our little princess 3 years later.
They've supported our adoption, praying and crying with us along the way,
and I knew that today would be another bittersweet day.

There were tears and hugs,
and on more than one occasion,
I was unable to speak when friends bestowed their wishes and love on our family.

Our journey has been an interesting one, for sure.

I believe that we are led in the direction we are headed,
and no coincidence has occurred along this path.

When I interviewed for my new position,
I prayed that God would leave no doubt in my mind or heart about what to do,
and after considering 3 job offers,
that is exactly what He did.
The location, the people, the opportunities for my family aligned.

When we put our house on the market, our timeline was set to relocate.
After carrying 2 mortgage payments for 10 months last time we moved, we were eager to price the property correctly and do what was necessary to move on without straining our family's finances.
We have one of the world's greatest realtor friends who we called immediately,
trusting her to price our home higher than we agreed we needed to move our family comfortably.

We set a deadline that we needed a contract in hand or we would proceed with renting in Colorado,
rather than purchasing a new home right from the start.

I prayed, a lot.
More importantly, I really trusted that God had this plan for our family, and I was going to go along for the ride.

Our home came under contract after 21 days on the market,
for asking price.

Then,
our son's passport was printed,
after so much time.

It's difficult to understand an adoption process that takes more than 3 years to complete,
but starts wrapping up as a family prepares to relocate,
away from the friends and family that have eagerly waited to celebrate the new child's arrival.

I really think my sister has offered the best insight on this one:
Our entire family will be undergoing a period of adjustment and integration into a new environment (school, work, community),
without the comfort of close friends or family nearby,
no familiarity of "our" church, favorite restaurant, grocery store, etc.
With only each other to cling to,
we all move forward to the next adventure.
No territorialism over who claimed friends, rooms, or anything else first.

Wow.
How can we argue with that philosophy?
Sounds like great timing then, huh?

There are a lot of unknowns in our little family's future,
but one thing is certain,
we have each other,
and we will always have the love of our family at "home" in Missouri.

Thank You Lord for Facebook and texting!

This next week, we will unload all that we own,
decorate our surroundings and find our way around town,
before settling into a new "normal" routine of school attendance and working.

New faces. New names.
Different routines and patterns.
Same Mama and Daddy and munchkins,
eagerly waiting to welcome a brother / son home.

We only live once,
and I believe the best is yet to come.

Let's skip to the chase

I am a bit behind, this I know,
but here is the important news that trumps all other details keeping me from this blog:

Dimitry Edmunds has a Haitian passport

Oooh, that felt good.

There is much to catch you up on,
but really, what else matters?

So, "what's next?" you may ask . . .

His newly acquired passport will accompany all other legal documents related to the adoption to the United States Embassy,
where scrutiny will once again be applied.
The given time period for this stage averages 3-4 weeks,
but being the over-achievers we are (nothing happens quickly with our file),
let's not discount the upcoming holiday.
Once the dossier and supporting documents are given the great, big, authoritative thumbs up,
we should be granted a visa appointment,
at which point, we travel . . .
not to come home empty handed, this time.

Dimitry may not get a mama and a papa and a brother and a sister for Christmas,
but by golly,
he'll have one for his birthday,
if I have any control over it

(and if you've been paying attention, at all, you'll know that I do not).