Not lost in translation!

The news we prayed for finally happened.  After a last minute scurry to complete our final dossier document, our paperwork arrived safe and sound in Bulgaria, which was an answered prayer.  But the bigger answered prayer was that we learned yesterday - our dossier has been translated and it is ready to be presented to the Ministry of Justice next week!

Next week, we will be issued the official referral of our future son.  For him, there will be true, documented evidence that his life will be forever changed and his days in The Bad Place are truly numbered (and a short number at that, I pray).  I could not believe my eyes when I saw the news yesterday.  Our dossier was translated so quickly!  Things have moved so swiftly!  As I begin to prepare myself for my next semester in college, I am slowly beginning to believe that we will be traveling during this semester.  We will be seeing him!  We will finally "know" him from more than a picture, and we will be able to prepare ourselves for his needs and concerns.  One of the reasons we refused to waive our first trip was so that we could really see him for ourselves and use the time between trips to investigate therapies and find resources that can be beneficial for him.  I hope we can learn a little something about him from his Baba, because I doubt we will learn anything from the staff.

Up next on our prayer list is to receive the written, translated referral quickly so that we can prepare our travel dates.

My daughter will celebrate her birthday for the last time by herself.  Next year, she will celebrate with her brother playing beside her.  I realize she may not like this concept, for at three years old, you'd really like it to be all about you, right?  But she will learn to adjust to the presence of another sibling.  In the meantime, we are spending excellent time with just her, and we've stretched as far as we can muster to provide her with special experiences.  She will even be attending a wonderful preschool in the fall as we stretch our budget to give her the best of everything, just as we will do for her brother.

My secret prayer is that our little boy will be home in time for his birthday (in November) even if we do nothing but personally acknowledge that day.  It would be amazing for him to spend his birthday home with us.

Soon, our dossier will be formally presented.  I find myself thinking of our Little Dude's birth parents.  Certainly, they do not know that there is a family across the ocean who has been working to bring their son to the United States.  If they did, would they care?  Would they understand?  What would they want to know from us, if anything?  Do they ever think of their child in The Bad Place?  I think of his extended biological family; of cousins and aunts and grandmothers and grandfathers.  What do they think?  What would they like to tell him, if anything?  Will we ever meet any of them someday?  Will our future son want to do that?  Do they push him out of their minds because he was born imperfect, or do they wonder about him and pray for him?

Your prayers and thoughts are so appreciated.  Our family is grateful for the support we've received and for the prayers for our family and for our future son.  Thank you for sharing our story, contributing if you can, and sharing it with others.  We are grateful and blessed.