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Tuesday, February 26, 2008
A Few Smiles
Anant slept through the night from about 9:30pm-7:15am. We didn't sleep well. I got some help with some chemistry about
1pm. Today he has cried more but we are seeing some smiles and some really cute expressive things that we saw him doing at
BSSK. He raises his eyebrows a few times and points so very cute with his hand (when I hold him he points to wherever he thinks
Daddy is. He loves his sandles the Danilaks gave us. I think because the caregivers at BSSK made such a fuss over his new
clothes and sandles. A few of the other children started hitting him right about then and I think there may have been some
jealosy there. Interesting... . Our flight is still scheduled to leave for Delhi tomorrow.
Anant is still eating well and drinking. I got to play with him with his water cup and this is when he did the eyebrow
thing. It was like he was saying "do it again Mom!" then "do it again". He is now smiling and we even get a laugh now and
then. Dad bathed him and we saw the crying reappear. I wouldn't let him play with his spoon at Breakfast and then we saw the
tears again.
BSSK said he could come and eat there today. Not sure how wise this would be given the grieving he is still going through?!?
Pray for wisdom.
We go to visit the judge today at the family court. Pray this goes quickly as we were warned of the poor sanitation in
the waiting area and most US families get frustrated with the wait, all the people and the lack of adequate facilities. Good
thing they warn us.
Talk to you all soon. I sat here and cried as I read some encouragement from the Holt list as well as our family and
friends. We are so grateful for you all and the prayers and support you give us. We could never do this without you.
Mary
Monday, February 25, 2008
Heart-Wrenching
Yeah, that about says it. We were at BSSK all day seeing Anant and his caregivers. He was not too interested in us. We
definately upset his day. He cried incessantly when going to sleep and wouldn't eat his snack. We think because he knows who
we are. We had a little ceremony that is a handing-over kind of event. You can tell the caregivers love this little boy and
he loves them.
So, since we left he has been grieving. On the way around BSSK, meeting all the staff at the end he became sort of non-responsive
and looked sad. It is heart-wrenching (hence the title above). He has only gone to Rob and doesn't want to have anything to
do with me. He did eat Dinner well, which is a blessing. Every thing we have to do for him puts him right over the edge screaming.
Especially if I hold him. Its hard to watch his pain. Rob is holding up but this whole thing is stressful for him so please
pray for him. He is very anxious.
In the end we know that it is better for our son to be with us rather than in a childcare facility his whole life but
right now our hearts break for him, leaving all the people he has ever known and loved. He has had these losses before but
not to this extent. Now I think he is asleep on poor, exhausted Rob in a chair upstairs. Rob cannot leave his sight even to
go to the bathroom, screams ensue.
Pray for our flight to be on schedule on Wednesday. Everything so far has gone as planned. Even the grieving, as we know
he was well loved and cared for. Thank you Lord.
Anant is more beautiful in person than his pictures. He is so cute. He looks so tiny too. Hard not to hold him for me.
But I will be patient with God's grace.
Blessings on you all!
Love,
Mary
Sunday, February 24, 2008
TODAY'S THE DAY
Wow, can't believe it's really happening today. I feel a strange calm. It must be supernatural and of God. I slept
the whole night! Rob didn't sleep very well though and felt a little nauseus this morning. We think because of lack of sleep
or maybe he was just hungry. Again, he only ate bread, this time because he didn't think it wise to have spice or something
new on his stomach. Me, I had the upma and sambhar. Very delish! With scrambled eggs. For some reason, in India, I don't get
as hungry and the food sticks with me. Amazing too that I'm not really overeating. Thank you all for your prayers, we are
indeed doing very well thanks to your prayers to God for us.
We are right now waiting for our driver.
They are here. Here we go. I'm smiling.
Mary
We're Here
We just got in to Pune less than 1/2 hour ago. The weather didn't keep us from leaving! This was a surprise. We would have
though our flight to Mumbai would have at least been delayed. Wow, we have just been along for the ride. No glitches! God
is so amazing. The 15 hour flight didn't really seem too long. Rob didn't get much sleep. He said I was asleep a lot on the
flight(Rob's note: She slept 7 hours, I got 3 no wonder it was a quick flight for her). It didn't feel like a very sound sleep
but the flight did seem to go very quick. Watched a few movies. Nanny Diaries and an Indian movie about Bihar is what I watched.
Nanny Diaries was a good teacher about how not to be a Mom.
We found our transport at the airport very easily and came
back to our hotel in Mumbai(Robs note: We got our luggage but I think ours was the last off the plane, I kept praying our
luggage would come). Basically we just went to sleep by 11:30pm. I slept about 1/2 the night then was wide awake. Both of
us took nyquil (me for my cold and to sleep and Rob just to sleep). Should start to catch up tonight with the time.
Got
our ride this morning after a scrumptious Breakfast at our hotel. I, of course, ate Indian food and Rob, well, lets just say
he is afraid of the ______ (whatever city we're in) belly. I am still making sure to eat cooked food and bottled water though
for sure. Christopher was a great driver and knew exactly where to take us. We chatted along the way about his family and
ours. The ride was pretty after getting out of Mumbai (most locals actually still use the old names for places-Christopher
tells us most people call it Bombay still). There were hills and countryside to watch. Pune (used to be Poona) is a smaller
town and very nice. Christopher tells us there is not much fighting and it is a peaceful place generally(Rob's note: Thats
good we do not want any fighting while we are here).
So were here for the day at the Season's Service Apartments and will
not be doing much today. Most shops are closed (so much for my shopping-just as well, Rob is probably glad he won't have to
shop). We do have a nice room. We got a letter from BSSK at the front desk telling us about tomorrow. That they will pick
us up at 9:30am and we will see what a typical day for Anant looks like. Eat Lunch with staff, ask the questions we want
to ask, get his paperwork. They say we can take him back with us tomorrow night(Rob's note: Keep praying the introduction
goes well with Anant).
Mary and Rob
2:05 am est
Friday, February 22, 2008
We're Leaving, we think?!
So, this morning we had the largest snow that we've had all winter. We have to say we were a little (and still are) worried
that our flight may not go out on time. Continental says that they it is on time. However we still have about 6 hours before
we would take off. Things could change. Mary from Holt says that things can be adjusted at BSSK depending on what happens
with our schedule.
We are so appreciative of everyones well wishes and prayers for us right now.
Last night, around 9:30 I began to panic as I read the document list and thought that we needed another document that
needed notorizing. I kept Rob up with my tears and panic until 12 midnight (and I'm sick by the way-cold) filling out this
document (never mind that I was up at 4!?!?). After talking with Mary from Holt we found out that this does not have to be
notorized. Which is good since none of the notorizors (is that a word?) came to work because of the snow so this works out.
I did manage to leave work close to 1pm! And we have a covering dietitian to boot! I feel much better. God has really
brought everything together.
I'm reminded of something a woman named Linda (yes Linda I'm quoting you) says about God. He is always asking us "do
you trust me?" or "will you go after something else because you think I'm holding out on you?". I find myself saying over
and over "God I trust you" today.
Dan and Nancy, our mentors from way back in our pre-engagement class and people who we love and trust sent us some great
verses:
"I will lead the blind by ways
they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I
will guide them:
I will turn
the darkness into
light before them
and make the rough places
smooth.
These are the things I will do:
I will
not forsake them." Isaiah42:16
I will be holding on to these verses for the next few days.
Mary
Monday, February 18, 2008
Blessings Upon Blessings
We have been so blessed by everyone during this process. Thank you for all of the help and gifts you have given.
After this point it may be difficult to send an e-mail to everyone to tell you that we have posted on the blog, so if
you are interested in keeping up with us please keep our blog address in your favorites as we think that this will be the
easiest way to communicate to everyone as phone/computer may be limited in India. So we wanted everyone to know that
we will do the best we can with communicating with you all. God knows we want to let you all know how we are doing so that
we can have your prayers that we so covet. We have been so blessed by all the prayer so far. People seem to know what we need
before we need it. Wonder where that comes from?
Pray for us as we get ready for travel and work this week. That we would be wise in our packing (I have no idea how to pack
for a 2 year old! Maybe some of you want to check my Anant bag that I packed last night?). That we would have an outward focus
because of the peace that we have in Christ as we go the way He has planned for us. It has been easy to be scatter brained
and stressed over the details. I know I have not loved many of you as I should have during this process. Please forgive
me. Pray that we would know how to bless BSSK as well. I do not want to give them things out of some sense of obligation
and guilt for all they have done for him. Pray for us to love them well out of Christ's love. Pray that we would focus
on Christ.
I can remember preparing for our wedding that we were told by John Y our pastor that it doesn't matter what
happens on that day that everything could go wrong but what matters is that you say I do. Pray for us to be this
flexible and trusting the Lord for all the details, knowing that God will place this little boy in our hands and bring him
home safely (along with us!). We need his wisdom in these early days dealing with such a big transition in Anant's life
and ours.
Thank you all so much and we hope to see you all very soon with the 3rd member of our family.
Mary
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Lame Blogger
I'm a lame blogger. So much has happened that my head is spinning. We have been so busy with travel plans. Anant's passport
came in Monday and Holt got the ICPC in thier hands on Tuesday. We have been working out the travel plans this week and getting
all the paperwork ready that we need to bring with us. We are leaving at 8:20pm on Friday, February 22. Its
so nice to actually have a date. Everyone always asks "when will you go and get hiim". And I wanted a date too. Now we do,
praise God. He has once again been gracious to us. We will fly right in to Mumbai and stay the night there Saturday night
(we will not get to Mumbai until Sat eve). Sunday, we will be driven 3 hours to Pune where Anant is. Monday we will meet
with him and his social workers and caregivers. Its possible we will be able to take him back to the hotel in Pune the first
night but that will be determined that day. Tuesday we will have more time with his caregivers and staff at BSSK. Tuesday
night he will go with us. Wednesday we will be flying from Pune (the airport will hopefully then be up and running again-its
supposed to-we have tickets) to Delhi. We will get to Delhi Wednesday afternoon. Between Wednesday, Feb 27 and Tuesday
the following week (March 4) we will be finishing Anant's paperwork. The embassy is closed on Feb 29 which extended our
stay which is good because we will be able to visit with friends there in Delhi.
We have also been blessed to have cheap plane tickets where will will be able to fly non-stop!
PRAISE THE LORD!!!! He has done all of it.
We have also, under much duress (me that is) decided on a name!
THOMAS ANANT BLAKE
We will call him Anant in the beginning at least because that is what he has been used to.
Mary
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Prayer Requests Answered and Need More...
Just wanted to say that my friend from the Holt forum Michell got her verbal guardianship. We are so happy for her and
know that it is God who did this. He is able to change the heart of kings and judges in Bangalore. Now pray
for God to give her grace with the rest of the process that it would go faster than all the projections say. She has been
waiting too long for her precious Anvita.
Also, a new prayer request for Jennifer. She has the same judge that Michell has and has also been waiting a long time.
Pray for the judge to give her guardianship of Malachi Jayanth this week.
Also, just to explain some acronyms I carelessly used in my last post, Anant has an appointment with CHOP's (Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia) IAC (International Adoption Clinic) on March 27.
Mary
ICPC
I had just posted on our Holt forum that things were too quiet. That post turned out to be inappropriate for the news
we got yesterday. Mary R from Holt said that she heard that we had ICPC approval (verbally). She needs the written ICPC in
her hands. Hope it is on its way. We also got a copy of the ICPC approval in our own mailbox. Can't say I expected that. Wow,
1 week after it was sent to Oregon then to Harrisberg and it is already in our hands. THANK YOU GOD. We were originally told
2-4 weeks for this process!
Now we are waiting for Anant's passport. Mary from Holt e-mailed BSSK to ask about when they expect it or if they have
it. After Mary has the ICPC and we get word that Anant has a passport we can book our travel!!!
Please pray for wisdom for us as to when to leave and how to orchestrate the flights and cars etc. I called the travel
agent that has worked with Holt adoptions for 11 years (Earl, he's Indian-cool) last night and he said that Northwest airlines
is having a special currently and we are able to fly directly into Mumbai (3 hours drive from Anant or a puddle jumper flight)
then on the way back out through Delhi to Newark inexpensively!!! God is amazing! We can't acutally book yet but it is difficult
to decide when to fly out and where to stay and how long. We need wisdom. BSSK likes families to come to visit on a Monday.
Spend Monday and Tuesday at BSSK then fly out on Wednesday to Delhi to finish all the visa processing before leavning.
Pray for a passport this week!
We can't leave before Feb 21 because Rob has to be in court that day (don't worry its only a misdemeaner--ha ha, no really
its for his work). I think my last day at work will be Feb 22.
We have appointments at the CHOP IAC on March 27 and with the pediatrician on April 1. Also, Holt gave us scanned copies
of the court paperwork so we can get Anant on our Aetna health insurance. Things are really coming together.
Pray for God's perfect plan to unfold in the next few weeks. Thank you all for your support and prayers. Couldn't do
this without you!
Mary
Thursday, February 7, 2008
A Few Things
Still waiting to hear about Anant's passport and the ICPC stateside approval. We met with a pediatrician at Kids First
at Chestnut Hill on Tuesday. Appreciated how they manage the practice. It requires us to make "regular" appointments well
in advance (6 weeks ahead) but sick visits are accommodated well. They stop making appointments when 1/3 of the day is booked
so as to make sure there is ample time for sick visits. Hopefully we will not need it so much. Also, the doctor said that
in order to help with language to use a "Broadcast Method" where we talk like a Steve Madden during a game. Ex. "we are having
french toast this morning and we are setting the table with a fork and a spoon", "now we are going to the store in the car,
here are my keys". Sounds fun eh? A friend said to have a Giardia test ready (thanks Sandwich-ewwwwwww) because both of her
boys when they came from India had active Giardia. More fun eh?
Another friend (thanks Miska!) told me she looked up online with Anant's measurements and he is in approximately 18 month
old clothes. This is good to know. We have a lot of 2T and 3T but not a lot of this smaller size. Not worried, plenty of time
to get this together.
Pray for my job. There is no replacement coverage for me yet. I know this is not my responsibility, however, I would
feel a lot better leaving if this were in place and I was able to show someone the "ropes" here to have a more seamless transition.
We are expecting state surveyors any minute in our nursing facility, so this is a big deal for my superiors.
Our NL team is in india now! We miss them and look forward to hearing all about their trip and where God is leading the
work. Pray for them as they wrap things up in the next few days that they will leave a lasting impression for the Kingdom.
Mary
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Departure Report
Friday we received what BSSK calls a Departure Report. In it is Anant's daily routine with what he likes to eat. They
say he does not like eggs (must get that from his Dad). They also measured him:
Ht 75cm
Waist 54cm
Shoulder to waist 30cm
Soulder to toes 64cm
sleeves half 9cm
Footprint 13.5cm
Shoulder
to knees 42cm
Chest 53cm
Sleeves full 20cm
Weight 9.45kg (about 20 lbs)
There was also a very nice letter talking about Anant's personality. They say he is loving. In their words: "We cannot
explain in words how he showers love on us. He plays very well with his peers and loves and kisses them." They also say that
when they call another child he goes and gets that child and brings them to the adults. Little supervisor on the job-LOL.
He is not comfortable with strangers (YAY). Hopefully he will recognize us from countless discussions and showing of our pictures
to him by the BSSK staff, and we will not be considered complete strangers. Ah, much to Rob's chagrin, when they serve chicken
monthly Anant only eats the chicken soup, "meat will have to be introduced slowly". Vegetarian Indian food here we come!
Looking more and more like leaving around Feb 27? Have to wait and see when the passport and ICPC get completed. But
we are thinking we will be better prepared to leave that week then pushing it and leaving the 20th. We'll see.
Mary
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Our Adoption Process of Anant
- April 9, 2006 Anant is born in Aurangabad, India
- Spring?, 2006 Mom and Dad meet with a social worker about India adoption and become discouraged that
the road can be long and difficult
- March 15-30, 2007 Mom and Dad visit India
- April 23, 2007 Dad inquires of Holt about India adoption
- May 10, 2007 application for home study (report by local social worker with all kinds of
personal information about us-basically a report about our family) started
- July 27, 2007 joined waiting child program with Holt
- August 9, 2007 Home Study approved by Holt International Childrens Services in Eugene, OR
- August 27, 2007 New Waiting Child listing sent out with guess who in it
- September 8, 2007 fingerprinted in Center City Philadelphia for filing of I600A (US approval for us
to adopt-finalized in India)
- September 13, 2007 Waiting Child Committee accepts us as Anant's parents!
- September 22, 2007 completed Dossier (Stack of official papers about us that go to India) sent
to Holt--Whew!
- September 26, 2007 I600A approval from US Gov-fingerprints cleared.
- September 27, 2007 Anant's acceptance papers sent to Holt
- October 12, 2007 Paperwork sent to BSSK (the childcare agency in India where Anant lives) for India process to begin!
- October 20, 2007 BSSK has looked over our papers and filed for No Objection Status with the Indian government
- December 3, 2007 Holt called to tell us we have our No Objection Certificate (actually dated 11/27/07-see post regarding
the importance of this date on 12/9/07). This will now be filed in the local (Pune, Maharastra) court for guardianship.
- December 6, 2007 Received word that our I600A approval has indeed reached New Delhi (this is needed in order to bring
Anant home. The other part of this is showing up with him at the US Embassy in New Delhi to do the I600 and complete his visa
with a medical evaluation! Now it will be legal for us to bring him home.
- January 18,2008 We are notified of receiving Verbal Gaurdianship of Anant.
- January 30, 2008 We receive Written Gaurdianship of Anant Blake. It also happens to be Rob's Father's
birthday.
- February 22, 2008 leave for India
- February 25, 2008 meet and take home Thomas Anant Blake (This happens to be Mary's Dad's Birthday)
- February 29, 2008 leave India
- March 1, 2008 home!!! YAY.
- April 29, 2008 Alien Registration Card Received
- August 1, 2008 Applied for SS#/Card (should have done this sooner)
- August 8, 2008 SS#/Card Received
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Anant's words: pretty much said in this order
Momma
Bye
Hi
Ball
Up
Down
Uh Oh
Amen
Ball
All Done
Eeew
Wow
Yay
Bible
Out (referring to Derby to get out of the kitchen and stop eating his food! You can tell we say this a lot)
Ow
Hot (means hot and cold and blows on the food whether hot or cold)
Apple
Anant (pronounced Ana)
More
Egg
Water
Banana
Head
Hide
Peek
Makes a car sound
Makes a dog sound (I'm told by the speech therapist that these count! So I'm counting them)
elbow (4/23/08)
Bowl(4/24/08)
Orange
Strawberry (Pronounced Sraugh-not sure whether to count this or not?)
Waffle
Hello (4/25/07)
Eye
Cup
Mouth (sounds like mou)
House 4/26/08
Please Momma 4/28/08
Cracker
Choo choo (train sound)
Makes a monkey noise
Tea 4/30/08
5/08: Sock, Shoe, Derby, Dog, Bath, Bag, Door, Fork, Spoon, Bath, Reina, Dance, Cry, Deep, Wide, Bubbles, Bird, Nana,
Bus, Eat, Milk, Bus, Nana, Door, Nathaniel (pronounced Nuh), Chop (chop Derby's food), Ear, Open, Hand, Off, On, Cheese, Girl,
Fish, Josh, chair, teeth, know (song), car, bucket, Gritts, Moon, J.J. (our neighbor's name), Sooby (as in Scooby-Doo, sounds
like scoo), Cold, Wet, Broccoli, Close, Happy, Poo-Poo, Pee Pee, Plane, Come, Cut, Church, Natalie (sounds like Na), Melon,
1,2,5 (yes, in that order), Spoon, Fork, Scoop
6/08: Vacuum, Peas, Bib, Lid, Sky, Star, Big, Money, Baby, Nana, Pool. Too many words to keep up with now.
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