Gotcha day!

Wow, ok I know I have been horrible and have not posted in forever! WE GOT OUR BOY!!! This wk has been flying by and appts and Peyton have been keeping us busy. I cant really think right now about everything and we are tired and have to be up at like 2:30 in the morning for our flight home. This weeks process went extremely well. We are so blessed, so many things that could have been a problem were not, Praise Jesus! Gotcha day was Sept 14th! Here are some pics from this week. I will write more when I can. I really should be in bed!

Love The Wilsons
Erick, Chrissy, Ethan, Jacey, PEYTON, and Taylor

Court Day!

Today was the day, the big day that has been hanging over our heads the past few months. A decision that would affect the rest of this journey and our lives...

Our facilitator came into town early this morning and woke us up... though it wasn't time to get ready yet. We rested some more and then got ready for the day. Then she came and talked to us about how court was going to go and what we needed to say and do. It was a lot of information and we got a little nervous but then Erick and I prayed over it all. Shortly after, it was time to leave. The court is just a block or 2 away from our apt, so we walked there. We waited around in a hallway in the building while Luda delivered some papers. Then she came back and we waited a bit more. The whole time we sat there we would pray off and on individually and one thing the Lord told me was to relax, that we can't mess this up. This is his work, we are just to move in obedience. The Holy Spirit is the one in control. That was a great peace giver. “Salvation is mine says the Lord”. Whatever the Lord wills, will come to pass. We were ready to rest in whatever that answer was and move fwd as we keep following after him.

Then, it was time to enter the court room. It was a cute little room. It was us and Luda, and a prosecutor, social worker, orphanage representative, a court secretary, and 2 witnesses. We waited around for a bit and then the judge entered. He was younger than we expected. Everyone was self introduced and our paperwork was read off while Luda translated on the fly for us. Then it was time to say why we wanted to adopt and answer questions from the judge/prosecutor. Only one of us needed to speak, so Erick spoke on our behalf. He did a great job! The rest of court proceeded, nobody in the court objected to our adoption and maybe like an hour or so later we were dismissed to return back for the judge's decree at 2:30pm (I guess he had lunch plans). So we left and Luda said that we did a great job and was proud of us. Then we went to a nearby cafe and had lunch. It was a cute little cafe but seemed like in the middle of nowhere. We had plenty of time and enjoyed some good food and conversation with Luda, she is so great! Then we walked back to the court right in time. We waited for a bit in the hall and then it was time to go in the room. A few min later the judge arrived, we all stood and he read off his decree. In a nut shell... THE COURT FULLY ACCEPTS YOUR ADOPTION!!! Joy beamed to our faces (Erick started crying a bit) and then the judge said congratulations and left. Then Luda gave us big hugs and that was it!



From there we walked back to the apt for a bit to wait to go to orphanage. That was nice so we could change out of court clothes. Then we left to go see Peyton. The director wanted to meet with Luda a little earlier than visit time so we just sat in on the groupa snack time while they met in the office. It was nice to see all the kids but it was a little awkward waiting there for Luda and the director to come back (it took like an hour) since it was not like a regular visit where we could play. Then they arrived and the director congratulated us, she was very happy and so nice to us. Then she had Luda take pics of the whole groupa together, and some with us in it! What an awesome opportunity to advocate for other orphans!

Then it was time to take Peyton to get his passport photo taken. So we, Luda, our driver, Peyton and an orphanage caregiver all got in the car and took a little drive. Peyton sat on my lap (they don't wear seatbelts here). He was so excited about being in the car. He talked nonstop about everything! We got his pic taken and then took him back. We had about 30 min or so left of visit time and Luda joined us and we all stayed with the groupa visiting outside. The other kids kept trying to come to me and calling me mama and Peyton got so jealous and would push them away. “My mama”, he says. It was nice to get a chance to interact a bit with the others though. More pics were taken and then it was time to leave. The caregivers and Luda all explained to him what was happening and he understands we will be gone for a bit but then return to get him.



It was a very busy day and now we are tired and ready to relax. But of course I had to post this wonderful blog for all you wonderful people out there first! You are part of this miracle, all of your prayers and contributions have played a part in this redemption story. Thank you!

Love
The Wilsons

Greenlight for Court!

Well we got the good news this morning that everything is ready for court Wed! Praise the Lord for his provision! Continue to pray with us over the next couple days for court to go well; for our representation before the court, for the judge to agree to the adoption, for our nerves to be rested and know God has it all in His hands... and of course for Peyton to understand the process and to be ready to come home with us. We are not sure if Peyton will have to be in court or not. He may be old enough to where the judge wants him there and where he has to agree to be adopted. So if this is required, we pray he does not get scared or anything and understands whats is going on and that he clearly shows (through actions, words, and spirit)that he wants us to be his parents.

Things have been going well. Our visits good, but are different from one to the next. Some, Peyton is calm and stays entertained with things well. Others, he is hyper and doesn't stay focused on anything long and pushes boundaries. We are not sure what causes these changes. It may be that sometimes he is on some sort of sedative (like Ritalin or something), or it may be that he had sugar that morning, did or didn't nap, or got in trouble, etc??? We don't know what happens with him while we are away so it is hard to say. We also think that part of the issue may be the other children. When other groupas come out, he seems to get more active. Like he wants to show off or something. They distract him. He wants to play with them but he isn't supposed to. So not getting to do what he wants may make him act out. But who knows, the other day he sat with us at the table almost the entire 2 hours and there was a groupa out with us for maybe half of that time. Yet he stayed calm and focused on things at the table. It will be nice to get him home in our own environment so that we can really be his authority and know what is happening with him 24/7. It is hard “parenting” him under other control and an environment we don't know much about and not being able to communicate.

We had a nice weekend with good visits. Saturday the weather was wonderful and Erick and I took an afternoon stroll into the main part of the city (about a 10+ min walk from our place). There happened to be some sort of race going on, runners and bikers all over the place and streets blocked off and entertainment set up. That was kind of neat to see. We were looking for a place to eat some local food, but we never seemed to find anything on our walk. They have a bunch of outdoor “bars” open that serve drinks and desserts but no meals- in the middle of the day, weird. We finally ended up at the cafe/pizza place we went to the first day here in this city. We thought we would try to order but we ended up leaving cuz we just couldn't figure out the menu AT ALL (we miss being able to communicate). So we walked back home and on the way stopped at the huge outdoor market (which is like a mall outdoors) across from where we are staying. We picked up some “fast food” there, though mine was disgusting. It was supposed to be a hot dog, but was nothing like what I am used to. Erick lucked out with a good sausage kolache. All in all, we had a nice walk on a nice day and saw some of the city and took some pics. Saturday night we watched a movie on Netflix. We got interrupted by a Skype call from the kids, they missed us. We gladly stopped our movie to see those wonderful faces! We are ready to be back home with them (and Peyton too).

Sunday morning we slept in and then walked to the market again for some breakfast (lunch rather). We walked around and it is amazing how many vendors are set up, this “mall” is huge. There is everything from meat markets, dairy markets, fruits and veggies, to clothes, shoes, toys, bikes, bags, kitchen items, on and on... never seen a mall like this before. And it was crowded! Occasionally a car would drive out right down the walkway. Most of it was under a giant tent structure, others just set up outside it or alongside the street. Then there was a series of smaller tents all together that made up more of the mall. But I wonder if they all pack this stuff up every day and then set back up again. Bad weather would even ruin the stuff up under the tent I would think. Anyways, then we went back home and watched last weeks church service online. It is good to have a piece of home to watch and stay connected that way!

We only have 3 visits left with Peyton before court. Then maybe 1 after and then we go home. I will update you after court when I get a chance. Thanks for your prayers!

Love
The Wilsons

Prayers please!

ok prayer warriors, just got word an important doc is missing from Peyton's file... Our facilitator just found out around 5 something this evening and the office she needed to contact about it closed at like 4. Pray hard that they can locate it quickly Mon when the work wk starts back or else we might have to postpone court another 2 wks!!!
Thanks
The Wilsons

Court Date!!!

Ok so we have a court date... Wed Aug 31st @ 11am!!! Pray pray pray! God has blessed this journey here immensely and we ask for this huge step to be triumphed as well! If all goes well, we will fly home Thurs-Fri and return the following weekend. If all goes well on the 2nd trip, we should have him home the weekend after that! So mid Sept! How glorious this would be!

Our visits with Peyton have been going very well. We are blown away by how God is moving in our times together. Recently he began pushing boundaries and testing us. He was a little rowdy Tuesday where we had to take a certain toy away from him. He was not happy about it at all, but didn't overly act out about it. Right after that it was time for us to go and then the next day (yesterday)it was raining and we were going to have to stay inside for the whole 2 hrs, in the little play area with lots of balls, physical therapy stuff, and broken toys. He gets more active when in there for some reason. I was praying for God to make the visit a good one, where Peyton was able to be calmed and less chaotic in there. I prayed that we would be able to hold his interest in things so that he was not running from thing to thing or getting out of hand. God totally made it happen! He was calmer than we had seen him and we had some special moments. He found Erick could play the piano and he wanted him to play. So Erick sat there and wrote a soothing song and Peyton would get memorized by it. It was so cool. The visit went well.

Today we were able to go back outside and it went really well too, again he was a little calmer than normal. We brought him gummybears today. he shared with is class then the caregiver let him take the rest outside with us. He sat there and ate them. This was a great smooth start to our visit. He kept himself busy pretty easily. At one point he raked up leaves into a pile and then cleaned them up. Similarly, he raked up a pile of sand on the ground outside the sandbox and put it back in the box. He is very diligent in his work. He is good at projects.

During the 2nd visit today, after a while he was wanting to do something that would not be very safe and I said no, but he kept trying to get me to help him do it. He got a little upset and had a mini fit, but I picked him up, held him and said gently, no no no, not safe, it's ok. He calmed down. Then soon after he went and started doing what I said no to. I stopped him and he got more upset. He threw more of a fit. But again, I picked him up and went and sat down with him this time. We did the "time in" thing (instead of time-out), where I hold him on my lap in loving discipline, containing him and gently speaking to him about keeping him safe, loving him, and how to behave. He was whining but after a while he was fine. I am soooo thankful I learned of this technique from others!!! Then he got busy playing. Soon after, the Director came over and after a few minutes of trying to understand each other, we realized she wanted Peyton to sit and do some coloring. He came right over and sat down to color. Very obedient! Then after he was done with what she said to do, he was ready to run off again. We were able to get him to stay and do some more on another page though. Then he wanted to go off and play somewhere else. I told him to clean up the mess he already made from playing earlier and he did. Right after, Erick pulled out the video we made b4 we left of the kids and my mom and sis saying hi to him. It caught his attention b4 he could run off and he had to watch it a few times over. He really liked it and waved back at Babushka really excitedly one of the times! Then this led to him being intrigued with the tablet computer. So we showed him angry birds, he got a kick out of that. It took us a while to get him to do it right, but he had fun. He loves the technology we carry around. He always wants to see my phone and push all the buttons on it. At the end of this visit we turned some worship music on and he carried the phone around listening to it. I picked him up and we spun around dancing to the music. He loved this! A little piece of heaven for this mama!

Saturday visits

We went for our morning visit and brought the groupa bananas. They all sat around the table nice and quietly and the caregivers passed out their plates. Peyton kept looking at us smiling. Another little boy waved at us. They waited patiently and then they were told they could eat and there they went. The banana was cut up on the plate, and they ate with their hands very carefully. Peyton ate with his right hand, though he has been coloring with his left. He was the first one finished (he was ready to go play with us), stood up, gently pushed in his chair and asked to wash his hands. He has such manners. After cleaning up, he excitingly went the the room where his train was that we gave him, grabbed my hand and headed for the door. We played outside with him alone for a while. After a while the groupa came out and played in a nearby area. We pulled out a new toy, a bulldozer type of truck hotwheel. He loved it, knew exactly what it was and started playing in the sandbox with it. Then he wanted to show his caregivers, so he ran to where they were and I followed him. As soon as we walked in the area another little boy came up and said hi and gave me a hug, it was so cute. Then another little boy came and grabbed my hand and stood there smiling at me. Then Peyton wanted to go off and play again so I ran after him. Every time we would play with something new he would do this, he wanted to show everyone what he had and say we brought it for him. He loves to run and he is pretty fast. It's so cute, he kind of hops on his toes as he runs. When we brought out the bubbles he played with those for a long time. He liked to blow them in our face. He could even blow one and then catch it back on the stick, you can tell he has had bubble experience.

We had two visits today. We get 2 hours twice a day. They actually go by pretty fast. He loves to find every toy possible and play. He was even trying to move wooden benches and stuff around. The stuff out in the shed they have to play with is very old, most are torn up, broken, missing parts, etc. They also have storage furniture that is falling apart and rusty nails poking out. He pulled out this big wooden box or whatever to try to play with it somehow and it was falling apart and I had to explain to him, no no, ouchy. (I need to learn the word for dangerous, not a toy). So I tucked the box back away under the desks. He has a great imagination and sense of play. Like a typical boy, he is crashing cars, running over monkeys, shooting bears, etc... at one point during the second visit he had a toy mouse (looked like a person with a mouse head) and I had a stuffed little teddybear (they were about the same size). We put them next to each other and I pretended to make the bear talk and then he said something for the mouse to the bear- which was “I love you” (our facilitator happened to be on this visit with us and told us that's what he said), then the animals hugged. I want to think that he was talking to us through the play animals. :) He loves to try to climb up the slide but his shoes are too slippery. So I helped him climb up, then he would roll his train, truck, and a little pony down the slide, then he would go down. He just loved this. He would turn around, stand there and say more, and I would help him back up the slide, give him the toys and the process would repeat. He would laugh throughout the process. He loves to giggle and laugh. Sometimes I would reach over and tickle him a little and he loves that. He was riding the toy horse thing at some point and I was occasionally tickling him, he is extremely ticklish it seems. He would crack up in joy. We got video. Another groupa came out while we were playing and we would want to show them things but then got jealous and mad when they wanted his stuff. He likes the fact that something is actually his, just for him.

When we left, Luda told us that throughout the visit Peyton would keep asking her if she (and us) would take him to the airplane. He is so ready to go home! When she told him we would come back tomorrow, he said "and you will take me to the plane?" She had to say yes but not tomorrow. So sweet.

First pics!