Brody is a Big Brother!!!

One happy kid!

Friday was the day!  It's been a long wait for this very special day, but our day has finally arrived. We are matched with a child!!!!
 

One of the most beautiful children I have ever seen!  Just gorgeous!  Can you tell I'm a mama again?  But seriously, our child is stunning. Cute as pie I tell you!  I saw those big dark eyes, and I was smitten.  Ryan warned me ahead of time to keep an open mind and not get wrapped up in that beautiful face. But Ryan knows me too well because my heart was captured the moment I saw the picture. I knew instantly this child was ours. 


I know you're all ready to find out if it's a boy or girl or one or two.  But hey, I've waited years for this so you can wait a couple of paragraphs.




How it happened
The amazing Jynger is what happened!  I wish all adoptive parents had a wonderful adoption agent like us.  She is a blessing!  Jynger is always on top of things.  So when India said our agency could match 3 special needs children at a time, she got to work. Our family, as well as several other families, received an email asking if we were interested in this child.  We looked up a few medical terms and within ten minutes said yes we were interested.  Not knowing if the people ahead of us on the list were interested too, we headed out on vacation for spring break.  Little did we know Jynger contacted the orphanage that week to 1) make sure the child was available for adoption 2) give our family's information to see if the orphanage would work with us.  I'm so glad she did this.  It would have been heartbreaking to learn we were the family and then it did not work out.  So it was a complete surprise last week to get the email.  We received the email on Wednesday and prayed about it. Thursday morning we had a medical professional look at the paperwork.  13 pages of information which is totally unheard of.  By lunch we said "YES!" Then we waited to hear back on the verbal "yes" from the orphanage. I could not believe by Friday morning we heard back from them. It's a YES from everybody! They are working on sending us more information and papers to sign.  Hopefully we will be an official, "official" match in a couple of weeks when we sign on the dotted line.  They did receive our dossier today!




How we told Brody
Brody has wanted nothing more than to be a big brother.  He takes great delight in babies.  So we were a little concerned about how he would respond to getting a toddler instead. Knowing Brody loves looking at pictures of children, Ryan called him over to the couch and said, "Come look at this kid." Brody dashes over.

Brody, "Who's this?"

Ryan, "What do you think?"

Brody, "Ooo, it's a cobbler."

Ryan, "A what?"

Brody, "You know, a cobbler."

Ryan, "You mean a toddler. Well, what do you think?"

Brody, "So cute! Who is he?"

Ryan, "He's your brother."

It's a boy!

We have another beautiful son!  We could not be any happier!  Brody loves him already too.  His picture has gotten lots of hugs and kisses from Brody. 

 We are now working with an orphanage in the State of Maharashtra, India. 

At this time it's best to not share a lot of details, but their website is amazing! It was good to see it.

We are very thankful for our child to be there in such good hands.

Of course, I can hardly wait to have him in my own hands!
Once we have official paperwork signed, we'll be able to post information about the orphanage.

It's a day of celebration! We are delighted to share with family and friends our good news.  I love sharing about my son, and I am looking forward to sharing more and more about him in the days ahead.  It was also too much fun listening to Brody tell his classmates this morning that he is now a big brother.  Brody's dream came true! We are just all smiles!  Thankful for Big Bro and Little Bro!!!

We would like to thank all of our encouragers over the years.  Those you who kept saying this day would happen.  Your kind and thoughtful words have meant a lot.  Thank you also to those of you who prayed for our family and little boy.  We still need your prayers.  There is a precious face to look at now. We want him home badly.  Pray all of his paperwork, court dates, and passport goes through as smoothly and quickly as possible.  If God can move mountains, He can move paperwork!

An Update

Easter

An Easter picture of Brody smiling.

Spring is here, and I figured it was time for a small update.  A little good news and bad news.




The Bad

Did you hear a loud sigh last week?  I'm sure it was heard around the world.  It was me.  A frustrated me!  We got the email and letter saying your current I-797 expires in September.  You must file your I-800A,  Supplement 3 along with home study update with USCIS...yadda yadda yadda.  For my non-adoption peeps, this means
1- lots of paperwork
2- fingerprints
3- medical examinations
4- Home Study update (me being paranoid that my house is spotless)
5- Basically lots and lots and lots and lots of George Washington's. Well, it's more like Benjamin Franklin.

It's just a big headache!  I headache that we've done before and renewed.  But hey, third time's a charm! Right?  If I click the paperwork three times and repeat, "There's no place like home," this is going to happen.  Right?  Feel free to add more encouraging "three times."

So awesome friends who love writing reference letters for the Brice family, be prepared!  Doctors, you will be seeing us soon!  God, we continue to pray for your provision!!!




The Good

When we set out on this adoption journey several years ago, we wanted a special needs child.  However when we were registered in the new system, we were placed in the "normal" track. I was disappointed, but I prayed God would be in control of placing the child who needed to be in our family.  Normal or special needs we would love and be very grateful for a child. 

Back in February at the BIG CONFERENCE, agencies were able to voice concerns. One being about special needs children and there being families who really wanted those children.  Long story told short- our agency is able to place 3 special needs children at a time now.  Woot!  Woot!  This excitement out weighs my bad sigh earlier. 

What does that mean for us you ask? It means maybe we can have a child sooner than we thought!  It takes years to be matched with a healthy baby.  Our heart's desire is a special needs child (noticed I didn't say baby).  We have been in this process a long time and that does put us higher on the waiting list for one of these children. Maybe 2013 will be our year after all.  Maybe.  I will remain optimistic and in prayer!  So if you hear a loud squeal of delight, heard all over the world I'm sure, it will be me.  It's will be a very happy me!  It will be me...a mom again! 

Special Needs Children

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.  -Helen Keller

Many things in life start off looking kind of rough.  When you only have a puzzle piece or two, it's difficult to see the whole picture.  You don't see a beautiful cake at first, you see a bowl full of flour, eggs, water, and whatever else goes into a cake (apparently, I'm not a baker).  The butterfly starts off as a yucky caterpillar. The wildflower starts out as a tiny brown seed. It takes time to develop into the finish product.

I was asked this week, "why would you want to adopt a special needs child?"  Well, every child deserves a chance to succeed and a have a family. But my biological son Brody is one of the biggest reasons for the desire to adopt a special needs child. He was born three months early weighing 2 lbs. The beginning of his life started off very grim. Had he been an orphan and families were reading his medical records, there would have probably been a lot of "no, thank you's."

Sitting in the waiting room outside of the NICU for many weeks, I saw children being given up because "it's too hard," "we want a normal baby," etc. So many times I've thought about my precious Brody in regards of what if he had been born into another family.  Would they have wanted the challenge of a difficult beginning? Would he have been loved just as he was, but also given every opportunity to overcome his circumstances?  Just the thought of someone not wanting him, breaks my heart.  He has been a delight every "ounce" of the way. Has it been easy, no. Has it been worth it, yes Yes YES!  He is what makes me want another child with special needs.

Brody is about to turn seven in a couple of days, and most people would never know the rough start he had.  He is miracle! I was told he would never live a "normal" life. Brody proved him wrong! Does every child have this success story? Sadly, no. But wouldn't it be great if every child got the opportunity to be love and cared for?!?!  It's ok to be nervous when thinking about adding a child with special needs into your family.  Those big medical terms and procedures are overwhelming.  Just remember it's just the beginning of that's child story...it doesn't have to be their ending. Love does amazing things! 

Happy Birthday Ryan and Brody!

Adoption is expensive or is it?

Adoption is expensive!

It just is!  Or is it????

The most common question I get about adoption is, "Why is adoption so expensive?"  People are not meaning to be insulting by the question.  It is a genuine curiosity as to why it is costly. I give a few reasons when asked the question such as medical costs, people filing paperwork, home studies, passports, visas, court costs, etc.  The fact is I'm not bothered by the cost.  We are adding to our family through adoption, and can I really put a value on our child?  I know I could not put a value on Brody so why would our other children be any different.

Maybe you need something to compare it to.

Every few years most Americans buy a car.  We don't hardly even blink an eye at spending $15,000-$30,000 on a car.  Is not a child more precious than a car?  So maybe adoption isn't really that expensive. I think I am getting quite a bargain!  It's a good investment in giving a child a second chance at having a family.  When I put the cost of adoption in this perspective, it's not that expensive any more.

Now would I like the cost to be less expensive, of course!  More orphans could have families if it were more affordable.  I have the heart for more children...just got to save the money.  My point is that I don't want to complain about the cost of adoption.  It really isn't that much compared to the priceless son or daughter you get to have. 

One of my favorite quotes on adoption is by Derek Loux

“My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him. And when He redeems us, we can’t even really appreciate or comprehend it, just like Dimitri will never comprehend or fully appreciate what is about to happen to him … but … he will live in the fruit of it. As his Daddy, I will never expect him to understand all of this or even to thank me. I just want to watch him live in the benefits of my love and experience the joys of being an heir in my family. This is how our heavenly “Papa” feels towards us. Today, settle your busy heart down and rest in the benefits of redemption. Enjoy the fruits of His goodness, and stop trying to “pay Him back”. You’ll never get close you goofy little kid.”

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from The Brice Family!  May you and your family make many wonderful memories this Holiday season!  We have no news on the adoption, but I thought I would share some of our favorite moments of this year.

Orphan Sunday

The Brice Family- I see hands waiting to hold more children!

Yesterday was Orphan Sunday, and my prayer was "Lord, please let our family make one less orphan in the world."  This time next year, Lord willing, we pray an orphan will be a part of our family.  Our picture above makes me smile, but I want there to be more children in our pictures.  Brody was praying last week, and his prayer became so desperate.  He was talking to God, "Please give me baby.  I don't care if it's a boy or a girl, if it's one or two, if it's little or big, if it's black or white or brown, God please give me a baby."  Of course, I got teary eyed hearing him cry out to God.  It was so precious just hearing how much his heart has change in the past year.  He is open to whatever God has planned for our family.

Waiting is hard, but it is also a blessing!
I see how our hearts have changed during this time of waiting.
I hear how our prayers have changed.
I know we are dependent upon God to multiply our family.
I desire for our family to be completely available to God.
I'm thankful we all stand together saying, "God, use us however you desire!"
I will wait upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised! 

Hope

 My precious friend Angela went to the Together for Adoption Conference last weekend, and she brought me back the sweetest gift.  It's a beautiful necklace from Rahab's Rope.  That is a women's center in India who help oppressed women work.  The business information is in a picture below if you are interested.

Hope is what the necklace says.  It reminds me of Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Today I am praying for the Holy Spirit to overflow me with hope!  Hope that gives joy and peace.  Hope that God will multiply our family!  Hope that God will continue to provide for our family!  Hope that God will open our children's eyes to Him!  Hope that in good times and bad times God will teach us to remain faithful to Him!  Hope in that His Grace is sufficient!

 As I look at this beautiful necklace, I pray for the woman who made it and for the many other women who made others like mine.  May they all realize that there is Hope in life!  May we as Christians faithfully pray and minister to the oppressed...the abused, the orphan, the widow, the poor, the addict, the slave, the sick, the lonely, the hurting soul.  Oh God, please let us love them like you love them!  Let us speak your Truth in their lives, and tell them to be strong and take Your courage in all their situations. 

 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,    
 all you who wait for the Lord!  Psalm 31:24