Bidding You Ado...

When we originally set up this blog, it was to keep our family and friends up-to-date on adoption progress. Since then, we’ve made some great bloggy friends, created a chronicle of the journey to share with our son, connected with old friends, and hopefully shared some helpful insights to those who are still in the adoption process.

But now the adoption is complete, and Zack and I have decided the time has come to bid the blog farewell. Life is getting more and more hectic every day, and we want to focus as much time on family as possible. Besides that, I’m starting back to school & that will take a good bit of my free time. I’d taken a few months off, but it’s time to hit the books again before I convince myself that I don’t need another diploma :)

For those that are still in process, I pray that God will soon lead you to your children. Ukrainian adoption is not for the faint of heart, but our boy is worth every stress and difficulty we had to endure. Please feel free to email us with any questions you might have about the process.

For those that have already adopted, we pray that God continues to shower His blessings on you and your Ukie Cuties! Thanks for sharing your journeys with us, and for supporting us through a very special e-community.

And to our friends and family that were along for the ride, thanks for your love and support. Please continue to pray for us, that God would show us His path, and that we will always seek Him, both in our parenting and in our lives in general.

Thanks to all of you for joining us on this crazy roller coaster ride. As a parting gift, we’ll leave you with a few recent pictures.

In return, please leave a comment one more time – one last Blog Roll Call for old time’s sake! And please keep in touch (dovefamily@bellsouth.net).

William with his friend Haley

William at Chuck E. Cheese

My 2 Super Men

And our own little Ivan Drago

До Свидания!

4 Month "Metcha Day"

Four months ago yesterday, this precious little guy walked into the room... and into our hearts.

(this is the first photo we ever took of him)

Help our son... by not helping him

William is doing well adjusting to his new life. We've made huge progress with attachment, and I don't see any of the warning signs of poor attachment or indiscriminate affection. But there are some behaviors we must still reinforce.

Friends and family that are around William want to help him with 'little' things, like making him a snack, tying his shoes, taking him to the restroom, getting him a drink of water, comforting him if he gets hurt, etc. But we need to discourage this. It’s not because he needs to do for himself, but because Zack and I need to give, do, and provide EVERYTHING to facilitate a positive attachment.

We want him to know that Daddy & Mama will provide for his needs and that he can always come to us. He needs to see that we are his primary providers and protectors. If he gets the things he needs from ANY adult, it’s possible that his little mind will see all adults as providers and he’ll start going to anyone for his needs… including strangers.

So please help us out, and don’t be offended if we discourage some of his actions & affections around you or ask you not to help him. The best response to his requests is to say something like, “Go see Daddy” or “Mama will help you with that”.

Bottom line: this is what is best for William. It's not traditional parenting, but it's important that we establish a healthy and appropriate bond. Thanks for helping us show William how great it is to have parents that will always love and care for him!

Goal!!

William had his first soccer game on Saturday, and we were quite impressed with his performance. After the 2 practices he'd attended, we were worried that he wasn't really getting the idea of things, but he definitely proved us wrong. Much to our delight, he was very into the game and even scored 2 or 3 goals. But more importantly, he had a great time and is looking forward to more soccer.

Thanks to those that attended his game. He still has 9 games to go, so if there are friends or family that would like to witness the soccer star in action, send us an email and we'll let you know the schedule.

Also, today is the 3-month anniversary of Gotcha Day. I can't imagine not having this kiddo in our lives... he is AWESOME!