orphans Archives - Page 4 of 6

The referral picture we received of Katerina only gave us a little hint of the constantly smiling little girl with an infectious laugh we’ve come to adore.

Like her brothers, when we first met our daughter in July of last year, she was a wee bit timid. However, in less than 10 minutes, she was begging her new daddy to pick her up and hold her. Happily, he was more than willing to take “Miss K” into his arms.

Interesting to note…with Katerina (and her younger brother too), she had to be “taught” how to be held. As strange as it sounds, she wouldn’t even bend her knees in order to wrap her legs around her daddy. She was as stiff as a plank of wood with legs straight down, a clear indicator of a lack of that intimate TLC from a parent. But if you could see her now…a totally different child!

As the middle sibling of the three, and the only girl, Katerina might appear to have a disadvantage, but this girl can hold her own with her brothers. While they fight like normal siblings, she is very protective of them and vice versa. She’s always the first to say “I love you” and offer hugs to her brothers. As for her little foster brother, she adores him and thinks of him as her very own baby doll. Anytime our little guy does something Katerina finds adorable, she’s say “Mama…look at dat…awww…” in her cute little big sissy voice.

When we chose her name…Katerina Abigail…we chose a popular name in her part of the world (Ekaterina) with a more western spelling. It was after we chose her name, we looked up the meaning…Pure! A broken little girl with a highly fragmented first few years of life, a name meaning of “pure” seemed to fit. I’ve always loved the name Abigail, and I suggested it to Joel. He loved it too. We then looked up the meaning to make sure it was acceptable as well…JOY! Our little Katerina Abigail = Pure Joy! And that she has been to us and to so many that cross her path!

Some fun facts about Katerina:

She has the best “please” and “thank you” manners out of all our little ones.
Music and dancing are two of her favorite things. Anytime a song comes on…Katerina starts to move and will show anybody in her line of sight.
She loves BIG! One of the most authentically caring and tender hearts I know.
While she never stops moving, she can play with blocks for hours – sorting and stacking.
She cries the least (and sometimes never) at the doctor’s office – even after getting immunizations.
She cries the most whenever she gets even the smallest of boo boos at home, especially if her brothers are involved.
She likes washing her own hair and is better at it than all of our other littles.
This girl LOVES her fruit – especially bananas!
She is a mini-mommy. Whether it’s her foster brother or her baby dolls, she is very caring and nurturing.
She is a daddy’s girl!
She loves to play with basketballs (any bouncing balls for that matter) and can be entertained for hours.
She is quite popular among her classmates – the little girls dote all over her and are very protective of her.

Soon after Katerina arrived home, we noticed her documented developmental delays appeared to be a little more profound. After several doctor appointments, our little girl is suspected of having Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. While disappointing to learn, we know God still has HUGE things planned for her life, and we thank Him for allowing us to be part of that plan. She will be having some significant testing done on March 31 to confirm the diagnosis. Praying friends – we welcome your prayers on behalf of our family in this regard especially. Please pray that if the diagnosis is confirmed…

Katerina has a mild case (we already know it’s not severe) and is able to overcome many of her disabilities.
We are able to find and put the proper supports in place to give her the fullest and most productive life possible.
That God equips us to handle such a diagnosis and all that it might entail.

Thank you for your love and support as we navigate this amazing life as adoptive and foster parents of the little four in addition to our older five bio children! You are an encouragement and blessing to us!

When we received our referral, Josiah was noted as being the caretaker of his siblings. Having spent just under three years with his biological parents, the next four years of his young life required a forced maturity, so to speak.

Children in orphanages often resort to survival techniques to simply make it through the daily grind. For Josiah, he took that upon himself for his younger two siblings as well. While still very much a young child, to Katerina and Benjamin he became a parental figure, someone to look up to, a leader, and in many respects – someone to be revered.

In July 2015 – we made our first trip to Bulgaria to meet the three little ones for whom we had already committed to love and make our own. I’ll never forget the first glimpses of Josiah. He appeared in the play room, his arms around the shoulders of his siblings – in a protective manner. He had a “pleasant” look on his face, but I wouldn’t call it a smile, as he was a bit hesitant. While Katerina and Benjamin were much quicker to express delight in these people who would soon become their mommy and daddy, Josiah was old enough to know disappoint could still come.

Would these people follow through on their promise?

Would they really take us home to become part of their family?

Will they be like others we’ve seen come through these orphanage doors…”play nice” only to never return again?

He eventually opened up more during our first visit to meet him and his siblings, but it really took each of the visits that week to gain more confidence from our little king. It wasn’t until we arrived for our “pick up trip” in November that we saw a different version of Josiah. When all three of our children saw us walk through the door of their orphanage on November 12…they screamed with delight, and very soon sounds of “Mama…Tatko (Daddy)” filled the room. They came running up to us with arms open wide, ready for hugs. They covered our faces with kisses. And…right in the midst of the excitement was our little Josiah…as happy as you could imagine.

I need to take a moment here to explain briefly that Josiah was named, in part, after King Josiah of Judah in the Old Testament. He was one of the youngest kings on record, and took over the throne at the age of eight. Such responsibility for such a little guy, and yet he grew to be a very loved and godly king.

In much the same way, our Josiah held great responsibility at a very young age, not by choice…rather by default (similar to King Josiah). However, we are honored to now lift some of that off of his shoulders and allow him to be the little boy trapped inside the body of a young man. We long to see him develop peer relationships / friendships, to be able to love his siblings as an older brother and not as a parental figure and to not feel such responsibility for when his brother and sister make mistakes. It’s time for Josiah to finally live life as a child.

Some fun facts about Josiah:

He’ll try any food you put in front of him, and (for the most part) he’s not a very picky eater.
He was responsible for many kitchen prep items while in Bulgaria. His favorite? Cutting tomatoes.
He has a very loud laugh…more like a cackle.
He loves to tease and tries to pull fast ones over on you but is quick to reveal his secret…a great sense of humor.
He loves to wear “fancy” clothes (button-up shirts, khakis, etc.). They make him feel special.
He’s the only one of the three that likes watching TV or movies.
His favorite color is red.
He loves math and is really good at it.
He’s the mediator between his two younger siblings. We often catch him making them shake hands and apologize after an argument.
He speaks English now about 99% of the time…even with his siblings. He’s quick to correct his sister (“English please”), especially, when she reverts back to her native Bulgarian.
He loves to lead the mealtime prayer and makes sure we’re all holding hands and have our eyes closed.
He loves to help us with anything we might possibly need and thrives on praise (as they all do).
He adores his little foster brother, and the feeling is mutual. They became buddies from the beginning.
He has a very soft heart and while he rarely cries, when he does, it breaks us.

We can’t wait to see the life unfold God has called Josiah to, and we’re entrusting our little king completely to Him.

Katerina – Pure Joy

Josiah – Our Little King