1 Samuel 1:27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him

Levi

Levi

Our Adoption Story

Levi was born on April 21, 2007 in Chinautla, Guatemala, a small town known for pottery. He weighed 6.7 pounds and was 19.7 inches long. He was in private foster care in Guatemala City where he lived for 10 1/2 months with his foster mom, her son and daughter and Isaac, his foster brother. Throughout our difficult adoption journey, Isaac's mom, Nancy and I became very good friends. God placed our boys together and had the perfect plan in place long before we ever realized it. When I was undecided on an adoption agency, I joined an online forum where Nancy provided me with information about her agency and recommended them to us. We decided to sign with the same agency and I emailed Nancy back to let her know. Over a few months we emailed back and forth to learn we were both from TN and lived only 30 minutes apart... we thought wow, it's a small world. Little did we know a few months later we'd both get referrals, earlier than we expected, of 2 beautiful Guatemalan angels. When they turned 2 months old our agency called and decided it was time to tell us that they were in the same foster home together and had been since they were 1 day old. We were amazed they were together. Even more so, God amazed us once again when we learned shortly after that they were born on the same day and were from the same town... no longer a coincidence that was for sure. We were being told by the foster mom how attached they were and acted like brothers. But, Nancy and I got the chance in January '08 to go to visit them and see it for ourselves. It was an amazing time of bonding with our boys that we will never forget. After that trip it seemed when one of us would reach a roadblock in the crazy process of international adoption the other would be delayed with something else. We stayed right together until the very day we picked them both up. We had our US Embassy appts the same day and we flew home through Atlanta on the same flight on March 11, 2008 when they both entered the US as citizens! It was an awesome time for us in the Atlanta Airport when we rec'd the congrats they were official! We've made friends for life with Nancy, Eric, and with Isaac's extended families. We look forward to many years of watching them both grow up so close together. Over the past year, as we went through battle after battle to bring our boys home, Nancy and I both would never think of one without the other in our endless prayers to keep them safe, happy and healthy until they could be home with their forever families. We're finally parents and it's what we've both waited for, for so many years.. our families are finally complete!!!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Leaving our babies in Guatemala~

Well, Nancy and I have arrived in Daytona Beach, Fl after our wonderful visit with the boys in Guatemala. Despite a really rough first night, the rest of the trip turned out to be abosultey wonderful! We had to however, walk away and leave them behind once again. It just broke our hearts to hand them back over to the foster mom and leave there without them again. I am just heartbroken and miss him so much already. Bless his heart, he was so confused when he saw the foster mother back there in the lobby to pick him up. He would look at her and then look at me, he didn't know what to think about it. What made it even worse was when I handed him back to her he started to cry and reach for me to take him back. Of course I did and that broke my heart even more to think he wanted me back. He's very attached to her so after just 3 days I was totally shocked to see him do that. Steve was right... he could tell just how much I love him and it did my heart good to know he could really feel that love in such a short time being with me. Hopefully, he'll remember me when I go back and we're praying it's soon. I couldn't get through to PGN before we left so, I didn't get an update on our case before we left. I'll try again today and hoping to hear some good news. Boy, could I use some right now. We have had the worst night last night getting to Daytona. First of all, we get from Atlanta to Orlando and find that 2 of our bags didn't make it there with us. After we stood forever in baggage to make the claim, we headed to get our rental car. Well, Budget wouldn't let us rent on a prepaid credit card. I had confirmed my reservation 3 times and they instructed me specifically what to do. The guy didn't care at all about the fact that we were stranded again in Orlando International. Nancy refused to spend another night in that airport floor sleeping! We finally found another car rental place (local no name place) who didn't even ask for anything except $100 deposit and handed us the keys. We were grateful for them to just make it easy to send us on our way. We rented a GPS (@Steve's request) to get us there the easiest way from Orlando to Daytona. Well, "Susie" which is what we named her right off, must have been as tired as we were because she wasn't working for us. She has us in some neighborhood in Orlando (a good neighborhood luckily), telling us to turn where there wasn't roads, stay in right lane when it was a 2 lane, exit when there wasn't an exit (it was a 2 lane side road not an interstate to even have an exit). Nancy finally jerked her right off the windshield and started with her own directions. She is familiar with the area but, we had to get back to an interstate she knew. Basically, we drove around in Orlando because it was 2am or after when we made it to our room in Daytona. We kept waiting to eat and saying we were going to stop and by 2am we realized we hadn't eaten since breakfast in Guatemala. We ended up having a donut from the 7-11 store. This morning has unfortunately not started off well either. We have to return the rental car to a different airport than we fly out of. We've had trouble finding transportation that isn't $125 per person one way. We finally found a taxi to get us back to the airport we're flying from so, we'll see. Nancy said she thought this trouble was God's way of keeping our minds off leaving the boys. If it was well, it worked. We've not had time to dwell but, it's still there and we're still heartbroken. Must be the motherly instinct because every so often when I look at the clock, I'll think now it's time for his bottle, he should be taking his nap now, or what he should be doing at that time of day. Man, I just miss him so bad I can't stand it. I just want him home & for all this to be over. Please keep us in your prayers that our court process is over soon. I'll post pics from home by tomorrow. Thanks in advance for all your prayers & support. Love and blessings-Tracy (aka Levi's mommy)

2 comments:

~Isabel said...

Tracey, i'm so sorry to hear about your trip home! I think that it may have been God's way of keeping both you and Nancy busy but wow! What a trip home! I know your heart hurts at leaving your little one, but know that he is in good hands and will be in your arms soon.

Lots of hugs....

Issy

Nancy and Isaac McGee said...

Oh man what a trip it was. Yes the first night was a nightmare but you are right after that it was great, wonderful, marvelous. Wasn't it great to just be there with our babies. To feed them, bathe them, and change them. I love being a mom and I know you do to. I will never forget this trip as long as I live. I cherish the bond we have made with each other through our sons and I know we will always be like a family because of our boys. They will have a huge extended family when it comes to our parents and aunts and uncles and cousins. They are going to be so loved and I just want to say I am so glad that we met and that you are Levi's mom. I love you and I love Levi and Steve too. We will get them home soon and they will celebrate their first birthday with us here in Tennessee where they are supposed to be.