The path to Ava - Part 3

Wednesday dawned with excitement!  We talked with the doctor, and she was positive and hopeful that Ava's surgeries were done well and correctly.  She also mentioned how impressed she was by the nannies reports about Ava. The nannies said that Ava is very smart, and we later got an update from the Orphanage doctor that said the same thing!  After getting off the phone with the doctor, we decided to submit our LOI (letter of intent) where we request to adopt her.  I did tell Jeremy, "I wish we could have a little more information about how she is functioning, but we will just have to trust."  Low and behold, at 10 a.m., we received a surprise update that included new pictures and two short videos.  In that update, our Social Worker said that the in-country representative for Lifeline had spoken with the orphanage doctor!  To hear that the Doctor told her some specific things which answered my previous questions was further confirmation that she was our daughter.  Who could orchestrate that?  Only God!

Another God orchestrated detail about Ava is that she was given the birthdate of March 9, 2012. March 9th is also Great Grandma Bell's birthday!  Ava's middle name is Ruthanne.  We choose this name to honor two women from our families-my Grandma Ruth Bell and Jeremy's Great Aunt Ethel Ann.  While she was his great aunt, she was more like a grandmother to Jeremy!   Grandma Bell also helped sew Ava's blanket this summer, and it is something I will always treasure.  Thank you Lord for weaving this into Ava's story!

Wednesday afternoon was a whirlwind of writing our nurture plan, and gathering a few documents so our SW could submit our LOI.  I even managed to get a few pictures of our girl uploaded to CVS photo so we could have pictures to show around.  We decided when we received the referral to not tell the boys until we knew that this was the one!  I decided it might be fun to surprise them the next morning with wrapped picture frames of Ava.  Wednesday was such a surreal day, and one I will never forget!

Our Wednesday night devotional was titled "My Favorite Things" and was based on Psalm 85:12.  "The Lord will indeed give what is good."  Are you seeing a pattern here?  I sure am!!!  The devotional said "Every good thing we have, from people we love to the food we eat is a gift from God.  And God will keep giving us good things forever."  The closing phrase said "Everything good comes from God up above.  The things that he gives us are signs of his love."

Thursday morning before school, we told the boys we had a present for them.  I think Evan was expecting a toy even though Daddy kind of prepped them about what might be inside the present.  Upon opening the present, Evan exclaimed, "Aww, I didn't want a picture."  Wasn't quite the expression I was hoping for, but the boys were excited to see their sister for the first time.

It is early, and Evan is already in his Spidey costume.  Trevor is dressed up in
a stripped shirt to celebrate Dr. Seuss birthday!

My sweet boys are going to be good big brothers!

I think I mostly floated through Thursday as we waited to talk to our parents and siblings.  I had a blog post ready to go introducing our Ava, and Jeremy set up a conference call.   It was fun to have everyone on the phone, and to hear their reactions. I think we are all in love with this little blessing!  

TO BE CONTINUED........