She's Perfect!

I collapsed into bed last night after dinner and I think both Jason and I slept like rocks. We were exhausted. But nothing could stop us from seeing our daughter, Olivia, for the first time today.

We enjoyed a breakfast with our translator (who has been a God-send). A bit of history about Bistra....she is a recent college graduate and studied translation in school. She has been working with the adoption agency for almost a year, and it has been such a comfort to have her with us all the time.

After breakfast, we took a taxi to the Social Services Bureau in the town of Shumen. We were a bit early, so we took a walk down the main street. Lots of shops, outside cafes, etc. Once we had killed a bit of time, we anxiously walked back to the Social Services Office.

Once entering, we went upstairs to the information desk. Olivia was sitting in her foster mother's lap, and two social workers were present. My breath was taken away at seeing her for the first time. I have been looking at her picture for months, and I couldn't believe that I was finally seeing her in person. Amazingly enough, she was not shy at all. She ran right to Jason, raised her arms to be picked up, and she grabbed the sunglasses off of his head. That was her favorite item for quite some time. She also became interested in my sunglasses, and we enjoyed playing with her while passing the glasses back and forth. We were desperately wanting to take pictures but didn't want to bombard Olivia with photographs. Once we were led into a small playroom, we were able to spend more time with Olivia.

Despite the fact that we didn't want to pull the camera out right away, I just couldn't wait. Amazingly, her first English word was "smile." She repeated it right away when we started taking her picture. Then, of course, we showed them to her on the screen and she was completely fascinated. She was pushing all the buttons on the camera, wanting to take more pictures. She kept saying, "smile," which let us know she wanted more pictures taken. Once we stopped taking pictures, we took out some of the gifts we brought. She loved the new markers and stickers. She even started learning more English words. One of the stickers was a star, and she learned that word right away.

After a while, we went outside to a small courtyard to play a bit. She let Jason take her hand and lead her down the steps, and we found a ball which she loved. She and Jason played soccer for a while, and she laughed and laughed the entire time. I enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with her and she loved being tickled. While outside, she also said the word "yucky," as I would describe trash on the ground. Pretty funny!

As the temperature became hotter, we went back inside to play for a bit. It was hard to say goodbye, but she gave each of us kisses and said, "ciao" as she left. She was also calling us "Daddy" and "Mommy" by the end of the morning. When we would point to each other she would call each of us our names with a prompt. When she kissed Jason goodbye, she got a funny look on her face and rubbed his whiskers. You could tell that was a new experience for her.

All in all, it was a great morning, and we can't wait to see her again tomorrow. We will get to spend more time with her tomorrow, and we're hoping to take her to a little carnival that we saw just down the road.

We couldn't believe how well adjusted she seems to be and how easily she took to us right away. God has truly blessed us and has blessed our daughter in so many ways. We continue to ask for your prayers as we continue our week here. And, we'll do the best we can to update you as often as possible. Love to you all.

Finally in Bulgaria

Well, after about 21 straight hours of travelling and 24 hours without a shower, we have finally made it to Shumen, Bulgaria. We landed in Varna, Bulgaria on time and met our interpreter after clearing customs. Bistra is a new college graduate who works as a translator for 2 adoption agencies in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. She quickly ushered us out of the aiport, contacted our "driver" who was dutifully waiting for us outside, and then we were off for our last leg of the journey, a one hour drive to Shumen. Once we arrived, we checked into the hotel and finally got showers! I'm used to going all night without sleep and showers, but I think Sally was really ready for a rest. All in all, though, the trip couldn't have gone smoother. We're heading off to dinner with Bistra and then headed to bed for some much needed sleep. Tomorrow, after about 3 years of prayer and discussion, and after about 18 months of paperwork, interviews, planning, delaying, more praying, and travelling, we will finally meet our precious daughter, soon to be Olivia Sofia Williams. God is good, we are so blessed! More to come tomorrow....

Hello From Budapest

We've landed safely in Budapest, Hungary. The flight was uneventful and we are now in a nice but small airport for about two hours as we wait for our next flight to Varna, Bulgaria. Not much else to report for now. Well try to check in once we arrive safely in Bulgaria.

Arrived Safely in New York

In preparation for our trip, I feel like I haven't slept much. My anxiety level has been pretty high. With that said, I slept the entire flight from RDU to JFK. What a nice afternoon nap. Jason said he kept getting hit by the flight attendant everytime she walked by. I told him it was too bad he wasn't sitting by the window. :) We are sitting in the Admiral's Club at JFK....this is where they host their military personnel. Nothing like the warm greeting we received at the RDU USO. We actually have to pay for food here. :( But, we get the free internet access. We leave at 6:40 EST for Budapest, Hungary. That will be our overnight flight. We will do our best to get online while we're overseas to update you with information and pictures.

On our way!

Well, we've checked in and sent off our bags. We had a little extra time so we've come to the USO here at RDU and are enjoying a nice lunch before we head through security to catch our first of three flights. In about an hour we're off to JFK, followed by a 9 hour flight to Budapest and then another flight to Bulgaria. All in all we'll be travelling for about the next 24 hours. Keep us in your prayers...we can't wait to meet Olivia!

We're Leaving!

Hi all!  I really didn't have any updates until recently.  We found out almost 2 weeks ago that we'll be traveling to Bulgaria June 4-11, 2011.  I had such a mix of emotions when I found out.  I wanted to laugh, cry and jump up and down all at the same time. 

We have made our flight reservations and hotel reservations.  We have to make 3 flights to get to Varna, Bulgaria.  And then we'll drive about 1 hour to Shoumen where our precious girl is located.  She was moved from the orphanage to foster care about one month ago. 

We will hopefully take lots of pictures and video and either update our blog, facebook or send things via email.  Just keep a look out as we do our best to document our trip. 

We truly ask for your prayers during this time as we leave the other 4 children behind with very capable grandparents!

A Long Time Coming

Hi all. I know it's been a while since I've updated our blog. Things have been going along steadily, and here's a summary of what's been going on.

Our home study was completed at the beginning of August. The report was very positive, and on paper, we look like a fantastic family! :)

For several months now, we've been receiving information about special needs children in Bulgaria. Many of them have been older or have been too severe for us to handle. However, one of them caught our eye.

We received information about a little girl named Radostina Penkova. She was listed as having a ptosis of the eye (droopy eyelid), a hemangioma that was removed from her belly, and her mother was a diagnosed epileptic.

I couldn't get her picture out of my mind. Jason and I read over her information several times, we looked at her picture constantly and couldn't come up with a reason for saying no to adopting her.

At that point, we contacted our consultant who was thrilled that we had chosen Radostina. The 2 documents that Bulgaria needed to put her on "hold" for us were sent within 2 days, the council met and matched us with Radostina. We were beside ourselves with excitement.

We told our family, friends and children. Everyone was so happy but wanted to have a name to call her. Everyone came up with different names for her (Betty, Anna, Baby Girl, etc). After a week or so, Jason had a name for her.

We are going to name her Olivia Sofia. Olivia is a name that we love, and Sofia is the capital city of Bulgaria. That is how we are going to incorporate her Bulgarian heritage into her name.

Our I-800A form was sent off this week. This is a form that goes to the United States Immigration SErvices. Once we receive that documentation back, our dossier will go to the state of north Carolina to be apostilled. Once that is complete, our dossier will go to Bulgaria to be translated and reviewed.

I can't stand not seeing Olivia everyday. We wanted her home for Christmas, but it looks like that won't be possible. What a way to start the new year, though!

As things progress, we'll keep you updated!