Another Day of "Joy"

We found out that Olivia’s given name (Radostina) means “Joy” in Bulgarian. And that is exactly how I would describe our second day with her…

We briefly met at the Social Services Bureau again this morning. When we saw Olivia, she was wearing a T-shirt and her diaper covered only with underwear. She was also wearing socks and dress shoes. I brought a bag of clothing to give to the foster mother for future use, and I desperately wanted to put a pair of pants on Olivia. However, I did not want to offend the foster mother in any way. So we spent a little time together, and then Jason and I went to a municipal office to sign and notarize a document regarding the use of pictures we take of Olivia. Afterwards, we drove to a park and met her there.

When we arrived at the park, Olivia had on a pair of shorts that I had sent in the clothing bag. I had a sigh of relief. Jason and I are both amazed at the “joy” Olivia has in life. She walks with confidence, swinging her arms and almost marching ahead of us. She is constantly laughing and smiling, finding happiness in the smallest of things. I don’t know if she had ever been on a slide before because she was unhappy about trying it out. But once she saw how fun it was, she wanted to keep doing it. She also enjoyed the swing and climbing on the playground structures, as well. As lunch and naptime approached, Jason carried Olivia on his shoulders (another thing she loves and repeatedly asks to do) back to the car, and we said our goodbyes until later in the afternoon.

One of the things we wanted to do while we were here was visit the orphanage where Olivia spent the first 3 years of her life. Fortunately, the director was kind enough to allow us entry to visit with him and tour the facility. The director was genuinely friendly, answered our questions thoroughly, and made us feel very comfortable. As we toured the orphanage, we were able to meet some of Olivia’s caretakers, and we did the best we could to thank them for taking care of our daughter. They all seemed very loving. We saw where Olivia slept and played inside and outside. I was biting the inside of my lip to stop myself from sobbing the entire time. It was obvious I was shedding tears, but I tried not to show my heartbreak to the director and caretakers. The cribs were lined up right next to each other, about 15 to 20 to a room. The room adjoining the crib room was a small playroom, which had a futon and one small cabinet of toys. This was also where the children would eat. When we stepped out onto the terrace, we could see the outside playground below us. It was very overgrown with weeds and there were a few rusty pieces of play equipment. When our visit was over, we waited outside the orphanage for a cab to take us back to town. I stood looking at the dreary building that was falling apart and reminded myself of how truly blessed we are.

After the fun and emotional morning, we sat down to lunch at a pizzeria and then went to a different park to meet Olivia again. She loved the bubbles we brought, but became disinterested in the sidewalk chalk pretty quickly. She was much too excited to run around the playground and play with mommy and daddy. You’ll see in some pictures that we bought her a pair of sunglasses to keep as her very own; however, daddy’s sunglasses were still a big hit. As evening approached, she raised her arms to me, I picked her up, and then she laid her head on my shoulder. I knew then that she was tired and it was probably time to say goodbye for the day. She also started putting her thumb in her mouth and playing with her hair….another sign of being tired. We gave kisses all around and we’ll plan on meeting her at the park again tomorrow morning.

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!