Sweet Home Alabama

We made it!
Thanks, I am very sure, to much prayer on our behalf, no flights we canceled and we are not spending Christmas in an airport!
We had a long (25 hour) travel day. I was a complete mess; the last two days before we left I only slept about 4 hours each night, and I can't sleep on planes. I felt like a walking dead person and poor Sam had to take care of Robi and me. We didn't think about actually have to really go through immigration... since we had an immigrant with us! Then one of our bags was lost, so it was 3 hours after our flight landed that we finally left the airport. Mom and Dad were there to meet us with an awesome American flag, which Robi loved. Mom cried and Robi had fun playing with them in the airport.
We went to sleep around 8:30 and were all wide awake by 3:45am... hard to get over jetlag with a 3 year old! Thankfully we all felt rested... I have been super hyper all day! By 6:30 this morning I had baked a quiche, had breakfast with my boys, unpacked our 4 suitcases, done a load of laundry and bathed Robi!
Robi and I went out early to find a present for Sam and to meet Johanna, Bruce and Baby George, who Robi loves and adores. he kissed and hugged George 10 times! So sweet. Then we visited with my grandparents, parents, and sisters and had a great time. It's fun that Robi is an exravert... he loves new people!
We came home around noon and Robi is sound asleep. Hopefully tonight we will go to the candlelight service at church and then have dinner with the family. I LOVE BEING HOME!
And now... (drumroll) introducing Robi McLure!!!!!

Coming home!

Everything has been done to finish the adoption, by the Hungarian government and the American Embassy. Praise the Lord! We are so happy:)We think we had several near misses along the way, all of which George skillfully conquered. (Well, GOD of course, through George!) George cracks us up. He told us "I am pushy, you know?" Thank goodness!
Our flight is supposed to leave at 6:50 am tomorrow. The weather in Europe has been awful, and as a result flying has been a nightmare for a lot of people. PLEASE pray for good weather and no mechanical difficulties tomorrow. We would really love to be home for Christmas.
We think Robi is excited to fly. We've been talking about it a lot, and he talks about flying in an airplane to Alabama a lot. But even if all goes exactly well tomorrow we have a 20 hour day of traveling, so please pray for him, especially that he will sleep on the big flight.
I'm DYING to put up pictures, but Sam won't let me until we get home. (George asked us to wait until we get home... that's what I get for asking permission, darn it!)But as soon as I can after we land I will put up some pics and hopefully some videos also. And a lot of you will hopefully meet him in the near future anyway.
We are so thankful for this whole experience. Everyone we've worked with - from our first conversation with Jana at Lifeline, to our last meeting with George - has been kind, professional, and really above our expectations.
CANNOT WAIT to be home...
more later:)

Celebrating Christmas

Enormous Christmas Tree at WestEnd Mall

“But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have brought near by the blood of Christ.” Eph.  2:13

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Gal. 4:4-5

I was sad a few days ago because I felt like we were missing out on celebrating Christmas. We were watching the Youtube video of the Hallelujah chorus being sung at Macy’s and it made me miss the Christmas Cantata at church and hearing Christmas music everywhere, and Christmas sermons at my church, and decorating and parties, and making cookies with my sisters. 

But then I remembered that we are celebrating Christmas… that’s why we came to get Robi. We are adopting him, because God adopted us. We want to be like our Heavenly Father in whatever little way we can. We want this little boy who was outside the covenant of a Christian family, to be inside, and to hear about Christmas every day for his whole life. 

So celebrating Christmas for us (this year) looks more like playing with trains, and racecars that sound like dying dinosaurs, getting shots, and passports, and teaching English. And rejoicing to hear Robi say “King Jesus” because now he will have the opportunity to know this King who offers him a better adoption and an inheritance as a son. What perfect timing!

“You’ve heard it told, you think it’s odd

The whole thing fraught with complications

The play begins with Baby God and all his blessed implications

But it’s true: kingdoms and crowns

The God who came down to find you…”

Sara Groves

We have had 3 nice and uneventful days since Sam came back. We were both very excited to see him. Robi, as expected, will not let Sam go more than 6 feet away from him. It is very, very cold and Sam and I have been wracking our brains about what to do with Robi all day... we went on a tour of Parliament (which scared Robi), wandered around West End mall (the biggest mall in Eastern Europe), and tried to go for a few walks but we are all miserable outside. I am sitting here trying to decide if it's worse for everyone to be hungry or to walk to the grocery store! Brr! I'm leaning towards hungry!
We hate to have the attitude of just making it through each day until we get home (I hate that feeling that I am wishing my whole life away, waiting for the next part) but we really are. Sam is doing better (since he got a whole week at home!) but I am just counting the hours until we go home. However, we are glad for unrushed time to get know and play with Robi with no obligations to anyone else. That is very handy. I think we are going to go home with a stronger than usual relationship thatnks to the requirements of the Hungarian Governement! And that is the point of this time... to get to know your child and help them to feel secure with you.
Robi is still learning English like crazy... he can easily count to ten, and almost to 20. His ABC song is coming along, and Sam has taught him his first Bible verse "Trust in the Lord", and also to say "King Jesus." He was singing the Hallelujah chorus all day yesterday. He says "down please" and "calm down" although he doesn't really know what they mean and says them whenever he wants anything!
Tomorrow we are leaving at 5:30 in the morning to go to Eger (where Robi was born) to get "the decision." That sounds very ominous (since "the decision" is whether or not we get to keep Robi!), but George assures us that the decision is already made, and that all the people involved are very pleased with how Robi, Sam and I are doing together. On Monday we have another early trip to somewhere a few hours away (we never know where we are going!) to get a new, official copy of Ro's birth certificate. Then we will race back to Budapest to get everything translated and get going with a visa and passport for Robi. This is the part where things could get hung up... George is pulling some strings to get this process expadicted for us so we can hopefully make our flight early Thursday. We are getting to go home (if all goes well) probably a week sooner than normal, since everyone has been sweet about trying to get us home for Christmas.
And that's about all for now!
Merry Christmas!

Sam is supposed to be on a plane from ATL to Paris in 30 minutes, and I am so excited that I can't sleep. Which is stupid because I didn't sleep at all last night! So i am listening to Robi snore and praying about the weather. 

Today it snowed and snowed and snowed. I sat feeling very helpless in the hotel for half the morning (thinking I couldn't take Robi out in the bad weather without Sam), then remembered that I used to be a fairly functional, independent, adventuresome person before I got married and had a 3 year old. I flew across the ocean by myself at 14 for gosh sake! So I bundled Robi up and bundled myself up and decided to learn the tram and go on a tour of Parliament. I thought it was probably a bad idea to take my crazy 3 year old on a guided hour long tour, but I wanted to go and he can say the word "Parliament" (which makes him very mature) so off we went. Robi had a blast on "Thomas" and it was very easy to get there (except for the darn stroller). It was snowing so much! We walked all the way around Parliament, Robi agreed that it was beautiful, and we discovered that there were no more tickets for the day! Boo! So we played in the snow and took pictures and went on another ride on "Thomas".  It was a nice way to pass a few hours at least. I'm still determined to take Robi on a tour, even though he won't remember. 

One of the best and most funny parts of this adventure is learning a language from a 3 year old. When I studied French I learned your standard: 

"My name is Mary Beth."

"I have 4 sisters and one brother."

"I would like some bread please. "

I can read a menu, say "un" and "une" and know lots of nouns.

My Hungarian, on the other hand, consists of:

"I need to/ Do you need to pee?"

"I need to/ Do you need to poo?"

"Yes"

"No"

Hungry

Thirsty

"Not allowed!"

Scared/ not scared

Hurt/not hurt

School

Slowly!

Come here

Train

Car

Stop!

I also know a few numbers, although not in the right order! Robi's English counting is already better than his Hungarian counting.

Tonight I ordered sushi in, watched some tv, played trains, and spent a couple of hours trying to get Ro to fall asleep. He might understand that Sam is coming back... maybe he is as excited as I am. But I doubt it. 

Hopefully, the next time I blog Sam will be here and there will be great rejoicing. And maybe a tour of Parliament.

Much Love!

Robi hiding... I am sneaky!

Pictures of Budapest

Today was absolutely beautiful. It was supposed to be 40 and raining (according to weather.com) but it felt more like 50, completely clear, with beautiful sunshine. I even took Robi's coat off while he ran around in a wonderful playground he found. Yesterday we went to the zoo... i'll have to try to remember to post some crazy pictures of gorillas. Robi loved the baby gorilla. A lot. Today we had a slow start, got pizza for lunch, wandered over to show Andrea the big market hall, stopped for coffee on the way, found a playground, walked across the Danube on a beautiful bridge and did some grocery shopping. Ro and Andrea crashed when we got home and I cooked an early dinner. We got some good skype time with Sam. Robi was asleep at first, so Sam and I caught up and booked Robi's flight home. Robi woke up and got to "play" with Sam for 45 minutes or so, which was really good. He fell to pieces when we hung up the phone though... it was absolutely heart-breaking. He is really, really having a hard time. (I am always trying to balance telling our precious family and friends the "real deal", and not gossiping about Ro... so today I am leaning towards intentionally vague... just pray for him! Poor little guy.)

We have made it 4 whole days without Sam (2 with Andrea:)) and hopefully only have 4 whole more days to go. 

It's so dissappointing (although reasonable) that we can't post pics of Robi... but here are a few of the places we went with Robi today.

One of the beautiful bridges of Budapest

I love castles!

View of the Danube and the city

Robi's awesome find!

Travels...

After much drama, bad weather, canceled flights, layovers, missing cabs, and long, long travel days, Sam has made it home and Andrea has made it to us. We are so thankful! Andrea and Robi are sleeping and I think Sam is taking a nap:) I am so jealous that he is home.
Robi is having a hard time with Sam being gone. It is so sad to me. He acts silly and nonchalant when people try to explain where Apa is, but he can't fool his Anya! We're having lots of problems that are not typical. I am reminding myself all day long, that in a few months he will barely remember this (hopefully!) because I hate, hate, hate to see him upset and disoriented! Every time we walk into the room or to breakfast downstairs, he looks for Apa:( Poor guy!
We had a few successes though in the last few days... we made it to the grocery store for one! I love visiting other countries... it's wonderful and there are many wonderful things... but we are sure darn efficient in the U.S.A. and I always miss it! I was laughing (and praying for help) at how ridiculous getting groceries is. We walked in the cold, cold and the snow, under the interstate to the cramped little grocery store. Thankfully we found everything we needed and waited in the scariest long line I have ever seen. One reason it was scary was the whole wait was lined with hundreds of desirable chocolate items, all within Robi's reach. I thought we were doomed. However, God and Robi surprised me- Robi obeyed perfectly: did not touch, did not scream, and did not kick people or things (he likes to kick when he is bored in his stroller). I was so happy. Then we made it home which was tricky because I had to carry all the groceries, and Robi in his stroller, up and down lots of stairs to cross under the interstate. Oh how thankful I am for cars, heaters, and Publix!
Another success was that Robi counted to ten (in English!) by himself! I made a huge fuss over him, so he did it three more times, then dropped to his knees, pulled his shirt over his head, and yelled "Goal!": a trick Apa taught him. Apparently it's a good way to celebrate soccer and counting lessons.
We went to church today. Sort of. We went to nursery today. Robi was sweet to the children, even the mean ones, and shared his toys. He told the teacher he likes English. I am so glad! Sometimes I feel like we are just giving him a migraine! I think he loves seeing other people and getting a break from English and me! I would want a break from me too, after 24/7 for 3 weeks!
Tomorrow Andrea and I are planning an excursion to the zoo and a castle. We are hoping to keep Ro busy with fun things until Apa comes back. (Ok, who am I kidding... we are keeping ME busy until Sam comes back!) We miss him so much!
That's all folks!

Week 3 Update

Well, the dreaded day of Sam's departure is quickly coming. Sam is leaving at 4:30am Saturday to come home to take 4 finals. The way God worked the timing was really wonderful... Sam only had to miss two weeks of school, then he had the week of Thanksgiving off, and he will only have to leave us for one week. We are very thankful for how that worked out. However... I don't think Robi is going to appreciate him leaving at all. As always, the lack of ability to communicate with him is very sad in this situation. We have been given lots of good ideas (making a calender to count off the days, enlisting the help of the receptionists who speak Hungarian to tell Robi as we are coming and going that Apa is coming back in however many days) but I think it is going to be really hard on Robi for Sam to be gone at all. My best friend Andrea is coming to stay with us while Sam is gone. We are so thankful and excited! We are planning lots of fun trips to pass the time until Apa comes home!
Please be in prayer for Robi next week, for Sam as he takes all his finals, and for Andrea, who hates flying and has never flown internationally, much less internationally alone!

This week has been good. We are still amazed at how well Robi is doing. We are encouraged with his progress in learning to obey. We have frequent struggles, sometimes little, sometimes pretty dramatic, but I think he is looking much the same as other 3 year olds I have observed- which is wonderful considering we've only been working on obeying for 1 week! He woke up one night at 3:00 am, completely angry, screaming and kicking me. I am still concerned about what was going on then... we never did figure it out... but it hasn't happened again. We all went to an International church on Sunday and he had a great time in the nursery. There were some very sweet girls who did a wonderful job with him. Last night we had dinner with our new friends Trisha and Bjorn, and their sweet girls. We've had a great time eating a real meal and getting to know them and picking their parenting brains! I think Ro always enjoys getting to be around other people, especially other people who understand him. I can't imagine what a headache he has from hearing and trying to speak English all the day long. When I try to imagine myself in his situation I get stressed out. He often talks to random strangers as we walk by and jabbers his head off to the maids... but I would too if I could finally be understood! Sam and I laugh that we have no clue what he is saying... perhaps "I seem to be lost with some nice, silly people who don't speak correctly. Could I hitch a ride home?" Who knows?! Of course we always get strange looks from people who realize we don't speak the same language as our son! Pretty weird! Especially since (international) adoption is not common in Hungary.
Sam and Robi are off playing on the treadmill... I do not get invited to the work out room since I get nervous and am no fun... and I am going to try to squeeze in some Bible time before they come back. We are so thankful and humbled by all of your interest in us, your prayers and your sweet notes. I love reading everyone's comments! Thank you so much!

Well I can't believe it, but the inevitable has already happened: I am no longer the cool parent. I have done such an excellent job encouraging Robi to like Sam, that I believe he already likes Dad better then Mom. Plus Sam really is cooler. I shouldn't have tried so hard;)

Robi had to get 3 vaccinations yesterday. It was awful. When he heard us talking about the doctor with George, he cried and told George "I can't stand the doctor." The nurses were sweet and got him all at once and gave him a lollipop, but I think all 5 floors of the building could hear him screaming.

One of the strangest things for us has been living in a country in which our son's race is very disliked (and sometimes hated). Of course there is terrible racism in the U.S. but it's not even politically incorrect here. It was as recent as my grandparents' lifetime that Robi's grandparent's generation were the victims of genocide, and were almost entirely destroyed by the Nazis. I think 90% of the gypsy's were murdered. Most European countries are distasteful of the gypsy population, but it is really bad here. It seems like Hungary was fertile ground for the gypsy genocide that happened... anyone who even looks "dark", gypsy or not, is a target for racism. I know that we are a strange bunch: 2 Americans and a "gypsy" boy who don't speak the same language as each other, and we might be being self-conscious, but everywhere we go we get blatant stares or sneers. Of course, the Hungarians we work with and know are wonderful and love Robi, but even they say it's good that we are taking Robi out of Hungary.

We are laying low today. Robi has a little fever from his shots and is sleeping a lot. Although at the moment he is playing wild animals with Dad.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We went to a church Thanksgiving party with some friends of friends and had a great time. There were a couple little boys (10-ish I think) who were very sweet to Robi and played and played with him. He loved it.
Miss you all!

Christmas Market

We just found the biggest Christmas Party in Budapest! I am feeling much better so Sam let me go outside for a little walk we and stumbled upon the Budapest Christmas Market. It is AWESOME! We want to go twice a day. We ate a yummy cinnamon-roll like treat... dough wrapped around a cylinder and baked crispy over hot coals. We had a hash brown with sour cream and mulled hot wine. There were tons of vendors selling everything from Christmas ornaments to bow and arrows to ceramics. We watched a blacksmith working and people were setting up for a concert. SO fun!
Today we are working on obedience. It is quite a job, as with all 3 year olds. But this poor guy has 3 years of bad habits. He pretty much did as he pleased at his foster home. We have had some screaming fits, but Robi has capitulated and obeyed in not more than 30 minutes so far. It gets old sitting in the same place over something as silly as not putting shoes away. I am actually very impressed with him... we've only known him one week and here we are imposing all these rules. Who do we think we are???
Things are going well with he and Sam. Today after a particularly bad confrontation over ramming his car into the door, he pouted at Sam for a few minutes but started wrestling, laughing and playing with him very soon.
Sam has not been able to study at all. Today during R's nap we were both so tired that we slept too. Hoping to phase into Dad leaving a few hours a day to study. First exam in ten days.

In Budapest

We are settling into our apartment in Budapest. It's a huge relief to be here. George hooked us up with a great deal at the Marriot apartments in the center of Budapest. We have a kitchen, living room, and bedroom.
Sam has been basically single-parenting the last two days. I've been pretty sick... nervous that it's the flu. Today has been the first day that I could rest well and I am hoping to be back up and going tomorrow.
Robi is doing pretty well. We think moving shook him up. He was very bad yesterday but today has been better. He seems to be venting all his frustration about life on Sam... he can be pretty mean to poor Sam! Sam has been patient and kind. i'm really proud of him. We expected this so it's not shocking but it's exhausting. George is not concerned; he keeps reminding us that everything, everything is new for Robi and it's scary. I can tell R gets very frustrated that we can't understand him. George is great, and encouraging and tells us constantly that it will be better each day. Poor little guy!
Sam and R are making playdough crocodiles... and I am going to lay back down.
We miss everyone! Thanks for your prayers.

Playing in the Bathtub

Robi and Apa (Dad) are playing in the bathtub. And I am typing as fast as I can!

We brought Robi home last night and everything went remarkably well. He did pick up the phone to call Dharma (his foster sister) but other than that we can't understand if he is talking about going home. We played cars some, but mostly Robi is really into wresting and scaring each other. Over and over. He loves it! Almost everything we hear adopted kids are scared of, Robi likes. He loves the elevator. Robi missed his nap yesterday so he was way past tired and completely irrational. He kept wanting to play even though he was losing it, so we decided to make him lay down and hold him at bed time. He screamed, I was nervous, Sam was fine, and he fell asleep within 10-15 minutes. I kept telling myself to pretend like he was a baby! He slept all night...

ok... I am sitting here listening to Robi say "more", "water", "pease" in the bathroom. I don't even know what to do. He is brilliant.

We went to the zoo today and we think it went well. He's never been and he was very scared of some of the animals. This was good though because when he felt threatened he ran right past me to Apa. More muscle power. And actually mom had more of a near panic attack than Robi over a near encounter wit snakes. His English now includes "monkey", "buffalo", and "shark".

It's hard to set up boundaries for him... he is not used to being told "no" and we are not able to reason with him like George is. He is very verbal and used to explanations. It's hard to know how to pick our battles. He is already playing the parents... trying to run to me when Dad tells him "no", but I am trying to back up Dad. "Nem. Go to Apa."

Well, I can't think. I m going to hear this 3 word sentence Robi has going on.

More later. Please pray for wisdom.

We adore this boy! We are so thankful for him!

Last day to leave Robi...

Just a brief little update today:
The meeting with the government went really well. Everything was smooth; we are being granted custody of Robi on Day 4 in the country rather than Day 7-9 of visitation. Marion recommended speeding things up because R is doing so well.
We only got to see Robi for about an hour. He came running into the car today and sat on my lap for a short car ride. We played in a very muddy park and had a good time. There was a fire man pole and R let Sam help him "climb" it since I sort of acted like I couldn't do it. He went up and down 10-15 times and was grunting and making faces like a crazy man in a gym:) He copies everything Sam does... so cute. When R gives Sam a high five, Sam blows on his hands "Ouch", and R started doing that today. He also said "Goodbye" clear as a bell to a truck today. We just stared at him.
When we pulled up to the house and everyone told him "Time to go" he said "Nem, nem" and wouldn't get up, and even started a little sad whine.  SAD to leave him. It's such an answer to prayer that he likes us... and I am ashamed that I am surprised.
Tomorrow we will go get him and won't have to leave him anymore.
As always, we are impressed with and so thankful for everyone involved over here. They are doing an excellent job. Sam and I are really enjoying getting to know people from Hungary on such an intimate level.
Love!

Play Day 2

Hello Friends and Family,
We had another good day, much like yesterday. We both woke up feeling pretty badly... Sam's ankle hurt and I felt sick... but God is so gracious and allowed us both to feel better and play all day. I think I jogged 17 miles today chasing Robi, who is faster than me, and carried him another several! Robi still will not let Sam carry him (and Sam can't really jog on his ankle) and we were all over the place today so I got quite a workout!
Today we were with George, Marian, and the driver again, but we added a new pal, Adam (who turns out to be the famous videographer of the Robi dvd). He is about Sam's age maybe and speaks good English. He was a lot of fun to have around because he would translate a lot of what Robi was saying to us, and was much firmer than Marian in helping to control Robi.
When we walked into the foster home today Robi was clinging to his foster mom and wouldn't look at us, but we didn't push him and very soon, he was playing with me from across the room. No tears when we left this time. Also Adam told us that Robi had been excited we were coming and watching at the window, but got shy when we got there. God is so Amazing!
We drove to the park and there were no nasty kids there today. We played soccer on the basketball court and re-discovered the universal common word "Goal!" We all got lots of goals. Even me.
Robi loves, loves, loves Thomas the train so we planned to go on a train ride. The timing didn't work out but we saw a train up close ("wow" is also a common word!) and got to get inside one for a minute. Robi loved it.
We hit up McDonald's again for lunch (not my choice people!) and this time Robi sat on Sam's lap for 5-10 minutes! It was very good. He plays with Sam and talks to him but does not want to be held or touched. Adam says he has a very close relationship with his foster dad and brushes off other men. But we are getting there.
We walked to a famous ancient castle from the Turk war; it was incredible and had an incredible view of the city, but I was mostly concerned with preventing Robi from jumping off the castle walls or rolling down into an ancient moat, which he was very determined to do. Sam, Robi and I wandered off by ourselves for the first time and were probably just the 3 of us for 20 minutes. We had no problems at all.
A very fun thing about having Adam with us was to see how incredible mush we are communicating with Robi, and he with us. He is very smart, and very verbal and I have felt like he is responding to specific things I say, but of course I don't know. So today I said "Look at those beautiful flowers" and he said something like "The flowers are very nice". Incredible. When Sam and I were wandering the castle with Robi, at one point he commanded us to sit down on a rock bench... it was so clear... and he did a little monologue and brought us some rocks to eat. So funny.
I wish I could put up pics and videos but we can't yet.Can't wait to show everyone our castle adventures later.
Robi fell asleep in the car again and slept the whole way home.
On the trip from Robi's house to the hotel we had an almost hour-long Hungarian lesson from Adam, who in the end, told us our Hungarian is "very bad."
We got home at a reasonable time today and Sam is getting to study some.
Tomorrow we go "to the government." It will be Robi's last night with his foster family. It blows my mind the way life is changing for all of us.
Thank you for praying for us. 

Play Day 1

What a wonderful day! We spent all day with Robi, then Sam and I had a lovely dinner together at the restaurant across the street, where we had fresh, delicious, underpriced food, and lovely wine for $1.75/ glass. I'm liking Hungry.
I've been chatting on Skype with both the moms and Sam is studying and icing his foot with frozen peas... he sprained his ankle playing with Robi today (he is refusing medical attention of course, but i won't stop bugging him about it, don't worry).
We slept so well last night! Ohmygoodness. Exhaustion.  Thanks to Matt and Camille for telling us to take melatonin... it's working like a charm so far.
This morning we met George for breakfast at our hotel. He said we would go on a "little trip" with Robi. "Just get in the car a little bit" he said. Our "little trip" was from 10:30 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon! Robi cried just for a minute getting in the car, which was sad, but when he realized his social worker Marion was coming, he dried up right away. He talks incessantly and jabbered away at us. I was sad to not be able to understand him. Yesterday we had a nice little van... today's was totally thug... black, tinted windows, no middle seat, Shakira and TI singing to us, but it turned out great, because Sam had to sit on the floor during the hour long car-ride to the park, and he bonded with Robi playing "soccer" in the back of the car. Homeboy may have a soccer career in his future! He appears to be ambidextrous, that little son of gun:)
We arrived at the nice, big park and Marion and George had us take Robi by ourselves for a minute. He did fine and let me carry him. He ran straight for a pile of leaves and dove in:) The only bad part of the day at all was a large group of high-school-ish aged kids who were wretched. The were laughing and snickering at Robi (I almost punched them in the face) then were trying out their profane and trashy English on me (and Sam very actually almost punched them in the face). I did have a moment's concern that Sam would get in a fist-fight defending my honor during his first few moments with Robi's social worker... but he let is go at dressing them down. Yikes!
Anyway, aside from the distracting little thugs, we had a lovely time playing with leaves, kicking a soccer ball, playing on the playground, eating a happy meal and nearly falling asleep while swinging. We were late for nap-time. Sam and Robi bonded more, although he is willing to let me hold him and carry him, but not Sam. But they play well together. Marion is wonderful: supportive, helpful, encouraging, not a word of English! It was an interesting day! Robi went to me, rather than to Marion, to hold him crossing the street once, which is huge. She is close to him and is actually more responsible for his well-being than even his foster mother. She is very happy with the way things are going. She told George the day was "perfect."
We are so thankful for:
1. Beautiful weather- it's usually cold and raining this time of year. Practically all our bonding happened in the park, so we are very thankful.
2. Robi's sweet, extraverted personality is making it very easy for us to attach to him. We adore him!
3. Sam's ankle held up all day (he hurt it first thing) and he and Robi were able to play.
4. All the adoption staff have been excellent and have been prepping Robi as much as is possible for this huge change in his life.
Prayer requests:
1. Sam's ankle... he can barely walk.
2. Foster family, especially mom, dad, and sister, having a really hard time. They are very sad.
3. We are mourning with and for the Bozemane's in their loss of sweet Trish to cancer. We are SO happy she is with the Lord, but death is really awful.

Thank you for all your love and concern and interest.
Love!

"Is this real life?"

I think Sam and I both feel like that poor kid on youtube after the dentist's appointment. After almost 30 hours of traveling and no real sleep, we both are unsure this is real life!
Yesterday- which- became- today was surreal... we drove to Atlanta, flew to Amsterdam, changed planes at what was 2:00 am Montgomery time, flew to Budapest, met George (our Hungary facilitator) and ended up driving around 5 or 6 hours with him. Wedged into all that driving with George was an important meeting with the "DHR" coordinator of this region of Hungary and two social workers (who kindly asked us what we had done to prepare to be parents and informed us that we are "very young"!). The meeting went well, and off we went... to Robi's house!!!!!
Sam was smiling and silly and I think my brain looked like old tv static. We didn't talk much. Every few minutes Sam would say "We are about to meet our son" or I would sing an impromptu, incoherent "We're meeting Robi" song. We kept winding through neighborhoods that weren't his on a trip of unknown length... at least to Sam and I. After about an hour we drove into a neighborhood that was his, got out of the car, and looked up to a tiny, hoody-framed face peering out the window. Our son! OH he is so precious. We walked into his house... a house in a country we have never even been too, but it felt so familiar after watching Robi's dvd every day for two months! 
Of course Sam and I were nervous and unsure, but the meeting went so well. We didn't stay long, and as we left Robi's social worker said it went "beautifully." Robi is a precious,crazy bundle of extraverted energy. He was shy for about 3 1/2 seconds before he was running back and forth to his room, usually with me running behind him, bringing out every toy known to man to show off. Sam and I had been instructed to bring little prizes for Robi. SO I had tootsie pops and a few toy cars and a slinky. However. Robi was more interested in his play laptop computer and cell phone to be interested. I am still laughing... he is downgrading in toys I'm afraid. 
His foster family was so kind. They are very sad, but were wonderful about telling Robi that Sam and I were his mom and dad, trying to get him to come to us and play with us, and in the end, made him kiss us goodbye. And he did! Robi kissed me! 
We are so impressed with the care being taken to prepare Robi for this transition. His social worker has come almost every day and looked at the scrapbook we made for Robi with him. He is, by the way, FAR more interested in the train stickers I put in the scrapbook, than in Sam and I;)  We are going to visit all day tomorrow, and take Robi on a little mini-trip with just the social worker, Sam and I. George has the "boss's" approval and encouragement for us to take Robi as soon as he is reasonably used to us... possibly even Friday. The foster family is emotional, and George, his boss, and Robi's social worker want us to go ahead and take him as soon as possible, without it being too tramatic for Robi. 
Right now it looks like we will spend the day with him tomorrow- Friday, bring him to stay the night in the hotel on Friday, and leave for Budapest on Monday. If all this happens we can probably be home for Christmas and George will be my new super-hero. 
We are so thankful for God's blessings. Please pray for us as we get to know our sweet, wild son!

Adoption Eve

We are leaving tomorrow! I can't believe it. I am so thankful for all the help we have had... the last two weeks, and especially this week, were so chaotic. I really did not think I could get done what needed to get done. I'm so thankful for my friends who threw a shower for RObi and helped provide so many wonderful gifts for him. My sweet mom and sister Kate have worked like slaves doing un-fun things like cleaning all the floors, addressing thank-you notes, and making copies for Sam to study on the plane.
Today I am making sure we have all the important documents we need, picking up the house, running a couple of last-minute, non-essential errands, and maybe even going to see my friend William's football game. Sam is making fun of me because I have been thinking about my "meeting-Robi" outfit... like a 3-year-old boy cares what sweater I am wearing:)
Thank you for all your notes, and kind words, and prayers!

Two Days Until We Leave...

It is hard to believe that we are leaving in two days to go meet and adopt our son. The shopping is done, the bags are almost packed... Sam and I vacillate between excitement, anxiety, terror, and all the way back again. We cannot wait to meet Robi! And we are so concerned for him. I have spent hours trying to imagine what this will be like for him... changing families, leaving his foster home with near-strangers, a new language, a new family culture, a new continent eventually... it's so much! We've been praying that the Lord would give Robi a supernatural peace and protect him from fear. 

My awesome friend Pam McLemore came over yesterday and got us excited! She brought us a list of places to go and see and was gushing enthusiasm for Budapest!

I'm too scatter-brained to write very coherently... more later:)