Gracious God of Plenty

Hello.

We wanted to create a place where we could provide

updates to everyone on a somewhat regular basis.

Here is our family blog.

Baby Anara

Anara news: Our paperwork made it through the certification process at the embassy last Friday. It is now on its way to court. The adoption process should be final in about two weeks. There is a 30 day waiting period after the adoption is complete. We could potentially travel to pick Anara up 2-8 weeks from now. We are praying that it will be sooner rather than later.

Violet gets excited when asked questions about her "Baby tister". We are pretty sure she doesn't understand what it means, but she has picked up on our excitement and echoes it rather well. Here is a recurring dialogue regarding Anara.

"Violet, tell _____ what you are going to have pretty soon."

Violet responds with wide eyes, "Baby Tister".

"Tell ____ what your baby sister's name is."

"Baby Nara"

"Where does Baby Anara live?"

"Ophinage - Daddy Mommy go get her."

We are preparing for travel and Anara as much as we know how. We haven't made travel arrangements or visa preparations because we are not sure of our dates. I am hoping for a little more information on Anara so that I will know what size clothing to take for her. We are working on getting formula and appropriate medications.

We recently consulted a pediatric urologist about Anara's medical condition. He and his partners will more than likely be the physicians responsible for her surgery. He was very gracious and helpful. Anara will require a fairly complex surgery within a month or two of coming home. She will have about a 3 week stay at Riley. The surgery should correct most of the issues related to her bladder exstrophy. The urologist said that it is likely Anara will require lifelong catheterizing. We are praying that she will be an exception and achieve continence, but we are prepared and accepting of this outcome.

We can't wait to meet Anara and bring her home. We decided to keep her given name. It means pomegranate flower and we thought this fit our family well. Anar is also the Russian form of the name Ann. Ann means "gracious". Elizabeth is Nate's mother's name. Elizabeth means "God of plenty or my God is bountiful." Her name can be stretched to mean "Gracious God of Plenty."

Here is another picture of Anara. She is seen here with a missionary. She is the woman who is responsible for introducing us to Anara. She seems to be a very commited and wonderful woman with a genuine love for His children. We cannot wait to meet her when we pick up Anara.

Please email or call with any questions or comments. I will try to keep this blog current.