6 Years Ago

I look at these photos and can hardly believe this is the same little boy that started our family 6 years ago. He was soooo tiny. Everyone says - oh, he looks healthy, which he was but still tiny. In the second photo he is wearing an outfit from gymboree (that someone must have donated to the orphanage), and it's a 3-6mo. size............he was 17 months in these photos!!

I remember like it was yesterday the first moment we saw him. We were sitting in the orphanage directors office when he was brought in - and they were speaking Russian to him, and the only thing we understood was "mommy and daddy". At that moment I completely lost it, and bawled like a baby. They handed him to me, and he cried and cried - and I cried and cried - and Ryan cried. It was one of the three greatest moments in our lives. It's amazing to me that after so much heartbreak the Lord knows EXACTLY what we need.

Our first trip to Russia was short (6 days). We flew into Moscow, and from Moscow to Salekhard (which is right on the Arctic circle), where Cooper is from. We were to visit with him, and if we decided to adopt him - sign intent papers and then go home to wait for our court date to be approved by the Russian government. Like we even had to think about it......he was ours from the moment we saw his referral photo. So we visited with him - 2 hours total for the two days we were there. He was SO very quiet, yet you could see he was taking everything in. He never cried again, and even fell asleep while Ryan was holding him. On that second day we had to say goodbye - it was THE SINGLE HARDEST THING we have ever had to do. Our second trip was a month later - our court date changed 2 times while we were waiting, but we finally made it. **For our China adoption friends....we actually had a court appointment. We went to the courthouse in Salekhard, sat in front of a judge who asked us all kinds of questions(which were in Russian, and had to be translated to us, and our answers translated back to her). She went into chambers to make her decision, and then made her final ruling. The whole process took about 3 hours. China adoptions are a cakewalk compared!! ** Our second trip took 12 days, in which we were in 3 different cities : Salekhard for our court date, adoption papers, and birth certificate - Tyumen for his passport, and finally Moscow for his Visa at the American embassy. (This post is pretty long - sorry - but not everyone has a fabulous story like Cooper!!)

Our son is the sweetest, most kind hearted boy - I cannot imagine life without him. I look at him every day and can't believe how blessed I am to be his mom. Tonight Cooper has a baseball game, after which our families are coming over for pizza and cupcakes (Coopers favorites), and we are going to celebrate our son!! We love you Cooper!!