Saturday, February 12, 2011

More About Our Boys

Eli and Fletcher are 4 and 3 years old, respectively. We're adopting them from Eastern Europe through Reece's Rainbow. While we won't have a solid travel date for a while, our *best guess* is that we'll be going to get them in June. Still, this is only a guess.

The information we have about them right now is limited, but I'd love to share what we do know.


Both Our Boys
Fletcher is front left, and Eli is the tall tyke in back.

This above shot is very recent. Weeks old, I've been told! Hence, why they look older than the pictures they were listed with. Aren't they so handsome and grown-up looking?
They live together in a "baby house", which is an orphanage for children ages 0-5. They're in the same group as well, so they share all meals and play time together. While many of the orphanages in EE are very poor, we've been told that this is a fairly nice facilities. For this, we are VERY grateful. They currently speak Russian, and while we do plan on learning some of the language to ease the transition, most children become fluent in English within mere months of being home.
On Reece's Rainbow they're listed as "David", and "Cody". However, these are neither their birth names nor their future American names. They're simply random pseudo-names given to them by the organization for privacy. We will be keeping their birth names for middle names, and might post them later, but for now are choosing to keep them private.



Eli

My sweet, sweet Eli.
(Well, probably Eli... his name is still under review. He might end up being a Benjamin. To cut down on confusion, we'll settle on Eli for now though.)
This little boy captured my heart from the moment I laid eyes on him. At 4 years old (5 later this summer) he was older than what we were initially considering. Still, I kept returning to his picture again and again. I couldn't pull myself away.
His description broke my heart; "...tender, serious, calm, less demanding than other children..."
Less demanding? ...of time? ...attention? ...love?
While so many of these children sell themselves to the camera with big personalities (um, Fletcher much?), our sweet Eli always appeared to be so sad and broken. Or was he simply at peace, knowing we'd one day find him? At times he just looked lost in the sauce... whatever it was, his sweetness and kind heart still shone through in every picture, and I knew he needed a family to love him.
Several nights in a row, I dreamed about this little boy holding my hand and calling me mama.
All who've met him attest to his sweet and shy nature. I can't wait to learn more about him.
He has brown hair and blue eyes, and compared to the other children his age, is very tall. As most of these children are extremely small, we estimate that he might actually be average sized for his age.


Fletcher


Fletcher... such a cute boy, and those CHEEKS! We have so many pictures of this little guy, due largely to his big personality. Everyone who's met him tells me he's all boy, and is not particularly shy. I really look forward to getting to know him and making him a part of our family.
We haven't been told so specifically, but we believe he has chronic sinus problems that need attention. In 90% of his pictures, his mouth is open and he appears to have a shiny (er... snotty) film beneath his cute little nose. Poor baby always looks like he has a raw nose!
While I don't know much else about him, he seems to be so full of life, and I can't wait for that energy to fill our home! My husband needs someone as wild as he is, and I have a feeling that Fletcher and his Papa are going to become the best of friends.



As I mentioned previously, we're adopting through Reece's Rainbow, a non-profit adoption organization. They primarily help find homes for children with Down's Syndrome, but they have also branched out to help little ones with other special needs.
Our family profile and adoption fund can be found here, and 100% of donations go to our family's adoption. If you're in a financial position to help contribute, PLEASE let me know if you do decide to donate! We had someone donate $100 the other day, and I have no idea who they were. Preferably, we'd be able to properly show our gratitude to those helping us bring these beautiful boys home.

6 comments:

  1. They are so cute! This part is the most exciting (omg! they have names! and I know their faces!) and the hardest (can we travel yet? how about now? now?). But...you totally stole our names yo. Well, our theoretical names. FINE. They're incredibly common. Whatever. (although it is kind of funny that Eli and Benjamin were both on our short list of names. not that they're incredibly unique or uncommon.)(really, I'm just trying to put it out there that if my boys end up being Eli and Ben, it totally was coincidence.)(how many more of these can I do before I annoy myself?) (annnnd...there's my limit!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. lol, I know exactly how you feel about the name thing! Please, PLEASE, please still use the names Eli and Benjamin!! There's enough room in the world for lots of them! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. What DARLING boys : ) I know I've said that before but seriously.
    I made that same armchair diagnosis of Fletcher; my son has allergies and also had no choice but to breathe through his mouth until we found a regime to manage them. (adenoid removal and now-simply Claritin, or moreso Costco's Claritin at 17.00 for 100 tablets!)

    We hope to travel around June, too : )

    Happy Valentine's Day!

    Blessings

    Melissa

    journeytoonemore.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you both! :-) And yes, I've had sinus surgery twice (and I think I'm about due for #3 soon, sadly) so I know his pain all too well! Mouth-breathing runs in our family, so he should fit in well, lol.

    ...and June too, hopefully? Maybe we'll cross paths!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi! I love love love your cute new boys! I have been sponsoring David/Eli/Benjamin through Life2Orphans for a few months and have collected every photo I could find on the internet of him to send in a photo book (since one thing older orphans do not usually have is photos of themselves as small kids, and I wanted him to have them) - but now that he has a family I won't have to! He just looks too sweet and precious! Anyway, if you don't have the earlier RR pic of him around age 2 or 3, email me and I can send it to you (it was posted summer 2009, Fletcher/Cody wasn't posted then) - shantroy123@gmail.com. Congrats on your oh-so-handsome new sons!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Soooo happy for these boys. :) They are so adorable and I wish I was able to see more of them while in EE. :) I am so glad Thomas got the group shot on Olivia's gotcha day - the kiddos are soooooo cute!

    ReplyDelete

Background Code