Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Almost 4 Months

Once again I'm long overdue for a blog post!

Our new son, Ilya (Ilyusha), has been home for about 3 1/2 months now.  We've almost made it to four months.  Somehow, four months has been like a magic number for me.  I have heard other adoptive parents say that at around four months home, things got better, life started feeling more normal.  Near the beginning things were tough for us.  Ilyusha was plucked from everything he ever knew, and thrown into a completely different world, and that is a rough adjustment for any child.  Tantrums, meltdowns, super-clingy behavior... that was our life for several weeks.  During that time, I thought to myself, "If we can just make it four months... it will get better."  That was the hope that I clung to, and I tried to chase away the thought that would follow... "What if it doesn't?!"

And now, here we are, at almost 4 months, and it has gotten MUCH better.  We've all adjusted to a new normal.  Ilyusha has some more growing to do, emotionally, but he has come SO far.  He is learning and experiencing new things every day, and he LOVES being part of a family.  "Family" was a concept he didn't even know, four months ago.  He's not the same little boy we met in Ukraine.  Aaron described the way he seemed then as being "on autopilot."  I don't know how else to describe it.  Now, he is truly living.

Adoption is messy and hard, but absolutely beautiful.  It's beautiful how God led us through the whole process, and how his timing was so perfect.  We flew into Kiev right after the worst fighting ended there, and Aaron left Slavyansk with Ilya less than a week before the militant separatists took over that city.  We got Ilyusha out at the very last minute, and we had no idea.  (And we thought the paperwork process was delayed longer than it should be!)  It's beautiful how Ilyusha is fitting in with our family, and it's a beautiful picture that is painted of how our heavenly Father loves us unlovable people, and how He invites us to be His sons and daughters.  It's redemption.

"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."  -Galations 4:4-5

Finally, here's what you all really want to see.  Our video slideshow of the adoption experience.  Enjoy!