Answers to the most popular questions-

AAAhhhhhhh. I am not great at keeping my own secrets. Yours, I can do. No problemo. Just not my own. I tend to tell too much truth when I'm excited or had a glass of wine.

That was a biggie.

Other than family and close friends, we managed to keep it snug for a 'lil bit. It's such a relief for it to be out!

So... we are SO excited about our little guy. Is he not the most precious?! THOSE EYES.

Where the heck did this come from?
I think that's what you were trying to nicely say. You are correct that this was NOT our plan. (Ha... our plan). What some of you know and some of you don't is that we had actually been in process to become "Resource" parents, i.e. licensed for foster/adopt from the U.S. Foster system. We know there's a need, we have room, we have an extra bed, we were happy with "older" kids, we are familiar with hard and let's be real... it doesn't cost a lot. So it seemed like an obvious direction. It is not an easy direction. And the further we got down that path, the less we felt peace with it. Mostly related to the children we are already grateful to parent. But still... this empty bed. And all those kids. It was breaking our hearts.

I sat down to clean off my desktop one day and saw a photo I had saved back in September. Oh, that sweet face. I text it to Nathan (again, as I had in September). His response: I love him. We need to talk.

And here we are.

What about him?
Well, he's six. Only four months younger than the twins (yeah... I know). But he is very small for his age, so they will be at opposite ends of the spectrum there! He has been waiting all of his six years for someone to call his own. Six long years. Not too much longer, sweet boy. Also, he likes marshmallows. I know because I saw a video of him sneaking them whenever his caregiver wasn't looking!

Friends, it's really hard (emotionally) to adopt when you are educated in adoption. When you understand the trauma and the loss, when you know about the child trafficking and corruption. But when it comes down to it, there are some true orphans out there that need and deserve to have a family loving and caring for them. It is not fair, it is not what we wish for, and it is not about us. Additionally, children with special needs are often rejected completely (and not only in other countries...).

So does he have a special need?
He does. That's why we are trying to expedite the process wherever possible. His particular need is very manageable with appropriate treatment, but he does not have access to it as is. He very seriously needs to come home sooner rather than later. More on that later.

Are we going to fundraise?
Puke yes. Now, as they say... fundraising (puke) is a verb. It requires action. We are going to work our butts off. I wish we had an extra $30K set back, but if we did- this is what we would use it for. And sure, we could work our butts off ahead of time, save, and then start the process to go get him... but hasn't he waited long enough? So we'll work harder. We have some great options planned, I think. We will share those plans soon!

ETA (because we got several questions within a few minutes): Donations are graciously accepted, but here's the info on those. Your donation is tax deductible if you donate through Reece's Rainbow at this link: CLICK HERE. You can also mail a check to avoid losing PayPal fees. Those funds will be available to us when we are ready to travel, but not until then. If you would like to donate so that we can cover the fees due before travel (most of them are), you can do that at the top right of the blog or CLICK HERE.
Thank you, you sweet sweet souls for asking!


When will we travel?
We dunno. There's a somewhat basic timeline, but so many factors play into that and we have little to no control over any of it. If we can keep things moving quickly, we are really hoping to travel this summer. Again, the sooner we can get him home and get him the medical care he needs, the better.

Does he have a name?
Of course meaning, do we know what we will be calling him? Yes, we do. And while I don't think(?) we are planning to keep it secret, we also aren't going to use it publicly. Last time, some people got really confused by the whole Gracie/Anna Gray thing because we used both. His alias is Nicholas, so we will only refer to him as Nicholas publicly until the adoption is final and his name is legally changed. Just so we are clear: Nicholas is neither his current given name NOR the name he will be known as. It is temporary.


I think that covers the basics for now. That, and a big giant cloud of gratitude for all the support and kind words you have smothered our family with already! We have the most amazing people in our lives and we are so, so ... well, just ... thank you.