Elya’s Adoption
Greetings friends!
We have had a whirlwind year in 2005 and thought we should issue our first Baumgartner newsletter to keep you all informed. First the background on our adoption…
Mark went on a mission trip to Russia in December of 2003 and did some renovation in an orphanage there. For the week he spent there he kept seeing a 5-year-old little girl with beautiful brown eyes. She stole his heart. Mark could not get “Elya” off of his mind once he returned home. It seemed like God had put her on his heart in a special way. So we started thinking about the possibility of adopting. After inquiring about Elya we found out she had a 3-year-old sister, Asa. We really wanted to be able to give both girls a home but it sounded a little crazy with 3 little ones on our hands already. It took Carrie a few months of praying and thinking about the logistics to determine she could handle the work load. We decided we just could not leave them in the situation they were in. So we started the adoption process.
We had to wait months for the girls to become legally available for international adoption. Then there was endless paperwork and an interview to complete. Carrie made a trip to see them in November of 2004. The girls were eager to meet their “new Mama and Papa”. 2005 found us still waiting to get things going. Here’s what happened in the meantime:
February
On the 16th, Simon turned 3 years old. Simon has become a sensitive, affectionate boy who enjoys bugs, dinosaurs and super heroes. He is very TALL for his age and our only curly-head.
March
We finally made our first ‘official’ trip to Russia so the orphanage could give us our first formal introduction. Elya was 6, very talkative, precocious and active. Asa was 3, quiet and fearful, but she warmed up to us soon. This was very exciting, we were finally making some progress. We were told we would probably be able to return to take the girls home in about 6 weeks. We decided to change Elya’s name to Ella, and Asa’s name to Lisa.
April
Delays due to the Russian government had us waiting for word on when we could go get the girls. These kinds of delays have been known to go on indefinitely. I prayed we would still be able to get them by the end of May.
May
Big surprise this month… we realized we were expecting our 4th biological child. This was a difficult adjustment to our plans, but we have come to trust that there are special things in store for this child as well as for all the members God has placed in our family.
On the 26th Ella turned 7 in Russia. We sent pretty cards and goodies but were dismayed that both the girls were growing so old without us. We had missed so much of their childhood already. We have since learned that Ella is an incredible dancer, loves dressup, loves to draw and loves being the center of attention.
Around the middle of the month I gave up on my hopes of having the girls by the end of the month. Then on the 27th we got a call from our contact at the adoption agency. She had just returned from vacation and wanted to know if anyone had told us we needed to be in Russia next week?! We scrambled to arrange everything and left to get our daughters on May 30th. Praise the Lord!!
June
On the 8th we returned home with the girls. They had great expectations about what real family life would be like. They were wild! They had not experienced this kind of freedom in their years in the orphanage and they were ready to run with it. We had quite a time bringing them down to reality. The first months were sheer exhaustion keeping up with 5 little kids.
On the 21st George turned 5 years old. George is very bright, excels in gymnastics (as in most things he’s willing to attempt), and loves to make new friends. Like Simon, he is interested in all the super heroes but also enjoys riding his bike, wrestling with Dad, and jumping off of any solid surface.
July
The girls are settling in. They are quickly learning English. All the kids seem happy to have new playmates. Hallie is the only one to experience some jealousy when Mommy tries to hold someone else. George and Ella have their run-ins, both used to being the oldest. But they have become good friends.
Carrie started home-schooling George and Ella this month at the kindergarten level. (Ella had never had any formal schooling.) George is quickly catching on to reading, though he would much rather do his math lesson. Ella loves any type of school work but excels at handwriting practice.
August
On the 26th Hallie turns 2. And she does it with a bang! Neither of the boys experienced “terrible two’s” in a big way, but Hallie seemed to know it was time to make some changes. Our easy-going baby is gone and we now have a little person with definite opinions! Hallie is still the most cuddly and very mothering with her babies. But she is often the LOUDEST and the best hair-puller and skin-pincher we have.
Another surprise this month.. Mark finds out about a flying job that would enable him to realize his life’s dream of flying for a living but still be home nights with the family. He interviews with Colgan Air, a company that supplies commuter flights for Continental Airlines. He gets the job, and leaves for 6 weeks of training. AAAgggh!! Carrie learned a lot during those weeks, mainly that she was capable of doing a lot more than she thought possible. She held down the fort and used evening hours to start packing up the house for a move depending on where Mark would be assigned.
September
An ultrasound confirms we are having a baby girl. She looks healthy and is on track to arrive around January 16th.
On the 30th Lisa turns 4. Lisa has opened up incredibly since she came to be with us. She is no longer fearful of vehicles or animals or strangers. She started talking and now I often can’t get her to stop! She enjoys being silly, asking questions, and making beds for her baby dolls.
October
Mark was finally assigned to work in Houston, TX. We did a whirlwind house-hunting trip, made an offer on a house and moved in, all within about 2 weeks time! We had been preparing for a move for several months but in the end it seemed to happen so quickly.
November – December
We are now well settled in the house and making friends in the neighborhood. God has blessed us with a spacious house and large back yard which the kids are enjoying every day. We’re trying to maintain some sort of a schedule until the baby arrives, and then its on to the next great adventure! Hopefully in 2006 our newsletter will be a little shorter.
Love, The Baumgartners
(Mark, Carrie, Ella, George, Lisa, Simon, Hallie and ?)
Karen and I first met Mark during the trip where he first saw Elya. We were visiting the Baby House at Lomonozov for the day and he was there for a week with a team that was renovating a large room in the house. We spent some time with them admiring their work and exchanging contact information. A short time after we returned home Mark contacted Karen and asked if she could check to see if Elya was available for adoption. On Karen’s next trip she inquired on his behalf and found out that Elya was infact available but there was a catch. She has a sister and it was a package deal. Imagine Mark’s surprise when Karen dropped that on him. Karen and I visited Carrie and the children in 2005 and found them to be delitefully adjusted to their new home and family.
Martin Jones