Day 10 Pictures

The foster carers (minus their son who was in nursery) to whom we are very grateful.

Time to meet some of the family!

Time for an afternoon nap!

More family come to say hello!

Ready for bed!

But time to say hello to some lovely people who brought in tea for us! Thanks guys!

Day 10 - Our son comes home!

Today was the day. Planned before the foundations of the earth, our son, Ryley James came home to his family. And what a day this has been. Words can't really describe how we feel - but we are overjoyed with our the latest addition to our family!

This morning we had butterflies driving up to the house to go and pick him up for the last time. It was an emotional moment but the foster carers said their overriding emotion was one of pleasure for R that he was going to live with us. We were so pleased as to how this morning went, our prayers were answered. We are so pleased R has been so well looked after and loved. We will not forget what they have done.

And then we so proud to be able to introduce him to some of the family - and look forward to introducing him to the rest of the family and friends over the next few days and weeks. That little boy has no idea how much he is going to be loved!

Bedtime was always going to be the interesting part of the day wondering how A and R would settle sleeping in the same room as each other. R went up first and just cried, A soon followed and then R began crying again with A then trying to get R to be quiet!! Oh, we thought this was going to be one of those nights! However very soon, the crying stopped and as we listened in, A was just whispering to R - no idea what was being said but still very cute! Before too long, silence descended and they are both fast asleep. A very special moment seeing those two precious gifts sound asleep. We love them so much.

How amazing these two boys have been brought together! How good God has been.

So that's it - two and a half years ago, our precious little boy A arrived and now, 11 months after applying to adopt again, we are now the proud parents of R. We are truly humbled.

We have received much grace and will need much going forward! These 2 boys' worlds have now completely changed, please pray for them during this transition.

This has been a wonderful time for us and are so grateful to God for his goodness and love toward us. How good it is to be loved by Him!

Thank you once again for your kind messages, we have been overwhelmed by your love and support. We hope the blog has been helpful for those wanting to follow the closing stages of our adoption story.

The blog will continue to be updated over the next week or so as we celebrate R's birthday and as friends and family continue to meet him - we'll upload some pictures. We will also use it to update on the progress of our little girl. However if you expect to read this daily and find out what we have eaten for breakfast, you may be slightly disappointed!! :-)

Thanks once again. Our son is safely home! Amazing grace.

Day 9 - the night before...

Well, it's here, with A soundly asleep upstairs, we sit down for our last evening with 3 under this roof. What a scary thought!! Just a brief blog today as tiredness and writing blogs does not go well together!

We brought R home this morning and spent the day together at home. We put him down in his cot for the first time after lunch; a few tears but not for long, he was soon sound asleep. We took him back home at 4, the last time we will have to take him back!

We pick our son up at 11am tomorrow and bring him home for good. How sweet! Words can't really explain what we are thinking about tomorrow - a whole load of emotions I guess! One of the hardest things we found last time was taking A away from his then home, all he had ever known. It's just one of the hardest things to do.

However we are so excited about what tomorrow holds. This is it, life changes for everybody. But whatever happens, "surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives!"

Have a good evening all

Nick and Rach x

Day 8 - Review day...

Wow, what a day! With great joy, I can announce that R will be coming home on Wednesday!!! We are so excited!

R came to visit his new home for the first time today and we enjoyed some time playing in the garden and showing him is new home. Before we knew it, it was time to take him back and then the review meeting began.

Everybody agreed it was in R's best interests that he be moved as soon as possible and Wednesday was the day agreed - a day God had always planned it to be! We will pick R up and spend the day with him at home tomorrow and will drop him back for tea time. We will then pick him up mid morning on Wednesday and bring him home, for good!

The meeting itself was an emotional one and the foster family will find it hard to say goodbye as they have cared for our son for 18-19 months - for that we are so grateful. How they do it we will never know but we have a deep respect for them and are grateful for taking care of our son.

These times will bring challenges for R and A so please pray that the transition would go well.

Also today we learned that all the paperwork has already been completed for our little girl and therefore pending the adoption order being granted by the judge, the process should proceed relatively quickly!

Today has been a significant day and today's events turned out well. We are overwhelmed by messages of support - it is good to know we are not alone in this process. We are grateful to God for great friends and family. So thank you so much, we really do appreciate it.

Tomorrow sees the last official day of visits and then Wednesday is the big day. Will continue to keep you updated on progress and then hopefully introduce you R soon.

Some more pics of today below.

Love to you all

Nick and Rach x

Day 7

Well, today was seventh day of visits and we are really hoping that there are not too many more!

Today was a bit of a strange day - R was showing signs of being confused when we turned up today, starting to wonder what was going on and he wasn't sure who to go to really. He was evidently really tired and we felt sorry for the little fella today. We think it's really getting to the point now where the move needs to happen, for R's sake.

Tomorrow is the review so please pray that this would go well and that the process would reach its conclusion swiftly.

Next week is going to be a big week for us - we hope to bring our son home and God willing, celebrate his 2nd birthday with him on Friday.

But we will also be waiting eagerly of news from the court case of our little girl. On Wednesday, the judge will potentially grant the adoption order and we can then look forward to the process of bringing her home. Please pray that the adoption order is granted without needing to hold things up anymore. She is now 6 months old and we would love to welcome her into our family as soon as possible. With all these things we trust in God's plan and timing.

As for today, we went for a walk and then took R and A swimming but took R home earlier than planned after lunch as he was so tired and we thought the best thing for him was just to have a good rest in his bed rather than keeping him going. So we headed home and enjoyed spending time with A in the garden and enjoying the sun! Here are some pics from today...

Nick and Rach x

Day 6 Brotherly love

"We love because He first loved us." At the end of a lovely day together, we've been thinking about how much we love our children! How much more then are we loved by the Father? We love our boys like you wouldn't believe yet it does not compare to how much God loves us!

Today was a scorcher and we had R from 9-3. We went to the farm and had a really nice time together as a family.

R loved the sheep (that's the Welsh in him!) and was shouting at them whenever he saw them! A and R really enjoy being with each other and it's great to see how they are really interacting together.

We are really looking forward to seeing these boys grow up together - how amazing that God has placed these boys together in the same family! A is really taking to his role as big brother and we are grateful to see how he has handled the change - he has done so well!

The boys were well and truly worn out after our time at the farm!

We have a similar schedule tomorrow as today and will try to do something out of the sun - R is really pale and burns easily - swimming is probably on the agenda!

Once again, we are grateful for all the messages we have received. We are grateful to God for family and friends.

Have a great weekend, enjoy this beautiful weather!

Nick and Rach x

Day 5 - first family trip out!

Just a quick update today and a couple of pics...

We arrived early this morning to find R in bed with a nice stinky nappy!! Nice.

We took A in his pyjamas and we then bathed the two of them together. They looked so different! A tall, skinny olive skin boy with short hair versus a short, chunky pale boy with long blond hair!!!

Today was the first time we went out on our own as a family and really enjoyed those few hours we had. A and R get on really well together and again were holding hands in the car!

There was a little incident back at the house and A was really protective of his brother - it was so cute to see big brother looking out for little brother.

We've left our boy again at about 1pm and are now home for the rest of the day (the car passed the MOT!!!)

A was sad to leave R and was asking why he couldn't come home with us. "But I would like him to be in my house!"

We have two fuller days together as a family over the weekend, taking R out from about 9 til 4 on both days. This time will really be key for us to bond together and for R to really start seeing us as his family.

We are another day closer and we think that it is likely R will be home with us for his birthday next Friday which will be very special.

Chill out time tonight.

Look forward to introducing this little one to you soon

Nick and Rach x

Day 4 - A special day!

As we drove into Wales this afternoon in glorious sunshine, Rachel and A were sleeping and I couldn't help noticing the beauty of the countryside. This was a day that God had made. This was a day that God had planned. And this was a day when 2 special little boys met each other - brothers united. Lump in throat moment. And what a special day this was.

As we arrived at the house, R was sleeping in his bed. The wait seemed for ever but it was worth every minute. As he was carried into the room by his carer, A looked up, walked over to his little brother and gave him a hug and a kiss. This was simply a moment we will treasure. No words can describe how we were feeling!

When we asked A what he thought of his brother, he simply replied "nice!"

We took a nice walk to the park and A, R and the foster carers son enjoyed playing in the sun.

We went to McDonalds for tea with A, R and the foster carers family. We learned that R loves his food and the ice cream melting in the heat was fun!

Then another lovely moment to treasure. Without any knowledge of what was going on, without provocation or encouragement this is what we turned around to see. We simply couldn't get the camera out any quicker! This was really moving!

Fun and games in the garden followed...

And then it was time to put R to bed and for us to leave (A really didn't want to leave!!) A gave his brother a kiss goodnight and then we left for home. We look forward to the day we leave for home as 4.

It's been a long day, arriving home at 9pm hence the late blog. A has just fallen asleep (10pm) and we are due back in Wales at 8am in the morning to see R first thing.

Praying we all have rest tonight and that the car passes its MOT tomorrow because that could prove tricky!!

This was an amazing day, once filled with precious moments. God's grace has clearly been all over today. Thanks for all your messages; sorry if we haven't managed to reply to all.

A sweet day.

Nick and Rach x