Bringing Home Our New Bundle Of Joy

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support you have shown us over the last 3 years. We can't imagine walking this path without the love and prayers that have been poured over our family. We are so grateful for the role you have already played in E.V.'s life!We saw an excellent letter issued by one adoptive family to their family and friends explaining the bonding process their child would be going through when she came home. We've taken that letter and adapted it to our situation because we feel it's so important for you to see what we will be processing through as a family, and also give you an idea of how you can help with your prayers and support!

As we prepare for E.V.'s arrival, we've learned that her emotional health is of the utmost importance. In her short life, our daughter will have gone through more changes and life altering experiences than most adults could handle. Imagine how much harder the changes will be for her. While she may not consciously remember all of the events, she will still experience immense loss of a birth mother. She will also soon be experiencing the loss of familiar and comforting caretakers and friends as well as the sights, smells and language of her birth country. Her world will turn upside down. She will struggle with feeling safe and secure and she may lack the ability to trust that we will meet her needs. We have prepared to meet her emotional needs so that she does learn that we will always take care of her and will always keep her safe. We need your support. In order to form a strong and healthy attachment we will allow her to regress so that she has the opportunity to go through all of the emotional stages with us despite her chronological age. Although it may appear that we are spoiling her, we have been advised that it is best that we meet every need quickly and consistently. Until she has learned that we are her parents, we need to be her primary caretakers at all times. It is essential that we always hold her, feed her, and do all of the nurturing. You may wonder how long this will take, but the timeline is different with every child. We will follow her lead and trust God's leading as well. We have all been waiting anxiously for E.V. to arrive but she has not been waiting for us. She may show grief and confusion in many ways and we are trying to prepare ourselves to help her through it and prove that we are her forever family. We are actually praying that she will grieve when we first receive her, because that means she has attached to someone before us, and has the ability to attach to someone again. We trust that as our family and friends you will help us to do what is best for our daughter, and we thank you in advance for your support and understanding.