To answer your questions...

I have been asked many times about Sasha: what size clothes does he wear? Where is he at developmentally? What types of health conditions does he have? The questions go on, but the answer is always the same: I don't know.

I want to begin by stating that we have more information than many families receive. As you have seen, we have several pictures of him, we even have video clips. Most families get one picture (usually not even a recent one), and a few sentences about their child. Why? Well, we only get what the country and the orphanages will give us. Our adoption is independent, which means we don't have an agency. Not many countries allow for this, but it saves an amazing amount of money. It also means that we cannot use our non-existent agency to get more information about Sasha (if they even could).

I understand that some of you are calling us crazy. Maybe thinking that we have glamorized special needs adoption. I'm sure you think that we have only thought about "the good parts". Let me tell you a few things about DS kids:

• They are at a higher risk for developing lukemia (the sweet little boy in the pic from our EE feast is burdened with this horrible cancer).
• Many of them are born with congenital heart defects.
• Usually, they have vision problems.
• 50-60% of DS children have some degree of hearing loss.
• Thyroid disorders are very common among people with DS.
• They have a higher risk of developing Celiac disease.
• The list goes on...

Let me tell you a few things about international adoption:*

• It costs a ton (as you have seen)!
• It is stressful.
• It entails leaving our children (who we have never left for more than 24 hours) for weeks at a time...MORE THAN ONCE!
• It means going to a country where you know nobody, don't speak the language or understand the customs, AND going through their court system.

Oh, the glamor!

The truth is that none of this matters. NONE OF IT!!!! If we went to Eastern Europe, and sat down with the doctor and heard Sasha's medical history, and if it included all of these things, it still wouldn't matter. I'm not pretending that life is not going to be challenging, I have simply learned a major life lesson:

The LORD will call you, the Holy Spirit will guide you, and the grace of Jesus will pick you up when you stumble (and you will :)

"A peace that transcends understanding"

We KNOW that peace.

*Let me also note: even though I complain about the process, we have been incredibly blessed up to this point. We have not struggled near as much as most families.