Introducing our SON!!!

Today at 12:00 noon, we welcomed the newest member of our family-

Olwam Daniel Mason

"Ollie"

Praise the Lord!!!

We could not have hoped for a better addition and are so thrilled to call Ollie our son. He entered this world on December 19, 2012, entered our hearts on March 8, 2017, and officially entered our family today, September 28, 2017.  We feel so incredibly blessed to have GOTCHA, sweet boy!!!

Court today consisted of a lot of waiting, and by the time we were seen by the Magistrate, I was very preoccupied with keeping the kiddos busy while Steve handled many of her questions: why choose South Africa? How's the communication going?  Will you teach him to braai and cheer for the Springboks? Lol.  It so happened that this same magistrate has presided over Ollie's various hearings since he joined his orphanage two years ago, so it was very special for her to get to sign off on the papers allowing him to finally have a family of his own.  Our time during the hearing itself was fairly quick but very joyous and she even let Maelee and Lilee stamp the final approval documents!

Waiting game!

 With the Magistrate- it's official!!!

 

 Our new family of five :)

 My handsome boy. :)

My special guys!

 Celebrating over lunch with our Wandisa team that made it all possible!

Brad, our lawyer, with Renate next to him (social worker that worked with Ollie to prepare him for us), and Rose next to Maelee, who has been our primary social worker through Wandisa.

 Celebrating over cupcakes at "home!"

Happy boy :)

More pictures from "Gotcha Day" here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iHBQGb3SvmFtUGvI2

We decided to keep his birth name, "Olwam," as his legal name,  as he is not only old enough to already have a strong connection to it, but we also learned that his name means "our child" in the isiXhosa language.  We feel like between his birth parents and now us, his "forever" parents, this precious boy is now our child and we will always be linked, and we are so grateful that he was brought into this world!

The name, Ollie, was how he was introduced to us through our adoption agency when we first received his file in March.  We were immediately struck by his name. I mean, Maelee, Lilee, & Ollie- perfect! :) Haha. Not to mention we just think it's such a sweet name. We didn't even realize till a couple months later that it was only what the agency was nicknaming him as his real name wasn't allowed to be used until we received the official referral! But by then, to our family, this sweet boy was "Ollie" and so much emotion had already been tied into that name with this boy.  Given that he will grow up in the states, we thought (and thankfully all of the agencies involved agreed!) he might actually prefer a more Americanized nickname as he gets older, but only time will tell.  We will probably continue to call him both and he's welcome to decide for himself someday which he prefers! For now though, he adorably repeats Ollie when we point to him and say his name. :)

The middle name, Daniel, is meaningful for us on many levels.  My brother is named Daniel, and has a very special relationship with his nieces, and has been very involved and supportive with our adoption process from the beginning.  He has even traveled quite a bit through South Africa, tying him to our son's birth country even more.  Also special about this name, is that it contains my Too-daddy's name, Niel, in it!  My Too-daddy can do no wrong in my eyes and is incredibly dear to me, so having his name included is a way to honor his influence as well.  Finally, we love the biblical story of Daniel and his bravery.  Our verse for Ollie is: "Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you," from the book of Joshua, but the book of Daniel contains a very similar passage: And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage” (Daniel 10:19). It's hard to think of the story of Daniel without being inspired by his courage, and one of our prayers for our son is that he would have courage in all that lies ahead!

So, each part of our precious boy's name is rich with his past, present, and future experiences and we hope he will be proud of it someday.

Not only does today mark the day this precious boy legally became OUR precious boy, it also marks exactly one week since he has been with us full time!  And it has been quite a week.   

 

Snuggling in with daddy.

He loves repeating after us!

Trip to the Giraffe House this weekend!

Where we saw more of the other animals than the giraffes. :)

Ollie wasn't too sure about feeding the goats and llamas but eventually got up the nerve to throw the food at them!

Maelee, of course, loved every minute!

And Lilee was getting pretty brave, too!

Running to get a better look at the giraffes!

We brought a little stuffed giraffe for him and were so tickled that he already has quite a fondness for the amazing animals!

So much love for this sweet little guy!!!

My faves :)

One of their favorite car ride games- switching sunglasses!

Lunch/play stop!

We really started to see a new side to Ollie this past weekend as he quickly became a happy little boy just being a boy!!!  Lots of bounding and bouncing around, lots of giggles and smiles and quite a bit of mischief with Lilee- those two are quite a pair!  They love pushing one another around on our little "motorbike" and coming up with all sorts of goofy games.  Maelee is still the very doting big sister and loves pulling him up onto her lap and giving him lots of hugs and lots of English lessons! :)

The joy we've seen on his face is priceless!

Enjoying the playground across the street!

Last Sunday morning, we went to an indoor/outdoor play space that the kiddos loved!!! It was so fun seeing this playful side of our sweet boy.

 

At church later that day, we wanted to get some family photos we could put on our fridge to help him start seeing himself as part of our family, and he started with the most hilarious "CHEESE" expression!

He didn't quite get it :)

But now it's one of my favorite pics.

That's about it- keep that!

Take two.

(We're working on it, lol)

More pictures of the first weekend here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JqntT3TkOZvXopgs1

 

These girls love their brother something fierce!

Instant playmates!

On Tuesday, we went to Butterfly World!  A super cool place that not only housed an impressive collection of butterflies, but also various wild animals that have been donated/dropped-off etc, often as a result of people thinking they'd make good pets and realizing they don't...  We saw various reptiles, small mammals, and way too many tarantulas...

Last night we had to make a quick grocery run so I took the kids for some frozen yogurt while Steve started on the shopping.  Maelee soon pointed out that Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" was playing over the loud speaker, which just about turned me into a puddle.  It's basically been my love song to Ollie and was the first piece performed on the recital I gave back in March, shortly after we we received his file.  It was a very "full circle" moment!

"All along I believed I would find you.  Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you
for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."
HAPPY TEARS!

More pictures of our 2nd week here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y0CAWQWLSXHn39UR2
 

It is all very surreal- we've been praying for this child for so many years... before we had two daughters.  Before we knew this child would be a boy.  Before we knew he'd be from South Africa.  Before we had any idea the adventure we were about to take.  But, God knew it all.  From the very beginning.  And His plans are so, so good!

Here to STAY!!!

Our sweet "O" is with us for good!!!  We are blown away at how quickly, smoothly, and sweetly these first few days of transition have been meeting this precious boy.

 

We are totally smitten with him and are incredibly pleased with how well our first meeting went on Tues morning! Our social worker, Rose, from Wandisa (the adoption agency here in SA) picked him up at the orphanage with his main caregiver, Rodwin, and they met us at the playground across the street from us. Due to a taxi strike in the town where the orphanage is located, it wasn't quite safe for us to meet there for the first meeting.

 

Rose was holding him when they got to us so the initial meeting was fairly casual to keep him comfortable but we were soon able to push him on the swing, then he sat on my lap as we looked through the audio and photo books we had sent to prepare him. We gave him a lollipop and Maelee gave him a small rubber Spiderman toy for him to hold onto.

The girls were hilarious, as expected, desperately trying to get his attention and show him everything! They were very sweet with him though and he just quietly took it all in. He didn't say much the whole time, but was definitely responsive and didn't seem fearful, which was a huge answer to prayer! He loved the swing and climbing on the equipment.

Renate showed up after a little bit who is another social worker with Wandisa and has been meeting with him daily to prepare him for us. We all eventually went to our home where he LOVED playing with the various puzzles, blocks, and cars we had out. He also cozied into us and let us read a little to him.  One book we read, "A Mother for Choco," is an adorable book about a little bird looking for a mama that a friend sent us who adopted her boy from South Africa a couple years ago. We fed him a snack and he ended up staying through lunch where he and the girls all sat on the floor :). It all was so sweet!

Renate and Rose left after a couple hrs then Steve drove him back with Rodwin after lunch. Steve was able to tuck him in for his nap and he actually started tearing up when he realized Steve was leaving!!! So while that completely broke our hearts, it was a very positive thing!

 The swing are full now!!!

 Listening to the audio book we had sent.

 "Tata's" voice!

 And taking in the photo book we had sent.

 And the laminated photo we had sent.

It is SO sweet how he views these as his little treasures!!!

 Spidey & Giraffe in the pictures!

 Enjoying a lollipop while cuddling in:)

 He's a climber!

 

 Back to the house.

 Family of FIVE with Rodwin :)

 

 We're here!

 

 Going through a Xhosa/English animal book.

 Maelee reading "Choco" to him :)

 Lunch time!

We were just blown away by how that first morning went and so ready to see him the next day, Wednesday! We got the sweetest smiles from him that day at the playground when we discovered he loves to be twirled around in the air. It was so precious!!! We took turns over and over until we were all dizzy. :) He also loved blowing bubbles, rolling the ball back and forth, and riding the little play bike we borrowed from our agency here.

The girls continued to dote on him and he ate and napped like a champ! He loves to keep things organized and in order and is just so gentle and sweet. He talked much more starting Wednesday, but that area will likely be the longest road ahead. He 's been listening very well though and we have been able to communicate well enough!

 Area where the orphanage is.

There is a HUGE gap between extreme poverty here and extreme wealth. It has been fascinating to see.

Beautiful weather for day 2 with our boy!

 Can't wait to soon show the smiles on that adorable face!!!

 Our two little lefties :)

 Cutest!

 Having so much fun!

While "O" won't legally be ours till court on the 28th, he was doing well enough to transition to us full time starting Thursday morning. We have felt incredibly humbled and grateful at how quickly this phase has gone!!! 

 

He actually broke into shaking sobs Wed evening when we had to say goodbye at the orphanage. It was both completely awful and so sweet at the same time. Totally heart breaking for us to witness and we could barely hold it together but so touching to see his emotions like that. He is a very quiet, mild little soul, so that took us by surprise and we couldn't wait to put him to bed Thursday and let him know he'd be home with us to stay!!!

 "Home" for good!

He went straight to some of his favorite puzzles when he got here :)

 Another nice day for outdoor play where he loved playing with and chasing bubbles!

And he loves to stack and line things up :)

 

First dinner together!

Praise, praise, praise!!!

 Finally got to put this sweet boy in these adorable pjs!!!

Cutest ever.

Bedtime Thurs night was a little tough again, with a few quiet tears, but he settled quickly with back rubbing and singing.  So hard to imagine what is going through his head!  He is so protective of the books and photo we sent him and has to have them all in sight wherever he is.  They are next to him on the bed stand at night (with our laminated photo on the pillow- heart melting!!!) and somewhere out in the living room during the day.

Aside from a jarring wake up at 5am, which was quickly soothed again with back rubbing and singing:), he slept well and napped well again today (Friday).  It was an even easier bedtime tonight and today has continued to be so sweet.  He sang a lot today and started saying our names when we'd ask whose who!!!  So precious.

He is understanding so much and is so proud of the English words he knows!  We have little picture magnets that show various daily activities so he's loved referring to those to see what's coming next. 

 
The girls just adore him and have been so great, and he's handled them amazingly well, especially considering how much they vie for his attention!!! We can't get over how well he's adapting and he's getting more and more animated each day, with more and more sweet smiles. He's a very quiet, gentle little guy though, and is such a sweet, welcome addition to our family. He is truly bringing out the best in all of us- God sure knows what He's doing!!!

 

 Our little trio building quite an impressive "castle village,"

 watching the Jesus Storybook Bible put to video,

 watching a gorgeous sunset,

 and giving the sweetest hugs!!!

I can go on and on with praise and gratefulness right now with how these last 3 1/2 days with "O" have been.  So beyond our wildest hopes, expectations, and prayers.  We are crazy over this little boy, and while we know there will be many bumps in this journey ahead, this start has been sweeter than we could've imagine.