Celebrating Maelee!!!

SEVEN!!!

Seven years of making us laugh, making us smile, and often making us crazy (!) - Maelee  continues to grow into quite an extraordinary little lady!  She has a creative streak that comes alive every day, whether making up songs, writing stories, or choreographing her own unique version of gymnastics/dance, and she wears that heart of hers on her sleeve.  There are days when we wonder if she's in 1st Grade or 11th Grade with the mood swings, but she still has a contagiously joyful, exuberant spirit with the energy to match! 

She still has a pretty strong stubborn and defiant tendency, but we have really seen a lot of growth and maturity in this past year with how she handles disappointment and not getting her way.  It has been a sweet change, especially with how she interacts with Lilee who still completely adores her big sis and wants to be just like her. :) The Lord is working on her heart little by little!

I could write on and on about this one-of-a-kind gal of ours, but I'll move on to the pictures from her 7th birthday celebration for now. Starting with our recent shot of this beautiful girl and her many expressions!

Link to more of the "photo shoot:" 

https://pix.sfly.com/Q9pv8G

Starting with a lunch time surprise at school with cupcakes the day before the big day!!!

And an even bigger surprise of dinner with Nana at the American Girl Store and Cafe!
My mom picked her up from school and they spent several hours at the store, and Maelee was thrilled to get her doll's ears pierced.  It was quite a special day!

Such a fun experience for her- they had a seat, crown, and food for her doll, too!

And look at that cake!

Birthday morning with one gift to start off the day.

From Lilee, her words:

"I love Maele to the stars and back again."

(heart melting.)

Lilee picked out this cute penguin pair for Maelee to "sew" for herself and her doll!

Thanks, lil' sis!!!

And onto the party!

Oh my, the birthday party...  So far, every time we've planned an outdoor birthday party for Maelee, it's rained.  Last year, and the year she turned 2, we decided to play it safe with indoor celebrations, and both days were gorgeous and sunny.  The weather was warm and beautiful even during Lilee's indoor party in Jan this year!!!  Sigh. 

So, we shouldn't have been too surprised this year when the forecast turned bleak a few days before the big party.  This was the first year her party could be on a Sat that was actually her birthday, and given that her birthday is also Earth Day, we thought an Earth Day Birthday would be a fun theme.  Of course, we had planned for the festivities to take place at a nearby park, with various outdoor games planned.  Knowing that there was really no other day we could have a "rain date," we really started stressing that morning when it was clear the rain was not going to let up.

One of my friends from church mentioned we should check in to see if a room at our church location could be used and I almost didn't bother, assuming (and understanding!) that could be a precedent that shouldn't be set.  But I figured we were desperate and it was worth a shot and much to my surprise and relief, our church connection graciously offered one of the kids' classrooms to be used!  It worked out perfectly, but we had to bump up the time by 3.5 hrs to start at noon!  The cake still needed to be frosted, fruit still needed to be prepared, etc etc, and add to that Steve was out that morning supporting some friends in a 5K walk so it was quite a mad rush to get everything ready.

But, it all came together thanks to some fast and furious set-up and the help of my folks and friends who got there early, and Maelee (despite a head bonk in the middle of the activities) had a blast!

And even more kiddos could make the new time!

We barely had enough for everyone!

Decorating reusable totes :)

Our SEVEN year old!!!

With MANY of her pals!

Trash or recycling relay game!

Time for pizza!

Then patiently waiting in line for the ...

Pinata!

It was a strong one.  So by the end, everyone got to take a shot with no blind fold.

Lilee tried her darndest. :)

But we had to let daddy finish it off!

Then, cake time!

(Yes, that's supposed to be the earth.  And, that white swirl is supposed to be a cloud.  Not a tornado like most kiddos thought :)

Make a wish!

Happy Birthday to you, sweet girl :)


So grateful for their love for her!

The earth tastes yummy!

With some of her besties after everything wound down.

When everything was said and done, we all had to agree it was one successful birthday bash.  After our whirlwind party, Maelee was ready to tear into her gifts! 

Getting a kick out of the singing pizza birthday card!

Her own set of books to write!

A new pose begins...

When we told Maelee to smile when modeling her beautiful new outfit from Mee-Maw and Grandpa, she did this bent over wide smile that we all got such a kick out of, it became her new standard of smiling all evening!

Of course, Lilee had to get in on the fun!

Admiring the cool anglerfish key chain and hedgehog card from Uncle Dan!

WE LOVE MAELEE!!!

Working on one of her new gifts- a crafty "pom pom kitty" set.

It was so sweet that she wanted to make the first one for Lilee!

A final wish over left over cake that evening!

With the now infamous wide smile and bow... :)

Tickled over a generous gift of $$$!

Caught this priceless expression with our selfie attempt- and we love it!

What a personality she has.  We are so grateful for this girl and the joy (and challenges!) she has brought to our lives.  She teaches us every day and we feel blessed to have the gift of raising her!

Slideshow of Maelee's birthday fun!

https://pix.sfly.com/__fYz5

One step closer!

It is amazing to see what God has done in the past eight months since writing our last "update" (click HERE for that initial post!) about this journey we're on!  What a ride it is. Prayers continue to be answered in amazing ways and our faith continues to be strengthened.

After switching our application over to international adoption from South Africa, we were able to get our home study interviews completed through the month of October with the official home study approval coming in early Dec.  After the holidays, we dove right into beginning the dossier packet.

What's a dossier you may ask?

Well, it's basically a collection of legal documents that prove we are who we say we are, that we have the right intentions to adopt, and are able to do support this child financially, in good health, with clear records, etc, etc, etc.  But original copies are needed (so new marriage certificate and birth certificates for all of us), and signatures and attestations need to be notarized, and the notaries need to have apostilles. The apostille is a seal from the departments of state where the notarization occurred, verifying that the notary public is legit!  So basically a notary for the notary... sigh.  And then add to that the state of New York requires an extra step between notarized documents and the apostille (with the girls' birth certificates needing two extra steps!), so it has taken a while to get documents back!!!

We completed everything we needed for the dossier on our end back in March but then received the girls' birth certificates with one of the requirements for the apostille missing...  So that was another long wait getting that sorted and taking care of the additional certifications, but we finally just received them back with the needed apostilles to complete the 150+ page dossier!!!  The original dossier plus two copies are on their way now to the global office for our agency with another copy headed to our local office.  Quite a handful of paper!

Ready to be mailed!

So hopefully that process makes a little more sense, now onto the fun part!!!

We had been told to still expect a lengthy wait before receiving a referral for a child and were given a possible 1-2 year time frame after submission of the dossier before a match would be likely.  However, this didn't take into account children that were placed on the "Waiting Child Database," which generally consists of those that are older and/or have greater needs.  We frequently checked this site to see if there might be someone that our family would be a match for, and continued to pray that our timeline would not be on the order of years, but also prayed for peace during the waiting!

Then, God did something crazy.

In early March, even before our dossier was ready for submission, we got a notification from our adoption agency that a little boy was about to be placed onto the Waiting Child Database that could be a fit for our family.  His information and files were shared with our family and a couple of others who were open to his age and various needs, in the hopes that he could be matched internally through our agency before being placed as a Waiting Child.

My heart did somersaults the instant I saw his sweet face and read about his background and personality.  We were asked to give a decision within two weeks of whether or not we'd be interested in pursuing this little guy, a deadline that happened to fall just days before the recital fundraiser we were very busy preparing! So in addition to lots of practicing, rehearsing, advertising, and all of the other fun logistics that went into that event, we spent our time doing lots of research, praying, and seeking various counsel.  And after a very full two weeks of learning as much as we could and praying hard, Steve and I felt confident that the Lord was guiding us toward the decision to pursue this precious boy.

We submitted our Letter of Intent to the agency in South Africa, then began the next "waiting game" to see whether or not they agreed that our family would be a good fit.  They had our letter, completed
home study, and a few pictures that they would use with a group of various individuals within their agency to take a multi-disciplinary approach in evaluating this potential match.  Of course, the wait seemed to last forever and we'd anxiously check our emails each day to see if there was a message for us from our agency with news from the S.A. agency.

Then the news finally came on the morning of April 21st- they agreed!  We were thrilled and became more and more anxious to get our dossier submitted!!!  Once the government of South Africa receives our dossier, the adoption agency in S.A. will put together our case to present to the courts which could take 1-3 months.  If we are approved, we'll play another waiting game for court dates to be set so that travel arrangements can be made!  The average stay for adoptive families in-country is about 5-7 weeks, and that accounts for the time spent at the orphanage, as well as the various medical appointments and court dates that take place.

It truly has been quite an ordeal already!  And it is barely even beginning.  But the bottom line is this little boy needs a family.  His deeper, personal story is his to share with others when ready.  We will share though that we are so excited to give him the love and care that all children deserve and we're anxious to see what God does in all of us through this.  We know there will be extreme challenges, but also so many sweet joys.  We will continue to keep this blog updated as we keep getting ONE STEP CLOSER!!!

(See below for a recent performance art piece of the song"A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri that is so relevant to our feelings through this process!)

And just a final word about the cost and fundraising, etc.  To some, the idea of raising money to bring a child into a family does not sit well.  Hopefully the below description (taken from the website Show Hope) will help answer some questions surrounding the cost of adoption, with some of our own personal thoughts as well.

Most importantly to know, adoption is NOT buying a child.  There is no fee associated with the child themselves, rather it all surrounds the legal process of guardianship, citizenship, and the application itself.  Not to mention the high cost associated with traveling to another country and living there for several weeks. Our hope is that this post and the information below will just provide a better picture of the financial cost and reasons behind fundraising.  We are always open and happy to answer questions about it!


FIVE FACTORS IN THE COST OF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

1. LEGAL

One of the major steps in the adoption process is choosing an adoption agency to help facilitate your adoption. Your agency will be involved in navigating the referral process and will help you process your legal documents. Agencies have fees that vary based on the program you are pursuing and how much legal help is needed to move through the process. Additionally, in the case of international adoptions, an attorney’s services are often needed in order to file “re-adoption” paperwork once your child is home. In all cases, your agency should be your best advocate as they guide you through extensive paperwork and necessary legal steps. The fees for this service can range broadly.

2. HOME STUDY

Every adoptive family is required to complete a home study. Home studies consist of multiple stages, starting with an orientation period. Initial information is recorded about the family and interviews are conducted to retrieve specific background information. Preparation training for adoptive parents is required along with home visits that ensure the home is safe and suitable for children. In addition, health, income, and autobiographical information are required, as well as thorough background checks and fingerprinting. Lastly, personal references must be submitted in order to provide the most complete picture of the family. After each stage of the home study, a report is created by the home study agency. These reports are combined to create the family’s portfolio which prospective agencies can review based on the type of adoption program. After placement, a home study agency will also complete post-placement visits. These visits focus on making sure the child is doing well and thriving within their new family. The entire home study/post-placement process can span many months to years (depending on how quickly a waiting child is placed into the family) and the cost is often impacted accordingly.

3. COUNTRY

The Hague Convention was enacted by the UN in an attempt to thwart corruption/trafficking and preserve the right of orphaned children to experience the love and protection of a family through adoption. Under the convention, each country has its own program to place children internationally and determines its own adoption fees. For families living in the US and adopting abroad, they can expect to pay fees for processing federal forms and paperwork as well as adoption fees for the specific country they are adopting through. With each country determining different fees and program costs, this area of expense can vary widely.

(Personal note: The agency we are working with in South Africa believes- as do we- that the ideal is for orphaned children to remain with biological families who are adequately able to care for them.  After extensive searches, which often take years, if no biological family is found to care for this child, the next best option is for the child to be adopted by a family in their home country.  This is another long step, and only after it has been determined that there is no biological family or South African families able to adopt, will the child be able to be adopted by a family not from South Africa. So at this point, we are assured that the best option for this sweet boy is for him to experience the love of a family, even if it means there is no biological or country connection.)

4. DOCUMENTATION

Documentation is required for each step of the adoption process. These documents make up the dossier that most international programs require, including proof of eligibility. Each document is processed locally, then by the agency, state and federal government, and finally by the international government of the child’s country of origin. Many adoption agencies require the documents to be sealed and notarized, which authenticates the application and dossier.  Some countries further require notarized documents to receive an apostille.  If a family decides to adopt internationally, they will also have to submit paperwork to the USCIS (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services) in order to receive citizenship for their child. This element is vital to the adoption process but can also add thousands of dollars to the overall cost.

5. TRAVEL

Whether the adoption is domestic or international, travel expense can usually be expected. Undoubtedly, travel for an international adoption can be quite expensive. In most international adoption cases, the family will visit the country and the child first. Then, once that country’s waiting period is over and the process is complete, the family will return to their child’s country of origin to complete the process and travel home with their child. The cost for this element of adoption varies widely based on time of travel and country of origin.

(Personal note: Travel to South Africa consists of one trip, which should last between 5-7 weeks.  All four of us are encouraged to travel and begin the bonding process with our child).



Believe it or not, the above costs amount to between $40,000-50,000 for adoption from South Africa.  We have been saving for these costs and have already spent thousands.  We also have had the opportunity in the past to support other adoptive families by giving financially and have experienced the joy in knowing we are part of their journey.  It has never felt like an obligation for us, nor have we ever felt the child should feel an obligation of appreciation.  Our hope and prayer is that our friends and family who are rejoicing in this journey with us will likewise never feel pressure to join along this journey financially.  That's also why we continue to do fundraisers that are no additional cost to the giver (like the Noonday trunk shows, and others we have planned), but also completely respect the decision to not contribute at all.

With that said, those that are interested in partnering with us in this way have the following options:

1.  For tax deductible donations, you can contribute via credit card to AdoptTogether.org/mason

2.  You can send a donation directly to us using my email address flutermm@yahoo.com via Venmo or PayPal.  (note: adoption)

3.  You can write a check to Steve & Rebecca Mason (memo: adoption) and send to: 1677 Kenwood Ave Alexandria, VA 22302

THANK YOU!!!

And finally, to end this very LONG post, here's a video from my Recital Fundraiser in March featuring my talented friends Haylee Green (dancer) and Kelli Pierson (voice) that sums up Steve's and my feelings about our SON!!!

Wolves & Bunnies in April!

WARNING: LOTS of pictures ahead!!!

April was a month with lots of photo ops, so not only are there TONS of pictures in this post, but there will be more from April of our big girl's birthday, along with the more mundane moments of the month.  This one will focus on our awesome trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, and various Easter activities.

Great Wolf Lodge is a very kid-orientated amusement water park/"lodge" and we had the pleasure of staying there for a few days with Nana & Pop-Pop.  The girls had a blast!  Even though they weren't up to any of the slides (at least Steve and I got a few rides, though!), Lilee loved one of the small pool areas, and Maelee spent most of her time in the wave pool and the kid-friendly hot tub!  We were also SO proud of her for trying a boogie board wave ride!!!  The lobby was decked out with various woodland critters with dance partied and story time in the evenings and it was just as super special time being there.

 Ready for the water park!

(at least we think that's what Lilee's expression is all about...)

 Dance party then story time in pjs!

 

 More water park fun for almost the whole day!

 Lunch!!!

(Fruit, pita & hummus, and an

ICE CREAM BUCKET!)

 Yum!

 Braving the wave pool with daddy!

 Relaxing in the hot tub.

   

Safe with Pop- Pop!

 So proud of our dare devil!

 Daddy's turn!

 Beautiful evening walk around the resort.

 

More pictures from the Great Wolf Lodge:

https://pix.sfly.com/QHUvce

We are so grateful for our time there and both girls keep asking when we're going back. :)  So thankful for the memories!

The fun continued the next weekend with Easter celebrating!  We went to a cute little festival the day before Easter in MD where the girls got the obligatory picture with the Easter bunny, and Easter Sunday was spent enjoying a delicious lunch and egg hunt with our church community group followed by chocolate bunny fondue and our own little egg hunt at home with my folks.  

Steve and I both served in the Children's Ministry at church that morning where Steve had a blast tying in some science experiments with Jesus' ressurrection!  It sounds like it was pretty memorable for the kiddos and a great way for them to remember the meaning of Easter.  

 Egg dying!

 

 Easter bunny, face painting, bounce houses, and even little chicks and ducklings to pet- fun morning!

 So serious!

 Happy now!

Easter morning began with a basket of little treats, including the big chocolate bunnies from Too-daddy!

 So sweet and pretty in their Easter dresses!

 The kiddos ready to find some eggs!

 Little Emmanuel's first Easter with the Icardis!

He did pretty awesome with those eggs!

 Time to enjoy a couple treats!

 Before feast!!!

Mike made a yummy lamb dish and Steve's ham was delicious!

 

 Back home after a beautiful afternoon.

 Nana & Pop-Pop are here!

 The golden egg!

More pictures from Easter:

pix.sfly.com/sS4Zx3nD

The girls love our annual egg hunt at home where we have a sweet game that always ties in the story of the resurrection with the items found in each egg.  It's a great way to show how even secular Easter favorites can point to Jesus!  It was a fun day of celebrating new life in Jesus that we were grateful we could spend both with friends and family.  

Stay tuned for more April pics!