As I mentioned at the end of Max’s blog – I wasn’t thrilled with Kazakhstan or its people. I think it was a combination of missing my daughter and having expectations to meet people I loved and enjoy the country like I did during Becca’s adoption. Although Larry was sold on Kazakhstan – I was not – so we researched and explored until we decided to adopt from Latvia. Our paperwork was in and we were just waiting on the ‘call’ and we would travel.

As I’ve said in previous posts – I firmly believe we are led down certain paths and are joined with our children when the timing is right. During our wait – I was approached by the person who helped us at the very beginning of Max’s adoption – she had started her one adoption agency and was wondering if I’d work for them. I did and during that time – we discussed the possibility of returning to Kazakhstan. A little girl was on the “wait” list for awhile and reviewed by a few families – she shared my brother’s birthday and captured our hearts – so back to Kazakhstan to pursue our third and final child!

Unfortunately after 9/11 – our dossier took so much longer because of the I-171H approval and we lost the referral of our daughter. Larry was devastated and truly thought – this is it – maybe we aren’t suppose to adopt again. I told him – she (our referral) led us back to Kazakhstan for a reason – lets travel “blind” and select our child while in country (which we learned after Max’s adoption is the “preferred” way in Kazakhstan). I know this is a hot and sensitive topic and don’t want to open that debate up – just stating what was told to us and what we learned through the process. Anyways – we took that leap of faith and traveled back to Kazakhstan – to a southern city named Taraz. We met several children in the director’s office and while they were all beautiful in there own way – my heart was lead to Logan. My father passed away when I was 20 and during this adoption I found myself many times “talking” to him and questioning why this adoption journey was so difficult while my first two were simple in comparison. I worried that we wouldn’t “know” which child was ours – since both times we had a child identified prior to travel. Although Logan SCREAMED when they brought him to us – I knew that meant he was bonded to his caregivers and that was healthy. Plus my family is of German descent and the director mentioned Logan was of German descent – it made me think – is this my “sign” from my father? We spent some time with Logan in the gym area and had him laughing by the end of our visit – we reviewed his medical and accepted his referral to be our son.

Larry spent 5 weeks in Kazakhstan and I spent 7 weeks (last two weeks with Logan) – it was a time for me to fall in love with the country – we took many walks during our stay – we shopped, ate and visited with MANY wonderful people of Kazakhstan. Our coordinator and her husband were beyond wonderful and we also met a great group of Americans who are there as a humanitarian aid organization. It was through Logan’s adoption that I fell in love with the country and its people and for that I am thankful.

Logan is 3 years old now and although more challenging to parent than Max – we love him all the same – strong willed and all! Larry likes to joke that Becca was brought into his life to prepare him for Logan. In all seriousness- we love him to pieces and his giggle just warms our hearts.