Our First few days......

Well, we have been home since late Friday afternoon. We were greeted by our family and amazing friends at the airport....we know that many could not make it due to work and sick children but we appreciate your heartfelt emails and wishes. We were very excited to see Nate and Kate and get back to being a family. We are finally getting back on schedule and into a somewhat normal family routine....Maiah was very excited to get back to school and Seth was very disappointed that he could not go....we expected this!!

Seth is doing very well...he is a sweet boy in need of much love and affection. His smile makes you melt inside. He is learning English but does not like it much....he fights us every step of the way. He does love school work as he is used to a strict school routine. He has mastered writing his name, alphabet and he knows all his numbers, we are working on what they are in English. He can say and recognize 1-8 already. We have tried every movie and finally found one that he will not make us turn off, it just so happens to be an annoying purple dinosaur!! Derek's favorite:) Seth has had his face iced everyday as he walks into everything...not sure if he does not see it or is just so excited...he has 2 bruises on his face right now and just tried walking through our clear glass storm door as he was heading out of the house. Everything is new and he has to touch everything...this included every new person and thing on all 3 planes it took us to get home. We never apologized so much in our life. This new, big, amazing world has just opened up to him and he is taking full advantage:) In some cases, it has not been safe!! It is just like having a 2 year old that needs to be watched 24/7!! Seth has some behaviors that require much attention and we are working through these. He has made his way to the Time Out Bench a few times now but we sit with him explaining with hands signals and the few words we know that he understands. He seems to internalize his frustrations with the language and when things dont quite go his way.

Please dont stop praying for Seth and for us.....we are being tried and tested in every way. As you can imagine, when you are obedient to God and you are helping his kingdom...we know that Seth will know the Lord one day.....you become vulnerable to attacks spiritually, mentally and physically. We have some of all going on. Seth is smart like an eight year old in the body of a 4 year old that understands the world like a 2 year old. We need much prayer covering his transition and our family. We trust that God called us to bring this sweet boy into our family and that He will get us through this time/season of transition.

We appreciate your continued love and prayers,
Petrins

Home Sweet Home

We are home safe and sound...thanks to all who greeted us at the airport and for all the emails, prayers and well wishes while we were gone.....will post when I am in my right mind.....it was a long exhausting trip but it well overall. Lets just say Seth is very busy and excited about his new world....and he is all boy!!!! He has to be watched every second.

Much love,
Petrin 6

They are on there way to Virginia

Hi everyone. The Petrin's are on there last flight and will land in Virginia at 3:12p.m.. I am off to the airport. :) I am not excited or anything! LOL

Love,
Mad

They are in Atlanta

As of 10:30 a.m. they are in Atlanta. Just wanted to let everyone know they are back in this country! Praise God!

Mad

Arrival Info

We are arriving in Norfolk Va on Friday, 24April at 3:18pm. It is a Delta
flight from Atlanta GA. We will try to post from Atlanta letting everyone know
that we are on time, or actually that we have made our flight. We dont have a lot of time to get through immigration/customs.

See you in Norfolk with our newest Petrin and American citizen!!

Love,
Petrins

Reality sets in for all....

Reality has set in for all and communication has been an issue today.....Seth takes "no" very personal and thinks we are just being mean....we cant tell him in Mongolian that he can't bounce the ball in the hotel room as the people down stairs might get mad.....he just thinks Derek is a big bully when he takes the ball away.....We also had to leave a restaurant at lunch because he was insisting on having his knife so he can run it across the top of his hand.....he has never really used utensils from what we can tell. Bread and broth and they just drink the broth out of the bowl. Again, we cant explain that we don't want him to hurt himself and that children don't use knives. He screamed and would not stop, so we left as it was a packed lunch time crowd. Need i say more, you know how to pray now!! We try really hard with Mongolian phrases and key words/flashcards/pictures books...We have had several breakdowns today for this very reason.....they told us that he is understanding more than he lets on and uses that to his advantage. When our social worker came this afternoon, she talked to him about these issues in Mongolian and also asked him if he wanted to go back to his friends and the nannies at the orphanage....He said "NO" very clear and very loud. He does understand!! We did not know that she was asking him this but I guess it is good to know where we stand:)

Sad thing is, we are going to his orphanage tomorrow....for his going away party, we hope this goes well!! Nothing worse than bringing them back after you have taken them....he may be thrilled and he may think we are taking him back after today which could make for quite the visit,we are praying for the best scenario....Also, had our Visa Embassy appt and they are telling us that we will have his visa by 3pm tomorrow....we leave for the airport at 1000pm, nothing like last minute to make the old heart race!!

We can't wait to get home...to our kids, family, friends, beds, food etc....

Many thanks to our faithful friends, dont stop praying yet!! We have a long journey ahead of us. 29 hours of travel with 2 children and 1 that does not understand us....

Stacy & Derek

Nate, Dad wanted me to tell you that Seth takes after you...he walked 2 blocks and was needing an ambulance:) LOL!!! Give Kate a hug from me..miss you guys like crazy.

We have a Passport....the MM came through....LOL!!!

  At 8 tonight..(the passport office closes at 5), we received word that Seth has a passport...so much for waiting until tomorrow.....  This will allow us to have our visa appt tomorrow at the  American Embassy. Smooth sailing from there.......

looks like we will be seeing you this weekend

Petrins