Coincidence? You Decide.

Yesterday I posted this girl's picture and I said we were going to try to find out her name because she's been such an integral part of Nadia's life in the orphanage.  I also wanted to bring her some gifts to show our appreciation for all she's done for our daughter.  At this afternoon's visit, we were able to give her the gift bag and ask her her name. (All of this done mostly in gestures since we didn't have Jim's Blackberry translator with us).

She was very appreciate of the presents and seemed a little overwhelmed by the gesture.

So, then we asked her what her name was and she said, "Irina".  I had to ask her to repeat it to make sure my ears were really hearing this incredible connection to our daughter.  After she repeated it, I told her that Nadia's name was Nadia Irina Ferguson.  She started to tear up and then when I told her that the birth mother's name was Irina too, she had to look away as the emotion of the moment swept over her. Me too.  Our boys couldn't get over it and said right away, "Mom, you've got to blog about this!" If you haven't read the story of how we decided on Nadia's middle name, you can read about it here.  http://seeingtheupsideofdown.blogspot.com/2010/06/whats-in-name.html

Once again, I can't finish a post without more pictures of Nadia.

How CUTE is this girl in a hat???

I had to end with this brilliantly beautiful flower we saw as we were walking along the path to the Cossack Village. It's not along the main path and so if you didn't take the time to take the road less travelled you'd miss it.  It's beauty really took all of us by surprise!  It made me think of  these children we've seen tucked away in orphanages well off the beaten path.  You have to go out of the way to find them, but when you do, you are instantly taken aback by their hidden potential, beauty, and intense need for families.

I had a little boy who was no more than 3 or 4 come over to me as his groupa was passing by and give me a hug. I totally lost it! He KNEW we were there to bring another child into our family and it broke my heart in two to not be the one taking him home as well. There are SO many children in this orphanage who look at us when we're playing with Nadia with that "knowing" look in their eyes. It's almost too much to take. So we smile and wave at them and PRAY that someone will come and bring them ALL home to be part of a family!

Will it be you? :)