Izaak Baby Pics - Gotta See This!

(click for more photos)

I thought this deserved a posting of its own. A little gift came our way just in time for the holidays. Families from our agency submit photos of their kids for a calendar every year. The calendar is for WPA families, but somehow a lady that is in the process of her own Kaz adoption ran across the calendar. Izaak's pictures immediately stood out to her and she found a way to contact me. Turns out that in May, the same month we met Izaak, she had seen some pictures of Izaak in a photolisting (pictures of kids that are available for adoption) from two agencies. Seeing Izaak's pictures moved her to begin her own adoption journey to Kaz. I'm touched by her own words, "I will always think of him as the little angel that led me to Kazakhstan." We can truly relate to this as meeting a little girl from Kaz in Nov 2004 is what prompted us to begin considering adoption, especially from Kazakhstan, a country we had never even heard of.

The truly amazing thing is that she printed Izaak's pictures and held onto them. Now, because of fate and her generosity, we have several pictures of Izaak when he was much younger, maybe 5 months old, notice no teeth. This is something we've always wanted, but thought we would never have. It's great to see that he had that wonderful little smile at such a young age. We also recognize the caregiver holding him, so he's been in the same room and care his whole life which is comforting.

I have to admit that when I received her initial email, I was a little freaked out. What, my child was photolisted for all the world to see? How was he still available when it was our time? My heart skipped a beat and Mike got chills as we considered the possibility of Izaak not being in our lives. Then I remembered one of the caregivers telling us that he had been shown to other families and that he was waiting for us. Everything truly does happen for a reason and in it's own time. God has a plan for us all and I have to remind myself that he knows what's best even when we don't understand. It took Mike and I over 5 years to bring a child in our hearts. I was terribly confused and hurt during that time, but now I understand.

I am truly thankful that this lady reached out to us and brought these pictures to us. She had wondered how little "Arman" was doing, where was he, had he been adopted? So, through fate, her questions have been answered. Thank you so very much Soraya! You'll never know how much this little gift means to us. Amazing, simply amazing! ~A

Update: I emailed the agency that had Izaak photolisted. They sent us all the digital pictures they had with a couple of new pics and Izaak's birth information. Words just can't explain how much these pictures mean to us. In a small way, we have another small piece of Izaak's history.