Bulgarian Easter 2015

Today is Easter Sunday in Bulgaria and other countries that follow the Orthodox calendar.

As every year, our local Bulgarian community put on a spectacular celebration.  They have been getting increasingly organized, so there was even more on the schedule this time around, including a live performance of Bulgarian songs accompanied by a string trio.  Emilia enjoyed this part of the program very much and clapped and cheered enthusiastically after each song.

We were so happy that our friends Katie and Andrew as well as Kim and Jason and their son Nikolas were able to join the festivities.  It's always great to catch up with them.

Emilia and her former orphanage mate Nikolas
about to come down the slide

Look closely, Emilia is dancing the Horo

Ella and Katie got in on the fun, too

Nice job, Kim,
you snapped a good one

Our beautiful Bulgarian girl
who connects us to this wonderful culture

Thanks for another fantastic Easter, BAC.  We so appreciate your open hearts and welcoming spirit.

Nappies For Nork Success

The Nappies for Nork fundraiser has closed and was a giant success.  In just two weeks, we raised $11,000 to provide diapers for the children at Rex's former orphanage.  From giving three dollars to keep a child dry for a single day to four figure donations, so many opened their hearts to make a difference, one clean bottom at a time.

To everyone who contributed (whether cash toward diapers or items for the raffle) and spread the word, I thank you with all of my heart.  When I sat at this desk three weeks ago looking for a way to help, I hoped to raise $1000 to cover the most pressing demand for a time.  Now, around 38,000 diapers will be available for these precious children as needed.

What do 38,000 diapers look like?  Well, a new, folded Pampers is about a half an inch thick, so 38,000 of them stack to approximately 1500 feet which is how far you'd have to walk to get from Yerevan's Cascade Complex to the Opera House.

View from the Cascade to the Opera House

I will share with you the details about the diaper delivery as I receive them.  Given how much money was raised, SOAR will be able to buy diapers on a monthly basis for quite a while.  SOAR's Executive Director in Yerevan has spoken with the Nork orphanage director and learned that approximately three additional packs of diapers are needed per day to change each child two to three times in a 24 hour period.  The cost to provide these extra diapers per six weeks is approximately $2000, so our fundraiser will be able to cover this need for at least seven months.

Since such an incredible amount of money was raised, we also plan to share around 10% of it with Mari Izmirlyan Orphanage, an older child orphanage, in Yerevan.  Some of the children we met who lived at Nork with Rex and in Gyumri with Ella have since moved to Mari Izmirlyan, so now my love stretches to this orphanage as well.  Mari Izmirlyan serves many children with medical and developmental special needs, some of whom continue to require diapers well past their sixth birthdays.

Again, thanks to everyone who stepped up to join me in this endeavor and blew my wildest dreams for it out of the water.

*Raffle winners have been drawn and will be notified privately.

Ella Five Months Home

Ella has now been home for just over five months and is doing great.  She's an active, intelligent, funny, determined and strong little girl who is soaking in every new experience and opportunity.  She is full of questions and answers and deep thoughts.  I am no longer surprised when she asks things like, "Who made my body?" or "When will you die?"

Even though it's still a daily issue, we have seen a decrease in Ella's hyper-vigilance.  She is inquiring a bit less now about where people are and what they are doing.  We always make sure that we give her a heads up on how a particular day will unfold, especially if we have something unusual on the agenda, which has reduced her questions about who, what, when and where.  She's also changed the way in which she thinks about these matters.  For example, when Craig would be running late, she used to ask, "Is daddy not coming home today?"  Now, instead, she makes a statement like this in an exasperated tone, "Daddy is very late today."  Her new preferred question is, "What do you wanna do?" which is basically asking, "What's next? I'm game."  It's been tremendously helpful that Ella now has a better understanding of the rhythm of our life.  For example, she knows that we have big salads for dinner on Mondays, that we go grocery shopping on Thursdays, that she has swim lessons on Saturdays, and that there's no school on Sundays.

Due to reaching this new level of feeling safe and comfortable, Ella is making a fresh go at testing boundaries.  We have had to hold the reins a little tighter in recent weeks and crack down a bit harder on issues of obedience.  Ella has lost some privileges and endured a lot of discussions about using nice words and thinking before speaking about how someone might feel in response to our words.  Apparently Ella has inherited her birth father's candid personality and pretty much spits out whatever comes to mind. After having to write a note of apology and giving up some of her personal, already minuscule, candy stash to make amends, Ella now knows that it's not okay to tell her bus driver, "I don't like your hair.  It's ugly."

Being silly

As I wrote before, Ella is doing quite well in kindergarten and does not qualify for an IEP.  Her 504 is being written and should be ready soon.  I tested Ella back in mid-February and she was able to write 20 lower case and 19 upper case letters from memory.  I am sure that list has expanded since.   She can write about ten words or so on her own and basically everything else when we spell it out for her.  She also knows how to write numbers.  We're working nearly every day on reading and basic math. I am trying to get Ella accepted into summer school which runs for four weeks in July for four hours per day with a focus on reading and math.  I think this would give her a great boost for first grade.

Ella continues to sleep well and to eat without issue.  She isn't a huge carb eater at the moment, but prefers protein and fresh fruit/veggies.  Ella recently came around to liking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and string cheese.  Icecream and pizza are still on top of her list for special treats.  She's a stylish girl who would wear a dress or skirt every day of the year if she could.  When I put her clothes out for the next day just before bed and my selections are to her liking, she usually exclaims, "Yes! Yes! Yes!  I'm gonna be so amazing cute."  Ella's eagerly looking forward to her first professional haircut in the next month or so.

Ella's favorite weekly event at the moment is her swim class on Saturday mornings.  After just five lessons, she has graduated from Water Adjustment to Basics of Swimming and earned three skill badges. Ella really likes her coach and has a great time in the pool.  She also enjoyed her first play dates at the homes of two different friends.  She loves to dance and does her own cool versions of yoga and stretching.

Except when meeting new people in unfamiliar situations, Ella is a social butterfly.  She gets excited about parties, gatherings with family and friends, dressing up, special meals, family outings, etc.  Her teacher has told me that her unadulterated enthusiasm in the classroom has brought a breath of fresh air to the class as a whole and that the other children are drawn to her bright spirit.

We're very proud of and continually amazed by our eldest child who's a force to be reckoned with.

IAC 310 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 310 which was held on February 26, 2015:

1) US dossier from May 2010 referred a female child aged 1 year and 6 months with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from July 2011 referred a male child aged 4 years and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

3) Dutch dossier from July 2011 referred twins, male, aged 1 year with features in health status

4) French dossier from August 2011 referred a male child aged 4 years and 11 months with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from June 2013 referred a female child aged 8 years and 7 months with features in health status

6) Italian dossier from November 2013 referred a female child aged 9 years with features in health status

7) Italian dossier from August 2014 referred sisters aged 7 years and 5 months & 8 years and 6 months with a family history

8) US dossier from September 2014 referred a female child aged 2 years and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

9) Italian dossier from September 2014 referred a male child aged 9 years and 6 months with features in health status

10) US dossier from November 2014 referred a waiting child (#2529) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from February 2015 referred a waiting child (#2655) with a profile on the MOJ site

Spring Break 2015

This was our first year as a family where spring break actually played a role in our lives.  The girls were off school last week and Craig took a few vacation days while Rex's program was open, so he continued to go and receive his therapies. Here's our first ever spring break replay.

Saturday, March 28

Ella had swim class in the morning and then we ran a few errands.  After lunch and naps, Rex headed to cranio-sacral therapy and Ella helped me get ready for our dinner guests.  We had a great time with our friends, Katie and Andrew, and enjoyed sausages, cole slaw, homemade bread, fruit salad, and french fries as well as the world's ugliest rainbow cake.

Ella set the table

Sunday, March 29

After the obligatory trip to the home improvement store in the morning, we spent the rest of the day at home.  Craig worked on putting up the kids' play set and I tackled the Mt. Everest of laundry.  Rex decided to learn a new word:

Monday, March 30

We had a long awaited morning visit with our dear Ms. Rie and her kids.

Emilia was too busy to stop for this sweet picture

Meanwhile, our drywall was finally getting repaired. Craig also did some more work on the play set and finished part 1.  In the afternoon, we took the girls to get new shoes for summer and spring.  This was so special for Ella as it was the first time she got to have input on her own brand-new footwear.

Tuesday, March 31

We headed to our old house to pack up some more stuff and have the carpets cleaned.  Now we're ready to list.  In the afternoon, we made a stop at one of my favorite clearance stores and I got several new pieces of clothing for spring and summer.  I paid $64 for 12 items.  Only three of these items still had their original price tags on them, adding up to $110.  I think I got a steal not even knowing what the other nine would have cost at retail.


Wednesday, April 1

We had planned to surprise the girls with a visit to the zoo, but Ella woke up having vomited in the night (she did not notify us because she "didn't want to wake up Emilia").  We thought she was feeling better until she vomited again mid-morning while playing in the yard.  She was also running a fever, so we nixed the zoo plans.  I made a quick shopping trip with our cousin Maria and then we focused on some projects at home, like touching up, sanding and painting the drywall repairs that were made on Monday.  I love spackle and spackling, so this was right up my alley.  In late afternoon, Ella and I colored some eggs.

"I never did this in Armenia before."

The eggs briefly graced our mantle before Ella started to dig in.  She loves hard-boiled eggs.

Also, happy birthday, Opa.  I still miss you all the time and am so thankful for everything you poured into my heart and mind.

Thursday, April 2

The therapists at Rex's old school had been asking us to bring him in for a visit.  I didn't realize it had been two months since he transferred.  So, we made a stop to see everyone in the morning, then took Rex to his current school.

Rex and Miss Claire,
possibly his all-time favorite therapist

Just before lunch, we had our second and final post-placement visit with the social worker for Ella's adoption.  In the afternoon, it was business as usual with therapies, except that I took the time to sit in on the sessions rather than run errands.

Friday April 3

We met up with friends, a fellow adoptive family, and had some fun at Pogoplay.  After lunch and naps, we knocked out our grocery shopping while Rex had therapy.  We also colored eggs the Armenian way with red onion skins.  No designs this year though due to time constraints.

Saturday, April 4

The day started with Ella's swim lesson followed by Rex's cranio-sacral therapy.  We spent the afternoon working around the house, anything from laundry to putting up the swing set to painting our picnic table lemonade yellow.  I told you we were going to have more fun at this house.

Oh, and a sweet new neighbor brought over cute Easter buckeye candies, one for each child.

Sunday, April 5

We were thankful for such a sunny and mild Easter Day.  We spent lots of time outdoors, playing and working. Our spring break goal to get both the play set and swing set installed was completed. We bought this stuff for $100 off Craig's List, put in a couple more hundred bucks and some major elbow grease, and voila.

We enjoyed two special Easter meals.  For lunch, we had gata homemade according to the family recipe Ella's birth mother shared with me, fresh fruit, and hard-boiled eggs.  The gata was every bit as delicious as what we ate in Garni.

Armenian letter "A" for Anjella

 For dinner we had pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and carrots.

Walked to the park and played for a bit

And now it's Monday morning and I have three hours to bring some order to the post-Spring break chaotic state of this house.  Maybe I'll post about that later.

Happy Easter

Martini March Madness

Play dates: 3
OT appointments: 12
Speech therapy appointments: 8
Baby showers: 2
Birthday parties: 1
Swim lessons: 4
Cranio-sacral therapy appointments: 3
Medical appointments: 2
IEP meetings: 1
County DDS meetings: 1
Handyman appointments: 2
Hosted dinners: 1

Whew!