I know I have been a bit quieter than normal on the blog lately. It's not that there's nothing going on, but rather that I have been trying to focus my energies elsewhere. Here are some random things that have been occupying my time.
My completely untidy and disorganized home has been driving me quite nuts in recent months, so I have been working one task at a time to remedy this situation. I spent most of Sunday digging out our master bedroom (yes, we really do have wall to wall carpet) and washing all bedding in the house. Boy, it felt great to go to bed last night in a fresh, clean room. Now if I could only get around to fixing the bedside lamps that Rex broke... oh say, about a year ago, I would be quite pleased.
In an effort to motivate myself to get more organized, I scheduled a garage sale with my neighbors for this Saturday. I don't have all that much to sell, but I needed a reason to go through each room and each closet and sort what had been accumulating. Now I just need to get the pricing done by Friday night and set everything up in the garage. I don't expect to make big bucks with this sale, but instead look forward to feeling relieved of the proverbial stuff one way or another. What doesn't sell is going to Goodwill.
The kids continue to have a few therapy appointments each week (last week there were four) which is pretty time-consuming. We also have a lot of extra appointments on the calendar for May, like dentist visits, pediatric check-ups, Emilia's preschool evaluation, and so on. In addition, I am watching my littlest nephew again two days a week, so being a Naunty is back in fashion and a whole new ballgame now with a talkative almost kindergartener.
The Bulgarian reunion is less than two months away at this point and it seems like every day there's something to take care of for our event, whether it's answering emails with attendee questions, lining up volunteers, purchasing supplies or preparing activities for the children. If you plan to attend and haven't registered yet, our registration deadline is May 1. For more information, please visit our reunion blog.
Despite so much going on, all four of us are doing well. We just wish spring would really, really arrive now. I am tired of rainy days and windy days and random days with highs in the 40s and 50s. Bring on the 70s and sunshine, please.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
IAC 249 Results
The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 249 which was held on March 21, 2013:
1) Spanish dossier from January 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month
2) Spanish dossier from January 2010 referred a female child aged 1 year and 4 months
3) Dutch dossier from March 2010 referred a female child aged 5 years and 6 months
4) Italian dossier from April 2010 referred a female child aged 6 years and 7 months
5) German dossier from May 2010 referred a female child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status
6) US dossier from August 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months with features in health status and a family history
7) Dutch dossier from December 2010 referred a female child aged 4 years and 3 months with features in health status
8) French dossier from December 2010 referred a male child aged 4 years and 2 months with a family history
9) US dossier from January 2011 referred two female children aged 5 years and 7 months & 7 years and 9 months with features in health status
10) French dossier from July 2011 referred two male children aged 8 years & 6 years and 3 months
11) US dossier from March 2012 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status
12) Portuguese dossier from April 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months with features in health status
13) Canadian dossier from June 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years with features in health status and a family history
14) US dossier from July 2012 referred a waiting child (#983) with a profile on the MOJ site
15) US dossier from October 2012 referred a waiting child (#1988) with a profile on the MOJ site
16) French dossier from October 2012 referred a male child aged 6 years and 6 months with features in health status
17) US dossier from March 2013 referred a female child aged 10 years
18) US dossier from March 2013 referred two waiting children (#1449 & #1578) with profiles on the MOJ site
19) Italian dossier from March 2013 referred a brother and sister aged 10 years and 4 months & 6 years and 2 months
20) US dossier from March 2013 referred two waiting children (#1933 & #976) with profiles on the MOJ site
1) Spanish dossier from January 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 1 month
2) Spanish dossier from January 2010 referred a female child aged 1 year and 4 months
3) Dutch dossier from March 2010 referred a female child aged 5 years and 6 months
4) Italian dossier from April 2010 referred a female child aged 6 years and 7 months
5) German dossier from May 2010 referred a female child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status
6) US dossier from August 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months with features in health status and a family history
7) Dutch dossier from December 2010 referred a female child aged 4 years and 3 months with features in health status
8) French dossier from December 2010 referred a male child aged 4 years and 2 months with a family history
9) US dossier from January 2011 referred two female children aged 5 years and 7 months & 7 years and 9 months with features in health status
10) French dossier from July 2011 referred two male children aged 8 years & 6 years and 3 months
11) US dossier from March 2012 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status
12) Portuguese dossier from April 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months with features in health status
13) Canadian dossier from June 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years with features in health status and a family history
14) US dossier from July 2012 referred a waiting child (#983) with a profile on the MOJ site
15) US dossier from October 2012 referred a waiting child (#1988) with a profile on the MOJ site
16) French dossier from October 2012 referred a male child aged 6 years and 6 months with features in health status
17) US dossier from March 2013 referred a female child aged 10 years
18) US dossier from March 2013 referred two waiting children (#1449 & #1578) with profiles on the MOJ site
19) Italian dossier from March 2013 referred a brother and sister aged 10 years and 4 months & 6 years and 2 months
20) US dossier from March 2013 referred two waiting children (#1933 & #976) with profiles on the MOJ site
Monday, April 22, 2013
What's New With Rex
2013 has been a rough year thus far for Rex, primarily because we have introduced so many new things into his life and asked him to cope with these novel activities and situations. Of course, as I am typing this update, we are at the end of one of the best weeks Rex has ever had where his happiness, cooperation, and connectedness have been overflowing. We don't know how long this phase will last, but we'll take it.
As you all know, Rex has been gluten-free, dairy-free for well over three months now and is still going strong. He hasn't really expanded his food repertoire any further, but we are pretty happy with where he is. Sure, I'd like to see him eat more fresh fruits and veggies, but I am kind of over the whole food struggle thing and try to let him lead the way. We get his probiotics and multi-vitamin into him most days and he drinks plenty of fluids, so the bases are covered.
About six weeks ago, Rex also started therapeutic listening under the careful watch of his OT. A fellow adoptive mom explained what it is here, so check it out if you want. Rex had an extremely strong reaction to the therapy in the beginning with his energy levels dropping down very low for weeks. He even fell asleep sitting up in one of his 1:1 sessions at school once. We called the specialists at Vital Links and asked them if this was common and they said that each child responds differently. They suspect that Rex's brain is expanding its spectrum of arousal to encompass a calmer state that was previously rare for our high energy boy. They told us that eventually this would balance out and hopefully they are correct. It does seem like his energy is in an upswing again now, so fingers crossed. If nothing else comes out of this, Rex has learned to wear headphones to enjoy all of his music, not just the modulated selections, which is a great blessing for parental sanity.
Like Emilia, Rex also started Prompt speech therapy. Since he has a host of issues affecting his speech development, we don't expect to see the quick progress that Emilia is making, but we still believe it can help him. Hopefully I will have more to report on that front in the next update.
In school, Rex has mastered a few more of his goals. He can now match ten different objects to their partners in an array of five and is working on matching objects to pictures. He has also mastered receptively identifying ten different objects in a field of two and is in process of growing that number to 25. He can label five body parts, so he's half way there on his way to ten. He has also learned to identify Daddy, Emi and Mama in pictures. That said, his rate of acquisition at school has slowed to a certain extent which his therapists believe is due to all of the changes he has had to process so far in 2013. They fully expect that later this year he will pick up the pace again.
Both at home and at school Rex's play skills have improved and he is working on gross motor stuff again. Most noticeably, he has become quite a climber and likes to hurdle over the furniture just for fun. Rex has also discovered how easy it is to climb from his own bed into Mama and Daddy's which means some nights we suddenly have a lovey little intruder slipping under the covers with us and then sleeping very calmly, snug as a bug in a rug, in-between us. There's something else about Rex that seems to be changing, too, but I can't quite put my finger on it yet. It's like my mommy radar is picking up a slight difference somehow without quite knowing what it is at this time.
Oh and Rex understands the meaning of I love you. The way he has recently responded to being told so has shown us that he knows. We couldn't be more thankful that his heart is right there with ours, full of love for our family and our life.
As you all know, Rex has been gluten-free, dairy-free for well over three months now and is still going strong. He hasn't really expanded his food repertoire any further, but we are pretty happy with where he is. Sure, I'd like to see him eat more fresh fruits and veggies, but I am kind of over the whole food struggle thing and try to let him lead the way. We get his probiotics and multi-vitamin into him most days and he drinks plenty of fluids, so the bases are covered.
About six weeks ago, Rex also started therapeutic listening under the careful watch of his OT. A fellow adoptive mom explained what it is here, so check it out if you want. Rex had an extremely strong reaction to the therapy in the beginning with his energy levels dropping down very low for weeks. He even fell asleep sitting up in one of his 1:1 sessions at school once. We called the specialists at Vital Links and asked them if this was common and they said that each child responds differently. They suspect that Rex's brain is expanding its spectrum of arousal to encompass a calmer state that was previously rare for our high energy boy. They told us that eventually this would balance out and hopefully they are correct. It does seem like his energy is in an upswing again now, so fingers crossed. If nothing else comes out of this, Rex has learned to wear headphones to enjoy all of his music, not just the modulated selections, which is a great blessing for parental sanity.
Like Emilia, Rex also started Prompt speech therapy. Since he has a host of issues affecting his speech development, we don't expect to see the quick progress that Emilia is making, but we still believe it can help him. Hopefully I will have more to report on that front in the next update.
In school, Rex has mastered a few more of his goals. He can now match ten different objects to their partners in an array of five and is working on matching objects to pictures. He has also mastered receptively identifying ten different objects in a field of two and is in process of growing that number to 25. He can label five body parts, so he's half way there on his way to ten. He has also learned to identify Daddy, Emi and Mama in pictures. That said, his rate of acquisition at school has slowed to a certain extent which his therapists believe is due to all of the changes he has had to process so far in 2013. They fully expect that later this year he will pick up the pace again.
Both at home and at school Rex's play skills have improved and he is working on gross motor stuff again. Most noticeably, he has become quite a climber and likes to hurdle over the furniture just for fun. Rex has also discovered how easy it is to climb from his own bed into Mama and Daddy's which means some nights we suddenly have a lovey little intruder slipping under the covers with us and then sleeping very calmly, snug as a bug in a rug, in-between us. There's something else about Rex that seems to be changing, too, but I can't quite put my finger on it yet. It's like my mommy radar is picking up a slight difference somehow without quite knowing what it is at this time.
Oh and Rex understands the meaning of I love you. The way he has recently responded to being told so has shown us that he knows. We couldn't be more thankful that his heart is right there with ours, full of love for our family and our life.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Where's The Time Gone?
This year has been getting away from me at lightning speed. I feel like we just got Christmas behind us, but now here we are squarely into April. Whew, were did those months in-between go?
For our family, quite a few weeks went down the drain due to illness. We practically spent the entire month of January recuperating from last winter's nasty flu and now we have been sick again for April, too. Rex started us off at Easter with a stomach thing (what happens in Wauseon stays in Wauseon). It took about a week to get him straightened out again with eating, sleeping and BM patterns. I was hit by something different next. I had no GI symptoms, but was just achy and spent several days going from sweaty to freezing and over again. And I was tired, so tired. I could have slept for days. And now Craig is under the weather, so luckily the weekend is here for him to get some rest.
This second illness in just a few months made me realize that I have not been taking the best of care of myself. I usually put everyone else's needs before mine which might not always be the best strategy. So, I am trying to do better, keeping up with taking my vitamins, getting more fresh air, and drinking more water each day. I am not going to put the pressure to exercise on myself because then that's just one more thing to stress over. If it happens, great. If not, life goes on.
My mom's visit was another very large and productive chunk of time of 2013, too. Remnants of her stay still linger throughout the house and I find it hard to believe that she left over two weeks ago. One of the projects I completed while my mom was here was to put together baskets for a silent auction to benefit Rex's preschool. We ended up with 18 baskets and raised over $1400 in a week which is a huge and unexpected success and will greatly help the 14 children who attend Rex's preschool. I can't wait to see some new equipment in the classroom.
It feels really good right now that summer plans are in place. We are very excited to be welcoming a Swiss teen into our home for eight weeks to help us with everyday tasks and especially with entertaining our kids. We hope she will have a good time here, improve her English, and learn something about children with special needs. Vacations have been booked, too. We will kick off the season camping for a few days with Craig's mom followed by the Bulgarian and Armenian reunions and then a week at the beach. Right now that seems so far away, but by the time we go, summer will be almost over and I'm sure I'll be wondering about the months slipping away again.
It's weird how time seems to speed up when we get older, isn't it? When I was little, an afternoon could drag on forever and summer break was practically an eternity. Now, in the grind of the everyday, sometimes I don't remember the difference between one day from the next (Did my kids poop today? Yeah, or wait... was that yesterday?) and when I go to bed some nights, it feels like I just got up.
For our family, quite a few weeks went down the drain due to illness. We practically spent the entire month of January recuperating from last winter's nasty flu and now we have been sick again for April, too. Rex started us off at Easter with a stomach thing (what happens in Wauseon stays in Wauseon). It took about a week to get him straightened out again with eating, sleeping and BM patterns. I was hit by something different next. I had no GI symptoms, but was just achy and spent several days going from sweaty to freezing and over again. And I was tired, so tired. I could have slept for days. And now Craig is under the weather, so luckily the weekend is here for him to get some rest.
This second illness in just a few months made me realize that I have not been taking the best of care of myself. I usually put everyone else's needs before mine which might not always be the best strategy. So, I am trying to do better, keeping up with taking my vitamins, getting more fresh air, and drinking more water each day. I am not going to put the pressure to exercise on myself because then that's just one more thing to stress over. If it happens, great. If not, life goes on.
My mom's visit was another very large and productive chunk of time of 2013, too. Remnants of her stay still linger throughout the house and I find it hard to believe that she left over two weeks ago. One of the projects I completed while my mom was here was to put together baskets for a silent auction to benefit Rex's preschool. We ended up with 18 baskets and raised over $1400 in a week which is a huge and unexpected success and will greatly help the 14 children who attend Rex's preschool. I can't wait to see some new equipment in the classroom.
It feels really good right now that summer plans are in place. We are very excited to be welcoming a Swiss teen into our home for eight weeks to help us with everyday tasks and especially with entertaining our kids. We hope she will have a good time here, improve her English, and learn something about children with special needs. Vacations have been booked, too. We will kick off the season camping for a few days with Craig's mom followed by the Bulgarian and Armenian reunions and then a week at the beach. Right now that seems so far away, but by the time we go, summer will be almost over and I'm sure I'll be wondering about the months slipping away again.
It's weird how time seems to speed up when we get older, isn't it? When I was little, an afternoon could drag on forever and summer break was practically an eternity. Now, in the grind of the everyday, sometimes I don't remember the difference between one day from the next (Did my kids poop today? Yeah, or wait... was that yesterday?) and when I go to bed some nights, it feels like I just got up.
~
How did it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
~ Dr. Seuss
Thursday, April 18, 2013
April 18, 2011
Two years ago today, we met Emilia for the first time. My memory of that moment, even of those first minutes with her, is not nearly as clear as what I recall with Rex. We were with her so briefly that first visit to the orphanage, maybe ten minutes, maybe it was more. I honestly had lost my sense of time in jetlag and emotions.
We had driven from the Varna airport directly to the orphanage where it was nap time. I don't know if they woke Emilia to meet us or if she was kept awake until our arrival. We were ushered into a tiny ante-room with a giant couch, told to wait. The space was crowded and hot. When they brought Emilia in, she was scared, so scared. Too scared to even cry. I knew her size from the referral paperwork, but suddenly holding this frail little girl still came as a shock. In my arms was not a healthy nor a happy child. She was 18 months old, weighing maybe 14 pounds, if that. She was pale with deep, dark circles under her eyes. She was weak with very little energy. And she had just been handed over to total strangers in a room that she would have known from passing, at best, which left her feeling so frightened, so helpless, so lost.
It took about a year at home with us before almost all the emotional scars from orphanage life had healed for Emilia. She dropped habits like grinding her teeth, clicking her mouth, and rocking herself over the course of several months. She started trusting us slowly, considering carefully if she really did want to attach to us. Maybe she asked herself: Are these grown-ups worthy of the incredible love and happiness I have to give? She went from hugs for everyone to certain affections just for Mama and Daddy to allowing me finally now to hold her like a baby, rock her, gaze into her eyes and sing. It took a year for her to get ready to say yes to speaking, yes to learning new things, yes to life itself.
Never, ever, ever on that rainy April day in 2011 could we have imagined what a beautiful, lively, radiant child would emerge into our family if only we gave her the time, patience, love, and understanding she needed. We have been immeasurably blessed with our little girl who is sweet and loving and funny and are so thankful that we took a chance on her and she on us.
We had driven from the Varna airport directly to the orphanage where it was nap time. I don't know if they woke Emilia to meet us or if she was kept awake until our arrival. We were ushered into a tiny ante-room with a giant couch, told to wait. The space was crowded and hot. When they brought Emilia in, she was scared, so scared. Too scared to even cry. I knew her size from the referral paperwork, but suddenly holding this frail little girl still came as a shock. In my arms was not a healthy nor a happy child. She was 18 months old, weighing maybe 14 pounds, if that. She was pale with deep, dark circles under her eyes. She was weak with very little energy. And she had just been handed over to total strangers in a room that she would have known from passing, at best, which left her feeling so frightened, so helpless, so lost.
 |
| Can you see the shock beneath my smile? And her confusion, fear, and hopelessness? |
 |
| If this photo had audio, I think Emilia would be grinding her teeth. And the nanny in the background is probably wondering if we will like this sickly child and decide to adopt her. |
Never, ever, ever on that rainy April day in 2011 could we have imagined what a beautiful, lively, radiant child would emerge into our family if only we gave her the time, patience, love, and understanding she needed. We have been immeasurably blessed with our little girl who is sweet and loving and funny and are so thankful that we took a chance on her and she on us.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Pay It Forward March & April
I took a little longer choosing who we wanted to support in their adoption journeys for these months, but once I learned that each of these two families had committed to waiting children, I knew where to put my donations.
Shelly and Jeremy Moorhouse are adopting a 6 year old waiting child from Bulgaria. They will be first time parents. If you would like to help them bring Ivelina home, please visit their blog and donate via any of the links on the right hand side.
The Nicely family has committed to adopting a large sibling group from Eastern Europe. I wish I could tell you more, but can only say that they are brave in accepting what is going to be a tremendous challenge for everyone involved. You can donate on their blog and/or buy one of the pretty bracelets Kim is making and selling to raise funds.
Here's hoping that these special kiddos will all be home soon.
Shelly and Jeremy Moorhouse are adopting a 6 year old waiting child from Bulgaria. They will be first time parents. If you would like to help them bring Ivelina home, please visit their blog and donate via any of the links on the right hand side.
The Nicely family has committed to adopting a large sibling group from Eastern Europe. I wish I could tell you more, but can only say that they are brave in accepting what is going to be a tremendous challenge for everyone involved. You can donate on their blog and/or buy one of the pretty bracelets Kim is making and selling to raise funds.
Here's hoping that these special kiddos will all be home soon.
Monday, April 15, 2013
"Veronica" Is Waiting
Please meet Veronica. She just turned 13 in February and lives in the same country where Emilia was born.
Veronica is healthy and described as outgoing, self-confident, headstrong, and extroverted. She receives extra resource help in school. Veronica would do best as an only child or as the youngest child in a family. She needs parents who can provide love and patience as well as stability and appropriate boundaries.
For more information, please contact info@hopscotchadoptions.org. Photos, videos and a social-medical report are available for review.
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