Surgery time

When we first met Natalie and she opened her mouth our first reaction was, LOOK AT THOSE TONSILS! Holy cow, they touch her uvula! HUGE. So we knew a couple things. 1. They would have to come out. 2. They were probably causing sleep apnea. 3. She may have eating problems. 

1 and 2 were totally true. They do cause sleep apnea and they are coming out tomorrow. She really doesn't have major eating problems. But our last straw was her eating evaluation with her speech therapist Julie, who is AMAZING. She is at Parkview Pediatric rehab, and she discovered that a large amount of food was getting stuck in her tonsils. Yikes. She could easily inhale this food, choke, etc. 

So here we are, we have to be at PRMC at 7am tomorrow and those bad boys are coming out of there, along with adenoids. Here is what we are praying for! That it goes smoothly, that she handles the anesthesia ok, that she will feel much better having them out, breath better, sleep better, no more complaining about it hurting when she eats! And that she gets as much ice cream as she wants, of course!

6 Months home

It seems like a dream. A really long dream that has gone really fast. Have we really had this Princess home for 6 months, half a year? I am constantly asked how we are doing. I'm not sure. This is all new. Every day of it! I think we are doing good. That being said, we have many frustrating moments. Overall, WOW has this princess blossomed in a family! Of course, we can't imagine our lives without her now! Isn't that the way it is no matter how old your baby is when you finally have them in your life after so many months of preparation! 

The best news of all is that she has not played in the toilet in months! She hasn't pulled my hair in weeks. Taylor hasn't been so lucky on that one. She isn't biting nearly as much. She is following some directions. She is sitting still for a few minutes at a time. She is still getting into my bathroom and wreaking havoc! She is saying about 10 words. She is signing over 55 words! She started school last week! She only pulled one girl's hair! She is not potty trained yet. And I think she understood that I was pretty mad when she tried to change her own dirty diaper.... a few times...😝

I still can't wait for the day we can have an actual conversation. Or the day I can trust her in the next room for 1 minutes.  

I think so far the best thing has been watching the relationship between her and the rest of the kids. Julian is such a doting big brother. When he sees her his whole face lights up. Of course, he doesn't do diapers. But he will watch her for a little bit! Caroline is the official babysitter and the second Mom. She does diapers, gets her food, and plays. Taylor is the idol. Natalie will do anything Taylor is doing. She will copy every move. She can not wait for them to get off the bus in the afternoon. If she is going to ask me anything during the day it is about Caroline getting off the bus!

She eats very well and can feed herself for the most part. She can dress and undress and dress and undress.... She has starting playing with a couple toys every now and then for more than one second! She likes some movies, right now its Mr. Peabody and Sherman. She says "babababa" to ask for it. For Free Birds she signs bird. For signing time she signs Alex and Leah, or sometimes she signs signing time. 

She has many big adventures and exciting things coming up... Spring Break in Siesta Key, Zoo Camp this summer, and a trip to Disney World to name a few!  Many pictures of these things to come! 

One month down!

Is anyone else having a hard time believing it's been one month since Natalie arrived in the USA? I would LOVE to be in her mind and listen to her thoughts as she has experienced EVERYTHING for the first time! First time to a park, the store, in a cart, at the lake (still hasn't been on the speed boat yet), to church, to the schools, seeing a bus, house, van, car seat, big girl bed! Not to even mention the English she is learning. I am so thankful that despite having Down Syndrome and a stigma that goes with that, being that she can't learn, she soaks up information like a sponge. She is doing even more signs, she is starting to say words. She calls me Mom, over and over and over and over!!! She hugs and kisses and blows kisses. She loves her brother and sisters. She helps with laundry and knows how to dress and undress, over and over and over! LOL. She can climb over any gate or any other object that is in her way. I'm telling you, this girl is going to move mountains. And to think 6 weeks ago, the only thing she knew was her orphanage. Now she is free to learn, to speak, to explore, and to play in the toilet.........😝 (don't leave the bathroom door open!)

Time, An Interesting Thing

It seems like forever ago that we were in Sofia! I feel a little like a time traveller (you know what they feels like, right?)! It is a world away from here. Taylor always asks us if we are in a different world when we go to other cities, so for once I could tell her yes and mean it! It is definitly not America!!! We missed so many things about home! Mostly the availability of our own transportation and our proximity to stuff we needed! It was either a 15 minute walk or a $10 taxi ride! We got over that the first trip. Dragging three kids around was exhausting to say the least! Now looking back, it has almost been 3 weeks since we have had Natalie! It does not seem like that long. It has been 1 week since we got home! I won't lie or cover it up, life can be challenging! But so worth it when she smiles and laughs!! She is not used to anything here, so we are inteoducing her slowly to our (100mph) life! She has many institutional behaviors that we will be working through for many months. We are starting to teach her sign language, and I thank Lisa of letting us borrow her DVDs!!! I tried to get a picture of her signing eat, but I was not quick enough! She says Mama, but I don't think she is associating it with me yet. Pretty much anyone that takes care of her for 5 seconds is Mama! LOL. She lets me rock her to sleep so that is a good start for me!!! 

Many people may still wonder why we did this. I saw this on Facebook the other day and I think it will help you understand. I told Pastor Ron long before we even started the adoption process that I felt like God was calling me to do something big. Big does not equal easy, or even in your comfort zone at times! There are many areas of my life where I don't consider myself worthy, or good. But I was able to do something that God willed for Matt and our family. And it was worth it. God will continue to bless us with Natalie forever!

Time to write and a connection

These are two things I have not had at one time in two weeks! We are currently driving home from Chicago and I am taking this 3 hours to try and absorb a little of what these two weeks have held! Funny enough, I can't even get my arms around it! This whole experience has been such a testimony of Gods glory and grace. I am so glad to just be home and start our new life! It's going to take awhile, as Natalie learns our language, and learns how to behave outside of an orphanage, but we have been covered in prayer by friends and family and there fore are going to work this out! I am excited for everyone to meet Her Royal Highness!! This may also take a little time!  For right now.... We need sleep! LOL

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)

Exploration- written Aug 24

I guess we really haven't ventured that far. But since we have no car and a 3 year old that acts like a 1 year old we are pretty limited. Today we wanted to go into the city and do some shopping at the open market/flea market that sets up near St. Alexander Nvevski everyday. There are many goodies to buy as souvenirs that are truly Bulgarian! Taylor had a blast using her own Leva to buy some things for her friends and for herself! Including a real accordion, don't ask! 

Natalie does really well in her stroller so that is very helpful! She even slept all the way through lunch. Which has been at a different Happy's restaurant almost everyday! Lol. The girls know that there is food they like and each restaurant is very different so it doesn't really seem like the same place over and over!

While shopping for everyone, I have been trying to find things that I can give Natalie over the next several years. I think I'm doing pretty good so far! Just trinkets and such, but everything reflects her heritage, which I know she will be proud of!

She is already saying some words and she is mocking us when we tell her "shhh" and "no no" while wagging a finger. It is very amusing!!!

Here are some pictures from today...

Daddy's girl.

First of all, I want to say that this does not offend me in the least.... This is one Daddy's girl!! She sticks to Matt like glue! As Taylor pointed out this morning, "She can say Mama, but she really likes Dad the best!" Totally true. Why this is good... It shows she can attach herself to someone that makes her feel safe! And Matt eats it up. Talk about being wrapped around her finger! Hopefully by the time he goes back to work she will know that I am also Ok! Just not as fun! LOL. She does come to me sometimes, but when she is upset she goes to Matt every time! 

The biggest institutional problem we are having right now is biting! I have not been bitten, but everyone else has. It is hard, because you don't want to severely discipline her too early, but at the same time, we need to make her understand that this is not tolerated! In fact, it makes the hair pulling seem minor! Caroline and Taylor have taken this all very well. We had already talked to them several times about institutional behavior and that there are many things she will do just because she has never had a family and she doesn't know how families treat each other. In the orphanage you fight for what you want. And whoever is the strongest, fastest, and smartest wins!

It's hard to believe we only have two more days! Then Thur we travel all day. We are going back to the mall today and maybe tomorrow we will go back downtown one more time! I really do hope we get to come back to Sofia, it is incredible to be surrounded by so much history and beautiful architecture. Although, Matt wants me to point out that there are hundreds of apartment buildings that aren't as beautiful! Ha. Just like any big city. But I can say, in Chicago you do not find ancient Roman ruins preserved in the middle if town! There is no church with murals of icons that was built in 1012, and added on to in 1259! And St. Alexander Nvevski Memorial Cathedral is in a class by itself. We are excited to share some of these things with Taylors class tomorrow through Skype! Maybe we will even be downtown and can show them live!!!

I have been collecting things we can save so that Natalie can see where she comes from. I don't know how much of this she will remember. Since she can't talk yet we don't know what she understands about what she sees, or even about us, for that matter!!!

We promised Taylor we would go to the mall today. There is a bowling alley, and Caroline discovered she likes the juicing stand! Who knew!?