Cardiologist Update

Dasha went to the cardiologist last Friday and we got a great report back! She does not have an ASD heart defect like we were told in Ukraine. Praise God!!!! She has a Steele's murmur just like John Paul does. The cardiologist said that the murmur is about as significant as a freckle and that it may go away. She does not need to follow up with the cardiologist again. We are still waiting on the results of their blood work. I had to take Dasha twice to have blood drawn because they could not get enough blood the first time. They refused to stick her again and asked me to bring her back when the supervisor was scheduled to work to let her try. She was great and successful! I had a call today from the drs. office, but I was in NC for a funeral and missed the call. I am hoping that it is the results of their blood work. We also had their stools checked for parasites (which was recommended by their pediatrician), but we are also waiting to hear the results of that. I had to reschedule their hearing tests because they told me the morning of the appointment that I needed to bring someone with me since I had both children scheduled back to back. It wasn't possible so I rescheduled it for this past Friday, but then had to go to NC unexpectedly. So now they have their appointments with the audiologist this Friday.

That's about it for now. They are both doing really well. They are adjusting to each other really well also and are playing together great! John Paul is doing really well with potty training. He doesn't really understand to hold it, so I try to take him every 30 to 45 minutes and that's going really well. He made it home from NC which is about 6 hours and it appeared he had only wet his pull up one time. It was obvious that he had held most of it because there was A LOT in the potty when I put him on it after we got home. Dasha has even used the potty several times too. She is crawling really well and is getting fast!

I'll post again when I get news about their blood work. There is a montage below that my step dad made while we were down there this weekend. Don't forget to pause the music on the playlist at the top of the blog so that it doesn't interfere with the music on the montage/video. For those of you that are familiar with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, John Paul is doing his version of the Hot Dog Dance! It is sooo funny with the music that my step dad chose! Love it! Thanks Rob!

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Montage Made by My Step Dad

My step-dad and mom made this video montage for us. We love it and thought you might enjoy viewing it as well. Don't forget to hit pause on the music playlist on the right. The montage also has music and they'll interfere with each other.

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Finally an Update!!

Sorry for taking so long to update. If anyone does not have time to read all of this...there are new pics at the bottom and one video clip. Don't forget to stop the music from playing before you watch the video. Now back to what I was originally saying, I have been really busy. I was sick and then after I started feeling better both kids got sick. Rick usually gets home from work at 7:30 p.m., so I have some long days during the week and have been working my buns off trying to balance everything. Then he has Army drill once a month where he is gone the whole weekend. The base is a pretty good distance away so he has started staying in a hotel, compliments of the Army, on those weekends. This weekend is that weekend. That's kind of a bummer because it would have been the perfect weekend for a family outing, due to the awesome weather. We'll still find something to do close by anyway. I can't wait for late spring when it is warm every day!! I'm thinking about maybe taking them to the train museum to ride the train, if they are open this weekend.

Getting used to two children, after only ever having one at home at a time, has been a big adjustment. It has been a wonderful adjustment though! John Paul and Dasha are starting to play well together now. At first JP didn't seem to know what to think of her, but now he has warmed up to her. Although he wasn't so sure about her sitting in his high chair. He has been upgraded to the booster seat now that he is feeding himself and Dasha took the highchair. The first few times he wouldn't eat and kept staring at her in his highchair and giving her mean looks. I had to hold my laughter in and get his attention back onto his food and then he ate. Now he could care less about her being at the highchair. He seems to like eating at the table with the big people. :)

They are starting to interact with each other a lot better. They will play with each other and then go separate ways for a while. John Paul loves to show Dasha how toys work and how to stack blocks. Dasha loves to throw the blocks. lol! She has stopped pulling his hair for the most part. JP started to push her back gently and it appears that she has gotten the picture, that and I have told her "no" a lot. She's lucky to have a patient big brother with a gentle soul. They really do seem to like each other. I caught them sitting face to face and holding hands one day last week. They were smiling at each other. They are starting to imitate one another's facial expressions too. JP makes this face where he scrunches his nose up and Dasha looked at me today at did it. It was hilarious. She is crawling pretty well and is all over the playroom chasing after JP. She likes to be where the action is. She is pulling herself up and walking along furniture. She even learned to get herself down off of the couch. She learned that by watching JP. Both of them have become more vocal now and it is great to hear!

Today we took a walk around the neighborhood. It was so beautiful outside! We stopped off at the swings. JP LOVES to swing! Dasha got scared and is actually a little too small for the swing. I tried to put her and JP back to back in the same swing, but he was not having it. He shoved his back all the way against the back of the seat of the swing and would not budge! I guess he figured he would share a lot of things, even give up his highchair, but the swing was off limits! lol! Then we went over to the slides and I held JP's hand as we climbed the stairs going to the slides. There are two slides (not high slides) side by side and I usually hold his hand and we go down together. We did this twice, while Dasha hung out in front of the slide in the stroller. We were the only ones out there so it was okay. The next time I took my hand back from him to see if he would walk up the steps without my help and he did! I was thrilled!! He walked up to the slide and sat down like a big boy! Then he looked around to make sure I was coming too. I sat down beside him, but I gave him a little push to go down without me. I just like him to know that he can do things without me too. The slides are slow so there was no worry of him sliding off at the bottom. He looked back at me and smiled. The next round we took Dasha. She sat in my lap and and I held his hand and we all went down together several times. The first time Dasha didn't act like she was too sure about it. But after that she started to smile and babble. A good time was had by all. :)

Both of my children LOVE water and baths! They both cry when you go past the bathroom with them if it is not bath time. lol!

Dasha has learned to pick finger foods up and eat them. She is chewing pretty well and she LOVES to eat. Every time I sit her down and she sees food or drink coming toward her, her eyes light up and she starts laughing and smiling. It's so wonderful to see her so happy. She is just sunshine, pure sunshine! You can tell that she really loves it here. A lot of times she will start laughing and then JP will look at her and chime in. He seems happy to see her happy. We have been blessed with some great kids!!

Next Wednesday John Paul and Dasha both have appointments at the E.N.T. to see the audiologist to have their hearing screened. Then on Monday, March 16th, Dasha is going to the cardiologist. It was the earliest appointment that we could get with the doctor that I know and trust. They told us at the Embassy medical exam that Dasha's orphanage records show she has an ASD. The dr. said she could hear a murmur. I don't know, but we will find out. They said JP had an ASD too, but it turned out that he doesn't. Prayers will be greatly appreciated! We also have the service coordinator that we used with Chloe coming out on Monday. She is going to get John Paul transitioned into preschool and didn't feel there will be an issue with him having a full year of preschool next year before he starts kindergarten the following year. Next week I am going to work on getting Dasha evaluated for Birth to Three. I am also going to take them to get their blood work done one day next week. I put off taking them because they were sick and also are supposed to get another round of vaccinations when they go back. I wanted to give their immune systems time to get built back up after being sick before I subjected them to that, that and the stress of getting stuck with needles for their blood work. Plus my double stroller arrived this week, so it will be a whole lot easier for me to take them now. And they both like riding in it. :)

That's about it for now. I am going to post a video of Dasha on the airplane. This was as the plane was going down the runway leaving Kiev, Ukraine. When the plane lifts off the ground she puts her hands in the air. I thought it was absolutely precious!

Also, some pics from NC and home! The pics are out of order. The newest pictures are at the top and the older ones are at the bottom.

Updates from Home

Everyone is back home from NC and we had a nice visit down there. I had to go down there sick though because I had to get John Paul home. I thought I had the worst of it behind me when I left, but I ended up feeling pretty bad while I was down there (cold symptoms). I only stayed two full days because I was sick and I didn't get to see everyone. We are planning to go back soon to visit a little longer so more family and friends can meet Dasha and see John Paul. I also had to get back by Monday because John Paul and Dasha both had doctor appointments. They both had vaccinations. :( John Paul had his first and cried until they took Dasha. Then he was very interested in what they were doing to Dasha. He was still whimpering until Dasha started crying and then he stopped crying and kept watching her. John Paul was fine after that, but Dasha cried for like 20 minutes. I felt so bad for her. Rick took them both out to the waiting room while I scheduled the next appointment. They were taking a long time to get me out of there so I went out and got Dasha who was still screaming and crying. Everyone in the waiting room was staring at her (not that I cared). By the time they finally got us scheduled Dasha had cried herself to sleep and was soaking wet from tears and sweat. Wow that was heartbreaking! I have never had a child of mine get so upset over vaccinations. I've seen other children get that way and heard friends talk about it. Dasha has such a cheerful disposition that I thought she would be like John Paul and Chloe and be smiling within 5 minutes. My little fire cracker was ticked though! lol! I don't blame her though I would have been too! lol! I hate needles!! We go back next week for more vaccinations. Next time I will not be so fortunate to have Rick with me. Also they both are having blood drawn for labs. That should be tough for all three of us! After all we went through with Chloe I have a difficult time watching children getting blood drawn while screaming and crying. I just saw so much of it with her, that it makes it difficult to see again. It brings back bad memories of suffering that Chloe went though. It's never pleasant to see your child get stuck with needles and being hurt regardless of what we went though in the past. It just makes it a little more tough. Last time John Paul had blood labs we both left crying. But we will get through it again! :) Prayers that they will get a good vein on the first stick for both children will be greatly appreciated! I already know that John Paul is a difficult stick (as was Chloe) and when they have to be stuck repeatedly until they are hysterical is what makes it so hard to see and deal with. I mentioned I HATE needles, but I would rather go through it than have to see them go through it.

John Paul's doctor appointment went well. He is in the 25th percentile for his height on the Down Syndrome scale and the 50th percentile for his weight on the DS scale. They said he is just a little over weight. I don't really agree with that though, but I will keep an eye on it to make sure he does not get too heavy. I just think he looks healthy right now. They did what I consider to be a simple evaluation of him and said that he is functioning on a 2 year old level. We are working on getting him into preschool soon. I wanted him to be at home and comfortable with us for a while before I sent him. Also, I didn't want to send him until we got Dasha home because he had to stay in NC. I mainly wanted to give him some time before we had him evaluated because I didn't feel it would be fair to him to have him evaluated as soon as he came home. He had a rough start in life and I wanted to work with him a while myself before I had someone evaluate him unfairly. I say unfairly because he had been caged up for four years. He has really flourished and I feel he is ready for preschool now and can spread his little wings. :)

Dasha, I think I mentioned previously, is tiny. She did not even chart on the DS scale. She is below the chart for both height and weight for her age. The doctor is concerned that she could have hypothyroidism. We will find out more after her blood labs. The doctor is concerned that if she has had hypothyroidism since birth that she could have irreversible mental retardation. They evaluated her at a ten month level. Dasha will be three in May. She weighs 17.6 lbs. and is 28 inches tall. I'm not really that concerned about it though. I see a lot of potential in Dasha. She is tiny, but mighty! lol! I don't think the doctors fully understand the environment that these children come from. But I am impressed with their doctor, I should say that. She is very knowledgeable with Down Syndrome and listens well. She spent a long time talking to us and it was a very productive appointment. We were unable to get her last time with JP's appointment and I am thankful that we have her now! They told us in Ukraine that Dasha has rickets, which also affects growth and development. Her dr. here did not seem to think so. They also told us that she has an ASD heart defect and the dr. at the medical exam before we left Ukraine told me she heard a murmur. Her dr. here did not hear a murmur. I am waiting for a call back to get her cardiologist appointment scheduled. The cardiologist that we use is great, but I really hate having to call an appointment line and then getting voice mail! I'm giving the until 4:00 and then I am calling back. We are going to get Dasha set up with Birth to Three for early intervention. I know due to her age that they will basically want to evaluate her and then transition her into preschool. I am not ready for that with her. Main reason is because she is so tiny! I wonder how that could be a safe environment for her. She wears a size 6 months if that gives you any idea. Imagine her mixed in with other 3 and four year olds that are size appropriate to their age. I just don't like it. And I don't think it is fair to her. She is basically like a baby right now. I am going to look into readopting her and having her birth year changed. I know we can't do that until six months after the original adoption date though. I'm really puzzled as to what to do with her. Praying about it a lot though. We'll see how she progresses between now and May, but as of right now I cannot see me putting her in preschool yet.

John Paul and Dasha have been playing together pretty well. JP will give toys to Dasha. :) Sweet boy! But then she will also take toys from him and he will cry. She also has a bad habit (that we are working on breaking) of pulling hair. I have to really watch her because she will climb up on him to a standing position and pull the top of his hair. Of course he cries. She's got quite the grip! She's hurt me too! Trying to teach her "no" as quickly as possible on that! He has started to push her away now some though. He isn't rough with her at all though. He just pushes her softly back. JP really as a gentle little soul. I was actually kind of glad to see that he was defending himself some. The first several days he just layed there and let her do it and cried until I pulled her off. I can't be there and stop it every single time. But all in all they really seem to like each other. Dasha is all over him and wants in the middle of everything he is doing! Sometimes he likes it and other times he gets tired of her and will get up and walk away from her to find something else to do. Typical big brother little sister scenario! lol!

I will post some pictures in the next few days. My memory stick does not fit in this laptop and the one that it does fit into needs to be set up on our wireless network. Right now we do not remember the password so Rick is working on getting that fixed.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughtful comments. We really appreciate them a lot!!

Excuse any typos. Nap time is over and I do not have time to proofread right now.

We Are Home

We made it home safely and everything is fine. I have been sick, actually I still am. I will write a better update and post new pictures when I am feeling better. Dasha is fine. Fortunately, she has not been sick and hopefully she will not get sick. I just wanted to let everyone know briefly that we made it home.

Going Home Tomorrow

We have Dasha's visa and everything in order to come home!!!
We are flying out of Kiev tomorrow at 12:10 p.m.!

I would really appreciate prayers for a safe, uneventful trip home.
Thank you!!

Update on Passport

The passport did not come on Monday. It should have been here, but there was a technical issue involving the computer system in Simferopol. Apparently, Dasha's photo made it to Kiev, but her ID# did not. The passport printing facility in Kiev cannot print the passport without the ID#. It was printed yesterday after the ID# was received in Kiev. It is supposed to be ready for pick up down here tomorrow afternoon. I scheduled a flight out for me and Dasha tomorrow night. We will get to Kiev around 10:30. Then Thursday morning we will go to the Embassy to get the visa process started. Then we will go get Dasha's medical exam and check back on getting the visa. Last time we did the medical exam in the morning and got the visa the same day. Our newly scheduled flight does not leave until Saturday afternoon, so we will have time to get the visa on Friday if it doesn't happen on Thursday.

I was initially a little disappointed that we did not get the passport on time. I knew we were cutting it close and would have no time for error, but also knew it was possible. We got John Paul's passport in three days, flew straight to Kiev, had the medical exam completed, and received the visa all in the same day. So it is possible for it to go that fast as we are proof from John Paul's adoption! It was the exact same time frame that we were up against this time. We were very fortunate that there were no mistakes and everything worked out for us in July with John Paul! That was God's time table for us then and this time He has another plan. It just wasn't meant to happen for us this time, and that is fine. There were two other families that had the same issue with the passport and ID#'s. We weren't the only ones. Yulia told me the embassy has been giving visas out in the same day like they were in July, so hopefully there will not be any more delays with that. But I have an extra day anyway. We are on God's schedule and we will get home when He wants us to.

I prayed that if we missed our flight that the airfare would not cost us much more money. God gave me a big peace about it! I had Rick call and take care of changing everything from home. He emailed me back to let me know he had gotten the flight changed and that the itinerary would be emailed from Northwest soon. And then my eyes almost popped out of my head at what I read next! My ticket cost a total of $371.89 to change, including the penalty. Dasha's ticket was cheaper even with the penalty! They are crediting us $482.15 for her ticket! So basically we gained $110.26 for having to change the date! I was expecting to have to spend $500 in just penalties for both of our tickets to change the date + the price difference of the airfare. It never occurred to me that the price of the ticket would go down! I'm not sure how my ticket can be more and Dasha's less. Unless it is because hers is a one way ticket. Not sure how all that worked out, but thanks God!! That will help with the four extra days of rent we will have to pay. You know, a disappointment turned into a way for God to show me once again that He is at work in every single detail of our adoption and lives. I already knew that, but it is nice to have those reminders from time to time.

Dasha is doing great! She is into everything she can get her little hands on! lol! She likes to eat too! She is calming down some with the meal time tantrums, but still a little fire cracker! lol! She would not drink milk at first. So I bought some liquid cherry yogurt and mixed with her milk. She really likes that a lot! She loves bananas too! I cut it into small pieces and she eats it. She's been eating baby food also. Yesterday I cut up some beef really small and she ate it. She was REALLY happy about that! She kept laughing and smiling the entire time she was eating it. I don't know if it was because it tasted good or if it was because someone was finally giving her a chance to use her teeth! She was ecstatic about that beef though! lol! She's so sweet in general. I can just look at her and she will smile from ear to ear. She is such an angel!! I can't wait to get her home to play with John Paul! I can't wait for everyone at home to meet her!

Well, that is about all. We are just hanging out. I've been doing lots of laundry. She has reflux so that has kept me busy cleaning her, her clothes, my clothes, and the bed sheets. I've been covering the couch up with the sheets to protect it. That should be fun to travel with! :) I learned my lesson with John Paul though! Not only do they need an extra set of clothes on hand, I do too! He had a lot of reflux in the beginning. It is much better now that he is used to eating things other than orphanage food. Anyway, within 15 minutes from taking off from Kiev he spit up all over my shirt. Then on my other two connecting flights he gave me a brand new serving of it. Then we got stuck on the runway and they made us remain in our seats for an hour and a half. His diaper leaked on my lap! I looked like a wreck when I got to D.C.!! And I smelled like sour milk! Nothing like smelling sour milk for 16 hours. That was so embarrassing walking around like that! Oh well, it made funny memories! lol! Can you imagine what I must have looked like to Rick when he saw me walking up? lol! Hair all messed up, covered in barf, wrinkled clothes, red eyed from not sleeping good, and wreaking of sour milk! lol! This time, my carry on is already packed with one set of extra clothes for me and extra clothes for Dasha! lol!

Anyway, thank you all for your prayers! I really appreciate it over here!! :)