Quickest Recap Ever

March - Bam and Hiwot came home.  They acclimated incredibly awesome! Esen had the hardest time with the transition, but now is the greatest big brother on the planet.  He has grown so much over the summer!  Bam and Hiwot are super healthy after being treated for giardia, campy and a having a TB scare.  That's a really looooong story.  Marissa took to her new siblings right away - loving the attention and the added chaos.  We also celebrated Bamlak's FIFTH birthday!

April - We focused on settling in and getting used to being a family.  Esen celebrated his SIXTH birthday.  Yes, seriously, I don't know what happened - he's so.dang.old.!  Bam & Hiwot started attending daycare and absolutely loved it.  Their English really blossomed as did their personalities.

May - I enjoyed my first Mother's Day as Mom to FOUR KIDS!  It was surreal.  The kids continued to learn how to get along with each other and developed great relationships.  We learned a lot about parenting these new, little people and personalities really started to come out!

June - The start of summer brought lots of fun outside activities and.........a trip to Kyrgyzstan for Kevin, myself and Esen!  We spent 2 weeks in Bishkek visiting Kamila on our required bonding trip (i.e., trip 1).  She is incredible and feisty and beautiful and so ready to come home. We celebrated her 4th birthday while we were in country. The trip for Esen could not have come at a better time.  He really needed something that was just for him that didn't involve Bam and Hiwot.  He was so proud to be back in "his country" and handled the travel like a champ!

July - Marissa celebrated her THIRD birthday!  Unbelievable to me that she is already three.  I look back at the past three years and how much she has changed and accomplished and I am truly blown away.  Not to mention the lifetime of lessons she has taught me in the past three years.  July also brought the start of a very difficult time medically for Marissa.  She was admitted to the hospital on 7/17 and with the exception of a couple of very short trips home, remains hospitalized.  More on that in detail in later posts.

August - School preparations for all four kids combined with Marissa being in the hospital monopolized most of August.

September - School started - Early Childhood, 4K, Kindergarten and First Grade - geez!! Unfortunately, Marissa didn't start with her EC class and who knows when she will, but the others did start school on schedule and are loving it so far. 

 

That brings us up to date, in a nutshell.  I'll try to elaborate on each kiddo more and get caught up, but at least you know a little of what we've been up to.

It's Me

Well....the photo is quite obviously not me, but I am here again.  It's been six months - SIX!  In some ways it seems like a really long time, and in other ways I can't believe all that has happened in that short span of time.  I've often wanted to start writing again, but life gets in the way and the words don't seem to want to come. At least not words that make sense or seem to have any sort of profound meaning.  I need this, though.  I need the therapy it provides - the outlet. I need a place to log what goes on with my family because I know I won't remember it all and frankly I suck at life books and photo boxes and journals and everything else I thought I'd be really great at as a mother.  So, I'm back to blogging (I hope).  I have no frickin' clue where to begin to catch up, but sometimes you just have to jump, right?

Yes, we are here....

Just a quick note to let you know we are home and doing well.  I promise to update soon and yes, with pictures - if I can manage to get them off my camera!!  The past week has been great, but pretty crazy!  The kids are all settling in well and everyone is learning how to be a family.  We're dealing with some significant medical issues and it's going to take some time and patience to get everyone healthy, but most importantly we're together and happy! :)

Photo-a-Day 29 Peace

What a fitting end to photo-a-day for a month.  Last night was a peaceful night.  The kids slept well, we slept fairly well and everything is going great.  Can't wait to get home, though. 

Photo-a-Day 28 Forever

Sorry it's blurry - just pretend you're looking at it through tear-filled eyes!

Photo-a-Day 26 BonVoyage!

Photo-a-Day 25 So many boys

Esen's playing basketball right now - with about 100 other 5-7 year old boys.  It's crazy to see them all out there together in their little jersey shirts!  When did he become so grown up?

Photo-a-Day 24 3 Days

This will be my view in just three days - I can't wait!

Photo-a-Day 23 Progress

Photo-a-Day 22 Almost there

Next time you see them, they'll be ON THEIR WAY HOME!!!!!!

Photo-a-Day 21 Skin Testing

I didn't have my camera with me today so this is (quite obviously) not Marissa's arm.  She saw her new pulmonologist/allergist today, who is also wonderful - we sure do luck out with the docs!  She has a severe allergy to dogs and cats and is NOT allergic to milk (YAY no more soy).  While he feels that a medication could help her when/if she has a brief encounter with a dog or cat, living with them is simply not an option.  Her lung function is being compromised.  She has asthma and BPD and it is getting worse.  She is currently on two nebulized medications and he has added another oral medication until we can get things under control (i.e., until there are no longer dogs in her daily living environment).  We have two dogs, who are both pretty old.....anyone out there looking for new four-legged friends?

Photo-a-Day 20 Spring is Coming

Photo-a-Day 19 The joys of paper

Marissa loves paper!  She loves to tear it, shake it, crumple it, play with it; and thankfully a couple of weeks ago stopped eating it.  I think a lot of kids go through the paper tearing stage and since she only has use of one arm, the only way she can tear it is with her mouth.  Now that she's not eating it, we can let her tear and rip and play to her hearts content!

Photo-a-Day 18 A few more pieces

Last year, in June to be exact, we learned that we could file a petition with USCIS to obtain the packet of super secret sealed documents that we presented to Immigration when we arrived in Chicago with Esen.  Shortly after filing all of the required proof of identity, we received the packet.  It contained all of the originals of the documents we already had.  Unfortunately, there was nothing new.  Sometimes families have gotten a few extra pieces of info about their kiddos or birth families.  I haven't thought about it since.

Today we got this from USCIS. 

On it is a cover letter which explains "......we have concluded our investigation and search for documents.....included is 101 pages of documents pertaining to your son's adoption....."   COOL!  It is every single document we filed with USCIS, every document that was generated by them, every document that was filed in Kyrgyzstan, including a few we didn't have. 

As any adoptive parent knows, when you have no information about your child's history, every single piece is so priceless.  And really, how cool is it that it's neatly organized on a CD.  Thank you USCIS - today, we are friends.

Photo-a-Day 17 Scary to Sweet

Apparently I suck at this photo-a-day thing.  Yesterday was pretty much one of those days where I just managed to get through and that was about it.  Marissa had an epic bad day - like probably the worst on record.  Her bad days have thankfully decreased in number thanks to her intervention team, but unfortunately the severity of her behaviors has continued to escalate.  Days like yesterday are a reality check for me; they make me wonder how we're going to handle things as Marissa continues to get bigger and stronger.  She has some behaviors that are very violent.  I spent a solid 10 hours yesterday just trying to keep her from hurting herself.  Add to that the stress of not knowing why.  I can't just write it off to her being a sassy 2 1/2 year old or maybe coming down with a cold.  I have to think about three cranial shunt catheters and four valves, seizure activity, a gall bladder shunt, and the myriad of potential complications that could be happening inside her little body.  My wheels begin to turn, I begin to feel panic and she probably feels my stress, too.  By the end of the day yesterday, I was completely and totally spent.

Today, she is better.  I have no explanation for what was going on yesterday.  I guess it doesn't really matter because it has obviously passed and that means that for now, shunts are fine and seizures are stable.  Today - she is happy and that makes me happy. 

Photo-a-Day 15 Blast from the Past

I turned on my computer today and this photo file was open.  This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Esen and Marissa.  They are so peaceful and sweet (and small)! 

Photo-a-Day 14 Last Day-Hearts for Hope

PLEASE take a few moments out of your Valentine's Day today to remember all the orphans who don't know what love feels like.  1 card, $1, 1 stamp - you could help change a life!!

Photo-a-Day 13 New "legs"

Just in time for Valentine's Day!

Photo-a-Day 11&12 A Slideshow!

Well, I made it 10 days before slacking and missing a day - better than I thought I'd do!  To make it up to you, I'm going to share a slideshow that I put together shortly after we returned from Ethiopia in December.  I watch it a few times a week and it brings me so much joy and still makes me cry.  I miss my kids so much it actually hurts.  I think about the last day we saw them and how they made us promise to hurry back for them.  I think about how long two months feels to a 4 and 5 year old.  I can't believe it's already been two months.  I wonder how much longer it'll be. 

So, grab a glass of wine and enjoy this 12 minute peek into our journey to Ethiopia and the sweetness that is the two, little souls we will soon welcome into our family.  **Oh, but first scroll to the bottom of the page and pause my blog music**

Photo-a-Day 10 Our Family Through My Child's Eyes

Esen made these yesterday and seeing them laid out together made my heart skip a beat.  Our family is just....our family.  I forget sometimes that we're a little unique in the way we've come together.  I love that he understands and that he is proud of it, too.