We are a little disappointed that our final visit with our son was cut short. There is a pretty brutal winter storm in B today, and we knew we would be driving back to the captial in rain and snow, and our driver preferred to start early. We met with the director again for a few minutes, and I was able to thank her for taking such good care of him. I can tell that she is not used to being told that because she dismissed the compliment by saying it was their job. This is a good time for me to tell you that the orphanage needs some roof repairs in one room that they have been unable to get funding for, so we would like to make a donation to assist with them on our next trip. We will be asking our attorney to stay in touch with the orphanage director in the spring when she gets estimates so we know how much we want to raise. My heart says $500 will probably do the job, but we want to be sure....so watch here for a fundrasier specifically for the repair!
Danny was so funny when we picked him up from his room today. Wes bent over to pick him up, and he looked at Wes, then laughing, turned to me and lifted his arms. I loved it! While I don't think we will have any major bonding issues with him I do see that he is very comfortable with the orphanage workers and Baba Mila, so we may have a little trouble at first. We spent about 45 minutes total with him today, mainly just trying to love on him a bit more. I whispered in his ear that we would be back just as soon as we could to bring him home.
Now we are sitting in the hotel in Sofia, a little bummed out! Our flight leaves at 6am local time (which is 10pm Texas time) and it will be a full 24 hours of travel to get back home. Honestly we are both looking forward to McDonald's at the Frankfort Airport! (and maybe a Whataburger when we get home!)
Thank you (yes, again) for all of your prayers on our behalf. We are so blessed to have so many following our journey....as long as I'm awake I promise you an edition of Sunday Prayers for next week!
Showing posts with label Meeting Our Son. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meeting Our Son. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Day 3, Visit 2
I can't believe we only have 2 more hours with him! I am so pouty already!
He was SO tired this afternoon. When I went to his room to get him the kids were all sitting in their chairs while one of the teachers talked to them. He got so mad when he saw me! (Don't worry buddy, I feel the same way about me sometimes!) He cried for about 30 seconds, and was obviously sleepy. We played pretty gently and didn't take too many things out of his bag. He really loves the blue ball, and I got some good video of Wes and Danny dancing together! Can't wait to get home and load the videos for everyone to see.
We took him back to his room after he laid down on the floor and put his thumb in his mouth. It was about 10 minutes early. We will see him one more time tomorrow morning. Immediately after our morning visit is over we will drive back to the capital city, sleep a bit and take a taxi to the airport at 4:15am. I'm honestly sad our time here is over for now. We will be back in a few months, but that trip will be so busy. Wes and I have really enjoyed spending time together without many demands on our time. We will both go back to work and crazy schedules next week.
Thank you for continuing to pray!
He was SO tired this afternoon. When I went to his room to get him the kids were all sitting in their chairs while one of the teachers talked to them. He got so mad when he saw me! (Don't worry buddy, I feel the same way about me sometimes!) He cried for about 30 seconds, and was obviously sleepy. We played pretty gently and didn't take too many things out of his bag. He really loves the blue ball, and I got some good video of Wes and Danny dancing together! Can't wait to get home and load the videos for everyone to see.
We took him back to his room after he laid down on the floor and put his thumb in his mouth. It was about 10 minutes early. We will see him one more time tomorrow morning. Immediately after our morning visit is over we will drive back to the capital city, sleep a bit and take a taxi to the airport at 4:15am. I'm honestly sad our time here is over for now. We will be back in a few months, but that trip will be so busy. Wes and I have really enjoyed spending time together without many demands on our time. We will both go back to work and crazy schedules next week.
Thank you for continuing to pray!
Day 3, Visit 1
He was excited to see us this morning! I hate that there will be such a long time between this visit and returning to pick him up, so please join us in praying for expediency on the part of both governments.
This morning the teacher dressed him in one of the outfits we brought to try on him. We plan to leave all three sets of fleece jammies here, but the ones that fit him (the smallest) look so stinking cute on him! The pants are a bit long, but I really think by the time we get back they will be just right. I can't wait to get him in some nice new clothes! (What?!?! I'm a girl, it's what we do!)
We played and played and played this morning. He's not trusting of us enough yet that he will sit and cuddle, but I know he will be soon after we pick him up. Danny is also a smart cookie! This morning he pulled the can of puffs out of his bag and brought it to me. I signed "more" to him, and he immediately did it back! At one point he did it without being prompted to! He also signed "Please" for me once. I think we will make a list of signs we want to know before his return and have Aunt Julie and Uncle Pool teach us. Danny is going to be communicating so quickly!
We only have two more visits left before we return to Texas. While I still haven't cried, I'm sure it's coming. Each time we see him I have a harder time turning him over to the caretakers.
Thanks to each of you who are following along. We are so in love with him, and need many many prayers lifted up on his and our behalf.
Blessings!
This morning the teacher dressed him in one of the outfits we brought to try on him. We plan to leave all three sets of fleece jammies here, but the ones that fit him (the smallest) look so stinking cute on him! The pants are a bit long, but I really think by the time we get back they will be just right. I can't wait to get him in some nice new clothes! (What?!?! I'm a girl, it's what we do!)
We played and played and played this morning. He's not trusting of us enough yet that he will sit and cuddle, but I know he will be soon after we pick him up. Danny is also a smart cookie! This morning he pulled the can of puffs out of his bag and brought it to me. I signed "more" to him, and he immediately did it back! At one point he did it without being prompted to! He also signed "Please" for me once. I think we will make a list of signs we want to know before his return and have Aunt Julie and Uncle Pool teach us. Danny is going to be communicating so quickly!
We only have two more visits left before we return to Texas. While I still haven't cried, I'm sure it's coming. Each time we see him I have a harder time turning him over to the caretakers.
Thanks to each of you who are following along. We are so in love with him, and need many many prayers lifted up on his and our behalf.
Blessings!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Day 2, Visit 2
Danny was a little grouchy this afternoon. I think we are wearing him out in the morning so the afternoon is hard! I tried to sit back and just watch him for a while, wanting to see how he played and acted. Again, his tongue has been out a lot today and at one point he put his thumb in his mouth, but only for about 3 seconds. His hands don't look like he keeps them in his mouth all the time.
He was digging in his bag tonight and pulled out the container of puffs and tried to open them. I took them from him, and showed him how to sign "More" which he did! I know a lot of it is mimicking, but that's ok, he will learn quickly! Looks like we need to brush up on our baby signs before our second trip.
We could tell that he was tired when he started getting frustrated and hitting at us. We both told him no, but he as pretty much done at that point. We finished cleaning up, and took him back to his group. So far he hasn't been super snuggly, but Baba Mila says that he can be. I'm sure we are just too exciting right now for him!
Three more visits to go, then back home to speed through paperwork and get our boy home!
He was digging in his bag tonight and pulled out the container of puffs and tried to open them. I took them from him, and showed him how to sign "More" which he did! I know a lot of it is mimicking, but that's ok, he will learn quickly! Looks like we need to brush up on our baby signs before our second trip.
We could tell that he was tired when he started getting frustrated and hitting at us. We both told him no, but he as pretty much done at that point. We finished cleaning up, and took him back to his group. So far he hasn't been super snuggly, but Baba Mila says that he can be. I'm sure we are just too exciting right now for him!
Three more visits to go, then back home to speed through paperwork and get our boy home!
Day 2, Visit 1
Super exciting visit this morning!
We met Danny's "Baba" today!!! He is part of a program where the most needy children are assigned a Granny who gives them love and attention and helps them learn things they need to know. She is amazing! Even with the language barrier we were able to communicate through our translator and tell her about our family (with the help of Julie's photo album) and our lives. She was very excited to see that we have dogs since he wants to touch love and pet the strays that are all over town. Mila comes to spend 3-4 hours a day, five days a week with him. She thinks he is ready to move to more solid foods, since she taught him to chew. Unfortunately the rest of the children in his group eat mashed foods, so he doesn't get a lot of solids. Mila says for sure he can eat bread and similar substances. She takes him out into the downtown area in the stroller, and he will follow all of her instructions. We were so incredibly thankful to get to meet her. This week is a holiday for her, so we probably won't see Mila again, but she promised to go through the photo album with him and talk to him about family life. My prayers are answered again! She made me cry as she left today, because she was telling us how excited she is that he has a family now. Please pray for Mila's life to be blessed and that she knows God.
Other than that we were asked if we planned to continue with our adoption of Danny....uh, YEAH! So we got to go take his Visa photo! There was another gorgeous little girl who needed a Visa photo taken. I wish I could have taken a picture of her, but her caretaker wouldn't even let me touch her, so I doubt that would have been ok. The only "disability" I could see is that she was missing her left leg below the knee. Her adoptive family hasn't been here this week, but we were told she is coming to live in America too! I pray for her and the family that she is able to have the therapies she needs and one day walk. I can't get over how beautiful she is. Funny thing though, once we made it to the photo place it came out that the orphanage did not have any cash on hand to pay for her photo, and could we do it? Well of course we said we would, but I thought it was a funny situation! :) Tomorrow after our morning visit we will return to pick up both Visa photos for Danny and the little girl.
After those two events we only had about 20 minutes left to play with Danny. He is so much fun, but we could tell he was tired today because he spent a lot of time with his tongue out. That really seems to be the only negative behavior so far. I'm sure we will see some other things, but I really think we are lucky and blessed that Danny has had 2 1/2 years of Mila's attention. God is blessing us every day on this journey!
We will go back at 4:30 to see him again!
We met Danny's "Baba" today!!! He is part of a program where the most needy children are assigned a Granny who gives them love and attention and helps them learn things they need to know. She is amazing! Even with the language barrier we were able to communicate through our translator and tell her about our family (with the help of Julie's photo album) and our lives. She was very excited to see that we have dogs since he wants to touch love and pet the strays that are all over town. Mila comes to spend 3-4 hours a day, five days a week with him. She thinks he is ready to move to more solid foods, since she taught him to chew. Unfortunately the rest of the children in his group eat mashed foods, so he doesn't get a lot of solids. Mila says for sure he can eat bread and similar substances. She takes him out into the downtown area in the stroller, and he will follow all of her instructions. We were so incredibly thankful to get to meet her. This week is a holiday for her, so we probably won't see Mila again, but she promised to go through the photo album with him and talk to him about family life. My prayers are answered again! She made me cry as she left today, because she was telling us how excited she is that he has a family now. Please pray for Mila's life to be blessed and that she knows God.
Other than that we were asked if we planned to continue with our adoption of Danny....uh, YEAH! So we got to go take his Visa photo! There was another gorgeous little girl who needed a Visa photo taken. I wish I could have taken a picture of her, but her caretaker wouldn't even let me touch her, so I doubt that would have been ok. The only "disability" I could see is that she was missing her left leg below the knee. Her adoptive family hasn't been here this week, but we were told she is coming to live in America too! I pray for her and the family that she is able to have the therapies she needs and one day walk. I can't get over how beautiful she is. Funny thing though, once we made it to the photo place it came out that the orphanage did not have any cash on hand to pay for her photo, and could we do it? Well of course we said we would, but I thought it was a funny situation! :) Tomorrow after our morning visit we will return to pick up both Visa photos for Danny and the little girl.
After those two events we only had about 20 minutes left to play with Danny. He is so much fun, but we could tell he was tired today because he spent a lot of time with his tongue out. That really seems to be the only negative behavior so far. I'm sure we will see some other things, but I really think we are lucky and blessed that Danny has had 2 1/2 years of Mila's attention. God is blessing us every day on this journey!
We will go back at 4:30 to see him again!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Day 1, Visit 2
He was a little sleepy this afternoon, I think he had just woken up from his nap. Even after grouching for a bit he was ready to play! We got to go into the bigger room and play in the ball pit! So much fun. He figured out very quickly that if he threw the balls out we would go get them! I don't know how they stand it, but the orphanage is so HOT! Sweltering in fact. So we secretly opened a window. (don't tell!)
While he was still grouchy I turned on the iPod to see if he would dance. He did! So precious, and yes, I video taped it, but with no computer you guys get to wait. :) At one point we turned the music off and he got very irritated with us! I believe our house will be one big dance party for a while when we get home.
Afternoon visits are short, from 4:30 to 6:00, so there isn't a whole lot more to tell. We truly feel that God made this child for us. He is totally boy and we love every second of it. I think we have a little athlete on our hands. It is sad for us that we have to leave him here this trip, but we do feel that he is in capable hands and is very loved. We can't wait to bring him home to his new life.
PS: they tell us he loves dogs and always wants to pet them....can you imagine when he meets Shiner and Lucy?!?!
While he was still grouchy I turned on the iPod to see if he would dance. He did! So precious, and yes, I video taped it, but with no computer you guys get to wait. :) At one point we turned the music off and he got very irritated with us! I believe our house will be one big dance party for a while when we get home.
Afternoon visits are short, from 4:30 to 6:00, so there isn't a whole lot more to tell. We truly feel that God made this child for us. He is totally boy and we love every second of it. I think we have a little athlete on our hands. It is sad for us that we have to leave him here this trip, but we do feel that he is in capable hands and is very loved. We can't wait to bring him home to his new life.
PS: they tell us he loves dogs and always wants to pet them....can you imagine when he meets Shiner and Lucy?!?!
Day 1, Visit 1
No promises here, but I am going to try to blog after each visit because I don't want to forget anything!
We arrived at the orphanage at 10am, and the director met us at the door. She is a pediatrician, and seems to care greatly for the children. We sat in her office, and the psychologist came in, which was honestly was worthless! The psychologist just started TODAY, and hadn't even met Danny yet! Wes and I gave each other a "look" but it turned out ok, because we were able to speak with her, and learn her back ground since she will work with him for the next few months. Danny is one of only 3 children at his orphanage with Down Syndrome. The other two are babies who we hope to meet. Once our questions were answered we were taken upstairs to the meeting room. Here they brought him to us, and I have to admit I didn't think it was the same child! His hair is so long, and his skin is much more pale than in our referral picture. The first thing Wes said was: "He needs a haircut!" (and I added, boy clothes too!)
Danny is in everything! He had his whole head in the bag we brought at one point! Too funny, will try to get a photo of that later. He really likes the rolling worm that Erin sent us. He's also quite a little mimic! Will clap, laugh, dance, do anything you ask him to. He understands directions and requests in Bulgarian, so I imagine there will be some frustration at home for a little while.
He seems to really like Wes, and his "pedagog" (teacher) says he seems to like both of us. He was even giving Eskimo kisses at one point. Today we also got to see the rooms where he stays with his groupa. There are about 10 children in there, with 3 or so adults. They sleep in one big room with cribs lining the walls, and have a room where they have lessons daily. Music is his favorite according to the teacher. Tomorrow we will get to meet his "Granny" whom we know he loves! We have received permission to leave some items with him, and promises she will look through the photo book with him in between now and when we return to pick him up.
Everyone at the orphanage seems so caring and loving of him. He is very active and plays with other children.
We will get to visit twice a day through Thursday, and then once Friday morning. There will be quick trip to a local photo place to do his visa photo, but only one of us will be able to go with him, and we haven't negotiated that yet!
Thank you all for your prayers, and thank you to whomever made the generous donation to us in the past few days! We can't tell you how much it means. If I don't fall immediately asleep I will try to blog again tonight!
PS: I just realized I missed Sunday Prayers this week...hope you all understand!
We arrived at the orphanage at 10am, and the director met us at the door. She is a pediatrician, and seems to care greatly for the children. We sat in her office, and the psychologist came in, which was honestly was worthless! The psychologist just started TODAY, and hadn't even met Danny yet! Wes and I gave each other a "look" but it turned out ok, because we were able to speak with her, and learn her back ground since she will work with him for the next few months. Danny is one of only 3 children at his orphanage with Down Syndrome. The other two are babies who we hope to meet. Once our questions were answered we were taken upstairs to the meeting room. Here they brought him to us, and I have to admit I didn't think it was the same child! His hair is so long, and his skin is much more pale than in our referral picture. The first thing Wes said was: "He needs a haircut!" (and I added, boy clothes too!)
Danny is in everything! He had his whole head in the bag we brought at one point! Too funny, will try to get a photo of that later. He really likes the rolling worm that Erin sent us. He's also quite a little mimic! Will clap, laugh, dance, do anything you ask him to. He understands directions and requests in Bulgarian, so I imagine there will be some frustration at home for a little while.
He seems to really like Wes, and his "pedagog" (teacher) says he seems to like both of us. He was even giving Eskimo kisses at one point. Today we also got to see the rooms where he stays with his groupa. There are about 10 children in there, with 3 or so adults. They sleep in one big room with cribs lining the walls, and have a room where they have lessons daily. Music is his favorite according to the teacher. Tomorrow we will get to meet his "Granny" whom we know he loves! We have received permission to leave some items with him, and promises she will look through the photo book with him in between now and when we return to pick him up.
Everyone at the orphanage seems so caring and loving of him. He is very active and plays with other children.
We will get to visit twice a day through Thursday, and then once Friday morning. There will be quick trip to a local photo place to do his visa photo, but only one of us will be able to go with him, and we haven't negotiated that yet!
Thank you all for your prayers, and thank you to whomever made the generous donation to us in the past few days! We can't tell you how much it means. If I don't fall immediately asleep I will try to blog again tonight!
PS: I just realized I missed Sunday Prayers this week...hope you all understand!
Monday, January 2, 2012
well poop
When we were at home I tested to make sure we were going to be able to upload pictures to facebook, but apparently forgot to check blogger. For some reason it won't upload photos from ipad. Guess we will have to rely on facebook for photos, and I will detail our days here. I won't be able to show all the pics, because frankly we won't have enough storage to get them all, so I will save some gems for when we get home. :) Sneaky, huh? :)
So here is what happened today.....we woke up super early. Wes was up at about 3:30, and I was awake around 5:15, and neither of us could go back to sleep! Breakfast at the Hotel Budapest was very nice. (Connie, I think that orange drink tasted like tang.) Then our driver, Mitko, picked us up at 9:30. We drove about 50km down the road, over some impressive bridges and through some cool tunnels in the Balkan Mountains....and stopped because the van was acting funny. After a trip to the WC Mitko informed us he was taking us back to Sofia, because the van was acting funny. At least we weren't halfway there, and it's a good thing we turned around when we did because by the time we got back to Sofia there was absolutely no fuel left at all! We think one of the hoses must have come loose! Anyway, so Mitko was back in about 15 minutes in a different, but much smaller, car. I was a bit concerned that we weren't going to be able to fit everything and everyone but we did!
Because of all the excitement, our 5 hour trip turned into an 8 hour trip, but we stopped for some awesome Bulgarian BBQ on the way! It was delicious, and we really hope to stop there again on the way back to Sofia on Friday. (Yep, it was really THAT good!)
Tomorrow we will go to the orphanage at 10AM local time, so please keep us in your prayers. We will meet with the director, and get to ask her questions about Danny and his "baba" and we are hoping and praying we get to tour the orphanage. Our prayer and plan is to show you pictures from our first meeting when you wake up at home!
With lots of love, and excitement,
Wes and Jessica
So here is what happened today.....we woke up super early. Wes was up at about 3:30, and I was awake around 5:15, and neither of us could go back to sleep! Breakfast at the Hotel Budapest was very nice. (Connie, I think that orange drink tasted like tang.) Then our driver, Mitko, picked us up at 9:30. We drove about 50km down the road, over some impressive bridges and through some cool tunnels in the Balkan Mountains....and stopped because the van was acting funny. After a trip to the WC Mitko informed us he was taking us back to Sofia, because the van was acting funny. At least we weren't halfway there, and it's a good thing we turned around when we did because by the time we got back to Sofia there was absolutely no fuel left at all! We think one of the hoses must have come loose! Anyway, so Mitko was back in about 15 minutes in a different, but much smaller, car. I was a bit concerned that we weren't going to be able to fit everything and everyone but we did!
Because of all the excitement, our 5 hour trip turned into an 8 hour trip, but we stopped for some awesome Bulgarian BBQ on the way! It was delicious, and we really hope to stop there again on the way back to Sofia on Friday. (Yep, it was really THAT good!)
Tomorrow we will go to the orphanage at 10AM local time, so please keep us in your prayers. We will meet with the director, and get to ask her questions about Danny and his "baba" and we are hoping and praying we get to tour the orphanage. Our prayer and plan is to show you pictures from our first meeting when you wake up at home!
With lots of love, and excitement,
Wes and Jessica
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Almost There!
Well actually, we are all the way to Danny's country. It was a very long couple of flights, and we are both exhausted. I've got dinner ordered so once it comes and we eat I hope we are out! Tomorrow we will drive 5 hours across the country to meet Danny on Tuesday. I've taken some pics already, but most of them are of us being cheesy or snow capped mountains. Honestly nothing you haven't seen before so I'm going to make you wait for the REAL DEAL!!!
Tonight I met Toni, our facilitator. She is an amazing woman of God. Please pray for her, as she encounters spiritual warfare on a daily basis. Toni does the work for families like ours because it is the passion of her heart, and while she wants to give up sometime, she will prevail in her work for orphans with special needs!
Dinner has arrived! Will give a more thorough post tomorrow.
Tonight I met Toni, our facilitator. She is an amazing woman of God. Please pray for her, as she encounters spiritual warfare on a daily basis. Toni does the work for families like ours because it is the passion of her heart, and while she wants to give up sometime, she will prevail in her work for orphans with special needs!
Dinner has arrived! Will give a more thorough post tomorrow.
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