Wordless Wednesday: Fan mail :)

This was in Lina's backpack today :)

Evan's sleep study and Lina's results!

I will begin with Lina's results- she got the all clear!  She was diagnosed with mild snoring and had a very low apnea rate of 0.4 events per hour- the normal range is 1-2. Yay!!

You may recall from my previous post that Lina's study went swimmingly well even though she was woken frequently due to the equipment.... She was the perfect model patient and couldn't be any more cooperative!!  I was sooooooooooo worried how Evan would handle all this!  He's not always Mr. Cooperative for doctor appointments etc. and cannot be bothered to sit still for any length of time.  With our hour drive downtown to the clinic, then strapped into the stroller for the stroll up the street from the parking garage.... he was rarin' to go once I let him out in the room!  Oh boy he could not run fast enough and try to get into everything!  This should be fun for sure....

After they brought in the crib for him (I insisted he have one as there is no way he would stay put on a hospital bed) I held him on my lap on the bed while they began gluing wires to him.  I was armed with Sesame Street and Signing Time videos from home along with his favorite beloved stuffed Cookie Monster and Big Bird.... we had binky and blankey too since they are his calming security items for bed.  He was in his happy place clutching all the DVD cases while the techs pasted and pasted....

While he looks miserable, he was just tired since he didn't nap and it was bedtime.  He was such a good boy!!

Aren't you done yet??

Getting there....

While they didn't wrap Lina's head since she was perfectly fine with the wires- they opted to wrap Evan's since he already yanked a couple off before they were finished.  I was super worried how he would handle the gauze since I can barely keep a hat on his head!  But he did amazingly well.  He didn't go after it once!

 

He had one little clump of hair sticking out the top like Alfalfa ;) and his ponytail of wires.  They waited to put the nasal cannula on him until he fell asleep since they knew it would tick him off.  They also waited for the CO2 monitor and pulse ox.  He fell asleep SUPER fast!  Much faster than Lina whom I had to lay in bed with for about 45 minutes to get her to sleep.  Evan laid right down and I rubbed his back for about 10 minutes and he was out.  Whew!  With the monitors they could tell he was immediately in a deep sleep state so they came right in to put the rest of the monitors on him and he was good to go.  I was amazed!  The tech commented that it's best to have the sleep studies done the younger they are since smaller kids have longer deep sleep states.  The older you get the shorter they get.  So anyone who has been hesitant to get a sleep study done for your child- the sooner the better!!

There was another little guy around the corner whom we could hear from our room.... poor thing must have squealed and carried on for a good 1-1.5 hours until he finally fell asleep around 11:00 PM.  Then he woke up and was screaming again at 1:15 AM and continued until they finally sent the family home at 2:00 AM.  That little guy was just getting an EEG- none of the nasal cannula or other monitors, just the head ones, but poor guy just couldn't tolerate it.  I was so worried Evan would be more disturbed with all that noise but thankfully he did alright.  He did still wake every hour or so like Lina did, but he too settled right back down.   He did immediately notice the pretty red light on his finger that wasn't there before and yanked it right off.  They tried moving it to his toe but he could see it through his sock and was still enthralled.... so after he went to sleep yet again they moved it to his ear. Little stinker couldn't see it then! He did so incredibly well with the nasal cannula- he pulled it off a couple times but didn't fight it like I thought he would. Such a good boy!!

He woke again around 4:45 AM and had no interest in going back to sleep.  He was playing around with the wires, kicking the side of the crib.... I stood there a good while rubbing his back until he finally got back to sleep around 5:30... and then the tech said we were all done at 6:00 AM.  Well Evan wasn't ready to wake back up!!

You're kidding, right? You kept telling me to go back to sleep and now you are telling me I have to wake up??  Thankfully he took a good nap in the afternoon, though Mommy couldn't wait that long and took her nap shortly after coming home. :) Thank goodness for Daddies!!

10 months home!! And a prayer request

10 months ago, we flew across the Atlantic for the 6th time within 6 months, finally bringing home our babygirl.

At Domodedovo airport, finally heading HOME!!

I won't go too overboard since I want to save all the excitement for my one year post- can you believe it's almost been a YEAR?!?! Me neither!!!  I still to this day talk about how crazy surreal it was watching Lina walk through our front door and literally carry on as if she had always been here.  We've been celebrating lots of firsts.... lots of first holidays for Lina which have seemed more exciting than the other kids' first holidays since they were too little to know what was going on!  It's soooo fun to see her enjoying things for the very first time.

Just last weekend Lina had another first- her first trip bowling!! :)) I'll share photos when I get them- I was busy with Lina and Justin and relied on the birthday kids' mom to take all the pics. I was hesitant about taking Lina since she had never been to a bowling alley before- all the noise can be a bit much, taking off her own shoes to wear different ones, and lots of waiting and waiting for your turn with all the kids playing.... but she was a rock star!!  She caught on pretty quickly, never complained about the noise, and was fabulous about waiting her turn- no complaints at all!  One thing that struck me funny- she kept pointing to a man across the alley and making the sign for "boy" which is gesturing like a baseball hat which he was wearing.... and she was signing "old" since the sign for old is gesturing a long beard, and yep, this guy had a LONG beard!  She seemed quite intrigued and I realized she had never seen a man with much facial hair before!  No one in our immediate family has any whatsoever- maybe a friend or a distant cousin she has met once or twice has a goatee- I believe her special education at school may have one, but this was different.  Totally made me giggle, and also think about how many other everyday things she has experienced in the last 10 months that were completely new.  Living in a hospital for the first 14 months of her life, to move to a baby house until she turned 4, and then transferred to a mental institution- she had never experienced much of anything.  Vehicles, large grocery stores, so much we experience all the time was brand new and scary for her those first weeks home.  But now you'd never know.

Mmmmmmmm that chocolate ice cream was GOOD!!

I have a prayer request.... You may have heard or read in the news about the tragic death of another little boy who was adopted from Pskov.  While the investigation is still ongoing, it appears the little 3 year old boy's death was accidental, yet Russian officials had been spreading false rumors stating otherwise, and creating all sorts of crazy hype.  All this horrible drama has moved the governor of Pskov to completely halt all adoptions in his region.  Yes, there was already an adoption ban which was approved, but any adoptions already in process were still being considered.  My friend, Jaime, has been working hard to bring home a little cherub from Lina's former baby house- another cherub who wears designer genes... another cherub who's chances of finding a forever family outside the US is slim to none... another cherub who will either be transferred to Lina's former institution or Bobrovsky depending upon which has an opening at the time.  Jaime's documents were already submitted and they were waiting for travel dates to go meet their precious boy.  But those plans have been put on hold.  How long? We have no idea really.  Please go visit her blog and leave her a note of encouragement whether it be a prayer or a Bible verse, and then go to ROOF and make a donation in sweet Mac's name.

***Just a little addendum.... I've been notified that a troll site has linked to this post and I refuse to reward said site with my time to actually read what it says as I have no interest in the garbage and lies spewed there.  If any of those readers come to this post- I thank you for clicking and reading the truth about what's going on in Russia and with the orphan crisis.  Please make yourself at home and click around to read Lina's absolutely AMAZING progress since she became part of a LOVING FAMILY.  I have no idea what past experiences that poor troll has had with international adoption, but I find it inexcusable to attack innocent families working fervently to bring home their children, especially children with special needs who are rejected by their own society and serve a life sentence in a mental institution until their death.... 2 years, 10 years, or 100 years, however long it takes until they reach their last breath.  Children belong in families and NOT dilapidated institutions. Period.  They are entitled to love and affection, comfort when they wake in the night instead of being beaten for waking other children.... empathy when they fall and get hurt.... praise for milestones and achievements... and hugs and kisses for no reason at all other than they are cherished.  We have witnessed first-hand how love changes a child, and the potential reached when other countries deem her ineducable. Until this *all-knowing* troll has traveled and worked in one of these institutions, has witnessed the abuse and neglect these hundreds of thousands of children suffer through on a daily basis and can offer an answer to end all of it.... until this troll has met the thousands of US families who ARE the vast majority and love and care for their adopted children just the same as they would a biological child.... I have no interest in anything she has to say on the matter.  She can continue to leave comments under her several false names as they go straight to the trash and I don't give them a second glance. I just hope that her entire blog traffic simply consists of her many fake identities she uses to converse amongst herself and that no one else is swayed to believe the vomit she emits in her posts. I'm sure most informed people read up on the current news information and can find the actual truth for themselves instead of believing one sad little troll.

Warm Shelter donations

You may recall last July we held an online auction on Facebook to raise funds for the Warm Shelter baby house in Pskov.  This baby house had lost it's biggest donor which was from Germany, and they were in danger of closing.  The people running this baby house are good people; a friend of mine knows first-hand having brought home a precious girl from this very orphanage.

A little back story to catch everyone up:  soon after Mike and I came home with Lina last April, our super sweet facilitator whom is one of the most selfless people I have ever met... came to me asking if we would agree to use part of our in country donation to help the Warm Shelter baby house.  We of course agreed quickly, and then my friend Laura and I put our heads together to raise more funds through the auction.  We found out through Marina, our facilitator, that we could transfer funds directly to them in Pskov through an organization here for Russian Americans. Our auction was a HUGE success and we brought in over $1,500!!  To make sure we could indeed transfer the money successfully, we sent a small amount first, $200, and it did go through very smoothly and incredibly fast!  You can read more about those purchases HERE.  We then needed to transfer the remaining $1,300.

Our contact with the Russian American group went silent and Laura had great difficulty regaining communication with him.  We believe with the new law passed with the ban on US adoptions- this organization for Russian Americans lost their ability to connect in Russia.  Thankfully, another friend was traveling back to Pskov for her third and final trip to bring her daughter home!  She had brought donations to Warm Shelter on her previous trips and was happy to deliver the remaining funds to Marina for us.  Whew!! The money made it to Marina's hands in early January; Marina then contacted the director/doctor at Warm Shelter to find out what was on their list of most needed items so she could get shopping.  Marina is so diligent, looking for the best prices to be sure she can stretch the money as far as it can go.  She is so dedicated to helping these children!

From Marina:

Everything was remarkable in the Warm Shelter today!  Here are the things which I could buy on your donations:
1 . It is a lot of good medicines - very necessary, especially for improvement of work of a brain (all of it is expensive and it is insufficiently always). [The doctor/director] is very happy.

2 . Tables and chairs. (on a photo [the director] sits on them). Their old furniture all is loosened already, legs at tables and chairs break constantly ( stuck from wooden details). I found very convenient option, with metal legs and wooden seats. Now we bring only part of furniture, the rest will bring in some weeks when will do our order from factory. While there, [the director] placed them in sleeping rooms. Then they will place it in the room where children play and eat.
3 . A lot of developing games
4 . Damp napkins and pampers for hygiene.
5 . Liquid soap and shampoo - specially for small children - without allergenic additives
6 . Stockings from natural fabric, hats for walk, romper suit and panties.
7 . Creams and ointments from an intertrigo.
8 . Boxes with juice
All in the shelter is so glad to such set of gifts. At once at an entrance on the first floor the security guard exclaimed: so a lot of good things! It is so important for them at this moment when they need almost everything. At once there are so much opportunities: to replace old furniture which is necessary to children daily during eat and for games, they couldn't make this already long time, simply repaired and stuck together the old; to give to children good medicines, clothes, games for studies and all the rest. 

People were very inspired. Each of workers at once started sorting those things which are necessary in his part of care: [the director] took medicines in the office, the educational psychologist took in training class games and manuals, tutors sorted clothes (in one photo it is visible stockings on her shoulder), nurses took soaps and means for care... [the director] and all others convey huge thanks to you and all philanthropists. And things and support from such devoted friends is very important for them. 

We tried to mention all needs at least gradually. I looked for on the Internet, looked in shops to compare the prices and asked friends. For example, I bought clothes in the market from the same woman, as last time, and she remembered me and again gave a good discount in the price, as it is for a shelter. Thus everything turned out well.

Marina you are such a blessing!!  I ask you all to please keep Marina in your prayers.  With this ban on US adoptions, she is out of a job.... a job that she has devoted herself to completely, heart and soul, for several years.  Her heart is with the orphans and it is very tough on her to move on.  Marina went above and beyond in every way possible and continues to do so however she can.  Moreover, I pray that this ban will be lifted and she will be able to return to the work she enjoyed most.  We love you, Marina!!  We are indebted to you for all you did for our Pskov babies! xoxoxo

As for Warm Shelter, we had hoped to continue holding more fundraisers and send more donations to help them throughout the year, but since we lost our contact, we must wait.  I will keep you posted if we are able to find a way to send more funds.  Thank you to all who participated in our auction- you truly made a difference in the life of several orphans!

Loved

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!  Some love from my little heart throb...

And from our little Russian princess who is SO loved!  Last Valentine's Day we were preparing for court and she was still in an institution.  Not anymore!!

Oh yes, Lina sweetheart, you are loved!!  Loved by many.  Lina even received two Valentine cards from little boys in her old preschool class.  You may recall she moved up to Kindergarten after the Christmas break and goes to the local elementary school now.  Her classmates from preschool have not forgotten her though, and I hear from several parents that their children miss her.  Melt my heart!!

Take a look at this BEAUTIFUL video one of my sweet adoptive mama friends made of several little Russian citizens who are now loved in the US.  Praying hearts will be softened so more children can share the same fate.  

Double digits

Can. Not. Believe. It.  My babygirl is TEN!! She has been SO excited about hitting double digits- since she turned 9!!  Kaylin asked me today if I remembered what it was like having just one kid.  Honestly, the answer is pretty much NO!  It is SO difficult to think back and recall what it was like having just one set of little feet running around.... just one little person requiring my attention.... yet I felt like I was SO busy all the time!  I can look at her baby photos and remember when she was so small and remember taking the photos myself, but to remember having just one child simply escapes me.  To be just a party of 3!!

Kaylin's Baptism March 2003

Summer 2003

Getting our Christmas tree December 2003

December 2003

Summer 2004

Christmas 2004

Christmas 2004

Christmas 2004

Our only family photos with just three.... Justin came on the scene when Kaylin was just 2 years and 4 months old.  Oh how time flies.

We celebrate Kaylin's birthday along with her cousin who's birthday is the 9th (along with Mike and his twin!) I always like to make a special birthday cake even though I am by far professional... I really really REALLY want to take a cake decorating class some day! I know I keep saying that with each and every birthday.  This year's cake was a tie dye cake.

The inside turned out pretty cool :)

Lina was anxious to help- she seemed to be looking for her own presents since Christmas wasn't all that long ago.  It didn't help that we gave presents to her cousins whom we missed seeing at Christmas.  Poor thing thought she was the only one not getting any presents!  She did get to help cousin Sara open her presents, so that made her feel better.

Evan was content as usual- playing with the tissue and paper.

And tossing it all over the gate.  Another birthday wrapped up!  Can we slow these down please?? My babies are growing up WAY too quickly!!!  Happy Birthday, Kaylin Sue.  Mommy and Daddy love you SO much!! xoxoxoxo

Sleep study time

Lina was such a ROCK STAR!!  She had her sleep study this past Saturday night and she was such a trooper.

We had a snowy drive downtown- what normally takes about 45-50 minutes took us about 90.  There was just a dusting on the road, but people around here have no concept how to drive when there are snowflakes in the air!!  It was dark and they were freaked- driving 30 mph in a 50-55 mph zone with their hazards flashing.  Really???  Ugh. We got there eventually.... Lina's appointment was at 7:00 PM and we rolled into the parking area around 7:10.  Wouldn't you know the complimentary valet parking closes at 7.  Oops.  The kind security guard told me to park on the 2nd floor of the garage and she would meet me up there by the elevator to walk me to the building.  The security there was AMAZING.  We were at Kennedy Krieger Institute which is a FANTASTIC place in a pretty bad part of town.  Especially at night.  But they had security guards all through the garage as well as along the way to the building across the street.  We were very well taken care of!

As soon as we checked in and sat down, our sweet tech who would be performing Lina's sleep study came in to meet us and take us to our room.  Lina was all excited when we walked in and immediately went for the bed, saying "bed" and "sleep"- it was actually her bedtime! But she wasn't ready to go to sleep quite yet.

After making a trip down to the bathroom to brush teeth and go potty, we came back to our room to get Lina all wired up.  The tech wasn't lying when she said it would take 45-60 minutes.  It was an hour to the tee!  Whew.  Lina was an absolute angel through it all.  First, the tech read a little social story to Lina which had photos of a boy with all the wires so she would know what's coming.  Lina kept saying "boo boo" seeing the bandages! But we assured her they weren't boo boo's. :)

She was very curious about all those pretty colored wires! She tried going at them a couple times and wanted to unplug stuff to play around but let me hold her hands while she got all hooked up.  She continued to say "boo boo" as the tech taped more stuff to her and we continued to assure her, no, she didn't have any boo boo's.  She was SO good.  The tech was just floored with how well Lina did and said she was the absolute model patient. :)

Are we done yet??  Not quite....

Once the nasal cannula went on- her eyes kept crossing as she tried to look at it LOL The nasal cannula did not provide oxygen or any air- it was only to monitor Lina's breathing.

Ok, even Mommy thought we were done at this point but there was one last sensor to go on Lina's forehead- to monitor carbon dioxide.  I tried snapping a pic after the lights were dimmed but it didn't turn out so well as you can tell.  But you can see the round thing stuck over her left eyebrow- it glowed red just like the pulse ox on her finger.

She was fascinated by the red light on her finger.  She kept holding her hands up and wiggling her fingers.... then once the tech stepped out she didn't want to lay down.  I was on a fold out chair next to her but had to lay in bed with her until she settled to sleep.  I had no clue how this was going to go- how on earth does one fall asleep with all that crap hooked up to you??  Especially when you have no clue what all this is for and where you are etc. etc..... but the little super star finally nodded off after about 45 minutes.  I very carefully climbed out of bed without disturbing her and laid back down on my futon.

The tech came back in the room many, MANY times throughout the night to adjust this or that... I think mostly the nasal cannula.  And Lina woke up pretty much every time she came in to adjust something.  But thankfully she went right back to sleep each time.  I don't know how deep of a sleep she actually got to before she was disturbed again, but the tech assured she got good data.  I know at one point during the night Lina did make a gasping/choking sound which I have heard once before- this is why I am really curious about her having some sleep apnea going on.  

When the tech came back into the room at 5:00 AM to make another adjustment, Lina was up for good at this point.  She found the red light on her finger again and was playing with her fingers.  I tried getting her to settle back to sleep as the tech said she wanted to try for 20 more minutes, but it was no use.  Lina was not having any part of going back to sleep.  Thankfully the tech said she had enough information.  We should have the results in a week or two.

And through this whole experience, I am now super worried about how Evan is going to handle all this!  He comes in a few weeks for his turn and he's not quite the model patient that Lina is!  It's gonna be challenging for sure, I can see it already.  Thankfully, our super awesome tech is working that night also, so I know we will be in good hands.  She was so sweet, kind, caring, and understanding with Lina.  I kept telling her to remember this because Evan is going to be the complete opposite! :)

We walked out of the building with our security escort at 6:30 AM- I think I got a few chunks of about 15-30 minutes of sleep during the night and that was about it.  Surprisingly, I was very alert for the drive home, but the moment we got home I needed my BED.  Grabbed a couple hours sleep and then forced myself to stay up to watch the Ravens win the Superbowl! Yea! :)

Fun in the snow!

Ok, so yes, this isn't much snow.  The last snowfall we had which was fairly decent- both Evan and Lina were fighting nasty colds and I didn't want them out in the weather.  This time Lina was well and I needed some pictures of her enjoying the snow!

Kaylin took her down the hill in her sled, and Lina had a blast!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Next, the boys

Lina was brave and had to go by herself- loved it!

Evan had more fun just running around

It's c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cold out here!!  

I didn't get too many pics since I was busy chasing Evan around; we didn't stay out too terribly long since it was sooooooo windy and cold.

Lina and Evan warmed up inside by dancing all around! Spinning, spinning, spinninggggggg

If you could spare a little prayer or two it would be most appreciated.... Lina has a sleep study tonight to be sure she doesn't have any sleep apnea.  This condition is quite common in children with DS, and Evan will be having a sleep study done in a couple weeks as well.  Please pray that the study itself goes well, and that the roads will be clear both driving downtown as well as home the next morning at 5:00 or 6:00 AM.  Forecasters say we will be getting snow tonight into tomorrow (it's flurrying now as I type) but they are saying little to no accumulation.  Yea, we know how that goes!  I have an hour drive each way, and the road crews up here have been doing a lousy job as of late, most likely due to budget cuts.  Praying all goes well!!