Hello!!

Oh my goodness….I feel like I have been away forever.

Today Jim, the kiddos and I are all un-flu-like at the same time…(I think this is the first time in 7 days!!)

WooHoo!!!

Being back to normal is just around the corner….I can feel it!!

Honestly, last week felt like I was moving in slow motion.  Life seemed sort of surreal…..The days went on, our family was fine…..And much has happened….But it felt fuzzy and slow.  Like a day without coffee!!

 

Well first of all…….

We have EXCITING news to share!!!!!

We are very proud to finally be able to introduce you to little Julian!!!

 

 

Julian is turning 4 this month (the photo is older) and he is in the same orphanage as Wesley.  In fact, he is in the same group and room as Wesley!!

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have requested permission to adopt Julian also.

Julian’s country still has not given us approval....

But Reece’s Rainbow has permitted us to announce our intentions.

If Julian’s country approves his adoption and us, we hope that he will soon be our son as well!!

While we wait (not so patiently….)  :-)

We have been busy stocking up on clothes for the boys and some toys of their own.  We are moving bedrooms and kids around and talking a lot about more bunk beds…..!!

We finally picked out and purchased a stroller for Wesley for travel in his country, for the trip home and for here at home until we get his wheelchair.

 

And we picked out a back carrier for Julian.   

(Photo courtesy of Google)

 

When the children are released from the orphanage, they tire easily because they are not used to being outside, in cars, walking around etc...We anticipate having to carry Julian and either carrying Wesley or transporting him via stroller.....We have also been told that there are no elevators.....So many flights of stairs (either to and from the apartment or in the government buildings getting passports, visas, medicals etc)...Are in the near future...

We ended up spending some time on the stroller selection because Wesley's stroller has to be capable of holding an older child (up to 50 pounds) and also needed a foot rest that can safely hold his legs and feet in place.  Wesley does not have any feeling in his legs and feet and if they hang down or rub along the tires, he wouldn’t know it and therefore, we may not know it right away either.

One family that had visited Wesley in country while adopting their child, noticed that Wesley had open sores on his leg where his wheelchair wheel kept rubbing his skin….

Wesley had no idea L

Jim and I are also thoughtfully working on car seat selection and seating arrangements in the van.  We have a 12 passenger so we have enough seats, but strategy is everything when you have 8 little ones, 8 and under, riding together!!

 

 

Especially if Jim and I are riding with them…LOL.

 

I don’t know about your family, but the little people in our family have siblings they can sit next to successfully and siblings that they should not be able to sit within arm's length of!!

 

I won’t go into details, but two kids who are miserable next to each in a van, can and will make everyone else miserable in the van.

We also have Emme (18 months old) and Wesley (7) who will need to be lifted into the van and buckled in, as well as Torren (4) and Julian (4) who can probably get into the van, but need help getting into their seats and buckling and then 4 older kiddos who can climb in, climb over, push through, find their seats and buckle themselves in (when they feel like it J  ) LOL…..
 

 

The planning and strategizing are ongoing…..And I am assuming we will have a few adjustments before all is said and done!

Jim and I are also frantically confidently trying to learn some basic Rus*ian, so we will be able to communicate at some level with the boys…..It is our understanding that older children learn the language of their new family quite quickly....Thank goodness, because learning a new language has been nearly impossible slow going for us.....!!

Obviously, we will need to be able to talk with the boys but also with the in country team, the orphanage workers, the judge, the attorneys etc etc….We are working on getting some basic phrases down…..The Reece’s Rainbow community has been very helpful with ideas for language books and online resources….

We have also been in communication with our pediatrician, the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and the Spina Bifida Association.  The Spina Bifida Clinic at Children's has a team of doctors that work with the kids, so when we go in for an appointment, Wesley will see the Spina Bifida specialist, urologist, psychologist, neurologist, physical therapist, orthopedic etc, etc...We are working on scheduling medical appointments ahead of time , so we will be all set to go once the boys are home. I have also been fortunate enough to speak with some families in our area who have children with Spina Bifida and paralysis.  I know we won’t have everything completely ready, but we are doing as much as we can think of before travel.

More BIG news....

Last week we were notified that we have been pre-approved to submit our dossier to the adoptions unit in country this week!!

So mark your calenders…LOL…

On Thursday, January 24^th, our dossier will be officially submitted!!!  Yahooo!!!

I can hardly believe this is finally happening!!  In October we committed to Wesley and here we are..….In some ways it seems like it took FOREVER to get to this point, and in other ways, it seems like a blink of an eye….

 

Life is funny that way.

And even more exciting news!!!!…..Our daughter, Katie, and son-in-law, Ray, are moving back home from the UK in a few short weeks!!!!!  They will be living with us until they have determined their home base city and job prospects.  We are thrilled!!!!

Well, I need to get back to work.  I missed a few days of work last week due to the plague!

This week I hope to share more about sweet Julian, a new video and some ideas for fundraising!! 

We are almost there!!!

 

"Dasvidaniya"

(Goodbye until next time!)

                           Danee