Happy One Month Home!

Today marks one month since we arrived home as a family a four!

Thinking back to who I was and how I felt coming off the plane that night... it seems like a world away. I was so tired. (Traveling for 26+ hours will do that to you.) I was so hungry. (Loosing eight pounds while in a foreign country for a week and a half will do that to you.) I was so scared and insecure in my abilities. (Jumping in to parenthood head first by adopting a one- and two-year-old will do that to you.) I was so totally excited! (The occurrence of something you've been waiting for for years will do that to you!)

Not that I have it all together now. Oh my goodness! Not at all. But parenthood is becoming more natural. I don't question every little thing I do or say and how it might impact our children's cognitive, emotional, physical and confidence development. Sure, I think about those things day in and day out. But the secure feeling of KNOWING that I am their mother—and mothers truly do know best—helps give me the fortitude to trust my instincts and keeping going as I have tried to do.

We received a pleasant surprise in the mail today. The US Department of Homeland Security sent us Bennett's and Celia's official Certificates of Citizenship! (And a little "Uncle Liberty" coloring book for Bennett!)

What better day to receive this than our one-month anniversary home?! My, how their faces have changed in the short time they've been home.

Catching Up

My! Motherhood is work! hee hee... It may not be as stressful as my office job, but it definitely is tiring! I've come to really value "down-time" more than ever after spending each day running around playing with two adorable kiddos. Because of that, I haven't spent much time on the computer. But I miss blogging. I miss writing. So here I am!

We've started Bennett on his medication and it seemed to be going okay... We knew, after reading every word on the information sheet that accompanied the huge bottle of orange-flavored liquid, that it might upset our poor boy's stomach. Well, unfortunately it has. He has been tooting/boo-bah-ing/blowing buttons/insert-your-cute-flatulence-term throughout the last few days. His dirty diaper changes are... well... they're not pretty and often are cause for a wardrobe change. Since he really doesn't enjoy being dirty (unless he's intentionally choosing to play in the dirt or eat with his hands), he makes the most pitiful face once he's... well... done. From someone who used to suffer from stomach aches every day of my life, I just hate this for him. Especially since he has 8.5 more months of it. This morning was the first morning he really faught taking the 12.5 ml. I wonder what the next few days will bring.

After hearing me rave about the Impressionist exhibit at The Frist in Nashville, Derek decided he had to go see it. I had the fortunate opportunity to see many of the pieces at The Louvre, but enjoyed them when I visited our local museum back in October as well. So we decided to take the kids and all go, hoping for the best but expecting some difficulties. Believe it or not, we all had a wonderful and completely tear-free time! Baba (my mother is "babushka" to our kiddos, "baba" for short; and my father is "dyeh-dushka" or "dedu" for short) and I walked the kids in their double stroller through the exhibit while Derek took his time with the audio tour. Of course, we were not allowed to take photos in the exhibit, but did snap one as we entered the Visual Arts Center:

After Baba, the kids and I made our way through, we ventured upstairs to the children area where we played at some hands-on stations. Later, Derek joined us and helped Bennett bring out his creative side by making his own lithograph and sketching on an art easel.

I really think the attachment that has been forming among the four of us is strengthening more and more each day. On Friday, Bennett walked up to me with one arm in his favorite jacket (my late brother's army-green jacket that he wore when he was Bennett's age), smiled, said "buh-bye" and leaned over and gave me the sweetest kiss on the lips. I don't know how I held it together. Sure, Bennett had given me kisses before. But they were more playful than truly sentimental and I probably asked for most of them. I can't explain the feelings that went through me. Most likely, that was the first time he ever smooched anyone out of love and by his own accord. Bennett is such a sweetheart. He truly is such a good boy. We are so lucky.

The bond between Celia and Derek is growing as well—especially now, after D decided to grow a goatee. You see, for whatever reason, C has a "thing" for facial hair. She seemed to love the mustached pediatrician who saw her in Moscow and was entranced with the random, bearded Ukrainian gentleman seated next to us on the plane. Never having had facial hair in his life but desperately wanting to make a closer connection with his daughter, Derek took the plunge. Personally, I think it looks good on him! Sorry, no photos at this time. But I'm sure you'll catch it in pictures in the future.

We're Still Here!

Yes, we're still alive! With my husband going back to work full-time, I'm still trying to get my legs about me when it comes to being a full-time mom (at least for the next several weeks). Stay tuned friends! I plan to post a true update in the next day or two, which will include heartwarming firsts, trying tantrums, cultural excursions and more!

A Scar Explained and a "Diagnosis" Made

Wednesday was B and C's first trip to the pediatrician—and Mama and Papa's (as parents) too! Many international adoptive parents choose to take their children to an "International Adoption Pediatrician" and a specialized international adoption clinic. There is one in Nashville. I'm sure it's absolutely wonderful. However, we didn't feel the need to go that route. We knew once we met our kiddos that they are—thank the Lord—healthy and not too far behind physically or developmentally. So, after receiving a recommendation from another adoptive family and doing our own research, we decided to go with Dr. S and are so glad we did! Dr. S has adopted internationally, so it's wonderful to have someone that canshed some insight.

He was absolutely wonderful with our babies! We weren't expecting things to go so smoothly, especially after our experience with Dr. Boris in Moscow. (Maybe it was the moustache, maybe it was the lazy eye, but there was something about the Russian doctor that Bennett didn't like. Celia, on the other hand, loved the guy!) Taking into consideration the fear and insecurities B and C were most likely feeling anyways and the fact that they each received four shots, one TB skin test and three blood draws, the kids were great! Less than 60 seconds after her shots, Celia was smiling and making silly faces at the nurse. The sweet nurse later said she has "never" seen such a happy baby—and she's obviously seen a lot. Bennett, true to form, was all strength. He held it together so well and when he felt he was in a safe place again—back in his Papa's arms—he let out the cries.

We noticed once we brought Bennett home that he has a scar on his upper left arm. I greived a bit for my little guy over thinking we'd never know how he got it. Derek was ready to help him come up with fun and exciting stories to ease the loss. Much to our surprise, our pediatrician educated us on what most likely it was from. Bennett received a BCG vaccine when in Russia. It's common for a child his age raised in a Russian orphanage to have this shot so as to prevent childhood tuberculosis. Dr. S indicated that his scar is most likely from where he was injected with the vaccine. He warned us that there was a good chance that B's TB skin test would come back positive due to his receiving the vaccine. We were told to come back on Friday to have it checked out.

Dinner on Wednesday was amazing! I was looking forward to giving our kiddos soup, as we were told they had soup each day for lunch in their baby homes. Bennett devoured the vegetable and beef concoction. Celia didn't do as well, but the transition we have been trying to make from baby food has not been successful.

THANK YOU PAM AND CARTER!!!

Thursday's dinner was so wonderful that we scarffed it down before taking any pictures. Sorry Nate and Kelly! Your food was just too good!

On Friday we went back to the pediatrician's office to get B's TB skin test looked at. We knew after monitoring it for the last several hours that it didn't look good... After two physicians took a look at it, it was decided. B did indeed have a postive reation.

*sigh*

Even though he most likely has never come into contact with someone with TB and the result was simply caused by his earlier vaccine, he will have to be treated. We took hom to Vanderbilt's Children's Hospital for a chest X-ray to completely eliminate the chance of him having an active case of tuberculosis. Thank God everything came back great and he doesn't have it. Nevertheless, the CDC requires that people in our situation go through the proper treatment anyways. So... poor Bennett—after everything he's already had to go through—will be taking the TB treatment every day for nine months. However, we are so thankful that our babies are perfectly healthy other than this. Bennett is in the 50th percentile or above on all physical charts. Celia is also above average except for weight, but I'm sure that will improve the longer we are home. We are so blessed!

That night we were treated to another fantastic meal—one which I had before and requested from this amazing cook. Chicken and dressing and homemade mac and cheese! Mmmmmm!!

THANK YOU JEANNIE!!!

Fun in the Snow ...and on TV?!

I feel I may never catch up on blogging. I love writing so much, but find it difficult to make the time to put my thoughts and experiences down. Bear with me over the next few weeks as we continue to adjust and grow as a family of four.

Everyone asks me, "How is it going?" to which I normally reply, "Pretty good... We definitely have our hands full!" Why do I do that? In reality, things are WONDERFUL. Truly amazing. I'd say we have the family we've always dreamed of, but all this is so much more than anything we could have imagined. I think there is just something in some of us that feels we should down-play the really good things that are happening in our life.

Is it easy? No. Is it perfect and frustration-free 100 percent of the time? Of course not. But it's been the best few weeks of my life. I know that. We definitely have tantrums (some that probably have to do with their grieving process, some that are just regular toddler tantrums). We struggle off and on with our confidence in the attachment we are trying to cultivate with the kiddos. But really, things are going great.

Monday brought snow. Quite a lot for Tennessee, but a measly amount compared to Russia. Bennett didn't seem too impressed. "Six inches of snow? I'm used to six feet!" The five of us (Lexie included, sweet Bella is still at my parents' house) ventured out into the snow.

Being completely unprepared for a snow day with small children, we improvised with a plastic bin we had in the garage.

If you look closely, you'll notice I put Celia's boots on the wrong foot. Way to go, Mama!

This about sums up B and C's relationship as it stands right now:

Bennett: Why is sister sitting on me?

Celia: Weeeeee!

Bennett: Seriously, can she get off now?

A dear friend braved the weather and the roads and brought us yummy chicken and dumplings.

THANK YOU LAURIE AND SCOTT!!!

On Tuesday we had some more excitement--the kind Celia loves. News Channel 5 stopped by. I guess they read the article in our local paper about our homecoming and wanted to interview us. Showered but not "made-up," I reluctantly went along with Derek's invitation to have them come in. I just hope people give some slack to new parents when it comes to how they themselves and their house looks... Later that night, we watched ourselves on TV! Bennett loved seeing him and Papa on our big screen!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner that night, thanks to the Nichols.

Unfortunately, the green bean didn't make it any closer to C's mouth...

B was definitely a fan, though!

Coming up in the blog: the kiddos' first pediatrician visit and B's unfortunate "diagnosis."