More firsts for Lina!

Happy Memorial Day!!  We had quite a busy day yesterday, beginning with our first post-adoption visit from our social worker!  This first report is just for our adoption agency to track how well Lina is adjusting to our family and any medical issues she's had.  Our social worker will come again at the 6 month mark, one year, two years, and three years home- these reports will be sent to Russia to assure them she is well cared for.  While this doesn't affect our own adoption, it helps pave the way for future families to be given the chance to adopt.  We will be sending photos to be included in the reports to show how Lina is thriving. :)  Our social worker was most impressed with how quickly Lina has adjusted and settled right in. :) She made note of all the doctor appointments she's had and upcoming appointments scheduled.  She peeked in at Lina's room since the last time she was here we had just begun our adoption process and the room wasn't decorated yet.  Kaylin had a LOT to say, playing little mommy and giving her words of wisdom, bragging about how well Lina's doing and how much she loves her little sister. :)

Yesterday Lina also got to attend her first pool party and met most of Mike's side of the family for the first time!  She was very nervous and scared upon arrival, mainly because she could hear the dogs crated upstairs.  She was quiet and shy, not sure why I was changing into this weird bathing suit thing... but once we got down to the pool she had a great time. :)

She did happen to tip forward when I was carrying her out into the pool, even with her lifejacket on, and was NOT a fan of that... so she clung to the steps where she could safely put her feet down. Didn't trust Mommy carrying her in the water after that incident!

She had great fun smacking this pool noodle down on the water... over and over. :)

Lina with Daddy :)

And Evan shares her sentiments regarding keeping his feet firmly planted, or clinging for dear LIFE to Mommy or Daddy (and no, he hasn't had a face first incident like his sister LOL).

Lina did get brave and joined her cousin on a raft while Uncle Jeff pulled them around- I was super impressed!

We are definitely gonna have to set up the kiddie pool in the backyard soon!  I'm super excited that we are getting a fence put up so I can take the littles outside much more often- I am too afraid to take them out by myself since they typically go in two different directions!  I just received an estimate which we accepted last night, and they are coming tomorrow to start the job! YAY!!  Bring on Summertime!! :))

ROOF

Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund... I hold this group near and dear to my heart.  I learned about them many many months back, shortly after we committed to adopting Lina.  I had been chatting with another mom working to bring her little girl home from the very same institution Lina was living in.  Major MAJOR connection for me!!  This mama had already traveled once, been to the institution, and met my little girl!  She was my window into the unknown and a huge support for me.

While she was dying to share some updated photos of Lina with me, she knew it was too risky since it could jeopardize her own adoption.  You see, in this particular region, only two other children with Down syndrome had ever been adopted- just months prior, and the first one was denied by the judge.  The judge both of us would be facing.  The only judge in this region.  The mindset has always been that children with disabilities belong in institutions.  Period.  Thankfully, that first family who was denied kept on fighting and took their case to the Supreme Court- and won!! A very strong message was sent to the judge and prosecutor to reconsider their beliefs.  So... with the photo sharing- that is a big no-no.  There is much confidentiality, and I certainly didn't want them to get in any trouble either.  This was still relatively unchartered territory, not knowing how court would go.  The second family to adopt a child with DS from this region- had to go back to court a second day to provide more documentation.  That's right- scrambling for documents from home while they were in Russia.  We really had no idea what our expectations would be, but prayed it would be smooth sailing since we met such strict requirements for Polina's adoption.

But.... back to our original story and sharing photos.... this mama did point me in the direction of ROOF.  She happened to learn about them from talking about her adoption process at her church.  Someone from her church just so happened to be involved in this group that happens to work in the exact institution where her daughter was living!  So she steered me their way, and I found this...

CLICK HERE

Those eyes staring at me on the front cover- could that possibly be the same child??  Surely it isn't this same little girl who looks happy and well cared for....

My heart sank.  My darling little girl is no longer in the baby house where this original photo with the cute bobbed hair and pretty blue dress was taken.  She's been transferred.  Her hair was chopped haphazardly, her face is rashy, her little nose begging to be wiped.... her soulful eyes are hollow.  Emptiness.

http://www.roofnet.org/photopic/5606615231929836561

There are many more pics at this link posted above- since it is flash I can't grab individual pics, but you can browse through and see what I saw.... there are no smiles on Lina's face, just a blank stare.  I seriously worried for the well-being of my child.  They had a little Easter party with money the mama I told you about had donated to ROOF- hence all the fresh fruits and veggies.

Several weeks go by, and then a glimmer of hope.  We were on vacation in California visiting Mike's family, and while we were stopping for a bite to eat in Disneyland, I happened to check my e-mail.  I will never ever forget.

It was from one of the directors of ROOF.  She got the message that we were coming for Lina and was ECSTATIC!  And..... an updated photo.  ROOF holds a summer camp every year at Lina's former institution- the only real educational opportunity these children get, and it was going on at that very moment.

I SO needed this.  A smile... her nose and face looking better- much much happier pic than the others that haunted me.  And even better- Georgia was working specifically with Lina and her groupa, and had an amazing story for me!!  Here's the e-mail she sent:

Dear Amy,

First of all, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being the future adoptive parents of Polina (Polya), in Group 2 at Belkskoye Ustye. Second, I need to add to that my thanks for your extremely generous donation to ROOF's program for the children out there, and your monthly donation. We are starting a fund for working with Polya's group, and we will put your donation to work directly for those children in the best way that we can think of, I promise. 

Our family has just returned from a month in Belskoye Ustye, working with the orphanage children at ROOF's summer camp. I was working with Polya's group, and I want to tell you that you have one incredibly sweet daughter-in-the-making. I have a very surprising story to tell you about her; I don't know exactly why this should be, but she had an amazing reaction to English speech, in particular. The day after I got the message that you are going to adopt Polya, I went in and spoke English to her. Her face lit up and she changed in front of us -- it was entirely strange and unexpected. I had started counting her fingers with her "one, two, three, four, five" and this little girl, who had not uttered a word for the previous ten days, suddenly lit up and said, quite clearly "hello"! I kid you not. SHE came up with that, she wasn't imitating me! The first word out of her mouth was this English word. She had not said a word in Russian to me the whole time. Then she started to "talk" actively....she wasn't forming any real works, but she repeated after me "good morning" not at all badly, and then went on to make all sorts of English-language sounding baby talk!?! I'm not kidding. I was so emotionally overcome that tears started silently streaming from my eyes even though I was smiling. It was one of the experiences of the month, I have to say. We still don't have any idea why it should be that Polya so quickly and sharply responded to English speech. I continued to play with her for 2 or 3 minutes speaking English, and then her countenance suddenly changed a little bit and she became concerned. I think, Amy, that she had thought I was someone else or something, and suddenly she realized her mistake and got quite upset, at first. She went over and tried to steal a book from another little boy, and then when it didn't work she sat down in the middle of the floor and started to sob. We hadn't seen any aggression or anything but simple silent smiles from her until this emotional outbreak. I think she had an emotional event of some sort, having thought I was someone else and then realizing that I wasn't; but the event remains a mystery. At any rate, when I went over to comfort her, she quickly came to herself and we made fast friends. She started speaking Russian words to me, too. She's GREAT at mimicking! So clever, and so happy..and I told all the other English speaking volunteers to sing and speak to her in English, and they all did, and she completely blossomed during the time of the camp. I have loads of pictures that I would like to show you.

I'm being forced offline right now, but I just want to say THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!! And please forgive my delay in getting this message to you. My husband, Andrew, and I got our wires crossed and I thought that he had already communicated with you. Our communication possibilities from Belskoye-Ustye were limited, but we were able to send emails every once in a while...I just misunderstood and thought Andrew had already written to you. I'm so embarrassed it took us this long to get back to you!! I will write again with our ideas about what we want to do with your very generous donation.

Yours very sincerely,

Georgia Williams

Seriously, I was on cloud nine and could carry on with our vacation.  I had been feeling quite guilty for taking this trip across country, even though we had paid for the plane tickets long before we knew we would be adopting.  This was the peace I needed.

Georgia and all those involved in ROOF are truly amazing.  They have now been able to send some volunteers into the institution on a more regular basis- about once a month- to do some activities with the kids.  Here are a few pics they took just before or after our visit in March when we were there before court- we had literally missed them by days.

LOVE the piggie tails!! Of course we got the crazy pigtails when we visited in March! LOL

Gotta love this outfit... baseball pants? LOL

This absolutely has to be these kids' highlight of the month when ROOF's volunteers come share these wonderful experiences.  It tore my heart to pieces leaving all the others behind in Lina's groupa- they were all such little loves and craved attention so very much.  And seeing the condition Lina's skin was in when we got her made us realize that all the others are most likely the same.  Add the horrors we've seen Lina role play with her dolls regarding bedtime, and I just can't bear thinking about the others still living that nightmare each night.  At least now we can continue to contribute money to ROOF knowing we are helping these darlings as best as we can.  Hopefully ROOF will be able to go in more frequently to better educate these little dears who deserve every possible opportunity.

ROOF's goal is to get 200 new donors to give $25 a month- that is less than $1 a day.  Seriously- it charges to our credit card each month and we don't even notice- about a half of a tank of gas! One a month.  You can go HERE to make a donation- either a one time gift or a monthly recurring donation.  We would be so grateful if each of Lina's supporters made a donation in honor of her finding her family.  We pray more children from Lina's former institution can find families too- so far Lina is only the second child ever to be adopted from there- the first being that mama I found online.  This is a very poor area out in the middle of no where- I am amazed that ROOF even found them!  Anything you can give would be a true blessing.  Thank you so much for letting me bend your ear and perhaps tug at those heartstrings a bit. xoxo

One month home!!!

I totally cannot believe yesterday marked Lina's one month anniversary of being a US citizen and coming HOME!!  Time flies when you're having fun!

Taken yesterday on the exact anniversary!

Lina continues to thrive here at home, and is making good progress in areas she had shown previous fear.  We've ventured out for a few shopping trips and she does better with each one.  She is done after about 15 minutes and requests the "beep beep" to get back in the car.

She still LOVES riding in the car- even though the majority of her trips have been to various doctor appointments and blood draws.  We just had the last bit of bloodwork taken last Saturday so hope to get those results soon.  In other medical news- she passed her hearing test with the audiologist- yay!  Next up is her appointment with the endocrinologist to check up on those thyroid levels that were a little off- she sees this doctor on June 1st.

She got to eat out at her first sit down restaurant, and did a great job!  The big kids were at the grandparents' house for the weekend so we took the littles out since it was a smaller (and more affordable!) group. ;)

Another milestone today- she fell asleep in her own room for her nap without me being there!  Our routine is that I rock her for a few minutes and then lay her down in her crib while I lay on the twin bed in her room until she falls asleep.  She has gotten used to me stepping out for a minute here or there to settle Evan or change him (I put him down for his nap first so I can focus on getting Lina to sleep), and then I come back in.  She usually calls for me- she used to call for me the second I stepped out but then began to stay quiet for a couple minutes before calling my name.  Today while I was laying there with her I could hear my cell phone ringing downstairs.... I left it go to voicemail and figured I'd check it after she got to sleep (which she happened to have the hiccups today so I didn't anticipate that happening right away!).  It then rang again so I figured I better go check to be sure it's not school for the kids or Mike at work.  I whispered to her that I'd be right back like I always do when I step out, and I came downstairs to answer the phone.  After talking a few minutes I went back upstairs- and she was sound asleep! :) She felt safe enough to let herself go to sleep and wasn't anxious about being by herself.  Yay!!  I think I will try leaving her room for short periods at each bedtime and see how she does.

She is doing much better with the cat- you may recall she was absolutely PETRIFIED of our old arthritic cat who couldn't harm a fly if she tried.  Lina still has her moments- like when I put her in her crib quickly yesterday while I went to change Evan's diaper since he made a present for me after I put him down for his nap.... Lina immediately starts calling for me, sounding a bit distressed, and I kept talking back to her across the hall that I'll be right there... only when I got back I noticed that Ariel was sprawled out on the twin bed in Lina's room- Lina was NOT at all happy about that!  But if Ariel walks into the living room, or if Lina enters the living room after Ariel is already there, Lina will walk up and pet her nicely and does really well.  She's still nervous around the guinea pig cage, and doesn't care for the birds that fly up and nest near our living room window.

Lina is a MAJOR snuggle bug. <3 She loves to cuddle and could seriously rock with me in the rocking chair all. day. long.  She's getting better about sharing Mommy with Evan, but the second he moves off my lap she is THERE. Evan is totally fine with sharing Mommy and has made excellent progress with sharing toys and getting along with Lina. :) This is doing wonders preparing him for preschool in the fall!

I was taking Evan to a little playgroup composed of kids in our county's Early Intervention program- until we brought Lina home.  They meet every Thursday and I'm going to attempt bringing both kids this week.  Hopefully all will go well! :) If not we'll just head out and try again in a month or so.

Next post- I will be sharing LOTS about ROOF: Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund.  If you go browse their site you can find several pics of Lina.... but you may not recognize her at first....

Lina's Cardiology appointment

Today was Lina's appointment with the cardiologist from Johns Hopkins hospital- SO loved that they come out to our lil bitty town so we didn't have to drive all the way downtown!  The doctor was super nice as well as the rest of the staff.  Lina first had an EKG, had her blood pressure taken, and blood oxygen level checked.

The cardiologist then came in and listened extensively- and determined that her heart appeared just fine, but said they will do an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) to be sure there weren't any hidden defects since 60% of children born with DS are born with some sort of heart abnormality.  There were two other children ahead of us in line so we had to wait about 40 mins out in the waiting room to have the echo performed.  I opted for this rather than come back another time and arrange for more childcare for Evan and/or other kids at home- just get it done while we're here!

Lina was SUPER well behaved during all this- the doctor and other staff commented on how well she did. :) They had a little portable DVD player in the room for the echo so she could just lay there and stay focused on the little video while they performed the ultrasound taking TONS of measurements- it took about 15-20 minutes, which is a long time for a kid to lay still! She did great though. :)

The final report: her heart is functioning perfectly!! YAY!! I was pretty confident this would be the case as there was nothing in her medical file from Russia about it, and just from the other families I've followed through the adoption process- Russia tends to over-diagnose things rather than under-diagnose.  I've seen several kids come home with heart conditions listed in their files and they find out their hearts are just fine.

The doctor did explain that Lina once had a hole in her heart but it closed on it's own.  He even drew a nice picture for us explaining it.

Usually the two valves opening to the ventricles are slightly off-set- one is slightly lower than the other.  Lina's are perfectly straight across, showing there is scar tissue that grew and sealed the hole that was there. This means absolutely nothing to her now as her heart is functioning fine, just a neat little fact to hold onto. :) Yay for healthy hearts!!

Shout Out for Oksana!!

Oksana is a beautiful little girl still waiting half the world away for her mama to come rescue her from the cold walls of an institution.  The good news: she has a mama working very diligently to bring her home!!  The bad news: she has already been transferred and needs out of there ASAP.  Jody, Oksana's mama-to-be, is a hard-working, God loving single mother who needs us to rally around her and help bring this sweet girl home!

I see the same empty look in her eyes that I saw in Lina's each time we visited her at the orphanage.  No child deserves to be cast away in these "living" arrangements, as they are simply existing and not receiving the love and affection they so desperately deserve.  

Jody really needs us, and she has a couple different fundraisers going on to provide some incentive to pitch in and be a part of bringing this cherub home.  

Fundraiser #1: 51" Flat Screen TV Giveaway

Fundraiser #2: Puzzle Fundraiser

That flat screen television would make one kick a$$ Father's Day present- just sayin! ;) I'm off to enter now myself- how about you?  

New haircut and a brief update :)

We had to ditch the mullet ;) Lina is blowing kisses <3

She's all packed up ready to go for a pretend trip in the car ;)

Below- she is tucking Justin in on the couch- she loves him to death. :) And yes, the feeling is mutual. 

I have been keeping a cautious eye on her as she plays this putting to bed game.... Whenever she tucks her dolls in to bed- she gets them tucked in tight and then smacks them on the head/face. :( I saw this repeated over and over on Gotcha Day as she played with her dolls in the hotel room while Mike was away at the bank.  She even went as far as to take off her shoe and hit the dolls on the head with her shoe. :( Several times.  So sad- I know this was her own experience at bedtime in the orphanage, and why she had so much trouble getting to sleep those first few nights- crying in extreme fear.  Broke my heart to pieces.

Well tonight it happened.  She tucked Justin in, and then quickly pulled the blanket down and slapped him on the face. Hard.  Left a big red mark.  :( (That is not what happened in the photo- photo was taken yesterday as she was gently caressing his face) I know she only did it because it was what she knows and how she was treated.  To her it was normal. But I quickly took her to sit on the step, explaining that we don't hit, and then a few minutes later let her get up and tell Justin she was sorry.  She signed "sorry" to him and they hugged.  Totally breaks my heart, but she does need to learn it is not acceptable behavior.

On a more positive note, Lina had her appointment with the dermatologist today- skin fungus is GONE! :) There are still a few scabies bumps so we need to retreat, and he gave her a new ointment for her eczema.  She goes back in a month for follow up. The doctor's expression when he walked into the exam room and saw us was priceless. :) He remembered me from when I was in a couple months ago to have a few moles removed, so I'd have no issues when I went for our medicals in Russia.  He had heard the whole story.  He first looked at me and stopped dead in his tracks... his eyes got wide... and I just smiled big and said, "Here we are!" He looked over at Lina and back at me, eyes still wide and I said, "Yes, that's her!"  He just looked in amazement and couldn't believe it- not sure if he was shocked to see me back since he probably thought he was through with me LOL or shocked that we got her home so soon... I don't know.  But he was so sweet- asking all sorts of questions about how she's doing, told me about some local places to find Russian food markets, and he even spoke some Russian to her. :) She looked at him with this stare like, "Who ARE you??" but did eventually reply with some gestures and a few paka's. :)  He commented several times about how precious she is. Yea, you don't have to tell ME that! ;) It was all very heartwarming though.

Friday is Lina's appointment with the cardiologist- think good thoughts!

Two weeks home!

I can't believe tomorrow marks two weeks since we brought our sweet Lina home!! In a way it feels like just yesterday, but then again it feels like she's always been a part of our family.

Everyday I am telling someone how I just can't believe how quickly Lina settled into our family and acts like she's always been here.  She began transforming into a new little girl full of life as soon as we claimed her on Gotcha Day, and she has completely blossomed since coming home!

This is not the quiet, reserved little girl we met in the orphanage.  I seriously worried how we would struggle with attachment issues since she was not only very independent, wanting to do everything herself, but also very reserved with her emotions and affection.  We had to work really hard to get her to force a smile during our visits at the orphanage- she had a lot of fun with us, but there was definitely something missing.  For then we were just playmates with new toys to enjoy.  We came for an hour or so and then left, and she was trudging along in her institutionalized world.

Well soon after we had Lina in our custody- while still in Russia- she began bonding instantly.  She completely opened up in the car one day and began showering me with hugs and kisses! And I'm talking her arm squeezing around my neck as tight as she could, and covering my cheek in kisses. <3 Melt. My. Heart.  All the while grinning from ear to ear.  She wanted to sit on my lap during meals and even wanted me to spoon food into her mouth for her- if anyone is familiar with the book The Connected Child- this is HUGE!  Her trust level was sky high and she was soaking in all the love and attention.

But how will she react to the kids at home? How will they react to her?  We came home around 7:45 PM Saturday, April 21st- Mike, Lina, and I completely exhausted from all the travel and lack of sleep... but when we stepped in the door- the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement, and Lina just joined right in! She happily picked up a toy and carried on like she was right at HOME.  When Evan grabbed a toy from her- she had a look of total astonishment when I told him "no" and gave it back to her.  What? Someone is sticking up for me? I don't have to fight for everything anymore?  Wow!

How is Evan doing with the adjustment?


Evan is 2, so yes, he's going to have some issues from time to time- sharing toys and sharing Mommy.  But he has been such a little trooper and doing really well!  Lina, too, has issues sharing, and tries to be bossy which Evan is very sensitive about.  Raise your voice to him and it often leads into a complete meltdown.  But overall, they are playing nicely and carrying on without incident.  Here's a brief little video of them just a couple days ago (ignore my singing please!)

The big kids love her to death- I lost count of how many times Kaylin has said, "She's so CUTE!!" and "I can't believe she's my little sister!!"  I took Justin out to get his glasses adjusted- just the two of us, and he was going on and on about how much he loves Polina. He loves giving her hugs, and both kids are always excited to see her when they get home from school. :)

How is Polina's rash doing?


Lina's skin has improved GREATLY- it really improved just a day or so after we treated her for scabies.  Here's a pic I snapped this morning- you can still see marks on her legs but they are all fully closed and fading.

 She goes to the dermatologist on the 9th to check everything out including the skin fungus which is just about gone too. Yea!!

She had a physical with our pediatrician this week and all went well- LOTS of blood tests ordered, so many in fact that we have to go back in a couple weeks for round 2 since they couldn't take so much blood from her at one time!  The doctor called me this morning to go over the results they have so far- one of her thyroid levels was a little high, so she will see an endocrinologist to see if any treatment is needed.  She was also low in vitamin D so she will go on prescription supplements.  That was pretty much all that needed attention so far.  I scheduled check ups with audiology, opthalmology, and cardiology also to be sure all is A-OK.  I have noticed her right eye crosses and kinda does it's own thing at times, so am anxious to see what comes of that.

Some of Lina's favorites-

Reading books- she babbles with a LOT of inflection telling quite the story! :)

And toys that make noise... she LOVES this Elmo- you place a block in his hands and he says the picture and letter

Snuggling with Elmo

And much to my dismay, she is most excellent with on/off switches! Elmo has to take a little time out sometimes when Evan is napping.

Lina is the late sleeper in the house- sometimes sleeping past 10:00 AM!!  That is absolutely unheard of in this house- the other kids rarely make it to 7:00!  I know this is the best sleep she has gotten in years so I just let her sleep as long as her little heart desires.  She still goes to sleep by 8:30 PM- I have to lay in her room with her until she falls asleep.

I will update more later on some of her fears and insecurities... some things that break this mama's heart.  Love you, little girl!!