His Fourth Christmas

This post is about Christmas. Yes I know it's February. 

Silas had three Christmases in Bulgaria. It seemed like Christmas was a pretty big deal there. When I was on trip one they were decorating the orphanage already in the first few days of December.

I have a couple pictures of Silas from past Christmases.  I am soooo thankful for these pictures! It is such a blessing to have baby pictures in an adoption and they will be treasured forever.

Baby Silas at six months old!

Already staring at his hands for entertainment. :(

There was no picture from his second Christmas but this is from his third Christmas. It must have been taken during or right after trip one.  I think he was wearing those same pants the day I met him.

 

So Christmas 2014 was Silas' fourth Christmas. I wanted to start some Christmas traditions with him. He opened up his Hungry Caterpillar pj on Christmas Eve and wore them to bed that night.  Then after breakfast on Christmas morning he opened up his gifts! He wasn't quite sure what to make of it all but he seemed to be having fun.  

 

 

 He really loves this noisy barn toy that some friends gave him! Noisy toys are what he loves most!
Later that day grandma and grandpa came over for Christmas diner and we had fun playing and hanging out.

We got together with all my siblings on the 29th. It was a bit harder of a day for Silas. Too little sleep, too much noise and commotion and he got an owie on his foot. By the end of the day he had cried himself to sleep. Poor boy!

 Hanging with the uncles.
 

  Playing with cousins. He met three of his cousins for the first time on this day.

 

Ending the day on a very sad note. :(

 

We spent the next few days at my brother and sister in laws hanging out with their crew. Silas really likes spending time with his cousins. He has such a great time chasing them around the house. :)

 

So there you have it. A pretty simple, typical Christmas with family for the first time in his life and it's all thanks to the generous people who donated, helped with fundraisers and prayed for us. Thank you for making that possible!

Happy 6 Months in a Family, Silas!

Here's a video to mark the first six months of our little family!

Enjoy!

 

We've made it home safe and sound!

There's so much to blog about now! I'm so far behind, and the more time that passes the further I get behind. Ack! So here we go.

In the weeks following the court date I waited to hear when I would travel. It turned out to be a little more than 6 weeks that I had to wait but my sister and I finally got on an airplane on May 6th and flew to Bulgaria.
Unlike trip one I had no nerves or anxiety before I traveled. I was as cool as a cucumber and excited to go get my boy!
We landed in Sofia on May 7th and left to drive to Plovdiv on May 8th and picked up Silas in that morning.
He was exactly how I remembered him!

We whisked him back to Sofia to get his passport picture taken. Poor little guy fell asleep in the hot car.

Silas was so puffy and swollen looking but I didn't realize it at the time.

So after our visit to the passport office we basically had May 8-19th to do whatever we wanted! We did a lot of touristy type things and shopped for souvenirs. Silas got overwhelmed if we went out and did too much though so we stuck to doing one outing a day.

There were other families that were there on their pick up trips completing their adoptions too so we visited with them a fair bit. That was such a blessing! It was so great to see other kids that had been adopted and their families. It really helped pass the time as well. I'm facebook friends with all of them now and I'm loving seeing the changes in the kids now that they're home.

We also visited with the Shepherd family who live in Bulgaria and went to church with them on both Sundays. Maybe one day I'll post the video I took of the hymns that were sung.

The first Sunday we were there was also Mother's Day! I remember last years Mother's Day wondering how far along in the process I'd be by next year and if I would know who my son would be. Here I was with my son already! It was a fantastic day for sure.

Here are some pictures of old stuff. Sofia is a very old city and there is so much history! It was once part of the Roman empire so a lot of the ruins date back to that time.

 Actual Roman road (down in the subway)!

Silas did really well in the hotel room for two weeks. We really had almost no trouble at all with him and that was a huge relief! We were able to really enjoy our time in Sofia. Before we knew it, it was 4 am May 20th and it was time to leave the hotel and get on an airplane!

I was worried about whether the landings would hurt Silas' ears. He FELL ASLEEP during the first landing! lol So I really had nothing to worry about. He also slept for about 3 hours on the longest flight. Exhaustion hit me after we went through immigration in Montreal but a frozen lemonade and a donut were enough to get me on the last plane.

Then we were finally at the Winnipeg airport! Almost all the family was there to meet us and I was so happy to see them. There were lots of happy tears and I was pretty much delirious with exhaustion.

 

We stayed the night at my brother and sister in laws house and left for home the next day. Silas let me know what he thinks of car seats. He was NOT impressed!

 



But we made it safely back home and Silas has decided car seats aren't so bad. He's been in Canada for over five weeks already! I'm back to work with my daycare kids and he's enjoying having other kids around.

He's also had some driving lessons from grandpa.

And a handsome hair cut!

He's starting to figure out how to feed himself.

 We've gone on lots of bike rides and stroller walks.

 He's fought over toys with his cousin.

 His latest trick is learning how to pull himself up to stand in the playpen!

 And he made friends with PJ the cat as well!

He's also been to the pool and loved it! No pictures of that though. Next time. :)

There have been so many firsts and he's progressed so quickly it's just been amazing to watch. I love him with a fierce momma love and my transition to motherhood has been very natural and smooth. It feels like this is what I was meant to do!

Being at home in our small town has been great. It takes me forever to go get groceries because everyone wants to stop and say hello. lol I don't mind though! I love that our community has been so welcoming. Once I get the cd of pictures from the Welcome Home shower I'll have to blog about that incredible evening. Wow, was it ever good!

And the excitement never ends around here because tomorrow is a very big day for Silas. He turns three!

The judge said Yes!

The judge agreed that Silas should be my boy! I've been told that I should be able to go in about six

weeks to bring him home! I can hardly wait!

 

My ticklish little guy!

 

Court date!!!

There is less than 24 hrs until the court date in B*lgaria! This is where a judge will look over the paperwork closely and decide if I should be Silas' mom. This will happen sometime in the night Canadian time.

If there is even the littlest problem with the paperwork he/she could say "No, Go fix this little thing and come back in a month."  And that would really suck! Not the end of the world, but really, really discouraging.

So please pray with me today and tonight that things would go smoothly in B and that the judge would be kind and understanding.

Once the judge says yes I will go back in about a month to bring Silas home!

I got this message from an online friend, someone who's been there, done that, with adoption.

"I will be praying fervently!! What God sets into motion for a treasure of His - He will bring to pass! Walk in confidence - God is faithful and He who called, will complete it!! Keep me posted!"

Thank you Linny for those wise words!

In other non-adoption related news - here's the pictures of my latest backyard project! This is what we built out of all the ice that was harvested from the river.  An ice slide! The daycare kids love it.  It's also hollow so that they can go inside it like a fort.  Very cool!

Every day is a day closer

I haven't updated this blog because there hasn't been much to update it with.  I'm currently waiting on court dates in B*lgarian court.  There was a bit of a snafu with some signatures on all the files that the Minister of Justice had but that was just sorted out this week and all those files/dossiers should be getting court dates any day.  So we wait!

But I haven't been idle in my waiting. 

I made this. That took a few weeks.

 

And then last Saturday I started this with a friend.  We're hoping to make something else epic in my back yard.

 

 

 

And I finished one of my courses and started the next one. Maybe one day I'll actually have my ECE diploma.

 

I've also done a bit of online shopping for little boy clothes. Old Navy! It's been fun getting those little packages in the mail.  I've been holding the clothes up and scratching my head, wondering if Silas will fit them when he comes home.  It's so hard for me to tell without actually having him here to try them on. Hopefully I take the right size of stuff with me when I pick him up!

 

 

I've also been studying scripture and trying to read my way through the bible.  I came across Eph 2:10 the other day.

 

Ephesians 2:10

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.


Only this time it wasn't in a KJV bible.  It was a New Living Translation and it was worded a bit differently.  I know very little about different translations and I don't think I have a NLT bible but I found this version online.

Ephesians 2:10

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

So God has made us new, into a masterpiece, SO THAT we can do the things he's already planned for us to do even before we were born!
 
There's so much to that verse it kind of boggles my mind.  We, as Christians, were made to do good things so let's go and do them! Forget about getting that/those new ___________ (you fill in the blank), you can't take it to heaven people! Don't you think it's worth it to give up a little bit of comfort here on earth in order to do some good thing that GOD has already planned on you doing??  We are here on earth for just a blink of an eye in time compared to the vast span of eternity. 

We live on one of the most privileged continents on the earth. 

Luke 12:48
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Our hardest day here is still easier than a large percentage of the people living in other countries.  There really is no excuse. 

Please, please, please fellow Christians don't let your comfort level or your fear or lack of trust stop you from doing what God has already planned for you to do.  He won't leave you on your own to do it either.  He'll LEAD you.  I mean com'on, how hard is it to follow someone? Okay so in this case you can maybe only see one step in front of you but that's all you need! Take one little baby step.  Check out www.reecesrainbow.org and see all the beautiful faces of the children needing families.  Then ask God what He wants you to do about it.

Jet lag is not fun!

I've been to Eastern Europe and back. I did a great job of updating facebook but I never found the time or energy to write a blog post.  The traveling was exhausting! I'm still fighting jet lag.  So for this post all about the trip what I'm going to do is copy and paste my fb statuses and then comment on them where I have more to say. 

Well except of the little mishap of me forgetting my wallet at Jody and Carla's (yes REALLY!!! Carla had to go back for it!) we've made it to the first airport safely. Just a few minutes until we board. Oh and Sara was "randomly selected" for extra security screening. lol

Yeah....I really did forget my wallet.  A huge thank you to my sister in law for driving the 15 mins back to her house to get it for me!

Airplane Selfie!

What a Trip! We made it to B*lgaria Finally! Having supper with the translator in a bit. Soooooo tired right now.

The flights were mostly uneventful except for a rough landing in Frankfurt.  The flight attendant in the back said, "Well THAT can't be normal!" after we had landed. I gave her a hard time about that being the last thing you want to hear from a flight attendant! lol

I've been awake for over 30 hours now so even though it's only 7:30 here I'm going to hit the hay. About 14 hours until I meet Silas! Pray that his heart is ready for this.
Please pray that I have calm nerves tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit sick tonight and I couldn't eat much supper but that's probably because I'm so tired.
Also pray that my body realizes that it's not on a plane anymore. My bed seems to be moving around lol
And thank you for your prayers as I traveled. I hardly had a moment of motion sickness. And that's coming from someone who gets sick on a swing at the Park!
We had a very rough landing in Frankfort. I overheard the flight attendants talking about how terrible a land it was lol . Then the two hour flight to Sofia was very turbulent most of the way. The pilot kept going up and down (maybe to find calm air?) And that was really hard on Sara's ears. They finally popped after supper she said. The good news is no more airplanes until Saturday! Just taxis and walking until then.
Sara is in the tub. She slept a little bit everywhere so hopefully she'll be good as new tomorrow.

 

I think I slept not too badly that night with the help of a sleeping pill.

 

Well visit number one is done. I held him and played with him for about 90 mins I think then it was time for him to go for lunch and nap.
He's a sweet little cuddle bug and I got him to laugh a couple times when I tickled him. His legs are Soooooo skinny and he has scratches on his ears because they are itchy and he won't leave them alone. He also has a big scab on his nose between his eyes that he apparently gave himself.
He made eye contact very briefly twice and that was it. They say he's like that with everyone. He made some noises and said Mama once. Not that he knew what he was saying but he made the sounds for it on his own.
There is no room for us to visit so we're doing it at the top of the stairs in a little hallway type place. Not ideal but we'll make do. Off for the second visit now!

 

Meeting Silas was pretty much as I expected it would be. I was a little surprised at how much he scratched his ears and he did have some anxiety over all the attention.  I was very happy with how cuddly he is.  He loves to be held!

Having the visits where we did was disappointing because I couldn't put him on the floor to crawl around. Normally there would be a special room for us but because the building they were in before is under renovation they're temporarily in a smaller building until that is finished.  At least we had a couch to sit on!

 

Visit number two is in the books ! This time I got to feed him! He ate a huge bowl of peach puree and he ate like a champ. They say he doesn't drink well from a cup but I'm encouraged to see that he has very little tongue thrust. Everyone in the orphanage has been interested in my work and adults with down syndrome and surprised at what kind of life they live and how well they can do. The director was very impressed that I have this kind of experience.
We won't be able to post pictures or video. We had a very long wait in the notary office this afternoon waiting for the notary to come watch me sign a paper saying I wouldn't publish or sell any pictures or video of Silas. lol But if you see me in real life I can show you.Sara Wood has been a champ through all the boring waiting and I'm so glad she's with me!
One thing B*lgaria lacks is fresh air! At least in Plovdiv. Every room we've been to was hot and the smell of cigarettes is everywhere and if not that then perfume ! I can't wait to breathe in some fresh Canadian air!
Our translator is having trouble getting a taxi to pick us up after visits because the orphanage is in a bad area so we have to walk to a better street and catch one there. lol How does that make you feel dad? Haha don't worry, we'll be fine!

 

Ugh, the lack of fresh air drove me crazy the first few days. It either got better or I got used to it.  It didn't help that our hotel room smelled of smoke.  Thankfully on the next trip we'll be staying in a hotel with non-smoking rooms!

 

Visit number three was with a tired little guy this morning. By the end of the visit he was sound asleep in my arms. I may have shed a tear or two at that point. He's so sweet. I might get to feed him again this afternoon.

 

Awww, I got a little weepy when he fell asleep in my arms. I didn't expect him to be that relaxed and it was such an amazing sweet moment that I'll always cherish.

 

Visit number four was harder. Silas is overwhelmed with the attention so I kept this visit quieter. It's hard interacting with him while the translator and the orphanage psychologist watch your every move. I am tired and he is tired. He ended up scratching off one of his scabs and bleeding. So they put a bandaid on it. I'm feeling pretty homesick tonight too. Hopefully a full nights sleep will fix that. The air was a bit fresher today so that was nice. Still nothing like that good old Manitoba air though!

 

Tuesday evening was so hard. I was so homesick and tired. I didn't tell Sara because I knew I'd break down in tears if I talked about it. I had a long soak in the tub and a talk with God then tried to sleep and felt much better in the morning.

 

I'm feeling a little more human today. I might be over the jet lag finally. At lunch today I had some chicken and it was Soooooo good! I wish I was a foodie like Sara Wood.
The morning's visit went very well and Silas fell asleep in my arms again. So sweet. We can't let him down on the floor where we are because of germs so I put toys on one end of the couch and he showed us how he could army crawl towards them! He's pretty quick when he's motivated. lol I'm sure he could sit independently if he had more practice. His little chicken legs can hardly hold his weight but I did manage to get him to take a couple steps in the shoes that are three sizes too big.
We measured him and his feet are only 4" long and so tiny. His chest was 19.5" and he weighed 8.12 kgs and was 31.5" tall when they last took his measurements. His head was 17.5" I think. He is 2.5 yrs old.
When we arrived there was a B*lgarian couple visiting with a little boy with dwarfism whom they're adopting so it's nice to see that. Near the end of our visit some foster parents came to pick up a little girl that they will foster. Our translator said they were talking about me and if I was from abroad and if I was adopting that boy with down syndrome. Also they were talking about how foster parents don't want kids with down syndrome but they were happy that he was being adopted. Of course by then there were about 10 people in this small area watching me. lol It's weird being the one to stick out in the room.
After that we went out for lunch to the same place we ate at yesterday and there was the same girl there today who was also there yesterday eating lunch alone. She's about 10 and speaks English and today she asked us where we're from. I wish I'd talked to her more she seemed like a bright kid.
Then we went out and bought some snacks for the room and bought bus tickets for Friday. Now we're back in the room and Sara is sleeping. Poor girl is sick. I don't know if she'll come to the next visit. I feel a tickle in my throat too. So please pray that we get better !

 

Sara actually started feeling sick on the plane there.  I really believe that it was only because of your prayers that I didn't get sick and she didn't get any sicker than she did.

 

It's Wednesday night here.......I think? I went on the second visit today without Sara because she's getting sicker. We picked up some Bulgarian drugs for her so hopefully they help. I can feel my immune system working on something right now too.
The visit went pretty well. It seems like afternoon visits are harder on him though. I feed him again and this time he threw up a little about 10 minutes after. I'm almost convinced that he has some reflux going on because he does this funny swallowing thing for awhile after he eats. He was supposed to drink some juice from a bottle but he didn't do very well at that. So drinking will be a challenge it seems.
Tomorrow we have to take him in the taxi to get a Visa picture taken so it will be fun to see how that goes. Unfortunately Sara won't be able to come because there won't be room in the taxi. I'm disappointed that she'll miss out on that. She also missed out on the yarn store this afternoon. She said she didn't care but how could you not be sad about missing out on a B*lgarian yarn shop? lol

 

I can see a swallow study in our future. I wasn't liking the sounds he made after he ate. There's something going on there.

 

Silas and I went with the translator and an orphanage worker to the photography store for his visa picture. It took four adults to get the job done but we did it! While the we were waiting for the photographer Silas entertained us with some "singing" and saying "mom mom mom mom" and "mama". The poor little Punkin was worn out and fell asleep in my arms on the way back to the orphanage on the bumpy taxi ride. It's hard to believe that I only have two more visits with him. Tomorrow is going to be so hard.
After lunch we'll go back to the notary and I get to sign more documents! I really should have kept track of all the times I've signed my name since January for this adoption process. lol

 

It was so fun taking Silas in the taxi for the visa picture.  No car seat, no seat belts, just trusting God! And for a third time he fell asleep in my arms.

 

One last night in Plovdiv, one night in Sofia, one night over the ocean and then we're back in Canada. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Silas and I don't want to think about that. Sara is still sick and for the first time this trip she went to bed before me. Good night!

 

I really wasn't looking forward to this last visit but I knew it was coming and I'd have to say goodbye.  Interestingly Silas would not fall asleep for me this time.  He was so tired though but he fought it and stayed awake. Either he didn't want to wake up with me gone like the other three days or he was being a typical two year old! I gave him lots of kisses and snuggles and handed him back over to the lady from the orphanage and said goodbye.

 

We spent one more night in B*lgaria then caught a really early flight home.  We were met by almost the whole family at the airport which was a surprise! Canada welcomed us back with -40C temps and I could have done without that!  I finally got home on Sunday night and I've been fighting jet lag ever since.  Around about 7pm I get this feeling like I've been drugged and must sleep but it's not restful sleep.  And then of course I'm awake at 4 am.  blah  I did some exercise today in hopes that it would help me sleep harder/longer tonight. I sure hope it works.

 

So here are some thoughts on this trip:

1.) The nausea and nerves I was fighting for the two weeks before the trip were totally gone once I drove away from my house.  I also didn't get air sick on any of the flights and didn't catch any bugs the whole time. Only God can explain that.

 

2.) I go back and forth between excitement and stress most days. "Oh my goodness, I'm going to be a Mom! I need to buy clothes and shoes and we'll go on trips together and have so much fun!"  and then there's moments where its, "Oh my goodness, I'm going to be a Mom! I'm going to be responsible for this child who has Down syndrome and that's not scary, but he also has a heart defect which isn't fully repaired and will probably need further surgery and he's on three different meds and how am I going to do this??"

I really have no idea what life will look like when he's home.  The thought of trying to keep him calm and entertained on the long flights home is a bit daunting.  I'll have him for a week in the hotel first though so hopefully he gets a bit more used to being out of the orphanage by the time we get on a plane.  Poor boy is going to have his life turned upside down.  We'll just have to take it one moment at a time.

 

3.) I know that Silas is just as safe in his orphanage than he would be with me because God is watching over him and He is in control. He also has the power to heal Silas' heart and stop his ears from itching too.

 

4.) Having my sister Sara with me was so nice.  I'm glad she was able to come along and keep me company.  She also took all the pictures and video I have of Silas and those have been watched/looked at every day since I left him. It would have been a very lonely trip without her.  She's also coming with me on the next trip!

 

5.) Trip #2 is when I get to bring him home and that will happen in 4-6 mths.  There will be a court date set and a lawyer will represent me and convince a judge that it's in Silas' best interest to come home with me. Once that happens then there's some other stuff that happens and then I can go get him.

 

So that about sums it up! I'm going to be kept busy with Christmas and work and my courses so hopefully these next few months will fly by and I'll have my little guy home!

 

Also a huge thank you for everyone that prayed for us while we were traveling/in country. It means so much that so many of you love Silas even though you haven't met him yet.  Makes me all teary thinking of it really....or maybe that's just the jet lag. ;)  No really, thank you for praying! Please continue to pray that Silas would stay healthy and safe and that God would prepare him for the change that is going to happen in his life.