7 Post in 7 Days.... Day 4

Leo Maximus.

Probably our biggest "surprise" of this adoption.

We had the benefit of "meeting" (over the internet) two families who had adopted from Leo's baby house and had seen/met our little guy.

We were told he was VERY anxious, nervous, sensitive, often crying, and did NOT like strangers...

In fact I have a short video from another boy's dad a few months before we met him where the dad (who had been visiting his son every day and saw Leo every day also because they were in the same groupa) tries to say "hello" to Leo and Leo would have NONE of it...

Well we have had some sensitive boys in this house so we were ready...

And then Leo met his Daddy...

It was immediate.

When Daddy had to go back home while we had to wait for our court decree, Leo kept asking for him and we kept saying "papa home and we go on airplane and he will get us with car"

Leo repeated this (in Russian) at least 10 times a day before we left....

In between being introduced to fries (which he loves with major ketchup)...

Leo eats well, sleeps well, speaks well...

But most important,

He LOVES well.

He LOVES his papa, then me, then his brothers and sisters...

He LOVES talking to his grandparents on the phone or looking at pictures with them...

He LOVES reading books and tries to repeat all the words after (or during!) you read them to him...

He truly has a smile on his face about 98% of the time...

Leo has a little surgery coming up this summer to fix up his cleft lip repair and then will have another surgery about age 10...

But a lip is an easy fix... 

We are so blessed that his heart is healing in our family and that it shows on his face every single day.

7 Posts in 7 Days... Day 3.

Yana.

Our youngest child is Yana Faustina, she will be 2 in May.

Although she THINKS she is about 12 :-)

You might be tempted to think, "Well she was only in an orphanage for such a short time, everything will be just fine!"

Well....

Yana was a preemie and spent several months in the hospital before she went directly to the orphanage where she spent her whole life...

She did not speak at all when we met her (she now says "mama" "papa" and "Teh-Tuh" for Tessa)

She has night terrors and sleepwalks several times a week.

Yesterday's nap time (like most of them) included her screaming and thrashing when I began to rock her in the chair of the bedroom, her squirming off my lap to go lay on her bed, then 20 seconds later she sits up and looks at me...

I say "you can come rock with mama" and she smiles and jumps out and runs to me and holds her arms up for me and I pick her up and she buries her face in my neck and hugs me with all her might...

We rock for 20 blissful seconds...

Then the screaming and thrashing and trying to get down begins again...

Because for 20 months she was never held or rocked to sleep...

So she wants it... She craves it...

But she is not used to it and sometimes cannot deal with it.

But she has a persistent mama. 

I let her down again.

She comes back AGAIN.

Then when the thrashing and screaming begins again I stand up and bounce her and sing a version of the lullaby I sang to all my fussy babies... But this time it has a few Russian phrases thrown in... And in about 5 minutes her whole body relaxes... I slow the bounce and end the song and snuggle her in bed and leave, counting this nap time as another small moment of healing...

Which we add onto this one...

And this one...

And this one.

And patiently wait for the day when all OUR moments will drown out THOSE moments.

7 Posts, 7 Days.... Day 2

Reminders.

I was ready to jump in with the update on our family, especially our newest additions, when my eyes caught on this on the whiteboard in my kitchen...

My 9yo Ella drew this soon after Henry died, it is Henry in heaven and her visiting him on a cloud and saying "in heaven i can do whatever I want" ... I used to post our daily menu and other scheduling notes and little encouraging phrases there, but now this has been there for over a year... I can't remove it.

I also can't remove this from my mudroom...

That was my favorite jacket for Henry that made him look like a little polar bear.

This is above my desk area.

This is pinned on my cork board.

And this is in my living room...

This statue of a sorrowful Mary holding... Or frankly almost SHIELDING...baby Jesus spoke to me when I saw it at Our Lady of the Universe Shrine in Orlando, Florida last June on a trip to visit a dear group of fellow adoptive Momma's...

It seems to me that this statue captures the moment right after Mary heard Simeon tell her that her baby boy would someday die for us... And she clutches him close, realizing that she could not, indeed should not, change that... 

I feel that Our Lady understands my loss and shares her compassion and just a bit of her strength with me...

So thank you for letting me share these reminders of Henry... Tomorrow we move on... One day at a time... Just as God calls us to....

7 posts, 7 days.... Day 1

So Jen over at www.conversiondiary.com has inspired me to give you guys 7 in 7...

This will be a challenge because, as you can imagine, we have been extremely busy with our newest three...

At the moment we are at the dentist waiting for my 9yo...

So I have about 37 seconds to finish this first post on my phone :-)

This week I will give you updates on all three, how our family is adjusting, the medical issues we are dealing with, etc.

And, of course, this would not be "Bringing Henry Home" without some major orphan advocacy...

Please go here and SEE Nathaniel...

http://reecesrainbow.org/73458/nathaniel-3

This precious child SHOULD have been adopted almost 3 years ago when he was a bit over age one...

But evil intervened and I remember messaging with his devastated momma while Henry was in the hospital...

She was told he was dying and would NOT be available for international adoption just weeks before leaving to bring him home to medical treatment he desperately needed...

Just weeks ago we found out Nathaniel is alive and now cleared for adoption and in even more desperate need of a shunt to treat his hydrocephalus... He is likely often in pain due to the pressure in his skull... 

Because his condition is so advanced they do not have the capability to do this surgery in his (and Henry's and my newest three's) country...

PLEASE he needs a family so soon, his region often transfers from the baby house to the institution at age 4!!!

Nathaniel needs to be rescued as soon as possible! Please email me at Dobspc@aol.com if you feel the call and want further information!!