Hanna is Talking!

Hanna is talking more and more.

On Saturday, Cliff got the kids candy.  He cut Hanna's into bite size pieces and put it on a napkin in the middle of the table.  Then he would dole out a piece at a time.  All the other kids scarfed theirs and left the table with Hanna still sitting there.  Cliff walked away from the table briefly, and I watched to see what she would do.  She definitely wanted to stand up and grab the candy herself, but she knew she was not to do that.  She fought the impulse for a while and then said, "Can I . . . have more . . . dis?"  That is officially her first unprompted complete expressive sentence.  To which I said, "YES!" and immediately rewarded her effort.  Decided not to quibble over the may/can grammar.

Since then, she's been trying more and more.  On Monday after her dental work we were sitting on the couch.  She put her hand on my leg and said, "Dis is Mama."  Then she put her hand on her leg and said, "Dis is Hanna."  Then she looked up at me and said, "Dis is Hanna's Mama."  So sweet.

And tonight she bonked her head on the wall (by accident) and said, "I hurt Hanna," as she rubbed her head.

There have been many other examples.  These are just a few that I remember.

Soccer

When we got home from Ukraine, I signed Oleg up for a soccer.  He had a blast!  Every day he wanted to know how many more days till soccer.  And he's pretty good.  I loved watching him play.  Over the course of the season he got better at working with the other players on the team.  He has good ball handling skills, and he loves to mix it up.  Not so fond of playing goalie or defense.  His team won the league championship.  Over the course of the season, he scored 5 goals.  And he got his first sports trophy.

My pictures are not the best, but you get the idea.  I was a little busy on the sideline keeping up with Lena and Hanna who had very little interest in the games.  If I can get some more pictures from Cliff, I'll add them to the slideshow.

Hanna's Dental

This morning Hanna and I headed to the Children's Hospital Day Surgery Unit for her dental work.  As mentioned before, her procedure had to be done in the hospital due to her small size.

We arrived about 6:25am and got checked in.  Hanna played for about 30min before they called us to go in to take vital signs and medical history.  THAT'S always fun.  Hanna did great with the medical part.  But I have to explain over and over again why I don't know more about her medical status than I do.  Only part of it has to do with the adoption.  At this point, I still don't have the results of the blood tests ordered back in April.

After the medical intake, we went to another waiting area to put on the cute yellow pajamas that they gave her to wear during the procedure.  Waited there for a bit before the doctors started arriving to explain the procedure, get consent, and confirm medical info (again with the explaining why I don't know more than I do).  At 7:25 they took her back to the operating room, and I headed to the family room to eat my breakfast and wait.

At a little before 9am they called me to go to the recovery area.  When I entered, all I saw was a little lump under a thick blanket.  She was still out.  The dentist told me that they didn't have to do the root canal.  She has a crown and several fillings.  She is on soft foods for the next 24 hours, and we need to schedule a follow up in a week or so to check the work and healing.

After the consult with the dentist, the nurse pulled back the blanket, and Hanna woke right up.  She had a tube in her mouth that they quickly removed.  The first thing she said was a groggy, "Hello."  So cute!

The nurse let me pick her up and sit with her in a glider while she checked her vitals again and removed the monitors and tubes.  When I asked her how her teeth felt, she said, "Good."  Within about 15-20 minutes we were heading for the elevator.

We waited for our car (valet parked and validated) then headed home.  We walked in the door a little after 10am.  I got Hanna set up on the couch with some water and yogurt and tv.  At noon, I put her down for a nap.  Then I actually had to wake her up at 3pm to keep her somewhat on her usual schedule.  Once up and after a little time to wake up, she seemed like her usual self.  No complaints.

"You must be . . . ."

It happened again today, and I must say I'm getting a little bit tired of it.  People mean well, but it is down right embarrassing.

"You must be __(insert flattering adjective)__."  Let's see, what have I heard?  Courageous, strong, compassionate, Super Mom, a hero, and many others.  I never know what to say.

The fact of the matter is that I am none of those things.  I appreciate the acknowledgement that my family is doing something that few others do.  But we didn't do this to be recognized for any of those traits.  We did this because we felt, as a family, that we were meant to do this.  NOT doing it wasn't a viable option.

So here's where the real credit lies:  with God.

The courage you see in me comes from Him.  I am a coward by nature.

The strength you see comes from Him.  I am a spineless wimp.

The compassion you see comes from HIM.  I am selfish and protective of my own comfort.

The Super Mom, the hero you see is Christ Himself.  I can't do those things.

God called us to adopt.  We were happy with our lives as they were.

God paved our way and moved mountains for us along the way.

God continues to work in our family as he weaves us together into a beautiful tapestry - much different from what WE thought, but more richly colored and textured than we could conceive.

At times I forget these things, and life gets pretty rough.  I crumble under the weight, wither in the face of difficulty, retreat into self-preservation.  And then I remember. . . .

So when someone says, "I could never do what you do," I firmly believe, "Yes, you could.  IF you are MEANT to do it.  Because when you are meant to do it, you just DO."

Summer is in Full Swing

This morning we put the 3 big kids on a bus to church camp for 4 days/3 nights.  The girls are really excited, as they've gone the last few years and know what awaits them.  Oleg was a bit unsure.  We tried to explain what it would be like, but he seemed to have a hard time with being away from us (particularly me) for 3 nights.  Ultimately, I think he's going to have so much fun that he won't miss us that much anyway.

And the little girls are at occupational therapy day camp while the big kids are gone.  They, too, should have a blast.  Lena is a bit unsure about being away from Oleg, but I think that might only be a problem at night (if at all, really).  I fully expect them to be hungry and tired after all their fun at the farm!

Hanna on Gizmo

Lena on Pony

Blast from Their Past

I debated whether to deal publicly with this and decided that it was better to give a true picture of our journey rather than a sanitized version.  I even held onto this post for several days before publishing.  While some things will arise that are personal and private (and will not be shared), I thought others might benefit from our experience.  My intention is to be real but also fair in my representation of this event. I hope it is taken that way.

You may recall from earlier in the blog that Oleg and Lena participated in a hosting program that brings orphaned children to the U.S. in an attempt to find forever families for them. Our kids had the opportunity to stay with the same family on two occasions - once last summer for 4 weeks and again at Christmas for 2 weeks.  See these previous posts for more info:  Urgent Prayer Needed  and  Meeting older kids.  

Recently that family found our blog and contacted us.  I must admit that it caught me completely off guard. My heart was in my throat, and I felt threatened and protective of my family. I delayed responding for several days as I worked through my emotions and drafted a response. I prayed about it many times, Cliff and I talked about it several times, and I consulted with a social worker at our adoption agency.

Below is an edited version of the email from the family. I removed personal information that would identify them. I also removed the comment from the blog - again, to protect their identity.  The comment is kind and clearly well considered.

Hello, my name is [name] and our family hosted Oleg and Lena last summer and again over the Christmas holiday. We are glad to hear that it is going well for you and you are adjusting to the new normal. We have been praying for you ALL and will continue to do so. If you are open to it, we would love to hear from you how the kids are doing and when the time is appropriate from Oleg. If you choose not to, we understand. We have some of their gifts from Christmas and from Oleg's birthday that I would like to send to them if that is okay. [Name] asked the other day if she could write to Lena. Please let us know what you decide regardless so I know that you got this message. Thanks. May the Lord continue to bless your faithfulness.

In Christ

[Name and contact info]


This was my response:


Dear [Name],

Thank you for your inquiry about the children.  We understand that you share history and good memories of them, and they speak fondly of their time with you.  

At this time we are focused on solidifying our family - as you said, "adjusting to the new normal."  Things seem to be going well, but it does take time.  For now we are keeping things as low key and uncomplicated as possible.  

Thank you for your prayers.  They are most welcome.  We will be in touch, but I cannot predict when that will be.  Please know that we appreciate the love and care that you showed Oleg and Lena when they were with you.  I think it has eased our transition in many ways.

I am awed by the grace and kindness evident in your email.  Thank you for understanding that we need time.  I can only hope that I could be so gracious in your position.

Courtney Johnson

For now, we are not telling the kids about the inquiry. We will. But not yet.  

First Family Photo

Found this among the many cameras/phones that we took to Ukraine.  It is our first family photo.  All 7 of us together at the airport.

Lena's Birthday

Ever since she saw her birthday marked on the calendar, Lena has been talking about it and singing her own versions of Happy Birthday To You.  We also learned that she had never had a birthday party.  That made me a bit apprehensive, as I didn't know what she might be expecting.

Our family tradition is to do dinner out ON the actual birthday and a celebration with family and friends as close to the actual day as possible. Since Lena has no friends yet, we decided to make it family only and take a trip to see Uncle John and Uncle Dan and their families.

So the Sunday before her birthday we met at Pease Park and had pizza and cake. The park has a splash pad and playground for entertainment. You can see from the pictures that she had a great time.  Lena insisted on dressing for her party, and she chose her prettiest dress.


Because we opted for a casual family get together, and we were traveling, the cake was not my normal creation.  I baked it the night before we left.  Big thanks to Aunt Darby for making the frosting.  It was yummy!  We just put it together at the park.  I had to draw the Happy Birthday in with the knife, but as you can see, it worked!


We had a really lovely time at the park.  The weather was good, it wasn't as crowded as I expected, and we got to spend some quality time with family.  The kids were excited to see Uncle John again, as they have only seen him one other time since we got home from Ukraine.

On her actual birthday, I made doughnut holes as a special treat.  I had planned to take her to Clay's Restaurant for her birthday dinner. They have a little farm where you can feed and pet goats, horses, chickens, etc. They also have a huge area to run and play and a large sandbox. Seemed perfect until the temperature climbed to near 100 degrees.  So our second choice was Taco Cabana after she said she wanted quesadillas for her birthday.  You can see from the pictures that we had some fun.

All the kids tried pico de gallo (which they didn't like) and jalapeños (which surprisingly Lena and Oleg DID like).  And we had plenty of time for fun family silliness. At one point Oleg said "I am bathroom," meaning, "I need to go to the bathroom."

I replied, "I thought I smelled something stinky."

Without missing a beat he said, "That is Hanna." I think we all just about lost it laughing.

When we got home from dinner we did cake and presents. The big girls wanted to do the sundae cupcakes for Lena. I think they turned out great. Lena asked for a baby doll, so we made sure she had one. Grandma gave her clothes. The big girls gave her a beach towel with Rapunzel from Tangled. Oleg gave her a water toy for playing in the sprinkler.

All in all a very good first birthday celebration. And in normal kid fashion, she said the next day, "I (wish) mine birthday and presents every day."

Medical Frustrations

I have about had enough of the delays in getting our medical information.  I realize that we likely would have these delays regardless of who was on our medical team, but REALLY.

We got in to the adoption clinic within 3 weeks of coming home.  Apparently THAT was the easy part.  When we left our appointment, we had orders for blood tests.  It took us about 6 weeks to get all the blood tests done.  The reason is due to the number of tests ordered and the fact that our little girls are . . . well. . . . little.  They could only take 11ml from Lena at one time and 7 ml from Hanna at one time.  And then you can only take blood every other day or so.  And the ease with which they can take the blood varies with the skill of the technician, the child's cooperation, and other variables.

The kids were great through the whole blood collection thing.  Oleg only got stuck once.  No problems.  Lena and Hanna were real troopers considering how many times they got stuck.  Neither one pitched a fit or completely refused.  The most we heard from them was a few whimpers and whispered, "Ow, ow, ow."  And neither willingly gave up an arm.  Not sure I could be so brave myself.

We also had to collect stool samples.  Hanna was easy - diaper.  Lena thought it was funny, so she cooperated.  Oleg was another story.  He insisted he was fine and refused for quite some time.  I was preoccupied with getting blood from the girls, so I didn't push it.  I finally got it last week and sent it to the lab.

Yesterday the nurse called to tell me that Oleg has giardia - a parasitic protozoa most commonly found in untreated water.  When I asked, she said the girls' samples were fine.  She called in a prescription, and that should take care of the giardia.  We will have to do another sample to confirm.  Oh, joy!

The big frustration is that we can't get any more of the results until we see the doctor again.  And they wouldn't schedule an appointment until they had all the test results.  I understand why, but this is really dragging out!  I guess if something was REALLY wrong, they would tell us (like the giardia) or schedule us to come in immediately.  So, I'm not really worried.  But they can't see us until July 7th.

I really don't know how other people get their medical stuff done faster.  Our adoption agency requires a medical letter within 1 month of returning home.  There is absolutely NO WAY we could do that.  We are lucky that they accepted a letter from our doctor stating that the children had been seen and studies were pending.  We will have to submit another letter after our appointment stating each child's health status.

So for now we continue to wait. . . .

Every Body Time for Bed

For a child who whimpers every night when we start our bedtime routine and then won't sleep, Hanna is obsessed with playing "bedtime."  Lena taught her a little made up song, and she sings it when she plays.  "Every body poro spot."  You just sing it over and over. . .and over.  

Here's a picture of Hanna playing "bedtime" while lying on a window sill.  As you can see, this is a flexible game.

This morning Hanna changed the song to "Every body time for bed."  She wrapped herself in a blanket, sat in a chair at the breakfast table, and then lay down across another chair.  She sang and sang and sang.  Wish I could have gotten a picture or some video.

Lena's Dental Work

Today Lena had some major dental work done. At her check up (which very well could have been the only dental exam ever done) the dentist identified several cavities and a possible root canal in addition to some items we will need to watch over time.

We arrived at the dentist's office a little after 7 this morning. They finally gave her the sedative about 7:50 and took her back around 8am. I sat in the parent's room and worked on blog updates until the assistant came in about 9:15 to tell me that they were almost done and that they actually had less to do than the expected. Praise God!  And thank you prayer warriors.

A little while later they called me back to talk to the dentist who confirmed what the assistant said.  Then they took me to the recovery room.

Lena was just beginning to stir when I got there.  It took about 30 min for her to wake enough to go home. The funny thing is that when she tried to talk with her mouth numb, she actually spoke more clearly than usual.  Normally she has trouble with r's sounding like l's. I don't remember what she said, but she said it perfectly with her mouth and tongue numb.

She asked for some water and then said she wanted lunch.  That's when we knew she was okay to go home. Once home she ate some vanilla pudding, lay on the couch for about a minute, and then resumed her normal activities.  Thankfully, apart from not liking the numbness, she has had no pain or discomfort at all.