This week with Joshua

One of my favorite pictures, he was wondering if I would follow him, look at that grin.

Joshua also loves putting his little finger in his mouth.

Joshua was wondering what I was doing looking through this camera.

It took a little time but I finally made him smile, the camera was not fast enough

Hello Everyone,

sorry this has been limited on pictures and post. Once I left Pleven I headed with Demetry to Plovdiv my internet connection was not as consistent and the place where I can get connection is usually filled with people smoking . You can really appreciate smoke free restaurants when you are in a smoky filled room.

The view is beautiful and the orphanage is more like an inn from the outside. What gives it away is the playground outside. This orphanage has mostly typical children who actually attend Kindergarten. The director told us that she only has 3 special needs children and all 3 have down syndrome. The good news is that 2 of the 3 have families one being my Joshua. The director stated that Bulgaria was trying to integrate special needs children with typical children so this is why they sent her these 3 children. She stated that she has really enjoyed bringing these children to health especially Joshua who arrived very thin and weak. She stated he was unable to walk when he arrived but they worked with him and it has only been recently that he has learned to walk and climb up the stairs. Joshua will be 7 in April. He still requires someone to feed him and dress him. He does not know how to play with toys and he has no interest. He does still have the orphanage behaviors of rocking and frequently makes faces and plays with his fingers. I was very thankful for the work that the caregivers and director have done because form the pictures they had in 1 year truly made a difference. The director was also very happy and satisfied that Joshua had an experienced family and frequently stated that in the US he would have an opportunity since here no one ever inquired about wanting to adopt him.

Well, please pray for not only Joshua but my children at home (who I miss so so much) and my kids who still reside in the other orphanage. I worry so much that the wait will be to much on little Amelia. The doctor has given special instructions to the orphanage about feeding her 7 times a day and giving her specialized formula that was brought over by my friend Shelly. As you have probably read my other friend Shelleys blog on the condition of some of the children who reside here. Many of these children are the forgotten children and I truly hope and pray that Shelly and I made an impression on the caregivers so that they to can see how much these children need and deserve people to care for them. People learn by actions of others and our actions were truly from our hearts. We love these children and feel 100% without a doubt that our Father wants us to take care of them and love them in anyway we can. Thank you also to Dr Lilova, our faciliator and the MOJ of Bulgaria for bringing these forgotten children out. Pray pray pray.

Traveling now to the mountains.

Driving to the village

Visiting with the children-photos

Jeremy after I put him in his new clean PJs

Trying to get a family photo was not to easy but lots of fun

Madelaine holding Amelia

Sweet kiss for a sweet girl

My Precious Sophia

Friday

Mommy and my girls

Amelia and Mommy

Look at Amelia's eyes...just beautiful

Amelia loves putting her little finger in her mouth

Jeremy looking to see what new toys are coming out of mommy's backpack

Hi Everyone,

Here are a few more photos.

Thursday visits

Hi Everyone,
The children are doing well. The children are becoming accustomed to our visits. They seem more relaxed. Little Amelia loves this bouncy seat that I bought her here in Bulgaria. It is a great sturdy one. Today we spent some time dropping off donations of diapers, crib toys and baby wipes. I also read cards written to Amelia by a wonderful 6th grade class that their teacher sent to me. I still have to download those pictures but will as soon as I have a chance. I was also very lucky to meet Jeremy's Baba these Babas (meaning grandmother) are volunteers who spend 2-3 days a week with the children. They feed the children and take them for walks. This is a true blessing for these children. Not all of them have Babas since this is still a new program.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Hi Everyone,
These 2 days have been filled with visits in the morning and the evening. Every morning the staff brings down the girls to the therapy room were all the boys are. Shelly is adopting 2 boys but during the morning one (Keagan) is in school so she goes to visit him. Madeline and I stay playing with Jeremy, Teagan, Sophia and Amelia.
My computer has not been very helpful so i do apologize with the limited writings. I did want you to know that Monday we spent over 6 hours not only visiting our children but also feeding and changing other children's diapers. We have been able to hold other orphans and even inquire about their availability for adoption. I believe that there are many families who would love to adopt these children if they became available or even known to the adopting community. I feel without a doubt that we need to help these orphanages but I also especially now feel stronger that these children cannot live in these places. It is a prison and this children deserve the basic right to a family. I will explain more later. Here are some pictures of the children Enjoy, pray pray pray.

We met the children.

It was such an awesome experience. We will be visiting the girls once a day since Lilliana (who we will call Amelia) still requires medical care. She has an IV and is receiving antibiotics. I know you want to see pictures so here they are.

How thrilled I am to be in the children's country! Bulgaria !

Hello Everyone,
The trip was 25 hours. It included 4 planes with one stop to Washington DC and another to Viena Austria. When we arrived on Saturday 12:45pm it was somewhat cold and we were TIRED. I am here with Shelly and Madelaine (Madelaine is her 14 year old daughter). They are adopting 2 little boys from the same orphanage. This morning we traveled to our children's city (it was almost 3 hours). The weather is cool but due to it being sunny...it is very tolerable. We had a wonderful driver and he told us all about his country. Once we arrived to our new hotel we started sorting all the orphanage's donations. As Shelly states, " we are nesting international style". The formula was donated by the the nutritionist at the hospital where Carrington had received her care. That was only one small portion of formula, she had another entire suitcase full!
Thank you for those wonderful moms on at the Triangle Down syndrome network who also sent me some donations to hand out to the children. I also want to thank our childrens' dentist Triangle Pediatric Dentistry who doanted tons of toothpaste! So now I want to leave you a few pictures of the hotel, us nesting, our room, and the Balken Mountains that were beautiful. Tomorrow we will wake up and go see the children for the FIRST TIME. I cannot wait. Please keep us in your prayers and please keep our wonderful families who stayed behind in your prayers. Both of our husbands have truly been encouraging and are excited about us seeing our children tomorrow.