Week One With Bella And Sophia

We have been pretty busy this past week with Bella and Sophia, but things have calmed down a little. Sophia  has a lot of doctor appointments coming up in the next month. She has had her first check up and at 4 years and 10 months she is 36 inches long and weighs 29 pounds. She is actually longer than I thought she was. I thought she would wear a size 3 pj's, but she is wearing a size 4. Her pediatrician thinks she may not be seeing with her right eye and also thinks she may have CP, in addition to Down syndrome. We will know more after we have had all of our appointments. She is doing well, but we did have a feeding specialist come to our home as Sophia would not take a drop of liquid. She is now taking small amounts by spoon and we are adding milk, water and juice to any food we can. She eats very well. 

Bella has not had her check up yet as she went for a sick visit first. She has an ear infection and is on medication.  She will have her check up the end of this week. She is doing well, though. It is very obvious to me that she has received good care. She really is an amazing little girl considering that she has spent her entire life in an institution. She is eating pretty well -- though she didn't at first. She also did not drink very much her first few days here, and we had to really work hard to get enough liquids in her. I did learn that she hates the sippy cup and doesn't really like a bottle, but drinks best out of a glass or regular cup. So, she is drinking better since I realized this. 

I will just post some pictures from their first week here and update later when we know more.

On Saturday I kept my granddaughter, Reagan, for the first time. Of course, I took some pictures. 

A New Life

Yesterday evening Bella and Sophia arrived from Bulgaria with their escort. Finally, after waiting and planning and hoping --- they are here, and we are so blessed that these girls are a part of our family. It has been a long journey and sometimes frustrating but it was so worth it. I cannot explain to anyone how it felt to see those two girls coming up the ramp in their stroller and knowing that they are finally ours -- ours to hold and love, to teach and to play with and to spend the rest of our lives with. 

We arrived at the airport about 30 minutes early to find that the flight was going to be 25 minutes late. So we  just waited and walked around and goofed off. We were all pretty excited and kept checking and checking to see if the flight information had changed. 

Bethany found two dolls that she begged me to buy for Bella and Sophia, so I bought them. 

Finally, the plane arrived and we saw them being strolled down the gateway.

Everyone was crowded around and we were starting to block other people so before we could get them out of the stroller we had to move out of everyone's way. Then everyone finally got to hold our girls. Since the escort's son-in-law was late arriving to pick her up, we stayed with her at the airport and just took turns holding the girls and just enjoying the moment.

We all went home and gave the girls baths, fed them and got them ready for bed. After each one was rocked for maybe 30 minutes they fell asleep. The escort had told me that Bella slept well, but that Sophia did not and would get up by 4:00 am every morning. I was really hoping that she didn't get up quite so early and she did not. They both must have been very tired as they slept until after 8:00 am. We finally went into their room to see if they were ever going to get up this morning and this is what we saw  --  Bella and Sophia's first morning of waking up in their new room. We are so blessed.

Snow

Last night as I looked out from my front porch this is what I saw. Snow!

It was so pretty and the kids were so excited. Bethany tried to convince me to let her put on her coat, hat and gloves and her boots and go outside --- just so I could take a picture of her, so she said. She knows how to play me, I guess. But, I wouldn't let her do it -- even for the picture. It was too late. So, as soon as everyone had eaten breakfast this morning, and Bethany had gotten her nebs and vest, I let those that wanted to play outside go out. Only Sarah, Caroline and Bethany went. There really wasn't much snow and so the others didn't think it was worth the trouble. 

They stayed out for almost an hour and then came in and changed into warm pj's (because they were so cold) and then had hot chocolate. 

This is all the snow we have gotten this year and it wouldn't surprise me if this is all we get. It was fun for an evening and morning, though. 

Tomorrow evening Bella and Sophia will be here, finally. It has seemed so long since we last saw them. I did have one family, that was traveling, contact me that she had seen my girls at the embassy in Bulgaria, and actually went up and spoke to them. It was so good to just hear something. She said Bella was all smiles but Sophia looked tired. Actually, the escort and our girls are probably at the airport in Sofia right now. It is so hard to believe that they are finally coming! They are almost here!