One Stitch at a Time

Language Development Issues

2012-01-24T19:48:00.003-06:00

So, I am not sure where to even start so here goes... Sasha is very behind in his language development. He is now a little over 3 years old and I would say that he has the language skills of someone closer to having just turned 2, if even that. I was fully aware that he might be a little behind after coming home from the orphanage. We were told that typically, for every 3 months they spend in an institution, you can predict that they will be 1 month behind developmentally. Well that puts him at about 6 months behind but he is way more behind than that. I guess I was fairly naive about where his language would be and where he would be after being home for over a year and half. To me, something seems not right but then again, I can't say that I have much knowledge in this area. Yes, I am a special ed teacher but I have never worked with kids that have come from institutions.

Every one that works with Sasha says that everything is fine and he is progressing as he should. We have been told repeatedly that it takes time. His doctor, his two speech pathologists, his special ed teachers, his geneticist, his neurosurgeon... nobody seems the least bit concerned expect his dad and I. Now this is probably where most people would say well then just stop worrying. But the thing is, these people aren't with Sasha everyday. Some, such as his geneticist and his neurosurgeon, haven't seen him since he came home. We are with Sasha everyday and to us, it just seems like he should be able to communicate better by this point. Sometimes as well, I feel that people don't expect as much from Sasha. They see his physical limitations and automatically assume that he has cognitive difficulties as well. As far as we can tell from all the tests that he has had, there are no cognitive issues that should be causing any of his language difficulties... supposedly it is all from being institutionalized for the first 18 months of his life.

If this is true, how long does it take for these kids coming out of these institutions to typically catch up? Does it usually take months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years... will it ever happen because to be completely honest, sometimes I wonder if he will ever catch up. I understand no one can tell me exactly how long it will take Sasha. It would be so helpful to hear though from people who have been in this position or who have worked with kids like Sasha. I guess I just need some answers or some clarification as to what the norm is here. Is it normal for him to be this far behind? Does is truly take years and years to catch up?

Everything seems to check out fine with him. His hearing is outstanding... in fact, he is a master at imitating sounds. If he hears a paper rip from across the room, or tapping on a table... basically any sound, he can imitate it perfectly and loves to do it. I guess this comes from sitting in his crib all the time listening to all the sounds in orphanage and finding ways to entertain himself. It's really quite impressive what he can do. His oral structure appears fine... there doesn't seem to be any physical reason why he is struggling. Pretty much everything checks out. I do worry about something his neurosurgeon said after he first came home. Sasha has craniosynostosis so he had to have a scan when he first came home to make sure that his brain was not being pushed on in certain parts because of his abnormal bone structure. His neurosurgeon said everything looked great and that he did not need surgery. He did say that we should keep our eye on things in the future, just to be safe and if we ever heard him complain about headaches a lot or if he was struggling in school, that we should have him checked out again to make sure everything still checked out okay. Well, now I am wondering if his language development difficulties have to do with this rather than the fact that he had been in an orphanage. My husband isn't concerned about this and thinks that his brain is just fine. I guess if I knew that what he is dealing with in terms of his language, truly is typical, then I wouldn't worry about this.

In terms of the help he gets... I work with Sasha at home a lot and have been since he got home. He also goes to preschool fives times a week now which he started in November. Since starting preschool he has definitely improved which is reassuring but is still so far behind in my opinion.

Here are a few examples of where he is at...
1. He can say thank you, please, your welcome, hi, bye, night night, I love you, more, again, get down, potty, Elmo, Fire(for his Kindle Fire), chocolate, cottage cheese, banana, muffin, milk (more like gilk), water(more like "why you"), mama, daddy, what, car, button, kiss, cuddle, Cars 2... I could go on and on but basically he says one word things from his daily world.
2. He can sing the ABC's and when presented with flashcards, only typically misses about 7 letters out of the whole alphabet.
3. He can count to 10, usually.
4. He can say and identify some colors and shapes.
5. He does not put words into sentences. He simply speaks in one or two word phrases.
6. He cannot hold a conversation.
7. He can understand when you ask him a question but can't always answer it.
7. Yesterday I heard someone singing the lyrics to the song on the radio perfectly. I thought it was Brooks. I looked back and it was Sasha! That was a nice surprise.

That's basically where he is at. Like I said, he is a little over 3 and he has been home from the orphanage for about 20 months now after spending his first 18 months there. So, is this typical? Is this where he should be? Should I be concerned? What should my realistic expectations be? Any and all help, suggestions, prayers for Sasha's growth in this area... any thing at all would be so helpful at this point because I am feeling a bit lost here. Thank you!!!

Sasha's 3rd Birthday

2012-01-17T13:57:00.023-06:00

Here is one of my catch up posts as Sasha had his third birthday way back in October. I didn't want to leave out this post though. Last year, Sasha's first year home with us, we threw him a huge party... the party he had never had. His birthday had never been celebrated, not even on his actual day of birth, so we wanted to give a party like he had never seen! It was wonderful. He loved it and we loved it. This year, I became a bit nostalgic and sad that I was not there on his actual day of birth... such an unbelievable time between a mother and a child. So, I decided that this year, we would have a very small, intimate party with just us. This too was wonderful and just what we needed. Sasha loved it and was so excited when he woke up from his nap and saw the house decorated with his favorite red guy, Elmo! Here are the pics from that special day...

He was so excited when he woke up from his nap and saw the house was transformed for his party. He was beaming! I'll never forget the look on his face... what a joy!

The cake I made him. I am not a big fan of a lot of food coloring, so this was my solution. To not have the whole cake be a big giant red monster but rather to just put his face on top. Sasha loved it!

Admiring his cake...

Pointing out his cake, in case I had not seen it...

Checking to make sure he has a birthday banner up, just like his brothers, in the exact spot the others were placed. Such a smartie!

Such a cutie!

Our perfect little party. Sasha had one of his favorite treats for dinner too... mac n cheese!

Such a cute older brother!

He was pretty excited to be the center of attention while we were singing Happy Birthday!

Sasha actually ate his cake this year! Last year he wouldn't touch it.

Brooks tried to get Sasha to eat his cake on his own, like this..

Heath tried too...

Daddy tried too but alas, all the attempts were unsuccessful. Sasha just laughed at them!

Elmo pinata before it got smashed. It was kind of sad hitting Elmo... I mean, look how happy he is!

His brothers got him a candy jar filled with his favorite treats, M&M's! He loved that!

An Elmo costume for Halloween!

An Elmo shirt... what's not to love!

This was his big gift... an "aquarium" (that plugs in & doesn't require food or water changes, yay!) from Gram & Pa. He loved it as did his brothers as well! This is from the next day... Sasha couldn't get enough of it!

Telling me all about everything he sees...

Kindle Fire

2012-01-03T19:52:00.008-06:00

First, let me start off by saying that I am really behind on my blogging and for that I apologize. Sasha has a wonderfully large group of supporters out there who mean so much to us and my intention has always been to keep blogging so everyone can watch his progress and growth. Sometimes, things get a little busy though and before you know it... it has been 2 months since a blog has been written! So, instead of getting stressed about all the things I haven't posted but wanted to... I am going to just try and start blogging again from where we are at now and if I get to the previous posts eventually, then all the better! So where are we now? Well the post I wanted to start off this new year with is about a gift that Sasha received for Christmas.

As you can see by the post title, Sasha received a Kindle Fire for Christmas and it has been wonderful for him. These types of touchscreen devices like the Fire, the I-Pad, etc. are absolute blessings for individuals with limb differences such as Sasha's. They can do so much on them and are not hindered in the slightest because of a limb difference. Independently, he can play all sorts of educational games (which is great for working on his language skills!), read book, have interactive books read to him by the device, watch movies/tv shows... the list goes on and on. Here are some pics and videos of Sasha and his Fire...

Playing the piano at his desk...

Working on that alphabet...

Loving the new red case that holds it upright...

Oh, & did I forget to mention that the other boys each got a Fire as well (well not daddy but the little ones... oh and me as well)! Thanks Ami & Papi for the Fires & thank you Gram & Pa for loading all of them up with great material! The boys are very happy (as am I)!

I just had to add this one in because he is just so cute... plus, it shows just how big he is getting. This was taken on New Year's Eve. Doesn't he look so much older?!

Working on his shapes & letters... sideways of course. He loves to push all the wrong answers before he pushes the right one, even though he knows it... that little bugger! Look at that smile!

Concentrating hard on his alphabet...

Sasha loves Go Dog Go & was so excited to read it on the Fire. He was flipping through the pages like crazy & kept going back to his favorite page where they go around & around on the ferris wheel.

A little song on the piano to close this post...

Shriners, Helper Arm & Helper Legs

2011-10-29T14:41:00.012-05:00

We headed back up to Shriner's this past week to pick up Sasha's new helper legs and helper arm. He had been fitted for them about a month ago during our last visit. We had a such a great time as a family... it was a little mini vacation for us. We had to stay two days this time so they could put on the new equipment and adjust it, fix some things as needed and so that he would have time to work with the OT and PT. He did great. I honestly did not think that he would want anything to do with any of it but I couldn't have been more wrong. He blew everyone away with how much he accomplished in those two short days. He stood on his own, with no one holding him or helping him, the very first time they put the helper legs on! That was unbelievable! I wish I had a picture of it but he actually stood without holding onto anything or anybody for about five minutes. We were blown away. This is all so hard for him. He has never been in that position before in his life, and it takes so much strength and stamina to stay in those helper legs in an upright position and he did better than we could have ever hoped for. We were all so proud of him!

I can't say that he really likes his helper legs too much but the fact that he not only let us put them on but then worked on standing in them says a lot. Who knows, maybe they will work for him and he will want them to be a part of his life... maybe not. It's his decision but right now we just have to get him used to it so he can make an informed decision as he gets older. His helper arm on the other hand...

Wow, this totally shocked me. I thought he would HATE his helper arm and not want anything to do with it. I couldn't have been more wrong. He LOVES it, absolutely LOVES it! He loves the cane attachment because it allows him to play in an upright position in a way he hasn't been able to before. He can roll balls back and forth, smash playdough, etc. It has opened up a whole new world for him! He doesn't mind having it on at all which is so great. The funny thing about the cane is that I never intended it to be something that could help him play when I had originally asked for it but he came up with some great ways to use it. I had originally asked them if they could make him a crutch/cane type attachment to help him scoot faster around the house. They kind of gave me a funny look when I asked since it really hadn't been done before but they did it... and it turned out great! Not only will he be able to use it for scooting but now, playing as well! We are so excited about this.

His helper arm is pretty neat. You can screw different attachments in and out, depending on his needs. Right now we have a cane attachment and an elbow type attachment that has a clip that can hold spoons, crayons, etc. It is really neat, really lightweight (which is great) and such a blessing. I couldn't be more grateful for all the wonderful people at Shriners who have provided all this equipment for our son. Here are some pics from our trip up there...

Standing in his new helper legs for the first time. Look at that stance... looking so cool Sasha!

Happy boy!

Sitting for the first time with his new helper legs. He is so cute! Do you notice how his feet are backwards? His prosthetist asked if we would be okay with him doing this as it would help him with his balance. He said some parents refuse because they don't like the way it looks. We assured him that we did not care about how it looked... if it helps him to stand better, then go for it! It's not like we don't get stared at every single moment of every single day already, LOL! Now we will just have people shaking their heads thinking, "That poor child, his parents don't even know how to put on his legs properly". Too funny!

I love this pic. He's just so cute!

Rolling the ball to mama. He has never been able to roll the ball back and forth in an upright position. This was a big moment for him and he LOVED it!

Trying out the spoon attachment for the first time. He can't wait to get those M&M's in his mouth! He did it over and over and over again. He worked so hard!

Day 2 at Shriners... working with the PT.

Still working hard...

Rolling the ball with his favorite attachment, the cane.

Working hard for some M&M's...

Practicing with some yogurt. SO proud of him!

Using and loving his arm in his home environment...

Scooting Sasha

2011-10-12T15:58:00.003-05:00

Here is the long awaited video of Sasha scooting! He is still slow & steady but this little clip will give you an idea of how he moves upright. He works very hard while practicing his scoot & LOVES to be rewarded with chocolate! Pretty soon, before we know it, he'll be scooting all over the place! What a blessing that will be for him as it opens up so many more opportunities.

Brooks Turns 3!

2011-10-07T13:38:00.015-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Brooks Woodrow celebrated his 3rd Birthday! He had a wonderful day and a small party... just the way he likes it. Brooks is more like me in that he is very shy and reserved and really doesn't like to be the center of attention. So, unlike his brother Heath who would invite anybody and everybody to his party, Brooksy prefers very small parties. So we had one of his friends come over, his Gram flew in for the occasion, we made a menu full of his requests and created a cake that he had requested months ago. It was a sweet party for one of the most wonderfully sweet, kind, caring, appreciative little boys I know. Brooks is our love bug. He loves getting kisses and cuddles and loves giving them back. He loves his family fiercely and tells me throughout each and every day things such as this... "I love you Mama," "You're my best friend Mama," "I will take care of you," "I will never leave you," "Thank you for this delicious food,"... the list could go on and on. Brooks is filled with love and shares that love with his family and we all feel very blessed that he is a part of our family.

Brooks had been asking for months (basically since Heath's birthday) for a "T-Rex volcano cake". Here is what I came up with. He was quite excited!

That T-Rex better stay away from the cake... I spent a lot of time creating that for Brooks!

Brooksy's Spread

Seeing his cake for the first time after waking up from his nap. He was SO excited! He loved that is was "exploding fire!".

Posing in his new birthday shirt in front of his cake. Unfortunately, the woman who made it put the wrong number on it. No worries though, he didn't even notice and the correct one arrived a few days later.

Blowing out the volcano...

Playing in the sandbox with his friend Taylor (they were born only a few days apart). They love that sandbox!

A last minute purchase. The boys loved it!

Heath trying his best but eventually... daddy had to finally break it open!

Present Time!

We love you Brooks Woodrow!

Sasha's Coloring!

2011-09-16T13:23:00.009-05:00

Yesterday was a big day in our house... huge! Sasha learned how to color! I had asked his OT & PT a couple of weeks ago if they could make him a cuff that would hold a crayon the would point straight out. Well, it arrived yesterday and it was a hit! We never know with Sasha if he is going to like an adaptive device... normally he prefers not to use any sort of adaptive device and gets pretty mad if you try to get him to try something. He loved his new crayon/marker holder though, once he knew what it was for. He has been seeing his brothers color for the past year and all the kids at church as well. He has never been able to participate though. But now he can and he loves it! He was SO excited and so was I. In fact, I am not quite sure who was more excited! So, of course, like any excited parent, I took a bunch of pictures and videos of this exciting moment in our lives...

The best picture I have ever seen for so many reasons!

I love this video for two reasons... 1) that Brooks calls his drawing "A Brownie T-Rex Night Fury". How cute is that? 2)Brooks comes in like a typical 2 year old... barreling in and scribbling all over. Sasha on the other hand is being very precise and taking his time. He is really thinking about what he wants to create and that is how he was the entire day. Love it!

If you watch closely in this video, you will see Sasha making circles. Right when he started coloring, he was attempting to make circles (which are actually really good) and color them in. Pretty impressive Sashi Bashi!

Finishing up his masterpiece later in the day...

Jackson Hole Trip

2011-08-29T09:35:00.035-05:00

We were blessed again this year to go to the Jackson Hole, WY area for vacation. We have some very generous and wonderfully sweet friends who let us stay at their family cabin at no cost. What a blessing that is for our family right now! I cannot even begin to tell you how much that means to us. We had a wonderful vacation together as a family and created a lot of beautiful memories! Jeremy's parents, Ami and Papi, were able to join us again this year which was wonderful. They live far away from us so it is nice when we can get together. We were also blessed to have our very good friends, the Edwards, come out this year! We had not seen them for almost two years so it was very nice that we were able to get together and have all our kids hang out together! Here are some pics of our time together...

Jeremy doing his best Vanna White impression of the cabin which is right outside of Jackson Hole in a town called Thayne.

Brooks having a grand ol' time while we were at the park in downtown Jackson Hole! We were entertaining ourselves while we were waiting for our friend's plane to arrive.

Heath was the uber tourist. He loves anything to do with the outdoors and was having a blast in Jackson Hole. He bought the ultimate tourist shirt (I wish we had put it on for this pic) and a coonskin hat to round out his look. He looked so cute in fact that a little later in the day, a tourist from Japan asked to take her picture with him!

The family... minus me who was taking the pic.

The first couple of days were rainy so we stayed around the cabin and hung out. The boys are thoroughly enjoying the game room in this pic!

Heath and Max fully enjoying the mountain rain!

Ami celebrated her birthday at the cabin. We had a lovely family dinner together and then some cake and ice cream. Ami sure looks excited! Someone has a sweet tooth!

Brooks, Sasha and I enjoying Ami's birthday dinner.

On one of the days, we headed down to Logan and Odgen Utah to check them out. We are looking for places to move after Jeremy is done with his residency and Ogden has been on our radar for awhile. So we headed down to look at the area and ended up loving it. Here is a pic of Ami, Heath and I in downtown Odgen.

Vern, Graham and I downtown. I was so excited to visit the downtown area because one of my favorite TV shows is Everwood which was filmed right in the heart of downtown Ogden. A little cheesy I know but what can I say... I was excited!

Ogden has an amazing dinosaur museum and park so we headed there after checking out downtown. Here is Heath doing his best dino impression! After visiting the dinosaur park, he declared that he wanted to move to Ogden... kids are very easy to please sometimes!

Brooks was just in awe of these dinosaurs...

Rest break before heading to the outdoor part of the park. Heath is still being a dinosaur... in fact, now that I think about it, he spends a lot of his time being a dinosaur on a daily basis, LOL!

Brooks and Max about to be eaten by a dinosaur!

Heath hamming it up!

Broosky heading down a slide at the park that was inside a tree trunk. They spent a lot of time on this slide!

Sasha heading down the slide. He loved this slide! Can you tell?

Heath heading out for the hike at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. We love this area. It is so unbelievably beautiful! We can't wait until we can move somewhere closer to the mountains so the kids can go hiking more often and really explore the outdoors.

Brooks and I heading out on the hike.

The Edwards Clan

Heath and Max exploring the Jenny Lake shoreline.

"Wow, this hiking thing can sure be tiring" little Sashi Boo.

We always have a blast on the ATV's there. Here is Brooks pretending to ride one. Too cute!

Brooks pretending to give Sasha a ride...

I love this pic!

Can't forget us... we had fun on the ATV's too!

Right before our friends had to catch a flight, we headed out to the alpine slide in Jackson Hole. Here is Sasha and his daddy heading up the chairlift to the slide.

Heath and I getting ready to hop off the chairlift.

All of us getting ready to head down the alpine slide. I love this pic because our friend Bill's face says it all. He was determined to go on the slide but that decision, that ill fated decision, made them miss their plane. He knew they were running late here and you can just see it in his face!

All the boys together. I love this pic because when we all became friends just 7 short years ago, we didn't have any kids. Now look at us. We have 5 boys between us! Very cool!

This is what it is really like trying to get five boys to all smile for a picture! They like to go a little crazy so most pics look like this!

The Group Shot...
What a great trip!

Look Who is Feeding Himself!

2011-07-08T15:29:00.002-05:00

It just keeps getting better!

God Moves Mountains

2011-07-03T14:25:00.003-05:00

For us, the eating issues with Sasha had become like a mountain and we were struggling. That is why I finally reached out on this blog a week ago because I just didn't know what else to do. I just needed to let it all out and hope that we would receive some inspiration, advice and prayers. Wow, did we ever! Sasha has touched numerous lives all over the world and has people praying for him all over the world. Well, this past week, God heard those prayers and he has moved mountains in our house! I cannot believe the incredible changes he started to make less than 12 hours after I wrote that post.

This week has been so full of amazing moments that I can only describe it as a God thing. What has happened this week has been nothing short of a miracle. Sasha went from where he was (struggling in so many areas regarding food, eating only soft foods that are easy to swallow, etc.) to eating muffins, hot dogs, string cheese, hard boiled eggs, drinking water and milk out of anything I put it in, eating out of my hand, trying everything I offer him, asking for more things to eat by saying the name of the item rather than just screaming... seriously the list could go on and on.

God has moved mountains in our house. He has heard your prayers for our son and for that we couldn't be more grateful. Thank you all so much for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. As you can see, it really does make a difference!

Sasha Is On A Roll

2011-06-25T21:25:00.004-05:00

Good golly... Sasha has been on a roll these last 12 hours! Not only did he eat pasta out of my hand today but tonight he did something else extraordinary. After dinner, we had family movie night. When Sasha saw his dad opening a bottle of water, he yelled "Daddy! Daddy!" We asked if he wanted the water... never thinking in a million years that he would say yes. But he did and then he did something he has NEVER done before... he drank out of the water bottle and loved it! He loved it so much that he drank almost all the water! He did not want to stop.

This is extraordinary because Sasha is very stubborn and very particular about what he drinks and how he drinks. He only wants milk. He hates it (well at least he did) when we give him water. He will only drink water if he is extremely thirsty (which was not the case tonight), otherwise he will just take a sip and push it away angrily. So the fact that he asked for water tonight and then drank so much of it was just crazy! Also he will only drink from things that have been Sasha approved, which is either the type of sippy cups we started him on when he first came home last year or the straw cups he has since graduated to the last few months. He will rarely drink out of anything else. But tonight that all changed! And he did such a good job with the water bottle. He knew exactly what to do which can't be easy for a child who only drinks out of sippy cups or straws. So for us, this was quite an extraordinary night! Thank you for keeping us in your prayers... it has made such a difference! Here are a couple pics of his newest accomplishment.

Thank You!

2011-06-25T15:19:00.004-05:00

Thank you all so much for all the advice, encouragement and support so far!!! It has helped a lot to just hear your stories and to read all the different ideas posted. There must have been a lot of prayers too for Sasha and our family last night because he did something quite extraordinary today (well, extraordinary for us anyway) and he wanted to share a video of him to show everyone. Thank you again!

Oh, and this is what the KLOVE Encouraging Word of the Day was today when I opened my email. Funny how things work like that!

Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.
~ Proverbs 19:20

Food & Eating... So Many Issues, Help Please

2011-06-24T20:22:00.006-05:00

This was a hard post for me to write because I have a hard time asking for help. But I have been putting it off long enough so here goes. Sasha has been home for just over a year and we are still having so many issues surrounding his eating habits and food. I honestly thought it would have gotten better by this time... well to be fair, it has gotten better but it is still extremely difficult. Out of all the issues he could have come home with after being institutionalized for the first 18 months of his life... this is really the only one he has and for that we are grateful. But it is still very difficult and now I am turning to my blog for some much needed advice. I don't even know where to start because there are just so many things. Please if anyone has any ideas at all about any of this... either ideas about helping or just if you have been in the same position and want to give some support... please, please just leave a comment. I would greatly appreciate any help and encouragement we can get.

I know that as you are reading this, some might think that Sasha is just trying to control the situation or us... which I am sure he is to an extent. But when it comes to food, especially when you have a child that is so emotionally sensitive about everything involving food, there is only so much you can do in terms of being strict. We have also tried to get help from our OT and another OT that specializes in issues such as Sasha's to no avail. We are basically on our own and that is why I am asking other adoptive parents out there for help. So please, I welcome any and all advice and encouragement at this point. Here are the main issues we face on a daily basis...

*Sasha still refuses to have any independence at the table. At the beginning, I completely understood this. He needed to gain our trust and we were more than willing but now it has been over a year and I am a little frustrated. I am frustrated that he simply does not want to do anything himself. He can drink out of his cup himself but he won't. Even if the straw is in his mouth, he will not drink unless we get involved. He will scream and yell help or please until we give in. Most of the time we don't but honestly, when he is begging "please" and "help"... sometimes it is hard.
Usually, if he doesn't stop the behavior, we just send him to his room for a timeout but truthfully, it is not working. He will stop crying and then when we bring him back to the table, it starts all over again. This has been going on for months and months and months... a long time! He gets so dehydrated during the day so it is hard when we see him refusing to drink when we KNOW he can. He will on occasion but it is few and far between.

As far as eating independently, we are not even close. Not one bit. He has refused any sort of adaptive device his OT or we have made him. He will not even try to feed himself with or without an adaptive device. I would think at some point he would want that independence. Am I wrong to think that he would want this, especially after a year of being home?

*Sasha still refuses to chew. He knows how to chew. He loves his chew stick he got from his OT and displays, through this activity, that he knows how to chew. But when it comes time to eating, he just won't. He will mush stuff around in his mouth and then if it gets stuck on the roof of his mouth, which it often does, he will then ask for some milk to help wash it down. But he will not chew it. This is still limiting his food choices greatly. If he thinks he won't like it or that he will have to chew too much he does one of two things. He spits it out right away or he locks his mouth shut so we can't even get him to try it. There is only so much yogurt, oatmeal, cottage cheese, pasta (you get the point) a boy can have... he has got to graduate to other stuff at some point.

*Sasha will not take any food by hand. Everything, absolutely everything, has to be given to him on a spoon. If we try to feed him things by hand, he locks his mouth shut and refuses to open it. We have tried everything from the baby things that just melt in your mouth, to cookies, to ice cream, to sandwiches... seriously, we have tried it all and to no avail. How do you get a child to try things when they just lock their mouth shut or spit out the food (if we are extremely lucky to actually get it in his mouth)? I know some people might say just don't give in and do this day after day but I have two problems with this thinking when it comes to Sasha... he has too many, way too many, emotional issues with food to do this (we don't want to see him regress) and secondly, honestly I think he is so stubborn that he would literally let himself starve rather than eat something from our hand. Seriously!

*He still gets very emotional about food but I will say this is actually getting better, thankfully. There are not as many tears now. He knows he can trust us and has really made leaps and bounds in this area. But does this ever fully go away? Or do some kids always have these emotional issues with food that they just can't get rid of because they were so psychologically damaged at such a young age in regards to food? We, well actually I, think that if we are too strict with him regarding all these issues that he will actually regress in this area. Am I right to fear this?

If you have stayed with me through this long, personal post I really, truly appreciate it. Any advice and/or encouragement would mean so much to me. Thank you.

Pool Time!

2011-06-15T21:46:00.000-05:00

Hanging out at the pool... we love summer!

Gotcha Day!

2011-06-12T14:44:00.007-05:00

Yesterday Sasha celebrated the 1st anniversary of his Gotcha Day with his forever family! Words are not enough to express just how much we love our baby boy. He is truly a treasure in our family and we continually feel blessed that we were called to be his family. Happy Gotcha Day Sasha Hunt James Toomey!

This WAS Sasha's life. A life spent alone in a crib with no family to call his own.

This IS Sasha's life. Here he is with his forever family on the 1st anniversary of his Gotcha Day. No longer left alone in his crib, he is now embraced by the love of his forever family and he has flourished! He continues to amaze us each and every day.

Sasha on his Gotcha Day last year, leaving the only life he ever knew at the orphanage to start the life that God knew he deserved with his forever family.

Sasha outside his OWN house with his OWN family that loves him SO much.

Heath Turns 5!

2011-06-10T21:44:00.017-05:00

I cannot believe I am even typing this. This past week, our baby boy turned 5 and became more of a big boy rather than a baby boy! For some reason, 5 seems like a big change to me... the first real birthday where big things happen and change. He will be going to school in a few months now that he is 5! How much more of a change can that be?!

Heath Toomey, we love you so much. You are our first born and the moment you were born, our lives literally changed forever. That first moment I saw you, that first moment they set you on my chest... I remember it like it was yesterday and it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about. That is the moment my life changed forever! That is the moment when I felt a love explode inside of me that I never even knew was possible... an all encompassing, unconditional love like no other. You changed our lives 5 years ago Heath and you continue to change our lives each and every day.

You are so unbelievably brilliant and you continue to amaze us with the things you do and the things you come up with. I heard a quote once that said "Lawyers are not made, they are born". Yep, that pretty much sums up you. You will argue any point from the smallest trivial thing to the most important concept of God and you will do it with assertiveness, confidence and intelligence. While this trait may wear on us on a daily basis it will serve you well in the future if we continue to guide you in the right direction.

You have a gift Heath Toomey and I hope and pray that you channel all that energy, all that gusto, all that intelligence for the good. You have such a big heart and are so loving and kind to your family that I have no doubt in my mind that you will do great things throughout your lifetime. I am so proud of you and I love you with all of my heart baby boy. You and your brothers are the lights of my life! Happy 5th Birthday Heath Toomey!

Showing everyone your new 5th birthday shirt. I think you liked it!

On the way to some early morning birthday fun at the zoo with Gram!

Getting ready for the 3D movie about baby animals at the zoo. Boy do we look good!

Opening some presents. I think you might be a little happy!

Opening the "Hogo" stick from Gram & Pa... the one you had been "training" for the last 6 months!

A view of the prehistoric cake I decorated for you. You had nicely asked that I decorate a cake with a Pliosaur in the ocean, and a super croc on land that is about to attack a Pterosaur on a nest. Well, there you have it!

A Second View...

Your first look at the birthday cake. You were so cute because you were very excited to tell me how much you liked it but you just had to point out the mistakes as well. For instance, "I really like it mom, I really do but technically a Pliosaur would never eat an Elasmosaurus. But that's okay, I really do like it." You are too funny Heath Toomey!

I am so glad we got that Slip n Slide for the 100* weather that evening. You all had such a great time playing in water!

Keeping cool...

Good friends celebrating a very special boy!

Playing in the castle...

Ya'll look so cute in this picture. You can just tell you were having so much fun outside right before this.

I love this picture of you and your friend. I love the way he is looking at you... very sweet.

Here's to another year my love... Happy 5th Birthday!

Playing With My Brother

2011-05-29T15:14:00.003-05:00

Brooks & Sasha having fun together...

Time to Catch Up!

2011-05-19T15:01:00.029-05:00

A few pics from the last couple of months...

Daddy & his boys on a recent trip we took to a wildlife safari close to town. The boys loved it!

Heath was SO excited to see the bald eagles... one of his favorite things right now!

Sasha & His Dadddy 1

Sasha & His Daddy 2

Heath & His Mama... Look how in sync we are!

Such a cutie!

Brooksy hiking in his own sweet time...

Daddy & Sasha on their way to the barrier free playground. How cute are they?!

Sasha & Daddy swinging together.

Having a blast!

Sasha playing with some whip cream. He didn't eat it (for the most part he hates sweet things) but he had fun playing with it!

Brooks & Sasha playing together. Brooks was "feeding" Sasha & Sasha was pretending to spit it out because he didn't like it. It is nice when he is in his wheelchair because then they are at the same level... a whole different kind of interaction which is good for both of them.

Sasha getting a hang of his new wheelchair at the train museum.

Heath was supposed to be cleaning up outside but instead I found him asleep like this...

We combed Heath's hair out before his haircut... too funny!

Mother's Day bike ride. What a beautiful way to spend the day together as family!

Daddy getting everyone buckled in again after a stop at the park & the farmer's market.

Jeremy found Brooks in the hallway helping Sasha get some water. So sweet! They are so cute together.

Heath really enjoying Tom & Jerry while we were waiting for his 5 year checkup/kindergarten physical. He looks so cute here! Or as he would have me say... "Handsome mom, not cute. Only babies are cute."

Brotherly Love! Oh, and look how big Sasha looks next to his brother who is almost 5! I can't believe how much they have both grown this past year

They just love each other so much & it is so sweet to watch.

Sasha got his first skateboard and he LOVES it! Now he has something fun to ride on outside this summer too!

Heath & Brooks have been enjoying Sasha's skateboard as well... and it is so sweet, Sasha is such a great cheerleader, he gets so excited no matter who is riding it!

What a smile!

Computer Time

2011-05-11T21:42:00.000-05:00

Sasha loves the computer. He loves everything about computers. He loves to Skype all of his grandparents that live on opposite ends of the country. In fact, he is usually the only grandkid that lasts more than a couple minutes on Skype before running off to play. Sasha would stay and chat for hours if he could, LOL. One time, when he first started Skyping, he even crawled behind the computer to see if that is where his Papi was hiding.

He also loves to play computer games. In this video, he is playing a basic game on FisherPrice.com that gives a child the feeling of success no matter what key they push... any key you push, something happens which is perfect for Sasha right now. As you can see by the video, Sasha can't get enough of it!

Easter 2011

2011-04-30T21:01:00.018-05:00

We had a wonderful Easter together. It was a special day... it was Sasha's first Easter celebration! As you will be able to tell by the pictures, he LOVED it! We all did!

When I was a child, the Easter bunny always left a hollow chocolate bunny outside my bedroom door in the morning. We have continued that tradition with our boys & here are their bunnies that they found outside their doors!

Sasha with his chocolate bunny... such a cutie!

Jeremy & Sasha having quite a laugh together before we leave for church. Aren't Brooks & Sasha cute in their matching outfits?! I love my sons!

The Kumor Family invited friends and family to celebrate Easter together with a delicious potluck together after church. We had a wonderful time. Thank you Kumor Family!

Our table at the potluck, minus me (taking the pic). Our great friends Ben & Stephanie with their kids... wonderful friends with beautifully kind souls. They are moving very soon, very far away, so I am so glad that we were able to celebrate such a special day together!

A family pic taken after church. Yay! I am so excited to have a family pic. I am usually taking all the pictures so I am hardly ever in them. So wonderful when we can get a pic of all of us. Thank you Stephanie!

The boys' Easter baskets or rather, their Easter sand buckets...

Appears to be a very serious discussion between Brooks & Sasha. Perhaps they are discussing just who gets what!

Our backyard Easter egg hunt. Brooksy spots an egg...

Sasha on the hunt for some eggs with a little help from daddy & Bruiser & Newman. He had quite the team!

Heath on the hunt for those eggs...

Sasha with all his eggs from the hunt.

I tell you... Sashi Boo just loved Easter! Too cute!

Some rice krispie eggs I made the boys with candy hidden inside. They loved those! Well Brooks & Heath did since Sasha still doesn't like any sort of "snack" food. Maybe next year!

My homemade Easter bread. A bit too much frosting... I'll have to change that next year.

Our Easter dinner together, just the 5 of us... we had breakfast! Yum!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Confidence

2011-03-09T16:22:00.002-06:00

Say hello to our strong, confident sitter!

Bed Head

2011-02-27T15:24:00.003-06:00

Most of the time, Sasha wakes up with the craziest bed! It is usually pretty out of control...

Shriners

2011-02-24T16:27:00.011-06:00

I had mentioned in the last post that Sasha had some other big changes in the last month. One of those is that we took our first trip up to the Minneapolis Shriner's Hospital a couple of weeks ago. What an amazing experience that was. It was just so nice to be somewhere where the doctors and the staff know what to do with Sasha. They have worked with a handful of kids like him and that fact that Sasha is a congenital quad amputee didn't phase them one bit! I cannot tell you how wonderful that was. Most people we encounter have no clue what to do with Sasha so it was nice to be somewhere where they have had a lot of experience with kids that have the same limb differences.

It was also nice to be somewhere where Sasha did not stand out and get stared at. Let's face, most places, if not all places we go, Sasha stands out in the crowd and we get stared at a lot. We have a small idea what it must feel like to be a celebrity since Sasha has been home because we simply just do not go unnoticed in most places anymore. It is an odd occasion if we are not getting stared at. In fact, it has become so normal that I even forget about it now. Most of the time I don't even notice it anymore but sometimes I will catch myself thinking "Why in the world are those people staring at us?" I forget that they are staring at Sasha because to us, he is a normal child, and not someone that would receive all these stares and attention. As I have said all along, I do not think of Sasha as being disabled. I just don't see it. I know I get funny stares at myself when I say this but in all honesty, it is true. To me, he is our son... a normal, adorable two year old just like our other sons.

Anyway back on topic, at Shriners, Sasha does not get stared at. Every single child there had some sort of limb difference, prosthetic, etc. At Shriners, for once in his life, he was a normal two year old. I cannot tell you how wonderful that feels because we treat him that way but the reality is, most of the world doesn't. So it is nice that we have a place to go that he can feel that kind of normalcy that I am sure in a few years he will most definitely crave to some degree.

The information, the plethora of information, we were given there was wonderful as well. There are so many resources out there for us, some we already knew about and a lot that we didn't. This visit was more of a getting to know Sasha visit so we didn't try out any new gadgets, prosthetics, etc. Right now, he is still too young for a lot of the stuff they have planned for him to try in the future but it was still wonderful to hear about all of his options. In six months, we will go back (as of now, our treatment plan is to go once every six months) and they will try and fit him with a type of prosthetic referred to as a stubbie. This type of prosthetic, used on his lower limbs, won't add any height necessarily but will give him the ability to walk and be upright. If he likes them and wants to use them, I can see these being extremely nice. He can interact more with his brothers and peers by being upright and will be able to get around easier. But it all depends on Sasha. If Sasha wants to use prosthetics we are very supportive but if he chooses not to, we are going to be just as supportive. This kind of leads into one of my future blog posts about how we feel about prosthetics, etc. so I won't go into any more detail about all of that right now.

They also gave us an number of ideas about ways in which he can gain more independence in a lot of areas such as the bathroom for instance (which I know will be so important for him). It was just so nice about hearing about all our options and knowing that he has so many options to help him gain independence! They also said they can custom make him some flippers for the water since we swim so often. How cool is that!

Let's see what else. I know I am leaving so much out because we received so much wonderful information while we were there (for 4 hours), that there is just no way I could fit it all into this one blog post. So, just a couple more things. They said that Sasha may be a candidate for a surgery later on down the line that will free up his little humerus bone that he has on his limbless side, the right side. On that side, he has a very small humerus bone that he moves around all the time and wants to use. In fact, if we are holding him in a certain way, he will grab onto our fingers with it! It is pretty neat actually. When they examined him, they said that they might be able to free it up so that it is not trapped behind all the layers of skin, fat, tissue, etc. By doing so, he could then use it like he wants to now. He could push buttons with it, hold onto us with it... all sorts of things, so that it pretty exciting. We'll see how that pans out. And finally, in a few weeks, we head back up to the area to pick up Sasha's new customized mini red power wheelchair!!! Pretty exciting. That is about all I can tell you about it right now because we do not know much. There will definitely be a post about that in the future.

Other than that, we had a wonderful mini vacation together. My mother flew in to stay with Heath and Brooks while we were gone so it was just the three of us. Let me tell you... Sasha loved that. Not to say that he doesn't totally love and adore his brothers but as all kids probably like once in awhile, he thoroughly enjoyed that one on one time with his parents. He was smiling ear to ear most of the time. In fact, his wonderful disposition and smile won everyone over at Shriners. They all fell in love with Sasha. Here are a few pictures from the trip (you can just see how happy he is!).

Sasha loves going anywhere in the car. He just loves being out and about. He doesn't even mind long road trips and on this trip, he was especially happy because he had his mama and daddy all to himself. Can you tell this by the next three pictures?!

I don't know who enjoyed all that the Shriners waiting room had to offer more, Sasha or his daddy...

Sasha has a small cube like this at home that he loves, so when he saw this gigantic one at Shriners, he was pretty excited!

Sasha & his daddy enjoying dinner at IKEA. I think that was his dad's second plate of meatballs, he really enjoyed those $3.99 platters!

Sasha & Mama enjoying the sunset & dinner at IKEA.

So happy right before bedtime at the hotel! Then we got him all bundled up in his jammies, snuggled into his pack-n-play, and we all laid down to sleep... and the next thing you know, Sasha puked all over himself and the one set of crib sheets we brought! Nice! I guess his tummy didn't agree with traveling because he was fine after that. Not a fun experience though, LOL!

Big Changes For Sasha

2011-02-14T19:56:00.005-06:00

I received an email from a good friend of mine a couple of weeks ago asking if I would please post some new updates on the blog and letting me know that my blog was "so 2010"! She's right, my blog is definitely "so 2010" and that is about to change! Sorry for the delay in updates but it has been quite busy around here that last few weeks. Some big things have happened for Sasha so here is the first of my updates with more to come in the next few weeks. Glad to be back!

Sasha has had some big changes since the new year began. Some big "big boy" changes that is! Because of Sasha's size and where he is at cognitively right now, he often gets treated like a baby. Not by us but when he is out and about, I think people just assume he is a baby and not the two year old toddler that he really is. He was also treated as a baby in the orphanage due to his size and limb differences. So, we wanted to help him get out of that rut that he simply does not belong in. With Brooks and Heath, we noticed a big change for them, developmentally, when they moved from things like a crib to a "big boy" bed, from a high chair to a booster, etc. So, when the new year happened, we decided it was time for Sasha to move out of those baby things and into a routine that was more geared toward the "big boy" he really is.

First, we moved him out of his high chair and put him in the same kind of booster that Brooks has. We don't use a typical booster chair. We use the Kaboost booster chair. It basically lifts your regular table chairs up from the bottom, rather than having a chair on top of the chair. So, Sasha is basically in a regular chair, just as we all use, with no straps to hold him in. He is sitting at the table like the rest of us and it has been wonderful! He is now closer to the table and is able to interact with his food more. He can get a drink from his cup on his own now, he can move his plate and utensils around, he can touch his food... basically he can start gaining that independence at the table that he really needs. He loves that he is sitting like everyone else... you could just see the pride in his eyes when he got his new chair!

Then, about a week after that, we moved him to Heath and Brooks' room, into a "big boy" bed. We were not sure if he was ready for this or how he would take it but oh my goodness... he was SO excited to make that move. He LOVES his "big boy" bed. He LOVES being in the "big boy" room with his brothers. He is just so unbelievably happy in there and his brothers were THRILLED to have Sasha join them. They love being all together! So, Brooks has his own "big boy" car bed and Heath and Sasha share the bunkbed. Heath is on the top and Sasha is on the bottom. I really decked out his bottom bunk too... he has all sorts of stuff in there that came over from his crib. He has not looked back and does not miss his crib one bit. He is just feeling so proud of himself for joining the "big boy" ranks in the house!

I can already see a change in him developmentally as well. He is not throwing as many fits, especially at the table, and his language skills are really improving. His language skills have just exploded in the last two weeks! He is such a parrot when it comes to his brothers. Whatever they say, he says the exact same thing with the exact same intonation and expression. It is very cute! We are very proud of you Sasha, our newest little "big boy"!

Christmas Festivities

2010-12-24T16:13:00.011-06:00

Here are a few pics from some of the Christmas events from the last two weeks. It has been so special celebrating the season with Sasha. Last year, we were just dreaming about him and hoping to bring him home soon and this year... he is here WITH US! How wonderful is that?! What a blessing!

Heath all dressed up for the Christmas program at church. Doesn't he look adorable?!

Brooks and Sasha were cows and boy, were they great cows, LOL! Can you see them? Sasha is on someone's lap in the front left corner and Brooks is behind him. They were SO cute!

Heath rocking out while singing about Jesus.

Heath and I went to the holiday skating party put on by the spouses group we belong to at the hospital. We had a blast together!

He finally decided to ditch the walker for awhile.

A couple of night's ago we went to a Christmas event at one of our local museums. It is always decorated so beautifully for the holidays. The tree was so big that you can barely see Brooks and Heath by it, they look so small. Sasha and Brooks loved looking at all the beautiful decorations.

Heath was QUITE excited about meeting one of Santa's reindeer!

The first time on Santa's lap for Sasha and he did great. He didn't seem to mind at all, he was just a little squirmy. As for Brooks, well he seemed to think the same as he did last year... that this was simply not very fun! And as for Heath, well...

Heath was so star struck when he sat on Santa's lap that his mind went blank and he forgot everything that he was going to talk to Santa about. He couldn't remember a single thing that he wanted which was so funny! But, he did remember to ask Santa how his day was going so that was nice.

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!

Who Will Love Me For Me

2010-12-20T14:56:00.003-06:00

There is a new song out by JJ Heller called What Love Really Means and it just really speaks to me. Everytime I hear it, I am moved. The first part of the song could have been written for Sasha. Truly. It goes...

He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He’s the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night, “Dear God won’t you please
Could you send someone here who will love me?”

Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
‘Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means.

Sasha Hunt James Toomey, WE will love you for you. We do love you for you. We have always loved you for you. We loved you before we ever met you. Our love for you only grows each and every day. This is what parental love is... a truly unconditional love that can move mountains. I am so happy Sasha that you finally can feel that kind of parental love.. a love like no other. As JJ's song concludes...

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew.

6 Months, What a Beautiful Journey

2010-12-11T12:15:00.012-06:00

Today marks the 6 month anniversary of Sasha's Gotcha Day, the day we officially became his parents and the day he left the orphanage for good. What an amazing 6 months it has been. First, I can't even believe it has already been 6 months but at the same time, it truly feels like he has always been with us. I have to remind myself that I did not carry him in my womb and give birth to him. Someone was asking me questions recently about my pregnancies and I started going through each child and had to catch myself when I tried to recall my pregnancy with Sasha, LOL! What a wonderful feeling that is. I had dreamed of adopting for so long and always believed that I would feel exactly the same way about all my children but you never know until it happens. I just feel so fortunate that he has blended so seamlessly into our family.

Now, that is not to say there aren't any issues, I mean he is a 2 year old after all, but the issues we have aren't any more difficult than the issues we face with Heath and Brooks. So that has been a blessing as well. I thought I would take this opportunity and look back on the last 6 months and reflect on the things that have been positive as well as the things we have faced since the adoption that have been tough. Hopefully it well help other adoptive families out there, who knows, but I think it is important to reflect on our journey, to be honest about it, and to share.

Let's start with the difficulties and get them out of the way, LOL!
*Sasha has major issues with food. Mealtimes, especially dinner (his least favorite meal), can be difficult. Dinner is usually downright not enjoyable and that is sad. Dinner is the only time of the day that Jeremy usually gets to eat with us so it is frustrating that the only family meal we have is usually filled with Sasha throwing major fits. He gets mad about many things during meals. He gets mad if his food is not served fast enough for him. He gets mad if he does not like what is being served (how soon he forgets that just 6 months ago he got orphanage food day in and day out). He gets mad if his food is too chunky and not cut up small enough to his liking. He gets mad if you mistake his screaming for wanting a bite of food instead of a drink of milk or vice versa. I guess he thinks we should know the difference by now between his high pitched scream for milk and his high pitched scream for food. Silly parents! He gets mad if he thinks that he should be getting more food, even if it that means he would be eating so much that he would make himself vomit. And when I say he gets mad, oh my, this is an understatement. Sasha is usually very calm and easy going. There are not a lot of tears throughout the day. Usually the days are filled with smiles and happiness. But at mealtime, everything changes. He screams and he screams loud. And this special scream that he has reserved for meal times is the most high pitched scream and to be honest, it is painful to my ears, literally. I think I have probably sustained some physical damage to my ears from Brooks crying the first two years of his life and Sasha screaming so loud next to me at the table.

So, needless to say, mealtimes are hard and to be honest, hard on me emotionally. I know issues surrounding food are all too common for many orphans and it breaks my heart that my son gets so upset because of food. At first, we of course caved in to his every want and demand (something we never did for our other sons) because we knew that we needed to gain his trust and we wanted him to feel secure about mealtimes and to learn that meals can actually be enjoyable. After he had been home a few months we started cracking down more and more, little by little. But it is all still just such a struggle. I wonder when he will start to actually use his mouth full of teeth and be able to eat the food we eat without it being chopped up into small pieces? I wonder when he will learn to either talk or use signs to communicate his needs at mealtimes (because he does this so well at virtually all other times of the day but all bets are off at mealtimes)? I wonder when we will be able to have a nice family dinner again, on a regular basis? I wonder when he will embrace his independence a little more and want to start feeding himself, which he could do now if he would let himself. This, as you can tell, has been the most difficult part of our journey so far. Please pray for Sasha's progress in this area because it causes all of us so much stress.

*Sasha's lack of desire to do anything independent as been both surprising and difficult. He does not want to help himself to his milk in his straw sippy. He can, but the minute he realizes your hand is off the cup, he spits it out and screams or cries. He does not want to sit. Yes, he can sit and it was so exciting sharing his surprise but at this point, he does not want to sit. He used to yell at me when I made him practice sitting. That is lessening but he still is not happy about it and usually refuses to play or interact when he has to sit. He does not want to learn how to scoot around either(in a sitting position). He gets around by moving his body similar to an inchworm, which is fine but he also needs to learn how to move around in an upright position as well. But he does not want to learn this. He would rather be held and carried all the time.

Now, this does make sense and I understand it. Here is a child that was deprived of that love and affection from parents for the first 19 months of his life. During this time, he laid alone in his crib for most of the day. So we completely understand that he would need and crave the physical comfort and attention of a parent and we are happy to indulge him and make up for what he missed out on for so long. But, we have been surprised by just how much he fights ANY sort of independence. He wants none of it, at all, which makes it very difficult for him to make progress in a lot of areas. We know he will gain his independence little by little, and we know this is all natural. We most definitely want to give him the kind of attention he has never had before but, I wanted to be honest and share the aspects of this that are difficult and surprising for us.

*To be honest, I naively thought that he would be speaking more when we went to get him in Serbia and that he would be speaking pretty well by now. That is most definitely not the case. When we arrived in Serbia we were told that his language had regressed recently and they were not sure why. It seemed to us that this was mostly environmental because he simply was not getting spoken to that often at the orphanage and since they had put him in a room with other nonverbal children that I believe were a lot younger than him, he just really didn't have any one to communicate with as well. So all of this really set him back.

Shortly after we got home, we realized that he probably won't catch up verbally until he is around 3 years old... that is our hope. He is coming along and making great strides but we still have a long way to go. I would say he is about at 18 months with his verbal skills. He knows a few words, the basics, but doesn't use them unless prompted usually and mimics a lot of sounds throughout the day. So we are not worried, but rather just surprised at where he was and where he is language wise more than anything else. Like I said, I naively thought he would be much farther along with his language. I can't wait for the day when I hear his little voice talking to us throughout the day. It is always so exciting when the kids start talking and really expressing themselves verbally.

*His lack of acceptance to being cuddled has been difficult. We are a loving family that wants to shower affection on our children. We give lots of hugs, we give lots of kisses and we give lots of cuddles. Sasha hated this at the beginning. He has always wanted to be held but he did not want to be cuddled. He did not want to be kissed. He did not want to be hugged. This has been getting better and better and now he loves getting kisses and even moves his head in to both get kisses and give kisses. He will cuddle sometimes, on his terms, but it is still a work in progress. He still hates hugs. He does not want to be pulled in close for a hug. If you try, he will immediately try and push you away. He loves being held and loves gazing into your eyes but he HATES hugs. This can be kind of hard on his mama.

Now let's move on to the positives from the last 6 months!
*Sasha basically blended seamlessly into our family. The first week back was difficult but since that time, he has accepted us and everything has gone pretty well. We love him unconditionally, just as we love our other boys, and his brothers love him the same. Nothing about him being in our family seems out of the ordinary or wrong... but rather it all feels so right and so meant to be.

*The unconditional love and acceptance his brothers have given him has been amazing to see and as a mother, it is so heartwarming and has brought me to tears. Heath was old enough during the whole adoption process to understand what was going on but he never questioned anything or thought for one minute that it was odd that we flew halfway across the world to bring his brother home. I am crying just writing this. Heath has been amazing during this. He has just always been so accepting and loving of Sasha. He never questioned how Sasha joined our family. He has never felt that Sasha is anything but his brother in EVERY sense of the word. He has never really questioned his disability. In fact, Heath is one of Sasha's biggest advocates. Heath has always showered Sasha with so much love.

Brooks has always done this as well. The first time Brooks met Sasha, he crawled up on the couch, sat next to him and started rubbing Sasha's hair while sucking his thumb. This was huge because anyone who knows Brooks, knows that sucking his thumb with his right hand and rubbing his hair with his left hand is his signature position. For him to include Sasha in this during their first meeting was pretty beautiful to see. Brooks wasn't old enough through all of this to really comprehend what an adoption is or anything like that but he, like Heath, has always accepted Sasha as his brother and has showered him with love and protection. It has been so unbelievably beautiful and heartwarming to see. It is such a pure, natural kind of love that his brothers give to him.

*The love and acceptance Sasha has received around our community has been amazing as well. The playgroups we belong to have been so wonderfully accepting of Sasha and never question his disability or make him (or I) feel out of place. Our church has been so loving and kind to him as well. We attend a wonderful church, who was instrumental in helping us bring Sasha home and they have continued their love for him since we have been back. He is one of the favorites at church and everyone is always asking about him. He started going to their toddler class right after he turned two. I was very nervous about this. We had kept him out of the nursery and kept him with us during the sermons because of wanting to bond and just not being ready to leave him with other people. But, he was getting pretty bored with this routine and really did not want to be in the sanctuary anymore. So, when he turned two we decided to give it a try in the toddler room. I was really nervous though!

I knew my church was accepting of Sasha obviously but I didn't know if they would want him in their class... you know how it is sometimes. But all that worry was for nothing! Oh my goodness, they love him in there and are so excited that he is there. I love walking into the class and seeing him sitting at the table with the other kids during craft time. I love that they treat him like everyone else and include him in everything... this is what we long for him and it is so beautiful to see it actually taking place. My friend who was in there one Sunday said it is really cute because not only is Sasha wanted in there but the teenager helpers in there actually fight over who gets to play with him! They all want to play him. That as a parent, is wonderful to hear.

*He's sitting already and is using some language. So while these have been difficulties in there own right, as mentioned above, they have been wonderful blessings as well. Sasha works hard with his PT and we know how difficult it must be for him learning so much new stuff on a daily basis. We are just so very proud of him and the progress he has made and we celebrate that progress on a daily basis.

*His health! Oh my goodness, when we arrived at the orphanage, we thought he was so sick. He struggled while we were in Serbia and we were desperate to get him home and get him seen by the doctors over here. We thought he was going to have many issues, medically. Well Sasha surprised us once again and he is actually EXTREMELY healthy and has basically passed all of his medical exams with flying colors. In fact, he gets sick less than his brothers(we think he probably has an uber strong immune system at this point). So, it looks as if his health problems that were so prevalent in Serbia were mostly environmental in nature and once he came home to the loving home of his family, most of those issues disappeared! Amen to that!

*He is an amazing sleeper, thank goodness. Heath and Brooks have always been good sleepers and some of my friends, who shall remain nameless but you know who you are, were kind of hoping that Sasha would give us a taste of what they go through on a nightly basis. Well, as a blessing to us, he hasn't! He goes to bed around 7:30 every night and doesn't wake up until 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. We hardly hear anything from him throughout the night and we hardly ever have to get up during the middle of the night. He then takes a solid 3 hour nap during the day! Like I said, he is a GREAT sleeper!

*His smile. I can't have a post about the positives of the last 6 months and not mention the absolutely beautiful smile of our third child. Even before I met him I knew that he radiated a kind of joy that is very unique and special. We have felt that joy these last 6 months and we have been blessed with the most beautiful, captivating smiles on a daily basis since we brought him home. His smile is a true gift from God.

I mean, just look at that smile!

Sasha, you are a dream come true for us and we love you SO much! These last 6 months have been absolutely amazing and we feel so blessed that we were called to be your parents. You have changed our lives and the lives of so many already in your short time here on earth, we can only imagine what you are going to accomplish throughout your life. God has great plans for you Sasha and we will be here to love and support you along the way. Thank you Lord God for these last 6 months with Sasha. What an unbelievably amazing journey it has been so far and we look forward to the journey ahead. Happy 6 month anniversary of your Gotcha Day Sashi Bashi! We love you!

A Surprise From Sasha

2010-12-07T20:38:00.010-06:00

Sasha has a SURPRISE for everyone.

For a little over a month he has been doing this and it comes just a few short months after a local physical therapist here in town (the one in which I politely but firmly told that his diagnosis for my son was wrong) basically wrote Sasha off for life and said that he would never be able to do this.....

this...

or this!

Look who is sitting all on his own!!! That PT did not want to listen to me when I said that he was wrong and that my son would not only sit one day but that he would be mobile as well. If only I could see that PT's face now. Let's hope the news trickles back to him so he doesn't so carelessly write off other kids in the future.

And let's look at this picture again. I love this picture because it truly feels like God and his angels are right there with Sasha, hands on his shoulder, helping him accomplish these monumental tasks. Look at the light shining down on him... it is just amazing. There are a few pictures of Sasha where I have noticed light shining on him in quite a special way. I have no doubt in my mind that God has very special plans for Sasha.

Sometimes...

2010-11-18T15:07:00.002-06:00

Sometimes, I just look at my son in awe, with tears in my eyes, and think about where he was just a few short months ago and all the life holds for him now. It is all just so unbelievably beautiful to think about and sometimes, it just really hits me. Today when we were driving was one of those times. It is a beautiful fall day here and the boys and I were coming back from a playgroup get together at church and Sasha just looked so unbelievably happy and at peace in his car seat. He was just looking around at everything and was so content. He then noticed I was looking at him and at that moment, gave me the biggest, sweetest smile that was just filled with love. He is SO happy, he is SO content and he his life now is SO removed from the life he had just a few months ago. He has every opportunity now to follow his dreams and to simply... live a life filled with love. Sometimes, these moments such as today, just move me to the core...

Fun Times With Dad

2010-11-12T16:21:00.002-06:00

Sasha's Second Party... A Grand Musical Celebration!

2010-11-10T14:47:00.019-06:00

For Sasha's actual birthday party with friends, we had a local children's music program come to our house and put on a musical celebration for him. He LOVED it. He probably loves music just about as much as he loves cars and trucks, so he was quite happy on this day. He had a Cars themed musical party with a lot of friends (he loves having people around). What more could he ask for.

What an unbelievably special day it was for not only him but for his mama and daddy as well. We both fought hard to keep back the tears as we looked around during his Happy Birthday song and saw over 40 wonderful friends celebrating Sasha the way he should be. The way any child should be. To think back to where he was just a year ago and then to think about that moment in time, with all those people celebrating him... it was truly special. It was truly a miracle. What a blessed moment. Thank you God for bringing Sasha Hunt James Toomey into our lives.

His Cars cake. I have made a lot of cakes the last few years but this one has been one of my favorites. It turned out better than I had hoped (unlike Brooks' recent train cake)... that is always a nice feeling.

The Party Spread

The party...

where Sasha was surrounded by the love of our friends.

We were really having a good time together. What a beautiful day it was!

Enjoying his party...

I LOVE this picture!

Making music with his mama and his friends.

Sasha adores his daddy, absolutely adores him. Everyone who sees the two of them together always remarks about the way Sasha's eyes light up when he is with his daddy.

Opening gifts that evening...

Enjoying his new car that plays "Funky Town" over... and over... and over again. Thanks Stephanie!

Checking out his new truck.

Still checking out his new truck.

Someone can't contain their excitement!

Sasha's BIG moment... too bad he was a little worn out at this point. As I stated above, this was an unbelievably amazing moment for Jeremy and I and we both had to hold back our tears. What a blessed moment in time it was.

A small glimpse into Sasha's special day...

We LOVE you Sasha!!! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Sasha's First Party... Just His Family

2010-11-10T14:16:00.012-06:00

Sasha had two birthday parties, like all our boys do. One with just us the actual day of his birthday and then a party with friends and family on the weekend. What a blessing it was to finally be able to celebrate his birthday with him! To celebrate his life the way it should be! I simply cannot explain in words what that meant to us. Here are some of the pics from his actual birthday on October 19th.

Sasha absolutely loves my mom's homemade spaghetti so I made it for him on his special day. He was quite happy!

The first time we were finally able to sing a proper Happy Birthday to him. What a beautiful moment that was! Sasha is not much of a cake fan but he loves ice cream so we celebrated with some special ice cream on this night.

He is not quite sure what to make of this strange stick of fire in his special ice cream!

Brooks thoroughly enjoying the ice cream! He always knows how to make a mess... always!

Studying his new "race car" socks. He LOVES cars, trucks... basically any moving vehicle!

Thoroughly checking out his new car from his mama and daddy.

He really liked this musical card from his Grandpa Gil and Grandma Lee.

Enjoying his new custom sleeping bag, sized just for him. Thanks Gram & Pa!

Enjoying all his new stuff but as you can clearly see, he did not want to take his eyes off of his new car! Boy, does he love that car! He is very detail oriented and he just loves checking out every single piece of this car... every single detail. It is pretty cute!

What A Difference Two Years Can Make

2010-10-19T21:03:00.012-05:00

Two years ago today, Sasha was born in Pancevo, Serbia, a small town outside of Belgrade. The moment he was born, he was alone. He was never held by his birth mother. This day, this miraculous day, was not celebrated. He was not celebrated. There are no newborn baby pictures to share with you because I do not have any. He was born in this maternity hospital... alone.

On his first birthday, this is where Sasha spent most of the day. It was a day like any other spent alone in his crib.

But by the grace of God, he was loved by one person during this time in his life... Jasmina! On his first birthday, at least he had the gift of feeling truly loved by someone (and little did he know that on this day, he had a family of four, halfway across the world, fighting hard to bring him home so that he would never have to spend another birthday alone in a crib).

On his second birthday, on this glorious day, Sasha has a mama who loves him with all her heart. A mama who loves him only the way a mama can. A mama who, every time she looks into his big brown eyes, feels blessed that she was the one that was called to be his mama.

On this birthday, Sasha has a daddy who loves him with all his heart! A daddy who thinks that he is one the coolest kids around. A daddy who feels blessed that he is able to call Sasha his son.

On this birthday, Sasha has two brothers who absolutely adore him!

On this birthday Sasha has a family. He has a mama, a daddy, two brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and lots of grandmas and grandpas. On this birthday, he is surrounded by love!

Look who turned two!!! And look at who was so excited about all this hoopla surrounding him that he couldn't even sit still for a clear picture of his new birthday shirt. Happy 2nd Birthday Sasha... we all love you very much and we are so glad that we were finally able to celebrate your birth together! You are a miracle Sasha, an absolute miracle, and we all feel so blessed to be in your family.

Stay tuned for next week's post about Sasha's big party this weekend. I am just praying that he doesn't get sick since everyone else in the house is battling a cold right now. I pray that he is healthy and happy for his first big celebration!

Brooks Turns 2!

2010-10-17T15:54:00.019-05:00

Brooks Woodrow turned 2 a couple of weeks ago! This is an overdue post as well... what can I say, I'm a little late sometimes these days. He was sick on his actual birthday so we celebrated a few days later with his Gram and Pa (my parents) who were in town for a visit. He loved his little party (Brooks is not the most social one in the family so he prefers small gatherings). It was a very special day for him. He has grown so much in the last few weeks. He finally decided that walking actually is pretty cool, he is talking up a storm and loves to play with Heath and Sasha.

Brooks, you are such a blessing to our family and I feel so blessed that I was called to be your mama. You have such a beautiful soul that wraps us in love each and every day. You are so loving toward your family. I love the way you just say "I love you mama" or "I love your daddy" out of the blue throughout the day. I love the way you come up to us every now and then throughout the day for cuddles. I LOVE that when I get out of my pj's or sweats, that you notice right away and say "pretty mama" in the sweetest voice. I love how when I go upstairs to get ready, I can hear your footsteps following quickly behind with you saying "Mama, MAMA!, pretty mama... pretty mama" and then you insist that I wear your favorite "pretty" shirt with blue flowers on it. I love how you are always very quick to say thank you... you are always grateful for what you have and what you receive. There is SO much I love about you Brooks Woodrow. You are a light of love throughout the day and I truly feel blessed to be your mama. Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Boy!!!

Our family :)

Brooks with a few of his gifts.

His favorite gift? The choo choo toothbrush! Who would have guessed that?! His dentist will sure be happy.

Gram and Pa gave Brooks a custom sleeping bag for his birthday, just like Heath got for his 2nd birthday (except Brooks picked out cars instead of construction trucks). They were both SO excited about his new sleeping bag and Heath went and got his so they could hang out together in their bags. Just wait, in a couple days, Sasha will be getting his custom bag (even sized to fit him!), and then all three can hang out together in their bags! They will all be so excited.

Pizza Dinner

Brooks' "Choo Choo" cake. At first, I was going to make a monster truck cake but a few weeks before his birthday, Brooks became pretty insistent that he was going to actually have a choo choo party and a choo choo cake. He was SO excited for his choo choo cake. It was not one of my best (Rosie, the lead train, looks... well she didn't turn out as I had planned) but Brooks loved it and that is all that matters :)

Brooks gobbling up Rosie.

Gram thoroughly enjoying the rockin' choo choo party!

Gram still enjoying the party...

Brooks loving his "choo choo" gift bag.

B busy getting all the loot out...

Brooks loving his first ever candy necklace from his gift bag... that was a sticky mess!

Sasha thinking that gift bags are pretty cool too and loving his new Matchbox car.

Heath & Sasha enjoying their gift bags.

Happy 2nd Birthday Brooks Woodrow! We love you!

A Long Overdue Post...

2010-10-15T15:07:00.044-05:00

Wow, this really is a long overdue post. It is time to catch up! The last two months have been extremely busy with planning a benefit dinner, going on vacation and having wonderful visits from both sets of grandparents. Everyone is doing great which is such a blessing. We are enjoying these BEAUTIFUL fall days as a family and are so grateful for our time together. I will try and catch everyone up in this post through pictures. Here goes!

The boys and I. I just love them so much and feel so blessed that I am able to stay home with them. I love our days together.

Ami and Poppi (Jeremy's parents) came for a visit and the boys were thrilled! Here is a pic of all of them at the zoo.

The Zoo 2

The Zoo 3

The Zoo 4

The Zoo 5

Sasha playing some music. He REALLY loves music.

Sasha swimming... he loves his floatie. He especially likes to be spun around in it, this makes him crack up!

Brooks and Sasha swimming with Ami.

The balloon glow. Heath talks about this event all year, literally. This year, Jeremy couldn't go so it was just the boys and I which is why Sasha and I aren't in the pic (he was in the Ergo carrier on my hip). We had a lot of fun together!

Sasha reading one of his favorite books, Heads.

Heath's first trip to the dentist which he thought was pretty cool. Sasha had his first visit too but the camera battery died just as I was taking his picture :(

Apple Pickin' Time

1st of October Celebration (anniversary of when we first saw a picture of Sasha). We went out to ice cream (Sasha's favorite) to celebrate together as a family.

I can't believe that one year to the day after seeing his picture for the first time, we are in a picture TOGETHER!!!

B's New Hat

One of the many ways that Sasha practices sitting up. He is getting a lot better but still cannot do it unassisted. We'll get there :)

Working Hard

Matching Jammies 1

Matching Jammies 2

Heath is homeschooled and this is just such a cute picture of him being extremely proud when he finished an activity recently (it looks like his brother is proud of him too).

After his first choice didn't fit anymore, Heath decided to be Buzz for Halloween this year.

Brooks' Halloween costume. Heath has been this shark for the last two years and wanted to be it again this year but it simply does not fit anymore. So, it is being passed down to Brooks. His pronunciation of shark sounds like the f word though... hmmm, shall be interesting when he tells people what he is going to be!

Sasha's Halloween costume. We have a dragon costume for him but he hates it. His dad then put these on him and he loved them and didn't want to take them off! So, we'll create a costume around these lovely orange goggles :)

Heath with the coveted Red Death from How To Train Your Dragon. Boy was he happy!

Sasha's favorite move!

Enjoying a choo choo ride at the pumpkin patch.

Heath & Brooks enjoying the corn box.

Brooks' favorite part of the pumpkin patch, watching the choo choo.

Heath standing in front of his favorite part about the pumpkin patch, Zander the Dragon.

Sasha watching Zander.

Cars, cars & more cars... A typical night in the Toomey house!

Brooks...

Sasha decided to get in the toy box!

Heath Enjoying Fall

Handsome Brothers 1

Handsome Brothers 2

Handsome Heath

Handsome Sasha

One Year Ago Today...

2010-09-30T20:34:00.014-05:00

One year ago today my life changed forever.

One year ago today I laid my eyes on this picture for the first time...

Oh my goodness, this picture brings such tears to my eyes. Sasha looks so small. His big brown eyes still call to me when I look at this picture. This picture will ALWAYS be a treasure to me because it literally changed my life. This picture changed Sasha's life. This picture brought us together as mother and son.

October 1, 2009 started out as an ordinary fall day. Heath, Brooks, and I went swimming with two of my friends and their little ones. During the course of our time together at the pool, my friends brought up the subject of adoption because they knew that Jeremy and I really wanted to adopt one day. I explained that we wanted to keep our options open so we didn't really have a country in mind, didn't have a gender in mind, didn't know if we wanted to adopt a special needs child or not... I explained that I truly believed our child would find us one day. By keeping our options open and not putting ANY limitations on what type of adoption we would pursue, I truly believed our child would be brought to us.

After we left swimming, I came home with my two lovely boys and put them down for a nap. At that time I got on the computer and did what I had done a thousand times before... looked online about adoptions and headed over to look at the children on the Reece's Rainbow site. I cannot tell you how many times I had been to that site. I cannot tell you how many pictures of children I had looked at over the years but something changed on October 1, 2009. I saw Sasha and I froze.

I could not take my eyes off this precious picture. I did not go any further. I just sat there and looked at his picture for what seemed like hours. And then I did what I have never really done before, I emailed Shelley at Reece's Rainbow to get more information about this precious child that was staring at me with those big brown eyes in one of the most beautiful pictures I had ever seen. I was in love.

It's funny because for about three months or so before this date, I kept hearing a song on the radio that brought me to tears, literally, every time I heard it. It was so strange to me at the time. This had never happened before but this song moved me in a way that I simply cannot explain in words. It was "Show Me What I'm Looking For" by Carolina Liar. I truly believe God was speaking to me during this song and I was finally beginning to realize where I was meant to be and who I was meant to turn to, to change my life. I begged God during this song, through my tears, to save me and to show my what I'm looking for. Might sound cheesy but it's true. I was tired of being lost. I was tired of being confused. Then God did preciously what I asked of Him and on October 1, 2009, he definitely saved me and showed me exactly what I was looking for.

Sasha, you are truly a treasure and I have tears streaming out of my eyes as I write this. You are such a joyful child that is changing the world each and every day through your beautiful spirit. You radiate a kind of joy that I have never experienced before in my life. I feel so honored and so blessed that I was called to be your mother. One year ago today Sasha, you and your precious big brown eyes in a picture from a country halfway across the world, changed my life forever...

Love

2010-09-09T22:12:00.010-05:00

I LOVE my boys!

Summer Fun

2010-08-22T14:55:00.029-05:00

Hanging Out at the Lake House

Sasha and Dad Having Some Quiet Time in the Lake

Sasha Hanging Out, Enjoying the View of the Lake

Heath Kayaking for the First Time... He Loved It!

Brooks Kayaking for the First Time... He Loved It Too!

Brooks, Heath and dad kayaking with our friend Mark.

Sasha Kayaking for the First Time... He Loved It Too!

Hanging Out on the Beach

Sasha wasn't so sure about that life jacket, LOL!

The Family in the Boat

Heath Tubing for the First Time! Boy, was he Happy!

Dad Doing Some Tubing... The Lake House is in the Background

Heath Swimming in the Lake, Hour 7... Yes, He Swam in the Lake for 7 Hours!

Sasha and Mama

Brooks and Heath in the Lake

Sasha Relaxing by the Pool

Sasha exhausted after a day at the pool. He didn't even make it into his crib for naptime before he fell asleep! He then slept quite peacefully in his crib for a few hours.

Heath Going Down the Slide

Sasha Hanging Poolside

Brooks Enjoying the Pool

Sasha and Brooks Hanging Out Poolside

Sasha's new favorite place in the house. He loves to play under the couch!

Sometimes Sasha wakes up with a faux hawk and no matter what we do, it won't go down so on those days... we just go with it!

Being Silly

The New Truck Toy They All Love (I Loved It As A Child Too!)

Here is a little catch up from the last couple of weeks. Sasha is doing SO well! He continues to amaze us each and every day and I cannot begin to explain in words the kind of joy that radiates from our son. It is a pretty amazing thing to experience. A couple of days ago marked his two month anniversary home with us and we are still in awe of how easily he has transitioned to his new life. He seems to be loving his new life... absolutely loving it. We have spent a lot of time at the pool, we spent a lovely day at a friend's lake house where all my boys got loved on by our friends and their parents, we went to Sasha's first PT appointment (more about that frustrating experience later), we celebrated my dad's 70th birthday (from a distance since we live far away), we celebrated our dog's 7th birthday, and we have just spent the last few weeks of summer really enjoying being together as a family!

So the physical therapy appointment... wow, what can I say, it was quite frustrating to start but ended up being good. This was the first time we have been to the PT with Sasha but our geneticist had being praising this PT and saying what a wonderful resource he would be for Sasha. So maybe I had my hopes up for a little more when we got there, who knows, but his attitude toward Sasha was quite shocking. Don't get me wrong, he was friendly and very sweet to Sasha, that was not the issue. This was the issue... when we first got there, he took down our history and asked what our goals were for Sasha. Well, I stated that we had the same goals for him that we have for all our children. I told him that we do not think of him as disabled and we will not put limits on what he can do. I told him that we truly believe that he will be able to do whatever our other boys do but that with some things, he may just have to find another way to do it, his own way that works for him. I told him that our immediate goals were to teach him how to sit and for him to start gaining some independence with his feeding. The PT was smiling the whole time, totally agreeing with everything I had to say, and seemed to be on the same page as us. Then he did a quick little examine on Sasha and after that is when it all went down hill.

After his quick, seriously quick examine, he said that "I do not feel it is a realistic goal to ever expect Sasha to be able to sit." He said that it was just not possible due to his short legs. Ummm, excuse me?!?! I then turned to him and asked if he had every heard of Nick Vujicic? No, he replied. I then went on to explain that we actually know him and that he has no arms whatsoever and what appear to be shorter legs than Sasha and he sits just fine. In fact he sits, he scoots, he swims, and I could go on and on. The PT looked astonished and said "Really?" Yes, really. I then asked him if he had ever heard of Kyle Maynard. No, he replied. I then went on to explain that he too is a congenital quad amputee and he can sit up on his own, he can scoot around, that he wrestled all through high school and college and that now he is an amateur Mixed Martial Arts fighter. The PT's response, "Really?" Yes really I said and then I informed him I could go on and on with examples of congenital quad amputees that could indeed sit and gasp... live pretty independent lives. I also asked him if he had ever worked with any congenital quad amputees. No he said, he has not. And with all that, he decided to change his attitude toward my son and not write him off for the rest of his life after only having met him for a few minutes.

After about 20 minutes of working with Sasha with some sitting exercises, he begin to comment about how well he was doing and how he was so strong and about how he was really catching on to this sitting thing so fast. SERIOUSLY!!! You, our dear PT, were ready to write him off for life after only a few minutes and after only working with him for 20 minutes, 20 minutes, you saw how yes indeed, he will be able to learn how to sit up. How frustrating. I know I can expect that from people who may not know much about quad amputees but for goodness sakes, he has a PhD in PT that supposedly specializes in prosthetics and he was going to just blow off my son's entire future. How ridiculous but I am glad I was able to set him straight and change his view on what our kids with limb differences can do!

Anyway, enough with that, LOL. I want to say thank you to the Firestone and Biggerstaff families for inviting us to the lake and creating beautiful memories for our family. I can't believe it is almost fall... my favorite season which is especially welcome after this HOT summer. This fall we have two big birthdays coming up as well... Brooks will be 2 in September and Sasha will be 2 in October! We are looking forward to celebrating with our boys. Like I said, we have had a wonderful time the last few weeks and I just love being a mama to all our boys... thank you God for blessing us with such amazing sons!

The Future Chef?

2010-08-10T13:42:00.007-05:00

I think that perhaps, Sasha is going to be chef when he is older. He LOVES to sit in the kitchen with me while I am cooking and watch my every move. He is my constant companion in there and I love it! He truly does bring pure joy into our house. This is what I see every time I look at my cooking buddy in our kitchen...

Is he not the cutest kid ever!!!

Sasha's New Life

2010-08-04T14:26:00.030-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks of Sasha's "new" life here with his family...

Car Time

Playing Cars (his favorite!) with His Brothers 1

Playing Cars with His Brothers 2

Heath with Tears of Laughter In His Eyes After Getting His Curls Combed Out

One of Sasha's Friends Feeding Him a Bottle, She Just Adores Him!

Sasha' First Neighborhood Hydrant Party

Heath Checking Out the Fire Engine at the Hydrant Party

Heath Getting WET at the Hydrant Party

Sasha and His Mama at the Children's Museum

Brooks Working Hard at the Children's Museum

Picnic Lunch at the Children's Museum

Daddy, Heath and Sasha Feeding the Budgie Birds at the Zoo

Mama, Heath and Sasha at the Zoo

Brooks WALKING! at the Zoo

Brooks "Exhausted" from Walking at the Zoo... a Few Feet

The Boys in the Backyard 1

The Boys in the Backyard 2

Heath Jumping Into the Swimming Pool at a Friend's House

Practicing Sitting with Daddy

Sasha and His Mama

Mama

2010-07-28T13:55:00.004-05:00

Guess who said mama with a big smile on his face when I went into his room this morning?! Now that REALLY was a wonderful way to start the day!

Giddy

2010-07-26T14:20:00.007-05:00

I cannot think of a better word to describe how Sasha has been feeling these past two weeks. He seems positively giddy about life! He is so happy and because of that, we are blessed with smiles and giggles all day long. When I walk into his room in the morning, I am greeted by the biggest smile and because he just can't contain all that excitement he then starts rolling around in his crib smiling, laughing and making all sorts of happy noises. What a GREAT way to start the day!

Due to all this giddiness, he will just randomly break out into smiles, laughter and adorable babble throughout the day. He could be sitting next to me on the couch and the next thing I know, he is giddy. He could be playing with a bunch of toys on the floor and the next thing I know, he is giddy. He could be sitting in his bouncy chair watching me prepare food and the next thing I know, he is giddy. He is just so happy with life!

He was even so giddy at his first zoo visit the other day that he actually smiled for the camera... he just couldn't contain himself! Usually, it is very hard to actually capture a smile because when he sees the camera, he gets very serious and then once he hears the camera click and sees the flash go off, he then gives a big smile...that little bugger! But on Saturday, he was having so much fun at the zoo he couldn't even contain his smiles for the camera.

I cannot tell you how much it means to me to see him blossoming and to see him coming to the realization that life can actually be pretty nice! He is absolutely loving his new life and we are absolutely loving our new life with Sasha!

The "Twins" Sasha & Brooks

2010-07-14T15:31:00.005-05:00

Here are a few precious videos of some bonding between Sasha & Brooks. They are only 27 days apart so they are practically twins and it will be so fun watching them grow up together! Right now, Brooks is so protective and loving toward his brother and it is so cute to watch. I have included one video of them playing and a couple of videos of Brooks feeding Sasha a bottle. This all started because Brooks had lovingly gone to his play kitchen and then brought a play bottle to Sasha and tried to feed it to him. Sasha was wondering what in the world Brooks was doing with an empty bottle... he wanted to the real thing! So I gave one to Brooks and asked him to go give it to his brother. He did and the adorable videos are the result. They are too cute so please check them out... just please ignore my annoying voice throughout, sorry about that! I don't shoot the videos with the intention of putting them on the blog but then when I see how cute they are... well, I just can't resist. So, I guess you can always mute your volume if my high pitched voice gets to be too much, LOL!

Heritage Hill Church

2010-07-12T22:04:00.009-05:00

This past Sunday, we finally had the opportunity to introduce our family of five to everyone at Heritage Hill Church. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me. I had been waiting for that moment for so long and when we were up there introducing Sasha, I just couldn't believe the moment I had been dreaming about was finally here. Heritage Hill has been such a blessing to us throughout this adoption journey. They offered to throw us a benefit dinner and silent auction before we even knew them. How many churches will do all of that for a family that does not even attend their church? We were blown away be their kindness and generosity.

After the dinner, we started attending the church and I can honestly say that I have finally found a place that feels like home. I look forward to each Sunday where I can listen to some amazing music and hear the wonderful Pastor Ray speak. Each Sunday when I walk out the doors after the service, I feel so inspired and so blessed that I finally found a church that feels... I don't really even know how to say it but it just feels RIGHT. It feels like the place I should be and after years of searching, I cannot tell you how much that means to me. Thank you Stephanie for introducing me to your wonderful church!

The church has been so supportive of us and we cannot thank them enough. We had so many people praying for Sasha and for our family, giving us words of encouragement throughout, lifting our spirits when times got tough and just sending so much love toward Sasha. They truly love Sasha and it was such a blessing to have the opportunity to walk up to the front of the service on Sunday and introduce our precious boy to a group of people that already care so much about him. Sasha received a standing ovation... how cool is that!? He deserves it... he is such an amazingly wonderful child.

I could not contain my tears nor could Jeremy as he took the microphone to thank everyone. Luckily we had Heath to add some humor to it all. After telling everyone about how great Serbia was because of our tall apartment and the bounce houses in the park (what can I say, the bounce houses really made an impression on him) he proceeded to lick the microphone! Well I guess that is what four year old's do with a microphone that somewhat resembles an ice cream cone... yuck! After a big dose of disinfectant, the mic was all good and everyone had a good laugh.

Thank you to everyone at Heritage Hill Church who prayed so hard for Sasha and our family these last few months! Your support and love for our child moves us beyond words and we cannot thank you enough!

Guess Who Went Swimming Today?!

2010-07-08T22:47:00.017-05:00

Sasha want swimming for the first time today! I took the three boys to the aquatic center we belong to and Sasha did great. He was not very happy as we entered the building because it resembles the children's hospital somewhat. So I think he thought we were headed to another lovely doctor's appointment but once we got in the water, he really started to enjoy himself. He was nervous at first, no doubt about it, but we swam for over an hour and he thoroughly enjoyed himself for most of that time. I was so proud of him. I wish I could have gotten a picture but it just wasn't happening with just me and three boys in the pool... we'll have to wait for daddy to come along and then I will get a bunch of pictures.

Sasha is doing great! We are so impressed with how well he is transitioning to his new life. He is adjusting so well which just blows us away. He was moved away from everything he has ever known a little over three weeks ago but he is just so relaxed about it all. He had a couple of institutional behaviors when we first met him, teeth grinding when he was mad or upset and rubbing his head on something for comfort, but those have virtually disappeared! We hardly ever hear the teeth grinding anymore and the head rubbing we only really see when he is tired. He just seems so happy and content already and this just makes us so happy and relieved to know that he isn't feeling a lot of stress and turmoil.

He is eating so well too... we are actually already off baby food! Yay! He still gets upset if his food is a little chunkier than he likes but he is basically eating everything we are, just cut up into smaller pieces. He and Brooks both really enjoyed the spaghetti the other night... I swear, Brooks is the messiest eater I have ever seen. The picture I included represents what his face looks like after most meals. He can take anything, literally anything at all I give him, and make a mess of himself with it. It is actually quite funny. Anyway, back on track... Sasha is finally taking the bottle that he can do himself once a day. His dad and I like to feed him his bottle the rest of the time, for the bonding, but once a day, we give him a Podee bottle so he can start to learn some independence as well. He resisted this at first but after a couple of weeks, he gave in and now he really likes it. I will include a couple of pictures so you can see how he is doing it all on his own.

If you are wondering why my children are always in diapers in the pictures (I know I would be wondering this), it is because it is REALLY hot where we live in the summer and Sasha overheats VERY easily. VERY easily. So, I just keep him and Brooks in diapers while we are home and this has been working really well. Sasha is quite content and his body temperature stays fairly regular. I also wanted to clarify why Sasha is pretty much always in some sort of baby chair, or seat in all the pictures. He cannot sit up on his own right now and since I am usually the only one home, I have to have him in one of these seats while I am taking pictures. At other times during the day, we are working on his sitting skills and he is getting better and better each day. I really hope to have him sitting on his own in the next few months. It will give him such a feeling of independence and open up his world that much more. Now if only I could get Brooks to walk but that is a whole other story...

One Month of Togetherness

2010-07-04T19:37:00.005-05:00

June 4th we met our third son for the first time. July 4th we are celebrating one month together. What a day to celebrate! Here are a few videos to commemorate this day together. We love Sasha so much and are so happy to be seeing that beautiful smile more and more each day.

Why

2010-07-02T13:19:00.005-05:00

When we were preparing to adopt Sasha and actually still to this day, we have heard the why comment a lot. Well, actually, personally we did not have it said to our faces all but a few times but we did hear through the grapevine many a time that people were asking this...

Why would they want to do that?

My first response to this question is always...

Why wouldn't we?

Sasha is a blessing...

Sasha is a miracle...

Sasha has a purpose in life...

and he deserves a chance to live that life and to fulfill his purpose here on earth.

I hope one day that ALL people will see that the 147 million orphans out there, regardless of whether they have a special need or not, deserve a chance at life.

The Last Few Days... So Wonderful!

2010-06-30T20:20:00.010-05:00

Smiles, Giggles and Guardian Angels

2010-06-28T15:41:00.003-05:00

So today has been wonderful. We haven't had any doctors appointments for a few days now and Sasha is really enjoying himself. I made sure I started getting on the ground even more and playing more and he is really responding to this. He was laughing out loud and couldn't stop smiling and giggling. He doesn't cry when I enter his room in the morning anymore either. The last two days, I have actually gotten his happy squeal instead so that has been pretty neat! He loves to watch me cook while he is in his favorite bouncy chair too and today, when I had to leave the room here and there, he actually whined for me to come back! Now Brooks does this ALL the time and has since birth and it can get to be a little much but when I hear it from Sasha at this point, it feels like a blessing.

I wanted to clarify a couple things from my last post as well, some things that I may not have made clear enough. Sasha is going to the doctor a lot right now but it is only for the things that are absolutely necessary right now. He has A LOT going on medically but some of the things are not as critical and can be put on the back burner right now. We don't want to overwhelm him any more than he already is and we don't want to interfere with our bonding so we are only do what is absolutely necessary and important to do right away. The other stuff can wait. So, if it seems like we are doing a lot, it could be worse and we are doing the best job we can to manage his care in a way that will be the most beneficial for him in the short and long term.

Also, I wanted to clarify that he doesn't really have significant bonding issues at this point. I just wanted to be honest and let everyone know that it wasn't all just going smoothly with no bumps in the road. I wanted to be honest so if anyone else is in our position and wonders why their child didn't instantly bond, they know that others have been in their shoes. It has helped me tremendously to hear about others who have been in our place and how they have made it through... so thank you for all the comments and support. It means a lot!

Sasha is not going through anything more than a typical child goes through, he is just going through different things that are adoption related that I wanted to share. Brooks is going through just as much, as is Heath, as is any child I know but I just wanted to make sure I shared how the adoption side of things were going because I know it helped a lot for me, to see how it went for other people. Brooks in fact, is heading toward the wonderful terrible two's stage and oh boy, is that fun! In fact, I think I could write a whole post just on that, LOL. So all in all, Sasha is doing great and we are doing great... like I said, just a few bumps in the road and they are different ones then I am used to so it takes some adjusting.

On another note, a very exciting thing that happened for Sasha today was that he got to meet his guardian angel Stephanie! Stephanie is a very good friend of mine and she has done so much for our family during this adoption and has been an integral part in bringing Sasha home to his forever family. She is such a blessing. She and her family have been on a mission trip in Papua New Guinea for the last two months and just got home last night. So they came over today to meet our baby boy and it took a lot for me not to cry the moment they finally met. She and her husband Ben have done so much for little Sasha and I was so glad that they finally had the chance to meet. It was pretty amazing too because Sasha reacted very well to them and seemed quite at peace, even with all the other kids running around screaming and laughing. He even did what he loves to do to Jeremy and I, he peed on Stephanie. What a wonderful bonding moment it was for them that I am sure she will treasure forever, once she washes her shirt that is!

The Trials of Bonding

2010-06-26T20:49:00.003-05:00

Today was tough. There is just no way around it. Some days are going to be tough with Sasha because he is putting us to the test with this whole bonding thing. He was GREAT in Serbia, even for the week we had him in the apartment with us. He was happy and interacting with us. Since we have returned home though, things have been different. He rarely smiles now and when he cries and you try to comfort him, he pushes you away and fights your love with all his might. This is to be expected, he is a toddler whose life has been turned upside down but he doesn't quite have the verbal skills yet to express his feelings. So, we are not necessarily surprised that this is happening but we didn't think he would test us this much just by what we were told by people who had seen him at the orphanage. When he was there, as long as someone was giving him attention he was very happy. So, we thought the whole bonding process might go a bit more smoothly with him. We were wrong. He is most definitely putting us to the test. Even though you know something is going to happen however, it doesn't make it any easier when it is happening. It is hard and there is no way around it.

It is hard as a mother when a child is not comforted by you. It is hard to not have the ability to make your child smile. It is hard when no matter what you do, you cannot help your child to stop crying when he is upset. It is hard to be pushed away and swatted when you try to show any sort of affection. BUT, it is okay. This is to be expected and we just have to earn his trust and we will. It will just take time. He and I are actually having some wonderful bonding moments when I give him his bottles of milk. He snuggles in close to my chest and looks into my eyes and I caress his face. And, seeing how his bottles take about 45 minutes to complete at this point, we definitely have some special mother and child moments during this time. So it's coming along but I don't want to be dishonest on this blog and make everyone think that this whole process is just a piece of cake. It isn't but the bumps in the road are definitely worth it in the long wrong.

He has been through a lot this week which doesn't help. He had to go to the doctor for some sort of poking and prodding 4 out of the 5 days. His Ami and Papi left today. His mama and daddy can no longer sit on a floor in a Belgrade apartment and play endlessly with him. His daddy has to work outside of the home and his mama has three boys, two dogs and one house to take care of. So, he is adjusting to everyday life here in our family and at times, it must be just so overwhelming for him. So we just keep moving along, giving him lots of love and attention and we know we will start seeing that smile more and more.

In fact, tonight was actually great. We had a very tough morning and afternoon but tonight was wonderful. I brought him into the kitchen in his favorite bouncy chair while I was cooking dinner. The next thing I know, Brooks has scooted over there and they were playing together and Sasha was laughing so hard and so loud... it was a magical moment! Then, during dinner, he tried chunkier food, some chicken mixed in with his chicken/vegetable baby food, some apples mixed in with his applesauce and some of the lasagna we were having! He did very well... good to know we are on our way to weaning him off of baby foods. Then after dinner, his brothers and I played with all the little animals that Heath has and Sasha was sitting up in my lap and really enjoying his brothers. His brothers love him so much and they can actually get him to laugh and smile at this point. I am so glad he has them and I am so proud of them for the way they have welcomed Sasha, with such wide open arms and hearts, into our family.

So, tomorrow is another day and we will trudge through the difficult moments and relish the wonderful ones building our family one stitch at a time...

Hospitals, Lab Tests & Ice Cream

2010-06-25T22:09:00.002-05:00

Luckily, we did not have to stay overnight in the hospital last night. We checked in so they could do some tests to see if Sasha has Diabetes Insipidus but realized after we had checked in, that because of Sasha's limb differences it would be very invasive to the the tests they wanted to do. If it was one of us, it would have been a straightforward easy procedure but for him, that is not the case. Once again though, I wish they would have figured this out ahead of time. They know he has limb differences so I am not too sure why this couldn't have been figured out before we had to be admitted to the hospital. We stayed there for 7 hours because the in house pediatrician (not our regular doc) was insisting that we stay overnight even though there was no medical need that warranted this. Our regular pediatrician, who we LOVE and is so wonderful to Sasha, and who is actually in charge of Sasha's care was able to get us out of there though so that was good. By the time we made it home, he was very tired and went right to sleep.

This morning though, we had to go back to the children's hospital to get some lab work done. This was our third visit in three days and Sasha was not happy. The first two days he was his calm self whenever we were there but today, he was happy and quiet riding in the back of the car with his brothers and then when we pulled into the parking garage he started screaming. He already knows that it is not a fun place to be which is pretty sad. He just did not want to be there and cried almost the entire time we were there, which is very unusual for Sasha.

The lab insisted that they could do his blood draw now that they had observed the doctor do it, so we were able to go right into a room and they called two nurses in to do the actual draw. They picked a vein on his forehead and were very confident that this would work. Three of us had to hold Sasha down as he was screaming, me being one of them. It was very hard to watch your child in this situation. Plus, his brothers were in there with us and it was very hard for them to see their little brother in so much distress. They tried for what seemed like forever to get blood out of this vein (it was probably only like 3 minutes) and they finally realized it was just not going to work. So they found another, bigger one, on the side of his head. Luckily this one worked very well and it was over fairly quickly but was so, so hard to watch. I actually did end up with tears in my eyes this time. How can you not when you see your child in so much distress and you are one of the people helping to hold him down? Never in a million years did I realize that a blood draw could be so dramatic but unfortunately for Sasha, this is how it is going to be. Let's hope he doesn't need a lot. It is also a blessing that the nurses and staff (minus the extremely frustrating hospital pediatrician) are so great and work so hard to make his stays there as pleasant as they can be.

So, as of now, we are all home together and everyone is sleeping soundly right now. Sasha seems to love his crib so that is good. During the day, he is very quiet and very serious, taking it all in, but now at night, when I put him in his crib, I hear him babbling and making all kinds of fun noises. I'm glad he is so happy in his crib and feels that he has a safe place at home where he can relax and "practice" his skills.

Tonight, he also got a very special treat for the first time and it was a very sweet moment. We all went out for ice cream to say good bye to Ami and Papi who are leaving for home tomorrow. Sasha has never had ice cream... he has never had special things like this. So we got him his own scoop tonight and he LOVED it! I thought he might be turned off due to the cold feeling of it but no, he was just the opposite and could not get enough. Very, very cute!

Next week on four out of the five days, we have appointments with all kinds of specialists so that is good. It will be nice to start getting some answers to his health problems so we can get him on the road to recovery. Thank you so much for your continued love and prayers for our precious son. We can't tell you how much it means to us!

Off To The Hospital

2010-06-24T10:09:00.002-05:00

Off to the hospital we go. Most of Sasha's test results were great so that was wonderful news but his one regarding Diabetes Insipidus (which is what we have suspected he has all along) came back iffy and now they need to do additional tests for this. This means however, that he has to be admitted to the hospital for 24 hours so they can monitor his urine output through a catheter. Not fun at all. So, we will be heading there in a few hours. I will stay the entire day with him so he is never alone and Jeremy will stay with him tonight. Please pray that Sasha has a positive experience at the hospital and that everything goes as well as it can.

Like I said, the staff at the children's hospital is wonderful so we know he is in good hands. Hopefully all these additional tests will give us some answers so we can start treating him. Thank you for all your prayers, love and support!

The Things We Take For Granted

2010-06-23T21:38:00.003-05:00

The things we take for granted... for instance, how easy it is for most of us to go in and have blood drawn for some lab work. It never really crossed my mind until today that is. Sasha has to have a number of diagnostic tests done to see why his body is overheating, why he is consistently dehydrated, etc. So, to do this, we had to go to the Children's Hospital to have some blood drawn.

They wanted first morning draws which means he could not eat anything beforehand. So, I left the house as quickly as I could this morning, which was around 8. It took about 30 minutes to check in since we had never been to that hospital before and then we finally made it back to the lab. I handed all my paperwork in and when I did, they saw Sasha so I am not too sure why 20 minutes later, they were surprised when we walked back there. They did not know what to do. They kept asking me how he had blood drawn in the past and I kept saying that I did not know because we just adopted him. I said that I assumed they would have to take it out of his jugular vein in the neck or his groin since this is what the pediatrician had said the day prior. Well, they said that they could not do that. They were not allowed to do that so they would have to call down an anesthesiologist to do the draw. Really?! My husband is a doctor so I could just see in my head at that point how much we were now going to be charged for a simple blood draw since a doctor had to be involved.

At this point, it was around 9:20 and poor Sasha was starving. They said they would try to work everything out as quickly as possible because they knew how hungry he must have been. So we waited another 20 minutes (at this point he was bawling, he had done so well up until this point, no tears). I was then told that all the examine rooms were full so the doctor would have to do the draw from his neck in the OR and I was not allowed to come. What?! You have got to be kidding me. You are going to draw blood from my son's neck, the son we are trying to bond with and to gain his trust, and you are telling me I can't be with him! Unbelievable. At that point, I had just really wished my husband could have been there because he would have been allowed to go in the OR with Sasha. But he wasn't so I had to hand him over. Everyone was VERY nice (it is a children's hospital after all with very sick kids) and very sweet with Sasha but it was still hard to hand him over. I wanted to cry and anyone that knows me knows that I am a cryer. But crying would not have done him any good nor would it have done me any good so I held it all in (had to pat myself on the back for that one, LOL).

I then waited in the lobby for about 15 minutes just praying that his blood draw from his jugular vein would go well. They came out with him and they were all just oohing and aahing over him. They didn't want to let him go and kept saying how well he did back there (no tears or fighting) and just how cute he was (I know I am biased but I totally agree!). And the good news was that they didn't have to take it out of his jugular like they thought, they were able to do it through a vein on his scalp so that was good! And the lab tech watched it all and said that she could do that so from now on, if we needed a blood draw, they could do it at the lab. Amen for that! At 10:30, Sasha finally got his breakfast... and he was so good about it all. He keeps impressing us more and more each day.

Who would have ever guessed that a simple blood draw could be so dramatic...

The Trip Home

2010-06-20T15:37:00.002-05:00

Okay, I don't really even know where to start so I guess I will just start at the very beginning of our journey home. Vlado (the apartment manager) came to our apartment at 9:45 on Friday the 18th and took Jeremy over to the police station to unregister. When you are going to be adopting in Serbia and living there for a short time, you have to register with the police. When you leave, they ask that you unregister so Jeremy and Vlado went to take care of that while I finished up getting all the bags and kids ready for the trip.

At 10:15, Dushin (I feel bad, but I do not know how to spell his name. It is pronounced Dewshin in Serbian) arrived at the apartment to take us to the airport. Dushin is Jasmina's nephew and I want to take this opportunity to thank him and tell him what a wonderful young man he is. He picked us up from the airport initially, he drove us all over on the day of the adoption ceremony and he drove us back to the airport. He helped us with our bags, which was not easy because we had a lot of them, they were very heavy, and we lived up four flights of stairs. He never hesitated to help and he was always so nice about it. Heath just thought Dushin was the coolest guy ever and Dushin was so nice to him. He gave him hugs and chatted with Heath (which Heath loves to do) as long as he wanted. You can just see the adoration Heath has for him in the picture I included. He is a very sweet young man and we appreciate all he did for us while we were in Belgrade.

After getting all the bags down from the apartment (thanks to Jeremy, Dushin & Vlado), Dushin drove us to the airport, which is about 30 minutes outside of town. He then helped us get everything in the airport and at about 1:00, we took off to Munich. Once in Munich, the craziness began. Let me just say this before I even begin posting about Munich... I will never fly into or out of Munich again if I have a choice. That airport is a nightmare and pretty much everyone we encountered was extremely rude. Now, on to the madness that is known as the Munich Airport.

When you fly into Munich, you have already been through security but they make everyone departing a plane go through security again before you board your next plane (just in case you might have picked something up on the other plane, really?!?). But, it isn't even that simple. They load everyone up on buses when you get off your plane (which is a lot of fun with three kids, two strollers, and a ton of bags) and drop you off at another terminal. There, you face a free for all when it comes to security. There are a number of buses dropping passengers off, no official lines and only 3 security check points so everyone is just pushing and trying to get through because they don't want to miss their connections.

We were definitely going to miss our connection because of this mayhem. The lines were simply not moving and we were almost 50 people deep. Heath was acting up, Sasha and Brooks were crying and we were so frustrated because we were going to miss our international flight. Luckily, this wonderfully nice couple with 2 children who were at the front of the line saw us, and flagged us to the front even though there were 6 of us. How nice of them... seriously, they did not have to do that and it showed true kindness that they would even think of helping us out in that manner. If it was not for them, we would not have made our flight. So then, we have to get to our terminal but the way they have the airport set up there is that you get off on the ground floor and then have to go up three floors to get to the terminals. Well, like I said, with two strollers this is a pain because we have to take an elevator. But, unlike in the states where you can just walk up to the elevator and ride it, in Munich, they lock the elevators and you have to find someone to open it for you. So after we successfully did this, we raced toward our terminal.

We were then stopped again at another checkpoint to have our passports checked again, just in case anything might have changed since the two security checks we had already been through. Once again it was another huge mass of people with no end in sight. Jeremy asked the lady at the front if she could let us bypass the line because we were going to miss our flight and luckily she let us. She called us up to the front so that was a blessing. So you would think we could actually go to our gate at this point, right? Well, about 100 feet later (literally, that is all it was), we were stopped at ANOTHER checkpoint to have our passports checked AGAIN! Seriously?! And then, after all that, we made it to the gate.

At the gate, we went up to the counter with our strollers and three kids and asked if we could preboard as a family. The woman said yes. This did not happen. There was no preboarding. They just called everybody all at once and once again, a massive rush of people we faced! So we just kind of pushed our way forward with the strollers and made it through. We then rounded the corner to find that we had another 3 flights of stairs to go down if we wanted to board the plane. The elevator was of course locked but this time, there was nobody there to unlock it. Jeremy made his way back up to the gate check to only be told that we did not ask ahead of time to use the elevator (ummm, didn't we go up there with all the kids and strollers ahead of time) so we would not be able to use it and we would have to get all our bags, all our kids (2 of whom don't walk) and all our strollers down the stairs or escalators ourselves. At this point, we were just in shock at the level of incompetence we were facing at this airport and the lack of any sort of humanity that the employers had. This place was crazy! I can't even begin to describe just how crazy it is there. Oh, and if you want to buy a bottle of water or any snack or anything for that matter once you get through the FOUR security checkpoints, you have to show your passport and boarding pass to the cashier and write down your address. Seriously, no joke! So that was Munich.

Once we were on board with Lufthansa it was great. Lufthansa is a great airline and we were really impressed with the comforts of the plane and the friendliness of the staff. Very impressed. We were able to get the bulkhead seating on this flight (something we could not do on our way there) thanks to my father in law making phone calls from the states for us. We wanted this seating so Brooks and Sasha could have the infant bassinets they provide. These were wonderful! Sasha loved his and slept almost the entire flight. Brooks was a wee bit scared of his at first but then realized it was a pretty sweet place to sleep so he relented. We made Heath a bed on the floor under our feet (we did this on the way over as well), so he could have a place he could stretch out and sleep comfortably (well, as comfortable as a floor can be). It was a long flight, over 8 hours, but it went very smoothly and was quite comfortable for everyone.

When we were about 15 minutes outside of Chicago, making our descent, we hit a bunch of turbulence and the plane was jostled all about. It was making a lot of people sick. Oh, if you don't want to read about vomit (I mean, how can I have a travel post without vomit, LOL) then I suggest you skip this paragraph because it's pretty gross. Brooks was on my lap and he started crying and then all of a sudden he puked. I was able to catch it once again (just like our flight over there) in my hand and then the flight attendants who were sitting right there in front of me, rushed over with paper towels and puke bags. I got it all in there and waited for more vomit. Meanwhile, I myself was not feeling well and kept trying to tell myself that I was not going to throw up. I mean, I really cannot remember the last time I had gotten sick on a plane. But, no such luck on this day. As I am waiting for Brooks to puke again, I start throwing up in a bag. Right as I start doing this, Brooks starts massively puking everywhere! So here I am, throwing up in a bag with a toddler on my lap throwing up everywhere and I can't do anything about it because I am sick as well. And to top it off, we were landing so the flight attendants were not allowed to get out of their seats to help. So they were just throwing me a bunch of paper towels and bags to try and help but it was everywhere. It was all over me, it was all over Brooks and let me tell you, it was not fun. We were not the only ones throwing up either, the row behind us was throwing up, a few people behind them were and Ami was not doing too well either (she escaped any vomit though). When the plane landed, we let everyone get off first while I tried to clean up. The flight attendants were great. They felt so bad and brought me a whole box of warmed up wipes and all sorts of things to clean up. They were very sweet and I really appreciated their kindness.

We then had to get everybody and everything off again and take another elevator down to customs. I was still not feeling well and thought at any moment that the vomiting may return. We had to wait in a huge line for customs and then go to another area after that because of the adoption. After we got through all of that, we started racing toward our gate because we were on the verge of missing that flight as well. We got stopped in security though because of all of Sasha's baby food. We had about 6 jars left because he eats a lot and we had to be prepared. They had to take each individual jar and put it in a special box to get analyzed... one... at... a... time. And each time, it took about 2 minutes and the machine kept breaking down and not working so they were trying to reboot it after ever couple of jars. Halfway through, Jeremy found the supervisor to inform him that we were going to miss our flight. He looked up our information and said that no, we were not going to miss our flight that was scheduled to take off in 17 minutes because it had been cancelled! What?! Yep, cancelled! And there were no other flights going to Omaha that night.

So there we were. We had been traveling with three small children for about 15 hours, it was 9 pm and we were stuck in Chicago. United would not help anybody and sent everyone on that flight to the airports customer service which was 500 people deep. Seriously! We would have been in that line for hours. So, we decided to rent a car and drive the 7 hours back to Omaha because all the flights to Omaha the next day were booked as well so we would have been stuck in Chicago for at least two days. We could not believe all of this was happening when we had gone through so much and we only had one, 2 hour flight home. That's it. We were so close.

So at 11:30 pm, we finally had a van rented (thanks to my father in law making a bunch of calls), with three car seats that I installed and were ready to head out. It was stormy, very stormy with lots of rain and lighting and we were all exhausted. None of us had slept in 17 hours! It was not a good situation. And poor Sasha, he had been such a trooper up until that point but finally, after 17 hours, he broke down when he got strapped in the car seat (they do not use these in Serbia so he had never been in one before and I am pretty sure it was hurting his dislocated hip). We felt so bad for him. What an experience he had to go through! I cannot even begin to imagine.

Ami drove a bit but was too tired so Jeremy took over. She stayed awake to make sure Jeremy would stay awake and I tried to take a nap so I could drive next. I dozed on and off for a couple of hours and then Jeremy was just too exhausted to continue. So then I took over and Ami stayed up as copilot. I drove the rest of the way home, about 5 hours, and it was HARD. I did not want to be driving. I was so tired but I knew we just had to persevere to get our family home. We then hit some pretty heavy fog for about 2 hours which was not fun. It was really hard to see and the defroster on the rental car was not working well and the windows kept fogging up. It was a really hard drive but… 27 hours after we left our apartment in Serbia with Dushin, we arrived home at 7:30 am and it felt SO good. So, so good to be home!

Day 17: We're Home!

2010-06-19T13:29:00.002-05:00

After a very long 24 hours plus of eventful, unfortunately, rather than uneventful travel, we are home! After no sleep in those last 24 hours, I need to rest but will be posting soon about our adventures home. I just wanted to say though, that Sasha did SO great on the trip, he was amazing! Welcome Home To Your Forever Family Sasha, We Love You...

Day 16: Headed Out

2010-06-18T00:56:00.002-05:00

In a couple of hours we are heading home... we can't wait! Belgrade has been wonderful but we miss our dogs and the comforts of home. Thank you for all your prayers throughout our adoption journey, they have meant so much to us. Good Bye Belgrade, thanks for giving us the greatest gift of all... Sasha Hunt James Toomey!

Day 15 Part 2: Jasmina

2010-06-17T14:59:00.007-05:00

We are so grateful for Jasmina. What a blessing she is. She is a physician at the orphanage and has been our facilitator over here in Serbia for our adoption. She is a wonderful, wonderful woman who works so hard to better the lives of the children here in Serbia who do not have families. She works very hard at her job and you can tell, from the moment you meet her, that she has a deep love for the children and really, truly wants to help them. It is not just a job for her. It is her calling and she is a remarkable women. We feel very blessed to have her as part of our lives and hope that we will always remain a part of each other's lives through the years.

Jasmina loves Sasha so much and he loves her. It is so sweet to watch the two of them together. He just lights up when he sees her and she just lights up at the mention of his name. They have a very special relationship and we are so grateful that he has had her in his life for the last 19 months. Sasha has always been one of her favorites and she has told us, that from the beginning, she knew there was something very special about this clever little boy. She saw something different, something special and she just fell in love. I love to hear her tell this story (and when she does, she tears up just as I do) because this is exactly how I feel. From the moment I laid eyes on Sasha, I felt that he was very special and that he was going to make a very positive difference in this world while he is here. He is here for a reason... God did not make a mistake with him. God does not make mistakes. He is definitely here for a reason and he is indeed special in so many ways. It warms my heart to know that Jasmina and I both saw that from the very start. He has already brought so much joy to so many people's lives in his short 19 months, I cannot even begin to imagine what he is going to do in his lifetime and Jasmina feels the same way.

Every morning, she would arrive at the orphanage and go directly into Sasha's room to greet him. That was her morning routine every single day. She is going to miss him greatly but she knows that it is bittersweet because he is going to a better place. She is so excited for the life that he has ahead of him now with us... so, so excited. But she is going to miss her sweet Sasha dearly and I completely understand why. They have a very special connection that is so wonderfully beautiful to see.

Jasmina will always be a part of our lives. We want Sasha to know all about her and all about the love she gave him while he was here in Serbia. We want her to have the opportunity to watch him grow and one day, when he is a little older, we will bring him back to Serbia for a visit so they can reconnect.

Thank you Jasmina for all that you are and all that you do for the children in the orphanage. You are such a blessing and we are so fortunate to have met you and to not only have you as a part of our lives but to have you as such an integral part of our son's life as well. We feel honored that we can call you a friend. Sasha will always know you because we will tell him many stories and show him a lot of pictures. Thank you for loving our son while he was here. Thank you for seeing just how truly special he is. Thank you for seeing his potential even when all those around you couldn't. Thank you for pushing so hard to have him be available for international adoption. Thank you just does not seem enough for all that you have done. Sasha is so lucky to have had you as a part of his life and we cannot thank you enough for loving him the way you do. We will miss you but we will always stay in touch! All our love Jasmina!

Day 15 Part 1: Yummy Food & Farewells

2010-06-17T14:27:00.010-05:00

Today we spent our last full day in Belgrade. I can't believe it is already time to go home. We have had a wonderful time in Serbia and hope to come back some day. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming to us and the city has been a lot of fun for us to explore, especially the bakeries. It will be so nice however, to get home and get back to our new "normal" routine. Heath can get back to his swimming and preschool, Brooks can get back to scooting all over the house and feeding the dogs their food (his favorite activity) and Sasha can begin to adapt to his new home life. It will be nice to be home. We really miss our dogs and the comforts of home.

For our last day, we ventured out to the pedestrian zone again to purchase some last minute souvenirs and gifts. We then had a lovely Serbian meal outside in the zone (btw, I love Kajmak, the white cheese in the center of the picture, mmm, so good) and headed home after with a gaggle of tired, crying children. While they were napping, Jeremy headed back that way to tour the Kalemegdan Fortress (something we all really wanted to do but it was just not possible with the stroller brigade we have become) and buy his souvenir billion dollar dinar note (back from when they were in an economic crisis in 1993). After that, we all rested at home and began the packing process.

After dinner, Jasmina stopped by to say one last farewell to us and to Sasha. We did not want to leave without seeing her again and we especially wanted her to see Sasha one last time before we left. It was so nice that she was able to come over.

The post is short tonight because we all have to rest up for our big flight tomorrow. Please pray that we will have a safe, uneventful trip home. We hope that Sasha will do well and not throw one of his major toddler tantrums while on the plane... that would definitely not be fun... for anyone. Like I said, we will definitely miss Belgrade but we our excited to get home.

Day 14 Part 2: Look Who Is Smiling More

2010-06-17T08:53:00.004-05:00

Somebody is getting more and more comfortable by the day...

Day 14 Part 1: Sightseeing & Friendship

2010-06-17T08:04:00.022-05:00

After a fun morning at the apartment we headed out for some sightseeing. Oh, and check out those Spidey Speedos on Heath! You know how Europeans love their Speedos so we couldn't resist buying him some here. After all the fun at home, we headed out to St. Sava Orthodox Church today. It is a beautiful, massive church that you can see from practically anywhere in the city. Those living in Belgrade are really proud of their church and it shows in the beauty of not only the church but the surrounding areas. St Sava is the largest Orthodox church in Eastern Europe so needless to say, it was pretty impressive. They are redoing the inside but it is still pretty spectacular. We bought Sasha a little mini St. Sava to have at home and when Heath saw it, he said that he really wanted one for his room as well. So we gave him 200 dinar and told him to go buy one from the gentleman that was selling one. He was so excited and he came running over with it saying, "I have my own St. Sava!". Very, very cute! Let's hope they survive the trip back to Omaha and that they do not break in our bags.

After St. Sava, we headed over to a nearby park so the kids could play a little and have a snack. Sasha just loves being in the stroller, if it is moving of course (stopping=crying). He is enjoying the sites of ever day life so much and it is really fun to see. He is such a sweetheart and really starting to come out of his shell. More laughs, more smiles, more babbling... we are just so thrilled. But back to the park, I have to say that Belgrade has some wonderful parks. They are everywhere for one but they are also very unique, each one has something different. The pics from this one show that cool wood wave feature the kids could run up and down on... very fun.

After the park, we had a quick lunch and then headed home. We had to get some naps in because we were going over to a family's home for a play date. The Richardson family are from Nashville but have been here for about a year while the dad does some work with the US Embassy. They have been such a blessing to us while we have been here and we hope to see them again when we are in the states. It was so wonderful to be able to go over to their house yesterday and let the kids play and have the chance to chat. It was a really nice afternoon.

We then raced home because Ami and I were meeting Jasmina for dinner. Jasmina, Jeremy and Ami went to a traditional Serbian folk dancing concert the night before (which they all loved and were quite impressed with) while I stayed back and put the kids to bed. So tonight, I had the chance to go out to a lovely dinner with Ami and Jasmina while Jeremy stayed back to put the kids to bed. Jeremy and I really wanted to take Jasmina and Ami out to a nice dinner to thank them both for all they have done for us during this adoption process. We ended up choosing a wonderful restaurant that was right on the water, literally we were floating on the water, that had a magnificent view of the Kalemegdan Fortress in the background. The restaurant sits right where the Sava and Danube rivers meet and the food was absolutely delicious. A very nice treat to have before we leave. We had such a lovely evening together (minus the 20 plus mosquito bites I sustained on my legs) and it will be so hard to say goodbye to Jasmina. She is such a wonderfully sweet women, who loves Sasha so much and who has done so much for the kids at the orphanage. We look forward to bringing Sasha back to Belgrade to see her one day because we always want her to be a part of his life.

After our 4 hour dinner (ahhh, so nice) we headed home to a family fast asleep and the knowledge of knowing just how blessed we are.

Day 13 Part 2: Sasha's Birth Mother

2010-06-15T10:32:00.002-05:00

I want to start this post about Sasha's birth mother, by saying that we are grateful that she did what she felt was best for her child. She did not abandon her child. She loved her child. I am positive that she still loves her child. She knew she could not take care of him and this was the only reason she gave him up for adoption. She did not abandon him in an orphanage, she left him there so he could be adopted one day by a family. There are some children at the orphanage who have literally been abandoned by their parents. Their parents left them at the orphanage, have not come to visit them since but they refuse to let their children be adopted. So their children will sit in institutions all their life without the chance of being loved by a family.

Sasha's mother did not do this. She said in both her court statements that she wanted a family for her son so he could be cared for and loved. This brings tears to my eyes. She loves him enough to give him up to another family so he can have the life she knows he deserves. Can you imagine having to make that decision? I cannot even begin to imagine. It breaks my heart to even think about. What a blessing his mother is in that all she ever wanted for her son was to be loved by a family.

At our initial meeting with the ministry officials here, we were able to learn a lot about Sasha's birth mother which was wonderful. We wanted to know as much as we could about her so he too could know about her one day. I cannot imagine the pain of ever having to give a child up for adoption. We made sure to let the ministry officials know that if they were able, to please let her know that Sasha is going to be okay. We want her to know that he is going to be loved and well taken care of. I do not want her to go through life wondering if her son is getting love. I do not want her to worry about him. I want her to know that he truly is okay. He is more than okay and it is very important to us that she knows this. We left a number of pictures of our family for her so if she did contact the center for social care again, they would be able to show her Sasha's family.

So this is what we know as of now:

*Her name is very pretty but I will not be sharing it publicly.
*She was born in 1979.
*She has one sister.
*She grew up with alcoholic parents who were very abusive to both her and her sister.
*Because of this abuse, she left school in the 6th grade.
*Because of the abuse, she left home at 15.
*She has since worked steady jobs as a waitress.
*She is responsible and try's to maintain a job.
*She grew up poor.
*All of her family had/has tuberculosis.
*She does not drink or do drugs and did not do any of these things while pregnant.
*She did smoke while pregnant.
*She did not know that Sasha had limb differences until he was born. She had an ultrasound around 30 weeks and the doctor did not see this or if he did, he chose not to inform her.
*Needless to say she was shocked and very upset when he was born.
*She never held him.
*He was placed in an orphanage on his first day of life.
*She is Muslim.
*She is very pretty. We actually were able to get a picture of her which will be so wonderful for Sasha one day.
*Her father has passed away.
*Sasha supposedly looks a lot like his grandfather who was very tall and skinny.
*She has a lot of emotional issues due to the abuse she suffered as a child.
*She was very upset about giving Sasha up for adoption but didn't know what else to do because she did not feel she could care for him.
*She has not seen or had any contact regarding him since he was born.
*She has made two statements in court saying that she wants her child to be adopted so he can have a family and be cared for and loved.
*She said she would like to meet us if possible but she was not in town when we were here.
*She gave him his name Aleksandar so we will keep it and still call him by the nickname for Aleksandar which is Sasha.

That is all we know right now. As I said before, I am so glad we have this information not only for ourselves but for Sasha as well. I never wanted his birth parents to be a mystery to him. Unfortunately, his birth father will remain a mystery however because his birth mother refused to name who he was. Therefore, as of now, we do not know anything at all about him. Maybe one day we will. Her son is loved beyond her wildest dreams and from one mom to another, I really hope she is told this so she does not spend her life wondering and worrying.

Day 13 Part 1: Guess Who's A US Citizen?

2010-06-15T10:22:00.003-05:00

Today was a big day for Sashi Bashi... he became a US citizen. His visa was approved! And we think he knows... he has been chatting more since we came back from the embassy and he can't stop smiling. He must know that today was a VERY big day! We love you Bashi!

Day 12: Your Prayers Were Heard

2010-06-14T13:05:00.005-05:00

Your prayers were heard!!! Thank You! Sasha slept the entire night last night! No joke, the entire night! He fell asleep around 8 pm and did not wake up until 4:30 am. I then fed him a bottle and within 30 minutes, he was back soundly asleep until 8 am! What a wonderful night that was. And, he was so well rested today which was such a blessing. He was happy and smiling more because he was not so exhausted and stressed. Then he took a 2 hour nap in his crib today as well with no fussing. We are SO proud of him.

I had to laugh though because last night, he was finally sleeping well and after about 2 hours, we were hit with a huge thunderstorm. It was SO loud! We have loud thunderstorms where we live all the time but this was the loudest I have ever heard and he didn't even wake up. Even though he slept well, Jeremy and I didn't. I think we were both so ready for the screaming to start at any moment that we remained tense for the entire night. Plus, Heath chose last night as his only night to be really fussy. So, that was all quite comical but our goal in the end was to have Sasha get a good night's sleep and he did. Thank you for your prayers! Please keep him in his prayers so he can rest up and get healthy.

Sasha loves to go out and explore the city in the stroller. We just wish it wasn't so hot outside so we could do it more. He has been a champ in the heat though. He was constantly sweaty and overheated at the orphanage but since we have had him at the apartment, his temperature has regulated itself. He doesn't look as sick or stressed and that is such a great thing, for us as parents, to see. Even when we go out in the 90 degree heat, he has been doing so well. He just loves to hang out and look at all that is going on around him. It is pretty amazing to witness this whole new world opening up for him. He is just such a sweetheart and we are just so thankful that everything came together so that we were able to adopt him. He has such an amazing life ahead of him that no longer involves spending almost all his waking hours in a crib.

Day 11: We Ventured Out

2010-06-13T13:34:00.009-05:00

It was still very hot today, but not as bad as yesterday when it was 97 degrees. It was still in the 90's but with the cloud cover and slight breeze, it felt much cooler. So, this afternoon, we were actually able to venture out for awhile which was SO nice. It is really hard being cooped up in the apartment all day so having the ability to venture out was a special treat.

There was a Belgrade Food Festival going on at the Kalemegdan Fortress, so we went there. It is only about a 15 minute walk away and it was really funny because normally, Belgrade is a city just bustling with people but today, with Serbia playing in The World Cup, the streets were deserted. Literally. The only place you really saw anyone was at a restaurant that had a television. So, when we arrived at the food festival, it was pretty mellow but shortly thereafter, the game was over and there were people everywhere. It was really hot and suddenly got very overwhelming for Sasha, so we headed out quite quickly. We were going to eat down there but with all the chaos and the heat, we actually stopped at the fancy Pizza Hut on the way home because it was air conditioned. The staff was very nice and the food was very good so it was worth the stop, especially for the cool air. Jeremy and Sasha actually headed back to the apartment because Sasha, as of now, does not like to go out to eat. Jeremy said he did very well back here and had a nice dinner of chicken and vegetable baby food.

As for the sleep situation... I have a feeling the entire apartment building does not like us. Sasha does not just cry when it is night, he screams. And when I say scream, think of a full on toddler tantrum, literally all night long. No joke. It starts shortly after he goes to bed and he continues until about 5:00 am, at which time he finally falls asleep for a few hours. We have tried everything we can think of to comfort him and nothing, absolutely nothing works. It is like having a newborn, a colicky newborn, who just can't be comforted. He wakes up either in pain or scared (we can't really tell at this point but something continually wakes him up in a startled way) and then once he realizes where he is, he gets really mad and throws a full on fit... for hours! I have never seen anything like it. We never had colicky babies so this is new territory for us.

We try staying close to his crib so he knows we are there but not bothering him so he has his space. It does not work. We try sitting right next to his crib with our hands on him or rubbing his head gently. It does not work. We try singing to him. It does not work. We try holding him. It does not work. We try walking with him. It does not work. We try co-sleeping with him. It does not work. Pretty much anything you can think of, we try and guess what... it does not work. So if anyone has any suggestions or has dealt with this before, either email me or leave a comment. We would be so grateful for any new ideas at this point. Anything.

Tonight, we put him to bed in the crib with everyone out here doing their nightly routine and he fell right asleep, no crying. We did this last night as well however and within 30 minutes he was screaming because he was startled awake. It is like he never gets into a deep sleep and this is a big problem. After he fell asleep, we turned everything off and everyone went to bed except for me because I wanted to finish this post. I hope and pray that he will stay asleep but I do not have my hopes up. I really don't. So please say some prayers for little Sasha to help him get through this huge transition period in his life and to help him with any sleep issues or pain he may be experiencing. Thank you so much.

Other than the sleep thing, he is doing great! Today was a little harder for him. He seemed a little sadder and it was hard to coax a smile out of him. I think the honeymoon period is wearing off for him and he is missing all that he left behind. It is a big transition for this little boy and I cannot even imagine what he is going through but for the most part, he is truly handling it very well. He loves playing with all his new toys (especially Hungry Hippo, which he has totally mastered), he loves all the attention he is getting from his brothers, he LOVED going in the stroller today and looking at everything... as long as we didn't stop. The minute the stroller stopped he would start crying. We were told that he is stubborn, and oh boy, is he ever. I think that will be a positive personality trait for him however... it will definitely help him to get through the struggles in life.

So that was our day. Another day as a family of five. We love our three boys... they are all so sweet, so cute and we feel so blessed that we are their parents.

Day 10 Part 3: Where In The World Are The Toomey's

2010-06-13T03:59:00.002-05:00

Where in the world are we....

Belgrade, Serbia!