The social security numbers should arrive in the mail in a couple of weeks. Check that off my list. This was the one step in this whole adoption process that went nice and smoothe. Daniella has been doing her neurodevelopmental program for 8 weeks now. After the first 3-4 days, we saw a few improvements in her speech. She was starting to say some 2 or 3 word phrases, instead of just 1 word. Her feet/hands were warm, for the first time ever, on the days we did the program. Yeah!! She works so hard and is doing just wonderfully. On her memory cards she has gone from doing 3 to 7 now. Each time you increase a card, you have gained a year of development in that area. She now says many 3 or 4 word phrases followed immediately by a few other 3 word phrases. Wow!! She has also gone up 1 number on her 3 word repetitions. Way to go Ruby!! She will probably have to continue doing the program for years to come, but it will be so worth it. Her developmentalist said she thinks Daniella will catch up to her age and be able to lead a normal life. Wow, I cried when she told us that. I always felt in my heart she would do o.k., but there had never been any evidence of that, since we brought her home. No matter what her and Dan's future holds, we will love them for who they are and whose they are(our Father in Heaven). It will be so neat to watch all the children grow, mature, and blossom.

New Names

After a few difficulties, I received D & D's U.S. birth certificates in the mail this week. Yeah!! We did not change their Serbian names, but we did change the spelling. We wanted to give them the English spelling of their names, so everyone would pronounce it correctly. We also gave them a middle name. All our boys have a name that starts with a "J". For some this is their first name; other it is their middle name. This explains Dan's middle name.
As for Daniella, we named her after my paternal grandmother. Matt always gives the kids a nickname. He decided to call Daniella "ruby jean". Not for any particular reason; just because. She loves being called that name. So when we were trying to decide on Daniella's middle name, I called her Ruby Jean; and then stopped. Why couldn't we give her Jean as a middle name. She seems very happy with her new name.
Now, I just have to get their social security number /card and change the spelling of their name on the insurance cards; and I think I am done. Hopefully.
We are not going to change the spelling of their name on their Certificate of Citizenship papers. They want to charge several hundred dollars to do that. We certainly do not want to pay a bunch of money for that.
It seems so weird to let go of that tie to Serbia. I don't know why, but it is a little sad to me. We still speak some Serbian to the children. I would like for them to continue to be bilingual. Matt doesn't care for them to remember the Serbian. I would like for us to take a family trip to Serbia when the children are older. If we all can't go, at least for D & D to be able to go back for a short visit. I don't know if they will want to or not. It could be a sad trip for them. I don't know if their birth family would receive them very kindly. I could be wrong, but that makes me sad. They are such wonderful children. I imagine their birth family has some very nice people. I so would have liked to visit with the birth family. Just to see what they were like and how they felt/viewed everything. That was not an option though . I am very thankful for the info we received about them; and the birth mom's picture. That will have to be enough. I do pray for their mom though. She looked much older than her actual age. I hope she has had a good life, but I don't know if she has. Only God knows, and I pray that he takes care of her. I am very thankful to her for the 2 blessings she carried and delivered. I know that no one is allowed to go with the mom into the hospital or allowed to visit while she is there. That alone would be scary / lonely to me. Part of the fun is to be able to celebrate the new baby with friends/family visitors. Serbia does it quite differently though. I guess I better go for now.
Have a good week.

camping

I guess I better post again. Wow, Oct. has flown by! Let me catch you up to date on our happenings. The month started off with our annual homeschool campout. My husband has never been able to go due to work, so the children and I go it alone. In the past it has always gone well. I knew this year might be a challenge. We planned to stay for 2 days and 1 night. Just a short trip. Our first day at camp all was going well until Truman decided to play in the grill pit. He was told to get out of the pit 4 times; while I was beside him changing 2 of the children's diapers. All of a sudden I hear a blood curdling scream from Truman. I knew that couldn't be good. I'll spare you the details but the iron grill came real close to taking part of his finger off. I am known for mostly treating the children's ailments at home, but this episode required a trip to the ER for 2 stitches to sew his finger back together. UUgghh!! I called my husband after the fact to tell him the news. His thoughts were "2 stitches; that can't be that bad". After we got home though he saw that 2 stitches can be a pretty big deal if they are holding the finger back together. Now, several weeks later, his finger is healing nicely. He will lose the nail, but another will grow in its place. The rest of the finger looks real good. Thank you Lord.
The other difficulty with the ER trip was what to do with the rest of the children. Well, baby has to go with mom (the food supply). The older 2 stayed at camp with some of our friends. They were off on a trail when the accident happened. There wasn't time to wait for them to get back to camp. This left me with 4 others to take with me. One of the other moms offered to go with me. Thank you Barbara. It was not until the ordeal was over that I thought about how Dan and Daniella would act with her. I knew Zarah would do fine. Dan was a bit active, but he did o.k. Daniella was down right disobedient. OH NO!! If you followed along with our time in Serbia, you know she gave us fits with her behavior there. From the second we drove away from the orphanage though, she has done nothing but be totally obedient, so I didn't think about her acting up . I didn't give it much thought before, but I guess she doesn't see the need to obey someone unless they have established authority with her. Now I know. Too late to save Barbara from a 3 hour ER nightmare though. Sorry Barbara!! Now, we know and I will be more conscience of it and act accordingly.
The camera did make it to camp, but the batteries were dead. No camping pictures this year. We did end up staying the rest of our time; after a short trip to Wal-Mart to get pain medicine and band aides. I already had the tea tree oil packed, so we were set.
The rest of the trip went well, and a good time was had by all. The finger didn't slow Truman down much at all. What a tough little guy.

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Sometimes Dreams Do Come True

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What a difference 6 months can make!!

I've been wanting to try this out for awhile, but I was a bit intimidated. Wow, it's pretty easy and what a neat thing.

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Dip It

Hi,
Daniella met with her neurodevelopmentalist last week. The visit went really well. We forgot to mention the overly friendly with strangers part, so Daniella did most of the evaluation from the testers lap. uugghh! Anyway, we are very happy with the program. After gathering the needed supplies, we started her daily exercises. It will be a slow/time consuming process, but we are expecting great results.
Now the reason for the title. The children and I are sitting at the lunch table today. Dan is getting good enough with his utensils that I decided to give him a bit of barbecue with his chicken nuggets. Part way through the meal, I notice Dan has not tried his barbecue sauce. I tell him, "dip it Dan" and point to his nugget. While taking a bite of my nugget, I catch a glimpse of Dan out of the corner of my eye dipping his forehead into his sauce. Yikes!! After a small re-explanation of what he is to do we go on with our meal. Of course, a good laugh was had by all.
If its not Dan giving us a good laugh, it is usually our other 3 y/o comedian. Here's another quick example ,then I have to go get something done. Supper table last Thursday. Matt (husband) notices his supplement powder is missing from on top of the fridge. He promptly asks where it was.
Truman pipes up in a very dramatic voice ,"I think someone took it down".
Matt," well were is it now?"
Truman, " I don't know, but I think someone put it in the trash."
Matt, "where is my powder that was in it?"
Truman, " I think someone dumped it out."
Matt, "well who did that"
Truman, "well I'm not sure, but I think it was me." with a big smile on his face.
If Matt wouldn't have been laughing so much, Truman would probably have gotten into some pretty big trouble for that one. Good thing he is sooo cute.
Have a good week. Talk to you soon.
Vickie