a little new news

ok it has been a while since i blogged. but i been so busy with remodeling my mom's room , getting ready for steve's hip replacement . hopefully things will slow down after the next few weeks. aleks is doing really good , markus is doing well, he has several appointments next month. we go for his cleft palate and then the feeding clinic. aleks has grown about 3 inches since we came home in feb. and poor littel markus hasnt grown but maybe an inch..we are so thankful that we have our two sons home with us.

ok ,, we have decided that if alcohol can effect a an unborn child then markus has gotten every aspect of it... FAS, ACC, and now a cleft in his soft palate.....we love him and nothign they tell us about him changes that. on friday we get his glasses, they want us to keep them on him as much as possible...we still have to go to the orthopedic doctor about his wrist ,, it might of been broken in the past and didnt heal right.. the genetic doctor took blood to test , we will know more on that in about 3 more weeks...

some news...

ok this week we learned markus does hear us he just choses not to listen typical male thing i guess. they arent diagnosising him autistic they are going to track him for a year or so and then re test if he doesnt progress..both the boys have great teeth, which surprised the dentist .the boys are now drinking protien enhancement to try to build up the muscles.we found out markus' wrist was more then likely broken at some stage of his life and now we got to get it taken care of so it stops hurting him.they are both doing great.

he did it

Today Markus overcame a big challenge he drank out of a straw. with no help he drank a juice box. it was great to see he finally did it. now to get him chewing. his therapist is doing a great job with him.

a day of melt downs and break throughs......

today was the first day in 2 months that aleks had a melt down. he woke up this morning and right off the bat he started crying over everything. by the end of the day he had had a melt down while we was visiting family...the after that he was great again. playing and laughing and back to his old self. then after that Markus just started to cry .not just whine but real tears . this was the first time since we been home he has cried. although sad at the time i was overjoyed he let me cuddle him and rock him to console him. plus here i sa few more new pics. from our visit with the british side of the family.

today makes it 6months.........

since our boys became officially our sons. who would of thought time would fly so fast after the way it dragged along while we was waiting on a courtdate..

new family to meet.

well my husbands family is coming over from england on saturday. we really hope they enjoy meeting the kids.

markus before and now

here is a pic of markus from our preview trip a year ago. here he is today . after looking at these pics together i do believe he is putting on a little weight.he is doing really well. although the biggest thing i notice is that over there he wore a size 6 diaper and here it only takes a 1-2 .

well it has been a while since i updated on the boys. they are both doing great in Speech , aleks is actually speaking more and more english. markus is saying somethings, and they are working on getting him to chew. aleks is a water baby, he loves the pool. he is swimming with his lifejacket on to help.markus loves to float around on his back. we are all trying to support arly in her choices for life.

happy 18th birthday Arly

well today was Arly's 18th birthday , we awoke to her mother pounding on our door. She was here with her mother in law to get arly ,not to see arly , but to get her. they assumed since Arly is now 18 that she was coming to live with her mother. i really felt bad for arly due to her mother telling her that my two sweet little boys are not her brothers. this broke her heart. and all this was before church this morning. Arly did however get herself back together and sang a solo in our 4th of july choir program today.

this is spenser and dallas aleks , he loves to hang out with spenser and listen to music and act like he is a big boy too.

a little update.

well it has been a while since i last posted anything, well we been to columbus to the nationwide children hospital. the neurosurgeon advised s to not worry about markus brain it is just fat. we just have to keep an eye on him if he seems to have headaches then we must let the dr know. we have seen OT PT and ST. both boys done well and everyone is ready to see our boy be all they can be. we have got the pool open and the bys both love it. i will hve to post some video of them both swimming. alek is like a little fish.

markus is still learning more and more

today was great markus held his cuppie and drank from it. (twice) big step for him. he also climbed out of his play yard and back in with the help of his zebra toy. and while visting my uncle and aunt he was running through their house. it is great to see him come so far in a short 4 months. it is hard to remember life without them here .

well we had avery promising visit with the Ot and Pt today. the boys were evaluated today and the ladies seemed to think there is lots of hope for young markus.

ok now i put this video on for someone to see but as i was playing it markus started singing with the boy patting the doll.

aleks playing in the rain after church

aleks decided after church on night he needed to get in the rain. so i just took off the good shirt and shoes and turned him loose. only problem was at one point he thought he would drink the water like the doggies do.

ENT visit

well we saw the ENT doctor today. he is a nice guy that actually took steve's tonsils out a few years back. he remembered us and was quite surprised we had adopted. he was very emotional about markus.nad told us we are very lucky to have found these two precious boys. he has scheduled a CT scan of markus whole face on thursday. he thinks there is a mass in the one side of his nose and wants to see the best thing for our baby.

some new pics

markus actaully held his cuppy. this was a big step.

finally...........

well today we received aleks' COC. we have all had strep throat lately except Steve. Aleks is starting to speak more and more english but sometimes he reverts back to his baby babble. markus is doing better he does talk some just not much . when he talks you have to pay close attention because it is very faint. he has been saying a few words together . we go tomorrow to the uriologist to check on markus . hopefully the news there will be good as well.

Happy Birthday to me

Today God granted my prayers and Aleks was marked as heart healthy . nothing wrong with his heart. we went out for a birthday lunch and celebration of the good news. the doctor also seems to think he might not have FAS as well. but the international adoption clinic diagnosed him as fas. either way we love him. him having a healthy heart is just a bonus ,

a couple random pics

this was with my nephew he was in a christmas in oz drama.

the boys look so different then they did when they first came home.

no doctor visits for a few days ..

after the last few days and doctor visits it is about time the boys. and now they have both had the stomach flu or some virus. markus is starting to get vocal more and more and we can understand him most of the time. aleks is starting to put words into sentences now. he told Pap-pap(my uncle) "i get out" when we pulled up to his house .he loves to get out and play at pap's house. we will be starting pediatrics rehab soon.

doctor visit...

well we made our trip to the international adoption clinic at UK medical clinic yesterday . we have lots on intense OT,PT and Speech therapy ahead for us. plus we have a few medical issues that will require some operations, but over all the boys are doing ok.Markus has to have extra calories with every meal to help him gain some weight. doctor was concerned with his FTT. we actually go back in 3 months for markus and then six months with both . looks like i wont be returning to work this school year. the boys need mommy to be home with them. markus was officially weighed in at 18 pounds , and 34 inches tall. while aleks weighs in at 28 pounds and 36 inches tall. they both need prayers and lots of love.

finally

well yesterday we got markus' COC and aleks' SS card . now in about a week we should get aleks COC .

NEW haircuts yet again.

well the boys are looking much better and healthier . we had a big easter egg hunt after church today and they had a blast.

A couple new pics

well today we went shopping for easter and my nephew who is studying to be a youth pastor at college told my mom that a new suit was an investment in his future.so after then we found the boys new sunday suits to match his .i will add pictures of them in the easter best next week. today Geoffrey decided he would do aleks' hair in a faux hawk with blue hair glue. he looked really cute .we also finally found some shorts for markus that wont fll down . the sad part is we had to get him 6-9 month size. but at least they wont fall off him. people see him and cant believe he is 4.

a little improvement

well this morning steve went to get the cortizone shot for his hip , so fr he is moving around no problems. he is off work today so he will get to spend the day with the boys. aleks is doing better at speaking english, he copies my nephew all the time. markus is talking more and actaully says mama alot.

ok they citizen or not ......

we have now gotten letters from the DHS on both boys saying they didn't receive any of the adoption paperwork in their visa packets. at first i was a little upset with the embassy people , but the more i think about the whole situation. the immigration people at the airport opened the visa packet and told us everything was in order so we could enter the USA with our two new US citizen sons. so if the documents werent there then how did they know that we adopted them legally or not?i guess we will never know but i know that someone somewhere messed this up .now we await to hear from the DHS to see if what we sent them was right . because we dont know what was in the visa packet , it was a sealed enevelope that we handed to the immigration in chicago.

random pics and videos i havent had time to post

our newest family photo taken on Markus' birthday

Markus and my mom showing off their birthday cakes

this is markus' very favorite person. he will talk to her .

Aleks and Geoffrey sporting the shades and dress shirts .

Aleks and Spenser playing some ball.

markus still wearing his hat and showing off his shades , uncle D got him. his little dirty face was to cute.

markus riding on his zebra , he really loves to just sit and spin on the zebra




one night aleks went to watch tv with spenser and this is how i found them watching tv. i guess they were both wore out from a busy sunday .

aleks really enjoyed this new toy , he told daddy to stay off his rug he had just cleaned it.

the boys swinging

aleks loved swinging

markus enjoyed swinging, he really loves the hat , he found it today where Mel had sent it to him. (thanks mel -he wants to wear it all the time)

fun in the park

well today we made our first trip to the local park. my aunt has two of her grandchildren here for the week so we all went to the park. Aleks had a blast running and playing on everything. Markus enjoyed the swings. i actually got some video and pics i'll post soon.aleks decided he was going to roll off the merry go round as it was turning and ended up in a big mud hole. he luckily landed on his back he was covered in mud and soaking wet. but he enjoyed that as well. we have sent off both the boys adoption papers to the Department of homeland security now. apparently the embassy people in estonia left them out of the visa packet. we continue to pray we hear that they have everything they need now.

been home 4 weeks

well it has been 4 weeks that we been home. the boys are doing really well. markus is changing daily, he is becoming a big boy walking everywhere , but still loves to sit and spin. the funny thing about him is he only talks at night once the lights go out he talks to his baby monitor. ive had to take him everynight to see my mom so he will go to bed easier. she is away this week and that is hard for him to understand. aleks is getting still adjusting to everything. he talks more and sometimes we can even understand him.

pics of the boys.

a few more pics

aleks was showing off his time out stool and his boots. markus was with my nephew geoffrey, markus actually tells him love you. he wont even say that to us yet.

happy birthday markus

here is our big birthday boy , my oh my he has grown a little,

here was little guy we brought home a few weeks ago