ACC and our family

Markus has become a school boy.....

2011-08-15T23:06:00.001-07:00

well markus is in his second week of school. his teacher thinks he is a bright child .. he has begun to recognize colors and body parts.. still no idea of why he wont talk but praying someday he will decide to talk to us..

Another Genetics appointment

2011-02-10T14:38:00.001-08:00

well today Aleks had his appointment with the UK genetics clinic ..they told us he has grown a bit and looks like he is doing really well.. Markus was with us and they ask if they could look at him.We didn't mind so they looked over young Markus. the doctor showed us a spot on his chest where you can actually watch his heart pump. they called it a defect but nothing that would require medical attention. they want to see if the other doctor did a chromosome test to see if there might be some answer to him there. that kinda of stuff puzzle me so if they can learn something from it then that fine with us...
tomorrow is our Second gotcha day ....two years ago we were in estonia waiting to get our sons on the 11th ...they have both changed some much ..

YAY!!! markus has grown

2011-02-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

well we had more doctor appointments this week. Genetics and endocrinology both went well.the gentetic doctor told me well he has Fetal alcohol syndrome.....i felt like saying Duh!!! i knew that since i saw his picture a year before he came home ....also he has a midline disorder another Duh!!!what does he think ACC is?????but the good thing is no more appointments to that doctor.
the endocrinologist was much smarter with my boy..Markus has grown 7cm since his last visit a year ago and put on almost 3 pounds..so although he isnt growing alot he is growing , so for the time being no worry about growth hormones...we talked about the fact he doesnt chew yet, he isnt potty trained and he isnt communicating much...she said if you was in an orphanage with no loving bond to a mother or father . you would be behind as well.. she can see a huge improvement in him and says whatever we are doing it is helping so keep it up...

kinda good news....

2011-01-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

well the doctor said the MRI showed there is no change in the lipomas in the spine. so this is a good thing, but he is concerned that Markus is still in diapers. he said he could go into the spine and that the lipomas out at the base of the spine and see if it will help with nerves and potty training. but i got lots of problems with the thought of another surgery on my baby. first off if he is only at about 8 months to 18 months on developmental stages then would potty training fall into a stage somewhere which might explain the delay. second there it allot of people who have C-ACC who never learn to use the toilet. might that be why we struggle with this issue. i understand he is almost 6 and still in diapers but lets face it i am the one changing him so whats the problem .

Tubes seem to be helping .......well maybe ...

2011-01-26T21:11:00.000-08:00

well last Wednesday Markus got tubes in both ears..they hope it will help keep ear infections down and also help with his speech but to soon to tell..tomorrow we go back for a MRI and visit with the neurosurgeon. praying there is no change in the spine and they will just tell us they will keep an eye on it. on the speech front Markus has begun to say mama alot more. he also babbles constantly.Steve actually got him to copy him counting to 3...very cute might i add.

Markus never fails to make my day

2011-01-14T19:39:00.001-08:00

well my poor baby boy has been sick since the new year began. he has been cooped up at home for 10 days not even getting to go to his therapies. but today we finally got him out and he was so rotten at therapy... he was listening to what they had ask him to do then he would turn his head and ignore them totally and laugh at them...he has decided to that standing and yelling for mom- mom is something he enjoys doing today as well... he also told me to "go away".. i was trying to bandage his poor little hands so they will finally get better.

over due post...

2010-12-31T23:20:00.000-08:00

well it has been a while.. but to catch up on our wonderful sons. Aleks has grown about 5 inches in the last 2 years , putting on some weight so he looks really good..he attends preschool 3 days a week and is doing great. he continues to pick up on everything...loves to sing and play. We see the genetics doctor again in feb. then we will see how well he is actually growing ..other then a few ear aches he is doing awesome...(thanks be to God).
now on to Markus ... he will be having tubes put in his ears this month and the dentist hopes to do some dental work the same days if it works out..he will be going for an MRI at the end of the month to see how the lipomas in his spine is doing. the genetics doctor still says he is in the 50 percentile of 1 year olds on weight, 50 percentile of 2 year olds on height...and well his head has only grown about a cm in two years... he is not going to school yet momma cant let him go just yet...potty trainning aint happening ....
we went last month and met up with Young O. the boys best buddy from Estonia . it was great seeing them together again..O's family are wonderful people.it was great to actually meet face to face and be able to talk to someone who understands what you went through to bring the boys home and where they came from.

Grrr.. i need more hours in the day....

2010-12-22T23:14:00.000-08:00

well we have had markus back to the childrens hospital and now he has several more appointments coming up in 2011... He is getting tubes in his ears in jan. the neuro doctor has set up a MRI on his spine to make sure it isnt getting worse.. and the cleft pallate we continue to wait and see..

more to learn about

2010-06-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

well when we was at dollywood on saturday it was so hot everyone was sweating, well not markus but his skin was hot enough to burn you . we noticed that he was sweating so we had to cool him off. when we was home on sunday he did nothing but sleep and cool off.. he stayed hot til Sunday night, i thought he was getting sick again. but it was still where he had gotten so hot on Saturday.. apparently unlike aleks who has adjusted and started to sweat in our climate ..markus with his ACC may never figure out to sweat to cool down...his brain may not regulate his tempeture...this explains last year every time he got in the sand box his fever would spike at over 104....

its been a while

2010-05-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

well i know it has been a while since i blogged. but finally a moment of rest to blog.We are happy that Arly has finally graduated and still doing good. for graduation she wanted a trip to Dollywood , so we went on saturday the boys loved everything....Markus maybe be small but he loves to ride the rides... Aleks enjoyed all the water rides , getting wet makes him happy...i think he is a fish at heart..

in other news. we got to the Doctor tomorrow to talk about Markus possibly have Pica( i think it is). His OT and ST think it might be a reason he will pick up anything non food and eat it.he wont chew food but he is learning..but if you give him some grass or even fuzz he will chew it up and eat it. He has even start picking up coins so now we have to watch him like a hawk..... Markus has been talking a bit more. babbling on and on at times...

recovering from surgery

2010-04-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

well yesterday markus underwent surgery .. it ended up taking a bit longer then thought .. the doctor had to remove scare tissue and fix the previous surgeon's attempt to bring down the testicle .. (the first surgery was pre- adoption) .. our journey home was a long trip..our poor baby couldn't stop throwing up...i believe it was the pain medicine.. no more tylenol 3 for my boy..we are managing the pain with regular tylenol and motrin....today he has managed to eat applesauce and some yogurt...so we are on the road to recovery...

we did however now get a name for the lipomas throughout his nervous system.. PAI syndrome....he has a cleft palate , the massive lipoma from his nostril and the lipomas in the spine...although he doesnt have the lipoma in the corpus callosum ...he has agenesis of the corpus callosum...he also has a lipoma about the size of a quarter in his brain.. all these things make our son very special ..

more markus

2010-03-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Markus has really gotten rotten this week.. when we tell him to get his fingers out of his mouth he throws his glasses off. and laughs at you... He has started babbling like a a baby would if they were just learning to make sounds...He said Da-da although he had said daddy already but just as if it was his first word we praised him....tonight he was saying mom-mom as if he has just figured out how to say it....He is such a precious gift from God. sometimes i wonder what did i do to deserve such a gem...i know in my heart i couldnt love him anymore if he had our blood running through his veins...

markus

2010-03-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

today we made a trip to the ENT and found out that markus nostril is healing great and there should be no other problems with it. it was nothing more then a lipoma , that was a big relief to hear. both boys did really well today on the trip since it takes around 3 hours one way. markus did however eat turkey , mashed potatoes and carrots.... did i mention he chewed a few times......yay markus you are momma's big boy...

a few things for us to get excited about :)

2010-03-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

markus has started to improve he now not only picks up his sippy cup but he can do it one handed and put it back down again..also he has used the potty a couple times...he has discovered he has a tongue and loves to touch it...also he goes around babbling all the time...so he is learning it is just going to take time....We had him a big birthday party on saturday and he loved it.

markus becoming more vocal with his wants

2010-03-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

well in the last few days i've noticed markus has began to babble for things and not just look at you.. it is hard to believe that this week he will be turning 5... i've noticed that over last couple weeks , he one hip is starting to turn in some as he walks..he has lipomas all down the inside of his spine so we are not sure if this is something that we need to worry about or if it is just simply he is walking oddly....we head back to NWCH next week to see the ENT for check up on his nose. the surgery has helped with his breathing but since the surgery , he grabs his head alot when certain noises are being made.

a few changes ...

2010-03-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

here is markus with steve

markus

well i know i havent been blogging much but with the boys home now it takes up all my time...however i am going to start blogging again and doing a little less facebooking...with markus' condition of ACC(agenesis of the corpus callosum) i will be blogging to keep a journal on his accomplishments..I am learning slowly that everything he does is a giant achievement for him and although he is going to be turning 5 years old real soon. I as his mother am getting to see all his important milestones in life...i.e....walking ,crawling, sucking on a sippy,and even learning to chew.

from the begining of our adoption i have always known markus was meant to be ours..and i would never of changed anything about him ...God gave him to us and we love him just as he is ..I think once we had everything diagnosed( well up to this point) it actually affirmed the feelings that he was meant to be with us...... daily learning lessons arent just for my son......

i will be using our blog to now write about our family daily life living with a son with ACC ..and the achievemnts of both our sons.

time to remember..

2010-02-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

a year ago today we was in tallinn . trying to get some rest for court tomorrow.who would of ever thought that two precious little boys could make so much difference in our lives. everything about them is exciting and new.

a long time coming

2010-01-09T21:26:00.000-08:00

well it has been almost 11 months since we became the proud parents of the most precious boys God ever could of given us..today we went and got a haircut at the salon that my cousin owns.both boys sat still for her and it was really sweet to hear people say how cute they were. Aleks has really gotten good at speaking english and doing so well with everything. He has gotten so lovable and lets others love him back...major progress for him...Markus has a few delays to overcome but he is opening up so much . he is having surgery in feb. and hopefully he will stop having so many trips to the childrens hospital.

a little new news

2009-11-24T21:46:00.001-08:00

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.

2009-11-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

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......

2009-08-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

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.........

2009-08-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

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

markus before and now

2009-07-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

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 .

2009-07-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-30T03:24:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

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 .

2009-06-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

ENT visit

2009-05-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

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

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

2009-05-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-30T13:02:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

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 ..

2009-04-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

NEW haircuts yet again.

2009-04-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

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 ......

2009-04-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

a few more pics

2009-03-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

2009-03-16T07:12:00.001-07:00

well we had markus to the urgent care center on staurday. he was having a bit of difficulty breathing. he has bronchitis and the doctor flushed something out of his ear. not sure what it was but all i know is the doctor said it had been there a long time. now he is more alert , so we are guessing it was blocking his hearing some.

well such is life......

2009-03-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

well the boys are doing great. they both have a little cold right now but nothing major. we are setting them up appointments with the UK international clinic in lexington so the doctor can check them out. aleks has decided that if momma says no he will grab the toy cell phone and call daddy. markus has put on a little weight and exploring new foods. i do have new pics to post .

2009-03-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

here is a couple of pics from today. i got some good video of markus on his toy zebra as well.

things are getting better

2009-03-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

well the boys had a visit to the upper cervical chiroprater today,(luckily it is my cousin), little markus had one leg an inch longer then the other no wonder he wasnt walking well. his jaws were also not lined up . once he was put in place he laughed and giggled for a good 20 mins. aleks got all quiet after he was adjusted. markus has also been working with holly ( our music friend) and she has been getting him to repeat beats to her. and he is trying to beat box like my nephew

more pics

2009-03-03T10:35:00.001-08:00

this was our first sunday morning to go to church the boys did great.

ok we are home fine

2009-02-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

well the boys are doing well so far. they sleep all night and in their own beds. we havent had much time blogging lately due to i have a severe infection in my jaw and cheek . the boys are about to go to church for the first time. we did last night surprise their daddy at work. so we had our first resturant visit and might i say it went well. Markus seems to love fish and mac and cheese. Aleks had bread sticks and chicken. i have taken new pictures and im going to try to post them after bedtime tonight. thanks to everyone who has been supportive of us durong our adoption.

today we head to america

2009-02-25T23:39:00.000-08:00

we are sitting here waiting on igor to came take us to the airport. the snow is coming down . markus and aleks seem to wonder whats going on everything is packed and all the toys are in their backpacks. i havent slept well for the last 4 nights. so hopefully once we are home i will get some sleep. lastnight markus decided he wasnt going to sleep either. oh he has been walking more and more. well everyone keep us in your prayers and we will blog again in america.

we have some great progress

2009-02-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

markus is starting to like the sippy cup , although he hasnt figured out how to hold it yet , he will drink out of it. at one point tonight he had the cup on the floor and he was trying to get it in his mouth. he is also trying to walk alot more.

2009-02-21T04:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had some welcome guests. Dan and Alice Crawford along with their son to be, Andreas. It was great to finally meet them and to hear some other English speaking voices. Although Andreas wanted to make sure that we knew we were in 'his country' with his own fine langauge. We couldnt understand a word he said, but who cares. He seemed to enjoy playing with some new toys and with Aleks. Until Aleks hit him in the eye with a tablemat. He was fine again though when Dan and i returned with pizza. Andreas sure liked the americana pizza and all Alices good work of keeping him to his schedule and diet was undone immediately as he feasted on pizza and pop. (Sorry Alice, just trying to Americanize him lol) We spent around 4 hours talking and time just flew by and it was soon time to get a tired Andreas home. we may get to meet up again this evening but no one was sure what was happening regarding getting Andreas back to the orphanage. Aleks sure did like having someone to play ball with, as marcus is way too small at the moment. We made sure we got some photos and agreed that it would be great if everybody was to try to get together back in the USA after all the adoptions were finalized.

things are back on track

2009-02-19T02:18:00.000-08:00

well today went well. the people at immigration emailed the consulate the copy of our I-600A . so he was able to accept our paperwork.we go back on wednesday to get the papaers .we did however , realize after our visit to the embassy we didnt have igors cell number and he wasnt outside. after 30 minutes outside in the cold we walked back to old towne. now he (igor) has our camera to get photos of some children. once we get to the house again we will send all the photos to AHI to have for the families.

Beaurocracy strikes again

2009-02-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

We heard from Barbara at the agency a couple of hours ago, she said that our immigration papers had not been sent to the embassy here. We tried to call the US Government office in Louisville, but alas, they are closed on Wednesdays. We ended up speaking to our congressmans office in Ashland and the lady there told us we should not have traveled unless we got a letter from the USCIS. Even when Viola explained to her that we filed the i600 before the Hague ruling, she didnt appear to know what she was talking about. She did say that she would call the government offices and see what she could find out, because the office doesnt close on Wednesday for congress people. We are awaiting her return call to let us know what she finds out. So now we have 2 3 year old sons that we have passports for, and can leave Estonia but we cant bring them home with us. We have an appointment at the US Embassy in Tallinn at 9am tomorrow morning so hopefully we will know more then. As the boys have European union passports, we could always fly to England and stay at my sisters house whilst we get this sorted out, but hopefully there will be a quick fix, and we can fly home as scheduled next Thursday. One problem that could hold things up, is the fact that Monday and Tuesday are official holidays here in Estonia for Independance day.

Sick boys

2009-02-18T04:50:00.000-08:00

Both boys have had a bad couple of days after taking in 5 shots each. They are on the way to full recovery although markus is mad at the world because we wont give him his drink on a spoon anymore. We decided we need to try to get him used to a sippy cup before the long journey home next week. Aleks just had his first taste of Mcdonalds chicken nuggets and fries, he loved the barbecue sauce. Aleks loves taking a shower, Markus hates it. Aleks brushes his teeth good, Markus fights to keep his mouth shut. Today Alice and Dan arrive in town on their preview trip with Andres. It will be good to meet up with some English speaking friends.

2009-02-16T04:51:00.000-08:00

well today wasnt too fun. although it is steve's birthday , we had to take the boys to the doctor and they both had to get 5 shots each. now they are cranky . the doctor gave me a handful of papers and said that markus had complicated medicals . so we still dont know too much . but im going to try to get them translated once we return home.

2009-02-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

. the boys are doing well i think. there are times i do wonder what they must be thinking of having steve and myself with them all day long. aleks has called himself dallas a few times. and he tries to repeat anything you say although most the time it is still baby jibberish. markus actually did say momma last night whilst we were playing in the floor together. (so we have one who says daddy and one that says momma)

ok here goes ....

2009-02-13T11:02:00.001-08:00

we went out walking today and we made the mistake of putting their snowsuits on them from the orphanage.apparently they thought we was ging to go back there. once we made it back to the apartment and took the suits off they were find again.so when we go out anymore we wont wear those suits . dont want the boys freaking out .we have began feeding markus baby rice ceral about every 2 hours. he seems like he has lost weight since we saw him in july.aleks eats anything but we been feeding him oatmeal at night before he goes to bed . he needs the food. we go to the doctor on monday (steve and igor are dropping me off thats what i been informed) steve is going to get our translated papers, then we get the passports from what i understand. so on thursday we can go to the embassy.

more photos

2009-02-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

the best day

2009-02-11T06:48:00.001-08:00

today at 11:55 am estonia time. the judge made it official. james markus hill and dallas aleksander hill , are our sons .

in tallinn

2009-02-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

well we are in tallinn , jelena was at the airport waiting on our arrival and brought us straight to the apartment and phoned igor so we would know when we were meeting with him.she is very nice but i think so believes we are getting a little girl . and not two little boys. but we went along with her just to move things along.we went out and did a very little shopping because it was dark outside and i didnt want to get lost our first night here. we are going to go to the big market tomorrow. my niece is happily joined us to help watch over the boys if we need to doanything and cant take them with us. we meet igor at 10:30 in the morning . we hope to go get the boys before court but i dont think it will happen. but hopefully tomorrow before my family back home is awake. the boys should be our offically and i can email and let them all know. i will blog tomorrow after court and let everyone know how things went , and also i hope to get pics.

final blog without the boys i hope.........

2009-02-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

well tomorrow is the beginning of the best days of my life i hope. each plane leads me closer to the children i've wanted my whole life. the best part no physical pain (just joking, but true). i cant wait til i can blog that they are our sons. next time i blog i will be in tallinn , estonia.

packing complete...

2009-02-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

now we just wait to go on monday. i know i have probably forgotten something. the closer it gets to monday the more nervous i became. i know everything should be fine, but there is a small part of me that feels something will go wrong. i already love these two little boys as if they were my own already, so court on wednesday is just a formality . (that i hope goes smooth).

5 days and counting........

2009-02-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

well we are getting everything together. i had all the paperwork ready for over in Tallinn. and last night after filing taxes i had to go back and redo all our I-864 forms.( oh what fun). we went shopping again for the orphanage. we decided since Christmas was just a few months ago that clothes was the way to go. we found out that the Crawford's will be visiting Andres while we are in Tallinn so hopefully we will meet up . as i sit here and thought about next week it dawned on me that this time next week it should be official that the boys are ours.

it has been.......

2009-01-31T22:31:00.000-08:00

well in 8 days our big journey begins. we leave for estonia to bring home our precious little boys. to be quite honest my nerves are really bad now. i keep thinking what if the judge doesnt like us (mainly me) and these precious little boys dont get to be our sons. what happens then. this whole adoption process has taken 362 days from the sending in application to begin to the courtdate. we packed the gifts for the caregivers tonight . all that is left to pack is steve and my clothes. we wait til the last minute . i got all the exiting documents and anything i thought we might need everything is seperated for each boy. we need prayers , not only for us and the boys but for my mom who isnt feeling well ( if she dont feel better before i leave it could make my trip very stressful) Arly will be home with her and they both have learned to use skype to talk to us while we are gone.

change in plans.......

2009-01-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

well after a long night at the ER with my sister. i had an early morning call from Barbara telling me the judge has decided that our courtdate either has to be the 11th or the 16th. we were to get to tallinn on the 11th at 5:30 pm. but after a quick call to golden rule travel we are now flying a day earlier. we had to rearrange our pick up with Romeos and booked the apartment one more night. Thanks be to God for watching over us and our precious little boys.

Thanks for the Snow.

2009-01-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

well today we had a snow day from school. so my uncle and myself has worked to finish the boys room. the curtains hung, new electrical outlets, with safety covers, door facing around door and closet, and now there is just one more thing that might get done. Holly is going to come over and paint a Bible verse around the closet door. in 2 weeks we are on our way to the next step in our lives. we cant wait to be able to tell everyone that the boys are Our sons. we already love them more then anyone would think possible since they arent ours legally yet.

we got the basics covered.

2009-01-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

here is a few pictures of the boys' room. most everything we have in here was refinished by my mom. im very lucky to have her to help us out. also my uncle charlie has been a big help getting things ready for the boys to come home.

my friend Holly came over and paint the names for us.

and oh yeah thanks to the old ladies at the daycare where i work . they had the director throw this nice changing table away. my mother did a great job fixing it up for the boys.

almost done!!!!!!!!

2009-01-24T23:14:00.001-08:00

well on saturday morning we started with the boys room.we ended up painting the whole room. and then we put up the border and the zootles junlge stickers. then we started going through the gifts i have gotten for the past year for the boys. we still got lots to put away and plus get their toys in the room.hopefully we are done with it by the time we leave for estonia.

AT LAST

2009-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

We finally received the call we have been waiting for. We are going to Estonia on feb 10th. Hope fully we can get the boys on the 11th and go to court on the 12th or 13th. We booked our flights today through Golden Travel. The long wait is nearly over.

fixin up the room

2009-01-19T18:06:00.001-08:00

well today we started cleaning out arly's room and changing the curtins . she has opted to give up her room and get a new bed room . we are going to remodel our 16X24 storage room into two new bedrooms this spring. for now she will move into the spare bedroom. all her pirates off the walls (goodbye johnny depp)and nice cute jungle animals on the walls.

another day and chaos

2009-01-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

well im trying to get everything together so we are paper ready when we get the phone call to head off to Tallinn. i still got a few more things to get together . one more trip to frankfort for a few more marriage cetificates. seems i lost two of my copies. i have tons of papers to get notorized but all in all it is worth everything to bring home our little boys. we have the boys things all packed , now we just got to pack our stuff and the gifts we got the care givers and director.we have decided that toys are not what we want to give to the orphanage, instead we went with some more basic things like socks and underclothes. i know when i worked in a youth detention center that the girls and boys loved getting new socks and underwear. they didnt mind what hand-me - down clothes they got but new basics was a great gift to them.we are praying that we hear something this week.

trying to get it together

2009-01-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

ok although we havent gotten our date yet , im going to get everything ready so when they call we are ready. i do have to make a trip to frankfort again. due to the second adoption i need more certified copies of some stuff. we cant wait to go see our precious boys again.

getting impatient

2009-01-15T19:44:00.000-08:00

well today when i read that molly had gotten a courtdate , i had mixed emotions , i was happy that she gets to go bring home her daughter but i was sad that we wasnt getting a date yet. i guess i just really want to bring home our little boys and everyday seems to drag on and the longer it gets the more i get nervous something might go wrong. we continue to pray that we get a date soon. markus will be almost 4 before we get him home. :(

still no word.

2009-01-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

well we sit and wait for our courtdate to bring home our sons. it has been 11 months today since it all began. we have repacked the boys suitcase and had to change out the sizes we packed .now we just wait for someone in tallinn to give us a court date.

time is getting closer

2009-01-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

we are getting excited that are waiting is almost over (well it should be). and the best part is that we will finally get to bring our precious baby boys home to meet the family who love them already.

2009 is here

2009-01-01T12:20:00.001-08:00

this year might have a rough start with one of our family members having a major operation tomorrow. but the year will get better . we should bring home our precious little boys this year. the boys are doing good. and the package we sent out finally got there.

december is almost gone

2008-12-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

well mike has been in the hospital a month now. the doctors are hoping to do a heart operation this week . we continue to pray for him. also we are awiting our courtdate still. our boys are doing ok.

merry christmas to us

2008-12-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

we received these new pictures of our little boys from Carla and Gerald who just brought their little girl home. they are a great gift to us .

memories

2008-12-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

well today i have been doing alot of thinking of my father, he passed away 9 years ago tomorrow. i can only imagine how he would of reacted to our adopting the boys. im sure he would of love them as much as we all do already. my brother in law finally was moved out of ICU but now we wait for him to get strong enough for open heart surgery to remove a fungus that has built up around his heart from the infection.

almost christmas

2008-12-20T21:50:00.000-08:00

well today is the sunday before christmas .which means 2008 is almost gone and hopefully we will have an exciting 2009 with our young sons home. we continue to pray for Mike (brother in law) he is still in ICU and last night things didnt look to good for him , but the power of pray seems to have helped some and they got him stable again. Thank GOD for his awesome healing power. everyone keeps asking me if we heard any news on the boys yet. it is heartbreaking to have to say no to them . we havent heard if the package has arrived in estonia yet but we pray they receive it before christmas.

christmas gifts are sent

2008-12-09T21:30:00.000-08:00

well we are away on vacation this week and have managed to send out the christmas gifts to the children in our boys family group. we sent the boys a new set of clothes so hopefully it will give us an idea on their sizes. we are in gatlinburg all week , trying to enjoy the peace and quietness, but everywhere you look there is something we wish the boys were here to do. but hopefully this is our last vacation without our precious little boys. we continue to pray for my brother in law he is still not doing well. although he did have my brother to come visit him and he has announced he accepted Jesus as his savior . this is great news to our family now we pray mike gets a recovery or God make him comfortable .

Christmas gifts and no boys home

2008-12-06T19:31:00.000-08:00

well today we went shopping and got christmas gifts for all the children in our little boys family group. we are mailing them out on monday from tennessee. we are going on our last children- free vacation (oops little children shall i say ). we were so hoping to have our boys home for this trip but no luck. we also have wrapped the boys gifts and placed them in the back of the tree , the gifts will be waiting on the boys until they come home.

a special angel

2008-12-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

i found out today that there is a special little angel watching over my boys now. they say he is great with markus (takes care of him) and loves to play with aleksander and markus. this was good news for me. i know that they are not alone and they have someone to play with and watch over them . Shea is lucky this little angel is her very own little boy.

i hope people dont mess up our adoption hopes

2008-12-02T22:32:00.001-08:00

why does people have to try and ruin something that seems to be good. i dont know everything there is to know about adoptions but i do know that every question i ask gets answered. and i never let AHI choose my homestudy agency so im sure that i was told everything that they could tell me about preparing to bring home a child. i dont know any one elses experience with barbara or diana but i know how it has gone for me. i just pray that all the unhappy people ,especially the ones who didnt even adopt the kids , would just move on with their lives and be happy as they can be. it is down hearting to think that we are so close and someone could possibly mess it up over stupidity. on an update , my brother in law is still in ICU and could be for quite sometime. but his liver and kidneys are working a bit.

its hard not to be happy

2008-12-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

well last night we spent the night at the hospital our brother in law was rushed to the er and placed into ICU , he had pnuemonia and it turned aseptic. liver and kidneys shutting down and things dont look good for him. we pray for him . i thought there is never a moments rest for our family. then today Melonie tells me that my little angel Markus is walking. when we last saw him in july he wasnt walking and they wasnt sure if he would. when i read he was walking it made my heart rush with excitement. i hope that some day the boys will understand just how much we love them before we even brought them home.

baby austyn

2008-11-30T10:47:00.001-08:00

here is our families ray of sunshine this holiday season. this is his first christmas. we were hoping he would share it with Markus and Aleksander. but we have decided that our boys gifts will just stay under the tree til they come. then Austyn can share in their christmas as well.

well it is confirmed no court in 2008

2008-11-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

this is Austyn Riley , he was born the day our adoption journey began
he is my cousin's baby boy. we borrow him to take up time for now. lol

well i heard from barbara today. she just wanted to make sure we understood about our boys. we are going into everything eyes wide open. those two little boys complete our family. when we knew having children could be dangerous and we found markus it was a great blessing, but then we met aleksander and it felt like he needed to be with us to complete us as a family. now we wait til 2009 to get here so we get a date to go make them legally ours forever. i want to thank Melonie for going and getting us the pics. also thank all of the people whom we have met online that have been a support system in during this process .