Home at last

What a emotionally draining last 2 weeks we have had. You can read a million books ,take classes but nothing prepares you for all of the emotions and flood of feelings that absolutely consume you. I have to first say that Ava is an amazing little girl that has a forgiving and trusting heart to have allowed herself to believe in us as quick as she has. Not saying that we do not have many years of issues to face because I think we will but I will say she has done so well considering what her life was before becoming part of our family. We definitely were in the honeymoon stage while we were in Russia. She would sleep 12 hours a night, eat anything you offered and was content. All of that changed when we got to the airport for our flight back home! She was wired. Of course it took us halfway through the flight to realize that she was so overstimulated. This was another one of those moments that you have read all of the info but are clueless that this will apply to your child! Well needless to say the flight was grueling and it ended with her finally going to sleep as we landed. Well it did not end there. When we arrived home she was greeted by our troops! She was not sure about the boys at first but I will say now she adores them. For the first week she was waking up at 3:30 am . So for the first week I will say between the jet lag and her schedule pushing us further into no sleep land I was like a zombie. To add on to this stress our beloved Cody was sick . We were unaware of the extent of his illness till later on in the week. He had waited on me to get home from Russia to show some symptoms. We took him to the vet on Tuesday and he seemed okay but rapidly deteriorated over the course of a few days.We had the vet do everything possible to save his life but despite our best efforts I held him in my arms as we put him to sleep on Friday. We are totally shocked by him leaving us so soon and were definitely not prepared for the void this has left in our life. I truly believe that God does not give you more than you can handle . So I have to trust that there was a reason for this and be thankful for the years that Cody blessed our family. When we found Cody he was a stray pup that someone brought to an animal shelter. The shelter said the last to be adopted was really large black dogs...So that is why we chose Cody.I believe that this is God's way of giving another little animal a chance at a good life. So,We are going tomorrow to meet a large black puppy that we have found at a humane society in the area. When we saw him he reminded us of Cody and we were compelled to call. This will be Ava's first puppy so hopefully they will grow up with each other and be the best of friends.I have such a soft place in my heart for homeless pets and I have shared that same compassion with the boys. I know Ava will have the same soft spot for helping Gods little creatures.
Ava continues to make great strides in her attachment to us. She settles in at night and lets me rock her to sleep. This is a far cry from the baby in Russia that was reluctant to trust me to do that. She is now sleeping from 7:30-8:30 ! She awakes in the morning with the biggest smile ever. She also loves to eat . She will eat anything . The downside of that is she would eat till she is sick. We hope that she will soon realize that the food will always be there and recognizes the sensation of being full.We are continuing to keep her world as small as we possibly can. Imagine all of the sounds and experiences that we see everyday . Now imagine that you have never heard a cat meow , doorbell ring or people coming up to you speaking a language you do not understand. This is all so scary for her. So keeping her life simple is the best gift we can give her.When you think of a 14 month old I do not really think of a baby. Ava is definitely a baby. I really think that was a bit of a shock because you think you are bringing home a toddler but she is a baby in every sense of the word.It is amazing to see the changes that we can already see in her just after 20 days of her being with us.She already calls me mama and knows that when she crys we will be there. That sure makes all the hard work and long wait so worth while.I can only imagine what she will be doing next year at this time!i will post some pics tomorrow hopefully with Ava and her new four legged brother!
Well, that is it for now!
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