Merry Christmas!!!!!

This is the best Christmas ever! It is so wonderful to have our little girl home with us this year.Last year I spent a lot of time wondering who she was and wondering how her day was spent. This year we are so blessed to have her with us! I am wishing everyone safe travels and a wonderful Christmas! I am now off to rub down with some bengay , take some Tylenol and tackle the new trampoline! Pray that the safety net holds!!!!!I will leave you all with some photos of Christmas eve and Christmas morning. Notice I am posting this before any photos of me on the trampoline surface!
N

Update!

Just a quick update about Ava's test results. Her CBC and the screening for the coagulation disorder all came back normal! Yeah! We have once again been very blessed! Please pray for Karen's little girl Darya who is having sugery today.She is in our thoughts and prayers .
N

Count down to Christmas

Well, Ava has been home with us for almost three months now. It is amazing just how much progress she has made. She is attaching to us so well. In Russia ,she would cringe when you would lean into kiss her. She now leans into every kiss and gives the sweetest hugs.I wondered if she would ever embrace our affection and she has surpassed my every expectation.She is such a sweet girl . She can be head strong too.I do not believe that to be a bad thing. I see such determination in her little spirit . I think that combination will make for a very well rounded young women!Look out boys!
We really have felt so blessed with her health . All of the reports from Russia have either checked out OK or cleared up with time. Which brings me to our next hurdle. She has been having pretty severe nose bleeds. They are really scaring for us but she just goes on like it is no big deal. We did some bloodwork yesterday to screen for Von Willebrand Disease. It is a coagulation disease. It is not as severe as Hemophilia. The worst type of this disease is classified as the mildest case of Hemophilia. I have to admit I have been concerned but I still feel extremely blessed with whatever we are dealt.When my doctor first said this He told me do not start worrying.Yeah right!I told my pediatrician just go ahead and write it down and save me some time searching for it.I am a bit tenacious . One thing that I promised Ava that she would never be in a hospital again or face anything alone. From the moment I became her Mommy I became her biggest advocate. I believe that God gives you only what you can handle. We have watched our sweet neighbor battling for his life against cancer. He is nine years old and had his leg amputated this past week. What a lesson that we can all learn from this brave young man!Please pray that Ben continues to heal and that his strength never fades. So, I look at what we are facing and say I will gladly take this if it is his will.We will find out the results next week.
We celebrated Jake's 6th Bday this past week! It seems like he was born just yesterday! What a sweet and silly little fellow he is.We continue to count the days till Christmas. How exciting to share Christmas this year with Ava! How truly blessed we are!!!!
N

Happy Turkey Day!

We had a great day celebrating all that we have to be thankful for.This year we have a lot ! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings. Ava ate everything ! You name it she ate it! Two days before Thanksgiving she started taking her first unassisted steps! Before we know it she will be into everything! No need to go to the gym ...she is going to supply me with her own version of a workout routine! Here are some photos of Thanksgiving Day. Nick had not combed his hair so he restricted any photos of him!Jake looked distessed in one photo. We think sister was extra heavy after eating lunch!
N

The Sweetest Little Hug!

We are still here! I have been the worst blogger in the history of mankind! The days of simply checking my email have been replaced with a very busy and active little Goldilocks! It is amazing how far this little lady has come in such a short period of time. We have our appointment to set up Ava's plan with early childhood intervention. Since they have been here for their initial evaluation Ava has been moving forward in her development. She watches everything and just absorbs it like a sponge! Her list of vocabulary has grown quite a bit. When we first met her she did not say a thing . Nothing. Now she is picking up words very quickly . She is still eating everything you give her. Yesterday, she had a whole grill cheese and a bowl of ice cream after lunch! The girl can really put away the groceries . We have not found anything that she does not like!She is standing up alone and we feel that our days before she takes off are numbered! All of the development stuff is really great but what she did yesterday was the greatest milestone yet. I had a lady come to my home to give me a quote about cleaning our home 2 x's a month. I had told her that we have a new baby and I do not have time to chase the dust that is slowly suffocating us all! When she arrived she expected a newborn baby and then Ava's story unfolded. When went through the house and discussed what I wanted and looked at all of the rooms. Ava is on my hip like a little monkey. The women asked me a couple of more questions about Ava. Ava and I were looking at each other and it just happened. Ava put her arms out and hugged me and patted me on the back as she put her head on my shoulder. She then looked up at me so sweetly and did it again. It was the sweetest moment we have had together. It was so wonderful to see her do this on her own. When ECI came out they asked if Ava shows affection. I had to pause and say I guess not. She is climbing on you , time in the rocking chair and being carried around so there is constant human touch. I guess I had not really thought about how she is the recipient of tons of affection but she has yet to return it on her own.What a wonderful feeling it was to see that she had felt enough love and trust for me to shower me with such a sweet moment. I will cherish that moment forever.
Well, we are approaching Thanksgiving and we have alot to be thankful for.I am so grateful for each one of my children . They each are such a blessing! I cannot help but think of all of the little children who will not have a family to spend the holidays with. As crazy as life has been lately around our home If asked would I do this again I can honestly answer in a second!I have a feeling that we are just not done yet. I think God will let us know if and when we should do this again. You just have to follow your heart and he will led the way!
I will leave you all with pictures of Ava and one example of how well she shares with ALL of her brothers!I promise her picture was taken first!
N

A Belated Boo to Everyone!

Halloween has come and gone! I am a little late in posting pics but I figured I better post them before turkey day photos! We have all been under the weather and I relapsed after Halloween. I am glad to say all is well now. Ava got the cold but she is one tuff little girl. She managed to smile and remain happy despite feeling bad. I on the other hand was not so fortunate!
Ava's first Halloween was interesting to say the least! She was not really sure what was going on .After her response to Nick's costume we decided that her trick or treating at two houses would be enough! I can only imagine that she thought we were just crazy dressing up and then going to strange peoples homes for candy.
Yesterday we had Early Childhood Intervention come out to the house for Ava's evaluation.It is kind of a catch 22 because you want a good evaluation but you also want to qualify for their assistance. They were here for about two hours . Their evaluation was based on observing her and questions that I could answer. They have five areas of development that they estimate a child's approximate age range. I have to say that Dr. Mourdov in Russia was right on the nose with his estimate of Ava being approximately 3 -4 months delayed. She qualified for in all five ares which ECI refers to as global delays. Most of her areas were borderline but either way she qualified to receive their assistance. We feel so lucky to have access to this program . They will come out in two weeks and we will put together a plan for Ava. I will say we are completely amazed at all of the progress that Ava has made since coming home. She is so smart. She is like a little sponge just taking it all in.She is not even the same child that we met in the hospital on trip #1. Based on the fact that Ava had spent the first 9 months of her life housed in a hospital waiting for an opening in the orphanage we knew that she would qualify for a least one of the areas.I am excited about learning some new tools to help assist Ava with her continuing progress.
I will leave you all with some photos of Halloween. As you can see Ava did not like Nick's wig and teeth! Go figure! The girl has got a set of lungs!!!!!
N

Priceless Momentos

When you are preparing for that first trip there is so much info to remember that it can be so overwhelming. I had a really good group of friends that paved the way before me and helped me remember everything.Some of the best advice that I had received yielded a priceless treasure that we will keep forever. When we travelled to met Ava on trip one I left behind a two disposable cameras and a journal.I was not sure if these items would be used but I requested that they take some photos of Ava and have some of the caregivers write in her journal. I explained that these items will be memories of her life in Russia and would be placed in her lifebook. Much to my surprise when we arrived for our next trip both of the cameras had been used . After developing them we found that Alla had taken the time to photograph various days in Ava's life while we were away. These photos are so priceless to us and I believe will be so for Ava one day.Alla took the journal and wrote entries with beautiful illustrations as well. Ava was so lucky to have a special person to watch over her until we came into her life. Alla was truly heaven sent.While we were away I spent many days wondering what Ava was doing. I wanted to share some of these photos with you all . Maybe you too are wondering what the typical day holds for these kiddos. They are kids that play ,eat, sleep and dream of having a family of their own.I pray that each of their little dreams come true.
N

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