How well do you know your child's school?

Does your child's school have secrets? Here's a not so lovely post by the Families Against Restraint and Seclusion blog. The post was written in 2009, however schools keep getting added to the list.

It is a state by state listing of schools that have allegedly overused or unnecessarily used restraint and seclusion as a way of dealing with students.

I live in Minnesota. Ummm Minnesota's list is SO LONG that I wanted to vomit before I even read it.

Apparently seclusion rooms are alive and well in Minnesota schools, since we have the highest number of them than any other state!

How about your school? Did you find your school on the list?

You know you're adopting when...

I'm sure some of you reading have things you can add to this. Please join in!

You know you're adopting internationally when:

Your car dies. Completely.
The hot water heater (or any other expensive appliance) dies and is beyond repair.
Your work hours are cut back (temporarily reducing your income enough to put you into panic mode)
You loose your passport.


Please add your own things you've dealt with while in process!

On the agenda this week:

Here's what's on my agenda for this week:

Monday:
pick up new local and state criminal checks
Visits to schools

Tuesday:
Boys have Therapy 3-5:00
Evening swimming club for Angela

Wednesday:
Finger prints for federal background checks
pick up new medical statements from doctors
Get the last of kids school supplies
Asher gets four teeth pulled.

Thursday:
pick up new letter from employer
drop off paperwork with homestudy agency
Boys have therapy 2:30-4:30

Friday
Get school backpacks stuffed and ready
Get laundry done so kids can start school with clean clothes!

We were talking about going up north for the holiday weekend, but somehow I don't think this is going to happen. So much to get done this week and I already feel pressed for time! I have the feeling some things might get bumped to the following week when the kids are at school and I can get all the running done alone!

But keeping me going throughout my busy week will be the images embedded in my mind from this building:

This is the Zvescanska orphanage in Belgrade, Serbia. This is where Asher spent the first 7 years of  his  life until I met him 9 1/2 months ago. Do you see that 3rd floor balcony? That is where he and his roommates would play. There are so many faces I remember...They keep me going on my quest to get our homestudy completed!

Say WHAT?

Ok...wow...I didn't really expect people to be THAT surprised. LOL So, to answer some questions:

1) We are just starting to update our homestudy.

2) We are only adopting ONE child, and this will be our last adoption.

3) We don't know who we're adopting, and won't know until just before we travel. We're hoping for a girl this time.

4) We have no idea when we're traveling. We have a timeline in mind but it's based purely on speculation at this point.

Vanity Plates

Almost 9 months ago when I brought Asher home, Dean, Angela and Axel met us at the airport. We shared hugs and laughs with some of our extended family then headed to the parking ramp.

As I opened the back door of the car reality hit me. For months we debated about adopting again. We had gone through all the scenarios. What we hadn't considered at all was our transportation needs. In other words, did we have enough room in the car for three kids? Technically we did, since there are three seat belts in the back seat. Yeah, well just because there are seat belts does not mean there is room for everyone, especially with Asher in a full-size carseat.

Back to the airport parking ramp....

I opened the back door and put Asher in the car seat, buckling him in. I went to the other side and Axel got in first, then Angela. Only Angela wasn't able to buckle her belt with Axel sitting on top of it and Axel wasn't able to figure out his either. I had Angela and Axel get out then had Angela get in first. Climbing around the back of the car I was sweating and getting crabby. Ok, it's possible I was tired with ZERO sleep in the previous 30 hours and since I was hungry my blood sugar was dropping. Tired, hungry, sweating while wrestling seat belts is the recipe for a mommy meltdown in the airport parking ramp. I made it clear the very next day we'd be buying a van.

Fast forward 6 months, and I was still doing the same wrestling match every time the whole family wanted to go somewhere. Fortunately we just didn't do a lot of that so Angela could sit in the front seat.

In July the kids and I were taking a road trip to D.C. for the NDSC conference. I was dreading making this trip in the car. And then something happened: Dean's car died on the side of the freeway. That would mean he'd get my car and I'd buy a van. I really tried hard to hide my excitement as he called me from the side of the road. Really, I did.

So now we have this awesome new van. I love it. I'm IN LOVE with my van. One week after the purchase we took our trip, which was phenomenal. We realized just how much space we have now.

And then I decided I wanted to do something totally frivolous and put vanity plates on it. Here is what I decided.

ADOPT3

New Here?

If you're new here, I'd like you to go read this post. It's about "Ivan", a little boy I met on my most recent trip to Serbia. It is all the Ivans of Serbia who I will continue to advocate for, and for Cherish Our Children International's Serbian office who's  mission it is to help the Ivans who will never find their way to a family.

If you'd like information on Serbian adoptions in general, please visit this post on my other blog.

I don't blog here on a regular basis anymore. Well, if something happens and Dean decides we're adopting again (because God already knows I'm ready to jump back on that ship in a heartbeat) then I'll be back to regular posting. Otherwise you can follow us on our family blog.

Now that we're home

Now that we're home, and I've finally got this blog caught up to GETTING home, and since Asher's transition home really involves the entire rest of the family, I'm going to be carrying on over on my family blog "Garden of Eagan". Who knows, maybe sometime down the road this blog will get woken up again. Just never know what God has planned, and I never say never.

The Homecoming

*Disclaimers*
#1 Dean is still learning to work his camera
#2 Check back in a bit and the video should be rotated so you can watch it.
#3 Our flight was delayed a couple of times and Dean wasn't exactly sure when we were coming in. He was a little late getting to the airport and barely made it to the magic doors in time.
#4 Dean had to be videographer while also trying to meet his son for the first time.
#5 I was tired and possibly a little crabby.
#6 I was also hungry.
#7 Dean forgot you can't try to record AND interact with everyone at the same time, and that the back of someone's head is not very interesting.
#8 I debated not posting this video.
#9 I am not responsible for Angela's hair.

Biological Warfare by Air

So we arrive in Frankfurt. First task is to get off the plane. Remember, it's me with a large (read very heavy)  backpack on my back, carrying Asher on my hip and a diaper bag-type thing in my other hand. (cost me $7 at the cheap Chinese store in Belgrade) We have to go down the airplane steps again, only they are VERY steep, and it's raining so it's slippery. I get about 1/2 way down the steps and we are somehow stuck. I figure its the diaper bag caught on something so I'm kind of pulling. Maybe a little bit hard. Finally the guy behind me grabs my shirt (no jacket, since I left it in my car at home!!) and pulls me backward UP the steps. He's saying something in Serbian, and I look down to see we're "stuck" because Asher's foot has caught in the railing! Here I was gonna yank it off! Poor kid! (later I found a perfect impression of a bolt in his ankle. Poor baby never made a sound because he's learned it doesn't help to cry in pain. Nobody will respond to it.)

One of my fears about the trip home was how we were going to make it through the airports without a stroller. (If you're traveling to bring home a small child, bring a cheap umbrella stroller with you! The are over $200 in Serbia!!!!) The Frankfurt airport is MASSIVE, and the Belgrade flights come in at one end of the airport, then you have to get to the far opposite end to catch the transatlantic flights. Every single time I've come through the Frankfurt airport, I have barely enough time to get through security (again) and all the way to the other end. With Axel I had arranged for a wheelchair and I literally RAN through the airport, barely making our flight. I was really worried how this was going to go with Asher.

Well, God was watching over us. Not only did we arrive on time, but we had 90 whole minutes to get through the process and make our connecting flight. THANK YOU GOD!

We were strolling along, Asher enjoying walking with me (he LOVES to hold hands!) and I was looking at the signs for the "Z" terminal. (We were currently in the "A" terminal. See what I mean about the other end of the airport?) I was checking out the signs for the train when an escort person, complete with walkie talkie, came by with an elderly couple. "Are you going to Z?" she asked? "Follow me." So we joined their little parade, which was great since the older couple walked about the same speed as Asher. LOL We rode the train with them, then down an elevator, then...glory to God...she guided us PAST the 100 people standing in line for passport control, and then PAST the 200+ people standing in line for security! Can I just say, God is SO GOOD! Once we got past all the people staring at us as we bypassed their misery, our escort pointed the direction we needed to go from there. We made it to our gate with 1/2 hr to spare!

On this flight I've always flown on one of these giant airbus things

Now, these are HUGE planes (with an upper deck seating area as well. I've always wanted to take a look up there.) so they don't usually have them pulled up to the jetway. Instead you get on a bus and drive MILES  out to it. (I swear its miles, it's like a 10 minute drive!) When we in the terminal were waiting for the bus there was a family with two little boys around ages 5 and 2. The two year old was s.c.r.e.a.m.i.n.g during the entire wait. As I looked around at all the other people, I could just see  everyone's thinking bubble above their head saying, "Please don't be sitting by me on the plane!" I felt horrible for them. The family I mean. I know that stress of having "that kid" with you!

So we get on the bus, and the family with the screaming 2 year old is in the seat next to us. 1/2 way through the drive to the plane, their 5 year old starts throwing up. Oh how lovely. I happened to have packed extra plastic bags in my carry on, so I handed the dad a couple of those along with a big wad of wipes. You know how that puke smell gets on buses...ugh....

As we're boarding the plane there is an elderly woman on the steps just up ahead of me. She is dragging with her a purse and a very heavy-looking carry on. The stairs are steep and she is huffing and puffing up them. I looked up at her and realize she's also sweating profusely. Oh lady, please don't have a heart attack right here! I'm carrying my two carryons, plus Asher on my hip, leaving one hand free for the handrail to lug us up. Behind me is another woman carrying a small baby, then the family with the puking 5 year old. I really didn't want to fall on any of them! I'm about to die but we're only 1/2 way up the steps. I couldn't stand it any longer. "Are you ok?" I asked? Between breaths she huffed "I don't think I can make it up these steps." I grabbed her dangling bags, "I got these, you just keep going." I tried to catch the eyes of the flight attendants at the top but nobody was noticing the dilemma....sigh....By the time we got to the top I was sweating as bad as the woman I was trying to help.

Are you tired yet? Because I was wiped at this point, and there were still 13-16 hours of travel time ahead of us.

Finally we get to our seats. Bummer! This plane doesn't have individual t.v. screens on the seats.  It was gonna be a long flight. I prayed, "Please Lord, let this be a smooth flight!" I knew the flight wasn't full so there was a chance we'd be able to move to different seats. Our current seats were fine, being isle seats, but we were a long way from the bathroom and I was worried about those blowouts.

Here's Asher right after we got seated. He was having F.U.N! Notice the seats next to him are empty? Yeah, that didn't last long. LOL Two BIG guys sat next to him.

While we were waiting for the rest of the people to board, Asher and I both fell asleep, Asher curled up in a little ball in his seat. I was very vaguely aware that we'd taken off. All of a sudden a flight attendant tapped me, "Sorry to wake you, but there are seats open way in the back and there is only one person in the row. It's right next to the bathroom and much more room if you'd like to move." I don't think he'd even finished talking before I was up grabbing our stuff!

The family with the puking 5 year old and screaming 2 year old were now sitting right in front of us. I think this row had emptied out because the other people who HAD been here found new seats away from the 2 year old! LOL

The new seats were AWESOME! They were the very last row, where there is room to stand and yes, the bathrooms are right there. By the time we got to our seats, the flight attendants were getting ready to serve the first meal. These new seats meant we first to be served. SCORE! However, I dreaded feeding Asher because I knew within a certain period of time - usually 30-45 minutes - there would be another blow out. I had brought two meals-worth of baby food, plus a bottle. I fed him quick before my food arrived.

There was an empty seat between Asher and the other guy so Asher was able to stretch out. Not long after we ate he fell asleep again. And he did sleep... for about 90 minutes of the 8 1/2 hour flight.... with his legs hanging over the arm rest. LOL

I had been asleep for about an hour when I got a wiff of something. "Please God, let it be the 2 year old." No such luck. It was Asher. I peeked down his diaper, and while I couldn't see anything, I could certainly smell it!

Now, my friend Abby had made a suggestion. She said pack plastic bags, each with a full change of clothes (including socks!) wipes, etc. so if there is a problem I could just grab a whole bag instead of having to dig for stuff. Abby is so smart. ;-)

We got to the bathroom and I was SO GLAD I followed Abby's advice! Asher's pants were FULL. Not just his diaper, but his pants. THANK GOD AGAIN these planes have a changing table space. Although it's quite cramped, and not really meant to fit a 3-4 year old, it was better than trying to change this mess standing up in an even smaller airplane bathroom! Asher was a bit scared that first time, but he did ok.

Asher is a pretty good traveler as long as he has something to dangle. I had packed a few special dangly toys I knew he'd like, so when we got back to our seats I gave him one of those and dozed off for awhile.

I dozed off and on for a couple hours when that smell reached me again. Please no! I lifted the back of Asher's shirt a little so I could check him....omg....OMG. This was an up the back type of disaster. Oh please don't let it be on the seat!

I quick grabbed another bag of supplies and we headed to the bathroom. UGH! I hardly knew where to start. I stood him up on the changing table, which means his back....which was covered with poop... was against the panel where the paper towels and stuff are. Poop smeared from his back all over the panel. OMG I whipped off his shirt, knowing there no way to avoid getting the mess in his hair. Then I sat him down so I could scrub the wall panel.

Once that was clean I removed his pants and found it was all down his legs as well, EVEN HIS SOCKS  With him on the table, pants off, there was poop everywhere. Wait...almost everywhere. Asher has been nicely trained by orphanage staff to put his feet all the way up over his head (imagine folded in half laying on his back.) Now think about this for a second, and think about the anatomy and where all orifices would be in this position. It was at this time that Asher made it known his stomach had not yet settled.

There was now poop on the CEILING of the bathroom.

No, really.

I know, right?

Let me just say, that bathroom was....I hope...cleaner when we left it than it was when we got in it. Let me also say, after the way we messed up that bathroom, I never want to enter an airplane bathroom again because now I know what happens in there! I bet you don't want to either. ;-)

Asher had one more blow out about 1/2 hour before we landed in Chicago, but it wasn't quite as bad. Evenso, he went through all the spare outfits I'd brought along, except for ONE shirt.

We did miss our connecting flight in Chicago, but we were able to get on another and after a couple hour delay we were FINALLY on our way home!!! That last flight is only an hour. Asher had hit the proverbial wall by this point and was acting all the crazy boy while we waited. When we got on the plane he fell asleep instantly and stayed sleeping until we landed in Minneapolis. It's a good thing too, because I had one clean shirt left and I changed him into it while we were taxiing to our gate.

Next up: Homecoming!

We really ARE home

I know it seems like we've fallen off the planet, but we really ARE here. It's just very busy. There is lots to catch up on from my being gone for several weeks.

In addition to that, there is Asher. I don't have to chase him around at all, mostly because he's busy chasing ME around. I am never out of his sight. He is investigating EVERYTHING as long as it's within arms reach of me. Every kitchen cabinet, the fridge, the dog dish, the washer, the dryer (fascinating form of entertainment with it's glass door!) just everything.

And then there is playing. I have to teach him how to play. That there is more to this life than dangling whatever object he can find that fits his secret dangling criteria. Yesterday he spent 30 minutes playing with the broom, which was heaven because I got to sit and eat.

And there is eating. Someone has to teach him to eat. And he eats a lot, all day long. He will eat until we stop putting food in front of him.

And there is the poop clean up. I got lucky and caught one on the toilet yesterday so I think I only cleaned up 5  of 6 up the back and down the leg blowouts. But I didn't save the bed. No when he got up at 6 yesterday it was only because he was uncomfortable, and when I switched on the light I found that his entire bed and the wall next to it were covered because there was no way his diaper could contain ALL THAT!

So we're here, really we are. Please be patient as we find our groove. It's 6:00 a.m. now. Took me 10 minutes to write this and now I need to go get everyone up for school. It's probably the last time today I'll make it to the computer. I'm Jones'in man!

Planes, planes and...blowouts

I have a problem when I'm coming home from Serbia. I would would call it a habit now that I've been there four times in 19 months and the same thing happens every time.

First of all, it takes me 10-14 days to get on Serbia time. They're 7 hours ahead of us so I tend to be up at 2:00 in the morning which is 7:00 pm at home so I can visit with Dean and the kids on Skype.

About the time I get my inner clock figured out, it's time to come home.

I usually take the 6:00 a.m. flight out because it gets me home mid afternoon, so by the time we get home from the airport and wind down a little bit, it's time for a full-night sleep.

The only problem is, I can NEVER sleep the night before we fly home! Ugh, this is so frustrating because I know I need to sleep and it's going to be a very long trip, but my mind just won't shut down. This trip was no different. I finally forced myself to bed around 12:30 a.m. and needed to wake up at 3:00 a.m. I woke up Asher at 3:30 so I could give him a big breakfast and allow time for the..umm..fallout that would result.

I spent the four days from when I busted Asher out of the orphanage until we went home trying to constipate him. He has some pretty nasty GI stuff going on (oh, how I cannot wait to get those stool samples tested!) and I just knew there were going to be problems on the trip home. We went through a fair amount of bananas and rice cereal last week! LOL

So I woke up Asher at 3:30 a.m. and gave him some cereal w/bananas and a bottle (as in baby bottle) of water, then finished zipping up all the suitcases, stripping the bed, etc. 10 minutes before our ride arrived the blowouts began. Asher went through three diapers in those 10 minutes. THREE DIAPERS!!!! I prayed that was all the poop he had in him, and since he ALWAYS has a blowout within 30-45 minutes after eating, I wondered if it was possible to make the entire trip without feeding him? I was half serious.

I got the last of our bags down to the front door just as my friend Zoran arrived.

My other worry about the trip was the fact I did not have a stroller and Asher is a brand new walker with legs the size of a 2 year old. (actually, he wears a size 3t perfectly!) Since the Belgrade airport is very small it would be a good indicator what the rest of the trip would be like! We got all the bags loaded on one of those cart thingies, and I was able to push it with one hand while holding Asher's hand with the other. Thankfully Asher LOVES holding a hand (demands it, actually) so this part was pretty easy. He stood nicely while I got the bags checked in, and he LOVED walking through the airport as we went to our gate. So far so good!

Have I mentioned the Serbia airport is very small? They don't have jetways to the planes, instead you have to walk down 22 flights 4 flights of stairs, then outside on the tarmac to where the plane is sitting. It's December. Picture us:  I'm wearing my backpack and carrying Asher in one arm and the diaper bag. Pretty sure each of them weighed about the same! I tried to carry as few things as possible with me, but they were all heavy things like my laptop, the iPad, "the red book" (adoption documents) then the diaper bag was all Asher necessities. It was all heavy. So we're walking to the plane, and you have to walk up the steps...the very steep steps...into the plane. We get seated and Asher was pretty curious about everything around us. He was happy the entire 1 hr 45 minute flight as long as he had the tail of his seat belt to play with. We made the flight without incident.

Coming soon, the flight from hell transatlantic flight.

Breakfast

Asher is used to eating breakfast around 6:30-7:00 a.m, which is around midnight our time. Thankfully he slept until almost lunch time...or 3:30 a.m.! YAY US! Another week and maybe he'll sleep until 6:00. (Oh, but he woke me up with a present of the closest thing he's had to a solid poop since I got him!)

The day I met him he was weighed and was 14 kg, or 30.8 lbs. I've had custody of him for almost a week. this morning I weighed him and he was 33.2 lbs.

Anyway, I am working on more blog posts, but have been either closely followed by ahem..."someone" (no chasing him, only him chasing me. LOL) and trying to get my/our sleep schedule figured out!

Coming soon: Coming home, blowouts and feeding.

We are HOME!!!!!

After a couple delays coming from Chicago, we finally made it home at 6:45 last night ( or 1:00 a.m. Serbia time, so Asher and I had been up for 22 hours.) Asher slept a total of 2.5 hours of the trip home. Behaviorally he was fantastic, but I do have an entirely separate blog post about diaper blow outs! Really they deserve their own post, it was THAT BAD! But God was good, and made sure I only had to deal with those and not the screaming 2 year old who sat in front of us on the transatlantic flight, NOR his 5 year old brother who puked most of the way.

So...here we are...home. Asher woke up at 4:45 this morning, lunch time according to his internal clock. It's now 7:30 a.m. and I'm going to see if he's ready for an afternoon nap. LOL

The List

So here is the list of specialists Asher needs to see. These are known issues, not things that have yet to be discovered, and you know we will discover more along the way, right? LOL Just like giving birth to a baby with DS, you just don't know until they get here what their needs will be. So, in order of urgency:

Radiology - AAI screening, only urgent because Axel is going back to Philly so we'll get Asher's screening done to make sure he doesn't need to go along!

Urology - no details for you blog readers. ;-)

Pulmonolgy - diagnosed with tracheolaryngealmalacia, needs a bronchoscopy done. Has a pretty good stridor going on!

Gastroenterology - was born with megacolon and had a colonoscopy w/biopsy to rule out hirschsprungs, but they only did ONE biopsy, not several along the enlarged area like they should have. Is symptomatic of short-segment HD.

Feeding Clinic - not only does Asher not chew, but he no longer has the reflex to chew. Food is just mashed against his very high palate where it gets stuck. Fun times!

ENT - needs tonsils and adenoids removed (they're HUGE and he snores like CRAZY!) and ear tubs inserted

Opthalmology - Strabismus and nystagumus -needs glasses for sure, possibly surgery on one eye if glasses can't correct the problem.

Cardiology - follow up on the PFO he was born with. It should be closed but we'll just make sure!

January and February are going to be very busy months, huh? The good thing is Angela and Axel are in school so I can get these appointments done while they're gone. Radiology, Urology and Pulmonology are the only ones that are urgent, the rest, while they need to get done, are things we can take our time with.

Gods

Is there a separate poop god, or a diaper blowout god? If there is, I need to speak with him or her. See, in less than 24 hours Asher and I will be getting on a plane. One of those flights will be 8 hours long, only he has not gone longer than 4 hours without a major, up the back and down the legs diaper blow out since I got him.

I think that getting the newly adopted child home is the most difficult part of the entire process. It is absolutely 100% unpredictable. There is no way to know how the child is going to handle being confined on a plane for many hours at a time. Now way to know if he or she is going to get air sick. (please god NO!) Are they going to spend 8 hours kicking the seat in front of them? Or screaming? Will their ears hurt on the 45 minute decent...on all three flights?

Axel was amazing when we flew home. Except the last flight from Chicago to Minneapolis which, thankfully, is only an hour and 10 minutes long. He'd "hit the wall" of airline travel by that point, and went stark raving mad. Laughing his manic laugh as he grabbed the skirts of fight attendants every time they walked by, shredded magazines and pulled my hair multiple times. All while he laughed so hard he couldn't breath. Thankfully it was only the last hour! When we landed and got off the jetway, I politely turned down the wheelchair in favor of letting Axel make the long walk to meet his family in order to burn off the fire steam that had built up inside him for the past 30 hours.

Flying home with Asher is going to be very different. First of all, I have a 7 year old who doesn't eat solid food. Are they gonna allow me to bring jars of baby food on the plane? They better! What about a bottle of formula? (thats an entirely different post, by the way.) And then there is the whole getting around business! Did you know buying a basic umbrella stroller in Serbia will run you around $150? No really. So I thought about playing the disability card getting a wheelchair escort. It worked great with Axel when we had to run from one end of the Frankfurt airport to the other in 5 minutes (and I got lost because some worker guys told me a "shortcut" through some tunnel I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be in but not once did anyone ask me what I was doing there! Or maybe they did but they were speaking German and I was just some crazy American running by with a kid in a a wheelchair and they probably didn't want to mess with me anyway.)

So, I'm scared to death about flying home with Asher. I'm going to check everything except my carry-on backpack which will be loaded down with computer, iPad, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, baby food and one dangly toy. And plastic bags. Lots of plastic bags.

Love this boy!

God is SO GOOD

Today we were able to get everything completed and ON TIME! WOOT WOOT!!!! We pick up the visa tomorrow afternoon, and...and...GET ON A PLANE ON FRIDAY!!!!!!

While you're starting your day

When some of you are just starting your day, I will be running around praying that God's timing is the same as mine! Here's what's on the list for today. Each task must be completed in sequential order and ON TIME:

1) Pick up translated documents. (needed for the Visa)
2)  Pick up Passport (needed for the medical AND Visa)
3) Go to medical appointment, (needed for the Visa) only we're going to show up early so we can make the visa appointment at 2:30!
4) Go to Embassy to apply for Visa.

If we don't make the Visa appointment today, there will be no getting on a plane for us on Friday, AND it will cost nearly $500 to change the flights. Glad I planned for an extra day in case of delay in the process, which there was! The birth city did not deliver the passport yesterday like they said would happen.

Asher's first time sleeping away from the orphanage.

Gotcha Day

Ivanna (pronounced Eevanah) the orphanage social worker. Asher is blurry because he wasn't really interested in posing. 

Ok, he'll hold still for this one. Ivanna was trying hard not to cry at this point. Just off camera are caregivers in tears. After this, Ivanna handed me a bag. There is one caregiver who has cared for Asher since the day he was born, and often takes him to the grocery store and other places with her. She said the bag was something for Asher from his caregiver, who did NOT come to work today because she could not stand to see Asher leave. Later when I opened the bag, I found a size 8 brand new outfit. Size 8...something he will wear next year. And brand new outfit; something I know was not easy for her to do.

Seven years ago, his guardian walked through these doors with a tiny baby. One of the least of these. I know a lot about his birth parents, and I know they were doing the only thing they could. The story is for Asher, and not one I'll share here, but I can tell you Asher WAS loved, and in fact his birth family was just here to visit him knowing that he would be leaving. I cannot imagine how difficult that was for them.

Driving to Kragujevac. American's get a little freaked out about the lack of carseats here. Even when a family does have a carseat, it isn't used anywhere near the way it's supposed to be. LOL Here's Asher, sitting on my lap facing me to watch out the window.

Signing the adoption decree!!!

The actual ceremony. I'm going to tell you what was said, not to pat ourselves on the back, but so you can see how these adoptions touch everyone. (and I look horrible in the pictures because I'm crying!)

This was toward the end of the ceremony, when we all stood up for the formal part. Susanna the psychologist was talking, saying just three months ago they received Axel's update and were so thrilled to see how wonderful he's doing and the opportunities he has. To see that he has the medical care nobody even knew he needed (I included pictures of Axel in the halo and explained what had happened.) Then when they received our request for Asher they were so excited to know the family he would be going to, and to be able to tell the birth family just what kind of life Asher would have. They thanked me for coming back to Kragujevac to give a family to one of their children.

 Then she said something funny: In our paperwork for Axel and again for Asher I explained how many times adoption has touched my immediate family, and that my sister had 9 children, four of them adopted. They wondered how much more space WE have in OUR house, and if they will get to see us again next year. LOL

The head minister did not participate in our ceremony with Axel because he was out of town, but he lead this ceremony and was very glad to be part of it.

This is Susanna, talking about how our family has taught them all a lot about love and acceptance, and that by seeing the updates on Axel they have a new understanding of the importance of family for these children, and the progress that can be made when a child is raised in a loving environment. They hope all their children can be so lucky to find their way to a family like ours.

Certificate of Serbian citizenship, and his new birth certificate listing him as Lazar SPRING, with me as his mother!

"Uncle Zoran". Zoran is a COCI staff member who is nothing less than a Godsend to adoptive parents! He is translator, driver, and playmate for the children when you need your hands free. You will get more Serbian history from Zoran than you will anywhere else.

 After a VERY long day we drove home in Zoran's car...in a CAR SEAT! (with a lap belt. LOL) But Asher was comfortable and fell asleep holding my iPhone to his ear.

BLOG IS OPEN

Ok, the blog is open again! I went back and uploaded all the pictures and videos that I've been waiting to post! Go back and read the posts you've already read. Many of them have pictures and videos added. ENJOY!