Five Days with Christy - Appointments and Waiting!

Monday morning was our appointment for Christy's medical exam.  This was done in a Bulgarian medical clinic, and we were taken there by our driver/translator team.  They also had her passport for us!  We went into the clinic and the lab was downstairs.  We were pleasantly surprised to see the other family there (the ones adopting the 7 yo boy).  After a fairly long wait (and listening to that poor boy having his blood drawn) we were ushered in to the room.  

The room looked like a small office/cubical than a lab, although there was an exam table there.  After our entrepreneur presented our documents it was time for them to draw her blood.  I'll be nice and just say that it took three pokes, two different people trying, and quite a mess before they got what they needed and poor Christy was very traumatized by it all. 

Then we headed up a few flights of stairs to the pediatrician's office.  There they listened to her breathing and lungs and looked over her paperwork.  I was surprised when the Dr turned to me and said, in English, that I was taking good care of her - this was said as they were trying to get all her layers unsnapped so the r could listen.  I think she approved or my "bundling" Christy (this ranks as the #1 indicator of a good mom in Bulgaria), but I like to think she was referring to my care in comforting Christy during the blood draw (the Dr did the final, successful blood draw).  We also found out that she weighed just over 26 pounds and was 35 inches - very similar to our 2 yo, Carese.  Long and lean.

When this was completed, we were taken to a mall so I could purchase some shoes for Christy, as all the shoes we brought were way too big.  I did find a pair that would stay on her feet, even though they were too big, and they were cute and well made.

Then we were taken back to the hotel, arriving around lunch time.  Then we all took a nap.  Then we got brave an made our way back out to Jeff's house via the subway on our own.   We not only successfully navigated the subway system, but Daryl was even able to find the way to Jeff's apartment.  It's not easy to find and they were surprised that we were able to do that!  There we enjoyed pizza from the restaurant downstairs and while Daryl played Wii with Elise, I played Settlers of Catan with Jeff and Lisa!  I surprised everyone, including myself, by winning!

Here's  a video showing how Christy reacts to "coming home" after being out and about most of the day.  She would just revel in being able to scoot around in her "safe zone"!

Then we headed home.  When we got off the subway were got to surprise a couple from England who were lost just by speaking English to them!  That was a fun little encounter all by itself!  Then it was time to settle in for the night.  Only it took a long time to get to sleep as I was not feeling well.

Tuesday we pretty much hung out all day in our room - none of us were feeling our best, and we had nothing e had to do so we just didn't do anything but eat and rest.  I did make a quick run to corner grocer with Corinna's sister, Sarah.  It was cloudy and windy, but refreshing.  When I reached my hotel room, it was raining like the sky was falling!  We had gotten back just in time.  Then the lightening and thunder began.  It wasn't as good a storm as I love (like in the mid west where the lightening and thunder are almost continuous), but it did have some great thunder.  Just at bedtime, as we were getting into bed, there was one bolt of lightening that was a simultaneous lightening strike and a crack that had both of us jumping out of our skin!  It was terrifying and so loud!  But within seconds we were laughing so hard as we both we so startled by it...and the thunder shook the hotel and caused car alarms to go off in the street below!

For some reason (sarcasm intended), Christy had trouble going to sleep that night, and Daryl took over around 11 pm, and finally got her to sleep around midnight.  So Wednesday we were very tired.  We ended up staying in our hotel room again all day, only leaving for breakfast and dinner, both of which we ate in the hotel restaurant.  

Here's a video showing Christy in "her zone" of happiness in her high chair in the hotel restaurant!  She LOVES being in a high chair, can you tell?

Thursday was our embassy appointment.  We got picked up early, we went to the medical clinic to pick up Christy's test results (she tested negative for TB, yay!), and then went to the embassy.  We ended up getting there too early and just hung out in the car for about an hour - but I was able to feed Christy her lunch and she got a short nap.  Then we went into the embassy - in order to get through security, I had to eat some of her juice and baby food to prove that it was just that!  Good thing I liked what I brought for her that day!  It took over an hour of waiting for our "interview" and we were just asked a couple of simple questions, and that was it!  We were to leave her passport with them so they could add her VISA to is, and our attorney would bring it to us on Friday!

Christy loves to scoot into tight places - this is the bottom of
the closet - she loves playing with a ball in there after I
had packed for our return trip!

Thursday night Corinna and I walked about a mile to Tony's Pizza to get take out pizza.  While we were ordering there was a flash and a bang and we all just about jumped out of our skins!  Something about the fuse box - it was like a small explosion!  The lights went out too.  Good thing we were ordering wood fired pizza!  We chose to wait outside for out pizza as one guy was messing around in an ancient looking fuse box with a screw driver!  Yikes!  By now, Corinna was convinced that being near me meant that excitement was always just about to happen! Ha!

Friday was packing day, and at dinner we finally got to meet our dear attorney, Toni.  This wonderful woman has a big heart for the orphans of Bulgaria and the families who are adopting them.  I had almost daily phone calls from her and she would be praying for us on each step of the way.  When comparing notes with other adoptive families who used other agencies, Dreams Foundation and Toni far out shown the others in the care they take to keep the families in good care every step of the way.  Thank you Toni, for all you do and I count it a blessing to have worked with you to bring Christy into our family!!!

Christy providentially went to sleep the earliest yet Friday night - and it was a good thing as we had to be up and out of the hotel by 4:15 am!  The incredible trip home will be on my next blog post as there were so many unusual things that we encountered...mostly just getting out of Sofia!

Christy's First Mother's Day weekend with a Mommy!

Saturday was a relaxing day at the hotel.  We had begun to get in the habit of eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then having snacks for lunch (instant oatmeal, fruit leather  and maybe some chocolate), and then eating dinner either in the hotel restaurant or going out somewhere (or doing room service if we were really lazy/tired!).  We were also falling into a routine of Daryl taking a late morning nap while I watched Christy, and I took an afternoon nap and it was really working well.  This day, however, Christy had gone into hyper exploration mode and was testing the sounds that different things made when she would kicks them - walls, doors, furniture...the louder the noise the better - but it made it difficult for our naps!

We had made plans to go to Jeff Shepherd's home to have a home made meal with his family, and we would be joined by two other adoptive families!  We left the hotel with Corinna W, her sister and her newly adopted son, Silas and walked to the meet up point.  Jeff was to meet us at the subway station to introduce us to traveling in the amazing underground system that is in Sofia. There was a little mix up (my fault completely) but it made for a unexpected blessing!  While Jeff was waiting for us outside the subway entrance and we were waiting for him down in the subway walkway, he spied some familiar faces!  There was a third adoptive family, the Hrbecks from Texas) who had just arrived that day for their first trip, and had been taking a walk!  So we all joined up and walked together for a few blocks and got to know them.  This also had the benefit of giving us new people to eat meals with and go shopping with for a couple of days!

Jeff is in this second photo talking with Corinna and her family, with the subway wizzing by just a few feet from them.  We then met up with the other family, Heather B, her mom and her newly adopted son, and took a few minutes to tour the Cathedral in the center of Sofia (no photos allowed), and then headed down to take the subway.  It was about a 15 minute ride, and Christy loved it after a few minutes.

Daryl had taken to carrying her whenever we went out, using the Ergo.  This was the best way and it kept her feeling secure.  Daryl got lots of looks from both women and men as I never did see another man using a carrier to carry a child or infant there!  I told him it made him a "chick magnet"!  We also found it funny as in the subway there were movie posters for some movie that showed a man using a similar carrier to carry a child!

We got off the subway and walked a few blocks to his apartment.  There we met his amazing wife, Lisa, and his son and daughter (who they adopted from Bulgaria 3 years before).  They both work at the American English Academy in Sofia teaching.  They are "working missionaries."  There we were welcomed into a most enjoyable home setting, and served an amazing dinner of Bulgarian style foods.  It was so fun to let our children mingle, to talk Star Trek stuff with Jeff's daughter, and watch Christy explore their home.  Christy's favorite room was the kitchen, especially the near mirror finish on the oven door!  I also found out that week that Jeff and Lisa are Settlers of Catan players, a game that our family discovered recently.  They invited us back for a game night Monday night - that was definitely something for me to look forward too!

All too soon it was time to head back to the hotel.  Jeff accompanied us to ensure that we got where we needed to go (until we were on familiar territory).  He was a great host and it was fun to get lots of trivia about the city from him.  He also invited us all to attend church with him, but I was feeling a little off, so we declined.  The other two families accepted his offer though.  He also introduced us to the amazing Ice Cream in one of the small shops in The Market!  YUM!!

Once back at the hotel, we settled in and prepared for bed.  Christy was worn out and went to sleep quickly, and so did Daryl.  But the heat had gotten to me, and I was quite miserable.  After a couple of hours, I was able to sleep though, and I felt fine again in the morning

Sunday was Mother's Day in the US (but not in Bulgaria - they celebrate something similar in March).  We had a quiet morning in the hotel room, and in the afternoon I went shopping with the two other moms in our hotel room.  We had a great time (both children were napping at the hotel with -Christy with her daddy, Silas with his Auntie).  We walked to The Market and did some souvenier shopping and had some Ice Cream again!  We were acting like kids and had a blast!  Were were all getting along so well and brought out the fun in each other in spite of jetlag!  Three new friends from three polar opposite parts of North America tearing up the town on the other side of the planet - only God could orchestrate such a blessing for us three that day!

I enjoyed finding some very unexpected things in the little artisan shops there - hand made soaps, inexpensive organic Rose Water - something Bulgaria is known for!  We are going to finally get to make Turkish Delight this year while we watch Narnia at Christmas time!  I also found matching dresses for Christy and Carese and some fund things to bring home for the other children.  Only some of the shop keepers spoke English, so it was a challenge at times to make transactions, but we did make it through eventually!

I did have some great times with Christy on Mother's Day too - I dressed us up to match even!  She had several of her amazing "I am SO happy" moods and I even got one video taped!  By this day we were beginning to notice that she was able to have more control and flexibility with her right hand/arm, but we weren't quite sure...time would show us that we were right!

Our day ended with the amazing night of giggles from Christy's crib.  I know I posted it in my last blog post, but I was a little mixed up - that was actually Mother's Day evening...such an amazing gift to be given on Mother's Day!  Starting with fun with Christy, then fun with friends, skyping with the children and ending with a hour long giggle fest in the dark.  Even though Mother's Day was spent away from the majority of my family, I was blessed.