New pictures and progress made on SS#

Finally, A picture with both girls smiling! You are lucky you did not see me doing the dorky dance I had to do to get this picture! LOL Also a picture of Kara laughing at her sister.

Friday we went to the Department of Records to apply for Kara's, " Arizona Certificate of Foreign Birth". This is what we get if we choose not to readopt her. It should arrive in Tucson Wednesday and from there we can go to the Social Security office to apply for her SS#.

For those of you adopting internationally and living in Arizona; our state adoption law states:

Arizona State Adoption Law

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
International adoptions are governed by the adoptive child’s country of residence. DES licenses private adoption agencies that handle international adoptions if they are physically located in Arizona, but otherwise has no oversight of the international adoption process.

The DHS Office of Vital Records creates and registers Arizona certificates of foreign birth for adoptive children who were born in a foreign country, are not United States citizens, went through a completed adoption process in a foreign country prior to coming to the United States and have an IR-3 stamped passport. If an adoptive child does not have an IR-3 stamped passport, the adoption process must be completed again in Arizona for the child to obtain an Arizona certificate of foreign birth. Rules for obtaining an IR-3 visa and stamped passport are administered by the United States Department of State.

A video of my silly girls playing, wish I had sound! The giggles were precious and heartwarming.

Both girls were outside playing, it is a beautiful day and I am happy to see them out there not fighting. Meghan's green eyed monster attack is getting old, and I am hoping it will get better soon, she just pushes Kara down too often, though most of the time Kara gets up and continues forward, sometimes it hurts her feelings and it makes mommy sad.

Meghan and Kara are giggling and being silly in this picture, thank goodness for spring and good weather, they love playing outside, Kara does not want to come in, she is still playing in the wagon!!

I wonder how the dynamic will change when Amanda comes home? I can see some fur flying for a while. Lord give me strength.

Kara is registered with the Ukrainian Consulate

Kara's Ukraine passport came in the mail yesterday, we were so happy to see it! With it came the reminder that we are to send reports about her health and well being for three years and then every 3 years after that until she is 18. I think we will really enjoy letting them know how well she is doing!

Now that her passport back, we can get her "Certificate of Foreign Birth" birth certificate. We chose to do this instead of readopting Kara, which would have taken 6-8 months, as we need to have her birth certificate to get services. Although the state of AZ recognizes her adoption as final, obstacles are encountered by parents who do not have a state of AZ birth certificate for their children.

We will progress from getting the birth certificate to applying for her SS#. From there we will get her evaluated and assigned a services coordinator, she will then begin her DDD services. Meghan's SC has already agreed to add Kara to her roster, hopefully it is within her control to do so.

Rocking Kara

Thank you to the Soper's for sending this gift to Kara. Stephanie knew how much I wanted to find Kara another rocker like the one she had at the orphanage. The doctor and the caregivers loved watching Kara on her rocking worm, but we could not find anything like it here.

This little Dog is perfect and Kara loves it. We have a beautiful day today for playing outside. The girls played while mommy did laundry!

The video is a little long, we won't feel bad if you don't watch the whole thing.

Doctor visits today

All clean and ready to see the doctor; the girls took another bath together today. I am happy that as a duo there is no crying and carrying on like there is when they have baths individually. They both get baths together for a while! I know my neighbors think I beat them when they bathe, they both cry, but Meghan sometimes screams, and we use Baby Bees tearless shampoo, so no excuses for that screaming either. It is something we got used to with Meghan. People would hear me singing nonsensical songs to her while I washed her hair if they listened to us, I have about 5 of them and I sing one right after another. It is the only way I can wash Meghan's hair and has been for years. If someone else were to try, I think they would be scared witless by her behavior, I am used to it. The songs are the only thing that worked to calm her down.

Both Kara and Meghan had doctor’s appointments today. Lucky for me DH Tom took the rest of the day to come along. I was not too worried about Kara, as she was quiet and cooperative in Ukraine when she saw Dr Yuri, but Meghan Oy Vey, she had a conniption fit. She did "the drop" repeatedly and screamed and carried on, all because we wanted her to step on the scales. It was obvious she was fine and being an actress, but it was mortifying to say the least..So it is obvious that she is a little jealous of Kara, we expected it, but her behaviors have escalated lately. Lots of hugs and kisses and time outs for her. Kara looks at her like she has gone nuts; it is such a funny expression. Or maybe she is wondering what kind of a nut house she found her way into. LOL

We have good news though, both girls are doing great. Meghan weighed in at 45 pounds and 45 inches tall. Kara, drum roll please; gained 5 pounds since her appointment with Dr Yuri in Ukraine. DH and I kept saying she must have gained weight because she felt heavier, but 5 pounds!? I forget her height, whoops, sorry.

Meghan needs another alopecia treatment, Kara has a rash she needs looked at, but both see the dermatologist tomorrow. More fun, lets hope there is no weighing involved. Meghan must be like all women already at 7; and does not like to be weighed.

Kara got a Hep A vaccine, and two others. The doctor does not think she needs any others as he said even if they were watered down, she had all three of each, and that would have been enough. He did not want to do titers.

Each of my girls will see the eye doc, get their hearing checked, and see the cardiologist. Kara may need to see a doctor for her tummy issues, but we will wait and see if the Reglan her doctor prescribed works for her reflux. She still spits up like an infant. Both girls will also get blood work for their thyroid, CBC's, and Kara is getting a genetic test to officially confirm her Down syndrome diagnosis, it was not done in Ukraine and we want to be certain it is in her medical file. No, we do not doubt her diagnosis, but we want it in her medical records that she had the blood work done.

I am excited to share that Kara fed herself a few Cheerios (organic brand, we don't do regular) and some Smart Puffs, which are "healthier" Cheetos. She really enjoyed them and had at least 6-7. This is such a milestone for her; she would not do it until today. We try every day, and she just throws things off her highchair. She made a huge mess, but she fed herself! Each little step makes us so happy and proud of her.

Kara is walking more and more, just a few steps, but she is getting braver each day. I did a little video, no sound, to share her happiness in her prowess. LOL Please forgive the mess around her, we were playing, not cleaning. It is also sideways, I will have DH help me edit it later, but I was so excited, I wanted to share now!

My girls, Julia, Meghan, and Kara

Julia took this of herself, she is so good at that. Sun is going down, such a pretty golden light!

My sweet little girls today, it was a beautiful day today, for Tucson it is officially late winter and we have some spring like days. Don't they look sweet together. Kara was scared on the bench so I took her off soon after this picture.

Meghan flirting with the camera, Kara would not look my way, she was busy checking out everything. Amazing that she was OK outside, she has cried everytime I took her out until today. She just wants me to carry her. I also took her out in the back while I did laundry and she sat on a riding toy and actually started moving around the yard. She is getting settled and more comfortable in her new home.

Kara sleeping on the sofa, silly girl, she was talking and playing and just passed out. Check out her legs, she is so flexible. I picked her up to put her in her crib, she is a good napper. She will be in the crib for a while, when we were in Ukraine she kept falling off the bed and refused to sleep on the floor where she would not. I think I slept with an eye and and ear open the whole time, the first night "home" she fell off the bed and smacked the floor hard. I wondered if the neighbors woke up to her cries at 2:00 am?

Kara's citizenship papers are here

Her certificate and the letter from President Bush arrived today. I just wanted to share the good news!

Vorzel kids

My Kara at the orphanage
Little blondie, such a sweet smile, so absent in these photos

Meghan with Roma, the little brunette is Svetlana, she was a precious little girl, and Sasha is the little one sitting by the caregiver. She has FAS and is also very sweet.

I loved the paintings on the walls at the orphanage, isn't this one precious?

Our snowy walk to the baby house

Roma and a sweet 2 1/2 year old girl, we never got her name.

Kara and her friend, Kara made her way into the room to play with this angel. I wanted pictures of the two of them together. the little Blondie is usually smiling, laughing and waving hello.

Vorzel Kids

I was looking for some information on Vorzel, and found this link, many of the children have Down syndrome and are so beautiful. Please check it out. When we were in Vorzel the orphanage director told us that almost all of his kids had special needs as the typically developing children were taken by families as part of the new foster care system. So almost all of the children in the orphanages in Vorzel have special needs. We saw quite a few during the month we were there, and they are just precious children who have such a longing in their eyes when they see mama and papas with their kids.

I know many people say they wish they could adopt all of the kids in the orphanages where they visit, and I understand why. Like little Roma who so desperately needs a family before he ages out of the baby house, he will be sent to the mental institution this spring. He loved Meghan and our family, leaving him behind was hard for us.

Our silly girls

We just think Kara is so beautiful, her mama in Ukraine must be very pretty! We are so grateful to have Kara as part of our family.

Meghan and Kara are learning to play together, but often Kara will resort to rocking when she gets overwhelmed, as she did here. Meghan was upset because Kara kept moving the dollies. Kara and she had "words" and Kara crawled over to rock.

Minutes before they were playing and laughing, which is why I grabbed my camera, but I missed the photo opportunity!

I love hearing the girls laughing and playing, but I have to say it is usually because they are being naughty together. Throwing things, knocking things over, playing with Kleenex. They keep me hopping, and we are hoping to add one more little one to the mix. I will definitely not be able to sit much then! :o)

A picture taken tonight, before bed, Kara will love on Meghan and Meghan will pull away, but just let Kara cry and Meghan comes running to make sure she is OK.
Kara's Cheshire Cat grin, always makes us laugh, funny little girl!

Meghan finally smiling, I still have to take 20 pictures to get this gal to cooperate, some things never change. I missed her birthday while I was in Ukraine. She turned 7 on December 11.

Kara got mad at Meghan and mama got a picture, this is not a face we see often, but look at her, Meghan backed off, and mama laughed because Kara giggled when Meghan reacted.

We noticed that she laughed when the kids in the orphanage hit each other too. Hmmmm. A fan of slapstick humor I suppose. She is learning that hair pulling, pinching, and hitting hurt and stops when we say "Ouch, that hurts" so that is progress, She still pulls Meghan's hair though, Meghan tells on her often.

My friend Mary Ann

Tom wearing one of Mary Ann's hats

When I sent an email to all my friends about how to dress for cold weather shortly before we left for Ukraine, Mary Ann wrote right back offering to make Tom, Meghan, and I hats. We each kept our heads warm with her wonderful hats for our entire trip, and Tom often said "We really need to let Mary Ann know how much these hats helped us"

Mary Ann is a breast cancer survivor like me, but unlike me she had a very rare form of breast cancer called IBC, (this website is adult oriented and can be upsetting) or Inflammatory Breast Cancer, a very deadly form. Her being alive is a miracle and all who know her cherish her friendship.

Mary Ann owns her own business; making hats, she began making them for people undergoing cancer treatment who lose their hair, she also makes many great products to make that time in a persons life bearable. I encourage everyone traveling to a colder region to check out her amazing hats, they kept us all warm during our stay in Ukraine.

CJ HATS

More pictures and prayer request

My family in Ukraine November 2007

Our friends are arriving in droves to Ukraine, you can click on their names to read their blogs, the Urban's, the Cornishes, KellyB, The Mc Cs, and the RSGs.

Sadly things can go wrong in adoption, which my family can attest to, and some of our friends are having a rough time. Please add the Cornishes and the Urban's to your prayers as they ride the adoption roller coaster in Ukraine. The links to their blogs are above if you would like to offer support by way of comments as well.

Both families felt called to adopt these special little girls and moved forward in faith to do so, they are special families with loving giving hearts and faith in the Lord. They need prayers to make their adoption dreams come true. Please tell your friends to pray for them as well.