Adoption update

Today I sent off the final documents to my agency.  They will hopefully they will be sent to little sister's country to be translated on Friday.  I'm hoping that everything will be translated and ready to be registered shortly after the new year.  Which should mean that we could be traveling in late January or early February to meet little sister.  

Slowly I have been picking up little things here and there for little sister.  I have a few outfits to take her based on what I expect her size to be (I'm hoping she has grown some since the report was written).  I am also finding a few toys to take along for her to explore.  I'm getting more and more excited about going over to meet her.  I cannot wait to see what her little personality is like.

Specialists

When you have a child with a special need, there are always specialist to be seen.  Today was a long day at the university hospital.  I have to say the specialist Maria sees are some of the best.  Today included an MRI (gotta admit I always dread those, ever since I got the devestating news last February about Maria's spine).  Then we went to visit with the neurosurgeon...the nice one with good people skills.....he asked us several questions, took a look at Maria's back, made sure we knew what to look for with a shunt malfunction and then gave us the news.....we don't have to see him for a whole year!  Gotta admit this made me want to celebrate.  I did talk to him a little bit about little sister's condition and wanting him to see her when she comes home.  He was very agreeable and explained more about little sister's condition.  Then we headed up to check in at the pediatric specialty clinic, just letting them know we were there.  We then went to get an ultrasound of Maria's kidneys and bladder, followed by a urodynamics test being done.  Then back to the specialty clinic to see Maria's urologist.  Again we answered several questions and talked about where Maria was.  Maria has a low pressure point in her bladder and weak muscles that control her bladder.....this is actually a good thing for her, it means that her kidneys should stay healthy, it is highly unlikely that urine from her bladder would go back into her kidneys (which does happen with some kids who have SB).  He is happy with how she is doing and we don't have to see him for a whole year too!  So great news today and we celebrated with Maria's favorite.....ice cream.

Maria's friends left behind

It is hard to believe this day is finally here.  Today in Bulgaria, Maria's friends (referred to as J and S), traveled from Stara Zagora to Sofia to appear in court.  They are now part of an amazing family.  They are loved sons and brothers.  Waiting to be reunited with their friend/sister, waiting to hug their mom and dad, waiting to be embraced by their siblings.  

Today was a good day.  This week I have thought a lot about J and S, about their mom and about Z who decided to remain in Bulgaria.  I have also thought of the differences between my current adoption and adopting Maria.  Maria's adoption was hard in many ways....it was emotionally draining.  I was at a point where I just wanted to be a mom, just wanted her in my arms.  This time I'm busy being a mom.  I don't have as much time to focus on how hard the wait is or what isn't happening as timely as I want.  Currently I'm waiting for my last three documents to be apostilled and returned to me.  Then they will be sent to Little Sister's country to be translated and registered.  I'm hoping that I will have a referral in early January, but with adoption nothing is for sure.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice long weekend spending time with family.  It was nice just playing card games, talking and enjoying family time.  Cannot wait till there is one more child at the table to be thankful for.