2012 — Page 18

Back Home!

We arrived home last night at 7:15 pm. It was nice to be back with family again. We stayed up late talking about the girls and our trip so I didn’t get to bed until after midnight and believe it or not I woke up at 4:00am this morning. I couldn’t believe it! I thought I would sleep late as we had caught a cab at 3:30am Saturday morning and then traveled for over 19 hours. But, then I started thinking about what time it was in EE. I realized that it may only be 4:00am here, but it was 11:00am there. I guess my body needs to adjust.

I thought that I would go ahead and post our last two days with Bella now. I didn’t really get to post much of her and her orphanage since I could hardly ever get internet. The motel we stayed at claimed we had internet but as much as we would try we just didn’t seem to be able to connect. I would stand in one place in the room and it wouldn’t work so then I would move to the right and still no internet. Then I would move to the left a little — still no internet. Then we tried going outside — no internet. Finally, I gave up.

On Thursday we mostly played on the playground with her. She seemed a little under the weather but still enjoyed playing. She had a pretty bad rash and I am not sure what it was. The orphanage director told us it was heat at first but as it got worse said she didn’t know what it was but thought it had something to do with her being so light. On Friday I noticed that they had put something on it and I think it helped dry it up some as it had started to bubble and blister. I really don’t know what it was but it looked terrible.

So, the last couple of days with Bella were good. We actually got to take her for a short walk and I took a few pictures of the town. She was in a really good mood on Friday. I think she was getting use to us coming every day — twice a day. She was always excited to see us and didn’t want us to leave. She would usually cling to me when the orphanage workers would come to get her. It was sad to leave her knowing that we would not be back to get her for months.

Bella on our walk around the town

Bella in front of the orphanage gates

Whoa! is this one big flower pot!

Steps up to the orphanage. The little giraffe was there when we arrived and was still standing when we left!

Upstairs orphanage porch.

Orphanage Courtyard

Back In The City

We got back to the city this afternoon and it was so nice to be able to write family and find out how things are at home. It is good to have Internet again.

Well, this week with Bella was really great! She is one cute kid. She is very loving and will sit and hug me for ten or fifteen minutes straight — sometimes falling asleep as I hold her. She likes to play this game where she wants to come to me and I hold her– then after about three minutes she wants to go to Emily and Emily will hold her — then in about three minutes she wants to go back to me. She will do this over and over and over — laughing as she does it. She thinks it is a very funny game to play.

I was asked in a comment on my blog how old she is — she is two. She was two in February. I think she is doing exceptionally well for a two year old with Down syndrome. She is doing better than I expected. She plays well, can walk, babbles, points to things and mimics us. I am impressed. The workers at the orphanage seem to really care about her and I don’t think it is a show for us. She is doing better than any child we have ever adopted from EE. This is a real blessing for us as I think Allysen is going to need a lot of attention, have a lot of medical appointments, and need much therapy. Bella will have needs, of course, but she really won’t have the number of appointments that Allysen will. So, Bella does seem to be doing well but, of course, she needs a family– and I am so glad that we will be that family. All children need a family to love them and care for them because even a good orphanage can not replace a family.

Our two weeks here have gone very well but I am definitely ready to go home. I am going to try to write a little more on our visits with Bella later. For now, I will post some pictures from days two and three of our visits. Then later I will post days four and five.