Oct 13, 2010

1 Year Ago today we received Samara's Referral

It's hard to believe that a year ago today we got news that would change our lives. I remember sitting at work at my desk and getting the phone call from our agency around 11:oo am.
I saw the number on my caller ID but since it had been less than two weeks since we submitted our dossier to Russia I just figured they needed more paperwork but to my surprise when I answered the phone, Andrea said "Leah" in a different voice than usual and my stomach started to hurt right then and there. She said are you sitting down...I said yes as my voice was quivering, she said we have a referral for you and she's beautiful. I lost it right then and there. I didn't know a thing about her or what she looked like and I was already a mess. I was crying and honestly in disbelief. We had been told it would take 2-4 months to get a referral. She said she was going to e-mail me her medical and her picture and I should have in in less than 5 minutes. I was shaking, excited , nervous and scared. Those few minutes waiting on her picture and medical to arrive felt like it took forever. When it came in my inbox and I opened it....I saw her amazing and stunning blue eyes. She was so bald and so small. I forwarded it all to Justin as we read and looked it over, and over, and over.
That was a Tuesday and we had to let them know by Friday if we would except her referral or not. I barely got any work done those two days waiting on a response from the IA DR. I also could barely eat or sleep. I was a total mess.
When Dr.Staat finally called Thursday evening with her assessment of her medical and picture
I thought I was going to faint waiting on what she had to say. It wasn't roses and chocolate that came outta her mouth...but I had peace about flying half way across the world to meet this little angel. Justin on the other hand was scared and was not sure. We did decide that we would go and we are so glad that we did. Samara isn't perfect but who is? She was meant for our family and has progressed leaps and bounds since she came home only 6 months ago.
We are so blessed to have her as a part of our family.

Our first glimpse- referral picture


Our first meeting -They dressed her really cute for us!

It's unbelievable to me how much she has changed since then.

Oct 10, 2010

Another 1st...Going to Shaw Farm as a family of 4!!

Today is absolutely gorgeous here, it's 85 degrees. It was a perfect day to go to Shaw farm. The kids had a really great time and so did we! :) I thought it would be Super crowded since it's so nice out but it wasn't bad. I think most people were watching the game so it worked out great for us!
The only unfortunate thing is we took our camera to capture this fun day and guess what...our camera battery was dead!! Dang it...So the pictures we took are all from our phones! :(
Oh well at least we were able to document a little of it!!
They added a barrel train for the kids. This is so cute and Ethan and Samara rode it together. Ethan kept his arm around her the entire time. Sometimes he can be so sweet...keep in mind I said sometimes. LOL
Here are some of the pic's from today! By the way Samara kept her sun glasses on the entire time. I was amazed.

Oct 9, 2010

EDIT to post

So as promised I received Samara's growth in the mail.

Samara has gained 3lbs 5oz since we came home 6 months ago...whoo hooo!!
She is now 30.9" tall and her head has grown 1.5 cm.

Her development is charting like this now:
Personal Social: 22 months
Fine Motor: 18 months (I honestly think this should be higher but I'm not the Dr.) :)
Language: 21 months
Gross Motor: 22 months

More updates and pic's coming soon

Oct 4, 2010

6 Month Update at the IAC

So today was a loonng day at Children's Hospital...5 hrs to be exact. 9am-2pm...whew..Thank God I took a whole day off work!!!

Today was good, Samara is growing but slowly. :)

She finally hit the 20lb mark. Although her weight and head circumference still are not on the growth curve, her height is barely hitting the curve. Dr. Staat was very please with her progress and couldn't believe how well she looked and the difference in 6 months. That made us feel so good. We know in our hearts that she has made a huge improvement but sometimes when you see her everyday it's hard to see the whole picture, if you know what I mean.

Like a dummy I left all my paperwork from her new accessment so I don't remember exactly where she scored on all her development but it was from 18-21 months.

I will add it in when they send it in the mail to me.

We had lots of discussion around Samara's behavioral issues and how to deal with them and what is acceptable and what isn't. We are also going to schedule weekly visits with OT for her ensory integration. I felt like our visit was really good and lots of great discussion.

We spoke with the social worker on our concerns with attachment and bonding and she made us feel better about all the great signs that Samara is showing for attachment. This has always been one of my big concerns as I think it is with most adoptive parents.


So I know I had discussed on an earlier post about the Tutu dress that I got for Samara's 2nd Birthday...I had it embroidered yesterday and I am very pleased with the way it turned out...Let me know what you think!

I have some pic's I need to upload but I need to go get Justin from work...It's been a bit crazy lately. His car is in the shop again, second time in a month and our really nice 50" Samsung Plasma TV of only 2 1/2 years old went out on us...YUCK....Oh well stuff just happens sometimes right??? Oh wanna hear the funny part we are watching a 19" TV right now...LOL...it's quite a differnce to go from a 50" to a 19"...LOL...We are sitting really close to the TV.

Oct 2, 2010

6 MONTHS HOME TODAY AND ONLY ONE MORE MONTH TIL THE BIG "2"

Once again I have neglected my blog. Honestly life is really busy and blogging has become another chore instead of something I look forward to...I know that probably sounds horrible but in the beginning it was my release of every emotion going through this process.... even though I still have the need to vent I just cannot find the time these days.
Our trip to the Amish country was eventful.....Samara wasn't quite the trooper we had hoped she would be. She was out of her normal surroundings and was a bit on the cranky side to say the least. She did finally get a lttle better but we spent alot of time driving in the car and I think it got to ALL of us. It was nice though just going as a family and spending time together.

On our way home we stopped in Columbus to meet a family that has been such a great support system through our adoption process, as they adopted a little girl from the same orphanage in Russia as Samara is from. We had a great time with them and they are a beautiful family.


I am in Birthday planning mode for Samara. Since this is her first Birthday party I want it to be special. I am going with a Cupcake theme...it's really cute.

Samara has her 6 month home evaluation on Monday the 4th at Children's hospital. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. She has come so far but still a looonng way to go. There has been so much focus on her small size and her head size mostly. I have made myself crazy with obsessive measuring and hoping and praying it will grow faster. Her shape certainly has improved but as for big growth it's not happening. At least there is growth though, that is important. She says some words but inconsistantly. She smiles and laughs alot, and we love this because she wouldn't just smile back at you when you smiled at her when we first brought her home.

I am finally able to get her to drink Milk...she doesn't really care for it but we try and make sure she gets a good amount everyday. Hooray!!!

Ok so we are WAYYYY behind but we just sent out Samara's announcements this week...Only 6 months home...LOL. My fabulous and talented friend Lisa put it together for us. It's a 5x7 card with a front and a back....I am in love with it...You be the judge....By the way here is her website...she is wonderful ....if you need pictures and you want great ones...CALL HER!!!
http://www.hezlepphotography.com/



This is the front of the announcement



This is the back of the announcement
I have some pictures I need to upload from the past few weeks and will try to do that tomorrow or when I update about her appointment on Monday evening.