Dreamseekers and Company

They should have had to stay through Wednesday… but they’re coming home on SATURDAY! Two more days! Details will follow! I’m blog fatigued… but more pictures and details will come. Probably tonight. Go to Tamera’s facebook to get a head start.

Overwhelmed with emotion; so glad they’re coming home.

Flight is supposed to arrive at 8:52pm on Saturday evening. Waiting for confirmation and flight number.

Jordan in his crib on Tuesday night:

A few giggles:

Playing in shadows:

Trying to get Jordan to play/mimic:

I love this! Grammy has taught each of our kids this game! I love that Jordan is doing it too!

Tuesday night:

Dinner – spinach soup – he wasn’t very happy about it though.

Brian had a spanish omelet and I had Chicken and Risotto. (brian picked out the olives)

Poor out-of-sorts and whiney Jordan:

WEDNESDAY

From Brian:
Jordan and I slept in this morning. He was very snuggly this morning which was nice. He seems to be most snuggly when he is tired and most playful when he is in his crib supposed to be going to sleep. 🙂 We went down for breakfast at 8. Jordan did eat but not as much as yesterday. When we went back upstairs we were planning an outing. While mom and I got ready and talked Jordan fell asleep on the floor. So our outing was postponed. We goofed around on the computers and waited him out, then had lunch. After lunch we did our outing. I put Jordan on my back in the Ergo this time. He didn’t like it but he cried less than in the stroller and I had my hands free with no stroller to keep track of. He liked leaning way back and looking up at the sky. We bounced and jogged him around the block looking for someplace that sells diapers. We tried a couple Anptekas (pharmecies) but no luck. I mean they sell wet wipes, but not diapers. Then finally on the top shelf of the Top Gun market we found pampers. We also got water and a snickers bar for me. 🙂 On the way back to the hotel I was wishing we could get so more sightseeing in but I am weighing that desire against a little boy who does not do well outside his crib. Tomorrow will be a busy day with appointments so we’ll see how it goes. Then I think we will have a couple days to experiment with getting out. Let’s see, after the walk we went back to the hotel and Jordan played in his crib. After a while we had decided that he wasn’t going to sleep so we should go out again so we took him out and started getting ready and he fell asleep on the floor again! So no outing then either. 🙂 We woke him up at 4, again very snuggly, and we fed him yogurt with rice cereal and water mixed up. We ordered Pizza XL in. Warning to travelers: pizza here seems to almost always have corn on it, I don’t mind that but watch out for the pickles, they don’t belong on a pizza. Then skype and playing with Jordan, some more yogurt before bath and bed.

So far I’ve learned he does not like texture in foods. Most of the time he doesn’t like being carried around, although he does like snuggles after waking up. He does not like to be restrained, he hates the car, when it bounces and jerks around. He makes shadows with his hands and watches them. His repetitive movements are usually to bang things on the side of his head. He will often turn his back to me when he seems tired of interacting. I am proud of how strong and independent he is. I am also sad that he has learned self reliance so young. I am feeling patient with him. I think our process of drawing him out of his shell and teaching him to trust us will be a lifelong one. I am content to meet his needs, to make sure he sees me meet his needs, and to slowly, over the years, teach him what love is.

Brian drying laundry with a hair dryer in the bathroom. Silly boy!

Look Rachel – we are using the funnel. It works great! Brian is making strawberry yogurt and water drink for Jordan’s lunch. He drank it all up.
(we are glad we sent rice baby food to mix with the yogurt, because he is turning down lots of food! Also glad we brought smooth baby food. (lighter in the little packets than the glass jars – for packing in the suitcase. Could also probably buy there???)

Awwww – Morning love. Jordan was standing in front of Brian and then He would lean into him and rest his head on Brian’s shoulder.

Morning nap:

View from our room. We are on the 5th floor. We heard a crashing noise later and looked down and there had been an accident right below our room. There was a lot of hand and arm movements while they discussed what happened. The one guy kept motioning to the street explaining (I think) what happened and how it was the other guys fault.

This is how Jordan spent his time on our walk. At least he wasn’t crying. But he did like to be moving. We were successful and found a grocery store with diapers. Yeah! We bought water, diapers and a snickers bar. Brian wanted chocolate.

Oh, look at that sad cry face as he looks around:

Playing with the ever-present keys:

(Do I have an awesome husband or what!?) Washing todays dishes in the bathroom sink.

Brian wanted pizza from this place that makes 4 foot pizzas. So we got one half. They put pickles on it!!! Neither one of us likes pickles – on a pizza or otherwise! There is cheese, bacon, chicken, peppers, and corn on the pizza. It was good but different. Brian said – you know what I like about home? You don’t have to worry about someone putting pickles on your pizza.

Brian’s beer. (Was really strange to see him drinking a beer on Skype… because it was only 8:30 in the morning here!)

Cute kid found a safe corner to play in:

And from a few days ago: I miss Nina and her little Misha! Wish I could have brought her home with me too!

Brian playing with Theo and Misha:

All for now! Remember to pray for Brian and Tamera and Jordan today and if you wake up tonight. Going to be a long afternoon for them. Personally, I’m praying that the long-shot happens: that they complete ALL appointments tomorrow and are able to come home early. Unlikely… but nothing’s impossible with God!

Wednesday post coming this afternoon. Don’t forget to donate to Valenz! (No new donations this week yet! $380 donated, $620 to go.)

I told you I would make up for yesterday! I have videos for you all!
Eating breakfast! He ate two whole little peaches, some bananas and yogurt. Then drank 4 ounces of peach juice from a bottle. He didn’t know what to do with food on his tongue in June… couldn’t maneuver it at all. But now! Look! Spoon feeding! Swallowing! Yippee!

Drinking juice from a bottle: (for those wondering – we got a haberman nipple and took out the valve. It was an experiment. Probably wasn’t worth the $20!)

Hanging out – playing with his keys:

Crawling! (methinks they need more than one toy… Brian gave him his watch to play with but then had to take it back, because it was getting slobbered on so badly!)

Full and tired…

Brian – 29 November:
Time is sort of running together in my head. Today we woke up happy all. Mom and Jordan slept in, I woke up, took a shower and skyped with Rachel. Jordan has been eating great today until Dinner time, more on that in a second. We fed him yogurt with bananas and oatmeal and peaches for breakfast with a spoon! Then peach juice from a bottle. For lunch he ate peach yogurt from a bottle and some bread fed birdy style (very messy, I had no idea you could make such a mess with bread). He slept from 2-4 (naptime) and then had a snack of ground up pear with water and bits of bread mixed up from the bottle. We’ve been using old coke bottles with lamb teats for anything with body to it. The hole in the teat two slits crossed. I was able to easily tear the slits a little wider in both directions and this has allowed us to give him chunkier stuff, although the peach bits in the yogurt wouldn’t come through all the time so when they got stuck I had to help him. Dinner was a bit of a fiasco. We went downstairs and ordered some pureed soup and gave them the coke bottle to fill up which they did happily. But Jordan was fussy while we waited so I fed him more bread (again huge mess). And when the soup finally came he ate it but cried the entire time he was eating. Then there was a lot of trying to figure what he needed, eventually we decided he had eaten enough, I paced with him screaming for a while (him screaming not me), then decided to just bathe him and put he in the crib. He settled down almost immediately when I put him in the crib. It’s a bit early for his bedtime and he doesn’t really look tired but the contained space without interaction seems to be what he needed. It hurts me to not be able to comfort him but I know that there is plenty of time for him and me to figure that one out.

Let’s see. That was today’s food. Today’s activities involved going for a passport picture at 9, it was very nearby and Jordan hated every minute of it. His picture is so pathetic. I took a little nap after we got back and Jordan chilled out on the floor. Then we took him out to the grocery and he hated that too. We bought yogurt, cheese, bread, meat, water, and mustard. Yes mustard. I had a hankering for a proper sandwich. The yogurt we bought was the most western looking stuff I could find. It looks and tastes like something from home. It’s called Aktubua. I’m wary of the more local yogurt because I seem to remember something called Mlyako is closer to sour cream than yogurt. Then we went back to the hotel and lunched, mom ordered a salad from which I poached lettuce and tomato. Then Jordan went down for a nap and so did mom and read my book. Is was a very nice and quiet time. After nap, there was snack, and dinner. We tried to get a hold of Shelly and Meredith and they ended up coming to our room for minute. We were in the midst of feeding Jordan dinner so we didn’t talk long.

Now Jordan is in his crib and playing with mom. I’m sure glad he is happy now and will take some video.

Observations from Rachel:
Because he’s always sucking on his fingers, he always kinda smells yucky… like dried spit. Brian put some toothpaste on a washrag to “brush” his teeth. We didn’t bring a toothbrush for him and figured a gentle approach first would be best anyway until we are more sure of the condition of his gums. I am told that Brian got bit three times. (sorry Brian, I”m laughing!) Guess he doesn’t smell much better.

Also, while we were video chatting, Jordan was standing holding onto Brian’s hand. THEN HE WALKED TO HIS CRIB, which was 3-4 steps! Not holding on! AHHH! He’s going to learn to walk without me there! I’m so excited and eager to get him home!

Two things that drive Brian crazy: He claps his teeth and grinds them. Yuck!

Something we’ve all noticed… when Jordan is playing, he will often sit up and turn his back to whoever is in the room. I think he would spend all of his time that way if Brian let him. Looking forward to seeing Jordan come out of his shell.

We had a list of questions that we wanted to ask a caretaker when we picked up Jordan. We were able to ask the questions, but only to the director… Most of the answers were very terse. He doesn’t like anything. He plays with any toy or child. He cries when he’s upset. He does not like to be held. He notices when there is food coming and reaches for it… what a bleak description of our son’s life! Hope to share more of this with you later… wondering if I will be able to contact one of his caretakers somehow.

Observations from Tamera:
Funny things in Bulgaria –
The music in most of the places that we have been is sang in English. But most of the people don’t understand English.
You have to put your room key in a slot by the door to get heat and lights.
The street lights go red, yellow, green.

Pictures!
Here is Nina’s home. The top floor is where her family lives. Two floors down is where her mother lives:

On the way to the orphanage. (Kinda between Varna proper and Vinitsa)

The Makao supermarket by Nina’s house. The orphanage is about a mile down this road:

Down that road – getting closer to the orphanage. You turn left on a little road to get into the orphanage’s parking lot.

From the parking lot looking at the orphanage. The doors are down below under the little roof you see. It’s a tall building!

Selling onions on the side of the road:

Shepherd and sheep. There were lots of goats, sheep, and cows with their herder person. I thought it was cool. Also there were several horses and carts.

City/village along the way back to Sofia:

Breakfast Tuesday morning! Yogurt with bananas and oatmeal mixed in. He eats from a spoon very well. Oh and he had 4 peaches or apricot pieces.

Grammie’s breakfast. I love the yogurt over the eggs. Yum! (that’s so strange! I will have to try it)

On the was to the passport office on Tuesday, we drove down an old cobblestone road with old buildings. So cool!! (this is what I remember Vinnie’s city looking like)

Tuesday – Snack – peach juice – he will make it very clear that there is a peach stuck in the nipple or that he is not done!!!

Halfway up:

Grammie’s lunch – Shopska salad and bread from the market. We went to the market and bought water, pears, cheese, meat, mustard, yogurt and bread. Jordan will eat little bites of bread but he mostly just swallows it.

Lunch – peach yogurt in Grammie’s coke bottle. He would get very mad if a peach got stuck in the nipple and fuss until Brian took it out.

This is Jordan not taking a nap. (nap is supposed to be 12-3 or something. He was in his crib at 1 and fell asleep around 2.

Ok everybody! Here is a teaser photo and a blog post! The post with pictures is just below this!

Brian and Jordan in the director’s office:

Jordan sitting on the director’s couch for the last time. My handsome son in his new American duds. Thank you Lindsay for that outfit! Thank you Lord for my son!

So we got up early this morning. I couldn’t sleep past 5:30 for excitement. I had dreamed we got Jordan and he was walking and talking! Mom and I stood on the balcony before dawn and prayed for the day. Then chatted with Rachel in the pre dawn darkness. We had breakfast buffet and took pictures on the beach before loading into the van and heading to the orphanage. I had packed all the orphanage gifts into one suitcase. We hauled it all in at 8am but the director didn’t show up until around 9:30 so we sat on the silly orange sofa in the reception area. I was very nervous. Worried I wouldn’t get all our questions answered, worried I would forget one of the gifts, worried Jordan wouldn’t be here anymore. (at this point, Rachel interject, “Awwww, Brian!!”)

Finally when we got to talk to the director it went smoothly. They asked me for clothes to put Jordan in and then brought him to us. They brought us two other Reece’s Rainbow children that we were able to take pictures and video of. Joanna is quite fiery and knocked the camera out of mom’s hand when she bent down to take a picture. She was moving around quickly looking at toys in the office. The boy was younger and more reserved. I didn’t get much a video of him because he wasn’t doing much. Jordan was crying while I held him. At first I tried to bounce and shush him and it kinda worked. Then the director said I should put him down and leave him alone. I thought, “Yeah right lady” but when I did he instantly calmed down. sigh. That makes me a little sad. Not surprised; I remember that was how he was last June, but it’s still sad.

Once we finished paperwork and questions, I had to sign two documents. They said we could take him out. Oh Happy day! What a moment… taking him away from the orphanage. I know it has been his only home, even at 2 he must feel the loss of that “safe” place he knows. But the truth, dear Jordan is that you lose it for a much better place. We put him in the carseat and he started crying as soon as the van started moving. He did not like it one bit! He doesn’t scream like my girls, just cries and struggles to get out of the carseat. I took him out of it for a while and let him struggle on the seat next to me and on the floor. But it didn’t help so finally I put him back in the carseat and let him cry. It was hard to listen to him, I was proud he had the spirit to tell us he didn’t like the van, to keep crying even though we couldn’t do anything for him, and it hurt not to be able to meet his need. That’s what I want him to learn, to cry and have his need met. Thankfully, he settled down once we hit the highyway.

He played with the toys we had (rattling the plastic keys forever!), he sucked his fingers and eventually fell asleep. So did I for a while, until he woke me up. During the trip we were all very quiet. I don’t know why but I felt more like thinking than talking. Jordan drank a little water on the trip (barely any) and ate two small pieces of bread torn into tiny bits and fed to him birdy style. That was a huge success for the boy who didn’t know what to do with solid food last June. We didn’t make it to the passport office in time to make that appointment today, between the director being late and traffic in Sofia. At the hotel we were given a HUGE room and great service. We fed Jordan some of the baby food I brought and he ate it well. Then a bath, jammies, a chat with mama and he is playing in his crib. I am beat emotionally and ready to sleep. It is going far better than I hoped and God has been telling me to trust Him to give us good things, to take care of us. I am so grateful to Him for my son.

Added by Rachel:
They got pulled over by a police officer sometime after leaving Varna. Dmitry (our driver) got all the papers and stood in front of the van talking with the young police officer. Awhile later, he climbed back in and said he was supposed to have his lights on (all the time in the winter, I guess). He didn’t get a ticket and was happy for that. He didn’t think it would have gone so well with the officer if everybody, including Jordan had not been buckled up – and Jordan in a carseat! Praises and thankfulness to God followed this revelation, since they had considered keeping Jordan out while he was crying… Dmitry even suggested it!

So despite worrying that I wouldn’t sleep last night while my son was getting picked up this morning, I slept wonderfully. I think I was asleep with my head halfway to the pillow. Maggie didn’t even wake up to have me cover her up. We got our chores going and I had the dishes mostly washed, in between trips to make sure the computer volume was turned up!

When the Skype “rang” – all of us heard it and ran to the computer. Anna beat me by a few inches. We piled into the chairs and saw Papa again for the first time in too long (a day?) and then Tamera reaches over and put Jordan in his lap. I didn’t realize how much had been wound up inside of me until I saw him there on his lap. My overwhelming feeling was relief! Oh, such wonderful relief to see my son in the arms of family, in the arms of his Papa.

He is small and scrawny, but does not look unhealthy or starved at all. My kids are scrawny naturally, so he looks just fine to me! I wonder how much he will grow once he is home? He still sucks his fingers. His cheeks and hands are chapped and dry. I had the great joy of seeing them fix him his first bottle… I think it was pumpkin banana baby food mixed with a little water. He hadn’t eaten or had a drink since the morning…. except for some pieces of bread in the car. He drank that down quickly after we got the right nipple on the bottle. (Haberman nipple didn’t work. The lamb teat that we bought from the feed store worked great on an empty coke bottle though!) I’ll ask them for a picture of that! 🙂 Then he ate half a thing of minestrone.

He bathed well, I hear – didn’t like washing his face. Then the wrapped him in awesome dinosaur jammies that I have longed to see him in! He played quietly in his crib for awhile and fell asleep on his face. Oooooh, I just love him!

Thank you Tami, for sacrificing so much energy and time and taking on this stress to be there. We are both so grateful for your support. So, so, so, grateful. Thank you Brian, for being my hero. In every way. I love you darling!

The girls are doing very well. They are wondering why the work week has lasted through the weekend without Papa being home, but they’re hanging in here like champs. They don’t seem unnerved by the proceedings and were really excited to see Jordan on Skype! They got to go to a friend’s house this mornign to play in a bouncy house. Thank you Amy for driving! Time to get pictures onto this blog post now! And eat lunch! For the first time since Brian left… I am really and truly hungry. Remember how I said I was relieved? Think I’ll go eat and then pass out now! 🙂

Brian, you continually exceed all my expectations. I am so proud of you, so blessed that you are my husband.