"Baby" shower and More :)

Finally an update! I know that is what most of you are thinking cause I was too lol 2 of our wonderful friends held a "baby" shower for us at church today. The girls were so excited! They ripped into the paper and tore out the tissue paper like pros hehe and Johannah would get so upset when it was Ellee's turn to open a present and she would have to wait. So we had to come up with a different plan where they both opened a gift. I just now finally got to see what all they received lol The got all of the cutest little outfits, and games and puzzles, and our pastor's wife came by tonight and dropped off another gift for them with towels, washcloths, and the cutest little bath toys that they are going to absolutely love! They finally got to wear the "coming home" outfits that we bought when we first started the adoption process. Since they didn't get to wear them to come home in, I decided to wait until today. :)
Friday we went to pick up Andrew's kiddos, and it was their first time to meet Ellee and Johannah, and I thought Bailey (Andrew's daughter) wouldn't wait until the car stopped before she jumped out. They were both so excited to see their new little sisters. As soon as we got home Bailey played dress-up with them. Derek (Andrew's son) is very protective of the girls already, and he loves to play with them. They are both great big brother and big sister!!!
This weekend has been Great and we are so Blessed!!! God has been so good to us and has blessed us more than we could ever imagine!!!

First picture with their older brother and sister

Leaving for the shower and in the "coming home" outfits

The table

Me and Ellee with the cake

First family photo (My mommy is on the end)

Opening Gifts

Ellee and Daddy opening gifts

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Life as we know it has changed...For the BETTER!!!

A year ago when we started the adoption process, I went to work, changing rooms around, getting things for their room, buying hairbows (because I couldn't buy clothes cause I didn't know what size lol) arranging their room, and for the past 6-8 months their room has been finished and ready for two little girls to fill them. On March 16/17th, because we got home early in the morning on the 17th, 2 beautiful little girls slept in their own beds, played in their rooms and had toys spread out over the whole house and we LOVE IT!!!! My life has changed for ever and I wouldn't change it for anything!!! I can't thank God enough for all the changes that he has brought in our life! I can't thank God enough for Ellee and Johannah Lane!!!

The dog: We now have a little better of a relationship with the dog lol Ellee will pet Gizmo, kiss him, and even eww yucky she licked him today GROSS, but she has to initiate it she doesn't like him to come near her she has to go near him. Johannah still doesn't care for him, but she isn't screaming anymore. She will even pretend like she is going to pet him and then she will just smile and walk away.  That is a lot better than it was. I think in a few days it will be great and they will both be loving on him. Oh yeah Ellee even drug him by his tail today. He didn't seem to mind at all, that is a big deal for him, proud of them all! :)

We went to church for the first time today, and everyone loved the girls. They were both so good during church. We only went to church but next week we are going to try Sunday School. A funny story though. While in Ukraine I had this converter thing that was supposed to tell you what size clothes the girls were in based on weight, and height, and what size shoes they were in based on cm. Umm that thing was wrong lol It said that Johannah was in a 2T and she can wear 2T pants but shirts she is in a 3T, and Ellee can wear a 4T (which was right) but the biggest NOW WAY was shoe sizes. It told me Johannah was in a 6 and Ellee in a 10. So that is what we bought. So last night (Saturday) I tried their dress shoes on that we bought them for church and they were huge on both of them. So early this morning we got up, got ready for church and headed to the store to buy them new shoes. Yes we went in the store barefoot, or atleast the girls did anyways lol but no very long. ;) Johannah actually is in a 4 and Ellee in a 6.

Here are our cuties before church this morning...

HOME!!!!

I wanted to write a quick post and let everyone know that we are HOME safe and sound! The girls did an AMAZING job on the trip!!!!!!!!! They were beyond better than I expected!!!! We arrived late Wednesday night at the airport and didn't get home until early Thursday morning home home. Yesterday (Thursday) was a busy day. The girls had lots of visitors and we went and visited some friends. They loved all their visitors. They both have had a permanent smile attached to their face since we arrived home. They love all their toys and independence. They HATE the dog lol so we are introducing him to them a little at a time. We will see how this goes. I will keep you updated on that. The girls were so exhausted from their long trip and busy day yesterday that they went to bed at 7 last night and Johannah slept until 6:50 this morning and it is 7:49 a.m. right now and Ellee is still asleep. Mommy went to bed at 8:30 last night because I was exhausted too.
Here are a few pictures from our trip home and being home! If you would like a link to see all the pictures please leave a comment with your email addy and I will send you the pics from Wednesday and Thursday.

Waiting on our first plane and to Leave Ukraine

Johannah's first plane ride

Ellee's first plane ride

In Germany!

Our first American meal! Wendy's and before anyone gets upset we had a 6 hour layover in DC not a whole lot of options for Healthy lol

Waiting on our last flight and to go home!

HOME HOME HOME!!!!!

Daddy rocking Johannah to sleep

Johannah sleeping in her own bed!

Ellee sleeping in her own bed!

Johannah's first morning HOME!

Ellee's first morning HOME!!!

Day 33

Today started out no so great. :( At 3:00 a.m. this morning Ellee woke up and she was burning up with fever. She was so hot it hurt my skin when she laid against me. This is when I had my first mommy breakdown. I cried!!! I cried because my baby was sick, I cried because I had nothing to give her, I cried because it was 3 a.m. in a foreign country and I am alone! I cried mostly because I wanted my baby better!!! I got a cold "washcloth" and why is "washcloth" in quotations you might ask, well they don't have washcloths over here so I had to use a sock, and yes it was clean. But I started wiping down her entire body trying to cool her down. After wiping her down several times, I wrapped her up and laid her on my chest until she fell asleep. At that point, I would have loved to keep holding her, but her little body was like fire. So I had to lay her down on the couch. I sat on the floor and I cried some more and prayed lots and lots of prayers over her. At about 7 she woke up again, she was a lot cooler at this point. She came an laid down on my chest again, and we both fell asleep, and we all slept until 9. When we got up her fever was completely gone, and she was back to herself again. We done our morning routine and then at 12:30 I started getting them ready to go. Niko said he would either be here at 1:00 or 1:30 so I wanted to have them ready to go when he got here. At 1:00 he still wasn't here and by 1:20 they were both really restless so I decided we would go outside and go for a walk until he got here. Little did I know that today was GORGEOUS!!! A wonderful day for a walk. Niko called me at 1:45 and said that he would be there around 2:00 and that was fine with us we were enjoying the time outside. We would walk and then we would sit, then we would walk, then we would sit lol... At 2:15 Niko shows up, and he apologizes for being late but he was with another family at the medical center, A RR family, I told him we were fine we were just enjoying the day. Once at the Embassy we had our interview and the guy told me it could take 1 hour it could take 1 day. Oh I freaked out! He said it is just a possibility. So I prayed lol and it was ready in 30 minutes. The girls again both done so great with all the waiting. After the Embassy Niko walked across the street with me to get Ellee some medicine. He asked her for children s Tylenol but they don't have that here, so we settled for umm I don't know lol. I just know how to give it. Ellee took it like a champ though. I would have spit it out and wouldn't have taken it again. It is brown, thick and stinks. But she has taken it every time I have given it to her without a problem. After getting home the girls played, then we called Nana, then we had dinner, then we talked to daddy on Skype, then I gave them both a bath, and got jammies on, then they played some more and by 8:15 which is only 15 minutes longer than they are normally up, Johannah was cranky and Ellee zonked out on the couch before I could get her to the bed. I got Ellee to the bed, and rocked Johannah to sleep, because like I said she was cranky. But they had a long busy day so it is completely understandable. Now they are both sleeping peacefully for a few more hours, I have gotten everything that can be packed packed and ready to go. The next blog post you will read will be from the comfort of my living room :) Here are a few pics from today :)

Our last day and night in Ukraine we head home tomorrow!!!! Yippie!!!

Day 32

Today was long, exhausting but GREAT!!! My plan was to get up before the girls got up this morning, but 1 little 1 woke up another little 1 and the rest is history lol. So I went ahead and got in the shower cause I knew if I didn't then, I wouldn't ever. So the plan was to peek out of the shower curtain every few minutes and see what they were up to, and take a really quick shower. Well needless to say I had two little observers in the bathroom with me and one, can anyone guess who, if you guesses Johannah you would be correct decided it would be fun to stand under the shower curtain. Well these showers aren't like the showers at home, and normally everything gets soaked in the process so you don't have stuff just laying around. Well Johannah got a shower, that she thoroughly enjoyed lol She was laughing so hard. So when I got out I had to dry her off too. Good thing she wasn't fully dressed. After getting everyone ready, I fixed breakfast, and then got our 15 layers of clothes on to go outside. Niko arrived at 9 and off we went. We got to the Embassy, and there was another RR couple there, and it was SO GREAT to talk to another couple!!! And even better they had Southern accents!!! hehe So we went in together, we got to PASS everyone, way to be Americans lol We got in there and I had tons of paperwork to fill out. The girls done great though. They socialized with everyone, and done really good. I was so proud! At one point we had a major paperwork scare though. With Andrew leaving he had to go to the Embassy and fill out paperwork before he left. He double checked and made sure he signed everything, and the guy told him "we do this all the time" that is it. Well lough and behold that was not it. But they worked it out and he didn't have to come back, we didn't have to have anything fed ex and WE did not have to stay any longer. After leaving the Embassy we headed over to do medicals. Another funny story. As we were walking up to the medical center this big dog came up to us and was growling at us and of course I freaked, well I hollered for Niko and as soon as I hollered Johannah let out this ginormous scream, that dog tucked his tail, laid his ears flat and ran off. How funny is that? We just laughed. Once inside we had more waiting, and moving from one room to another, and more waiting and again both girls done GREAT!!! After waiting for the Dr. to give us the new forms, we were set to go. Niko took me again to the market so I could pick up a few things. He sat in the car with the girls. He is such a life saver!!! When I came out both girls were kinda upset. Ellee thought I left her :( and then she wouldn't let me out of her sight the rest of the time. Niko helped me get everything and both girls up to our apartment and then he left. Again did I tell you Niko is a life saver!!! lol The girls barely made it through lunch they were both tired and cranky at that point. So it was nap time. Johannah got up from nap first and then Ellee and while I had Johannah on the potty Ellee came in there to me and was very upset. She turned around and she had an accident it was horrible. Bless her heart!!! I think it is partly because she hasn't been feeling good and then of course the diet change. So I had to put her in the bath and give her a bath. Then take off bed sheets and comforters and even pillow cases and wash those. I can only imagine what the people below me were thinking. After getting everything, and everyone cleaned up it was time to start cooking dinner. So I fixed dinner and we ate, and the rest of the night we have played. We talked to my mom on the phone and they were so silly. They love their Nana! Johannah of course kept us entertained for an hour. She was being the silliest. I think once Ellee starts feeling better she will start being silly again. Ok enough babbling and on to the good stuff!

Oh and did I forget to mention we get the girls Visa's tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. my time and we are coming HOME Wednesday!!!! Whoo hoo!!!

Day 30 and 31

The last two days have been Great!!! Yesterday (day 30) we were scheduled to leave on the train at 4:45 p.m. and leave the apartment at 3:30. My landlandy came by at 3:30 to get last of rent and keys, and to help me if I needed any help! Oh my gosh I was so thankful. I was still contemplating how I was going to get 2 little ones down 3 flights of stairs and our big, heavy suitcase. Boy what a relief it was that she showed up and was willing to help. At 4 S got there to take us to the train station, and Ellee did great in the car. S not only took us to the train station but he also took us to our cart, again what a relief since I don't speak the language and had no idea where I was going. At 4:45 exactly our train left the station. It was so funny to see the girls reaction when the train started leaving. Their little faces just lit up and was looking out the window. Then I told them to wave bye bye to L (the city) and they did, and every few minutes they would wave, it was so stinking cute. When we got on the train I had taken their snow suits and boots off, and then slowly everything else started coming off until they were in tanks and undies cause it was so stinking hot in our cabin. Oh it was hot, their hair was ringing wet from it being so hot. At about 5:30 we had a snack because we ate an early dinner. Then at 6 both of their eyes was getting droopy, and Ellee has been sick with some rattling in her chest, a cough, and a temp at times. I rocked them both to sleep, and went ahead and turned off the light and went to sleep myself because I didn't know how long they would sleep so I wanted to sleep while they slept. At 9 we all woke up. We again had a small snack, and juice. I am trying to keep them as hydrated because with Ellee sick I don't want her to get dehydrated and from what I have been told because both girls are so close and everything Johannah will probably get it so I want to keep them hydrated. We stayed awake until around 11 and then all fell back to sleep and slept until 7! Whoo hoo They did so GREAT on the train! One very proud momma!!! We arrived at the capital at 8:15 a.m. (day 31) and got out of our cart heading about halfway down the hallway when here comes Niko to the rescue! Love him, he was such a life saver! He took the suitcase for me, and I had the girls. He tried to take Johannah but she wouldn't go to him. Finally she took his hand but only as long as she had my hand too. We left the train station and he asked me if I needed to stop by the market and I told him that would be great. When we arrived he told me he would stay in the car with the girls and I could run in. Again what a LIFE SAVER!!! I went in and got things for a few meals. When I came back out I ask how they done and he said great! Oh I was so relieved, because I knew how Ellee had been in a car and Johannah won't let me out of her sight so I worried but they both done great! We then went to our apartment, and boy am I glad he let me go to the store before hand. Yes because of the culture it is convenient to the stores and restaurants and stuff but for a spoiled American (LOL) and 2 small children it couldn't be anymore inconvenient. Our apartment is on the 7th floor, no elevator, 2 flights of stairs to each level, then when you do finally get outside in order to get to the market you have to walk down 3 more flights of stairs that are narrow and straight down. Needless to say we won't be going anywhere unless we have to. But once in the apartment Niko took from me the papers needed for the Embassy and told me he would come for us in the morning. One of the things Niko said about the girls was "they are very skinny" lol I said no I they are very chunky, healthy girls. I am so thankful for that. They were so well taken care of in the orphanage that they were in.  Once Niko left I made breakfast, and we ate, then took baths, and I washed laundry. How do children get so dirty and they haven't done anything? Their clothes were dirty, their fingernails were dirty, and all we done in 2 days was travel and they had a bath the night before we left their region. LOL Anyways after lunch and lots of playing they took a nap, and I was going to take a shower and decided on a nap too hehe. ;) I woke up about 2:00 and at 3:30 the girls still wasn't awake so mean momma went and there and woke them up because I wanted them to sleep tonight. We then called Nana and talked with her for a little while, before supper. For supper we had  potato salad  and this chicken that was breaded and then when you cut into it had potatoes on the inside. Oh it was so yummy. I didn't know it had the potatoes but it was really good. The potato salad umm not so much, but the girls really enjoyed it, but I don't think their tummy's enjoyed it to much because they have had upset tummy's that or it is because they are eating different stuff they aren't used to. We will just have to wait and see. But let me just tell you they will try whatever you put in front of them, they are not picky. After supper they played more and more and more, I think they wore themselves out at one point because they both just sat on the couch and starred off into space. Then it was time to Skype with daddy, and bubba and sissy. And this is the first time the girls have been able to see Bailey and Derek and they blew kisses at them and Johannah just jabbered away to them. It was so funny. Then it was time to show off. The only English channel with get has a variety of stuff on it but mostly it plays Rock music and they get in the middle of the floor and just dance. It is so cute to watch. So they got to to watch them show off their dance skills. :) After that it was time for bed. So after being rocked and put to bed they are both sound asleep snoring. :) Tomorrow is going to be a long day!!! Embassy appt. at 10 a.m. and a visit to the "Dr" and then we hope to meet up with another couple who have just arrived to eat dinner. Then on Tuesday we go back to the Embassy to get Visas and on Wednesday we fly HOME!!!!
So now that I have jabbered here is your daily dose of cuteness!

Sleeping beauty 1 just woke up 1st morning together

sleeping beauty 2 just woke up 1st morning together

When we first got on the train

as you can see we are losing clothes a few articles at a time lol

and at this point we down to tanks and undies

Yep both of them sleeping beauties :)

 

 

 

At one point I had about 3 think blankets over the heater and it did finally cool down to where we were suffocating.

Day 29 GOTCHA DAY!!! :)

Today was GOTCHA DAY!!! WHOO HOOO!!! :) Today started early and lasted late, but it was a great day! We started by going to the orphanage first and signing some forms, and then I went to dress the girls. I started getting Johannah dressed but when they realized I was taking her they wanted to finish, so I stood back and took pictures while they dressed her lol ;) Then I went and got Ellee, and same thing happened. So again I stood back and let them do it while I took pictures. After we got them ready we went outside, and Ellee had a major meltdown. She got near the car and screamed and would not get in it. I had to pick her up and she sat on my lap the whole time. She cried for the first 20 minutes, Johannah did fine she looked out the window and laughed and made funny faces she will be our daredevil. We got to the passport place and Ellee was fine and they both done great on getting their pictures taken. Then we went back to the car and Ellee freaked again, but can you blame her she has never left the orphanage and cars can be a scary thing. Once in the car though she was fine. She started waving to people and her and Johannah would just bust out laughing. She learned there was a hole in the back of the headrest, it was meant to be there, and she started peeping through there and touching S and V and thinking it was just hilarious. We then went to get some documents notarized, we stayed in the car this time, and then we headed back to the orphanage to drop the girls off so they wouldn't have to do all that running around and waiting with us. We then went to the passport place and was told an hour then told 15 minutes and 2 hours later we were leaving there with the paperwork that we needed to take to the passport organization. Yes they were two very different places lol... We dropped that stuff off and they told us their girls' passports would be ready at 3. So then S took us to V's house to pick up her car so we could finish the running around we needed to do. After picking up V's car we headed to the bank where we sat for THREE hours!!! :( Oh my word!!! We finally got the money we needed and had 5 minutes to get to the orphanage before the Dr. left. So we rushed back over to the orphanage to finish up the paperwork that we had left, and after the paperwork was finished I went and got MY girls and we walked out of that orphanage for the LAST TIME!!! Praise the Lord!!! This time no one had a melt down getting in the car. Ellee's lip would quiver and I would tell her it would be alright, and kiss the palm of her hand and she was fine. We went to the train station to purchase our tickets for tomorrow to head back to the capital, and then we headed to our apartment. We got into our apartment and the girls did great! I couldn't leave either one of their sights for even a second, which meant I had extra observers while I was in the potty, I was warned about this from other mommy's though lol... We were going to Skype with daddy around 7 our time 11 his so they had a snack and juice and then we done baths, and they LOVED bath time!!! I was worried that one of both would freak out but they didn't. They splashed and laughed and enjoyed bath time. However, after baths I wanted to put some baby lotion on them both and Johannah freaked out when I laid her down. She screamed and did not like to lay flat so I had to put lotion on her standing up lol. Ellee didn't mind the laying down or the lotion. After I got them dressed in their jammies we had dinner. They both ate good another thing I was worried about that they wouldn't eat good but they both ate really good. We Skyped with daddy and grandma :) and then it was time for bed. I rocked both of my girls it was great! They were both asleep so I tried to slide out and as soon as I did Johannah would wake up and cry, so I took her to the living room and rocked her and again she was asleep, I would move, and she wouldn't wake up, but the minute I put her down she would cry again. So I picked her up again, and rocked her, and now she is laying on the couch next to me :) wonder who won this one lol ;)
I can not even begin to explain the blessings I feel right now! God has truly blessed me and today has been AMAZING!!! God is so GOOD!!! So as they are sleeping and I get to see this I get to look back and reflect on today and think about how God has truly blessed me!!!
Who is ready for some cuteness?

 

 

Outside of the orphanage doors leaving the orphanage for the LAST TIME!!! 

 

 

 

 

P.S. in the pic with Johannah making the face that was her excited face, and in the pic of me and Johannah where she is sleeping I look mad, I'm not just extremely exhausted from the days events but in a good way ;) Now I am off to dreamland beside my two sleeping beauties! :)