He's Home!

 

After a very long trip, Dan and Joseph are finally home where they belong!

it was a very rough night...Joseph was overwhelmed and tired and didn't handle coming home very well.  This morning was difficult, too...he had a hard time being around anyone but Daddy.  He has done a lot of crying and we're just trying to figure out what best to do to keep him from being overwhelmed.

It's been several more hours now and Joseph seems to be settling in a little bit more than he did initially.  He had a much needed haircut, spent some time getting to know us all and is taking a nap right now.

It was a rough start...but the poor little guy has been through so much this past week.  It's going to take time.  We were all very encouraged with how much better he was handling things after lunch today.  He just seemed less stressed.  And we're so thankful that he's eating...crying a lot about it, but he is at least eating.  We've bathed and changed him now and I can't even explain to you how under-fed this little guy was.  It's down-right scary. That's a big priority for us right now...help him adjust and get him eating.

Praying that he continues to settle in more and more each day.

We cannot begin to say "Thank You" enough to those that prayed for us and for Joseph and for those that donated to help bring him home.  We could not have gotten to this point without your support.  Please keep praying.  This is just the start of what is going to be a difficult journey for our family.  Now the hard work begins.  Please remember us in your prayers!

We plan to blog a lot.  We always treasured being able to read the adjustment periods of other adoptive families because it helped us to understand the whole adoption process...the good and the not so good of it all.  Check back...and we'll try to keep you posted on how it's all going :)

God is good.  And it is good to finally be all together.

Delayed...

They've come a long way...but Dan and Joseph are stuck waiting on one of their connecting flights that has been delayed several times now.  At this point, we don't know when they'll be getting home.

They are both pretty tired, but Joseph has been doing really well up to this point!

Dan said Joseph's getting really tired now...and the airport is a pretty busy, noisy place.  Please say a prayer that he can hang in there will all their delays.

We'll be back here soon.

Finally heading home!

Dan is finally heading home with Joseph tomorrow!

Please say a prayer for them both...they have a very long trip ahead of them and I know they are both going to be totally exhausted.  Praying that Dan can manage Joseph well through the lengthy journey and that Joseph can deal well with all the craziness of international travel.  

Could you please say a prayer that their travels are uneventful and safe?

Maybe you could also pray that Joseph will eat despite all the change and chaos?

We'll keep you posted as they get closer and finally make it home to us!

And, yes...we are all VERY excited to finally have them home ;)

Zoo Visit

Today I was going to try to go to Boyana Falls in Vitosha mountain national park, but since the weather wasn't cooperating, I decided to take Joseph to the zoo instead.  It was a bit of a flop, I'm still learning Joseph's limits and I think this trip was a little ambitious.

Waiting at the metro station for our train

At the entrance of the zoo

At the primate cages, wasn't interested

Some of the primates

Wasn't too interested in the zebra either

A car ride was a little interesting

Too out of his comfort zone to eat...

So I got a cab (I think charged me a too much) and got back to the hotel where Joseph is in his bed to take a nap and try having lunch again when he has slept a little.  Tomorrow is busy with more paperwork; I wish we could head home now and get Joseph use to home instead of this hotel room.

Sunday

Cathedral of St. Joseph

 So today I had to make it so church and yesterday I had scoped out what I thought was the Catholic church nearby.  I gave myself 45 minutes to walk to the church before Mass.  When I arrived at the church, it was still locked, a local guy tried to strike up a conversation with me.  Being American, I couldn't communicate in his Bulgarian or Spanish- but I did my best with Google translate on my iPod.  Turns out I was at the wrong church, so I scrambled to find out where I had gone wrong in my search, and found that I didn't walk far enough down the road to the Catholic church.

 

Inside the Cathedral

 Even with my mistake I was able to make it to Mass for 9am.  Following the Mass in Bulgaria was tough, but I muddled through.

Church near the open air market

After Mass I went for a walk and came across an open air market.  All kinds of fruit and veggies, dried fruit, clothes and some other stuff.  There was an Orthodox church nearby and it was playing their Mass out through the speakers on the outside in the market.  It sounded beautiful.

After my walk I headed back to the hotel and hung out with Joseph.  He's doing okay with the medicines the doctor prescribed him.  I forgot to mention that when I brought him in, the doctor had me weight him twice, she couldn't believe that he only weighted 21 pounds.   Tomorrow I bring him in for his official medical examination and get his photo and application put in for his Bulgarian passport.

Spending time with Joseph

View from our room

Gotcha Day

Wow, after such a long wait it was great to finally get Joseph out of the orphanage; for good!

He's been great, cuddly and calm, and has only fussed when something is wrong.  After picking him up we drove from Varna to Sofia, ~7 hours with stops.  Joseph was great the whole time and only started getting fussy during the last hour of the drive.

My challenges have mostly about what to feed him- The orphanage workers said that he'd eat everything put in front of him as long as it's pureed.  I've found that this isn't the case and he a little more picky then I was lead to believe; making find food for him a little tricky.

The other problem is that Joseph left the orphanage sick.  He had some congestion the day I picked him up; and it only got worst throughout the day.  Since I was more concerned about food and liquids, it kinda got put on the back burner.  When he woke he was worse and I thought he had a fever too, I decide to call my attendant to get him looked at.  

The doctor told me that it was good that I brought him in, he has a viral infection and I caught it early enough that it shouldn't pose much of a risk, but that if it had been left untreated it could have gotten really bad given Joseph's general poor health.

I don't know when Joseph would have seen a doctor If I didn't, it just goes to show that a family that cares is  the best place for a child.

Finally broke him out!

Getting use to the seat belt

Joseph took a little nap during the drive

A monument celebrating Bulgaria's 1300^th birthday, built by the Socialists

I'm getting really bored Dad!

So we're hanging out at the hotel getting rest and eating what we can, and I'm glad I'm his Dad.

Spoke with them...

From Kim:

We finally got to video chat with Dan and Joseph!  It was so nice to see them both...Joseph looks good...and desperately in need of a good haircut!  He was crawling all over the hotel bed, looking pretty happy...and he was hugging and curling up with Dan...it was just so nice to see him looking content and being with his Daddy.  Its so exciting to see him OUT of the orphanage...its so different  seeing him out of that institutional type setting.  It's so good to know that he's out and he's with his Dad.  It sounds like he has some kind of upper respiratory thing going on...he's coughing a lot.  Luckily, he has a medical appointment on Monday.

 Dan said he did awesome on the long car ride and has really been handling all the changes really well.  His biggest concern right now is getting him to eat.  He really hasn't eaten much of anything today and hasn't drank anything.  He's already a pretty thin little guy...please pray that Dan finds what works to get him eating more.  When I spoke to him a few minutes ago, he was on his way to trying to get them both something to eat.

I'm sure Dan will be posting stuff as well once they get settled.  Today was a long day of car rides and getting to where they'll be staying for the week.  We'll put some pictures up soon!