Happy Birthday To Me – Aug 11

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Today was my birthday. I am 29 years old. One more year left and I’m 30! Saying it out loud sounds old but I still feel like I’m in my early 20’s and don’t know what I’m doing half the time.
The day started out by Jon letting me sleep in a little bit… until it was his turn. When I got up I fed Sofie and gave her a bath because she still had food in her hair from the day before. I finally got Jon up to go shopping for gifts for everyone back home. It’s been a little difficult to shop here. There are so many stores but nothing that seems very quality and they are all kind of the same. Maybe I’m just being to picky. We went to the flea market in front of the Alexander Nevski Cathedral. There is some hand made arts and crafts there but mostly WWII memorabilia. Do you want a compass with a swastika on it? That’s where to get it! Lots of communist stuff too. We found a few little gems in the market. Sofie napped in the sling most of this time, which was fine with us! Two days in a row! Hooray! 
Daddy’s turn with his sling!

We made our way to the Anido office to take them out to lunch as a thank you for everything. Lunch was a lot of fun. Neli, the President of the Anido, Alex, our contact for Anido, and Nasko, our translator came with us. We learned a lot! Apparently, when Alex had gone to the orphanage to get video of Sofie for us, he had to wear a mask because of apparent germs from the outside. Poor Sofie must have been scared of this weird masked man with a video camera! Also, on our first visit to the orphanage, we were not supposed to be allowed to take pictures of Sofie. Nasko kept this from us though and just handled it. He told the staff that since Sofie is our legal child we most certainly we allowed! Thank-you Nasko! Those first pictures of meeting Sofie are so special to us and to our family and friends! Apparently there was some problems with the previous director of the orphanage too, but Alex didn’t go in to detail about it, so I don’t know what that all meant.
We loved getting to know the three of them and really felt their genuine joy for what they do. It isn’t just their job. They really believe in the well-being of these orphans. Alex, especially, is so caring towards kids and Sofie. He is always wanting to play with her and hold her. His wife and him had some fertility problems and even did IVF a few times. IVF finally worked and they got there little girl they were hoping for! Although he hasn’t adopted I think he has a real appreciation for these kids and understands what a lot of the adoptive parents have been through. Neli is also a lawyer and is on the board of people who are revamping the Bulgarian child protection laws. She seems to really have a passion for plight of the under privileged children in Bulgaria. She was quite interested in learning what kind of supports and services we will be utilizing once we were back in Canada. Nasko is just a really kind and humble man. He has one son, about the same age as my girls, so he related and played well with Sofie. 

Our goodbye lunch! 
Left to Right – Neli, Me, Sofie, Jon, Alex, Nasko

 Sofie did so well with our big morning out so we decided to take it easy in the hotel room for the afternoon. We played, cuddled and Skyped with Livi! We found a bottle of wine on our bar too with a birthday card from the hotel! Fancy Schmancy! After we took notice of how much money we had left Jon said I could get a massage for my birthday in the spa downstairs! Since the massages are so cheap here ($35 Canadian for a full body massage in a 5 star hotel!), he threw in a facial! Right after Skyping with Livi, I got to enjoy an hour and a half of pampering! It felt so nice. I love how open Europeans are with their bodies too. They don’t think it is a big deal. The girl did leave while I was undressing but then just took off the towel that was draped on me and left half my butt showing for most of it. Then when I was dressing to change rooms for the facial the new girl walked in, she did apologize, but then just stood there waiting with the door open 🙂 That would never happen in Canada! I could do with out some of the sexual art in the coffee stops over here, but a little nudity never hurt anyone! Lets face it, we all like to be naked!

 My birthday present from the hotel!

I returned from my massage to find my baby sleeping! Jon had a really easy time putting her to bed with out me! I was so thankful for that. I love this co-parenting thing 🙂 We opened the wine and lay down to watch a few episodes of Hell’s Kitchen we’ve been missing while we’ve been here. We got to bed a little late but all in all, a really fabulous birthday!

Still Here – Aug 9 & 10

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Tuesday was started on the heals of a really bad night for Sofie. She woke up a few times crying and woke up early. So Jon and I took turns napping in the morning. We all just hung out in the air conditioned room too. It was apparently 38 degrees outside. Sofie, of course didn’t nap today either so we headed out for some lunch around 12:30pm. I was very hungry by that point!

Sofie was, as usual, smiles and giggles, although she hadn’t been wanting to be held as much. She is probably just really over stimulated and not sure how to process everything. I literally can not wait to get home with her.  She did really impress us with her verbal abilities today! We’ve really only heard “aaaahhhh’s” from her but today she whipped out a few “bababa’s” and even a few “mamama’s”! I’m not sure I can get too excited to think that she is associating me to those “mama’s”. She showed some preferential treatment to me today too! She wanted me to carry her instead of Jon a few times and when I was napping she kept coming over to see if I was awake yet. It melts my heart a little… She’s only been with us 5 full days!

After lunch we ventured over to the National Archaeological Museum. Incredible place. There were so many Roman artifacts, as well as Thracian artifacts, and the oldest piece of bone with expressions drawn on it in Europe. It dated back over 1.1 million years ago! The also had pots and tools dating back to 3-6 million years before Christ! Crazy! I wasn’t supposed to snap pictures but I snuck in a few…

4th-6th Century family portraits!

An old Roman tomb.

The old mosaic floor from the St. Sofia Apse.


An old tomb and stones hanging outside the Museum.

In the evening we Skyped with Livi again we headed out for dinner. We knew this was pushing Sofie’s schedule a bit but we thought with her sleeping in we could get away with it. We barely did… We went to a cute little Moroccan place with some really good food. A stray cat made an appearance and Sofie surprised us with being really scared of it, even from far away. Uh oh… we have a cat. I’m not sure if she’s ever seen one or if she’s had a bad experience with one. I hope she gets over it quickly. She fell asleep during the walk home and it was a really easy transition to bed! Yay!
 Pretty restaurant.

Kisses!
Ewww! No tongue Sofie!

Quite pleased with herself.
We thought Wednesday was going to start off really early. Sofie woke up at 6:30am. I put her on the floor because she was tossing and turning and kicking us, she is the CRAZIEST sleeper I have ever seen. She promptly lay down on the floor and fell asleep for another 3 hours! Hooray! Mommy and Daddy were definitely thankful. We paid the price a little bit because she woke up hungry. When she gets over hungry she cries… okay, she usually cries when it comes to food, but she cries more when she is over hungry then doesn’t want anything. We coaxed a few bites in to her, enough to satisfy her we thought, then went downstairs for our own brunch. I offered her some more food there but she only wanted Daddy’s bread and kept stuffing the whole thing in her mouth. When we got back up to the room I tried offering her some more food and she ate a lot more! Maybe the restaurant was too stimulating. 
We decided to venture out to a big toy store in search of Livi’s requested ‘Tiger’, some pants for Sofie that don’t fall down, and some more baby food. We had hoped to go to the Zoo today but it was pouring! When we got back We thought Sofie was ready for a nap, but of course we were wrong 🙂 So, Jon and I lay down while she quietly walked around the bed. Eventually, she fell asleep on the floor again! Yay for nap time! It is quite a late nap so I don’t know what this will mean for bed time later but I guess every day is an adventure with Sofie! I should really wake her up though… it is 5 pm here!
Oh, I forgot to mention that I emailed the Embassy today and heard back that Sofie’s Visa is approved and getting couriered to us today! That means it should get here by tomorrow or Friday! Thanks for all the prayers! I’m SO excited for all of us to get home together! 

Just a few pictures from dinner tonight too….
 Trouble…

Double Trouble!

* Side note: A few people have been asking about Sofie’s size. Right now she is the top of a 12 month old and the waist of a 9 month old… I think she is too tall for 9 month pants though. Not sure yet. We are getting by with 12 month size bottoms that have the elastic in the waist that I can tighten though. She can get by with some 18 month stuff but only if it fits small. So, basically, if you are planning to give her anything she could immediately use some 12 month end of summer/early fall clothes but we are hoping to fatten her up to an 18 month size for winter! *

7 Years – Aug 8

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Today is Jon and mine’s 7 year wedding anniversary! It is so weird to think that I am old enough to have been married for 7 years. It might as well be 30! Okay, maybe not. But I feel pretty blessed to have been able to spend 7 years with such a wonderful man! No “itch” yet 😉

10 Things I Love About Jon and Our Marriage:

1. I love that we are so different. I know this probably falls under “things I hate about our marriage” but being so different balances us.
2. I love the Sex… Yup, I just said it 🙂
3. I love Jon’s hugs.
4. I love how much I have learned from Jon and continue learning.
5. I love how we are both COMPLETELY on the same page when it comes to raising our kids and expanding our family.
6. I love how geeky he is… but don’t tell him that!
7. I love how trust worthy Jon is as a husband and man.
8. I love how giving he is. Not just to the needy or charities, but he doesn’t take stock of who gives or does more with any of his relationships and is always willing to go the extra mile for those he loves.
9. I love how well he listens. I don’t mean in a taking orders kind of way, but in a really hearing what I have to say kind of way. (When it counts anyway…. 7 years does plug the ears a little sometimes!)
10. Most of all, I love how he loves me so completely. I don’t always quite understand him, or get where he is coming from but I know that no matter what is going on, he loves me and I am blessed.

So, today was a little bit of a different kind of anniversary than if we had been at home in Canada. We didn’t get to go out alone to celebrate each other making it 7 years with the other one. We had Sofie of course! Honestly, we barely remembered that it was our anniversary. We are kind of running on empty over here but we are okay. We have really been there for each other through this whole past week and barely even snapped at each other… which tends to happen when we are tired and stressed. We are trying to be there for Sofie and give her all that she needs from us. We are taking turns when we need them and figuring each others cues out before we need to even ask. I’m amazed how well we are handling things actually. To top off the stress, I am still sick. Last night was the worst. My whole body was heaving but there was nothing left to get out of me. Not a pleasant feeling. During the day I seem to be able to cope though. I happened to find a English speaking pharmacist who gave me some pills. Not sure what I’m taking but I’m not in the bathroom every 20 minutes tonight 🙂

Sofie is an angel. She is quite possibly the easiest three year old to take care of or parent that I have ever met… except when it is time to eat or drink or go to bed. She is definitely displaying some ‘being from an institution’ behavior and sensory issues. She rocks on her back when she is bored… but surprisingly not when she is trying to go to sleep. She cries through out every meal. We bought some baby food and pablum that we are mixing with the formula we bought. She has been eating well but cries on and off through out it. She doesn’t like things in her mouth although we are starting to see her exploring with that a little. Today she actually had her toes in her mouth and has been putting the rubber teether brush in there a lot too! She won’t drink. We have been watering down a lot of the food and sneaking the liquid in that way but it’s been a struggle. We bought two different kinds of sippy cups, have tried numerous adult cups and water bottles. She refuses to entertain the idea of a straw of bottle nipple in her mouth too. Bed time tonight sucked. She cried on and off for an hour and a half. Not just crying either… she tantrummed. If she falls asleep on us in our sling, bed time is not an issue. But if she is not ready for the sling or bed it is an ordeal. I’m hoping this gets better quickly at home. She needs a routine I think.

Otherwise, today was a good day! We went to the St. Sofia church. The oldest church in Sofia. It was really neat to see. Sofie was doing really well this morning so we ventured off to the Ladies Market, which was mostly a lot of fruits and veggies and knock off clothing. Sofie fell asleep in the sling while we were walking and slept for about an hour. First nap since the first day! Yay! We walked back and passed lots of interesting tourist spots…

The stone that sealed the entrance the the 4th Century crypt 
beneath the St. Sofia Church.

 

 Inside the St. Sofia. The bricks date back to the 6th century

 The old Turkish baths. The building is being restored now.

 Mineral springs. People line up for hours some days to fill their jugs up! 
We thought we’d get a refreshing drink but the water was really hot!

 Changing of the Guards at the Presidency. 
I missed the shot of them high marching.

We stayed in our hotel room during the really hot part of the day and went out again for our Anniversary dinner! The first meal I’d eaten all day because of the sickness the night before! It was delicious! We ended the day with a bath and showers for Mommy and Daddy before our epic night routine. Then Jon treated us to a room service snack and dessert while watching Paris Hilton’s BFF on TV. It was the only English show on besides financial news! All in all, a pretty memorable 7th anniversary! Looking forward to 70 more!

Hanging out on a 20 century old pillar!

Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy!