Friday, August 8, 2014

God is so good! We are almost a complete family now! In just a matter of days we will all be together! So while I have a minute and since I have not been very good or timely at keeping our blog updated, I decided while I have a minute or two, I will get everyone updated on where we are. Most of you following already follow us on Facebook, but there may be some who don’t so on here goes! (Warning, this could be a rather lengthy post!) On June 27, 2014, we became the parents of another Bulgarian blessing! God has blessed us with a son, Kaleb Michael Todor Buchanan. He has just turned four years old on July 30, which is also his grammies birthday! This makes him about 7 months younger than Kayti was when we got her. We finally got travel dates on July 22 of August 2-15. Unfortunately due to MANY reasons of which most of you know and I won’t bore you with, it was not feasable for me to go on this trip. Dale very bravely (in spite of his fear of flying) volunteered to make the journey to our son whom he had not yet met as I went on trip one without him. Gotcha or Family day would be August 4. Kayti and I took Daddy to the airport and went out to dinner afterwards. There is no way to explain how torn I was and even at the airport wished I could crawl in one of the suitcases! (And for those of you who know me know that I could probably have fit!) But, this will give Daddy and Kaleb time to get to know each other and bond! I am very happy to say that Dale’s flights to Bulgaria were smooth and uneventful and he was even able to get some sleep! I was happily surprised when I texted him Sunday morning to ask how the flight was and he wrote back excellent! As I write this now, he has been in country almost a week and has a little less than a week to go and I can not even put into words how proud I am of him and how much I love him! He is doing a wonderful job taking care of Kaleb and they are getting along great. Isn’t God great? Here are a few details from daddy about Gotcha…His first text to me was "He is cute as a button and he's so tiny he could ride in my shoe!" I think that must have been the quickest pick up I have ever heard of! Dale said they were not in the orphange more than 20 minutes. Dale signed a few quick papers and he came in already dressed to go. He did get everything back that I left except for the blanket. They gave him a blanket, but it was a pink blanket and not at all the one I left for him. They did take pictures with the disposable camera I left, so I am very anxious to see what is on there. They made great time to and from Yambol both times. It was 4 hours by bus and around 2 ½ by car. We were blessed to be able to have Miglena (aka Maggie) as Dale’s guide again. She is such a sweet girl and truly feels like part of our family! I am happy to say that he truly seemed to remember Maggie and ran right to her so I am hopeful that he will remember me as well! Kayti and I have Facetimed with our boys every day sometimes twice a day. I do believe that Kayti definitely misses her daddy! Some details from Daddy about Kaleb…He loves yogurt and bananas would eat them for every meal. So far, he is not very fond of any kind of meat and will throw it on the floor just as Kayti used to. He also loves mashed potatoes, nutella, and applesauce. Since you can’t buy applesauce or nutella in Bulgaria these are things I would recommend any BG adoptive parents take! One very surprising fact is that he actually LOVES getting a bath. Now, my fellow adotive moms with little BG blessings, you know how rare that is! I am very happy to hear that! Daddy even sent me a couple of adorable videos, that I can not wait to show his future wife someday Let’s just say he would probably be very embarrased! LOL! It is absolutely killing me to be here but if I were there I would be missing Kayti like crazy and worrying terribly about her, so I guess it works out! Dale has been blessed to be staying at the Budapest hotel with two other adoptive families on their pick up trips as well, as well as another mom who has 3 BG beauties of her own. We are eternally grateful to the Winslows, Brooke, and Mandy for everything you have done pinchhitting for a fellow adoptive mom. Everything from taking pictures (including stalking the hotel lobby:) thanks Mandy!, downloading videos, holding Kaleb so Daddy could eat, shopping for clothes, the list is endless and we love you and your families As of now, all of the appointments are done except for going to the embassy and then picking up our documents for travel from our wonderful NGO…I should say that the week we got travel dates, the worldwide visa system that issues visas crashed and lots of families were stuck for up to a week longer than planned because of this. They got it up and running that following Monday and on Wednesday or Thursday before Dale left it crashed again. Talk about added stress! I am happy to say it has printed all other families I know right on time! But please continue to pray for no more gliches! On Wednesday, they went for his medical exam and the newly (since Kayti) required TB test. He was not a fan of the blood draw They have been able to meet up once so far with our sweet BG friends Steve and Galina and hope to see them again at least once before going home. They found a stroller which Daddy said made a great impact on life! Also, there is no keeping this child in a pack n play as I did his sister, as he climbs right out! He is going to keep his parents and his new grammy very busy!! He is way more active than Kayti. And very quick. Speaking of Kayti, I can’t believe that my baby starts kindergarden in just a couple of weeks Happy and sad about that as only fellow mothers will understand! I am going to post a video of a facetime conversation with Daddy and IF you listen very close, you can understand her words. For example, one point her and daddy are talking about him bringing home her little brother like George (from Peppa Pig) and said you’re going to have a little brother and she says “Just like Peppa Pig” and she also tells him about her fall and the booboo on her knee and holds said knee up and says there it is! She definitely has come A LONG LONG way from that quiet, thin, malnourished little girl we brought home in May 2012. God, Love, and Family! She has grown in every possible aspect! And I know he will too. She also went to the dentist for the second time last week and I am happy to say did great and so much better than the first time! She has to have some upcoming dental work that will require anesthesia, which is a worry, but I know she will be fine and this has to be done! So to give you an idea of how tiny our little guy is at 4, I sent 18 month clothes and they are a little big yet….But once home, it won’t be long before he is growing just as she did and outgrowing clothes before I even take the tags off. As I finish this post, I would like to thank you all for your love, prayers, friendship, donations, and support these past 4.5 years and in our adoption journeys. It is very much an emotional roller coaster, and we could not have gotten through this without all of you I will try and keep our blog updated after Dale and Kaleb are home so that you can continue to see God at work! Much love to every one of you and many blessings Looking forward to life as a family of four very soon and yes our family is now complete. We can not physically, emotionally, or financially do another adoption ! In closing, I will say to anyone who remotely feels called to adopt, DO IT! There has been nothing so rewarding as these three (including my sweet little sister adopted from China!) beautiful additions to our family. Is adoption hard? Absolutely! Is it sunshine and roses all the time? Not at all. But truly these are few and far between at least for us and our family and we can not imagine our life without them! I leave you with a couple of pictures and videos and will post another update when we are finally all together! Lori Here is the video link and some pictures  http://youtu.be/U2YeiNGSsIQ