Christmas!

Every year for Christmas we travel back to our hometown, St. Charles, MO, to be with family. This was a Christmas filled with a lot of firsts. It was Oksana's first Christmas with us, her first time going on a road trip, first time meeting most of our family, first time playing in the snow, etc. She had a blast. Unfortunately, illness swept through our family in the form of the flu so it was a low key Christmas and many of our plans had to be cancelled. We still managed to enjoy time with our family which was our main goal anyway!

Back at the orphanage on the first day we met Oksana, the one person in our family photo book that got the most response was our neice Auriana. Ever since then she has looked forward to meeting "baby Auriana" and she finally got her chance! She's making sure to really check her out!


Everyone was SO excited to see snow on Christmas Eve! We don't get much in Arkansas so this is what the boys wanted more than anything for Christmas. Oksana thought it was the best and couldn't wait to get out in it! They made a huge snowman and after we all went inside we realized that the flu had hit Clayton.


Here is Oksana and Evan surrounded by their presents on Christmas morning.



Clayton managed to make it downstairs to open presents. Poor guy looks like he's been hit by a truck!


Evan was very excited to get an archery set and immediately went outside to try it out. His target was a huge snowball!


It is a tradition at my in-laws house to have a Nerf war every year. We take it very seriously! Even Clayton managed to appear to shoot a few people from above!


Auriana in her Christmas best!


Oksana and her Aunt Valerie. Valerie is Larry's sister, Auriana's mom, and the person whose name we gave to Oksana as her middle name. They met for the first time this week!


My favorite picture of the week! At this point Clayton was recovering and Evan had been hit with the flu so there were no brothers around to take a picture with her.


She decided posing with Mama would be a fine substitute for her brothers!


Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

More Firsts!

Oksana seems to be changing daily lately. She got her first haircut in America and she loved it! We just had the back cut shorter so that it could start to even out with the top. It wasn't much but I feel like she looks like she has a sweet little haircut now!


She has been doing so great with all of her fears that it was finally time to see an eye doctor. She wasn't thrilled when they put drops in her eyes to dilate them but besides that she did fantastic. I'm so glad we didn't wait one more day! She is very farsighted! I honestly don't even know how she has functioned as well as she has! We got her 2 pair of glasses and she loves them! The first picture is her primary pair and the first pair we chose. We were then informed that a second pair would be very cheap and I knew immediately that I wanted a fun pair so we went for the purple ones :)!

Casting

Today Oksana was casted for new AFOs. I can't tell you how badly she needs them. Right now she is wearing afos that were casted for another child's feet and are "good enough". They are old and falling apart and I can not wait to get her nice ones that are made just for her feet! Her walking will be taken to another level after she gets these! Those of you that know much about Oksana know that this had potential to be a huge disaster. 3 months ago when she was evaluated for therapy she sobbed when the therapist just touched her feet. Her therapist has been working hard to build trust and that has been going great. Still, we knew she would need more than that so we found videos on YouTube of people getting casted, we looked at pictures of Nina getting casted, and we created a mock casting at home using a knee high stocking and toilet paper! All of this was a huge success because she had NO problems at all being casted today! I think she enjoyed it! It was actually quite an experience. To witness what I did today and know how far she has come in 4 months was amazing. Here are some pictures:
Socks go on first

Then a little tube that will guide them as the cut the cast off.

They start wrapping...

and then wait for it to dry.

Cut it off...

and you have foot #1!

Then you go through the same process with foot number 2. Tube...

Wrapping...

Waiting...

Taking time to pose for a picture :)...

Cut it off....

And you have foot #2!

Can you tell that she thought it was really cool when they came off?! She got so excited! It will take about 2 weeks to get her new AFOs in and we are all excited for that day!

Pictures

I just had to start with this picture so that you can contrast it with what you are about to see:

We had our family pictures done recently. Now I knew Oksana had changed a lot but wow, look at her below. Is it just me or can you see dramatic change in just 4 months?! I love how they all turned out!






Oksana had her first experience seeing Christmas lights. She had a blast!

We already put a little tree in her room and this weekend we will be decorating for Christmas. I'm so excited for Christmas this year! I NEVER put my tree up before the second week of December but I just can't wait for Oksana to experience it! More pictures to come!

Great Question

In response to the video of Oksana walking I was asked this question by Sylvia:

She still seems very stiff; do they expect her to have a normal gait at some point (once she gets more practice, PT, etc.) or is she always expected to be a little off in this regard and/or require the aid of a walker/crutches/etc.?

This is a question I had myself and I'm sure other people have after seeing that video so I want to go ahead and address it. Here is what her PT told me. Oksana obviously will never look like us when she walks but her gait will improve greatly with time. One thing you may notice is that she swings her arms while she walks. It looks kind of like she's swimming! She is doing this to compensate for weak glute muscles and that will all but disappear with time. Also, her left leg is weaker than her right leg. When we hold her hand to walk we always hold her left hand so she has extra stability on that side. You can see it if you look closely because she kind of swings her left leg and pulls it around more than taking an actual step on it. Again, that leg will get stronger and stronger with time and that will improve her gait.

So as far as walkers and crutches I've been told that Oksana will get strong enough to be able to walk without using any of those devices in time. Right now she refuses her walker and her PT isn't even going to bother starting her on crutches. We are using the walker or a stroller only for very long distances or for walking long periods of time. She does wear out after time although you can't try telling her that :). Again, strength is the key here.

Thanks for the question!

Our Walker

I have so much to share but not so much time right now. I promise I will take time to write more soon. For now you have to see the newest walking member of our family! This is still not her primary mode of transportation but she is using it more and more to get around. She now wants nothing to do with her walker! Unfortunately she still isn't quite strong enough to walk completely independently so she still needs her waker for long distances. Just for a frame of reference, I posted the video of her first steps on October 9th! Incredible!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fall Fun

I don't have much time...I know, you are shocked! I'll just say the kids had a great time going to trunk or treat at our church and we got home in plenty of time to pass out candy. Oksana had a blast. Every time someone would stick candy in her basket she would pick it up to inspect it as if she was trying to figure out what in the world was going on! Tonight we raked the back yard and the kids had a blast in the leaves. Ok time to run so I'll leave you with pictures:

Beautiful soaps that help orphans

My friend Cathy Dreher makes amazingly beautiful soaps that also happen to smell REALLY good! She started making soaps as a hobby and then she sold them to help fund her own adoption of a boy from Ethiopia. After the adoption was completed friends were still requesting her soaps so she started selling them in local stores and online. Her website is www.catiebeth.com. Now she uses a portion of her proceeds to help other families adopting. They make fantastic gifts for teachers, therapists, etc., and they are also perfect stocking stuffers! Below are just a few of these amazing soaps with their descriptions. I'll start with my favorite!


Oatmeal, Milk, and HoneyWarm and delicate, this bar is lightly-scented to smell like oatmeal, milk and honey. It is all natural and contains Calendula Extract Oil; an oil known for it's anti-inflammatory and skin soothing properties. This would be a great soap for infants, children or anyone with delicate skin. Each bar weighs appx. 4 oz. Contains: Olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, Calendula extract oil, sodium hydroxide, fragrance oil, skin safe colorants.


Cherry Limeade Fruity cherry and tart lime mix to make a scrumptious Cherry Limeade Soap! Moisturizing Sweet Almond Oil will soothe your skin while the delicious fragrance will ease your mind. Not responsible for inducing cherry limeade soda cravings. :)
This soap is handmade using Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Sweet Almond Oil and Castor Oil. Because this soap is handmade, each bar is unique and may not resemble those pictured online.


Wintergreen I love the smell of snow. Really, it has a smell. It's crisp and bright...just like this soap! Wintergreen handmade soap has a bright, peppermint scent with hints of orange, apple and cloves. AND, it sparkles! It's a must have stocking stuffer!
Each bar is appx. 4 oz. and contains: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Sweet Almond Oil, Castor Oil, Fragrance Oil, Skin Safe Colorants.

Dancing Machine

Oksana's dancing cracks us up. Today when she heard the ABC song she broke out in a dance and we got it on video!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So much to say....so little time

Almost on a daily basis I think of updating the blog but I just can't find the time to do it. In fact as I type this I already know that I will soon be saving it so I can come back and complete it later. That's just life right now and it's perfectly fine with me!

Most of our days lately have been spent homeschooling and going to therapy. Both have their good days and their bad days! Oksana is in a phase right now where she follows me EVERYWHERE I go. If she doesn't know where I am she will go through the house saying "Where's the mama?" and when she finds me she says "There it is!" It was cute for the first few days but I've found myself hiding just to have 5 minutes alone! It's not just me either, she will gladly follow Daddy or the boys if they are more convenient. Obviously attachment is not an issue! Despite her desire to know where we are at all times she is doing fantastic when any of us have to leave the house. She finally knows that when her family leaves they always come back and she happily says "Bye" when we go out the door.

It's been interesting to see the relationship she is building with our boys. Clayton loves kids, especially kids with special needs, and has always been excited about Oksana. Evan, on the other hand, is our shy, quiet, and reserved kid who would prefer not to be around younger kids and we figured this adoption had potential to be really bad or really good for him. Thankfully both boys adore her. Clayton takes on a much more typical big brother role. He helps her and cuddles with her. She and Evan; however, have become great buddies! They play together all the time and Evan LOVES to make her laugh. It has been wonderful to see Evan come out of his shell and love this little girl.

We've had so many fun experiences as a family lately. We all enjoy living these experiences through Oksana's eyes. A couple of weeks ago we went to a pumpkin patch where we got to go through a hay maze, pick a pumpkin, and take a hay ride. They all had a blast. Last weekend we went downtown to see a sculpture show, got pizza at our favorite pizza place, and rode the trolley. We also loaded up our bikes and took a long bike ride through a local park. It was such a fun weekend! Last night the Kiev Symphony Orchestra came to a local church. We knew it might be risky expecting Oksana to sit through a symphony but we decided to take our chances and sit in the back so we could leave easily if need be. It was amazing! The kids all LOVED it. Unfortunately we had to leave at intermission because it was well past bed time already. Before we left we were able to find someone to speak Ukranian to Oksana. She completely and totally ignored the nice lady and only said "Hi" when I told her to! The lady said she wasn't even sure Oksana understood her. Whatever the reason we thought it was an interesting response. If you want to learn more about the Kiev Symphony Orchestra you can go to their web site at www.musicmissionkiev.org. They are Christians who spread the gospel through their music and also do work with Ukraine's orphans and widows. Very cool!

Well, times up and I've only been interrupted once but now I'm typing with her on my lap so I'll leave you with some pictures.

Oksana before church. I'm loving the huge hair accessories :)

Larry, Evan, and Oksana on the trolley in downtown Little Rock.

I love this picture! In the van Oksana often likes to hold Evan's hand. He is not a fan of hand holding and she knows it so she holds his fingers as tight as she can so he can't get away!

My kiddos at the pumpkin patch.

Our family on the hay ride at the pumpkin patch.