Sunday Goings-On

What a fantastic day!

Need to figure out how to link the youtube video of Deyan and me playing behind the curtain , dancing and playing for close to an hour.  Papa took a long nap today and Deyan was NOT having the nap time; how can you turn down a precious little boy who holds his arms out to you begging to be picked up?  Especially after he spent 6 years in an orphanage?  He has the rest of his life to take a nap; now is the time for snuggles, playing and laughing.  And that is exactly what we did for 3 hours together.  I walked with him, bouncing him and talking in Bulgarian; well, what Bulgarian I know.  I am able to say with confidence “good night” ,“I love you” , “you’re a good boy”, “you’re so handsome”, “it’s okay, it’s alright”, “give me a kiss, please”, “good day”, “good night”, “pee”, “poop”, “sit down”, “good” and “good job”.  These words, along with a few more that may be helpful in the near future, are serving me well.  I can tell Deyan responds to my Bulgarian.  Today we took a cab to church; English Mass right by the British consulate.  Deyan was clearly confused and a bit concerned with the cab ride.  He makes a throaty noise when he is unhappy, sad, discontented.  I tell him in Bulgarian “it’s okay, it’s alright.  I love you, I love you.” And give him a kiss and he stops making the sound and snuggles into me a bit.  Not a lot at all, but just enough to let me know he hears me and understands he is safe with us.  He went into a giggle fit as soon as Mass started so papa took him outside while James and I stayed for Mass. 

Mass was interesting, to say the least.  Parents just let their children run amuck.  Seriously.  There were maybe 40 folding chairs in the entire church and practically all the children just ran up and down the aisle like it was nothing.  I noticed this the other night at dinner, too.  We went to the Christmas market, which was fantastic except it was sponsored by Germany..like the country.  No Bulgarian ornaments to be found, but we will keep looking!!!  Deyan did much better away from the crowd; enjoyed sitting on a lap or walking holding 2 fingers on a sidewalk behind the market.

For those who don’t know, Deyan can’t walk alone yet; he gets ahead of himself quickly when he’s walking with a finger..he prefers to just hold 1 or 2 fingers with 1 hand and have the other to balance himself but he gets so excited about walking that if he were just let go with just holding those fingers he’d fall on his face…so he needs help regulating his speed, which he doesn’t really care for..lol..fast is his speed.

After a jar of salmon and veggie baby food we got a cab home so he could eat more; we got beer and brats on a bun for lunch which were DELISH.  Cabbie tried to pull another fast one on us; I was riding in back with Deyan and James.  Deyan was making his throaty noises again so I told him I love him and that it’s okay in Bulgarian and he calmed down again and sat quietly on my lap with his head right on my chest. ( <3 ) Got to the hotel and I took him right inside because he was nearing time for another dose of tylonel, poor baby has a cold.  Apparently cabbie didn’t start the meter and told papa it was 10 leva for the2.50 ride it should have been.  Dad told him “No” and the guy insisted.  So dad took out his phone and told cabbie he was going to call the police after taking a pic of his cabbie license.  He took off without any payment at all.  :-P

Deyan and I spent about 3 hours together just the 2 of us this afternoon.  He wanted to look out the window but seemed to be in sensory overload when he did, along with the hotel room being full of stuff.  I pulled the curtain around us to make a cave and that’s where we spent most of our time.  We danced, talked, looked at each other, sang and just enjoyed each other.  I’m so sad that it could not be my mom here to do this with him; but at least I am the mean lady who took him from everything he knows and mom can be the familiar face (hopefully) that he sees when we finally get back home. 

He ate another 2 jars of baby food after getting another dose of tylonel and finally went down for a nap at 5.  We skyped with the family for a bit and he woke up around 6.  He was not hungry tonight, which I am assuming is the cold.  I tried everything and he was able to communicate that he did not want anything I was giving him.  Good for communication, bad for nutrition.  He got a Triminic cough strip, which he HATED but worked wonders, as well as a melatonin crushed up with some water in a syringe.  He takes meds nicely, which is always a bonus.

He played so well with papa tonight.  He had a baby toy that you pull down like 5 inches and it vibrates as it goes back up.  He gave it to dad and put dad’s hand in the air up high so he would have to reach for it to pull it.  Then he turned himself around, leaned back on my dad’s chest and stomach and played and played; laughed and laughed. 

He needs mineral oil or prune juice; poor kid has not had a BM in almost 2 days. L  Toni said she’d take my dad somewhere to get him something tomorrow.    

I sang him the song, “I love you, you love me.  We’re a happy family.  With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you.  Won’t you say you love me, too.” And he seemed to try to clap my hands to the beat at times.  I sang for close to 20 mins while dad and James were out getting KFC for dinner; which was surprisingly good. 

When he gets tired Deyan gets giggly or throws toys wanting you to give them back so he can keep throwing.  I tried to teach him to throw to me so he could get them back but that will take time.  Slowly but surely.  After about 50 mins of him tossing toys and drinking about 4 oz of water from a cup he finally went to bed, close to 9:40 I think.  He wanted to hold his cup, so I gave the lightest amount of pressure possible while keeping control of the cup.  He drank pretty well; better than from a sippy cup.  He knew to wipe his mouth with the wash cloth but threw it after he was done.  Gotta work on that, too. 

Down side; the Bengals blew their amazing game against the Texans.  We were able to get a live video stream of the game.  It got iffy towards the end so we switched to audio only.  We are a freshman team; brand new players.  I will give them the grace of this year to allow time to get to know each other.  We are going to KILL it next year!  Papa sent mom the link so Matt was able to watch the game online, too.  It didn’t sell out so it was blacked out.  That is the stupidest rule of the NFL.  EVER.

Joey learned how to Skype today!  I tried to call mom while dad and James were out getting dinner.  Joey figured out how to answer, without video but that’s okay.  He was able to tell me that Emily and Jake were sleeping and that mom was at the store.  Matt confirmed this information.  Then Joey was able to relay to mom that I called; without me asking him to!  I was typing this blog message when I got a call from “Mary Stolz” on my dad’s skpe.   Keep in mind, his skype is under Marty Thompson, I believe.  So I answer the call thinking it’s my mom.  Nope.  It’s Joey!  He figured out how to call, without video.  He asked for “his James.”  When I told him James was asleep he said, “Okay, good night!” and walked away!  I had texted my mom to let her know so she came in with Jake and we were able to say hi.  The poor baby, Jake is having such a hard time with this whole situation.  I can’t wait to get back home and spend some time with him; he’s going to need it!

Well, papa and James are off to get Christopher Martin tomorrow so it’s just Deyan and me for a few hours!  Passport office closes at 1pm tomorrow so we all have to be there before then!  Wish me luck with the cabbie; let’s hope I don’t have to threaten to call the police; though I will if I need to. 

=We are so much closer to getting our whole family together; I can’t wait!  What a wonderful Christmas gift!!!  I will send videos and pics to my mom for her to upload!  Be patient though, she’s practically all alone with all the kids which is very hard; I know! 

I miss you all and love you!

Rie 

Mary's Turn

It is 9:30 PM EST, I just got Jacob to sleep (Very rare that he is up this late...he is missing papa!) and I came in to post Marie's post that you will read next. For some reason, she is having trouble getting it to post from the Budapest, so she sends it to me in an attachment, I post it from home.

Notice, her first line...how she cannot wait for him to wake up tomorrow...well, at 9:30 PM EST, it is 4:30 AM Sofia time, and guess who is awake????

That will teach her to say things like that. It is like he KNOWS!

I can't wait to get my hands on this little stinker!

Mary

First Full Day with Deyan--by Marie

A full day with Deyan and I can’t wait for him to wake up tomrrow for another day!

He is so precious, I could eat him with a spoon, or spork for that matter!  He is so loving, sweet and easy going!  We went to the Billa (or Barilla or Brillo, I can’t keep it straight) for more food for him.  We walked, he strolled in the umbrella stroller.  He was good for the walk there  but his poor hands got cold, I think.  He went in the cart nicely but showed me he wanted up and out about half way through.  I will honor just about any request right now, to show him communication gets you things you want and need.  He wanted to walk, do his robot dance and smile and giggle and how can you say no to that!?  On the way home it was a bit more of a struggle.  He was getting teary, which I am assuming is from the cold more than discomfort because he showed no other signs of discomfort.  I held him most of the way back, after papa had a turn in the beginning.  He snuggled in to my shoulder and arm in the beginning then wanted to face outward or on his stomach the rest of the way.  I kept telling him, in Bulgarian, that he’s a good boy, that I love him and that he’s handsome because that’s all I know, but he seemed to respond to it.  Not directly, verbally or gesturally but emotionally he seemed to understand he was safe with me and in a calm place even though his surroundings were a bit crazy.  That is FANTASTIC to observe; to know that he is forming a bond with us and trusts that we will keep him safe.  It brings tears to my eyes to think about him. 

He ate like a monster again; GREAT!  He loved the coffee cake with milk (3 squares), oatmeal (2 instant packages), yogurt with honey.  HE also loved his bath this morning; he knew to wash his hair in the tub with no prompts.  He took water in his tiny hands and put it on his head and rubbed his hair.  He LOVED the tub; played in the running water from the faucet and slid around in the basin.  I can’t get over his cuteness and how much I love him. J 

While he tried to nap papa and James got durners (sp?) that are as big as my face.  Seriously. 

Lotion is something that Deyan LOVES.  I showered and was putting on lotion and he came right over.  I put lotion on him after his bath this morning and he loved it, too.  In remembrance of grandma (RIP) I heated it up in the sink in hot water and he couldn’t get enough of me putting it in my hands and he would put his hands on mine and rub his hands up and down my arms then want me to rub the lotion on his arms , elbows and sometimes up his bicep and shoulders.  Not too much, and he’s so skinny that it makes me cry to put lotion on him, but he loves it. J

Deyan does the robot dance which I also am in love with.  He takes your fingers or thumbs and dances with them, moving them back and forth, squatting every once in a while and giggling.  Sometimes he’ll do a silly movement similar to swimming.  He just cracks up; which makes us laugh which makes him laugh more.  And that is awesome J

James and I went to the Opera while papa and Deyan tried to sleep.  Apparently he was robot dancing to keep himself awake.  He’s skipping his naps, which is fine but he needs that down, quiet time. 

I showed him how to brush his teeth; of course he wanted my tooth brush, which is fine J so I layed with him and brushed with his and he used mine.  He more chewed on the bristles after he learned I was going to say “no” when he tried to chew on the handle.  He did great and we mirrored each other for about 10 mins with the toothbrush.  Each time he mirrored me he got a “dobre!! Dobre bravo, Deyan!” Which seemed to encourage him as long as it was not too loud J

He also seems to have an aversion to bright lights, which I get, too. But just FYI mama J

I can’t say enough how much I love this kid.

James and I went to the opera tonight; 10USD for 7^th row tickets; can’t beat that!  We caught a cab up there and stayed for the show, after I conveyed to cabbie we wanted the opera, which I did by saying “opera, laaaa laaa laaa!!!”.  We also got a cab to the Happy Grill, which was fun, because cabbie had NO idea what we wanted!  Cab ride home was interesting.  After discussing skanks with James the cabbie tried to say we owed him 10 leva for the ride home. I said, “no, last ride was 2 leva” he said, “Fine, 7 leva” and I told James to get out of the cab.  I asked for a receipt, which he didn’t have because he never started the meter.  He tried to tell me again that it was 7 leva, I told him again, “No, last ride was 2 leva, nice try, I’m from Las Vegas.  You get an A for effort, though!”  He finally said, “okay 2 leva” and we were on our way.  I was ticked he tried to take advantage but proud of myself that I didn’t let him get away with it! J 

Made it to the hotel with Deyan fast asleep, talking in his sleep (mama, how do I upload a video with audio of Deyan sleep talking?) and now I’m off to bed!  Mass and Christmas market tomorrow!:) I miss you all, my lovely family, but we are bringing home 2 new, perfect additions! J

Deyan Day 1....post by Marie

Wow, what a whirl wind!  Yesterday after I posted we headed out to Mass for the Immaculate Conception.  Found a Catholic church after I ran inside to ask the nice bell hop, who spoke some English, to tell the cabbie where we wanted to go.  Mass was less than 45 mins, probably partly because there were 9 people in the church; including the 3 of us!  The priest knew we spoke English; he gave us communion in English.  Afterwards a bitty old woman came over to us with a box of chocolates and offered us some.  What a way to celebrate the Immaculate Conception; with chocolates.  I loved her thought hahaa We walked to the Happy Grill for a few beers for the grownups and a pop for James.  We got some appetizers in preparation of the nearly inedible free hotel dinner. I asked for a Happy Grill ornament and I scored J My Christmas tree will be extra happy this year!  Walked through the beginnings of a Christmas market.  Unfortunately they only had food and beer tents set up so I am still on the hunt for ornaments that say Bulgaria; I haven’t forgotten!  I camped in the restaurant while James and papa went for a swim.  I forgot my suit at home but enjoyed computer time and beers while they swam.  After they came back we chatted at the table and had a few more drinks, then off to the room for bed!

Breakfast and packed up in the morning then off to liberate Deyan!  I must say, I’ve never been to an orphanage in eastern Europe but every worker that I encountered smiled, seemed friendly and the building was clean and decorated nicely.  The director and social worker were very sweet and did their best to communicate with us; the social worker spoke very little English but understood quite a bit and I’m not sure  about the director; she didn’t make any attempt at English.  It took what seemed like FOREVER for them to bring him to us.  Of course, he came in and I cried haha, and he went right to papa.  Dad was armed with Deyan’s favorite toy, a light up spikey ball.  He was fairly restless, I’m sure because there were so many people doting on him, he was in his new outfit which was warm, I’m sure, because I was warm and not as layered as he was.  His baba, grandma worker, was able to come in and say good bye to him and us, which was wonderful.  She gave me a STRONG hug and kiss and was teary, which made me teary again!  Don’t worry mom, I cried for the both of us!!!  It was so wonderful to see that people truly cared for him.  I could tell she was sad to see him go but so happy that he found his forever family. J  We can’t thank you enough, Baba, for keeping Deyan alive and loved until we could rescue him!  After signing papers, mom, just fyi, your name starts with an L on those papers. ;)  We went to the Black Sea for pictures there and Deyan was so good J I think he was overwhelmed with the action and confused about where he was going and what we were doing with him.  I held him down so he could touch the water, got a few pictures and headed to the car. 

The rest of the ride back was pretty uneventful, which was nice.  We stopped at a JUMBO, which is sort of like a Walmart, from what I understood from dad and James.  Deyan needed diapers, wipes and food and of course they only have size 5 diapers and the poor kid’s butt and hips needs like a -2 size! Scratch the JUMBO trip; keep driving to find a store with more selection.  About an hour later we find a small town and Danni (the woman who’s translating for us) and her dad ask for a store.  Deyan did WONDERFULLY for his first grocery store trip.  Went into the cart nicely, held on, looked around, smiled every so often and was just a pleasure.  I love the way they do their produce..they have a computer with a digital scale; you go through the computer options for the fruit you have, put it on the scale and it prints out a sticker for the cashier.  Anyways, Mr. Dido needed to be changed so I went to the bathroom with him.  I’ve never seen people so blatantly stare at someone with a disability before.   Some of the women cooed at him while he was making his gurgling noises but most people stare and practically walked into things as they were looking. 

Changing in the car works better, the bathrooms were dirty and I wasn’t about to scar him like that for his first diaper change with me, the strange talking lady who took him from all he knows.  He fought sleeping the entire 7 HOUR car ride home.  No tantrums, no tears, just a few grunts every now and then to let us know he dind’t want to be in the car seat any more.  He tried to push his belly out against the straps and took our hands to the buckle a few times but after a “ni” he stopped.  He really is a sweet boy who just wants to be loved and be in contact with people.  He either touched or held dad or my hand the entire car ride; craving physical contact.  He LOVES my scarf that was a gift from a friend who went to India.  It is very soft with calm, warm colors and a nice pattern.  He was so great in the car; I’m hopeful that after a week together, learning each other’s personalities and such that the plane ride will be even smoother.  That and he can get up and waddle around when he needs to.  J 

Stopped at a roadside joint for a quick meal; sausage/beef/mystery meat (pretty good), boiled, cubed potatoes, a tomato soup sauce and cabbage.  Deyan loved the potatoes mashed up in the tomato sauce/soup..he ate almost all of them!

The stroller works best for feeding.  After a quick Skype with mama we went to eat at the hotel restaurant for dinner.  Mr. Dido ate a big jar of fish mashed with veggies of some sort and a big yogurt cup thingy.  Plus I was giving him some of the gravy and cheese from our food.  He drank out of the cup better than I thought.  He just chewed on the sippy cup in the car so I figured I’d try the cup at dinner.  We chatted with a lovely family who is leaving to go back home, to Atlanta I believe, tomorrow morning.  BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL! YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!  Diaper changes are a challenge and I need to figure out how I am going to do this from now on so he’s not thrown for a loop on the plane; I need him to know what to expect from me.  Email me if you have suggestions, keeping in mind how small airplane bathrooms are. 

James and I took a nice 20 min stroll around the block and to the store while papa put Deyan down after we Skyped again, changed him and played a bit.  He was still awake when we got back so he got almost an entire LARGE banana with a melatonin crushed in it.  I kid you not, less than 15 mins later he crashed and is still asleep. 

Here’s the rundown of his daily schedule; mom this is mostly for you so you know J I will type it exactly as Danni translated and we can discuss if you want..

7-7:45am- wake up, washing

8-8:20- breakfast which is one of these options..1. popara (which is tea cheese, bread, butter and sugar mixed up), milk and biscuits 2. Sandwich 3. Tea, milk and airam (which is yogurt and water and is drank)

8:20-8:40- potty

8:40-9- play with toys

9-9:20- cognitive development/play

9:20-9:50- free play (hahahahahaa)

9:50-10- tea, milk, airam

10-10:20- potty

10:20-11:45- walk and play outside

11:45-12:15 lunch which is one of the following 1. Soup with veggies or meat and bread, then dessert which is a sweet of some sort or yogurt or fruit

12:15-1- get ready for nap, washing, and potty

1-3:30- nap

3:30-4- wake up, washing, potty

4-4:20- afternoon breakfast- milk, rice and yogurt, or airam, fruit and tea

4:20-6:15- afternoon play, walking outside ect

6:15-6:30- washing, potty, prep for dinner

6:30-7- dinner- meal with or without meat, milk and biscuits, bread

7-7:20- potty

7:20-8- washing, prep for bed

8pm-7am-sleep

We’ll see how it goes, I think we can keep it pretty consistent for him, which is great! 

Well, it’s 11:15pm here, everyone’s been asleep for about an hour and I should turn in soon, too.  Enjoy the pictures and I’ll blog more tomorrow! 

Greetings from Burgas

Greetings from Burgas J

After 12 hours of sleep and breakfast with coffee I am feeling more like myself.  We met a family in the restaurant who just adopted their 3 year old son and was he cute! At one point his mom and dad were both getting something from the breakfast nook, which was literally 10 steps away, and the 3 year old was talking to their 6 year old, who clearly had no clue what the poor 3 year old was saying! Before we went back up to our room we went over to say good bye and papa was able to talk to their new son, who’s eyes lit up when he heard dad ask him how he is doing in Bulgarian.  The cd he bought has given him the skills to chat with a 3 year old!!! (which is about all we need.)  Back to the room to pack; James can’t remember where he packed anything or if things got packed at all.  He was reminded of his duties as “know where everything is at all times” and “poopy diaper helper”. 

The ride to Burgas was uneventful, which is the way I like car rides to be.  Made 1 stop at a gas station for a quick lunch of chicken ham in a wrap (don’t know if it was chicken, ham or both) and water while James and papa shared a salami sandwich and coke and fanta.  Random steering wheel jerks aside, it was a fairly smooth ride.  Driving about 10 miles under the speed limit got really old really fast so I took a few naps.  About 4 hours later we arrive in Burgas at Hotel Aqua and check into our room.  It has 3 single beds, which will be nice for me because I have the pull out couch for the remainder of the trip! 

Really bummed we all fell asleep last night before we could skpe with the boys but we did get to see mama and talk to her for a bit.  We have church at 5pm, which we will cab it to, then hopefully find Starbucks (I sure could use a pick me up!) and dinner.  We are holding off on going down to the Black Sea until tomorrow morning after we pick up Deyan, because we are going to take him to do some pictures.  NO sense in drudging into the cold, dreary nearing darkness to the cold water if we are doing it tomorrow!  Dinner will be at the hotel most likely, which is okay with me because they have wifi in the lobby, but not in the rooms. 

I am taking as much vitamin c as I can absorb, I have a scratchy feeling in my ears and the back of my throat.  Hopefully vitamins and rest will take care of it; I felt perfect when I woke up this morning, opposed to how I felt going to sleep, which is pretty close to how I feel now.  Suck it up and be a trooper, I hear Emily telling me that as she’s reading this, so I will do just that J

A day of mishaps ending with a beer and Milka chocolate in Sofia--by Marie

Greetings from Sofia!
Today may have been the longest day. Ever. Seriously.

8 hour flight from Atlanta to Rome, in which we all had our own rows.  ^^ see above for my sweet set up :)

After a quick pass through customs and immigration (a glance at dad's passport and mine was pushed back at me without looking at the picture) we headed to a bathroom and a cafe-mart for h20.  I opened mine right away and drank about half before the man communicated to us that his credit card machine was not working. OHHHHH CRAP.  Luckily, James had 2 euros, almost the exact cost of water bottle, and we were on our way to get train tickets into the city.  The wonderful man selling the tickets said that James was not 12, as we tried to say because we thought 12 and under ride for free, but rather 11 which is the "free" age.  We were then scolded on the train for not validating our ticket, being told "This is Italy.  You get fined 50 euros without validation next time." Okay, okay, sorry, stupid Americans over here!  My wonderful papa got us tickets to the Colosseum.  I didn't get to go into the Colosseum on either of my Rome trips in the past so I was THRILLED to be able to tour this.  Along with the Colosseum the ticket also gained us access to the open air museum that I could have spent an entire week walking through.  Unfortunately we only had 2 hours. (Pictures to come..when I'm not so tired!!) We dined in an authentic Italian bistro.  I had .  a margarita pizza (YUMMY), papa got a ground meat stuff cannelloni and James had spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and basil.

Here come the mishaps...Because we were only in Italy for a few hours papa only got out a small amount of cash, to reduce loss of funds in conversion.  We checked 2 bags in the train station so we didn't have to lug around bags (and scream TOURIST).  Baggage place only took cash, as did the ticket kiosks.  We missed the first train back to the station; papa went to get us tickets while James and I waited with the bags.  Jumped on the train and hustled to the security line.  Of course, we were in the LONGEST line ever; what seemed to be the newest and untrained workers mixed with the oldest and slowest moving people.  Crunch time--20 mins before plane departs and we hustle to G gate.  Check the board and we have been switched to H gate.  Which is all good and well except for some odd reason we had to go through a second security check to get to the H gate.  Papa tried to get us to the front of the line; he was told to go back and wait.  In Stolz family English that means "push to the front, ignore nasty stares and comments in Italian."  James and I ran ahead to the gate; luckily we weren't the only ones thrown for a loop with the gate change and we made our flight.

Ushered through customs and immigration quickly and met our helper.  She was friendly enough and we got to the van quickly.  From there we spent about 20 mins in traffic before making it to the hotel.  The stupid WIFI won't work on my Ipod, which really makes me mad (I miss my husband!) but we got a cab to the Happy Grill and we were made happy. :)  A $2 USD cab ride got us there and the 2 large beers each and delish food (not to mention working WIFI) made for a tolerable, even pleasurable walk to the hotel.  It is about 1.5 miles to the hotel and we stopped at a quick mart for Milka (the best chocolate ever), beer and coke and fanta.

A much needed shower and chat with mama and we are ready to hit the sack to prepare for another long traveling day tomorrow!  Deyan, here we come, little guy! :)

Rome or bust!!

We made it to Atlanta with no mishaps, other than my iPod Internet access is being stupid. Oh well. Sitting in the Delta Crown Room with an adult beverage and plate 'o crackers with hummus from a tube. Can't really complain :) James got stuck next to a woman with an infant and toddler on our way to ATL. Mother of said children thought the rules of staying seated while taxing applied to everyone but her. However, she quickly was scolded, over the intercom, and sat back down. Her infant was crying while we waited 10 mins for our gate to open, which made me think of the hopefully quiet and uneventful trip back home. Rumor has it, the flight to Rome is fairly empty so I am hoping for an open section of seats so I can stretch out. However, anyone who knows me knows I can sleep anywhere and in just about any conditions so bring it on! We'll see how I feel about that statement in about 5 hours, though. Still need to plan our 7 hour lay over in Rome; beach and ruins close to the airport seem the least stressful. As long as I can get coffee I am game for anything. We arrive in Rome at 7:30am local time (1:30am est) and depart at 2:20pm Rome time, arrive in Sofia at 5:05pm. Already missing everyone but I am so excited to be getting closer and closer to getting the boys!

More to come!

And They're Off....well, almost

Tomorrow Jim, James and Marie leave for Bulgaria to bring Christopher Martin and Deyan back home. I really wish I were going, but this time, I will be home with Matt, Joey, and Jacob, ably assisted by Emily, as we wait for our family to be whole.
I've asked Marie to blog here for me, for a woman's perspective on the activities surrounding the pick up trip, so be sure to check in often, and leave her feedback and thoughts.
I think they are all packed. I think we have everything covered. But even if not, it will all work out.
Bye, guys....hurry home....be safe.....I love you all!

Mary

TRAVEL DATES

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! We awoke this morning to a wonderful email from Toni, our attorney/facilitator in Bulgaria. She has the coveted court document in hand (well, it is at the birth certificate office to allow processing of the new birth certificates, but she had to take it there, so she HAD it!) and we can book our travel to pick up our boys!

Jim, along with our daughter Marie and son James, are flying out on December 6. They will arrive in Bulgaria on Dec 7, overnight in Sofia one night, then head to Burgas (on the sea) on the Dec 8. It is a 6-8 hour car ride, so they will overnight in Burgas that night, pick up Deyan in the morning of Dec. 9, and head back to Sofia. They will have just Deyan over the weekend, but then bright and early Monday morning, Jim will go to Blagoevgrad to pick up Christopher Martin (we are still discussing what we will actually call him... I vote Christopher, but Jim likes "Martin".) and back to Sofia. They will all go to apply for passports on Monday by 1pm. No pressing business (we hope) to attend to on Tuesday. Wednesday, the passports should be ready and Thursday in the morning is  mandatory physicals for the boys, and in the afternoon, the visa interview.
Friday, the visa's should be issued and returned to them, and early Saturday morning, they will be on their way home!
In 23 days, I will be holding my boys again!

We have much to be Thankful for this year, including the addition of two new family members!

Mary

WE ARE PARENTS (again)

On Tuesday morning, November 15, we received the great news that our adoption petition was granted in the Bulgarian Courts! We are now the parents of two more boys.
Christopher Martin Stolz, age 7 years 2 months  and Deyan Emmanuel Stolz, age 5 years 10 months.
Welcome to our family, boys. We can't wait to get you home.

At this point, we wait 7 days for the court order to be in effect. It is usually released on the 8th day (Wednesday, Nov 23).  After she has that document, correctly signed and stamped, in her hands, we can make trip arrangements for the pick up trip. We are expecting 1-3 weeks after the pick up, for that to happen. Of course, we prefer it to be as soon as possible.

We are just so happy to have progressed to this point.

We are coming boys....one step at a time!

Mary