A week later...

Things are going a lot better now that we are all adjusted to our regular time zone again!  After giving Ella a few days to sleep as much and as frequently as she needed, we decided the best thing would be getting her back on a schedule.  As soon as we did that, Ella seemed much more happy and at ease.  It makes sense really, since Ella has been on such a strict schedule in the orphanage.  She never skipped a nap to go to the zoo or the Children's Museum or the swimming pool.  She never left the orphanage at all... so she never deviated from her schedule.  We realized that the only thing we can give her that is consistent and familiar is keeping her schedule to the best of our ability here.  And now for three nights in a row, she has been sleeping through the night! 

Ella is doing really well for everything she has been through.  We took her to the same International Adoption Center that explained her medical report when we got our referral.  Even though her weight lies in the 5th percentile for her age, the doctor said it was amazing for being in an orphanage.  She gave me some really good advice on parenting, language skills, and bonding/attachment.  They are VERY thorough on these international babies, so Ella had to have a tuberculosis test in one arm, way too many blood vials drawn out of her other arm, three shots... plus they discovered she had a double ear infection.  :(  She has had a little bit of a cold ever since our first visit to the orphanage, so I'm hoping she hasn't had an ear infection too long!  They sent me home with a referral for an eye doctor, a referral for a ultrasound on her kidney, and containers for me to collect stool samples.  Whew!

Adoption is different though.  Sooooooo different.  We can't necessarily handle things the same way we did with our boys.  Bonding is our top priority... so if that means we hold Ella most of the day, we hold her most of the day.  Sometimes when we set her down, she walks around and explores... sometimes when we set her down, she cries because she wants to be held some more.  So we do.  I especially love our bonding moments before bed as I give her a bottle and she looks up at me.  Sometimes she points to her nose and then my nose while I say, "Ella.  Mommy."  I can tell she is starting to trust that I will take care of her.  :)  I can't even fathom the thought that this sweet girl has never had a mommy to take care of her before. 

The boys continue to be so amazingly sweet with her.  They make me such a proud mommy.  Here are some pictures when words aren't enough.

Everyone patting Ella's back to console her at the same time.

 Casey showing Ella how her new toy works

  We love our new sister!!

 Cuddles with daddy

 This one's for my mom... she loves messy face pictures.  ;)

 One of my friends made Ella a cookie, with ingredients especially for babies.  :)

 Ella loves our trampoline!!

 Both boys trying to feed her puffs simultaneously

 I found Casey laying with his hand on Ella's tummy when she wasn't feeling well the other night.  I'm not sure it gets any sweeter than that...

 Gavin still continues to amaze me with with how much he wants to read to, play with, and comfort his baby sister.  ;)

 Ready for our first outing!  Too bad it was a doctor's appointment.  ;(

What she's eating:  We have mostly been feeding Ella fruit and veggie purees, bread, bananas, and milk (trying to stay consistent with what she was fed at the orphanage).  Our IA doctor told us to stay on formula a bit longer (for the extra vitamins) and that if she is finger feeding, to give her as much regular food as we can.  So she sat with us at the table last night, feeding herself chicken and rice!  I also had her try oatmeal this morning and it was the cutest thing in the world.  Apparently, she LOVED it.  Her eyes got huge, she squealed in delight, and motioned with her hands that she wanted more, MORE!  Hilarious.  Maybe oatmeal is the closest thing to porridge?  ;)  To teach Ella everyone's names, we touch her nose and say, "Ella" and touch somebody else's nose and say their name.  To my surprise, when I was feeding her oatmeal, she touched her nose and touched the bowl.  I'm pretty sure it was her way of wanting to know what this yummy stuff was called!!

What she's saying:  Ella can say da, da, da (we aren't sure if she's trying to say daddy or "yes" in Russian) and I swear I've heard her say El-la on more than one occasion!  I definitely wouldn't be surprised if that was her first word because we're saying her name constantly!   Other than that, she mostly babbles and tries to mimic us.  We can tell she's picking up English quickly because she waves when we say "hi" or "bye", immediately looks when we say Ella, and stops what she doing (for the most part) when we say "no".  We are also teaching her simple sign language, which she happily mimics.

How she's sleeping:  Ella is taking a morning and afternoon nap, and sleeping from 8 o'clock at night to 7 o'clock in the morning.  We are blessed!  One night, I got up because Casey was having a nightmare and as I laid with him in bed, I could hear Ella making soft kissing noises from her crib.  :)

Our biggest challenge is getting used to four kids (one of them being a toddler who is walking around everywhere and putting everything in her mouth).  I forgot how busy little ones are!  One morning, I was feeling overwhelmed and Adam offered to watch the kids so I could go to Zumba and get a coffee.  I'm so thankful for an understanding husband who knows just what I need!  I also left the house with all four kids yesterday... and realized I may never leave the house again.  :)  Totally kidding... but all in all, we're taking one day at a time and sooooo thankful our little girl is finally home!