The poking and prodding begins. . .

I apologize that I have not gotten a chance to update until now. It has been a long week. . .a good one, but a long one!

Joshua is adjusting wonderfully. We have struggled a bit with the time change, but that was definitely to be expected. The first few days he was home all he wanted to do was sleep all day and play all night, but I am happy to report that is almost a thing of the past. He is napping well during the day and sleeping well at night, usually waking once or twice for a bottle or diaper change. He continues to be the happiest little guy I have ever known, smiling, laughing and babbling whenever he is awake.

Maren, Lukas and Jacob LOVE their little brother. We are still working on understanding personal space as they like to get right in Josh's face, which he is not a fan of, but otherwise they have been very good with him and they love to help. I think Josh was a little thrown by the noise level in our house, but he has adjusted and doesn't seemed phased by the three other little people constantly running and screaming through the house. He actually seems to be quite amused by it (wish I could share those sentiments!).

The countless doctors appointments and consultations have already begun. After meeting with his pediatrician on Monday we began to receive calls from the Children's Hospital to schedule appointments with various specialists. Josh was supposed to have an MRI on Friday, but unfortunately we discovered that he still had a slight wheeze in his lungs upon arrival at the hospital and had to reschedule for Wednesday. Next week he is scheduled to see a neurosurgeon (possible tethered cord. . we should know for sure after the MRI), urologist and his pediatrician in addition to his MRI. He is taking it all in stride. Everyone who meets him loves him, especially the nurses (he is such a flirt) and he doesn't seem to mind all of the poking and prodding. I count my blessings that all of these appointments and procedures don't seem to phase him since this will be a big part of his life. Once we get back from Ukraine with Evan he has even more appointments scheduled and, of course, we will be adding Evan's appointments to those as well. Needless to say, we will be very familiar with Children's when all is said and done!

Our preparations for Ukraine are coming along as well. We will be leaving a week from Monday (November 19th) and will arrive in Kiev on Tuesday, November 20th. Our SDA appointment is the 21st. This coming week is sure to be a whirlwind, but I am so excited that we will be meeting Evan so soon and even more excited to think that our family may be complete by Christmas!

I hope to update a few more times before we leave for Ukraine so stay tuned!