Saying hi

First I want to say how much I enjoyed meeting all of you. All of you are people that I will always talk about and tell Samame how lucky we were to come in contact with all of you during our first meeting with her. Each and everyone of you helped Michelle and I get through what we thought would be the hardest decisions we were ever going to make.

You could not believe how much bigger our little girl has gotten. She is so attentive and active and adorable. But I know we all feel that about our little ones.

Well good luck to everyone and give all your little ones a hug for michelle, samame and myself

Isabella is finally home

What a wonderful experience it has been sharing this special time with you all. We continue to talk about how much fun we had with all of you during the week and we hope to stay in touch for many years to come. Lisa, thank you for setting up this blog site.

We finally made it home with Isabella last Thursday night, after an exhausting trip. We almost missed our connection in London, but Bella saved the day and got us to the front of the line, giving us just enough time to catch the plane before the gate closed. She was very calm and we had a pleasant ride once on the plane; however, we do need to worry about her flirting personality as she made plenty of friends on the plane, especially men.

On Friday, Isabella visited her doctor, and we learned that she had gained about 3lbs since our first meeting with her. She still has a little stuffiness in the evenings, but should clear up soon. We'll be visiting her doctor again on Monday for immunization shots, and we are not looking forward to it. We're sure she'll be stretching her little lungs. Well hope all is going well with you and your children and looking forward to hearing updates about your families.

Ciao.

Beta's doing fine

We have been home two weeks now and life is good. The boys are very much in love, as we all are. Beta has been coming out of her shell becoming slightly bossy (the pointer finger raises into the air more than a couple times a day) and feels comfortable enough with us to accept our love and affection and to dole it out at opportune times. Jonah Kane (6yrs. old) has become her legal advisor, telling us what she wants, why she is misbehaving and how we should deal with any given situation. Atticus has one pound on her so we keep warning him at dinner to cover his food and eat it quickly. Koji thinks she looks like Cinderella (apparently he has never seen the movie). We think of our trip, and all of you who were on it, everyday. Wishing you and your families much love and happiness.

Yosef/Josi Update

Hi All,

It is great to hear that everyone is adjusting well and that all of the kiddos are doing great! Josi is also starting to settle in. He is still suffering from lots of smelly diapers, so we too are thinking that he has giardia. We are in the process of collecting samples for our pediatrician...that has been a joy!:) Otherwise, everything else seemed to check out ok at the doctors appointment. Our biggest challenge so far has been trying to break him of his temper tantrums. He doesn't arch his back and throw himself onto the floor as frequently, but he does have a good set of lungs on him...he definitely lets you know when he doesn't like something! I am soo happy that we have this site so that we can all keep in touch. I think of everyone often, and look forward to hearing from you all!

Miss Martha

This is so great! Martha and I are doing well. She has settled into the Central time zone quite nicely although we are still up every 2 hours to eat. We went to the doctor today and she weighed in at a whopping 8.8 lbs. She had blood drawn, a TB test, and 3 shots. Needless to say she is quite crabby this afternoon! The Ancient One and my dad left yesterday. Mom did really well after the trip, although she is still pretty tired. I think about our trip every day and I feel like I'm still trying to soak it all in. I hope that everyone is doing well and settling in.

Update on Joshua Marato

Well, it has been a little over a week, and we are trying to get into a routine. Joshua is fitting in with our other two kids quite well. Our oldest, Isaac, really enjoys his role as the big brother. Our daughter, Carmen, thinks he is cute, but he doesn't really affect her world (she is quite independent).
We took Joshua to the doctor today for a surgery consultation regarding his circumcision and having his adenoids removed. We still need to see the ENT before the surgery can be scheduled. Hopefully, this will be soon as he is still unable to eat anything except baby food or mashed up bananas! No wonder he is so tiny!
We also think that he has Giardia. We have an appointment this week to start immunizations and we plan to have him checked for the parasite as well.
Hope all is well for everyone!