What A Week :)

It has been a wild ride at the home of The Halls this week. There has never been a dull moment! At times it looked like a scene from the "Super Nanny Show" (in fact, I almost filled out an application for the show a couple of times, haha...just kidding)and other times sweet "Little House on the Prarie" moments. There have definitely been many adjustments for all of us as we have begun to learn how to be a family. There are many things to work through of past learned behaviors and the attempt to reverse the emotional damage that comes along with children who have lived through such difficult past situations. Although we still have a ways to go, it seems that each new day gets a little easier and that the adjustments for that day are improving a little better than the day before. We are so thankful for the support of other adoptive families to share all of our similar experiences and learn from each other what seems to work best. Jerry & Amanda~ it was also great catching up with you this week and thanks for all the encouragement...since you are a couple of weeks ahead of us, you can fill us in on the changes we can expect for each week ahead, haha! We also want to thank Lauren for coordinating meals for us all of this week and each one of our friends that brought a meal. I cannot tell you how HUGE that was not to have to think of cooking. Thank you to all of you who have passed down clothes to Inna & Vitali and for the financial donation from Living Hope and for all that has let us know that you are praying....what a TREMENDOUS BLESSING all of this has been for us!
A little update on the kids:
Inna still loves the pool most of all and is getting a great tan from being out in the sun so much. Her next favorite thing is the 2 Barbie's we bought her. She takes them swimming with her most of the time. She has really missed her friends at the orphanage and tonight we are going to get some pics printed out to make her an photo album of her orphanage and friends there. Neither, Vitali or Inna had meat at their orphanages so they have been getting used to eating meat and she has found that she likes chicken and roast. She really likes soup, but thinks the Campbell's soups are too salty. She really wants to eat all day long with the food being so plentiful here, but this would be expected for anyone who has been food deprived. Vitali will eat pretty much anything that is placed in front of him, even meats. I havent found hardly anything that he doesnt like. She is learning English little by little and we have been able to communicate most things to each other. She will start with her English tutor next week.
On to Vitali~ Lesson # 1~ A very active child + lack of balance= STITCHES!!! Yes, we have already been to the ER this week. He has a very high pain tolerance and has not learned to be careful of things that can seriously hurt him yet. In other words, he bangs his head on everything right now and and tries to dive head first off of anything he can. We try to run across the room and catch him before the big plunge! This week, after the water was drained out of the tub for his bath, he decided to jump head first into the bath tub and landed on his chin and busted it open. After only 2 minutes of crying, he was fine and ready to plunge again, but we took him to have it looked at and I pretty much begged that if there was anyway to only do the liquid stitches to please try that since I didnt want his first American doctor visit to involve needles. They decided to give the liquid stitches a try and thank God it is working great! He did take them off the next day and we went back to get some more and thankfully, they sent some with me to do myself the next time, because he did remove them again. But, now the chin is healing well and closed up. He is improving in his motor skills, walking, coordination, and speech by leaps and bounds. It is amazing!! He was having a great deal of trouble with coordination and balance at the orphanage and still has a long way to go, but we have definitely seen improvements. His speech is just unbelievable! He talks all day long!

Grant is making adjustments too and some days are harder than others for him. He is doing great sharing a room with Vitali and spending a lot of time swimming with Inna! He is looking forward to starting baseball back this summer! He just finished school and did great!

We will be going to take Inna & Vitali to Birmingham this week for their UAB adoption clinic evals. We have been looking forward to this, so that we can be sure of any needs that need to be treated and to get the ball rolling. This will be a very lengthy appointment as they will both be evaluated by a pediatrician, developmental specialist, and councelor. The next day, they will have more blood work at our Pediatrician here in Prattville. Please pray for smooth appointments and wisdom for all involved.

Here are some pics of first days home:
1. Vitali & Grant playing with Thomas the Tank Engine
2. Inna dancing to a song on the T.V.
3 & 4~ swimming in our pool