Three Months Already!!

Three months ago Ivan said goodbye to the only family he had ever known and started his new life with his forever family.  On one hand it seems like it was just yesterday that we were in Bulgaria picking him up, and on the other, it feels like he's always been with us.  It's hard to remember what life was like before he joined our family.

During the past three months we've watched him become more relaxed and confident.  His outgoing personality has started to shine.  He's even let a little of his naughtiness slip out.  He has the biggest smile and the sweetest giggle.  We love our little boy so much!

He is using new English words every week and is understanding a lot of what is said to him. He is a great eater and enjoys most foods.  His favorites are pasta, bananas, yogurt and french fries.  He loves playing with anything that has wheels.  He also enjoys playing with his cat, Ray, who has become his best buddy.  He admires his big brother and copies everything he does.  They typically get along well, but they also pick on each other like they've been brothers forever.

He loves going to the zoo, and thankfully we can go often with our membership.  He's happy doing anything that gets him out of the house, especially when a restaurant is involved.  He enjoys going to church each Sunday and has transitioned into going to the nursery without one of us being with him.

He has attached to his family beautifully and has adjusted better than we could have ever imagined. He has brought so much joy to our family.  We can't wait to watch him continue to grow and learn!

Visiting Katy the Orangutan

Water Table Fun

Turning Two!!

He loves the walrus!

Hanging Out at Home

Cheering for Nikolas at Soccer

He loves his big brother!

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 13 - The Long Trip Home

I woke up at 4:30am on Thursday morning and got myself ready to go before waking up the boys.  I got both of them ready to go while Jason got himself ready and we were downstairs and ready to go by 6:00am.  The hotel had called a large taxi for us the night before and the driver was already waiting for us when we arrived.

We got checked in and through security and customs without too much trouble.  We were a little nervous about how Ivan would do on the plane.  On the first flight I was seated in a row with both boys while Jason was seated across the aisle.  I put Nikolas by the window and Ivan in the aisle seat and sat in between them to keep them from picking on each other.  Ivan fell asleep before the plane even left the ground and slept for most of the flight.  Nikolas ate both his breakfast and Ivan's since Ivan was sleeping and wouldn't have eaten it anyway.We landed in Vienna on time and had a short, easy layover. The boys enjoyed watching the planes while we waited to board.

Our second flight to Washington DC was nine hours.  Our family had a row of four seats in the middle of plane.  I put Ivan in the aisle seat again, but that turned out to be a bad idea because he thought it was fun to grab everyone who walked by him.  Both boys did fairly well during the long flight.  Ivan cried off and on a few times because he was tired and couldn't get comfortable, but it wasn't near as bad as I expected it to be.  Towards the end of the flight they were both tired and started getting a little crazy!

We landed in Washington DC on time and made it through customs very easily.  We did get sent through agriculture, but the agents there just asked us a couple of questions and sent us on our way. Ivan officially became an American citizen in the same airport that Nikolas became a citizen four years earlier.

While going through security to leave the customs area I ended up getting flagged because I left a juice box in my backpack.  I thought the boys had drank them all but apparently I missed one.  Because of this they had to go through my backpack and purse item by item, and I had to have a completed pat down.  It took forever and Nikolas was so freaked out about it that he was in tears, but we got through it.

Once we were out of the customs area we were able to meet up with my uncle.  He flies for United and his flight had landed while we were going through customs, so he was nice enough to wait around for us and visit with us at our gate for a bit.  Because of his work schedule and the fact that he lives a few states away, I don't get to see him very often, so it was nice to have a short visit to catch up.  He came the first family member to meet Ivan in person.  (He was also at the Dulles airport to meet Nikolas when we passed by in July 2011.)

We boarded our United Express flight and were out of the airport right on time.  This was the first trip to Bulgaria where all six flights were on time!  Both boys were asleep before the plane left the ground, and we had to wake them up when we arrived in Indianapolis.   We were happy to be met at the airport by my parents and also by the Nicely family.  Even through we were exhausted, it was so nice to have friends there to welcome us home.

We picked up two of our bags and got a claim ticket for the third.  It was still in Washington DC and would be delivered to our house the next afternoon.  We stopped at Target for a few breakfast items and made a quick run for the border on the way home.  We got settled in, had dinner and then got both of the boys to bed before crashing ourselves.

Our second Bulgarian adoption adventure has officially come to an end and now the real adventure of enjoying life as a family of four has begun.  We hope to return to Bulgaria for a visit when the boys are older, but for now we'll enjoy watching others travel and keep ordering goodies from malincho.com until we're fortunate enough to go back to the country that has become a second home to us.

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 12 - Last Day in Sofia

Wednesday was our last full day in Sofia.  We started off with breakfast at our hotel and then went out to do some final souvenir shopping.  Instead of going over to the shops in the Serdika metro station, we walked over to this little gift shop on Vitosha Blvd.  We had stopped in to browse earlier in the trip and then had some nice things.  We also went to the rose shop next door to pick up some of rose soap and rose oil.  Bulgaria is well known for its rose production.  About 70% of the world's rose oil comes from Bulgaria.

After we finished our shopping we stopped by Raffy for one last gelato treat. Nikolas and Ivan loved the bubble gum gelato and were very happy to get some before lunch.  I really liked the coconut gelato with chocolate pieces.  It was all so wonderful!

We went back to the hotel after and Jason went out to pick up lunch again.  After lunch the boys napped while we started to get everything packed.  It's amazing how much more stuff we had going home than we brought to Bulgaria with us.

We met up with Ben, Heather and Delaney for our final dinner in Sofia.  We chose Pizza Palace and it was as good as it always is.  I love how Bulgarians dine outside and how everyone takes dinner time as a time to relax and socialize with friends.  You rarely see people on their phones.  They actually sit and talk to each other.  The slower pace of life is something that I enjoy about Bulgaria.

We wrapped up our dinner and said our goodbyes.  It was so nice to have another couple to spend the pick up trip with.  We spent at least a little time with them almost every day.  Our trip ended up being about a week later than we first expected due to the judge being on vacation and their trip was a week or two earlier than they expected.  I'm so thankful it worked out that way and we had the pleasure of forming a new friendship!

We went back to the hotel and bathed the kids and got them to bed so we could finish packing.  We got everything together and got to bed at a decent time.  The alarm would be going off very early the next morning!

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 11 - Final Paperwork!

On Tuesday morning we got ready and enjoyed breakfast at our hotel.  The nice thing about staying at the hotel is that they provided a really nice breakfast buffet.  The boys definitely filled up on muffins and eggs.  After breakfast we walked around Vitosha Blvd. and did a little shopping.  We bought some cute clothes and shoes for Nikolas and a new suitcase to hold all of the extra things we were bringing home.  We went back to the hotel and Jason ran out to pick up lunch again.  Both boys took a nice nap after lunch.

Later that afternoon we met up with Mariana to pick up our final paperwork. Both Nikolas and Ivan were very happy to see her.  We went over everything, said our goodbyes and then decided to do some shopping with Ben and Heather. We had a great time shopping at H & M.  All of our kids ended up with some new cute clothes.  Jason even found some shirts and a belt for himself.


After our shopping trip we had dinner at Raffy with the Greene family.  The menu is so large that I don't think we had the same thing twice.  Ivan was a huge fan of the Raffy pizza.  Nikolas had been asking for the pepperoni pizza for the past week, so I ordered one for me and the boys to share.  Jason had the Beef Wellington.  Only in Sofia can you order Beef Wellington for about $9.00.  It was really good!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel for the night.  Our typical nightly routine in the hotel included a quick bath, a snack of bananas, yogurt and juice, music time (watching Bulgarian children's song videos on the Kindle) and then bed time.  Ivan usually went to bed first, and we sent Nikolas over there after Ivan was asleep.  If they were sent to bed at the same time, they wouldn't stop giggling at each other.  Here's a picture of Ivan in his pajamas because little kids in pajamas are so cute. :)

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 10 - US Embassy Day

On Monday morning we moved from our apartment to a suite at the Best Western Thracia.  It was only about a block and half away, so we were able walk over there.  Jason made one trip alone and then we all made the second trip together.  The two-room suite was nice. The sofa turned into a bed for Nikolas and we requested a pack-n-play for Ivan.  It took a while for the boys to realize that they could run around and scream like they did at the apartment.

We got settled and Jason ran out to pick up some lunch.  We sure missed having a kitchen table, but it was still easier to eat in the hotel room than to take everyone out to a restaurant.

After lunch we met Mariana for our visit to the US Embassy.  When we arrived at the embassy we were informed that the visa system was down, but they were going to try alternate ways to process Ivan's visa. About 90 minutes later while we were filling out the paperwork by hand, it all of a sudden came back up. We had a quick interview and Ivan's visa was approved.

We took a taxi back to the city and center and did a little shopping before returning to our hotel.  We relaxed for a bit and went over to Pizza Palace for dinner.  Ivan loved the spaghetti with pesto.  We followed up dinner with some gelato before picking up some drinks and fruit at the grocery store and returning to our hotel.  It had been a long day and we were all tired.  We were all asleep by 10:00pm.

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 9

A friend had shared with us that not only does Raffy have good dinner and gelato, but they also served a nice breakfast.  Since Sunday was our last day before moving to our hotel that offered free breakfast, we decided to give it a try.  Vitosha Blvd. was very peaceful at that time on a Sunday morning.  Only a few people were out.  It was very relaxing. 

The server brought us the English menu, but it was the lunch/dinner menu and didn't include any breakfast items.  We asked her if they had a breakfast menu and she brought a small menu in Bulgarian that included four choices.  They did not have a breakfast menu in English and she could not translate, so we took a chance and chose two of the four items on the list for our family.  We had no idea what would show up at our table, but everything else we had ever ordered from Raffy had been good, so we hoped this would be good, too.  We ended up with a breakfast platter for two that included eggs, sausages, a small salad, and french fries with mayo and a traditional Bulgarian breakfast with cucumbers, tomatoes, sliced meats and cheeses, and some tasty chocolate chip bread. It was all very good and there was plenty there for all four of us.  

After breakfast we walked over to the grocery store to pick up a few items.  It had been very hot outside, so we tried to do most of our outdoor activities either earlier in the morning or in the evening.  We finished our shopping and went back to the apartment to rest for a bit. Jason ran out and picked up a quick lunch for us.  Later in the afternoon we were able to Skype with our church family during their morning worship service.  It was nice to have a little contact with our friends back home and to let them know how our trip was going.  

After the Skype session we walked over to Wok to Walk for some Chinese food.  Wok to Walk is a little stir fry restaurant on Vitosha Blvd. where you choose your rice/noodles, meat, veggies and sauce. The portions are generous.  Two meals was plenty for all four of us. Nikolas really liked eating there and had been asking to go back for several days.  The first time we went Ivan didn't want anything to do with it, but this time he happily ate lots of chicken and rice.  Our family really enjoys Chinese food, so we were hoping that he'd come around.     

And as normal, after dinner we met Ben and Heather for our nightly gelato. Bulgarian gelato is so good.  They have lots of different flavors and it doesn't cost much at all.  We could get four dishes with one scoop each for about $5 total.  Sometimes we even splurged and got two scoops!  (Since being home I have attempted to satisfy my gelato cravings with store-bought gelato.  Sadly, it's not even close to the same.)  Families who are traveling to pick up their children should definitely check out the gelato shops!

After our snack we headed back to the apartment and got the boys to bed so we could get things packed up and ready to move to the hotel the following morning.

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 8 - More Souvenir Shopping

After breakfast on Saturday morning we decided to walk over to our favorite souvenir shop.  We have been to this shop on several previous visits to Sofia and have always been very happy with it. They have a wonderful selection and the staff is very nice.  For anyone traveling to Sofia who is looking for a great souvenir shop, check this one out.  It's located in the Serdika metro station.  If you go in the entrance next to the St. Nedelya Church, go down the stairs and make a couple of turns until you get to the corner.  There are lots of souvenir shops in this area, but this one is our favorite by far.


We were able to pick up St. Nicholas and St. Ivan artwork, traditional costume tops for each boy, jogging suits for each boy, some rose products, a Bulgaria t-shirt for Ivan, a set of matryoshka dolls and a few other items.  Since this was our last trip to Bulgaria for a while (not planning another visit until we take the boys back for a visit when they are teenagers!), we bought a few more souvenirs than normal.

After the shopping trip Jason stopped by Raffy to pick up a pizza for lunch.  The pizza there was very inexpensive (around $5) and was plenty for all four of us.  The pizza and a bottle of Coke was a great lunch!

We had an early dinner and then got the boys in bed at a decent time.  We had been staying up way too late every night so everyone was tired.  After the boys were asleep Jason walked back over to Raffy to pick up a couple of their amazing desserts.  He said it was very busy on Vitosha Blvd. at that time on a Saturday night.  We enjoyed our strawberry pie and peach cheesecake before crashing for the night.

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 7 - Sightseeing and Shopping

On Friday we spent the morning at the apartment catching up on laundry and relaxing.  We heated up some leftover pizza from Raffy for lunch and then decided to do some sight-seeing and shopping. We met up with Ben and Heather and walked to the St. Nedelya Church and Presidential Palace.  We also visited the White Stork gift shop since so many adoptive families speak so highly of it.  We had searched for this specific gift shop on several previous visits to Sofia and had never been able to find it.  We finally found it, and honestly, I wasn't very impressed.  It was small, hot, and the employee wasn't very friendly. We picked up a few souvenirs there and headed back towards Vitosha.  Here are a few pictures from our sightseeing adventure:

We stopped for a few groceries before making our way back to the apartment. We visited several grocery stores, but this grocery store seemed to have the best selection.  (For any families who are staying near Vitosha, it's located at 2 Solunska Street.)   Our normal shopping trips included a variety of juice, yogurt, soda, cereal, milk, fresh fruit and snacks.  They had everything we needed.  Ivan fell asleep in the stroller on the way back and was not interested in napping when we returned to the apartment, but Nikolas rested for a bit until it was time to leave again.

We had an early dinner before meeting up with Ben and Heather for gelato.  After our snack we walked to the end of Vitosha Blvd. near the National Palace of Culture.  Being Friday evening there were a lot of people out.  Nikolas really enjoyed the many street performers.  We loved having dinner outside and then walking along Vitosha Blvd. in the evenings.  After a while it began to feel very normal to us.  It was so relaxing!    

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 6

After breakfast we met Mariana from our NGO near our apartment and then walked a few blocks to meet the Greene family so we could take care of the kids' medical appointments.  We caught taxis at the city center and rode to the medical center.  The kids are required to have TB tests as part of the checkup, so we had that done first.  We then went back upstairs and waited at least 30 minutes for the doctor to return.  The kids played with toys in a room that was very hot while we waited.  The appointments were quick and easy.

We took a taxi back to the main intersection near our apartment.  It was early afternoon by this point, so we ran over to Burger King to pick up a quick lunch.  We took it back to our apartment and enjoyed it there.  It was so nice having an apartment with a kitchen table!

After lunch the boys both napped for a while and we had a chance to relax for a bit.  Later we took a short walk around Vitosha Blvd. before meeting up with Ben and Heather for dinner.  We decided to try Raffy for dinner and were so glad we did.  It ended up becoming our favorite restaurant in the area.  The menu is huge and the prices are great.  They also have amazing desserts!!  If you are an adoptive family staying in Sofia, you need to try this restaurant.

After dinner we stopped by the grocery store for a few items and then headed back to our apartment for the evening.

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 5

On Wednesday morning we woke up and stuck around the apartment for most of the morning.  The past couple of days had been very busy so the boys needed some calm time to recover.  We used our microwave and heated up some leftovers from Wok to Walk and Raffy.  Having an apartment with a kitchen definitely came in handy.

After a quick nap we met up with Ben and Heather for the first of many gelato dates.  Today we chose to try the gelato at Raffy and it didn't disappoint.

We went back to the apartment for a bit before meeting up with Ben and Heather for dinner at Boom Burger.  Burgers aren't very popular in Bulgaria, but this place sure made good ones.  They also had tasty chicken, french fries and onion rings!  Kayla stopped by and said a quick goodbye since they were flying out early the next morning.  After dinner we made a quick trip to the grocery store for a few supplies before returning to our apartment for the evening.  It was a quiet day, but we sure needed some down time!

 

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 4 - My Birthday!

This is the second time I've spent my birthday in Bulgaria.  We had made plans to meet several other families at the Sofia Zoo on Tuesday morning.  Due to the rainy weather, a couple of families decided to postpone their zoo visit to the following day.  The weather seemed to be clearing out, so we went ahead and stuck to our original plans.  The temperature was cool enough and we knew that it was going to be hot for the rest of our trip, so we took advantage of the perfect weather.

We found someone working downstairs in the apartment building and had him call a taxi for us.  We didn't realize that we could have easily found a taxi by walking a few blocks to the city center.  The zoo was about a 20 minute taxi ride.  Taxis in Sofia are very inexpensive, so the trip only cost about $5-$6.  Zoo tickets for our family of four were a total of 10 lev, which is less than $6.

The Sofia Zoo is a lot different than a typical American zoo, but it was a great way to spend a few hours.  We met up with Ben, Heather and Delaney for a bit and enjoyed our visit.  We thought it was a little funny that the zoo had both a skunk and a raccoon exhibit.  Here are a few photos from our zoo visit:

We returned back to the apartment early that afternoon and both boys napped for a bit.  After the nap we had dinner at Pizza Palace with four other adoptive families who were also picking up their kids. We had met on the Bulgarian Adoptions Facebook group and decided it would be fun to get together. It was such a fun and relaxing evening.  Being with others who were going through the same process was very comforting.

After dinner we walked to the grocery store with Ben and Heather to pick up a few groceries before heading back to the apartment for the night.  It was a great day!

Bringing Ivan Home - Day 3 - Gotcha Day!

We woke up Monday morning and had a quick breakfast at our apartment before meeting our driver downstairs.  The drive to Kocherinovo was about 90 minutes.  The scenery was beautiful.  We saw plenty of fields of sunflowers along the way.  We arrived at the social worker's office just before 10:30am.

When we were in Kocherinovo in February we noticed a lot of stork nests.  The town is well known for the large number of storks that live there, and we were told that we should be able to see some stork families in the summertime.  It didn't take long at all to spot some storks in the nests at the town square. I wish we would have had more time in that area, but we were on a tight schedule.

After picking up Ivan's social worker we drove over to his foster family's home.  It had been almost six months, but I still remembered exactly where to turn.   We pulled up and went inside where Ivan was waiting for us. We visited with the family for a bit.  Nikolas and Ivan played and got to know each other.  And then it was time for Ivan to say goodbye to the family who has cared for him since he was only three weeks old.

I cannot say enough good things about his foster family.  They are a very sweet family who love Ivan so much.  I am thankful that we are able to keep in touch with them, because I feel like they are part of our family.  It's amazing how one little boy can pull two families together on opposite sides of the world.  

Ivan had a tough time leaving and cried for the first 30-45 minutes of the trip.  He then fell asleep and didn't wake up until we were close to arriving at the police station.  We met with Mariana, our NGO representative, to apply for Ivan's passport.  Mariana is the one who picked Nikolas up from his orphanage and drove him from Dobrich to Sofia four years ago, so it was nice to see her again.  We also met the Greene family who had just picked up their daughter.  They were with the same NGO, and we ended up spending a lot of time with them.

After wrapping things up at the police station the driver took us back to the apartment.  We dropped off our things and walked over to Vitosha Blvd. for a quick lunch.  We knew Ivan liked French fries, so we chose a quick fast food lunch.  We finished lunch and went back to our apartment to relax for a while.

Later that evening we had dinner at Wok to Walk and then stopped by the grocery store to pick up some juice, soda, bananas, yogurt and snacks to get through the next couple of days.  We also picked up some banitsa from a little shop that we were told about.  It was amazing!

We headed back to the apartment and got the boys to bed before enjoying some of that tasty banitsa!