Following Our Calling One Day at a Time: July and August 2015

In the time between court for Aleks and the judge declaring him our son I visited him about twice a day with Milena (Jason went home the day after court for Aleks.) While I enjoyed getting to spend time with Aleks and the other children in the Orphanage, I felt that it was too hard on Milena and looked forward to having them both with me and not having to make visits to the orphanage. Milena desperately wanted to be close to me and wanted my full attention. Of course my attention was divided between her and Aleks as well as the other children at the orphanage. I loved getting to spend time with the other children, getting to know them and see their potential. Since being home I've been able to advocate a little bit for some of the children I met. I've also been able to pass information along through our agency to the families hoping to meet some of the children I met. Anyway, it broke my heart to see Milena feeling down when she did not have my attention 100% of the time but I also knew that it would be something she would need to get used to as she would soon be coming home to two siblings who both required more care than she did. Below are a few pics from the first days in Armenia (trip 2.)

The day after Milena became our daughter.

The day after Milena became our daughter #2.

Jason's first time meeting Aleks

Visiting Aleks in the orphanage

After Aleks became our son, I was able to bring him back to the apartment with Milena and I. He came to me on a Friday which gave us the weekend to spend together bonding and getting used to each other before we had to continue with paper chasing the following week. It was a balancing act to spend adequate time with both Milena and Aleks. At times I felt like I was not doing either of them justice. I had some difficulty getting Aleks to eat and drink over the first few days and Milena was somewhat jealous of the time I spent with Aleks. I wanted so badly for everything to go smoothly but it was certainly a stressful time. Milena did not know as much English as I had thought she did and she preferred Armenian speakers over me at times. My in country representatives and adoption agency were so sweet and willing to offer help during some of the difficult times but I felt that it would be best for Milena and Aleks in the long run to stay with me and to know who their caretaker was. I still think that was a good decision even if it made some things harder for me while in Armenia.

Some days in country were spent in the apartment figuring each other out. Other days we had paperwork to take care of. We spent much time walking around Yerevan exploring or going out to eat at different restaurants. Some days our in country representative would take us to places like Vernissage (the huge outdoor vendor market), the Yerevan zoo, the children's railroad and she even set us up to take a tour of some of the old Churches/ruins in Armenia. Pictures of some adventures below:

One of our favorite breakfast places Baguette and Co.

Yerevan zoo

Hippo at the zoo. Milena loved the hippo!

Yerevan Zoo

Picture by the horses at the zoo.

Not so sure about those camels!

Family pic on the Children's Railroad

Another favorite place to eat: Artbridge

Aleks' first spaghetti, at Artbridge

Another breakfast at Baguette and Co. They got to know us there and would bring Aleks these cute mini-muffins (he wouldn't eat them but it was a sweet gesture!)