Monday morning... whew... Jane and Jennea were not feeling well after our weekend away and both decided to stay at the hotel and rest up. So our team fell immediately to 4 people (Emily, Kerry, Krista, and me) luckily though we have Lori, our wonderful Romanian high school volunteer who showed up again today even though we were told she was only volunteering for 1 week! YIPEE!! Lori, we love you!
We brought in all the items we picked out at Carrefour in Iasi. We were all excited about the fun stuff we got and hoped the kids would be too. Since I didn't take many pictures on Friday I decided to start out right away taking pictures as soon as we walked in the door. Sami left to go back to the Placement Center but in his place we got a new girl, Elena.
Paula started out the day in her crib (well actually it was Gabi's crib but it is the one Paula prefers when we are in this room).
When we started getting out the toys she wanted to see what we were doing. Here Emily is showing Paula a special vibrating hippo we found just for her. She wasn't very impressed! LOL
Meet Valle (the boy we thought was a girl who came on Friday)! His hand is covered with a sock due to his IV. He has already had cleft lip/palate surgery. He lives at the Child Placement Center (which is what I was calling the Home for Disabled People I am pretty sure).
Krista holding Gabi. Gabi is holding one of the smelly (parfum minge) balls I found at the first gas station we stopped at during our trip to Iasi! LOL
Gabi and the strawberry ball
Mihaela with a pair of the sunglasses we brought back... eating a snack. LOL
Mihi feeding Emily the snack (tastes like Styrofoam in my opinion but Mihi loved them!)
Mihi being a sweet girl and taking care of Gabi.
Ana-Maria's dad came by for a visit. It is just him at home so he doesn't feel he can take care of her. He asked for his picture to be made with her and he wants a copy. We are going to try to get a print for him. He was there for bottle time and he tried to feed Ana but she is a little difficulty to feed so he gave her to Emily! LOL 
Valle spotted Gabi with the ball and took off crawling to get it!
Mihi pouting because she wasn't getting her way (above)..
but we called her on it (below) LOL
Success!! Valle got one of the balls!
Isn't he a cutie!
Mihi ate these snacks like she was starving :-( She ended up eating the entire bag.
Gabi with her new favorite ball. Emily has a ball like this at home and thought that Gabi would like one. Boy was she right! It is filled with glitter and Gabi loves it. We keep having to protect it from the big kids!
Mihi pouting again... LOL
Gabi and Paula.. parallel play LOL
Kerry has been great about hanging out with Maria-Cleopatra (above) and Nadia (below).
They both love her and her crazy stories!
We have another new kiddo. Her name is Elena. She is such a sweetie! At this point in the morning we weren't sure if she was allowed out of her crib but she is!
Mihi back to her sweet self. She was reading the book then Emily told her to read it to Gabi. (We are really trying to reinforce the whole "sister" thing.)
How precious is this?!? I love these girls!!
Lori helping Valle ride the motorcycle that Krista found in Carrefour.
Gabi trying to decide which she likes best, the glitter ball or the Romanian speaking Fisher Price "cd player"... of course the ball won out!
Mihi playing one of her favorite games "sus"
Out of all these new toys Mihi spent forever reading the directions to the cd player!!
Mihi just doesn't get the concept of the motorcycle yet. She won't push herself along. Instead she kind of walks and carries the bike between her legs. LOL
An older girl, Catalina, helping Mihi try on some of the items we bought. Funny thing is we bought all of these warm weather items and now it is in the mid-60s and rainy. So the fabulous canopy/tent we bought for the playground isn't going to go up this week!
Paula loves the cd player.. that was surprising to me!
Elena trying out big Andreea's old chair. :-)
Mihi eating another snack and reading the tag off a toy Piglet Krista found at the gas station.
Catalina and Mihi
Elena -- what a smile!!
Mihi and Emily
Okay most of you know that I am going to miss seeing Bon Jovi in Romania by 1 day!!! Ughh!! Still trying not to think about it.. but we have seen 2 commercials about it already and that is just on the TV in the dining room!! (We haven't even turned on the TV in our hotel room yet.) Anyway while we were in Carrefour (which is the closest thing they have to a Walmart or Target in this part of Romania) I saw these 2 shirts and knew I had to buy them for the twins! One is a VIP press backstage pass.. and the other has a drum set on it.. LOL So in honor of Bon Jovi...
Mihi giving Gabi kisses
Gabi in her VIP access shirt
Mihi with her "rock on" concert face!
Gabi loves my ThirtyOne bag!
Gabi playing with the TV that we brought over for Jane Patton. Jane shipped it to us in TN to bring to Cristi but he went home before we got here. All the kids love it though Jane!!
Mihi and the TV :-) (and the garbage in her hand LOL she loves tags off of clothing or toys)
Gabi styling in her sunglasses... apparently she likes the red ones better than the blue
Goofing off at lunchtime -- This advertisement is on the first floor of the hospital. Emily keeps insisting the girl looks just like Krista! LOL She does!
Em taking self portraits.
Gabi (above) and Mihi (below) still sleeping when we came back from our lunch break.
Raul watching Jane's TV! LOL
We finally broke out the bubbles that traveled with us from TN.
Coca loved them as much as the kids. LOL
Paula doesn't care for the bubbles.. she went into the room across the hall and moved this yellow chair over to this special spot and sat down for a break! :-)
Mihi and Emily
Catalina dancing. (Catalina is here at the hospital without a parent and spent the day hanging out with us. She loves Mihi and plays really well with her.)
Elena slept the entire afternoon.. the change of venue was apparently tiring! :-)
Parenting and nurturing therapy (or care) with supported organization Global Volunteers -- the signs on the doors of the rooms we use.
Just so you know.. this blog took 1 hour and 37 minutes to upload pics and write.. that is why I am behind!! Because now it is bedtime or I will be tired all day tomorrow!! LOL Thanks everyone for reading and praying for us all! Please pray for all the older children who are at the hospital without their parents as well. They seem to be handling it well but it hurts my heart to see them lingering in the hallway watching us from afar! I think Emily and I are going to take in our UNO cards tomorrow and try to teach them how to play. I'll let you know how it goes!
15 comments:
Thank you so much for the pictures. I met Gabi in Tutova in November and she wasn't at the hospital in April. I don't know why she is back, but I was happy to see her face. I wish I could give Paula the kisses on her back that she liked when I was there. I had a cold so I didn't want her hand on my mouth for her sake. Is Ana Maria still wiggling and smiling and turning over with glee and pride?
Thanks again.
These pics are so great! You all are doing a great thing! btw the girl does look like the poster.
I completely understand how much time it takes to do the blog, especially at the end of a busy day. It is much appreciated but having said that your focus should be on taking care of yourself, Emily and the children! Good to see Gabi smiling. And at least one benefit of her going home is that she and Mihaela have developed more of a relationship.
I love all the sunglasses! Such great picks, and it looks like the kids are having a blast with you all! Emily looks so happy to be there too! Glad she got to make the trip with you. :) Love you both!
What a gift to read about the babies and see the photos!! So moving to see and read about the children. We have so much to be thankful for--we just don't ever realize:) Prayers for you and EM!! love you all, nancy
Love the Blog; the pics are so precious. It is amazing to see the happiness created by one tiny ball. Of course I love seeing Em in the pics, but I want to see you too. Put Em on camera duty part of the time (lol). Praying blessings on you, Em and all God's little children. Luv U, Mom
I love reading your blog. All of us in the US get to see the babies and love them right along with you through your blog. It makes me want to go with you, but not when it's so hot! LOL Give all the babies hugs and kisses for me. Praying for you and Em! Miss you guys! Love you!
Thanks for bringing the toy over, Terri, and for the great blog...love it! Could you ask Mihaela if she has heard anthing about my Andreea or Cristi since they went home. You guys are doing a great job and the kids look really happy. I loved the video of Mihi dancing. I remember her dancing to that Glee song last summer too.....
What a great idea to play UNO with the older kids!
Mihi has become my new favorite :)
Hi Terri. Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us. Don't feel badly if it becomes too much too upload all those photos. They take forever to get onto the blog so it will really be okay with all of us if you write a little instead so you can get some much needed rest! It must be draining compared to our previous schedule of being able to go back to the hotel for a cat nap during lunch! The kids look so happy and I am sure they love having Emily to play with! Take care! xoxo Lauren
Thank you all so much for your comments.. I *love* doing the blog and sharing the babies with everyone! So I wasn't complaining.. just explaining why I always seem behind! :-) Sonja, Paula is getting those kisses from Emily, my daughter! So now worries she loves it! Ana Maria is a wiggling, rolling mad woman! We are working with her on sitting up and using those stomach muscles!
I think she does too Tiffany! I just never even noticed it until someone pointed it out.. makes me realize I'm not as observant as I thought!LOL
Thanks Evan! We are resting and drinking out Emergen-C! :-) I too love that Mihaela and Gabi seem to be more aware of each other as siblings! Dan mentioned last night that they are probably going to be going back home at some point not into foster care... can't decide if that is a good thing or a horrible thing!
Thanks Mandi! Emily is happy.. she loves it here as much as I do I think! :-) Love you too!
So true Nancy, so true! Thanks for your prayers!
Momma, Emily has taken some pictures of me and they look HORRIBLE! So don't be holding your breath :-) It is the little things that matter the most! Love you!
Not too hot this week Trish! LOL When your kiddo grows up a little bit we will cover over on a spring break!! Love you!
Jane, Mihaela will be with us today so I will ask her and let you know!I have more videos to upload from Monday.. they make me smile so I hope they make you guys smile too!
Buggy Girl ;-) I know, is she not precious! So full of life! I'll let you know how uno goes.. not sure if we can make it understood! LOL
Thanks Lauren, the break at the hotel is truly missed! That was a great time to work on bits of the blog and just recharge.
The pictures are brimming with love. What a wonderful use of the internet, to spread happiness and beauty. I hope you can feel our gratitude for doing this....
Mary Beth
Love it, love it, love it! I would like to request that you bring Mihi and Gabi to me ASAP. I agree with Trish...I want to go with you but when it's cooler!! The thought of those older children being by themselves breaks my heart. I can't even imagine what that does to their little spirits. Love you guys and praying for you and thinking of you all of the time.
Thanks for all your work and love
Em is blessed to have you for a Mom
XXOO
I got all choked up when I saw the picture of Ana-Maria and her father and read your caption. So sad! I never knew what Ana-Maria's story was, and I just assumed that she was abandoned. I wonder what happened to her mother?
I was also thrilled to see Gabi smiling, in her sunglasses. I don't know that I've ever seen her smile before.
I miss these kids so much! I have to start saving up so I can come back!
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