A Couple Of Days Worth

Regular routine day (two days ago)

Yesterday really messed with LG’s nap and he went to bed super late so I thought we’d just do a ‘normal’ day today. 

So since this isn’t vacation- I vacuumed, did dishes, laundry, breakfast, and made beds. The whole time LG was asking to go ‘gigi ’ which is his word for outside. He LOVES to be outside! Finally at 9:15 we headed out to the park and played for two hours.

When we got home we got to do a video chat with my mom! I loved seeing her and getting to talk to her while she is in the hospital recuperating from her surgery. Finished up with a lunch, a 2 hr nap (LG not me), ice cream, walk, dinner, playdough, coloring, playing trains, blocks and finally bed. We are working on better bed time rituals to make going to bed easier for LG. Please pray for that.

Hope your day is going as well as ours! (yesterday)

Today started out fabulous with a good night sleep by all! (Always a blessing) 

We were preparing ourselves for the social worker visit this morning. Since it was during our park time we went to have coffee and saved the park for once the visit was over, due to LG being upset when Adam leaves (one of the translators and in country support). 

Adam and the two ladies, we have met before, came over about 10:30 and we sat and talked while Austin and LG played. They were very happy with his progress. They were also impressed with the schedule, the activities we brought and the daily activities we do. They asked about LG’s schedule, his eating, his communication, English words. They also paid us a huge complement and said we should help other adopting parents and even Hungarian parents! They even laughed and said that they (the Hungarian parents) don’t even have the language issue we have. :) I know that this is all thanks to Gods grace and your prayers. As expected LG was sad when they left so we headed to the park for a bit and had hot dogs and a burger for lunch. 

Also today I had an opportunity to hire a local lady to cook us a homemade Hungarian meal and do some light cleaning while I am by myself. Oh My Gosh! She made an awesome Hungarian Goulash! LG and I ate it again today and still have some left over! She was such a sweet lady and we spoke using the iTranslate app on my phone that translates spoken word. It was pretty neat to get to talk directly with her rather than calling Adam or George. When she said my name I would think of my Aunt Mary Lou ( and her good cooking!) She was even sweet enough for me to take her picture. I look forward to having her back next Friday! 

The rest of our day was routine to the park again , ice cream, coloring, and other fun games.

(This last part I'm (Tony) adding for just a little bit of fun)

Forest Train And Another Site Seeing Stop

Today we had our first official site seeing outing. We rode the tram to the forest train then the forest train all the way up to the end and on our way back the took a stop off the train and visited a scenic hotel. The grounds are soo beautiful!!

We ended our day with a walk to ice cream, the mall then the grocery store.

Home for some playtime and then bed!

Continue to pray while Tony is away that LG can adjust. When he sees Adam he sometimes gets confused or just has a connection with Adam and it makes him sad when Adam leaves. We FaceTime with Tony everyday but it is a very weird concept to him.

Pray that bedtime routine can be calmer and less of an agitation on LG. (He is 4 so this might never be the case ;) )

Praise that we have a come home date!!! Pray that nothing gets in the way! (More info to come).

The Days Are Running Together

Normal routine of park, home for nap, out for a walk/grocery store run.

The team of the country we are in played in a Euro 2016 game and it was telecast across the street in the plaza. We enjoyed having the window open and listening to the cheers of the crowd while we watched it on the computer. My computer was apparently delayed because I always knew when a good play or score was coming up. Pretty fun!

We went to the local tourism office do find things to do. Austin and I planned our first trip.

Austin enjoyed coding his first website using the Hopscotch app. Pretty cool and super proud of him!

And don’t forget the ice cream!!!

Another Day In The Neighborhood

Another great day!

It’s interesting school is still in session here, but the ‘casual’ days of school they go to different places in the pic above they the kids were at the park and then bike off, they also go for ice cream or to the mall. Pretty interesting. These were elementary kids but we have seen all age groups. Sometimes one class sometimes several together.

Pray for Austin. A 4 room apartment (counting kitchen and bathroom) isn’t enough space for him to adjust to being a sibling and LG can be loud and excited. Austin isn’t used to it and gets to him pretty quickly.

Blessings 
- LG loves kids and enjoys making friends at the park.

- fun as brothers at the playground.

- went to a bakery shop around the corner. butter bread, chocolate croissants, cinnamon bread! Yum!!

- LG got tired of kneeling so he moved the pod from the other room to sit on.

- LG showing me his cleaning skills (mopping)

- a sweet lady that gave the boys chocolates on the way to ice cream.

- grocery store walk

- didn’t get rained on.

Another Great Day

Wasn’t sure If the weather would hold up but it did! Thanks for your prayers.

Blessings: 
- rain held off

- days are starting to have a routine

- had coffee at a shop that I could order in English. (It was a chain but loved not fighting through an order!)

- Convincing LG he has to do one Starfall letter (educational app on his tablet) before Matchbox car tablet game.

- LG wanting to hold Austin’s hand rather than mine.

- Visiting some statues

- Visiting new friends from Austin Tx (met them at a zoo in Hungary)

- FaceTime with Tony

- ICE CREAM (every day… We have to blend in and be ‘locals’ right?!?)

- Silliness

- Smiles

- coloring

- cars

-After we walked the Sheen family (the new friends from Texas) back to the train station we took the metro back to our apartment. Marking a thing Austin wanted to do off our list.

ANSWERS TO PRAYERS

Today couldn't have gone better! Well... If Tony stayed that would have made it THE BEST DAY! (We miss him bunches already and it's only been day 1 of 14. But Austin is the best helper and cheer-me-upper I could ask for.) 

I knew we had to leave when Tony did at 9am because the rain was coming and I would have been a crying mess if I didn't keep busy, so we headed to the park thinking it was going to be like most where we sat on the bench and watched but LG was ready to play and this continued all day!

Blessings to count: 

- Had to wake up the family to stay on schedule :)

- Had a fabulous time at the park and even found a new playground and a zipline for Austin. 

- Had fun playing games, coloring, eating, everything. 

- Found a new shopping mall (actually the one Adam was trying to tell us about be we were directionally challenged) 

-  Had ice cream (btw I think you are required to have ice cream every day here) 

-Successfully went grocery shopping 

- Austin- I cannot say  enough about this kid! He is amazing! 

- LG growing to like us 

- Lots of walking to help my emotional state :)

Continue praying for: 

-my solo flight as a mom of 2 for 2 weeks 

- Tony as I know he'd rather be here than working (gotta pay the bills) 

- LG's disposition continues to favor us

- Austin's patience and understanding during this time

- the rain to go away ( 5 days have rain in the forecast ) so we can keep up our routine and not be stuck in a small apartment or walking to the mall in the rain. 

Catching Up On The Last Couple Days

Today I am heading back to the U.S. God has been good and has given us encouraging moments each day that has made my leaving today, while still not easy, easier. Even just a bit ago while I'm still on the road to the airport, I got a text from Jen with some pictures of LG and Austin playing on the playground together. That helped a lot and is a big move forward for LG after the last few days.

So while traveling to the airport, I thought I'd get you all caught up on a couple posts we just didn't have time to get onto our blog here.

(From earlier this week)
ROUTINES
Lots of things remind LG of his foster family. As he’s learning about our family and our routines, he’s having to adjust to a new life.

The last couple days have been difficult but they are improving little by little. We do a lot of talking, playing (more like we play and LG cries watching), walking, and some movies.

From this point on we are counting our blessings:
-LG walked around town (rather than being carried. He didn’t want to but it was good exercise for him.
-He ate dinner.
- He told us he was ready for bed and went peacefully.
- We started our routine.
- We explored more of the city.
- Adam told us we were on the right track and gave us encouragement.
Continue praying for more great moments and less sadness.

(From last night)
LITTLE STEPS

We had a mixed day today, but overall it was a better day. Austin and Jen had worked on a schedule that we/they are going to try and follow each day to help LG get into a routine. He was still pretty down this morning but we started with the routine and after breakfast we went out for a walk down to one of the playgrounds we’ve located. He didn’t cry as much on the way there. Once there he didn’t want to play but did watch the other kids for awhile. He and Jen then took a walk around for a bit and then it was time to head back.

Once we got back he started to get upset again but we stuck to trying to keep to the schedule which meant a snack and then some coloring and/or working on English words/letters/colors. He cried through a lot of it but we pushed on. We had some lunch and then he and Jen went into the bedroom to play a little and the next thing I know they are playing and having a good time. He started playing with his Kindle tablet and loves this hot wheels game that is on there. Things were starting to turn around but then it was almost like someone flipped a switch and he was looking sad again. I think he was just getting tired. Jen went to put him down for a nap but he was not happy about that. There was much crying and screaming but finally he fell asleep…and slept for at least and hour and a half…maybe almost 2 hours.

Once he got up we walked to a mall that is not far away. He did really well and didn’t really cry at all. After we walked around the mall for a bit we stopped in the food court and got….what else, Austin’s favorite, McDonalds. Well, turns out LG likes Mickey D’s himself. On the walk back home we stopped and got some ice cream and watched a parade.

Back in the apartment he started to get sad again and we tried watching one of the Ice Age movies but he kept crying during it. Jen took him into the bedroom again and low and behold, again Jen started playing and having fun and finally LG joined in, after awhile jumped back on the tablet and was playing hot wheels. He even got himself comfortable on a chair in the living room, reclining sideways in the chair with his legs hanging over one of the arms, while playing. The rest of the evening went really well and he even helped give himself a shower before bed. Jen put him to bed and he fell asleep pretty quickly with no fuss but with the normal little kid stalling. ;-) Jen said when he fell asleep he was holding the police car we bought him at the mall today though.

This was also a day for Austin to learn how to do a few things to help Jen while I’m gone. Taught him how to work the washing machine here so he can get loads started for Jen if she is having to deal with a melt down or something. He also learned how to hang the clothes afterwards.

So ups and downs today but overall it was a good day. Please pray for tomorrow (now today) as I leave. I’m really concerned it may set him back a little because now here’s another person who is “disappearing” from his life that he is just getting to trust. He doesn’t understand that I’ll be coming back. We are going to try to video chat, hopefully at least once a day so he can still see me. Pray for continued successes with LG and just for added strength and patience for Jen and Austin during the 2 weeks I’m away.

(As I was finishing this up last night, there was a fireworks display going on outside. We think it had to do with a festival that went with the parade I mentioned earlier. It was pretty cool and luckily it didn't wake up LG!)

    

TODAY IS THE DAY!!

We have our boy and are heading to our new apartment for the next part of our journey. The paper work took about 1 ½ hrs but LG in our arms took 2 minutes. Our only regret is that we didn’t get a picture of all of us. Foster family and us together. We didn’t expect it to go that fast. It was for the best but sad we didn’t get that memory for him. The gentleman at the local government building was very nice as we were getting all the paperwork done. Currently there is what sounds like a salary dispute between the birth certificate office and the Hungarian government that has been causing some issues with being able to get official birth certificates quickly. Be in prayer that they are able to start working together so there isn’t a delay for us when it’s time.

Sorry…we started this yesterday (Tuesday) and are finishing up this post today (Wednesday). The trip to our apartment took around an hour or so and LG slept a good portion of it, which I think was good as he was pretty upset with everything. Once we arrived, George was here to meet us. We got settled in to the apartment and then discovered that the internet wasn’t working. Adam and George tried to mess with it but couldn’t get it going. Then they made a phone call and it sounded like George was getting pretty upset with someone on the phone. A couple of times I think, with a grin on his face, Adam had to calm him down. They had a person come out but he wasn’t able to get it to work either. Finally it was decided that we would use a T-Mobile MiFi type device until today when they could have someone come out and fix it. Once they left we started getting settled into the apartment and then went for a walk to a playground. LG didn’t really want to do too much at the playground but did like the one ride that the kids stand/or sit on and then you spin it around. 

We also played in the apartment and broke out a Lego Duplo set we had purchased for LG as well as some Play-Dough. There were a lot of mixed emotions yesterday (and still today) for him as well as the fact that he isn’t feeling well. He’s still has had a little bit of a temperature as well. We are giving him his medicine but between the temp and the emotions it’s been a little rough. He will seem fine and then start crying. It’s understandable as it’s the first few days of being away from his foster family. 

We spent about 30 mins trying to figure out the washing machine here but we got it and have gotten a couple small loads done. Hey…it’s the little things right? Also last night I was trying to plug in our power converter so we could charge our phones, laptops, etc. and I knocked out the power to the apartment. I called Adam and he said he’d be right over in about 15 mins. He arrived and he had his girlfriend with him. I felt horrible but he and his girlfriend were very nice and understanding and Adam made sure to let us know he was available 24 hours if we needed anything.  He showed me where the breakers are and we got it working. Now though, if I do it again, I’ll know where to look! ;-) He also helped us with the gas for the stove. It had been turned off outside. Finally with everything worked out, we were able to settle in and finish off the night. LG did not want to put on his pjs or go to bed. I held him and he essentially cried himself to sleep while I was holding him. I then laid him in the bed and we all got ready for bed ourselves. Jen ended up sleeping with LG and Austin and I slept in the other room on the futon. This morning, Jen said that LG tossed and turned and kicked like Austin used to. There have been more emotions this morning and we thought maybe watching a movie, Rio with the colorful birds, may distract him. Well, instead he fell asleep again while I was holding him during the movie and slept for just about the whole thing.

Finally decided we probably needed to get him outside so Jen, Austin, and LG have gone for a walk while I wait for Adam to come to hopefully get the internet working in the house. Thank goodness for the MiFi device for now!

Please understand if we aren’t able to post as regularly as we had been. These next few days are going to be pretty hard for all of us as we all still get adjusted to each other and there is no timetable for this. No set amount of time that it’s supposed to take. Obviously none of us wants him to cry but he needs to process his grief and we want him to. I’ll be honest that it’s getting harder for me as it gets closer to time for me to travel back to the states. I feel guilty leaving them all here but we all understand and are just hoping that maybe LG starts to feel better overall by the time I need to leave (still knowing that there is no timetable…just hoping). Here is what I would ask that you pray for: strength for all of us, comfort for LG both emotionally and with whatever it is that is making him not feel well, compassion for each other even when nerves get frayed, that we are able to give Austin the mom and dad time that he needs as we try to help LG. He is 10 but he still needs mom and dad and we are mindful of that. Really, for an extra measure of God’s love and blessing on our family. 

Day 7: A DAY AT THE POOL *and a tour of the city

Today was another beautiful weather day. We had George with us today, giving Adam a break. When we got to the foster home LG DID NOT want to leave and was very upset. Luckily we were headed for an indoor pool only a few miles away. We got there and headed for the locker rooms to get changed. I put LG into the swim trunks we bought for him but he was not too happy about it. We think he may be more used to European style swim trunks and that the mesh inside the ones we brought were bothering him. We finished changing and headed out to the pool. They had a children’s pool with a small slide and some plastic water creatures that kids could sit/play on. We started to get in but LG DID NOT like it when I went to sit down in the pool while holding him and the water started touching his feet. We had been told that he prefers showers to baths so we thought that may have something to do with it but George also said that he didn’t think that LG had been in a pool before. We thought maybe after some time he would warm up to it but that never really happened. He did enjoy watching Austin slide down the slide and blow bubbles in the water. He also played with a little watering can filling it up with Jen and pouring it out. Jen and I then took turns walking him around the outdoor pool which he seemed to enjoy. We also met a lady, who we think was German but did seem to know the language here. She saw how LG was upset about the water and tried her best to talk with him and help relax but she didn’t have much luck either.

Finally we decided to call it and go get some lunch. He still wasn’t too happy and only ate 1 bite. After lunch, Jen gave Austin and LG some change to use in a bouncy ball machine and LG did seem pretty happy about the bouncy ball he got. We all piled into the van and headed back to his foster parents’ house. We had fun in the car playing. He’d “hide” the bouncy ball and we would wonder where it went. Then he would show us the ball and we would be very surprised. Once we got back he very proudly showed his foster mom the ball. When we got back in the van to leave, LG started crying and calling for “Momma.” The last couple of days have gone that way. In the morning he doesn’t want to leave and in the afternoon he wants to come with us. He knows some things are changing and he is just not sure what is going on.

On our way back to the city we have been staying in, we were able to briefly stop at the Lego factory (one of 6 in the world) and take a few pictures. Then once we were back to the hotel we headed out on a tour of the city center. Jen had discovered a mobile app that lets you download walking tours of different cities. You download the info for the city you are wanting to tour and then it shows you a map with the points of interest. You follow the map using your phone’s GPS and as you get near the points of interest the app starts playing the tour guide messages and shows images of the item. The app is called PocketGuide. Some cities are free while others do cost some money. We really enjoyed the tour we took. It was just about 3km, had 23 stops and took just around an hour and a half.

Tomorrow the foster family is bringing LG to the government building and we are meeting there to sign the temporary guardianship papers and then we will be heading to the next city where we will be living, with LG, in an apartment until we head to the embassy for the last time and then back home to the U.S. We also found out that we can’t go to the U.S. Embassy for the first time until June 28th because the person we need to see is on vacation for 2 weeks…..of course. So it is looking like I (Tony) will be flying back out here around the 25th or 26th and will stay until we get to go home. We have an idea of when that may be but it isn’t confirmed yet.

Please pray for the best day possible tomorrow. I think it is going to be very emotional and difficult for all involved. Also pray for our time in this new city as LG gets adjusted to a new full time family and we get adjusted to new schedules and a 24/7 life with a 4th member of our family.