Meeting Kellsey

Today was another whirlwind day!! Oleg, our facilitator, picked us up at 8:00. We went to pick up Nadya (translator) and a social worker and Inspector then headed to Kellsey's baby home. Once we were there we sat around for awhile while they got paperwork ready, and then we went to her home...


This is where Kellsey lives right now. There are about 20 children in her home... about 800 in all the buildings combined.

We went into the office of the doctor. She was a very pleasant woman, and seemed very happy to have us there. She told us a little more about Kellsey... some that we already knew...

Kellsey was born on November 6, 2006 and weighed 5 lbs, 9.5 oz. She was born at 37 weeks gestation. Her mother was 29 years old. Kellsey was actually the 4th pregnancy and the second live birth for her mother. She had 2 miscarriages. I'm not sure if Kellsey has a brother or sister or how old they are. Kellsey's mother was in good health. She gave up all rights to Kellsey at the hospital and left her there when she learned she had Down syndrome. At the age of 1 month Kellsey was moved to the baby home and has been there ever since.

She was born with a 2 holes in her heart, one of which has since closed. The other is a minor murmur which should not require any surgical intervention. Her adenoids are enlarged. She has been sick 3 times in her life with the flu at the ages of 3, 6 and 9 months. She was hospitalized one time for bronchitis. She is otherwise very healthy.

Kellsey is very social and curious. She likes to know what is going on around her at all times. She has a high capability to learn. She follows directions well and speaks a lot. She knows the names of all her caretakers and friends. She LOVES candy and oranges, but the citrus fruit causes a reaction if she eats too much. She is potty trained, brushes her own teeth, plays appropriately with toys, and is very loving.

With that they said they would bring her in... they warned us that she was not familiar with the doctor's office (and it was too cold to go outside) so she might feel uncomfortable at first. She cried for a second when she walked in the door, but I was SO happy to hear her cry. She was scared... it was appropriate for her to cry! I've heard of so many kids who DON'T cry because they think no one will come anyway.

Nadya offered her candy and she stopped crying and came in and sat down. The doctor talked to her a little bit and then we showed her pictures of Kassidy, Kameron, Kennedy and Keeghan. She loved that. She looked at them over and over. My mom, Frank and I were in the pictures too, but she was more drawn to the kids, especially Keeghan. We told her they were her brothers & sisters & grandma and mama and papa.

After she was done with her candy, the doctor gave her a baby wipe to clean her hands. She wiped her hands and face and then cleaned mine and Frank's hands, it was so sweet. It became a little game. We would put our hands down and she'd grab them back up and flip them over so she could clean them more.

We played with some toys with her and the doctor got her to sing a song, it was so cute... no clue what it was! Frank pulled out the video camera and recorded her and then played it back to her... she was in AWE! He then became the coolest guy on the planet! LOL She wanted him to do it over and over so she could see "Vika".

She finally let him pick her up and then not long after I got to hold her. Ahhh it felt SO good to have her in my arms!! I gave her a kiss on her cheek and she said, "thanks" (in her language! LOL). We took some pictures with the regular camera, which she took from me and held up to her ear like, "WHY isn't this thing talking to me?!" She thought it should talk like the video camera did! Smart cookie, I tell ya! :) She liked looking at herself on there too though!

Then it was time for us to say goodbye. She gave me a hug and then Frank picked her up and she gave him a hug and wouldn't let him go. I think she's going to be a daddy's girl already!!! The doctor promised her we would be back, so she finally let go and waved bye and walked out. Man I hated to leave her there!!!

OK this is long enough and I know you all are waiting on pictures so I will get this posted and then tell you about the rest of our day later. LOTS more to tell!!!

The 3 of us...

With "mama"

With "papa".. she was still trying to figure everything out.

Playing with toys...



Our sweet girl!!! I can't wait to get her HOME!!!!

PLEASE don't forget to go down one post and leave a birthday message for Kameron! He'll be reading! :)