April 2017

Here comes spring!

Gloria, silly girl, under the table.

 Krassimir was helping Mira by putting her pillows on top of her while I was giving her a sponge bath!

Gloria wanted to help clean between Mira's toes.

Bogomila's taken just fine to living with cats.

She also enjoys baking with me!

Little mama Gloria.

Matching sisters at an appointment at Gillette. Same shirt, same bright pink pants...

Everyone (almost) over at the project table. Leah, Reuben, Rinnah, Krassi, Evania, Gloria...

Evania is helping me put away the laundry. She knows right where we keep Tsvetomira's cloths for under her mouth.

And she's so proud of herself!

Reuben is very into lining things up. Today it's apples and cars along the kitchen counter.

Krassi was the lucky recipient of a souvenier Daddy brought home from a meeting - a blue foam car. Little boy was tickled pink!

A new trim for Bogomila! Apparently it's fun to be able to experiment with your hair.

Gloria's giving Mira a chance to talk on the play phone.

Enjoying a visit from Grandma and Grandpa (for Leah and Evania's birthdays)

With an extra set of hands, we attempted a day at the pool! This was Gloria's first time in a swimming pool. Leah is such a big helper with her.

Bogomila was thrilled to see Grandpa again. He's one of her very favorite people.

The birthday girls! Leah is ten, and Evania is three!

Big girls/cousins talking together.

Gloria directing the show.

Krassi always enjoys his time with Grandpa, too.

Gloria - what a ham! And Mira's getting so good at sitting up for long periods of time! Here she is on Daddy's lap while the girls open their presents.

Looking pretty with a barrette in her hair.

Cute hat on Grandma!

The sophisticated colors were Evania's choice - she's my first three year old daughter to not want pink and purple.

Leah's cake was fun, too. Chocolate/chocolate with tiny blue dots.

How old are you, 'Vania?

Reuben lives for these kinds of days!

Owen and his buddies working on some serious business.

Evania got a ladybug dress from her aunt and ladybug boots from her grandma! Lucky girl.

Our tandem bike is fairly adaptable for Bogomila to ride with Dad! I think this is the first time she's ever been on a bicycle, and she really enjoyed it. ;)

First all-family photo since the girls came home! Not too bad for all of the variables. Thanks, Uncle Steve, for capturing such a good one!

Of course, getting a good one means we also got ones like this one:

More baking.

Owen's pretty capable with little ones for a twelve year old male!

Love the outfits.

First trip to the library for Mira. She usually stays home with Dad, but some days that isn't an option.

Mira's not the only one fed by g-tube around here. Here's Evania feeding Tuna Eileen.

Big girl eating a big apple all by herself.

Leah's feeding her baby, and Gloria's playing along, too!

Krassi and Mira - brother and sister now, but orphanage mates (without knowing it) for their whole lives previously.

Leah loves to hold her older sister.

Even rabbits can be fed by g-tube around here!

A beautiful day to take Evania's new chalk out to the driveway.

Happy coordinating sisters.

Cute, Bogomila! Always fun to help in the kitchen...

Owen and Axel wrestling on Easter Sunday.

We had a color-coded Easter Egg hunt outside - what beautiful weather.

Gloria happy in Evania's boots!

Love that sweet smile on Mira's face. Daddy often holds her for a while before bed, and here he's stretching her tight hands. Apparently it feels nice!

And what a look here! I'd probably do the same thing if my hair looked like that. ;)

Leah and Rinnah got brand new babies with hard bodies so we can drill for a real g-tube insertion.

Bogomila's chocolate makes her look just like her Dad...

Owen getting all set up to ride off for his first job of the year!

Notice Glory's wooden shoes...

More baking.

At the Glewwe family reunion.

Bogomila, Evania, and I went for a walk. Look how far (with my help), Bogomila walked from her wheelchair!

But crazy girl wouldn't quit. She had to take frequent rests, but she kept going! Evania's resting with her.

And then we put Evania behind the camera, with some pretty good results.

Girls by the river.

The baby cousins.

Owen Walter and little Walter Paul.

Reuben got hit so hard by seizures over the weekend that he just spent it laying on the couch, but fell to pieces as we started the drive home. We finally figured out that he had missed getting to throw rocks in the river, which we do with him every year. We stopped at a wayside, and he and Matt and I got out, threw some rocks, and then were able to continue on our way.

A new style on the hair.

Climber Krassi!

Fun selfie I discovered on my phone. These two...