School is over for the kids. Matt and Julia will go to a special needs camp down the street, all day, for 6 wks, they will start this thurs. It's a great place, this will be Matts 3rd summer there. I think Julia will do ok, this will be the first time she will be away from me for 6 hrs straight since coming home last summer. Update on Ashley: she is such a great kid, helps out with her siblings. She made her first communion in May, played her first year of softball, her team became her age group champs last saturday, she was proud, so were we. She had a great year of 3 rd grade, doesn't need reading group at school any longer, as she now tests above average in reading/comprehension. She recently turned 9 2 days ago. It is hard to believe that double her age, she will be a young adult of 18 yrs. I truly enjoy being with her. Matt: had a great year of school this year, has learned alot, he can be such a good kid too. His speech is awesome, as his GI DR said in a note, "Matthew is doing extraordinarly well, from a medical and developmental point of view" When Matt went to Childrens-hosp dental clinic last week, he would hold open doors, eleveator doors for people, he was so polite. His adult teeth are coming up on the bottom, but baby teeth aren't loose, so we'll see what happens naturally with that instead of getting him into the OR, if possible. the dentist than told "this is highly unusual, don't see any adult top teeth (on x ray), we'll give it time, and hopefully they will come in" HOPEFULLY is right! We were able to get Matt off of prevacid for reflux. He is doing quite well. Julia: the hep is nearly gone out of her system. She is still very little, weight is 36 lbs, and about 3.5 ft tall, she is the size of a 3-4 yr old, her clothes are 4-5 shorts/pants, 5 shirt. We are seeing the International Adoption/Developmental Dr thurs, as it's been 10 monthes since Julia saw her, and the Dr wanted to see her. The Psych wanted me to consult with this Dr for the autistic tendancies since it is most likely related to Julias early years in the orphanage, the negelct, and so on. She babbles alot now, her receptive to english language is 23 monthes, and her expressive language to English is only 17 monthes, as the school speech/language woman tried to test her. As we hear about bad, abusive, international adoption stories, we think that after Julia being her nearly a year, could be a success story. she is very attached to us, yells now and again, but as a toddler would, likes to be with us, she likes to be held, hugged, will seek us out if she needs something, will seek us out if she takes a spill and is crying. She does have a very high tolerance for pain, since her early years, if she was hurting or not feeling well, no one probabaly cared enough to take the time to help her, so why bother to cry. She doesn't rock anymore, after being released to my custody last year, she would rock for hours, and suck her fingers, still suck them but just in sleep. I think she really likes life now, and she has a normal life, full of love, affection, caring, support, and all that a kid needs. As for Frank and I, he loves his new job, I may look for a PT job in the fall, as the kids will be in school all day, even Julia. We are all healthy, happy. Life is so great!

I spoke with the Hep C RN this afternoon, we have SUCCESSFULLY eradicated the virus from Julias system. She will still have to finish the 24 week treatment plan with meds and labs. I was so chocked up with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I also brought Julia to get glasses this morning. We were finally able to get a right script for her eyes. She ddn't flght or scream, like the last eye appt. I asked the optometrist about the glasses script, she said "not to get you very worried, becasue these glasses should really help her to see, but her nearsightedness is so bad, it makes her vision very poor, she is most likely in constant blurred vision, and can't most likely see beyond 3 feet" I was annoyed at the eye Dr appt, becasue we were there for almost 2.5 hrs, since they were so behind, I didn't ask about the script. Wow, wow, wow!!!

spoke with the Psychologist this afternoon, regarding the parental intake I did before the Psych test that we didn't do. He tallied the results, she has the mentality of a 18-24 month old toddler the Pscyh Dr gave me 3 names and numbers for Dr's that can give a neuropsych tests for children that have the mentality of a toddler. Not surprised in the least.

Julia had another hepatology appt this morning. The Dr and Hep RN feel that Julia is doing well, her labs are going in the right direction. The previous labs showed that the viral load has dropped alot, and this is a step in the tight direction, but the labs that she had drawn today, will determine success or need to continue treatment longer than what we tried for. The Dr felt that Julia will only need labs once a year for about 3 yrs, and than call it quits, if all goes well. She's into the hospital rputine now, and doesn't freak about going there. The Dr just thought it was a little odd that Julias BP was so differant the 2x we took it on each arm. Today was the first time I didn't put Julia in the stroller from the garage to the hospital, she was fine, didn't do the "flop and drop", no lousy behavior. We were waiting to check out from the appt, and a teen girl approached me, "I just love kids with DS, she (Julia) is so cute, she 3?" I told that Julia was 7, she was adopted, and so on and so forth, she began to cry, "why wouldn't her parents want her, she's adorable, at least now she's in the US with a loving family, and asked if she could give Julia a hug" the girls mom was in tears, think some of the staff, and the parents in the waiting area. Very touching. Made my day. Not some of the jerks that just stare. I think Childrens Hosp is one of the few places, where no one gives you a 2nd look, unless they comment how cute my kids are 10 monthes ago today, I woke up in my own bed after spending a month in Ukraine, and now a family of 3. Today at the appt, Julia was measured, as every, for height and weight, her height is now 3-5", she has grown 5" in 10 monthes, since leaving Ukraine, and has gained 5-6 lbs. Hearing thunder in the distance, guess I should put out the dog before a storm. Oh yeah, Ashley doesn't have to go to reading group at school, where she received help, she now tests above average in reading and comprehension, awesome. Matt is doing great too.