So....why Russia?

Something people ask us all the time is why and how we chose to adopt from Russia.
Brent and I both felt called or "led" to adopt. A seed was placed in our hearts after our 3 years of infertility in between Jackson and Avery. Once we decided that we should adopt, where we should do it from was next. After much prayer and research we decided on Russia. Here are some statistics we came across that helped us decide.

More than 700,000 orphans are living in 2,000 state-run orphanages. Of those, 95% have a living parent either unable or unwilling to care for them. Sadly, that does not include the estimated 2 million to 4 million homeless orphans living on the streets and in railway stations....

Of those who are nor adopted and leave the orphanage between the ages of 16 and 18:
-50% of the girls become prostitutes
-40% of the children become addicted to drugs or alcohol
-40% commit crimes
-10% commit suicide

As if that were not bad enough...
-Just 1 in 10 former Russian orphans becomes a functional member of society
-132,500 children are abandoned to the state in Russia every year, up from roughly 67,000 in 1992.
-Nearly 4,640 Russian orphans were adopted by Americans in 2005, down from a record 5,865 in 2004.
-13 out of every 100 children adopted by Russians are eventually returned to the orphanage.
-40 million children in the former Soviet Union are living in poverty.

Sources: Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

So these statistics along with the fact we were interested in an infant led us towards Russia.
We prayed that God would lead us to our daughter and He did. There were a couple of things that God gave us to let us know He was there with us. I call them "signs".
Caroline's name in the orphanage was Kristina. After we got our referral we looked her up on the Russian orphanage databank and translated the page with Google. We then sent it out to family. Brent's mom called us in awe. She was typing her name and paused. Christina was the translated name. Christ's name was in her name. Diane remarked how faithful God was in letting us know that His hand is orchestrating this whole adoption. It was very comforting. Then, as we landed in Russia for the first time I prayed that God would give us another sign that this child is the one He designed for us.
On our 1st visit with Caroline there were 2 things that stood out.

She had a very large dimple in her chin that was not noticeable in the referral photos. This is a prominent trait from my side of the family.
My dad has a large dimpled chin and I have a slight one. The second thing was a red birth mark on the back of her neck that is prominent on the Monroe side of the family. Brent, Brent's dad, his brother's and many of their offspring (including 2 of my kids) have this birthmark on the back of their neck. No joke, Caroline had it on her neck. It seems to be fading now, which makes it that much more freaky.


These 3 things cemented our decision to pursue this little girl half way across the world in a Russian orphanage. This little girl known as Kristina for 14.5 months, is now our 4th beloved child known by God all along as Caroline Hope Monroe.

Hanging around the house...

 

 

 

 

We are just keeping busy here in our house.
We are so excited to get a visit from Nene this Friday and Aunt Angie the following Wednesday!!!! Yipeee!!!
Some more exciting news is that my baby sister Holly has her baby girl, Graceyn Elizabeth, tomorrow!!
I will post pictures of her when I get them! Graceyn makes granchild #9 on my side of the family. Crazy!
The weather has been beautiful and we take the kids to the park and tennis courts as much as possible! Tomorrow afternoon is supposed to be in the 80's! You gotta love the south!

A cupcake for Caroline!

 

 

 

 

A sweet friend of mine invented a delicious cupcake in honor of our Caroline!
It is made of angel food cake, vanilla whipped cream and mangos!! Yummmm!

http://the-cupcakery-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/sweet-caroline-hope-angel-food-cupcake.html
Enjoy!

Sweet Caroline Hope: Angel Food Cupcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream and a Mango Tango

(Caroline Hope - 1 year old)

Hi friends! I have a delightful story to tell you; one which is sure to touch your heart as much as it has mine! And naturally, a cupcake is involved. I hope you are as eager to try this recipe as I was to come up with it! 

This story begins with my dear friends, Amy and Brent, who have received a blessing of love in their life. A precious, beautiful family with three children Jackson Brent [11], Avery Grace [5], and Savannah Reese [2] which was not yet complete has finally closed the loop on a heart with a sprinkling of angel dust and an answering of prayers. For the past year and seven months, Amy and Brent have been in the process of adopting a baby from Russia. Finally after much praying, long days of waiting, making several lengthy trips back and forth to Russia and to the orphanage where Caroline Hope was waiting patiently for her family to come and get her; on March 30, 2008, the whole family was brought together in the United States.

The way I know to mark such an exceptional event is to create a unique cupcake! I knew I wanted this cupcake to be extra special and not overly complicated to assemble, so I pulled out my trusty Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook which always delights me! I decided to use Jennifer's Angel Food Cake recipe because it is first and foremost, easy! As many of you might think when you look at the recipe, do not be intimidated by the amount of egg whites required [2 cups]. A short cut which has worked for me in the past and one which I would encourage you to use should you be short on time (or eggs); is the egg whites which come already separated. I have relied on those in the past and have not been let down.

Secondly, this recipe will work best in a stand mixer, but do not worry, a hand mixer will work just as well should you not have a stand mixer available! Since we are moving into the warmer Springtime weather, if you can find farmers markets with luscious, juicy peaches and nectarines; as well as some plump, tart blueberries to mix together with ripe, succulent mangoes, you can then drizzle a lovely mango tango over the creamy homemade vanilla whipped cream. Most large grocers should carry mangoes through out the year. The key is to look for mangoes which are more red than green.

Spring is about new beginnings. If I had to put Springtime in a cupcake, this would be it. What better way to have a new beginning for Sweet Caroline than with her new and very loving family! The weightlessness of this cupcake is what I imagine angels wings to be like and the wispy, light sweetness of fresh vanilla whipped cream, topped off with a glorious golden mound of mango tango. Fresh mangoes, white peaches, nectarines, and blueberries; finished off with a fresh sprig of mint! Need I say more? Enjoy this recipe and wishes of a lifetime of happiness to my dear friends. They are tangible proof of the saying "Good things happen to good people!"

Best!
This is what "joy" looks like!

Angel Food Cupcake
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
13 or 14 egg whites (2 cups)
1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375° degrees. Line cupcake pan with papers and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour with one cup of the sugar. Sift these together three separate times. Set this aside and place remaining sugar in a separate cup for later use.

3. Place the egg whites in a standing mixer bowl and, using the whisk attachment, turn the mixer at the lowest speed.

4. After 1 minute, add the cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt.

5. After another minute of beating, turn the mixer to medium speed and gradually add the 1/2 cup of remaining sugar. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula whan all the sugar is added. Resume beating until the whites are stiff but moist. (This should take about 3 to 5 minutes.)

6. Transfer the egg whites to a large bowl. Sift the flour-sugar mixture over the whites and gently fold until all the dry ingredients are mixed in.

7. I used a small ice cream scooper (2 scoops) to fill the cupcake liners and it was the perfect amount. The cupcakes baked for 9 minutes but each oven varies, so watch your baking times. I would say no longer than 10 minutes as the bottoms may burn.

8. Cupcakes will be done when a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Remove cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting with Vanilla Whipped Cream and drizzling with Mango Tango.


Vanilla Whipped Cream
Makes about 2 cups

1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp. confectioner's sugar

1. Combine ingredients in a cold stainless steel bowl. Mix with an electric mixer with whisk attachment, on medium until soft peaks form. Be careful not to overmix as your whipped cream could turn buttery. 

2. Add some Wilton gel food coloring to achieve desired pastel color. I used yellow, but any color will complement fresh fruit.

3. Once your soft peaks form, transfer whipped cream to piping bags, carefully, and pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. 

4. Drizzle with Mango Tango and garnish with fresh mint just before serving.

Mango Tango

1 or 2 medium, ripe mangoes, pitted and chunked
2 or 3 large, ripe white peaches, pitted and chunked
2 large, nectarines, pitted and chunked
2 oz. fresh blueberries

NOTE: If you have never cut a mango before, see directions below on "HOW TO CUT A MANGO"

1. Once Mango, Nectarines and Peaches are cut, combine in a large bowl and add Blueberries.

2. Drizzle over cupcakes frosted with Vanilla Whipped Cream, just before serving.

HOW TO CUT A MANGO
1. Wash and peel your mango. Be careful after peeling the mango as they can become very slippery!

2. Hold the mango firmly with one hand. Starting from the outside slice downward cutting 1/2 inch slices towards the center with your opposite hand. 


3. Once you reach the pit (you will see a long white pit in the center) turn the mango and repeat the steps.

4. Continue this process until all the fruit has been cut off of the mango.
5. After all the slices have been cut; cut the slices into chunks, place in a bowl to be mixed together with white peaches and blueberries for the "Mango Tango" to be drizzled over the top of the fresh vanilla whipped cream and angel food cupcakes.

Yesterday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day....

 

 

 

 

but today was sooo much better!
Here is a couple of shots from our evening of tennis, swimming and playing at the park!

Sleep... oh sweet sleep.

To sleep like a baby; it sounds so easy.
Savannah can fall asleep eating her cheerios but I can't fall asleep for the life of me.
Just a 30 minute nap, that is all I need.
Murphy's law always intervenes.
The neighborhood dogs barking, kids fighting, phone ringing, babies suddenly awaking, the lawn guys mowing, front door knocking, my mind racing.....
Are you kidding?????
Every once in a while, conditions will be perfect.
So......why can't I sleep?
I swear, it will be the death of me.

A day in the life....

 

 

 

Caroline had her follow up doctor's appointment today. Her ears are getting better and she does NOT have rickets!! She also has gained a little bit of weight. So things are going great for her. The last thing we are doing is testing for intestinal parasites and catching her up with her shots.
The older girls have had fun dressing up this week. How many times can we change clothes? Hmmm.....
Jack Attack is still the glue that holds the kids together. He's the king of the playroom with the power of the DVD player and the almighty Wii!!

Caroline's charcoal portrait from St. Pete's

 

I talked some in our blog about the drawing we had done by an artist on the streets of St. Petersburg. I thought I would show it to you along with the picture he sketched it from.
We thought he did a wonderful job!

We're still here...

We are moving right along here in the Monroe house. Tomorrow marks 3 weeks since we have had Caroline in our arms forever! She is doing wonderful. She loves all the kids and is attaching very well. She is still a ball of joy and always smiling. She is really catching on to English, and amazes me every day with something new. She really is very smart. I know all parents say that about their kids, but it is true. She is like a sponge and mimics everyone...too cute!

We are still having issues at night. Brent and I pretty much stay tired. She goes down easily at 7:00pm, but wakes up throughout the night. Sometimes more than others. It really is like having a newborn in the house. We are a "sleeping" family (if you know what I mean)so this is a huge adjustment. The only thing that gets me through it is knowing it is only temporary. One day, sleeping in on the weekends won't be a pipe dream anymore!!!! ha ha

On a sad note we will not be getting our puppy this summer after all. After a lot of thought we decided it would be best to wait until the fall. We are all disappointed, but know it is for the best. We want Caroline to have our undivided attention and make sure she is good and adjusted before bringing in an active puppy. I want to thank everyone for their honesty (HOLLY) with comments like, "Ya'll are crazy!" to bring us to our senses.

Not much new to report right now. We are taking it day by day and it is getting easier and more natural. There was a bit of mourning for my "freedom" for a while. Summer is always a fun time for our family and it is up in the air as of now. We are hoping Caroline will be able to handle a new sleeping environment when we travel. But of course she is still having trouble sleeping here, so....... we will see.
On a fun note, we noticed yesterday that Caroline was taken off the Russian Orphan Databank on Friday. I have heard of it taking months and months, but for her it was only 2.5 weeks. Bye bye Kristina!!! (that was her name in the orphanage)

Lunch with the girls!

 

Moving along...

I took Caroline to the pediatrician today. She has an ear infection in both ears and even had a hole in one of her ear drums. This caused all kinds of green leakage from her ear. What is amazing about it is she was only slightly grumpy. Caroline evidently has lived with this pain for a while or has a high threshold for pain.
She weighs 18.6 pounds which puts her in the 3% for her age. She is in the 5% for head circum. and the 10-25% for her height which is 29.5". She had blood drawn and x-rays to check for rickets. We should find out those results soon.

Overall she looks good, just small. I have no doubt that we will catch her up quickly. I have heard of PI(post institutionalized)kids gaining a pound a week once home. I pray that happens for her. Caroline has big hands and big feet. She also has broad shoulders. Her birth mother was pretty tall, so she's sure to sprout up soon!!

I think the infected ears might be our reason for the short naps. I am sure she has been uncomfortable. We will see as the days go on! She has been laying down in the evening wonderfully. We are so blessed to have her adapting so quickly. Now if I could just adapt to having an active 1 year old again. Whew!!!

Oh, by the way...

 

Did we tell you we are getting a puppy????
Yes!! We were so devastated when our little Sweet Pea passed away last July. We could not even entertain the idea of another dog at first. But OH MY GOSH, we missed having a dog around.
I have always wanted a Golden Retriever and Brent finally agreed! So, after some research we found a great breeder and put in an application. Well, on March 27th (Jackson's birthday) our puppy was born!!! She is one of 5 and supposed to be quite the chunk! What an exciting summer we will have!!!!

Today has been a good day...

Our trip home from Russia was not as bad as I was expecting. The flights were long, but Caroline did rather well. She did get antsy during the last several hours, but still better than I had imagined. Now, that being said, I would NOT want to do it again.

Our family met us at the airport with so much love and enthusiasm. Jackson and Avery Grace were so very ready to meet their new sister. They gave her flowers and were dying to hold her. Savannah it seems enjoyed the concept of Caroline more than the reality as she refused to even look at her. Now in Savannah's defense, we came home to a sickie. She catches things so easily and then keeps it for weeks. She had high fevers, sore throat,cough etc...Because of this, the first couple of days were rough juggling 2 needy (and jealous)babies. The good news is that Savannah is feeling better and accepting her more and more every day. I have even sneaked a peek at them playing dolls together once!

Caroline has been pretty easy in every aspect but sleep time. Attachment is going wonderful, no hitches at all. This was my biggest concern through out the adoption, so I am absolutely thrilled! She does fabulous on the bottle, gives good eye contact, looks for Brent and I to play, notices when we leave the room and happy when we return. All of this is natural stuff for children raised with loving parents, but something to achieve with orphanage babies. I could go on and on, but I won't.

Things are still pretty hectic around here and probably will be for several weeks as we develop a routine. If we could just get her sleeping routine down without moving heaven and earth we would be deliriously happy!!

Princess Caroline...

 

Here is a sample of the pictures I took today for Caroline's adoption announcement. She was a little tired, so rather serious in a lot of the photographs. They turned out beautiful though!