Here are some pictures to bridge some of the gaps between the end of January and now.  We've had lots of events since Brody has been born.  Inna's teacher quite at her school so we changed preschools, Inna had her palate surgery and recovered well, we had Nana live with us for 2 weeks while Inna recovered from her surgery and we took our first road trip to St. Joseph and Jefferson City to visit our families.  Whew!  Here are some pics:) 

Brody during the first week of being born...

Brody at month 1

Brody at month 2

I took Inna to meet up with some friends at Chick-fil-a...this is their silly pose:)

I love this picture...he's so stinkin' cute!

I just love her smile! 

Brody likes the bobby pillow...so comfy!

This is Inna right after surgery:(  We stayed one night in the hospital.  Not only did they repair her palate, but they also took out her tonsils and 2 teeth.  She was in a lot of pain and was on many medications.  The first week she was only allowed liquids, then the following 2 weeks she could have foods that could be squished between 2 fingers.  We ate mostly bananas, pasta, and pudding during that time. 

Yay!  We get to go home:)

This is the 2nd or 3rd time Inna held Brody...he was 8 weeks old.  This transisiton has been hard on her but this was a sweet moment.  Brody was crying in my room and she told me he was scared.  She insisted on holding him right there on the stairs.  She sang to him and held in his pacifier.  LOVE:) 

Cute smile! 
P.S.--The tape is to help close the gap of the cleft.  He wears it nearly every day and we change it after several feedings because it gets dirty.  We have already seen the gap decrease, which will help for his upcoming surgery.

My Aunt Bev from Florida, my mom, and Nana

I love watching Brody eat...isn't he adorable?  :)  Those fists!

"Your Grace Still Amazes Me" Phillips, Craig & Dean

This song is so beautiful and pretty much sums it up!   "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him."  (X2!!)  1 Samuel 1:27



Last picture before delivery!  I was ready to get to the hospital...can you tell?!




Proud Daddy with his son, Brody!




Mama and Brody...so happy to hold him in my arms!




Happy sister and loving to play baby with her brother.  Such a sweet moment for all of us:)





Inna is getting the hang of feeding her baby:)



Up and running again:)

I know it's been a while since my last post...two months actually!  A lot has happened in our lives but I'll just stick to the basics:) 

It's a BOY!  We found out September 1st that we were going to have a "little man"!  It's funny... during the time we got pregnant, we were fighting hard to bring home two little ones from Ukraine...Inna and a little boy.  God knew all along we were going to bring back a little boy in Momma's tummy:) 

I'm a country music fan and I really, really like Brad Paisley.  Here is one of his songs called, "Anything Like Me".  It describes the time he found out he was having a little boy.  I think about Todd in this song and how our son will be like Todd.  Here are 25 characteristics (marking the number of weeks I'm at:) that our little "peanut" will have if he's anything like my wonderful hubby:

1.  a prankster and will torment his sister
2.  huge Star Wars fan
3.  will dress up like Indiana Jones every Halloween
4.  play-in-the-mud football player
5.  love Jesus
6.  drive his car too fast but will always wear his seatbelt
7.  hard worker and a gentleman
8.  creative and "out of the box" thinker
9.  quiet--I'll have to ask his teacher everything that happens at school
10. sensitive and caring
11. good with numbers
12. creative and artistic
13. competitive and will not like to lose
14. night owl
15. incredible pumpkin carver
16. precise about the lines when he mows
17. stay out all day on his bike and make his mother worry
18. will be able to play with action figures for hours by himself
19. will sing in the shower like no one is listening
20. be a die-hard Royals and Chiefs fan no matter how terrible they are
21. will know when he meets the love of his life
22. get excited about Christmas every year
23. want to build furniture and toys with all his Daddy's tools
24. will love his grandparents like crazy
25. want a dog so bad that Mom and Dad will give in when he shows us his little dimples...just like Daddy:)


Inna had an exciting weekend as well.  She got tubes in her ears on Friday and she's a ROCK STAR!!  God has blessed us so richly with our little Inna.  She is incredible and amazes me every day.  Here are some pictures of how darn cute she is!:)



Inna in her yellow socks and hospital gown...happy as a clam!



The waiting room had a car like we have at home.  Inna took my keys and glasses and rode off.  I couldn't get a shot of her with my glasses on:(

Still happy and not thinking about not getting breakfast this morning.

The nurses brought in pictures, sample smells of the anesthesia, and this mask to help Inna get prepared for her surgery.  She had a fun time with this!

Inna in her monkey jammies on our way to the hospital!

Another blessing for the Bottorff family!

Over the past 5 years Todd and I have had many adventures together!  Our story really has been a fairy tale since the beginning.  We clicked right away, wanted the same things in life, and shared the same goals for our future and family.  I always loved Cinderella and everyone would agree that he is my "prince charming".  We compliment each other well in many ways and enjoyed our married life with many fun trips, events with friends, and holidays. 

In December Todd and I will celebrate 5 years of married life together.  If you've been following this blog, you will know that a large hardship has been infertility.  Since Inna, we haven't really thought much about having biological children because we feel like she is and has been our baby forever!  She is a perfect fit into our family for so many reasons.  If you've met her, you would understand:) 

Well, God has once again shown His amazing grace and power to us in our lives and He has blessed us with a pregnancy!  We found out while in Ukraine and are now 16 weeks pregnant...CRAZY sweetness:) 


It has been so much fun telling our family and friends this incredible and a little scary news!  Below are some ways we told people about our growing family!!

When Todd and I came home early from Ukraine our family was less than thrilled.  To help explain why, we showed them this picture with the caption:

Trip to Ukraine: $30,000
Dinner at an expensive restaurant:  $100
Shoes for Inna:  $10
Knowing there are 4 people in this picture:  PRICELESS!!

Once they read and understood our announcement, the shouts, tears, and hugs came full force!  It was pure joy!

This picture was taken at my shower with my friends from Lenexa Baptist Church.  This was the first big event we attended where Inna was the center of attention.  Todd took her for a "wardrobe change" and she came out wearing her "Big Sister" shirt to announce we were having a baby:) 





We had a "Meet and Greet" with my 2010-2011 4th grade class.  What a fun time it was!!!  All my families were so supportive throughout this process and they were very excited to meet little Inna.  Of course, it was fun to tell them I was also having a little baby in January:):)  I loved the kid comments--"So, you're having a baby in your tummy too?"  Love it!

This is my Longview Farm family.  These men and women have supported me through a lot of tears and unexpected turns of events over the past two years!  This picture was taken right after I announced I was pregnant while taking a photo.  Instead of saying "cheese" to smile, I shouted, "I'm pregnant"!  What an awesome picture to capture so much great emotion:):)





Princess Inna is going to be a big sister in January!!  AHHHHHH:)

Children's Mercy Visit

Last Friday we had a doctor's appointment at Children's Mercy Hospital in the cranio-facial department regarding Inna's cleft lip and palate.  We met with a social worker, a nutritionist, a pediatric dentist, an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor), an audiologist, the surgeon, and a language therapist.

Below I've posted a picture of the difference between a unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate.  Inna was born with a bilateral cleft of both areas.  Her lip was repaired in Ukraine when she was 8 months old and we have an appointment scheduled for December 7th to repair the palate.  There is a possibility this date could be moved up so we will wait and see. 




One of the largest concerns I had was if Inna's language delay was permanent.  It seems right now her verbal language skills are near the cusp of a 20-24month old.  However, her receptive language skills are right on target for her age if not a little above.  Due to her cleft palate, she is only physically able to pronounce vowel sounds and the "m", "n", and "ng" sounds.  However, she can also correctly compensate the "h", "l", and "y" sounds.  So for now we are encouraging Inna to say words such as:  hey, ham, Mama, Inna, Hi, moo, mow, moon, Nana, Mimi, etc. 

As far as her surgery goes, it will be an overnight hospital stay for 1-2 nights.  Then, there is a 10 day at-home recovery period at the minimum.  This is mostly due to her restrictions on food since it will be an all liquid diet.  It is likely Inna will need a total of 4-5 surgeries over a period of 8-10 years.  Palate surgery (age 3), 1-2 bone grafts (age 7-9), possible lip/nose revision (although no one but Mommy thinks this is a big deal, probably because I was sensitive about mine growing up), and a possible speech surgery if needed.  Overall I was pleased with the surgeon and his perspective on Inna's successful recovery!

The hardest part of the visit was near the 4 hour mark.  We had to see the ENT to get Inna's ears cleaned.  She had a difficult time with the hearing test and they believe it is in part of not being able to see her eardrums due to wax buildup.  Our options were to hold her down or come later and sedate her.  We chose to hold her down.  It took Daddy, Mommy, and a nurse to keep our little munchkin down on the table.  She cried so hard she broke blood vessels in both arms and around her temples:(  After 15 minutes of Inna screaming, kicking, and sweating through the ear wax sucking/picking process, they were finally able to see her eardrums.  We are now giving her ear drops and will re-take the hearing test in a few weeks.

After weeks of praying about this appointment, I am so happy to hear from professionals that she is doing well!  I see her progress every day but it feels good to have others see it as well.  We have a long road ahead of us but I'm reminded to take each day at a time.

On another note, I wanted to post some pictures so this is Inna's first go at making cupcakes.  After watching Daddy take a taste of the batter, Inna decided to dive in as well.  Needless to say, she loved it:)

BUSTED!

Yum! Yum!

Better late than never??

I feel horrible about not putting these pictures on the blog nearly a month ago!  Yes, that's right...a month ago!!  My good friends Deb, Nicole, Jess, and Leah held a shower with friends from church on June 18th.  We had an amazing turnout and little Inna even came...and Todd!  She was a little over-whelmed but I think she did a wonderful job with all the attention.  The food helped as well:)

  Since she loves flowers so much, it was a "flower-theme"!  It was a beautiful day with beautiful people.  Thanks to Nicole and Jess, I actually have pictures since I didn't take any on my own!  All of these people prayed over us, our journey, and for our little Inna.  It was a special time to have everyone together who had encouraged us and prayed over this little miracle!!

The refreshments were fruits, home-made pastries, and sweet breads...yum!

Everybody at the shower signed a picture frame with a special message for Inna.

Beautiful flowers and Inna!

More beautiful flowers and Inna!:)

All the chairs set up for a full house of special friends!

WOW!  Inna has so many fun and pretty gifts! 

Friends and sunshine!

More friends!

And more friends!  Todd was the only man and he sure was a trooper!  I love him so much!

It was a wonderful shower and so appreciated!  Inna has had so many people pray for her already and I can't wait to see how God uses her in our lives and in the lives of other people.  God is so big and good!!!  AHHHHH:)

First visit to meet the JC family and 4th of July!!

This is our first trip to Jefferson City to meet my family.  This included my parents (Mimi and Poppy), my grandmother (Nana), my sister and her family, (Robyn, Kurt, Jade, Austin, Landon, and Lexi), and my brother and his family (Aaron, Holly, and Diana).  Let's not forget all the animals:  5 dogs, 5 cats, and a fish in total!  Needless to say, it was a lot of people, places, and events to take in.  Inna did exceptionally well and we had a wonderful time!!



Meeting Mimi and Aunt Robyn (Obbie) for the first time!



Mimi gave her a giant cookie to welcome her!

I took Lexi to get a pedicure for her 10th birthday and Inna joined in on the fun!

Inna was fascinated with the massage chair:) 

Inna loves Aunt Obbie!

We spent the morning at my father's country club at the pool to celebrate Lexi's 10th birthday.  It was nice because not many people were there so it was like a private party!  My sister made a fabulous 2-decker cake (I don't have a picture!!:( and we had some yummy food!  It was a hot and perfect day for a pool party!

We had a swim party for Lexi's birthday.

Putting on sunscreen:)

Cutie!

2nd cookie of the day with cousin Lexi! 


Nana is a very important person in my life.  I spent many weekends with Nana when I was little and she taught me many things like how to roller skate, the Lord's prayer, and how to cut vegetables for soup!  I was excited for her to meet Inna and am so glad she is healthy and strong to teach Inna new things!!

Inna LOVED Nana's house...she had so many fun things!

Nana helped Inna put all her stuffed giraffes in the dog bed.

Now Inna's in the dog bed...good thing Nana's dog doesn't shed! 

Awwwww!  So sweet:)

Todd replaced Nana's garbage disposal and Inna just had to take a look.  Can I say, "Daddy's girl"??  I love it!

 
In downtown Jefferson City the streets are lined with streets vendors, carnival games, and craft tables.  They have music and entertainment on the capitol lawn and on some streets.  We decided to introduce Inna to the JC excitement with a carousel ride, a funnel cake, and music.  We had a great time and she loved every minute!

Independence Day eve uptown in Jefferson City!

Pretty capitol building

"CHEESE"

Listening to music on the capitol lawn

Proud to be an American!

Our first carousel ride.  Inna was on a horse and Lexi was on a crazy looking monkey!

All American girl!

We had a BBQ at Kurt and Robyn's house on the 4th.  It was a great time for the kids to play together...which let Mommy and Daddy enjoy at the sideline.  It was awesome!!

Inna and Lexi...two water babies!

Cousin Diana playing with Inna:)

Todd brought in the water balloons and the real fun began:)

Todd, Landon, and Austin

Kurt grilling the bratwurst and burgers...yum!

Our neighbor's were so kind to take care of Obi while we were gone and they left a wonderful care package for Inna!  We are so blessed in so many ways!