Ella and Daddy Video

This girl pretty much cracks us up most of the time. She's so much fun!

The Latest

Ella just keeps getting cuter and cuter these days. She is progressing so well. We are seeing new things every day. There seems to have been a real jump in Michella's relationship with her Daddy. He has recently almost taken over the book-reading portion of our night-time routine and is the one to go get her and bring her to our room when she wakes up in the morning. She is letting him do this without protesting, as long as she gets to come see mommy right way, which I love because then we get to cuddle for a bit while we're waking up. This is HUGE!

Her angry "No!" is lessening and her strong rejection of Andrey at strange times is also lessening. After understandably resisting for sometime, it seems she is beginning to let herself relax and trust him. A big part of this is due to Andrey's kind, fun and devoted attention to her as often and as much as possible. When he is home in the evenings after work, they are playing. On the weekends, they get hours and hours of play time together. My absolute favorite thing these days is hearing the sound of her belly laughter when they play together. And seeing her courageously trust this goofy, tenderhearted father of hers, brings tears of joy to my eyes. She is so brave and courageous. We just keep falling deeper and deeper in love with our girl. I'm so, so happy that Andrey is finally getting to love her in a hands-on way and no longer from afar.


In other news, we were in Manila last week for Michella's visa medical and interview. Sadly, we weren't able to complete her medical due to the fact that she received a vaccination the week prior, which apparently interferes with the TB skin test result. It's too bad we didn't know that ahead of time. Thankfully, they allowed us to go ahead with the visa interview portion at the US Embassy. We were told Ella has a visa as soon as the medical is complete. Yay! We'll be back in Manila later this month to complete the medical. We are certain all will be well and so we just booked flights to the US from March 28 to May 28. How exciting to get to finalize this process soon and make it official.... not that we need a piece of paper to tell us she's our daughter but it is a wonderful feeling to know she will soon be a legitimate Sawchenko!

Here are all our good photos from the past few weeks...


Ella and her #3 favorite (Daddy was recently upgraded to #2). Based on how long Gerald lets Ella lay on him and how gentle he is with her, it is clear that Gerald loves her, too.

Mimi is here!! My mom is visiting for 3+ weeks. It's so great to have her around watching her enjoy her newest granddaughter. We are having a great time. Ella has four grandparents who love her so much. We are thankful for this. My Dad wasn't able to join for this trip but that's okay, we'll be in Alabama next month.

Cheers, Mimi!

Just chillin'

Look! A rainbow!

Mimi came bearing more gifts. Look at my cool, new phone! 

What does Ella like more than building blocks? Knocking them down and saying, "Wooaah!!!!" 

Daddy taught her that.

Taking kitties for a walk

Morning cuddle with mommy and beloved kitties

This girl loves accessories

"Helping" mommy bake bread

Fun play hats from Mimi

Tea party!

Valentine's dinner. Huge thanks to my Mom for cooking us a delicious beef stew with potatoes, lemon Parmesan French green beans, and homemade bread. Add a bottle of wine, chocolate cake with whipped cream and local strawberries and you have a feast. Since it's too soon to go out without Ella, Mom made us this special meal and then gave us the evening to ourselves. What a treat!

Four Months with Ella

It is always interesting to think back to what Michella was like when we met her four months ago and compare her to our daughter today. She is not the same girl. I can't believe it's only been four months. It feels like we've been together much longer.

Here are a couple of videos to highlight the difference. The first is from our first few days together. The second is from last week.

Michella brings us so much joy. Here are a few things that she loves....

Going for a ride in her car seat, especially with snack in hand

Playing with her favorite toys, Fia and Gerald. Sometimes they don't respond to her tactics to get them to interact the way she would like. Here she is trying to get Gerald to play with her toy shapes.

Jumping in the front seat for a few minutes of play each and every time we need to go somewhere.

Playing hide and seek

Wearing pretty dresses

Her daddy

Her mommy... and balloons

Things she can jump and bounce in. She shocked me the day recently she went into a moon bounce without me and with lots of other big kids in there!

Skyping with Grandma and Grandpa in Canada. She also loves to skype with her cousin Annika.

Sleeping in her crib. Her favorite sleeping buddies are Andrey's old childhood blanket and puppy.

Holding (mastering) Gerald

Posing for a picture (when she's in the right mood)

Wearing socks

 Talking on the phone and watering the plants, while wearing socks

Trying to get Gerald to talk on the phone

Taking care of her "baby" or one of her many puppy dogs. She will feed them, wrap them in a blanket, put them to bed, change their diaper, wipe their bum, and cuddle them while speaking very sweetly to them. Very cute.

Peaking out of a window saying "Hi!" before climbing through the window and then demolishing the cardboard house mommy just made by knocking it down and marching all over it.

The swing and the slide

Having undivided attention from her parents