The Goodwins

Merry Christmas to all…

Santa, can we be friends?

We have had a wonderful and relaxing day!

Our first Christmas at home in MI.

While Kirk and I didn’t feel the real holiday spirit right away (without our family around, with all the daily grind,  doctors appointments and surgeries) we have had a very happy day! Ella enjoyed opening all her presents (I think there are 3 left she must be saving for tomorrow). She’s really got this unwrapping thing figured out, and is all smiles with each new gift!

We ended our family day with a very yummy meal completely prepared by a thoughtful husband (all mine!). I happily cleaned up singing along to Christmas songs and smiling the whole time. Soon we’re (Kirk is) off to give Ella a bath and maybe early bed as she skipped a nap today, and then Kirk and I can relax in front of the fire… sigh.

Last night we had a visit from Santa and his elf (Miss Barb, our friend/teacher/babysitter has a personal connection). Ella was unsure so Santa kept his distance and kept inching closer until they were almost touching - very cute! You can check out all the pictures at

http://ellagoodwin.com/main.php/v/2008+Photos/A+Visit+from+Santa/

(Remember to click on the picture to see bigger images.)

So from a very happy house we send Christmas blessings to all our friends and family - we hope your day was as beautiful as ours!

You may notice the new “logo” in the top right corner of our blog. It will be there for a while, but hopefully not TOO long. Let me tell you about it.

One of the first couples we met when moving to Saint Joseph, MI we met while we were in Iowa and they were in the Ukraine.

Four days before Ella was born, Sergei & Gillian Marchenko delivered their youngest daughter Polly in a hospital in the Ukraine. We both learned at their births that our daughters have Down syndrome. We “met” online through the Michiana Down Syndrome Support group. Having another family who had a new daughter with Down syndrome was such a great blessing to Bonnie and I when we moved, and we are so thankful for their support and friendship, and we discovered after moving that we were attending the same church!

Well, our amazing friends, who are now in Chicago where Sergi pastors a church in the Wrigleyville area, are adopting another little girl with Down syndrome from Eastern Europe. Their newest little angel will be named, upon adoption, Evangeline¹.

Evangeline turned two in October. She is living in an orphanage and we hear she has grown to be a healthy, sweet, social little girl. Her adoptive paternal grandmother recently visited little Evangeline and I hear is enamored with her.

Children with DS in her country typically transition from the orphanage to an institution when they are four years old. Devastatingly, a staggering number of children who are institutionalized in her country do not make it to adulthood².

Sergei and Gillian share that as soon as they saw Evangeline’s sweet face they knew she was meant to be their daughter. Their older daughters Elaina and Zoya are very excited about having another sister to love - even volunteering to do without Christmas presents to help bring Evangeline home to them!

International adoption is a huge financial obligation and the Marchenko’s have recently started a “fund raiser” asking those who can to donate $10 (or more) to Evangeline for Christmas.

I know money is tight and you all don’t know Sergei and Gillian personally, but this small gift will be the world to our friends, their family and little Evangeline. If you would like to help bring Evangeline home to her new family you can donate online here through Reece’s Rainbow. Reece’s Rainbow has received their 501(3)c tax deductible status, so these contributions are deductible³. See their website for more information. Alternatively, you can send a check⁴ to them at:

The Marchenko Family
c/o Reece’s Rainbow
PO Box 2055
Dacula, GA 30019

Whether you can or not donate, please keep this family and future newest member in your prayers! Follow their adoption process at Expecting Evangeline.

God Bless,
Kirk and Bonnie

1. Evangeline is Greek for “Angel” [↩]
2. Yes, I am intentionally being vague on the country to avoid potentially upsetting the country who’s controlling this adoption process [↩]
3. They qualify as a public charity under IRS code 170(b)(a)(A)(vi) [↩]
4. and save the Paypal fees [↩]

Ella got a nice present today from her Nana.  A new dolly that can take a bath with her.  She played and held the dolly, fed her the dolly’s bottle and then went and bathed with her.

We needed to change Ella’s bandages which was coupled with a lot of crying and screaming.  So much so that we had to put the arm restraints and “lock her in” behind the tray on her chair.

Of course this didn’t make her happy but it did allow us to get the bandages and headware on Ella.  After we were done I put a similar hat on her dolly which seemed to make her very happy.  I also topped the hat with one of the plastic tubes we use with Ella which seemed to make her extra happy.

The really good news is that Ella’s tube only has pretty clear “drips” in it which means hopefully our friend from our church can come over and help take the drainage tube out this weekend  After that we won’t have to put on anymore headware or bandages!

Bonnie says Ella had a very good day otherwise!

We’ll keep you updated!

Our hearts have been touched by the thoughtfulness of our friends here in St Joseph; always willing to lend a hand or an ear when we need it! Most recently Ella has been showered by fashionable head wear to carry her through the next few months of expander growth. She wore her first fabulous new look out to run errands with mom today, and got all kinds of compliments and smiles!

We thank God everyday for those who have helped to lift our spirits.

Today our little family was once again in Chicago and Ella is a little lighter in the head, missing her surgery hat and drainage tubes… however, she is also a little heavier as Kirk and the nurse injected her expanders with an additional 35ml of saline (15 in the front and 20 in the back). Her head is officially taking on a strange shape and the haircut from surgery isn’t quite in style - especially considering all the detangling that was required after 10 days under her surgery hat… dreadlocks are in right? But her smiles are still so beautiful!

Kirk and I are very thankful for our friend from church Karen, a nurse here in St Joe. She met us in Chicago with her husband and two sons in tow (they went to the zoo) to learn the injection procedure with us so that we’ll have a backup here in town. We have had so many blessings along the way and Karen has been added to that list!

Once again Ella was a trooper - she did cry, pretty hard, but I am attributing that more to the lack of a nap before the appointment than to any real discomfort. She was really mad about the numbing cream rubbed on the injection ports; maybe it was cold? But once the gel was in place she played happily for about 30 minutes while we waited for it to kick in and while the nurse was reviewing the procedures with us. And she did not cry during the actual injections so we know that she should do fine when we are on our own. Kirk was amazing to - he is an incredibly loving father and while it hurts his heart to push a needle into Ella’s head, he is strong and steady; instilling confidence and faith in both his girls!

When we came home I walked into our kitchen and smiled at the beautiful vase of flowers brought to me earlier by my friend Miss Barb (Ella’s part-time therapist, friend, and now babysitter - if she’ll come back after Ella’s afternoon of tears this week!) It lifted my spirits, and I needed that!

Ella did finally get a good nap on the way home and she ate a big dinner - bigger than she has all week! Maybe the medications upset her tummy? Or maybe it was just all her struggling to avoid taking them that messed with her appetite. But luckily now that the drainage tubes are out she no longer has to take them, and Kirk and I (mostly Kirk) no longer have to wake her at 1am to force them into her.

After dinner we took a short family walk and Ella laughed and smelled all the flowering bushes in our yard! She giggles when we laugh at her efforts to snort air in and out her nose! We shared some ice cream, and gave Ella a bath… at long last we have washed her hair! That made mom feel better too.

So now Ella is sleeping peacefully, and Kirk and I are relaxing together, happy knowing that all is well with our beautiful girl!

It has been one week since we brought our two year old home. Our little Ella is doing well. We have good nights and bad nights. Last night was one of those a bit worse than others. We finally got her to sleep at about 12:30 and her 7 AM medicine time came way too early for both Ella and her folks.

Tomorrow we head back to Children’s Memorial to have Ella’s drainage tubes out and then learn how to inject the saline into her expanders. We are blessed that one of our friends from our church is a nurse and her husband agreed to take the day off of work (he’s a co-worker of mine at Whirlpool) and she will join us at the doctor’s office to learn how to do the expansion, along with me, to be a standby if I am out of town due to work or if I simply can’t handle it. Bonnie has already decided that she’s not going to be the one to “blow up our daughter’s head” as I have been heard to say.

Ella’s head was shaved in a few places to view he edges of her nevus so once the “surgery hat” comes off we will need to figure out a new hair style. Right now she looks like she has an older sibling that decided to “help” give her a hair cut. I’m guessing Bonnie won’t be a proponent of the Sinead O’Connor look so we may need to be creative with it. We’re not sure if we can wash her hair when we get back tomorrow, but it sure can use a good cleaning.

We put Ella down to bed about an hour ago and I still hear here moving around downstairs in her room through the baby monitor, so please keep her sleep (and her folks‘) in your prayers. Please also keep in your prayers a successful, safe trip and that Ella tolerates the expansion reasonably well and remains her cheerful self!

Bonnie and I have found that Saint Joseph, MI is a very welcoming city, or at least we’ve been very fortunate to connect with some very welcoming people and neighbors.¹ We even found a wonderful small group and Sunday school class at The Chapel which help us missing all the wonderful people that held us in their prayers so fervently at the Newton First Baptist Church.

Unfortunately in less than a year, two couples to whom we grew close have or are departing from St. Joseph.

First, the Marchenko’s moved to pastor the Christian Fellowship E-Free Church in Chicago.² While we can keep updated on Sergei through his blog, it’s just not the same. Bonnie sure misses Gillian, and Ella certainly misses their girls. They are real rocks upon which we can lean especially as their daughter Polly, a mere four days older than Ella, also had Down syndrome. Sergei is a calming force in my hectic life and has been a great sounding board who I miss as well.

Second, Chris and Sarah, other members of our Sunday School or “ABF”, are also moving this Friday to the east coast. They are two very fun people who we’ll miss their joy in life and in the Lord and are certain will continue to share that with those who are fortunate to meet them upon their arrival at their new town.

Fellowship with friends are certainly important and we cherish the friends we had an Newton, IA³ but are thankful for those God brought into our lives here in Saint Joseph.

We have been blessed in so many ways and we are reminded of that every morning when Ella hollers “Dad!”

1. Now, I’m not saying the neighbors aren’t people but just pointing out specifically that we’re fortunate to have many very welcoming neighbors [↩]
2. Located at 3425 Damen Ave in Chicago. Call (773) 348-3450 for more information. Ask for Sergei, who gives great sermons. [↩]
3. Not to forget those Bonnie had in Denver and I had in Atlanta before we both returned to Iowa [↩]