McKillops Welcome New Arrival!

On July 26, 2003, Dawn and I began our journey for the second and final time to pick up our little angel Chloe. We were introduced to her in December 2002 and instantly fell in love with her. We couldn't wait to bring her home to Canada but we had to show patience. It felt like an eternity to finally get that call saying that all the paperwork and procedures were over and we could finally pick up our little girl. Our journey began with a long flight to Prague which was our first layover and our flight was cancelled and then rescheduled six hours later. Then the moment came when we boarded to leave for Sofia, Bulgaria. We arrived tired and a little cranky due to delays but our guide Ves cheered us right up and brought us to the Hotel Zdravetz, to the friendly and caring hosts Deni and Georgi.

We had a restful but anxious Sunday knowing that we began the process of bringing home our little angel soon. We started off to Razgrad under the watchful eye of Ves our interpreter, guide and just great companion. We played tourist for our ride and were shown many sites such as Veliko Turnovo and tired our guide out with our walking and sightseeing. On Tuesday we left for Bucharest, Romania to visit the Canadian Embassy (I hope Sofia gets an Embassy soon) along with Ves and driver Todor. This was a very exciting moment for Dawn and I to receive her visa and the acknowledgement that se was finally ours and we had all the paperwork completed. We then returned to Bulgaria and to Razgrad. On Wednesday we returned to Sofia with driver Todor. We were both excited and nervous about our next day of picking up Chloe.

Tatiana and Vessel drove us early Thursday morning to Haskovo and the orphanage. Our little girl was brought to us by the nurses and doctor. We were so pleased to see her again but also very shaky and needed a helping hand by Tatiana to change her. We then headed back again to Sofia for the last time and Chloe was great in the car except for a little car sickness (sorry again Tatiana and Vessel).

We stayed at the hotel and were treated like royalty by the staff. We were having a hard time feeding Chloe and were a little overwhelmed at first. Tatiana calmed our nerves numerous times and we made it till Sunday. Our journey back to Canada began on Sunday. Chloe was great on the flight to Prague and this time we boarded with no problems to Toronto. That was when the flight from hell began. We had a little girl who was afraid and didn't know what was happening and voiced her her opinion constantly throughout the entire flight. Welcome to parenthood! We wished we had had the advice of people before the flight instead of after, that giving Chloe children's gravol could have helped. We finally began to descend to Toronto and were met by friends who said we were aglow even after the flight.

Our little girl had a hard time adjusting for the first month and so did Mommy and Daddy but then a switch went off and she made our home hers and became a normal 2 year old. She is handling Canada great and attached very nicely to Dawn.

We would like to thank a lot of people especially Elena for the great job and giving us our little angel, she will always hear about you and how sweet you were to us and her. We would also like to thank Tatiana for her dedication to the adoption agency and her husband Vessel. To our first guide Ivan and our second Ves (keep in touch). To the hotel staff, Deni, Georgi and Blaga who made both our trips comfortable and special. To our driver Todor (keep the pedal to the metal). We can't say thank you enough!

Article written by Sean McKillop

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