What will life be like for Talia and Ben when they get home to us?

Their lives will certainly change for the better. Firstly they will hear about Jesus. They will (and already are) be covered in prayer. They will listen to Christian music and go to Church. They will learn about God in all aspects of their life! Secondly they will instantly gain a big fan club! Our family and extended family will embrace them! For the first time in their lives they will have only two care takers. It will either be me (Momma) or Mike (Daddy). For bonding we will limit it to just us for the first few weeks or months. We want them to understand that we are "forever" and that may take a little while. We will learn what they like and don't like and try to make their lives as much fun as possible. We will probably hug and cuddle them more than they have ever been exposed to! They may or may not appreciate or even like it at first but it is a basic human need and they need affection and attention. They will be given opportunities to eat new healthy foods and to play with new and exciting toys. They will have many "first" moments to cherish! They will go places. It seems like no big deal but orphans in orphanages don't go to places like Wal-mart or to the park. They are not ever taken to restaurants or bowling. We will take them places. They (may) go to school. I say (may) because at first we will keep them at home with us until the bonding is well under way and until they understand basic English. Since we will be bringing them home in the spring we will have all summer to learn them and to figure out what will be in their best interest come school time. Sometimes a public school setting is not the best place for a child with disabilities (don't get me started...) sometimes it is. We will need to play that by ear so to speak. They will get good quality medical care. We will have them evaluated and tested for different things and get a good idea of their health status and deal with any issues that may need attention. Dental issues are common in children adopted internationally. We will take them on vacation! We will take them to the beach! We will take them camping and swimming and we will watch them blossom! We will get to actually watch their personalities come out! They will get to participate in our Down Syndrome Assn Buddy Walk! We will dance with them! We will sing with them! (Probably loudly and off key!) We will play with them! We will bathe them and rub them with lotion and comb and style their hair. We will teach them to care for themselves as well. We will dress them appropriately and we will teach them. We will take lots of pictures of them and they will learn to "cheeeeese". I will photo document their lives. We will work with them and we will cheer when they learn something new! We will teach them to act appropriately in social situations. (This may take time... ) We will undoubtedly have funny stories to tell of the process! We will take them to baseball games and we will take them to football games. We will take them to picnics and concerts. We will walk with them and talk with them along the way. We will enjoy being their family. We will protect them! We will love them. They will sleep in their own beds (mostly, unless they want to sleep on the living room floor with some of us after movie night!) and they will have possessions. They will be allowed and encouraged to learn new things and to explore. They will develop interests and friendships. They will grow up. They may always live with us. They may always need constant supervision. We are ok with that. We want to buy a large camper and travel. They will go with us. We want to take a cruise. They will go with us. We are going to Heaven, they will go with us.