Monday, December 22, 2008

No School!!!

Yesterday we had church. Anastasia is handling meeting new people much better, not that I blame her for being shy! She went into church with me for praise, then I took her back into the children's theater. She sat with me and watched, then once it was over she ran around like a crazy girl, just like the rest of them, dancing and singing.
Then last night we had our Welcome Christmas party for the children in Atlanta. It was a little more planned than I would have liked, but it was nice and very much appreciated. Each child had a sponser that bought them 3 gifts and sat with us for dinner. Our sponsers were very sweet and we enjoyed talking with them. Being around the translators was a little intimidating. Although they seemed very pleased with how well Anastasia was doing, and how pretty she looked. She calls all caregivers Mama, which I already knew, but I must say it did spark Mommy jealousy on my part. I have notices she does make a point to call me Mommy most of the time now, which I do think is different than Mama. One of the chaperones/translators took a picture of Anastasia and I to send back to our orphanage to show them how well she is doing.
Anastasia told the translator that she is having fun and she likes it here. She also told her that Ginger the dog pooped on the floor in her room, she was not happy about that. The translator just laughed. She also said she was very upset that she had left her other purse behind at the orphanage because it would have matched the dress she had on, and that the purse she had with her did not match!!! Oh, my we are in for it!
Santa was there for the kids and she told him she wants a purse and a phone for Christmas! Oh boy.
First thing when we got there I took her to go to the bathroom. She told me that she is Nastia, not Anastasia. When she first got here she told me "me Anastasia". When she comes home forever we don't plan on calling her Nastia unless she insists as it could cause some teasing. So we have decided for now we will call her Anastasia most of the time with a Nastia thrown in there to make her feel like we are not making her choose, or that they are referring to 2 different people. ALTHOUGH Cooper may be up to something, he has told her that his nickname for her is Stacia, and that is what he calls her most of the time.
She has definitly bonded more with the boys. This morning she picked up to foam swords and said "brother" and took off for the bedroom to play swords with Cody. He is very good with her, he paused his computer game to play with her! We went to Target to exchange the PJs her sponsers got her because they didn't fit. Then I took the kids to see Despereaux, they all said they liked it, but I must say not so sure I did. It was a little dreary and somewhat complex. Also it shows a father giving up his daughter as baby (he cannot take care of her), she is then enslaved, and later just happens to be reunited with her long lost father. Not really orphan friendly, but I don't think she noticed it.
At dnner she ran to her room to get her Target bag and show Papa her new pajamas. She seems to have a very healthy bonding with even Gary, so I suspect that she has had positive male figures in her life. After dinner Gary went to rent movies, it was supposed to be Cody's turn to go, but he said he didn't want to, so I asked Anastasia if she wanted to go. At first she said no, then when he went to walk out the door she changed her mind. So they brought back a Christmas movie and Cinderella, which she has been singing around the house, so I know she knows it and she was so excited to watch it.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Oh Christmas Tree!



We finally got our Christmas tree today. We wanted to wait for Anastasia, so it's up late this year. We went to a cut it down yourself place, we had fun! We had a blast decorating it. I am so happy we waited for her, she had so much fun.
I'll backtrack to yesterday. We went to Burger King for a birthday party. She had been so shy the past couple places we went I wasn't sure how she was going to be. At first she was really shy, then I made her sit in her own chair while I ate, and she is always happy to eat! Yesterday she had a banana, half a container of watermelon, a piece of plain bread, and a bagel with cream cheese, for breakfast! Today I limited her to a bagel with cream cheese and a bowl of frosted flakes.
My good friend Amy has a little girl who is in Cooper's class and she was very patient with Anastasia once Anastasia decided to go play. We were really surprised she did, it was soooo crowded and loud. She really came out of her shell, she was running and playing with the other girls. She had so much fun, and we had fun watching her. Up to this point her relationship with Gary has been based on snorting at each other and laughing and him tickling her. They had time to play more together and she actually let him put her to bed last night. This morning they had a big sword fight with the boys' foam swords, and they had so much fun with it. She then ran down the hall way and grabbed her brush and hairbow. She wanted Gary to do her hair! That was a sight to see!! She will now approach him and call to him when she wants something. I am the only person she will speak English to, and most of the time she whispers it in my ear.
We went to the mall today to see Nicole's son dance. She did not want to sit in the stroller. Once she got out she just ran and ran. She was so sweaty. Sometimes I see her walking slowwly, looking down at her legs, trying to make them straight, and to walk "normal". It breaks my heart!!
Today she ran up to me and hugged me so hard and then kissed me on the cheek an rocked me back and forth singing Mommy, Mommy.
She is such a joy always singing and happy, we are having so much fun with her.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

dreshka!!!!

I don't know how to spell it, but that's how to say dress in Russian, we went to Kohl's today, and that is what she said very excitedly, so of course I bought her one! How could I resist. But I had her say "dress please" in English first, ahh bribery!!! She has also said "drink please", wait, come on, I love you, thank you, santa claus, and several others, so she is learning. Well I say that, but I know she knows much more, but she doesn't want to show it for whatever reason.
Last night I had gotten sun catchers for the kids to paint, I figured that didn't require language, it was lots of fun, and got Cody to finally acknowledge Anastasia. I think he was very intimidated by the situation at first, scared by the way she walks, and just overwhelmed. But last night they started a friendly game of throwing the santa hat at each other, so that is progress!! Cooper is doing great, they both talk all the time, in 2 different languages, and get frustrated because the other one won't stop talking! Cooper is great with her, he talks to her even though she doesn't understand and tells her that she needs to learn English. Today he wanted to show her something and he told her to hold his hand so that she would not fall!
I had bought a stroller for kids with disabilities, it cost 400.00, and is already worth every penny. She can walk, and wants to, but for things like shopping, it's really better and more helpful if she rides.
Last night the boys went to bed early since they didn't have naps, and me and Gary sat on the couch with her and watched Little Mermaid, she didn't care that it wasn't in English. I had her pick out an ornament, and they had one that had a set of two Ariels, one as a mermaid and another as a princess with a dress, perfect!!!!! She loves them, and it's a fond memory for us, and symbolic I think. She is a mermaid now, beautiful and wonderful, and from somewere much different than where she will end up, Russia vs. America. After she is home forever, and has surgery on her legs, she will be like Ariel with her legs, where she belongs. And like Ariel, she sings and sings.
Our challenges so far: well the language obviously, but that will just take time
The biggest, is her disabilities I think, not for her, that is life as she knows it, but I became the mother of a child with disabilities over night. I have to bathe her, lift her onto the toilet if I don't want pee all over my floor, lift her in and out of the car, etc... That is a total life change. But a mission and purpose God has given me and one that I accept as much of a gift as it is a challenge. I thank God for my legs and that they work the way I need them too, easy and effortlessly. That is a huge part of our lives that we don't even realize, and I pray so hard that one day she will know that freedom.
Well, she has entertained herself for the 20 minutes I've been on the computer, the first since she's been here!! She wants me at her side, and says mama or mom, every minute or so. I told myself she will just have to learn, so I just sat down, and told her Mom was busy but that I would come in a little bit.
Type at you later!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

She's Here!

We got to the airport around 10:30 to discover that the russian flight had not taken off from JKK yet, it was being deiced. We kept getting word that they had taken off from the airport, then word that no they had not. We had a long night, but the boys were wonderful, Cooper slept for several hours, and then when he woke we just laid on a couch and cuddled. Daddy got to go to the gate with the New Horizons people to help bring the kids up from the gate when they arrived. They landed at 3:00 and did not make it up to us until almost 4:00 I think. The train closes at 1:00am so they had to walk the very long distance!! She was very very shy last night, happy but shy.
I couldn't get a picture because she would hide her face.
We got home around 5:45, the boys went straight to bed and I showed Anastasia around. We stayed up for about 1.5 hours gettting to know each other. She "wowed" at her room a lot, and at all the things in the closet, asking "me?" When I would say yes, she would say "OHHH Thank you" and "WOW" She sat on the floor by the closet and tryed on her new shoes. She then crawled over several feet where I was sitting and said, "Mama, thank you" and hugged me. She was so thankful and excited. She was talking russian telling me all sorts of things that I couldn't understand, but wished I could. I changed her clothes, she was quite stinky from being bound up in a pair of tights, jeans, 2 shirts and a winter jacket. She had blisters on her feet and a rash on her leg that was bothering her from where her jeans had rubbed her raw, poor thing. A little sympathy seemed to make it better.
We sat on the bed and looked at all her pretty little things, and she immediately picked out a pink purse I had bought at the goodwill to put them all in, and she has carried that with her everywhere we go. She loves the baby and stroller we had put in the room for her, she was wheeling it around and singing to the baby so sweetly when Gary walked in from putting the boys to bed. It was a different girl from the one he had seen on the way home from the airport hiding her face.
She loves Ginger, she giggled so hard when Ginger did all her crazy jumping around. She kept closing the door, she did not want me to leave the room. So I went and got ready for bed, and laid down with her, she just grinned. I started rubbing her hair to help her go to sleep, and she did the same to me, she's so sweet. She put her arm around me and was asleep in 10 seconds. I woke up several hours later, and went to my bed. All the kids woke at 9:30. I gave her a much needed bath, which was a little scary, because her body is so stiff she kept slipping. She was just laughing, it was me it startled. She ran to her closet after getting dried off and asked something which I figured was something to the effect of "what can I wear" I told her to pick anything, she said "WOW" She picked one of the princess dress up dresses, and as soon as she put it on she said something in russian followed by Papa. I know enough little girls to know what she wanted. So I asked her "do you want to show Papa your dress?" She nodded yes with a big smile. So we went and showwed Gary how proud she was of her new dress.
Gary took the boys to school and I stayed home and took a shower and got "real" clothes on her so we could go to Cooper's Christmas program. She sat well through that, and afterwards we went to Chick fil a.
Her host parents from this summer said they had taken her there, and she recognized it and was very excited. She ate a lot of chicken and french fries and red HI-C, which I actually persuaded her into calling juice. After she got done eating she kept looking at the play place, but I was nervous because I was not sure with her legs if she'd be able to get up the initial stairs that are pretty high. Gary saw her looking and asked if she wanted to go, and she immediatly got out of her chair and headed for it. She was a little slow, but she did it, for about an hour!! She would climb up and go down the slide and everytime, she would yell "mama" and wave to me.
I'll cover this evening and how her relationships with the boys are forming tomorrow, I would love to tell more tonight, but I need to get to bed. We got Cooper's and Cody's Christmas parties at school tomorrow, so I have to get up on time!!
Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers, this is such an exciting,yet of course challenging time, and we appreciate it.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Tomorrow is the big day!!!

Oh my goodness, I can't even describe how I feel today, I am so excited!!! And very emotional, on the verge of tears at every second, in a good way, just weepy! Just keeping busy, because if I stop to let myself think about how close we are to meeting her, I cry, so I'm crying right now, of course, cause I have to think about it to type this.
The hosting agency said today that since she is special needs, that they are getting Gary a gate pass so that he can assist her once getting off the plane (crying even harder), at first I was jealous, but he got to see both of the boys first as they were lifted out of my stomach so I think Anastasia should be no different, her Daddy should lay eyes on her first. And I don't have to have my stomach cut into, so really it's a win win situation.
I am just cleaning house, since we will be so busy once she gets here. Finishing up my last Christmas shopping odds and ends, and that's it. The children arrive very late, 11:35, so I think after dinner tomorrow will be the hardest, killing time till it is time to go. Ok, I really have to stop sobbing, so I'll write more in several days once she gets settled in. Please keep us in your prayers, especially her, she has no idea who she is coming to stay with until she gets on the plane. She probably is under the impression it will be the family that kept her during the summer. It will be natural for her to be upset and disappointed when she realizes it is not. But on the plane they will read her our letter and show her our pictures we sent.