Very tired, but excited with all of the good things!

This is for our 1st visit to the orphanage on Monday June 6, 2011

Well, we are on our way again to the baby home (2+ hour drive) to visit the boys for the third time, and I am trying to use this time to update our blog late. It is exciting! These little guys are soooooo cute.  I will try to remember what has happened with Diester's help, and capture what I can.


I am going to start with the drive. Oh the drive to the baby home is a roller coaster ride almost the whole time. They drive crazy, passing a vehicle in front of them with another coming in the oncoming lane, and the driver will squeeze into an imaginary middle lane driving on the dividing line. It is crazy! ! They will pass another vehicle being only inches away on both sides. YIKES! Believe it or not, we have not been fearful. Diester says it’s kind of like playing ‘Chicken’ and Russian Nascar rolled into one.  (Boy am I glad we have our will done. Haha)

Oh, let me start with our meeting the first day with the DOE –Department of Education. It went very well. The lady there told us some stories of how important it is to take good care of the boys with lots of love, and they can be successful. She also told us how the children might actually respond to the father, thinking of him as a ‘lion’, and fearful of the father. Making sure that we know there is going to be an adjustment period.

I’m going to try to give you an update about how our visits have been going. We first met the older of the two little guys. It was a surprise because the caregiver popped him into our visiting room before she was actually supposed to. It was certainly a real treat to get a sneak peek at him. He was so precious, and so tiny compared to what I thought. He looked so innocent.

We then met with the social worker so that she could tell us about the boys’ family history-social aspects of the history. It is very interesting to know stories of their parents, as much as they know. So, we got the information, and we were ready to see the boys, and spend some time with them.

The social worker brought the older one in again. Now, you have to understand that he has not a clue who we are, so he came in very timid, almost being coaxed into the room from behind him. He stood there, and Diester put out his hand to extend a hand, and he did respond with a handshake, but stood there in fear. I was on my knees at his level, and had a ball, and so I offered to play ball with him, and that broke the ice. My clown husband decided to have some fun with it, and was letting it hit his head, and the little guy (oldest one) just started giggling, and laughing wanting him to continue in the shenanigans. He was just lovin' it, and it kept him entertained for quite some time. ( I introduced ourselves as “yah mamma on papa” and we repeated that throughout our visit so that he would understand why we were there. They tell us that even though they haven’t had a family, every child yearns for one, and it would definitely be understood, so we kept telling them. ) We noticed right away that he has a good arm on him, and good eye-hand coordination.

Then the 'littlest' guy came in and he was a bit more shy, but really started to warm up after a bit. He got out this big dump truck that he was just pushing around, and really had great control of the thing. As Diester says, he was 'manhandling that thing.' Then he decided to climb in it. Not the easiest thing to do, but he is a determined little fellow, and he kept at it. Good balance, steady on his feet. So then we started to push him around in the truck. Diester was pushing him and then I was pushing him from the front~~he was facing me~~and I would pull him forward, and then quickly back, and he was making good eye contact with me. (Tonight it is storming outside of our hotel room here, and it sounds so neat.)

Then the little guy started to play with some rings on a ring toss toy. He got all of the rings and was carrying them around with him. He is very independent. He climbed onto a rocking horse, and put the rings on the handlebar of the rocking horse, and made sure they weren’t falling off. He has a determination about himself.

In the meantime, Diester was looking at a book with the older one. He was sitting on Diester’s lap at the time, which is a good thing. He was starting to bond ever so slightly~we will take whatever we can get.

We then got out more toys, and played with many different things, and then someone got bubbles down, and that was quite a hit, so we did the bubble thing for a while. That brought out a lot of fun and giggles. The older one started to try to catch the bubbles with his mouth, and I got such a kick out of it that I think it encouraged him to keep doing it, although I was saying “YUCK, that tastes yucky.” It didn’t phase him. Since I thought it was funny, he kept doing it.

They smiled a lot during the different things that we did together, and enjoyed interaction with us. The caregivers did come and inform us that the boys only had a few more minutes to visit, and we took that time to clean up the room, and calm down together. Our first visit was coming to a close, and we had to say goodbye. Diester was holding the oldest one, and told him in Russian, ”See you tomorrow, I love you. ” The older boy got a surprised look on his face, and Diester asked our interpreter if she thought he understood what he said. She told me yes, he did understand you. We gave hugs to the boys, and they were on their way back to their respective groups. It was so sweet because the older one was ready and going to the caregiver, but the little guy was not leaving, so the older one came back and took the little guy’s hand, and gently led him out. The older one certainly showed himself to be a gentleman during our visit, and that topped it off. It was a sweet parting moment.

Coming all the way to Russia for something as big in our lives as this has quite an overwhelming emotional effect on a person. After our long flights, drives, and visiting for the first time, not knowing what to expect was very overwhelming for me, and when we got back to our hotel room, I just was so overcome with emotion in thankfulness to the Lord for where he has brought us, and for leading us so well, and I turned to Psalm 146. It was so meaningful!~The Lord just spoke to me through this. He is ever so good.

Psalm 146: Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord oh my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; and on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he -whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-the Lord who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord set prisoners free, The Lord gives sight to the blind, The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, and he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, Your God, oh Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!