more questions answered part 6

WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY LIKE FOR YOU THERE?

Typically, we start waking up at about 7-7:30. Anya will get up, go and get a book, or flash cards, and we stay in bed until about 8-8:30 with her reading or going over flash cards. Recently the flash cards are math ones.

Get up, have breakfast: oatmeal, cereal, toast and eggs. Pretty normal stuff

We check email, deal with work issues while Anya colors or watches a cartoon (was Winnie Pooh, but we've moved on to Tom and Jerry)

Then it's chore time: do the morning dishes, throw in a load of laundry, sweep the floors (Anya's favorite shore), make the beds.

Then I get ready for the day, and get Anya dressed.

Finish chores and start lunch.

Lunch has been everything from hot dogs and mashed potatoes to soup. Sometimes peanut butter and jelly.

After lunch, we go walking. Usually for at least 2 hours. Depending on the weather and they day, it may be longer. Sometimes we go out for lunch, but not very often.

Late afternoon, we get back to the apartment. Anya will work on alphabet sometimes, other times we play a few games of Uno.

Then it's time to start dinner. We try to eat dinner at about 6:30 or 7. Generally we'll have something like beef or chicken stew, or hamburgers with fries. Depending on my mood and what is in the fridge, we've been known to have soup or hot dogs for dinner too.

After dinner, Anya will watch some cartoons while we clean up the dinner dishes. We were having her help us, but the kitchen is so small, that wasn't working AT ALL.

Then we deal with any remaining laundry that needs to be dealt with. Anya helps.

Then bath time - and bed time. We try to do bath at 8:00, and bed at 9:00. I know bedtime seems late, but if we put her to bed any earlier, she is up at 6:30. The days are long enough, we certainly don't want to get up any earlier to prolong them!

Then we do more internet junk, sometimes if we're feeling especially adventurous, we'll eat a cookie or two (haha!). Then we watch an episode of Eureka. It is a series on the SiFi channel, something we both like, so we purchased 3 seasons to watch while we are here. We only have one episode left - which means it is time to come home!

So, there ya go!

image from: http://behance.vo.llnwd.net

you should really try this

Just got this note from my Mom's friend, Diane:

Please tell all your readers on your Blog, to PLEASE, PLEASE MAKE THIS. I made this Sunday morning, and it made a good size pancake which I completely devoured between 8 am and 2 pm, and was tempted to make another. I did make Cinamon Sugar (to taste) and sprinkled it on the pancake right when it came out of the oven. It was YUMMY, WONDERFUL, DELICIOUS. Thanks for the recipe.

My work here is done...

She Speaks

Oh my gosh, Lysa TerKeurst just replied to something I put on Facebook - my day is off to a GREAT start!

I've talked about Lysa TerKeurst many times over the past year and 1/2 or so. I even blogged about her HERE and HERE

The reason for this post is really pretty selfish. There is this scholarship contest to go to the She Speaks Conference - an event Lysa TerKeurst's ministry (P31) produces. Part of the entry process is to post something on your blog about the contest.

Going to this conference is one of those "pie in the sky" things I've always wanted to do.

Why would I want to go to this conference?

Truth is, I believe God has gifted me in some pretty unique ways. I also believe everything in my life has happened for a purpose. The adoption drama, the story of Faith in the face of nothingness. Losing friends, dashed hopes and dreams, hurtful and wrong assumptions made about me and my family..and the bottom line, embracing God's calling on my life.

I would like to further embrace God's calling on my life; but I'm not sure what the next right step is. I've done a lot of writing over the years (here and in real magazines), done a lot of speaking. I would love to further explore both, and just see what comes of it. If it is God's plan...it'll happen!

That is why I have entered to win one of these scholarships. We need to prayerfully consider what God' plan is not only for our family, but for our careers. This might be the next right step.

Thanks for indulging me...and now, back to our regularly scheduled updates.

what to do on a Monday

If you don't know us very well, I should tell you that boredom and creative inspiration come hand in hand many times in our house.

Today, one of us had to stay at the apartment all day so that we wouldn't miss the call (that never came...by the way).

I went shopping, and Marty and Anya stayed back at the flat. When I got home, I was asked to appear in a few cameo shots for a video. I wasn't sure what it was all about...but have learned not to ask.

If you've ever stayed in this apartment, you will enjoy this.

Anya sillies..

Anya has learned the word 'hey'.

The other day, EVERYTHING was "HEY! ..." Her favorite use of the word is the following:

HEY! I love you! Kak dilya! (how are you)?

Tonight, we're finishing dinner, and Anya comes and sits on my lap (a little unusual), she sayd "I love you mommy", and is all kissy. It goes on from there with thank you mommy, yummy dinner. Then the other shoe falls, she reaches for the french fries on my plate that I haven't eaten...next thing I know, they're gone and I sti...ll have the little one on my lap - but now she is saying "ut, oh!" (giggle giggle)

The Story about The Place Across The Street

When we got to this apartment in Irkutsk, Russia, a month ago, we wondered what the place was across the street. At the time there were no signs. All we could see were people (wealthy people) coming and going. At night, we could see beautiful chandeliers and what looked to be ornate high back chairs.

I will admit, we made up a pretty good tale about what was going on across the street.

I finally broke down and asked. Apparently this is a new fancy restaurant. This restaurant’s tale reminds me of our adoption process…took over 5 years to complete. The progress was halted because of government intervention. After making numerous changes to the original plan, the restaurant was granted the petition to open.

The story behind the story is that a very famous Russian playwright lives above this restaurant; well, he owns an apartment there. He now lives in Moscow. This playwright, Valentin Grigoriyevich Rasputin, is so famous that his plays are studies in Russian schools.
Anyway, when Rasputin got wind that there was a restaurant going in below his apartment in Irkutsk, he wasn’t happy. He called his very good friend, former president Putin, and halted the project.

Well, after many years – the restaurant opened…about the same time we came to town.

We haven’t been there – apparently it is a European type restaurant (that is called Cafe Soho??). We’ve heard it is very nice, rather pricey – but a nice place to go. Something tells me this is going to be the new “after court” restaurant venue.

quick note

We're waiting to hear if Anya's passport came in today. Currently it is 1:45pm, Irkutsk time.

Praying we hear something soon. Our 6 weeks here is weighing on everyone.

And, thank you for all of your kinds words about the food posts. Getting in touch with my inner Betty Crocker would make my friend, Amy Clark so proud! I have another recipe to add later today for a cake that I made from scratch...yes, nothing from a box!

Wishing you all a blessed night!

attachment parenting

You've probably heard the term "attachment parenting", especially if you've ever adopted or know anyone who has adopted.

How you parent a child who had no parents during formative years is a big deal. I've read more books, visited more websites, and gotten more advice than I care to admit on the subject. Funny thing is, when we're in the heat of parenting everything we've read and knew intellectually seems to become a cloud.

This website I have found to be helpful in some general ways: http://www.attachmentparenting.org/

Attachment parenting means different things to different people, and more importantly, I think it means different things with different kids. But, what is it? I had a hard time defining it in a way that made any sense, so I did what any wise blogger would do - I Googled it. I found some info on Wikipedia. It said this:

Attachment parenting, a phrase coined by pediatrician William Sears,^[1] is a parenting philosophy based on the principles of the attachment theory in developmental psychology. According to attachment theory, the child forms a strong emotional bond with caregivers during childhood with lifelong consequences. Sensitive and emotionally available parenting helps the child to form a secure attachment style which fosters a child's socio-emotional development and well being. Less sensitive and emotionally available parenting or neglect of the child's needs may result in insecure forms of attachment style, which is a risk factor for many mental health problems. In extreme and rare conditions the child may not form an attachment at all and may suffer from reactive attachment disorder as defined in DSM-IV and ICD-10. Principles of attachment parenting aim to increase development of child's secure attachment and decrease insecure attachment.

We think that it is important to Anya to bond closely with us. Because of her history of being abandoned before she was a year old, she has learned ways to cope; ways to comfort herself. These things that would normally come from a parent.

There are some things about attachment parenting I thought to be very interesting. Things like:

• Skin on Skin contact. Interestingly enough, Anya craves this. She is forever wanting a back/tummy/leg/arm/face/neck tickle...of course all skin on skin. She also likes to lay on Marty's belly - skin on skin.
• Meeting her needs. We do think it is important that we are the only ones meeting all of her needs, at least for a period of time (what that period is, I don't know yet). We should be the only ones to feed her, bathe her, dress her, kiss her boo-boos, comfort her when she doesn't feel well, the only ones to discipline her or correct her and so on. Have also read a lot about not allowing Anya to be without one of us during early days (as defined as....I don't know).
  
• Not Allowing Alone Crying. I was on the phone with a friend about a week ago, and she said something to me that has stuck out in my mind, day after day. She said "when our kiddos are having a melt down, THAT is when they need Mommy and Daddy the most." SO TRUE! Although our instinct is to let Anya cry it out (especially after a long period of time), we can't do that. We have to be right there with her, reassuring her that even tho she wasn't behaving nicely, we're not going to leave her. We love her, and will stay with her no matter what.
  

I'd love to hear your thoughts on attachment parenting...what are your experiences? What do you think about 'things' in the early days? What about other people in the early days? Thoughts on school, and from an attachment parenting perspective, when should a child be sent to school?

very sweet

The other day when Anya was in her English lesson, and asked Anne if she was coming to America with us. Anne (of course) said, no. Anya then exclaimed "but who will I play with!?" She already knows that Melissa, Ashley and Andrew aren't coming to America with us either.

I have been thinking about this exchange for a few days. What a great example of Daddy Knows Best. As Christians, don't we always ask our heavenly Father for things that seem to be in our best interest at the time? I know I do. From Anya's perspective, none of her friends will be in America. As her Father knows - there are dozens of kiddos waiting to be her friend there - so many friends, she won't know what to do with them all. Anya needs to trust her Father - as we need to trust ours.

Trusting that HE has our best interest at heart, and that HIS plan is ALWAYS better than ours can be a hard lesson (take it from one who knows).

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer 29)

food - beef stew

BEEF STEW
There are no veggie broth type things here in Russia, so I improvised. At home I make this in the crock pot with veggie broth. I let it sit in the crock pot all day (about 5-6 hours at least).

3 onion bullion cubes
3 tomato bullion cubes (they might be red pepper, kinda hard to tell)

About 4-5 carrots
½ cup celery (optional as this is very hard to find and pretty expensive in Russia)
4-5 potatoes
1 cup green beans, could also add in some mushrooms
About 4 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste
Also add in the following to taste: basil, oregano, garlic
Cubed beef

Put into large pot on oven set to about med-med-hi. Let come to a boil, and reduce heat to low and simmer for about an hour.

I cook the meat in the oven and add it in later (since I am a vegetarian)…this is always a family favorite! And if REALLY good the next day.

Food - mac-n-cheese

Tami’s Mother-In-Laws Mac-n-Cheese
YUMO!

1 ½ cup macaroni
Boil macaroni until done

3 tbl spoons of flour
2 cups milk
½ tsp salt
Pepper to taste
2 cups shredded cheese

Mix together

Bake at 350-400 for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. You can also put on broil for 10 minutes.

more questions answered part 6

Does she call you "Mommy"?

This was such a good question, I am pushing it ahead of the other questions in line.

The answer - yes. She started calling me Mommy or Mamaichika last year. She does call me Mama too.

food - lentil soup (VERY good!)

Lentil Soup

I never thought I would like Lentil Soup, but this is really REALLY good. Marty loves it, and asks me to make it ALL the time. This recipe came from Tami!

NOTE: this makes A LOT of soup – way too much for a family of 3 or 4. But, it keeps very well, and is good the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th day.

I’ve altered the original recipe to show how we make it.

1lb ground beef
Garlic to taste
5-6 carrots
1 bag dried lentils (about a 1lb bag)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 beef bouillon cubes, or 8 small ones (I used 4 onion and 4 red pepper cubes)
12 cups water
2 bay leaves
3 tsp basil
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp parsley

Rinse lentils
Brown ground beef (I made the beef after the soup was done, and added it at the last minute, was fine that way – also very VERY good without meat)

Add all ingredients in a large soup pot, bring to boil.

Simmer on low for about an hour and ½ or so.

Food - my favorite, potato pancakes

Potato Pancakes

4 potatoes
1 onion
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3 tbl spns flour
Pepper to taste
Oil (for pan)

OPTIONAL
Mushrooms
Cheese

Grate potatoes
Mix in egg salt, pepper and flour
Add onion and other ingredients

Mix together until all liquid is absorbed. You may need to add more flour (we added a LOT more)

Drop balls of mixture into oiled pan with a spoon (at about med to med-hi). Flip until golden brown on both sides.

HINT
If you have a lot of these to make, you will want to put the done ones in the oven to keep them warm. Also, if your pancakes are thick, put them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes to be sure they are cooked all the way through.

more questions answered part 6

Does she call you Mommy?

This was such a good question, I am pushing it ahead of the other questions in line.

The answer - yes. She started calling me Mommy or Mamaichika last year. She does call me Mama too. It does depend on the situation. Generally, I am still Mama - unless she is telling me she loves me, then it is Mommy. Tonight in the bath, she was trying to get me to agree that she could have popcorn, and I actually got a 'Mom'. Where that came from, I don't know! It was probably a 1/2 baked Mama.

found: the source of scary things

I have really been wondering about what scared Anya last night. Really hoping she wasn't getting night terrors. That would be horrible!

Tonight I was sitting here on my laptop, and I hear Marty snoring - and I mean SNORING! I go into the bedroom to shake him to get him to stop.

I should mention that we put Anya's bed in our room. Reasons for this are varied, but the main one being that there is a door in the kids room that goes out to a bar-type place. The door is locked and looks to be sorta closed off - and there is a rug hanging on the wall over the door, but still I wasn't comfortable with that at all. At night, the smoke smell that comes from there is HORRIBLE!

OK, back to the story.

I go in to shake dear husband, as I am shaking him - Anya jumps out of bed and comes running over "Mommy!" She is scared again. It was the snoring - which I can agree does sound like a mean monster growling.

Bring on the anti snoring device!

what is school like?

I was reading my friend's blog this morning. She is an ex-pat, living in Russia as a teacher at an American school.

She recently adopted a wee-one about Anya's same age. We've had a good time sharing stores about first-time motherhood at 40. She is one of those people I am sure I would shoe shop with if she lived closer.

Today, she posted an interesting note about the schools in Russia. Take a minute and read this - I would love to hear your thoughts.

http://from-russia.blogspot.com/2010/03/russian-school.html

on being scared

Last night as I was washing my face, Anya came running into the bathroom with a scared look on her face. She was saying "mommy mommy!".

I picked her up, and she grabbed me so hard I knew something was wrong.

I asked her if she was scared...she said yes.

After a few minutes of comforting her, I put her back into bed, and she went right to sleep.

I don't know what scared her. Might have been a dream, a noise outside or maybe Marty's snoring (he was already in bed).

Why am I posting a seemingly insignificant event? Because she ran to me for comfort. She was crying out to Mommy when she was scared. For me, that was a big deal.

more questions answered part 5 - food (Marty's contribution)

Since we're talking food, Marty's contribution is as follows:

Kathy - caught at Subway in Irkutsk - with a mouth full of food. Anya says, "I like the BMT!"
Yep - bacon flavored chips. You really haven't lived until you've had bacon flavored chips.

more questions answered part 5 - food

CAN YOU SHARE RECIPES?

This is pretty funny, someone asking ME for a recipe?! I will admit, that since we’ve been in Irkutsk I’ve had to get in touch with my inner Betty Crocker. Putting away the 4” stilettos and donning an apron isn’t really my thing…but hard times call for tough women!

I thought I would spread out my new favorite recipes…for the first one – this is a recipe for ‘DEBBIE’S OVEN PANCAKES’

Preheat oven – the goal is about 350 – for the ovens in Russia, I put it on a little more than 4 (and with the nifty oven thermometer Tami let me borrow, that is about 350 - depending on the day)
2-3T butter melted

Mix together:
2-3 eggs
¼ L (or 1 cup) milk
1/10L (or ¾ cup) flour
1T sugar

Mix it all together. Pour batter into a pan (with the melted butter). Bake for about 20 minutes, until it is brown and all curled up.

Kathy’s Twist
Right before it gets done, sprinkle sugar all over the top (could even be cinnamon sugar) – bake just past brown on the top. Makes it crispy, kinda like an elephant ear. YUM!

________________
I wish I had a photo of this - I will try to make it again before we leave, and take a pic. I will say that this was a big hit with Anya and Marty!

We did this with 2 eggs - with 2 eggs, it turned out more souffle ish (and I am pretty sure that is spelled right...), and I am not a big fan of egg so I might back off to 1 egg just to see how that works.

If you have a great recipe that is easy, uses natural easy ingredients (i.e. things you can find in Russia - in other words, no Bisquick, vanilla, maple syrup, or anything else fancy) - let me know and I'll post it here!

more questions answered part 4

Since the answer to this question is long...I thought I'd only bore you with one Q&A this round.


START TO FINSH, CAN YOU OFFER A TIMELINE?
Hummmm – I’ll try, this is all from memory (deep breath)

July 2004 Homestudy, contracted with agency
July 2004 referral
September 2004 received travel dates
October 2004 Trip 1 to Russia to meet Anya

March 2005 visit Anya
July 2005 the world stopped when Nina Hilt was killed

May 2006 trip to visit Anya, and figure out another way to bring her home
June 2006 – December 2006 our documents were submitted to the Judge in Irkutsk 2 times, and we received 2 legal statements (if I remember, they were like 30-40 pages long). During this time, we also obtained updates on our homestudy.

August 2007 trip to visit Anya
August 2007 – December 2007 resubmitted documents to the court in Irkutsk. Judge refused to accept (or even look at) our documents…more updates on our homestudy.

January 2008 we begin to consider taking our case to the Supreme Court. After much talk and prayer, we determined we didn’t have a strong enough case against the regional Judge ye t. We needed more in writing (most of her comments / refusals up to this point were verbal). Spoke with our social worker, she created an update for our homestudy in order to keep it active. Also applied for an extension to our I600a INS approval.
December 2008 another visit with Anya, and a firm game plan is established to submit our documents to the court

January 2009 round 1 of our completed documents are submitted to the court – a new Homestudy was completed (from scratch…yep, scratch is EXPENSIVE!)
February 2009 legal statement given, with changes / revisions requested – a new I600a approval is given from the INS
March 2009 updated documents sent and resubmitted to court
May 2009 another legal statement
June 2009 more updates sent to Russia
August 2009 another legal statement
September 2009 more updates
October 2009 another legal statement (this one MUCH more promising)
November 2009 more updates, and a meeting was called from the Judge. Judge said that she wants to give us a court date, there were a few minor technical things that needed to be dealt with in our documents…with that, she would give a court date
December 2009 – updated documents sent

January 15, 2010 a court date was given
February 7, 2010 we leave South Bend…
February 9, 2010 we arrive in Irkutsk
February 16, 2010 day 1 in court
February 17, 2010 day 2 in court – adoption is granted
February 19, 2010 the final decree is filed with the court in Irkutsk
March 2, 2010 we are able to take custody of Anya
March 9, 2010 Adoption certificate available – we go and get it
March 10, 2010 Apply for new birth certificate, and have Anya’s passport photo taken
March 11, 2010 Apply for passport

moola and such

Well, Alex came over this after noon and got a wad-o-money from us. Hopefully, this is a good sign. Maybe he knows that the passport is coming, and that we'll be leaving soon. Generally when we've come to Russia before, he visits on the next to the last day to collect money. Him coming this soon is kind of unusual. Unless he had a mortgage payment (or 10) due...or maybe he is buying a new car and needed a down payment...

sad - the things I don't know

It’s sad, really. There is so much about Anya I don’t know. I don’t know how she got the little scar by her eye or how she got the little scar under her arm (or if it is even a scar).

We learned that she has never had a bath. At the orphanage, the children showered – a few at a time (assuming 3-4 girls at a time), and from what I understand, they were only “allowed” to do that once a week (ONCE A WEEK!?). Generally, they would wash in a sink, with no soap. I can only imagine how filthy the wash rag was.

Anya told Anne (the English teacher) that she was very excited that she gets to wash every night, and made sure to tell Anne, that Mommy and Daddy wash every morning.

what we've been up to

The other day, we decided to walk up Lenin Street and found this cafe. We HAD to get a picture with it!



This was one of those days when everyone at home was oooing and ahhhhing about how nice the Spring weather was. It was about 4below zero (Fahrenheit) here - and as you can see, it was snowing.

We've started a count down calendar of sorts. It is more a bunch of pictures that we drew and colored, and hung on the wall. I did take the inside cardboard from a TP roll and a roll of paper towels, cut it apart and color the pieces. Then, we taped those pieces together - one for each remaining day (I think) we'll be here. We have a ring count down until we go to Moscow, and then a few more until we fly home. Here are some pics of it (there are rings below the 'Moscow' picture too)
In going through this drawing exercise, we learned that Anya is a very good artist. Here she is, deep in thought, creating a masterpiece:
And a close up of what she is drawing (it is of 2 cats on a couch)

survived the day

Today, we decided we'd go to the Chinese Market. We needed some excitement, adventure - and a pair of gloves.

The Chinese Market has a long history of thieves. Every time we've been in Irkutsk, and we've driven by or even mentioned the market - the 'local' that is with us tells us stories of Americans who have been robbed there.

We've been a few times in the past, and have never been robbed - so we thought we'd give it a try today. We had a plan, we weren't carrying any valuables, we were on a glove seeking mission!

We get there, walk into the first stand, and inquire about a pair of gloves. We get about 3 stands down, and I am pretty sure some kind of signal went out to the entire market that there were Americans in the building.

We end up at this booth near the back, and the Chinese woman tending it said something about 'American' (Marty knows a little Chinese, so he quickly recognized the word).

The end of the story? We got 2 pairs of gloves (one for Marty, and one for Anya) and headed back to the walking street. No harm, no foul, no robberies - just some yadda-yadda about the 'Americans'. Kinda funny. I bet they were disappointed we didn't spend a lot of money. Only about $25.

...and that was our day.

our little rock star

...and if you haven't seen this yet - get comfortable, and be prepared to giggle uncontrollably.

more questions answered part 3

What toys & activities have been real winners?
So far, she loves anything with a ball. Just a ball to play catch with, or a ball and hand racket kind of thing she loves.

Also really likes games – like Candy Land, Uno.

She is loving Winnie Pooh DVDs (the weird Russian version, and the normal red-shirt wearing Pooh version) – which is a great “quiet down” thing. We made the mistake (not sure if it is a mistake or not…) of letting her play with Marty’s IPod Touch. That is a favorite too. All the games she likes, and really enjoys listening to music. How she can find the songs on there she likes is beyond me! He has HUNDREDS of albums on his IPod, but she somehow finds Hillsong and an old REM song every time!

What do you wish you'd brought?
The things I wish I would have brought with me are more for my comfort than anything else. More body lotion, a tunic (I live in tunics and leggings / jeans at home), another skirt, a purse (just brought a big tote and a little LITTLE purse). I wish I would have brought more hair things for Anya. I thought I had more, but the night before we were leaving and I was doing last minute packing, I realized I didn’t have as many as I thought. Need more bows!

There are things I am very glad I brought with me…Aveda Night Nutrients – wouldn’t leave home with out it! Especially in this weather (skin saver!). Also glad I brought bath gel and lotion for Anya. She loves that part of the nightly routine.


What fun toys/activities have you obtained in Irkutsk?
We haven’t purchased anything here. The toys are SO expensive! I take that back…we’ve purchased some coloring books. Anya likes coloring too (and so do I!). We’ve been blessed and been able to borrow some things to pay with from the Jackson’s. I (mistakenly) thought that there would be some things in the apartment to play with – but there isn’t anything here.


What Russian vocab have you found very helpful and use all the time?
It is amazing what comes back to you when you are here. At home, I have trouble coming up with Russian things to say – but here, I can communicate OK with Anya and anyone in a store or café. The most important thing I say is “I don’t understand in Russian, do you speak English?”. With my limited understanding of Russian and sign language – we get around OK. The only challenge is at the grocery store – again, thank God for the Jackson’s!

When we first started this journey, we purchased a Russian Language CD for adoption. It has proven VERY helpful, and offers enough basics to get around – and words that you can use to build on.

new fun things

Been trying to think of things that might be new and different since we've been in Russia - of course, in addition to Anya.

• Talking and sometimes screaming in your sleep. Yes, Anya does this. Saying perfectly coherent words (of course, that we generally don't know what they mean)
• I like oatmeal. Who would have thought it? But I really do!
• Referring to ourselves in the third person. This was kind of by mistake. We were trying to get Anya to call us 'Mommy' or 'Daddy'...so I would say "give it to Mommy". Well, now Anya is doing that too - saying things like "Anya toilet". We're trying to teach her 'me', 'I', and 'you'.
• Pickles with dinner. All the time - because we're in Russia, therefore we must have dill pickles.
• Surviving on 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I am a sleeper. I could probably get by with 6 hours a night, if they were good, restful hours of sleep. Because of the screaming in the sleep, the traffic on the road we're on (we are in a 1st floor apartment, bedroom windows on the street side), and the 3am removal of snow from the streets (insert sounds of massive machinery and scraping of streets and sidewalks)...we're not really sleeping at all.
  
• Walking. I SO WISH we could walk for a few hours every day at home.
  
• Going to church where you don't understand anything that is being preached...and not caring...just being happy to be with other Christians.
• I color about every day. Not because there is nothing else to do, but because it is kind of a stress reliever for me.
• Using a bathroom without a functional door. Oh, the joy! The door here in the bathroom doesn't really latch, and because it doesn't latch, it doesn't close. This has created some real 'oi!' moments over the past week and 1/2!

And, of course, Anya's favorite meal - hotdog, mashed potato, green beans with the side of bread and pickles. Yum Yum!

Things they really should tell you - part dva (2)

There are things you never thought would tickle you so much. Little things in your day with your little one- firsts that you knew were going to happen, but when the do happen, the pure joy that comes over you makes up for everything else.

Things like:

MORNING. When Anya wakes up in the morning, she always comes to my side of the bed first. She wants to snuggle. Her kinda-whisper (remember the previous post about her communication volume? Her whisper isn't so quiet) - generally counting to 10, or saying 'I love you Mommy'.

PRAYERS. Now that Anya has been with us for almost 2 weeks, she has seen our routines, including prayer time at meals and at bedtime. I posted a little note about her praying the other day. Seeing her eager face the first time she prayed at dinner, or even when I asked her to please wait to start eating, and seeing her 'get it' - and quickly clasp her hands in the praying-position. If my heart had cockles, they'd be warmed.

BATH TIME. I have claimed this time. It is mine, and I will not share it with anyone else, even Daddy (at least for now). I love how Anya wants me to pick her up and out of the bath, how she wants me to bathe her, the little content look she gets on her face when I am washing her hair. It is our time. We talk, laugh...even if I don't completely understand what she is telling me, she talks and chatters on and on. She has seen my bath routine, how after a shower, I put on lotion. Now - she insists on cream, exclaiming, "I need NEED cream". Especially on her face (where the majority of my lotion potions go - hee hee!). Hearing her say "I need cream, like mommy" - yep, THAT is MY girl!

NATURAL ABILITY. Seeing Anya for Anya. Watching her, observing her God given talents. That is amazing. Seeing her throw a ball, the way she love sports. The flip side of that coin is to see her draw. She can really DRAW! When she is creating a picture, she really sees what she is creating (which makes no sense unless you have observed a creative person 'create').

I'm sure throughout the years, her abilities will be finely tuned and will change. I think that is great - I am proud to be her Mommy, and encourage her to seek out those God given talents!

GIRL TIME. Pretty clear that Anya's favorite is Daddy, That is awesome! But there are those times that only a Mommy can handle. Hair brushing, toenail painting, choosing clothes, making dinner. Today, it was toenail painting...and it was awesome! No one told me how great it would be to hear my little girl say "Mommy"!

YUM YUM - for someone who is not a cook, not domestic, and never really tried to be...harvesting that part of my personality for the sake of motherhood has been a - well, opportunity. To make something here, from scratch - and have your little girl look at you and (scream, of course) yum yum yum yum! Well, that is about as good as it gets!

Things they really should tell you

There are things someone really should tell you about the first week or so together with a newly adopted child.

On a lot of the adoption blogs I've been reading over the years, all I've read about was all the happy happy joy joy - yes, there is A LOT of that during your early days together. So many fun things to witness, firsts for your child.

I wish someone could have prepared me for a few things that most of us PAPs have experienced. Luckily, I have a lot of friends who have adopted children about the same age that Anya is, so I have resources to call in times of question - PRAISE GOD for that!

The first thing is regression. At the orphanage, Anya was always very independent. This made me a little sad because I wanted to 'baby' her...and when I would try (at the orphanage) she would sternly remind me that she is a big girl, and can do it herself.

Because of this, I had prepared myself for her to not want me to help her bathe, get dressed, brush her hair etc. I was mentally challenging myself to pick my battles.

Now that she has been with us for almost 2 weeks, she seems to have forgotten completely how to bathe herself and dress herself. Even when you ask her to please put on her pants, she acts like she doesn't remember how. Also, she is always asking to be picked up and carried around. She is a big girl - 55" tall, and about 55lbs. Tall and skinny - and hard to have on your hip as you are cooking dinner.

For now, this is all OK with me. We want her to be dependent on us for her needs and wants. We want her to come to us for comfort.

As I type this, she just put on her own socks, and made sure I saw that she did that. This is a first! Not sure if that is good or bad...just a first.

Yelling - oi the volume! I remember being in Anya's room at the orphanage when the kids were getting ready to go outside. All 10 (ish) kids were yelling and screaming, vying for the mama's attention (the caregiver). Of course I don't expect Anya to understand "use your indoor voice, please!". Trying to get the overall volume of her communication turned down has been a bit of a challenge. We've had to stop her, put our hand over her mouth (to shhhhh her), and quietly remind her that we are 3 inches in front of her face, there is no need to scream. Not sure she gets this yet, but we have noticed that when we say 'shhhh' she knows where the conversation is going.

The volume goes beyond just her communication volume. She wants everything LOUD. The TV, DVD, IPod - everything.

Attitude - PI kids have never been taught respect or manners. The attitude that comes out when you say 'no' shows that. And as a Mom - it can be a hard pill to swallow. I have friends who have had their Russian kiddos home for years - 6-7-8 years, and they have commented to me on this attitude. One friend even emailed me last week to ask "so, have you seen the sassy pants attitude yet?"

The survival skills all institutionalized kids learn is probably the hardest thing for them to shed once they become a part of a loving family. If you think about it, they have to be tough to be in an orphanage. The weak are taken advantage of and hurt. They have to appear strong, even if they aren't.

The reality of this stings...this is a life-skill that I don't think I've mastered, and I'm 40. My 7 year old has this skill down like a pro.

I am going to break. Seriously, she is going to break me - literally. Kids who have lived in an orphanage play HARD. They play very rough. It is what it is. But, this isn't something that you are completely prepared for. When your precious little one comes running toward you at full speed, you think "oh, she wants to hug me!"...truth is, her goal is to tackle you.

The way kids play in orphanages is different from the way my friends (your kids) play. She is learning - every day. She is realizing that playing rough is not fun, that it hurts. The first few times she did something that hurt one of us, she thought it was hilarious...of course, we didn't. For example, when she plays ball she throws it AT YOU with all her might - generally aiming for your face.

In the meantime, she has bumped my chin (pretty sure I chipped a tooth), jumped on my stomach so hard I thought my spleen burst (and I don't even know exactly where my spleen is), stood on my knee cap (explaining my current slight limp), and can be credited for some interesting bruises on her Daddy.

Mosz it mena. I know I didn't phonetically type that right. Basically, it means "can I have...". Intellectually, we knew that she would be asking for a lot of things. Having never had anything, we were preparred for a nightmare when we went to the market or into a store.

We are grateful that she is not that way in public. She is very well behaved, and is just excited about everything, and wants to be sure that we see everything that she is seeing.

What has been trying is the 'mosz na pechina' (I want a cookie). So, we say no. And she asks again, and again, and again. Obviously trying to figure out how many times she has to ask before we give in. The easy thing to do is...well, give in. Doing the hard thing and sticking to our guns is trying...on all of us.

I will say, she is very convincing at the 'ask'. Really, it is all about learning boundaries. Truth is, we love our little one so much, that we say 'no' a lot!

Step #1 done, Step #2 done, Step #3 in process

Yep, you heard it here first. The blue dog jumped over the red moon. Errrr, I mean, the passport is in process. Getting a passport her feels like some kind of James Bond 007 mission - which is why I accidentally (hee hee) started talking about this in code.

Seriously, DO NOT ever complain about the way passports are done in the U.S.!

We went to the passport office. In this little waiting room area, there were about 200 people jammed in there like sardines. All staring at us like something that just walked in from off of the moon. Anyway - we walked through the crowd, to this door in the back of the room - and walked right in...which got some interesting looks from the crowd. We waited about 2 minutes before the woman at the back desk motioned for us to come over and sit down. She took a STACK of documents from Andrew, and inspected each one very carefully. She was asking questions - I got nervous. She then wanted to see our passports, but never even glanced at mine. She inspected Marty's as if it wasn't real. She looked at his immigration paperwork, Visa, and his registration card. There was something about the registration she didn't like. She took it out of his passport and left the room.

(insert sound of freaking out here)

This is when I started to pray. Just about went to my knees!

Marty asked Andrew what the deal was, and she wanted to make sure it was authentic (huh? it has the oh coveted stamp on it!). She returned to the room, apparently with the power-that-be's approval. She then wanted to see the original adoption decree and original birth certificate (although she had perfectly good copies in her stand of papers).

All of this is very typical of getting anything done here - so really, nothing was out of the ordinary.

We asked about obtainng a regular passport rather than a biometric one. In order to do that, we would need to approach the chief of that passport office. The chief only works on Friday and Tuesday (from something like 11 - 3). There was no guarantee he would grant our request, and if he did grant it, we would have to resubmit all of the documents and still wait the 2 weeks to get the passport issued.

In other words, things are NOT like they are at home. At home, if you have an emergency, you can pay to have your passport expidited. Not here. I wonder what happens when someone has to leave the country for an emergency...they probably die waiting for thier passport to be delivered from the official government courier.

We were told that we can start checking to see if the passport came in on the 22nd. That is in a week and 1/2. There is no phone number to call (like the USCIS!), you have to show up...and when you show up, you wait to see if the box of passports was delivered that day. That is what all those people were doing out in the lobby area. Waiting on the mail to arrive (basically).

So we wait, and pray.

Ya know that book "Eat, Sleep and Pray"? I should write a book called "Pray, wait and Pray"

of all the blessings

I feel like I need to dedicate another post to a very special family. This family has come to mean so much more to us than a resource; more than our 'get out of jail' card; and more than a friend we have on the other side of the world.

This family is God inspired. Intellectually, I the divine workings of the Holy Spirit, but many times it's hard for me to see, feel and touch those things in my everyday life. In this case, it didn't take long, especially when you consider our prayers for the past zillion years.

You see, our prayers have been pretty basic. Every night, it went something like this:

"Heavenly Father, please place your hand on our adoption process. Help us to get through the paperwork, and present a case that the Judge in Irkutsk will accept and grant. Lord, protect Anya until we can bring her into our family. We pray that all those who touch Anya's life and our adoption process seek Your wisdom, grace and love. We thank you in advance for your perfect timing, and the way you are working out every little detail for our extended stay in Russia to bring Anya home."

Not only have Steve and Tami been an incredible support to us, and shown us God's love in ways we've never experienced - they pray for Anya's relationship with Christ. They want her to know Him as much as we do. The love they show her through talking about Jesus to her (in Russian) makes my heart sing!

That is why when Steve and Tami (and Ashley, Andrew and Melissa) gave Anya this very special gift - I was a bit overwhelmed.

Today was a good good day!

Have you ever heard that Black Eyed Peas song? The one that starts out with "I got a feeling, tonight's gonna be a good night - tonight's gonna be a good GOOD night"? Funny, because I don't listen to Black Eyes Peas as part of my regular playlist on my IPod, but I really like this part of the song. For our family today, this was a perfect underscore to the day.

In a nutshell, last night was a rough night. Transition and change is hard. Well - after a heartbreaking evening, it ended very well. Lots of hugs and kisses, lots of bed time snuggling.

This morning started out just as nice...with Anya climbing into bed with us, making sure that we're all covered up with blankets, then going to get her stuffed animals - making sure they're all covered up with blankets - and getting back in bed with us. Ya know - the routine of it all is VERY important!

Anya's first English lesson was this morning too. Anne (the English teacher) got here about 11. The lesson went very well. We decided that it would be best if we weren't here when the lesson went on. Anya would be distracted with us so close by, and probably wouldn't pay attention. No need to worry - we know Anne, and know her family - have met her parents, she is a perfectly capable safe person to leave your children with. No flame comments, please!

Meet Anne - and no, I don't know what kind of bozo face Anya is making here - she is goofy!

Nice smile...better!

Anyway - after the lesson, we took Anne to lunch (Debbie, went to the pizza place across the street for the first time). Anne came back to the apartment with us to give us a little Russian help. There are some things we need to know how to say perfectly (for discipline etc.). Anya then talked all of us into playing Uno (which is a game I think she could play over and over again all. day. long.!)

It was so nice to have Anne here translating those little things Anya says that we don't quite get. Let me say, Anya has a great sense of humor! She was making jokes, and laughing so hard, she couldn't hardly stop.

Then tonight I decided to make Tami's famous lentil soup from scratch. For those who know me well, STOP LAUGHING! I actually did make the soup, and it was very VERY good! I am adding it to my repertoire of things I know I can cook.

Anya is such a joy to be around. She is very eager to help - always wanting to help me in the kitchen. We are feeling overwhelmingly blessed by our little one tonight. As Anya says as she ends her prayers, "spaceeba Christo"!

funny things from Anya

Anya let us know that she loves her tooth paste. So much, that she wants to eat it.

Anya has named her stuffed cat (from the Matafin girls) Jayme. Where she got that name, I have no idea. I have a friend named Jayme - and I talk about her, who knows!

Last night, Marty made chicken and rice for dinner. Anya thought this was a very tasty meal - after we started eating, she exclaimed (in her BIG Russian voice) - SPACEEBA DADDY, FAKOOSNA! (Thank you Daddy, tasty!)

She has picked up enough English, that she is mixing it in with Russian. At night, we have a bedtime routine, that includes going to bed, praying, Daddy saying goodnight, Mommy saying goodnight and then Anya deciding when Mommy and Daddy should go to bed (picking my battles here people!). Tonight she said "Mommy se chas sleep" (Mommy, sleep now!). But the sleep is more like schleeeeep.

Anya likes to pray before meals, and at bedtime. She has paid very close attention to what we say when we pray, and with a little help - she does a great job. Hope to post a video of that soon! Tonight she prayed for the usual, and included 'Jesus please help Melissa and Ashlea Jackson". Not sure what they are in need of help for, but rest assured Jackson mom and dad - it has been prayed for!

more questions answered

I'd love to hear about her bedroom!
Lots of photos of her bedroom are out there. It’s all light pink and lime green. Stripes, polka dots and flowers. Her room has been done for about 5 years now!




How often did Anya get out of the orphanage, if ever?
When she was in the Detski Dom (Children’s Home), she rarely left. Generally only for specialized doctor appointments. The children went to camp for a week in the summer, and there was some kind of singing / poetry competition once a year that was held in the city. That was about it.

The orphanage she was most recently at was a little different. She went to a traditional school, so every day – she was in school with other kids in the city. On Wednesday nights, she went to Luda’s home for a Bible Study…all this in addition to doctor appointments and so on. Her time out of the orphanage wasn’t great, but she did know there was more to the world than the walls of the orphanage.


How long will you be able to take off work?
Well, we both are essentially self employed, so we can kinda do whatever we want to! Technically we both are still working while we are here. We both take an hour or so a day to keep in touch with clients, try to get appointments set etc. for when we get back. I have a pretty big project (giant fashion show) on April 22 – so I am working on that while I am here.

How do you/how soon do you - hope to integrate Anya into socializing with American kiddos? Gymnastics? Soccer? Sunday School?
We go to a big church, with lots (and I mean LOTS) of friends with kids her age. So as soon as we’re able to get up and around after we get home, we’ll be at church. Depending on when we get home, we may put her in school yet this semester. She is already signed up for a day camp the end of June (through our church).

Anya has already been playing with our friend’s kids here. We’ve been to their house 2 times over the past week to play.


What was Anya's reaction and what did she say when you told her that everything had gone thru and you were really and truly "Mama and Pappa", and she was finally going to leave the orphanage with the both of you forever?
We didn’t tell her. The director of the orphanage did. When we got to the orphanage to pick her up, she knew she was going with us, and was more than ready to go with us!

She is old enough, that I think she understood what was going on – one of the benefits of adopting an older child! Younger children can’t understand, and can be terribly scared of this big change. Anya has known us her whole life, so going with us (and trusting us) wasn’t an issue. We truly are blessed with her transition!

no need for words

Her name is Anya Frrrrrriend

Yep - We have an official adoption decree, a birth certificate AND a colorful wall hanging that says so. We think the wall hanging made it official.

*artist note - this is an Anya Friend coloring original.

This morning, we went to the grocery store, the bank, and the birth certificate office, and the passport photo place.

Andrew showed Anya her birth certificate, and Anya sounded out her new name. She is really a very good reader!

Back at the apartment, Anya and Daddy decided to play Uno. In the middle of the game, Anya asked "what is my name"? She was serious...not as in "your name is Ice Cream, silly!", but as in "I can't remember my name". Daddy said "Anya Friend" - the look on her face was priceless, as if she was committing it to memory. That was about the time Daddy decided to write it down for her.

Anya

(from Marty)
Anya coloring quietly while mama takes a nap. I may be a tad biased, but I think we have the most well behaved lil' cutie on this hemisphere. Is she energetic? You bet, but no more so than any other 7 year old. We are so blessed to have her!!!

(from Kathy)
In my defense, I had just completely cleaned the apartment, scrubbed the floors etc., and got a massive headache. Nothing cures a headache like a little shut-eye!

oops

Daddy let Anya have some tea this afternoon - with caffeine (by accident) - for the last time EVER!

I know there are Q's

Many of you have asked me questions in comments here, and I've been bad (BAD!) about replying. SORRY! Email is a complete pain in the 'you know what' here...so let's do this. Post your questions here, and in a few days - I will be sure to answer all of them in one big post.

The Little Things are the Big Things

I was thinking today about the past 6ish years. What are the things that stand out to me, what things have moved me into action, what things have moved me to tears, and what things have changed me.

Bottom line on all of this is God.

So many of your kids have been praying for Anya for many years. It might have seemed like a little thing at the time, but to us – it was a big thing.

I remember the times before we would make ANOTHER trip to Russia, those of you who came to our house to pray for us, for the trip, for Anya – might have seemed like a little thing to do, but to us – it was a big thing.

There was a period of time when I was tired. I had no energy to do one more piece of paperwork. It was hard to see so much time and energy go to something without any kind of return (or even the hope of a return). You, my friends, prayed me through it, and it is a big deal.

Adoption is not for the fait hearted. It’s not for the weak, those who give up easily or those who aren’t up for a fight. It will change you. For me, it has changed me for the better. My Panera girlie friends - for this I thank you. For moving my thoughts to another place, to see blessings where there didn’t appear to be any; and that is a big deal.

There are those things that still move me to tears when I think about them. What if we never went down this path? What if we went a different direction at the fork in the road? Well…then I wouldn’t have so many of you as friends – family, really. You’ve talked me off the ledge, given of yourself in ways I will never be able to repay, and just listened – you’ve reminded me to lay my issues and problems down, to find answers in Truth. I have found the meaning of true friends…and that is a big deal.

Step 1 - adoption decree, CHECK!

We were able to get the official adoption decree today. Things have changed quite a bit from the way things were a year ago. We do not need to get a citizenship stamp before heading to the birth certificate office. This is great, and will cut a day or more out of the process.

Also, the passport office was only open 2 days a week - now, it is open 6 days a week - YAY!
Tomorrow Anya's new birth certificate. We'll head to the office at about 11am. Sounds like this will be like a trip to the DMV (i.e. you go, get a number and stand in line). The office shuts down from 1-2pm for lunch, so our hope is to be in and out by 1. Then, we'll head to the photography place to get Anya's picture taken for the passport.

Now, if I understood it right, we will then go to the passport office. I've been known to not understand what Andrew has said before (but I maintain that Andrew SAID one thing, but meant the other...his English and tense of words sometimes gets mixed up). In all reality, we will probably have to wait a day for the photos, and go to the passport office on Thursday. But who knows!

I am just praying that these last few steps in the process go smoothly and swiftly. We're all exhausted, ready to come home, and get on with life.

Our day at Baikal - in pictures

The Jackson clan...seriously don't know what we would do without this family.
Anya with her best friend, Melissa
Anya with her other favorite friend, Ashlee (that she calls Ashlea because all girls names here end with an 'a')
Fish - there are fish EVERYWHERE at Baikal
You can se the lake behind us - it is massive - if you don't know anything about Baikal...Google it - it is the a pretty amazing lake
People drive cars on the lake - 'back in the day' they would put railroad tracks across the lake, and a train would go across...just in the winter.
The water (well, ice) is so clear - pretty amazing
Anya might be the only year old that wears Cocah sunglasses...OK, they're mine, I like to share
In this photo, you can kind of see the depth of the ice. It is about a meter thick here



Someone was so excited about going to Baikal, she needed a nap on the way there

silly things Anya says

Out of mouth of babes (or 7 year olds) - "Mama is a big tomato, Daddy is meat, and I am ice cream"

Things about Anya

Last night we learned that Anya talks in her sleep. THe only thing I understood that she was saying was 'that's all'.

when to open up the blog

Today's question is when to open up the blog. For those who have been through the process, what do you think? When is a good time?

I feel like I am always juggling permissions, trying to see who I might be able to delete to make room for one more.

Any thoughts?

Anyone?

OK, who wants to buy my daughter her own IPod Touch for her birthday the end of June. Anyone, anyone? (chirp chirp!)

Ice Cream on Walking Street

Really, eating ice cream when it is about zero outside is a fun thing to do - check it out...

Dog Sled

Here is a quick video of Anya dog sledding at the Jackson's. Astra was a good dog and very patient with his new passenger! This was taken on the Jackson's street - for all of you in subdivisions who get irritated with the lack of snow plow response - check out this video...this is on a road.

Saturday is fun day!

Today we decided to go out for lunch and walk downtown. We went to Fiesta for lunch on Walking Street. Anya got some chicken and french fries. She is now the world's biggest french fry fan!

After lunch, we decided to let her have ice cream. She has been talking about it all day, even saying (I think) that her name is Anya Ice Cream. She made her own grocery list and on it was:

1. ice cream
2. milk
3. juice
4. candy

We got some ice cream at a street vendor after lunch - yes, it is about zero outside, and yes we're eating ice cream on the snow covered street. Welcome to Siberia!


We did a lot of sharing of the ice cream.

more on Friday

Did I mention that she liked Popcorn?


She also really liked Peanut Butter.Finger lickin' good! (and container licking...and plate licking...)
When she gets a little excited, we put the headphones on her and let her play with the IPod for a while. I read somewhere that this is a technique used with autistic children - Anya isn't autistic, but I thought I'd give it a go and see how it worked. LIKE A CHARM!

what to do on a Friday..

Friday was quite a day around here. Anya had her second 'time out', and first melt down - and I mean MELT DOWN! Tears and everything. In hind-sight it was a good thing. The tears showed us that she understood that she did something wrong, and that she was being punished for it.

Before I go into the whole thing - let me get one thing perfectly clear. Anya is a very VERY good girl. We've heard all kinds of stories about kids, and the challenges they have had in the first days. She is polite (as polite as you can be when you've never been taught manners), understands rules, goes to bed without any trouble, takes a bath eagerly. It's all really very good.

What we're experiencing is simple a 7 year old girl who is trying to define her boundaries. She senses that I am in charge, since I seem to be the one always saying 'no'; therefore she is trying to see how far she can push me. I get that intellectually, but in the moment it isn't easy.

We have some pretty firm rules - things like no hitting, pulling hair, spitting. Also insist on things like waiting until everyone is done eating dinner before we get up and start playing, we must brush teeth in the morning, and we must pee pee before we go outside. Ya know - all mean parent stuff.

On Friday, Anya was really trying to find what buttons to push with me; it ended up in her trying to hit me and shake her fist in my face before we were going outside. That is not acceptable in our house. So, her behavior got her a 5 minute time out with firm voices from Mommy and Daddy. Anya didn't like that at all, and burst into tears. Hiding her face and everything. The shame of it all was horrible.

After the melt down, we went for a walk outside. She still wouldn't look at me and didn't want to hold my hand. She was very quiet the rest of the day.

Today (Saturday) she is fine. No boundary pushing. When I see that she is trying, I've been handing it all over to Daddy. That seems to be working out since Daddy is clearly her favorite. I've even used the 'do you want me to get Daddy' trick - and let me say, it works like a charm!

So - here are some photos of our Friday. Don't ask about this first one...let me just say that it needed to be done, and Marty was the only one around who had the skills to complete the task.


We've declared Friday night 'family night' (maybe kinda sotra borrowed it from the Jackson's...we don't have a cool family fun song yet, but we're working on it!). In the spirit of Family night, we watched a movie and ate popcorn. Anya loved the corn! The movie was Winnie Pooh (for about the millionth time).

routines - the end of Friday

At the end of the day on Friday, Anya was still being a little stand offish with me, and that's OK. I expect it. (notice how great my roots look here? Thanks honey!)



Being silly with her Ugly Doll from my brother.

Cheesey!And a little love from Daddy.

the day at the Jackson's

On Thursday, we went to the Jackson's house for the afternoon. It was so nice to see Ans pay with other kids. I know she is bored out of her mind with us...and I hate that. There isn't much to do in the apartment (that I am not lovingly calling the 'cell'...bars on the windows, gray walls...kinda fits).

Anyway, it was a great afternoon.

Steve took the kids on a dog sled ride with their family's dog, Astra.

Anya and Melissa had a lot of fun playing. Melissa is 6. Here, they're having 'girl talk' over some hot chocolate.
When we first got to their house, Anya was shy, so we played Candy Land. This is one of her favorite games. She quickly warmed up to the other kids, and before I knew it - she was even being a little bossy! But the kids all had a good time, and we're very grateful for the invitation!