Hi all,
Jayne and I are both tired so I we write a little and off to bed. We will post more pictures tomorrow. I am feeling much better, thanks to Jayne. She told me to sleep in a few mornings and did the night routine with the boys, so I have recovered. The boys seem to be getting healthier also. Some coughing during the day but not like it was, and very little if any coughing at night. Today I went to begin the paper work for the boys’ visas and passports. Lots of running around and we also went grocery shopping. I left at 9:30 this morning and did not return until 2:30. All I could think about was “is Jayne okay, are the boys behaving?” Well let’s just say Vlady really tested. It is difficult for both of us I felt so bad that Jayne did not have me there. And now I have to go back tomorrow at 12:30 so we can get their passports and visa. It will definitely not be as long and we will go on a walk before I leave so hopefully they will be better behaved. Both Vlady and Alex are really starting to copy what we are doing, it is very cute. They will copy words but also are actions. On our walk to see the trains we saw some construction workers. We went to the top of the bank by the street so we could see over the fence and see them better. As we were watching, I squatted down and Alex saw me and did the same thing and then Vlady also followed. They also understand us much better. We have been talking to them more in English and they seem to understand. Tonight I told them okay one more minute and time for bed and Vlady replied, “ahjen minoot” (one minute). He will also look at himself in the mirror after he has combed his hair and say, “handsome,” because Jayne and I always say that to them when we comb their hair. We hope everyone is doing well at home and we really miss you all. Bye until tomorrow, Rich, Jayne, Vlady, Alex, Jotsi
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3 comments:
Hi Jayne & Rich,
Glad to hear from you. Your story about the "handsome" is cute. It reminds us of when we arrived home, everyone kept telling us how beautiful the girls were. Well, they must of heard this so many times. One day, a few weeks after we were home, Pano had to take the girls to the District Office to put them on his insurance. Some people were commenting on the girls. When Pano and the girls got into the car to leave, all he could hear was some Russian and then they both said the word "beautiful" and broke into laughter. All the way home, they kept it up. This seemed to last for several days. "Beautiful" was the on going joke for them.
Please remember that the kids will test you quite a bit. Some of it is to see how far they can get but some of it too, is to see how secure they are in your family. On more than one occasion, especially Daria, would act up and then ask if we were going to send her back to the orphanage. We would always say "no way" but they still seemed to be insecure. Even a couple of months ago, we were joking around and Pano told Daria the phrase "Oh, get out of here", meaning like that's going to happen, yeah, sure...and Daria got upset and took it literally, telling him that she had no where to go...It took a while to explain that this is an expression. Sometimes the kids will easily fool us that they understand everything but they really don't.
Like we've said before, it will get much better with the kids' behavior but things will not really improve until you are on your turf with your surroundings. The kids seem to know they have the advantage because they are still around their familiar surroundings (language, smells, sights, sounds, etc..). The first time we saw our kids start to get it was when we arrived in Frankfort Germany to change planes. After hearing an announcement, Daria got a shocked look on her face and told us that's not "Rooski" being spoken. From then on, it seemed like the power balance was changing. Until that point, we were going insane and they were doing everything like ordering ice cream for dinner at the hotel restaurant and we'd be like, "let them get anything they want" as to avoid an ugly episode, much to the waiter's surprise. Our episode at the U.S. Embassy was a nightmare since our kids were the worst behaved there. They kept running around and shouting but we felt pretty powerless because everyone always seemed to have their eyes on us. We couldn't parent and we told ourselves several times a day, "Just wait unti we get home." Fortunately for us, we did not have to stay as long as you. We guess that God knew we were really going crazy. You guys seem to be handling everything quite well. Keep it up.
Remember, when you get home you have the love and support of so many friends and family, and your faith in God. This will help you tremendously as well as your being such a strong, loving, and united couple. Just keep in mind to work as a team, as the kids may try to work one against the other. Each situation and family is different but that's at least what we experienced. You will always have our support and it really helped us that we knew other couples who had similar experiences when they adopted. We called them quite frequently and compared notes, as we still do to this day. We met three really great couples through our agency and we are close friends,the Parks, the Parents, and the Navrides families. We will host something soon where you can meet them (we know that you have spoken with the Parks already). This gave our kids a link to their heritage (kind of like their Russian cousins) and Lou Parent is fluent in Russian, so he was extremely helpful in translating things and giving us useful phrases the first few weeks when we were home like "Stop that, that's unacceptable, etc..." You know, survival stuff! You will get to meet them at Taia's birthday party on May 31st.
Please know that we love you and you always have all of our love, encouragement, and support. Things will get better each and every day but the biggest change will begin when you are home. You're doing a great job! Our kids, as yours, did not know how to be members of a family and had to learn it. Just think of them as aliens from another planet because we just assume and take things for granted. These kids have really had nothing so you're basically starting from square one.
Have a wonderful day filled with all of God's most wonderous blessings.
All Our Love,
Pano, Sperry, Daria, & Taia
Congrats Rich and Jayne--I just got to your blog, once again I had deleted the info but Steve sent it to me! I am so happy for you guys, I got chills just reading through it all! What a wonderful--though emotional process!
Love you guys--congratulations!!! Can't wait to see you!
Love Anita
Jayne and Rich...you can start your countdown soon!! TO RETURNING TO THE US!! You are almost there. KEEP THE FAITH. What is going on with the kids is trying, but NORMAL for them. We know you guys know this. You are in our thoughts and prayers every day.
Hugs to you!
Katie and Sam
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