More Firsts

Last night, Natalie was not feeling well and not able to fully express that to me. I think those are the times when I feel the most frustrated and inadequate. But she woke up this morning, fully recovered and going 100 miles an hour. We also went and checked out a Day Care today. She was quiet during that time, but I know that she was happy to see the children. That was further evidenced when later we were outside and she saw several children in the neighborhood and was yelling out Hi in Russian. I am hearing more and more English words every day and she is constantly asking me what something is and then repeating it. Today she has started where she will run towards me and then just hugs on my leg. Today she also told me "I love you" and gave me my first kiss. I see more and more of the silly side of her coming out to. She also rode around the garage with her helmet on on a bike with training wheels. This child wants to try everything. She has eaten lasagna, salad, corn, cold cereal, lunch meat, and a bunch of other things that just surprise me. I have to confess that I love potato chips. One of my favorites is the kettle cooked Sea Salt and Vinegar. Today she asked me for some. Of course I figured she would not like them, but not only did she eat the few I gave her, but she wanted more. Go figure!!
Tonight I was making Hamburger Helper. She was playing with her kitchen set and had a bag of play food. She asked me what I was making and the next thing I knew she had pulled out a play box of food that said Hamburger Helper.
She had gotten completely over her fear of the cats. When we were in the garage, the door into the kitchen was open and Maxx the cat was sitting in the doorway watching us. She started yelling out, Maxx eedee, which means come here. Of course Maxx just looked at her. We were in Target yesterday and she asked where Bubushka was. My mom had gone to another part of the store. I told her that she was in a different section of the store, so she started yelling out Bubushka and calling for her. A big step when you consider that less that a week ago she was afraid of her.

I was thinking today, that is some ways, watching how Natalie is attaching and how more and more of her personality is emerging must be in some ways, how it is with our relationship with the Lord. He must get so excited when we talk to him more and tell him that we love him and make that time for him. I know how I feel when Natalie responds to me and how I feel as I see her blossom. How proud our Father must be of us.

This Precious Child

It is now after 8:30 and the supper dishes are still on the table, the cat threw up on the carpet, the bills are still waiting to be paid and the pile of mail has started to decrease but is still a huge pile. But here I sit at the computer taking the time to catch up with several families that I feel like I have been on the journey with. At this point so many of them have been home for a little while, have finished their court dates or just waiting on the court date. It continues to bless my heart to see how all these little children are doing.

Last night I finally finished unpacking the suitcases. I still have lots to put away, especially papers and papers and papers!! But as I put the suitcases up in the attic, I was hit with the realization that this was the first time in over 2 years that I did not have a suitcase packed to go to Russia. My dossier was submitted in January 2006 and at that time referrals were coming in within a month, so I stated gathering things and putting them in the suitcase. As you know from reading the blog or living the journey with me, that things didn't quite turn out the way I thought they were going to, hence the never unpacked suitcase. What a great feeling it is to not be living in the land of limbo.

I posted yesterday at nap time and the rest of the day ended up being a blast. After she woke up, I remembered some children's Cd's that my friend Karen gave me. I put one of the "silly songs' on and she danced and danced. Thankfully I caught it on video before the battery died. What a hoot!! Later that night, my mom came over for dinner. We were batting around 3 helium balloons. On a whim I grabbed the balloons and began running around the house with them and Natalie chasing me. I don't think either of us (or my mom for that matter) had laughed so hard for so long!!

Today we ran a few errands and then headed to my job. So many people were happy to see her and I was able to get all the details worked out to get her on my benefits. My coworkers and I went out to lunch and little Natalie was battling sleep waiting on lunch to arrive, which finally got there at 12:45 so close to her normal nap time. But she ate like a trooper. I thought surely this little girl will sleep the 35 minute ride home. She finally feel asleep the last 20 minutes and as soon as we pulled into the driveway, woke up. Being the "good" mama that I am I put her in the bed to go to sleep at 2:00. By 2:45 she was still sitting up refusing to give into the much needed sleep. Part of me was feeling frustrated by the fact that she wouldn't go to sleep when I knew she really needed it and part of me wanted to continue to get all these tasks done in the house. As I went back into her room for the 4th time, I was so reminded of the comments my coworker Lisa had shared at lunch. She shared about the sermon on Sunday and the importance of family. I won't go into all the details she shared, but I was convicted of my focus on the "things I needed to get done." I was also reminded that this little child of mine has lived in 4 places in just 2 1/2 weeks. Because she is so mature, helpful and independent, I often forget just how fragile and young she is. As all of these things came pouring into my mind and heart gently by the Lord, I was just so humbled by this precious gift I have. So I got her out of the bed and sat in the rocking chair with the blinds closed and just held her and rocked and rocked for an hour. Neither of us said anything the entire time and at times I think she would drift off, but wake herself back up. There was just something so special about the quiet, the darkness and when she finally realized I wasn't asleep (I had my eyes closed during the rocking) we just whispered to each other. She kept wrapping her arms around my neck and giving me hugs. Something special happened during that time and as one friend shared how a lady in her prayer group has been praying that our hearts would be knitted together, I do believe that some serious knitting was done. Surely the Lord does use the little children to teach us some many things. I am so grateful that I have this additional month off from work. I am glad that I don't have to rush off in the morning and leave her behind. I am also grateful for the lessons that I am learning through this precious child.

My LIttle Helper

I am finding that I am falling in love with this little girl more and more every day. She continues to do things that just touch my heart. I feel so honored to be her mama. Lately when she wants to get my attention, she calls "ma." It is the sweetest thing. Last night she got to bed early, slept until 7:00 (unlike the previous morning-4:30 AM, since her cousin was visiting) and has had a great morning. She ate a good breakfast and lunch and helped me with the linens from all the company we have had. My Sunday School class had blessed me with money to purchase a play kitchen. Other people gave me gifts of dishes and play food. She loves the kitchen and today not only was she making soup, but she also washed all her dishes. May this desire to clean and help continue into her teen years!! :)

We also had fun as she and "babushka" tried on a bunch of size 2T clothes to see what fits. My sister Susan has given me so many things from her daughter and others have also given me so many clothes. She enjoyed it and she was not hesitant to give her opinion on some of the outfits.

She continues to be gentle with the cats and Maxx is definitely her favorite as she not only calls out his name, but will go looking for him. Thank goodness he is a gentle and loving cat.

Tomorrow we will visit my job as so many people have been following my journey and are anxious to meet her!

Natalie

Catching Up

Do you ever feel like you will never get caught up? That is how I have felt since returning home. It is hard to be away a month. The amount of mail you receive is amazing, the dust collecting in the house and then all the unpacking, laundry and talking with everyone who wants to know how everything went takes a lot of time. But I feel like I am starting to make a dent. I have had family visiting and friends calling and have already taken Natalie to the doctor. Overall she is doing great, but we are having a tough time keeping a steady schedule. I am finding that it is best to try to plan activities in the morning and to get her back before noon. Otherwise, she gets too tired and doesn't want lunch. Along with her needs, the house and such, I have found my 3 cats very needy too!! They really missed me and with a little girl in the house, they seem to need a lot of attention too.
So my hat is off to all of you mothers and wives who work, home school and take care of more than one child!!! I have to say that Natalie is just wonderful and so helpful. She is such a delight and every day there is some major accomplishment. Today it was that she is no longer afraid of the cats and she is very gentle with them. She is my little helper and slowly she is starting to say more English words. She knows Maxx the cat by name and calls him. I am posting some pictures for all of you!!

Home Sweet Home

Just a quick note, to let you all know that we arrived safely tonight. It is so good to be home. Overall Natalie did well on the trip, but had very little sleep. So when we arrived at the airport, she was a bit overwhelmed by all the people. For me personally, I was so blessed to be greeted by so many people. I guess everyone is always happy to come home, but after being in the country for 28 days by myself, perhaps it made it all the greater joy to see so many familiar and loving faces.

So tonight, I should be in bed, but instead I took a long shower, brushed my teeth with my electric toothbrush with running water that I could drink from the tap, hugged my kitty cats and thanked God from the bottom of my heart for being with me through this long and at times difficult journey. As I logged on tonight, I saw my second ticker that said "Natalie is home!" and indeed she is. Pray for a good transition as there were a lot of tears and some fears with all the new faces and seeing a cat around the corner.

Over the next week or so, I will post more pictures and go into more details about some of our times. It is a lot easier knowing that it isn't costing me every minute to write a post.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. It is so good to be home and to have Natalie here!!