Her People Now...

When we travelled to Russia each trip, we relied on Skype...mostly to keep us in contact with our 3 children back in the US and the grandparents staying with them. One late night in Moscow, we had the delight of skyping a dear friend, a grad student who lived with us for a year two years ago. There was so much that we loved about her but the way she jumped right in with our family's sense of humor made for the creation of many little "inside jokes"....like giving our Suburban a special name..."Big Blue"...or joking with Matt about his very "dogmatic" personality. When we skyped her that evening we jumped right into joking and one of her comments to us about Ana was "does she know that you all are, like, "her people" now?" We've made that one of our new little family jokes, but we're serious about it too. We ARE her people now. Or, as they say at the adoption agency, her "forever family".

This evening we sat around "post-Christmas" visiting with much of our extended Keyser family. We told the the "her people" story and announced to Ana with the wave of our hand...."Hey, these are all your people now!". In Ana style, she giggled and did a little jig of a dance. How amazing and how blessed we are with this new little one in our big family.

Bundling Up

Once we had Ana out of the orphanage (or "Baby Home" as they called it), we were constantly told to "bundle her up". The day we picked her up, we brought everything she needed- clothes, shoes, coat, diaper. We were told that otherwise we would have a "naked baby". They own nothing. We handed the clothes to the orphanage worker and they brought her out dressed in them. The only remnant we have from her first "home" is a tattered undershirt that they left on her because they did not think what we brought was warm enough. "She need a snowsuit"..."She need a snow boot". But at that point (October 27) it was not THAT cold (at least we didn't think so). Besides the cute, flowered leather shoes we brought for her (a lovely gift from a friend back home) would be just fine. Even though she was walking, indeed running around, easily, we were pretty sure we'd be holding her non-stop. Which was, of course, exactly what we did for the next 8 days before departing the country. That didn't stop the Russian folks from scolding us at every turn. On the bus, in the hotel lobby, in the streets, "she be cold"..."she need a hat". Our "snowsuit" was actually a fleece pajama onesie from Target that I threw in our suitcase at the last minute! The fact was, we learned right away that she was a "hot-pot"...the kind of kid who was just naturally warm and tended to sweat a lot. Like her new Daddy! She was so hot in the car the day we drove to the airport in St Petersburg to catch our flight to Moscow that she barfed all over Matt and the car. At that point, while Matt changed his pants in the back of a small hatch-back type vehicle and stuffed his vomit covered jeans into our carry on (a nice surprise for security agents later), I stripped our poor child down to a shirt and tights and zipped her into the Target fleece pajamas which I assured our Russian escort was an American snowsuit. (She's sporting it in the photo above riding in her back pack in Moscow)

It's Beginning to Look A lot Like....

Christmas! Our kids are just a little bonkers here today about the huge amount of snow that fell last night. As a matter of fact, we haven't had snow of this magnitude since the first winter in our house here....7 years ago! Does this look familiar to Ana? Last winter in Russia, she would have been just 1. Our understanding from speaking with locals in St Petersburg is that the weather there was marked by cold rain, sleet and snow from mid-October through April. Several commented how "depressed" they were that the winter was approaching. Anyone owning a car is "required" to have chains on the tires in the height of the winter. They claimed the sun never came out at all. So we gathered that St Petersburg was beautiful in the short times that the weather was nice but dreary the remainder of the year. I am so thankful all of our adoption travel was completed by November 4!

Bathtime in St. Petersburg

Ana's first bath was inn our hotel room in St Petersburg. She was not at all sure about it. We don't believe there were many baths at the orphanage. By the third day with us, she was walking over to the tub and trying to swing her leg up into it. Now, the tub is a favorite place. She points and shakes her head in a "yes, yes" gesture and once sitting in the running water keeps saying "more, more"!

Ready, Set, Go!

I have to admit, I had grand schemes of sharing this new Blog address in our Christmas Letter this year...but...I went ahead and mailed nearly all of them already. I can't decide if I just couldn't stand having them all over my kitchen counter, or if I really didn't think I'd be able to get this Blog together anytime in the month of December. A sweet Friend came over yesterday, taking time out of her busy schedule, indeed a schedule that includes their own family's adoption of 2 little ones from Africa, and helped me become an official blogger. I hope this site will be a place for family and friends to take time out of their busy schedules (if they are able) and check in to see what's happening in our family. For my dear sis in Ohio, a chance to see family photos that never seem to get attached to my emails and for friends who want to see our newest family member but live far away to pop in and see Ana and my other 3 (whom they may not recognize!). And for my friends close by, several of whom I refer to as Blog Queens, to check in and...well, give me advice on how to add to my Blog. Ready, Set........GO!