One Year Ago Today...

...in a courtroom in St Petersburg Anastasia Elisabeth legally became our daughter. That was our second trip to Russia- for court- and it was a hard trip. Ana was not with us in court (not allowed) and when we visited her in the "Baby Home" (orphanage) she was running a fever and congested. I knew there was no one to hold her when she was feeling bad as I would with my other children, especially at that age. There was a human bite mark on her arm. She was wearing an ill fitting dress which had sleeves so constricting and tight I could not move them to check for other bite marks. It was very hard to fly home knowing she was there and not feeling well and unaware that things would ever be better for her. We pleaded with Svletlana to move up our date of return to get her....but paperworks and passports and visas can only be done so quickly. We would fly home and back in 14 days. I will relay our court experience in another entry...but for now, just rejoice that she is here with us. Even as I type she is dressed up with butterfly wings and a necklace and a star wand out of the dress up box. She is brimming with happiness and our family is very grateful!

Ana Learns Mothering

Right away, we gave Ana some dollies. For a while she called them "La-La's", then they were called "babies". She really loves babies; both real ones and her doll babies. She keeps a couple in her crib. Each morning we hear her singing and talking in her crib and then eventually she starts calling "Mama!, Dada!" when she's ready to get up. This morning Matt went in to get her up and something very sweet occurred. He asked her; "Is your baby (doll) still sleeping?". She answered in the affirmative, "Yeah", with her cute little smile. Then she bent down and tucked her dolly in. After standing back up and lifting her arms for Matt to pick her up she got this "Oh, wait a minute" look on her face...she bent back down and kissed her baby doll on the forehead. Not only was this all adorable behavior but it occurred to us that this was all learned behavior since coming to live with us. In the orphanage, there was no tucking in and kissing good night. There may have been a few dollies but there was no concept of a Mommy and a baby, of nurturing love for that matter. We don't doubt that the children's physical needs were met there, but with 100+ children, emotional needs simply can't be addressed. So we are rejoicing in her happiness, her laughter, and her love of "babies". We are praising her and encouraging her that she will be a great Mommy one day!

Paper Mache Madness

This week can only be described as "paper mache madness". I have lost track of how many trips to Walmart this project has taken....it has reached grand proportions. We are in the final weeks of school which means only 3 more weeks of teaching at the HomeSchool Co-op for me. After avoiding it all year long, I decided to take the plunge into paper mache. It seemed like such a great idea...a lesson on Russian Art and Architecture, a replication of the Russian "onion domes" seen brightly displayed on some of Russia's finest architecture. We'd make several domes, varying heights and structure them all together with cardboard and masking tape, paper mache, coat with a solid white and then paint with stripes and checks and ornamentation.....they would be glorious! And best of all, take up the 3 final weeks of Co-op classes. So I gathered materials with the help of my family, Lowes, JoAnn's & Walmart. I enlisted Ethan to chop saw 120 cardboard tubes. We loaded up my truck and teaching Tuesday arrived. And then came first period......

"Mrs. Keyser, Mrs. Keyser, Mrs, Keyser!..." Sloppy, messy, squatting in the blaring sun in the parking lot of the Co-op building........"it's all over my hands, it's in my hair, I NEED HELP!" OK, maybe we'd just be making one dome per student. Globs of newspaper drowning in the soupy paper mache mixture, wind blowing strips of paper away, balloons popping......yep, just one dome each.

When I agreed to teach art to 3rd and 4th graders at the HomeSchool Co-op this year, and double my classes, I had no idea we'd be getting Ana so soon. I had taught the previous year, just 2 periods and it was great. The students were wonderful, my kids were there doing science labs and writing classes already, so it made sense. I love art, I love teaching. I'd make a little income. Besides, heading into this school year, we had just turned in our adoption paperwork; and we were hunkering down for what we expected to be the long wait. So, flying home on November 5th with our dear sweet under 2 year old was not exactly "on plan"...but we were rejoicing to have her so soon, of course!

Anastasia Easter Morning

"Anastasia"....the day we accepted our referral was the day we were given our new daughter's name: "Anastasia". Matt called me from work having looked up it's meaning. The Greek form: "the resurrected one". This sent chills up our spines. Knowing she had spent almost 2 years in a Russian orphanage, having been there since birth, she was indeed being resurrected by being physically adopted, but more than that; because she was being adopted, God was choosing to make Himself known to her. That was the downright amazing part...how the Lord "plucks" each of us out of our sorrowful state and proclaims; "You are mine". A parent loves their child not because of WHAT their child has done or accomplished, but simply because that child BELONGS to them. So I've included this photo...of "Ana" on Easter morning. She BELONGS to us, I can say she is mine, she is loved for that reason alone....and it is beautiful.