(Sigh).............

We know a family here in town who adopted a little blonde, blue eyed boy from Eastern Europe.  Aaron has some physical challenges and the family is making trips to Shriners Children's Hospital in Maryland each week to get casting on his legs to correct some muscular issues that were not addressed in his earlier life which he spent in an orphanage, and then spent an additional miserable year in a mental institution which is where unadopted post 4 year olds are sent in Eastern Europe. These children are basically discarded, locked away from society and many of them literally perish in these horrific institutions.  Aaron was adopted at 5 years old by this dear family who fought like crazy to get him out of this hell-on-earth place and into their loving home.  For the last 3 weeks, I have had the HONOR of teaching Aaron in the PreK class at our local homeschool co-op.  To see him smiling, full of joy, bright, laughing and interacting with the other children is truly unbelievable.  Aaron is doing SO well, is so smart, so full of life....all because of one loving family who was willing to take a "risk" and get outside of their comfort zone.  Many adoptive families hear from others;..."oh, (your child's name) is SO lucky that you adopted them!"  but most adoptive families would say that THEY are the ones who have been blessed beyond measure.

This is where my (sigh) comes in.  Aaron's family has a blog that follows many other blogs which highlight families in the process of eastern european adoptions.  While it is wonderful to see the cases of the children being adopted into their forever families, there is still a great and DIRE need for many more families to adopt.  Every day, these sweet children "age out" of the orphanages and take a very somber and scary car ride to what will probably be their final destination: a mental institution for children ages 4-18.  Run-down, ill equipped, understaffed, unclean, wretched places that most people would not deem livable at all.  And 4 year old toddlers are "introduced" into these unwelcoming places where they will likely spend the rest of their "childhood".

When I hear Ana chattering away in the preschool class, announcing proudly that "SHE has a Daddy who wears a tie" when we're learning about the letter "T", or that SHE has a doggie at her house that she loves, I can't help but think about all the other children for which time is ticking, ticking, each day bringing them closer to aging out of the orphanage.  Who will go for them? Who will adopt them?  When, if ever, will they be able to say that THEY have a Daddy and a doggie and a house?  I know I sound depressing, and I know most people don't want to hear such sad things but this IS the reality...........

Micah 6:8- "He has showed you O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Pink Froggy Potty

This new little gadget is decorating my family room these days.  Ana had great interest (and production) with pink froggy potty the first few days but the interest has waned.  (sigh).  Maybe when the days are warmer and there are less clothing layers...and the pink plastic doesn't feel so icy.......

"Happy Day"....3 today!

Whenever Ana hears the "Happy Birthday" song, she says "happy day!".   Today was Ana's Happy Day!  Her third birthday.  We started our day out Keyser birthday style, which meant Mom had set the table the night before with colored birthday plates, the kids (whose birthday it wasn't) strung up streamers and made home made birthday cards.  Luke insisted on an elaborate scavenger hunt to hide Ana's gift which was a set of play-doh.  Ana wore her "Cav Man" (UVA) t-shirt. Mom declared school but no math today (big bonus) and we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  It was indeed a happy day!

Me and "Mee-Mee"

This little video was taken by Daddy.  That's my Mee-mee [Grandma] singing the songs and sitting on the sofa. Aren't I cute??? Love, Ana

Celebrations To Remember

Christmas with Ana was so joyful this year. She was happy, singing, dancing, and really "getting it". Mary had Baby Jesus in the stable and everyone is rejoicing and celebrating! Her favorite new word is "joy" as she keeps singing "Joy To The World" and "Joy, Joy, Joy".....she also likes "We Three Kings". When I got up this morning and thought about our Christmas Day yesterday with her, I remembered our first big celebration, or "party" as we say with her. It was our US Embassy appointment in Moscow last November. Every adoptive family must check out through the US Embassy...it is the final "hoop". The appointment is typically the day before you leave and going into it, we really didn't know what to expect. We were slightly apprehensive that all our papers would be in order and we were mysteriously told that we would be given a very important packet of (more) papers that we COULD NOT OPEN FOR ANY REASON. That MUST be opened by a US Customs Official once we landed in Dulles. It just all seemed so very...oh, I don't know, "spy-like", but I guess it is for some international legal reasons or SOMETHING. Anyhow, by now we had learned; "they say it, we do it!" So off to the US Embassy we went, Ana in the backpack, with a diaper bag, sippy cup, papers, toys books, snacks, etc. We were prepared to be sitting for hours. But when we arrived and went through all the appropriate (over-intensive) security checks, we were sent to a room with about a dozen other couples, each with toddlers, all looking somewhat bleary-eyed and speaking, we soon caught on, english. We realized these were fellow adoptive parents who had all been through the same experience (battle) that we had to get our new children. We quickly began talking to one another, sharing stories, laughing, and comparing notes. There were couples and new Moms from all over the United States....Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, New York. Some were adopting one child, some two. The joke immediately became: "well, it's 1:00...naptime at the orphanage." These poor children were looking as shell-shocked as the parents. Everything was new to these little ones. They had probably never been outside their former orphanage walls, never heard english, they were with total strangers who spoke and smelled and acted differently from anything they had ever known. But it was such a sweet moment....to look around and know these kids had been rescued and these parents were building their families in an unconventional way. One couple from North Carolina had the husband's Dad with them and the proud new grandpa was BEAMING and chatting away about his new granddaughter. He was insistent that she was the brightest and most beautiful little girl in all of Russia- probably the whole world. Aren't all grandparents convinced of such things? Matt and the husband were rolling with laughter as we realized that we had had the same judge in St Petersburg just a week apart! The new Dad (this was their first child) started firing parenting questions at Matt and was particularly interested in our Kelty back pack...he even tried it on. It was hilarious and I wished we had had a camera to capture the moment. Anyway, we all commented that the moment was one big "adoption party"...we were all departing Russia soon and the mood was merry. Just like yesterday on December 25, the joy of a new Baby, ....just like Christmas.

So glad we didn't miss it.....