Hi! No real news to report. Nastja (Anna) is doing well. She is doing great in school and seems to really like it. She's learning English quickly and responds well to direction and guidance from us on misbehavior. :) She's a sweet girl! Today we had her spend 20 minutes writing down all the things she has to be grateful for because of being here and having been adopted, things that she would go without if she were still in Estonia. We did that because she gave us a hard time about sending Katya and Roman coloring books and a bag of candy without also buying her something during that same trip to the store. She didn't seem to understand at first that she has a lot more than they do, even though we are sending them a big bag of candy. I think she understands now, after we were able to explain in more detail and have her write the paper. I have to get it translated, but it looks like it's nice, with a lot of "love" and smilies on it.
Only news we have on Katya and Roman came from Diana on Saturday. She's furiously annoyed also that the letter from Russia has not been done yet, though she's not that surprised. She's getting really frustrated and basically let her sentiments be known to Dmitry. He said that the MOE has "promised" that they will do it, they just haven't had a chance yet. I hope those were actually their words. It's something at least. He said he would follow up with them again this week. So unfortunately, as much as all the go-getters in the family hate to do, we can do nothing but continue waiting.
In the meantime we talked to the kids on Saturday, still receive constant emails from them, and Nastja talked to them on the phone yesterday also. Katya said she has been reading a book about Jesus that we gave her, called "Learn from the Great Teacher." :)) She really does seem to truly appreciate everything we give her, it's so sweet.
Anyway, Katya and Roman once again send their love and greetings to everyone.
More soon I hope!
Love,
Molly
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Explanations
Hi again!
To answer your questions - the girl with Nastja in one picture is her sister Anja.
The game we were playing in another picture... The kids like Jason to swing them through his legs (sliding their feet on the floor) like in swing dancing. They particularly like it when we are all on ice skates. LOL Katya came up with the idea of everyone lining up like that to see how far her feet go through.
Jason's back was sore after awhile.
And yes, I am young for the age of my kids! ;) We like old kids, they are interesting. Young kids are fun too, but the older kids are less likely to find families I think, so we love them just as much. I think these particularly kids enjoy our young age, though, because we enjoy doing the same activities they enjoy and we can keep up with them.
Also, I forgot to tell you all - Nastja decided to go by "Anna" as the shortened version of Anastasija. We still call her Nastja at home, though, because it's already a habit. Sometimes she jokingly corrects us, but not usually. It's so strange to refer to her as "Anna" to other people, though, because in my mind that's not her name! But that's what she's called at school and all new people we introduce her to.
Hope this clears things up. :)
Love,
Molly
To answer your questions - the girl with Nastja in one picture is her sister Anja.
The game we were playing in another picture... The kids like Jason to swing them through his legs (sliding their feet on the floor) like in swing dancing. They particularly like it when we are all on ice skates. LOL Katya came up with the idea of everyone lining up like that to see how far her feet go through.
Jason's back was sore after awhile.
And yes, I am young for the age of my kids! ;) We like old kids, they are interesting. Young kids are fun too, but the older kids are less likely to find families I think, so we love them just as much. I think these particularly kids enjoy our young age, though, because we enjoy doing the same activities they enjoy and we can keep up with them.
Also, I forgot to tell you all - Nastja decided to go by "Anna" as the shortened version of Anastasija. We still call her Nastja at home, though, because it's already a habit. Sometimes she jokingly corrects us, but not usually. It's so strange to refer to her as "Anna" to other people, though, because in my mind that's not her name! But that's what she's called at school and all new people we introduce her to.
Hope this clears things up. :)
Love,
Molly
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
School & pictures
Today was Nastja's first day of school. I think things went really well. We walked her to her classroom and talked to her teacher for a bit. We also talked to her after class. It seems like all the teachers try to be involved as much as possible in helping her out and showing her what to do. The guidance counselor took her out of reading time and just did some English lessons with her privately with a picture book. Everyone said that she seemed to adjust quickly, be smiling and enjoying herself. She made friends with the girls who sit next to her, giggling with them and having a good time.
We went to Joanie and Julia's house after school so we are just now doing her homework (math). Jason has been working for 35 minutes with her so far. She gets frustrated and stops trying to figure out the multiplication. I admire his patience! She told him that 4x6 in Estonia is 21, and just because it's 24 in America doesn't mean that's right for her! Even the calculator is "it is America! Estonia, no! 21!" LOL She doesn't get that math is the same everywhere. Right when Jason gave up and told her to put 21 if that was her answer, she chose to agree with him and put 24. We are also having trouble convincing her that she should write a 1 like a 1 and not like a 7. Once in awhile she seems to forget that we're not stupid and she should listen to us! LOL
We missed her today while she was at school, but we had a lot to do at the house. We can't seem to get much done when she's around! :)
Here are some pictures for you all. Some from the trip and one from here of her with DogDog.
More soon!
Love,
Molly
We went to Joanie and Julia's house after school so we are just now doing her homework (math). Jason has been working for 35 minutes with her so far. She gets frustrated and stops trying to figure out the multiplication. I admire his patience! She told him that 4x6 in Estonia is 21, and just because it's 24 in America doesn't mean that's right for her! Even the calculator is "it is America! Estonia, no! 21!" LOL She doesn't get that math is the same everywhere. Right when Jason gave up and told her to put 21 if that was her answer, she chose to agree with him and put 24. We are also having trouble convincing her that she should write a 1 like a 1 and not like a 7. Once in awhile she seems to forget that we're not stupid and she should listen to us! LOL
We missed her today while she was at school, but we had a lot to do at the house. We can't seem to get much done when she's around! :)
Here are some pictures for you all. Some from the trip and one from here of her with DogDog.
More soon!
Love,
Molly
Monday, February 9, 2009
All fun and games
Hey!
Thanks for all of your comments. Visitors are welcome anytime, Rachael!!! :)
Everyone is settling in very well here. Nastja is adjusting very quickly and we've had very few issues with her at all since we got home. She is becoming increasingly sincerely affectionate, listens well, testing very little, and has stopped many of the things we told her we would not allow (constant baby talk requests for things, demanding something, arguing, grunting instead of using words, etc.). She really tries to improve things when we explain them to her. She's very sweet!
She wants to play and be doing something all the time. She loves the dogs and keeps herself occupied with them quite a bit. We let her watch Spongebob Squarepants sometimes on tv, but mostly she is outside with a dog or asking us to play a game with her.
We thought about it a lot and considering her age, how much she enjoys other children, constant activity and needs to learn English quickly, we decided to go ahead and put her in public school for now. We don't know what we'll do with the three of them once the other two are also home, but for now we think being in that environment would be better for her than being home always. Bonding is going well enough that we don't think she needs more time to get used to being home. I'd rather get her into a more permanent routine. She loves details and routine, so I think that also would be better for her than delaying. With many other kids, my opinion would be quite different.
She seems to really like being here so far. She likes the mountain scenery in the area. She also has commented that the food in America is very good, compared to food in Estonia which is "yuck very bad!"
She is a very good eater. She tries everything. Even if she is reluctant to try something at first, she will say no, watch us eat it for a minute, and then will ask for some. She does that with a lot of things. If she's afraid of a certain activity or doesn't think she'll like anything new, she'll refuse at first and then agree in a couple minutes. But anyway, she will ask for apples and carrots like they are candy. She also loves Cheerios, yogurt, eggs, all kinds of fruit, peanut butter, cheese, chicken. She's gotten away from constant requests for junk food. I think she's enjoying having good real food around instead of junk. She still loves chips (which she calls chipsy), but we don't let her eat them. ;) But it's nice because she's very easy at restaurants and to cook for at home. I think she's lost a couple pounds since we got her. Every time we were at the orphanage the only food we saw left out on the table for anyone to eat was always cookies or some other junk food. And I know she likes to snack throughout the day. I never saw apples or peaches laying around like we have here, so she just reaches for that now.
We haven't seen any evidence of any crazy behaviors that we've read about. We told Diana how well she's adjusting and she said that's really fast. So we're lucky I guess!
We have been getting emails from Katya almost everyday. Here are a couple:
1) thank you mom and dad I will ask brother we are going to wait we want to know when we going to leave to usa we want to be with you we miss you so much we love you mom and dad say hi to grandpa and grandma and Nastya we love you very much
2) thank you very much I will wait I miss you so much and every night I look on the picture were we are with you I think of the time together and how we played together and did other things too
say hi to Nastya I love you so much and here is my smile for you =)
Here's one from Roman:
thank you mama and dad you take such a good care about us we love you so much I want a car with remote control and I want to see you soon I think we will see each other soon I love you very much and want to be with you
We also came home to find a letter from Katya and Anna the caretaker that was mailed mid-December. It just arrived while we were gone. Here's part of what Anna's letter said. We thought it was interesting to see what she wrote before we even saw the kids again.
yesterday Katya visited me and we made a card with her for you
Roman made a card for you too
they love you so much with all their hearts like you are their birth parents. they are very nice and truly good kids
there is only few children in orphanages like them. they are not angry but very kind and with a good attitude
they are able to be happy and able to make happy others all they need is a warm loving family. orphanage can not give it to them no matter how great it is its only orphanage- governmental institute.
Katya's letter said similar things as her emails, and also said to say hello to all her relatives in America. :)
That's all for now! More soon. :)
Love,
Molly
Thanks for all of your comments. Visitors are welcome anytime, Rachael!!! :)
Everyone is settling in very well here. Nastja is adjusting very quickly and we've had very few issues with her at all since we got home. She is becoming increasingly sincerely affectionate, listens well, testing very little, and has stopped many of the things we told her we would not allow (constant baby talk requests for things, demanding something, arguing, grunting instead of using words, etc.). She really tries to improve things when we explain them to her. She's very sweet!
She wants to play and be doing something all the time. She loves the dogs and keeps herself occupied with them quite a bit. We let her watch Spongebob Squarepants sometimes on tv, but mostly she is outside with a dog or asking us to play a game with her.
We thought about it a lot and considering her age, how much she enjoys other children, constant activity and needs to learn English quickly, we decided to go ahead and put her in public school for now. We don't know what we'll do with the three of them once the other two are also home, but for now we think being in that environment would be better for her than being home always. Bonding is going well enough that we don't think she needs more time to get used to being home. I'd rather get her into a more permanent routine. She loves details and routine, so I think that also would be better for her than delaying. With many other kids, my opinion would be quite different.
She seems to really like being here so far. She likes the mountain scenery in the area. She also has commented that the food in America is very good, compared to food in Estonia which is "yuck very bad!"
She is a very good eater. She tries everything. Even if she is reluctant to try something at first, she will say no, watch us eat it for a minute, and then will ask for some. She does that with a lot of things. If she's afraid of a certain activity or doesn't think she'll like anything new, she'll refuse at first and then agree in a couple minutes. But anyway, she will ask for apples and carrots like they are candy. She also loves Cheerios, yogurt, eggs, all kinds of fruit, peanut butter, cheese, chicken. She's gotten away from constant requests for junk food. I think she's enjoying having good real food around instead of junk. She still loves chips (which she calls chipsy), but we don't let her eat them. ;) But it's nice because she's very easy at restaurants and to cook for at home. I think she's lost a couple pounds since we got her. Every time we were at the orphanage the only food we saw left out on the table for anyone to eat was always cookies or some other junk food. And I know she likes to snack throughout the day. I never saw apples or peaches laying around like we have here, so she just reaches for that now.
We haven't seen any evidence of any crazy behaviors that we've read about. We told Diana how well she's adjusting and she said that's really fast. So we're lucky I guess!
We have been getting emails from Katya almost everyday. Here are a couple:
1) thank you mom and dad I will ask brother we are going to wait we want to know when we going to leave to usa we want to be with you we miss you so much we love you mom and dad say hi to grandpa and grandma and Nastya we love you very much
2) thank you very much I will wait I miss you so much and every night I look on the picture were we are with you I think of the time together and how we played together and did other things too
say hi to Nastya I love you so much and here is my smile for you =)
Here's one from Roman:
thank you mama and dad you take such a good care about us we love you so much I want a car with remote control and I want to see you soon I think we will see each other soon I love you very much and want to be with you
We also came home to find a letter from Katya and Anna the caretaker that was mailed mid-December. It just arrived while we were gone. Here's part of what Anna's letter said. We thought it was interesting to see what she wrote before we even saw the kids again.
yesterday Katya visited me and we made a card with her for you
Roman made a card for you too
they love you so much with all their hearts like you are their birth parents. they are very nice and truly good kids
there is only few children in orphanages like them. they are not angry but very kind and with a good attitude
they are able to be happy and able to make happy others all they need is a warm loving family. orphanage can not give it to them no matter how great it is its only orphanage- governmental institute.
Katya's letter said similar things as her emails, and also said to say hello to all her relatives in America. :)
That's all for now! More soon. :)
Love,
Molly
Friday, February 6, 2009
Home bittersweet home!
Hey! We're home safe. Kathy is here with us this morning since we have no car. She brought us home last night. We have to go car shopping tonight or over the weekend (our car was totaled right before we left, for those of you who don't know!). So Kathy is the subject of constant UNO playing card requests and a silly Russian card game that makes no sense!
We're so glad to be home. Water that tastes like NOTHING (instead of chalk), food that we recognize and doesn't cost 3 times the amount it should, and our own bed!
All for now, just wanted to let you all know we made it. :)
Love,
Molly
We're so glad to be home. Water that tastes like NOTHING (instead of chalk), food that we recognize and doesn't cost 3 times the amount it should, and our own bed!
All for now, just wanted to let you all know we made it. :)
Love,
Molly
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Short update for you who have withdrawals.
Today we got everything packed, pretty much, and we're leaving in a few minutes to go visit with Katya and Roman one more time before we leave. We'll just be with them for an hour or two. Everyone pray for our nerves, sanity and emotional stability, it will be tough! As of now, we've received no news that makes this leaving easier. At least not anything definite. Due to my natural abilities to alter the way I feel by thinking a certain way, I will be upset but controllable. I hope I can convince Jason that we will be seeing the kids again soon. Otherwise he may be the one kicking and screaming not to get on the airplane!
Nastja's been much better the last couple days. I think it just takes time for her to respect us and also see that when we say something, we mean it. I hope she continues to improve and doesn't regress after going home! She is nice to have around when she isn't being obstinate.
Nastja is considering having everyone call her by her new middle name or a different shortened version of her full first name. When she decides, I'll let you all know.
Bye for now, gotta go soon!
Love,
Molly
Nastja's been much better the last couple days. I think it just takes time for her to respect us and also see that when we say something, we mean it. I hope she continues to improve and doesn't regress after going home! She is nice to have around when she isn't being obstinate.
Nastja is considering having everyone call her by her new middle name or a different shortened version of her full first name. When she decides, I'll let you all know.
Bye for now, gotta go soon!
Love,
Molly
Monday, February 2, 2009
Bla bla bla
Hey again!
Not much new to report. Finally we got some sunlight the last couple days. Which also means it's colder. Highs in the 20s usually, and at night it's in the teens. It feels colder than it does at home when it's the same temperature, though. That's probably just because we spend more time outside. Instead of just between the house and the car, we walk everywhere.
Tomorrow we might go to a science museum with Nastja. It's apparently a lot like the Liberty Science Center (for those of you near NYC), or like Discovery Place (for those of you in the Carolinas). It's a 15 minute walk from us, but it's only $3 to get in, and we have the whole day to kill. I'm tired of being here with nothing to do with a 9 year old who is easily bored.
Nastja's still doing fine, but we have to be super strict with her. I think if we let her get away with anything, we'd be creating a monster. She is a pain sometimes! Cheating at UNO, purposely irritating us, arguing, pouting, behaving like a baby complete with baby talk. Stuff like that. Nothing crazy, so we can't complain too much compared to what a lot of parents have to deal with with their new kids. I just can't wait till she learns more English. It's so hard to communicate do's and don'ts with a child who just hears an firm tone and gibberish from us! It's so frustrating.
Wednesday we see the kids again for an hour or two after school to say goodbye. Then Anja comes over at night to spend the night and go with us to the airport Thursday morning to see us off.
Lastly, the only news from Estonia/Russia today is this: As we knew a few days ago, Anna (kids' former caretaker) apparently has a friend whose uncle is the 3rd person down from the president of Russia. She is going to try to get help from this person also. So today Kersti (Estonia MSA) contacted Diana to get Dmitry's contact info so that Kersti can keep Dmitry in the loop about this additional angle of possibly resolving this mess. Now there are two ways of potential resolutions, and everyone is aware of everyone else's efforts so that everyone is on the same page.
I'll keep you all posted, of course! We're still hoping we hear something encouraging by the time we leave.
More soon! Goodnight!
Love,
Molly
Not much new to report. Finally we got some sunlight the last couple days. Which also means it's colder. Highs in the 20s usually, and at night it's in the teens. It feels colder than it does at home when it's the same temperature, though. That's probably just because we spend more time outside. Instead of just between the house and the car, we walk everywhere.
Tomorrow we might go to a science museum with Nastja. It's apparently a lot like the Liberty Science Center (for those of you near NYC), or like Discovery Place (for those of you in the Carolinas). It's a 15 minute walk from us, but it's only $3 to get in, and we have the whole day to kill. I'm tired of being here with nothing to do with a 9 year old who is easily bored.
Nastja's still doing fine, but we have to be super strict with her. I think if we let her get away with anything, we'd be creating a monster. She is a pain sometimes! Cheating at UNO, purposely irritating us, arguing, pouting, behaving like a baby complete with baby talk. Stuff like that. Nothing crazy, so we can't complain too much compared to what a lot of parents have to deal with with their new kids. I just can't wait till she learns more English. It's so hard to communicate do's and don'ts with a child who just hears an firm tone and gibberish from us! It's so frustrating.
Wednesday we see the kids again for an hour or two after school to say goodbye. Then Anja comes over at night to spend the night and go with us to the airport Thursday morning to see us off.
Lastly, the only news from Estonia/Russia today is this: As we knew a few days ago, Anna (kids' former caretaker) apparently has a friend whose uncle is the 3rd person down from the president of Russia. She is going to try to get help from this person also. So today Kersti (Estonia MSA) contacted Diana to get Dmitry's contact info so that Kersti can keep Dmitry in the loop about this additional angle of possibly resolving this mess. Now there are two ways of potential resolutions, and everyone is aware of everyone else's efforts so that everyone is on the same page.
I'll keep you all posted, of course! We're still hoping we hear something encouraging by the time we leave.
More soon! Goodnight!
Love,
Molly
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Rimi Hypermart
Good morning everyone! (Middle of the night for you though!)
I haven't been on the computer at all in the last couple of days, except when necessary for the translator. We got Katya and Roman Friday afternoon, after picking up Nastja's completed immigrant Visa (all documents complete for her now!). Then we went shopping at the "Hypermart" grocery store for Nastja's goodbye party. That was fun having three kids plus Igor running around a store throwing stuff in our cart. There ended up being one or two things that were actually edible to me, which were my dinner! LOL It was mostly these pastry things filled with tuna or mushrooms or ham, as well as fruit and cookies. Katya was cute, she always tried to choose the cheapest options. When we looked for a cake she picked the cheapest one as the one she wanted.
Usually the goodbye party is at the child's orphanage, but in this case for some reason they decided to do it at our apartment. So we had Nastja's former caretaker Anna, and the lady who was her caretaker before Anna, Igor, Igor's daughter, Vlad (Nastja's brother), Anja, a little girl named Ilona who lives at Nastja's orphanage, and the 5 of us. We played hide and seek with all the kids, competed in our best break-dancing headstand handstand moves (I impressed everyone with my favorite break dancing freeze, which they all failed to learn how to do!). Jason impressed everyone with how long he can hold a hand stand. Katya was the best at doing a bridge (backwards on the floor with stomach in the air) and holding it for a long time.
Yesterday we went to the indoor water park again in the morning. We were supposed to go to the Tallinn zoo in the afternoon with Anna, but the kids begged not to go. I think it's just too cold for them to be outside that long. We went to that festival last weekend and were all chilled to the bone. But Katya said she just wanted to be at the hotel and playing with us, not going out somewhere. So the most we did was watch a movie and eat dinner and went ice skating. We played Uno and hide and seek a lot.
Nastja's doing great. She is so much easier when the other two are around, and we can't wait for them to be home for her benefit too. It'll be good to have some time to bond with her alone, and she needs a lot of teaching for boundaries and rules. She doesn't do anything really bad, but she tests a lot. She argues, she whines like a 2 year old when she wants something, and if you tell her that if she does something again she'll get a certain consequence, she will do it again just to see if you will actually follow through. Which of course, we do! Other than that, she's got a ton of great qualities. She's very affectionate, loves to be hugged and loves to tell us that she loves us. She also doesn't pout much. If she gets offended at something (such as being told no, or being punished), it takes less than a minute to get over it. That's something her caretaker and her sister also told us at different times, that if she gets upset, it lasts no time at all.
Anja also told me that she is purposely disobedient on small matters at times, but she hopes that she will become "quick-witted and obedient" in our environment. I think she'll present normal challenges for a kid her age, for the most part.
Some of the most irritating things - like baby talk - I think will go away when she knows more English. We are looking forward to getting her home, and getting home ourselves, although we're not looking forward to leaving especially if we get no news about the kids' paperwork.
We are still going to leave Thursday, so no changes there. We have to go to Nastja's orphanage and pack her stuff tomorrow, and on Wednesday we get the kids in the afternoon again, and Anja will be spending the night and going with us to the airport to say goodbye. Since those plans were suggested, we decided to stay.
All for now! I'll get more time during the week to write again I probably. Hang in there till the next episode!
Love,
Molly
I haven't been on the computer at all in the last couple of days, except when necessary for the translator. We got Katya and Roman Friday afternoon, after picking up Nastja's completed immigrant Visa (all documents complete for her now!). Then we went shopping at the "Hypermart" grocery store for Nastja's goodbye party. That was fun having three kids plus Igor running around a store throwing stuff in our cart. There ended up being one or two things that were actually edible to me, which were my dinner! LOL It was mostly these pastry things filled with tuna or mushrooms or ham, as well as fruit and cookies. Katya was cute, she always tried to choose the cheapest options. When we looked for a cake she picked the cheapest one as the one she wanted.
Usually the goodbye party is at the child's orphanage, but in this case for some reason they decided to do it at our apartment. So we had Nastja's former caretaker Anna, and the lady who was her caretaker before Anna, Igor, Igor's daughter, Vlad (Nastja's brother), Anja, a little girl named Ilona who lives at Nastja's orphanage, and the 5 of us. We played hide and seek with all the kids, competed in our best break-dancing headstand handstand moves (I impressed everyone with my favorite break dancing freeze, which they all failed to learn how to do!). Jason impressed everyone with how long he can hold a hand stand. Katya was the best at doing a bridge (backwards on the floor with stomach in the air) and holding it for a long time.
Yesterday we went to the indoor water park again in the morning. We were supposed to go to the Tallinn zoo in the afternoon with Anna, but the kids begged not to go. I think it's just too cold for them to be outside that long. We went to that festival last weekend and were all chilled to the bone. But Katya said she just wanted to be at the hotel and playing with us, not going out somewhere. So the most we did was watch a movie and eat dinner and went ice skating. We played Uno and hide and seek a lot.
Nastja's doing great. She is so much easier when the other two are around, and we can't wait for them to be home for her benefit too. It'll be good to have some time to bond with her alone, and she needs a lot of teaching for boundaries and rules. She doesn't do anything really bad, but she tests a lot. She argues, she whines like a 2 year old when she wants something, and if you tell her that if she does something again she'll get a certain consequence, she will do it again just to see if you will actually follow through. Which of course, we do! Other than that, she's got a ton of great qualities. She's very affectionate, loves to be hugged and loves to tell us that she loves us. She also doesn't pout much. If she gets offended at something (such as being told no, or being punished), it takes less than a minute to get over it. That's something her caretaker and her sister also told us at different times, that if she gets upset, it lasts no time at all.
Anja also told me that she is purposely disobedient on small matters at times, but she hopes that she will become "quick-witted and obedient" in our environment. I think she'll present normal challenges for a kid her age, for the most part.
Some of the most irritating things - like baby talk - I think will go away when she knows more English. We are looking forward to getting her home, and getting home ourselves, although we're not looking forward to leaving especially if we get no news about the kids' paperwork.
We are still going to leave Thursday, so no changes there. We have to go to Nastja's orphanage and pack her stuff tomorrow, and on Wednesday we get the kids in the afternoon again, and Anja will be spending the night and going with us to the airport to say goodbye. Since those plans were suggested, we decided to stay.
All for now! I'll get more time during the week to write again I probably. Hang in there till the next episode!
Love,
Molly
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