Construction, First Report and Siblings

I have not posted much in the past month only because we have been a bit busy. Dawn’s dad was very generous and is paying for some needed work on our home. Our home is 40 years old and was built with one and half bathrooms. When the work is complete, we will have three full bathrooms. For about the past 4 weeks, we have been trying to make do with just one toilet and that has been hard for a family of eight. Sometimes the line to get into the bathroom is a little long. Hopefully, work will be finished in about two more weeks. That work started about the same time we learned our HVAC system was dying. Seems like only yesterday we had the system installed! On Tuesday, our serviceman installed a new system and set me back about $8,000 at a time when we really did not have it, but the Lord provides. We financed it with the plan to pay it off in January.

This past Monday was our first Post-Placement visit by our social worker. The Russians require reports to be completed during the first three years to update them on the health and welfare of the children. So, here we are with two huge holes on the backside of the house. We have taped up plastic in the openings, but it is still dusty and a bit chilly early in the morning. Because of the contractor vehicles, ours are parked in the street and yard. Needless to say, finding a parking spot was a bit hard for her. The visit went well – I think! The young lady that completed our home study is out on leave because of her own adoption and another young lady from the agency completed this report. She was very sweet and understanding and didn’t seem to be caught off guard with all the construction noise and the kids running around. We have to send it off to the Russians by the end of November. These follow-up reports are a requirement of the Russian government and some may question why do it when we already have the kids. Well, number one, I am obligated by the courts and I will not go back on my promise. Secondly, the Russians need to see that the kids are adjusting well and are happy. In the past eight years, about seven kids have been killed or died of neglect or abuse after being adopted. This is a tiny fraction of the thousands that have been adopted, but the media magnifies them. Young children are often told that the Americans will kill them upon getting to America. These horror stories are repeated by children in the orphanages and by adults. Yes, adults. We plan on mailing the kids orphanage a bunch of photos for them to share with the children.

Over the past month, it has been such a blessing to see the children bond more and more. You might think, gee, their siblings, they should be close. Well, my youngest three were not always together. For about one year, Nastya lived in a separate detsky dom. Then, after she joined them, she lived in a separate groupa. In fact all three were in separate groupas because of their ages. Groupas are the name given the group that the children lived in. Typically, each groupa has 8-9 kids. They slept together, ate together, had school together, etc. That was their “family”. Nastya misses her detsky dom sister whose name is Katia. Polina does not recall a little girl with that name, but Nastya is very adamant about that being her name. At Sunday School, the teacher went around the room asking the little children if there was anyone the kids wanted to pray for. Nastya asked that they pray for her aunt Tatiana, cousin Vladick, and Katia ( I was there to interpret). I thought it was very sweet of her to think of them.

As for the bonding of the youngest three with the older kids, it has gone very well and we are very proud of them. The adjustment was probably the hardest for Sarah. One day she was the youngest child in the family, had her own room and then overnight she had three younger siblings and shared a room. I am very proud of the young lady she is changing into. She and Polina are very close and she knows more Russian than dawn and I ever knew. She and Polina will jabber away in Russian acting like it is just as natural as speaking English.

Well, that’s about it. Several weeks ago we sent photos of everyone to our extended family in Russia – Aunt Tatiana. It took about six weeks for the photos to arrive and Polina had even sent a new letter before we got an e-mail from Tatiana telling us how excited she was to receive the package. We will work hard to maintain contact with her because she and her son are family.