A Conversation With Kylen

The following is an actual conversation that occurred about one hour after a feeding frenzy with watermelon. Kylen LOVED it and kept eating and eating and eating. Kylen: "Mama (pronounced Maaaaaa-mah.....said in a whine), Hungry!!! Me: "You are hungry?" Kylen: "Yes" Me: " How can you be hungry??? You just ate about one thousand pieces of watermelon!!" Kylen: "Maaaaaaa-mah, no.....not a thousand!!" Me: " Well, OK, not a thousand, but you ate a lot!! How many did you eat??" Kylen: "Ten, maybe." Me: "Dah, (Yes) that is how many you ate.....exactly ten pieces!!" Notice how I am the only one speaking Russian here!!

Kylen's First Day of School !!

Since we arrived home from the Motherland (inserting a little humor here...ha!) we have been able to alternate our work schedules so that one of us is always at home with the boys. This has been working out very well for their attachment to us and it has also given us an opportunity to work on Kylen's English. He has made excellent progress (I'll tell you about a couple of conversations we had earlier this week......I'll try to write about them tomorrow), however, he had really started to be a little bit bored, especially now that Tavia and Remmy are off to various and sundry camps (church, cheer, boy scouts, football, etc.).....so......Kylen has been ESPECIALLY bored with them gone!! I found a little independent school using the Montesorri (wow....I guess if I am going to use it then I should learn how to spell it!!). At any rate, he went today and looked abit displaced as I left him there. I am happy to report that he thoroughly enjoyed his first day of school! He was quite happy and very social with all of the kids. It was truely a successful day!! He can hardly wait to get there tomorrow!! We are thrilled!!

UPDATE ! ! ! !

OK......I am ashamed that I have not kept up with our blog for the last month and one half (give or take a week!!). Time has certainly gotten away from me!! Our life has been more than a little crazy with adjusting to new family members!! Of course, it has not been easy for the boys either!! The front door of our house reminds me of one of those big revolving, circular doors you find at the entrance to a fancy hotel!! Someone is always coming and going......and now one daughter is home from College for the summer, one daughter has moved back home in order to attend college, and one son was here for a short visit once his College semester was over. And.....the poor kids have not even met two of their siblings......an older brother and sister that live in Seattle, Washington!! I know this is a crazy life for them, and I keep waiting for Kylen and Alexander to hug and embrace the mail lady ( in rural Missouri we do not have a mailman...but a lady!) thinking she MUST be some family member, too!! The first thing I want to say is that if you survive the first month home with your newly adopted child/children (and YOU WILL), then you are going to make it!!! The first month was so hard....but I learned some tricks to the trade that made life SO MUCH easier, and I shall share them later!! We are in such a better place now than when we first arrived home, and we are all doing well.......more on that to come as well!! The next obstacle we have overcome that hindered our blogging ability was that dadblasted dial-up!! HOORAY!! We have high speed!! On that note and with our new found technology, I promise to post pictures later this week!! Stay tuned!! There are some really good stories to tell!!

FINALLY !!!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for Dawn and Joe. By way of update, their courtdate is postponed until the 19th...and the decision will be final. So....keep those prayers coming that they will be granted the adoption. The birthmother is only 17 and is 5 months pregnant again, with no job or place to live. She cannot possibly take care of one baby, much less two!! I apologize for my tardiness, but I also thank you all for the support you have shown us. We are so blessed to have our two boys. I got really bummed out last week. I was viewing our pictures of Russia and Moscow on the digital camera, as I was going to take them to the store and print off all the photos....plus Tavia is to give a presentation to all of the 8th grade history classes on Russia.......only the memory card had a "glitch" in it and now NONE of the pictures of Russia come up....(and no, I did not save or download it on my laptop previously!! DUH!!) WOW!! And I am somebody's doctor!! Scarey, huh? OK......so as I am whining and crying about my pictures being gone......I am reminded that we have our little boys at home with us. Many of you wonderful, loving people I have met over these adoption blogs, have lost referrals or had failed adoptions. I realized how lucky I was to have lost the pictures....but to have the boys here in our family. I know so many of you have pain and are trying to heal....because you have the pictures and memories, but not the child. I am so very, very grateful. Suddenly, my loss of some "pictures" in the overall scheme of things, was not so insurmountable!! OK.....so now you all know, I really am PollyAnna. Tomorrow night.......the final installment of our court date!!

Call for Prayer!!

Hello Everyone!! We have had such a busy week! I promise to post tomorrow night. Right now I have an important prayer request!! Please pray for Joe and Dawn who have a court date on the 17th in Kazakstan. They are facing opposition from the birth Mother, who didn't wants her child to be raised in an orphanage rather than live with Americans. Please pray for them!!

Court - The Final Chaper -- Part II

The next person to address the judge was Ludmila, the Director of the Orutukan Boarding School, where Kylen attended school. She told the Judge of our first meeting with Kylen. She told how he was very afraid and frightened. She stated that shortly after coming into the same room with us, he began crying and sobbing uncontrollably. She commented that she was quite surprised at his extreme emotional response. She stated she did not expect this. But, upon questioning Kylen, he stated that seeing us reminded him of the last time he was with his biological Mama and Papa, and that it was very painful for him. Ludmila explained to the Judge how I began to read to him and point to the pictures in the book, to get his mind off of being afraid. She stated that he slowly began to feel more comfortable with us. Then Ludmila began to tell the judge of the abuse that Kylen had endured. She told of when the parents used to get drunk and beat him. She told of the time that he ran away from the father, in the middle of winter, in minus 60 degree temperatures, when he was trying to get away from a beating. Kylen was probably around age 4 to 5. His father was drunk, and when he staggered just a minute, Kylen grabbed his coat, but could not find his boots. He had to flee quickly in order to escape his father’s grasp. He ran out into the snow and his feet sustained horrible frostbite damage. He was treated at a hospital for apparently, sometime. When we petitioned to adopt Kylen, he had to be taken back to the same hospital for a medical examination, required by Russian law. Ludmila stated that about 20 to 30 minutes away, as soon as Kylen realized he was going back to that hospital, he began to get sick, and began throwing up, due to remembering the trauma and stress of his frostbite episode. She then told the Judge that the next day we visited with Kylen, he was very comfortable with us, and told her that he wanted to go live in America with a family and live their with his brother. She told the Judge of the picture album we furnished him with that had pictures of all of our pets, and other children and of our home. Ludmila told the Judge that Kylen had every person and pet in the book memorized, and that he went around the school telling others that this was his Mama and Papa, and told the names of the cat and dogs, and that this was his new home. She stated how he was so happy to have a new home with parents, and that he was happy that he would be living in a home with his brother. Ludmila also stated that he had memorized the names of all of the people and animals in the photo album we had given him. She said he had told all of the children and teachers at the boarding school all about his new family in America and the names of his new dogs and the name of his cat. She told the Judge that she felt very positive about Kylen (Denis) being adopted by us, She also told the Judge that again, no other family had stepped forward to adopt these boys. She again told the Judge that she felt this was a good thing for the boys and that we would be very good parents for them. She stated she based this on the interaction she saw between us and Kylen. She also had observed us in the baby home with both Kylen and Sasha. She stated the way we related to the boys was very good. Then, she looked at me (instead of the Judge) and she told me that she hoped I would try very hard to keep Kylen Denis speaking his native language. She realized that he would need to concentrate on learning English, but she also wanted to preserve his heritage by having him remember about his culture and about his language. I felt the burden of finding a way to keep him reading, writing, and speaking Russian.

Court - The Final Chapter ...Part One

The “Cast of the Court” , as they are called, now give their input. The Judge first began with Svetlana, the representative from the Guardianship Department. The Judge asked her how our first visit went with the children, and what she observed. Svetlana stated that at first Sasha was calm, and sat quietly next to us. She stated that he had a “calm nature” like Wayne had a calm nature ( I don’t know……that is just what she said!!). Then she stated that Sasha then got up from the couch with one of the caregivers and ran and played actively in the living room of the groupa. The representative told the judge that she observed us to be very attentive to Sasha, and that we brought things for him to play with, and little snacks for him to eat. She testified that the child seemed to be comfortable with us and warmed up very nicely to us. She said she observed our meeting together to be very positive and felt that we would be good parents to Sasha. She said she would recommend us to be Sasha’s new parents. She also stated that after all the time that Sasha and his brother had been on the Federal Data Bank, that no Russian families had stepped forward to adopt them, and even though the Guardianship Department had tried very hard to find the children parents, they were unable to find a family to adopt these two boys. She told the Judge that she was in favor of us adopting these boys. The next person to address the Court was the Chief Social Worker for the Baby Home. She stated to the judge how Sasha came to be taken away from his parents, and how he and his brother were placed in a Rehabilitation Home to give the parents an opportunity to be rehabilitated, in order to keep the custody of their children. She told the Judge that when Sasha was only 6 months old, and still in the Rehabilitation Home, that a Russian family saw him, and wanted to adopt him. However, he was not eligible for adoption at that point in time, as the parental rights were not terminated as of yet. The family decided they did not want to wait until he was eligible for adoption. She again stated the point that now that the children are eligible for adoption, and were registered with the data bank, no other families have come forward to express interest in either or both of these two children. The Chief Social worker told the Judge that she felt this was possibly the only chance for Sasha and his brother to be adopted together.