Tada! The new look!
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Yeesh! 0 to 4 in a few weeks! What a trip! Congrats on your new family! You make me feel pretty good about having "only" 3 kids! ;)
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you guys and enjoy it!
E-mail to Erik & Heidi from a fellow traveler:
ReplyDeleteNice to see things calming down for you.You have been through an adventure already.Nice pictures - school pictures on your blog. You'll be surprised at how fast things really do "normalize." Of course, normal has a new definition now. It the midst of the chaos, try to savor those special, crazy moments that will never come again as the kids adjust to America and to your family.
Only recently have we gotten to the point where I can now question my kids about what they were thinking when they "got off the plane," misunderstood me asking for ____, or first saw ______. It was been interesting to get to a point where they have the English skills to tell us about the firsts from their perspectives.
The other thing that has come with the language has been the stories about their family, stories about buying alcohol for mama and papa, papa forcing son to smoke, stories about being locked out of the house etc. At first, we just let them talk. The somewhat disturbing thing was that they felt some of their stories were funny. As time has past, now we talk about what the right and wrong behavior is, about "responsible" drinking vs. alcoholism,and abuse issues while still trying to reinforce with them that their parents - all of their parents - love them.
We maintain contact with our kids maternal great-grandmother and grandfather. They were largely responsible for having the kids removed from a bad environment, testifying in court, and making sure that all relatives did not interfere with our adoption. Great-grandma even came to the orphanage to hug me and wish us "good court." It has been an unexpected blessing for us to have this contact.
One of our bigger challenges lately has been that the kids have really started to come into their own and are developing interests that take us in different directions- gymnastics for Masha; soccer, basketball, and dirt bike riding for Vitya (fortunately wach has it's own season); and Vika wants dance lessons (she hasn't started yet); and all three are taking swim lessons on Friday evenings and they joined the kids' Saturday AM bowling league.
I can only imagine all that we have been through and navigating Army lines for ID cards, DEERs, Tricare etc. - I admire you!!!
Please don't hesitate to contact us if there is anything you think we might be able to assist with. We have been at points where we have want to tear our hair out. Fortunately, the good REALLY does win out!!! Sometimes just as it gets easier, there is a new curve ball, but, it does get easier.
Lisa