Friday's Visit

Today's visit was a challenge. There is a little boy that is new to Nina's groupa and he is able to do a lot more than the other kids. He can climb in and out of the playpen and is all over the place. He is also a little aggressive and pushy. Basically, he just wants someone to love him and give him attention, and this is the only way that he knows how...demand it!

Nina and my favorite worker was there again this morning, but I have noticed that she leaves almost as soon as I get there. Not sure why, maybe she is supposed to go and be with the other kids as she is the only worker that I have seen playing with kids and interacting with them (no wonder she is a favorite!) They did ask me when I was taking Nina, so they should not be surprised that on Tuesday I am taking her and now they have plenty of time to say goodbye.

Unfortunately today, most of my visit with Nina was spent trying to get this little boy away from her. I understand, why is this woman only playing with Nina? Why is Nina getting all the attention? Why does she get all the special toys? So he had to have everything Nina had, it was hard. He was climbing over her, trying to push her, take whatever it was Nina had in her hand, or hit her. Where were the worker you wonder? Yeah well...so did I, because there were two of them right in the room. They were preoccupied with their conversation I suppose.

I had to get up and try to hold this little boy, and eventually he started trying to hit me and almost bit my hand. I discovered today I have pretty good reflexes when it comes to feeling little teeth on me. Yes, eventually the workers came, and it became crying time for the little boy. Which became crying time for all the kids. Yeah, lovely!

They did let Oksana get out of the playpen and come be with us. Most of the time I had my arm wrapped around her and she just melted right into my arms and laid her head on my chest. Probably for about 30 minutes. This little girl wants a mama so badly, and I do really hope that she finds a family soon! (Her name is Olivia on Reece's Rainbow, sorry if I have confused anyone!) I played with her as much as I could and got 2 short videos without the workers noticing. She is so hungry to learn! This little girl has tremendous potential! I am not sure that she really is delayed or if that is just a result of living in an orphanage.

Nina was fine for as long as Oksana just enjoyed being held, but once Oksana wanted to interact, Nina would call, "MAMA!" And we were back to playing.

Well eventually little boy came back, workers were talking conversing again. I just packed all my stuff and held Nina while I sang to her. She loved it! And the few actions that I would do she would imitate. Oh I cannot wait to have her with me so she can really have my undivided attention and I know in just a few days she will learn so much!

Eventually I had to leave. Sometimes it is just easier on the other children. It is sad. I think being in the room with the children and seeing what their lives are like has really impacted me. My heart breaks every time, all these children need families and yet, only the w little ones I have posted about are available for adoption. But at least they can be saved!

7 days, 3 more to go!

That is right, there are only 3 more days left of our waiting period. Time has gone by pretty quickly and it has been wonderful to see Nina. Oh how she is working herself into my heart. I look forward to seeing her everyday and I am sad to say goodbye, wishing that I could take her with me and never have to come back.

Today I brought diapers for the orphanage. Here, diapers are called "pampers." But I have not seen that brand anywhere! As soon as they saw me walking in with the 2 bags, I was the most popular person in the orphanage! All the workers came to see and the word spread quickly. I knew they were short on diapers but did not realize how much they needed them. But, they are remodeling, so I am afraid that the children are not getting as much right now with the money going to the building.

Nina smiles so big at me and her little arms just reach out for me to pick her up. How I love that, and how I love showering her with kisses!

We had fun today. The less things I bring the better, because she can focus on those few things. Today her favorite were the Signing Time flashcards, and I got her to say "shoes."

We also looked at some pictures, and you will see that video where she is being silly but looking at pictures. The sweetest thing though was that she took a picture of Andy and I, and with her little fingers she started to touch Andy's face on the picture and she was saying "tickle, tickle." Oh, that was so very sweet!

And today when her favorite worker left she shook her head "no" and seemed to be getting very sad, but then the worker said to her that I was staying, and she was the one leaving. So Nina looked at me and smiled and waved "paka" to the worker, kept playing with me. This is HUGE! This lady has been the closest to a mother figure and she was choosing me!

At the end of our time, I said to her goodbye, she said "no." And clung to me, clung to my neck. Fortunately the workers were coming with their bowls and food, getting the room ready for lunch. Nina was hungry and she did let me go just fine. I guess I still cannot compete with food!

Enjoy the pictures and the videos. She is a sweet sweet little girl. I cannot wait to bring her home to her family. Oh, and she also says "Nico" for Nichole. She points at her in the pictures and says, "Nico." Ellie sometimes she calls Nina, sometime Lala. It is sweet :) But lala means girl in Russian, so not sure she gets what we are saying.

Tomorrow another visit with my girl!

Wednesday's Visit

I walked into Nina's room today, all the kids were in the large playpen, each playing on their own, except for two kids playing with a worker. A worker! There was a worker in the playpen playing with the kids and interacting with them. It was so good to see that! It was Nina's favorite worker, and she was one of the kids with her, along with Marshall, the little boy with Down syndrome.

I walked in and all the kids and workers turned to see who was walking in. Then I heard "Mama!" Yes! It was Nina, excited to see me. She crawled to the edge of the playpen with arms outstretched for me! I scooped her up and gave her some kisses. Then she gave me a big hug, yes, that is right, SHE actually hugged ME! Oh we are getting there, she is liking me more and more!

This is Nina's favorite worker. She is so wonderful with all the children. She genuinely loves them and like I said, she actually plays with the kids and helps them learn through play. I need to get her name before we leave. She also is nice and asks me questions. We laugh most of the time because we just cannot understand each other.
Nina is just letting me see more and more of her personality. She can be a little stinker! She actually likes to do things that I say no to. Like eating play-doh for example. She does not like the taste, but will start laughing and I know she is about to put it in her mouth. And yes, she smiles the entire time even as she makes a face because of the bad taste.
I visited in the same room, with all the other kids. Oksana again cried for me, so I got up to give her a hug. Oh how she melted in my arms! Sweet girl, I hope she finds a family soon. Her CP is very mild and she wants a family so bad.

I asked to take pictures of her and Marshall as they are available for adoption through Reece's rainbow (Home Blog).

At some point the kids again were getting too worked up with me there. But this worker is good with kids and she got to playing and entertaining some of them and got some of them out of the playpen so we could all be together. It was much better, but the kids were coming at me fast and wanted all of my attention. It breaks my heart, they can tell that I give myself to Nina, and of course they want with every fiber in their body to have the same. If you have considered adoption but money is holding you back, please contact me, I will help you!!!

On another note. I also got 2 hugs from Nina today. She hugged me without prompting or for any other reason other than she wanted to give me a hug :) These are sweet, sweet moments.

I will go see her again tomorrow. Will try to get more pictures of her and the other kids, as well as the room where she lives.

Just a Picture

Nothing happening today really. I have stayed in the apartment all day, so there really isn't much going on. I did manage to take 2 pictures of Nina yesterday when I visited in the small room. She was being goofy and after the flash she would clap her hands as a response and laugh so hard.

I did want to mention that she was very interested in the family photos. One particular photo of Ellie she has pointed at several times and said "Nina." I think she sees the resemblance. When she got to the picture of Andy and I, she wanted it. She has looked at these pictures many times before and never been too interested, but this time, she wanted that picture. I took it out and gave it to her, she smiled and pointed at Andy's picture. It was sweet.

A worker asked who those people were. "Mama" she said and pointed at me. "Dada" she said and pointed at Andy. The worker said no, that is her "papa." (Here dad is papa) But no, when we first met Nina we called him dada and daddy, so that is what she calls him, which I do think it is sweet. She did not want to give me the picture back, but I know if I give it to her I will never get it back, at least not in one piece, and I have no guarantees that they will allow her to have it with her. Just one more week! Just one more week and she is mine! Then she can carry that picture with her everywhere if she wants!

Here is Nina's picture from yesterday.

Pictures from Court Day

When we had court, our plan was to go to the embassy that same day so that we could spend Andy's last day with Nina. However, court started late, and we had to pick up Kellsey (Frank's daughter, he was getting her out of the orphanage that day)

AS it turns out, we arrived during nap time, and well, we had to wait. They did finally wake Kellsey up and got her ready. Our facilitator then informed us that we would have to go to the embassy on Friday morning. Meaning, no seeing Nina!

Our facilitator then explained this to the orphanage and they agreed to wake her up so Andy could say good bye. She was very sleepy, and probably surprised to see us there.

Andy said his goodbye and gave her some kisses (and candy!)

She Likes Us!

Today we got to go see Nina again. Of course as we got there we realized that I had left the camera's memory card at home so we couldn't take any pictures!

This time I got to go see Nina's room, they let me come but not Andy. When we got there, a lady told me to come to the back. Nina lives in a large room with a HUGE wooden playpen. I think she spends most of the day in there with the other kids in her group. Behind the playpen are the cribs, and next to the playpen a table where she eats. Yes, I really do believe that she spends most of her time in this one room. However, we do know that kids go outside to play. Not sure what they do with Nina since she cannot walk.

Well Nina was sitting on a chair, spaced out, until the worker grabbed her. I think it startled her from the nothingness that was going on. She smiled at me as soon as she saw me :) The worker motioned for me to leave the room and to take off my coat. She followed me with Nina on her hip.

Andy was waiting with Frank in a room and once they handed Nina over to me, I kissed her...a lot. I think she liked it, but she was still a little "spaced out." She did smile big for Andy too when she saw him. He kissed her too but I think his beard really bothers her, I keep telling Andy he has to shave for her sake :) We tried to play with her a little, but they moved us to a different room, the doctor's office.

Frank got to go outside to play with Kellsey, and we stayed in the room with Nina...and the doctor. It made for a different visit. Nina was in her own little world today, yet, wanting all out attention. She figured out she likes us to tickle her, so she will take off crawling so we can chase her and tickle her. She really loves this game.

We did have an incident where the parrot in the doctor's office somehow got out of its cage. let me tell you, it was quite humorous as Nina wanted to go get it, the parrot was flying around, and 2 workers were trying to catch it! One of them finally did but got a good bite!

I think just like with our girls back home, there are good days, there are bad days, and there are normal days. It is part of life and parenting. Same with our visits with Nina. Today was normal, Monday had been fantastic!

Nina did not seem to want to say goodbye to Andy, we were not sure if she was just shy or if she did not understand. When I took her to the back, the doctor offered to take her. Nina looked at her and shook her head "no." The doctor asked her if she wanted her mama, Nina said yes. We took her back to the room, one of her caregivers came to get her, again Nina shook her head at them "no." They asked her if she wanted her mama, and Nina said yes. Then her favorite caretaker came, well, we still don't measure up to her because she went to her easily, but I am pretty sure the worker told her it was time to eat :)

Then they said to me that Nina talks about us. She talks about her mama and her papa with his tickle on his face. I loved it, I loved the fact that she said no to them, that she wanted us.

Soon sweet girl! Really soon! Tomorrow after court, she will officially be ours, she will be a Stumbo!

Prepare to "awwww"

Here are the pictures from yesterday. Nina was happy. One of the pictures is when she was shaking the doll and the last picture is when Andy was throwing her up in the air so she could see herself in the mirror.

And enjoy the video! It is way sweet! It all started because Andy would kiss her and she did not like the feel of his beard, so I would tell her it "tickled" and then touched Andy's beard and said "tickle." So now you can see what Nina did after I showed her :)

Great Monday

Today we got to see Nina again! It was wonderful!

It started with all three of us (Andy, myself, and Frank) waiting for our girls in the doctor's office, it took them a while to bring the girls to us. Kellsey walked in the room looking for her papa, knowing exactly who she was going to go see. A worker walked in carrying Nina and had her stand there. She looked unsure, but smiled at us right away. I came over to her and picked her up, she let me, right away. I then gave her a few kisses.

I took her back to the couch where Andy was, we tried to get her to sit on the couch, we are discovering what she can and cannot do physically due to her CP. She cannot sit normal, but she could sit at the edge of the couch, and Andy handed her a piece of candy, she loved that!

Andy handed her a Matrushca (those dolls that you open and there is another one inside, and another one inside, etc). Nina loved it! We would get her to shake it, and eventually when we would say "shake" she would start shaking it too, along with smiles and laughs. We played and then we realized that Nina wanted to look at herself in the mirror. Andy took this as an opportunity to hold her (we had tried before, she would not let him) Andy would pick her up to the mirror and put her down again, over and over. Nina loved it. The reality is, she has never had a daddy throw her around, she has never had a daddy to swing her, has never had a daddy to love her. It was so sweet!

We then played some more, and Nina remembered to sign "more." We were impressed! Not only that, she said it! She said "more" while she signed it! She is one smart little girl. Her first English word is "more."

Nina is really fascinated by Andy's beard, so she was shy to touch it, but if I would, then she would too. So we asked her, "does it tickle?" and what does she do? She touches Andy's beard and starts moving her fingers tickling, while she says, "tickle, tickle, tickle." Andy and I just laughed! Her second English word..."tickle." So we had to play a chasing and tickling game. Daddy would get us, we would then get daddy. And all along Nina said "more" and "tickle" (Okay, a few times, but still!)

She looked at some of our family pictures, and a few times she points at Ellie's picture and says "Nina." She can even tell the family resemblance! And once Nina's hair is long, I am sure they will look even more alike!

Nina talked to us more this time, not just whispers but ventured to say more. So we are definitely getting to know each other! For now, she loves to be tickled!

When the doctor came in, Nina wanted to go with her. It is okay, I think we are definitely bonding, and she is definitely stealing our hearts!

We still do not have internet access in our apartment. Tomorrow I will try to upload some pictures from today and a video of Nina tickling Andy, it is way too sweet!

Our girls are with our cousins. Keep them in your prayers as they have a new adjustment to make. Ellie was really excited though, she knows she will get to do a few fun crafts with Cassia and Raessa.