Sunday, July 19, 2009

A Sweet Ending to the Day

As promised, we brought the children cut up apples for their morning snack. I squeezed a little lemon juice on them to keep them from turning brown and one little boy made faces because of the tartness. The rest of the children didn't even seem to notice and before we knew it the bag of cut up apples was gone. All of the children beg for attention and it is hard to break away from them so that we can spend alone time with Alosha. We have mentally decided to spend about 10 minutes each time with the other children when we pick up and drop off Alosha the four times a day.











Alosha is doing great. I could tell that he hates being couped up in his stroller all the time, but it is hard to encourage him to do anything else. It is just so dirty and watching him crawl around in the sand, broken glass, and crumbled rocks and cement not to mention ants just stresses me out. Not that I can't handle him getting dirty--- but at home, I would give him a bath. It is just not the same here.
Alosha has began testing the waters with us a bit---- throwing a toy for the second time after us telling him not to, or opening a door after asking him to keep it closed. Typical four year old stuff that John is much better at handling here than I am. It is hard to be yourself here without wondering who is watching you waiting to correct your parenting--- but it doesn't seem to bother John. He is who he is and I think the caretakers appreciate that. I hope I can begin to relax more---- just today I took the water canteen away for the remainder of our visit after Alosha continued to shake out the water after I told him not to. And after a second of pouting, he was off and playing again.
We are still on target to have court early next week----- and then John is most likely going to head home with Dennis while Julia and I stay here to finish up things. Economically, it just makes the most sense, and we really prefer to not leave Alosha anyway. This way, John can drive down to LAX with the whole family and welcome Alosha home!
At the end of our visits, we walk Alosha up this staircase to his room. He knows the routine now and doesn't have any problems saying goodbye to us and throwing us kisses. We always scream out to each other, "Paca, Paca! Daz vi danya!"
We visited the caretakers in Dennis' old wing of the orphanage again. This sweet old lady had not seen Dennis yet, and was so happy to hold him. The other caretaker Elena brought us more gifts today--- a jar of honey, a jar of jam, and a bag of cookies. It was a special treat and I came home and made honey tea.
Till tomorrow......

15 comments:

Linda said...

I have enjoyed catching up on your journey. The photos of your boys together is just priceless! Alexsey's smile ... made my heart melt! Continued blessings to you all!

Taylor said...

I am so excited for you all that your visits with Alosha are going so well. He and Dennis are so cute together and seem like the best of brothers already. :) I can't wait until you get him home to the rest of your family!! :)

Emily said...

Glad to hear that everything is continuing to go good. I pray that this next week goes great and gets everything that you need finished up.

Emma said...

just wondering how you are doing. You seem a little more stressed and uncertain this trip.
You and yiur family are amazing.
All our prayers

Carol G said...

Hi, Christine! I always enjoy the afternoons when your daily blog post is up. I think that your plan of staying while John and Dennis leave is a good one. Definitely less hassle for you! I had been praying about that.

How tall is Julia? She looks as if she is really growing taller. So, by the way, is Dennis.

I'll continue to pray for all of you during your trip. Have fun!

Missy said...

Always fun to read your daily posts! Also fun to look around and get pre-oriented before we get there soon! (You'd better still be there!) We hope to get an SDA date tomorrow.

:)De said...

Hi Christine,

Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I get so excited when I see a new post update. Question: Why are the children outside in their underware so much? Does it make clean up easier? Just wondering.

Peace

Kathy Cassel said...

It is hard to deal with behaviors on trips. We visit for 4 days once or twice a year so it's not really worth trying to teach the twins rules since they'd just forget before time to come home. But since you're bringing him home with you it's probably better to start now.

I understand about the getting dirty part. Thankfully we stay at a hotel with a pool so they can swim it all off!

Melissa said...

so happy Alexsy is doing well and really bonding with your family. It makes my heart feel good. Cant wait until you can bring him home.

kelly said...

I love reading your posts and seeing your pictures.I keep going to Reeces rainbow and looking all becasue of you and your family and hope that we can one day adopt another.

Tina in CT said...

Have the caretakers told Alexsey (in his language) that you are his mother and father and that he will be going home with you to live with the rest of the family?

I hope the stay for you and Julia will be short and that you both will soon be flying back with Alexsey to CA. How long do you think it'll be between the court day and his gotcha day?

Tina in CT said...

The stairs that Julie is walking on look like they are covered with carpeting with clear plastic on top. Is that so? Must be dangerously slippery.

ArtworkByRuth said...

Praying for a quick court date! We ended up getting permission to take our son on outings during the 10 day wait, to local parks, the beach and the circus. Perhaps the orphanage will let you once court is over?

Penny said...

This orphanage looks so different that what I always pictured a Russian orphanage to look like. The colors are so cheerful, the children look well taken care of, and the playroom is so well stocked. Is this a typical orphanage?

Jill and Cliff said...

I am so excited for you all. Alexsey has a wonderful family full of love to give him. He is a lucky little boy.
Dennis just gets cuter every day. God has truly blessed you with a beautiful family. Thanks for sharing God's love with children around the world. We need more people like you all in this world!!!! Praying all goes well in court. Blessings to you all!!!