Mama Needs a Chil Pill

Yes, Friday was bit stressful for me (I’m not being serious here…just being silly)  We showed up and Ava was in an adorable sweater provided by the orphanage.  This was the first time I had ever approved of the clothes they brought her to us in.  I was thrilled to not use up one of the sweaters we brought from home.  But, when Ava found the poncho I packed, she also wanted that over her sweater.  Ok, she’s four…it doesn’t look cute but I’ll let her have her way.  Then I went to do Ava’s hair and put on her cute little head band.  Aww, much better.  Nope, Ava sees another head band in the bag and decides she wants two head bands on.  Next came Daddy’s scarf and my Ugg boots, that went up to her hips, and before I knew it my little super model was looking more like a little rag muffin.  So, there were few pictures that came out of Friday that I approved of but boy did we have some good laughs!  She is a funny one. 

Tonight we had a great hour and a half long skype chat with Peggy and Jan!  Oh we miss them but it almost felt like they were back here with us for that short time.  We even played celebrity (a Charades type game) with them like old times. 

In other more serious news, our bonding end on Wednesday!  We are applying to court that day and hope to be in court within in a week or two at most.  We have heard that this judge is very supportive of our case and is in favor of getting us in a quickly as he can.  PLEASE pray for a quick date.  What a blessing it would be to get court behind us and head into the final stages of our trip.

 This is how she came to us.  What a cute little sweater huh?

These boots are made for walkin

Talking with Dad

Dreaming of going outside again one day :-)  I told her that in California there is no such thing as "too cold" for outside time. 

We bought her a new coloring book today so there were lots of smiles!

Ava ended the visit today by uniting all of our hands together.  She's such a love.

Bonding Continues

Bonding should be over any day now.  We still don't know the exact day it began since we first visited Ava at the hospital and not the orphanage.  But...either way it will be ending here shortly and we'll be applying for court.  Sveta is actually coming over later tonight to talk about some court details with us.  Not much to report other than that.  Here is our last few days in pictures:

This trip Ava has been more into books.  Last trip she just wanted to color in them.

Two hands!  Ava playing with her playdough

 

Wednesday was too cold and the roads out to the orphanage were closed so Belinda invited us over to learn how to make Palamini from her local friend.

We also hung around the apartment and went crazy!  This is where we are staying.  Well, the kitchen and living room at least. 

Ava was happy to see us again today.

 

Don't know why but I just think she looks so pretty in this picture!

Some of the different faces of Ava. 1) Answering the question, "Where are Ava's eyes?"  2) Just happy to be with Mom and Dad  3) Something is funny  4) Hard at work creating a picture or watching someone color for her. 

We will update as soon as we hear about bonding ending and we apply to court.  Of coarse we'll also be sharing lots of photos along the way.  

Ava pulled Daddy's face in real close. She's a sweetie.

A little blurry, but an adorable photo.

Sorry our blog has been giving us trouble again so we are a bit behind on the updates. All is well on our end. Today we were a little late for our visit with Ava and when she came to us she had wet eyes. I guess the caretakers told her we would be there at 10 and when we were about 10 minutes late she started getting upset. Poor baby. But she was all smiles once she saw us. She is doing really great. We don't have many pictures of her walking around since we are in a small room and can't go outside but she is walking great and rarely falls anymore. She is really into mimicking right now which is WONDERFUL. Today she was copying shapes that I drew for her. She's got circle down and is now working on perfecting the square!

Last night we had dinner with our friends the Issacs who live here in Pavlodar. It was great to spend some time with them now that we have settled in and adjusted to the time here. They have two young girls who really twisted my arm (not) until I played High School Musical with them on the Wii. It was a fun night! On that note however we are really missing our adoptive family friends!!! We are the only family here right now and it's very difficult. Peggy and Jan offered to play a game with us via Skype so that is sure to cheer us up but we really are missing having them and the others here in the flesh! But of coarse we are thrilled that they are home safe with their children by now.

Compliments of our boot camp crew, we have been reading through a book called, The Connected Child. This has been and will continue to be helpful as we integrate Ava into family life and life in America. If you are an adoptive family we would suggest this book. If you aren't an adoptive parent but are looking for ways to connect with your biological child or better understand someone close to you who has adopted , it's a small book with great things to say. Right now we are specifically learning about how to reduce stress and fear in her life through the way we speak to her, look at her, discipline her, etc.

I could write all day about Ava and all that she is doing and learning but the pictures of our time really best explain what we do during the day and how everyone is. The smile on her face really says it all!

Daddy made a lego airplane and explained our upcoming journey home.

Ava's polite way of telling us, "no pictures please."

Drinking water out of her sippie.

Using Daddy as a bench; fun times for all (and an ab exercise for Daddy).

Ava and Daddy Time = Swinging around with lots of playing and giggling.

Ava and Mommy Time = Reading books, cuddling and mimicking elephants.

Matching the animals in the book to the correct sound.

Ready to shop with her faux-animal furr purse!

Smooth Sailing

So far everything in Pavlodar is going great. We are being treated very well by everyone we meet and are seeing miraculous things happening in the life of Ava and in the our circumstances with personel and procedures here. God is definitely watching out for us and guiding our steps. We know that it's His response to all those prayers that our friends and family have been offering up.
Ava is back out at her orphanage in Cashiri village. We met three of her caretakers yesterday and today and they are just about the sweetest women you'd ever wish to meet. This is another huge answer to prayer! Those 6 months at home I was worried sick about Ava transfering to this orphanage and it turns out God placed her in a group with gentle, kind, and loving caretakers...even more attentive to her needs than at the baby home!
The weather here is still pretty darn cold and we are missing being able to walk places around the city. The city, however, is gorgeous all covered in white snow.
We will be looking forward to warmer months ahead.
Enjoy some pictures from our last few visits

On our way to the village. Yes, this is how we have to dress even in the car!

This girl is only up for candid shots. Still not too fond of planned family photos!

Exploring our new visitation room

Look how great she is holding her crayon!

I'm ready for my nap but ...must-keep-coloring...


Fun with the mirror!

Angel!

The lighting in this room was not great hence the black and whites ...I will have to look into this :-)

Catching up on photos.

Well, we kind of figured out how to post pictures here but we aren't able to add captions for the time being.  James has been working on this for hours so a big thanks to my hubby!  There's a few different blog updates below with photos; hope you enjoy!

Finally some pictures of our Kaz princess...

Let us start by saying that Ava is doing unbelievably well!  It's so fun to see how she has grown and matured.  She is your typical four year old girl…like to play with Mama's make up and wear my scarves and other accessories that she can get her hands on.

 

Last night James and I were both able to spend the night with her at the hospital and we had a great time as a family.  We said a prayer together before bed and Ava held our hand like she had been saying bedtime prayers with us her whole life!  She is such a joy and makes everyone around her happy with her big smile and adorable laugh.

 

She was released from the hospital on Monday but b/c of the weather we haven't been able to get out to Cashiri.  Today is supposed to be a little warmer and we should get her back out there today.    

Photos from the First Two Visits and Ava's Sleep Over with Mommy