Missing Home

We are feeling a bit homesick today but still enjoyed our time with Darina. We are growing tired of being at the baby house all day, not being able to speak the language, and of course, not having our family and friends around us. We are anxious to get home with her and finally introduce her to everyone. If anyone has some fun ideas of things we could be doing with a three year old in the same room all day, please let us know! Here are some pictures from today.

First Visit:

We are not sure what was going on when we walked up to Darina's group this morning but there was a room full of very unhappy kidos. I think they were getting sponge baths. Since our first visit is pretty short, we just relaxed, let the tears dry, and watched some Baby Genius DVDs.

Oh, and we did some drawing too :-)

Second Visit:

Yes, we did go outside without our huge coat today!


Cute



Another group of kids came out to play while we were outside. Darina was a little overwhelmed but she had fun!

Non-Baby Related Pictures:

In the Spring they paint the bottom of the trees white to protect them from bugs.

This is the oldest building in Pavlodar. Isn't it beautiful?! It is now an art museum.


Who would have thought they'd have Mexican food in Kazakhstan. Not only do they have some Mexican food, but it's delicious! This is a plate of Fajitas...yummy!

A Warm Day and a Warm Welcome!

Today was a great day with Darina. We missed her so much after not seeing her on Sunday. Apparently she missed up too. A few different staff members told us that Darina was crying and pointing to the door that we usually walk through to come get her. When we finally did pick her up today she gave us a huge smile and a big hug. Aww, so sweet.
Keep praying for a court date. We should have one very soon. It is obviously a little stressful being away from work for this long but we really wanted to complete this trip as a family and so that’s what we are planning on doing. Hopefully that court date comes soon! We took lots of pictures today so bare with us.


The First Visit of the Day:

Surprise Surprise...More Drawing!

Oh my, could she be any cuter!?!

We practiced using a straw this morning. She had no idea what a straw was. She is still a little confused by it but she's getting there.

Second Visit of the Day:

Getting ready to go outside!

I (Kari) cannot participate in this activity b/c I'll get sick!

You will notice that James is in a short leaved shirt and Darina is all bundled up. It was actually pretty warm today but the baby house is very strict about the children's outside attire to make sure that they don't get sick.

Awesome picture

Darina is very into saying hello to everyone who walks around the baby house.

Fun with Bubbles!

She loved trying to grab them

Trying it out for herself

Down...

Up

Sleepy after a long day of playing.

Maybe She'll be an Artist

Again, Miss Darina was too busy drawing to take any pictures today. On Saturdays we only get to visit her in the morning and we don’t get to see her at all tomorrow which makes for a long weekend. She is continuing to walk better and better each day and we are so proud of her!
We are becoming quite the social butterflies and are going out with friends for the second night in a row. Tonight we are having dinner with another adoptive family. They are from Belgium and are adopting a little boy from the baby home.
We hear on Monday when our court hearing will be and we are praying that it’s by the end of the week. At that point we will find out if we are allowed to leave the country or if we have to wait an additional 15 days for the “waiting period” to pass. In almost all cases families are required to wait the 15 days before leaving but since we are adopting a child with special medical needs we are hoping they let us leave so that we can get her to doctors in the Sates right away. We hope that you all have a great weekend.

All play and no work

Well Darina is loving play time but she isn't so crazy about working on using her right hand and leg. The poor girl is pooped by the end of our visits each day since she's probably getting 10 times the exercise she normal gets. We are pretty tired ourselves after playing all day with a very active three year old. But, we are just falling more and more in love with her each day. She brings us so much joy despite all the catch up we are having to do with her. It's such a miracle to watch her learn and grow every day and we know that God has great things planned for her life.

After our visits with Darina we were invited to go to dinner with Emma and her family. Little did Emma know that this dinner was really a surprise party for her! So, we joined the party and met some nice new friends and then went to Emma's apartment for coffee. It was a late night for us...9:30!

We will hopefully have our court hearing by Thursday. Keep praying!


We tried to get a group shot but Darina was distracted.


Waiting patiently for us to get her coat on so we can go outside.



Little Darinka walking! The caretakers at the baby house call her Darinka as a nickname. She is a very popular little girl amongst the staff there.

Precious little face

I tried to put this hair band in her hair on one of the first visits but she was having none of it. Now she loves it and it looks so adorable. She looks so grown up!

I finally got her to look at the camera! She is way to busy to take pictures.

Same old same old

Again, we stayed inside today because of Darina's cold. We hear that the weather should be warmer this weekend so we'll hopefully get outside in a few days. We are having to come up with some creative ways to stay entertained in the visiting room. We are continuing to take lots of pictures even though we pretty much do the same thing everyday. We know that someday we'll be glad we did...plus she is just so stinkin cute it's hard to resist snapping away.


Darina is very into rolling these days. I joined her for a little while :-)



She looked so cute with these hair clips that her Mimi bought her before we left. She is totally a girly girl and reminds me to put the clips in her hair if I ever forget.


She was very interested in James' new hair cut and thought it felt fun!


As we said earlier, Darina really likes to watch us draw and she doesn't like when we say no and hand her the pen. This picture was post temper tantrum. Today we learned how to take turns.


Now she's having fun!



Darina and I pretended to be asleep and then she would wake up and say "Up".

God is Good!

Today was one of the best days we’ve had since we came to Kazakhstan. We are so thrilled to announce that Miss Darina is walking on her own. We knew that she would someday be able to walk but we thought she might need braces on her legs along with therapy. There are no words to describe how much of a fighter this little girl is. She was under two pounds at birth, was raised in a group of children with severe special needs and never got the attention that her medical condition required, but…she has responded to us and the work we’ve done with her in the short time we’ve known her. Also, we cannot deny the fact that God has been at work within her as a result of the prayers that have been sent up on her behalf by all of you at home. We are so eternally grateful for those of you who have faithfully prayed for her and for our decision.
Today we also got to meet a wonderful women named Emma. Emma and her family are from Australia and moved to Pavlodar 3 years ago. Emma spends time hugging, kissing, and playing with the children at the orphanage each week. She is an occupational therapist so she also helps children like Darina who need massages and stimulation. We were able to talk with her about Darina since she has known her for 2 years. Emma was able to confirm Darina’s sweet nature and her willingness to learn and to be loved. Her husband volunteers at the older orphanage and teaches the children there English. We are so thankful for this family as we believe that they have made a significant and lasting impression on our future daughter’s life.
Love you all,
The Letterneaus
Just FYI we are still planning on changing Darina’s name to Ava but we are waiting until after the court when we are officially granted custody.


Our little walker!


Darina got a cold so we didn't go outside today. She really loves coloring and she especially loves watching us color.


Darina loves when James rolls her around on this thing.

Playing with legos and using TWO hands...Yay!

Little Sweetie

We love to have fun but quiet cuddles are the best!

Same Place, Same Girl, Different Hat

We didn't do much of anything new today but we did take some more pictures. Darina also learned how to brush her hair. On our lunch break James got his hair cut for a whopping $2.33. That's not even good for a tip in the U.S. Now, we are in for the night eating rice for dinner (again)and watching the end of the Padres/Mets game for the second time today.


I just love this picture!


You will notice in all our pictures that Darina mainly uses her left hand. This is b/c her right hand is the hand affected by her CP.


She fell off the swing a little later in the day and did a face plant. No tears however. Sadly, children who grow up in orphanages learn to not associate pain with crying since, when they do, they are often ignored.


Look at those dirty pants...someone was playing hard today.


We picked her up a swung her around after she successfully took several steps on her own. She thought it was fun to be swung around and so the walking lesson stopped :-(


She sure does have a big smile.


It snowed in Pavlodar this morning and we didn't think we'd be able to go outside today but by the afternoon the sun came out just for us.


Getting Pretty!