At this moment 3 out of my 5 children are napping. Ahh breathe in the silence! One of those 3 is 8 months old so best I not waste too much time inhaling.
This is the post to recap Kendyl's arrival and first few days home. She and Chris flew from Moscow into LAX and then to PHX and then up to BOI. They arrived at 11.17pm on October 27th. I went to the airport with the children (Boston, Monroe, Foster and Jaymes) and a few friends (Beth, Josh, James and Olivia and Jamie) and some family (Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Deanna) met us there. There was a kindhearted photographer who donated her time and talents to documenting our homecoming there too.
We had a sign we're made for her which read "Welcome Home Nastya" in Russian and we brought her a balloon that said "Its a Girl!" and a bouquet of flowers and a tiara. I thought it might be overkill but turns out she completely enjoyed all of those things and really latched onto them.
We did the photos there and then everyone dispersed and we made our way home as a family of 7. Leaving the airport Chris asked Nas, "What do you think of the car?" and she said "I like the car" and then he asked "What do you think of your brothers?" and she said "They were in the airport and they followed us here". Haha. It was true.
Driving home I couldn't help from peering constantly in the rear view to see that little face glowing in the light of the Elmo show. She was actually and really in our car, in her seat.
Back up a step to add, she didn't really hug me or anyone at the airport. She was interested in staying near Chris and that was about it. I've seen reunions at the airport where the child is hugging siblings and grandparents, aunts and uncles so I guess I kind of expected that. Hindsight though I'm glad she didn't. I don't want my kids to hug anyone they don't feel inclined to hug, myself included. In the moment though, yes, it did sting a little to get shut down. More on that later.
So we make our way into the house at probably 12:30 or 1 and the boys try to tell her what goes where and what not but basically we let her explore. We show her her room and Foster shows her how he jumps from atop the changing table onto her bed and Nas says "He jumped onto my bed". Good sign. The bed is hers. At first she was concerned she'd have to sleep in the crib but Chris explained how that bed was for Jaymes and it wasn't a big deal.
We went out to have a bedtime snack of Reese's Puffs and while she sat at the counter amidst her brothers Chris asked "do you like the cereal?" "yes." "do you like your brothers?" "the brothers are good."
So we went downstairs and like we usually do we brought all the children into Roe and Foster's room to apply some pjs and brush their teeth. Everything felt totally normal. We knelt, we said our prayer and then hugs and kisses. Nas chose to hug only Chris and said she'd hug Boston tomorrow. She did allow me to hug her but only by standing near me. So we tucked the boys in and then walked upstairs to tuck her in. That was pretty much it. Jaymes woke a few times in the night which is usual but Nas stayed asleep.
The morning was like Christmas morning. We stayed in our pjs, played with our toys and at a big breakfast. The boys were excited to show her all the house has to offer and it was fun to see her realize she could pretty much go wherever and do whatever but then always come back to be sure we were still close by.
Later when I was in my room nursing Jaymes to sleep Boston came in to chat and I asked him what he thought about having a new sister. His response, "awesome." All the boys have this fascination with her, like they're meeting a celebrity. Boston's take on it is to be there for her and help her if she needs it and show what is fun. Monroe and Nas have more of a teacher/pupil dynamic and he seems dedicated to teaching her how to speak English. He attends speech himself so he's actually pretty good at it. He was the first to treat her like a sibling though, swiping her toy or complaining about something she did. He's a realist. Foster is enchanted by her. He compliments her constantly (clothes, hair, shoes...) and is always trying to sneak in a casual hug. Darling little brother he's turning out to be :).
After nap we went to the park and when we got into the garage Chris said "can you believe it? A car in a room in our house?!?!?!" Nas said "as it should be". Love it.
At the park things were normal. We played, we did the swings, we raced each other and had pine cone fights. Just the regular stuff.
She doesn't eat much, and I'll let her decide when she's ready to dig in but for now we just keep offering what we're having. Monday Chris made blini which is crepes for her and she loved that. Russians LOVE crepes, oh and hotdogs.
Our routine feels very much the same except that now we have some long dark hair to style and some tights to put on. Oh and Chris is speaking in Russian half of the time. She is starting to favor me over Chris, wants me to hold her, carry her, feed her. All good things since he'll be back at work next week.
She did ask last night "when are we leaving?" (asked Chris) and that packed a punch but this is an adjustment and she's entitled to her opinion. That was last night and it wasn't 7 hours later that she climbed into our bed (on my side) and snuggled in for a few more hours of sleep.
When we went to pick up the boys from school (she loves playing on their playgrounds while we collect them and the teachers love having her stop by) Fos was yelling the the fence "Nas-Ti-Ahh!" over and over until she walked right to him, smiling. Cute. We'll have the big talk soon about the names and probably start using Kendyl or Nastya Kendyl tomorrow. She sure is sweet and easy going and fun to have around. Oh and adorable. That helps.
This is the post to recap Kendyl's arrival and first few days home. She and Chris flew from Moscow into LAX and then to PHX and then up to BOI. They arrived at 11.17pm on October 27th. I went to the airport with the children (Boston, Monroe, Foster and Jaymes) and a few friends (Beth, Josh, James and Olivia and Jamie) and some family (Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Deanna) met us there. There was a kindhearted photographer who donated her time and talents to documenting our homecoming there too.
We had a sign we're made for her which read "Welcome Home Nastya" in Russian and we brought her a balloon that said "Its a Girl!" and a bouquet of flowers and a tiara. I thought it might be overkill but turns out she completely enjoyed all of those things and really latched onto them.
We did the photos there and then everyone dispersed and we made our way home as a family of 7. Leaving the airport Chris asked Nas, "What do you think of the car?" and she said "I like the car" and then he asked "What do you think of your brothers?" and she said "They were in the airport and they followed us here". Haha. It was true.
Driving home I couldn't help from peering constantly in the rear view to see that little face glowing in the light of the Elmo show. She was actually and really in our car, in her seat.
Back up a step to add, she didn't really hug me or anyone at the airport. She was interested in staying near Chris and that was about it. I've seen reunions at the airport where the child is hugging siblings and grandparents, aunts and uncles so I guess I kind of expected that. Hindsight though I'm glad she didn't. I don't want my kids to hug anyone they don't feel inclined to hug, myself included. In the moment though, yes, it did sting a little to get shut down. More on that later.
So we make our way into the house at probably 12:30 or 1 and the boys try to tell her what goes where and what not but basically we let her explore. We show her her room and Foster shows her how he jumps from atop the changing table onto her bed and Nas says "He jumped onto my bed". Good sign. The bed is hers. At first she was concerned she'd have to sleep in the crib but Chris explained how that bed was for Jaymes and it wasn't a big deal.
We went out to have a bedtime snack of Reese's Puffs and while she sat at the counter amidst her brothers Chris asked "do you like the cereal?" "yes." "do you like your brothers?" "the brothers are good."
So we went downstairs and like we usually do we brought all the children into Roe and Foster's room to apply some pjs and brush their teeth. Everything felt totally normal. We knelt, we said our prayer and then hugs and kisses. Nas chose to hug only Chris and said she'd hug Boston tomorrow. She did allow me to hug her but only by standing near me. So we tucked the boys in and then walked upstairs to tuck her in. That was pretty much it. Jaymes woke a few times in the night which is usual but Nas stayed asleep.
The morning was like Christmas morning. We stayed in our pjs, played with our toys and at a big breakfast. The boys were excited to show her all the house has to offer and it was fun to see her realize she could pretty much go wherever and do whatever but then always come back to be sure we were still close by.
Later when I was in my room nursing Jaymes to sleep Boston came in to chat and I asked him what he thought about having a new sister. His response, "awesome." All the boys have this fascination with her, like they're meeting a celebrity. Boston's take on it is to be there for her and help her if she needs it and show what is fun. Monroe and Nas have more of a teacher/pupil dynamic and he seems dedicated to teaching her how to speak English. He attends speech himself so he's actually pretty good at it. He was the first to treat her like a sibling though, swiping her toy or complaining about something she did. He's a realist. Foster is enchanted by her. He compliments her constantly (clothes, hair, shoes...) and is always trying to sneak in a casual hug. Darling little brother he's turning out to be :).
After nap we went to the park and when we got into the garage Chris said "can you believe it? A car in a room in our house?!?!?!" Nas said "as it should be". Love it.
At the park things were normal. We played, we did the swings, we raced each other and had pine cone fights. Just the regular stuff.
She doesn't eat much, and I'll let her decide when she's ready to dig in but for now we just keep offering what we're having. Monday Chris made blini which is crepes for her and she loved that. Russians LOVE crepes, oh and hotdogs.
Our routine feels very much the same except that now we have some long dark hair to style and some tights to put on. Oh and Chris is speaking in Russian half of the time. She is starting to favor me over Chris, wants me to hold her, carry her, feed her. All good things since he'll be back at work next week.
She did ask last night "when are we leaving?" (asked Chris) and that packed a punch but this is an adjustment and she's entitled to her opinion. That was last night and it wasn't 7 hours later that she climbed into our bed (on my side) and snuggled in for a few more hours of sleep.
When we went to pick up the boys from school (she loves playing on their playgrounds while we collect them and the teachers love having her stop by) Fos was yelling the the fence "Nas-Ti-Ahh!" over and over until she walked right to him, smiling. Cute. We'll have the big talk soon about the names and probably start using Kendyl or Nastya Kendyl tomorrow. She sure is sweet and easy going and fun to have around. Oh and adorable. That helps.
