Mama, Papa... Telephone?

What an incredible, pivotal week for the Stinsons!  The only thing that would have made it better would be if Sophia and Claire could have been a part of it too.  We think it would have been good for them to meet Anya and Sasha on their turf.  But without Sophia and Claire here, we were able to spend a lot of one-on-one time with the kids and start the bonding process.  This was critical for everything that had to happen throughout the week. 

We met the kids on Monday, and we were able to visit them twice that day.  We found out quickly that they are playful, happy, curious, and loving children.  The kids seemed unsure of us at first... until they discovered Neil’s cell phone.  We bonded over Angry Birds – of all things! – before they moved on to listening to music and taking photos of random things.  By the end of the first day, they were sitting in our laps and even called us Mama and Papa a couple of times.  Everyone was happy to see the fast connection we had with each other.  It led to an amazing week for us… and an amazingly busy week for our regional coordinator, who accomplished SO much for us this week.  She’s an angel and SO MUCH of this week would not have been possible without her!

Tuesday started with a huge hug from Sasha.  He came in and hugged Michelle for a solid, long minute or two before finally letting go.  It was like he was relieved that we really did come back!  Go ahead, picture how much this Mama was melting, because she was.  Almost-9-year-old Anya joined a few minutes later with a quick hug for each of us and then she started to explore to see what we brought with us.   She figured out on day one that Mama’s purse was full of interesting stuff.  We spent a couple hours with our kids working on puzzles, coloring, listening to music, and playing games.  We didn’t understand each other most of the time, and we only recognize a few Russian words, so lots of gesturing was required. 

Some practical advice: Don’t challenge anyone who has adopted internationally to a game of charades.  

And this is how the rest of our week progressed.  Every day we were able to visit the children for a few hours when they were done with their school lessons.  We watched them come out of their shells a little more every day, trying harder and harder to communicate with us.  We could easily see the bond between the two of them, and we could only imagine all the circumstances they’ve been through that led to their bond being what it is! 

 

Every day we brought small gifts and candy for them, which helped us break the ice.  We learned how focused and task-oriented Sasha is – he loves to build and figure things out.  Can't wait to buy that boy some Legos.  We also learned that he’s goofy and incredibly lovable; we think he and Claire are going to be partners in crime.  We learned that Anya is a typical tween, more interested in painting nails, braiding hair, or drawing than she is interested in games or toys.  Two "tween" girls almost the same age in our house???  It will be interesting to see how Anya and Sophia get along.  Anya really likes getting her way and can be a little bossy with Sasha, but is also protective and generous with him – we watched her give Sasha her juice because he drank all of his quickly, and she made sure that he got exactly the same amount any candy that we brought for them. 

Watching the two of them together, each of them knowing that the other is the only blood relative that they can count on… THIS was why we felt SO strongly about adopting siblings!  They need to stay together, but they each deserve to be kids, knowing they have a family who loves them unconditionally and will take care of them.   

The hardest part was seeing all the other children that aren't coming home with us when all this is over.  They deserve the unconditional love of a family every bit as much as Sasha and Anya.  Every day we also brought snacks for the kids to take back to their class for the other kids… sadly, you can think of it as a peace offering, because the inevitable question that all these sweet, healthy, beautiful children will have for Sasha and Anya is, “Why you and not me?” 

On Thursday we arrived and were ushered to a small auditorium, where the children can have performances and watch movies.  Completely unbeknownst to us, they were doing a sort of variety show, with songs and readings and dancing.  Sasha came to us and hopped up on Papa’s lap to watch, but Anya was nowhere to be found.  Turns out she was dancing in the show!  It was priceless that her family could be there to watch her and take pictures. 

Needless to say, goodbye wasn’t easy.  Watching realization dawn on their faces as it was explained to them that we have to go home now… that was terrible.  Unbelievably, Mama and Papa held it together so that the kids wouldn’t get too upset.  But the look on Sasha's face when he heard this news... we will not be able to get that expression out of our heads until we can get back to him again.   

So now we are back in Kiev again.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get a flight home until Monday.  We can't wait to see Sophia and Claire and our friends and family again... but it's going to be so strange to get back to our former routines at home.  But this is what we will have to do for quite a few weeks, until we can come back for our court date. 

 

Please pray with us that their hearts will be held, encouraged, and comforted by their heavenly Father until their Mama and Papa can get back to them.  They are blessed to be with loving caregivers who want the best for them, and they are blessed to have eachother.  And please also pray with us that the Lord would give guidance and wisdom to everyone that has a part in preparing our family for the next several stages of our journey.  Getting our family ready to encounter Ukraine was a lengthy process, and it feels like we've been here forever... but really our family's journey is just beginning!