Smooth Adjustment

Katie Aunna blending with the other kids like she has always been here!!!

The girls the night we took them to Little Trisha's ballet performance on Friday night.
Mary torturing Katie Aunna;-).....Mary being Mary!!!!
Katie Aunna's first McDonald's meal!!! Chocolate milk was the best part..ha ha!!!
Katie Aunna found the bag rather interesting to look at about 5 inches from her face!!! New glasses are coming soon!!!!

Things are going very smoothly with Katie Aunna's adjustment and the adjustment of the kids to a new sibling. It amazes me that God has matched her so perfectly to our family!!! She blends with the kids and it feels like she has been with us always. Of course, each one of our children have adjusted very well and quickly. I can not possibly imagine my life without them or before they came to be our own!!!! Katie Aunna is a very happy child now and she says "Ya tebya-lou-blue, Mamooshka" which means "I love you, dear Mama" a hundred times per day to me.

I have such admiration for her as she has had such flexibility and strength in her new life. Her trust in me is so touching and it is strong. Katie Aunna loves her new home and adores her new family. Now she is telling me "Internat...nyet...America Da-Da-Da". Which means she is happy to have a home in America and she does not miss her old life or the orphanage she called home for so long and does not mention anyone that she misses. I actually believe that encountering her ex-family member in Murmansk was very disturbing to her as now she tells me this person's name and says "Nyeto-beto (with the person's name)".

I think for a long time now she has worried that this person would disturb her life with us and even in Russia she was even more worried about this person suddenly showing up. Now she openly expresses her distaste of this woman and is happy the ex-family is in Murmansk and can not get to Katie Aunna. I have promised her that she will not come here to America and that Katie Aunna is safe with us with no need to worry.

Many IA kids go through periods of grief and loss of identity. Katie Aunna really did not grieve much. In Murmansk, the three weeks we spent together was good for all three of us. Although, it was difficult to be gone from home for so long, it was very beneficial to our process of bonding. Further, once she went to sleep here in America that first night two weeks ago today, she gained much confidence that we have been honest about the greatness of her new life.

She slept with me that first night in America and Papa had to hit the couch;-). The next night, she asked to get into her bed, Annie's room (now belonging to both girls). About 2:45am on Monday, I sat up in my bed wide awake. I felt I should check on her. I first went to Karissa's room and checked Karissa who was snoring away!!! Then Mary's room and she was peacefully sleeping. Next, I walked quietly into Annie's room and both girls were sleeping well. I just stood there watching them sleep for a few minutes when Katie sat up in bed and was totally disoriented.

She tried to look around and wake up and the only words she could utter was "Mama". I immediately walked over to her and scooped her up into my arms. She threw her little arms around my neck and smelled my hair. She then took a deep breath and relaxed. My timing was perfect and we bonded even more at that early morning hour. I took her back into our bedroom and she whimpered about going to bed again. I think her little body was still on Russia time and she was finished sleeping. So I told Duane..."Let's really surprise her with a new lesson in American shopping at Wal-Mart".

Duane thought this was a great idea and so we all dressed quietly and about 4:00am Duane, Katie, and I slipped out into the early morning darkness to our local super Wal-Mart. Before we went to shop for groceries, we took her to I-Hop for breakfast. She ate pancakes with scrambled eggs and liked them very much with blueberry syrup....ha ha.....even on the eggs. Then we drove over to Wal-Mart around 5:00am.

First we stopped and looked at the huge American flag in the spotlight on the store. It was something she could see as it is a huge flag flying over the name "Wal-Mart". When we walked in she was delighted and kept saying "OIY, Mama...Oiy!!!" We were extremely low on groceries after being gone for a month to Russia. So I pushed one basket and Duane pushed the other. We loaded up our baskets to the max!!!! Katie Aunna was so happy and surprised at how much we had in groceries.

It was really funny and yet sweet to see her appreciation of American grocery shopping. In Russia, they buy only a few things and make frequent trips to the grocery stores....NO SUPER WAL-MART shopping. So this was something amazing to her!!! As we left the store it was breaking daylight and Katie was thrilled with this day until Papa came home and unloaded grocery...then he got ready to leave for work!!!

The other kids were still sleeping tight!!!! Kisty spent one last night here and everyone was getting ready for work inside the house. Once the groceries were put away I took her back into the garage as she wanted to look at all the bikes, scooters, and electric cars. She was amazed by all the stuff. The big all terrain go-cart (ATV) scared her and so Duane took out the Barbie car, small scooter (push type..not the electric type) and the pink Barbie car. She called this "Katie Aunna machina" which means it is her car;-). We had some trials at driving, but, she caught on fast.

I just got out a lawn chair and sat outside with her as she confirmed that the the bike was hers, and the Barbie car, and the scooter. I am posting a few pix of her playing early that morning on the 19th of May. It was still a little cool outside that early and so she is dressed in heavy clothes. But, she did have fun and we further bonded together as she played with my undivided attention. I sipped a nice American cup of coffee with artificial sweetener and cream. YUMMY!!! If life could have stood still....this early morning play-time would have been perfect.

I think the adjustment of transferring trust for the first time in her life was completed in her mind after the first week we spent together in Murmansk. Then her trust in us was solidified once she saw how good her life in America would be for her. It seems that switching to different food has been a difficult for her more than any challenge she has endured. Katie is a picky eater if she does not like what she eats. I swear this kid is living off cheese, chocolate milk, juice, water, bread, and cheese. She is not much for vegetables!!! She dearly loves candy.

Then we turned on the pool heater and three days later Katie Aunna experienced swimming!!! She loves it so much. She calls it "the big batha-tub" and I am proud to say she is swimming without floaties now. I will take some swim pictures of her tomorrow for you!!! I was amazed she has learned to swim so fast!!!! Katie Aunna is also very trusting of me and will slide down the slide if I catch her and give her a boost to the side of the pool...ha ha!!!!

Yes, I know I sound like a new mother bragging on her baby. But, Katie Aunna is the Arctic Princess...but, you all know this about her already...right?!?!?! She is also the Royal sister of the IVF Miracle Baby Casey, the Ukrainian Prince and Princess Christian and Karissa, the Siberian Princess Annie, the Borovichi Princess Mary, and the Serbian Prince John-John baby. Gosh....I hope these three governments do not demand their royalty back...ha ha. Don't tell any government officials that I have their royalty;-).

Well, on to more current events......Last week was a a bit nerve wracking for Katie Aunna as we went to many different doctors. Every time we went to a doctor she had anxiety and asked me if she would have a shot today. I told her no with every doctor even though blood work has been ordered. I will get to that eventually, but, until she has a little more understanding of English, I will not do her blood work. She also is short one MMR and so I will wait for this also.

The GREAT news is that we had a very successful assessment of her vision at the opthamologist and her new glasses (3.5 X's stronger than her present orphanage glasses) will arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. It is such a thrilling thought that she may have a fairly clear look at her world. I am praying God allows this to be reality and will keep you posted about her new glasses.

I will certainly post a picture of her as she is very proud about getting new glasses. They are darling on her. She does have a great deal of sun sensitivity and so I ordered transition lenses for her. I wonder what she will think about that cool perk for glasses;-). Oh yes, and all week she has been touching Karissa, Annie, and Mary;s ear-rings. Then she asks me (mainly in Russian) where are her "ear-a-rens". I keep snapping my finger next to her ears and telling her we must "snap them" into place. Well, this afternoon she begged for "ear-a-rens" repeatedly.

When Papa got home from work she ran up to him and asked him for her "ear-a-rens". Duane said "Okay, Papa shower and Pa-ca for ear-a-rens". She stood by the car in the garage with my hand in hers and waited for Papa to take us (Pa-ca) bye-bye for her ear rings. She picked the peradot, which is perfect considering her birthday is in August (same as mine!!!). Katie Aunna bravely and again with great trust got into Papa's lap in the ear piercing chair.

One girl at the Claire's Store in the mall got on each side of her after marking her ears. That's right...snap...in her ear-a-rens went into her ears. Immediately after the snap...she had a funny look on her face like she was not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. I grabbed the hand mirror and gave it to her before she had a chance to cry. A huge smile came on her face as she looked into the hand mirror of herself and she did not drop a single tear!!!!! So Katie Aunna got her ears pierced this evening (Na-plotch...no crying). Here are some pictures which will need to go into several posts due to the 5 picture limit per post....enjoy Katie and sibs;-)!!!!