Happy Birthday Luda!!!

Beautiful Birthday Girl!

Wow! What an amazing day! I think I start every blog like that. Well, it's how ya feel after spending time with a newborn, or in our case, our daughter. Today we brought the pictures from Saturday's visit that we had developed so she and her friends could create a scrapbook. BTW, for the ladies out there who know this stuff and the men who have given up rooms or closet space to store the "scrapbooking" stuff, the album was a smash album. we brought a couple of the glue/ink pens and some scissors and let them go to town. I took about a dozen photos, however, we let one of the children play with our camera and they deleted ALL of our pictures. Including some from earlier this year from back in Carolina. Oh well, first world problem. Thankfully, each night I have been downloading the pictures/videos off the chip and putting them on my computer and the iPad as a backup. So we lost the photos from this morning. BUT, this was a great idea as they had a blast. Also, because it is so overwhelming with all the kids around, we told Sophia that we wanted this to be her and her friends, they took care to let the others know what was going on. Today was an extra long visit so I told the boys that we would play futbol later when we finished the album. The girls had a great time and the partially finished product looks awesome. We even got each of her friends to write a little note and then we stuck those in the book as well. OH we even got her teacher that was just gushing praise and love on the first day to write a little note. I have no idea what any of them wrote as we left the book and a pen with Sophia to get more notes throughout the day.

After the photo album which quite frankly didn't take them as long as we'd expected. I told Lisa that's because these young ladies were getting busy, very little chit chat. We went for a walk down to the big stadium, the soccer field, to sit and relax under a tree. We go for a walk to get away from the building and it allow's us a chance to ask random questions or tell her things that we don't feel comfortable saying in front of the other children. We kicked the ball around and had oranges for a snack. It was down here that I started probing the girls about their birthdays. Yulia's birthday is September 24 and she will be turning 12. Sophia's birthday is December 16 and she'll be turning 13. I get the sense she would like nothing more than a quaint party with close friends. We shall see. But the coolest surprise was we found out today was Luda's birthday! Happy Birthday Luda! We love you and pray for you and we will work hard to find you a forever family. Such a sweet girl. Lisa and I will make sure that tomorrow, we make a big deal about her birthday. Which in an orphanage in Ukraine means we bring her a gift and maybe a cake. Now if we could just find the local Gigi's cupcakes! I know first world problem. We will improvise, maybe chocolate!

Our group had dwindled a bit and we were down to Sophia, Yulia, and Maxim. We pulled out the iPod with splitter for the girls and Maxim and I went out on the field to kick the ball around. After a half hour of me sweating in the sun, Lisa pulled out a book that has simple Russian phrases in it. Well it works great as a means of teaching English as well. Lisa and Sophia sat under the tree while Sophia read through several pages in the book. She's eager to learn, but again she is still a girl that likes to play and hangout with her friends. I saw a group of her friends hanging around and asked if she wanted to keep reading or if that was enough for today (which BTW in my Russian comes out as, are you good, do you want to keep reading), she said she was good and wanted to stop. She then asked us if it would be ok to go walk with her friends. We said yes and off she went. Clearly, teens and tweens the world over have a time in their life when they want space. I have a teenage son and I understand the need for companionship and so we guide him and help facilitate ways to meet his need. With Sophia off with her friends, Yulia and Victor walked with us back up to the school steps to wait. This was where we actually found out from Luda it was her birthday. We asked the kids why they were here and how long they had been in the orphanage. It's a myriad of dates and reasons, but no answer is good as to why or how long they have been there.



I was trying to get her to smile for the camera



A little information on Yulia. She is reserved in a group setting, but one on one, she will open up. She is also craving the love of a parent. She has on a few occasions held Lisa's hand and today she rested her head on my arm. She is a very sweet girl and will no doubt multiply the love in any house.

Now for Luda. While she too is reserved and humble, she will step up when needed. I've seen her talk to the older children to defend herself, verbally of course. When we sang happy birthday for her, she blushed big time. She too will multiply the love in any house. Luda will also graciously accept a hug when given.



Smiling after we sang Happy Birthday!

As our driver was pulling up here came Sophia running. In our minds, we see her sitting with her friends down by the bridge and she sees our driver coming. She gets up and comes running to us to give us good-byes and hugs. I love her so much. This is too cool.