Happy Easter

We have been home for just over two weeks now and we still look at each other and are amazed we are the parents of these two little girls. Wow! MaryEllen has been sick with a bad cold the last week, and that has taken some of the fun out of staying home with the girls. Even so, we have been enjoying the challenges and joys of being parents. Free time has become something of the past. Our lives now revolve around these little beauties. Sasha is doing better about going to bed, and we are not pushing the afternoon nap. Dasha was doing better, but now is cutting another tooth, so she is cranky at times. She is so good about sleeping, we can't help but think this won't last much longer. You just lay her down and poof, she is asleep. She is walking all over the place, and getting quicker each day.

Sasha and I went to church on Sunday and spent the morning in Sunday School. She was apprehenive for the first 30 minutes, but relaxed after that and did fine. I stayed the whole time, and will eventually leave her in the care of the teachers who are great. With Easter coming up this weekend, I don't know what we will do with the girls. Maybe we will go to the crying room again like we did our first week back.

The weather has kept us inside most of this week, but we did get out this last weekend some, and the girls loved it. We have a great park down the street, and our neighbor who is 9 loves to be out with the girls. With so many kids in the neighborhood, I think the girls will fit right in.

Both girls are doing well adjusting, and have stayed healthy dispite MaryEllen's cold. They are eating well, and enjoying their new life in the U.S. Sasha is speaking some English, but we can't always understand it. Then she will throw in some baby Russian and MaryEllen and I will just look at each other and shrug.

Bonding is going along fine, but it is clear that the real emotional bonding will take time. There is no rushing this process, and what we read is it takes about 6 months. We are spending as much time as possible with them, and love and care for them as best we can. Both girls seem to go to any adult, especially women, which is part of the bonding problem. They need to learn who Mommy and Papa are, and know that we will care for them no matter what. Knowning all this, I still think this is one of our biggest misconceptions. I don't think we really understood how hard the bonding process it, but we are making progress. It is hard to conceive what our lives and relationships will look like 6 months from now.

We plan to color Easter eggs this week in preparation for Easter Sunday. We don't want the girls to load up on candy, so we will limit the candy eggs, but what is Easter without some chocolate? Maybe I will give the chocolate to MaryEllen, she deserves it.

Have a blessed Easter