US Embassy

We got the kids passports today. We showed them and they thought they were pretty cool. We also started to pack the stuff we are not going to be using. I wish I had not done that. It had Spencer all freaked out. He wanted to pack everything thinking we would leave stuff behind. He was a mess all day long  He kept acting out just because he was confused.  Elliana asked me if there were noodles in America because she likes spaghetti.  That started a whole line of questions. Are there parks, cars, bananas, and bath tubs.  I learned really quick what the kids value. :) I tried to tell them about America. Elliana understood that we have bigger parks near our house and then told the boys. That made them happy.

We had our US Embassy appointment today. Again it was not very hard at all for us. We were asked about homeschooling, visas, health insurance, and basic questions.  We only talked to the lady for 10 minutes and the kids were approved. We took longer getting through security.  My belt set off the alarms. I need that belt. I would not say losing weight because I know I gained some muscle.

On our way back to the apartment our translator had to drop off some documents to another couple. When we got there Elliana started talking to their adopted girl.  The other girl was not at the same foster place but our foster mom, mother's place. She used to watch our kids a lot. Interesting as she was only 10.  However, the girl could not communicate with Elliana anymore because she no longer knows Latvian. She went to the US only 5 months ago. Kids do learn languages quick and sadly forget them just as quickly.

We went back to the apartment and worked on the alphabet. Hunter did about 50% of the letter all by himself. That was the best ever!!!  The kids really do better one on one with learning. If they are together someone ends up crying.

We had our other appointment today. We did not get all the answers we were looking for. However the kids seem to just be learning how to be kids again. They will catch up quickly but currently they are emotionally set back a few years. So we have to treat them as if they younger until they start to catch up. The lady was impressed with how fast they have matured in just 4 weeks. She did watch Spencer and said he was doing typical stuff that a kid from an orphanage does. With some love and patients our kids will be new kids in 6 month to a year.  No problem we can do that. Honestly the kids are really sweet kids. They just are learning and exploring new things. If you have never seen a object before you don't know what to do with it.  However for them 70% of what they see is new for them. So they don't yet understand how everything works or what you should do with it or if it is dangerous. It just takes time. To help out with them we will look at the bonding center. Tonight I picked Spencer up and we stood in front of the mirror. So he saw his smiling face and mine. That made him laugh and smile more. It helps him understand he is happy when he sees himself happy. She said a lot of things that we have already heard before but it was nice to hear them again. We just have to be patient and it will all come together. The "time in" discipline we currently are implementing we feel is the right method for them same with how we solve throwing things. She really liked that one. She also like the role playing of how to do things and how not to do things. We had Elliana slam a door and say ok that is what you do not do. Now do it correctly.  That honestly got the message across and she has not slammed a door since.

We took this picture today, we felt we had best start breaking them into proper tradition. O - H - I - O