Getting to know Leanna

There have been some deep, heavy, tearful conversations going on here lately and I need to lighten the mood a little. So, I thought I'd let you get to know Leanna a little better. First, we pronounce her name Lay-AH-na. Or sometimes Lee-AH-na. In Russian it's more like LEE-a-na, but she always corrects us when we try to say it and to us it sounds like we're saying exactly what she's saying. She likes what we call her though.

The story of how she came to us just continues to grow more amazing each day. We didn't know until a few days ago that the Russian government had issued some kind warning about Swine Flu and had advised everyone not to leave the country if they didn't have to. So all but two orphanages in Russia closed off to New Horizons and wouldn't let the children travel. Only 7 or 8 of the 150-200 children that came for Christmas were from Russia. The others were from Latvia and Ukraine. AND, we just learned yesterday that Leanna was not the child Mark and Katie were hoping to host. When they called about the girl they originally wanted, they found out she was already hosted, "But we do have another girl..." and Leanna was the the one. Simply amazing!

She has picked up quite a bit of English during her stay here. I love to listen to her talk. She typically rolls her r's. So when she says she's hungry she says, "I hungary" with a rolled r. But at the same time, she has trouble saying our r in certain words. She can't say 'where' like we do. And she calls Mark 'Mahk' because she can't get the r. She also doesn't say e like we do. Abbi sounds more like Abbay and Toby comes out something like Tobay. So cute! Oh, and she doesn't say u like we do. When she says 'cute' it sounds more like 'coot.' When she's trying to tell us something and we're just not getting it, she'll say, "Iz okay." Her favorite saying is, "You crazy" (roll your r). In Russia, they don't use extra words like we do here. Like, if they have to go to the bathroom, instead of saying, "I'm going to the bathroom" they say "I bathroom" (but in Russian). When Leanna is thirsty she says, "I zirsty.' She has trouble with our 'th' sound. As well as our 'v' sound. When she says 'very' it's wery with a rolled r. We've found that the days we've spent with her, we get so used to talking like that that it's hard to speak normally afterwards. We had Leanna for the day on Saturday and the kids were playing tag on the trampoline. Somebody tagged Abbi and she said, "I it! I mean I'm it!" It's contagious!

And speaking of Saturday, we got to have her for the whole day! It was wonderful! Leanna has the best laugh. I will miss hearing it when she goes home. I hope that I've permanently etched it in my brain so I'll remember how it sounds. I love her voice and hope it sounds the same over the phone...we will get to call her! Anyway, Saturday was very fun. We had lunch...ham sandwiches, which Leanna really liked. She loves our cheese. She helped herself to 2 ham sandwiches loaded with ham and cheese (remember she doesn't like vegetables). When she made her second sandwich she was asking me something about cream. I didn't know what she was talking about so she went and opened the fridge and pulled out the sour cream. She loves sour cream. She proceeded to use it instead of mayo on her second sandwich. Okaaaay! After lunch I went grocery shopping while Jon took all the kids to give Toby a bath. Leanna just adores Toby and I knew she'd enjoy bathing him. I wasn't wrong. She had so much fun! Jon took them over Buford Dam and when Leanna saw the lake her eyes got big and she asked Jon if it was the ocean (she REALLY wants to see the ocean). Jon tried to explain that it's just a lake but she wasn't getting it. Finally she asked, "little ocean?" and Jon said yes, little ocean. She took pictures of the little ocean all the way across the dam. After we all returned home, the kids played some games and then went outside to play. And that was when it happened. The shift, as I call it. All this time I've been saying, "I want her. She's mine." But it hasn't come naturally to say I love her. I mean really, I barely knew her. I've been wondering when that shift would occur. Would it happen before she leaves? Or this summer when we host her? Or not until she's officially, legally ours? Last week we got to spend lots of time with her and got to know her so much better. Well, Saturday when the kids went out to play Jon and I were watching them from the nice warm living room window. They all got on the trampoline and after a few moments we saw Jacob take off his gloves and hand them to Leanna. That's one memory I know will stay with me. I'd be willing to bet that Leanna demanded Jacob's gloves :) but he did hand them over with a smile on his face. Such a sweet brother! Finally I couldn't stand it any longer and ventured out into the freezing back yard to take pictures.

They were all standing in a line waving their arms up and down...creating this image on the fence with their shadows.

Leanna thinks that Caleb is crazy on the trampoline...hmmm. She could be right!

Tickle fight!Sometime in those moments, the shift occurred and I thought, "Oh, how I LOVE this girl!" And then I took this photo (below) and had to go back inside because the tears were freezing to my cheeks.I'm finally beginning to realize how blessed we are that we've been able to spend this much time with Leanna. I made a new friend last week by phone (hi Christy) who began the process to adopt a child from Russia in October. Like us, they're adopting a child that some friends of theirs hosted last summer. Sadly, her daughter's orphanage was one that wouldn't let the children travel so Christy did not get to host her for Christmas. My heart just goes out to her...I know that must be so frustrating. But thankfully, we have been able to spend much time with Leanna. Saturday was the best time we've had with her yet. She just fits. She belongs with us. It's so obvious (and not just to us!). Leanna loves to joke around with people, which is a good thing in this family!

Okay, so some of you have asked some questions about Leanna. She is 13 (which we learned this weekend may or may not be accurate), will be 14 in April. She's in one of the best (whatever that means) orphanages (she calls it a 'childrens home') in St. Petersburg, Russia, . We do know she gets plenty to eat. She was telling us on Saturday about her menu. She usually has a sandwich for breakfast and then has a morning snack of fruit and cookies. Lunch is usually something like chicken, macaroni, sometimes rice, lots of potatoes, etc. Then another snack. Then dinner in the evening. I don't think she said what they eat for dinner. She is very bright and has to keep her grades up in order to stay in her orphanage. She said her English teacher is from America so I wonder if it's a missionary. I *think* when we take our first trip to Russia we'll get to see where she lives and meet her teachers. And that's also when we'll get full disclosure about Leanna's history. New, or should I say different, information came to light after she arrived here, so we're really not sure about all of her family and history. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say anything about that, so I'll just say that she's been in the orphanage for a year.

Many of you have also asked about the timeline...when will she legally be ours? Well, I was told that if everything went like clockwork, we could technically have her as soon as this summer (in which case we wouldn't need to host her through New Horizons). But there's an internal struggle going on inside me. One part of me says it's ridiculous to even hope to have her that soon. The average time to adopt from Russia is about a year. The other part of me keeps replaying Ephesians 3:20 in my head, which says God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Oh me, of little faith! Increase my faith, Lord!

To close this update, here are some words that have been used to describe Leanna: spunky, fun, stubborn, energetic, cute, playful, funny, expressive.