Russia for 4: 2 Years Later

Sophie today!

It occured to me, in the craziness of school starting, this last week marks 2 years since we first layed eyes on Sophie. I still remember it like it was yesterday and I'm still in disbelief that we traveled to Siberia THREE times!!! For those of you who know me pretty well, you know this is a huge feat in itself! I'm a homebody! So, this quiet shy 18 month old baby girl that we visited in the Sosnovoborsk orphanage 2 years ago blossomed into a full on diva, bowling ball, outgoing, crazy fun, dramatic, beautiful little girl. I sill sometimes wonder what she would be like if she had stayed in the orphanage. Remembering that there were barely any sounds at all in the entire orphanage, it would be safe (and sad) to say, she would have stayed reserved and shy, unable to thrive. So sad, really. I can picture the faces (some severely deformed) of all those babies in her group and i wonder what happened to them, especially since President Putin decided to become a comoplete terd (yes, I used the word terd...well, he is!) and close adoptions with the USA. What has happened to all of those babies? What will happen to all those babies? We were just lucky and ended up bringing Sophie home a year before this happened. I still grieve with the families who had bonded with thier babies, and will probably never see them again. Praying that they one day will be reunited, every day! Praying God softens Putin's heart and praying for the hundreds and thousands of Russian orphans who will never know what it is like to become the best of themselves. They will never get to see, do, have, love, grow the way Sophie does. Sophie is one tough little cookie! Since we have brought her home, it's hard to sometimes believe she has never seen or done some of these things before. Sometimes, she is doing it, or seeing it for the first time. Our biological children don't know how lucky they are. I hope one day we can take them back to her orphanage so they can appreciate all they have. Although we will not be taking Sophie back any time soon. If she goes into the country (I believe) between the ages of 17-21, she could be drafted in the Russian army and have to serve 2 years...and there's nothing the US can do since Russia considers her a Russian citizen...for life. Even though she is an American citizen, she does have dual citizenship but the US doesn't really recognize it. Anyways, Sophie started dance this summer and OH MY WORD- it is adorable! She's not that bad either (considering she doesn't have anyone at home to model how to be "dainty". She's going to start gymnastics soon and our family keeps laughing because she is built just like a little Russian gymnasts, has NO fear and can do a lot of things already. Yes, we are shooting for the Olympics over here!!! Sophie is starting soccer this year and I can't wait to see that! It should be hysterical. She is one of 2 girls on the team, which will be great since she is surrounded by boys all the time. The boys have taught her all kinds of wonderful things like, booty shaking, under arm tooting, and my favorite-"cup check"...NOT! The day she does it to a kid in her class will be the day i send in my Dad, Scott, and my 2 brothers in for the conference. Why do guys think that is so funny? Our 2 year post placement report is coming up next month. I just hope that us sending it to Russia will somehow show that adoptions with the US IS safe, beneficial and A MUST!!! Gotta get those babies a home!!!!! Keep praying for these orphans....they need it! Here's some pics of Sophie: