Catching Up With the Fritsches

Hello adoption blog world. It's been forever since the last post on October 27. It's so easy to fall away from posting. Life keeps us very busy, but life is very good at the Fritsche house! All three boys are doing wonderfully and Mom and Pop too.

Andrei amazes us every day. He has really thrived in the six months since coming home from Russia. We had our six-month post-placement visit toward the end of January and all went well. Andrei understands basically everything we say. Most of the time we understand everything he says. He's only gained a little over a pound since coming home, but he is definitely growing. He's a sweet little guy, almost always happy and smiling. He can definitely throw a bit of a fit when he doesn't get something he wants, but he gets over it quickly. Potty training is going well, but we have more progress to make. All in all we are very pleased with his progress! Things have gone well with his glasses. Unfortunately our crazy beagles got a hold of his glasses last week and destroyed them. He'll be getting his new pair this week.

Slav and Sergei love having their little brother. He is interested in the things they love to do like bey blades, Pokemon and angry birds. The boys are loving school, but looking forward to the summer. Slav has been working very hard on his reading. He has struggled a bit with that. He gets extra help from a teacher after school. Considering he made a full transition from Russian to English at age 5, I'd say he is doing well. Sergei has really excelled at reading. He was only 3 when he began learning English, so it comes easier to him than it does to Slav. We're very proud of all the boys. They're just growing up so fast.

The biggest news of late is that we've decided to host an exchange student next year. Those of you who followed our blog back when we were adopting may remember that we hosted Nadya from Cheboksary, Russia during the 2010-11 school year. Nadya was wonderful and we had such a great year having her in our home. The main reason we didn't host again right away the next year is that we were getting ready to bring Andrei home and we needed to be able to focus on him and the adjustments he would bring to our family. That was a wise decision, but now we're ready to welcome another Russian student into our home. The paperwork is done. We're just waiting for the Russian students to appear in the database and then we'll look for a good match. We definitely want to host a girl from Russia. Clarion doesn't need an increased male presence in our home! We will be working once again with American Councils for International Education, and we highly recommend their program. If anyone is interested in hosting and wants to know more about the program and what's involved, just send us an e-mail and we'd be glad to fill you in.

That's about it for now. We're planning a trip to visit family in Houston in May, just after school is out. We may do a bit more traveling here and there. We'll do our best to post a bit more frequently, especially as the less busy summer approaches. Blessings to all who are adopting, especially those traveling! It's been so much fun reading your blogs and remembering where we webouquet about a year ago, getting ready to go to Vlad to meet Andrei. God bless you all!

Love,

Joel, Clarion, Slav, Sergei & Andrei

US Citizenship Certificate

Andrei actually has been a US citizen since we arrived in the states on September 9, but the official certificate arrived a few days ago. Strike a pose, buddy!

Over A Month Home and GLASSES!

Hello, adoption blog world! Sorry to be absent for so long. Life with three boys keeps us on the go. The Fritsche family is doing extraordinarily well since becoming a family of five. Andrei continues to progress with attachment to his new parents and siblings. He looks to his Mama for comfort and provision, to his Papa for silliness and laughter, and to his brothers for mischief. Actually, he is a wonderful addition to our family and is making strides with attachment, language, eating and more. We couldn't be happier!

Clarion's maternity leave ended last week, so this past Monday morning it was back to the classroom for her. The mother of one of her students watches Andrei four days a week, along with her own 7-month-old little one. So far this has gone very well. Andrei cries when his Mama says goodbye in the morning and is very happy to see her and be back in her arms in the afternoon. This has really been positive so far!

On Monday, Slav, Andrei and I went down to their pediatric eye doctor's office in St. Louis to pick up glasses for both boys. Clarion selected green frames for Andrei. So far so good. He tends to keep them on his face most of the time. However, if he's in his room playing and we have our eyes off of him for a few minutes, the glasses will suddenly be around his neck. It will definitely take some getting used to, but we're thankful he's not fighting them tooth and nail, ripping them off his face or anything like that.

I suppose that's pretty much it for now, except for one more thing. Happy birthday to my dear wife, Clarion!!! I hope your day is as special as you are to all of your boys, me included!

God bless you all!!!

Joel

Corn!

We're so used to cutting things up in little bites for our children. Then came Andrei. He's not a big fan of having things cut up. He likes to just pick it up and dig right in. He does it with fruit. Last night it was a hot dog. And tonight it was corn-on-the-cob. He wanted nothing to do with the corn that Clarion had cut off the cob and put on his plate. He was reaching for a corn-on-the-cob. And he ate it! He's doing fairly well with food. He doesn't seem to be a big fan of meat, but it's probably because it's so new to him. Slav was like that too, and still is in many respects. Meat just isn't his favorite. I don't even think it's the taste. I think it's the texture.

Anyway, back to Andrei. All is going very well. We all seem to be adjusting nicely. Clarion took Andrei to the IA doctor in St. Louis last week for his first visit. Miraculously, he didn't need any vaccinations. Thanks to Sasha for translating his vaccination record from Russian into English. It proved enormously helpful at the doctor. They did, of course, have to draw blood. That he didn't like. But the doctor said that Andrei is quite healthy, just really really small, like off the charts small for his age. So, we've got him on Pediasure and are making sure he gets the foods and nutrients he needs to grow. He saw the dentist also last week and got a good report. Next week is the appointment with the eye doctor.

Wednesday Clarion will be going to our home study agency for a post-placement visit. The state of Illinois requires a post-placement report within a month of coming home. We expect it to go well. Andrei is an active boy, but we've had good training in that with Sergei, who remains very active. Clarion is enjoying her maternity leave and is definitely bonding with our new addition.

Prayers to all of you who are waiting and especially to the Booths who are in Vlad for court and for Kyle and Ashley who will soon be leaving for Vlad for court. God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Joel, Clarion, Slav, Sergei & Andrei

Home!

Sorry for the delay in posting! It's been quite busy since our return. We made it home on Saturday instead of Friday. Our plane from Moscow to New York was delayed by only ten or fifteen minutes, but it was late enough to make our already tight connection pretty much impossible. Unfortunately Delta had no more flights out to St. Louis that night, so we had to spend the night in New York. We also had to transfer from JFK to LaGuardia in order to fly out the next morning. Oh well, we made it. Andrei's Mama, brothers, grandparents, and his aunt and uncle were waiting for us at the airport. He is doing very well. We'll post more later. For now, enjoy the pics!

Joel

Finally Heading Home

Today is the day! I have waited for this day for a long time. It is the day I bring home my son, Andrei. His Mama and brothers cannot wait to see him. We cannot wait to see them as well. I am filled with all sorts of emotions this morning. It has been an incredible trip to be sure. While I am thrilled to be going home, I am quite melancholy at the same time. Russia is special to us. We have three wonderful boys from this country. We have seriously awesome friends here: Nadya, Irina, Lana, and Sasha to name a few. I don't know when I'll be back here. I hope to return within a couple of years, but that's doubtful. It is doubtful that we will adopt from here again, but not completely out of the picture. Who knows what the good Lord has in store. I'd love to return for some mission work, perhaps to do something for orphans. I don't know. I'm glad to be going home, but I feel the sadness of saying goodbye. Go figure! We've spent so much time here the last few years that it almost feels like a second home. Goodbye to all my Russian friends! We love you dearly! Hope to see you in the near future!

Love,

Joel

Silly Boy

Things are going great here in Moscow! Got Andrei's visa yesterday.  Our coordinator is registering him at the consulate today.  We'll get his passport back on Thursday.  Outta here on Friday!