Day 282 of 365 Days of Being Thankful

         Today I am thankful for this adorable photo from Olivia in the orphanage!  Olivia is the second girl in from the left. She is holding a white stuffed animal. LOOK AT HOW CUTE OLIVIA WAS!!!!! I still remember the first time we saw her, she was 9 years old, almost 10.  Next to her is  her cousin Natasha!  One of the girls who got adopted from that orphanage sent the photo to Natasha! Olivia and Natasha were best friends in the orphanage.  After my sister adopted Natasha, they became cousins!! Olivia cracks up at the big bows in their hair because the orphanage kept their hair so short!  Olivia said the bows were hanging on for dear life!  Olivia clearly remembers the play, it was about safety and traffic signs. She just looks so adorable!  These photos are so precious to us because we don't have any baby or little kid photos of Olivia. She was about 7 years old in the photo.  The kids in orphanages were always doing plays.  It is a cheap way to keep the kids busy and entertained! The girl who sent the photos to Natasha is named Christina.  Christina told Natasha that the orphanage gave her a photo album with pictures when she was adopted.  No one gave an album to Olivia or Natasha.  Olivia said that she and Natasha were always in trouble for talking.  The teachers had a thick rubber alligator that they used to smack the kids on the butt with the tail when they were in trouble.  Olivia and Natasha knew that alligator very well!!! Olivia told me that she and Natasha always got in trouble for talking. After we adopted Olivia, she would say to me "mommy, I LOVES Natasha." We use to mail packages to the orphanage and the girls wrote letters to Olivia.  I advocated for Natasha for a few years but she was not registered to be adopted.  Each orphan has to get on the adoption registry and it costs about $1,000 to get put on.  Most orphanages can only list one or two children a year. Someone who hosted Natasha and planned to adopt her paid the fee for her to be put on the registry.  They decided to adopt another child because they didn't want to wait 18 months to adopt.  They would have had to redo all of their paperwork. After children are put on the registry, it takes about 18 months for them to be available for international adoption. The first year is for national adoption.  I kept advocating for her and started talking about her to my sister. She said they would adopt her.  She thought Amy maneuvered all of this behind the scenes! That is how Natasha became Olivia and Olya's cousin!!! It's so nice that the three of them are bonded from their orphanage experiences.

 

 She is thrilled with the haircut!

Olivia got her hair cut at cosmetology school today.  She probably got more than a foot cut off.  I was shocked but I really like it! She looks so much older with shorter hair!