August 7, 2008 (Thursday)
The Lord’s Hand in my Life: We received the proper approval necessary in order to stay in Romania without technically having a Visa…

This morning we had to go to the Visa office with Mario. We stayed longer than we were allowed to stay in Romania without having a Visa – so we had to ask for an extension and get it approved. We brought some chocolates to thank them for being so nice and not charging us an outrageous fee. Mario said that in Romania when someone does something nice for you that they don’t have to do you always get them something. In essence, bribery works well here…. I’m glad in this case! Everything went smoothly. We were not kicked out of Romania early, and it was a fairly quick and painless process – even humorous. While we were there they had to take our picture for their files and apparently we aren’t supposed to smile. The first time I smiled he told me not to smile so big – just a little smile - so I did. Then he said my smile was still too big so he tried several more times – I thought I was smiling small! The guys working with us thought it was hilarious that I couldn’t smile small. Finally he told me to keep my mouth shut when I smiled – so I did, but I was not satisfied with the picture. I asked him why we couldn’t smile and he replied “because you’re not in America.” I was like “okay…” After seven pictures they finally settled on a “half smile.” The girls were cracking up when the guy told them how many tries it took for me not to smile…oh well…Romania is so strange.

By the time we got to the orphanage from the Visa office we only had about an hour and a half left to play with our kiddos. Andrei was inside sleeping when I arrived, but lucky for me our “two little angels” were outside running around. Ana was on one today. She still wasn’t as bad as earlier this week, but she kept biting me. Every time she did I would push her away, ignore her, and say “nu frumos nu fetele.” I probably said that phrase a thousand times this morning.

Vlad’s mom came to visit him today, and she was standing there as Ana came up from behind and bit my back and said, “She doesn’t do it maliciously – I’ve watched her, and she really likes you…she will walk around but she always comes back to you.” I wanted to tell her that she hasn’t seen half of the “non-malicious”stuff she has done to us. Then in my mind I kept thinking “Great…she likes me that’s wonderful!” Whitney S. agreed with Vlad’s mother’s comment and she said “She didn’t bother me today at all. I think she does like you.” Apparently the more she likes you the more she comes around, and the more she hurts you. Oh I’m so lucky to be her favorite! Haha…at least I only have one more full day. Today I noticed whatever child I was giving attention to she would hurt. My poor kids. She pinched Maria really hard when I was holding her, and then she pinched Alex really hard when I was walking around with him outside. I told the workers, and she was put in timeout. What’s sad is that Ana will never be able to form a relationship with anyone. Whitney S. and I read a book that talked about street kids and sociopaths. She seems to have the characteristics of one.

Outside Maria was hilarious – she does not like Ana, and I don’t blame her. I took Maria out of her chair to hold her, and Ana came and sat in Maria’s chair next to me. The entire time Maria kept grabbing at her chair and trying to push Ana out of it. She did not want her in her chair. It was pretty funny…haha…

Andrei was the most adorable little angel today. Once he got up from his nap he just cuddled with me in my arms. He rarely lays in my arms still (normally he’s the biggest wiggler), but he did for a while today. He just laid in my arms like how you would hold a baby and looked up at me and smiled and played with his toys – which happened to be dolls…haha... It was precious. I am going to miss that boy so much! He is my little angel. I just hope Heavenly Father takes good care of him for me – especially with the two girls around.

In between the orphanage and hospital a bunch of us girls went to Carrefour to shop. Carrefour is probably the largest grocery store in Romania – it reminded me of a Wal-Mart but not quite as big. Kenz kept saying how she felt like she was home. I agreed with her to a certain extent. We decided to go look around and buy our final groceries there. I bought a ton of chocolate bars to take home with me so everyone can taste them. I’m pretty excited about them. Then Kenz and I looked around for decorated eggs and other souvenirs, but we didn’t find anything good. I also looked for a necklace for Andrei. I can’t seem to find a plain silver necklace anywhere – I think I might end up getting him a stuffed horse. His favorite toy in the orphanage is his little toy horse he rides on.

We ended up taking some time at Carrefour so we all got back a little late for the hospital. Once we got to the hospital we only had an hour and a half left – just enough to have a birthday party for Marion. While we were waiting for the rest of the girls to arrive for the birthday party we were all in the room Marius used to stay in before he left for the United States…(I’m not sure if I mentioned that, but he left Monday. We are all so excited for him). Because we chatted with Marius so much we became friends with the kids in that room. Then all of a sudden the girls started telling all the kids how I was such a good dancer and they all started exclaiming that I had to dance – they even turned music on. I figured what the heck and got my groove on. The girls and kids were cracking up, and when I stopped dancing I realized that half the people down the hall were stopped in their tracks watching me (there are windows in between every room which allow you to see anything and everything that was going on). Some were smiling and some just looked confused – but I didn’t care, I just laughed and kept going…the kids loved it and that’s why I’m here. Luckily Mindy got it on tape…thank you Mindy thank you.

Once I finished dancing Whitney S. and Elyse arrived for Marion’s birthday party. They had planned the entire thing. They bought Marion a Mickey Mouse birthday cake, juice, and all the utensils needed to complete the party. Because we all got to the hospital before Whitney S. and Elyse did we found out before them that one of the nurses had taken Marion home for his birthday. We tried calling Elyse and Whitney S. to tell them but it was too late…When Whitney S. came in we told her the bad news. Then we asked where Elyse was and Whitney S. sadly replied “She is outside setting up for the birthday party.” As you can imagine Elyse and Whitney S. were very distraught. They bought and brought all the stuff needed to make Marion’s 2nd birthday amazing, and he wasn’t there to share in it with them. They were both sad and disappointed which is completely understandable. We all felt so bad that they had put so much effort into it…but there was nothing we could do. Then because they were distraught and they had already set up for the party, they decided we would still have a birthday party without him. When we walked outside Elyse and Whitney S. were sitting on the ramp where they had the cake sat up with the saddest looks on their face. We ended up singing Happy Birthday in Romanian to Marion while Elyse held a picture up of Marion. After the song we cut cake and started eating it. That’s when one of the glasses of juice spilled and Elyse exclaimed “This party sucks!” and started crying. It was the straw that broke the camels back. Then Whitney S. started crying…it was so sad…Then they tried to make me dance for them – Mindy said it would make them feel better, but I refused…sorry girls sorry…I had already made a fool out of myself enough for the day.

After Marion’s Birthday party Annie and I went and played with Mihait. He was his adorable self. We played with stickers for a while. We ended up putting them all over his shirt and face. Then all of a sudden about seven or eight people walked into the room. It’s funny, but we automatically attract moms and kids in the other rooms. They just sat and watched us play for a while. Then I gave some of the other kids stickers. I think they had a good time!

On the way home from the hospital we all suddenly felt something wet on our arm and realized that someone had spit on us as they were driving by. SO RUDE! Then we had multiple men yell and hollar at us…Romanian men are pigs…they should oink instead of speak…

The rest of the night was uneventful. I had to finish my write ups about all my kids. They took a lot of time, but it was good to get them all done. I love my kids! I’m going to miss them a ton!