My Heart is Smiling

If today and the past week are what dreams are made of, I never want to wake up!  Today was my very first Father's Day and was a wonderful culmination of a wonderful week.

Over the years, male friends of mine that have had kids have always said that it is a feeling like no other to see your kids grow up and experience all that life brings their way.  That you no longer get up in the morning and just to go through the motions, but you awaken with a renewed vigor every morning for the sole purpose of loving your kids.

This week brought these emotions to the forefront and for the first time, I got to experience this remarkable feeling every single day.  In a way, ever since Nastya and LA showed up at RDU a little over two weeks ago, I have felt a new feeling that I had never experienced.  But until this week, I really couldn't pinpoint what the feeling was.

In preparation for writing this update tonight, over the past couple days I have thought long and hard to find the right words to describe this feeling.  The closest that I can get is that "my heart is smiling".  Through and through, this week has been a true blessing in every sense of the word.

It has been a week of many firsts for me, our family, and Nastya.  Going into the week, there was a hidden potential for a rough week.  But as I sit here tonight, I can say that the Puskars, especially Nastya came through with flying colors.

Since my last post, it has been quite a busy week.  Last Saturday we started off the weekend with my Mom's birthday celebration and then were honored to be invited to share in two other homecoming and birthday parties on Sunday for some dear friends of ours that have adopted kids from the same program that we did.  When Nastya went to bed Sunday night, I can only imagine that she was thinking that her new family does a lot of partying!

Monday started off with Nastya's first appointment with the pediatrician.  This is where the potential for disaster could have started.  7 shots and 4 vials of blood later, LA walked out of the appointment with Nastya and MiMi with smiles and some pretty cool looking band aids to show her battle wounds!

Wednesday was my second favorite day of the week this week.  Last week, Nastya had expressed interest in wanting to get her ears pierced.  So, knowing that this week was going to be doozy with her dr appointment and everything, we scheduled a fun outing for her. Thanks to MiMi and PopPop, Nastya picked out some new purple earrings bearing her birthstone and bravely got her ears pierced.  And at Nastya's request, I stood by her side holding her hand as the very kind lady at Merle Norman did the piercing.  I don't know who had more fun, me or Nastya, as this is one of the events at the top of the list that I have always wanted to share with a daughter.

Thursday brought another first for Nastya, as she visited the dentist with LA.  Because dental hygiene and going to the dentist is such a foreign concept to Nastya, we made special arrangements with our dentist for LA to have her cleaning, with Nastya watching.  We also arranged for a family friend to come and translate for Nastya and explain the whole process to her.  Thanks to Dr. Foy and her great team, and our friend Katerina, Nastya left feeling comfortable about the process and we have scheduled her appointment for the upcoming weeks.  Once again, another possible bump in the road avoided.

This weekend was a busy one as well.  My Uncle Larry and Aunt Carol from Pennsylvania came to town to visit with us and to meet Nastya.  Not trying to suck up or anything, but Uncle Larry and Aunt Carol are the side of the family you don't just feel obligated to see, but really relish the chance to spend time with and hang out.  Nastya fell in love with Aunt Carol and her "yellow hair" and of course did the same with Uncle Larry and his "no hair".  They shared laughs, many underwater somersaults in the pool, and quite a few hugs over the weekend!  Nastya walked away from her brief time with them this weekend really knowing how much she means to our family and how much Uncle Larry and Aunt Carol love her.  Also, an extra special thank you to them for taking Nastya shopping and getting her her first bike.  And the pizza afterwards was just icing on the cake! 

That leads us into today.  Father's Day.  I woke up this morning for the first time on this special day as a PaPa.  Today was special in every way.  Right after breakfast, Nastya and LA gave me a handmade card from Nastya, a card from LA, and a gift that I will cherish forever. A canvas portrait of the three of us on our first day together back on April 1 on the grounds of the orphanage.  Oh how far we have come in the last few months!  We then watched Charlotte's Web together as a family, a movie that Nastya has been eyeing since she first saw the DVD cover on our end table a few days ago.

This afternoon, after less than 24 hours of having a new bike, I stand proud saying that Nastya learned  how to ride a bike!  Until yesterday, she had never been on one.  With the help of Ms. Linda, Mama, and Papa, she can now ride around the circle in our neighborhood all by herself!  To see her shear determination to ride that bike this weekend and to finally see all that effort pay off when she was off on her own, made my heart smile.

If you can believe it, the day got even better.  We got to spend time with my Dad and went out for supper to celebrate our first Father's Day together.  If I end up being half the Papa to Nastya that he has been a Dad to me I will consider myself pretty successful.  Thanks Dad for all that you have done for me and know that Nastya loves her PopPop...mochi mochi...

And tonight, after shower time and during our nightly wind down time before bed, Nastya jumped in the bed between LA and I for the first time.  With Daisy at the foot of the bed, we laid together as a family and watched the college baseball world series.   It didn't matter what was on tv...it was what was lying in the bed beside me that mattered.  And of course, it didn't hurt that she was enjoying watching the game with me!

AsI tucked her in bed tonight, I could help but feel that feelling in my heart.  From hearing her version of the pediatrician's visit on Monday night and how proud of her I was that she was such a trooper having to get all those shots...to holding her hand while she got her ears pierced...to watching her never give up while she tried to ride her bike by herself...to having her lay on my shoulder and watch tv with me and LA tonight...my heart is smiling.