It's the Little Things

A few months ago, I had a startling realization while standing in my kitchen getting dinner ready.  I don't know where it came from, but I suddenly thought that Anton and Lena might be of the age where they had already lost their first tooth.  It made me incredibly sad that after missing so many "firsts" in their lives, that I would have missed this one too.  I instantly began hoping that they would not lose their first tooth until they were with Mommy...

Imagine my utter amazement yesterday when I was walking Lena back from the bathroom at the orphanage and heard her gasp... and then looked down to see her holding her tooth in her hand.  She was just as surprised as I was!  She didn't quite know what to think at first, so we walked her in to the head doctor on campus, who reassured her, and then we saved her tooth for her and took lots of pictures to commemorate the occasion.  All the while I was thanking God for His kindness in allowing me to be there for it... We almost didn't go to our afternoon visit yesterday, but I am so, so glad we did!  I was finally there for a "first"!  It's the little things!

She stopped admiring her new grin long enough for Papa to take a picture.

Gaping Hole

We also have been having better visits with the kids since we moved our normal meeting place from the big playground to this little cubby area with a picnic table.  There doesn't ever seem to be any groupas meeting here, so we've commandeered it for Team Hazleton Headquarters.  So we've been able to sit and draw pictures together, enjoy snacks, and play in a more focused environment.   It's the little things.

Anton is so serious when he's working on a project

The local mall here is AMAZING.  I've never been any place like it.  It literally has everything we could possibly need including a huge supermarket, McDonalds, a fantastic pizza joint, an ice-skating rink, a very cool fountain that Carson loves to watch..... and a great toy store!  We bought the kids some washable markers (after making the mistake of purchasing markers that were definitely NOT washable) and a little package of rulers & protractors.  I couldn't have imagined the fun that the kids would have with these.  It's the little things.

Lena love for her Daddy to show her how to do new things