Vitya's Adventures in America

Wow!  I  cannot believe that the last time we wrote on the blog was when David and Vitya were on their way home!  Well, they arrived home Sunday evening, October 16, and we hit the ground running and life hasn't slowed down since.

Many of you may already know that 5 days after he arrived in the US, Vitya flipped over the handlebars of his bike and broke his wrist in two places. He had to have surgery and have pins put in and he stayed in the hospital for 3 days.  It was quite a welcome to America for him, but he did well.  He has been  in a full arm cast for 2 1/2 weeks and he doesn't like it, but he's a trooper. He is doing sooo well!!! His broken arm has not slowed him down one bit.  Most of the time, he is full of energy.

We are amazed at how well he has adjusted already and how well he can speak English.  He talks to us constantly all the time now,  mostly in broken English, and we communicate just fine.  He is usually able to get his point across and he even jokes around and teases..  He is fitting in well to our life here at the Stout home.  He freely goes in the kitchen and fixes his food and he loves to cook.  He is adjusting to our food here.  He loves fruit and can't get enough of it (he had 6 bananas his first day here).  He does not like water and loves juice, but we are slowly working on that.  He has found a happy medium right now making lemonade every day. He loves the Jacuzzi and wants to get in every night.  He got an MP3 player for his birthday, which he plays constantly, and he also likes to play the Sony playstation that one of our friends gave him.

It was difficult at first trying to help Vitya understand the concept of family and how we care for one another and act towards one another, but he seems to really be getting a grasp on that very quickly. .At first, he was very stand offish with the girls, but now he is just like a regular brother, picking on them all the time.  He is very loving to David and me,  He loves to sit close to us and he even says "Love you, Mom and Love you, Dad." He is learning respectfulness to adults and saying "Please and thank you".  Just like my other teens, he often pushes his limits to see how far he can get, but when I am firm with him, he always obeys, even if it is sometimes with an attitude (which is quite normal in our household these days). 

Because of his time at the orphanage , Vitya loves to have things clean and is always cleaning, even other people's stuff, and telling others they need to clean up.  This  sometimes drives others crazy; especially, his room mate, Jake.  So we probably will be addressing some boundary issues soon. We have already talked through issues about money and he seems to really have a good understanding of our values in this area.  He knows now that he  is just not going to be given everything he wants and if he wants special things, such as an ipod , he works for it.  Also, he is learning that when  we work for the family, we don't get paid, it is serving.

 In the last few days, the biggest issue we have been facing is  him wanting more independence.  Now that he is feeling more comfortable with us, his surroundings and others, he thinks he can do and go wherever he wants.  He is not a little boy - he is 15 and this is what he did at the orphanage.  So please pray for wisdom for us as we have to put some parameters on his life in this area.  It is particularly difficult because Jake is living with us and Jake doesn't have the same boundaries.

We are also still finding so many things that we have to teach him that we have taken for granted  because we just assumed he knew, like riding a bicycle with handlebar brakes..  For example, the other day he put away the groceries, and he put all my fresh vegetables in the freezer. Ugh!  It is sometimes hard to teach him these things because he thinks he knows how to do everything and wants to do it.

One way Vitya fits so well with our family is his love for music. He is taking drum lessons in the beginning band at Ben Lippen and he loves to play the piano.  We started school last week and he is doing well, but he gets frustrated because he has to do things on such an elementary level because of his English.  Two weeks ago we had a joint birthday party for Vitya and Bethany and it just blew him away.  He kept telling me and David,  "Thank you, Mom and Dad, all evening."  That evening was the first time that he said I love you to me.  This past weekend, we all went on a 4 day trip to Cherokee and he did AWESOME (that's his new favorite word.)!  He also is excited about Christmas coming.  He keeps telling me, " 6 1/2 weeks, Mom, Christmas, presents, presents, presents."

Viyta's heart seems to really be opening up to the Lord very quickly.  He  loves to read the Russian Bible that David got him and he is always reminding us to pray before meals at the table.  When he came out surgery the other day, the first thing he said was "Thank you, Jesus!"


Tuesday, Vitya had outpatient surgery on his arm and had the pins removed.  He also  his long cast taken off and a short cast put on for another three weeks.  He is counting down the days til that is off. .  We had a preliminary visit with his HIV doctor last week, but she can't really do a full work up until his Medicaid has gone through.  We applied for that last week and the case worker is trying to rush it up for us so that he will have medication when his runs out.

As for the rest of the family, it has been a mixture of feelings.  Vitya is very needy of mine and David's attention (which is totally understandable), but it is sometimes hard for the girls and exhausting for us. And he always wants to be around people.  We all love having him here and love him like crazy, but it definitely is different.  Lots of adjustments!!!!!  He is a total brother to the girls, picking at them all the time, so they are not sure if they want to send him back or not (Ha!Ha!  Just kidding). 

Homeschooling has been very frustrating for me.  Hannah pretty much works on her own and Bethany a good bit, but Katie still needs alot of interaction, and so does Vitya, so I am finding it hard to balance my time between everyone.  I also have no time to prepare, so I am often "flying by the seat of my pants ",  which really doesn't work very well.  The girls are really behind on their school work.

In the last few weeks, David and I have also had some health issues.  We both have had some serious muscles and joint aches and pains, but they are better now.  It may have been stress or diet or a combination of both.  We are working on getting back some healthier eating habits, but finances are tight.  And we both are exhausted much of the time.  All of this is somewhat putting a strain on our marriage as well.

Speaking of finances, that is another big prayer need right now.  David has injured his knee and it hurts too much for him to do construction right now, so he hasn't been able to work much at his job for the last few weeks.  We were already in the red trying to catch up from the two months of David not working, so this has hurt us alot.  We also just go a bill for $27,000 for Vitya's hospital bill.  We have applied for medicaid and it is supposed to retroactive for October, so please pray that this would go through quickly. 

Thank you again for all you love, care, support and prayers..   We couldn't do it without you.

All of us in the Stout family

PRAYER NEEDS:

David''s work situation
Our health
Vitya's continued adjustment and ours
Homeschooling
Vitya's medicaid to go through quickly