Some Frequently asked Questions

I thought that I'd just post a few of the questions that we are most frequently asked by family, friends, strangers, etc. Perhaps you have had some of the same questions too, so I wanted to answer them here. (They are in no particular order with no particular theme.)

What language(s) do your children speak? English, German, and Russian?
Right now, our children speak English and German. I speak to the kids only in English, and David speaks to them only in German. It is quite fascinating hearing them say something to David in German, and then turning around and saying the exact same thing to me in English. Kids are amazing! As of now, they do not know Russian. (Aria says a few words, such as "thank-you" and "good-bye", but that's about it.) Hopefully within the next several years, they will be able to learn Russian and/or Tuvan too.

What language do your children speak to eachother in?
Right now, the majority of the time, Aria and Nina communicate to each other in German. Perhaps that is because we are presently in Germany and they speak German with the other children around them. It sure is cute to listen to them chattering away!

What language do you and David speak to eachother in?
David and I speak a mixture of both German and English. Most sentences start out in English, but then have some German words and expressions thrown in here and there. We speak to eachother in Russian when we don't want our children to know what we are saying. But, that might not work for much longer. :)

How do you plan on schooling your children?
As of now, we plan on homeschooling. I would teach the children in English. Once they know how to read and write in English, we would like to teach them how to read and write in German as well. (We feel that it would be very important for them to be literate in both languages.) Yet, we also see a need for them to be with other children. Once they are of age, we are thinking about sending them to a kindergarten in T-land for several mornings a week. Hopefully this way, they could make friends, learn the language, and get some social time. When they are older, we'd like to find some kind of activity they could be involved in with other children, such as sports, music, etc. (This is just what we are planning on now. Things can definitely change, depending on our children and circumstances at that time.)

How long does Micah need to wear his brace?
We don't really know for sure. Yet, we were told that he may need to wear it until he is about a year old. (Perhaps some of that time, it would just be at night.) No, he doesn't seem to mind it at all. We were told that babies learn to crawl and stand-up in these braces, so we are sure that when Micah wants to move, he'll teach himself how. He may be behind in his motor skills for a while, but we are pretty sure that as soon as he is free from the brace for a while, he'll quickly learn to crawl, walk, etc. The good news is though, that his hips are getting better! :)

Will you still be able to go to R-land, even if Micah is in his brace?
Yes. We were hoping that he would be all finished with his treatment before we left, but that doesn't look likely. Since he is now 4 months old, his growth has slowed considerably. (The fastest growing time for a baby is in the first 3 months.) This means, that his brace will not need to be adjusted as often (and the healing process will just take longer). At our last visit, Micah's doctor told us that he trusts us to be able to adjust the brace appropriately. We will take a bigger size brace with us, and at our next check-up, the beginning of August, he'll explain everything to us again.

When are you planning on returning to R-land?
Our departure date is now set for August 11th! Just a little over a month away! We are planning on returning to R-land with a 3 month visa, which we are now in the process of applying for.

When will you know if you will receive the temporary residency?
Our applications take up to six months to be processed. We handed in our application on April 30th. So, the latest we will find out if we get the residency (3 year visa) is the end of October. (That's why we are leaving for R-land in August on a 3 month visa. This 3 month visa will be good until Nov. 11th. If we find out the end of October that we receive the residency, we will just continue on living there. If we do not get the residency, we then have a couple of weeks to prepare to leave.)


Will you be attending your brother's wedding in September?
Unfortunately, at this point, it really looks like we will not be able to. :( I'm incredibly sad about this, but after having to stay out of R-land so long already, if we are able to be in the country, we will stay there. We'll definitely look forward to seeing pictures!!!