Couple welcome Russian sisters into home

Editor's note: Steve Cesari is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cesari, of Kulpmont.

Natalia Cesari is the perfect big sister.

"She has a heart so big and is so loving. Her biggest desire was to be part of a family," said Natalia's mother, Brandie Cesari, Chestnut Hill.

Although Natalia, now 6, is the oldest of the four children in the Cesari home, she was the second child to be welcomed into the family that includes Bobby, 23 months, Lauren, 5 months, and Natalia's biological sister, 28-month-old Olivia, known as "Luba" to family and friends, who joined the family in November.

Natalia was adopted by Cesari and her husband, Steve, in August 2008 when she was 5.

With the help of Alaska International Adoption Agency, their dream of adopting a child from Russia came true, not once, but twice.

"Before we got married in October 2006, we decided we would adopt a child from Russia," Brandie Cesari said recently. "I was a journalist and did several stories about people adopting these children and I knew it was something I wanted to do. I also knew I wanted to adopt an older child, one that may be overlooked by parents wanting a baby."

Brandie said the couple was first going to host a child with a summer program, but that fell through when the Russian government did not issue visas for the children.

"We both came from good families and we knew we wanted to share the way we grew up by adopting a child," Steve said. "It wasn't an issue if we would or could have a child of our own.

This was just something we knew we wanted to do."

After they married, they completed the paperwork and were preparing to make their first nine-hour trip to Russia when their paperwork was ruined in the mail by another package leaking fluid on their envelope.

They re-filed all the necessary forms, but by then the Russian government shut down all adoptions, so the couple had to wait.

In January 2008, Bobby Cesari, the couple's first child, was born.

Shortly after, they learned the Russian government had reopened the adoption program and the couple filed new paperwork, since there was another person in the house.

"We visited Natalia in the orphanage in Magadan, another 10-hour trip from Moscow in April 2008, and we took Bobby to Russia and brought her home in August 2008," Steve Cesari said.

Brandie said when the biological parents give up their rights to the child, the adoptive parents have no right to any additional information, so they don't know if there were any siblings.

"After the two-week process, when we were ready to take her home, we said if there would happen to be any siblings, let us know," Brandie said. "We just left it open-ended."

The Cesaris found out Brandie was pregnant with their third child, Lauren, in October 2008. In March 2009, they received an e-mail from Olga Byrne, a Russian lawyer and the adoption agency director, that Natalia's sister, Luba, was available for adoption.

"We had to sit down and talk about it, but it was an easy decision," Steve said.

Lauren was born in July and in November, the couple, with Lauren in tow, made the trip to Russia again, this time to bring Luba home.

Brandie said Natalia does not know Luba is her biological sister.

"We don't make the distinction between biological and adopted," she said. "We want them to know they are all siblings."

Each of the four children has photos of themselves taken in Russia that will become part of their family history. The two girls have one Russian name and one American name, Natalia's middle name is Jean, the same as Steve's mother.

"Before we got married we discussed adoption but we didn't really expect to have four children in two years," Brandie said. "But it has been a blessing."

Steve credits Byrne and the adoption agency for their happy family.

"Because of their help, we have two beautiful children that are part of our family now," he said.

Christmastime this year not only involves a 6-year-old and three children under 3 and still in diapers, but a move to a new home, since the family recently moved from Eagle Rock near Hazleton to Chestnut Hill.

But even if it is a hectic time, the Cesaris are just a big happy family, who feel blessed they can provide a loving home for all their children.

"I will never forget the first Christmas Natalia spent with us," Steve said. "When she came downstairs and saw all the presents, she couldn't believe they were all for her. That was an amazing moment."

Brandie said that first year she talked to Natalia about Santa Claus and asked her daughter what she got for Christmas in the orphanage.

"She told us she got a cup, a plate and socks," Cesari said. "When she saw her gifts from Santa, she said in her Russian accent, 'I must have been a really good girl.'"

This year, Natalia sent a list to Santa.

"I would like clothes and shoes," the first-grader at Blue Mountain Elementary Cressona said in perfect English. "And some toys."

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