A Special day

We awoke to a beautiful breezy day that dropped the temperature to 80F. On our way to the orphanage this morning, Lucas said “Ohhh…it’s winter in my country!”. Having experienced winter in “his” country, we thought this was extremely funny.

Emma seems to be opening up more and more every day. Today she was more talkative than she had been and she was singing and talking in Russian so fast. She didn’t seem to mind that we didn’t understand her, she just talked and talked. It was nice to hear. We played a game of hide-and-go-seek and she is so funny when it is her turn to be “it”. We use a tree to lean against and count and we catch her peeking to see where we are each hiding. It’s not like there are many places to hide in our little playground but it is fun for the kids and Chris and I get a kick out of watching them scream gleefully when they find each other. We also spent some time coloring and drawing in some books we brought from home. Lucas, with his meticulous nature, doesn’t seem to be impressed with Emma’s lack of coloring skills. I imagine she hasn’t had much practice. We also bring water and some sort of food item with us when we visit. Today we brought some pretzel-like biscuits and she enjoyed them very much. We are trying not to give her too much since we don’t want our visits to be associated with food only. We have to slow her down sometimes…yesterday she stuffed a large piece of banana in her mouth and ate it just to ensure she would get some more. We also have to keep her from eating the crumbs off the very dirty picnic table. This is something we experienced with Lucas so we are well equipped to deal with this one. She’s also getting more and more comfortable with us and she will climb up on our laps and give hugs and kisses…and she wants tickles!! Her laugh is infectious and she is keeping us in high spirits.

She seems to be understanding some of what we say as well. Perhaps not the words exactly but the meaning. Lucas discovered small sea shells under the brush in the playground and he was having a marvelous time collecting some to “take home”. He would find a few and put them in my hands to hold onto. Soon Emma was helping him find some as well. Chris said to her “Look Emma, Mama has all the shells and papa has none. Can you get me one?”. She was off looking as she had previously and we were sure she didn’t understand. Well, a few minutes later she plopped a tiny shell into his hands, smiled and skipped away to find some more. I think she’s a smart cookie!!

(I warn you that the following is perhaps a little on the sentimental side so readers beware!! Haha,)
Well, today is August 2nd. August 2nd is a very special day to me. It isn’t often that we recognize specific moments in time when our lives are altered and our direction is turned towards an unknown path. My life changed forever with a simple click of the mouse. Five years ago, on August 2nd, I was sitting at my computer contemplating our future. The week prior, our third cycle of invitro had failed and I was feeling hopeless and incredibly sad. I started surfing the internet for information on adoption. Chris and I had talked a little about adoption but only peripherally. Our plan was to have biological children and then adopt. He always wanted to adopt to give a child the chance he was given. I didn’t know the first thing about adopting domestically or internationally but I searched that night for any information I could find. I found much of the information to be confusing, scary, and not very helpful. After about 2 hours I was ready to call it a night. Just one more website, I said to myself, then I would go to bed. That website was Ukrainian Angels. I spent the next 2 hours browsing through the hundreds of pictures of beautiful children that had been adopted from Ukraine through the IUAFN (International Ukrainian Angels Family Network). That was the night I first read the name Cathy Harris. Her story was inspiring and I found myself awakening to the idea of adopting from Ukraine. I can tell you honestly, in those 2 hours, my want and desire for a biological child was wiped away forever. Truly…gone…never to return. That night was the beginning of our journey. A journey that I wouldn’t trade for anything in this world. I wish everyone was as fortunate as we are to experience this incredible ride. Our dreams have come true…who knew that all it would take was one simple click of a mouse.

Ok, enough of that! I’ve wiped away my tears and I’m ready to get back to the present. Lucas is wanting to eat (big surprise) and I need to go do what I was born to do…be his Mama!

Love to you all from Ukraine,
L, C, L & E