Bush Family Adoption Journey

Summertime is Here

2009-06-30T20:26:00.007-05:00

Easter Egg Hunt

Coloring Easter Eggs

Hamming it up for the camera

Emma's first grade program

Lucas's Kindergarten program (he's in the striped shirt)

Pool fun

Future diver...ok...maybe not!

Fun with Daddy

"Ok, I'm ready...throw me"

Memorial day crawfish...the kids were not impressed.

Ok, ok. I know it has been 2 months since my last post. But really...I've been busy. No, seriously...busy. These kids aren't gonna raise themselves. I will try to do better though, I promise.

Anyway, summer is here and boy is it here with a vengeance! It's not only hot...it's Africa HOT. There is something wrong with the universe when my car temp reads 109 degrees F (that's 43 C for you Canadians). When I first saw it I had to blink a few times because I thought "surely I must be hallucinating" then I had to slam on the breaks because I almost rearended someone. But then when I got home I got out of the car and I was instantly showered with a humidity hug that was both unsolicited, and shockingly forceful. Sigh...summer is here. Thankfully we have the pool.

Lucas and Emma finished their school year with amazing report cards and glowing raves from their teachers. Lucas's teacher is convinced he is going to be an engineer and she made me promise to keep her updated on his progress through the years...just to prove she is right I suspect. Emma's teacher was just so amazed at how much progress she has made this year. We are very proud of both of our braniacs.

The majority of our weekends are spent in our backyard sanctuary...the pool. The kids have turned into regular little fish and progressively advancing toward a beautiful glowing brown color that makes me incredibly envious, since my skin is advancing rapidly towards...middle age. Yep, that's right, I'll be turning the big 4-0 in September. I remember (like it was yesterday) when my mom turned 40. I remember thinking "Wow, that's REALLY old". It doesn't seem SO old to me now...and I'm actually looking forward to it.

I have time for one funny story (and I've got a million of em...these kids keep us laughing constantly). So, last week I get a call from Lucas on my way home from work. He said alarmingly "Mummy, we are going to the waterslide for our field trip tomorrow and we need some more sun scream. You need to stop at Walgreens to get some". So, I stopped and bought the Walgreens spray kind (it goes on the easiest)...It was two for one...score!! Anyway, the next day after I got home both Lucas and Emma ran up to me and exclaimed "Mama....YOU got the wrong sun scream!!!!". I was like..."What?". They said (in unison...which is quite amazing really) "The sun scream you got is for ADULTS!!!" ...again...."What?". They sighed really, really loudly, rolled their eyes and said with as much exasperation as they could muster "IT SAYS KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN!!!!" Of course I started laughing hysterically and they looked at me with that "why is that crazy lady laughing at us again" look and I explained that it didn't mean that it can't be used on children's skin (which I really think they thought their skin was going to melt off or something), but it is to be kept out of the reach of children so they don't play with it and blind themselves by inadvertanly spraying themselves in the eyes or something. Their response was said in unison again, with such a sense of relief..."OOOOhhhhhhhhh". They seriously thought I had made such a grave mistake that would result in their iminent demise or something...or at the very least, the removal of their exposed skin. Gotta love their sweet little literal minds.

Well, I hope everyone is well. Please feel free to post a comment... I may be more motivated to post more often if I know people are actually reading...yes that's a bribe.

Love to you all.

Lisa

Videos galore...

2009-04-23T18:06:00.010-05:00

Well, I have been asked by a few people to post more videos of the kids. So...here ya go....

Life and all its special moments...

2009-03-08T22:18:00.003-05:00

On their way to a birthday party

Luucas's 5th Gotcha Day (January 26)

Color coordinated family

Grandma...playing in the park

Daddy and Lucas...he wore that new hat all day

Hat hair

Check out my cool new robe

This is just the cutest picture of Lucas (aka: the Martian)

New hat and scarf

Christmas Eve at Aunt Tracey's

Well, many months have passed and I am once again negligent in my updates. Life tends to get a bit busy and by the time I have a few moments to myself to write, I am either too exhausted, or I’m just plain too lazy. So, I am going to attempt to give the “Reader’s Digest” version of the past 3 months.

December flew by at super sonic speed as usual and as always I was scrambling at the last minute to get everything done in time for Christmas. Chris lost his job the week before Thanksgiving so money was tighter than usual but somehow the kids seemed to get more than imaginable. I had been buying gifts for months and I really had no idea how much I had until Christmas Eve… the wrapping took many hours and the tree was bursting with presents. My mom came for 3 weeks and it was so nice to have her here. The kids adore her and I have it on good authority that she thinks they are pretty amazing as well. I was so happy that she could join us for our New Years ritual of waking the kids at midnight screaming “Happy New Year”. She usually tells us how mean we are to do such a cruel thing (particularly because we enjoy it so much…their faces are hysterical when they are jolted out of sleep by crazy adults with noise makers and champagne…juice for the minors), but this year she was an accomplice in our cruel, cruel ways…and she enjoyed it just as much as we did. The celebration was continued on the driveway with sparklers and the viewing of fireworks from our front yard. We are fully aware that our children will undoubtedly pay us back someday for our one night a year of “fun”, but we are willing to take that risk. We imagine, in our twilight years, them creeping into our room to scare the living daylights out of us. I’m giggling just thinking about it.

January and February have sailed by and we are looking forward to the summer with eager anticipation. Lucas and Emma are doing very well in school and we are so proud of them. Emma has an amazing mind and she blows us away sometimes with her wit and ability to learn with relative ease. Though, as with many people of intelligence, she lacks the common sense gene which continues to vex me greatly at times. But, I am working on this because I am absolutely certain that God gave me a child that is the exact opposite of me so that I can learn from her. And I do learn from her every day. I admire her more than any other person I have ever met. She has a spirit that captivates me because it is so carefree…something I am most definitely not. We have a lot to teach each other and I am so grateful that she is my daughter.

Lucas, on the other hand, is my twin in both sense and sensibilities. He is my first. He is my heart. I imagine someday he will no longer think of me as the greatest person on the planet, but until that day I will revel in the joy of being his mom. He was selected by the school district to be a part of the SPICE program (Special People in a Creative Environment) which is the early “gifted and talented” program for kindergarten-2nd grade. I think he was selected for his creativity and his critical thinking abilities. We will find out more tomorrow night at the school’s open house, where they are having a parents meeting for all the kids in the SPICE program. When I told him about it he said “Does that mean I will get more homework?” I said “I don’t know honey, but I think that you might get more homework”…to which he responded a very enthusiastic “YYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!”. He started running around singing “I get to do more homework”. As I keep telling y’all…he’s from MARS!!!!!! …and we couldn’t be more proud of our little Martian.

Lisa

Fall 2008

2008-11-30T16:59:00.004-06:00

Lucas took this shot

Lucas and Lawton

Halloween

Emma and Maya

Our little soccer player

Lucas's birthday

Well, this fall has been extremely busy! I only have time for a brief synopsis...

We survived hurricane Ike...with only minimal debris and no power for 11 days...but it could have been so much worse.

Lucas celebrated his birthday (6) at the Teddy Bear Stuffin Shack. All of his friends came and they all had a blast making stuffed animals and playing games.

Haloween brought lots of candy and more fun memories of our two little trick-or-treaters who are growing up so fast.

Soccer season started in October and both kids had so much fun. Lucas surprised us by scoring 6 or 7 goals his first game (though most of the time it had to do with being in the right place at the right time rather than skill). He got to play with his best friend Lawton which was a thrill for him. Emma...oh Emma...perhaps soccer isn't her forte. She tried hard, and had a lot of fun...but let's just say she's not going to be bending it like Beckam any time soon. Both kids were blessed with fantastic (and incredibly patient) coaches. Chris even subbed one weekend for one of Emma's games...that was hysterical.

We had parent/teacher meetings for both of the kids and they are doing great in school. Emma is reading very well and just needs to keep working on her writing. Her fine motor skills are still lagging...but considering she had never picked up a pencil or even knew which hand she wrote with 15 months ago...I'd say she's doing remarkably well. Lucas is an eager beaver and his teacher is impressed with his enthusiasm. He also has a great mind for math and he begs us for "homework" of addition and subtraction questions. I've said it before, and I'll say it again..that kid is from Mars!

Thanksgiving was wonderfully relaxing, just the four of us. It's so nice when we all get to spend time together. We took the kids to Lake Houston State Park yesterday and enjoyed a picnic and a walk through the woods. Some people were riding horses and they came over to let the kids pet the horses...a thrill. The only thing that I don't like about that particular park is the dozens of signs stating "venomous snakes live in these woods". OK...like I need a sign to remind me of the obvious...since I am petrified of snakes, I am ALWAYS aware of their existence...I live in Texas afterall...I just don't need visual reminders every hundred feet or so...haha.

Anyway, that's all for now. Enjoy the pictures.

Lisa

The End of Summer

2008-09-01T14:07:00.002-05:00

Lucas (with his new glasses) and Emma

Playing darts (unfortunately...not very well..haha)

Emma Diva!

Memorial service for Chris's dad

Emma's Birthday

First Birthday Cake

Chuck E. Cheese

Second Birthday cake

First day of school!!!

Well, summer has come and gone...but we had a great time! So much has happened since my last post...

Chris's father passed away after a recurrence of colon cancer. It was a peaceful ending to a full life and we are happy that he is in a better place, though we are sad because we miss him dearly. We had a memorial service for him at the lake where they used to own a house. We scattered his ashes off the same pier that we had scattered Chris's mom's ashes 13 years ago. It was a lovely way to honor him, surrounded by his friends and family.

Emma had her first birthday in America! We had a family birthday night on her actual birthday, which consisted of her choice of dinner (she requested peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...but we eventually settled on pasta). After dinner, I asked her if she thought that she would get any presents for her birthday and she looked at me and said "I didn't get any presents today". I then asked her if she thought that mommy and daddy got her any presents and she said "no...I don't think so". She truly had no idea that she would get presents on her birthday! Can you imagine? Seven years old and never a birthday present. I then told her to sit down in the gameroom and I brought in her presents. I don't think I've ever seen a more surprised or excited look on anyone's face...it was so sweet. After the presents, she blew out the candles on her cake. I asked her if she had cake in Ukraine for her birthday (I already knew the answer) she said "no". I then asked her if anyone ever wished her a happy birthday and she looked at me and said "Mama, I didn't have birthdays in Ukraine"... to which I said "have another piece of cake honey"...

She had a birthday party with her friends at Chuck E Cheese (her choice...NOT mine...haha). Everyone had a great time and I could tell that she felt special. She doesn't like to be the center of attention so when we sang happy birthday to her just prior to blowing out the candles, she covered her face. I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all. I'll admit...it brought a tear or two to my eyes to see her take it all in. She was so happy and she told me it was the "best birthday ever!". ...Mission accomplished!

The first day of school was the day after Emma's party. We had attended the open house at the school several days prior and Emma was very excited to get back to class. Lucas, although excited to finally be starting school (like big sis), was very nervous. He likes to know what to expect and he was a little overwhelmed with not knowing what to do. He kept saying "I don't know what to do. Mama...you need to show me". Fortunately, Lucas is in the same class that Emma was in last year so we are very familiar with his teacher, and so is he. On the first day, we took Emma to her class first so Lucas could see how it was all done, then we took him to his class. We looked for his assigned seat...which we found at a table with 4 girls. When he saw that he was going to be the only boy at the table he said "ooooohhhhhhh nooooooooo!". It was so funny! They had a great first day and they were so excited to go back the next day. I can't believe my baby is in Kindergarten!!!

We took the kids to get their eyes checked before school started. I was concerned that Emma's strabismus (lazy eye) may cause her some issues. Well...her eyesight is fine...Lucas...not so much. He is farsighted (like me...go figure) and he has to wear glasses. I had to wear glasses starting when I was four and ended when I rebelliously refused to wear them at age twelve. He looks so cute in them...but I am also sad because I know how difficult it can be on a kid. He seems to like them and doesn't mind wearing them...so I'm happy about that.

Well, I'd better get this posted. Hurricane Gustav is heading this way (though it probably won't be too bad for us).

Lisa

In the midst of summer...

2008-07-24T19:16:00.003-05:00

Astos Game (Emma's first)

In front of Minute Maid Park (Astros)

4th of July Parade

Cutie Lukie!!!

Our beautiful Emma!

Well, summer life continues and the kids are having a great time. Their new daycare takes them on several field trips per week and so far they've been to the zoo, the children's museum, the weather station, the library, the local PBS tv station, a WNBA (Comets) game, an Astros game, and various other places that I can't remember. I wanna go to daycare!!!!!

We continue to spend most of the weekends in the pool and they are now quite adept at swimming. A few weeks ago they were using arm floaties, but now they are swimming (sans floaties) all around the pool and are even able to pick up the diving sticks that we throw into the pool. Emma has some difficulty because she's light...and she can't seem to sink very well but she is able to fight her way down to the diving sticks in the shallow end. Lucas is able to pick them up from the bottom of the deep end. Simply amazing!!! I think we will put them on the local swim teams next year.

The attached photos are of an Astros game a few weeks ago and at the 4th of July parade. It was very special watching Emma wave her little American flag.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of our SDA appointment which is where we first saw a picture of our beautiful little girl. I can't believe it's been a year!!! I'm so happy that so many of you have continued to stick around for updates and are able to see the progress that Emma has made in a year. She continues to be a joy and we feel so blessed to have her in our lives. I am following some other families in Ukraine right now and I have a strange sense of envy. I can't believe how I sometimes wish I was back in Ukraine. Maybe because its been a year and I've forgotten all the hard stuff but I really miss it at times. I hope we travel back some day for a visit...I doubt we will adopt again though. We were told by so many people prior to our last trip that lightning doesn't strike twice (meaning we would never find a kid as great as Lucas). Well, lightning did strike twice...but for it to strike three times...well that's just pushing it...haha.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Keep posting comments if you get a chance...we love to read them.

Lisa

The joys of summer

2008-06-15T11:47:00.004-05:00

At camp...awaiting cabin assignments

At Poppy's house

Fun in the pool

Watching Emma perform in her last day of school concert

Last day of Kindergarten

At Poppy's house

Emma's bunk at camp

Summer is here and the fun has begun!!

The kids went to the YMCA camp last week for 2 nights and they had a blast! Two news channels even did a story on the camp and Lucas was in the background of some of the footage...that was cool! I couldn't wait to pick them up on Tuesday because a) well...I missed them terribly and b) I couldn't wait to hear all of their stories. They went swimming, canoeing, horseback riding, did archery, crafts, ate smores, and sang songs. I want to go to camp!!!! Emma received the "Most Cheerful" award. Which just made me so proud considering 10 months ago she was in an orphanage and now she was recognized for being her sweet, happy self. She is amazing!!! Lucas received the "Dust Buster" award...which makes sense to anyone that knows him well. He LOVES to clean! His cabin counselor came up to me and said "Luke is just so organized!!". He was astounded at how meticulous Lucas was with his "stuff" and with cleaning the cabin. That's my boy!!

Emma graduated from Kindergarten and will be going to the first grade in August. We are so proud of the progress that she has made. Her teacher was so great to her and we are hoping that Lucas will be placed in her class when he enters Kindergarten in August (she has told us that she has requested Lucas to be in her class). Lucas is nervous to start the "big" school but he's also excited. Chris was teaching him the Pledge of Allegiance this morning...it was cute....especially when Lucas said "indibisible".

We're just spending time in the pool every weekend and enjoying the lazy summer days. Work for me has been quite busy and I'm hoping it slows down a bit, but that seems unlikely. I'm just fortunate to have a job that is challenging yet rewarding with a boss who is very supportive.

Well, hopefully everyone is having a great summer. Thank you to all who continue to post comments. We love reading them. And to all those who are just getting started on your adoption journey...I pray that your path is smooth and your courage is plenty. You are embarking on the greatest adventure of you lives! ...Worth every moment...

L, C, L &E

Summertime is here

2008-05-13T21:50:00.006-05:00

Well...it's been awhile...sorry!

We had a wonderful Mother's day weekend and the kids were so excited to give me their handmade cards. Lucas also made me a popsicle stick note holder which is proudly displayed on my desk at work. Emma kept giving me hugs saying "Happy Mother's day Mama". It was very sweet!!

We finally made it into the pool this weekend. Well actually...the kids made it in...it was much too cold for me. They had a blast splashing around and jumping off the side. They are wearing their floaties for now until they get back in the swing of swimming...and I can be in the water with them.

We are sending them to a 3day/2night YMCA summer camp in June. When we asked them if they wanted to go they were so excited. I don't think I've ever seen such happy faces!! Lucas even said "You and daddy can have a party while we're gone"...hmmmm....indeed!

Well, I've posted some of the swimming pictures and another singing video from tonight's semi-final American Idol. Enjoy!

Lisa

Easter

2008-03-30T14:45:00.002-05:00

We had a great Easter weekend and the kids had a ball. We went to our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt...which only took about 10 minutes for all the eggs to be collected. Unfortunatly Lucas and Emma were separated into different areas because of their ages so we were only able to take pictures of one...and since it was Emma's first Easter egg hunt...she got all the pictures. They had a great time!

We colored eggs on Saturday afternoon (an annual event that is even more fun with two) and Emma really enjoyed getting creative. As a result, I am sick to death of eggs and I do not want to eat any for a REALLY long time:)...

Easter Morning, Lucas and Emma woke up excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought them. They searched high and low for their baskets. The "Easter Bunny" hid them behind the curtains in the dining room and it took them a while to find them. Of course, this is nothing new in our house...if it isn't in plain sight...no one can find anything...including Chris!! Unfortunately Lucas became quite sick throughout the day and he didn't even eat any of his treats. Oh well...more for mama!!

We had another parent/teacher conference with Emma's teacher last week and she continues to be doing very well. We asked the question "Is she going to pass to first grade" and her teacher responded "absolutely!". She told us that she is so attentive and she sometimes explains the teachers instructions to some of the other kids. Not bad for a kid who didn't understand English 6 months ago!! We are so proud of her. Now...if she would just stop writing her name on everything...closet door, carpet, bedskirt, walls, tables...

Lisa

6 Months Home

2008-03-13T21:33:00.002-05:00

Lucas Graduation photo: Pre K

Emma school photo: Kindergarten

Taking the truck for a ride

Lucas and Emma Playing at their favorite park

It's hard to believe that we have been home for 6 months with Emma. She has come so far in such a short amount of time. Last weekend she pulled her "homework" out of her backpack and told me she needed to read her books. With her on my lap I was settling in to read one of the books to her, with her pointing out the sight words that we have practiced. Apparently my reading expertise was not necessary as she proceeded to read the whole book herself! I was in shock!! It was a short book with simple language but when she read "rectangle" I almost fell off the chair! How is it possible that this little girl, who didn't speak a word of English 6 months ago (and she couldn't read Russian either), learn to read a whole book? I certainly couldn't read in Kindergarten. I am so proud of her...my admiration for her just keeps growing.

Lucas has been having some problems at school with one of his little friends. Every day he comes home crushed because this little girl "isn't very nice" to him. Nothing too serious... just typical kid stuff...he just tends to take things to heart. Anyway, after discussing with him ways for him to deal with it, Emma comes over to me, puts her hand on mine and whispers "It's ok Mama...I'll take care of Luka". It is amazing how she sees her brother hurting and she has taken the roll of "big sister" very seriously. I imagine she will "take care" of him for many years to come. She is small....but she is mighty! I have no doubt that she will protect him, as I am certain she "protected" the smaller kids at the orphanage. It is her nature. Such strength wrapped in a package of pure kindness is truly humbling to see. I don't know that Lucas will truly understand how blessed he is to have Emma as his big sister until he is much older.

There isn't anything else going on. Life has settled into a pleasant routine with daily reminders of our many blessings. I pray that those families that are in Ukraine right now find their pleasant routines as well.

Lisa

Life is Good

2008-02-12T21:11:00.004-06:00

I'm sorry I haven't updated recently. I've been pretty busy lately and I realized I haven't even taken any recent photos. Sooo...I thought I'd take a video of one of our favorite Tuesday/Wednesday night pastime. Lucas absolutely LOVES American Idol and we have had to endure months of "When is the singer show coming on??". Now that a new season is upon us I wanted to share a bit of our weekly ritual. While watching AI we each take turns during the commercial break to perform. We typically make up a name, age and a song in which we perform for the "judges". Since this has been the first round of competition, each of us performs and gets a "yes" or "no" from the judges. "Yes" means "Your goin to Hollywood!!!!". Tonight I took a video of Lucas and Emma performing. I've spared you any piece of the hideous performances by Chris and I...because...well...I have too much pride and posting a video of us butchering "You light up my life" on the internet is just more than I am willing to share. But I have absolutely no problem exploiting my children's "talents". I hope you enjoy!

We have been keeping pretty busy lately and things are going really well. Emma continues to flourish and we are so proud of how well she is adapting. While picking her up from school one day last week, Emma's teacher said to Chris "Emma has made my year!! She's my little sponge. I love her enthusiasm". She loves going to school and her reading and writing is improving weekly.

Lucas also continues to bond with his sister. They are two peas in a pod and only occasionally want to throttle each other. The other night at dinner while having yet another conversation about how unfair it is that I am the boss and they don't EVER get to be the boss, I told Lucas that he could be the boss when he is grown with children of his own. I tried to impress upon him that he can boss his children around all he wants. He stated emphatically "I'm not having kids!". I said that that is fine but that he might change his mind someday. He took a few moments to think about this and then he said "Ok...but you'll have to go with me". I answered confused "what do you mean?". He said "When I go to Mycraine to get my kids, you'll have to go with me...cause I'm not gonna go alone!". After recovering from my laughter, I instructed him that not all people go to Ukraine to "get their kids" but if that's what he wanted, I'd be more than happy to go with him. The conversation moved in the direction of how people go about "getting children"...but I won't bore you with those details.

Emma is starting to talk more and more about her life at the orphanage, now that she has a better understanding of the English language. It is heartwrenching to hear some of her revelations. We try hard to reinforce that she is a forever member of our family and when I say "You know you're not going back right"...her face lights up with a beautiful smile and she sighs contentedly and says "Yes". (of course Lucas teases her with "tomorrow we're taking Emma back to the orphanage"...but she usually responds with "well then we're taking Lucas back toooooo...na na na na na na...."). I asked her what she likes most about her new life here and she answered "I get lots of hugs and kisses". She does indeed!!!!

Well, I promise to be better about updating more frequently. Please feel free to continue to make comments (just click the comments section). Lucas and Emma love to have me read them over and over again.

Lisa

Christmas

2008-01-04T17:18:00.000-06:00

Emma's first Christmas present! (from Poppy)

Daddy and Lucas reading a new book

Christmas Eve at Aunt Tracey's

Cookies and milk for Santa

Look! Chris got a train set...disguised as a gift for Lucas!

Enjoying the loot!

Christmas has come and gone but we are left with sweet memories of our first Christmas as a family of four. We spent Christmas Eve at Chris's sister's house (Tracey) and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins and eating great food. As usual, aunt Tracey spoiled all the kids immensely. The living room looked like a battlefield with all the cast aside wrapping paper strewn about. Emma was a little slow in getting the hang of opening the presents but once I showed her that she could just rip it off she soon caught up to her very experienced brother. We all had a great time and they both fell asleep on the hour drive home. Once home, they quickly dressed in their new pajamas and set out the cookies and milk for Santa. They immediately headed to bed and I imagine dreamt of sugar plumbs and whatever else kids are supposed to dream about on Christmas eve.

Christmas morning they got up at 6:15 and we told them they needed to wait to get up until it was light outside. Well, they were so excited that they of course couldn't go back to sleep so we got up soon afterwards. Since it was still dark outside, we decided to eat first because we always video tape the opening of the presents and we wanted there to be enough light. Well that's the excuse we used anyway. Perhaps we are just plain mean and can't help ourselves...haha. They ate breakfast quickly and were jumping up and down in anticipation of opening their treasures. Once we got settled beside the tree we had a wonderful time opening each gift and Chris and I feigned excitement/surprise for every gift that Santa brought. It was so much fun! We spent the rest of the day putting together toys and playing with each and every one. We had a honey baked ham in the afternoon and friends of ours came to visit for a few hours in the evening. We were exhausted by the end to say the least.

I hope you all had a joyous Christmas as well! I will post an update in a few days about New Year's Eve.

Lisa

Santa dancin...

2007-12-17T22:00:00.000-06:00

We received one of those blow up Santa's as a gift and we took him out for a spin in the livingroom...

Christmas is on its way...

2007-12-11T19:12:00.001-06:00

Galveston Beach

Looking at "beached" jellyfish

Family Christmas photo

Silly family photo

Too Cute for words!

I can't believe it is only 2 weeks until Christmas!! Time is flying by. Things are still going extremely well and Emma is getting really excited about Christmas. I think Chris and I may be even more excited than the kids! We can't wait for Christmas morning. Chris bought a "Polar Express" train set for Lucas and he is busy mounting the tracks to a board and adding Astro turf, trees, and other cool things to make it a dream come true for Lucas. He loves trains and he is going to go nuts when he sees it!! Of course the train set is "officially" for Lucas but I suspect that it is just as much for Chris. He never had a train set growing up so he's living out his fantasy under the guise of a Christmas gift for his son:). I can't really blame him...the dollhouse Emma is getting is really a 38 year old wish fulfilled for her mama!!

We spent the weekend at the beach recently with my girlfriends. The kids had a great time walking on the beach and looking at the hundreds of jellyfish washed ashore by the tide. It was so nice to relax and spend time with good friends. Thanks Ya Ya's!!!

We took our annual family Christmas photos in front of our tree, for our Christmas cards. As in years passed, it took approximately 30 photos to come up with a few that all of us are smiling in. I am a perfectionist so I'm always wanting "just one more" to capture the perfect photo. I had to bribe the kids with "just 2 more shots then we can take a silly one". I've attached the results of our silly poses.

Emma is continuing to adjust well with no major issues. She's lost 3 teeth since we brought her home (one today) and she is really liking the whole tooth fairy thing. She looks so cute smiling with a missing front tooth.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

L,C,L &E

Update

2007-11-22T22:03:00.000-06:00

Sweeping the leaves

At the zoo

Halloween

Pillow fight at the Renaissance festival (we went again)

Hello everyone,

We've had a busy month since the last time I posted. We had our first parent teacher conference with Emma's teacher and her ESL instuctor. She is doing fantastic in school and she is progressing so fast, it has our heads spinning. She is able to read simple words by sounding them out phonetically. We just keep shaking our heads at how easily she is understanding letter sounds and their uses in words. She is speaking very well, although she's like a minah (sp?) bird...mimics everything that is said. She also is able to rhyme really well and she frequently will not only sound out a word....but say 4 or 5 words that rhyme with it. She also seems to have the same ability as her mama in learning the words of songs. Picture her singing from the backseat of the car..."Burns, Burns, Burns...the ring of fire...". Yep...she's singing Johnny Cash!!!! I can't help but laugh everytime I hear her. Another favorite it "We will, we will...Rock you!". I'm afraid she also has the same terrible singing voice that plagues her mother...sigh. Oh well, at least we try.

Halloween was a big hit. Emma was dressed as Cinderella and Lucas was Anakin Skywalker. Lucas filled Emma in on what to do to "get candy" so Emma was hooked immediately. It was so fun to watch them both run up to each house to collect their scrumptious treats. Emma really wanted to do it again the next night and she got pretty pouty when we said she'd have to wait another year. She doesn't really understand what a year is yet but she realized it was a long time away.

The other day they were both playing at the park (3 houses down from our house) while I sat in the driveway and read a book (I could see them). After about an hour, they came home and announced that there were too many leaves in our front yard and asked if they could sweep them up. Before answering, I looked at them and thought "what planet are you from?" and they whined "Puleeeeeez!!"...as if it would be a punishment if I said no. Seriously, they must be from an alternate universe where children enjoy cleaning. Not that I'm complaining mind you. Although it was a little embarrasing sitting reading my book while my little aliens swept the driveway. Hey....I didn't want to sweep! For me it would have been a punishment!

Today was Emma's first Thanksgiving and all week she has been so excited to eat turkey and "punkin" pie. She kept saying (while rubbing her stomach) "I love punkin pie". I just laughed because she's never actually tasted pumpkin pie. I was worried that the anticipation would be much better than the actual experience, especially since she is such a picky eater. We went to Chris's sisters house and enjoyed the usual fare, in which Emma ate more than she has ever eaten....and she did like the pumpkin pie. We really have so much to be thankful for this year (as we do every year) and it was so nice to just be thankful and not longing for the missing part of our family. I've been so grateful every year for Lucas, and loved the years we had with him alone. We never stopped believing we were also meant to have a daughter and Emma was always there in our hearts waiting for us. We had her name picked out even before she was born...before Lucas. She has completed our family, and enriched all of our lives in ways we are just beginning to discover. Both of our children are treasures...even if they are from another planet.

My thoughts and prayers are with the several families in Ukraine right now (I'm following their blogs religiously) making their dreams come true. I love joining in your journeys to bring your children home. Ukraine is a wonderful country and I am so grateful that they are entrusting their precious children to all of us. If only everone could experience the joy that these amazing children bring into our lives. To all of you waiting...soon you will join the exclusive club of Ukie parents, which brings with it unimaginable gifts. Soon you will be a foreign land, frozen upon her landscapes but warm within her heart. Respect her for her strength and history and thank her for her generosity. She is our children's heritage. ...and she will always be remembered.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

L,C,L & E

Life...

2007-10-24T20:33:00.000-05:00

Playing at the mall

The Texas Renaissance Festival

Texa Renaissance Festival

Carving pumpkins

Grandma's last night.

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a few weeks. Life is busy, busy, busy! I started back to work last week so we are getting our routine down. Emma continues to flourish in every aspect of her new life. I'm actually quite surprised that we have had no issues to speak of during our transition as a family of 4. Emma is doing great in school and looks forward to going every day. We have our first parent teacher conference this week and we are looking forward to hearing what her teacher has to say. Her English comprehension continues to improve dramatically daily and it is so great to see her having conversations with Lucas and others. She still has quite a way to go but she'll get there before we know it. Last night during dinner Chris asked Emma if she wanted seconds and she put her hand up and emphatically said "No!". This is something she does often so Chris decided to have a little fun with her. He said "Mama, what do you think...if Emma says no one more time...she gets more peas." Well, it didn't take half a second for her to say "nah ah". It was hysterical that she was able to immediately understand what he was saying and replace "no" with something else....therefore avoiding the dreaded peas. He did the same with Lucas relating to talking with food in his mouth, to which he immediately put his hand over his mouth and tried really hard not to talk. Of course, being the kind parents that we are, we attempted to make them slip up...which was great fun! They both did end up with some more peas by the end of the meal but were eaten with great delight...and a lot of laughter. These are the great moments we will remember forever.

Lucas and Emma continue to grow closer and they have actually developed their own language. I hear them talking to one another in gibberish...answering each other as if they understand what the other is saying. It is so fun to watch them play, especially when they don't know I'm watching. I get to witness some great examples of imagination and ingenuity which sometimes astounds me. My greatest thrill comes when I hear them say "I'm sorry" or "thank you" to each other when they don't know I can hear them. We sure have two great kids! They do continue to have some "differences of opinions" on occasion. Lucas sometimes gets that devlish grin that brothers exibit when tormenting their sister. She will whine "Lukie...that's my doll...don't touch"...and that grin appears as he "touches" for just a little longer. It's actually quite funny because he seems to get such enjoyment out of it.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to update with more pictures next week.

Lisa

Home for a month....

2007-10-03T09:01:00.000-05:00

Well it is hard to believe we have been home for a month already. We've been quite busy for the last 2 weeks.

Lucas had his birthday party and it was alot of fun. Emma was excited to play on all the "jumpy" things at "Pump it Up". She got to meet Lucas's friends and they have "adopted" her into their circle. It was really great to see Lucas back with his amigos and the little bit of attention that he got all to himself was great.

Emma started kindergarten last week and absolutely loves it! The first day was extremely difficult for me and Chris but she handled it beautifully. We dropped her off and she seemed somewhat confused and there were a few tears (the silent ones that just rip your heart out) but after we reassured her she wouldn't be staying there forever, she joined right in and had a great day. I, on the other hand, had a miserble day! I watched the clock for 6 hours and counted down the minutes until I could pick her up. When I saw her standing with her class while waiting in the car pick up line, I started sobbing. I was so happy to see that she was OK! It was like I had been holding my breath all day and I could now finally breathe. Her teacher called me that evening and told me that she did great and she had no worries that she would catch up quickly. Relieved is the only word I can use to describe how I felt. She has been going to school now for 8 days and her grasp of the English language has improved dramatically every day. We no longer walk her into school.. we just pull up to the drop off area, she jumps out with a smile on her face and we barely hear the audible "bye" as she skips off through the door. She is absolutely amazing!

My Mom, arrived on Saturday for a three week visit. Lucas is so happy to see grandma and Emma treats her new "Babushka" as if she has known her all her life. Her ability to adapt to new experiences is truly humbling. I wish we all could accept change as readily as she does.

Lucas and Emma continue to amaze us in their bond, but it's only fair to mention that sibling rivalry has arrived in our home. There are a few spats here and there but for the most part they still get along well. Thankfully, any disagreements are usually short lived so it hasn't caused too much trouble. It is difficult to decipher what "really" occurs when only one is able to verbalize his side of the story. Whining is typical in these instances from both parties, which is something that drives me bonkers, so usually neither gets the response they are after. I am finding that is much easier overall having two kids than one. It is a side effect I wasn't at all expecting.

To all of you waiting to travel, I wish you all the joy and happiness that we have received. Our two Ukrainian Angels are the greatest blessings we could have ever asked for and I hope the same for you. It is worth EVERY discouraging, frustrating bump in the road! I'm looking forward to following along with many of you as you discover the joy of your amazing children.

L,C,L & E

2007-09-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I can't believe we've been home for almost 3 weeks. Emma is doing so great!! I can't believe how well she is adjusting. She is learning English at a supersonic speed. She understands much of what we say and mimics everything that Lucas says. She's so funny...Lucas says "Mama, I love you so much" to which I answer "I love you so much too". When Emma goes to bed she always says "I love you too so much", even before I get a chance to say "I love you". It is so cute, especially with her little accent. She is something special!!

Much of their time is spent in our pool, which has become their favorite pastime. I admit, it is mine as well. No longer do I need to "entertain" Lucas by splashing about. I can now sit on the sidelines (because frankly...that pool is too cold for me) reading a book....yes folks...this mother of 2 gets to actually read a book!! Who knew that I would have this luxury. I read a few sentences, look up, watch them jump in, read a few more sentences...and so on! They have become quite the little fish and hearing their laughter just fills me with a contentment I've never known. They have developed a bond, deeper than I could have ever imagined. They hold hands when we are out shopping, and we frequently find one in the other's bed in the early morning just before getting up. I asked Lucas about this one morning when I saw him sleeping in Emma's bed. He said he got up early and he knew it was too early to get up so he went to her bed to make sure she wasn't scared. I thought that was so sweet!!

I took Emma to get her medical evaluation done at the Internation Adoption Clinic at Texas Children's Hospital. They are so great there. They were happy to see that she is adjusting well. She is low on the scale for ht and under the scale for wt (something we knew). Actually, her BMI is 0! I think she would fit in well in Hollywood! The Doctor gave me some ideas for a high calorie/high protein diet which includes fabulous things like bacon, fried foods, waffles, ice cream...yeah...we should all be so lucky! Chris and I want to be on this diet...except we'd gain 20 pounds in the first month.

We're having Lucas's birthday party on Sunday and Emma will get her first experience with an actual birthday party. I'm happy for Lucas too because he has handled Emma getting most of the attention (and gifts) for the past couple of weeks so well. He rarely complains, which is amazing for a soon to be 5 year old! He deserves to have a little attention thrust in his direction. His little world has changed so much too and he has handled it better than I ever thought he would.

We are a happy family, enjoying our new lives together. We are blessed indeed!!

L,C,L &E

Video #2

2007-09-06T16:23:00.000-05:00

Here's another one, taken on August 10th...just after court.

Lisa

Video

2007-09-06T16:05:00.000-05:00

Since I now have access to high speed internet, I'm posting a short video we took of Lucas and Emma on one of our visits to the orphanage. It was taken on August 1...5 days after we met her.

I hope you enjoy.

Lisa

We're home!

2007-09-06T15:34:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it home on Sunday night...exhausted but feeling so happy to be in America. Our travel was long (3 planes) but the kids handled it like troopers. We were greeted by several family members and friends which was so nice after our long trip...thank you to everyone who made it to the airport to welcome us home!!!

So far, Emma's transition into the Bush household has been fantastic. She seems to be adjusting very well, without issues or problems. We are only 5 days in but hopefully this won't just be a honeymoon period, but the way of things to come. She is such a great little girl. She is handling her new world much better than I would. I think Lucas is the main reason for her settling in so well. She just follows his lead and off they go. I was worried that she may have difficulty sleeping alone in her new room since she slept with Lucas while in Ukraine but the first night (perhaps because of exhaustion) she climbed into her bed, pulled the covers up, said "night night mama" then promptly fell asleep. We awoke the next morning to both kids playing quietly in the playroom, waiting for us to wake up. Gotta love that!!!!

We've been out to several places (Target, grocery store, my hospital) and I've been taking my cues from her. She doesn't seem to be getting overwhelmed or over stimulated. She's so easy going (much like Lucas when we brought him home) and she loves going on whatever adventure is next. She also doesn't mind her booster seat in the car with the seat belt. We thought this might be a problem since she'd never been belted in while in Ukraine but, again, she takes her cues from Lucas and just follows along.

I registered her for Kindergarten and will enroll her as soon as we get her immunizations up to date. I imagine she will go to school in about a week or two. It will give her some time to adapt to our environment a little more and I don't anticipate she will have too many problems adapting to school. She of course will be behind but I imagine she will catch up quickly with her peers. She is understanding much of what we say to her and she is speaking more and more English everyday. She is incredibly shy though so she may not speak in public for quite some time. I can't imagine a more perfect child for our family.

Our time in Ukraine was tough, but as I suspected, the tough parts are fading and we're left with the wonderful memories (of which there are so many) of our time in Ukraine. The experience for Lucas was so important in so many ways. He now understands what it means to be adopted from Ukraine and he learned so much from being in "his country". His pride in his homeland is something we hope will last for a lifetime.

I'll post more in a few days along with some pictures. I just wanted to let you all know that all is well and we are having a great time as a family of 4. We've dreamt of this for so long, and now that it is a reality, we are enjoying it immensely. Life is good!!

L, C, L & E

Flight info update

2007-09-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

When I got home from posting this morning I checked the tickets and it has 2 flight numbers for the flight from Chicago. It is listed as "Operated by United Airlines: #1237. I don't know which one will be the listing flight at the airport. Lufthansa is our carrier who we changed the tickets through so hopefully this hasn't added too much confusion.

See you in approximately 37 hours!!!

Lisa

Houston...We are coming home!!!!!

2007-09-01T02:22:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry I couldn't post yesterday. We had a harrowing and nerve wracking day but it all worked out. We made it to the clinic at 9 am to get Emma's physical (required for the embassy) and it was quick. We were done at 10 am with plenty of time to spare before our 11:30 embassy appointment...except we hit the biggest traffic jam!! After an hour and a half of nail biting and cursing (under our breath of course...there were kids in the car) we made it to the embassy at 11:29! It took an hour and a half but it was easy and they were very nice. They told us to call back at 3:30 to see if the Visa would be ready today (It all depends on the computers and if they go down and they can't communicate with Washington...we don't get visa til Tuesday)...so we went to lunch at TGI Friday's and spent 2 and a half hours pacing and sighing. That wait was so hard!! At exactly 3:31 (I didn't want to seem too anxious) I called and they said it was ready to be picked up!! YEAH!!!! So we have everything we need.

Our flight information is:
Luthansa: flight #9164
arriving from Chicago at 5:44 PM
Sunday, September 2

We will be going through imigration in Chicago so we won't be arriving in Terminal D like last time.

I hope to see some of you at the airport if you can make it.

We have enjoyed our ride together and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the love and support you have given to us. We couldn't have made it without you all!!!

Signing off from Ukraine!!
See you tomorrow!!

L,C,L & E

Good news/Bad news...

2007-08-30T07:26:00.000-05:00

Well, the good news is...Luba has the passport! The bad news is...she's still in Dnip. She will arrive tonight at 11 pm by train. Sooooo...we missed our appointment at the embassy today. BUT we got another one for tomorrow at 11:30am. Hopefully we will get the visa tomorrow evening because we had to book the last 4 seats available for Sunday. There isn't any seats available until after Sept 10 so we are praying that the US Government is speedier and more efficient than the Ukrainian government (the passport part anyway) haha. I will let you know tomorrow if we get the visa and are able to fly home Sunday. I'll give flight info then as well but I think it arrives around 5pm.

Thank you all for your support. Those of you who have been through this know exactly what we are feeling. We are keeping positive and trying not to let it get us too down. The past few weeks have felt like a roller coaster ride with huge hurdles. But it will all be just a blip in our memories soon enough.

On a good note, Emma seems to be adjusting nicely. Although I'm not sure what she is thinking. We've changed apartments 3 times since she's been with us and hopefully she's not thinking that this is IT! I can imagine she is saying to herself "Wow, I've joined a family a vegabonds". She is getting along well with Lucas, but he is feeling the reality of having a full time sister. There have been a few minor scraps but nothing too major. Emma is picking up english quickly and she says everything that Lucas says. She says "night, night Mama...I love you" when she goes to bed. It is so cute. I really can't wait for you all to meet her.

Well, my family is waving for me to finish up. I will let you all know about Sunday. We're off to walk the streets of Kyiv. BTW...it's quite cool in Kyiv...at least it's not hot...we're very grateful for that!

Lots of Love,
L,C,L & E

We're still here...

2007-08-29T03:53:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

We stumbled onto an internet cafe on our walk today so I thought I'd give an update. Thanks Ang for posting yesterday...sorry we got cut off. Anyway, we spent 4 days in Dnipropetrovsk in a nice apartment with nothing much to do in the area. It was actually 30 min outside of the city so it was quite boring. We were hoping to have the passport on Monday but it was not ready so Chris, Lucas, Emma and I headed back to Kyiv by train and Luba stayed in Dnip. We had to return to Kyiv by Tuesday to change our plane tickets...otherwise we'd have to pay for new ones and I don't even want to think about how much that would cost! So, we expected the passport to be ready yesterday (Tues) but it wasn't, so we are praying it is ready today. We have an appointment at the US Embassy tomorrow and we need the passport to get the visa. If it is not ready today, we will be stuck here until next week. I've cried many tears at that thought...as we are so ready to come home. If we make the appointment at the embassy, we will hope that the visa will be ready the same day. If not we will have to stay until next week...again...more tears at the thought. There are no flights out until next week and we have tentatively booked our flights for Friday. We want so much to be on that plane!!!!! Please, pray, pray, pray. We are holding up ok but the kids are getting restless and Lucas is very homesick. He misses his friends. I will let you all know if we can fly out on Friday. We won't know until Thursday night so it will be a little short notice. Hopefully many of you can come to the airport to welcome our Emma home. I've been at the airport to welcome home 3 adopted children of friends of mine and it is a truly wonderful experience.

Well, I'd better post this and get these kids fed. They are hungry...AGAIN. We're going broke just feeding them both! haha.

Love to you all,
Hopefully we see you soon.

L,C,L & E

Update from Kiev

2007-08-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

I am posting this comment for Lisa. She called and left me a message that they are trying to catch a flight Friday. She said to tell you all that she is in Kiev and they are all fine. The message cut off at that point but she got to the important stuff. Sounds like we will be seeing them soon.
Angela Cowart

Last post from Nicopol...

2007-08-22T13:08:00.000-05:00

We’ve had an exhausting, but lucrative day. Luba, Emma and I headed to Dnipropeprovsk this morning to apply for Emma’s passport and the legalization of her birth certificate. I won’t bore you with the details (actually I'm too tired to go into it...sorry), but we returned back to the apartment in Nicopol at 7pm…totally exhausted. Now all we have to do is wait for the passport to be delivered from Kiev to Dnipropeprovsk. The earliest we can expect it is Monday…so if you are so inclined to pray…this would be a great time. If we get it early next week we could be home by the end of the week (Thursday 30, Friday 31 or Saturday 1). We are leaving Nicopol tomorrow at 7am to move to a new apartment in Dnipropetrovsk (not in the center of the city but in a smaller area outside the city). Once we get the passport we will take the train back to Kyiv. We will then need to get Emma a physical at the American Clinic in Kyiv then have our appointment at the US Embassy to obtain Emma’s immigrant visa. Then we are free to fly home. Our return tickets are scheduled for August 29 (next Wednesday) so we will have to change them and buy a ticket for Emma when we know the exact date of our return.

This will be my last post for awhile since there doesn’t seem to be an internet café near our new apartment so I will write again once we are back in Kyiv. We are very excited to be close to coming home and we can’t wait to see everyone.

Have a great weekend and hopefully I will be back online Tuesday or Wednesday.

Love from Nikopol (for the last time)
L,C,L & E

Together...at last

2007-08-21T13:36:00.000-05:00

Whew…what a day! Yesterday, Luba arrived and she met us at the orphanage during our morning visit. She was running here and there making sure everything was in order to pick up our court decree today. She talked with the director of the orphanage and she asked if we wanted to take Emma with us tomorrow (which is today) or wait for the passport to be completed. The director asked us because the Greek couple have decided to keep their daughter in the orphanage while they wait for the passport and she wanted to know if that is what we wanted. We said “We will take our daughter with us tomorrow!!!”. We cannot imagine leaving her there when she is legally able to leave.

This morning we woke up and started the flurry of activity that can only be described as the “wait in the car” phase (though a nice diversion from our usual routine). We remember this well from last time. The only difference is that it is now 100 degrees F instead of 10 degrees F. Not sure which is worse. Our nice driver picked us up at 8 am and he took us to the courthouse where Luba picked up the court decree. It was pretty quick since she had made all the preparations yesterday. With the court decree in hand, we headed to the small town where Emma was born (I don’t know how to spell it but it starts with an M). It is approximately 40km from Nicopol so it was a nice drive through farmlands…which looked like it could be “anywhere” USA. We arrived in a quaint little town…well quaint for Ukraine standards…and we headed to the birth certificate office. Luba got us in quickly (ahead of the several people waiting…don’t know how we always seem to get to the front of the line). I took about an hour to get Emma’s new birth certificate listing us as her parents. When we were ready to leave, Luba translated it for us to ensure it was correct…but they listed me as a citizen on the USA…oops! Sooo back in she went to change it to list Canadian as my citizenship, which only took about 20 minutes (not bad in Ukraine time). Luba then checked the court decree to see if they made the same mistake and they did, so we headed back to Nicopol to the court house. That took about 30 minutes to make the changes then we were off to the notary. Not sure what we were notarizing but we do what Luba tells us and all is well. We made a few more stops for a few more documents before our driver dropped us back a the apartment so we could eat and relax before picking up Emma after 3pm. Luba was off doing some more paperwork (changing tax ID number, and to the Nicopol passport office) while we relaxed. Not sure I’d want her job.

At 4:45 Luba called from the orphanage and asked us to bring Emma’s clothes. We took the 2 block walk for the last time and met her at the front door. We had to sign a few documents to make it official. They brought Emma to us and we dressed her in her new clothes. She was smiling ear to ear!!…and so were we! We went to find the Italian couple to say goodbye. They still have a while to wait yet and they were genuinely happy for us. Our Greek friends were not there because they finally got their passport and they are in Dnipropetrosvk. We are sad that we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. Luba wasn’t feeling well so she returned to the apartment and we walked hand in hand (picture the four of us walking up the street holding hands…it was a moment indeed!!) to the restaurant we went to before court. Unfortunately they didn’t have anyone working that speaks English but so we did our best to order what we had eaten previously. I was able to get our order across by the universal language called “farm animal noises”. …yep…I moo’d, oinked, and clucked!! Our waitress laughed so hard she almost dropped her tray….but it worked…Chris got the steak, I got the pork chop, and the kids got chicken. See, you don’t need to know the language!!

After dinner, we walked passed an outdoor concert that was set up in the main square. Lucas and Emma danced in the street and we stopped for an ice cream. We then returned to the apartment where Lucas immediately introduced his new sister to the lure of DVD’s. Right now we’re enjoying the sounds of laughter from the bedroom and the peace in knowing that our family is finally together…at last!!

Love from Ukraine,
L, C, L & E

More pictures.

2007-08-18T11:42:00.000-05:00

I finally got these pictures to load. Enjoy!!

Love from Ukraine,

L,C,L &E

1 week into our 10 day wait...

2007-08-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. I can't get the pictures to load. I'll try again tomorrow.

Since there isn’t really anything new to report, I thought I’d tell you a little more about our times with Emma at the orphanage. We tend to stay at the front of the orphanage with the Greek couple and their newly adopted daughter. Sometimes the Italian couple is close by and the all the kids play together. We kind of take turns entertaining the kids while the parents take a break and chat. The Italian couple doesn’t speak English but their interpreter speaks a little. Yesterday we were told we needed to separate by one of the orphanage workers so each family played alone. It is difficult to find things to occupy our time since there is only limited space and things to do but we find we’re becoming quite imaginative. We spend time throwing a medium size ball to each other, which Emma is able to kick quite nicely. Lucas, on the other hand, hasn’t quite mastered the art of foot to ball contact. He’s improving though. Sometimes we’ll play with the Lucas’s matchbox cars and slide them down the big slide, causing great delight all around. We also like to sit on a big bench swing and sing songs. Emma seems quite musical and she will sing a sweet song that we have no idea what it is. She joins in songs like “Twinkle Twinkle little star”, and “Take me out to the ball game”, but her favorite is “The stars at night, are big and bright…clap, clap, clap, clap…deep in the heart of Texas”. We will sometimes hear her humming it when she is doing other things. She also sometimes walks with a kind of “strut”…similar to John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever”. It’s as if she’s got some music bee bopping in her brain that only she can hear and she walks along strutting. It is so cute. We also bring water with us and a snack at each visit. Sometimes it is fruit, yogurt, cookies, or crackers…depending on what we have available at the apartment. She LOVES to drink the water! I don’t think they get much water to drink so she gulps it down quickly. We brought sippy cups with us since we didn’t know the age we would adopt and they were difficult to find when we were here last time so we use that for her since she tends to drink so fast, it ends up all over her. When she eats, she tends to go off by herself and concentrates on her food. We’ve had to slow her down a bit since she sometimes eats too fast (puts a whole half banana in her mouth at once). She seems to trust now that there will be something to eat so she has slowed down considerably since the beginning. We brought a blank paper book (with Dora on the cover) for her and she has written/drawn on every page. She still has a long way to go to catch up with her peers but she seems to really want to write her letters. She tries so hard to copy them, and she sees that Lucas can do it so she tries and tries. We also play “Stop & Go” in which one of us (we all take turns) yells “go” and we all run around. Then we yell “stop” and we have to stop…mid step until the person yells “go” again. It sounds a little on the simple side but admittedly we are getting quite desperate to find things to do…and this one passes the time nicely. It’s cute to hear Emma say “yo” for “go” and “stup” for “stop”. I betcha wish you were here with us don’t ya??

Well, I’d better get this posted before we start watching “Monarch of the Glen”. We miss you all and can’t wait to see y’all soon!

L,C,L &E

Another day

2007-08-16T11:07:00.000-05:00

Thank to all of you who brightened our spirits with your comments. We really appreciate it! Our chins are up and we are facing the immediate future with a positive attitude. Well, we may slide backwards every now and again so keep those comments coming!
Yesterday was an interesting day. Lucas (yes…our sweet Lucas) had the mother of all temper tantrums! It was nearing the end of our afternoon visit with Emma and out of the blue, Lucas decides that now would be a good time to throw a huge fit…we’re not even sure what caused it…and I took him thrashing, screaming and throwing himself on the ground, back to the apartment. It was quite comical in a way because he was doing this all the way back to the apartment and everyone in sight was looking at us and all I could do was smile, shrug my shoulders and give that look that says “kids…humph!”. The ladies that sit outside of our apartment, whom we say hi to everyday, gave me that sympathy look that only another mother can give. He cried it out and we talked about it when he was calm. The disturbing part was the fact that Lucas has only had maybe 5 tantrums and 4 of them were the first year we were home. Seeing him so out of control was very out of character for him. We realized that he may be feeling our stress and he manifested it in the only way he could. He seems to be handling everything well on the surface but it’s got to be difficult for him on so many levels. Today he was back to his happy self and played well with the other kids. Hopefully we’ve all learned something from this.

Some of you have asked if Emma is staying with us. We cannot keep her with us until the 10 day waiting period is up. We could take her out for a few hours but since our translator isn’t here, we aren’t able to communicate this with the orphanage director. It’s ok though, she’ll be with us soon enough and we continue to visit twice daily. Luba returns on Monday so we can start the paper chase and rush to get the new birth certificate and passport. We aren’t able to start this until we obtain the court decree, which is issued on the 10 th day after court. We aren’t sure whether we will stay in Nikopol or return to Kyiv sometime next week. We have to wait to see what happens. So, we are looking forward to moving forward but not looking forward to the impending delays that seem inevitable. But, every day we are closer to bringing our little girl home so that is something to be thankful for.

Our visits remain constant and we are communicating better and better with Emma. She understands a few words and she is repeating numbers and letters. She now says “shake your booty”…and well…shakes her booty! She learned that one from her brother! She seems to be catching on but I think it will be a lot quicker once she is only hearing English. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to have a little birthday party for Emma next Wednesday. We may be in Dnipropetrovsk doing paperwork but we’ll mark the occasion somehow.

Well, I’ve got to go look for Chris’s wedding ring. Lucas was playing with it this morning and now it is nowhere to be found. We’ve searched everywhere but no luck. Who is the patron Saint of lost things? We may need some help!

Love from Ukraine,
L,C,L &E

Just another day or two

2007-08-15T06:02:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. I wish there was some good news to tell you…like we’re coming home soon but it seems we will be here for quite a while longer. Our Greek friends (they are 10 days ahead of us) are having some significant difficulties with their progress in obtaining their new daughter’s passport and it seems we will probably face the same problems. We’re not exactly sure of all the details but we estimate we will be here for at least another 3 weeks. We recognize that 3 weeks, in the grand scheme of things, is not a long time but we are truly ready to come home and the thought of 3 weeks (or longer) has gotten us down a bit. We’re trying to stay positive and counting our many, many blessings. We have had a few moments where we are overwhelmed with it all but thankfully we are keeping those moments to a minimum. We really can’t do anything about it so we hope that we stay positive and keep moving forward. Our beautiful Emma is worth it!!

On a lighter note, the other day Lucas and Chris were playing with his matchbox cars at the orphanage (waiting for Emma to come out) and they were imitating Lightening McQueen from the movie “Cars”. His catch phrase is “Ka-Chow” and they were saying it to each other over and over. As this was occurring, the new Italian couple, adopting a little boy, walked by unseen. When they heard the “Ka-Chow” they answered “Ciao”…thinking Lucas was saying hi to them. Perhaps you had to be there but this has made us chuckle for days now. Another funny moment….as some of you know, I have what I like to call “a small bladder” which makes me have to make a pit stop frequently. Lucas said to me one day “Mama, you sure do have to use the potty a lot”. Chris, without missing a beat, said “Yeah! Eddie Murphy even wrote a song about your mama. It’s called ‘My girl likes to potty all the time, potty all the time, potty all the time’”. Lucas didn’t get it but I thought it was hysterical (remembering the song “Party all the time” from the 80’s). It’s still making me laugh as I’m writing this!! Ahh yes…we have been reduced to potty jokes!!! Chris didn't think I would actually post about it but when something is funny...it's worth sharing!

The 2nd picture is our feeble attempt at a family photo. Perhaps we shouldn't try to do it at the top of a slide. The 3rd and 4th are of Lucas teaching Emma her numbers (yep...she's a southpaw).

Well, I’d better get this posted. Please keep those comments coming…we love reading them and it really gives us a boost. We miss you all and can’t wait to see you.

L,C,L &E

Hello from Nikopol...

2007-08-13T11:05:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. All is….the same here in Nikopol.

On Saturday we had a lovely afternoon with our new British friends, Carol and John. They picked us up in their car which had AC and SEATBELTS…what a luxury! Lucas would tell John “Don’t go yet” until Lucas had his seat belt on. They took us to a wonderful restaurant (Monte Cristo) and the food was a delight. It was so nice to have an enjoyable meal with great company. Johns recitations of his youthful travels kept us in stitches! Lucas kept telling them that they “talk funny” and carol would try to pronounce things in an American accent…she’s pretty good at it too! After lunch, we took a walk along the lake front to the beach where we waded in the cool water. Lucas was mesmerized by a group of girls doing a “girl band” routine on an outdoor stage. We had to literally drag him away! After our walk, they took us to their favorite supermarket where we bought some food including a rotisserie chicken…what a treat! They drove us back to our apartment and we ended our visit with hugs and promises to get together again. They are such a wonderful couple and we are so happy that we have had the opportunity to spend some time with them. They have lived an incredibly interesting life, globetrotting and experiencing so many things that the rest of us can only dream of. Thanks Carol and John!!!

Today, I went with Emma and one of the orphanage workers to get passport pictures. They dressed up Emma in a cute halter dress with a straw hat and the shoes we bought her a couple of weeks ago. She behaved so well and she was so cute sitting in the chair, carefully following the directions of the photographer. I couldn’t help but beam with pride at our little girl…she is so amazing!!! She loved having mama fix her hair beforehand and kept asking to look in the mirror to see if she looked just right. She is all girl!!

We taught Emma to say “cookie” since that is a VERY important word in our household. She soon realized that it rhymes with “Lukie” so she has now started calling Lucas “Lookee Cookie”. He seems to like it. He said “She keeps calling me Lukie Cookie”. I said “it’s because she likes you” and he said “Yea, that’s why I picked her”. You can’t ask for better than that. I’m sure they will be fighting like regular siblings soon enough, but for now we are enjoying the blissful harmony between them.

We met up with Carol again this afternoon. She is leaving for England tomorrow for 2 ½ weeks so this will be our last time to see her. We went to a pizza place that served really good cappuccino’s and latte’s. She gave Lucas a Ukrainian police car and he was thrilled! We are going to miss her greatly. If any of you that are traveling soon end up in Nikopol, Carol will be a great resource for you.

Well, that’s all for today.
Love from Ukraine,
L,C,L &E

PS: Lucas wants me to write: "I miss everyone...and...I love them".

More pictures...

2007-08-11T04:27:00.000-05:00

Yeah! The pictures are finally loaded. I changed the camera setting to "e-mail" size (decreasing the pixels...thanks Juan) and voila!

We had a great morning visit today. We got a video on our camera of Emma saying "Houston, Texas, Papa Bush (which sounds like Boosh), Mama Bush, Emma Bush, and Lukie Bush. We call Lucas "Lukie" sometimes and Emma has taken to calling him that. It sounds like "Lookee" with the emphasis on the "Kee". Lucas has decided that he no longer wants to be called Lucas and he has requested the we only refer to him as "Lukie".

We're heading out to meet up with Carol and John. Enjoy the pictures.

L,C,L & E

Introducing...our Emma!!

2007-08-10T14:18:00.000-05:00

It's official!!!

2007-08-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

A family of three no more…we are now a family of four!

It’s official! We had court today and we are emotionally exhausted and relieved beyond comprehension. It’s not like I thought that they wouldn’t accept our petition to adopt…it’s just such a huge relief to have it all official. Luba’s sister came at 11:00am to be our interpreter for court. Luba needed to stay in Kyiv but we were in good hands. Court was scheduled for 2 pm and the judge arrived at 2:30. The court house is located in an old dilapidated building that looked nothing like an official court house. The courtroom was a room with 4 rows of benches, two tables on the side and one table at the front with a big chair for the judge. The people involved were 2 jurors, the prosecutor, the judge, the inspector for the region (we met her the first day) and the orphanage representative. The judge and prosecutor asked us several questions about our lives and about Emma. The inspector and orphanage rep also spoke on our behalf and said some very nice things. The orphanage rep said that Emma is doing great since our arrival and she stated that she asked Emma if she liked having her name changed. She said that Emma stated “Oh yes! I like to have funny new American name”. We thought this was funny. After about 30 minutes, the judge retired to another room to deliberate with the jurors and to make her final decision. During this time, Lucas took the opportunity to flirt with every woman in the room, showing off the photo album we brought for Emma with pictures of our home, her school and soon to be teachers, our family and friends. They were all taken with him and the prosecutor was especially impressed with him. I think he went a long way in showing them that we aren’t complete misfits as parents and that we could be trusted with another of their precious children. After 5 minutes, the judge returned with her decision and as she read the findings “the court accepts your petition to adopt Emma”…I started sobbing! I couldn’t help it. It was such an emotional moment…something I have been waiting a long time for. Chris squeezed my hand and together we took in the moment we became parents for the second time. It is beyond words to describe the feelings. After the judge left the room, everyone came over and congratulated us and told us they were so happy for us all. Even the prosecutor, who seemed quite stoic during the proceedings was gushing with happiness for us. She was especially taken with Lucas and his schmoozing her was beyond her ability to resist. So, it is over…and now we wait for 10 days.

After court we went to the orphanage to hug our daughter (that sounds so good…our daughter). On the way Lucas stated “those people were really nice…they let me have my sister”. When Emma arrived he took her hands, looked her in the eye and said “now you are a part of our family”. She didn’t understand but he did and it is a memory we will remember forever.

During our visit, Carol (the lovely British woman that Jenny put us in touch with…Thank you Jenny!!) arrived to meet us and we were thrilled to make her acquaintance. We played for a little while then she took us to a lovely café for coffee and tiramasu. Her husband John arrived later and we had a wonderful visit and we made plans to meet tomorrow. They are going to take us to lunch and show us around a bit. They have lived here for 2 years so they know the lay of the land and we are so thankful to have met them. Life is good in Nikopol today!!!

Well, I’d better send this before this internet connection has another temper tantrum. I’ve already had to rewrite this twice so hopefully it will post this time.

We miss you all desperately

Love from Ukraine,
L,C,L & E

Another day...or two..

2007-08-08T11:42:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, it seems we have lost our ability to connect to the internet from our apartment. I've been trying for 2 days to connect with no luck. Perhaps you heard my expletives...they were certainly loud enough...haha. We finally found an internet cafe inside the hotel that the lovely Greek couple are staying at (the ones adopting another little girl). Unfortunately, it does not have the capacity to send photos...so I'll keep trying to get you your first glimpse at our precious Emma.

It has turned hot again and the small bit of rain we received today only added to the humidity level. My hair can attest to that...can you say Q-tip head! We're looking forward to Friday when Emma finally officially becomes our daughter. She cried for the first time today. She hit Chris and he made her sit down for a minute and her little feelings were hurt. But don't worry...she got lots of hugs and kisses after her episode. She has started saying a few things in English. She'll repeat what we tell her and she sounds so cute with her accent. She seems to catch on pretty quickly so I have no doubt she will catch up to her peers in no time.

We have been walking alot and taking in the limited sights. We've also been trying to find some more clothes for Emma since we may have to wait for an additional 10 days to get the passport. We saw an old, army green van ...circa 1952is and it was an ambulance. We thought...uh oh...hopefully we won't need that! It is so interesting to see all of the different things and experience all this city has to offer. Lucas still insists that he is going to "clean up" his country and he has begun to refer to everything in Ukraine as "his". We were looking out the balcony in our apt and he said "you know what? My trees are old!"...referring to the large trees that tower over our 4th floor apt. He is just so darn cute!!

Well, I'd better end this as I'm running out of time. I will do you all to head this warning...if any of you talk about food again...I'll come through your computer and throttle you!!! haha. I can't wait to eat for pleasure again...and not just for sustinence. Although...it was pretty pleasurable eating my perogies again tonight...yum!

I may not be able to post every day but I'll let you know how court goes.

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

Day 14!

2007-08-06T05:43:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. I took a break from posting over the weekend…simply because there isn’t much to write about. Our routine has become quite monotonous and we are feeling the strain of idleness. It’s not that it is all bad, it’s just not home. We are counting down the days but they seem to stretch on forever. We have been here for 2 weeks and in some ways it feels much longer. We are looking forward to court on Friday when Emma will officially become our daughter. But that is just paperwork, we already feel like she is our daughter. After court, we will wait for the mandatory 10 days and then we will receive the court decree. We can then obtain her passport….BUT…there has been a change in the passport system here and we may have to wait an additional 10 days (after our 10 day wait) to obtain her passport. Sooo we continue to wait.

Chris and I have spent a lot of time talking about how blessed we are and how well Emma fits into our family. I can’t imagine a more perfect fit. Lucas still loves her and he can’t wait to take her home. We never expected to find a child so like Lucas. Their gentleness and heart shines through both of them equally and they seem to be a perfect match. Yesterday, while in our little playground, they found some sticks and were swinging them at the low hanging branches of the trees (this is what we have been reduced to …having our kids play with sticks…haha), and Lucas’s stick broke. He soon was off looking for another so he could continue with this exciting game. While he was looking for another stick, Emma watched him for a few minutes. She then took her stick, and after a few attempts broke her stick in half and gave him one. She didn’t know we were watching her so this was a true example of her sweet nature. Another example was today. During our snack time, Lucas and Emma each got one cookie and one pretzel like cracker. Emma ate her pretzel first, saving the tasty butter cookie (absolutely fabulous by the way…I wish we could get them at home) for last. After a few bites into her cookie, one of the small dogs that roam the orphanage came over to us. This dog is very docile and so very cute. Well, little miss Emma decided that the little dog needed her cookie more than she did. Not only were we surprised, because she loves to eat anything we bring, but we were proud of her caring enough for another creature, even a dog, to give the last of her food. She is quite an awesome little girl.

Food is becoming quite a tricky business for us. We are having some difficulty finding a variety of food to eat and we are eating many of the same things, which as you can imagine is getting old. At the supermarket the other day, Lucas saw ‘hotdogs” in the meat section. He begged for us to buy them and we relented. Today, he asked for them at lunch. I took them out of the package to boil them up and they actually were a liverwursty sort of mystery meat that was quite gross looking. Well, Lucas with his iron stomach insisted he would like it. After boiling them I put them on the plate, cut them into pieces…and then promptly went running to the bathroom….dry heaves! It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever smelled and it took me several minutes to recover. Lucas of course tries it and says “It’s good mommy…wanna try it?” I suppressed the urge to say “I’d rather eat dog poop”. So, Chris and I enjoyed a delicious lunch consisting of bread and butter, and an apple…yummy! We actually were able to find my beloved perogies in the grocery store and we feasted on them last night. I was all smiles during dinner. So…with every negative…there is a positive.

Well, that’s all for today. I’ll keep trying to think of things to write. It’s a beautiful day today so we will probably go for a walk.

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

Our day...

2007-08-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. Today is a beautiful sunny, breezy day with no humidity. It is about 90F in the sun but not unpleasant.

On our visit to the orphanage this morning, the other children were playing in “our” playground. We were surprised to see them but it was a lot of fun to have some interaction with them and see Emma in her real environment. There are about 12 kids ranging between 3-6 (I think…it’s hard to tell). The rest of the kids are away at camp so this seems to be the remaining group. It took them awhile to warm up to us but after a while they were climbing all over us, brushing my hair, & clamoring for any little bit of attention they could get. Emma seemed to handle it fine at first but occasionally she would push one of them aside if they were getting too friendly for her taste. There is one little girl who took a particular fancy to Chris and Emma said something to her which I think was “Natasha…get away from him…he’s MY Papa”. It’s funny, because she doesn’t have any kind of jealousy of Lucas but her friends are a different story. It really is survival of the fittest and they tend to all be a bit on the rough side (completed understandable). I took some pictures and they would each take turns looking at the photos on the camera. They were so amazed to see themselves. Lucas didn’t seem all that enthusiastic to have our little area invaded by these loud and boisterous kids. He kept pretty close to either Chris or I or he was off collecting shells by himself. He wasn’t jealous of our attention to them…I think he was a little scared of them. He kept asking “when are they leaving?” They are so cute, funny and so independent. I wish all of them could find families of their own. It is hard to know if any of them are even available for adoption since that requires termination of parental rights (if parents are alive). It is so apparent how starved for one on one attention these kids are. They were all calling us Mama and Papa and it is hard to imagine what their future holds. They are all so cute with the potential for great things. It breaks my heart to know that their future is probably bleak and there’s nothing we can do about it. But…we have our Emma and that is something we are so grateful for.

We ventured out to the local pizza parlor last night for dinner. We’d passed it a few times and decided last night that it was time to try the infamous Ukrainian pizza. Fortunately for us they have a menu in English so we were able to make an informed decision. We settled on the ham, garlic & cheese pizza. We were tempted by the “tongue” or the “chicken’s liver” pizza’s but thought that was a little out of our comfort zone. Well our pizza arrived with ham, garlic and cheese…and mushrooms (yuck!). It was pretty good…we ate the whole thing, but that might be due to the fact that we were really hungry. The whole meal including drinks cost about $7 so we’re definitely not complaining. Food is pretty cheap to buy, but we are finding it difficult to find things we are familiar with. We finally figured out which container was milk so we’ve been successful in that endeavor…something we were never able to accomplish on our last trip!
We got a phone call from Luba today and she said court is scheduled for next Friday August 10 (instead of the 13th). This is good news!

Well, that’s all for today. It’s time for a quick nap before heading back to the orphanage to see our sweet girl.

Love you all,
L,C, L & E

PS: Bob- Ukraine is divided. Western Ukraine speaks predominantly Ukrainian (we adopted Lucas from Lviv and they spoke Ukrainian) but the East (including Kyiv) still speak predominantly Russian. During Soviet times, Ukrainian was not “allowed” so the majority of people learned to speak Russian. Many people can speak both and the “Official” language has been declared to be Ukrainian but the East still holds onto the Russian language. The east vs. west dilemma was the main reason for the Orange Revolution in November 2004 when Yushenko and Yanukovich were battling for the presidency.

A Special day

2007-08-02T05:42:00.001-05:00

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

A day in the life...

2007-08-01T12:15:00.000-05:00

We’re enjoying the slight drop in temperature today…only 92F…whoohoo. Nothing like a little cold front to put a little pep in your step! (Thanks Mindi for looking up the forecast for Dnip. We’re looking forward to the cooler weather.)

We’re continuing to spend our days in essentially the same way. We visit Emma at 10am-12noon, then home for lunch, then back to the orphanage at 4-6pm then home for dinner. In between, we sprinkle our day with a variety of different things…just to keep it interesting! We either go to the supermarket, walk around, nap or read. In the evenings, Lucas watches a movie and falls asleep and Chris and I watch our DVD’s and enjoy a spot of tea. This will be our routine for the next couple of weeks. It is a comfortable routine, albeit a bit on the boring side.

We were sitting at the table eating lunch today when Lucas said out of the blue “I have a great idea! When I get big, I’m gonna get a truck and a big box from the big box store and clean up my country…because it’s dirty”. He of course is referring to the trash bins located in front of the apartment buildings as well as some discarded bottles and trash discarded on the some of the streets. He says he’s going to come back and clean up his WHOLE country. He says it will take 100 days. We laughed…and admittedly there was a small tear formed in my eye with the image of our sweet boy cleaning up HIS country. He says he “Loves his country” and we hope he never loses his pride in his homeland.

For those of you waiting to travel, I thought I would tell you about a few of the essentials we brought with us that we have found indispensable.
Laptop: We are so glad we brought this. Not only for the ability to access internet from our apartment (tenuous as it is), but for the DVD’s. We brought the entire 7 series of a BBC series “Monarch of the Glen” which is set in the Highlands of Scotland. (yes Margaret P…the father dies at the end of series 3...bummer). We also brought another BBC comedy as well.
Portable DVD player: this was left over from our last trip (we didn’t have a laptop) and this is great for Lucas to watch his movies on.. He loves having his own “puter” that he can operate on his own.
Coffee singles: coffee in single serving tea bags. Really good and easy to pack.
Baby wipes: I wish we’d brought more. I can’t tell you how many times they have come in handy
Granola bars: great for in between meals and on the go times
Positive attitude: This is the most important!! I imagine this could be a dreadful experience if we let it. We’ve chosen to make this a positive experience…no matter what. Things are really different here but it’s not forever so we can take any kind of adversity…and do it with a smile…that goes a long way too!!

Well, it’s time to brew the tea and pop in a DVD. Gotta see what happens next at Glenbogle!!

Love to you all,
Das Vidanya
L, C, L & E
PS: Ang…you crack me up. I sure do miss all my girls…the canines and the humans!!

2nd post today (don't forget to read prior post)

2007-07-31T05:32:00.003-05:00

I thought I'd take advantage of having a good internet connection to post twice (one from yesterday and one for today)

We are getting a little tired of the heat (40C in the shade) and with not AC...we're drenched. I can't believe I'm actually hoping for rain!! We visited Emma this morning and Lucas shared his markers and writing pad with her. It was cute to see them "share". We only spent about an hour because of the heat. We're back in the apartment doing some much needed laundry. There is a small front loading washing machine in the kitchen and it seems to be doing a pretty good job. The apartment has a small balcony where we can hang our clothes to dry. They dry pretty quickly in this heat.

Many of you are asking about Emma's size. It's hard to tell because the sizes are different here but she would probably fit into the same size Lucas wears. He wears 4T boys but I'm not sure if 4T girls is the same as boy sizes. I'll leave that up to your discretion. We bought her size 30 flipflops and they fit her nicely. I don't know the conversion but you can look online for conversion charts to see what size that would be in the US (that's what I did when we brought Lucas home).

Luba asked her what kind of toys she likes but she was too shy to answer...or it was a question too beyond her wildest imagination to answer so I imagine she will like anything. I specifically asked if she likes dolls and she said "da". Sooo that's all the direction I can give for now.

Well, I need to go hang out some laundry and then sit in front of the fan and cool off.

Love to you all.
L,C,L & E

PS: I've tried posting some pictures of our time in Kyiv but I keep losing the connection. I'll keep trying in the days to come. If I don't update daily, it's not for lack of trying...I MISS high speed internet!

Another day...

2007-07-31T05:24:00.001-05:00

(Our internet connection is quite stubborn!! This is our update from yesterday...Monday)

We are setting into our daily routine. We walked the 2 blocks to the orphanage at about 10am. We are never sure where to find Emma everyday since she is not located in the areas that we are allowed entrance. We are able to walk pretty much anywhere on the first floor and we usually search for someone to ask for "Yana". We sign a register and then they go to get her for us. She usually arrives in shorts, no shirt, and a floppy hat. Because it is so hot, most of the kids we've seen are dressed without shirts on. We haven't had any interaction with any of the other children (except the little girl being adopted by the Greek couple). We are able to see them in the distance, playing at another play area. We have one of the play areas to ourselves and we spend our time playing on the monkey bars, swinging or playing hide-n-seek. Today, after playing for awhile, we sat down at a little table and took out some papers with some translated phrases on them. Emma would laugh at our pronunciation of these phrases but she would act out whatever we would say (ie...are you sad...she would make a sad face. Are you happy...she would smile etc). She has already started calling us Mama & Papa. When she wants us to lift her up to reach one of the bars, she will say "something something something Mama". She also likes to look at the little photo album that we made for her showing our house, family, school and friends. Any of the pictures with Lucas in it she will point to Lucas and say "brat"...that means brother...she's not actually calling him a brat! haha. She seems to be getting much more comfortable with us. She let me nuzzle her a little bit and her hugs are becoming much less reserved. We are trying hard not to favor one over the other and there seems to be no resentment between the two. Lucas does sometimes get a bit frustrated when she doesn't understand him but it is short lived and soon they are off running around playing together. We tried out her new name today to see if she liked it and she kept referring to herself as "Emma baba". We're not sure what she means by the "baba" (which is a form of Grandma), but perhaps we're hearing her wrong. She smiles when she says it so hopefully she likes it. When it is time to leave she starts to walk towards the other children and will turn, wave, cast her eyes down and walk away. I can't wait until we can take her home!! When we walk back to the apartment, Lucas always says "When can we go back to the ortinige". I think he's finally beginning to realize that he used to live in an orphanage too and he likes to talk about when we came to Ukraine to adopt him. This trip has done wonders for his comprehension of his story and he seems quite proud of the fact that this is "his" country. We're so glad we made the decision to bring him with us.

Today we have run into our first paperwork snag. Luba and Ruslan were off trying to gather the appropriate documents that the judge had requested prior to granting us a court date. She had to travel to 2 different towns in order to achieve this. Upon return she visited the judge and got our tentative court date of August 13 (yep…that’s 2 LONG weeks from now…sigh). Luba and Ruslan left Nikopol at 4:30 to head back to Kyiv to submit the documents to the SDA to get permission from them for us to adopt. She cannot submit them until Wednesday, as they only accept these documents on Mon/Wed/Fri. They have 5 days to sign the appropriate permission documents then we can go to court…but…our judge is requiring that we wait 7 days after the SDA approval (there are reasons that we can’t go into). After court, we will have to wait the mandatory 10 days until we can be issued the official court decree, then obtain Emma's new birth certificate and passport. Sooo...we are here for awhile. Other than the heat, we are very comfortable. We have plenty of movies to watch on the laptop in the evenings and many places to explore on foot during the day (between visiting the orphanage).

On a good note, we are enjoying some the most fantastic fruits and vegetables from the market. The tomatoes are to die for but unfortunately Lucas doesn’t share our enthusiasm for them. The grapes are spectacular and we are going to try some of the other fruit on our next visit to the market. Yep…that’s what we’ve been reduced to…raving about the fruit!

Well, that’s all for today. I’m afraid our posts may get a little boring due to the lack of anything new occurring. But, we’ll keep it up…so you’d better write back…we absolutely LOVE reading your comments.

Love from Nikopol
Lisa, Chris & Lucas

PS: Tracey, Chris wants you to tell Dad that “Apparently, lightening can strike twice”.

One day at a time

2007-07-29T08:22:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,
Our day started with us sleeping late and eating a light breakfast before going to the orphanage (Detsky Dom) to visit Yana/Emma. We played outside with her for awhile in one of the play areas. She seemed happy to see us this morning but she remains somewhat shy and reserved. after about an hour, Luba and Ruslan arrived to take us to an open market to buy Yana/Emma some clothes. Luba had asked permission to take Yana/Emma with us and they graciously agreed.
We arrived at a large outdoor market with many stalls filled with clothes, shoes, toys and other such things. We searched for stalls with children's clothes and managed to find 3 outfits, 2 pairs of shoes and underwear...for about 150 hrv (grivna)...which is about $30. Yana was quite excited to get new clothes and she was beaming when she was trying on a new dress to check for size. She was a little awestruck with all of the people and commotion going on. I believe this was her first experience in a market and she was taking it all in.
We then drove to a lake located in Nikopol, which is a local beach area where many people go to swim and lay in the sun. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We were told that Yana does not have much of an appetite which is why she is so thin...well...she had no problem eating more than Lucas...which in itself is quite a feat!! We should have no trouble putting a little meat on her bones! We had the opportunity to ask Yana some questions since we had Luba with us. One thing she said was that she has never been to a restaurant and that she was enjoying it very much. It is so overwhelming to imagine how much this little girl has not experienced. She smiled, and laughed...and even burped...after tasting her first Coca Cola! We will have many firsts with her in the near future but this first was very special to us.
We then went back to the market to get some meat, fruit and vegetables to last us for a few days. Then we drove down to the beach and the kids went swimming in this man-made lake that was cool and inviting. It is hot...so the cool water was very refreshing. We didn't have our bathing suits so the kids went swimming in their underwear while we waded near the shore. Ruslan, had his bathing suit with him so he took the kids out further than the shore and splashed around with them. I think it was the first time we'd seen him smile...I think he's got a soft spot for both the kids...though I doubt he'd ever admit it...haha.
It was time to take Yana back to the Detsky Dom and during our drive back, Luba asked her if she was happy to be going to America with a new Mama, Papa, & brother. She smiled, looked at each of us and said "Da". I think she's worried that we will change our minds but we've tried to have Luba explain to her that we will not leave her here. She nods her head in understanding but I don't think she really believes it yet. She seemed so sad when we dropped her off but I could tell she was trying hard to be brave. We've got many more days to earn her trust before taking her with us for good. She really is such a sweet little girl. We are extremely blessed!!!
Well, that's all for today. I'm tired from our busy day and am going to take a nap...or read. We miss you all.
Love,
Lisa, Chris, Lucas & Yana/Emma

Our dream has come true...

2007-07-28T08:04:00.000-05:00

A wise man once said "Life's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get". Well, our box of chocolates just got a little sweeter. We found our daughter!!!

We set out from Kyiv at 1 am Friday morning with Luba. Our driver's name is Ruslan, and he is a very accomplished driver. Perhaps he drives a little on the speedy side but he can swerve around pot holes like no one I have ever seen. He does not speak English so our conversations are limited. The trip to Nikopol took approximately 6.5 hours, of which neither Chris nor I got any sleep. Lucas, on the other hand was able to sleep at least 6 hours so he was bright and cheerful when we arrived. As you can imagine...we were not! We were tired, hungry, and looked quite unkempt. We stopped to have coffee and tea when we arrived because we were a little early and we needed to wait for the region's Inspector to arrive to work. Nikopol is located in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the southeastern part of the country. It is a small city with approximately 150 thousand residents (I googled it...) and it is a large exporter of manganese (also googled).

We visited with the Inspector at about 8:00am and she asked several questions, mostly about Lucas, and then she signed the paperwork to give us permission to visit the orphanage. We arrived at the orphanage at approximately 8:45. The orphanage is not too large but is well looked after and with several play areas outside. The inside is being remodeled (new paint and some new furniture) at the present since the majority of the children are in Italy...at summer camp. We waited in the corridor then we were shown in the Orphanage Directors office. She also asked a few questions, then at approximately 9:10am, a little girl entered the room. She was shy and quiet at first and she would steal looks at us occasionally when she thought we weren’t looking. We were taken to a separate room in order to give us some time to interact with her. There were some toys in the room and Lucas started building a house with the building blocks. She soon joined him and they began communicating through the international language of “play”. They were so cute together. Each would hand the other a piece to build with and we were struck with the apparent similarities in their personalities. She seems sweet, kind, and shy and she soon began to open up with us and smile (she has a beautiful smile) and interact more and more. She really loved it when Chris would lift her up in the air so she could see the top of the cabinets. During one of these “lifts”, she gave Chris a kiss on the cheek. The most interesting look flashed across Chris’s face. I believe I could actually hear the sound of her wrapping him around her little finger at that moment. Luba spent time talking with the orphanage doctor and director. When she joined us, she asked us how it was going. We said “We’re not leaving Ukraine without her”. It was funny, we didn’t even talk about it, all we did was look at each other and we knew she is the one. Lucas said “when can we take my sister home?”…he was hooked.

Luba found us an apartment 2 blocks from the orphanage so we will not need a driver during our 2-4 week stay here. We went to the apartment and were happy to find a 2 bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom & balcony awaiting us. It does not have AC but it has fan and the windows have screens so we can keep the windows open without bugs flying in. It also has a washing machine and AN IRON!! Whoohoo.

We took a much needed nap in the afternoon, then returned to the orphanage at 4:00pm. The director asked us if we wanted to adopt her and we said “YES!!”. She asked Lucas as well and he said yes too. She also asked the little girl if she wanted us to be her Mama, Papa & brother…and she smiled shyly and said “da” (yes!!!). We then took her outside and played on one of the many playgrounds and Lucas was so happy to have someone to play with. They are soooo cute together. Lucas said “I picked her picture. I want to take her home”. You can’t ask for anything better than that!!

We left her at the orphanage and made our way to a supermarket…of course it took us an hour because…yep…you guessed it…we went the wrong way…sigh. We bought some food and carried it home and made dinner. Luba and Ruslan returned and we put Lucas to bed. Chris and I set off to try to find an internet café. After an hour of searching (and asking about 5 different people in our limited Russian) we were unsuccessful. I was bursting to tell you all the news but finding internet access proved to be impossible.

This morning we woke up and went to the orphanage at 10am. The kids played for awhile and we met another family from Greece who are adopting another 5 year old little girl. They were very nice and the wife was able to communicate in broken English. She is originally from France but she now lives with her husband in Greece. We spent awhile with them and all the kids had a great time playing together. We then returned to our apartment and Ruslan was able to get our laptop hooked up to the internet!!! WHOOOHOO. I was so happy when it worked and I immediately kissed him on the cheek. I think he was a little embarrassed…he’s not an emotional type person. He actually reminds me a little of Tony Soprano. I wish he could speak English (or we spoke Russian) so we could communicate better with him. I think he’s a pretty interesting fellow. Luba cooked us a wonderful meal (chicken, potatoes, salad) and we feasted on the wonderful food. We are heading back to the orphanage as soon as I post this.

A little more information on our little girl: She has beautiful, long brown hair & brown eyes. She has a tan from her time at camp in Italy and she tans like Chris. I guess Lucas and I are destined to be the pale ones in the family. Her birthday is August 22 and she will turn 6 years old. She is slightly taller (maybe ½ an inch) than Lucas. She is very thin…she actually makes Lucas look chunky…and anyone who knows Lucas, knows he is nowhere near chunky!! Her name is Yana and we are going to name her Emma Yana Bush. We will post some pictures when we are a little closer to our court date. This is a public site and we aren’t comfortable posting her picture until all the paperwork is done…sorry!

Well, I’d better post this so Lucas can go back to see his sister…he’s asking “how much longer?” (whine) Thank you for all of your messages. We really love reading them. I’m sorry I can’t answer everyone individually. It really helps knowing you are all out there reading this and joining us in this adventure. Your prayers have helped to guide us to our daughter.

Love to all,
Lisa, Chris & Lucas

Relaxing day

2007-07-26T10:52:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. We are LOVING the comments! Keep them coming.

We are leaving tonight at 1am to drive to Nikopol. Well, we're not actually doing the driving...we have a driver to do that. I wouldn't dare attempt driving here. It is so crazy! We thought the parking on the sidewalks last time was bizarre, but here in Kyiv...they actually drive down the sidewalks. Heaven forbid you are walking on one when a car is coming. It seems that the drivers have the right-of -way and pedestrians are just moving targets..haha. Not that we've actually seen anyone get run over but we sure do hear alot of honking.

Anyway, we just spent a lazy day in the apartment. It is a little chilly (no snickers from you Canadians eh!) so we just ate and took naps and read. It was a nice break from all the walking. Lucas set up his "office" in the living room and spent the afternoon seeing clients or something. I spent the time reading the latest Harry Potter (which I picked up at the airport in Houson). Chris and Lucas did go for a short walk to the park while I took a nap. They ran into another family that I have been in contact with, who had their appointment the same day as us. It is so weired that he would run into fellow adopters in a city this large.

We decided to make one last trip to the internet cafe since we didn't know when we would get another chance. We stopped at McDonalds (Old McDonalds as Lucas calls it) and ate dinner. So all that is left to do is pack up our stuff and head out at 1 am. We should be able to meet the little girl sometime tomorrow morning. We're very excited to get this show on the road!

We'll update as soon as we can.

Lisa, Chris & Lucas

A great day indeed...

2007-07-25T09:39:00.000-05:00

Hello from rainy/partly sunny Ukraine. I won't keep you in suspense. We arrived at the SDA (2 minute walk from our apartment) at 2:15. Luba arrived shortly after and we spent time talking about what to expect in our appointment. At 3:00, a very nice young lady greeted us at the door and explained that she would be our translator for our time there. Luba waited for us outside. She took us to a room and introduced us to our "'psychologist". She was another young woman who was also very nice. She asked us a few questions about Lucas and what we were looking for (age, health, gender). After we answered her questions she brought out a few files. She went through each one, explaining age, location, known health, and known family history, etc. She answered any questions we had with each child. All the files were of girls ranging in age between 2.5 and 6. We narrowed our choice down to 2 (the two oldest) and we had some difficulty deciding between them. We asked Lucas but he wasn't much help...he kept picking "this one"..."no wait, that one". So, we talked as a family and made our decision. We chose to visit a little girl in Nikopol, age 5 (almost 6). The whole appointment took no longer than 45 minutes and we felt very happy when it was over. There are many more details that I really can't go into but I will tell you that we are very, very happy. Actually, relieved is probably a more appropriate word to describe how we are feeling right now. We will receive our referral paperwork tomorrow evening and then we can travel to Nikopol either by train or by car...we haven't decided yet. So, if all goes well, we could meet this little girl on Friday.

I need to give props to Lucas for a moment. We were really worried that this trip might be a bit much for him but much to our surprise, he has handled himself better than we could have ever imagined. We must have walked at least 6-7 miles yesterday and we expected him to complain about being tired (like at the mall!!) but he would only say "Let's sit down and take a rest". We found several playgrounds on our travels and he has had a blast playing on the old, metal slides and equipment. He has also been cracking us up constantly. Everytime he sees the Ukrainian flag hanging somewhere (there is a huge one on one of the official looking buildings) he keeps saying "Why do they hang my flag?". He doesn't quite understand that the flag belongs to this country and it isn't HIS personal flag.

Oh, Lucas just walked up and wants me to tell you "Her's a girl and I picked her". So there you have it. He's taking all the credit for picking her.

Well, I have to go. I'm not able to send any pictures on this computer but I will try to send some soon.

We miss you all.

Lisa, Chris & Lucas

We're here...

2007-07-24T11:00:00.002-05:00

Well, we made it. The flights were long and tiresome but were uneventful and successful...meaning they got us here in one piece...and our luggage made it too. Lucas was GREAT on the plane. He was able to sleep for about 4 hours. However, his pillow (that would be me) was not quite so fortunate. When we arrived at the airport in Kyiv, we had some difficulty at customs...OK...I had difficulty at customs. Apparently, I am quite capable of completing a complicated adoption dossier 4 times, but I seem to have some difficulty with filling out a simple customs form according to the instructions. But, we made it through. We were met by our lovely translator and our driver. Our translator's name is Luba and she is very nice and is very experienced in adoptions so we feel we are in great hands.

We are staying in an apartment overlooking a street vendor haven. It is a great location (though quite expensive) and we are very comfortable. We spent the evening last night looking for a grocery store and ended up going in the opposite direction of where we needed to go (this seems to be a theme for us as you will soon read). But, we found our way and got water and juice and went to bed early (which was really late for us from our time zone). I tried to get our laptop hooked up to the internet but wasn't successful so that is why you have had to wait so long for an update...we couldn't find an internet cafe until now.

We woke up late and left the apartment at about noon to explore our area. We were particularly looking for Independance Square. Well, as luck would have it...we went in the opposite direction and spent 4 hours (YES...4 hours with a 4 year old) walking all around Kyiv. We did see a McDonalds...which I will tell you felt like the heavens had opened up and the angels were singing...we were starving. Nothing like the big M to make you feel at home...well...except...it was CLOSED!!! But we wouldn't let that get us down. We found our way to a tram that would take us back up the long hill that we had come down in our travels. Lucas charmed his way into the company of 3 sweet young ladies. 2 were from Arizona...in Kyiv to teach English for the summer, and the other was Ukrainian whom they had met through their youth group. Anyway, Lucas sure can pick up the ladies. And speaking of ladies...apparently I packed way too many clothes. It seems clothing is optional for the female population here, or at least the amount of material is kept to a minimum at all times. I feel quite frumpy in my kacki's and t-shirts. My attire screams "tourist" at every turn. Oh well, Lucas seems to enjoy the sights...and I dare say my husband is too. Can't say I blame them though. I've never seen more beautiful women in my life. Breathtaking really.

Well, after partaking of a sparse ham, bread and cabbage perogi's for dinner (I wanted potato and cheese but somehow that got lost in the translation...imagine that!), we decided to try to find an internet cafe. On our journey we came accross St Michael's Basilica and were moved by the sheer glory of it. We each lit a candle and enjoyed the silence. We then decided to keep walking and low and behold...Independence Square!! For the love of Pete...we found it!!! It is a mecca for tourists and natives alike. There are beautiful fountains and one you can walk in. Lucas loved that one. So here I am, we finally found an internet cafe so I could update you all. I told Chris that you would all be mad at me if I didn't update soon.

Our appointment at the SDA is tomorrow (Wednesday) at 3pm. Please pray that all goes well. We have waited for this appointment for 2.5 years and now that it is here, we are feeling the pressure. We will update you as soon as we can. We are meeting Sveta (our translator from our last trip) tomorrow night after our appointment. We can't wait for her to see Lucas. She is so special to us and we can't wait to see her.

Anyway, the boys are telling me they want to go to McDonalds (which incidentally, there is one here in Independence Square..yeah!) so I'd better go.

Miss you all and love to everyone. Keep those prayers coming (and you might want to add a little side prayer for us and better senses of direction...A. Monie...that means 2 candles)

Love,
Lisa, Chris & Lucas

Too cute...

2007-07-21T21:36:00.000-05:00

I was heading to bed and Lucas (apparently too excited to fall asleep in bed) fell asleep on the stairs waiting for us to come up. I couldn't resist posting this.

We are "go for launch"

2007-07-21T21:21:00.000-05:00

We are leaving tomorrow (Sunday) at 3:30 pm. We will arrive in Kyiv at approximately 1pm Monday (local time). We are ready...the bags are packed, the house is clean, the dogs are being spoiled as we speak (thanks Nancy!), and all that is left to do is get a good night sleep. Lucas's last words to me before going to bed tonight were "I'm so happy to be going to Mycraine". I can't imagine not bringing him with us. I would be a wreck right now if I had to leave him here and not see him for up to 6 weeks.

We will try to get our laptop connected to the internet in our apartment, but if we are unsuccessful we will update from an internet cafe. If you don't hear from us, it's because we can't find a connection...not because we don't want to talk to you all...haha.

Please keep us in your prayers. We are very excited...and scared...and nervous...and delighted all at the same time. We can't wait to get there.

Talk to you all soon.

Lisa, Chris & Lucas

Not long now...

2007-07-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

Only 8 days to go. All that is left to do is pack! Lucas's suitcase is done and we plan to have ours packed by the end of the weekend. This is a different concept for me because I'm usually a last minute packer, but making sure we have everything we need for 6 weeks in Ukraine is an exercise in organization, patience, and compromise. Do I really need that travel iron?...you betcha! There are certain sacrifices that need to be made to ensure I don't have too many wrinkles...it's all a matter of priorities. Since we will likely have to handwash our clothes (we can't count on having a washing machine in our apartments), wrinkle reduction is a major issue for me...haha. I figure my quirks all balance out. I'm not a germaphobe, I don't mind using the squat toilets that are popular in Ukraine, the bathrooms on the train don't gross me out too badly, and I don't mind sleeping on sheets with a low thread count...but by golly I'm not about to wear a t-shirt with wrinkles in it...that's just uncivilized! Ok, perhaps a travel iron IS a bit on the "you've got to be kidding me" side, but I've come to terms with the fact that I have some issues and it's just easier to accept them than to...well...actually deal with them. Chris has learned to accept them too...when I showed him the newly aquired, dual voltage, compact travel iron, he actually said "Oh, what a great idea". That is why our marriage works...he knows just the right thing to say!

Lucas's surgery went very well. He was so brave and he could hear perfectly after he woke up. We were also brave...not a tear was shed by mama and daddy. I'm so glad it is over and my baby can actually hear me whispering. Well, it's actually been a difficult adjustment for us, since we had gotten into the habit of having conversations (usually about him) while he was in the room. Now he says "what are you saying about me??" or "stop talking about me". I guess selective hearing only works on his terms...not ours. Nevertheless, we're thrilled to have his hearing back to normal.

I will post again next weekend before we leave.

Lisa

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T16:57:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful (and wet) time at the Kingwood 4th of July parade this morning. Lucas was so excited to see the police directing traffic and the fire trucks leading off the parade. He even asked one of the firefighters if he would come to his birthday party...it was funny. The parade is comprised of local businesses, teams, groups (scouts, Masons, churches etc...) and they all throw candy, toys or beads from their "floats". It was rainy most of the time but that was better than the usual Texas July day of 1000 or so degrees.

We are leaving for Ukraine in 18 days and we are taking advantage of the time to clean out closets and do some much needed maintenance to the house. Well, actually I'm making the "honey do" lists and Chris is marking them off one by one as he completes them...haha. He is off work until after we return so he is using his time (or rather I am using his time) wisely.

Lucas is having minor surgery on Friday to put tubes in his ears and to have is adenoids removed. He has had fluid in his ears for quite a while and it isn't clearing on its own. He has 35-45% hearing loss because of it...which explains why we have to repeat everything 3 times and his most used word is "huh?". The tubes should help make the flight a little more pleasant for him as well. I'm not looking forward to sending my baby into surgery...no matter how minor the procedure...but I will handle it like any self respecting nurse would...I'll probably bawl my eyes out! Oh well, at least he'll be able to hear clearly again.

Lisa

PS: Shelley, we look forward to meeting you on the 25th at the SDA :)

One month to go...

2007-06-22T19:53:00.000-05:00

Well, our preparations are going well. Only 31 days left until we leave for Ukraine. Yes, I am most definitely counting! I actually don't have a choice because Lucas asks me everyday "How long now till we go to Mycraine?" To which I answer with the days remaining, in which he responds "Is that a long time?" (his sense of timing is non-existent, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing...depending on the situation). I respond with "Yes, but not as long as yesterday". He doesn't seem to like this response because he usually heaves a big sigh and says "Ahhh (insert whine here), it's taking a long tiiiiimmmmme!" Yep, 4-6 weeks in Ukraine with a 4 year old who has no concept of time...what fun!! We're actually looking forward to spending family time together (all 3 of us) since we rarely have days off together. We plan to do more site seeing in Kiev (Kyiv) than our last trip. We have requested an apartment in downtown Kyiv so we will be within walking distance to some of the churches and monuments that we didn't have a chance to see last time (not that we would have wanted to walk around much in the freezing temperatures in January/February 2004).

The process has changed a little from last time so I'll attempt to list the steps as it is understood these days:

We will arrive in Kyiv (the official translation for Kiev was officially changed to Kyiv) on July 23. We will be met by our facilitator Vlad. He will get us settled into our apartment where we will stay for approximately 4-5 days.
Our appointment at the SDA (State Department of Adoption and Protection of Children's Rights of Ministry of Ukraine of Family, Youth and Sports...I dare you to try to say that in Ukrainian...haha) is on July 25th.
During our appointment, we will be shown files of children available for international adoption. They will show us any where from 4-10 files...depending on whatever criteria they use to determing who gets to see what and how many. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for this but, as with everything involving a Ukrainian adoption, we just go with the flow.
We will choose a child to visit from these files. The files include medical history, family information if known, and any other pertinent information that is known to the SDA.
After making a decision, we will wait ("wait" being the ONLY thing we can be sure of in Ukraine) for the SDA Director to sign a permission letter for us to travel to the region to visit the child. This typically takes anywhere from 1-5 days.
We will then travel to the region via train, plane or automobile...depending on where the region is located. Ukraine is roughly the size of Texas so we could end up traveling to a region 12 hours away.
When we arrive in the region we will have to get permission to visit the child from the person...who gives permission in these cases....haha...I can't remember what their title is.
After we secure the permission, we will visit the orphanage. We will meet with the Director of the orphanage and/or the orphanage physician. They will give us a more detailed description of health and history.
We will then (FINALLY) meet the child.
We will make the decision to adopt or not to adopt. If we choose not to adopt this child, we would then travel back to Kyiv and await another appointment (5-14 days) and start all over again. This, of course is not a path we wish to travel but it is a possibility.
If we decide to adopt then a whirlwind of paperwork ensues and a court date is scheduled usually within 2 weeks.
During the wait for court, we will visit our soon to be child daily and begin the attachment process.
When we finally go to court, the child will be declared legally our child....BUT...there is a mandatory 10 day wait. This period cannot be waived so we will continue with whatever our daily routine is.
After the 10 day wait, we will be issued the court decree. We can then obtain a passport and an amended birth certificate listing us as parents. This can sometimes take 2-3 days...sooner if we're lucky.
Once we have all the documents in hand, we can travel back to Kyiv.
In Kyiv, we have to get our child a physical at a clinic for the US visa.
We will then have an appointment at the US Embassy to obtain a visa for our new child to enter the US.
We are then free to travel home...yeah!!!
When we arrive in the US, our child's passport will receive a stamp signifying US citizen status.
We will then meet all of our family and friends who are waiting at the airport to welcome our new child home (hint....this is the best part of the trip so anyone that can make plans to be there, we would love it!!)
Then we take our child home and start our new life together...and we all live happily ever after...well, after we recover from jetlag that is.

That is how it will basically happen. There's alot of details and unknowns that will occur but we'll keep y'all informed as it happens.

I can't wait!!!

Lisa

Photos

2007-06-12T19:19:00.000-05:00

I thought I would practice posting pictures so I am proficient when we are in Ukraine. Here are a few recent photos of Lucas.

Map of Ukraine

2007-05-26T13:16:00.000-05:00

And it all begins again....

2007-05-25T22:44:00.000-05:00

We've created this website to chronicle our journey to Ukraine to adopt our daughter. We're excited to share this with our family and friends so they can participate in this incredible experience.

We leave for Ukraine on July 22, 2007. There are about 7 million things that need to be done before we leave but I'm sure we'll get it all done in time. We are so excited to see Ukraine again (this time in warmer weather), and we can't wait for Lucas to be back in his homeland. This will be a true family experience.

Thanks for joining us!!

Lisa, Chris & Lucas