Friday, August 10, 2007
It's official!!!
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
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
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Another day...or two..
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
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
Monday, August 6, 2007
Day 14!
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
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
Friday, August 3, 2007
Our day...
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.
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.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
A Special day
We awoke to a beautiful breezy day that dropped the temperature to 80F. On our way to the orphanage this morning, Lucas said “Ohhh…it’s winter in my country!”. Having experienced winter in “his” country, we thought this was extremely funny.
Emma seems to be opening up more and more every day. Today she was more talkative than she had been and she was singing and talking in Russian so fast. She didn’t seem to mind that we didn’t understand her, she just talked and talked. It was nice to hear. We played a game of hide-and-go-seek and she is so funny when it is her turn to be “it”. We use a tree to lean against and count and we catch her peeking to see where we are each hiding. It’s not like there are many places to hide in our little playground but it is fun for the kids and Chris and I get a kick out of watching them scream gleefully when they find each other. We also spent some time coloring and drawing in some books we brought from home. Lucas, with his meticulous nature, doesn’t seem to be impressed with Emma’s lack of coloring skills. I imagine she hasn’t had much practice. We also bring water and some sort of food item with us when we visit. Today we brought some pretzel-like biscuits and she enjoyed them very much. We are trying not to give her too much since we don’t want our visits to be associated with food only. We have to slow her down sometimes…yesterday she stuffed a large piece of banana in her mouth and ate it just to ensure she would get some more. We also have to keep her from eating the crumbs off the very dirty picnic table. This is something we experienced with Lucas so we are well equipped to deal with this one. She’s also getting more and more comfortable with us and she will climb up on our laps and give hugs and kisses…and she wants tickles!! Her laugh is infectious and she is keeping us in high spirits.
She seems to be understanding some of what we say as well. Perhaps not the words exactly but the meaning. Lucas discovered small sea shells under the brush in the playground and he was having a marvelous time collecting some to “take home”. He would find a few and put them in my hands to hold onto. Soon Emma was helping him find some as well. Chris said to her “Look Emma, Mama has all the shells and papa has none. Can you get me one?”. She was off looking as she had previously and we were sure she didn’t understand. Well, a few minutes later she plopped a tiny shell into his hands, smiled and skipped away to find some more. I think she’s a smart cookie!!
(I warn you that the following is perhaps a little on the sentimental side so readers beware!! Haha,)
Well, today is August 2nd. August 2nd is a very special day to me. It isn’t often that we recognize specific moments in time when our lives are altered and our direction is turned towards an unknown path. My life changed forever with a simple click of the mouse. Five years ago, on August 2nd, I was sitting at my computer contemplating our future. The week prior, our third cycle of invitro had failed and I was feeling hopeless and incredibly sad. I started surfing the internet for information on adoption. Chris and I had talked a little about adoption but only peripherally. Our plan was to have biological children and then adopt. He always wanted to adopt to give a child the chance he was given. I didn’t know the first thing about adopting domestically or internationally but I searched that night for any information I could find. I found much of the information to be confusing, scary, and not very helpful. After about 2 hours I was ready to call it a night. Just one more website, I said to myself, then I would go to bed. That website was Ukrainian Angels. I spent the next 2 hours browsing through the hundreds of pictures of beautiful children that had been adopted from Ukraine through the IUAFN (International Ukrainian Angels Family Network). That was the night I first read the name Cathy Harris. Her story was inspiring and I found myself awakening to the idea of adopting from Ukraine. I can tell you honestly, in those 2 hours, my want and desire for a biological child was wiped away forever. Truly…gone…never to return. That night was the beginning of our journey. A journey that I wouldn’t trade for anything in this world. I wish everyone was as fortunate as we are to experience this incredible ride. Our dreams have come true…who knew that all it would take was one simple click of a mouse.
Ok, enough of that! I’ve wiped away my tears and I’m ready to get back to the present. Lucas is wanting to eat (big surprise) and I need to go do what I was born to do…be his Mama!
Love to you all from Ukraine,
L, C, L & E
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
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
A day in the life...
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.
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!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
