Updating on Other Blog

We will be updating on our other blog now that we are home... Team Parker. I will make this blog public once Olivia and Celia's families are home with their girls.

Last Day Here

Our flight will hopefully be taking off in 5 hours. I cannot wait. Well, actually, I am not looking forward to the whole flying with kids thing, but I cannot wait to be home. About 26 more hours and we will be home. Home the place with all the foods I love, medicines in abundance, a washer and a dryer, a big bed, and of course, my dogs. Well, two of the three. The third is still off having special adventures with Amy, Milo and co.

We made the kids take a nap today. Neither of them wanted to, but Lena has not thrown a single tantrum since. Ilya has actually been worse. So, Lena not throwing a tantrum sounds great, right? Well, I'd really like it if she slept tonight. 9, 10, 11, 12, 1... still waiting.

We also discovered something else which makes Lena happy, quiet and well behaved... videos of babies. I had the idea because she gets so excited when she seems my sister and her baby on Skype. Yesterday, she was being bad, so my sister showed her my nephew and she was just mesmerized. Well, they both loved the videos of babies laughing, but Lena especially can't get enough. It's pretty adorable, she just puts her head on her elbows and smiles. We have had no success with any other kinds of videos, so I am glad this works. We need something which they'll sit calmly for.

Well, I need to go finish packing. I hope that all of our flights will be on time.

This is the video I wanted to show you yesterday, but had some trouble with...

How Things Are Going

We got all of the embassy stuff straightened out yesterday. Fortunately, an extremely nice and proficient woman works in Aaron's HR department. She got us taken care of. We also had an American helping us at the embassy. He was nice. Even a bit Mr. Rogers like.

The kids are still hard. Scratch that, Lena is still hard. Ilya has his moments... he talks to us in Russian and we don't understand. He gets upset over food. He can get really wound up. Yes, he just seems like a 3 year old. He can also be so cute. Like finding a piece of string on the floor and telling us it's a snake or how good he's gotten at signing "more please".

Lena on the other hand is really hard. Incredibly hard and frustrating at times. She has thrown two fits in the last hour. The first because I wouldn't let her play with dirty tissues and the second because she wanted to drink out of the big water bottle or Ilya's cup instead of her own-- they all just had water in them. We also had a fit today because she wanted to go the bathroom at the same time as Ilya. She will repeat behavior that she knows she should not do and will laugh until she has something taken away from her. I am hoping it is just because she's 3. I talked to my sister tonight and she was encouraging. I haven't felt in my right mind lately, so it was good to hear how she'd handle the situation. And that her bio kids act the same way. Lena still is not talking much. I am hoping that this because she was with children even younger than her at the orphanage and she needs to catch up. She has picked up some words and will use them without being prompted. She also seems very comfortable signing with us and will sign sometimes when she is upset too. The signs we're using are all pretty basic... "more" "please" "potty" "drink" "eat" "sleep" "wait" "no" "stop". They both have more, eat and please down very well and seem to understand the rest, but will rarely sign them to us.

Ilya drinks A LOT. 1-2 cups of water an hour. I am not sure why this is. He has only had two accidents during the day. The first was when we were walking home a few days ago and could not get him to a bathroom. The second was today, he was upset because we were waiting on dinner and Lena was upset. He cannot make it through the night now, but he has accepted this and will let us put diapers on him now. I am not worried about him making it through the night.

I am really ready for bed. I have not been feeling too great for the last couple of days.

Don't they make it look like everything is just perfect here?


I had a video of Ilya learning to count in English for you, but it won't process in Flickr, so you're just going to have to wait another day.

Not So Good Day

Today was a hard day. Not just as a parent and for the kids, but a hard day for us, just as people, trying to get all of the paperwork to get home.

We had to go to the embassy today. Our cab was supposed to come at 9:30. It pulled up at 9:52. We went downstairs at 9:30, Aaron waited out in the snow while I stood with the two kids in a very dirty staircase. Of course, Lena tripped and fell over into a pile of sludge just as Aaron came to tell us that the cab was there.

The embassy, ugh. I had paperwork to finishing filling out. Blanks that I wasn't sure how to fill in. Aaron took the kids to play. So, I wrote the same information a dozen more times and gave it all back to her, paid a ridiculous amount of money and then she asked me what proof we had of our healthcare and that it would cover the children's needs, because of their special needs. First of all, this is not something that we have ever been told we'd need. Not by Reece's Rainbow, not by the embassy. Why? Because's it's absurd... really just discrimination. She gave me a paper, which was clearly written for the embassy staff and clearly not even intended for immigration as an adopted child. She told me proof of sufficient income and showing them our insurance card are not enough. My blood was boiling, but I went to get Aaron and the kids. And we went to the clinic for their medical exams. Uneventful, boring even, but there was another American family there who we talked to for awhile. Such a sweet family, and they have a heart for older boys. The boy they're adopting is 15! They implied that they too left their hearts in the orphanage, all three of them-- mother, father and 10 year old bio son.

We did find out approximately what the kids weigh. They were weighed with all of their winter gear on and Lena was about 25lbs and Ilya about 37lbs. You have to subtract a couple of pounds for the coats, hats, boots, gloves, etc.

I got home and started emailing about our embassy situation. There are some really wonderful, helpful people out there. People with connections who just want to see children come home. I love these people who dedicate lots of time and energy to helping people like us-- tired and nervous in a foreign country. It sounds like the embassy fiasco will be taken care of. We did contact our insurance and Aaron's employer about getting this letter. That will be done. If that won't do the trick, more strings are being pulled by those lovely people I mentioned above. If you want more details about our embassy situation, if you are a family traveling soon, please contact me privately.

Both of the kids had hard days. I think they were tired. Ilya threw several fits today over weird things, like being asked to sit in his seat during lunch. Lena throws fits over more reasonable things, but she is very difficult to calm down. It seems like she needs to cry for 20 minutes before she will be okay. It is an encouragement to hear that this is a normal 3 year old thing... fits over nothing. I think I usually think of it as an effect of being in an orphanage because many of the fits are over things that most kids would not care about. Over food and sharing toys, and sometimes just when one of us wants to sit next to them. They think we'll take their toy away.

Lena's bedtime is really hard still. She seemed to be getting better the last few days... a little shorter and a little less fighting. Tonight was the worst night. I was actually kind of impressed by how hard she fought it... really, really fought it. We started signing with them today and what she always does is tries to get out of bed, and go out to where Aaron and Ilya are. She yells a combination of words, things I don't understand, but sometimes yells "papa" "mama". Tonight I signed and said "mama is here". I am not sure that it helps her now, but I think it will eventually. Lena is definitely picking up the signing too. I am using them as much as I can remember, just so they begin to learn them. She has shown me "please" and "eat" so far. Eat was completely out of the blue. Aaron got oranges out and she wanted another one so she signed "eat" to him!

I have some new videos, but honestly, I am just EXHAUSTED and feeling too lazy to post them.

The Good and the Bad

I'll start you off with the bad. Both kids had huge meltdowns today. Ilya's came in the morning. He was in the kitchen with Aaron, he ran into the living room where I was, threw a piece of cardboard and a few papers on the ground and ran back into the kitchen. I went to go get him to pick up the papers and he just started screaming and crying. I think he knew what he was doing was not okay to begin with and I wonder if he was expecting a far worse punishment. His "punishment" was sitting with me until he calmed down. It took awhile. He cried for at least twenty minutes. I think the whole situation over the past two days may have just hit him right then.

Lena's meltdown came in the evening, walking back from a fun night out. She just started crying and screaming and would not stop. Meredith Cornish tried to comfort her in her sling and gave her some hand warmers. But Lena just cried and cried and cried. She was cold, tired, and had to go to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Ilya kept telling us he had to go to the bathroom and Aaron and I argued over walking or taking a cab. Not our family's finest moment.

But, the good. Apart from the meltdowns, we had a good day. We decided to go out for lunch, to TGI Friday's. Not the greatest or cheapest restaurant, but Aaron and I have both been homesick for America food. Taking Ilya and Lena into TGI Fridays was so worth it too. Ilya was so excited about all of the food. It was like a scene out of a movie. I took this video when we were about halfway through the meal. I wish I had taken one when the waitress first brought out all of the food... total awe on Ilya's face.



After we ate lunch, we took the kids to the underground mall. That was fascinating for them. Of course, they liked the toys the best. Here they are, faces pressed up against the glass.





We still had some time to kill before meeting up with Meredith & co. so we got ice cream. They may have never had ice cream before, especially not chocolate. Oh boy. Another movie moment, this time with both of them. The sweetest part? We just got one cup and they shared it. Ilya would take a few bites, Lena would ask for it, and he'd hand it over. She'd take a couple of bites and hand it right back. I have to say that this surprised me a bit. I expected them to be more possessive of something so yummy, but nope. I love how they enjoy these experiences, but also are so good at sharing and taking care of each other.





We met up with Meredith, her newest daughter Aleksa, and her friend Chris. We walked to see all of the Christmas lights. The kids seemed a bit bored until we got to the huge Christmas tree and tons of characters dressed up. Santa everywhere. Ilya would hardly budge, he just wanted to stare at Santa. We walked along, down to this underground mall to get some dinner for Meredith and co. We were not hungry yet, but Meredith shared some of her fries with the kids. When we walked home was when Lena's meltdown began.





As I said before, she calmed down once we got home. We skyped with some family. First Aaron's sister, her husband and sobaka (dog). The kids enjoyed that. And when we were done, we skyped with my family- mom, sister and sister's kids minus one. That was fun too. The kids seem to have fun with each through skype, feeding each other crackers. Lena loves my sister's baby, too.

Bedtime with Lena seems to be getting a bit better every night. Tonight she still cried, but she fought me less. She eventually laid down on the pillow with a big smile on her face.

Ilya, wow, he impressed me tonight. We decided to wait to put him to bed until Lena was asleep and the screaming was over. We had the door to the bedroom open, where Lena and I were sitting. Aaron was folding laundry in the bathroom. Without being asked, Ilya picked up all of the toys, the computer, etc. and piled them neatly on the desk in the bedroom. He put the clothes on the bedroom floor in the suitcase. When he was done, he asked me if I wanted him to turn off the light, and I told him yes and thank you. He got a big smile on his face, obviously pleased to know that I was pleased, and shut the door. I have to say, sometimes I am shocked that he is only 3. He has his meltdowns and some bad behavior, but then he does something exceptional like that.

Meredith commented tonight that it is hard to believe they're just 11 months apart. I would have to agree! Lena is so small. People often refer to her as a baby and she can act like an older baby, crying to get her needs met and mimicking everything that the three of us do. Her behavior all seems normal if I think of her as 18 months old, instead of 3. Ilya on the other hand sometimes acts like a typical 3 year old, but he has moments like the one I described above, behavior which seem to be beyond his age. He also talks so much, and is happy to teach me Russian. We have a book with mostly just pictures and I will point to a photo and he will tell me what it is, I'll repeat the word back and if I say it right, he'll say "da" ("yes") and if I say it wrong, he'll repeat it again. Today when we were at the mall, someone's McDonalds bag fell off of their table and he picked it up and handed it back to them, without any kind of request. He seems to have a strong desire to have things orderly and to help others.

Yesterday and the Train

Yesterday was one of the craziest days in my life. Running around started at 8am. First to the court house to get the decree. I thought this would be a quick thing... what, maybe a half hour at the most? We waited. And waited. One hour. After another half hour, Sasha finally came out and had us sign something. She said that the judge did not want to come into today because the weather was bad and that was what took him so long. But, he did come in, finally.

Then, to do some dossier prep, as Sasha called it. That took another couple of hours. At this point I was getting nervous. It was nearly noon and we hadn't even started with the birth certificates, passports or bank. Soon we were done and off to get Lena's passport. That did not take long at all, and then off to get Ilya's. He was born in a town a little ways away and so we had to drive for about a half hour. His birth certificate took awhile. Around 2:30, we left and headed to the notary to copy the birth certificates. Around 3:30, we went to get the passports. I think it was about 4:30 when they were done. Cutting it close, because we still had to go to the bank and then pick up the kids. And the train was at 7. It was about 5:30 by the time we left the bank to get the kids and go. Around 6, we had them. Now an hour to get home which always takes about half an hour in good weather and yesterday was slick and icy. So, drop Sasha off so she can take a taxi to get us train tickets, a half hour home, run upstairs, grab everything and go. We got to the train station MINUTES before 7. It was like 6:50 and the driver told us to stay in the car. What?

Sasha came out and told us that the train was not until 7:50. Oh, wow. So, she translated a bunch of important stuff that we needed and then took me to get food for everyone. This was literally the first food that Aaron and I had eaten all day. Back to the car for a few minutes, Sasha says it is time to go. The ground was just inches of slush, so we had to carry the kids. Two kids, two BIG suitcases, my purse (stuffed completely full), our diaper bag, a grocery bag stuffed full of food, the two bags of food we had gotten at the cafe, a 6 liter jug of water and a duffel bag with some other things for the kids. It was A LOT of stuff. Four adults to carry all of that and two kids. Well, we all just loaded up. Aaron, Sasha and I got inside and where was the driver? Was he struggling to get our two heavy bags? So, we sent Aaron out to help him and then the driver called. He was already by our train and now Aaron was missing. Sasha ran out to get Aaron, and then we had to run to the train. Literally across the snow covered train tracks. If you know how train tracks at a train station are typically set, they are a few feet deep, down from the platform. Ugh. That was hard, meanwhile, Sasha was constantly yelling at us to run. We got to where the lady would take our tickets. I had them in my purse and set Lena down to get them out. The snow was not deep there at all, but we quickly learned that Lena needs to be held in an unfamiliar situation. She instantly started crying and only calmed down when I got her in the train cabin and held her. Sasha ran off the train, quickly. Hardly a goodbye, but she was afraid of getting stuck on the train.

My mom will give me a hard time again, for not getting a single photo of yesterday before our train ride, but Sasha was exhausted and just refused to let us get a photo of her. We were in the orphanage for such a short period of time. No opportunity to take photos or long goodbyes.

The orphanage staff was really wonderful. I am a huge fan of all of them. They lectured us saying that the kids should really have tights and scarves on. I can't say that I agree with that, but I love that they care. One of the ladies looked like she was near tears. She said bye to Lena, paused and came over and kissed her on top of her head.

The clothes we brought fit the kids well. Lena's 18 month pants are big. They are from Children's Place... anyone know if their clothes run big? Ilya has on a 3T shirt and 4T pants. Lena is OBSESSED with her boots. I am not sure if this because she is used to wearing shoes all the time or if she just really likes them. Obviously, we love both of them and can't imagine leaving either of them behind. But, I am SO glad that they have each other. In the car, just after leaving the orphanage, Ilya was obviously upset. Lena reached over and started stroking his face. The two of them were a riot in the train cabin together. Going back and forth, teasing each other with food. Most of the time, they play very well together and seem to enjoy each others' company. We are convinced that they are going to be the kind of siblings who are best friends.

The train ride was not so fun. The first couple of hours were good. Food and just hanging out. Around 10, we decided to try to get the kids to sleep. Dressed them in pjs and turned almost all of the lights out. They refused. We put on some music and eventually Ilya fell asleep. Well, Lena was wired. WIDE AWAKE. Doing flips on the bed, etc. We were taking turns with her-- Aaron walking her around in the train and me trying to get her to sleep. Finally, around 1:30, we decided to just make her sit there. I could tell she was getting tired. So, I held her on my lap and let her cry and scream. Eventually, I set her down next to me and she started rocking. If you have researched how children in an orphanage may behave, you know what I mean. I knew this was normal, so I just rubbed her back while she did it. She put her head on the pillow, gave her a sippy cup with some water and she was done. She let me keep one of my hands on her while she fell asleep, which I consider a good thing. We are trying to get her slowly used to physical affection without totally overwhelming her. It was 2am when she fell asleep. At 7:30, she woke up on her own. She had a sharp intake of breathe like she was a bit surprised about where she was (no kidding!) but she took my hand when I offered it to her and sat on my lap for a bit. She certainly displays some of the behaviors of a child who has been in an orphanage, but she also seems to be okay if we try to soothe her in some way. She loves to press buttons and she went to press the ones which light the gas stove today. She got a sharp "NYET" ("NO!") and started to slowly rock herself. But, she let me pick her up and she just put her head on my shoulder and all was fine.

We have learned that both of them are totally potty trained. Lena was okay with wearing the diaper at night. Ilya looked at us like we were the stupidest people in the world and told us something like "HEY, I'M A BIG BOY. NO DIAPERS!" But, he did fine and only got Aaron up once to take him to the bathroom. By the way, I think you should get an automatic parenting award for spending your first night with a potty trained child on the train, using the train bathrooms. In disgusting things I've done, train bathrooms rank right up there with gutting moldy houses and cleaning the house after a sick dog has been alone for a few hours. Combine that with two 3 year olds who touch everything and are way too big to sit on the grown up seat. Yes. Wonderful.

Sorry for this very long blog post. This is the short version of the last 30 hours. So much has happened and it is hard to really comprehend it all. I can't imagine how many "new" things these two have experienced since we picked them up. They're both doing so well.



I'll leave you with the cute picture of them looking at the train window this morning, taking it all in.

In Kiev

We're in Kiev, with the kids. I am going to blog mores later about our crazy, crazy day yesterday and our long night on the train. But for now, Aaron went to the grocery store and I am exhausted!

Today and Tomorrow

We met the McCoys today, adopting Celia. They are just as kind and wonderful in real life, as we thought they were. They live in Arizona, quite far from us, but they have family in our town. We hope to keep in touch with them, so our kids can grow up knowing each other. We have really enjoyed getting to meet so many different families here and hear what has led them to adoption.

Other that that, we've had a boring day. Some packing and stuff, getting things ready for tomorrow. I packed two little outfits. We also have two grocery bags of toys to give the children at the orphanage, thanks to the children and youth staff at Lawrence Heights Christian Church. They are also in the process of collecting shoes and other donations for this orphanage.

I am eager for tomorrow and also a bit um, anxious? Sasha arrives here at 4am! We will all go back to sleep for a bit and then start the document run at 8. I just really hope we can get it all done. I know we will if it is possible-- Sasha and our driver are really wonderful. I am sort of hoping for a day of down time before we head back to Kiev. We'd like to see the McCoys again and rest a bit.

A Very Good Day

It is only 11am here, but today is turning out to be a very good day.

Thanks to some wonderful friends at home, our house will be decorated for Christmas. It sounds so trivial, but coming home to a festive house will mean a lot to us. It is hard to get in the Christmas spirit here. We are not bombarded with the holidays like we are at home. We are doing out best to remember it is in 10 days and we listen to Christmas music often. Especially Sara Groves' FREE O Holy Night Tour. You can download it here. It is a wonderful mix of classic Christmas carols and her own music.

I am feeling way less sick today. I think I've coughed once all morning. I am so glad that I should have my energy up for Friday.

Our driver took us to the outdoor market. It was so much fun! I am glad we declined his offer to help us. Struggling to communicate can be a bit fun at times. We got boots for both kids, which were each $31.25 USD. That was about what we found them for at a store around the corner from us, but that store had few options in their sizes and we like the ones we got. We just wandered around the market for awhile, taking it all in. Lots of clothes for sale. That was most of it, at least in the section we were in. There were also ladies pushing little coffee carts for the vendors to warm up. I can't imagine being at one of those stands all day.

My mom will be mad... I did not take a single photo of the market. I wanted to wait until we were leaving, in case that was NOT okay with them. I did find this photo, which looks like the same market we went to. But, you have to imagine snow everywhere. A few inches on the ground and people shoveling it out of the way with whatever they had... brooms, dustpans or shovels.

After that, we asked our driver to stop at the grocery store. We wanted to get some gifts, like boxes of chocolate for the orphanage staff. One of the things I wanted to get was a children's book in Russian for them-- just to have as a keepsake. We looked at all of the books at the grocery store, not sure which one to buy or what they were able. But we found a children's alphabet book with all of the Russian letters. Very cute. We also got all of our major gifts covered. And we got diapers. Basically my whole list from yesterday has been done. A big relief.

We also got a call from Celia's papa today! They're here! I really fell in love with Celia while advocating about her on my blog. Meeting her during our visits at the orphanage just confirmed that she is just as special as I thought. Although we have not met them in person yet, Celia's family seems really wonderful too and I am so excited to get to know them and hear how their first meeting went with Celia. Just for clarification, her name is not really Celia, just like Scarlett Lena was not really Erika, the name we first identified her with. It is just a code name for internet protection.

The reality of Friday, picking Ilya and Lena up forever, is slowly hitting me. Setting out their clothes, packing our bags, it's all becoming a lot more real.

Still Quarantined and Good News

Sasha called us around 11 this morning telling us to be ready to go to the notary in a half hour. So, off we went, downstairs to meet our driver. We seemed to be getting closer to where Olivia's family is staying. "I wonder if we're picking them up?" Yes, we were. They needed to go to the notary too.

We went there to make a paper to apply for the kids' passports. It did not take long. It is so funny... Sasha translates the whole thing for us. Then we sign both papers. Then, they give us the official copies to sign. I am not sure what they do with the official copies, but I swear I saw them rip them up the first time we went to the notary. Like, please sign this. We need you to practice your signature before you sign anything official.

After we were done at the notary, the driver took Olivia's parents back to get ready for court and Aaron, Sasha and I hung out in the mall, waiting for him to come back. Sat there and talked, asking Sasha all of the questions I have been wanting answered. Very important things. Like what kind of vodka I should get my sister for Christmas.

Then the driver returned and off we went to run another errand, before heading home. Sasha wanted to take care of what she could for us today so that we can get everything possible done on Friday.

Our most exciting thing we did today is to book our tickets home! We'll be flying in to Kansas City at 6:40pm on Christmas Eve! I cannot wait!

I feel like we have so much to get done before we go. We want to get gifts for some of the people who have been good to us and Ilya and Lena. People at the orphanage, Sasha, our driver, Ilya and Lena's friends at the orphanage. Exchange some money. Try to find pull-ups. Market tomorrow for boots for the kids.

Before we left, I took all of the money and divided it up into envelopes marked for different things. "Facilitator." "Visas." "Passports." One of my envelopes was marked "Orphanage Donation/Dossier Prep" from the Reece's Rainbow handbook. Well, the orphanage donation was apparently a part of our facilitator fee and we do not need to give them an additional donation. The cost of our plane tickets was a bit more than expected. I believe because we are flying so close to Christmas. But without that extra fee, it all works out. Yay!

Quarantine

We showed up at the orphanage at our regular time. Aaron went upstairs to get Lena, while Olivia's parents and I waited downstairs for someone to get Ilya and Olivia. Aaron came back down about 10 minutes later and told us that the kids were in quarantine and we could not visit them.

Disappointing, especially for Olivia's family, who will only be here until tomorrow. And the kids will also be quarantined tomorrow.

We thought since we know had lots of time and a driver who we were already planning on paying for 3 hours, we'd stop at the supermarket and the outdoor market. Well, the outdoor market is closed on Mondays! So, we just stopped at the supermarket and were home by 11. A disappointing day, but I hope that the kids will be feeling better by the time we break them out and I'll be feeling 100% too!

More Q & A

How was the train ride from Kyiv to where you are now?
It was not bad, but very long-- 15 hours. We had first class tickets, because that is all Nikolei could get for us. The train left at 7:40. We slept for awhile, about 9:30 until about 5am for me. I was very concerned that we'd get off at the wrong place, which really should not have been a concern, because Sasha hopped on and got us. The bathrooms really are as disgusting as everyone says, though. Everything in them is wet. Bring hand sanitizer and wipes. 


What is your flat like in this city?
It is huge! We pay about $45USD/day. We have internet (obviously) and cable TV, which gets channels in many different languages. The English channels, either 1 or 2 of them, are not so good.

This is our kitchen, of course. Refrig, Stove, Microwave, Sink, no oven.


This is the living room. The couch pulls out into a second bed.


This is the washing machine in the bathroom, very small and no dryer. This thing shakes so hard it will knock off whatever is on top of it. And in this case, it disconnected a bit from the waterline and leaked a bit.


This is the bedroom, very big. The bed is futon-like and not super comfortable.


Do you get any sense of the general politics there?
No. Not really. There is a very big statute of Lenin, and then down a few blocks, there is a very big statue of Artoma, a revolution leader (don't ask me more about him!). 


What are you doing about language? Will you have them only speak English, or will you try to continue Ukrainian (or Russian)? Do they speak Russian as well as Ukrainian?
They'll speak all English. In this region, they only speak Russian. As I understand it, it is best for an adopted child to lose their first language and learn exclusively their parents' language to bond with their parents. If they want to relearn Russian or learn Ukrainian when they're older, we'd be happy to help them pursue that.


Are you taking a cab back/forth to the orphanage?
We have a driver. Same guy, every day. He waits at the orphanage during our visit. His name is Oleg and he is a great guy, so nice and tries to speak English to us. A taxi costs about $12.50 per visit. A driver costs about $22.50 + tip per visit. We tried a taxi the first day and he had to stop twice and ask for directions. Our taxi on the way home smelled horrible and I was about ready to vomit. Of course, most taxi drivers don't speak English and don't know we don't speak Russian. I didn't think I could deal with the surprise of a new taxi driver each day. We decided to hire a driver. Now, we share our driver with Olivia's family, which cuts the cost down a lot. I am very happy with our driver and he will stop wherever we ask for an additional cost, which is great for getting things like groceries.

No Camera and James

You all are going to be mad... I forgot the camera today!

James from Reece's Rainbow came by and played with us today. He was waiting for his grandmother to visit, as I could understand. And she never showed up. :( He is a very cute little boy. He and Ilya are buddies and were wrestling and throwing things at each other-- having a lot of fun like little boys do. He seems like such a sweet little boy. I know there is a family out there for him. Who is it?!?!

I'd be happy to tell any interested mamas and papas more about him. He is about 6 months older than Ilya and is about the same size, maybe even a tad bit smaller than him. 

The boys got pretty crazy. It was all a bit overwhelming. Lena just sat on my lap for awhile and we watched them. She clearly gets overwhelmed when things are a bit crazy... just wait til you get home and meet the dogs, Lena! 

For past few days, the kids have had a new game, running up the hall away from us. It is a bit exhausting and really just no fun for us grownups. I am really ready for "gotcha day" when we take them out of the orphanage. 

I should have clarified yesterday... I am not homesick, just ready to go home. That might not make sense, but you know how when you go on vacation, you reach a point where you're just ready to go home? Like that. I was totally exhausted today and I have a sore throat right now. I am missing the comforts of a grocery store with 30 different kinds of orange juice and the deliciousness of American comfort food. 

Please

Today's visit was just another normal visit. Lena was still being a bit more irritable than usual, but she was much better than yesterday.

Ilya is very cute with the girls. The girls were playing a rather trying game of running up the hall away from us today, to get us to chase them and pick them up. Ilya took it upon himself to bring them back a few times. Lena would respond to him going to get her and running back herself, but Ilya may have literally been trying to drag Olivia up the hall at one point. I think she was laughing, but someone intervened.


Ilya learned a new word today. "Please". He gets very demanding during our snacktime. "Caka, Caka, Sus, Sus, Caka". I was telling him "please" in Russian, trying to get him to say "Caka, please". Well, he wouldn't say it in Russian, so I thought I'd try English. And then he said it... "please!". All of the grownups just burst out laughing and he was sooo proud of himself. Huge smile. I think speech is a struggle for him, and he can be shy about it. After that, I asked Lena to say please when she wanted a cracker and the little copy cat said "crackers cheese!"

Lena sat on my lap for over a half hour eat crackers. Constantly. Ilya and Olivia got up and played. She watched but she was totally content to keep eating as long as I handed over another one when she said "crackers cheese!" I don't know how many crackers she ate, but it was a lot. I am not sure if it was out of hunger (certainly a possibility) or a security thing, wanting to know that there was food and she could have it. Eventually, she slowed down and I put them away. I think she may have kept on eating if I had let her, but I was able to put them away without much fussing.


I hate to sound whiny, but I am ready to go home. There are lots and lots of things which I am missing. Two and a half weeks is a long time to be gone and it'll be at least another two before we're home.

She's 3!

Today is Lena's 3rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Lena!


Apparently she was a very easy two year old, but she has officially started the terrible 3's. No, I am not kidding. She was a different little girl today. Hoarding all of the toys, getting very upset whenever someone took one. We think that she may have been very hungry, because she ate about 10 crackers at snacktime and seemed a lot better after that. Until they came to pick her up that is, then she broke down into full-on crying and screaming. She calmed down and helped clean up the toys. That is only the second time we've seen her really cry. And the first time we've seen her really be protective of toys.

This is when she was in a bad mood, hoarding all of the toys the could find!


We told her happy birthday, but we don't think she even knew it was her birthday until Sasha came by and wished her a happy birthday in Russian. Sasha told us how to say it so that we could tell her too. She just lit up when Sasha wished her a happy birthday!

Here is Lena with her new phone that we gave her as a birthday present...


I think Lena has worked her magic on Ilya and now he is wrapped around her tiny finger too. At snacktime, while Aaron was getting Ilya's snack for him, he said "Olenuska!!!" (which is a nickname that they call her from her full name Olena) and he said something in Russian to her, which we took to mean "it's snacktime!". He asked for some juice awhile later after snacktime, and without any prompting from her, he asked Aaron to get Lena some juice too! When she went to the bathroom, he took "her" book (which is really Olivia's)... the book she had been obsessed with and ran and hide. We thought he was just being naughty, but turns out, he was having fun with her. When she came back and found him hiding, we heard them both laughing and he gave her the book back right away. It is so nice to see them not just getting along, but also having fun together.

Olivia and her family are the ones who I mentioned joined us yesterday for visiting time and will probably be with us for the rest of our stay. I didn't want to mention it, because I wanted to let them update their blog and not spoil the surprise!

Here are Lena and Olivia sitting nicely together, playing with their phones. Of course, they switched phones. This was pretty adorable. Olivia got up at one point and Lena was yelling at her to come back.


Here is a video of the girls playing with their phones together. This is when Olivia got up, obviously, and hammed it up in front of my camera...


And here's Ilya, trying to get in on the girls' phone playing. They think his phone is too outdated to join in.


I managed to get this cute photo of Ilya today...


That boy hardly even slows down... See what I mean?

The Phone Walk

Our visit today was quite a bit different, as we have another family joining us now. It is nice to have company, but also difficult to share the same small space. We have developed something of a routine with Ilya and Lena and they were a bit confused this morning, as to why it has changed all of a sudden. I am sure it must be even harder for the other family, just getting acquainted with their daughter and having the distractions of four other people around!

Ilya fell and hit his head today. He jumps around like crazy on those foam blocks. We try to keep a close eye on him, but he is really something. The block he was on was just about 6 inches high, but he still starting crying. I went over and picked him up. I sat down on the couch with him and he just snuggled up to me, thumb in his mouth. He stopped crying and just sat there for a few minutes. He let me comfort him and kiss him. It was a bonding moment for us and a little lesson on what mamas do for him. I would describe him as independent for the most part... he acts like he doesn't need our help, so it was nice to see the other side of it today. And he was completely fine... back to jumping on the blocks 15 minutes later.



In case you don't know, we're celebrating another birthday tomorrow! The birthday of a certain sweet little redhead. We don't think we'll be able to do much for her birthday (because of the orphanage rules), but we did get her a special toy. A little phone which talks. "Priyet!" ("Hi!"). "Paka!" ("Bye!"). I think it plays some music too. We knew it would be the perfect birthday present after she stole someone else's new phone today.

Here is Lena's special I have a musical phone walk...


Here is a not-very-good-video of Ilya. I did not get any good videos or photos of him today... he is hard to catch!


Some of you have asked me what the orphanage looks like! This is the building...


They also have large grounds with a lot of playground equipment, a bit of which you can see here...


We've had a lot of people ask how we get around here, which I'll tell you about in a post soon. Anything else you want to know about?

WOOOHOOO!

The celebrating begins!

Reed Ilya Parker and Scarlett Lena Parker will officially join our family. (in ten days that is!)





Court was very quick, easy and totally freezing. Sasha said it was her quickest court trip! They didn't even ask us why we want to adopted when we are so young. Which we were totally anticipating. No questions about why we want to adopt or why Ukraine or anything. WOW!

Sasha said it is very possible that we will be home for Christmas. She hopes to send us to Kiev for our last 2-3 days on Monday the 20th. We would really like to be home for Christmas.

I have a special request... tomorrow is Aaron's birthday. He is very happy to be here adopting and excited about being a papa/father/zaza. But, he admitted he's still a bit homesick for red velvet cupcakes. Will you all wish him a happy birthday, please? He shares his birthday with his sister Rachel, who has been extremely supportive throughout the whole process... please wish her a happy birthday too!

The Weekend

We don't really do too much on the weekends. Yesterday, we went off to try to buy Ilya and Lena boots. We didn't bring them shoes, not knowing what size they'd wear. Ukrainians are very particular about how bundled up their children must be in the winter and so, we need to buy them decent winter boots when we break them out of the orphanage.

We went to the children's shoe store down below us and had some sticker shock. The shoes were American and from other countries... Sketchers, Clarks, Ecco. Nothing below $50 USD. So, we went to another store. The shoes were more like $20-35 there. Not as cute at all and they didn't have the sizes we needed in the shoes we liked the best. We certainly can buy shoes there, but we wanted to look around some more first. So, we walked around for awhile.

Anyone want to guess where we ate? I don't even remember the last time I ate at this chain at home, but here we are a bit desperate.



I saw this store after we ate. I think I know what that means!


We found another shoe store. Also about $50 for children's boots. So, we returned home to a night of watching television on the internet and eating grilled cheese.

Today, we ventured out to get lunch. Off to the pizza place, only to find out that they were closed. But, I had done some internet research and found another place I thought might have English menus. An Irish Pub. Not sure if they'd have anything that I could eat (I don't eat meat), but they certainly did. It looks like the kind of Irish Pub you'd find in the US. They have a whole several page alcohol menu. But their food menu... um, interesting? Dozens of kinds of sausages, two pages of sushi, and another two pages for sandwiches, ribs, pizza and salads. I thought I'd try another Caesar Salad and Pizza Margarita. Aaron got ribs. The Caesar dressing was not neon green this time. It was a bit watered down, but pretty good. All of the rest of the food was very good. Aaron had the most amazing baked potato. The Golden Lion. For those of you coming to Donetsk, check it out.

That was pretty much our day today. Eat. Do a bit of grocery shop. Now, who knows what?

Again

Aaron taught Lena a new word today. She caught on very quickly. I think he realized his mistake in teaching her... you teach her that and you can't ever put her down! What word, you ask...?


Lena sat on my lap for about an hour today! First, she wanted to play the upside down game. She hangs her head over my knees and every thirty seconds pulls herself up to look at me. I say "HI!" and she nods and says "da, da" (yes, yes). Then, I took out the camera to take a photo of the boys' monster creation. Well, she discovered how fun it is to watch the world through the camera. So, she sat there playing with the camera. Then, we gave her some juice and... she learned how to drink out of the sippy cup! YAYYY! She couldn't take the lid off with the camera in one hand, so she tried drinking it and figured it out. She seemed to be having fun with it. I hope we can get her to drink like that for awhile... at least until we get home.


They made up another fun game today. Lena was laying on the block that Ilya wanted. So...


This is the monstrosity that Ilya and Aaron built today. No way this would have so high without a little trouble maker staying on my lap.


But it had to fall over sometime...


We think Ilya calls Aaron "Zaza". You can hear him saying in the video. Today, he was trying to get Aaron to do something and he was saying "zaza! zaza!" And I said "papa?" And he said "zaza!" He also says "juice" like "seuss".

I really liked Lena's little jumper/pinafore today. It was a bit short to wear with just tights, though! The nanny brought a jacket down for her. A 2T this time. It was a bit big, but I think the 18-24m stuff we have for her should fit her nicely.

Some Questions Answered

What video camera are you using?
We just brought our Olympus Stylius 850SW and take both photos and video on that. We chose to bring this camera because it was designed to be nearly unbreakable. Waterproof, freezeproof, can stand a 5ft drop (and our trail guide tested that horse back riding last year!). We've used a Flip video camera in the past and the quality seems to be a bit better, but I am not sure if it's worth lugging both across the ocean!

Also, do you then use Flicker to upload them?
Yes, we've found Flickr is the best way to keep the picture and video quality high! We import the photos to iPhoto, select our favorites and then click "Share" and "Flickr" up in the top bar. With videos, you have to upload them to Flickr manually. I also highly recommend Flickr because if you ever lose your photos, you can download them again at a high quality resolution.

How long did it take the orphanage director to give the thumbs up to allow you to see the judge?
About 5 minutes? She asked us a few questions and we were good to go! We've only met the deputy director, but she seemed to have no problems with us. She will also have to testify at court that this is in Ilya and Lena's best interest. 


Are you still on to see the judge soon?
Yes! Next Monday! Please pray that it goes well for us. Our facilitator walked us through the whole thing, but I am still nervous about remembering everything that I have to say.

You had said something before about the 10 day wait being waived. Is that still possible and if so when will you know if it has been waived or that it won't be?
Well, someone who adopted from here 3 years ago told us that there is a prosecutor who always contests it if it is waved. And the length of time which we would have to wait then is 30 days! So they do not waive the wait. That was over 3 years ago, and we do not know if that applies to this specific region. We  only know of one family who adopted from this orphanage and their wait was not waived. We are planning for it not to be waived but praying that it is! If it is waived, we will know at the end of our court session, when the judge reads his decision.

Just a Snowy Day

The best part of today's visit might have been the hello I got from Lena... arms stretched out, running up the hall to greet me! She is such a cutie.


We brought Color Wonder markers today. They weren't crazy about them and it's easy to see why. We had gotten coloring sheets with them and the markers will only show up on certain parts of the color sheets in patterns. The markers also take several seconds to show up, which I think was frustrating for them because they thought they weren't working. Lena's outfit today would have been a lot better for coloring-- ink isn't so likely to show up on a patterned dress and dark tights!



Ilya seems to test us a lot. Trying to go through our things, asking to do the same thing over and over again and being told no over and over again, being very possessive of the toys we give him, but trying to take Lena's right out of her hands. But, he is very difficult one minute and then very helpful the next. He is clearly still just trying to figure out who we are and what we'll allow him to do. I have no doubt it'll ease up once he realizes what expectations we have for him, but boy is it exhausting right now!



Ilya's word for cracker sounds identical to the word for poop. We can tell by context which one he wants, but he must be very confused!


Someone mentioned bringing sippy cups instead of juice boxes. We bought sippy cups last weekend. But, they've never had sippy cups before and are used to drinking out of a regular cup. We showed them how to use the sippy cups, but they still prefer to just take the lid off because they get juice much faster. I think the ideal cups will be the kind with a lid and a straw. We have some at home, but I forgot them! They are used to straws, so I think that will be fine.

I took this video to show you how much Ilya talks in Russian. We have no idea what he is saying.


And it snowed today. Not too much. Which is how I like snow. Just a bit, thanks.


That is the university across the street from our apartment.

A Visit with Markers

Today, they were playing some kind of Christmas music for the kids. They brought the kids out and there were about 15 nannies... Aaron took this video of Lena. ;-) Dana's mom, especially, you will like this one!


We taught Lena some colors today. Have we told you that they don't bring us Ilya for about the first half hour? That is why we always have more Lena photos and videos. She is saying "black" but she is so quiet!


Lena seems to pay good attention to detail. You can hear how impressed I am in this video. And not to worry, she intentionally dumped the markers everywhere later. She is not always this organized.


Ilya came out and drew with us too. He traced a ruler.


A lot of people have asked us if they're brother and sister... our response was "not yet!" They may not be brother and sister biologically but they certainly act like it. Ilya always wants what Lena has. And Lena knows how to push his buttons. Here she is knocking over the blocks he set up and he is yelling at her.


I am feeling pretty tired after today's visit. We were talking about how we feel like we're trying to watch these two in a museum. The nannies yell at them if they get too loud. They tell Ilya not to climb on the blocks. And we try to keep everything, including the kids very clean. Hard with markers, crackers and juice. Any ideas on activities we can do which will remain quiet and not too messy?