Week Four!

We have had a fairly good week so far! Hard to believe it has been a month! O just got her official social security card! Yea! Now she can get a job! haha!
O has been testing the waters a bit this week! She had a major meltdown on Wednesday when we went to storytime at the library... she did NOT want to leave! I had to carry her out of there kicking and screaming - it was quite pleasant! Then, for the first time - she did the "you can't strap me in" thing in the car seat! Quite pleasant as well! Oh well! Her comprehension of language had really improved, but like any 2 year old - the word "no" is pretty much ignored! She can be really demanding of your attention at times - it is almost funny how she will walk up and pat your leg wanting to tell you or show you something....She is slowly learning the names and words for certain things... she has been trying to say her brothers names, and she is sort of close - but an outsider would not be able to figure out what she is saying! She continues to harass poor PJ the dog, the chasing him around with laundry baskets and her wagon has worn his patience out! He likes to get up on our bed to "hide" from her - since that is the only place she can't get to him!
Yesterday, she got to spend the day with her cousin, Georgie, who is 3 1/2... they did ok together.. the beginning was tough, as she is not used to someone who refuses to let go of her toy when she screams! Unlike her brothers, her cousin was fine with the screaming and would carry on as if it was nothing!
We are working on her bedroom, still trying to decide if we will leave her in a toddler bed, or move up to the big bed!
Overall - the month home has been good.. it has gone fast! We are thankful for our littlest angel! She has made the last two years plus of waiting finally seem worthwhile!

More sights and smells....

Upper left:
We affectionately called him "Libka-man"! At some point - we learned many years ago that "leeb-ka" was a fish. Every day about 10:30 or so - he would set up his little table with these HUGE, smelly carp! It stunk so bad! Every day we passed him! Usually, there was a cat sitting at the bottom of the table - just waiting! (though the fish were probably 3 times the weight of the cat!) A would get grossed out! Needless to say - he ate little or no fish on this trip!
Upper right:
From one smelly site to another! Ahhhh - the marvelous internet cafe! It had a very fragrant aroma that just begged you to run out and gasp for fresh air! There were about 12-15 computers inside, and from about 11:30am on - they were constantly filled with young men playing interactive video games online! And you think dial-up is slow! You can walk a letter somewhere faster than you can send it from here! Thankfully, it was pretty cheap at $1 USD for an hour!
And finally - this photo of A in front of the Ministry of Youth and Sport - aka - State Department for Adoption - aka the SDA or National Adoption Center in Kyiv!

a few more.....

Upper left picture is in front of the outdoor play "shed" for sake of a better word, that O's group was assigned. She was in group 19,20. During the winter though, the children did not really play on the outdoor playgrounds. Outdoor time was fairly brief and mostly they were bundled up in sixteen layers and walked around the grounds, which was something we did alot of!
Upper picture is in front of O's building. This building was not the main building, but the back building. O's group was on the second floor.
Ahhhh - the picture to the left! We had court on December 8th. If you were following the blog previously, you would have read the "cage" comment! Well..... bring on the cage! This was in the courtroom as you walked in. We really thought it would be funny to put A in it - but did not want to push our luck! haha!

Photos from Zaporizhzhya

Not the best picture! But -it gives a general idea! This picture was taken about 9am... about a block from the orphanage, and near the internet cafe, every morning they would start lining up the glass bottles from (I assume!) the night before! They were probably paid 1 ko-peck (about 1/20 of a cent USD) for each - depending on the size and brand! By the end of the afternoon - it would be completely lined full of bottles! At first we thought it was a great idea seeing that there was always garbage everywhere. Later, we started noticing how many people would hang around the dumpsters at the apartment building we stayed at. As soon as you dumped your garbage, there was usually someone nearby heading over to go through it. It was really sad. It really did amaze us that you would be walking around at 8 or 9 am and men would already be chugging away at a beer on the street! But, after a month - we were not even fazed! haha! We did buy a bottle of the beer, just to try - and it was pretty good... STRONG but good!

Photos- Kyiv

Here are a few quite belated photos from our first few days in Kyiv! The first one is a litttle obvious to what it is! A really loves McD's!
The second is in the St. Michael's Monastery. We have photos of A and Little J in front of this from 5 years ago! We tried to revisit a few sites that we went to back then - just to show A!
The weather did not cooperate much while we were in Kyiv - it was foggy the whole time... so many of our photos are not very pretty! But, it is an absolutely beautiful city! The buildings and cathedrals are amazing! It was unfortunate that we did not have the time to see more!
More photos coming!

Week 3 completed!

Well - though it feels like 3 months, it has only been 3 weeks since coming home! O is doing great, considering she and I are still getting over some funk that we probably brought home with us! She survived her first visit to the dentist and doctor, got her finger stuck in the lab - but no tears until she was all done!
She is exploring more and more each day... I don't think that she many fears at this point! She has determined that our dog, PJ, must be some sort of toy! She will chase him around the house by pushing an empty laundry basket! PJ will get stuck in a corner or smaller room and be trapped! Poor thing! He has been pretty patient with her so far! She likes to pet him and wag her finger at him and say "no-no" when he tries to take whatever she is eating!
This morning - the box of Cheerios dropped out of my hand and half the box spilled on the kitchen floor! Obviously - PJ was very excited and started to clean up the mess... but O was FURIOUS that he was eating HER cereal! After she was done with breakfast, she got down on the floor and found a few that he missed!
O wants so badly to go outside and explore, but it has been too dang cold here! She has pet the chickens a few times (not sure the chickens are sure WHAT she is yet!) and she loves to look out the windows at things.
Two nights ago, my wonderful husband said that he missed Ukraine! I almost fell out of my seat! He was the one who just wanted OUTTA there as soon as he got there! I know what he means though.. and I agree with something that AmyW posted on her blog awhile back....
You get into the lifestyle. It is so much simpler than ours here. You have alot less to worry about - your apartment is small, you don't have alot of trinkets or crap covering shelves, you own alot less clothes (and do less laundry!), you walk EVERYWHERE, you tend to eat less (since you don't know WHAT you are eating!) and things just seem alot more laid back! I have to agree with him that there are days when I wish we could switch back to the more simple life!
Ukraine recently started accepting adoption dossiers again - the first time in about 8 months and so there are lots of families who have been emailing asking about our experience... I can sum it up as this... It is like nothing you have ever done before, and your journey will be different than anyone elses doing the same thing! Each person has their own expectations, opinions and lessons learned, but one thing is always the same and that is you will have a wonderful story to tell and share when you get home!

Ahhhhh - another week down!

Officially - we have been home two weeks now! Feels like 2 months one minute and 2 hours the next! We have been enjoying a "real" winter! Cold weather, ice and snow! A and J are back in school, which is a life saver! O and I have been hanging out during the day - trying to get things done, running around town - the fun stuff!
We were fortunate to have Uncle Steve come over during New Years and celebrate a mini-xmas... the kids loved it! Got to watch the Seahawks actually WIN a game, and lit off snow fireworks!
Little J is VERY happy to have us home! He is not too excited about having a new-roomie, that being brother A! O is still bunking with us - drives us a little batty, but it is probably best for her for awhile! She has good nights and not-so good nights!
O has been enjoying all the sights of her new home... making nice with the dog (that she totally adores now!), trying to figure out what the horses are doing, wanting SO bad to pet the chickens, being mad at the ice when she slips on it, and meeting new people! She has been very resilient and takes everything in!
She has finally calmed down in the car seat - but will panic when everyone is getting out and she is last! She has not said too many understandable words yet - but she is pretty effective with her non-verbal communications! Her understanding of English is pretty good considering!

Again - thanks to everyone who has sent us congrats emails and kind words! They were so great to read while we were gone!