What a cutie!

Here are a few pictures of Little O, taken in the last few days! She is a real cutie - with a huge amount of lung capacity for screaming! HA! I have to say that she IS the cutest little angel! When we first met her - it was tough to get a smile out of her - now she just won't stop!

Happy New Year !

Week One - and we survived!

Well... it's Friday! We have been home officially one week! AMAZING! And we have lived to tell about it! Tuesday, we had lots more snow! Though it is pretty - it can be expensive (I got stuck in Uncle Jim's driveway and after numerous attempts to pull me out - we decided to call a tow truck!) Wednesday - another fun day - we had WIND! 25-30 mph winds, which is nothing really out of the ordinary - except when there is a ton of powdery snow! We have some hills and gullies at our house that make things really interesting when this happens - like getting stuck! There was one drift on the driveway that was taller than me! I had a fun time digging out our chickens and duck, their pen was FULL of snow... and yes, literally, I had to dig them out! It was like a recovery mission after an avalanche! I almost gave up half way, and then I heard our wonder-duck quacking from inside his house 3 feet away, under 3 feet of snow..... long story short - no fowl or feathered casualties Wednesday!
Ok - I will get to little O.... she is doing GREAT! She is really active! She is not interested in tv... like our boys - so that means I am constantly on my toes chasing her around - good exercise now, but I am sure that in a week I will be exhausted!
When we first got home, she was pretty nervous around PJ, our dog- but now - she is following him around, giving him treats and feeding her unwanted meals (a big no-no) to him! He seems to like her so far!
O has started sleeping all night - which before she was getting us up between 2 and 4 am, which makes for a long day! John went back to work - so she is waking up when he is! Cute, except for the full load in her diapers first thing in the morning! She is currently sleeping in our room in a toddler bed... we decided to keep her with us for awhile- so she can feel safe knowing that we are right there, and we can also make sure that she is not getting out of bed!
She is slowly expanding on her choices while eating... so far, crackers, yogurt and certain baby foods are her choice! She is also a bonafide fan of Cheerios - the honey nut variety! She has not wanted to try any vegetables, but she will eat almost any fruit placed in front of her!
We have forgotten how busy a two year old is! She is all over the place, all the time! She is testing waters daily - like putting things in her mouth, opening things after she has been told no many times... and when she gets wound up - BITING! Ugh - that part is the worst! Today she bit me HARD - left a nice red mark! Sort of like puppy teeth - small but very effective! haha!
Her verbal skills will probably start improving soon... currently her vocabulary consists of baby babble, mama, papa, no-no, no and da.... When asked if she wants something that she likes, she will either nod her head or clap her hands... when her answer is no - she turns her head away... cute now - but probably going to drive us nuts later!

We are excited to start the new year! It should be exciting! Once we finish getting all our trip photos downloaded - we will add some here!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas!
O has been doing well and is trying to get back on a schedule! Last night we got the first full nights sleep since Tuesday! We are still really tired - but feeling better!

Here is a quick photo of Little O - still in the orphanage....

We will get another better one loaded soon!

To all, a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Day one at home!

Well - so much for the comforts of home!
O woke us up about 3am.... I got up with her at 4am and got her breakfast and kept her occupied so John could attempt to get another hour or so of sleep! Little J got up about 5am - as O was noisy! A slept until 7:30 - and did not hear a thing!
Some O facts!
O does not like to have blankets covering her!
O likes to feed herself! If you try to feed her - she will refuse and go hungry instead!
O is fascinated with the dog -but very fearful of him!
O can throw a monster fit! We call her Linda Blair (from the exorcist!) There are no demons left here!
O does NOT like car seats! Like another scene out of the Exorcist!
O enjoys A and Little J's toys more than her own!

We came home to about 12 inches of snow on the ground last night - and then we got about 6-7 inches over night Friday! John went out to start the tractor and clear the driveway so that we can get out of the garage! Lucky for him - Steve Kyllo, a really nice neighbor of ours came up and brought his little Kubota and had it done in no time! A nice Christmas present!
We are truly exhausted, got some severe jet lag, and have been going with little sleep each night - since Tuesday! It has been non-stop!
The journey has been worth it! We have a beautiful little girl and our family is complete! We are very blessed to have 3 wonderful children, a comfortable home and terrific network of family and friends!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Friday! Homeward bound!

Friday! We got up around 6am - as O made sure that sleeping in was prevented for all! We got our bags all put together and everyone showered... 8:30am we checked out an headed for McD's for breakfast! John is in love with the syrup they use for the pancakes here! We finally got O to drink some water and eat a little, but she is less feverish today!
We walked around the airport a bit - bought a few things.... ate a small lunch and then walked to the gate.
We were able to board a bit early - due to the fact that we had O! We got settled on the plane and started on the long flight (10hours) home!
Neither of us slept this flight - we just wanted to get home! O got a lot of sleep and felt 100% better! We had to force A to sleep - all he wanted to do was watch TV! I had to bribe him with for each hour he slept - he could watch an hour of the inflight tv!
They feed you alot on this flight! Everytime you turn around they are handing out a snack or meal of some sort! Oh well - since you have nothing better to do - might as well clog your body with airline food!
O slept thru the landing which made her automatically a US Citizen! We were so relieved to land and be back on home turf!
Customs and immigration went quick and painless!
We had about an hour to kill while waiting for our shuttle bus to take us home! The airport shuttle was FAST! I don't think that I felt the wheels hit the ground the whole way.. only took about 90 minutes - in a big bus! Usually takes us 2 hours in a car!
Uncle Jim picked us up at the bus drop off, we stopped by his house for a few minutes (though we don't really remember much!) and then picked up little J and PJ and went HOME! Such a great word! We finally got home!
We got to bed about 9pm - and it felt DAMN good to be in our own beds, in our own house and back to the place where we belong!

Amsterdam! Here we come!

Here is a short summary of Thursday!
Got up - we were able to sleep in a bit (like 4am - when O decided we should get up!) hung out- had yogurt and hot cereal. Enjoyed showers and watching news in English! For lunch we walked to the other McDonalds and stopped at the internet cafe to post the Wednesday news, and then headed back to the apartment to pack up to leave!
O was really tired all morning and just wanted to sleep. She looked sort of peaked. We got in the taxi around 2pm - enjoyed some Kyiv rush hour traffic and made it to the airport around 2:45pm. O slept the whole ride to the airport!
At the airport - you have to wait until atleast 2 hours before the flight to check in! So we had to stand around AFTER it took them 30 minutes to get us checked in - apparently A's passport had issues... ugh!
Got thru the customs and immigration and then just sat and waited until our flight was called.
O ran around a bit in the airport. We had tried really hard to get her to drink more water - as she had a fever and had hardly ate or drank anything all day... but she was not so interested in it!
Got on the flight - O promptly feel asleep on me. Our plane had some sort of navigational problem and they (KLM) had us pushed back from the gate onto some platform to wait for repairs... about an hour later we took off! O slept the whole time without a peep! She is quite the power thumb sucker - so her ears were fine for the flight!
We were so happy to get to Amsterdam! We spent the night in the airport at the transit hotel (Mercure) at $160 usd for 12 hours - you would expect something somewhat nice! HA! We had a room with no windows, 2 twin beds pushed together, a fold down bed for A and a small tv. Apparently the Chicago room was on the high end scale! hee hee! The really funny thing was that John was excited to watch some tv... for those of you who know A - he is addicted to tv - regardless what is on and will watch! John flipped thru the channels and ended on an "adult" channel! It was quite a shock for all of us! Funny - but a shock!
The night was pretty uneventful - O had a tough time - she was still running a fever and could not get too comfortable in bed with us and we could not sleep well either!
But- long story short - we made it! We will be taking off to Seattle tomorrow afternoon!
HOME - here we come!

Almost did not make it......

Today is Wednesday.... We arrived in Kiev at 6:05am and Era, our original translator was a welcome sight at the train station! She is a wonderful person! She just took charge - grabbed a suitcase and "A" and hauled off up the stairs! We began another day of hurry up and wait! We got into a taxi and was brisked off to a new flat.
We got the thrill of taking a shower, having some hot cereal, and they loading up in another taxi to head off for the medical exam (the mental exam should be done right before this point! Haha!) We get to some scary looking place with a ton of people waiting in the lobby, and everytime a door opens, 6 or 7 people try to beat each other threw the door! Since we were American and were with "O" - we had first priority (also helped that Era knows the Dr. personally!) This medical office is one of two that ALL immigrants have to go to get a medical exam to try for a Visa to travel oversees)
Anyhoo... I take little O back to the office, and the doctor speaks English, but chooses to talk mostly to Era... little O decides that she needs to fill the diaper at that point... lucky for me that I had all the necessary gear, and she was already on paper! Lucky for John that he was not the one that went back! haha!
The exam was super fast! I would not say that it was a very good exam - just fast!
After the exam - we rushed off to our 11am interview at the Embassy for the Visa! Made it a few minutes early and just filled out paperwork, while O and A played in the play area!
We were told to come back around 4pm to pick up the Visa.....
Needless to say - we did alot of running around for other unknown stuff!
The really ironic part about the day was lunch! Our taxi driver, Slava, took us to a cafeteria... it was funny because it was the first time eating out with "O" AND this was the same cafeteria we took A and Little J to for the first meal out 5 years ago! It was very bizarre!
We headed back to the Embassy, after looking for a stroller for O, which we had no luck finding one. We got to the Embassy a little late - about 4:15pm. It was dark outside and there was no one outside lined up or waiting.... My heart skipped a beat or two in panic! I ran up to the door to open - and it was locked.. I pulled on it a few times in panic and then a security guard appeared out of no where and told me that the Embassy was closed. Holy crap! I told him that I had to pick up that Visa today... The guard looked for the inside guards so that they could let me in - he had to pound on the wall and glass to wake the guy up... (great for security, nice to know how safe our Embassy is!) The inside guy let me in - made me do the scan for any sort of metal, phones, etc... then told me to go in.... I literally ran in... there was NO ONE inside waiting! No one at the windows... and some woman moping the floor. I was freaked out! I was frantically ringing the little bell at the window and then someone came out and helped me. She asked #1 - why was I so late! UGH... anyways - got the Visa! Yeehaw - we can leave tomorrow!
We headed back to the apartment to relax! Funny - relax! We hung out for awhile - let "O" run around then we walked down the hill to McDonald's!
Turns out - O does not appreciate the taste of McD's (not yet anyways!) It sure tasted good to us! Walked back - or atleast we walked and O was carried! Tried to go to sleep - which was a challenge - since O could not get comfortable!
Finally - the end is here and we are heading home tomorrow (Thursday!) We are soooo excited to get the heck outta here!

Tuesday - the continuation of Hurry up and WAIT!

Tuesday was another fun day in Ukraine! We had to get up at 12:45am to let our translator into the apartment - she had just gotten off of the train. We left the apartment at 7:45am to hurry and get some unknown piece of paper to take to the city where "O" was born. We got in a car driven by Yana's friend, Tolic. We start off by going to another mystery building - adding the ever present "rush fee" in a plain white folded piece of paper, and then we sit and WAIT! Apparently - the fee we paid does not include them opening early! haha! So we wait an hour - then go back, pick up some necessary paper and then proceed to the city where "O" was born. The drive was interesting... it reminded me of the Snoqualmie Valley, before all the development of course, there were HUGE plowed fields and orchards the whole way. The drive took about an hour and a half. We got to the city and then went to the office of unknown name - apparently some Civil records office. Paid for the "rush" - which instead of a few hours was supposed to be 15-20 minutes for a birth certificate! Well, apparently the typewriter (no that is not a typo!) broke and they needed someone to fix it. UGH. So - after the hurry and wait we got back in the car... Tolic was a little irked that it took a few hours instead of minutes... so he drive back to Zap. at Mach 3. Seemed like one near-death experience after another! I swear people here have no sense of "personal space" when they drive!
We got back to the city and then had to haul butt to get things notarized, and the passport application turned in so that we could have the passport for "O" by 5pm. Things had a way of working out - and we got the passport, had a quick dinner, since we had not eaten since 9am, and then hauled off to the orphange to pick up "O"!
We got to the orphanage at 6:15pm... we had to be on our train at 7:15pm - so the clock was ticking! We had "O" dressed and swept out of there before she could even have an idea of what was going on! Of course the caretakers stopped us to remind us of the donation they wanted us to make to her groupa... like we had time to pick up an electronic scale! haha! So, John threw a US $50 at her - which totally made her happy! And we hurried to the train station!
Lucky for us, the train was late! We got on the train at 7:30pm... Yana got called to head to another region to help another family - so she sent us back to Kyiv all by ourselves!
The train went pretty well.... O had to sleep with me on the bunk. Needless to say, she only screamed at the top of her lungs for about 45 minutes before she feel asleep!
What a day! But, she is officially ours! What a relief! One step closer to home!

Happy Birthday O!

Sunday was O's 2nd Birthday! We brought some cookies, juice and bananas for the kids in her groupa.... the kids sang a little song and danced around her.... she was not sure what to do! It was cute!
We bought her a little tiara to wear - which she REALLY liked!
Things have been moving along. We have been throwing away our clothes and stuff that we do not plan on bringing home! Coming here on the train was a huge eye-opener to how much we overpacked! It is really hard to get your stuff on those trains... add a 2 year old - and you have a real fiasco!
This is our last full day in Zapor.... unless things go badly tomorrow - we will be outta here Tuesday night on the overnight train to Kiev! YEEEEHAW!
So - until we get to Kiev, this is our last post and opportunity to read emails/comments! Thanks to everyone for your kind words and encouragement! Though it has been a journey - there is no place like HOME!
Little J - we will be home on FRIDAY to give you a big huge! We can't wait to see you! Be good and enjoy the 2 and a half feet of snow you got yesterday! WOW!
Love,
Mama, Papa, A and O

Happy Holidays to ALL!!!

Ground Hog Day .... yet again

Each day is something like ground hog day -the movie!
We get up at the same time, do the same thing at the same time.. it has got pretty darn boring! The weather switched back to the same cloudy and dreary weather! UGH! Oh well! In seven days we will be in Amsterdam if all goes well on Tuesday! On Tuesday we have to travel to the city where little "O" was born and complete some MORE paperwork! Then drive back here to Zap. and get everything stamped as official, get her a passport and then hop on the overnight train to Kiev.
We are outnumbered here in Zap! At the orphanage, there are currently 4 families adopting that are not from Ukraine... 2 from Spain and one from Germany.... We have not seen any new families in a week...
We did our 2 a day visit with "O" yesterday... before we were only visiting once due to the taxi time/fare and the times we could visit... so now we have a little different schedule on ground hog day!
Looks like we are going to take the Airport Shuttle home from Seattle.... thanks for the offers to pick us up )thanks Jenny!)
We miss home! We can't wait to see our little J!

Love,
Amy, John, A and O

Let there be sun!

We have finally seen some SUN!!! It is amazing how all the disgusting smells and sights don't seem so bad when you get a full hour or two of the SUN! Blue Skies and Sunshine! YEEHAW! The nice thing too is the taxi driver rolls the window down for a few minutes during the drive! hee hee! We have seen so little of the sun - it is amazing how much that you miss it!
Though we live in the windiest part of the state - at least we get to see the sun - even in the winter! We are on the countdown.... 7 days from today and if all goes well we leave Kiev and head to Amsterdam! We have been spending our days/hours doing about the same old things! We have been eating much better this trip - or we are much braver.. knock on wood - no illnesses!
We need to get "A" home - this trip was too long for him... not enough for him to do and too many distractions! He did not quite get the whole benefit out of this trip that we were hoping for - but he has seen some things that he will not forget! (so have we!)
We do miss everyone one- but most of all we miss Little J... it has been hard to be away from him this long! Hopefully he does not forget who we are!

Happy Holidays!!!

Good news Monday!

Today we spent over an hour on the phone and computer trying to figure out HOW we are going to get home! Our biggest challenge is getting 4 tickets on one flight.....
We finally contacted KLM in Kiev and managed to get the ticket for little "O".... it was amazingly cheaper than we thought it would be (yeah-no top ramen tonight!) and they were able to change our tickets! We are only able to get as far as Seattle..... the Yakima flights were booked out! So - if all goes well and all weather holds and we don't go insane - we should be in Seattle FRIDAY the 22! Please keep your fingers crossed for us! We have a few more hurdles to clear and then get back to Kiev for a non-stop day of exams and embassy visits.... then the next day we should be on a plane......... If we have any hick-ups... we won't be home until after xmas... ugh!
Please tell little J that we miss him soooo much and can't wait to see him!

Amy

ps- anyone got a spare toddler bed????????

The weekend

We have spent the weekend desperatly trying to get tickets changed and purchased with no luck... what a pain in the butt!
The weather has gotten colder and damper... so the days are getting more boring as we have to wait!
We bought "O" a sippy cup - which did not go over well until she figured out throwing a massive fit BEFORE drinking would be more fun!!!
Since she got the taste of the juice, it is a different story!
Saturday and Sunday - the days pretty much ran together! Hopefully on Monday we will have some luck with tickets!
Keep your fingers crossed!
Hoping to be home before 2007!

UGH!

Friday! IT's a......

BOY.. have the last two days been busy and crazy! Friday we went to court! They have a nice little cage/cell in the courtroom... we thought about putting "A" in it, but the judge probably would not appreciate the humor in it! We did get a picture though!
Court took about 20 minutes... only asked us a few questions... so it was less stressful than we thought! Yana came early in the morning on the train and then left after court....

We got to take "O" in a taxi to get passport photos! Things were fine until the actual photo! Lots of crying! Oh well!

So - we have another 10 days here in Zap, before we can bring home our new little GIRL!

Welcome O to our family!!!!

John and Amy

Catching up! Thursday!

We have been having a really tough time with the internet... sorry that we can't email people back as we would like to! Or even share much! It is a major challenge to get time in the cafes, AND to get onto sites and read email! Your patience gets extremely challenged!
Things are going fine here.. we pretty much have a schedule! It is the same each day.. so it is getting a little tiring!
Little "O" is doing better each day... more vocal and more fun!

A little toilet talk for you!

They have these joyous things called squat toilets here... I'd add a picture if I could - but we can't download! They are basically a hole in the ground... with some foot grippers... you get to squat over the hole and do your darndest to not pee on yourself! And say your leg muscles are tired - and you start shaking... all you can do is pray that you are not going to fall! The smell from these mystery holes is TREMENDOUS! You honestly take bathrooms for granted here! We like to choose our restaurants by the bathroom! haha!

Amy

Wednesday

Hello all!
Another exciting day! We got a better computer at a different internet cafe! Same smell - different locale!
We enjoyed our daily "O" visit today. It was a bit colder and very foggy today... we take "O" outside for about 20 minutes to walk the ground... it seems pretty exciting to "O" as i don't think that they let them out much! We have been bringing banana and some cookie-type crackers each day - and "O" really loves it! Let's hope that the appetite continues! "O" gets happier each visit and is showing more expression... though most everything is non-verbal - you defiently know what "NO" is!
We think that we will have court on Friday... 2 more days... and then we have a minimum 10 day waiting period... 4 or so days after that - we should be heading back - as long as the flights are not too full!
A few hints about "O"... "O" looks good in BLUE! "O" also likes A's toys!
We have met a few other families here... one from Colorado, one from Spain, and another from Germany... sort of like an international summit! haha!
Hope everyone back home is doing well! We can't wait to get back!

Monday/Tuesday

2 more days down! It is really tough to get time on the internet - you have to wait awhile if there is a line up = due to the kids all playing video games!
Things are pretty much on a schedule here - same stuff - different day!
We did have a few questions for folks back home:
* Joe- recycling is BIG here - you should see all the bottles lined up on the curbs! I will bring a picture back for you! Our BBQ's would not stand a chance!
*Kristy - you would have a WORLD of job security here! Neutering??? What's that??? Male dogs are pretty darn obvious!
* JenH - Thanks for the boot suggestion! They have been a lifesaver! Hope all is well!
*Jenny/JimC - thanks for taking time with little J for us! Could you email us A's spelling lists????? Sorry we missed the pie in the face stuff!
*GaryF - got any gameboy charging solutions???
*Nana and Grandpa - no color hints for about a week! haha - either way, we think that you will like "O"!

See everyone soon!

Saturday!

Here is some more info!
We have been enjoying LOTS of walking! Between trusting your life to the crazy taxi drivers - or attempting to cross the street - it is a challenge to get around - unless you walk and do not cross the street! haha!
On Saturdays- the markets (outside) are packed! It is really neat to walk around and see everything! Most of it is basically dollar store crap - but you get the best fruit and vegies from the outdoor market!
I wish that we could post some photos! We will when we get home!
We are unable to give anymore info on "O" until after we have court - so that is why we are not saying much on the blog.
We visit every day -and each visit gets better!
Saturday am - "O" was cranky and a little hacked off that we cut off the food! We brought grapes - bis mistake! A big mess! "O" likes M/M's! We will go back to banana for awhile! The orphanage is depressing sometimes - very dreary and colorless!

We had to post this on Monday - as the internet cafe connection sucks! It is SUPER slow!

Friday

Hello all!
We have survived an entire week! We are in a city that could be considered the "Detroit" of Ukraine - they have car manufacturing plants here - Chevy and Daewoo. You see lots of compact cars - Daewoos, Ladas, Chevys and unknown brands! Occasionally you will see a VW, SUV or BMW... but not too often! The streets are pretty crazy - and you take your life into your own hands when crossing - even in a cross walk!
The weather has been cool - but not bitter cold.. much warmer than at home!
We are staying in a high-rise apartment that is butt ugly on the outside - but really nice once you get into our apartment! We have hot water, a clothes washer, fridge.... and this AWESOME electric teakettle - it boils water in less than a minute!
Our translator, Yana - left us alone here for about a week... she took the overnight train back to Kiev to turn in more of our paperwork.... We are hoping to have paperwork back so that we can have court sometime next week... but - you never know what can happen here!
We found an internet cafe across the street and it "smells like teen spirit!" It is filled with teen-age boys playing interactive video games online - it slows everyones connections and the smell is overwhelming!
We found a somewhat decent restaurant - that has a menu in English - though no one here speaks it or can understand it... the translator book is getting plenty of usage!
We hope that little J is doing well.... hopefully he is enjoying the snow! We miss him alot!
A is having a good time so far - I think he enjoys being out of school! He has been playing with "O" during our visits - its cute!
The food has been ok - sometimes you get mystery meat! haha! We eat alot less here too!

Meeting "O" - Monday

Monday we arrived at the orphanage and met "O"....
Dr. Yuriy did a fairly quick exam and gave us more information about medical history.
"O" is 2 years old, has light hair and gray blue eyes... weighs about 20 pounds and is pretty meaty!
"O" took a little time to warm up to us - but after banana bribery - things went much better!
A enjoyed playing with "O" and had a blast! A can be pretty good with little kids!
Little J is going to like "O", they have something in common - ROCKING! haha!

Little J - we sure miss you! Hopefully - things will go by faster! See you soon!