Saturday, February 12, 2011
Internet troubles
We're having some problems with internet here, but I wanted to do a quick post and let you know that all is well! More pics are coming, along with details of our days. We haven't heard about court yet but should hear on Monday. And no, sorry, but you won't see any faces until after court. :) In the meantime, "B" and "J" (the first initials of their new names) will continue to be very rude and only show you their backsides. ;)
Friday, February 11, 2011
An interesting 24 hours
Last night as we finished posting our power went out and then back on. A few minutes later we started smelling something burning. Upon investigation, there was smoke filling our stairwell. We were staying in the basement of a transitional housing place for older orphans, so we ran upstairs and woke one of the housemothers up. Since she didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Russian, we called the director and explained the situation. Apparently something had exploded in the wall, blowing out a chunk of the wall and leaving the upstairs without power. We still had power downstairs, but it was very smoky. Since we didn’t have any other place to stay, we went to bed a few hours later hoping nothing would catch fire.
Since we get to visit the girls twice a day during the week and once on Saturday and Sunday, we’ve decided to split the weekly visits so we visit each girl individually once a day and then have them together on the weekends. This way we get to know the girls individually but they also get some time together (they used to be in the same groupa but they aren’t anymore). This morning we visited with J. It was a really good visit since she’s been a little hesitant with us. As far as we know she’s never had anyone visit her for adoption but she’s seen plenty of friends be adopted. She’s not quite sure what to think of us, or even dare to hope that it might be her turn. The first time I referred to Mark and I as her mama and papa she just stared at me. But by the end of our visit she would smile and giggle when we said it, and would say my mama and my papa when looking through the picture book. :)
We visited with B in the afternoon, and she was SO excited to see us. While she is more energetic than J, she sat and colored, and looked through books, and sat and played with us without a problem. She is definitely no more energetic or hyperactive than any of our other kids have been when we’ve visited in the orphanage.
For those of you who may not have been through an adoption with us before, we won’t show any pictures of the girls’ faces until after court. We didn’t hear today when court will be so we should hear on Monday.
Since we get to visit the girls twice a day during the week and once on Saturday and Sunday, we’ve decided to split the weekly visits so we visit each girl individually once a day and then have them together on the weekends. This way we get to know the girls individually but they also get some time together (they used to be in the same groupa but they aren’t anymore). This morning we visited with J. It was a really good visit since she’s been a little hesitant with us. As far as we know she’s never had anyone visit her for adoption but she’s seen plenty of friends be adopted. She’s not quite sure what to think of us, or even dare to hope that it might be her turn. The first time I referred to Mark and I as her mama and papa she just stared at me. But by the end of our visit she would smile and giggle when we said it, and would say my mama and my papa when looking through the picture book. :)
We visited with B in the afternoon, and she was SO excited to see us. While she is more energetic than J, she sat and colored, and looked through books, and sat and played with us without a problem. She is definitely no more energetic or hyperactive than any of our other kids have been when we’ve visited in the orphanage.
For those of you who may not have been through an adoption with us before, we won’t show any pictures of the girls’ faces until after court. We didn’t hear today when court will be so we should hear on Monday.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thursday, the 10th
(I had to ask Mark what day it was about 6 times today, thus the title of the post!)
Today we got up and went to see the girls again at 9am. Sasha had to get more paperwork signed at the orphanage as well. We played with the girls for about an hour and a half and then took them back to their groupas. Then we had to wait for Sasha...until 1:30pm (yeah, again no eating or bathroom--prepare yourself, adoptive parents!).
We left the orphanage and went to the social worker's office again. We walked over to Amstor while Sasha stayed and worked on documents. They finished with those at about 3pm, and then we went to get the head lady's signature. I don't know who she was, but she didn't want to sign our documents! Finally they were signed and we hurried to the courthouse to file our documents before 5pm (it was 4:50 at this point). We dropped the social worker back off, then drove to the bus station to send our documents back to Kyiv.
We are allowed to visit the girls twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, but if you're following our schedule you'll see we've only been able to see them in the morning. However, we are done paperchasing for the moment and should be able to see them twice tomorrow. We are hopeful to maybe hear our court date tomorrow!
Today we got up and went to see the girls again at 9am. Sasha had to get more paperwork signed at the orphanage as well. We played with the girls for about an hour and a half and then took them back to their groupas. Then we had to wait for Sasha...until 1:30pm (yeah, again no eating or bathroom--prepare yourself, adoptive parents!).
We left the orphanage and went to the social worker's office again. We walked over to Amstor while Sasha stayed and worked on documents. They finished with those at about 3pm, and then we went to get the head lady's signature. I don't know who she was, but she didn't want to sign our documents! Finally they were signed and we hurried to the courthouse to file our documents before 5pm (it was 4:50 at this point). We dropped the social worker back off, then drove to the bus station to send our documents back to Kyiv.
We are allowed to visit the girls twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, but if you're following our schedule you'll see we've only been able to see them in the morning. However, we are done paperchasing for the moment and should be able to see them twice tomorrow. We are hopeful to maybe hear our court date tomorrow!
J on the left, B on the right. Like I said, B is tiny--she's a year older than J!
Slight delay (LONG)
...in my posting, that is. Namely because we went to sleep so that we could wake up at midnight and Skype with our kids. It was good to see and hear them, but next time I will stay up instead of going to sleep first. I couldn't get back to sleep until after 3:30am!
Okay, so backing way up (at least it feels that way on this end)...
At the train station we met up with Sasha, our in-region facilitator. She actually missed us because we blend in so well :) :) and called us frantic that we hadn't made it. We were standing in front of the train station, patiently waiting. :)
From the train station we went to the social worker's office. He is hysterical! Probably the most animated Ukrainian I have ever met and so funny. From his office, we went to the orphanage to meet the girls. We heard their medical history and then they brought in B. We were a little concerned about what to expect based on her description from the orphanage nurse and director. She is tiny and very sweet. The first thing she asked was if we were her mama and papa and if we were going to take her home that day. :( After a few minutes they brought J in (known to many of you as Candace) and she was quiet but playful. We then took the girls to another room to play for a little while. We really wanted to observe B in action based on what we had heard, as we weren't sure we were going to accept her referral. However, we saw nothing that led us to believe there would be any problems with her joining our family, so we accepted the referrals for both girls!
From there we went to the notary and then to McDonalds for lunch (we've had more McD's in this week than we ever do at home!) in the hopes of finding wi-fi (nope). Then to a post office, then to the notary, then to the social worker's office again, then to Amstor (like Walmart) while Sasha stayed at the social worker's. Then to our apartment (about 2:30pm). Then we finally got to go to the bathroom (yeah, we really hadn't gone since 8am that morning). :) :)
I did take pictures of the girls but I'm not posting those yet. Patience... :)
We didn't visit with the girls again that day since we were running around (we went back to Amstor when Sasha got back after more running around). Then a little bit of internetting and bed before getting up again to Skype with the kids. That brings us to today...
Okay, so backing way up (at least it feels that way on this end)...
At the train station we met up with Sasha, our in-region facilitator. She actually missed us because we blend in so well :) :) and called us frantic that we hadn't made it. We were standing in front of the train station, patiently waiting. :)
From the train station we went to the social worker's office. He is hysterical! Probably the most animated Ukrainian I have ever met and so funny. From his office, we went to the orphanage to meet the girls. We heard their medical history and then they brought in B. We were a little concerned about what to expect based on her description from the orphanage nurse and director. She is tiny and very sweet. The first thing she asked was if we were her mama and papa and if we were going to take her home that day. :( After a few minutes they brought J in (known to many of you as Candace) and she was quiet but playful. We then took the girls to another room to play for a little while. We really wanted to observe B in action based on what we had heard, as we weren't sure we were going to accept her referral. However, we saw nothing that led us to believe there would be any problems with her joining our family, so we accepted the referrals for both girls!
From there we went to the notary and then to McDonalds for lunch (we've had more McD's in this week than we ever do at home!) in the hopes of finding wi-fi (nope). Then to a post office, then to the notary, then to the social worker's office again, then to Amstor (like Walmart) while Sasha stayed at the social worker's. Then to our apartment (about 2:30pm). Then we finally got to go to the bathroom (yeah, we really hadn't gone since 8am that morning). :) :)
I did take pictures of the girls but I'm not posting those yet. Patience... :)
We didn't visit with the girls again that day since we were running around (we went back to Amstor when Sasha got back after more running around). Then a little bit of internetting and bed before getting up again to Skype with the kids. That brings us to today...
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
We are in region!
We are in the girls' city and have met them! I will make a longer post later tonight, with some more pictures, but for now am on borrowed internet. :)
Thank you for the prayers!
Thank you for the prayers!
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
On the train (backpost)
Once again, God has paved the way. I cannot begin to fathom why this adoption process has moved so smoothly when others don’t (including our first one!) but we are very thankful.
Our driver picked up our luggage at noon. The apartment service had called and said we could stay until 2pm, so we wandered around a bit before meeting back at the apartment to return the key. We then walked to the SDA. Right as we got to St Michael’s, Nicolai (Nico, our driver) called and said that our papers were ready and he would meet us at the SDA in 10 minutes. Of course we were already basically there, so we waited a few minutes for Nico, then went inside with him to get our papers. We also received from him money for Sasha (our in-region facilitator) and all of our documents to give to Sasha. On the way out we very briefly saw Luda, who I communicate with on a daily basis for RR. We didn’t actually meet, so I am hoping we can meet her on our way back through Kyiv.
We then went to the train station, hoping to make the train that would take us directly to the girls’ city. We were unable to get 2nd class tickets (4 to a compartment) but we were able to get 1st class tickets (2 to a compartment) for a little less than $200 total. Nico had to leave us at the train station to help a couple of other families get their referral papers. He was more than a little concerned that we would not be able to get on the train, but we reassured him that we were fine. After he left, we grabbed some food from inside the ticket hall (to the right of the main hall) and headed out to check on our train. Once the track was posted, we headed to our track and boarded the train. We knew what car number from our tickets (and Nico) so we got on and found our compartment. Now we’re sitting on the train, blogging (in Word) and playing games. I’m debating whether to leave the door open and deal with the smoke, or close it and deal with the heat. ;)
Sasha will pick us up in the morning and from there it’s on to the social worker and orphanage!
Our driver picked up our luggage at noon. The apartment service had called and said we could stay until 2pm, so we wandered around a bit before meeting back at the apartment to return the key. We then walked to the SDA. Right as we got to St Michael’s, Nicolai (Nico, our driver) called and said that our papers were ready and he would meet us at the SDA in 10 minutes. Of course we were already basically there, so we waited a few minutes for Nico, then went inside with him to get our papers. We also received from him money for Sasha (our in-region facilitator) and all of our documents to give to Sasha. On the way out we very briefly saw Luda, who I communicate with on a daily basis for RR. We didn’t actually meet, so I am hoping we can meet her on our way back through Kyiv.
We then went to the train station, hoping to make the train that would take us directly to the girls’ city. We were unable to get 2nd class tickets (4 to a compartment) but we were able to get 1st class tickets (2 to a compartment) for a little less than $200 total. Nico had to leave us at the train station to help a couple of other families get their referral papers. He was more than a little concerned that we would not be able to get on the train, but we reassured him that we were fine. After he left, we grabbed some food from inside the ticket hall (to the right of the main hall) and headed out to check on our train. Once the track was posted, we headed to our track and boarded the train. We knew what car number from our tickets (and Nico) so we got on and found our compartment. Now we’re sitting on the train, blogging (in Word) and playing games. I’m debating whether to leave the door open and deal with the smoke, or close it and deal with the heat. ;)
Sasha will pick us up in the morning and from there it’s on to the social worker and orphanage!
Prayer request
Well, you knew it couldn't take long, right? :)
If we are able to get our referrals early today (before 4pm) we will be able to take the train directly to where the girls are. If not, we will take a train to close to where they are and then drive another few hours.
Things are complicated by the fact that we need to be out of our apartment by noon (just got a call, now 2pm) but our train doesn't leave until this evening. We've got the luggage worked out (we're leaving it with our driver here in Kyiv since he'll take us to the train station) but it would be great if we could get our referral early and just take one train.
I probably won't be able to post again until tomorrow, but I'll update as soon as I can! :)
If we are able to get our referrals early today (before 4pm) we will be able to take the train directly to where the girls are. If not, we will take a train to close to where they are and then drive another few hours.
Things are complicated by the fact that we need to be out of our apartment by noon (just got a call, now 2pm) but our train doesn't leave until this evening. We've got the luggage worked out (we're leaving it with our driver here in Kyiv since he'll take us to the train station) but it would be great if we could get our referral early and just take one train.
I probably won't be able to post again until tomorrow, but I'll update as soon as I can! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)