We have a court date, ladies and gentlemen! We will fly back mid-November, stay just for court and then fly out again. There will be more than one of us partaking in the free beer on the transatlantic leg this time, let me tell you. We have to repeat that 36+ hour travel that I swear we just got back from only this time we aren't staying for two weeks between flights. We are barely staying two days.
And, no, we STILL don't get to bring Charlie home yet. We have a 10 day wait period once we pass court and, given the inevitability of weekends and holidays, that 10 days often turns into more like 14 days. Sometimes the 10 day wait starts the day of court; sometimes it starts the day after. Some judges will count weekends as part of the wait; some won't. Some courts will even completely waive the wait period; odds are (per our facilitator) ours won't. So we will have to make this lovely journey one. more. time. Yea...(insert sarcastic jazz hands here)...
However, once we pass court I can start posting pictures and other personal information about our beautiful boy and, let's be real, that's what y'all are all really waiting for anyway. So I look forward to introducing him to the world soon.
Until next time...
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
Home
After 36+ continuous hours of travel, we made it back home. We took a five hour train ride from Charlie's region back to Ki3v, arrived at 10 pm, drove to a hotel near the airport, slept for about three hours, hopped on a shuttle, took a three hour flight to Frankfurt, flew 10+ hours back to Texas and finally drove the hour and a half home. We got home at 4:30 pm and left the house an hour later so that we could get the girls to their soccer games. We got back to the house at 8:00 and crashed about an hour later.
Unfortunately there was no rest for the weary and we hit the ground running the next day. Real life was calling after almost two weeks away and we were back to work Friday morning. Needless to say we are both still a bit jet lagged and reeling from the trip. We are, nevertheless, SO happy to be home. We missed our girls, sleeping in our own bed and Mexican food. We are impatiently awaiting a court date so that we can plan our second of three trips. This trip should hopefully be a short one (there just for court) and while we are dreading the travel and subsequent exhaustion, we are anxious to be one step closer to bringing Charlie home. We took his measurements during our last visit so that we can make sure we bring appropriately sized clothes when we pick him up. He will have to change at the orphanage as the clothes he currently wears belong to the orphanage, not to Charlie. They'll be passed onto the next boy. It makes me sad that these boys don't even own the clothes on their back.
Though they will be fewer now that we are not in country, I'll definitely be posting updates as news comes in. In the meantime we will be sleeping as much as possible and brushing up on our Uk@inian language skills. Thanks to everyone for the continued thoughts and prayers; we couldn't do this without you!
Unfortunately there was no rest for the weary and we hit the ground running the next day. Real life was calling after almost two weeks away and we were back to work Friday morning. Needless to say we are both still a bit jet lagged and reeling from the trip. We are, nevertheless, SO happy to be home. We missed our girls, sleeping in our own bed and Mexican food. We are impatiently awaiting a court date so that we can plan our second of three trips. This trip should hopefully be a short one (there just for court) and while we are dreading the travel and subsequent exhaustion, we are anxious to be one step closer to bringing Charlie home. We took his measurements during our last visit so that we can make sure we bring appropriately sized clothes when we pick him up. He will have to change at the orphanage as the clothes he currently wears belong to the orphanage, not to Charlie. They'll be passed onto the next boy. It makes me sad that these boys don't even own the clothes on their back.
Though they will be fewer now that we are not in country, I'll definitely be posting updates as news comes in. In the meantime we will be sleeping as much as possible and brushing up on our Uk@inian language skills. Thanks to everyone for the continued thoughts and prayers; we couldn't do this without you!
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Day 8: We Celebrated with Cake
We went and visited again today. Charlie was pretty indifferent and uninterested. We brought all of our toys today since this was going to be the last visit and told him he could take them with him. He ended the visit early by packing up what he wanted (which wasn't much) and then told us to call the nanny. He did give us a each a big hug and kiss as he left so we ended on a good note. Our biggest concern today was that, without our facilitator, Charlie wouldn't understand why we weren't showing up anymore. We had planned to address this with our facilitator when we spoke to him later. The orphanage, however, had already considered this and called to say they wanted our facilitator to bring us back so that we could tell Charlie what was happening.
I cannot begin to tell you how happy this makes me. The orphanage didn't have to care. But they do. I honestly feel like they do. I know that nothing can take the place of a family but if I have to leave Charlie somewhere until we can get him home to his family, I'm glad it is this place. He isn't tied to a bed. He isn't malnourished, beaten or drugged. Most of the fears I had going into this have thus far been unfounded and for that I am thankful.
All our bags are packed and we are ready to go. Eager to head home but sad to say goodbye, even though we know it is only temporary. We made one last stop at the grocery store to pick up supplies for our last homemade meal and, on an impulse, decided to top off the festivities with cake. =)
I cannot begin to tell you how happy this makes me. The orphanage didn't have to care. But they do. I honestly feel like they do. I know that nothing can take the place of a family but if I have to leave Charlie somewhere until we can get him home to his family, I'm glad it is this place. He isn't tied to a bed. He isn't malnourished, beaten or drugged. Most of the fears I had going into this have thus far been unfounded and for that I am thankful.
All our bags are packed and we are ready to go. Eager to head home but sad to say goodbye, even though we know it is only temporary. We made one last stop at the grocery store to pick up supplies for our last homemade meal and, on an impulse, decided to top off the festivities with cake. =)
We thank you so much, U, for your hospitality. We'll see you again soon.
Monday, October 17, 2016
Day 7: A Change in Routine
We didn't visit today. I think both Brent and I were glad. We all needed a small break and change in the routine for a day. We did go to the orphanage but spent the time convincing the director to sign off on our paperwork. We sat for two hours while the director postulated about every possible what if, from stubbed toenails to alien invasion and what Charlie is supposed to do if he's left by himself in each of those situations. When we finally told him, well, it's survival of the fittest, he picked up his little pen and signed whatever we asked him to.
I'm kidding. But only about mouthing off to the director. Our facilitator told us on the car ride to file our paperwork that the director really was worried about every possible scenario. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad he was worried and not just eager to pass this kid off to whoever walked through the guard gate but is the zombie apocalypse really a valid concern here???
We went into the city to file our paperwork and got back to the apartment late this afternoon. We'll go visit tomorrow; our goal is to somehow make sure that Charlie knows we are coming back for him. Then we'll pack it up, take an evening train back to Ki3v and fly home!!! All that will be left to do is wait for a court date. Here's hoping for speedy processing...
I'm kidding. But only about mouthing off to the director. Our facilitator told us on the car ride to file our paperwork that the director really was worried about every possible scenario. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad he was worried and not just eager to pass this kid off to whoever walked through the guard gate but is the zombie apocalypse really a valid concern here???
We went into the city to file our paperwork and got back to the apartment late this afternoon. We'll go visit tomorrow; our goal is to somehow make sure that Charlie knows we are coming back for him. Then we'll pack it up, take an evening train back to Ki3v and fly home!!! All that will be left to do is wait for a court date. Here's hoping for speedy processing...
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Day 6: Meltdown
(I will preface this post by saying, in the grand scheme of things, today really wasn't that bad. But, in our little world here, today we all hit rock bottom.)
Charlie had a meltdown today. We had expected it and could see it coming so we weren't surprised when he fell apart. We were stuck in that same little room AGAIN and weren't allowed to go outside AGAIN. It's the weekend, there's different staff and it seemed like a different schedule so we aren't sure if we were interrupting something fun but at one point Charlie got up, waved and said, poka (bye) and walked out the door. Now he didn't put on his jacket and hat prior to doing this so he really had no real intention of leaving. He was just testing us. He was testing us for the entire two hours. At one point he hit Brent with something and, very calmly but firmly, Brent took it away. Charlie did not like that. He had a small temper tantrum and the whole time I just wanted to tell him, trust me, Buddy, I feel exactly the same way; I totally get it. Because truth be told, at this point I want to have a hissy fit, too. We are all so over all of this it is not even funny. We bought six bottles of beer on the way home (which cost all of $2, by the way) and I'm almost positive we are likely to finish them all tonight.
It's time to go home, y'all.
Brent's 2 cents ( I don't contribute much) - the tantrum lasted all of 2 minutes.... but it was the longest 2 minutes of my life. I have ZERO patience for misbehaving. I know he was testing me, but he was obviously not testing Mary, and that was hard for me. I get it, I am the new figure in his life, he is used to being around around women so she is not the novelty. Yea me...the novelty, the focus of all his curiosities and boundary testing. Sigh, this is WAAAAAAYYYYY outside my comfort zone. I got through it, I kept my cool and we ended up with a high five, handshake and a hug. We don't speak the same language, but we have figured out that those gestures are our way of saying "we are cool."
So I guess I can bump my patience scale up to 0.5/10.
Closing note: Brent is my hero. I am not sure where he is stashing his cape on this trip but I have never been more in awe of him in the 10+ years we have known each other. He has had more poise, more patience and more confidence than I have ever seen him have. He's amazing. Lastly, with what Charlie is capable of despite almost 12 years of orphanage-ing, he will definitely be force to reckon with once we get him home. It's hard but oh so worth it.
Charlie had a meltdown today. We had expected it and could see it coming so we weren't surprised when he fell apart. We were stuck in that same little room AGAIN and weren't allowed to go outside AGAIN. It's the weekend, there's different staff and it seemed like a different schedule so we aren't sure if we were interrupting something fun but at one point Charlie got up, waved and said, poka (bye) and walked out the door. Now he didn't put on his jacket and hat prior to doing this so he really had no real intention of leaving. He was just testing us. He was testing us for the entire two hours. At one point he hit Brent with something and, very calmly but firmly, Brent took it away. Charlie did not like that. He had a small temper tantrum and the whole time I just wanted to tell him, trust me, Buddy, I feel exactly the same way; I totally get it. Because truth be told, at this point I want to have a hissy fit, too. We are all so over all of this it is not even funny. We bought six bottles of beer on the way home (which cost all of $2, by the way) and I'm almost positive we are likely to finish them all tonight.
It's time to go home, y'all.
Brent's 2 cents ( I don't contribute much) - the tantrum lasted all of 2 minutes.... but it was the longest 2 minutes of my life. I have ZERO patience for misbehaving. I know he was testing me, but he was obviously not testing Mary, and that was hard for me. I get it, I am the new figure in his life, he is used to being around around women so she is not the novelty. Yea me...the novelty, the focus of all his curiosities and boundary testing. Sigh, this is WAAAAAAYYYYY outside my comfort zone. I got through it, I kept my cool and we ended up with a high five, handshake and a hug. We don't speak the same language, but we have figured out that those gestures are our way of saying "we are cool."
So I guess I can bump my patience scale up to 0.5/10.
Closing note: Brent is my hero. I am not sure where he is stashing his cape on this trip but I have never been more in awe of him in the 10+ years we have known each other. He has had more poise, more patience and more confidence than I have ever seen him have. He's amazing. Lastly, with what Charlie is capable of despite almost 12 years of orphanage-ing, he will definitely be force to reckon with once we get him home. It's hard but oh so worth it.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Day 5: Groundhog Day
We had another good visit today though they still didn't let us go outside. The nanny said it was too cold. I wanted to tell her that he is dressed in tights, jeans, an undershirt, a regular shirt, a sweatshirt, a ski jacket and a winter hat. Nuclear weapons couldn't penetrate that, much less the cold weather. But whatever. We'll stay inside in this tiny little room with nothing to do. =/
Charlie had a verbal explosion today. He was not only speaking in complete sentences but he also used multiple English words that we have been working on all week. Now mind you that we still don't understand 90% of what he is saying but at least now we don't understand in complete sentences!!! The nanny allowed him to walk with us to the gate again today and when we got there the nanny told him it was time to say bye so he could go eat and nap (between the words we are picking up and the pantomiming we are starting to at least get the general idea of what people are saying). He very obviously told her, no he was going with us, in a car and then on a plane. We were very excited that he was so excited to come with us. Hopefully this means Gotcha Day and the trip home will go smoothly.
It's beginning to feel a bit like Groundhog Day here. The days are all the same and though we've been here less than a week it feels like a month. Today we got up, ate breakfast, got dressed, did a load of laundry, drove 30+ minutes to the orphanage, visited Charlie for two hours, drove back to town, ate lunch, walked over six miles, went to the grocery store and walked back home...and it was only 4:00 pm. Yesterday we watched like three movies. Don't get me wrong, we adore Charlie and love spending time with him but it is time to go home. Fortunately we got our plane tickets home booked last night so at least there is an end in sight.
I'll end with a some pictures that we took on our walk around town today. We found some very pretty spots and great photo ops.
Charlie had a verbal explosion today. He was not only speaking in complete sentences but he also used multiple English words that we have been working on all week. Now mind you that we still don't understand 90% of what he is saying but at least now we don't understand in complete sentences!!! The nanny allowed him to walk with us to the gate again today and when we got there the nanny told him it was time to say bye so he could go eat and nap (between the words we are picking up and the pantomiming we are starting to at least get the general idea of what people are saying). He very obviously told her, no he was going with us, in a car and then on a plane. We were very excited that he was so excited to come with us. Hopefully this means Gotcha Day and the trip home will go smoothly.
It's beginning to feel a bit like Groundhog Day here. The days are all the same and though we've been here less than a week it feels like a month. Today we got up, ate breakfast, got dressed, did a load of laundry, drove 30+ minutes to the orphanage, visited Charlie for two hours, drove back to town, ate lunch, walked over six miles, went to the grocery store and walked back home...and it was only 4:00 pm. Yesterday we watched like three movies. Don't get me wrong, we adore Charlie and love spending time with him but it is time to go home. Fortunately we got our plane tickets home booked last night so at least there is an end in sight.
I'll end with a some pictures that we took on our walk around town today. We found some very pretty spots and great photo ops.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Day 4: Nyet
Nyet. It means no. We said that a lot today. Charlie's favorite activity, as I said before, is playing on our phones. But we don't want to spend the entire two hour visit playing on a phone. It's not something we like to do with the girls and not a precedent we want to set with Charlie. Though we did pack some toys, we weren't sure what his interests would be exactly and we had to pack what would fit in our suitcases. On top of that we have been stuck in one small room filled with nothing but gym equipment that only kind of works. Add the two together and that makes for some very long visits after four days. Nevertheless we came armed today with a game plan that we were gonna stick to, darn it.
And the minute we walk in the room...Charlie asks for the phone. =/
We told him no. He did not like that much. He was definitely testing us today to see if we meant what we said. Anyone that knows us knows that we do and, once he saw we weren't giving in, he decided to see what else we had brought with us. We ended up playing for quite awhile and let him have the phone for the last half hour. Our facilitator was here today so he went over our family photo album with Charlie so he could explain in more detail who everyone was. We did ask, since the weather is supposed to be nice, if tomorrow we could venture outside. We were given a tentative yes so I'm really hoping they allow us to play outdoors, even if it's just for half an hour. We walked to the local toy store and bought a soccer ball and some puzzles so that we would have new things to do over the weekend. We've also brought the snacks recommended by the orphanage and while he loves the juice, he has no interest in the bananas. Charlie's teacher allowed him to walk with us to the gate today - further evidence that they are preparing him for things to come.
I asked our facilitator today on the way back to the apartment what he thought of the orphanage. We are the first family to adopt from this place so he had never been here before. He, like us, was pleasantly surprised at the conditions, especially considering how rural the location is. This has been a huge blessing as I had steeled myself for some really horrible things and we haven't seen any. We hope that, by sending pictures and letters of Charlie blossoming at home back to the orphanage, they will be open to listing other children there so that they, too, can find families. Currently Charlie is the only child there who is available for adoption and there are 120 boys and men who live at this institution.
Our facilitator took us around town for one last sweep of the shops after our visit. We wanted to have someone who could help us pick out good local foods and such to cook over the weekend. We took a long walk around the town and took some pictures along the banks of the Dnieper River.
Our facilitator offered to buy some bus tickets for us so we could travel into town over the weekend and check out the local fare but we were terrified we'd never find our way back on our own. Our last visit this trip will be Monday and we hope to fly home mid-week. We've truly enjoyed meeting and spending time with Charlie but we are ready to go home.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we wrap up this trip. Pray for a safe trip home. Pray that Charlie has been well prepared for our absence and doesn't think we've abandoned him. Pray for our girls at home who miss us as much as we miss them. And pray for my poor mother who is holding down the fort and probably needs a really large, stiff drink by now.
And the minute we walk in the room...Charlie asks for the phone. =/
We told him no. He did not like that much. He was definitely testing us today to see if we meant what we said. Anyone that knows us knows that we do and, once he saw we weren't giving in, he decided to see what else we had brought with us. We ended up playing for quite awhile and let him have the phone for the last half hour. Our facilitator was here today so he went over our family photo album with Charlie so he could explain in more detail who everyone was. We did ask, since the weather is supposed to be nice, if tomorrow we could venture outside. We were given a tentative yes so I'm really hoping they allow us to play outdoors, even if it's just for half an hour. We walked to the local toy store and bought a soccer ball and some puzzles so that we would have new things to do over the weekend. We've also brought the snacks recommended by the orphanage and while he loves the juice, he has no interest in the bananas. Charlie's teacher allowed him to walk with us to the gate today - further evidence that they are preparing him for things to come.
I asked our facilitator today on the way back to the apartment what he thought of the orphanage. We are the first family to adopt from this place so he had never been here before. He, like us, was pleasantly surprised at the conditions, especially considering how rural the location is. This has been a huge blessing as I had steeled myself for some really horrible things and we haven't seen any. We hope that, by sending pictures and letters of Charlie blossoming at home back to the orphanage, they will be open to listing other children there so that they, too, can find families. Currently Charlie is the only child there who is available for adoption and there are 120 boys and men who live at this institution.
Our facilitator took us around town for one last sweep of the shops after our visit. We wanted to have someone who could help us pick out good local foods and such to cook over the weekend. We took a long walk around the town and took some pictures along the banks of the Dnieper River.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we wrap up this trip. Pray for a safe trip home. Pray that Charlie has been well prepared for our absence and doesn't think we've abandoned him. Pray for our girls at home who miss us as much as we miss them. And pray for my poor mother who is holding down the fort and probably needs a really large, stiff drink by now.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Day 3, Part 2: Visit Numero Dos
Today's visit with Charlie was just as great as yesterday's. He was very happy to see us again and it was obvious that the orphanage staff had been prepping him for what lies ahead. They were referring to us today as Mary, Mama and Brent, Papa whereas yesterday we were just Mary and Brent. Charlie also kept repeating that Brent was going to take him on a car ride and then on an airplane. We took the cue and helped him draw things out on paper since a number of things are still lost in translation verbally. This is a really good development because, remember, the orphanage staff were very skeptical of us yesterday. Our visit yesterday must have convinced them that we don't completely suck.
Though we came prepared with lots of toys, Charlie's favorite thing to do by far is to watch family videos and look at family photos on our phones. The ones he likes best are the ones of the girls playing soccer, swimming and riding horses. We had to eventually tell him it was time to put the phones away or he would have spent the entire two hours playing on them. It was rainy and cold today so we were unfortunately stuck inside but still managed to play a little indoor game of catch and volleyball. Kid's got an arm. We had to tell him to tone it down at one point as we were afraid he was going to break something with the ball he was throwing and kicking it so hard.
I again took lots of photos and videos that I wish I could post. I tried to get some purposeful footage of Charlie doing specific things so that I can show it to his future educators and therapists and they can get a better idea of what he knows and can do. Which is A LOT. He's amazing.
We will visit once a day until Monday when hopefully the director will decide we are as amazing as Charlie is and give us his paperwork so we can set our court date. I will be posting updates in the meantime. Until next time...
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| As you can see from my Louvre-worthy artwork, Charlie should have no doubts about his journey home. Brent told me my stick figure looked like one of the Minions... |
Though we came prepared with lots of toys, Charlie's favorite thing to do by far is to watch family videos and look at family photos on our phones. The ones he likes best are the ones of the girls playing soccer, swimming and riding horses. We had to eventually tell him it was time to put the phones away or he would have spent the entire two hours playing on them. It was rainy and cold today so we were unfortunately stuck inside but still managed to play a little indoor game of catch and volleyball. Kid's got an arm. We had to tell him to tone it down at one point as we were afraid he was going to break something with the ball he was throwing and kicking it so hard.
I again took lots of photos and videos that I wish I could post. I tried to get some purposeful footage of Charlie doing specific things so that I can show it to his future educators and therapists and they can get a better idea of what he knows and can do. Which is A LOT. He's amazing.
We will visit once a day until Monday when hopefully the director will decide we are as amazing as Charlie is and give us his paperwork so we can set our court date. I will be posting updates in the meantime. Until next time...
We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Program...
...to bring you a sappy blog post. Just one, I promise.
I dedicate this post to my incredible, handsome husband. He has been my rock and an extremely willing companion throughout this entire journey. When I am hungry, tired, fussy, overwhelmed and/or frustrated, he is calm and collected. When HE is hungry, tired, fussy, overwhelmed and/or frustrated, he simply smiles and goes with the flow. 99% of what we are doing here is so far out of his comfort zone that you can't even see it with the Hubble telescope yet he has never once expressed anything other than support. He's learned more of the language, planned more of the trip and thought about more of the details than I ever even considered. Charlie LOVES Brent and wants to kiss him, hold his hand and wallow in his lap and Brent is so gentle with him. I am thankful every day for all that Brent is and does but I can honestly say I have never loved him more than I do now.
I couldn't do this without you, babe. I hope you know that.
I dedicate this post to my incredible, handsome husband. He has been my rock and an extremely willing companion throughout this entire journey. When I am hungry, tired, fussy, overwhelmed and/or frustrated, he is calm and collected. When HE is hungry, tired, fussy, overwhelmed and/or frustrated, he simply smiles and goes with the flow. 99% of what we are doing here is so far out of his comfort zone that you can't even see it with the Hubble telescope yet he has never once expressed anything other than support. He's learned more of the language, planned more of the trip and thought about more of the details than I ever even considered. Charlie LOVES Brent and wants to kiss him, hold his hand and wallow in his lap and Brent is so gentle with him. I am thankful every day for all that Brent is and does but I can honestly say I have never loved him more than I do now.
I couldn't do this without you, babe. I hope you know that.
Day 3, Part I: Brave
Today we felt brave. Yesterday...not so much. Our facilitator dropped us off at the orphanage and had to leave to take care of another client. So we didn't have anyone to translate for the remainder of our first visit. Once we left the orphanage (thankfully our facilitator had arranged transportation home) we were hungry and decided to stop in the only restaurant in town for pizza. We honestly tried to read the menu using our amazingly remedial knowledge of the language and even tried Google translate. It just was not working. We had to call our facilitator and have him relay our order to the waitress. Afterwards we tried to go exchange money at the bank but they didn't understand us either. Our final stop was at the grocery store where we wandered for a half hour or so and came out with our leftover pizza for dinner. We ended the day feeling good about our visit but generally overwhelmed and discouraged.
But today!
Today we met our driver and again went to the orphanage without a translator. We had another amazing visit which I'll post about later and our driver took us to exchange money. We came home for lunch and, after Face-timing with the girls, the weather cleared up nicely so we put on our big girl and boy panties and trekked into town to the grocery store. While it took us an hour or so, we came home with all the makings for homemade chicken soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
But today!
Today we met our driver and again went to the orphanage without a translator. We had another amazing visit which I'll post about later and our driver took us to exchange money. We came home for lunch and, after Face-timing with the girls, the weather cleared up nicely so we put on our big girl and boy panties and trekked into town to the grocery store. While it took us an hour or so, we came home with all the makings for homemade chicken soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
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| We had to improvise as there was no can opener. This is why wine is essential in any situation; the opener is multipurpose. |
And let me tell you...it smells good!
CHEERS!!!
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Day 2: The Big Reveal
We had our DAP meeting Tuesday morning and it went very smoothly. Very quick. They gave us baby pictures of Charlie in exchange for a picture we brought so now I have a few pictures of him as an infant and toddler. Such cute, chubby cheeks!
We met up with two other families who also had DAP appointments that morning and were part of the Reece's Rainbow team. One of the families was even from Texas!!! It was so good to hear English and words like y'all for the better part of the day. We all had lunch together and then went our separate ways to each of our respective regions. We had a SIX. HOUR. CAR. RIDE to our region. (But I'm betting that is nothing compared to the one of the other couples who had a 10 hour overnight train ride with their three year old to their region. That is the stuff my nightmares are made of.) If you've never driven in U, it's an experience you won't soon forget. They pay no attention to silly things like speed limits or sides of the road. And the roads are full of potholes so if you aren't swerving around the car in front of you at one gajillion miles an hour, you're dodging the Grand Canyon sized potholes that threaten to swallow your tiny Eastern European car whole. It was like a six hour roller coaster ride. Thank God for Dramamine.
We got to our new apartment somewhere between 10-11 pm and the first thing I did was jump into our GIANT bathtub and relish in the most lovely hot water I have ever felt. We have a tankless water heater in this place. We had like five total gallons of hot water in the other place so I opted out of doing anything other than a quick sponge bath in Kiev. Here's a quick tour of our beautiful apartment:
Our facilitator picked us up this morning and we drove the 30ish miles out of town to the orphanage. The country side is beautiful! Hilly and green with lots of trees in all sorts of colors since it is fall. The orphanage was very nice, as were the staff. We met with the director, assistant director, medical director and one of Charlie's teachers. No one has ever adopted from this orphanage before so the staff was understandably a bit skeptical of us. Once we got through the initial questions they took us to the classroom where Charlie was sitting, coloring. They introduced us to him and y'all, it was love at first sight. Well, for me anyway. Charlie was WAY more interested in Brent. And Brent's beard. And his hat. He slowly warmed up to me. That seems to be fairly typical though. The kids are always initially more into Dad than Mom. Any thoughts on why from the experienced adopters reading this???
We walked down the hall to the gym and Charlie held Brent's hand the entire time. I couldn't stop smiling. Though we had brought some toys Charlie was most interested in our phones. We went through the photo album we brought with him and then showed him some pictures and videos. We visited his room, saw where he slept and met his groupa and friends. Charlie was so proud to introduce us and started to get a bit jealous when we interacted with the other kids. We went back to the gym and hung out with him for another hour before it was time to leave. He is everything everyone said he would be - sweet, affectionate and SO smart. We are smitten kittens. We will be visiting once a day for the next three or four days and then will hopefully get the director's approval early next week.
We took a lot of pictures and videos this morning but unfortunately I'm not allowed to post any pictures of Charlie until after court. So the pictures of our bath tub will have to do for now. =) I can't wait to see how tomorrow's visit goes!
We met up with two other families who also had DAP appointments that morning and were part of the Reece's Rainbow team. One of the families was even from Texas!!! It was so good to hear English and words like y'all for the better part of the day. We all had lunch together and then went our separate ways to each of our respective regions. We had a SIX. HOUR. CAR. RIDE to our region. (But I'm betting that is nothing compared to the one of the other couples who had a 10 hour overnight train ride with their three year old to their region. That is the stuff my nightmares are made of.) If you've never driven in U, it's an experience you won't soon forget. They pay no attention to silly things like speed limits or sides of the road. And the roads are full of potholes so if you aren't swerving around the car in front of you at one gajillion miles an hour, you're dodging the Grand Canyon sized potholes that threaten to swallow your tiny Eastern European car whole. It was like a six hour roller coaster ride. Thank God for Dramamine.
We got to our new apartment somewhere between 10-11 pm and the first thing I did was jump into our GIANT bathtub and relish in the most lovely hot water I have ever felt. We have a tankless water heater in this place. We had like five total gallons of hot water in the other place so I opted out of doing anything other than a quick sponge bath in Kiev. Here's a quick tour of our beautiful apartment:
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| The amazing tub. |
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| The equally as amazing shower. |
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| My handsome hubby. Who is sitting on the couch in heaven because he figured out how to connect his jump drive with 7000 movies on it to the tv so we have entertainment. In english. |
We walked down the hall to the gym and Charlie held Brent's hand the entire time. I couldn't stop smiling. Though we had brought some toys Charlie was most interested in our phones. We went through the photo album we brought with him and then showed him some pictures and videos. We visited his room, saw where he slept and met his groupa and friends. Charlie was so proud to introduce us and started to get a bit jealous when we interacted with the other kids. We went back to the gym and hung out with him for another hour before it was time to leave. He is everything everyone said he would be - sweet, affectionate and SO smart. We are smitten kittens. We will be visiting once a day for the next three or four days and then will hopefully get the director's approval early next week.
We took a lot of pictures and videos this morning but unfortunately I'm not allowed to post any pictures of Charlie until after court. So the pictures of our bath tub will have to do for now. =) I can't wait to see how tomorrow's visit goes!
The Flight There and Day 1
We made it! We left
on a Sunday and arrived on Monday. It
was a quick eight hour flight to Amsterdam and, after a short layover (AKA
coffee break), we had a two and half hour trip into Ki3v. Brent has never been to Europe so watching him discover all the
cool stuff they have on trans-Atlantic flights was pretty fun. Free movies!
Free food! FREE BEER!!! =) For
those of you who don’t know him, Brent is six and half feet tall and 200+
pounds, so sitting in a tiny airplane seat for that long is difficult for
him. He did have the forethought to
upgrade our seats to economy comfort which, though not first class by any
means, did give us lots of extra room on all four sides and made the trip much
more bearable.
I get extremely fussy when either hungry or tired (and Lord
help you if I’m both). I am a bedtime
snob meaning it has to be just the right amount of recline/dark/noise or I
can’t sleep. I also get air/carsick so
you can imagine what a hoot I am to travel with especially for long periods of
time that span both meal and bed times.
I was prepared however! I started
our flight with a healthy dose of Dramamine and combatted the hangry/nauseous
by eating something every single hour of the flight. That included not only the meals and snacks
they gave us on the plane but also multiple sticks of dry sausage and an entire
bag of Riesens. Which is approximately
36 more Riesens than any one person should ever eat in one sitting. I passed the time in between meals by
obsessively chewing gum and drinking water like a fish. The perpetual round the clock eating
schedule, however, left little time for sleeping and I think I finally passed
out the last hour and a half of the flight.
My dad was a seasoned traveler in his day, having flown back
and forth to Africa once every other month for number of years. His piece of advice for combating jet lag
was to take quick nap when you arrived, force yourself to wake up and then stay
awake as late as you could. Even if that
meant you ate dinner and went to bed at 7 pm, odds are you’d sleep well that
night, wake up at a mostly normal time the next morning and look! You’re already on your new schedule. And that is exactly what we did. Our driver picked us up at the airport, took
us to exchange some money and buy a few groceries and then dropped us off at
our apartment. I took a short nap while
Brent watched a movie and, after four phone calls and two trips down the
world’s tiniest elevator, we figured out how to work the front door so we could
get something for dinner.
 |
| Hello, tiny elevator! Brent is literally touching both the door and back wall with his shoulders. It's that small. But a fantastic alternative to walking up seven flights of stairs with three suitcases and a hella heavy backpack.
Our driver had made several suggestions on our way in about which restaurants were good/easy to order from so, in keeping with our adventurous, jet-setting ways, we had a fabulous local meal of…hamburgers and French fries. Sorry, people, but I’ve just been on a plane for over 15 hours and have slept for about two minutes. You’re lucky I could move the hamburger from the plate to my mouth. Adventurous was just not in the cards last night. At least we didn’t go to McDonald’s...
|
 |
| Brent caught me mid-chew. My cheeks aren't really that fat. |
After dinner we came home and attempted to watch a
movie. Brent woke me up half way through
it and suggested that maybe it was time for bed. We both got a decent night’s sleep (Brent
never sleeps well no matter where he is) and woke up feeling good and ready to
go this morning. So thank you,
Daddy. I promise I really was listening
all those times you tried to tell me stuff, even if it didn’t look like
it.
Our apartment in Ki3v is really pretty nice with a full kitchen and
wifi. Brent even mostly fits in the
bed. It did take us about 12 hours and
four more phone calls to figure out the wifi works better if you plug it in…jet
lag, people. Jet lag.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
A Shout Out To My Village
We leave in just over a week. ONE WEEK!!! It seemed like an eternity when our facilitator called and told us we'd be leaving for U. in five weeks. Time flew by like it has never flown before and here we are. As we start packing and are tying up all the loose ends I am reminded again and again how lucky we are to have such an amazing village of people supporting us in this crazy venture. Because without you, Village, this could never have happened. So thank you, truly, from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you to my mom for whole-heartedly agreeing to abandon her own life and come live ours for however long we are gone.
Thank you to my aunt, uncle and mother-in-law for offering to fill in the gaps so my mom can occasionally have a day off.
Thank you to friends and family who contributed to our adoption fund; y'all were so amazingly generous.
Thank you to my associate for being so understanding and supportive of this adoption even though it means she will be working every day until I get back.
Thank you to co-workers who, having only known me for three months, jumped head first into fundraising and have excitedly supported me from day one.
Thank you to clients who barely knew me yet contributed dollar after dollar to our adoption fund.
Thank you to our beloved day care who takes such amazing care of our children and, with this adoption, us as well.
Thank you to clinic staff who helped make our home town fundraisers possible. They bought more tickets for things I'm sure they didn't really need, yet they did it because they love us.
Thank you for the countless number of friends who have told me to leave their numbers for my mom so that they can help transport kids from school, daycare, soccer, gymnastics...
Thank you to the mom who offered to be available for us whenever because, as a stay at home mom with four busy kids of her own, she's "not doing anything all day."
Thank you to the mom who is willing to pick up my child from school and cart her to gymnastics every week.
Thank you to the beautiful friend who, while battling cancer and going through chemo, took the time to make an amazing knitted blanket for Charlie because she'd made one for each of the girls when they were babies.
Thank you to my closest friends who have called to check on the status of our adoption and listened like it was the first time every time I complained for the 100th time about something.
Thank you to our local relief veterinarians who went out of their way to help us find someone who could fill in at the clinic.
Thank you to our amazing community for already welcoming Charlie home even though he isn't here yet.
Thank you to our children for being so beautifully excited about their big brother.
And thank you to anyone else I may have forgotten to mention. Again, we cannot thank everyone enough. This has been the most beautiful example of love and generosity I've ever experienced.
I will be posting updates here and on Facebook as we travel so stay tuned!
Thank you to my mom for whole-heartedly agreeing to abandon her own life and come live ours for however long we are gone.
Thank you to my aunt, uncle and mother-in-law for offering to fill in the gaps so my mom can occasionally have a day off.
Thank you to friends and family who contributed to our adoption fund; y'all were so amazingly generous.
Thank you to my associate for being so understanding and supportive of this adoption even though it means she will be working every day until I get back.
Thank you to co-workers who, having only known me for three months, jumped head first into fundraising and have excitedly supported me from day one.
Thank you to clients who barely knew me yet contributed dollar after dollar to our adoption fund.
Thank you to our beloved day care who takes such amazing care of our children and, with this adoption, us as well.
Thank you to clinic staff who helped make our home town fundraisers possible. They bought more tickets for things I'm sure they didn't really need, yet they did it because they love us.
Thank you for the countless number of friends who have told me to leave their numbers for my mom so that they can help transport kids from school, daycare, soccer, gymnastics...
Thank you to the mom who offered to be available for us whenever because, as a stay at home mom with four busy kids of her own, she's "not doing anything all day."
Thank you to the mom who is willing to pick up my child from school and cart her to gymnastics every week.
Thank you to the beautiful friend who, while battling cancer and going through chemo, took the time to make an amazing knitted blanket for Charlie because she'd made one for each of the girls when they were babies.
Thank you to my closest friends who have called to check on the status of our adoption and listened like it was the first time every time I complained for the 100th time about something.
Thank you to our local relief veterinarians who went out of their way to help us find someone who could fill in at the clinic.
Thank you to our amazing community for already welcoming Charlie home even though he isn't here yet.
Thank you to our children for being so beautifully excited about their big brother.
And thank you to anyone else I may have forgotten to mention. Again, we cannot thank everyone enough. This has been the most beautiful example of love and generosity I've ever experienced.
I will be posting updates here and on Facebook as we travel so stay tuned!
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