Day 3-SDA Appointment

Our appointment went well and it was very fast.  There was only one page to Olga’s “file” so there really wasn’t much to cover.  Jeff will go to the US Embassy tomorrow to fill out some paperwork since he won’t be coming back here after the 10 day waiting period.  We can pick up our referral tomorrow and then we will go to the airport for an evening flight.  

We spent the day with our friends yesterday and they showed us several places they had found to eat that they liked.  The “famous” cafeteria that any adoptive family should make it a point to find and a great little coffee place called Double Coffee.  Double Coffee has menus with English with pictures making it much easier to figure out what you want.  It’s a little more expensive, but for a really good cup of coffee it’s worth it!

I managed to do two incredibly stupid things yesterday.  The first was that I misplaced my money belt which also included my passport.  After tearing the apartment apart I finally found it.  I think I must have set in down on top of my suitcase and then at some point got into the suitcase and the money belt fell behind it.  I was terrified that I had somehow lost it at some point during the day and I was truly panicked.  After I realized I was starting to hyperventilate I sat down and prayed for God to calm my heart and that even if I had lost the money belt that somehow I would get my passport back.  As soon as I said “Amen” and opened my eyes I looked at my suitcase and pulled it away from the wall and...there it was!  

Stupid thing #2:  This one is actually pretty funny, and no harm was done so it is so easy to laugh at.  I figured out how to use the washing machine in our apartment and chose the 60° button for the water temperature so the load would be washed in cold water.  When the cycle was finished I went to get the clothes out so I could hang them to dry.  The washing machine door was *so* hot.  I couldn’t figure it out.  Finally I realized I had set it for 60° *Celsius*!  I had washed the load in the hottest water I possibly could have.    I never claimed to be the sharpest crayon in the box, did I?

Our apartment has controlled heat, meaning we have no way to turn the thermostat down.  It must be about 80°F in here.  We keep the doors to the balcony open to regulate the temperature.  We are on the 5th floor and we always take the stairs b/c the elevator shaft is...well...really, really old.  And scary.  Our shower has no curtain, so there is always a lot of water on the floor to clean up.  And there really isn’t warm water.  It’s either icy cold or almost scalding hot.  Which is fine because there is very little water pressure.  I would much rather have a trickle of super hot water for my shower than a blast of cold!  We are in a good location and within walking distance of restaurants and shopping.  It is really a beautiful area, especially at night because they still have up all of their Christmas lights.

Neither Jeff nor I took naps yesterday which I think helped us with getting a good nights sleep last night.  That, and some Tylenol PM.  :)  I slept from around 11:00 to 9:00 this morning.  I feel like a human being again!  We are just hanging around the apartment for the afternoon and will venture out again this evening.  

Thanks for checking in!

S~

"Start" of Day 2

Last night was pretty rough sleep wise.  We didn’t really sleep on the flights so after we met our friends for dinner last night we were pretty wiped out.  Went to bed shortly after 10:00.  Woke up at 1:00.  Finally around 2:00 we both gave up the tossing and turning and I pulled out my Sudoku book and Jeff tried to find a book on Kindle that he wanted to read.  Around 3:00 we decided to watch one of the shows that we had downloaded.  Finally around 4:00 we tried the whole sleep thing again.  I have no idea what time it was before we both finally fell asleep, but we managed to drag ourselves out of bed before 10:00 this morning.  Hopefully tonight will be better.

We did manage to not fall for a con last night.  Long story, but looking back on it makes me realize how much we stand out as Americans.  And the funny thing is, when Jeff went back out for coffee this morning, in broad daylight, someone else tried the same con on him.  

Good news on the computer front.  Jeff figured out how to make the air card work on my Mac, so after he goes back home I am good to go!

I will post pictures soon.  

S~

Quick Post from Kyiv

We arrived in Kyiv without issue.  Got set up in our appartment, called some friends who are in Kyiv and met them for dinner.  Dinner was at the food court in the underground mall and I was very proud of the fact that we didn't eat at McDonalds.  :)  Dinner was unusual to say the least as I just pointed at a couple of different things and nodded.  I thought I was getting diced potatoes and a pork pot sticker-esque dumpling.  I ended up with diced potatoes and pot stickers stuffed with....beets.  And I can't beleive I am saying this as I am not usually a big fan of beets, but they were good!  Of course, the company was way better than the food and I am looking forward to hanging out with our friends tomorrow before they leave to go to the region our kids are in.

Tomorrow is a day to just hang out and see Kyiv.  It is so beautiful here!  I didn't take a single picture today but will do better tomorrow.  Monday is our appointment, Tuesday is when we can pick up our referral and Wednesday is the day we get to see our girl.  :)

The only down thing that happened today was that our facilitator was going to get my computer set up with the air card.  He saw I had a Mac and quickly asked if we had another computer.  Jeff has his, but will be taking it home with him after our court appointment.  Not sure what I'm going to do about a computer after that point, but we'll figure it out!  In the grande scheme of things, not having a computer isn't a big deal.

Time for bed!  Willl post again soon.
S~

Time to get our girl. :)

Our bags are packed (apparently the 18th time is the charm and not the 3rd!) and we are ready to go!  I feel like we are taking way too much stuff, but yeesh!  I only have a grand total of four outfits including court attire.  That's for five weeks, folks!  My bag weighed in at home at 49.6 pounds.  Here's hoping the airport scales don't weigh heavy.  :)  And to answer your next question of, "What on earth is she taking if she only has four outfits?".  I packed two outfits, boots and a coat for Olga as she will not be allowed to take anything with her from the children's home.  I have lots of little gifts to give to people along the way.  There are a few food items such as Clif Bars & packets of oatmeal.  And then some odds and ends.  Then of course we each have a carryon and "personal item".  Noooo....we aren't going to stand out as Americans once we get to Kiev.

I am grabbing our two younger kids from school early so we can spend a little time with them before leaving for the airport.  My mom has been given notes, lists and calendars and I think she is either ready to go or completely confused.  I guess we shall see which one in the next few days.  :)

My next post will be from Ukraine...YIPPEE!!!

See you on the other side of the world.  :)

S~

Writers Block

I will admit right from the start that I am forcing myself to sit down and write out this blog post.  I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to start a post in the last week only to delete everything and log off Blogger.  I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it is mostly because I feel a little stupid writing about what is going on at this point in the journey.  Really, does anyone actually want to read about how I spent some time cleaning today, got our physician to write out prescriptions for a general antibiotic in case we get sick in Ukraine, worked on writing out a schedule for my mom who will be taking care of R&M while we are gone or "trial packed" to see how badly I am overpacking?  This part of the journey is very, very important.  Just not too exciting.  I think the only thing that remotely qualifies as "exciting" is that we booked a flight from Kiev to a region that is two hours from Olga's region.  It was that or take the overnight train and I just wasn't feelin' the train vibe.

The bright side of all of the boring stuff is that it means we are very, very close to getting our daughter home.  We leave a week from today.  Our court appointment is in ten days.  We should get to see Olga in twelve days!  Quite a while back I gave a quick tutorial on what the process might look like once in Ukraine.  I'll recap that now:

We arrive in Kiev on Saturday, 1/29/11.  We will be met at the airport by our facilitator then taken to an apartment for our time in Kiev.  Our appointment with the State Department of Adoptions is on Monday, 1/31/11.  After our appointment we will be granted a referral to travel to Olga's region, however, we cannot pick up the referral until after 4:00 PM on Tuesday, 2/1/11.  We take a short flight and will be met by a driver who will drive us to Olga's region, two hours away.  The next day, Wednesday, 2/2/11 we will meet with the Inspector who will give us permission to go to Olga's orphanage to meet with her.  Hopefully we will walk straight to the orphanage at that point to see her.  Unfortunately I know I must prepare myself for a much cooler reception that what I am used to at home from Olga.  It is just different there.  She has already warned me that at the orphanage she is much more somber and does not act the same way there as she does here at home.  :(  We will most likely spend some time with the Inspector, Director of the orphanage, perhaps a teacher and our facilitator/translator before Olga is brought in.  Those people will pepper us with questions about why we want to adopt Olga.  Then we should see our girl!  After visiting I *believe* Olga will be asked if she wants to be adopted by us and she will then have to write out a statement saying as much.  Once our facilitator/translator has that then she can start working on getting us a court date ASAP.  We are hoping for a very quick court date, but not holding our breath!  If we have court by 2/14/11 I will be very happy.  In the meantime we will be allowed to visit Olga everyday and spend time with her.  When we go to court the judge will ask us many, many questions about why we are adopting, how many kids we have at home, can we afford to support another child, how will we educate her, etc...  As long as we answer his questions to his satisfaction we will be granted the adoption and named Olga's parents (YAY)!  However, there is a 10 day waiting period before the court decree is issued just in case someone would like to contest the adoption.  After court Jeff will be leaving Ukraine to come home while I stay and finalize everything.  After the ten day wait I will be given physical custody of Olga-until then she must stay at the orphanage.  As soon as the ten days are over we can get a new birth certificate for her with our names as her parents and apply for a new passport for her.  Once we have those items in hand we go back to Kiev where she will have a medical exam and an exit interview and get her Visa.  And then we shall be homeward bound.  Sounds pretty simple, huh?  :)  If I have learned anything from other's experiences in Ukraine adoption I have learned that you can't plan on anything going a certain way.  Everything I describe above should happen.  Should  being the key word.  Some people go to Ukraine and everything goes as planned.  Some people...not so much.

I am very much looking forward to detailing the process in action as opposed to describing what *should* happen.  In the meantime, wish me luck with my packing.  :)

S~

Gone...for now

The fabulous Miss O is on her way back to Ukraine.  She had a pretty rough morning and Jeff described her shift in attitude in two words: Orphanage Attitude.  She was definitely not wanting to leave and things we talked about days and even weeks ago were difficult for her to deal with today.  It was so hard to watch her walk away at the airport.  I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it was for her to have to walk away.  The house seems so empty now.  R & M have been at each other's throats all evening and, well, I'm pretty grumpy, too.  Now I will spend the next two weeks getting ready to travel.

I have spent the last 90 minutes at the computer trying to write this post, and I now realize that my heart just isn't ready to write about Olga's visit.  I realize we are leaving to get our girl in just two short weeks, but my heart is hurting and I can't think.  I miss her already.  I will try to be a little more upbeat and informative in a day or two.

S~

Four days left. :(

*sigh*

Olga leaves in four days.  We have been stuck at home the last two days due to ice/snow.  She is going stir crazy not understanding how six inches of snow could possibly leave us home bound.  She is from Ukraine, after all.  We've tried to explain that this amount of snow is a *big* deal for us southerners.  I'm pretty sure she just thinks we are wimps.  :)  Hopefully tomorrow I can get us out of here, especially because we have a lot to do before she heads back to Ukraine.  I can't believe how quickly this last month has come and gone.  The only good thing about Olga heading back is that the sooner she leaves, the sooner we leave!

NHFC threw a "farewell party" for all the hosted kids from Ukraine, Russia & Latvia over the weekend.  It was at one of those bounce house places with the huge inflatable slides and obstacle courses.  That was a first for Olga.  When I described where we were going to her beforehand she thought it would be stupid and quickly declared that she wouldn't be jumping.  It took about 30 seconds after we arrived for her to change her mind.  All three kids had a blast.

Before the NHFC farewell party, my mom had a little get together at her house for Olga.  She got to see a few people one more time before returning to Ukraine as well as meet several more family members that she didn't get to meet when she was here this summer.  She had a great time and really enjoyed her entire day.

Jeff and I leave in 17 days.  At some point I really will need to do some prep work, huh?  I don't know why, but every suggested packing list I see emphasizes packing light, but then says to pack things like toilet tissue.  Really?  How in the world do you pack light when bringing a months worth of TP?  I think tonight I need to break down and start a "to do" list.  I know that there is so much to do before we leave and I think I am procrastinating because I am a little intimidated by it all.  I'm pretty sure that isn't going to help me in the long run.  :)

Okay, off I go to do something productive.  Not sure what, but I'm sure it will be good.  :)

S~

Flights Booked

We booked our flights to Kiev yesterday.  (YAY!!!)  We will leave early evening on January 28th and arrive early evening on January 29th.  Our appointment is on January 31st, so hopefully we can use the 30th to rest and get our bearings.

Olga has had a few really good days since my last post about her being a bit homesick.  She has been practicing her English writing skills and doing quite well.  She still gets her vowels mixed up, but overall I think she is doing amazing!  Her English speaking skills came back very quickly (she had "lost" quite a bit from being back in Ukraine for 5 months) and have improved dramatically.  She is an amazing person, if I do say so myself.  :)

We have 9 days left until O must return to Ukraine.  We are so excited to be traveling just two short weeks after that!  Having her here the last three weeks has really made the time fly by so quickly.  I know the two weeks between her departure and ours will be a whirlwind of activities and preparations.  I don't know that any of us (Jeff, our two younger children or even myself) are really prepared for the emotional impact this is going to have on us.  Like so many parents, I've never been away from my kids for longer than a week.  And the same is said for them.  I am praying that they are able to handle not having Mom and Dad around for a few weeks.  Jeff will come home after we have our court date, which will hopefully be less than two weeks after we arrive.  I will most likely stay through the 10 day waiting period which puts me in Ukraine for about 5 weeks.  Hopefully not longer than that!

I hope everyone has had a great start to their New Year!

S~