It's Almost Christmas!

Where has the time gone???  I cannot believe that Christmas is in just a few days and it's been almost 10 months since John has been with us.  He arrived here from Ukraine at the beginning of March.  We just celebrated Christmas with my parents who live in Chapel Hill and exchanged presents with each other.  This is because we are driving (well, I'm driving and Paul is flying:) to Paul's mom's house and staying there until the 26th.  Paul's dad passed away earlier this month at the age of 86 so we are going up to NJ to be with Paul's mom and only sibling, Tricia.   We are sad that Paul (Paul's dad) is no longer with us, but we know that he in heaven with many old friends who had died before him.  He was a wonderful Christian man.  Christmas won't be the same without him.  Thankfully Santa knows where we are going, so we are excited for his arrival.  I CANNOT imagine all that has been going through John's head this month. Meeting Santa a few times (including seeing him on the computer talking directly to him by name, thanks to www.portablenorthpole.com, meeting an elf, and hearing all about flying reindeer and toys being made at the North Pole.  I felt for him while he was watching elves put "his file" on portablenorthpole.com in a the machine to see if he was naughty or nice.  You could tell he was hoping so badly that the green light on top of the machine would turn on and not the red one.  I can't imagine the parent how would ask for the red light to come on!?  He has also learned some fun and meaningful Christmas songs, played a sheep in a Christmas pageant and has gone to a birthday party for Jesus at our church.  He goes to a wonderful Christian preschool where he hears all about Jesus, his life and the good news of his coming as a baby to live and die for our sins.  It is absolutely amazing what he has learned and how well he speaks English now.  I cannot get him to say words in Russian anymore.  I did use the Google Translate a couple of weeks ago to ask him some "yes" or "no" questions in Russian.  I think that he understood because he did answer "yes" or "no" correctly to the questions.  It's sad that he is completely losing the language that he apparently spoke so well.  He could go to Russian school here in town every Sat., but he refuses to speak when we run in to our friend from Ukraine who is a cashier at Target so I don't think he would enjoy that.  Anyway, John is doing well in school and seems to get along well with his peers.  He actually has two birthday parties to go to this afternoon:).  We are so thankful to God that he is still very healthy and happy, enjoying school and his friends.  The only thing that I worry about is that I haven't spent much time helping him learn the letters of the alphabet and or how to write the letters.  He will start "Handwriting without Tears" with a tutor in the new year.  Even though they have this program at his preschool, I think that he would benefit from the one on one time.  I know that his gross motor skills are fine...I just worry that his fine motor skills need some work.  He LOVES to play sports and is on a city basketball team.  He can dribble pretty well...we just need to work on getting the ball to reach the hoop.  Honestly, I am embarrassed to admit that Scott and I are still adjusting to having him around.  Paul, Nicole, and Jimmy are also; however, they don't spend the same amount of time with him as Scott and I do.  John is so obedient (probably still worried that he may have to go back to the orphanage, which is sad) and wants to please, which is very nice.  I'm sure that the day will come when he will feel comfortable enough to let down his guard and be more defiant.  It's just been harder than I thought it would be to bond to a child who is already dressing himself, eating, walking, and speaking (non-stop).  I had not thought about how it would be different from birthing a child and having all that bonding time when they are an infant.  Scott and John play a lot together and get along well for the most part.  I just think that it's been hard for Scott to suddenly have another sibling to deal with all the time.  As of just a few days ago, Nicole moved down to her "new" room on the 1st floor (I don't blame her for not wanting to sleep on the main level of our house when the rest of us are all upstairs) so Scott has been sleeping in Nicole's old room on the 2nd floor and not sharing the bunk bed with John.  This has helped out a lot because John and Scott are not waking each other up early in the morning anymore.  I am going to have to change that room from pink to blue for John in the new year so that he can finally be settled in to his own space (and not Scott's:).  God is faithful and I am hoping and believing that Scott and I will embrace him fully and not see him as the newly adopted child in our family.  I want us to love him unconditionally just like God loves us unconditionally.  If you think of us, please pray that this would happen sooner than later!  

Some More Photos from Earlier this Month

Down at the pier in Emerald Isle with our friends from Chicago

In Emerald Isle for the 4th of July

Our new little American

Part of the reason I haven't blogged much since I've been back from Ukraine is that we have a new Mac and I don't really know what I'm doing on it yet!  I can tell that it's going to be great, but in the meantime everything is taking me a little longer while I'm figuring things out.  Our dear friends from Chicago came to visit us at the beach over the 4th of July weekend.  Nicole was in heaven getting to be with three girls everyday.  The boys had just as much fun though.  Their girls are so sweet.  They adopted their youngest from China years ago and they were very encouraging to me.  I will have to write more later because it's 1:30 a.m. and we are leaving this morning for 10 days.  We are picking up Jimmy from camp and I cannot wait to see him.  He's been gone for 2 weeks and I'm dying to hear how he liked it.  He wrote us a lot of funny letters, but he kept mentioning that he missed us so I hope he's glad that he went.  It's been over 100 degrees here so we are looking forward to a little cooler weather.  We will be meeting up with five families from TX, IL, and MD at a place called Camp of the Woods.  It's a Christian family resort that is on a beautiful lake.  We have been going there since Jimmy and Nicole were babies and Paul has been going since he was a child.  John is going to be in heaven with 17 of our friends' kids to play with everyday, most of which are boys, and that's not including all of the other kids that will be there.  He is very social and has had a great time at camp this week.  Then we will head to Stowe, VT for a lacrosse tournament for Jimmy.  Maybe I'll bring my laptop and blog from there.

Is Anybody Out There? A Brief Update on John

I am sorry that I have completely fallen out of the blogging world!  We so appreciated the support and prayers of those of you who followed us on this journey to adopt John and are very grateful for your friendship.  Just to give you (if there is anyone reading this) a brief update, John is doing amazingly well.  He is healthy and his English has come a long way.  The only Russian word that he still uses is the word for "and".  He can communicate with us and and with most people,  although sometimes he's hard to understand because of his accent.  He is getting along well with his siblings.  Nicole is like a second mother to him and he really didn't want Jimmy to go away to camp last week.  He looks up to Jimmy and wants to play sports with him whenever possible.  John and Scott play together a lot since they are the closest in age and at times there are conflicts, but for the most part, things are going pretty smoothly.  Scott is learning to share his room, his toys (except for his Lego creations, which go on the top shelf), and his mom and dad.  John has gone to a Vacation Bible School at the church we attend at the beach and a day camp from 9-12 this past week.  He has gotten along well with the other children, has enjoyed playing with kids his own age, and has learned some fun Christian songs.  Today he saw a live monkey, alligator, owl, and snake at camp, which he was very excited about.  Thankfully he LOVES to swim at the beach and in a pool so we have spent a lot of time at both of those places.  We will go away this Friday for a week in the Adirondacks and then we will be home until school starts because Nicole will have to be around for Middle School volleyball practice.  It seems hard to believe that the summer is getting closer to the end than the beginning!  John has attached well to the family and loves receiving hugs and attention.  I think that Scott and I have struggled in attaching to him.  Scott has lost his position as the baby of the family and has had to learn how to be a big brother.  For me, not having those years of bonding with an infant or even a toddler makes connecting with an older child harder than I thought it would be.  I am trusting the Lord that it will continue to get easier each day and am thankful that John is a healthy and smart little boy.  I will post more later.

It's Been a Good Week

I can't believe that John and I have been home for over a week.  In some ways it seems like I just got home, but in other ways it seems like John has been with us for a long time.  For the most part, he seems to be adjusting very well.  He still is speaking in Russian, but is slowly adding English words like "bless you, thank you, hello, good-bye, more, all done".  Sometimes he calls me "mom" instead of "mama" from hearing what the other kids call me, which always makes me chuckle.  He also sings "Jesus Loves Me" several times a day and almost everytime when he is on our swing set.  We are glad he is sleeping through the night, but he only falls asleep if Paul or I lie down with him.  He is eating most of the food we put in front of him and he even had a few bites of pizza tonight.  He usually says "neeyet" (which means "no") and pushes the plate away, but after a few minutes he will pull it back and start eating.  He loves Chick-Fil-A, especially the fries, which we are going to visit often to put a few pounds on him.  We are having some challenges in getting him into the new routine, like changing his clothes in the morning or for bed.  When he doesn't get his way, he will say "neeyet", will turn away, fold his arms and pout.  We are ignoring this behavior and he usually changes his attitude in a few minutes.  He is affectionate and sweet and seems to be bonding to everyone in the family very well, including Sophie, our lab.  He checks on her throughout the day and gives her lots of hugs and kisses.  He likes taking her on walks and chasing her in the backyard.  Sophie has never gotten this much attention!

John can't wait for "Neecole", "Jeemmy", and "Scotch" to come home from school everyday.  He has met and played well with the kids in the neighborhood, but not for any long length of time.  I am trying to just hang out with him at home during the week so that he doesn't have to deal with more stress and changes in his life.  I did bring him to the pool last week, which he loved.  He asks me everyday if "Mama ee Vadeek sweem"?  There is a public pool in town that is very warm and shallow so he can splash around in it without my having to worry about him.  Thankfully he is trying to swim and is not afraid of the water.  He loves to wear his swim goggles around his neck everyday whether we are going to the pool or not.  I took him to the pediatrician last Wed. and he is in the 60th percentile for height and weight and doesn't seem to have any health problems.  He will also be entering a new program at Duke for internationally adopted children.  From what I understand, a specialist comes to your house for 10 sessions to help your new child and the family adjust to one another.  I go to Duke on Thurs. to have John evaluated and learn more about the program.  I am thrilled that he can participate in this and that it's covered by insurance:)  When I was hanging out with Nicole tonight, we talked about what adoption means and how God grafts us into his family tree.  Eventhough we are not in His lineage by birth, He, by grace, grafts us into his family tree and calls us His children.  We are so blessed!          

We Made It Home!!

We were picked up at 3:00 a.m. on Sat. and made it from Kiev to Frankfurt without any problems.  There were a total of six adoptive families flying back to the states on that flight, which made it fun.  We then arrived in Chicago from Frankfurt and were told in Customs that we would never make our flight.  It was boarding in a half an hour.  As soon as the man said that, it made me that much more determined to try to make it.  Once John was cleared through Immigration, we literally ran through the Chicago airport.  Unfortunately, a United employee had given us the wrong terminal number so we had to sprint through another two terminals to make it just as they were closing the doors to the jet way.  Praise God!  The next flight to Raleigh was diverted to Charlotte and didn't get in until 1:00 a.m.  Our luggage was delivered to us the next day.  John was so good on the flights.  He must have played with the head set he had been given for about an hour and the plastic fork and knife also intrigued him for a good 45 minutes.  I couldn't believe how he sat in his seat for hours on end without complaining!

We arrived to friends and family at the airport holding signs and welcome home banners.  I couldn't have been happier to see everyone.  My kids and our friends' kids had grown so much!  John was a little shy at first, but then warmed up to all of the children playing with balloons and eating lollipops.  It was fun to get to catch up with everyone a little bit.    

When we got home, there were balloons and a welcome home banner across the garage.  Paul and the kids had thought of everything.  They had gotten us flowers, presents, and even a welcome home cake with American and Ukrainian flags on it for dessert.  John was speaking non-stop in Russian.  We had no idea what he was saying, so we would laugh and laugh, which made him speak even more.  John was so excited to see and play with all the toys in the play room.  He also liked his bunk bed that he is sharing with Scott.  The biggest hit of all though was our yellow lab.  Sophie has a new friend!  He is enamored with her.

When we started this process we felt that God has been so gracious to us and we wanted to extend that to a child.  We have learned so much through this process and know that it has just started.  We have learned a lot about each other, our family, what family means, and more importantly the way God sees us through adoption into His family.  The Bible says in Ephesians 1 "In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ".  We have entered into the family of God through His love.  God has called us His children.  We are able to call out to God as our Father, just as John calls out to me (Paul) as "Papa".  We aren't adopted because we are cute or likable, but simply because of God's grace.  I'm so glad He doesn't go through a checklist to evaluate us, but simply takes us into His family for who we are.  We know for sure that God has watched over us through this process and that He will continue to guide and protect us.

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

In Kiev and Coming Home Tomorrow!

John (I call him Vadik, pronounced Vadeek, which is the nickname for Vadim) and I are at a restaurant this morning for breakfast and they have wi-fi.  I'm glad to get reconnected to catch up with emails.   We are staying with Karen Springs, aka Saint, who lives in Kiev and works for Orphan's Promise (I talked about her a few posts ago).  She had a friend come over and made us dinner on Wed. night when we arrived from Odessa.  They both spoke Russian so it has been a great transition for John.  Here's a photo from our dinner.  Yesterday we went to the US Embassy to submit our documents for his visa and for him to see the doctor.  Thankfully everything went smoothly.  It did take all day, but John was great in the car with traffic and a lot of waiting.  I hope he's this good tomorrow with all the flying.  He has had a lot of firsts!  He absolutely LOVES taking a bath.  I think he was in there at least an hour yesterday.  He also loves to use the toilet (thank you Lord) and to push to flush and to push the buttons on elevators (what kid doesn't?).  He sleeps like a rock and I get him up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and I don't think he even wakes up.  Last night we went to dinner at a woman's house that I met last Nov.  She works at the US Embassy and her husband is in the  US Army.  They have two girls, 5 and 9, so they were great entertainment for John.  When he is served food, he will fold his arms and not eat for a few minutes, then he will slowly start to eat everything on his plate.  Well, as I'm writing this, he's not touching his breakfast so maybe that's not always the case!  I hope he will make up for it at lunch.  We have one more hurdle today at the US embassy to get John's visa.  I can't believe we're almost done.  Our flight leaves at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow and I will be travelling with two American women that I've met here, which is nice.  Please pray that we would make our connections and get through Customs and Immigration without any problems. We get back to Raleigh at 5:00 p.m. and can't wait to see you all!!!

Made it to Odessa

Yesterday was a whirlwind, but we made it to Odessa as the passport office was closing at 6:00 p.m.  It started off by being picked up at 8:45 a.m. by a woman from Odessa who knew no English and her son who knew a little English.  They were hired by my facilitators to get the documents we needed and get me to Odessa.  We went to court and waited for the judge to show up to sign off on our documents, then drove to the Social Worker (who made the woman working with me run down the street to make photocopies...don't get me started about the inefficiencies of this country:).  We then drove about an hour to John's birth town and waited a long time there to get his birth certificate.  After that we drove very fast back to the orphanage where they were supposed to have all of John's documents ready.  Unfortunately, nothing was prepared so papers had to be filled out, copies made, etc.  We waited for two hours for the documents to be prepared. Finally, I was able to walk out the doors of the orphange with John - Yipee!!!!  Then we sped to Odessa and made it to the passport agency just as it was closing-thank you Lord!!!  John had never remembered driving in a car so he was silent most of the way to Odessa, just staring out the window.  He did point out the red and green traffic lights, which I assume he'd learned about at the orphanage.  He knew that red meant stop and green meant go.  Thankfully, a couple from the U.S. who are missionaries in Odessa, invited us to spend the night with them.  What a huge blessing that was!  We got dropped off at their awesome 100 year old apartment where they had dinner sitting on the table for us.  Their three girls, aged 10, 9, and 6 entertained John and spoke to him in Russian whenever necessary.  I was so happy they could help John  transition from the orphanage to the real world.  John slept like a rock and we got up this morning to breakfast and plenty of toys to play with.  We will go pick up his passport at 11:00 a.m. and then drive to Kiev where we will stay with Karen Springs who just officially opened her hospitality ministry, where American families can stay while they are adopting here.  I'm thrilled that we will be staying with her.  Please continue to pray for the last days of this process.  John still needs his physical exam and to get his visa, which means lots more paperwork!  Thankfully, all the things that Paul needed to sign and get notarized arrived in Kiev on Monday. We're almost finished and I'm so happy that I'm getting closer to going home!    

Looks Like I'm Going Home Sat.

I was jumping up and down in my hotel room this morning while you all were fast asleep in the U.S.  My facilitator called to tell me me that he could get my passport quickly in Odessa and that I could go ahead and make my appointment at the U.S. Embassy to submit my paperwork for John's visa on Thurs., Mar. 3-YAHOO!!!  What awesome news!!!  So I booked my flight to arrive home at 5:00 p.m. on Sat.  Oh, I hope that it happens!
I went to visit John in the morning and we played outside in the freshly fallen snow for about an hour.  The snow was great for packing snowballs for a change.  This afternoon, we had a going away party for John.  I was told to bring fruit, caramels, and biscuits (like cookies).  The kids were a little amped up to say the least.  After they finished eating (and some of them throwing their food), they danced around to music, then I got out balloons and bubbles and they really went wild.  I tried to take pictures and a little video of it, but I was busy blowing bubbles.  Tonight I'm packing so that I'm ready to go in the morning.


If I understand everything about tomorrow correctly, first I will go to court to pick up some documents at 9:00 a.m, then head to the Social Worker's office, then to John's birthplace about an hour away to pick up his birth certificate.  Next I go pick up John from the orphanage (I gave them his clothes today so he'll be ready), go back to the Social Worker's office and police station, I think, and drive to Odessa, about 2 hours away, by 5:00.  Pray that we can get all of this done!

Only 1 Day Left of the 10 Day Waiting Period

I can't believe that I am only one day and two short visits away from picking up John from the orphanage.  Tuesday will be a whirlwind, but I'm hopeful that I will be able to collect all the documents needed to get him.  Honestly, I'm nervous about how he's going to react to leaving all his friends, caregivers, his schedule/routine, his home, all that he has ever known!  While we are waiting to get back to the U.S., we will be in apartments with the same toys that I can tell he's getting a tired of.  Our visit wasn't even over today and he heard the TV go on in their living area.  He got up and said "good bye" to me and went to watch the show.  He'd never done that before!  Well, at least I know he likes TV if I need to resort to that when we are in the apartment and if truth be told, my boys at home would do the same thing also.  If anyone reading this has ideas of fun things to do with kids in Odessa, please let me know!

It's been snowing the last couple of days

Today I went to church and then out to lunch with the American couple who is staying in this hotel.  They are very nice and we had so much to talk about with all that we're going through, adopting boys from the same town.  I just wish that they had arrived here sooner.  I hope that the judge rules in their favor on Wed. and that they will be able to return home soon too.  If they win their case, the wife will go back to be with their 5 kids and the husband will stay to get their boy's passport and visa before returning home with him.  I know that I keep asking this but please be praying also that I can get a passport for John sooner than later so that we can make a flight on Sat., Mar. 5th.

Answers to Prayer

God is so faithful!  I ended up not even changing my return flight that left today.  United wanted to charge me a change fee that was through the roof (because my ticket was only good for one month...who knew?) and then John's ticket was going to be over $2,000 because they wouldn't book him on a round-trip ticket (that was a lot less) since he was only 4 yrs.old and didn't have an adult travelling with him on the return portion.  I was going to have to pay close to $3,000 for a reservation that I was probably going to have to pay to change again!!!  OK, so I called this travel agency called Golden Rule Travel, that specializes in international adoption, humanitarian, and missionary travel.  A woman who adopted with our agency told me about them months ago.  Golden Rule quoted me less than $500/ticket for Sat., Mar. 5 (I'm remaining optimistic) with only a $150 change fee.  How awesome is that?  Plus, the agent told me that he'd hold our reservations until Mon., in case I learn anything about how long it will take to get John's passport.

I was then able to get the type of room I wanted at the Odessa Executive Suites for Tues.  One of the families we know that's adopting there recommended them.  There are only 2 one bedrooms in the building so I was happy to receive the e-mail back from them saying that they had reserved one of them for me.  I thought it would be nice to have a separate room for sleeping instead of getting a studio, which was only $5 less. 

Yesterday I came across Karen Spring's blog, who has been working with Orphans Promise, a ministry of Christian Broadcasting Network, in Kiev since 2004.  Orphan's Promise (orphanspromise.org) was started by Terry Meeuwsen, the co-host of CBN, when she adopted three sisters from Ukraine.  Karen just started a Hospitality Ministry, which serves to help adoptive families who are in need of housing while in Kiev.  We've e-mailed back and forth so I hope I can stay with her when I go back to Kiev. 

Lastly, an American couple is staying in this small hotel.  Yay...people to talk to in English!  Their story is unreal.  They hosted a cute little boy two summers ago (who is now 8).  They have 5 biological children and this little boy is the first one that they are trying to adopt.  Their very first court ruling was appealed on the last day of the waiting period.  I think they said that this is their 4th trip to this small town due to all the court dates that they have had to attend.  This is their last round of court sessions.  Please pray that the judge in Odessa (it's had to go to the next level) would rule in their favor.  I don't know if they would want me to share their names.  Boy, meeting them sure puts things in perspective.  What a tough road they have been on!

John with his groupa (there are 3 girls & 1 is missing)

John with his best buddies 

Prayer Requests and a Praise

This was taken Feb. 13.  We miss Papa!

I need to change my return flight that's departing tomorrow morning.  Apparently there are holidays coming up this Fri., Mar. 4-Tues., Mar. 8 (I think he said it was Woman's Day?  I can't understand his heavy accent very well).  He said that it's a half day on Fri. so no one will be working, Mon. everything's closed, and Tues. is a half day so no one will be working then.  If anyone out   there reading this knows what the holidays are, I'd love to know. Would you please pray with me that I can get his passport as soon as possible?  Then I can go to Kiev and get his visa and he can have his physical exam and we can return home.  I have been here since Jan. 30 and miss my kids so much!  They will be on Winter Break next week and it would be great to get home at the end of it.  Also, please pray that John gets over his chest cold or whatever he has.  I hope that they'll let me take him out of the orphanage on Tues. even if he's not 100%!  One more thing, I just got off the phone with the National Visa Center and they said that they would be transmitting our updated USCIS approval electronically sometime today and the Kiev office should have it by Tues.  Thank you Lord!

Some Photos

Out and About Today

Last night my internet connection fell when I had just started to talk to Scott on Skype.  I was so disappointed that I couldn't get it to re-connect.  It was late so I went to bed and hoped it would work in the morning.  Well, after many attempts, I couldn't get it to work this morning either.  Panic set in a little because I don't know what I'd do without getting to see the kids every afternoon!  Thankfully I can send/receive e-mails on my Droid so I e-mailed Paul to pray that the internet would come back on.   As I was leaving for the orphanage, I asked the hotel owner's wife if the internet connection was up and running.  I was so relieved to learn that the owner had already left to pay the bill and that it should be up and running later.  Thank you Lord!  I'm so spoiled to have internet access 24/7.

Well, I went to see John in the morning and afternoon again.  I don't know why I even write that because that's what I do everyday.  He still has something going on in his chest so we can't go outside.  It's bitter cold anyway with snow on the ground so playing inside is fine with me. We played in the same little area outside his living quarters.  His favorite thing to do is definitely to bat around a balloon or small blow up beach ball.  

Between visits, I ventured in to town to buy him a jacket, hat, and gloves.  Since I can't read any of the signs, I just looked in the windows to see if they had advertisements with kids on them.  I was surprised that I was able to find four stores and even more in the open air market that has booths set up one right after the other.  The one store that had the most inventory was without power so eventhough the saleperson was desperate to show me the items with her tiny flash light, I had to move on.  I don't know what I'd do without my Droid with the Google Translate app.  Every time I walked into a store, I'd show them what I was looking for and they'd bring me right to the merchandise.  I bought the cheapest one I could find that looked decent.  Once we return to NC, it will be warm and he'll probably never wear it again.  I brought it to the ophanage for him to try it on and it fit him perfectly.  Then I realized that the elastic on it was shot.  I forgot to check it!  I've learned that the clothing here isn't super well made or has been sitting on the shelves a long time so I should have been better about looking it over.  It will still keep him warm.

After our second playdate, I walked to the Wal-Mart type store, bought him a hat and some treats for tomorrow and ate dinner at the cafeteria.  I have no clue what I ate and I still can't believe I ate it because it didn't taste very good.  At least, it had cheese and a tomato melted on the top so it masked the flavor a little.  I sat at the table in the non-smoking section where I used to sit with Paul:(  Since he's been gone, I haven't taken many pictures and haven't had any taken of the two of us until today.  One of the caregivers took this one.  The other photos are of John playing with his Zsu-Zsu pet and gulping down a juice box I brought him.  He inhales any food or drink I give him.  As you can see, he is no longer wearing the Tom and Jerry sweater and his hair is growing out a little more each day.  Tomorrow I'll post some of the photos that Paul took.  You can't see his face very well in these.  Only 6 more days until I can take him out of the orphanage!  Bed #5 will be empty!

Paul's Office

I want everyone to know who wonderful the people who work at Paul's office are.  They have been so supportive of us and have filled in the gaps while Paul was gone these past three weeks.  His Office Manager, Liz Parrott, skyped with us so many times to keep Paul in the loop on things, re-schedule patients, and just encourage us.  Paul was in the backseat skyping with Liz as we were speeding to Odessa after court last Friday.  A big thank you to those people who are following our journey and rejoicing with us.

Also, I wanted to let you know that John is back in the swing of things.  He definitely had his energy back.  Unfortunately we were still not able to run around outside, but at least no doctors caught him running around the room that we were allowed to play in!  I think we played with every toy in the back pack between our two playdates, one in the morning and one in the afteroon.  It's still quite cold outside and was snowing today so I hope that it warms up and we can go outside tomorrow.

Lastly, I am still in need of the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services updated approval.  As of now, I can only bring a child home who is less than three years old.  Please pray that Paul will receive this in the U.S. and be able to get it to me before my appointment at the U.S. Embassy before I have to leave. 

Got to See John Today

Well, I got to visit with John today eventhough he's still under the weather.  We were instructed to play at at small table outside their main living area.  We sat and colored, read books and then started playing with the Zsu-Zsu pet on the floor.  The doctor walked in when we were sitting on the floor and we were immediately told to go back to the table.  Bummer!  It's hard for me to sit at a small table for an hour and a half so I know it must be that much harder for a 4 year old.  It was good because we were able to make a lot of eye contact.  From what I've read, this is important for bonding.  I also fed him his snack, which is another good way to promote attachment.  I had him sit on my lap when we read and rubbed his back.  I think he liked that.  Another thing he learned today was how to color within the lines of a coloring book.  Whenever I gave him crayons and paper in the past, he would just scribble all over it.  After watching me color in the lines, he started doing it today.  I hope that he continues to pick things up quickly.  I could tell that he wasn't his energetic self, but he still laughed and we had fun.  I didn't take any pictures today so these are from a few days ago.  

As I write today's entry, I can't stop thinking about our friend, John Nicholson, who passed away yesterday unexpectedly from complications from pneumonia.  He left his beautiful wife and two precious young boys to go be with the Lord.  He had recently e-mailed us and encouraged us while we were in Ukraine and I can't believe that he is no longer with us.  He was a great Christian man.  Please keep their family in your prayers.

Missing Papa

Paul barely made his flight Sat. morning after a white-knuckle ride to Kiev on Friday night.  Normally the trip takes 5 hours, but because of a snow storm it took 8.  At one point, our driver told Paul to put on his seatbelt since the driving conditions were so bad, which was quite unusual because most people in Ukraine don't wear seatbelts in the back seat.  They eventually made it to the airport, exhausted but safely.

The kids are so glad to have their Daddy home and his parents are too.  They have been watching our children for three weeks.  We are so thankful for Grandma and Grandpa!  We are also very thankful for Sherry Ball who brings Jimmy and Nicole home from school everyday and for Sims McCorkle, Kathy Miles, Erin Webster, and Katie Koon who drive Scott to or from school every week.  Thank you also to the many people who drove our kids to sports or weekly events like Kathryn Gerber, Suzanne Rice, Paige Marsh, Leigh Ann Watson, Louise York, Mary Nell Thompson, and Wendy Wright.  Also a big thank you to all the friends that have had them over or taken them somewhere fun like Elizabeth Feeney, Jennifer Taylor, Sharon Wiley, Calvin Carr, Suzanne Rice, Paige Pearce, Debbie Haile, Paige Marsh, Kathy Miles, Sims McCorkle, Cristin Harvey, Eli Pennington, Katie Koon, Terry Jones, Katherine Lea, and my parents.  There are others that I'm sure I've forgotten to mention.  Please forgive me!  We couldn't have done this without you!       

I played with John twice on Sat.  Paul and I would swing him most days and sing "Jesus Loves Me" among other songs to him.  So yesterday he said "mama" and pointed to the swing.  I got on and he started pushing me while singing "Jesus Loves Me".  I couldn't believe it!  He's been so shy about imitating us, but has obviously been asborbing it all.  I've started singing the ABC song also so I can get him ready for pre-school in the fall:).  Now that Paul is gone, I can tell that I'm going to speaking to him much more.  Before I would speak to Paul a lot, but now I'm talking and naming everything John and I do together.  In addition to playing on the swing, we did a lot of slipping, sliding, and falling on ice, which he loved.  We also chipped ice off of stuff and made snowballs.  It wasn't the same without Papa though.  I could tell that John was missing him.   

Today I went back to the church where we know the pastor, his wife, and the American missionary.  Once again the pastor's wife sat with me and translated the entire service (except the singing, of course).  Then I took the three of them out to a nice meal.  We were the only people in the restaurant for the entire two hours.  People here don't go out to eat a lot.  Then I went to the orphanage to see John and was told by hand gestures that he had a temperature and that I couldn't see him.  Please pray that this isn't anything serious.  Our facilitator is going to call the orpahange in the morning to see if he's better and if I can go visit him. 

  

It's a Boy!

Meet John Vadim Riske

Born October 23, 2006

Welcomed into our Family February 18, 2011

We had court today without any problems and have a new son!!!  We plan to call him "John", but during this transition time, we are calling him "John Vadim" (pronounced Vadeem).  He is named after my father and younger brother.  He is a sweet boy and a lot of fun.  He is also 3 years and 5 months younger than Scott, the same number of years and months that Scott is younger than Nicole and Jimmy.  We are so excited that he has joined our family and cannot wait to bring him home so that he can meet everyone.  Scott is especially excited because he will share his room with John for a little while and will get to have bunkbeds. 

We woke up to a blanket of snow covering the city.  We were concerned that our facilitator would not be able to make it from Odessa and that court would be postponed to another day because the snow was not letting up.  Thankfully our facilitator arrived without any problems and the court time did not change.  Since court was at noon, we were able to go to the orphanage with our facilitator and ask the caregivers questions about our son.  We got to see where he sleeps, eats, everything.  Up until today, we were only allowed in the waiting area.  We took a lot of pictures and asked a lot of questions.  He sounds like he's such a good kid (says his mama).  Then we went to court, which was actually quite brief and the judge didn't ask us many questions.  The judge then pronounced us as John Vadim's parents and we hugged each other!  Yahoo!  Thank you Lord!

The next step was to obtain the appplication for a passport for John Vadim, which required both of our signatures.  Since Paul was leaving for Kiev tonight, it had to be done today.  We went to three different notaries (they are like attorneys) in town, but they were unable to complete it, as they were unfamiliar with the process.  So at 4:00 p.m., our facilitator decided that we should go to Odessa to get the documents.  Our taxi driver sped through a snowstorm and got stuck in some traffic jams, but we made it to Odessa 3 hours later.  Fortunately the notary stayed open for us and we were able to obtain the much needed application for his passport.  We then turned around and drove back to our small town.  I was dropped off at the hotel and Paul grabbed his suitcase and headed for Kiev to make his early morning flight to Munich.  Our hero of the day was our taxi driver, Serge, who made two round trips to Odessa and a trip to Kiev, which is 7 hours one way, all in one day.  

God has been so faithful through this journey and we are very thankful that He has placed John Vadim in our lives.  I can't wait to pick him up from the orphanage on March 1st and bring him home during the 1st or 2nd week of March.  Thank you for your prayers and encouraging e-mails and comments!  

Court is Tomorrow

Court is tomorrow!  It was going to be at 10 a.m., but now it's at noon.  Apparently the witnesses couldn't make it at 10.  Please pray that it all goes well and that there are no problems.  We will hopefully be able to introduce you to our new son tomorrow!  We have been trying to take photos of him this week without all of his snow gear on so that you can see his face. 

We woke up early this morning to get the Home Study Addendum document scanned to a flash drive in order to e-mail it to our Case Manager in the U.S.  After many e-mails and conversations back and forth with her, we hope that Paul can get all the necessary documents overnighted to the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) on Monday when he is back home.  Please pray that they will turn around and send the updated USCIS Approval to him quickly so that he can overnight to Ukraine.  I want to leave with our new son as soon as I'm able to!  

Between visits with our little guy and our conversations with our case manager, we went shopping for new clothes for our son and took a tour of a nearby historical fort.  I was so glad that Paul could see it before he leaves tomorrow night.  It was well worth visiting and very interesting.  It's over 700 years old and it's amazing that it's still standing.

Before court, we're going with our facilator/translator to the orphanage to ask questions about our son, like what are his likes/dislikes, what's his schedule, where does he sleep, etc.  Thank you to the friends who have given us great suggestions about what to ask.  If anyone has any other suggestions, please let us know.  I hope that I can gather a lot of information.  Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow!  We will update you as soon as we can.   

Trouble in Paradise

We called the U.S. Embassy this afternoon to find out what documents Paul needs to fill out in order for me to complete the final steps in the adoption without him, as he returns home to be with kids and get back to work.  In the process of the inquiry we found out that a much needed document was not in our file.  Our USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) Approval, which is needed to get the visa for our son and to leave the country, was for  2 children from 1-3 years old!  YIKES!  We were then told that approval needs to be amended in the U.S.. After talking to our Case Manager in the U.S., she said that she doesn't have a copy the amendment for the Home Study (which the USCIS is based on), which says that we want to adopt up to two children between the ages of 1-5.  Plus, the Social Worker that prepared the Home Study is in New Zealand enjoying her retirement.  Thankfully, I have an original that Paul can take with him back to the states on Sat. and send to our Case Manager.  Please pray that this will not hold up my being able to leave this country with my new son!  Has this happened to anyone out their in the adoption world?  Is this something that can be resolved quickly?  It took me so long to get the USCIS Approval.  I hope that it can be amended quickly! 

Are We There Yet?

 Everyday Paul asks me if we've hit the "Groundhog Days", like in the movie when Bill Murray lives the same day over and over.  Paul thinks that we have hit them, but I keep instisting that each day is a little different and that I have too many days ahead to start thinking that way!  Paul was under the weather today so we just went to the orphanage and back to our hotel room, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  Paul thinks it's nice that we live and sleep in the same room so that we're together all the time.  We spent Valentine's Day at the local Wal-Mart type store (again) having dinner at the dimly lit cafeteria that is decorated with large screen TV's and modern comfortable chairs.  There were some men playing jazz with a sax and keyboard in the corner which resonated over the din of the large grocery store.  It was definitely a memorable Valentine's Day dinner. 

Well, I should be updating you about our funny soon to be son.  Paul calls his backpack the "magic bag" because it's full of toys, candy, books, and photos for our little guy to play with.  Now, every time we are with him, he goes over to the bag and says "Majic bag, majic bag"!  We let him open it himself and pull out whatever he wants to play with.  He found one of those punching bag type balloons this morning and he must have played with it for at least 30 minutes.  This morning we stayed inside so Paul could lie down, but this afternoon we ventured out in the 20 degree weather and he immediately took the balloon out.  Unfortunately, it broke it on a twig right away.  I was so bummed because it was the only one I had.  I'm going to try to find a new one in town.  In just three days, the little guy will be our son!  Please pray that our Friday court session will go well. 



A groupa of younger children