our first meeting with Zoya....

We met her officially today!! After a meeting with the orphanage director to review her social and medical history, Zoya was brought in to meet us. Interestingly, another adoptive family, the Whites (adopting 3), were there, and we got to see each other meeting each other's kids. It was really special to be in on that, kind of like witnessing child birth....of triplets, ha!  I believe the Whites captured our introduction video, but getting the video from their video camera to this blog might be a little difficult, so you'll have to use your imagination for now. Zoya was dressed pretty with her hair all fixed up, and was already smiling when they brought her in to us. She went right up into John's lap. 

Our translator told us that while her nanny was getting her dressed up, she asked if today was the day she was getting a mommy and a daddy? Oh, my heart. I wonder if she already knew we were 'the ones'? Who knows. This precious girl has already faced so many challenges in her short little life and has been waiting a very long time for a family to love her and a community to embrace her. Please love her with us. Our visit was very short because it was lunch time. But before she went back, she went to the candy jar in the director's office, and picked out candy for everybody in the room, and went from person to person handing out candy. She blew kisses when she left and we promised to come see her tomorrow.

I love....

I love these beautiful brown eyes.....

....And these sweet, chubby hands....

...And here is a photo that makes me laugh. I took it on our way out of the orphanage today. Notice how all the other little boys and girls are sitting nicely on the bench? Well look who bolted off to play in the garden hose. Look at that expression. And that poor nanny. hee hee.

About Zoya

Thank you for your love and support! We really appreciated all the kind and supportive comments we received on our last post. Sometimes we wonder how crazy we must come across to some people, but then we feel totally normal, and in fact quite boring compared to some of our fellow Reece's Rainbow friends, like the Whites who we met today and are adopting three children. :)


Zoya has two different nannies. One who allows her to come 'talk' to us, and one who doesn't. One day last week, when she had the strict nanny, she saw us coming and she broke away from her group and began to run to us. Her nanny caught her, yanked her arm, and yelled "ZOYA!" Broke. My. Heart. We felt so bad for her. So for the rest of the afternoon we ignored her waves and smiles, because we didn't want to get her in trouble again. :(

But tomorrow we will have our official permission to visit her, and she won't get yelled at anymore for running to us. It's been a long wait for all of us!

Here is a picture we snuck of Zoya on the second day we met Joseph. My zoom lens came in really handy that day. It was the day the kids were having their outdoor baths, and she was sitting in the stroller waiting for hers. She was mesmerized watching John tossing Joseph up in the air (which he was terrified of the first time but has loved it since!) Anyway, this is the expression she had on her face the day she first saw us playing with Joseph. I like to imagine she was wondering if she would ever have a daddy who would put her on his shoulders, and toss her up in the air. :) 

Little does she know.....

Zoya is a beautiful girl and does have some special needs but we are going to leave it at that for now. There are things we know and things we don't know about her. But regardless of what is in her file or isn't, she is a deserving girl who has been waiting for a forever family for a very very long time. She has lots of brothers and sisters at home who are so excited to meet her. We see lots of potential in her, and we can't wait to see her blossom and grow in a family. OUR family. :)

The latest adoption twist...

Have I dropped enough hints about what the twist might be? If you know me at all you know how difficult it has been to keep this quiet for so long.

I wanted to wait until everything was official before I announce so sorry for keeping you in suspense until now. All this time we've been waiting on an SDA appointment to adopt a second child. We finally got the call this morning at 8, while we were still in our PJs, that they would be there to pick us up in 15 minutes. Yikes. No time for a shower or to iron clothes but there was nothing stopping us from making it!

So who are we adopting?

 Remember that little 5 year old girl in the pink hat that has been climbing up into my lap, and playing with my earrings and my fingernails? The little girl we have been exchanging smiles and waves with? Her name is Zoya, and we should have her referral tomorrow. She seems to be longing for us as much as we are longing for her, so we are looking forward to Wednesday, when we can officially visit her as her prospective adoptive parents, and not just as "Joseph's playmates".

Backing up a couple weeks, remember I mentioned Joseph's SDA appointment being a little stressful? That is because we hoped to be able to get her referral along with Joseph's but as it turns out because we didn't know her full name and DOB ahead of time we had to start the process all over again and wait for another separate appointment. It was hard to wait, but she is so worth it. And we couldn't be happier.

Bandaids, hugs, and water hoses

It is beginning to feel a little bit like Groundhog Day, the movie, around here. Same routine every day. Ham, eggs and toast for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, a two hour visit with Joseph, pasta with ham and cheese for dinner (or TGIFridays)...blog....bed. Start all over again.

So pardon me if my posts are redundant.

Here Joseph is on the swing with his friend Lilya. She is just a month older, has Down syndrome, and was saved from the mental institution just in the nick of time by her adoptive parents, the Zoromskis who just passed court and will return for her in a week or two.

In Ava's region the children from the baby house are transferred at age 4 but at this orphanage the children are blessed to be able to stay until they are 6. Joseph, and Lilya, will both be 6 in the fall. Lilya's mama told me how humbling it was to receive pictures of Lilya from her file, the file which was being put together for her transfer in August.

The Baby House houses children of all kinds from birth to age 6. Then, from what I understand, the healthy children are then transferred to an internat, or orphanage for older children and the disabled children are sent to mental institutions. I believe, although I am not positive, that the HIV+ children go to a special internat just for HIV+ kids.

As I've mentioned before, Joseph has been blessed to be in such a nice place, but he would not have been here much longer. We are so honored to be able to give him a home and a family before it is too late.

Today I put bandaids on his knees, and he patiently watched me, then ripped both bandaids off and handed them to me. Oh well, it was nice to feel like his mother even for a little bit.

When I look at these photos that I post, I realize it must appear that it is totally natural for us to be here parenting this boy. In reality, we feel very much like we are playmates for now, and not much like parents. Keep in mind we are strangers in this place. We do not know the boundaries or the rules, and we cannot understand each other. As I mentioned before Joseph obeys his nannies very well but he does not listen to us! Who can blame him though? He can't understand a word we are saying!

Nevertheless, we do enjoy our 'playtime' with him, and are looking forward to the day when we can really do things our own way, and not worry about what the rules are and who is watching us.

Afternoon play dates are my favorite, can you see why?

We have tried bringing bubbles, balls, balloons, cars, and play-dough to our visits, and Joseph is not interested in any of them! He wants to play with one thing and one thing only. The water hose. We did turn the hose on one day for him, just a small trickle, and let him water the flowers and wet himself a little. He was in heaven!!

Shortly afterward the nannies came running and hollering "Nyet!! Nyet!" 

Sigh.

So every day we have to have the same conversation with Joseph....that "Nyet, Nyet",  he can't play in the water hose here in this place, but that when he gets home, to his forever family, he has two big brothers waiting for him there who will do lots of big brother things, and that water hoses are on the top of their list too!

A Skype conversation, and Father's Day

Last night, when we were Skyping with our kids, Jude said, "Dad, do you remember when you guys adopted Ava and we were at the airport waiting for you and you walked through the gate with her?......Well, can you run this time?"

Ha! I went back and looked at Ava's homecoming video, and sure enough, John is walking with Ava while the kids wait patiently to meet her. How interesting that that is the detail that would stand out in his mind.

We will spend Father's Day today (It is Father's Day, isn't it?....remember I don't have my calendar) visiting the orphanage and spending time with Joseph as well as exchanging smiles and waving across the playground to another child that we have our eye on (wink).

I remember on our second or third date, when John pulled out his wallet and proudly showed me pictures of his nieces and nephews (well and his grandma too)....I remember thinking yes, this is the kind of guy I can envision spending the rest of my life with. He is beyond what I could have ever envisioned, a wonderful husband, amazing father. That he would travel across the world to be the daddy to a little orphan.....twice.... makes me love him even more. Happy Father's Day honey!

And a Happy Father's Day to my father! I love you! Thanks again for being a great grandpa to my kids. It means the world to us that you are caring for our children while we do this. They love you so much and it is obvious they are having a great time.

Homesick

Good news! The signature we have been waiting on is now on the adoption documents, which means we can now proceed with the adoption of Joseph. Meanwhile we will continue our daily visits as we wait for our court date.

I played with the night setting on my camera last night. Here is a night shot from our apartment. We are on the top floor.

This is what we saw on our walk home from the orphanage today: 

This dog is patiently waiting for its owner to come out of the hair salon! I wonder if the owner is one of the nannies at the orphanage. That is the ONLY explanation!

This sign and these balloons were on the gate of the orphanage today. I would love to know what the sign says. Does anybody know?  There didn't appear to be anything special going on inside the orphanage, but surely it means something special?

There were ladies all over town carrying flowers of every kind (and they all carried them upside down). Is today some kind of Valentine's Day or Mother's Day in Ukraine? It is the only explanation, because John didn't suddenly have an urge to buy me flowers.

If you are traveling to Europe, remember this is what the outlets look like:

Which means you will need one of these....and one of these....

John told me that we must let people know. You'd hate to be here without one.

You know you are homesick and you've been away far too long.....

When you are craving MCDonalds!!! That is what we had for dinner tonight.

Yes, we are homesick!

Here are a few things that we are missing:

1. Mexican food
2. Ice
3. Church
4. Nellie the Dog
5. Free water
6. Netflix
7. Driving
8. English
9. Chinese food
10. Fishing
11. iPhone
12. Wi-Fi
13. my calendar
14. variety of clothing
15. bathrobe

And most of all:
16.

17. 

18. 

19.

20.