Day 19- Boys in blue!

The boys came to us in blue today!! yay! well except for Bohdan's pink booties.....

Crazy part is that they were in some of the clothes I brought for the orphanage. The shirt Bohdi is wearing is NB, the onsie he is in is 3-6 months and the onsie Yuri was in, I think, was even smaller than Bohdan's. It didn't have feet in it though so it worked.

The boys playing with their favorite ball! Granma said we should have brought the other one so both boys had one but we didn't listen. Sorry :0(

Spinning with Daddy! too much fun if you can't tell.

This was at the very beginning of our visit. I was touching his face! Who knew that could be SO much fun!

So Yuri did NOT want to be held today. So Josh would lay him on the couch to chill. He suprised us when he rolled over got on his knees and made one crawling motion. This boy is going to be mobile soon. Neither boy has much energy for any activity for very long but that will soon change if I have anything to do with it! ;0)

Yuri and I play patty cake but my own version, it is "patty cake patty cake bakers man bake me a cake as fast as you can rollllllllllllllllllll it UP!! Throw the pan!!" On the roll, I rub my hands together real fast and it jiggles Yuri. He loves it! I can't even get through the first part of the song, which I sing very fast, because he will grab my clapping hands and pull them to him. I love it that he loves it!

Fish faces with Momma. He was so cute this morning. he was happy and when he saw Josh he said "dadadada" I would look at him and say "Mommma" he would look at me and blow rasberries. :0)

I was talking to him and I grabbed his head in my hands and he got still, and just had this happy look on his face. He stayed like that just looking around.

So what is worse....... Of course this a hypothetical question. I know the answer, if there is a right answer. You know the saying, is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? Well if you are a person who has never loved than I would think your answer would be it is better to have never loved. If you are a person who has loved than your answer would be it is better to have loved and lost.

I thought of this often with my boys today. As many of you have said in your previous comments it will get easier once the boys see us as thier primary caregivers but for now in their eyes we don't meet any of their immediate needs. When the Nanny came to get them, Yuri was clapping and laughing and smiling to go back. Back to his safe room where he is fed and changed. He has no idea about what it feels like to be part of a family and of course that is not something you can explain. Yuri just needs to experience it and then he will know what true and unconditional love is. For now all they know is orphanage life and to them we are fun for about the first hour and then after that what good are hugs and kisses if lunch is soon. Today their lunch went by and we could smell it. The boys immeadiatley became aggitated and ready to go back.

As thier Momma, it does break my heart that they want to go back. That they, especially Yuri, are so excited about going back to the room they have always been in. But I realize for now that it is better since that is where they will be for a few more weeks. I also understand that this is normal and there will be an adjustment period when leaving their 'safe room'. It is just hard as so many of you have experienced. I am asking permission to give them a bottle during our visits to help with the transition.

Well as my friend Mel would say, only 4 more sleeps till court!! Yay! Please continue to pray for the judge, blessings, wisdom, salvation, or whatever God puts on your heart.

Happy New Year's to you all!!!

Day 18 -Barbra Striesand (Sp?)

Look at this sweet boy! He had another bad day today. I ended up rocking him for a lot of the time and that wasn't working well. Everytime a nurse would walk by he would smile and make noise thinking she ws coming to get him. Oh this is hard not being able to give him what he wants. Which was peace (they we hammering on the balcony right next to us) and food. I'm still looking for where to get the hard nipples for the bottles. Anyone have any ideas?

This little guy on the other hand had a great day. Can't you tell?

Every once in a while he seems to be coming out of his shell and today was one of those days. Oh the faces he made and the fun we had!

Working on therapy a little. Yuri would not let anyone touch him, including his brother! He kept swiping all our hands away. It was cute to watch if they would both grab the same toy and then it was tug of war.

I get some of the best smiles if I try to touch his nose, face, cheek, etc. He will even give me a giggle or two.

Oh I can't wait to get these sweeties home. I know they will blossom!

Bohdan even babbled at me and we blew alot of rasberries. Daddy was the best followed closely by Bohdan. They jsut kept going back and forth. Bohdan didn't exactly know what to make of Josh mimicking him.

So I have been meaning to tell you about one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Ok first to explain, when listening to the radio here if there is an instrumental part of a song the radio announcer will come on and say "Mix 97.1" or if it is a short break in lyrics just the numbers "97.1". It has caught me off guard everytime it happens just cuz I'm not used to it but........ The other day driving back from the orphanage we were listening to a different station than normal. It was not her singing which makes this all the more funny. Any time there was any sort of break in the lyrics the announcer would come on in a deep strong voice with a thick accent and say "Barbra Striesand" and the the song would continue. He must have said her name 10 times or more. Each time it got funnier and funnier. After that song was over I didn't hear her name again so I have no idea!! Just for comic relief I guess.

Day 17- sleepy Christmas Party

So when we got to the orphange today there was a Christmas pagent going on. We got to see some of it. They even invited me to sit and take pictures. All the kids were dressed or had on funny hats. Some of the older kids had speaking parts and there was alot of singing and merriment. If you look close at this picture the little fellow in the yellow cone hat is Aaron being adopted with Julia, from my boys room, by my friend Carey. He had a speaking part and did just fabulous! Everyone clapped afterword and he was very proud! Too neat, I'm so happy to have been able to been a part of this. There was also a camera crew there taking video and after ward they interviewed two of the kiddos in the pagent. Problem was we were running late this morning and wouldn't you know I didn't put on my makeup. No big deal right? Well when they brought out Bohdan I was loving and kissing on him and the guy took a video of us. No big deal it just had to be the day I wasn't made up. Oi! What are you gonna do? Lol!

Daddy and Yuri's favorite pastime if you couldn't tell from all the pictures. When the pagent was over father Christmas went around with a bag of stuffed animals and gave them to all the children who didn't go to the pagent. They gave Bohdan and Yuri two a piece. That is what Josh is holding here in this pic.

I was trying to stay out of the picture but look at Bohdan's face! I love it!!!

His little suit rode up his leg and I caught a picture. My baby is SO stickin' little and cute!

Josh and I didn't rest well last night and were tired at this mornings visit which was fine cuz so were the boys. Poor babies. Yuri actually fell asleep on Josh a few times. Bohdan snuggled with me for a while and then got wiggly. I kept asking him when he had become the wiggle worm its usuallu Yuri! He is so funny, some things are allowed on the couch and some aren't. I would pile things there next to us and he would go through them and throw them on the floor. If the toy he threw didn't make it off the couch he would try hard to make sure it made it to the floor. Some toys such as the stuffed animals were allowed to stay. So cute!!

Ok so here is a major pray request. I know you are all praying your guts out for us so I don't feel bad asking...... we were working on booking our return home and of course ran into problems. We can fly to where Asher and Caius are on the 5th but we are having a hard time getting from region back to the main city where the airport is. The train that we used to get us here won't get in until an hour after the flight leaves. So we asked for a change of flights and the only thing leaving that same day gives us a night layover in Germany and then we don't get to them until the 6th and this flight is much more expensive. We asked about flying out on the 6th and that would only get us home on the night of the 6th and we would have to figure out how to get from there to my Grandparents house where Asher, Caius and our car is. Which would mean another $250 flight. SO.... What to do? We have been trying to figure it out. I asked our facilitator what our options are and she said that there is bus leaving at 5pm (our court is at 3pm yikes!) and gets to the city at 11:45pm. Did I mention our flight would leave at 5:30am? ok so where does the prayer request come in you ask? Well, our facilitator called the judge tonight (!?) and told him our situation and he promised not to hold us up in court. This poor guy! He must hate us by now. With us begging for a sooner court date, and him coming back early from his vacation for us, and now this. Oi!!! I hope and pray none of this affects his decision. My comforts lies in the fact that we serve and AWESOME God and if He wants us to adopt these precious babies then He will allow it to happen no matter how much we annoy the judge. Please pray with us friends, there is power in prayer!!

Update on Rowan: he was feeling better today and they identified the infection and think it might have colonized somewhere in his body so they are going to try to do some kind of scan to figure out where it is.

Oh my heart!! I will tell you when I was the center of my universe life was so much easier! My heart didn't break so often and I was more comfortable for sure. And I definetly never had to stay away from two of lovies for so long! Ok so there was this guy at the metro tonight. He was just standing there hunched over not begging. We walked past and I told Josh about him and asked for money to go give to him. (yes Tom big surprise :o)) I took it back to him and he was facing the wall and I had to get his attention to give it to him and he looked up at me..... He was a young boy, maybe 16 years old. He had his hands in his jacket, you could tell he was cold, and he brought his hand out of the neck of his jacket to take the money. As I walked away I looked back... he took the money and put it up to his face trying to tell what it was. I don't think he could see it.... Oh my heart broke into a million pieces. How do I just leave him? Oi!! What to do? We went and bought him a very thick wool sweater and Josh gave him his gloves and some more money. He shoved the gloves into his jacket and it took a while for him to get his arm out of his jacket, through the sleeve this time, and his hand was so dirty. I felt so helpless. Not speaking the language there was little more I could do. Please pray for this little lost boy who my heart still aches for. I continue to agonize over him. I wish I knew what programs were available in this country to help the homeless......

Day 16- cuddling with Yuri

Tired of therapy.

playing with daddy.

therapy... playing with the mirror.

"Therapy is ok..."

Throwing the ball.

"...is fun!!"

Patty cake with Yuri.

God answers prayers! If you don't believe me just ask me! I feel great!

I'm still sore here and there but I don't feel sick anymore. So much so I got to visit my boys this morning. Yuri was a sweetheart! He let me rock him and we sang and did patty cake. He flipped with Daddy and had a great time! He was a little fussy but did great today. I enjoyed my day with him today more than any other.

Bohdan has started to not be too crazy about our visits. He loses interest easliy and grunts at us when he is done. It is hard to just visit like this. The boys get hungry or want to be put down or need to be changed and we can't do that stuff so we just try to pacify them. Soon they will understand that Momma and Daddy do that stuff. Soon enough, Lord willing!

When they got tired of us holding them we worked on some therapy! The boys thought it was ok for a while but not too long. I'm so thankful to God and to all Caius' therapist for teaching us some tricks. All we did today was work on sitting up and catching ourselves with our hands. It was good but we have a long way to go but the boys have so much potenial.

Well against my better judgement I gave our toys to the Nanny last visit who said the boys could play with them and then they would bring them back to us for our visit. Well.... that didn't happen. I think there was a lack of communication. When we asked for them today the Nanny, who is a sweetie, brought us some orphanage toys, the albums for the boys cribs and a mirror that I gave to one of the other crib bound boys. Oi!! I hate not being able to speak the language! I would highly recommend to anyone going to another country for adoption to learn as much of the lanuage as possible. We did a little but it was not enough.

I was planning on giving the toys to the orphanage anyway but I really wanted that other little boy to have the mirror and there are two stuffed monkeys with our voice recorded inside that I want for the Yuri and Bohdan. I'm sure it will all get straightened out but it is just hard not speaking the language!

Thank you all SO much for your prayers! please keep them coming! this is harder than I thought. I expected it to not be easy but what can prepare you for the unknown. I just thank God for His grace and peace and for you all!

Day 15- sick

Well I got sick this morning and didn't visit with the boys. I would hate to get them sick. I think I have caught this thing early and I'm already feeling better. Josh went without me and played with Yuri. He said this was the worst day he has seen Yuri have. Josh tried to go get Bohdan in the middle of the visit but there weren't any nannies to be found. He said Yuri was miserable and wanted to go back to his room. We keep telling him that we are his safe place, we are your Momma and Daddy but I know it will take time. Three and a half years is a long time to spend in one room.

I slipped in the shower the other day and grabbed onto the hand bar in the shower that promptly came out of the wall. The tub is very high and deep so needless to say I flew backwards out of the tub with my back landing on the toilet. All I can say is 'Ow!' So I'm hoping my back will quit hurting soon. I'm definetely looking forward to visiting my chiropractor when I get home.

Now for a real prayer request. There is a little dude named Rowan who lives in our town back home. He was and still is Chrissie's buddy. He has spent more time in the hospital than at home. He is such a trooper. He wasn't in the hospital this Christmas so he took gifts and visited the kiddos that were! How sweet! Anyhow, the day after Christmas he was admitted again with a serious infection. He is very tired and losing his strength. Please pray for him and his Momma. Oh my heart hurts for them.

blessings to you all and hopefully I will be able to visit tomorrow and get more pictures.

Day 14- Cute Pictures!!!!!

Another picture of sweet Sonya. She is listed on Reece's Rainbow under Sonya (3). She is so sweet and smart. I hope and pray she finds a family soon!! Caleb got to play with her a little and fell in love. He got a picture of her smiling. I hope I can share it with you soon.

This sweetheart is listed as Shawna (3) on Reece's Rainbow. She is amazing! She saw me and posed for the camera. She made faces and laughed and laughed. Oi!! She needs a family too! Both of theses baby girls are going to be transferred soon. Please help spread the word to find them a family. They both will be a such blessings to their families!!


Ok I know you all think that you have the most beautiful children EVER! but I hate to break this to you. I do! All four of my babies are gorgeous! I didn't get good pics at our last visit so I will give you pictures that my sweet Uncle took at Christmas. Oh how I miss my other babies.

Caius playing peekaboo with Aunt Kat. Can't you tell these two adore each other!

Asher max posing for the camera!

Asher showing Uncle Woody a toy he got.

Caius showing Uncle Woody his cool hands moves!

Needless to say it has been a very hard Christmas being away from my boys. We got to visit Yuri and Bohdan on Christmas morning but they were out of sorts and wanted to go back to their room. I was able to connect to two more Nannies and got their addresses. They are very sweet to us and gave us a bag to leave our toys with the boys so they can play with them while we are gone. A very sweet gesture.

Anyway what I was saying is that despite this being a hard Christmas we weren't alone. We spent Christmas eve with two of our new friends, Tom and Caleb, adopting Julia. I cooked them some American cuisine which we were all happy to eat. I made some mushroom cream gravy over chopped steaks (hamburger patties) with mashed potatoes and corn. I say 'I', I should say we. Josh cooked just as much as I did. he is a wonderful hubby.

After visiting the boys on Christmas morning we went back to our hang out, the coffee shop, and the staff there bought us some beverages as our Christmas gift. They are very sweet and we are enjoying our time with them. We are trying to figure out something to do for them, a staff of 9, we don't have any ideas yet. Please feel free to share your thoughts.

The manager, Marina, made us some homemade soup and it was AMAZING!! Very good! She has promised us more and invited us to dinner at her apartment. How blessed are we! All the way across the world God blesses us with friends. Then the highlight of our Christmas was watching our boys wake up to Santa Clause gifts. At first Asher wasn't touching anything and just giggling then he dove in. The big hit was his train set. My boys are being completely spoiled by my family and Josh and I have decided we are going to have to get a bigger house just to hold all the toys from this Christmas!! I also got to talk to my Mom for a while and that was very nice. We also got to talk with Josh's family and it was so great to hear everyone's voices.

This morning we went over to see Tom, Caleb and Julia. They had their Gotcha Day on Christmas. i got to hold, cuddle, kiss, and play with that sweetie pie. She is stinkin' cute!! I'm so happy we got to spend time with them today. i wish them a safe and uneventful trip home!

I ventured back to the store with a million signatures and tried to buy another kettle and two power strips. I grabbed the kettle and went for the power strip. I asked the lady in Russian if she spoke English. She answered me but in Russian so we mimed a while and then she spoke broken English to me. I got the power cords but she couldn't ring up the kettle. So i did the song and dance with her but she kept wanting me to leave and have the tickets signed by the door guard. i kept saying I need to go pay for this. So she took me to the cashier. Anyway after six receipts umpteen signatures and stamps galore I got out alive. I hope I don't need to buy anything else from there. Our driver, Edward, speaks English well and we asked him about it. He said that is not normal at all. He got a good laugh out of the story. Believe me I would go to a different store but I don't know where else sells that stuff.

Things I have noticed:

You have to pay for everything here. The people are getting ripped off.
You have to pay for bags at the grocery stores. Some grocery stores make you pay for a cart. They have little coin slots on the handles that you enter money into to release the cart from the line. You have to pay for Ketchup packets at Mc Donalds. (yes I lowered my self to eat there. I couldn't finish but I had to take one for the team. Josh wanted some flavor unfortunately he was disappointed.)

I know some of you are wondering about the Turkish toilets and I am happy to tell you I have experienced two. I have actually been using the restrooms out in public places and have been happy with their cleanliness. Turkish toilets are interesting but no big deal.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! please hug and kiss your little one for those of us who can't. God bless you all!!

Day 12- Oh happy day.

Not sure if I posted this pic yet but is is SO sweet!

And my favorite of Bohdan to date!! Oh my!!

Josh giving Yuri his bottle.

Snuggling with my honey pie.

"I know how to do this!"

Tickle! i love his smile!

My babies! Look at little Bohdan his eyes are closed.

Well Bohdan has been in pink so long you start to wonder what is really down there. Well Josh is happy to announce that he passed by during a diaper change and it is confirmed he is all boy!! LOL. He is such a cutie! I asked about getting to watch them eat today so we can get prepared. Both are on a bottle with a large hole cut in the middle. Yuri was having a fussy day and didn't care for his bottle. Josh spent some time with him and got him to take it.

Bohdan, on the other hand, finished both of his in record time. I actually tried to slow him down a little he was drinking it so fast. Both of them know how to work the bottle!

I got some addresses from some of the Nannies so I can keep in touch with them about the boys progress. They said that they would love this and that it is hard for them to keep the babies from such a young age and then not know what happens to them. One nanny in particular who I just met today said that she kept Yuri when he was tiny and first came to the orphanage. She was excited to stay in touch.

It was really neat, the Nannies asked if it was true that in America there are actors who have Downs syndrome. I said yes and many have jobs and live on their on there own. I told them that I fully expect that from of all my children! I think it was good to get to share my high expectations for the boys. I love them either way but it has been my experience that most people special needs or not will give you what you expect.

Day 11- Great news

Daddy and Bohdan looking in a mirror playing with hands.

Oh my sweet baby Yuri!

Daddy snuggle time with Bohdan. he is such a cuddle bug. He has definitely slowed down since our first visit. he seems not to have much energy to play. :o(

The boys!

Playing "pop' the balloon with Daddy it was SO funny. I'm going to try to post a video of him laughing because it is priceless!! My heart leaps when I hear it!

Josh set yuri next to the bag of goodies and he went crazy pulling stuff out!

It was bath day today and the Nannies brought the boys to us with hats and blankets on top of their 3 layers. Yuri was not about to wear his hat! he would take it off and throw it. if it landed on the couch he would grab it and throw it on the floor.

he was super cute in his hat!

our apartment building.

the sidewalks where we walk. No wonder I have fallen 5 times!! Our driver, Valeck, calls me Mrs boom boom. fitting I guess.

I have promised Bohdan no more pink or red once we get home!

I got to meet the Angel Tree child we sponsored this year. How good is our God!! Thank you Jesus!!Her name is Sonya and she was too precious!! Her profile should be updated on RR. And I will try to post about her later.

Sonya was so precious and even came up to our boys to check them out. She was beautiful and pictures do not do her justice.

We have super awesometastic news. The vote was not voted on today and our court date has been moved to the 4th of January!! Which means we won't have to worry about the vote interupting our adoption of these sweet angels.

No lie, I went to the store today to buy an electric kettle (what I was calling a water pot). While I was looking for one, I came across a spatula which I have really been wanting here so I grabbed it and continued looking around. A customer service rep came and asked me something. I smiled and said "English?" She made a motion with her hands, took my spatula and walked off. I looked at Josh, who was laugh at the scene, and then I followed the lady. She went to a computer and started typing in a number......she then pulled up a receipt. I thought she wanted me to pay so I ran and grabbed the electric kettle. she then did the same thing for it and gave both items to this guy who was opening the boxes and going through them. She then took me and the receipts to a cashier. I waited in line and them paid the cashier. She looked up the items from the receipt and signed the receipt and gave me another receipt. So at this time I have 4 pieces of paper two for each item. I go back to the guy opening the packages in the middle of the store and the sales clerk meets me there and takes my receipts and signs them. Then she goes and get a manager who doesn't have a pen on him and has to look for a pen. then he checks the items number, just as all the others, and signs and stamps the receipts, all four of them. Did I mention i have spent maybe $15 dollars. Then I get my items and try to leave, but my 'receipts' have to be checked by the guard at the door. She has to line up the product numbers and then sign the receipts and stamp the receipts she gives back to me. So after 4 signatures and 3 stamps I was allowed to leave with two receipts and two products. Talk about stalling consumerism.