All I want for christmas is...

Yesterday was a cause for celebration Sasha lost her first tooth she has been tugging and wiggling for weeks. Technically this is her second tooth, but this is the first one she had pulled all on her own. There seems to be a right of passage when you pull your first tooth I had long forgotten. She is growing up so quickly it seems like such a short time ago we were writing daily updates about some new breakthrough we had together at the orphanage. While we have not had an opportunity to meet our new addition as of yet; this trip has certainly brought us closer together with Sasha. Thank you everyone for helping to make this possible, happy thanksgiving.

3 little pigs

Sam had probably mentioned that we had an opportunity to meet a family friend. She teaches english here in and took time to give us a true Kiev experience we will never forget. We started at the children's puppet show. For those of you in Utah imagine a building like the Capital Theater dedicated to puppet shows for children. Natalia had been at a conference earlier and mentioned it to some english speaking colleagues who were also interested in watching the performance.

The building was surrounded by bronze sculptures of childhood stories. Inside was a room filled with many of the puppets used in the performance. A royal throne room complete with everything needed to run a royal court. And a aquarium that ran almost the full length of the building full of fish and other freshwater creatures. The performance was delightful despite Sasha was engaged and joined in on every opportunity to participate.

Family time

We certainly have been busy while waiting for our next SDA appt.  Yesterday, we were introduced to a lady who is a mom of a friend of Scott's brother.Ha! I got a chuckle after typing that. She had wrote down a list of family fun activites that we could choose from, and was our tour guide for the day. We decided on the Kyiv Zoo(Which I really don't recommend this time of year, but Sasha had her heart set on it), and the experimental science museum for kids. That museum was cool. It is a fun way to introduce leverage, lazers, and optical illusions with mirrors. While all the girls were enjoying being a kid at heart, Scott went to the Chernobyl Museum.  He reports that it was interesting it really put a human face  on the disaster.  Each person that died was marked in the exhibit.  It also had various art exhibits dedicated to the human cost of nucleur power.
     We had a blast, and I am pretty sure she did as well.

Moving forward

Patience and flexibility are necessary with any adoption.   Our first one was perfect. We were told it was a model adoption.  Our current one  hasn't been so fortunate. We have encountered a twist of which we're not at liberty to go into detail. We know that we are here for someone. While waiting for our needed addendum,  we decided to travel to Crimea for the weekend. With Russia being close to it's borders, I am curious if it somehow parallels the lifestyle. We were lucky to visit a cafe that spoke moderate English as we found out most on this peninsula speak only Russian.
    I have had questions about how Sasha is handling all of this. I am happy to report that she is handling all of this like a trooper. She was pretty whiny the first week, but has been flexible with all the change. She honestly thinks this is one big field trip. We are trying to create a structured day for her so there is time for school work, and a time for play. That has really helped. We have a deck of number cards and I have been teaching her games such as war and go fish. She has been thoroughly enjoying the play time together.
    With the wait of the addendum, it has put a delay in our process. Hopefully, sometime along the duration it will balance out. If I can help it, I would like to stay for this whole trip. I am not sure if that is possible just as of yet. I may take 2 trips. Scott will definitely have to make two. Please pray for us as we move forward in the right direction,  and that we get another SDA appt before Scott and Sasha have to leave next Saturday.

SDA appt

Today, we unexpectedly hit a road block while at our SDA appt. which resulted in a needed addendum for our home study. At the time of our home study we were heading to Ukraine with a blind referral. After completion, We were notified about a child with a minor need that wasn't listed on our home study. We were  taken aback about this immediate hurdle, but I was in the right place at the right time and my social worker got a new addendum started. Boom! Just like that. Done. Meets SDA criteria. Traveling by DHL tomorrow. I can teeter on how I didn't care for today and the mellow drama, or I can thank God and my angels for the extra support they have given us thus far. I think I will stick with the latter part. Anyhow, we are moving forward.

Kreshchatic Street

We are all suffering from jet lag, but making the best use of time. Sashi awoke with a hot forehead and all I could think was poor little bee. I went to the apothecary and had called K, beautiful Russian friend extraordinaire, in America to translate a simple sentence to the store clerk. One simple sentence. I didn't learn this one. Anyhow, we got it handled. I walked out with Children's Ibuprofen,  and the easy to read thermometer. It sounds as if Sashi is coming down with a cold.  Her temperature lowered, and she requested to go to a park that we had discussed the night before. We all needed to get out and decided to take a walk up Kreshatic street. It is a major street in Kyiv.

We took her to the park. While we were there,  some grandparents and their cute little grand daughter decided to join us. Even know we spoke 2 different languages, they made an effort to communicate with us the best they could. Their granddaughter really wanted to play with Sasha and was interacting with her. Sasha just froze and isolated herself. No one made a big deal out of it which was the best approach we could have taken.
We left the park and went to European square. There are all sorts of vendors selling Ukrainian souvenirs. It is fun tourist attraction. We got talked into taking a picture with birds . I don't know when the last picture we had as a family was. Tomorrow we get to talk with our facilitator about our upcoming SDA appt on Tuesday. The SDA appt is where we will talk about our prospective child, and have a brief interview. Time for a nap. 

And so it begins!

Yesterday, I wanted to share the thought running through my head as a respnse to friend asking me how I felt.  All that comes to mind is I am beside myself. The last 5 months have been a ride. Everything from paperwork preparation, taking numerous fingerprints, to rejection of a dossier due to incomplete paperwork. That thought passed through my mind again, and then a sense of greatness just took over. We made it. Here we are. I am a free thought writer so bare with me. I cannot really explain in detail what happens in the transformation process. It just happens. Your mind prepares you to keep on moving forward. The last 3 nights I have been functioning on only 4 hours of sleep. I want to be prepared. I want to make sure my family has what they need. I want to give a shout out to my friends and family! Scott and I cannot thank you enough for your outpour of support. Both mentally, and financially. We received $700 in donations! Thank you also for those who donated fun activities to put in Sasha's carry on! J, thank you for all your time for Ukrainian language lessons.  I am forever indebted. I am pretty exhausted right now, and my brain feels similar to a flat tire. I will update later.

Picking up the pep for packing.

Less than a week for our return to Ukraine! It makes me laugh secretly when people still call it "The Ukraine." Do we live in "The Utah?" are we traveling through "The Amsterdam?" I wonder where calling that originated from. I will drop the rant and move forward. I am amazed and thankful of the outpour of support and donations to help our process with the adoption. Every little bit helped, and will help pay a portion of our travel, mandatory Orphanage donations, passport and visa, and medical visit.

I have been getting many questions about how Sasha has reacted to a sibling. I can say she is very much on board, and excited as can be.  She has no idea how hard this transition is going to be, but she does give us advice about what to expect. 

Sasha: Mom?

Mom: yes?

Sasha: our new child is going to need new clothes. He/she won't come with many. 

Mom: Oh, ok. Should we go pick out clothes for them?

Sasha: Yes. Also, He/She will be afraid of the dogs. It will take he/she a minute to get used to them.

I have so much love for Sasha. So much. She is so sensitive to other's needs. She will be a great sister with such a good natured soul.

I have already started the packing process. In between working, I will be packing, co-op @ Sasha's school, bathing the dogs, getting the house ready for house sitters, finding time with Sasha, until we embark on our flight this Friday.