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.

1st grade

This summer went by too fast, and Sashi is back in School. We have seen some positive changes happening in her overall development. She is really starting to take off, and show the world what she is capable of. We were getting discouraged last school year because she was showing signs of having Auditory Sensory processing disorder, in truth we weren't seeing that her she still was struggling with how to cope with a very stimulating school life. We were working with both her Kindergarten teacher, Special Ed dept, to see what kind of interventions may need to be set up for a successful first grade year. There was a  school staff that discouraged us to not to go through the testing for ASPD, and to give it time. I am so glad I decided to go with their opinion. Sasha is amazing on every level. She is beginning to discover how to control her reactions, taken an interest in her external world, aware of social cues, thirst for knowledge, and just a very inquisitive bright child with a strong imagination. Total 180 from last year. It brings hope and joy to everyone who has witnessed this especially to Scott and I.

Update

I have had writers block for awhile. It shows :) I have no real reason other than I am trying to figure out how to download pics to my new MAC. My heart still belongs to a PC. A lot has gone on since my last post.  Scott took on a new position managing teams of software developers.  He is working his booty off , burning the midnight oil, and liking the thrill of the challenge.  I have been busy as usual juggling my part-time jobs, full-time position as momma, and head of the household.  Sasha has been thriving! She got dedicated to the Unitarian church on Easter. She loves church :) She just turned 6, and with that new challenges as parents has presented themselves.  She is strong-willed free-spirited, and confident. We have to find new ways to adjust to her "Phases," and out-wit her cleverness.  She just amazes me daily with how bright she is.

Soccer 10/12

     Sashi is living it up in her current sports program. We enrolled her in a itty bitty  sports program to introduce her to 3 months of athletic play of T-Ball, Soccer, and Basketball. I think she finally found her niche. Not only does she have a great swing, that girl can kick some ball! We have try to engage her in other physical activities such as swimming, Tumbling, and Ballet. The interest isn't quite there yet.  I think sports suite her aggressive nature.
     On the other hand, school has been a wonderful experience for her.  Sasha is in Kindergarten, learning her ABC's, to read, and to write. Out-of-the blue, she decided to become intrigued with her learning workbooks we had bought awhile back. I kid you not, that girl wants to complete the whole book in one setting. She yearns to learn!
     We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday this year, as we travel to Washington state to acquaint Sasha with her new Grandma. This is our first Thanksgiving to celebrate with the extended family! We look forward to this.

Summertime Growth

Summer is almost over, and its been awhile since I last visited our blog. We have grown together as a family, experienced some high's, and some low's. Despite our erratic summer,  it has been full of growth.  Sasha has grown into a lovely little lady and has made impressive progress. We continued her summertime pre-school placement(Same as last year's summer program) and her development is as others her age.  We have traveled this season to Zions Nat'l park, St. George, and will be going to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho in 2 weeks. 

We had an abrupt encounter with Sashi while in Zion. Out of nowhere she said, "I have a Mama, and she lives in the mountains. She left me." I looked  at Scott with eyes of disbelief. I knew this was coming, but now? luckily we have an excellent psychologist that prepared us for this, but seemed to draw a blank at that exact moment. Scott and I decided to kneel to her level, and take her hands and while speaking softly told her the reason she was with us is that her mama couldn't take care of her, and that she trusted us to do the job. We followed that with a group hug. End of story, moving on. I phoned my psychologist when we returned, and he commended us. We were also told that we have hit a good level of trust.

Sashi has experienced a lot of death this summer that has affected her both indirectly, and directly.  Our pugs passed this summer within 3 months time, unexpectedly.  The first death she was just a little whiny, and had a weird week. The second death hurt her badly. She was close to this pug(Female pug,very nurturing animal). She repeatedly watched a video of this pug recorded on my phone and cried. She still has a hard time dealing with the concept of death, and asks when the pugs are coming back. We tell her that they are in heaven keeping God good company.  

  

Sashi's 5th Birthday

 Sashi's Birthday party

 Zion Nat'l Park @ the Lodge.

 Sasha and Papa Zion

 Zion

 Sassy

 Puppies!

Mama and Sasha out to eat.

We still love being parents, and our family bonds so much stronger as time goes by. I pray to God every day how grateful I am to have her in our lives. I have also prayed for another child. I hope our time comes again. Sashi would make an excellent big sister.