Friday Dec 20

My stay in Ukraine has been a comfortable one.  My driver and translator have gone out of their way to make sure that I have what I need. I don't know if I said this before, but this region has welcomed me with open arms. 

When visiting Pearl's orphanage,  there is only one playroom and it is shared. You come in contact with other parents, biological or adoptive,  and other family members.  Mostly native. I cannot express how interesting it is! I have met one American couple, 2 sets of new native Ukrainian adoptive parents, and one grandparent and great-grandparent of the same bloodline. All have been so friendly, and always offer my prospective child confyeti(Candy).  Even know that the caregivers say they get fed 5 times a day all of us parents joke that may not always hold true by how our kids react to offering them food. You hear and see them eat in just seconds! We also take turns watching out for the caregivers so none of us get into trouble while one of oir kids gobble a cookie, or sucks down their juice. 

Yesterday was St. Nicholas day in Ukraine. I got to watch how Pearl's orphanage celebrates this traditional holiday. The kids dress in cute costumes and dance and celebrate the arrival of St. Nicholas. Although I did not understand most of the Russian dialog, the program included cameo appearances from Straganoma with 2 little helpers, A big bear and hunter, and sweet angels. At the end, St. Nicholas made his presence and the children were offered gifts from his sack. Locals as well as city officials come to watch this program, and make charitable contributions to the Orphanage. 

Scott will reunite with me next Tuesday as we await our upcoming court date. Sasha will stay behind with her grandparents. As sad as I am to not spend Christmas with my special girl, she will have fun and in good hands! I bought a christmas tree to make my apartment more festive. This is my first purchase of a real tree! It smells so lovely in here. I will be making authentic kompot a Eastern Europe drink that is made in different variations. Mine will be made with boiling fruit that have hints of smokiness. I usually put a cinnamon stick and cloves so it doesn't taste to camp-firy, but that is the taste Scott likes.

 

One week in

Let the slow process of bonding begin. There was a little glimpse of hope when I saw a crack in the ice appear. Before she came to the play room I heard a care giver speak to her in Russian, "Who's here?" She happily responded with, "Mama." Bahh!! :3 She is silly, clever, sassy, and most of all, a tease.  Certain caregivers have been teaching her colors in English. She likes this game where mama and her stick this colored button on a game board, say the color of the button in Russian, and follow up with the English name. It is so cute to hear, and absolutely melts my heart. I was able to get her to say colors throughout our playdate with the help of candy. King of all negotiations.  Progress is being made :)

Orphanage bound

Somehow our last update got erased. Mobile blogs are complicated and at certain times not so user friendly. Here we go. I am completely random in thought and use freestyle writing as an advantage.  Last week, we had a successful SDA appt and travelled to the location to where the orphanage is. After a full month of hurdles, we have met the one who was chosen for us. I will use the name Pearl until we gain custody of her.  Pearl is cute as ever, and so sweet. She has always wanted a papa and lit up the first time she locked eyes with him. Sasha didn't quite know how to interact with her.  Both girls like the idea of a sister, but when mixing two shy girls nothing happens. We will give it some time. Only having two visits with Pearl, Scott and Sasha had to return to the  States. They both had exceeded their one month limit of excused time off.
    
     I stayed behind to bond with Pearl. The first week is always the hardest.  I have been given info hearsay that genetically,  Ukrainian girls are always daddy's girls. I am not sure that always holds true at first, but in this case I might.  I have got her to smile, talk with the help of a treat, play, but so far has a hard time with affection. That is ok. You can't rush that. I have learned with Sasha that patience is key.

     I miss my family and friends back home but in good hands here. Scott has been a champion as a single dad. He has been my rock as well. I cannot think of a better husband to share this journey with.

Any News?

November 10th

December 1st

From the date that sam and I had arrived we have witnessed the latest events grow from a small gathering to over 100,000 people flooding the city. We have had a unique perspective having stayed across the street from city hall where the first protests began. To just steps away from St. Michaels Monastery just days before the influx of people began to arrive. Earlier this week we found ourselves amidst the masses when visiting a local park for Sasha to play. It has been a little surreal to see the same landscape we have only recently become familiar with as a backdrop for world news stories. Last week we moved from the apartment across from St. Michaels to a smaller one further away from the action, although still within earshot of the concussion grenades last night. We are safe and continuing to wait as our paperwork completes the process. The saying that every adoption is different is certainly ringing true for us. Our first trip I realize just how very fortunate we were to have been able to spend so much time with Sasha prior to coming home. While we all may not get that opportunity with this adoption I am hopeful we will get the opportunity soon.

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.