Welcome to Our Journey

Christmas Decorations and Sad Reminiscing

2011-11-27T20:53:00.004-05:00

Alex's Tree
Our home - Christmas 2011

Front Door Wreath

Tim's Star Trek tree

Family Tree - my mom made the tree skirt and stockings years ago!
Mantel - new decorations this year. I love it!

Twice lately, Alex has cried for the children left behind at the Baby House. He says that he misses them and that he wants them to have all his toys, all his books, etc. He also said that he never wants to go back there. We have reassured him that he will never have to live at the Baby House again and that Mama and Daddy are sending clothes, toys, etc. back there.

Alex had never said anything about this until we did the Joy Boxes to send to the Baby House. I think he has matured to the point that he realizes how blessed he is to have a family and a home of his own. It hurts so bad to see him this way because he is having the same thoughts and emotions that I experienced when we returned from Ukraine. I had problems sleeping because I would wake in the middle of the night with the children on my mind. Please pray for our son to find peace in his heart. We love that he is kind and tender-hearted, but it hurts us so much to see him upset and hurting.

Meanwhile, we got all of our Christmas decorations done this weekend. I had the brilliant idea that we, (meaning me), needed to redo all of the bows on our decorations. This was quite a task. Over the past several days, I made 25 bows - most of them today. Alex has his own tree in his room and he helped Daddy decorate outside yesterday and today. Hope you enjoy the photos.

By the way....Sasha the Elf is back to report Alex's behavior to Santa. Stay tuned for those updates.

Love to all,

R & T & A

Halloween Happenings

2011-11-01T18:23:00.010-04:00

Alex as Buzz Lightyear and Woody as, well....Woody!

Alex loves Woody! Aren't they cute?

Alex's costume for school.

Buzz! - So proud!

Help Mommie! The mantle is squishing me! LOL!

Taking Flight!

Alex and his cousin, Jordan. Alex says that Jordan's mask was silly.

You have got to be kidding me! Uncle Barry tricked him with a bowl of rocks.

The look says it all.

We had a great time Trick or Treating. First, Grandma came by as we were getting ready. It was quite hectic trying to get Alex & Woody ready at the same time. Then, we went to the other side of town to see Granny Carolyn, Grandpa and Taco (their dog). Woody and Taco got along great, but Taco "got after" Alex when he tried to hug Granny Carolyn goodbye. He was jealous!

Then, we went to the other side of town to see Uncle Barry. Alex says, "Uncle Barry is crazy!" Then, we ended at Granny and Grandpa's house where we trick or treated them and then had pizza and tossed salad - which I am proud to announce that Alex ate! He is doing do good eating his vegetables.

Of course, we got to bed late and Alex had a bad behavior day at school today. He was on red and he doesn't get to watch TV tonight.

Alex starts gymnastics tomorrow. The pre-school has an association with the local YMCA and they go once a week. Alex has been asking to go for some time now and Tim finally agreed that he can go and signed him up today. Tim is an old-school, macho dad and he felt that it was for girls. Of course, Alex didn't help the matter when he told his daddy that he wanted to be a princess when he grew up. LOL!

Happy Birthday Alex!

2011-10-30T18:21:00.021-04:00

Our new addition, Woody!

The Mamas who adopted from Alex's baby house got together and collected joy boxes for the children. There are 115 children left behind there and the group collected around 200. At least one other orphanage and possibly two will benefit from this effort. I am so proud of this wonderful group of ladies. Our entire church only collected 183 boxes and this group of 18 Mamas rocked it! Thank you Baby House Mamas!

Alex's first jack-o-lantern. Notice Alex's Hawaiian Punch mustache!

Father and son

Beautiful boy and beautiful tree

So excited to see the gorillas this time. We missed them last time. Of course, Alex had to comment on their big behinds.

I loved watching the bears. They seemed to pose for us.

This is at the entrance of the zoo and all the kids get their photo made on either this or the mama & baby lions.

I got to check off an item on my bucket list! Finally got to feed and pet a giraffe. Two, actually - there was a baby as well.

The baby was not tall enough to reach over the railing, so we had to feed him through the rails. When I bent down to do so, the adult was a little pushy and bonked me in the head! We had a good laugh.

Baby

Meerkat. Granma loves these and watches them on the Animal Planet show, Meerkat Manor. This one was so cute, but chubby compared to the ones on the show.

Alex wanted a picture of himself climbing on the turtle.

Don't have a clue what he was trying to do here.

Lion by the tail

Riding the dino

My little monkey

Riding the pony

One of this three train rides.

Yesterday was Alex's 5th birthday. We celebrated by going to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing how much Alex has grown since our birthday trip last year - not only in size, but emotionally as well. We didn't do a big party this year because there were so many others in his class who did parties and because he wanted to go to the zoo. He will have a small family party at Granny & Grandpa's on Saturday.

I will update again next week with Halloween photos. Halloween is not a favorite holiday of ours, but we do allow Alex to participate as long as he only wears a "nice" costume, avoiding things that are against our beliefs - witches, werewolfs, vampires, etc. We strive to teach him that it is for fun and not a ritual.

Love to all,

R & T & A

A New Addition & Fall Beach Trip

2011-10-08T17:07:00.016-04:00

Three weeks ago - the day we met Woody.

Chloe has been pretty good with Woody, but she does not want to share her new water bottle toy that Mommie & Daddy brought her back from the beach.

Hard to get a photo of him because he is rarely still. This is his windblown look. He had been running and his ears are stuck backwards.

Alex taming the dino at Broadway at the Beach

Alex loves his Daddy

Entranced by the speed boat on the Lagoon

In the elevator - heading out for his first sunrise ever!

On the walkway - cheesing!- So excited.

My boy and the beautiful sunrise.

Thank you Lord, for my son and this beautiful world that you created.

Mommie & Alex at Broadway at the Beach. Daddy wouldn't play along.

Precious hands of my precious boy.

Learning to boogey board.

Our house has been a little quiet and lonely (for Chloe) since we lost our sweet PJ. Tim agreed that we could get a new Boxer puppy. After searching the internet, losing "dibs" on one that I really wanted, and calling several people, we found our new addition. He is a brindle boy who Alex named Woody. You can guess where that came from!

Chloe is doing as well as expected with Woody. We picked him up on the way home from the beach and he cried all the way home! He is so sweet and a cuddle bug. He has his first vet check-up yesterday afternoon and he weighed 18.2 pounds! My biceps are killing me from toting him around. We are working on training him to walk on leash and he is doing well with the "sit command. We took him to the park today and everyone had a fit over him. He sleeps cuddled up to his Mommie and Chloe sleeps on the other side, cuddled up to Daddy.

We had a great time at Myrtle Beach. Alex got to experience his first sunrise and he made almost every one after that! No rest on vacation with Alex! We saw dolphins almost every day from our balcony. He played in the ocean, made sandcastles, practiced swimming in his swimmies and fell in love with the "hot bathtub." While in that hot bathtub, Ales asked me, Mommie, am I your precious boy? Yes, baby, you always will be - forever.

Alex and Daddy rode rides at Broadway while Mommie enjoyed relaxing by the lagoon. He really likes the little speedboat that runs on the lagoon. Maybe he can ride when we go back in June.

Alex had his evaluation in K4 and he is doing really well. We make sure that he does his homework each day and he enjoys learning. He didn't even complain about doing his homework while on vacation.

We are looking forward to fall, cooler weather, and Alex's birthday coming up. We are going to do a party at school and then we are going to do something as a family on his actual birthday. I think he wants to go to Riverbanks Zoo.

Enjoy the photos.

Love to you all,

R & T & A

Special Request

2011-10-08T17:02:00.002-04:00

Please see the button at the left side of the blog - Operation: Christmas in Nikolaev. Some of the mothers who have adopted from the Nikolaev Baby House (Alex's Baby House) are organizing an operation to send "joy boxes" to the 115 children who live there. All info is posted below the button. Anyone in our area who would like to participate, I will handle shipping the boxes to the US collection point. Thanks!

Lost our friend

2011-08-22T18:41:00.003-04:00

Pina Junior (PJ) Dixon

We lost our sweet PJ today. She was 17 1/2 and we thought we were prepared, but we were not. She had 9 teeth pulled last week as a last ditch effort to save her, but after that, she could not keep down food or fluids and we found out that her kidneys were not working properly. She had been at the vet's office since Friday and Tim and I went there today at lunch time and watched our sweet baby girl go to Rainbow Bridge.

Chloe is 9 years old now and she had surgery on Friday to remove some glads from the corner of her eyes. She has an allergy and the glands had become inflamed and painful. She is much better and has to go back Thursday for a re-check.

PJ never had much to do with Alex, since she was older when he came home. She just kind of avoided him since he is so lively and she was an old lady. He will be devastated when something happens to Chloe. He loves her and she loves him! She is 9 and the life expectancy of her breed is 10, so I dread the day that we have to handle that one - for all of us.

Alex knows that PJ is in Heaven with Jesus and he told me that we aren't supposed to be sad because she is with Jesus. From the mouth of babes.......

IRS :-)

2011-08-10T21:01:00.001-04:00

Our tax refund has FINALLY been issued! It should post to our account on Friday.

Praise the Lord!

Just for you, Conethia

2011-08-09T18:54:00.002-04:00

Alex loves his Chloe & Chloe loves him.

Yes, his head is on the floor.

Alex begins his K4 classes on Monday. He has been in the class since May, but they will begin their real lessons on Monday. This means homework begins again. They had lessons throughout the summer. A lot was review. He can identify all of his upper case letters and almost all of the lower case letters. He can count to 49. Yesterday he told me all about a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. He loves his new class.

Our boy just keeps getting taller. He is now at least 42" tall and weighs 35 pounds. Just three more pounds and he can move into a booster seat and out of harness in the car seat!

The other day, I told Alex that for his birthday in October, we will take him to the zoo and he can pick one friend from church or school. He said he would like to take Noah. There is a little boy named from church who also goes to The Learning Vine. I said, Noah, huh? And he said, yep, Noah. You know, Noah with the Ark! At least I know he is paying attention in Sunday School.

We got to see our good friends, Al and Susan Goff and their sons, Matthew and Joshua. They live in France and Susan and the boys had not yet met Alex. Their boys are precious and so polite. They said that they enjoyed playing with Alex.

We also got to see our friends Rhonda, Randy & Jackie. Jackie lives in Dallas and we try to get together when he comes home. We went to Grits & Groceries last Saturday for lunch. It was so good and such a fun place. Check them out. http://www.gritsandgroceries.com/

Alex got to go to his first movie a few weeks ago. We went to see Cars 2. He was anxious for it to begin and excited about eating popcorn. He was really into the movie and at the end, he clapped. So cute! Then, as I was getting everything together to leave, he burst into tears. I thought his leg was caught in the chair, but he was crying because, "I want to watch a movie!" It was over and he was heartbroken.

We hope that we will get to visit Vera soon. Vera was in Alex's group at the Nikolaev baby house and we fell in love with her when we were there. Vera now has a forever family and lives just 2 1/2 hours from us! She is the closest one to us from the baby house. I had planned to go see her several weeks ago and take dinner to the family, but I came down with a terrible stomach virus and didn't get to go. It has been so terribly hot here and just miserable! I hope to get to see her when it cools off.

We really haven't done much this summer. Alex has played in his kiddie pool and on the slip n' slide several times. We got him a new water toy that is a limbo or volleyball net that sprays water, but haven't had a chance to use it since we bought it. We may go to the water park this coming Saturday. Aunt Nanci would like for us to go with her and Jordan before school begins and Saturday will be our only chance.

We plan to go to the beach again in October. This will be our last October trip since Alex will be in K5 next year and will not be able to miss a week. We would also like to take a trip to Disney World before he starts school. Maybe we will get to go in early 2012. If we ever get our tax refund from the IRS. I am beginning to think this will never happen. We filed in March and sent additional information (all of our adoption receipts) in April.

Well... Alex wants me to play Lincoln Logs with him. Time to wrap it up.

Will update if anything exciting happens.

Love,

R & T & A

Family Beach Trip 2011 and such...

2011-06-15T19:10:00.010-04:00

In the ocean

Next in line to stuff Tusk

"Bathing" Tusk

The finished product - Tusk!

Eating popcorn at the water park. He ate all morning!

This isn't from the beach trip, but it looks like Alex was trying to get his sexy on. For some reason and somehow, he twisted his shirt like this. Then, he had a hard time getting it off.

We had a great trip last week to Myrtle Beach with lots of family.

Alex had the following folks at the beach:

1 grandpa

1 grandmas

5 cousins

1 cousins' cousin

1 aunt

1 uncle

1 aunt's friend

1 aunt's friend's niece

1 Mama

1 Daddy

We stayed there Saturday to Saturday and had great family time. We mostly spent time on the beach or at the nearby water park (with the zero entry pool, 3 ft. deep bench pool, lazy river and an entire slide complex). Alex will not go on the slides. There is a huge bucket that dumps water and once it dumps, he is done for the trip. Aunt Nanci convinced him to go up the steps with her and thought they were safe from the dumping bucket, but they got drenched. Actually, Auntie got the brunt of the water.

Alex did not learn to swim last week, but he did make progress - learning to jump waves. He loved it! He also learned to hold his breath while Mama gently dunked him under the water. I just knew he would cry, but he laughed and was so proud!

We went to Tanger Outlets for a little while one night and on Thursday night, we went to Broadway at the Beach and Alex had his first Build-a-Dino experience. He made a Wooly Mammoth named Tusk. He also got to "ride rides!" He is a dare devil. He wanted to ride the Caterpillar and love it. Daddy got to ride with him. I have a photo, but it is really dark because it was really late. He wanted to ride the big swings, but Mama wasn't going to allow that! We did not get back to the condo until 11:15pm which was way past Alex's bed time.

My sister, two of her boys and her friend and friend's niece left on Thursday because one of the cousins had All Stars tournament. One cousin and his cousin (from the other side of the family) had to work, so they came down on Wednesday night.

Everyone who was still there on Friday night went out to Benjamin's to eat seafood. Alex mostly ate hush puppies, chicken and shrimp and he loved the coconut shrimp and fresh fruit.

Alex was very well behaved while we were at the pool, on the beach and doing any activity that he wanted to do. When we were doing something that didn't interest him, he acted out. I guess that is just part of being a four-year old. I was very proud of how he was in public most of the time.

It was a nice week and I really needed the break, but when I got back to work Monday, I had loads of work to do. I am still playing catch up. But, all is good and there have been some positive changes at work. I am so much happier now.

When I got home today, I had a message from our wonderful translator/facilitator, Olga. She is coming to the US later this month and will be in Florida for two weeks, then would like to visit Georgia and possibly South Carolina. We are making plans to meet up! I am so excited!

I am also excited because sweet Vera's family is hoping to have court on Friday. Please pray that their Interpol clearance will come in so they do not have to wait longer. We love reading their blog every day and reminiscing about our journey last year. Alex loves seeing Vera and asks about her almost every day. He says that he loves Vera and that she was always nice to him.

Love to all,

R & T & A

Sarah Palin's Letter to Family about Son Trig.

2011-06-15T18:46:00.002-04:00

http://http://treeofmamre.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/sarah-palins-complete-letter-to-her-family-about-trig/

I tried and tried to copy and paste this onto the blog, but couldn't get it to paste. My step-brother posted this on facebook. He has a 38 year-old son who has DS.

No matter what your political views, this is touching.

God's blessing

2011-05-28T15:22:00.002-04:00

Work has been rough lately. I have been stressed beyond belief. There have not been many accomplishments and lots of feelings of defeat. I am doing my job to the best of my ability, but there are some things that are beyond my control. I think this is part of my defeated feeling. I am so looking forward to vacation.

Yesterday I was hurrying down the hall and saw a patient with the blanket up over her face. The over-the-bed light was on, so I stopped in and asked her if she wanted me to turn the light off. She was so sweet, laughed and said no, she was talking on the phone with her son and she was cold, so she covered her head. After checking her thermostat, I offered to get her another blanket. She was thrilled and I went and got her two blankets, came back and covered her up. There was a storm and she may have been somewhat fearful of it. I reassured her that we have safety precautions and went over them with her, telling her that she would be protected in case of a tornado. She was so thankful and said that we are so good to her and that God sent me to take care of her. She was so thankful to the Lord, even though she was in the hospital and had recently lost a family member. Her spirit was contagious and just want I needed. God sent her to me at that very moment because He knew I needed her.

I love when God shows up when He is least expected. This sweet lady was just what I needed during a stressful day.

Thank you Lord for bringing this precious lady into my life. The people are why I do what I do.

Love to all,
Rita

Update on Children for Alex's Baby House

2011-05-26T18:22:00.020-04:00

This is Sveta. She is has a family and I am not sure, but think they should travel soon
Lena has a family, but she is not yet available. They have to wait before they can submit.

This is Vika. Her Mama and Daddy just met her in person this week and are in the paperwork chase to apply for their court date. Vika was at Alex's baby house, but was transferred last year.

Sweet, sweet Vera! Her Mama and Daddy have their SDA appointment on June 2nd. They leave for her country in just four days! AND...they live close enough that we can visit!

This is Danil. His parents have an appointment on June 6th, I believe.

He is no longer at the baby house, but has been transferred

This is Virginia. Her parents have committed and are in the beginning of paperwork pregancy....and....they are also adopting precious Brigette, pictured below.

So cute!

This is Willow. She has been adopted, but we do not know anything about her family yet.

These children still need families.

Vincent

Ryland - look at that smile!

Nadia - precious!

Miley - would love to have a clearer photo.

Maxwell - look how handsome!

Karina needs a family now! She will not survive much longer without it.

Howell needs a family too.

Love to all,

R & T & A

Easter Photos and Alex update

2011-05-25T18:20:00.008-04:00

I love this photo that my best friend took at our church's Easter Eggstravaganza!

Buzzed head

Last Saturday, we met two of my best friends in Anderson for lunch at Olive Garden. On the way home to drop my BFF off at her house, Alex got gum all over his clothes and the car seat. I told him NOT TO TAKE THE GUM OUT OF HIS MOUTH AGAIN! Not even half way home, I heard, "Mama I got it in my hair." Not only did he put gum in his hair, it was in the middle of his bangs and twisted in. I have him the riot act all the way home and tried to comb it out, but it hurt too bad and his hair was breaking. So...his daddy buzzed his hair. Alex cried and I cried. I think little boys with buzz cuts are so cute! But, I wanted his hair to stay longer because his hair was buzzed when he was at the baby house and I just loved it when it grew out. But, after all of that, I think he is very handsome and it will be terrific for the beach.

Alex with Granma and Kass on the train at the Eggstravaganza

Kass is the godson of my BFF's sister and he is also 4 years old. They don't get to spend much time together, but they play so well together and have just loved each other from the beginning.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Last year, Alex would not go on the slide, but this year, he had no fear! He did all of the activities with the exception of face painting. He would not do that for anything.

I have an egg!

Last year, the three year-olds were not allowed assistance with the hunt. My baby did not know what to do. He stood there looking so lost and he picked up an egg and handed it to another little boy. This year, we practiced! Parents were allowed to help this year, but after practicing and being reassured that he knew the drill, I didn't try to help Alex. He did find one egg - only one egg - and he dropped it out of his bucket and Kass picked it up and gave it back to him. At some point, he lost the egg and sweet Kass shared with him. I think he was in awe of all the children running and grabbing eggs. He still had fun though.

Alex moved up to K4 class on Monday. He loves his new class and it seems that he is busy all day. They have lots of animals in his new class and he loves Ms. Judy and Ms. Brittany. He gets to play on the big boy playground and has had three good days so far. :-)

This week, he has also started eating more. Hopefully since his tonsillectomy, his appetite will improve. He still doesn't weigh 35 pounds, but he is growing taller by the minute! We got him a new swimsuit this week and it is a 3T and too big. I am afraid it will fall down when it gets wet, so I am going to exchange it for a 2T if they have one like it. It has hammerhead sharks on it and they are his favorite, so it they have the same one, I will exchange it. If not, I will get him another one and save the 3T for next year.

Yesterday I took Alex by work to visit with my two Ukrainian friends who are nurses. They are both named Irina. They wanted to meet him and speak with him in Russian. I am not sure all they said to him, but it made him sad. He did nod once and shake his head once, but he was withdrawn and when I asked him, he said that it made him sad. He said that he does miss Ukraine sometimes - especially his favorite nannie, Inna. But, he is glad that his Mama and Daddy came to Ukraine to get him and he doesn't want to go back to live, but he will go back sometime with his Mama and Daddy. He even said it is OK that he was sad because he has his Mama and Daddy and he is happy. My sweet boy!

We go to the beach soon and I am counting down the days! I really need a vacation from work and can't wait for Alex to get to play in the ocean and the "big pool" with the zero entry. Lounge chair and sunshine, here I come.

I will update on the children for adoption at Alex's baby house soon. There has been a lot of activity since my last update! The best news out of the baby house is that Vera's family has their SDA appointment on June 2nd.

Love to all,

R & T & A

Update

2011-05-09T20:30:00.013-04:00

Alex & Mumbo ready to go!

6:00 am

Keeping busy - waiting to be called back.

Waiting for Dr. Rust a.k.a. Fred Flintstone

The bracelet that he hated

On the way home - showing off his Curious George bandaid

After eating a happy meal - nuggets & fries - yes, the doctor said he could!

Playing Lincoln Logs with Daddy

The night before - showing me his M&M face

Easter morning - Chloe had to check out the goodies also.

Little ham

I can't believe it has been almost two months since I updated the blog. Most of you know that Alex had surgery last Monday to remove his tonsils, adenoids and to place tubes in his ears. The surgeon said the fluid in his ears was thicker than Elmer's glue. Poor fellow. No wonder he had a 40% hearing loss! He can definitely hear better now.

Alex was perfect for the surgery! As we were waiting for the surgeon, he began to sing Jesus Loves Me - just out of the blue. So sweet. Then, as he walked to the operating room, with his penguin, Mumbo tucked under his arm, he held Dr. Rust's and the nurse's hand and skipped and swung between them. I was strong for him, but when he left, Tim had to reassure me. I was on the verge of tears.

They would only let one parent back in recovery at a time. I went first and he was sitting up on the bed drinking water and smiling. I stayed for a while and then Daddy took his turn. A little later, I got a text that "your son wants you." Such sweet words. I went back for almost the remainder of the time and then traded off with Daddy. Then, Daddy came and got me to go with Alex while he pulled the car around. Alex was sitting in a wagon, smiling from ear to ear with a bag of gummy bears and Mumbo.

He never even took a nap that afternoon and stayed awake until 9:30pm! Tuesday was a wonderful day as well. Wednesday, I went back to work and it was Daddy's turn to stay at home. Wed. night was a rough one and no one rested well, but Grandma took the wheel on Thursday and he did fine. Friday, he got to stay with Granny & Grandpa and he was perfect! He has awaken once each night, crying with a sore throat, but other than that, we got back on routine yesterday, going to church and he went back to school today.

We had a great Mother's Day. I can't believe it is my second Mother's Day! I have been so blessed with the son the Lord gave me. I was the little girl who always wanted to be a Mama and had over 70 dolls! Even though I thought it would never happen, it happened all in God's perfect timing.

Alex moves up to K4 on May 23rd. I am excited that he is moving up, but we are sad that he will move away from the teachers he has had since he started at The Learning Vine. Ms. Ashley and Mrs. Amanda have been wonderful and we will really miss seeing them each day. Most of the children are moving up, so it should be a smooth transition.

My boy loves, loves, loves to dance! The other day, he said, "my throat doesn't hurt any more - now I can dance!" He says that he dances at school and at church. We had great dance tonight along with Dancing with the Stars. He got out of the tub, stepped into the den and said, "I love this dance. I love this song." So we danced! He is so much fun!

Love to all!

R & T & A

Gotcha Day Anniversary

2011-03-17T17:29:00.005-04:00

Gotcha Day March 17, 2010

St. Patrick's Day spirit March 13, 2011

Our handsome son March 13, 2011

One year ago today, we picked Alex up from the baby house and became a family. I can hardly believe that it has been one year. It seems like it was just last week, but it feels as Alex has been our son all his life!

Thank you Lord for giving us our son and for curing him.

We love you Alex!

Mama and Daddy

More children in need of a family

2011-03-06T18:29:00.014-05:00

All of these precious little ones need a home. We do not know these children, but may be able to put you in contact with someone who has met them, if you are interested in adopting any of them.

I have posted their Reece's Rainbow link below their photos.

Maxwell

http://reecesrainbow.org/maxwell1905

Such a handsome boy. He is a smiley one!

Willow

http://reecesrainbow.org/willow1901

Isn't Willow precious? She reminds me of a little sunflower.

Vincent

http://reecesrainbow.org/vincent1906

What a look. Bet he is a rascal!

Thomas

http://reecesrainbow.org/thomas1904

So cute! He needs a Daddy to play ball with him!

Nadia

http://reecesrainbow.org/nadia1907
What a beautiful little girl!

Miley

http://reecesrainbow.org/miley1902

Poor Miley has a blurry photo. Her last Reece's Rainbow photo was not great either as she had a bad haircut. She is beautiful in our eyes.

Karina

http://reecesrainbow.org/karina1903

Karina needs a home ASAP. She will not survive without medical attention! There is noticable increased medical needs since her last photo.

Carolina

http://www.reecesrainbow.org/carolina-19

Isn't she a cutie? She has already been transferred from the baby house, but she is still available for adoption. The internat or institution is not a place she should have to endure.

Adopting may not be an option for you now, but you can still help. Please donate to the funds for these children. What an awesome lesson for your children or sunday school kiddos. Have a yard sale, bake sale or lemonade stand and donate the proceeds to an orphan. Make a donation in memory or honor or someone.

You can make a difference.

One year as a family

2011-03-05T08:16:00.002-05:00

One year ago today, in Nikolaev, Ukraine, we officially became a family of three. In our hearts, we became a family the day we met and fell in love with our son, but legally, the court date was 3-5-10. What an amazing day - presented by our God.

Our lives are forever changed. The Lord taught us so much, not only by allowing us to become parents, but also by our journey. Our faith brought us through the difficult times and ultimately to our son.

Our hearts are forever changed with a passion for the orphans of Ukraine. Tim tells of how he was never comfortable around those with disabilities, but God changed that in Ukraine.

Today we ask that you support the orphans. Please see our blog post about the three boys who lost their families. The two older boys were supposed to be adopted with sweet Vera - for whom we recently advocated. But, their family was unable to complete the process. Sweet Vera now has a home and these boys need one as well!

Love to all,

R & T & A

Orphans Desperately Needing Homes: Who are Sasha & Nikolai & Easton?

2011-03-05T08:14:00.000-05:00

Orphans Desperately Needing Homes: Who are Sasha & Nikolai & Easton?: "Sasha's, Nikolai's, and Easton's stories are similiar and so is their fate if not adopted. They are NOT brothers, but they are all..."

One year ago today, again....

2011-02-28T19:32:00.006-05:00

Chance's 4th Birthday

Yes, I'm a boy, but I love my Mama and will do whatever she asks.

Dixon's Second Chance

7/21/02 - 02/28/11

One year ago, we were in Ukraine in the adoption process - awaiting court on Friday.

We got a phone call from home. It was my sister and I knew something was wrong, but she said wanted to talk to Tim and said, it will be OK - let me talk to Tim.

Our sweet Boxer boy, Chance died on 2/28/10. So unexpected....so untimely. We lost a son that day and within the week, gained another son - Alex.

Chance, we love and miss you, sweet boy.

Alex - we are glad you are our son.

Love,

Mama & Daddy.

It's Official

2011-02-24T18:40:00.002-05:00

Alex needs surgery to remove tonsils, adenoids and needs tubes in his ears. They tested his hearing and he has approximately a 40% hearing loss due to the fluid in his ears. His tonsils are huge and are affecting his sleep. He snores and has sleep apnea. The ENT said that his humongous tonsils are part of the reason he eats so slowly. We told him that he never complains of a sore throat or ear ache and he said that is orphanage behavior. It doesn't do them any good to complain, so they learn not to and to tough it out. I knew this, but sometimes when you hear it from someone else, it seems sadder.

When I told someone at work about the hearing loss, she said, well, I bet you feel bad now because I am sure you have spanked him for something when he didn't hear what you told him to do. Uh, nope! She must be supermom. I am not supposed to make him eat anything he doesn't like either because she didn't make her kids do it.

We have not yet scheduled the surgery. He will need to be out of "school" for one week and then take it easy - no running for another week. While we were at the ENT, Tim's mom was having cervical spine surgery and I couldn't even fathom scheduling it until we knew she was OK. She did fine and may get to go home tomorrow.

After Alex's appointment, I went to his class to tell them about Ukraine. This was world travel week and they had snacks from around the world and parents came in and shared about different countries they were from or had visited. I am not sure if any other parents went, but there is a father from England, parents from Mexico and a family from Russia. When I told the kids some Russian words, the little girl from Russia showed no recognition. I am not sure how long she has been in USA, but she speaks three languages, so it was

One year ago today......

2011-02-22T06:46:00.002-05:00

One year ago today, we met our son!

At that time, our pastor's wife mentioned that his jacket said "to the rescue!" We don't feel like we rescued him, but he surely rescued us from many years of being childless and wishing for a child.

We love you Alex!

VERA!

2011-02-18T16:46:00.002-05:00

Sweet Vera has a family - a Christian family and they live close enough that we can visit from time to time.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for this sweet girl. We are so excited.

Love,
R & T & A

Please pray.....

2011-02-13T19:37:00.002-05:00

I have many prayer requests today.

Please pray for little Anatoli, who was the first child we were referred to. There was no attachment, connection there and his needs were greater than we were led to believe. We do not know if he has found a family, but pray that where ever he is, he is receives the proper care and love that he needs. One year ago today, we returned from visiting his region.
Please continue to pray for Vera, Niko and Sasha. They have not yet found families. To the best of our knowledge, Vera is still at the Baby House. Please pray for us as we ache for her situation. We hope they all get a home, but Vera is very special to us and if we could, we would make her a part of our family. Please pray that if Vera does have to be moved, she is moved to an internat (older children's orphanage) as opposed to a mental institution - where she surely does not belong.
Please pray for my mother-in-law who is facing cervical surgery on February 24th. This is her second surgery on her neck in recent years. She will have to have a steel rod implanted and may have to spend time in the rehabilitation hospital where I work.
Please pray for Alex's behavior. He is having trouble listening and following directions in school. He is also back talking us. We are working on a weekly reward system for him, but out of the last week, he has only gotten two stars. We are trying not to be too hard on him because we feel he isn't getting proper rest due to sleep apnea and that he is not feeling well from an ear infection. He has an appointment with the ENT on February 24th and we feel we are in for surgery to remove tonsils, adenoids and possibly for tubes in his ears.

I love my Lord and I believe that everything will be taken care of by His will and His way. I am just having a difficult time right now understanding why Vera's situation has turned out as it has. I have to think that God has bigger and better plans for this sweet girl.

Love,

R & T & A

This time last year

2011-02-09T17:43:00.002-05:00

This time last year, we had just arrived in Kiev. My most memorable moments of this day were...how tired we were, how relieved we were to have made it after our weather delays, meeting Olga, Sashas driving, shopping for the first time in Ukraine, falling in the snow while trying to roll a suitcase, sticking out like a sore thumb, lugging suitcases up the stairs and seeing Independence Square for the first time.

Special Girl Needs a Home

2011-02-08T06:38:00.002-05:00

www.iknowyouroutthereimjustwaiting.blogspot.com

Vera needs a family and fast. Please share this precious one with anyone who may be interested.

Love,
R & T & A

We are not....

2011-02-07T20:57:00.001-05:00

We are not going private for now.

Stay tuned for more info on some children who need families and our reflections on what was going on in our lives one year ago as we made the journey to find our child.......

One Year Ago Today.....

2011-02-07T17:56:00.000-05:00

One year ago today, we began the greatest journey of our lives.

On February 7, 2010, we flew out of GSP headed to Kiev, Ukraine. We only made it to DC that night due to Snowmageddon, but we were on our way to our child. There were so many unknowns, but we knew God would show us the way and the signs as to what we were to do.

I am celebrating the next 42 days be reading our original blog posts.

Today we are proud to say that we love our son and the Lord for all the lessons we learned on this journey.

Love to all,
R & T & A

Helping other children find families

2011-02-06T18:25:00.000-05:00

http://thereisjustonethingleftformeandthatsu.blogspot.com/

This is Danil and he too needs a family

Please share this on your blogs.

Blog is going private

2011-02-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone.

I am making our blog private within the next week. You may email me at dixonadoption@yahoo.com if you would like an invite.

Thanks!

Courageous - The Movie

2011-02-03T18:13:00.003-05:00

This is the new movie from Sherwood Church, the same church/producers of Fireproof, Facing the Giants and Fly Wheel.

There will be a Bible study guide to go with this movie and it was written by a home town guy, Travis Agnew. He is also an adoptive parent. He and his wife have a biological son and a son adopted from Ethiopia. He is on my Facebook if you would like to connect with him.

I can't wait for the movie and hope our church has the Bible study - although it is geared towards fathers, Travis said he tried to write it so that women, singles and empty-nesters can gain something from it.

Alex's Dance

2011-01-27T20:21:00.002-05:00

This is what Alex's dance. He had his goggles on playing a doctor.

Why adopt from Ukraine?

2011-01-23T17:31:00.003-05:00

http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20031/90

I was searching on the internet and found this link. I do not know when it was written, but it is dated as it does not mention the SDA and the adoption process mentioned is very different than what it is today. Still, it shows the need for adoption from Ukraine. I feel the need is even greater than before. I have not yet check the adoption numbers for 2010 and doubt they are published yet.

If you cannot adopt, please consider contributing to someone who is adopting. Many people want to adopt and there are many children in Ukraine who need a family - the main thing standing between these children and their forever families is MONEY. It breaks my heart that it is so expensive to give a child a home. Please help someone today, if you can.

Love,
Rita

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

2011-01-10T20:57:00.011-05:00

Our sweet boy

Daddy and Alex with their snowman - Alex is about to throw a snowball at Mama.

Our house in the snow...notice Alex beside the steps. He wanted a picture with "my home." So glad he has a home to call his own.

Our crazy family!

Mama and Alex

Down the hill. He looks so small.

Alex and Daddy trying the sled

It began snowing last night. This time, Alex is not sick and got to play!
Tim took me to work. The car lot was closed. The nursery was closed.

The roads were not very bad as it was pure, beautiful snow. I measured in our courtyard at work and at 10am, we had 5.5 inches of snow.

Tim took Alex out this morning and they started a snowman, but the snow was too soft to complete it. They also tried to use the sled, but it was too fluffy for that too.

Before lunch, the snow turned to sleet, so it was fluffy snow with a crunchy, icy cover.

I went in early and skipped lunch, so I left around 3:30. When we got home, we all went outside and played in the snow. Tim finished the snowman and Alex and I played with the sled, threw snowballs and took pictures. I tried to show Alex how to make a snow angel, but the crunchy, icy topping on the snow made it impossible. We had so much fun!

Don't know if we will make it in tomorrow. I doubt that the nursery will be open. We will just have to see what tomorrow brings.

So glad we got a good snow this year. It brings back lots of memories from our time in Ukraine last winter.

Love,

R & T & A

Christmas Pictures

2011-01-01T20:41:00.008-05:00

Fast asleep with his penquin Pillow Pet from Aunt Nanci and the boys

Snowing in South Carolina, Dec. 26, 2010

Fireman Alex

A boy & his dog...surveying what Santa brought.

Christmas morning......still asleep at 8am

With Granny Carolyn's snowman in the gazebo

Opening Presents at Papa & Granny Carolyn's

Our First Christmas as a Family!

2011-01-01T19:38:00.007-05:00

As usual, we have been very busy!

We started our Christmas celebrating on Sunday, Dec. 19th at my dad (Papa) and Step-mother's (Granny Carolyn). Everyone had a great time with the exception of my oldest step-sister who was really sick and ate, then got into bed. That was just the beginning of effects of illness on our holiday plans. Alex got a sled and wagon from Granny & Papa - more on the sled later. We do live in the South, you know.....

I planned to take some time off for Christmas. I had Thursday, Friday and Monday off in addition to the weekend, when I am normally off. We have had two different viruses sweep through work and the week of Christmas was unbelievable! In addition to the viruses, we had people on leave and someone who quit with no notice. All of this going on not to mention the usual Christmas festivities that I was trying to coordinate. Wednesday began great, but quickly went downhill. Then at around 2:30 I got a call from the nursery and Alex was sick. Well, Tuesday night he had a fever, but it broke and we thought he was OK. I had to rush out of work, leaving things undone, literally shoving them at my Nurse Manager.

After waiting at the doctor's office for over an hour, she said that he had an ear infection and "almost walking Pneumonia." Poor baby - and did I feel like a bad Mama. We spent the rest of Christmas vacation doing breathing treatments, taking Zithromax and Motrin, etc.
I had taken off Monday, the 27th to do some after Christmas shopping, but kept Alex at home to continue breathing treatments.

Alex did feel well enough to celebrate Christmas at lunch time on Christmas Eve with my mom (Granma), sister and three nephews. After that, we went to Tim's parents (Granny & Grandpa)for Christmas Eve dinner and presents, etc. Alex said he had a good time at Granny & Grandpa's with his cousins, uncle and great uncle. On the way home, we saw Santa's sleigh flying near our home, so we had to hurry up and get home! Alex was yelling, "hurry, Daddy, go faster! Hurry Daddy!" We got home and got him to bed just in time for Santa!

I have probably told everyone before that Alex gets up by 6:30 - 7:00 every day. I had to wake him up after 8:00 on Christmas morning. At first, Alex was not sure what to think about his toys. After some coaxing, he finally started to look at his toys. For the first time since we have been married, we stayed at home all day on Christmas and the grandparents came to visit us.

On Christmas night, it began to snow! We have not had a white Christmas in South Carolina since 1963 - before my time, but not Tim's - but he was too young to remember at 11 months old. It was really pretty for most of Sunday, then began to melt later in the day. The roads were clear, but they cancelled our early church services and Sunday school. I was not going to be able to help with Sunday school that day anyway because we didn't want to take Alex out.

Now for more on the sled.....of course, we didn't mention it, but Alex remembered it. He asked and asked to go outside to play with his sled. I was heart broken that he couldn't go out and play in his first snow in America. Of course Papa said to just let him go down the hill one time. We all know what that result would be.

Alex went back to school on Tuesday and I went back to work - dealing with more call-offs. I think I finally got caught up on Friday!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our son and family. We have so much to be thankful for - as my dad said in his blessing at our Christmas dinner - we have our son and he is HEALTHY! This year we thank the Lord for all of our blessing, but especially for our son and for his healing powers and that Alex does not have Hep. C. Our God is an awesome God.

We are also thankful for all of our friends who we met through our adoption process and upon returning home. We are especially thankful for our church family and the other families who have the Nikolaev Baby House connection. What a blessing for all the children who were adopted from there this year and for those who will be going home with their families in the next few months.

We hope everyone has a wonderful new year.

Love to all,

R & T &A

Thanksgiving and Christmas Decorations

2010-12-01T18:50:00.016-05:00

Alex's tree

This is how we found Sasha the Elf this morning

One morning, we found Sasha posting on his blog

Sasha got into the bandaids!

More info on Sasha below.

Main Christmas tree and mantle with stockings.

Notice Sasha the Elf on the mantle.

Main tree

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family at Yoder's in Abbeville. We enjoyed seeing Aunt Lynn, Uncle Josh, cousins Kayla, Cassie, Connor and John Collin, Granny Carolyn and Papa. The food was wonderful as always and Alex and John Collin enjoyed watching the fish in the inside "stream."

I was sick all Thanksgiving weekend and did not leave the house after lunch and shopping for a few ornaments for Alex's tree. Tim was able to get the decorations completed - thank goodness. One tree has Tim's Hallmark Star Trek ornaments and the other is our main tree that sits beside the fireplace. We used the Star Trek tree for Alex this year and it has child-like ornaments and a Santa Hat topper and Santa suit skirt. Alex has been really good with the trees, so we will probably put one in his room next year. He says he never had a Christmas tree at the Baby House. He was really excited when we were decorating it and was dancing around and singing Christmas tree!

We have an Elf, Sasha, who appeared on the day after Thanksgiving and he reports to Santa each night. He turns up in a different place every morning. He even has a blog where he blogs about Alex and his antics. The blog can be found at: http://www.sashaelf.blogspot.com/

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season. We have so many plans. This weekend, we will go to Connie Maxwell Children's Home to view their Live Nativity, Biblical town, and ride in a horse drawn wagon to see their Christmas light display. Sunday is Greenwood's Christmas parade and I would like to take Alex to visit Santa at the mall on Saturday or Sunday. There is so much we want to share with our son!

Love to all,

R & T & A

Sasha the Elf

2010-11-27T10:54:00.001-05:00

Sasha the Elf arrives today to check on Alex and report back to Santa.

Updates to follow.

Sasha has his own blog at www.sashaelf.blogspot.com

Merry Christmas!

Better Late than Never

2010-11-12T20:55:00.011-05:00

Getting to know baby Simba

Boo in the Zoo

Father and son

Alex and Mama with the elephant

"riding" the elephant

Trick or Treat at Papa and Granny Carolyn's

couldn't keep him still

Trick or treating at Grandpa and Granny's

First bike helmet

Proud of his helmet

....posting photos from Alex's Birthday on 10/29 and our trip to the

Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia on 10/30 - for his birthday.

He did OK at the zoo. You will notice that we finally had to put the harness on him. He does not like to hold our hand, but will not stay with us. It was OK when we were in an exhibit, but when we were walking around the zoo, he needed to hold our hand. We warned him time and time again and he wouldn't do as we asked, so out came the harness followed by a major meltdown. I had to take him in the restroom and then when we came out, he had to sit on the bench until he could calm down.

He has been very good in school the past two weeks. His teachers only reported on him one day and he pushed someone and took a toy from them. That day, they had pictures made and were off schedule, so his lunch was late and nap was late. These are two things that will throw him off. This also attributed to the zoo meltdown, I am sure. He came from such a structured schedule and we try to keep him on it as much as possible.

Alex is growing by leaps and bounds. He seems to have filled out and he is definitely growing taller. He is now in 4T shirts and 4T pants with adjustable waist. He cannot wear the 4T if they do not have the adjustable waist because they are too big, but he needs them for the length.

The video below was taken probably a month ago.

Will leave you with this little funny......

Love,

R & T & A

Update on children in the buttons to the left

2010-10-29T06:39:00.002-04:00

Danil is still awaiting a family.

Vanya is in the process - 10 day waiting, I believe.

Vika has been transferred from the baby house to an institution. An effort is being made to raise funds for her adoption. Will post more later.

Sveta is still awaiting a family.

Alina is almost home to USA - if no already.

Niko, Sasha & Vera's family is awaiting a travel date.

Happy Birthday Alex!

2010-10-28T19:54:00.008-04:00

Mama, Alex & Daddy at Alex's Party 10/16/10

Train at the party

Too cute

Riding his bike from Granny & Grandpa with cousin Justin's help

Yay!

Big bite of cake!

Alex turns four tomorrow, on 10/29/10.

We had his party at Emerald Farms on 10/16/10. We had it early due to Halloween and family work schedules. The kids had a great time. They got to feed the goats, & fish, see the Llamas, peacocks and chickens and ride the train!

Alex couldn't decide if he wanted a Thomas or Toy Story party. When we went to get the invitations, they did not have Thomas, so we got Toy Story. Thomas would have been so cute with the little train ride, but it was what it was.

Alex had a big time and so did we!

My best friend took all of the photos and I was so glad because I was too tied up with the party to even take my camera out of the case.

I am so glad that we got our son before he turned four! There have been two children transferred out of his baby house lately and I am afraid if he had been transferred, we (or anyone else) may not have had the chance to adopt him. I just realized tonight that I don't know what time my baby was born. I will have to get the birth certificate out, but I don't think it is on there. I also wonder if his birth mother thinks of him on his birthday. I wonder if his babushka who gave him to the orphanage thinks of him. I wonder if his brother even knows that he exists. I guess there is so much we will never know.

We also had a voicemail this afternoon from the Ukrainian Embassy. I surely hope there isn't a problem! I am a little uneasy, but cannot find out anything until tomorrow. Surely hope it is good news, especially since tomorrow is Alex's birthday!

This week at school, they have been doing Halloween activities every day. Yesterday, they went on a field trip to an assisted living to sing and trick-or-treat. Alex was wandering away from the group and his teacher told him to take her hand. He drew away and said NO! When I went to pick him up, he tried to hide on the ship on the playground so I couldn't get him - because he knew he would be punished. Then, he was mouthy all the way home. I was just beside myself with what to do with him!

This morning, they were supposed to dress in their costumes for school because their party was today. He had a major meltdown! He did not want to wear his Mr. Potato Head costume. Well...I specifically took him to buy another costume just for school because they kept telling us to let them wear old costumes. He didn't have an old one, but KMart had them 50% off, so we decided to get him one for today and save his Thomas the Train for trick-or-treating the grandparents. Tim put him in the car kicking and screaming and he acted that way all the way to school. When he got there and saw the other kids, of course, he didn't want to take it off. I guess I shouldn't have made him wear it, but I knew he would be disappointed if the other kids had one and he didn't. Plus, I spent money on that blasted costume and time looking through every costume in KMart for him to make a choice. I was a bad, mean Mama!

Tomorrow, Alex wants pizza for supper and I bought a small cake.

Saturday, we are going to the zoo with Grandma, Jordan, Justin & his girlfriend and possibly Joshua. I have never been to this zoo, but I am more excited than anyone because I can feed/pet a giraffe!!!!! I know the trip is for him, but that is the one thing Mama is going to do and get a picture of it! Hey, it's on my bucket list!

Love to all,

R & T & A

Another Update on Children at Left of Blog

2010-10-21T20:42:00.003-04:00

Sweet Danil is still hoping for a family.

Vanya has meet his family and they are in Ukraine in the process of adoption.

Darling Vika still needs a family.

Sweet Sveta does not have a committed family. A family really wanted to bring this beauty home, but they were adopting in another region and could not make it happen at this time.

Alina's parents are also in Ukraine in the process of adoption.

Mr. Timofey is doing so well. He just began walking! This is a little boy with a broken leg who should be an example to us all.

Niko, Sasha and Vera's family is close to submitting for their adoption and has had a generous donation to cover all of their costs.

There is a precious little boy, Vadim who also lives at the same baby house as Alex and most of these kiddos at the left. We (others who have adopted from this baby house) have been asking for a button for him and been praying for him to get a home. I am so happy to share that he got a family this week! Hopefully, he will be with his family before Christmas because they are sitting on go with their paperwork!

There have been so many blessing for those of us who are connected one way or another with this baby house.

Lord, today we praise you for all the blessings you have showered upon us and these children. We ask today that you continue to bless these precious little ones and the ones who remain in the institution - that their needs be met and that they find a family to love and protect them. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you for remembering these precious ones in your prayers.

Love,
R & T & A

Update on Children in the Buttons to the Left

2010-10-14T06:46:00.002-04:00

Sweet Vika is still awaiting a family. She had surgery on her feet and is doing well. There is an updated photo of her on Reece's Rainbow.

Miss Sveta is hopefully getting a family. They are in the process of adopting another little girl in another region and have opened their heart to Sveta.

Beautiful Alina's family is in Ukraine as I type, awaiting their court date.

Timofey is doing well after some major battles. He now has a head full of dark hair. He still has to have surgery on his leg/hip.

Niko, Sasha and Vera's family is in the final steps of preparing their dossier to submit for adoption. Little Vera had surgery at the same time Vika did. They got to go to the beach as they awaited surgery!

There are still some special children at the Nilolaev Baby House who need a family. Vadim is the same age as Alex and we have learned that he is smart and active. He is in the process of being prepared for a prosthetic eye. Danil and Lena are HIV+ and are precious. I believe they are in the same group as Alina and Sveta. There are also some other children available - Carolina, Olga, just to name a few.

There are also several other adoptions in process from the Baby House.

Please keep these children in your prayers and consider donating to their adoption funds on Reece's Rainbow. Donations can also be made to the Nikolaev Baby House. Contact me for information and check back on this blog and facebook for info on Christmas Warrior and Christmas Angel programs for Reece's Rainbow.

Thank you for supporting and praying for the orphans of Ukraine.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

2010-10-13T18:07:00.002-04:00

Alex & Daddy

Cool Dude

Rita & Alex at the beach - windblown hair and all.

We went to Myrtle Beach last week and had a wonderful time. The week flew by! The weather was great and we were in shorts or swimsuits most days. This trip was very different from our June trip because it was just the three of us. It was hard for Alex to understand where his Granny, Grandpa and Grandma were, especially since we stay at the same place, but in a different unit. We probably confused him more because Papa and Granny Carolyn came to visit.

Alex enjoyed swimming in the indoor pool using just his swimmies and a swim ring. He also enjoyed jumping waves in the ocean and looking for shells and fish. He finally got to see a dolphin at the end of the week. Of course, he got to ride rides - his favorite thing to do. We took him to Margaritaville and he liked the hurricane and the big blender along with the show. We also went to Benjamins to eat and he liked the ship models, the fish hanging from the ceiling and the scuba man too.

We found a Halloween costume for him - Thomas the Train. We don't actually do Trick-or-Treat, but they will be doing activities at school which include a visit to an assisted living and a party, so he had to have a costume. We were able to pick up a few things for his birthday party which is Saturday. We scheduled it early due to Halloween and a family member's work schedule. Come to find out, that family member has other obligations and two other family members had to switch schedules to attend.

The Birthday Party is at Emerald Farms. It is a working goat farm where they make goat milk soap, lotions and other products. They also have a train that the kids can ride, they can feed the goats, see the llamas, feed the fish and visit the train room which has an entire city set up with model trains running through it. The party theme is actually Toy Story. That is what Alex picked at WalMart. They didn't have Thomas the Train. Of course, after the invitations were distributed, we found Thomas ones at the beach.

Six Months Ago - Tomorrow

2010-09-21T17:56:00.002-04:00

We will be home six months tomorrow - 9/22/10. I am posting today because I will be very busy tomorrow. Each year at work, we have a reunion for all of the patients who have been at our hospital. We have had 248 people RSVP as of today, so we have a lot of work tomorrow. We cannot begin to set up until 2 -3 pm and the drop-in begins at 4pm.

Today Alex got fillings. I don't have all the details yet because Tim does the dentist appts. and I do all the other doctor appts. I have to handle all the shots and blood draws, so I think it is only fair that he do the dentist. Alex says that he cried because it hurt, but I am not sure if that is true because they used anesthesia. He picked out a flower ring as his prize. I am sure his daddy is very proud of that choice. He gave it to me just now, but I have to give it back.

So much has changed in the last six months! Alex speaks in English 99.9% of the time, he can count to 10, recognizes his name, knows all his colors and recognizes most of the alphabet. He can write A, B, C, D, E and F. He can almost write his name! He loves to make up songs and loves to sing songs he learns at school and church. We had two people from his school yesterday tell us that he is smart, but needs to learn to listen and pay attention better. Sounds just like my nephew Justin when he was this age.

Sunday, after Sunday School, he said "Praise the Lord with all your heart." This is the first Bible verse he has repeated from church.

I do have some photos, but my cameras are at work for the week. We had a balloon release yesterday, did ice cream sundaes and gifts today, tomorrow we have the reunion, Thursday we have a chili cook off and Friday we have a cookout and crazy hat contest.

This weekend, Alex wanted to know what that was behind his penis. I asked him what he thought it was and he said he didn't know. I told him to ask his daddy. So, he walks down the hall with his pants around his ankles and shows his daddy and asks him what it is. Daddy asks him the same question, twice. Alex finally said, "Probably so!", pulled his pants up and walked away. We don't know if he thinks that is what it is or if he just gave up asking. LOL

Well. that's all for now....

Love you all,
R & T & A

MAMOO

2010-09-13T22:57:00.003-04:00

Mamoo,
If you are reading this, we adopted from the baby house in Nikolaev. The child you are adopting could possibly be there, but more likely has been moved to the next internat.

Please email me at www.dixonadoption@yahoo.com.

I would love to help you in any way I can.

Rita

Ethiopia Adoption

2010-09-09T06:46:00.001-04:00

http://www.facebook.com/notes/travis-agnew/elis-abbreviated-story/442974248520

This is a post from a local Minister and musician about his family's adoption from Ethiopia.

Alisha, this is the family I was telling you about.

Have a great day!

Photos only

2010-09-08T21:00:00.007-04:00

Church Photos - first formal photos

My favorite photo from this sitting

Career Day at The Learning Vine

Dr. Alex - thanks Karen for his Vet kit!

Ours six months!

2010-09-08T20:38:00.002-04:00

Alex has been ours for six months as of March 5th. Our Gotcha date was March 17th.

We are amazed at his progress. He can now say his blessing, count to 10, sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and tries to sing the ABC song. He knows his shapes & colors, can count to 10 and understands all English and speaks it 99% of the time. They are working on the alphabet and he is learning to identify the letters and how to write them. He can write A's really well and we still need to work on the B's. He is growing taller, but has not gained much weight. We think that he is just going to be tall and thin. I have a photo of him when he was younger and he was a little chunkier, so maybe he is just in a growing taller spurt. He is eating better and we actually got him to eat a hamburger patty with cheese on it. He does not want it on a bun. At least he is broadening his horizons a little. If I could only get him to eat some green vegetables! I tried mayo on green beans and it didn't work. Several people told me to try this and I remember that my younger sister used to eat them like that. Mayo seems to be a staple in Ukraine, but he doesn't care for it.

He has been good at school most of the time. He has been on green every day for some time, but he got time out today. They only move them to yellow if they get in trouble 3 or more times, but I have asked if they let me know if he gets it even once because he will fully take advantage of his three times if we are not strict on him.

We are really excited that there are several families in the process of adopting special needs children from Alex's Baby House. There is also another precious little boy from there who is available and someone is working on a button for him, so I will post it on the blog as soon as I get it. He is cute and sweet and we saw him a lot when we were there.

I attended my first Missions Committee meeting tonight at church and I am excited to work towards fundraising for missions in Ukraine. That is the subcommittee that we were assigned to and there is a mission trip scheduled for April 2011. We are not going to be able to go this time, but hopefully one of us can go in 2012. I would also like to see if we could possibly start a grant for those who would like to adopt a special needs child from Ukraine. I feel that more people may be willing to adopt if they had the finances. I know we would!

As of last Sunday, I am a Sunday School teacher for the 5 year-olds. There are two teachers in each class and the other teacher had the class last year also. I was supposed to be a helper, but the other teacher couldn't do it again this year, so I agreed to step in. I was hesitant to step in as a teacher, but God put me in that place where I should be, so I will give it a try! I couldn't say no with all those little kids in there, could I?

Better go,

Love,

R & T & A

Our God is Awesome!!

2010-08-31T20:09:00.002-04:00

Most of you know that children available for international adoption from Ukraine have some "special need." Almost all children who are in an orphanage are diagnosed as mentally delayed. Well..Alex had definitely proven that he is not mentally delayed.

However, we knew before we met him that his birth mother had Hepatitis C. We were told at our SDA appointment that he had Hep. C, but that it could be just the antibodies carried from the birth mother. When we arrived at his baby house, we did confirm, after meeting him, that he was Hep. C positive. We were told that he had been tested in Dec. 2009 because another couple wanted to adopt him, but didn't believe that he was Hep. C positive. They chose not to adopt him when the test came back positive.

We asked for the test results and all we were told was COR =10. It didn't mean anything to us, but we are not doctors. When we got home, it didn't mean anything to our doctors either.

As you know, Alex has been to a specialist in Greenville. His doctor is Dr. LaCroix at Pediatric Infectious Disease Group at University Medical Center, part of Greenville Children's Hospital. We had our second visit on August 20th and blood work was drawn. I received confirmation of his test results today and the Hep. C test is NEGATIVE! He was first tested in May and they said there was nothing definitive to show that he had the disease.

I cannot explain how this happened medically, but I can explain that my God can heal any illness and that Alex had many prayers.

Thank you, my Lord for our wonderful son and for giving Your son, Jesus, that we may have everlasting life.

Love to all,
R & T & A

Weekly Update

2010-08-29T21:26:00.002-04:00

Alex was good at school all week, but that changed as soon as I picked him up on Friday. I guess he held it in all week and let loose on the weekend!

He back-talked, told stories, did what we told him not to do and didn't do what we told him to do, pretty much all weekend, but Saturday was the worst!

At lunch on Saturday, he wanted fish sticks and fries. So, I fixed both and gave him the amount he told me he wanted. Well, his eyes were bigger than his stomach and he decided that he wouldn't eat all of his fish sticks. When Tim asked him if he was finished with his fish sticks, he replied that he was. But, he was not. He took his remaining three fish sticks and hid them under his fries. So, he was deceitful and he lied. Now, looking back, I am fully convinced that this child has no mental delay as we were told by the SDA. I am sure we will laugh about this in the future - the grandparents already have. :-)

Alex is doing well at school. They are now working on the alphabet. This week will be C. He has to dress up as what he wants to be when he grows up. Well...he really can't tell me anything. The first time I asked him, he said that he wants to be Justin - his 16 year-old cousin. I just told him that Justin isn't grown yet. But it was really sweet! We decided that he will dress up as a Veternarian because he has a vet kit and we borrowed a lab coat from Grandma. We tried it on tonight and he looks really cute. I will post photos next week.

I tried to post photos of Alex in his cowboy outfit from school and our first professional family photo, but it won't work tonight. Will try again tomorrow.

As I always tell Alex, we still love him even when he is bad.

Love to all,
R & T & A

Update August 21, 2010

2010-08-21T19:47:00.002-04:00

Alex has been learning so much in school! He learned all his colors and shapes and is now working on the alphabet. This week the children in our county went back to school and Alex officially began K3 at the Learning Vine. He is in the same class, but the real work has begun! He has homework three nights and is learning to write the letter A. We got to have fun (not! - for Mama anyway) learning to use scissors. He had to cut out things that begin with A for a collage at school. Alex is very independent and as soon as I tried to show him how, he was taking the scissors and telling me - I do it!

He has been fairly good in class the last few weeks, but one day he did not want to sit down and listen and one day, he wouldn't pick up the toys, but all the children in that area got a time out because they wouldn't clean up. There is a new little girl in his class, Kylie and he says that she is his girlfriend! She is really cute with blonde hair and curly piggy tails, but I am not ready for my baby boy to have a girlfriend yet! We thought he was saying Katcha Kayle, but I after seeing Uncle Barry last weekend, we have determined that he was saying hot chick Kylie. We todl him not to say this at school! Well...Uncle Barry said that he will be the one to teach him bad things. LOL!

Alex had a followup with the specialist in Greenville on Friday. Grandma went with us and we had lunch at Stax Omega and did a little shopping. I put Alex in the stroller for the mall and he took a small nap. He is getting so tall, he is about too long for the stroller and it looks like I am pushing a five-year-old around, but it is really helpful when he needs a nap.

The other night, Tim was giving Alex his bath and he asked Alex if he likes his home better than the baby house and he said, yes and I love my daddy! So sweet! He has been talking about Mama and Daddy bringing him to America on the airplane lately.

One new thing - when we punish Alex, he melts down, crying and yelling, I love you! It is enough to break your heart. I wonder if he thinks that we do not love him because we are punishing him or if he thinks we think he doesn't love him because he has been "bad."

When we were at Stax yesterday, I a little boy was leaning over the booth, telling us hey! We were talking to him and Alex was trying to get him to give him five. I took that opportunity to aske Alex again if he would like to have to have a brother. He still says NO! I think he would be a great big brother - or little brother as far as that goes.

Love to all,

R & T & A

Link especially for Alicia and Dan

2010-08-11T11:16:00.001-04:00

I Forget My Son is Black Until We Are in Public

Travis is a worship leader at a local church here in Greenwood, SC. I love to read his blog. Aren't those boys precious?

When I see a family such as his, I just get a big smile because I know how lucky that family is to have the love of each other.
Will update about our crazy lives later.

Rita

Not going to Ukraine in 2011

2010-08-01T19:27:00.002-04:00

It was a difficult decision, but I will not be going on the mission trip to Ukraine in April 2011. I don't think I can be away from Alex that long and can't imagine going back to Ukraine without him and Tim. Also, Alex will most likely have his tonsils out and I will need to use ETO time for that. I would have to take 8 ETO days for the trip and it will take four months to earn those days back. I don't want to deplete my ETO bank in case of emergency.

I still feel compelled to do something in Ukraine and for the children, especially the Nikolaev Baby House.

If only we were wealthy, I would beg to go back and adopt several more.

Have a great week,
R & T & A

Chicken Chicken Boom Boom

2010-08-01T07:49:00.001-04:00

Chicken Chicken Boom Boom! (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) That's what Alex has been saying the past week. He is in K3 and they are getting ready to start their "school work", so they have been working on shapes and colors and will be working on letters and numbers - all in August. The door decoration to his class h as been updated with a coconut tree with the kiddo's names on the coconuts. He is official. This is the first time his name has been on the door.

He had a good week in class although he did not get to go Friday. On Thursday, around 3:30, they director called me and told me that he had pink eye! They let him stay until the regular time since he had already been there all day and told me to call the doctor to get a prescription. He couldn't go on Friday because he was considered contagious until he had been on the drops for 24 hours. His eyes have only been matted once - at 2:00 am on Friday morning. He has been really good to not rub them and has only complained about them hurting once or twice. He looks fine now and is not complaining. So far, Tim & I have been able to avoid the junk.

We are having our family picture made on Monday for the church directory. Excited to have our first family photo, but I like more relaxed photos that are not so posed. My best friend is a photographer "on the side" and we have planned for some time to have an outside photo shoot, but it has been so blasted hot here, it has been impossible. Hopefully, we will be able to do it for the fall.

Within the past two weeks, Alex has begun to speak almost entirely in complete sentences. He is growing so tall too! I hope the 3T pants I bought for the fall will be long enough. They have adjustable waist, so I am not concerned about that part.

At work, we are having a "Top 10" celebration on Wednesday night. For the second consecutive year, we have been named in the top 10% by the UDS. Last year, only the employees and one guest could attend. This year, all immediate family can attend. We will have a cookout, a DJ and a bounce house for the children. I am really excited to take Alex because our night shift folks have not gotten to meet him yet and I know he will have a great time!

I have decided that I will not go on the mission trip to Ukraine in 2011. I really want to go, but it would have to leave Alex for 10 days and I just don't know if I could do that. Also, I would have to take 8 ETO days and although I have them, I would like to build my bank back up. I like to keep 80 hours in there in case of emergency.

Hope everyone has a great week,

Love,
R & T & A

Update on Children in the Buttons to the Left

2010-07-25T18:35:00.002-04:00

All of the children listed in the buttons to the left are from the same Baby House where we got Alex from. They are all listed on Reece's Rainbow.

Sveta is available for adoption and needs a home.

Alina has a family waiting on her when she become available for international adoption in August, I believe.

Timofey is in his forever home and receiving treatment for an eColi infection for the next few months. He still faces surgery on his broken leg/hip - which will require replacement every two years.

Isaiah's forever family is in region now, attempting to adopt him. Please pray as they have hit a snag.

Niko, Sasha & Vera's forever family is in the paperwork process, awaiting their USCIS approval.

There are several other precious children available for adoption in this Baby House as well as hundreds of others with special needs listed on Reece's Rainbow who are from all over the world. If you are considering adoption, please consider helping one of these children. If you are not able to adopt, please consider sponsoring one of these children.

Love,
R & T & A

Pictures & prayer requests

2010-07-24T10:35:00.006-04:00

I just found out about Alex's art folder at school. It was FULL! He asked me to take a picture of him in these glasses that he made.

Playing in the tub with his surprises from Granny Carolyn.

With "fingerpaints" on his face.

Foam head

As you can tell, Alex loves to play in the tub. I love that smile and love our boy.

Please pray for a family who is at Alex's Baby House trying to adopt a little boy with Down's Syndrome. There is a problem with the paperwork that is totally out of the adoptive family's control. I am not at liberty to discuss the issue, but please pray for all involved - bio family, child and prospective adoptive family. We know that God is in control and know that He will do what is best.

Also please pray for Vera who is shown in one of the photos to the left - as well as another little girl, Vika - both with CP and both from Alex's Baby House. They had surgery this past week. We met Vera while we were there - she was in Alex's class and we fell in love with her. We are so excited that she is getting a forever family!

Love,

R & T & A

Home Four Months!

2010-07-23T20:47:00.002-04:00

We have been home from Ukraine four months yesterday!

Alex has made amazing progress in those four months. He knows most of his colors, can count to 10, sing Jesus Loves Me, is learning his ABC song and Jesus Loves the Little Children, has greatly improved his coloring skills, speaks 99.9% English with an occasional mooka and la lukey thrown in, makes all his needs know, learned to pee pee standing up, and says his blessing and prayers. We do not have to constantly watch him when he is inside (to keep him out of places he shouldn't be), he falls asleep within 15 minutes of being put to bed, realizes consequences such as loosing privileges when he is bad and getting to do fun things when he is good. He eats many more things than he did four months ago and does not complain when he has to drink milk.

He is growing taller and has filled out, especially in his legs. He loves our dog, Chloe, horses, trains, and watching anything that goes 'round & 'round - fans, sprinklers, merry-go-round, helicopter blades, etc. Today he got to see a real helicopter and he was so excited! He has seen some far off, but today, he got to see one fly into the hospital and then take off later. He said it was a big, strong helicopter.

We are so excited that he has adjusted so well and that he loves his school. Last week, they told me that he has been hitting and trying to bite his classmates. They didn't tell me before because they thought he didn't understand timeout, etc. When they told me this, I fussed at him and told him he would get timeout at home for his behavior that day. At first, he smiled and then later, he began to cry. His teachers told me that he never shows that timeout bothers him - just smiled. So, now they tell him that they will tell his Mama and it must be working. Makes me feel like the meanest Mama, but it makes him behave. He is very proud that he has been a good boy in school and is telling everyone.

We are so happy to be Alex's parents. It is like he has always been a part of our family.

We love you, Alexander Jacob Dixon!

***Tried to add some photos, but it isn't working tonight for some reason. Will update with another post later of just photos.***

Love,
R & T

Random Photos & Progress

2010-07-19T19:06:00.010-04:00

Slinky Fun - look at that sweet smile!

Double Cantaloupe from Alex & Daddy's garden

PB&J Hands

PB&J Face

Mohawk

Upside down in the bed

Dirty Face

Alex was good at school today. No timeouts! And he has been good so far since I picked him up. We are proud of you Alex! Mama and Daddy love you!

Bad Boy

2010-07-18T15:37:00.002-04:00

Alex has been bad at church and school this week.

Wednesday night, he got timeout at church. He would not sit at the table with the other children when he was told to do so. So, of course, he got timeout when he got home.

On Thursday, I was telling his teachers, Ms. Amanda and Ms. Ashley about it and Ms. Ashley, said, "well, I have been meaning to tell you...." Uh oh - Alex has been hitting in school and tried to bite a little girl on Thursday. They said it doesn't phase him when they put him in timeout - he just smiles, so they think he doesn't understand. I assured them that he does understand. I talked to him and he began to grin when I was telling him that he is not to bite and hit. I had to take his face in my hands and make him look at me and tell him again in a stern voice and tell im that he would be getting timeout when he got home. He began to cry and cried all the way out the door into the car. I felt like the meanest Mama. When we got home, he had to go to his room and stay on the bed until Daddy got home.

Backing up a little - the "school" has a green light system. If the child has been corrected less than three times that day, their pin stays on green. If they have been corrected 3-5 times, their pin goes to yellow. If they have been corrected 6 or more times, they go to red. Alex has been on green every day, so we thought he was being good. I have only seen two little boys on yellow and they had a note attached to their pin that day.

Friday, Alex was on green, but I asked about him and he got timeout because he hit someone. Ms. Amanda said when she put him in time out he began to smile again, but she then told him she was going to tell his Mama and he stopped grinning and got serious. I had to run to Burkes Outlet after I picked him up and told him not to touch anything - well he touched everything. So, when we got home, he went in timeout on his bed without all his stuffed animals. When Daddy got home, we ate, Alex got a bath (with no toys or time to play) and went to bed with no movie and no stuffed animals. He usually sleeps with: Buzz Lightyear, Woody, big monkey, Mumbo penguin and two smaller monkeys. I think this was the worst punishment of all. Also, his daddy told him Friday morning that if he was good, he could get in his pool on Saturday, so he didn't get to play in the pool.

He was very good Saturday around the house and then today, they said he was good at Children's Church and Sunday School. He was not good with me while I was attempting to sign up for a time to have pictures made for the church directory. He was trying to pull me away and got loud, but at least no one was in Sunday school or services at the time.

That has been our week!

We head back to church tonight and pray that he will behave in Mission Friends tonight.
Before church, we have a meeting for anyone who is interested in going to Ukraine on a 9 day mission trip in April. I am going to the meeting and hopefully, will get to go on the trip. It is to the Zhytomir region.

As I was typing the closing, Alex was walking down the hall with Tim, trying to help him take some clothes to the laundry room. He could not see where he was going and walked right into the doorway! He wasn't hurt, but I heard him hit and all he said was OH! and laughed. We all got a good laugh out of it.

Love to everyone,

R & T & A

First American Nickname

2010-07-13T17:13:00.003-04:00

Yesterday when I went to pick up Alex at "school," his teacher told me that all of the children had been calling him Chicken Man and he was answering to it. She asked if there was a meaning behind it and if we called him that at home. Nope! I finally got Alex to explain that he was "chomping" and chasing the other kids and one little boy started calling him Chicken Man. I just asked and no one called him Chicken Man today. :-)

Today as we were leaving his classroom, a little girl grabbed Alex and gave him a big hug. He says her name is Calla, but then he says he doesn't know. I asked him if she is his girlfriend and he says, NO!

We have a new routine at night. After Alex gets his bath, he likes for me to hold him in my arms until he is about to fall asleep. He tells me every night, "sleep in mommy's arms." It is so sweet.

As I type this, Alex is riding around the den in his little car, telling me that he is going to the beach. He is ready for me to go with him. He decided that he had to go to the bathroom before he leaves for the beach and as he went into the bathroom, he said, "I love you more!"

Have I said lately that I love being his Mama?

Love to all,

R & T & A

Hot, Hot, Hot!

2010-07-10T19:19:00.002-04:00

This week, we would like to remember Tim's Aunt Betty who passed away. Her service was Thursday. She is truly one of the sweetest ladies I ever met and my mother-in-law's only living sibling. It has been a tough week for her. We love you Granny!

It has been really hot here this past week. I just checked the thermometer and it is 90 at 7:18pm. One day when I got in the car at work to pick up Alex, the thermometer read 111! Of course, it had been in the sun all day, but whew!!!

Alex's school has been trying to beat the heat - this week they had a pool party (wading pool) one morning and ice cream sundaes that afternoon. Normally, they go outside each morning and afternoon, but lately they have only been able to go out in the mornings.

This weekend, our town hosted the Festival of Discovery - a BBQ cookoff with teams from all over. Last year, it was featured on the Food Network. We have never been and had planned to take Alex to ride the kiddie rides, but it was just too hot to be on the asphalt today. Since he was a good boy, Daddy put up the kiddie pool and Alex got to play in it for a while.

Hopefully, next weekend, we will go to Simpsonville to Discovery Island waterpark. It is in Greenville county and part of their parks & rec department. Wish we had something like that here instead of driving 45 minutes to get there!

Last Monday, Alex's "school" was closed for July 4th. Tim and I had to work, so Granny and Grandpa kept Alex that morning and Granny Carolyn and Papa kept him that afternoon. He was sick all last weekend and had another fever when I picked him up. When Tim took him to Granny & Papa's, he didn't have one. Finally, that night, his fever began to break, but we kept him on meds through Wednesday night because he was running a low-grade fever and we didn't want him to miss his pool party. He was complaining of headache, sore throat and ear ache - basically the same thing that we have been passing around the family since our beach trip over a month ago. I think finally, we are all over it. Hate for my baby to be sick!!

Alex ate some of the first cantaloupe from his and Daddy's garden. I tried to get a picture, but he had just finished his last bite when I got the camera. He has already had cucumbers from the garden. He should have watermelon soon also. We have already had tomatoes, squash and peppers, but he doesn't eat those.

Hope everyone has a great week!!

Love,
R & T & A

Independence!

2010-07-04T19:18:00.008-04:00

Silly Boy - pants on the head

Check out those tan lines

Sacked out on Mama

Ready for first dental cleaning

Dental cleaning

And... because I don't think I ever posted this one...first day of "school"

Celebrating our son's first Independence Day!

Thursday night and Friday morning, Alex complained to Tim that it hurt when he urinated. So, off to the doctor we go. They did a urinalysis in the office and then sent us to the hospital with another sample. As we pulled up, Alex wanted to know where the airplanes were! I never looked at it that way, but the hospital is big like an airport and there were lots of people hustling around. Well, Alex missed lunch at school, so we went to McDonald's for lunch. He got back to nursery, it was nap time. They had the windows covered and soft music playing. By that time, I was wishing I had a nap time also.

The good news is that they did not find anything with the urinalysis and are growing a culture. The doctor said to just push fluids and said that he may even have a kidney stone because there was a trace of blood in his urine. She said to watch for any signs of pain in the abdomen. So far, he has had no symptoms of this, BUT - yesterday, Tim brought him in from playing outside and his temp was around 103! We gave him a chance to cool down, have a shower and it was still around 102. He didn't complain of anything hurting and he was running around like his usual self. I called Nurse Nanci, my sister and she said that if he is acting OK, then don't worry too much about the fever. We went on to the birthday dinner and gave him some generic Tylenol. By this time, he was flushed in the face and his ears were red. When Nanci got there, she told me that I could also give him Motrin, so we did that as well. He cooled down after that and was fine.

We watched fireworks around Granny & Grandpa's house and then came home late - way after Alex's bedtime. Uncle Barry also gave Alex his first lesson in lightening bugs. Alex was not very excited about the "mooka," but was interested that his behind lit up. The poor lightening bug met a tragic injury when he fell out of Uncle Barry's hand and was stomped upon by Alex.

Tim has bad respiratory junk going on and we figure this is Alex's problem as well, so we all slept in this morning. When Alex woke up, he had a fever again, but only 101 this time, so we dosed him again and he has been OK today.

Tomorrow, the nursery is closed and Tim and I have to work. The original plan was for Granny & Grandpa to keep him in the morning and for Granny Carolyn to keep him at Aunt Kim's (for backup) in the afternoon. Then, Granny Carolyn and Aunt Kim planned an entire day with Alex, going to the park, McDonalds, pool, etc., so they were going to keep him all day. Papa called today and said that cousin Kayla is sick, so we are back to the original plan. Thank you family!!!!

Alex had his first dentist appointment last Wednesday. He had four cavities - which we knew about. He was very good, but lost his balloon on the way to the car. He did get a Buzz Lightyear toothbrush.

I will leave you with a funny:

Me: "Alex, are you ready to eat lunch?"

Alex: "No baby, no!"

Loving our son!

Love,

R & T & A

Things are going well and Alex has been so good the past four days! No timeouts at all!

First Two Weeks Back at Work

2010-06-27T15:14:00.002-04:00

Well, I survived my first two weeks back at work - it was nice to get almost a normal paycheck this week! And, Alex has done well in "school." He is at The Learning Vine which is right around the corner from the hospital where I work. He is actually in a K3 class where they have lessons and in the fall, he will have homework.

He has been pretty good in"school." I know that he has gotten time-out twice. Once for hitting another little boy with a block. I knew this because he said, "Miss Amanda say, NO! NO! NO!" When I asked him what he did, he told me that he did this (with a hitting motion with his hand.) I asked if he hit someone and he said, "yep!" So, of course, we had the talk about hitting.

Then, in the car he told me that he got timeout for running inside.

The Learning Vine has a behavior system that is a stop light. If they are on green they had a good day (0-2 corrections), yellow is 3-5 corrections and red is 6 or more corrections. So far, every day, Alex has been on green every day.

They had Bible School last week and the asked the children to wear cowboy hats, boots, etc. Alex doesn't have cowboy boots yet, but we got him a hat and a red bandanna and he wore it until he got into the building and he took it off. I don't think any of the kids wore them all day.

Friday when I went to pick him up, all of the children were int he music center listening to Jason Aldean's "Big Green Tractor", sung by children. Alex said everybody was dancing.

We are very please with his school and he seems to be very happy there.

Alex has his first dentist visit next Wednesday at 7:30am! I am sure he will do good because he has at all his doctor visits. He goes for his follow-up with the specialist in Greenville on August 20th and we hope he will then be released.

Work has been busy for me. I walked back in on the 14th and a new schedule was due out on the 18th. I got it out this past Tuesday. Although we have set schedules, I have to attempt to fill the needs from vacation, leaves, etc. before it is posted. I usually have two weeks to do this, but I survived!

Alex and I had dinner Friday night with friends, Rhonda, Randy and Jackie. Alex just loves them all, but especially clings to Jackie. I had to explain all the way home that Jackie and Rhonda were not coming home with us. I told him that Jackie was going to his mama's house and he thought that meant Alex's mama's house! He did finally understand though.

I have had a bad sinus infection all weekend and just taken it easy. Right now, Alex is in the kitchen with Tim and I love listening to the conversation. Alex is bad about grabbing things off the counter and running with them when you are trying to work. He just did that and was threatened with a trip to his room. He immediately said, "I be good boy!" Before that, he was playing with his keyboard and telling Tim about "musica." I also heard him say, "no sir, Daddy, no sir!" Wonder where he heard that from?

We continue to love and enjoy our little one.

Love to all,
R & T & A

Beach Photos 2

2010-06-13T20:19:00.002-04:00

Building sandcastles

More sandcastles

Feeding the fish at Broadway

Beach Photos 1

2010-06-13T19:21:00.003-04:00

Carousel at Broadway at the Beach

Watching the baby ducks at Broadway

"Flying" the airplane at Broadway

Outside Ripley's Aquarium - he wouldn't be still for anything!

Riding the "race cars" with his daddy

This was the first time someone asked if Tim was his grandfather - and it was after he shaved off his goatee to look younger! We had a good laugh out of it.

Has it really been two weeks?

2010-06-13T15:22:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it has been two weeks since I posted on the blog. We have been so busy!

Alex starts "school" tomorrow and I go back to work. Week before last, we ran errands and tried to get everything done before our beach trip - haircuts, vaccinations, records to the nursery, etc.

Last Saturday, we headed for our annual family beach trip - minus a few family members :-(.
Cousin Reid graduated on 6-4-10 - exactly 26 years to the date that his dad, mom and I graduated. We knew he wouldn't go with us - thinking he would go with his buddies. He made the American Legion Post 20 Baseball team and had to stay in town to play and practice. Cousin Jordan made the all-star baseball team and had the district tournament this week, so he and Aunt Nanci had to stay behind also, as well as Cousin Joshua. I am proud to announce that Jordan's team won the district and will be playing again next week for the region, I believe.

Alex was a trooper on the four hour ride to Myrtle Beach. He didn't even take a nap, but rode well. He does not have to be kept occupied. He is happy to play a little and mostly look out the window at the scenery and for horses.

Alex really didn't care for the ocean. The night that we got there, he told me, "Alex no like the ocean." Tim took him out twice, but he never would put his feet down. He did like seeing the fish swimming around and built a sandcastle once, but preferred to spend time in the "big pool" at our timeshare or in the lazy river/zero entry pool at our neighboring hotel where we have privileges.

We went to the aquarium and he really liked the stingrays and the scuba man who gave him a high five through the tank glass. He was amazed by the sharks swimming overhead, but we could not get him to pet the horseshoe crabs or the stingrays.

We went to Broadway at the Beach one evening to meet some friends and he loved feeding the carp and seeing the baby ducks in the lagoon. He rode rides for the first time ever and we were shocked that he went right on and even rode most by himself. He did cry and pitch a little fit when we tried to put him back in the stroller to walk on around the walkways.

Thank you for the prayers for my friend, Michelle who adopted three beautiful kiddos from Alex's orphanage. Their 10-day wait was waived and they were able to go to Ukraine and return in three weeks. Their new son will be going to St. Judes on Monday for a consultation for treatment for Leukemia. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

I will post some photos later. Blogger is not cooperating right now.

It is back to work tomorrow. I will try to keep posting weekly.

Love,
R & T & A

May comes to an end

2010-05-28T18:17:00.003-04:00

No big events this week. Alex and I played in the kiddie pool two days. The weather has been nice most of the week with the exception of Sunday night when storms blew through and did damage at Tim's parents' house and two streets from his brother's house. There was a little damage near us, but nothing like last year's tornado - praise God.

I lost a dear friend this week. Renee Cameron was a RN who I have worked with since 2007. She and her husband were in a motorcycle accident two weeks ago and he died instantly. His service was last Sunday and she passed away last night. They were in their early 50's and leave behind one daughter and two grand-sons. Renee and Bruce were the epitome of love and were such a neat, Christian couple who had a motorcycle ministry. She will be greatly missed.

We got the blood work results back from Alex's visit to the specialist and he needed three booster vaccinations. We went today to get those. He had to have: chicken pox, HIB and prevnar. He did great. He did shed a couple of tears, but was very brave. After his shots, we went by Tim's work so he could tell Daddy how brave he was and then I took him to WalMart for a reward. I honestly thought he would choose the Toy Story since he has watched it almost every night since Mother's Day, but he choose Shrek. So - we got the Shrek Trilogy. He has already watched the first one.

Speaking of movies - Tim DVR'd Happy Feet and we have watched it at least once every day this week. The other night, Alex was in bed and had to go to the bathroom. He came down the hall doing his happy feet with a big smile on his face! I think he just wanted to get out of bed and the bathroom was an excuse, but it sure did make me smile.

We leave for the beach one week from tomorrow! Alex's cousin, Jordan, (7 y.o.) made the All Star baseball team and they play that week, so he and my sister will not get to go this year. Our oldest nephew, Reid made the American Legion team and they play that week, so he doesn't get to go either. Since Jordan can't go to the beach, we are having a sleepover tomorrow night. Jordan will come around lunch time, they will get to play on the swing and in the kiddie pool - if the weather holds out. We may go to see the new Shrek movie also.

Alex's phrase of the week: "What are you doing?" He asks this to everyone he talks to on the phone and to me all the time. Another thing he likes to do is look for the American flag and say America! He and I went to Old Navy the other day and got him and Daddy matching Old Navy American Flag 2010 tees. I got one also that is another color. Love to get these $5 shirts! They hold up well. Tim still has one from 2005.

We don't have any big plans for the weekend other than cooking brisket and BBQ Boston butt. There is a Catfish Festival in my best friend's town and she just called to see if we wanted to go up there tonight, but I am tired and am afraid that Alex will get ill if we let him stay up too late - especially since he had those shots today. He is running a low-grade fever from the shots.

Every year, our town hosts the South Carolina Festival of Flowers. I think it was two years ago that they started a topiary display. I have always wanted to get photos of the topiaries, but have always waited too late. I hope we can go up there maybe on Monday to take some photos of Alex and the topiaries. We saw them today and they are awesome. There are: giraffes, alligator, sea turtle, dolphin,Jeep, Camera (for Fuji which has a plant here), butterfly, and a Lion. I am sure there are more that I haven't seen.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. Please remember those who gave their lives so that you could live yours in freedom and those who are fighting for freedom today.

Love,
R & T & A

Those three little words.....

2010-05-22T19:46:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Alex was in a really sweet mood and wanted to be held a lot. He crawled into my lap and said, "I love you!" Sure, he has told me this before, but only after I have told him. This time, it was out of the blue and made me realize that he knows what it means and that he meant it.

I treasure these days with our son. I only have three weeks before I return to work.

As I am typing this, Alex just told Tim. "I love you!" Of course, Tim answered, "I love you, too." Alex, "I love you more!"

Now Alex is telling Tim, "be careful, Daddy. Be careful!"

Being a mom and wife is wonderful and I love it and my "boys!"

Buttons at the left

2010-05-21T10:56:00.002-04:00

The buttons at the left are for special needs children who are being adopted from Ukraine.
The process is quite expensive, so the buttons are set up for donations towards bringing these precious children home to America. Some of the children have Down's Syndrome and some have medical problems that can best be treated here.

Please pray about supporting these adoptions and for these families.

Love,
R & T & A

The past week

2010-05-19T10:47:00.002-04:00

Alex continues to learn new words every day!

Right now he is watching Sesame Street and flapping his arms like the penguins and Grover and laughing!

He still loves reading and learning. His new favorite movie is Toy Story - thanks Lynn and family! He watches it every night and sometimes during the day also. He loves Buzz and Boody (Woody.) I used his little Leap Frog Alphabet tool to try to teach him that it is W for Woody. He is saying it clearer and can pick out the W and tell us it is for Woody. He can also pick out the A for Alex. This is the little boy who was supposedly developmentally delayed.

We are now giving Alex Flintstone vitamins with iron. We did not do this at first because it reads for children 4 and older, but his bloodwork came back and his iron is low, so he is now taking these and drinking a Carnation Instant Breakfast every day for a snack. I usually have him drink 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 in the afternoon.

On Monday, we went to Lexington with my dad (Papa) and step-mother (Granny Carolyn) to visit our Aunt Pat. She worked at a school and is great with children and possibly the sweetest person on the earth! Alex loves her and said Aunt Pat very clearly. He enjoyed the ride down there, playing with Granny. He took a little nap on the way back. It was nice for Daddy and Mama Carolyn to get to spend some more time with Alex and learn how well he is doing and how fast he is learning. I know he was concerned about our decision to adopt abroad, but now knows that we did the right thing.

On Sunday, a dear friend from work and her husband were in a motorcycle accident. He was killed (only 53 years-old) and she is in critical condition in Greenville. She was transferred there yesterday. Please pray for Renee and her family. They only have one daughter and she is dealing with the death of her father and the possibility of losing her mother as well. They had a Christian Motorcycle ministry and traveled to Washington, DC each Memorial Day to minister.

This afternoon, we will play on the swing and/or in Alex's kiddie pool and then we have church. It is the last night for Angel Choir, so they are having a pizza party for the kiddos. He didn't really get to start in Angel Choir due to timing, but hopefully he can start again in the fall and will be able to perform the next time they do a program.

I have two friend in Ukraine right now who are adopting. One is in her ten-day waiting period and is adopting her 5th child - all boys! The other couple had their SDA appointment at 9:30 this morning which would have been 2:30 am our time. They may very well be headed to their region as I type. They are adopting three special needs children from the same baby house where we got Alex! I am so excited for them and admire their dedication. They have three little girls at home, so they will have a BIG family. Love it!

Until next week or something memorable happens!
Love,
R & T & A

What have you done?

2010-05-18T01:44:00.002-04:00

Not adoption/Mommy related, but fun anyway.

I saw this on another blog and thought it looked fun. I love those "learn stuff about me" kind of posts. I hope you enjoy...maybe you want to do it yourself. :)

The things in bold are the things I have done and the things in italics are the things I would like to do:
1. Started your own blog (obviously)
2. Slept under the stars (a number of times when I was a kid)
3. Played in a band (school bands count right?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (used to all the time in church when I was little)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (so far it's only a few words, but I am determined to learn Russian)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (caricature?)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (can you say YUCK!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby - not physically, but the paper pregnancy was 12 months and the trip in the middle of winter was as bad as labor, I am sure.
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee or a wasp
100. Read an entire book in one day

What have you done?Just copy & paste and bold what you have done & un bold what you haven’t.Have fun with it and if you want, comment with your link to your What have you done?

Such a BIG BOY!

2010-05-13T16:36:00.002-04:00

Alex has his appointment at the Pediatric Specialist on Tuesday. She said that he is in the 75th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. She said not to worry yet because without having family history, we do not know if he is naturally tall and lean. She is running all types of tests, including ones for parasited, lead, and titers to verify what vaccinations he will need.

While we were there, they did a PPD test and drew blood. Alex pulled back a little from needle on the PPD test, but they used numbing cream for the blood draws and he whimpered a little, but no tears. Such a BIG BRAVE BOY! He had to be stuck two times because the vein collapsed on the first stick. I was so proud of him.

He also had about two years of wax built up in his ears and they washed both of them out - using three bottles of water each! He was so good and still. I teased him that he had big "mookas" (bugs) in his ears because that is what the wax clumps looked like when they came out.

He is progressing well with everything. He can now count to 6, knows at least two colors, can draw circles, is good at picking up his room and putting his toys in the proper places, can say almost anything he wants to and learns new things every day! I am amazed at how he has improved in the time we have been home. His behavior has really improved. He rarely tells us no now, and if he does, it only takes one reminder of punishment and he does not say it again. This has also helped in getting him to eat his meals because he can't tell us no! LOL!

He is much better with the dogs. He still chases them or throws their toys at them instead of to them, but all it takes is a warning and occasionally a time-out and he does better.

Please say a prayer for a special friend, Michelle, who leaves tomorrow to go to Ukraine to adopt three children from Alex's orphanage. They have special needs and were on a website, so she could commit in advance. We are so excited for their family and their new children.

Also, pray for our friends Dan and Alisha who are adopting from Ethiopa. Alisha is there with the boys and Dan is back in Ukraine, I believe. The children are officially theirs, but she will have to remain a little longer. Some of you may remember that we met Alisha and Dan when we were in Ukraine. She volunteered at Alex's orphanage and was so nice and helpful to us.

We will sign off for now.

Love,
R & T & A

Planting the Garden

2010-05-10T17:50:00.007-04:00

Alex didn't like getting his hands dirty, so his best job was taking the empty

plant cups to the trash. - Our neighbors' Golden Retrievers are in the background watching the progress. They always greet us when we are outside.

Planting a tomato plant

Alex loves to help his Daddy!

I can't believe I forgot to post this. Alex & Tim planted the garden a couple of weeks ago.

They planted tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe and watermelon.

It rained and there was finally a break in the weater, so I sent Alex out in an old tshirt, pants and his boots that we bought in Ukraine.

First Mother's Day Refridge Art

2010-05-10T08:15:00.003-04:00

Alex "made" this in Children's Church on Mother's Day!

Not sure how much he actually did himself, but I know his scribble anywhere! :-)

The Chosen Heart - Get out your hankies

2010-05-10T08:02:00.001-04:00

This is a wonderful poem by Terri Harrison.
My Mother-in-Law gave me a framed copy for Mother's Day

The Chosen Heart

Longing for a child to love,
I'd wish upon the stars above.
In my heart I always knew,
A part of me was meant for you.
I think how happy we will be,
Once I adopt you, and you adopt me.

I dream of all the joy you'll bring,
Imagining even the littlest things.
The way it will feel to hold you tight,
And tuck you in every night.
The drawings on the refrigerator door,
And childhood toys across the floor.
The favorite stories read again and again,
And hours of games with make-believe friends.

The day you took my outstretched hand,
A journey ended, but our lives began.
Still mesmerized by your sweet face,
Still warmed inside by our first embrace.
I promised to give you a happy home,
And a loving family all your own.
A house you've now made complete,
With laughter, smiles, and tiny feet.

A parent is one who guides the way,
Know I will be there everyday.
Rest easy as each night you sleep,
A lifetime of love is yours to keep.

Longing for a child to love,
I'd wish upon the stars above.
In my heart I always knew,
A part of me belonged to you.

Alex's Room

2010-05-07T18:11:00.006-04:00

The photos in the puzzle piece frames are of Alex's groupa, Gotcha Day and one of him and Ina - his favorite Nannie from the aby house. I left the Boxer stuffed animal, pillow and quilt since Chance died - I couldn't bring myself to move it. Will probably put it up for safe keeping soon.

The cedar chest was my grandmother's. My dad had it refinished about 4-5 years ago and I have our blankets in it. I really need to find somewhere else to put it because I found Alex working on it with his "hammer" the other day and it is getting scratched. I finally taught him not to walk on it.
I looked and looked for wall decals to match his room and finally found some the other week at Kohl's - half-price! He really likes them around the TV. I think I am going to get two more packs and bring them down under the TV and wrap over the bookshelf. I would actually like more bookshelves and may make some. I found this neat site (http://www.knock-offwood.com/2010/01/creative-guest-knock-off-wood-bookcases.html) with patterns and can make two good-sized bookcases for $60 out of wood and MDF - definitely sturdier than the Big Lots ones in there now. They look slanted in the photo, but I think the TV is not exactly straight.

I bought this duvet a year before we travelled when Linens n' Things was going out of business. I just loved the soft colors with the splash of lime green! I thought this would work for either a boy or girl and it has been pretty easy to find things that coordinate.

I originally wanted to use a monkey theme and Alex loves monkeys - but I thought that he would outgrow the monkeys fast. So - I showed him photos of monkeys, jungle, trucks, construction and the ocean/beach theme and he liked the beach theme best. We still have some animals thrown in the mix and he loves them too! We love the beach and go twice a year, and he came from a shipping town, so it just "fit." Our good friends gave us the personalized quilt at our shower and it was a perfect fit for the one wall that was bare! Our 7 year-old nephew, Jordan loves the room and suggested that we paint the wall behind the bed - the one with the palm print - ocean blue. I may do just that!

Alex picked out all of the artwork on the walls with the exception of the personalized quilt - which he loves and wants to pull down to sleep on - of course, I won't let him. He definitely has an opinion on what he likes and doesn't like. He will quickly say "this one!" or "like it!" and has for some time now. If he does not like something, I will not buy it for him - especially in clothes because he will not wear what he doesn't like.

I was about to brag that Alex had been good today and hadn't gotten a time out or sent to his room, but about 15 minutes ago, as Chloe was coming through the doggie door, he tried to push her back out by her face. We have really had a time teaching him what is appropriate behavior with the dogs. He loves her, but I guess he just doesn't understand yet that he has to treat her as good as he does people. Anyway - he has been very good and loving today - until that incident and the meltdown that followed - dropping to the floor and refusing to walk to his room. Technically, he is not in time-out and can play - but he is in there until his daddy gets home - which should be soon.

Maggie Valley Trip & 25th Wedding Anniversary

2010-05-05T07:35:00.014-04:00

Last weekend we went to Maggie Valley for our 25th Anniversary. Of course, we took Alex. He adapted well even though we didn't get him to bed until after 10:00pm! I didn't have a good night because I had Alex & Tim snoring. I looked at the clock at 2:30am - still wide awake!

3:30 am - Alex has to pee-pee. 4:30 am - still awake. We got up at 7:30am and went to Joey's Pancake House and had pancakes - what else would you have? Then, we did a bit of shopping and Alex just does not understand that he can't touch everything. I know he is three and was seeing lots of things he had never seen before, but I still strapped him in the stroller and that helped some.

Alex has been obsessed with horses since the church Easter Egg Hunt/Party at the Oasis Farm. Oasis Farm is on the campus of Connie Maxwell Children's Home and near our house. Every time he sees a fence of any kind, he yells, horsie (corshie!) We found him a stuffed horse that makes a galloping sound and neighs. He has a stick horse like this, but it spends most of its time in time-out because he tries to hit the dogs with it! He also got a lion because he loves them too and his daddy taught him to roar like a lion before we even left Ukraine.

Ready to explore Maggie Valley

Alex & the Big Bear

Daddy & Alex with the bear

Alex, Mama & the bear - I was beginning to crash here from lack of sleep!

Alex & Daddy in the pool - first time with us in a real pool!

After shopping, we returned to Jonathan Creek Inn (wonderful place to stay!) and went for a swim in the indoor pool. Alex did well with his swimmies and holding our hands. He was a little scared, but he did better after some time. At one point, he was only holding my two index fingers and kicking. He soon got cold and he and daddy changed and went to the playground while I went to the hot tub and took a much needed nap!

We walked next door to Arf's to have dinner and Alex was good until he was finished and then he was BAD. When we got back to the room, he got time out plus time added to it for kicking and hitting during time out. We finally got him to bed!

As I was getting ready on Sunday morning, I saw the ducks in the creek and hurried to get Alex out so he could feed them. Notice his PJs! He was hesitant to walk outside without shoes on, but I let him go out in his sock feet.

Daddy & Alex feeding the ducks

After the ducks ate all of the bread, they took a bath and Alex was really amused when they ducked their heads under the water! We loved this hotel. It is the last one before you go up the mountain towards Cherokee. It has an indoor pool (in a sun room type enclosure), Koi pond, hot tub, deck over the creek, hammocks and swings. Our room was on the first floor and had a screened-in porch overlooking the creek. Right outside our door, there was a porch swing on the creek.

On the way home, I told Tim this was not the way I imagined our 25th Anniversary. We had planned to renew our vows and go somewhere like Jamaica, Tahiti - somewhere tropical and romantic. But - I wouldn't have it any other way! Spending 42 days together in Ukraine & bringing our son home brought us closer than any 5 days in a tropical paradise ever could.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 was our 25th anniversary. I got my mom to spend some time with Alex so I could run errands and pick up Tim's gift. She said that he was pretty good and only got timeout once for refusing to pick up some toys. We are struggling with NO! right now.

My anniversary present - earrings and necklace - beautiful.

Anniversary Flowers

My husband is so thoughtful! He researched the proper flowers for 25th Anniversary and it is Iris. So, he had an arrangement made with Iris! They are beautiful. He also got me a plaque with a 25th Anniversary poem and framed info sheet about "this day, 25 years ago."

I tried to replace Tim's white gold wedding ring that he lost twice. It had a cross engraved on it and he picked it out himself. My sister found it the first time and the second time, he lost it at work and it has never been found. I couldn't find one, so I got him a white gold one that has some little diamonds in it.

We had a candle light dinner of Chinese takeout after getting Alex to bed. That was better than our wedding night when we ate from McDonalds! LOL!

Alex goes to the International Adoption Pediatrician Specialist next Tuesday. It is in Greenville, but he rides well. The only problem I foresee is that his appointment is scheduled for his nap time. I think he will do fine though. Maybe he will nap on the ride.

Until next time,

Love,

R & T & A

Busy Day Today

2010-04-26T19:50:00.002-04:00

I had to run some errands in Anderson - some things to return and some things to buy at Ulta. So, we hit the road around 11am. Alex actually slept until 9am!

We tried to eat at Chic-fila, but it was so crowded - so I had a return at Target, so we ate at Target! Alex had the kid's chicken meal and I had popcorn. He ate his entire meal and some popcorn as well.

When we hit Ulta, he was into everything! I had him in the stroller, thank goodness. we ran into Kohls and he cried because he had to get into the buggy - but was better when he saw it was more like a stroller. He has never cried about getting into a buggy before. He kept unbuckling the strap! They really need to make those more child-proof. I finally figured out that it was passed his naptime and he was just fighting sleep. He was nodding off when we got to the register.

Of course, he had a nap on the way home and then, we went to his cousin Jordan's baseball game. He loves Jordan more than anyone or anything else in this world! His face just lights up when he sees him. It is so sweet. Jordan loves him too and wanted to know if he could come over to play after his game. I had to explain that by the time Alex got home, ate supper, and had his bath, it would be time for bed. Jordan's response was - well - he doesn't have school tomorrow!

Our dear friends gave us a party Saturday to welcome Alex to our family. We had a great time and he got the most precious things. I think his favorite thing is the dinosaur shoes that light up. He wants to wear them everywhere and show them to everyone. He is so proud of them. My favorite is between his personalized quilt, his car, my family necklace and his new outfits! Oh - and the books and videos that he got too. I just love everything and we are so blessed to have such great friends.

Sunday, I gave Alex a set of Mega Blocks. I wish I had done this the day we got home. He loves to build things and I have fun with them too! Today we got a farm set to add to his blocks.

We also got his swimmies for our mountain trip this weekend and for the beach in June. I got him an Elmo backpack and an Elmo book that has a little play MP3 player with it. I think that will be good for the ride.

Tomorrow we plan to go to story time at the library and then visit Granny & Grandpa. Granny hasn't been feeling well and Alex misses her.

Alex's English vocabulary grows each day. I am just amazed at what he picks up. The most recent addition are "That's enough" and "Sit!" - which he uses for our dog Chloe and myself when he wants me to sit with him until he goes to sleep.

Still loving our life with our son.

Love,
R & T & A

2010-04-24T09:48:00.002-04:00

Singing in Russian

Singing in English

We have had a good week.

Alex has learned to count to five in English and is working on learning colors.

We visited the daycare that Alex will attend when I go back to work in June. It is The Learning Vine and is just around the corner from the hospital where I work. The classes are bright and roomy, they have lessons year-round, have a nice playground with a pirate ship, tri-cycles, swings and sand boxes. There is even a real live bunny in the room! You can view the children from the halls at any time. Of course, Alex had to show out a little and kick me while I was try to listen to the owner as she went over the rules, etc. He wasn't getting my full attention and he has a problem with that.

Alex is now going to sleep in his room without us laying down with him - almost every night. We let him choose a movie - Babe is his favorite! He also loves watching episodes of The Black Stallion because he loves his horses.

We are still waiting on an appointment with the pediatric adoption group in Greenville. I called Thurs. to follow up with our pediatrician's office and still waiting for a response.

Tim took Alex and went to WalMart grocery shopping so I could get a massage. Boy did I need it! My neck has not been right since the flights to Ukraine and has been getting worse each day. This week I had headaches every day. I thought my shoulder problems were gone because they haven't been as bad, but I think the head and neck problems were just outweighing them because when Allen hit the shoulders, it was evident the problem is still there.

We have a party this afternoon for our little family. My best friends are throwing a "baby party" so everyone can meet Alex - guys included. My friend Jackie is here from Dallas - we share April birthdays, so we always get together this month to celebrate. Today is also John Collin's birthday and his party is at the same time as ours. It was definitely planned this way as this date was confirmed while we were in Ukraine. We are happy to see everyone here, but also sad that Alex can't go to John Collin's party.

That's about all we have for this week.

Love,

R & T & A

Weekly update

2010-04-23T15:30:00.002-04:00

New photos and videos

2010-04-22T20:51:00.003-04:00

will be posted soon. I was trying to post a video and had problems.

Then...I had to go and settle a certain little blonde-headed boy down to go to sleep.

Too tired to work on the problem tonight.

Title Change

2010-04-12T19:48:00.003-04:00

Nanci took this picture at our shower at church yesterday.

I changed the title of the blog today because I decided to continue it throughout our first year home. I will try to post weekly.

Yesterday, Alex went to Children's Church for the first time and he was good. Our Senior Pastor and his wife, our Associate Pastor and our Music Minister - along with a group from our church are in Ukraine until tomorrow. So - we had a visiting minister. He was very good, but spoke longer than we are accustomed. I was really worried about Alex being in Children's Church for that long, but they went ahead and took the children to the Social Hall for breakfast, so he was happy.

We did not try Sunday School, yesterday, but will next week. He will be next door to the class that I am going to begin helping with, so I will be a little more relaxed.

The church had a shower for Alex yesterday afternoon and we had a great time. I got to meet our new Youth Minister's wife and two precious little boys. They just came here while we were in Ukraine and they just "fit."

Alex went to Mission Friends while we attended the service last night and they said that he was good also. I am waiting for the new to wear off and for his true colors to show through.

He is learning so much! He now says : come here, I'm sorry, Thank You, What's my name?, no touch and Leave them alone, bath, pajamas - all pieces of clothing, nite-nite, pee-pee. watch a movie, Big Bird, Elmo, Yes M'am and of course, Mama, Daddy, Chloe (Clovey), PJ (Peja) and all of his cousins' names as well as Granny, Grandpa, Granma (Glenma), and Papa. There are more, but these are the few that come to mind.

Naptime is getting better and nite-nite is better if we let him watch a movie while he is falling asleep. $5 WalMart movies are wonderful!

Today Alex hit Chloe, so I put him in his room - he hates to be in there unless you tell him that he is to play. He hit me when I closed the baby gate, so he also got a time-out, plus had to stay in his room. About five minutes later, I heard him talking to himself and saying "sorry, sorry, I sorry - which actually sounds like "I solly." Then, he came to the doorway, called me and told me that he was sorry. So, of course, I let him out of his room.

He always helps clean up after he eats. Today he had rice everywhere after supper. He got the whisk broom and dust pan out and helped clean it up.

I really think he is adjusting well and I am trying to learn not to sweat the small stuff.

Love,

R & T & A

First Easter in America

2010-04-05T19:23:00.007-04:00

Passed out after an Easter Candy high- with his Mickey Mouse cell phone from Granny and Grandpa

Ready to go to church

At the Easter Egg Hunt

With his best friend - Cousin Jordan

Bunny Ears from the McAllister sisters

We took Alex to his first American Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Poor thing, he didn't know what to do, but he did pick up ONE egg - and put it in another little boys basket. They didn't let the 3 & 4 year-olds have assistance. He had fun looking at the horses and bouncing in the bouncy house. We took his cousin Jordan (7) with us and he loves Jordan to death. So many hugs!

Easter morning, he got a visit from the Easter Bunny, got dressed in his new outfit and we went to church. He only made it through the musical portion of the service. He loves music!

We are off to the local Social Security office tomorrow and to my work to turn in some paperwork. We may go out of town to shop a little.

Alex is eating well, but not yet gaining weight. We have not had a doctors appointment yet, so I think I will start him on some Pediasure until we see the pediatrician. Yesterday afternoon, he had on a 24 month pair of shorts and they fit perfect. Most of the 2Ts are too short and the 3Ts are too large in the waist, so I usually buy adjustable waist. Luckily, my sister and mom both still had some of Jordan's smaller clothes and we have been using them as well as what we have bought.

Please keep the King family in your prayers. They are in Kazakhstan trying to adopt a little boy. They were offered the boy by the asst. director of the orphanage and later found out that he is only registered in two places and should be registered in three places. His mother abandoned him in July 2009 and their attorney is trying to track her down to get her to agree to the adoption. They are in their bonding time now.

Love,

R & T & A

Photos from the last week

2010-03-30T22:05:00.004-04:00

Pudding nose

Cool Dude

Having fun at Cambridge Park

My favorite.

The first week home

2010-03-28T18:53:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow marks one week since our return home.

God bless the USA. Don't get me wrong, the people of Ukraine were all polite and more than willing to help us out - we even had some laughs about the language barriers. But, we surely missed the conveniences of home and of course, our families and friends.

On Tuesday, we tried to sleep in, but we were up and about by 9:00 am. We went to Wal*Mart that night to pick up a few things and for the house - and my DENTAL FLOSS! By the way - I did finally find some in a store in Nikolaiv. Alex slept with me this night, but it was his last night in our bed. He began sleeping in his big boy bed by himself on Wed. night. So nice to finally sleep with my hubby for the first time since we got Alex! - Oh, and Chloe was glad to be back in the bed with us as well.

Alex has made great strides this week. He no longer tries to cram all of his food in his mouth all at once and he had overcome his fear of Chloe & PJ. He calls them Clovey & Peja! So cute. He only wakes up once during the night to go "peesit." He is getting better and I wish I could say he hadn't had a spitting episode in a while, but he had one today. We went to church this morning and we kept him in the worship service. He got a little squirmy at the end, but he made it through. Then, he ate his snack of goldfish, biscuit and a cookie and "juicea."

As far as eating goes, we have learned a good time for his dinner and to try things more than once because he will not like something once, then the next time, love it.

So far, he has enjoyed: weiners, mashed potatoes, french fries, chicken & dumplings, cucumbers, tomatoes, grits, sausage, eggs, and of course, bread. He loves goldfish crackers and chocolate animal crackers as well as gogurt and apple sauce.

We took Alex to my work on Friday and everyone had a fit over him. He did good, but did have an episode where he bit me. We are still working on that, but he is getting better.

Overall, we are happy with his progress. He is stubborn, but he has a stubborn Mama, so what can I say?

Please keep Dr. & Kirby King in your prayers. They are in Kazakhstan adopting and have met many obstacles, but are in the 14 day bonding process with a little 5 year-old boy.

Love to all,
R & T & A

First Days at Home

2010-03-26T17:49:00.012-04:00

Asleep in the chair.

First American haircut.

Thanks, Sue-Sue!

Balloons from my sister. Alex loved his balloons.

Apple Jacks and bananas

Entertainment the Alex Way

2010-03-26T17:37:00.011-04:00

Rolling in the floor of the Munich airport.

Wrestling with Daddy

Wearing Mama's boots

With the collapsible hamper

Wearing the house shoes he found at the door of his first apt. in Kiev

Photos of 9th and final "Home away from Home"

2010-03-26T17:30:00.004-04:00

Never got a photo of the bedroom, but you get the picture. We were here the Sat. & Sun. before we left on Monday. It was in the same suite as a marriage service and was very office-like with florescent lighting.

Photos - daily walk to the "Big House"

2010-03-26T16:35:00.010-04:00

This is in reverse order - because I am just too lazy to redo it today. Back Entrance

One of the many "Kit Kots" who live at the "Big House"

Connector Hall which doubles as a playroom

Playground

Playground to right, connector hall to left

You can see the back fence of the orphanage in this shot.

Road in apartment complex

HOME!

2010-03-23T06:48:00.002-04:00

We arrived home around 9 pm last night.

Our families decorated the house with balloons and banners, etc. and had a great dinner here with them.

Alex did great on the trip! He only cried a little boarding the first flight and then again on approach to Dulles because there was a little turbulence and a woman screamed and it scared him.

He got to meet cousins Justin and Jordan and they played and had a great time. He gave them both hugs and kisses when they left. Jordan didn't get his homework done, so Nanci said that she was going to write a note to his teacher that his new cousin came home and that he had a lesson on Ukrainian adoption last night! Then, he wanted to know if he can take Alex to school for show and tell! Of course, I told him I would bring him.

Well...will post more later including some photos of Alex's journey home. I have no photos from last night, but the babushka's do, so will post them when I can.

Going to try to get a nap in before Alex gets up. He woke up around 3:30 am to peeska and got scared by Chloe, our dog, so it took a while to get him settled down. He is curious about them, but scared. That will change because he was already getting close to our little PJ last night and throwing the ball over the gate to Chloe. I hope it works out soon because poor Chloe has been through so much in the past seven weeks, losing Chance, her best buddy and without us. She hates to be "caged up" in her room (mudroom).

With love from the good ol' USA!
R & T & A

More Alex photos......

2010-03-19T02:36:00.007-04:00

McDonalds - he had to try everything!
Waiting for medical results

Medical clinic

Keeping him happy

Gotcha Day 3-17-10

2010-03-19T02:28:00.008-04:00

FINALLY - out for the count!

Making himself at home

About to leave the Baby House!

New clothes!

Back to Kiev Photos

2010-03-19T02:21:00.005-04:00

Photos from Downtown Nikolaiv

2010-03-19T02:04:00.009-04:00

We loved this apartment. It is not even a block off of Sovietska St. - the walking street. You can see it in the last photo. There are two balconies and the entire apartment was light and bright. Of course, had we known that we were only going to be there for two nights, we might not have moved. Well..it was good while it lasted!

We found lots of great restaurants on the walking street. Our favorite was Cake. The atmosphere was nice and the food was great. We ate there a total of three times during our two downtown stays. There is also a Pizza restaurant, Del Torro, that is good and the Dixie BBQ - where they had iced tea! Above the Dixie BBQ, there is a night club and, evidently the festivities make it downstairs to the restaurant at times because there is a small stage with a pole there - if you know what I mean. A new restaurant, Burger Club opened while we were there, but we didn't get to try it. It is a counter service restaurant decorated like an ice cave.

There is also an open market with nothing but flowers. Beautiful!

Will post some more Alex photos and photos of the current apartment in the next post.

Until then,

Love,

R & T & A

Flight home confirmed!

2010-03-18T15:23:00.004-04:00

We will arrive at GSP on Monday at 6:40.

Today went well at the Embassy and the medical. Alex was very good. He has a stuffy/runny nose and it is really sore. The doctor told us what to get to make him feel better, so we got cough medicine, ointment and nose drops. Alex is a real trooper and takes all of his medicine well. The cough medicine smells awful. I don't think I could take it!

Alex got to talk to his Granma and Aunt Nanci today on Skype. Of course, he hammed it up with more kisses and smiles! He got to see Granma's dog, Harley, so he wanted to know where Nanci's was too. He is fascinated by dogs, but is very guarded and will not get that close to them. We know that he will love Chloe and she will love him too. PJ will probably just bark until she gets used to him, by then, he will OK and

He didn't fight sleep tonight like last night. Last night, it took an hour for him to go to sleep. This afternoon, we fought for two hours for a nap - then gave up. Tonight, he was asleep within 15 minutes!

He still tests us when we tell him no, but time-outs are working well because he hates to be still.

I will get some photos of Alex and the apartment posted tomorrow. I was going to try tonight, but the cable is in the bedroom and we are not going to take any chances of waking Alex up!

We may have to move again Saturday! In fact, we will most likely have to move! I told Olga to just leave me on the side of the street. I am sick of moving!

I got to show my "road rage" today. We were getting in the car from the medical appt. and I didn't move fast enough for the person waiting behind us, so he blew the horn. I despise horn blowing unless it is a warning to prevent an accident. So, before I could catch myself, I told him to blow it out his butt! Olga just laughed. I would never make it driving in Kiev, that is for sure!

We go back to the Embassy tomorrow at 2:00 - then we should be all set to leave on Monday morning!

Quick Update

2010-03-17T15:43:00.003-04:00

We were able to get all of the paperwork completed on 3-16-10 - including a RED passport!
So, we picked Alex up this morning and are now back in Kiev.

We will complete the US Embassy and medical tomorrow and Friday. We were hoping to fly home on Saturday, but there are no available flights until Monday.

Yesterday when we went to pick Alex up for the passport photos, he was crying like crazy! He was afraid that he was going to the hospital! Poor baby.

Today went much better. I was afraid of a meltdown because his favorite caregiver was there, but he only cried a little when we put him in the car. Then, he was pretty good on the 5.5 hour drive. Only had one incident of spitting and all 4 adults in the car gave him an earful. He only listened to Sasha, so I suggested that we send him home with Sasha until time to leave on Monday! LOL

He has been a handful since we have been at the apartment. He helped me unpack his clothes and tried to pull all the suitcases into the bedroom. He helped wipe up the snow off the floor from the suitcases. He is obsessed with flushing the toilet and had to try everything that we had to drink. Then, he had to spit out Sprite and Diet Pepsi. If he tries anything that he doesn't like - out it comes!
Such a mess! He seems to forget what no means and also the meaning of nyet!

The best part of the day was when we put him on Skype with Tim's mom. We tried my mom first, but she wasn't at home. Alex won his babushka over. He was waving and talking and even blew a kiss - which we had never seen him do! He got to talk to Tim's dad, but we couldn't video, so he told him hello and paka, dedushka! My dad had just left before we called, so we had to tell Tim's dad to tell him we would try again later. Will have to make an appointment with my parents for tomorrow to let them see him and talk to him.

Will update later with some photos and other stories. We are beat now.

Love,

R & T & A

Things we miss & some tips

2010-03-14T11:30:00.004-04:00

Thought we would list some of the things we miss from home:

Family, friends & pets
Our Church
Hot water
Clear water
English
Diet Coke/Pepsi
Ice cubes
Telephone conversations
Work
Things beginning on time
Our cars
Duke's mayonnaise
Soft, white bread
Beginning of spring in South Carolina - daffodils are blooming at our house.
Lettuce
Dental Floss - I ran out and you will not find it here.
Green grass
Network TV & music in English
Clothes dryer

**Please note that these are not listed in any certain order with the exception of the first two and they are a tie!

Things we brought and are glad we did:

Bible
Comfortable, waterproof boots
laptop
iPod Touch - loaded with songs and books from Barnes & Noble - we aware - you cannot purchase ebooks from Barnes & Noble outside of US and Canada.
Smaller digital camera with video capability vs. Digital Rebel - due to weight & size
Backpack
Splenda tablets
Rita's Pillow
Warm jackets - Down for Rita & fleece lined for Tim
3 electric adapters
Russian/Ukrainian Phrasebook for Children - Thanks Amy!
Ukraine cellphone - Thanks Amy!
Money belt - again - Thanks Amy for lending us these!
Crystal Light drink mixes
Instant oatmeal
Tuna
Lance crackers
Leggings for Rita
Folding, "green" bags for groceries. You have to buy your bags here, so the three that my mom gave us have come in handy. Thanks Mama!
Over the counter medicines. We brought a little of everything and it came in handy.

Things we brought and didn't need or could have survived without

Tim's down jacket
Thermal bottoms for Tim
Travel iron - each place we have rented so far has had one.
Electronic Translator - it was loaded with Ukrainian and we really needed Russian. Have the discs to update - at home in the US!
Extra gloves for Rita
Gloves for Tim
Ladies - find a hat you love and just bring one. I brought 1 knit, 1 fleece, 1 headband plus 180 brand earmuffs and have only used the fleece hat and the earmuffs.
Dress pants for Rita & trouser jeans - I suggest one pair of black dress pants and bring 3 pairs of jeans. I wore my black one (knit, stretch) to travel here, to the SDA appt. and to court. Will probably wear them or trouser jeans on Gotcha day!
Umbrella - have not used it yet.

A few fashion tips:

I read a lot before we left about the people of Ukriane dressing up more that those of us in the US. I found that to be true in Kiev where we were mainly in the downtown, business area. Some of the ladies in the govt. offices had on jeans. If you are comfortable in your jeans - bring them and wear them.
Ladies - if you travel in the winter, be prepared to tuck your jeans into your boots or cuff them. At home, we like to wear our pants long and when combined with wet, cold, dirty streets, it is very uncomfortable - I know from experience.
You can wear your cropped pants with boots. I saw a lot of that here as well as knee shorts with taller boots.
The footwear fashion here is the higher the heel, the better. I had enough trouble walking in the snow, must less wearing heels! I fell twice - once in my Danskos when we first arrived and then, once on ice wearing my great Timberland boots.
Bring comfortable, dark clothes because you will wear them two days. Now, I rotated mine and wore the pants twice, but not the same shirt two days in a row. Tim - on the other hand, didn't care if he wore the same thing two days in a row. Everyone here does it anyway - for the most part.
I mention dark clothes because we have been in snow, ice and mud. When the snow melted, there was mud and the couple of days without snow and mud, it was dusty.
Don't bring anything that you are too attached to. You will be sick of everything after wearing the same thing over and over.
Dress in layers in the cold weather. I would bring cardigans with a short-sleeved t-shirt to wear under them. Once we get into the orphanage, it is like an oven! Most of the workers wear short sleeves. I brought turtle necks and they are too warm under a sweater when you are inside.
Bring some type of house shoe. It is customary to remove your shoes once you enter a home. If you saw my boots - you would know why.
Makeup - if you have a certain brand, bring it with you. Haircare - once again, if you have a certain brand, bring it with you. We did buy a hairdryer once we got here, but I have survived the entire trip without a curling iron. Can't wait to get home for a color & cut!

I can actually say that the only thing I wish we had brought, but didn't was the discs for the electronic translator. I just asked Tim and he agreed.

We are moving into town tomorrow, so not sure if we will have time to post, but will if we can. Of course, I will post photos of that apt. at some point.

Love to all,

R & T & A

Some photos of the orphanage

2010-03-13T05:50:00.009-05:00

Alex's locker

The door to his "groupa"

Mosiac above front door of orphanage

Connector Hall "Playroom"

Inside of playroom

Playground sign

Thought we would post some photos of the orphanage since our time there is almost over. Yeah!

I hope to get some more on Monday or Tuesday. We would like one of his group.

We met a very nice couple who are here from Spain. That makes at least three couples who are here in the adoption process. They have court on Monday. They are also going to move into the apartment that we are in now on Monday, after we move downtown. They are also adoptigna 3 year-old boy.

Birthday Message to Grandma

2010-03-11T11:06:00.002-05:00

I tried to send this message to my mama on her birthday and after trying several different ways, she has yet to be able to view it. Her birthday was 2-25-10.

Here you go, Grandma.

Wishing for Warmer Weather.....

2010-03-11T07:59:00.002-05:00

Yes! That's a pool at Alex's orphanage!

Beside the pool is a little sandy area with a metal frame for a covered cabana.

We feel that this is one of the better orphanages in Ukraine. The building is older, as most are here, but it is well maintained and has a large playground and smaller playgrounds all around. We are going to take lots of photos of the orphanage for Alex. This pool is outside of the connector hall/playroom.

It is COLD today and we are expecting snow tonight. At home, it is supposed to be in the 70's fahrenheit! Here, it is now 4 celsius, but Tim thinks our thermometer runs high.

This morning, Alex didn't want to go outside, but the caregivers are always encouraging us to take him outside. He cried and cried, but let me dress him without a struggle. Then, he cried all the way outside - loudly. We felt so bad! But, once he was outside, he settled down a little and when we gave him his orange, he was his happy self and played. He really wasn't ready to go inside when it was time, but he did. He now understands when we tell him it is time to go in. He will walk to the door with no problem. This morning, he took my hand and we had to beat his daddy inside and try to keep him outside.

This afternoon, if he doesn't want to go outside, we will not make him. It broke our hearts this morning.

I will leave you with this video taken last night. It is typical of our visits with Alex - especially the ending.

Hope it made you smile.

Love,

R & T & A