Thursday, March 11, 2010

Wishing for Warmer Weather.....


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

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

One week from today....

we get to take alex from the orphanage!

We have had to play inside because of the cold weather, Alex's preference and my sinus/cold/whatever. In the mornings, there is another couple visiting with their son, W. They always stay inside and if both boys are in the playroom, Alex is just BAD. He tackled W yesterday and then grabbed their backpack and tried to go through it. Needless to say, that was 2 timeouts!

This morning, we took him outside. He did not want to go and cried and the caregiver had to talk him into it. He was fine after we got outside. They lady who does the gardens gave him a pecan and he was fine after that. No timeouts this morning!

He had his snack of apple pieces and played with the tape measure - that is his favorite thing now. He pulls it out and then pushes the button to "reel" it back in! In between that, Tim was able to measure him and he is 39.5 inches tall. I still don't know his weight yet, but hope to find out soon. I have been looking at size charts and the 3T & 4T goes by height and weight, so I really need to weigh him. I wanted to this morning, but Tim reminded me that he had on all of those outdoor clothes! I should have this evening, but it slipped my ming until right now.

This afternoon, we let Alex stay inside since that is what he wanted to do this moring. We had the playroom to ourselves and he was pretty good - only one timeout for hitting Daddy. He is doing well with repeating words and did answer to Alex this morning.

While we were in the playroom, the director and a mother walked by with a cute little girl who has Down's. Evidently, the girl was being admitted to the orphanage. I can't imagine doing that if I had a child with Down's. This is a different culture and I am struggling not to judge the mother, because it is not my place to do so. We also saw a little boy with Down's this afternoon. He was so cute and had a big smile. Children with Down's touch my heart because my step-brother has a son who has it. At birth, the pediatrician told them to get him on the list for a local institution because he could never function. Well...today, David is 36 and is doing fine. He always makes me smile!

We will be moving into the city on Monday 3-15-10. Tim found a 1 bedroom apartment in the heart of the "walking street" and I am so excited! It is a corner apartment with 2 balconies and it has a washer and internet, so what more could I ask for? There are great restaurants there and Alex can get his first taste of McDonald's. There is just so much to do there and everything is so convenient. We hope to be finished with business here by Friday, 3-19-10. We reserved the apartment throught Sunday just in case.

From here, we will go to Kiev to the Embassy and this will probably take 2 business days. We hope to have nice weather there so we can hit the open market near the SDA for some souvenirs. I also need to get a photo of the front of the SDA. I have a photo of the gate that we used on most visits, but not the front door.

Keep us in your prayers that everything will go as planned. We miss our home and our dogs and bed!

Love,

R & T & A

Saturday, March 6, 2010

I love my boy....

Last night, Alex didn't want to go outside to play, so we went to the playroom - which is really a long connector hall. It is really nice with lots of windows, toys, swings, benches, playhouses, well...you get the idea.

They have these large dump trucks that they have attacked ropes to so the children can pull them. We have been riding Alex in the trucks. Well, bless his sweet heart, he had a fit for Mama to get in the truck so he could pull me. Evidenlty, he has yet to learn that Mama is fat, overweight, rotund, whatever you want to call it. Tim finally put a stuffed animal in the truck and convinced him that he could pull it. Have to love that innocence.

He got his first two time-outs yesterday afternoon within two hours. The first one was for hitting me with the sippy cup. So, he got 3 minutes since he is 3 years old. His daddy timed it and I think he gave little Alex a break.

The second one was because he tried to start a fight with another little boy. He knows this little boy from his group and they have played together before, but when he walked by with the caregiver, Alex spoke to him, ran over to him and started flailing his arms and hands, swinging at him. So - another time out. You would have thought we were beating him by the screams as I made him sit down and held him there. But, no tears. I have yet to see a tear from him.

We took today off because I am still trying to recover from this bad sinus mess. Alex kept trying to get me to drink after him last night and of course, there are kisses and I do not want him to get sick, plus, I have felt so bad, it has been a chore just to get there, must less chase him around for 1.5 - 2.5 hours.

When I woke up this morning at 6am, it was snowing and continued throughout the morning. It warmed up, so the snow is now gone - leaving a muddy mess. The ground had just dried up for the first time since we got here!

Looking forward to some fun time with our little Alex tomorrow. Will post some photos tomorrow.

Love,
R & T & A

Friday, March 5, 2010

Introducing.....


Alexander Jacob "Alex"

He is officially our son. We do have a 10 day waiting period and can take him from the orphanage on 3-16-10.

We plan to move into the city on 3-15-10 to be closer to the offices we need to visit to complete all paperwork. Plus, the downtown area has restaurants and shops all along a "walking street." There is just more to do there and we think we will enjoy the time there with Alex.

Thanks to everyone for all of your support and prayers!

Love,
R & T & A


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Another Day Take 2

Yesterday while I was bloggin about our routine, my mom called and I forgot that I was in the blog. Afterwards, when Tim got on the computer, he saw it and I just told him to cancel it.
Don't know what happened, but only the title showed up.

A was a little difficult yesterday morning - he didn't want to get dressed. So, it took about twice as long. And, then he was fine on the playground - until it was time to go inside - meltdown! One of the ladies who cleans up outside and tends the gardens helped us with him. He had a stick and didn't want to put it down to go inside - she got him to "help" her by putting it in her bag with the other sticks. He was fine then and went inside, but became a rag doll when it was time to undress.

Yesterday afternoon, he was much better getting dressed and even had to help Mama and Daddy with their zippers. My coat has zippers and buttons - so your guessed it - I had to button every button also. These children are really trained to bundle up!

We had a good time playing and he enjoyed the sunflower seeds & juice we took for his snack. We are teaching him to be "easy." He grabs his snacks out of our hands and we want him to politely take them. He has even learned to say easy.

He is doing better every day with his English by repeating anything we have asked him to. He seems eager to learn and to please us and likes being told that he is a good boy and a big boy.

At the playground, there is a little area that looks like it may have once been a fountain. It has wood carvings of Vikings in to. The children love to get in there and play "cuckoo." We all climb down in there and play, then Tim and A get out and A always helps me out. So cute!

Yesterday, he saw one of his friends on the playground and they shook hands and said, pree-vyet. Then, later he hugged the little boy and gave him his balloon.

There is a man here, Eric who spends time with the little boys almost every afternoon. He will take one and walk and teach them things, like the aforementioned handshake. He is close to A and he talked to him about us being his Mama & Papa. When we first met him, I was afraid that he wanted to adopt A himself, but now I think he was just being protective and explaining to A that we are his Mama and Papa. We see him almost every day and if A meltsdown, Eric tells him to behave - from what we can tell. He even wanted to take our photo with him, so we now know that all is OK. We took some photos of him with A for his scrapbook.

All is well here and we are anxious to get to court on Friday. We are going to request that the 10 day wait be waived, but do not expect it to happen. Our translator said it is rare in this region. But, if we don't ask, we won't have a chance and all they can do is say no.

I didn't go visit this morning because I woke up with a sore throat and sinus "junk." Tim has gone to the market. He will have to pass the orphanage, so I bet he will stop and see A if he is outside. We will both go this afternoon.

Love to all,

R & T & A

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Another day

Monday, March 1, 2010

Best of Times and Worst of Times

Early this morning we got a call from my sister telling us that our beloved Boxer boy Chance died. He was only 7, but had a heart condition which had not bothered him in years. We are heartbroken. Just to know that we will walk into the house when we return and he will not be there is almost too much to handle.

I told Tim that this trip has been some of the best and worst times of our lives. One night in Kiev, it was snowing and miserable as we tried to nagivate. The first night we were here, walking in the dark, in the mud and tired from our first day with A was miserable.

But, the best of times are when we get to spend time with A and to finally be called Mama - that makes all of the troubles easier to bear.

God has his reasons for all that has happened on this trip and there are lessons to be learned from each circumstance.

Love to everyone.
To my precious Chance - Mama and Daddy love you and you will forever be in our hearts.

R & T & A