Day 3 (I think.....)

Day 3 (written yesterday)

Day 3 was filled with absolutely craziness. We went back at 4 pm to the SDA to pick up our referral and we waited, waited, waited, and waited. Surprisingly, there were many families there waiting. In the middle of waiting, Olga thought she and I should “run” to get train tickets and exchange money. Well, in America, when we say run, we mean “go”. Well, Olga meant “run”. Remember now that I am dressed, including shoes, for the SDA appointment, which is not my normal attire. I had on a nice suit and some nice, NEW black dress shoes with a small heel. Well, about 5 minutes into our run, I could feel the blisters on my feet coming on. I had no choice but to have a Tennessee Redneck Moment. Everyone knows how important shoes are to the Ukra*nians; if you don’t-it is the mainstay of their dress. Everyone wears heels. Not just your Sunday church heels, but HEELS! 5 inch stilettos were everywhere. Anyhoo….I had no choice but to take my shoes off and run barefoot through downtown Kiev to purchase train tickets and exchange money. I thought Olga was going to pass out. I assured her that it was ok and that I would prefer to walk barefooted than in those shoes. The result of the 5 minute run-7 blisters! My feet look like I have walked through broken glass.
Anyway, getting the referral for Anton was uneventful. We sat in a little hallway on the infamous brown couch and waited our turn. We were third in line and we showed our passports and signed our name and then we were out the door. After that, we walked about a mile and finally got real food. Now remember, we have been in Kiev for over 36 hours and have only eaten what I brought as snacks up until this point. We ate a place called the “Potato Bar”. It was pretty good. But, at this point, we were not picky. We ate bbq ribs and a potato with butter, cheese, and mushrooms. We bought extra bottles of water there for our train trip. After eating, we went back to the apartment, packed up and were taken to the train station. THE TRAIN STATION WAS FREAKY!!!
We boarded the train at 820pm and did not arrive to our destination until 115pm the next day! For all of you counting, yes that is 17 hours in a 4 X 6 compartment surrounded by several older, scary, big, Russian men. We only left the compartment once and that was to use the bathroom. That is a whole post in itself. After 17 hours of boredom and feeling like we were sitting in a washing machine, I decided I would take a bath and get cleaned up for our arrival to meet our translator. I bathed with diaper wipes, poured our last part of water over my fro to comb my hair, brushed my teeth, and reapplied deo and a little make up. Well, I am glad I did that. Sean did not. He thought we would get picked up, taken to our new apartment and then he would shower, etc. Well, we literally hit the ground running. We went straight to the Inspectors office with our translator, Angelina. Angelina, by the way, is absolutely beautiful! She took us to this room and we were interviewed by the Inspector. They asked why we wanted a child with DS, what our other children thought of it, how many cars we had, and what kind of resources we had for them. I am so glad I got cleaned up before all of this! We had no idea that this would be happening. The Inspector told me to turn around. I was confused at first. I turned around and there were about 10 pictures hanging on the wall behind me and there was Anton when he was about 18 months old looking back at me. We answered the questions satisfactorily and then Angelina said, “Let us go to see the babies.” I said, “Ok…Let us go!” The inspector rode with us and we arrived at the orphanage a few minutes later.

I almost cried when we pulled up to the orphanage. Now remember, I have only had one meal, half a bottle of water, and a couple of pieces of gum in the last 36 hours. I was car sick, hot, hungry, thirsty, dizzy, and nauseated. The “playground” brought tears to my eyes. I will post pictures and more about that later. We got out at the orphanage and met with the Orphanage Director. She was a very nice, older lady. She told me some basic information and then she told us to follow her. We were just following the Inspector, the director, and Angelina. We thought we were going to another room to finish the interview. We walked through the door and there was Anton and David with two caregivers holding them up on a small couch. They were sooooo cute, but soooo sleepy! They had waked them from their nap to come meet us. Anton was so cute and friendly. He immediately came and sat in my lap and grabbed a hold of me and would not let go. He smiled and smiled and smiled. He giggled and was elated that we were there for him. I played with him while Sean was trying to talk to David. David was so sleepy that he could barely keep his eyes open. The information that we had received about David being able to walk and talk was WRONG. He is tiny! I bet he only wears like a 9-12 months clothes and he can barely hold his little head up. He was like a little rag doll. I wanted to get him from the caregiver, but Anton was firmly planted in my lap and wasn’t having any part of leaving it anytime soon. After several attempts from Sean to take David from the caregiver, I put my hands out to the side and took him while I still had Anton. He is so little! He just melted right into me. He held on to me, too. They have never seen a man before and they were a little intimidated by this huge bearded man. They just looked and looked at him. Finally, Anton, with the insistence of the caregivers, got in the floor and played ball with Sean. He stacked blocks correctly and did everything the caregivers asked of him. David, on the other hand, lay very still in my lap and just wanted to go back to sleep. Our visit was brief-only about 15 minutes and then we were off again. We went back to the inspectors office and then to the train station. We were unable to purchase tickets back to Kiev, so we are going to stay in Sevestopol (sp) for tonight and possibly tomorrow night. We did get to eat again!!!! We went to a pizza place on the Black Sea. We ordered a large pizza, juice, diet coke, chicken salad, and fruit. The chicken salad was awesome or I was starving to death one. It was chicken, cheese, fresh pineapples, and some kind of either sweet mayo or dressing sauce. Very, Very Good! We brought the rest of the pizza and fruit to the apartment with us for supper. We have a nice little apartment, $50 a night, with a/c and they said we have internet connection, but I can’t get it to work. That is why I am writing this and saving it on a word document and I will post it when I get internet. Anyway, we are again exhausted and needing to rest. The driver is picking us up at 830 in the morning to go back to the baby house to see the cutest boys in the world. I will post pictures soon!

1st snag

Well, we had our SDA appointment this morning. Everything went well during the interview, but they would not give us the referral for both boys at the same time because a family came to Ukraine two weeks ago and got 4 referrals, went to the orphanage, and only choose one child (the healthiest of the four, of course). So they changed the rules that you have to meet the first child and then come back for the second referral. So, hopefully, tonight we will get on a train to Crimea and have an official meeting tomorrow, only to get back on the train, come back to Sunny K, get our second referral, then get back on the train and head back to Crimea. Don't forget that the train ride is 8 hours one way. And also don't forget that I hate trains (just had a death in the family two weeks ago related to a train-but hated them before that)!!!!

Anyway, I found out information about both boys. Anton was left at the nursery when he was born. His parents are wealthy, highly educated and very affluent. They immediately gave up their rights and did not want him. How sad:( But they say he is very healthy, except for some type of small hernia. I cracked up when our facilitator looked at Sean and said "Anton has same face as you, he moves slow like you, and he is plump like you." I was cracking up. Sean refuses to believe that he is the slowest human being in the world and that absolutely confirmed it!

David has "no known father", but his mother is Georgian (an no, not that Georgia). She, too, immediately gave up her rights soon after birth when it was discovered that he had DS. They said that he was healthy, walking, and TALKING!!! He is not two yet, so talking is a huge step for him. He also has some vision issues. Not sure what it is yet. He may need glasses or something.

Olga just goes on and on about how smart they both are. I was ready to bring home two babies, but I think I might be getting two regular boys if it is as she says. She also said that Anton loves to eat. She said he eats very slow and enjoys every bite of it. Sounds like he will fit right in at our house.

Little information on Kiev-EVERYBODY here smokes. We were walking down the street today and everyone looks very angry. Not one smile did we see. We did have a very drunk man ask Sean for money (which was funny), but no friendliness at all. Sean says that is because everyone is hot, dehydrated, and starving to death. We still haven't gotten any food, but I made us some mac'n cheese from home for lunch. We are going to pick up our referral at 3:30 and then get some dinner. We are going to try to find TGIFs because two other RR families are going to be there at 6:30!!!

I would post pics on here, but not quite sure how yet. Wish us luck on the train ride!

Stephanie

We made it!

Well, we finally made it to Kiev. The trip was interesting. We tried to fill out a declaration form for the money we were carrying in Knoxville when we left on our first trip, but they would not let us. So, when we got to Washington, we literally had to run back and forth from Customs/Immigration back over to another building to get on the plane. They were paging us overhead before out flight left. We got on the plane and got our seats and we took off. The 9 hour flight was so miserable. I slept most of the way, but Sean stayed awake the whole time.

When we arrived, Olga and a driver were waiting on us. We drove from the airport to our apartment. Very interesting drive, plus the driver had the "a/c" on, but just had it on defrost, so it was over 100 degrees in the car. Olga and the driver were sitting in the front seat and we were in the back. They sat in the hot car with the windows rolled up like it was normal. We were dying!

The apartment building that we are staying at is very scary on the outside and the climb up the stairs were freaking me out, but the apartment is ok. It has a small window a/c in the bedroom that barely works, but it does knock the edge off of the heat.

I thought we would go to the store and get some food last night when Olga was brought back our phone, but we did not get to go. We fell asleep and didn't hear her when she first came back, so we had pb and crackers for dinner. Olga did go get us a couple of bottles of water.

Our SDA appointment is in two hours and after that, we are DEFINITELY going to the store and to get something to eat. Sean made fun of me for packing so many snacks, but he isn't laughing too hard now. I brought us oatmeal for breakfast and we will make due until we can get to real food. Maybe we will loose some weight....probably not though.

I will try to update after we get back today!

We are off!!!!

I am sitting in my eerily quite house waiting to wake the kids up to get ready to leave for the airport. I have made at least 100 checklists in my mind and then rechecked. I am not usually like that. My philosophy is usually..."if I need it, I will stop at Walmart and get it when I get there." Well, seeing that the nearest Walmart is over 4500 miles away, that's going to be a small problem!

I can not decide whether to take the boys their stuff in case we happen to luck out and get a very quick court date and I decide to stay. That is a lot of gear to bring for a "just in case", but I think I am going to go ahead and bring it. What if I get over there and they just hand them to me and tell me and I can leave and all I have to travel with is two T-shirts????

Anyway, I am very nervous about the travel. I hate airplanes and am pretty sure that I will hate the train just as much. I have already taken some antivert, clarinex, scop-patch, and I have phenegran on standby! I may be too drunk to get on the plane.

I probably won't be able to post for several days. It takes at least a day to get where I am going and I don't know if we will have internet service or not. I will try to update daily. Please pray for safe travel and that everything goes smoothly!

Flights are booked!

I have booked our flights for EE. We leave on August 16th and will hopefully return by September 6th, but have no idea if that is anywhere near close. We won't know for sure until we are in country and receive our court date. Our date that we have now is for our SDA appointment for our official referral of the kids. It is just the first step in the process. The tickets cost a whopping $3200!!! Wow! I about passed out!

Anyway, shopped a little tonight and got Danielle and Cody all of their school supplies, ordered Cody's uniforms online to be delivered, and all we are in need of now is Danielle's books and Cody a new pair of shoes and a new backpack. I am going to print off all of our documents that we need for travel and get that marked off of my list and I have started ordering making lists. So much to do that I don't really know where to start!!! Also, my last test for school is Sunday and I am officially done with everything by the end of the week!!!!YAY!!! Pretty good timing, huh?

SDA appointment

Finally, we have our SDA appointment. It is August 18th. Now, the race is on. I am finishing up school this week. I have to be in Nashville August 9-11th for a seminar, Cody starts back to school August 17th, and Danielle starts college August 28th. I haven't ordered our money, made a packing list, secured who is going to be where and when. There is so much to do that I don't know where to start. Not to mention that I am suppose to be finding a new job and applying for my certification for the FNP. Anyway, it will all come out in the wash. I will leave you with a few cute pics....

We are officially submitted!!!

I know I haven't posted lately, but there wasn't really anything to post....until today. I received an email that stated that our dossier has been officially submitted to EE and we are just waiting on a travel date....YAY!!!

Will post more details as I find them out.

Stephanie