Well, obviously, EE makes you sleepy....because we slept right through the morning visiting hours. So, after we got up at 1 pm, we walked/hiked/slid/climbed through the snow to go to the store because our facilitator told us that the orphanage wanted us to bring diapers in today. The ground was like someone left the coke Icee machine on and it flooded the entire city with 6 inches of mush. It was awful, but we did get to get coffee/soup/coke/pizza on our way to get the diapers, so it was totally worth it.
There were no administrative people at the orphanage today, so we went in the back door and straight up to the groupa. I was just in time for snack. This was my first time seeing Andrey's room. He was already sitting at the table waiting for his snack, all of the other kids were doing potty time, except for one little girl in the gigantic crib. I was going to try to be nice to her, so I reached down to rub her hand and head and she went into a head banging fit and started biting herself. I was shocked and the worker just rolled her eyes. I felt horrible for disturbing her. Back to Andrey-I got to feed him his snack (I hope it was just a snack). It was "cake" in milk and I fed him with a huge spoon. He did much better with it than I thought he could. He lapped it right up, then they let me put his fresh size 3 pamper on (it was WAY too big) and dress him in a t-shirt, 2 sweaters (a pink and brown Minnie Mouse outfit), tights, thick pants and booties to go downstairs and play. And they gave me a blanket just in case he got cold. I fed him some Activia yogurt with a TUMS crushed up in it to see if that will help his gigantic belly any, so the entire visit he burped and tooted A LOT!!!!
He played a lot more today. He laughs a lot more. I finally found his tickle spot and he actually scooted over to me and picked his arms up for me to get him. He thinks Sean is pretty funny. He doesn't quite understand his hairy face.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Blizzard Land!!!
Not extremely impressed with this whole "Momma" thing...
Epic fail....forgot to pack Sean's socks. He is quite proud of these bad boys!
Hello, Pappa...where have you been all of my life?
Lean on me.............
Proof of blizzard!
Even though Ukrainians would laugh us out of here, we experienced what we like to call a "blizzard" today. After our morning visit with Andrey, we decided to walk a little bit. We still haven't found a store or any place to eat since we got in region. I finally called Yulia and asked her to call a driver to take us to the pizza place and praise God we found it! We ate a pizza with salami, corn, and cheese; a fruit cup; and cokes and coffee. It was devine! The pizza place is probably only about 3/4-1 mile away, but it was snowing so bad, we literally lost the sidewalk and Sean fell down! We also found a mini-mart that pretty much has everything we need, including Coke light (not to be confused with Diet Coke). Sean searched and searched for aluminum foil, which was hilarious. I tried to tell him that they would not have it, but he kept searching. He is a little afraid of our oven:)
Thursday, January 19, 2012
2nd Visit!
OH MY!!! I owe Andrey a HUGE apology. I have thought it in my head and said it on several occasions..."he is lower functioning than Cole and Caden". Hahahahaha! He is smart as a tack. He played ball with me, he picked up his arms and scooted on his butt to my feet to tell me to pick him up, he smacked me for cleaning his eyes and nose (which he can get away with for now), he knows exactly what is going on around him. He can mimmick play...he is verbal. I have videos of him playing and he loves to play jokes! I will post them tonight. So Sorry, Andrey....I will never doubt you again!
Rewind...meeting the man!
We drove from the capital city to the region where our boy lives now...it was almost a 6 hour car ride. Yulia, our facilitator, and her husband, Yuri, drove us. I, of course, got car sick (happens all the time). So, I had not eaten breakfast and only ate some crackers and a granola bar all day with about 1/2 bottle of water. I was feeling like crap, but trying to not show it. We finally arrive and pick up the regional inspector (cannot remember her official title) and then we head to the orphanage. We met with the orphanage director, who was a larger woman with a tight silk nurse's outfit on...interesting. We were asked a couple of questions and then they asked if we wanted to meet Andrey. We, of course, said yes. We walked up some stairs and there he was, sitting on a rocking horse. I was expecting me to be little, but he is TINY!!!! Probably wears a 18 month-24 months old in clothes (he is 5 years old). The very first thing I noticed was how distended his stomach is...I am a nurse practitioner and I have seen a lot of distended tummies, but his is impressive. I was actually kind of afraid to touch him for fear of hurting him. Then the smell hit me...his mouth is filled with yellow/grey teeth and he kept burping and the smell almost made me throw up. I guess combined with my car sickness it was not a good thing. Anyway, he is just too precious (yes, a little stinky-but we can fix that). I was a little shell shocked after meeting him (which is perfectly normal). His eyes cross badly, his teeth are rotten, he cannot bear his own weight, he smelled horrible.....BUT he is PERFECT!!! He melted right into me, held my hand, grabbed my glasses and let me just hold and love on him. It hurts my heart to see how badly he has been neglected. He will need immediate medical care...like straight from the airport to the hospital. I hope his tummy is just full of gas, but I think it is something much more. Please pray for him that remains stable until we can get him home.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The green building is under construction, so they put up this mess covering that has drawings of what a building would look like if it were finished....very funny!
Park at the top of the never ending steps with a crucifix that someone is praying at..
Our living room...
Our "entertainment center"
Our kitchen...
This is hilarious! The "iddy biddy" cup is Dale Hogeland's expresso, the middle cup is my "Americano caffe" and the big cup is Kate Hogeland's big coffee....
Reflection
So, I am sitting here in my apartment alone (Sean is asleep in the other room). I am thinking about meeting Mr. Andrey. There is no way to prepare for this meeting. He will have no idea that his life just changed, but I will know that our lives will never be the same. I feel like time is moving so slow here....I am just ready to go get him and actually see him with my own eyes. He has waited so long and he deserves to be chosen. I want him to know that we chose him, we love him and we will take care of his every need for the rest of our lives and we will make sure that he is taken care of for the rest of his life. I cannot wait to see all three of little guys with DS playing together. Andrey won't know what hit him....
To recap the last couple of days...
The flight from Knoxville to Chicago was uneventful. Left on time. Arrived on time. Then we get to Chicago. We met up with the Hogeland's and everything seemed fine. We boarded our plane on time, then we.just.sat.there. Three hours later, the captain announces "the part of engine three that was broken has been replaced. We have tested it a little bit and it SHOULD work." I felt my heart beat a little faster. For those of you that know me, you know that I HATE flying. It is funny that I have flown across the ocean many times because I really, really, really, dislike it a lot! We finally start to go and I thought I will not be able to rest the whole flight. Well, I took some dramimine (not the non-drowsy kind) and I literally slept the entire flight. I even slept through the meals. I felt like I had been hit by a truck~But anyway, because of our delay in Chicago, we missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany. So....we sat in Germany for a couple of hours. It was actually kind of cool. There was a lady who was escorting 15 orphans that had been hosted in the United States back to Ukraine. I really, really wanted to snatch a couple of them up, even some of the girls (I don't do girls....don't ask). So, we finally board the plane and it is like the oldest plane that is still operational today. It even had ashtrays. Then a fight almost happened on board over seating. Welcome to Ukraine!!! So we landed, got off the plane, walked straight in to the baggage claim, picked up our suitcases, walked toward customs, ushered through and walked through the door and there was a man with a big sign that said "Carmichael & Hogeland's". Praise the Lord! I was convinced no one would be there because of the delay. Nico was there to pick us up and we promptly went and exchanged money and bought minutes for our cell phones and we were out the door in less than 15 minutes after landing. We then headed to the grocery store, bought a few items and then landed in our apartment 30 hours after leaving home.....and I passed out for the next 10 hours!
Day 2-we went sight seeing around the city. Ate at a Ukrainian buffet (which I was a little afraid of), but it was fabulous! We both ate A LOT for $9...highly recommend it (right across the street from TGIFs). We met up with the Hogeland's and walked for most of the day. We saw the main park and the river and walked up 300-400 steps up the side of a hill. I possibly pulled a muscle in my leg and it let me know that it was not having all of the forced exercise. Three ibuprofen later, we made it back to our aparmtent and chilled out. We had ham and cheese sandwiches (at least it is ham to me), potatoe chips and popcorn for supper!
SDA appointment. Three RR families were at the SDA at the same time. We then got to meet our facilitator, Yulia. We met for like 3 seconds and then she said "Carmichael, you are first...let's go." No problem. Let's do it! We walk in, sit on the same couch, introduce ourselves to our SDA worker...she then starts the interview...."May I see your passports?"....."How did you find out about Andrey?"..........and then it was over. She called the orphanage and made sure he was still there and available. I held my breath the entire time she was on the phone. Then she smiled and said "Sign here to accept the referral". No biggie!
We will go to pick up our referral today and then board the overnight train to go to his region and meet Andrey tomorrow. I will do better updating, but jet lag has really kicked my butt this time!
To recap the last couple of days...
The flight from Knoxville to Chicago was uneventful. Left on time. Arrived on time. Then we get to Chicago. We met up with the Hogeland's and everything seemed fine. We boarded our plane on time, then we.just.sat.there. Three hours later, the captain announces "the part of engine three that was broken has been replaced. We have tested it a little bit and it SHOULD work." I felt my heart beat a little faster. For those of you that know me, you know that I HATE flying. It is funny that I have flown across the ocean many times because I really, really, really, dislike it a lot! We finally start to go and I thought I will not be able to rest the whole flight. Well, I took some dramimine (not the non-drowsy kind) and I literally slept the entire flight. I even slept through the meals. I felt like I had been hit by a truck~But anyway, because of our delay in Chicago, we missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany. So....we sat in Germany for a couple of hours. It was actually kind of cool. There was a lady who was escorting 15 orphans that had been hosted in the United States back to Ukraine. I really, really wanted to snatch a couple of them up, even some of the girls (I don't do girls....don't ask). So, we finally board the plane and it is like the oldest plane that is still operational today. It even had ashtrays. Then a fight almost happened on board over seating. Welcome to Ukraine!!! So we landed, got off the plane, walked straight in to the baggage claim, picked up our suitcases, walked toward customs, ushered through and walked through the door and there was a man with a big sign that said "Carmichael & Hogeland's". Praise the Lord! I was convinced no one would be there because of the delay. Nico was there to pick us up and we promptly went and exchanged money and bought minutes for our cell phones and we were out the door in less than 15 minutes after landing. We then headed to the grocery store, bought a few items and then landed in our apartment 30 hours after leaving home.....and I passed out for the next 10 hours!
Day 2-we went sight seeing around the city. Ate at a Ukrainian buffet (which I was a little afraid of), but it was fabulous! We both ate A LOT for $9...highly recommend it (right across the street from TGIFs). We met up with the Hogeland's and walked for most of the day. We saw the main park and the river and walked up 300-400 steps up the side of a hill. I possibly pulled a muscle in my leg and it let me know that it was not having all of the forced exercise. Three ibuprofen later, we made it back to our aparmtent and chilled out. We had ham and cheese sandwiches (at least it is ham to me), potatoe chips and popcorn for supper!
SDA appointment. Three RR families were at the SDA at the same time. We then got to meet our facilitator, Yulia. We met for like 3 seconds and then she said "Carmichael, you are first...let's go." No problem. Let's do it! We walk in, sit on the same couch, introduce ourselves to our SDA worker...she then starts the interview...."May I see your passports?"....."How did you find out about Andrey?"..........and then it was over. She called the orphanage and made sure he was still there and available. I held my breath the entire time she was on the phone. Then she smiled and said "Sign here to accept the referral". No biggie!
We will go to pick up our referral today and then board the overnight train to go to his region and meet Andrey tomorrow. I will do better updating, but jet lag has really kicked my butt this time!
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