Monday, February 19

Well, Sasha had been home for a month! He had made tremondous progress, we think. He speaks mostly english words now, which means he mostly repeats the same words over and over! I am suprised how quickly he just stopped speaking Russian, and am kindof sad to not hear him talking nonstop in it anymore. He knows his numbers 1-9 except he forgets 4 most of the time. We also were happy yesterday after Sunday School he kept saying "Jesus loves Sasha". It was sweet to hear him say "Jesus"!
We feel he is getting more attached to us, which is nice. He will let us hold him more, and wants to sit with us. One interesting thing was at first when we would say "I love you" in Russian and/or English he used to act really strange and start saying Russian curse words (I won't tell you what they are). He stopped doing that and now will say "Love you" back to us. He also has pretty much stopped saying the curse words now, and we don't plan on teaching him the English ones.
He is really a very happy child. He is eager to laugh and smile, and very fun to be with. We took him to the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga this weekend with our friends, and he loved that! It is so neat to share new things with him. He just says "oooohhhh" over and over as he is amazed by everything. It is so fun.
It will be fun to see what the next month brings!

Monday, February

We have been home 2 weeks now, and things are going really well. The first week or so I think Alex was very overwhelmed. He could not sit still for 2 seconds to watch tv, play with his toys, or sit with us. He would just put all his toys in bags and carry them around with him around the house. This last week was totally different, though. He really enjoys watching 'the Wiggles' and he will play with his toys, especially his cars, and will sit and color or let me read to him.
He is speaking more and more english all the time. It is really fun to hear the things he will pick up on and say. He really is a good eater, but I can tell he is already starting to get a little more picky. He loves bananas and yogurt and will ask for them all day long. He is also sleeping all through the night, which is great. He will not take a nap, but I think he is at the age where kids stop doing that, anyway. I wanted him to take a nap, also, just so I could have a little break in the day, but we'll figure something out.
We are so glad to be home with him, and are really enjoying him. There are, of course, a few things we'll have to work through- some attachment/adoption issues, and some just typical 4 year old! Overall, though, things are going great!

Monday, January 22

We made it home!! It is so wonderful to finally be back. The trip went pretty well, actually. Alex stayed occupied mostly by eating, sleeping, and when he got tired of us we had really great people around us that talked to him and entertained him for a few hours also! The flight to New York was 10 hours, and then we caught a 3 hours flight to Atlanta. Alex slept that whole flight to Atlanta. We did have one hurried moment as our flight to New York was over an hour late, and we had to go through immigration and customs and then catch our other flight. The immigration people let us go to the front of the line since we were American citizens and got us through really fast. Then we ran the rest of the way to the plane, and made it!! We got in at about 10:00 pm to Atlanta.
Yesterday Alex spent the morning investigating the house and taking a long bath. He loves taking baths. In the afternoon Kim's family came over and brought home our dog, Maggie, and some toys. Alex really wore himself out, and fell asleep a few minutes after they left. His meeting with Maggie was okay. He had said he liked dogs, but I'm sure he wasn't expecting such a big one. He was a little scared of her, which made her wary of him, but we have just been slowly letting them get used to being around each other. They already are much better today.
Today we introduced him to Walmart. I'm not sure what he thought about it, he just stayed in the buggy and helped us put everything in it. We rode around in the car running errands, and he likes car rides. His english is coming along much quicker just in the last few days. I think he is realizing he is the only one speaking Russian now. We are having fun with him, but he goes nonstop all day. We are really thankful that he sleeps so well at night- and for so long. It gives us a chance to unpack and think for a minute. Welcome to our new life!
Chris is off from work this week which is great. We really haven't had much time just the 3 of us, since even last week in Ukraine we always had our translator with us. We are looking forward to continuing to bond as a family.
I will try to continue updating this blog with pictures of Alex, etc...
Thanks again for everyone's support and prayers. We are looking forward to everyone getting to meet Alex!!

Thursday, January 18

It has been a lot of fun doing this blog. It was all Kim's idea, but I've really enjoyed it because it has allowed us to keep in touch with everyone back home. Not only have we chronicled our journey in Ukraine, but we have received lots of encouragement from all of you. Did you ever try to figure out who was writing each blog? Kim probably typed 55% and Chris typed 45%, but it would have been hard to figure out who typed each one because we normally added to each other's blog. For example, Kim would add some emotional statements to my blog. She is out right now walking Alex around because he was getting bored with the computer.

We were able to get Alex from the orphanage on Tuesday afternoon, but as this entire trip has gone, our plans changed about every hour since our last blog. We had to go to another town to get the birth certificate. They were closed on Monday. The passport guy took longer than expected. The passport office was closed on Wednesday. Long story short - we missed our train on Tuesday, and we are still in Lugansk. Fortunately, we just got Alex's passport, so now we are good to make our train today! We will have to rush our time in Kiev when we arrive in the morning, but I think we will still be able to make our flight on Saturday!

Before I hand off the blog to Kim (who is now back because Alex wants me to carry him around), I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Shaw Industries for helping support our trip finacially and to Kip Allen for letting me take so much time off from work. Thanks so much!

This is Kim now, Alex is wanting to be carried around all the time, which is good, except my back can only handle so much. He has already put on some weight just since we have been here bringing him food! It is so great to have him with us. We were a little nervous about him having a hard time leaving the orphanage because he is so structuree and organized, and we knew change might be hard. We also didn't know if he had any idea what was happening/going to happen to him. Monday, though, we spent some time talking to and interviewing his teacher on our camcorder about his life in the orphanage. She said he had told her he was going on a train and a plane with his mama and papa and that he was very excited. In fact, when we did go to pick him up Tuesday he about ran out the door. He was also very excited to ride in the car (machina). If he even hears the word machina he starts getting ready to go for a car ride. Everything is so exciting to him, and that is so fun for us.

His first night with us went well - he did have a few times he cried and talked about going back to his class (orphanage), but only that first night. He also has a cold and is not sleeping well, and so with all three of us in a small bed we all aren't sleeping well. Hopefully he will get better soon. We have really had a great time with him, though. We know so far he has a trait from both of us. He is extremely organized and likes everything in its place- which everyone knows is Chris. He also can not get enough to drink- he wants to drink water and juice all the time, and he has that in common with me. We can't wait until he learns more english so we can communicate better. He talks all the time. We can't wait to get home! Hopefully it will all work out so we can leave Saturday. We have Alex and that is the important thing, but I'm sure everyone understands how ready we are to be back home!

Humorous thoughts for the day:
This entire time in Lugansk the blog site has been showing up in German. We are in a city where everyone speaks Russian, and we speak English, and for some reason we cannot change the blog site from German. We can still type in English, but all the things to click on are in German, and so is the spellcheck. We can't wait to get back to where things are normal....

Journal entry (Chris) 1/9/07

I've got time on my hands so I'd like to reflect on how I've grown spiritually this month in Ukraine. The first thing that comes to mind is how big God is. I've not been through that many trials in my life, but reflecting back on this one, I just have this feeling that God is so BIG- so much bigger than me and my experience here and this adoption. I have this sense that God is in complete control much more so than I've felt in the past. I have gone through some things that were contrary to what I would choose, or how I think things should have gone, and I don't think I will ever understand exactly why Kim and I had to go through it all. I feel like Job (one of the best books ever written) asking God why He had to go through his trial and God didn't answer him either. God only answered Job with other questions, like "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" and "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn it's place?" as if to say, "You can't even begin to get your hands around understanding me; I'm that big." And even though I don't know why we've gone through some of the things we have gone through, I do feel much closer to Him (I'm sure one reason for going through them). I have such a peace that He is in control. I can't put it into words, but God seems closer to me (than in the humdrum life back home).

One understanding of God that I've long struggled with is asking God for help. We did this constantly on this trip. Does it help to keep repeating the same prayer request over and over?Does it help to request it at all? A lot of our requests were not answered the way we prayed. So maybe our requests were not in line with what was best for us. All I know is it forced us to go to Him and depend on Him. He likes to work in places only He can help. We were powerless most of this trip. Maybe that's why I feel so close to Him. It is also interesting to me that I'm going through this trial where so many things have gone wrong and prayers "unanswered," and yet I feel clos to God and have a stronger sense of who He is than I did before. I don't think He is giving me the answers as much as letting me wrestle with the questions, and in doing this He is bringing me into a stronger relationship with Him. He's so BIG that I don't think I could comprehend all the answeres anyway. This is just something that comes to mind when I think about my experiences over the last 30 days.

Sunday, January 14th

We have been here 30 days and we are so ready to get home! We miss America so much, and of course our family and friends, our dog Maggie, and our food selection. We would really love some chips and salsa right now. This truly does make us appreciate all the comforts we have in America.

We are ready to have Alex with us, too. The little visits with him each day are starting to get a little boring for him, we think. We have had the same 2 toys this whole time so they were interesting for a little while. Now he enjoys the food we bring and some playing and hugging, but honestly what else can he do stuck in a room with two grownups that don't even speak his language. Also, a big part of the attachment process will begin when we are the ones that care for his needs, and that isn't so yet. It wil be so fun to have him with us experiencing everything - the train ride back to Kiev, etc.. His whole world has consisted of four rooms in the orphanage so we can't wait to show and share more with him.

Humorous thought of the day: The water situation is interesting. The city apparently just decides to turn the water off for hours at various points during the day and every night at midnight. We are fortunate to at least have hot water, though, as many apartments apparently do not. At times, the water pipes groan and make so much noise it sounds like they are going to explode. The noise has even woke us up at night. Also, Ukraine has for the most part coarse, brown toilet paper everywhere. We have found some that is softer and nicer, but it is also scented. Very, very strongly scented of flowers, etc.. It is kindof strange.

Journal entry (Kim) 12/29/06

"Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything". James 1:24

This verse seems so true. Although we face trials and tests to our faith- we are developing our character. We are becoming more mature in our faith and into who God wants us to be. Also, I believe we will be blessed for it- if not in this life, certainly in the next. I already feel greatly blessed, though, as we have a good life and now we have Alex!

I have been thinking more about the hardships in this adoption and in general as everyone goes through them. Some people think (and I've heard it taught) that the Christian life is a wonderful, happy life. It truly is wonderful in the sense that we are God's, we have a purpose in life, etc.. but not necessarily wonderful in the earthly sense or without troubles. It really seems like God works best through troubles and hardships. Most obvious to me is how He chose to redeem mankind. He required a sacrifice of great price- His own son. That certainly wouldn't be the easy way to do it! There are a lot of trials and suffering in the Bible for Israel and for the early church. I know God has a lot of purpose in them. The hardships in Ukraine have certainly made me appreciate all we have been given in America, and the hardships in getting Alex certainly make me appreciate becoming a parent.

Friday, January 12

We have had a good day visiting with Alex - they had another performance today (he was back in his bunny outfit again), and we tried on some more clothes. Alex was much more receptive to trying them on today. We first started putting the clothes on us, and then he wanted them on him... He fell for that one didn't he.

This is a nice orphanage. They have performances all the time. We have seen Pappa Frost about six times now. Some of the kids have something they will go in front of everyone and recite, and then Pappa Frost will give them a present. They come back to their seat happy, and all the other kids just miss out. Then they are all given a bag of fruit or candy at the end (donated from someone in the community). Who knows how long these New Year's plays will go on?

The market we've been buying Alex's clothes from is a large area with lots and lots of little booths where women have one or two types of things for sale ranging from winter hats to high-heeled boots (very popular here) to curtains to chickens to produce. This is where you can get the best deals on clothing for children. Sorry, Laura, I know you're dissappointed, but we have not haggled with them any. The difference it would make in dollars is very small.

Humorous comment for the day - There is someone who has our cell phone number who keeps calling us. They don't speak English and don't seem to understand that they have the wrong number, even though Igor has told them in Russian. At random times during the day and night, we will get a phone call and answer it only to find out that it is these same people trying to reach someone named Nicholai. Sometimes they have called when we are in the middle of meeting with officials and other important people. Once we hang up on them, they keep calling back so we end up having to turn our phone off. As I say often, "that's so annoying."

Journal entry (Chris) 12-27-06
We are now at the point where we know Alex is the one for us to adopt as our son. We are trying to speed the process up so that we can get the court hearing before the holidays begin because if we don't, it will extend our stay in Ukraine by about 10 days. Everything we try to do hits some sort of roadblock. We spend hours waiting inside taxis on Igor to convince someone to help us. Even the taxi rides make you feel like you have no control and that your life is in God's hands. The seatbelts don't even work and they drive very recklessly. We've gone with Igor to talk with the adoption director, inspector, notary, and court clerks and judges. It seems that in everything we do and everything we attempt, we have no control over the situation. I've never felt this powerless before in my life. Someone may say they are going to do something, and we are counting on them to do it, and then they don't do it, and we have to scramble to get it done. We have spent so much time praying "Lord, please just help us out of this bind we're in." We can do nothing; we are so dependent on God.

Romans 8:28 - 8:39 (cliff notes version)
God will work out his perfect will for those who love him. He who gave up his son for us, will he not graciously give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine....? Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Thursday, Jan 11th

We have been here 28 days! We are so glad to be on the home stretch and almost back in the U.S. We have been trying to buy Alex some clothes this week. It has been pretty difficult. There are not too many places to choose from, and it was very difficult to get Alex to try on his new clothes- he was not happy about it at all. After we had made him try them on, he was so mad at us he just wanted to go back to his room. Igor translates what Alex says when he gets mad as "I am offended". It is funny to think of him being ''offended'' when he doesn't get his way. The clothes and shoes ended up being too small, though, so we had to go back out and look some more. We bought a few things yesterday, and they are on the big side, but oh well... He will at least have something to wear out of the orphanage. It's harder than you think to have to buy clothes for someone just from their measurements (that we attempted to do with a metric tape measure).

Humorous comment for the day - We've been in Lugansk now for 20 days and we have decided that they really love their fireworks here. At random times each night for every night since we have been here, fireworks displays have erupted just outside our apartment window and at various spots around the city.

Journal entry - Kim - 12/22 (After missing our flight to Lugansk, and Chris being so sick)

The adventure continues, and not always so easily. Or actually definitely not so easily. I have been realizing that God doesn't intend for this process to be easy.
I know when the desire to adopt was first in our hearts, we were struck by how symbolic it was of what God did for us. He adopted us into His family and made us His children. He chose us to be His, not based on anything we had done, and has given us a home in heaven. I didn't think about at that time the cost our adoption came at. Jesus paid a great price for us to be adopted.
All we have gone through is very small in comparison. It reminds me of what He has done for us, and makes me even more appreciative and thankful to Him for it.
"There is a cost to adopting children; Jesus paid an enormous price - more than we can comprehend- in absorbing our sin so we could be redeemed and adopted. Our family's payment of money and time, waiting and heartache pales in comparison. But in that pale glimmer we have a glimpse of God's devotion''. (Quote from my favorite book on adoption ''Carried Safely Home'').