First Week At Home

Things have seemed to have settled down a bit from the first few days at home, which is a great thing for all the Livingstons. The kids aren't so stimulated by everything being so new now, and they are starting to figure out "The Rules," as laid down firmly by Mama and Papa. I really thought we'd experience some of the separation anxiety issues we'd read so much about (for the orphanage friends and caregivers they'd miss), but frankly so far it's a non-issue with these guys. I think them having each other has really helped with that, plus the 5-6 weeks of us getting to know each other before we got home. The only separation anxiety they exhibit is when JoEllen, myself, or someone they really like such as Tim Hange has to leave...then they all wail for about 10 minutes. I don't like to deal with it, so when JoEllen needs to leave and go to the store or somewhere and the kids ask where Mama is, I have JoEllen sneak out and I just whisper to them and say "Shhh, Mama is asleep"...then they nod and get real quiet and say "Mama sleep," it's too funny. So as far as they know according to Papa, Mama sleeps a LOT. :-)

The routines they were used to back in Donetsk have really transferred well to our routines we're establishing here. Talia seems to have an innate feeling for what scheduled task should occur next. They announce at various time of the day that it's time for "ZOObie" (teeth brushing), which explains their excellent teeth. We actually use zoobie as an incentive for certain things, like going upstairs to get ready for bed, which would otherwise be a difficult task. Apparently they like the taste of toothpaste. :-) Another funny thing they do is request "soup" when they want to eat, seems like they had soup for every meal including breakfast in the orphanage...a very Ukrainian thing we noticed. We've been trying to teach them English words for the various meals of the day, but sometimes it's just easier to tell them it's time for soup.

Here's a typical scene of everyone at the breakfast table. We're going through LOTS of "baNAHnees", Cheerios, and "YOgie" (yogurt) with the crew, we even use yogie for incentive to eat foods they don't much care for like carrots.


Another treat for the kids (and to sometimes get them out of Mama's hair for awhile), is an outing they know as "goforawalk." Actually I have yet to make them walk, I am the only one walking while I pull them in the little wagon Grandma and Grandpa gave them, as well as the tricycle (usually towed behind the wagon due to hills).

Here's a shot of a goforawalk outing.











Right around the corner on our goforawalk route is the home of Alan and Mary Bell. In the photo on the right Mary is showing them how sweet their dog Maggie is (which is good because most dogs freak them out).

The good thing about this outing was JoEllen had just taught the kids the word "gentle" (mostly when dealing with each other), which we used here to show them how to pet a dog. It's too cute how they mispronounce words or names sometimes, they call Maggie "MaGEE." Alex also can't say "Ira" apparently and calls her "Eekah," so we all call her that as her nickname, at least for now. One other cute word they use is for the diapers that Vala wears and the Pullups the older two wear at night...they call them "Pampees." It's just too cute. :) JoEllen's favorite of their creative pronunciations is the way they pronounce grapes as "glapes." And how when we're all practicing how to say everybody's names, Vala's name comes out as "Valentina Glapes." (It's Valentina Grace.)

Being newbie parents of 3 toddlers, we really had no concept going in of how much time these guys would really take each waking moment and how little free time we'd have to ourselves...we have a good idea now! JoEllen likens it to being pecked to death by baby ducks all day, they are mostly harmless but ultimately relentless. The good times by far outweigh the bad, but by the end of the day Mama is ready for a break. My latest brilliant diversion when Mama needs a break to do laundry, organize clothes, or just relax, is to take the kids for a ride in Papa's "machina." They absolutely LOVE to ride in a car. They don't much care for seat belts, but they suck it up for a chance to ride. Sometimes we just cruise up and down 350 Hwy in Raytown, but we've had a few actual shopping outings as well.

What's very interesting is that if we ride at night, they all say "Prevyet Donetsky" (Hello Donetsk), harkening back to their first nighttime car ride through Donetsk to the train station. I keep correcting them saying "nyet Donetsky, say prevyet Raytown"...but that really doesn't sound nearly as exotic does it? I may just let them continue saying it for awhile.

Here they are in the car. They usually break out in some nursery song in Russian partway through the trip, indicating they are having a great time. I REALLY want to catch that on video, but the timing has never worked out as they don't sing on demand. :-P


Last weekend we went to Sam's Club, which they absolutely freaked out over (in a good way). They were wide-eyed in wonder and glee over the rows of cakes, food, and toys...I really can't imagine the impact on their little minds given their sheltered upbringing. The next day we did the totally American thing of taking them to Walmart, which they loved almost as well as Sam's.
Vala got a little worn out of Wallie World as we were about done shopping, as you can see in this photo where she's on the verge of a meltdown.




Vala's just too cute, but her "terrible twos" meltdowns are anything but. When she doesn't want to do something (which includes just about any change in what we're doing), she just plops down, pouts, and yells "Yah ne gah doo!", but it usually comes out as "Yakadoo!"...so now my nickname for her is Little Miss Yakadoo. When I had Tim translate this for us, he totally cracked up because it's not something a child would typically say (neither of the other 2 say it), it means "that does not suit me!" Again, Tim says it's a very odd turn of a phrase especially for a child, but for Vala it totally fits. Someday we'll look back on it and laugh, but for now it's more than just a little bit annoying.

I enjoy playing with the kids (usually the "tickle game"), and we usually end up on the love seat (appropriately) since my recliner is just too small for all 4 of us. I found there's no way to just have one kid on my lap, it eventually involves all 3 demanding equal time which is fine with Papa.
Here we are in the love seat. I love the "Daddy's Little Girl" shirts JoEllen had on the girls for this shot...they truly are. Alex is Daddy's little boy too, but they don't make shirts that say that.



We mentioned in the previous post that they also enjoy "Duck, Duck, GOOSE!", here's a video clip of them learning to play that when the Adams and Loethen kids were over last week:


A funny thing happened last week that forced me to run home from work. Since Alex has successfully defeated every childproof doorknob cover and most of the 6 child-gates in the house, I was determined to make the upstairs playroom Alex-proof so Mama could lock them up in there if she needed to tend to other business. My solution was to turn the doorknob around so it locked from the hallway. We even had a training session of how to unlock it from inside with the little pin you stick in the little hole to turn the knob. So at 10am while at work last week, I got a call from Mama saying that she and the kids were locked in the playroom (courtesy of Alex the budding engineer), and couldn't get the door open. After laughing hysterically and telling all my co-workers, I ran home and sprung the playroom inmates, several of which had to "pee-sat" immediately. Of course being me, I took the opportunity to video the event. Notice that when they call for Mama or Papa they start sounding like little Italians. :-)



Stay tuned for more posts. Hopefully we will get our schedule more refined to have enough free time to post a couple of times a week, but for now this is the best we can do.

P.S. Thanks for all your referrals, thoughts and prayers about my job situation. I've had about 6 interviews since posting my resume online last Thursday and have more lined out, so I'm VERY optimistic that I won't be short on hours/pay for very long.

Till next time, da svidania!

Papa John

The trip home / Settling in / Bad news

Well, we've been home a few days now and I hear from various readers that they are anxious for an update. Its been a VERY busy week trying to get un-jetlagged and into a daily routine, but it's starting to feel like things are beginning to run more smoothly day by day. The kids really thrive on structure and schedules, so we are attempting every day to keep it consistent with meals, naps and playtimes and all. This morning I realized for the first time how much slack time we had before we got the kids, now it seems like every move needs to be planned to get everything done every day. Oh well, the kids are making it worth it with the little things they do and the progress they are making getting used to us and their new surroundings.

I'm going to post the pictures in chronological order starting with the morning of when we left Kiev leading up to this evening:

This is a picture of the kids in the hide-a-bed in Kiev the morning before we left. Don't they just look like a bed of puppies all curled up together in a bed?! :-) They were so crashed it seemed a shame to wake them.




Here's the Livingston family at the airport, not sure whether it was Warsaw or Chicago.





Here's a shot of Uncle Tim discussing the "sim-a-LOOD" outside that we were about to take off in. Note the tails on our smaller passengers, the backpack/leashes were a godsend in the airports.




Another shot of Tim with Alex, on the plane. The kids were great on the short flight from Kiev to Warsaw. Not so much on the 10 hour flight to Chicago.




JoEllen looks though paperwork while Talia eats both their meals on the plane.







Here's what we like to see in our little world travelers. I think Vala got about 30 minutes sleep on the 10-hour flight, which made for a LONG trip for everybody.








The Livingston family having safely arrived in Kansas City around 10pm on Saturday.







Grandma (my mom) and the girls. Vala's eyes are barely open after 26 hours of travel.

Grandpa (my dad) and Alex, with the new sehBAHkah Grandpa gave him.






Here are the kids totally crashed in the back of the Sequoia, finally at home. Getting them to bed from this point was not a pleasant task, they were like whiny limp little noodles.


Taken on Sunday after a good night's rest, here are the kids in their new coats from Grandma and Grandpa. They think it's pretty cool that they now have clothes of their own they don't have to share with other kids.



Sunday afternoon there was an adoption family potluck gathering at our church, so we took the kids to meet other adopted kids. Alex was quite enamored with Tim's daughter Anastasia, who also spoke Russian just like him! Check out the look on his face.

Tracy Adams and her kids came over while they were in town to play with the kids. The new favorite game now is "duck, duck, GOOSE!" The Loethen kids as well as the Hange clan have helped welcome them home too.



Tonight we had a grand impromptu gathering of guests over who showered the kids with gifts and attention. Here's Alex in his new hoodie getting a hug by Alan Bell.





The Wall family also dropped by this evening for a photo op.









Bad news back home

The euphoria of finally getting the kids home was dampened a bit on Monday when I found out that my job was impacted by a layoff that occurred while we were gone. I still have my job and benefits, but I'm down to 50% time/pay, which is a bit of bad timing to say the least. Especially since JoEllen quit work in August to stay home with the kids. The upside is I'll have more time to spend home with the kids during their first few weeks while I try and find a new job. Also it seems that money just keeps rolling in either from BBQ sales or other means, we are truly blessed and this latest turn of events just shows that Someone is still watching out for us. :-)

Stay tuned for more!

Keep on reading for more updates. We'll try and post more details about daily life and funny things that have happened as things settle down a bit. Hope this helps bring you up to date!

Da svidania!

Papa John

First full day home as a family

I'd like to start this post by saying that I have no idea how adoptive parents can continue blogging after they arrive home with the kids. It's 2am Monday morning, and I've had the first 4 hours of contiguous non-interrupted sleep since we got home.

I have lots of pictures to post from the airport up to now, but I don't have time to load them just yet...I've GOT to get some sleep. As we constantly tell the kids, "UdNOO minUtoo," just a minute! I also won't make a long post other than to say we are safely home and hoping to settle into a routine rhythm of daily life so everything isn't so new to the kids. Frankly they have adjusted far better than I'd expected as far as remorse or separation anxiety from their various caregivers, I've seen none of that. Instead, with the vast host of friends and family that outpoured their time, food and gifts for the kids, I'm afraid that the kids look at life in America as Christmas morning every day!

I'm going to finish this quick post by thanking various folks who've helped amazingly in the last few days:

First off is Tim Hange, whose help we could not have survived without. Especially the 10-hour plane ride from Warsaw to Chicago. His help coming to meet us in Kiev and help us back was a huge blessing. Apparently the limit of a toddler's patience on any given airline flight is 4 hours, after that it's a LOT of work and angst for all on board the aircraft.

I'd also like to thank Tim's wife Karen, who came and picked us up at the airport at last-minute's notice. Terry Wells was here at the house entertaining my folks and ready to come pick us up, and then suddenly got very ill...please pray for his recovery, although he dropped by yesterday and looked to be feeling better. Thanks Terry for being there though.

Thanks to everyone who donated clothes and toys, especially my parents who met us at the airport Saturday night and didn't stop spoiling the kids till they left yesterday...they are going to be GREAT grandparents. Oh, and thanks mom for making me bawl like a baby at the airport when you hugged your new grandkids and started crying, I hope we didn't get that on tape. :0)

Finally (for now), thanks to all the folks who brought meals for us to eat the next few days, we are truly blessed by having so many folks willing to help out.

We'll post pictures and more details later, but for now...WE'RE FINALLY HOME!!

Tim's Perspective: The night before leaving

This post is created by Tim Hange. I was absolutely honored when John and Joellen invited me to join them in Kiev and accompany them on the trip home. It's kind of like being invited to a birth, but without all the gross biological stuff!!

Seriously, this is one great family! John and Joellen are just absolutely amazing with how they handle these kids, from play to discipline--it all seems so natural for them! They "divide and conquer" like pros. It is also really cool to me to see how well developed these kids are. They are well-bonded as siblings, VERY communicative, and even nurturing of each other.

So I arrive in Kiev, and get to the apartment... I'm greeted by these wide eyed, curious kids--a little apprehensive at first, but a little speaking in Russian, a few presents, and opening a bag of games (packed by my wife, the "child whisperer") really warmed everything up quite a bit.

Speaking with them, I was struck by how well these children understand exactly what is happening to them. They understand that they are going to a different county, that the language is different, and that they have a new mother and father who love them very much. I asked Talia if she knew if her mom and dad love her--without out hesitation she smiled and said, "Yes, and I love them too!!" Max is SO intelligent. He listens for English words, and then when he figures them out, he tells his sisters what it means in Ukranian/Russian (they speak a mixture).

Here they are... Ready for bed! The only problem being that I hopped them up on all of this play and it took em over two hours to get to sleep.... Sorry guys :)

Check'em out though... Aren't they a great family? I'm so proud (sniff....)


Ok, lets move on from the sap... These kids are just plain FUN! So we did bead stringing, play dough, balloons, and all sorts of other fun stuff!






Ok, so I'm back to sappy... Little Valentina played so carefully with her new dolly--changing its diaper, and rocking it... For an orphan, this is actually not usual behavior to display. What a kid! Come on.. Check out that smile!!

Well, we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow. I am praying for a good rest for all, and energy to deal with the early start. Most of all, I'm praying that God sustains these kids through the long journey. It really is tough on kids to travel, especially when their world is changing so much. Still, I just can't wait to see these kids 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year from now. They are adjusting so well already, and are absolutely the PERFECT match for the Livingston family. What a blessing!

Quiet Family Day

Whew. We’re finally done with all the hoops here in Ukraine, and have had a quiet day in our Kiev apartment getting to know each other as a family. Which, believe me, is HUGELY different than chasing preschoolers around in their own territory. Everybody is thriving on the routine. So of course tomorrow we’ll destroy that by traveling all day, but at least we’ll be home, and see some family and friends. Thank God! When we land in Chicago, the kids will officially be American citizens, and we’ll have to go through the immigration process. Please pray that it will be speedy – or at least efficient – as we have just over 2 hours before we catch our flight to KC.

The new family dynamics have been interesting, and pretty humorous. Last night the kids had baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn (doesn’t that sound like John, except for the gravy!) and they loved every bit of it. I even got two “good job” comments from Maksim, he really loved the chicken. Oh excuse me, Alex. He likes his new name, and corrected me once today when I called him Maksim.

The kids just got up from their nap, so of course all other activity ceases at that point. We're all at the window, waiting for Uncle Tim to arrive. Hope he's ready for three preschoolers...

More posting and a photo or two later!

JoEllen : >

Pictures from yesterday/today

As promised, after a bit of rest here are a few pictures/videos from yesterday and today (so far):

Kids all dressed up and their orphanage workers.







Their first car ride. Praise God, they all love to ride in the "machina," and so far no signs of motion sickness.






Livingstons at the train station.








Sightseeing from the train.








Some got a little scared on the train. Can you tell it feels like a sauna?







All cleaned up at the apartment. The first baths went great.








Lunch time at the apartment today. First time for soup, and BOY was it popular!








Here's a short video clip of the train ride.


We are off in an hour to finish up with visas at the Embassy, then we'll be ready to come home!

The longest day(s) EVER!

I'm posting this at around 10:30pm, but it feels more like 2am...we are SO worn out from the last 28 hours. So worn out I'm too weary to even post any pictures, sorry. Where to start, I'll just do a LONG stream-of-consciousness dump since I'm too tired to be clever or pithy:

At 5:30pm yesterday we met our driver Sergei for the last time to go pick up the kids. He surprised us with a little traditional Ukrainian knicknack which I'll always treasure, he's such a great guy. We also exchanged email and snailmail addresses to stay in touch. Jo and I ate at McD's before he showed up, but because we weren't sure of the kids' eating status we had him drive thru McD's again just before we picked up the kids to get some McNuggets for them.

We arrived at the orphanage around 6pm, and the kids were all decked out in the cute clothes and coats we brought earlier. The only mixup was they dressed Alex in the pink w/flowers shoes we'd gotten for Talia, oh well, no biggy. I knew we were in trouble, however, when the last thing an orphanage caregiver said to us was when she pointed to Vala and just said "Pampers." That woulda been a great thing to know a few days ago, ARGG!

Before leaving Donestk:
So we all piled into Sergei's taxi and off we went to the train station, I was prepared for major freakout so I was thrilled that they were perfect angels and stared in wonderment as Donetsk passed by all around them, they apparently love to ride in cars. Since we didn't know what traffic would be like we left early, and were surprised by great traffic and arrived about an hour and a half before our 8pm train arrived...THAT was a long hour and a half let me tell you. Sergei was great and helped us with luggage and with entertaining the kids for that long till our train (thank God) arrived finally. I might add that the best $45 we've spent on this trip is for the backpack/leashes we got for the kids, a major Godsend. Anyway, we got on the train, said goodbye to Sergei for the last time (*sniff*), and then the fun began.

The wonderful train ride:
OK, imagine being in a 8x8 foot cell with 3 toddlers for 14 hours. That was easily the longest 14 hours of my life. We'd hoped to get them asleep by 9 or so, but fat chance of that with so many distractions, being cooped up, and a rocking train the whole time...plus not being in the orphanage anymore. The train also had no opening window (and of course no A/C), so it was at least 80 degrees in there the whole time, I about died. I won't get too graphic other than saying we all ditched a LOT of clothing to attempt to get comfortable. After 3 hours of multiple timeouts, various discipline techniques, much weeping and wailing (the kids too) and various sleep-inducing techniques, the 3 angels finally dozed off around 11pm after much protest. Who knew toddlers were so hard to put to sleep?! ;-) I fell asleep shortly thereafter on one of the top bunks, but Jo tried to no avail to sleep sitting up. The 2 girls were on the lower bunks, and Alex had to sleep in a makeshift bed on the floor. They promptly woke up around sunup at 6am, and we had 4 more hours of trying not to go nuts in such close confinement. A breakfast of water and fruit for the kids started the morning, followed by much sightseeing out the window and coloring with crayons, sometimes even in the coloring books. ;-) Anyway, after 14 LONNNNNG hours we mercifully arrived in Kiev, thinking that maybe we'd drop by the apartment, grab a shower and some hot breakfast somewhere, and work on finalizing our paperwork. Fat chance, this is Ukraine.

The Clinic:
Another facilitator, Nikolai, picked us up at the train station at 10am in Serge's Lincoln Navigator and proceeded to take us straight to the clinic (which closed at noon) for basic medical exams of the kids prior to going to do Embassy stuff. No breakfast, no stopping at apartment, straight to the business at hand. After spending a couple of hours at the clinic going from office to office and trying to keep the kids from destroying the place, we were done and waited outside for a good 45 minutes for Nikolai to come pick us up. The Scruggs family was also there at the exact time, so we got to visit with them before we parted ways and Nick FINALLY showed up around noon after being stuck in traffic for some time with us waiting for him at the curb. Surprisingly, the kids sat quietly near the curb for about an hour and watch the traffic go by.

The US Embassy:
That would've been a great time to drive through McD's or anywhere for some food, but Nick didn't know of any (although we passed three) and he wanted to get us to the Embassy to try and finish up today (we have 3 days, not a huge rush for me). So we got to the Embassy and wrestled the toddlers thru metal detectors and up and down stairs, and finally got to the proper desk where the guy gave us a ream of forms to fill out, plus we needed kid pictures (didn't know that!) So while Mama worked on forms I had to wrangle the kids to a photo place by myself up and down stairs and various obstacles to get new photos, a major solo undertaking for Papa. Again, praise the Lord for leashes. Even IF all the Ukrainians find them hilarious, pointing and laughing. After returning with said photos, Mama continued to work on the ream of docs while Papa played babysitter for several hours. Fortunately they had a decent playroom, and several English/Russian speaking adoptive parents were around to help. Talia holds the record for going "pee-sat", I'm sure I took her 6 times today and Mama took her 3. Apparently Alex has the world's largest bladder, and Vala just takes the liberty of climbing on Papa's lap and turning his lap wet and warm...I consider myself fully initiated as "Papa" now (except I haven't been puked on yet, knock on wood). Apparently none of our kids ever poop, a major feature. After Jo turned in the paperwork and I handed over a stack of Benjamins, they said they'd have it all finalized for our appointment at 2pm tomorrow to get the kids' visas. We'll be all done then with nothing left but the flight home!

After the Embassy:
So at 4:30 (still haven't eaten yet, although we'd fed the kids fruit and water all day), we met Nick to leave. Unfortunately I remembered late that I needed to run back to Security and get back my little Swiss Army knife and luggage key they confiscated, and by the time I came back he had left with Jo and the kids!! Jo said he drove off without me, yakking on a cellphone thinking I was in the car, with her yelling at him for 2 blocks that he'd left me behind before he figured out she was talking to him. Words can't describe. So after picking me up finally, I thought we'd maybe get to drivethru somewhere then because I was pretty irritated and starving having not eaten for 24 hours (anyone who knows me can understand), and then FINALLY get to our apartment with 3 cranky kids (having no nap). But no, Nick had another stop to make for another family, which cost us another hour getting to our apartment, considering he didn't really know where it was and couldn't find it in the dark, and traffic in Kiev is Hell on Earth. We finally arrived at the apartment, and had to wait ANOTHER 30 minutes for the apartment manager to arrive to get us the keys...that woulda been a great thing to do in advance in my estimation, but for today it was par for the course.

The Apartment:
We finally got in the apartment, and it's really pretty nice space-wise. It has a master bedroom, and another bedroom for the kids, kitchen, bath, and a little family room with a TV (no DVD player, rats!) and a couch and big cushy chairs, and free Internet connection (woohoo!) Nick somewhat redeemed himself by taking me to a nearby market (while Jo graciously watched the kids back home) and by helping me translate and buy food, but that put us back here at around 6pm...a VERY cranky, starving Papa by this point. Oh well, we got some frozen pizzas and lots of breakfast things and even some smoked chicken, oh, and of course some Pampers!! So we finally got everyone fed and put to bed, but seriously, this was the longest couple of days we'll probably EVER have the joy of experiencing for some time.

Sorry this was such a long post with no pix, you'll just have to share my pain. ;-) We'll post more tomorrow after Mama and Papa have a good night's rest, and we should have our adoption process done by tomorrow too!

Da svidania!

Papa John

Last day in Donetsk

This is just one last quick post here before we leave to pick up the kids, dress them in the clothes we brought, and catch the 8pm train to Kiev.

This morning we went to the orphanage to dress the kids before we pick them up this evening, but the orphanage director recommended we just leave the clothes there till this evening and dress them then, so we did. The director did, however, allow us to see the room where the kids sleep, something they typically don't allow at this orphanage...we were very thankful to her for allowing us to take some pictures.
Here's the bedroom where all our kids sleep, I was happy to see that they were decked out in Chiefs colors. :-)






Alex and Vala on their beds.









Talia showing off her bed.








After seeing the beds, we got to play outside with the kids for a while before we took off for lunch and to buy supplies for the train ride. We were happy to see the Scruggs family one last time before we left, and our kids got to play together with Samuel Daniel one last time.
Michael, Jeanette and Samuel, one last visit before their paperwork is finalized today.







We went outside and did some low-impact playing since we had really planned on dressing the kids and not playing so we brought no toys. We did, however, bring their new little backpack/leashes which they loved. They even showed them off to everyone they could find. We didn't hook up the leashes (yet), we'll save that little surprise for them for when we're out in public and don't want them bolting. We did practice walking as a family though, which they love to do. They were VERY unhappy when we took off their backpacks, they were very attached to them which is a great thing for us. :-)
Our last walk around the orphanage before we come back this evening to pick them up.







So, this is our last post from Donetsk, Ukraine before we arrive in Kiev tomorrow morning at 10am to begin our Embassy Visa process. We agreed that there are things that are really pretty nice about this town that we'll miss, but there's no place like home. Next stop, KIEV!

A GREAT DAY FOR THE LIVINGSTON FAMILY!

We are officially and finally parents now! A great big thanks to all those that sent your thoughts and prayers today for the finalizing of the adoption, it really couldn't have gone any smoother. We met our facilitator Marina in her taxi at 8am this morning, and off we went to finalize all the documents at various Donetsk locations and to deliver gifts to the workers at the orphanage.

Our first stop was the courthouse to finalize the judgment paperwork following the 10-day waiting period. It didn't take much longer than an hour, and we got to take our picture with Judge Oleg.
Here is our picture of us with Judge Oleg, I told you he was huge! He was a very nice guy who shook my tiny hand in his huge paw, and he and his entire staff appeared very happy for us.




Anyway, after our paperwork was done at the courthouse, we went to the Department of Vital Statistics to finalize the birth certificates. This process could've really cost us an extra day if they made us drive to another region to do it, which was very likely. But fortunately "the boss" wasn't there, so her more lenient helpers let us go ahead and take care of it then and there, saving us an entire afternoon's drive all around the region and an extra day of staying in Donetsk for Marina.

After that was a quick stop at a notary's office for official copies, and then the trip to the dreaded passport office to see if we'd get the older style "fast" passports, or the newer blue ones that'd cost us an extra 10 days wait (ick!)
Thirty minutes after Marina went into the office, she came out smiling bearing 3 shiny new red passports for the kids. PRAISE THE LORD! You can't believe our relief, they didn't have that many of the old kind left. Someone was definitely watching out for us. :-)


Next we needed to go to the orphanage to meet the Director and finalize some papers that basically turn over the kids from them to us. She was very nice, and loved the purse we gave her as a gift. She commented that she was very happy for the kids, and it looked like we had already spoiled them from our visits with them and toys we'd given them already. We also met the orphanage doctor, whom we also surprised with a gift purse.
Here's a picture of us with Director Natalia (far right), and the doctor (far left next to JoEllen).





By mid afternoon we had finished all our rounds and were considered official and finalized parents of Alex, Talia and Vala...a very happy day indeed! (sorry so many exclamations, I can't help it.)
At the end of the day, we treated Marina and our taxi driver Slava to a late lunch at Cherry Pizza, where pizza was enjoyed by all as a pleasant end to a great day. It's also our last kid-free day, as we made arrangements to pick them up for good tomorrow afternoon on the way to the train.




Marina had more good news for us regarding our upcoming stay in Kiev this week. It looks like the apartment not only has WiFi, but it's on the 1st floor as well, and not that far from Mickey D's. This isn't the same place near the zoo where we thought we'd be, but I'm not complaining.

So our plan for tomorrow is to go visit the kids in the morning and deck them out in the new clothes they'll be leaving the orphanage in, go for lunch, pick up a few things at the market, go back to the hotel and pack up, and then go pick them up around 6pm to make our 8pm train to Kiev. We'll post again sometime tomorrow with a last update from Donetsk, but we're definitely in the home stretch now!

Da svidania,

Papa John

Waiting Period is over!

Well sorta. Since the orphanage is closed on Sundays we really couldn't do anything productive today, unless resting counts. After sleeping in just a bit late and grabbing breakfast, we did walk up to the outdoor market and get some Kleenex (for the kids), and chocolates (for us), and we had a snack at the little cafeteria by the market. Other than that, we pretty much just relaxed on the last day that might offer us a chance to do so.

Tomorrow will be a full day of adoption-related errands, most importantly getting the passports for the kids. Please continue to pray that this will go smoothly, it's about the only thing at this point that could delay our return. If we get it all done tomorrow, looks like we'll have a bit of a rest day on Tuesday before we pick up the kids and catch the 8pm train (I think that's how it'll work). We'll know a LOT more tomorrow when Marina arrives at 8am and we start our running around. Hopefully that'll also be the day we get to hand out all the suitcase full of gifts JoEllen brought for the orphanage workers and director.

We may have seen our driver Sergei for the last time yesterday, but I'm not sure based on how tomorrow goes. Since we thought it was our last ride with him to the orphanage yesterday, we went ahead and gave him a little cash bonus that we thought he deserved and would enjoy. Not that I'm a softy or anything, but I actually teared up as he drove away for the last time...I've never done that for a taxi driver, trust me. *sniff* He's a very funny and likable guy and we had some great pseudo-English conversations. A few days ago he shared that at one time he had served for a few years in the Soviet Army. I was a bit impressed and taken aback by this news, given his outgoing, entertaining personality compared to stereotypes that Hollywood has portrayed of Soviet soldiers throughout my lifetime. So much for stereotypes. Here's a re-post of Sergei doing his Schwartzenegger imitation, very typical. :-)









Anyway, we'll have lots more news to share on the adoption front tomorrow. We'll fill you in!

Da svidania!

Papa John

Waiting Period: Day 10 of 10

Woohoo, it's the last day of our waiting period! Not only that, it's also the last day we play on this kid-unfriendly playground. It was a brisk 40 degrees again today, and the caregivers had the kids bundled completely up again for going outdoors. It was so cold even the sand in the sandbox was frozen solid, so not a great day for playing overall. So we made do, and since Talia likes to take walks as a whole family, we did 2 laps around the whole orphanage today. We were the only folks outside today too, which made it different as well. The Scruggs called us and told us Jeanette was pretty ill, so please pray for her as they pick up their son next week about the same time as we get our kids.

So the plan is, tomorrow we'll just hang out around the hotel and start to get our things together. Marina will be here Monday morning to do all the birth certificate and passport stuff, and if we don't get it done Monday we have Tuesday to finish up before picking up the kids and catching our 8pm Tuesday night train to Kiev.

Please pray that the passport and Embassy stuff will go smoothly next week, we're in the home stretch now!

Da svidania!

Papa John


Alex and Talia just chillin out, literally.







Once again Vala is bundled so tight she can barely move, let alone walk. On top of that, she had boots on about 2 sizes too big. Except for our 2 walks around the building, she didn't get far today. :-)

Waiting Period: Day 9 of 10

It seems so strange that tomorrow is the last day of our 10-day waiting period. We may not pick the kids up from the orphanage until Tuesday, however. The first day we could pick them up is Sunday, but we can't because they orphanage is closed on Suday. We'll be running around getting all kinds of paperwork done on Monday, so we'll either pick them up late Monday, or sometime on Tuesday. Hopefully with plenty of time to catch our 8 pm train to Kiev.

We kind of got our wires crossed with Marina, somehow. She thought we were flying out on Thursday, and was tactfully trying to let us know that we probably wouldn't get everything done by then. Of course, since we're actually flying out on Saturday, maybe that won't be an issue. Still not sure how she was thinking we're leaving on Thursday. SO many little timing issues have to fall in place for this to work - it will definitely be a God thing. So please pray that the paperwork-gathering would go smoothly.

Today we wondered if we would be inside or outside. It was beautifully sunny, but only about 40 degrees when we arrived at the orphanage. I don't think there are many playroom options, due to a bunch of remodeling going on at the orphanage, so the kids came out bundled up like crazy. It's a little hard to tell from these photos, but they really couldn't move well. And playing in the sandbox with mittens on just isn't the same, anyway.

His prize toy today was a 4-foot stick he used as a walking stick. When there aren't many toys, you have to get creative.






Still singing the same song from the teeter totter. I'd love for someone to translate, so we'd know what the HECK she was saying!





Pink princess. I know, I know.
















We went to a different lunch place with the Scruggs today. It was pretty good food, but it all came out at vastly different times. We were trying to figure out why the chicken wings were so late in coming out, then decided it might have something to do with the declining pigeon population in Lenin Square just across the street. We have our suspicions...

John had to take a new photo of the Lenin statue, since it was nice and sunny today.











More of the same here, really. I don't know what our internet access situation will be when we get to Kiev, so we're trying to wrap up what we can while we have free WiFi. Love that stuff.

In the meantime, thanks for your continued prayers and comments - both are definitely appreciated!

JoEllen

Waiting Period: Day 8 of 10

Last night we spoke with Marina about the game plan for final paperwork next week. After her 8am arrival Monday morning, we are going to try and take care of all the passport and birth certificate stuff that day here in Donetsk in time to pick up the kids and catch the 7pm train to Kiev. Right now that's the most important logistical challenge we face, so please pray that Monday would go smooth as silk with no obstacles so that we can catch that train! Marina advised me to go ahead and buy train tickets today, so I did that first thing this morning, knowing it'd be a risk and that we might have to buy train tix all over again for a later date if we hit a snag. JoEllen also asked her about lodging in Kiev this time, and she said we'd be in a bigger (albeit more expensive) apartment, close to the Kiev zoo and several restaurants. That sounds like a Livingston Family outing in the making right there! So other than our last few waiting days, that's our immediate plans in the nutshell.

Although it was in the 40s and drizzly this morning as forecast, we still decided to make a visit to the orphanage. We figured they probably wouldn't let us play outside since the ground was wet, and we were right. They did, however, put us in a larger playroom we hadn't seen before, complete with a huge ballpit and a tunnel that the kids loved. The Scruggs family came in just a bit after us, and much fun ensued without any timeouts or disciplinary action needed today...it was a VERY good play day! There was also an attached "too-ah-lett", which provided JoEllen an opportunity to practice helping the kids go potty...which went quite well I understand. No, I didn't document that, but here are some pix of the excellent playtime:

Alex and Talia having big fun in the big tunnel.







Talia was a bit surprised to find Papa waiting for her at the end of the tunnel. :-)






Vala enjoyed the tunnel, but REALLY liked the ballpit.







Jeanette Scruggs fired up their laptop for a cartoon show that was enjoyed by all for a solid 10 minutes. Keeping little hands off the keyboard still is a learning opportunity.




Looks like tomorrow is going to be a chilly yet nice day out, so we'll probably be outside then. Only 2 more play days (and Waiting Period days) to go!


P.S. TRAVEL PLAN UPDATE (6pm): You'd think buying Monday night train tickets this far in advance would be a safe call, but not in Ukraine. We found out this afternoon that there were NO available 2nd class compartments (rooms with 4 beds available), so we'd either have to split up into 2 separate rooms and share with other random riders, or get creative. We chose the creative route and upgraded (for about double the price of 2nd class, so about $400 total) to a first-class cabin that we could all stay in. Not what I had in mind, and we'll have to share the only 2 beds that it comes with. It was either that or spend over $1,000 for airline tickets...bearing in mind that our Monday departure is iffy anyways. Oh well, just thought I'd fill everyone in on yet another wrinkle in the adventure, why should we have all the fun?! ;-)