Day 4

Today's visit was difficult. Not because Maxim is difficult, or naughty, but probably because he is eight...he is well loved and cared for...he has friends. Now, someone new is messing around with his schedule, and is too stupid to speak his language. 

I found a snowsuit for Max at the market yesterday. It was a good price, but when we got home I noticed it smells like smoke. Yuk.

This building is part of an iron ore mining operation. There are many huge mines like this here and much of the city is covered in red dirt. 

Day 3

Max was brought to me in his wheelchair today. Little tiny dude. 

He had a ball in the ball pit. It's really the only thing he wants to do here. I tried to put him on a bouncy ride-on cow toy, but he screeched and freaked.  I've got to find something else to entertain him.

I brought a drink and snack and that was also a bomb. Apparently, I found through a cell phone conversation with my interpreter, he drinks only from a spoon. Yup. 

I did some measuring yesterday. From waist to ankle is 18 inches and his little foot is 5 inches long. I will soon have virtual quints!

More Max

This may be the theme for the next few weeks...more Max!

We had a very short visit today as we still had paperwork to complete. For some reason, the notaries in this city do not care to do paperwork associated with adoption. Notaries here are much different than in the states. Here, they are actually more like lawyers and are responsible for the content of the documents they prepare.

Max is a ton of fun! He's going to have a blast in our family. 

I saw a mother visiting her teenaged daughter this morning. The mom had brought her some breakfast.  As the girl was eating, between bites, she repeatedly asked her mom, "do you love me?" And my heart broke all over again.

Max

I know what you are here for so I'll just give it to you up front, with no strings attached. I met Maxim this morning and he is perfect...everything I imagined...and wearing the same danged sweater as in all his other photos!

Thursday I slept until after noon, and I'm very glad that I did! Early in the afternoon, my facilitator and I went to buy our train tickets. Thank goodness we were able to find 2nd class tickets as the roads were to slick to consider taking the bus.

With 140 grivna train tickets (so cheap!!) in hand we set out to do some exploring. Snow had given way to light rain and every intersection was deep with soupy slush. I felt so thankful for the waterproof boots that my mother bought for me a few weeks ago. They were not the cute boots that I had in mind, but all that I could find in my home city.

On the way, we visited St. Vladimir's cathedral. Google it if you can, I didn't take any photos of the place, but it is simply magnificent. I was so moved my the dark and mysterious atmosphere that even though I am not a Catholic, I bought and lit candles for two adopted children who recently went to live with Jesus.

We walked in silence for awhile after that. The light started to fade and I knew that it was almost time to pick up my referral. My feet started to complain. We started to get hungry, but realized that there was no time to sit down and eat a meal. After picking up the referral, it was quick but complicated, we took a taxi to pick up our bags and headed for the train station.

Our second class, bottom berth seats were in a old, old train car. Everything was made of wood and metal. The windows were wood. I find that fascinating. Two men slept over us, no big deal, they were quiet and respectful. However, I could absolutely not sleep.

The compartment was SO hot. I could not get comfortable. We slept with the door open. I felt safe because all my valuables were in the underseat storage. If anyone wanted to steal my bag they would have to get through me first! I just laid there with my eyes closed for eight hours.

We pulled into the station about 6am and drove the WORST streets I've ever seen to drop our bags at the apartment. We waited around awhile until it was time to visit the city inspector. Someone in the building was cooking mushroom soup. I could smell it. I saw a middle aged woman wearing white tennis shoes, that cracked me up!

The inspector was so friendly! We took her to the orphanage, quickly met the director and headed to the building where Max lives. The immediately brought him in to see me. He was obviously unsure of what was happening. He would not walk to me. I had to snatch him up to set him on my lap. I was really nervous with all the people watching me.

My facilitator and all the others left us along to try to get some paperwork done and fix some complicated issues. After they left, Maxim started to open up a bit. We played pat-a-cake, itsy bitsy spider, iPad flashcards and "walk to mommy." He really loved being snuggled, so we spent much of the time doing just that. 

When the visit was over, I left Maxim in the "therapy" and we went hunting for a notary. Amazingly there was not a notary in this town willing to do our adoption documents. I was falling asleep in the car, so I got dropped off at the apartment for a nap. My facilitator was able to find a notary and I have an appointment in the morning to finish up paperwork to request a court date. 

Since I have an appointment in the morning, I will not be able to visit the mental aslyum as I had originally planned. I will send the donations with the group that goes tomorrow, but do plan to visit them before I leave. We want to make sure that everyone there has a new pair of socks and underwear for Christmas.

I will visit sweet Max again tomorrow. If you like, please pray for his poor tummy. He has some significant GI issues, though I cannot say for sure exactly what is going on. I also hope to get more of his medical information tomorrow. 

I'm here!

I'm finally here! I left the house a little after noon on Monday, flew to Chicago, then to Dusseldorf, then to Kyiv...arriving on Tuesday afternoon about 3pm. That time difference really steals a whole day of one's life.

The flight from Chicago to Germany was oddly empty. I've never seen such an empty flight. People were sprawled across three seats sleeping. I finally got my window seat, so I only had two seats with which to get comfy. I didn't get much sleep. I did better in the gate area in Dusseldorf. There was one seating area without arms at each seat, so I laid down, using my backpack for a pillow and got a solid two hours of shuteye. I didn't care what anyone thought of me. I have an important job to do here and I need to be on top of my game.

I gambled when packing my bags at the last minute and put all my clothing and makeup in my checked bag. If the bags got lost I would be wearing dirty clothes for a few days. I was delighted to actually see my bag being loaded and unloaded from the plane of my final destination.

At the airport, a driver was there with my name on a sign. I was tickled by this, as last time we made an adoption trip, no one was there to meet us at the airport. Very disappointing and, at the time anyway, scary. Andrei had the heart of a racecar driver, but the city traffic frustrated him at every turn. It was still an entertaining drive for me, as he weaved in an out and squeezed between marshrutkas and big trucks. There was a big snow the day before, so the roads were very slick.

My facilitator is a sweet and pretty lady. I'm very pleased so far. She explains everything to me and doesn't mind my endless questions and comments. My appointment this morning with the adoption authorities was long as they were running behind schedule. I had a moment of panic when Maxim's file was apparently missing. Turns out, he was born in a completely different region from where he lives now and they had to look in a different file to find him.

There were several photos in his file, but they only allowed me to exchange a recent photo for one of the old ones. I chose his baby photo: 

Isn't he a little dolly? I'm so sad that I missed out on his baby years.

After the appointment, we walked down the hill to a travel agent in an attempt to find train tickets for tomorrow night. Nothing but 3rd class was available. Masha explained that tickets may be available again anytime today or tomorrow and that we would try again later.

We were famished by this time. A little way further down the hill we stopped into a place called Le Borsht. I had a bowl of Borsht and a dish of viniagrette salad, beets, carrots peas and pickles in vinegar. Tasty! I needed to find a phone so we walked down to Kreschatik Street to find an electronics store. I left my gloves at home, so we went to the undergound mall to find some. I tried on a few hats, too. The sales lady and Masha said I looked very Ukrainian in one of the black knit hats, so of course, I had to buy it!

After this we tried another ticket agency for train tickets, but no luck. If you want to pray for me, please pray that we find 1st or 2nd class train tickets for tomorrow night. I don't want to take the bus in this weather. The streets are very slick.

If all that wasn't enough excitement for one day, I hopped on a city bus (only 1.5 grivna!) to go see a new friend. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Jill, another adopting mom, and her new son. We had a great time just chatting and playing with the little dude. He reminded me so much of Theo when we first met him...so tiny and undermourished, but full of life and open to accepting affection. Jill made me a grilled cheese for dinner, and before long it was 9pm. She sent me on my way with a whole bag of groceries that she wouldn't be able to use up before flying home in a few days. What a sweet time we had. When I stepped out of the building, onto the street, I found that it was snowing again. The scene was magic, with snow piling up high on each of the branches and little twigs on every tree.

Tomorrow, I plan to do some sightseeing with my facilitator. Late in the afternoon we will pick up Maxim's referral and, God willing, jump on a train to his region. Friday is the big day.



TGIF!!

TGIF, right?

Oh yes, indeed!!

I knew it was going to be a rough week, but I had no idea what was in store for us. I would love to share with you how excited I am to be leaving to meet Maxim, and about all my preparations, but I've been in survival mode for a week and I'm not prepared at all.

Last weekend was the long Thanksgiving weekend. Theo had a difficult weekend, with many troubling and heartbreaking obsessions and behaviors getting in the way of his joy. He cannot get into a developmental pediatrician until February, and we are really hurting for him.

Zhen developed a frightening cough over the weekend. By Monday afternoon I was concerned enough to make a doctor appt. I brought Theo along, just in case the doctor had something new for Theo's behavior problems.

Long story short, we had to have Zhen tested for pertussis and Theo got a new prescription to try, Focalin. I bought a new humidifier for Zhen's strangling cough, took it home, set it up, it didn't work, saw that it was broken, took it back to the store and bought one twice as expensive that works very well. So frustrating to have to make several trips.

After the kids were in bed, Theo continued to cry and rock in his bed. I got him out of bed and rocked him while he drank a bottle of milk. Then he started to thrash and bite and hit and scream. After consulting with some other knowledgeable moms, I gave him some melatonin on top of his regular night time medicine. He rocked himself (stinker) on the couch for awhile, bouncing his head forcefully off the cushions, and passed out about 11pm.

The next morning Theo woke up bright and happy. I gave him his Focalin, his breakfast and put him on the school bus. About two hours later I got a message from his teacher, Theo was out of control. The teacher and paras had tried all of their sensory tricks to calm him but nothing was working. I called the doctor to see what we could do. She said it sounded like a reaction to the Focalin and that I should give him some Benadryl to counteract it.

Poor Theo, in trying to help him with his behaviors and obsessions, I pushed him over the edge. I grabbed a bottle and a dropper and headed over to the school. Oh, and all this is going on while I'm waiting for a delivery of a new dining room table that was gifted to us! I had to leave several children home with the delivery men building the table (they were SO slow!)...so not cool.

I finally caught a break on Thursday. I had some time to work with my home schoolers so they are not behind when I leave. In the afternoon I got a phone call from the school nurse. Zhen had been exposed to the chicken pox at school. The health department was giving me 24 hours to get him vaccinated or he would be excluded from school for 21 days. Did I mention that I'm leaving on Monday?

Through the miracle of social networking, I was able to locate several people who can read the handwritten Russian cursive notes that constitute Zhen's medical history...within one hour I found that he had chicken pox in February 2008. Praise God!!

I don't have my travel cash yet. I don't have enough clothes. I'm certainly not packed. I did manage to get some donations into a duffel bag...eight pair of shoes for the men at Buri Ooglie, the men's mental asylum in Maxim's region. I will buy some more items for them when I get there, socks and undergarments and such.

Challenges keep cropping up. And I'm weary and I may be down but I'm not out. We are about $700 from having a fully funded adoption. I'm traveling in just a few days. We have so much for which to be thankful!

This could be the last time I sit down to write before I leave. I'll be posting as many updates and photos here as possible, so please don't give up on me!

If you have time today, check out our final fundraising auction that closes today. We have some very high quality art items and aprons up for bidding until tonight at http://maximimpact.blogspot.com/. You need a cute apron for holiday baking, don't you?

TGIF!! Have a great weekend!

I was all set...

I was all set to write this morning about how Thankful I am, even though I didn't get an appointment date yesterday. I expected to hear something yesterday. I was checking my phone all night long, hoping for that golden email.

I checked email all throughout the day, periodically. Nothing. I was resigned to the fact that I would not hear anything until next Monday.

Still, thankful.

However...

This morning I received an odd email...straight from the government office. It was an appointment letter!! I was resigned to the fact that I wouldn't hear a word until Monday, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

Now I have NINE days to make my final plans, including childcare. If you've been praying for us thus far, please don't stop!! A lot of pieces need to fall into place over the next few weeks.

Maxim, here I come, sweet baby boy!!