I know it’s been a few days but there is not much to report right now. We are back to seeing the kids everyday until we head back to Kiev. We only have a few more days left and then we can start the paperwork to come home, but even then we are still about 2-3 weeks before we all head home. The kids are doing good - Thursday when we got there to see them they were at the Dr’s – again they confirmed that they are both allergic to sweets and fruits. At this point we have stopped taking treats (even though they were only animal crackers) to try and let the kids faces and bottoms start to clear up as they both have bad rashes. We bought the kids some backpacks when we were buying clothes – as you see Alex likes to wear his and any hat he can get his hands on usually, that one happens to be Katelyn’s. We also got them a play tea set – although most of the time Katelyn is playing with the entire set – as you can see along with all the other toys she claimed as hers at the time. Whatever you do – don’t move anything on the bench – she’ll notice and usually start yelling at someone and if you happen to be her brother she’ll just give him a nice smack on the head and then take the item back. (Makes playtime real fun breaking up the fights – I think we’ll have more of those when we get home )

On a side note we want to wish our Dad a happy belated birthday. We lost track of what day it was and did not get a chance yesterday to wish him a happy birthday. Sorry Dad!!!

Hopefully we’ll get the chance again to post before we leave it not – we should be back in Kiev mid next week and we’ll post how their last days at the orphanage went.
Thanks again everyone for your support.
Love
Sharon & Brian

We got the kids some clothes today and that was quite an adventure. It is not like running to Walmart or Target to get stuff – we ended up going to 4 different stores and still have stuff we need to get for them. Is nice to be back in Kiev for even a few days but do miss playing with the kids. Were just hoping the stuff fits them ok as we were somewhat guessing on sizes. We also got them some new toys to play with for the last few days until we get to take them out of the orphanage. Have no idea how we are going to get all this stuff home with us!!

We are starting to get snow here again and it is suppose to snow off and on for the next few days. The snow will definitely make walking to the orphanage a fun trip. Hopefully we’ll be back in Kiev for the reminder of our stay sometime by mid to end of next week. The kids will be with us then and hopefully we’ll be on the final part of our trip. Brian is planning on going home on Dec 11 and I’ll stay until everything is finished.

Ben, Sarah, Melanie, Hannah, Ceilidh and Iain – the kids love looking at the photo book we brought and pointing to all of your pictures. It will fun when they get to know you guys and you can all play together. Miss all of you guys and can’t wait till we can come home and see you all.

Thanks again everyone for the posts – we both enjoy reading them and hearing from everyone.

The posts for the next week or so will probably be less frequent as we head back to Pryluky tomorrow and our internet connection there is not so good, but we’ll keep posting as much as we can.

Till later
Love
Brian & Sharon

10 Days and Counting!

We made it through court today and everything went good. Couldn't believe some of the questions that they asked! But the good news is the kids are ours - of course we have to wait 10 days and we can take them out of the orphanage. It was a good day all around as it was Katelyn's 3rd Birthday and we had a mini birthday party w/ their group this morning. We are back in Kiev for a few days as we need to get some stuff for the kids and get some paperwork taken care of as Brian will more than likely be heading home in Dec. I'll post some pictures tomorrow after I have a chance to download them off my camera.
Till tomorrow
Sharon & Brian

Not much new here - we have court on Monday and then we'll probably head back to Kiev that night in order to get some stuff for the kids when we take them out of the orphanage. It got cold here the last couple of days but still not to bad. The kids are doing good - Alex's caregivers say that he cries after we leave (although before we leave he is crying to since he is usually getting tired). Katelyn thinks that all we are is a big jungle gym as she loves to be thrown and spun around all the time.
Outside of that not much else is new for the time being. We'll post when we go to Kiev as I think we'll have a better connection then.
Till we can post again
Love
Brian & Sharon

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone. We were unable yesterday to get on and post anything due to our internet connection. Everything is still going good - we have 4 more days until court (Monday afternoon) Kids are getting better with us - it will definately be interesting when we get to take them out of the orphanage soon. Not much else is new here will try and post again soon if not will post after court. Thanks again for everyone who has left comments we love hearing from everyone.
Till we can post again
Love Brian & Sharon

PS - HI Ben, Sarah, Melanie and Hannah

Sorry for the delay in posts – but is extremely hard to access the internet in the region we are in. We have not been able to find an internet café we could use and we currently use a dial up connection at the home we are staying at and it is not always reliable.

Today we played for over 3 hours with Katelyn and Alex. Yesterday we bought Alex and Katelyn new toys – well Alex is all boy and already broke his! (Its too bad he broke it as it played music and they both liked to dance to it) Katelyn is all girl and kept her doll to herself and liked playing with my chapstick and putting it on in front of the mirror. She would use the bag we brought her as a purse w/ her doll and “lipstick” in it! The other thing they loved to play with today was our flashlight we brought for them – it was cute watching Alex trying to follow the light on the floor as he moved the flashlight in circles on the floor.

We played w/ the kids right outside of their group room and if any of the other kids came out to see us our kids would get upset. They definitely do not like the others calling us mama or papa. The caregivers are also careful about letting the others get to close us as they can see how ours get so upset – but they laugh to! The caregivers for the kids are great with them – and you can tell they love their caregivers as well. Brian and I are amazed how well they listen to them.

Towards the end of our time there you could tell both kids were getting very tired but they did not want us to leave. They eat lunch at noon and we got to stay through their lunch (mainly because Alex would not let us leave without throwing a fit) but the caregivers were very nice about letting us stay there. Both kids eat extremely well – in fact we could not believe how much Katelyn could eat – 2 full plates of food.

Not much else is new – our days for the time being consist mainly of getting up early and walking to the orphanage by 9 am and playing with the kids until around noon. Then we walk back to the house we are staying at and spend the rest of the day and night there. We are about 1.5 miles one way from the orphanage. The town here is very small and while they have a small store – we have no idea where it is from where we are staying as we have only been there w/ our translator when she is here (and we drove there at that time). The walk to the orphanage is not bad but it is definitely cold here and we are normally freezing by the time we get to either the orphanage or back to the house.

We’ll post again as soon as we can get a good connection!

Love
Sharon & Brian

FINALLY GOT PICTURES!!

We filed our application with the court today and we have a tentative court date of Monday, November 26, 2007 at 2:30 in the afternoon. (Which is also Katelyn’s 3rd birthday!) The only thing that would delay our going to court is if the SDA does not get the paperwork done in time. At this point nothing would surprise me. Olga is still not sure if we will be able to be home before Christmas or not. After our 10 day wait is up following the court date – we need to travel to another city approx 200 km from where we are to get their birth certificates and passports done (will take approx 2-3 days to do everything maybe). Sasha our driver is checking to see if we can have the passports done in Kiev which would save having to go back and forth to the other town and save a couple extra days as well. Especially since after the 10 days is up we can finally take the kids out of the orphanage. But Olga still believes it will take approx 10 days to get the passports done at this point which puts us around December 20-21st. After we get the passports we need to get medical clearance done and the visas from the US Embassy. While that only takes a few days the problem we have is the holidays to contend with and the US Embassy recognizes both the US Holidays of Christmas and New Years as wells as the Ukrainian Christmas which is around Jan 6th or 7th.

Sunday when we meet with the kids they must have just woke up because they were not very happy at the start but eventually warmed up. Katelyn was especially hard to get her to smile and had a couple of meltdowns while we were playing – mainly because she did not get something she wanted. Alex has a more even tempered disposition but still had a few meltdowns as well. But they did have fun playing with other kids as we were in a room with a couple adopting from Israel and another couple from Boston.

Today when we saw the kids they were all smiles. In fact we were laughing because when we got there Katelyn was in music class and when they were leaving one of the other kids called us mama and dadda and she turned around and hit them. I guess she is getting the idea we are here parents. Katelyn is definitely like her dad and likes to keep everything neat – she will clean whatever area we are in before she starts play. She also has a thing about putting everything in her bag (usually a Ziploc bag that we bring). She is starting to pose more for pictures and loves to see herself in the camera after we take the picture. Alex today wanted to look at the pictures from home that we brought more than anything else. He also found Brian’s hat and likes wearing it backwards. Today when they left to go back to their group for lunch they actually gave both Brian and I hugs without being prompted by the orphanage staff.


Love
Sharon & Brian

Got to spend about 3 hours w/ the kids today. We got to see there “groupa” or the other kids they are with – wish we could take them all home – but truth be told we definitely we have two very active kids on our hands.

Katelyn definitely likes books and dolls – very smart little girl (and no we are not biased!!) She likes to undress and redress the dolls – and yes she will remember if you take any of the clothes.

Alex seems to like my little calculator the best at this point although we have not been were they have a lot of different types of toys either. So I’m sure his likes will change as we introduce more to them.

Of course both kids love the “cookies” we bring them and definitely find them no matter how hard we try and hide them. Right now that is about all we can give them as both are allergic to it appears citrus fruit and sweets. So animal crackers it is.

The walk to the orphanage was not that bad today. Was colder this morning but by the time we headed back to the house we are staying at it was a lot warmer. Took about a 20-30 min to walk so not that bad – besides it appears that everyone walks around here anyway.

Ben, Sarah, Melanie and Hannah – miss you all lots and can’t wait for you to meet your new cousins. Hannah everyone loves your red curly hair! Ben everyone talks about how nice it is going to be for Katelyn and Alex to have a big older cousin. Sarah & Melanie – Katelyn keeps pointing at your pictures – I think she wants to play with you guys!! Both Katelyn and Alex look through our pictures and point all of you guys out – can’t wait till you get to meet them.

Miss everyone and hopefully the next few weeks go by fast – so that you can all meet Katelyn and Alex.

Love
Sharon & Brian

Today we played more w/ Katelyn and Alex for about 3 hours. They are definitely very active kids. Alex is warming up very quickly. Katelyn is definitely more shy – it is going to take her a lot longer I think to warm up to us. They are both thinkers in their own way. Alex likes to play soccer and Katelyn likes to look at books and play w/ the dolls.

We are currently staying w/ a Dr. from the orphanage – she is very nice, but speaks no English. Merry thank you so much for the dictionary I am definitely getting some use out of it now!!! We can walk from the home we are staying at to the orphanage – only wish it was a little warmer as it will take about a ½ hour to get to the orphanage.

Today we spent a lot of time getting some of the paperwork taken care of today. We are hoping to have court a week from Monday. At this point the time frame for us to come home is looking like either right before Christmas or hopefully at the latest between Christmas and New Years.

Say some prayers that the paperwork keeps going through smoothly as we would definitely like to be home before Christmas.

Love
Sharon & Brian

We found our kids!!!

Sorry it took so long to post again but it has been a few crazy days. Our appt went well on Tues and we accepted a referral to see a sister and brother, ages 3 and 2. They are in an orphanage not far from Kiev - in Pryluky (just east of Kiev by about 2 hours by car) Today we saw them and decided to proceed w/ the adoption. They are very active little kids - Katelyn Vitalina will turn 3 on Nov 26th and Alex Michael just turned 2 in October. We had to come back to Kiev this afternoon to get the paperwork started and will return tomorrow to Pryluky at which time we'll probably find and apt there to stay at - as we can visit 2x's a day for 3 hours at a time.
Miss everyone and hopefully the next few weeks will go by fast.
Well update again as soon as we can.
Love
Sharon & Brian

We Made it Here!

We finally made here - yesterday in a snow storm! Needless to say the weather is cold and snowy. The apt we are staying at is very nice and close to alot of things except it is hard to explore with the weather. Our appt is scheduled for tomorrow/Tues 11/13 around 2pm and then we leave either Wed nite or Thurs sometime to go to whatever region the orphanage is in.
We'll keep everyone posted as best as possible.
Talk to you soon
Sharon

Packed and Ready to Go!

We finally have everything packed and ready to go - we leave Sat 11/10 at noon from O'Hare and fly to JFK for a short layover before leaving for Kiev. We should arrive in Kiev around 10 am on Sun morning. We hope to update as soon as we can after we get there and get settled.
Sharon & Brian