Pictures

One of the few time she slept on the plane!

I'm an American citizen!

The man with the ukulele

Getting to know her brothers

Hanging out with her brothers. She has enjoyed them!

Playing wtih Matroyshka dolls with Clayton

After seeing Evan in here she had to check it out. What a blast, it's like having my own car!

Meeting Bella. She loves her...from a distance! She still won't touch her but will come right up to her.

There truly is no place like home....

Everything is so precious. My boys. Oh how I've missed them. My towels that I haven't seen in so long. They are soft and fluffy because they've been properly washed and dried. My pajamas. After over 6 weeks in the same pajamas you miss the rest of them. I picked them up and held them by my face because I so appreciated the opportunity to wear them. Does that sound crazy?! Let me back up a bit to share how I finally got back HOME. This will be long but I need to remember this. If you do nothing else go to the part where we get to the US and see what God did for us.

Tuesday night in Ukraine we packed up and went to bed knowing we'd be up at 3am. We hardly sleep all night. Anticipation and a child who flips and flops in bed are not a good combination. We actually got up early and got ready. At 3:30 we scooped Oksana out of bed and went to meet our driver. At the airport we got settled in and prepared for what we knew would be a difficult journey. I was petrified. I had no idea how Oksana would do. I prayed and prayed and prayed that the Lord would help us. Our first flight was decent. We managed to keep any major catastrophes away but just barely. She even slept for about 1/2 an hour. Thank you Lord!

Once in Amsterdam we had a 6 hour layover. She wouldn't let us put her down. We couldn't even sit or she would think we were putting her down and freak out. I understand because I can't imagine how overwhelming it all was but we were dying. 6 hours of carrying around 35 lbs. We'd trade back and forth and back and forth. It was about this time that she also decided that we both had to be in her sight or she would start sobbing and yelling for the person she couldn't find. Makes going to the bathroom pretty hard. About 4 hours in I prayed...please God give us physical strength to do this. We were walking around and saw a children's play area. We decided to let her watch the other kids. She saw a balloon and immediately asked to be put down. We were shocked. She crawled around and played for quite awhile and then I think it all started to get to her and she started to go downhill so we left which didn't go over very well. Still, our bodies had some rest. Thank you Lord.

6 hours later we boarded what would be our longest flight already exhausted. We gave her some Melatonin and thought for sure she would sleep the whole way. She was out quick and we got her comfortable just as the fasten seat belt signs went off. We were hungry so we decided to wait for dinner to be served and then use the restrooms and sleep. Because of her sudden need to have both of us right near her we knew that if one of us went to the bathroom she would go crazy and she would think we would be able to walk her around the plane in which case that is what we would be doing the whole flight. Dinner was served....then Oksana woke up....2 1/2 hours into the flight with 6 hours left to go. No sleep, no restroom break. We couldn't believe it. I had no idea what we would do. Our first flight was only 3 hours and we barely made it. I prayed, please God get us through this flight. She did great. For 6 hours we played and she stayed happy. Our bladders made it. We just drank less. Thank you Lord.

After this flight we were in the USA! We got off of the plane and used the restrooms, fast! By the time we got situated and over to customs the line was a mile long and looked like it would take hours to get through which meant us holding her the whole time. To top it off we were quite sure we would miss our connecting flight to Little Rock. I prayed, please Lord help us we can't do this. Larry found someone and explained our situation. He bumped us over to the wheelchair line with only 4 people in it. We rushed (well after getting through customs because no one there was rushing) to re-check our baggage for our next flight to find out it had been delayed from 7:45 to 8:30. What a relief! We'd be home later than we hoped but we'd go home still. We had plenty of time. Thank you Lord!

We got up to the gate and suddenly all she wanted to do is crawl around. We followed her all over and she found herself a seat to climb up on right between a man and a woman. The man pulled out a ukulele and serenaded her! She loved it. We started talking to the woman on the other side of her about our journey and another man sitting next to her asked us some questions as well. It turns out he and a friend were coming home from Turkey doing work with orphans and they were headed home to Little Rock. Next thing we know the lady at the gate announces that the flight has been moved to 9:30 and the gate has changed. Now we're getting a little nervous. That's a long time to wait around with a very tired child and would get us home rather late. The lady that we met said she was going to the new gate to get info. She came back and said the flight had been moved to midnight. We became frantic. We decided to see if we could get a flight out in the morning and just get a hotel and get some sleep. We found out that the only way to get to Little Rock in the morning was to fly to Atlanta first. That meant 2 more flights, we'd likely be charged, would have to find and pay for a hotel room, we were almost out of diapers, and only had what clothes and few items were on us. That was it. I LOST it. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed in the middle of that airport. Now are you ready for this? While all of this was happening the man who went to Turkey and his friend were discussing that they had to get home that night for a morning meeting. The man's friend has a private jet so he called it to come get them. They had been talking to the other woman we met and offered to take her too. She said "If it means giving up a seat home I'd rather you take home that family with the little girl from Ukraine". He said "We have room for everyone". They approached us and told us the situation. They could get us out of there but it would be late. We'd only buy ourselves about an hour but we were guaranteed to be home. We finally took them up on their offer. Then I can't remember what the man said to me but I remember saying "You're a believer?" He said yes and asked where we went to church. He and the man who own the jet go to our church! The husband of the woman in this scenario is the pastor of a local church that we have friends at as well. We were SHOCKED! Thank you Lord!

We went to the smaller airport and hung out and this is where it got sticky. Oksana had at this point been up for over 24 hours with only 5 hours of sleep and she was WIRED and getting cranky. If we did every single thing she wanted she was fine but the second our plans didn't mix with hers disaster struck. We tried to keep her happy despite how exhausted we were but we did have one meltdown. Even this flight was getting delayed and we were all going down hill fast. Finally the plane arrived and luckily all 3 of us slept on the way home. Larry and I got about an hour and a half and we pulled her off of the plane sleeping at 12:30am. We were in a small private airport near the main airport so they drove us over to meet our family. Oksana had woken up at this point but was obviously still sleepy. It was SO wonderful to see our kids and our parents again! Oksana was half asleep so she just kind of looked at everyone. She cried on the way home because she was SO exhausted. We got her in, put her in PJ's (which she was NOT happy about) and put her to bed at 1:30am. We spent a little bit of time with our family and then we all crashed. Thank you Lord!

Pictures soon.

Going Home!

As of this afternoon we have all of the documents we need to leave the country!!!!!! Yesterday we went to the embassy to drop off our paperwork and we had to answer some questions about how long we had been here, etc. I don't know what it was about those questions but I started crying. I did everything I could to hold back tears so I didn't look like a total fool but it wasn't working very well. I guess the embassy felt as close to home as I was going to get and yet our trip home still seemed so far away! I just wanted to go home so bad. When I walked out Nadya looked at me and said "Have you been crying?" Then I really lost it. She freaked out and thought something had happened that would keep us here longer. Once we assured her that everything was fine and I was just letting go of 6 weeks worth of emotion she and our driver were so sweet and understanding. Nadya told me that we are one of the most patient families she has ever had. That fact that she felt that way is in itself is a miracle from the Lord because if you know me, patience is not my strong point!

Today we went back to the Embassy and they were playing a video about America. There went the waterworks again! The lady at the Embassy thought something was wrong, but when I explained she was very sweet and said she was glad they were tears of joy that we get to go home. We ran into another Reece's Rainbow family at the Embassy too! For you RR people it was Cindy Allen adopting Irina. She is beautiful!

I have so much more to say and more pictures but as you can imagine we stay very busy since Oksana's arrival. We are packing up now and putting her to bed soon. We will be picked up at 3:30 am to start our journey home. I have no idea how she will do but we are certainly praying! I'll update again on the other side.

GOTCHA DAY!!!!!

We have her! All is well so far. She definitely understood what was happening today. The staff at the orphanage had prepared her well. They told me that when ever they would ask her something she would say "It's OK because my mama says it's OK!" Cracked me up! Here are some pictures from her big day!

Here are all of our gifts to the orphanage and our stuff for Oksana:

Changing into her new clothes:

Ready to Go!

Telling the orphanage workers "Paka!" They were SO excited and a big crowd of them hung around until we left:

All of the kids combs. Oksana's is the yellow one:

Oksana's bed is the little one in the corner:

Leaving the gate of the orphanage for the last time!:

She had to hold onto one of each of our hands the whole time. She did great in the car and would look up at us and smile:

Checking out her new books at the apartment:

She climbed up on the bed right away and started arranging the pillows while she laughed hysterically. Then she plopped down to check out her comfy new spot:

Tomorrow is the day!

If you are on our Facebook page you probably already know this but we just got a call that we will be picked up tomorrow at 10 am by Oleg to go get Oksana for good!!!!! She is sleeping right now and it is her last night in an orphanage! I can't believe it. I'm so excited and so scared! Pray, pray, pray! We'll update as soon as we can.

Going Public Again/Things We'll Miss About Ukraine

First of all I wanted to say that the blog is now public again.

A few days ago Larry and I were discussing what we would miss about Kiev and Ukraine and I took the time to jot them down. The ups and downs have been hard...very hard. Sometimes I've wanted out of here so bad I could hardly stand it but now that I'm actually leaving I'm remembering some of the most amazing experiences we have had here. We are forever changed because of our time in Kiev. I can honestly walk away saying I love this city. It's the city that our Ukranian princess was born in and I truly think that is something for her to have great pride in. We will share so many wonderful things with her about her birth place but here are just the the top 10 (in no particular order)

1. Walking everywhere! I love walking to the grocery store, restaurants, sight seeing, etc. We have walked miles and miles around this city. Our friend Lyndi calls it Ukranian buns of steel and it just won't feel right anymore to get in a car to go down the street (although in 90+ degree weather the novelty does wear off really quick!)

2. Ice Cream on Khreschadyk. When you walk that much you can spare an ice cream and Khreschadyk (the main drag in the city) is the place to get it and it is GOOOOD!

3. Our "compartments". Some have been better than others but they have all been our home away from home. A place where everything becomes safe and familiar.

4. Sightseeing. Kiev has some amazing things to see and the history behind it is fascinating. The churches here have definitely been favorites. They are amazing!

5. Souvenir shopping by the SDA. Every Matroyshka Doll known to man and some! Specifically we will miss our friend (he is a friend of our translator) who was so sweet to us and always gave us a discount on our souvenirs. He is one of the sweetest people we have met here.

6. The satisfaction of realizing that you can communicate with someone who doesn't speak your language using hand gestures and facial expressions! You'd be surprised how well it works!

7. Platform stilettos ;) I had myself convinced for awhile that I couldn't continue to live here without them...but I got over it!

8. Nadya and Oleg. I never did get to say goodbye to Oleg officially. We were at the medical appointment and it was taking too long so he had to leave. It's probably a good thing because when I said goodbye to Nadya I cried...and cried. I've done a lot of that the last couple of days but I will really miss them. They will always have a place in my heart.

9. Finding out what we can live without. I found out that I could survive without a washing machine or dryer. In fact I can even wear my clothes more than one day and I won't die! I could get very creative with a kitchen that consisted of a refrigerator, a pot, and a burner. I wouldn't die if every place I went didn't have A/C (although I came close a couple of times). But I am thankful that I never had to go without internet. That might have been a major catastrophe!

10. Larry had to point out that this list would not be complete without adding the spaghetti carbonara at The Patio. That was his favorite meal here and he had it often! I promise you he will be talking about it for years after we leave here!

Now I just want to add a couple of things that aren't really specific to Kiev but that we will miss about our time here. First, is our time together. We had one or two days where the stress got to us and we could have used some alone time but other than that we have enjoyed every single moment together. I adore my husband and there is no one else I'd rather be in this city with for so long! Second, is our friends. Oh we have met some of the most amazing people. I can't even list them all but you know who you are. There is something about the common bond of being an American and experiencing adoption together in a foreign country that creates immediate friendships. We love you all. I can't begin to tell you what you have meant to us and we will miss you SOOO much!

Ok now I need to stop because I feel the lump forming in my throat. Good night!

Answering a Commonly Asked Question

A question we get asked frequently is "Where does Ellen live?" and "Will Nina and Oksana get to see each other?". Ellen lives in Iowa, we live in Arkansas. We aren't exactly neighbors; however, St. Louis is our hometown and is about equal distance between both of us so we've discussed meeting up there someday. Right now we aren't sure when that will happen. Ellen and her family will be in St. Louis early in September but that might be a bit early for us to make the trip especially since I think Larry has used up his time off of work for the rest of his life :)! So nothing is in the works right now but it is a goal of ours to get together and it will happen as soon as we can make it happen....until then we always have skype!