Welcome to Kiev!

We made it! Our flight was uneventful and on time but boy was I tired of sitting in that chair by the end of it! I tried every which way to get some sleep and managed just a tiny bit but not enough to make a difference. When we arrived, Oleg and Nadia were there waiting. I have to tell you that these two are like celebrities to me :). They have been talked about so much since we started this journey that it was wonderful to finally meet them. They got us all set up in our apartment, exchanged some money for us, gave us a cell phone, and chatted with us about Oksana. Oleg says there is another boy in her orphanage with CP who had the same surgery that she did at the same time. He said that he is very smart and talkative but that Oksana may have a delay because she is not as verbal. He did mention to us that he believes this delay is caused in large part by the fact that she is raised with young children, many of whom, are non verbal and the orphanage workers don't interact with her much. He said when she was with the little boy he saw a difference in how much she was talking. She will thrive at home! Oleg told us that our SDA appointment is at 10 am tomorrow so we have to be waiting outside for him at 9:30. More about that tomorrow, but he says we will likely pick up our referral allowing us to go to the orphanage and meet Oksana on Tuesday and will head to the orphanage on Wednesday.

After Oleg and Nadia left we crashed! We were so tired! Here are some pictures of our apartment:





And the view from our apartment:


After getting settled in and sleeping we met up with all of the Reece's Rainbow families who are in Kiev right now. What a wonderful group of people! 2 of the ladies are here on a mission trip (I mentioned them in this post, 3 of us are in the early stages of our adoptions, and one family is leaving on Tuesday with their precious Sofia who you can see enjoying dinner with us. She is absolutely precious!

That's all for today. We're headed to bed!