It’s Thursday night and we’ve just returned from a walk to the grocery store after Mario’s. As I was looking at yogurt, I turned to ask Darren what kind he wanted only to find Libby had taken over her introverted son’s body and he was chatting with an older man and a younger woman (telling them where to find milk in boxes - they were looking at bags, which if you don’t have a pitcher – is not so convenient). We ended up having a nice conversation – in English :) with them and it made my evening. We’ve just finished our dessert of ice cream (an almost daily occurrence), chocolate (our daily dose) and cookies. Yum!
So now it’s Friday and things have not quite gone as we thought. We received a phone call from Slava last night to tell us that she would call us around 11AM and pick us up shortly after to go fill out the form for Ivanna’s passport and that we could then go out to the orphanage in the afternoon. Well today, I woke up early (I’m not sleeping great with the heat) and got up at 6:30ish. Darren and I did yoga (temperature in apartment 29.9) and then cleaned the place up a bit – I washed dishes and Darren vacuumed (temperature rose to 30.4). We then showered and got ready for the day. Slava called close to 11:30 to tell us that she was delayed and would give us a call in an hour. So we sat around and waited. We watched some TV and rested a bit. Then she called to tell us that she had taken some of our papers to the Notary but they were busy and so the papers wouldn’t be ready until 2:15. So, we had a little lie-down and set the alarm for a real nap (only today, I suck at napping so after 30 minutes of not sleeping I gave up). It’s a bit frustrating because now we won’t get out to the orphanage today (and could have gone in the morning). It’s not anyone’s fault, just the way it worked out. It happens. I’m missing our girl. We will now probably try to go out tomorrow after all as 3 days seems like way too much time away (though we’ll try taking the later train – hopefully it will be less busy). The best laid plans…oh well. We are getting some stuff done today that we didn’t expect to so maybe that will make next week a little less crazy with running around (and maybe we’ll have more days to just hang out with Ivanna).
So, now it’s 6:49 and we’ve just returned home. The visit to the notary only took about 35 minutes so it was about 2:35 when Slava and Vadim dropped us off. We decided we had enough time to make the train to Boyarka after all, so we quickly grabbed the kid stuff (juice, snacks and wipes) and walked quickly to the train station (a challenge on a day like today – I can only go so fast in this heat). We got there in plenty of time (I thought the train left at 3:15 but it actually left at 3:30). We got seats and rather quickly realized that the train was going to be busy. So much for taking tomorrow off to avoid the crowds! Anyway, other than a close encounter with some woman’s rather large bosom (somewhat better than the sweaty guy’s gut, but not much) for Darren (at one point, I was a bit concerned about losing an eye, or being smothered), it was fine. I had my frozen bottle of water again – what a difference that makes while waiting in the heat! Once we were moving, the air movement helps a lot. Anyway, we had a great but short visit with Ivanna. We went outside and had the playground to ourselves until her group joined us about ½ hour later. It was nice to sit with them in the shade. Ivanna seemed to enjoy sitting on my lap, playing with her group all around. Everyone was pretty mellow. All too soon, we had to leave. It was particularly hard for me today. Ivanna gave Darren a great big hug when I told her ‘paka papa’ and then I gave her a great big hug and kiss and told the caregivers we had to go. Ivanna looked quite sad and confused that we were leaving and just stood staring at us while the other kids blew kisses and waved at our ‘pakas’. Hard. But when we looked back after walking across the playground, she seemed reasonably interested in playing again.
We stopped at the store for some ‘celebrate the weekend and day 10 Napoleon’ and are cooling off briefly before we head off for supper (stripped down with the fan on = good!).
So now it’s Friday and things have not quite gone as we thought. We received a phone call from Slava last night to tell us that she would call us around 11AM and pick us up shortly after to go fill out the form for Ivanna’s passport and that we could then go out to the orphanage in the afternoon. Well today, I woke up early (I’m not sleeping great with the heat) and got up at 6:30ish. Darren and I did yoga (temperature in apartment 29.9) and then cleaned the place up a bit – I washed dishes and Darren vacuumed (temperature rose to 30.4). We then showered and got ready for the day. Slava called close to 11:30 to tell us that she was delayed and would give us a call in an hour. So we sat around and waited. We watched some TV and rested a bit. Then she called to tell us that she had taken some of our papers to the Notary but they were busy and so the papers wouldn’t be ready until 2:15. So, we had a little lie-down and set the alarm for a real nap (only today, I suck at napping so after 30 minutes of not sleeping I gave up). It’s a bit frustrating because now we won’t get out to the orphanage today (and could have gone in the morning). It’s not anyone’s fault, just the way it worked out. It happens. I’m missing our girl. We will now probably try to go out tomorrow after all as 3 days seems like way too much time away (though we’ll try taking the later train – hopefully it will be less busy). The best laid plans…oh well. We are getting some stuff done today that we didn’t expect to so maybe that will make next week a little less crazy with running around (and maybe we’ll have more days to just hang out with Ivanna).
So, now it’s 6:49 and we’ve just returned home. The visit to the notary only took about 35 minutes so it was about 2:35 when Slava and Vadim dropped us off. We decided we had enough time to make the train to Boyarka after all, so we quickly grabbed the kid stuff (juice, snacks and wipes) and walked quickly to the train station (a challenge on a day like today – I can only go so fast in this heat). We got there in plenty of time (I thought the train left at 3:15 but it actually left at 3:30). We got seats and rather quickly realized that the train was going to be busy. So much for taking tomorrow off to avoid the crowds! Anyway, other than a close encounter with some woman’s rather large bosom (somewhat better than the sweaty guy’s gut, but not much) for Darren (at one point, I was a bit concerned about losing an eye, or being smothered), it was fine. I had my frozen bottle of water again – what a difference that makes while waiting in the heat! Once we were moving, the air movement helps a lot. Anyway, we had a great but short visit with Ivanna. We went outside and had the playground to ourselves until her group joined us about ½ hour later. It was nice to sit with them in the shade. Ivanna seemed to enjoy sitting on my lap, playing with her group all around. Everyone was pretty mellow. All too soon, we had to leave. It was particularly hard for me today. Ivanna gave Darren a great big hug when I told her ‘paka papa’ and then I gave her a great big hug and kiss and told the caregivers we had to go. Ivanna looked quite sad and confused that we were leaving and just stood staring at us while the other kids blew kisses and waved at our ‘pakas’. Hard. But when we looked back after walking across the playground, she seemed reasonably interested in playing again.
We stopped at the store for some ‘celebrate the weekend and day 10 Napoleon’ and are cooling off briefly before we head off for supper (stripped down with the fan on = good!).
9 comments:
Oh Robbie Burns, you speak such truth: "the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft agley an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain for promis'd joy".
At least you were able to get out to the orphanage today. The waiting around is painful isn't it. ah, so many famous words have been written on the subject. I was concerned when I first read that things hadn't gone as you'd planned. Thankfully nothing too serious, as in there are no more delays or worse things going on.
Back to Burns, as a Scottish farmer, he didn't have the rosiest perspective. Most people don't know rest of his 'to a mouse' poem. It goes like this:
"But, Och! I backward cast my e'e on prospects drear! An' forward, tho' I canna see, I guess an' fear".
Things are looking much better for you guys after about 6weeks of your experiences. Cheers to bidding farewell to the dreary past and embracing your future with your girl.
Many were in your home last night celebrating your family and that future as well. It was lovely, but would've been sweeter with you there.
love you guys.
jonathan
Looks like Ivanna is doing her Crocodile Dundee "Now that's a knife!" impression in the last photo! It's nice to see a picture of her with the other kids and caregivers. It gives us a bit more of a sense of what things are like for her.
Congrats, Mom and Dad! The 10 day wait is over and she's officially, 100% yours. Breathe a big sigh of relief and enjoy your last week in the Ukraine. Hopefully the last little bit of document chasing goes well.
Much love and big hugs (and lots of ice cream) to all of you.
Sounds like perfect weather for going for a run! But it's important to then be able to come back to an air conditioned apartment and a cool shower. Soon you will have air conditioning and everything will be fine. That's important so that you don't have a very cranky, hot, crying, sweaty child on your hands. Tough to believe she could ever be that way after looking at the smiling pictures you post! Hope all of your running around doing errands goes smoothly so that you have oodles of down time with Ivanna.
Robyn
You're 'rolling with the punches'. Why would non-athletic Libby use a boxing term? Not sure but compared with the serious hits that have been avoided, these things do seem minor, and the joyful end (or new beginning) is near. What delightful pictures! Thanks again for keeping us posted. We love you all.
Well, you've made it through the hurdles. I hope you have a great weekend and travelling goes well next week. The pics of Ivanna are so great, I got tears. I can't wait to meet her in July!
Congratulations momma and papa! She is now officially yours in law as well as in your hearts!
Hope you have a good weekend! Since you said that Monday is a holiday, I presume you will be seeing Ivanna then, before your runabout Tuesday. Keep us all up to date with the pics and word pics, just to keep us sane till you make it here next week.
We love you, Mom and Dad
What a difference time, patience and love can make. Your early pictures of Ivanna show a child's tentaive, wary looks at two strangers. As your photo album expands Ivanna gradually becomes more animated while she cautiously allows you to be a part of the only world she has known. A great leap of faith on her part. Your "Court + 10" pictures - WOW -an unbelievable transformation. Tannis lightened one of the photos so we could see Ivanna's eyes which are shaded under the brim of her hat. Her entire sweet face, including her eyes, was alight with the joy you have brought to her life. You two are remarkable!
Have a fabulous weekend while the rest of us help with the countdown from here. Love to all of you from all of us ~ Gail & Co.
Dear Shona and Darren,
Hi there! It has been soooo long seen I've seen you but Tanis gave me this web address and said "check it out". Well I did...and WOW! Crying for joy was I....I am absolutely delighted for you and this wonderful, precious, joy-filled child. What am amazing gift to you and your whole family. Congratulations and may God's blessings continue to be rich!
Peace and love,
Allison (Moon)
Hello Shona and Darren and especially Ivanna!!
All I have to say is YAY!!!! She's gorgeous and has a fantastic smile and you're all coming home. Judging by the number of people following your blog everyday you won't have any shortage of baby sitters. I can't wait to meet her.
We have a new baby too but it hasnt been quite the emotional rollercoaster and only involved driving to Strathmore to pick him up. His name is Maverick and he can't wait to play with Ivanna.
I'll be home around July 18th. Hope to see you guys then.
Congratulations we're so happy for you. Ivanna is very lucky to have found her parents.
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