Sunday -- a good day of rest and rejuvenation

May 6 - in the outdoor shopping mall (just before Darren was told to stop taking pictures - guess by whom!)

May 5th visit with Ivanna (amazingly happy considering she can't breathe well!)

We've got the stroller - we just need our girl...

Who do you think picked which shoes?

Saturday May 5 - on the train (and it wasn't really busy - Shona had a seat!)

Happy Birthday Dad! (Neil) We hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the shawarma Jonathan is going to make. We wish we could be there to celebrate you with the family.

It is Sunday, at 2:54 here and we have just returned from church and shopping. After a GREAT sleep for me last night (I had to make up for being awake between 1 and 5 AM the night before), we woke up early-ish (either the light or my internal alarm clock seems to always wake me up around 7), and did some yoga. Then we got ready to go and headed to church. We went back to the Kiev International Bible Church. It was good to go worship and give thanks for everything that has gone on here. The more I talk to other adopting couples, the more I am so grateful for our daughter and how our process of adopting her is going/has gone. We are feeling very blessed. The music was good and we sang a song that was new to us, but quite moving and beautiful called “Still”. We’ll have to see if we can find it somewhere (or maybe Jonathan can find it???). The last line of the chorus is ‘I will be still and know that you are God’.
Anyway, after church we went to get lunch – you guessed it –shawarma (same guy as last week Jonathan). They were good (not as good as our regular guy, but still pretty yummy) – this guy puts in French fries in addition to the meat, cabbage and flatbread – very filling. Darren did well with my leftovers that I couldn’t finish though! It turns out the shopping centre Lesya told us about is at the same Metro station as the church – that was convenient! We wandered over to the other side of metro station (where the shopping center is) and wow! It’s incredible. Not only is there a 4 storey department store but outside there is stall after stall after stall of absolutely everything one could need or want for children of ANY age (Jenn Janzen – I can just see you going nuts! :) It was a bit overwhelming for us (never having shopped in a centre like that for OUR child yet.) Some stalls had strollers, others had clothes for baby girls or boys, others had shoes, others had toys….and on and on! We started by focusing on the stroller sellers (as that was our main focus of the day) – even that was overwhelming (there was probably at least 10 different places to look – not counting the department store) and who knew that there were that many different kinds of strollers out there? Lesya was certainly right about the range in costs. There were strollers ranging from cheap umbrella’s to high-end Quinny running strollers (they also had matching doll strollers – crazy!). We settled for something in the middle that should serve us well on the walks while we are here, on the journey home and when we get there (something a little smaller for when we don’t want to use our big jogger/bike trailer). Darren (as per his custom when making bigger purchases), is now second-guessing our purchase (D – I could have used a bit more time to compare… you know, it’s a bit of a sickness), but I am thrilled with it. We also bought our dear girl a couple of pair of shoes. I was quite happy to just get one pair (trying to be reasonable and all), but her Daddy fell in love with the second pair and couldn’t resist (rather unusual for him!!). I’m sure you can tell which ones he picked out (they should be great for Fall). We also spent a bit of time it the department store and picked up a couple of toys for her (for when we have her here with us) – a shape sorter that is also an elephant bucket (she likes to fill a bucket in the playroom with stuff) and some stacking cups. Nothing major and we intend to stop buying stuff now (other than some minor things like sock/tights and maybe a hat). We have heard there might be an outfit or two, and maybe a toy or two for Ivanna when we get home – so I think we’ll stop for now! We had a little sweet snack of fresh éclairs (YUMMY!!!), then headed home. It was a little crazy taking the stroller home on the Metro, but we managed fine (really all in all – we made it to and from church on the Metro – getting off at the right places and not getting lost – we’re feeling pretty good about that) and only got a couple of funny looks as we walked home with an empty stroller (mostly from younger children who were looking for the kid who was supposed to be in there). Darren is now lying down for a nap. We are going to see ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet tonight – that will be quite a treat (for only $10 each!!!!). We plan to stop for coffee/dessert at Mario’s or somewhere where the wi-fi connection works on our way home to post this – if we remember the computer this time!
Paka for now.


P.S. We are sitting in Chokoladnitsa waiting for our cocoa and dessert after the ballet which was absolutely incredible. Thank you, thank you, thank you Jonathan! Our seats were excellent and the acoustics on the ground floor amazing . It may be the last time I get Darren to a ballet (although he did enjoy it too) but for me, it was truly MAGICAL!!! It has been a good day with a fantastic end.

hi

Once again, the wi-fi connection at Mario's does not appear to be working, so we are in the boy warrior's dungeon.
We had a briefer visit with Ivanna today since she was still sick and we were confined to the foyer. She did very well (as did we, at entertaining her) for quite a while. However, eventually the four walls could not hold her and she made it out of the room (she had actually tried several times earlier in our visit). We figured it was better to have a good time than a long and excrutiating time together.
This afternoon after a little rest (Darren has managed to pick up a cold somewhere - sharing germs already!), we headed back down to St Andrew's descent (artisans area). At the bottom Darren had had enough of the crafts and crowds and headed home (apparently being sick makes him a bit cranky -- lucky Shona). Shona stayed to pick up a few things for nieces and nephews. We both made it home successfully and then went for supper.
We are both feeling a bit tired and ready for a break from our daily commute, so tomorrow we are going back to church. Shona is particularly looking forward to nearly uninterrupted English language for a couple of hours.
Have a good Saturday.

happy Friday

I love 'vaffly' - wafer cookies - like my Uncle Jonathan


Mommy looks like a dork (trying to avoid the cleavage shot), but daddy likes me laughing!


Well, we’ve just returned from our visit with Ivanna and as per our routine we are sitting down to write the blog before we go out. Darren and I have just shared a little snack of some yogurt that although the flavour looked liked raisin by the picture – was actually prunes. Interesting – not bad exactly, but lets just say I’m thinking we may not buy that flavour again! (Darren says we are not old enough yet to need prune yogurt – cereal better.) Today is a much nicer day weather wise – a tiny bit chilly this morning but by the time we left the orphanage, it was lovely outside. The sun is shining and it actually felt too warm with my multiple layers – I’ll have to ditch them for our outing this afternoon. We are thinking of lunch at Mario’s today (to shake things up a bit) and then we’ll maybe get a kuritza (chicken) for supper from the stand across the street from our apartment. We think we’ll do a bit of exploring this afternoon down towards the artisans area and the old town of Podil. As for our visit today – things continue to go so well with Ivanna it’s hard to believe. I got her on video as she came down with the nurse and Darren squatted down and opened his arms and she let go of the nurse’s hand and walked straight into her Daddy’s arms. It was pretty special. The other kids were outside playing today so we had the playroom to ourselves (MUCH quieter) as she’s still not allowed out due to her cough/cold. The chest physio in me is really wishing I had a stethoscope! I try to stealthily sneak in some percussion when she’ll let me (mostly she’s too busy playing and doesn’t want to sit still – so that’s good) as she definitely has some rattles in her chest. She remains active and playful and is eating and drinking well, so we’re trying not to get too concerned. She is a lot more active without the craziness of all the other people around and she definitely kept us moving today! We had fun. Our time with her really is the best part of our days here.
D – Yes, she is the brightest bit of our days. We keep getting more and more knit together. It is very good. She seemed to particularly enjoy being pushed around on the car today. She just grinned and rocked. It seemed like I could not go too fast for her. Good fun.
S again - We just had a GREAT conversation with Lesya (one of our facilitators). She stopped by to pick up some money for our rental of the apartment and to catch us up on some details of the process here. We are feeling elated. She is such a positive, fun and animated woman! Pretty much as soon as she walked in, she was asking for pictures of Ivanna. She also told us that many people are waiting for healthy referrals right now, and said that “the Lord knows what He is doing.” (We agree. After several years in the wilderness, we are entering a different place.) She told us that they are trying very hard for us to have our court date on TUESDAY (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but that because of the holiday on Wednesday (VE Day Celebrations), court may not be until Thursday – but ‘for sure’ at the latest it will be then. The other happy news is that the 10 day waiting period is only 10 regular days (not working days) so at the latest we will be able to take Ivanna out of the orphanage on May 21st. Also, she (Lesya) must have some connections everywhere because she also said that after our court date she would call Lufthansa and see what she could do about our flights (we explained to her about the fact that our flights are booked on points and she just said she would tell them her name, that it was related to adoption and give our name and see what she could do!!! As long as we already have tickets, she figures she may be able to do something. Cool.). They need a few days after we take Ivanna out of the orphanage to complete her passport, other papers and Canadian Visa too – but we’ll see – we may be home sooner than originally thought. We had many questions answered by Lesya and are feeling much more relaxed about the whole process (like the fact that they will come with us to the Embassy to bring her Visa application – and that we will meet with a worker there to answer our questions about the form – we’ve been wondering about a few things on the form and are relieved to find that we’ll have some help with it – how do people who don’t speak/understand English well ever get to our country???). Lesya also told us about a place to go shopping for kids’ stuff that is much more reasonable that the Ykraina mall down the street (rather trendy and spendy there). It’s on our Metro line (for Jonathan – at the Darnitsa station) so we’ll probably go looking for a stroller there sometime in the next few days (we had found one at a shop in Boyarka – but it is no longer on display outside the shop so I think it was sold). Anyway, all in all it is a great day (and it’s only half over although the second half is definitely the half I’m finding harder and long).
Jonathan: Lesya also asked about you. She thought you were staying the whole time. So did we. When are you going to show up again? You should have no trouble finding us. :) (by the way we have our favorite waitress today!)

a little bit of news...

last evening in the botanical gardens

Statue of Shevchenko

hmmm interesting!

pointing at a sunflower hanging on the wall

notice any similarities between mother and daughter? (hey - what's going on down there?)

Hello. We just returned from the orphanage, grocery store, and shawarma stand. We have full bellies and are relaxing a bit before Slava and Vadim pick us up to do some running around (to the social worker and then attorney – we are not exactly sure what is going to happen, but we are supposed to come just in case we are needed. It is not exactly a transparent process, and we are learning to just relax and do what is asked of us).
Last evening after leaving the chocolate café, we went for a long walk in the botanical gardens (which should look amazing in a couple of weeks), then along Shevshenko blvd to Shevshenko park and back home. It was really nice to be out strolling with many others just kind of enjoying the evening. It reminded me a lot of home. We watched a little tv and then read together before heading to bed.
This morning we had nice chats with Tanis, Jonathan, and Shona’s parents. It is great to feel so connected to home, and wonderful that it is so easy to communicate. As per usual, we left around 8:30 and walked to the train station. We rode in a car towards the back of the train and were able to sit, which was nice, although in some ways it is more comfortable to stand (not much padding on my bum – or the seat).
We arrived at the orphanage a little after the Italian couples and a bit before the French and American couples. After a brief wait, a caregiver brought Ivanna up to us. She is seeming to really enjoy hugging her mom (as well as hugging me too, but really, Shona is the big hugger in our family). We alternated between time in the room (we’ve probably given you a decent idea of the level of energy and sound pressure in there) and walks down the hall to see the many stuffed animals on a couch there as well as the fish tank. Ivanna still has quite a cold and does not seem able to breathe through her nose much. Despite this, she was still really interested in everything today (when she is watching someone or something, it is really hard to get her attention – kind of reminds me of some of her cousins).
Shona had a chat with one of the mothers and heard a bit about their adoption journey here. After two unsuccessful referrals (and around 7 weeks), things appear to be nearly finalized for them. Once again we are reminded of how blessed we are. We’ll write more after our errands this afternoon.
So we are back from the running around. We (Darren and I) sat in the car while Slava picked up documents from the social worker, dropped off documents and chatted with the lawyer (he didn’t need to talk to us after all) and then stopped by the bank to pay court fees. Slava did have a copy of some paperwork we needed to fill out for DCRE (Department of community Resource and Employment) back home so we were able to fill it out, sign it and leave it with her to fax back to Rodica (our agency representative in Ontario) who will forward it to Michelle (our social worker at DCRE). Things are slowly progressing. Slava told us she and Vadim will come out to the orphanage with us on Tuesday to pick up one more document then she thinks we will (hopefully) have our court date on Thursday (May 10th). She said we would likely know for sure on Tuesday. That would be fantastic. We are not clear on whether the 10 day waiting period after the court date is 10 days or 10 working days – but either way, we should be home on May 30th (and maybe even before if flights can be changed)! We are feeling… quite happy, relieved, hopeful, joyful, thankful and excited...but also are remaining a bit guarded. With our experiences in the last several years, we are still both somewhat hesitant to get our hopes too set on anything. We are trying to trust that everything will work out and that we will very shortly (in the grand scheme of things) officially be Ivanna’s parents. What a privilege that will be. We are so blessed to call her daughter.

A cold start to a beautiful day.

kisses

driving with daddy

I love my bananas!

Now that is a delicious looking hunk of meat - our shawarma guy preparing our lunch!

Our shawarma lunch

Good morning! We have just returned from the orphanage, having stopped for a shawarma on the way home. Our bellies are full of goodness. It is cold today, and as we woke up and looked outside, we noticed that it was sort-of snowing/sleeting. Not really heavily, but there was certainly white stuff swirling through the air and it was NOT flowers off the trees! So I dressed in ALL the long sleeved clothes (shirt, light sweater and zip up sweater then my spring coat) I still have here (I sent some things home with Jonathan foolishly thinking spring had sprung and I wouldn’t need them!). I was still cold – the wind was quite nasty this morning. On a happy note, the train wasn’t busy at all and we actually got to sit down AND were able to get out of our seats and off at our stop without difficulty. That was nice. The funniest (at least for me) part of the trip out there happened when Darren, who was carrying a few things in his backpack – including a new toy we had bought Ivanna that plays various tunes with button options for the child to add percussion and other instruments – happened to hit some of the buttons for the music to play…repeatedly. I had a hard time not laughing each time I could hear ‘old McDonald’ or some other tune floating out of his bag. He got some funny looks from other passengers! Note to self: buy toys with an OFF button.
Our time with Ivanna goes far too quickly. She is definitely attaching too us more and more – which is so wonderful. When the nurse brought her down today, I squatted down and opened my arms and she walked right to me and threw her little arms around my neck. We snuggled for quite a while and it was sooooo nice. Only the four Italian couples were there today, but all their kids are older (probably 3-5 years old) and boys – oh and have we mentioned before – they are all somewhat….active? Someone at the orphanage found the key for the playroom upstairs though, so the chaos was a little more bearable today (more toy options and more soft surfaces!). Ivanna had a blast riding around (being pushed alternately by Daddy and Mama) in a ride-on car. We also played with various noisy (cause and effect) toys, her musical toy (she likes music) and for a long time with a stack of rings. She would often stop to just watch the other kids. We so look forward to her getting to know her cousins and other little friends back home.
The train ride home was quite busy – people must be returning from their long weekend out of town. As we were squashed onto the entry area of the train by more aggressive people behind us, Darren’s bag began to sing again. I couldn’t stop the giggles. (D – I liked to think of it as my personal-space alarm. As it was constantly going off, I took off my backpack. No buffer zone today) We eventually got seats as we got closer to downtown Kyiv and found it slightly warmer on the walk home. I have figured out an advantage to the crazy crush of people on a busy train though…it is warm. That was the only time so far today that I was warm (when I was smooshed up against the wall with lots of people surrounding me) – that is my silver lining/glass half full thought for the day! Anyway, it is Darren’s turn to add his thoughts.

Thoughts…? Not too many to add, except that Shona and I remarked that we are feeling reasonably comfortable today. At least our oft-visited areas (the walk to the train, our store, our shawarma kiosk, the walk home, our apartment, Mario’s,…) are feeling a bit more homey. We may actually get through this. In fact, as Jonathan said before he left, soon we will be counting down to coming home, rather than counting up from leaving. That’s a nice thought.

After doing a little work on my thesis (I need to graduate someday) and doing a little pilates with Shona (apparently there's a reason we haven't done that DVD for a while - she's a nasty gumby), we ventured out into a much warmer and sunny day. We are now at Shocoladitsa (you can guess what they serve). Shona is in a little bit of heaven. It's definitely a bit more upscale from Mario's (I think our drinks and one dessert will come to about the same as an entire meal at our pizza place). But, as Shona says, change is good (note that I am quoting Shona there. I am always happy to stick with a tried-and-true).

S - yes, it is nice to have a place that (hopefully) has good chocolate desserts! Also good to have wi-fi at another location so the Mario's servers don't get too sick of us and our computer. We think we will actually cook something for supper tonight - yes we CAN do it!

Ok - we tried the chocolate cake with ganache icing - YUMMY!

Until later, paka.

a crazy but great day...

Good morning. It is quite cold here today and I (Shona) am regretting sending my leather coat home with Jonathan. Who would have thought that it would be 6 degrees with a chilly, brisk wind on May 1st? We have had a wonderful morning. The train this morning has left us without any humorous stories – it was quite calm today. While there wasn’t room for us to have seats – we had plenty of elbow and breathing room today. That was a good start to the day. When we got to the orphanage, we could hear plenty of noise coming from the inside. It was chaos inside and all of the children in process of adoption weren’t down from their rooms yet! We asked for Ivanna and someone else’s interpreter helped us a bit (to tell the receptionist which group she is in). Many of the children have colds and because of the cool temperatures, no one was going outside. We sat back and watched the other people until Ivanna came down. There were (we think) 5 Italian couples, an American couple and us (we’ve also met a couple of other American couples and a German couple on other days). There were several older siblings running around as well as a few interpreters. The room is filled with hard surfaces and so the noise seemed to just escalate. Many of the children are boys who are VERY hyperactive. I found it overwhelming so it’s not surprising that when Ivanna came down she spent much of her time sitting and watching the other kids (looking curious but a bit stunned!). We are pretty sure she is the youngest of the children being adopted. I did not expect that she (nor I) would be able to tolerate to noise and chaos for long but she surprised us and the chaos eventually subsided as many of the children went back to their groups after about an hour and 15 minutes. We spent most of our time, sitting on the floor, reading books, having various snacks, colouring, and watching other kids. Besides the chaos surrounding us, she seems a bit sicker today – quite a chesty cough, lots of snot and a bit of a fever – so she seemed quite content to sit and play. Near the end of our time we looked out the window a bit and then it seemed she just wanted to snuggle. We got some precious smiles and finally got them on camera! I could have just spend the whole day snuggling her. Alas, it was time to go, so we took her up to her group. Although we haven’t been given a tour yet – I was snoopy and had a quick look in the rooms as we went by. Once in her little area, the first room on the left is a bathroom that is filled with little potty’s in a row. The first room on the right is their bedroom – filled with wee little toddler beds (so apparently she sleeps in a bed!). The last room on the right is their play room where we dropped her off. The kids (could we take them all home?) in her group swarmed to the door as we knocked and opened it. It was nice to see her run in with confidence to the kids and caregivers she knows. We are hoping at some point, to be able to spend some time with her when she is with her group. I’ve also got a ton of questions in my head I want to ask her caregivers – hopefully we’ll get the chance yet. Anyway – because of the cold we haven’t decided how we’ll spend the rest of our day. We had wanted to head in to the city centre to see what was going on today, but it’s kind of chilly for hanging around outside. We may head down to the Ykraina Mall (which is only 3 blocks away) as we could get out and about but still stay a little bit warmer.

Tuesday's pics

It's really loud in here and mommy is losing it!

Playing in the orphanage entryway - arghh!
(notice the action in the background - that never stopped!)

Fun with Daddy


Cuddles with mama.