Ups and Downs our First Couple of Weeks Home

For Unto Us a Child is Born....Unto us a son is given...


Jesus is the reason for the season

The first couple of weeks home have been emotional, challenging, stressful and rewarding all at the same time. The main challenges when we first brought Andrew home (3 years ago) were eating and sleeping. He was too young for the terrible two stage as some might call it, therefore, the worst adjustments we faced with him since he was only 18 months old was eating and sleeping. Since Andrew has had us all to himself for 3 years he has been acting out either with the boys or with us in one way or another. We realize that it's typical behavior of a first child to act out since his brothers came home but we are open to any suggestions anyone is willing to offer.

It's been an adjustment for all of us these past couple of weeks, however, we are working through teaching our sons,(2 of which don't understand English) to be civil to one another(meaning No Fighting), share their toys, listen to their parents, and that the house is not a gymnasium. I feel like a referee trying to keep the boys from fighting, teasing and keeping them from getting hurt. At times I have found the boys in a headlock pulling each others hair, bitting each other, fists being thrown, and or kicking each other which usually is over a toy, hat or something that the other brother has that they want. It's not just one of them...all 3 of them have taken part in this behavior one way or another. Lord help!!! Please keep our family in prayer for wisdom, peace, unity and love to be expressed to each other.

I must say each day seems to get easier than the last so I praise God for that! I do my best to show as much love, attention and affection to Steven, Andrew and Evan each and every day. We have no favorites in our home and I think by now they all realize that. They are starting to play better with each other and are finding out that they are actually enjoying it. Here are a few pictures of the boys playing nicely together.

All aboard the Choo Choo Train!

Pull us faster, Steven!

I must say that I am proud of Andrew dealing with his new brothers picking through his toys in his room and taking ownership to their favorites. Andrew has on the most part been very easy going in sharing MOST (keyword) of his toys. The first few days the whole house had a stream of toys flowing from Andrew's room through the living room and down the hall to Steven and Evan's room. Steven and Evan kept going into Andrew's room to see what else they could drag through the house and hide and their room. Finally I told Steven and Evan that they had to clean up the toys and Andrew's room. They weren't too happy about that but they have to learn just like all of us that we have to clean up our own messes.

A couple of nights before the New Year we took the boys and Mom Mom and Aunt Alyssa to a local town that has a small community of homes decorated to the max with lights and many movable characters. The boys thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a nice family outing for the holidays. It was nice to get out of the house and for them to have an enjoyable evening out as a family. Here are some pictures of our outing.


Our 3 little soldiers

Andrew the reindeer


Evan the Reindeer

Steven the Reindeer

New Year's Eve me and the boys made cookies to give away to some friends for the holidays. I figured that I need to keep our sons focused on something productive and fun and fun did they have. It was also a good vocabulary building activity for Steven and Evan since I held up different ingredients and cooking utensils and ask for them to repeat what the item was that I was holding and saying. They all had a ball cutting out the cookies with cookie cutters, mixing the ingredients, decorating the cookies with sprinkles or (should I say eating as many sprinkles that didn't land on the cookies) and of course eating a few of their masterpieces after they were done cooking. Here are a few pictures of Steven and Evan making their first cookies.

"C" is for Cookie....it's good enough to eat.


Steven, Andrew and Evan New Year's Eve making cookies

Merry Christmas! We're Home!

Christmas Morning. From our home to yours We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! And a merry one it was. Boy are we glad to be home with our sons and for Christmas no less. Praise the Lord!

It was a long day traveling. We left Ukraine around 12:30pm. All three boys behaved so well on the first flight. We had a 3 hour layover in Paris, which was a bit challenging trying to keep all three boys in one spot for three hours. Thank God the airport had a play area near the gate where we were waiting for our airplane. We thought for sure that they would sleep as soon as they got on the airplane....NOT. They were just more exhausted since they didn't have a nap. The boys didn't want to eat their dinner on the plane and didn't fall asleep until the last 3-4 hours of the flight. Just as we were landing in JFK airport Robert said that we had an issue. I didn't know what he was talking about at first until he told me to grab one of the paper bags in one of the seats in front of me because Steven was getting sick. I guess his stomach was a bit nervous from the plane getting ready to land. Thank goodness it was only liquid that came up since he didn't eat his dinner.

We made our way through customs with no issues and were extremely happy to see Robert's Dad waiting for us at the airport. Robert had all of our luggage on a cart and I had all 3 of our sons holding my hands walking them through baggage. As soon as Andrew saw PopPop he dropped my hand and ran up to give him a hug. I think Steven and Evan recognized his picture from our photo album since they smiled at him as PopPop said hello and tostled their hair. Thanks Dad and Mom for all you've done taking care of our house, managing our bills, resurfacing our tub and picking us up at the airport and bringing us home!!! You're the best!!!

We made it back to our house about 2:00am Christmas morning. Robert and I had very little sleep on the planes, however, since the boys slept about 6 hours between the plane and the car ride home they were wide awake when we got back to the house. My Mom and sister, Marli surprised us with a Christmas tree in our living room and some gifts underneath it. We were all tickled to see the Christmas tree or "Yalinka" as Steven and Evan call it. I was hoping for a Christmas tree. Thanks Mom and Marli for the Christmas tree, presents, and for the mattress for Steven's bed! You're the best! I told the boys to wait until morning to open the presents, therefore, Steven and Evan took over some of Andrew's ride on firetruck and dump truck.

After playing on Andrew's trucks we showed them down the hall and took one look at Andrew's room and started going through his toys. Surprisingly, Andrew was okay with them rooting through his toy box. Steven found some toys he liked and immediately took them into his room and hid them in the cubby hole in his bed. Steven then went back into Andrew's room to find more toys that he could hide in his bed. Evan was doing the same thing, however, Evan would hold onto as many toys as he possibly could and still stretch to grasp another toy, even though his arms were full. (Thanks Cousin Karen for the youth bed for Steven, for the presents for the boys and for helping my Mom set up the bed when we were away. It certainly made Steven feel welcome upon our arrival home.

We finally all went to bed between 3-4:00am Christmas morning. We all woke up believe it or not at 8:30am. It felt good to get some sleep, however, we were so excited to get up and spend some time with our families after not seeing them for a month and a half.

Evan cuddling with his new doggie.

My Mom, sister and brother arrived with a breakfast cassarole, fruit salad, juice and coffee. With only a few hours sleep it was such a blessing to not have to think about fixing food for the family. The boys had a great time opening up their gifts, playing with their new toys and spending time with our family.

Nana teaching her grandsons to play the piano softly

At one point, Steven and Evan discovered the piano. Andrew, Steven and Evan hopped on the piano bench and started playing the piano. My Mom was showing them how to play the keys softly opposed to banging on the keys. When I was taking pictures of the 3 boys sitting on the piano bench, it reminded me of the vision the Lord gave me in February of 2004. I saw 3 young children (all around the same age), not biologically my children sitting on a piano bench reaching their arms out to me at the same time and calling me Mama. At the time of the vision we didn't have a piano (we recenty inherited it from Robert's late Uncle Armond). I knew from the vision that the Lord was leading us to adopt our children. It's interesting to see how the Lord works everything out for good for those that love Him.

We spent the afternoon with Robert's family for Christmas dinner and gift giving. During the drive over to Robert's parent's house, Robert tuned the radio to a station with Christmas tunes. The boys were quietly taking in their surroundings as I listened to the radio. As I listened to a song called, "Christmas Carol", by Brookes and Dunn I started getting all emotional. The song was about a girl that was born on Christmas day named Christmas Carol. The lyrics talked about that she didn't know who her Daddy was and her Mama left a while ago and all she wanted for Christmas was someone to love and care for her. I had never heard the song before but being it was our first day home with our sons, Christmas day with our families for the first time in over a month, knowing our sons background and being around many orphan children over the past month the song got to me. Yes, I got all choked up and emotional just listening to the song. I pray that all the orphans in this world find their forever families.

Steven and Evan playing ball with Uncle Rich

Andrew in Santas Hat

It was so wonderful to see and spend time with both of our families. When we arrived at Mom Moms and Pop Pops house I told Steven and Evan to say "Hello" to everyone in English when we walked in the door. They said they understood and surprised everyone when we walked in by saying hello to them in English. Steven, Andrew and Evan had a blast playing ball with their Uncle Rich and wrestling with cousin Billy besides opening their gifts. Evan really took to his cousin Nicole. He was running to her and she would pick him up and throw him in the air. Boy did they have fun...so much so they didn't want to stop to eat. Andrew was excited to see all of his cousins and had fun playing with his cousin Julia.

Both families are thrilled with Steven and Evan joining our family. They all were surprised at how smart, coordinated, active, on-task for their age, and adorable they are. They loved listening to them talk with such enthusiasm, even they couldn't understand them. It was the best Christmas ever....a dream come true. Thank you, Lord!

First Day as a Family of Five - Let's Celebrate!

WHOO WHOO!!! We'll be home for Christmas!! The Dancing Millilo Family.

Celebrate Good Times Come On….There’s a Party going on right here…a celebration to last throughout the years….okay I think you all have figured out how I love to sing….heheehe.

Alla informed us that on December 19th is a special holiday for the kids in the orphanages. She said it is St. Nicholas day where they honor the actual Saint Nicholas. The children in the orphanage wake up to a small gift under their pillow from St. Nicholas. So we surprised the kids with a mid size matchbox car under each of their pillows this morning. The boys were thrilled and happy about their gifts.

After breakfast we got ready to go out around lunchtime to get some exercise and burn some energy. Before we left the apartment we got a call from Alla telling us that the boys’ passports are completed. This is what we’ve been waiting for to get completed so we can get home before Christmas. WHOO!! WHOO!!! Praise the Lord!!! Alla brought up when we adopted Andrew and when back then the passport only took about an hour to process and how after we got it we were dancing in the streets because we knew we could leave for home in the next couple of days. Well she said that we can dance again since the passports are done……Praise the Lord…we are going home next week!!!!! Later this evening we booked flights for Christmas Eve arriving around 9:05pm in JFK. We’re going home…We’re going home…We’re going home!!! Just a little excited…=)


My first french fry

Today after receiving the news from Alla, we then took a ride to the beautiful church we see everyday. We stopped and walked around the grounds and inside the church. It had beautiful murals of Jesus and his disciples all over the inside walls and insides of the domes of the church. Some of the railings and alter were gold in color framing the murals beautifully. After taking pictures and visiting the church we made our way to McDonalds for lunch. All 3 boys were happy as larks when we arrived at McDonalds and received a balloon each on a stick. We get all kinds of funny looks the few other times we’ve been at McDonalds. We stick out like sore thumbs for sure in McDonalds speaking Ukrainian and English to our sons. This was Steven’s and Evan’s first McDonalds visit. They were very happy and ate most of their food and played with their balloons and happy meal toys. After we finished eating, I told Steven and Evan that it was time to go pee pee, “Para Peesit”. Steven and Evan said that they didn’t have to go, however, I was going to take Evan anyway, but he was insistent that he didn’t have to go…”No vada peesit”. So since Andrew had to go I took him and then came back and started putting on my coat to leave. Robert had then took Evan’s coat and told him in English that it was time to go and was going to help him put on his coat. Just then, our first McDonald’s experience for the boys ended in a scene of Evan, crying and persistently saying louder and louder….”No VADA PEESIT”…NO VADA PEESIT”….”No VADA PEESIT”!!!! (I don’t want to pee) Evan wouldn’t cooperate to get his coat on for Robert therefore I took over and tried to calm him down as I quickly put his coat on. He was crying and saying “No VADA PEESIT” very loudly over and over again until we made got into the taxi. The older woman “babushka” that was sitting in the table next to ours was witnessing the whole scene and had a little smirk on her face. It’s funny now that we can look back on it but at the time it wasn’t. We tried to explain to him that we were going back to the apartment in the taxi and that we were not taking him to pee. Too Funny….I’ll never look at McDonalds the same again.

We are happy kids

After we got back to the apartment Robert put on some music and all five of us took Alla’s suggestion and danced, twirled each other around, and the boys had fun bouncing all over the sofa together(our landlord said it was okay). We were determined to get them worn out for this evening and it’s really too cold for playing outside…especially being that Evan was sick last week. Let me just tell you…we all, even Robert were up dancing and having fun.....jamming to the beat and dancing with each other and celebrating our family coming together and that we’ll be home on the evening of Christmas Eve…..God is so GOOD!!! Thank you Jesus!! He is never early or never late…but always right on time.

Our Family is Complete - Picking up Evan

First Family Photo

Before picking up Evan we had a few errands to run, so as we were doing our errands we took Steven and Andrew to see a church in Cherkasy just to take pictures and also to the WWII Lady of Victory Monument that was on the highest point of a large hill overlooking the Dnipro river. We all got out to take some pictures of the monument as well as climbed the hill in 5 degrees F weather. The boys were thrilled to climb the hill and seeing the statue up close. It was a beautiful view overlooking the river and the city below. Too bad it was so cold out. We didn’t stay long, just enough time to take a few pictures and climb the hill. Mama was getting a bit nervous being up so high and having to climb down a rocky hill to get down, but we all made it down in one piece. Here are a few pictures.


Lady Victory

After Evan’s nap we went to pick him up from the orphanage. When we got there Evan didn’t want Mama to dress him therefore, his caretaker dressed him for us and snapped some photos for us. I figured he was still a little sleepy from his nap. One of Evan’s teachers, Miss Oxona is such a sweet lady. She has such a soothing voice and always is so sweet with the children. You can tell she really loves the children and Evan especially loves her. She gave him a stuffed toy for him to take with him to remember her by. She told him to be a good boy and to hold Mama’s hand. We thanked them all for taking such good care of Evan and Miss Oxona and another caretaker walked us out and said one last goodbye.

Just then, our family of five walked to our apartment building, which is the building next to the orphanage. Evan didn’t want to hold my hand therefore, Andrew, Steven and I walked behind him as Papa took some pictures.

Paka Paka Orphanage

Once we got back to the apartment, we had a little party to celebrate our family day. We broke out the balloons, juice, cookies and candy. Surprisingly the boys didn’t like the cookies but ate the piece of chocolate we gave them and chugged their juice (both Evan and Steven). It’s funny, no matter what liquid you give them, they won’t pry it away from their mouths to take a breather, they’ll chug the whole glass like they are in a contest. We discovered that Evan is our little eating machine. He will eat and eat and then just when you think he is done, I’ll ask one of the other boys if they want a banana and before they could answer, Evan says, ”Da” or yes. Both Robert and I have to laugh because he is like this all day and night long. If I’m in the kitchen cooking something, Evan will be the one to come in to see what Mama is doing and hoping I’ll give him a snack or a drink. He is too cute.

Steven and Evan getting reacquanted as brothers

We all played together in the apartment and it was sweet to see Evan and Steven chat away and giving each other their opinions about whatever. Evan discovered the light switches in the apartment and all night long he was turning them off and on over and over again. If there were anyone looking at our window from outside I’m sure they thought we had a few screws loose. Steven also was playing with a crank up flashlight of mine that we brought with us. He played with that flashlight for the past two days, turning it off and on and taking it everywhere he went. I made some memories on video of them talking about their balloons and the light switch of course.

The last couple of days it’s been a bit over stimulating for the two of them, since everything is new and different from what they were used to. Now we understand why at the orphanages the light switches are about 6 feet from the ground on the wall. LOL…it all makes sense now. Steven was cute how he was making Evan laugh by acting goofy every time the Leap Pad made a goofy sound.


Mama and Evan

Steven figured out how to work the remote control and wouldn’t give it up, Evan is very possessive about his tooth brush and wants to hold it and guard it from Mommy putting it in the bathroom….he walks around the apartment brushing his teeth, both Steven and Evan keep playing with the microwave, the wonderful light switches that turn off when you don’t want them too (while I’m cooking, bathroom time, or blow drying my hair in the bedroom)….and this is just a simple one bedroom apartment….I know what you all are thinking…just wait until we get home. Our family memories that will last a lifetime.

As I was getting Steven’s bath ready, Evan was in the bathroom with me wondering what I was doing. I showed him the water and asked him if he wanted to get a bath. At first he said yes, therefore, I started to take off his clothes and then he kept saying in a nervous voice, No Vada, No Vada, No Vada…..over and over again. Since it was his first night, I didn’t want to scare him by giving him a bath (they are used too just a quick rinse off with a shower nozzle). From what I’ve read, some newly adopted children get scared when they have their first bath, so I didn’t want to push it the first night. So Steven got in the tub and was having a good ole time flipping around in the tub as I washed him. Evan was watching from a distance and smiling and the next night he was all into getting a bath with his brother Steven. They had a ball splashing around and getting wet and Evan screamed bloody murder when it was time to get him out. He carried on until after he was dressed and in the other room.

Slumber Party

Bedtime was a blast as well. One memory we won’t forget of our first night together as a family. Let’s just say the boys (all 3 of them) didn’t want to go to bed. We didn’t have any issues the last 2 nights with Steven and Andrew but, OH WHAT A NIGHT WE HAD. I’ve been using the phrases out of this book we purchased to help us communicate with the boys called “Ukrainian Phrases for the Adopted Child”. So when it came to bedtime, I found out how to say, “It’s time to sleep”, which is “Para Spát”. I told them that it’s time to sleep and was going to put them down in the bedroom, until Evan was so upset he was crying so loud, “No Vada Spát” over and over again. Oh my goodness, what a persistent little boy we have. I told Robert to take him in the living room to put him down while I put Steven and Andrew to sleep in the bedroom. Well it was over after I did that, because then Steven and Andrew started crying and refusing to sit or lay down on the bed. I guess they figured since Evan was causing a scene and got his way out of the bedroom, they will too. After about an hour and getting no where, we took them all out of the bedroom and they all wanted to lay on the floor and watch some television. We figured maybe if they keep calm they might go to sleep, but this didn’t work either…the 3 of them were soon up bouncing around again, so back to the bedroom they went and finally fell asleep around 1:30am.

Our First Day as a Family with Steven

Our first morning together, we all woke up about the same time. I was sure to get Steven’s schedule from the orphanage director before we left there so I knew what times he is used to eating and napping as well as bedtime. He is not used to eating when he first wakes up like we are, therefore, he was just staring at his cereal bowl as the rest of us were eating. I figured it was either too early for him to eat or that he wasn’t used to cereal. I realized when he wouldn’t drink even the glass of milk that he is used to drinking milk warm and not cold. Before bedtime last night I warmed up the milk and he and Andrew had a chugging contest to see who would finish their milk first. Therefore, I realized when he pushed the milk away from him after feeling the temperature of the glass that he wanted it warmed up. Once I warmed it up he then drank it. Since he is used to warm milk, he then probably doesn’t like cold cereal. He did eat about half of the cereal though, which surprised me since it was a while before he even touched it. I figured I should give him some warm oatmeal in the morning instead, since he is probably used to something warm in his belly in the morning.

After breakfast, Robert put a dvd of Disney’s songs on the television as I was finishing putting on my makeup. For the next 30 minutes or so Steven would run up to the bathroom where I was and jump up and down and say, “Mama, Dveitza! Dveitza!” over and over again and would wave his hand like come here until I ran into the living room where he led me into to see the dvd of “It’s a Small World After All” being played. Then he would exclaim, “Papa, Dveitza! Dveitza!” And then point to the television and ramble something else in Ukrainian. He is so precious. All day he was so excited with everything that he saw in and around town as we were driving in the taxi that he would say, “Dveitza” and then point to a bus or “Dveitza” and then point to something else. It was like he was seeing everything for the first time in real life opposed to in a book or on television.

After picking up some gifts for Evan’s caretakers, orphanage director, doctors and lawyers of the orphanage we made our way to Evan’s orphanage. Once we got there we went to see Evan in his groupa. When Evan saw us he came running and hugged and kissed Robert and I. Alla explained to Evan’s groupa teacher that Steven is Evan’s older biological brother. She was happy to see both boys being adopted by us and then asked Evan who is his brother? Evan went running over to Andrew and tapped Andrew on the shoulder. It seems to me that Evan doesn’t remember Steven either.

Evan’s orphanage director, Valentina, asked us if we would pick Evan up tomorrow instead of today since she wanted him to have an extra day of medication. So we agreed and will pick him up tomorrow. It was lunchtime when we arrived, therefore, couldn’t have a party with his groupa to celebrate. We had to say our goodbyes to Evan until tomorrow. As soon as we said, “Paka” (Bye), Evan started crying. We didn’t have anytime to play with him and he was upset we were leaving again and probably missed us yesterday since we were running around getting our paperwork finished all day. Well it is good to see that Evan misses us and is attached to us already, but it was heartbreaking to see him cry and not be able to take him now. Until tomorrow.

Picking up our son Steven

After running around and getting the boys birth certificates changed, naming us as their parents and changing their names the to the names we gave them, we headed to the store to purchase some gifts for Steven’s caretakers, the orphanage director, doctors and lawyers at the orphanage. We only had time to pick Steven up today from the orphanage, therefore, either Wednesday or Thursday we will pick Evan up. We’ll see what Evan’s orphanage director says since he was sick with bronchitis last week and might still be on medication for it.

Once we got to the orphanage, we thanked the orphanage director and Steven’s teachers and caretakers and took a few pictures before we had to head off to the passport department before they closed for the day to get Steven’s and Evan’s picture taken so we could apply for their passports. We are under a time constraint since we are pushing to get home on or before Christmas, therefore we are making the most of every minute.

Once we got to the passport department, Nicolai went to the Evan’s orphanage to pick him and a caretaker of his up to bring them to the passport department as well. I was very curious to see if the boys remembered each other as they haven’t seen each other in about a year and a half. Once Evan arrived, I video taped the reunion of the boys. To my surprise, neither of them remembered each other. I guess they were too young to remember each other.

Grandfather Frost

Steven in Sleigh

Oh Christmas Tree

After getting their passport pictures taken and the passports applications completed and turned in we headed off to take Steven and Andrew to the huge Christmas tree in the center of town. Steven was so thrilled with seeing the Christmas tree and all of the other lights and decorations. The way he expressed his excitement as he was speaking Ukrainian was just so precious. We didn’t understand a word he said verbally but certainly understood his excitement of seeing the Christmas lights for the first time. Steven also jumped up and down as he saw the lighted Grandfather Frost (like our Santa Claus). He ran right over to it and said, “Look, it’s Grandfather Frost,” in Ukrainian of course. We took some pictures and then made our way to a restaurant to get something to eat. Robert and I were both amazed at how much Stephen ate. He ate enough for 2 adults. Robert told Alla to tell him if he’s full that he can stop eating. Alla said that in the orphanage they are taught to clear their plates. She asked him if he wanted to stop eating and he said that he wasn’t full and he wanted to continue eating. Since we always have issues with Andrew eating his meals, I made a point to praise Steven for eating his food. As soon as I did, Andrew started eating again and made a point to get my attention by saying, “Look Mama, I’m eating too.” So I then made a point to praise Andrew as well for eating his food. It seems to me that Steven will be a good influence on Andrew since Andrew has been mimicking him with everything. He wants to do everything Steven does or doesn’t do.



We then made our way home and got settled in for the night. To my surprise, we didn’t have any issues with bedtime or during the night. It was a long day for all of us and by the time we got home it was time for bed.

Country Road to the Birth Certificate Office

Country Road, Take Me Home to the Place where I belong……Mountain Mama, Take me home…..Country Road. Okay now that I got you all singing…..here’s is how our day went today on a country road.

Tuesday morning we left early to make our way to the birth certificate office which was approximately 2 and a half hours away. It was very cold today, approximately 10° F. We traveled down the main highway in Cherkasy, which to me and Robert was more of a country road. Nicolai was driving approximately 120 km/hour on the bumpy, curvy roads. We were all very tired since we were up late last night and got up real early this morning so we were trying to nap as we are holding onto each other each time we went around a sharp turn or when Nicolai had to swerve or stop on a dime to avoid hitting the crossing turkeys, geese, roosters, chickens, dogs, cats, rodents and people walking and riding their bicycles to work. It was a very interesting drive to and from the birth certificate office in the district where Steven and Evan were born. There were not many street signs once we got off of the main road, which really made Robert and I wonder how Nicolai found his way.

Once we arrived at the birth certificate office we all waited for Alla in the car as she was taking care of business for about an hour and a half. We knew that once Alla was back in town that it’s business before pleasure, which means we need to hurry up with the documents and then we will get some food. Because of this I made sure I took plenty of snacks for us all to munch on as we waited.

On our way back from the birth certificate office we traveled down the country road again, but this time Nicolai stopped on a dime as he swerved over to the side of the road and stopped the car. Of course, the dramatic stop alerted us to look around to see what was going on. We noticed a flat bed truck with some greenery on top of it approaching us and it was moving really slow. There were people walking behind the truck and a small band playing instruments as they were walking behind them and then some police cars, an ambulance and a car with a priest in it that followed the people walking. Here it was a funeral procession with an open casket on the flat bed with the person propped up in a lounge position in 10° F weather as she was laying in the open casket with a few family members mourning over her as they were sitting on the flat bed truck. Okay, now I think I’ve seen it all. It is customary for other cars on the road to pull over to the side and stop so when they past our vehicle we got a close up of the whole procession and the lady that past on. This will be one memory that will be remembered for a while.

Bonding with Steven

Vocabulary Lessons

Over the past few days we were allowed to spend an extra hour a day visiting Steven since we are not allowed to visit Evan because of his cold. It’s been nice to spend 2hours a day with Steven rather than just an hour that we’ve had since we’ve been in Cherkasy. The hour always flew by and never seemed like enough time. Since we’ve had some extra time with Steven we have been playing games with him that would get him more familiar with the English language. We have a doodle drawing board that I would have him draw different objects from the picture cards that we have. As I hold up a card with an object on it I repeat the name of the object as he would draw it on his doodle pad. Steven doesn’t mimic us when we say a word over and over like Evan does, but he will catch on quick enough.

Steven is very active and loves to play with balls, balloons, cars, and just like Evan and Andrew, he loves to climb. The director, Maria, of the orphanage wants us to keep him as calm as possible since a couple of days when we returned him to his groupa he was sweating. She is afraid he will get sick right before we take him out of the orphanage, therefore, she has asked us to keep him from being so active.

So we have been doing the best we can to keep him calm by putting Legos together with him, painting ornaments for our Christmas tree, putting Christmas decorations together, putting jigsaw puzzles together, playing with the LeapPad and we have also brought our computer to show him a 30 minute educational dvd. We are teaching him to count in English, along with the dvd. As we count in English he counts in Ukrainian/Russian. He is saying Hello, Bye, Please, Yummy, Mama, Papa and Andrew in English. It’s adorable when he says Andrew’s name because he rolls the “r” in Andrew’s name.

As soon as one activity ends, Steven is up running around, climbing on and under the furniture and Andrew is right behind him. As soon as this happens we do our best to distract the boys and lead them into the next activity. It’s a little difficult to keep 4 and 5 year old boys still, therefore, the last 10 minutes we just let them play. Andrew and Steven had a ball playing together and hiding under the youth beds.


Gone Fishing

Two Peas in a Pod


Silly Boys


Mirror Image

Robert bought a remote controlled Shelby Mustang car that has the controls on a watch. Alla showed him the price that equaled $20.00 US dollars and Robert just smiled and said that he wanted to buy it anyway. Robert being the kid himself, especially when it has to do with Shelby Cobras or Mustangs cars used the excuse of Andrew and Steven when he bought the car. Of course, I knew differently and had to smile. As Alla would say, “Boys will be boys and they have to have their toys.” Boy is she right on that. Robert brought the remote controlled car so Steven and Andrew could play with it during our visitation time. Well of course it was a big hit and both boys couldn’t wait for it to be their turn again.

Driving Lessons

Daddy Demonstrating

We shared our photo album again with Steven to get him familiar with our immediate family members as well as pictures of our home. This way he will feel a little more comfortable when we arrive home and have a sense for who’s who in our family. When we showed him pictures of his grandmothers we told him Babushka (meaning grandmother) and then the grandmother’s name Andrew calls his grandmothers….such as Babushka Nana, Babushka Mom mom, and Babushka Grandma. So to all of our children’s grandmothers, don’t be alarmed if Steven and possibly Evan call you Babushka.

We then showed him a picture of Evan again to see if he would respond this time. He didn’t respond even when I said Evan’s name in Ukrainian. When I showed Evan a few days ago, Steven’s photo and said Steven’s name in Ukrainian, Evan responded by saying, “Da”, which means yes. So Evan seems to remember his older brother Steven, but we are not sure if Steven remembers Evan or maybe Evan has changed a bit in his facial features in the past year and a half where Steven doesn’t recognize him. We’re not sure, but we will definitely video tape the boys meeting again for the first time in a year and a half. It surprises me that Evan somewhat remembers Steven and that Steven is not responding at all regarding Evan. I pray that the reunion of the boys will go well and that the union of our family as a whole is a peaceful, smooth, joyful and successful transition for all of us.

Count Down til Take off

Stop Steven...it's going to POP!!

This will be our last week of visiting our sons in the orphanage before we will be allowed to take them home. We are so looking forward to completing our adoption and starting our life as a family. Saturday will be our 10th day after court, therefore, Monday, December 15th we will be given the court decree stating us as their parents and then we can go to the birth certificate offices to change their names and state us as their parents. Once we have their birth certificate we will have the right to remove them from their orphanages. After we receive their birth certificates we can then apply for their passports, which might take a few days to receive. After receiving their passports we can go back to Kiev to get their medical examinations done for their visa and then go home. The Italian couple’s son’s passport only took a couple of days to receive, therefore it looks like we will be home the Sunday or Monday before Christmas as long as there is availability on the airlines for all of us. We are checking into flight availability now. Hallelujah! We’re so excited and can’t wait to be home and in our own beds.

One thing that is an issue now is that Evan’s cold has turned into bronchitis and we are not allowed to visit him until Monday. The orphanage director wants to make sure he is healthy and that we stay healthy as well by the time we are allowed to take him home. The orphanage doctors are taking good care of him giving him breathing treatments, medicine, antibiotics, warm compresses on his back as well as his vitamins, fruits and juices. There is nothing else we can do but to pray for Evan to be well. So let’s all stand in agreement that Evan is completely healthy and well in Jesus name.


Daddy teaching the boys to use static cling to attach balloons to the wall.

The Italian couple’s 10th day after court was Monday and Tuesday they took their little boy out of the orphanage and headed back to Kiev to wait for their son’s passport there. Since it is two thirds less expensive to wait here in Cherkasy we will probably wait here for the boys passports and then head to Kiev. We were offered to move into the apartment where the Italian couple was staying since it has a separate bedroom and is closer to Evan’s orphanage. Since we were in an apartment were we were all sleeping on sofa beds in the living room with no separate bedroom we opt to move again. So we packed up our things and moved across the courtyard to a bigger apartment. It’s easier to get Andrew down for naps and bedtime having a separate bedroom and all.

When we arrived in the new apartment, we realized that the Italian couple’s bags were still in the apartment. When they arrived to pick up their bags they were quite surprised to see us in their apartment. Their translator was with them and we were chatting with her as the new Mama and Papa were changing their son. Robert and I had to laugh when their translator told Robert that he speaks poor English. It was funny coming from a Ukrainian Translator who spoke some English. I had to laugh and tease him for the rest of the evening that I was going to mention it on the blog. LOL. I know Robert’s sisters and going to have a good laugh and a field day about this one when we get home.

Bonding with Evan

Pull us around FASTER Daddy! This is FUN!

We all are bonding well with Evan this past week and we have seen some improvements with Evan bonding to us. Andrew is learning to be the big brother to Evan by sharing his toys and his Mama and Papa with Evan. Robert and I have learned to share our attention with both Evan and Andrew so we keep the peace within the family. Andrew is learning that having brothers to play with can be a lot of fun. Today, Evan and Andrew were being pulled around the sunroom (not heated, that’s why we have our coats and hats on) by Papa. Robert was having just as much fun as the boys were having and neither Andrew or Evan wanted to end the play session today. They both were crying and putting up a fuss when it came time to return Evan to his groupa.

Brothers Having fun.

Thumbs up from Daddy

Yesterday and the day before the weather was nice enough (sunny & 45-50 degrees F)to take Evan and Andrew outside for a walk and for some fun in the orphanage playground.
As I pushed Andrew and Evan on the swings it was so sweet to see Evan laugh and smile as I was pushing him from the front of the swings.


Swing me higher Mama!


WEEEEEE! Mama and Evan Bonding.


COO COOO!!

They also had a little wooden playhouse in the playground and we pretended that I was the customer and Andrew and Evan were the ice cream parlor workers. Evan was so cute how his face lit up with a smile when I surprised him on the other side of the window curtain and said “Coo, Coo.”


My Boys.


Mama and Evan.



I really feel like I broke through a barrier today and bonded so well with Evan and he with me. In the adoption books that we have read, it tells how a mother when she gives birth to her baby the bonding starts immediately when they look into each others eyes as the mother is holding them and feeding them. In an adoption in order to bond with the child, no matter how old he or she is, it’s best to do some eye contact games where the child and parent look into each others eyes while they are playing and when the parent feeds them.

Daddy you are so funny!

Brothers bonding.


Over the past couple of weeks Evan gets real temperamental when I take a toy away to return him to his groupa, or pick him up when he doesn’t want me to. Afterwards he’ll cop an attitude and give me the cold shoulder and walk away from me because I corrected him or did something he didn’t want me to do. Alla says that he is testing me. That could be but when you are trying to bond with the child and deal with toddlerhood it’s a bit disheartening. The Italian couple is going through the same challenges with the child they are adopting.

This week, however, I’ve been focusing on doing eye contact games and activities whenever possible. When we played ice cream parlor in the playhouse I made sure I was at Evan’s eye level to make good eye contact with him as well as when I was pushing him on the swings. That is why I was pushing him from the front more so than pushing him from behind. We also brought stickers with us and would put the stickers on each others noses so Evan would have to look at us in order to take the sticker off of our noses and visa versa. These games have certainly helped and I feel we all have connected with Evan on a deeper level.

Oh Christmas Tree & Zoo Park

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

After all of the shopping, visiting the boys, and dinner Nikolai and Alla took us all to the center of town to see the Christmas light display. There was a huge Christmas tree all lit up with 18” ornaments that lit up on the tree. We took a short walk down the sidewalk to see all of the other lawn ornament decorations. We all enjoyed the Christmas lights, especially Andrew. It was nice to see some Christmas lights since these are the first we have seen. They individual houses don’t have Christmas decorations like we see in the United States.

Here are a few photos of the Christmas display.


Andrew's Sleigh Ride


Reindeer with Mom & Andrew

Saturday since it was a nice day and we cannot visit Steven in the afternoon on the weekends, we had some extra time to go visit the Zoo in Cherkasy. It was a much smaller zoo than the Philadelphia Zoo, but we were amazed it only cost us $5.00 total for 3 adults and one child to get in. We saw many different animals and it’s the closest we’ve been to bears and coyotes. After the Zoo as we were walking back to the car there was a huge playground park for kids to play on. Andrew had fun playing on all of the different areas of the playground. After the playground, we purchased a balloon in the shape of a bunny rabbit for Andrew. It was nice to get out and see some more of Cherkasy and get some exercise.

Zoo Park Entrance

Watching the ducks


Feeding the ducks

Silly Daddy


Is it real or is it stuffed? I'm not going to find out.


Hello all.


My blue bunny rabbit



Nikolai also took us to the Airplane monument and the Plumber Monument. Check out these pictures.
Plumber monument. plumber coming out of a sewer hole.




5, 4, 3, 2, 1...TAKE OFF!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our nephew Billy!!Wish we were there to celebrate with you. I hope you had fun at the renaissance day. Love ya. See you soon.