tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-128294512024-03-07T15:14:49.504-05:00The Millilo Family WebsiteOur journey in Adopting our Ukrainian Angels.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-84555140086494248022009-05-06T21:28:00.000-05:002011-01-21T22:28:29.390-05:00Evan was tested for Township PreschoolI took Evan today to get tested to see if he would get accepted into the free township preschool that is part of the local school here in town. I definitey want to get him into this program since they offer Speech Therapy as part of the program. Evan's speech has improved to some degree, however, there are many times we all can't understand a word he says. He understands everything that we ask him, however, when it comes to him talking and expressing himself to us it is like he is still talking in Ukrainian to us since none of us can understand most of what he says. <br /><br />The teacher that evaluated Evan today, asked me if I can understand him when he talks. I told her that I can understand the basic everyday language such as anything pertaining to eating, drinking and bathroom needs. She said that Evan definitely qualifies for the preschool program and will get the Speech Therapy that he needs. I am so excited. Evan is so ready to be in preschool and it will also help him prepare for Kindergarden for the following school year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-3878443081700146142009-04-29T19:44:00.002-05:002011-01-22T00:06:20.416-05:00Easter and Egg Hunting Fun<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXDUHcBwnFUiwX1rxy9MHLh68XheqtL6cwH-fSafQkScfWe4hAlk5drRMtfJWdmxkqqz5jN64cKXOhs8CVzrGwW3dIKCbRR3zqjJ3bxMbRVPIFhxwsLWrpeJWyugn-NLSkw7o/s1600/3sons.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564872077799021506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXDUHcBwnFUiwX1rxy9MHLh68XheqtL6cwH-fSafQkScfWe4hAlk5drRMtfJWdmxkqqz5jN64cKXOhs8CVzrGwW3dIKCbRR3zqjJ3bxMbRVPIFhxwsLWrpeJWyugn-NLSkw7o/s320/3sons.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div></div><div>The boys had lots of fun dying Easter eggs and finding eggs at the egg hunt we took them to. </div><div></div><div></div><br /><div>We surprised the boys with new bicycles for each of them on Easter morning. They all have been sharing/fighting over the one preschool size bicycle that we had for Andrew before Steven and Evan came home. So we felt it was the right time to get them all bicycles that they could call their own and grow into as well. They all were surprised and love their new bicycles. Our sons are quite the active boys and definitely need something to burn off their energy.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Andrew of course knew the drill on Easter morning and was quick as lightning gathering up handfuls of eggs at a time as I was trying to help direct Evan and Steven find some eggs on Easter morning. After church service, we went over to Robert's families home and had Easter dinner. Mom mom and Pop pop surprised all of the grandkids with an egg hunt in their yard. There were eggs every where. The boys had fun finding eggs and opening them up to eat the candy inside. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-71033413947395385072009-04-11T22:43:00.001-05:002011-01-21T23:14:31.025-05:00Behavior issues at churchOver the past few months we've been challenged with behavior issues in church with the boys. They don't want to go into their class room without me being with them the whole time. I could understand in the beginning, soon after we brought Steven and Evan home, however, being that they are older, and understand the routine of church and knowing that Steven and Andrew go to school fine with no issues on their own, we just don't get it.<br /><br />Part of the problem I think is that they are so close in age that all 3 of them wind up in the same class room in church. This is not good, since, when the 3 of them get together they start goofing off and not paying attention to what is expected of them or what the teacher is saying. This was one of the main reasons why I don't want Steven and Andrew in the same grade. They are so much better individually and they focus and behave much better when they are on their own.<br /><br />It's getting frustrating dealing with the same behavior issues week after week and myself missing the service because of it. We've taken privelegdes away, put them in time out, used incentives for the correct behavior....and still end up with the same misbehavior. Please keep our family in prayer. Our patience is running thin and we are open to any kind of parental advise.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-3911292926110379202009-03-29T12:19:00.006-05:002011-01-22T01:32:30.507-05:00Gardening, Tree Climbing Boys and bonding<div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lTmfYU3YxQ0HvNhNGb71E0uajt_U_PrFuFXKCgTt3UEkXM1ugFsmYsJytTiZy8230zFkQgb-eYYNfnParTodZIKMnklZIECtji74gk_6VkjhK7GPbMyDvi0ZqH1vniBZYYMv/s1600/Steven.tree.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564891799593854002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 311px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lTmfYU3YxQ0HvNhNGb71E0uajt_U_PrFuFXKCgTt3UEkXM1ugFsmYsJytTiZy8230zFkQgb-eYYNfnParTodZIKMnklZIECtji74gk_6VkjhK7GPbMyDvi0ZqH1vniBZYYMv/s320/Steven.tree.JPG" border="0" /></a> Steven climbing our apple tree.<br /><br /><br />As Alla our translator would always say, "Boys will be boys." Today, we spent a lot of time outside getting the garden ready for planting. The boys love digging in the dirt, therefore, they were more than happy to help me prepare the soil for planting. They helped me rake and dig up the weeds that grew over the winter and early spring and just digging holes anywhere in the backyard they had the desire to dig. Of course I was doing my best to keep them focused on the garden but at times I just let them go even though we had a few divets in our yard.<br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br />At one point a wiggly worm appeared and Steven, being the bug lover that he is, picked up the wiggly worm. This little worm open the door to him first sharing with me about some memories of the deskydom (orphanage) and of his birth mother and birth family. Here I am digging and pulling up weeds when he starts to tell me of the worm him and his "brothers" (other boys in the orphanage) from the orphanage found in the orphanage garden. He then went on and told me a few other stories about what he remembered about his birth mother and family. I was surprised, but yet thankful that Steven was so open and free to express his memories and his life in Ukraine. Periodically I would ask some questions, wanting to find out as much as I could (since he was ready to share) and mostly to make sure that his experiences were positive ones. I am pleased and am thankful to say that he was treated good in the orphanage and that he has positive memories of his birth family. I was surprised when he talked of his birth mother that he showed no emotion (positive or negative) when he talked of her. I made a point to mention that his birth mother loves him very much and I'm sure she misses him and Evan. He didn't react the way I thought he would. He just kept talking and kepting playing in the dirt like I was talking about a stranger. I know he was young when he entered the orphanage, about 3 and a half years old, however, it surprised me that he remembered so much and was willing to share so freely.<br /><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_WQuhyphenhyphen5aXtPTpUwVzmgiWfTEZZmszAVJXVIAqVIUsBJfgK_au9qrUAXFvAXRXsvsvjHIwayHEEPMxQcWmFpQBUAevno2BQXGxWOq-1SpBG6Z8b9somzIWFFeCdYHxVCICMtN/s1600/Evan.tree.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564892455154194946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 313px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_WQuhyphenhyphen5aXtPTpUwVzmgiWfTEZZmszAVJXVIAqVIUsBJfgK_au9qrUAXFvAXRXsvsvjHIwayHEEPMxQcWmFpQBUAevno2BQXGxWOq-1SpBG6Z8b9somzIWFFeCdYHxVCICMtN/s320/Evan.tree.JPG" border="0" /></a> Evan hugging the apple tree.</p><p>Later on that afternoon, we walked up to our apple tree in our yard and were checking out the buds on the trees. Since the branches were low enough to the ground the boys of course started climbing up the tree. I used to love climbing the trees in our yard growing up, and remember hiding from my brother, David, by climbing to the tippy top of the tall oak tree in our backyard. He was so furious that he couldn't find me that day since he was supposed to be watching my sister and I that day. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the boys climbing our apple tree.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-52324835841464432622009-03-23T13:58:00.001-05:002011-01-01T02:13:06.084-05:002 More Cavities Filled - 4 more to goWell, we barely made it through this appointment. Steven was more wiggly and was losing his patience during this visit at the dentist. Whether he was nervious or got tired of his mouth having a contraption in it to hold it open or just plain scared of the drilling sound...but he had a harder time at sitting still. The dentist finish filling the cavities, thank goodness. All the while, I was doing my best to calm him down and talk to him, hold his hand, while I was sweating it out trying to keep my cool at the same time. <br /><br />Our pediatric dentist is wonderful with children and ever so patient. I don't know how she does it day in and day out.<br /><br />Well we have 4 more cavities to fill before we can relax. I set up another appointment to get the rest of them filled. Hopefully the next appointment will go a little more smooth.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-22236198104415272872009-03-19T20:29:00.001-05:002011-01-01T11:46:09.141-05:00The Greatest Circus on Earth<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9O2VldB8MDjL72eUbolxIv29YjIVlww8SLG6rGlbl3_IgauI_kzS2bXgK1felBpVMrUM1EsyoRvqEDXHFO3uUeK3sphcesY_uOp1Tyu2ZDcBs8tJnE4AaHeVqR3SnEuqaoJ_/s1600/3strongboys.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557258856615825266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9O2VldB8MDjL72eUbolxIv29YjIVlww8SLG6rGlbl3_IgauI_kzS2bXgK1felBpVMrUM1EsyoRvqEDXHFO3uUeK3sphcesY_uOp1Tyu2ZDcBs8tJnE4AaHeVqR3SnEuqaoJ_/s320/3strongboys.JPG" border="0" /></a>Steven and Andrew's preschool put on a play, "The Greatest Circus on Earth". It was so adorable as the children all had a different part. Steven was a biker bear, which entertained the crowd riding on tricycles and Andrew was the strongman...imagine Andrew (one of the smallest kids in his class) the strongman. Andrew gets nervous infront of an audience, believe it or not, since at home he is the comedian of the family. Here are some pictures of Andrew, Steven and Evan posing for the camera hamming it up before the show. Too cute. <div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRxfEam4wCSRmnOPGILTO1i3TDwe835h5D8tNTSMbYk2RkJIdLlOnOEVQ2fSVq9DGLpOznHMCvQ6sfh1FZTtvH2uDpD2I-8Lv0OIaZTj3XYuBDPt0nEqui10rGqPAWOAnORfu/s1600/3animals.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557259329742625618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRxfEam4wCSRmnOPGILTO1i3TDwe835h5D8tNTSMbYk2RkJIdLlOnOEVQ2fSVq9DGLpOznHMCvQ6sfh1FZTtvH2uDpD2I-8Lv0OIaZTj3XYuBDPt0nEqui10rGqPAWOAnORfu/s320/3animals.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-29121237143915183212009-03-19T20:13:00.001-05:002011-01-22T00:18:49.903-05:00Mommy & Poppi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlCgCeaqpyQrT8Hudh5pXVLfJ-fXcQiyuU1JTdre53fJcWvH6bU31TUDZ0GOq4vqoyEL0NuXKOYd6AQPF_c99OaLcawqlnHzXCBvix1zbHu6i5EZBIOR4gRXTfuq6pp7zh0Ik/s1600/Ukon.brothers.2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564875028768555746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlCgCeaqpyQrT8Hudh5pXVLfJ-fXcQiyuU1JTdre53fJcWvH6bU31TUDZ0GOq4vqoyEL0NuXKOYd6AQPF_c99OaLcawqlnHzXCBvix1zbHu6i5EZBIOR4gRXTfuq6pp7zh0Ik/s320/Ukon.brothers.2.JPG" border="0" /></a> Isn't this picture so adorable. The boys were trying on Daddy's shoes and Ukon hat. Too cute.<br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Steven and Evan have notice that at times Andrew will call me Mommy instead of Mom or Mama. Both Steven and Evan picked up on it and would call me Mommy from time to time. I prefer them calling me Mama since that is what I am used to with them and Andrew. It just reminds me of how we became a family and our first few months with our children.<br /><br />This week Evan assumed that since changing Mama to Mommy was the correct thing to do, he changed Papa (what they call Robert..means Daddy/Father in Ukrainian)to Poppi. It is so adorable to hear him call Robert, "Poppi". Andrew and Steven picked up on it and now are calling Robert, "Poppi".</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-37189208726606913412009-03-13T19:44:00.000-05:002011-01-01T01:58:21.092-05:00Steven Started PreschoolWe started Steven in preschool a couple of days a week to get him familiar with the structure of school and what will be expected of him once he attends public school in the fall. He sees how Andrew goes to school and how we pick him up every day at the preschool to bring him home. It's been obvious that Steven has taken a liking to the school when we pick up Andrew and now since Steven is fluent in English we thought it would be best to give him a feel for school and what is expected of him. This way it will help to prepare him for September when he will start first grade. Of course we are still homeschooling the other days Steven doesn't attend to get him up to speed for first grade since he is skipping Kindergarden.<br /><br />The teachers, Miss Debbie and Miss Brittnay have been wonderful to Steven and very helpful with redirecting certain behaviors of his into the proper behavior. They tell me he is a quick learner and a very sweet boy. Thank you Miss Debbie and Miss Brittnay for all of your help with Steven and Andrew!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-65870147619708953212009-03-11T13:29:00.001-05:002011-01-01T01:43:20.363-05:00Daddy's Birthday -Tubing in the PoconosWe surprised Robert for his birthday and took him tubing in the Pocono mountains for the day. We all had a ball of fun. At first it didn't look like there was any snow on the ground until we arrived at Jack Frost Mountain. There was plenty of man-made snow there, which worked just fine. We arrived early in the morning, which was perfect since there weren't that many people on the slopes and the snow was still on the icy side, which zoomed us down the mountain at top speeds. <br /><br />Can you believe I forgot my camera! UGGH! I would have loved to take some pictures and videos of Daddy especially, laughing histerically all the way down the mountain. Too funny. Evan was so funny, how the tube just about swallowed him up. He looked like a turtle sitting in the tube since he would hide his head down in the tube and then pop it up when he was done tubing down the slope. After our 4 hour time frame was up, we were all exhausted. It was a good thing we got there early since the crowd starting rolling in and made our wait in line a bit longer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-32252243589770878492009-03-05T13:20:00.000-05:002011-01-01T01:28:31.283-05:00Cavity Fillings for StevenI was not looking forward to this appointment, however, I knew it had to be done. Steven got his 2 cavities between his 2 front teeth filled today. He did pretty good for the most part. He cooperated for the dentist and was a little apprehensive at times, but he got through it. Praise the Lord! I'm not sure who is more tired, him or myself. <br /><br />We set up the next appointment for 2 weeks later to fill some of the molar cavities. Boy, I'm looking forward to having these dental appointments behind us. I'm sure Steven is too.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-54581723763761717192009-02-23T12:45:00.002-05:002011-01-01T01:20:03.300-05:00Do Me...Do Me!!I know the title sounds funny, but that is what the boys were saying over and over to Daddy as he was taking turns picking the boys up over his head and spinning them around and then tossing them into the couch. The boys couldn't wait until Robert picked them up again and flipped and spun them around over his head just to toss them into the couch. Too funny. Robert go his work out today.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-14125201388279449422009-02-13T23:51:00.003-05:002010-12-29T00:11:21.962-05:00Dedicating our children to the LordToday was a special day for our family since we dedicated our son's Evan and Steven to the Lord. They had all of our family members that were in the service including Mom mom and Pop Pop come up on stage along with the other families with their children while Pastors Gary and Faye Whetstone prayed over the boys/children and families. During that time the Ukrainian couple that we met last month ran up on stage to translate what the pastors were praying to Steven and Evan. <br /><br />It was emotional to think back at all that God has brought us through to bring our children into our families. God is so good! Thanks be to God.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-32581486294235033052009-02-11T22:59:00.001-05:002010-12-28T23:31:00.861-05:00Children's Hospital Check up & TestingWell, we finally had our check up at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia with an International Adoption's Pediatrician along with an Occupational Therapist to test them on their developmental fine and motor skills along with their speech as well as their overall health and get some bloodwork done.<br /><br />It was a long 5 hour appointment. They brought a Russian/Ukrainian translator into our examination room to help with translating the doctors and therapists questions, however, we only used her service for explaining to the boys to prepare them about getting bloodwork drawn, which was at the end of our appointment. <br /><br />Both the therapist and the pediatrician were floored that they didn't need the translator and at how healthy Evan and Steven are and that they are right at where they should be developmentally, since many kids that have come from an orphanage are developmentally behind at least by a year or two. <br /><br />When Evan was being tested on his gross motor skills by running up and down the hallway he was so funny how he would run at top speed toward me with a huge smile on his face and would run into my arms and give me a huge hug each time. Then, Steven and Andrew started doing it as well. Evan was just too funny, that we all had a chuckle from it.<br /><br />When it came time for the bloodwork, the translator explained to them what was about to happen in Russian/Ukrainian to prepare them. They did a full work up on them both and put Mommy through a work out holding them down. I felt so bad for them and was about to cry myself. Glad that's over.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-65431373909962814062009-02-04T01:23:00.005-05:002009-02-04T01:39:41.737-05:00Andrew's 5th Birthday<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfFCLLAehOQ0jIDvgi0-5PA-Y-8NDJrRYZw9C6b313xJ6-DNouYXAohmLPbKdFv-2wNBvO9r1H6iDIbIQGDrZBYLZ92btyV70Ze6HInJZrRcXbM49gAZnv5Kxxab7jy_-z_67/s1600-h/CAKE.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfFCLLAehOQ0jIDvgi0-5PA-Y-8NDJrRYZw9C6b313xJ6-DNouYXAohmLPbKdFv-2wNBvO9r1H6iDIbIQGDrZBYLZ92btyV70Ze6HInJZrRcXbM49gAZnv5Kxxab7jy_-z_67/s400/CAKE.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298828014915944210" /></a><br /><br />We just celebrated Andrew's 5th birthday...can you believe it...he's 5 years old. WOW! Time flies. We had his party out at a tumbling place where they had trampolines and gymnastic equipment for kids their ages. WE all had a ball and Robert and I even got into the fun and was bouncing around on the trampoline and I got stuck in the foam pit and had difficulty trying to push myself up to get out......I know I'm starting to show my age. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjG7juxJ_eEcHz3AbVaDzgAt7uNs0RRFItmwj9EgHyims64d7ifALvHkR70fmS2IsO4nF2y4k24WGEt7FYvpIao19w0xs0_yt_yTYLxrhLxqyFjjHZ-EiqMHrO9Z-MfwcggW9K/s1600-h/Andrew.Cake.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjG7juxJ_eEcHz3AbVaDzgAt7uNs0RRFItmwj9EgHyims64d7ifALvHkR70fmS2IsO4nF2y4k24WGEt7FYvpIao19w0xs0_yt_yTYLxrhLxqyFjjHZ-EiqMHrO9Z-MfwcggW9K/s400/Andrew.Cake.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298826346480655650" /></a> Robert getting in on the fun.<br /><br />Steven I knew would love the trampoline especially since he is our acrobat. He loved it so much we had difficulty getting him off of it when it came time to go into the party room for food and cake. He kept trying to escape back into the play area and jump around some more therefore we had to have someone stand guard at the door so he or any other kid wouldn't escape. <br /><br />Evan with his amazing strength had fun playing on the rings. To our surprise he held on for a bit while Robert pushed him until he flopped to the mat. Then up he went and wanted to go again. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGvoYu64ARPHxTSXbxtluiM5kkSzsc0jldQOGayJTw0sRH3m3Yg_V8ctkYZAj-vC0AX0skmifAIqfHftEiwfmh_zPbO-xZXZpzK5icbHyEtHY0Ef2G6U7MA6VBqkHN4qUUM2M/s1600-h/Evan.Rings.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGvoYu64ARPHxTSXbxtluiM5kkSzsc0jldQOGayJTw0sRH3m3Yg_V8ctkYZAj-vC0AX0skmifAIqfHftEiwfmh_zPbO-xZXZpzK5icbHyEtHY0Ef2G6U7MA6VBqkHN4qUUM2M/s400/Evan.Rings.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298826344401479458" /></a><br /><br />Andrew had a ball jumping on the trampoline as well as jumping off of the platform into the foam pit. Check him out in action in the picture below.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50RRT7wj0Fa1E_noblJRPGm-yulgoSeYzVr5G-Q3-uYDGtFk1qHhQrP7kKQxDuwfSPyB-sJCnBWFgmO4P6fHWDBGBnzqtlUoy-dlZuZKDbGhZl-0WynNo7TROF2sq3WKMWkwA/s1600-h/Andrew.foam.jump.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50RRT7wj0Fa1E_noblJRPGm-yulgoSeYzVr5G-Q3-uYDGtFk1qHhQrP7kKQxDuwfSPyB-sJCnBWFgmO4P6fHWDBGBnzqtlUoy-dlZuZKDbGhZl-0WynNo7TROF2sq3WKMWkwA/s400/Andrew.foam.jump.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298826342779855762" /></a><br /><br />The party was a success and everyone had fun. <br /><br />Steven and Evan weren't too keen about watching Andrew open up all of his presents since they are used to taking over his toys and were like vultures lurking over Andrew's shoulders waiting for him to step away from them so they could dive into the toys. I tried to explain to them that it was Andrew's birthday and these were his toys. I told them that if they wanted to play with them they would have to ask Andrew if it was okay to play with them. Well they didn't like that one bit and Steven kept coming up to me and asking to play with them, I kept trying to explain that it was Andrew's birthday and these are his toys so he will have to ask Andrew to play with them. Steven didn't like that answer and started whimpering at the table. Andrew started to be bratty about it and then I proceeded to explain to him that one day it will be Steven and Evan's birthday and they will get a lot of toys and you won't. I explained that if he shares his toys that he will teach them to share their toys when it's their birthdays. <br /><br />Well that seemed to go in one ear and out the other until about a half hour later Andrew came into the kitchen and GAVE Steven one of his toys and GAVE Evan one of his other new toys. It floored us all and I even asked Robert if he prompted him into giving his toys away. Robert said that no it was all Andrew's doing. I am so proud of Andrew for giving up 2 of his new toys to give to his brothers. I then made Steven say thank you and give Andrew a hug. How cute it was to see the boys hugging for once. Steven was thankful and so was Evan.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-57132759921488956772009-02-02T22:37:00.001-05:002010-12-28T23:45:47.898-05:00Dentist Check up for StevenWell, Praise the Lord that we made it through our first dentist appointment with Steven. Unfortunatly we found out that Steven has 8 cavities. Yes, I said 8 cavities. The amazing thing is though that 6 of the cavities have temporary fillings with decay still underneath the temporary fillings. Why would a dentist go to the trouble of filling a tooth without getting the decay out of it? <br /><br />Steven did really well in the appointment and when I found out that the other cavities have already been filled, I realized that this wasn't the first time he has been to the dentist. I know that the orphanage would have a dentist come into the orphanage to offer his service to the children, but with the 2 obvious cavities in Steven's front 2 teeth I figured he never visited the dentist in the orphanage. <br /><br />We scheduled his next appointment for filling his front 2 cavity we made in 2 weeks. I hope that goes as well as this one did.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-37385715947056056212009-01-29T22:35:00.001-05:002010-12-28T22:57:13.020-05:00Met a Ukrainian Couple at churchWe met a wonderful Ukrainian couple that our pastors introduced us to after church. They sat down and chatted with us and the boys and talked to Evan and Steven in Ukrainian. Steven seem very shy as the man was talking to him and asking Steven questions in Ukrainian. Steven quietly answered him in English responding "yes" instead of "da" (yes in Ukrainian). It surprised me to see Steven answering the man in English instead of Ukrainian being that he was speaking to Steven in Ukrainian and only being home for a month.<br /><br />The couple gave us their phone number and said to call them anytime we need to chat or translation. A few days after meeting them, I was getting a bit apprehensive of our soon to be dentist appointment for Steven, wondering how he is going to respond without being prepared. Then I thought of the wonderful couple we met at church and decided to call them. I explained to them of our up and coming dentist appointment and wanted to see if they could help Steven prepare for his appointment by explaining to him on his level what was to be expected and what is expected of him during our visit to the dentist. I had them on speaker phone to make sure that Steven is responding to his questions and again noticed how Steven answered the gentleman's questions in English when he was being spoken to in Ukrainian. That to me is so amazing. To answer in English when being spoken to in your native language and only being home for a month.<br /><br />We are so thankful for this couple and for all of the help they have given us with just barely knowing them ourselves. Thank you, Pastors Gary and Faye Whetstone for introducing us to them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-81798569604995426542009-01-25T21:49:00.000-05:002009-02-04T02:38:33.218-05:00Home One Month and a Snow/Ice Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj8T-bKSS5ryKinSlQzGDUxDbuwq2kTGVx0quN5K7HEweMYtx3iWL6ezoQARuKi4Pn1MtcKPYRdlAiRLOxNHYvctpS9n6TR2qxiAdCXSPN5snXg6c6Dq8FNOVBy9HCEswspW_/s1600-h/SmilingBrothers.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj8T-bKSS5ryKinSlQzGDUxDbuwq2kTGVx0quN5K7HEweMYtx3iWL6ezoQARuKi4Pn1MtcKPYRdlAiRLOxNHYvctpS9n6TR2qxiAdCXSPN5snXg6c6Dq8FNOVBy9HCEswspW_/s400/SmilingBrothers.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298829331098062930" /></a> Smiling Brothers....at last!!!<br /><br />A couple of weeks ago, I took the boys and myself to get their haircuts. The boys had fun getting their haircuts while sitting in a play police car while watching cartoons. The boys look so handsome with a fresh new look. Check them out.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6Mc5mZ7zYwFwRaZJzUXG5yG0JzMYK6HWikPy85GonypmjpYV3OWhdeku-yrNgjmXUa3QXB_TCvzR44KYYaXMvs2F5PV2pGe40zZ_JSv-evdcKEvjTTZ6k9vVvEgmKqMmAd1q/s1600-h/our.boys.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6Mc5mZ7zYwFwRaZJzUXG5yG0JzMYK6HWikPy85GonypmjpYV3OWhdeku-yrNgjmXUa3QXB_TCvzR44KYYaXMvs2F5PV2pGe40zZ_JSv-evdcKEvjTTZ6k9vVvEgmKqMmAd1q/s400/our.boys.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298829324403492242" /></a> Our cuties<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsRLIlmHLltm-IctrGmXVahLn97h3niV0SjN1RUlZQXK54dmyoXpV1jJ3gggrWhNgoeKP_8mGiOHo7LkFuqQQHSSGov08QoicaXrd01UCHLu6nQK7rNetJxl33ym9b_9qHlMt/s1600-h/our3Sons.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsRLIlmHLltm-IctrGmXVahLn97h3niV0SjN1RUlZQXK54dmyoXpV1jJ3gggrWhNgoeKP_8mGiOHo7LkFuqQQHSSGov08QoicaXrd01UCHLu6nQK7rNetJxl33ym9b_9qHlMt/s400/our3Sons.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298829326017426050" /></a> <br /><br />The boys including my husband had fun in the snow or should I say ice last week. Robert would give each boy a turn to be wizzed across the yard on the ice and with the slight downslope in our front yard they would slide pretty far. Evan would ask when Robert was at work where was "Outide Papa" or outside Papa was. Evan loves the outdoors and screams when he has to come inside. both Steven and Evan have a very stubborn side and with an attitude but on the flip side they are extremely lovable and want as much love and affection as one could give them.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7hCmSsTUn0yBMowfDF2JNRw3hSJsUD74oVF6AU8koNfllnrUW2VE7A7xYOtgrcuGJAt3OqWd4CVRSk2ZwcFR5pKRwEgc0WgZiSeRgqQPK16Ggcj3ZEtf9Lv1CyvXqfnlYI-N/s1600-h/Steven.Sled.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7hCmSsTUn0yBMowfDF2JNRw3hSJsUD74oVF6AU8koNfllnrUW2VE7A7xYOtgrcuGJAt3OqWd4CVRSk2ZwcFR5pKRwEgc0WgZiSeRgqQPK16Ggcj3ZEtf9Lv1CyvXqfnlYI-N/s400/Steven.Sled.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298829481518874274" /></a><br />WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8MgehxC8SdjF4Fw_3QgwnD1nopqyCZSyjrwrKCjuKfPz0Mr-3VzHDPrkixx6ekZYQC-TGSRA9RPoxslj0Cby7TcUe7nPBnLlwSUxMX5XYmWq8kyUTgF1rWZbmWwTck3RKx8R/s1600-h/Papa.Spinning.Sled.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8MgehxC8SdjF4Fw_3QgwnD1nopqyCZSyjrwrKCjuKfPz0Mr-3VzHDPrkixx6ekZYQC-TGSRA9RPoxslj0Cby7TcUe7nPBnLlwSUxMX5XYmWq8kyUTgF1rWZbmWwTck3RKx8R/s400/Papa.Spinning.Sled.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298829481965132690" /></a> Papa Wizzing the boys on the sled...."Outide Papa" as Evan would say.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbN1KlHrMMvto5hvDxO0hr3KO3pCd1Hi3_7VRZw7UDkGyxQ1NPXE1Tiisk0EbZK1WKMXiAH18VkOqYUbRhKpZQk1ZSGXQbqSC61ofzSLWsrR7osw2Tx0bGmraIf-bO6Y04FJC/s1600-h/3boysSled.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbN1KlHrMMvto5hvDxO0hr3KO3pCd1Hi3_7VRZw7UDkGyxQ1NPXE1Tiisk0EbZK1WKMXiAH18VkOqYUbRhKpZQk1ZSGXQbqSC61ofzSLWsrR7osw2Tx0bGmraIf-bO6Y04FJC/s400/3boysSled.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298829332062051058" /></a><br />WHOO WHOO!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQ4tjZQ5m671pPbFtPQr8rH-sdQENmxNunfmmQgIPb3ilTHbuY7TEr01ARIDDes9rROgafvm60Ee94rr69cWCfX-v3KJ-w27m03f89bGJ1XfsUN16HeAp1rwNMBOK56d_yNXP/s1600-h/Evan.sled.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggQ4tjZQ5m671pPbFtPQr8rH-sdQENmxNunfmmQgIPb3ilTHbuY7TEr01ARIDDes9rROgafvm60Ee94rr69cWCfX-v3KJ-w27m03f89bGJ1XfsUN16HeAp1rwNMBOK56d_yNXP/s400/Evan.sled.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298829331528460674" /></a> Slip slide and away Evan!<br /><br />We work on our schooling during the weekdays and Steven is now saying 3 word sentences when he does talk in English. He tries so hard and really wants to learn. He loves being the best at what he does. He now knows about 20 animals, 20 body parts, 6 colors, many food items, can count up to 13, knows many letters' sounds and recognizes about one third to one half of the alphabet letters. He told Andrew "No toys in the kitchen" (something I always say) this morning which surprised Robert and I and he was telling Andrew to repeat after him and say "Excuse me" after Andrew burped at the table. We all smiled and laughed that Steven was correcting Andrew and telling him in English to repeat after him by saying "Excuse me". <br /><br />Steven is becoming more and more affectionate with me and wanting more one on one time with Mommy. He is even calling me Mommy and Robert Daddy now. At times he wants me to baby him and wants me to help him get dressed, even though I know he can do it himself. I have to keep reminding myself that Steven is younger emotionally than his physical age and needs more affection from me since he missed out on so much love and attention in the past years.<br /><br />There were a few times where I had to put Steven in time-out for misbehaving and trying to teach him of the concept of time-out was tougher than teaching a 2 or 3 year old partly because of the language barrier. He of course didn't want to stay in his room and for me to lift or drag him back into his room to keep him in time-out for the 5 minutes was a chore for me since he is so big and heavy to lift. He finally understood and stayed in his room until his time was up and I made him appologize to his brother/s or me for whatever the issue was. He certainly has a stubborn side to him that rises up from time to time. <br /><br />Evan is doing great! He is more babyish than Steven or Andrew. Emotionally he reminds me of a 2 year old but mentally and intellectually he is a 3 and a half year old. He is my cuddle bunny. He is always hugging my legs when I'm fixing food in the kitchen for a meal, trying to hug me when he's eating, and he loves to try and push me down on his bed to play and get tickles from Mommy when I am trying to change his clothes. His legs are super strong for his age and he has a lot of power behind them. He is such a cutie but I can tell he will need some speech therapy since he slurs through the words or phrases I say slowly and want him to repeat. He is bonding well with Andrew and visa versa. Every once in a while they go at it, but not as much as it was in the past.<br /><br />Andrew is doing much better in school and at home. He is not stressing out every time it's time to get dressed...just once in a while. For a while there it was every single time he changed his clothes he would whine and cry and get upset because he refused to pick out something to wear. When I would pick it out he wouldn't like my selection and always seemed to want to wear the dirty food crusted clothes he wore the day before to school. Well you know that wasn't happening if I could help it. It would take him 45 minutes to get dressed in the morning with constant crying, whining and frustration. There was always something wrong with most of his clothes, according to Andrew,that it was really wearing Robert and I's patience level down drastically. Talk about particular with his clothes....Many times I wanted to scream and sometimes I did. <br /><br />We started using the timer when the boys start to fight over a toy. My friend Jen with twin boys Andrew's age suggested putting the timer to manage the boys taking turns. Boy that has helped quite a bit with keeping the atmosphere more peaceful in our home. At times now Andrew will come up to me and ask for me to put the timer on so he can get a turn with the saught after toy. Praise the Lord for progress.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-9698122757810494922009-01-15T22:05:00.012-05:002009-01-16T03:04:27.017-05:00Stunned on Steven and Evan's Progress - 3 weeks home<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ-GtWs4JWY4zx7vxEu1FqSnXggFHQuPAs6vm8f6KpM-LxEYeGWVXVqInqxFcnZBQJTSe2I3ik6Dx8c2jcuRaFzWez0fbT6wJD2a1TdyzL9Ect2zNvMnr00URB2kvarpBftip/s1600-h/IMG_4333.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ-GtWs4JWY4zx7vxEu1FqSnXggFHQuPAs6vm8f6KpM-LxEYeGWVXVqInqxFcnZBQJTSe2I3ik6Dx8c2jcuRaFzWez0fbT6wJD2a1TdyzL9Ect2zNvMnr00URB2kvarpBftip/s400/IMG_4333.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291797759251606610" /></a> Steven the Strong Man<br /><br />Over the past week I've been working with Steven and Evan on their English as well as playing school to bring Steven up to speed to get him ready for Kindergarden in September. I've been playing games with flash cards, doing ditto sheet activities to practice their skills, having them watch learning videos and listening to childrens songs in the car. On Sunday of this week we pulled out the children's cd with the alphabet song on it we played it in the car and put it on repeat so it would keep playing that song only over and over again. Robert laughed and joked about how Steven must be thinking that we are trying to brain wash him or something. The only one that was singing along was Andrew, however, to my surprise Steven was listening intently. That night after dinner Steven came up to me and started singing the ABC song in English. When he got to the letter "G" my mouth dropped to the floor and had a shocking look on my face. I was floored to the point where I startled him to stop singing. I then proceeded with "H, I" and he then sang along again and sang up to the letter "P" on his own. I still am shocked at how quickly he picked up half of the alphabet song in just maybe an half hour of listening to the song. On Monday of this week, Steven and I practiced singing the alphabet in Shoprite as we were doing our grocery shopping together with Evan. We also practice counting items into our basket and he can now count on his own up to 10 with ease. Evan is counting along with us and to my surprise he can count up to 5 on his own in English. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdXz2rL96TvkJPG8hVHLCvPHYQUcBFv-CE_Pbq71kdAcR0psEv_wiN-Isqbhff2s8BFmXknRdmx6D2Ed7-GiyUlIFAjn2T36u4BAV_BIWHiduHfDQYJFXo51Ps9tnnXovp1az/s1600-h/StevensSchoolwork.JPG"><IMG id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291768048381359074 style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdXz2rL96TvkJPG8hVHLCvPHYQUcBFv-CE_Pbq71kdAcR0psEv_wiN-Isqbhff2s8BFmXknRdmx6D2Ed7-GiyUlIFAjn2T36u4BAV_BIWHiduHfDQYJFXo51Ps9tnnXovp1az/s400/StevensSchoolwork.JPG" border=0></A> Steven's School Work <br /><br />I have also been working with them on their colors, shapes, matching items and now that they know how to count from 1-10, I'm working with them on recognizing their numbers. We played a flash card game with the numbers 1-5. Each time they got the correct name of the number they would get an M&M. They both were all into the game trying the best they could to get the next one correct to get an M&M and a high five from Mama. If they got confused at which number it was they would count the number of lady bugs on the card. I was surprised how Evan was recognizing the numbers and counting the objects as well as Steven did. I've also been playing a cd that we purchased before we adopted Andrew (but never used) to help them with their basic communication in English called "Rush into English" Russian to English for Children CD by Teresa Kelleher (Tender Loving Communications). It's a cd that gives instructions in Russian that they will say different phrases in Russian and then say the same phrase in English and for them to repeat what is said. I must say, that I am very impressed with the cd. It's very simple but amazingly they repeat in both Russian and English. The cd has different phrases for feelings, home, family, colors, numbers 1-10 and beyond, school, bathroom terminology, and food. I wasn't sure if they would sit still and listen to the cd therefore I brought my laptop into the bathroom to play it for them while they played in the bath tub. You should have seen the look on their faces when they heard their language spoken and the English equivalent. To my surprise they both were repeating the phrases and listening intently. Evan will repeat and mimic just about everything the lady on the cd says. Steven is more apprehensive about speaking it out loud as carefree as Evan is. Steven speaks in a lower voice when he talks in English until he feels confident he is saying it correctly, then he is much bolder with speaking the phrase. I am simply amazed at the progress they are making in such a short amount of time. Steven is now saying phrases such as "Excuse Me", "I'm Sorry"(HUMM??? I wonder how he learned this phrase so quickly?), "Come On", "I love you", "Wash your hands", "Bye Bye", "Please", "Thank you", "on the pillow" and a few more. <br /><br />I must say that the phrase book that taught us phonetically how to say some common childrearing phrases has helped the transition of becoming a family. The book and cd is called Ukrainian plus Russian Phrases for Children (specifically designed for adopting in Ukraine or Russia to help with the transition). .<A href="http://internet.cybermesa.com/~fdd/ua_main_new.html"></A> Definitely a must get if you are traveling to Ukraine or Russia to adopt a child/ren. It certain has made the transition much smoother. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzp-wgEI89YNRUUsXrv6dSh19lBiVNTSbdGAO3o7ljrt-MQ1FwhFGUrZDLtXigicASTjUWkGz3NZdl-uUNhiU1H39UCuihyphenhyphenWZVJKjhdMOdK4o-3h8aR9ArFPGXcV6fk7YMHR9W/s1600-h/IMG_4315.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzp-wgEI89YNRUUsXrv6dSh19lBiVNTSbdGAO3o7ljrt-MQ1FwhFGUrZDLtXigicASTjUWkGz3NZdl-uUNhiU1H39UCuihyphenhyphenWZVJKjhdMOdK4o-3h8aR9ArFPGXcV6fk7YMHR9W/s400/IMG_4315.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291798346667407298" /></a> Evan enjoying dressing in Andrew's costumes<br /><br />Evan is wanting to be held more and more from me, which I love hugging and cuddling with him, however, in a way I want to baby him and cuddle with him as much as possible but in another way I don't want him to expect me to carry him around everywhere. In the orphanage, the children are taught very early on to be independent and self reliant and to take care of themselves to make the caretakers' job much easier since they are out numbered by how ever many children. We have also made quite a bit of progress since Ukraine on eating and our sleeping schedules. Robert and I learned within the first evening of having all 3 boys in our care that they strongly do not like to go to bed even when they are totally exhausted. Since learning this the first night we used this to our advantage to get the boys to eat when it's meal time. There have been many times when I call everyone into the kitchen to sit down to eat (in Ukrainian and English) that Steven and sometimes Andrew will mimick each other when they protest coming to the table since they don't seem to like the looks of what's being served. So Robert and I started telling them if they don't eat then they'll go to bed immediately. Well they all don't like that one bit and it usually works to get them all to sit down to eat. We communicate with them a mixture of English and Ukrainian when we tell them "if No Kushai then Para Spat" (If you don't eat, then it's time for sleep). Every now and then one of them will test us to see if we are serious and when we start moving their chair to take them to their room they scoot it back in to the table to eat. Then they end up eating their whole plate soon after that. It's funny to see them try to test us to see if they can control the outcome, but they usually find out differently.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXN0fsj-Gz-34NGcmEnXunvpM9-xHVfaF0GOUnmTs71TcEANZ-Q7chaymjp7GPKntm16HFeL6ovY_qIZ3LQhDp1LBVOgnrfLvKr-Aj_XYzgfg1PDipky4cgtSzTzWXLyVUjRD/s1600-h/IMG_4317.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXN0fsj-Gz-34NGcmEnXunvpM9-xHVfaF0GOUnmTs71TcEANZ-Q7chaymjp7GPKntm16HFeL6ovY_qIZ3LQhDp1LBVOgnrfLvKr-Aj_XYzgfg1PDipky4cgtSzTzWXLyVUjRD/s400/IMG_4317.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291799018060554274" /></a> My Silly Monkey Andrew<br /><br />The other day I told Andrew how I noticed how much bigger he has grown recently since he has been eating more, he then commented to me, "Well, I don't want to go to SPAT (Sleep or bed). It's funny to hear Andrew use some Russian/Ukrainian phrases around the house when talking to us or the boys. Robert will tease Evan just by saying the word Spat Spat Spat if Evan is refusing to eat....cause Robert know's how easily Evan will get upset that he can't get his way and then quickly eat the rest of his meal. Now the boys are saying the word "Spat" to each other at the meal table to keep each other on task for finishing their meal. It's funny to hear them tease each other if one is not eating then the other will say, "Spat, Spat, Spat". Well it seems to me they all got that rule down pat. The past couple of evenings have been a huge improvement in our bedtime ridual. I think they all are finally settling in and understanding that everyone goes to bed at the same time every night. When I was putting them down for a nap they wouldn't go to bed in the evening anytime before 10:00pm, therefore, I stopped putting them down for naps so I can get them on a normal bedtime schedule of 7-8pm. Thankfully once they are down they usually are down for 11-12 hours (with an occasional trip to the bathroom during the night). Even though they are exhausted, sometimes we have to pick them up to take them to their rooms since they protest going to bed. Of course all the while they are kicking and screaming since they want to stay up and play more. But once they hit the pillow they are out. The past couple of nights they have actually went in their bedroom themselves and didn't protest as much. Last night and tonight I've been singing to them softly to help relax them going to bed and them seem to enjoy it...fancy that? At least someone enjoys my singing! LOL! Tonight after kissing them all good night and telling them that I love them, I sat down near the door in their room (since Evan won't lay down unless I'm in the room)and I started singing "Jesus loves me", however, I added Steven, Evan and Andrew's name in the song. To my surprise after singing it a few times, I hear Steven get up out of his bed (the room is pitch dark) and walk over towards the door. I'm thinking he is going to take off into the living room and protest going to sleep, where here he comes over to me and takes my face in his hands and kisses me on the cheek. I was floored again. How Sweet!! Steven doesn't usually initiate affection towards me but will receive it when I hug and kiss him...but over this last week he has initiated kissing me twice without me asking for a kiss and has come up to me and is hugging me back with an actual embrace rather than wet lanky fish arms that barely touch you when hugging him. Quite a big improvement all the way around...Praise the Lord.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-3582093465786030882009-01-04T23:53:00.000-05:002009-01-08T00:50:21.068-05:00Happy New Year 2009!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE9INKQymFcRSLsLg0jt4IUT4OEVCgWNHlatVtx7gXhxd9LK42GUB3eqyZeOhJ3rND3vhxqDJNHbRRj0bi8JFgZJwiD1uL5aSiWjlEwF2-KA44SudWnpgH5Hua5w6sxAZKk9U/s1600-h/3Boys.Help.Papa.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE9INKQymFcRSLsLg0jt4IUT4OEVCgWNHlatVtx7gXhxd9LK42GUB3eqyZeOhJ3rND3vhxqDJNHbRRj0bi8JFgZJwiD1uL5aSiWjlEwF2-KA44SudWnpgH5Hua5w6sxAZKk9U/s400/3Boys.Help.Papa.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288789968446056370" /></a> Steven, Andrew and Evan wanting to help Daddy<br /><br />Happy New Year everyone! <br /><br />We kept it low key and stayed home for New Year's Eve and spent New Year's Day getting the house and Steven and Evan's room organized. Robert finished assembling Steven and Evan's new dressers and bookcases for their room and the boys all joined in to take part in the fun. Here are a few pictures of the boys helping Daddy.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5ETRIEf4fqn4ZdohbJ-pXR1XRs-2msSyackBRwi49V0E6fB_3iUMvz_73Kk33MvXf5DzoFLHqGuDdV2tYs1708_20vLl9qE0E0Q75yv_9WLzie3oyiFZP4eoV8szNpS450px/s1600-h/Evan.Helping.Papa.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 328px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5ETRIEf4fqn4ZdohbJ-pXR1XRs-2msSyackBRwi49V0E6fB_3iUMvz_73Kk33MvXf5DzoFLHqGuDdV2tYs1708_20vLl9qE0E0Q75yv_9WLzie3oyiFZP4eoV8szNpS450px/s400/Evan.Helping.Papa.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288789966851189954" /></a> Evan really got into pretending he was helping Papa assemble the dresser<br /><br />Evan was very comical and hamming it up in front of the camera. I must say, Evan just melts my heart with his adorable self, all of his expressions, his personality and his affection he gives to me. I questioned when we were visiting him in the orphanage how difficult it would be to bond with him once we got him in our care since he always seemed to be so independent and stubborn at times. Don't get me wrong, he is still very independent and stubborn at times, but Evan and I have bonded very well with each other. He is so funny with all of his facial expressions that I can't stop taking pictures of him. Here he is in rare form.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP-2z_3yVVl2YVmja1RvntPEArY7EAkpf7wKn7pWXb2Mkr6aYd9SXMOYlixcEASzZgjxutPKFQbI_jc5xVHmhabUT7TCLb6_vZEe0cM_6C8gyXtPxC9ulT6Nof6zuibYeq_Uv8/s1600-h/IMG_4229.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP-2z_3yVVl2YVmja1RvntPEArY7EAkpf7wKn7pWXb2Mkr6aYd9SXMOYlixcEASzZgjxutPKFQbI_jc5xVHmhabUT7TCLb6_vZEe0cM_6C8gyXtPxC9ulT6Nof6zuibYeq_Uv8/s400/IMG_4229.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288791597171529634" /></a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLnExB-pJZVujH4XFr5RYfNzripMaMbc-31eHDJ2np9XSVKwYJbSk-QXIR3G8oag1SFFVRx9SEDASxBuztFnD_rlMJxthbTuaocZGir6noGSynQMEDzS0RdJMlU3LqLELs2i8/s1600-h/IMG_4228.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLnExB-pJZVujH4XFr5RYfNzripMaMbc-31eHDJ2np9XSVKwYJbSk-QXIR3G8oag1SFFVRx9SEDASxBuztFnD_rlMJxthbTuaocZGir6noGSynQMEDzS0RdJMlU3LqLELs2i8/s400/IMG_4228.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288791594179748258" /></a> Silly Evan<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuog-EY3FqAjv84zUP-54w3mWya6kaEwddnKfHIiO14U7DxfewhCgmm-6Dt20oTBCdY7U23eCF_iLMflo_alsP_BHQQAByWoA3lHyyN_yGxWpi3ay4IfsLJUuO4RNxqPsOsunT/s1600-h/Evan.Smiling.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 326px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuog-EY3FqAjv84zUP-54w3mWya6kaEwddnKfHIiO14U7DxfewhCgmm-6Dt20oTBCdY7U23eCF_iLMflo_alsP_BHQQAByWoA3lHyyN_yGxWpi3ay4IfsLJUuO4RNxqPsOsunT/s400/Evan.Smiling.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288791065446150402" /></a> Cheese!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8V1_9L7InSNtbjPec6mFH2T9lykmhpCQtisiGkGpsmJqXdHxkcjlDSP3gEVzOvBmeHEoO5_hcD1LLHUy-Gq7j37FAIFkS8Z8lJUf-_bKeAzOYyfuGZ3TCHvsybvBPzlX9_6r/s1600-h/Evan.Love.U.This.Mch.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8V1_9L7InSNtbjPec6mFH2T9lykmhpCQtisiGkGpsmJqXdHxkcjlDSP3gEVzOvBmeHEoO5_hcD1LLHUy-Gq7j37FAIFkS8Z8lJUf-_bKeAzOYyfuGZ3TCHvsybvBPzlX9_6r/s400/Evan.Love.U.This.Mch.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288791062920456258" /></a> I Love You This Much!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAfdJHQ2kcnMfz6Z3FktGecDzXr2lv09ob9IgYEfdkDqXkIJFQoV5nq5c-tKnoYJT26PSy34r_stub8Dhh_6u6InPdq3mmiuaYsSGaW3kPsRdEEZJCjkcfO5GV-R7DILaepn_/s1600-h/Evan.I.Dont.Know.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAfdJHQ2kcnMfz6Z3FktGecDzXr2lv09ob9IgYEfdkDqXkIJFQoV5nq5c-tKnoYJT26PSy34r_stub8Dhh_6u6InPdq3mmiuaYsSGaW3kPsRdEEZJCjkcfO5GV-R7DILaepn_/s400/Evan.I.Dont.Know.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288791061160878578" /></a> I Don't Know??<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfweKSwhhXk-EMHVsKSlqwwLKsWIkYbEhJzhaVPzWtD3Xc6OiHOLQSLrqHiFKN112gBtRgQukP9wKPXjsys4lsccj8Ag8u8d6yrH5XBi5VptbuW-bBMMlj-iIZ0kgMtOrkpyIq/s1600-h/Evan.Hamming.It.Up.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfweKSwhhXk-EMHVsKSlqwwLKsWIkYbEhJzhaVPzWtD3Xc6OiHOLQSLrqHiFKN112gBtRgQukP9wKPXjsys4lsccj8Ag8u8d6yrH5XBi5VptbuW-bBMMlj-iIZ0kgMtOrkpyIq/s400/Evan.Hamming.It.Up.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288791055398189794" /></a> Evan Hamming it up.<br /><br />I thought it would be fun for the family to break out the fondue pot to celebrate the New Year as a family. We did it last year with Andrew for New Year's Eve and it was hilarious to see him practically swimming in melted chocolate. It turned out to be another big hit at the Millilo household. We dipped pineapple chunks, banana pieces and sliced apple into the chocolate marshmellow fondue and boy was it tasty. As soon as Andrew saw me preparing the fondue pot he got so excited he was squealing with delight and jumping up and down. Of course Steven and Evan didn't understand what was going on but Andrew did. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZu3HB1lJt3whNr9OPVlx56X39W-hjPzcyFKvhUV90XD36CWPD_9hxAL3SzfX9dEcn7vGclNNuBeaQxQ_-Mz4WKGIpi6kPEWled_Kcg09RFxNBAJXYRusBEtMKGtL6PPFCpu7r/s1600-h/Enjoying.Every.Minute.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZu3HB1lJt3whNr9OPVlx56X39W-hjPzcyFKvhUV90XD36CWPD_9hxAL3SzfX9dEcn7vGclNNuBeaQxQ_-Mz4WKGIpi6kPEWled_Kcg09RFxNBAJXYRusBEtMKGtL6PPFCpu7r/s400/Enjoying.Every.Minute.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288795007203403186" /></a> Enjoying Every Minute...Like Who Wouldn't!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YYoiw2oCMGPm9K3QmrVXl7bAmlFVEqY49zmLO_W9gf322N2inrJr030DuzjcHDEN9jHcYHgl5y01K2dtgs5RhHt7tIArxecu3Taqr5058uB8pGZ62UfCf3JUjzSu0qrqjYMy/s1600-h/Chocolate.Fever.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YYoiw2oCMGPm9K3QmrVXl7bAmlFVEqY49zmLO_W9gf322N2inrJr030DuzjcHDEN9jHcYHgl5y01K2dtgs5RhHt7tIArxecu3Taqr5058uB8pGZ62UfCf3JUjzSu0qrqjYMy/s400/Chocolate.Fever.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288795000533890610" /></a> It's going to be a while before I come down from this chocolate high!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkI231bBawm3fKseRNPUGHwPsReTch84F7gjQ9mTEmmHHotNFvCH6Sb4ew5kpy9fJ9e7ZyCAXUt-Zh7Ltv9t1vVtNg7hxbWrHEuyJh4nyAZCICdAjB-ytMIiwM4JW6-pvkzVbI/s1600-h/YUMMY.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkI231bBawm3fKseRNPUGHwPsReTch84F7gjQ9mTEmmHHotNFvCH6Sb4ew5kpy9fJ9e7ZyCAXUt-Zh7Ltv9t1vVtNg7hxbWrHEuyJh4nyAZCICdAjB-ytMIiwM4JW6-pvkzVbI/s400/YUMMY.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288795016245760226" /></a> YUMMY!! Smachno!<br /><br />Once Steven and Evan understood what to do with the fondue sticks they wanted the fondue pot next to them the whole time. Of course we all took turns passing the fondue pot around the table and Steven and Evan were so anxious to dip their next piece of fruit that they were trying to climb over the table to get to it. I told them to sit down and to repeat, "Mama, please pass me the chocolate fondue". It was so cute to hear them say that phrase so quickly. They are so adorable. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAHDxxIcMslBwrlf-HYux7vQ5G6FkCyOAx8yRns6fiscgJA6HYP-Fyt6H5VHdliAKWJPE4DicS4L-7za-XJOQJprWiTU1EvzHrOeVQOhdebF9LWr0UDs-7o6ShZgWfgZpBKMR/s1600-h/Fondue.time.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAHDxxIcMslBwrlf-HYux7vQ5G6FkCyOAx8yRns6fiscgJA6HYP-Fyt6H5VHdliAKWJPE4DicS4L-7za-XJOQJprWiTU1EvzHrOeVQOhdebF9LWr0UDs-7o6ShZgWfgZpBKMR/s400/Fondue.time.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288795015691378082" /></a><br />Fondue Firsts<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FNa7FK62hv7QkpgwzIx1RK3F4ebb2i4f0zx_DKw-cmE3gOhnJovj-GZid_320f1cSN5MOsGGPEX1V0wENhtr_wQp1uBPMWuy3IfW8ThIjqI0PBODpuwUzQDR8d9AkX2maAAU/s1600-h/Fondue.Fun.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FNa7FK62hv7QkpgwzIx1RK3F4ebb2i4f0zx_DKw-cmE3gOhnJovj-GZid_320f1cSN5MOsGGPEX1V0wENhtr_wQp1uBPMWuy3IfW8ThIjqI0PBODpuwUzQDR8d9AkX2maAAU/s400/Fondue.Fun.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288795009146125298" /></a> Fondue Fun!<br /><br />Earlier that evening as we were putting our coats on to go outside Steven burped, covered his mouth and said (in English) "Excuse Me". I was floored. First of all I remember telling Andrew a couple of days ago to cover his mouth and say excused me when he burped but didn't realize Steven was so intently listening that he remembered what to do and what to say. I praised him and told him how proud I was of him. Also, I overheard Steven tell Andrew, "Come on" as he was trying to get Andrew to come over to play with him. He also says on his own "Bye, Bye" and he surprised me again when I was putting them in bed recently by saying back to me, "Love you"...after I told him in Ukrainian and in English that I love him. Again to my surprise that same evening, Evan said it to me the best he could in English with out me asking him to say it, "I UV OO". How precious are they. <br /><br />Yes we have our challenging moments as a family (like what family doesn't)....but it's times like these that make it all worth while. Happy New Year Everyone!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-6110658450067153292008-12-31T20:48:00.000-05:002009-01-07T23:47:01.428-05:00Ups and Downs our First Couple of Weeks Home<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEira3Mx9bx-LlKTiUbI9jRAyf7yflne471jndhJKcloSOFZzyWhVtYP9N6a1EY7tcqQL1TDSxFNIfs9SFb5wYzlVEMnA_6DqlK_I_ziJYUJvbs3Lg0J5v6GaAqY5Vq2bCRkuX81/s1600-h/2children.born.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEira3Mx9bx-LlKTiUbI9jRAyf7yflne471jndhJKcloSOFZzyWhVtYP9N6a1EY7tcqQL1TDSxFNIfs9SFb5wYzlVEMnA_6DqlK_I_ziJYUJvbs3Lg0J5v6GaAqY5Vq2bCRkuX81/s400/2children.born.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288777134204767554" /></a><br />For Unto Us a Child is Born....Unto us a son is given...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ8oCMa_4Fi9GQBVQbaZ26KdJgoecFO78GoBUSTAUAECgz6jQjbr7XQKe_ZjIamgPdMwr1P-dSx3qyENSpHwt23sPtnLnthnC2RY7gnq8zvCF9qPMbkI0JewXlvRafzpACzoqq/s1600-h/Jesus.Reason.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ8oCMa_4Fi9GQBVQbaZ26KdJgoecFO78GoBUSTAUAECgz6jQjbr7XQKe_ZjIamgPdMwr1P-dSx3qyENSpHwt23sPtnLnthnC2RY7gnq8zvCF9qPMbkI0JewXlvRafzpACzoqq/s400/Jesus.Reason.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288776956001129410" /></a><br />Jesus is the reason for the season<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuk032cX02nwz1I2FKLLwyNBPlOziUBlvlG7wmA0NEoWwjX9FYvktnRJnEckYS7rGMY9pqfymxGJEX9NQBgBr3N3LYxAvcJhW22V5ASHnxCBdK_Mo655M1kyeBfSUcLMs1we61/s1600-h/Choo.Choo.Train.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuk032cX02nwz1I2FKLLwyNBPlOziUBlvlG7wmA0NEoWwjX9FYvktnRJnEckYS7rGMY9pqfymxGJEX9NQBgBr3N3LYxAvcJhW22V5ASHnxCBdK_Mo655M1kyeBfSUcLMs1we61/s400/Choo.Choo.Train.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288778456157179890" /></a> All aboard the Choo Choo Train!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-1XKOYL6XVypvNVFvnywthbqW2CXpEyStwGj51Fv8nH-O43bYka1J-Wx4ONDGfKygAAV_N3KgmTVU9t_n5nJue6V6Fwz0MXaFMDjSRMatz7htaJlnyWySWBknuTEHdxWvdyi/s1600-h/3Boys.Blanket.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-1XKOYL6XVypvNVFvnywthbqW2CXpEyStwGj51Fv8nH-O43bYka1J-Wx4ONDGfKygAAV_N3KgmTVU9t_n5nJue6V6Fwz0MXaFMDjSRMatz7htaJlnyWySWBknuTEHdxWvdyi/s400/3Boys.Blanket.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288778459604952306" /></a> Pull us faster, Steven!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi325-IlPT4_xtZFeVOcanrOxf2vDDwHeF1NKnHkPtlHfcOr7LWPe495QSwPzXXLwioDVPzsWSwL_AeoDsH4Dv6FNKJn4DvcLwFE8gTos9mY7Ee9OPNoU1ZGT5PlZ2e2EjaHH6G/s1600-h/3boys.salute.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi325-IlPT4_xtZFeVOcanrOxf2vDDwHeF1NKnHkPtlHfcOr7LWPe495QSwPzXXLwioDVPzsWSwL_AeoDsH4Dv6FNKJn4DvcLwFE8gTos9mY7Ee9OPNoU1ZGT5PlZ2e2EjaHH6G/s400/3boys.salute.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288776972910475746" /></a><br />Our 3 little soldiers<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFh3BhOD75RIgdwyHcp7Re30w2xrgxaYd-qPNOXzw9Af0oOnwKof5OmHDVL4jVEQsb1ollYeRanb9uHtqzCwmpURLLBQiONZ0lwpyH-rI30jS5F_FszeL3-xs1NkE66tedz4BK/s1600-h/Andrew.reindeer.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFh3BhOD75RIgdwyHcp7Re30w2xrgxaYd-qPNOXzw9Af0oOnwKof5OmHDVL4jVEQsb1ollYeRanb9uHtqzCwmpURLLBQiONZ0lwpyH-rI30jS5F_FszeL3-xs1NkE66tedz4BK/s400/Andrew.reindeer.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288776970674421490" /></a> Andrew the reindeer<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEiVtTLTBetqIJcxNyV0vhJm6JIo1m4CZFoedqrnsBF7V7xKTMMkh9OWQWz8c1Q8_TvoHPMvUpfWy89AlDumN98vf29IW8zpv3PuFq-J58ooDyHLO2-t1fKR2nU6IIekiCwYk/s1600-h/Evan.Reindeer.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEiVtTLTBetqIJcxNyV0vhJm6JIo1m4CZFoedqrnsBF7V7xKTMMkh9OWQWz8c1Q8_TvoHPMvUpfWy89AlDumN98vf29IW8zpv3PuFq-J58ooDyHLO2-t1fKR2nU6IIekiCwYk/s400/Evan.Reindeer.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288776962043107858" /></a><br />Evan the Reindeer<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAgQ5tJ3o-R1rWBnDS0Xey4dsKEWirjzoSj10B0SziLiwsM6LZOmQNCZTqW-rT14MQelx1AMhQpBImgLRNzRdibrNn09iromyJfTlnFs6ZultvxGPHMTdLzmQiEnavTcgWj7W/s1600-h/Steven.reindeer.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAgQ5tJ3o-R1rWBnDS0Xey4dsKEWirjzoSj10B0SziLiwsM6LZOmQNCZTqW-rT14MQelx1AMhQpBImgLRNzRdibrNn09iromyJfTlnFs6ZultvxGPHMTdLzmQiEnavTcgWj7W/s400/Steven.reindeer.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288776958158696930" /></a> Steven the Reindeer<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cyBECsBBuGJV7-chjo1ZPur4TOprS9xVEaXuQkPg7pxjJmOtxiXhgNTb_toX01ErRcFrKUTzVqpQQAVcSLjZw_s21u66T8hyQFnRFGSmohY6vp_x7HVgFh6dDIDZGlh8iATV/s1600-h/Steven.Cookies.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cyBECsBBuGJV7-chjo1ZPur4TOprS9xVEaXuQkPg7pxjJmOtxiXhgNTb_toX01ErRcFrKUTzVqpQQAVcSLjZw_s21u66T8hyQFnRFGSmohY6vp_x7HVgFh6dDIDZGlh8iATV/s400/Steven.Cookies.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288779199478702706" /></a> "C" is for Cookie....it's good enough to eat.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtqw6AGhfHKEr-yhZzLnkWUEcFgYSw66JXkB1K9A6Tsj8RDH1V0ytrU01YJQpQBpuqd00CEakEStxkZcaUw_5X_sgK2coveoONpFw6VdIZntayWdpouWBeIM6LeNIKpSa64q9/s1600-h/3Boys.Cookies.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtqw6AGhfHKEr-yhZzLnkWUEcFgYSw66JXkB1K9A6Tsj8RDH1V0ytrU01YJQpQBpuqd00CEakEStxkZcaUw_5X_sgK2coveoONpFw6VdIZntayWdpouWBeIM6LeNIKpSa64q9/s400/3Boys.Cookies.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288779180443712514" /></a><br />Steven, Andrew and Evan New Year's Eve making cookies<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA-oSniiEIjJqkcsppaaVQE0C98hqYjAjQpokQW85cofpGlo-cnnppRW_S01XPkpMU2KZ-TVKP4yIzW0r6jXPaVJciGysz6C6YTp1cMiMTdTmI6TZNIZVGEkWNidAk3zGin6i/s1600-h/Steven.Andrew.Cookies.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA-oSniiEIjJqkcsppaaVQE0C98hqYjAjQpokQW85cofpGlo-cnnppRW_S01XPkpMU2KZ-TVKP4yIzW0r6jXPaVJciGysz6C6YTp1cMiMTdTmI6TZNIZVGEkWNidAk3zGin6i/s400/Steven.Andrew.Cookies.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288779190012205234" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-62284999217045993932008-12-26T22:09:00.007-05:002009-01-01T23:56:00.355-05:00Merry Christmas! We're Home!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgdYSbAYetBnM7vOp-r2XdkDyZ47BW-TrqmyDJUXJARvWl59czN3XteHyXZrkz7rhskv95CMBXQ7K2OQVph0zRO_cDmZYFEwspoISJqUArY3tM8P1q1DFCOO7iDAyvpS_bN63/s1600-h/Millilo.Family.Christmas.08.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgdYSbAYetBnM7vOp-r2XdkDyZ47BW-TrqmyDJUXJARvWl59czN3XteHyXZrkz7rhskv95CMBXQ7K2OQVph0zRO_cDmZYFEwspoISJqUArY3tM8P1q1DFCOO7iDAyvpS_bN63/s400/Millilo.Family.Christmas.08.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286545752602238946" /></a> Christmas Morning. From our home to yours We wish you all a Merry Christmas!<br /><br />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!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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!!!<br /> <br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUNqI97uoycko1VitJbrhysyL4g62ioo47hiznl2dbTFkO2jJZ89XEAkL7Lebj9f7uTirQDp-koq-yWMyoHWhiaq81Su09JPQYQPjPK_tnSQsJEFi2ttdfGgers9tOPN8ZBCe/s1600-h/Evan.Christmas.Dog.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 354px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUNqI97uoycko1VitJbrhysyL4g62ioo47hiznl2dbTFkO2jJZ89XEAkL7Lebj9f7uTirQDp-koq-yWMyoHWhiaq81Su09JPQYQPjPK_tnSQsJEFi2ttdfGgers9tOPN8ZBCe/s400/Evan.Christmas.Dog.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286554258572606674" /></a> Evan cuddling with his new doggie.<br /><br />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. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZbI1S2KWbnlBQevJBZ5ZTpA4X-3ueK5BkhpfRbA69WahGeIp6zARFp8YMIMI7564d-iqGjGmlmCkmb7dk2U5zA-rLlC4PkA7Gb3B0gT1QP8Loan-KXxImYDF8KovaJn390Nx/s1600-h/Nana.3Grandsons.Piano.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZbI1S2KWbnlBQevJBZ5ZTpA4X-3ueK5BkhpfRbA69WahGeIp6zARFp8YMIMI7564d-iqGjGmlmCkmb7dk2U5zA-rLlC4PkA7Gb3B0gT1QP8Loan-KXxImYDF8KovaJn390Nx/s400/Nana.3Grandsons.Piano.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286554262998920178" /></a> Nana teaching her grandsons to play the piano softly<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTq9iScAM2oTKL43k4QQ62rHEVO13Y3N56DVFZI-nSATWAmyPnnMlIbnSP6sU1H8aJzHMaDskaOghfxVcQ5Pu2NayZgQGsDhbykZyRINetuWdvviiU6QrWJh_xrTlf_XkerrOX/s1600-h/Steven.Evan.Ball.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTq9iScAM2oTKL43k4QQ62rHEVO13Y3N56DVFZI-nSATWAmyPnnMlIbnSP6sU1H8aJzHMaDskaOghfxVcQ5Pu2NayZgQGsDhbykZyRINetuWdvviiU6QrWJh_xrTlf_XkerrOX/s400/Steven.Evan.Ball.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286554270852369602" /></a> Steven and Evan playing ball with Uncle Rich<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETFQMDq8GZOEpEJMRqZboe-lyWOZOKA9F-SzFXivEECmpT6vco9EY7fOb2ZLOsD8YsJKfKHeOQfVOmOWifWyirUocmWxCr8QtN_DJtEQsOWvWd72neKM5wQ185cA4bIayfb4s/s1600-h/Andrew.Santa.hat.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 394px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETFQMDq8GZOEpEJMRqZboe-lyWOZOKA9F-SzFXivEECmpT6vco9EY7fOb2ZLOsD8YsJKfKHeOQfVOmOWifWyirUocmWxCr8QtN_DJtEQsOWvWd72neKM5wQ185cA4bIayfb4s/s400/Andrew.Santa.hat.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286554264582654194" /></a> Andrew in Santas Hat<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-57967154585589515102008-12-19T09:31:00.002-05:002009-01-02T00:11:02.523-05:00First Day as a Family of Five - Let's Celebrate!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhITQTNftr811B3vMsEMLcqQ485jG9cL4qMIybNVQICj0IwPpyu9lTF5UJ4rwF_rCTfxR8yOJIv0D3dOh1z4EMg4ZDTP5tOeF3oJFyApKOwvWzOQxPY9IOLeo3BXQCUxb0sgkRt/s1600-h/Dancing.Millilos.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhITQTNftr811B3vMsEMLcqQ485jG9cL4qMIybNVQICj0IwPpyu9lTF5UJ4rwF_rCTfxR8yOJIv0D3dOh1z4EMg4ZDTP5tOeF3oJFyApKOwvWzOQxPY9IOLeo3BXQCUxb0sgkRt/s400/Dancing.Millilos.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282622535846330226" /></a> WHOO WHOO!!! We'll be home for Christmas!! The Dancing Millilo Family.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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…=)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dQcZpRwPYYOoz0xbuo2trxDXZGdpJ544_Hp4fN8UbWyIJHlcE32212IiAEB135ZtRXIzd_M_V92sGsmigCn-4LlKGM2m7s6j5xNKhI0-1d5nDZQVxsJVUqiAcF4Ygfl2yToZ/s1600-h/FrenchFries.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dQcZpRwPYYOoz0xbuo2trxDXZGdpJ544_Hp4fN8UbWyIJHlcE32212IiAEB135ZtRXIzd_M_V92sGsmigCn-4LlKGM2m7s6j5xNKhI0-1d5nDZQVxsJVUqiAcF4Ygfl2yToZ/s400/FrenchFries.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282622574898562418" /></a><br />My first french fry<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jkGWyRe0Wub6IDlRaqdmczw8mE8_ScLv3HsoBjy4qBdvMA6u_3Ft4qMcBA0svg6sDy_fDJZpzbf_bwMtbEU_FNo6jQZdotY6NlyxrIFXutaEhBQ7j_GT0ELuo2iPW8fRQAPl/s1600-h/McDonaldsBalloons.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jkGWyRe0Wub6IDlRaqdmczw8mE8_ScLv3HsoBjy4qBdvMA6u_3Ft4qMcBA0svg6sDy_fDJZpzbf_bwMtbEU_FNo6jQZdotY6NlyxrIFXutaEhBQ7j_GT0ELuo2iPW8fRQAPl/s400/McDonaldsBalloons.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286559367019748482" /></a> We are happy kids<br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-18594720171512221822008-12-18T09:18:00.003-05:002008-12-22T09:28:16.500-05:00Our Family is Complete - Picking up Evan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEEzFFP4OduyMapV56WK5SMRbCMRAAak6iuKbfm6WD8bpC77qu33vWCuLgC8EA0XwxKggzTfJZg0fsJ88us_CsEmnpQZ5fGAf8x1E9yPUz89vmh9zi3mIXgFUvyUq3oSfKwQT/s1600-h/First.Family.Photo.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEEzFFP4OduyMapV56WK5SMRbCMRAAak6iuKbfm6WD8bpC77qu33vWCuLgC8EA0XwxKggzTfJZg0fsJ88us_CsEmnpQZ5fGAf8x1E9yPUz89vmh9zi3mIXgFUvyUq3oSfKwQT/s400/First.Family.Photo.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282619620105702674" /></a> First Family Photo<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGndYUYFuJVhwHC_C7eCerJmqEb5TAdKgQRReAxju5rKAHdUXg3W-02YFkzXeGM6UqblgWZqj3j7HCjX3q9_ZwXoNB5GwJwp_FD2YAWiEi6MsuAfYgnOOY1vMxaqj4rK0xlzKa/s1600-h/LadyVictory.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGndYUYFuJVhwHC_C7eCerJmqEb5TAdKgQRReAxju5rKAHdUXg3W-02YFkzXeGM6UqblgWZqj3j7HCjX3q9_ZwXoNB5GwJwp_FD2YAWiEi6MsuAfYgnOOY1vMxaqj4rK0xlzKa/s400/LadyVictory.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282620744461863906" /></a><br />Lady Victory <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcUiDH9eZV5voYmBIAgxxXlj3dnHDJt1EbiKG0PVjX1lFO8iS2NuWDviNn2kalSPLSXySoRec9a51nuRClwYn_C9DH3Iayp9DtOc47SI9og7JakBUfCauH_Jc0krKrnYHoVoI/s1600-h/Evans.Departure.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcUiDH9eZV5voYmBIAgxxXlj3dnHDJt1EbiKG0PVjX1lFO8iS2NuWDviNn2kalSPLSXySoRec9a51nuRClwYn_C9DH3Iayp9DtOc47SI9og7JakBUfCauH_Jc0krKrnYHoVoI/s400/Evans.Departure.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282619621512358482" /></a> Paka Paka Orphanage<br /><br />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. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkbkW5YQq5CkI0sLBo3P2tJOovqgIEqLIhmOgtBAGMEEZeia7DdffxsJwoGTQlHQaR8Q9YaUD7aqEvzFA06-4_H9ygooahqP9VJLMfLPriqQKTMMyId-UEc8hgwQu-6crjO62/s1600-h/Steven.Evan.Balloons.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkbkW5YQq5CkI0sLBo3P2tJOovqgIEqLIhmOgtBAGMEEZeia7DdffxsJwoGTQlHQaR8Q9YaUD7aqEvzFA06-4_H9ygooahqP9VJLMfLPriqQKTMMyId-UEc8hgwQu-6crjO62/s400/Steven.Evan.Balloons.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282621005408176034" /></a> Steven and Evan getting reacquanted as brothers<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyLsa_9sQYYLzYLGiYMoTy59pzYsJuWi-aG15SCOd0X1PORaDN38ZSjPymQln50HKbWXuIN6dSYFoSPX8Q4_fLJwrQ6u4P9RymaLmxfnuohg8hR285umZa4U3BN7qZoSXrQ8r/s1600-h/Mama.Evan.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyLsa_9sQYYLzYLGiYMoTy59pzYsJuWi-aG15SCOd0X1PORaDN38ZSjPymQln50HKbWXuIN6dSYFoSPX8Q4_fLJwrQ6u4P9RymaLmxfnuohg8hR285umZa4U3BN7qZoSXrQ8r/s400/Mama.Evan.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282619623505889938" /></a><br />Mama and Evan<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtvUWTnrrVi5W-aRYJM30mXrx6L7XlIDk9Mxm6GwqCCD5Lu5S56AN76Gng9BGJd9fVMAIZlunmbKXq3PWJ6cqpF4ytCg2xqkoHrp9XPQ4U7EHsb6YUM01IS4QmNcAcLRKmxXy/s1600-h/First.Night.Slumber.Party.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtvUWTnrrVi5W-aRYJM30mXrx6L7XlIDk9Mxm6GwqCCD5Lu5S56AN76Gng9BGJd9fVMAIZlunmbKXq3PWJ6cqpF4ytCg2xqkoHrp9XPQ4U7EHsb6YUM01IS4QmNcAcLRKmxXy/s400/First.Night.Slumber.Party.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282619626227957922" /></a> Slumber Party<br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-49442263148772153632008-12-17T18:30:00.001-05:002008-12-18T04:05:28.764-05:00Our First Day as a Family with StevenOur 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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12829451.post-75057961869372536232008-12-16T17:00:00.004-05:002008-12-18T04:06:12.981-05:00Picking up our son Steven<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKvhqJ6k17TiZ-PWmLedjLq0J027h8unBmIDX9_v5b5b6pibE7qTaDUXNWKH2AqlXglBtWQ6Niv9WqPOQ11bMsDeWGeiQkD1iTGqnmTmKUdWvQh_-zsr7qlT_q-tof8uhnUnhT/s1600-h/IMG_3904.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKvhqJ6k17TiZ-PWmLedjLq0J027h8unBmIDX9_v5b5b6pibE7qTaDUXNWKH2AqlXglBtWQ6Niv9WqPOQ11bMsDeWGeiQkD1iTGqnmTmKUdWvQh_-zsr7qlT_q-tof8uhnUnhT/s400/IMG_3904.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281052863419355570" /></a><br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkqPcL7V3z5nI-LTPi_s2o6q1Bsej0zfi53-_TclSWUinNVNEFWb7QN1jypFkC3QyVWYhkttP1IhJV9Cer8E4TJrPv9oNuWWeG3zaoMLtGYNMpZEBctHWr2MhxzQGCE7g_pI7/s1600-h/IMG_3949.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkqPcL7V3z5nI-LTPi_s2o6q1Bsej0zfi53-_TclSWUinNVNEFWb7QN1jypFkC3QyVWYhkttP1IhJV9Cer8E4TJrPv9oNuWWeG3zaoMLtGYNMpZEBctHWr2MhxzQGCE7g_pI7/s400/IMG_3949.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281052201675098402" /></a> Grandfather Frost<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuVpI9rnxq2kHgDBj8sjHGJWbA9X_Qrp9CSqpuOZCOve5uxo8NzMBULwbA8Tnf3fhE6ch25eYW-RKqj2Kly4DqOowwDS7QF51YEbxGviALkuB8I9CjfBox710HjhQcn0BCv22/s1600-h/IMG_3941.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuVpI9rnxq2kHgDBj8sjHGJWbA9X_Qrp9CSqpuOZCOve5uxo8NzMBULwbA8Tnf3fhE6ch25eYW-RKqj2Kly4DqOowwDS7QF51YEbxGviALkuB8I9CjfBox710HjhQcn0BCv22/s400/IMG_3941.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281052201210828610" /></a> Steven in Sleigh<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH9zrvH2u842EQYXa56CzM79Ady-KBFrpbWhisZUWtz9p04JdQNVx11RWRBG_VvtDBOvjS5WIlxGIQ9g5OsLzg5jeKCVcih3AoYWBXF39DU6LL6SVh-hLODFF94GBa4n2XIGa/s1600-h/IMG_3935.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiH9zrvH2u842EQYXa56CzM79Ady-KBFrpbWhisZUWtz9p04JdQNVx11RWRBG_VvtDBOvjS5WIlxGIQ9g5OsLzg5jeKCVcih3AoYWBXF39DU6LL6SVh-hLODFF94GBa4n2XIGa/s400/IMG_3935.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281052200246854002" /></a> Oh Christmas Tree<br /><br />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.<br /><br /><br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0