3 weeks home

Wow, time flew by these past 3 weeks! I find myself missing Ukraine, but then I remember that I have the luxury of clean water and good coffee, and then I don't miss it too much anymore. ;)

Maks is doing great. He's been a little cranky the past few days, but nothing crazy. We're working on getting him to stop throwing toys and trying to get him to drink more liquids. 

The girls have enjoyed playing with him, especially Charlotte who calls him her buddy. It's really sweet. 

We're still adjusting to the amount of time it takes to get in and out of the car, and discuss passed er vans longingly. 

I will be getting therapy appointments and his cardiology appointment set up after the new year. Hoping all of that goes smoothly. 

That's about it! All of the kids are doing well, and I feel like the trip to Ukraine was a reset button on a lot of things. Hope you all have a great remainder of your 2013!

Merry Christmas!

We had our first ever Christmas at home, instead of going to be with the rest of my family like usual. It made me a little sad, but we are "cocooning" with Maks until he is bonded, so it was needed. 

We woke up bright and early when I heard the floor in the livingroom creaking. It was Lilykins. I gathered her back into my room and we got everyone else up. 

"Mommy, Santa brought me the doll I wanted!" - Lily. 

You do not know joy until you experience a Christmas morning with 6 beautiful kiddos, including a former orphan who has likely never gotten a Christmas present before. 

We went to mass after we had breakfast, then we came home and Kyle made a turkey on the grill, I made all the fixings, and we had a chaotic evening of playing with the new toys. Mommy and daddy were asleep just after the kids. 

We are richly blessed. Merry Christmas. 

First Week Home

The boys and I have been home a week and things are going great. I was prepared for the worst (biting, rocking, meltdowns, medical issues, etc), and got the best. Maks is amazing and is doing so well. We're trying to get the hang of some sort of schedule, but that's been rough with the bigger girls' school schedule. It's rough juggling them in and out of the car, and it takes a good 3 times longer to get ready, but we're getting there. 

Here's our week in pictures:

He sleeps well.

A lot of cuties!

Sissy takes care of him. 

Group hugs.

Sad when he missed a nap.

First trip to Target.

First trip to Costco.

Trying on clothes our sweet friends sent. 

First Oreo.

We're so blessed to have this sweet guy and I'm so glad to be home with my family. Gearing up for Christmas and can't wait! 

7 Quick Takes - Last day in Ukraine and the trip HOME!

1. The boys and I have been home for 5 days! I'll do a few quick recaps, then try to write it all up later. 

2. Last Friday a driver picked us up and took us to the medical appointment for Maks.

 3. He passed that fine, and we headed to the embassy for his visa. Luckily, because it was late afternoon, they were super fast about it. We met another adoptive family there who was so nice. They helped entertain Maks while I dealt with the paperwork. The embassy is a neat place. 

4. We left there and picked up another adoptive momma to head down to get her referral. We got caught in traffic, again, thanks to the protests, and she had to get out of the car to run down there before they left. I only went with because I had not yet gotten souvenirs and I was not about to spend 5 weeks in a country and leave with no souvenirs! I bought a bunch of stuff for the kids, friends, and family at the street vendor there. Then we had a bite to eat and on the way out noticed that the door under St. Andrew's was open. It was a gift shop and I was so excited. I walked inside and cried. The icons and other things there were so beautiful and very reasonably priced. I bought a few things and then we left.

St. Andrew's is breathtaking at night. 

5. I then met up with my dear friend Louisa, who I had never met in person, but we had spent countless hours on the phone together spazzing out about the journeys we were on. I was so glad we ended up in country together. 

Louisa, Maks, Nicole, me, Sam 

6. Early Saturday morning at 3 am, we left for the airport. I had only slept about 1 hour. We took off around 5:55 and Maks did great on this flight. He slept a lot of it, and we had an empty seat next to us, so we could spread out. We landed in Frankfurt (aka, the worst airport ever), changed diapers, got a snack, he napped some more, and we prepared for our 10 hr flight to America. 

7. The 10 hour flight was not pretty, but we were sat next to an amazing guy who was so calm and sweet to Maks. God answered a prayer there for us. He was a big help, and just having an understanding person next to us really helped. Maks barely slept an hour this flight. Sam wouldn't let me put him in the bassinet until late into the flight, so it was pretty difficult. Both boys had a poopy diaper fiasco at about 5 hours in, but Lufthansa rocks and helped me get through that one. We landed in Denver and got through customs and everything else with the help of a great airport employee. A nice man there commented that he had a 9 yr old son with ds and what a blessing he was. 

By the time we got to Phoenix, I was deliriously tired. As soon as the plane started its decent, I started crying. I couldn't wait to hold my girls. Maks had fallen asleep after petting the arm hair on the guy next to us, so we were waiting for a flight attendant to help get us out. The nice man with a son with ds asked if i needed help and said he'd be honored to carry him out for me. :') I walked out, got him loaded up, walked down the ramp, saw my Grammy, grandpa, and aunt, then saw my hubby and two big girls walk up behind. I just held them all and cried. My little girls then showed up and I cried some more. Kyle woke up Maks and he lit up like a Christmas tree. He loves his daddy. 

We'll have pics from a great photographer and I'll post more soon. Maks and all of us are doing great. He's a wonderful little boy, and we are so blessed. 

Gotcha, Maksim!

Yesterday was gotcha day! It was a whirlwind. Niko called me at 5 pm to pick me up. 

We showed up at the orphanage around 6 and it was super dark. Maks wasn't in his groupa's room, he was with some more kids in another room. He was so excited to see me. 

A nanny and I took him back to get dressed and once we got all of his layers on, he was ready! We said paka to his friends and blew kisses. The kids all said, "paka, mama!" Break my heart. Niko carried him down and we got in the car and left for Kiev! 

Once we got to our apartment, he had a little trouble going to sleep, he was too excited, and if I left the room, he'd cry! He's an amazing boy. When he woke up this morning, he just wanted snupggles, and then he was ready to eat and get into trouble! :) it's snowing here this morning and it's absolutely beautiful. I am so happy to be in the city. 

We are headed to his medical and then the embassy appt, and we are hoping we will have his visa so we can leave tomorrow morning. I'm so ready to hug my girls and kiss my hubby! Thanks be to God, this was a relatively short process compared to most Ukraine adoptions. 

Sorry!

I haven't been great about keeping the blog updated, I'm sorry!

Friday we went and picked up our court decree and went to Maks' birth town to get his birth certificate changed to our names. Then Niko took Maks to have his picture taken. 

Monday we picked up Maks in the morning and drove 2 hours to Chernihiv and applied for his passport and then drove back. It was snowing and beautiful. Maks did great in the car. He loves looking out the window. 

They don't use car seats here. *shudder*

Today I took another batch of diapers and some candy for his groupa. I've noticed that it took them quite a while to go through the diapers I had already brought, and with 8 kids, it shouldn't have. I'm hoping it's because some of them are potty trained, but based on the rash on Maks' bottom, it's probably just that they don't use many per day to conserve. :-/ 

I have another huge package of diapers to take tomorrow. Hopefully some of my favorite nannies are there to receive them. Today, the lady looked at me like I was crazy for giving them candy. Well, I'll take it back, if you want, lady, those things are delicious! Haha

Today I walked down to the pizza place and then went to try to find a stroller for Maks. This is an expense I didn't think I'd have, but luckily I found one that wasn't too steep, and it should work perfectly for the chunky monkey. Samuel is not a fan of any store here. I'm not sure why, but he cries almost every time we walk into one. Maybe because they're boiling hot? I'm not sure. But anyway, there is a lady in this store that knows a little English, she's the only one I've encountered here in region that does, and it's very helpful. She asked if the baby needed to eat, I said yes, and she let me go stand back in a closet to feed him...lol. There's no room anywhere in these stores to sit or anything. He nursed a bit, and I thought he was fine so I went back to shopping and he started screaming again. Sigh. But, we made it with some essentials, and they were very nice to us, so it was ok. 

Tomorrow is our LAST visit and Thursday, if his passport comes like it should, we will have gotcha day! We are hoping and praying it all goes as it should so that we can leave Saturday morning. I can't wait to be home. I miss my girls and hubby so much.