Artiom Alexander Vlas Lewandoski....

Is now our boy!


Much running around today doing documents, but tomorrow we will take our little guy out....
we only saw him for a few minutes today and he thought we were there to play with him, so he cried and cried when we left with out playing. He is SO tiny, I can hardly believe it.
Tomorrow night we take the train back up to Kiev, then do medicals and visa then fly home.

big day today

# 1 we get a new son today!!!!!!!!! court.
#2 my son Alex's 3 rd birthday!

sorry i havent been posting, but we didnt have internet connection in our room.

i have MANY things to tell you, last night we went to Rambo's house.....need i say more?! it was hilarious.

I also want to let people know of the dire need here for people to adopt......I will say more later, but it's shocking and very sad.

For those of you that are coming, you are truly such a blessing to these children, literally saving their lives.

please say a prayer for court today :)

Pictures from the plane...

Choo Choo Train!!

We had a really good day today as the weather was beautiful and Artiom was a happy boy. We were able to take him outside yesterday which he absolutely loved. The video is from him being on the slide. Today, however, they wouldn't let us take him outside even though the weather was better today. As we learned in our last trip - there is no rhyme or reason to what happens here and you just need to go with the flow.

It was daylight savings time today so we got up late and missed breakfast and then in the rush to get to Artiom - we missed lunch. We didn't get to eat anything until about 3:30 so needless to say we were both quite under the weather.

It was great seeing Alexander again and it seems just like old times. The hotel we are staying in is nice but doesn't give you an idea of what it is like to be a "real" person from 'my special country'. We feel more like tourists but we're praying this is a short stay. Our room is on the 4th floor and there is not an elevator so Momma is not happy.

We had pizza at Sir Lancelot with Nancy, Robin, Jim and their son Logan last night which was really fun. It was a medieval theme and we got to play with a sword.

We'll post tomorrow when we have an update on court. May God Bless You All!!

Our court is still scheduled for March 31st and we should find out more tomorrow.

Our little giggle boy...

we made it back to ukraine

saw our little sweetie today, it was great, but short, only an hour. he cried and cried when we had to take him back to the room.
we had dinner with nancy and the other american couple it was alot of fun. i have pictures of me beheading nancy with a sword! will post later...

Das Vadanya my bloggy friends!

I'll be thinking about you that are still waiting.....that your time will come soon.

our court date is March 31~ whoo hoo!

We are leaving Thursday, as in, the day after tomorrow!!!!

It's been 31 days since I saw this face...

This is the last photo we took of him, it was a very hectic and sad day, and we never dreamed it would be so long till we saw him again.
We are crossing our fingers court resumes this week.

the bigger picture

I wanted to talk to our facilitators and see if I could go back and complete the adoption myself. But when I brought this up with Rich, he was very adamant that he go too. I knew he really wants to be there to bring Ari home, but I guess I didn't realize the full extent of it...

This adoption has really changed him. It has opened his heart to the plight of these orphans...when we were there, and he saw the little fatherless children in the playpen, with their arms up to him, it made an imprint on his heart.

This is so significant to me because it was ME who wanted to adopt...it was ME who found Artiom...it was ME who talked about this daily for a year and a half....



I really didn't know if he would ever be 'on board'.



And now, he loves this boy beyond words. He can't imagine me going to get Artiom with out him. HE wants to be the one carrying him out of the orphanage, and into our family.



At first after we talked about this, I was upset, because I thought the end goal was just getting Ari home as soon as possible, and I wanted to GO.



But after thinking about it and listening to Rich and feeling his emotion, I realize just how far he has come...and how that, in itself, is an answer to prayer.



He WANTS to go back and adopt another child after Artiom... that warms my heart.



So, I have to take a step back, and be thankful for how far the Lord has brought us, and just have faith that it is all in HIS timing.



And be thankful that he has blessed me with such a good husband!

a little down today

Rich doesn't think he can take off work again until mid april for our return trip to bring Ari home...remember, we had our SDA appt. on January 26th! This is crazy to me.
I have been watching videos of him today and I feel a little sick about the whole thing. It's SO hard not to dwell on it. It's consuming. I'm tired of life being on hold. I'm tired of missing him and wondering what he is thinking.
And I am VERY aware that he is not ours yet...anything could happen.
It's tough.

My Sweet Friend, Alexander

Is now Nancy's friend too :) He's the best. All you guys going to Zap should feel comforted that you will have such a wonderful friend/taxi driver while you are there!

No visits with Ari

Nancy can't visit with him because there is a mouth infection going around the orphanage and she can't go into other groupa's. Bummer....
They said to ask again next week.

not much to report

Still waiting to see if court resumes after the 25th. We don't really want to buy the tickets and go over there until we KNOW it's really going to happen this time. Rich doesn't have much time available to take off from work, and financially, it's hard to be making another trip. BUT, so worth it.
I just wish we would get a firm date. I miss that little guy so much. It made me so sad to know that he was asking for his mama and papa for days after we left him...then he just stopped asking :(
So hoping that Nancy will be able to visit with him tomorrow, and take lots of pictures!

this is so sad

there is a child in Artiom's orphanage that is dying right now....just laying there dying. This child never knew the love of a mama's arms around him, never knew what it was like to have a papa put him on his shoulders, never knew laughter, never knew Christmas Eve, never knew a birthday surrounded by his family, never knew JOY....

and now he's just laying there dying..

he came into the world and nobody cared and he will leave this world and it's likely nobody will care.

how sad.

Please pray for these children who are unwanted, and forgotten. Please consider taking a step in faith and welcome one of these children into your family...they need you more than you can even imagine.

This is what it's all about...

http://nandantravels.blogspot.com/

You have to go take a look at beautiful Svetlana! I'm so happy for Nancy, they had a wonderful, but quick first meeting, and all is well!
I just can't get over how sweet Svetlana looks, and oh so pretty :)

Nancy didn't get a chance to see Ari yet, but hopefully tomorrow...

We have a tentative court date of March 25th. We'll see...

so here's whats going on..

Nancy and Serge are going to meet with the mayor of Zap in the morning. Apparently its a political issue between the mayor, the council and judge. And the judge is not happy that we are caught in the middle. (no kidding!)

So perhaps something can be done about it. It's actually against the law what they are doing right now, so if it gets some attention brought to it, it may speed the process along.

So excited for Nancy and Svetlana! That little girl has been waiting so long...always watching by the door for her parents to come get her....always asking if visitors were there to be her parents... .......... now she gets them. Her life is about to change in a way she can't even imagine :)

Adoption is the most beautiful thing.......

The saga continues.......

Now the court meeting is postponed YET AGAIN to the 24th of March.

Too depressed to even say more.

But remembering these words:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” James 1: 2-3

life is on hold

and it feels weird. Some times it feels like we were with him moments ago, and sometimes it feels like forever...as if we weren't really there at all. It's an odd place to be.

Gerri Svetlana~ Is getting her family!

Nancy is on her way!

I'm so happy for her. She is so excited to meet her new daughter! She was kind enough to make a photo album of pictures of us together with Artiom, and she is bringing it over to give to him! How sweet, and it makes me feel a whole lot better. My mind must have been mush to not have thought to leave him a picture of us!!
Please keep Nancy in your prayers and send good vibes her way for safe travel and everything to go smoothly in country. And please say some prayers for the courts in our region to straighten themselves out so we can get our little guy home! Plus, I REALLY miss it there, last night I got on YouTube and listened to music from 'my special country', and it made me sad and really wanting to go back!

Getting ready all over again..

Since we got home with our new insight on little Artiom, I have had a chance to re-do a few things. I took down his twin size bed and put up a crib. Yes, he is 5 and still in a crib, and I really don't think he is ready for a bed. I bagged up all his clothes and put them in the attic. Now he and Alex will share the same dresser and the same clothes. My twins :)
I re-packed his suitcase with smaller clothes and only a few toys that might interest him. Most of what I brought for toys last time he didn't care about at all. Got smaller shoes too. I left his coat and boots at the orphanage because I didn't want to have to bring them home and then back again, (really bulky) so yes, they will be too big for him, but oh well. That's IF they are still there when we return :) If not, I'll pick something up for him there.
So, we are all set to go, itching to go in fact. But I do feel so lucky that I got the chance to get to know him for as long as I did, and explore his wonderful country. I can't wait to see his sweet smile again. I'm so happy for all the RR mommies and daddies that are going soon to meet their little angels! Especially Nancy~ who will be meeting Svetlana (Geri) very soon :)

http://apeachykitchen.blogspot.com/

If you like chicken and dressing and EASY things to make...go check out this blog. It's SO good, I have made it 3 times in the last week! It's a crock pot recipe, so you just mix it and wait for it's nummy goodness :) She has pics to show what it should look like, for those of you who like PICTURES :) :)

Not good news

We just got word that now the meeting to resume court in Zaphorizia is put off yet AGAIN to March 17th. This is the 3rd time it has been postponed. So this means that we won't be able to go back for Artiom until after that. And we don't even know if it will really happen on the 17th.
This is the part of adoption that just seems insane. He could have been home with us. What is he thinking? I emailed Yulia and asked her to call the orphanage and have them explain to him that we ARE still coming for him. She said she would.

How do you like it??

After messing around with this ALL day, I think I'm finally done...what do you think?

This is too beautiful not to share...from the Loux Family blog

Hope and despair are not opposites. They are cut from the very same cloth, made from the very same material, shaped from the very same circumstances. Most of all, every life finds itself forced to choose one from the other, one day at a time, one circumstance after another. The only difference between the two is that despair shapes an attitude of mind; hope creates a quality of soul. Despair colors the way we look at things, makes us suspicious of the future, makes us negative about the present. Hope, on the other hand, takes life on its own terms, knows that whatever happens God lives in it, and expects that, whatever its twists and turns, it will ultimately yield its good to those who live it well. When tragedy strikes, when trouble comes, when life disappoints us, we stand at the crossroads beween hope and despair, torn and hurting. Despair cements us in the present; hope sends us dancing around dark corners trusting in a tomorrow we cannot see. Despair says that there is no place to go but here. Hope says that God is waiting for us someplace else. Begin again.”

one more funny story

Our apartment in Zap had a buzzer you had to press to get in, you buzz it and someone in your apartment can push a button to unlock the main door. When I would come back from somewhere Alex would hear the buzzer and know it was me, so the teens would open our apartment door and he would usually run out and head to the stair way waiting for me to come up.
One day this happened and just as I was coming up the stairs, I hear Alex running out of our apartment, I turned the corner to come up the last flight of stairs and there he is running to me NAKED, and at just that moment an old Babushka is coming down the stairs right above us!! I saw him naked, then I HEARD the Babushka hollering something...I cringed just WAITING for her to scold me and scold me good.
Instead she burst out laughing and talking a mile a minute in Russian. She couldn't get over how funny it was. There, kids aren't seen that much, but NAKED?! NO WAY. I was SO relieved she was a nice Babushka....so yes, there ARE a few of them :) :) :)

We happened to see her again a few days later walking with another Babushka outside and when she realized it was us, she started laughing and pointing at us and came up and was talking to us (in Russian, I have no idea what she was saying) then she hugged Rich and went away laughing.

WARNING....picture overload!

my sweet boy

a silly German sign that my husband got a kick out of! De-icing the twinkie like plane in Kiev,heading to Germany

homemade fruit drink,our favorite tv show about 2 clowns trying to hide their vodka from their wife, lindsey at the sauna,and a meat market

zap train station

outdoor pics

museum pics and outdoor shopping

on the airplane and in Kiev

our last pic of Ari

people pics and a dog at the orphanage