Aleksa's Birthday

August 10, 2004 Tuesday

Lots of ups and downs today. This morning Katya took us to the market shopping. We quickly realized how fortunate we were to have her around, as we had to go to several places trying to find the sizes we needed for the kids. We just bought one outfit each for them for now - it was hard enough to find these. Not a whole lot of things that aren't foo-foo pretty or nasty ugly. We were shown one outfit that said, "I love country music" on it for one of the girls, which we had to pass on. They must have just figured since there was English writing on it, that we would automatically love it. Nyet.

Anyway, we got our stuff, and then went to the orphanage. We had bought some popsicles for Aleksa's birthday, so we needed to find the kids quickly today. The girls I easily found together in their groupa, but Adam was missing for a long time. When John finally found him, he came outside for about a minute and said he didn't want to be there, and went back inside. One of the caregivers was calling him in anyway, so we thought maybe he needed to be somewhere with her. ?. So, his popsicle melted. *sigh*

We started to really wonder what was up, so John went inside to see if he could find him again. We couldn't give the girls their clothes without also giving Adam his, so we had to try to keep that secret... which was HARD!

Adam came back out and he was a grump, which kinda bugged me. We have no idea what his problem was. BUT, as soon as we started pulling out all the new clothes, everyone was Giddy Excited. Liana especially about jumped out of her skin she was so happy. She pet her new clothes, and practically stripped down right there on the sidewalk. When she saw her pretty new panties, she grabbed them and ran around to the other side of the building, but thankfully she quickly changed her mind and decided to just hold them til later. ;O) She shook she was so excited. I so wish I had her reaction on video. *sigh* She even thought the tags were pretty.

Adam ran inside with his clothes to get dressed. He even had a cap... which he's been asking us for for the last few days. He looks very handsome, I must say.

Then the kids had to run around and show off. Aleksa and I wanted to see where the other two went, so we walked around the grounds trying to find them. As we did so, she kept telling everyone, "I'm beautiful! I'm beautiful!" So, I guess she got to show off too.

Once Adam came back from showing himself off, he wanted his snacks. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that Aleksa had eaten all of his "bubliky" (snacks which look like thick round pretzels, but taste like a cross between an animal cracker and a Chinese fortune cookie). He was Not Happy and wouldn't be reasoned with that he could get some later. Basically, he's a typical 9-yr-old boy with little sisters. We took him and the other girls over to show Tyotya Katya their new duds. She had been waiting to take us back to the hotel, so she had a little talk with grumpy Adam. Then, Aleksa started howling about something or other, so Katya asked her what was the matter and she told her that she had to go potty. "This is going to be interesting," I thought, because Katya took her by the hand and led her to the Nasty Potty. John and I stood there in awe wondering if Aleksa was actually going to go in. Nope. She wouldn't. So, Katya walked around the side of the "shed" where she dropped Aleksa's drawers, squatted down, put Aleksa's armpits over her arms to hold her up, and then she held Aleksa's legs up to let Aleksa tinkle right there in the dirt. I haven't laughed so hard in a loooooong time. Aleksa is going to hate me for the pictures I took of her, but what are Mama's for, right? (Sorry, ya'll, Papa said I can't post those either.) *sigh*

We got The Most Wonderful News tonight! Vica is on her way down here from Kiev, and we have a court date of: (ready?) TOMORROW MORNING!!! We'll officially be Adam, Liana and Aleksa's parents tomorrow whenever the judge signs his/her name to our decree. Our appointment is at 9:00a.m.

We will then be off like a bullet to get the kids' birth certificates changed, and then everything filed away in Odessa, and then we'll take the train back to Kiev, so you might not hear from us again until we hit Kiev, or possibly not til we get home. We might be home as early as Monday if all goes well and we can get our Embassy interview and tickets... (Czech Air only has flights out of Kiev on Mondays, so pray that our timing works out well for that to happen.) Hopefully we can get it all worked out quickly. It's peak season and finding "three extra seats" isn't always easy, especially because of course we'll want to sit together. We have our phone, so you can always call us, and I'm sure that if somebody does call us, that they'll post a comment on our blog for everyone. (The reason you might not hear from us 'til we get home is, we'll have three little kids to lug around Kiev once we get there. No more freedom to just up and go to the internet cafes there. We'll be official parents by then you know!)

Love,

Shelly

PS, the website address for the clinic we're staying at is "www.christianclinic.org" and not "christianclinic.vurtualave.net" like their brochure says.

Aleksa's fourth birthday
New clothes!
Adam's new clothes

P.P.S. Aleksa and Liana don't really like things on their heads, they think it's too hot. But Adam loves his new hat!