Saturday, September 25, 2004

First Visit to Grandma's House!

Today was sure a great day!

Adam found some battery-operated-I-don't-know-what's-it while playing outside. He said it was in the street, but who knows. (*gulp*) Anyway, it had wires and a flower with a light inside that lit up. He stripped the flower off and had a ball playing with the batteries, wire and light all afternoon. We'll have to rig up some cool science experiments with him in the weeks ahead. John's wheels are already turning.

Tonight we took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the first time since they've been home. We stayed a whopping 3 1/2 hours and they did really, really well. They got to go play at the park midway through the visit, and they got their all-time favorites to eat for supper; pizza and ice cream! Aleksa got sidetracked and had a little tinkle accident on Grandma's carpet outside the bathroom, but she sure tried hard to make it in time (I saw the dance she did trying to hold it in. I had to giggle to myself about how cute it looked... Sorry Aleksa!) Good thing Grandma had some extra clothes for her... and some carpet cleaner! (She must have stocked up on that stuff knowing we were coming!)

Speaking of clothes, I got to look through the patterns that Mom Fisher had for little girls. Talk about FUN. The girls are at the stage where if you want to dress them alike in frilly foo-foo pink, etc., we'd better do it NOW while we can still get away with it. I've been daydreaming of trying to sew some matching dresses for them myself, so I was able to borrow a really cute pattern that looks relatively simple (yeah right). We'll see how it goes, but I really hope they turn out. I just can't believe we came home with two girls! How FUN is THAT?! I feel like I've hit the lottery or something!

I forgot to mention that last night when I tucked the kids in, Liana told me I was a "big princess" and she was a "little princess." What a smart girl she is! (That's my kid!) Then I called her "Princess Liana Valentina" and she loved it. She asked me what my name was and I told her it was Shelly. She said, "Princess Shelly" (though she can't really say my name right), and she decided that was not really a good name for a princess and let me know that she didn't like my name. I told her I didn't blame her because I haven't ever much liked it either. So, she thought up some new names for me. She listed off some that she liked. She liked Victoria, Tanya or Marina, but she decided on Marina for me. Okie dokie! So, tonight when I tucked her in, she called me Princess Marina. Alrighty then!

Speaking of princesses, (Ok, this is a stretch since this isn't really about princesses, but it is about dressing up fancy), Mom Fisher gave me a wrap skirt that she had been given in a box of fabric or somewhere, and when we got home, I put it on over the top of my clothes. It was way too small, but then I took it off and wrapped it over my head like a middle-eastern dress to show the girls what they could do with it themselves. The girls had a blast playing dress up with it for a little while before bedtime tonight. I'm definitely going to have take the advice to go to Good Will to buy up some of their gaudy clothes for the kids to play in. They LOVE that stuff.

I got to thinking today of how close we came at one point during our adoption process of veering away from Ukraine altogether. The process had gotten more difficult just as we were trying to make the decision of what country to adopt from, (as it has again, unfortunately). I had mentioned this to another friend who had adopted from Ukraine, and she said, "Shelly, yes, Ukraine is getting more and more difficult, but if you feel like God is leading you there, then just trust Him to take care of the details." (THANK YOU JULIE!!!) Those weren't her exact words, but I hadn't thought of it that way before, and ever since then, I KNEW we were going to Ukraine. I'm sooo thankful we didn't chicken out. I know there are lots of readers out there who are still in the preparing-to-adopt process. Please don't lose heart with all the negatives floating around. If you know your kids are in Ukraine, then put on that mother-bear mentality and go fight your way to get them. Walk through the fires, man your battle stations, do whatever, but GO GET YOUR KIDS. Sweet little children like these are out there, and they need you very, very much...

Children from the orphanage (Btw, these are three of the children whose shoes I posted a picture of while we were in Ukraine.)

Adam's Groupa

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is painful to see that photo. Particulary the boy on the left is so malnourished. And they are still smiling. I know from experience (in EE) that the older kids know at some level that they had better perk up for photos as it is a good way of getting looked at for adoption. So sad.
Two girls is too much fun~ And it just keeps getting better and better. I can't help but to smile when I think of all the fun you will have. But I wouldnt change my sons for anything, either. Having both genders is better than winning the lottery.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Marnie said...

I just stumbled across your blog the other day, and I've really enjoyed following your adventures through the archived posts. I have to admit to several teary moments along the way. Tonight I just had to say hello after I read about Princess Marina. I'm always called Marnie, but my real name is Marina. So -- hello from Toronto, from the other Marina, to your whole lovely family, and best of luck as you all grow together.

Shelly said...

Well, another Princess Marina! Privet! :O) Glad you were able to figure out the archives. I really have to get busy and pull "adoption trip" entries out and put them somewhere more accessible to newcomers. There are sooo many things I *should* be doing to this website. *sigh* One of these days!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by to say hello! You really do have a beautiful name! Are you Ukrainian? I've heard there are many Ukrainians in Toronto. (At least that's what I think I remember... the brain is mush these days!) Keep in touch!

Shelly

Anonymous said...

Dear Shelley,

Thanks again for sharing your experiences! I look forward to your blogs every single day. I literally can not wait to get to work to "check in" I also share your daily news with all of my co-workers and family. WE ALL think you and John are just amazing, and thank you for the encouragement you provide people like myself who are just starting the Ukrainian adoption journey!
Lisa Sicilian

Marnie said...

Hi Shelly. Actually, the archives were simple: I just clicked on the archive links and that took me through the adoption trip entries.

No, I'm not Ukrainian myself. Irish/Welsh by birth, Scottish/English through adoption, Canadian geographically. You're right, Toronto does have a healthy Ukrainian population. I saw some news coverage recently of a big celebration they were having, with kids in traditional outfits, dancing, food, the whole deal. That's the great thing about Toronto -- everybody from the whole world lives here and celebrates their own culture!

Anyway, I hope you're feeling better very soon. Take care!

Marnie -- er, MARINA

Shelly said...

Anon, did you also adopt from Ukraine? You are right about older children perking up for photos. I hope they aren't completely aware that the photos might help them get adopted, but I'm sure many do. They definitely all love to get their pictures taken though. Some have never had a single picture of themselves, so our digital camera was a "hit" when we brought it out. Unfortunately our kids weren't all that gun-ho about us taking pics of anyone other than them or the people THEY wanted us to take pictures of. Looking back, I now wish we had come early to the orphanage for some of our visits so I could get some more pics of other kids. Oh well.
----
Lisa, thanks for peeking in on our family every day. Your note made me chuckle. It's about time a housewife gets celeb status! ;O) Just kidding! Hopefully our story will help other families out there to consider adopting, and to consider adopting older kids or sibling groups, and of course to consider Ukraine as the country to find them! I also hope our story keeps people who already have kids THANKFUL for them. There are many, many women out there who would love to walk even one day in a "mommy's" shoes. I hope that all mamas out there would not take their position or their children for granted. We have them for such a short time and then they are *poof* all grown up. Seize the day! Fly kites! Climb up that jungle gym! Bake cookies! Check out the bugs on the sidewalk! LOVE EVERY MINUTE!
----
Hi again, Marnie! (I guess you don't go by "Princess" then?) Are you also adopting from Ukraine? Adopting at all? It really does sound like Toronto is a great place to raise Ukie kiddos. It would be so nice having the cultural "support" to keep them exposed to and a part of. Here in WI we have mostly Norwegians and Germans, and festivals for both of those, but not much else.

... Naptime is almost up, so gotta run!

Marnie said...

Ha, I don't think I could convince anyone to call me Princess, but maybe I should give it a try. No, I'm not planning to adopt from anywhere. I'm happily childless and single. Two cats are enough for me! I'll just enjoy reading about your experiences instead.

Marnie

Shelly said...

Marnie, I can't believe I broke my own long-standing rule about what kind of questions to ask people. Oy. For the longest time I would cringe every time someone would ask me if I had kids, and I swore I'd never ask anyone those kinds of questions of people. Ones asking things like if someone had kids or if they were married or if they were pregnant.

I guess I've just heard of so many people from Toronto adopting from Ukraine, and figured that was how or why you "found me" on the internet, so I figured... well... (there I go "figuring" again!) I hope I didn't offend you, and if I did, please forgive me. I do know better.

What kind of cats do you have? My niece's husband just rescued a fire-point Siamese kitten from a tree. They are keeping it and naming it Tipsy. It is a beautiful cat, though the Siamese I used to have as a kid was really tempermental, so I hope theirs will be "nice."

Take care!

Shelly

Anonymous said...

Shelly (and Marnie from Toronto):
Greetings. We thought we had dibs on Princess Marina. :-) We chose the name Marina when we were expecting our biological child 8 years ago--our 7 year old BOY may be a prince--but he's defintitely NOT a Marina!!

4 miscarriages later--we found ourselves adopting our very own Ukrainian princess! Big debate on names: I still loved Marina, husband liked Grace, son liked Emily (as in Clifford the Big Red Dog!) So . . .Maya Oleksandrivinia became Marina Grace!! How cool that for 7 years we liked a Slavic name and ended up with a Ukrainian daughter?! God knew!! :-)

And she really is beautiful--visit us at:
www.caringbridge.org/il/deatleyukraineadopt

Our Marina is also known as Marni (my husband didn't want the "e" on the end but I did) He convinced me by saying that my nickname doesn't end in "ie."

I agree w/ your thoughts on motherhood--10 years from now there won't be toys to trip over, spontaneous hugs, etc. So I just eat it all up TODAY!! Sure, I get stressed and sometimes yell--but I am always, always grateful to God for letting us usher this two amazing kids into adulthood!

Kammi in Illinois

PS>Did I ever forward you our summary of Ukraine Fest in Chicago?? Lemme know!!

Anonymous said...

Shelly (and Marnie from Toronto):
Greetings. We thought we had dibs on Princess Marina. :-) We chose the name Marina when we were expecting our biological child 8 years ago--our 7 year old BOY may be a prince--but he's defintitely NOT a Marina!!

4 miscarriages later--we found ourselves adopting our very own Ukrainian princess! Big debate on names: I still loved Marina, husband liked Grace, son liked Emily (as in Clifford the Big Red Dog!) So . . .Maya Oleksandrivinia became Marina Grace!! How cool that for 7 years we liked a Slavic name and ended up with a Ukrainian daughter?! God knew!! :-)

And she really is beautiful--visit us at:
www.caringbridge.org/il/deatleyukraineadopt

Our Marina is also known as Marni (my husband didn't want the "e" on the end but I did) He convinced me by saying that my nickname doesn't end in "ie."

I agree w/ your thoughts on motherhood--10 years from now there won't be toys to trip over, spontaneous hugs, etc. So I just eat it all up TODAY!! Sure, I get stressed and sometimes yell--but I am always, always grateful to God for letting us usher this two amazing kids into adulthood!

Kammi in Illinois

PS>Did I ever forward you our summary of Ukraine Fest in Chicago?? Lemme know!!

Marnie said...

Oh heavens, I wasn't offended at all. It's natural that you wondered if I'd found your blog through some adoption-related searching. (Actually I was just browsing the "recently posted" list at Blogspot. Your blog proved WAY more interesting than the usual teenagers' efforts.)

The do-you-have-any question isn't a loaded one for me because I don't want any, and nobody (ie. my family) ever bugs me about it. So, no angst and no pressure there. I'm pretty happy about not having children, although I understand that most other people have that powerful urge, and I'm glad you were able to find your kids.

(BTW, I definitely agree that one must never ask if someone is pregnant!)

Cats: Max, female, grey and white tuxedo, 17+ and very creaky now, adopted many years ago from a friend. Jaffa, female, orange and ginger tabby, a year and a half old and sweet and crazy as can be. I took her in a year ago when I found her "living rough" on my front porch.

Have a good day, and take it easy on those eggs. Maybe just stick to toast for now?

Marnie

Marnie said...

Hey, more Marinas than you can shake a stick at! It's the all-Marina, all-the-time blog. Maybe we should start a club?

Marnie

Shelly said...

Kammie, your little girl is GORGEOUS! I think Liana was right! Marina is definitely a princess name, and it suits your little girl perfectly!