GETTING READY TO COME HOME

We spent the better part of today making preparations for our trip home.

Tomorrow morning, we pick up Alexis at the orphanage, gather all our necessary paperwork and head back to Kiev. We have a car and driver taking us there and will probably arrive sometime around midnight. We've reserved a nice room at a newly-opened Hyatt in Kiev and look forward to enjoying the very best amenities.

Wednesday, we'll get through the medical exam and embassy processes and jump on a plane Thursday morning.

We look forward to seeing everyone (especially Darian and Tevor) and being home. We may not post again until we arrive in the U.S.

In the meantime, enjoy some more photos of Alexis.

A TRIBUTE TO THE BOYS

Alexis is officially ours now... YEAH!!!!


Lately, it occurs to us what a long strange trip it's been. We've been 2 years in the adoption process and we're now less than a week away from being home with our new daugther.


When we got married over 10 years ago, one of the things that attracted to each other was the fact that neither really wanted children. We were both very career oriented and enjoyed our freedoms.



That changed one night at an Old Chicago Pizza restaurant when we decided to embark on the journey of parenthood. Sometime later, on a Saturday to be exact, we were sitting at home eating a late afternoon lunch of Taco Bell after having toured several open houses. Suddenly, Pam announced that it was time and we scurried around to gather the already-prepared hospital bag and head downtown. Interestingly enough, Pam remembered to bring along her last taco for the ride.





On August 1, 1999, Darian was born. His middle name is Presley, Elvis' last name. When we saw him, we knew we had made the right decision at the Old Chicago Pizza resaurant months prior. Darian starts the second grade this fall. He's a wonderful reader and worker of math problems. He will also be in his second year of cub scouts.





Thirteen months to the day after Darian was born, Pam had important clients in for some business meetings. All day long, she monitored the time between contractions. She called Stephen on her way home and announced that they would be leaving for the hospital about 5 minutes after she pulled into the driveway. She didn't have a taco to take with her this time.


Shortly thereafter, Trevor was born, the first of September 2000. His middle name is Aaron, also Elvis' middle name. Trevor starts the first grade this fall. His laugh makes everyone in the room laugh. He is as smart as a whip and brings humor to every situation. We were then two for two, a perfect record on children. We're three for three now, with Alexis.


Darian and Trevor - Mom and Dad love you very much. And we miss you terribly. We're bringing home a sister for you. But she's not going to replace you in our hearts. Our hearts have grown to a size to include all of you.





And let's not forget about Zippy, our other adopted child. We got him from an animal shelter a few years ago. Zippy, your sister will love you very much.

Alexis Is Ours Tomorrow

At the close of the working day tomorrow, our court decree becomes official and Alexis becomes a Haag.

We're busily making arrangements for the next week in anticipation of being on a plane next Thursday. It seems we have a few snags concerning Alexis' Ukrainian passport with which we'll have to deal. But we're not going to let anything stand in our way!

Pam got well and we both enjoyed spending the day with Alexis today, which incidentally is her birthday. You know how it is, when they are young you celebrate their birthday every month. Today, Alexis was 17 months old. Next thing we'll know she'll be going to college, winning the lottery, joining a bowling league, or something else really exciting.

Pam's Mom and Dad (Al and Fern) drove to Colorado (from Minnesota) late last week and are now watching Darian and Trevor, giving Stephen's parents a much needed break. So, we'll have the whole family there to greet Alexis next week.

We sure do miss Darian and Trevor. We've never been away from them for this long of a period of time. It's made us both realize how much we rely on our dhildren for happiness, inspiration, and the occassional goofy smile. We're coming home soon, boys.

Alexis sends her love.

Making Plans to Come Home

We've had a couple of wonderful days with Alexis. Pam was down with a cold today and didn't want to take the chance on Alexis getting sick so Stephen went it alone. He said the only tough part was trying to get up and down a couple of flights of stairs with a child, a stroller, a bag full of toys, and his backpack. Quite the juggling act.







We got our plane tickets reworked today. The two people we worked with at United (our cell phone disconnected one phone call) were absolutely great. Pam and I were able to easily change our flights and we were able to add Alexis without any problem. We're waiting for business class upgrades for all of us; in the meantime, United was kind enough to give the three of seats together in Economy Plus.



We have to get through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and then Alexis is officially ours. We're hoping to take care of everything here on Saturday and travel back to Kiev on Sunday. We'll then have plenty of time to take care of everything there before our flights on Thursday. If we're lucky and finish early, we'll try to get out on Wednesday.

Thanks again to everyone who is posting comments to the blog. We apologize that we can't respond to everyone of them. Bob did have a good idea in recommending a Polaroid camera that makes photos in a few minutes. If you do bring one of these to an orphanage, please check before taking photos of children. We cannot take photos of other children or the inside of the orphanage here.






And Stephen would definitely recommend bringing a selection of cooking spices. We've been able to find fresh garlic, onions, parsley, and basil. But we haven't had any luck finding oregano, chili pepper, cumin, etc.

Alexis sends her love. God smiled on us the day he put her in our arms.

GETTING CLOSER EVERY DAY

Boy, this gets old after awhile. We dearly love Alexis and enjoy spending time with her but both of us feel like we’re wasting time by being here. We’re ready take little Peanut and get on a plane!!

If all goes well, she is officially ours next Saturday. We hope to move through the rest of the process and be on a plane a week from coming Wednesday.

We have had a few nice breaks to keep us mildly entertained. One night we went to an Armenian restaurant with several friends and had shashlik. (Pronounce that using the “a” in ball and “lik” as leak.) It’s Armenian-style barbeque. It was a nice departure from what Stephen cooks but you don’t need to “depart” for very long. With the meal, we were served sour milk that had gas or some sort of carbonation. According to our friends, we were to drink a large glass of this throughout the evening to help with digestion and thus not feel so full eating so much meat. Pam passed; Stephen lived on the wild side and was none the worse for wear.

Then yesterday, we joined several people in celebrating a couple of birthdays by going to a campground area with a beach on the river. It was a beautiful area but there were about 10 people who only spoke Russian, a couple of people who spoke fairly good English (and fluent Russian), and then the 2 of us. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves but always felt a little awkward. And guess what… we had homemade shashlik!! It was again quite good but it can’t hold a candle to good ol’ Texas barbeque.

We’ve also been doing whatever we can to make our apartment more like a home. Each evening, Pam lights a couple of scented candles. This is a very nice “comfortable” touch and we recommend – for any of those of you preparing to make a trip similar to ours – that you bring some good candles. We also bought a microwave oven, a fan, several floor mats, and an iron and ironing board. We’ll leave those things and many others with the orphanage.

The bed needed a lot of work. The mattress measures 74 inches long and 56 inches wide. That’s short and narrow, but the other measure is even worse. It’s about 3 inches thick and sits on a solid board. In other words, in the morning every pain point – shoulders, ankles, knees, hips, and elbows – hurts. So, we went on the hunt for foam padding, and of course we found none. You also can’t find fitted sheets or mattress pads here. So, thus began our search for the cheapest and thickest comforter that we could put on the mattress and then sleep on top of that.

Stephen found one at a flea market. It was blast white with great big red hearts on it and sayings like “Groovy kind of love.” We tried it one night and then Stephen went back the next day to buy another one. The ladies who had the booth at the flea market laughed at him and – although we couldn’t’ fully understand them – joked about whether or not he would return the next day to buy a third “Groovy kind of love” comforter. We never did go back to buy a third, but we now have a soft (small) bed with 2 “Groovy kind of love” comforters on which we sleep.

Speaking of which, here are some recommendations of things to bring for people who are preparing to make a trip similar to ours.
· Baggies – bring lots (we mean literally boxes) of different sizes of baggies (quarter and gallon) that have the Ziploc-style mechanism. These are impossible to find.
· Cheap ice trays – we can’t find these anywhere. They do have bags that you fill with water and then freeze (Hmm?).
· Toilet paper – we only brought 6 Quilted Northern double rolls. It wasn’t enough.
· Soaps – bring your favorite.
· Candles – see above.
· Cooler – small soft side, collapseable cooler
· Wet wipes – all types and kinds (singles, baby wet wipes, etc)
· Water supplement packages – those little individual packages of Propel, teas, etc
· Towels and washcloths (that you’re prepared to leave when you return home)
· Your own pillow

We’ll think of a lot more stuff and post it to the blog.

We had a couple of brutally hot days in the middle of last week. The heat beat down on us from above and rose up equally hot from the ground. It was a tough couple of days but Alexis handled them surprisingly well. If you look closely at many of the photos of Alexis, you’ll notice that we spend a lot of time in a dry swimming pool. It’s only about 2 feet deep but provides a smooth surface and an area out of which Alexis cannot run. During the hot days (and the other days we spend in the pool), we throw down a large blanket and just let her play, run around, and crawl all over us.

Alexis sends her love.

GUILTY AS CHARGED!!

According to the Ukraine government, we are not fit parents to have 2 children; we must have more!!! So, the court granted our request to adoptAlexis. We now have to wait 10 days for any appeals (a formality) and then she's all ours.









It was a great morning in court, followed by some excitement in the afternoon.











We went on a sight-seeing tour and got in some trouble. We stopped to look at some old locks, the kind used for boats to navigate between 2 bodies of water that do not have the same water level.

We jumped over a small wall (3 ft or so) and walked down to get a closer look with our guide. Stephen took some photos and shot a short video. When we returned back to the wall, we were greeted by a yelling and irate military police person. He took Stephen's passport and refused to give it back. We had to follow him to a building, which we later found out was a former KGB office. Someone important there listened to our innocent story (as told by our guide). He had Stephen delete the photos and video, returned Stephen's passport, and told us he was letting us go because we were in the country doing the humane act of adopting a child.


Whew!! That was interesting, exciting, and a bunch of other things, especially for the 20 minutes or so that Stephen was no longer in possession of his passport.








Back to Alexis... We've determined that all her plumbing works. We fed her vegetable baby food one day, which she promptly threw up along with her breakfast. A couple of days ago, we gave her apple juice, and she proceeded to have 2 "blow-out" diapers. For you Pampers-challenged people, that's a diaper with stuff coming out the side. And we finally got to change her diaper because she wet it. Like we said, the plumbing checks out.

IMPORTANT DAY TOMORROW

Tomorrow(Tuesday) is a most important day for us.









We (minus Alexis) go to court before a judge and have our adoption request reviewed and preliminarily approved. If approved (and it is extremely rare that adoption requests are denied at this point), we have a 10-day waiting period during which someone can contest the adoption. Again, this is very, very rare.



















So, on the 11th day after tomorrow, Alexis is ours, excepting some minor details like a new birth certificate, Ukrainian passport, and U.S. embassey check through procedures.









Here is probably how things will skake out. Two weeks from today (Monday) we will handle the last of the administrative tasks here (passport, etc). We will then travel that evening to Kiev. The following day (Tuesday), we will handle everything at the U.S.Embassey.

As those dates get closer, we'll start to schedule our flight back to Denver for probably Thursday.









Keep your fingers crossed.









Alexis sends her love.

COMMUNICATION BREAKTHROUGH!!

Okay, okay... you hear this story from every parent, so why should we be different?

As we've continued to spend time with Alexis, she has opened up to us more and more. And we've seen her make progress in her walking and other motor skills.

Yesterday, she said Mama... twice!!! We're not real sure if she understood what she was saying or that she even was saying anything, but she did say "Mama, Mama." That made Pam very happy. It didn't bother Stephen at all as family is the sole focus here.

And today, Alexis waved bye-bye (or hello) to some people walking by. She seem very deliberate in her actions. But, she wouldn't do it again. And why not; she had already waved once to those people so there was no need in doing it again.

We're both simply ecstatic with her and her progress. Everyday, she grows right before our very eyes.

Nice Break in the Weather!!

We've been very fortunate today and yesterday. The weather finally cooled off a bit, from the mid 90s into the lower 80s.

That's a nice break because of the conditions at the orphanage. When we visit Alexis each time, we are given completely private time with her, which is nice. We often meet up with other couples who are adopting and have the children play together. We've met 2 couples from Israel and one couple from Italy. They are all adopting a boy (obviously, not the same boy!).

But our time is always outside where it is hot. There are many large trees on the orphanage grounds to provide shade, but underneath each tree you always find one of three things... dirt, weeds, or asphalt. There is no nice soft grass here on which to play. So, we get down on the ground and get dirty which makes it seem even hotter. We are thankful for the cool weather these past 2 days.

Alexis is really coming to life. We thought she might just be an extremely mellow child, but she definitely has a personality and a zest for life. Now, she whips her head back and forth when we try to clean her face. She looks away when we offer food and she wants no more. She squirms to get out of our arms when we wants to get down and play (just say no to kisses!). Those are all normal for children and we're glad she's showing us that side of her. She has still yet to cry. She did once for about 3 seconds but that's like a nanosecond in big people time, so we don't even count that.

Alexis really loves a freshly mashed up banana and Cheerios. We brought some sort of baby food the other day that had a squash photo on the front. (Food for Alexis is often a "surprise" too.) She ate two spoon fulls with the ugly-taste face and then proceeded to throw up everything she ate for breakfast. Needless to say, we won't feed her that anymore.

She also loves to play with the stackable cups and already has a favorite rattle toy.

NICE BREAK FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS

We've been very fortunate today and yesterday. The weather finally cooled off a bit, from the mid 90s into the lower 80s.

That's a nice break because of the conditions at the orphanage. When we visit Alexis each time, we are given completely private time with her, which is nice. We often meet up with other couples who are adopting and have the children play together. We've met 2 couples from Israel and one couple from Italy. They are all adopting a boy (obviously, not the same boy!).

But our time is always outside where it is hot. There are many large trees on the orphanage grounds to provide shade, but underneath each tree you always find one of three things... dirt, weeds, or asphalt. There is no nice soft grass here on which to play. So, we get down on the ground and get dirty which makes it seem even hotter. We are thankful for the cool weather these past 2 days.

Alexis is really coming to life. We thought she might just be an extremely mellow child, but she definitely has a personality and a zest for life. Now, she whips her head back and forth when we try to clean her face. She looks away when we offer food and she wants no more. She squirms to get out of our arms when we wants to get down and play (just say no to kisses!). Those are all normal for children and we're glad she's showing us that side of her. She has still yet to cry. She did once for about 3 seconds but that's like a nansecond in big people time, so we don't even count that.

OUR DAY

We thought we'd provide everyone with some insight into our daily routine and our life here. The three photos are of the outside entrance to our apartment and the stairs leading up to our apartment door. Not exactly a pretty sight, huh?











This is typical though. The owners of the buildings don't do much for exterior upkeep. However, the owners of each apartment unit do a lot of work on the inside. The owner of our unit has refurbished the apartment and rents it to people like us. We have a small family room with satellite TV (over 1,000 channels), a bedroom with a double bed, a small kitchen, and a nicely done bathroom. We have air conditioning and a washer. Overall, the place is quite clean and "nice," but very small and definitely not a place you would consider from the outside. There are no bugs running around and we feel quite safe. (Again, once you get inside.)




Stephen is in heaven here. Our apartment is directly above a grocery store and right across the street from a flea market. We also have a bank, post office, and several restaurants within a couple of hundred yards of the apartment. We are extremely pleased with our living arrangements.

Each morning we get up and go to the orphanage for a 9:30-11am visit with Alexis. We are very fortunate to have a car and driver just for us, which makes getting to and from the orphanage easy. We return to the apartment about 11:15am. Stephen usually has fresh bread, meats, vegetables, and cheeses for making sandwiches. We do not get to return to the orphanage until 4pm so we have most of the afternoon off. The typical afternoon consists of picking a direction, take off walking, and stopping to poke our heads in every store/business we come to. Pam has come across some wonderful bakeries that way.

Our visit to the orphanage in the evening is from 4 to 6 pm. Afterward, we stop at the local post office and call the boys. (We can'twait to get home and see you, Darian and Trevor. We love you very much!!). We then have dinner out somewhere. At many restaurants, we break out a small travel book and point to the Russian/Ukrainian versions of such terms as chicken, ham, beef, etc. We then have "dinner surprise" and we have yet to be disappointed. The people here are genuinely wonderful and most anxious to acommodate us linguistically challenged Americans.

We then buy whatever we need for the next day (Alexis' stuff for the orhpanage, fruits and pastries for breakfast, etc) and head back to the apartment. Going up the apartment stairs at night requires a flashlight. We usually hit the sack at 10pm or so as our day is very exhausting.



That's all for now. Again, thanks for all your comments, prayers, and support. We do sincerely appreciate them. Alexis sends her love. She can't wait until we arrive home and has a big party to meet all of you.

MORE ALEXIS

We've got more photos and more stories to tell. First to everyone who has provided a comment, God bless you!!

Each day we spend with Alexis she responds more openly to us and makes progress.

Although she has yet to speak (in English anyway), she's making a number of repetitive sounds. You know... the tongue going back and forth, etc. She loves to repeat our actions. We do peek-a-boo and tickles and she responds in kind. Her version of a kiss is that of a normal child, wide open mouth with lots of drool. We don't mind.

Each day, we take Cheerios, a banana, animal crackers, regular saltine crackers, and yogurt with us. Alexis would probably be content eating all the time with us, but we know she needs also to eat at her regular times. She drinks straight from a cup and no sort of sippy attachment. And she doesn't do a straw. We're always very sad when we have to return her to the orphanage workers. But they are very loving and you can tell they are fond of Alexis. When they bring her to us each time we visit, Alexis breaks out into a big grin and reaches for Pam. Stephen doesn't mind. Alexis already knows he's the guy who cooks, so she makes her way into his arms just a few minutes after lots of kisses from Pam.

MEET ALEXIS, OUR NEW DAUGHTER!!!

Okay, it's a bit premature because we still have a couple of weeks of legal stuff to get through, but we're already welcoming Alexis into our family.

She's 16 months old, absolutely beautiful (she takes after Pam in that way), and very smart (she takes after Darian and Trevor in that way). She has light colored hair, blue eyes, and a whole lot of teeth!! She's quite small for her age, but Stephen will fatten her up with his cooking when we get home.

We get to go to the orphanage twice per day, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. The workers there are very wonderful and allow to us to do as we please with Alexis, however, we cannot leave the orphanage grounds. So, we go for strolls, stop and throw and blanket and play, and eat Cheerios and crackers.

She truly is adorable. We've seen her three times now and she has yet to cry. She whimpered once when throwing her version of a temper tantrum, which we quickly nullified by having the tickle monster attack her. She loves to laugh and play with stacking cups.

We'll post plenty more photos in the coming days and bore you to death with stories. Right now, keep all of us in your prayers as we move through the legal system.