Day 3 --- pm visit

Gretchen, Lizzy and Halya were there. They brought him out in a cute little collared dress shirt and pink flowered shorts...very, very cute!

He is so happy. I will post pictures only because it is late and the Angelus church bells blare at 6a.m., which means so does Ricky. Oh, one thing about Ricky, I have an idea of how to make him warm up to Stas.

We watch videos of Stas together while I hug and kiss him. Brilliant psychology right??? I am hoping so. I say things like "should we play with Stasi?" or "Kiss Stasi" or "should stasi go on the plane with us" should he sleep in your room, etc....

When we watch videos he loves them, or pictures, and says "more,more". Dan thinks I'm dreaming and I think I am a genius. You just wait. He didn't grunt as his pictures today!! That is a good sign.

Think he needs glasses





Kisses!! Will be especially sweet after we get a toothbrush in that mouth!


Oh, and won't someone PLEASE come and get this sweetie!?!? Talk to me if you are interested. I learned a lot today. She is 4 and that means the institution (a forever place!) is around the corner...PLEASE?

Day 3 morning visit....Morning visit

Here are a few pictures, heading off again with just Halya while Ricky is sleeping and Lizzy still down not feeling great.

These pictures are of Alexander, Dan, Ricky and I at the River at Oaktree park.


You can see Ricky preparing for his visit (sleeping)


I fed Stas his lunch, he does not chew his food at all, he just swallows and then get this compote (warm juice) with a huge whole in the nipple and he guzzles it dow


Stas getting changed for bed, in his room. Here is also a picture of the other little guy in Stas' groupa.

Day 2 with Stas---pm visit

Our afternoon visit was very short. We came here to do business!!! First work, then play! So this afternoon we had a tiny bit of down time. That was a nice break.

Here is Lizzy and I before heading out and us and Halya. We love Halya! She is a great friend.






Then ALEXANDER brought us in to the social worker, then to the lawyer, then to the orphanage. I don't know if I have told you all about Alexander. Jodi and family used him as their driver and became good friends with him. He came highly recommended from Jodi!! Along came Kristin to Zap, she used him as a driver--at least once to give him a kiss on the cheek and rub it in to Jodi (by the way Alexander is happily married! So is Kristin!) It was all in fun!

I had to meet this Alexander. He is indeed a very nice man who really wants to learn English. He reminisces about his visits from Jodi's family and even has a picture in his car of them (how sweet is that!) Here is a picture of Alexander trying to translate the letter that Jodi sent to him:


We were thinking there isn't really much time to visit the orphanage b/c it would only allow about 10 minutes or so to visit before their dinner time. We knew Lizzy had been waiting for a long time for this moment...we went. It was great!

Here is a picture of Ricky preparing for this trip (with the lawyer):


Ricky was asleep initially when we went in, woke up traumatized, then decided to take him outside. He wasn't quite as sad, though a little confused how this all happened while he was sleeping. He is going to be afraid to fall asleep soon. Dan took him outside so Lizzy could enjoy her first visit with Stas. Yes....he got cheerful and kissed him again when we said "GOODBYE!"








Must call my dear kids and go to bed...I miss you guys a ton!! Can't wait for you to see your very, very squishy brother!!!!!!!!!! Start working out now!!

Thanks Sue, Esther, Molly and Harry for watching them so far!!

Love-Gretchen

Second day with Stasi--morning visit

Ricky didn't mind Stasi today--SEE!!


PRICELESS!!!

Today we started off with 8 a.m. Mass again. What a great way to start your day. I LOVE it!!! We had breakfast. Lizzy still not feeling great, hoping to feel better for the second visit today. Visits happen between 10-11:30 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. Fr. Andrew drove us to the orphanage. Halya got paperwork from the director’s assistant and went to visit the social worker while we went to our visit.



We kept Ricky's stroller facing away from Stas in the event he was to wake and see Stas and think he was having a nightmare.

I thought this was funny. While I was waiting for them to finish feeding Stas and bring him to me, I was sitting in the ante-room (locker room). Out came the older, very sweet groupa worker. She brought a diaper and said something in Ukrainian. She obviously finished and asked me if I understood, in Russian. I of course looked at her and tried to look as if I understood maybe a little, and she could tell I didn’t. So she said it MUCH slower the second and with a few hand motions. Much better. All I understood was diapers (because she pointed to it), 10 because she held up 10 hands, and then a question (like—“get it?”) I shook my head yes and she obviously knew I didn’t get it and she walked in saying something to everyone—pretty sure it was “this lady isn’t very smart. Even when I spoke slowly she didn’t get it.”

They brought Stas to me and she searched several lockers for shoes. She gave me a pair, knowing it was an unlikely choice. I tried it. Way too small. I tell you, this boy is fat, feet and all. His feet are like Barney Rubble—except Barney,as a baby, who never had an ounce of exercise. We left without shoes and went for a walk around the grounds.

During our walk Dan said he saw a group with a little guy with Ds. So I ventured over there. As I approached the group on one of the playgrounds, one of the workers in his group pointed to Stas and the boy, “Russel” from RR yelled “Tassi.” He came running up and started pointing at Stas and naming his body parts (in Russian), foot, head (or hair), belly, stroller, wheels, etc… All the other kids in the group started coming and were told to come back to the blanket. They let Russel stay and play with us. Russel is a smart little guy. Very sweet and bright. He wanted to play with his truck. I then looked in his groupa and saw Anastasia.

Here is a picture from her afar:


I looked for approval from a worker to hold her hand and I got approval. She was a doll! She was so delighted to hold my hand and was waving to me from afar before I got to her. When I was talking to her the worker seemed very kind and caring. When I was talking to her telling her that her mommy was coming for her soon (knowing the workers don't speak English), the worker kept saying “nyet” to me. I realized what she was saying...that Anastasia can’t hear me, she said she reads lips.

I don’t know if Jenny (mom) knew that for sure…but wanted you to know she is beautiful and will be truly a lover. She has a gorgeous smile. Unfortunately, a worker came and shooed me away from her and then Dan from Russel and took Russel away crying. I’m not sure whether she was doing this to teach him, us, or the caregivers a lesson. Poor Russel, he was having fun and the 2 caregivers didn’t mind it a bit. Rules are rules I guess---ugh---whatever!!!!!!

Ricky slept the whole visit until we were saying goodbye. We were jubilant when we took the two of them up the stairs to his “groupa” and Ricky agreed to give him a kiss and wave at him — TWICE!! The groupa caregiver thought that was sweet. She encouraged it. Sure, it is easy to say “goodbye”, we will see if those kisses flow when we say “hello” again. Doubt it—---will see.

Stopped at grocery store---a Walmart like store, Ukrainian style. This was interesting. Halya and I had to give them our bags/purses and they put them in a plastic bag and sealed them with a hot iron sealer. Interesting, but a real pain if you need something from your purse while you are shopping.

Back to "home" where we found a very happy and refreshed Lizzy! Yeah!

Our first day with Stas

We met our newest little love, Stanislav Mogilnitski.
Rather than you skipping right to the bottom to see his pictures, I will feed you a few starter pictures:













I have called him about 5 different names now. I have had many people ask me, “okay, WHAT is his name now?” Offically, his name will be Stanislav Thomas Thibault when that time comes to name him. When we went to the room to get him for the first time, they called for “Stas” pronouncing it “Stoss.” They call him “Stassi” and “Dassi” like “Stossi” and “Dossi.” As the social worker said, “that boy needs a new family name—his name Mogilnitski means ‘grave’.” I would say she is correct. He needs more than a family name though, he needs a family. (Oh boy, he isn’t the only one needing a family here! I will get to that later, but first….let me tell you about our last 24 hours.)

We did a lot of running around yesterday (Wednesday) getting documents notarized after we got our referral around 4:30pm. We hurried home to our final dinner at Genya’s until our return visit to Kyiv at the end of our adoption journey. My goal was to leave a few bags behind in Kyiv at Genya’s house. It is way too hard to transport that many bags…with one of us carrying Ricky, Dan has to carry/pull almost of them. I emptied 1 suitcase and two carry-ons to leave behind. Not bad.





I was so tired on the train that I fell asleep in the middle of prayers as soon as we settled in, only to awaken about ½ hour later and not return to a solid sleep for most of the 10 hour ride. There were A LOT of stops…maybe 12 in all. I think I might remember nearly each of them. I wondered how we were going to sleep Ricky on the train. Well here it is:




Briliiant, ay?? I thought so. And it worked. He slept all night until we woke him at about 6:30 just before the train stopped. After unloading the last bag, I looked over to find poor Lizzy crouching over in a corner of the station throwing up in a box. (Now the end of the day Friday she is feeling a whole lot better…eating a little but getting sick of Ukrainian food. It is good but not when you are sick.)
Fr. Andrew met us on the train, helped us get our bags off, said a blessing in the car as he does before each drive (After seeing how they drive here I see why!!!!!), and then we went to the Cathedral of Holy Father of Divine Mercy. We showered very quickly, went to Mass, and ate breakfast. Sweet cook! Fr. Andrew drove us to the social worker:



Dan thinks that people make up social problems just to meet with her :-) Do Ricky and I look out place in that picture? Do I look like I photoshopped us into it?

You KNOW Lizzy was sick when she volunteered to stay back from our first visit (and our second visit and third visit). Once at the orphanage we went to the director’s office for the paper that says we can visit little sweetie, then to the doctor who was in the same building as Stas, and then to his room. You can see in the pictures above, walking into his building, standing in front of the door of his groupa, his favorite caretaker bringing him out with the doctor standing on the side with the ponytail and white coat, Ricky dissatisfied with me holding him, than with Dan holding him! He is very, very sweet.

I’ll make one thing very clear. As of today, Ricky does not like Stas at all. He wants nothing to do with him. He wants us to have nothing to do with him. When he was sitting on my lap and I reached over to Stas he would grab my hand and pull it back. He was completely traumatized. It actually makes me very sad, but as my sister told me when I commented on this concern before my trip, she pointed out that all kids go through this to some degree or another when a younger one comes in. The problem is that Ricky has been “the king,” not just any king but a “super royal king” in our house. He didn’t crack a smile until we left the building. I prayed for everything for this trip except one thing…GUESS…yes, Ricky to accept his new little brother. I guess I will have to call him his younger brother because I’m not so sure he is littler. He is a chunk! His feet are super wide. The shoes we brought will have to go to other orphans, and ALL of the clothes!!

Stas has two other kids with DS in his group. It is a very depressing group. He is with all kids with special needs. I am able to see first hand the need for therapy and what happens when you don't. I come to tears when I enter the room each time. There are so many children that need homes. Please pass this around and please search your own heart to see if you are being called.....This little guy has a fever I am told and that is why he was crying. Glad they put Stas in the playpen right after they took him out! You who know I am a germ freak---no I didn't make them wash it first!!!!!!!!





The second visit was just Halya and me. Dan stayed back with sick Lizzy and napping Ricky. I suspect he napped a bit too.





After our visit we stopped by Kristin and Jim’s to meet their family and see their newest little Nadia. They had court today and were leaving Zap to go back to Kyiv to finish up. Yeah! Congratulations.




We came back to a wonderful meal again.



Scheduled meals around Masses…it’s great.
So internet has been an issue. Hopefully you got pictures that Dan sent to Bobby to post.

Blessings to you all and thank you for all and any prayers offered for our family.

Hope these pictures work

We meet our new son

This is Bobby posting for mom (actually, mom told me what to say here). They have no internet connection (but somehow emailed me the pictures???). She will fill in details when she gets access(???). In the meantime, here are pictures my dad took from photos my mom uploaded onto the computer - so they are not as clear as they could be. We hope you enjoy. (tech savvy eh???)