The Day I Had Waited For

Today, 1 year ago, is the day I had waited so long for.  This is the day we "officially" met Peyton.  She was in a mental hospital being evaluated to see if the diagnosis of "mental delay" in her file was accurate or not.  If not, which is wasn't, she would have been moved yet again to another orphanage for higher functioning children.  (These are not my words but the words as translated by my facilitator.)  I was so excited and really did not know what to expect.  When we got to the hospital we, the social worker, orphanage director, our facilitator and us, all got out and waited at the gate to be told to come in.  Once inside the gate we walked down a long path, down another path then another.  I remember thinking how pretty and peaceful it seemed on that walk but how run down all the buildings were.  I know I must have had a permanent smile on my face as very soon I was going to meet my daughter.  We went in to the building that she was in and waited for what seemed like an eternity.  They were very hesitant about us coming in and the words flew back and forth for a while.  Finally, we got to go in and we were told no pictures, put the camera away.  So we sat down where they told us to, a little lobby area with some toys and books, and then down the hall came Peyton.  I walked very quickly to her and just hugged her so tight.  There she was, finally,  after all these months but wait, what had they done to her.  Her hair had been cut, at least 8 inches, and she was not as neat and clean as I had seen in the pictures of her.  But none of that mattered, when I saw that light in her eyes and smile on her face that said finally, finally you are here.  The social worker asked her who we were and she said mama and papa.  Then the social worker commented about how much she looked like me.  The orphanage director asked her if she wanted us to adopt her and go to America and she said da (yes).  They gave her paper and had her write her wishes.  They then grabbed it up and said time to go.  I was really shocked as we had just got in there to see her less than 5 minutes earlier and now we had to leave.  Didn't they know how long I had waited but further more how long she had waited for her parents to come?  Didn't they care?  We were rushed out the door not knowing when we would get to visit her again.  Little did we know it would be more than a month later, the evening before court, before we would see her again. I treasure that 5 minutes we got to be with her as that day it all became real.

~Tina

my sweet girl

The Day We Met

One year ago today we met Caleb.  We were able to pick up his file early that day from the SDA and we travelled 2+ hours west out of Kiev to Berdychiv.  We met with the Social Services Director and she was so nice.  She really didn't ask us any questions, just looked at our passports.  She commented to our facilitator that we were so quiet, not typical for Americans.  She pegged us right on as we are both so shy.  After we got the paperwork, we headed to the orphanage which is in the country outside of Berdychiv. I was so excited to finally get to meet him and we were both just a little nervous.  We had no idea what he would look like as we had only seen a baby picture and he was now 5.  We met with the orphanage director and the orphanage doctor who went over his file with us.  Nothing we didn't already expect but the orphanage doctor and our facilitator exchanged words as she thought we already had too many children at home why would we want more. When they got to Peyton's file there was nothing to tell.  They knew nothing about her before age 9 and could only say she was moderately mentally delayed.  Then they told us Peyton was in a mental hospital getting evaluated, just routine.  She would be there until the end of August.  Caleb was in the hospital for Bronchitis but they would go and get him as he was to be released the next day anyway.  So we waited for what seemed like an eternity to meet our new son. Then in he walked and sat right between us.  The social worker, two nannies and our facilitator were all watching.  He played with the toys we brought, ate some candy and leaned in to both of us.  It was like he knew he belonged. The social worker, our facilitator and one of the nannies left the room and we got to play with him for about 10 minutes.  Then they whisked him away and told us we could come back to visit two times a day for two hours each time.  Our facilitator talked with the director and social worker at length about us visiting Peyton at the mental hospital.  They had to call and do some talking as outsiders are not allowed to visit.  They were able to schedule a visit for the following Monday as they had to get her written consent if we were to proceed. 

I will leave you with a picture of us and Caleb from that first meeting.

~Tina

     

One Year Ago Today We Saw Their File...

and we knew that we had just been given a blessing that we had waited so long for.  It was our third and final visit to the SDA.  Our first visit in July we found out that Peyton was not yet available and wouldn't be for several months.  Our second visit 2 days later, we found out that Caleb would be available soon and so we came back to the SDA on this day one year ago. 

I still get emotional when I remember that day.  We had waited oh so long and not even the pouring down rain was going to stop us on the 20 minute walk to our appointment. I knew in my heart that God had this and we were going to see the children that He had already chosen to be ours.

As we sat there in that room at the SDA it was so surreal.  We were soaked from head to toe and the rain was still coming down as we looked out the window.  This was our fifth time to be in that room (two times from our previous attempt at adoption in 2010) and all the technicalities and hoops you jump through were thrown out the window.  They had Peyton and Caleb's files ready for us to see and then they asked if we wanted to see any other files?  No, not a chance!  And let me tell you, at that moment the rain stopped and the sun was shining bright through that window that just a few minutes earlier had rain beating against it.  I remember thinking, thank you God for showing me you got this. 

(I will be writing more about our adventure in the days ahead.)

~Tina

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school, two in Kindergarten, one in 3rd and one in 6th.  They were all just so excited and the older two couldn't wait to see their friends.  They all road the bus and Caleb had the biggest smile when he saw the bus coming down the highway.  The day went well and when I arrived home they were all talking over each other, trying to tell me about all the things that happened. Looks like it is going to be a good year. 

~Tina

  

End of Summer Fun

We took the kids to opening day of the Missouri State Fair and that also happened to be Gotcha Day for Cash and Carson.  Has it really already been a year since we adopted them?  Time sure does fly!

The Summer Day Camp that the kids attend had a Talent Show for their end of Summer Finale Week.  Carson's talent was showing how well he could kick a ball, Cash did some silly skit with his friends and Peyton decided she would sing a Ukrainian song.  On one day each of the different age groups performed against the others in their age group.  Peyton got first in her group and moved on to the finals the next day which included 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place from each age group.  She ended up winning 1st Place and was soooo excited to tell me when I picked her up at the end of the day.  The camp teachers said she did such a great job and she has such a pretty voice.  I was so proud of her!

The kids have enjoyed there last few days of Summer playing outside blowing bubbles,  drawing with sidewalk chalk and of course, playing with MR Kitty, yes you read that right, our cat is actually a male.  When we got him as a kitten and the couple told me it was a female I never questioned it.  : )

School starts next week and the kids are excited to go.  I am excited that they will all be in school.  It has been quite a Summer of juggling. 

~Tina

at the gate and we can't wait

 

 

 

 Carson loves to play drums and the
tongue sure helps.

 

 

 

 

 

Caleb loved the roller coaster.

Carson thought these cars were awesome.

 

Cash couldn't wait to go on this very tall slide.
Do you see the speck of blue towards the
top of the orange lane?  Yep, that's him.

 

Peyton loved this surf board the best. 

 

the Butter Cow 

 

 

 

Peyton with her winning sash and trophy.