Welcome to Parenting

 The last few days we were just covering parenting 101, and couldn't believe how amazingly well behaved our beautiful children were. I told Roman last night, "geez we are really getting the hang of this parenting thing." I failed to mention the fact that they were eating everything we offered them, always cleaned up after themselves and were perfectly disciplined and super low key and independent. Andrey was super grateful and followed me around everywhere telling me how much he loved us and how grateful he was we picked him (little does he know it was God, not us). He also was a huge help, always cleaning up after himself and watching Katya's every move, showing her the ropes (iPad, iPhone, cars, etc). Katya is perfectly potty trained and keeps herself busy with one toy for an average of two hours and is capable of dressing herself and feeding herself. Her vocabulary seemed to have been limited to just a few basic words and anytime I'd as much as glance her way, she's just smile  from ear to eat and come hug me.  When asked to do something, she'd immediately nod yes and run off to complete the task. The only major struggle was the fact that Katya had never been outside the orphanage, so car and airplane rides are completely terrifying to her, so we have been trying to cope with that.  

Today however, is an entirely different story.  Welcome to advanced parenting! After spending two hours at the medical clinic to complete their medical exams for immigration,   Andrey came home to a 102-103 fever we couldn't break for hours. We have tried prayer, local medicine, home remedies, children's Tylenol and he is still burning up. Meanwhile, Katya has a cough and runny nose. Also, Katya has decided to show us her secret vocabulary, and although she is still a little sweet pea, this girl can talk like an old women. Boy, were we surprised. As we are trying to get sickly Andrey to bed (mind you we all share one room) our Katya decides to test out what happens if she refuses to sleep. After yelling for papa and mama for 30 minutes, she decided to turn up the stakes. At first, it was that she needed to go potty, next it was her head hurt, then her leg, etc. Lastly she reverted to crying the final, sure option, crying and wanted to sleep on our bed, which already included one too many. As we finally succeeded in getting our kiddos to bed, I realize we have an embassy appointment at 8, which means we wake up at the crack of dawn to get the kids fed, dressed and take our long drive to the US embassy. I'm praying our little guy will be fever free, if not we may not make it out of Ukraine by Thursday. Oh that's right, I still have big stack of documents to fill out before I can take a bath (I miss US showers) and get to bed. 

Overall, I've gotta say this parenting thing isn't easy. I never thought it was, but I think we just got our crash course today, while traveling thousands of miles from home with two brand new (sick) children, living at a friend's house, trying to make it to all of our painstaking adoption and immigration appointments. I gotta say, it's difficult but awesome. Despite of today's difficulties, I know we've hit the jackpot with our little darlings and we couldn't be happier! 

Oh, and it's our wedding anniversary today! I wonder what the next seven years will bring? ;) 

What a Glorious Day!

The Day of Our Hearing - What a Glorious Day! 

Wow, today was quiet the eventful day. We arrived in Donetsk late last night, while still jet lagged, we quickly visited Katya, then headed to court.   The court system in Ukraine is different than our beloved US. First of all, we started the hearing two hours after our scheduled appointment. Once the hearing started, the judge spoke very quickly and in pure Ukrainian, so I struggled to understand all the questions. Although the judge asked us and Andrey (Katya is too young to attend)  some very difficult questions, and made some interesting comments, we were relieved to hear the court approved our adoption and we are officially Katya and Andrey's parents!!! We get to pick up our beloved children tomorrow. After our hearing, we grabbed dessert and visited Andrey's orphanage, where we threw a little goodbye party for him. Andrey was on cloud nine! He smiled from ear to ear as he told his friends that tomorrow he'll be leaving with mama and papa. This was a bitter sweet moment that I had thought about for a long time.  These kids were so excited to spend some time with us. As soon as I walked in , I had a half-dozen  10 year olds hugging, kissing, petting and calling me mamuchka (mommy in a russian). My heart breaks for these children and I realize that I was no different then them, no more deserving, yet I was given a family that loves and cherishes me. I couldn't help but feel that more can be done for these children who so desire to be loved. These children deserve to be in a home and to get a mama and papa like Andrey did. 

 I realized long ago that this journey of adoption wasn't just about growing our family, but about saving two children from a horrific future. Statistics in Ukraine prove that children who grow up in orphanages in Ukraine, have a grim future awaiting them, consisting of drugs, alcohol, prostitution and/or prison. Today a huge victory was won!!! The devil thought he had a strong grip on these innocent, but helpless children, but boy oh boy does God have big plans for them?!! Today is a day to celebrate and with the amount of prayers being lifted up for us, I know God has been with us ever step of the way.  I envision angels celebrating this victory, singing praise to our wonderful Father. As I am overcome by many emotions today, all I want to do is pray. 

My prayer today:

Thank you Jesus for giving me the honor to become a mom today! I am humbled by your grace. I know your will is perfect and you are sovereign. Thank you for giving us the courage to walk this difficult (but very fulfilling road) and seeing us through the end!  I feel so humbled that you have chosen us to impact the lives of Andrey and Katya, we hope to do them justice, because we know they deserve the best, as do all of your precious children.We thank you for being faithful in all You do. Please continue to bless this journey and we ask that we get home safely, so we can celebrate with our loved ones! 

Father, I also know there are 153 million children in this world, who don't have the chance to experience your love, grace and sacrifice, but I know you created them for a purpose. These children can do great things and can have beautiful futures! Although these children's fate seem horrific, I know You can turn darkness into light and You can and will send more victories. These children belong to You, but You need Your faithful servants to step up and ask themselves some difficult questions. Jesus, I ask You to help each and every person reading this to examine their heart and see if they are willing to take a leap of faith.  Show them what they can do to impact these children's lives. Maybe they can adopt or foster a child, but they think they don't have what it takes (finances, energy, time, faith).  Maybe they can financially support or fundraise for a family who wants to care for an orphan. Maybe they can serve these children in other ways, like an orphan hosting program. Whatever it may be, please give them the courage to go out and do it!!! Give them courage to overcome any insecurities or distractions and take that first leap of faith. Most of all, give them the support, love and care You have awarded me through this journey. Lord, You know if it wasn't for Your believers, I may  have fallen short and may not have seen this victory. Thank you again Father, for showing me You are bigger than my fears! Amen. 

The Final Sprint

For those of you haven’t heard, we traveled back to the states last week. Unfortunately, On April 4^th, one hour before our scheduled court hearing, we found out there were some complications and due to the political instability, they had to cancel our court hearing, and postpone it until April 22nd at the earliest. I honestly felt such a whirlwind of emotions at that time. I hated that we came so close to the kiddos being ours, and in one phone call, that all changed. I hated that I had to endure yet another trip to Ukraine and face all of my fears, insecurities, travel, costs and frustrations. Most of all, I hated leaving Andrey and Katya behind. On the other hand, as you could gather from my previous post, I was growing extremely home sick and the pressure of the adoption and Ukraine tensions were weighing on me - emotionally, physically and spiritually. In the last week, I have thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful country of ours, the magnificent weather and most of all, seeing our lovely family and friends!

After having some time to recuperate, I feel like I owe you all an apology for my attitude on my previous post. Most of all, I came to realize I owed God an apology. Sometimes I am like a child. When things don’t go my way, or the way I anticipated, I throw spiritual tantrums and let my emotions take over. I often struggle praising God and worshipping Him in all His Glory, just because things aren’t going my way. Luckily, our God is an amazing Father and He knows how to put me in my place. Over the past weeks, I was reminded how difficult it is to praise God through the storm. This weekend, at a women’s conference, I was reminded of a promise I had once made God. A few years ago, the night before my surgery, I prayed that God would use me to fulfill His will, even if it meant I wouldn’t receive the one thing I wanted most… a child. When I prayed this prayer, I had wanted my desire for God to be stronger than my desire to have children. I had to ask myself if this was still true. I felt so convicted.

This week, I made a new promise to God. I prayed and vowed that despite of what life throws at me, I will not grumble at God. May He give me strength and wisdom to fulfill this promise throughout my life.

In three short days, God willing, we will embark on the last phase of this adoption journey. We are scheduled for court on April 23rd. We are traveling to the center of the turmoil, Donetsk, Ukraine. We pray for God to guide us every step of the way and hope and pray we can get our children out of their safely. We have to spend a few days in Donetsk and then plan to travel to Kiev to complete visas and immigration requirements.

Dear friend, I ask you, I beg you, please pray for us as we take these final difficult steps of this journey. Thank you to all those who have been praying. When we are down, we know the prayers of others will carry us through.  We are terrified. We are uncertain. We are hopeless. We are weak. But GOD is ALL KNOWING. GOD is FAITHFUL. GOD is STRONGER. I keep reminding myself that GOD is greater than are problem. GOD is greater than politics. GOD is greater than war. GOD is greater than death! He will see us through. GOD is GOOD!

Happy Easter!