More Ukraine Adoption Info

We are off to a great summer! We actually had a great 1st week already! We are so past ready to swim in our pool too, but waiting on a new liner next week as our other one bit the dust over the winter.

This week Inna and Vitali had their one yr check up with UAB adoption clinic and my mind is trying to process all the info at this point :) There are always so helpful! I truly cannot express to you all the changes that Inna and Vitali have made in one year! It is just mind-blowing at times. Of course we got all their stats on ht, wt, head circ. and it is no secret that Inna has grown significantly in every way :) She has gone from a size 2 shoe to a size 7 in this one year. Vitali has definitely changed from very baby-like to a little boy in one short year. He just continues to make huge changes, especially cognitively. It is really hard for me to express exactly some of his changes, but even in the last month, I have noticed a real difference in the way he is able to connect to conversation and being more aware of his surroundings. He has begun to show empathy for the first time recently and has started to care a little when he is hurt or someone else is hurt. There was no ability to feel these things before. My jaw just dropped last week when we were on a bike ride and Inna fell off her bike and he looked up at me sadly and out of the blue said (with lots of stuttering in between), "Mommy, I care when Inna gets hurt." Before, he would have been so in his own world that he would have been oblivious that she had even fallen off the bike. He has even been responding to some discipline with genuine crying or genuinely seeming to have some remorse when before he was too hyperactive and impulsive to know or care he was being disciplined. There is still a long way to go, but I am so thankful for these improvements as we did not know for sure if there would ever be the ability for these things. There are so many things that they have come through in a year and I began to type a list and ended up erasing it with the realization that the list is so enormous that I had a hard time choosing what to add to the list :) There is also a long list of things we are still working on :)

We wanted to give more info on Ukraine and adoption and we have really found a particular family's blog to have info that would be helpful if you are in the adoption process. The blog link is....
http://pretreadoptionblog.blogspot.com/
This family seems to be keeping tabs on many things happening in Ukraine, especially the latest news concerning the voting of whether to stop international adoptions from Ukraine. Many families have been praying this week over this and thank God it fell through on Tues for now....you can read more about it on blog link above. If you go back to further posts there is quest/answers for those about to travel. Also, if you go back to their April 8th post, they post the total amount that was spent in their Ukraine adoption of 2 children recently. We have found that their amount matches our total amount almost exactly and probably could help you plan better if you are planning on adopting 2 from Ukraine at this time.
Also, if you are in the adoption process, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND going to their April
1st post for some very important information from the director of the SDA.

No matter what information you find, I would just encourage you not to be discouraged. The financial alone can almost take your breath away, but God is always faithful to provide and if He has called you, He will see you to the end! If you have any specific questions, please feel free to comment or email us.

Just for fun:
Things that we are glad we packed in our suitcase for Ukraine:

- (Especially if you are taking kids) Snacks, lemonade packets (or any juice powder packet to go), coffee...we packed as many snacks as would fit in out suitcases and they lasted maybe the first week. This was especially important when traveling with Grant because you a lot of times are just getting used to everything that 1st week and are at the mercy of others and you may not get to stop and eat or get snacks anywhere...one of our days...we were on the road all day from 5 in the morning and never got to stop anywhere...Jason and I literally didnt get to eat or drink until 8:00 that night because we held all of our snacks for Grant so that at least he could be sure to get something to eat...THANK GOD we packed those snacks and then we had the same situation the next day...we were sad when we ran out of our familiar snacks from home- Mel

- DVD movies to play on computer (All TV was in Ukrainian)- Jason

Things we wish we had NOT packed to take to Ukraine:

- Long Johns- It was cold OUTSIDE, but the heat is government controlled INSIDE Kiev and if you wear long johns outside and you are hot natured at all, you are going to burn up inside the buildings. Put it this way...It was snowing hard outside when we were staying in Kiev and we were sleeping with our windows and balcony doors wide open in our flat because we were sweating so bad inside with no way to control the heat. We were so thankful when April 15th arrived and the government turned off the heat- Mel.

- Power converter because all we needed was the standard adapter for a 110 plug to European 240 volt plug (Check your electronics to see if they can accept 240 volts, because most of ours did)- Jason