Post on Ukraine & Adoption

Hi everyone~ This will be a little different post than our regular updates, but I hope all will read, not just the adopting families :)
First, a quick update: We are doing well and still going to several medical appointments and undergoing evals on Vitali. He is having his MRI under anesthesia on August 5th and we would appreciate any prayers for a smooth time that day and for
a clear MRI report. Thanks so much!!! More updates on post next time.
For now.......

We have for so long wanted to post some info that we have found helpful during our adoption and hope maybe others in the adoption process may be able to use some of this info as well.
First, a little reflection on our time in Ukraine. After being there for such a long period, we kinda felt like we moved there for a short time and then moved back to America, haha! It is no secret that the adoption process in Ukraine changes at different times with different leadership and many times right now has been quite a challenging process for those we are aware of traveling into the country. At the same time, there are an abundance of orphans there that need a family and we truly believe that if this is where the Lord is leading you that He will sustain you and prepare the way throughout the process.
After being in Ukraine and now being home, I find myself thinking of the people and the orphans there a lot. My heart just goes out to the people there. I can remember looking around while I was there and feeling an overwhelming sadness for the opression that so many are living under as they have become a free country from communism, but so many are still living under great oppression and desperately need to know the love of Christ and the freedom He gives. My heart is burdened for the orphans that "graduate" from the system and become prostitutes, drug addicts, and street kids, but what I think of most of all is the orphans in Inna's & Vitali's orphanages that we saw on our visits to the orphanages while we were there. As Inna begins to share more and more about what she was living in and experiencing at her own orphanage (which could only be expected in an institution of approx 300 kids), I am deeply burdened for the ones that we met that are still there...we pray for them often, especially Inna's best friend, Lena (It rhymes, I know :) who she just got a letter from and we were all excited!! Inna wrote her back immediately and wanted to send almost everything she has to Lena in Ukraine. They normally don't let you wear your orphanage clothes out of the orphanage when you leave, but they graciously let Inna wear hers to leave with Jason, so Inna really wanted Lena to have them, so she packed them in a box to send back to her. A neat thing that happened was while we were visiting Inna at her orphanage, I was really drawn to this sweet little girl in her group name Valya and I have thought about her and prayed for her often since we have come home and when Inna got her letter from Lena, there was an old worn out picture inside of the girls and Valya was in the picture too and when I asked, it turns out that Inna's best friend, Lena & Valya are sisters and I had no idea...cool huh!!! Would you please pray that these 2 little girls (8 & 10 yrs old) will find a family also (& we would love it if it could be in America :)
I was also encouraged in Ukraine by so many wonderful people we heard about and came in contact with there. I just for some reason love the widows there (Babushka's)...they are easy to spot with their scarfs on their head and worn out boots. When you look at them, you know they have been through so much in their time, especially knowing the history of Ukraine. One great thing Marianna Peipon shared with me was about her church (Marianna, you can correct me on comments if I get anything wrong) was that it started not as a church, but a choir for widows and then later grew into the church that it is now and she told me the widows come every Sunday and walk to church rain or shine (and let me just tell you that is not an easy walk)...that is dedication!!!!
I guess I wanted to share the above because we cannot all adopt and we can not all take missions trips, but we can support the missionaries that are already there doing these things. 2 missionary groups that we know personally are The Peipons and Bridges of Faith and I know that they do what they do off of donations to their ministries and just wanted to share their info in case your church or individual would like to help them help the people and children of Ukraine.
If you have been following our blog from the beginning, you will remember the Peipons who helped Jason and I in such a tremendous way while we were there (By the way, we miss ya'll so much!) We had the honor to stay in there home for several days while we were in Ukraine and we got to see their day in and day out and I can truly say that they are making a Huge difference there in so many areas. One particular that means a lot to me....Before we left for Ukraine, we went to an adoption clinic for education on adoption and learned that one of the most traumatic experiences for an orphan and one that causes the most delayed developement and delayed growth is when the orphans there have to go to the hospital, because there is no one to stay with them there. Can you imagine how scary that must be for them to be there all alone. Well, this is one thing that just stayed with me after clinic and I told Jason, one day I wish we could just take a missions team there and just sit and be with the orphans in the hospital, so that they wouldnt be alone, even though I had never heard of a missions team doing that type thing. Well, this is how AWESOME God is....he placed Jason and I in a missionaries home (The Peipons) that does this very type missions work. Marianna goes to the hospital, I think it is once a week, and sits, loves on, and plays with AIDS orphans. She has many wonderful pictures at her house of this and it was just a blessing for me to see that God had already placed this on a whole group of people's hearts too!!!!! This is just a small portion of what they do there....here is there website for more info.....
http://www.ukrainemedicaloutreach.org/

Also, another missionary friend is Tom & Larissa Benz of Bridges of Faith. They are doing a great work for the orphans of Ukraine by among other things, holding VBS type camps at the orphanages, even right now as I type. He has shared in his updates of many that have come to know Christ and their lives changed for the better through their ministry there. Here is their website for more info....
http://www.bridgesoffaith.com/

Now, for the ones in the adoption process:
Here is a little bit of info of things that have helped us greatly....
About the adoption links to the right of our blog:
1. Family Life Today~ I beg you to listen to these adoption audios for free...they are Awesome!!!

2. APAC (Alabama Post Adoption Connection)~ They offer a lot of services, but we used them to order library books online for Grant...it was great, I just asked them to send me what they had to prepare siblings of adopted children and they mailed me about 5 books and then you just mail them back when your done. They have books on any adoptive subject.

3. Lifeline Children's Services~ This is the adoption agency we used and we had a great experience with them and highly recommend them. They use great facilitators and believe me, that is important. We came across some families while we were there (not with our agency) that did not have good experiences with their facilitators.

4. UAB International Adoption Clinic~ OK, I really don't think we could have done it without them! They are very experienced on internationally adopted chldren and their medical, emotional, and developmental needs, which is very needed. They kind of guide you into all the areas that need to be tested and how to get started with the help needed. Even my regular pediatrician recommended that we go to them first as most Pediatricians do not have experience with International or institutionalized children.

Some other helpful things specifically for Ukraine.....
1. CD/Handbook~ Ukrainian plus Russian phrases for children- this is a great CD for adoptive parents to learn the basic phrases that you will want to say to your children your first meeting and time at home. I cannot imagine if we had not had this...it has been so helpful. If you are adopting an older child, you will definitely want this. Ours have been picking up a lot of English quickly, but even our first month home, I understood a lot of what they were saying in Ukrainian just from these CD's. We also left the CD with Inna at the orphanage to learn some English before she came home with us.

2. In a store in Kiev called Children's World (It is a pretty popular store there and your facilitator will probably know how to get there), they sell books for children that have basic needs...food, hygeine words, anatomy in Ukranian/Russian and in English. It has the Ukranian/Russian word and then the English word with how to pronounce it written in Ukranian (hope that made sense), it is a good resource to have.

Also, A great site that we would encourage you to check out as we have found the info to be correct with our experience there and with the experience of others we talked to while there....
www.FRUA.org (chat)


This is all I can think of for now. If I think of anything else important, I will add to another post. If you would like to email us...our email address is melhall75@knology.net or jhgasco@knology.net

Comments:
Lara~ Yes, Yes...we remember your family and Jackson...so glad to hear from you! By the way, Do I remember right that you lived in Prattville?

Connie~ Thanks for the comments...I do believe that you more than made up for not having to change diapers starting off with a 9 & 12 yr old :)

Marianna~ Alabama...next spring???? Woohoo!!! Do you know where you are going to be yet...you know that we would love to meet up or if you would like to have an adventurous, action packed time, you could even stay with us!!!!!

Jeanne~ Are you & Kolya coming to Alabama too? Hope so!!! We miss you too and I know Grant would love to see you!!! He might could draw you another potty pic!!!

Andrea & Alea~ Thanks so much for the sweet comment...Alea, Inna had so much fun with you the other day...we will have to do it again soon!!!

Dad~ Yep, we plan to keep the blog going for a while as it is a family journal of our adoption for us also.

Pat Maioulis~ Thanks for your comment on the slide show...we are very touched by your kind words!

A Great Week of Relaxation, Spa Treatments, & Eating Bon Bons

OOPS...I MEANT to put a Great Week Of Hyperactivity, Parasite Treatments, and eating Mickey D's on the road in between appointments, haha! Wow...we have been trying to catch Inna and Vitali up on a LIFETIME of missed health care and it has kept us pretty busy lately! We went to the eye doctor this week and Praise God, we were cleared there and didnt have to get glasses this time. Vitali will need to go back in a year when he is speaking more and evaluate again.

Today, all 3 kids went to the dentist and it was Inna & Vitali's first visit ever to a dentist and so as expected much dental work is needed including 2 baby root canals for Vitali. They all did great at the dentist and Inna even said she liked it, which is a good thing since between she and Vitali, they will have 6 dental visits coming up to get everything fixed. Grant is still holding on to his record of no cavaties and mama has never been so thankful!!!

Ok, can I just tell you that by far the worst part of medicals so far has been the million "you know what" collections of both kids that I have had to take to the lab to check for Parasites(I just know that I am getting an Amen from you other adoptive parents doing this right now). Now, I know this is not ideal, but I confess that on the last day of collecting, I paid a family member $10.00 to be the pooper scooper into the viles for that day (And I know the rest of you are thinking this is too much info, but I figure if I have to do it, I should at least be able to vent about it on my own blog), They both are being treated for parasites from the water in Ukraine and now we will have to start collecting all over again once the medicine is done (Guess, I better start saving my $10.00...just kidding). Speaking of the medicine...the doctors told us that the medicine taste really bad (There is only one pharmacy that it could even be found at) and so I was expecting this huge battle with the kids taking it. Well, Inna really doesnt like it and so I play every "entertain you so you don't know you are taking your medicine" game when she takes hers, but Vitali actually begs for his and falls on the floor crying for more when he is done...it is pretty comical.

This next week will consist of a Birmingham Audiologist appt, English tutoring for Inna (which is going great and you wouldnt believe how well she is speaking English), and we have a social worker coming to our house for a mandatory post-adoption assessment for Ukraine~ maybe this would be a good time to place a "Enter At Your Own Risk Sign" on my door, so she will have a good warning of the hi activity level in the house before entering. One friend has already told me that it sounds like I'm at Walmart when she calls my home :) I said, could'nt we at least make Target.

Vitali is still being evaluated, but one thing that was confirmed on our first UAB appt is that he is on a 15-24 month old level in every way (While we were in Ukraine, Jason and I guessed 18-24 mos, so we were not far off). His severe orphanage conditions definitely has played a huge part in his developmental delays, but there is a good possiblity of other underlying conditions that would cause some delays also. He has had x-rays of his skull, but the x-rays did not come out clear for what the doctors need to see, so they have recommended to put him under anesthesia and do a MRI. We are in the process of getting this scheduled now. Please continue to pray for a quick report as I think the hardest part is all the waiting. It seems that it will be so much easier when we can get through with the diagnostic part and know the best way to help him. UAB was telling us from the beginning that the most important factor to his development is that he build a good attachment to us and bonds well with his parents and they said that they didnt recommend any physical, occupational, or speech therapy until that has taken place first and the GREAT NEWS is that he is attaching and the bonding process is going AWESOME and his last UAB visit, they were very impressed on how well it was going and we could all tell a big improvement in his development. We just feel that he has come so far in a short time- far more than we ever could have expected from our visits with him at the orphanage. We definitely want to be educated on all that we can on how we can best help him...at the same time knowing that God has the final say on Vitali's medicals and He has already done more than we could imagine in Vitali. About 2 weeks ago, he began to really interact and communicate back and forth, which was not happening before and his little personality is really beginning to come out. He loves to go around the house reciting his family's names over and over, which he pronounces, Mama, Tato (Ukrainian word for Dad), Inna (he pronounces "Yeena", Grant (he pronounces, "Vant"), and then he says, "Tali". It is so precious!!

Some more 1st since last post:
Inna~ 1st Vacation Bible School, which she loved and 1st time her hair has been long enough for pig tails. The pic below is of she, Grant, and Grant's long time friend, Emma at VBS.



Vitali~ 1st time jumping off the diving board and swimming WITHOUT floaties. He is a true swimmer now.

Grant has had a BIG week as he turned 7 and celebrated his birthday by 3 of his best friends going out for Pizza and then Go-carts and Bumper Boats. Here are a couple pics from his B-day~
1. Grant & friends
2. Tiff & Grant riding Go-carts...he wasnt quite tall enough to drive himself yet



One last thing~ I decided to add the link to the song "Never let go" by David Crowder as it has become Inna's favorite song. She ask me to play it constantly and she has learned all of the words and sings with the CD every time. From the first time it played in the car, she said, "Please, again". When she is scared at night, she wants me and her to sing this song together now. She loves it and I think it is great, because it is about no matter what happens in our lives Jesus never let's go of us...he has always been there through the good and bad. There is probably not many people who would understand how much the message of this song means more than a child who has been an orphan. It seems to bring her so much comfort and has become one of my favorites as well! Here it is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jHrbXEcee8


Pics below: I was looking over older pics and found these 2 pics...the 1st is of Inna now and the 2nd is of Inna at the airport her first day home with us 40 days ago...just can't believe how much she has grown in such a short amount of time. Does anyone else feel like your kids are changing at SuperSonic Speed? :)

Pics Cont'd....

Pics:

1. Grant talked his Aunt Tiff into having an overnight campout in the living room.

2. Vitali watcing T.V.

3. The first time we put Vitali in the pool his first week home, he did not have the strength to balance on floaties without his head tipping over in the water. Well, this is a pic of him now...not only can he balance in the water, but he jumps off the diving board about 100 times when we go swimming. YEA!!!!

4. Tiff with our animals...Max & Dil

New Pics

Here are some new pics of the past couple of weeks. We are all adjusting a little more each day and this week we had kind of a free week with no appointments or tutoring, but next week will make up for it with MANY appointments for the kids.We are awaiting confirmations on Vitali's medicals and will share with you what we can as soon as we know more, but we are seeing many improvements just from being in a family and having "normal" playing time outside. He started counting to 10 this week (which is HUGE!) and every week his balance gets a little better and his walk is much more stable than before.
We have many pics to share and because I can only get 5 pics per post, there will be pics on the post below too. Here they are.....

Pics:
1. Inna pretending to have a conversation on the phone. This is one of her favorite past times playing on the phone and practicing an English conversation. This pic is from one of those times. By the way, if you have called our house and someone answered and talked to you in Ukrainian and then hung up...it was Inna and we probably have no idea you called...try again :)

2. Papaw launching Grant in the pool

3. Papaw launching Inna in the pool

4. Inna took this pic of Mama & Grant

5. After many attempts of Vitali trying to stand and walk in Papa's shoes and after many face plants to the floor, in this pic he finally made it...SCORE!!!!

More Pics Below.....

What A Week- Part 2 :)

Well, we have had another eventful week. Daddy has officially gone back to work as of Monday and this was the first week of just Mama & 3. There were many challenges this week, but the Lord has been so gracious to give Mama & Papa the strength needed for each day! Thank you for all the support from friends and family this week...so many of you...you know who you are and I cannot thank you enough!!!

Inna & Vitali did go to the UAB international adoption clinic and it was so great to get the ball rolling there! I think they spent about 4 hours with us evaluating the two, but since they are older, the evaluations are quite extensive and they were not able to finish evaluating Vitali that day. We will go back on June 25th to finish his evaluations and get the results of Inna's. The Developmental Specialist tested her and did go ahead and tell us that she can start in 4th grade next year. So, when the school year starts, she will go to school with Grant. While we wait on our next UAB appointment, they will be seeing an Audiologist and Eye doctor. Grant went to the appointment with us and played hang man with one of their staff a lot of the time and he was just too excited not to have to get all the blood work with them. Inna on the other hand is one tough cookie and doesnt even react a little bit when getting blood work or even shots.

Well, with a whole new world to discover for Inna & Vitali, I thought I would post some of the things that they have found most AMAZING this past week~

Inna~
1. Tin Foil~ I pulled out tin foil to put on the left overs and by her reaction you would have thought she spotted Elvis...she was amazed even more the next day when she saw Jody(my hairdresser) put that AMAZING tin foil in my hair for highlights

2. The small ice in Sonic Drinks~ she looked at me in a panic and thought that something was wrong with her soda. I explained that it is just like what comes out of our refridgerator door, but smaller and she thought that was cool.

3. The fact that Mama is 33 years old. It was ok for Papa to be 33, but when we told her that I was 33, she just looked at me with very sadly and just kept saying, "Mama, No".

4. Tiff eating Bruster's Hot Fudge Sunday~ she just looked at it and fell on the floor in passing out position :)

Vitali~
1. The handle on the toilet~ potty training at it's best!

2. A Bath~ I could never explain the amount of activity involved in his baths, but let's just say a Gold Medal Gymnast has nothing on him. He loves it!!!!

3. Car ride

4. Back rubs~ He loves to be touched and usually will lift up his shirt meaning he wants us to rub his belly and then he always flips over and wants you to do his back.

5. Books~ At night, when I go to read him a bed time story, he just laughs and laughs when I start it off...he thinks it is so cool to have a book read to him!

Well, that's all for now! More updates later.....

Comments:
Stephanie~ Sounds like Riley IS a lot like Vitali. I would love to see a pic of him sometime! Thanks for keeping in touch along this journey!

Thanks for all the new post on the guestbook...Pat Miaoulis, Bret & Margie, and Elena Littlefield...it was great to hear from you!

What A Week :)

It has been a wild ride at the home of The Halls this week. There has never been a dull moment! At times it looked like a scene from the "Super Nanny Show" (in fact, I almost filled out an application for the show a couple of times, haha...just kidding)and other times sweet "Little House on the Prarie" moments. There have definitely been many adjustments for all of us as we have begun to learn how to be a family. There are many things to work through of past learned behaviors and the attempt to reverse the emotional damage that comes along with children who have lived through such difficult past situations. Although we still have a ways to go, it seems that each new day gets a little easier and that the adjustments for that day are improving a little better than the day before. We are so thankful for the support of other adoptive families to share all of our similar experiences and learn from each other what seems to work best. Jerry & Amanda~ it was also great catching up with you this week and thanks for all the encouragement...since you are a couple of weeks ahead of us, you can fill us in on the changes we can expect for each week ahead, haha! We also want to thank Lauren for coordinating meals for us all of this week and each one of our friends that brought a meal. I cannot tell you how HUGE that was not to have to think of cooking. Thank you to all of you who have passed down clothes to Inna & Vitali and for the financial donation from Living Hope and for all that has let us know that you are praying....what a TREMENDOUS BLESSING all of this has been for us!
A little update on the kids:
Inna still loves the pool most of all and is getting a great tan from being out in the sun so much. Her next favorite thing is the 2 Barbie's we bought her. She takes them swimming with her most of the time. She has really missed her friends at the orphanage and tonight we are going to get some pics printed out to make her an photo album of her orphanage and friends there. Neither, Vitali or Inna had meat at their orphanages so they have been getting used to eating meat and she has found that she likes chicken and roast. She really likes soup, but thinks the Campbell's soups are too salty. She really wants to eat all day long with the food being so plentiful here, but this would be expected for anyone who has been food deprived. Vitali will eat pretty much anything that is placed in front of him, even meats. I havent found hardly anything that he doesnt like. She is learning English little by little and we have been able to communicate most things to each other. She will start with her English tutor next week.
On to Vitali~ Lesson # 1~ A very active child + lack of balance= STITCHES!!! Yes, we have already been to the ER this week. He has a very high pain tolerance and has not learned to be careful of things that can seriously hurt him yet. In other words, he bangs his head on everything right now and and tries to dive head first off of anything he can. We try to run across the room and catch him before the big plunge! This week, after the water was drained out of the tub for his bath, he decided to jump head first into the bath tub and landed on his chin and busted it open. After only 2 minutes of crying, he was fine and ready to plunge again, but we took him to have it looked at and I pretty much begged that if there was anyway to only do the liquid stitches to please try that since I didnt want his first American doctor visit to involve needles. They decided to give the liquid stitches a try and thank God it is working great! He did take them off the next day and we went back to get some more and thankfully, they sent some with me to do myself the next time, because he did remove them again. But, now the chin is healing well and closed up. He is improving in his motor skills, walking, coordination, and speech by leaps and bounds. It is amazing!! He was having a great deal of trouble with coordination and balance at the orphanage and still has a long way to go, but we have definitely seen improvements. His speech is just unbelievable! He talks all day long!

Grant is making adjustments too and some days are harder than others for him. He is doing great sharing a room with Vitali and spending a lot of time swimming with Inna! He is looking forward to starting baseball back this summer! He just finished school and did great!

We will be going to take Inna & Vitali to Birmingham this week for their UAB adoption clinic evals. We have been looking forward to this, so that we can be sure of any needs that need to be treated and to get the ball rolling. This will be a very lengthy appointment as they will both be evaluated by a pediatrician, developmental specialist, and councelor. The next day, they will have more blood work at our Pediatrician here in Prattville. Please pray for smooth appointments and wisdom for all involved.

Here are some pics of first days home:
1. Vitali & Grant playing with Thomas the Tank Engine
2. Inna dancing to a song on the T.V.
3 & 4~ swimming in our pool

We're Home!

Hi everyone~ We did make it home safely on Saturday night and Jason is thrilled to be back!!! Thanks to Papaw & Nanny for the great ride to & from the airport! Well, the Hall household has been "Hoppin" ever since! There have been many moments of excitement, joy, tears, tantrums...you name it...just like expected, there are many adjustments right now!

Just to give you a quick recap of the events of the past 48 hrs (Warning: not for weak stomachs)~ Vitali had a dirty diaper on the plane that was even on clothes & the buckle seatbelt sign was on and attendants were strickly enforcing at the time, so Jason could not change him for an hour until they landed, which was our first cell phone call from Jason going through customs in the airport to get the new clothes ready to change right away! This is a great intro to the rest of the past 48hrs because it has been just as eventful...Inna has eaten a dog treat thinking it was for her(until we told her) and not to be outdone, Grant decided to follow her and lick a dog treat! The great news is that Vitali has cured our dog of all of his barking, because everytime he does, Vitali chases him! Though, he has learned to pet him now instead of lifting him by his tail. There are many behavior adjustments to be addressed. There are a few times when Inna has not gotten what she wanted that Jason & I looked at each other and said I think we just got cursed out in Russian! These are some of the difficulties, but there have been many joys and visible improvements in both kids already. Vitali is like a totally different child now! He has been talking non-stop (literally) today~ I believe that he has made up for 4 yrs in one day! When he is not talking, he is has been singing while he walks around. He loves to play and seems to be very happy!
Inna absolutely loves the swimming pool and would probably stay in it all day if she could. She has had some great times and some down times (again, expected). Her favorite thing other than swim is to go through her closet and change outfits. I think we have had about 10 outfit changes over the past 48 hrs complete with a new hairdo for each one! We wondered if she would like the dresses since she mostly wore a gym suit in Ukraine, but almost all of her clothing changes have been into dresses. Melissa Taylor, her favorite dress is the one that ya'll handed down to her with the purses on it that has the fun diferent lengths at the bottom. She loves to dance and watch it twirl! Her favorite show so far is Dora!
They both like pretty much any food that is placed before them. We have tried to make sure they get some things that they would eat at home, but they even like the new foods from here too. It is just amazing to watch them eat...they eat and drink so quickly and are usually done before we even get through putting our seasonings or sauces on our plate :) Trish G., they LOVED the pea soup and Pam, we LOVED the lasagna!!!
Grant & Tiff are doing great too! Grant is thrilled with his new brother and sister and seems to be adjusting well with having them here!!! They have both warmed up to Tiff very quickly. In fact, Vitali is loading toys on top of her right now! Vitali has warmed up to neighbors and friends bringing meals rather easily, but Inna has not been willing to meet anyone so far, except for the ones that were at the airport. I am sure that this will just take time and that it is all overwhelming for her right now! Tomorrow, we have an interpreter coming so that we can communicate the things that are needed with them and that they can ask or tell us anything that they may need. The interpreter is a sweet foreign exchange student who is staying with a family in our church and she has been so sweet to offer coming anytime that we need. So far, the communication has gone better than we ever expected. My Russian cheat sheet has been a life-saver and Inna is picking up some English words rather quickly. Please keep the prayers coming...although we are in a big adjustment phase, these are things that we expected from all the adoption educational preparations from our agency, UAB clinic, and others experiences and it really helps to be able to say when something happens, "ok, this is just what we learned would happen from others experiences" instead of being taken by surprise! We really feel your prayers and God's strength every step of the way!

Here is a pic of when we first met up at the airport (More pics later).....