Where does time go?

Wow..it feels like we just posted a couple weeks ago and it has already been a month!
We have had a busy 2 weeks...it seems the doctors visits hit all at once again and then just when we were done with the scheduled visits we had a round of Strep throat for each kid starting with Inna, Vitali, and then Grant. It is so funny their different personalities...Inna is always saying something different is hurting at all the time :), so when she is REALLY sick, she REALLY enjoys a lot of snuggles :), Vitali has learned from being in the orphanage not to pay attention to pain (It is getting a little better though) and has a VERY VERY VERY high pain tolerance, so we have no idea he is sick or hurt himself until we see blood or some other sign. So, we had no idea he had Strep until he broke out in a rash with hives all over his body and the doc said it was Strep. He never slowed down one bit the whole time he was sick. Grant on the other hand, gets sick, gets a fever, but fights the thought of being sick until usually after going to the doctor and then he decides he wants mommy or daddy to lay down with him until he recovers :) If you have never seen a strep rash, neither had I...this pic is Vitali with his rash, except it was from head to toe...I took this pic for the doc just in case it went away before our appt time, but he actually had the welps for 3 days

Believe it or not, it is almost time for our 6 mos post adoption assessment in our home. Our agency's social worker will be coming back out to do the 6 mos. reports. We LOVE her...she is so sweet and keeps in touch with us in between meetings.

The kids are really beginning to have some great play time together at home. They are definitely the typical bro/sis with loving to play together at times and then the sibling rivalry at times. Vitali in this past month has began to join in playing with them...all 3 love to build tents complete with their own sections for rooms and then they decorate them. Grant & Vitali love to play football together, that is usually at least once each day and Grant loves to be the tough coach with all the coach lingo! Inna and Grant are GREAT about taking turns playing what each other likes...they even have voluntarily helped each other clean each others rooms and then will tell me they have a "surprise" for me :)
Inna has had some great times at school and also some real challenges at school. She is picking up her work rather quickly considering that she had not been taught much in many subjects in Ukraine. For example, she was just learning to add in Math there where as you know in 4th grade, we are doing division and such here. She is working to catch up and I know it has to be hard for her, but she has a special teacher at her school for International students that understands the situation and has been a God send for Inna and us...they are helping her at her level to try to get through this year of adjustments and we will take it a year at a time. She has also started carrying over some of the behavior from her orphanage into school here in a America, like fighting...YIKES!! At her school at the orphanage it would be nothing to hit, push, get in fights, etc...with each other (It's survival) and Inna has learned to be quite a tough girl over the years, but I can also say that we are seeing breakthroughs all the time and a softer side come out and I know that God has divinely placed each teacher that she has this year, because they tell me all the time how much they love her and want to see her come through this and do well and I can tell they really do!!! I surprised her and showed up for lunch last week and she was so excited she started crying and when we went in the lunchroom all the way through people were saying, "Hey Inna" so she seems to have made many friends and of course she gives every teacher a hug all the way down the halls :)

Grant is absolutely loving football!! He told me that he felt sorry for his son one day because he is going to always talk about football and make him run plays. This whole football season he has been covered in bruises on arms and legs, but hasnt complained...it just looks bad! He has been pumped this week because the YMCA is trying to promote playing sports and having good academics at the same time, so they are working with the schools of the kids who play a sport at the Y and made the honor roll at the same time to reward them, so he is getting his pic on the honor board at the Y and getting a free meal at his ABSOLUTE favorite restaurant, Long Horn. His favorite meal is Salmon from there, so they didnt know it, but that was probably the best reward they could have given him :)

Vitali is still loving his school!! I can't say enough about his teachers...they go above and beyond!! We are very blessed that special ed will be going out to his school to give him therapy while he is there. He will begin with with speech therapy and cognitive therapy for now. I am just so excited for him to get started although...WOW...I can not say enough about how much he has changed since being here. We actually finished all of his dental work today...it has been 4 visits of dental work and we are done until cleanings now....YEA!!!! They told me at the dentist today that the change in him of when he first started coming to them until today is unbelievable...they said, we only see him every once in a while, but we can see a real difference. Of course, friends and family tell us a lot they see it, but it was just encouraging to hear that from them today. He is getting so strong and loves to do hand stands and flips...matter of fact this is an all day thing!! Last week, one of the biggest changes I noticed was in his drawing. At the orphanage and since we have been home, his way of drawing was to kind of stare at the paper, fist the pencil or crayon and draw a line from top to bottom of page over and over...Last week, he shocked me...he came up to me and drew his first object where he drew a circle and told me it was a circle...I was so excited for him and he was too!!! He learned this at school. Oh, and he is officially potty trained now...WOOHOO!!!!

Quick update for those of you who know Caleb: He is doing great and actually loves basic training. He said he has good drill sergents that seem to have really good morals. He most dislikes waking up at 4am and says he is homesick, but enjoying at the same time. I can't remember if he said he has 40 or 60 people in his platoon, but he is the platoon leader for his platoon. Please keep him in your prayers!

I am going to try to post a short video of each kid and hopefully will start on next post.

Adoption "Stuff" we have learned along the way #2:
This one will be a list called, "Don't Assume" just in case it might help someone. If you are another adoptive parent, we would love to hear your "Don't assumes" you have found helpful along the way that you can share....

In Ukraine, Don't assume that the older child you are adopting knows that they are being adopted in a FOREVER family. We explained every detail through translator about adoption and what that would mean for her. The kids at these orphanages see many kids coming and going for hosting programs...they will leave for a few weeks to a month and then come back, so you have to explain, so that they will not think they are going on a hosting trip, but going to be in a family forever!!! We talked to Inna about this the first day we met and asked her if this is what she wanted (I think it is good to ask even though you know they are going to say yes, so they feel a part of the decision). I still remember our conversation and how she lit up like a light and said, "YES, YES, YES"!

Also, In Ukraine, Don't Assume that they understand the events of the next days when they leave the orphanage...I think it is a good idea to explain in detail through translator...We wrote a letter for our translator to read to Inna with every detail of where she would go once we left the translator because of the different languages...including what will happen on the plane and how they would stop and get off the plane and then back on, etc...because if they wonder what is happening at any time, you may not be able to explain. We also wrote for him to read to tell her that she can trust us and explained many things about our family etc... (this is important for them to hear from a caregiver they have known or like in our case, Inna seemed to trust our facilitator as much as any caregiver so he read the letter). Here is the reason I say this...We were told by one of our facilitators while in Ukraine about an orphan that was adopted there and the visits went great with the new parents, but when they left the orphanage and went to board the plane, the child totally freaked out and started screaming and refusing to get on the plane. The parents wisely decided to not go that day and see if they could calm the child down. They went back to the orphanage to see if one of the caregivers could make sense of it and the child admitted that the other kids in the orphanage had teased the child that this family was only being nice during the visits to get them back to America to do away with them (but with details that I wont share). So, the family had that caregiver that the child knew talked to the child of how they could trust this family and that it was all a lie. From that our facilitator suggest having a letter ready for the caregiver to read.

Last one....Don't assume that they have been taught stuff already, chances are whether they are 6 or 16, no one has taken the time yet to teach them. I mean like, thinking of teaching things like you would a toddler...basic hygeine:showering, brushing teeth, toileting, etc...I remember when we were in Ukraine having a dinner conversation with other adoptive families and we getting closer to getting our kids out of the orphanage and we were all like, what should we do with an older kid at shower time....we don't want to embarass them. Well, since we have been home, I have not talked to a parent yet that hasnt had the same experience (and even some adoptions from America) It doesnt matter if they are 16, they will probably need you to explain these things in detail from beginning to end and from my experience and all the others I have talked to if they are like ours, they will not be embarassed at all, but in fact will be so thankful that you took the time to show them and they want to know. One thing that was very helpful to us was a book a friend gave me called American girl, "The Care and Keeping of You" and especially when the language is not there yet. It has lots of pictures and explains many basic things that they need to know.

Anybody, got any to add?

A few more pics:
1. This is how they like to watch t.v. sometimes.

Family Photos

We finally had some "official" family photos taken. I added some to the slide show and the rest below:

Vitali Starts School & Grant's 1st Football Game

This week was an exciting week, especially for Grant and Vitali. Vitali started Mother's Day Out 2 days a week at a local church here. It was not as easy as I thought to find a place for him, but in the end we were thankful that so many doors closed, because it led us to the perfect place! Many schools werent equipped or said that they didnt have the staff for special need's, but finally (it actually was the last number on my list) I called the school he is going to and the director was wonderful and I knew right off that this was what we were waiting for and she immediately knew the exact class that would be perfect for him. The teachers are very compassionate and Vitali really likes them! His first day was Thursday and he was very proud to go! He is most proud of his car "masheena" as he calls it, lunch box. It is almost as big as he is, but he carries it around everywhere in the house, car, stores, etc... He also took his favorite mouse the first day..he calls, "Meeska" his only toy brought home from his orphanage. Here are a couple pics from the first day:

About to leave with the BIG lunchbox, "Meeska", and balloons from church the night before to play with in the car:

Pic with teachers:



Grant did have his first football game, which is played at the same stadium that the Prattville Lions play on, which was a big deal for him. He had a great time and even got some good blocks in and tackled the other team's guy running with the ball once. This age has been really cute to watch, especially since they look like all helmet :) Unfortunately, I did not get any good pics at the game because my camera quit working again while we were there. I will have to borrow Tiff's for the next game until we can get a new one. I did have this one pic of practice when running back after water break.

A few pics of Inna at gymnastics:
Striking a pose:



I keep forgetting to answer the question of when is their b-days from a while back:
Inna- Feb 28
Grant- June 28
Vitali- April 10

Also~ I have decided to add a new section to the end of each post in hopes that it may be helpful to other adoptive parents of things that we have found to work well for us or any good info that we have learned along the way in our adoption, through reading, other adoptive families, social worker, clinics, prayer :) If you are an adoptive parent and want to add any info that you think may be helpful or your experience with the subject, feel free. There is so much that we have learned, I am not sure where to even begin, but here we go:

Adoption "stuff" that we have learned along the way:
One issue that we were having when first arriving home is that there are 3 kids and 2 parents and how to juggle tucking them all in bed and prayer and bedtime story, and any wrapping up the day bedtime conversation (especially, when they all wanted mama to be the one to do it and there is one mama, haha). We were given some great advice by our social worker to try having an end of the night family time right before bedtime where we read a story, pray, and then talk about what will happen the next day. It was explained to us that talking about the events that will happen the next day is important when adopting older children who have been through any past trauma because there lives have been so unpredictable before now and with the fears that they face, they need to have the security of knowing some of what is planned for the next day, even if we share just one thing that is planned (if nothing major planned, could even be what we are having for dinner) (and that it involves that our new family will still be together :) Then, after the family time, we start tucking in one by one and the ones that arent being tucked first have a quiet time in their room reading a book, coloring, listening to music until mommy and daddy can get there. All of this has worked great for our family!

Post again soon!

Labor Day Lemonade Stand & Saying Goodbye to Uncle Caleb!

One great thing about living in Alabama is the warm weather, even in September (Although, I know that everyone doesnt enjoy the hot weather lasting so long as much as we do :) We took full advantage of the sun on Labor Day by letting the kids have a lemonade stand and they had a great time! Inna and Grant had lots of customers and enjoyed making their money! When Grant decided that he had made enough, they split their money and he went inside, but Inna decided she wasnt going to quit until there was absolutely no lemonade left to make! Here is a couple of pics from their fun day:


Vitali watching the action from the shade~



The rest of the evening was spent saying our goodbye's to my brother Caleb (Uncle KK) who many of you know. He actually joined the Army and left for Boot Camp last week. We were sad to see him go as we are so used to him being with us often, but at the same are excited for him as we know that he spent much time in prayer and talking to many others that he respects before making the decision. He has had many friends in his prayer groups over the years that are in the Air Force, but he said, that he just really felt led to the Army. He took the test that they take and scored really hi on it and had the option of many jobs. The position he took will be learning the procedures to launch Patriot Missiles. He will be at Boot Camp for 9 weeks in Oklahoma and then train for his job in Texas until March. Then, more than likely will be deployed or if not deployed, he will probably be living overseas for about 3 yrs from what he has been told. So, you can see why this felt like a BIG goodbye! Of course, right now, just have to get through Boot Camp! By the way, I told Jason and Caleb that I blamed Jason for sending my brother off because of all the times Jason got Caleb to come over to watch "The Band of Brother's" movies with him (A series of about 10 Military movies that they love). Really, we are all proud of him and those of you who know him, please pray for him! I will probably add a few quick updates on our blog as we receive letters since he cannot contact anyone any other way right now.
Comments:
Lara~ Thanks for checking on us...contact us when you move back!

Stephanie~ I am so glad to hear from you! Please email us if your family is ever coming to Alabama and we would love to meet up and meet your brother from India too(By the way, don't you have two siblings from India? I couldnt remember)

Hannah~ Awesome...you have a blog now...we can follow you at college!!! Sounds like you have had a good start...keep letting us know how you are doing!

We're Still Alive!!

Wow...where to start? Well, it has been longer than I expected since my last post, so lots to catch up on....Thanks to all of you who we ran into in Costco :), church, restaurants that reminded us that you were still checking and hadnt been updated in a while. It is great hearing that ya'll are still following along with us. We are still so thankful for the prayers and support. I had one person tell me today that they had been waiting on an update, but figured it out that we were waiting until the 100th day on our count up to post and Gosh, that would have been a great idea, but I couldnt wait any longer, so here's to celebrating Day 99!

Jason and I are doing good and thankfully, nothing too eventful to report on us!


Inna: Started Gymnastics 2 days a week and is doing good. It was really cool, because we signed her up at YMCA one weekend and then I found out later that week that there is a lady who is a Russian Gymnastics coach at the Y where she is taking. She is the team coach if you make a team, so is not Inna's coach, but they did get to meet and talk a little in Russian and maybe one day if Inna is on a team, she can be her coach...cool, huh? Also, Inna started school a couple of weeks ago and seems to like her school, but thinks it is cutting in to too much of her play time right now :) She has a girl named Cameron who is assigned to help Inna throughout the day. She seems to be ok with going to school from 8-3:00, but can't get over yet that school is Mon-Fri. She loves her reading teacher and says that reading is her favorite subject. Her biggest struggle is Math, but we feel that it is probably not a matter of comprehension, but a matter of probably never being taught the information. Jason worked with her on riding her bike and she was so determined that she learned how to ride a bike the first day that she got on it. She worked on it from morning until night until she had it down...so, she has now gotten her first bicycle and is very proud of it.

Grant: Started football...he practices 3 days a wk and will have games on Saturdays. He has always wanted to play football, but didnt want to play flag football. He wanted to wait to start until he could tackle and this year, he finally reached that age and let me tell ya, he LOVES it! He wears his football equipment around the house all the time. If you live in P-ville, you may eventually see him wearing it to Walmart or out to eat (I am the mom that let my child when he was smaller wear Superman pajamas complete with his Superman cape to Walmart shopping since he loved it so much). He is really doing great at practice and just loves to tackle. He is holding his own when they try to tackle him and puts up a good fight, but if they end up tackling him, he actually jumps up and yell's in his toughest voice, "Yeah" and gets his hype on...he loves to give his toughest look to his opponent and say, "You getting tired yet?".
He started 2nd grade at school and loves it and loves his class. There are actually a couple of boys from his class playing football with him. He got the teacher that we requested and he loves her. Of course, I think his favorite subject is still "snack time".

Vitali: Thank you so much for praying for Vitali's MRI/CT process. It was a smooth experience with the sedation and MRI/CT and all the reports came out clearly. The doctors were concerned that Vitali would have to have a pretty major surgery on his skull for his brain and was confirming the need for surgery with MRI and PRAISE GOD, after reading the MRI, they found that he would NOT need the surgery!!!! This was huge for us as we had known there was a possibility of the surgery since 3 mos ago and and are glad to finally have that cleared. The MRI was also clear to show us the underlying reasons for his developmental delays besides just being in an orphanage since birth. I know many have asked about the results of these test and we have already been able share with many of you, but for now, I am thinking at this time it would be best to share the test results in person or by email rather than having it on the blog since this will be our family journal of our adoption for years to come. Feel free to email anytime. Although, we know all of the testing is important and can point us in educating ourselves on how to best help him through life, we also know that Vitali is already a completely different child than when we were visiting him at the orphanage. There are daily struggles and there probably will be, but he is such a blessing to us and there is so much peace in just knowing that no matter what comes our way, we are in the will of the Father. The developmental specialist at UAB recommended that he start Special Ed and we have him registered and have the ball rolling there. The next step in Special Ed is an interview with Jason and I and then his evaluation and then at the least start Speech and Occupational Therapy. We are not sure how many days or how long he will go yet. We have loved all of our dealings with Special Ed here in Prattville. I didnt know what to expect in our little bitty town, but they have been wonderful and so eager to help us! I really believe that Vitali will be in the best hands in their Special Ed program. They are going to evaluate him often for possible advancement, so that he is not left in a level that he may have already advanced from.
I really think his name explains it all for him....we decided to keep his name, Vitali for 2 reasons: We didnt want to change the name he had always gone by unless this is something he wanted to do and if he ever comes to us and wants to change it, then that is what we will do. Also, another reason is that his name Vitali means "LIFE GIVING"...the root word of his name is Vital and we all know what that means. I truly believe with all my heart that this is no accident and it is a constant reminder of what God is going to do in him. When I was in Ukraine, I had 2 friends that called and checked on me a lot and they didnt know how to say his name yet and they both accidentally called him Vitality and I would laugh and say, you mean Vitali, but one day while we were there and while on the phone with them, they both called him that again and instead of correcting this time, I stopped and said, "Oh my goodness, do you realize what you are calling this little boy with so many struggles, "Vitality" (dictionary def: to live and develop) and we both just stopped and were in awe of how God can use such neat things to speak to our hearts and that was our reminder again of the great things ahead for Vitali.
I have been asked to share our testimony at our Women's Brkfst at church and shared this story the other day with them (If ya'll were there, you can skip below, haha), but the other day, I had had a really challenging day and went to bed that night exhausted and a little down. I woke up the next morning and was getting dressed for church and Vitali who is normally too hyperactive to sit and watch t.v. and is just learning to speak (Especially English) came in there and saw this preacher on t.v. and became very intrigued...he just sat under the t.v. and stared at it for a long time like I have never seen him do. I went about my business and was finishing getting dressed when Vitali ran up to me like he had something really important to say and said, "MAMA, MAMA, MAMA, GOD IS WORKING!". This is apparently what he had picked up from the sermon and he was exactly right!




Tiff: Is cheerleading this year and had her first game this weekend! They have had practice everyday at school for the past month and will until football/basketball is over. She is really enjoying it and is looking most forward to the away game in Panama City. She is in 11th grade this year and can tell you at anytime the exact amount of days left until summer again!




One other neat thing that happened since last post is that we found pics of Inna's orphanage on the internet. I can't remember who gave us this advice, but another international adoptive parent told us one time this info: In Ukraine, you are not usually given any photos of your children of when they were younger or babies when you leave the country, so we have no past photos of Inna or Vitali, except the one I posted on the blog that I took a picture of a picture of Inna that I saw on her orphanage wall of when she was about 7 or 8. To be honest, I am not sure that they have ever seen a baby photo of themself. So, what we learned from other adoptive parents is to try to google your childs orphanage and home town on the internet and see if some older pics come up from sites like missionary groups that have been there, etc....and possibly posted photos of your child from their mission trip. It has actually worked for some families. So, we havent found any of Inna or Vitali yet, but we did find a site from a mission-type group that had info and photos of her orphanage on it from I think it was 2004. The photos were of friends in other groups at her orphanage and the director and teachers at orphanage. Inna knew everyone of them by name and it was just kinda cool for us to see. However, Jason forgot to save it to favorites and if I can find it again (it wasnt easy to find first time), maybe I can post on the blog.

I will try to get some gymnastic pics of Inna for next post...my camera bit the dust before I could get them this time.

By the way, the song on the blog this time is Inna's favorite that I wrote about on post last time, which is NOW Vitali's favorite too. He knows the words!

Comments:

Kevin & Tammy~ Hang in there...I am following along your blog while you're in Ukraine and thankful for how things are moving along. Will pray for your court date on Monday!!!

Ukraniac~ We will be looking forward to hearing about your itenerary in the states. You will be perfect to teach the AIDS kids English! We have thought about you so much, especially with the recent attacks on Georgia. Also, I have tried to email you at the medical outreach email address about the form we discussed, but it is shooting back to me?

Lara~ We would love to get together if you move back to P-ville...let us know!

MaMaPoruski~ I love reading about your great stories of getting your children. I hope that you are able to go get your daughter very soon!!!

Jerry & Amanda~ Amen to your comment...you did forget TGIF though with McDonald's. How has your first couple of weeks been back at school?

Tiff: M-E-E-E-R-L-E- ~ Bangladesh Redneck!!!! HAHA!

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? :)