Last Day Before Heading Home

Today we had a pretty relaxing day.  Avery is doing much better.  She is learning our routines, our expectations, and disappovals.  She has also learned about how to use toilet paper when using the bathroom!  This is a big one.  She is also getting better at not using her shirt to wipe her mouth while eating.

I gave her a bath this morning.  She loves playing in the tub and this helps keep her occupied for quite some time.  I don't think she had her teeth brushed in the orphanage.  She has a considerable amount of plaque build up and when I brush her teeth, her gums bleed.  I already have a dentist appointment scheduled at home.  After her bath, I did two lessons of school with Ethan.  One of my reasons for bringing him was to get two weeks of school started with him.  We were able to complete 10 lessons.

We had lunch around noon and then a taxi driver named Denis, took us souvenier shopping and sightseeing.  Many of the pictures I took while driving around.  A few times, we stopped and got to take better pictures of more significant landmarks.

We got back to our apartment around 4pm.  For the rest of the evening, we are packing, finishing up leftovers for dinner, and hopefully getting to bed early.  We are being picked up at 4am for a 6:40 am flight.  We are scheduled to arrive at Dulles in Washington at 3pm.   Please keep us in prayer for safe travels and a cooperative Avery!!  Btw, she has totally acclimated to her new name : )

Tough day yesterday

Yesterday was a very tough day.  I didn't sleep much on the train here to Kiev.  And we spent most of the day running around to embassy appointment and medical appointment, not getting to our apartment until 3 in the afternoon.  No shower, not even able to brush our teeth.  While driving around, I buckled her up in the seatbelt and she did not like this.  She cried every time.  We even showed her that Ethan and I were buckled right next to her.  By the third time, she must have gotten used to the fact that I was not going to budge on this issue and she did not cry.  

Once we got back to our apartment, we had to keep our eye on her every second.  She is testing every limit.  We have dealt succussfully with a few temper tantrums.  She is learning to obey what we say.  I want to be home so much!   But one thing we learned with Aaron is that these days one on one are crucial to things running smoother once home.

Here are two pictures from dinner last night.  You can see she has stuffed her cheeks full of food in the second one.  She finishes every meal, even before Ethan.  And after she's finished, if one of us steps away from our food for just a second, she is after it!  She loved my spaghetti sauce.  There is only one food that she has turned down and that is a can of pineapples we had in Kharkov.  We didn't like them either, but we thought they must be really bad if she didn't want them!

We're Outta Here!

Hello all!  I can't write much, as I need to keep an eye on Avery.  Today is "gotcha day!"  We busted her out this morning, had lunch, Facetimed with family, and will be packing, having dinner and heading to the train this evening.  We are pretty much going though the same thing we did with Aaron....she is constantly touching everything, exploring everywhere, and never stops moving!  Only she can walk and therefore much quicker in some ways.

We decided to take the overnight train instead of express train so that I can contain her better in an individual sleeping compartment.  If she has one of her "fits" I can manage her better than in a train car full of people.  Since we have been back here on this second trip she has not had one episode of screaming.  Yay : )  We will be in Kiev for the rest of the week, taking care of her medical appointment, finishing paperwork at embassy, and acquiring her visa.  We travel home on Saturday, Sept. 8.

The blogger app on my ipad does not allow me to arrange the pictures in order, but I'm sure you all get the idea.....

We're Back!

I am back in Ukraine with my brother Bret and my son Ethan.  We arrived in Kiev on Monday and took the morning express train here to Kharkov early yesterday morning.  We spent almost the entire day yesterday starting all the paperwork applying for Avery's passport and visa.  Then we did some grocery shopping and settled into what I now call my "home away from home."

This morning Valentin and Tatiana picked us up to get Avery's passport and visa pictures taken.  She was very happy to see us (as were the other children in her groupa).  And Ethan was very excited to meet his new sister!  He thinks she is very cute.  He was very helpful in trying to keep her behaving during her first car ride, walking in the city, and being in public.  Anytime we are walking somewhere, Avery is very good at holding hands and walking with us.  She sat very still in the car, just taking everything in.

When we first sat down to wait in the passport office she became a bit nervous.  I was anticipating she was going to have an "episode."  I pulled her onto my lap and tried to keep her distracted.  Thankfully it never escalated.  As she became more comfortable, she started a bit of hyperactivity, but it was manageable.  And just like Avery adores her new daddy, she seemed to warm up to Bret very well.   We hope it isn't confusing to her that Bret is "da da" which means "uncle" and "papa" means father.

After we were finished in the passport office, Tatiana needed 10 more minutes to make sure the paperwork was finished properly.  So we went ahead to the car to wait for her.  We gave Avery a little blinky ball to play with.  I am well aware of how much she like to throw things so she can watch someone "fetch."  I relayed this to Bret and Ethan.  We were all standing there around her waiting to intercept a long shot.  But sure enough she managed to wing it passed us and down the street.  It was a downhill slope, so it was rolling fast.  Bret and Ethan went running down after it, stopping traffic in doing so.  All the while, Avery was in stitches.  It was pretty funny and I couldn't help but laugh myself.   When they returned, the ball went in the car : ) All in all the outing was a success.

When we got back to the orphanage, we were able to stay and play with her for a half an hour.  We took her on a walk up the street and then let her swing on the swing set.  Her nanny, Luda, came out and told us it was time for her to eat.  Luda is such a sweet lady and she knows enough English to communicate fairly well with me.  Watching Luda interact with Avery warms my heart.  She is so good with her.  I get the impression she has spent a lot of one on one time with Avery.  One day she showed me a folder of information some volunteer therapy groups had given to her to work with Avery.  I am so glad she has had someone to provide some stability and therapy for her.  Luda is very happy she is being adopted and tells me Avery has a lot of potential.  We know this of course, but it is comforting to know there are nannies who truly care about some of these children and can see their worth.

Here are some pictures taken at the passport office this morning:

Rejoicing and Praising God

It is a good morning indeed.  We are rejoicing and praising God that Marina is now Avery Marina Schwenzer with Steve and I as her new parents!!  By law, we now wait 10 days for the court decision to become official.  Court was very easy and quick today.  In the courtroom were two citizens who act as jurors/witnesses.  They were the same two gentlemen who were jurors for court when we adopted Julia and Aaron.  One of them is very friendly and mentioned to our lawyer that he remembered us from before as well.  He is very sweet as he came into the courtroom, while the judge and other members recess to make decision, to give us a "thumbs up" and to shake our hands.  He did the same when we adopted Julia and Aaron.  After the recess, the judge came back in and didn't even sit down to read the court decree.  Last time the judge read the entire 3-4 page document.  It was nice that this judge only read the important parts to the courtroom.

Edward, our lawyer's son, who has been driving us to the orphanage everyday, was kind enough to take care of Evan while we were in court so that Kacey could join us.   He let Evan play with his cell phone and this kept him happy for a good while.  He said Evan was pretty good for him, pushing buttons and opening every compartment in his car.  Edward's wife is pregnant and they are due to have a baby boy at the end of August.  This was good practice for a soon-to-be new daddy!

Today we will have lunch, pack up, and head to the train station around 6pm.  Thank you all for the many prayers during this first trip and for court today.  Please continue to pray for our safe return home on Wednesday!