Look at this! I'm back to posting everyday! LOL I'm sure y'all are bored with hearing from me though. Sorry, if that is the case. Honestly, I'm sure it won't last.
I was up at 3am this morning. Honestly, I'm not sure I HAVEN'T woken up at least once every night I've been home. Still a continuation from Ukraine? Who knows? Most of the time though, I'm able to get back to sleep. I think I dozed off until a little after 4, but then I was wide awake. *sigh* I'm no where near tired yet though, so I suppose that's good.
The girls and I had return tickets to Kiev this morning. Part of me wishes I was on a plane headed to Paris right now! Oh, the people I could shoot! And, I had really wanted to go to Sumy to meet Masha's family. Hopefully I'll be able to do that soon. Maybe that's why I was wide awake so early. I was supposed to be getting on a plane! :)
After I'd just finished posting yesterday, Ira and Julietta were looking at a pair of Julietta's baby sandals. Julietta turned around and said, "Ira, look! 1!" They must be a size one. Ira jumped down her throat and when I got after her for it she starts complaining to me in a mix of Russian and English. LOL I heard something about an "I know" and "1." I'm assuming she was telling me that she knew there was a 1 on there and didn't need Little One to point it out. Well, for heaven's sake! She was just telling her! When I told her Little One was just telling her (it's not like she'd been in her face all morning or anything) she gave me the first, I-hate-you look I've gotten from her. Usually if Little One does that I just tell her, "I hate you too" and it gets her to smile because she knows I don't. Not the best idea for a 12 year old you can't communicate with, so I didn't. :) Shortly after that they started fighting over some Barbie clothes. Once I'd asked Ira to give back a dress and she threw it at her. *sigh* Not that Little One was innocent in all of this, but still. She was really doing much better.
Lest you think Ira to be a not so nice girl, she really does still have some wonderful things about her. She is very helpful and comes to help empty the dishwasher if I start to do it. She helped to cook dinner last night. She really is quite sweet most of the time and quite polite. She is just competing for my attention, for Mom's, for Lexi's and she's seeing where those boundaries are. She really doesn't too much for Husband's, but he's not around as much either.
Aw well. They're fine if they sit and watch a movie together. LOL I can't stand the TV on so much though so I'm hoping to move away from that. Today I'm going to a lunch with other adoptive mom's from this same program. They do this every month so I hope to make it often.
I did my first photo shoot in quite awhile last night. There is a family around the corner from me that I've done their pictures since I started up. They are so sweet. They have a down syndrome boy that is graduating from high school this year and they wanted senior pictures taken of him. He loves trains so we went up to a local train station and took some. Once I get them edited, I'll post them here so y'all can see I really CAN take better pictures than just snapshots. :)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Spoke Too Soon?
Yesterday as I was finishing up things at Mom and Dad's and getting ready to go home, my friends that live there returned home from visiting family over the weekend. Knowing the kids really wanted to play, I let them for a little bit. We ended up getting home much later than I'd planned on.
After dinner we did a very short FHE. I'm trying to get the girls in bed by 9 now so they start getting ready for bed around 8. Then, if there is extra time left they can read a little or do something quiet before lights out. Since I hadn't run yet and I really want to get on a M/W/F schedule I decided to go after they were in bed. I know, I know. It's dark at 9pm. I went anyway. :)
At the end of our street there is a beautiful cemetery. It's my very favorite place to run, for a couple of reasons. First, it's close. I have a warm-up walk down the hill and then the streets of the cemetery are long and straight. Not to mention fairly flat. LOL As someone that hates running uphill, that is a big plus. Going south, there is a slight hill, but nothing I can't manage. There are 8 or 9 streets so I can go back and forth and up and down them to get as much distance I want in, without being far from home. Second, it beautiful. Really. Even Ira pointed at it and said, "Beautiful. Ukraine, no beautiful." LOL Not only is it beautiful, but it's just so peaceful there. If you go during the day you will pass lots of other people running/walking, but it's still so peaceful. I especially love it when it's summer and they're mowing the grass. I love that smell! It's also fun when they've got the sprinklers on and I get to run through them. I know...I'm 31 and running through sprinklers? You're only as old as you think you are, right?
I have a friend of mine that loves running and gave me the weirdest look when I said I run in a cemetery. "Isn't that freaky?" No. Peaceful, actually. I've always wondered though how it would be at night. You know, the whole cemetery at night kind of thing. I'm proud to report that it was fine. Not scary at all. I do prefer it in the day time because I can see better (I suppose it really won't be too hard for someone to sneak up on me and take me who knows where) but it still wasn't bad. A lot more lit than I thought it would be since there are no lights there.
Anyway, I came home to mayhem. Sort of. At least a very frustrated husband. He'd gone down to get the checkbook up-to-date while I was gone and the girls were running around upstairs. He tried a couple of times to get them to go to bed, but they'd just sneak out once he wasn't looking again and run. Ira was the one starting it all. I think I spoke too soon in saying she was so good. LOL No, she really is. This isn't exactly horrible behavior, but still not something she should be doing.
I've been noticing that in the last few days she's been pushing boundaries. It's normal behavior, I'm assuming. She's trying to figure out just where those lines are and where she can cross and where she can't. Still frustrating when I'm already dealing with major stuff from Julietta though. (And yes, I probably will go back and forth calling her Little One and Julietta. I loved that. LOL)
Anyway...it was weird we got Ira's SS card in the mail yesterday. We didn't even apply for one. The only problem is that it's only got her first/last name. Not her middle name. We might have to have them redo it. Anyone had a SS card randomly show up in the mail before??
After dinner we did a very short FHE. I'm trying to get the girls in bed by 9 now so they start getting ready for bed around 8. Then, if there is extra time left they can read a little or do something quiet before lights out. Since I hadn't run yet and I really want to get on a M/W/F schedule I decided to go after they were in bed. I know, I know. It's dark at 9pm. I went anyway. :)
At the end of our street there is a beautiful cemetery. It's my very favorite place to run, for a couple of reasons. First, it's close. I have a warm-up walk down the hill and then the streets of the cemetery are long and straight. Not to mention fairly flat. LOL As someone that hates running uphill, that is a big plus. Going south, there is a slight hill, but nothing I can't manage. There are 8 or 9 streets so I can go back and forth and up and down them to get as much distance I want in, without being far from home. Second, it beautiful. Really. Even Ira pointed at it and said, "Beautiful. Ukraine, no beautiful." LOL Not only is it beautiful, but it's just so peaceful there. If you go during the day you will pass lots of other people running/walking, but it's still so peaceful. I especially love it when it's summer and they're mowing the grass. I love that smell! It's also fun when they've got the sprinklers on and I get to run through them. I know...I'm 31 and running through sprinklers? You're only as old as you think you are, right?
I have a friend of mine that loves running and gave me the weirdest look when I said I run in a cemetery. "Isn't that freaky?" No. Peaceful, actually. I've always wondered though how it would be at night. You know, the whole cemetery at night kind of thing. I'm proud to report that it was fine. Not scary at all. I do prefer it in the day time because I can see better (I suppose it really won't be too hard for someone to sneak up on me and take me who knows where) but it still wasn't bad. A lot more lit than I thought it would be since there are no lights there.
Anyway, I came home to mayhem. Sort of. At least a very frustrated husband. He'd gone down to get the checkbook up-to-date while I was gone and the girls were running around upstairs. He tried a couple of times to get them to go to bed, but they'd just sneak out once he wasn't looking again and run. Ira was the one starting it all. I think I spoke too soon in saying she was so good. LOL No, she really is. This isn't exactly horrible behavior, but still not something she should be doing.
I've been noticing that in the last few days she's been pushing boundaries. It's normal behavior, I'm assuming. She's trying to figure out just where those lines are and where she can cross and where she can't. Still frustrating when I'm already dealing with major stuff from Julietta though. (And yes, I probably will go back and forth calling her Little One and Julietta. I loved that. LOL)
Anyway...it was weird we got Ira's SS card in the mail yesterday. We didn't even apply for one. The only problem is that it's only got her first/last name. Not her middle name. We might have to have them redo it. Anyone had a SS card randomly show up in the mail before??
Monday, April 4, 2011
Conference Weekend
I've gotten quite lazy with my titles. It was so easy to put "Day X", where we were and what we did that day. Now I have to actually try and be creative again.
Julietta was beyond horrible on Friday. I'd been kicked, hit, bit and had my hair pulled. I was quite proud of myself for holding it together and not getting all upset with her. I finally stood there holding her doorknob so she couldn't get out while I called Mom. What in the world was I supposed to do?? Nothing I tried worked. Nothing. I realize she is under major stress with adding a new member of our family as well as from other things going on, but still. That doesn't give her license to behave the way she was behaving. Mom finally told me to bring her up to the house for a sleepover. Maybe she just needed to get away for a little bit. The funny thing is that when I told her she was going to stay at Grandma's house for a couple of nights she clung to me saying she didn't want to go. Um...weren't you just so upset with me you bit me??
When I left though, Ira looked like she was about ready to cry. We'd tried to explain what was going on, but it didn't work too well. When we got home we even called Yulia to try to explain to her, but that didn't work either. Mom had said to go ahead and bring her up as well, but she didn't want to. Zaftra. Aka...tomorrow. So, we had one night with just Ira and then even she was gone for Saturday night.
This weekend was conference. We'd explained to Ira last weekend a little about how it was different from normal church. Normally we sit and watch all 4 sessions together. Julietta gets to color or play with Lego's or some such quiet thing. I usually knit since it helps me stay awake as well as focus on the talks. Since she didn't understand we wouldn't expect her to sit through 8 hours of talks in 2 days. Instead she would only be expected to watch the first session of each day. It worked well and she was an awesome trooper. No complaining or anything. Even I didn't do so well at 12, and I understood what was being said! LOL
Conference was awesome, as usual. Saturday I came away feeling like, "Okay. I'm not worthless after all." It usually has that kind of effect on me though. At least every 6 months I can feel that way. :) Sunday was wonderful as well. Very, very good talks. It made me wonder how they do conference in Ukraine with the time difference and all. I think I will email the mission pres.'s wife and ask. :)
Now we're on to a new week. We still have issues with Ira teasing and all, but I've called her on it a few times. It seems to be doing a little better, but I also think she's getting a little sneakier. Unlike having a new baby, I don't get a couple of years for them to grow together before such things start happening. Hopefully things settle down a bit. I don't have my hopes up too high for that, but hey. :) I did get Ira's room cleaned out finally, but the basement is a disaster now. I'm afraid it's going to take me awhile to clean it out. Such is life. Gives me something to do.
Julietta was beyond horrible on Friday. I'd been kicked, hit, bit and had my hair pulled. I was quite proud of myself for holding it together and not getting all upset with her. I finally stood there holding her doorknob so she couldn't get out while I called Mom. What in the world was I supposed to do?? Nothing I tried worked. Nothing. I realize she is under major stress with adding a new member of our family as well as from other things going on, but still. That doesn't give her license to behave the way she was behaving. Mom finally told me to bring her up to the house for a sleepover. Maybe she just needed to get away for a little bit. The funny thing is that when I told her she was going to stay at Grandma's house for a couple of nights she clung to me saying she didn't want to go. Um...weren't you just so upset with me you bit me??
When I left though, Ira looked like she was about ready to cry. We'd tried to explain what was going on, but it didn't work too well. When we got home we even called Yulia to try to explain to her, but that didn't work either. Mom had said to go ahead and bring her up as well, but she didn't want to. Zaftra. Aka...tomorrow. So, we had one night with just Ira and then even she was gone for Saturday night.
This weekend was conference. We'd explained to Ira last weekend a little about how it was different from normal church. Normally we sit and watch all 4 sessions together. Julietta gets to color or play with Lego's or some such quiet thing. I usually knit since it helps me stay awake as well as focus on the talks. Since she didn't understand we wouldn't expect her to sit through 8 hours of talks in 2 days. Instead she would only be expected to watch the first session of each day. It worked well and she was an awesome trooper. No complaining or anything. Even I didn't do so well at 12, and I understood what was being said! LOL
Conference was awesome, as usual. Saturday I came away feeling like, "Okay. I'm not worthless after all." It usually has that kind of effect on me though. At least every 6 months I can feel that way. :) Sunday was wonderful as well. Very, very good talks. It made me wonder how they do conference in Ukraine with the time difference and all. I think I will email the mission pres.'s wife and ask. :)
Now we're on to a new week. We still have issues with Ira teasing and all, but I've called her on it a few times. It seems to be doing a little better, but I also think she's getting a little sneakier. Unlike having a new baby, I don't get a couple of years for them to grow together before such things start happening. Hopefully things settle down a bit. I don't have my hopes up too high for that, but hey. :) I did get Ira's room cleaned out finally, but the basement is a disaster now. I'm afraid it's going to take me awhile to clean it out. Such is life. Gives me something to do.
Friday, April 1, 2011
What's Going On
Our plane landed a week ago, almost exactly. I just posted about the trip, so if you care...you can look at the last post to read about it. This first week has been rather interesting. Things have been beyond stressful for reasons that have little to do with Ira. And no, I'm not going to explain so don't ask. :) It helps to say something even if I can't explain. Just keep us in your prayers, please.
Saturday we went to our friend's house to do our taxes. That was nice. I've missed them. It was cute to get big hugs from their littles. Ashley was sweet and did the girl's fingernails and my toenails. :) We also went to Build-a-bear that night with Mom and Dad. They were so sweet to get the three of us bears (well, Little One has lots of bears so they got her a lamb) for the airport so we went to get the "birth certificates" and an outfit each. For me they'd gotten a black bear since they knew I've been wanting the Darth Vader outfit. In the end, I got the Obi Wan outfit since it's nicer to cuddle with. :) It even came with a light saber. LOL I named my bear Natalya. I'm kinda in love with Russian names now. :) Since Ira's favorite color is green they got her the St. Patrick's Day bear. She picked out a cute little outfit and named her bear Kristina. Little One got a cute outfit for hers as well, but then put it on her newest bear instead, which is why she has both the bear AND the lamb in the picture. They each got a purse and sunglasses too. She named her lamb Pretty.
Sunday it was nice to go to church. I went with Ira to her classes instead of going to nursery where I should have been. Winter came and interpreted for her, which was SO nice. I still think I will need a couple more weeks with her before I can turn her over. She wasn't wanting to go, and who could blame her. Still, I explained that we go to 3 hours of church every week and she would get used to it. I think she actually ended up liking Young Woman's. :)
Saturday we went to our friend's house to do our taxes. That was nice. I've missed them. It was cute to get big hugs from their littles. Ashley was sweet and did the girl's fingernails and my toenails. :) We also went to Build-a-bear that night with Mom and Dad. They were so sweet to get the three of us bears (well, Little One has lots of bears so they got her a lamb) for the airport so we went to get the "birth certificates" and an outfit each. For me they'd gotten a black bear since they knew I've been wanting the Darth Vader outfit. In the end, I got the Obi Wan outfit since it's nicer to cuddle with. :) It even came with a light saber. LOL I named my bear Natalya. I'm kinda in love with Russian names now. :) Since Ira's favorite color is green they got her the St. Patrick's Day bear. She picked out a cute little outfit and named her bear Kristina. Little One got a cute outfit for hers as well, but then put it on her newest bear instead, which is why she has both the bear AND the lamb in the picture. They each got a purse and sunglasses too. She named her lamb Pretty.
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| Us with our bears/lamb |
Monday we went to Ashley's again and she did our hair. Ira wanted some highlights in hers and it turned out AWESOME! It looks so nice on her! I didn't want to make Ashley take the time to highlight mine too so she just cut it. I like it.
I've decided to pick up jogging again. Ashley had mentioned that I lost some weight and I'd like to keep it off. I love it when that happens and I don't even notice. LOL I'm assuming it's because I really didn't eat a lot while I was in Ukraine. I suppose 2 months of that will make you shed a few pounds. Turns out it was around 10lbs. Actually, almost 15 since I checked last night. Anyway, the weather has been PERFECT for jogging. Cool, so I don't sweat too much, but not so cold that it's uncomfortable either. I started on Tuesday and it was the BEST. It was fun to have no one around so I could sing along to my music (as best you can while running, I suppose) and I was both loving and hating my bangs that are now slightly too short to stay behind my ears. LOL
As far as adjusting, Ira is doing fairly well. Communication is quite limited, of course, but there haven't been too many times when anyone's been frustrated. She gets to Skype (when we have a working internet...I'm at my parent's house right now) with people every couple of days so she has someone to talk to. :) Yesterday she talked to Natasha. I wish I had been around to say hi as well! She is liking her own room and a lot less structure. That won't last once I get the house cleaned up and figure a tutor though so she should enjoy it now. She teases Little One more than I'd like, but it's what she's used to. I just need to pay close attention to stop it when I see it and explain that we don't treat each other that way.. I've only heard about it thus far.
Little One has been really struggling though. This has been a very hard adjustment for her, starting back in Ukraine. With no one to give her to for a break and no place to have her go I didn't deal with her behavior very well. That was my fault and I've been working very hard at fixing that. Still, it's only getting worse and I'm not quite sure what to do. Right now I don't exactly feel I'm in the best position to be a great mother, but I need to be and so I will figure out how. There just isn't another option.
All in all though, we're hanging in there. :) It will take awhile to adjust to all the changes and it's only been a week so far. I'm still jealous of all my friends still in Ukraine. I wish I could come hang out with you all! I love reading about your adventures so keep the blogs going! Congrats to all that have had court dates this last week! We're praying for all of you! *hugs*
I've decided to pick up jogging again. Ashley had mentioned that I lost some weight and I'd like to keep it off. I love it when that happens and I don't even notice. LOL I'm assuming it's because I really didn't eat a lot while I was in Ukraine. I suppose 2 months of that will make you shed a few pounds. Turns out it was around 10lbs. Actually, almost 15 since I checked last night. Anyway, the weather has been PERFECT for jogging. Cool, so I don't sweat too much, but not so cold that it's uncomfortable either. I started on Tuesday and it was the BEST. It was fun to have no one around so I could sing along to my music (as best you can while running, I suppose) and I was both loving and hating my bangs that are now slightly too short to stay behind my ears. LOL
As far as adjusting, Ira is doing fairly well. Communication is quite limited, of course, but there haven't been too many times when anyone's been frustrated. She gets to Skype (when we have a working internet...I'm at my parent's house right now) with people every couple of days so she has someone to talk to. :) Yesterday she talked to Natasha. I wish I had been around to say hi as well! She is liking her own room and a lot less structure. That won't last once I get the house cleaned up and figure a tutor though so she should enjoy it now. She teases Little One more than I'd like, but it's what she's used to. I just need to pay close attention to stop it when I see it and explain that we don't treat each other that way.. I've only heard about it thus far.
Little One has been really struggling though. This has been a very hard adjustment for her, starting back in Ukraine. With no one to give her to for a break and no place to have her go I didn't deal with her behavior very well. That was my fault and I've been working very hard at fixing that. Still, it's only getting worse and I'm not quite sure what to do. Right now I don't exactly feel I'm in the best position to be a great mother, but I need to be and so I will figure out how. There just isn't another option.
All in all though, we're hanging in there. :) It will take awhile to adjust to all the changes and it's only been a week so far. I'm still jealous of all my friends still in Ukraine. I wish I could come hang out with you all! I love reading about your adventures so keep the blogs going! Congrats to all that have had court dates this last week! We're praying for all of you! *hugs*
Day 47 (March 25th) Kiev > Paris > Salt Lake City
Friday morning we decided we needed to leave the apartment at 4 instead of 4:30. We still got up at 3 though. Natasha was really cute. The girls were both in the living room with her so she came to my room shortly after 3 and knocked. I was already up, but it was very sweet of her.
We were downstairs right at 4 and got all the luggage back in the car. Little One really wanted to sit by Natasha on the way over there so I was in the front. It was actually kinda nice to be able to really see Kiev on our way out of town. I hadn't gotten that when we'd tried a couple days before. It was still sad to be leaving though.
Once we got to the airport I figured things would go much smoother. There weren't nearly as many people and I had Natasha right there by my side. She and Irina helped get our luggage checked and went upstairs with us. They couldn't get through security (though they didn't really try either), but it was just fine. They stayed right there on the other side of security until we'd gotten through passport control.
That was interesting, by the way. The line wasn't too long so we didn't wait long, but man, the guy behind me was mad. When we got up there I had everything out to show the lady. She took it, but of course it took awhile. Not only was I trying to leave the country with a Ukrainian girl, but then there was the little issue of our passports already having been stamped that we'd left the country two days before. Not that it became a big issue, but still. When the lady handed me back my passport as well as Little One's but not Ira's, the guy with his family waiting for his turn behind me yells, "Hey, Lady!" I looked at him and yelled back, "What do you want me to do?" I almost asked him if he'd like to leave HIS son there (who had Downs, by the way) so that he didn't hold up the line. I was good and didn't though. It was interesting to see them take a leisurely stroll though the departure lounge. Why in the world was he yelling at me when he wasn't even late for his plane? Jerk. Ah well. I'm not bitter. ;)
We really didn't have to wait long before it was time to board the plane. They took us out to a bus which took us to the airplane. It didn't take too long and we were on. The girls had the window and middle seat and I had the isle in the row above them. I asked the girl that came to sit there if she would switch with me and she was sweet and did. Then someone asked to switch with her again so she ended up a few rows down, but still on isle.
The flight was nice and uneventful. Europe has lovely tops of their clouds. I honestly was hoping for a bit more of a view than that, but hey. It's all good. I did get to see a bit of France as we landed. It looked beautiful and I really wish I'd been able to stay a few days and see some things.
The Paris airport was big. Very big. We found out as we got off that the girl that switched seats with me (her name is Nichole) was also headed to Salt Lake. After finding that out, we stuck pretty close to each other. :) We didn't have too much trouble finding the bus to take us to the correct terminal, but we didn't find where to go to the right gate right away. Really, if we had been looking a little better it wouldn't have taken as long, but hey. At least we had each other there.
Once we found the right place we got in line to go through security again. The sign said it would only take about 10 minutes. It was a LONG 10 minutes. Things were moving fairly fast, but then someone pulled the people in front of us as well as us (Nichole tagged along LOL) out of line to go through the handicapped area. That was all fine and good, but every time someone in a wheelchair or something came up they put them in front of us. It would have been faster if we'd just stayed in the regular line.
They were already boarding the plane by the time we got through security. I went up to the desk at the gate to get our seats changed since none of us were together. Nichole came along with us. :) The guy at the counter was very nice but the guy next to him felt he needed to tell me how to avoid being apart again next time. I tried to tell him we'd missed our flight on Wednesday and I had no way to check in online since I'd gotten the tickets late the night before, but he wasn't listening. I just told him thank you and went on my way. The hilarious thing was that they put us in the middle all together...right next to the isle seat that Nichole had. :) When we got up to the place you give the gate person the ticket to scan we got asked a TON of questions. I've never had that before. After that though we went down some stairs and out to a bus. Have these people never heard of a corridor to take you right to the plane?? Ah well.
The flight was VERY long (10hr 15min) but uneventful. It was nice having the three middle seats to ourselves. I spilled Little One's sprite once and Ira spilled her coke, but hey. Not on any iPod's this time at least. :) Once we landed in Salt Lake we stood in another line (think Disney World without the fun ride at the end or the cute things to look at while you wait) to go through passport control. I got up and handed the guy my stuff. He told me to pick up our bags and wait until they'd gotten most people through the line and then he'd look over our documents. It took a little while, but we finally were able to get the stamp saying Ira is now a legal resident of the US. They did one fingerprint of her but that was it.
We were all exhausted by the time we walked out the doors to see everyone. Our family was there as well as Andreas and Ray. :) Thanks so much guys, for coming! I'm sure it didn't seem like it at the time, but I very much appreciated it! People took pictures, but I don't have any except a couple that Andreas took. I will see about posting them when I get them. :)
We went to Mom and Dad's house to try and keep ourselves awake, but only made it until about 7 or 8 when we went home to crash.
We were downstairs right at 4 and got all the luggage back in the car. Little One really wanted to sit by Natasha on the way over there so I was in the front. It was actually kinda nice to be able to really see Kiev on our way out of town. I hadn't gotten that when we'd tried a couple days before. It was still sad to be leaving though.
Once we got to the airport I figured things would go much smoother. There weren't nearly as many people and I had Natasha right there by my side. She and Irina helped get our luggage checked and went upstairs with us. They couldn't get through security (though they didn't really try either), but it was just fine. They stayed right there on the other side of security until we'd gotten through passport control.
That was interesting, by the way. The line wasn't too long so we didn't wait long, but man, the guy behind me was mad. When we got up there I had everything out to show the lady. She took it, but of course it took awhile. Not only was I trying to leave the country with a Ukrainian girl, but then there was the little issue of our passports already having been stamped that we'd left the country two days before. Not that it became a big issue, but still. When the lady handed me back my passport as well as Little One's but not Ira's, the guy with his family waiting for his turn behind me yells, "Hey, Lady!" I looked at him and yelled back, "What do you want me to do?" I almost asked him if he'd like to leave HIS son there (who had Downs, by the way) so that he didn't hold up the line. I was good and didn't though. It was interesting to see them take a leisurely stroll though the departure lounge. Why in the world was he yelling at me when he wasn't even late for his plane? Jerk. Ah well. I'm not bitter. ;)
We really didn't have to wait long before it was time to board the plane. They took us out to a bus which took us to the airplane. It didn't take too long and we were on. The girls had the window and middle seat and I had the isle in the row above them. I asked the girl that came to sit there if she would switch with me and she was sweet and did. Then someone asked to switch with her again so she ended up a few rows down, but still on isle.
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| France |
The Paris airport was big. Very big. We found out as we got off that the girl that switched seats with me (her name is Nichole) was also headed to Salt Lake. After finding that out, we stuck pretty close to each other. :) We didn't have too much trouble finding the bus to take us to the correct terminal, but we didn't find where to go to the right gate right away. Really, if we had been looking a little better it wouldn't have taken as long, but hey. At least we had each other there.
Once we found the right place we got in line to go through security again. The sign said it would only take about 10 minutes. It was a LONG 10 minutes. Things were moving fairly fast, but then someone pulled the people in front of us as well as us (Nichole tagged along LOL) out of line to go through the handicapped area. That was all fine and good, but every time someone in a wheelchair or something came up they put them in front of us. It would have been faster if we'd just stayed in the regular line.
They were already boarding the plane by the time we got through security. I went up to the desk at the gate to get our seats changed since none of us were together. Nichole came along with us. :) The guy at the counter was very nice but the guy next to him felt he needed to tell me how to avoid being apart again next time. I tried to tell him we'd missed our flight on Wednesday and I had no way to check in online since I'd gotten the tickets late the night before, but he wasn't listening. I just told him thank you and went on my way. The hilarious thing was that they put us in the middle all together...right next to the isle seat that Nichole had. :) When we got up to the place you give the gate person the ticket to scan we got asked a TON of questions. I've never had that before. After that though we went down some stairs and out to a bus. Have these people never heard of a corridor to take you right to the plane?? Ah well.
The flight was VERY long (10hr 15min) but uneventful. It was nice having the three middle seats to ourselves. I spilled Little One's sprite once and Ira spilled her coke, but hey. Not on any iPod's this time at least. :) Once we landed in Salt Lake we stood in another line (think Disney World without the fun ride at the end or the cute things to look at while you wait) to go through passport control. I got up and handed the guy my stuff. He told me to pick up our bags and wait until they'd gotten most people through the line and then he'd look over our documents. It took a little while, but we finally were able to get the stamp saying Ira is now a legal resident of the US. They did one fingerprint of her but that was it.
We were all exhausted by the time we walked out the doors to see everyone. Our family was there as well as Andreas and Ray. :) Thanks so much guys, for coming! I'm sure it didn't seem like it at the time, but I very much appreciated it! People took pictures, but I don't have any except a couple that Andreas took. I will see about posting them when I get them. :)
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| The group, minus Andreas who was behind the camera. |
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Day 46 (Thurs March 24th) Kiev
We did our traditional lazy thing in the morning. Natasha had called me the night before to tell me she'd be in Kiev. She was planning on being our personal tour guide as well as sleeping in the apartment with us in order to go to the airport in the morning and make sure things went smoothly. She said she'd be there around 11 or so and then we could do whatever we wanted.
Around 10 I got a call from her. She was on her way with her mom and we had a slight change in plans. Oleg's wife was in a play and they were having their first dress rehearsal. We'd been invited to go see it. :) WAY FUN! I was very much up for the change in plans. She said Irina would be there around 11:15 to pick us up and we'd meet Natasha at the opera house. I got up and Little One and I showered quickly since I didn't want wet stuff to have to pack that night. Around the time Irina was supposed to be there I got another call from Natahsa. Irina was worried about traffic so could we maybe walk to St. Michael's and she's pick us up there. I was pretty sure I knew how to get there so we finished getting ready and off we went. It was such a nice walk! I hated walking everywhere for everything when I first got to Ukraine, but now I really miss it!
When we arrived at the opera house it wasn't the opera house I'd been expecting. Still, it was very fun! We met Natasha, her mom, Oleg, and another lady that spoke English well. I didn't catch her name. The play was very good. It was about a guy and a girl that met on the internet. She was from France, he from Ukraine. Since she had grandparents in Ukraine she came for a visit and, of course, fell in love with the guy from the internet as he showed her around. I think they were mad at each other in the middle, but I didn't really get that part. LOL During intermission we went down and ate in a cafeteria where the actors congregated. It was fun. :) Oleg's older son Daniel was there when it was finished and he introduced himself to everyone. Very outgoing kid. :)
Since our third ticket was still "unconfirmed" we decided to all head over to our new favorite place to eat (Ukrainian food) and figure out what to do from there.
Little One and I got locked in the bathroom. I went with her, luckily or that would not have been good. As it was she was a little scared. I couldn't stop laughing because I thought it was so funny. I called Natasha and told her where we were and she went to get someone to let us out. LOL
Daniel and I had quite a nice chat together, through Natasha. she asked him to tell me about his family. He has lots of members but wanted to tell me about his cat, teddy bears and stuffed owl instead. She asked him to tell me about his country so he told me his favorite Ukrainian singer and then his favorite Ukrainian poet. :) He told me about his school a little. I asked if we could bring him home with us too and he thought for a second. He said yes, but only for summer vacations. And I couldn't bring his little brother because it might stress the little brother out. (His brother is autistic so he's not far off with that.) It was the cutest thing ever! I told Oleg when he got back from somewhere that we had things all arranged for summer time.
By the time we left, Little One and Daniel were friends. The funny thing was he kept chasing her, calling her Julietta. I'm pretty sure I heard a Romeo in there too. They gave each other a cute hug when it was time to go. I asked them to do it again so I could get a picture, but this is what I got instead. Still adorable. Maybe they can be pen pals. :)
From there we went to an actual Air France office to try and get the tickets straightened out. We had to wait awhile (welcome to Ukraine) but ended up getting three confirmed tickets for the next morning. In a way I was excited, but mostly I was disappointed. Since I'd heard that third ticket was still unconfirmed I'd been planning out what fun things we were going to do Friday and maybe even Saturday. That way I could fly home with Cook's on Sunday and have their company. Ah well. Next trip....
Natasha was looking at some of my photography and I was telling her that Kiev was a photographer's dream as far as architecture goes. She was actually pretty impressed and said she'd have a few clients lined up in Keiv if I want to come back to do some shoots. Do I EVER?! I very much hope to take her up on that sooner rather than later.
We tried to go see the water museum which is in an old water tower. It sounded like fun as well as something the girls might enjoy. On our way we walked by the puppet theater and took a bunch of pictures. I know...I just mentioned I'm a photographer and yet all you see are these not so good snapshots. I left my DSLR home since I didn't want to lug it around. My little camera is nice, but not as much as my other one. Light was horrible and yeah...enough excuses. :) Ask me if you want to see some of my "real" stuff.
Natasha then took us over to "Lover's Bridge." She said there were a few legends with it and no one really remembers for sure which is true. Basically it was a Romeo/Juliet story. He was waiting for her and she was a few minutes late. He thought she'd abandoned him so he jumped off (I should mention this bridge is over a very busy street.) She came and saw he'd jumped off so she jumped too. You know...in a way I like the tragic love story, but for heaven's sake! Wait a little while or call her on the phone before you go jumping off a bridge! Anyway, like the bridge in Dnepro it was covered with locks. I liked this one. Again, it was getting dark and I didn't feel like messing with it on the computer so you see it right off my camera. :)
We finally made it back to the apartment and had a nice time with Natasha. Mostly we just got ready for bed, but it was so nice to have her there.
Around 10 I got a call from her. She was on her way with her mom and we had a slight change in plans. Oleg's wife was in a play and they were having their first dress rehearsal. We'd been invited to go see it. :) WAY FUN! I was very much up for the change in plans. She said Irina would be there around 11:15 to pick us up and we'd meet Natasha at the opera house. I got up and Little One and I showered quickly since I didn't want wet stuff to have to pack that night. Around the time Irina was supposed to be there I got another call from Natahsa. Irina was worried about traffic so could we maybe walk to St. Michael's and she's pick us up there. I was pretty sure I knew how to get there so we finished getting ready and off we went. It was such a nice walk! I hated walking everywhere for everything when I first got to Ukraine, but now I really miss it!
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| This was a fun guy on our walk. I took the picture for Masha since I know she loved him. :) |
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| Ira, Little One, Me and Daniel |
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| We passed this mall on our way. I wanted to check it out! Next trip, right? |
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| Irina thought this car was pretty cool and made a point to have me take a picture of it. :) |
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| From the back |
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| This cafe has sinks to wash your hands at before you go throug the line. |
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| Little One finally warmed up to Daniel and played on my iPod with him. They did Cut the Rope. :) He would do a thumbs up when he did it right and put his hands over his mouth if he didn it wrong. LOL |
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| More playing |
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| Oleg, Irina, and Natasha |
By the time we left, Little One and Daniel were friends. The funny thing was he kept chasing her, calling her Julietta. I'm pretty sure I heard a Romeo in there too. They gave each other a cute hug when it was time to go. I asked them to do it again so I could get a picture, but this is what I got instead. Still adorable. Maybe they can be pen pals. :)
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| Julietta and Daniel |
Natasha was looking at some of my photography and I was telling her that Kiev was a photographer's dream as far as architecture goes. She was actually pretty impressed and said she'd have a few clients lined up in Keiv if I want to come back to do some shoots. Do I EVER?! I very much hope to take her up on that sooner rather than later.
We tried to go see the water museum which is in an old water tower. It sounded like fun as well as something the girls might enjoy. On our way we walked by the puppet theater and took a bunch of pictures. I know...I just mentioned I'm a photographer and yet all you see are these not so good snapshots. I left my DSLR home since I didn't want to lug it around. My little camera is nice, but not as much as my other one. Light was horrible and yeah...enough excuses. :) Ask me if you want to see some of my "real" stuff.
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| The puppet theater |
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| Little One started walking around holding Natasha's hand |
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| Me and the girls in front of the theater |
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| They had fun statues |
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| Do you like my hat? |
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| I finally broke down and used my flash. I love Natasha. :) She and I are similar in a lot of ways. LOL That's her mom peaking out behind Little One. |
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| My girls |
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| Natahsa's mom kept wanting them to climb on the statues for pictures. She is so funny! |
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| Friends |
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| The water tower/museum. We missed it by a couple of hours though. |
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| A lock. |
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| The street below the bridge. Yes, those are locks on the railing. |
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| Pretty view of the city |
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| I really don't get the big frog thing, but Natasha's mom wanted more pictures with it. LOL |
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| Rainbow symbolizing peace between Russia and Ukraine. Little One is there on the left. |
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| The wind was blowing and these seats were swinging a lot! I'd be scared to go on that ride! |
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| Another pretty view of the city. |
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| Little One under the rainbow again. |
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Day 45 (Wed March 23rd) Kiev - Supposed to Fly Home
Okay, we've been home now for a few days and are finally starting to get over our jet lag. Hopefully the waking up at 3am will stop soon. :) I suppose I was doing that in Ukraine too though so maybe it's unrelated to the jet lag.
I have a couple more days in Kiev to finish talking about and then we can get on to the post adoption process. :)
So...we woke up at 3am (on purpose) last Wednesday in order to be ready and out the door at 4:30. We all ate a little something, but not much since I knew we were getting fed on the plane. We cleaned up as best we could, I blogged a little since I had a few minutes and then we were on our way. Irina was waiting for us outside and we managed to get all the luggage and girls into her car. It was sad driving away and seeing Kiev for the last time. At least for now.
We got to the airport right about 5am and it was VERY busy. She got us in line to check our bags and then was off. It was a very long line and it was going very slowly. Every once in a while someone would say something and Ira would perk up and look at me. I had no idea what had been said though and she couldn't explain it to me so in line we waited. When it was our turn we got someone that was taking her time finishing up the bag that was left by the last person. When she finally started helping us she took forever with Ira's passport and such. She wanted to see the adoption info we were supposed to give the people at customs in SLC. By the time we finally had our bags checked and headed upstairs we had about 30-45 minutes before our plane was supposed to take off.
Security went pretty quickly. It was very discouraging though to finish with that and find a VERY long line to get through passport control. We waited and waited and I kept praying that time would move slowly so we could still make that plane. It was supposed to be boarding already. When we got up to the guy he started looking at our passports and then wanted to see the adoption paperwork. Not the same that I showed the lady downstairs, but the actual court decree, birth certificate, etc. I pulled that out and then he left. We waited and waited and waited. He finally came back and wanted to see the original birth certificate (I'd just handed him a copy) and then he stamped our passports and off we went. Since I wasn't sure he'd really given me back the birth certificate we had to stop and check to make sure I had that. I did and we were off to our gate.
There was still a lady there so we went up to ask what we needed to do, since it was already past time for the airplane to have left. She took our tickets though and told us to run. We ran down the stairs and there was a bus out there waiting (you take a bus to the plane) but the guy down there wouldn't let us out. She called us back up the stairs and another lady came and told us we'd missed the flight. Not surprising, but still. We were told to follow the first lady and she took us a couple different places that led us nowhere. Then she left us (I thought with the intent to return) and pretty soon some guy said to go backwards through security. I finally called Natasha to see what to do since the lady that had been helping us disappeared. She told us to try and talk to someone (that speaks English of course) and have them tell me what to do. She got on the phone with Air France and Delta on her end as well.
We were told by some people downstairs that we needed to wait until Air France opened at 10. By this time I felt like I'd been up forever but it was only 7:30. Irina and an interpreter showed up around 9:30 and got working on things. We waited until 10:45, when they REALLY opened, and then finally established this was their fault, not mine. They could only get me 2 tickets for Friday's flight and one "unconfirmed" which I took to mean as stand-by.
Irina took us to a new apartment and we were just supposed to call the airline lady later to see about the unconfirmed ticket. Since it had been such a long day we crashed to a movie. Well, the girls watched it, I think and I slept in the bedroom. LOL We were in an unfamiliar area so we went to the store that night, but that was about it. What a long day!
I have a couple more days in Kiev to finish talking about and then we can get on to the post adoption process. :)
So...we woke up at 3am (on purpose) last Wednesday in order to be ready and out the door at 4:30. We all ate a little something, but not much since I knew we were getting fed on the plane. We cleaned up as best we could, I blogged a little since I had a few minutes and then we were on our way. Irina was waiting for us outside and we managed to get all the luggage and girls into her car. It was sad driving away and seeing Kiev for the last time. At least for now.
We got to the airport right about 5am and it was VERY busy. She got us in line to check our bags and then was off. It was a very long line and it was going very slowly. Every once in a while someone would say something and Ira would perk up and look at me. I had no idea what had been said though and she couldn't explain it to me so in line we waited. When it was our turn we got someone that was taking her time finishing up the bag that was left by the last person. When she finally started helping us she took forever with Ira's passport and such. She wanted to see the adoption info we were supposed to give the people at customs in SLC. By the time we finally had our bags checked and headed upstairs we had about 30-45 minutes before our plane was supposed to take off.
Security went pretty quickly. It was very discouraging though to finish with that and find a VERY long line to get through passport control. We waited and waited and I kept praying that time would move slowly so we could still make that plane. It was supposed to be boarding already. When we got up to the guy he started looking at our passports and then wanted to see the adoption paperwork. Not the same that I showed the lady downstairs, but the actual court decree, birth certificate, etc. I pulled that out and then he left. We waited and waited and waited. He finally came back and wanted to see the original birth certificate (I'd just handed him a copy) and then he stamped our passports and off we went. Since I wasn't sure he'd really given me back the birth certificate we had to stop and check to make sure I had that. I did and we were off to our gate.
There was still a lady there so we went up to ask what we needed to do, since it was already past time for the airplane to have left. She took our tickets though and told us to run. We ran down the stairs and there was a bus out there waiting (you take a bus to the plane) but the guy down there wouldn't let us out. She called us back up the stairs and another lady came and told us we'd missed the flight. Not surprising, but still. We were told to follow the first lady and she took us a couple different places that led us nowhere. Then she left us (I thought with the intent to return) and pretty soon some guy said to go backwards through security. I finally called Natasha to see what to do since the lady that had been helping us disappeared. She told us to try and talk to someone (that speaks English of course) and have them tell me what to do. She got on the phone with Air France and Delta on her end as well.
We were told by some people downstairs that we needed to wait until Air France opened at 10. By this time I felt like I'd been up forever but it was only 7:30. Irina and an interpreter showed up around 9:30 and got working on things. We waited until 10:45, when they REALLY opened, and then finally established this was their fault, not mine. They could only get me 2 tickets for Friday's flight and one "unconfirmed" which I took to mean as stand-by.
Irina took us to a new apartment and we were just supposed to call the airline lady later to see about the unconfirmed ticket. Since it had been such a long day we crashed to a movie. Well, the girls watched it, I think and I slept in the bedroom. LOL We were in an unfamiliar area so we went to the store that night, but that was about it. What a long day!
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