Shaw Family Coming Home!

Yesterday I had the wonderful chance to take the girls and go see Kerry and Victoria come home from Ukraine.  Kerry and I, if you remember, became quite good friends during the hosting program.  They never actually hosted, but fell in love with Victoria anyway.  Just as a side note, SAC wanted to take Ira away from us (for the program) to let them have a chance to host.  After praying about it I told them no, although I'm sure they could have if they'd really wanted to. LOL  Kerry and I tended to confuse people a lot since they thought she was me and the other way around.  I guess we should have been sisters! :)

Anyway, her blog has the most amazing pictures and very nice posts.  It's been quite the journey for them since Victoria turned 16 before they could get over there, which meant different paperwork for them and such.  Her's was a pretty quick time frame in Ukraine, which was really good since she left her 3 boys here in the states while she was there.

Here are some pictures I took. :)

The crowd

More crowd

Cute sign

2 of Kerry's boys wanting treats :)

Gary Ceran, taking pictures as usual

Kerry's son

My timing was off.  I took this because both Gary and Andreas were taking pictures. :)

Spencer gets a hug from Victoria

Kerry with her youngest

Kerry and her 3 boys

Greetings

Even Kerry gets a hug

Introductions

Hugs from her sister

Ira and Victoria.  Little stinkers wouldn't even talk to each other. :)

New family!

With grandparents

Anne taking pictures :)

All the family

It was fun to watch Kerry's sister try to keep this little guy still for the picture

Gary trying to sneak pictures of Kerry

Should have been sisters!

What a fun afternoon!

In other news, I got my Rosetta Stone Russian program yesterday and am dying to try it out!  I'm hoping it's not too hard to learn, but we will see.  I've never learned a 2nd spoken language before so I've never had to worry about how I say things. LOL  I'm excited to try and talk to my friends over there though. :)

I also got to Skype with Masha again.  Man, I miss her. :(  I'm always homesick for Ukraine after I talk with her.  It was so fun to see her though and I even got to meet her mom!  That was awesome. :)  Now I just need to go back so I can give her a hug. LOL  Hopefully soon.

Shop 'Till You Drop

This weekend has been fairly eventful.  Friday I met my mother-in-law down at the Gateway and she got Ira a bunch of new clothes.  We had fun shopping together and a she got a lot since they had some fun things on clearance.  Finding things that were modest was a little hard, but we managed okay.  Ira was pretty good about it when I told her she had to have sleeves and shorts couldn't be too short.  She says she doesn't like capris though so that might be interesting to find her some shorts that are long enough for me, but not capris.  LOL  Amy told me that with her girls they just know that Mom has to like it or they don't get it.  I told Ira that too.  If we both like it, it's a go.  If one of us doesn't, then it's a no. :)

We were also finally able to get Ira a dresser.  She was one excited girl!  And I'm glad that she now has a place to keep her stuff.  Getting her to keep it looking nice may be a different story though! LOL

Weather here has been winter.  I don't like winter.  Even though it's logical that at least if you're cold you can put a blanket on or something to keep you warm, I will take 100 degrees and humidity over snow any day.  Interestingly enough though, I went running in the snow on Saturday.  I'd meant to go Friday, but by the time we got home with a dresser it was too late.  Since the snow wasn't letting up at all, I went ahead and ran anyway.  I was wet when I got back, but happier.  I was wondering where my newfound love of running was coming from, but Andreas I believe, got it right when he said on Facebook that "Running: aka-Freedom." :)  Little does he know how right I think he might be! LOL 

We did our usual shopping after I'd gotten back from running.  Costco, Wal-Mart, etc....  Ira found some super cute jammies at Wal-Mart that I may just have to go get as well.  It's Mickey and Minnie holding hands and the shirt says, "Happiness is being loved." :)

Church was a challenge again today.  I had to literally walk behind Ira with my hands on her shoulders and guide her into Sunday School.  She is happy and really seems to enjoy it once we get in there, but getting her in there isn't so easy.  Hopefully that will get better soon.  Or at least soon-ish. :)

Tomorrow we begin another new week.  Mom will start coming over to do school with us and that will be nice.  Hopefully it goes well and there aren't just fights with her instead of me.  We will see.

I'm excited that another friend comes home with her new daughter on Tuesday!!!!

Howick's Coming Home

Last night I got to go see David Howick and his new son, James, come home from Ukraine.  So fun!  There was a really nice crowd there of family and people that have known the Howick's thoughout their whole process of adoption.  Since it was kinda late in the evening I just went by myself.  It would have been nice for Ira to have people to talk to, but I didn't get home until after 10:30pm so I'm glad I didn't take the girls.  It was so nice to just visit with everyone!  I love David's wife, Eldie.  Such a sweetheart.  It was really nice to see Kassing's and Garrett's and Andreas and his girls and such too.  It was a much needed hour away from home. :)

The crowd

Cute signs they made

Waiting

Andreas the photographer

David and James coming in

Eldie getting a hug

Family

Big hugs from his new sisters

Welcome to the US!

Not sure what this one says LOL

Andreas and Nanette with their cameras

He was such a trooper and smiled for all the pictures.  This is how he really was though. :)

Howick's with James, David's sister/husband/and adopted Shelby and Vern and Nanette

Cousins!

SAC Lunch

Yesterday was a better day, all in all.  We had a couple of little incidents here and there, but mostly it was much better. 

We've had problems with our modem so we haven't had internet often since we've been home.  We borrowed a new modem to make sure that was the problem.  Well, it's better, but still not fixed.  We've got a guy coming over today to see if maybe it's a problem on their end.  Still, it's been nice to have contact for more than just a few minutes at a time.  I can usually get a few hours in before it dies on me.

I got a little carried away catching up on everyone's blogs and such yesterday morning so we left a little late for our Save a Child lunch.  When I got there I didn't see anyone I knew, but found out one of the people there was someone I've been wanting to meet!  That was quite fun.  We ended up with a nice little group and I had a wonderful time visiting and getting advice.  Ira really enjoyed having Amy's girls there since they can talk to her.  Little One was a little more bored, but still managed to somewhat enjoy herself for the 2 1/2 hours we ended up being there. :)  It was so fun to have Anne show up too!  She and Tony just got back on Monday for their 10 day waiting period.  She'll head back once they have that Tax ID #, just in case it takes 2 1/2 weeks like Howick's did.

Ira, Lana and one of Hinkson's girls. :)

After lunch we hit a furniture store right next door since we're still looking for a dresser for Ira.  We found a couple she liked and then came back down later.  They didn't actually HAVE either of them though.  So much for that idea.  We'll check out more this weekend.

We took Mom some of Little One's school stuff.  We're going to try having her be the teacher for a little while and see how that goes.  I'll be right there as well and start taking things over a little at a time.  Hopefully it will be a good thing.  I think it will.  We'll also get an idea of where Ira is with some things and work with her on English.  We're in process of getting a tutor lined up for her and that will be nice.

Ira had YW's last night, much to her dismay.  She really didn't want to go, but go she did.  She doesn't have to get baptized or anything if she doesn't want to, but as far as church goes...we go.  She was awfully cheerful when she got back though so I think she enjoys it once she's there.

I went running while she was in YW's.  SO nice.  I've never actually loved running before, but I'm really enjoying it right now.  I keep waiting for that to change. LOL  I'm sure it will once it's hot outside since I hate being sweaty. :)

Today I got to talk to Masha on Skype.  She bought a laptop with the money from interpreting for me (for which I'm so grateful!) and just got internet up and running.  It was SOOOOO good to talk to her!  I miss her tons!  We'd gotten to be quite good friends over the 12 days she stayed with us for the hosting program, but after spending 6 1/2 weeks together in Ukraine, it's even better now.  I got to see her room and hear about what she's been up to.  It made me so homesick for Ukraine though!  I got to catch a glimpse of her brother. :)  I just need to get her mom to come talk to me! LOL 

Well, we best get on with our day.

Yep, Spoke Too Soon

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. :)

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??

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.