First off, we just got off the phone with Ira again. She loved the package and was very excited about the stuff. She especially mentioned the sweater my parents sent her and said she's pretty now. LOL Yulya (as I've now learned how she spells her name) asked her to tell her what she got and she said the sweater and things for her hair and such. No mention of the "Big Sister" necklace or the letter though. We talked with Yulya before we called Ira and told her what all we'd said in our letter to her. We talked for a bit after Ira hung up and she was somewhat surprised that she hadn't mentioned the letter at all. Her impression was that when she wasn't wanting to come to America she told us that. At least twice in the phone call, if I remember right. She wasn't afraid to tell us that or anything. Yulya was encouraged that even with what was said in our letter Ira didn't say anything about still not wanting to come. Ah, the unknown.
Anyway...they were, big surprise, watching TV. At first they'd been watching Robin Hood and then they switched to wrestling. "Do you LIKE wrestling?" "Nes Niyou" (I don't know.) LOL They are still under this "Health Protection" thing so no school and such. Little Ira is now in the hospital. Poor girl. It must have happened later in the week because she'd told Ira to tell us thank you for the things in the package. One of the other girls got on (we have no idea if it was one of the other kids that had come to America or if it was one of the other kids) to tell us thank you as well. Yulya actually suggested we call Ellie to see what is going to happen if they're still under this health protection when we get over there. She said it's VERY complicated to get things done what that is in place. Even paperwork and such. That might be a lovely wrench thrown into things. Hopefully it will be lifted before we get there and everything will be fine.
Our conversation was a little shorter today than the past couple of weeks. Not having Little Ira there did that, in part, but she also said she needed to go take a shower. We told her we missed her and loved her and I did hear her say, "Love you!" in English. Yulya had said Ira was excited to hear us talking in Russian. LOL We just need to learn more....
In other news, I picked up a bunch of stuff from Wendy yesterday. I had a very nice conversation with her too. Thank goodness for such wonderful people!
I've also been reading "The Connected Child" that Andreas suggested. It's been quite interesting. The adventure of it all....
Oh yeah. And my arm hurts because I got a vaccination yesterday. Nothing weird. Just time to update my tetanus and such. Ow though.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Package Update
We just found out today that our package was delivered to the kids on the 18th. Finally! They told us on Saturday they still hadn't gotten it so we called the shipping company Monday. The package had gotten delayed in Germany due to weather. They had tried, unsuccessfully, to deliver it Saturday. We gave them the phone number to the orphanage and when Husband called to check again today he was told they'd delivered it on Tuesday.
We are quite interested in hearing what they thought as well as what our Ira thought about the big long letter. I wrote it before she'd said she didn't want to come back so there is even a name in there I thought she might like to change hers to. I wonder how that went over. LOL
Monday, January 17, 2011
Next Phone Call
This last week was filled with all kinds of stuff. When we're "doing school" I all of a sudden transform into a work-at-home mom. No longer do I have the whole day to do what I'd like to do. It's something I wouldn't trade for all the free time in the world. I love the bond that I have with my daughter because of it and look forward to what will happen when Ira (hopefully) joins our family as well.
Husband started a new job this last Monday. I enjoyed getting back into our routine and having the time with Little One. Her birthday was this last Friday as well. She was SO excited and had such a nice evening. Because of Husband's new job though, we couldn't call Ira on Little One's birthday like we'd wanted to. Instead, we called on Saturday. Mom and Dad came over for the call as well, which was very nice.
Our conversation went well and much like the last couple we've had. She did seem excited to hear from us again, though not quite as much as before perhaps. The first thing she did was to congratulate Little One on her birthday. :^) We'd told her last week that we'd call around that time and it was sweet of her to remember. We told her what all we did for her birthday.
She told us she'd been in the hospital this last week. One of the other girls we know was there now due to a bad cough so we think it was probably the same with her. She said they'd shut down the school because of whatever is going around over there. We asked if they were able to play outside and the answer was no, for the same reason. What?? Keeping the kids cooped up all together like that is going to HELP stop the sickness? We need to get her out of there.
As usual, Little Ira wanted to talk as well. Her first question was the same as last week. Will you come get me? At least we had an answer for her ready this time, but still. She was happy Grandma and Grandpa were there to talk and must have thought we'd gone to there house. She wanted to talk with Justin, Nathan and Lexi (my friend's family is living with my parents at the time.) LOL She told us she loves us so much. *sigh* She had to run and take a shower and wanted us to wait for her to get back. We told her that we'd probably be gone by the then, but we'd call again next week. We got to talk for a minute to our Ira again, but by then none of us had much to say.
We're down to 3 weeks until we leave now. That seems so much shorter than the 4 weeks it was before. LOL It looks like we'll be having a meeting with other hosting families again before we take off though. That will be VERY nice. I'm already excited to see everyone again.
Husband started a new job this last Monday. I enjoyed getting back into our routine and having the time with Little One. Her birthday was this last Friday as well. She was SO excited and had such a nice evening. Because of Husband's new job though, we couldn't call Ira on Little One's birthday like we'd wanted to. Instead, we called on Saturday. Mom and Dad came over for the call as well, which was very nice.
Our conversation went well and much like the last couple we've had. She did seem excited to hear from us again, though not quite as much as before perhaps. The first thing she did was to congratulate Little One on her birthday. :^) We'd told her last week that we'd call around that time and it was sweet of her to remember. We told her what all we did for her birthday.
She told us she'd been in the hospital this last week. One of the other girls we know was there now due to a bad cough so we think it was probably the same with her. She said they'd shut down the school because of whatever is going around over there. We asked if they were able to play outside and the answer was no, for the same reason. What?? Keeping the kids cooped up all together like that is going to HELP stop the sickness? We need to get her out of there.
As usual, Little Ira wanted to talk as well. Her first question was the same as last week. Will you come get me? At least we had an answer for her ready this time, but still. She was happy Grandma and Grandpa were there to talk and must have thought we'd gone to there house. She wanted to talk with Justin, Nathan and Lexi (my friend's family is living with my parents at the time.) LOL She told us she loves us so much. *sigh* She had to run and take a shower and wanted us to wait for her to get back. We told her that we'd probably be gone by the then, but we'd call again next week. We got to talk for a minute to our Ira again, but by then none of us had much to say.
We're down to 3 weeks until we leave now. That seems so much shorter than the 4 weeks it was before. LOL It looks like we'll be having a meeting with other hosting families again before we take off though. That will be VERY nice. I'm already excited to see everyone again.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Airplane Tickets and Phone Calls
The deed is done. Plane tickets are bought. I guess we have until midnight tonight to cancel or change them, but still. We're officially going.
Christmas in Ukraine is tomorrow so we called Ira just now (Christmas Eve there) to congratulate her on the holiday. She seemed very excited. Today they went around and knocked on doors (what doors, I'm not sure), singing Christmas songs and getting candy and money from people. Tomorrow they go to a church and preform something there. Kind of like a reenactment of the Christmas story from what I understood. Little Ira gets to be a wolf. On Saturday they're all going to see a 3D movie. Our package hasn't shown up yet.
She did seem excited to talk to us still, which was good. With everything going on for Christmas we wondered if she'd be back to not wanting to come. Not that she said she DID want to come, but she did, of her own accord, say she missed us and loved us and was waiting for us.
When the orphanage worker first answered the phone and Yulia asked for Ira, BOTH Ira's showed up to talk. We actually only got to talk to our Ira for a minute before Little Ira took over. LOL She, as when she was here, was very talkative and told us all about what was going on for Christmas as well. She said something about talking to Mama and Papa and they love her so much and she wanted to talk to Grandma because Grandma loves her so much. She kept asking if we were coming to see her and when. We told her we were coming "soon" but left out exactly when. Then she asked us if we would come take her to America. Yeah. Ouch. Yulia tends to answer things herself (which is really fine with us since she's never said anything that wasn't what we would have said anyway) but that one she said she'd ask us. We really had no idea what to tell her that wasn't a lie or something that was going to hurt her. In the end we just said we don't know what will happen when we get over there. I wish it had worked out with her as well and that we could get both of them. I wish there was a family that she would work well in that would go get her. The one thing that "saves" us is that her paperwork isn't ready until spring. Even if it were right, there isn't anything we can do about it.
Yulia wondered if maybe the two girls are talking and that our Ira is a little more okay with the idea now because she thinks that Little Ira might be coming with her. My mom wondered that too a long time ago. We asked Ellie about that (having called her right after we got off the phone with the girls) and she said that it's a good thing either way. Knowing Little Ira, she would say something like that without ever saying anything to our Ira. If, however, that IS the case then she said it at least gets our Ira used to the idea of coming here and she will hopefully be more likely to say yes no matter what happens with Little Ira.
As I've thought for a long time, this trip is going to be quite the roller coaster.
Christmas in Ukraine is tomorrow so we called Ira just now (Christmas Eve there) to congratulate her on the holiday. She seemed very excited. Today they went around and knocked on doors (what doors, I'm not sure), singing Christmas songs and getting candy and money from people. Tomorrow they go to a church and preform something there. Kind of like a reenactment of the Christmas story from what I understood. Little Ira gets to be a wolf. On Saturday they're all going to see a 3D movie. Our package hasn't shown up yet.
She did seem excited to talk to us still, which was good. With everything going on for Christmas we wondered if she'd be back to not wanting to come. Not that she said she DID want to come, but she did, of her own accord, say she missed us and loved us and was waiting for us.
When the orphanage worker first answered the phone and Yulia asked for Ira, BOTH Ira's showed up to talk. We actually only got to talk to our Ira for a minute before Little Ira took over. LOL She, as when she was here, was very talkative and told us all about what was going on for Christmas as well. She said something about talking to Mama and Papa and they love her so much and she wanted to talk to Grandma because Grandma loves her so much. She kept asking if we were coming to see her and when. We told her we were coming "soon" but left out exactly when. Then she asked us if we would come take her to America. Yeah. Ouch. Yulia tends to answer things herself (which is really fine with us since she's never said anything that wasn't what we would have said anyway) but that one she said she'd ask us. We really had no idea what to tell her that wasn't a lie or something that was going to hurt her. In the end we just said we don't know what will happen when we get over there. I wish it had worked out with her as well and that we could get both of them. I wish there was a family that she would work well in that would go get her. The one thing that "saves" us is that her paperwork isn't ready until spring. Even if it were right, there isn't anything we can do about it.
Yulia wondered if maybe the two girls are talking and that our Ira is a little more okay with the idea now because she thinks that Little Ira might be coming with her. My mom wondered that too a long time ago. We asked Ellie about that (having called her right after we got off the phone with the girls) and she said that it's a good thing either way. Knowing Little Ira, she would say something like that without ever saying anything to our Ira. If, however, that IS the case then she said it at least gets our Ira used to the idea of coming here and she will hopefully be more likely to say yes no matter what happens with Little Ira.
As I've thought for a long time, this trip is going to be quite the roller coaster.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
3rd Phone Call
Yesterday we tried calling Ira to wish her a Happy New Year and to see if the package had arrived yet. Not to mention see how she was doing. We had a lot of trouble getting the phone to actually ring there. Yulia (our interpreter) was so sweet to put up with us trying and trying since we had to hang up with her every time we tried again. We finally got it to ring and for some reason it had put us through to the wrong number! We tried turning my phone all the way off and restarting it and that time we were able to get through to the orphanage. Even though it was only 8:30pm their time, we were told that Ira was already in bed. We thought that was strange on New Year's Eve, but hey.
We called again this morning, a little earlier this time, and were able to talk with her. As always, it was good to hear her voice. What was especially nice was that she seemed very happy to talk to us this time. Last time she didn't seem unhappy we'd called, but this time she seemed very excited to hear from us. It was just different. Yulia asked her why she'd gone to bed so early the night before. I guess someone from the village (maybe a worker at the orphanage? We haven't figured that out yet) had taken all but three of the girls out for the night and she was one of the three that didn't go. I don't know if it was something she'd done or just that they'd only had room for a certain number of girls. We didn't ask. She said she'd been very bored and it hadn't been a great New Year's. Sad for her, but that could be very good for us. It may have had something to do with why she'd been excited to hear from us as well.
Anyway, she is still taking dance classes of some kind and loving it. Husband did get bold enough to tell her that we have good dance classes here too. LOL She said they were all watching some dance show (sounded like kind of a "So You Think You Can Dance?" show or something like that) before they went to bed. The package hasn't arrived yet, but she is excited for when it does. She's made us a card that hopefully will get mailed to us soon. We're excited for that.
Little Ira wanted to talk with us as well so we did. She was practicing her English and it was very cute. "Hello. How are you? Goodbye!" LOL She asked Yulia when the package was going to arrive and before even telling us, Yulia told her not to worry and that it should be there soon. LOL That sounds very much like Little Ira. :^)
Our Ira got back on the phone soon after that we told her we miss her and love her. I was trying to remember how to say "I love you" in Ukrainian and was too focused on that to hear her say "I love you" in English. Yulia caught it though and as soon as Ira hung up she said, "Did you hear that?" :^)
Nothing was said about adoption or anything like it. We are very encouraged by how well it went though. We are still nervous about how it will all turn out, but we have a bit more hope now than we've had for a couple of weeks.
We actually talked with Yulia for about 15 or 20 minutes more after we hung up with Ira and got to know her a little more. She is such a sweetheart and we can't wait to meet her as well. We will go do that before we head to Ukraine so we can take a picture of us all and show Ira who she's been talking to. She said she is getting rather attached to Ira as well so hopefully this all works out well and we're able to bring Ira to meet her when we get back.
It was a good day. :^)
We called again this morning, a little earlier this time, and were able to talk with her. As always, it was good to hear her voice. What was especially nice was that she seemed very happy to talk to us this time. Last time she didn't seem unhappy we'd called, but this time she seemed very excited to hear from us. It was just different. Yulia asked her why she'd gone to bed so early the night before. I guess someone from the village (maybe a worker at the orphanage? We haven't figured that out yet) had taken all but three of the girls out for the night and she was one of the three that didn't go. I don't know if it was something she'd done or just that they'd only had room for a certain number of girls. We didn't ask. She said she'd been very bored and it hadn't been a great New Year's. Sad for her, but that could be very good for us. It may have had something to do with why she'd been excited to hear from us as well.
Anyway, she is still taking dance classes of some kind and loving it. Husband did get bold enough to tell her that we have good dance classes here too. LOL She said they were all watching some dance show (sounded like kind of a "So You Think You Can Dance?" show or something like that) before they went to bed. The package hasn't arrived yet, but she is excited for when it does. She's made us a card that hopefully will get mailed to us soon. We're excited for that.
Little Ira wanted to talk with us as well so we did. She was practicing her English and it was very cute. "Hello. How are you? Goodbye!" LOL She asked Yulia when the package was going to arrive and before even telling us, Yulia told her not to worry and that it should be there soon. LOL That sounds very much like Little Ira. :^)
Our Ira got back on the phone soon after that we told her we miss her and love her. I was trying to remember how to say "I love you" in Ukrainian and was too focused on that to hear her say "I love you" in English. Yulia caught it though and as soon as Ira hung up she said, "Did you hear that?" :^)
Nothing was said about adoption or anything like it. We are very encouraged by how well it went though. We are still nervous about how it will all turn out, but we have a bit more hope now than we've had for a couple of weeks.
We actually talked with Yulia for about 15 or 20 minutes more after we hung up with Ira and got to know her a little more. She is such a sweetheart and we can't wait to meet her as well. We will go do that before we head to Ukraine so we can take a picture of us all and show Ira who she's been talking to. She said she is getting rather attached to Ira as well so hopefully this all works out well and we're able to bring Ira to meet her when we get back.
It was a good day. :^)
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Some News
Today we received some news. There is a family (lots of you know, I'm sure) that just got back with their kids a few months ago. They called Ira to see why she changed her mind and to tell her of their experiences. What it boils down to is that she doesn't want to leave her friends. Things are going well for her now and when told what's going to happen when she turns 16 she said she didn't care about that right now. Basically, she's 12 years old and can't see far enough ahead to understand what is really going to happen to her. She also has a family there in the town that takes her out and does fun things with her every so often. No, they've never mentioned anything about adopting her. She does like us and enjoyed her time here.
The good thing is that at the beginning of the conversation she was still, "No, I don't want to be adopted." By the end, however, she said yes she does, but no she doesn't. To me at least this isn't a, "No way" kind of a thing and there is a chance she'll change her mind.
Our plan of action right now is to call her often and send her pictures of the things we're doing together. Not to mention, keep praying. Hopefully things will go even a little better when that package arrives. It should be there sometime this next week.
The good thing is that at the beginning of the conversation she was still, "No, I don't want to be adopted." By the end, however, she said yes she does, but no she doesn't. To me at least this isn't a, "No way" kind of a thing and there is a chance she'll change her mind.
Our plan of action right now is to call her often and send her pictures of the things we're doing together. Not to mention, keep praying. Hopefully things will go even a little better when that package arrives. It should be there sometime this next week.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
We Have a Date!
We got word from Ellie today. We've got our date for February 9th. Move us on up, Andreas! Now if we just knew what was bothering Ira and if there is a chance she'll change her mind.
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