Thursday in Kiev

We had our SDA (State Dept of Adoption) this afternoon and all went well. It was a little intimidating at first cause the woman was asking ALOT of questions, well we later found out afterwards that the lady that normally does these appointments was out sick and we had the "headhancho" for ours. She was the director for the adoptions. Now we understand, Yulia (our facilitator/translator) said this woman has 2 friends with children w/ DS and she wanted to make sure that we take care of them in the US. We reassured her that in the US, children and adults with DS prosper and have an opportunity to go to school, work, etc. All she did was give us a HUGE smile and wished us well.
Bryce ( well otherwise known as Ivan- as we found out today is his biological name) We are not sure where Vanya came from and I was so excited leaving I forgot to ask. I'll find out tomorrow. Tom and I are thinking its a stage name. His parents were 29 (mom) and 26 (dad) when they gave him up at birth. He has a sister that lives with them.They gave him up due to the DS,knowing that in the Ukraine, they just don't have resources to take care of him. We were told has a perfect clean bill of health from several doctors, which was good news!

Kiev is definitely a big city...everyone walks fast, moves fast and certainly the driving here is crazy. I thought driving in NYC was nail biting, doesn't even compare to the driving here. And certainly no speed limits. LOL! We managed to get some things from the market here, my little bit of Ukrainian is getting us by plus "cherades" helps. Everything here is VERY inexpensive. We had lunch today at McDs and the value meals, cost $3.50 total for two. Our taxi ride this morning, and let me tell you it took at good 25min through traffic and that only cost $3.38. It's AWESOME!

Tonight we are meeting another RR family here at TGIF for dinner. Very excited to meet another couple in our shoes and can speak with us! Please say prayers for them as they are having some paperwork issues. Hoping for it to be cleared up tomorrow. The only good thing is that we will both have each other until Monday. Yes, unfortunately since the referral for us won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon, we won't be able to go the orphanage until Monday. Thankfully, it's only 1.5hours from here in car.
Here are some pictures since we've gotten here.

picture of Bryce from earlier days-They love to layer on the clothes! They had a recent picture of him in overalls, super cute. Was unable to get that one.
One of many beautiful churches-outside SDA
Tom and I in front of the SDA office


bedroom
living room
kitchen
bathroom

Well keep you all posted as we move along!

Big Bird has Landed in Ukraine

We,thankfully, have arrived safely! Awful flights but I'll save that description for another. We have a very nice quaint apartment. Waiting on one of the adoption team members to come and give us the low down. Weather is great at about 50 degrees, of course everything is in celcius so I have to do my converting. Tom is fast asleep. We'll adventure out soon for some dinner. Hoping to get in touch with some of the RR families. So if you are reading this, please shoot me a comment cause we don't have a phone yet.
Tomorrow is our SDA (state of adoption) appointment, looking forward to that cause we'll get more of a history on Vanya (aka Bryce).
Thanks for all the departing warm wishes! Hugs and Kisses to all :)

T-22hours..Leaving on a jet plane

Well I wouldn't say a jet plane, considering we'll be flying on 3different planes. Yes, the butterflies are full force. Making sure we have the right essentials with us for several weeks,but not packing too much. It's crazy! Cleaned the house. I think I've been to Target at least 3times in 2days. I just can't believe this 15month journey of paperwork is not becoming a reality. Our little man is FINALLY coming home! I pray that everything goes SMOOTHE as a new baby's butt. :). Well the next update will be coming from the Ukraine. Keep a look out!

T-5days

Ok so the countdown has begun! Today was my last day at work, picked up needed money from bank, Now just need to pack our bag. Can't believe in 5 days we will be boarding our plane to meet and pick up our son!
I can not believe this is going to happen! We are soooo EXCITED!

Butterflies

So is it humanly possible to have this many butterflies for this long!!! In 13days we will be in Kiev and 48hours from meeting our little man! There is so much to do before leaving and can't think straight cause all I can think about is loving on this little human being. No more pictures to look at every day, we will actually be able to wrap our arms around him and let him know that he is saved. It's so surreal!
SUPER EXCITED!!

Ukraine Bound Sept 30th

Tom and I are super excited, nervouse,elated,giddy.... We got our SDA date for Sept.30th. Can't believe it's really going to happen.
Thank you for all the prayers,special thoughts and just listening to me vent for the last year of this process.
Can't wait to continue with the NEW journey coming up with you all!!
YAHOO!!!!!