Pray for our friends...

http://bringingkatyahome11.blogspot.com/    Please pray for our friends. Their daughter who they adopted from Ukraine is having a very risky brain surgery on the 21st of March...they covet prayers.

This place I have grown to love...

D's facility is so big. There are almost 400 special children that live here...they are not all children, some are older women. This picture is a of the bedridden section where D lives.

One of several clothes lines we pass everyday at the facility. The children really work in this place like it is a home. The children have chores of bringing the clothes in or hanging them out.

Three of many stray dogs. One section of the building allows the children/teens to have cats inside...we have never seen animals near the bedridden section of the facility.

Apartments we pass everyday near the facility.

 The snow here is beautiful. This was our view today coming up the stairs leaving from seeing D.

 This is Titiana who supervises all of our visits...sweet lady we really love her.

 Precious boy, wonderfully made by the Lord

We walked alot today.

 This is walking up to the front door where we go in.

 Once our taxi drops us off at the gate, we walk this path to the front of the facility.

The well known gate :) We get dropped off here. There are guards on the inside who are very intimidating...after about a week of coming, all the guards recognized us as the Americans and let us in with no problems.

A good day

Thank you for your prayers. A quick summary of our busy day. We met with the judge this morning who had requested to see us today. When we arrived she decided she did not want to meet with us but did want to check our paperwork. She found one little thing she wanted changed ( a very small error)...we ran around doing that then took our papers back to her. She asked us to come into her office, she reviewed our paperwork once again and said she was happy with that and pleased with our papers. She said she would see us soon (yes, we know the date ) for court! She seems very strict but seemed kind.

Our plans are to have court soon, Lord willing gain a son  :)(Though it is not official until the 10 day waiting after court is up). Leave here on Sat. Get to TX on Sun. Leave for SD on Tues. Get home to SD on wed....I will fly out with a friend to return to the Ukraine to pick up D and to finish about 2 weeks worth of final paperwork.

We had a great day...God answered prayers. We were able to learn more of D's medical history and more about his parents/past which is a very big miracle!

Thank you for the prayers....now off to get tickets home :)!

Here are some more kids...

 To the left is a lady selling flowers, we see this everywhere and they are pretty cheap.

 Ukraine makes wonderful use of the underground. Below you will find many shops and restaurants.

 The opra house across the street from our apartment.

A church down the street from our apartment.

Preliminary Hearing today (Monday)

The juge requested a preliminary hearing for today that did not require our attendance, only with the social worker and the judge. Now the judge has requested another preliminary hearing tomorrow morning (Tuesday). Please pray all will go smoothly when we meet the judge tomorrow.

Anna, Naomi, Luke and Beth

Here are some interesting things that are different in the Ukraine....

 Light switches

 toilet flusher on top

 Electrical sockets

This is how we purchase our water. Here this cost a little over one American dollar.

It is Sunday....

tonight U.S. time, our judge will be meeting with the social worker from the town D is in for the Preliminary hearing. This is the first time our facilitator said he has had a judge request a preliminary hearing and extra paperwork. We have to remember though that this judge has not done many adoptions. There have only been 4 adoptions from the institution D is in since it was established. Please pray for this and even pray if everything goes well that she (the judge) would possibly move our court date up some days.

I am so ready....

to get this little boy and be home as a family again.

Monday (Sunday night U.S. time)

We have a preliminary hearing. We do not have to attend this in fact it will just be our judge meeting with the social worker. Please be in prayer that this hearing goes well and that all will stand for us to have court later next week.

A great day

I cannot wait to add 4 more kids to this picture, then it will be just right. We had a great day with D. His attitude today was wonderful, the best we have seen yet. He ate well, drank almost the whole cup of juice....and....he wanted to show off today and walked by himself without holding on to us. He actually likes it that way. He is very independent but believe me Mike and I were spotting him in case he fell, since all the nannies are watching. He walked alone without assistance a lot today and did great! He also displayed more interest in his ball today, he spent some time trying to study it. So, we saw great progress today! We are thankful to God for this.

The rest of our day in pictures....not for the weak

Some of our day...

 He loves to be talked to.

 This cup worked a little better...we still have some work to do with the cup. He loves Mike and is very peaceful with him.

 Sweet Hands

Love those pink socks.

Little girl "V" managed to make it into the halls many times today :) She was pretty determined to see us I think...she calls me Momma :)

Our day...

This is how we ended our day, washing clothes in our washer known as the big tub. (or I should say this is how Mike ended his day, thank you honey!)

We went out today in search of a cup for little "D". When we visited with him on Monday we had brought a sippie cup and worked with him for over an hour. He was trying so hard...we had filled a sippie cup with juice (apple since he is allergic to citrus, they say) after a hours time only 1/4 of the juice was gone and I would guess about 80% of that he did not actually get..most came out his nose. He has to do all his drinking sitting straight up or else it goes right through his cleft palate and into his nasal cavity. He was so so thirsty and he does not understand how to bite down on the nipple and suck at the same time...actually he cannot suck but did plenty of bitting down trying to get anything he could out of that cup. We got him a new cup, hope it works for him tomorrow. I said all that to say we also got him his first pair of new shoes today...size 6. That is what he wears at the facility and they seem to fit good with enough room to still grow in. Children's clothes here are very expensive..I am thankful I purchased things for him back in the states. The only thing we needed were shoes.

For my kids...

Anna, Naomi, Luke and Beth...

Yesterday Momma and Daddy went to church with some missionary friends here in the Ukraine, we then spent the rest of the day with them. These are some things we see at the grocery stores. Thought you might (or maybe not) like to see :)

 Octopus

 fish

pig

Our New Apartment...

We decided to make the move to a new town, about an hour and a half from D. We will now only visit with him 3 times a week but we now have wonderful internet access which allows us to communicate back home and we have food here we can eat! We are thankful for our nice apartment!

Thursday

Yesterday we had our usual visit with D. We always feed him first and right after feeding him he became very uncomfortable as if his stomach was cramping. We know he has some digestive problems so we signaled for his nanny who picked him up and started walking with him. This immediately helped him, so we spent much of yesterday's visit walking the halls.

We covet your prayers now more than ever. We do have our court date. There are many things going on that may or may not put our adoption at risk. The spiritual battle we are facing here is intense and just that, a battle. We must keep our eyes on Christ and place all our trust in Him alone. I know I ask every post but please we covet your prayers on behalf of us, our adoption, our children and Sarah and Jody who have taken on with such sweet attitudes the care of our 4 more precious gifts.


"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory..." Ephesians 3:20

So fit for me today....

"Whereas the Lord was there."
Ezekiel 35:10

Edom's princes saw the whole country left desolate, and counted upon its easy conquest; but there was one great difficulty in their way-quite unknown to them-"The Lord was there"; and in his presence lay the special security of the chosen land. Whatever may be the machinations and devices of the enemies of God's people, there is still the same effectual barrier to thwart their design. The saints are God's heritage, and he is in the midst of them, and will protect his own. What comfort this assurance yields us in our troubles and spiritual conflicts! We are constantly opposed, and yet perpetually preserved! How often Satan shoots his arrows against our faith, but our faith defies the power of hell's fiery darts; they are not only turned aside, but they are quenched upon its shield, for "the Lord is there." Our good works are the subjects of Satan's attacks. A saint never yet had a virtue or a grace which was not the target for hellish bullets: whether it was hope bright and sparkling, or love warm and fervent, or patience all-enduring, or zeal flaming like coals of fire, the old enemy of everything that is good has tried to destroy it. The only reason why anything virtuous or lovely survives in us is this, "the Lord is there."
If the Lord be with us through life, we need not fear for our dying confidence; for when we come to die, we shall find that "the Lord is there"; where the billows are most tempestuous, and the water is most chill, we shall feel the bottom, and know that it is good: our feet shall stand upon the Rock of Ages when time is passing away. Beloved, from the first of a Christian's life to the last, the only reason why he does not perish is because "the Lord is there." When the God of everlasting love shall change and leave his elect to perish, then may the Church of God be destroyed; but not till then, because it is written, JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, "The Lord is there."

Morning and Evening - Spurgeon

Tonight

(Thurs.) I am thankful we are in a new place but I am SO SO homesick for my babies.

Our Plans....

we have decided to stay here in country until our court date. We are however, moving to a town about an hour and a half down the road. We love being here so close to little D but the internet hardly works for me to communicate back home. We will now be making longer drives back and forth to see D but Lord willing we will be in town that can better meet our needs. After court there is a 10 day waiting period in which Mike and I plan to return to Texas, get our kids and go home to SD. We will then fly back to the Ukraine to finish up paperwork and get our son, Lord willing. We always covet your prayers for favor with this adoption and for our family as we are apart for so long. We are thankful for the care they are under and for Sarah and Jody's love for our children.

Day 4 with D

Today was another good visit with D. We pretty much have the same routine now when we go to visit. We walk in, stop into the main office, get our little blue plastic shoe covers and our white coats on and then wait on the nanny who supervises our visits to come get us and take us to D. The nanny who supervises our visits reads the whole time, she never bothers us and is very kind. However, something about supervised visits is extremely draining to me. We have been bringing baby food for him (he seems to be able to eat it much better than sliced bananas) and usually feed him first. We have been working with him a little on gripping a ball and on standing. I usually cuddle with him and read to him a book, he loves that. Mike usually walks the halls with him and of course is always doing something to make him laugh.

D has a long road ahead of him. We can only imagine how hard things are for him. Not being able to see, nor can he talk...he makes no sounds. Hearing seems to be his strongest sense...he is very soothed by hearing us whisper into his ears.


His facility is a very big place and as we walk the halls on our way to D, we pass residents of all ages. The kids are usually kept in their rooms but it seems the older residents are allowed to walk the halls freely. The residents love to shake hands and give hugs. We saw little V yet again today...such a HAPPY girl with many smiles :)


We have some news...we have a possible court date...2 weeks from now...it is not definite yet. We hope to hear the definite date before the weekend.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us with needed wisdom, favor of the judge, for our children and for Sarah and Jody.

Pray Pray

I know I mentioned this in the last post but please pray tonight that the judge will be happy to see us very very soon. Because we are paying nothing additional...he can say see you in 8 weeks...this means we come home without D and then come back for court. In the mean time so much could happen to where D could possibly no longer be available by the time we get back for court. Mike and I desire to walk in integrity and believe the Lord will honor that...Yes, God is with us in Ukrain*...He has not forsaken us.

Day 3 with D

We had another good visit with D today. Today we decided to try to feed him first since yesterday we tried to feed him at the end of our visit and he fell asleep, he ate very well! He loves to be read to and to play with his ball. We also noticed they gave him a nice haircut yesterday.We saw little girl V today to...I think their schedules will allow us to see her everyday...she is such a dear girl. We meet with the director this morning and all seemed to go good. We hope to have a court date tomorrow. Please please pray the judge's heart would be softened towards us and that he/she would be pleased to see us very very soon.

Great Day

We are so thankful we were welcomed to visit with D today. We had a great visit with him. Our visiting hours are from 10-12noon...after about an hour he got pretty restless. He is a precious gift, I know no other way to describe it but I feel like he was made just for our family. Today as his little pants continued to fall off, I am reminded of just how tiny he is, and to remember he is 6 is a bit hard for me to comprehend. He did well today, always laughing, always wanting to try to walk.  Half way through our visit we had the nurse cut up a banana for him as we were told we could bring bananas/apples/yogurt...for him...when she got back he was sound asleep :)...so he never got to eat his banana. Tomorrow we will try to feed him first because we do sense he is very very hungry. Today we did notice his cleft palate and it seems pretty severe. We also noticed from baby pictures he had a cleft lip, he now has a scare there so we are assuming at some point his cleft lip was repaired. Our plans as of now are to take him home to SD long enough to unpack, wash clothes and have some family time...then we plan to take him down to Denver Childrens. However if he does not eat well or if we notice him to not be thriving as well, we will take him straight to Denver Childrens. We will play it all by ear.He does show characteristics of being in an institution....he does some shaking of his head back and forth and some thumping of his head with his fingers....all of these we know to behaviors picked up by children who are institutionalized. He displays these behaviors but they are pretty minimal. We have heard and seen such wonderful testimonies of what love and proper care can do for these children once they leave the institution and join a family. D has a long road to go but he is very much an able child, he is a blessing.

And this was so sweet....we told some of you of little girl V in the same facility as D...Mike and I prayed hard about adopting her as well on this trip but decided we would keep praying for her and maybe, Lord willing after getting our family and D settled come back and get her...our hearts are so burdened for her. Well today guess who passed down the hall...little V, I could not believe it, out of 300 or so children and we only saw maybe 25 today and one was her!!...and she too is TINY for 9 years old....we waved to her and guess what she said to us...she smiled and said Momma, Momma, PaPa, PaPa :)

Here are some pictures.

 He thinks PaPa is so funny

 Today we brought a ball, a really soft lamb that moves and makes music, a musical puzzle and some books. The lamb he was not interested in, the puzzle we did not even get out, it is far to advanced for him now. I did read to him a book and he loves to sit still and listen and we worked today on grasping a ball, he did very well with it.

 That sweet face melts my heart :) All 5 faces of my sweet children melt my heart! I am blessed!!

 He loves to be loved.

 Anna, Naomi, Luke and Beth...remember this picture you made for Dmitriy? We gave it to him today :) Daddy also tried to do spider on a jeep with him really slow and he loved it!

This girl is a resident here at the facility. She walked by and ran to me and would not stop giving me big hugs...so I just kept on hugging her, she is precious. She saw my camera and got so excited...she wanted her picture taken, so here it is precious girl. I may try to find a way to develop this for her. I think she would love to have her own picture.

We saw many children today with various conditions...all tucked away to be forgotten by others but not by the Lord...He is the father to the fatherless.

Today our facilitator told us we could possibly be assigned a court date soon...we could hear of our court date tomorrow or Wed...praying court will be soon.

Sunday

 My favorite things in this hotel...pictures my babies drew for me to bring along. Thank you Anna, Naomi, Luke and Beth for my pretty art work!

 View from our hotel window. This is the only hotel in the city. Our other option was to stay in a much nicer hotel about 2 hours away and take a taxi for visits with D. We choose to stay here in his city and be about 10 minutes from his facility. We have pretty good heat, pretty good internet connection and some water :) Taking a shower in pretty interesting. The water cuts on and off during the shower, the water pressure is very little but thankfully what water does come out is hot :)!

 Our very kind friends.

Out sightseeing on a cold evening,

Hot tea inside is much better :)!

We had a very big dinner...not so sure what we ate but just praying it does not make us sick.They did kindly order and we did eat :) Dinner always seems to end with tea and chocolates and I am up for that anytime.

Yesterday we meet some friends....they live here in the city where we are staying and work in the local grocery. They are our age and newly married. They are Christians and speak enough English)they have studied English on their own for 7 years) where we can carry on a conversation :)! They are very very curious about America. Yesterday we went to eat at the local pizzaria and today we went to church with them)the only Christian church in this city and has about 500 members), did some sight seeing and then had dinner. Please pray tomorrow (Monday morning for us...Sunday night for you :) that we will be allowed to visit with D without any problems.

*** our interesting observation is the lack of children here...in a church of about 450-500 adults, we saw maybe 8-10 children. Since we have been in Ukra**e we have seen hardly any children, though the orphanages and institutions are full to capacity.