Newsflash!

Court date for Logan is Tuesday April 1st! Thank-you for all your support.

Updates

Well we are officially the parents of Artem/Cody. We had our court appointment on Tuesday and were hoping to have court in Ladyzhin this week also, but that isn't going to happen, unfortunately. I talked to Alex this morning and the news. timewise, doesn't sound good, although he gave nothing specific. We need to know when to change Brad's ticket to, as it costs a lot everytime you change it and we already changed it once. I have not seen either boy but I am going to move to Bila TSerka this weekend if I have to do it myself. I was told Elena went to Ladyzhin today to take papers, why she would go without us I do not understand. We did not arrange things at home with this long of a stay for both of us in mind. If Brad could go home I could take the waiting with less stress. I am of course very happy that Cody's court date is over and went well. We are able to get him and start collecting his passport etc. on April 7th. I know in the long run everthing will work out, but for now I have many concerns and am finding it hard to wait. Hope to have good news about Vlad/Logan soon.

Happy Easter!!

We are spending a quiet Easter looking forward to having 2 court dates this week. Brad plans to leave on Friday. This morning I said in honor of Easter, I wanted to buy some Ukrainian Easter eggs, Brad is hard of hearing and thought I said dye Easter eggs and thought I was crazy. It is the first Easter in over 30 years that I haven't. Yesterday we walked to St. Sophia's Cathedral and toured it. We had gone before and it happened to be closed that day, I am so glad we went back. It is truly amazing with frescos and mosaics from the 11th century. Much has been renovated over the centuries, but they point out the original as well as actuallu cut away areas in the floors and walls to show original floors and tile work. It was very interesting and beautiful, so hard to imagine how they were able to create something like that so long ago.
As I said before, we are hoping for 2 court appointments this week! Monday we hope to have Artem's and then Vlad's on Wednesday. I will try to get some pictures in Ladyzhin, hopefully one of Sergey. I also hope to get pictures at Artem's orphanage, there is the cutest little blondie that looks like he is about 3 and is active and just adorable. I don' t know if he is available for adoption, but will find out what I can.
We are feeling much more positive today and hope we are on our last stretch.

No court today

We are disapointed that our court appointment was cancelled for today since the SDA approval was not back. It is supposed to be back today and hopefully court on Monday. Vlad's paperwork is here from Ladyzhin I'm told, but I am unsure if it was submitted to SDA yet or not. Our adoption is not like any other I have heard about. In the almost month we have been here we have seen Vlad once and Artem 4 times, only one of those times was for 2 hours. We are staying in Kiev per facilatator's request and pretty much, just killing time alone. We haven't had this much togetherness in the last 30 years. Maybe God wants to strengthen our marriage before adoption. I think this game is in overtime then. I know it won't be much longer.

Hanging Out

We are just hanging around our apt. in Kiev waiting for our Friday court appointment and to hear if the papers for Vlad's SDA approval and court date have arrived. We do a lot of walking around the city checking things out. Today we found a huge department store that wasn't as expensive as most of the in city shops. I'm trying to find a pair of black shoes so I can wear a skirt to court on Friday. Most of the women's dress shoes have extremely high heels and what I have seen are expensive, I think I'll wear pants I never learned how to walk in heels and after all this walking my feet hurt just thinking about it. It is amazing that almost all of the women wear stilletto heeled boots and shoes and don't seem to have any trouble walking on brick and cobblestone sidewalks and streets. You see very unusual and beautiful coats worn everywhere and also gorgeous boots and purses. The young women wear their jeans skin tight and skirts very short. There is a doctor where I work named Ekaterina, she some times comes into the hospital wearing jeans so tight she draws a crowd, I wonder if she is Ukrainian.
On a different subject, I have discovered I have been spelling Bila Tserka wrong, according to a map we bought today. I'm not sure that is right either.
Only a day and a half until I have a new son!!! Cody Artem Fessler!

Court Date

We have our court date for Cody, it is this Friday at 9:oo, if we have our SDA approval back by then. If we don't get it back in time it will probably be Monday. We are hoping tomorrow we will go back to Ladyzhin, here again we have complications as Anton our driver is out of town and Roman, who has been facilitating for us, is starting on another case. We are waiting to hear from Alex what is going to happen. Since we are staying in Kiev we have few visits even to see Cody. I hope after court I can locate close to one of the orphanages. Not in the best of moods today, but I am glad for the court date.

Playing with Cody

More visits to Billa Vserka

We have been spending long days trying to get paperwork submitted so we can get a court date. We have also had a good time getting to know Artem. He is a busy little guy and mimics what he sees. I think he will do very well with sign language. The orphanage is really very good. We sat for an hour and a half waiting for Artem to get back from a dr. appt, in that time we saw the oldest kids head out to do their chores, the ones with DS almost always grinned at us and waved. The younger groups filed out with their caregivers in twos and here too, the kids with DS were smiling at us ear to ear. One little guy broke loose from his partner and ran to me open armed yelling mama and gave me a big hug. His partner then dragged him off still grinning and waving. We played with Artem outside and in their big playroom. He is a lot of fun and all boy. When we went today Roma told us they said we need to be sticter with him as he is already getting spoiled. I am not sure what it is they think we are letting him get away with, he is bound to be a little wound up with the new attention. It is interesting to get to know his mannerisms, when he is nervous or upset he holds the back of his hand to his mouth. When he is tired he likes to have something in his mouth and hand that he can rub on his face. Tomorrow we will go either to Ladyzhin or back to see Artem, we will find out later. Just trying to be patient with the process.

Quiet, leisurely walk with Mom

Wild and crazy ride with Dad

Visit to Billa Vserka

Yesterday we were able to see Artem and meet with the social worker. It was a long day, 7:00 to 5:30. Things seem to go well, but we didn’t get as much paperwork done as Roma our translator wanted because of the upcoming holiday. Businesses close early and the director wasn’t in. The holiday is a national day for women. It is tradition to give flowers and it must be big business as the flower shops and stands were swamped. Everywhere people were carrying flowers and each place we went there were bouquets already received. We took flowers to the hoity toity social worker. She was dressed to kill, nothing like we would consider appropriate for work attire. We also took flowers to the orphanage, the women that work there seem very nice and caring. The facility seems to be run well.

We told the SW about the facility in our town and how the residents there are very much a part of the community. She said she had been to a conference in Kiev where a black woman spoke, she couldn’t remember her name, she told them how people with disabilities were supported in the US. The SW said Ukrainian government will not help them. She did also ask if we wanted the children to do experiments on them. Roma said people hear these stories and the average person has no idea of the process to adopt and believes it to be true. I don’t think the SW believed, but she did ask.

We brought a toy telephone for Artem and it was the perfect toy for him. It really held his attention, he figured out the buttons and held it to one ear and then the other listening. The caregiver for his groupa said he can dress himself with help, eats regular table food, understands what they say to him, and is cooperative. He really seems to be very curious and quick to learn. We can see how this will be good for Vlad and think they'll get along very well, they will keep us busy for sure.

Artem/Timothy or Cody

We actually have not yet had an official visit with Artem, although we did meet him. When we went to Billa Vserka institution we were unable to contact the social worker needed to officially visit and view documents. The director there did let us see him. He is a little bit of a guy, and is truly one of the world’s all time great huggers. He clings to you as tight as a starfish to the side of an aquarium. We call him the little spider monkey. He has spunk and when the caretaker told him to be quiet he stuck his naughty little tongue our at him. He lookstraveled t good, he does have one eye that turns in a great deal and is a little thin, but otherwise seems to be healthy. The institution appears clean, smells of cooking food, the children are also clean and nicely dressed. The residents are 4-18 years old. As we drove up we saw some of the older ones doing yard work. Inside we got a glimpse of a couple groups filing to various playrooms etc. After meeting Artem we felt we still needed to see Vlad first before being sure of commiting to him, not knowing the condition we might find Vlad in. I have not yet been able to take pictures, we thought we might today, but the social worker we finally got in touch with is a bit of a witch, and keeps putting us off. Hopefully tomorrow, a Ukrainian holiday is coming up this weekend and Yelena our translator says that means people will be celebrating and drunk for days. I can’t imagine it will be safe to go outside, their driving is creative enough without the celebrating.


VISIT TO VLAD/LOGAN

On Friday we traveled to Ladyzhin institution, where Vladimir is living. We went by car driven by our facilitator’s wife Yelena. She is very charming and speaks English well as they lived in the U.S. for 10 years. The trip took 6 hours one way and is many stories in itself. A condensed version: fast driving, Ukrainian rock music playing on the radio, rural Ukrainian life and landscape, speeding tickets, getting lost, Ukrainian food, more getting lost and driving and we are finally in Ladyzhin. First stop was to meet up with the social worker. This was only her third day on the job, which in the long run will be a blessing as she is more flexible and obliging, but initially it took her a long time for the paperwork necessary for our visit, as she had never done it before. We waited in the car while Yelena instructed her. Finally all four of us headed for the institution. To say that it was hidden away is an understatement. Much of the road was just mud, poor Yelena’s Mercedes wasn’t looking to good after this trip. We arrived at a sort of compound of rundown buildings. At one time this was a young communist’s camp, a sort of retreat. The actual site was beautiful, overlooking a river, but was very neglected. We were met by the doctor and a worker, they were aware we were coming. We entered the building apprehensively and were ushered into a room with about 10 or 12 cribs of various heights and sizes. The doctor started pointing out to me the children all naked or with only a diaper, a girl with DS age 12 the size of a 4 year old, a 21 year old the just as small, children with bodies twisted and emaciated, many tied or bound in the bed. It was confusing to me why she was showing and emphasizing the most disturbing sights. I felt myself becoming overwhelmed and afraid of how I would find Vlad, but knew that it was important not to breakdown. I somehow shielded myself, meanwhile Brad was not paying any attention to anyone else, but was going bed to bed looking for Vlad saying “I don’t see him here, this can’t be Vlad, I don’t think he is here. I told him I thought the doctor was just showing us how bad things were. We finally came to his room, as you entered an older skinny boy was tied sitting to the side of his raised crib with a small pot under him. Again there was about a dozen beds filled with sad sights. In the far corner was a little face peeking over the side of his low crib. Brad started saying “here he is, here he is” I said are you sure, he said yes and Yelena nodded, I wasn’t about to drop my guard until I was sure, but then we were all over him, touching him, talking to him. We asked if we could hold him and the doctor said he wasn’t potty trained and he peed and pooped all over. We said we didn’t care and scooped him up. We were beyond happy, a strange sight in this sad place. We were smiling and laughing, kissing and hugging him. It was as if he was our long lost child waiting in this awful place for us to find him. He kept trying to grab our glasses and I tickled him under the chin and he threw back his head and laughed the cutest laugh. Yelena was in tears over the conditions and the social worker had to leave. The doctor kept telling us we were crazy, he would never walk, he would never talk, he would never be able to show us love. We just said he would and if he didn’t it didn’t matter to us. Now we know that it is right to adopt both boys. It seems strange that we could be so happy and still be aware of the tragic circumstances surrounding us. At least for that day we were granted the” peace that surpasses understanding”. I know this may be a long process, but it is worth anything.

Mary Fessler Is An Awesome Actress!!

Tonight my 17 year old daughter is in the play The Works of Shakespeare Abridged, at least I hope that is the title or Mary will be disgusted at her mom for not remembering. I wish I could see it Mary and can't wait to hear about it.
Í will have to wait until Monday to fill you all in on adoption news, but hope to have pictures soon.
Thanks for all the comments and support and humor.