Waiting...

Oh the waiting game...not so much fun.
It is so strange being here, in this country, and knowing that our little girl is off in another country, without us. :(

I want so badly for her to be here, to be home with us. I know the procedure, i know we wait and wait some more. It doesnt get easier. I feel like there is a missing piece, a hole in our family.

I watched and listened today as Noah was getting his shoes on this morning for school and Gracie was fixing her hair for the hundreth time, they were discussing who was going to squeeze Adelee the hardest and longest when she gets home, so sweet. Gracie then reached over and grabbed the sweet little picture of her baby sister and started to kiss all over it. I can not wait for the bonds to start to form between these three children. To witness the love that has over flowed from Noah and Gracie all these months to engulf this little girl. She will not know what hit her. There are soo many people here waiting with us.. Waiting to see her and to experience the wonder she is going to have over all of lives.

Joe and I have spent sometime talking about the difficulties we will have. We know it is not going to be easy. We know that there is going to be a long transition for her, for us, for everyone. We are so looking forward to having her here and making our family complete. Hard times, Good times, sad times.... we are looking forward to it all. GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!!!! We know this, we have lived this, even during my hardest moments in Ukraine-I felt this.

We are trying right now to figure out when Joe will be returning to Ukraine. We know that there are ALOT of holidays in Ukraine during the month of May. There is the international Labor Day-May 1-4, Victory Day-May 9-10, Holy Trinity-May 23-24 and Memorial Day May 31. I know this will through some kinks in our plans.. We will let everyone know when we hear from Oleg or Nadya when we return and when Joe can walk out those orphanage doors and THIS TIME be the one to HELP Adelee wave PAKA!!!!!

Home Safe

Just wanted to let everyone know that Joe made it home safely Thursday afternoon.
He is very tired and trying to adjust to our time here, but safe and sound.

The next travel date will be in two weeks. Joe will return to Ukraine and get Olga immediately!!! He will then have to finish up the rest of the paperwork, her passport and medical. Then she will be on her way home, at last!!! It seems very surreal. We will be spending the last couple weeks preparing last minute details of her arrival and making sure I have everything needed for her.
We want to thank everyone for the prayers and support. We loved hearing from everyone during our trip. We will keep everyone updated on when Joe leaves again and when he will be returning with our little girl..

LeaAnn

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

INTRODUCING....


ADELEE

OLGA

NORMAN

Final Court Visit... CHECK! We are now officially a family of five! All is gravy in Kiev tonight. Olga is our daugter. AND the airlines are open so I will get to fly out super early (2:30 wake up, 5:30 first flight Ukraine time). If all goes well I should be able to fly back in approx. 2 weeks to get Olga and finalize paperwork allowing her to come to America.

Thanks again to everyone that has kept our family in your thoughts and prayers. It is not quite over yet but WOOOOOOOO what a step in the right direction!

O O Cheerios!

I departed to the orphanage this morning armed with a new weapon. Cheerios! Well the Ukrainian equivelant. Taking advice from adoption veterans Rett and Tony I thought an edible peace offering may aid me in this mission to convince Olga that this strange man is trying to win her over to his side. Overall they worked GREAT! Every time she seemed to be getting annoyed with me or things in general I offered up some Cheerios. During the entire visit she had no tears or need for estrogenic intervention. We had a relatively quiet visit with the last 25 minutes with my little girl asleep across my chest. I am not sure of the schedule at the baby house but Olga has seemed tired during several of our visits.I figure it could be any of the following or a combo!
1. She is just waking up when I arrive.
2. She has been up a while and is paying for it.
3. She is still getting medication for her bad cold or any other number of things that they choose to address with a medicine.
4. I am boring!
Knowing that option 4 is untrue I wish I could ask the doctor about some of these things but since I visit the orphanage without a translator my best communication is to nod alot and smile like I kinda know what is going on.

Let's try a video today!

Volcano Watch 2010

Really nothing all that thrilling to post. I had no ride to the orphanage Sunday so it was just another day filled with me trying to find any way possible to kill time. I spend most of my time (not at orphanage) on the internet, taking walks exploring just a bit further each time, or watching the news channels to see what is new with the airlines and the volcano. Seems prehistoric to be concerned with a volcano but right now I am REAL interested in them. Had just over an hour visit with Olga this morning. We did get to go outside ALONE for a short time. The groupa dressed her like a blizzard was forcasted and we went for a short stroller walk and then played on the one swing in the play area. After 15 minutes or so the doctor was returning from one of the other buildings and of course swung by to make sure all was okay. She felt Olga's fingers and nose and went on into the baby house. Not two minutes later a groupa came out and signaled to me that our outdoor adventure time was over. Olga put up with me for about 35 minutes back inside and once she decided it was time to return to her baby room, that was it. She began to cry and instituted the estrogen program to which I have no chance to withstand. A groupa came to the rescue and it was paka, waive, gone. I am going back tomorrow and then have court Wed. to hopefully wrap this first visit up on the high note that she will finally, legally be the fifth member of our little family. Then a funfilled Thursday playing avoid the ash cloud on airplanes.

A Couple Pics

Solution = Balloons + Jesus

After feeling sorry for myself yesterday for the so-so visit to Olga and wondering how I might manage to make it to Wed. for my final court and Thurs. AM for a plane ride HOME (please pray for the volcano to settle or the winds to change) I mustered up the courage to go to the orphanage this morning.
Two things came to light today that refocused my being here.
1)Balloons

I took some balloons with me today and they did the trick, it was a good time! Olga still looked at me a couple times like "Easy fella I'm still not 100% on this papa deal." But overall it was good. 3 other children were out with a groupa in the "lobby" area the whole time (I assume they were having Sat. morning cartoon time)and we all played with balloons and toys. One little girl was Angelena. She is the other child we considered adopting that was on RR site as Ashleigh.

2)Jesus

During the ride this morning I was listening to Hillsong United on the IPod and God laid this on my heart, " This whole trip/ adoption IS NOT ABOUT ME!" I am following HIS call to save this little girl. Who am I to focus on MY needs, MY feelings, MY etc. Some of the lyrics to the song "Solution" really got my head right so I will share them, they are not exact but close :)

GOD BE THE SOLUTION

Open up our eyes so blind
That we might find
The mercy for the need

Fill our hearts with your Compassion

GOD BE THE SOLUTION

It is not too far a cry
Too much to try
To HELP THE LEAST OF THESE

Be a Father to the fatherless
Our Saviour and our King

GOD BE THE SOLUTION

We will be your hands
Be your feet

We will run this race for the least of these
Your Love is all we need

GOD BE THE SOLUTION

In the darkest place
We will be Your Light

We will Run with the Solution
GOD BE THE SOLUTION

THANK YOU JESUS FOR THIS ANGEL!











Hope this Saturday finds you all in a good place!
Noah and Gracie, Daddy loves you and misses you both like crazy.

Joe

Island of Estrogen: Day 1

My plan to get some quality solo time with Olga crashed and burned this morning. When I got to the baby house I had to wait a few minutes while they finished Olga's "massage". 1st problem: Massages! I know its not mud masks and cucumbers but how am I supposed to be a step up from a massage?
After my short wait they brought out my little girl, OKAY PAPA TIME! 2nd problem: Papa time only sounded good to me. Olga stood staring at me like "no way dude, where is the female that usually brings you?"
Not to be disuaded I turned up the daddy charm and we started to play with her toys and I even got I few smiles, usually when she would throw a toy on the floor and look at me, grin, and say with those deep brown eyes, "get'em sucker."
We were okay for about 40 mins. until, 3rd Problem: Boogies, yes boogies! Poor Olga's nose is still running strong and one of the ladies gave us a tissue to use. This is where I overstepped my bounds. I took the tissue from Olga, not good, and attempted to whipe her nose, to clear the boogies. This put her over the limit, she began to cry and when I tried to make it all better it got worse. This started the 4th and final problem: Estrogen, it is all Olga knows! As soon as she started crying I was way outnumbered! The house Groupas and doctor swarmed her and I had no chance to even try to show that I was a caring dad. Olga knows them and despite their efforts to tell her while looking at me "Papa, Papa" Miss Olga was done. They might as well looked at me and said space ship, space ship because she has no clue what a papa or a space ship are! So they returned her to the safe confines of the inner island and I left a little deflated wondering how I could go back tomorrow.
So how is everyone else! That was just the morning! To help it is raining so another funfest day in the apartment WOOOO HOOOOO!

All in a days work to save a life LOL. I didn't get any pics this AM but I will try to get some from Wed. when I had my estrogen anchor with me ;)

Going Solo!

Hello everyone, time for a minor update and a big change. This is Joe and I will be your Ukraine correspondant for the forseeable future. LeaAnn is currently on her way to Indiana to get back to Noah and Gracie. Praise God I checked her flight and all looks good, she was not held up by the closures in northern Europe and UK.
I will be here in Kiev until they decide to dig up our interpol clearance lol. Right now it looks like early next week. Today, after rising way early to see LeaAnn off to the airport my mission was to secure another apartment. As with all things Ukraine adoption it had complications! They took til almost noon to even find an open apartment, uh oHHH, I spent the morning considering life on the streets of Kiev :)
No worries I was able to stay in the same building just on the 7th floor now in another studio that is good but has not seen the update of some of the others. Any hoo, I ventured out for the first time without my travel buddy today and found my way back and everything!
I am going to see Olga in the morning, hopefully she will be feeling even better so I can start my plan to convince her that papa is numero uno!
Thanks so much for all your prayers and support back home. Keep em coming! I will try my hand at posting with some pics of everyones favorite Norman (Olga not me).
Please pray for LeaAnn to have safe return flights and that Noah and Gracie can withstand the "MOM ATTACK" that is upon them.

Joe

Day 18 Here in Kiev

We were able to see little Miss Olga again today!! She seemed to be feeling a little better, but still not 100%.

The orphanage was really busy today, lots of activity, so she was distracted alot.
She loves to be held and rocked and loved on. She just lays very still and listens to us, its so cute.

We also went to court today. Not very eventful. We sat in an office of an official and she read our adoption petition. We answered a few questions and then we were done. That was that. Our interpol form did not come today :( so I will be leaving in about 12 hours on a flight back home by myself. It was not want we planned, but we are fully relying on God, and His plan isnt always ours. It will be nice for Joe to spend some more time with Olga, since he is the one coming back to get her and we want her to be used to him as much as possible.

The flight home will be a long one. I have never flown by myself and on the way here I was soo nauseated and sick from the flight. Hopefully with my Dramamine I will be ok.
Evidently the Ukraine airport is crazy in the mornings, hopefully I will navigate it and figure things out.

Please pray that the interpol paper comes yet today or even tomorrow. Joe will be able to finish things up here and fly home this weekend. I know he wants to get home as bad as I do, he just doesnt show it.

We were able to eat lunch with a family that has been here awhile. They had there 11 yr old adopted son with them. It was very nice to talk with another family that is in the same process and share our stories.

I will try to post pics later, blogger is not letting them download.
Thanks!!!!
LeaAnn

Sorry it has been awhile..

Over the weekend and Monday we continued getting the same information about Olga. "She is sick, has temperature, no visit".

There is such a long story and I would love to share it with everyone, but since we did not make the blog private, I will refrain. Just know we have been tested more in the last week than we have this whole journey. I have leaned on the Lord more in the last few days than I have my whole life.

We did get some bad news that I can share. Nadya called on Monday and told us our interpol paper, the foreign background check that is an extra paper they started this year, is not in. The State Dept. of Adoption says that we have cleared and all is good, but they need the actual paper in their hands to release our adoption approval.


And it currently is "in the mail".

It could possible be in yet today, or even in the morning tomorrow.

If it comes in, yay!, we will be offically her parents after court and will be on our way home Thursday.

But if it does not come in by court tomorrow, Joe will remain here to finish up for a few days, and I will be flying home by myself Thursday.

Joe should only have to be here a few days, just until that paper gets here. Please pray that our meeting tomorrow with the judge goes well and that the interpol paper surprises us in the morning.

We were able to visit with Olga today. She is still such a sick baby, her cough sounds horrible and she has white snot coming out of her nose. Yuck!
But it doesnt change the fact that she has one of the sweetest faces I have ever seen.
She played a little, threw lots of toys (starting to look like a bad habit we started :) ) and we carried her around.

We will also be going in the morning to visit with her before court.
It makes the day so much better to spend time with her and have her in our arms. I thank the Lord that she is on the mend and close to becoming a Norman!!

Today we also went with Nadya to buy some small things for the kids. Hope they will enjoy them. And we finished the afternoon with a lunch at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant that Nadya recommended. It was really good.

I will leave you with some pictures of sweet Olga( you can tell she is not feeling well) and some random photos of Ukraine.







Ok, it must of been Daddy day!!!!






In the pics above we found some beautiful streets to walk along. Joe loved this Audi!!

Poor Little Olga ;(

We drove the long 1 1/2 hour drive this morning to find out again that we are not able to see little miss Olga. When we walked in the nurse was shaking her head no and saying temperature. I asked if we could atleast see her, and she shook her head no.
We were so disapointed. I wish we knew exactly what was wrong with her.

When we went back to the car, Sivlet, our driver, said he would call Nadya. After Nadya called the physician that gave us permission to go today, Sivlet took us back into the orphanage. We were told they would bring her out, but we were not allowed to touch her and to keep our distance. Are you serious!!!

We stood there while this little precious gift of ours walked out holding the hands of one of the workers. She looked pale and tired with a red nose. But she laughed and smiled when she saw us. They held her back from us. The nurse picked her up and loved on her.

She just looked at us, lost...confused.... it was so sad.
Ofcourse not 1 minute later, they told her to say "Paka" (bye) and she was gone.....
All I could do was cry. Sivlet kept saying he was sorry and she was a "good girl".

Im not sure why they wont let us even touch her, whisper in her ear we love her or even spend more than 1 minute with her. They said we could not come back until Monday.

I pray that they let us actually spend time with her Monday. Tuesday is a busy day and we have court on Wed. I want so badly to spend more time with her, especially since I will not be returning on the second visit.

Please pray for her. Pray that her little body stays strong through this illness. Pray that she fights it and is better by Monday. Pray that even in our absence she remembers us and feels and sees the love that we have for her.

I know in my heart they are wanting to protect her, to make her well. They do seem like they care for her. With the language barrier and no contact it is just hard to understand it all. But Im trying, really trying.

Today is our 14th day. We went to our coffee place for lunch. The ladies in their smile at us, and might think that we are stalking them a bit. But the coffee is to die for and the salads are yummy. We even splurged today and tried the cheesecake, it was very good.

Thanks for listening, not much of an update, but its something. One day closer to court date, where she will offically be ours!!!


A Cheese Bouquet we had at a nice restaurant, yummy


We caught a peek of another room at the orphanage. THere was the most precious little girl in there. I started waving at her clapping and she did it right back. She just stood there and smiled. If you look to the right of the picture there is also a baby lying in a play pen. Very sad to know that they will be here once we leave....please pray about adopting...there are soo many more precious gifts here that need a family




There are lots of dogs and some cats that roam the streets. They seem to be everywhere in Olga's city of Vorzel. This dog, if you can see it, is standing at the automatic door entrance to a store. He is thinking very hard about going in everytime it opens. Joe and I thought it was soo cute


A Shell Gas Station. The gas here is cheap, about 1 dollar a gallon



Sorry the picture is poor. We are driving with Sivlet and the traffic is bad. Everyone just does what they want, make a new lane, drive on the other side of the road. Here you can see to the right, they are coming at us in our ditch. Very funny. Sivlet kept saying "little cars, go bump,bump" the ditch is NOT a place to drive, the roads barely are decent.

Day #4 Without Olga

Today was much like the last few days, no Olga. , (

Nadya said that she would call the orphanage doctor this morning to just make sure it was okay to come and visit. When she called, she said the doctor stated she still had a cough and that 10am Saturday we could come back to visit.
It has been so hard this week. Trying to find things to do, stay focused on why we are here, wake up everyday thinking you are going to be able to see her ...
It feels like we have just been here an entire week, and have accomplished nothing.
I could be holding little Olga who is sick and show her love and comfort, or I could be home this week with my other two kids and comfort them, because I know this has not been easy for them either.
I know that is why our court date is next week, I will treasure the time we get to spend with her this weekend and early next week. I hope that she has a simple cold, and that it is not worse than what we are thinking. The doctor has not been specific about it.

Noah is also sick at home now, he sounds horrible on the phone. And even though he says he is fine, all I want to do is be at home with him too. The pull your emotions have on you here is amazing. Throughout the day, there are such a mixture of emotions, it is exhausting sometimes.
I hope the time with her this weekend is precious. Early next week we will be really busy finalizing things and then court. Hopefully one last kiss to our little girl and then off we are to the US.

Please keep Olga in your prayers, that she is feeling better and up for a visit tomorrow. Also Noah, who is at home sick. And little Gracie who keeps asking me when Im coming home.

Hopefully tomorrow we will have loads of pictures for you!!!!

Cant Wait For Tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow we get to return to the orphanage to see our little princess.
We are soo excited. It has been since Monday that we were able to see her, so we can not wait to love on her.
Last night we were able to enjoy authentic tasting Mexican, it was really nice. They also had a live band and they would sing American songs that we could understand every 2-3 songs, so it was nice.
Today we slept in a little. It was nice, very peaceful and the sun was shining in our apartment. We decided to try the sushi restaurant that Nadya said was good, CywuR (sp?) something like that. We did not eat sushi, not our thing :), but we did try the crab potato thingies, which were good. And we both had the fried rice. It was a nice change from the usual. We drink the Coke Light in the bottle and not one place we have been to do they serve it cold. Anyone knows me they know I need my fountain diet coke, so the bottle is just not as good! ;0

We ventured to the market again. We were getting low on stuff and did not know when we were leaving. So since we will be here another week, we stocked up on some stuff. Laundry detergent, soap, toothpaste, water, and Coke Light. We even were a little adventurous today and tried some new things. We bought yogurt, ice cream and milk. Joe is such a milk drinker at home, so it has been almost 2 weeks without it now. So we bought the Moloko, he says it takes just like milk!
Tomorrow we will start to go back to the orphanage. We will go again on Saturday and hopefully convince them to let us come on Sunday!
I think once we start into next week the time is gonna fly. Nadya is taking us shopping on Monday to buy some souveniers for the kids. On Tuesday we are going to the US Consulate for me to sign papers so that Joe can return by himself. Then on Wed. is court and packing, and then Thursday we leave to come home!! Hopefully we will get to see Olga everyday next week and Wed. after court. It will be so hard to say goodbye to her and leave her here, especially after Wed. when they announce her our daughter!!
Im soo excited to have her home the begginning of May. To enjoy the summer with all three kiddos!! We are both excited to let her begin to melt everyones hearts like she has ours.

Not sure why they paint the trees white at the bottom, but we have actually seen them doing it


Beuatiful statues and buildings


Menu at Japanesse Restaurant!!


Daddy eating with chop stiks


The yogurt is super yummy, this one is strawberry and they are in little glass jars!

We Got Court Date!

Nadya called and told us that our court date is next Wed. 14th at 9am. It is definitely not what we expected, but it is what it is. We are thankful that we got the court date and there is no more waiting to see if and when we get it.
We will be hopefully flying out Thursday morning, our travel agent did not see anything immediatly available, but he said he would work on it.
We are still not allowed to see Olga. The orphanage doctor said that she has a cold and needs to rest. Which is best, but I do wish that we could atleast go and hold her. We will be able to go on Friday. We are thankful that we get to see her several more times before we leave, since we have not seen her much this week.

We also will not be getting the same women judge that was expected. She will be on vacation so we will have a new judge. Please pray that he has a kind open heart and will grant Olga to be our daughter next Wed. without any problems.
Joe and I definitely need to keep busy. When we are idle is when we worry and become discouraged.
I think tonight we are taking a taxi to the mexican restaurant called Tequilla House. It will be a nice change and we can celebrate getting our court date.
Now the count down begins. Once we are home, Joe will come back and bring her home.
Like my best friend Karrie said, when I look back on this it will not feel like such a long time and I will cherish the time I spend her country.
Thanks for all the prayers!!!!
Will leave you with some pictures




Olga's Orphanage


A Walmart type store

I will try and post one more video sometime today or tomorrow, our computer does not want to download it right now.
Luv ya!!!

No Court Date :(

We did not recieve our court date today. We waited most of the day and finally called Nadya out of anticipation. She told us that they were able to submit everything needed today to the judge. Which is great, the social worker was able to get everything together. Nadya said that the judge was too busy today to look at it, so we will hear the court date tomorrow.
I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that court will not be until next week, but Im trying to remain positive.

We drove to the orphanage this morning, like every other morning. When we arrived one of the workers kept trying to speak to us in Ukrainian, we could not understand what she was saying. She put her hand to her head and we realized she was talking about Olga being sick. We called Nadya to translate for us and sure enough she is a sick little baby. They told us to come back another day!!!! I wish they would of let us sit and hold her and love on her. We would not mind her being sick around us. But they pretty much told us to leave.;( We then drove the almost hour back to Kiev.

The rest of the day was spent getting our internet back up and running. This evening we went to the Italian restaurant for dinner. We were able to speak to the kids tonight. Gracie has bronchitis, so please pray that she starts to feel better. I dont like being away from my kids when they are sick, Gracie or Olga!

Nadya said that the orphanage asked us to come back maybe THurs or Friday when she is feeling better. So now tomorrow we have no plans. I think we might go to the Chernobyl museum and maybe purchase a few gifts for Nadya and the orphanage ladies.

We want to thank everyone for all the kind words and prayers. It is so nice to hear from everyone back home. We are hoping the next time you read the blog we will have a court date!!!!
God Bless,
LeaAnn

Post #1

VIDEOS!!!!

Post #2

>

Sorry we have not posted since Saturday. We are not able to connect to the internet in our room. We have continued to go to the office, since it is in our building, frequently and ask to have it fixed. Nadya told us to be persistent. They do not seem real eager to fix it, but we hope that now that we are currently sitting in their office using their wifi, it will encourage them to fix ours!! ;)

Sunday was quiet. Church bells started to ring periodically Saturday night and went on unitl Sunday afternoon. It was beautiful to hear. People were also walking down the street with lit candles. We went to our coffee place and had cottage cheese type cakes with jam, they were good. It was raining off and on, so we stayed in most of the day.
Today, we were able to see our little stink bug. She came out and I held out my arms and....she went right past me to go and clung to him. :) Today was all about daddy. She sure does get a kick of him. We played and played. She loves to do things and watch out reaction. She has mastered her computer book with the mouse now!!
SHe started to get sleepy when I was holding her singing "Jesus loves me", the lady came out and motioned to take her if she was asleep, I said no and we tried our best to keep her awake so that we can keep her with us. She went back and forth between the two of us and finally fell asleep in daddy's arms. THe lady came back and noticed she was asleep and took her. Gosh, I wish she would understand how good it feels to hold her when she is sleeping.
Joe and I also fall asleep on the way back to our apt listening to our ipods. Very relaxing :) Besides the huge potholes that Sivlet has to do try and miss!! We bought him two packs of his cigarettes that he smokes and gave to him this morning, he said celebration!!! And asked if we were catholic? It was nice to try and speak with him about his religous beliefs. He said he is also christian.
Tonight we are going to stay low and maybe do a quick dinner. Tomorrow is one of the big days, Nadya and Oleg are going to court to submit everything and get us a court date. We are super excited about this, I have butterflies in my stomach! We are still praying they will tell us Thurs or Friday of this week will be court!
Ok, here are your pics!!!

Ok, whoever said it felt like groundhog day here, they were right!
Today Sivlet drove us the 40 mins to the orphanage again. He is a man of few words, and few English words. But he is kind none the less.
Today, the weather is much like the last two days, mild,overcast and raining. Please do not tell me what it is like at home ;)
When we arrived, the ladies now all know why we are there, "Olya's momma, pappa!!!".
It is so sweet, and they are so nice and gentle with her.
She came out and was all business. She looked for the strawberry shorcake bag and when she saw it she screamed. Everytime she looked in it she screamed with excitement. It was the first time she has done this.
We played with her stacking cups and the baby doll with the magnet pacifer JOe had bought her back home. She loved it. Actually what she still loves the best is to throw it all on the floor and point with her tiny cute finger and looks at Joe! Already training him!!

We bought her a cloth book with a magnet type mouse that you move over the book and it makes sounds, she caught on quickly and enjoyed that too. We keep trying to get her to dance to the music of a toy, but she wont. Then one of the ladies came out and said dance in Ukrainian and she started right away!!!Too cute.
A young girl arrived and brought decorated glass type eggs to be hung up for Easter and a large sign that said something in Ukrainian with a picture of Jesus. It was nice to know someone brought that to the orphanage!! She also brought in candy for the children and balloons. When Olga saw those she was done with us. She kicked and threw the ballons around for atleast 45 mins. She loved them.
The young lady came over and said did you speak to my grandmother yesterday? Ofcourse I looked at her in confusion. She said that the lady is her grandmother and not related to Olga but has come everyday for 9 months to see Olga. So this explains the older women yesterday, she is not Olga's grandmother, just someone who comes to visit her. Hope Im making sense;) The young lady said that her grandmother had a son with Down Syndrome and she loves to come visit the children here and has become attached to Olga. She also said that they do know Olga's mom, her name is Linnia (sp?) and Olga has an older sister!! We exchanged email addresses to keep in touch.
It is nice to know a little more information about Olga's family and know too that she has touched the lives of others.
Our visit ended and they held her and told her to blow us kisses and she did. We both kissed her and said PAKA!! One of our few words we know.
We will not be able to see her Sunday. We are going to eat a nice breakfast in the morning and then watch Passion of the Christ, we are still not adventurous enough to try and find a church.
Monday we will go see her again and on Tuesday Oleg and Nadya go to court for us to get a court date, for hopefully sometime that same week!!
We want to first thank Jesus, for leading on us on this amazing journey. We are thankful that He has brought us here to her, no matter how difficult it has been. We also want to thank everyone at home for the encouraging words and love that you have shown.
I will leave you with a few pictures of our sweet angel!

Day #2 With Olga

Today started off much like yesterday. Early to rise, about 1am your time!!! Thankfully the traffic was not as bad and it only took 40mins to get to the orphanage. This time we were only taken by our driver, Sivlet. He is very kind though.
When we arrived they brought her out to us quickly. She was so stinkin cute and just giggled as she walked towards us. All of the ladies there rub our arms and say Mama and Papa, so that Olga get used to us. She sat on Joes lap for quite some time trying to take it in. We are kinda strange people ;)

After her brief moment of shyness, she came out of it!!! She loves the stackable cups, thanks Rett for the idea!!. She did start to throw them and make papa go get them. Which I thought was funny, so did she!
We were allowed to spend 2 hours with her and the time went by so fast. We were left in what I call the lobby area and there is lots of distraction. She adores the women that work there, they all tease her and she smiles. Very reassuring to know what they have tried to provide for her the last 2 1/2 years.
She loved playing with this popping toy, everytime it made a sound she looked at us and we jumped and she laughed. We did "get the mama" again, and ofcourse she giggled alot. And she loves Joe's cell phone, with the dice game. She shakes it like crazy to get it to work!!!
She reached for me and put her head on my shoulder and I sang You are My Sunshine (Gracie, she likes it just like you), I must of sang that 4 times and she almost fell asleep. Very sweet girl.

And then we had a surprise. A lady came in that we recognized from some pictures that we had gotten from another family. When Olga saw her she just lit up. All of sudden the women started crying hysterically, holding Olga, pointing towards to ceiling saying "Jesus" and a bunch of other stuff we could not understand. Tatiana,I think she is one of the doctors or one of the head ladies came out and must of told her to give her to us, then she left. The lady continued to cry and cry and hold onto her. I called Nadya and asked her to please speak to her and find out what she is saying.
Come to find out, she is Olga's grandmother. She has wanted to take Olga for along time but has not been able to. And she said she has prayed and prayed that Jesus would bring a mommy and daddy for Olga. Nadya said she wanted to give us her blessing and her phone number. THe grandmother took the phone again and started bawling. I felt so sorry for her, the two sides of the pain of such an answered prayer for her granddaughter, losing her and her finding a family. I spoke with Nadya one last time and she told me that Olga's mother has alot of addictive problems and she does not want her to be with her. She hugged and kissed JOe and I. At this point many of the workers came out and were talking to her matter of factly. Pointing to us, saying Papa, Mama!!! Olga was upset by this point and did not know what to do. One of the ladies grabbed a ball and started helping us distract Olga while she walked out.
I dont know if we will see her again. Or if Olga will see her again. I felt so sorry for her, I cant imagine what she is feeling. I just hope that she saw the love in our eyes for Olga as we stared helplessly at her.
We finished the day playing and laughing with her. And then it was over. THey took her for lunch and we said PAKA!!! SHe waved and then was gone.
Joe and I went back to our little coffee house and had salads and coffee and gelato (sp). We also went to a toy store and got her a baby doll that sings a nursery rhyme (we are guessing) in Ukranian.



THis is our coffee spot!! They have good lunch too!!


Loving on Papa!!




Sweet baby!




More of sweet little Olga!!
Keep us in your prayers, still no word from Social Worker.
Love ya LeaAnn