Over the Rainbow-The deVitry's in Ukraine

We are now home - 2 weeks

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:42:46 GMT

Here are some pix, finally. Pix 1-5 are taken by Aunt Sheila one week being home. Pix 6 is last Saturday in Papa's wagon, photo by Uncle Shawn. Pix 7-9 are taken by Babushka on Homecoming Day, March 27. My niece Brianna is in Pix 7 with Joseph Slava. We were all extremely exhausted and jet lagged on that day, as you can see by the dazed look in the kids eyes. After two weeks feeling much better, but I still can't catch up on my housework :) I have since then cut Lillianna's hair into a pixie haircut, as apposed to the beatles boy haircut she did have. You can now see her pretty eyes and face. She loves her cousin Brianna, as do the boys. Brianna is coming to stay with us next week for spring break. She is a precious commodity!!!

These kids are very healthy and busy. I hope to have more time in the near future to tell more of the story. Basically, it all went like clockwork. First referral, travel to region by train, see the kids, start the paperwork, court and wait 10 more days. Go back to Kiev by train (3 adults and 3 kids in 1 car) and process out. Long plane ride home (Aerosvit, with NO naps) and fun and games with immigrations at JFK. Jet Blue from JFK to Syracuse the next morning was like being on cloud 9!!! So happy to see central New York terrain down on the ground, and the crew welcomed our kids, by name, to America, over the loud speaker.

Busy, busy first few days, unpacking and repeating over and over "don't touch that, nee troi gai". Still do that quite often, We have been straight out busy, mostly I have with keeping up with cooking and cleaning and feeding. Viktor started Kindergarten last Monday and is doing quite well. He just needs to tone down his voice a bit. The other two also adjusting, after quite a show of temper tantrums (we don't give in to the drama). A little less drama every day, today was a very good day :) !!!!! There is often time a lot of sibling rivalry, just like typical siblings, but a bit more so than that. Joseph Slava is into everything, sometimes for attention and sometimes out of curiousity. He likes to see how things work, and he likes to see what makes his mama and papa tick (react) !!! Lillianna is my shadow, she is my little buddy, and I can not leave the room with out her. She is very shy around others than her immediatefamily, but warms up to others much faster than she did a week ago. We are making baby steps, but it is all good. We are so blessed to have these kids and they are just beautiful! Thank you Ukraine!!!

Sure do have a lot to do and not much time to do it. Have to register the kids with the consulate, get social security numbers for them, doctors and dentist appointments, need a new HMO after April as I resigned from my company last week, we still have to file income taxes, and trying to find places for all of these toys, books, and clothes people have been so gracious to give to us. Thank you everyone!!!

I will write more later. I will have some post adoption questions for groupies when I get a chance. Right now we are working on the eye-contact thing. That seems to be the magic key that unlocks the door to bonding with our children. They can be willful and defiant, but slowly gaining their complete trust and respect. If anyone has questions feel free to write, I will try to reply when I am available.

Warm Regards,

Wanda (and James and Kids)

Day 4 in Kiev

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:18:18 GMT

Well, here we are! It has been a very exhilerating trip so far. So much to see and do, while waiting to get down to business.

We landed about 12 noon Saturday. Very uneventful trip, pleasant airline staff. We were met right away by our VIP airport escort, Alex. After going through correct lines and filling out paperwork, we picked up ALL of our luggage! Joy, joy, joy! We were met at the entrance of the airport by our translator, Alla and driver, Sacha. They took uas right away to a market to exchange money and buy some groceries, and then took us to our flat.

First, let me try to describe Alla. She reminds me alot of you Jacki :) Very helpful and pleasant, short and blond. She talks with an accent to sound like Zsa Zsa. Very elegant. Sacha speaks very little Engilsh, but he is very pleasant and has a nice smile. He looks like a body gaurd.

Our flat is very comfortable and accomodating. With a living room, small kitchenette, bathroom with separate room for toilet, and a bedroom. We enter in a foyer type room, with all other rooms accessed by foyer. We have spent more time out and about Kiev then we have at our flat. Jet lag wasn't too bad. We did oversleep Sunday morning as the alarm clock is not working right. Our first full day, Sunday, Alla and her son Dima toured us. We went to WWII museums and War of Afghnastan museum. We later went to Independence Square, right in the heart of Kiev. Alla and Dima are very educated in the Ukraine and Soviet history, so this was a very special tour, especially for James. Dima is 17 and is attending the University here in Kiev, studying 1st year law and history. Very smart and patriotic young man. We will have pictures to show when we get home. Many, many pictures. We are hoping in a couple of days to be able to upload a few pics to send back home for you all to view now.

We have had some very delicious Ukrainian food. We ate Sunday night in Independence Square at a buffett type resturaunt. yesterday, Monday, we toured the ancient part of Kiev, Old Kiev. Beautiful old architecture. There are many gilded, onion dome buildings and cathedrals. We toured St. Sophias Cathedral. It is 1000 years old. We also went to the Golden Gates, which was fort type entrance into the old Kiev about 1000 years ago. We went to the post office and guess what we bought? Stamps! Very nice stamps for our collection, to show our child(ren). Then Alla and I went into shop near our flat and bought milk and cakes and she went home, and James and I walked back to our flat all by ourselves. (oooohhh) We didn't see the alley cat that was there the other day outside our flat. He looks just like Mordred, only smaller. We miss our animals!

Today was very eventful. Much shuffling of files around and back and forth. We feel good with the referral we got today. We will be leaving for Kerson Region, down by the Black Sea, tomorrow night at 10:00 ish. We are traveling by train and should arrive in Kerson Thursday at 10:00 am.We are not ready to divulge the information of our referral until we have met child(ren) and have more info and confidence about it. We will let you know more when we get to internet cafe in Kerson, after going to the orphanage. Pray for us and do not worry, everything is fine!

Running out of time here at internet cafe, so....

We Love you!!! Send messages!!!Call us!!!

Wanda and James

Tuesday after visit with the boys

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:30:53 GMT

Today was a pretty good visit, all told. Viktor was concentrating on his puzzles and did a very good job. He was much more behaved today then yesterday. Slavie? Well, Slavie is Slavie! He really is a Bart Simpson, through and through! Just like any other four year old, he gets bored easily, and wants ALL the attention. But he thinks he is funny, what to do? Yesterday, another couple, from Israel, were visiting with their newly adopted son, so of course our two boys wanted to make a party out of it and play with the other boys' ball. A good idea until they start kicking it (inside) and just plain going crazy wild! I know when they learn more English, we will have a better handle on them, as we see how well behaved and respectful they are to the caretakers and secretaries in the orphanage. And these women come out and help us every time they think we need a back-up. (Thank you, Lord). It seems as if maybe our boys are easily stimulated with the different toys and fruit we bring them every day. We will have to be careful and introduce new toys slowly, little by little, as needed. They think we are an endless supply of these things now, and take it for granted already. Typical kids, right? So, we will appreciate anything and everything people want to give to our kids, but we will have to store things out in the shed and only let them have a little at a time. This is very important, that when we arrive home our house does not look like a toy store, cause then mamma and pappa will have to be mean and take most of the toys away.

Our afternoon visits with Lillianna are always delightful and a lot quieter! She is a little sweetie and when she wants something she butters us up with sweet talk and kisses. Works every time (almost). We love our kids dearly and every day is a new adventure for us.

So that is all for now, same news as before. James and I are getting very good at making purchases and communicating with the locals. Last night I made borscht and it was very good!

Thanks for the comments, folks. We look forward to reading them every time we go to internet cafe.

Till next time, da Svidanya!

Love, Jamie and Wanda

Sunday Afternoon in Kherson

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:49:10 GMT

Hello Friends and Family!

Today is our first day without our translator, Alla. She went back to Kiev last night, so we are on our own until she comes back next Monday, March 20. I miss her already. We saw the boys this morning, and I think we are gaining a little ground with them without having our back-up Alla here to help us. It is going to take a little time , love, understanding and PATIENCE, but they know we love them and we are going to be a family. Right now they feel as they are the special chosen ones, (and they are!) so the gifts and fruit and candy thing has gone to their heads. But they are slowly understanding that life is going to be a little different once at home (doma). They are typical, healthy smart boy, very active and love to tease each other and us too! Lillianna is much quieter, very smart and very sweet. She is all girl, they are all boy! What more could we ask for?

In case some of you haven't heard yet, James and I had our day in court on Friday, and we are now the official parents of Viktor, Joseph (Slava) and Lillianna (Elena). Court went very well, we were a little nervous, but the judge was a very nice soft spoken lady, who asked a lot of questions and seemed pleased with our answers :) So now the count down. A 10 day waiting period and on the 11th day we wisk the family (with Alla) back to Kiev on the overnight train (sleeper). Then, hopefull, 2-3 days to process out. As James says, we are now on the downhill slide! So far it all spells SUCCESS!!!

We are very happy and blessed to have such help as Alla, and to find the perfect family for us. After March 16th we can leggally post pics on the blog for you all to see. These kids look just like us and/or family members, can you believe it? Of course, it is going to take a lot of work to get where we want to be with them. We are hoping once we get home and we are the ONLY authority, it will go much smoother. Jacki, You told me so! These little tykes sure do keep you running! OY! But they are healthy and happy and that is most important. We love them dearly, and can't wait until WE are the ones who get to tuck them in at night and watch them sleep (angels).

I will update again in a few days. Thanks for the comments Lea and Rick, Liz and Dick. Oh yeah, Leanna, our Leanna kind of resembles you! Her name now is Lillianna, but in her groupa she is Elena and it sounds like Leanna! Hope to see you all soon, within a couple of weeks.

Love,

Wanda and James

We are deVitry five! (almost)

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 11:23:07 GMT

Well, we have a lot of information to finally share with you all!

First of all, we arrived in Kherson, by train, on Monday morning. We went right to work, (or I should say Alla went right to work) and got all of the inspectors permissions and director of orphanages permission to visit with the kids. This was done also on Monday, and we saw both of the boys in their orphanage (desky dom) and the little girl in her baby orphanage. The kids are all beautiful, healthy, smart, PERFECT! They each have their own, individual little personality, and they look like deVitry and Ridsdales! Like us! We are so in love!

Viktor James Valcour is 6 1/2. He is a very compassionate big brother, and was very concerned about what would happen with his little sister, as she is in a different orphange. We immediately reasurred him that we are adopting her also, and he was very relieved, and happy! Joseph Nicholas Slava is 4, and he is a very active and funny boy. He is blond and Viktor is sandy blond like Mommy. Joseph, who we still call Slava until he is more used to the idea, idolizes his big brother and minds him and mimics him very well. They were not too shy at first, and they are very comfortable with us now. Lillianna was very shy at first and would not look us straight in the eye. She is a litttle congested, but nothing serious. Yesterday we got to spend more time with her and like a flower she started to open up and bloom! She is a very healthy, big boned three year old. She is a little quiet, but we finally had her laughing and smiling and what a beauty! She also has sandy blond and fine hair like her Mommy. We can't wait for all of the kids to be reunited, to see the look on their faces. But this will happen only after we go to court, which could possibly happen next week. We will then have ten days mandatory to wait after court, and then we go to Kiev for a couple of days to process out, and then back home we go! We will post some pics of the kids after court, as it is illegal to do such a thing before we are legal parents.

We can't wait for our family and friends to meet our little ones. And to see the sparkle in their eyes and hear thier laughter! We are so in love, and so blessed! Thank you to everyone who helped us to make this dream become reallity!

I will write more tomorrow. We welcome phone calls from our friends and family who have our number :)

Love to all,

Wanda and James

Man's Best Friend

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 05:14:59 GMT

Mordred our very personable cat is hiding behind Gilda, worried that he will be the next extreme makeover.

Ranger is a very proud old Deadhead.

These guys have been our family up to now, and always will be. What is so great is they LOVE kids as much as we do, and kids just LOVE them. We will miss these lovable creatures while we are gone, but they will be in good hands with our friends Aaron and Kristen. Have fun guys!

Girl's Best Friend

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 05:02:53 GMT

Gilda the Hippie Girl :)

One Week Before the Big Trip

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 17:14:02 GMT

We'll try to get a better one and post it.

Five Days to Take - Off

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 16:56:10 GMT

Greetings! Here we go! We are finally on our way to Ukraine! Our appointment with National Adoption Center in Kiev is on Tuesday, February 21! We leave from JFK on Friday (2/17) evening. We will go to Syracuse and spend Thursday night at the Genesee Grande Hotel (very ritzy) and board a Greyhound at 6:00 AM. This was the best possible solution to get us to JFK, as there were no flights from Syr. to JFK that day, and Amtrak allows only one bag per passenger. So we will get to see some of Manhattan by bus! Our plane (Aerosvit Airlines VV 0132) arrives in Kiev Saturday 2/18 at 11:10 AM their time. Kiev is 7 hours ahead of us. We will be met by Alex, our VIP escort, to walk us through customs and outside of customs we will be met by our translator Alla. She and our driver will take us to the apartment we will stay in while in Kiev where we will meet with our Power of Attorney , Valentina. We will have a couple of days to settle in before our appointment, and maybe meet with another couple there and see some sights, take some pictures. I will post some pics during our trip provided I have luck gaining access to this blog and uploading pics from the camera :-)

As most of you know, it has taken us two years to finally get to this day. It is a long road to international adoption, but this is where we have been led, and we must follow our hearts. There is a lot of paperwork involved and then there is the waiting for the approval and subsequent invitation. As with most any newly independent country, there are always struggles, and in our case revolution, within the government system. These obstacles have caused us delay. We should have been over there and back last summer. But we re-did the expired paperwork and pushed on. We are starting to see some major light at the end of the tunnel, and we're waiting for the day we will be OUT of the tunnel and see nothing but a bright and sunny future ahead of us. The day we finally have our children or child, whichever the case may be. (We are hoping for two siblings, but will love one child just as well!).

So please continue praying for us and that we have a successful adoption journey. I believe in the power of prayer and the power of positive thinking so think positive!

We love you all. Please write to us when you can.

Ciao Bella,

Wanda