HOME!!! (Need I say more?)

GOT PASSPORT, GOT VISA, GOT PLANE TICKETS, COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

We are coming HOME! Mattea's passport was ready for pick-up Monday afternoon without any problems. We took the night train from Odesa to Kyiv and went right from the train station to do Mattea's visa photos. Then after breakfast we headed to the US Embassy to apply for her visa. That also went smoothly and I was told to come back Wednesday at 2:00 to finish paperwork and pick up the visa.
I was able to contact another adoptive family who just had their SDA appointment on Monday and we got to meet for dinner at TGIFriday's on Tuesday night. That was something that I had been hoping to be able to do! (Picture a little farther down)
We had a late breakfast this morning at the Ukrainian Kitchen---I LOVE Ukrainian food! "Cutlets" and varenyky...total comfort food! I will miss that and/or have to learn to cook them at home. Varenyky with cherries inside and sour cream on top...yum!
At 2:00 we were at the Embassy again and about an hour later I walked out with Mattea's visa in hand!
I made one last shopping stop for some more of the Ukrainian tights for Mattea. They are very thick and warm and I do not think we have them in the US. I liked them so much that I wanted to be sure she had plenty for the next year or so.
Finally tonight they hooked up the internet at the apartment for me and I am able to post one last time before we head out in the morning.
Delta switched our flight from Saturday to Thursday without a hitch this time, thank goodness. So noon tomorrow we fly from Kyiv to JFK to Salt Lake City, then on Friday morning we head home to NM. Home.

I took this photo as a "baseline" to remember how Mattea looks now. I had them weigh her at the Embassy and she weighed between 23 and 24 pounds fully dressed. She does, however, like to eat so I hope those ribs don't show quite so much in a few months.

This is Mattea on the night train from Odesa to Kyiv. We had to take a "first-class" sleeping unit as the "second-class" section that we rode in before was sold out. She had not been feeling well for the past day or two, fussy and a fever.

Sad face on the train. No smiles for the last 2 days.

Folded in half, taking a nap in Odesa.

Mama, I don't feel well...

Luckily she slept well last night and woke up all smiles this morning and is back to her mealtime happy dances.

Here we are at Friday's with Debbie and her family who are here hoping to adopt Olga. Their public blog is http://www.jerdebwalker.blogspot.com/

This will be my last blog post until we are in the USA. Please keep us in your prayers as we head out tomorrow for that long overseas flight...To my family, I cannot wait to see you all again! I love you much! We are on our way HOME!!!

WE Have Our Passport

Today Lou got Mattea's passport so they are on the move to come home and with luck will be home by the weekend

Still waiting

Well it is Sunday morning and we are all waiting for Mom and Mattea to get home. It hard to tell who is more homesick anymore the kids for mom or mom for the kids. Me I am dealing with a cold or something so I am getting nothing done that I wanted to and am running out of time to get the house somewhat picked up before the new one gets here and moves everything all over the place with the help of her other two siblings Esturado and Onnolee as they will help Mattea to learn how to wreck the house and hide things all over the place.
As it stands today with luck they will be home by Saturday but that all depends on when the passport gets to Odessa and how long the US Embassy paper work takes and if the flight home is there or if she has to find another way home. Just some of the fun of adopting from another country and what has to be done.
We are on the downhill side of all this and it seems good to be at this point but we are getting anxious for it to be over. We have so much to do when Mattea gets here as it looks like she will need several operations to fix things and then we can really start moving forward and then the fun begins I hope.
We are really sure that Mattea was waiting for us to find her and bring her home. It is very strange the way things happen and what happens and we know that it is all for some reaason that the kids who came to our home have come and sometimes it is to help us grow sometimes for both the child and us to grow. Life is a journey and we are sure having a really varied trip.
Love you Lou and Mattea and get home soon

The middle of the night

We both have been waking routinely around 4 or 5 a.m. Sometimes Mattea goes back to sleep and sometimes not. So far this morning, not. She got her once-every-three-days diuretic last evening, though, and woke up soaking wet. I think I am going to start giving that one to her during the day...
Spaghetti last night was a happy-dance hit! I think there will be no problem transitioning her to American food. She just needs to learn how to chew.
My homesickness has receded a little. Today we will concentrate on cleaning the apartment as we may possibly be leaving on the night train on Monday. (Come on, passport!) In a few hours I will start our pot of chicken soup.

So we will eat...

Busted!!! Mattea in the potting soil...

(hey, you can see her cute little piggies in this one...)

Just a few random faces...

We tossed and turned and slept a few hours last night and I woke up in a little better spirit. So I decided to cook. We walked to the supermarket and tried to find the ingredients for spaghetti and for chicken soup. Here's what we came home with---

The package of sausage (?) was an impulse buy for sure, as I have no idea what it is. It sounded out to be something like kielbasa, so I took a chance. In front of the fusilli is 2 chicken leg quarters fresh from behind the counter. The little box is tomato paste. I really wanted some canned tomatoes but the only ones I saw were in jars with what looked like pickling spices so I finally found the paste. The ground meat has a picture of a cow and a pig on it so I am assuming it is pork and beef. I got a small carrot this time. Some of the carrots are as big around as potatoes, they are huge! The one thing I could not find was celery for the chicken soup. So we will make do with this, and today we cook. I hope Mattea likes spaghetti!

Here's the stove at lunchtime. The sausage was pretty tasty, and the spaghetti sauce will cook for awhile longer. I cut one of the sausages up into tiny pieces along with some peppers and onions, then mixed it with broken bread and some warm milk for Mattea, and she did her happy dance!

For mom

Look whos in his own bed taking a nap. Every time someone comes he goes to see if it is mommy coming home now. He is beginning to be concerned as to where she is even though he has talked to her through our skype connection. He is doing his best to understand what is going on but it is slowly working on his little mind that mommy isn't here and he can't understand why. I think when she gets back she will have one little boy who doesn't let her out of his sight for quite a while.
He and his sister got into a batting match this morning and he got the worst of it and dad put them both down and after his sandwich he went to sleep and so did his sister. I don't think many in the house are sleeping well anymore.
Dad is busy with college, the kids and a cold just what he needed now. Hope the passport shows up Monday and things can get moving again. Will be interesting to see how the flight home works out. It didn't for when I was there we had to get new tickets and loose the return flight tickets with good old "D" airlines so they made out real good on us for that trip.

The chances are slim but please help me pray...

that Mattea's passport shows up tomorrow so we can come HOME...

While we wait...the oranges, the grocery store, the people, and my girl

Okay, so I can't sleep much...I don't think my body is going to make the time change this time...So Mattea and I decided to explore the 777 supermarket today. I cannot stop being amazed at the grocery store. For instance, I am used to Florida oranges and California oranges...I think there are about 20 different orange citrus fruits to choose from here. In this picture you see a Turkish orange, an Israeli orange, one that says "San Martin del Tesorillo"- not sure where that one hails from, and 2 from Egypt! None from sunny Florida. So I picked one of each to try--- I am sure the person weighing the produce thought I was nuts.
And you would not believe the amount of fresh produce to choose from, it's amazing. A whole 8 foot shelf with nothing but big boxes of mushrooms. Tons and tons of potatoes, cabbage, beets, huge carrots, etc. I am cooking a roast right now with a pot full of goodies. And the roast--- Irina says it's veal. She says they don't have much "beef," it's all veal. A whole deli counter with nothing but cheeses, yum. Fresh baked bread. Absolutely none of our pasty white American packaged bread. An aisle of manufactured cookies and treats and another aisle of bakery cookies. One "different" thing I saw in this market was a freezer of open boxes filled with loose frozen foods such as vegetables, pastas, and other prepared foods, with scoops and bags to take whatever amount you want. We picked and chose some fun things to try. I ended up with a huge heavy bag of stuff. Total cost, about $18. Amazing. And another interesting thing, not only do the prices defy my understanding, if you shop before lunch, everything is given an additional discount.
I wanted to write a little about the people here. It's very scary being in a country halfway around the world, that you are not familiar with, and have preconceived ideas about. But just about everyone I have met has been good and kind. The family who is renting the apartment to us gave Mattea a little stuffed animal that says "I love you" in Russian. Our big, burly cab driver very gently handled Mattea in and out of the van all day the other day talking to her sweetly. A complete stranger ran up to help me get Mattea into the front carrier today. Even thoughI do not speak or understand this language, the unspoken one that I hear is very kind. And of course, my translator Irina has made me feel very welcome too, and very patiently explains everything to me from the food items at the restaurant, to the way to wash your hands in the public toilet--- you don't, by the way, you should carry wet wipes. There isn't always soap.
Anyway...
Now for more princess pictures. I need to be quick as her new trick for today is trying to eat the potting soil from the potted plants...ugh, what a mess.

The eating is still going strong. She's leaning in here to see if there is any oatmeal left. Usually when I am feeding her, her face stays in the bowl to see what's still left and to make sure she gets every bit of it. But she does not like milk or apple juice, or grapes. Those are the only things I have found she won't eat.

Pictures

This is Mattea on "Spring Day" in her yellow daisy dress.

Modeling her hot green crocs. (size 6)

Eating, and happy, doing her dance.

It was hard to get a picture and keep the camera dry!

My tiny, precious princess!

Hey, Serena, how do you like my outfit?

ODESA APARTMENT!

Bathroom complete with bidet. (Of course, I have no clue how to use it but we have one.)

Bright,cheery kitchen with microwave and self-lighting gas stove, but no oven.

Living room with fold-out couch complete with sleeping beauty.

Large t.v. with cable and some English channels.

6th floor view---the backwards 777 in the middle is the front of the supermarket.

YAYYY!!! A clothes washer!

Computer with intermittent internet. (It's cloudy so it comes and goes...)

A surprise for Daddy

Passport paperwork...

We spent ALL DAY either in the van or waiting in offices...I was so stir crazy and homesick by the end of the day that I couldn' stand myself. Skype is awesome. It was so good to see everyone at home, and it really helped to cheer me up. So our passport paperwork is on its way to Kyiv to be processed, then the passport will be sent back here to Odesa, then WE will travel to Kyiv. There is a very slim chance it could get back Friday, but they were more hopeful for Monday or Tuesday, with no promises for that either. So...we shall see. I am still hopeful to be home by the end of next week.
Mattea has been wonderful. She had her first bath tonight, and she LOVED it!!! I was somehow expecting her to scream or be afraid, but she started splashing the minute she hit the water and played till it got cold. Now she smells like baby lavendar, and tonight she fell fast asleep almost as soon as she laid down on the bed.
The next few days should be little easier as all we have to do is hang out or go shopping!

Long day

Can you believe it?!?!?! She's right HERE!!!! Backing up a little, after almost no sleep for a couple of days, I fell into bed at 4 in the afternoon and didn't really wake up until 4 a.m. this morning so almost 12 hours of sleep! I was SO tired!!! We took a taxi to the bus, and the bus for 4 hours to Izmayl this morning only to be told that we had to wait until Mattea awoke from her afternoon nap. We used that bit of time to find a shop to repair my eyeglasses that conveniently fell apart yesterday--- they took apart another pair and replaced both my earpieces with new ones because they couldn't fix the one that broke. Total cost, about $4. Then back to the orphanage for lots of "DaSvidanya"s and tears from the doctors and workers. Little Miss Mattea was ALL SMILES and REMEMBERED me!!! She screeched and smiled in her new yellow daisy outfit and stayed awake and happy the whole 4 hour drive back to Odesa. After we got here, I tried some foods with her, a fruit-flavored yogurt-like cheese that she gobbled up and danced over, then some bread mixed with milk (She can't chew very well yet) and bananas, which she also danced over. Then Irina cooked up some mashed potatoes, and yes more dancing. The picture I took in the previous post was after all those treats.
One thing that Irina translated to me was that the orphanage doctors told her Mattea's attitude changed completely after our first visit and she brightened up and started participating in therapies. She all of a sudden became interested in learning to walk, and sure enough she is now starting to take a few steps all on her own. She is also very, very active and curious and can pull herself up to explore countertops etc. This is going to be interesting when added to the one-year-old and two-year-old who are already at home reaking havoc...
My precious little one was just too excited to settle down until almost midnght! And now she sleeps. I am off to bed myself as tomorrow is the day to file for passport. PLEASE EVERYONE PRAY FOR THE SMALL CHANCE WE HAVE OF GETTING HER PASSPORT BY FRIDAY! This would mean we could fly home Tuesday or Wednesday instead of Saturday... I do miss my family so much! I got the Skype to work and it was so good to see them but hard not to be able to hug and hold them...

With all due respect...

She's O-U-T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Outside the "gate" at the orphanage

A full tummy and no sign of sleep...at the apartment in Odesa.