15SEP Halfway there - or so we hope

Today was another fantastic day spending time with the kids and getting some quality shopping done as well. The mornings here are becoming increasingly chilly; we woke up to a nice breeze. Our driver was right on time (again)and we made it to the orphanage about 5 minutes before our appointment time.

We usually spend the morning session upstairs in the center's musical room. There are numerous toys - but the boys' favorite discoveries are the enormous foam-filled cushions in the back of this giant room. We pull out every single cushion each morning and commence to throwing them around the room like a bunch of wild-men (and one wild woman). It is so nice to see the new boys' comfort with rough-housing....hopefully my very shy older children will shed their horse-play reticence when they meet these two. Really now, I think you all know how prone the older ones are to get in trouble for their silliness and rough play already - no worries there...except for the emergency room visits we will surely incur.

Another new revelation is that Alex Yarik and Andrew Kolya favor sliced apples just as much as bananas. This is probably a good thing as it takes them about four times longer to eat a single apple than it would a whole bunch of bananas (approximately 1 minute and 43 seconds). Kristina has the boys nearly programmed with please and thank you - now even in English.

Kristina and I went shopping at the gray market again today and managed to find Andrew Kolya a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts. We also found Alex Yarik five pair of socks. We are now confident we can sufficiently outfit them if the call came tomorrow to clear them out of the orphanage. We are still seeking a couple more minor items - we are trying not go too crazy over here as we must pack it all up and bring it home with us in the end.

The afternoon visits are typically spent outside on one (or all) of the plentiful playgrounds dotting the landscape. Each one is slightly different, but you can tell Andrew Kolya (the older one) is ready for bigger and better play equipment. Regardless of which play area we choose, invariably a class of other children manages to displace us somewhere else. So be it - it certainly keeps the boys interested when we have to keep moving.

Kristina did manage to get some great one-on-one time with Andrew Kolya. It seems he may have a slight tendency to want things done exactly his way or not at all. (Sounds like a Douberly perhaps?) The two of them worked on a sticker book that helps identify shapes and objects. He managed to do very well throughout, provided that he could go at his own pace (ludicrous speed) and place the stickers precisely the way they were outlined in the book. Great, another Type A that I (a known non-Type A) have to tolerate in this family. I mean, if they would all only
do things my way and succumb to my perfectly reasonable will - wouldn't this all just go so much smoother?

Tomorrow looms as a very important day in the process. IF we can get the approval from Kiev's State Department for Adoption tomorrow (Wednesday), THEN we can have the court hearing in Kirovograd on Thursday to finalize the Ukrainian legal end of the whole process. The boys would then be officially ours and we could begin the next bureaucratic cycle of completing their passports and birth certificates here in Kirovograd before then moving back to Kiev for medical finalization and finally the visas from the US Embassy. Not home-free yet, but I definitely
feel as if we are running downhill to the house now. Now if we could just get those Jaguars to run downhill on their opposition each Sunday....I guess that's a rant that will simply have to wait.

See you all soon!