Christmas Pics!!!

"Ahhh whipped cream, yum, yum, yum!"


"Give me some more of that Momma!"


"Yep, forget about the pumpkin pie - this is the best!"

"I know there are some more presents in here somewhere"

"This is awesome, thanks for showing me how to do this Momma!"

"Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled, Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies, With the angelic host proclaim:"Christ is born in Bethlehem" Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!" - yes she can sing!

"I love Christmas!"

My best "I know I am Cute" pose

Go ASU Sun Devils! - even though they lost to Hawaii

Good to be Home

Orthodox Cathederal in Kyiv


More photos from the Orthodox Monastery


Angelina sleeping in our hotel in Munich - she loved staying there and enjoyed herself (so did Mom & Dad!)


Sleeping on the Munich to Chicago flight


At home in her Oregon bed! She is sleeping so well...(at night only, still not taking more than a 45 minute nap)


Thanks Aunt Cris! See I am a little froggy!


"Hey Dad, what are you doing over there with all of that office stuff?"


"I am a big girl in Momma's running shoes"


I was going to write more about our return trip, but will keep this to a brief post with pictures. We are happy to be home and finally settling in with our lovely daughter, each day I am amazed at new things she learns and how charming she is.Everyone seems to be settling in just fine, especially Angelina......it is like she has always been here with us. Nothing seems foreign to her and we could not be more happy with her seemingly easy adjustment. Daddy is changing diapers and giving baths, but not without Momma close by, but this is tremendous progress from just one week ago. Yesterday Pamela put her down in her crib for a nap and about 45 minutes later Angelina surprised Momma by showing up in the kitchen! She crawled up and over her crib and dropped to the floor! Can you believe it!? She was not hurt, but just stood there in the kitchen looking at Momma like I know I was a bad girl, but you cannot keep me in a crib - I refuse! So she has been sleeping with Mom & Dad and this I believe is helping with the bonding / attachment progress.


This morning laying in bed she started counting 1 through 10 by pulling Momma's fingers. We could not make any of the words out (baby Russian), but she was quite clearly counting out each number one at a time and pushing on Pamela's fingers. It is amazing, she is really beginning to open up and talks incessantly......oh we are loving it! More later.......


Merry Christmas!


Pamela, Brian & Angelina

815 Days Later.......We are Home!!!

This is the picture that was in the file at the SDA when we selected Angelina on Nov. 15th. You can tell it looks like she has red hair and Pamela thought she looked like the Gerber Baby.

CLICK ON THE MATRIX TO SEE LARGER VERSION

Overall adoption timeline. 815 days from start to finish!


Angelina's passport picture. Not long until her hair grows out!


We all arrived in Portland around 8pm last night after flying from Munich through Chicago. She did really well on each flight and we are so proud of her courage during her first travels. It is absolutely amazing watching her in her new enviroment - she is very happy, smiling and babbling alot (much more than previously). Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it home safely and Angelina is adjusting quickly to her new home in Oregon. I will post more details on our adventurous trip home later.

Done, Done, Finally Done!!

Gaela in our apartment - she loves balloons!


With Daddy's hat showing off!


Really showing off!


First bath from Mommy the day we left Mykolaiv

Reading up on the train with Mommy

Gaela sleeping at 3am........1 of many sleeping positions - this little girl tosses and turns alot!

Been a crazy couple of days, on the move since Tuesday morning and we can now FINALLY take a breath and wait for our flight on Sunday. We are done with everything but boarding in Kyiv, boarding in Munich, boarding in Chicago O'Hare and finally crawling into our own bed next Monday night.

Tuesday, December 12th: I woke up at 1:30am for a telecon that went 2 hours so I decided not to go back to bed at that point. Oleg picked us up close to 7:30am and we all loaded in the car for an all day adventure. First stop was to the court house to get the decree, we waited with Tonya, Christina and Jason, finally receiving our paperwork around 8:30am and we were off. 2nd stop was the Immigration office in Mykolaiv and then the 75km (1.5 hour) drive directly NW to her birth town named Voznesensk.

The drive from Mykolaiv to her hometown made us feel like we were right in the Midwest with all of the black soil and farmland - of course with the exception of the well worn road and the sheep herders who like to play Russian roulette with the vehicles. We spent about 1 hour there getting her birth certificate, with the first 45 minutes of that waiting in the car. Finally, we were asked to come inside to complete the birth certificate, but only after our feet were already frozen from sitting in a cold car. This was the start of our frustrating day which consisted of continually waiting in the car at every stop, asking questions without responses, being cold (it was a very cold day) and in general being left in the dark on information. The day that started at 7:30am lasted until 9pm and we were not able to finish due to notaries that were either closed, closing or too busy to help us - of course we should have had an appointment! But these were documents already issued from the state - so I could not understand why they also needed to be notarized, more of the typical bureaucratic red tape. We did confirm that the passport was done and could only be picked up with the notary of the birth and adoption certificates. Good thing we did not have train tickets for Tuesday night. The biggest disappointment was not spending what we thought would be our first night with Angelina.


Wednesday, December 13th: Ok new morning, new start, new attitude. Oleg picked Sveta and I up at 10:00am to get the birth and adoption certificate notarized. After visiting 4 more we finally got our "special notary" and I am still wondering why a state issued document needed this.......Anyway, to the passport office and within 10 minutes we had her passport and it was around 11am so we had the whole day until the train at 7:30pm. We picked Pamela up and had lunch at our favorite pizza place then went back to the Orphanage to finish packing. Picked Angelina up at 4pm, bathed her and loaded everyone in both Oleg(s) cars for the train station. Everyone got on the train fine, but as Oleg(s) and I were carrying the last bags across the tracks we were stopped and some officials wanted to look in the single Rubbermaid container we had all of Angelina's items in. They would not let up and finally I think Oleg #1 told this official I was an American with wife / child and to piss off! Based on how black market goods move through the Ukraine, they must have thought I was smuggling some goods - yeah right! Made me think I should have loaded some dirty diapers in there. Angelina's train ride was great, she was a brave girl and never fussed. She did snore (still has a cold) and tossed and turned all night, but she did sleep the whole night!


Thursday, December 14th & Friday, December 15th: Arrived in Kyiv around 5:30am and headed straight to the apartment. Again Angelina did well in the car and seemed fascinated by the train station and the few cars that were on the street that morning. At 7:30 Pam, Angelina and Sveta headed for the adoption medical appt and I went with an acquaintance of Sveta's named George to the German Embassy with the plan to meet at the US Embassy before our 11am appt. The German Embassy told us we needed her passport (duh! I already knew this, but the girls had it and we needed to process through US Embassy first) but that we could make an appointment for Friday @ 8am and they would TRY to expedite our transit visa. Now we have +2 hours to burn before we meet the girls, so George took me on a walking tour around the section of Kyiv that the Embassy is located. Had a great time and learned alot about the area and his family that lived and fought during the Revolution and WWII. Met the girls around 11am and were shuttled into the Embassy like VIP's for our appointment. I spent about 45 minutes filling out the necessary US Embassy paperwork, we met with Consular official (young guy from east coast) who thought Angelina was adorable and told us to come back at 4pm to pickup her passport with US Immigration Visa. It was between this time that I tried to post on the blog, but could not get on the site, second time this has happened since I have been here??? Anyway, back to US Embassy at 4pm, walked through the line of American men picking up their Daisy Brides, and got her Passport with Immigration Visa - YES! Friday morning, I met George again - went to the German Embassy and turned in all of the necessary paperwork, told to come back between 1-3pm to pickup. We picked it up at 3pm after waiting for 1.5 hours and we are now done with everything!


As I write this final post from Ukraine there are many things going through my mind. The blessing of us finally meeting our daughter, the overall timeline to finally complete, the bureaucracy (can it ever be simplier!!??), the time away, the associated costs, the need to return to work and the spoiled American conveniences that are unfortunately taken for granted until you are placed in an enviroment that does not allow these everyday luxuries. But, you have to be adaptable when you travel internationally PERIOD. The final 35 days of this adoption journey has made us both feel so alive and brought so many wonderful everlasting experiences with our daughter in her homeland. Both of us have enjoyed being able to share this experience with our families, friends and the many people we have never met who have all posted words of encouragement. Above all, we are so thankful that we finally found our daughter and that she waited for us - the day she OFFICIALLY became available for International Adoption was the day we arrived in Kyiv: November 13th.


See you soon,
Pamela, Angelina and Brian

Picture Post!

"See I told you I was a shopper, a happy shopper!"


"Check out this book Daddy gave me!" .........


....."What is this?" "I wanted a picture book instead.......oh yeah I did promise Daddy that I would start reading this book very soon"


"Are you still taking pictures of me?"


"Geez, come on already!"


"Hmmm, is this soap?"


..."I am not so sure about this"

"This smile is because I THINK I am mischievous!" (not because I tasted it!)

"This look is because I KNOW I am mischevious!"



"My best look of defiance !"



Time to go back and see my friends for supper.....soon I won't have to leave Momma & Daddy at night and we will be off to see my new home, friends and family in America. Tell everyone "Aello" in the meantime! - (her hello)

Party Pics

"Momma, you are really throwing a party?"


Wow these are good!


Angelina hoisting her "pint" while Lyra wonders, "Why is he so close? Is he trying to take my cookies like his Angelina did?"


"Whassssuuuuppp! - You talking to me?"


Mayhem while the children open gifts from the Warchol's


Early Christmas!


Natasha, Angelina and "Jaws" on their way to the Musical


The Orphanage's Winter Musical


That is Angelina in the center wondering what this is all about


The party on Friday for the kids in Angelina's group was great, they all loved the cookies, candies, bananas and juice we brought for the festivities. The Warchol's had purchased some toy gifts earlier in the day and gave them to the kids to open right after they had their food. It was great to see their reaction for the whole event, all though I did not get the food mess that I had been hoping for. Interesting reaction from the caregivers, some were grateful and the other typical stuffy ones were......well stuffy and seemed like this was a big pain in their butt. Geez, they did not even offer us a cookie let alone a piece of the cake! Just wish a few of them had lightened up a little bit. Oh well, they have a difficult task as it is caring for these little ones. I am going to gift the DVD on Monday when a couple of my favorites are working. Angelina had a blast as I am sure you can tell from the pics - she was even grabbing cookies from her playmates and hoisting that big ole cup she had with ONE hand!


Right after they party finished up the caregivers informed us that the Orphanage was having their Winter Musical at 4pm and asked if we would like to join all of the children. Of course and what timing for Angelina's group - a special day for them in many ways. The Musical was great and involved another group that was closer to 4 yrs old. They danced, played a couple of group games to music and showed off for the caregivers and the Orphanage Director - Olga. Olga was actually smiling, clapping and laughing through the entire event (something I had never seen her do) and how could you not these kids were truly enjoying themselves, including Angelina who kept looking behind her and smiling at Pam while she filmed the Musical. We filmed the entire event including the party, it was priceless and will be fun to make some DVD's when we get back.


Yesterday (Saturday) we went to lunch with Tonya, Christina and Jason to a pizza joint near our Notary office. I had seen it last week and suggested that it looked like a good place to try for us Pizza starved Americans. You see before Landon (Tonya's husband) left he and I were dying for pizza. Both of us had gotten box pizzas from the supermarket and they were horrible, but I was determined to find some decent pizza while we were here. So we all met around 1pm and ordered 3 pizzas with cheese, tomato sauce, mushrooms, pepper, onions and salami (looks like pepporoni), including Stella Artois' and Beck's beers. The food was great and the conversation with our friends was even better. We sat and talked for several hours.....let me tell you there is nothing like having a good ole same language conversation on a Saturday afternoon in a Pizza joint with cold beer!

It's Party Time!

Lyra, Angelina and Pammy

Future shoppers!

Come on girlfriend let's go shopping!

"Daddy, I am not so sure about this now - just wait in a few years I will be taller than you"

First, thanks to everyone that has posted and left words of encouragement for Pamela, Angelina and I. The traffic on the blog has picked up over the last week and I cannot believe the locations around the world that have visited - we now have visitors from every "habitable" continent!

We have planned a little party this afternoon for the kids in Angelina's group. Pamela, Tonya, Christina, Jason and I are meeting at 2:30pm to hit the local supermarket to get a cake and some cookies for the little bash. As we planned the party over the last week, another item that I think maybe got lost in translation was that this event is focused on the children - I think the caregivers interpreted it was for them (there are 15 in the group that work on different shifts) as they said cake would not last over several days and we should just get cookies. Hmmmm, we only intended to have one gig with the kids and the caregivers that just happened to be working that day......yet another testament to how communication is ever so critical regardless of language. Don't get me wrong we appreciate the caregivers and everything they do, but we got each of them individual gifts and the focus on this party is all about the little ones. I am quietly rooting to see them all make one big mess!!

Yesterday Sveta found a haircut salon for us. I had my extra long hair whacked, "#1 attachment on your clippers ma'am" or should it have been "crazy chick?" Pretty wild looking girl with tattoos, short black hair and probably 45" inseam jeans! She did an excellent job and I could not believe how much of my hair covered the floor - odd it didn't seem to cover my head in the same way....Pam got a pedicure, but did decline the straight edge razor they proposed using on her feet! 55 hrvynia's (UAH) in all (that is $11 usd). While Pam was getting her feet worked on Sveta, Oleg and I went to a local tech market (like a Best Buy) and checked out DVD players that we wanted to gift Angelina's group before we leave. Pam gave me strict orders not to spend over $60 (~300 UAH). Well we walked around the store, there was nothing under 400 UAH and the cheapest being a Thomson unit which I had never heard of. While we were looking at the more familiar LG units the salesman informed us that all units were 20% off through that same day. So I ended up getting an LG unit for 352 UAH after discount and spent only $9 more than my orders! Then we purchased some kids DVD's and will give the Orphanage group the DVD either today or tomorrow. I want to make sure a particular caregiver that is fond of Angelina is there - some of these gals are better than others in not only personality but the way they work with the kids.

So, less than a week to go in Mykolaiv and it will be back to Kyiv to finish up at the US & German Embassies then flight bound on the 17th. We cannot wait to get home and sleep in our bed, cook in our kitchen, use our shower and more importantly be HOME for Christmas. I know we will probably look back on this time and long for time we have had here with the quiet mornings and afternoons, but we are both ready for re-entry. Our apartment time with Angelina has been getting better and I have developed a new strategy with her, which actually is her plan. I am realizing that when she wants me in her circle vs. me pushing the progress she will let me know. She has already done this to some extent, but less than with momma. Having her in our apartment (versus up with all the other children) does help and just being in the same quiet room with just momma and daddy is promoting our progress. Yesterday we spent time playing some new games that help with her understanding of English - my favorite is the nose, eyes, ears, mouth and tongue charade. I point to my own face and say the name, she then does the same and tries to pronounce the name - it is great and quite funny, she is getting better and is learning quickly. Yesterday she actually grabbed my face - so yes progress. This little girl is smart and has such a deep emotional sense.

So with about 9 days to go in Ukraine, my mind has begun to shift back to work and I have been working on a few action items in preparation for my return to work - even in spite of my colleagues doing a good job of trying to screen me from this. Also, I was finally able to secure my flight reservations yesterday to fly abroad again for work to and will leave the day after Angelina's birthday (1/6/07) and be gone for almost a month (someone has to pay for those diapers and food!) We are talking to the Grandma(s) about splitting the month of January to help Momma and Angelina while I am abroad collecting more permanent jet lag and frequent flier miles. Then in February we will visit Illinois, Iowa and Arizona seeing family and friends in those locations. These next few months will be the next major challenge of our new adventures.......so, I need to start showing Pam the blog "working's" so she can continue posting when we return and keep everyone up to date.