4.5 Days Left!!

Hello everyone!
We are counting down the days! Philip is especially getting home sick. I'm alot more laid back then he is, so I suppose I'm handling it better then him. We are planning on taking a plane to Kiev from Donestk this Sunday. It will take 2 hours by car to arrive at the airport in Donestk and then the plane ride will take only an hour. We will do the rest of her paper-work there. This week we will be buying a few things for Nastya-Sara like shoes and clothing and an umbrella stroller. We also want to buy some gifts for the care-givers. We will also leave behind a booklet so each care-giver can write down a farewell message to Nastya. I think she would probably enjoy reading these when she is older. I'll just have to get them translated.
These past couple of days Nastya has been alittle mischevious with us. I guess she is getting more comfortable with us and has begun to test us. A few times she has run-away laughing (indoors and outdoors). Today I expressed my dislike to this and I don't think she liked this too much. When we were inside bringing her back to her groupa , I was helping her undress and get changed. She would not stop being uncoroprative so I used a tone of voice that made her understand that I wanted her to stop. She started to push me away and butt me with her head. I decided to hug her and kiss her all over. The more she did it the more I showered her with affection! All of a sudden she looked at me and gave me the biggest hug around my neck that I ever got! It was great! I have a feeling that she was not expecting affection in return for bad behaviour. But it worked!! I will do this all the time. She is getting along great with Philip. She loves playing with him. Sometimes he will pretend to cry and she will go running to him saying "Papa Papa, Awww Papa!" and hug and kiss him. She also loves to be held by us.
Well I guess thats it for today. Until next time............... Take care everyone!

Happy Easter!

Greetings to all!
We just read all the comments. Thanks again. We look forward to the enjoyment of reading them. We would like to say Happy Easter to all our family and friends back home. We hope you all have an excellent weekend with great weather. We may go to church tommorrow. We are looking into it. Today is 7 days left of the 10 day wait and then we can do Sara-Nastya's papers. We are having pleasant visits with her. Although she is beginning to test us alittle by being mischevious. Yesterday morning was great. We walked around the orphanage grounds alot. Nastya kept guiding us towards the back storage garage. She led us to a car. She pointed and said,"Masheena!"(car!). I said pointing, "Masheena?.....Mamma ee Papa ee Nastya??". Nastya then said, "Da! Da!". (Yes Yes!) .......Well looks like we are not the only ones who want to go home! She did this couple of more times throughout our visit. Yesterday we also had a beautiful day full of sun. All the caregivers were outside cleaning up, gardening and painting. They made the grounds look great. They really do take good care of the orphanage.
Hugs and kisses to all!!
Especially, Anthony, Marina & Rafael!! XOXOXOXO

8 more days left!

Hello everyone!
Thankyou for all your comments. Today we are having a great day. We even did alittle shopping. I was dying to buy at least one pair of funky shoes! You should see the footwear and clothes the ladies wear over hear! Everyone wears 3 or 4 inch boots with pointy toe in all colours of the rainbow. The clothes the women wear are not all in black. They are all very fashionable. They look like they take pride in what they wear. The men wear all black or dark grey. Speaking of colour.........I never seen so many bright colours of hair on women in my life!! They are certainly the "ornaments" of Lugansk! The weather today is just wonderful. It is +20 today. It is too hot for a jacket. Everyone is cleaning up there yards and the grass has come up. All the trees and bushes have budded. I am waiting for more greenery and colour from flowers to appear before I take pictures around the city. I will certainly have to take pictures of the roads! They are horrible!! There is barely any roads without huge pot-holes covering them. Our roads at home are heaven! Our driver Leo drives slowly and all over the roads from left to right trying to miss as many as the pot-holes as possible. There are also tons of stray dogs here! In all sizes. You can often hear them in the distance barking loudly while basically attacking each other. Thank God they keep there distance. We feel very safe here because we have Alex(facilitator) with us all the time.
We will shortly be leaving for our afternoon visit with Nastya-Sara for a couple of hours. It is almost 4 pm. Today we have 8 days left to wait from the "10 day wait" that began the day after court. After this we can finish up her paper-work. We have booked a flight on a plane to Kiev on a Sunday. I will definitely not take a car ride again from Lugansk to Kiev!! I'm surprised my back is still intact! We couldn't put Nastya-Sara through that. I suppose later in the week we will be able to guess more or less when we will be leaving for Canada. I can't wait!! Although I will miss Ukraine. We have met alot of wonderful people that have made our journey fantastic. Well I guess I'm off to see our daughter..........Oh! That sounds great to say!!! I have butterflies in my stomach!

Hi kids!
We love you so much! Right now I'm imagining giving you all big bear hugs. I miss terribly cuddling with you's at bed time. We are ALWAYS thinking about you all. We miss you lots!!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

We've gone to Court!

Hello everyone!
Yesterday morning we had gone to court! Thank God thats over with! Philip was so nervous! He did not sleep well the night before. On the other hand... I felt a calmness inside (most of the time) that everything would be just fine. I had been praying for a long time that when it came time for us to go to court, it would go quick and smooth. Thats exactly how it went! It took only 15 minutes and the judge was very pleasant. We ended up having our adoption hearing in the orphanage inspector's office in another building. Not in the court house at all. It was alittle more cozy and not so intimidating. The people present were: Philip & I, our facilitator (I'm going to call him Alex from now on), the orphanage director, 2 of the caregivers whom stood as the witnesses, the orphanage inspector and the judge. He asked Philip to stand first and he asked him about why we want to adopt, why Ukraine, how many chuldren at home, is this your first marriage, about our income etc. Then he asked me to stand and asked me a number of straight forward questions. That was pretty much it and then he announced that he was in agreement for us to adopt Anastasia. Everyone congratulated us before we left the room. Philip and I were so happy and relieved! We hugged and kissed and then Philip announced "O.K. I need a cognac now! Everyone laughed! Philip and I, Alex and our driver Leo went to a restaurant called, "Silvers", to celebrate. We all had a couple of rounds of vodka. (Silvo- I'll have to show you how they drink it hear! We can't wait to celebrate with you!! Ha! Ha!) This is the specific restaurant that we go to everyday for dinner and sometimes a coffee or lunch. They have excellent coffee, food and service. It is very clean and has the best washroom! They also have english menu's. The day before court we did end up 10-pin bowling. Philip, me and Alex played a few rounds and had a good time.
We are still getting along great with Nastya. She is very happy to see us when we come for the visits. We give each other lots of hugs and kisses. This makes me sometimes miss giving Anthony, Marina and Rafael our hugs & kisses. We wish you's were here with us. We miss you so much! We are getting closer and closer to when we will be together again!! We can't wait! We are trying to teach Nastya how to say her brothers and sisters names. She is already saying a few more words in english. She is a very fast learner.
Today she had her medical examination at the orphanage. We had Doctor Galina fly in from Kiev. We paid for her flight and hotel. Nastya was very worried and started to cry alittle. The examination went very well. She explained everything to us and said that Nastya did and does everything a child should do at her age. She has no delays. Wow! You have no idea how very grateful we are that she is in great health! We were not expecting this at all when we first met her. Boy, God is amazingly good! Everything I have prayed for over these past months is all coming true. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to all who have said prayers for us. Well I guess I'd better go. I will try to post pictures on our blog in the next few days. Bye for now!...........

She has started to attach!!!!

Hi everyone!
Thankyou for all your comments. I wish I could post some pictures of Nastya on our blog. I'was only able to send a few pictures to our family. We should be able to post pictures at the end of this week. Tommorrow our facilitator is supposed to receive a phone call confirming that our court date is Tuesday. Hopefully it will be Tuesday so it will be over and the 10 day wait will begin. He also received the papers that were looked at by the NAC via our facilitator in Kiev. It was sent by train. This gives us permission to go ahead with court and to go ahead without anyone present from the NAC. We also got the application to fill out for permanent residency in Canada. There is an extra form attached with Nastya's picture on it. It is a form that the doctor has to fill out, basically stating that she is healthy enough to fit the Canadian medical standards in order for her to enter Canada.
We are having a great time with our facilitator. We always try to have a good time whatever we are doing, which makes it hard to feel stressed. We couldn't have asked for a better facilitator. Last night we watched one of our many movies (Transporter #2) together. Maybe tonight we will go to this restaurant that has an attached bowling alley! I couldn't believe there is a ten-pin bowling alley here! We plan on having a few games. Our driver Leo will also join us. We'll see how it goes!
Today we had a good day with Nastya. She no longer cries when she see's us. Today she ran into our arms screaming "mamma, papa!". At the same time we heard all her groupa screaming, mamma, mamma!! and looking through the glass on the door. Many times we have gotten big hugs from the kids in her groupa. The only difference now is that Nastya gets upset and jealous. She screams, "Moy mamma ee papa"! (My mamma ee papa!) It really feels great to see her do this. Phil and I are just beaming and the care-givers are giving us their "thumbs-up". Today when we were bringing her back she would repeat, nye groupa, nye groupa, nye groupa! (no groupa!) Philip was trying to put all the stuffed animals back into the big bag and Nastya said a big NYET! (no!) and dumped everything back onto the floor! Eventually she let us bring her back. We are so happy that she loves to be with us. Her crying was actually a very good sign that their will be a good attachment with us. The crying is apparently a sign that she is attached to her care-giver which in turn means she will eventually have a good attachment with us. We can't wait to come to our 3 other kids at home. We are dreaming of the day when we are together in a total of 6!
Hugs & Kisses to all........until next time............

Updates on our journey

Greetings to all!
We had another great morning with Nastya. We have been outdoors all the time on these past few days. It is getting warmer and warmer. Soon we may not need our jackets anymore. We are so greatful for this beautiful weather! This morning we decided to bring our photo album and the ornaments that have our childrens picture and voice message on it. Nastya looked at some of the album and would always point us out. She especially liked the ornaments. She played with them for quite a while. She kept pushing the buttons over and over to hear Anthony, Marina and Rafael's voices. She also started to repeat the little messages that her new brothers and sister recorded. She is a very fast learner with things she is very interested in. In this aspect she reminds us alot of our older son Anthony. We can see her blending in perfectly with Anthony, Marina and Rafael. She will be able to keep up to you guys with no problem! Well......come to think of it, you guys may have trouble keeping up with her!! Ha Ha!! She is a joy and alot of fun to be with. We can't wait for you all to finally meet.
So far, all the paper work seems to be in order now. Our court date is for Tuesday. There is a chance that it may be happening earlier, which is Monday. That will happen only if the paperwork is done sooner then expected.
Until our next post..............Take Care!!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Things are going Great!

Hello All!
I apologize for not posting alot sooner. We have been doing a bit of running around these past few days. There was just some papers needed in order to finally receive a court date. Always remember, when you are in Ukraine- "Expect the unexpected". This is so true! Well everything seems in order now and the NAC received our papers today. Our facilitator says, that maybe we will go to court on Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully we will find out today. We are very anxious to keep things going. We are having a woderful time with our facilitator and our driver. They are both great people and we are happy and grateful that they are with us. Our driver is actually quite funny! He knows how to speak english, which makes a big difference. He is a local and knows all the best restaurants. Philip was hoping to lose alittle weight...HA! That plan went right out the window! Hee Hee! The food is excellent. We sometimes make our own meals (usually dinner) in our apartment.
About Sara, Nastya (this is short for Anastasia and this is what she goes by).
Things are getting better and better with Nastya. Everyday, on both visits, she would start to cry when we entered the room. Then after alittle while she would come down and play and laugh with us. Our facilitator would help us out when she cried. He would play a peek-a-boo game and just be silly. Nastya would eventually kill herself laughing! Well guess what?! On April 5th on our afternoon visit we found her outside with her groupa and she willingly came to us with NO crying ! What great feeling. We had a fun time with bubbles, stickers and a ball. She has found a new interest......Mamma''s lipstick and hand cream!! She keeps putting it on me and even on Papa. She wipes it off and puts it on again. Same thing with the hand cream. We had a good laugh when she didn''t quite get it on our lips. She is certainly a girly girl! Our daughter Marina at home and Nastya will get along great. She has also spoken a few english words too. She says, one, two, three, lipstick, cream and Papa is teaching her to say, "I love you". When it is time to go, I say "groupa?". When I said that she gave us a pout and said,"Nyet groupa" (No groupa). Then she went on saying something like "I want to stay with Mamma & Papa". Well, we just totally melted right there !!! What an excellent end to the day. The care-givers told us that she has waited looking out the window holding the doll we gave her. She apparently talks to the other children about us. The care-givers here are very friendly and pleasant ladies. They are always smiling and were always willing to help us with Nastya when she was feeling alittle over-whelmed. Oh yes! I almost forgot, Nastya is at Baby Orphanage No.2. It is very well kept and very clean. We are impressed and grateful that Nastya was well taken care of in the past couple of years. Well I guess that is it for now. I will try to post more often (if nothing else comes up).

Thank-you Bill for the "bar accessory"!
Many, Many thank-you's to my sister Giovanna and her hubby Silvo, my Mom&Dad, our good friends, Karen&Dan, Wanda & family , Ralph&Linda and everyone else who have helped to care for our 3 children at home!!!!! You have no idea how much we appreciate this. We are confident that they are in good hands! We would also like to say that we would do the very same if given the opportunity, without a second thought. We miss you's all so very much. We think of you everyday. Big hugs & kisses to Anthony, Marina and Rafael.

We found our Sara!!!

Hello everyone!
Wt are at an internet cafe right now. It is a beautiful spring day today. We are so thrilled about finding our Sara. For now we call her Nastya for short. She is a darling little girl and very healthy. We spoke to the director briefly(very pleasant lady). The day we met her (Mar.31st) the director brought her in and Philip & I had tears in our eyes. She was very shy and started to cry alittle. We have seen her 3 times already. We visit her twice a day. Two hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. The care givers have been helping her to feel comfortable with us. We are being very patient with her. After our first visit was over, we both got our first kiss right on the lips! This morning one of the caregivers told me she was waiting for us and she also said she would be going far far away with her mamma & papa. Today before we left our morning visit we each got kisses and big bear hugs goodbye and she said that she wanted us to come back. I think things are going pretty good for the second day. She cried a couple of times but thats o.k we know this is difficult for her. She is a very smart cookie as a few times she would pretend to have to go pee-pee or poop when she was feeling overwhelmed. She has lovely light brown hair with a bit of a curl and dark-brown eyes. She also has a very contagious laugh. She actually reminds us of our youngest son Rafael. She will definitely get along well with Anthony Marina and Rafael. She loves hair accessories and barbies. She also loves drawing and colouring. I guess that is it for today. I'll tell you the name of the orphanage on my next post. I can't remember what it is. I can't post any pictures yet, until after court. We miss you all very very much. Philip & I would like to personally thank all of you who posted messages. We read them with tears in our eyes. It means so much to us. Until next time.............Hugs & Kisses to all !!!!!!!!!