Back In Kiev

We are back in Kiev with "R" "T" and their children "O" and "E" after taking the overnight train from Donetsk. They have been so gracious and Jim and I are thankful for their hospitality.

Military families helping military families - it's a wonderful thing!

Ella will remain in Donetsk at the Antoshka Child House for the mandatory

10 day waiting period.

September 9, 2008

Yes, it was difficult to leave her...yes, I cried - did you have to ask?

Monetary Donation...

After court, we went directly back to the orphanage where we were able to have sometime with the director. He is a wonderfully nice gentleman who loves and cares for the children. He provided us with health records on Ella and promised to purge photos to see if there are any of Ella while she lived at the Antoshka Child House; he will make them available when I return to pick her up.

We asked him how he manages the care, nutrition, education, repairs, and needs of the orphanage. The needs are met by the funding which is set aside by the government - but it is not nearly enough and is supplemented by donations from major corporations; but mostly from the donations provided by the families who adopt the children.

With that being said, Jim and I presented the director the $1000.00 collected via donations from so many of our family and friends. He was very thankful and said the monies will be used to make impovements at the Antoshka Child House. We also donated various other items: socks, panties, underware, bibs, toys, and clothes. With winter approaching the children will be in need of long underware and thick tights with feet. Before I return to pick Ella up on September 9th, we will continue to receive donations and seek those items they need the most.

Thank you again for your kind donation and for opening your heart to help the children at the Antoshka Child House.

Here are some pictures of the day...

Handing over the donation

Pinpointing where Ella will live

Proud new Papa and Mama

30 Minute Delivery!

After 14 months of intense labor, our delivery was 30 minutes and painless!

Both Papa and Mama are recovering from the emotions of the day and rejoicing in the official adoption of their new daughter

Ella Grace Ana Payne

Tomorrow is Court...

Tomorrow we have court...

We will ask the judge to award us parental rights

of

Ella Grace Ana Payne.

Tomorrow we hope to be Ella's forever Papa and Mama.

Day 8....

We have been visiting with Ella for 8 days now. It is amazing to look back on the videos and pictures we took from day 1 and see the changes in her. We are truly thankful for this beautiful blessing.

Today, we did serious laundry and house cleaning - apparently, this apartment didn't come with maid service! After laundry and cleaning, I ironed - yeah, I know a bunch of first today; but Ella needed her blue dress and bunny back; she only has 2 dresses so we alternate between them. We brought several articles of clothing with us for her; but only 2 of the dresses we brought fit her...the others we donated to the orphanage. Her pink bunny was looking like it had been living in the woods. Yesterday, we managed to pry it away from her so we could wash it.

Ella seems to be understanding a bit more of what we say to her and we can tell her bond with us is getting stronger. She squeals with delight at the sight of us and drops whatever she is doing to come running. She listens when we tell her to come sit with us or not to go over there...but most heartbreaking is when she asks to leave in the car again today and we have to tell her not today. She loves to play hide-n-seek and for us to spin her around. She loves to have Papa chase her and to sit in Mama's lap and to have her hair fixed. She is afraid of heights, dogs, and cats. She cries when it is time to go back to her groupa.

Here are some more pictures from our visit today...

Missing You...

Patrick, Christian, & Carson,

We miss you terribly and cannot wait to see you. Thank you for being helpful to Grandma, doing your studies, and toughing out the separation. We know it is difficult for you - it is for us. We love you and miss you to the moon and back!

Love,
Daddy & Mommy

Tee ochen kraiseevaya!

Today, we played beautician

(thanks MP for the suggestion)

...first I did Ella's hair

And then she did mine...

A quiet moment with Mama

Sharing juice with Mama

Ella kept asking to leave in the masheena (car)...it was heartbreaking to tell her not today solnishka (sunshine).

She Amazes Us...

Everyday we have gone to visit with Ella has been wonderful: we play, we chat, we practice our English and we snack. Her behavior is typical and she doesn't stick with doing one thing for a long periods of time. First she will color and the she will play with her dolls and then she will want to play 1,2,3...and then she remembers we have a snack and juice. Mostly we bring her crackers or a banana and she will hold her juice in her hand until it is finished to the LAST drop. We learned quickly the banana and crackers must be rationed or she will put as much as she can into her mouth at once. Again, she consumes it quickly and at no time does she relinquish any portion of the food or drink to us once it has been handed to her. I am convinced she would eat the peeling of the banana if we would let her.

Today, she amazed us. It was as if the light went on...this Papa and Mama keep coming back; they keep playing with me; they keep giving me hugs and kisses and love. Today, she actually offered and SHARED her juice and apple with us; she even let us hold it while she colored or drank her juice. I know this may not seem like much; but for her and us it was a BIG step - she is beginning to trust us. Another trusting step and indication she is feeling secure... she laid in Jim's arms and allowed him to cuddle her and as I sat facing them and stroked her hair as she just looked so at peace.

A New Dress...

Today, we gave Ella a new dress. She squealed in delight!

A few more pictures & a video...

I love this picture

So pretty in my new dress!

A kiss for Papa

A tearful good-night

** to hear the video scroll to the bottom of the blog and turn off the playlist by clicking on the button in the upper left corner.

Coloring

Day 4...

Images from our 4th day with Ella; Jim's great Parm Chicken & Pasta dinner; our apartment & workers on the roof at the orphanage....do you see a safety issue here?

Your Words...

We cannot thank you enough for your prayers, support, words of encouragement, and love you have left on this blog. They are important to us and each night, our routine is to grab a glass of water and sit together in front of the computer to read the post you have left us; they are wonderful, moving, uplifting and so very appreciated. We are greatful we have family and friends like you who are out there supporting us through this journey. Please, continue to post, you are an important part of our day!

Thank you to each of you from both of us and from our family back home.

Love,

The Payne Family

Court Date Set...

Friday, August 29, 2008

Pappa and Me!

Mama and Me!

Learning to color with chalk

I'm listening and learning...

...I can say Patrick

...I can say Christian

...I can say Carson

...I can say please

...I can say thank-you

...I can count to 3

...I can say I love you

...I can say more please

We visited Ella in the afternoon and she squealed with delight when we came through the door. We took her outside to play and she ate the banana and drank the apple juice we brought for her.

Before we leave we tell her we will be leaving soon but we will see her tomorrow. The first day, she did great..she went back to her groupa with no issues. Today, she cried BIG tears.

Yes, I cried. Come on you know I am emotional.

Arrival...

We arrived by trian this morning and hit the ground running. We drove about 80 miles outside of Donetsk to the orphanage. We spoke to the director of the orphanage with our facilitator (N) beside us.

After reviewing the files with the director, they brought her in. She immediatley hugged us both. She was asked if she would like us to be her Papa and Mama and she said, "Yes!" "Everybody wants a Mama and Papa."

They asked her if she knows about adoption and that she will leave with us and she said yes, her friends left with a Mama and Papa.

We played with her this morning and she is absoutley adorable. She is loving and so bubbly. We asked her if she would like brothers and she said yes. She likes to be a good girl and she likes to have brothers.

So without futher delay, this is

Ella Grace-Ana Payne

Chugga-Chugga Choo Choo...

We have left by train to Donetsk where we have asked to see the 4 year old little girl whose file we reviewed on Monday. We will be offline until Wednesday afternoon.

SDA Interview

This is the news you have all been waiting for...

We met "V" at a local coffee shop about 1015 a.m. this morning. After a bit of socializing and coffee we headed down the street about 200 meters to the SDA. We waited outside for our appointment which was scheduled for 11:00. At about 11:08 "V" motioned for us to come in. We entered the SDA and proceeded to the second floor for with "V" for our interview. Once inside the office, we were shown 2 files: one of a 4 year old little girl and one of a 7 year old little girl. We have asked to visit with the 4 year old child and will leave tomorrow out to the region.

Please continue to pray for us and for this little girl.

Interview

We have our interview with the SDA in a few hours and we will post again when we return from the interview with details.

We Have Arrived....

We have arrived in Kyiv!

It was a long 36 hours of traveling with only 1 lost bag...mine! We will contact our facilitator later today for our appointment time tomorrow. Check back later for updates!

Later.....2030 hours

Our appointment is in the morning tomorrow!

My bag has still not made it and there appears no sense of urgency on behalf of the airlines to find it. Luckily, we are staying with Rob & Teri and I was able to wash my travling outfit for rewear tomorrow.

Our phone number:

From USA 011-38-098-327-3256

Within Ukraine: 80-98-327-3256

Enroute...

We have departed for Ukraine. Look for us to post updates on our journey here. Please keep us in your prayers.

Love
Jim & Lisa

Packed...

We are officially packed and ready. Just a few errands to run tomorrow here and there; not much left 'to do' except figure out how to make the v-phone work with Windows Vista.

One request. Please pray to your God to place his hand on our family while we are separated; to protect and comfort our boys and for them to remain strong during this separation; for Elizabeth who will nurture, provide, and guide our children while we are away; for us to have the wisdom to know the child(ren) the Lord has chosen for us; and for those children who will remain in the orphanages across the world waiting for their forever families. Please ask HIM to guide us as we make this incredible journey to bring our daughter(s) home.

Love,

Jim & Lisa

Patrick, Christian & Carson

Getting There...

...One day at a time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday we received our 2nd of 3 shipments of our personal belongings. This one wasn't too large; I had most of it disseminated and put away before Jim got home from work.

We worked on it until movie time (we had decided what isn't done will just have to wait until we return).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weekend flew by.

Friday night is ALWAYS family movie night. Lots of movies, pizza, popcorn and soda.

Saturday we took the boys to the local Diablos baseball game; ate hot dogs, popcorn, soda, and waited for one of those foul balls to come our way.

We spent time a lot of time together this weekend - our last one together for several weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday arrived much quicker than expected. I still have a good sized 'to-do' list in front of me. No worries, it will all come together. I sorted what is left 'to do' by days and then sorted those by priority. Easy enough!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christian & Carson begin school on Wednesday - yes, already!

I have their uniforms ready but, we are lacking shoes and haircuts.

Patrick registered for his classes today; he will need to return tomorrow to finish up his enrollment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am armed with my list for tomorrow. Ready to rise early and get started.

It's the last day the boys have at home so I want to make sure we have plenty of time for fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check back soon - most likely one last posting before we leave.

Ella's First Photo Book...

We created this photo book for Ella to hold on to while she is still in the orphanage. We hope that seeing pictures of us, her extended family, her home and her room will help make the adjustment into someplace foreign a little less difficult.

Click the link to view her photo book http://share.shutterfly.com/action/project/1UZtnDNqxdG/landing

Kids Say The Cutest Things...

Carson said tonight before going to bed, "Mom, I love Ella already and I miss her. Is that weird? I mean, we don't even know what she looks like and she is in my heart already. Can she come home now?"

This one I have to set up. Today, we were in the store and Christian wanted this Star Wars Light Saber. I tried to talk him out of it $17.00 - he was spending his own money. Needless to say, my efforts at thwarting the expenditure I knew he would regret failed. So tonight, as he hands me his $17.00 (he bought on credit) he started to cry because now he doesn't have much money left (saw this coming). I explained to him that sometimes we want something so bad in the moment but later when we get it home we realize we really didn't need it or it isn't exactly what we were looking for. He says, "Yes Mommy I know. I have buyers remote."

Sometimes you just want to cry or laugh but you can't so after they go to bed you blog about it!

Ella's Space...

Finally!

We have finished (for the most part) with Ella's room. Her room is painted lilac with white sheer drapes for the windows and soft yellow sheers hanging from the ceiling at the head of each bed. Yes, I said each...we just don't know if the Lord is blessing us with one or two little girls so we are prepared for two!

All About Ella...

Grandma Balk made some really cute outfits for Ella. We are blessed she is so talented and took the time to make these outfits for you Ella. The outfit to the left (pants and top) are adjustable at the waist with a pull and tie string. The top and the dress (to the right) are both adjustable on the shoulders and she added a tie string to gather the top/dress in the back.

They are a soft blue with adorable little white bunnies!

Thank you Grandma!

VBS

Christian & Carson are attending VBS this week. They had a wonderful first day. I love it when they climb in the car just busting to tell you what they learned and how much they enjoyed going!

New Driver Alert!

Patrick is officially a new driver today. This morning we spent 2 hours at the DMV (1.5 waiting to reach the desk) for Patrick to test and receive his learners permit.

And yes, for those of you wondering, I cried.

Nesting & Emotional...

Well, the topic says it all.

~~~~~~

I have stocked the pantry, the freezer, and the refrigerator;

I have cleaned out, cleaned up and down and under;

I have made my list, checked it twice and added and deleted;

I have cried, laughed and accomplished both at the same time.

~~~~~~

Today, I realized this is the last two weeks it will be just

Daddy, Mommy & THE BOYS.

I cried.

~~~~~~

There are lots of "last time" facing us over the next 2 weeks;

and many "first times" in the years ahead.

Wrap Up...

It was a busy week!

Moving is always a busy time and while we always hope our belongings will arrive to their new destination without incident, it wasn't to be on this move. We had some water damage and some broken furniture issues this time. However, the inspector surveyed the damage and moved quickly with the repairs. So this week the Rick and his wife (repair folks) arrived to make repairs along with Carpet Magic who made those nasty water mark stains disappear! Thanks to both teams for a wonderful job and your quick response!

Christian and Carson had testing on Tuesday this past week for their potential acceptance into ICS. They did outstanding and were accepted on Thursday. School will begin for them in a little over a week.

We are still waiting for Patrick's transcripts to arrive to begin working on his school enrollment. Hopefully, they will arrive this week.

We had work orders (repairs) for the house at various times and days this week. Now everything seems to be functioning along the lines of normal.

Remember that Harley I won back in September? Well, it arrived and has been delivered. It is BEAUTIFUL! I'll post pictures of it soon. Speaking of pictures, somewhere in our move from the hotel to the house my camera has been 'misplaced' as we cannot locate it. Argh. Hopefully, it will show up unexpectedly.

I used the week to start laying out our items for Ukraine...books, DVD's, paperwork, gifts, 220 hairdryer, converters, peanut butter, tuna fish, crackers, Ella's toothbrush, toothpaste, sippy cups, cup of soups, clothes line, color wonder coloring, magic doodle, clothes pins, Tylenol, pepto, plastic spoons and forks and more.

We also gathered a POA (medical and dental) for my mother-in-law who will stay with our boys. Sent another POA off to the State of Texas for apostilling for me to have POA after Jim leaves Ukraine.

As you can see in the ticker above we have only 2 weeks 2 days until our interview! We will be leaving soon to begin our travels...say tuned into the blog for more info!

One last note, Adriana forwarded another $50.00 in donations to the orphanage fund. While those donation amount is anonymous, please know that we are deeply grateful for your generosity.