Pics - it's been a while

The view from our apartment in Odessa. Odessa is about 1.5 million people.
Two pics of Alina playing with Reece Powell. DJ and Reece are home by now.
Alina is one happy child.

Verses that struck me tonight

Alina fell asleep early and, having had a short nap today, I had the energy to ready the Bible (thanks Steve and Jenny for the gift). I am currently reading Romans, having finished Acts on the plane over here. These three verses "came to me" as I was reading today, although we really know that they didn't just come to me or pop into my head. God pointed them out to me as a gentle reminder. So, here they are.

Acts 2.4 - the Holy Spirit descends on the crowd in the form of flames and the people speak in tongues. Before we left for the first trip (I think - maybe the second - things are a bit foggy) I remember telling Dean Warner that I was concerned about how I would communicate with Alina. Not only would I not speak her language but I'm not nearly as comforting and compassionate as Anne. I had read this recently and while worrying about this very issue I realized that God would provide for our communication. Well, tonight I thought about this again. The most obvious is that Irina, our translator, is with me right now. Normally she would have gone home until the passports were ready, but since they could come in quickly it didn't make sense for her to go. So, I literally have been provided with the ability to speak in Alina's "tongue" through Irina. Less obvious, but more telling of God's power, was Irina's comment today that Alina understands me. Whether it be the gestures I'm using or the tone of my voice, I am able to communicate with her. Irina is sure of this because she said usually the child will look to her because she speaks the language, but Alina comes to me instead. God provided for me for sure.

James 1.27 - I'm not reading James right now, and never have, but I have read this verse. It discusses that in God's eyes the only "pure religion" is looking after orphans and widows. I "happened" to flip to this page tonight when I sat down. I'm using it as God's little shot in the arm of adrenaline for this home stretch.

Romans 5.3-4. We can REJOICE in our suffering because it brings perserverance. Perserverance bring character. Character brings hope. There have been many twists, turns, and frustrations, especially while in Ukraine for both Anne and I. If I keep this verse in mind it will make it much easier the rest of the way when these things come up. God's way of saying "keep your chin up."

So, I feel very rejuvenated tonight. I'm ready for the rest of the week and think things will go very well.

To my family - I love you all very much and miss you. Alina and I are coming home soon.

Monday, March 30 - Passport applied for

Yesterday (Sunday) was a pretty uneventful day in terms of the adoption process. We did do some sightseeing with the Dicknisons and DJ. What feels old in the US would feel pretty new here. It was no big deal for our driver to tell us about this statue or that archway having been built in the 16th century. Then he showed us the Greek pillars that commemorate the Greek city here built in 1500BC. It's name sounds very similar to "Odessa", hence the current name of the city. My point is, what we think of as old, say the Civil War or even the Revolutionary War, is only a fraction of the history contained in cities like Odessa, or all over Europe for that matter. Amazing.

Alina had buckwheat and a chicken breast at lunch Sunday. I didn't realize a little girl could eat so much. There's no such thing as child-sized portions in the restaurants, so she got the adult version and nearly polished off the whole thing. I think I need to start giving her some more substantial meals.

DJ left Sunday night. It was nice being with he and Reece. Alina was fascinated with Reece and kept bringing her toys and giving hugs. DJ and I have had similar experiences here, so it was great to be able to talk about everything (the experience in the country, missing our families, etc.). I'm excited that he's going home by mid-week. We hope to have a reunion with them sometime. Maybe we should invite them to Elmwood this summer. Tell people "these are our friends who are moving to Elmwood. They have two kids with Down Syndrome, too." Keep up the exponential growth of the Down Syndrome population in town. :)

This morning, Monday, Alina and I went to apply for her passport. She sat nicely for her picture. Then it was a quick cab ride back home. I want to get her back to her schedule of taking an afternoon nap. After lunch (a very messy experience with mac and cheese) we tried Alina in the shower for the first time. The bath two days ago didn't go well, and now showers aren't a big hit either. I guess it is something we'll have to work on. Still, she's clean from head to toe.

It's nap time. Hopefully she remembers what that means. I hope I don't fall asleep before she does...the apartment would be in grave danger.

Pakka.

On the other side of the world...

So while everyone is being inspired by Todd and his adventures, I thought I would offer some entertainment by sharing how I am spending my days. Being a single mom to 3 young kids is hard work!

The other day we were talking about all the things we were going to show Alina when she comes home. Then I said "What is the first thing you are going to tell her?" Noah responded "Hi, I am your brother!! This is your house!! We love you." Caleb responsed "I am going to tell her just who is boss around here" I gave him a dirty look... Caleb continued "it's you mom, obviously it is you"

The boys have the chore of feeding the dog. Caleb feeds her in the morning, Noah feeds her at night. You would think that each day they are just finding out that this is their chore, because of the dramatic reaction it causes. You would also think, from their reaction, that feeding the dog includes hunting, killing and skinning a wild animal for the dog to eat... not walking 10 steps to the garage to scooop a cup of food. Anyway... the other day I told Caleb to feed the dog. His usual end of the world reaction was given. Noah chimes in "Hey Caleb, pretty soon we won't have to feed the dog as much. Meggie and Alina can help" I said "What?" Noah continues "Well I think Meggie and Alina can help out and have some chores. They can feed the dog sometimes." Me: "oh really" Noah "yeah, that is only fair" Me: "Alina and Meg will have their own chores... they will have their own, very important chores" Noah: "Well, what are they going to do???" Me: "Meg and Alina are responsible for making sure you and Caleb feed the dog!" Noah stormed off, I think he was still angry when I picked him up from school about 8 hours later that day.

Today we cleaned the playroom. The goals was to box us all the baby toys, since we don't have any more babies in this house. Why is it that toys that haven't been touched in months suddenly become favorites when the idea of parting with them is brought up? I found a big bin of baby toys and as I started to sort through them, Caleb came running over. I had a rainbow colored stuffned animal of some sort... it lookes like a cross between an elephant and a bunny...it was going in the garage sale box. Caleb; "Oh Mom, you put that in the wrong box. We are keeping it." Caleb: "Oh no we are not! That is my favorite!" Me: "Really, when is the last time you played with it? I found it at the bottom of this toy bin" Caleb: "It is a treasure. I keep it there away from Meg and Noah... I play with it when they are not around and then I hide it so that they don't break it (keep in mind it is stuffed)" I laugh and say "really, how long have you been doing this?" Caleb responds "as far back as I can remember... since I was 3." (He turned 4 last Sunday, 3 was last week for him!!!)

We measure the kids on the basement wall to see how big they are getting. I measured them last week. This morning Caleb asked me to measure him again. I asked him why. Caleb "I think I grew this week" Me: "Really, what makes you think that?" Caleb: "My feet... they are much further away from the rest of me than they use to be"

Finally...
While cleaning the playroom I decided it was time to get rid of the HUGE bin of little people and little people houses, farms, mainstreet and such. I love the little people, but the kids never seem interested. Noah sees them in the get rid side of the room. Noah: "Mom, you aren't getting rid of the Little People are you?" Me: "Yep" Noah: "Why would you do that? I love them." Me "You never play with them" Noah: "Why don't you like the little people?" Me "I do like them, you guys never play with them" Noah "But why don't YOU like them?" Me " I DO like them" Noah: "If you like them then why are you getting rid of them? If you are getting rid of things you like, maybe I am next!!" Me: "No, I am not putting you in the garage sale" Noah "Then do you not like them because they are little?" Me "What?" Noah "I hear you say we should love everyone, it shouldn't matter how big or LITTLE they are... so if you don't like them because they are little...well that isn't kind" Me "Noah it has nothing to do with their size, it has to do with the fact that YOU NEVER PLAY WITH THEM!!! Besides we are talking about toys, not real people" Noah (shaking his head in disgust) "They can't help that they are little mom, that is the way God made them."

So the end of the story is that the basement is clean and the Little people have been moved to a very comfortable and accessible corner of the basement, ready for that one time in the next 5 years when my kids want to play with them!!!

That is what is happening on this side of the world!!

A great day.

Alina and I woke up about the same time this morning. She rolled over and looked at me, smilled, put her arm around me, and snuggled really close. I have no doubt that she knows I am her father and she is my daughter. We layed in bed and played for a bit. Lots of giggling, honking of noses, peek-a-boo. It was great.

A good, solid night's sleep helped me wake up feeling much better.

After not eating much yesterday I was worried about getting Alina's appetite back. I made oatmeal for both of us - plain for her and raisin for me. Well, once I let her have a bite of mine she shoved her bowl to me and pointed to mine. So, I at plain oatmeal and she got the raisin oatmeal. Sign of things to come... She ate it all, so things were looking up.

Went to the market that is in our building complex. Actually, it's like a Super Walmart without feeling so big. You can buy everything. We did some quick shopping with DJ and Reece. Back to the apartment for lunch. Alina had Mac-And-Cheese for the first time. After a bite to figure out if she liked it she dug right in. Finished the whole batch. I also figured out that she does not drink water. It's juice or nothing. So, she'll drink juice.

Early in the afternoon the Dickinson's came to the market. We stopped down to see them and did a little browsing in the non-food parts of the store. Anything name brand (Addidas, Nike, etc.) is just as expensive as it is in America or more so. Ukrainian brands are cheap. Name brands are not.

Alina had her first Nutrigrain bar for her afternoon snack. She loved it. She'll fit right in with our kids.

It was a nice day, so we played outside at a little playground before dinner. Dinner went well at the cafeteria restaurant. Alina has her full appetite back, eating mashed potatoes, rice, and chicken "meatballs."

Back to the apartment to put jammies on. She looks rather cute in footed jammies. Nice job packing, Mom. Irina plays with Alina a lot and is helping me with language issues. She's very complimentary of Alina.

It was a great day. That pretty much sums it up. I'll try to post pics soon.

Todd

LONG DAY

Alina and I got in a car today at 9:00am. We got out of a van at 7:00pm. We probably spent one hour total outside of the car or van during that time. She was a trooper. We are definitely bonding.

We apply for our passport on Monday. Then it's time to hurry up and wait for it to come in. When it does, I'm just a few days from being home to comlete our family.

I'm tired. Sorry this is a short post. More tomorrow. I promise.

Alina is coming home.

What a crazy day.

I woke up with a cough, the byproduct of all of my traveling. Then Irina found out that the court decree won't be ready until Friday, the eleventh day after court, so our trip to Izmayl seemed unnecessary. I figured I would get lots of fresh air (it is a beautiful spring day here) after playing with Alina in the morning and then take some cough medicine and get a great night's sleep in preparation for our trip on Friday.

The trip to the orphanage started with a visit to the principal to deliver the blankets that Katie Brown's class made. In all, Elmwood students provided blankets for over half of the kids in the orphanage. As always, I am humbled by the warmth and generosity of our students. Elmwood is a great place with great people. I went to play with Alina. At first she looked at me with a puzzled look (as all of the other kids ran at me screaming "Papa, Papa."). Recognition then flashed across her face and she gave a response very similar to Meg's when Anne and I got home last week. She shoved some kids out of the way and jumped into my arms. I cried a bit while she buried her head in my chest. Fortunately we got to play with her little groupa friend who is being adopted by an Ukrainian family (we posted a pic of them previously). It was a good visit.

As I was walking out of the groupa Irina met me and said I needed to sign some paperwork with the principal. As I was doing this she explained that he was going to let us (the Dickinson's, too) take our children TONIGHT! I had a little bit of a "IT'S A CONTRACTION, START THE CAR" moment. I had gotten myself out of the frame of mind of having Alina today. Now, and very quickly, I had to get myself back into it.

Irina dropped me off at the children's store to buy some little girl underwear (they said they didn't think Alina would allow me to put diapers on her - a new source of stress for me). I then ran into the market for one last look and a little plastic potty, since I would be needing that now (she's not used to regular toilets - too big). Back to the hotel to get Alina's clothes ready and childproof the room. Skype and email and then off to the orphanage to get Alina.

Stopped with Irina at the children's store to by pj's because I hadn't planned on being here tonight. Also picked up some tights, which turned out to be a good thing.

At the orphanage I went with the doctor directly to Alina's groupa. Got all of the kids lined up while they dressed her. I had brought socks and shoes, jeans, a turtleneck, sweater, coat and hat. They looked at me like I was crazy. They pointed to the tights she had been wearing, as though any idiot father knows that little girls have to wear tights under their jeans. Like I said, fortunately I had just purchased tights, so I pulled those out and they put them on her. Alina looked very cute (pics in post below) and LOVED her light-up shoes. She showed them off to the whole groupa. Stomp and light. Stomp and light. Stomp and light and giggle. Quick goodbyes and I was ushered out. No fanfare, really. Don't know what I expected. Went to see the principal to say goodbye and Irina sent me off to the car while she finished paperwork.

At this point Alina and I were leaving the orphanage for potentially the last time. The only way it could happen again is if we/she ever wants to come back, and then it is just a visit. Pretty serious thoughts. I held her tight and she did the same. Once on the driveway to the gate I put her down and she took off towards the gate. It was like she knew where to go to leave and was more than ready to do so. Some pics are below.

The car ride to the restaurant found Alina totally motionless and squeezing my thumb. At the restaurant she at very little as she had only been up from her nap for about an hour and had snacked. She sat patiently and really enjoyed drinking juice from a little espresso cup. I asked her to say more and signed it for her. The first time she signed it right back to me. The next time SHE SAID “MORE”! Igor, Irina’s husband picked up on it, too, and was very excited.

Back at the hotel the wonderful girls who work here showered Alina with affection. In the room she promptly returned to her active ways. She explored everything. She particularly liked the closet/armoire with the sliding mirror doors. Not only could she see herself, but she kept opening the doors and climbing inside. She also found it particularly fun to try to throw the lamp on the floor. After wearing my shoes for a bit, she found her favorite thing of all – jumping on the bed. And, yes, I let her do it. I maybe even encouraged it.

We Skyped Anne at Easter Seals (and got to say hi to Micki, too). Alina kept looking behind the computer to see where Anne was. She then started to attack the wires so we ended the call.

At 8:00pm, right on schedule, Alina and I climbed into bed. She wasn’t quite ready, but I just threw my arm over her and cuddled her. She wrestled me for a bit, but calmed down and eventually fell asleep. She’s just as mobile in her sleep as she is when awake, so I got kicked quite a bit. I finally figured out that I needed to position pillows around her, much like a crib, to give her some boundaries. Everything is good now.

We eat breakfast at 8:00am and then jump in the car for Odessa. If all goes well tomorrow, we will be able to apply for the passport and I have a shot at coming home the following weekend. If not, I will be here into Spring Break. Fingers are crossed and I’m praying for everything to go smoothly.

Pakka.

Reunion with Alina - (pics are in reverse order)

Alina, in her pj's, ready for her first night as a Hollis.
Two of Alina in the restaurant. She looks like a pretty happy girl.
Alina and Papa outside the gates of the orphanage. If she ever goes back it will be because she asked to visit.
Alina looking out the gate of the orphange (for the last time). Quite symbolic.
Alina walking towards the gate of the orphange. Another symbolic picture.
Alina with her groupa for the last time. She was very proud of her "light-up" shoes and showed them off to everyone.
Alina looks pretty happy to be wearing her new clothes.
Having said that, Alina was pretty happy earlier in the day wearing orphanage clothes. She's just pretty happy.

In two hours Alina will be with me!!!

The court decree was not ready this morning, so it looked like I was going to lose a day. But, the principal is allowing me to pick Alina up this evening. So, around 5:00pm I will be leaving the orphanage with my daughter! Needless to say, I'm very, very excited.

I had to buy girls underwear because they thought at the orphanage Alina would not allow me to put a diaper on her. That was a first, for sure.

I'll have more later, including pictures.

Pakka

Back in Ukraine. Alina's last night in the orphanage!

I woke at 4:00am, caught the bus at 6:00am, took three flights and another bus ride, and 28 hours later I'm in Izmayl. Very tiring.

The trip here was pretty cool. A nice lady from Kosovo sat in front of me on the flight to Vienna. She had her 3-year old daughter with her and her mother sat next to me (very old-school Eastern European). So, three generations within one seat of me. The little girl was sweet. She kept singing her ABC's and I kept encouraging her. I figured out they were from Kosovo because the language they were speaking sounded similar to Russian and Ukrainian, but still not the same (crazy that I can tell that from my limited experience with either), so I asked what language the little girl spoke - Albanian. We got to talking and Alina's adoption came up, to which she said she was looking into adopting on this trip back to Kosovo (she and her husband are naturalized US citizens). I certainly encouraged her. About this time the lady across the aisle from me told me that her best friend had adopted an 11-year old girl with Down Syndrome some years ago and that it was the best thing to ever happen to them. I told her I couldn't imagine how it couldn't be anything but that UNLESS OF COURSE IT WAS YOUR SECOND CHILD WITH DOWN SYNDROME, WHICH IS EVEN BETTER. She laughed.

I had lots of thoughts for this entry on the bus ride from Odessa. Unfortunately, I'm in a state of exhaustion and can't remember many of them. I'm sure they were great ideas, though. Take my word for it.

As I got ready to board the bus from Odessa to Izmayl I had a very funny feeling. I'm sure all of the parents reading this at some point had a very distinct "Oh, my gosh, we're having a baby." That realization that your life was going to change forever. It's that feeling you get about a week before the birth of one of your children when you start packing your "just in case" bag for the hospital. Or maybe when you are installing the new car seat in preparation. Or maybe you sit down for dinner and realize that it's the last time your life is going to be "that way." Well, standing there on a curb, overlooking much of Odessa, I had that very real moment where for just a moment your stomach drops. Not a bad feeling, just very, very real and permanent. On the way here I looked through the photo album for one last look at Noah, Caleb, and Meg as the Hollis family as it was previously known. As of around 8:00am tomorrow there will be four children to be taking pictures of. As I reminisced I found myself proud and happy of the family we had. I also found myself very ready to get Alina and bring her home. I'm totally in my "Papa Bear" mindset.

I know Anne is a bit bummed that I am going to get to do a lot of firsts with Alina, but I thought of a few today that I am very excited about. First ride in a backpack. First trip grocery shopping AND first ride in a shopping cart. First "playtime" bath. First bus ride and plane ride - she gets the window seat all she wants. First Mac-&-Cheese, fruit snacks, and maybe Pop Tarts (just a little). The list will grow, I'm sure, but those sound like a lot of fun.

Tomorrow will be very busy. I hope to update tomorrow evening. The apartment is nice and has internet, albeit a slow connectionn

Thanks to all for you thoughts and prayers. Thanks especially to our family of friends in Elmwood who have taken such good care of us. I am very comfortable in my absence thanks to you.

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

I received this in an email today and thought it is a great message! Wanted to pass along and say Happy World Down Syndrome Day to everyone! Thanks for helping to make this world a better place for Meg, Alina, and all the others who have a little extra something special.

"Today is World Down Syndrome Day - a day to consider the lives of people who have Down syndrome, wherever they live. Around the world, 225,000 babies will be born with Down syndrome this year. 206,000 of these babies will be born in developing countries. Almost all of the 200,000 children who will be born with Down syndrome in high income countries during the next decade will survive to adulthood. They will receive knowledgeable medical care, additional educational support and live in societies that have become, and continue to become, more welcoming and inclusive. These children can now look forward to richer and more fulfilling lives lasting in excess of 60 years."

Back in Illinois

It is 3:58am here in Illinois and I haven't quite adjusted to the time change. Fortunately, the last two nights I've been so exhausted at the end of the day that I've fallen asleep with the kids while putting them to bed. So, while I'm up at 3:00am, which is 11:00am in Ukraine, I'm still getting a decent amount of sleep. Maybe if I keep this up the return trip won't be so bad? Maybe I'm just kidding myself.

Well, we returned on Wednesday after traveling for roughly 24 hours. It was light the entire time we were traveling, so we never really felt tired, which is an odd experience. My Advanced Chemistry students thought that was pretty crazy. Kind of like a Twilight Zone episode or some deep discussion on time travel. Sorry, I got off subject a bit. So, we got into Detroit at 3:00pm on Wednesday and saw that a flight to Peoria was leaving at 4:00pm. We were scheduled to leave at 7:00pm. We raced across the airport (and that crazy light and sound show that goes under the Detroit airport) to see if we could catch the earlier flight. We did, although our luggage didn't. That was fine, since all it contained was our stinky clothes. We will probably wash everything twice before certifying it as clean. We arrived in Peoria at 4:30pm and were in Elmwood by 5:00pm.

The kids thought we were going to be home on Thursday, so getting home before their bed time on Wednesday was a huge surprise. We rang the doorbell and when we heard them coming to the door we ran in through the garage to the kitchen. When nobody was at the door they walked back into the house and THERE'S MOMMY AND DADDY. They were all very excited and hugs and kisses were passed around. Meg's reaction was priceless, as she started laughing/screaming and clapping as she ran to us. Wow, what a great feeling to be home.

Thursday was a pretty normal day. Caleb is not feeling well, and may be qualified as sick, which is a rarity for him, so he stayed home with Anne. Actually, he got to go to a meeting with her, where he quietly watched a movie. Lots of rest and TLC once they got home. Noah, Meg and I went through the normal routine of going to Sherry's and school. Other than lots of questions about the trip, which everyone seemed genuinely interested in, it was a normal day. I did give my kids lots of hugs and told them I love them more than usual. Perhaps that should become the norm rather than the exception...

I cried a bit at school today. At the end of the day an informational meeting for students wishing to help with Special Olympics was held in the auditorium. Karen Broadway planted a seed about Special Olympics and Tori Scotti ran with it. I am very, very proud of Tori for the lead she has taken on this and for her big heart. I didn't know about the meeting and hadn't planned on attending it when I got a call over the intercom asking me to come down. I walked into the auditorium to see forty or so students listening to the presentation. Karen asked me quietly if I would say something to the group at the end. I kept looking around the room, amazed at the wonderful and caring kids in our school and community, and kept getting choked up. I really didn't think I would be able to say anything. When it was my chance I was able to speak about the "end the R-word" campaign, which some of the students already knew about through class discussions in both my room and Karen's. I spoke a bit about how people with intellectual disabilities were shunned in our country not too long ago, using and example that Anne's father tells from the group home he works in. When I tried to tie that into the experience we've had with Meg, well, I pretty much had to sit down.

I need to say how incredibly proud and humbled I was to see all of those student in that auditorium today. My goal of getting the football team involved with Easter Seals was to open our young men's eyes to a population of people that they may not have otherwise noticed, considered, or more importantly stood up for. Karen and I have been speaking with some of our classes about how ugly the word "retarded" is and how its use is poisonous and hurtful. She and I have talked about the impact of changing just one person's perspective (and vocabulary) can change the world. Today I saw a group of young people, a rather significant portion of our student body, who are taking steps to change the world. In the book Season of LifeJoe Ehrmann talks about the need for people to "Show up. Stand up. Speak up. Start changing the world." I am confident that our school and community will be changing thanks to the young people in that auditorium today.

I will leave you, at the end of this very long blog entry, with some of the feelings I am having since being away from Alina. While in Ukraine I was able to focus pretty singularly on the task at hand. I think that is a benefit of being a guy. I missed the kids, especially when we Skyped them, but for the most part my mind was on Alina and our daily living. Since being home, though, I have to admit that I am having a hard time. There are supposed to be four children here and there are not. I notice this all the time and keep thinking about Alina. Tuesday will not get here soon enough. Not that I won't miss Noah, Caleb, Meg and Anne. I will. But, I just NEED to go get my daughter. I joke that people don't want to mess with our kids and wake up Anne's "Mama Bear." Being home without Alina has woken up my "Papa Bear" and I really need to go get her. So, I will stuff as much play and love in as possible over the next four days. But when I get on the bus on Tuesday morning I will certainly be focused on the task at hand, and that is to bring home my daughter.

Traveling soon.

We made it to Kiev this morning after taking the overnight train. After a quick trip to the Embassy we are now in the airport hotel. We leave the hotel at 4:00am for an early flight. We'll update once we get home.

Today is the day!!!

We have court at noon!!!



We'll take care of some paperwork prior to court and maybe even get to the orphanage to see Alina. After court she will be napping and we probably will not get to see her this afternoon. We leave Izmayl and take a 4 hour bus ride to Odessa, where we will ride an overnight train to Kiev. We'll arrive in Kiev tomorrow morning, head to the US Embassy, then off to the hotel where we hang out until our flight on Wed morning. We are not sure we'll have any internet access between now and getting home. If we do, we'll certainly check in, if not we'll update from the comfort of our own home sometime towards the end of this week.

Thanks to you all for your love and support... we are humbled by the love, kindness and generosity of the people in our life.

Our last day of walking around in Izmayl

The main entrance to the market. We joked that Walmart advertises itself as the place where you can get everything you need. Well, Walmart has nothing on this place. Not only can you buy your clothes, food, toys, housewares, detergent, carpet, air compressor, and automotive supplies, you can buy the scooter to take it all home. Now that's one stop shopping!!!

A shot of one of the many "aisles" of the market. My guess is there are 300+ of these little shops, most of which are about the size of a bathroom.

Anne caught Alina in the middle of a belly laugh. Man, she's cute!

Anne in the Snuggie. Caleb will be happy to see this, as it was his Valentine's Day present to his mommy. Anne says "Jean, this one's for you."

Great Video... check it out!

We saw this video on the blog of another wesbite for a family adopting from Reeces Rainbow. What a wonderful message... I hope you'll take a minute to watch it!

Saturday, March 14th

Today is our last full day here where we just hang out... We will leave to go see Alina for our morning visit, have some lunch with the Dickinson Family and then head to the market place for any last souveniers we may want. Irina arrives tomorrow afternoon and we will take the kids for some photos for necessary paperwork (visa, maybe?) then we have court at noon on Monday. Then Todd and I start the journey home!! It will be hard to leave Alina, but the time until she is home will not be long... plus she is so well loved and cared for in the orphanage that I know she will be just fine until we can take her home.

Yesterday Todd and I walked through the market. We'll take some pictures today. The middle part is a big open market. Todd and I walked through there yesterday and saw row after row of fresh produce... lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Then there were big rows of meat... chicken that I am sure was alive yesterday morning! However we had to stop and quickly leave the area when I spotted something that was skinned... except for the paws... which were still nice and furry. It was awful!!

Alina is a very active girl... she is on the go at all times. Todd is starting to get a little nervous about his time here alone here... especially that long plane ride back home. We are hoping for a plane full of very understanding, child loving passengers!! HA!!!

More later...

An amazing Russian Orthodox Church.
Alina loves the slide.
One of Alina's friends from her groupa (with his aunt).
Alina and her groupa sitting outside and having a cookie.

You wanted to see the bows...

This video is from the first day we met Alina. They had her in her "Sunday best." You wanted bows, you got 'em!

Random Thoughts

Just some random thoughts (from Todd):

We got an email alert from the US Embassy some days ago about a demonstration planned at a university in Kiev by the "Patriots of Ukraine." Pretty cool that our Embassy is taking good care of us by letting us know this was going on, what the group stands for, and how to avoid problems. Yeah, USA! Now, the Patriots of Ukraine is a neo-nazi group. I do not find it at all to be coincidence that when the subject "Demonstration planned in Kiev" came up on my email it was shortened to "Demons..." The message as to who these people were respresenting was very clear.

It is amazing how God has been with us during this whole journey. Just today I commented to Anne that each family we have met has been placed with a child that is so much like them. Alina is non-stop, energetic, a dare-devil. The Dickinsons have a little girl who is a bit more reserved and it just as content reading a book as she is walking around the yard while their little guy prefers to sit in Wayne's lap. The Guatamalan couple we met today is adopting siblings, both of whom have become very attached to their new parents. They are both darker complected, like their parents. And the Powell's seem smitten with Reese, so there will be an awesome fit there, too. We all opened our hearts to what we were called to do and God provided for us. Awesome.

More later. It's time to go play with Alina now.

Todd and Anne.

Court date and returning home plans...

We have failed to mention this previously...

Our court date here in Izmayl is Monday, March 16th at noon. After that Irina, Todd and I will take a bus to Odessa (which is like 4 hours I think) and then take and overnight train to Kiev. We'll arrive in Kiev around 9 am Tuesday morning. Then we head to the US Embassy to take care of Power of Attorney for Todd's return trip (I have to say I have seen Alina and agree to continue with the adoption, and give Todd the rights to speak for both of us). Then we leave Ukraine at 6:45 am on Wed March 18th. We arrive in Peoria about 8 pm that night.

Todd is returning solo to bring Alina home. He will leave Illinois on Tuesday, March 24th, and arrive in Odessa, Ukraine on Wednesday, March 25th. Irina will meet him and they will head back to Izmayl. They will pick Alina up from the orphanage on Thursday March 26th and immediately head back to Odessa (I am sorry I am going to miss this cab ride with her... I am sure she will think it is something!!). They will be in Odessa until (hopefully no later than) Wednesday, waiting for a passport. Then they head to Kiev for medical exams, and a visa and then they both return home... hopefully on Friday, April 4th... but if the passport takes longer than Wed, it will push them into that next week.

So that is our plan... say some prayers that it goes smoothly!

Tuesday, March 10th

Our life here has become so routine that it is beginning to be difficult to find things to tell you about!

Todd just left the hotel to visit Alina. He said it will be good for each of us to have some one on one time with her... the truth is he said that to make me feel better about the fact that I have been sick and miserable for the last day. "Alone time" is really his way of justifying me staying here to rest while he visits Alina, then when I feel better there will be a visit where I get to have "alone time" with Alina... hopefully we won't simply swap spaces though, cause I would prefer he not not catch whatver I am trying to get over. I'd call it Montezuma's Revenge if we were in Mexico... being sick 1/2 way around the world stinks... what makes it worse is knowing my kids 1/2 way around the world are also sick and there is no way I can comfort them!! :(

Last night while we were visiting Alina we got to watch dinner time. Alina was given a big bowl of a porridge type meal... it sort of looked like some sort of oatmeal with chunks of some sausage in it. Meal time was interesting to watch... she picked up a big spoon (think soup spoon) and started shoveling it in... all while her babushka stood over her telling her to eat, eat, eat... she finished every last bite and then drank right out of the little coffe mug they had for her. Kristen and Karen(Meg's feeding/speech therapist and occupational therapists) if you are reading this you will be very impressed with her use of an open cup!! I think meal time at our house will be quite an adjustment for her... Caleb often takes a full hour to eat 10 bites, at the speed she eats, Alina will have to amuse herself for a full 59 minutes at the table if she is waiting for Caleb!

It has been very nice here (in the 50's) so we are able to take her outside when we visit, which she enjoys. We walk around the grounds of the orphange, play on the gym equipment they have there or Todd gives her piggy back rides, which I think may be her favorite. It has also given us the chance to see many of the other kids at this facility. So many of them when they see us say "Mamma! Pappa!" and start waving ... the workers say "Alina's Mamma and Pappa" and the looks on their faces just breaks my heart... so many beautiful kids who just want someone to love them. Todd said our goal should be to find a church willing to "adopt" this orphange, regularly send supplies, make a mission trip each year to help provide maintenence, paint, groundwork, whatever... and that we should find people to adopt these kids, starting with all the kids in Alina's groupa. I told him that I knew of one family that would take 5 of the kids, and he just laughed and said we didn't have enough bed space!!!

On a different note, two things that Ukraine has that America should look into... Coke Light and crab flavored potato chips!!! Coke light, not full sugar coke, but not that nasty aftertaste of Diet Coke (that from a diehard Diet Pepsi drinker... Diet coke, blech!) It is very good... Crab Flavored Potato chips, made by Lays, are fantastic... if America is so "advanced" tell me, why do we not have these things!?!?!? Just something to think about...

Video - Alina loves bubbles!

Sunday, March 8 - A Beautiful Spring Day

Well, today is International Women's Day. It's like our Mother's Day. Buying flowers is a very big deal. On the way to the orphange there is a little park that was lined with flower shops (tents), so we stopped and picked up daisies for the women in Alina's groupa. The women were very thankful. Anne plans on making this a permanent holiday in the Hollis household.

We have worked very hard to learn Ukrainian words to help us communicate with Alina. Hello, goodbye, hi, bye-bye, love you, dog, cat, etc. Then, this afternoon while one of her teachers was playing with us, I used the Ukrainian word for red (Alina was stacking colored blocks). She corrected me with another word and then started talking about some things I couldn't understand, although I could figure out that she was in effect saying "Russian" and "Ukrainian." She stepped inside and got another one of the teachers who speaks some english. Turns out they speak Russian exlusively to the children at the orphange (Ukrainian and Russian are both spoken in Ukraine). So, all of the Ukrainian words we've learned do us no good when speaking to Alina. Tomorrow we start learning Russian!

It was a beautiful spring day hear. Daffodils are coming up (although not yet in bloom), as are the tulips. Daylilies are starting to peak out of the ground. We took Alina for a walk outside this morning. She enjoys playing ball, both throwing and kicking. She rode a tricycle while Anne and I pushed. Then we walked some more. She found every puddle there was and made sure to splash in them all. It was great fun until she stopped in the middle of one and decided to sit down. She soaked her overalls, the pants she had on under them, the tights under the pants, and her underwear. They sure like layers here! We had to return her to her groupa and the workers waived us goodbye, ending our visit ten minutes early.

In the afternoon we played with puzzles and stacking blocks. We took a walk outside again. Fortunately the puddles had mostly dried up, although Alina still found a few. Back inside she played with her favorite toy - slippers from the hotel (although she'd still pick my shoes if she had a choice). Coming in a close second to the slippers would be piggy-back rides. I ran up and down the hall for about twenty minutes with her laughing the whole time. Anne would take her for a bit, but as soon as she set Alina down she'd run over to me and get right behind me, ready for another ride. I'm a sucker for my daughter, so up she'd go and we'd start running up and down the hall again.

We visited the market in town today. It's hard to explain, so I'll take pictures at some point. The best way to describe it is Spoon River Drive every day of the year. Some booths had t-shirts and sweatshirts. Others had socks and hats. Some had household supplies (Tide, etc.). One row was all home improvement (rolls of electrical wire, Makita drills, chain saws, one booth of just door locks, one of just electrical adapters). It was a bit odd.

Lunch was a guilty pleasure today. We stopped in one of the many bakeries and we both got a piece of cake. It was very good. Two pieces of cake, a Coke, and a coffee cost us $2.50. I don't feel too guilty.

More of the same tomorrow, although Anne and I are getting into "work" mode a bit. Now that we have a routine we are able to find time to be productive while still enjoying the experience of being here.

Have a great day everyone.
Todd

Today's ramblings...

Well we spent our usual time with Alina today, for about 2 hours this morning and then again for 2 hours this afternoon. This morning we were in a little room off of the room where her groupa plays. She loves to look outside, play with her travel magna doodle and eat cookies!!! However this afternoon we took a pair of slippers from the hotel to her, and she spent about 90 minutes walking up and down the hall in those slippers!!! She loved them, even more than the Pocahontas movie we tried to watch with her!! She is growing more comfortable with us and doesn't appear to have grown tired of us just yet!

When we were there this morning, the Director stopped into the room we were in and Alina immediately jumped up and ran to him. He picked her up, talked to her by name, cuddled her, joked with her.... it was obvious that they are both very fond of one another. Truly, I am in awe of this man and the facility he runs. The buildings themself, from the outside, look how I expected them to look... old, a bit run down. But inside the buildings are sparkling clean, and more importantly, full of love. It is obvious that the people who work there, thanks to the example the Director sets, love these children... the kids are always willing to go with their caregivers and seem very happy. I am so grateful for the start that they have given Alina. While she was with us tonight she had to go to the potty and we took her to her groupa room and they brought us a potty seat and I went to help her and the caregeiver told me not to help, and Alina did it all by herself... It has truly given me an appreciation for all these people have done to help Alina grow and succeed. They don't look at her as having a disability, they don't look at her as delayed, they expect her to keep up with the other 3 year olds, and she does! Todd asked when we first got here if there were any typically developing kids in her groupa and the nurse looked at him sort of suprised and said "of course, how else would she learn!!"... what a testament to inclusion!!!

The reality of today is that Alina is very loved here... she has always known love and comfort from the people who have cared for her. That gives me a great sense of peace. However, it also makes me sad to know that we are taking her from the only family she has ever known. Her little friends in her groupa are like her siblings... they have always been together and they are excited to see her when she comes back to the room. I know she will adapt to our family. I know she will fit right in with her new brothers and sister. We love her completely. I know she will love us and I know in the long run we are giving her a much better life. I just pray that her adjustment and greiving for what she will be missing will not be too long or painful for any of us. If you could pray for that too I would appreciate it!

Saturday, March 7 pictures

The director of the orphanage, who Alina obviously adores.

Anne and Alina watching Pocahantas (in Ukrainian).

Todd giving Alina a piggy-back ride.

The three of us.

Friday, March 6 - It was a great day.

Below you will find pictures and a quick video. As you can tell, Alina is a very happy little girl. We've had a blast playing with her. Her favorite toys include: a flashlight, bubbles, and my (Todd) shoes. We introduced the magnedoodle (sp?) this afternoon and she enjoyed it FOR 30+ MINUTES! So, her attention span is very good. Additionally, she likes being tossed around, swung around, and generally involved in physical play. Again, she's going to fit right in.

We had the awesome experience of playing for a bit with the other kids in Alina's groupa tonight. A worker walked through the room we were in and saw Alina wearing my shoes. She started laughing, opened the door to the groupa play room, and told the other caregivers to come look. The all started laughing and then asked to see our photo album, which was sitting on the table. After looking at our pictures for a while and asking us questions as best they could, we asked to come in and take a group picture. To our surprise, they said yes. So, the group picture you see below is Alina's "preschool" class picture. Actually, it's more like her life's class picture, as these children have lived with her virtually her whole life and these women have cared for them that entire time. Alina is the only child with Down's in the group and the caregivers say she keeps up with every one of them. The kids were fascinated by the digital cameral and loved seeing their picture instantaneously. Anne got out the bubbles and they loved those. In all, we probably played for 10 minutes. It was great. When it was time for us to leave Alina ran over to both of us and gave us a hug. She knows who we are and that is heartwarming.

One down side to the groupa experience was the two children with cerebral palsy. One was in a wheel chair/glider and did not move other than to look around a bit while we were in there. I went over and talked to him a bit. I tried to play with his hands some, but got little response. The other, Sasha, was in a crib and is severely affected by the CP. We were told that Sasha is 7 years old (fortunately they haven't had to send him to the institution - yet). One the way back to the hotel Anne asked how many hours a day I thought Sasha was in the crib and I guessed twenty-four. There is no blame on the caregivers, the orphanage, or even the country. They just do not possess the resources to help children like Sasha. Our involvement with Easter Seals has made us initmately aware of how fortunate we are in America to have the ability to provide for children like Sasha so that they may grow, learn, play, and lead the happiest lives possible. We are blessed.

Well, Irina left today. For the next seven days we will be without an interpreter and I think we are ok with that. Anne and I feel comfortable walking around, going into restaurants and pointing at food (we may have to be adventurous), and generally getting around. Irina arranged for us to have the same taxi drivers (father and son) every day at the same times. She has known them for years and uses them exclusively when clients are in Izmayl. They are good men and appreciate our steady business. Additionally, if we need them to take us somewhere else she is just a phone call away and will arrange whatever we need.

For the next seven days we fall into a routine. We will see Alina in the morning and afternoon. In between we will walk around the central part of town, update the blog, and do some work. After the evening meeting we will update the blog, call the kids, do a little more work, and get a good night's rest.

We hope everyone has a great day.

Enjoy the pictures below.

Todd and Anne

Friday, March 6 - Great Day

One long post about our last two days

Hello everyone!!

First thank you all for the wonderful replies to our post yesterday and our introduction to the newest Hollis. Your encouragement and support has left us in tears… good tears, which we seem to cry a lot of these days.

So to go back and give you the recap… yesterday (Wed) we woke at 3 am and finished packing up our stuff to leave Kiev. At 4 am the van arrived with Irina, and the Dickinson family. We all crowded into the van for the 7+ hour drive. The first hour or so we were all very talkative, but then things quieted for a bit while we settled in for the drive. Or perhaps we all quieted so that we could pray for our lives on this crazy drive!!! Irina told us reassuringly that he was not driving fast, that this is just the way all people drive over here… and I believe her… I also believe that the typical driving is completely crazy and terrifying to the passengers!! It did not help my fear that every mile or so there was a memorial to some one who died on that road… I was convinced that it was a former passenger of our driver!! Needless to say I was grateful to get out of that van and arrive in Izmayl!!!

When we arrived we headed to the courthouse to pick up some papers, then went and got a quick bite to eat, then went to our apartment. Izmayl is much different then Kiev… much smaller, very few modern conveniences and not much to see. It is a rarity that our apartment has internet (which wasn’t working last night and we were very upset, that is the one luxury that we don’t think we can do without… it is our connection to the kids and everyone at home!!) so we were very thankful when a nice man came by today to get it up and running for us!

After getting settled we headed to the orphanage with the Dickinson’s and Irina. The orphanage is on the outskirts of the city. We met with the Principal of the orphanage, he is a very kind man, and it is obvious he cares a great deal about the children. The facility is nice in that the grounds are clean and the buildings are kept up. There are 70 kids in this one facility. We heard about Alina’s history. She was born to a single mom and left at the hospital. She has been at this particular orphanage since birth, so they have good medical information on her. Overall she is very healthy.

We went downstairs to meet the kids. We walked into the room and Alina was standing there (with those bows!!) and was very outgoing. They said to her (in Ukrainian) ‘Alina go say hello to your mamma and papa”… she came over and gave us both a big hug. Todd and I absolutely melted into a puddle of tears… she was all smiles. She is an amazing little girl… very friendly, very active, interested in everything and loves to cuddle and give hugs. The nurses said she is very smart, she is going on the potty, she can drink out of an open cup, she dresses herself. In her group, she is the leader, giving instruction to others (Meggie will have some competition!!). They said that she keeps up with her age appropriate peers, and that if it wasn’t for the facial features, you wouldn’t suspect her to have Down Syndrome, she is just that advanced!!

We went to the grocery and got some food for dinner, which we ate with the Dickinsons. At this point the day had been a whirlwind. Early morning. Crazy drive. Meeting our children. Dinner was the first time we had a chance to let our minds adjust to what was going on. We were thrilled and thankful for the children God has placed in our lives. Opposing all of that joy, though, was disappointment and frustration with our living conditions (coupled with the drain from the drive down here). In my opinion our apartment complex would be a “housing project” by US standards. That may be typical for here, but it was very unsettling for us. No lights between buildings at night. No lights in the entryways or stairwells (fortunately we were both on the first floor). And the internet…it is more than a convenience. It is our lifeline to our family (that includes our friends – you are our family, too). We felt a bit empty at the end of dinner and we prayed for God’s strength and understanding and asked him to help us in any way he saw fit. Anne, Meghan Dickinson and I went to the internet café and posted on our blogs and Skyped. That helped. We held on to the hope that the internet would be fixed today (Thursday).

So, today we met Alina for the second and third times. She remembered us right away and ran to great us. She gave big hugs and then was off and running!!! She may be more active than any of our other children. Amazing. In the morning we showed her pictures on the camera, which she enjoyed. We also let her play with a flashlight, which she waived all around, giggling at the lights on the wall. Noah and Caleb will appreciate this in her. And, of course, she ran around in Anne’s shoes and mine. In the afternoon we took bubbles, which are a favorite of hers. She also really liked the Viewfinder with random Disney images. Alina looked at pictures of the family in a book we made for her and pointed to Anne and I both. She growled at Joie, so that poor dog may never get a break between her and Meg. The biggest hit of the afternoon was swinging her around and overhead. She’s a daredevil. Our children love physical play! And by the way, when Anne asked her if she had to go potty she walked over, turned around and tugged at her pants, and when Anne pulled them down she sat and went. Yeah! When she left for dinner we were excited by how much she had bonded with us.

Okay, so here’s the tough part of the day. The internet guy fixed the internet, so we were pretty happy. Still, we had Irina take us to the new hotel in town that has internet (the only one). Rooms start at 290 grivnas ($35) and go up to 600 ($70). We really didn’t plan on using the hotel, since we had the internet and had grown close with Wayne and Meghan and their kids. Still, we looked at the rooms. I would say they are on par with Embassy Suites or better. That, coupled with the fact that the cab rides to the orphanage would be cheaper (4 times per day), made the hotel cheaper for us than the $30 we were paying for the apartment. It was a hard decision, especially since we felt we were abandoning the Dickinsons, but in the end we decided that the hotel was the way to go. The biggest upside of the hotel is that we have internet 24/7, which is the single most important thing to us right now in terms of accommodations. We plan on spending time with Wayne and Meghan outside of our orphanage visits and will hopefully be able to let them use our internet regularly.

So that is the update on the last two days… we are off to get some sleep. Good night!!!

Meet Alina Faith Hollis

It's been a very long, emotional, and exhaustion day. Words can't express what it was like to meet Alina. We know that God has chosen her to enter our lives in a very special way. She is already a perfect fit. She looks like me (Todd), is tough like the boys, and laughs and plays like Meg. And, she likes to cuddle like her mother. We'll write more about the journey later. For now, here is Alina Faith Hollis...

We meet Alina tomorrow!

What a great day. After waking up we had breakfast at the Potato House. It's your basic in-and-out restaurant. Not McDonald's and nothing fancy. More like a diner. We had sweet pancakes, which are more like crepes and were very good.

Around noon we met Roman, the director of a nearby orphanage that our friend Dana helped establish. We gave Roman some of the blankets and stuffed animals that the grade school and junior high students donated. He was humbled and very thankful.

At 2:00 we met our friends the Dickensons and Powells at the SDA for their referal appointments. We have developed a very personal, extended family-type connection with them and wanted to be there to support them and celebrate with them. We couldn't help but visit St. Andrew's Cathedral again.

We showed the families the way down to Independence Square. We had a Coke at McDonald's before heading back to the SDA for the 5:00pm pick-up of our paperwork. Once that was in hand we could go to the orphanage.

We leave at 4:00am for the eight hour drive to Izmayl. We'll meet Alina tomorrow afternoon. What will she be like? What is her personality? How will she react to us?

Below are more pictures. I tried to put captions in last night and failed miserably. So, I'll just put the pictures in and will try to say what they are at the end.










Our extended family: The Dickensons and the Powells.
Anne and I in front of the door that all adoptive parents go through at the SDA.
Foreign Affairs building.
Statue of Olga. More on that later if I get a chance.
Another amazing cathedral.
A group of street dancers (I thought of the great 80' movie "Breakin" when we were watching them).
Three boys on their way home from school. We had a great conversation with the one on the right. He spoke excellent english and was happy to practice with us.
Down, down, down, down to the subway. Actually, this was one of two escalators we had to take to get down there.
A replical of one of four "Golden Gates" from Kiev's past.