One Year Ago Today: Elizaveta Collette Lorenz

One of the only pics I have of her as a baby.

On this day last year we went to court and a Ukrainian judge officially made us the parents of Elizaveta K and changed her name to Elizaveta Collette Lorenz. We still had the 10 day wait to get through but as of 10/12/10 we were Elizaveta's parents. One of the best and most exciting days of my life. Pretty much the same feeling as when I gave birth to my boys.

Liza has a family

Going to court in Ukraine was one of the most nerve-wracking parts of the whole adoption process. I was so scared that we would stand in front of the judge and she would say, "No way! You can't possible think I'm going to let YOU parent this child." But, she didn't do that. Thank God and Yulia, our facilitator, who worked hard to get us to that point and helped us to stay calm for court.

Yulia and Liza. I'm so glad I took this picture of them.

The judge did have some reservations about Liza growing up with two teenage brothers. According to her, "All teenagers are mean." She wanted to know how we would keep her brothers from making fun of her or mistreating her and I tried to assure her that my boys were not that way, but she just didn't seem to believe it. I'm thinking she dealt with too many juvenile cases in her courtroom. I wish she could see Liza with her brothers now. She lights up when we pick them up from school. Loves to wrestle with them on the floor. "Sings" silly songs that Noah teaches her and  is the only one that can bring Austin out of a "teenage mood".

He's so mean. Can't you tell? lol

I think they like each other. Whaddaya think?

In the end I guess the judge decided having a family with teenage brothers was better than not having a family at all and granted us a little Promise and Victory. Elizaveta = God's Promise and Collette = Victory.

The greatest gift we brought home from Ukraine.

One Year Ago Today: Meeting My Dream

The very first picture I took of her.
Can you see the fear in those eyes? Poor baby :(

Early morning on Tuesday October 5, 2010 we rolled into Krivoy Rog on the overnight train from Kiev. I didn't sleep that ENTIRE night on that darn train. I'm sure it was just because I knew the next day I was going to finally meet the little girl from my dream for the first time. I was once again excited/nervous all at the same time. I did write a post last year, but it was a few days late due to computer and internet issues and I did leave a few things out.

This year, after being her mom for a year, I'm not afraid to say what I was afraid to say last year.

When we first met Liza they had taken her from her groupa, put her hair up and dressed her in pink, and had her playing with toys she probably didn't get to play with that often. We walked into the room and I was just immediately in awe that she was actually there in front of me. I remember having my camera ready, walking in and saying "There she is!" and then totally forgetting to take pics or video for a bit. But, after just enjoying watching her for a few minutes I caught her interaction with her baby doll. It's so nice to have this to look back on now.

Not long after she fed her baby, and herself, I went over and tried to get her to let me play. She wasn't really having it but the Speech Therapist, who you see in the video with her, encouraged her to let me and gave me a plastic spoon (like the ones you use for picnics). Liza decided she liked my spoon better, which she still does by the way, took it from me and started "feeding herself" with it. Next thing we all knew she had taken a bite out of the spoon and the ST was frantically trying to get the piece out of her mouth. She ended up having to pick her up, take her out of the room, and bring her back once the piece of spoon had been removed from her mouth. It was kind of funny then and looking back now I'm still laughing, although I should've known from that encounter just how stubborn my girl was. Too bad I didn't get THAT on video!

In the room with the Speech Therapist, who she was familiar with, we were just a couple people who talked funny and she wasn't too worried about us. Once they let us go down to the visitation room with her it was obvious to us that she didn't care for us. In fact, I see now that she was scared of us. My poor Girl.

She was making what we called her "hissing sound".
It was like she was trying to scare us away.

The only way she would allow me to hold her at first
Poor girl :(

Obviously these pictures don't look like the ones that you hope to see on adoption blogs and that's probably why I never got around to sharing them. But, it's good to see that things don't always go picture perfect at first. For us, it took a little time for her to warm up, but she did and we knew that it might be that way because those who'd adopted before us weren't afraid to be honest about the hard things.

I remember after visiting with Liza for a while our facilitator, Yulia, coming in and asking us for our decision. We just looked at her cause we didn't know what she meant, and she said, "Do you want her? If you do I have to start the paperwork?" We just laughed and I said, "Yes! We want her!" I can honestly say that is one of the best decisions I've ever made.

After we visited with Liza that morning we left to get some lunch, do a little more paperwork, and do some grocery shopping for our stay in Krivoy Rog. We spent some time talking about how our morning went and I remember at one point Rick and I talked about Liza and how she met our expectations. I was honest and admitted that I was a little worried that she would never bond with us and I think I even mentioned the fear of institutional autism. I see now that she was scared to death of us and I was overwhelmed with all that we'd already gone through and was tired from not having slept the night before. Our evening visit was like a gift from God telling me not to worry. There was no night and day change, but things were better and maybe my perspective had changed a bit.

See for your self:

She let me play in her favorite toy with her. She didn't even
wanna let other kids in there, but she let me :)

She decided she kinda liked him too.

She's a fast learner and she let us know it by learning the sign for "crazy" and doing it on demand. Well, she needed to know what she was getting herself into, didn't she? LOL

Yep, I'm a little crazy. She's a little stubborn. We actually make a pretty good pair. I'm so glad that we stuck it out through all the stress and all the scares. She has been worth every moment. 

One Year Ago Today: We Saw WHO in Kiev?!

 

Credit: Naum Furman, News 4

KMOV.com

After all the excitement of losing Liza, learning about Sasha, and then winning Liza back we had a few days to just hang out in Kiev. During that time we had to move out of the first apartment we were in to an area of the city a little closer to Kreschatik Street. At one point we got stuck in a traffic jam and our driver, Yuri, said that it was because former US President, Bill Clinton, was giving a speech on AIDS/HIV prevention at a rally being held on Kreschatik. We thought that was pretty neat but that was about it.... at the time.

The next morning, knowing it was our last day in Kiev until we came back with Liza, we went out to walk around a bit more. We found a nice Coffee House, I think it was one actually called "Coffee House", and went in to sit and have - what else? Coffee!!


We sat at a table by a window, ordered our coffee, and talked about what else we wanted to see before we left for Krivoy Rog that night. I stopped after a bit and looked out the window and saw this pretty large entourage of people heading our way at the corner across from my window. In the middle of this entourage was a tall gentleman with a handsome head of grey hair. My eyes grew big and I said, "Is that President Clinton heading this way?!" Rick looked and said something like "no way." then "Yeah, I think it is..." and then he said, "Wouldn't it be something if he came in here to get coffee?"

And then that's exactly what happened! I remember Rick and I just looking at each other in disbelief. I mean, really! We LIVE an hour from DC and go there all the time and have never run into any famous Government folks or famous folks period. Then we fly half-way round the World and end up sitting at a table less than 10 feet from a former President and the husband of our current Secretary of State. Crazy, right?

Of course, we have NO proof of this because that was the ONE time I forgot to bring the camera and we were too nervous to actually go up to him and try and talk to him. Besides that one of his security folks came and stood right behind me! Talk about feeling nervous! I was like, "I'm probably the smallest, quietest person in this place but apparently this guy thinks I'm the biggest threat?!" There was no way I was making any moves to even try to approach Mr. President with Big Scary Security Guy at my back. Of course, he could've just chosen the spot behind my chair because it was in front of a pretty large window. Eh, who knows?

In hind sight I wish that I had plucked up the courage to go and try to speak with him. He seemed very friendly and approachable, quite a few young Ukrainians did go and speak with him. I wonder if we might have mentioned that we were there adopting, and that we had chosen to adopt a child with special needs. Maybe even mentioned Reece's Rainbow. Maybe a door might have even been opened to talk about the adoption of children with HIV and Project Hopeful, especially since President Clinton was in Kiev specifically to talk about HIV/AIDS.

Despite the fact that Rick and I both chickened out on our chance to talk to President Clinton I still think it was one of the coolest things to happen on our trip. Who knows? Maybe on one of our trips to DC we'll run into him again.

One Year Ago Today: Winning Liza

September 30,2010

(read the previous post first)

On the morning of September 30, 2010 Rick and I prepared to go to our SDA appointment. We had thought we would be going to get the referral of a little girl we had known as Liza K for almost 20 months. But the day before we had been told that she was unadoptable and there was almost no way that her status would be changed in order for us to adopt her in 2010. Sometime that morning, or maybe even the night before, we had decided that if we really had to give up on Liza we would come back for her as soon as she could be made adoptable by the courts. Serge had told us that a judge could do that but it would take about 6 months. I knew how to put together a dossier and get through immigration by this time and I figured the next time things would go a LOT faster!

When we got to the SDA office we prepared to go in - trying the whole time to keep a positive outlook. Eventually it was our turn and Serge went in with us. It was obvious that he was well liked and well known by the ladies in the office and that made us feel a little better. We didn't understand what was being said at first but the next thing I knew they had a folder out with our name on it and there were the CSPs I had sent months before. Then there was a picture of a little girl taken out of that folder and laid aside. It was "my" baby girl's paperwork being laid aside because of a paperwork error. It broke my heart and that's when I started to cry. We were told again that because of the paperwork issue Liza was not adoptable and we would need to choose another child, then Serge said something to the SDA lady and she brought out 3 more folders. Inside these were the little girls that fit our parameters. I only remember two of them and only because one was almost our daughter and the other was being mourned just a week later when news came that she had passed away. Her name was Anne-Marie.

I remember Serge kind of "helping" us to choose. He told us that one of the children had more needs than the others. Then when Rick showed interest in the little girl with the rosy cheeks and long hair Serge mentioned that she was in a region that he hadn't worked in before. One that they would like to get into because it would mean opportunities for more children to be known about and better chances for them to be adopted. We eventually chose the little one with the long hair and rosy cheeks. Serge told us that her name was Alexandra but she was called Sasha. Rick seemed to already be smitten, but I wasn't sure. I didn't think that I could love this little girl the way she deserved because my heart was so disappointed over the little girl I had loved for nearly two years. Serge had told us sometime during this whole procedure that we would have until about 5 or 6 THAT day only, for Liza's parents to be found and the paperwork to be fixed. Then we could get Liza's referral when we came back to pick up official referrals. Ok, whatever you say, but if it means there's still a chance for me to meet my dream face to face then okey doke!

We left the SDA trying to grow accustomed to the thought of traveling to a region we hadn't even heard of before that morning and, myself, trying to believe that I could give up my hopes for Liza to come home with us and fall in love with Sasha. I spent most of the day continuing to pray that Liza's parents would both be found in Krivoy Rog and making plans to return to Ukraine and adopt Liza in about 6 months if need be. I remember at lunch that day, where we were served pizza with peppers on it after asking for "pepperoni pizza", talking with the missionaries in KR who loved Liza and knew her personally and telling them that if we didn't get good news that day about Liza's parents we were planning to come back and adopt her in six months after bringing Sasha home. We would just have two little girls with Down syndrome to love!

Later that day after getting down again thinking about leaving Liza in Ukraine, even if it was only for another six months or however long it took to get her adoptable, I had the sudden thought that I should call Yulia. I knew that she was the facilitator who worked in Krivoy Rog for Serge's team almost exclusively and her number was already in our phone that the team had given us the day we had arrived. Hmmmm? Why hadn't I already thought of that?! So, I called Yulia and told her who I was and who we had come to adopt. She knew exactly what child I meant because Liza was one of her favorites from that orphanage and it had broken her heart to find out that she wasn' going to be able to be adopted. She had been busting her butt already looking for L's parents and was about to give up because, well, her boss told her we had chosen another child. Yep, Serge told her that we were giving up because we had chosen another child to adopt. Not that we wanted all options to be exhausted and then we were moving on, that we had given up. This did not make me happy.....

I still praise God to this day that I had that sudden urge to call Yulia. A woman I had never met and never spoken to. Never even exchanged so much as an email. Calling her wasn't an immediate end to our dilemma but it did set things back in motion. As soon as I told Yulia that we were not giving up until we had to she dove right back into the search and told me that she had already located Liza's dad and thought she might have a chance at funding mom too because as dad put it when told that mom had moved to Moscow, "That's sh**, she's right here in Krivoy Rog!"

I remember both of us crying at one point and Yulia saying that she was so glad that we weren't giving up. I also remember telling her that if it came to it we wanted to come back for Liza as soon as she WAS available for adoption. I remember her telling me that she would do everything she could for the next few hours that she had left in that day and would call me to let me know either way. I remember hanging up the phone with a renewed sense of hope that things would be alright. But, yet there was that picture of Sasha in the back of my mind. Because now, winning Liza meant Sasha losing her chance. 

Later that evening, a while after the time that I thought Yulia would call, she did. She called. I think you all know what her news was, right? She had found Liza's parents, they had signed all new paperwork that would allow Liza to be adopted, and everything was going to be ok after all. Except that now my heart knows of a little girl named Sasha in a region that Reece's Rainbow doesn't even work in who may never get another chance. 

Sasha's story isn't over yet, though. It's coming next.....

One Year Ago Yesterday: Losing Liza..... ??

September 29, 2010

September 29, 2010 was Austin's 14th birthday, but I was the one who got the surprise and it wasn't a good one. We'd been in Ukraine for one whole day and had recovered somewhat from our jetlagged tiredness. We'd decided to go out and explore Kiev and hoped to meet up with a few other families at TGIFs later that evening. Then we got a call.....

Serge called us as we were walking along Kreschatik Street and asked us if we would meet him at TGIFridays, he had some news for us. I KNEW it wasn't good. I just knew. But, Rick was sure that it was just to go over what our process would be like at the SDA the next day. I knew, from all the blogs I'd read and all the folks I knew who had been through the process before us that it wasn't typical to have a meeting with Serge before the SDA. I was right.

I remember getting to TGIFs and finding Serge, and then I remember seeing a bunch of faces I'd previously only seen online at a table in the corner. The families had decided to get together for lunch instead of dinner and we didn't know because we'd been out and internet wasn't working. I remember wondering if they knew something was wrong when we passed them and only said hello and went upstairs. I remember wondering if those who'd had their SDA appointments already had also had a meeting with Serge the day before, but I knew they hadn't. Something was not right. I remember wanting to hear what Serge had to say and get it over with but not wanting to know because I knew it wouldn't be good. It wasn't.

After 20 months of being in process to adopt Liza we were told that there was a problem with her paperwork and she wasn't adoptable. Apparently her parents had not signed the right papers when they abandoned her to the baby house. That meant that if her parents could not be found and/or weren't willing to sign new paperwork she would not be adoptable and we would need to choose another child to adopt. On top of that, her parents had divorced and rumor had it that her mom was living in Moscow. There was talk of having to fly her here IF she could even be found there. It looked bleak, very bleak. Serge was telling me not to cry and I just remember thinking, "I'm not gonna cry cause I am NOT giving up! Do you realize what I've already been through just to get HERE?!" I didn't say it out loud cause it seemed no one else thought there was any hope left. So, I let them think what they wanted - knowing the whole time that it wasn't over yet.

After that we went to Serge's apartment to look through the children still available on Reece's Rainbow that fit with the small parameters set by our Homestudy (it had been written specifically to adopt Liza) and Rick's age(he was already over 45). The child had to be a girl, had to be between the ages of 4 years 8 months and 5 years 11 months. I remember there being talk about possibly not adopting a child with Down syndrome, but another disability. I just knew that I had come to adopt a child with Down syndrome and if we did have to choose another child I was planning on that child also having DS. But, no one seemed to want my opinion or maybe I just wasn't in the mood to "shop" for another child so I just continued to keep my thoughts to myself.


After a while Serge had another appointment to get to so he drove us back to TGIFriday's and we walked back to our apartment. I remember later going out to find an internet cafe, since our computer wouldn't work, and looking at the little girls on RR trying to decide who would take Liza's place if it really came to that. That was so hard. How could we give up on Liza? But yet, it could be another little girls chance, and how could we not want that?

After that hard, hard day we went back to our apartment to get ready for our SDA appointment the next day. We must have talked to the kids at some point and wished Austin a happy birthday but I honestly don't remember that at all. I do remember knowing I wasn't going to be able to sleep and I was right. I spent most of the night laying in bed or pacing. But then I remembered a couple of verses that had gotten me through at other times that we had faced mountains and won. Psalm 60:12, Zephaniah 3:17, and Psalm 18: 2&3 got me through that night. After reading these verses over and over to myself out loud and praying I knew that no matter what happened the next day He was still ultimately in control and I was right in the middle of His plan.

September 30, 2010 coming soon.....

One Year Ago Today: We Are Here!

Last year on this day we had gotten to Ukraine and thought we'd be getting Liza's referral in a couple days and meeting up with a whole lot of other Reece's Rainbow families. We didn't know that the next day we would be facing the biggest mountain yet and our lives would intersect with a little girl, and later a family, that would eventually make the pain of those hours worth it.

That story comes next, but today is just a reminder of where we were on Sept. 28 2010. I was bored, jet-lagged, and a weird combination of nervous/anxious and curious/excited all at once. I'm pretty sure we did go out and explore the area we were staying in and maybe even had dinner with another family - I'm a little foggy on that now. We were determined to make the most of our adventure and I think we did.

Below is last year's post from today:

"And "here" would be the country that Liza lives in. We have our appointment to get her official referral on Thursday and I am really hoping we get to go to her region and meet her on Friday. This has been a long time coming and I am so ready to see her walk through those doors for the first time so I can actually lay eyes on my dream come true.

So far, things are not bad here and I think that's how they'll be. I am tired, hungry, and feeling a little lonely (cause Rick was sleeping - now getting up), but I think after I really get some good rest and some good food I will be ready to face this adventure with a big smile on my face. How can I not rejoice?! We are SO close!! Praise the Lord!"

One Year Ago Today: The Incident on the Way Over

On this day last year we left Virginia on a plane headed to Germany, where we then got on another plane that took us to Ukraine. I remember being nervous, worried that I had forgotten something important, and at the same time SO incredibly excited that in just a few days I would actually be meeting the dream I had held onto for almost 20 months. It was indescribable, really.

But, the plane ride was not really what I expected, at least the first one. I think that I envisioned it as a time to read and to catch up on sleep but something happend that made that not the case and if I hadn't been so tired and jet-lagged when we got to Ukraine I'm sure I would've blogged about it then. Since I didn't I'm going to try to remember it now.

I don't really remember boarding the plane but I remember finding my seat and getting into it. It was one of three in the middle of the plane and it was, of course the one in the middle. I remember hoping that a nice not so big person would sit beside me because I had Rick on one side and I didn't want to feel too claustrophobic. Well, I found the perfect saying to describe what happened next:


Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.  ~Titus Maccius Plautus

So, of course, the  passenger that sat next to me was a rather tall, rather muscular guy who didn't seem so nice. Actually he seemed quite fidgety and bothered. I figured I would be ok, I'd just read my books, talk to Rick, watch a movie or two, sleep, it would all be fine. Then I heard my next door neighbor ask the flight attendant if he had time to go to the restroom and she told him no. He got even more fidgety and bothered and then used a few curse words and got even MORE fidgety and bothered. Then I smelled a smell that I remembered from potty training days and I thought, "No way!!" 

But, yes, it turns out Mr. FidgetyBothered had wet himself and I had to sit beside him all the way to Germany!

Honestly, I almost felt sorry for the guy because I could tell he didn't want anyone to know what had happened  and I just can't imagine how it did happen. Although, I suspect alcohol played a role because he smelled slightly of alcohol as well. 

So, needless to say, it was not a real comfortable flight. I tried not to get too close to Mr. FB because, well... you know. But, yet, I didn't want him to know I knew. I was also worried if I fell really asleep my head would roll over to his shoulder and that was not something I wanted to let happen. Sorry if that sounds mean, but it was a weird situation.

There you go, that's the story of the smelly guy that I alluded to at the end of my last OYAT post. I wonder what others would have done if they had been in my place. Would you have asked to move to another seat? Tried to show a little more compassion to Mr. FB? What would you have done if it was you?

Sunday Snapshot: So, Where's Liza?

Well, she is AT HOME!! Finally :)

Gotta love her silly faces! LOL This is on the plane.

We actually have been home 10 days today, but this is the first chance I've had to update here. Hmm, wonder why? Not like I've been busy......


What? did I make a mess?

 Liza has been busy too. Wrapping everybody she meets around her little fingers.

Meeting her cousin Jayvion. They liked each other alot.



Playing Great Grandma's piano. I hope my Grandma was looking down on her and smiling.



She turned her high chair into a "machina".



Then she roped one of "The Brothers" (Noah) into playing Machina with her.
He loved it, I'm pretty sure.

She ate Spaghetti all by herself!



She made a mess with all her new toys.



And after all that she was worn out!

She has jumped right into our family just like she always knew she was supposed to be here. Her transition really has been so easy so far, I really believe that God answered our prayers to prepare her for us before we got to her. He is good and He is faithful!







My New Laundry Helper

I lost the kid and when I found her this is what she was doing.



Hello there! This is fascinating!



Ah-hem!! (Andrea? Sound familiar?) Did you just say my shoes are in here?! My pink Cons?!



Allo. Can't talk now gotta make sure this Mama woman hasn't killed my shoes! 



Just had to throw this one in cause she's so dang gorgeous! Even when she's bossing me all around the apartment :)



Ten Things I've Learned Living in Liza's Birth Country

1. Potato Chips SHOULD NOT taste like mushrooms. Ever! (and I actually like mushrooms, but not on my chips, thankyaverymuch!)
2. The Mullet is very much still in style! I had heard this, but didn't believe it till I saw it for myself. Hmm, doesn't Europe set the fashion pace? Just sayin'. Austin? Noah? They say it's business up front and party in the back... ;o)
3. Spaghetti is in fact NOT one of the four main food groups and if you absolutely have to have it you better learn to make your own sauce before you come or bring some Ragu with ya! (I was very disappointed to learn this one - the hard way)
4. Hot Dogs served from a hot dog stand that looks like it says Crapdosis can actually be pretty good, or so I've been told.
5. It really is ok to wear stockings under your shorts, in fact it's considered quite fashionable. Now, why wouldn't my mom let me wear mine that way back when?... hmpphh
6. Even when it's 80 degrees Faherenheit outside children can still get sick if not wrapped in at least 4 layers, plus a hat, plus a scarf tied around the collar of the coat, and don't forget the tights under it all, girl or boy.
7. But don't worry Dads, your boys aren't wearing any girly tights. You can get tights with all types of designs - flowers, trucks, teddy bears, zig-zags, fishnet.... you name it they got it.
8. When the Landlady says the cable will be on in a few hours what she really means is, a few hours after you move out it will be back on in the apartment you just moved out of.
9. Time here is very flexible. If you say you need your driver to pick you up in an hour he may or may not be there in 15 minutes, or if your train is supposed to arrive at 11:30 it may or may not sit right outside the station from 11:30 - 12:30. Hey, you were still "there", right?
10. If you stand up against the back inside wall of a bus and the driver goes super fast and hits all the bumps and potholes, you really can touch the ceiling with your head. Even if you're only 5' tall. Fun times!

In all honesty and seriousness, I really have learned a lot since being here. Some good and some not as good, but I am so grateful for this experience - even the extra time I have spent here just me and Liza. Yep, as of this posting we are still here. Hoping for good news about my prints, they were kicked back for "quality", early this coming week. I am SO looking forward to real American food: spaghetti (yeah, yeah it's Italian.. whatever), chili, cornbread, tacos (um, yeah Mexican ok ok), I could go on....., seeing my Boys, and my Hubby, and my Church family.

Soon, I will be home soon. Then I will probably miss some of the things here. I will definitely miss some of the people and the kids I've left behind. Never thought I would say that in the beginning, but I will.

We're Still Here

And yes, by here I do mean K... er the City That Must Not be Named. Liza and I are still here due to mine and Rick's USCIS fingerprints expiring on October 15th. I thought they were good for 18 months but it seems I was wrong, they are only good for 15 months. It's the I171H that is good for 18 months. Aye yi yi..... how are we supposed to keep track of all this paperwork and what expires when?! Ugh....

So anyway, Sweet Liza and I are here until the results of the prints come back from the US. I don't know where they are going cause they went to DC according to DHL's tracking that the Embassy so graciously gave me but I was told they needed to go to New Hampshire. Ok then! Oh well, at least they are in the US and the results will be electronically sent back here to the CTMNBN. The young lady that took our prints on a paper card said they were not permitted to take them electronically but they could get the results electronically. Don't ask me, I have given up trying to understand why they do things the way they do - that goes for the US Gov't and the folks here in the CTMNBN.

Now to lighten the mood around here. Here's proof that our little Princess really is enjoying her time outside of the Baby house.


On one of our first days back in the City we went to a couple Historic sites. This one was part of a memorial to those who died in a famine in the early 1930's.



A beautiful OLD church at a place called The Lavres. I love how they have history that stretches back to the Thousands of years.



"Papa" and Liza strollin' along. It's a little blurry but see how she's got her hand up to her ear? He had been on the phone right before this and she was copying him. So cute!



Isn't she beautiful? Just enjoying some freedom on the City Square.



There was a fountain here, and she loved watching the water. I love watching her take in all these new sights!



Playing in the street with Daddy. There was a musician playing and she wanted to go right up to him so she could listen. They close down this one street on Saturdays and it's the only time it's actually safe to be a pedestrian in the road.. LOL



Watching football with Dad on Sunday afternoon.

For the most part we are doing ok. I do really want to go home, but I think the time for her and I to bond one on one will be good for us in the long run. Growing up in an orphanage she saw many women come and go from her life so it was so much easier for her to attach to Rick and just see me as another caregiver. We have come a long way since leaving her Baby house, but I know she still needs to realize that she truly can trust me to be there for her FOREVER. Progress is being made and I love her like mad. She is the sweetest little thing on this earth, at least in my eyes :)

Gotcha Day!!

The day that we have been waiting for for almost 2 years has finally come (and gone.... hehe) We took Liza out of the orphanage FOREVER on October 27, exactly a month after we arrived in her country. We are so happy to have her with us and she acts like she has known this moment was coming and she's been anticipating it just as much.



All decked out in her going away outfit. Didn't I tell you? Sweet and Sassy!



About to run out of those orphanage gates FOREVER!

Almost there!

Paka Paka Baby House!

I will be forever grateful to Andrea G for taking these pics for us! We ran so hard those last two days in region that Rick and Greg Summers weren't even at the orphanage when we walked out with the girls - they were over at our apartments getting cars packed so we could rush to a bigger city and get passports and then literally RUN to a train to get back to K... the City That Shall Remain Nameless.

Someone really liked going in the machina (car) to the City of the Passports and Train. Check out these faces! She is so darn cute!

"Hmm? Something good is happening!"



This is how excited she got whenever our driver would get back in the car after stopping. She knew he made the car go and she loved it when the car would go! It was so precious and funny :)

Possibly getting a little sleepy, but NO sleep was happeing during that machina ride!

Worn out after the most exciting day in her life! Yes, her eyes are open. Yes it's kinda creepy.. in a cute kinda way.. LOL

We are beyond excited to finally have her with us! I keep looking at her and kissing and hugging her and trying to believe that this is the little girl from my dream. The one whose picture has been in my kitchen for a year and a half. I know it's her - but it's just so surreal to actually have her in my armss and know she is going home with us. She is so precious, spunky, funny, tough, and just so many other wonderful things wrapped into one sweet, beautiful little girl. We already love her so much. I can't stop thanking God for bringing us through every hurdle to the realization of holding His Promised Victory in my arms.

Girls And Shoes

You know girls just love their shoes, right? Well, Miss Liza is no exception to that rule. Here's proof.

We brought these little pink converse, that I got at a yardsale for .25 cents, for her to wear with her less dressy outfits. We actually brought a cute pair of Maryjanes for her Gotcha day outfit, but they were too small. There's a story about those I'll share at the end.

She sure is interested in what is going on her feet isn't she? :)

 Now, she's helping. Guess I wasn't doing it right... LOL Love that look on her face!

 Totally enthralled by the coolest pair of pink tennis shoes to ever appear inside  this baby house! 

 She is totally amazed at my skills! I don't think she had ever worn shoes that had to be tied before this.

 All Done! After I got them on her she just gazed at them a little longer then she hopped down off the chair and strutted her stuff a bit around the room. She was not a happy camper when we had to put the other shoes back on. I can't wait to post pics of her wearing these with the rest of her Gotcha day outfit. I have decided that it will suit her personality just fine. Pretty dress, hair bows, tights, and Chucks... Sweet and Sassy. And boy, is she ever that!

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Now about those cute lil Maryjanes: I took them up when I took her back to Groupa that evening I realized they didn't fit and tried to tell the ladies that they were a donation to the groupa. WELLLLLLL... seems like they thought I was saying that they were Liza's shoes and for the next day and a half after that she came to us wearing the shoes. And I'm thinking, "great.. now they think I'm telling them how to dress my child. This can't be good" 

So the next time Andrea and her translator, Lienna, were there I was planning to ask if Lienna could clear it up for us, but before we could get that out of the way Andrea came to find us and ask Rick if he had brought Liza's shoes back the night before (same shoes). He said he had but he had put them on the cubbies because the time before he got in trouble for not taking them off before she came in the room. 

Apparently, the shoes had gone missing and they thought we had either taken them back or a parent whose child is in the rehab part of the orphanage had taken them (???). Finally the shoes were found and Lienna was able to clear up the misunderstanding. Then we were able to have Liza brought down for our visit. Bet you'll never guess what shoes she was wearingg!!! ;o) 

This part of our adventure Rick and I will ever after affectionately call "The Great Shoe Theft"

Hello, My Name is Mama.....

....cause that's what my lil Girl told me!

That's right! Someone called me Mama today! You should have been there. She was in the stroller and wanted to get out so she looks up at me with her arms raised and says, "ma ma ma ma ma". I, just about flipped out. I grabbed her up out of that stroller and said, "did you just call me mama?" and she just smiled at me as I kissed her all over her little face, hugged her tight, told her how wonderful she is.

She is the sweetest, most precious little thing on the face of this Earth :) (I wish I had a pic to put here but we are back to not being able to post photos, oh well )

When 10 Days is Too Freakin' Stinkin' Long!

• When you've already been living the movie "Groundhog Day" for over a week and 10 days means you have to do it for.... 10 MORE days!
• When every day it feels like you are leaving your little girl at a 24/7 daycare.
• When you miss your other children like mad and feel like a bad Mom cause you've been away from them for 2 1/2 weeks, but you know you still have 10 more days, at least...
• When you've been legally declared your little girl's parents but you have no say over how she's treated, when she eats, sleeps, or potties, or how long she can play outside.
• When this little face:

• turns to this one:

•  and then she cries, cause she knows Mama/Papa are leaving without her... again

Thank God the 10 days is almost over. It actually ends next Saturday the 23rd, but we won't be able to do anything until Monday. I can't wait until we can take her out of the orphanage! Tonight I took her back and I thought she was goingt o just go and be ok but then she realized I wasn't staying and she cried and tried to come after me. It broke my heart to go down those stiars and leave her there :(
Darn those freakin' stinkin' 10 days!

Meeting a Dream



Our first pic together as a family. Taken 10/12/10 after court.

 On Tuesday of last week we finally rolled into Liza's region via overnight train. Of course, knowing we would be meeting her the next day I didn't really sleep at all on that LONG overnight train ride, somehow our facilitator, Yulia, and Rick did not share my insomnia. Thank God for an MP3 player with lots of pics to organize and songs to listen to. When we got to her city.... hmm, let's call it KR, we were picked up by our driver, Igor and drove to our apartment to wait until offices were opened. Man, it was hard knowing we were so close but had to go through all these formalities first!

Once it was time for business to be done we drove to the Children's Ministry office where we met a nice lady who asked us lots of questions. Once that was done some more paperwork was done and then we rode with her, our facilitator, and of course Igor - our trusty driver- to the orphanage. We had to meet with the Orphanage director before we were allowed to meet Liza. She told us her story (which broke my heart and I plan to share sometime but will wait until things are more official), shared her medicals with us, and asked us pretty much all the questions the Children's Ministry lady asked us. THEN we were finally allowed to meet Liza!

Talk about a dream coming true. I had all these plans to videtape her as she was brought in to us and to take pics of our faces as we laid eyes on her. Well, it just doesn't happen like that. In fact, we were taken to her in a small room where she was playing with toys. And let me tell you, when I saw her actually sitting there in front of me thoughts of pictures or vidoes were the furthest thing from my mind. First of all, she was fine with us saying hello and playing with toys also, but forget trying to get a hug or anything else. That was ok though, just being in the same room with her was enough.

After a while we were allowed to take her down to the visitation room and spend some one-on-one time getting to know her and her getting to know us. We did finally get pics that day and maybe even some video but couldn't get them loaded onto the computer we're using in the apartment we're in. So all the photos in this post are from this past Saturday up till today. Someday I'll have to do a whole other post with pics of our first day together.

Look at this beautiful, big girl. She can wipe her own face. Isn't she lovely? :)

Oh yeah, the Uncooperative Dog....

This is what happened when Dog didn't cooperate....

Yep, feet in the air, whiny noises, not-happy face.... You all know what that means, right? :)

In the end, fingers in the mouth. Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen?!

Yes, I took pics of her having a fit. I couldn't help it!  She was just so darn cute and funny. I'm sure one day I won't find her fits funny or cute. And we have already started telling her "No/Nyet" when she does something that she shouldn't do - like hitting Mama/Papa or kicking at other kids.

 For now, I'm just glad to be able to say that we are here and we have met God's amazing Promise. He has Victory planned for her and, I think, for many whose lives she will touch. Watch out World, Elizaveta Collette is coming for you!