the kids are settling in nicely. Andre hasnt bitten anyone in a couple of days. so that is a big deal. why they hate to play outside I do not know but I have to shove them out the door. Today I said anyone inside is going to work. 3 of the four worked their butts off helping me. Jaeger and Ethan and Ben and Sophie and Andre helped me clean the basement this morning while Eric took the girls to work with him. once they understand what you want MOST of the time they are more than willing to do it. drinking milk sometimes they dont want to do but in general they are mostly compliant and helpful. The girls had a slumber party the other night all sleeping in one bed. that didnt go over so well with the owner/occupant of that bed. We wont be doing that again for awhile, but they still ask evcery night. they LOVE chicken and its the only thing that ALL of them will eat without a fuss. AJ and Jaeger often just refuse a meal because they dont like it. I am not going to beg them to eat. there will be another meal in a couple of hours and by then they usually come to their senses.
We took them all to the park for the corn feed the other night. they loved it. they liked the corn but not the hot dogs. they liked the soda too. and the playground, and the beach.....Probably they were getting tired of people speaking to them in English and asking them questions they couldnt answer without my translation. all in all I would say it was a pretty successful outing with them.
the girls are so very loving. the boys are becoming more so. Andre crawls in bed with me every morning for snuggles and kisses. sometimes its so early when he comes in that we fall back alseep for awhile. Jaeger responds well to praise. and we are trying to build his confidence by giving him things to do that we can praise him for and also having him do things with Eric, MAN things. like go to the hardware store together. he is a fantastic cleaner. he pitches in better than my other kids. The kids are taking turns drying dishes.
I think at this point with sophie and ben we were still so much in shock and not to mention jetlagged and getting used to various orthotics but generally the kids were so distant. and I was still not attached to them. It has gone much better this time. I am very happy with the children we brought home. They have fit into our family quite well. Sure they fight like siblings. but thats alright. thats real. I would rather deal with real than fight soemthing you cant see.
I am going to switch over to my family blog now. http://Enbergadventures.blogspot.com so please come follow us thee.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
new kids are real treasures
the kids are having a bit of tough love. they seem to be responding. having papa at home to reinforce is helpful. Chicken is cooking in the crock pot. we are supposed to go to Maggie and Jays later to visit. first time we have taken them anywhere. We take this one or that one here and there but not all of them at the same time. thank goodness its summer so we can be out by the lake and not IN someone's house. these guys are a bit destructive. so far we have lost a light globe and a set of window blinds. seems minor but many near misses! Andre aka AJ aka the wild man is constantly getting himself into a mess
That said the kids are bright and funny. The girls get more and more loving all the time and Andre is really getting to like having his OWN mama that stays all the time. Jaeger we have discovered has a penchant for handwriting! He loves to write words! I write them and he copies them. his handwriting is awesome! he doesnt like to go outside. he would rather sit in front of the tv which we limit.
oh we do love them. more so every day. Yesterday Diana let me brush her hair and put it up. Today Natasha let me put her hair up. She NEVER lets me do her hair. I take these baby steps as positive signs. Natasha is very loving and always hugging and kissing us saying I LOVE YOU!!! we always say I love you too so now she has started to say I love you too! when she is the first one saying it. In the orphanage she and Diana ALWAYS had their had back. More and more they are letting it down. letting it hang loose. Diana's hair is longer and thicker and she often keeps it back but does let it hang sometimes. Natasha at least part of every day leaves hers hanging down. its so pretty. nice to see her doing what SHE likes with her hair not what is required or expected. will post some pics soon.
That said the kids are bright and funny. The girls get more and more loving all the time and Andre is really getting to like having his OWN mama that stays all the time. Jaeger we have discovered has a penchant for handwriting! He loves to write words! I write them and he copies them. his handwriting is awesome! he doesnt like to go outside. he would rather sit in front of the tv which we limit.
oh we do love them. more so every day. Yesterday Diana let me brush her hair and put it up. Today Natasha let me put her hair up. She NEVER lets me do her hair. I take these baby steps as positive signs. Natasha is very loving and always hugging and kissing us saying I LOVE YOU!!! we always say I love you too so now she has started to say I love you too! when she is the first one saying it. In the orphanage she and Diana ALWAYS had their had back. More and more they are letting it down. letting it hang loose. Diana's hair is longer and thicker and she often keeps it back but does let it hang sometimes. Natasha at least part of every day leaves hers hanging down. its so pretty. nice to see her doing what SHE likes with her hair not what is required or expected. will post some pics soon.
Friday, August 20, 2010
so far today
Jaeger has had multiple whiny crying meltdowns because we used the N word(for you nonparents the N word is NO!) Ethan took the boys next door without permission, stayed close to mom for several hours because he keeps taking things, and immidiately took things not belonging to him as soon as I let him loose, Natasha and Diana are probably starving to death because I wont make sandwhich after sandwich for them, Maia whined cryed and snivled because I was making laundry soap and wouldnt let her in while I did, Chrysta had herself a handful of attitude snits, Andre had several meltdowns, chased cars, dumped the pencil sharpener, tasted borax, and tried to eat a handful of cat litter. umm is it bedtime yet? I am so ready!
they did spend the morning playing outside in the water that the rain left. I am sure they wrecked the grass but there was no keeping them out so why fight it? currently the girls are downstairs and the boys are upstairs watching ruff ruffman.
they did spend the morning playing outside in the water that the rain left. I am sure they wrecked the grass but there was no keeping them out so why fight it? currently the girls are downstairs and the boys are upstairs watching ruff ruffman.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
the quads and twins
jaeger ethan natasha (and soon diana) are 8. Maia and Andre are 6. Ben is 6 too but he was downstairs when we took this.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
more on our trip home
first of all we had to get up at 2am to get ready to catch our ride to airport at 3. our flight was at 530. there was what would later become a fatal error in our ticketing. but we were all set to fly home. kids were sleepy and not too much trouble. we did ok on the flight to Germany. I must be blocking it out because I cannot recall the seating arrangements. oh wait I remember. Andre and I were with another man across the aisle was diana natasha and another man. cody and Jaeger were somewhere behind us. Andre chatted up the man next to us. wouldnt let him sleep. kept asking him questions. he was very kind and grandfatherly and answered his questions and didnt get mad at him when he woke him. Andre wanted to snuggle up to him to sleep but I was very firm and woudlnt let him. he settled for neutral ground in the middle of his seat. We had FIVE hours in Germany. we played Uno a lot. I spent 23 dollars on water! that they didnt drink but rather used as swords to whack each other with an occasional sip that would require 15 trips to the bathroom to process.
FINALLY we got on the big plane. drove the kids nuts seeing the planes were there but we couldnt just get on one and go. Andre has a snit at one point while waiting and I was kicked hit kneed elbowed bit had my glasses knocked off while he fought me. I give him credit though for not screaming but only whining and crying about it. In Kiev he screamed bloody murder.
so finally on the plane. Again spread all over the cabin. Andre the wild man with me. Cody and Jaeger 20 rows back. Natasha and Diana were right behind me in row 22. thankfully there was a woman traveling alone on each end of their row so they were kind enough to help the girls out with their movie screens. Andre kept pushing the button for calling the stewardess. I didnt know he pushed it until they showed up and I would apologise. at one point they got a little pissed at me and I got a little pissed at them. I said I cant speak Ukrainian or Russian. He cant speak English, I cant tell him not to do it. can YOU speak Russian? no she only spoke portugese. I dont know why they couldnt just ignore calls to row 22. The girl next to Andre was named Maia. she was from Montenegros and headed for Maryland to be an exchange student. She enjoyed Andre a lot and he enjoyed her. She was a sweet girl. On the other side of me was a man from Nigeria headed to the states to learn about 4G fiber optics. it was neat talking to him. Andre didnt sleep until about 2 hours from Philly. the girls were out long before that. Cody and Jaeger didnt sleep at all. got to Philly and went to immigration and they were stupid and on a power trip and I am absolutely certain what should have been simple will be problematic in the near future for their citizenship. not to mention that they had to STOP working on My case to help a fellow employee process someone else because he coudlnt remember how! GRRR. they fingerprinted the kids. I have never even heard of that. the kids were good sports though. we just adopted 9 months ago. we didnt have to do that then. they argued with me about the kids getting citizenship they said no they only get a green card. GRRR> so we gathered our luggage and ran to check it in again and ran for our gate. thats where the fatal error occured. We were not ticketed for the kids for the last leg of the journey.
we ran back to the desk for us airways and I lost it. tears. exhaustion. kids who dont listen. (the boys, the girls were little trouble)helpful son who was also exhausted and getting ready to lose his temper. and do you know what the very kind lady at the US airways desk did? she yelled at me! why dont I have tickets? HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW~! All I know is I dont have them! help me! by the time they figured out that we did indeed pay for tickets it was too late to get them. they gave us gate passes and we ran for the gate. they wouldnt even call ahead and ask them to wait for us. we RAN the entire way and got there and it was too late they were gone. so we went to the us airways desk where lots of otehr people were waiting because THEY missed a connection. All this time Natasha hasnt been feeling great, they missed their meds, she had been throwing up, she had a swollen tender gland near her ear that wouldnt let her eat. the boys were out of control and RAMMY and nowhere to go because the play area is in another area that we already had to pass out of to get to our gate(which is next to where the help desk is)(oh and in germany they have several play areas, except you cant get to them. they are in the domestic part of the airport and you have to go through passport control and the kids didnt have visas for germany. nice huh?) so ultimately they gave us overnight at airport marriott in Philly. and meal vouchers. they said we could eat at the hotel or in the airport.
we went to hotel. man I so wanted to brush my teeth but I didnt have toothbrush or hair brush I packed them in suitcase. but we checked in and were told no indeed they do not accept food vouchers at the hotel restraaunt. now what am I going to do? I have to feed these kids! so we had to go back to airport ask for gate passes and go through security to get back to the airport part that had the food. Ordered a pizza and fruit at sbarro and the kids were so tired that when we were done they were begging BEGGING to go to bed. so we went to hotel and kids all went to bed and I took a bath. nice hot quiet soak. ahhhh. by this time I deserved it! I was ready to wring the boys little necks! they were just wild and into everything. probably major over stimulated not to mention no reference for what we do at hotels. girls just fell into bed and slept. boys didnt take too long to sleep but at 4 they were all awake again. I finally just got up and we left for airport, even before my wake up call. at least we didnt have to haul much luggage.
at the gate I got the kids smoothies. they liked them. but the lady at the smoothie place was cracking up laughing at me ordering so many smoothies.once again they had us spread all over the plane. except this time it wasnt even in twos! me in row 1 some one else in ro 9 or 10 someoen else in 21 or 22 just all over. Andre is a wild thing and can not ride alone. besides he is 6 and who wants to sit next to a wild and unattended child? once again the kindness of strangers prevailed and we were able to sit all together in the back and the people who were slated for those seats took our seats elsewhere. so the girls were together cody and jaeger and andre and me. the kids asked me all the way home about papa. all they wanted was papa. it was a two and half hour flight in which they served drinks but anything else was outrageously priced. I pulled out the trail mix and the treat I bought the night before with meal vouchers and wahlah, snack. While we were still an hour out something made ma laugh. If you remember the scene from National Lampoon's christmas where the white trash brother in law is out holding the hose while his RV's waste tank empties into the storm drain, he says "shitter's full!" and that is all I could think of for the rest of the flight after the plane's toilet tank was full half way through the flight.
Our good friend Uncle Bob picked us up at the airport. He had stuffed animals for the kids. they hugged them all the way home. We stopped at mcDonalds for a playland and they loved running and climbing. they had a lot of energy to get out!
we arrived home to waiting sibs who were very happy to see us. Andre and Ben fell into each others arms smiling. Reunited at last. Maia hugged the girls and they were so happy to see Chrysta again. Ethan and Jaeger became fast friends and they are both ALL BOY and have had a great time playing together. so far everything is going well. Andre doesnt like much to eat but if I can get him to eat ONE bite I either let him have what he wants or he realises hey this isnt so bad and eats it. he even drank his milk at lunch because I refused to give him water. he is 6 and wears size
3T well. he needs to eat! maybe its honeymoon or maybe they are all so genuinely happy I dont know. but what I do know is that its going very well here. Andre gets more appropriate all the time. Is even starting to cry to me over wrongs against him or hurts. these are 4 really truly great kids. everyone who passed them over is really missing out. they are loving and sweet, the girls are, and andre is more and more. Jaeger is getting better about listening. They all LOVE our dogs and cat. unfortunately our little dog doesnt like them so he is crated most of the time. I am hoping when my mom comes we can work on that. So far the only ones fighting are the same old battles between the kids who were here already and the same old battles between the new kids. no clashes between the old and new. they are all enjoying outside a lot. all the toys that were once old are new again and getting much use. I had to park my car at the end of driveway to stop them from going into the road. but they are loving the toys. Jaeger came in and took off on a bike. we didnt even know he could ride! natasha we knew could bike but she isnt interested much in the bikes. all in all I would say its going pretty well.
FINALLY we got on the big plane. drove the kids nuts seeing the planes were there but we couldnt just get on one and go. Andre has a snit at one point while waiting and I was kicked hit kneed elbowed bit had my glasses knocked off while he fought me. I give him credit though for not screaming but only whining and crying about it. In Kiev he screamed bloody murder.
so finally on the plane. Again spread all over the cabin. Andre the wild man with me. Cody and Jaeger 20 rows back. Natasha and Diana were right behind me in row 22. thankfully there was a woman traveling alone on each end of their row so they were kind enough to help the girls out with their movie screens. Andre kept pushing the button for calling the stewardess. I didnt know he pushed it until they showed up and I would apologise. at one point they got a little pissed at me and I got a little pissed at them. I said I cant speak Ukrainian or Russian. He cant speak English, I cant tell him not to do it. can YOU speak Russian? no she only spoke portugese. I dont know why they couldnt just ignore calls to row 22. The girl next to Andre was named Maia. she was from Montenegros and headed for Maryland to be an exchange student. She enjoyed Andre a lot and he enjoyed her. She was a sweet girl. On the other side of me was a man from Nigeria headed to the states to learn about 4G fiber optics. it was neat talking to him. Andre didnt sleep until about 2 hours from Philly. the girls were out long before that. Cody and Jaeger didnt sleep at all. got to Philly and went to immigration and they were stupid and on a power trip and I am absolutely certain what should have been simple will be problematic in the near future for their citizenship. not to mention that they had to STOP working on My case to help a fellow employee process someone else because he coudlnt remember how! GRRR. they fingerprinted the kids. I have never even heard of that. the kids were good sports though. we just adopted 9 months ago. we didnt have to do that then. they argued with me about the kids getting citizenship they said no they only get a green card. GRRR> so we gathered our luggage and ran to check it in again and ran for our gate. thats where the fatal error occured. We were not ticketed for the kids for the last leg of the journey.
we ran back to the desk for us airways and I lost it. tears. exhaustion. kids who dont listen. (the boys, the girls were little trouble)helpful son who was also exhausted and getting ready to lose his temper. and do you know what the very kind lady at the US airways desk did? she yelled at me! why dont I have tickets? HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW~! All I know is I dont have them! help me! by the time they figured out that we did indeed pay for tickets it was too late to get them. they gave us gate passes and we ran for the gate. they wouldnt even call ahead and ask them to wait for us. we RAN the entire way and got there and it was too late they were gone. so we went to the us airways desk where lots of otehr people were waiting because THEY missed a connection. All this time Natasha hasnt been feeling great, they missed their meds, she had been throwing up, she had a swollen tender gland near her ear that wouldnt let her eat. the boys were out of control and RAMMY and nowhere to go because the play area is in another area that we already had to pass out of to get to our gate(which is next to where the help desk is)(oh and in germany they have several play areas, except you cant get to them. they are in the domestic part of the airport and you have to go through passport control and the kids didnt have visas for germany. nice huh?) so ultimately they gave us overnight at airport marriott in Philly. and meal vouchers. they said we could eat at the hotel or in the airport.
we went to hotel. man I so wanted to brush my teeth but I didnt have toothbrush or hair brush I packed them in suitcase. but we checked in and were told no indeed they do not accept food vouchers at the hotel restraaunt. now what am I going to do? I have to feed these kids! so we had to go back to airport ask for gate passes and go through security to get back to the airport part that had the food. Ordered a pizza and fruit at sbarro and the kids were so tired that when we were done they were begging BEGGING to go to bed. so we went to hotel and kids all went to bed and I took a bath. nice hot quiet soak. ahhhh. by this time I deserved it! I was ready to wring the boys little necks! they were just wild and into everything. probably major over stimulated not to mention no reference for what we do at hotels. girls just fell into bed and slept. boys didnt take too long to sleep but at 4 they were all awake again. I finally just got up and we left for airport, even before my wake up call. at least we didnt have to haul much luggage.
at the gate I got the kids smoothies. they liked them. but the lady at the smoothie place was cracking up laughing at me ordering so many smoothies.once again they had us spread all over the plane. except this time it wasnt even in twos! me in row 1 some one else in ro 9 or 10 someoen else in 21 or 22 just all over. Andre is a wild thing and can not ride alone. besides he is 6 and who wants to sit next to a wild and unattended child? once again the kindness of strangers prevailed and we were able to sit all together in the back and the people who were slated for those seats took our seats elsewhere. so the girls were together cody and jaeger and andre and me. the kids asked me all the way home about papa. all they wanted was papa. it was a two and half hour flight in which they served drinks but anything else was outrageously priced. I pulled out the trail mix and the treat I bought the night before with meal vouchers and wahlah, snack. While we were still an hour out something made ma laugh. If you remember the scene from National Lampoon's christmas where the white trash brother in law is out holding the hose while his RV's waste tank empties into the storm drain, he says "shitter's full!" and that is all I could think of for the rest of the flight after the plane's toilet tank was full half way through the flight.
Our good friend Uncle Bob picked us up at the airport. He had stuffed animals for the kids. they hugged them all the way home. We stopped at mcDonalds for a playland and they loved running and climbing. they had a lot of energy to get out!
we arrived home to waiting sibs who were very happy to see us. Andre and Ben fell into each others arms smiling. Reunited at last. Maia hugged the girls and they were so happy to see Chrysta again. Ethan and Jaeger became fast friends and they are both ALL BOY and have had a great time playing together. so far everything is going well. Andre doesnt like much to eat but if I can get him to eat ONE bite I either let him have what he wants or he realises hey this isnt so bad and eats it. he even drank his milk at lunch because I refused to give him water. he is 6 and wears size
3T well. he needs to eat! maybe its honeymoon or maybe they are all so genuinely happy I dont know. but what I do know is that its going very well here. Andre gets more appropriate all the time. Is even starting to cry to me over wrongs against him or hurts. these are 4 really truly great kids. everyone who passed them over is really missing out. they are loving and sweet, the girls are, and andre is more and more. Jaeger is getting better about listening. They all LOVE our dogs and cat. unfortunately our little dog doesnt like them so he is crated most of the time. I am hoping when my mom comes we can work on that. So far the only ones fighting are the same old battles between the kids who were here already and the same old battles between the new kids. no clashes between the old and new. they are all enjoying outside a lot. all the toys that were once old are new again and getting much use. I had to park my car at the end of driveway to stop them from going into the road. but they are loving the toys. Jaeger came in and took off on a bike. we didnt even know he could ride! natasha we knew could bike but she isnt interested much in the bikes. all in all I would say its going pretty well.
Monday, August 16, 2010
we are home
after a grueling tearful journey across the world we are FINALLY HOME! many happy faces. If you ever get the chance to fly through Philly, DONT! we are so happy to be home. the kids are all thrilled with each other and we let the honeymoon begin. And I am quite happy to honeymoon after the journey we had.
oh and if you adopt, dont fly through Philly because the immigration there isnt all that great.
oh and if you adopt, dont fly through Philly because the immigration there isnt all that great.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
grrr!!
I woke up and got a phone call at about 9:10am saying she would meet me at the embassy with my documents. I said WHAT? no one told me I had an appointment. she said yes you have an appointment at 10. so I had to call yulia and find out how I am supposed to get there. so she called me a cab. I went there filled out a billion papers in addition to the papers I brought from home. but the papers that the lady gave me didnt include the birth certs! or visa photos! didnt anyone know that they would want visa photos? they want all of this today. original new birth certs copies and translations. why didnt they include that to begin with in the papers they gave me! also I dont actuallly HAVE the passports IN HAND. they are to be recieved today. so I had Yulia get me a cab home again as I knew there was little water. I got home to find that the girls had gone out with their friend. Cody told them it was ok. but now I dont know what time we need to go to get visa photos and whatever else I need and deliver to embassy. they only work until 1230 tomorrow! UGH! and the girls are gone and I dont know what time they will return. really they should have waited for me to return. I wouldnt have minded them visiting here. but now I am down two kids and dont know when the appt is that they will be needed for. hope they return soon! If I cant get visas finished tomorrow we cant go home this weekend. I do not want to stay here until next week! our original flight is Tuesday. thats FIVE DAYS AWAY!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
passports should be done today and hope for visa appt later this afternoon. medical and visa pick up tomorrow. if all works out we could come home this weekend. sunday has flight available. waiting to hear that passports are DONE and then I will make ticket changes. Andre is making big progress. this morning he woke to potty and then came and plunked himself into bed with me and curled up and tried to sleep some more. he didnt sleep but was very sweet. he spilled his water and didnt say a word and just got a towel and wiped it up. I caught him though and praised him. he has gotten SO MUCH negative feedback he doesnt even hear his name when you call him. He likes to be called JONATHON. Natasha wants me to call her Jordan. I tried to explain to her that Jordan is her middle name, she has TWO names and Natasha is such a beautiful name. but she says NO NATASHA! JORDAN! I still call her Natasha. she hasnt said anything about it. Diana and Jaeger like to test me in regards to eating in the living room. I could let them eat all over but that wouldnt be fair to them because at home we dont do that. I gave them some cereal this morning and am going to go buy some water and milk and bananas and make some scrambled eggs. dont know if they will eat them though. I throw more food away here than ever before. they want to eat. I cook. I serve. they take one bite and walk away. gosh I want to go home! they dont like my mac and cheese much either. andre wanted noodles so I made noodles. even he wouldnt eat them. he is very fickle with eating. what he eats today he may not like tomorrow. he smells everything first. if it doesnt pass the smell test he wont eat it. well I better go to the store since its still early and I dont know when our passports will be done.
sadly someone has broken my trust. they are trying hard to redeem themself and appropriate actions have been taken. but I am very sad that they were so upset about something(I have no idea what) that they did what they did. I think it will be awhile before they earn it back again. hard to trust someone who would throw you under the bus for no good reason.
Monday, August 9, 2010
andre keeps dancing around chanting YAN-O_KOVICH! lol the other day he said I am andrey yanokovich! and he also will walk around with a spoon or something and slap it on his palm while he struts around showing us he is in charge. this kid is a riot. he also mentioned the other night that he needs to find a wife(mind you he is SIX!)
nothing new. just played in the fontain.
dima took the girls out this afternoon so Cody and I took the boys and let them play in the fountain. then it rained and Andre jumped in every pudddle along the way home and I pointed out the ones he missed. he was a very happy camper. alas they are finaly quiet. they get so wild at bedtime! they really ae good kidds. they skyped with papa and the others and loved seeing them. Andre kept saying JONATHON! JONATHON! (his middle name, which may become what he is known as) Andre is very tiny indeed, his 3t clothes fit just right. he is 6. another ethan for sure. good thing I know about clothing skinny boys. Ben is only in a 4 or 5 and he is 6 too. It has been fun dressing the girls alike. they like that. I love it. Maia has matching outfits to theirs at home so I will be seeing triple when I get home.
update
Sprung the kids on Friday. they are with me in SunnyK. in a hot little apartment with lousy air no laundry and nonworking internet. this is hijacked internet that I am posting on. Andre is so dang cute. But he shuns me most of the time. Jaeger is this big strapping boy who whines and cries like a baby when he doesnt get what he wants. Natasha and Diana are very helpful and mostly well behaved. a little sisterly bickering but not much more. Diana likes to hit though when she is mad. and there is no tp to be found which sucks. but otherwise we are all fine. they loved the zoo yesterday. shower lessons have begun. they are doing ok with that. well better go before the kids tear down the house. and natasha wants me to shower so she can braid my hair.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
still blasted hot but moving forward
We are in ptown. We have received birth certificates for each child. And all tax codes are changed. tomorrow we can take the children and have passport photos made and apply for passport. Will take the children back to Kiev until passports are finished. They can spend some time with Dima this weekend hopefully. If we apply tomorrow we should be able to go back for them on maybe tues or weds. I am going to request the apartment John just vacated as I am not planning to spend much time there. The chairs pull out in to bed. I know it has internet.
So the last couple of days….we have spent in the car or waiting,…in the car. We traveled to Dasha’s city and then on to the place of birth of Diana and that was VERY FAR away. It was a gorgous ride. And we stopped at a little side of the road middle of nowhere place to eat and it was SO QUIET! Absolute silence except for the occasional passing car and us talking. It was all woods all around. A little dog camped out at our table looking for handouts and making us feel welcome. Our driver gave her some bread and she turned her nose up at it waiting for the good stuff. She did like my Tilapia. While we were there in Diana’s home city we had to change her tax code as hers was issued there the others were issued in ptown. We had to pay the expedite fee in every city. It was a lot of money! Much more than anyone expected.
Then on to Andre’s place of birth which was smallish town and we got there late as it was so long driving all over the country to Diana’s place of birth and it seems to take a very long time to change the name on a birth certificate. In Andre’s town the girl was new and was a nervous wreck to do it right. It took forever. We ended up staying over night in that city. There was but one hotel choice. It was not very nice. In fact there was a strip joint next door. Hotel Ptown looks positively palatial after that. Not even a shower curtain in that place! And you had to turn in the remote for tv when you go out. And I am certain there were roaches as it was NOT clean. And they gave us a little “plug in” to catch insects. There were TWO choices for eating. One was having a “gypsy gathering” of some type we were told so we went to the other. Flies flies flies. But the borcht wasn’t too bad. Except for the mayo….I thought they put sour cream in borcht? We were not able to get Andre’s birth certificate until midday today Thursday. Then on to Ptown. Another very long windy ride. I have nearly finished my second book this week and Cody finished his. He will have to reread one he already read since he doesn’t have another. I have one more in reserve but tomorrow we will pick up the children and I don’t think I will have much time for reading.
We went to the orphanage and found Natasha the attorney. She is such a beautiful young woman. She gave us everything we needed to change the tax code. Normally they do not do this at the tax office past one oclock. It was WELL past. About 330 or more. Our driver who says he is not david copperfield went in there and convinced them it MUST BE DONE NOW. And they did it. In a matter of minutes. Took way longer at Diana’s place of birth to change just HER tax code than it did here in Ptown for THREE of them.
We checked into the Ptown Hilton after that. Seriously compared to last nights place, the room we got here for the same cost is incredible! Huge huge huge! We have stayed in APARTMENTS smaller than this! My only complaint is there is no AC in the bedroom. Oh well.( We didn’t even HAVE AC in that little dive we stayed in last night. It was so blasted hot in there and we were not supposed to leave the window open at night because of insects. About 1 I said either I open the window or I cant guarantee I can behave civilly. A nice breeze cooled things considerably and we slept well for a few hours until it was time to get up. We had Fornetti for breakfast/ it was this pastry with a tiny bit of meat like hot dog inside and mustard. wasn’t BAD but not something I would choose to eat often. When Americans think Pastry we think SWEET! Fruit! Yum! This was not sweet and not fruit and therefore a little disappointing as it wasn’t what I was looking forward to. But we ate it and chalked it up as another adventure. )
I digress. We went to see the kids and they are so wonderful. Diana told me she will take her name Diana Claire and I hugged her and told her she was a love and a good girl. Dasha had been there yesterday and said that they are excited and also worried and nervous and sad to leave. All sounds perfectly normal to me! Andre veritably JUMPED into my arms and spent much of our short time there IN MY LAP or in my arms. And he was full of kisses. he also was very proud of his new name and says Jonathon very clearly which is surprising since he is missing most his teeth! But he wanted to go in that car! And NOW!! Jaeger didn’t even say hello until I tracked him down and hugged and kissed him. He was busy with a remote control car. He was a bit of stinker while I was there wanting to grab my hat. We went out tonight to the store and bought each boy a NYC hat. Both red. I hope he will love that. He wanted a new hat. We got some very cute sun hats for the girls as well and some yogurt for breakfast.
We went to Stairy Drar for dinner. Was a little more than we have been paying but since I stayed in a dive for my birthday I figured what the heck. for THREE of us it cost about 25 dollars us. Here I had heard good things about this place and Eric and I walked past it every single day here not knowing it was there. EVERY DAY! Twice a day! Our waiter was extremely shy! I think waiting tables is probably not the best job for him!
So tomorrow we bust the kids out of there. If we get everything done here in Ptown, like signing papers, and applying for passport dossier or something of the like, and changing the kids bank accounts over the to the orphanage We will go to Dasha’s city for passport photos. Then back to Kiev where we hope to see Dima. Tomorrow is Friday so if we don’t get to the passport stuff tomorrow we cant until Monday. So I am hoping all gets done. Maybe “david copperfield” can work his magic.
So the last couple of days….we have spent in the car or waiting,…in the car. We traveled to Dasha’s city and then on to the place of birth of Diana and that was VERY FAR away. It was a gorgous ride. And we stopped at a little side of the road middle of nowhere place to eat and it was SO QUIET! Absolute silence except for the occasional passing car and us talking. It was all woods all around. A little dog camped out at our table looking for handouts and making us feel welcome. Our driver gave her some bread and she turned her nose up at it waiting for the good stuff. She did like my Tilapia. While we were there in Diana’s home city we had to change her tax code as hers was issued there the others were issued in ptown. We had to pay the expedite fee in every city. It was a lot of money! Much more than anyone expected.
Then on to Andre’s place of birth which was smallish town and we got there late as it was so long driving all over the country to Diana’s place of birth and it seems to take a very long time to change the name on a birth certificate. In Andre’s town the girl was new and was a nervous wreck to do it right. It took forever. We ended up staying over night in that city. There was but one hotel choice. It was not very nice. In fact there was a strip joint next door. Hotel Ptown looks positively palatial after that. Not even a shower curtain in that place! And you had to turn in the remote for tv when you go out. And I am certain there were roaches as it was NOT clean. And they gave us a little “plug in” to catch insects. There were TWO choices for eating. One was having a “gypsy gathering” of some type we were told so we went to the other. Flies flies flies. But the borcht wasn’t too bad. Except for the mayo….I thought they put sour cream in borcht? We were not able to get Andre’s birth certificate until midday today Thursday. Then on to Ptown. Another very long windy ride. I have nearly finished my second book this week and Cody finished his. He will have to reread one he already read since he doesn’t have another. I have one more in reserve but tomorrow we will pick up the children and I don’t think I will have much time for reading.
We went to the orphanage and found Natasha the attorney. She is such a beautiful young woman. She gave us everything we needed to change the tax code. Normally they do not do this at the tax office past one oclock. It was WELL past. About 330 or more. Our driver who says he is not david copperfield went in there and convinced them it MUST BE DONE NOW. And they did it. In a matter of minutes. Took way longer at Diana’s place of birth to change just HER tax code than it did here in Ptown for THREE of them.
We checked into the Ptown Hilton after that. Seriously compared to last nights place, the room we got here for the same cost is incredible! Huge huge huge! We have stayed in APARTMENTS smaller than this! My only complaint is there is no AC in the bedroom. Oh well.( We didn’t even HAVE AC in that little dive we stayed in last night. It was so blasted hot in there and we were not supposed to leave the window open at night because of insects. About 1 I said either I open the window or I cant guarantee I can behave civilly. A nice breeze cooled things considerably and we slept well for a few hours until it was time to get up. We had Fornetti for breakfast/ it was this pastry with a tiny bit of meat like hot dog inside and mustard. wasn’t BAD but not something I would choose to eat often. When Americans think Pastry we think SWEET! Fruit! Yum! This was not sweet and not fruit and therefore a little disappointing as it wasn’t what I was looking forward to. But we ate it and chalked it up as another adventure. )
I digress. We went to see the kids and they are so wonderful. Diana told me she will take her name Diana Claire and I hugged her and told her she was a love and a good girl. Dasha had been there yesterday and said that they are excited and also worried and nervous and sad to leave. All sounds perfectly normal to me! Andre veritably JUMPED into my arms and spent much of our short time there IN MY LAP or in my arms. And he was full of kisses. he also was very proud of his new name and says Jonathon very clearly which is surprising since he is missing most his teeth! But he wanted to go in that car! And NOW!! Jaeger didn’t even say hello until I tracked him down and hugged and kissed him. He was busy with a remote control car. He was a bit of stinker while I was there wanting to grab my hat. We went out tonight to the store and bought each boy a NYC hat. Both red. I hope he will love that. He wanted a new hat. We got some very cute sun hats for the girls as well and some yogurt for breakfast.
We went to Stairy Drar for dinner. Was a little more than we have been paying but since I stayed in a dive for my birthday I figured what the heck. for THREE of us it cost about 25 dollars us. Here I had heard good things about this place and Eric and I walked past it every single day here not knowing it was there. EVERY DAY! Twice a day! Our waiter was extremely shy! I think waiting tables is probably not the best job for him!
So tomorrow we bust the kids out of there. If we get everything done here in Ptown, like signing papers, and applying for passport dossier or something of the like, and changing the kids bank accounts over the to the orphanage We will go to Dasha’s city for passport photos. Then back to Kiev where we hope to see Dima. Tomorrow is Friday so if we don’t get to the passport stuff tomorrow we cant until Monday. So I am hoping all gets done. Maybe “david copperfield” can work his magic.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
well I thought we were going to go bright and early. but I guess we now have to wait for the tax codes to be sent from Ptown to where we are in Ccity. which must mean that we can work on that from here? or from Kiev? anywyas we will still go on to get Diana and Andre's (hopefully!! remember Andre's place of birth didnt think they wanted to work today.) birth certificates just not leaving as early as we thought. I skyped with Eric and Chrysta. the internet is a really wonderful thing. it was getting late for them so we had to say gooddbye. and I thought I had to be ready in half hour. turns out I dont. But I am still hoping that waiting for the tax codes means good things. wrap this up in a hurry and get on home!
I miss the kids there. I miss the kids here. soon we will all be together and they will drive each other crazy and I will say gosh, I should have had goldfish instead lol. I adore my kids. every one of them. but admit it! even parenting ONE sometimes is a challenge. some days are good some days are bad. I know that will be the way. but to be home all together will be incredible. Ill take the honeymoon period! just get us home together!
Chrysta, tell the kids Mama loves them. that I miss them every minute. that I think of them in everything I do. and that I cant wait for them to meet their new brothers and sisters! and I love YOU for doing SO MUCH to help out! you are a real peach!
Mom I miss our calls every day. and I have only been gone a couple days!
we saw horse and cart on 4 lane highway. we see many interesting things here.
I am tired so maybe I will dress and pack and lie down to wait for the call to go.
I miss the kids there. I miss the kids here. soon we will all be together and they will drive each other crazy and I will say gosh, I should have had goldfish instead lol. I adore my kids. every one of them. but admit it! even parenting ONE sometimes is a challenge. some days are good some days are bad. I know that will be the way. but to be home all together will be incredible. Ill take the honeymoon period! just get us home together!
Chrysta, tell the kids Mama loves them. that I miss them every minute. that I think of them in everything I do. and that I cant wait for them to meet their new brothers and sisters! and I love YOU for doing SO MUCH to help out! you are a real peach!
Mom I miss our calls every day. and I have only been gone a couple days!
we saw horse and cart on 4 lane highway. we see many interesting things here.
I am tired so maybe I will dress and pack and lie down to wait for the call to go.
ps its hot here
how hot is it?
I took a shower and used up all the cold water.
hahahahaha
seriously I took a 20 min shower in all cold water. it was starting to feel warm when I was done.
I took a shower and used up all the cold water.
hahahahaha
seriously I took a 20 min shower in all cold water. it was starting to feel warm when I was done.
crazy. crazy.
left home sunday afternoon. Got to airport in plenty of time for our flight. when I attempted to check in I was told my itinerary had been changed. WHA? yes, your flight has been delayed 2 hours and you will miss your connections so we rescheduled you on the flight that leaves in half an hour. along with 50 billion other people. so hurry through security. thankfully Cody and I didnt carry on much. and we had on slip on shoes. so we got there in plenty of time for our next connection. until we were told that ......you got it! this flight is delayed two hours! you will definitely miss your connection! so instead of getting in at 430 you wont get in until 1030 and you will have to sit in Munich for so many hours that when you get there your flight wont even be on the schedule board. so we got to munich and waited. at the gate that was listed on our ticket. at one hour before boarding the flight STILL wasnt o nthe boards. and the gate we were at said London. I finally went to customer service. oh sorry your gate changed. so we moved. it said london there too but shortly after they left our plane arrived and we were FINALLY on our way. of course when we got here our driver was a little upset that we didnt call him. I dont know how I could call. my cell phone doesnt work internationally, or in Germany. THEIR phone that they let me use doesnt work in Germany.
so we got here and we fell into an apartment(with internet) and I thought I would fire off a quick letter home. no such luck. the net didnt work. and there isnt any air conditioning. and its about 150 in the shade these days.
After a fitful and HOT short nights sleep we jumped in our drivers car to head for region capital to get birth certs. (keeping in theme with the rest of my kids, none of them was born in the same place so we have to go to each place for birth certs. ps isnt that amazing? 12 kids and not a single one was born in the same place as another!) one city decided that it just isnt enough to have a court decree they want a notarised letter requesting they do it. seriously. this is the same city we worked with 9 months ago! and they also charged TWELVE times as much as SunnyK. they justified it saying that they have 7 days to do it. if we want it today the cost is 650 Grn. plus it was 200 for the notary! and then it took them ALL DAY to do it. we left SunnyK at 7 to get here at 9 and we didnt get it until almost 530! meanwhile we drove on to the Gplace(where they speak belarussian) where another kid was born. in a matter of two or three hours(including waiting for the lady to show up, and going across the street to the bank to pay for it, and waiting while they did it all) we had birth certificate in our hands. So today Natasha and Jaeger are Enbergs on paper. their birth certificates say we are their parents. tomorrow on to get Diana and Andre's. their cities are almost to Russia! but the city Andre is from says no they dont want to work with us tomorrow. go figure. wait and see on that.
we are staying in the city tht took forever. Your city Dasha. we got some dinner and it took an ENTIRE HOUR for it to arrive at our table. there was not another soul in the place. I think they had to go to MN for the chicken. We had been joking earlier in the day that my luck is whenever we want something, like referrals, paperwork, birth certs, flights, its always NO! so for dinner we laughed that it was just my luck, dinner? NO!
so tomorrow its back on the road. hope to be in SunnyK tomorrow eve and see John and Liesel. but for now, sleep. in this hotel with no air conditioning. and wifi only in the lobby(unless you are technologically advanced and can figure how to use it from your room.....like us lol)
so we got here and we fell into an apartment(with internet) and I thought I would fire off a quick letter home. no such luck. the net didnt work. and there isnt any air conditioning. and its about 150 in the shade these days.
After a fitful and HOT short nights sleep we jumped in our drivers car to head for region capital to get birth certs. (keeping in theme with the rest of my kids, none of them was born in the same place so we have to go to each place for birth certs. ps isnt that amazing? 12 kids and not a single one was born in the same place as another!) one city decided that it just isnt enough to have a court decree they want a notarised letter requesting they do it. seriously. this is the same city we worked with 9 months ago! and they also charged TWELVE times as much as SunnyK. they justified it saying that they have 7 days to do it. if we want it today the cost is 650 Grn. plus it was 200 for the notary! and then it took them ALL DAY to do it. we left SunnyK at 7 to get here at 9 and we didnt get it until almost 530! meanwhile we drove on to the Gplace(where they speak belarussian) where another kid was born. in a matter of two or three hours(including waiting for the lady to show up, and going across the street to the bank to pay for it, and waiting while they did it all) we had birth certificate in our hands. So today Natasha and Jaeger are Enbergs on paper. their birth certificates say we are their parents. tomorrow on to get Diana and Andre's. their cities are almost to Russia! but the city Andre is from says no they dont want to work with us tomorrow. go figure. wait and see on that.
we are staying in the city tht took forever. Your city Dasha. we got some dinner and it took an ENTIRE HOUR for it to arrive at our table. there was not another soul in the place. I think they had to go to MN for the chicken. We had been joking earlier in the day that my luck is whenever we want something, like referrals, paperwork, birth certs, flights, its always NO! so for dinner we laughed that it was just my luck, dinner? NO!
so tomorrow its back on the road. hope to be in SunnyK tomorrow eve and see John and Liesel. but for now, sleep. in this hotel with no air conditioning. and wifi only in the lobby(unless you are technologically advanced and can figure how to use it from your room.....like us lol)
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