Happy Monday!

Another hot day here in Sevastopol. One of the food items that we have not found here in Ukraine is maple or pancake syrup. I had old bread to use up so decided to make my own syrup this morning. Surprisingly, it didn't turn out too bad. I improvised a recipe that I had found online to make a peach syrup for our french toast. Maia thought it was a hit. She is amazing me with all of the foods she is trying. I hope it continues when we get home!
Alex was off today and Vitaly was driving the Mickschls so we had a new (to us) driver, Ghenya (sure I spelled that wrong) - he spoke English pretty well and we enjoyed having him with us for the day.
Visited Matthew this morning. Hansina took a couple of pics and was kind enough to email them to me so I will share here.

Playing on the slide. There is a little cement wading pool just to the left side of this picture (does it make sense that the slide doesn't go into the pool?).

Maia signing "more" sliding, please! The hat was a present from Dasha and her mom. I mentioned them last week - the Ukraine family who is adopting a little boy.

After our visit, we went out for lunch with the Mickschls. We went to a seafood restaurant which was quite good. This is my calamari appetizer.

Mark's grilled tiger prawns

Happy girl!!

Outside the restaurant on the waterfront.

Government buildings across the "bay"

Rest of the day was quiet. We're starting to count down... 12 days from now, we will be on our way home with our son!! Please pray that God is preparing Matthew for this huge change in his life. 

Lazy Day

Had a pretty quiet day. Went to bed late last night so we were all late getting up this morning. After getting Maia situated and finished with breakfast, I walked up to the street market. I wanted to dig through stuff at the second hand "store" there. Since we were going to come home during the waiting period, I didn't bring any clothes for Matthew. Wanted to know what size he wore before buying things (although I had picked up a few items before we left). I remembered him being small - knew that compared to Maia, holding Matthew was like nothing at all. And I was right. Most of the kids clothing at the orphanage doesn't have tags in it, but he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts the other day which we "92" - which translates to about a 2T in American sizes. The boy has some catching up to do! He is a little taller than Maia, but not much.
Anyway... we need to get a few things for him until we can get home and I can get him some clothes. Not a whole lot of selection, but I did find a few items that we will take to the ophanage tomorrow and try on Matthew. Interestingly, the clothes are sold by weight. So, I got 4 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts for 19.5uah or about $3.25. I also got him a pair of sandals for about $5 - shoes tend to be more expensive here. Figure if things don't fit, will just leave them at the orphanage.
Picked up some more sweet corn, nectarines, bananas, and potatoes at the market. Had the sweet corn for lunch and it was really good! Short nap this afternoon, then Maia and I went for a walk. It's pretty warm so we were only gone about 30 minutes. She doesn't seem to tolerate the heat any better than I do. Came home, fixed dinner, and washed some clothes (by hand - I will be SOOO glad to use my washing machine again). Now, ready for bed.
We'll visit Matthew tomorrow morning and may go out to dinner with the Mickschls tomorrow evening. Today was Mark's (Mickschl) birthday - wishes for a wonderful year! I have to say that it really has been a blessing having them here at the same time as we are. We haven't spent a lot of time together, but usually catch up for a few minutes at the orphanage and talk via phone daily. Just having that contact with others who speak the same language and share this journey, Christian faith as well as a heart for the orphan is wonderful! Thank you for your prayers for their daughter Morgan - she was diagnosed with tonsilitis and is now on an antibiotic. Finally starting to feel better today.
That's about all for tonight. We're starting to count down the days. Flight home is booked (don't even get me started on that mess - may share more later) for July 23. YAY!

God's Perfect Timing

I've mentioned that Ukraine has passed new legislation which will limit international adoption of Ukrainian children under the age of 5 unless they have specific medical diagnoses. Today, I saw the list of approved diagnoses which is actually quite small. Neither of our children have diagnoses that would have allowed us to adopt them following the implementation of this new legislation. While I understand the rationale for the legislation, it breaks my heart that there are many children who may never know the love of a forever family because of it. And I truly praise God that He allowed us to adopt Maia and Matthew before this change occurred! He knew that we needed to get our kiddos home and He made it happen - both times. We are truly blessed!!

Cranky Days

I think we (Mark, Maia, and I) are all ready to be home again. Each of us has been a little bit cranky over the past couple of days. Mark's not feeling well so if you would include him in your prayers, that would be wonderful. Nothing serious, probably just a virus or something along those lines.
Maia has been exercising her lungs - lol! All things considered, she has done extremely well during our trip thus far.  But, yesterday and today have been a battle of wills. She is determined to show how strong-willed she can be. In some things, that's ok. I know that as a parent I have to choose my battles. However, there are times when she needs a reminder she is not the one who gets to have all the control. So... she's having some unhappy moments. I'm sure that Sergei and Ludmila (the property owners) probably wonder what kind of torture we are putting the poor girl through. Oh, it is tough when you have to drink the WHOLE glass of milk or water at mealtimes. But, she doesn't drink much in the first place. It's very hot here right now and I don't want her to get dehydrated or have kidney difficulty. Try to explain that to a three year old! :-)
Ah, yes... the heat makes me cranky, too. I've never been a fan of hot weather and if you've been following the blog for a while, you may recall that Thankful Thursday during the summer often includes my gratitude for central air conditioning. Which is non-existent here in Ukraine. So, I am grouchy and sweaty.

Yesterday, we visited Matthew in the morning. Came back to the apartment for a quick lunch and then Vitaly took us to Alupka. We had visited the Alupinksy Castle last time, but were only able to tour the grounds as the castle itself is closed on Mondays (when we were there). So, we went back. Note to self - do NOT expect a hot, cranky 3 year old to behave on a guided tour. Yeah, not so pretty. Mark took Maia out shortly after the tour began and I finished the rest of the tour without them. We had hoped to go to Yalta, but it was getting late and as noted above, Maia was cranky so we just came home. Here are a few pics from our trip.

Palace Grounds

 A greenhouse type room in the palace. Beautiful flowers here.

Wine cooling tub in the dining room

 Isn't this a spectacular view of the mountains from the palace grounds? You can't see it but to the right is the Black Sea. It is breathtaking!

  The view to the right of the above pic.

There is a pond on the palace grounds with two swans.

The tree behind us is the only one of it's kind alive in the world. Not sure what it is.

Every day when we arrive at the orphanage, Maia goes running to the play area where Matthew's groupa is. She squeals, "There he is" when she sees him. And Matthew runs to give Mama and Papa ("Da-yee") a hug before giving Maia a kiss. He proudly tells all the caregivers that we are his mama and papa.

Proud to announce....

The newest member of the Hansen Family!

Meet our son

Matthew Dmitriy Hansen

 Matthew means "Gift of God" and this sweet boy is truly a gift to us! We are honored and blessed that God chose us to be his parents.

 Six months ago on Christmas Day, we left the orphanage with our precious daughter. On that day, I held this child in my arms trying to tell him how loved he was, never expecting to see him again this side of heaven.

Today, I get the privilege of being mom to two Ukrainian cuties. I am so thankful that my wonderful husband was faithful to God's call!

We've had a good day today. Visited Matthew this morning. The Mickschls visit their adorable little girl at the same time and it is always wonderful to see them. Their daughter Morgan (12 yrs old) is here with them. She is not feeling well, sore throat - swollen lymph nodes, etc. Would you please pray for healing for her? It is a scary thing to have your child be ill in a foreign country where medical care is different than we have at home.
There is a Ukrainian family who also visits the orphanage that we enjoy seeing as well. They adopted their daughter Dasha 2 years ago from the orphanage and now are adopting a little boy. Dasha is a cutie. Today, she had a good time playing with Matthew while her Mom got to cuddle with little Maxim.
Matthew found Maia's sunglasses in my bag today and loved wearing them. They are purple and yellow, not really appropriate for a little boy so we did buy him some "cool" shades but are saving them for after "Gotcha Day" since we would likely not see them again if we left them at the orphanage. Anyway... so Matthew was wearing Maia's shades and at the end of our visit time, we took them and put them away. All of a sudden, the world came to an end. That was the first we have really seen of a tantrum in Matthew. He's had moments of unhappiness, but wow - he was wailing loudly for a long time. We took him back to the groupa and the caregivers told us just to go instead of trying to say good-bye and upset him more. Poor kid... we had already tried some shoes on him and had to take those away (again until "Gotcha Day). He has nothing that is truly "his" so I felt bad, but soon he will know what it's like to have some of his own things. On that note, he and Maia are doing pretty good in sharing with each other. I'm sure there will be lots of battles ahead, but so far there have not been any knock-down, drag out fights - lol!
After visiting Matthew, we went to McD's for lunch. Vitaly had his son Vlad with him today so they came along. Vlad got a happy meal which he was pretty excited about. Then, came back to the apartment so Maia could have a short nap before we walked up to the street market to pick up a few things. We saw one of our "friends" from last trip, he was so happy to see us and I attempted to explain that we had adopted Maia last time and now were back for a son. I think he understood because he was smiling, nodding, and kissed my hand.
We got some fresh Bing cherries 28uah/kg which is cheap compared to prices at home - less than $2/pound. Had them with some chicken/veggie pasta salad and left over sweet corn for dinner. Maia has really been doing pretty well eating over here. She had ham, apple, sweet corn, and tried (LOVED) the cherries! I keep telling her how proud I am of her for trying new things - she's been more "adventurous" than she is at home.
Olga should be here any time. We have a three bedroom apartment and she stays in the 3rd bedroom when in town (same as last trip). We'll talk briefly about what to expect tomorrow and then hit the sack. Yes... we are "geezers" - ready to be in bed and it's only a little after 9pm.
Tomorrow morning, we have court at 9:00am (1:00am, CST). We will meet with the judge and jurors who will make the decision whether or not to approve our adoption. While we don't anticipate any surprises, we still ask for your prayers.
Will update you and yes... finally be able to share some pictures of our little guy tomorrow afternoon or evening!

This and That

Some day, Maia will hate us for this picture - lol!!

 Daddy trying to "stretch" Matthew out

Yes, I had to get a purse while I am here this time. This is my Versace knock-off - 100uah or about $12 

On our way home from the market up the street. Maia loves pushing the stroller.

Yesterday when we went to the orphanage, Matthew wasn't in his groupa. From the caregiver, I was able to determine that he had some type of "reaction." So, we headed to the infirmary. No Matthew. I did start to get a little concerned then. Called Olga who called Angelina (the orphanage director). One of the caregivers had taken him to the clinic to pick up paperwork which we need for his medical exam and Embassy visit in Kyiv. He was quiet when he got back. I won't go into the details here. We had a short visit because it was lunch time. At the end of our time, Mark went to see if the kids were still outside or if we needed to take Matthew inside. I stayed with Maia and Matthew. When I saw Mark coming back, I asked Matthew where daddy was. He went running to Mark, yelling "Da-yee, Da-yee." It was pretty cute!
Today, Matthew was more his excited self. Let me tell you, this boy adores his daddy!! He mimics Mark and loves to have daddy chase him around. Anything to get daddy's attention. Pretty sure he will be his father's son - lol! Our visit was a little short, the caregiver came and got him early - something about bathing, I think.
After we left the orphanage, Vitaly took us to the bazaar (one of the street markets) where we had shopped last trip. Mark was a good sport while I looked for a purse. Then, we went on a hunt for acetaminophen (Tylen*l). Apparently, you can't get it in this country anymore due to a decision to not renew the registration of the product here. Weird, huh?
Came back to the apartment, had lunch, and relaxed for a little while. Then, we walked up to the street market. We are hoping to see the English speaking lady we met last trip and another kind gentleman who sold fruit, but they have not been there so far. Picked up sweet corn which we had for dinner with a chicken hash that I made. No bragging, but it was pretty good.
Tomorrow, we will visit Matthew again in the morning. Since I didn't get out and explore today, I think I will do that in the afternoon if weather permits. The sun is very hot here, but when it is behind the clouds things are usually pretty comfortable.
I want to tell you about our sweet boy, but have been on the computer long enough so I will quit for tonight. Only two days until court - yay!