Christmas cards

Well we got to our Christmas cards today. What I mean is we opened the cards people sent us. We want to say thank you to everyone for the good thoughts and well wishes we got. Even though we didn't have time this year to send out cards we want to wish everyone a happy New Year.

Mark and Melanie

HOME SWEET HOME

We made it. When we got to the kiev airport we did not have tickets, or so we were told. Thank god Olga was there to talk for us. We did have tickets but not in the computer being used at the registration desk. So all is well, or so we thought. We got to Zurich and then to Chicago. At Chicago we found the flight to Rochester was CANCILED. The first offer was for us to spend the night and get a flight in the morning. I said no that will not work. Can you get us to Minneapolis. So after a few hours of waiting we got on the plane for Minneapolis. We got home at 1am or so.  So here we are.

Mark

Pray for our girl

Maia is NOT in a good mood this morning - sure she senses that something is different about today. Add to that a short night's sleep and she's having a tough time. Pray that God will soothe her precious heart and that He will use our hands to comfort and reassure her as well. We leave for the airport in 15 minutes!

VISA is in our hands!

Had a good night. It took Maia a little longer to fall asleep. We think she is starting to realize that she is not going back to the orphanage and grieving a bit. A few minutes after lying down, Maia began to rock herself. At first, I thought that maybe she was having a seizure because of the motions (she is on medication for seizures) but we determined that it was more of a self-soothing type of behavior. This breaks my heart. Every child should know the reassurance, security, and safety of parents who love them. Maia is not keen on being held or rocked so I just sat next to her bed and rubbed her back. She calmed down and eventually fell asleep.
Woke up on her own this morning (a first), had breakfast, and we got ready to head for the Embassy. Presented our copy of her medical examination and passport. We were asked if we had been informed of her medical needs and if the information that we submitted on our documents was correct (which of course it is). Waited about 45 minutes during which time we saw April and Alyona (such a beautiful girl!) again and also Jill, Debbie, and Elijah. There were 2 other families there and one of them had a little boy who looked to be about Maia's age. Wish I'd had my camera to get a picture of the little guy, Alyona, and Maia. When it was time to leave, Maia didn't want to go. She was happy to be around other kids instead of us boring adults - lol! Anyway, the most important thing is that we have the VISA! And we are set to come home tomorrow.
We had a quick lunch before coming back to the apartment. Mark is trying to get Maia to settle down for a nap right now and I am going to finish packing. We are hoping to meet up with some others for dinner this evening and get a good night's sleep before our long day!

A few prayer requests:
- First and foremost, pray for a train ticket for Olga - our wonderful facilitator. She was scheduled to leave Kyiv tonight by train. She wants to see us off at the airport and is cancelling her ticket for today, hoping that another one will be available for travel tomorrow. Problem is that this is holiday time and there are no tickets to be had. Please pray that a miracle ticket will be found for her. We've told her that she does not need to accompany us to the airport, but she feels strongly about this - she loves Maia as much as we do!
- Second, it is snowing here in Kyiv right now and snow remains in the forecast for tomorrow. Please pray that our flight is able to leave on time. We don't have a long layover in Zurich so not much room for delay. Pray that all of our flights are smooth and uneventful.
- Pray for Maia. 20 hours of travel is a lot to ask of a little girl. Pray that she will manage well, sleep during the long flight, and cope as best she can.
- Pray for Maia's parents. 20 hours of travel is a lot to ask of two old people. Pray that we will manage well, sleep during the long flight, and cope as best we can. LOL! :-)

We are so thankful for your support and encouragement over the past month! We hope you will follow along with our new adventures at home! It may be a couple days until we blog again but we'll post again soon.

Downhill stretch!

Time to get everyone caught up since you get the basics and that's about it from Mark. Hard to believe we have been here one month today! Our "gotcha" was a sweet, sweet moment. All of the other kiddos were in their "bedroom" when we got there. Maia was sitting on the little couch. Several of the caregivers had come to see her off. I had brought 2 outfits because I wasn't sure the one from home would fit. It was snug and I was going to put the bigger one on - the caregivers must not have thought she would be warm enough because they jumped in and put the bigger one on top of the smaller one. Poor girl, she had a dress on with a sweatsuit on top of it - she was BUNDLED UP!  They hugged her and off we went. Unfortunately, we have no pics of the moment - the batteries (2 packages) that we bought at the market were ALL dead!

Maia did pretty well the first night, it took her about 90 minutes to settle down and go to sleep. Once she fell asleep, she was out! Slept through until we had to wake her up early yesterday morning for our flight to Kyiv. Here she is waiting to board the plane.

She did all right, considering. Got a little bit cranky towards the end of the plane ride. 2 hours is a long time for a little girl to sit still.

We arrived at our apartment around 10:30am. There is a little market just next door so I went and picked up a few things. Made lunch and attempted nap time. I think our girl was over tired and on overload because she was not having anything to do with a nap! I can't imagine what must be going on in her head - she's never seen a store before, rode on an airplane. Her normal routine is nap from 1-3pm. We tried lying her down, lying down with her. Finally, we just laid down on our bed (same room as her cot), shut the bedroom door, and let her wander around. She eventually crawled up on her bed and went to sleep at about 3pm. We let her sleep until 4pm so she would still sleep last night. Went for a walk, came back, had dinner. I decided to try giving Maia a bath - wasn't sure how she would react to that. She absolutely loved bath time! Snack and off to bed without protest! She slept all night.

Our embassy appointment was at 9:30am. While we were there, we met a family from Louisiana who is adopting two little boys. We also ran into April and Alyona who were there as well. Submitted all of Maia's paperwork to get her Visa. Then, we went for her medical examination - no surprises there. We had lunch at a little cafe on site while waiting for the documents. Then back to our apartment for the rest of the day. We are going to take a walk now and pick up a couple of things (including batteries).

Tomorrow morning at 11am, we will have our Embassy interview and pick up Maia's visa. That will be the last step to get on the plane Wednesday morning. If no flight delays, we will be back in Minnesota Wednesday night!

Maia seems to be coping very well given all the changes in her world. She has her challenging moments, but the happy and joyful moments are far more frequent. We see her blossom and grow every day. And I can't speak for Mark, but I feel so blessed that God has chosen me to be the mother of this beautiful child!

We are looking forward to being home and introducing Maia to her forever family and friends! Please pray for continued attachment and bonding for the three of us as well as an uneventful embassy interview tomorrow. Pray that Maia's visa will be in our hands by noon!

Monday the Dec. 27

We went to the Embassy to get the visa for Maia. We pick it up tomorrow. We also had her physical done today. Just one more day, then we go home.

Mark

ps. send a note to Melanie to blog. She is much better at it than I am. (but she has a little girl now and not as much time as she use to)

we are in Kiev

We have made it to Kiev. we took the plane. I wanted to take a car, Melanie won out and I'm glad she did.
we are here now with our daughter.

mark