Ukrainian Festival in MD

Sunday we went to a Ukrainian Festival in Silver Spring, MD along with friends of ours who also adopted from Ukraine. We had a great time and Lira and Timmy really enjoyed having authentic Ukrainian food. Even though Ken and I complained about our food choices while we were in Ukraine, I/ we did have a few favorites that we were also able to have at the festival yesterday. Lately Lira has been telling us that she forgets how to speak Russian and she doesn't like it if I say a word in Russian or Ukrainian and she doesn't like it when I say her name with the "r" rolled like in Cyrillic. Because of that, I didn't know how she would react at the festival, but she really liked it. She said she wanted a "costume" like the Ukrainian dancers on stage.

New Glasses

Timmy's glasses arrived this week and he's been trying to get used to wearing them. They are such a strong prescription; I can only imagine what his world has been like with such bad vision up until now. Although he complains a little bit about wearing them, (knock on wood) he isn't giving me much trouble about it. He's only taken them off and forgotten where they were one time. Lira luckily helped him find them. She's very jealous that she doesn't get to wear glasses, which I think is motivating Timmy to keep them on. You know how it goes: one sibling only wants something when the other has it, or the one sibling only keeps something he doesn't like to prevent the other one from getting it! :) As for school, they are both doing well- no real news on that front.

Some more "Firsts"

Well the first week of school seemed to be a nice success for Lira and Timmy. They adjusted very well and I didn't get any calls from teachers! LOL No news is good news, yes? no? They both say they like school when they get off the bus and I ask them how their day went. I already hear both of them using a few new english words and they talk about new friends. Timmy takes a nap each day in school and I'm JEALOUS that he won't take a nap for me at home any more! :) But that's okay, I'm not complaining. Since school began this week, Timmy's behavior at home has REALLY improved. No temper tantrums and he listens a bit better. He tells me each day and night that he misses me and is very cuddly. I have to admit that since I've returned to work, I've been in a better mood, too. When the kids get home, I realize how much I've missed them and my patience has definitely been recharged. The kids fall asleep so fast at night, too. Friday night the kids asked if they could go to sleep in the same bed. They usually giggle and talk and play with a toy, but not this time! They were out like a light within minutes thanks to a full week of school!

Yesterday we had a lot of fun with the kids. I had purchased baseball tickets for Ken's birthday back in April. (Side story: I bought these tickets for Ken before we left for Ukraine since his birthday would fall during our adoption trip. I bought 3 tickets thinking we were going to adopt 1 boy. Ooops! So we had to make other arrangements for the baseball game!) We decided Ken would take Timmy to his 1st baseball game and take our friend Nick- they'd have a fun boy's day out. They really enjoyed it and Timmy was very well behaved, just taking "it all" in. Lira and I invited our friend Melanie to have a girl's day. Melanie suggested going to Claytime Cafe (a paint- your-own pottery place) and we had a GREAT time! We actually spent 4 hours painting pottery and Lira was such a good girl. Even when Mel and I were still painting, Lira helped the women who worked there and they were so great with her. The one woman took her around the store and showed Lira where the paint goes, how to clean the tiles, and how they "fire" the pieces people have painted. Lira loved it and said she wanted to work there all night; she said Ms. Mel and I could go home and pick her up in the morning when she was done working. Too funny!

Lira and Timmy's 1st day of school!

Lira and Timmy were excited about their first day of school. Lira woke up early and got dressed and brushed her teeth before I even knew she was up! She woke Timmy up for me but he didn't approach the day with the same happiness and excitement as Lira. He was Captain Cranky Pants. (He's not a morning person!) Once he was dressed and ready to go, both of them were getting antsy to go to the bus stop. They both loved having lunch boxes and snacks. We were at the bus stop early and unfortunately, it was raining. Lira repeated over and over, "Mommy, where's the bus!?!" Timmy was pleasantly distracted by the puddles. Once the bus came, they ran over with excitement. I took some pictures and they were off! I did get a little bit teary-eyed, I admit. I thought of them all day while I was at work.

The end of the school day: The kids got off the school bus and had big smiles on their faces. They gave me hugs and when I asked them if they had a good day, they both said YES! They both said they liked going to school. (Later when the neighbors asked them, they said they didn't like it, which I thought was funny!) They were so excited to show me their Tuesday Folders. Timmy told me a story that the teacher read to him in class and talked about his day. Lira told me about a couple of her classmates and some things they did in school. I gave them big hugs and told them I missed them so much and love them, too. Lira's reply (which she's said before, I love it!) was, "Mommy, I love you very hard!"

All in all, a great day for them!

WELCOME TO OUR NEW BLOG!

The website we had maintained through our adoption journey (www.adoptionjourney.bravehost.com) was becoming a burden to maintain. Since I have a Mac computer, its templates and web coding became difficult to manage. Since so much information has been stored there, I will keep that site active and will update it with adoption related news. I know many people have bookmarked that page because of the resources I've collected and posted.

SO, I decided to continue with a different blog, with a new name: Journey from Poltava. No longer is our blog so much about "the" adoption as it is about our life as a family: a family that came together through adoption.

Enjoy our journal as we encounter new experiences with our children. Thanks for supporting us on our journey!