Updates from past couple days.

GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER.
We've had some moments of frustration trying to figure out Isaiah's wants and needs. He is probably thinking he wishes we would just take him back "home" to where everyone knows him. For the most part Isaiah is SUPER good and a fun and happy baby. He is more baby than I thought he would be.

What we are discovering is he likes sweeter foods than I would like to feed him. When I mix baby oatmeal cereal with a baby vegetable he will eat a couple bites and get very upset. Wednesday night while sleeping he got up A LOT and I always gave him water which he guzzled down. I'm not surprised because up until then he hardly drank anything. He's been fighting plain water now. We had some juice here and I gave him some of that and he LOVED it. This will be one area he will need to get over because we aren't a juice family. I will have to slowly dilute it until he gets over it. When I mix a baby fruit with with the baby oatmeal or oatmeal packets he eats the whole cup with no problems. Hopefully he will be fine with mashed up hotdishes or homemade soups once we get home. The first day I tried giving him bites of a slushy and he HATED that. I was told they don't give COLD foods at the orphanage. Yesterday we bought ice cream to put in our coffee because we don't know where to get milk. Isaiah LOVED the ice cream. He does not chew. Somehow he sucks the food back into his mouth and down it does. I've heard others say similar things about the way their kids from orphanages eat. Everytime I saw him eat with his nannies it was ALWAYS mushy food. So we could be working on some oral aversions once we get home and start getting more used to each other.

He definately knows Russian/Ukrainian talk. Today I had the tv on and he was really listening. He also LOVES music. He will rock back/forth (dance) whenever he hears it. I hope he can adjust to Signing Time and Barney videos because I have a feeling that Big Brother Joey will see it no other way.

He's been doing awesome sleeping between Austin and I. I thought he would maybe stuggle as he is used to his plain ol' crib with no one close by. He loves being held and touched and is very cuddly. I heard Austin tell Isaiah the 2nd day we had him that he loves him as much as he loves Joey and he's known Joey for 5 years. I would have to say the same. I so clearly remember back in Nov. 2008 when I first saw his picture on Reece's Rainbow and I would imagine him saying to me..."Are YOU my mama?"...like the children's book "Are You My Mother?" and now he is the boy I'm carrying around in a hip sling...I AM his mama...almost 2 years later.

His thumb sucking and finger chewing are a BAD habit. He actually has scars on some fingers and his skin peels off. We've been putting socks on his hands now and then. Hoping this is a teething thing and will eventually get better on its own.

Oh, almost forgot...he had his first poop Thursday night. We've been waiting for this as he hasn't gone since we took him out of orphanage on Tuesday. I think all moms who have a child with an imperforate anus or other bowel issues knows how important those poops are and I was SOOOOO happy to see a nice, normal BM!!! Sorry if TMI...but that's a big part of my life raising Joey.

WEDNESDAY.
We were picked up at 8:30am to go for Isaiah's medical appointment. The Nance family was with also. We've been warned about the long, crowded, hot hallway which is the waiting room. It was exactly liked it was described. Uncle Niko is so good at what he does in getting us all where we need to be. Yes, this is THE Niko, the driver, that I was NOT too happy with on that drive down to Nikolaev. I don't know how this whole team manages all these adoptions but I'm thankful they do. Both our families were called into the nurses room where Isaiah and their 2 kids were weighed and height measured. Then back to waiting room to wait to see the doctor. We saw different doctors. Ours was an older gal. She explained some of his medical stuff and explained the whole Ds thing. She then examined him. Then she asked some questions and finally the question she said she asks EVERYONE adopting a child with Ds...why would we choose to adopt a child with Ds? I said we have a 5 year old with Ds and that he brings us so much love and happiness and we feel he is one of our greatest gifts. When she heard we already had a child with Ds she nodded her head and said she understands. We were free to go. We all went back to Niko's car while he waited for the papers. It was SO hot in his car and it just started raining so we couldn't open the windows. For the first time Isaiah freaked out with loud screaming. I said before he does NOT like being hot and that is not an understatement. He was probably part dehydrated too as he had not been drinking good. After the appointment we went back to apartment and found a very small grocery store across the street. Got a few things for very simple meals and water. We had Yulia, our facilitator, call us a taxi to go to TGI Fridays to meet up with other adoption families for supper. After that we went to a bigger grocery store and then had Yulia call us another taxi.

THURSDAY.
We were picked up at 9:30am for our first US Embassy appointment. It is a very secure place. We had to go through security and leave all electronical stuff at the head office. We were wanded and scanned. Then we went out another door to get to the main door. Had a few papers to fill out but I had most of them done already. The room was full of people but didn't look like any adoptions. I was confused as to who they were. Must have been for Visa's or something. A taxi picked us up from Embassy and took us back to the shopping area where TGI Friday's is. I showed Austin the underground mall. I'm amazed at how this thing was built and how they got all the dirt out from underground...it seems to go on forever. We ate lunch there.

FRIDAY.
Today was another drizzly day but it doesn't stop anyone from doing what they need to do. About 3/4 of the people go without umbrella's. One nice thing about the rain and cooler weather is that girls are wearing more clothes. Happy that Austin's eyes were spared of the stuff Darrell and I saw. We were picked up at 1:40pm for our 2:00pm US Embassy appointment. We were in and out of there within 35 minutes WITH Isaiah's VISA...which was THE...LAST...THING in this country for his adoption. We are on schedule to leave at 6:45am from the airport in Kiev. Right down the street from our apartment is a restaurant called Mario's. It had an English menu. We ate lunch and supper there since it was so close and we had to walk in the light rain. Isaiah has had a bad day with the thumb and finger chewing that his whole chin and parts of his cheeks are red and chapped. He is NOT a happy camper right now because the sleeves of his pj's are covering his hands.

Some memories Austin and I will never forget...
*always make sure butter is in the grocery bag.
*never touch an interesting type of coffee mug in store.
*keep backpacks and bags from other stores in the locker in front of store.
*make sure you know direction you are walking if you want to save time.
*don't assume you can take pictures everywhere.
*if you need socks while in Ukraine make sure to bring enough of your own. While LITERALLY every other store is a shoe store there are no socks to be found.
*it doesn't matter if we don't know Russian/Ukrainian language or others don't know English when we want/need something because we both talk our own language and most times we succeed at what we want.


Please help pray us home tomorrow. The horrible turbulence on our last flight here has me a bit nervous. Also pray that Isaiah is able to sleep some. Our friends' little boy didn't sleep at all during their 22 hour travel day :( We should be arriving in Bismarck shortly before midnight. God has been SO gracious with the blessings He's given us on this whole adoption journey. My BIGGEST prayer request has always been to bring the whole Becker family together safely at the end of this part of the journey. I hope and pray this request comes to fruition.

~*~*~GOTCHA DAY~*~*~ Tuesday, Aug. 17th.

This was a day of many "lasts" and many "firsts"...a day of joy and happiness and also sadness...a day of freedom, hope and a future. If Isaiah only knew how big today actually was...how lucky and blessed he is...and NOT because he is getting OUR family but because he is getting A family. What we are doing I don't consider to be above and beyond the "call of duty" especially when I meet other families and witness what they are doing. While here we meet 3 families from Reece's Rainbow who all have big families. The one from South Dakota has 6 bio kids (all healthy and no Ds)...they adopted a child with Ds last year and are now in their final stages of bringing home another child with Ds and one with a different chromosomal anomaly...for a total of 9 children with their oldest being 13 years old. Another family has 9 bio's, including a 3 year old with Ds, and they are bringing home two more boys with Ds...making that a total of 11 children with their oldest being 19 years old. And a 3rd family we met has 8 bios, all healthy, and they are bringing home two boys with Ds making that 10 children. This family has friends who have children with Ds and they grew to love them and decided to follow God's calling. They are all so inspiring.

Back to Isaiah...we met a translator at the orphanage at 4pm. Austin and I were a little early but we went inside anyway. The nannies gave us some strange looks. I think they were looks of "are you really here to take Ilya already". There were no English speaking ones there at the time. I said we were there to take Isaiah home. I think we saw looks of sadness. One took Isaiah to the back room...bathroom...and brought him back with a clean diaper on. I took Isaiah and we got him dressed...in OUR clothes. It was SO hot in there and I wanted to leave. The translator said they want to feed him first...better for him and us...they said. One of our favorites took him and fed him. The next minutes were very hard and both Austin and I. We were fighting back tears watching the nanny feed Isaiah one last time...watching all 9 of the other kids in their pens, with no toys, all lined up watching us. I've read stories of orphans and how they talk about "when is MY day coming". That is exactly what we were thinking they were thinking. I asked the nanny who fed him if this was a "happy day" or "sad day". She quietly said "happy day" but translator also said they have known him in this groupa since he was two months old so they will also miss him but they are more happy because they know where he would go if no one adopted him...the mental institution where he would most likely not live very long.


Walking through the front door to orphanage and the door to Isaiah's groupa...one..last..time.


Isaiah being held by his nanny one last time.



Isaiah getting dressed by his new mommy for the FIRST time.




One last meal in orphanage.



Austin and I were "arguing" over who got to carry him through the doors. Austin won and he was even the one who took Isaiah from the nannies arms. It felt like a dream. Isaiah even seemed a bit sad while this was all going on...not smiling at all. I wonder how long he will have the memories of the only "family" he knew up until that day.




Out the front door...and never to return...ever. 147 million orphans minus one.


Moms gets a turn, after all I told Austin I kind of deserve a little bit of it after all the tears, all the convincing, all the prayers, all the waiting, all the paperwork, all the redo's of paperwork, all the more tears, all the heartache, and all the "labor pains" that I went through...and oh, was it ever so sweet.


Calling dad on the phone telling him we are about to leave the orphanage gates.


We walked back to our apartment...finished packing...ate supper...said goodbye to our landlady and her daughter...and off in the taxi to go to the train station.



It is SO hot in the train while we are waiting for it to take off. We always take first class which has air conditioning but it doesn't kick in until about 5-10 minutes into the ride. Isaiah was getting really cranky. He is just like his mama...does NOT like being hot. Here he is HAPPY once it started cooling down.

Isaiah slept very well on the train. Austin slept with him part of the night. I didn't get much sleep because I wanted Isaiah to be comfortable so I had just small parts of the bed to fit into. It was worth him getting a good nights sleep. He woke up very happy.



I will update about the rest of our Tuesday and also Wednesday another time. Those who blog and upload pictures know how longs this takes. I gotta hit the pillow.

We arrived in Nikolaev...once again.

Our flights started at 3:10pm from Bismarck...then to Chicago leaving at 8:50pm. We arrived in Munich at 12:15pm Sunday...aaaaaaand...we made the flight to Kiev as did our luggage!! We prayed before every flight mainly for safety but then also for God's will that he would allow us to use our time the best way possible but we were asking that if it was possible to let us have more time with the orphans vs. sitting in a hotel in another city doing nothing. Our luggage was some of the last to come through and we were trying not to get disappointed. We were also VERY thankful at this time that we even made it to Kiev. We experienced THE WORST turbulence I even had on that flight. We had just been given a meal and I was half done when the HORRIBLE turbulence started that I almost needed that handy dandy puke bag. Oh it was close....and it was so scary. I kept praying over and over to please not allow both Austin and I to go this way. Joey needs one of us. So 3 flights down...4 to go.

Our driver picked us up from airport and took us to train station to buy tickets and then we ate supper at McDonald's which was right beside train station. We had first class again but this time the train was older...and louder...and bumpier...and shakier. Austin slept good...me not so much...not because I was scared but rather all the noise and bumps. Overall it was good though...the air conditioning was great. We even complained a couple times...quietly to ourselves...that it was too cold. Then I remembered how I would be wishing for this air later in the week.

We got to Nikolaev at 6am. Sasha and her husband were there to meet us and take us to our apartment. I had the key from last time so we walked right in like I never left. That was so nice. At 8:15am they picked us up again to start our very long and busy day of paperwork. Sasha already started the process on Friday so she saved a lot of time. She is one very effiecient gal and does her job well. We got Isaiah's birth certificate...went to notary...closed his bank account and donated that money to the orphanage, which all adoptive families are really encouraged to do to help pay for repairs and supplies in the orphanage. There was also paperwork to finish at the orphanage and we also got his passport. This doesn't seem like much but it was...and it was hot...and there was a lot of waiting. But it was worth it...we are done and Sasha is able to go with the rest of her family on their 6 day vacation tomorrow. We also took a big suitcase full of donated clothes, shoes and toys to the orphanage. The clothes had to go to someone who keeps record of all donations. I asked if we could be allowed to give the kids the toys ourselves and they let us. It was such a treat to see how excited they all were.


These two papers are the adoption certificate and birth certificate.




Before one of our stops this morning we had to stop at the orphanage to talk to social worker so while Sasha did that she told us we have 10 minutes to see Isaiah. Austin had been asking ALL morning to go see him. His groupa was playing outside. The nanny saw us coming and she went to Isaiah and picked him up for us. Austin took him and just giggled and giggled. He was so happy and all smiles...Austin that is. Isaiah acted like he always knew him. When we left and drove by their play area the same nanny had picked Isaiah up again and was holding him. I think times like this are bittersweet for them. They cared for these kids all their lives and then one day they are gone. Fortunately for Isaiah he is going to live with a family...not all orphans with disabilities are so lucky. I'm sure it is more sweet than bitter for them though in this case vs. the child being sent to an institution.




Later in the day we went back for the evening visit and we stayed inside with the rest. Most of the kids have a heat rash and no one had this last time. Isaiah's one hand is all sore from him chewing and his chin is rashy too. It looked like they all had haircuts except Isaiah and I was SO happy. I was worried he would be a buzz while I was gone. Nannies kept coming to Isaiah and were talking Russian/Ukrainian. I wish I knew what they were saying. Then one would come get him and sing and dance around. I was crying inside for their happiness and sadness. It was so touching to witness the love they have for the kids.








I was even more touched by what Sasha told me and gave me. Isaiah's birth mom stopped by the orphanage to see Isaiah and me...to say goodbye...but I had already had left to go home. She said that was maybe best then. She had gifts for both Isaiah and Joey! I was shocked. It was 2 bears and 3 outfits, 2 socks and a pair of shoes. It broke my heart as a mother knowing how much she loved/loves this boy I feel she was forced to give up. Even Austin commented on how "she must really care". It does not seem real that I am now the mom to a child born to someone else...now especially to someone else who clearly loves her child. I still do believe he was meant to live with us and be part of our family though. I think it is all such a beautiful thing happening...for what we are getting...for what Isaiah is getting...and for what his birth mom is getting...which I hope is peace and comfort and healing and closure. I pray her and her husband are able to build a strong family as they have a new baby now. They split up sometime after Isaiah was given up.

Tuesday's plan is to go take the bus to the shopping place Darrell and I hung out at. (Don't worry Darrell I won't break the bank...but it could get tempting as I have an empty suitcase I "could" fill up.) We plan on eating lunch at a place Darrell and I planned on but we never made it work. We will then meet some other translator, a friend of Sasha's as she is leaving for vacation, at the orphanage for GOTCHA DAY! We will bring Isaiah to the apartment...pack up...eat supper...and then be picked up by taxi at 6:15pm to head to train station. We will get to Kiev around 6am and either go to hotel or apartment. Don't have that part figured out yet. We need 2 days to finish in Kiev. Isaiah will get a medical exam and then apply for visa.

I'm so pleased and so thankful for how trip #2 has been going. Thanks for all your prayers!!!

All was going smoothly until....

Wednesday night when I took a MUCH closer look at our travel itinerary. We booked these tickets while still in Ukraine last time as we were just so thrilled to get ANY tickets at all. It wasn't an easy task for my travel agent. The problem is Austin and I are due to arrive in Munich, Germany at 12:25pm Sunday and are due to depart from Munich to Kiev at 1:00pm...the same day. This 35 minute time frame includes going through customs. Our assigned seats are in row 55. I know...it keeps getting worse. For those of you who've traveled on a looooong flight know how people are very anxious to get off the plane. Someone suggested asking if we could get off first. I have my doubts. Even if we did...being in a strange airport...going through a new customs...and getting ourselves AND our luggage on the next airplane is NOT looking like an easy task.

So...I checked online to see if there are any other flights leaving Munich and going to Kiev later that day. There is one...7:25pm...which would get us to Kiev around 10:40pm. That would mean we would miss the night train going to Nikolaev...which I REALLY wanted. Getting on that night train would mean we could save about $100 hotel expense...we would most likely get our adoption paperwork done in Nikolaev that Monday and be back on the train Monday night. The way it looks now we will be wasting a day in Kiev doing nothing...but waiting. I could take Austin for a walk to show him things we saw and places we went. That would mean he would get an eye or two full of half dressed girls :(

Oh, there is another option. We could get into a car...without seatbelts...with a driver, who most likely was up all day, and be driven down to Nikolaev and be there by Monday morning. For some reason this option just does NOT sound very appealing no matter which way I look at it. I can NOT get those visions out of my head of us and the approaching car (or bus...or truck...or motorcycle) being only 100 feet apart...in the same lane...with a semi truck next to us and behind us. And then 2 minutes later...this happened again, and again, and again. It REALLY was THAT bad. I would rather be in labor for a week without an epidural...and I've never had an epidural to know how great they are.

I don't mean to scare any future adoptive families. It was maybe just me being the BIG chicken that I am. Darrell didn't have the same experience I did. He was in the front seat with a seatbelt but IF I had the option of a seatbelt I don't think it would have changed things much. The train ride was much cheaper and SO MUCH more relaxing.

Please pray all works out and that we can still be on schedule to fly back home on the 21st.

THANKS!

We are home.

We flew into Bismarck around 4:30pm Wednesday afternoon. Catie, Noah and Joey were there to greet us. Joey didn't see us right away but when he did he just stared with a blank look. I imagined him thinking..."is this a dream?...do I really see my mom and dad?" I then grabbed him and hugged him and kissed him and kept saying..."mommy's home, mommy's home". He then went to Darrell and came right back to me. It was so nice getting so many hugs and kisses from both of them the whole night. I got "shy-ish" smiles from the older kids. I "think" we were missed which was nice to see :)

Me and the little ones went to bed at 10pm. Noah wanted to stay up and talk but I could NOT keep my eyes open any longer. Two hours of sleep in 48 hours doesn't go very far. I woke up at midnight to Darrell coming in the room (he milked and went to the day field when we got home...and fell asleep while driving the tractor...I won't even go there) and sat up in bed and was soooooooooo confused. I was trying to figure out what apartment I was in because nothing looked familiar. Darrell said we were HOME!

We had the BEST kid-sitters possible...my mom and Catie. Everyone and everything was very well taken care of. I felt like I was walking into a brand new mantion compared to where we had been staying. It was spotless and thanks to 2 great friends our fridge was filled with amazing food. What a treat! I had been looking for broccoli everywhere we went in Ukraine and NEVER saw it anywhere. One dish in the fridge was broccoli stir fry. YUMMY!

The boys did a great job "managing" the farm. We could have not did this without them and their willingness to do their part.

We're so thankful God was watching over all of us and brought us all back safely together. Now if He can just do that while Austin and I are gone for a week to finish up the adoption we would be even more thankful. I know those who offered prayers for safety were also a part of it too!

We have a Six-Pack!!!!!!

Of boys that is! The judge ruled in our favor to become the parents of Pyshchalo Il'ya born 4-17-2008. He is now named Isaiah Ilya Becker.

Court was delayed 1 hour due to late jurors. We (facilatator, translator, social worker, Darrell and I) were sitting out in a VERY warm hallway. The judge told us we can sit in his air conditioned room...what a treat that was!

Finally at 10:55am we were told to go into court room. There were 8 people in there until the judge and jurors walked in totaling 11 people in yet another VERY warm room. Currently at 12:30pm it is around 112 degrees.

Lots of Russian talk was being jabbered as we sat there wondering what was going on. Our translator was good about trying to catch us up after someone was done talking. Darrell and I both were asked questions but nothing too hard...just very nerve wracking standing before the judge even if he didn't understand a word we were saying. The orphanage doctor was asked a number of questions including if she thinks we understand this child comes with special needs and if she thinks we can handle it. Translator told us she said without a doubt we know and can handle it as we have been raising another child with Ds for the past five years. She also said she has seen us interact with this child at the orphanage and she can see we love him already...sniff, sniff.

Before long the judge and jurors left the room. The orphanage doctor and social worker came and shook our hands and congratulated us. They were confident we were going to be new parents. They were right...judge/jurors came back 5 minutes later and jabbered some more Russian and our translator said he agreed to grant us our request and we are the parents of Isaiah Ilya Becker!!! Whoohoo!!!!

The hard part is over. We will have one more visit, although short, with Isaiah today before we are picked up at 6:15pm to head to the train station.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! It will be nice coming back to cooler weather. Hopefully it cools down here too before our return trip in 2 weeks.

Our Translator Vika

Our Facilitator Sasha

Saturday & Sunday.

Yesterday when we came for our afternoon visit Isaiah had his "gloves" on. First time since we've been visiting him. Most of the pictures I got of him from past adoptive families he had these same gloves on. Isaiah is a thumb sucker and finger chewer and boy oh boy does he have a suction. In between his thumb and pointer finger it is so raw. He has 6 more teeth to get so HOPEFULLY the chewing will vanish when he is done teething.

Isaiah had his first dance lesson from dad. I also have it on video but dad won't allow me to upload it :( (he was singing a Russian tune)


We visited the Nikolaev Zoo. We saw our first hippo and were as up close and personal as you could get to some scary but beautiful big cats. Also saw some buffalo...was neat to see the map of where they come from...the plains of the midwest.







We didn't have a long afternoon visit with Isaiah as we met with our facilitator and the translator we will have with us in court. They were going over with us what to expect in court...what to say and what not to say. Darrell plans on being the main speaker. There are only 4 English speaking people in the court room of about 10-12 people...facilitator, translator, Darrell and myself. So if Darrell has a brain freeze and forgets what he was going to say he just has to say something and the translator will do her thing...no one will know what happened. Court could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes...depending on how busy the judge is that day. The hardest part might be how to pronounce Isaiah's real name. Their phonetics is not the same as ours. Isaiah's last name starts with a P but sounds like a B. If you happen to be having a restless nights sleep tonight around 2am say a prayer that all is going well. Our SD friends didn't have a good experience in court on Friday and they have to come back Monday also. Please say a prayer for them also.

Today, Sunday, we ventured out on the bus to church again. There was a baptism today. Looked like there were 2 Godmothers and 2 Godfathers and we had 2 sermons again this week. Would be nice to know what we were being told. It was 36 degress C which is 104 degress F...with NO breeze at all. It gets hard to breath at times.

We walked around and went into many small shops. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes EVERYWHERE. Found another huge kids store and bought some bubbles for Isaiah. Bismarck Airport confiscated the bubbles I had packed in my backpack. He didn't get as excited as we thought he would but he did try to grab them. He probably never saw them before.