Our Final Day At The Orphanage

Things could not have gone any better at the orphanage than they did. It was such an emotional time for me and I am sure Tetyana. She seemed very happy but she had to have some feelings of sadness as she left. The important part is SHE IS OURS!!!

We were told by Yana she would be at our apartment at 8:30 in the morning to pick us up. We thought we would be running around with her completing all of the paperwork. But around 8:00 (after we were all dressed and impatiently waiting to get on with this day), she called us and told us she would just pick up the inspector and get the paperwork done with her. We sat at the apartment and waited and waited. Finally we left for lunch and to pick up the food we were going to take to the orphanage for the party.

We were picked up at 1:30 and Yana looked very tired! She is working on another adoption with a single woman as well as ours and her case has really tired Yana out. She brought us up to speed about what was happening with our paperwork. There were several problems. None of them big, but enough to cause some delay. On the court decree, they spelled my middle name incorrectly. Clerical error…Because of this error, Yana would not be able to change the identification number (like a social security number) for Tetyana nor complete the passport process. We were lucky there was a woman who stayed through her lunch to make the new birth certificate even though there was the error. When the new court decree was finished Yana was told the judge had broken her arm that she uses to write!! We had spent about 4 hours riding around in the car. Luke was bored out of his mind and just wanted to get to the orphanage to have the party. Yana was also able to convince the passport agency to begin the passport application and have Tetyana come to take the picture they use to scan so that she would not have to bring Tetyana back to Cherkassy from Kiev on Monday. All in all, the paperwork took forever but worked out. The only bad part is, we won’t get Tetyana’s passport until Thursday afternoon. Our hope is to get to the embassy on Friday late morning, after the medical appointment in the morning and beg them to get the visa completed that afternoon so we can fly out on Sunday. This is asking a lot, but it has been done. Aerosvit does not fly to the US on Saturdays.

The time with the director was very strange. Many of you reading the blog are waiting for information on the children and I will email you privately. We were told to donate $500 in our contract with Roman. When we were walking into the orphanage we were told the director wanted $1000! I guess they tried to get her to drop it to $750 but she wouldn't budge. We really weren't surprised. This is the way adoption goes here. $1000 US will go a long way and we hope most of it goes to the orphanage. It was a small price to pay for her and the staff to take such good care of Tetyana.

We did the ceremonial "changing of clothes". In Ukraine and I suspect all orphages you don't keep any of the clothes that the children are wearing. They come to you exactly how they were born....so we changed her clothes and when we came out of the room the whole place clapped. That had to make her feel good. I took her hair down from the ponytails she was wearing and put in a new elastic.

The best thing was, when we were leaving the orphanage, she took off her coat and pulled her hair out of the elastic! She was free! Free from being bundled up like mummy and being hot all the time. She hasn't worn her hair up since!

We came back to Kiev to spend the week. There is a lot for us to do here. Today we took the kids to a great park where they played on an inflatable slide and at the playground. Tetyana is used to taking a nap daily so she has been sleepy but tells us she is not. We met a guy and his two kids that I noticed spoke English at the park. He looked Italian but his kids looked Korean. I was good though and did not tackle him! When we were leaving he asked us if we were looking for a restaurant to eat at and we told him yes. He took us to a great cafe where they speak a lot of English and kids playroom! What could be better than that? We ate with him and found out a lot more about Kiev. His wife's job is here. We hope to see them again.

So we are adjusting to life with another child and her needs. I don't think she has ever brushed her teeth in her life. I handed her the toothbrush when I was going to brush mine and and she grabbed it by the brush part with toothpaste on it! Then I showed her how to brush and spit in the sink. No wonder why the poor sweeties teeth are a mess!

Many people post on their blogs about first baths and while I can't post a picture I can tell you her first shower was also like she had never done it before. We were told she showers and bathes at the orphanage. They must have washed her and rinsed her because she had no idea what to do. I gave her the shampoo and told her to put it on her hair and the next thing I knew she was rubbing it on her face! I was trying to rinse her eyes....we were both soaked by the end. She got the soap in her eyes several more times and never cried once. We have never seen her cry yet. I know it will break my heart!

So now we learn about eachother. It is a very fun, but exhausting process!