Our Ukraine Adoption Journey

Finally, an update!

2007-04-14T17:37:00.000-05:00

For those of you wondering, yes, we are still alive.

Since our last post at Christmas, Ethan has experienced so many new things! Including sitting in fire trucks, bull dozers, semi's, riding mules, playing in the snow, eating snow, swinging on swings, jumping on trampolines, going to school, eating american food, and so much more!!

We are all doing well. Ethan is the most wonderful child! Just to catch you up, we have been very busy. Ethan has been seeing a specialist about his feet and has since been wearing casts on both legs for the past 5 weeks. He gets a new set every week. The dr. sounds hopeful that we can avoid surgery by doing this casting procedure. Next, he will wear braces for an undetermined amount of time and then he will have a minor surgery to move a tendon in the top of his foot to help with flexibility.

He hasn't let the casts slow him down one bit! I have really bulked up though! He feels like he is 10 pounds heavier with those casts! He still does what he wants to do, it just requires a lot of lifting on our part!

Ethan goes to preschool 4 days a week while I work (in the next room over!). It is only about 13 hours a week, so it is almost perfect! The only downside is that it is an hour from home.

Ethan loves all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and sees them often. He especially likes being outside! He already has a light tan from being outside so much!

Perhaps we'll update again...maybe before Ethan goes to Kindergarten! HA HA

The family picture was taken at Easter...notice Ethan's camoflage casts!

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T20:56:00.000-06:00

It is Christmas day and I have finally taken some time to sit down and post an update to this wonderful adventure!

I will just start with a few pieces of our story that we haven't reported yet.

First, the train ride from Donetsk to Kiev on the day we picked up Ethan from the orphanage was the most difficult and the most wonderful time of our lives. Ethan was scared to death and letting everyone in a 50 ft radius know it. He cried and screamed for the first 3 hours of our 12 hour train ride. Unfortunately, he was not comforted by us, which resulted in a lot of praying on our part! We had just pulled him away from the only home he had ever known and then we put him on this big scary train with us, the two people who until that day had only seen him a few hours each day and were merely cookie delivery people.

We discovered later that part of his frustration was that he had to use the bathroom and would not go in his pull-up nor would he go in the bathroom on the train. That train bathroom was disgusting! Even I was scared of that! After several screaming trips to the bathroom, we finally had success. Joe and Natasha worked together, holding Ethan above the toilet and Natasha just kept repeating pecit (Ethan's word for pee). After he finally relieved himself, he calmed down and fell asleep. It was after he was asleep when Joe and I realized...here was our child. Our chosen child, the one we have waited so long to hold. And he was with us, on our way home. We took this time to pray and cry and hold each other and just watch our sleeping son. It was truly an awesome experience.

After we arrived in Kiev, we had two great days with our son. We gave him a bath for the first time. We heard that in the orphanage they would give the kids showers. And that they would bathe 10 kids in 20 minutes. So, Ethan's first bath time was hilarious! He loved every minute of it and so did we.

We finally made it back to Indiana on the 15th and I can't even describe the feelings we had as we saw our parents at the airport waiting for us. It was such a joyous occasion, and we felt so proud to introduce our parents to our son!

The ride home from the airport was a bit rough. Ethan had never sat in a car seat before and didn't want to start on that day either. He screamed a lot, but Mamaw and Papaw and Grandma and Grandpa were there with snacks and drinks and toys to distract him. He's doing fine in a car seat now!

I have to tell everyone about this next part. When we arrived at our home, we brought Ethan into the house and I immediately noticed the smell of my home...I really missed that! The house was clean and child-proofed (thanks to Kari). And, I noticed that my house was decorated for Christmas, complete with a tree and presents for Ethan! The families in our Sunday School class had all bought gifts for Ethan that were here under our tree waiting for Ethan's arrival! That was so cool! But there is more!

After Ethan checked out the main level of our home, we went upstairs to show him his room and his machina bed. When we left home on Nov 19th, his room was blue and that is all. When we came home on Dec 15th, his room was blue, with his car bed - complete with sheets and comforter, a car and truck border, curtain, night light, pictures, and even letters that spelled out Ethan on the wall with little cars on them. Joe's mom started telling me who all had taken part in the preparation of Ethan's room. I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't hold back the tears. It was wonderful. His room is perfect.

And, there is more! Kari had arranged for families from church to deliver meals to us for the whole week!

We can't thank everyone enough for all that has taken place to help us bring our child home. We know that many prayers have been answered. We are greatful and are humbled by the love that was shown for Ethan even before we were home.

We have now been home for 10 days and Ethan is adjusting very well! Even better than we could have imagined. He is learning new English words everyday and we are communicating well with each other. He is truly a joy! And we are truly exhausted! But it is the best exhaustion we've ever felt. Ethan had a wonderful Christmas and already loves his extended family. In fact, today, when we were leaving the house, he was asking to go to "Yemma's and Yella's" house and we had just been there a few hours ago!

Enjoy the pictures and thank you all... for everything. Merry Christmas!

Ethan Pictures and Stories

2006-12-17T19:21:00.000-06:00

Wow, we are exhausted. We still must be on Ukraine time, at least Ethan is. He was up at 2:30 this morning and absolutely would not go back to sleep. I was looking forward to getting back home and one thing that I really missed while in Ukraine was Fox News Channel. Well, since returning 2 days ago, I have yet to watch Dish Network #205. But I have watched the Wiggles Christmas Special, Bob the Builder and a Veggie Tales DVD! Ethan is getting along very well meeting family members. We started slow, but soon realized he liked and appreciated the interaction.

We had a scare on friday night after returing home. We brought Ethan in the house, showed him around and visited with his Grandparents and then we did it--we nearly scared him to death. We brought our Chocolate Lab, Dixie, in the house. Ethan did not like it at all. He was so scared and cried so much that Steph was scared and crying. I was worried that we may have to change the arrangements with Dixie being an inside dog. Fortunately, Ethan has made up with Dixie and now they are best of friends. Ethan is petting, pulling, pushing, kicking, hugging and kissing Dixie. He even shares his food with her--and unfortunately, Dixie shared her food with Ethan as well. I caught him sneaking a piece of Science Diet. Yes I convinced him to spit it out but it wasn't as easy as I thought it might be. Perhaps a testimony for Hill's Pet Food--So good even a 2 year old will eat it.

Another good story. Justin and Kari brought Ethan's cousins Emma and Ella over. Ella simply LOVES her Aunt Stephie. Ella asked Steph, "Will you take Ethan back to 'NewKraine' when you are done with him?" Steph told her that Ethan is our little boy and will stay with us until he grows up, then he will be our big boy, but he will always be ours. Ella realized then she is going to have to share her Aunt Stephie for ever.

More later---as time allows. Wait, is there anything such as time when you have a kid? So far I haven't found any!

NEW YORK CITY!!!!

2006-12-15T06:34:00.000-06:00

There is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of things to update you on since the last post. Sorry we haven't been able to update you. The last time we went to update the blog in Donets'k the internet wasn't working. Then, we got to go get Ethan then go to Kiev. In Kiev we didn't even look for an internet cafe, we were too busy with our boy! Right now we are in a Ramada in New York City. Ethan is sitting on my lap-- he just yelled La Lookie, which apprently means, I want to sit on your lap. Our flight to Indy from JFK was cancelled last night, so we are spending an extra night away from home, so its a total of 26 days away from home (assuming we make it back today). Well there is so much to write, I think I will let Steph do it sometime in the near future while Ethan is napping. We have to tell you about the train from Donets'k to Kiev, how many homes Ethan thinks he has, you have to know about the fact he thinks Natasha lives on the other side of every door, the plane ride from Kiev to New York and many other experiences.

There is so much to tell you, but the most important thing you need to know is that Steph and I, along with our son, are all safe in the USA and Ethan is now a citizen of the United States of America. Must check to see if our flight will leave JFK on time to make it home this afternoon.

2 more days

2006-12-08T05:37:00.000-06:00

Only two more days of going to the orphanage and then leaving without Ethan.

Ethan is obviously getting more and more comfortable with us. He tells people who walk through that we are his Mommy and Papa. Maybe its because of the juice and cookies, but who cares--he is proud of us!

The ladies in his room have been preparing Ethan ever since we arrived that he will be leaving for America with his Mommy and Papa. They tell the other kids in his room that he is going to America to be a big rich American boy! "Rich" in this case is certainly relative! Compared to his opportunities here he will be rich. But
they way we see it, we are as wealthy as anyone can be having a son like Ethan!

To answer Marj's question, they do not want him to walk outside because he has one pair of corrective shoes. And they are overproective, especially when it comes to American's adopting the kids. They are not sure we can handle it!

Wish we had more fun stories, but going to the same room and playing with the same two toys everyday is getting quite boring! You know, I never really understood why my neices and nephews had so many toys--I always thought--my kids won't need that many toys, they can be creative and have fun with just a few toys. I know I was wrong--Grandparents--Bring on the toys! We need them!

Ethan is getting the hang of English commands. We think it might be more the tone and facial expressions than the language, but he knows when he is doing something wrong, when we want him to sit, say please, more cookies, again, walk, give it to me, it is not a toy.....and many other sayings, requests and commands. It is fun to watch him learn. We have actually gone back to videos we took the first few days and we see a huge change in him already!

We leave Donetzk on Monday, hopefully we will be able to keep you updated when we return to Kiev.

Joe & Steph

Quick Update

2006-12-06T06:40:00.000-06:00

Well, we did it. We changed our flight to leave Ukraine on December 14th! We are so excited!

We bought a new coat for Ethan today. One that is his size! The first coat we bought will be worn by 5-yr old Nicholas who is being adopted by Stan and Lydia from Michigan! They loved the coat! We are glad it worked out that way, for us and for them.

We have just a few more days that won't be busy. We're glad about that too. This weekend we will be buying gifts, food, and supplies for Ethan's farewell party on Monday. Monday will be busy as well. We will have to pick up the official court decree, get his new birth certificate and passport, have a party, and then get on the train! To comfort you all, please know that yes, we have Benedryl.

Ethan tried out a new flash light last night. He loved it so much, we couldn't get it away from him when it was time for us to leave! But today, we were able to snatch it so we can entertain him with it again tonight. We've been taking walks with him outside most days. The doctor says we have to carry him, and we do...some. But, he wants to walk, in fact he screams to get down and walk.

Everyday when we leave, he gives us both kisses and says Pah-Kah which means see you later. We have been teaching him to say bye-bye. He now knows please, light, and bye-bye. And of course, Papa and Mommy. He will repeat certain english words like again, fish, butterfly (that's funny to hear), boat, and bee. There is a large mural in one play room at the orphanage that has pictures of those things. He has learned to say again when Joe tosses him in the air and askes Ethan, "again"?

We heard that it is cold at home. That's too bad! The weather here has been almost perfect! No snow, no rain, no ice, no sun, no nothing! It has been really nice for walking. The temperature has been steadily in the 30's and the wind isn't too bad.
As nice as the weather has been, we'd like to get home to our own home with our own furnace and wood stove!

Thank you all for the prayers and for reading our thoughts!

One more day

2006-12-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

Well, it is Tuesday and we are one day closer to getting out of here. We just want to take our son and go home. Joe has been having nightmares about the plane trip home. Not about crashing, it's about Ethan screaming the entire way from Kiev to JFK. Please pray that this does not happen. Also, next Monday night we will more than likely be taking the train from here back to Kiev. This is a long trip and we know Ethan will be scared. We'll need prayer that night too.

Today, Ethan showed us his 2-yr old tantrum in a big way. We were letting him look at pictures on our camera when he decided he wanted to take the camera and go play with it. Of course, we told him that it was not a toy and that he couldn't have it. This turned into a struggle and I think we won. He pouted and rolled around on the floor for probably 15 minutes. We just sat there and watched him. Natasha reprimanded him in Russian and so did the resident doctor who happened to be walking by. He is a VERY strong-willed child and we will have lots of opportunity to help shape him.

We tried his new winter coat on him today. He was so excited, however, it was probably 2-sizes too big. Oops! It's hard to shop for a child when you've never had them before and he won't let you measure him! So, we gave the coat to Stan and Lydia and suggested they try it on the older boy they are adopting. We will be meeting them tonight for pizza. We've spent quite a bit of time with them as they are visiting Artur (Nathan) every morning while we are with Ethan.

That's all for now.

Maybe more tomorrow.

We Understand

2006-12-04T08:07:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all the words of encouragement. We do understand that this will be a long process of earning Ethan's trust and respect as parents. We just wanted everyone to know that we know its not all peaches and cream!

Everyone asks why the ten days. It is a replacement for the previous 30-day waiting that was frequently waived by judges who were paid a sufficient amount of US$$$$$. Now, there is no choice, it is 10 days with no opportunity to waive the time. The time period is to allow for anyone to appeal the court's decision granting us the adoption. The curious thing is that the decree from the court is not published anywhere, we wonder how anyone could even find out that there was an adoption of an orphan child let alone who specifically it is. Anyway, we cannot take Ethan until the judge actually puts that piece of paper in our hand.

We did get permission to take Ehtan on a walk outside of the orphanage today. He was scared but Natasha told him that if he held his Daddy's hand that everything would be OK, his Daddy would keep him safe. After that, he didn't want to hold Steph's hand, just mine :)

OK, gotta go its after 4:00 and Ethan is waiting on us.

Tough afternoon

2006-12-02T06:31:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon was a little hard on us. We were there for the afternoon visit, and Ethan was obviously bored with us by the time our two hours were up. In fact, we didn't even stay the whole time. It's a little hard to handle. We know that we love him and that he is our son. But, he doesn't understand what a Mama and Papa really are. Right now, he thinks that we are visitors who come to play with him twice a day and bring him snacks. Plus, he doesn't understand our language or why we keep calling him Maxim Ethan. We know in our hearts that he will eventually learn to love and trust us, but it's very hard when we are only allowed to see him for a few hours a day and be stuck in the same room every visit. Of course he would get bored with that, wouldn't you? Even the cookies and juice only work for so long!

One good thing though, one lady asked Ethan if he was an American and he said 'Dah' which means yes. That gave us a little comfort.

On the flip side, today was an excellent visit. It was the first time he went outside with us. We tried to take him outside a few days ago, but he said 'ni nada' of course. Today, he was willing to go with us. However, they told us that we had to carry him if we took him outside, we could only be out for 15 minutes, and that we have no right to leave the grounds. So, we carried him -- not an easy task. But we enjoyed it anyway. So many rules at this place, and he is our son, this is very frustrating. Today we were told not to let him play on the floor. WHAT! How can you keep a 2 yr old from playing on the floor? So we just ignored the instruction. I know the supervisors, nurses and nannies have good intentions to protect the children, but some of them seem to have more rules every day for us Americans.

We ate at a new restaurant yesterday, translated as Geese and Swan. This is the second place we've found that has an English menu. This way, Natasha doesn't have to read us every option on the menu! The food there is excellent! We had dessert for the first time today. It was very tasty!

We are planning on going to enjoy the Opera tomorrow. Well, I will enjoy it, Joe will suffer through it (perhaps enjoy a good nap). We are both looking forward to experiencing that. We may try to go to church tomorrow. Natasha knows the location of the church, but no times of service. Plus, she said it is not a 'church building' it is a rented hall, so there probably won't be church times posted on a sign like we are used to seeing.

We are counting down the days until we can take our son with us to Kiev. It can't happen soon enough. It is looking like we will meet up with at least one other American couple at the apartment in Kiev. This would be fun for us all, they will just be starting, and we will be finishing our trip.

Please pray that the next 9 days will go quickly for us and that we will have quality bonding time with our son. He is going to be in for the shock of his life when we take him away from the only home he has ever known. We know this will be traumatic, we just pray that God will give us the words and gestures to comfort him.

Also, just a heads up for you all. Here, the kids call every woman 'mama'. They call every man 'dada'. Ethan calls us Papa and Mommy. So, you can expect a greeting a bit different than you are used to, or he might give you a pouty look with sad eyes and a head over his shoulder. (We see this a lot too.)

Thursday Update

2006-11-30T06:15:00.000-06:00

This one will be short but apparently there are people out there who are addicted to this blog and I will do what I can to be an enabler for the Ethan addicts!

No, Ethan cannot stay with us in the apartment yet. We are still making twice daily visits to the orphanage.

We are planning a farewell party for Ethan's room at the orphanage. We are going to purchase fruit and juice, perhaps balloons, so that we can make leaving the orphanage a positive experience for Ethan. This will be a week from next Monday, when we can take Ethan with us as we leave.

Much more we could write but we are short on time, the internet cafe is packed with people waiting on computers. Love y'all. Later.

Court Date

2006-11-29T06:09:00.000-06:00

We apologize for not posting anything yesterday. We tried, but the internet cafe was full and we didn't really have the time to wait. So, we found out when our court hearing would be.........do you wonder when it might be??

We appeared in court and were officially pronounced parents of Ethan Warren Baldwin this morning at 10:00!!! Yep, it was today. Natasha had suggested that we might be able to have the hearing before the 6th, but she didn't want to make any promises. So, on Monday night, she came to our room and told us we would be having court on Wednesday morning! How did she do it? We didn't ask questions, we just praise God. There is another American couple here who has been in Donetzk for two weeks now, and they still haven't had their court date. So, we know that it was God's plan for us to have this today. Actually, we are about two weeks ahead of the average adoption cycle here in Ukraine. Our facilitator is a wonderful christian woman who understands that there are no coincidences, just the hand of God at work.

This means that we will be traveling home on December 14th or 15th! We must wait here in Doneztk for another 10 days (mandatory waiting period) and then we can travel back to Kiev for Ethan to have a physical examination and to meet with the US Embassy to get an immigration visa for Ethan. We will be looking at the airlines today to see which day we will actually be flying back.

This is the first day we have seen the sun in Ukraine. We think that it is beautiful here today, because of what God has done.

We celebrated our becoming parents by eating at a new restaurant for lunch. It was good! OK this is Joe taking over since we are talking about food! Not only was it good it was great! I had borsch and some raw (well not really raw but cold and smoked) bacon as an appetizer, then I had a beef and mushroom dish that was served with a side of buckwheat and a side of cold sour cabbage---excellent! Steph had a seasoned pork tenderloin with what they called fried potatoes--technically they are correct french fries are truely fried potatoes.

Now I will tell you some about court. We anxiously waited in a court building that interestingly resembled the court house in Randolph County. Yes, a pre-WWII communist type building looked just like the Randolph County Courthouse inside. The judge came down the stairs in his black robe and entered the court room on the first floor right beside the waiting area. He heard a couple of cases then asked us to enter. It was very intimidating, we acted like we were not nervous but I was shaking in my Timberlands! The judge asked me to stand and state my name, b-day, yrs married, my address (which I momentarily forgot), my job and my salary. He wanted to know if we have any kids. Then it was Steph's turn. She really got put through the ringer! The judge asked her the same questions and then the "People's Advocates" two ladies who represent the state and apparently the state's concern for orphaned children started asking Steph questions. They wanted to know if Steph could handle being a mother, they were concerned because she has a job, they asked Steph why we were adopting not from the US, but from Ukraine. Steph did a bang up job! We showed the judges and the ladies pictures of our home, so that they would see we have sufficient space to raise a child. They asked who the children were in the pictures, we have pictures of all the nieces and nephews. One lady specifically asked about Logan. We told her that Steph's sister and her husband had recently
adopted him. They seemed to enjoy the pictures. (Plus, that picture of Logan is sooo cute!)

The entire process took probably twenty minutes and after the Inspector (city representative), and a representative from the orphanage testified on our behalf, the judge made his ruling that we were officially the parents for Ethan. We both cried, and I think I saw a tear in the eye of the lady from the orphanage.

Immediately following our court hearing, we went to the orphanage to see Ethan. Our normal visit is from 10 am to 12 noon, but because we were in court at 10:00, we were late. Ethan was obviously upset about that because he was pouting and giving us dirty looks when we first arrived. (He knew we were supposed to be there when the other American couple came to see their son.) But, he quickly got over his attitude. The director of the orphanage offered us his congratulations as well as several of the ladies who work there.

It has been an awesome day!

Ready to come home, but can't yet

2006-11-27T06:42:00.000-06:00

Joe here..
As far as we are concerned it is time to come home. Too bad we have to finish up all the formalities and legalities. As of right now, court is scheduled for 12/6, may be a chance that this is moved up some. If not then it looks like a return just before Christmas.

We are enjoying reading all the comments. Thanks for all the prayers, I think it is great that we can share this experience with our friends and family despite the fact we are 6,000 miles from home.

Here's a fun story. Before we met Ethan, another little boy in his room met his new parents. These parents brought their boy a toy car. Well, when Ethan heard that a Mama and Papa were coming to see him, he asked if his Papa was bringing a 'machina' (ma-shee-na) for him. So, when we arrived at the orphanage for the first time, he just kept saying, "Papa, machina." over and over. Of course we had to buy him a machina! Now he carries it with him everywhere he goes.

We went shopping yesterday and purchased clothes for Ethan. It was funny, we tried to measure him before going shopping, but he didn't want to be measured. He really enjoyed playing with the tape measure but didn't want any part of someone stretching it along his legs and arms. So we guessed. He is either a 2T or 3T? Here it is just "3" or 192--whatever that means. We bought some jeans, shirts, socks, underwear (He is already potty trained!), and a winter coat. We tried the clothes on him last night. He enjoyed showing off in his new duds!

Some things we are glad we packed:
1. Zip lock bags.
2. trail mix. (even though the food is good, once we are back at the apartment its nice to have a snack)
3. Carnation Instant Breakfast. (the food is good but the milk here tastes different--read 'not very good'
4. Books. A lot of downtime. Nice to have some light fiction, but sure glad to have my Bible as well.
5. Computer. Many said 'not needed' I say, can't live without. Laptop takes up almost as much space as a mini DVD player, but has other uses too. We are putting pictures on the computer as soon as we return home each day, also can download video from camera and watch DVD too!
6. Dryer Sheets. Excellent to put with dirty clothes that you will wear again or to hang in the closet. Also, easy to pack.

Some things that were not necessary:
1. Sunglasses. Not sure if the sun ever shines in Doneztk
2. Baseball caps. Want to be sure you look like an American--then wear a Purdue or a Colts baseball cap!
3. So many clothes. We way overpacked. We have available for our use a washing machine. But no dryer, Steph did a load (which was a pair of jeans a t-shirt and some socks and underwear--very small washer!) last night. I draped my jeans in front of the heater and they were nearly dry by morning.

We have started sleeping with the window open. The apartment has no thermostat control. The entire building is heated by a boiler with radiators in each room. You just take the heat as it comes and we have found that it is too hot for sleeping.

We have to hire a driver each day. I pay him about US$6/hour. He gets paid even when he is not driving. So, that is getting kind of expensive. But it is nice, we do not have to wait on or call a taxi. Vladimir is ready to go when we are. He is not a driver by trade, he is just a friend of Natasha. He makes sure we get to the apartment safely each night. I pay him cash daily. Having a personal driver is a convenience that I am happy to pay for, makes me feel safe.

I'll give Steph a chance to write now...

Hi everyone!

Just in case you were wondering, that red mark under Ethan's nose is just a boo boo. They put something red on it for healing...not sure what that could be, maybe beet juice? LOL We've seen lots of kids with this mysterious red stuff on their heads.

We've noticed that Ethan is the best child in the whole orphanage! He has been crying every time we leave. That is exciting for us, yet sad too. We hate to see him upset.

We got to see his bare feet today. They looked much better than we were led to believe. The surgeons who did the work on his feet had to break his legs to create a heel on his foot. They told us today that he didn't walk until after recovering from that surgery, but that he was a very patient child and started walking in his casts. They also ordered new orthopaedic shoes for him 5 months ago, and they just arrived today. So, they are probably too small, but that's ok because we'll take care of that when we get home.

We have been showing the pictures of our family to Ethan several times each day. He will repeat the names of everyone. It is really funny to hear him try to say Ella. He says Tricia, Mamaw, and Babushka (grandma) really well. We're still working on that one.

He loves to be picked up and tossed in the air. He also likes hanging upside down. He has a new game of running down the hall and waiting for us to chase him and pick him up to run back.

We have introduced him to fruit juice boxes. He loves everything we give him, even water!

Each day is more fun than the last. Soon, we won't have to see him cry when we leave, because he'll be going with us!

That's all for now! Thanks again for your prayers and your thoughts.

Ethan Pictures

2006-11-26T08:18:00.000-06:00

A day off

2006-11-25T04:41:00.000-06:00

Today is Saturday, and things have slowed down a bit for us. Natasha was able to complete all of our paperwork yesterday, so she said today would be a day off for us. We have already been to visit Ethan today. When we arrived, there was another american couple there waiting to see their son. They told us that when they came in, the ladies of the orphanage had sent out Ethan! So, they had to tell them that he was not their boy. It's good to know that those ladies are expecting us everyday.

Today, Ethan played mostly with Joe again. I have been fighting a cold and am not feeling 100%, nor do I want to make Ethan sick. Plus, he isn't as interested in me anyway. In fact, Natasha and I think that he isn't drawn to younger women at all because he spends all his time with older ladies and he has no use for younger ones yet.

We think Natasha is going to try to find a Church for us to attend tomorrow. She said that there is one here that has an English speaking service, but she's not sure which one that is. So, we'll have to wait and see.

The weather has been good here, cloudy and dreary, just like home. The air quality in Kiev was awful. We could feel the smog in our chests. Here in Donetzk, it is much better. This is a city of about 1 million. We just walked by a political rally of some sort. Natasha said they were talking about prices of everything. We haven't seen any snow or rain yet, and the temperature has been in the upper 30's and 40's during the day.

We will be spending the afternoon walking around downtown, seeing what there is to see and maybe doing some shopping. Then at 4:00, we will go back to the orphanage to see Ethan.

We had our first bad experience last night. We tried some food from a fast food place called Potato something and it was yucky. We didn't eat any of it. So, we know not to go back there. We have eaten at several good restaurants. Yesterday, we ate at a Russian place and the food was very good there. For our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, we ate at a place called Winter Garden. It was very good as well. We have many options for food here. We've been buying eggs, bread and milk at the grocery store, and eating pork, chicken and potatoes when we go out to eat. We have eaten at McDonald's once, for breakfast...but they don't have 'breakfast' food at the McDonald's here. We had a McChicken and a Country Sandwich (pork patty on rye) and some fries.

Joe bought some chips and some Coke Light (diet) at the grocery store. We think the cashier was making fun of us, because we kept hearing her laugh and say 'chips'. Aparently, americans must be the only people who buy chips here.

Oh, I melted my curling iron on the first day we were in Ukraine. It melted from the inside out and fell apart. Oops! So, we've been keeping our eyes open for another one, but so far we haven't had much luck. And I've had bad hair days ever since.

Thanks for the comments, it is helpful to hear from home. And it makes us feel loved.

Today, we saw that the Colts lost on Sunday, that made us a little sad.

That's all for now.

Introducing Ethan Warren Baldwin.........

2006-11-24T09:17:00.000-06:00

I wrote the title to this post, now I will let Steph take over, she will let you know how great this week has been......

Hi! Steph here. I first have to say we're sorry that we don't have any pictures yet. Well, we have them, but we aren't able to post them from here. We are writing this from an Internet cafe in downtown Donetzk. Maybe another day we will be able to post some pictures.

Anyway, yesterday we finally met Ethan. His current name is Maxim, but we will change that soon. Ethan is almost 3. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He is full of life and when we asked the ladies at the orphanage what he liked to eat, they said everything! So, he is well fed, and has nice little chubby cheeks (We have our own little 'pork chop'). We have been to visit him four times now. The first time was during our meeting with the orphanage director yesterday. We knew right away that he was our son. He was immediately drawn to Joe, and he is already calling him Papa. We have given him several snacks as bribes to keep him close to us. Today, he gave us hugs.

Ethan was diagnosed with two club feet at birth. He has had one corrective surgery, and still needs another. This doesn't seem to slow him down any, becuase he is everywhere and does everything. One foot had previously been corrected with bandages and braces, and now the other foot just needs one more surgery, that we will schedule when we are home. His cognitive development is right on schedule, according to the orphanage standards. He will however, need some PT, good thing I work at Gateway!

We are having a wonderful time here. Natasha, our translator/facilitator/protector has been so good to us. We are eating well and enjoy our time with her. She knows exactly where to go and how to get there. We just follow her along wherever she goes.

We are staying in an apartment in downtown Donetzk. We do not have a phone, nor do we have any internet access there. But, we do have a bed, a shower (with hot water!) and a kitchen. We looked at one other apartment, but the location was pretty scary, and Natasha was not comfortable with us staying there. So, we found this one instead. It is five floors up and we have a bullet proof door! (Don't worry, it doesn't really seem dangerous, but what do we know, we're just Americans)

Yesterday and today we have been running all over town with Natasha to complete paperwork that will be needed for our court date. We know that after our court date, there will be a mandatory 10 day waiting period before we can leave. Natashsa is trying to get us a court date next week, if possible. If not, it will probably be on Dec 6th. So, you all can pray that the court date is as soon as possible so we can bring Ethan home.

Oh, by the way. We decided on Ethan's name last night. We had a different name picked out for the past two years, but when we saw him, he didn't really look like the other name. So, Ethan it is! And I'm sure everyone knows about the middle name! (Joe's grandpa's name is Warren)

We miss you all and are ready to come home with our son. Thank you for your prayers and your postings to this blog. It has been very encouraging to read your words and feel your excitement for us.

We'll send pictures as soon as we can.

Love,
Joe, Steph and Ethan

Our Chosen Child

2006-11-21T13:13:00.000-06:00

We had our appointment today at the SDA. Everything went very smoothly.
The people were very nice! We were shown several photos of available
children. Some sibling pairs and some individual children. After just a
short discussion, we chose our child. He, yes HE, is 2 years old. He
will be 3 on January 23rd. He is in an orphanage in Donetzk (Don-yetzk).
We are hoping to travel by train tomorrow (overnight) to that region. It
is approximately 400 miles from Kiev. All we can tell you right now is
that he has blonde hair and grey-blue eyes. It has been a very big day
and we feel very blessed already, and we have yet to meet him!

Our facilitator, Natasha, will be staying with us every step of our journey.

Please continue to pray for us as we have a long road ahead with lots of
paperwork and waiting.

More updates soon.

Steph & Joe

We Made It!

2006-11-20T11:36:00.000-06:00

So here we are, our first day in Kiev. The flight was very nice, there
was no trouble whatsoever. We did get a little worried when we arrived in
Ukraine and there was no one here to get us, but Natasha soon showed up
and we felt safe and sound.

We traveled from the airport in Kiev to the apartment and got settled in.
We took showers and Natasha cooked us some lunch (very good lunch). We
then went to the SDA and made sure our appointment was listed for
tomorrow--and it was. After returning from the SDA, Steph and Natasha
went to the market and I took a nap.

We shared pictures of our family with Natasha. We are very happy to have
her as a facilitator and we have learned to trust in just a short amount
of time.

Our appointment tomorrow is at 1500. Which is 8:00 AM EST.

SO far--things are going great!

The Time is Very Very Near

2006-11-17T08:27:00.000-06:00

So you may wonder what we have been up to since we finally got the word to go. It has been a flurry of activity. Well, more than a flurry, more like a BLIZZARD of activity. Steph and I have worked very hard at our jobs to make our absence painless for those who will graciously pick up the slack while we are gone.

We rushed to paint the kid's room, we procrastinated on this project for about 2 years. We did put together a crib and clean up the spare room. We purchased some new luggage, since my big suitcase was destroyed on a trip to China a couple months ago. We have collected some gift items to take with us and give to those who will guide us through this process. I purchased some T-shirts that can be reminders for them of where we come from. I purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana Wesleyan, and Indiana State T-shirts. Although I hate to say it, I actually bought a couple Indiana University T-shirts. Its hard to believe I actually spent my money on a red IU shirt, but it would be difficult to get someone to understand the connection between Purdue University and the State of Indiana. This is the first time in my life I have ever spent money on an IU item!

We were given a large supply of blankets to donate to the orphanage. We will fill one suitcase with the gifts to leave and this will give us the space we will need for child's items on our return trip. Many thanks to the Welch's for the blankets, we all know they are needed and will be appreciated at the orphanage!

NO-WE HAVE NOT PACKED YET! That is the number one question we have gotten this week. First of all, I am by nature a last minute packer. Secondly, we have not had time to pack. We did buy some new, cheap, comfortable clothes to pack, but they are still in the bags from the stores.

We purchased a video camera and a portable DVD player last weekend. Uncle Jack loaned me some books to take. Believe it or not, we expect to have a significant amount of downtime and we will be starved for entertainment. DVD's and books should get us through.

We met with Christina Moore who will be house sitting for us while we are gone. It is comforting to know that we will have someone we trust taking care of our home. Thanks Christina.

Many have asked if we get to change the name of our child. Yes we can and no we will not tell what we have chosen as a name until we are certain that we want to change the name. We have selected a boy's name, but we have not been able to agree on a girl's name--that is still under negotiation and Steph is a tough negotiator.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by to visit and pray with us before we leave.

The time is flying, as of right now we will be leaving in less than 48 hours!

Much to do, hopefully we can post updates when we are traveling, but can't promise anything. Please don't forget to pray for us...... Thanks to All!!!!!!!!! See you soon.

Amazing News!

2006-11-01T14:02:00.000-06:00

We called Ukraine again this morning. WE ARE ON THE NOVEMBER LIST! Our appointment is on November 21st! We will leave here on the 19th...that leaves only 18 days to prepare for our departure!

We are in a state of shock right now. And such a nice state it is!

Oh how good is our God! We are scared and excited and nervous right now. This really IS going to happen!

More updates soon!

Perhaps December

2006-10-28T16:09:00.000-05:00

We called the SDA office in Ukraine again yesterday morning. After dialing for over 30 continuous minutes, we finally had a person on the other end of the line. Unfortunately, she couldn't give us any specific information. She said again, "Your appointment will likely be in December". She also mentioned that the December appointments won't be sheduled for about two weeks and we should call again then.

We discovered that our registration number is a mere 23 numbers after the last appointment scheduled for November. This gives us great hope that our appointment will be in early December. (The SDA has processed groups of about 300 registration numbers per month.)

So, we will wait a few more days and then make the call again.

Phone Call to Ukraine

2006-10-19T03:56:00.000-05:00

We made a phone call to Ukraine this morning. As Ukraine is seven hours ahead of us, we decided to call early. So, at about 4:15 am our time, we were dialing. The first try was unsuccessful, the line was busy. The second to the sixth times didn't work either. But, on the seventh try, we had someone on the other end of the line.

We were told that given our registration number, our appointment will likely be in December. We also learned that the November appointments will not be posted until next Friday, the 27th. We were instructed to call again on that date.

Thankfully, the person with whom we spoke was very pleasant and spoke English very well.

Please continue to pray. And thank you for the prayers thus far.

Encouraging Email from Ukraine

2006-10-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

We received the following e-mail from our state-side facilitators who happen to be in Ukraine today......

" PRAISE THE LORD!!! One of the ladies who worked that the shelter that I know is now working in the adoption center. She has asked Gayla to give her all your registration numbers and she will help us with referrals!!
This is certainly God talking care of us. Get on your knees right now and say a prayer of thanksgiving!

Be home Friday.

Love, [XXXXX] "

Earlier this week we received this via e-mail:
"Dear All,

Just a quick note to let you know that according to our sources here the AC will post after October 12th the new list of names for the next set of appointments.

You may or may not get anything in the mail but our girls will be checking for your names and they will let us know.

Love you all,
[XXXXXXX]"

Both e-mails are very encouraging. Perhaps we will know within a few days as to when we will be able to go.

Joe

More Waiting

2006-09-23T13:09:00.000-05:00

Well, we're still here...waiting. Since our last posting we have learned that 25 American families received appointments in September. We were both excited to hear that the process was moving again. We were notified that the registration numbers that would be processed were in the 14000 - 15000 series. Our number is in the 15000 series. We were hopeful that our number would be in the next group of appointments. Unfortunately, we just received word that the appointments for October have already been scheduled and they are for those numbers between 14500 and 14800.

So, here we are...waiting.

Maybe this time its real.......

2006-07-07T14:05:00.000-05:00

Here we go again, but this time it might be for real. After two "false starts" on the opening of the new Adoption Authority in Ukraine over the last few months, we are hopeful this time it is really going to happen. The recent months of...""they are opening, they aren't opening, they will be sending letters out next month, they are scheduling appointments for May-no-June-no maybe July, they have stopped processing applicational altogether, etc....""" has been horrible.

Well, the latest information come directly from a press conference by Yuriy Pavlenko, Minister for Family, Youth and Sports on July 3, 2006. He presented some positive information. For those who like summaries here's the short version and for those deeply interested I have copied the US Emabssy press release that was precipitated by Pavlenko's comments.

Short Version
1. We have to submit a new application, affirming our intent to adopt. That must be done without delay. I will go to Indy to have this document apostiled early next week.
2. We are awaiting the completion of our updated homestudy. When that is complete we will have to go back to USCIS (Immigration) for fingerprints and background checks.
3. We send our entire updated dossier to Ukraine again for translation-again-and then await our appointment letter
4. Adoptions will be processed in the order of the registration number. There are 1,200 registered families awaiting this appointment. We have no idea where we are in the list of numbers.
5. No appointments will be scheduled before September 2006.
6. No new applications will be accepted prior to January 2007.

Actual Embassy Press Release
Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
On July 3, 2006 the Minister for Family, Youth and Sports, Yuriy Pavlenko, held a press conference to announce the official opening of the new adoption authority, to be known as the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child (SDAPRC), and to outline his ministry’s policies related to the protection of children’s rights.
Minister Pavlenko reported that the previous central adoption authority (the National Adoption Center under the Ministry of Education) had been dissolved, and stressed that the SDAPRC is completely separate from the previous system. He underscored that Ukraine has no intent to impose any restrictions or moratorium on intercountry adoptions; nonetheless, he made clear that promoting domestic adoptions will be the first priority and the main focus of the new adoption authority.
On the basis of Minister Pavlenko’s statements, the Embassy has assembled the following information for Americans who wish to adopt in Ukraine. Americans with more detailed questions should contact us directly at: adoptionskiev@state.gov
Q: When will the new adoption authority start accepting new adoption dossiers?
A: Pavlenko made clear that the SDAPRC will accept NO new adoption dossiers from non-Ukrainian adoptive parents before January 1, 2007. This applies to ALL intercountry adoptions, including applications for biological siblings of previously adopted children. According to Pavlenko, this is not a moratorium but a temporary suspension to allow complete reform of Ukraine’s child welfare and adoptions system.
If a prospective adopted child is about to “age-out” (i.e., the child will turn 16 years old in 2006), please contact our office at: adoptionskiev@state.gov
Q: What happens to the families whose dossiers were registered with the NAC? Will the registration numbers remain the same?
A: According to Pavlenko, the SDAPRC inherited from the National Adoption Center 1,200 registered adoption dossiers from foreign citizens. Of these, 390 are from American families wishing to adopt in Ukraine. These 390 registered families will keep the registration numbers assigned by the previous National Adoption Center; cases will be considered in the order of their registration numbers.
Q: We have one of these NAC registration numbers. What should we do now?
A: All registered families are asked to submit new applications to affirm their intention to adopt in Ukraine. This application should be done in the same way as the one previously submitted to the NAC with their original dossiers, but should now be addressed to the new adoption authority and sent via regular or courier mail service directly to the following address:
Ms. Ludmyla Volynets
Director
State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child
Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports
14 Desiatinna Street
Kiev 01025
Ukraine
Only original, notarized and apostilled applications, accompanied by a Ukrainian translation, will be accepted. An English-language sample application will be posted on the Embassy web site soon.
Q: We have a NAC registration number, but some of our documents have expired, or will expire soon. Do we need to update them? Should we bring the updated documents for the appointment or submit them prior to our trip to Ukraine?
A: If any of the adoption documents in a previously registered dossier have expired or will soon expire, the adopting parents should send the updated documents directly to the SDAPRC as soon as possible. These documents should be sent via regular or courier mail service to the address specified above.
Q: When will the families who registered with the old adoption authority have their appointments?
A: During July and August of 2006 the new adoption authority will complete the scheduling of adoption appointments for registered families that have confirmed their intention to adopt from Ukraine. The appointments for registered families will begin after September 1, 2006.
Q: How can families communicate with the new authority? Will my facilitator be allowed to communicate with it on my behalf?
A: The SDAPRC is now fully staffed, with its own English interpreters (as well as Spanish, French, German and Italian) available on staff. Since the current Ukrainian law does not allow adoption intermediaries, no private interpreters/facilitators will be allowed to interpret during meetings of prospective adopting parents with the SDAPRC. You can still use the private interpreters/facilitators for other stages of the adoption process.
Minister Pavlenko stressed that all employees of the SDAPRC are civil servants and are subject to administrative and criminal penalties for any malfeasance.
Q: Is there any new information about the availability of children for intercountry adoption?
A: According to the Ministry, only 16% of all adoptable Ukrainian children are under five years old and relatively healthy. At the same time, 50% of all the U.S. prospective adopting families have indicated specific interest in this category of children.
Q: What changes will be introduced to the actual adoption process, particularly regarding paperwork requirements?
A: Generally, it appears that much of the actual procedures and paperwork (medical forms, etc.) for intercountry adoption in Ukraine will remain much the same. The Embassy is working to obtain complete information from the SDAPRC, and will announce specific changes as soon as the Ukrainian authorities make this information available