Before you read this, scroll down and read, "Day 2, Part 1).

Our afternoon visit also taught us some lessons:



Lesson #1: When visiting your child at an orphanage and have never seen that child eat (though were told he could eat anything) do not feed him a whole cookie, especially one from a Ukrainian market that disintegrates instantly upon entering the mouth, and especially when that child spits each bite of the cookie out in delight.

Lesson #2: Don't expect that a child automatically knows how to drink from a straw. The child will bite down on the straw, expecting something good, and when no reward is given, the juice box wielding the straw will be thrown into the dirt. Wet juice boxes in the dirt are messy.

Lesson #3: When taking the risk of feeding your new child for the first time outdoors with no people or trash cans around, BRING NAPKINS. Receipts wetted with carbonated water do not hold up well, especially on children who are laughing hysterically!

Well, this is the FIFTH time I've tried writing this post, but the computer I'm working on... well, let's just say it's not mine. Our laptop, as previously mentioned, doesn't work here with the Internet, so we are using the computer in the flat where we are staying and Mark thinks it has a virus because it KEEPS erasing my blog posts!! I will do it this way: I will write short posts and readers will just have to deal with scrolling up all of the time. Sorry, but I'm sick of rewriting the same stuff!! (It's not saving anything, either) I'm also getting really tired, but I will try to write with the same vigor as I did when I wrote this stuff the FIRST time.

Okay: we have discovered something rather important: Simon/Sergei/Peter/Gabriel doesn't do as well in the mornings. Our visit times are right before lunch and nap and he is tired and cranky. Today he was just this way. We took him to the play room and expected our visit to be like yesterday afternoon's was. We sat him on the floor of the playroom and I rolled a ball to him, expecting him to start laughing. He screamed. A scream of, "I really, really don't want to be doing this and am soooooo frustrated!". It was short, but intense, and we quickly realized that he was NOT in the mood to play. So Mark held him quietly and he was content to do nothing other than just sit in Mark's arms and be held. Fine with us! Lesson learned!! He yawned and talked to himself and made clucking noises with his mouth and was very ready to go back to his room afterward. Poor little fella. No pictures.

One thing I didn't mention in my last post was that the director offered Leeza (Elisabeta) to us. I can't TELL you how hard it was to say no!!! I knew that she had her family coming for her, and I told them that I thought they were submitting this week, and they were happy to hear that, but it was a really hard thing to turn her down, considering that we had our petition letter written and everything before realizing that her original family was still going for her. Long story. I'm sure we will see her over the course of the next week or so and I'm sure I'll have mixed feelings, but I'm just glad that she has her mom and dad coming for her. She's a special girl, and they will be blessed.

Whew! It's not easy using someone else's computer, especially when most of the tabs are in Russian! Good thing Mark is such a computer whiz, cause without him I couldn't have done any of this!

Okay! Here goes!! It takes like 10 min. to upload 5 pictures on this computer (seriously) and I'm soooooo tired that I only took the time to upload these 10, but these'll certainly get you started!!

We walked into the orphanage and it was so eery, after seeing so many pictures on Google Earth, the Life4Orphans (or is it Life2Orphans??) website, and other families' pictures; it was now OUR turn to be here!!! We met Anatole the director and as expected, he was very nice. I've only heard wonderful things about this man!!! We talked about our family, and the opportunities that the boys had (as disabled children) and the opportunities that Sergei would have as a part of our family and in the area that we lived. He was very attentive and glad to hear everything that we said. Unfortunately, I forgot the family photo album at the apartment so I have to show him tomorrow!! UGH!

Anyway, eventually, they brought little Sergei ("Seriozha") in. He was one scared, NERVOUS, little boy. He was actually physically shaking and making this grunting noise (almost like a growl). Here he is as his caregiver carries him in (check out her expression!):

Poor little thing was so overwhelmed at all of the people and all of the attention!!

Mark got to hold him first!!! (That's okay - I had the camera!!)

He was very nervous, as I said, and I was kind of surprised at how "closed in" he was. I was sad because he never smiled, and just seemed so... institutionalized. Mark and I both fell in love with him instantly however, but I was slightly disappointed, thinking that at age 5, he'd lost SO much time and how far he had to catch up to where he might have been. But he was precious, and that's all that counted. Catch up or no, we loved him and would be there for him for forever. No matter what.

This little picture is really sweet. Mark bought this little "Baby Mozart" toy for him. You push the big button and it lights up and plays classical music. He really was interested in it, but with all of the stuff going on, he was pretty overstimulated. Still, after awhile, he was standing on the ground and the toy was on the chair. Someone pushed the button, and he "discovered" it! He got his eyes WAY close to the flashing lights and just stared. And stared. It was adorable! I noticed at that time that he had pretty good attention span and could focus fairly well. (Considering.) This was a great toy that Mark bought.

Soon afterward, it was time for his lunch and nap and we had to go. We went out to eat with Masha, our facilitator, and had some weird food that was great! (And I hate "foreign" food, or anything "weird".) I had some sort of pork thing, and potatoes with "garlic", but it was mostly cheese. Anyway, we did some paperwork stuff, she dropped us off at our apt. and I posted a thingy on here and checked my friends' blogs to catch up. At 4, we went back to the orphanage.

This is who greeted us:

A completely different little boy!! I took him from the caregiver at his room and accidentally tickled his thigh. He let out squeals of laughter, surprising me to the point where I almost dropped him!! I tickled him again, and more squeals!! Who was this happy, friendly little boy?? Where was the NERVOUS, grunting, shaking little boy we saw at lunchtime??

We had a WONDERFUL visit!!! We walked all around outside, then got a stroller. We carried him, he walked, we sat and played with the music toy. LOTS of laughing and giggling and squealing and wiggling with joy!!

Here he is with his Papa, just enjoying the company and the nice weather. He and his Papa are quite tight already!!

For a little while, he got VERY wild and just was so hyper he didn't know what to do with himself!! He does this little "trembling" thing that I want to get checked out when we get home, and he stiffens up when he gets excited. Definitely not a "low toner"!! He may be tiny, but he's strong! (He's got an older brother back home in the States that's like that, too!) There were times when I wondered if he has very mild CP, with the way he tremors and stiffens. If he does, it won't be a problem. But he was a wild man for awhile, laughing and just having the time of his life, with people all to himself to love on him. :o)

This is just kind of a funny one. Mark was walking with him, holding him by the hands (he needs hand-held assist to walk), and he wanted to see the camera so he walked over to me so fast I didn't have time to get a picture - and I got this close up! LOL

Did I mention that he was a different kid on our second visit??

I have a series of this picture and the following one. He and Mark were cuddling together on the stoop and just really enjoying each other (Mark is SO IN LOVE). Mark was cuddling him and I got this darling picture. Sergei was calmed down by this time (he got rid of a lot of his energy!!) and enjoying some quiet time with Papa.

This is Mark's favorite shot. He and Serozha were just visiting together nicely when Mark started tweaking his nose. They ended up with this silly little game where they touched noses together and just held them there. Serozha loved this and kept doing it over and over (and even with me when I finally got a chance to put the camera down and hold him!!). It was so sweet and something that really meant a lot to Mark - they made a connection. :o)

So far, so good, everyone.

I am using my facilitator's computer, which means I can't get into my Road Runner account. If you've been e-mailing me at my mjtaborn@cfl.rr.com e-mail address, I can't get to it!!! Best thing to do is contact me here; if it's private, tell me to write you and I'll use my netzero account to do so (it's like a junk mail account that I keep but rarely use). mjvoigts@netzero.com .

Mark and I are working on trying to hook the camera up to Masha's computer so we can share PICTURES!!!! You will NOT be sorry you waited for them!!

If someone wants to e-mail the Reece's Rainbow group and let them know what's going on, please do! I can't even write the group, because I am not a member through netzero. UGH! Just tell them that we're here, etc. and to check my blog for progress. Thanks!! Her computer text is all in Russian so it's a bit testy getting through, also. ;op

I'll have stories and pics up soon!!

Greetings from Kramatorsk!!! WE MADE IT!!! We actually had 3 very smooth flights (BIG HINT: If you are planning on traveling a long distance by plane and are overweight (especially if BOTH of you are overweight) ... LOSE WEIGHT! Mark's tailbone and my hips will never be the same, especially after the long flight from Philly to Frankfurt! Those seats are NOT designed for "big boys and girls"!! LOL But our flights were on time, good connections, and Mark tolerated the flying pretty well. He hasn't flown in decades by choice, and he did great! He was adorable on the first flight, gripping my pinky finger for support, yet with his nose plastered against the window looking out at the clouds, all hyper from excitement and fear. He was so adorable!! By the third flight, he was a chilled as the rest of us.

We arrived in Kiev in the afternoon on Tuesday and were taken straight to our apartment, where, if I remember correctly, we stayed until the next morning. We were BEAT. At noon the next day, we had our SDA appt. and the lady who interviewed us was so nice!!!! It was not a tense meeting by any means! Very relaxing. We saw a picture of little Sergei (Simon) taken 2 years ago. Not a great picture (we have a lot that were better) but it is always fun to see a picture we've never seen before! We agreed that we wanted his referral and a few hours later we picked up the letter (whatever that was) and we were off to the train station! THAT FAST!! The bad part is that we didn't get to see any of our Reece's Rainbow friends like we were hoping to. UGH. Maybe a little too fast?? We arrived in Kramatorsk this morning (what day is this?? Thursday??) after a rather long night on the train. The train itself was fine (and the bathroom not THAT bad!!) but our systems are SO out of whack that it was hard to sleep. I didn't dare take a sleeping pill that night but you bet your boots I will tonight!!

Whoops! Gotta go! Time to go to the orphanage for our second visit and our facilitator will be meeting us in a few minutes. Gotta get down there to meet her - more later!!!!!!

Well, we leave tomorrow!!! Mom's here to house/dog/kid -sit, we had dinner with the Cornishes , our bags are 95% packed, our nerves are shot, and our e-tickets are sitting by the door!!

We leave tomorrow out of Orlando at 1:55pm connecting through Philadelphia and Frankfurt to Kiev!! We arrive in Kiev (supposed to, anyway!) Tuesday afternoon at 1:20pm (no, it's not 24 hours, remember to subtract 8 hours for the time difference). Our appointment to get the official "referral" for Simon is Wednesday and we hope to travel on the overnight train to Kramatorsk Thursday night. We meet Simon on Friday!!

I will check my e-mails in the morning, but probably not do any blogging until we are in-country!! I'm sure I'll have lots of stories to tell.

PLEASE PRAY FOR US for smooth traveling and energy enough to enjoy it! LOL

I'll post again as soon as I am able and have something interesting to say. :o)

So until then, Good-bye, and dasvidanya!!!