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News 14 Homecoming Story :)

Here we are on channel 14 news!

Maddex Homecoming

Thanks to Heather Waliga for bringing attention to Reece's Rainbow for us!

Day 61

This says it all.

See photos of our homecoming from the lovely KaraBeth of Holden Memories.

...details of our trip home soon, once I'm finished squeezing all my kids and basking in the chaos of our family.

We are blessed.  So very, very blessed.

Thank you to everyone who made this adoption possible.  From people who backed us financially, prayerfully, emotionally, and those who cared for our children when we couldn't be home.  More to come on all the thank yous...I just wanted this out there right now so you didn't think we forgot about you, because we didn't.  Not once.

Day 60!

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...
Well, mostly.  There's the usual leftovers out still.  But overall, we're ready!

The taxi's here, he's blowin' his horn...
Not yet, but Niko will be here in his giant purple van in less than a 1/2 hour...

I hate to wake you up to say goodbyyyyyeeeee...
Not really- Mr. Sunshine woke us all up at 7!

Cause we're LEEEEEAAAAVIN', on a JET PLANE!
For reals!



Don't know when we'll be back again.
We'll probably visit someday, you know, when all the kids are potty trained and airfares are reasonable.

Oh, babe, I hate to goooooo.
Not so much.  It's been fun, but we are NOT hating to go.  It's time to be HOME!


Home, home, home, home, HOME!!!  Eeeeeeeeee!!!!

Day 59

Look what we found today!

I thought I had packed it somewhere!

We had Z's medical appointment this morning, and frankly, I was a little freaked about it.  He's a healthy kid, no history of any communicable diseases that might bar our entry into the US, but there have been a few adoptive families here who have been detained for several days (weeks!) because of a false positive.  On top of that, we had to wait until the day before our flights left to finish the medical exam and turn in the paperwork to the US Embassy to get his visa that will allow him to enter the US.  If the appointment didn't go well, then not only would we NOT be going home tomorrow, we'd have to pay more change fees for our flights, and I'd already sworn up and down on faith that that was NOT going to happen!

So, no pressure.  Ha!


We waited a bit in a hallway, and then for a bit in a kind of sad excuse for a children's waiting room, and then saw the doctor.  She checked Z all out, informed us of everything that we already knew...told us to have his thyroid tested ASAP to get him on the proper daily meds, and assured us that his heart was "absolutely clear".  Then she filled out a bunch of forms, and told us that his vaccines were up to date as per their standards, and that he had had recent tests for HIV, Syphalis, and TB (maybe for something else, as well...?) and since everything was negative, there was no reason to test again.  She had copies made, we paid, and then we were on our way.

That was easy.

Then we had our appointment at the Embassy a few hours later.  We walked in (no ear buds this time!), handed over his passport and medical information...we waited for maybe 10 minutes, then we were called back to swear that the information that we provided was true.  Then we had his visa within 20 minutes.

That was easy.

The only difficult thing about today was trying to get Z to nap after he snoozed in Niko's van for 10 minutes!

We met the Driedgers for play time at the park (love them!) and then we all went to Mafia for a farewell dinner on our last evening here in Kiev.

(Notice that it has been so cold here that I am now wearing not one of Bryan's shirts, but two...his thermal over my t-shirt, covered in his gigantic sweatshirt!  Bryan commented today- you know, we're not just here for the change of seasons anymore.  It's changed.")

We're really really hoping that both the Driedgers and the Laynes (yup, they are still stuck in Kharkov!!) will be out of here soon...prayers for both of them! 

And us?  Well, we're down to TWELVE HOURS before we're on a plane, headed towards home.  Bliss.



PS- While I was hitting "publish post", Zeke halfway rolled out of bed, and just stood like this, sleeping, until I went over to tuck him back in again.  LOL.  Love him.

Day 58

Woke up again to a sweet boy with morning breath and bunches of kisses, who eagerly awaits us to invite him to climb into bed with us and snuggle under the warm covers until all his energy makes it impossible to stay still for one.moment.longer.!!


Breakfast is a whirlwind of coffee and juice, yogurt, bananas and fabulous poppyseed stuffed sweet rolls (a homemade gift from Babushka).  Our studio apartment is a happy chaos of Teletubbies, Memory cards, yesterday's newspaper, lukewarm showers, and haphazard straightening up (Z-man LOVES to sweep!). 


We took a morning adventure out to the Metro and to the Rochen factory store (HOLLA!), and also found a cheap extra suitcase from a street vendor that we can fill and check on our way home (because the 4 plastic Billa bags will NOT cut it for the plane ride!). 


We had time for a quick nap before meeting up with our new friends, the Driedgers.  Dave and Tara are from Canada (eh?) and have been here just as long as we have.  The Canadian process takes longer than ours, and so we will probably take second place to them for Longest Uninterrupted Ukrainian Adoption Process.  We'll have to give up our tiaras and sashes, but, you know, it is what it is. 

They have their 2 boys and now 1 more boy with them, so we all went to a playgound tucked away next to a church.  It was awesome watching all the boys play together (check out their blog for pics of the playground!).  Highlights:
*We discovered that Zeke will stay in one spot, completely occupied for 20+ minutes, if he is in a sandbox.
*Max, the Driedger's newest addition, taught Zeke how to do a hieney dance- probably the cutest thing I saw all day.
*Z-man following the older boys on the slide, participating in play with them as a total equal.  Love :)

We headed to Ny3ata Xata for dinner- which was interesting with 4 kids, and a stroller at prime dinner time, but we made it.  We also discovered that Zeke likes buckwheat.  Who knew?

THEN we sampled the McCafe desserts (cheesecake anyone??) with a to-go order and a really really long walk up a steep hill to their apartment (who needs a gym when you have a stroller with a 40 pound 4 year old??) and had some good down time just relaxing, chatting, and sharing photos. 


We made it back to the apartment in record time (downhill!) and had a few minutes to Skype with Ian and Gaga and Papa before bedtime.  Can't wait to talk to them in real life...in TWO DAYS, BABY!  Zeke's totally wiped out, and fell asleep almost upon impact with his pillow. 


Tomorrow is Z's medical appointment, and our second Embassy appointment.  Please pray with us that everything goes smoothly, and we end up with a visa at the end of the day (NOT the credit card!) and we are cleared to fly out of here Tuesday morning.






Leaving you with some random  photos:

Catching up on the current events:

 Our Kiev apartment is up this hill on the left:

 Max and Z were fast buddies.

It's not Hershey, PA...but it still smells like chocolate!

 Zeke (and Bryan) made the transition to the stroller today.  He was doing really good with all the walking for the first day, but we've noticed that he's been getting worn out.  Bryan's been carrying him on his shoulders a LOT, and Zeke's been sitting down on the sidewalk in the middle of all the pedestrians and refusing to move...so it made everyone happier when we broke out the stroller and gave the both of them a break.

 It's kind of cold outside right now...not ideal for drying laundry.  I just thought this was a funny picture of our apartment.  This is real life, people.  If I had turned around, you'd see that I was standing in the kitchen taking this photo.

 Chase totally sleeps like this, too!  Bratikas! (Brothers!)

 View of Independence Square from the bottom of our hill.

Day 57

Saturday in Kiev=a bunch of people out.  It looks like a festival or a concert or something from Independence Square all the way down to TGIFriday's.  I don't know if this is something special, or just a regular Saturday, but it was a different pace and that's always nice.


We set off after breakfast (and after lukewarm showers...um, not sure what's going on with our hot water heater..eeps.) and walked down the street.

And now, it's time for my Ukrainian Travel Tip for Stupid Americans:
If you see guys like this at a festival, they aren't like the ones in the US, where they are friendly and kind to the kids, and there for photo ops as they travel throughout a carnival or amusement park.  It's not Disney World, here, people. 

Sure, they're nice at first.  They gave Zeke high fives and offered to let us take his picture (he loved it, can't you tell?  For about 5 seconds, and then he wanted OUT of there).  Heck, they even convinced ME to take a photo with them (yay...just what I wanted to do...).

And then they TOOK OFF THEIR HEADS and asked for money!  And when Bryan, who is well meaning, and was going to give them maybe 10 grivnia for their time, took out his money from his pocket, they saw the 50 grivnia bill on top and said, "It's 50." EACH!  I'm sure we were totally taken- and we tried to talk our way out of it..but language barrier plus a squirmy kid= no time for negotiating or wanting to be harassed.  Screw you, Giant Monkey and Off Brand Winnie the Pooh.


Learn from our mistakes, my friends. 

Day 56- Kiev/Embassy Appt

We made it to Kiev- a little stiff and sore after the 8 hour train ride, and kind of sleep deprived...but happy to be one step closer to home!


Niko picked us up from the station and took us to our new apartment on Independence Square.  It's a great location, close to lots of things.  It's a studio, though- we have one room to sleep, eat, cook, and hang out in...which will make for interesting bed times, but we'll survive!  We're grateful to have a new home- but we were definitely spoiled in our last apartment in Kharkov :)


We went to the Embassy after a quick stop to drop our things off and freshen up.  We learned on our way that we weren't going to be able to get Zeke's medical appointment taken care of today, because he needs his passport for it.  That stinks, because it makes Monday a whole lot busier, and also adds a little more stress on the situation, because our flight home is booked for Tuesday morning.  Our big prayer is that we fly through the clinic and are cleared for his visa to be issued on Monday afternoon.


Our Embassy appointment was interesting...I didn't really know what to expect.  Basically, when you go in there, your facilitator can't go with you.  So you go in the door, and then you have to go through a security check point- metal detector, wand, and everything.  Then they scan your bags, and you have to turn in any electronic equipment you have- phones, ear buds, etc.  Also any cosmetics, lotions, lip balms... So, if you are going, just be prepared.  I'd have left a lot of stuff at home, or at least had it ready to hand over.  Instead, we were trying to keep an eye on Zeke, while rifling through the backpack for hand sanitizer and the 3 pairs of ear buds they saw on the scanner (why the heck am I carrying around 3 sets of ear buds??)


Then, we get back to the adoptions area, and we walk up to the window and the lady asks us how she can help us.  Ummm.  We'd like to take this guy home with us?  We had one form printed out- the I-600.  There was some miscommunication somewhere, though, because we were under the impression that we shouldn't fill out any of our paperwork before we got to the Embassy...and the lady behind the counter was a bit peeved that we didn't have all our paperwork done already.  AND we were also told that we didn't need his passport for the first appointment, but the grumpy lady said that she couldn't start the process until we had his correct name and passport number.  GAH!


Well, thankfully the grumpy lady became busy with another person, and we were handed off to another lady, who was MUCH nicer.  I filled out all our paperwork while Bryan earned his Dad of the Year points entertaining Zeke semi-quietly in a government office with an empty Coke bottle for 45 minutes.  The nice lady said that we could use a faxed copy of Zeke's passport if we could get it in before 4pm, and assured us that we could get Zeke's medical exam done Monday morning and still have time to get our 2nd appointment done the same day for his visa. 


Niko picked us up, and we called the lovely Tatyana, who faxed Zeke's passport to the Embassy AND scanned a copy to us so that we could get our flights finalized. 


We all took well-deserved showers and naps- amazing how much better you feel after a little soap and a little sleep.  Afterwards, we braved the Kiev Metro to try to save some walking time to get to dinner.  Unfortunately, Kiev's Metro is gigantic and near impossible to navigate with a 4 year old a lot bigger than Kharkov's, with a lot more stairs and an endless tunnel system.  We rode it one stop, then somehow backtracked and still were a half mile away from TGIFridays...(not much of a time-saver, really!)


And yes...TGIFridays- we had American food for dinner tonight.  Burgers and fries, quesadillas (the kind with a bunch of melted cheese in them- and served WITH sour cream!), chicken fingers and honey mustard sauce- oh MY!  No, we don't always eat like this at home, but it was lovely to have some familiar food surrounding us.  We are already planning our detox diet :) 


Z-man was loverly during dinner, with just a couple incidences of true 4 year old behavior shining through.  All in all, we are so impressed with the way that he behaves.  He sat, he ate, we colored the placemat, and maybe shoved 5 or 6 toothpicks into the crevice of the booth seat (shhh- don't tell!).  No meltdowns, no tantrums.  He's pretty freaking awesome.


Home again now, and he's sleeping peacefully on the pull out couch.  He took a good long shower before getting into his jammies and reading storybooks before bed.  It took us so long to get to these moments, and now every time we hear his little sleepy sighs from across the room, we are reminded of how incredibly blessed we are to be here right now. 

Good night, all :)

Day 55

We woke up to the sweetest little face this morning...at 8:30, BABY!  Zeke stirred just the teeniest bit this morning around 6am, but then turned over and fell back to sleep, contentedly sucking away on his thumb.  A couple hours later, he rolled out of bed, and sleepily walked over to our bed, and snuggled in under the covers with us.  Melt my heart!

Today is our last day in Kharkov, and it's really bittersweet.  We obviously want very badly to get back to our real lives, to be with ALL our boys.  But at the same time, gosh- we have totally made a little life for ourselves here...and leaving Kharkov means that Zeke says goodbye to his birth family.

We met his birth parents this evening for coffee at McDonald's (our plans to take Zeke to the playground fell through with the cold rain that started today).  Lily and Grig came up to the apartment with a ton of stuff for us.  They brought some incredibly thoughtful gifts for us, as well as some clothing and shoes for Zeke.  We had a really nice time- chatting through Tatyana, watching Zeke just be incredibly cute.

 Above- Us, Zeke, Grig and Lily.  Below- Tatyana, us and Zeke.

 And we knew it was coming- the goodbye.  I'm not gonna lie- it was hard.  Even though they know that he is going to a place where he will have a very, very good life...they are still saying goodbye.  Words just don't do it justice.

We finished packing up the apartment next, and Zeke fell asleep for a little bit.  The next thing we knew, we were dragging two months of our lives out into the hallway and into a tiny elevator- 2 suitcases, 2 duffle bags, 1 backpack, and 4 plastic Billa bags filled to capacity.

Valentin and Tatyana picked us up, and we met Nate and Diana and Babushka and Dedushka at the train station.  What a group we made- all 9 of us, hands full of bags, Zeke holding onto both of his grandparents' hands as we made our way to our compartment.

 Diana and I- we are so happy to have been crossed paths with her and Nate and her family here :)

We made it to the compartment- all 9 of us, still, playing this kind of tetris-esque game of fitting everyone in and out, hugging, and good-bye-ing all over the place.  

The most difficult part was saying goodbye to Zeke's grandparents.  We know that they hold a very, very special place in his heart.  It was emotional. Very much so.  

The good news is, even though it was a difficult goodbye, kids are resilient.  And by the time we started our journey on the train he was good as gold (and, btw, every time we say train, Zeke drops whatever he is doing to sign the word "train", and then "open doors" and "close doors"- like on the Metro.  So cute!)

Here's to 8 hours on the train, sharing a bench bed with this wiggly little dude.  Couldn't think of a better way to cross Ukraine :)

Goodbye, Kharkov.  It's been real!

Day 54- GOTCHA DAY!

September 28, 2011

Today you woke up in this bed, in the same room as 10 other orphans.

You gave us hugs and big smiles when we arrived, and the nannies helped change you into your new clothes.  Then you said goodbye to your friends, and to the nannies who have cared for you before we were here.

We had to hurry to see the main doctor of the orphanage before leaving...a warm man, who wished us well and thanked us, and gave Danya a very serious hand shake before we left.

We climbed into the car, still hurrying because we needed to make it to the passport office before 9:30am.  As we were leaving, Dedushka showed up, and after some words back and forth, ended up accompanying us to the passport office- it was Mommy, Daddy, Zeke, and Dedushka all piled in the back of the car for the ride.

We're so happy you had some more moments with Dedushka- you love him and he loves you.  It's going to be a hard transition for both of you, I'm afraid.  You didn't want to say goodbye when it was time for him to go.  No worries- we'll see him again tomorrow :)

We had lots of errands to do after that...here we are outside the bank (waiting!).

 

 ...and in the back of the car...waiting!  Valentin even got creative and showed you how to open and close the automatic trunk on the car- you thought that was WAY fun :)

 

 After all was said and done, we were all hungry, so Tatyana and Valentin dropped us off at McDonald's (where else??) for a quick lunch before nap.  You weren't thrilled with the burger or nuggets, but you definitely enjoyed the fries- especially with ketchup.

  

...but the ice cream sundae?  THAT was a different story.  Hands off!  No sharing!  Good til the last lick :)

 

We walked home (well, Daddy carried you on his shoulders for a good way) and made it to the apartment before the rain started.

We had time to Skype Ian before he went to school, and BOY did that put a smile on both your faces.  Ian was thrilled to meet you!

We laid you down for nap after this exciting morning, and Daddy laid next to you and watched you until you finally put your thumb in your mouth and closed your eyes.

When you woke up, you immediately wanted a bath- so we gave you one, bubbles and all.  You are so independent- making sure to scrub every part twice (and three and four times...!)

A healthy snack to supplementthe McDonald's french fries.

A little Signing Time with Daddy...you repeat ALL the signs and words :)

It cracks me up that you imitate Daddy so much.  He was sitting with his hands folded, and you looked over at him, and readjusted yourself so that you were sitting the same way.

It's time to start thinking about packing up the apartment.  And by packing, I mean "trying on all the clothes that you can pull out of our suitcases."

One last dinner with our friends here in Kharkov- homemade pizza at Nate and Diana's apartment, with Cara and Doug.  Zeke made fast friends with Diana (the only one that speaks his language!) and even volunteered to help her do the dishes :)  I was a little afraid of bringing you out on our first day together, but you were a total champ, charming, polite, and just an awesome little representative for all the little souls that need to be sprung from the orphanages here.

 

You decided that you love your lion, and danced around with him a bit before we convinced you to lay down in bed.

 Sleepyhead.  What a big day you just had. 

 

Happy first day of the rest of your life.  We love you so much.

...and the WINNER is...!

First...thank you SO MUCH to everybody who pitched in for us...from the little donations to the over-the-top ones, we know each one was made with love and support for us (all THREE of us, now!!)  We cannot begin to thank you enough for sacrificing for our unplanned "vacation" here in lovely Eastern Europe :)


And before I announce the big winner...if you donated $30 or more, I promised you your choice of hazelnut M&Ms or a yummy Ukrainian chocolate bar. Email me at lmaddex@gmail.com and tell me which you'd prefer (don't forget your mailing address, too!).  If you want a chocolate bar, you can choose from dark, milk, or white chocolate...or filled (strawberry, peach, tiramisu, coconut)...or with nuts (hazelnuts or almonds.  I think that makes it complicated enough.


Okay.  The moment is here!

Drumroll, please! 
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*
*
The winner of this lovely assortment of chocolate and upwards of a million calories is....

Ken P.!! 

Congrats, Ken!  We'll be in touch :)

Facebook

Um, yeah, so Facebook has been an awesome tool to help communicate with everyone...but they totally just suspended my account!!  I think it was because there was TOO MUCH LOVE coming through on all your comments- ha!


So, yeah- just email me, I guess...until you need me.  Or go through Bryan's Facebook and get him shut down, as well :)


PS- Gotcha Day is TOMORROW!!!!

Day 53- IT'S A BOY!!!!!

We just got out of court:  it's official!  The appeals court overturned the Kharkov regional court's decision, and made Danila a forever part of our family.

He is now (and forever will be) Zeke Danila Maddex!!  Praise.The.Lord.

Court was not in-and-out easy, but WAY less intimidating than last time.  Bryan and I were both able to speak from the heart, Tatyana helped us navigate through the legalese, and after the decision was made there were tears from me (AND Tatyana, who kept telling me not to cry!).  One of the judges wanted to see our photos of our visits with Danya, and she told us, "Good luck and God bless you."  I even got a hug from Valentin.  I think I said spasiba (thank you!) like a million times to everyone who helped us.

The judges granted our petition to make our adoption effective immediately, so we will be off and running after we pick up the official documents today at 2.  We hope to be able to pick Danila up on Wednesday or Thursday, and then be off to Kiev Thursday. 

Thank you, thank you for your thoughts and prayers, financial support and continued emotional support.