January is almost over!

Well, here it is again, the end of another month! 

   Let’s see… we had Joe’s LAST IEP meeting!!  I just got the papers today to read and “approve”.  They know him so well by now that it’s just a formality.  I don’t know what we’ll do without these teachers/helpers.  He is about to be sent out into the world.  Eeek!!  Ok, one more year, I’m not gonna freak out just yet.

   New things are coming for Timothy!!   A couple of posts back I mentioned that he is going to be switching classes, or schools, or something.                                                    

Little background: Our school district is “independent”.  West Burlington is sort of just an extension of Burlington, but we are our own city.  We have our own PD, FD, City Hall, City Council, Mayor, Utilities Dept., etc.  We also have our own school district, with our own Superintendent and School Board.  Our teachers even have their own union.  Our district serves our city, and bunches of rural area.  We do not bus students to/from school unless there are special circumstances.  As a part of the grant for our preschool, bussing was added, so preschool kids have the option of being picked up in one of our three vans.   Physically disabled is one of those circumstances for the older kids, and we have one student in a wheelchair that is bussed.   Because our schools are small, and because our district is better in most areas that the bigger ones surrounding us, we have a good percentage of open enrolled students as well.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              On the flip side of that, because we’re small, and there are really only a handful of special needs kids, we don’t have the vast special needs program that we need, so our more complicated special needs kids have to go to the Burlington schools where they do have the numbers to support the more diverse SN programs.  They have 6 Elem(I think), 3 Middle, and 2 High schools.  Any of which are only about a 10 minute ride.  Outside of our district, but all within 15-30 minutes are Fort Madison, Danville, Mediapolis, Wapello, & Denmark.   The first option for us though is Burlington.  Because of the sheer numbers of kids, the Burlington district has no room for Timothy.  We’re talking space here, not even teacher/student ratios.  LOL   Well, why don’t they build more schools?  They are, but of course that isn’t an instant answer, we’ll have two new ones opening next school year (well, over the summer). 

 Anyway... the Burlington SN program is full.  No more physical room.  I thought it was a teacher/program thing.  So, because of that, we are “forced” to find someplace else for Timothy after his sixth Birthday.  There is a law in Iowa (I don’t know if it’s a national thing though) that children 6 and up can NOT be in preschool, there are no special circumstances, no accommodations for special needs kids, that’s just the rule, and there’s no room to wiggle.  Now, they can be in KG till they are 20(ok maybe not, but YKWIM), but only in Preschool till their 6th Birthday.  This is where the problem comes.  Timothy’s going to be 6 on February 20.  Our school has no way to serve the needs that he has.  We all hoped he would be further in the process of learning to speak, etc. by now but it’s just not happening yet.  That’s not to say that it won’t, we all feel like the stuff is “there” he is just having a tough time connecting it and getting it out because he is a very bright little guy.  He has picked up signing very quickly, and is at about a 24-30 month old level of verbal communication (connecting the sounds and making words is coming slowly).  Of course, given the strikes against him, he is really doing remarkably well.  He was never taught.  He didn’t learn shapes, colors, abcs, numbers, how to talk with words, or any of those basic things that kids learn as they grow in a normal environment.  He was taught how to dress, feed, toilet, and clean things.  All things to make his caregivers lives easier, but they deemed him “unteachable” so he was never “educated” like the “typical” kids were with those basic foundational things that you learn even before going to school.  Since he has been home, his receptive skills have bloomed.  He understands 99.9% of the things you say to him, in English.  He has completely lost his Russian (this makes me sad but we don’t know enough to really speak it well enough for him to have retained it, and our friend who is fluent doesn’t visit enough.  LOL).   Besides all of that, he also has a strike against him because he has lived in an institution all of his life.  No matter how caring the nannies were, or how well taken care of they were physically (food, warm bed, clothing), there are things that a child needs to be “normal”.  Touches, hugs, affection, etc.  So, there are institutional behaviors that he has that needed to be forgotten, or things that he needed to learn about being in a family.  He is doing very well in that area!   There are also social skills that he needed to change a bit to fit into a family as opposed to a group.  He’s done well with that stuff too.  He has really done well in ALL areas but the areas that are most important to his education are more structured and he is still pretty far behind his peers.  When I look at what Olivia knows (reading, writing, etc) I can really see how far behind Timothy is.  And, if all of that wasn’t enough, he also has that whole Down syndrome thing.    Kids with Ds are not “typical” but they are MUCH more typical that people really know.  Most people/kids with Ds are fully integrated into our crazy society, schools, classrooms, etc.  without too much extra accommodations for their “disability” needed.  Most don’t need adaptive equipment or anything like that that would keep them from being fully functional contributors to society.  However, they are slower at grasping concepts that might only take us a few tries.  Mentally, they are “normal” (most people don’t realize that) and many have the IQ to prove it.  However, because of the way they process things, the way they talk, and the way they look, people tend to think of them as “Mentally Retarded” (I have always HATED that phrase, and now even more!!).

Soooo... since Burlington is full, and our school doesn’t have what he needs, they had to find it somewhere else.  Fort Madison has a WONDERFUL (best in the state) Autism program.   Joe never really needed it because we were capable of meeting his needs here.  Fort Madison also has a very top notch SN program for other SN kids.  They called me before Christmas to let me know that FM is the next opening that we could place Timothy.  I was adamant that I would NOT be sending him there.  It was not an option.  I contacted the Superintendent, the principal, and his teacher.  I asked some questions, and the Superintendent decided it was best to talk about it face to face.  The day of our meeting, I asked my questions, and they had answers.  It happened that the principal of the FM school was there that day for something completely unrelated so our principal went and brought her in to answer some of my school/program specific questions.  She had never met Timothy, didn’t have any info about him, just that they had a student that might need placement.  Her answers were very informative, and I knew that they weren’t skewed (like she was just saying what I wanted to hear).  I left that meeting with a new opinion on sending him to FM. 

 Last week, his teacher and I headed to FM to see the school, meet the teacher, and see what they had to offer.  I’m sold.  We have to get a staffing together and update his IEP, but his first day will be the day after his Birthday(2-21) since they have no school on the 20th.  The program there sounds like exactly what he’ll need.  He will be one of two Kindergarteners in the program.  They will be in their gen. ed. classroom for the morning routine (calendar, lunch count, etc.), all specials (art, pe, music, etc.), lunch, recess, and any special parties or movie day, things like that if they are tolerating being out of their routine, which he is fine with.  They want to keep him with his peer group (KGers) in hopes that eventually he’ll catch up to the kids in the appropriate grade level and have more and more and more time in the gen. ed. classroom and less and less in the spec. ed room.  His IEP will be written pretty loosely so that they have a chance to see where he needs the most help and the most accommodations.  Once they decide what grade he’ll be in next year, KG or 1st, we’ll meet again and set his IEP for next year.  His teacher told me that it would be so hard to see him move, but going down there and seeing for herself, she feels better too.  LOL   She knew that she didn’t have a choice though, she knows he has to move somewhere because even with a para (one on one) going into the gen ed KG here would have been a really bad move for him.  I’m pretty excited for him to get to go to this new school.  It will be an adjustment because it will be 5 days a week, all day.   I think once he gets used to it, he’ll be just fine!   I should say, once *I* get used to it… 

Besides all of the school stuff, our stove DIED!!  Now, I have to tell you that this stove has worked overtime for us because I use it twice as much as a “normal” family would use theirs.  I have a daycare!  We’ve had it for 11 years, I’ve been doing daycare for all of those years.   I have been without it for almost two weeks, and I’m tellin you, I MISS IT!!  I ordered the new one last Friday though, so hopefully it won’t be long and we’ll be cookin again!  Hehe  

Ok, I think that’s enough for now!  I’ll be back with pics soon!!  

It's sooooo quiet...

All the kids are off to school, and my one daycare kiddo for today isn’t here yet. It is SO quiet, I can hear the dog breathing!!  LOL   I can’t remember the last time it was this quiet!  I have things to do but I know the peacefulness won’t last, so I’m just sitting here enjoying it.  Heehee

This morning, as I was getting everyone ready to get them out the door, I thought about something that someone had said that has resonated with me for the past almost two years.  In Ukraine, Timothy’s birth country, children with Down syndrome are thought to be “unteachable”.  Since they have that mindset there, they don’t spend any time trying to teach them the basics, alphabet, colors, shapes, etc.   They wouldn’t grow up to be anyone anyway, so why bother, right?  They aren’t taught how to speak, either.  We are having a struggle with that part now that he almost 6 and it has nothing to do with the different language, it’s that he had no verbal base to even start from.  That’s another post though. 

Back to this morning.  I was busy with something, and Timothy decided that he needed his hands washed.  He went to the kitchen, got the step stool out, put it in front of the sink(turned it the right way like I had showed him the last time he tried to use it), climbed up, turned on the water, and proceeded to wash his hands (using soap from the pump thing too!!).   I stood back and watched him as he did each step, methodically, like he’d been doing it forever at that very sink(we do this in the bathroom but he doesn’t need to climb up).  When he was done, he turned off the water, dried his hands (ok, went through the motions, they were still dripping hehe), got down off of the step stool and went on his merry way.

THIS is a child that was deemed “unteachable”.  THIS is a child who would have been sentenced to a life of head banging, rocking, and nonsensical babble for the rest of his life if not for being found and brought home where he is loved, and cherished, and taught the things that no one there even thought he could learn.  THIS is a child who, by now, would have probably died because in the mental institution that he’d have been sent to, they wouldn’t have had the time, or patience to keep up with him so he would have been tied to a crib or a chair all day just so he’d be still (he has ADHD).  I know him well enough now to know that this would have eventually killed him.  He might have fought it at first, tried to get away.  But to keep him calm, maybe they would have given him medication/sedation.  After a little while, he would have given up.  


They would have broken his feisty little spirit.  He would have stopped trying to get away, and then he would have stopped eating because that is the one thing that we have found he is the pickiest about.  He would have died.

Alone.  No one would have really cared, or maybe they wouldn’t have even noticed.  I can’t say. 

What I CAN say though is that it would have been a horrible, awful loss even if no one knew it.  He IS smart, and thoughtful, and intuitive, and eager to learn, and eager to please.  He is feisty, and ornery, and sneaky, and silly, and demanding, and helpful, and charming, and way too adorable for anyone’s good.  He is loving, and sweet, and careful, and imaginative, and nurturing, and beautiful.  

He is my son.  My little boy.  A sweet little crazy manchild who has blended into our family almost flawlessly.  A little boy that I love just as much as if I had grown him inside of me.  A little person who I believe CAN do anything he sets his mind to.   Every time I see him do something, like this morning, or solve a problem on his own, I can’t help but think “They said he was unteachable”.  I can’t help but think of what “they” missed out on.  Those people who didn’t have any idea of the potential of this little firecracker of a boy.   

Hmmm… I guess these are the things I think about when there is no one here who needs me and I have time to think.  Maybe that’s a good thing?  ;) 

Who's really still reading? ;)

LOL!! Ok, I guess it really doesn't matter who's still reading, I haven't been writing! 


I decided that I'd try to be better at posting though, so here I am!   


Today we all (by all I mean the four "older" people in the house) started Weight Watchers.  I get an ungodly amount of points though, so it's been a challenging day!  I know most people would be complaining that they are starving the first day of a new "diet" but I don't think that's going to be a problem.  


I tried making "rotisserie" chicken in the crock pot last night!  YUMMY!!!   I used the leftovers for white bean chicken chili today.  YUMMY!!  hehe   I also tried a new recipe tonight.  It got mixed reviews though, so I'll try tweeking it a little when I make it again.  


I've found a new obsession hobby... Pinterest!  OH boy, you can lose some serious time there!  LOL 


It's been a very mild winter here in Iowa.  Tonight though, we're supposed to get our first "significant" snowfall.  YAY!!   3-5 inches.  


Tomorrow I'll try to post some pics of the happenings from the last few months!  I will... I promise!  

Ooops!! Where did the time go??

Since it’s been forever since I blogged, I thought I better at least pop in and make sure everyone knows we’re still here!  LOL

We had a wonderful Christmas.  All of the kids were very happy with their gifts.  I was pretty happy with mine too.  I got a new Cricut.  I love my scrappy toys! 

Mom spent the night with us on Christmas Eve.   We had our traditional Cuban Noche Buena dinner.  I can’t see roasting a whole pig as most do, so I roast a nice pork loin.  I do the marinade and all the trimmings though.  Black beans and rice, plantains, etc.   I must say, it was pretty yummy this year.   After dinner we decorated our cut out sugar cookies.  This has become a tradition in our home in the last three or so years.  It’s one that we will continue.   John took the kids out to see Christmas lights so that Mom and I could put together the play kitchen and baby bed for the little two kiddos. 

Once the kids were all finally in bed, the stockings were filled, and the gifts were spread out, and it was so nice. 

Christmas morning we got up around 6:45, and I made the kids wait until Nonnie (my Mom) got up and we all had our turns in the bathroom.   Hehe   We all sit in our own spots and there is a big trash bag ready for the wrapping paper as each gift is unwrapped so we don’t lose anything  under the mess.  LOL  Might sound a little neurotic but hey, it works! 

Christmas dinner was spiral sliced ham, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, corn on the cob and rolls.  We ate, we napped, we ate again… it was a really nice day.  No drama, no broken toys, nobody cried.  LOL  Success!

There are a few other things going on around here besides the holidays.  Timothy’s schooling is sort of up in the air right now.  The law says that once a child is 6, they can’t be in Preschool.  This means that they would not be able to “count” him in the funding, etc.  So, he was supposed to be moving to the neighboring district where they have a self- contained special ed.  classroom where he would get the attention that he needs to keep working toward catching up to his peers.  He is very delayed because of his being in the orphanage, and not having any exposure to any kind of education, therapies, etc.  He wasn’t even taught the basics (alphabet, colors, shapes, how to talk, etc.).  It’s strange to really think about it, but I realize that even though we don’t sit down with our kids and “teach” them to talk, we do.  I know that sounds odd, but if a child isn’t spoken to and taught that this is a cup, or a plate, or a dog, and taught how to say those words, they won’t.  They don’t learn if they aren’t taught, and Timothy (and many many other special needs children in Ukraine) wasn’t given that extra time, they aren’t taught how to talk.  So, he didn’t even have the foundation in his native language to build on.  He is much like a toddler, learning sounds, etc.  SO, he is NOT ready for mainstream Kindergarten, even with a one on one associate.  I compared it in an email to some friends… it would be like tossing a fish in the air and expecting it to fly.    I got a call right before school ended for the holiday break from his teacher.  The other district is full, they have no room for Timothy.  Ummmm… ok… alternatives?   One would be to bus him 23 miles to another county/district/city every day.  Nope, next idea?  Maybe our own district could work something out? Now we’re talking.  I emailed the teacher, principal, and superintendent to ask a few questions, let them know that busing him is not something we are willing to even think of for many reasons.  I need to make an appointment to go speak to the superintendent after the holidays.  I’m not one of those Moms who is going to go away.  I will fight to the death to get my little guy what he needs to learn and grow.  So HA! 

I’m not sure if I posted about your newest addition.  We have a sweet little pooch named Otis.  He is a Jack Russell terrier puppy.  The vet guesses that he is around 5 months old.  We broke him though!  We had an accident and his left front paw got hurt.  I took him to the vet and they X-rayed it and he has three little broken bones.  He’s in a “spoon splint” for 5-6 weeks (that was 3 weeks ago).  John took him yesterday to have his splint replaced and they said only 2 more weeks.  YAY!   We’ve been keeping one of Timothy’s socks over it because he will NOT leave it alone!  He licks, or chews, or tugs at it, and the sock keeps him from doing that.  We started out with a red one, and now it’s yellow.  He’s a little sweetie pie, and loves playing with the kids, and they all love him too.   

Here are a couple of pics from Christmas, I’ve got another post coming soon too!   

The tree after Santa was done!  

Woohoo!!  New Spongebob Pjs!! 

Olivia & Kati the fun was just beginning!! 

Joe & Nonnie (my Mom) 

Timothy making breakfast for all of us after the presents where all open!
He LOVES pretending!!  He is very nurturing and sweet!
Have I mentioned that I LOVE my kids lately?!  :) 

Sharing

I will post an update soon, but I wanted to play along with something that another bloggy friend is doing. 

We tend to get so caught up in our daily lives, the busyness, the kids, the errands, the bills, work, home, friends.  Sometimes we forget to think about ourselves and the things that matter to us personally, hobbies, spending a moment in the Word, going out with a friend.  This time of the year we lose focus easily.  I laugh with my friend Chrissy all the time about losing my train of thought because something shiny caught my eye and poof, I’m hooked!  J   

Sometimes thinking about the small things is hard when we are so busy.  Sometimes our smallest delights are overlooked because we are focusing on the big picture.  One of the things I enjoy doing is giving.  I don’t give to receive. I give because it is something that I am blessed by. 

So… here is where the fun begins… you have heard about paying it forward, right?   I would like to challenge my friends… keep reading…

Rules:

1. I will make a little something for the first 3 people that comment on this post. It will be a surprise and may arrive at any time in the next 365 days (yes, a year).

2. To sign up to receive a gift from me you must play along too. Share the giving love on your blog by promising to send a handmade goodie to the first three people that comment on your blog post.

3. You must have a blog.

4. After commenting on my post, you have to post this (or similar) on your blog to spread the love. If you haven't posted in 48 hours then the next commentor will be chosen.

I don't know if three people will even get around to commenting on this, But if you do within the next week, you will  get a random goodie from me! When you comment please leave your e-mail and  I'll email you and get your address and then you will get something from me sometime before December 2012!

So who's up for the challenge. Ready, set, LOVE!!!

  

Wednesday... er... Thursday... er... Friday... OK, it's Saturday!!

I  started this post on Wednesday!!!  Instead of deleting it though, I just did a little run down of the weekend!!  Enjoy!  hehe


Wednesday

It’s the day before Thanksgiving.  When I think back to last year, and the craziness that was going on, I can honestly say that this year is a bit better!  LOL Last year I was dealing with jet lag and my family wasn’t speaking to me. 

This year, no jet lag!  LOL  My siblings are still being stupid, but at least I have my Mom this year.   We are having a nice little Thanksgiving day celebration here with my little family, and Mom.  All the same fixings as any other Thanksgiving.   This is the second year that we’ve just stayed at home, and to be honest, I’m really liking it.  I don’t have to worry about everyone behaving at someone else’s house.  We can stay in our jammies as long as we want, cook, watch the parades, eat… it’s nice.   Mom is spending the night so that we can get up early and get the turkey in the roaster.  YUMMY!!

Emotionally I’m in a different place this year too.   We’ve had Timothy home for a whole year now, and I’m not trying to fall back into some sort of routine.   And, best of all… while I do still miss them, I’m not feeling as raw about the other members of my family and the way they’ve been treating us, and Mom.  If my Dad was still alive... well… I won’t finish that sentence…

The list of things I am thankful for is pretty simple.  I’m thankful for my family, my Mom, John and my four awesome, talented, smart, and beautiful kids(and of course John’s family too even though they are hundreds of miles away!).  I’m thankful for the blessings that God has given me this year, a roof over our head, reliable vehicles, and jobs.  I’m thankful for my Friends.  If not for my friends, I’m not too sure I would have made it through this past year.  The support, encouragement, and love of my friends has absolutely carried me through some really icky places in the past year.  I’m thankful for my daycare kids and families and that God has blessed me with a full house again. 

I hope that each of you have a WONDERFULLY BLESSED THANKSGIVING!!!  I am thankful for you!!! 

Thursday

Our Thanksgiving celebration was very nice.  We all enjoyed the day with the Macy’s Parade, lots of food, shopping at a couple of stores that had special sales, and of course pie!  Hehe  The turkey was wonderful (well, all of the food was!)!!  

I decided to send my “traditional” text to my siblings, just a “Happy Thanksgiving”.  Nada.  Nothing.  Crickets…   So, I’m on “ignore” now.  I changed the setting on my Facebook, and won’t bother to send anymore messages wishing happiness on holidays or Birthdays.  I’m done.   I think the thing that really cinched it was that neither of them even called or sent my Mom a text to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving.  I mean, wow…

I hope you all had a wonderful day!! 

Friday

Actually, this should be just a continuation of Thursday!!  We went out at 9pm and stayed out ALL night!!  We had so much FUN!!   I didn’t have any “big ticket” items on my list so that made for a much more pleasant shopping experience.  LOL  I got the usual pajamas, LOTS of great deals on DVDs, and a few other things from the kids’ wishlists, and a few odds and ends.  Mom and Chrissy were with me.  We started at Walmart, then on to Kohls.  After that, Target, ShopKo, and Joann’s.  We had breakfast at Perkins, and then a quick stop at Menards and Hobby Lobby and we were DONE!!  Well, ok, not done, but out of money!!  LOL  I still have bunches of things to buy, and really should take inventory of the wrapping paper tote to see if I need to get any more of that.  

I was home by 9 am and in bed around 9:30!!  John and the kids let me sleep till around 3, but then they decided I better get up so I wouldn’t have a problem sleeping at night.  We ordered pizza for supper and Mom was coming to get some leftovers for her supper but I convinced her to stay and have pizza with us, so she did, and took her leftovers home for later.  Hehe

Saturday

We were supposed to go to the downtown Christmas parade but the weather today was rotten!!  Timothy was asked to ride with “Little Miss Des Moines County” in her convertible, but with the wet, cold, icky weather, I thought it best that we didn’t go out.  She was so disappointed!  I am hoping that they will ask him to ride with her in the parade in the summer though.  He just loves her, and she him, and I know he would ham it up and have a great time! 

I cleaned the house today and ran to the store for a few groceries.  Other than that though, we just stayed in out of the rain.  I did a little re-organizing of my stamping/scrapbooking area.  I have moved downstairs from my upstairs room to the dining room.  With the two little ones, I just can’t take the time away from everyone to go upstairs to scrap/stamp anymore.  I miss having my little oasis, but at least this way I can scrap/stamp amongst the family and I’m not so isolated (not that that was a bad thing hehe).  I find I am getting much more done since I can just work for a few minutes here and there.   I also did an overhaul of my Cricut cartridges.  I needed to reorganize them and such, so I did that this evening. 

I’m actually feeling quite accomplished!

Ok… I better post this before it ends up being a week long!!     

What were you doing on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010??

Last year, November 16^th was a Tuesday.  Most people wouldn’t know that, or really care much because it was just another day but I will never ever forget it.   I had barely slept the night before because I knew what that day meant.  Cathy, Tully, & I had a lot of things to do, we had to pick up the passports, we had to finish packing, and cleaning the apartment (the landlady already hated us so we wanted to make sure not to leave too much of a mess for her to reinforce that opinion LOL!)… then we each had to go to the orphanages and pick up our children, forever changing their lives and all that they knew.   

Last year, this day, Tuesday, was Gotcha Day.  The day that Marina Hope Bachman & Timothy Danil DeLlanos would leave the orphanage forever in the arms of their Mommas. 

The plan that day was for us to go to our regular morning visits.  I decided not to go though because it would be just me and Timothy from that day on for the rest of our trip, and because I wanted him to have a little more time with his groupa/friends although he didn’t really know it at the time, and I wonder how much he remembers anyway.  LOL  I took the time to rest, pack, and finish up last minute things.  We all had lunch at the apartment, and at 1 pm Roman picked us up and we headed for the Passport office.  Tully & Evan stayed at the apartment.

When we got to the passport office, we had to wait a few minutes.  Roman was our translator/facilitator for this errand since Marina (our actual facilitator) was in a different city with another family for their court date.  We had been given some papers to hand over in exchange for the children’s passports.   We gave them the requested papers, and continued to wait.  We were taken to a tiny office and told to sit.  We sat.  There were three ladies there, one of them was speaking pretty excitedly to Roman, complete with some hand gestures and scary facial expressions.  Cathy whispered that something was wrong.  She just knew they decided to keep Marina (the child) and weren’t going to give her the passport.  Of course, this was sarcasm, and totally said in jest.  Nevertheless, we could tell something was wrong.  Roman was a pale color, and was talking to the lady in a pleading tone.  Then, our suspicions were confirmed when he called Marina and had HER talk to the passport lady.  Of course, Cathy and I were sitting there in the dark, and Roman finally (out of the corner of his mouth(as if they would understand him! Hehe)) said, the name on Marina Bachman’s paper from the orphanage was wrong.  Before they would give her passport over, it needed to be redone.  This would mean going all the way back across town, hoping that the right person was available to get the paper redone, and coming back to the passport office all within about a 30 minute window so we wouldn’t miss the 5pm train which we already had tickets bought for.   Now, anyone who’s been to Ukraine knows that such a feat is NOT gonna happen!!  Traffic & timing are two things that are NUTS there!   So, all we could do is pray.  In the meantime, Marina was working her magic.  Promising that she would be back to the city that night and would get the paperwork snafu taken care of ASAP if they would just PLEASE give us the passports.  I’m not sure what she said to the lady (and I don’t think I wanna know!) but she reluctantly hung up the phone and proceeded with the “check out” process so we could take the passports.  When they finally handed them over, Roman ushered us out quickly joking that we needed to hurry before they changed their minds!  Lol

Once we were safely back in the car and headed back to the other side of town, Cathy and I finally breathed again, and we also noticed a HUGE vibrant rainbow in the sky… God’s Promise.  Very appropriate for us at that moment, and one more thing to make the day memorable.  We were so relieved that we were laughing, and crying.  LOL 

We went back to the apartment where we loaded up two vehicles and parted ways temporarily.  My driver took me to Timothy’s baby house, to get Timothy, and Roman took the Bachmans to get Marina from her orphanage. 

I’ll never forget the emotions, and the relief I felt that afternoon as I walked into the baby house for the last time… we did what needed to be done, and had a couple of tearful good byes with nannies and the head nurse (Tatiana) and walked back through the big grey metal gate for the last time.   The weather was misty and cold, and it was cloudy.  We headed to the train station and to freedom for a sweet little boy who had NO idea what was in store for him!!

When I think about that day, it’s still so fresh, I can remember the feelings, the sights, the smells… I remember the panic of thinking that the Bachmans might not get to leave with me & Timothy, the relief when we got the passports, saying goodbye to Roman, my very own security rabbit, and the train ride to Kiev, Nico’s face when he saw/remembered all the bags we had… getting to the apartment and being in awe of how great it was… the kids’ first baths… it was a long day, but one that I will never forget.   It was my first day of being Timothy’s caretaker. 

It was our Gotcha Day.  A day that changed the course of our lives forever.  Happy Gotcha Day to our sweet little son.  We love you more and more each day!!