The other side of the world... day 29 (this is a long one guys!)

Today’s visit was just NUTS!!  We started out with his snack.  Timothy loves his yogurt and will be still while we’re eating, which is nice.  Not a second after it was gone though, he was up and running.  Literally.  In the area that we visit, there is a folded up puppet thing (I’ve shown pics of it before), it was all set up, but we folded it up and propped it against the wall.  He has pulled on it a couple of times and tried to knock it over, and between me and John one of us was there in time to grab it before it fell.  Not today.  I was on the floor, and didn’t get up fast enough to catch it.  When it fell, it completely obliterated a big potted plant.  It was a tree type plant; all of the branches were pretty much ripped off.  Well, as if that wasn’t bad enough, of course, I can’t explain to them what happened because no one understands me.  I tried motioning, but they weren’t really “listening”.  Every person that came through though was shown the poor potted stump that was left, and the pile of branches that had been ripped off.  Within minutes, all of the upstairs staff knew what a little tornado Timothy had been.  I think they might have thought I let him stand there and tear off the branches one by one while I was giving myself a manicure or something.  LOL  I felt about >< big.  So, my mission today was to find one to replace it.  I haven’t had much luck so tomorrow I’ll walk over to the market to see if I can find one there. 

Things only got worse from there today, although, our visit wasn’t bad, other than the plant incident.  Our facilitator called Cathy, and apparently we are slobs.  This is about as FAR from reality as you can really get.  I mean, here we all are, living out of suitcases (because the closets, cabinets, and dressers are full of the landlady’s stuff I think), we have things piled into duffel bags or totes, but there are four of us, and one is a 5 yr old.  There is bound to be a little “clutter” even in the best of circumstances because we LIVE here.  The kitchen is always clean, the bathroom is clean, the rugs are vacuumed at least every other day (we take off shoes right inside the door so that’s not even an issue).  There is always laundry hanging on the balcony/porch, but it’s hung on the clothes line, not just thrown out there.  You get the idea.  Honestly, I have seen icky houses, and this one does not even come close!  The landlady was so upset after coming here yesterday (she comes once a week to change the linens, etc) that she told our facilitator that she will not rent her apartment out anymore.  We were all freezing this morning, and realized that she must have turned off the heat, maybe to get rid of us sooner? 

So… besides being a horrible Mother who lets her child rip up plant and butt into people’s offices, I get the honor of being a messy, sloppy American too.  @@ ß This is me rolling my eyes…   Cathy thinks we should move.  We will be here at least another week, so I’m willing to do whatever, it’s already hard enough walking on eggshells at the baby house because of my wild boy, but to have to do that at “home” could be ulcer inducing.  Add to that the worry of the things going on at home too… UGH!!   

We have been praying that the head woman at the Department of Vital Statistics is back to work tomorrow so that we can get Timothy’s birth certificate.  Marina told me tonight though, that even if she is at work tomorrow, she has to get an appointment to be seen to get the new birth certificate.  Can’t do ANYTHING until we have that.  So, at the soonest, that will be Wednesday, which means no passport until next Monday at the earliest.  Can I just cry again now?  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Of course, with the landlady’s problems with us, “Gotcha Day” can’t happen until we have our train tickets in our hand to head to Kiev, because there is NO WAY that we’re bringing our “new” kids here for her to find fault.  Sigh…  I should really have known that this wasn’t going to be a smooth, easy process, I know… but hey, a girl can dream!  I thought that maybe after all the stuff with USCIS the rest of our process would go without much issue…  Oh well!! 

Please continue to pray for my family at home, and my daycare…  For the official lady that we need to be back to see us as soon as possible (tomorrow would even be really good!)… for the rest of our process to go quickly and smoothly. 

I wrote this Yesterday  Afternoon & really wanted to post it then but didn’t have a chance:

Well, I was able to do my window shopping this afternoon.  The landlady came to “clean” and change linens while the Bachmans were at the circus, so I decided to go to the mall.  I needed to try to get WiFi on my iPod to “call” home to talk to the kids too.  Of course, with the time difference, they were at church, so that didn’t work.  LOL   I have been here like a month, you would think that I’d figure it out, or at least remember!  

I have two more gifts to get for the “officials” here before our “Gotcha Day”, and the goodies for the groupa and Nannies too (some chocolates for the Nannies and fruit and biscuits for the kiddos).  I’m so glad that things are SO inexpensive here.  Although, it really is the least I can do for these ladies that have taken such good care of our little guy until we could come get him.  I wish I could afford to get each of the children in his groupa something that they could keep for their very own.  They don’t “own” anything.  Sigh

I was feeling so down about some news that I got on Friday, but as the time finally is getting closer, even if there has been another delay, it’s starting to feel so much more real.  I am finally going to get Timothy and be allowed to take him through the gates, never to go back again.  Never to worry about that horrible van ride that might have been his future if not for God letting us come and bring him home.   The thought of what could have been… the thought of what still could be for some of these precious children.  The “normal” ones are sent to other orphanages, where they’ll go to school, and maybe learn a trade so that when they are put out in the world, they can make it. 

For the “special” children though, the future is not one filled with learning or working a job although in America all of that is very possible, and in fact, probable.  Here, the special needs children are sent to mental institutions.  The boys are separated from the girls, but that is as far as the separation goes, children, starting at just 5 years old are mixed in with the adults.  Mentally ill adults.  Men and women who might have began in just the same way, as a small child with a slight delay, or minor developmental issue, or a physical disability, who were transferred to the institution because they were too old to stay at the baby houses, and too “sick” to be mixed in with the normal children in the orphanages for older kids.  Spending their days not playing or being taught their letters and learning to read… instead, they are put in a crib or playpen so that they are “contained” left to stimulate themselves because there are no toys or books.  Just plain walls and rough mattresses.  Herded to meals and to use the bathroom and if they are lucky, outside for a little fresh air and sunshine on occasion.  Most of these children are already too small, and after just a few weeks or months they slowly withdrawal.  They might stop eating and drinking because they just have no hope, no stimulation, and no one to show them that life is worth living.   If you haven’t yet visited my dear friend Julia's blog, please do… she and her family adopted their sweet Aaron from an institution.  She has firsthand knowledge of how bleak things are there.  It’s one thing to hear about it, and to read about it, and even to write about it, but it is another thing to have been there, to have lived it, and to have survived.  That is what Aaron is, he is a survivor. 

The caregivers do what they can, but it’s not enough.  Children should be at home, with parents who love them, warm clothes, soft beds, and enough food to keep them healthy and satisfied.  They should go to school, and have friends, and learn about how much Jesus loves them.  Children are meant to grow up.  They aren’t meant to wither and die in an institution because the society that they have been born into refuses to see them as the special blessings that they are. 

My little boy will never know that part of being an orphan.  He has a brother and two sisters who love him already, and a Mama & a Daddy who couldn’t love him more if he had been born to us.  Not to mention the many other members of our family, and so many friends all around the world, and at home who have helped and prayed to bring him home. 

When I tell people that my youngest son is “special” it’s not because he has Down syndrome, and it’s not because he is adopted.  It is because God gave him to us, just like He gave us Joe, Kati, and Olivia.  You see, none of my children are more special than the other, they are each special, they have talents, and abilities, and will always be encouraged to do their best in whatever they choose to do.  They are special because God loves them.  For them being “special” will never be a bad thing, it will always mean that they are loved. 

Pray for the little ones.  All of them.  The future is so unknown for these precious children.  Pray for Dasha, and “Eric”, and “Tanner” that their families are found, before that van ride that takes them away from the baby house. Pray for sweet, wonderful little “Danil” and “Vlad” that they are kept safely at the baby house because their families are coming very soon to bring them home.  Pray for Heath, and Brady who have already been transferred to the very institution that sweet Aaron lived in.  Pray for the families who might be struggling with the idea of bringing one of these children home, essentially saving them from life unknown…  Please, please, pray for the children.