What a busy day- we headed off at 9.30 to see Katya this morning.  Its become a pretty standard routine.  Olga (the Director's assistant) takes us to a playroom- and then fetches Katya.  We played "hairdresser" and Katya spent at least 30 minutes combing and "fixing" Pam's hair.  We did coloring and playing with our Etch-A-Sketch.  She enjoyed eating pears and an apple juice box.  She had her standard "temper tantrum"- which Natasha says is her way of seeing how much we will tolerate from her.  Today she got a 'rude' awakening- when she ran over to a desk and started throwing things out of it, Pam walked up behind her, lifted her from the ground and moved her away from the desk with a firm "NO".  She kicked and screamed and threw herself to the ground, screaming "DA, DA, DA".  Pam got about 12 inches from her face on the ground and said quietly "No"- Katya screamed "DA" and Pam moved to within an inch of Katya's nose and said quietly (and without blinking) "No".  The stare contest began- within about 2 minutes, Katya broke her stare and played quietly for the rest of the time.  She even asked to play "horse" with Paul before we left (by crawling on her knees and raising up her front hands, mimicking a horse, saying "neigh neigh").

After our visit, we had lunch with Alec, Svetlana and Natasha covering the court meeting.  We then traveled to the court...and waited.  Our appointment was for 3.30- of course, we arrived at 3.00 but we were finally invited in at 4.15.  8 women and Paul in a 12X12 room.  Everyone stood but the judge and the secretary.  We were introduced and asked some basic questions to verify who we were (birthday, anniversary, salary info etc).  The judge quizzed Paul as to what day we were married and how long we had known each other.  Then questions about Jake and his opinion of this adoption.  The meeting only lasted 20 minutes- and the remaining questions seemed very "token"- "Do you want to adopt this girl?  Do you have the finances to support this girl?  Are you aware of her history and how she became an orphan?  Do we plan to give her an education?"  Etc... 

The law states we must wait 10 days- but the judge decides when that starts.  Given the court was already closed- she could start the wait anytime between tomorrow and January 8th.  Luckily the judge was very lenient and allowed the time to start tomorrow- the only additional days were for New Years and Christmas.  This means the Katya will be "legally" ours on January 9th; however, we will not be able to collect her until we have her passport which could be anytime between January 11th and the 29th.  Once we have her passport, we have to book an appointment at the American Embassy (given within 24 hours) to get her visa.  This also talks 2 to 3 days.  If all goes quickly, we could be home as soon as the 17th.  Fingers crossed!!

We went for our standard visit again today- and again without Natasha.  Alec came in with us to take Katya's passport photo.  We played and did stickers.  Katya showed how VERY physical she is, wrestling with Pam and Paul.  She also started counting in English.  Using change, we taught her 1-10.  It was clear she knew this and much more in both Russian and Ukrainian.  We took out the picture dictionary- and started going through basic words.  50% she said in Russian, 50% in Ukrainian- making translation a bit of a challenge.  To defeat the candy problem, we took bananas today.  She dug through the bag looking for the candy- but finally settled for a single bite of a banana.  She was also excited to try on her new shoes.

Natasha came to collect us- and advised that we would be going to court tomorrow. (Even though the court actually closed on Tuesday!!) We will never ceased to be amazed with Svetlana's influence!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!  It was a quiet Christmas Eve with the exception of the fireworks set off in Independence Square at 9:45pm.  At 930, we went off for our standard travel to the orphanage.  Today was our first experience with Katya WITHOUT a translator.  At first, everything went well.  It was clear what she wanted to do- and more importantly, she understood when we DIDN'T want her doing something.  Towards the end of our time, Katya began searching (and we knew she was looking for the candy).  We brought out some hard sweets, and as before, gave her two.  She shared with both Paul and Pam, but when Pam took the bag away, she threw a HUGE temper tantrum, throwing books and her candy across the room.  She began grabbing for the jacket where Pam put the candy, and when Pam took it from her with a firm "nyet"- Katya began SCREAMING 'DAH DAH DAH'.  When Pam said "Nyet" again and walked away with the coat- Katya ran to the other side of the room and began to pour crocodile tears.  We decided to call her bluff, put our shoes on and called to her "Goodbye" in Ukrainain.  The change was immediate and clear.  The tears changed to real, and she grabbed Pam's shoes and began pulling them off- shouting "Don't go- No- Don't go".  She climbed into Pam's lap and curled up until we really had to leave.  She began to cry again as we had to leave, but walked back to her 'groupa' with us- giving us hugs and kisses as we left (while still complaining to her carer that we had not given her enough candy to share with her friends!!!)

We had our Christmas lunch at our local Italian- where we feasted on Pizza, Fettucini and Foccacia....

 

Monday (Christmas Eve) is here- and we spent our two hours with Katya this morning.  She was very excited to see us again- and had a great time playing and coloring- and looking at pictures. 
She decided her favorite animals were Hotdog and Vista- but by far, the number one pet was SNORTER!  We asked her if she wanted to learn to ride a horse- and she said "sure"- with an eager excitement to show her skills (on Paul!)
 
The candy, as always, was a huge hit- and she showed her "Bambi Eyes" when Pam took the candy away.  Thankfully she tried it on Pam- because Paul would have never been able to say 'No'!! 

As we finished playing, we walked back to her room, and she asked, "Why do you show me the pictures when you haven't taken me home?"  We asked her if she would like to go home with us, and she said "Da!"  As we reached her room, she reached up to give Pam a kiss and demanded one in return- then turned to Paul and insisted on kisses as well.


On the court side, evidently everyone is trying desperately to get us into court before the court closes for the holidays.  The orphanage, inspector and Svetlana have completed everything- and some of the SDA paperwork has also arrived.  Natasha and Svetlana are visiting with the Judge tomorrow to see how far we have come- and are hoping for good news!

We did manage to get some great video of Independence Square and the Christmas Tree- please note it was -4 degrees outside- so you will have to pardon the shivering!!!  We have found a fabulous TRULY Italian restaurant who has pleased Paul with their authentic Neapolitan cuisine.   Paul is also preparing a complete dissertation on driving in the Ukraine.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Now that we have unlimited highspeed- we thought we would download some of the pictures we have taken.  Enjoy!

 St Michael's Main Cathedral
St. Michael's Main Cathedral
 A view over Kiev
St. Andrew's
Jake's "Hot Chocolate"

We moved today to our new apartment.  Great central location on Kreschatik Street, overlooking TGI Fridays and HighSpeed Internet and English Channels...WAHOO!!!  We also have a direct dial phone now as well- much cheaper than trying to connect with us on our cellphones.  Now life will just become routine- taking the metro to see Katya and home again.  We are looking forward to the Christmas and New Year's- as our apartment overlooks the main street where all the celebrations will be.  We watched a beautiful concert last night- and can't wait to see what happens!!  Don't worry- Paul will keep the video camera rolling!  Watch for more pictures!

Alec (the apartment person) came to see us today- and we told him we would be moving to a smaller apartment now that Jake is gone.  He asked what deal we had- and bettered it.  We now have a fabulous apartment in one of the nicest buildings in the city, right on the main drag.  Now we have to move everything tomorrow.   It may be a day or two before we find the Wi-Fi- supposedly the apartment has dial up- but we will see!?!?  We may have made Natasha and Svetlana mad because we refused to move in with a family she had found, willing to sponsor us over Christmas.  We told her that we did not want to inconvenience the family during the holidays and had Alec find us something instead. C'est la vie!

Here we sit at the airport.  Jake has gone through security, and we are waiting for his plane to depart.  Alex (our driver) was gracious enough to pick us up at 6.30 this morning.  We made it to the airport by 7am then waited almost an hour for the stewardess to come and collect Jake.  She finally did, along with two sisters- they were off to the check-in.

Natasha called at 9 this morning saying we could visit Katya at 10am.  We hurried to get ready- collecting lots of toys and games to see what she liked to do.  We arrived at the orphanage and were lead to the ballet room.  Katya was brought down to play.  Pam started with a game of “rolling the ball” which gradually progressed to an all out soccer match- (Judie- tell Coach Clayton that he has his next striker waiting!!)  She has tremendous hand-eye coordination- and enjoyed blasting the ball past Pam!  Clearly she has a gymnast in her as well- as she started showing off her perfect cartwheels, roundoffs and handstands.  Then we decided to color- and enjoyed watching her choose colors- and ask us what colors we liked.  Then came the ‘hairdo”.  Pam pulled out a number of hair clips, ponytail ribbons, bracelets, and other accessories.  Katya loved having her hair pulled back into a ponytail and hairclips pulling her bangs back.  She stated that she looked very pretty- and wanted to show all of her friends.  Finally came the candy.  She was more than happy to share with EVERYONE she saw- and asked us to bring her some orange juice and chocolate when we visit again.  Words cannot describe what a smart, happy and very talented young lady she is.  She and Jake played chase around the room- and lots of soccer.  I know Jake wanted to hug her when we left- but both were unsure.  She asked when we would come back- and we told her soon.

Unfortunately- tomorrow is the orphanage’s all day holiday party- and visitation is not permitted on Sundays.  So for now- we will be allowed to visit her Monday- Saturday for 2 hours a day.  Natasha and Svetlana came back over to go over more documents that they were pleading to the court.  The judge has agreed to see them on Monday to discuss how we can expedite our adoption.

SORRY FOR THE DELAY IN POSTING- our WIFI café has been closed for holiday parties- to catch you up: 

So actually we did not go back to see her today.  By saying “Yes”, we put a bunch of administrative wheels in motion.  The orphanage and Svetlana completed all of their paperwork by lunch- and we went to the City Notary to have us swear a statement- stating we want to adopt Katya.  That took several hours, then later in the evening, Svetlana and Natasha came over to review all the paperwork which is submitted to the courts.  We signed so many papers- it felt like we were buying another house!