This is our second family picture taken of us. It was taken just a few days before we were finally able to pick Rance up from the orphanage forever! It was taken the day we had brought the clothes we had bought for him to try on.
Love my boys!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Wow!!
I can't tell you how many times we have heard this word. Everything is so new to Rance. His eyes light up, his smile is big, and with awe he will whisper "wow!" It melts my heart!
We arrived home to discover a couple of surprises. We hadn't done much to prepare for the addition of our newest son, since we were so unsure on ages and sizes and interests. We knew Rance would be sharing a room with Cavin, so we cleaned out the closet to make room for Rance's things and rearranged the room to add a toddler bed in the mix. The rest I was planning on figuring out and organizing when we got home.
After finding out Rance was 6, some of our closets friends decided it would be helpful and fun to get the room ready for us. I am not a fan of surprises, and I am a perfectionist, which creates two problems. One, I am sure my house was not up to my standards yet company was in it. Secondly, I am typically really picky on how I want things, to the point normally Matt just stays out of the way.
I will say I knew something was up, as my friends had my mom trying to hint around and ask questions without letting me know what was really going on. But I wasn't expecting anything quite so big. Rance has his very own twin sized bed, complete with the comforter I had been saving up to buy for him! They also redecorated the walls a bit, something I was wanting to do after we got home. They also bought a nice 6 cube shelf for the closet to help organize clothes.
Rance walked in his room and his eyes lit up, and with a look of awe on his face he said, "Wow!". Matt and I wholeheartedly agreed! All four of us really love the room! Although it might of pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit, it has been a tremendous blessing to us!
They had also organized a "shower" or sorts and we walked into our living room to find several gifts for Rance. He had fun opening each gift, although like any child he much preferred the few toys over all the clothes! We had bought only 1 pair of pants and 2 shirts so it was perfect that we had some clothes here for Rance to wear!
Rance slept great in his new bed and Matt and I couldn't get over how comfortable our bed was! Cavin slept ok for not feeling well, and was up at 4:30am.
Yesterday we took Cavin to the doctor to find out he had one ear that was healing from an infection (Kiev) while his other ear was becoming quite infected. While Matt took Cavin to the doctor I went with my mom and sister to get some necessities for Rance and other things we needed for ourselves. I needed to pick up a few clothes for Cavin as he has gotten so tall, so we stopped by the Carter's outlet and I found some great deals on clothes for Cavin and of course, some clothes for Rance! I got everything for only a couple of dollars except for one shirt that was $4!
We came home to eat lunch and relax for a bit, but then we decided it was so nice to be out that we left again! We went to get Matt's glasses fixed and look at some frames for Rance. Then we headed to Target. Oh, how I have missed Target!
Next we headed to see our chiropractor, whom we have really missed! It felt so good to get adjusted! Even Rance got adjusted! After watching mommy and daddy do it, he didn't hesitate when the doctor said it was his turn. He just climed right up on the table and laid down. I had Matt check while he was being adjusted, and Matt said he had a grin on his face the whole time! As we were leaving the doctor gave him two stickers and one silly band bracelet, both items a first for Rance. To each item Rance promptly said "Wow!" in his awestruck way. I couldn't even get him to zip his coat up over the stickers on his shirt to go outside!
We made a few more stops on our way home, well I did. The boys waited in the van. We have all this lovely snow outside, so I was looking for snowpants for the boys and a couple of sleds. Rance has never played in the snow before! I think people here are a little ahead of themselves though as I couldn't find a single pair of snowpants in Rance's size nor any sleds in the Wal-Marts and Targets I looked in. I could find everything one would need to get their swimming pool up and running, swimsuits, and lots of shorts and tank tops!
Last night we had a nice, relaxing evening at home. The boys played while Matt and I began to tackle our mountain of laundry and the tedious task of unpacking. I really don't like unpacking!
We arrived home to discover a couple of surprises. We hadn't done much to prepare for the addition of our newest son, since we were so unsure on ages and sizes and interests. We knew Rance would be sharing a room with Cavin, so we cleaned out the closet to make room for Rance's things and rearranged the room to add a toddler bed in the mix. The rest I was planning on figuring out and organizing when we got home.
After finding out Rance was 6, some of our closets friends decided it would be helpful and fun to get the room ready for us. I am not a fan of surprises, and I am a perfectionist, which creates two problems. One, I am sure my house was not up to my standards yet company was in it. Secondly, I am typically really picky on how I want things, to the point normally Matt just stays out of the way.
I will say I knew something was up, as my friends had my mom trying to hint around and ask questions without letting me know what was really going on. But I wasn't expecting anything quite so big. Rance has his very own twin sized bed, complete with the comforter I had been saving up to buy for him! They also redecorated the walls a bit, something I was wanting to do after we got home. They also bought a nice 6 cube shelf for the closet to help organize clothes.
Rance walked in his room and his eyes lit up, and with a look of awe on his face he said, "Wow!". Matt and I wholeheartedly agreed! All four of us really love the room! Although it might of pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit, it has been a tremendous blessing to us!
They had also organized a "shower" or sorts and we walked into our living room to find several gifts for Rance. He had fun opening each gift, although like any child he much preferred the few toys over all the clothes! We had bought only 1 pair of pants and 2 shirts so it was perfect that we had some clothes here for Rance to wear!
Rance slept great in his new bed and Matt and I couldn't get over how comfortable our bed was! Cavin slept ok for not feeling well, and was up at 4:30am.
Yesterday we took Cavin to the doctor to find out he had one ear that was healing from an infection (Kiev) while his other ear was becoming quite infected. While Matt took Cavin to the doctor I went with my mom and sister to get some necessities for Rance and other things we needed for ourselves. I needed to pick up a few clothes for Cavin as he has gotten so tall, so we stopped by the Carter's outlet and I found some great deals on clothes for Cavin and of course, some clothes for Rance! I got everything for only a couple of dollars except for one shirt that was $4!
We came home to eat lunch and relax for a bit, but then we decided it was so nice to be out that we left again! We went to get Matt's glasses fixed and look at some frames for Rance. Then we headed to Target. Oh, how I have missed Target!
Next we headed to see our chiropractor, whom we have really missed! It felt so good to get adjusted! Even Rance got adjusted! After watching mommy and daddy do it, he didn't hesitate when the doctor said it was his turn. He just climed right up on the table and laid down. I had Matt check while he was being adjusted, and Matt said he had a grin on his face the whole time! As we were leaving the doctor gave him two stickers and one silly band bracelet, both items a first for Rance. To each item Rance promptly said "Wow!" in his awestruck way. I couldn't even get him to zip his coat up over the stickers on his shirt to go outside!
We made a few more stops on our way home, well I did. The boys waited in the van. We have all this lovely snow outside, so I was looking for snowpants for the boys and a couple of sleds. Rance has never played in the snow before! I think people here are a little ahead of themselves though as I couldn't find a single pair of snowpants in Rance's size nor any sleds in the Wal-Marts and Targets I looked in. I could find everything one would need to get their swimming pool up and running, swimsuits, and lots of shorts and tank tops!
Last night we had a nice, relaxing evening at home. The boys played while Matt and I began to tackle our mountain of laundry and the tedious task of unpacking. I really don't like unpacking!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Flying Home!
We woke up at 1:30am Kiev time to begin our journey home. Matt and I both wanted to shower and we needed time to pack up our last minute things. We woke the boys up at 2 after Matt and Yuri had very carefully crammed all of our stuff into his car. It was about a 30 minute drive to the airport. It wasn't until we arrived at the airport that it actually began to feel like we were on our way home! Because we had two kiddos in tow we were whisked through check in, customs, and security. It was wonderfully free of stress! Both of the boys ran around like crazy until it was time to board flight one of three. Our first flight was from Kiev to Frankfurt and was rather uneventful. Once Cavin fell asleep Matt napped with him while I stayed awake with Rance.
Our layover in Frankfurt was short, just enough time to grab some coffee for me, Coke for Matt, and a snack for the boys. I got some cute pictures of both boys in front of our plane. It was a "double-decker." Rance was in awe and couldn't get over how big it was! We were blessed this time with bulkhead seats, in my opinion, a definite must for any flights with little ones, but especially long flights! There is actually space for a child to get down and walk or play in front of the seats without getting in the way in the asile.
The first part of our second flight was rough. Cavin's fever had returned and I could tell he was exhausted and not feeling well. He was crying with quiet, but still high pitched, screams mixed in. He cried for 45 minutes until I finally got him to sleep. Eventually we were able to get the bassinet put up and we were shocked as Cavin slept for 5--yes 5--hours out of our 9 hour flight. It took us a while to convince Rance that he needed to sleep as well, but once he sat still for a few minutes he was asleep as well. He slept for about 4 hours. I was able to sleep most of the time the boys were, while Matt dozed while watching a movie.
The last part of the flight was filled with coloring and playing and entertaining both boys. We were very pleased with how well both boys did during the 8 hours and 50 minute flight!!
We arrived in Chicago and Rance stepped foot on United States soil for the first time, becoming a legal citizen!! After we got off of the plane and out of the way, I stopped on one knee and told Rance "Welcome to America." As we walked towards customs Rance kept repeating "America" over and over again, pronouncing it A-mer-ri-ca, rolling the second r sound, with a sound of awe in his voice. Too cute.
Going through customs was a little stressful, you have to pick up all of your luggage, take it to get scanned and then recheck it with your airline. Plus we had two little boys who just wanted to run and exert all of the pent up energy from being cramped in an airplane for almost 9 hours, when we needed them to be still! Thankfully most of the security officers were understanding, and we made it through in okay time.
We got our bags rechecked and through security again and headed off to our gate for our final flight only to find that our flight to Saint Louis had been delayed over an hour. Ugh. We stopped at Chili's to eat a little bit and rest while we made our first phone calls in over 2 and 1/2 months!
It was hard keeping the boys calm while we waited, but thankfully Cavin took a short nap and Rance rested while listening to some music on an ipod. He is starting to sing along with some of the songs! He still needs to learn not to sing along so loudly...
We finally borded our flight to Saint Louis, which thankfully was up, and basically right back down. Rance sat next to me and we colored most of the way while Matt and Cavin played with his busy book. Rance loved seeing all of the lights on the ground, lots of "ooh's, aah's and wow's!" We landed and were off to meet family!
Papa and Grandma Tuley, Unce Nate, cousins-Gracie and Samuel, and Aunt Becca were there waiting to meet us! Rance was pretty shy, but still said hi to everyone and gave them all hugs. Cavin and Rance both slept on the drive back to our house.
We were so excited to finally be home. All day Rance had been asking us when we were going to be at his new home. When we landed in Saint Louis he asked if the airport was his house, even though he had seen pictures of our house, I think he was just so ready to be there already!
Our layover in Frankfurt was short, just enough time to grab some coffee for me, Coke for Matt, and a snack for the boys. I got some cute pictures of both boys in front of our plane. It was a "double-decker." Rance was in awe and couldn't get over how big it was! We were blessed this time with bulkhead seats, in my opinion, a definite must for any flights with little ones, but especially long flights! There is actually space for a child to get down and walk or play in front of the seats without getting in the way in the asile.
The first part of our second flight was rough. Cavin's fever had returned and I could tell he was exhausted and not feeling well. He was crying with quiet, but still high pitched, screams mixed in. He cried for 45 minutes until I finally got him to sleep. Eventually we were able to get the bassinet put up and we were shocked as Cavin slept for 5--yes 5--hours out of our 9 hour flight. It took us a while to convince Rance that he needed to sleep as well, but once he sat still for a few minutes he was asleep as well. He slept for about 4 hours. I was able to sleep most of the time the boys were, while Matt dozed while watching a movie.
The last part of the flight was filled with coloring and playing and entertaining both boys. We were very pleased with how well both boys did during the 8 hours and 50 minute flight!!
We arrived in Chicago and Rance stepped foot on United States soil for the first time, becoming a legal citizen!! After we got off of the plane and out of the way, I stopped on one knee and told Rance "Welcome to America." As we walked towards customs Rance kept repeating "America" over and over again, pronouncing it A-mer-ri-ca, rolling the second r sound, with a sound of awe in his voice. Too cute.
Going through customs was a little stressful, you have to pick up all of your luggage, take it to get scanned and then recheck it with your airline. Plus we had two little boys who just wanted to run and exert all of the pent up energy from being cramped in an airplane for almost 9 hours, when we needed them to be still! Thankfully most of the security officers were understanding, and we made it through in okay time.
We got our bags rechecked and through security again and headed off to our gate for our final flight only to find that our flight to Saint Louis had been delayed over an hour. Ugh. We stopped at Chili's to eat a little bit and rest while we made our first phone calls in over 2 and 1/2 months!
It was hard keeping the boys calm while we waited, but thankfully Cavin took a short nap and Rance rested while listening to some music on an ipod. He is starting to sing along with some of the songs! He still needs to learn not to sing along so loudly...
We finally borded our flight to Saint Louis, which thankfully was up, and basically right back down. Rance sat next to me and we colored most of the way while Matt and Cavin played with his busy book. Rance loved seeing all of the lights on the ground, lots of "ooh's, aah's and wow's!" We landed and were off to meet family!
Papa and Grandma Tuley, Unce Nate, cousins-Gracie and Samuel, and Aunt Becca were there waiting to meet us! Rance was pretty shy, but still said hi to everyone and gave them all hugs. Cavin and Rance both slept on the drive back to our house.
We were so excited to finally be home. All day Rance had been asking us when we were going to be at his new home. When we landed in Saint Louis he asked if the airport was his house, even though he had seen pictures of our house, I think he was just so ready to be there already!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Visa!!!!
We cannot believe the adoption process is finally over...its really finished...we're kind of in shock!
We to got to the Embassy, paid the fee for the visa, and then submitted another paper they were needing. Then we waited for our names to be called for the interview.
After about 15 minutes we were called back for the interview. I didn't really know what to expect, but beings they call it an interview I was expecting to be asked some questions. However, all they did was make us swear that we had filled out the paperwork truthfully, then sign all of the papers. Then we were told, "Congratulations, your visa process is completed!" Please wait while we get the visa printed within the next hour!
So we walked around the corner to a waiting room where they had some toys and books. I read a few books to Rance while Matt kept up with Cavin. Then I began speaking with a woman who was adopting their third child, an adorable 22 month old girl, from Ukraine (they had adopted the older 2 siblings last year). In about 30 minutes our names were called again, Rance's visa was printed and ready! I wrapped up my conversation with the lady and out we went!
We're now back at the apartment and soon the packing will begin in earnest!
Still cannot believe the adoption is finally complete!! We are really getting excited to be home!!
Please pray for packing to go smoothly, for the boys to go to bed early so we can finish up and get some sleep ourselves. Yuri will be at our apartment to pick us up at 2:50am...yah. It will be interesting trying to cram all of our stuff into his car and then waking the boys up at such a crazy hour. Our flight leaves Ukraine at 5:30am, which is 9:30pm tonight STL time. We have layovers in Munich, Germany and Chicago. Total travel time:22 hours.
Please pray for no delays in our flights and for safe travel!
We're praying the boys will sleep during our first flight to Munich and the first part of our transatlantic flight to help with the time change back to the States. Then we're praying they will be well behaved for the remainder of our flight time.
My next blog update will be Stateside!! I know you are all anxious to see pictures, please be patient with us, they are coming, we promise!
We to got to the Embassy, paid the fee for the visa, and then submitted another paper they were needing. Then we waited for our names to be called for the interview.
After about 15 minutes we were called back for the interview. I didn't really know what to expect, but beings they call it an interview I was expecting to be asked some questions. However, all they did was make us swear that we had filled out the paperwork truthfully, then sign all of the papers. Then we were told, "Congratulations, your visa process is completed!" Please wait while we get the visa printed within the next hour!
So we walked around the corner to a waiting room where they had some toys and books. I read a few books to Rance while Matt kept up with Cavin. Then I began speaking with a woman who was adopting their third child, an adorable 22 month old girl, from Ukraine (they had adopted the older 2 siblings last year). In about 30 minutes our names were called again, Rance's visa was printed and ready! I wrapped up my conversation with the lady and out we went!
We're now back at the apartment and soon the packing will begin in earnest!
Still cannot believe the adoption is finally complete!! We are really getting excited to be home!!
Please pray for packing to go smoothly, for the boys to go to bed early so we can finish up and get some sleep ourselves. Yuri will be at our apartment to pick us up at 2:50am...yah. It will be interesting trying to cram all of our stuff into his car and then waking the boys up at such a crazy hour. Our flight leaves Ukraine at 5:30am, which is 9:30pm tonight STL time. We have layovers in Munich, Germany and Chicago. Total travel time:22 hours.
Please pray for no delays in our flights and for safe travel!
We're praying the boys will sleep during our first flight to Munich and the first part of our transatlantic flight to help with the time change back to the States. Then we're praying they will be well behaved for the remainder of our flight time.
My next blog update will be Stateside!! I know you are all anxious to see pictures, please be patient with us, they are coming, we promise!
Monday, February 7, 2011
U.S. Visa:Part One
This morning Matt and Rance left the apartment at 8am to head to the International Hospital here in Kiev to start on the first part of getting an immigrant visa for Rance to enter the States. Since Cavin was still feverish and not feeling well he and I stayed behind. Matt said they had to wait a long time before they were seen by the doctor. Definitely glad I stayed behind with the fussy baby! They finally got in and Rance was examined by the doctor. Then she looked through his medical history, filled out a vaccination chart in English and then filled out a bunch of paperwork for us to submit to the U.S. Embassy on his medical history.
Meanwhile I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to come and pick Cavin and I up for our appointment at the Embassy at 10:30! Finally around 10:10 Yuri called to tell me they were close and to head downstairs. Our appointment was smooth and easy. I stood at a window and a very kind lady helped me finish filling out the parts of the paperwork we were unsure about. The lady had sent Matt and the boys to a waiting room around the corner to play while I finished up the paperwork. It took me about 20 minutes to get everything finished up and then we were on our way!
Tomorrow at 2:00 we will go back to the Embassy for our second appointment, which is our official interview. We don't really know what to expect, but I imagine it will be fairly simple. We should have his visa around an hour after our interview! Once we have his visa we are completely ready to come back to the States!
Tonight we will begin reorganizing things and packing up!
One of Rance's new phrases is "I don't know." He first heard it during a phone conversation with my mom and has since mastered the phrase. Today while they were waiting for the doctor Rance was trying to name Ukrainian letters using the English alphabet. He would ask what a letter was and Matt would say it, then he would repeat it. Until they came to a letter in the Ukrainian alphabet that is unknown to Matt, he would say "I don't know," which Rance would then repeat. Its pretty cute!
We also tried McDonald's again today. We would have rather ate elsewhere but like in the States, its much cheaper than other places to eat, so that's where we headed. The first time we tried a cheeseburger which Rance didn't know how to eat and wasn't fond of. So today I tried chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce, and we he devoured all 4 of them, using the entire thing of sauce! He even tried to eat the sweet and sour sauce straight from the container, which we quickly told him no too. But it made me think of my Grandpa Tuley, who first introduced me to sweet and sour sauce! He loved that stuff, I suppose he would be proud I have continued to pass the love of the sauce down to my kiddos too. Lol.
I'm off to get the boys to bed and to get some stuff done before we finally get some sleep.
Please be praying for us to get the visa tomorrow shortly after our appointment!
Please also continue to pray for Cavin to get better! His fever is still hanging on, his nose is still running, and he still isn't feeling well. We are praying he is much better by Wednesday when we travel.
Meanwhile I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to come and pick Cavin and I up for our appointment at the Embassy at 10:30! Finally around 10:10 Yuri called to tell me they were close and to head downstairs. Our appointment was smooth and easy. I stood at a window and a very kind lady helped me finish filling out the parts of the paperwork we were unsure about. The lady had sent Matt and the boys to a waiting room around the corner to play while I finished up the paperwork. It took me about 20 minutes to get everything finished up and then we were on our way!
Tomorrow at 2:00 we will go back to the Embassy for our second appointment, which is our official interview. We don't really know what to expect, but I imagine it will be fairly simple. We should have his visa around an hour after our interview! Once we have his visa we are completely ready to come back to the States!
Tonight we will begin reorganizing things and packing up!
One of Rance's new phrases is "I don't know." He first heard it during a phone conversation with my mom and has since mastered the phrase. Today while they were waiting for the doctor Rance was trying to name Ukrainian letters using the English alphabet. He would ask what a letter was and Matt would say it, then he would repeat it. Until they came to a letter in the Ukrainian alphabet that is unknown to Matt, he would say "I don't know," which Rance would then repeat. Its pretty cute!
We also tried McDonald's again today. We would have rather ate elsewhere but like in the States, its much cheaper than other places to eat, so that's where we headed. The first time we tried a cheeseburger which Rance didn't know how to eat and wasn't fond of. So today I tried chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce, and we he devoured all 4 of them, using the entire thing of sauce! He even tried to eat the sweet and sour sauce straight from the container, which we quickly told him no too. But it made me think of my Grandpa Tuley, who first introduced me to sweet and sour sauce! He loved that stuff, I suppose he would be proud I have continued to pass the love of the sauce down to my kiddos too. Lol.
I'm off to get the boys to bed and to get some stuff done before we finally get some sleep.
Please be praying for us to get the visa tomorrow shortly after our appointment!
Please also continue to pray for Cavin to get better! His fever is still hanging on, his nose is still running, and he still isn't feeling well. We are praying he is much better by Wednesday when we travel.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Our Last Sunday!
Cavin has still been battling whatever sickness he has. Thursday night he spiked a low grade fever that turned into a higher fever on Friday. Knowing he had an infection and a fever was a natural part of fighting infection, I decided to just give him tylenol and wait it out a few days.
His fever would break with the tylenol and then go right back up as it wore off. This continued Friday, and all day Saturday. Worried he might have an ear infection and being so close to flying, I decided to call Dr.Yuri and he came back to the apartment Saturday night. Dr. Yuri agreed that the fever was part of the process of fighting off an infection, but also knew our concern with flying. We both decided it would be best to get some antibiotics and get rid of the infection before flying. He walked down to the pharmacy and came back with an antibiotic that we began giving to Cavin Saturday night.
Cavin slept well last night but you can tell our poor little guy is sick. He has still had a fever, although it hasn't been as high as it was. Hopefully he is on the mend and will be better by Tuesday night before flying Wednesday morning.
Saturday morning we kept hearing this beeping sound and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I went to change Cavin's diaper and lo and behold, the thermometer was on, in the pantleg of his pj's! In case you're wondering, his foot temperature was 97.1! Lol.
We have taken his temperature often so Cavin has naturally learned what the thermometer is for. Several times he has grabbed the thermometer and tried to put it down his shirt to take his own temperature. The funny thing is most times he can't get it back out, so he just lets it fall down his shirt or pajama's and goes on about his business!
Rance is doing well. He absolutely loves baths. Last night was the first night since we got Rance that we haven't done baths for the boys. Dr. Yuri was here late and we just didn't get around to it. Rance was pretty sad about it, but we promised he could take a bath "tomorrow." He is currently playing away in the bath tub while I type this.
**First for Rance
-Putting his head completely under water! I guessed he just did this by the amount of coughing I just heard and Matt just confirmed it. Now to teach him to close his mouth...
We have been going through the slide show we made him a while ago to introduce him to his family at home. He has Grandma and Papa down and is working on the names of all of his aunts, uncles and cousins! He had a really hard time saying Christen, the first few times he said it, it came out more like "Christmas!" Now he's got all of the names down and they have been added into the other words he randomly says throughout the day.
Tomorrow morning at 8 Matt and Rance will head to the embassy for Rance's medical evaluation/exam. Then they will come by and pick up Cavin and I and we will head to our first appointment with the U.S. Embassy for Rance's visa.
Prayer Request!
-That we will receive Rance's visa Tuesday night!
-For Cavin to get quickly get better so we don't have to travel with a sick baby!
His fever would break with the tylenol and then go right back up as it wore off. This continued Friday, and all day Saturday. Worried he might have an ear infection and being so close to flying, I decided to call Dr.Yuri and he came back to the apartment Saturday night. Dr. Yuri agreed that the fever was part of the process of fighting off an infection, but also knew our concern with flying. We both decided it would be best to get some antibiotics and get rid of the infection before flying. He walked down to the pharmacy and came back with an antibiotic that we began giving to Cavin Saturday night.
Cavin slept well last night but you can tell our poor little guy is sick. He has still had a fever, although it hasn't been as high as it was. Hopefully he is on the mend and will be better by Tuesday night before flying Wednesday morning.
Saturday morning we kept hearing this beeping sound and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I went to change Cavin's diaper and lo and behold, the thermometer was on, in the pantleg of his pj's! In case you're wondering, his foot temperature was 97.1! Lol.
We have taken his temperature often so Cavin has naturally learned what the thermometer is for. Several times he has grabbed the thermometer and tried to put it down his shirt to take his own temperature. The funny thing is most times he can't get it back out, so he just lets it fall down his shirt or pajama's and goes on about his business!
Rance is doing well. He absolutely loves baths. Last night was the first night since we got Rance that we haven't done baths for the boys. Dr. Yuri was here late and we just didn't get around to it. Rance was pretty sad about it, but we promised he could take a bath "tomorrow." He is currently playing away in the bath tub while I type this.
**First for Rance
-Putting his head completely under water! I guessed he just did this by the amount of coughing I just heard and Matt just confirmed it. Now to teach him to close his mouth...
We have been going through the slide show we made him a while ago to introduce him to his family at home. He has Grandma and Papa down and is working on the names of all of his aunts, uncles and cousins! He had a really hard time saying Christen, the first few times he said it, it came out more like "Christmas!" Now he's got all of the names down and they have been added into the other words he randomly says throughout the day.
Tomorrow morning at 8 Matt and Rance will head to the embassy for Rance's medical evaluation/exam. Then they will come by and pick up Cavin and I and we will head to our first appointment with the U.S. Embassy for Rance's visa.
Prayer Request!
-That we will receive Rance's visa Tuesday night!
-For Cavin to get quickly get better so we don't have to travel with a sick baby!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Passport!!
Sorry for the lack of updates the past few days. Cavin has not been feeling well and has been demanding more of our time with keeping his nose clean and some fussiness here and there.
On Thursday evening we had a doctor come to the apartment to check on Cavin. He had been fighting a cold for over a week and I felt like it was getting worse, especially his cough. I also wanted to make sure he didn't have an ear infection before flying. The doctor was really nice, and did great with Cavin. He said Cavin had a viral respiratory infection and walked with Matt down the street to the drugstore to buy medicine. Then he walked back with Matt so we could write down the directions for the 6, almost all of them were all natural, medicines. Love that he was able to come the night we called, was so nice and thorough and helpful, and it only cost us $40.
We have been enjoying our time together as a family at "our" apartment here in Kiev.The boys have really started to bond and playing with each other, which melts my heart! Of course they are still learning to share with each other, and that's not always easy.
Rance has been doing really well for the most part. We have had a few tears, but only one time were they unrelated to getting in trouble. =) We continue to try and teach Rance English.We think he is beginning to understand a lot of what we say and he is learning new words everyday.
Yesterday we were walking and he was skipping so I began singing "Skip, skip, skip to my lou....skip to my lou my darling" and Rance caught on rather quick. He sings it "Skip, skip, skippy my lou, skip, skip, skippy my lou, skip, skip, skippy my lou skippy my lou my darling.." Its too cute!! Its nice for us to have a break from the alphabet song too!
Yesterday afternoon we found out that Rance's Ukrainian passport was finished! An answer to prayer that it was finished sooner than we had planned! We got a call late last night letting us know that it had arrived in Kiev. We are now completely done with everything in Ukraine, just need to get his U.S. visa and we're good to go! We have already been pre-approved for a visa for Rance, but we still have to fill out a lot of paperwork this weekend. Then Monday we will take Rance to the Embassy doctor to be checked out, then to our first appointment at the Embassy to turn in our paperwork. Tuesday we will have our interview and then we are praying we can get his visa picked up Tuesday night...normally this is the case....but due to our experience here we are a little nervous about this!
Today we walked just across the street to a pizza place. Before we left we asked Rance if he wanted to eat pizza and he got a big smile on his face and shook his head yes. However, he didn't seem to like it all that much and needed some prodding to finish his one piece. Hopefully he grows to love pizza as much as his daddy does, because we eat it a lot!
**Firsts for Rance
-Eating Pizza!
-Riding in an Elevator (Our apartment is on the third floor)
-Riding on an Escalator (Nervous to get on and off the first time, but thought it was pretty fun after that!)
-Ice (Both Cavin and Rance tried ice for the first time on Friday! They both loved it!)
-Cold Cereal (This morning instead of hot oatmeal we let the boys eat cold cereal, Matt wasn't sure if he would like it because it was cold, but I was like, of course he'll like it, its sugar coated! I was right, he loved it!)
Tonight we will begin finishing up laundry that we need to get done and beginning to reorganize and repack our suitcases. We are hoping to have pretty much everything done by Sunday night as we know Monday and Tuesday will be busy with getting Rance's visa.
Its hard to believe we will be leaving on Wednesday. We are so ready and excited to be back home, but after being here for over 2 months it seems unreal!
On Thursday evening we had a doctor come to the apartment to check on Cavin. He had been fighting a cold for over a week and I felt like it was getting worse, especially his cough. I also wanted to make sure he didn't have an ear infection before flying. The doctor was really nice, and did great with Cavin. He said Cavin had a viral respiratory infection and walked with Matt down the street to the drugstore to buy medicine. Then he walked back with Matt so we could write down the directions for the 6, almost all of them were all natural, medicines. Love that he was able to come the night we called, was so nice and thorough and helpful, and it only cost us $40.
We have been enjoying our time together as a family at "our" apartment here in Kiev.The boys have really started to bond and playing with each other, which melts my heart! Of course they are still learning to share with each other, and that's not always easy.
Rance has been doing really well for the most part. We have had a few tears, but only one time were they unrelated to getting in trouble. =) We continue to try and teach Rance English.We think he is beginning to understand a lot of what we say and he is learning new words everyday.
Yesterday we were walking and he was skipping so I began singing "Skip, skip, skip to my lou....skip to my lou my darling" and Rance caught on rather quick. He sings it "Skip, skip, skippy my lou, skip, skip, skippy my lou, skip, skip, skippy my lou skippy my lou my darling.." Its too cute!! Its nice for us to have a break from the alphabet song too!
Yesterday afternoon we found out that Rance's Ukrainian passport was finished! An answer to prayer that it was finished sooner than we had planned! We got a call late last night letting us know that it had arrived in Kiev. We are now completely done with everything in Ukraine, just need to get his U.S. visa and we're good to go! We have already been pre-approved for a visa for Rance, but we still have to fill out a lot of paperwork this weekend. Then Monday we will take Rance to the Embassy doctor to be checked out, then to our first appointment at the Embassy to turn in our paperwork. Tuesday we will have our interview and then we are praying we can get his visa picked up Tuesday night...normally this is the case....but due to our experience here we are a little nervous about this!
Today we walked just across the street to a pizza place. Before we left we asked Rance if he wanted to eat pizza and he got a big smile on his face and shook his head yes. However, he didn't seem to like it all that much and needed some prodding to finish his one piece. Hopefully he grows to love pizza as much as his daddy does, because we eat it a lot!
**Firsts for Rance
-Eating Pizza!
-Riding in an Elevator (Our apartment is on the third floor)
-Riding on an Escalator (Nervous to get on and off the first time, but thought it was pretty fun after that!)
-Ice (Both Cavin and Rance tried ice for the first time on Friday! They both loved it!)
-Cold Cereal (This morning instead of hot oatmeal we let the boys eat cold cereal, Matt wasn't sure if he would like it because it was cold, but I was like, of course he'll like it, its sugar coated! I was right, he loved it!)
Tonight we will begin finishing up laundry that we need to get done and beginning to reorganize and repack our suitcases. We are hoping to have pretty much everything done by Sunday night as we know Monday and Tuesday will be busy with getting Rance's visa.
Its hard to believe we will be leaving on Wednesday. We are so ready and excited to be back home, but after being here for over 2 months it seems unreal!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Second Day of the Second Month, 2011
Thankful for a low key day!
Rance woke us up singing his ABC's just before 8, which just made us laugh. While they ate some yogurt for breakfast we began to pack things up. Around 10 we were packed and everyone was ready so we walked a block to another one of our favorite cafe's for brunch. Then it was back to the hotel to load all of our stuff into the trunk of a small foreign car! It took Oleg and Matt a few tries to figure out how it would all fit, as there was no room to spare!
Then we were off to Kiev! We were not expecting to be able to return to Kiev until we had picked up Rance's passport. Thanks to Olegs lawyer friend in Kirovograd, who is picking it up when it is ready and sending it to us on the bus, we got to return earlier!
It took us about 5 hours to drive to Kiev thanks to poor road conditions and getting stuck behind slow driver. We arrived in Kiev around 5pm, just in time for evening traffic!!
We finally got to our apartment and got unloaded. Cavin had barely napped and Rance hadn't napped at all and they were both getting sleepy so we were thankful to get out!
After visiting with Yuri (facilitator in Kiev) for a little while he headed out and we put a few things away and then headed out for dinner.
**Firsts for Rance:
-McDonalds!! We ordered him a cheeseburger happy meal.
-First time eating a sandwich. We had to show him out to eat it! Lol.
He only ate about half of the cheeseburger and a few french fries. So far he has devoured everything we have given him, so we're not sure if he didn't like it or if he wasn't hungry. We had stopped around 2 for a snack.
Then we walked to the grocery store to get milk, yogurt, fresh fruit, lunch meat, cheese and bread.
**Firsts for Rance:
-Using toilet paper.
We had begun to get a little worried as Rance hadn't had to use the bathroom since leaving the orphanage. We had just went to the dairy department of the grocery store when he said he needed to use the toilet. We were thankful the grocery store has a public restroom and that we were right next to it when he needed to use it! Matt said Rance wasn't so sure about the toilet paper, but hopefully he'll get used to it. At the orphanage each child had a special towel to use as they could not afford toilet paper.
Once we got back to the apartment we let the boys play for a while before starting in on bath time and getting them to bed.
**Firsts for Rance:
-Sleeping in a room by himself! Maybe!
Our apartment here (same one we stayed in the first month in Ukraine) has a loft with a bed in it, where Rance currently is trying to go to sleep. We'll see how it goes.
We are thankful to be back in Kiev, in an apartment that is almost 3 times the size of our hotel room in Alexandria. Much more room for two very active little boys!
**First for All of Us:
-First time in over a month we are alone, without our facilitator.
It is so nice to have some family time, its nice that Rance doesn't have a facilitator to rely on, and that we can be more independent and do more on our own!
One week from today and we will be on U.S. soil! Finally!!!!
Rance woke us up singing his ABC's just before 8, which just made us laugh. While they ate some yogurt for breakfast we began to pack things up. Around 10 we were packed and everyone was ready so we walked a block to another one of our favorite cafe's for brunch. Then it was back to the hotel to load all of our stuff into the trunk of a small foreign car! It took Oleg and Matt a few tries to figure out how it would all fit, as there was no room to spare!
Then we were off to Kiev! We were not expecting to be able to return to Kiev until we had picked up Rance's passport. Thanks to Olegs lawyer friend in Kirovograd, who is picking it up when it is ready and sending it to us on the bus, we got to return earlier!
It took us about 5 hours to drive to Kiev thanks to poor road conditions and getting stuck behind slow driver. We arrived in Kiev around 5pm, just in time for evening traffic!!
We finally got to our apartment and got unloaded. Cavin had barely napped and Rance hadn't napped at all and they were both getting sleepy so we were thankful to get out!
After visiting with Yuri (facilitator in Kiev) for a little while he headed out and we put a few things away and then headed out for dinner.
**Firsts for Rance:
-McDonalds!! We ordered him a cheeseburger happy meal.
-First time eating a sandwich. We had to show him out to eat it! Lol.
He only ate about half of the cheeseburger and a few french fries. So far he has devoured everything we have given him, so we're not sure if he didn't like it or if he wasn't hungry. We had stopped around 2 for a snack.
Then we walked to the grocery store to get milk, yogurt, fresh fruit, lunch meat, cheese and bread.
**Firsts for Rance:
-Using toilet paper.
We had begun to get a little worried as Rance hadn't had to use the bathroom since leaving the orphanage. We had just went to the dairy department of the grocery store when he said he needed to use the toilet. We were thankful the grocery store has a public restroom and that we were right next to it when he needed to use it! Matt said Rance wasn't so sure about the toilet paper, but hopefully he'll get used to it. At the orphanage each child had a special towel to use as they could not afford toilet paper.
Once we got back to the apartment we let the boys play for a while before starting in on bath time and getting them to bed.
**Firsts for Rance:
-Sleeping in a room by himself! Maybe!
Our apartment here (same one we stayed in the first month in Ukraine) has a loft with a bed in it, where Rance currently is trying to go to sleep. We'll see how it goes.
We are thankful to be back in Kiev, in an apartment that is almost 3 times the size of our hotel room in Alexandria. Much more room for two very active little boys!
**First for All of Us:
-First time in over a month we are alone, without our facilitator.
It is so nice to have some family time, its nice that Rance doesn't have a facilitator to rely on, and that we can be more independent and do more on our own!
One week from today and we will be on U.S. soil! Finally!!!!
02.01.2011
Morning arrived way to early after a sleepless night. Matt and I were up at 5:30 to get ourselves ready so we would have plenty of time to wake both boys up and get them fed and ready to leave by 7am. We weren't sure how the morning would go, but Rance woke up rather easily, with no potty accident, and ate his cereal concoction daddy made him like a champ! We were thankful to be ready with a few minutes to spare!
Oleg picked us up at 7 and we were off. We were headed to the region where Rance was born and lived before coming to the orphanage. We thought it was about a 2 hour drive from Alexandria where we were. Ha. 4 very long hours later we arrived. Riding with two wiggly little boys with Matt and I in the backseat was interesting to say the least. Not to mention how many times we heard Rance sing the ABC's!
First item on the agenda: get a new birth certificate for Rance with his new name and listing Matt and I as his parents. Its an answer to prayer that we were able to do this at all on Tuesday. Last week Yulia found out that the birth certificate office was closed from January 31-February 5 as they would be working on in office documents only. Thankfully between Yulia and Oleg calling and begging one of the ladies at the office, she said she would work us in first thing Tuesday morning. PRAISE GOD!
**Firsts for Rance
-Playing outside! Rance said he couldn't remember the last time he had been outside the orphanage. So sad! He ran around, jumped around, carefully stepped on the squares and had a grand time. Cavin of course, was trying to keep up, but couldn't quite figure out how to jump. Truly priceless!
While the lady prepared the new birth certificate we walked down the street to a cafe to eat lunch. It was freezing in the cafe. Normally places are cold here, but it was so cold you could see your breath. This cafe was definitely proof that looks can be deceiving. The dining area looked pretty nice, chair covers, table cloths, nice curtains and rugs. However, I walked through the back to the bathroom, passing the kitchen on the way. Let's just say this, I wouldn't have used the bathroom if you paid me a million dollars, and I am amazed that we didn't get food poisoning after seeing the kitchen.
After an hour wait we picked up the new birth certificate! Yulia said that normally its a 3-5 hour wait and we were again thankful for God's provision as we were on a very tight time schedule.
Next on the agenda: Changing Rance's personal number (like our social security number).
We were able to wait in the car while Oleg changed the number for us. It only took about 20 minutes.
Then we were off to Kirovograd where we would get the paperwork notarized and apply for Rance's passport.
It took us about 2 and 1/2 hours to get to Kirovograd where we again waited in the car while Oleg worked with a friend who is a lawyer to get some paperwork notarized. Then we went across town to the passport office. Oleg, Matt and Rance went in while Yulia, Cavin and I waited in the car...again! At this point it was 4:30 and were just thankful we were in time to apply for his passport. It took them about 40 minutes in the passport office and then we were done for the day!
We stopped to get gas, had to stop and get a few more official pictures of Rance for other documents and then we headed back to Alexandria. We ate at the "cafe on the road" which is connected to a gas station that had become our favorite place to eat. We wanted to eat there one last time before leaving. They have this honey cake that is to die for. I asked for the recipe everytime we ate there but sadly never got it.
**Firsts for Rance:
-French Fries and a Juice Box!
As usual, Cavin had charmed the waitresses and while we were eating Yulia said that Cavin's favorite waitress, a very tall blonde, had just said that she was waiting for Cavin to get done eating! As soon as Cavin was done he climbed down and headed towards the counter where he was promptly picked up, passed around and smothered with kisses. Rance tagged right along. He had a conversation with one of the ladies, and I wish I knew what he said!
We headed back to the hotel for the night, where we had two little boys with lots of energy from being in a car all day. Bath time was even more crazy! We finally got them both to sleep and thankfully they both slept well through the night and so did Matt and I!
Oleg picked us up at 7 and we were off. We were headed to the region where Rance was born and lived before coming to the orphanage. We thought it was about a 2 hour drive from Alexandria where we were. Ha. 4 very long hours later we arrived. Riding with two wiggly little boys with Matt and I in the backseat was interesting to say the least. Not to mention how many times we heard Rance sing the ABC's!
First item on the agenda: get a new birth certificate for Rance with his new name and listing Matt and I as his parents. Its an answer to prayer that we were able to do this at all on Tuesday. Last week Yulia found out that the birth certificate office was closed from January 31-February 5 as they would be working on in office documents only. Thankfully between Yulia and Oleg calling and begging one of the ladies at the office, she said she would work us in first thing Tuesday morning. PRAISE GOD!
**Firsts for Rance
-Playing outside! Rance said he couldn't remember the last time he had been outside the orphanage. So sad! He ran around, jumped around, carefully stepped on the squares and had a grand time. Cavin of course, was trying to keep up, but couldn't quite figure out how to jump. Truly priceless!
While the lady prepared the new birth certificate we walked down the street to a cafe to eat lunch. It was freezing in the cafe. Normally places are cold here, but it was so cold you could see your breath. This cafe was definitely proof that looks can be deceiving. The dining area looked pretty nice, chair covers, table cloths, nice curtains and rugs. However, I walked through the back to the bathroom, passing the kitchen on the way. Let's just say this, I wouldn't have used the bathroom if you paid me a million dollars, and I am amazed that we didn't get food poisoning after seeing the kitchen.
After an hour wait we picked up the new birth certificate! Yulia said that normally its a 3-5 hour wait and we were again thankful for God's provision as we were on a very tight time schedule.
Next on the agenda: Changing Rance's personal number (like our social security number).
We were able to wait in the car while Oleg changed the number for us. It only took about 20 minutes.
Then we were off to Kirovograd where we would get the paperwork notarized and apply for Rance's passport.
It took us about 2 and 1/2 hours to get to Kirovograd where we again waited in the car while Oleg worked with a friend who is a lawyer to get some paperwork notarized. Then we went across town to the passport office. Oleg, Matt and Rance went in while Yulia, Cavin and I waited in the car...again! At this point it was 4:30 and were just thankful we were in time to apply for his passport. It took them about 40 minutes in the passport office and then we were done for the day!
We stopped to get gas, had to stop and get a few more official pictures of Rance for other documents and then we headed back to Alexandria. We ate at the "cafe on the road" which is connected to a gas station that had become our favorite place to eat. We wanted to eat there one last time before leaving. They have this honey cake that is to die for. I asked for the recipe everytime we ate there but sadly never got it.
**Firsts for Rance:
-French Fries and a Juice Box!
As usual, Cavin had charmed the waitresses and while we were eating Yulia said that Cavin's favorite waitress, a very tall blonde, had just said that she was waiting for Cavin to get done eating! As soon as Cavin was done he climbed down and headed towards the counter where he was promptly picked up, passed around and smothered with kisses. Rance tagged right along. He had a conversation with one of the ladies, and I wish I knew what he said!
We headed back to the hotel for the night, where we had two little boys with lots of energy from being in a car all day. Bath time was even more crazy! We finally got them both to sleep and thankfully they both slept well through the night and so did Matt and I!
Monday, January 31, 2011
We left at 12:30 to walk to the courthouse which is about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. The official court decision was supposed to be ready at 1:00 when the courthouse reopened from its lunch hour. We waited in line until about 1:20 to go into the office to find out that they did not have it ready for us. They sent us to another office. We walked around the corner and into the second office to find out they didn't have it either. They sent us to the office next door.
You can imagine our relief when they said they had made 15 copies (as requested by our translator) of the court decision and given them to the judge. So then we headed upstairs and Yulia, our translator asked about the court decision. I guess the secretaries had better things to do than prepare our copies of the court decision as I don't think they had even started on them when we came to pick them up. Major frustration.
So we waited, for almost an hour for the two secretaries to "work" on putting together our official copies of the court decision. The decision is two pages, which were signed by the judge, sewn (kind of like bound) together on one side, then stamped with the official seal. One of the secretaries kept coming in and out of the office, twice with a mug to go get more tea/coffee. Then after about 20 minutes she came out with her coat on and just left. I was like, seriously??
We finally got to the orphanage to pick Rance up at 3:30. We gave his new clothes to a caregiver to get him changed while we signed papers to "check him out" of the orphanage. Rance came downstairs dressed in his new clothes with a huge smile on his face. We finished up signing papers then put on his hat, coat and gloves and then he practically ran out of the orphanage. I did manage to stop him to get a picture of him outside of the orphanage!
We went straight back to the hotel where Rance began exploring every little thing. We finally tore him away to eat at the cafe connected to the hotel. He didn't understand why we had to wait on the food to come to us, as he is used to being called to eat when the food was ready and on the table. We had to keep reminding him to slow down!
**Firsts for Rance:
-First time to eat a hot dog! Ukrainian version at least.
-First time eating with a fork! They used only spoons at the orphanage.
During dinner Yulia somehow found out that the caregivers woke all of the kids at the orphanage up twice during the night to take them to the bathroom. Understandable for sure considering all but a few of the kids were special needs and doing laundry with no dryer with that many kids for potty accidents just isn't realistic. Still.
After dinner we went back to the hotel room where Rance continued to bounce of the walls exploring both his new freedom and a new enviornment. Cavin continued to try and keep up, but at times would just stare in awe of all the cool things (and trouble!) his big brother could do (find)!
**Firsts for Rance!
-Talking to Grandma Tuley and Grandma Clapham on Skype!
We finally wrangled both of the boys into the bathtub. This was the first time we had seen Rance without clothes on. We knew he was skinny, but this was the first time we really saw how skinny he is. He is literally skin and bones. He was a little unsure of the bath but having Cavin in there with him seemed to help him relax as soon it was crazy in the tiny bathtub!
**Another First for Rance:
-Took his first bath!
Rance told us at the orphanage that a caregiver helped him bathe and that water was poured over his head. I asked him if it was with a shower hose and he said no. I asked him if they used a bucket to dump the water over his head and he laughed. So who knows.
After baths and getting them dressed we finally got Rance into bed (cot) and Cavin to sleep. It took Rance a while to fall asleep, but he slept through the night! Matt and I didn't sleep well at all however, just couldn't get comfortable and get to sleep. Matt got up twice to ask Rance to go potty. The first time Rance just said no, the second time he said no, covered his head with the pillow and rolled away from Matt!
**Firsts for Rance:
-Getting tucked into bed by a mommy and daddy, complete with prayers, kisses and I love you's!
We had been warned that bedtime was the hardest on orphans with their new families and that we could face lots of tears throughout the night. Matt and I were both relieved and thankful there were no melt downs with Rance and that Cavin wasn't acting jealous at all with having Rance in his space and him being with us all the time. Instead we had lots of hugs, smiles and "love you's!"
You can imagine our relief when they said they had made 15 copies (as requested by our translator) of the court decision and given them to the judge. So then we headed upstairs and Yulia, our translator asked about the court decision. I guess the secretaries had better things to do than prepare our copies of the court decision as I don't think they had even started on them when we came to pick them up. Major frustration.
So we waited, for almost an hour for the two secretaries to "work" on putting together our official copies of the court decision. The decision is two pages, which were signed by the judge, sewn (kind of like bound) together on one side, then stamped with the official seal. One of the secretaries kept coming in and out of the office, twice with a mug to go get more tea/coffee. Then after about 20 minutes she came out with her coat on and just left. I was like, seriously??
We finally got to the orphanage to pick Rance up at 3:30. We gave his new clothes to a caregiver to get him changed while we signed papers to "check him out" of the orphanage. Rance came downstairs dressed in his new clothes with a huge smile on his face. We finished up signing papers then put on his hat, coat and gloves and then he practically ran out of the orphanage. I did manage to stop him to get a picture of him outside of the orphanage!
We went straight back to the hotel where Rance began exploring every little thing. We finally tore him away to eat at the cafe connected to the hotel. He didn't understand why we had to wait on the food to come to us, as he is used to being called to eat when the food was ready and on the table. We had to keep reminding him to slow down!
**Firsts for Rance:
-First time to eat a hot dog! Ukrainian version at least.
-First time eating with a fork! They used only spoons at the orphanage.
During dinner Yulia somehow found out that the caregivers woke all of the kids at the orphanage up twice during the night to take them to the bathroom. Understandable for sure considering all but a few of the kids were special needs and doing laundry with no dryer with that many kids for potty accidents just isn't realistic. Still.
After dinner we went back to the hotel room where Rance continued to bounce of the walls exploring both his new freedom and a new enviornment. Cavin continued to try and keep up, but at times would just stare in awe of all the cool things (and trouble!) his big brother could do (find)!
**Firsts for Rance!
-Talking to Grandma Tuley and Grandma Clapham on Skype!
We finally wrangled both of the boys into the bathtub. This was the first time we had seen Rance without clothes on. We knew he was skinny, but this was the first time we really saw how skinny he is. He is literally skin and bones. He was a little unsure of the bath but having Cavin in there with him seemed to help him relax as soon it was crazy in the tiny bathtub!
**Another First for Rance:
-Took his first bath!
Rance told us at the orphanage that a caregiver helped him bathe and that water was poured over his head. I asked him if it was with a shower hose and he said no. I asked him if they used a bucket to dump the water over his head and he laughed. So who knows.
After baths and getting them dressed we finally got Rance into bed (cot) and Cavin to sleep. It took Rance a while to fall asleep, but he slept through the night! Matt and I didn't sleep well at all however, just couldn't get comfortable and get to sleep. Matt got up twice to ask Rance to go potty. The first time Rance just said no, the second time he said no, covered his head with the pillow and rolled away from Matt!
**Firsts for Rance:
-Getting tucked into bed by a mommy and daddy, complete with prayers, kisses and I love you's!
We had been warned that bedtime was the hardest on orphans with their new families and that we could face lots of tears throughout the night. Matt and I were both relieved and thankful there were no melt downs with Rance and that Cavin wasn't acting jealous at all with having Rance in his space and him being with us all the time. Instead we had lots of hugs, smiles and "love you's!"
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