Ten Days is up Tomorow!

Tomorrow...yes tomorrow people will be the end of our ten day waiting period!!! Yay!!! We made it!!! Well I wish I could say we are going to the orphanage and picking him up never to return again, but we have to wait a few more days. "Why?" you ask? Well when the ten days is up on the weekend, you have to wait until a weekday to sign your child out of the orphanage. Monday happens to be some kind of holiday or offices closed or something so we will not be able to take him out until Tuesday. It cannot come quick enough! After we get him out of the orphanage, we still have to get his birth certificate, apply for a passport and get a visa so we will be here another week and a half.

How long have I been in Ukraine again? I can't even remember. Wait...just counted and it has been 27 days. I never know what time it is and don't even ask me what day it is. Mom and I were walking home from the orphanage the other day and we were trying to figure out if it was Wednesday or Thursday. It's that bad! It feels like all of the days are flying by so fast that as soon as we leave the orphanage for our second visit of the day it is already time to get up and visit him again. I cannot wait until I can be around him all of the time!! I love everyday being able to see my sweet little son and learning all about him. It has been so much fun! It is always a new and exciting adventure! I Love it!!

Speaking of adventures. Today we walked outside and it was colder than it has been since my mom has been here. My mom was raised in Florida and now lives in the south (Yes, Florida is south but come on its not the "real" south) so cold weather does not register in her system. Not only was it cold, it was raining. Bless her sweet soul. I had no idea how to call a taxi in Russian and the bus does not come to where we live. So, off we walked. One mile and fifteen minutes later, we made it to the orphanage. I was used to the weather but my mother came from the hot weather in the 70's back home. Oh that would be nice to be in a warm environment. Um...back to reality. She did wonderful and did not complain one bit! She was a champ!

Mom wanted documentation that she braved the cold weather and walked to the orphanage. :)

When we got to the orphanage the rain had stopped and we were able to play outside for a little bit. Luke loves to play in the sandbox (also know as the dirtbox) so we played in there for most of the time this morning. Over the dirtbox was a plastic covering and it was filled with water. There were some earthworms that must have gotten lost and fell into the water. He saw the worms and thought they were the coolest thing ever cause they were moving all around. I felt sorry for the little worms so I fished them out, picked them up and moved them to a better location. The location was an old tire that was painted and turned into a flower pot (that's creative for sure). Now the plants in the tire will have great dirt thanks to the worms. He loved watching them go back into the dirt. It was like a science lesson I guess. :)

Look at the earthworms go! Well you might have to enlarge this picture and squint to see them. :)

I love his cute little smile! Not sure why I am still pointing...

Here are some pictures from yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday). Enjoy!

He loved the horse!

He is one brave kiddo! He took off on this thing. I grabbed him at the last second because he wanted to climb down head first. Not sure that would have worked out too well. :)

Look at those precious eyes!!

He is eating his first Oreo!! Not sure if I was really supposed to give him one but I was running out of new and exciting snacks. :)

Looking at pictures while making things.

Ken and I found this plastic set of gears. Luke loves to make cubes and attach the gears so one will move the other. He is a genius!

Looking at pictures of Daddy and talking to him on the phone today. It was so precious!! : )

He made a garage out of Legos for his cars. He is so smart!

In adoption news:

Please pray that the US government does not have a "shut down" (or that it's very short) because if it shuts down, so do visas. We will need to get one for Luke to come back to the states in a week or so. So pray that we will be able to get one.

Please continue to pray for our friends the Theinemans as they are in Ukraine to adopt. Please pray for their process to go smooothly and for the Lord to smash and break through some barriers that they are facing right now.