WOW!!!!! A Wild Ride!

We did not post on Wednesday night after our second appointment. We apologize to those checking in to get an update on our status, but could not bare to face the outcome right away and put it in writing. Unfortunately, the second appointment went the same as the first. We were devastated. We were presented two children, both with deformities and major medical issues and had to turn them down. After a long sleepless night, a morning meeting with our coordinator to write an explanation letter as to the reasons we did not choose either of these children, and discussions of next steps, Lara and I came back to our apartment very discouraged.

Then, sometime around noon today, we received a call to be at the Adoption Center at 4:00. We had no idea what the reason for the meeting was or what to expect. Were we being called in to be shown more children, or were we being called in to be told there is not a child for us and to go home? Our coordinator did not have any idea what was going to happen, but said we were told to be there. We spent a quiet afternoon at the apartment waiting to get ready to leave. Scott read while Lara putzed on the computer. As you can imagine our anxiety was high. It was snowing in Kyiv today so we did not venture out for our usual walk.

We arrived at the Adoption Center at 3:45 and met up with our coordinator. We were very nervous and made small talk as we waited in the hallway of the Adoption Center for over an hour. We were called upstairs and were met by the same psychologist that met with us for our unsuccessful appointment yesterday. We went into her meeting room and she had two files in her hand. It was apparent that we were going to be shown two more children. Both were a bit over two and relatively healthy compared to those we had been shown before. One child that is 2 1/2 years old grabbed us from the moment we laid eyes on his photo. Smiling and gregarious looking, he has blond hair and brown eyes. His name is Alexander, and he is in an orphanage in Simforapol, Crimea, in the south of the Ukraine (see the maps link). He just recently became available! We are checking into the reference more thoroughly, but our coordinator knows this orphanage, the director and their staff very well. It is one of the orphanages that takes very good care of their children. If anything major was wrong, it would have been in the report or this orphanage would do whatever is necessary to correct any problems the child may have.

Finally, we have made major progress! Our coordinator is pulling together the necessary paperwork to gain permission to go visit the child. We will leave either Sunday or Monday night. The train ride will take well over 11 hours and be an overnight trip. We are so excited! We are headed to TGI Fridays (the only American restaurant outside of McD's) for a bit of American style food to celebrate!