Ivanna's First Encounter with Santa

Regretfully I don't post as much to this blog as I used to - can't imagine why!!  :D  Been just a tad busy with holidays and Ivanna and all.  I do keep Facebook updated though so it's the best place to find pictures and videos. 

Below is Ivanna's very first encounter with Santa Claus and might I say she reacted just as we had expected UNIMPRESSED the little stinker. 

Here are also her first school picture and the picture she had made with Santa on the day the video was done.

I'll post some more pictures soon I know I keep saying that but I will. 

Love to all and a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

DIAPER FREE!!!

Well, today is DAY THREE of being DIAPER FREE!!  I am now putting her in pull ups at night and she did GREAT in school today too.  So very proud of our little princess.  She is absolutely the smartest little girl I know - but you know we are all partial to our own :D.

Here are a few of the signs that she knows well.....
Please
Thank You
Sorry
Water
Aunt Lou
Ryan
Steven
Ball
Cat Dog
Sit
Yellow
Blue
Red
Boy
Girl
Drink
Eat
More
In
Orange
Pumpkin
Car
Banana
Bear
Play
No
Yes
Apple

I'm sure there are more that we left off.  The majority of these she says when she does the sign which is GREAT!!

Love to all,
The Stratton's

First Day At The Beach 10/22/10

Here are the compiled pictures from her first day at the beach. Ivanna had photos made today for next year's GCDSS calendar. Regardless of whether her picture makes the calendar or not we have another day of memories and another day full of firsts!! Love these pictures I think they all turned out wonderful. One of her Aunts curled her hair for her and then she visited her Aunt Beth's house to get washed down after we left the beach - the princess had sand in every crevice. Thank you Lord for another great day!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Two Bottom Teeth!!!

Well today at school Ivanna lost one of her bottom teeth.  When she got home I noticed that the other one was loose also.  Well, as soon as Ivanna noticed it was loose she went to work on it.  WHAT a surprise I could have never done that.  She didn't shed not one tear but bless her heart her little mouth was bloody and she had smeared blood all over her face and was happy as I don't know what.  GROSS!!!  I got her Aunt Kristi on Skype and Andy came in with a warm wash cloth and finished pulling it - she was so happy!!!

She is excited about the tooth fairy coming tonight. 

She also went outside and drove her new ride some today - she still gets to excited to push the gas pedal and steer all at the same time but it's so funny!!

She just loves her new car.  She's had a great last few days - had another birthday party yesterday at school.  I'll upload those videos as soon as I get them off of my other device.  She will have another birthday party on Sunday the 24th -- this one is a family party at her Aunt Lou's house!!!

Also kept her hair from her first hair cut.  Here's a picture of it:

She seems to really love school and is learning very quickly.  She surprises us every day with more signs she has learned and she tries very hard to repeat every word you say - she can now look on a paper and point out her shapes and point out ball, cat, car, duck, bell.  AMAZING!!  The happy look on her face is priceless.

They are also teaching her computer which totally amazes me at how young they start learning now - They probably start teaching them computer when they are 2-3 years old.  She loves it!!

Well, we love you guys and take care.

The Stratton Family!!!

School ROCKS!!!!

Today I don't think I have been this blown away with our little princess up to this point.  But she is EXACTLY like a sponge in that she absorbs EVERYTHING and does it very quickly!!

Before we left Kiev - we had bought her a wooden box that you put the specific shapes in to the holes and she could not do that at all or see that a circle was a circle.

WELL.....today is DAY THREE of school and the teachers and assistants ROCK I tell you!!!!  Check out this video it speaks for itself.  She came home with homework tonight and we kind of glanced at it and we are very ashamed to admit that we underestimated her.  We questioned why in the world they send stuff like this home with her but boy did she show us!!

WATCH IT I promise you will be impressed too!!!  It's the little things that make you go WOW!!!

The Princess of the Palace

Well, second night in a row our precious little angel has let me rock her all the way to sleep.  When we first got her she would have no part of being rocked.  Still hard to believe how much she has changed in almost three weeks. 

We have been so on the go that we are just now about to get settled.  Will finish registration for school tomorrow and start her IEP - YAY!!!  Mommy and Daddy get to start the crazy IEP days but I just feel like we will not have any issues.  Ivanna is just so smart she amazes us more and more everyday with her wittiness and charm.  Her and her daddy pick on each other constantly.  It's quite funny.

She got a little more trimmed on her hair this evening now that Aunt Lou was in her shop.

Poor girl has been through it today.  At 8:15 she had her first doctor's appointment.  LOVED the doctor and she like him as well which is very important.  He says all looks good.  She had to he her finger pricked and boy did I panic - but it went NOTHING like the finger stick when in the Ukraine when she screamed and had to be held down by three of us.  WOW what a big girl she was.  Then God love her she had to have three shots to complete her immunizations for school which was surprising and one of those was a flu shot.  She didn't take those quite as well mostly because she absolutely does not like restraint.  Of course none of us do.  But after it was done she was ok but her leg has been really sore.  Tonight after her bath her little eyes teared up and she pointed to her leg and made motions for me to rub it and of course I did for quite some time - every time I would stop she would tell me to do it again.  So you know us, anything for the princess.  Then he also sent us to get some labwork done.  I was really stressed about that.  The stuck her in one arm and got under the vein and didn't get enough blood so they ended up having to stick her in the other arm - very aggravating.  She cried just a little but as soon as they released the rubber band she was very quiet.  One of the nurses gave her four shiney quarters to go get her an ice cream with.  She didn't know what to do with the quarters but mommy showed her.

Of course her little smiles are used everywhere she goes to light up rooms and buildings.  In the afternoons she is usually pretty tired so she can become cranky.  Since she has left the orphanage she does not take naps.  In school first graders don't take naps so I saw no reason to start or force her.  She keeps herself busy with all her baby dolls. 

Tonight for the first time she is in her bed.  We have her monitor on and I'm sure we will not sleep well with her in her room just typical worry.  But one thing is for certain if she wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to crawl in bed with mommy and daddy she knows where to find us.

Well, turning in - been a long day.  Oh and also she LOVES to fold her hands and say the blessing.  Last night at dinner we forgot to say it simply from being tired I'm sure and about five minutes in to eating she folded her little hands and closed her eyes and starting muttering.  Then she will say AMEN - followed by a YAY!!!!!!

Love to all and please remember to say your prayers.

The Stratton Family

Baby Girl GOT BLING!!!

Well, today is the last day the hubby is home - he goes back to work after six weeks.  WOW!!  Have loved spending the extra time with him.  The only greater thing in this world is that now we have a little one also!

After I got off work today we went to the mall and got her ears pierced.  Her Aunt Lou was going to pierce them but we never could catch her at the right time today.  Although was thinking that maybe it was best that Aunt Lou not pierce them in case it hurt her too bad I didn't want her to have a negative memory of her Aunt Lou cause it was once again love at first sight.

How did it go?  Went GREAT in our opinion.  We really had talked a lot about getting them pierced and was really hesitant and afraid it would hurt her or that she would try to jerk them out.  But low and behold - she let the lady mark her ears and then another lady came over to help and they did both ears at one time.  She let out a gasp and a yell and then we started telling her out beautiful they were and held the mirror up so she could see and she was smiling and grinning as big as the whole state of Mississippi when she saw them.  We were even more proud of her than we already were. I took the camera in to take pictures of her getting her ears pierced and hoping to take pictures of a big girl while doing it except I got so nervous and anxious about it I FORGOT!!!

She has learned several different signs and she repeats several different words and understand their meanings.  We have taught her to "high five" and now she walk around telling other "five" and it's hilarious.  We have to listen more closely now since she is actually saying words and we can figure out what they are.

In the morning she goes to the doctor for the first time and mommy is not looking forward to that.

We have had so many visitors over the last couple of days we have been busy not to mention trying to get several things done here.  We had washing to do for days.  I washed everything whether it needed it or not just so I could put it in the dryer. 

Today we managed to only go through two outfits.  Not sure why I think I have to change her when she gets just one drop of juice on her outfit.

She has been eating GREAT and has tried many different things.  Most of the time if we have several things we let her pick which one she wants to try with which bite - she loves doing that - she will say "this" or "that" - it's funny.

I'm telling you - no one would believe how much she has changes in just a few very short weeks.

Tonight was the first night that we put her in her bed to sleep only because she had been somewhat going to bed later than she really needed to and we needed to give her a little time to wind down.

She now LOVES to be rocked and she is a cuddler.  It's so hard knowing that for over six years of her life she rocked her own self to sleep.  There have been many and will be many more "firsts" for her from now until the end of time.

Her skin was so dry when we got her - and when we got home we were able to get some decent lotion and mommy rubs lotion on her several times a day.  She even wants me to give her some to rub on her baby dolls --- too funny.  Can you say SPOILED????  That's ok that is what mommy's and daddy's are supposed to do is spoil their babies even when they get older.  And yes the boys are spoiled too even though they may not want to admit it. 

Well better get on too bed have a busy day tomorrow.  I know I know I still owe pictures.  Hubby is looking for the cord to the camera now and I still need to download some videos for you as well.

Hugs to all,
The Stratton Family

Welcome To America Princess Ivanna!

Oh my goodness there are just not enough space in the world for me to blog everything that I want to right now but eventually I'll get it all on here so that I can keep it FOREVER!!

The last few days of our trip were extremely busy.

On Monday, 9/13 we were able to apply for the passport however that took three days so it wasn't ready until Wednesday and didn't get signed until Thursday unfortunately - however we were able to go to the US Embassy on Thursday without and get the Visa process rolling.  We knew the Embassy required two days so earlier in the week we had finalized our flights for Saturday hoping that every single thing fell in place just right so we can make that happen.

Wednesday 9/15 was Anna's birthday - Ivanna's biological mom.  Yuri (bio dad) was supposed to have Skyped to us on this night so we could sing her Happy Birthday but that didn't happen.  I'm sure they were most likely going through some emotional times but I guess I was just not very understanding towards the end of the trip and it didn't help getting sick, then Andy catching it then the poor princess caught it.  But Anna and Katia came by on Thursday night and Ivanna was tickled to have company.  She just loves people in general.  But I tell you - I didn't want to show it but this was very emotional to see.  When I saw tears from Anna I thought for sure I was going to lose it and burst in to tears myself but I managed to hold it all in.  I just can not imagine the hurt and the happiness at the same time.  But, I am really glad that they came to see Ivanna and hate they all didn't get to see her on Friday evening.  Unfortunately we discussed and we had to tell them that we didn't want them taking us to the airport we just didn't think that emotionally we could handle that and maybe that was selfish but I didn't want Ivanna to see either of us cry (us meaning Anna or myself).  Well enough of the depressing stuff.

Danielle and Ben (Igor's mommy and daddy) came to visit us at the apartment that evening.  Our day again was quite busy - we started off early Friday morning with the medical evaluation required for Visa submittal.  Unfortunately - there wasn't a notation on her medical paperwork that she had ever been tested for syphilis so we had to go upstairs and get her blood taken.  WOW was I anxious about her having to have this done - I was so afraid of her being hurt.  Well, it was way worse than I expected.  Andy and I had to hold her and I think Nadiia may have been holding a piece of her too while the nurse pricked her finger and got the blood she needed for the test.  All the while Ivanna was screaming and crying uncontrollably - but just as soon as the nurse let go of her hand she immediately stopped and wanted us to kiss her boo-boo.  WOW my heart just ached.  Then we went back in with the doctor who was just super nice.  She did a quick check and I do mean QUICK and then we had to wait on the package to be prepared for us to take with us to the Embassy to obtain the Visa - OUR LAST STEP!!  Ok got it and then we had to wait until 2:00 p.m. to go to Embassy.  When we got there they scanned us with the wand at security and Ivanna just put on a show for them.  She loved having the wand waive over her - she was so silly.  The gaurd was really nice and she kept walking back over to him for him to do it again.  It was hilarious.  Then at about 3:10 p.m. we walked out with our completed VISA!!!!  Praise the Lord we now oficially had everything we needed to depart on Saturday morning.

When we left there with Nadiia - we went to eat at the Italian place we liked so well.  I just tell you I was really going to miss her.  She had her stuff together and I don't know how she kept running the way she did and now she is juggling families and I know she is gonna be worn out by the time the next few months are over.  After we departed - she said she had to go pick up something and was going to come by our apartment - when she got there - she had gotten Ivanna a "Princess" purse that was purple - that was so sweet - earlier in the week she had brought her a pair of PINK sunglasses!!  Sweet, sweet girl and I can't believe she has found a lucky guy yet but whoever catches her will have him a good woman!  Saying good bye was terrible - so terrible that I let her walk out without giving her her "happy" - but that's ok I'm going to e-mail her and get her address and I also want to get her a DVD of the Beverly Hillbillies so she can see who we were talking about.

Sivlet picked us up at 4:15 a.m. Kiev time on Saturday morning - that was 8:15 p.m. on Friday night for most of our local folks.  It was raining and quite cool but we still wore out our summer clothes and chose to not wear jackets so we wouldn't have another item to keep up with once it warmed up.  But we did dress the little one appropriately.  She was good as gold on the trip to the airport. 

Andy's brother, Bobby, picked up the boys for us on Saturday evening and we landed in New Orleans aroudn 7:15.  Ivanna was asleep before we even got a mile down the road.  She was just exhausted.  We ended up getting home around 9:45.  When we got home there was a "Welcome Home" sign in our front yard, snacks and drinks in our refrigerator, fresh fruit, yogurt and bananas for our little sweet baby girl and then several different bags of happies as well.  Including fresh cut flowers on our kitchen table and pink roses in baby girls room and a bed full of more happies for the princess.  WOW was this ever so sweet.  I just can not even thank those ladies enough for all they did for us.  Donna, Kim, Holly, Beth - YOU ROCK!!! 

The house was clean and it had been lived in for the last 5 and a 1/2 weeks - that was so sweet of him to straighten up. 

Ivanna came in and was introduced to her brothers, Steven and Ryan and my goodness she LOVED them and I know she understood - she did the same thing to them that she did to us for the first couple of days - just rubbed on their faces and smiled and hugged and kissed them over and over and over.  Then she got to meet her Uncle Bobby and Paw Paw (my daddy).  It was quite an amazing site.  Can't wait to share some pictures with you.

We then gave her a few minutes to absorb things and we took her in to her room.  Another WOW!!!  She LOVED IT!!  She couldn't get on the bed because it was too high for her but of course we put her up there but we have a stool (princess no doubt) that she now uses to get up on her bed and down.  She had a bunch of little happies on the bed and her baby dolls - she had to take them all and love on them and give them kisses - that was just soooooo sweet.

How was our plan rides with Ivanna?
Well, the first leg of the flight from Kiev to Munich was very good and was about 2.5 hours.  No trouble at all as a matter of fact I caught a little cat nap. 

Second leg of the flight from Munich to Charlotte, NC was our longest leg of the return.  Several babies and small children on the plan and each one of them cried and was whiney the entire time mostly.  So there was no sleeping on the plan.  I will tell you this Ivanna was the BEST child on the plane and I'm not just saying that because she's our child either.  She was truly great.  This flight was over nine hours and we absolutely could not believe how well she did - and she watching cartoons and slept quite a bit.  THEN the very last ten minutes I'm not sure what triggered it but she wanted her safety belt off of her and she was not taking no for an answer.  She screamed so much I thought she was going to pass out from not taking a breath - but as soon as we landed and clicked the button to remove her seat belt and immediately she stopped.  I do believe though that part of her trouble was her ears popping - she kept holding them and she let me rub them so I'm thinking it was a combination of many things - not to mention she was tired.  Too funny - I just tell you mommy can't stand it when she cries - almost makes me do it with her.    Then we got off the plan only to go through passport control, get our luggage, have them rechecked and then off to immigrations check point for her package from the US Embassy in Kiev to be processed so we didn't have much time to spare and had to get moving as soon as they were done.

Last and final leg of the return home was the WORST!  Poor girl - we got on the plan and I got her strapped in and all was good, then as soon as the engines started - she started screaming again.  Oh my I kept holding her and rocking her from the side and even though she would not allow me to take my hands off of her she still was not going to lett up.  Then once we were settled in the air - they still kept the light lit for seat belts and after thirty minutes of her screaming I finally just undid the seat belt and decided I'd take the consequences.  Luckily they didn't say anything to us because they knew that had completely quitened her.  Then she crawled up in my lap and wanted me to rock her and was asleep in about 10 minutes.  Then since this was our shortest flight - it was then time to stick her back in her seat and buckle her in.  Well, this time I left the belt loose enough that she could get all the way over to me and she wanted me to hold her the whole time so this time she was whimpering but not screaming and I rubbed her ears the whole time in hopes to keep them from popping as much

Today - we all got up this morning to get ready for church.  We are still not unpacked but we will get to that tomorrow evening.

For now I'm going to sign off and go to bed - the princess is already asleep bless her little heart.  Next blog I'll give you pictures and videos as well as let you know how she woke up this morning and tell you about her first night of sleep in her forever home.

Love to all,
The Stratton Family

Monday Night and Forward!!

Tonight is our last night in this apartment.  Oh yesterday and last night we had a FANTASTIC time.  We took the princess to Walk with the Dinosaurs even though she wasn't that interested.  Hate the boys weren't hear they would have loved and Steven would have been our tour guide telling us what kind each was and their background.   Savage family and Nadiia was with us.  The princess got to jump on a trampoline and of course again had no idea how to make it bounce but she knew it was supposed to.  Thanks to Sandra who got in with her and bounced and bounced and bounced some more she had a fantastic time.  She also got her first ride in one of those stationary cars that you pretend drive and plays music.  More than likely going forward everytime we walk by one we will have to have tokens to be able to put her in or else it will be a bad time for all who are in her vicinity LOL!!!

Then we all went to Sam's Steak House ---- man I love that place.  Almost felt like we were home.  Nadiia is just so much like us she fits in so well and we seem to fit in well with her.  I am sure going to miss her.  She told us that after Erin left and "warned" her we were coming to prepare for our arrival she watched "Gone with the Wind" three times and had to keep rewinding the captions so she could figure out with the "southern" people were saying.  She is hilarious. 

When we get home we are going to get her a DVD of the Beverly Hillbilies and send it to her.  She will laugh and laugh and laugh.  She does such a GREAT job.  Our facilitator better be glad he has her.  :D

Well, we also hit another milestone shortly.  THIS IS THE LAST NIGHT in this apartment.  YAY!!!  We are so thankful for our journey and look forward to many more doors that will open in the future.

Can't wait to get home and don't want to hear the clip clop sound of heels walking down the street for quite some time.  I'm ready to be home and cook - can you believe that.  I MISS COOKING!!!!  Will see all of you very soon and can't wait to be back in church on Sunday.

I'll leave you of course with a few pictures.

The most wonderful husband of all!

The cutest little Princess with her new sunglasses compliments of her Auntie Nadiia :D!!

Ivanna knows a good woman when she sees one!!!

One bite and she'd be gone :D.  Thank goodness those teeth aren't real!!!!

Nadiia.....you do wonders for the looks of that dinosaur!!!

A Dragon created from Legos but it was covered up unfortunately!

Oh my goodness she LOVED riding in that car!!!!

Sandra jumped and jumped and jumped and then had to wrestle her to get her off the trampoline!!!

Ummmm honey your hair has just a little static in it!!!   Don't touch me please!!!

Marshall Savage

Just LOVE our translator and so glad we were able to cross paths with the Savage family!!!  Sandra and Nadiia in this photo enjoying our visit to SAM's STEAK HOUSE!!

Love,
The Stratton Family

Our Last Sunday

Today was our typical family day just didn't have the boys.  We had a great day met a new family that came in last not.  They are adopting Ivan/Igor from Ivanna's baby house I'm so excited for him and I know he is going to be so happy to see them finally walk through the door.

We did some shopping and bought Ivanna some additional cooler weather outfits.  Can't wait to get home and she can wear all of her pretty clothes. 

She is still doing better and better every day.  Today was the first day that she didn't try to grab at food on plates which was fantastic.  She has slowed her eating way down but of course we are still feeding her.  Again we will regress a little and then move forward.  Maybe not everyone agrees with this but we believe it to be working great for her.  Once we get home we will start letting her feed herself again but not with a spoon the size of a shovel.  Ugghhhh!!

Also yesterday her daddy was with her in the mall while I was in one of the shops and he found a tea set in a window and told me "she wanted it" --- funny - neither of us knew it was a procelain tea set.  Well, needless to say several pieces of it are already missing.  :D  But, it wasn't because she threw them so that was good it was because they had accidental mishaps.  So today in our shopping excursion daddy found her a big tea set that was plastic and boy does she love it.  She went from not having any idea yesterday what to even do with one to today she is cooking up all kinds of stuff in her little pot and fixing us all kinds of flavored teas.  She is such a sweet little angel.  But, her horns to take a tendency to come out from time to time but thank goodness it's not very often.

Bath time is so much fun with her - can't wait to get home and get her some toys to go in the bathtub.  I can't believe she went from being afraid of water in the bathtub to now loving it and now she doesn't even mind the spray nozzle.  Little trouble with rinsing her hair but at least it's giggles and screams of excitement.  Now, I just have trouble trying to get her out of the bathtub so I typically have to call daddy in to intervene LOL.  Imagine that she doesn't listen to her mommy. 

Well, tomorrow morning we will all get picked up at 8:30 to head to the passport office to have the little munchkin's photo taken for her passport.  One step closer to going home.  Really am going to miss this city though and I am really going to miss some of the people here.  We have met some very interesting people and people have really been so friendly to us it's actually been quite surprising. 

Well, again, I'll leave you all with a fiew more pictures.  We can't wait to see the boys and get back to church.  Ms. Alice is going to love Ivanna.

Laid Back Saturday!

Well, today we have just taken it easy since neither of us felt very well. However I am feeling much better but still have a few sniffles. Daddy now has a stuffy head and a tickling throat so we are working on trying to prevent the Princess from coming down with it.

Ivanna's biological parents came over this morning. Her papa called on Tuesday I believe it was and told me he was coming the next day but didn't show up. Her maternal grandmother came back from the Black Sea yesterday and they had really wanted us to come over but we were just not feeling good enough to go and didn't want to risk any of their family getting sick and our germs being stuck in their house so we opted out. We thought Katia (maternal) grandmother was coming with them this morning but she didn't make it she is waiting on us to come over there. I'm not sure if we will get to or not we hope to but this week is going to be so busy and so crazy running from here to there to do all of the last minute stuff that we will just have to play that one by ear. Plus the fact that I am working in the evenings.

Well, I do have a few things to blog about and then I'll leave you with a few pictures. Found out a little more background on Ivanna that was quite a challenge for me to personally deal with. I haven't asked her biological parents about it yet and honestly it doesn't really matter just something that bothers me, personally.

Ivanna was able to talk on Skype tonight to her Aunt Kristi, Austin and Alyssa. It was her very first time to see a face with the voices that generally come from the computer. So it was really funny. At one point our power went off again and she was NOT a happy camper with the faces went away. She was very cute in that she was rubbing Alyssa's face while she was talking to her. She blew them all kisses and was just LOVING it!!! Pretty soon she will be able to see them all in person.

She has been doing GREAT at resteraunts. She is eating well and I feed her and don't shovel food in her mouth like she is accustomed to doing for herself in Vorzel - but those days are LONG GONE!!!

Right now it is AMAZING how far she has come - she is in her daddy's lap and he is rocking her. It took several days for this to happen. She crawled up in my lap one day this week and let me do it for about 30 minutes. We don't push her it will all happen in due time. She is getting use to the fact that she gets hugs and kisses any time she wants them and more than she could possibly ever want.

She communicates very well. When she wants something it has been very easy for us to figure out what. She gets up every morning in the BEST mood. She crawls over to us and just rubs our faces and looks in our eyes and we just wish we knew what she was thinking. She just jabbers. We think she is so happy that it is no longer a dream for her. She loves watching baby TV here. It's an English channel with lots of nursery rhymes and such and then at night has some "good night" stuff on it. So her and her daddy are watching that now.

Well, I'm going to leave you with some pictures. Ivan/Igor's mommy and daddy came in to town today so we are very excited about meeting up with them tomorrow. We got to spend a little time with their son since he was in the same baby house as Ivanna. They are going to be so very happy with him because he is another handsome young man and he is going to be so very happy that his mommy is finally here and it's going to be "all about him". Sad how you want to just round them all up and sit and spend time with them all.

Enjoy the pictures and thanks again for your prayers and most of all thanks for all of God's blessing that he has bestowed upon our family.

Love to all,
The Stratton Family

Final Preparations

Ok woke up feeling much better today.  We were able to get me some medication with the help of our translator.  AND we were able to get some prevention medication for the princess and daddy.  So looks like we are on the uphill swing.

Well, even being sick I still had to go out and do some stuff that was necessary to plan for our finalization of documents. 

Our initial court documents were dated for Monday so on Monday we couldn't do much.  But on Tuesday, we were able to go and get her birth certificate done.  I went with the translator while hubby stayed home with the princess.  They were unable to do it while we waited so we made a second trip later in the afternoon.  At this point I was dying but had taken much medication so I was still able to stand. 

On Wednesday our tax code was applied for and it should be back on Friday, again fingers and toes crossed.  For those of you that have already been down this journey you know that the tax code has been a thorn in most everyone's side.  WELL, they believe they have divulged a plan to prevent it from taking so long going forward and we are the first test of that plan.  So, with all luck we will have that precious code on Friday or at the latest Monday.  What is a tax code?  It is similiar to our SSNs. 

What's next?  Once we obtain the tax code we have two more things left from what I understand we are off to get her Visa and medical.  The medical is done in one day and the Visa is done in two.  Therefore we should be able to make our projection of being able to leave at least by the 16th.  Of course if we can leave sooner we will.  Although Wednesday, the 15th is her biological mom's birthday.  Happy Birthday to the beautful lady that has provided us with such a precious gift from God. 

Well, the translator just called and she needed a "head shot" of the princess on a white background for her Passport.  Boy oh boy were we creative LOL. 

Not sure what today will bring I don't think we have anything pressing to do.  This week-end we want to head off to get a few little small trinkets to bring back - still not sure how we will get everything back but as far as I am concerned the clothes I brought can be left behind because I'm sick of seeing them LOL. 

Thanks again for your prayers.  We still have videos to upload.  We really would like for you all to continue to pray for our return home next Thursday as it is very important to us to come home in time for our next scheduled visitation time with the boys which is on Friday, the 17th and we are so ready to get back to church.  Speaking of which we have been working with Ivanna on folding her hands and saying the blessing before meals.  She catches on really quickly so I'm sure it won't be long and she will have it down.

Hugs to all and we hope to see the majority of you soon.

The Stratton Family

An Orphan NO MORE!!!

Well, mommy is sick and we hate it here. But I have managed to get some pictures uploaded so here you will find Ivanna's journey as the Stratton Princess of the family. She has all kinds of things she wants to teach her brothers when she comes home.

Darlena got sick I believe from the significant weather change here and all the rain we experienced this past week. Luckily Nadiia stopped with her this morning and helped her get some much needed medicine and with our tender loving care and the medicine maybe she will be well in no time.

Ivanna is so sweet when mommy is laying down she goes up and rubs on her face and just mumbles the sweetest way to her. So sweet. She has come such a long way in just the few days since she left.

She now sits in the floor and plays with her legos and just sings away and she comes to us for approval of whatever she is building.

As you can see from some of these pictures she is entertained by her mirror I am so glad we made the decision to put one in her room however we may have to lower it some when we get home.

She is just loving life for sure. On Saturday and Sunday she spent some time with her biological parents. Saturday she visited the zoo for the first time and believe it or not she liked feeding the animals and really liked pulling on the ears of the goats.

She is eating great - mommy is feeding her to get her to slow her eating habits down quite a bit and so far so good. She is also feeding her more frequently so she begins to understand that food will be there for her and no one else is going to take her food away.

I'll leave any other updates for the Stratton Queen to update since she is much better at this than I am.

Thanks for all of your prayers and we can't wait to see those of you back home that have been following. Maybe even some of you will come to the Buddy Walk this year (and her SEVENTH birthday is the same day).

Later,
Stratton's

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Last Pictures as an Orphan

Hubby got our home computer where we can now upload pictures and videos again. Here are the last pictures of Ivanna as an Orphan!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our New Life with the Addition of Ivanna

Well, the first night, as you can imagine, there wasn't much sleep.  When she finally did go to sleep she sat up several times and just looked around and guess you probably already know everytime she flinched we were wide awake but we just laid there and acted like we didn't know she was up just to observe.  She would look around to make sure we were still there, rock for a little bit and lay back down and sleep for a few more minutes.  We think she was afraid to go to sleep thinking she may wake up back at the orphanage or that we would not be with her when she woke up.  BUT we were and boy was she happy.  When she woke up for the last time on Saturday morning I opened my eyes and she was looking straight at me with the biggest, prettiest smile and then she just hugged and kissed on both of us and we HAD to get up.  :D.  Then, her bio parents got here and we took off to the zoo.  We weren't sure how she would handle it but all in all- she did really good.  There seemed to have been several animals missing.  Andy and Yuri, I don't think really wanted her to go in the petting zoo for fear of what her response would be but you know - you won't never know if you don't try it.  So off she and I went and low and behold she even let the sheep and goats eat out of her hand I was pleasantly surprised.  And then the poor goats she of course had to pull their ears but she'll learn to be easy.  I thought maybe some of the animals may scare her but she didn't seem phased but of course she wasn't "upclose and personal".  Sure was NOTHING like the St. Louis zoo or the Audobon Zoo.  We'll go there when we get home. 

In addition around here she will certainly need a stroller.  Of course, because we were hard headed and didn't listen, we didn't bring ours.  But thanks to Yuri and Anna they let us borrow Igor's.  Tomorrow though we are going to buy one because I am convinced we will need on in the airports because both of us will be pure worn out from having to worry about keeping a grip on her in the crowd of people.

We took her to our favorite coffee shop for lunch.  She ate a whole piece of Loren Pie which to us is Quiche.  She loved it too.  Basically I don't think she will "not like" anything.  Then we ordered her a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  The first bite of course was really cold and she almost made the indication she didn't like it.  BUT YAY!!!  ..... she did!!

THEN.....we took her to dinner at TGI Friday's.....she had a BLAST.  She ate chicken fingers and mashed potatoes and loved them.  She giggled, and giggled, and then giggled some more.  I think though because she was extremely sleepy.  But even during the day yesterday there was NO nap for her.  She was afraid she may miss something no matter how much she rubbed her eyes or yawned.

Then we came back home for a warm bath and this time we had no trouble getting her in the bath (imagine that) this time the issue was getting her out of the bath LOL.  She then crawled up in the bed, watched television for a little while and then fell fast asleep along with her daddy and I.  Boy how we needed sleep.  Even though she was quite the acrobat during the night, every time she flinched I think my eyes would pop open.  It was funny watching her have to be touching one of us.  If we scooted over to give her more room she would make sure a foot or a hand was touching us - guess that was her way of KNOWING we would be there or else it would wake her up.

Then, again this morning she woke up with the prettiest little smile on her face.  As soon as I opened my eyes - she just very easily touched my face and then she gave me the sweetest kisses.  Then she crawled over her daddy, grabbed his arm and pulled it out and then got under the covers and curled up close to him then she just started rubbing his face and giving him daddy kisses.  SOOOOOO SWEEET!!  These moments are amazing.

Had a good day - Anna and Yuri took us to one of the churches today and it was just beautiful.  After that they dropped us off and we took baby girl to lunch and walked and walked and walked through the mall.  This time she was in the stroller so she was happy and contented.  We came back and rested for a bit and when it was time to eat dinner we met Fedia and Lynda at the Ukrainian buffet.  YUMMY we love that stuff.  Ivanna was REALLY good again.  I'm sure there will be times when we won't have it so lucky but we hope there are less times of those.  :D.  The only problem is we left here without the stroller thinking it would be a nice little walk for her but she has already figured out how to get her daddy to carry her everywhere.  SOOOOO in the morning, we are OFF to buy us a stroller.  We are going to make sure we get one that we can load stuff in to also for when we get home and go on excursions.  Yeay I know, we aren't quite the brightest crayon in the box LOL.

Well, she finally got to talk to two of her brothers today and Ms. Alice.  I hope they could all hear her but she told them all she loved them.

Well, right now she is building a train in the middle of the apartment with all of her legos and anything else she can find, shoes, bows, name it it's all lined up just perfectly in the middle of the apartment and she gets so upset if something is just a tad out of line.  WHAT A MESS she is!!  But she's a cute one!!  Completely OCD about cleaning and other things.  Remind you of anyone? LOL

Well as soon as we get to a wireless connection I'll upload some pictures and videos - went to buy a new computer today but they couldn't install the English version of software :(. 

Live is grand here in our little humble abode.  Tomorrow is a holiday for us at work so no work tomorrow YAY!!!

Love you all,
The Stratton Family

GOTCHA Day is Complete!!

Welcome to Ivanna today was filled with so many thoughts, memories and feelings that are just beyond comparaison to anything else either of us have ever dealt with. 

So our day began around 10:30 when Nadiia had a friend (Gene) drive over in a taxi that had given him instructions on where to drop us off to meet up with Nadiia and Oleg.  So we met them at the metro and then proceeded to Vorzel.  We had to go to the court first to obtain the court documents.  Once signed by the judge they were dated for Monday however they allowed us to get her today which was great.  We then went to the bank to transfer the money in her account back to the orphanage.  This is what all famlies of the special needs children do - just a common courtesy to help the orphanage.  However I would love to actually see it put to some good use like a swing set the children could enjoy at this baby house.  So I can only give that prayer. 

Once that was done it was time to go and get our baby girl and when we were at the bank we were practically close enough to throw a rock at her baby house.  So we got to the baby house a little after 1:00 our time.  Well, at this time the children had already eaten lunch and were down for their nap but I was a tad off in time so I was wondering where Ivanna was - one of the workers motioned to me that she was asleep.  As if I knew exactly I took off to the room where Ivanna sleeps without even thinking - well of course they didn't care.  When I got to her crib one of the workers walked up and touched her on the head - when she opened her eyes and saw me she came straight up out of that crib as quiet as a church mouse like she knew why we were there.  I brought her out to see her daddy.  While Nadiia was talking to the workers and they knew of course why we were there - they told Nadiia that Ivanna had been looking for us all morning.  I knew she would be.  Well, I began taking off her clothes to change her in to her "gotcha day" clothes.  Once I got her dressed she had the biggest smile on her face and went and looked in the mirror she was so excited.  She went to her daddy and there was absolutely no way she walking more than an inch away from him.  There wasn't but one PAKA she was going to say today and that was the one to the orphanage.  Daddy would move and she was moving right with him.  Even when we were signing papers she was right underneath us.  One of the careworkers that I LOVED had come in today just to see her off.  The other lady that I truly adored and so did Ivanna wasn't there today - she thought it was going to be Monday.  So that was really sad.  But I do plan to go back out to the orphanage before we leave.  I'd like to take Ivanna but I really need to give that some thought.

When Ivanna said her PAKA's and blew her kisses of course I was teary eyed.  Then I video'd daddy carrying her over the threshold where she became FREE!!!  She was so excited to get in the vehicle and observed every second.  As we were headed out - we saw the Savage family waiting for their bus on the side of the road - we all crammed in the facilitator vehicle and they got to be part of our experience today.  She oooohhhhed and awwweeeed.  We teased Oleg about her wanting to bite his ear.  It was so fun.  She wanted to sit in her daddy's lap so she could see everything and her little eyes were HUGE.

Once back at the apartment, we got her cleaned up a tad and went off to "lunch" which by this time was close to dinner and we were starving.  We went to TGI Fridays and she was so good.  She ate great of course.  I didn't put any food in front of her because she eats very fast and afraid one of the other children might take it from her so it will take us a while to get her to slow down and enjoy her food and realize that for her it is a never ending supply so we will do little meals several times a day to ensure her that she will always have food when she needs it.  This may take some time.

Then around 5:30 her biological parents arrived at our apartment.  WOW I could see the joy in their eyes.  Excited to see their baby girl outside of the orphanage for the first time in over six years.  We all walked to the Italian Rest. for dinner.  Well of course when her food came she wanted it and everyone else's too.  But I wasn't sure what to do so I took the back seat and let her bio parents have their time. 

Then they started asking about Lyndi and I looked up her number and called her since she was just right up the street with her new son Fedia.  So the two of them walked over to the resteraunt and met us and then we went on a "family" excursion which was WONDERFUL!!!  Yuri takes us to the greatest of places.  It was truly an awesome feeling knowing that we could all be together if even for a short period of time.

Well, once we were done, Ivanna had walked probably more than she had walked in a lifetime.  So Yuri dropped us all off in front of the apartment and it was BATH time!  UMMMM I had seen Ivanna get "bathed" a couple of times at the orphanage and this consisted of her getting in to the bathtub with no water and while the water was on, she splashed water on herself and that was called a bath.  So we put just a little water in the bathtub and made it bubbly and at first she was afraid but she quickly lost that feeling after she found she could play for a bit.  Well, then I bathed her and washed her hair - she was also afraid of the shower sprayer to rinse her hair with.  So we had to work that one in too but she quickly got used to it.  Then she was soooooo happy to be clean.  I even blow dryed her hair and she LOVED that.

WOW oh wow!!!    But....she sure does not want to go to sleep at all I think she is afraid she may "miss" something or that when she wakes up she may have been dreaming.

So to all of our friends and families who read our posts.  Hope you have a great evening and enjoy your families. 

We can not wait to see the boys again so they can meet their new sister.  She is going to love them and they are going to love her.

Tomorrow we will spend more time with her biological parents and maybe even go to the zoo.  I'll put some pictures on the blog soon and some videos.

Love to all,
The Stratton Family

Ivanna's Last Night!!!!

Tonight will be Ivanna's last night in the orphanage tomorrow she becomes "an orphan no more".  Our translator has scheduled a driver to pick us up at 11 (not our normal driver) and he will take us to a spot right outside the city to meet up with her and our facilitator.  Then we are off to court to pick up our documents and then off to the orphanage to break out our daughter.  Tomorrow we officially become a family of five.

We are just so excited that right now it's another one of those times when it just doesn't seem real.  Tonight as we ate dinner I was thinking that it was most probably one of the very few times in our lives that we would ever eat dinner alone together again.  I didn't say anything I just thought about it and I thought about how wonderful that will be even though we both enjoy our alone time.  Baby girl still has to sleep and we can still have our quiet moments together.  Love is absolutely amazing and we can only hope that each of you get to experience the amazing love that we have for each other.

Please say prayers that all goes well tomorrow.  Tomorrow night we will be meeting up with Ivanna's biological parents and we are so very happy that they get to share in this joy.  I've said from the beginning it's bitter sweet.  They will ALWAYS have a special place in our hearts and in hers.  Without them we wouldn't have her at all.  They will be part of her life from here on after as well as they continue to watch her grow and thrive and live a happy, productive life.  It is just the beginning of a new life.  Continue to pray not only for our family but her biological family as well.  They have been so good and so gracious to us while we were here. Hopefully tomorrow night they will go with us to dinner we can walk right up the street to our favorite Italian Rest.  It will be baby girl's first experience and if she upsets someone then oh well, life is good.  I doubt it though we'll just have to play it all by ear.

We have her clothes all laid out and are even taking a change of clothes JUST IN CASE there is some type of accident :D.  We are taking chocolates and flowers to the baby house tomorrow.  We have previously taken diapers and realized that they were never used on Ivanna which was a little aggravating.  I made sure to get some big enough to fit her and they continued to put the small ones on her.  Tomorrow she's wearing big girl pull ups.  We'll work again on her being potty trained once we get home we probably won't give that too much time during our last days here. 

Our next blog will be to tell you all that she is in the apartment with us.

Love to all,
The Stratton Family

Last Thoughts

So this morning as we prepare to go and "visit" Ivanna for our last time there are millions of thoughts of preparation running through our heads.  After our visit today we will have to make sure we have the final things that we need in the apartment and we need to find her a turtleneck shirt to go with her outfit and a light jacket.  Everything we brought her is summery and of course is still fit for the weather back home with exception of all the rain I am hearing you guys have experienced.

But, all in all on the bright side we could not be happier as we have waited for this day for quite some time now and some even thought it would never happen.  Just as many thought other avenues that we have crossed would never happen as well.  Is it us that proves wrong?  No, it is God, our Heavenly Father who makes our path.  When you venture off His path He continues to tug at you until He gets you right back where you are supposed to be.  Are you off His directed path today?  If you are there is no better time like the present to get your life in order and back on track.  It takes only ONLY one request to ask Jesus in to your heart and soul.  Do you think it's not possible?  It is possible.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.  None of us are perfect we have all sinned and we will continue to sin daily even though we strive to be the best that we can be.

Adoption, I certainly agree is not for everyone and adoption of a special needs child is not either.  We tend to make this in to a fairy tale at times because of our joy and happiness but you know what???  It's the best time of both of our lives and if we continue to treat it as such and follow the direction given then we will contniue to find true happiness regardless of the situation.  Now, I'd be lying if I said certain issues don't upset us, as that is human nature.  We will always have trials and tribulations but will continue to pray about them all.

I can't tell you the number of times we have prayed together before and during this trip and each and every time it's first and foremost being thankful for all He has done for us.

Did you thank God today?  DO IT!!!

Love,
The Stratton Family

TOTALLY PSYCHED!!!!

Okay so we are TOTALLY psyched.  We have found out tonight that on Friday we will be able to break out Princess Ivanna so now she ONLY has two more nights in that orphanage.  I know there are a few care workers that will miss her greatly and you can honestly tell they really care about her and then there are a few that I just really don't care for because they just have not been pleasant to us and you may ask how can you tell .... it's their tone and you know they are "shouting" at you and it's really only been about feeding her which upsets me but we just smile and say whatever let them walk away and continue doing what we are doing.

On top of the exciting news we were able to meet Lyndi for the first time - she arrived today to take home her new pride and joy - Fedia.  Lyndi is with RR and basically was our hand holder throughout our dossier process.  And boy, did she have a job!!! LOL.  We also met up with the Savages and another family that had their precious little ones with them and they will be flying out on Friday Oklahoma bound.  They didn't have the same facilitator and translator as we did and sounds like their experience hasn't been as grand.  I have to say that our team was DEFINITELY TOP NOTCH!!  We have been nothing more than pleased with our experience which is great compared to some of the stories that we have walked through and seen from afar.  But we still have a ways to go and we will just have to take what comes our way is about all we can do and just be happy that we will be leaving here with another beautiful little princess.

Well, we are totally excited and we will leave you with a few pictures.

Here is her LAST TERRIBLE haircut as soon she will only have the BEST hairdos done by Professionals ONLY!!

The best Mommy kisses in the entire universe!  And you can at least see that her hair was at least long enough to have been given a decent hair cut!!  Sigh!!

She now LOVES her Ballerina bear but everything has a certain time :D.  She also loves it when her bear (daddy) talks to her and here she is saying "Awwweeee" and then kisses her bear!!  Too cute!!  She says "Thank you Aunt Tristina!!!"

Well, this is the new BIG BOY toy that we bought today.  Daddy is charging it now it is the most awesome thing the boys are going to LOVE IT.  It has lights that light up on it and it is huge and when the propellers start turning you nearly freeze as the winds start blowing.  Awesome -- don't ask me how we are going to get this thing home - Daddy said the boys JUST HAD to have it so daddy is going to have to figure that out!!!  LOL

Thanks again for all of your prayers they have obviously been working.

Love to all,

The Stratton Family