Fantastic Wednesday

Ok let me back up a tad to our eventful travel.  We were originally supposed to fly from New Orleans to Washington to Frankfurt to Kiev.  Well, when we got to the airport we found out that the previous flight in the same plane they had a medical emergency on and whatever happened to the guy he had lost a significant amount of blood on the plane.  Can you say - only in the Stratton's life???  So they were having issues getting it cleaned up and the medical emergency kits replaced not to mention the ambulance had to come to the airport and remove the guy from the plane.  Ok - so a few hours later ended up changing ALL of our flights after figuring out we would never make it to Kiev at this rate.  So we ended up flying out of New Orleans at 5:30 to Chicago then to Munich and then on over to Kiev.  On the long leg of the flight from Chicao to Munich there was a small child that cried the entire time with the exception of 1 hour out of 8.  So needless to say zero rest.  Yuri and Anna didn't get our message until 2 hours in to their wait at the airport for us that we had to change flights.  So Yuri had to turn around and come back to get us - they were pretty worried.  But it all worked out and I was presented with flowers as soon as he got to us.  That was VERY special to me.  Then he brought us to our apartment and we unpacked a few things and gave to Yuri and would see them both on Wednesday.

Today has certainly been eventful.  Before you all woke up today we were running the roads.  First stop - SDA (State Department of Adoptions) appointment.  In this appointment they tell you what "disability" your child has and what medical issues if any.  In our situation they told us Ivanna had Down syndrome.  REALLY?  :D.  They also told us she had flat feet.  REALLY? LOL  Anyway all was going fine especially since the translator we knew everything there was to know about Princess Ivanna and then some.  THEN they turned the file our direction and showed us baby girl's baby picture that's when the plumbing started to leak.  She's a beautiful little princess now just like she was then.  Our translator, Nadya, will take us tomorrow afternoon to pick up our referral and then we will be off to the orphanage first thing Friday morning for our first meeting with Princess Ivanna - can not wait.  After the initial meeting we will be able to go almost anytime and of course as many times as Anna and Yuri want to go we will go with them when we can.  These two are VERY special people to us.  Without them we would not have our princess for sure and they will continue to play a very important role in all of our lives.

Yuri also picked us up and took us to several places in the city site seeing.  All I can say is WOW!!  The city is beautiful.  We met up with Anna for dinner and again FANTASTIC.  We got to talk about everything from start to finish from present to future of our little girl.  Hard to believe that the great deal of love in their hearts for Ivanna is what allows them the courage to get through this.

After dinner they came up to the apartment where I could show Anna everything that we brought with us for Ivanna and we gave her the scrapbook created for her by Donna Brewer.  She loved it.  I told her she needed to translate the poem and when she did she was going to cry.  They both said they have cried a lot during this process and I can only imagine.

The society here and their thinking of children/adults with DS is just highly mind boggling to us.  They and our facilitator said very rarely will you see a child with DS walking the streets???  WHAT???  We then told them that they have jobs and attend REGULAR school and anything else they want to achieve then they certainly can.  Today was extremely fun and we were able to learn so much about them  More pictures and videos coming soon just wanted to make sure I got this out.

By the time all of you get up on Friday morning we will have seen Princess Ivanna for the very first time.

Flight Delay!!!

Anna if you are reading this - our flight to Borispol will arrive at 4:15 p.m. Flight 3230.  I am also going to try and e-mail you. 

Because of a medical emergency on the flight just previous to ours the flight had a significant delay therefore we ended up changing our flights to New Orleans to Chicago to MUNICH to Kiev.  We will arrive in Kiev at 4:15 p.m. as opposed to the original 1:15 p.m. arrival.

It is ok though just a change in pace a tad.  We will be there soon.

We Depart!

Today is the day our journey goes to a whole new level.  Our paper pregnancy is about over and we are about to delivery a healthy blue eyed princess!!  We have asked God to watch over our boys while we are gone as we will certainly miss them, we have asked Him to watch over us during our travels and to protect us and our baby girls biological family in the days that come.  If all of you will help us do the same and pray for the same things all will go well.  We fly out of New Orleans at 12:30 p.m. today and will land in Ivanna's country at 5:15 a.m. Tuesday morning our time - 1:15 p.m. their time.  We go from New Orleans, to Washington, to Frankfurt and arriving in Kiev.

Thank you all who have supported us and continued to pray for us and our family.  Without God's will and God's blessing our dream would certainly not be becoming a reality!!

We will update on Facebook at each arriving destination as we are able - we don't have any lengthy layovers.  On missions at the airports to pick up requests from the boys.

Love you all and talk to you soon!

Less than one week away!

We are now less than one week away from being on a plane.  Anna sent pictures today from her visit this week-end.  What an adorable little angel she is.  So glad we are taking bubbles looks like she loves them.  Did I mention how very hard this is going to be I just can not imagine how hard this will be on them but I hope they know that they can continue to follow her as she grows and blossoms in to a young lady that will be all she can be.

Here are the latest pictures of her and a short video.

6 days, 18 hours, 7 minutes and 5 seconds until we are on the plane heading for the Dulles Airport.  OH how wonderful this is going to be.  Yes, we know there will be some rough times because we are away from our home surroundings.  We will be away from our boys and from our animals who are also part of our family and we will miss our families and friends but the sweet little princess that returns with us will be a great addition to our family.

Continue your prayers as God continues to bless our lives daily.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, have not had a lot of time for blogging lately - been spreading time quite thin.  The boys have been here so we have been spending time with them.  And most importantly they had a GREAT time!  Work has been quite crazy for the both of us with both of us getting ready to leave.  So, now, it's Saturday and this is our last week-end alone to wrap up on the packing side.

Last night we went on a search to find our little princess a jewlery box and we had already looked at several and knew what we were after and we found one!!! I'll post pictures after I write.

Ivanna's biological mother and I have passed several e-mails this week.  They are thankful that we are coming but I can not say enough how this will be bitter sweet so when we are there I am sure it will be emotional for us both because this has truly been the journey of a lifetime and I just tell you without my husband who rallied for this adoption I'm not sure we would have done it.  Not because I didn't want it more than anything I just didn't think it was possible but he kept reminding me that if we let God have control then it is possible and He will allow it to happen and He did.

She is going to the orphanage to see Ivanna today I think so hopefully I will be getting more pictures and videos of our sweet little girl. 

Ok so already told you we went shopping on a mission to find a jewelry box because those of you who have been here knows this child doesn't need anything in this house - she has it all, just like the boys - makes Christmas and birthdays extremely hard.  Well, guess what she ended up with MORE dresses.  Need to run both of us are getting our hair cut this morning so just remember to say prayers for us and our family and for Ivanna and her biological family.  This is going to be tough for so many reasons.

We also got her the baby doll that goes with the outfit that matches her dress. 

To help her understand as she gets older how she got here - we took this globe and added a few decorations.  We have little pink "diamonds" going from the Ukraine to Mississippi and an airplane that shows how she got here.  Then we added some ribbon so it would match her room decor.

Here are some of her babies on her bed waiting on her to come home.  The big one in the middle is her dollie that will have some outfits that match hers.  Then of course we have three of the baby Princesses...have two more that we want to find - Baby Ariele and Baby Belle.

Here is her Dollie and Me up close and she even resembles Ivanna but not quite the beauty factor.  :D

Ok closing here we have mommy and daddy bonding over a cup of coffee time.  Catch you later!  Thanks again!

Two Weeks

Well, today marks two weeks when we walk out the door to leave for the airport.  I feel as though if I were to get the call now to walk out the door we would be ready.  The only thing not in our suitcases are our clothes other than that we are sitting on GO!  Hubby is getting ready for his time off from work not sure how he will adjust to that.  Me, well, I am planning on working from the Ukraine since I will have an enormous amount of time on my hands and feel as though it will help take up some empty spots until we are able to get Ivanna.   The time difference there will help make that happen so I'm glad I have the ability to be able to work remotely.

Had yet another fun filled day with the boys yesterday.  Church, great lunch, nap and shopping.  Ended the day with Pizza yummy!  The boys are getting more excited - everytime someone comes over they have been quick to take on the "tour guide" of her room.

Thanks for continuing your prayers for us and our family please also include her biological parents as well because I know this will be hard on them but they are also a part of our lives.

Six Months and One Week

Well, today marks six months and one week since we started this process and wow what a process it has been.  Now that things are winding down a tad both of us are again back to a comfortable feeling as opposed to an anxious feeling.  Well, me much more anxious than my husband because he just kept reminding me that we had to give it to God and for some reason I kept trying to take it back.  :D  Imagine that - there goes that control.  Well, fact of that matter is - unfortunately no one has control of their life except for God and once we come to that realization then all of our needs will be met and we will be directed according to His plan and not according to ours. 

With that being said - we had a wonderful time with the boys yesterday.  I think it's finally becoming a reality to them that Ivanna will be home soon.  I think for about three months we kept saying we will know something next week and poor things they eventually thought "next week" was never coming.  I'm so glad they were here when we got our last approval in the mail!

We have a lot to do today good thing we started packing early because we have pulled stuff out and put stuff in on several different occassions.  Thank goodness Andy thought of making a list of everything we put in the suitcase.  GREAT idea.  Thinking we had better pack Ivanna a few more outfits just in case she is with us longer in the apartment.  Think we are down to only taking two suitcases now - we want to make this easily manageable. 

Worked on additional "thank you" cards this morning.  We could just write and write and write and are so thankful for what has been done in our lives that there just are not enough words to express the thankfulness.

We picked up Ivanna's biological parents a few more "happies" yesterday as a token for them to remember us by.  So glad they have access to our blog so they can follow in Ivanna's happiness.

Thanks again to all of you who are continuing to say prayers for our new direction in life and we look forward to a successful homecoming soon.