1 week of freedom!

HI everyone!! I just wanted to check in real quick and let you all know we made it home safely!!! A week ago I took Misha out of the orphanage forever, we flew home Sunday and have been enjoying our first week at home. Our travel home went much better then I had expected and Misha did amazingly well....he only had a little meltdown right before our last flight home and honestly I was expecting it to happen way before that point and it wouldn’t have taken much to send me into meltdown mode at that point either. Overall travel was great and the flight staff on all three flights were AMAZING!!! We were met at the airport but our family and a small group of friends and it was the perfect homecoming for us. On Sunday it will be one week that we have been home and it all seems unreal still. We are all adjusting well and still getting caught up on sleep and the time change. I am working on collecting homecoming photos and will post them all soon. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and will post pictures soon!!:)

GOTCHA.....

HERE IT IS.......ENJOY!!:)

 Thank to everyone who said a prayer, donated and supported us emotionally! Without all of you we would have never been able to make it through this journey. And thank you to my amazing husband...you are my best friend and I am so lucky to have you walk next to me on this journey. Our kids are so blessed to have you as their dad...I love you forever and always!!! Thank you again to everyone....Misha and I are headed home on Sunday and I am so excited to share the next chapter of our lives with you!! 

Love,

    Melissa

TWO.....

TWO....only two more nights that our little boy will sleep in an orphanage alone without the love of his family!!! And only 4 more nights of being here in Ukraine!!! I can’t believe this journey has come to an end...my feelings are so bittersweet about our going home...I will have lived in this country for exactly 6 weeks once I get on that plane headed back home and, although there is a MAJOR language barrier I can say this has become home for me and it will always hold a very special place in my heart. I have also had the privilege of spending these last (almost) 6 weeks with two people I am so happy to call my family now. Beth and Lee, I am so honored and grateful that we have been able to walk this journey together. We are forever bonded from this journey and I couldn’t ask for better friends for life!!:) Thank you for showing me the picture of our sweet boy almost a year ago and getting me in touch with the Ray family. God truly placed all three of our families together for a reason and I know these ties will never be broken!! There is a special place in my heart for the Herrington and Ray family and for the country that has named us the parents of our beautiful boy! And as this chapter of our journey is coming to end and I am so very thankful for all of you who have clicked on the links and followed our journey. Without that support and encouragement we wouldn’t be where we are today. So thank you again for reading our blog and following our story, it means a lot to us!! 

Before I go and share pictures....on friday keep your eyes out for a special video about our gotcha day!!:)

Looking at where he should start with the removal of the toys...

Still looking...

He loves to make the curtains move....and this mama already has an idea for how to create this safely in his room!:)

Trying to get into the cubby hole....

Still trying!:)

On the move...I'm going to be in trouble at home!

Having a staring contest with the horse!:)

The count down is happening!!

The count down is on!!!! After today we have been we have the go ahead to by tickets home and buy tickets I have done!!!:) This means that our liite boy has only 3 (maybe 4) nights left in the orphanage and only 6 days until we come home!!!!! What a wonderful Mother’s Day present for me!!:) I can’t wait to be reunited with my boys at home along with our family and friends!! I have had so much fun while here in Ukraine and I am a little sad to be leaving in 6 days. But I do have to say I am so excited get home and back to my life. It seems like forever since I left and I'm excited to get our little guy home and being our life as a family of 4!!

Last Friday started the beginning of the end as we started our “paper job” as our driver Nicko refers to it. Friday we got a TON done which put us ahead of what we thought our timeline for coming home would be. And I can honest say that on Friday someone was looking out for us. Everywhere we went things went faster then expected and the biggest thing was we arrived at the tax id office after the scheduled hours and a amazingly someone was still working and willing to do our paperwork!!!!! So today we (Myself and the Herrington’s) only had to take the kids to the passport office. At first I was a little nervous....I’ve heard many different stories about kids getting sick in the car or being stuck sitting in Nicko’s van for hours and many other different stories. We stopped by the office to hand them our paperwork, so they could get working on the paperwork they needed to fill out...while they did that Nicko took us over to the orphanage where we waited for the kids to be handed to us. And let me tell you it was the cutest thing ever....Olivia, Beth and Lee’s daughter, was dressed up in what I would call her Sunday best...they put her in a sweet little dress and tights and the cutest little scarf hat thing...and then Mykhaylo came down stairs in the cutest little outfit (none of which matched but I really didn’t mind) he had a blue shirt and shorts on with purple socks and sandals that were clearly to big for him...but for the first time in all our visits he wasn’t wearing tights and he was so happy and content it didn’t matter to me!!:) Once we got in the car he clung to me like crazy and was clearly very nervous! (The only time he’s ever been in a moving vehicle was when he was being taken to the hospital for cardiology check-ups and he rode in a ambulance for that...so his experiences may not have always been the best in the car). After a few minutes he warmed up and I put him in the seat next to me with the belt across his lap (no, they aren’t really big on carseats here) and he LOVED it!!!!! As soon as he was sitting on his own he was playing with his toys I brought and looking around like crazy! The passport office was a totally different experience..he was not digging the set up they had...they had him sitting on a stack of books in a chair so he would be tall enough for the camera but the second I set him down on the chair he lost it and wanted nothing to do with it. Thankfully Beth and Nicko made LOTS of noise to distract him and we got his picture!!:) After that we returned the kids back to orphanage and I called it a day. I have forgotten how tiring waking up early is since I haven’t really had to over the last few weeks!! I guess I should get use to it since I’m headed home in a few short days and it means early wake ups again!

So that has been my last few days here in Ukraine! I am hoping the next few go by just as fast. Wednesday is Victory day here and I am excited to see all the going ons of the city! We have been told there will be concerts and parades and shows of all kinds! Sounds fun and a great way to head into the last few days of being in this amazing country!!:)

Now for what you’ve been waiting for......Pictures!!!!:) 

  

Love this face... 

trying to see from under one of the many hats they have put on him!

Trying to get some food from the footless spoon...

Holding tight to me in the beginning of the car ride.

Playing in the car.... 

Such a big boy in the seat with a seat belt!:)

Here is a little Video I took on my phone on ride in the van...

P.S. he LOVED seeing himself in the camera!:)