Day 3...Another Fun Adventure!!

Hi everyone! Well day 3 is in the books and it was another amazing day!! We had our appointment yesterday to request a referral to go see Aaron at 9a.m. and it was quick, easy and painless. I didn’t think I was going to be nervous but for some reason my nerves kicked into high gear in the middle of the night and it turned out is was all for nothing. We arrived with another family and had to wait about 25/30 minutes…we were then ushered into a side entrance of the building and asked to wait again. After a quick minute they told us to follow Serge (one of the facilitators for Reece’s Rainbow) up the stairs…he lead us into one room and the other family into another connecting room. As we sat and waited, we were asked to prepare our passports. We set our passports on the table and waited for our next set of instructions…..Serge came into our room and was handed Aaron’s profile, he began to translate the file to us…..he informed us that he had a syndrome of Down’s…which made me giggle from the way he said it…..then he let us know about some of his heart conditions, which we were prepared for, and then went into some of his families information. We also were able to see three….that right I said THREE new pictures of him….one was a baby picture and it made our hearts melt, another he looked to be about one and the next I’m guessing was when he was 2….I’m think it’s one for every. We also found out his birthday and information about his birth…this part was little tricky since we were having to kind of us sign language with our social services worker who was left to explain the rest of information. All of this took maybe 10 minutes, I think we did more waiting then we did talking. After our appointment we rushed back to our apartment to fill Beth and Lee in on what happened for us and let them know it wasn’t as stressful as we’ve seen it made out to be. Their appointment went smoothly and they were able to see a picture of their precious little Olivia which they had never seen! So now we all go and pick up our referrals in the late afternoon today and then bright and early Wednesday morning we go meet our babies!!!! All four of us are so excited but I just know the anticipation of Wednesday is going to drag out tomorrow, but the wait will be worth it I just know it!!:)

So now that I have written a short novel I have to say that the above all took place within an hour and a half of our morning…..which left us with the whole day ahead. So we decided it would be wise to ride the metro and go scout out the orphanage before we start doing this on our own. Well, it was a very interesting adventure to say the least and a VERY cold one at that. As we got on the metro my excitement grew because for the first time I felt like a real city person….growing up in the suburbs doesn’t leave a lot of chances to ride on a subway, so this was just so awesome to me….before we left we received directions from friends and even with the guide of the directions was got a little turned around! David finally asked an English speaking kid where the streets were he pointed us in the right direction. As we walked the weather decided to go from sleet to snow to rain which if hadn’t been for the drive we all had to go see the orphanage I would have turned around gotten right back on the metro! But we kept walking and finally we found it!!! It was everything I thought it would be…and our little boy was sitting right inside the buildings on the other side of the gates and it made this mama want to just rush through them and snatch him up. But I didn’t…Wednesday will be here before you know it and I can handle the wait (I hope).

After that fun adventure Beth and I decided it was time have a taste of home for a late lunch/early dinner at Fridays…this seems to be the stomping grounds for all the adopting families and the food was DELICIOUS!!! Maybe it was because our meal the day before kind of left Beth and I down or maybe it was because we were just really hungry, but whatever it was the food melted in our mouths and we all cleared our plates!! This city really is rooting its way into my heart and I love every minute of it, and the best part is I have David, my best friend and love of my life, with me!! The added bonus is being able to experience all of this with Beth and Lee…and I am so thankful for all of this!:)

Well, now that it’s 3:00am here and I wide awake thanks to my 6+ hour nap earlier (yes, jet lag finally showed its ugly face) and I will leave you with some photos from our day…as I am off to try and get another few hours of sleep!!:)

Waiting outside the DAP/SDA with the Rowe Family for our appointments...and yes it was FREEZING!!!

The loooong escalator down to the metro…

Beth and I walking to the orphanage…

The first sight of the orphanage!!

The sign says it all to us!! And the gates lead into our little guys world for the last 3 years!!

A peek at the outside play areas…

The sign that hangs outside on the wall of the orphanage….simple but so beautiful to me!!:)

Finally Fridays!!!

And the final picture from today and certainly NOT the last picture of food you'll be seeing…Beth’s yummy burger!!!:)

Day 2...Getting to Know Kiev

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn’t post about our day yesterday but.....we have been very busy exploring and taking in every part of this amazing city!! I can already say that any homesickness I had is gone. However I am missing Ryan like crazy, but knowing he is in VERY good hands with our family and close friends makes it soo much easier to relax!! Our apartment here is wonderful and very simple and I love it!! One of the best perks is David and I are sharing the apartment with Beth and Lee and having them here is like having piece of home with us, and we couldn’t ask for better roommates! 

Yesterday was our second day here and what a fun day it was! We started our morning out with a warm cup of coffee and tea at a local coffee house, people watching and watching the snow flurries come down. Which Beth and I were heaven with the snow.....and this  is when we knew we were true California girls....while everyone else was fussing over the cold and snow we were loving every second of it!!:) After coffee we meet up with Eugene and he gave us a walking tour of our local area. He showed us where we get on the metro when we start going to and from the orphanage. He also took us grocery shopping which was a different experience but still fun none the less. After spending the day walking around this beautiful city I can see why every family that has stayed here for their adoption wants to come back. I’m sure we’ll be back...one day!:) After all our exciting walking we took a nice nap and then headed back out to the Ukrainian Buffet everyone talks about.....now before I go into details about our meal I need to remind you that I am the world’s pickiest eater so I was and still am a little hesitant about trying things out of my comfort zone...ok so about our meal.....David and Lee were in absolute heaven with all the fun choices...but Beth and I not so much! I did try a bite of a cheese pancake thing and it was not my cup of tea which lead me to turn my fork to trying food off of David’s plate and I LOVED the Varenyky....which is a ravioli type dish stuffed with all kinds of different things like meat, cabbage, cherries....ours had meat and they were DELICIOUS!!!! David also had a fried breaded pork thingy and that too was delicious. So I am taking VERY small baby steps and Mom you would be so proud of me!!:) After our interesting meal we headed back and hung out at the apartment for the rest of the evening. Since we have been here I have loved begin able to do facetime with Ryan, our parents  and some close friends. The technology we have at our finger tips is absolutely amazing. 

So that is just about it....I would say our first full day in country has been a success and we are getting more and more comfortable by the day!:) Tonight I’ll post about today's events and add more pictures for everyone to see!!

We are here!!!

We made it!!! We have arrived safely in Eastern Europe and I guess it’s time to spill on where in the world we actually are, well.......we are in Ukraine!! And we are so excited to finally be able to walk in the same footsteps as the adoptive families who have come before us and we finally get to experience the country where our sweet little boy is from. I have read and reread about this experience from other parents adopting from here and I can’t really believe it’s actually happening!! This evening we were joined by our close friends Beth and Lee Herrington, and we couldn’t ask for a better couple to be sharing this journey with. We didn’t do to much tonight but we did make it down to Independence Square and checked out the shops above and below ground that are around there, we followed that with dinner at a delicious little pizza place in one of the malls and then headed back to the apartment. Now its time to relax and go to bed. But before I go enjoy the first pictures of our trip!!:)

A view of Independence Square

David and I in Independence Square

CHEERS!! Enjoying our first of many meals together!!:)

Tried our first chocolate bar tonight!

It's Really Happening!!!!

Hi Everyone!! Sorry I haven't posted a new blog lately but I promise I have a REALLY good excuse. Life in the Chellson household has been a very busy one over the last 3 weeks. We received our travel date 2 weeks ago...aaannnddd....in less the 7 hours we will be boarding a plane to our sweet boys country!! And I can't even begin to tell you how excited and nervous and anxious and stressed we are right now! We have worked so hard for so long and the light at the end of this adoption tunnel is shinning VERY bright right now. The next couple of days are going to long and tiring but so worth every minute of it!!:) Our little boy is within our reach and we are sooo excited!!


I want to thank all of you again who keep coming back to read our blog and follow our journey. I can now promise you the best part is about to start! So stay tuned and check back often...more posts and pictures with our sweet boy in them will be coming soon!!


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, I'm off to try and get some kind of sleep and will post more tomorrow!!

And the wait continues.........

Hi everyone, I just wanted to drop in and give a quick (and VERY short) update! I was hopping that the next post I would be writing would be about our travel date and talking all about our amazing travel plans....but I'm not! We have been waiting for over three weeks, which is typical, and I am starting to feel and sound like Dory from Finding Nemo when I tell people we are still waiting but in instead of hearing "Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swimming, swimming, swimming"....I hear "just keep waiting...just keep waiting...just keep waiting, waiting, waiting"... I know our wait is almost over and soon the post with the most exciting news IS coming but until then we will wait and get the house ready for our little guy to come home!!:)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thank you for the continued support! It really means the world to us and I promise as soon as we get any news I'll be posting about it!!

Just keep waiting......

Hi everybody! First I want to say Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day!! And now for a quick little update for everyone. Tomorrow will be one week since our dossier was submitted to Aaron’s country!! This means within the next two weeks (we hope) we should be getting the date for when we need to be in his country!! Sooooo this means travel time is VERY close to being here and we are so excited and ready to go meet our boy! But for now we will keep waiting…..and waiting……until it’s time to go get him!! I hope all of you had a great Valentine’s Day and I will post as soon as I get our date!:)