2 months this Sunday!!!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We have been very busy settling in and trying to adjust to all that is happening around us. Oksana has settled in so nicely. Our other children say that it feels as if she has always been here, how amazing it truly is. We had many doctor visits and appointments at the hospitals and next week we meet with the surgical team at Shrinners Hospital to determine what operations will be coming up in the fall for her. Each day she says more and more in English and teaches us more and more in Russian. It is funny to spend a day in our home. Friends of the children come over and greeet her with a Russian Hello and will leave knowing a few more words in Russian. She is not at all shy and very confident. She thinks she is the boss most of the time and is training us well. I can not believe that in two days it will have already been two months since we took physical custody of her, time flies. Look for new photos in a couple of days.

HERE ARE THE PHOTOS

Sorry for the delay I will update all later.

SO GOOD?/NO! GREAT TO BE HOME!!!!!

Yesterday was a very long day.... It started with a phone call that the translator who was going to bring me to the airport and see us through customs, broke her arm and it was swelling so she had to go to the doctors. She arranged for someone else to take us but this person practically left us at check in. Me, Oksana two large luggage bags and two carry on's. Once my luggage went through x-ray I had to get on a line to register and process the bags. Well the man told me to enter in one line so I did. Well this very large older gentleman started going off in either German or maybe Russian, anyway since I am not good in either I played dumb like most of the Russians I have encountered this week did and continued to walk. He got louder and I said I speak english.. His response a negative one was ignored by me, then his wife pushes her luggage cart right into me and Oksana. Oksana was definitely hurt a little, well you know the saying about a lioness protecting her cub well out of no where A reation simular to that saying surfaced and I physically grabbed her shirt and yelled, thats my baby you just ran into, maybe stronger words, I just reacted. To date that was the rudest act I was involved in. Then I see security and I feared getting in trouble for touching someone after all I was in Russia, well she saw it and came to my defense, then I got to customs and encountered another individual who was as anti-american as I have seen, she starts questioning me in Russian and I respond very little and English. Her face was an expression of Discust and now she is questioning Oksanas paperwork. Imagine my stress and I have not even made it to the plane as yet. She wanted me to give her the originals (they are only to be opened by US immigration) So I said NO! She called to someone else who was actually human and within 40 minutes I was on my way to the plane.. Then boarding the woman tried to rip by boarding pass out of my hand and have me sit in a different seat. Well the problem was earlier this week they cancelled Oksanas flight and I had to pay again for new tickets. I made sure we had window seats Better to keep a small one occupied, and now she was telling me I can't have the seats even though My boarding pass says I have them, My advise Never FLy Aeroflot. I think they hate Americans.Long story short all the fuss even though I was in the right meant nothing and we did not get to sit in the seats designated to be ours. Was the plane full? No.. Was my original seat available ? Yes, anyway at least I was on the plane. I did however let Oksana play with the call button for the first 2 hours, hey what was I to do? She had no window to look out of, not my problem, Spiteful? Yes.. I am only human.Once in flight I realized how sad it was to have run into so many unhappy people so full of misery in less then 2 hours in one day.All in all Oksana did so well having to sit on a plane for ten hours. Unfortunitely she would not fall asleep and then passed out 42 minutes before the plane landed. That meant waking up this little one who I then had to carry along with my carry on and her play bag. She refused to fully wake up and I had to manage getting out the documents for cutoms while carrying her. I figured with all I had accomplished this week I guess I could do this as well." All things through Christ" rang so true this week. What a feeling walking to get through customs on American soil, and being able to walk right up to a customs agent and after 5 minutes hearing "welcome back and congradulations" words to bring tears to my eyes. I somehow managed to get her to walk and was able to get our luggage and get through to the exit where Darius and Three of our four children were waiting for us. Balloons, Flowers and a teddy bear and how blessed I felt at that moment, I somehow felt like I was returning from war.. I was finally home....

ONE MORE DAY!!!

It is about 10:30pm Friday, I am all packed for our big day tomorrow.We did the visa papers today and it was by far the easiest part of the trip. No problems no questions just here is your daughters visa and congradulations. Our flight is 3:30 tomorrow afternoon so please pray us back to the states safely and look for pictures of our sweet baby on Sunday. They will be posted. Today was the first day she actually ate a good meal and she seems to be settling in well. I think her fear of me leaving her again is no longer even a thought in her mind. She constantly is saying mama which is one of the best sounds I have heard all week. Thank you for fo;;owing us on this journey and for your encouraging words and your prayers, you will never know how much they mean.

A DAY WITH OKSANA

It is now the end of our day. It was a day of pure fun. No papers, planes or legal work. I was able to sit back and get to know my daughter. She is so incedible. I am unable to put photos on the site so I will do it when we get home. We leave in two days and it can't come to soon. Oksana is very good with me and has not cried once except when it was nap time.The director at the orphanage said she is a little clown and today I got to experience that. She is refusing to speak english but is very patient with me and teaches me Russian one syllable at a time, correcting me when I am wrong and clapping and praising me when I am right. She cracks me up. It is hard to believe that we are at the end of the adoption journey. What started out as something I was so afraid of doing, literally running from the thought of it to being here today with her. I could not imagine my life without this blessing. I am so thankful to God for keeping the pressure on and for me to have no other option then to trust Him. My life will be forever changed and my faith forever greater. Personally my childhood was difficult livingwith a deformity, and never did I think anything good could come of such horrible memories, today I firmly believe God was preparing me for such a day as this. I feel that all I had gone through was to prepare me for today and I am forever grateful for this blessing, Oksana Grace Oshidar ( our angel)

WHAT A GIFT I RECEIVED TODAY

It is 10:00 pm and I am falling over with fatigue but had to post this. Today Oksana is exactly 4 years and 5 months old and I have been with her since 4pm. She is truly an angel, She screamed for her caregivers and I felt like I was breaking her heart, the first 30 minutes of the ride was so difficult to bare, then she settled in and actually smiled at me a few times. within the first hour she snuggled her tiny body against me and remained there the rest of the ride to the hotel. Right now she is sitting here with me coloring. I still feel like I am dreaming, words cannot describe the feelings that I am experiencing. We will be flying out to Moscow in the morning and will be there for 4 days. One new problem somehow Aeroflot cancelled our return tickets, and Darius has been fighting with them all day so just pray we get a flight to get home. I cannot put photos on from this computer so maybe from Moscow, she is so cute.......

I"VE ARRIVED

How amazing is God! Those are the words that keep echoing in my mind. There were a few scary moments which had me relying on God throughout my day yesterday as well as into today.But I did it, without having someone drag me onto the plane, to be honest it was just so clear to me that our daughter was here and the only way was to just do it, without fear, and wow! I did however get to my room and fall to my knees crying, and praying, but that too was a good place to be. Today I slept, and had tea and went shopping down the block. I did treat myself to a pair of EGLE they are European shoes that are amazing, I refused to buy them last time Darius and I were here but I figured why not. Tomorrw I will be picked up at 9:30 am and go and get Oksanas passport then we go to get her. I have this nervousness in my belly today it is weird, I know it is real and yet it feels so unreal. I do miss Darius being here, it is an experience that we have done together, Russia is not the same without him. I do feel safe though so having been here twice does help make it easier being alone this time. I picked out the clothes for her to wear and hopr to be able to post photos on this blog of her tomorrow.

ONE DAY TIL TAKEOFF

I spent the morning trying to organize for my children the upcoming week. Thrown into that was Eli my 10year old waking up with a 103 degree fever, not what I need one day before traveling. I still need to get papers notarized and am still wishing my husband were going, but all will be worked out. I know the flight leaves NYC at 8:30 pm and I will get there Sunday evening. On Monday I will get all Oksanas passport and other papers in order and will take her from the orphanage on Tuesday, pray for travel tomorrow as well as for Eli to feel better, I can not imagine leaving him sick.

Five days to go!

It is hard to believe that in 5 days I will be back on the plane headed for Russia one more time. The flight is booked and all last minute shopping for Oksana is complete. We are preparing our children here for me being gone again for another week. As much as I know how things work in Russia, and where things are it is still slightly scary to think about going alone. I realize that this is just what has to be done to bring Oksana home, so I will press on through my fears and do whatever it takes/ It was so hard to leave Russia without her yet getting home allowed me to be with our children and do last minute preps fr Oksana. The time is moving quickly and I am looking forward to getting custody on June 2nd. That will truely be a day to remember. Please keep praying.

It is official OKSANA GRACE OSHIDAR

We have just come back from court. Today was truly more of a formality. once more the laywer brought up the petition as well as the director of the orphanage and the social worker. Unfortunitely, the prosecutor did not move from her position. Darius and I will be flying home tomorrow without Oksana. As sad as it is, we go with the peace knowing that those here caring for her love her so much. There were many tears at the courts decision and we will view the next ten days as part of Gods mighty plan. Our children at home are missing us and the idea of seeing them tomorrow makes me glad. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers and we look forward to showing off our beautiful Oksana to all of you very soon.

PRE COURT

We have just returned from court. It was emotionally draining. We got to hear the facts of Oksanas' past. How she was abandoned by her parents and how she suffered at their hands and how she has been rejected by other families due to her deformity. Then how she realizes nobody wanted her because she is different. It was heartbreaking. Our attorney fought with good reasons to waive the ten days as well as the social worker from the orphanage who told how when we left her yesterday she was crying and fears we will not be back for her. I can't imagine all she is dealing with. Then we were told, there are no good grounds to waive the ten days. I just started crying, I am so sad, I need to somehow get it together because we have court again tomorrow and crying or showing any emotion is not allowed. We will be leaving on Wednesday morning to come back to the states. I want to ask for prayer for some miracle that tomorrow brings a change of heart for the decision, but I am trying to now just accept the laws that the court is following. It is going to be so hard to leave here without our sweet Oksana.

INDESCRIBABLE

What a great day we had with Oksana. At first once again she cried, then we were in the car taking her to get her passport photos. She was on Dadys lap the whole time and she was so good. We went back and was able to spend a good 2 hours with her which was the longest visit yet. The translator told her that this time we will be back to get her soon. It was difficult to kiss her and say goodbye she is just so adorable. When you look at all she has been through in her short life it is amazing what a happy, positive attitude she has. Because of her life though it is apparent how guarded she is. Trust is difficult for her and will be one of the first issues we will address. She sat looking at photos of her brothers and sister and of the family dogs( which by the way she loves dogs) Then we tried shoes on her for the trip home. Daddy took the tags off and she collected them all and after playing with them tucked them into a pocket of the photo album we brought her. It was so cute.Tomorrow is our first day of court, we really do not know what to expect, so it will be a new step along this journey.

8 Doctor medical completed!!!

Today is now behind us, we were done in less then two hours with alot of the results we brought from the US accepted. The clinic for TB was a scarey experience sitting there with people who have TB coughing and I was just praying the whole time. Within ten minutes we were on our way.We have no program requirements tomorrow and we get to see Oksana on Sunday.

Our reunion with Oksana

Our day started at 5:30am and we were on the road at 6:00am. It is about 2 1/2 hours from the hotel to the orphanage and we had to meet with the social worker for court. When we arrived the director told us Oksana has been waiting for us. She would pretend to call us on the phone and for the last two days she just wanted us to be there. She ran right to Darius with a big smile, then cried so hard she couldn't stop. It took at least thirty minutes for her to calm down. Then she was happy and giving us kisses and teaching Darius Russian. It was so cute, he would say something in English and she would correct him and say it in Russian.We do need prayer for court. We found out today that the prosecutor refused our petition to waive the ten days, our coordinator will still try to approach the judge on Monday but it does not look good, which meaans I will flly back at the end of the month alone to get her.Tomorrow is our 8 Doctor medical and then we can rest until Saturday. We will be with Oksana again on Sunday.

From Russia With Love

We are here. What an awesome feeling right now. All of our planes were on time, no delays, customs was a breeze. We were told that we will visit with Oksna tomorrow. so I will try and sleep now because we have to be up in five hours.

5 days and counting

Today was full of last minute questions for our adoption agency, more packing and lots of lists. With each day we are getting more excited and at the same time nervous. It will be so wonderful to see Oksana again and I am wondering what her reaction will be when she sees us. She asks so many questions all the time we were told, so I am praying that she has been asking about us so they can reassure her that we are on the way. Keep praying and we will keep you up to date on all that happens.