Just a very quick note. Our flight arrived into STL about 45 minutes late, I think we made it home about midnight? It is now almost 1am (here) and we are ready for sleep. (Our bodies tell us it is 9am Wednesday morning.) We got up 31 hours ago Tuesday morning in Kiev, and have had very limited sleep on the plane- except Donny, he traveled and slept terrific! So we'll see how long his alarm clock will let mama & papa sleep in Wednesday!
Thanks for all your prayers,
A Very Thankful Daugherty Family
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
We Are Heading Home
Hello to Friends & Family Around the Globe: WE ARE HEADING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, this is Monday and you have not heard from us since Friday. Things here remain terrific…more about that in a moment. Donny is breaking in his parent and his parents are loving it.
---Saturday & Sunday have were very eventful and left us little time to type in the blog. When we did try to update on Sunday, we had lost or internet modem for the entire day. (If you have tried to send us e-mail or a blog comment in the last 48 hours, sorry but we haven’t received them.)
---Monday has been a terrific day as well. It is now almost 8pm in our corner of the world. Today we had an unexpected blessing as the U.S. Embassy completed our two days of processing within 5 hours! As soon as God opened that door, we were happy to run through it! By 1pm we had rebooked our plane tickets and we shall be returning home on Tuesday, December 30th.
---So we have to pack yet this evening. Our alarm will go off at 3 am and our driver will leave at 4AM. We request your prayers for safe travel and our new world traveler to bear through it all. Our specific flight information is as follows:
6:45 am Depart Kiev for Amsterdam
Two hour layover in Amsterdam
10:50 am Depart Amsterdam for Detroit
Six hour layover in Detroit
Then a short flight lands us in St. Louis at 8:47pm Tuesday Evening.
---The 6 hour layover in Detroit will be a challenge, but as international travelers we also have to make our way through customs. Since we are bringing the young Ukrainian with us, we will also be in line for the Immigration department. We are told that both of these stops could take us up to 3 hours total. That is where your prayers are really needed.
---So this blog entry might be our shortest but it may also be our most joyous. We will return 5 weeks from the day we departed. Some days have seemed much longer than others, but the little 22 month old joy that we are now welcoming to our family has made it all worth it.
---We also acknowledge that your prayers and encouragement have been terrific tools to help us pass the time here. Most importantly, we give praise to God for all He has accomplished. What He has done here in 5 weeks will be acknowledged forever!
---This final blog entry from Ukraine comes to you with joy and great expectation as we return to see all of you soon.
In His Love,
The American Bound Daugherty Family
Friday, December 26, 2008
WOW- What a Christmas
Dec 24th, 25th, & 26th- WOW WHAT A CHRISTMAS!
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When you last visited the Daugherty family saga, you read of Darrin & Barb’s preparations to bring Donny home on Christmas Eve. Since the last post it has been three days and you haven’t heard much from us. Suffice to say, the first sentence explains the second one. It has been an incredible, busy, and blest time that we have spent the last three days. So if you can stay awake to read this entire post, pour a Coke, grab your Kleenex, hit the Laz-y-Boy, and enjoy the ride.
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Wed., Dec. 24th
Today was the incredible day we had been waiting for. It was a long, drawn-out day but in the end it was all worth it. Nothing went as I imagined and very little happened as we thought it would last night. But it worked, God took care of us.
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Ostap planned to pick us up at 10am. Instead, he went to the notary and did some paperwork ahead of time. We waited at home, and paced, and waited at home, played some Yahtzee, and waited at home-it seemed like the morning lasted forever! A taxi driver picked us up at 12:15pm then we went to Ostap’s home to pick him up. Tuesday evening Ostap had bought fruit for the kids at the orphanage in Donny’s group and candy, coffee & tea for his caretakers. So we loaded those things in the taxi at Ostap’s house. Then we were off to the notary office to sign papers at 12:35pm. I was getting pretty nervous. We had planned on being at the orphanage at 1pm. Ostap called Veta and told her we would be late. We finally signed papers and left the notary office at 1:15pm. Galya and the Adams’ had met us at the notary office; they grabbed our notarized paper and headed to the passport office to file that paperwork so Donny could leave the country with us.
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We had to stop along the way to the orphanage to pick up the Inspector from her office. (Part of her job is to observe signing of adoption paperwork and reaction of child to parents.) We finally arrived at the orphanage at 1:45pm. We carried gifts and Donny’s 1st outfit directly to the second floor. We then continued to the 4th floor and had a short “Hello” with the Assistant Director. Next we headed to the conference to meet up with Veta. Ostap had papers to fill out, and Veta had a few papers for him to fill out as well. The amazing part to me, in this whole paperwork trail, was that Barb & I had to sign two papers and the orphanage gave us the little boy that we had waited so long for. I guess I expected a mountain of paperwork and formalities to change hands when we were dealing with such a precious little life. It has taken us longer to purchase a new vehicle at West Main Motors than it did to receive our son. (No offense to Joe & Travis)
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In the middle of paperwork signing, one of the nurses brought Donny in to us. I don’t know if we were prepared for that moment in time. It was un-ceremonial to them, but seeing our son in the 1st outfit we had purchased for him, and dressed to go home with us, just about melted both of us down to pieces. Barb began to weep, and I was able to hold mine in-for the moment.
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After those signatures, we went back to the Assistant Directors office and she passed a bundle of paperwork to Ostap. These items included his health record, immunization record, birth certificate copies, legal petitions, and several other forms we couldn’t read either. She confirmed that Ostap had Donny’s daily schedule and we were aware of his daily routine. We confirmed that we did. She told us about his medication- he is still taking cough syrup for his rattle and congestion. She asked if we had any more questions, I just thanked her for the care they had given Donny and told her how grateful we were. She smiled and nodded, as she realized my eyes were tearing up. It was an awesome thought to realize we were about to walk out the door with our son.
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We did depart one last time through that cold steel door at 3:40pm Dec. 24th. We stopped at the pharmacy to get Donny’s cough syrup, then to the internet store to get our modem account paid up. On the way home, Donny was so tired; it was passed his nap time. He and I were both very comfortable as he fell asleep in papa’s arms.
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Once to the apartment, Ostap came in and translated Donny’s daily schedule for us. As he departed to go meet Galya, our apartment door closed and it hit me that the three Daughertys were home to begin their life. So the night progressed beautifully. I had preplanned and prepped a meal to save time tonight. Donny could have cared less; I was pretty concerned because he wouldn’t eat much of the chicken or mashed potatoes. However, we discovered that he really enjoys corn. Chewing one kernel at a time, and savoring the flavor of a new vegetable he had yet to enjoy in the institution. After more great play, we grabbed the video camera to get some footage. He had an amazing discovery in our full-length hallway mirror. It was quite a riot when he discovered another little boy mimicking his every movement. When he touched his ear, the other boy did too. When he touched the mirror he met the other boy’s hand. As he danced and flung his arms in the air, the other boy joined in that same celebration. The most hilarious moment occurred as he pulled his shirt up and realized that the other boy had a belly-button in the same location he did. Then he proceeded to rub his belly against the other boy’s as they laughed together!
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8:00 pm was his routine bedtime, and we felt it necessary to try and maintain the same routine the first night. This bedtime adventure didn’t go near as easily as the bath did. We had prepared a little pallet of sofa cushions, sheets, blanket, and pillow at the foot of our bed. As I carried him into the bedroom, I turned off the bedroom light and let him adjust to the light spilling in from the hallway. He soon guessed what was going to happen next and began to cry terribly. So I sat on the edge of the bed and rocked him and tried to comfort him until about 8:10pm. As I laid him on the pallet, it was obvious that he was unsure of his new surroundings. His crying lasted another 5-7 minutes but then ceased. Unfortunately, at about 8:25pm he rocked himself off the pallet and the immediate thump of him hitting the floor was followed by a horrific scream. Barb picked him up to comfort and sooth him and we decided that he needed a little more room than we had allowed for on the preplanned pallet. We decided to lay him on our king-size bed for the time being and let him get back to sleep. The bed fit him much better and he dozed off easier this time. About 10pm we modified his original pallet by adding more cushions along side. I carried him back to the pallet. He remained asleep, and more importantly, remained there all night.
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Meanwhile, Barb & I packed the apartment from 9-11pm Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we are scheduled for a 10:15am flight to take us back to
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Christmas Day-Thursday, December 25th
Wow! What a Christmas! My alarm was set for 6am. I was awakened at 5:55am by a little voice singing and cooing from a pallet at the foot of my bed. At first I thought I was dreaming, and then I realized that God had delivered a Perfect Christmas Angel to Barb & I. I turned on my flashlight and sat up in bed to check on him. Surprise- I saw two little eyes looking back at me. I quickly shut off the flashlight and laid back down hoping he would get more sleep. Too late- he had seen me! About 30 seconds later, I heard a couple more noises (probably Ukrainian words I didn’t recognize), a wiggle- followed by the new words I have learned to revere “Papa, Papa”. So I arose and picked him up and we rocked on the edge of the bed for a few minutes as he rubbed his eyes. I was still a little groggy, but he was awake and ready to go. After a few minutes of racing through the house, we tried to get organized, but we needed to bridle his enthusiasm. Our plans called for us to leave for the airport at 8am.
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At the breakfast table, Donny ate 2 pieces of bread, drank his milk, but wouldn’t touch the oatmeal. We went to plan B and sliced some grapes in half and he loved those. After that we did manage to get all three of us dressed, the house organized, and everything packed. As it was Christmas morning, Barb had wrapped a few toys in some newspapers off the floor in the lobby. Knowing time was short, and he was not going to grasp the concept of his Savior’s birth in the 20 minutes that remained, we opted to let him open one new toy that he could carry onto the plane. We had wrapped an 8” stuffed Dalmatian puppy that resembled the dog he knew as “woof-woof” in the orphanage playroom. So with some coaxing from mama, papa ran the camcorder as he peeled away the newspaper. He was excited to find his “woof-woof” in the classified section!
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Ostap came in the taxi a little after 8am. All the cars in the
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Donny became a traveler today. Yesterday he had left the only home he had ever known. Today he flew out of the only city he has ever seen. The flight was 65 minutes and he did great! We had 3 seats with him in the middle one. He read his books, ate cookies, drank from his sippy cup, and rearranged the in-flight magazines from the back of all three seats. He never fussed once! About the time the plane started down, he started to settle in for a nap. He never got to sleep until we got into the moving taxi. He slept on Barb’s lap the entire 55 minute drive. About 2pm we arrived in the
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After supper, Mama cleaned the kitchen and Papa played with his Perfect Christmas present. About 7:20pm, he was off to the bath and he was thrilled. At 7:45 pm out of the bath and into the p.j.s. We began to play some more, but by 8:15pm it was obvious he was exhausted.
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Tonight he had watched us make his pallet and had probably caught on to the idea. I held him a few minutes, his head hit my shoulder, and his thumb hit his mouth. We walked into the bedroom darkness and I kept talking to him. I laid him down and covered him up and he began his rocking motion from side-to-side. I stood by a minute and then went to the hallway. He cried for about 30 seconds then fell to sleep quickly.
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About 10pm here- 2pm in
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It has been an awesome Christmas! As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we also glory in the gift he has given us through our son, little Donald William.
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Friday, December 26, 2008
We began this day with a busy AM schedule. Our goal is to leave the apartment at 8am for the U.S. Medical Clinic. A medical exam by these doctors, and paperwork completed by them, is necessary to secure the travel visa that we will need from the U.S. Embassy to bring Donny to
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During the night Barb went to the other bedroom to cough and hack through her sinus experience. I got up at 6am and after visiting with her it was obvious she was out this morning. So I dressed and readied myself then went to the kitchen to prep Donny’s breakfast. We caught on yesterday to the fact that he favors soft foods. This morning’s menu consisted of scrambled eggs and rice mixed with diced fresh bananas (his favorite fruit). I then awoke Donny at 6:50am and he awoke quickly and was ready to play in about 5 minutes. He was disturbed because he couldn’t find Mama. So on the way to the kitchen, we went to the second bedroom to check on her. It was evident this was going to be a father/son morning.
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So he loved breakfast. The soft scrambled eggs and bananas in the rice were a terrific hit that we will probably repeat tomorrow. I was so relieved that he was a big eater this morning. Then I changed the wet diaper and got him dressed to head to the medical clinic for his travel exam. Papa was gleaming that our morning seemed to be a great success as we waited for the taxi to arrive. Just before Galya called at 8am, I walked by Donny and noticed a horrific fragrance. I asked him if he had found a dead bloated skunk in the room or if that was a belated Christmas package he had for me. I almost woke Barb because I knew I had to hurry, but decided to go it alone. As I laid him down and readied supplies, Galya called and they were pulling up outside. I told her my scenario and promised I’d hurry. She laughed.
It was terrible- I pulled it together after a couple of dry heaves and got him changed and redressed. Then we sat on the edge of the bed and made a verbal agreement that if he wanted me to pay for college, these moments needed to occur on his mother’s watch from now on. I think he understood. I’m sure we will find out soon enough.
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We exited at 8:05 am for a 1hour drive to the clinic. The traffic was a nightmare and we didn’t arrive until 9:45 am. Things really went smoothly at the clinic. By 10:15 am we were called into the doctor’s office. While Donny was very anxious, and shed a few crocodile tears, I was very pleased to learn that all of his immunizations were current and that there would be no need to see a needle today. We were out of the office by 10:45am, our reports were typed and we were done by 11:30 am. A clean bill of health was an answer to prayer. While at the clinic my facilitator and I were able to ask the doctor about a sinus medication equal to the Sudafed Barb uses in
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Fresh fruit had been a staple in his diet at the orphanage. So for a quick lunch we began by dicing a ¼ of a fresh pear, peanut butter on bread and a few leftover scrambled eggs. He ate almost all of this plus another ¼ of the pear. Great!!
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He played great, but by 2:30pm it was clear he didn’t nap enough. I left for the grocery store to locate more food for the pantry and more Kleenex for Barb’s nose. While I was gone, Barb laid Donny down at 2:45pm. When I returned, I browned some hamburger, boiled a roast, and prepped some other items in advance to our next few meals. By now Barb’s drugs had kicked in and she lay down.
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By 5:30pm I had finished supper and was able to monitor Donny in the playroom. So I went into his bedroom and awoke him from his long slumber. His noise level soon awoke Barb too. By 6:30pm we were all ready for dinner. While organizing the kitchen this afternoon, I discovered a low, flat bowl that I thought would work great for Donny to eat from (things seem to slide off his plate before). He ate macaroni with hamburger and sauce like he had never seen it before- I’m sure he hadn’t. We also had peas and carrots, and then the jell-o appeared last. He ate plenty and he loved peas just like his Papa (Mama always says they’re too mushy). This was a real answer to prayer because we were concerned that we weren’t finding enough foods that he would eat. If he was going to be a picky eater, we hated to see him on Gerber meat sticks as he graduated high school.
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After more play, it was bath time at 7:30pm. He is now professional water splashier and as soon as Barb started filling the tub he got excited with anticipation. I believe soon he will learn to take his own clothes off just so he can get in the water faster. We dipped the little prune out of the remaining water around 8pm. We were a little concerned to see a slight rash developing on Donny’s back tonight. We are praying that it is just a reaction to a new shirt. With the long, late nap he had, we intended to let him stay up later. But by 8:30pm he was rubbing his eyes and beginning to take up sleepwalking. Barb laid him down and he went to sleep pretty easily. Last night he got a great night sleep- tonight we are aiming for all three of us to get a good rest.
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So one last hurdle now remains in this adoption journey. Monday morning we will be at the U.S. Embassy to complete and submit paperwork for Donny’s travel visa to the
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Saturday & Sunday will be a great chance to continue our bonding time with Donny. We also plan to do a little sight seeing with our tour guide, the Ukrainian Queen, Galya. It’s hard to believe that next Tuesday will be our fifth week here on this adoption Odyssey. It seems like we have been away from family and friends forever. Yet, at the same time, we are amazed how God has worked through situations, opened doors, and really blessed us with great facilitators to make this process happen as fast as possible. Most incredible of all, is the little man sound asleep in the other room at this hour. We can’t wait to introduce him to you, continue to raise him in our Christian home, and someday let him pick the perfect nursing home for us.
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Your prayers have been a big part of our success as well and we are so appreciative of the modern technology that we have been able to take advantage of. This internet highway that Al Gore invented has been terrific to remain in contact with you. Your e-mails are the highlight of many of our days.
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We will try to keep you informed over the next few days, but we don’t expect any breaking news until our embassy trip on Monday. So for now, we wish you a great weekend and pray that your family is as happy as ours.
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Ending the year in
Darrin, Sinus Woman, and
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
We are together
Praise God, We are Together!
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This will be a pretty quick post here on Christmas Eve (it's a few minutes before midnight here). Today has been a whirlwind, and tomorrow shows no signs of letting up!
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Wanted to let everyone know that we received our Christmas Miracle this afternoon. Things went great, and we are so appreciative of all who were praying us through this day! So many of you had encouraged us via e-mail, and we were so charged up.
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We left our apartment at 12:10PM today as a couple, and at 5:30PM the three of us returned as the Daugherty Family. After that, things went great. Donny played, ran, and laughed with a new spirit that I don't believe I've seen in those hallways and dimly lit playrooms at the orphanage. Barb & I have a new ensthusiaum as well. So after our first playtime at home, we had our first meal together, then his first bath. He has only showered before, so it was very interesting. But once he finally was ready to sit in the water, he loved it... and boy could he splash! Then came our first bedtime at 8pm. That was a little rough, on him & us. The first 10 minutes he cried, but then he started to settle down & was asleep about 8:25pm. We have a lot to learn about each other, and a lot of adjustments to make. Thank God we aren't walking this road alone. His wisdom will get us through.
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I must close for now. Our airline tickets had to be booked for a 10:30am flight tomorrow. So on Christmas Day, we will fly back to Kiev and prepare for the steps that have to be done there in the future days. We will leave this apartment at 8am to head to the airport.
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This has been an incrediable day! Praise God for our son, and our new family. Hope your Christmas is just as blessed as you celebrate the birth of His Son!
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In His Love,
Darrin (Barb & Donny are sleeping)
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P.S. I've been meaning to ask, but I keep forgetting... If anyone sees a 6 pack of the Coca-Cola 2008 Christmas Bottles at Wal-Mart. Please pick a couple of 6 packs up for Donny, I will probably sell that collection someday to put him through college! They weren't in the stores yet when we left 4 weeks and 2 days ago.
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This will be a pretty quick post here on Christmas Eve (it's a few minutes before midnight here). Today has been a whirlwind, and tomorrow shows no signs of letting up!
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Wanted to let everyone know that we received our Christmas Miracle this afternoon. Things went great, and we are so appreciative of all who were praying us through this day! So many of you had encouraged us via e-mail, and we were so charged up.
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We left our apartment at 12:10PM today as a couple, and at 5:30PM the three of us returned as the Daugherty Family. After that, things went great. Donny played, ran, and laughed with a new spirit that I don't believe I've seen in those hallways and dimly lit playrooms at the orphanage. Barb & I have a new ensthusiaum as well. So after our first playtime at home, we had our first meal together, then his first bath. He has only showered before, so it was very interesting. But once he finally was ready to sit in the water, he loved it... and boy could he splash! Then came our first bedtime at 8pm. That was a little rough, on him & us. The first 10 minutes he cried, but then he started to settle down & was asleep about 8:25pm. We have a lot to learn about each other, and a lot of adjustments to make. Thank God we aren't walking this road alone. His wisdom will get us through.
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I must close for now. Our airline tickets had to be booked for a 10:30am flight tomorrow. So on Christmas Day, we will fly back to Kiev and prepare for the steps that have to be done there in the future days. We will leave this apartment at 8am to head to the airport.
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This has been an incrediable day! Praise God for our son, and our new family. Hope your Christmas is just as blessed as you celebrate the birth of His Son!
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In His Love,
Darrin (Barb & Donny are sleeping)
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P.S. I've been meaning to ask, but I keep forgetting... If anyone sees a 6 pack of the Coca-Cola 2008 Christmas Bottles at Wal-Mart. Please pick a couple of 6 packs up for Donny, I will probably sell that collection someday to put him through college! They weren't in the stores yet when we left 4 weeks and 2 days ago.
Twas The Night Before Donny... (written Tues PM)
Happy Christmas Week!
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Monday, December 22nd
It began with a quick breakfast then I walked uptown. I stopped to convert some currency, purchase some more cell phone minutes, and then stopped at the grocery store for a few things. Back at the apartment, Barb & I waited to begin our day.
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Ostap came at noon with his wife & kids and we began a necessary shopping day. Our goal was to finish purchasing all the things that were necessary for Donny to have upon his departure from the orphanage. We went to a baby clothing store and exchanged a snowsuit for a jacket/jumper combo; we also exchanged other things for different sizes, and purchased his first Pampers. Then we headed to a shoe store. We found the perfect pair of boots to fit his perfect pair of feet. So now everything is purchased in preparation for his arrival at our apartment.
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With all the shopping, we didn’t get to Donny’s until 2pm. Knowing our time with him was short, we played quickly, poked a banana down him, got him sugared up with a juice box, and tried to love on him a little bit. We tried to explain to him we wouldn’t see him on Tuesday because we would be doing paperwork errands. We also explained to him next time he would see us (on Wednesday) he would be coming home as part of our family. He might have looked a little excited (or else it was gas from eating the banana too fast) but he remained pretty non-committal in his comments though. We keep laughing with him about Wednesday being “orphanage break” day, and we are pretty sure he is excited about it too. So our visit ended quickly and at 2:40pm I carried him back upstairs for his nap. He cried most of the way, I almost did too.
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We finally got moisture today, and it wasn’t in Donny’s diaper. Yes, today for the first time since our arrival we saw a little snow and sleet mixture on our way home from the orphanage. It ended shortly after supper, and we saw no real accumulation.
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At home tonight Barb & I rearranged the apartment and made it “kid friendly”. We put away Donny’s clothes, organized a toy area, and moved away the breakables. Barb started a load of clothes and I fixed a pot of Ramen Noodle/mixed vegetable/salsa soup. It wasn’t too bad as far as thrown together Ukrainian make-do meals go.
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So it was a very productive day. It is hard to believe that Donny will be under our full-time care on Wednesday. I guess this goes to prove the Ukrainian Courts are pretty liberal; but obviously with sound judgment!
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Its Tuesday, December 23rd….we officially became parents today!
Today had all the ear-marks of being a jammed packed day and it exceeded all of our expectations. During the night we received more moisture in the form of sleet/snow winter mix. Thus marked my first day of wearing my new boots, I was so excited to put my $35 Payless purchase to use.
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This day is known as “the paper-work maze”. All adoptive parents have to go thru about 4-6 different steps in about 4-6 different buildings in 4 different corners of the city. This explains why Donny is still a resident at the orphanage, even thought we legally could have removed him today. It was a long, and waiting day, for Barb & I. We are glad we didn’t take him along for this ride. I will attempt to give you the short version of how our day transpired.
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The taxi picked us up at 9am then we went to get Ostap at his apartment. By 9:30am we arrived at the orphanage. After a short meeting there, we departed to the courthouse with an orphanage employee with us. As Ostap proof read the court decree that the clerk had prepared for us, he noticed a glaring error. So for the next 45 minutes they worked through wording & reprinted the entire decree. Then we waited for the judge to sign & seal the corrected decree. Next came the most interesting stop of the day, the vital records office. This was a treat. Let me start a new paragraph….
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The vital records office has to prepare the request for the new birth certificate, based on the court decree we just received. The lady we had to deal with has woken up on the wrong side of the bed all of her life. She was determined that she didn’t want to be there, and we shouldn’t be either. To further set the scene, as we walked inside the building, we realized it was warmer outside (and still sleeting) than inside. The building had lost its water/sewer supply. The building is supposed to be heated by hot water radiators. Obviously, there wasn’t any heat. We could see employees wearing their coats, scarves & gloves at their desks, and we could see our breath standing in the hallway. The “lady” started by explaining that she couldn’t complete our paperwork because the court decree wouldn’t be valid until midnight. Our interpreter gave a polite, but firm, rebuttal. It was obvious to everyone else that our decree was signed, sealed, and valid 20 minutes ago when we picked it up. After a slightly heated discussion, Ostap convinced her to call the other offices. She called two other offices and nobody else would agree with her, so she finally had to start preparing the paperwork. This 25 minute task took well over an hour. At one point Ostap left the room and asked me to remain there to watch his computer and briefcase. I will be frank with you; we have now been in
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Next we drove to the Inspector’s office. I’m still not for sure what this lady does for us, but she has always been nice and we were ready for nice after the last office. It was a quick visit and we picked up another paper from her. Then we phoned the notary office to prepare them for our arrival-SURPRISE-they had no power. Didn’t know why, didn’t know for how long, but didn’t think they would be there for very much longer. So we shifted gears and changed plans.
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We then took the paperwork that the “happy lady” had prepared and drove it to the
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By now it was close to 4:30pm and Ostap tried valiantly to locate an alternative notary office that could help us complete our task. After two stops, we realized it was too late in the day and people were closing down. Ostap returned us to our building for the evening. We now we still have two stops ahead of us tomorrow. We must find a functioning notary office and the passport office. After that, we take custody of Donny from the orphanage at 2pm.
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Barb & I went to “the boat” for our last supper alone. We had a great meal and had just finished when as we were putting on our coats we received a surprise. In the door walked Galya with Liz & Angela Adams (our friends from
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Our arrival at the apartment netted another unwanted surprise for the day. Our loyal internet modem had run out of subscription and would not let us log on. Tomorrow we hope to get this post made and refill our modem.
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Shortly after our friends arrived, we had a serious discussion about the travel timetable to return to
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So that is our plan for now. It is 11:30pm here and we still have some packing to do. We also have some prep remaining before all of tomorrow’s activities.
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Internet access willing, we intend to get this posted Christmas Eve morning around 1am your time. As we transition to a family of three on Wednesday, then journey to
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So this is our final Pre-Christmas post to all of you. You are in our hearts and minds constantly. Our longing to return home to begin our life as a family in
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Wishing you and yours a very Merry CHRISTmas.
In His love,
The Daugherty Family
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Weekend Before Christmas... and here comes Donny
Happy Weekend Everybody! This was a weekend of great excitement for us! It was fun calling family to announce our son’s name, sharing pictures with them on Saturday, and now sharing with all our friends as well!
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We are so happy to announce Donald (Donny) William Daugherty as our son’s name. The Ukrainian Judge agreed it was important to honor our family legacies. Therefore the judge approved and decreed that we could change his name to Donald William Daugherty. Taking both of his grandfathers’ middle names and giving him an outstanding reputation to follow. We are calling him “Donny”.
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He is a dark-blonde headed, brown-eyed little man with a smile that we guarantee will melt your heart the same way it has ours. His energy level is high & he loves to experience everything. To this point, he has had a very simple, routine lifestyle; following the same daily schedule as the other 14 children in his room at the orphanage. The coming weeks will certainly be full of so many “firsts”.
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But we really look forward to introducing him to his first grandmothers, first aunts & uncles, and so many cousins, and new friends that he has yet to meet. Someday, later on, it will also be a pleasure to share about the two grandfathers whom he got his names from. I think he will appreciate the fact that we named him after two outstanding men. In case you are wondering, Barb & I had picked this name 6 or 8 years ago, it was not a recent decision. Oddly enough, with all the guessing and wondering going on, the two grandmothers both had us figured out pretty well. Barb’s mom guessed it on the phone after we were over here, and my mom guessed the father’s first names. I guess those ladies do realize how important their husband’s legacies are to all of us.
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Several people have asked, and we want to share with you the size of our son. We went out and bought clothing for the boy to try on. We had a little “fashion show” at the orphanage the other day. He stands 2’6” tall and weights about 22 pounds. The clothes marked 12-18 months fit him, as did the 18-24 month items. The 24 months definitely needed the arms and pant legs cuffed up. (We took a few of those back.) So we have about 6 outfits to rotate him through until we get him home, then we’ll have to pack the closet.
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Now, about those photographs, and your first glimpses of Our Son, Donny (he still is perfect as well). The slide show at the top of the blog gives you a quick look. Make sure you click the link posted on top of the right column. That will take you to a new website that we are using to begin posting a sample of the numerous photos we have taken so far. Each day, I will attempt to add more & more. Hope you enjoy getting to know Donny through his pictures.
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Now let’s recap the rest of the weekend…
Saturday Dec 20th-
Saturday morning we awoke to discover it was much colder outside. This was probably the coldest day since we have been here, but still no snow or moisture. The taxi took us to the orphanage about noon and we spent a fun day with Donny. Today we met an Italian couple who were playing with a young boy as well. Donny did a good job today of sharing toys and it was nice to have some other adults in the room. The wife speaks broken English, so were able to visit with them. We left Donny in the nurse’s care at about 2:40pm.
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We took a taxi back to the big grocery store about a mile from our apartment. There we bought vegetables, meats, some unique food items to try, and some misc. baby supplies we will need at the apartment. With our goodies in hand, we hopped another taxi and arrived home about 4:45pm.
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We had decided to start “the name game” by calling both grandmas. They both seemed to sound pretty excited and I think both are looking forward to meeting their new grandson. Since neither grandma has the internet, we had to contact our siblings to ask them to share Donny’s photographs. We then sent out an e-mail to all of our family Saturday afternoon sharing the link to all the photographs.
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We did learn today that a “little bump” has surfaced in our happy travels. It is not a major show stopper, but just changed our plans a little bit. We had thought that
Sunday would be our 10th day since our court appearance. By the calendar days, this is correct. However, on day 10 the court clerks have paperwork to prepare before the custody is granted. Since our day 10 fell on a Sunday and the courts are closed, Monday, December 22nd, will count as our day 10 instead. What does this really mean? It will set all of our plans for this week one day later. So Monday will be a regular day of visiting Donny at the orphanage, while the court prepares the paperwork. Then on Tuesday, December 23rd, we will have a day of running and filling out paperwork. As best we understand it, our day will be pretty full. We will head to the courthouse first to receive the finalized adoption decree. Then we will need to go to the vital records office to have his birth certificate reprinted listing us as parents and his new name. Then we will have to go to the notary office to have the birth certificate stamped and authenticated. Finally, we will proceed to the passport office to register his application. (We thought about skipping the passport and smuggling him home, but we measured him and he will not fit in a carry-on.)
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Believing Tuesday will be a hectic day of driving, sitting, and waiting in lines, we will let Donny remain at the orphanage until Wednesday. Then Wednesday, Dec. 24th, we will pick up our Christmas Eve Day Gift! Since he does not have personal belongings at the orphanage, we will take his first set of clothes to wear home. After he is changed into “his clothes” we will whisk him back to the apartment. Then, as I have joked before, I’m sure this will get a whole lot easier! It will be nice to avoid getting bundled up, packing the toy bag, the two taxi rides, waiting on nurses to help you, and having to walk away from our son at the end of only two hours.
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With all the changes for Donny, Mama, and I, your prayers are certainly appreciated. As I mentioned earlier, we have purchased baby supplies, some kid friendly groceries, and a few more toys to compliment what we packed and brought with us from
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Our schedule for the rest of next week is uncertain at this point. Things have certainly moved along swiftly in our process, and we are feeling so blessed by that. We presently have this apartment rented until Saturday, December 27th. The passport application we hope to turn in on Tuesday will result in a 4-7 day wait for the passport’s arrival. So our decision will be to pay a few more days rent and remain here in Donetsk, or take the train back to Kiev at the end of next week to wait things out there. God has treated us so well, I’m sure He has this figured out also.
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So after our big Saturday “family reveal”, Saturday evening was quiet. (Except for receiving and enjoying the enthusiastic responses by family members to Donny’s name and photos.) I fixed a gourmet pork stir-fry number that was the talk of
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So on to Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sunday was a relatively quiet day. The taxi got us about 12:10pm and we headed to “Donny’s place”. It was an awful busy playroom today. We were joined by two other little boys and their prospective parents. It was kind of a hassle keeping each other’s toys straight. Donny was definitely the most active, and somewhat controlling and aggressive. He is use to being in the playroom by himself, but he was able to handle the crowd today and work things to his advantage. (I guess he has learned that from his mother.) We hope that Sarah Fetter and her daycare bunch can break him in and remold his orphanage play style.
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It is obvious that the weekend nurse crew runs on a little different schedule than the weekday crew. Saturday and Sunday Donny is always a little off his personality. He was running and playing from 12:50pm to about 1:45pm, and then he started to tire. When he got tired, he became cranky and threw a couple “boo-hoo” fits. Around 2 pm he settled into a “hold-me” mode. By 2:30pm it was apparent that he was exhausted and Barb and I agreed that he needed to head to bed. So I carried him upstairs to his group nurse, and turned him over to them for naptime.
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After the taxi returned us to the apartment, I posted the photo slide show to the blog site for the universe to meet our son. Since then, I have seen that both BBC and CNN have picked it up and are running it as a feature story. Several of you have already commented as well and we appreciate your affirmation of how cute our son is. Several of you agree that he looks like his Papa.
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Dinner tonight was pork chops sautéed in fruit compote, mixed vegetables in a cheese sauce, and baked potatoes. (I never have this much time to cook at home!) After our meal, we enjoyed the annual Christmas tradition of watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Now we are going on 11pm here and I am hoping to get this blog posted to you and get a good night’s sleep before our last orphanage visit tomorrow.
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We seem pretty removed from the Christmas season over here in the
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Best wishes to all of you as you begin this special week in your homes, or wherever your travels may take you. (If you’re in this neighborhood, stop by!)
As the week rushes by, I hope that you take time to enjoy your loved ones and celebrate the Christ Child who makes so much possible for all of us. His love is the most important that you could ask for, and I hope you have received. That would be my Christmas prayer coming to you from
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In His Love,
Darrin, Barb & Donny Daugherty
(Still in
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday Night News
Hello from cold (but not snowy, icy, sleety, or slushy)
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It’s Friday night here and we still have seen no moisture. The thermometer remains in the mid 20’s and we are somehow getting use to it.
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Thursday, Dec. 18th
Thursday was a bitter-sweet day here in
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The Williamsons checked out of their apartment Thursday morning, so Ostap brought them and their luggage to our apartment. They spent the day in our apartment and surrounding neighborhood until their train left at 5:30pm. After Ostap delivered them here, he then took Barb & me to the orphanage.
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It’s always a good time playing with the boy, but the Christmas tree (and its enticing, colorful decorations) still proves to be an attraction for small hands. Funny…I thought he would grow out of that after two or three days. I know when my parents told me something the second or third time I ALWAYS listened!
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I don’t know for sure what an excess of fresh bananas do to a 2 year olds digestive system, but it must not be pretty. After feeding him a banana a day for the last two weeks, the nurse had a few words for us today. We don’t really know what those words were…because they were spoken in Ukrainian. But when she knew we weren’t getting the message, she grabbed the banana, shook her finger, and said “No, No”. That was actually the first time we had been scolded in an orphanage. So today’s snack diet consisted of a juice box and a double portion of animal crackers- thought that should help get him firmed back up. So after a fun visit, we hopped a cab back to the apartment.
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We said goodbye to The Williamsons as they departed in a taxi bound for the train station at 4:20pm. We ate some pasta for supper then Barb watched some American movies dubbed in Ukrainian that were running on TV. I worked on a photo site in order to prepare to share photographs of our son. (I guess you read the other day that we are going to post his name and photos sometime later this weekend.) It ended as a quiet night.
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Friday, December 19, 2008
After our nights slumber, we awoke to a healthy bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. A leisurely morning at the apartment ended when the taxi came at noon. Our son came to the playroom at about 12:45pm, and the fun began. Barb asked the nurse about the banana today, the nurse indicated that ½ the banana would be fine. I discussed it with our son, we decided it was a small banana and he could handle the whole thing. I made him promise he wouldn’t tell the nurse, and if he did he is suppose to implicate his mother. (I think the nurse still likes me.)
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We did make some progress on the Christmas tree. Our son touched the ornaments a few times but he understood not to pull them off. The one time I did stand to my feet, he scurried away from the tree pretty quickly. We do believe he is mostly drawn to the shiny gold ornaments. Today we realized that he is finding his reflection in those ornaments. I don’t know if he has ever seen a mirror or not. We keep using the digital camera to recall photos and reinforce “mama, papa, and son”. It will be interesting when we get to the apartment with him; we have a full length mirror attached to the wall. He may be concerned that he isn’t the only little boy in the room!
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He is still enjoying his literary moments. The three books we presently pack back and forth to the orphanage are Ukrainian versions of “The Three Little Pigs”, “The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg”, and a book about a baby chicken searching for it’s mama that we have forgotten the name of. (If you have the answer, blog or e-mail us and you may win a terrific prize.) Bubbles were a big hit today as well. He loves to chase and pop them before they hit the ground. We love bubbles, because they seem to wear him out pretty fast after he chases them for 20 minutes. We figure that if it helps him wear down naturally, it saves us the Benadryl for later!
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So at 2:40 pm the nurse snatched him from us and he headed off for his nap. (He didn’t mention the banana, she didn’t ask, so we didn’t offer.) After a taxi ride to the apartment, Barb & I journeyed out for a cold walk. We headed to
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I mentioned earlier about the books, let me tell you about our arsenal that we pack each day before we head to the orphanage. In order to guarantee a fun and active two hours with our son, we have to make sure we can entertain him, amuse him, and convince him that we are cool people to hang with. Each day we pack the 3 books, an inflatable beach ball (Barb usually gets the honor of inflating that), two baseball size bouncy balls, a 4” teddy bear, a 3” rubber squeaky yellow cat, and bubbles to complete our toy line up. From the food section we pack a juice box, a bottle of water, a sippy cup, a minimum of 20 animal crackers, and the ever important and much debated banana. The cleanup tool, wet wipes, has become a staple for us as well. After all of that is packed, we have to make sure we get the camera, camcorder, and batteries in my toy bag. Who would have thought two year olds would be this much work. I can’t wait ‘til he comes to the apartment full time, I’m sure it will get a whole lot easier then…right?
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Speaking of coming to the apartment, you are all invited to
Light, and enjoying that famous Christmas tradition of watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. If you can make it, please RSVP soon. We only have 6 chairs, so if more than 4 of you are coming, we will need to round up some beanbag chairs or something.
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Looking ahead to next week things will change a lot for the Daugherty family in the
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So we continue to pray that all the worst weather lands in
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Missing you all, and remembering you during this beautiful Christmas week.
Darrin, Barb, & TBAS (To Be Announced Soon)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Breaking News From Donetsk
Breaking News!!!!
With the pending adoption almost complete, Barb & I have decided that we will soon publish the name of our child & begin posting photos on our blog.
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I had the desire to wait until we arrived in Illinois to share the "final details" with you all. But after discussions the past few days, Barb doesn't really care.
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We have so many great photos already, if I don't start sharing with you soon you'll never have time to see them all!
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All the details will appear on a public posting here on the blog that will follow later this weekend.
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Thanks for staying tuned!
Darrin, Barb, and ?
With the pending adoption almost complete, Barb & I have decided that we will soon publish the name of our child & begin posting photos on our blog.
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I had the desire to wait until we arrived in Illinois to share the "final details" with you all. But after discussions the past few days, Barb doesn't really care.
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We have so many great photos already, if I don't start sharing with you soon you'll never have time to see them all!
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All the details will appear on a public posting here on the blog that will follow later this weekend.
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Thanks for staying tuned!
Darrin, Barb, and ?
Happy Thursday, Dec 18th
Happy Thursday, Dec. 18th!
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, or at least it is getting closer to it. One week from today, are you ready? Barb & I have been busy decorating the apartment, putting up the tree, hanging our stockings by the chimney, buying and wrapping presents….oh, those are just visions of Christmas dancing in our head. It will be a pretty “undecorated” Christmas this year.
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Several of you have asked about the Ukrainian Christmas customs. Their calendar time table is different than the
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So “what’s been goin’ on?” you ask.
Monday, Dec. 15th
It was a usual morning…breakfast, e-mail, and packing to go to the orphanage. We had a fun day playing with our son; the big event was taking his photo to prepare for his passport. On the way home, we stopped at the Williamson’s and had a fun evening out. We were treated to James’ Monday night Kentucky Chicken Fajitas. It was fun to join in their Monday night tradition, and enjoy a great meal at the same time. After our meal, they took us to a baby clothing store in a mall next to their apartment. An English speaking lady was a lot of help and we made our first baby clothes purchases. We found about 3 cute outfits and a few misc. pieces to get us started for next week. We hopped a taxi about 7:30pm and headed home. Barb spent some time researching on the internet, and I headed to the market to get a few things.
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Tuesday, Dec. 16th
As we headed to the orphanage today we packed a sampling of last nights clothing purchases to try on for sizing. Our son was in an extremely playful mood, and very affectionate too. We decided to tackle the “fashion show” before he got fussy or banana all over himself.
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We stripped off his layer of shirts and tried on the 3 new ones. He didn’t mind a bit. Then came the 3 pairs of pants, he just lay on his back and stuck his legs in the air; Just like he had been changed a thousand times before. It was fast, easy and everything fit. Yeah, no returns!
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It was really a bubble day, for about 20 minutes and wouldn’t let me stop. The orphanage had put up a Christmas tree we found upon our arrival today. It hadn’t been “fluffed” yet or decorated. I was nervous about our son’s arrival and what he would do with it. When he came into the room, he came right up to it, and shook his finger at it. “No, No” were the words he spoke. I assume they may have one upstairs in his area and he’s heard those words before. After his banana break at 2pm, he got into a mellow “rock-me, hug-me” mood. He started to fall asleep several times on my shoulder but as people would walk through or doors would slam, he had to sit up and see everything.
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After the nurse carried him upstairs, Barb & I decided to be helpful with the Christmas tree. We fluffed all the branches out to aide the staff in their decorating. A taxi brought us home around 4pm, and the Williamsons arrived at the apartment around 4:30pm. We all then walked to a pizza place called “New York Street Pizza”. I may have already told you, but it is a nice restaurant with American décor hanging on the walls, it is painted red, white and blue, but they don’t speak a lick of English there. A unique twist that we had not discovered our first time there, the Williamsons instantly recognized one of the pictures of an interstate junction signs as being from Louisville, KY (I believe I-65, Rt. 31, and something else). That was a photo opportunity for them. Pizza was good, fellowship was great. The Williamsons are an outstanding couple that we know God has put in our path here to keep us company. In a few days, our journeys will take different roads, and we will miss their companionship. After the pizza, we walked to “the boat” for delicious desserts. Then it was back to the apartment for a Uno tournament until 9pm.
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On to Wednesday, Dec. 17th
The weather here has taken a turn-and not for the better. We still have zero snow or ice, but temperature has plummeted to ranges that you are use to in
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We went to the orphanage about 12:45pm. We quickly discovered a problem had occurred. The Christmas tree was now decorated and placed in the middle of the visitation play area. How would our son react? He came down in a great mood again today. This day, he was definitely intrigued by the tree. Three times he pulled ornaments off, and had to sit in “time-out” (these are the old fashioned glass ornaments that certainly cannot be played with). He is a very smart boy; he’ll pout awhile, and then slowly walk across the room with his arms outstretched towards you.
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It really was a 3-B day. It was dominated by books, balls, and banana. He loves to play but also enjoys flipping through his books. About 3pm we said our good-byes to him. A taxi took us to a different baby’s clothing store where Ostap and his wife were waiting to assist us. It was a great store with simple clothes at great prices. (Kinda reminded you of a mix between Wal-Mart & Dollar General). They also had toys too, until I bought a bunch of them. Barb picked out a snowsuit, pjs, t-shirts, and more. I found toys, rubber ducks for the bathtub, and other practical stuff we really needed. Our only need to survive here in the
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It was a bitter-sweet evening. The Williamsons came to our apartment and we went back to N.Y. Street Pizza again. After supper, we came back to the apartment and played Uno, even letting James win one game. Tomorrow evening the Williamsons will leave on a 5pm train to head back to
---So things have been busy. We’ve done a lot of shopping, we’ve done a lot of visiting, we’ve had great fun with our son, we’ve completed the local restaurant critiques; but nothing too earth shattering the last three days. All the news from the courthouse is silence, which is a very good thing. No one has obviously filed objections to our adoption. Our waiting game continues. As today is Thursday, we are into our final 4 days of waiting. Monday he will become our son!! I hope he’s ready for what he’s getting into. I doubt it if he really has any idea. Maybe we don’t either! But I’m sure he’ll probably break us in pretty quickly. I just hope he doesn’t call the orphanage and complain about us!
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With all the “new” things happening, I’m sure all three of us will have to work through issues. Through God’s grace, I’m sure He’ll lead us forward and bond us together. To borrow a line from the recent political campaign, “change is coming”.
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We are thankful for your prayers,
Darrin, Barb & Son
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