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
