Doctor's appt.

Here is the news. Kailyn has bronchitis. Not pnuemonia. That's good. She got some antibiotic and she will have quite a few blood test to be done to see why she isn't growing very quickly. She is healthy otherwise and she got two immunizations. She got a TB Test also.
Jacob had two ear infections and he failed his hearing test. They gave him five immunizations and he got a TB test. He is healthy otherwise. He will also undergo some blood work.
Jaryd got two immunizations and confirmed that he should have his tonsils out. They all did pretty well.
We are having a birthday party tomorrow for Kailyn. It will be at 4:00 p.m. All you who are able are invited to come by. Just a little cake and ice cream. Tomorrow is Saturday. Just give me a call if you are coming.
Hope to see you all soon.
The Huckabee clan.

Our kids

Aren't they beautiful.


We are going to the doctor today. So I will let you know what the verdict is on each child. I think Kailyn has pnuemonia and I am not sure that Jacob might not have a sinus infection.
Alyssa is going to spend some time with her Nana today so that I only have three at the doctor's office. Kevin had to go to Dallas for depositions today. Breanne went with him. They will be home tonight. So I am being inducted quickly to having all four of them by myself.
Randi and I went shopping yesterday and got the boys some new clothes. Shohn and Randi had dinner with us last night and helped me entertain them and get them to bed. They were a great help.
Love to all
Tammy

Thanks for all the comments. We are going to pursue this at great length today. We WILL get this done. Thanks again.

The sleeping routine is finally settling in. None of them are up yet and it is 7:00 a.m. We have been up at about 5 for the last two days. So I like the 7 much better.

Our wonderful church is bringing meals for the first two weeks. What a great help. We did go out to eat for lunch yesterday and it was perfect. Great mexican food. The kids loved the Mexican food by the way. Nothing spicy though. I went to Praise Band practice yesterday and the big kids kept all the little ones while I was gone. Kevin also had a Deacon/Elder meeting. They did beautifully. They didn't miss us a minute. They have really bonded with Breanne, Shohn and Randi already.

Thanks for the prayers. Keep them going. We can definately feel their prescence. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. I couldn't make up my mind which ones, so I will just give them all to you.

The trampoline was short lived. The sun finally decayed it and we had to take it down shortly after you see these pictures. I am not a real trampoline fan anyway. So it was fun for the minute but no injuries. That's good news. The swing set is the one that Shohn bought and put together for the kids. They loved it. Breanne did their room in Cowboy. This red hat is one of the decorations.

Love

The Huckabee Clan

Thanks so much for the comments on the COC. The problem we have is the insurance won't cover them until we have a SS#. The oldest needs some immediate surgery on his tonsils and we don't want to embark on that without some insurance. They will only retroactive for 30 days. So if the COC takes longer than 30 days we would be out of pocket all the money. This is so frustrating. There should be some way to get past this with United Healthcare. I think we are going to try to get something done with them. Thanks for all the help. I knew you guys would have the answers.

We are doing great. Things are settling in. All the kids are behaving much better and seem to really enjoy being home. They are all playing so well together. We will try to post some pictures by tomorrow.

Love to all
The Huckabee clan

Question Please

I would like to know how long it takes you to get your proof of Citizenship on the children. We need this as you know to get their Social Security Cards. We can't go to the doctor until we can get some Social Security Cards. I am sure you all know all of this information, but I wondered how long it was taking right now to get the proof of Citizenship. Thanks for the help bloggers.
Tammy

HOME AT LAST

We are home. God is so good. All the kids had a great reunion this afternoon. They are played outside on the new swingset that their brother put together for them on Saturday. They jumped on the trampoline and rode on the wiggle cars. We had dinner that Trish from the church fixed us.
We had a great group meeting us at the airport. Thanks for all of you that came. We also appreciate the gifts for the children. And Amy, thanks for the chips and salsa. We sure missed our chips and salsa.
They are all in bed and I used this time to go through all the mail. We will see how tomorrow goes.
Jaryd had a pretty good day once we got home. Jacob threw up as we touched down in El Paso. He couldn't let us miss that one. Kailyn took to her new siblings immediately. She was very tired tonight and we got her into bed early.
Alyssa was really glad to be back at her farm. As she calls it. I will close now and get some rest. I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow. I need to start unpacking some more things in the morning. I did get two loads of laundry done.
Love to all
Kevin, Tammy, Breanne, Shohn, Randi, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

We're in Dallas

We made it to Dallas on Saturday September 20. Kailyn's birthday. She and her brother became American citizens. The plane rides were pretty uneventful. They all slept about two hours each the whole ride. We kept them awake and laid them to sleep in Dallas about 10:00 pm. They are all still sleeping as I write this post. It is around 6:30 in the morning. Our flight leaves Dallas at 1:10 and then we will be home at 1:50. So any one that wants to meet us at the airport, we will be there then.

Sorry for not posting. We did not have any internet access.

We almost missed the plane to Dallas. We arrived in Detroit at 6:00 pm and our flight left at 7:11. We went through customs and immigration and then rechecked the bags and then back through security. We ran all the way to our gate and they were announcing that they were closing the door just as we are coming down the moving sidewalk. I was waving and luckily the lady saw me and we just got on. We got a shuttle to the hotel and we were all in bed in about 40 minutes.

We are all a little tired. Kailyn was wonderful on the plane and Jacob did not get sick. Jaryd was a little apprehensive, but he had a pretty good day. He lost parts of a tooth on the plane from Amsterdam. I guess we will see the dentist soon.

That's all for now. Hope to see you all soon or talk to you real soon.

The first picture is of all the kids waiting for the plane in Kiev. The second is on the elevator as we touched down in Detroit.

Love you all

Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

In Kiev again. We finished the medicals this morning. They did it without Jaryd’s passport that will be here tomorrow morning early or possibly tonight. They will put in on the bus in Kirovograd this afternoon and it will be here tonight. Sasha has already been to the embassy and started the paperwork. So tomorrow morning we will go get the Visa’s for the kids. We are trying to book the flights this afternoon to leave on Friday. I am not sure if I can get that done or not. Six seats will be the problem. God has that planned too though. So whatever he has in the works we will be thankful for.
We did not get a lot of sleep last night. We did not find out that we had an apartment until we were trying to get a hotel room at the airport. We ended up with an apartment for 190 a night. Quite pricey, but it is better than a hotel room. And it is only for three nights. We lived really cheaply in Kirovograd, so what the heck. At this point I am just ready to come home. We really miss our support system. And our own beds.
Here is a little info on the ride to Kiev. I gave Kailyn some Benadryl, so she slept or was quiet the whole way. That was a blessing from God. Jacob on the other hand slept for the first half of the trip and threw up from motion sickness for the rest of the trip. We are trying to get some Dramamine for the trip home on the plane. I don’t want to have a sick kid all the way home. I never thought about him getting sick. I have read about other families that have that problem, but it never entered my mind.
We had that Big Mac last night, but it didn’t taste all that great. The kids were starving by the time we got here. The kids and I stayed at the apartment and Kevin and Sasha went to McDonald’s and got some food. We fed them and put them to bed. They were all asleep really quickly. I did two loads of clothes. Jacob only has one pair of pants and those got ruined on the way. I washed all the clothes and hung them to dry. Some of them are still drying. We are still having rain and cold weather.
Kevin has gone with Ben now to get some food for the apartment. We ate McDonald’s left overs this morning for breakfast. That was real wonderful. What a terrible mother that I am. Then once again we ate McDonald’s for lunch. I hope Kevin figures out something different for supper. I have tried to once again reorganize for the trip home. I have only the clothes out that we will need. I hope that we will be seeing you all soon. I am not sure how many posts I will get to do. This could be the last until we are back on American soil. Sorry for no pictures. I will try to do those when we get home. That is an awesome word. HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have had no problems since we got all the kids. Kevin did say at lunch we are those people who you always see and you wonder what are they doing with all those kids. But it is all going very well. I am glad that I like to be organized. It would be impossible without some kind of organization.
Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare to fly. God will not fail us. He has been there from the beginning and he will lead the way home. Thanks to all who have been so constant with the comments. We have cherished everyone of them. We will save this blog someday to show the kids what an ordeal we went through to bring them home. The e-mails have kept us going also. What a wonderful family or Christians we are bringing out children home to. Praise God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope to talk to you all soon
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

No such luck. We are still in Kirovograd. Jaryd's passport was wrong. Kailyn's and Jacobs are here and okay. I cried buckets this afternoon.

NOW for the better news. We have Jacob and Kailyn. We took custody of them this afternoon. That was an ordeal. I will explain more later. We got them home and dad went out for pizza. For those of you who know us, that is a perfect meal for the Huckabee newby's. Thanks to the German couple and some translation we got it all done and checked them out about 5:30 this afternoon. We are traveling back to Kiev tomorrow to wait for Jaryd's passport. They will overnight it to us when it comes. Sasha is supposed to be here tomorrow to get us. Now that could also change. I don't know.

I thought this day would never come. Things are going well considering we have all the children in such a small place.

I have uploaded several pictures of all of inside the other day. I hope the Stahlke family enjoys all the photos. We can e-mail these to you when we get home. I don't have gotcha pictures from today. But I will post some of those tomorrow.

Kevin and I are so elated to have them all together. Thanks for all your prayers. We are probably going to be delayed coming home. But God will keep us going. Hopefully only a day or two.

The first picture if of snack time today. The girls look like angels and the boys of course were fighting over the ball. But that is boys for you.

Love to all

Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

 
Well we had another cold day.  We were insdie for both visits today.  It was pretty calm for the most part.  Jaryd got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  I knew it was coming.  I just hoped it would be later than sooner.  We are starting to do the this could be the last  time thing.  We are really hoping for those passports tomorrow.  
Church of Grace if you get this before service, please pray. We would love to get home soon.  I think they might be here early in the morning.  We are not sure.  Oh and not just Church of Grace has to pray you call can.  We would appreciate them greatly.   We should be finding out while you are sleeping.
I started packing a little more today.  Hoping that we wouldn't need much still in the apartment. We also have been trying to use up all the food in the refrigerator.  We just about hit everything right.  
Pictures:
1.  Kailyn being the basketball.  She thought this was great fun.
2.  Alyssa waiting patiently for supper.
3.  Jaryd watching a show with Daddy on the TV
4.  Me cooking my last chicken dinner in Kirovograd.  (I Hope)
Hope the next blog is from Kiev.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

Here are pictures from yesterday and today. We had great visits again today. When we

got there this morning one of the mother's told us that Kailyn and Jacob were asking where we were yesterday afternoon, so we made sure to visit this afternoon. It broke my heart that we weren't there. On the morning visit today we were outside. It was really too cool to be out, but we endured. This afternoon we started out outside but the rain came. Then we ended up in a room with all of the visiting parents. Six kids and six parents. That was interesting. It was great. They all played well together.

Okay this is not for the weak in stomach. Kevin came bringing Jacob to me this morning with the nastiest booger you have ever seen. He said he was letting me take care of it. Mom didn't mind. But I do have to say that after three children, this was by far the worst.

Hope that all of you in the path of the hurricane are safe and sound. We will keep all of you in our prayers.
Lisa hoping this finds you safe and sound at home. We hope to join you sometime next week.

Pictures:

1. Not often we get all of them in one picture.

2. Jaryd reading Kailyn a book. What an awesome picture.

3. The kids coming from the caregiver this morning. Jacob was so glad to see Jaryd.

4. Yesterday. We had to put the things the kids had on their head on our shoes to walk in the building. They are very picky about keeping their floors clean. We thought they made cute hats.

5. Kailyn and her shoe cover.

6. The playroom that we play in on bad weather days.

7. Jaryd was giving Jacob a ride on the tricycle. Kailyn and Alyssa are reading books.

It is really raining here this evening. Jaryd likes to come to the internet because he gets to play games on the computer. We use this as leverage for good behavior. Not any temper tantrums again today. Things are moving along nicely. We are still learning to get along with our brothers and sisters. But, for just a few weeks, I would say things are wonderful.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Love

Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

We had an awesome day today. Not one temper fit. We also had a great night last night. When we left the internet cafe from posting last night, Jaryd wanted to know where was the taxi. You see after we would leave and at night the taxi would come and take him back to the "internat." He did not realize that he was not going back. He was so excited to learn that he was going to be sleeping at our house. His House. We got the pajamas on and he started out on the couch. He ended up in a bed that we have next to our for Alyssa. Her on one end and him on the other. He slept touching me all night. I think he wanted to make sure I was there. While I was with him on the couch. He said "I Love You." Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That felt wonderful. He has been a different boy today. Thanks for all the prayers. God blessed us with such a wonderful day.
We had a good visit with Jacob and Kailyn. We had to play inside because it was rainy and cold. We played everything. I have some wonderful pictures for you tomorrow. I forgot my flash drive and I didn't go back for it. I will post them tomorrow. Sorry for that.
We are all doing well and hope this is our last week. Next week on Friday I hope we are home or we are on a plane. I am trying to finish cooking all the food that is in the refrigerator. I think we will be able to get rid of all of it just right.
We are not sure exactly how we will get back to Kiev, but I am sure that God has that planned already too.
Thanks for all the comments. Can't wait to hear from you all again.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

"GOTCHA" 1/2 DAY

We now are in full custody of Jaryd. We have decided to wait until Mondy to pick up the little ones. We will continue to visit the little ones every day. We were elated to get to pick up Jaryd today though. It will be good for us to just have him for a couple of days without the little ones. It will be some good adjustment time.

Jacob and Kailyn were ready to see us as usual. Jacob wanted us to take him in the car again. He was angry because we weren't leaving. I guess that is good news. Kailyn still doesn't want to go in the car any more.

We were walking down the street and saw these two clowns and we got to make Alyssa's picture with them. I think the circus is coming to town.

Pictures

1. Jaryd, Alyssa and the Nurse from the Orphanage

2. Jaryd and the Director

3. Jaryd, Dad and Alyssa as we are preparing to leave.

4. Alyssa with the clowns.

We will try to post again tomorrow. Jaryd isn't much on this internet thing. Alyssa just watches a movie and Jaryd doesn't want to do that. So we will try again tomorrow.

Love to all

Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

Today was not what we expected, but things did get accomplished. We went to the market and did some shopping for the boys. The weather is getting cold. The boys only had shorts that I had bought them, so we went on a search. I did manage to get one sweatsuit a piece. Some socks for the boys and some tights for Kailyn. It is only supposed to be in the 40's on Saturday. BRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!. I am ready to go back to the dry heat. We are going to go and look a little more in the morning.

As you probably guessed, we do not have the kids yet. Our facilitator got to Doneprotosk to get the birth certificate legalized and it was wrong. He had to go back late this afternoon to the other town. He will be here tomorrow with it. Then hopefully we will go and pick up the kids. On a better note though. We did get the passports applied for. This picture today is of the kids waiting outside the place to have passports made. They were really good. Yes we had to ride in a car. Jacob was wonderful. Kailyn, on the other hand, cried most of the way. Luckily one of the nurses from the Children's Home came with us and she was able to keep her calm. We found out if the music is loud she is happy. I would have never thought she would be the problem in the car. Jacob didn't even wimper. The lawyer told him what was going on and he was wonderful. Jaryd was also great today. He helped with everyone and was a great big brother.

We will pray tomorrow that they will all come home with us. Jaryd seemed to be ready for that today. It seemed like we have turned another small corner with him. Thanks God for that blessing.

There was a new American couple at the Children's Home today. They are adopting the final sibling of a 6 sibling group. They adopted the other 5 three years ago. They are now getting the youngest brother. We have been watching their blog in the past. I do not have it with me while I am here, but it is on my computer at home. What a small world.

Hope to have more news for you tomorrow.

Love to all

Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

The first thing I need to do today is to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!
We got a few things accomplished today. We got Kailyn and Jacob's birth certificates. We also made our contributions to the orphanages. Our facilitator ended up going by himself to Donetepretosk. He will be back in the morning. We will then apply for passports. After that is all done in the morning, we will pick upthe kids. We had our last meal tonight as just the three of us. The lady came today and cleaned the apartment again. So we have a nice clean apartment ready for the kids. We will also pack up several suitcases tomorrow and send them back to Kiev with Sasha. We are trying to minimize all the clutter in the apartment and allow Sasha possibly to come back and pick us up. We can't get all the luggage and all the kids in his car. But if we send some back then we will be able to.
We went to the grocery store this afternoon. I think we are stocked up for them to be with us. We also got a small cake to share with Kailyn and Jacob's class when we pick them up. We met with both director's today and had a great visit.
I am not sure when we will get to post after we pick up the kids. I will probably have to come during nap time. I don't think we can be by ourselves with all the kids at one time. We will try to figure this out.
So don't fret if we don't post. You will just have to know that we are busy with the new family. We did find out that the earliest that we can come home is Sept 18 or 19th. The passport office is issuing passports now, but they only deliver to Kirovograd on Thursday and Mondays. We are too late for the Thursday delivery so we will be in on the Monday delivery. They don't know how early that the mail comes so we will have to wait and see if we leave here Monday or Tuesday. If Monday, we could come home on Thursday. If Tuesday, we would be home on Friday. So we will wait and see what happens. Not fretting. Just waiting patiently on God's timing.
Love to all
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

Last night we went with Alec and his family to an amusement park in Kirovograd. There are several pictures of Jaryd playing on the rides. Alyssa was not so thrilled with the rides. She played on some of the slides but for the most part just took in the sights.

We talked to the lawyer today and she picked up our official decree. The ten days are officially over and we are the proud parents of three new children. Tomorrow Kevin will go to Donetpretosk to get Jaryd's birth certificate done. I will stay here and get Kailyn and Jacob's done. The lawyer will work with me and Sasha will work with Kevin.

We will pick up the kids on Wednesday and do the passports and bring them home to the apartment. I think the apartment is ready for that, I am not sure.

The next few days will be busy. We still don't know exactly when we will be going to Kiev. That will depend on the passports. I hope we can pay an expedite fee and get them quicker.

We are all growing a little tired. I am looking forward to a quiet day after we get the birth certificates done in the morning. Or at least I hope so. Alyssa and I both could use a little rest. I hope Kevin doesn't get too warn out making the two hour trip. It shouldn't be too hard. At least he will have air conditioning.

Please pray for us as we prepare to have all of our family in a three room apartment. We will need all the help we can get.

Pictures

1. We made this picture today to leave at Kailyn and Jacob's orphanage. It goes in a book that we signed that other adoptive parents have left. Can't believe how much Jacob looks like Kevin.

2. Kailyn looked like an angel today. She was dressed all in white.

3. Jacob worried about the "machina" car.

4. the bumper cars. I thought Jaryd was in the picture but I am not sure now.

5. Jaryd coming down a huge slide.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn