Life with the Huckabee's

Back again

2011-03-28T10:49:00.002-06:00

Okay adoption bloggers we are back open again. Please read FREESHOHN.com to see what has been going on in our family for the last year and a half. Life has been definately changed for us. I will start updating about the other kids very soon. We can use all the help we can get to help make a loud noise to get Shohn out. Tammy

First tooth gone

2009-12-12T07:15:00.003-07:00

Jacob lost his first tooth on Wednesday. It has been loose for about a month. We could not get him to play with it enough to get it out. He was afraid of the pain. Well Wednesday afternoon he bit into an apple and low and behold the tooth was ready to be pulled out. No crying no pain just out it came. He is ready for the next one to be loose now. The tooth fairy visited and made his day.

We had snow twice last week. Just thought you would like to see a picture of the full moon with the snow behind it on the mountain. We don't have this kind of scene very often here. I saw this on the way to praise band. It was much prettier when you get past the trees. This was the view from out our side door.

Have a blessed week in God's grace.

Tammy

PS We have sitters today to finish up that Christmas shopping. WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nativities and Snow Days

2009-12-01T15:44:00.007-07:00

Shirley and the kids painted an American Indian Nativity Scene on Sunday afternoon. They all really enjoyed painting them. Here are some pictures that show the process. Shirley finished them on Monday and bronzed them. They are just beautiful. I need to take a picture of the finished product and download it. Sorry I don't have that today.

Here are some pictures of our December 1st snow storm. The kids didn't go to school until two hours late this morning, so I let them play in the snow before school. I knew that the snow would be gone this afternoon. I was right it is gone. They had a great time.

Dad watches over the snowman building.

Alyssa makes a huge snow ball.

Jaryd carries the snowman's head.

Some of the property

Kailyn and Jacob throwing snow balls.

Alyssa is chasing Jacob with a snow ball.

Kailyn just got hit with a snow ball. She is not
a happy camper. She was through.

Alyssa and Jacob starting to play. Burt watches
over them.

The snow man.

Have a blessed week.
Tammy

Jacob 's Birthday

2009-11-25T14:03:00.003-07:00

Okay so I am a bad mom blogger. I am just now getting around to getting Jacob's birthday pictures posted. Sorry for the delay. He had a wonderful day. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving with all the kids home and my dad is coming. We also have our beloved friend Shirley living with us now. What a blessing she is to our family.

The Birthday boy

Buzz Lightyear cake

The Party Crew

More Pizza

A little miniature Golf with the Crew

We are working on changing Kailyn's medicine again. She is seemingly doing a little better on this dosage. She was using all of her time released medicine up in the morning. So we are doing short acting three times a day. Seems a little better.

Alyssa is doing well.

Jaryd is counting down the days until his birthday. He can't wait.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Love

The Huckabee's

2009-11-04T18:32:00.002-07:00

Here is a picture of the kids the day before we went to the zoo for the Halloween party. That was fun. We spent Halloween at the UTEP football game and then on to the church for our annual Light Shine Trunk or Treat. We celebrated Kevin's birthday on Sunday evening with steaks and a German Chocolate cake. The kids seemed to enjoy all of them.

Everyone is doing well. Kailyn and I are home tonight from church because she is running a low grade fever. Can't be to careful. Don't want to infect anyone. I do think that she has a UTI. So we will probably see the doctor tomorrow for some more antibiotics. I have scheduled an appointment with the Urologist for her, but they can't see her until December 29th. Wow! It is so hard to get in to the specialists. I am going to see if the Pediatrician can get us anything sooner.

Have a blessed week. Talk to you guys again soon. Watch out for the Flu.

Tammy

Exiciting and Emotional

2009-10-24T08:32:00.007-06:00

We have been very busy since my last post. We spent a week in Pagosa Springs, CO for the kids fall break. The colors of fall were just beautiful there. We took the train from Durango to Silverton. Of which Jaryd said that was the most boring thing he had done. Makes me not want to plan any more vacations. So needless to say we were a little frustrated with the whole trip. The condo was beautiful and we were right on the lake. The kids got to experience fishing for the first time. Dad had a great time teaching them the ropes. They could have just spent time fishing. They didn't care if we did anything else.

Kailyn ended up in the emergency room on Monday morning in Pagosa. She was running a fever and had a cough that sounded like croup. After about an hour the doctor said it was just viral, continue what I was doing and sent us home. She improved every day after that. I was afraid that she would go into pnuemonia, so that is why that I went to the ER. Better safe than sorry.

Reports card came out this week and we were very pleased with all the results. Everyone seems to be doing really well in school. Alyssa had two weeks off for fall break, so she was home again this week. We had some good alone time with her. Although she really like to have her siblings around. She is definately happy about their prescence.

We have been fighting a battle with Kailyn on her eating. We decided on Monday after days of mom crying that we were going to just let her eat what she wants. No more focusing on the closing of her mouth and continual badgering to eat. So that was the plan on Monday. Well Tuesday morning she got up in her little funk that she has. She has a lot of crankiness and then she starts vomiting and has diarehea. The doctor seems to think that she has some kind of insulin problem when she starts this. So the day of not making her eat caused her to bottom out the next morning. So that didn't seem to work. We have decided that we are just going to give her the amount of food on her plate that she should eat and then she will have to sit there until it is gone. No prodding just a gentle reminder before she gets up that she will have to clean her plate. We can't have her bottoming out on her sugar. Thursday night she actually finished her food before Jacob. So maybe we are making some progress. I have to say I have to have some relief. I cannot live having such a battle at every meal. One year of this has taken it's toll on mom. So pray that things will continue to get better. She is having a power struggle with us, and we have to stand firm.

Nana gave Kevin and I a day off yesterday. She kept the girls and then picked up the boys when they got out of school. Kevin and I went to lunch at PeiWei, then to the phone store to get my phone fixed, then to the nail salon for nails and a pedicure, and then to the movies to see Couples Retreat. What an awesome renewal day. Boy did we need it. Kevin even got a pedicure and did some shopping at Sears tool department. His favorite thing to do.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Teaching them how to cast.

Fishing for Jaryd, Jacob, and Alyssa
Not Kailyn's thing.

Stringer of Fish for our Fishermen and Women

Our bored train riders

A view from the train ride.

Notice the Rainbow

View from our Balcony

Our Condo

Have a blessed week. We will be busy as we have Halloween and Kevin's birthday on the same day.

Tammy

2009-10-03T13:55:00.004-06:00

Kailyn celebrated her 4th birthday last Saturday. I have been so busy this week that I didn't get to post anything since. Here are some pictures from last year's birthday and this year's birthday. What a wonderful change she has made.

It is hard sometimes to see the change day to day, but this is an amazing change. Now that we seem to have all the infections cleared up in her body, we hope that she will start to gain. We would really like for her to get a little weight on before we give her the growth hormones. I am afraid if she goes up any she will really look like a bean pole. I have spent the last week remaking all her pants so that she can keep them up. It wasn't so bad this summer, I could guy six month shorts and they were okay because they were shorts, but that won't work with pants. She looks like she has on high waters if I don't get her 2T. But, they are so big in the waist. So we are now ready for winter. I hope that the pants that I fixed don't last long. That will mean that she is gaining some weight.

All the rest of us seem to be doing well. Will post more later.

Tammy

Positive Results

2009-09-16T13:07:00.002-06:00

We got a call from the doctor last night and Kailyn does have Turner's Syndrome. So now we will start the treatment for growth Hormones. She will not need anything else for about 8 more years. We will also have an ecocardiogram on Kailyn. Turner's Syndrome patients tend to have heart problems.

Tammy

A Little more news

2009-09-13T17:32:00.004-06:00

I haven't posted in awhile. Just can't seem to sit long enough to think about posting.

Jaryd
We had teacher conferences this week and he is doing wonderfully in school. Last year I was the spelling natzi. We would practice words all the way to school every morning. He didn't seem to want to let me do that this year, so I told him that if he made good grades on his spelling test that I would leave him alone. Well, since the beginning of the year we haven't seen any spelling tests. So when I visited with his teacher this week I asked how he was doing. He has all 100 and only on 93. So I told him as along as he continued to do this well on his own, I would allow him to continue his method of studying. Pretty good for a kid who didn't speak any English a year ago. He is also doing really well in all of his classes. He is a math whiz. He is healthy and continuing to do well on his medication. We have those morning with pre-medication and the late evenings that tend to give us all a headache. But, we are trying to teach him to manage these times by himself.

Jacob
He had his eye surgery and did really well. They did over medicate him with anesthesia and we had a rough day until that was out of his system. But, the surgery went perfectly. He is doing well in school. I don't think he is quite where he should be so we are going to do tutoring after school two days a week. We will see how this goes. If he doesn't make any progress we will take him out and try some private tutoring. That seemed to work the best to get Jaryd off on the right foot. Jacob has been diagnosed with Asperger's. So we are learning all of the ins and outs of that. I dont' remember if I have posted about this before or not. It is a little hard to remember what you have done when you have four running around. He only has a mild case of Asperger's and is managing very well.

Alyssa
She is loving school. We also had a teacher's conference with her teacher. The teacher said her only complaint about Alyssa is that she is too sweet. It seems as if one of the little boys has been picking on everyone and Alyssa is too kind to tell her to leave her alone. The teacher said she needed to be a little more stern with him. So I have given her permission to tell him not to touch her. He seem to want to touch everyone all day. They administered a test at the beginning of the year to see where she was. On some of the tests she seemed to be at the 10 year old level. I am not surprised. She has been grown up since she was 1.

Kailyn
We have had a few more ups and downs with her. She was diagnosed last week with H Pylori. That is the infection in the stomach that causes Ulcers. We are doing the two week treatment and that seem to be clearing up. They said she had had it for a long time. The only way to find this out is with the biopsy. So that is what the results of the biopsy were. Then we took her to the Pediatric Endocrinologist later that week. He thinks, no a definite diagnosis yet, that she has Turner's Syndrome (http://www.turnersyndrome.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=57. You can click on the pink link and read about the diagnosis. We will know more in a few weeks when the results of the DNA testing comes back. If so she will have quite a long road to hoe over the next few years. But, with any luck she can begin to grow with the help of some Growth Hormones. We do not see this as a setback, but as a way to help her move on with her life. Hopefully after the H Pylori is dead in her body we can get her to gain some weight. She is also doing well in school. Her teacher said she has changed greatly since last year.

We have had a great year. Can't believe that next weekend will be one year home. We will try to post more later. Have a great week.
Tammy

Family for One Year

2009-08-25T13:35:00.008-06:00

It has been an emotional year. Some days are beautiful and some days you look around and wonder what in the world have we done. We always hold on to the faith that this was God's plan. I must admit the bad days are beginning to slow down. We are still in the midst of doctor's appointments and medical procedures. But, we didn't think these would things would go quickly. It requires time to see what all needs to be fixed. We are finished with all of Jaryd's health issues. There is nothing wrong with him now that we had his tonsils taken out. Jacob will always have to deal with the Asperger's, but hopefully he will continue to learn to cope with that in time. We are finally learning how to deal better with his melt-downs. Kailyn still has some kind of problem, we think, with her food processing. Hopefully in the next coupld of weeks will have some answers for this. She is still not gaining any weight. In fact, she has lost about a 1/2 a pound again. So we are still just kind of in the midst of normal kid health issues. We just never had four of them in the house at one time before. Seems as though we are always going to doctor's apopintments.

The kids have adjusted to being Americans very well. Jacob saw a picture of the Ukraine the other day and said, "I think I have been there before." Now you know why we call him airhead some days. We are such a world away from being in that country. Some day I hope that we can go back there and visit and take things to help both of the orphanages that gave us our children. Some days I wonder if their mother still wonders where they are. Does she care? Is she still alive? Where are their fathers? Do they wonder about their children?

We thank God that he gave us these children to incorporate into our family. While singing in praise band on Sunday I looked into the audience to see my three oldest children and my son's wife(my other daughter) to just smile at God's Awesome love for Kevin and I. Jaryd, Jacob and Kailyn fit in so well with all of the kids.

Jaryd was talking this morning before school and couldn't remember how to say any words in Ukranian. He says that he can understand it, he just can't speak it.

Happy "Family Day"

Pretty amazing when you go from three kids to six in just two hours time. I wish pregnancy and labor could have gone that fast. I probably would have had twenty kids in that case. Oh wait, not, I don't think so. Where has my sanity gone. Six is enough. We will wait for grand kids now. Hopefully that will be a few more years.

Thanks to everyone who has helped this been such a fantastic year in our lives and our childrens lives. thanks for all the bloggers who have helped us through times we didn't think we could make it through.

Here are some pictures, before and after.

2009-08-24T16:47:00.002-06:00

Here is an article that the El Paso Times published today about Adoption. We were one of the families featured and this is the family picture that they took.

Enjoy

EL PASO -- Callers to Children's Connection in Lubbock are a little different from those of just a few years ago.
Inquiries about adopting children from foreign countries largely have become calls asking how to adopt children from Texas or elsewhere in the United States.
"Economics really does play a role in adoption," said Debora Phillips, adoption director for the state for Children's Connection. The nonprofit organization helps connect prospective parents with adoption agencies and helps them through the adoption process.
"We're seeing people that are still pursuing adoption plans, but maybe their interests are changing. Maybe they're not going to the most expensive option they might have gone to a year or two ago," she said.
She said others think adoption costs are now simply too high to allow them to expand their families.
"It's really expensive," Phillips said.
In Texas the method of the adoptive parents picking up a new baby from the hospital just after its birth can cost between $20,000 and $40,000.
Parents who want to adopt an orphan from another country can spend between $20,000 and $45,000, she said.
Domestic adoptions, including older children in the nation's foster care system, can cost from a few thousand dollars up to about $20,000.
Phillips said there's been an increase in the number of people interested in adopting children waiting in Texas or other states.
She said of all El Paso callers to her organization in 2008, about one third wanted domestic infant adoption, one third wanted international adoptions and another quarter were interested in waiting child adoptions. The remainder were interested in kinship adoption.
She said so far in 2009, interest in international adoption has decreased to about 14 percent among callers from El Paso. Interest in waiting child adoption increased from 25 percent to about 43 percent, and domestic infant adoption also increased to about 43 percent.
Firm statistics on the number of adoptions in El Paso or Texas were not available because courts immediately seal adoption records.
Those who want to adopt children from within Texas must first foster the children in their homes.
"If you go the foster-to-adopt method through Texas you might have a four- or five-year window to adopt and all you will pay for is the cost for the final hearing," Phillips said.
Adopting from other states will include paying for a home study. Some states pick up the costs for post placement visits, supervision during a trial period and final adoption costs.
She said a federal adoption tax credit also helps ease the financial burden for families. The military and some large companies offer a slight reimbursement for adoption costs.
The decreased costs for domestic adoptions are a big reason people are choosing that route. Changes in some international adoption rules have made it more difficult to adopt children from countries such as Mexico.
Phillips said she expected more people to again opt for international adoption as the economy improves and knowledge of the new international rules spreads.
Her agency has helped several El Paso families through the adoption process, including Tammy and Kevin Huckabee.
When Tammy Huckabee saw the photo of a small girl with blond hair and wide eyes among dozens of other Ukrainian orphans, she knew she had found her daughter.
The couple already had three children of their own, including a 3-year-old daughter at home.
"We realized our family still wasn't finished," she said.
Tammy Huckabee said she'd always felt there were supposed to be more children in her family. She and her husband tried to adopt more than a decade before, but the Mexico adoption of twin boys fell through.
After their daughter Alyssa was born several years later, they still felt their family had room to grow.
They contacted an adoption agency in 2006 and were recommended to look to the Ukraine to adopt because children there were more likely to share their physical features.
Nearly two years later, the Huckabees were in the Ukraine, looking through photos of available children.
The little girl with the big eyes was 2-year-old Yana. She and her two older brothers, Igor and Illya, were waiting for a family at Ukrainian orphanages. They are now 3, 5 and 9 years old.
The Huckabees couldn't resist.
Six weeks later, the children were in America with a new family and new names: Kailyn, Jacob and Jared Elijah.
They've learned English and love to romp around their Santa Teresa home with one another.
"It's like they were always with us," Tammy Huckabee said.
The couple said it's important that parents do their research before beginning the process.
Priscilla Aguilar checked everything out before she began the process that would bring her Ilker, a young Russian boy.
Ilker, 3, became her son last October.
"I just wanted to be a mom. I'm 32 and I'm not in a couple and I didn't think I had to wait to have a son," she said.
She opted to adopt from Russia because there were fewer restrictions placed on adoptions to single women.
She was placed on a waiting list for an infant in September 2007. Early the next year she changed her age limit to two years old and received a call two weeks later that a boy was waiting for her.
She was sent a photo of Ilker.
"The second I saw him I said he's mine," Aguilar said.
She underwent home studies and finished the required paperwork and visited Russia a total of three times before the adoption took place in October.
"They try to designate a child that goes with your personality, so I guess I described myself as pretty active," the lawyer said as Ilker buzzed around the room and clamored for her attention.
She said she saved to pay for the adoption costs, but the entire process was worth it.
"Being a mother is better than I ever thought," she said.
She recommended that prospective parents be patient through the process and reach out to others who have been there.

Where we were a year ago

2009-08-15T16:36:00.004-06:00

One year ago today we were doing the Ground Hog thing visiting our new beautiful children every day. Our air conditioning went out on our side of the house on Thursday night and Kevin said to me as the wind was blowing through the windows, "Feels like we are back in Ukraine." It has been a year of ups and downs and many lessions learned. Months ago I thought the year mark would never come. I kept thinking if a year would get here all of the problems should be gone by them. Oh, how wrong could I be. But, the problems are beginning to just be the problems of normal children, not orphans. God has brought us through this year and will continue to follow us through the many years to come with our new children. Daily we learn life lessons that teach us more and more how to be a family. And, our children learn more and more how to be siblings and family members. I would like for the empathy level to be a little higher, but I supposed that will come too.

This has been a busy week at our house with Mom being sick all week with a summer cold. Everyone ran a little fever last weekend. So we had a very quiet at home weekend. Alyssa and I are the only ones who ended up with the runny nose. Kailyn seems to be trying to come down with it today. I hope we can fend it off. She is going to have her ears cleaned on Tuesday and they are going to put her under to do it. They won't do it if she is sick.

Jacob and Kailyn started school on Monday and all was well. I will post pictures from their day soon. Jacob asked me on Monday night, "Do I get to do that every day?". To which I replied yes son five days a week. Kailyn has her same teachers from last year. She has been a little quiet, but I think it is because she is with all new kids. She will come out of her shell as soon as she gets a little more comfortable.

Kailyn had her endoscopy on Tuesday. They didn't see anything, but they didn't expect to. They are looking at the pathology from the biopsy from the small intestine. They are now thinking that she is having an absorption problem. Sunday night I was watching Discovery Health Network and saw a show about Schwaubman Diamond Syndrome. I won't bore you with the specifics, but we are looking into this as a possiblity for Kailyn. The doctor said he will do some more checking. This biopsy is a good test for this Syndrome. Has anyone out there had to deal with this SDS before? The first picture is befor the procedure. The second picture is after they had to give her medication for nausea because they over medicated her for the procedure. She was out like a light again. The third picture is the wheel chair on the way out and the fourth one is her in the car seat. She played with that blue hat all day long when she got home.

We had Open House on Thursday night and Jaryd's teacher and I got a few minutes to talk. She says he could easily be ready to go to 4th grade next year. She is going to help me at school and I am going to work at home to get him through the 3rd grade this year. He is attending the 2nd grade and we are going to do 3rd from home simultaneously.

Alyssa has been studying insects for the last couple of weeks. She has a new insect every day that she comes home and talks about. She was made to go to school. She loves it.

Kevin found out this week that along with all his other problems he has pretty severe sleep aphnea. He tried to use the machine, but was unable to tolerate it. They are working on trying a dental appliance. Please keep him in your prayers.

Have a blessed week.
Tammy

Jaryd School

2009-08-05T08:07:00.004-06:00

We went outside this week to find our Neo Mastiff asleep in the pool. I guess he is enjoying it as much as the kids.

Jaryd started school this week and is very happy with his new teacher. He loves the classroom and is very excited to go to school every day. We are hoping that he will continue to excel the way he did last year. We have already decided to try to do 3rd grade at home with him this year while he is doing 2nd grade at school. We hope to move him to 4th grade next year. This way he will almost be caught up for his age. He would still be one year behind. Not sure we will work on another year. We will see.

Alyssa is still doing wonderfully and can't wait to go to school either. She came home and told us Monday that she had a job that day. Her job was to hold the door. She was so proud.

Kailyn went to the stomach doctor yesterday. They are going to do an endoscopy on Tuesday to check the absorption of her small intestines. While we were doing the pured food she lost weight. So the doctor believes there is an absorption problem. We will see. She need to start gaining some weight. Her teacher visited yesterday and she will start to school on Monday. She is also going to get to ride the bus home and she is very excited about riding the bus.

Jacob went to school on Monday and met his teachers. He seemed to like the room. It is so hard to tell with him. I don't remember if I mentioned before that the Nuerologist thinks he has Asperger's. It makes a lot of sense with him. He is socially challenged. The teacher that was here for Kailyn yesterday said that now a lot of his year last year makes a lot of sense. She was his teacher last year. She was glad to know that they had figured out what might be wrong. We have discussed this with his new teacher and she is very familiar with the condition. God put us in the right class.

Have a blessed week.

Tammy

School Days

2009-07-28T20:29:00.004-06:00

Alyssa started school yesterday and absolutely loved it. She was so ready. I know that one year ago she would not have been ready, but yesterday she was. God is so good. Here are a few pictures of her first day at school and her Clifford the Big Red Dog hat today.

Kailyn went to the ear doctor to have her ears cleaned and they decided to sedate her to have it done. We will go in on the 18th for her sedation and then if needed they will add tubes to her ears. They aren't sure if they are need tubes until after they get all the wax out. We will see. That's about all the updates for now.

Enjoy the pictures of Alyssa.

Tammy

2009-07-18T12:10:00.002-06:00

Here are my two bathing beauties. They both have their new shades on. Alyssa's are silver shells. I walked outside to find these two in this position. Kailyn's glasses are multi-colored shimmers. If you click on the picture you can see them a little larger.

Wow two posts in one day.

One more week of summer

2009-07-18T08:39:00.006-06:00

Almost 10 months home. Seems like a lifetime. I was watching another blog that the family is in Ukraine adopting a DS little boy now. I recognized the internat and it brought tears to my eyes to think that one year ago our little ones were walking that same pathway every day. Thanks God for bringing them home from that place.

Alyssa officially starts school one week from Monday. Can't believe that the summer is coming to a close and we are beginning another school year. Alyssa starts on the 27th of July, Jaryd starts on the 3rd of August, and Jacob and Kailyn start on the 10th of August. So off we go.

We have been doing some doctor visits over the Summer. Jacob is now wearing glasses and will have surgery on the 26th of August to correct his crossed-eyes. Both eyes will have to be done. He has also been to the Neurologist where we have gotten a diagnosis of possible mild Asperger's disease. We had already had thoughts that he had this problem. But, the doctor is doing some more testing. This week we had an EEG. We will get some blood work done on Monday and then back to the doctor for the results.

We also visited the doctor with Kailyn this week. We are starting some more testing to see why she has still not gained any weight. They are doing a test on Monday with some barium to watch her swallowing. She doesn't seem to be absorbing the nutrients from her food. We have done the calorie studies and she is getting enough calories. She eats plenty of food. We had an appliance put in her mouth this summer that is supposed to help with tongue thrusting. They are going to start on a more rigorous routine with the speech therapist. She is still using her tongue to eat not her teeth. She also finally has an appointment with the Endocrinologist. She has grown 3 inches, but not one pound different. I was reading someone else's blog about having a hard time finding clothes to fit, she is wearing size 6-12 month shorts and I still have to take darts. Will her butt ever get large enough to hold up her pants. The doctor decided to put Kailyn on a short acting medicine in the evening. Once her medicine has worn off she gets almost uncontrollable in the evening. We gave her the first dose yesterday and it made a huge difference. She is so tortured by the ADHD.

Jaryd is having some issues with control when the medicine is worn off. We are working to get him to learn control instead of more medication. He seems to respond when we talk to him about his behavior. This is a plus. I think it is time to increase his dosage, but I would like to wait until school starts.

Alyssa is still sailing along. She is ready for school. She learned a lot at VBS and continues to amaze us with her unselfishness.

We also went to see Dora the Explorer Live this week. The kids were pleasantly surprised. I didn't tell them until we were there at the theater. The sun was in Alyssa's eyes so the picture isn't the best. It was bright after coming out of the dark theater.

2009-07-11T08:41:00.003-06:00

I am trying to download this video again. Can't seem to get it right. The new camera Kevin bought me for Mother's Day is so hard to change the video over. Tammy

This is true Americana on the Fourth.

2009-07-04T14:53:00.000-06:00

I know, I know

2009-07-04T08:29:00.002-06:00

Shadow Boxes on Mema's new porch

Cooling our feet in the World War II Memorial

Pilots anyone

Maybe the girls too

on the Metro after the first day in DC

USS Wisconsin

Start of trek through the Mall in Washington, DC

Ripley's Believe it or Not

Sesame Street Land

Just love this picture

Sand monsters

Lunch time
Jamestown Settlement

I know that it has been a long time since I blogged. We have been super busy. We are now home for the rest of the summer. I think. Maybe not. Jaryd would like to go fishing so that may be a day or two trip. My dad has to make another trip to the doctor late July so I will have to go with him there. So maybe a couple more small trips.

The trip to the beach and Washington, DC was awesome. Not sure that we will do two consequtive weeks again, but oh well we survived. The kids didn't get the real meaning of a lot of the historical stuff, but I am hoping that when they are a little older and start learning American History they will be able to say "Hey, I saw that." We did Washington, DC in a whirlwind tour. We would take the Metro in every day and then start on seeing as much of the Mall as we could see. The first day we were in the Natural History Museum all day. The second day we went to the Capital, Air and Space Museum and walked by all the other memorials. The kid were super tired. So were mom and dad.

We had some interesting hotel episodes in DC. Too many to talk about. But, in the end it was all good. The hotel had problems not the kids.

We enjoyed Williamsburg so much that we bought some more time share there. Breanne was with us for those first five days and she helped mom a lot. We did Busch Gardens and Water Country while she was there and that helped with the kids. Kevin was able to sit with the girls and keep them occupied while we rode some bigger rides. Jaryd was a real dare devil he kept up with big sister on every ride she went on that he was tall enough to ride. Jacob would have liked to but would chicken out in the end. I am glad because mom is kind of a chicken too. The girls rode all the rides that were for their age. Kailyn wanted to ride one in Sesame street land that was a little bit large for her, but she rode anyway. She loved it. I was a little afraid myself.

I think the boys enjoyed Water Country the best. The girls did too. Kevin sat in all the baby pools and watched the girls play. Mom and Breanne took the boys on all the rides. Nothing stopped Jacob here.

We enjoyed our days at the beach. Kevin and the kids spent the days building sand castles. Jaryd loved the water. Jacob not so much. Alyssa did not want to go in without someone holding her hand, and Kailyn would not get out of the sand. NO water for her. But, they had a blast playing in the sand and collecting shells.

We went to my dad's for Father's day and spent the night. It was a great visit. We hadn't seen him in a while. All the kids joined us for lunch and that was a great treat for him.

This last week we went to Kevin's dad's and then on to his mom's. We had wonderful visits with all of them. We got to see Aunt Brenda, Uncle Brad, Lauren, Jason, and Cousin David for a short time too. Guess we have seen almost everyone since school was out. Kevin's sister Tammy and her family came over the end of May and we got to visit with them then. While at Mema's we did a shadow box for each of the kids with shells and pictures from the beach. They were so proud of them when they finished.

We are going to enjoy a quiet fourth here at home with some hot dogs and hamburgers and some watermelon. I think I will make ice cream too. Here are some pictures you can catch up on.

Talk to you soon.

Tammy

2009-05-28T19:23:00.003-06:00

We bought this swimming blaster at Sam's this weekend. I think it is going to be a great hit for the summer. Maybe next year we will get a real pool.

Please be in prayer for the Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday. They are voting to ban all international adoptions for one year. Those kids need our prayers. Couples who are there will have to come home childless if this passes. Pray without ceasing.

Tammy

The new video camera was my mother's day present.

Summer has begun

2009-05-22T16:30:00.002-06:00

A little update on the Social Security Number. Kailyn is finished. On the other hand, the agent was supposed to do Jacob's the day after I was there for Jaryd. So that their numbers wouldn't be so close, and mail me the paper work the next day. I haven't seen his number yet. Kailyn's was only done last week and I already have her number and Jaryd's. Guess I will have to make another trip.

The kids got out of school on Wednesday and we left to go to my dad's to take him to the heart doctor. It was just a check up and all is good. We came home this morning (Friday). Now we will begin to plan for our vacation. We leave on the 30th of May to go to Williamsburg Virginia, Virginia Beach and Washington DC for two weeks. It will be interesting to get ready to travel for two weeks with six people.

The kids did a few projects this afternoon at the bar. They love to sit at the bar and cut and tape and color. We have had some rain today so they had to be inside this afternoon. We are not complaining about the rain because we need it.

We hope to leave the kids with a babysitter tomorrow or Sunday and go to the wine festival. It is just fun. Not big drinkers, but we love to go with some friends. It will be a good get away for Kevin and I without the kids. We haven't had much time for just us. The break will be good before vacation.

Tammy

Social Security Numbers

2009-05-07T08:50:00.002-06:00

I know that it is a little late applying for social security cards, but we filed an extension on our taxes and so we haven't needed them yet.
Yesterday, I went to the SS Office to apply for the cards. After waiting for my turn, I was told that I would need their Ukrainian passports before they would process. The lady at window 5 took Kailyn's Citizenship paper with her picture attached to the back and brought it back to say that they would need the passports. Okay, I will go home and get them. I put the papers in my purse so that I could return again.
Second trip, I wait my turn once again. I am finally called hand the papers to the agent and she says the picture is not on Kailyn's citizenship paper. Oh NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I look through my purse and there it is. Sorry we cannot accept this document, it is altered. Can't you see that the seal matches and that it just came unglued in my purse. Looks like it but you will have to return to immigration. GREAT!!!!!!! I need to speak to a supervisor. Okay no problem maam. Supervisor gives me the same story. Can't you just give me some glue and I will put the picture back on. NO ma'am we cannot do that. You could take it home glue it on and take it to our other office, because they don't know that it was altered. But this office will not take it. You will need to talk to immigration. By the way, Kailyn is with me, she has her passport, and I am her mother testifying to who she is. The same picture that is on her Citizenship paper is on the Visa that is in her Ukrainian passport.
So I place a call to my trusty Immigration Agent. He is not there. So I leave a message. He calls me later in the day to say just glue the picture back on yourself. We don't have an official stamp that says we glued the picture back on. He was very upset with the Social Security Agent for causing us so much trouble.
Oh remember me saying the the first agent at SS saw the picture attached and took it to the back to show a supervisor, well she conveniently forgot that she saw the picture attached. She would not confirm that she had seen it earlier that morning.
Thankfully, the agent that I dealt with on the second trip that processed Jacob and Jaryd's numbers told me that when I had the picture reattached, that she would process the applicaiton without a wait. She told me just to look her up and she would do it as quickly as possible.
In case you wondered, I am filing a complaint against the supervisor. I am going to send all the information and copies of everything with the complaint. Their words were that since 911 they have to be carful of terrorist. She is three. She has been in the country 8 months. No terrorist actions to this point.
Never a dull moment when you deal with government agencies. By the way, I have glued the picture back on. I will be making another trip to the SS office.
I will let you know the outcome of this trip.
Tammy

Rules

2009-04-28T08:24:00.003-06:00

Why is it that rules still after 7 months don't seem to mean a thing to my newbees? Jaryd just seems to think that the rules still apply to everyone else but him. We have repeatedly told him he cannot put things in his backpack from home to take to school. No toys, no food, no nothing. But, like any other 9 year old boy he still pushes that limit. This morning his backpack was filled with food and colored pencils that he knew he was not allowed to take to school. He sneaked them in there this morning while I was finishing getting ready. I noticed that his backpack was making a funny noise. I checked and sure enough there it was. I know this does not necessarily have any thing to do with being adopted or maybe it does. I know this is just 9 year old boy behavior. But, it is so frustrating. Of course, I was the bad guy because he got caught. I tried to explain to him once again that it was his behavior that caused him to loose privileges not just the fact that I caught him. I am only the enforcer of the rules. I explained to him also that parents have rules to follow too. If we didn't follow the rules of the God and of the world, what a terrible mixed up place this world would be.

I just pray daily that God will give me wisdom in my discipline. I do hope that in the next few months life will begin to settle in. I keep thinking it will but so far no such luck. Well, with four kids in the house it is a little hard to have complete quietness.

Jacob seems to be an arguer. He always has a come back for everything that you say. We are working very hard on talking back. He thinks he should have the last word. This is definitely a challenge.

I will say that yesterday afternoon was my dream time of being a mother of four small children. Jaryd and Jacob were in their room playing cars so quietly you would barely know they were there. Alyssa was sitting at the play desk coloring and cuting and pasting. She enjoys making projects so much. Kailyn was playing in the play area in the den. I am not sure what she was playing, but all was quiet. It allowed me to get dinner ready. So see there are some good times. They are not all bad. I sound a little negative in the beginning, but just to let you know things are not always bad.

Nana is going to start having school with Alyssa one day a week until school is out for the others. She is missing a little of her alone time with Nana. So Nana decided to have one morning a week with her just for her special time.

I have become another mini-van mom. We had a Tahoe with three seats that sat everyone comfortably, but it did not allow for groceries, stroller or lawn chairs for soccer games. I could have one on the list but not two. We looked and looked for a new vehicle and the only thing that I could find that would fit everything in was a Town and Country mini-van. So I have joined the ranks for the mini-van moms again. I swore I would never own another, but I guess God has a wonderful sense of humor. Never say never right. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with owning a mini-van, I just thought I had moved on to the SUV land. Wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great week in the Lord.
Tammy

Easter Picture

2009-04-22T12:11:00.002-06:00

Here is our Easter Picture. What a great looking bunch. Sure does make a mom proud.

Tammy

Six months home a little late.

2009-04-15T09:21:00.008-06:00

Lots to talk about. I haven't posted in a while so I will try to catch up a few things. The first picture is of Alyssa, Jacob, and Kailyn. Jacob was in timeout for talking back and Alyssa decided that she and Kailyn were in trouble and decided to join him in time-out. Of course, they had done nothing to warrant time out. What sibling love we have.

The next four pictures are four apple trees that we planted this spring. We had some trees that we had planted last year that died. We returned those to Lowe's and purchased these apple trees. We are going to even have fruit this year. Each one of the kids has claimed a tree. We will follow their progress over the next few years to see how the kids and the trees grow. Hopefully these trees will stay alive.

We have some pictures of the Easter Egg Hunt at church. This was a lot of fun for all the kids. The new kids all got a taste of it at school the day before. The Early Childhood class had a hunt for all the kids in Kailyn and Jacob's class.

Here is a picture of the kids in their Easter finery. The camera got moved to a setting that made horrible pictures. This is the best that I have. Sorry. One of the ladies at church took all our picture and I will try to post that one when we get it.

The second picture is the night before Easter. We were cutting fingernails and putting rollers in Alyssa's hair so she could have "curlies."

Update on all the kiddos:

Jaryd

Jaryd is our lover of responsiblity. He functions best when given responsiblity. He is doing very well in school. The medication has changed his life. He has not had anything but a green face since we started the medicine. We have moved up to a few more milligrams. He seems to be handling the medication beautifully. He is speaking English beautifully. He still has some problems, but has a great command of his new language. His teacher tested his reading level last week and he is only one level away from where he should be by the end of the school year. We expect that he will be right on target for the end of the year. Why is it that a child from Ukraine can come to this country and learn the language in just six short months and we have students here who have lived here all their life and still do not speak the English. He is excelling far beyond his age in Math and Science. There is a school year in El Paso that is for the gifted and talented in Math and Science. We are going to look in to this for him when he is ready to go into Junior High. He is playing soccer. He is a natural. There are two boys on his team named Jaryd. What is the chances? Jaryd still has his moments where he wants to be rebellious. But, most of the time with a little discussion and explanation he comes to understand why we are enforcing rules. He and Kevin built a kite on Easter afternoon that was five foot tall. It was broken, after just a little while, but they are trying to rebuilt it and put it back together. I will try to get some pictures for you to see. It was pretty impressive.

Jacob

Jacob is our thinker and quiet schemer. Jacob has also been on meds. He is about the same. The meds have seemed to help with some of his day dreaming. He is not doing as well in school as I would like for him to. They are going to meet on the 12th of May to discuss him going to summer school. They want him to be really prepared to go to Kindergarten. We will see what their recommendation is. He is learning English well and still has a little hesitation when speaking. We have to make him speak up. Jacob went to a birthday party for one of his classmates this weekend. He played by himself instead of with the group. That seems to be his biggest problem. He has a hard time playing with a group of other children. He is such a loner. He is also playing soccer. We are in hopes that this will help him mature. He is still very immature for his age. He has made great progress, but we have a long way to go.

Alyssa

Just our little ball of sunshine. Alyssa is going to go to a Pre-k program next year. She really wants to get to go to school. I hope she is as excited when it truly happens. Alyssa is playing indoor soccer. Her league plays on the basketball court. She is a little shy, but is getting more aggressive. She loves to play. It is very comical to watch them play.

Kailyn

Still our little ball of energy. Kailyn has also moved up on her new medication. She takes it in the morning before school and again at 3 in the afternoon. She doesn't seem to have any side effects from taking the meds. Kailyn's biggest problem is learning to control her tongue. She chews her food with her tongue and not her teeth. She has the strongest tongue I have ever seen. When talking with the social worker she says this is common in children when they miss being fed with a spoon. She also has a bad lisp. I spoke with her Speech Therapist this morning and we are going to work together to get this tongue under control. If anyone has any suggestions, all comments would be appreciated. Kailyn still has a hard time accepting parental control. She still wants to be in control. We are working on that also. Kailyn is doing well in school and moving right up towards her age level. She has not gained any weight just inches. She has grown almost three inches now. Here is a picture of her swining on the swing. Actually it is picture of her sleeping on the swing. She swings for hours. Sometimes she swings herself to sleep. We have to watch her closely, because we don't want her to fall off. You can barely see the Great Dane's nose in the picture. She was watching over her to make sure she didn't fall.

That's about all for now. Let's call this the six month home post. Even though it is a little late. It is almost 7 months now.

Back to School

2009-03-31T10:08:00.002-06:00

We are settling back in to our routine with school and all that we do. I have practice two nights a week for our easter presentation at church. Dad has been helping cook on those nights. Or, usually Tuesday night is Taco Cabana night.

Friday we went to the doctor for the recheck on the kids medicine. The doctor felt that Jaryd needed to be moved up to 10mg. He seems to have become comfortable with the 5mg. So we changed the dosage and he is doing beautifully. No side effects at all. There was also a new medicine available for Kailyn. We were having a hard time with the dosage of Kailyn's med. The new one started today and we will see how it works. It is liquid and I can control the dosage a lot easier. The only bad thing is that it is not time released. So I will have to give her a dose at noon each day. For now that is not a problem because she is with me at that time every day. And as she grows we can go back to a time released medicine. Jacob stayed the same on his dosage. The med seems to help him to focus better.

Here are a few pictures of the kids cleaning up grass in the yard on Saturday. We had a nice day on Saturday.

We heated the pool at our other house last week and went swimming on Sunday. The kids had a great time. Hopefully we will get to swim in it a few more times before it is rented.

Enjoy the pictures and have a great week.

God Bless

Tammy

Train ride

2009-03-25T07:59:00.005-06:00

We left Sunday afternoon and drove to Belen, NM. They have a new train that is called the Railrunner Express. This train runs between Belen and Santa Fe. We spent the night in Belen in the motorhome and left early Monday morning to travel on the train to Santa Fe. We had a two hour lay over in Albuquerque so we walked around downtown and ate some breakfast at a great cafe. After breakfast we returned to the train station and prepared to load the train again to go on to Santa Fe. All of the kids were very excited over the train ride. We got to Santa Fe around 12:00.

We started walking and Kailyn was cold. Everyone had a hood except her. We stopped at a store and bought her a little hat. The lady said 1.08. I nearly fainted. Wow just one dollar and she was a happy camper. It looked pretty cute too. It even matched the outfit. It was definately worth the money for my sanity.

We went on to the plaza downtown. We saw the indians selling their jewelry around the square. We did a little more shopping and then went to lunch. Kevin and I had an awesome green chile cheeseburger at the Plaza cafe. Jaryd had nachos and the little ones had chicken. They were all happy. We returned to the street vendors and purchased some bracelets for all us girls. Jacob had found an astronaut toy that he wanted and we were still in search of Jaryd's big prize.

Jaryd finally found a kit at Border books that makes all kinds of flying airplanes and rockets. Now they are all happy we caught the train and headed back to Belen. Jaryd told me he wanted to live in Santa Fe. He loved the town. Kevin bought a huge dinosaur book and they all spent the train ride back to Belen reading and looking at the dinosuars. All except for Kailyn. She was busy playing with animals that we brought with us.

The picture of Alyssa sleeping is while we were shopping. Someone walked past us and said look at the flowers in her hand while she is sound asleep. We didn't know she had gone to sleep.

This was a great trip. We had a wonderful time with all the kids.

Tammy

What a week

2009-03-21T08:15:00.003-06:00

Well let's see Monday morning started out with Kailyn throwing up and a fever. By, noon you would never know that she was sick.

Tuesday, Alysa throwing up and a fever. Tuesday night Alyssa's fever is so high she is delirious. I gave Tylenol and Motrin just to get it broken. Wednesday off and on she ran fever. Wednesday night she is delirious again. More meds. Thursday morning off to the doctor. She had a little sore throat but nothing else. They said it is just a flu bug that is going around. They did give her an antibiotic.

Friday, everyone seems okay. We are waiting to go eat lunch and in comes Kailyn holding her head and crying. Alyssa said she ran into the end of the piano. They were running through the house of course. I grab her and rush her to the sink to see how bad it is. We are off to the emergency room. Two hours later we have two interior stitches and six exterior ones. She took it well. They used lidocaine gel and no shots. That was her biggest worry the shot. This all happened about noon so we finish up at two just in time to pick the boys up at 2:25. We pick them up and Jaryd says he got a green face, but ummm he had detention. After a long discussion we discovered he didn't have detention, he as STUDENT OF THE WEEK. Wow from 9 out of 12 days disciplinary action to student of the week. Praise God for the medicine. We are very proud of him. He has shown remarkable progress this week. All of the kids have. Jacob is so much more focused and Kailyn has not been out of control at all. She takes life so much more calmly now.

This is the beginning of our spring break and we have a few things planned. I will show you pictures as we go along.

Have a blessed week.

Tammy

2009-03-20T08:06:00.005-06:00

We have been growing caterpillars I guess you would say. We have nine cocoons. Here is a picture of the cocoons and then one of the butterflies that has already hatched

The swimming picture is Jaryd. He kept being gone when I was taking the pictures at swimming lessons. He always had a dentist appointment.

Then there is a picture of shirts that Nana brought all the kids from Cancun. I took them before school this morning so that they would still be white when I got a picture.

Tammy

2009-03-19T19:41:00.002-06:00

Four green faces in a row. Wow what a change from the last two weeks. We haven't had four green faces in more than a month. It is so much more calm at our house. Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!

Forgot to say that Alyssa is sick and we had to go to the doctor today. It is just the flu bug. She should be better in a day or two.

2009-03-17T15:39:00.001-06:00

Two green faces in a row for Jaryd.

2009-03-16T15:28:00.003-06:00

Above is Alyssa and Jacob at swimming lessons. Below, is Kailyn at swimming lessons. She can't keep her float on. As you can see it is down around her butt. Sisters outside on the wall. You can't see but they both had their backpacks and they were out for a day on the town (around the yard). Jacob and Jaryd are playing legos on Saturday morning. This is the first time I have caught just the two of them together. They are growing closer all the time.

Alyssa was one cool dude princess.

We finally met the Payne's. It was as though we had known each other forever. We had lunch with them on Saturday at Peter Piper pizza. It was great to get together and discuss things that are only known by adoptive parents. I loved putting real faces with people that you have only seen on the computer.

We saw our pediatrician on Friday and she prescirbed medicine for all three kids for their ADHD and ADD. We started the medicine on Saturday. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a difference with all three kids. Jaryd was able to sit and play legos without getting frustrated. He had a wonderful day at school today. The teacher said he was a different kid. Thank you God for sending us to the right person. Jacob is much more focused and not so much out in left field. Kailyn has slowed. I am not sure they have found the right medication for her, but at least this is a start.

Kailyn and Alyssa have both been sick today. Kailyn has the stomach flu and I think that Alyssa has a cold that is getting worse. It has been a good day just to lay around in your pajamas. I never do that, but both girls are still in their pjs and it is 3:48 in the afternoon. Oh well.

More later.

Good morning

2009-03-05T08:43:00.003-07:00

Life around our house is beginning to move into more of a normal mode. We are watching each child change and grow as God begins to mold them into a new creature.

Jaryd is having a really tough time at school right now. He has had 7 out of 9 days red or yellow faces. We feel that right now he is testing to see how far he can push. We are trying to be patient. The ADHD doctor says he doesn't have ADHD. What a crock! We have talked to several educators and friends whose children have ADHD and they all say he does. We also took a Taylor's ADHD checklist. He was in the high category. We have talked to the pediatrician and she is sending us to another doctor. She doesn't agree with the diagnosis either. Jaryd seems to be so tortured by the hyperactivity. He really wants to be good. He doesn't really want to act out, we just think he can't help it. We have started some private tutoring to try to get him caught up before the end of the year. Pray for us and him as we work through these tough times.

Jacob is improving with his attachment problems. I think he will work through all of this too. He was also seen by the same doctor as Jaryd. Jacob seems to be doing very well at school and moving along with his speech. He is still the one who sounds like a little Ukranian. He doesn't seem to be moving out of the accent quit as easy. Jacob is a charmer for everyone away from us. But, he is also beginning to work with us on his behavior. His lying has slowed and he hasn't had an episode in the last week. Praise God. Continue to pray for him also. God will prevail, I am sure.

Kailyn is still Kailyn. She is always on the hyper side. We are still working on some behavior issues, but she just needs to feel loved. We are continuing to give her that assurance. Her teacher said yesterday that she had a good day. At least, she didn't run off. That is good. We are making strides every day.

Alyssa is still testing all the limits also. I am sure that this is totally normal. She has such a good heart and wants to have perfect behavior. But, sometimes that other little person just has to surface.

We started swimming lessons this week. Kailyn we decided very quickly was not ready for the structure at this point. So we will just let her play in the shallow part while everyone else takes lessons. Maybe by summer she might be ready. Alyssa and Jacob are in the same class. They are both very eager to learn. Jaryd is in an older beginner class. He think with one lessons he can already swim. We really want him to still have the fear of the water. He will miss his lesson today for behavior and he has a dentist appt. We will start soccer at the end of the month.

Thanks for everyones support and prayers. We feel them every day.

Tammy

2009-02-21T07:46:00.002-07:00

This week has been much better. The kids were out of school three out of the five days. We had teacher conferences on Thursday and they all went well. Everyone is progressing well. All the teachers said they were amazed with their progress in the last few months. Jaryd still has a little ways to go on his reading, but he is on level with some of the kids that have been here all their life.

We went to the zoo yesterday. Some of the pictures did not come out too well. I am going to post a few of them. A couple of the pictures are from last Sunday afternoon. The kids were playing outside and Kailyn came out with the doll dress on her head. I just had to laugh.

We have more doctor's appointments this week. Hopefully we will get some help for the hyperactivity.

Tammy

2009-02-14T08:17:00.003-07:00

Here is Alyssa's birthday party set up.

Jaryd in the trampoline

Watching Alyssa with her presents.

The Princess unwrapping Nana's present

Kailyn's new do. We finally had to for go the long hair for awhile. We cut her hair into a little bob and it seems much more manageablefor now. Of course, it requires a lot more work on mom's part in the mornings. It needs to be blow dried with a round brush. Oh well. It is much better looking all day than it was before. I think after it thickens it will work to let it grow out.

A few new notes

2009-02-11T16:26:00.002-07:00

I know everyone has been watching for some new updates. Things have been a little rough around our house. We seem to have hit the 41/2 month troubles.

Jaryd is doing beautifully. In fact, his ADHD seems to be doing so much better. He has been spending a lot of time with Kevin in the wood shop. They are working on organizing things so they can build something. He seems to just thrive on being with Kevin. Jaryd has started his dental work. He had three teeth pulled on Monday. He will have two more appointments in the next couple of weeks. He needs two crowns and two root canals and two more teeth pullled. Poor guy. He is going to have to do without quite a few teeth for a couple of years. But the other ones were rotten. Jaryd has grown 1 1/2" too. He has not gained any more weight since we got home. The doctor was a little worried, but he is eating well so he thinks it just might be metabolism.

Kailyn is going to school every day and is also doing well. She has grown about an inch but hasn't gained but up to about 21 pounds now. We are about to come to the conclusion that she has such a fast metabolism from the ADHD that she just burns off all the calories. Today was supposed to have been an appointment for Jaryd and her, but the doctor had a death in the family. We will try to see her again on the 26th. We are still looking into other reasons that she hasn't grown.

Jacob on the other hand has started his full fledged assault against us. Yes, that sweet little boy is becoming quite the handful. He has started destroying all the other children's toys. He has gone so far as to let Kailyn be punished for his actions. He doesn't care. He will lie just to keep himself out of trouble. We are going to also have him tested for ADD. He is not hyper. He will tear up a book of Jaryd's if he gets upset with him. He has also grown about 1 1/2 inches. His weight has increased by only a couple of pounds.

Alyssa has had a few bad days. She is following some of Jacob's behavior. All of this is to be expected. We will work through all of this. We just keep remembering that God gave us these wonderful children and we have to be patient.

We went swimming on Saturday. That was Jacob and Kailyn's first time. They seemed to enjoy it. Jacob wasn't as thrilled and everyone else. He is still a little "BIOUSA" (scared). Kailyn was quite the little fish before we left. Jaryd and Alyssa were already swimming everywhere.

After swimming we went to the Bull Riding. That was a lot of fun. Jacob was not enthused. He went to sleep. Alyssa also went to sleep. Kailyn and Jaryd were going strong the whole time. Kailyn got a little nap right before the event so she was rested. It was quite late when we got home. Way past everyone's bed time.

Hope this catches you all up for a little while. I will try to be more vigilant in my posting. I know I owe you some pictures for Alyssa's birthday.

Oh yeah! My elbow is doing wonderful. Therapy is going well. \
Tammy

Where to start

2009-01-23T08:39:00.002-07:00

School started with all of the kids except Alyssa returning to school. Kailyn goes in the morning and she is doing very well. She has had a few moments that made us wonder if it was a good idea sending her to school. She is picking up some bad habits from the other kids. We gave her a hair cut yesterday. She looks so cute. We have really been struggling with what to do with her hair. It has a mind of its own. She got a cute little bob and it looks adorable. We will see how she fairs after a full day with her messing with it. She only goes to school half a day. Then she comes home and has a little lunch and takes her nap.

Jacob goes to school when we pick up Kailyn. The only thing he tells us he is learning is to write his name. He is such an air head. He is doing other things I am sure, but he can't remember long enough to tell us what is going on. He seems to like it and is always happy when he comes home. He meets up with Jaryd after school and we pick them up together. We are still having a little bit of discipline problems with Jacob. He hasn't given up the idea yet that he is in charge. The other morning he spent the morning shower time showering the bathroom with toothpaste. He was of course disciplined for this and then the next morning he used the toothbrush full of toothpaste to decorate the bathroom once again. Of course, that followed by some more discipline time. Thank goodness he decided not to do it the next day. The paint is starting to get thin in the bathroom.

Jaryd is doing super at school. He has also been helping Dad in his shop a lot. Jaryd loves that kind of work. He reminds me so much of our oldest son Shohn. I am sure that God sent Jaryd to Kevin to take over helping dad now that Shohn has grown older. Jaryd is also taking responisbility for getting Kailyn to her classroom every morning at school. He does better when handed lots of responsibility. His first report card was good. He got a couple of undesireable marks, but nothing that wasn't already expected. He seems to love playing his leapster and that is helping his English immensely.

Now for Mom's news. I had elbow surgery on January 8th. Just a minor tendon repair and to clean up some tennis elbow. Never played tennis so I am not sure where that came from. I was in a cast for about 10 days. Kevin's mother came and stayed with us the entire time and that was a huge blessing. She helped with all the meals and the bathing and dressing of the girls. She was also the taxi driver for all the trips to and from school. We would not have made it without her. I have always been blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. I do not think of her as a mother-in-law just as my other mother. The elbow is doing nicely and I start physical theraphy this week. Hopefully things will progress and I will be pain free from now on.

Dad is doing well. Nothing much different in his life. Big kids are great.
I will try to post some pictures of the kids later. Alyssa has her 4th birthday party on Sunday. Where has the time gone? She is having a princess party at home. We have a castle jumping balloon coming. The boys will dress as knights and the girls like princesses. What fun we will have. The weather is supposed to be in the 70's so it should be a great day.

Talk to you all again soon. Sorry for my tardiness.
Tammy

Christmas

2009-01-03T07:38:00.005-07:00

What a Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids all seemed to enjoy the thrill of all the Christmas events. We went to a Candlelight service on Christmas Eve and they got to enjoy the true story of Christmas. It was a beautiful sight to see ALL my children sitting there enjoying the Christmas service together.

We then came home and Nana and Papa brought over dinner. We had a wonderful dinner with my Dad and Nana and Papa and Tiffany and Nathan. Then we retired to the den to open presents.

Everyone was a little slow getting into the moment but it didn't take long for them to figure out the process. I have always wrapped everyone's packages in the same paper. Every child has their own paper. It didn't take Jaryd long to figure that out. Kailyn on the other hand didn't quite understand the process. I am sure next year the race will be on. We had each child put their trash in the trash can as soon as they unwrapped a package. Kailyn became the trash woman. She enjoyed putting the trash away more than unwrapping the packages. Santa came the next morning and that was a real surprise for all. I think next year they will be a little more savy to the whole procedure. They didn't understand all that was going to happen this year.

After Christmas, we went to Kevin's Mom's and then on to Kevin's Dad's. It was fun visiting with all the family. Kevin's brother and family was there and they got to see the kids for the first time. All the family has really rallied behind us and loves the children as though they had been there all their lives. As I stood on the stage last week at church and looked at the children, I realized was a true miracle it was to have them in our lives.

Here are a few more pictures of the mayhem. Thanks for all your prayers and love during this time. We can never tell you how much all of you have meant to us. Those we know and those we only know from the blog. We hope to meet all of you some day.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-18T16:40:00.002-07:00

Well where should we start.

Jaryd: Tonsilectomy went perfectly and he is well on his way to being well most of the time. He also, had a little boy surgery done today. He is feeling fine and he will be better in a few days. School is going well. He does still have some concentration problems, but that is improving all the time. He really likes his teacher so that makes things a lot easier. He wants a bicycle for his birthday on Monday. I am sure that is what he is getting. He can't wait. We have been counting the days for weeks. He would like a remote control car for Christmas. I don't think they really understand what Christmas will be. His English is remarkable. He is taking on the role of big brother beautifully. He helped me last night when I took all four kids to Taco Cabana by myself. Kevin had aboard meeting and I tackled this alone. I wasn't sure, but Jaryd was a life saver. He loves responsibility.

Jacob: Our prefectly wonderful healthy child. He also had a little minor boy surgery today. Glad those are over with. He is a little aggressive at times. He is so quiet you would not expect it from him. We have to be careful not to overlook him sometimes because he is so quiet. He will start to school after the Christmas holidays. He is excited. He will go in the afternoons. Jacob is quite a charmer. Jacob and Alyssa are big buddies. Jacob is maturing quickly, but has a long way to go. Jacob is really into "Cars"

Alyssa: She loves being a sister. I think God had already prepared her to have these siblings in the house. She hasn't missed a beat. She is so unselfish with all the toys. She doesn't like any of the kids to be gone. She likes to have them all home with her at all times. She is into princesses at this time. All we have to do for her for Christmas is buy something with princesses on it.

Kailyn: Our little bundle of movement. She is never still. She can't concentrate on anything for very long. She seems to move constantly from one thing to another. Kailyn will start school after Christmas break also. We finished all the paperwork and got them enrolled yesterday. She is very interested in babies. She loves to play house. Her health seems to be perfectly normal. We are still doing some testing on her digestive system, but other than that she is doing great. She is still not gaining a lot of weight, but hopefully that will change soon. We are going to get some orthodics for her feet to help her fallen arches. The orthopaedists says nothing is wrong with her physically. Only her fallen arches.

We are going to do some traveling to see the grandparents at Christmas in the motorhome. We have made one trip without Jaryd in the motorhome, so he is anxious to go this time. It is the only way to travel with kids if you aren't flying.

Merry Christmas to all and hope that you all have such a wonderful time with all of your new children. What a different place our house will be this year. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sasha and Ben, Thanks so much and Merry Christmas to your families also.

God Bless You All
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, Kailyn, Breanne, Shohn, and Randi

HELP

2008-12-07T14:20:00.002-07:00

Okay all you bloggers I need your help. We have some friends who are trying to adopt domestically. They already have the children chosen. These children are in foster care. The state has told them that they will try to have them in their home by Christmas for the last four months. The new twist is that they are deciding that they need a background check from Colorado. Colorado is telling them it could take 8 weeks. That is unacceptable. This will dash their chances for having these children by Christmas. If there is anyone out there who lives in Colorado or has had a background check from there and can help us pull any strings to get this done sooner, I would appreciate you e-mailing me or just leave a comment so that we can get these two kids with their family for Christmas. I will say THANK YOU in advance because I know God already has the person that is going to help us with this problem.

Let me know.
Tammy

New Pictures

2008-11-29T16:31:00.003-07:00

Thought you might like to see some new pictures of the kids. We took these outside this morning. Man have they changed.

Jaryd is still doing beautifully with his tonsil surgery.

I will try to post again soon. Thanksgiving was very special this year. Lots of new faces at our table. Praise the Lord!

The Huckabee's

Jaryd's surgery

2008-11-26T15:04:00.002-07:00

Jaryd came through his tonsilectomy beautifully this morning. The doctor did not take out his adenoids only the tonsils. He is feeling pretty good and has not had any pain medicine since he got home. Just thought all you would like to know his status. So glad that is behind us. He did better at school this week. God is definately working in his life. He has made some wonderful progress this week.

Thanks for all the prayers.

All the other kids are doing great. Mom has had the flu this week and is a little worn out. Hope this is gone soon.

We go back to school for more testing on Monday for Jacob and Kailyn to go to Pre-k. Hopefully this will get settled in the next couple of weeks. Alyssa will sure miss them while their at school. She is so used to having someone around all the time now.

Kevin got a epidural on his back this week and he seems to be feeling better. He is really having a hard time keeping up. God definately has given him strength.

Love to all
Tammy

Finally a new update

2008-11-15T07:54:00.007-07:00

It is has been busy since I last blogged. Let's see where to start.

Halloween. What a great experience. Our church has trunk or treat and this year a cake walk. That was so much fun. I don't think the kids knew exactly what to expect. They all got lots of candy. We are still working on eating all of it. Jaryd won three cakes at the cake walk. Alyssa won one. Jacob walked forever and never won a cake. He tried hard though. He never got discouraged just had a good time. Kailyn walked too, but didn't win one either. She mainly stayed in the strolled and just watched the people. She is hard to keep up with if you don't have her in the stroller. She just takes off. There are some pictures of them at the event. Alyssa and Jaryd went with Nana to her church a little later in the evening and played games and had their faces painted. Jacob and Kailyn stayed with mom and dad. It can be overwhelming to take all four of them at once.

Then my dad found out that he had to go to Lubbock for an angioplasty. He received two stints. One of them was in the artery they call the widowmaker. He had a 90% blockage in that one. The other one was in the RCA. He had a 99% blockage in that one. The doctor said he was just about a month away from a fatal heart attack. God really blessed us in catching this before anything major happened. Thanks for all the prayers.

Next we took Kailyn to the doctor for another evaluation. They are going to do some more blood work to see why she is still not gaining. She eats all the time and more than anyone else. I have to take her for fasting blood work. I haven't done that yet. I hope to do that on Monday. Kailyn is coming along on her language. She doesn't speak well in any language. I know that Early Childhood will help her in this area. Hopefully she and Jacob will start school in the next couple of weeks.

Jacob had his birthday yesterday. He wanted a bicycle. So that is what he got. He was so excited. He didn't take his helmet off all day yesterday. We had his party at Chuck-E-Cheese. That was a new adventure. His eyes were as big as saucers. But, he was ready to come home and play with his new toys. Jacob is still trying to connect better with the English language, but has come leaps and bounds since Jaryd went to school. He is having a few problems with aggression. We are working on that. He is doing much better in the past few days.

Jaryd is doing great at school. We are having some discipline issues, but that is to be expected. He is a boy, right. I say with him this morining on Starfall.com and he read a book to me and sounded out all the words. Wow!!!! I was amazed. We are going to use this website more and more for Alyssa and Jacob and Kailyn. Jaryd tried to tell something to Jacob last night in Ukraninan and he had a hard time trying to speak the words to him. He was amazed that he couldn't remember.

Alyssa is still doing wonderfully becoming a big and little sister to more siblings. I am just amazed at how well she has adjusted. She is doing lots of homework with Jaryd. School is fun for her. We do extra work with her because she likes learning so much.

Mom and Dad are still learning to have more children in the house. It has seemed to calm down a little. I did get to sit down yesterday for a little while. Dad even got a nap two days this week. That is a blessing.

Love to all. Keep us in your prayers.

The Huckabee clan

2008-10-27T09:03:00.004-06:00

This was a busy weekend. Saturday morning we had our 6 week home Home Study update. That went really well. The Social Worker was very impressed with how well they have adapted. Glad that is behind us. Now we will be ready for the next one in six months. Saturday afternoon we had a pumpkin carving at the church. Here are some pictures of the kids participating in that. We then on Sunday had a party that a group from Keystone Heritage Park planned for the children. They got to see butterflies in the butterfly house, play in a maze, play in a wigwam, and have cake and ice cream. The party attendees also brought gifts for all the children. It was a wonderful celebration.

Oh, we did receive our citizenship papers this last week. So about 4 weeks was the norm.

Pictures

1. Opening gifts

2. Eating Cake and Ice Cream

3. Playing in the wigwam

4. Watching the butterflies

5. Carving Pumpkins

6. Carving Pumpkins

Enjoy. Have a great week.

Kevin, Tammy, Breanne, Shohn, Randi, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

First Day of School

2008-10-20T17:39:00.002-06:00

Jaryd absolutely loved going to school today. We decided to put him in first grade because there was a class with only 15 students. All the second grade classes had 20+ students. He will get more one on one this way. He did great. Mom and Dad bought school supplies while he was in at school and got him ready for tomorrow. He can't wait. Jaryd's first words to Jacob after he got in the car today was "English Jacob, English." I think he now understand the importance of learning English. Thank you God for you eye opening experiences.

Alyssa was mad that she wasn't going to school. Jacob didn't seem fazed. We had to submit paperwork for Jacob to be approved for PRE-K. We hope that he will be able to go in the next couple of weeks. Here are a few pictures from this morning. Alyssa wouldn't let me take her picture. Enjoy.

School is from 7:30 to 2:25. That is a long day. Jaryd is not used to going quite that early. But, he will adjust.

There are also two pictures of Jacob getting his first haircut.

Love to all

Kevin, Tammy, Breanne, Shohn, Randi, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

All is Well

2008-10-18T07:48:00.002-06:00

We will be doing our post placement Home Study next Saturday the 25th. Just one more step to completing all the paperwork since we are home. Jaryd will finally start to school on Monday. We did some school work at home this week and he seems more eager to learn than he was in Ukraine. Jacob worked with me on one of Alyssa's computers last night and he is going to pick it up quickly also. Our biggest problem with Kailyn is potty training. We are going to just wait a little while and she if she comes around. We don't seem to be making a lot of progress. We will give her a little time.

Shohn and Randi came home from their honeymoon last night. We haven't visited much, but I was sure glad to see them home. Breanne is busy working and we don't see much of her these days.

This was our first week of just us at the house. It was a good week and everyone seemed to settle in to a routine. We just keep praying for patience. I know that once the language barrier is eased it will make our life completely routine. Nana took all four kids by herself to McDonald's yesterday. She let me go and get my nails done in peace. That was wonderful. I treasured those couple of hours. She had a great trip with the four of them. Of course, there were a few issues but nothing out of the normal for kids. Thanks Nana.

Love to all. And, Thanks again for the hundreth time for all of your bloggers who have followed our journey. Just keep us in your prayers.

Kevin, Tammy, Breanne, Shohn, Randi, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

PS Here are a few pictures from Kailyn's birthday party.

Reports

2008-10-13T16:10:00.002-06:00

Well I know you have all been waiting to hear how the doctor's visits came out. Everything is normal. Even Kailyn. She does have her ovaries. That is not the reason she is so small. We did start all of us on the medicine to kill the parasites in our systems. Everyone is already better and we have only been on them for about four days. Hopefully this will help Kailyn to begin to gain some more weight.

We had a great weekend with everyone here for the wedding. It was beautiful and we shed a lot of tears. The kids are on their honeymoon and we are finally settling in to a routine. The boys were to start school today, but their school in on fall break. So next week for sure. That will truly be when we start getting into a routine.

All is well and we will try to post some pictures from the wedding soon. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Love to all
Tammy and the clan

2008-10-04T08:24:00.003-06:00

So sorry that I haven't posted in a while. We have been busy visiting the doctors and labs. All is well so far. Kailyn seems to not have any ovaries. All the other female organs and good except no ovaries. That would explain the no growth. We are waiting to hear the final news this next week from the doctor. This is very controlable and we can work with the doctors to get her back on track.
The boys are both TB positive and we are beginning treatment this week. We will be able to get them in school as soon as that is under treatment. We visited the school yesterday and they both really like it. Jacob will qualify for the Pre-k program because he is speech delayed. That is what the medical records say so that qualifies him. Not sure that he is, but that is okay too.
We are working deligently to get ready for the wedding. We are going to get flowers this morning. Kevin's mom will be here tomorrow and that will be a great help.
We learned of a picnic this afternoon for adoptive children. We are going. There are supposed to be some families who have adopted internationally. Can't wait to meet them.
Hope to post again soon.

Love to all
Tammy and the clan

Doctor's appt.

2008-09-26T17:27:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-25T10:15:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-24T06:58:00.007-06:00

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

2008-09-23T12:42:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-22T16:05:00.001-06:00

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

2008-09-21T21:52:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-21T05:27:00.004-06:00

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

2008-09-21T05:26:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-15T10:52:00.011-06:00

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

2008-09-14T10:22:00.006-06:00

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

2008-09-13T10:02:00.007-06:00

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

2008-09-12T10:15:00.002-06:00

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

2008-09-11T10:22:00.005-06:00

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

2008-09-10T10:43:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-09T11:23:00.002-06:00

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

2008-09-08T11:11:00.007-06:00

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

2008-09-07T04:56:00.009-06:00

We are posting early today, so not much news on the Jaryd camp. Kevin's mom e-mailed and wanted to see a picture of Alyssa with the family on family meeting day. Here it is. Jacob had a water bottle in his face. This is the only one that Kailyn would let us get taken.

We are having dinner with our driver Alec and his family again tonight so we weren't sure we would get to post when we get home.

Jacob started calling himself Jacob today. that is a real break through. He is now calling Kailyn "Kaldoon." Which we have been told in Ukranian means "wizard." He thinks it is too funny to call her Kaldoon. I am afraid that is going to stick. We were all calling her that by the end of the morning.

We had moma's peach pie again this morning. They both can say that very clearly. And Jacob is starting to say more and more English words. Jaryd is also getting much better.

Alyssa and Kevin are taking a nap now and then I will go and wake up Kevin and he will come and spend a little time answering e-mails before we leave for the evening. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday. We missed being at church with everyone.

Thanks for all the great comments once again. We love reading them.

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

Pictures

1. Mr. Jacob posing. He loves having his picture made.

2. "I Love Papa"

3. Can't believe we got this one of Kailyn.

4. Jacob and the dart board.

5. Jacob throwing darts.

6. Not quite the little princess she used to be. She is becoming quite the tomboy.

7. Climbing the monkey bars.

8. The family together.

2008-09-06T11:04:00.006-06:00

Once again we did not get any pictures of Jaryd. Life just seems to fly by when you have four of them together. Tomorrow we are going to try and have one of the other couples take a picture of all six of us. The orphanage where Kailyn and Jacob are are wanting us to leave a picture and write a comment in their photo album. So I will have to get that printed.

We found out today that we will not probably get the children until Wednesday. We will not be able to go to Doneteprotosk until Tuesday. I haven't told Jaryd yet because he will be a little disappointed. I think he is ready to live at our house. He took a shower tonight and used most of Kevin's shampoo. We had a little discussion after he finished with his shower. He looks wonderful all clean and smelling good. We let him put his new shoes on because the tennis shoes he has been wearing smell horrific. You can't stand to be in the same room with them.

I cooked Borzsch tonight for supper. It as good. Alec had shown us a package to just add potatoes to and we cooked that and we also added a little bit of beef. I was suprised. I liked it. Kevin is not really big on eating soup. But he did like it too. Jaryd didn't seem to think that it was too good. Oh well it was food. Alyssa is a soup fan so she ate all of hers.

Pictures

1. All the kids running for the same ball.

2. Jacob kicking the ball.

3. Kailyn has sticky balls on the front of her dress. They came from a dart board game. She stuck them on her dress. The balls are orange, yellow, and green.

4. Alyssa not so impressed with her brother's soccer skills.

Jaryd did much better today. He has been having a little bit of problems with obedience. But, today was much better. He seemed to turn a corner. We still have a long way to go, but he is moving in the right direction.

That's about all for today. Oh I did clean the apartment this afternoon.

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

2008-09-05T11:00:00.004-06:00

We took the stroller today. We decided to go down to the downtown market again today to do a little shopping. The kids had a great time getting a ride most of the morning. We even got Kailyn to sit still buckled up for about five minutes. That was a real improvement over last time. I think she would sit for about 5 seconds. I posted the picture of the back of Kailyn's head for you to see the little curl that shows up every once in a while. Maybe there is still hope for her to have curly hair. Kailyn like riding in the back seat with Alyssa. I can see this being a good configuration while we are going through the airports. The only problem with it is that we can't strap her in this way. We may have to figure out how though.

Jaryd did visit with us again this afternoon. It was good and pretty busy. I want you to know that kids start factoring by about 5 after you get more than two. It is hard to keep up with where everyone is going and what they are all doing. Especially Kailyn who is soooooooo busy.

We are all feeling much better. I have an antibiotic to give Kailyn as soon as we get her in our possession. The doctor gave it to me before we left to come here. So when we get her, I am going to start it. I think it will help her a lot. Maybe we can get her well before we get her home. I don't want anything to stop us from bringing her home.

I don't have any pictures of Jaryd today. We were too busy keeping up with four kids to take pictures. There were two other couples visiting and so that just added to the total number of kids. We are getting excited with the day comes that we can take full custody of the children. We are so ready. It will be challenging, but God will provide.

Talk to you again tomorrow. And Oh Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT TAMMY.

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

2008-09-04T10:50:00.005-06:00

Snack time is always a hit with the little ones. They can't wait to see what Mama and Papa and Alyssa have brought today. Today was yogurt. I thought this might help Kailyn's tummy a little. She sounds a little less congested in the last couple of days. Although, I am afraid she needs some sort of antibiotic. I have some with me and I will probably give it to her when we get her home.

Jaryd and Jacob and Alyssa played soccer for a while this afternoon. Until the ball got in the rose bushes and popped. Kailyn was busy trying to get out of the gate of course. She has a radar for that gate.

While I was in the building waiting for the little ones this afternoon, a couple passed by me with what appeared to be a facilitator. She and I were looking at each other and we both asked do you speak English. They do and they are accepting a referral and we will be seeing more of them also. Although our time is getting short. We are going to try to have dinner with the German couple one night soon.

We went to the Chamelion to eat this evening. They brought out the English menu. We had a wonderful Pineapple Chicken with french fries and we all had a different salad. Jaryd like Kevin's salad better than his. So Kevin ended up with mine and Jaryd's. Mine had caviar on it and I gave that part to Kevin. The rest was excellent.

Alyssa seems to be over her cold. She is fairing the trip pretty well. She was so cute last night. Kevin was looking at some maps in his Bible and she asked about a town. He told her that was Nineveh. She then got so excited. She has a veggie tales movie about "Nenevar" as she called it. They had a wonderful lesson on Nineveh. It is so great to see her so interested in the Bible. She loves to hear stories.

Jaryd looks a little spacey in the picture because he fell and hurt his arm while playing soccer. This was just after Papa doctored it with some cream. You can see how the ball is going flat.

Talk to you again tomorrow.

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

Joni I have not missed your posts. Thanks again for commenting. Can you believe I have 6 kids? E-mail me. dianehuck@aol.com

2008-09-03T11:16:00.003-06:00

Well today was an interesting day. Jacob decided this morning that Mama was a wonderful person. All he wanted to do this morning was be held and have hugs from Mom. That didn't hurt my feelings any. It was like a light bulb came on and he decided it was okay to love us. That was a great feeling.

We met a family who is here from Germany to adopt a little boy. He is a cutie. They speak German, Ukranian, Russian, and English. Man was it nice to talk to someone in English. Jaryd also got a new teacher who speaks fluent English. That is a real blessing.

Tonight while we were at the Children's Home visiting, Kevin got hit by the swing and broke the camera. So now we are down two cameras. He sat on the other one and broke the lense. So Alec took us to the electronic store and we bought a new one tonight. It was a little pricy, but when in Ukraine with no camera, you must spent money.

Only four more Ground Hog Days. Then we will start a new routine. Jaryd is having a little bit of a hard time sharing us. He didn't want to go and see the little ones today. I think he wants us just to himself. So we will continue to visit and he will just have to cope. It is good for the little ones to see us twice a day.

Thanks again for all the wonderful posts. I know that I do not take the time to answer each one, but please know that we read and cry over all of them. It is so wonderful to have them there when we get to the computer. It is just like having all of you here with us. THANKS AGAIN.

Talk to you all again soon.

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

2008-09-02T10:59:00.005-06:00

Today was another busy day. We had a good visit in the morning. None of the three little kids feel very well. Jacob seemed to have a stomach ache and I know Kailyn did because she pooped on me and her. Oh well the joys of motherhood. Not the first time and I am sure it won't be the last.

We went shopping a little this afternoon. We found a fourth grade english/ukranian dictionary. We ended up giving this one to our driver tonight and we will go and buy another one tomorrow. We also found a writing book for English for 2nd graders. Jaryd is in the 2nd grade. He did go ahead and start school. It is good. It will help him with the being still part.

Tonight we went back to see Jacob and Kailyn with Jaryd. They all had yogurt and made a huge mess. We cleaned it up. I was hoping it would help Kailyn's tummy a little. She was better tonight when we went back. They did have a diaper on her though. I think I will use some of those on the trip home. She is not afraid of them so that helps.

One of the pictures is Jacob and Dad looking at the picture books from home. He thought it was so funny when we told him we call Shohn "Bubba." He did call him that though.

We can never get Kailyn to be still to get a good picture. She is always moving. Alyssa is feeling much better. I am only giving her the decongestant at night. She has been a little tired, but we have been trying to get a little extra rest.

Talk to you again tomorrow.

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

2008-09-01T11:06:00.004-06:00

Wow!!!!!!!!!!! That is the best word to describe the family meeting today. They dressed Kailyn and Jacob up to meet their brother. Jaryd was a little worried about the meeting I think. Kailyn came straight to him and gave him a hug. Daddy wasn’t fast enough with the camera to catch it. It was amazing. Jacob still isn’t quite sure. But as you see at the end of the pictures they ended with a great big hug. Jaryd can’t wait until tomorrow to go and see them again. Jacob seems as though it may be a little hard for him to share his sister. He has been her protector and now there is a new one. He will have to learn to share her. He can protect Alyssa now too.
We went and had pizza after the visit. Jaryd was okay with that today. He just wanted some ice cream. Alyssa forgot her ring at the pizza place so we had to walk back there again.
Hope you enjoy the pictures of their time together. Jaryd was a great big brother. He was helping with Kailyn and Jacob both. It was fun to see him. He couldn’t stop smiling. I have never seen him so happy.
Alyssa is feeling better today and so are Jacob and Kailyn. It will just take time to get over this cold. Jaryd does seem better too. The weather is still cool. School started here today and the town was a buzz. They were all dressed in suits and dresses to go to school for the first day. They said this is normal for the first day. The streets were extra busy today.
We are leaving to go take Jaryd back so I will talk to you again later.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

Alyssa Update

2008-08-31T11:07:00.003-06:00

She is doing better. She slept most of the afternoon. She played with Jaryd while he was there and ate some supper. I have been giving her some antihistimine for the runny nose. Hopefully this will be over soon.
We are going to take Jaryd to see Jacob and Kailyn tomorrow afternoon. I will post some pictures of them being reunited. Jaryd has not seen Kailyn since she was 2 months old. He doesn't really remember her. We have shown him pictures, but that isn't the same as seeing them in person. I can hardly wait.
We'll talk to you tomorrow.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

No Post

2008-08-31T04:03:00.004-06:00

Sorry about not posting yesterday. We got home from taking Jaryd back to the Internat and Alyssa threw up twice in the parking lot of the apartment. We usually come directly to the internet after we take him back. But, change of plans. She spent the whole night wretching. She is still really quiet and still today. She also has a bad runny nose. The stomach problems seem to have ended. The other day when we got to the Children's Home Kailyn had a diaper on. I wonder if she had the same problem. Yesterday she had a really runny nose. So it was probably inevitible that we all get this. Kevin went by himself this morning to see Kailyn and Jacob. I stayed home with Alyssa. I sure missed seeing them. They got to play inside because it is still cold. I am taking a quick break from Alyssa to do this post. Kevin will come and check his e-mails after I am through.
Have a great Sunday and enjoy the post I had ready for yesterday.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

2008-08-31T04:01:00.001-06:00

Things are kind of settling in to a real routine around here. Now that court is out of the way and things are pretty much a set schedule. Jaryd felt a little better yesterday. He didn’t want to go to the park though. He only wanted to play on dad’s phone. Kevin will be lucky when he gets home if his phone is still programmed. Hopefully he will feel better today.
We had to play inside today because the weather was rainy and cold. We got quite a bit of rain over night. It tried to clear here after lunch but just moved back in again. I am glad we went a head and brought those clothes for warmer weather. Kailyn had a really runny nose today. I hope she is not getting sick. She seems to have a runny nose a lot. Jacob was quite the musician today. He wanted to play with all the things that made music.
Kevin is tired today. He can’t seem to get caught up on his sleep. He and Alyssa are both on the couch sound asleep. That is good for both of hem.
One of our drivers, Sergi, is no longer with us. We had a new guy today. His name is Slave. Alec rode with us this morning to introduce us and to show him what to do. Alec is so responsible. I cooked chicken again last night and made him a plate to take to him when we took Jaryd back. I also made peach pie again and we shared that with him also.
We took peach pie for snacks again today and Kailyn and Jacob loved it. I am going to find out about Jacob’s allergies. I want to know how allergic to tomatoes and oranges that he is. I don’t want him to need an epi pin and me not have one. A lot of foods that we eat have tomatoes in them and I don’t want to give him an allergy attack. The oranges aren’t such a big thing.
Debbie called this morning and I so enjoyed visiting with her. Shohn calls every day and we find out about them. I think the wedding plans are progressing. The wedding will be very soon after we get home.
Breanne is moving back to El Paso while we are here in Ukraine. She got a job and her brother is there this weekend moving her things back to El Paso. She will have to go back and stay with a friend for a couple of weeks until her two weeks notice is up. So, all of my chicks will be near the nest again.
That’s about all for today. Talk to you tomorrow.

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

2008-08-29T04:55:00.004-06:00

Here is a short movie of the kids. I don’t have any pictures of Jaryd for the last couple of days. We had to play inside today with the little ones because it was raining. Not much rain but enough to water the dry ground.
Jaryd did not feel well yesterday. He had a sore throat. We looked in his throat and his tonsils were almost completely covering the back of his throat. We are going to have to get him to the ENT as soon as we get back. I think that the adenoids and the tonsils are interfering with his breathing and his hearing. He probably has fluid in his ears too. His speech seems to suggest that this is the case.
We are continuing our Ground Hog Days. We seem to keep busy just doing our daily routine. The time in the afternoon is good for Kevin to rest. I can tell that the trip is beginning to wear on his health. Please keep him in your prayers.
We got news yesterday that our Pastor does not have cancer. Praise God. We had heard the news while we have been here that he might have had thyroid cancer, but the biopsy proved that was not the case. He still has some issues to work through so keep him in your prayers. His name is Pastor Dave.
By the way, the coffee was great this morning. Never knew you could miss a good cup of coffee so bad. Kevin said this morning he would kill for McDonald’s. That is really bad. I really miss some chips and salsa. Maybe some good green chile enchiladas. Kevin says the best business opportunity is to put a McDonald’s here. There aren’t any in Kirovograd, but there are plenty in Kiev.
We will not be returning for that venture. We have enjoyed our time here. We do miss everyone terribly and we are ready to be home. But, we are doing okay. One more full week of visiting and then we will be starting on the next phase. We can do this. Thank you God for patience.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

PS Drynawynn please know that I did not intend to upset you in any way. I have done as you have asked. So sorry. You can e-mail me at dianehuck@aol.com

A new day

2008-08-28T11:34:00.003-06:00

We will be staying in Kirovograd during our 10 day wait. We will actually not pick them up until the 9th of September. We have to travel about 2 hours away to get the birth certificate for Jaryd. The other two kids were born here. So we will wait until that is done to pick them up. We will do the travel on the 8th. So the 9th, they are ours. That is my dad's 81st birthday. What a better birthday present could you get. Three new grandchildren on your birthday.

We went to the "SuperWalmart" today. I got a coffee maker. I am so excited. We have been making coffee by pouring hot water over the grounds and waiting for them to sink to the bottom and drink the coffee off the top. What a pain. I will have real coffee in the morning. I know this seems like such a little thing to get excited about, but I am exicted.

Our driver went in with us and helped us do some shopping. He is so helpful. We stocked up again and didn't have to push the stroller full of food home. It was great to have the cab to take us home.

All the kids are great today. Jaryd had a sore throat. We told his teacher so that could have the nurse check on him. I am sure we are going to the ENT when we get home. He has some tonsil and adenoid trouble. But nothing that can't be taken care of really easily. English is slow but coming along. Jacob and Kailyn were a bundle of laughs this morning. We just enjoy our time with them so much. All three kids started playing together this morning. That was fun to watch.

Talk to you more tomorrow.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

Court

2008-08-27T06:28:00.006-06:00

We are Parents. The court decreed this afternoon that we are the parents of Jaryd Elijah Huckabee, Jacob Ethyn Huckabee, and Kailyn Elyse Huckabee. Wow from three kids to six kids in two and half hours time. Court was very extensive. He judge read all of the papers to us. He asked us our names, where we live, and why we would like to have three more kids. The judge talked to Jaryd. He told them he wanted to go to America and live with us, his sisters and brothers, and have a lifelong family. He was a little shy, but the judge made him talk to him. He asked him if he was going to represent Ukraine in the Olympics. He said no the United States.
We are going to go and visit with Jacob and Kailyn this afternoon and then pick up Jaryd at 5:00. We will keep him until 8:00.
We are elated. Talk to you more tomorrow. Here are some pictures from court.

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

Ukranian dinner

2008-08-27T06:27:00.002-06:00

We were given a wonderful surprise last night. Our driver Alec had our other driver Sergei bring us to his mother and father-in-laws house. We returned home too late to post, but on with the story. We arrived there and were greeted by the whole family. Alec, Oksana (his wife), Irina (his daughter), and his mother and father-in-law. We walked through a wonderful grape arbor on our way to the house. They had a awesome swing hanging from the trees. They tried to get Alyssa to swing in it, but she was a little scared. They then showed us their rabbits. They probably had 30 or 40. They raise them to eat. They also had chickens and roosters. Alyssa enjoyed seeing the animals. We didn’t tell her about the eating thing.
We were then invited in to sit down for dinner with them. We had cucumbers, tomatoes, rabbit stew, fresh bread, wine made from their grapes, and they tried to get us to have some vodka, but we said no. The wine was great. Then they served a watermelon fresh from their yard. It was so much fun. We truly felt welcomed into their home. What a great experience. Something we will never forget. We then had to go. It was getting late and Sergei needed to go back to work. We took Alec and his wife back home on our way back to our apartment. Thank you God for sending us Alec. We went through a lot of drivers before Natasha was comfortable with one for us. The minute she met him she knew that he was the one. We are so grateful. He is trying to learn English while he is driving us. I would recommend him to anyone that has to come to Kirovograd.
Enjoy the movie.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

2008-08-27T06:24:00.003-06:00

We are going to court tomorrow at 11:30. That will be 2:30 in the morning back home. If you happen to wake up in the middle of the night, say a little prayer. We are not worried; God has been so awesome through this whole thing that I am sure he will not leave us now. We just talked to Sasha and he is coming to be our interpreter. That is great news. We will not get to visit Jacob and Kailyn in the morning, so we will probably try to see them tomorrow afternoon before we get Jaryd.
This morning’s visit went well. We were a little late. Our driver was a little late picking us up. But, they were ready to see us. It is so heartwarming to get those wonderful hugs when we get there. We always take a snack and a drink. That is their favorite time of the morning. It seems as though Kailyn is already looking a little healthier. She had a pair of 12 month pants on today and she had a hard time keeping them up. But they can’t be any smaller or they would be too short. Her foot is a size 5. I brought some shoes with me and she can wear the 5’s rather well. She has a narrow foot. So do the boys. That is a little different from all us fat foot people. But the toe shape is the same as ours. Kailyn’s foot looks like my mother’s. She will be able to wear the shoes that I had bought for Alyssa that were always too narrow.
We have been telling Alyssa that if she were too noisy the neighbors were going to come over. When we were coming home from the internet the other night, a man opened the door next to ours and glared at us. He was only dressed in his underwear. Alyssa came in and said “Is that the neighbor?” To which we replied, “Yes.” She makes us be very quiet now. She doesn’t want to see him again. Me either. She told Jaryd about him yesterday.
We have been cooking all of our meals. I know those of you who know me well are a little surprised at this statement. We did go out yesterday for some pizza at lunch. That doesn’t seem to be Jaryd’s favorite food so we are trying to cook things he would like at home. For those of you yet to come, I would recommend if there are certain spices that you like that you bring them with you in some zip loc bags. It is very difficult to find those here. We have just about depleted our comfort foods. I wish we had brought more. (Fruit snacks, Breakfast bars, and oatmeal) We are finding some others that we like, but it is not the same. They don’t have breakfast bars here. I have found some cereal that I like, but I am out today. I will need to pick up some more.
Thanks once again for all the wonderful comments. They keep us going. I am so amazed at how close you can become to someone you have never met. I cannot wait for the day to return to El Paso and meet the Payne family. We are both in Ukraine right now and have never met in person. God is so AWESOME.
Keep those comments coming.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

2008-08-25T11:41:00.011-06:00

As you can see from these pictures today. We laughed our heads off this morning. The picture with Kailyn with the phone. She said hello Nana. Alyssa's picture with the phone was also a call to Nana. Kailyn pulled the sweater up on her head to have a hood like Alyssa. It was very cold here this morning. The red glasses were in a kit we bought at the market yesterday. All the kids loved them. Kailyn was especially funny in them. Jacob was the professor and his helper in one of the pictures. I am trying my best to get them all downloaded. Enjoy. Jaryd was enjoying ice cream and playing with the soccer ball. The Lego picture is a little familiar a few years ago. We get to start all that over again. What a blessing. You can't tell about this weather. We were burning up two days ago and now we are cold again. Check out Jacob's ears on one of his pictures. He loved those glasses.

Pray for us court is on Wednesday.

Love

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

2008-08-24T11:10:00.006-06:00

Today was a little warm. We had had a little break from the heat. But, today it returned. We visited with the little ones. Jacob was so warm he didn't have his shirt on. Jaryd was trying to shine the flashlight in his ear last night to see if you could see all the way through. We were at the park and he was in a tree of course. Kailyn was trying to listen to the music. We had our own little church service this morning. We played the church music for children CD and sang with the little ones. Jacob probably sat for 45 minutes and just listened to the music. Kailyn wanted to hear it up close and personal. Here are a few other pictures of the outside of our apartment.

We went down to the market again today and picked up some more things. A few toys and some more food. We have been cooking every day at home. I have fried chicken twice. Today I made kind of a peach pie. I used like a fila dough for the crust. I cooked it and the peaches separtely. Then we just poured the peaches over the crust. It was pretty good. I told Kevin if we did as much walking at home we could eat pie every day. Jaryd does not like Macaroni and cheese. I told Kevin that's unamerican. Hopefully that will change when we get home.

I loaded a few pictures of the outside of our apartment building. We feel really safe.

We had a little bit of an incident with the taxi driver last night. Our regular driver was busy and sent someone else. We were a little lost. We were out in the boonies. I finally called the translator and she talked to the driver and we were back on course. Thank goodness for cell phones. It was a little scary for awhile. Thanks Natasha.

Better check my e-mail.

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

Posting with Jaryd

2008-08-23T08:06:00.002-06:00

Jaryd is here in my lap watching me type. He wasn't really happy about bringing him to the internet. He has warmed up. I showed him the blog and all the pictures. We are going to go back home and cook supper in a minute.
We had a good visit with Kailyn and Jacob. Then we came home and ate left overs. Then we took a nap. Kevin wasn't feeling the best today. He seems to feel better now. I think he was just tired. He is trying to keep up with everyone and that takes a toll.
Won't type long. Jaryd is bored. Talk to everyone soon. Sure miss you. Lisa, that will be the best when we can get them together.
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

Same old Ground Hog day

2008-08-22T11:02:00.002-06:00

Things were about the same today. Nothing new to report. The visits seemed to go much easier and much faster today. We did a little grocery shopping this afternoon. The owner of our apartments wife came this afternoon and cleaned the apartment. She changed the sheets and brought fresh towels. That was great.

I cooked dinner. I can even do fried chicken in Ukraine. Jaryd loved it. Guess he is a true Huckabee. He is saying his name now. Jaryd Huckabee. What a sweet thing to hear. His English is coming along. I am not as discouraged as I was yesterday. Thanks Diana for the wonderful comment. You always seem to give me the right encouragement just when I need it.

Alyssa was much better today also. Jacob and Kailyn started coloring

today. They love it. That is the way to calm Jacob. He wants music playing while he colors. They are all right handed. Also, Kailyn has that little

red spot on the back of her neck just like the rest of our kids. Also Breanne, Jacob has that little freckle on his head just like you do. It is amazing that God had already picked these wonderful children out for before we ever knew it.

Talk to you tomorrow. We sure miss everyone. Love you all. Can't wait for you to meet the new Huckabee's

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

Change of Date

2008-08-21T11:20:00.005-06:00

Our paperwork that was being sent here overnight, went to Mexico. So we are going to have to change our court date until Wednesday. It is the orginal date that we thought we were going to court. So we will be patient. We have had such good timing that if this is the only hiccup we will be okay.

We did get Jaryd some shoes today and finished shopping for clothes for Jacob. I will still need to get Jacob some shoes. Poor little guy the Children's Home has him in shoes that are way too small for his feet. His little toys are smashed in the front of his shoes.

Visits went well today. English is going slow. We are still working on that. We stopped giving the moon and the stars today, only the moon. Jaryd wasn't very happy. We decided that he didn't need so much sugar. He starts bouncing off the walls. He wasn't very happy about that.

Alyssa is having some more breakdown moments. We are trying to cope as we know she is making some major changes in her life. Our patience is getting a little thin at times. Please keep us in your prayers.

Here are a few more pictures.

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

2008-08-20T11:39:00.001-06:00

Here is one more picture of Kailyn

2008-08-20T11:12:00.006-06:00

Here are some new pictures. We had a great meal with Jaryd for the last two nights. We have gotten to have him for four hours the last two nights. It has been so much fun teaching him English. He is the typical boy, it is hard for him to stay on task. Jacob is having a little problem with the language barrier. But it will come. Kailyn's favorite thing is for me to sing Jesus Love Me to her. She wants to walk and sing. She is doing great with her potty training. Jacob played with a lion from McDonald's today and thought he had been given the moon. I hope we can continue that price range of toys. HAHAHAHA

I went shopping and got them some things for the trip home. The black shorts you see are too big, but he will grow into them. I still need to get both boys some shoes. I have plenty of things with me that I brought for Kailyn. And I got the right sizes in the suitcase. God had his hand in that too.

Alyssa is watching amovie while we are posting. We went down to the open market today. That was a lot of fun. I have never seen so many vendors. Not even in Juarez. It is amazing. We will probably do that again with Jaryd. He would enjoy it.

Sorry for the late posts. We are alittle busy with kids. I finally got a few more pictures downloaded. Kevin is still doing pretty well. We rested most of the afternoon yesterday. His hips were bothering him quite a bit. God is blessing him. He could not have made this with out God's intervention.

We are feeling blessed. I can't believe I am going to be mom to six children. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought six.

Our driver is working on his English. He is really trying. Not as many people here speak English as in Kyiv.

Better go

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

English lessons

2008-08-19T11:26:00.002-06:00

We started today trying to work vigilantly with all the children on their English. It is going to be easy with the little ones. They pick it up very quickly. Dad and Jacob had a little hard time with the language road block today, but they worked through it quickly. We had Jaryd for four hours tonight. We had an hour of English lessons and then we went to dinner. Our plans were to go to a toy store, but he wanted to go to "dom" (home). That was fine with us. He really did not want to leave when it was time for him to go back to the internat.

We have two drivers. They work two days in a row. Then we get the other one back. They have a schedule and if we have any changes our translator calls them and tells them what we need to do.

It has been a good day. We spent the afternoon resting. It is amazing how much energy three more children takes. But, God will provide. He always does. He has provided so amazingly through this whole trip.

Thanks for all the posts and the prayers. They are working so keep them coming. It is amazing to hear from everyone. We can't believe how many people are posting that we have never met before. So many people that have such a love for our family and we have never met them. It brings tears to our eyes every time. What a blessing this adventure has been to all of us.

The pictures don't seem to be able to post today. I will try again tomorrow. Sorry

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

Court

2008-08-18T09:48:00.002-06:00

We went to a pre-court today and we were given pre-approval to adopt the children. We were then called later in the day and told that our final court would be on Friday 22 at 10 a.m. WOW!!!! That is five days earlier than we thought. Praise God. There are a few small things that need to be done that will get this finished up but all the ducks are in a row to get them done. Or should I say God already has that planned.

We need to say a big thank you to our Home Study Social Worker and Our personal USCIS agent who went above and beyond the call of duty to get all of our paperwork changed for three children. We are already finished with that update. We also need to say a big THANK YOU to Breanne and Shohn for working so quickly to help us get it all done. We couldn't have done this with out you guys. And my dad. He was our other angel. He knows why.

We took Jaryd for dinner tonight. That was fun. He is a great kid. We were visiting with the small children and they called and said we had court. So that was very short.

That's about all for now.

Talk to you guys again tomorrow. Alyssa is ready to go.
Tammy, Kevin, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, and Kailyn

C. Crew we would like to have those pictures. My e-mail is dianehuck@aol.com

Another day of visiting

2008-08-17T05:41:00.006-06:00

We had another great morning with the little ones. We had the stroller today and that was a big hit. You can see from the pictures. We have figured out how to put three in there. Either Jacob and Kailyn in the back and Alyssa in the front or Jacob in the back Alyssa in the front and Kailyn on top. She doesn't sit for long though. Car seats are going to be a challenge with her. We are going to start strapping her in the stroller some to get her used to the feeling of being strapped in. She is very stubborn and wants things her way only.

Jacob spent about 20 minutes just rolling the suitcase around the front of the orphange. He wants a blue one like that.

Miss Trish get ready we need another microwave. Kailyn is a music fan. She calms down very quickly when we have music. Jacob is also a music fan. Jaryd says not so much. He is going to be my baseball player. He has a very good arm and he can run like the wind.

We are having a great time. We even had some Ukrainian mexican food today. It was pretty good I do have to say. Alyssa is doing well. She is having some adjusting problems, but that will get easier with time. She cries when we leave and the kids cry when we leave. She wants them to come home soon. She already is preparing for them to be at the apartment.

Hopefully on Monday we will take Jaryd out of the orphange for about 3 hours and will have dinner and do some English lessons.

That's about it for now.

Love to all and thanks for all the comments. It is so encouraging to hear from everyone. We will continue to post as often as we can. Our translator leaves tomorrow. That is going to be hard. There is a group here from the states working at a church so we will hopefully be able to use them.

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

Pictures

2008-08-16T11:38:00.007-06:00

Great Visits

2008-08-16T11:22:00.002-06:00

We are having a great time visiting with all the children. Jacob and Kailyn we usually see in the morning. We tried on Friday to see both of them twice a day and we just couldn't stand up to the schedule. Alyssa was really tired and so was Kevin. We have been seeing Jaryd in the afternoons. Next week we will be allowed to take Jaryd for three hours every day. We are going to do some English classes at this time with him. We will also make sure he eats dinner with us every evening. He cannot go and see his brother and sister until September 1 when the quarantine for Chicken Pox is lifted. He doesn't have them and we have been staying outside. We are not afraid of Alyssa getting them becuase she has been vacinated.

It was been busy getting some paper work finished up. This system here works a little differently than some regions, but we have all the connections. They have been wonderful.
We are still hopeful for a court date on August 27. Please be in prayer for that. I do not question it because God has been so wonderful in all the other matters. He has brought everything through in such a timely matter while we have been here.

Thanks for all the comments. Keep leaving them and we will continue to post. I was going to post pictures today, but the computer I am on won't take my zip drive. I will try a different computer tomorrow.

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

Pictures

2008-08-14T10:25:00.011-06:00

Jaryd playing in the playhouse with Alyssa

Alyssa,Tammy,and Jaryd

Jaryd

Jacob andAlyssa

Natasya

Kailyn

Jacob

Moma and Kailyn and Alyssa

Natasya our translator

Alyssa, Jacob, Kailyn, and Moma

Here are those pictures I promised you.

Questions Answers

2008-08-14T03:42:00.003-06:00

There were a lot of questions on the comments on the blog and we would like to let you know some of those answers.

Are they in the same Children's home?
No the little ones are in one and the oldest in another. They are not very far apart.

How often can you visit?
We can visit twice a day. We are going in the mornings to the younger ones and then to see Jaryd in the afternoon.

Are they siblings?
Yes they are siblings. Several couples wanted to adopt the younger children without the older child, but the director would not allow them to be split up. She is so happy that family wants all three of them. We would not think of splitting them up.

We had a wonderful visit this morning with Kailyn and Jacob. They are both technilogically proficient. They can handle the camera and the telephone with ease. Kailyn is a little strong willed. Imagine that in our family. Jacob is allergic to oranges and he does not eat tomatoes. Sound like some other family members you know. It is hard to believe we will need 9 chairs at church. This includes the new daughter-in-law. We will visit with Jaryd this afternoon. We will update you on that later. Kailyn and Jacob both are calling us Moma and Papa and calling Alyssa by name. Kailyn did not want us to leave this morning. That was quick. I think she just didn't want to quit playing.

Please be in prayer there is one couple with an appointment today and I know two more that have an appointment on Monday. Please keep them all in your prayers.
Please remember to be persistent at the SDA there are children here.

We will try to post more pictures later.

Patricia, please e-mail me at dianehuck@aol.com

Tammy, Kevin, Alyssa, Jaryd, Jacob, Kailyn, Breanne, Shohn, and Randi

2008-08-13T09:20:00.004-06:00

Well here is the news you all have been waiting for. We are adopting three children, one girl and two boys. The youngest is Yana(Kailyn Elyse) and she is 2 years old. The youngest boy is Igor(Jacob Ethan) and he is 4 years old. The oldest boy is Illia(Jaryd Elijah) and he is 8 years old. Illia means Elijah. For those of you who remember Breanne’s dream. Breanne is our oldest daughter and she had a dream that Kailyn would have a brother and his name would be Elijah. Wow is God wonderful!!!!!!

We are in Kirovograd. We are about 3 ½ hours from Kyiv. We have already started the process to adopt. We hope to have court sometime around the 27th. If this is the way it works out we should be home sometime around the 15th of September.

Things are looking very good. We have a new apartment here in Kirovograd. It is very nice. The only bad thing is that we are on the 5th floor. No elevator.

Alyssa is very excited. She wants to know if we can bring home five of them. I don’t think that is advisable. I think three is enough. She doesn’t understand we have to wait a little while to be able to pick them up. She wants to pick them up now.

Yana(Kailyn) is potty trained. She probably only weighs about 15 pounds. I think she probably wears a size 12 months. Possibly 18 months, but no larger. Igor(Jacob) probably wears a size 4T or 5T. He is very thin but about three inches taller than Alyssa.
Illia(Jaryd) I am not sure what size yet. I am not up to date on those sizes. I will check on that.

Kailyn’s hair is very blonde. This tends to look a little brown. She has brown eyes.
Jacob’s hair is also blonde and he also has brown eyes.

Jaryd’s hair is very blonde and he has green eyes. He is also very shy.

2008-08-11T08:08:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures we took on the first days here. Enjoy

SDA Appointment

2008-08-11T08:07:00.000-06:00

We spent all the morning exploring the Independence Square area in Kyiv. Lots of interesting building and sites to see. Kevin took a total of 68 pictures. We had a good time seeing the people and the buildings and just enjoying the culture. We came back to the apartment to meet Sasha about 2:00. He brought us our cell phone. I will post the number on the side so that anyone can call that would like to. It does not cost us anything for someone to call us. We only have to pay for the calls that we make out.

Ben picked us up at 6:00 and we went to church with him. It was interesting to attend services in another country. We did recognize some of the songs and joined right along in English. Shine, Jesus, Shine and More Love, More Power. After church we went to McDonald’s with Ben and his oldest daughter. Alyssa enjoyed spending time with her.

So here is the news you are waiting for. We had our appointment at 10:00 this morning. Alyssa stayed with Ben’s wife Tanya and his three children. We were presented several files. The first file they showed us was a little girl with Cerebral Palsy. The second file was a little boy who turned two in May. The next file they were going to show us was four girls. When they called the orphanage the parents were trying to get their rights restored so these girls were not available. Then they showed us a couple other ones. Then they brought the one out that we are going to go and see on Wednesday. We are not in a position to share much information at this time, because things may turn out differently than they look right now. We are being somewhat guarded in our approach to make sure we do not set ourselves up for a potential disappointment. We do ask for continued support through your prayers. There are decisions we will face at the orphanage that we did not come prepared to make. We are confident that God is in control, and we joyfully look forward to our visits to the orphanage starting on Wednesday morning. We would just like to ask for your prayers. We will need some guidance in making the decision on this referral. We know that God was with us in that room. He did give us wonderful guidance there and He won’t fail us as we go for the visit.

We will spend the next two days exploring Kyiv. We will leave very early on Wednesday morning to travel to Kirovograd. It is only about four hours away from Kyiv so we will travel by mini bus. We will be staying there while we are in the process of adopting if this is the referral that we accept. We will have a facilitator with us while we are there. There are a lot of logistical issues that still have to be worked out, but hopefully those will come as easily as the rest of this process has been once we reached the Ukraine. Stay tuned, more excitement surely will follow!

Tammy, Kevin, and Alyssa

In Kyiv

2008-08-10T02:03:00.000-06:00

We are here. Our flights were uneventful. I had Kevin take his medicine in Memphis before we boarded the plane and Kevin slept all the way to Amsterdam. Alyssa was asleep before we left the ground. Alyssa slept about half way through the flight. Of course, I couldn’t sleep while she was sleeping. So my sleep consisted of dozing between her questions. I think I slept about two hours. Maybe. We arrived and Ben met us at the airport.

We traveled into Kiev stopping at McDonald’s for a drink and a sandwich. We then went on to the grocery store to pick up a few things. After that we continued on to our apartment. It is a very nice one bedroom. We have a living room a dining area and a little back porch balcony. We are on the first floor. That is great for Kevin.

We finally did a little bit of walking around the apartment just to see what is in this area. Ben showed us around. We did find some internet but they did not have a card. So I am not getting to post this until the day after we got here.

Ben left and then we started to get organized to go to bed. Alyssa got a little cranky while getting ready for bed. We slept well until about 2:00 a.m. and Alyssa decided it was time to get up. I kept convincing her that it was still nighttime. She finally gave up around 3:15 and went back to sleep. We got up at about 8:00 and she is still sleeping. Crazy kid. The bed wasn’t too bad. We don’t have coffee at the apartment, but there is a coffee house around the corner. We have to get this figured out so that I can function.

We are going to spend time exploring around here today and possibly attend Ben’s church this evening. It is very near our apartment.

We don’t get our cell phone until today. I will post the number when we get it.
We are in a wonderful place. Don’t worry about us. We feel completely safe

We are just blocks away from the oldest architecture in town, building;s and churches dating back to the 1200’s. Kevin is in hog-heaven looking at the old buildings . It reminds us a little of downtown San Francisco. We have 27 tv channels, all Russian/Ukrainian. Not real entertaining. Thanks for the prayers and support that got us this far! We are excited, and will be going to our first appointment tomorrow (Monday) at 10 to see the first files of available children---maybe Kailyn will be one of them! Thanks all and we give God the Glory for our trip’s ease so far.

Kevin and Tammy

Making a comment

2008-08-08T05:39:00.002-06:00

I am not sure if all of you know how to leave a comment. If you see the comment sign on the bottom of my post just click on that. Then you can leave a comment as anonymous and sign it or you can sign-in with a google account and than it will sign it for you each time. If you sign in under anonymous make sure you tell me who it is at the bottom of your post. I will not post a comment that I don't know who it is.

We leave this afternoon. How exciting. Pray for us as we make this long ride with a husband with a bad back and a three year old. Thanks again for the prayers and the wonderful comments. We can definately feel the prayers already.

Tammy

Too Much Luggage?

2008-08-06T20:12:00.003-06:00

Here are two pictures of Kevin and Alyssa at the airport in Dallas with all the luggage.

I went to get the car and Kevin had to take Alyssa to the bathroom with all of this by himself. That was a trick. They did manage. Wasn't easy. Alyssa pulled a little luggage by herself.

I will try to post more tomorrow. Breanne is here with us tonight and she and Alyssa are having a sleep over in their room.

Tammy

Tearful moment

2008-08-06T05:29:00.002-06:00

Tears fill my eyes this morning as I read all the wonderful comments that you wonderful friends have made. We are off on our "Search for Kailyn." Thank you for your prayers and we will post again soon. The next two days will be a little uneventful as we will be in Dallas. We will be arriving in Kiev on Saturday afternoon.

Talk to you soon.
Tammy