Something different

Well today I was tagged by Kathy another Angel family who would like us to try something new. So today I will tell you about my past instead of my family.

20 years ago

Well twenty years ago I was in my sophomore year of college at the University of Rhode Island. I had just become a Resident Advisor for my dorm and pledged Alpha Chi Omega Sorority and I was happily studying Political Science with the intent to go to law school. It would be another seven months before I would meet Michael and he and his career as an officer in the Coast Guard would totally change what I had expected my life to be.

15 years ago

Michael and I have been married just a year and a half we had moved again that summer from Virginia to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. I am desperate to find a job and put my degree to work but what do you do with a degree in Political Science if you can't go to law school and you move every couple of years? Well, the Sault is no place for 0outsiders so a job is very hard to come by. Eventually I get hired on as a Black Jack dealer for the Kewadin Casino. I work from 8 in the evening to 4 in the morning so Michael and I are not seeing a lot of each other and the smoke is killing me. Eventually I give up on the crazy hours and smoke inhalation and get a job as a sales associate at J.C. Penney's. What a great way to use that degree I worked so hard to get. One year from now I will be six months pregnant and waiting with great expectation for the birth of our first child.

10 years ago

It is 1998 and we have a three and a half year old and we have moved three more times Sault Ste. Marie, MI to New York City to Garden City, New York to Juneau, Alaska. In that time I have been raising our son Jacob, working in the Insurance industry and going to Graduate School to earn my Masters in Elementary Education. As we leave for Juneau, we find out we are expecting again, which is wonderful since we had suffered a miscarriage at the start of the year.

5 years ago

We now live in Novato, California we have three wonderful boys, Jacob who is 8, Jesse who is 4, and Jeremiah is about to turn 3. I have just begun to realize that our family, as wonderful as it is, was incomplete. Unbeknown to me, the child that will one day complete our family is already 17 months old and living in an orphanage half way around the world.

3 years ago

We have just submitted our first set of paperwork to Ukraine. On the day it is done being translated to be turned in to the NAC, the government shuts down it's adoption program for some updating . We are told it will only be a couple of months. We do not have months. We are scheduled to transfer again and our paperwork will be invalid once we change states in the upcoming summer. We don't know where we will be going just that our time in California is over.

1 year ago

We have moved to Duluth, Minnesota, bought a house gotten our three boys settled into good schools and they are thriving. I have gotten a job as a director of a preschool and day care that I love. Ukraine has been open and accepting adoption requests since the beginning of the year. We are back in the same spot with our adoption as we were three years ago only this time it is our third set of paper work and we are hoping the third times the charm and that we will get an appointment soon. It will be just three weeks from now that we learn we have a date for an appointment with the SDA in Ukraine on December 13, 2007.

Yesterday

Well as every Thursday now Jeremiah has Cub Scouts that Jacob is the Den Chief for. Jesse has Tae kwan doe and we hope to find a half hour to eat dinner together. Juliyana has been going to Kindergarten for a few weeks now and seems to be doing great. She is a strong and independent little girl.

Today was a full day of getting four children off to school going to work as the Site Manager for a preschool and day care and being oh so happy that it is Friday. Well probably grab some pizza and a movie and have a family evening.

Tomorrow is Saturday and the boys have hockey practice and we need to start selling popcorn for Scouts.

Kindergarten Here we come

Well this was Juliyana's first week of Kindergarten and like most things with our wonderful daughter it was an adventure. Juliyana goes to a Music Magnet School that is about an twenty minutes from our house. She is ridding the bus since she is going for ESL and so the bus picked her up at 8am and Mom needing to know she made it safely went up to school and waited for the bus to arrive at 9 she still had not gotten off one of the buses. Mom was getting abit nervous.

So the principle decided to see what he could find out and found that she had been dropped off at another of the Magnet schools. I had no ieda they stopped at different ones so I had not made sure to tell the driver she didn't know where to get off and he didn't check out each kids so she got off at the first school not reallizing she was not at the right place. So an hour late Juliyana made it to her first day of Kindergarten. As you can see from the pictures she is totally thrilled with being a big kid. All the kids seem to be doing well with the first week of school and mom will be happy that we can now get into a routine again.

All the b0ys seem to be happy with their teachers. Jesse is in Third, Jeremiah is in Second and Jacob is in eighth this year. It will be very entertaining trying to juggle three different schools.

Five months home

Well here we are finally some down time now that Michaels change of command is done. We had a great week and have now had a chance for Juliyana to meet most of her family. I have attached a bunch of photos from our crazy week. Jewles is loosing teeth like mad. If we hadn't been to the dentist I might be worried. She has lost four in a month and has two more that are loose. Our boys lost there teeth much slower and mostly one at a time. We saw our fist fireworks last night and she loved them. We are so amazed daily by how quickly she has learned english and think she will be in great shape for kindergarten in September. The boys have adjusted so well to having a sister you'd think she had been here for the past six years not jsut 5 months. Don't get me wrong we deal with issues everyday that tie to her 41/2 years in the orphanage she has no concept of what an inside voice is she yells most of the time and she has punched some of our friends at school and we don't usually want to follow directions well but in the grand scheam of things we are adjusting nicely.

Time flys!!

Where does the time go? I find it hard to believe we have been home now for over 130 days. The end of this month will be 5 months Wow!!!! Juliaana is adjusting very well. She is in preschool and has gone to kindergarten roundup and can't wait to start in the fall. She is just a giant sponge and has totally absorbed the English language. People who do not know she is from Ukraine are surprized by her language skills. I find it so crazy that this was a child labled Mentally Retarded. We took her to the circus for her sixth birthday and she sat on the edge of her seat with her mouth hanging open the entire time. It's amazing that you don't realize how many firsts you will get to have with a child that you adopt even if they are not a baby. We did dance this last few months and she loved it. She has lost three teeth and is still not quiet sure what to do with the money the tooth fairy brings her but her brothers will be happy to show her how to spend it. I will try and post a bit more offten I know that I have been very lax but it's wild how much crazier our lives are with just one more child.

Home at Last

Well, we made it. 20 hours three planes and a very tired little girl and her Mama. The boys all met us at the airport with signs they made and balloons but all Juliaya could see was her papa. She flew across the airport to get to him all smiles. It's great to be home. Thank you to those of you who have been posting and calling us along the way on this wild adventure. We will keep posting as time goes on to update how Juliyana is adjusting to being an american girl with three brothers.

We're Coming to America

Last Days in Purgatory

So, Konstantin was coming to get us for the medical today. He said to be ready at 8am. At 8:30 I called him and found out he was stuck in traffic. About 10 minutes later he and Anton showed up. He gave me all the papers he said I'd need for the medical and the consulate if we got that far and sent us off with Anton for he is starting a new job and had to be at work. We took a taxi to the medical the first place we stopped was not the right building so the taxi took us somewhere else we got out there and the Taxi left. After ten minutes in the second building we found this too was not where we needed to be. 45 minutes later and four other buildings we finally ended up in the right place. Thank God they give priortiy to those adopting we walked in to a hall way filled wall to wall with people. It smelled like an influenza Mardi Gras. One hour later we were done medical in hand and hopping into a new taxi for the Consulate. At the Cosulate I went and gave them the medical and all my paperwork. They were wonderful. They had me fill out all kinds of papers went through what Konstatin sent me with and said we were missing the original Court Decree and a ukrainian copy. Thank God for Helen. She ran outside while I filled out papers got Anton to call Konstantin and he came bringing the original court decree. He had no copies. I brought it to the wonderful woman at the window and she said I needed a copy. I begged her to just make one and I'd pay for it if necessary for as we know it takes forever to get anything done here. I paid for the Visa, I spoke with Mike in Imigration and 30 Minutes later we walked out with Juliyana's Visa. So as the post above says WE'RE COMING TO AMERICA. Our flight out is not until Thursday but we are all set emerging out of purgatory and now have a day to relax and not stress. A first for this trip.

Were still here!

Sorry for the long absence on posts, we had the last four days of just wait time. We went on Friday, Satuday, Sunday and today out and explored here in Kiev. We are staying in a wonderful flat that has a great view of Indipendence Square. We walked down Andrews Desent which is where all the street venders are and we went into independence square and wandered around the underground mall. It was a lazy weekend with lots of bonding with Juliyana. She is a so funny. She loves the cell phone. Every time someone calls she wants to know if it is Papa or Grandpa and she must talk to them. She has no idea what she is saying but she does know how to say hello and bye bye. When she is not on the real phone she walks around with my book light pretending to be on the phone. If only I could understand Russian I'd know what she talks about. She goes through the scrapbook I made her every day. She knows who everyone is now but keeps confusing Sabaca (Dog) Diesel with some Uncle Diesel and Uncle Matt with PaPa. She loves going outside and is great about walking where ever we take her. She would rather not hold our hands but with all the traffic in Kiev that is a must.

We spoke with Anton and Konstantin and the passport is in Antons hands on a train back to Kiev. Tomorrow we begin the end of this rollercoaster ride and head out for her medical and then on to the American Consulate. I will feel so much better once I see her passport and have it in my hands.

1/24/08 Here comes the sun!!!

What a beautiful day in Ukraine. Ok I know tomorrow I will be kicking myself for saying that. Today we finally saw the sun. It was a nice crisp day with a blue sky. So much nicer than the never ending gray we have had since we got here. Kiev is much nicer than Kryvvy Rig. The streets are clean the buildings have color and there is no industrial waste in the air. We started our day by finding a grocery, a pharmacy and the American Consulate. Juliyana has a cough that continually wakes her during the night so we tried some cough medicine but it does not seem to help. We went to the Consulate to drop off a photo of Juliyana so that on Monday we can get rolling on paperwork. At the Consulate we met an American woman who was wrapping up her second adoption. She has been in country since December 5th. I guess I have nothing to complain about. The smile on her face when she was handed her sons immigrant visa could light the world !

After that we went to the Soho Pizza and Steak Restaurant. For those of you on Ukrainian Angels Kathy and Matt Johnson are here and we caught up with them this afternoon for lunch. It was great to have others who understand what your doing and saying to chat with. They have a referal but will not head out for a day or two so we will see them again soon. It was very weird when we went to Matt and Kathy's flat, Juliyana started to cry as we were talking inside the door. I think she thought we were going to leave her there with them. It is the worst feeling in the world as a parent to not be able to explain to your child that you are their Momma for life and you would never leave them behind.

It was a long walk from the consulate back to our flat but Juliyana was a trooper. Little did we know she was working off the Coca Cola Light she had stolen from her momma's glass. Oh my god I did not think she would ever burn out this evening. From now on we will be verry stingy with the cafinated drinks.

Finally it seems we have light at the end of the tunnel. Juliyana's passport should be done on Monday and we have tickets out for Thursday. We can't wait to get her home and in to some type of routine.

P.S.
Christy,
Thanks so much for posting comments. It helps to hear from family and friends. We always have room at the Lebsack Inn and we would love for you guys to come visit. You changed email addresses send me your new one. I'll give you a call when I get home.

1/23/08 Car ride from &#%%

Our day started out at 8:15 this am and ended at nearly 11pm. We began with a lovely drive to Dniprpertrosk only a short 200 km away. We arrived at 10:15 and once there we went and applied (finally) for Juliyana's passport. We finished up there around 12:30 and figured we would get a start on the drive and get lunch a bit down the road. While applying for the passport a nice couple gave Juliyana a peppermint hard candy. I didn't see any reason not to let her have it since she is five not two. We headed out into traffic only to find that Juliyana had swallowed the candy whole and was choking. Helen and I are both yelling at konstatin to pull over Juliyana is starting to panic but continuing to drool and trying to cough it up. As soon as we pulled over she puked all over me, herself and konstantin's very clean car. This lasted for a couple of minutes and thankfully she was able to clear it on her own. WHEW!!! So glad I had a nurse along for the ride. Helen brought her stethescope and listened to her chest and all was clear. We cleaned everyone up including the car as best as we can and continued on our way. We then stopped for lunch and found a potty with a seat. Helen's favorite. We got back in the car at 3:30 and Konstatin said it should only take about 4 hours to get to Kiev. We figured no problem we can do that. We got about two hours down the road before we got lost. After asking varrious people for directions we got back on the right road. I don't know how anyone finds their way here for there are very few signs posted along the way. One hour heading in the right direction, we came to a complete stop with many many cars in front of us. There was an accident and people were getting out of there cars and chatting with their neighbors. We sat there for about 45 minutes. All fine well and good we get past the accident and Juliyana falls asleep ah peace at last. Not for long, while sleeping she begins to cough only to proceed to puke again all over the car, herself, and mom. God this was a good day!!!! But you know us were not through yet not anonther hour down the road we find that our tire is out of air and we have a flat. Konstatin has an air pump but that is not holding the pressure so we go in and out of gas stations for a few minutes seeking a better air pump or a new tire. Well we found a new tire and were on our way. We got to kiev and into a wonderful flat up by the SDA. It only took us 14 hours. Thank god every day is not like this. I am not posting photo's today since I believe we all know what puke looks and smells like. Happy Trails!!

1/22/08 Juliyana's first trip to McDonalds

Well as you can tell from the title we took Juliyana out for her first Happy Meal. She was all smiles as soon as we walked into McDonalds. I got her a chicken nugget meal and she seemed to like it all, but did not eat much of it. I'm not sure if it was due to not being hungry or the fact that she got a balloon and I made her put it down while she ate. We wandered around in some shops. After paying to use a toilet Donna and Juliyanas gloves suddenly disappeared.When approached the toilet attendant became extremely defensive. I suppose some grandchild has new purple and white striped gloves and she now has new tan ones. We guess she really needed a new pair. No wonder every store has at least two security guards.We then walked to get some more groceries. I can not get use to this going to the grocery every day but since we have nothing else to do here I guess it's a good thing.

We were not able to submit for her passport yesterday due to needing her new Social Security Card. The card did not come in and you cannot offically apply without it. It is supposed to be here today and tomorrow we will with a bit of luck we will get the passport applied for. I am not holding my breath though for every two steps forward we make there is at least 1 and a 1/2 back here. This region is so difficult and it does not help that we are 160 kms from where Juliyana was born so we must do lots of traveling back and forth on paperwork.

1/19-21/08 Life In The Slow Lane

Well Saturday and Sunday were uneventful. Konstantin went back to kiev and we girls were on our own. We went out exploring. The boots I had brought for Juliyana were too big and her feet were sliding all over the place. So, we found a nice store and between my limited Russian and the sales girls limited English we found a great new pair of boots. After that we went to get some groceries and came back home to watch Mtv. Juliyana wants to watch the music chanal and nothing else. She will sit for an hour watching music videos but only for about 10 minutes watching cartoons in her own language. She is funny to watch she stands in front of the tv and swings or dances to whatever is on. Thank god something is entertaining her for we only have a few toys and the weather has been cold and windy so it's not to fun outside. Sunday we got a bit more adventurous and walked around town and exchanged some money. We found a McDonalds and figue we will take her there and get her her first happy meal one day this week while we wait on the passport.

On Monday we were supposed to be up and running early. Konstatin was supposed to come on the overnight train and be here at 6:00am. Some how he was not able to do this so he had to take a bus back and did not get back until this afternoon. He ran around some more and I believe he has finally applied for her passport for me, but I am not sure since he is still not back. For a few minutes this afternoon we also thought that the phone was dead. Juliyana knocked it out of my hand and when I picked it up it would not turn on. I took it apart a few times and tried to adjust the battery, nothing I did worked. So I threw it on the charger and it lit up. Finally after about a half an hour of trying to figure out how to get a message to Konstantin since he needs one of us to come down and let him in but he would not be able to get through if the phone was dead, Helen figured it out and saved me some heart faliure. I have hopes that in the morning we will get to travel to Dnipropertrosk and submit the last few things. Then more waiting for Juliyana's new passport. I think we will be her another whole week. We were supposed to fly home on the 24th but with all the delays this past week and again today we will be lucky if we have the passport by Friday. Once we have that then it should get easier. We head to Kiev and deal with the Ameircan Consulate. I am hoping since I do speak their language I will have a better idea as to what is going on. I hate not understanding what all the delays and problems are.

Pleaes keep the comments coming it is amazing how much a quick word for you all can brighten the day.

1/18/08 Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Today we started the day by having cake. It's my 40th birthday and who can have a birthday in a forign country with out your family and not start out with cake. It was a very long and exhausting day. We got up early and drove again the 160 kms to Dniprodiznks got the birth and adoption certificates. We then had to go another 40 kms to Dniprpertrosk to get them stamped. Why these things can't be in one place is beyond me. Finally headed back to Kryvvy Rig only to be running out of business day so we quicikly picked up the inspector went to the desky dome before 4pm. The orphage signed over Juliyana to me but we left her there for a little while for we had to run to the Tax offcie in in order to change her name on her Social Security card. This must be done a day before you apply for the pasport so it was imperative it happened before the end of bussiness today at 4:30 or else we would not be able to apply for the passport on Monday. We made it by the skin of our teeth. After that we went back to the Orphanage and picked up Juliyana. She was so excited and so was I. We decided to go out to dinner and she loved this. The restaurant was named California. I found this to be very appropriate since we started this whole adventure 32 months ago in California. Konstantin explained to her that her american name Was Juliyana Anastasia Lebsack. He said she like it and thought it was pretty. After dinner we called Papa for the first time and talked to him for a couple of minutes. Then Konstantin dropped us off at the flat and he went to the train station. When we walked into our flat Juliyana immediately started looking, and asking for her brothers. Helen and I are on our own for the weekend, konstatnin will be back on Monday so that we may apply for the passport. What greater present could I ask for than my daughter. After all the craziness and insanity today, I finally have my daughter. We are all learning fast how to communicate and Juliyana seems to be very happy.

I attached some photos of getting Juliyana out of the orphanage and the sign as you enter Dnproderzynsk where she was born

1/17/08 The Continuing Misadventures of Donna and Helen

It was another productive day in Ukraine!!!!!!!!! I swear to %@#*$^@$ ^*$ that this region has decided it is going to do everything in its power to keep Juliyana, Helen, and I hostage forever. First thing, Konstantin went back to get the stamp that we needed yesterday. It was a success and we were off at 11am to drive 160 km to Dniproderzynsk. This is the town where Juliyana was born so it is where we need to get her new birth certificate. Got to Dnproderzynsk applied for the birth certificate and were told that the safe is locked with the blank certificates and the only person that can open it will not be in until tomorrow. Any other day we would have been ok but on Thursdays in this region you cannot get offical documents. So now we have to be there at 10 am tomorrow morning then go to Dnipropetrovsk to get a stamp on the birth certificate then back to Kryvyy Rig to apply for the Passport and break Juliyana out of the orpahage. All fine well and good, but we also need to then get her social security number changed to her new last name and go back to Dnipropetrovsk with Juliyana to get her image digitally scanned for her passport. This all must happen before 4pm at the end of the business day or else we will not be submitted for the passport until Monday. God I love beauracracy!!!!!!!

So all you wonderful family and friends please send us all your happy thoughts, prayers, and funny jokes because we could use as much help as you can give.

1/16/08 - Holding Down the Fort

While Donna and Helen are going through all the turmoil associated with being in region, I have been laid out flat on my back for two days fighting off a stomach virus of some sort. Not sure what it is exactly but it sucks to say the least. I'm very glad for the help of my in-laws. Friday Juliyana's furniture arrives and gets set up. This weekend we'll put her clothes away and hang her lamp. Hopefully I will be up to snuff by then and it won't be entirely up to my mother-in-law (though I'm sure she'll do most of it anyway:-)

It's difficult being a by-stander back here while Donna is working so hard over there to bring our daughter home. We figure we'll be lucky if she is home by the 31st. The region we are in has been very difficult for our facilitator to get anything done in. Everything takes longer and as usual today the ONLY person in Kryvyy Rig that could take our passport application was in Dnipropetrovsk all day. It seems at every turn there is yet another roadblock to get past. So tomorrow is setting up to be a very, very long day in the car for all of them as they need to make a round trip to Dnipropetrovsk in order to get the birth certificate and passport stuff nailed down. With luck Donna will be able to pick up Juliyana on Friday.

On the up side, today while Juliyana was getting her passport photos taken she was telling everyone that she was going to her new home in the United States to be with her brothers. I hope she likes them as much after she meets them :-)

1/16/08 The Misadventures of Donna and Helen

As always there is no predicting Ukraine. Today we took Juliyana to get passport photos and to get all the paper work going. We got the photo's but that is as far as we were able to get. One office was closed eliminating the possibility of doing anything else for we must have their stamp to move forward. So today was a bust, a washout, a loss, a deficiet, a total faliure in getting even close to rescuing my daughter from captivity.

We attemped to get somethings notarized that were separate from the other things we had planned to do, but the crazy notary had a problem with the wording on my power of attorney. Two and a half hours, half frozen and needing to pee like a race horse later my awesome facilitator Konstatin convinced them with out an expedite fee to accept that the word All does cover everything.

So tomorrow is another day and we will try again. I do not think we will make our scheduled flight on the 24th of January but as long as I'm getting my daughter we'll wait. Maybe not patiently but we will wait just the same.

Those traveling soon do not leave home with out a book to read you will sit and wait for hours and a book makes it a bit less painful.

1/15/08 Introducing Juliyana Anastasia Lebsack

It is offical we have a court decree she's ours!!!!

01/15/08 Here at last!!!!

Hello all,

Well Helen and I made it. Not a simple trip three planes, one car, thirty six hours and no sleep later we finally arrived at the hotel in Kryvvy Rig. We decided to stay in the hotel near the orphanage for now so that we can walk to see Juliyana. It's a bit more expensive then a flat but convienence wise it is worth the small amount extra.

Our first visit was emontional I think we both missed each other more then we realized. Juliyana cried and took about 15 minutes to reconnect with me. Helen was a new person and someone she wasn't quite sure of at first. She deffanitely missed the fact that her PaPa was not here. We spent about 3 hours with her playing inside and out. She loves music and we must get her an mp3 player when we get home.

Konstantin is off tracking down paperwork and trying to get the court decree. If all goes well we will have the birth certificate today and the passport applied for but you know Ukraine don't count your chickens before they hatch. As soon as I hear from Konstantin that the court decree is in his hands I will publish Juliyana's photos.

keep posting the comments are what help keep us going.

Flying in an Airplane Again!!!!

Sorry for the long absence in posting. We got home on New Years Eve and were thrilled to be back with the boys and then I got sick and was down hard for five days before I felt human again. So we have been running like crazy trying to get Juliyana's room ready, clothes for her, new plane tickets, and figuring out how to pack for two in only one suit case. I fly out on the 13th with my friend Helen who has graciously offered to help me out on the last leg of this wild adventure. We are hoping to be back with Juliyana on the 15th. Once all is clear there and we have her I will post pictures and info on the region we are in.