we've made a decision...

We met the little boy that we came to see in Kharkov (or is it Kharkiv?), and we have decided to adopt him!!! Obviously we are very excited. It's so hard to believe that we have finally met the little boy who is our son. I've been imagining meeting him for years, and I am so happy that the day finally arrived!

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I would love to post pictures, but I think it's best to wait until he is "officially" ours! I always hated when other bloggers didn't post pictures until later, but if I keep you in suspense, you'll keep checking back and reading what I post :) I will tell you that he is 17 months old, has blonde hair, blue eyes and is absolutely adorable!!

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He was born without part of his esophagus (called esophageal atresia), and what this means is that he is fed through a stomach tube for the time being. Surgery is required to either stretch the esophagus ends to each other or use part of his intestine as an esophagus. We aren't sure at this point how much esophagus he has, so we don't know how extensive the surgery will be. We're already praying for that as well.

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Thank you for your prayers and support!!

Love - Staci and Damon

SDA appointment #2

We had our second appointment with SDA officials this afternoon. We have accepted the referral for a little boy in region in eastern Ukraine. He does have a condition that will require surgery, but as to the extent, we are unsure at this point. Damon and I will be leaving Kiev with our translator tomorrow evening and will hopefully get a chance to meet the little boy on Wednesday.

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Please continue to pray for us as we ask for God's wisdom in the choices we make for our family. Thank you to everyone who has posted comments and sent emails - we enjoy reading them!!

Love - Staci and Damon

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PS I hope everyone likes the new background. I have a lot of time here in Ukraine to mess around with stuff like that! I have also added a few pictures at the bottom, but I haven't typed in descriptions. (maybe later...)

appointment on Monday

We have our second appointment with the SDA on Monday afternoon. Please continue to pray that we are shown the file for our son and that we know when we see it. We are not sure what the outcome of the meeting will be, but we are confident that God is still in control of our situation.

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Still feeling homesick, but getting accustomed to living here in Ukraine. Thank you to our friends and family for keeping us up-to-date on what's going on at home, and thank you to our online blogging friends for the wonderful words of advice and the restaurant ideas.

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Here are a few more pictures of desserts we've eaten.

(Yes, we do more than just eat dessert here!)

a few more days in Kiev...

We're still here in Kiev. We haven't received a date for our second appointment, but hopefully that will be on Monday or Tuesday. We don't really have a whole lot to report - just hanging out, sightseeing/walking, and sleeping.

Pleas continue to pray for us - we are feeling homesick and missing our dogs. We'll post when we have news...
Staci and Damon

another day in Kiev

I don't think it is still jet lag, but we are just not going to sleep at a decent hour. I do not believe that we have gone to sleep before 12:30a since we've been here, but then I don't wake up until around 10a. This might seem late, but since it's only 3:00a at home, I consider it quite early!

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We met up with our friends Vicki and Rodney yesterday, and they took us to a great upscale cafe where we had wonderful food and dessert!! Here's what Damon and I had for dessert:

Since people like pictures, here are a few from our walks about town.

Us in front of the Kiev Opera House.

"Snowboarding" on the steps of the Opera House (No, I don't understand it either!)

LOTS of men playing chess in the park.

Independence Square in Kiev.

The kitchen at our new apartment.
The bedroom at our apartment.

The living room in our apartment.

Us in front of flowers on the street. Our friends in front of the Opera House.

we're still here!

Hello, All! We finally have reliable internet access without going to the internet cafes. I first want to thank everyone for their prayers - believe me, we can feel them!! Thank you also for the emails and posts to our blog - we're reading and enjoying them!
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We had our appointment at the SDA on Tuesday morning (the picture above is us after the appt). We were shown quite a few files (I would estimate around 8 or so). We chose to go and visit a 19 month old boy in a region FAR from Kiev. We visited with the little boy for at least four hours yesterday, and after MUCH prayer and talking, we realized that the medical condition he has might be more than we are prepared to handle. He is a sweet boy that I am confident with find a loving forever home - I've already been praying for him.

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I definitely underestimated how heart-wrenching a decision not to adopt a particular child is!! I can still picture all the sweet faces of the children from our SDA appointment and also those we met while at the orphanage.

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What happens next? We have written a letter to the SDA asking for a second appointment, so we hope to get that by late next week. For now though we are back in Kiev in an apartment that is as much like home as we've seen :) It's also great to have internet access, so expect more posts and pictures to be forthcoming.

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And my girls in Ohio know how much I need this...I must confess though, it's not as good as "real" Diet Coke!!

The architecture here in Kiev is quite beautiful - especially the churches!

Anyone interesting in getting in contact with us, email me at stacianddamon@gmail.com and I'll give you our cell phone number. It will not cost us much at all, but it could be expensive for you to call! Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for our second appointment and as we explore the city. Please also pray for our friends Vicki and Rodney as they go for their second appointment on Tuesday as they look for a little girl to complete their family.

Love - Staci and Damon

leaving the US tomorrow

We leave the United States tomorrow and head to Ukraine! It is so hard to believe that it is time to finally take the big trip across the ocean. I don't have time to write about all the thoughts and feelings going through me right now (more packing to do), but please continue to pray for us, our appointment, our team in Ukraine, and for all those we with which we come into contact. I'll update as soon as possible...until then, good-bye!

Staci

13 days and counting

We only have 13 days until our SDA appointment! So far I am not freaking out, but I am crazy-stressed and busy. I am not sure that I have gotten to bed before 12:30am so far this week. It doesn't look like it is going to happen tonight either (I guess that I could be working on items instead of blogging, but oh well).

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I am hoping to get a lot done this weekend since we both have Friday off work. I would love to get his room completely finished. And what I mean by "finished" is started and finished. The bed needs to be put together, pictures hung, curtains/blinds purchased and hung, decorated, etc. So really nothing to do :) Also throw in packing for the trip, getting things at work taken care of so I can be gone, getting things at home taken care of, regular day-to-day stuff like laundry, bills, etc and there is no time for relaxing (or even sleeping for that matter).

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I am going to go get a few things done before heading off to bed. I just wanted to let everyone know that we hadn't fallen off the face of the earth. Please continue to pray for our appointment and that our hearts would be open for whatever child God has in store for us. Thank you!

Staci