Life Is Finally Back to Normal. . .

Here we are at home in Kentucky on a Friday night March 27th, a mere two weeks after our chaotic exit from Kyiv, and it seems like it was so much longer ago than that since we were living in Ukraine and wondering if we were ever to be back in America again. Believe me, though, it is still fresh enough on our minds that we thank God daily that we are now safely home, back to our loved ones, and with a special young fellow now as an integral part of our family.

Things have gone amazingly well for Maxim since his introduction to life in America. He still thinks that food is extremely important and he gets very concerned if he sees others have food and not eat it. It's cute but saddening at the same time to observe this. Those of you who have seen Maxim in person know he has been well fed, but still, food must not have ever been readily available before. John and I took Maxim to Kroger for the first time last weekend. My, was he awestruck by all the foods available, but he was even more impressed by the fact that our shopping cart just kept getting fuller and fuller until it was almost full. He looks very healthy and acts very healthy too. Hopefully, the pictures are currently uploading so that finally there will be new photos this time along with this update.

Photo is of Maxim's McDonald's meal in Kyiv. The Coca-Cola light was not my idea!!

Everyone who has met Maxim here has commented on his outgoing, almost gregarious nature. And the family all seem to love him. From Aunt Bonnie (whose name he can now say correctly) to Mamaw and oldest brother Jonathan to the youngest of the older brothers, Kevin, who just spent his spring break from college home with us, to Kelly, who gives up part of each of her week to help out with him, every one of them seem comfortable with Maxim. Now, if we could only get our long distance children, Eric, and Andrea, to get a break from their jobs and come get to know him as well. . .perhaps this summer will offer some kind of opportunity.

Maxim has acclimated himself very well to school. The fact that he can read so well in Ukranian and sound out our English words in Ukranian phonics is of great value. The Ukranian/English picture dictionaries we brought home with us from Kyiv have turned out to be very helpful for Maxim's first grade teacher as well. For me as well, school is almost back to normal. There are of course the usual extra work to deal with when one has been gone from her job for so long, but overall, it feels like I wasn't gone quite so long. Still though, it's probably a good thing that next week is spring break so that both Maxim and I can have a little breather.

The weather here is chilly and to be downright cold this weekend unfortunately. I had hoped to take Maxim to some of the bigger parks around here and just do some simple fun things with him. Maybe we'll try a new kids movie that's coming out. We're also trying to work out a play date with a friend or two who have kids about Maxim's age. Maxim loves all the attention he gets from the adults around us. He has really taken to one or two folks from our Sunday School class as well as from our circle of friends. This class is also hosting a potluck/shower for us this weekend which is very kind of them.

We have blogged before about our new friends from Minnesota that we met in Kyiv, Gail and Craig and their new two year old daughter, Briley. We have now heard from them that they are happily ensconced back at their home with their two boys too. All of us hope that our friendship will continue over the years.

Meantime, we are working on scheduling a time for the adopt agency to do their home visit now that we're home so we will only have one more visit to deal with this summer before we should be able to do the Kentucky adoption.

We also have gotten Maxim's teeth removal I talked about last week scheduled for the end of the week after this one.

The only other thing that I simply must journal about here is about how much Maxim loves soccer or "football" as he still mostly calls it. His team practices once a week, but he asks every single day if he can go to "football." Since this sport is so popular in Ukraine, Maxim is quite familiar with it. He is very interested in scoring a goal, not so interested in passing the ball. Here's a picture of him in Shevchenko soccer outfit I found for him at a street vendor's in Kyiv. For you non soccer fans, he's a famous soccer player from that area.

We hope to continue these sporadic updates for a several more weeks because it will be such a nice history for Maxim some day as well as a facile way to keep everyone updated on our progress here at home with our new son.

Charlene