Our Ukraine Adoption Journey

Finally, an update!

2007-04-14T17:37:00.000-05:00

For those of you wondering, yes, we are still alive.

Since our last post at Christmas, Ethan has experienced so many new things! Including sitting in fire trucks, bull dozers, semi's, riding mules, playing in the snow, eating snow, swinging on swings, jumping on trampolines, going to school, eating american food, and so much more!!

We are all doing well. Ethan is the most wonderful child! Just to catch you up, we have been very busy. Ethan has been seeing a specialist about his feet and has since been wearing casts on both legs for the past 5 weeks. He gets a new set every week. The dr. sounds hopeful that we can avoid surgery by doing this casting procedure. Next, he will wear braces for an undetermined amount of time and then he will have a minor surgery to move a tendon in the top of his foot to help with flexibility.

He hasn't let the casts slow him down one bit! I have really bulked up though! He feels like he is 10 pounds heavier with those casts! He still does what he wants to do, it just requires a lot of lifting on our part!

Ethan goes to preschool 4 days a week while I work (in the next room over!). It is only about 13 hours a week, so it is almost perfect! The only downside is that it is an hour from home.

Ethan loves all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and sees them often. He especially likes being outside! He already has a light tan from being outside so much!

Perhaps we'll update again...maybe before Ethan goes to Kindergarten! HA HA

The family picture was taken at Easter...notice Ethan's camoflage casts!

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T20:56:00.000-06:00

It is Christmas day and I have finally taken some time to sit down and post an update to this wonderful adventure!

I will just start with a few pieces of our story that we haven't reported yet.

First, the train ride from Donetsk to Kiev on the day we picked up Ethan from the orphanage was the most difficult and the most wonderful time of our lives. Ethan was scared to death and letting everyone in a 50 ft radius know it. He cried and screamed for the first 3 hours of our 12 hour train ride. Unfortunately, he was not comforted by us, which resulted in a lot of praying on our part! We had just pulled him away from the only home he had ever known and then we put him on this big scary train with us, the two people who until that day had only seen him a few hours each day and were merely cookie delivery people.

We discovered later that part of his frustration was that he had to use the bathroom and would not go in his pull-up nor would he go in the bathroom on the train. That train bathroom was disgusting! Even I was scared of that! After several screaming trips to the bathroom, we finally had success. Joe and Natasha worked together, holding Ethan above the toilet and Natasha just kept repeating pecit (Ethan's word for pee). After he finally relieved himself, he calmed down and fell asleep. It was after he was asleep when Joe and I realized...here was our child. Our chosen child, the one we have waited so long to hold. And he was with us, on our way home. We took this time to pray and cry and hold each other and just watch our sleeping son. It was truly an awesome experience.

After we arrived in Kiev, we had two great days with our son. We gave him a bath for the first time. We heard that in the orphanage they would give the kids showers. And that they would bathe 10 kids in 20 minutes. So, Ethan's first bath time was hilarious! He loved every minute of it and so did we.

We finally made it back to Indiana on the 15th and I can't even describe the feelings we had as we saw our parents at the airport waiting for us. It was such a joyous occasion, and we felt so proud to introduce our parents to our son!

The ride home from the airport was a bit rough. Ethan had never sat in a car seat before and didn't want to start on that day either. He screamed a lot, but Mamaw and Papaw and Grandma and Grandpa were there with snacks and drinks and toys to distract him. He's doing fine in a car seat now!

I have to tell everyone about this next part. When we arrived at our home, we brought Ethan into the house and I immediately noticed the smell of my home...I really missed that! The house was clean and child-proofed (thanks to Kari). And, I noticed that my house was decorated for Christmas, complete with a tree and presents for Ethan! The families in our Sunday School class had all bought gifts for Ethan that were here under our tree waiting for Ethan's arrival! That was so cool! But there is more!

After Ethan checked out the main level of our home, we went upstairs to show him his room and his machina bed. When we left home on Nov 19th, his room was blue and that is all. When we came home on Dec 15th, his room was blue, with his car bed - complete with sheets and comforter, a car and truck border, curtain, night light, pictures, and even letters that spelled out Ethan on the wall with little cars on them. Joe's mom started telling me who all had taken part in the preparation of Ethan's room. I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't hold back the tears. It was wonderful. His room is perfect.

And, there is more! Kari had arranged for families from church to deliver meals to us for the whole week!

We can't thank everyone enough for all that has taken place to help us bring our child home. We know that many prayers have been answered. We are greatful and are humbled by the love that was shown for Ethan even before we were home.

We have now been home for 10 days and Ethan is adjusting very well! Even better than we could have imagined. He is learning new English words everyday and we are communicating well with each other. He is truly a joy! And we are truly exhausted! But it is the best exhaustion we've ever felt. Ethan had a wonderful Christmas and already loves his extended family. In fact, today, when we were leaving the house, he was asking to go to "Yemma's and Yella's" house and we had just been there a few hours ago!

Enjoy the pictures and thank you all... for everything. Merry Christmas!

Ethan Pictures and Stories

2006-12-17T19:21:00.000-06:00

Wow, we are exhausted. We still must be on Ukraine time, at least Ethan is. He was up at 2:30 this morning and absolutely would not go back to sleep. I was looking forward to getting back home and one thing that I really missed while in Ukraine was Fox News Channel. Well, since returning 2 days ago, I have yet to watch Dish Network #205. But I have watched the Wiggles Christmas Special, Bob the Builder and a Veggie Tales DVD! Ethan is getting along very well meeting family members. We started slow, but soon realized he liked and appreciated the interaction.

We had a scare on friday night after returing home. We brought Ethan in the house, showed him around and visited with his Grandparents and then we did it--we nearly scared him to death. We brought our Chocolate Lab, Dixie, in the house. Ethan did not like it at all. He was so scared and cried so much that Steph was scared and crying. I was worried that we may have to change the arrangements with Dixie being an inside dog. Fortunately, Ethan has made up with Dixie and now they are best of friends. Ethan is petting, pulling, pushing, kicking, hugging and kissing Dixie. He even shares his food with her--and unfortunately, Dixie shared her food with Ethan as well. I caught him sneaking a piece of Science Diet. Yes I convinced him to spit it out but it wasn't as easy as I thought it might be. Perhaps a testimony for Hill's Pet Food--So good even a 2 year old will eat it.

Another good story. Justin and Kari brought Ethan's cousins Emma and Ella over. Ella simply LOVES her Aunt Stephie. Ella asked Steph, "Will you take Ethan back to 'NewKraine' when you are done with him?" Steph told her that Ethan is our little boy and will stay with us until he grows up, then he will be our big boy, but he will always be ours. Ella realized then she is going to have to share her Aunt Stephie for ever.

More later---as time allows. Wait, is there anything such as time when you have a kid? So far I haven't found any!

NEW YORK CITY!!!!

2006-12-15T06:34:00.000-06:00

There is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of things to update you on since the last post. Sorry we haven't been able to update you. The last time we went to update the blog in Donets'k the internet wasn't working. Then, we got to go get Ethan then go to Kiev. In Kiev we didn't even look for an internet cafe, we were too busy with our boy! Right now we are in a Ramada in New York City. Ethan is sitting on my lap-- he just yelled La Lookie, which apprently means, I want to sit on your lap. Our flight to Indy from JFK was cancelled last night, so we are spending an extra night away from home, so its a total of 26 days away from home (assuming we make it back today). Well there is so much to write, I think I will let Steph do it sometime in the near future while Ethan is napping. We have to tell you about the train from Donets'k to Kiev, how many homes Ethan thinks he has, you have to know about the fact he thinks Natasha lives on the other side of every door, the plane ride from Kiev to New York and many other experiences.

There is so much to tell you, but the most important thing you need to know is that Steph and I, along with our son, are all safe in the USA and Ethan is now a citizen of the United States of America. Must check to see if our flight will leave JFK on time to make it home this afternoon.

2 more days

2006-12-08T05:37:00.000-06:00

Only two more days of going to the orphanage and then leaving without Ethan.

Ethan is obviously getting more and more comfortable with us. He tells people who walk through that we are his Mommy and Papa. Maybe its because of the juice and cookies, but who cares--he is proud of us!

The ladies in his room have been preparing Ethan ever since we arrived that he will be leaving for America with his Mommy and Papa. They tell the other kids in his room that he is going to America to be a big rich American boy! "Rich" in this case is certainly relative! Compared to his opportunities here he will be rich. But
they way we see it, we are as wealthy as anyone can be having a son like Ethan!

To answer Marj's question, they do not want him to walk outside because he has one pair of corrective shoes. And they are overproective, especially when it comes to American's adopting the kids. They are not sure we can handle it!

Wish we had more fun stories, but going to the same room and playing with the same two toys everyday is getting quite boring! You know, I never really understood why my neices and nephews had so many toys--I always thought--my kids won't need that many toys, they can be creative and have fun with just a few toys. I know I was wrong--Grandparents--Bring on the toys! We need them!

Ethan is getting the hang of English commands. We think it might be more the tone and facial expressions than the language, but he knows when he is doing something wrong, when we want him to sit, say please, more cookies, again, walk, give it to me, it is not a toy.....and many other sayings, requests and commands. It is fun to watch him learn. We have actually gone back to videos we took the first few days and we see a huge change in him already!

We leave Donetzk on Monday, hopefully we will be able to keep you updated when we return to Kiev.

Joe & Steph

Quick Update

2006-12-06T06:40:00.000-06:00

Well, we did it. We changed our flight to leave Ukraine on December 14th! We are so excited!

We bought a new coat for Ethan today. One that is his size! The first coat we bought will be worn by 5-yr old Nicholas who is being adopted by Stan and Lydia from Michigan! They loved the coat! We are glad it worked out that way, for us and for them.

We have just a few more days that won't be busy. We're glad about that too. This weekend we will be buying gifts, food, and supplies for Ethan's farewell party on Monday. Monday will be busy as well. We will have to pick up the official court decree, get his new birth certificate and passport, have a party, and then get on the train! To comfort you all, please know that yes, we have Benedryl.

Ethan tried out a new flash light last night. He loved it so much, we couldn't get it away from him when it was time for us to leave! But today, we were able to snatch it so we can entertain him with it again tonight. We've been taking walks with him outside most days. The doctor says we have to carry him, and we do...some. But, he wants to walk, in fact he screams to get down and walk.

Everyday when we leave, he gives us both kisses and says Pah-Kah which means see you later. We have been teaching him to say bye-bye. He now knows please, light, and bye-bye. And of course, Papa and Mommy. He will repeat certain english words like again, fish, butterfly (that's funny to hear), boat, and bee. There is a large mural in one play room at the orphanage that has pictures of those things. He has learned to say again when Joe tosses him in the air and askes Ethan, "again"?

We heard that it is cold at home. That's too bad! The weather here has been almost perfect! No snow, no rain, no ice, no sun, no nothing! It has been really nice for walking. The temperature has been steadily in the 30's and the wind isn't too bad.
As nice as the weather has been, we'd like to get home to our own home with our own furnace and wood stove!

Thank you all for the prayers and for reading our thoughts!

One more day

2006-12-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

Well, it is Tuesday and we are one day closer to getting out of here. We just want to take our son and go home. Joe has been having nightmares about the plane trip home. Not about crashing, it's about Ethan screaming the entire way from Kiev to JFK. Please pray that this does not happen. Also, next Monday night we will more than likely be taking the train from here back to Kiev. This is a long trip and we know Ethan will be scared. We'll need prayer that night too.

Today, Ethan showed us his 2-yr old tantrum in a big way. We were letting him look at pictures on our camera when he decided he wanted to take the camera and go play with it. Of course, we told him that it was not a toy and that he couldn't have it. This turned into a struggle and I think we won. He pouted and rolled around on the floor for probably 15 minutes. We just sat there and watched him. Natasha reprimanded him in Russian and so did the resident doctor who happened to be walking by. He is a VERY strong-willed child and we will have lots of opportunity to help shape him.

We tried his new winter coat on him today. He was so excited, however, it was probably 2-sizes too big. Oops! It's hard to shop for a child when you've never had them before and he won't let you measure him! So, we gave the coat to Stan and Lydia and suggested they try it on the older boy they are adopting. We will be meeting them tonight for pizza. We've spent quite a bit of time with them as they are visiting Artur (Nathan) every morning while we are with Ethan.

That's all for now.

Maybe more tomorrow.

We Understand

2006-12-04T08:07:00.000-06:00

Thanks for all the words of encouragement. We do understand that this will be a long process of earning Ethan's trust and respect as parents. We just wanted everyone to know that we know its not all peaches and cream!

Everyone asks why the ten days. It is a replacement for the previous 30-day waiting that was frequently waived by judges who were paid a sufficient amount of US$$$$$. Now, there is no choice, it is 10 days with no opportunity to waive the time. The time period is to allow for anyone to appeal the court's decision granting us the adoption. The curious thing is that the decree from the court is not published anywhere, we wonder how anyone could even find out that there was an adoption of an orphan child let alone who specifically it is. Anyway, we cannot take Ethan until the judge actually puts that piece of paper in our hand.

We did get permission to take Ehtan on a walk outside of the orphanage today. He was scared but Natasha told him that if he held his Daddy's hand that everything would be OK, his Daddy would keep him safe. After that, he didn't want to hold Steph's hand, just mine :)

OK, gotta go its after 4:00 and Ethan is waiting on us.

Tough afternoon

2006-12-02T06:31:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon was a little hard on us. We were there for the afternoon visit, and Ethan was obviously bored with us by the time our two hours were up. In fact, we didn't even stay the whole time. It's a little hard to handle. We know that we love him and that he is our son. But, he doesn't understand what a Mama and Papa really are. Right now, he thinks that we are visitors who come to play with him twice a day and bring him snacks. Plus, he doesn't understand our language or why we keep calling him Maxim Ethan. We know in our hearts that he will eventually learn to love and trust us, but it's very hard when we are only allowed to see him for a few hours a day and be stuck in the same room every visit. Of course he would get bored with that, wouldn't you? Even the cookies and juice only work for so long!

One good thing though, one lady asked Ethan if he was an American and he said 'Dah' which means yes. That gave us a little comfort.

On the flip side, today was an excellent visit. It was the first time he went outside with us. We tried to take him outside a few days ago, but he said 'ni nada' of course. Today, he was willing to go with us. However, they told us that we had to carry him if we took him outside, we could only be out for 15 minutes, and that we have no right to leave the grounds. So, we carried him -- not an easy task. But we enjoyed it anyway. So many rules at this place, and he is our son, this is very frustrating. Today we were told not to let him play on the floor. WHAT! How can you keep a 2 yr old from playing on the floor? So we just ignored the instruction. I know the supervisors, nurses and nannies have good intentions to protect the children, but some of them seem to have more rules every day for us Americans.

We ate at a new restaurant yesterday, translated as Geese and Swan. This is the second place we've found that has an English menu. This way, Natasha doesn't have to read us every option on the menu! The food there is excellent! We had dessert for the first time today. It was very tasty!

We are planning on going to enjoy the Opera tomorrow. Well, I will enjoy it, Joe will suffer through it (perhaps enjoy a good nap). We are both looking forward to experiencing that. We may try to go to church tomorrow. Natasha knows the location of the church, but no times of service. Plus, she said it is not a 'church building' it is a rented hall, so there probably won't be church times posted on a sign like we are used to seeing.

We are counting down the days until we can take our son with us to Kiev. It can't happen soon enough. It is looking like we will meet up with at least one other American couple at the apartment in Kiev. This would be fun for us all, they will just be starting, and we will be finishing our trip.

Please pray that the next 9 days will go quickly for us and that we will have quality bonding time with our son. He is going to be in for the shock of his life when we take him away from the only home he has ever known. We know this will be traumatic, we just pray that God will give us the words and gestures to comfort him.

Also, just a heads up for you all. Here, the kids call every woman 'mama'. They call every man 'dada'. Ethan calls us Papa and Mommy. So, you can expect a greeting a bit different than you are used to, or he might give you a pouty look with sad eyes and a head over his shoulder. (We see this a lot too.)

Thursday Update

2006-11-30T06:15:00.000-06:00

This one will be short but apparently there are people out there who are addicted to this blog and I will do what I can to be an enabler for the Ethan addicts!

No, Ethan cannot stay with us in the apartment yet. We are still making twice daily visits to the orphanage.

We are planning a farewell party for Ethan's room at the orphanage. We are going to purchase fruit and juice, perhaps balloons, so that we can make leaving the orphanage a positive experience for Ethan. This will be a week from next Monday, when we can take Ethan with us as we leave.

Much more we could write but we are short on time, the internet cafe is packed with people waiting on computers. Love y'all. Later.

Court Date

2006-11-29T06:09:00.000-06:00

We apologize for not posting anything yesterday. We tried, but the internet cafe was full and we didn't really have the time to wait. So, we found out when our court hearing would be.........do you wonder when it might be??

We appeared in court and were officially pronounced parents of Ethan Warren Baldwin this morning at 10:00!!! Yep, it was today. Natasha had suggested that we might be able to have the hearing before the 6th, but she didn't want to make any promises. So, on Monday night, she came to our room and told us we would be having court on Wednesday morning! How did she do it? We didn't ask questions, we just praise God. There is another American couple here who has been in Donetzk for two weeks now, and they still haven't had their court date. So, we know that it was God's plan for us to have this today. Actually, we are about two weeks ahead of the average adoption cycle here in Ukraine. Our facilitator is a wonderful christian woman who understands that there are no coincidences, just the hand of God at work.

This means that we will be traveling home on December 14th or 15th! We must wait here in Doneztk for another 10 days (mandatory waiting period) and then we can travel back to Kiev for Ethan to have a physical examination and to meet with the US Embassy to get an immigration visa for Ethan. We will be looking at the airlines today to see which day we will actually be flying back.

This is the first day we have seen the sun in Ukraine. We think that it is beautiful here today, because of what God has done.

We celebrated our becoming parents by eating at a new restaurant for lunch. It was good! OK this is Joe taking over since we are talking about food! Not only was it good it was great! I had borsch and some raw (well not really raw but cold and smoked) bacon as an appetizer, then I had a beef and mushroom dish that was served with a side of buckwheat and a side of cold sour cabbage---excellent! Steph had a seasoned pork tenderloin with what they called fried potatoes--technically they are correct french fries are truely fried potatoes.

Now I will tell you some about court. We anxiously waited in a court building that interestingly resembled the court house in Randolph County. Yes, a pre-WWII communist type building looked just like the Randolph County Courthouse inside. The judge came down the stairs in his black robe and entered the court room on the first floor right beside the waiting area. He heard a couple of cases then asked us to enter. It was very intimidating, we acted like we were not nervous but I was shaking in my Timberlands! The judge asked me to stand and state my name, b-day, yrs married, my address (which I momentarily forgot), my job and my salary. He wanted to know if we have any kids. Then it was Steph's turn. She really got put through the ringer! The judge asked her the same questions and then the "People's Advocates" two ladies who represent the state and apparently the state's concern for orphaned children started asking Steph questions. They wanted to know if Steph could handle being a mother, they were concerned because she has a job, they asked Steph why we were adopting not from the US, but from Ukraine. Steph did a bang up job! We showed the judges and the ladies pictures of our home, so that they would see we have sufficient space to raise a child. They asked who the children were in the pictures, we have pictures of all the nieces and nephews. One lady specifically asked about Logan. We told her that Steph's sister and her husband had recently
adopted him. They seemed to enjoy the pictures. (Plus, that picture of Logan is sooo cute!)

The entire process took probably twenty minutes and after the Inspector (city representative), and a representative from the orphanage testified on our behalf, the judge made his ruling that we were officially the parents for Ethan. We both cried, and I think I saw a tear in the eye of the lady from the orphanage.

Immediately following our court hearing, we went to the orphanage to see Ethan. Our normal visit is from 10 am to 12 noon, but because we were in court at 10:00, we were late. Ethan was obviously upset about that because he was pouting and giving us dirty looks when we first arrived. (He knew we were supposed to be there when the other American couple came to see their son.) But, he quickly got over his attitude. The director of the orphanage offered us his congratulations as well as several of the ladies who work there.

It has been an awesome day!

Ready to come home, but can't yet

2006-11-27T06:42:00.000-06:00

Joe here..
As far as we are concerned it is time to come home. Too bad we have to finish up all the formalities and legalities. As of right now, court is scheduled for 12/6, may be a chance that this is moved up some. If not then it looks like a return just before Christmas.

We are enjoying reading all the comments. Thanks for all the prayers, I think it is great that we can share this experience with our friends and family despite the fact we are 6,000 miles from home.

Here's a fun story. Before we met Ethan, another little boy in his room met his new parents. These parents brought their boy a toy car. Well, when Ethan heard that a Mama and Papa were coming to see him, he asked if his Papa was bringing a 'machina' (ma-shee-na) for him. So, when we arrived at the orphanage for the first time, he just kept saying, "Papa, machina." over and over. Of course we had to buy him a machina! Now he carries it with him everywhere he goes.

We went shopping yesterday and purchased clothes for Ethan. It was funny, we tried to measure him before going shopping, but he didn't want to be measured. He really enjoyed playing with the tape measure but didn't want any part of someone stretching it along his legs and arms. So we guessed. He is either a 2T or 3T? Here it is just "3" or 192--whatever that means. We bought some jeans, shirts, socks, underwear (He is already potty trained!), and a winter coat. We tried the clothes on him last night. He enjoyed showing off in his new duds!

Some things we are glad we packed:
1. Zip lock bags.
2. trail mix. (even though the food is good, once we are back at the apartment its nice to have a snack)
3. Carnation Instant Breakfast. (the food is good but the milk here tastes different--read 'not very good'
4. Books. A lot of downtime. Nice to have some light fiction, but sure glad to have my Bible as well.
5. Computer. Many said 'not needed' I say, can't live without. Laptop takes up almost as much space as a mini DVD player, but has other uses too. We are putting pictures on the computer as soon as we return home each day, also can download video from camera and watch DVD too!
6. Dryer Sheets. Excellent to put with dirty clothes that you will wear again or to hang in the closet. Also, easy to pack.

Some things that were not necessary:
1. Sunglasses. Not sure if the sun ever shines in Doneztk
2. Baseball caps. Want to be sure you look like an American--then wear a Purdue or a Colts baseball cap!
3. So many clothes. We way overpacked. We have available for our use a washing machine. But no dryer, Steph did a load (which was a pair of jeans a t-shirt and some socks and underwear--very small washer!) last night. I draped my jeans in front of the heater and they were nearly dry by morning.

We have started sleeping with the window open. The apartment has no thermostat control. The entire building is heated by a boiler with radiators in each room. You just take the heat as it comes and we have found that it is too hot for sleeping.

We have to hire a driver each day. I pay him about US$6/hour. He gets paid even when he is not driving. So, that is getting kind of expensive. But it is nice, we do not have to wait on or call a taxi. Vladimir is ready to go when we are. He is not a driver by trade, he is just a friend of Natasha. He makes sure we get to the apartment safely each night. I pay him cash daily. Having a personal driver is a convenience that I am happy to pay for, makes me feel safe.

I'll give Steph a chance to write now...

Hi everyone!

Just in case you were wondering, that red mark under Ethan's nose is just a boo boo. They put something red on it for healing...not sure what that could be, maybe beet juice? LOL We've seen lots of kids with this mysterious red stuff on their heads.

We've noticed that Ethan is the best child in the whole orphanage! He has been crying every time we leave. That is exciting for us, yet sad too. We hate to see him upset.

We got to see his bare feet today. They looked much better than we were led to believe. The surgeons who did the work on his feet had to break his legs to create a heel on his foot. They told us today that he didn't walk until after recovering from that surgery, but that he was a very patient child and started walking in his casts. They also ordered new orthopaedic shoes for him 5 months ago, and they just arrived today. So, they are probably too small, but that's ok because we'll take care of that when we get home.

We have been showing the pictures of our family to Ethan several times each day. He will repeat the names of everyone. It is really funny to hear him try to say Ella. He says Tricia, Mamaw, and Babushka (grandma) really well. We're still working on that one.

He loves to be picked up and tossed in the air. He also likes hanging upside down. He has a new game of running down the hall and waiting for us to chase him and pick him up to run back.

We have introduced him to fruit juice boxes. He loves everything we give him, even water!

Each day is more fun than the last. Soon, we won't have to see him cry when we leave, because he'll be going with us!

That's all for now! Thanks again for your prayers and your thoughts.

Ethan Pictures

2006-11-26T08:18:00.000-06:00

A day off

2006-11-25T04:41:00.000-06:00

Today is Saturday, and things have slowed down a bit for us. Natasha was able to complete all of our paperwork yesterday, so she said today would be a day off for us. We have already been to visit Ethan today. When we arrived, there was another american couple there waiting to see their son. They told us that when they came in, the ladies of the orphanage had sent out Ethan! So, they had to tell them that he was not their boy. It's good to know that those ladies are expecting us everyday.

Today, Ethan played mostly with Joe again. I have been fighting a cold and am not feeling 100%, nor do I want to make Ethan sick. Plus, he isn't as interested in me anyway. In fact, Natasha and I think that he isn't drawn to younger women at all because he spends all his time with older ladies and he has no use for younger ones yet.

We think Natasha is going to try to find a Church for us to attend tomorrow. She said that there is one here that has an English speaking service, but she's not sure which one that is. So, we'll have to wait and see.

The weather has been good here, cloudy and dreary, just like home. The air quality in Kiev was awful. We could feel the smog in our chests. Here in Donetzk, it is much better. This is a city of about 1 million. We just walked by a political rally of some sort. Natasha said they were talking about prices of everything. We haven't seen any snow or rain yet, and the temperature has been in the upper 30's and 40's during the day.

We will be spending the afternoon walking around downtown, seeing what there is to see and maybe doing some shopping. Then at 4:00, we will go back to the orphanage to see Ethan.

We had our first bad experience last night. We tried some food from a fast food place called Potato something and it was yucky. We didn't eat any of it. So, we know not to go back there. We have eaten at several good restaurants. Yesterday, we ate at a Russian place and the food was very good there. For our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, we ate at a place called Winter Garden. It was very good as well. We have many options for food here. We've been buying eggs, bread and milk at the grocery store, and eating pork, chicken and potatoes when we go out to eat. We have eaten at McDonald's once, for breakfast...but they don't have 'breakfast' food at the McDonald's here. We had a McChicken and a Country Sandwich (pork patty on rye) and some fries.

Joe bought some chips and some Coke Light (diet) at the grocery store. We think the cashier was making fun of us, because we kept hearing her laugh and say 'chips'. Aparently, americans must be the only people who buy chips here.

Oh, I melted my curling iron on the first day we were in Ukraine. It melted from the inside out and fell apart. Oops! So, we've been keeping our eyes open for another one, but so far we haven't had much luck. And I've had bad hair days ever since.

Thanks for the comments, it is helpful to hear from home. And it makes us feel loved.

Today, we saw that the Colts lost on Sunday, that made us a little sad.

That's all for now.

Introducing Ethan Warren Baldwin.........

2006-11-24T09:17:00.000-06:00

I wrote the title to this post, now I will let Steph take over, she will let you know how great this week has been......

Hi! Steph here. I first have to say we're sorry that we don't have any pictures yet. Well, we have them, but we aren't able to post them from here. We are writing this from an Internet cafe in downtown Donetzk. Maybe another day we will be able to post some pictures.

Anyway, yesterday we finally met Ethan. His current name is Maxim, but we will change that soon. Ethan is almost 3. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He is full of life and when we asked the ladies at the orphanage what he liked to eat, they said everything! So, he is well fed, and has nice little chubby cheeks (We have our own little 'pork chop'). We have been to visit him four times now. The first time was during our meeting with the orphanage director yesterday. We knew right away that he was our son. He was immediately drawn to Joe, and he is already calling him Papa. We have given him several snacks as bribes to keep him close to us. Today, he gave us hugs.

Ethan was diagnosed with two club feet at birth. He has had one corrective surgery, and still needs another. This doesn't seem to slow him down any, becuase he is everywhere and does everything. One foot had previously been corrected with bandages and braces, and now the other foot just needs one more surgery, that we will schedule when we are home. His cognitive development is right on schedule, according to the orphanage standards. He will however, need some PT, good thing I work at Gateway!

We are having a wonderful time here. Natasha, our translator/facilitator/protector has been so good to us. We are eating well and enjoy our time with her. She knows exactly where to go and how to get there. We just follow her along wherever she goes.

We are staying in an apartment in downtown Donetzk. We do not have a phone, nor do we have any internet access there. But, we do have a bed, a shower (with hot water!) and a kitchen. We looked at one other apartment, but the location was pretty scary, and Natasha was not comfortable with us staying there. So, we found this one instead. It is five floors up and we have a bullet proof door! (Don't worry, it doesn't really seem dangerous, but what do we know, we're just Americans)

Yesterday and today we have been running all over town with Natasha to complete paperwork that will be needed for our court date. We know that after our court date, there will be a mandatory 10 day waiting period before we can leave. Natashsa is trying to get us a court date next week, if possible. If not, it will probably be on Dec 6th. So, you all can pray that the court date is as soon as possible so we can bring Ethan home.

Oh, by the way. We decided on Ethan's name last night. We had a different name picked out for the past two years, but when we saw him, he didn't really look like the other name. So, Ethan it is! And I'm sure everyone knows about the middle name! (Joe's grandpa's name is Warren)

We miss you all and are ready to come home with our son. Thank you for your prayers and your postings to this blog. It has been very encouraging to read your words and feel your excitement for us.

We'll send pictures as soon as we can.

Love,
Joe, Steph and Ethan

Our Chosen Child

2006-11-21T13:13:00.000-06:00

We had our appointment today at the SDA. Everything went very smoothly.
The people were very nice! We were shown several photos of available
children. Some sibling pairs and some individual children. After just a
short discussion, we chose our child. He, yes HE, is 2 years old. He
will be 3 on January 23rd. He is in an orphanage in Donetzk (Don-yetzk).
We are hoping to travel by train tomorrow (overnight) to that region. It
is approximately 400 miles from Kiev. All we can tell you right now is
that he has blonde hair and grey-blue eyes. It has been a very big day
and we feel very blessed already, and we have yet to meet him!

Our facilitator, Natasha, will be staying with us every step of our journey.

Please continue to pray for us as we have a long road ahead with lots of
paperwork and waiting.

More updates soon.

Steph & Joe

We Made It!

2006-11-20T11:36:00.000-06:00

So here we are, our first day in Kiev. The flight was very nice, there
was no trouble whatsoever. We did get a little worried when we arrived in
Ukraine and there was no one here to get us, but Natasha soon showed up
and we felt safe and sound.

We traveled from the airport in Kiev to the apartment and got settled in.
We took showers and Natasha cooked us some lunch (very good lunch). We
then went to the SDA and made sure our appointment was listed for
tomorrow--and it was. After returning from the SDA, Steph and Natasha
went to the market and I took a nap.

We shared pictures of our family with Natasha. We are very happy to have
her as a facilitator and we have learned to trust in just a short amount
of time.

Our appointment tomorrow is at 1500. Which is 8:00 AM EST.

SO far--things are going great!

The Time is Very Very Near

2006-11-17T08:27:00.000-06:00

So you may wonder what we have been up to since we finally got the word to go. It has been a flurry of activity. Well, more than a flurry, more like a BLIZZARD of activity. Steph and I have worked very hard at our jobs to make our absence painless for those who will graciously pick up the slack while we are gone.

We rushed to paint the kid's room, we procrastinated on this project for about 2 years. We did put together a crib and clean up the spare room. We purchased some new luggage, since my big suitcase was destroyed on a trip to China a couple months ago. We have collected some gift items to take with us and give to those who will guide us through this process. I purchased some T-shirts that can be reminders for them of where we come from. I purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana Wesleyan, and Indiana State T-shirts. Although I hate to say it, I actually bought a couple Indiana University T-shirts. Its hard to believe I actually spent my money on a red IU shirt, but it would be difficult to get someone to understand the connection between Purdue University and the State of Indiana. This is the first time in my life I have ever spent money on an IU item!

We were given a large supply of blankets to donate to the orphanage. We will fill one suitcase with the gifts to leave and this will give us the space we will need for child's items on our return trip. Many thanks to the Welch's for the blankets, we all know they are needed and will be appreciated at the orphanage!

NO-WE HAVE NOT PACKED YET! That is the number one question we have gotten this week. First of all, I am by nature a last minute packer. Secondly, we have not had time to pack. We did buy some new, cheap, comfortable clothes to pack, but they are still in the bags from the stores.

We purchased a video camera and a portable DVD player last weekend. Uncle Jack loaned me some books to take. Believe it or not, we expect to have a significant amount of downtime and we will be starved for entertainment. DVD's and books should get us through.

We met with Christina Moore who will be house sitting for us while we are gone. It is comforting to know that we will have someone we trust taking care of our home. Thanks Christina.

Many have asked if we get to change the name of our child. Yes we can and no we will not tell what we have chosen as a name until we are certain that we want to change the name. We have selected a boy's name, but we have not been able to agree on a girl's name--that is still under negotiation and Steph is a tough negotiator.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by to visit and pray with us before we leave.

The time is flying, as of right now we will be leaving in less than 48 hours!

Much to do, hopefully we can post updates when we are traveling, but can't promise anything. Please don't forget to pray for us...... Thanks to All!!!!!!!!! See you soon.

Amazing News!

2006-11-01T14:02:00.000-06:00

We called Ukraine again this morning. WE ARE ON THE NOVEMBER LIST! Our appointment is on November 21st! We will leave here on the 19th...that leaves only 18 days to prepare for our departure!

We are in a state of shock right now. And such a nice state it is!

Oh how good is our God! We are scared and excited and nervous right now. This really IS going to happen!

More updates soon!

Perhaps December

2006-10-28T16:09:00.000-05:00

We called the SDA office in Ukraine again yesterday morning. After dialing for over 30 continuous minutes, we finally had a person on the other end of the line. Unfortunately, she couldn't give us any specific information. She said again, "Your appointment will likely be in December". She also mentioned that the December appointments won't be sheduled for about two weeks and we should call again then.

We discovered that our registration number is a mere 23 numbers after the last appointment scheduled for November. This gives us great hope that our appointment will be in early December. (The SDA has processed groups of about 300 registration numbers per month.)

So, we will wait a few more days and then make the call again.

Phone Call to Ukraine

2006-10-19T03:56:00.000-05:00

We made a phone call to Ukraine this morning. As Ukraine is seven hours ahead of us, we decided to call early. So, at about 4:15 am our time, we were dialing. The first try was unsuccessful, the line was busy. The second to the sixth times didn't work either. But, on the seventh try, we had someone on the other end of the line.

We were told that given our registration number, our appointment will likely be in December. We also learned that the November appointments will not be posted until next Friday, the 27th. We were instructed to call again on that date.

Thankfully, the person with whom we spoke was very pleasant and spoke English very well.

Please continue to pray. And thank you for the prayers thus far.

Encouraging Email from Ukraine

2006-10-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

We received the following e-mail from our state-side facilitators who happen to be in Ukraine today......

" PRAISE THE LORD!!! One of the ladies who worked that the shelter that I know is now working in the adoption center. She has asked Gayla to give her all your registration numbers and she will help us with referrals!!
This is certainly God talking care of us. Get on your knees right now and say a prayer of thanksgiving!

Be home Friday.

Love, [XXXXX] "

Earlier this week we received this via e-mail:
"Dear All,

Just a quick note to let you know that according to our sources here the AC will post after October 12th the new list of names for the next set of appointments.

You may or may not get anything in the mail but our girls will be checking for your names and they will let us know.

Love you all,
[XXXXXXX]"

Both e-mails are very encouraging. Perhaps we will know within a few days as to when we will be able to go.

Joe

More Waiting

2006-09-23T13:09:00.000-05:00

Well, we're still here...waiting. Since our last posting we have learned that 25 American families received appointments in September. We were both excited to hear that the process was moving again. We were notified that the registration numbers that would be processed were in the 14000 - 15000 series. Our number is in the 15000 series. We were hopeful that our number would be in the next group of appointments. Unfortunately, we just received word that the appointments for October have already been scheduled and they are for those numbers between 14500 and 14800.

So, here we are...waiting.

Maybe this time its real.......

2006-07-07T14:05:00.000-05:00

Here we go again, but this time it might be for real. After two "false starts" on the opening of the new Adoption Authority in Ukraine over the last few months, we are hopeful this time it is really going to happen. The recent months of...""they are opening, they aren't opening, they will be sending letters out next month, they are scheduling appointments for May-no-June-no maybe July, they have stopped processing applicational altogether, etc....""" has been horrible.

Well, the latest information come directly from a press conference by Yuriy Pavlenko, Minister for Family, Youth and Sports on July 3, 2006. He presented some positive information. For those who like summaries here's the short version and for those deeply interested I have copied the US Emabssy press release that was precipitated by Pavlenko's comments.

Short Version
1. We have to submit a new application, affirming our intent to adopt. That must be done without delay. I will go to Indy to have this document apostiled early next week.
2. We are awaiting the completion of our updated homestudy. When that is complete we will have to go back to USCIS (Immigration) for fingerprints and background checks.
3. We send our entire updated dossier to Ukraine again for translation-again-and then await our appointment letter
4. Adoptions will be processed in the order of the registration number. There are 1,200 registered families awaiting this appointment. We have no idea where we are in the list of numbers.
5. No appointments will be scheduled before September 2006.
6. No new applications will be accepted prior to January 2007.

Actual Embassy Press Release
Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
On July 3, 2006 the Minister for Family, Youth and Sports, Yuriy Pavlenko, held a press conference to announce the official opening of the new adoption authority, to be known as the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child (SDAPRC), and to outline his ministry’s policies related to the protection of children’s rights.
Minister Pavlenko reported that the previous central adoption authority (the National Adoption Center under the Ministry of Education) had been dissolved, and stressed that the SDAPRC is completely separate from the previous system. He underscored that Ukraine has no intent to impose any restrictions or moratorium on intercountry adoptions; nonetheless, he made clear that promoting domestic adoptions will be the first priority and the main focus of the new adoption authority.
On the basis of Minister Pavlenko’s statements, the Embassy has assembled the following information for Americans who wish to adopt in Ukraine. Americans with more detailed questions should contact us directly at: adoptionskiev@state.gov
Q: When will the new adoption authority start accepting new adoption dossiers?
A: Pavlenko made clear that the SDAPRC will accept NO new adoption dossiers from non-Ukrainian adoptive parents before January 1, 2007. This applies to ALL intercountry adoptions, including applications for biological siblings of previously adopted children. According to Pavlenko, this is not a moratorium but a temporary suspension to allow complete reform of Ukraine’s child welfare and adoptions system.
If a prospective adopted child is about to “age-out” (i.e., the child will turn 16 years old in 2006), please contact our office at: adoptionskiev@state.gov
Q: What happens to the families whose dossiers were registered with the NAC? Will the registration numbers remain the same?
A: According to Pavlenko, the SDAPRC inherited from the National Adoption Center 1,200 registered adoption dossiers from foreign citizens. Of these, 390 are from American families wishing to adopt in Ukraine. These 390 registered families will keep the registration numbers assigned by the previous National Adoption Center; cases will be considered in the order of their registration numbers.
Q: We have one of these NAC registration numbers. What should we do now?
A: All registered families are asked to submit new applications to affirm their intention to adopt in Ukraine. This application should be done in the same way as the one previously submitted to the NAC with their original dossiers, but should now be addressed to the new adoption authority and sent via regular or courier mail service directly to the following address:
Ms. Ludmyla Volynets
Director
State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child
Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports
14 Desiatinna Street
Kiev 01025
Ukraine
Only original, notarized and apostilled applications, accompanied by a Ukrainian translation, will be accepted. An English-language sample application will be posted on the Embassy web site soon.
Q: We have a NAC registration number, but some of our documents have expired, or will expire soon. Do we need to update them? Should we bring the updated documents for the appointment or submit them prior to our trip to Ukraine?
A: If any of the adoption documents in a previously registered dossier have expired or will soon expire, the adopting parents should send the updated documents directly to the SDAPRC as soon as possible. These documents should be sent via regular or courier mail service to the address specified above.
Q: When will the families who registered with the old adoption authority have their appointments?
A: During July and August of 2006 the new adoption authority will complete the scheduling of adoption appointments for registered families that have confirmed their intention to adopt from Ukraine. The appointments for registered families will begin after September 1, 2006.
Q: How can families communicate with the new authority? Will my facilitator be allowed to communicate with it on my behalf?
A: The SDAPRC is now fully staffed, with its own English interpreters (as well as Spanish, French, German and Italian) available on staff. Since the current Ukrainian law does not allow adoption intermediaries, no private interpreters/facilitators will be allowed to interpret during meetings of prospective adopting parents with the SDAPRC. You can still use the private interpreters/facilitators for other stages of the adoption process.
Minister Pavlenko stressed that all employees of the SDAPRC are civil servants and are subject to administrative and criminal penalties for any malfeasance.
Q: Is there any new information about the availability of children for intercountry adoption?
A: According to the Ministry, only 16% of all adoptable Ukrainian children are under five years old and relatively healthy. At the same time, 50% of all the U.S. prospective adopting families have indicated specific interest in this category of children.
Q: What changes will be introduced to the actual adoption process, particularly regarding paperwork requirements?
A: Generally, it appears that much of the actual procedures and paperwork (medical forms, etc.) for intercountry adoption in Ukraine will remain much the same. The Embassy is working to obtain complete information from the SDAPRC, and will announce specific changes as soon as the Ukrainian authorities make this information available

We keep going and going and going and going.......

2006-05-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

So where have we been and what's going on? The answers are here, just keep reading.

I haven't posted in a while because, well the truth is, I just didn't want to think about what is going on. Due to the extended period of time this process has taken with the shut-down in Ukraine and the transfer of adoption authority we are put into a position that will require us to re-do all of our paperwork. This includes our INS application, state and federal background checks, homestudy update, physicals, and a bunch of other stuff.

There are two things that are significantly frustrating to me about this. First, is the immense amount of time this is taking, it is a HUGE test of patience and faith. Second is the cost, this is a turn of events that was unexpected and one for which we were unprepared. It is requiring us to make other accommodations as a result (anyone want to buy a 1978 Jeep CJ5? Sorry the 2005 Envoy is already spoken for and should be gone soon.)

We expect to be notified by Ukraine as to our appointment date sometime this month or next, but we have expected that before.

POSITIVE NEWS FROM UKRAINE

2006-03-13T16:49:00.000-05:00

We were informed today a trip our state-side facilitators recently took to Ukraine yielded a very positive outlook. Things they are a changin' in Ukraine. Since we have already received our registration letter and are awaiting an appointment letter, we will be part of the very first group to be processed under the new National Adoption Center. All indications in Ukraine are that those appointment letters will start coming out in April and we should expect our letter no later than the end of May.

The new adoption center is set to open under the new Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports on May 1st. However, they are already working, which is very positive. The NAC will be operating under a new director and from what I understand a new Director will be an improvement over the current Director.

So here we are, still caught in the vast void of government red-tape, but the outlook is certainly improving!

Hopeful Hearts Dinner 2006

2006-02-14T14:29:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we traveled to Louisville to attend the 4th Annual Hopeful Hearts Dinner. It was exciting to see how this organization is growing as it supports orphans in Ukraine. The foundation has expanded its focus to include older children in addition to young orphans. In Ukraine orphans are dismissed from state custody when they turn 18. This means they are turned out on the street with no family, direction, skills, or any assistance at all. Most of these children will not live to see their 22nd birthday. Many turn to crime and prostitution to survive. Hopeful Hearts has purchased a facility that will be the first of many transition homes that will house orphan teens in a Christian environment while offering educational and job training opportunities.

The dinner was enjoyable, there were about 500 people in attendance. A group of children who had been adopted from Ukraine performed a few musical numbers for entertainment. They were dressed in traditional Ukrainian outfits. It was precious, but also amplified the longing desire for that to have been our child standing up there.

We had the opportunity to meet two couples who have completed adoption in Ukraine. Both couples offered some great advice.

This year my Mom and Dad joined us. We stayed overnight at the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville.

We were able to speak briefly with one of our adoption advisors. (Since this is not an adoption agency I just decided the best title for our state-side facilitators is "advisor"). Nancy informed us that she and Kathy will be traveling to Ukraine March 4th to March 11, on this trip they will make an attempt to discover where we stand in the adoption process. It is anticipated that as the authority overseeing adoptions is made in Ukraine the process may become less complicated. Could be good news, may not be, we still do not know. Nancy said she will let us know what they have discovered when they return. So, we will be anxiously awaiting the e-mail from Nancy on March 12th.

Any news is Good News

2006-02-01T13:59:00.000-05:00

President Yushchenco signed the law yesterday and started the wheels moving again. This was the posting on the US Embassy Website

"Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
On January 31, 2006 President Yushchenko signed the law giving interim authority over adoptions to the Ministry of EducationÃ’s National Adoption Center (NAC) until the new adoption authority is legally established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. This law will go into effect upon its publication in Parliament"s official newspaper "Holos Ukrainy," which should occur in a matter of days. According to this law, the NAC will have full authority to process adoptions in Ukraine until May 1, 2006 - the final date by which the new adoption central authority must be established under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and Sports. The NAC has stated that they will now resume normal processing - not only of the suspended cases, but also of the cases that had been previously scheduled through the end of January.
The NAC has not yet released a notice to the international adoption community explaining details regarding processing of adoptions during the transition period. Absent NAC written guidance, we cannot confirm processing plans or details. "

Unfortunately , this still does not give us the opportunity to establish firm expectations for when Stephanie and I will receive an appointment. But it is good that things are moving again. The waiting has been very difficult, and I expect that it will not get any easier; but there is light at the end of the tunnel now.

Later in this web posting, they indicated that there are currently 1,000 registered dossiers at the NAC (600 from USA). They also indicated that priority will be placed in those children with severe medical needs, older children and sibling groups. Due to this focus on processing adoptions, we may be placed a little lower in that stack of 1,000 dossiers.

Despite the difficulty in the wait and the struggles of trying to understand why the delay, there are many things for which can give thanks. First, we have many friends and family members who truly care for us and pray for us diligently. Second, thank God we were not one of the families in Ukraine when the whole legal structure for adoptions collapsed, we would have been trapped in a different world not able to leave with our child. Lastly, God has continued to be a comforter for us in this time. We remember this each night as we enter ourchild'ss room and kneel down to pray together. We pray for comfort in the waiting, we pray that this room will soon be filled with the noises of our child, we pray that our child is kept warm, is not hungry and is loved where he is today, we pray that God will teach him who his Mommy and Daddy are and that we love him before we even get there to bring him home.

Interim resolution

2006-01-12T14:39:00.000-05:00

Today, 12 Jan 2006, Rada (Ukraine's parliament) passed law 8680 giving interim authority over adoptions to the National Adoption Center until the new adoption authority is legally established under the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports. The law will come into effect as soon as it is signed by the President, who has up to 15 days to review it. The American Embassy in Ukraine has been informed that the center will reopen after signature by the President.

The embassy is advising those who have previously scheduled January appointements to not travel to Ukraine until the NAC has issued a notice publically confirming that those appointments will be honored.

Still no word on if and when letters will be sent to prospective adoptive families (such as Steph and I) who were registered with the NAC and supposed to be notified in January of our appointment date. A notice posted by the Embassy yesterday indicated that the interim authority is valid through May 1, 2006, at which time the new authority will be in place.

It still remains to be seen whether or not we will receive a letter from the NAC. Perhaps we will have to wait until the new authority takes over to receive an appointment. I certainly hope not. If we do receive an appointment notice from the NAC will the appointment be honored by the new authority? I certainly hope so.

Delay?

2006-01-09T11:56:00.000-05:00

Perhaps we have experienced a major setback in our journey. On 20 Dec 2005 authority over adoptions in Ukraine was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports. The New central authority will be called the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Children. This in itself could be good; however the new central authority has not been formally established yet and the Ukraine Supreme Court has ruled that the National Adoption Center no longer has legal authority to process adoptions. This creates a gap in adoptions, a gap that we are standing in, perhaps not standing but wondering aimlessly with no idea of what direction this will take us.

What does this mean for us? Well, we are approved and registered with Ukraine as prospective adopting parents. The NAC had committed to notify us in Dec or Jan of our travel date and appointment with the NAC. Since the NAC is now defunct we don't know what it means. I can only assume that any commitment made by the NAC is no longer valid. How can a now defunct government department deliver on its promises? Will the new Department honor commitments made by the NAC? Will they require new dossiers or a new approval? If we do receive the letter that we expect this month, is it still valid? These things we do not know. We will continue to monitor the US Embassy website and hope that this is all resolved in a timely manner.

Thats the data. The information that is impersonal and simply factual. The real story is in our hearts. This is a very difficult time. We expected to complete this adoption in 2005 and now its January 06 and we are tossed into a wide regulatory gap. We want to be strong and say that God is in control, yet this is difficult. We want to have answers today, but there are no answers yet. We want to tuck our child in at night, but our child is still trapped in an orphanage in a country that its leaders seem more interested in obtaining position and power than empowering loving parents to rescue the fatherless.

We wanted to believe that this would be easy for us and that we would not have a negative experience. In the end perhaps this development will not be negative, presently it certainly doesn't seem to be positive.

Habakkuk 2:3 says "But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed." (NLT)

Is this development a delay? My mind screams YES---my faith gently and calmly wispers NO.

Ukraine not Russia

2005-12-12T21:54:00.000-05:00

For clarification. Prior to 1991, Ukraine was called the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In August of 1991 Ukraine adopted the edict of temporal cessation from USSR and subsequently prohibited the activities of the Comunist Party of Urkaine. Ukraine declared its independence in 1991 and was recognized as an independent state after Boris Yeltsin announced that the USSR no longer existed as a subject of international law or geopolitical reality.

Thank you Ronald Reagan!

2005-12-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

No posts for some time. There is a reason, we are just waiting. We are waiting on a letter from Ukraine. A letter that will tell us when they have scheduled an appointment for us. We have been infomed that the letter will arrive sometime in December or January. There is no indication as to how long we will have to wait between receiving the letter and actually traveling.

And YOU think this is taking a long time!?!

Homestudy Addendum

2005-09-14T13:39:00.000-05:00

As a result of moving in the middle of this adoption jouney, it was necessary that we have an addendum prepared for our homestudy. We schduled this for Tuesday September 13th. Our Social Worker arrived at 5:00 PM. It was uneventful. She simply toured our new house and noted the number of rooms. She wanted to know how many smoke detectors and fire extinguishers we have. She also wanted to know how we intend to secure our pool area to limit children's access. She was here about 45 minutes and then was gone. She will send this addendum to the BCIS and we will have it forwarded to Ukraine. It should not create a problem since we already have our registration number.

We have heard that for the last few months the process in Ukraine has been very slow. We know of three families who experienced delays while in country. In fact one family decided to return home without a child. Oh, we hope and pray that we do not have this experience, it would be quite painful. The positive is that it seems that 'things' have started moving again in Ukraine. No one knows why there are such periods of delay, there is no apparent reason except that the government just puts on the brakes occasionally.

We are Registered

2005-09-10T08:25:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, September the 3rd, it was a horrible day - it was an awesome day.

Steph discovered that our water heater had decided that it didn't want to hold that water any longer, it had been holding it since 1984 and it was tired. So, it just let all the water out the bottom and created a wonderful 4" pool of water. I feel bad complaining about 4" of water in my basement when so many are dealing with 12' of water in what was once their homes, nonetheless, it was a burden that frustrated me (and would soon frustrate me even more when I discovered that sweating copper lines is not as easy as it looks!)

I was speaking to my brother David on the phone trying to find a pump to get rid of the water and Steph came in from the mailbox. She said, " Hey, there is a letter here from a foreign country." I asked what country and she said, "I don't know I can't read it." I nearly hung up on David and with a great deal of excitement I told her to open the letter. The conversation when something like this:

Joe: Open it!
Steph: I can't, I need a knife
Joe: Rip it open!
Steph: I don't want to rip it.
Joe: Just rip it open!
Steph: OK, I'm ripping!
Joe: Where is it from?
Steph: Ukraine
Joe: What does it say?
Steph: I can't read it, its in Ukrainian
Joe: Give it to me! (as Joe reaches and grabs for the letter)
Steph: What does it say?
Joe: I don't know I can't read it, its in Ukrainian!

After the shaking stopped and I took a couple of breaths, I realized that not only was it written in Ukrainian, but it was also translated into English.

It was 2 paragraphs letting us know that we are approved as prospective adopting parents in Ukraine and that we have a registration number. It informed us that we must now request an appointment. It seems that our appointment will not be until 2006. We don't know when.

So the Great Wait continues. But, at this point it seems we have worked off half of our wait. Thanks for your continued prayers. The waiting is tough, but in the end it will be worth it.

Also, on the homefront, we will have our homestudy updated next week. Our Social Worker will be visiting on Tuesday to prepare an addendum to our homestudy since we have moved.

May Update

2005-05-25T11:08:00.000-05:00

I took some heat from well meaning friends and family for failing to post a recent update. Although we are just in the begining stages of the Great Wait, there is some news. A couple of weeks ago we were notified that Ukraine did not accept our certified marriage certificate. Apparently the reason is that the title of the document is "Application for Marriage." Well, the way it works is that once the application is signed and certified it becomes your certificate for marriage.

I saw this development as a huge positive because I knew it could be resolved and it also told me that our dossier was actually being reviewed. Steph became somewhat nervous and frustrated that we did not have everything perfect the first time. I understand that it would be unusual if every document was accepted at first review.

So, to resolve the problem. Steph called the Randolph County Indiana Clerk, who was very helpful. She agreed to search for the marriage certificate that was completed by our pastor and should have been certified by the county clerk. There was a chance that this document was not on file in the court house, and we could not find a copy of it. Ironically, we were searching for this document on May 16th, 2005 exactly 7 years to the day that we were married. I called Jim Koenig, the pastor who married us, he did not have a copy. Fortunately the document was located by the County Clerk. We had it certified by the clerk, notarized and I took it to the Secretary of State Office in Indy and had the cerifification and notary apostilled. Then I sent the certified, notarized and apostilled document to Lousiville and then its off to Ukraine.

Another development that may create some challenge is that we are moving. I asked our facilitator if this would cause a problem, she said "uh, yeah it could." The problem is that our home study was for our current residence that we are renting. What needs to happen is that our Social Worker will need to file an addendum to our INS file indicating a change of address. We do not think this will cause a problem with the documents in Ukraine. We are hopeful that it will not, otherwise we would have to re-submit all of the documents that have our address noted on them.

April Update

2005-04-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

So its been awhile, sorry. We do have some good news. Tonight Steph and I signed our names about 20 times to complete our dossier. 20 times, thats not much, right? Well I had to sign my full name which is 21 letters one comma and one period. Steph had to sign her name, including her maiden name, which is a total of 30 letters plus two parethecies (you know these things which I can't spell). That's a lot of signing!

We were thrown a bit of a surprise last week. Steph contacted our adoption facilitator in KY last week and we were asked to attend a meeting on Saturday because some forms had changed. This initially concerned us because we thought we were done. We got up at 4:00 AM and drove to Lousiville. While sitting in the meeting we realized the changes were very minor and would not set us back any with regard to time.

We were excited to spend some time with a couple who is nearly at the same stage in the process as we are. We met Brad and Tina way back in September, at the "If You Were Mine" adoption conference when were just thinking about adopting, we actually sat at a table with them during the conference. Steph has been communicating with Tina frequently via e-mail and has found her to be one of very few people who can truly understand her feelings and her experience. As we were eating it occurred to me that we were all in Louisville together, yet in the future it would be much easier for us to meet in Greenville. Steph and Tina had no idea that Troy, Ohio is so close to Winchester, IN.

There were about 10 other couples in this meeting. Steph and I were the only ones in attendance who had received our INS approval. That was a great feeling. Kathy was asked about timelines, just like everyone asks us. She is very careful to always explain two things, the timeline is set by God not us, and sometimes God let's the Ukraine Adoption Center wait a long time to respond. She gave us homework to complete. She said' "Go home and make a sign that says 'I DON'T KNOW' and put it on your refrigerator." She said when you get frustrated and want to call to ask 'when do we get to travel to Ukraine', she can say look at your refrigerator. She did however make two guarantees with regard to time; 1. no one in the room will travel within the next 6 months and 2. we will all travel to Ukraine prior to receiving our first Social Security check. (political note: I am certainly not counting on getting the first SS check, especially since it seems unlikely due to, so called 'progressive', obstructionists that I will ever be allowed to invest a small portion of my own money into my own personal account so that I could manage my money myself)

There was a great deal of discussion about how difficult the wait time is after you complete your dossier. One lady noted that it is like Steph is pregnant, but it will not be a normal 9-month pregnancy, it is more like an 18 month pregnancy. So in other words we may end up with a hippopotomous? We recognize that it will not only be difficult for us, but for our freinds and family as well, as we are all anxious for the day to arrive when we can bring home our child.

Within the next couple of days we will have all of our documents notarized. The we will take the completed dossier to the Indiana Secretary of State to be apostilled. Then, the formal document will be sent to Ukraine for translation and submission.

The Great Wait begins.

WE ARE APPROVED!!!!!

2005-03-15T16:36:00.000-05:00

First, is anyone still reading this? Well, it doesn't matter, I'll keep writing regardless (or 'irregardless' Mr. Smith :) )

Today we received, via USPS, a letter from USCIS. The first thing I read was "NOTICE OF FAVORABLE DETERMINATION CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR ADVANCE PROCESSING OF ORPHAN PETITION". What does that mean? It means that the United States of America has determined that we are able to furnish proper care to an orphan as defined by Section 101 (b)(1)(F) of the immigration and nationality act. In other words, Uncle Sam says we can go get our kid and bring him back to the United States and raise him as our own.

In fact, USCIS has forwarded our application to the American Embassy at Kiev, Ukraine and cabled the approval notice to the Embassy.

I opened the envelope with extreme excitement. In fact I was shaking as I tried to open the letter. It is amazing, and only by the grace of God, that it was just 12 days ago that we completed the fingerprinting for the FBI background check. Steph expected the letter to take at least 3 weeks. I, on the other hand, being less optimistic about the speed at which our beauracracy laden government can perform, expected at least a 2 month waiting period for this approval. When dealing with certain government agencies, it has been my experience that it is necessary to hire an expiditer to get approvals in a timely manner. These expediters are quite expensive, they actually carry your forms and documents to specific offices and to people with whom they have deleloped relationships in Washigton D.C. to quickly obtain approvals and signatures. Why do I expound on expediters, it is because I know that we have an expediter working for us, it is evident in every step of the way that God is carrying our paperwork to the right people.

What is the next step? This approval actually completes the dossier. We now just have to obtain a few signatures on documents that we have to prepare get every document in the dossier notarized, then go to the Indiana Secretary of State for Apostille (certifying that all the notary signatures are authentic) and then we can send our dossier to Ukraine for translation and submission to the Center for Adoption in Ukraine. The waiting period after that is an unknown. We cannot even begin to speculate on how long this will be. We certainly pray that it will be a quick turn around, but it may take some time.

More later, thanks for all of your prayers and comments. We especially thank those of you who have let us know that you are committed to praying for Steph, our child and me on a daily basis.

USCIS APPOINTMENT

2005-03-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday, March 3rd, we went to Indy for our USCIS appointment for the Federal Background check. The worst part of this experience was getting there.

We left home in two vehicles. I was headed out of town for the night for work, and Steph intended to go to her office after our appointment in Indy. So, we drove two vehicles to Daleville, and left my work truck at a gas station. On the way to Daleville, we were both hearing on the radio that the entire NE side of Indy was shut down due to an accident. Well, it is my MO to never leave for a destination until the last possible minute to make it with zero time to spare. I find it uncomfortable or a waste of time to arrive places too early. For example, I normally travel nervously to the airport wondering if I will make a flight and it is normally my fault when we walk into church on Sunday morning after the organ has begun playing. This time I was wishing I had left a little early.

We decided that the only way we were going to make it was to find an "alternate route." You may know that from Daleville, IN there is really no such thing as an "alternate route" to Indianapolis. I-69 is really the only option. We started south on I-69, traffic was very slow (30 mph), even some 30+ miles from Indianapolis. We decided to exit on 67 and try to make it down to I-70. We drove as if we were going to be late (no cause for alarm I was still driving safely!) and we made it to 950 N. Meridian Street only 5 minutes before our letter indicated we were to be there.

The Departement of Homeland Security is on the 4th floor on this building. Upon exiting the elevator we were met by a security detail and were searched. I emptied my pockets as if I were going through airport security. However, the metal detector beeped at my pocket, I reached in and pulled out some change and a dog biscuit. I offered the biscuit to the security guard, he said, "you had better keep it you may be in there all aftenoon, you might get hungry." At this point I thought, why did we rush to get here. We walked into the waiting room and were handed a paper to fill out. The room was packed with immigrant families. We found the only place where there were two chairs together and took a seat, expecting to spend hours in this crowded hot room. Everyone in the room, except for us, was either Latino or Asian. We assume most were there applying for citizenship.

Before we could even finish our intitial paperwork at the USCIS, a man approached us and asked, "Are you Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin." We were surprised that we were getting action after being there such a short period of time. We knew this was either real good and we would be moved ahead in line, or it was real bad and there was a problem with our application. He asked us to follow him and we were taken to a processing room. WOW, we didn't have to spend all day waiting at the Dept. of Homeland Security.

The fingerprint processing room was very technologically advanced. They simply placed our fingers on a glass and the computer recorded our fingerprints. No Ink! It took about 15 minutes and we were out of there. We think that those who are there to complete form I600A, international adoption, are perhaps given priority.

Many have asked, do you know when you get to go to Ukraine? The answer to that question is that we have no idea. It should take about 30 days to get our INS approval to adopt. That completes most of what we have to accomplish. After receiving this approval letter, we simply have to put together all of the documents for our dossier. We will send our completed dossier to Kathy and she will look over it to see if we have everything in order. Then, we will send the dossier to Ukraine, it will be translated and then processed. We have no idea how long this will take. We understand that it depends on the number of dossiers Ukraine is receiving and which government employee gets our application to process. If approved by Ukraine they will send a letter inviting us to an appointment to the adoption center in Ukraine. The amount of time between when the appointment letter is received and when the appointment date is can vary greatly. Recently one family received their appointment letter in January and their appointment was scheduled for June. So, we may have to wait as long as 6 months after we receive notification of our appointment.

Wanted by the FBI

2005-02-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

Yes it is true the United States Department of Homeland Security has requested our presence in Indianapolis on Thursday March 3, 2005. We will travel there to give them the finger, well actually all of our fingers. They will send the fingerprints to the FBI for the appropriate background check. It seems that after we complete all of these background checks, fingerprintings and interviews we will have top secret priority clearance which will allow us to walk into the White House unannounced for lunch with George and Laura. Steph has been wanting to meet Laura anyway and I have been meaning to give W a call.

On Thursday I will pick Steph up in Anderson and we will take our passports and our fingers to Indianapolis.

February 14, 2005 Update

2005-02-14T12:39:00.000-05:00

Last week we received a copy of our Homestudy. Every step from here forward depended on getting this report completed. Although there was no concern, we have it in writting now that a professional social worker has granted approval for us to adopt one or two children.

This weekend we went to Louisville for the 2nd week in a row. We attended the annual fund raising banquet for Hopeful Hearts Foundation. It was a formal occassion. Prior to the dinner there was a silent auction. Steph really wanted a beautiful tea set that was from Ukraine. It seemed to be the most popular item at the auction. We really enjoyed going back to the table with the tea set and raising the bid every time someone over-bid us. We did not find out until the end of the dinner that we won the bid and we got to take the tea set home. We also bid on a couple of water color paitings of the city of Kiev. Unfortunately, we did not get these. We were bidding for my parents as well. I thought that I was going to get the best of the two paintings. It was a winter scene painted by a Ukrainian artist. I placed a bid of $200 on this painting as the lights went off indicating the auction was over, someone sniped us after the auction ended. Still we got a beautiful tea set, 22 piece, hand painted from Ukraine. Steph and my mother are sharing the tea set. We dispayed two cups and saucers on a shelf at mom's and we have the serving tray, pitcher, creamer, two cups and saucers and sugar bowl sitting on our antique music cabinet.

The dinner was great. They served spinach stuffed chicken breast, steamed carrots and a side of grits. Yep, grits--we were south of the Ohio river you know. There were about 400 people there. The program included a new video from the orphanages in Ukraine. Hopeful Hearts is taking on another 3 orphanages in Ukraine, one of them being for older children. A comment from the program that sticks out in my mind is that one Orphanage Doctor told the group from Hopeful Hearts that the medicine that was provided by Hopeful Hearts saved many children who would not have made it through the winter. They do not have hot water and have limited heat, children suffer greatly during the cold winter months. I was please to learn that over 89 cents of every dollar that is donated to Hopeful Hearts goes directly to help the children.

We were seated with a couple who has adopted two children from Ukraine, in addition to the one from Russia and one from Guatemala. We asked a lot of questions about what to expect when we travel.

Steph and I stayed at the Seelbach Hotel, downtown Louisville, where the function was held. The rooms were small but quaint, it is a very old hotel and holds a great deal of historical significance to the city.

Now we wait on an appointment from the INS to get fingerprinted for an FBI background check. After that we wait on INS approval. Then we send our documents to Ukraine for translation and submission to the Adoption Center.

More later.....

Progress on the Paperwork Front

2005-02-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

February 5, 2005 we attended a meeting in Lousiville to have the next step in this process revealed to us by Kathy and Nancy. We were surprised that we did not recognize anyone in this group. There were 5 other couples there, none of whom we had met at previous meetings. We discovered that most of these couples started the process last September, we didn't start until December. This was exciting for us, knowing that the timeline that God has set for us to this point has been accelerated above the normal pace. We feel blessed that in every step of the process so far, it seems that we have been able to get it complete in much less time than we expected. For example, our home study visit was done in December when we expected that it would take a couple months from the time we requested the visit to when it occurred; we applied for our passports less than three weeks ago and they have already arrived; we received a reply from the Department of Homeland Security USCIS regarding our Petition for Approval to adopt internationally before the USPS Return Receipt was delivered to us. We pray that this trend continues.

This meeting was to discuss the documents that will be necessary to include in our dossier that will be sent to Ukraine. There are 15 documents required. Some of these documents are very similar to those that were required for the Home Study, but they have to be in a different format specific to how the government in Ukraine wants them. They are very specific in the format and how it is presented. We took a lot of notes and will soon start preparing these documents.

We can only do the intitial preparation though. We must wait to have the docments signed, dated and noterized because the dates on these forms cannot be greater than oe month old when we submit them, and we cannot submit them until we receive approval from the USCIS.

This approval may take a few more weeks. After they receive our completed Home Study report from our Social Worker, they will schedule a time for us to get fingerprinted for FBI clearance. It may take 3 weeks to get the appointment to get fingerprinted, then the process may take 1 month to obtain FBI clearance. After this is complete and received we can proceed with compiling all of our documents for Kathy to review. When she agrees that our dossier is in order we then must go to the Indiana Secretary of State to get the documents apostiled. This is a document that authenticates all of the noterized documents in the dossier.

Timing and accuracy is important in this process. Please pray that God will continue to bless us with an accelertated timeline and that we can remain focussed on being thourough and accurate with all of our documents and government requests.

If you are interested here is a list of the documents for our dossier:

Petition for Adoption Letter
Letter of Obligation
Medical Statements
Doctor's License
State Police Clearance Documents
Employment Letters
Marriage License
Certification of INS
Home Study
Social Workers License
Passport copies
Power of Attorney
Other notarized blank documents
Petition for adoption

USCIS Application

2005-01-31T19:21:00.000-05:00

Steph and I spent the evening today preparing our Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. This is the branch of the US government that used to be called the INS. We downloaded form I-600A and completed the form.

A side note: We are accually applying to obtain approval to adopt 2 children from Ukraine. Yes, 2! It is necessary to do this in the event that we find a sibling pair. It just wouldn't be right to split a brother and sister. It is very important that we obtain approval for two as the US government would not aloow us to bring an additional child if one is all we get approval for. However, we can bring back just one even with the approval for two.

Tomorrow I will go to the bank to get a cashier's check for the application fee.
With this application we have to send State Certified Birth Certificates and Marriage Certificate.
We will soon receive an appointment to have another set of fingerpronts taken; this one is for the FBI. Its a good thing we have sqeeky clean records.

Thank you for those great letters

2005-01-29T21:49:00.000-05:00

Our home study required 6 letters of reference. The ones required were my parents, Stephs parents and our Pastor. We asked three other couples to write a letter for us. This is really a big request, to ask someone to take time out of their busy schedules and think about writting a letter on behalf of another couple.

Steph and I want to thank those of you for writing such excellent letters. It is amazing to read your true (hopefully true!) thoughts about how you think we will make good parents. These are the people who wrote letters for us:

Steve and Liz Hendrickson (Steph's parents)
Jolly and Alice Baldwin (Joe's parents)
Max Edwards (Our pastor)
Gary and Kim Crist (Friends from Indiana but living in Nebraska)
Brent and Adrienne Essink (Friends from Nebraska)
Justin and Kari Baldwin (Joe's brother and sister-in-law)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
It means so much to us that you all would do this for us and our child!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Git Er Done!

2005-01-29T21:41:00.000-05:00

During December and January we completed our surveys that were needed for the home study. We applied for our state certified birth certificates. We completed other forms required for the home study. We went to obtain physicals from our doctor.

On January 10, 2005 we finished up some loose ends and felt like we made great progress. We applied for our passports and went to the County Sherriff Department to get finger-printed. Steph sent the finger prints to the Indiana State Police for our background check.

As documents arrived properly certified and noterized we sent them to our Social Worker one-by-one. Only thing left to do is send our INS application.

Christmas 2004

2005-01-29T21:36:00.000-05:00

It was 12/23/04, Steph was wrapping presents on the floor in the living room. I suddenly became very emotional. It was then that I realized that we are parents to a young child right now. However, we will be unable to spend Christmas with our child. This was very difficult. We did the only thing that we can do; we prayed that our child will feeled loved this Christams, that our child will be warm and healthy. We prayed that by this time next year we will be together.

The Home Study

2005-01-29T21:15:00.000-05:00

On December 6, 2004 Steph e-mailed Marilyn Cline of Compassionate Care; she is the one who will complete our home study. We assumed that it would be several weeks before we could get this accomplished and were anxious to get on the list. Much to our surprise Marilyn had time in her schedule to come before Christmas!!!! We planned for her to come to our home from Evansville, IN on the 15th at 4:00 PM.

Steph stayed home from work on the 15th to get the house ready for the home visit. There really wasn't much to do, but the being in her office and thinking about the fact that someone we did not know was going to come to our house and ask us personal questions did not set well with Steph (or with me either, I worked from home as well). Marylin arrived at about 4:30 and what we thought would be the inquisition of all inquisitions was to begin. After introductions she toured the house. We let her know where the babies room would be. She took some notes. I offered some coffee and she got to know Dixie, our Chocolate Lab. Funny story--I was concerned that Dixie would be a bother while Maryln was here so I tried everything I could to keep the dog from napping during the day. I don't think that was necessary, Dixie was very well behaved.

The questions that the Social Worker asked were much easier than we expected. She asked things about our childhood, our families, how well we get along with our siblings in the past and today. She asked about our high school activities and our church involvement. I really enjoyed the time, its not very often you get to talk about yourself and someone is truely interested in listening.

Our families knew that our home study was occuring and I know they were as anxious as we were. I know this because even before the interview was over, my mother called to see how it went (That's OK MOM!) Immediately after Marilyn left we called our parents to let them know that it was complete and the Home Visit had gone well.

Marilyn seemed to be very impressed with how well Steph keeps the house. It was cozy in the house that evening with the Christmas tree lights on. I guess since there are no little ones living here yet it is a lot easier to keep a tidy house than it will be in the future.

These are the things that we must complete so that the Home Study can be finished.

Application for adoption
Release of Information, Home Study Contract, Post Placement Visit Contract, Release of Information for Child Abuse and Neglect
Spiritual Life Survey, Family and Marriage Survey, and Financial Review
Criminal History Check
Physician's report
Employment Verification
Reference letters
Birth Certificates
Marriage license
Proof of medical insurance
Income tax forms

We can do it! It seems like a great deal to do, but it will be worth it!

The Next Step

2005-01-29T17:42:00.000-05:00

December 4th we attended an informational meeting at Southeast. Kathy and Nacy provided us with a list of things to collect, compile and complete. Also in the meeting was another couple that we met at the "If You Were Mine" seminar; Brad and Tina Bergman. Kathy made it very clear that we are adopting independently; however, she is there to help in every step of the way. We really admire her and Nancy for what they are doing, they receive no compensation, only the joy of helping families help children. Here is the concise list of the process:

Contact Home Study Agency
Open BCIS file (Form I600A)
Complete Home Study Paperwork
Schedule Home Study Interview
Attend paperwork meeting
Complete Ukraine dossier
Attend travel meeting
Apply for Ukraine visa
Travel to Ukraine

With these directions in hand we left Louisville knowing that the next few months will be a difficult time of working and waiting.

How it All Started

2005-01-29T16:53:00.000-05:00

It was Thursday September 23, 2004 when Steph heard an advertisement on the radio (WGNR) about an adoption conference to be held in Louisville, KY on Saturday 9/25. This was the spark that Steph needed to get her on the same page that I was. God wanted us to adopt a child! Steph called me and I agreed to go. That Saturday we attended the "If You Were Mine" adoption conference that was put on by Family Life Ministries at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville.

We left our home at 3:30 AM Saturday. The seminar was very informative and thought provoking. The biblical view of adoption was discussed. We were given the opportunity to break out into small groups that interested us. We attended two of these groups. I cannot even remember the first group that we sat in, it was during the second group session that we felt the confirmation that we were in the right place and we were doing the right thing. Our child is in Ukraine!

The presenters in this small group was Kathy and Nancy. Both have been to Ukraine many times and Kathy has adopted from Ukraine and now because of their heart for the Ukraine children they graciously offer their time to assist other families in independent Ukraine adoptions. This ministry that they have is awesome. Since the late '90s they have assisted in the adoption of over 130 children from Ukraine. In addition to this ministry, they along with some other very special people have started an organization called Hopeful Hearts. I strongly suggest you check out their website at www.hopefulheartsfoundation.org. WATCH THE VIDEO, but make sure you have a box of Kleenex near.

The drive home was very quiet. Steph and I both had many things going through our minds. Throughout the month of October and November we did a lot of talking about adoption. We talked with our families and friends about the process. After a great deal of prayer and knowing that everyone we talked to would support us in whatever we decided, we did it. We decided to adopt from Ukraine and accept the assistance of Kathy and Nancy. The next step--attend the Dec. 4th meeting at Southeast in Louisville.

Getting to Know Us

2005-01-29T16:45:00.000-05:00

If you are reading this, more than likely you already know us. I am Joe Baldwin, my wife is Stephanie. We have made a decision that will absolutely change our lives. It has long been a desire of ours that we have a family. We both come from large families and we truely enjoy the company of young children. Emma Baldwin, Ella Baldwin, Kate Hendrickson, Riley Hendrickson, Brooke Erwin and Hannah Essink are the reasons that we harbor this desire to be mommy and daddy.

We get many questions about where we are in the process and it is unlikely that we can give everyone the whole story. So that is where this Blog comes in. Steph started keeping a journal and I decided to start recording parts of this journey for all to read. I will use this day to get everyone up-to-date and as things change I will keep you updated.

Most importantly you should know that we are being obedient to the leading the Lord. Steph and I are Christians. Because of our personal relationships with Christ we make every attempt to allow His leading in every decision that we make. We do this through prayer and we would appreciate everyone reading this to pray specifically for us in this adoption process.

2005-01-29T16:18:00.000-05:00

Joe and Steph
relaxing in Cancun
(Perhaps the last vacation we will experience before we become mommy and daddy. Thanks for the great time Justin and Kari!)