As American As Baseball

Andrew has adapted easily to his new life. He attends third grade at a local public school and is in a regular class but gets extra help from the English as a Second Language teacher and visits a first grade class for reading help- which he loves. He is very happy at school and is naturally friendly, outgoing and nice to everyone.

Andrew's English has improved so much that he can express whatever he needs to and can tell us stories about his childhood. His life has certainly been an adventure. He has experienced homelessness, living in many different houses and two orphanages. He's been hungry and cold. He's very grateful for his new family and life here.

Sports are one of his loves in life and he played baseball this fall on a local team. He picked up the new skills easily and loved being on the team. I thought he was especially cute in the uniform. It was a great experience for him to bond with his teammates, learn to focus on the game and work hard at achieving something in a fun and competitive setting.

My adjustment has seemed much harder than Andrew's. It is a big emotional stretch to adopt a child after the death of a child, at least for me. I've been a little better lately, but it has been a huge struggle.Mark has done a much better job with it. I like to blame that on the way men handle things vs. women's emotions, but in any case, he has made the adjustment well.

Andrew often asks about Mary Evelyn. Her pictures and artwork are all over our house and he calls her his "sweet sister". Maybe his pragmatic attitudes toward loss/death and God's grace had kept him from feeling wierd about living in a house where a child has recently died. If he knows that something belonged to her, he sees it as more precious, just like I do. It is very sweet.

We are planning to return to Ukraine and adopt Nadia and Ruslan, but do not have specific dates. It will not be in November becasuse the Ukrainian Government Adoption offices (SDA) are shut down while they change agencies and buildings.

Adopting two older children may help with my adjustment by changing the dynamic. Andrew is in the same grade Mary Evelyn would have been in and is about the same developmental level. Maybe having two more will also keep me so busy I won't have time to be so sad.

Nadia and Ruslan are very excited about coming home with us and are such sweet kids, it will be worth whatever adjustments mama has to go through.

In the meantime, Andrew is loving his famliy, watching lots of Super Hero cartoons, riding his bike, learning to read English and is an altar boy at church. His life is busy and happy. He has spent the night at friends' houses and fits in well wherever he goes. He loved trick or treating and dressed up as a ninja.




Andrew's tenth birthday was October 12 and we celebrated it with a costume party hosted by Uncle Ray and Aunt Janice. He told me it was his best birthday ever. He had never had a party before.

It is a great joy to see a child getting to experience so many joys in life for the first time and to see his grateful and happy spirit. Yesterday he told his teacher that He thanks God for his new family, his church and his school.

Andrew's new life here is an answer to the prayers he prayed as a lonely orphan in his church in Ukraine.