Sunday, July 27, 2008

Heeeeeeeere’s Da Kids!!




Evan Victor Robert and Valentina Anna Marie. They are our sonycka----our little sunshines.
Anyway, here’s a few pictures for our blog. To see more, we will be posting a movie tommorrow on the “You Tube” site. Stay posted for a posting tommorrow hopefully...the final edits are in progress...a DonnaZ film production!
We hope you understand us having to make you wait for these pictures. Just like we will need some time at home with them on our own to get used to us, we also want time to know them for ourselves first before introducing them to the rest of our world. We think we have that right. After all, we will be their parents as of Tuesday.
We want to talk about Evan and Valentina in this posting, but you will hear a lot more in the future. Evan is our boy’s anglicized name and his Ukrainian nickname is “Vanya”. His been through a lot in his seven years; we can see it in his eyes—and sometimes he acts older than his age. But as we have gotten to know him, he is becoming more of the 7-year old boy that he really is. He loves to be outside playing sports, especially football. (Note: This refers to soccer actually, although soon enough we will have him playing the kind with the weird shaped ball and singing “Green is the Color”…Four and oh! Can you believe it? But I digress…)
Evan is quick with puzzles and at picking up and writing English. Of course, he has a very well qualified teacher in Donna. He is curious and likes to create with lego blocks etc. We have re-enacted the flights to Kyiv and on to Toronto and Saskatoon many time already. And the other day, Vanya used Valya’s RV pull toy along with his lego bus. He make-believed that he had “guests” come by bus to the house, and then mama and papa invited the guests into the house. After awhile, the guests had to leave, and took the bus back to the plane. What an imagination!
An then there is Valentina, or “Valya”, or as Donna has come to call her: “Little Stinker”. She is quiet because of here developmental lags, but she is still quite the kid with quite the character for 28 months. She sometimes likes to babble in her own language…much like Murray. Her favorite toy is her tea set, although we just gave her a plush purple cow backpack and that has gone over really well. Valentina really watches her older brother closely, and she is starting to mimic him more and more each day. We can’t wait for her to begin talking and soon enough we expect her to be reciting Shakespeare.

Boy, it’s great being parents and bragging about your kids…

7 comments:

ArtworkByRuth said...

They are beautiful and they fit in the family picture perfectly! May God continue to bless your journey home and your new life as family!

Unknown said...

You have a beautiful family! We wish you much happiness now and always. See you soon!
Joanne and Andrew

Zack, Jenn and William said...

Ah, I know that sofa & coffee table so well :) Your children are absolutely beautiful and we are so happy that you found them... and that they were in Mariupol makes me especially happy! Praying that your last week in Ukraine goes well and that the kids' transition goes smoothly.

Unknown said...

The pictures were worth waiting for! I am so happy for all of you! :)

lisa said...

I'm thrilled for you guys! Please know that we're thinking about all of you. Signy's available for some multi-lingual babble anytime.
Lisa

Rob/Shannon said...

We are so thrilled for you! The comfort and bond you have established together already is so clearly evident in your family picture. What an amazing journey you've experienced so far....and the journey has truly just begun.....

adopting2fromUkraine said...

It's so nice to see pictures. They are both adorable!

June