Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore...

Greetings from the cooties castle.  I am happy to report that today was the last day of Loren's 5 days of pneumonia meds, and she is doing much better.  Reid, who was diagnosed with the flu yesterday, is fever free today.  Thank you, Lord!!  Hoping to send him back to school on Thursday, just in time for his class Christmas party.  :-)

With all the craziness of doctor's appts and middle of the night vomiting, let's throw a 15 year old Ukrainian orphan into the mix, for good measure!  Ha!  Poor kid had to spend an hour of her first day in America at the pediatrician's office.  Well, I suppose everything and anything can be a new adventure when you're in a foreign land, right?  

 I'll begin with posting some pictures from Sunday night at the airport- what an excited night that was!  The first picture is of the four West End Pres couples, as we anxiously wait for the plane to land...love these guys SO much:

And here is a picture of our first Alyona sighting!  Those poor kids were beyond exhausted.

When we got home a little after midnight, we gave her a quick tour of the house and then she took a much needed bath.  I had grand plans of telling her about the morning routine, etc, but it never happened.  We winged it!  So, the next morning she got up with Loren and Cole at 6:30am, and that was the first time she met the kids.  They were SO excited!  Loren, especially, just loves her, and is really a good sport about letting Alyona "mother her", for lack of a better term.  I think Alyona wants to be helpful, and my guess is she helps the little ones at the orphanage.  If you didn't see the Facebook picture of Loren after A dressed her, you'll definitely want to check that one out!  Here is a picture of Loren after A put her hat on for her:

 After L and C got on the bus, we spent the morning just hanging out.  Here she is looking at pictures on my iPhone.  She saw one of me holding one of our Bethany babies in the NICU, wearing a surgical mask.  She pointed to me and asked, "Doctor?!"  LOL

Here she is playing a game on the iPad with Reid (who has also been a very good sport)

When we returned from the pediatrician, she said that she wanted to make lunch for us.  After not understanding what she was asking for ingredient wise, I took her to the European market, where thankfully, the owner spoke Russian.  Handy!  On the drive home, we passed a Chickfila.   I pointed and rubbed my tummy going "Mmmmmm.  Good".

She made "salad", soup, and she boiled some chicken.  EVERYTHING had mayo, which is apparently Ukraine's condiment of choice.  It was even dolloped into our soup and spread on the bread she put out.  We rolled with it, knowing she's rolling with our food. Here she is preparing the feast with Chris:

The donated clothes seem to fit, and she is actually about an inch taller than I am.  Each morning she "presents herself" in her new clothes, until we give her the thumbs up and say "Nice!"
I will be taking her shopping for shoes, as the ones she is wearing seem too small.  She says they hurt.

Everything we had been told about the kids being picky eaters doesn't seem to apply to Alyona.  She eats whatever we put in front of her...and with gusto!  Last night we had a meal of cheeseburgers, fries, clementine wedges and strawberries.  She woofed it down like it was her last meal.  I was so glad!  (thank you, Chris, for cooking dinner!)  We let Reid pick out a movie, and Alyona fell asleep on the couch around 8pm, and then just walked upstairs and went to bed.  I was in bed by 8:30, after also falling asleep on the couch!

We spend a lot of time teaching her things that we would consider fairly basic.  Things like how to buckle your seat belt, how to put on deodorant, how to put your dishes in the dishwasher (she rinses them (no soap, just a water rinse) and puts them back in the cabinet dripping wet- oh dear!)
She put the pot she had just boiled chicken in, straight from the stove top on to the dining room table.  "Nyet!!" We are careful not to have a reprimanding tone, but a "let's actually do it this way" tone.

So far, we haven't done anything too exciting.  In fact, as I type this, Chris is leaving to pick Cole up from school.  He's complaining of an upset stomach.  Grrrrrreat.
We want to just acclimate her to the house, our routine, get her used to our time zone, etc.

She is a very sweet girl, and VERY eager to help.  This "hosting a teen" thing requires a lot of patience and "dying to self".  Neither of which are my strong suit. I'm very selfish at my core, so this is a good experience for me, and I pray a wonderful experience for her.

Again, if you or someone you know has a heart for adoption and is interested in meeting Alyona and getting to know her, please let me know.  Our hope is definitely to connect her to a loving family to adopt her.  Especially knowing she will turn 16 in May and this is her last opportunity to be hosted.  A Russian speaking friend is coming to dinner tonight to do some translating for us.  We hope to learn more of Alyona's back story. 

Thanks for walking alongside us in this adventure!