Hold the Onions please!!

We are starting to enjoy the slow pace in Priluki, Ukraine. After spending a few days in Kiev it is nice to go outside and meander without worrying about getting run over. Don't get me wrong, Kiev was very nice, but everyone was always in a hurry. It was a bit of human tailgating and it seemed that I was always in someones way. Out here in the country, us Texans can just mosey on out and enjoy the day. We have met dang near every store worker in town and we have enjoyed the snickers we get when we pull out our Russian for dummies book and try to talk to them. I like to think that they are laughing with us, not at us, but usually I am not laughing. Anyway, we always come back for more, mostly because I enjoy learning to talk to them and I am sure they enjoy the comedic antecdote.

We had another great day with Stasik! When we arrived at the orphanage today we went in and I think everyone knows who we are now. They immediately dress Stas up in 3 layers of clothes and bring him to us. I am never sure whether they bundle him up to keep him warm or to try to hide the fact that he is lacking in weight. They should know that it does not matter, because when we get him home he will be getting F-A-T! Our problem is just doing what we can to keep him healthy until that happens. That is why we bought him the cookies of which we do not speak. They are really just teething biscuits, but we won't tell him that because he loves them anyway. He did not look good today when we got him. We nailed it down to what we thought they were feeding him. Two days ago (when we first met him) he kept regurgitating food and today was more of the same. It always smelled like onions and for sure today that is what it was. We tried to clear them from his mouth everytime he spit them up, but he would just always re-swallow it. Now I am no specialists, but I can figure out that giving onion soup to a 18 month old that is 3 weeks removed from gastric surgery is probably not the best thing in the world. Yesterday they gave him potato soup and he was just fine. They say that the onions keep him healthy, but the irony is that everyday they give him onions, he looks sick. Fortunately, we were able to be with him and let him get rid of some of the "esophatoxin" they were giving him. He smiled much more today than he has the last two. We can only hope that it is because he knows he is loved. We are trying to do some things to help with the diet, but our hands may be tied until he is officially ours.

We are missing Carter so much right now!! We knew that leaving him would be hard, but it is so difficult to be away from him. We try to keep our attention on the big picture, but still very difficult. After court we will go home to see him and take care of some work related items, but then I am sure we will miss Stasik. Until he is home with us we will always worry about problems that may occur here. We pray that time will fly quickly and we can make it all happen soon. We pray that the SDA here in Kiev will make a quick decision and we can have court soon. Then we can see our sweet Carter and get our Stasik home sooner, because we worry for his health. One day at a time!!