It's 4:15pm Wednesday here (8:15am there) and it is official! We are now a family of 5!!! I still can't really believe it.....maybe won't officially believe it until we are back in Pelham! But, we didn't get to see the boys today.....court took a little longer than expected due to a problem with a juror not showing up. Then our driver had already gone to the orphanage this morning for some paperwork for us. So, we just decided to wait until tomorrow so that we can surprise the boys with the official news then! Court was about what we expected.....a bunch of talking we couldn't understand with Andrew whispering some of it to us. We did get questioned as to why we wanted to adopt and how we thought Jackson would do with the addition of 2 brothers. The judge was very happy to find out that Jackson is here with us and has already gotten to enjoy time with his brothers. Overall, it was not quite as nervewracking as we had prepared ourselves for. The judge was actually cracking jokes with our translator and posed in a picture with us at the end. After it was over, he wanted to ask us a couple of questions.....they ended up being about our economy and our camera.....both of which we know very little about. HaHa! Anyway, all is well and we are so excited! Thanks again for all your support and love.....we really couldn't make it without you!

Philip Dean Maxwell ---- 09-13-02

Ryan Gregory Maxwell --- -8-15-04

And Jackson's birthday falls right in between on 03-11-03. Things are certainly going to be very busy at our house! God has richly blessed us!!!!

Hey everyone. 8:54pm here on Monday night (12:54pm there) and we just finished a game with Jackson and are winding down for the night. We had a great visit with the boys today. We had bought them each a coloring book with corresponding stickers to match up to numbers in the book. Those boys (including Jackson) worked on those books for about an hour! It was great! But, we have a really big prayer request for Philip (the oldest). He is not very interested in speaking any English with us right now. Ryan was repeating numbers for us today as Iwe were helping him with the stickers and Philip said one number after he heard us praise Ryan so much. It was actually funny hearing them try to repeat our southern accents! Anyway, Philip began writing out the Cyrillic alphabet and making Ryan repeat him. He would correct him if he didn't do it the right way. Our translator was sick today and didn't go with us, so I got our driver Yari to ask him if he was ready to learn English and he said "in America". So, I guess he's not going to try before then......well, we would like you to pray with us that his attitude softens toward learning English a little bit. Obviously, he is going through a lot of changes right now and we want to be very patient with him....but, we would prefer that the English comes sooner than later! We had pizza again for lunch....Jackson's request and headed on home. We have just spent the rest of the day hanging out together.

But, the biggest part of the day was probably my baby losing his first tooth. It has been extremely loose for our whole trip, but today it finally let go and came out. Unfortunately, the tooth washed down the drain of the sink. Greg was helping him brush his teeth and he saw what he thought was a lump of toothpaste and washed it on down the drain! So, we went ahead and gave Jackson what we thought the tooth fairy was going to give him for his first lost tooth. We gave him 40 grievna (I spelled this how it sounds) which currently equals around 5 dollars. He can't wait to spend it! He has already got his eye on a couple of build-it-yourself robots that are 20 grievna each! One more day to go before our court date! We love you and miss you all!

Hey everyone! 8:19pm Sunday here (12:19pm there) and we are just winding down for the night. We did go to the orphanage yesterday. We got to see both boys and we had a good time with them. We took tattoos and put them on them. It was really cute to watch them try to keep them from rubbing off the rest of the time. There is an Italian family who are here adopting a little boy and we keep on seeing them most days we are at the orphanage. Yesterday, they were actually there for our entire visit, so it was neat for all 4 boys to get to play together. We had brought nuts (our boys are crazy for pistachioes) and they had brought gummy bears, so all the boys did a great job sharing with each other. We took the shoes and clothes we had bought for the boys and tried them on them. They were so excited and so eager to help us get them out of their clothes and into their new ones. They were also kind of in awe of the tags on the clothes. I'm assuming they have never had brand new clothes of their very own! It was really neat.....they did not want to take them off, but our driver helped us explain to them that they would get them soon! After the visit, we went to eat pizza. It was delicious as always. After that, Yari (our driver) took us to a local book store. We were able to great some great things to help our 2 new boys once we get home. We also got each of the boys a coloring book with stickers and we got us a pocket-sized Russian to English book. Then we came home for the rest of the day. We had a good time playing some of the games we brought with Jackson. Today, we got up and I cleaned the house a little bit. The landlords had not left us any kind of cleaning product, so we bought some at the market. The bathroom had not really gotten dirty, but there was lint everywhere. We have to air dry all our clothes, even our towels, and I guess our clothes dryers really help out with the lint on clothes at home. Anyway, we now have a clean bathroom again, especially the toilet which Greg cleaned for me, and it feels great! After that, we went for a long walk. The ground has finally frozen, so it is no longer muddy out front. We walked for quite a while, then ate and shopped around a bit, then walked home! It was so cold! But, we were very bundled up and made it pretty well! We got home and got warm and took a rest! Later this evening, mine and Greg's small group (Sunday School Class) called us from church. They all got there early and called us on speaker phone! It was so wonderful to hear from our dear friends. They have been a constant source of support and love for us throughout this whole journey and we are very grateful for them! God has really blessed us with a great group of friends! Of course, it made us even more homesick! But, our journey is a little over half-way completed, so hopefully it is all downhill from here! Well, as always we miss and love you all! Can't wait to see you!

Hey everyone! It's 8:15pm here (12:15pm there) and we are just relaxing. We had a great day today. We left the house about 9:30 this morning to head to visit the boys. If you remember, we did not get to see Ryan (the youngest) yesterday. We found out today that the caregiver basically forgot to bring him to us. We did not ask yesterday because we did not have a translator with us and we really felt like he was outside since we saw so many kids outside yesterday. But, the director was very apologetic for it today. Anyway, we did get to see them both today. One of the caregivers brought us in a bag of Legos to play with. All 3 boys enjoyed playing with them, but especially Philip and Ryan. Once again, we were excited that they can sit and focus on a project. A really sweet thing happened between Ryan and Jackson. Jackson was over the legos and was flying his "airplane" he made around. Ryan got excited and tackled him, then he stomped his plane and broke it apart. Of course, Jackson got upset. He was a little teary and I was hugging him and trying to explain that Ryan is just very excited and he didn't mean to hurt his feelings. Ryan came up and gave Jackson a hug and kissed him on the cheek! It was an apology without any words and it made Jackson happy! It made Mama and Papa very happy, too! We also took another activity book and Philip loved working the activity pages. It was great. Carol had her photo album with her, so we were able to show the boys their cousins (McKinley and Cameron) and their Pops. They were all smiles! It was a great visit!
We left there and went to lunch at our favorite restaurant. Then we did some shopping at our favorite market. It is a supermarket, but it has all kinds of smaller stores located in the building with it. We bought both Philip and Ryan coats and bought Ryan some pants and some shoes. We feel like Philip can wear Jackson's clothes we have here and Ryan can wear his shirts. Then when we get home, we will have the project of pulling out all of Jackson's old clothes we have stored for them! Greg is finally happy that I kept everything!
A few of you have asked about our remaining schedule.....I will try to give it to you, at least as best as I can. Our court date will be on Wed, Feb. 25th. After that there is a 10 day waiting period that starts on the 26th and it's calendar days, not just work days...thank goodness for that at least. The 10 day period is in place for any parents or other family to appeal the court decision. We are fortunate to not have to worry about an appeal as our boys are from an abandonment situation. We will give you more details on their whole story once they are ours. But, we still have to wait the 10 days. That will take us to Sat, March 7th. Then we will have 3-4 more days in Kiev while we have American Embassy "stuff" to do concerning passports, visas, etc. (really don't know what all) and a medical exam. Then we come home. I don't think we will make it home by my birthday (the 9th) but I hope that we are at least traveling home by Jackson's on the 11th! Once again, please do not 100% count on any of these numbers except the court date. But, these are my best guesses! We can't wait to see you all!

Well, it's 8:05pm Thursday here (12:05pm there) and we are amazed at how late it is. For once, it seems like it should be earlier....I guess that means today passed a little quicker than most! We started off the morning with a morning visit to the orphanage. Our translator/facilitator was not getting into town until later today, so we just had our driver pick us up and take us on out for a visit. We had a great visit with Philip (the oldest) today. Ryan did not come into the room...there were lots of kids outside in the snow today, so we think he must have been outside. But, without our translator we just don't know. We don't think anything was wrong since the director was all smiles. Anyway, Jackson had a wonderful time playing with his brother! We took a seek and find book (thanks, Dana) and both boys loved helping each other find the items on their pages. I still haven't been able to get Philip to say any English words, other than our names. We'll keep working on that. He even pointed to a picture of Carol we had on the camera and called her baboushka (sp.). It was really cute. We took a snack for them today. They always love that. Philip promised to give Ryan his Fruit by the Foot we took him(thanks again, Dana) since he wasn't in there. Lots of hugs were given all around!
After we left the orphanage, we went to pick Andrew up from the bus station. We saw a lot of interesting people there while waiting on him. One man was so impaired he couldn't walk. It was about 12 noon. It made us sad! We got Andrew and went to the Potato House. We all got pork spare ribs and baked potatoes mixed with mushrooms, cheese, and sour cream. Jackson got a chicken burrito....not like we are used to, but still good. It was all delicious, actually! I made mention in the picture that the locals consider this fast food.....we didn't understand that at all. It was obviously nothing like American fast food. But, I was especially excited because I was able to actually get some Coca-Light there. I know all my Diet Coke junkie girls understand my obsession with that! After lunch, we went to get some money changed over and had a chance to visit the statue of Lenin in the town square. Joseph Schell had researched Zhitomir for us and said all the hip travelers are visiting the Lenin statue. We immediately asked our driver to take us there. Actually, when we asked our translator to find out from our driver where it was, he was confused. Our pronunciation of Lenin was just like Lennon, as in John. He laughed and quickly corrected me....it's Le'-neen with the accent on Le! No charge for today's lesson on how to correctly pronounce an evil Communist dictator's name! Then we had to sign some more paperwork with Andrew. After that we have just hung out at home. We have the option of going to the orphanage both morning and evening, but the orphanage is about a 30-40 minute drive from Zhitomir. The driver was only negotiated with for 1 visit a day, so we really try to make the MOST of that 1 visit. So far, this has worked well and it always seems like both boys are excited to see us. I have forgotten to mention that the drive to the orphanage town is beautiful. On the way we pass a large lake/river that is almost always frozen. We have seen people ice fishing, playing with their dog, and riding their bikes on the frozen water. I think they know what they are doing, but it scares me to death! Plus, the town where the orphanage is located is very small. Almost every day we have seen a horse-drawn buggy going to or from town with various supplies. Don't forget it's somewhere between -10 and -2 degrees (that's negative 10 to negative 2 degrees) Celcius and these men are just out driving their buggies around! Well, I will go....love you all!

Hello everybody! It's February 18th, which was my Daddy's birthday. He has certainly been on my mind a lot today. Just wanted to say how much I miss him.....and I know a lot of you do too! It's 7pm here (11am there) and we have just finished our first McDonald's while here. It was delicious....better than home actually. Probably because we haven't had it for a while. Carol, Jackson, and Greg are playing Trouble, but I opted out of tonight's game so I could post on our blog. I didn't post yesterday because we didn't end up making it to the orphanage. Our facilitator (Andrew) used our driver all day and did all the necessary paperwork, etc. to try to establish us a court date. They did actually pick us up and take us to get pizza for lunch! Once again, it was delicious! Then we did a little walking tour of the Zhitomir area right near the pizza place. Yari (our driver) finally picked us up and took us to the market for a few necessities. Then home. Today, Andrew came over from Kiev and finally got to speak with the judge. We have a court date....11am on Wednesday, the 25th. Not as soon as we had hoped, but we are still very pleased to finally have our date set. We ate lunch, shopped around a bit, then went to visit the boys. Carol went with us today and it was a good day for it. There was a man there who played the accordion while the kids sang and danced. Our boys were not interested in doing it with their classmates. They were actually drawing and coloring with Jackson over on the side of the room and didn't want to stop. They sat there involved with that for about 30 mins. while all that crazy activity was going on.....at least we think there is not any risk of ADD or ADHD right now. Anyway, the man who was singing on the accordion called both boys over and had them sing the song by themselves....I was so excited and was able to get it recorded on my camera. I will post on the blog once the court date has passed. Anyway. he then called a group of 10 kids up to do a specific dance to some Russian song he played. Jackson and I were sitting across the room so I could take more video.....I thought it was so cool, but Jackson said "This is the weirdest thing I have ever seen". I explained how different their music is.....he still thought it was weird. Ha Ha! Then, the man called all the kids up and has me, Greg, Carol, and Jackson come over and form a big circle. Once again, we could not get our boys to participate....too busy coloring. Anyway, he played a song on the accordion that we recognized....it was the Chicken Dance. So there the 4 of us were helping the man teach the Chicken Dance to the orphans. Man, you have never heard the Chicken Dance song until you have heard it played on the accordion! Anyway, the kids were all over us, each wanting to hold our hands. It was so cute. After the room emptied out, we had some play time with the boys and Jackson. The boys were extra crazy, which was "exciting" since it was Carol's fist visit. I can only hope they will be a little less wild for our visit tomorrow. Greg and I just keep referring back to our training (thanks Lifeline) that taught us all these different levels of emotions the kids will go through. Pray for us and our emotions/nerves/moods with our boys and with each other as outside stress can certainly lead to fighting with those closest to you. By the way, we got there today and got into the playroom and there was a huge pile of hair sitting in the middle of the floor. Obviously, it was hair cut day. Then, our boys came in to the room and both had hair cuts that were more like Jackson's current cut....and more like we were expecting them to have from the beginning. I was a little sad to see their hair go, but it will grow out by the time we come home! Love you all!

Hey guys! It's 7:10pm here (11:10am there) and we are just lounging around. Greg is reading (yes, I said reading), I am playing on the computer, and Carol and Jackson are currently playing with Jackson's Lego Star Wars guys. I don't have a lot new to add today, but thought I would just blog enough to let you all know that we are doing well. It is colder here, so the mudpuddles have frozen out front and it much nicer going out. I know that sounds weird, but it is so nice not getting our shoes filthy...even if it is much colder out! Some of you have asked about our colds and we are all over those and well. I just forgot to put that in a blog. We did visit the boys today and Jackson had a blast once again with them. He asks us every visit why we can't just go on and take them with us now. We always tell him how much we understand his feelings!!! Our facilitator, Andrew, is currently waiting on the results from the medical exam this region of Ukraine requires. The boys were examined last Tuesday and the results are supposed to take no longer than a week per the orphanage director, so please pray for those to be there tomorrow. We cannot get our court date without them! Well, I will go for now. As always, we love and miss you all!