THE HONEYMOON IS OVER :)

The freedom that Eric and I have had these last several weeks came to an abrupt halt yesterday. We quickly realized that the 5 years that it's been since we've had a 3 year old (since Brandon) has made a huge difference in our energy level! :) But Andrew is a true joy and we are so blessed to officially have him as ours! Yesterday (Friday) was a very long day. Our driver picked us up at 9:30am and from there we had to travel from Kiev to Boyarka to Demidiv (the village where Andrew was born) to get the birth certificate legally changed, naming us as Andrew's legal Mommy and Daddy!! Our last stop was Andrew's orphanage at 5:00pm. We walked in to get him and we were shown to a room to put on the clothes that we had brought him (all of his clothes, shoes, etc. down to his underwear belong to the orphanage and will be used by another child now). Andrew was in terrific spirits for he was fully aware that he was leaving the orphanage with Mama and Papa. We had brought cookies for the other children in Andrew's group but he got very upset when we suggested we go back to his playgroup to pass out cookies and say goodbye. He probably thought he was going to have to stay with his playgroup. So instead, Mommy just went upstairs to hand out the cookies and give final hugs. We couldn't walk out of the door fast enough to leave the orphanage. Andrew was so excited. Our translator told us that he said he is now ready to get in the car and drive to America. :) Luckily there are no cars that go to America because Andrew would never make it that long. After 5 minutes into the car ride back to the apartment, Papa noticed Andrew's pale face and weird look. Papa saved the day with his quick thinking... just as Papa placed a plastic bag in front of him, Andrew let it all out. This unfortunately occured the entire 40 min. ride back to the apartment. It dawned on us that Andrew is not used to riding in cars. This was only his second or third time in a car in his entire life so he is not used to the motion (especially the way people drive around here!) After surviving the car ride back we knew Andrew would be hungry so we took him to his very 1st trip to McDonald's. We got him a happy meal where he liked everything but the soda. (He's never had a carbonated beverage before) He sneered his face at us when trying the soda. Papa got him apple juice as a substitution which he loved. Andrew especially loved the french fries! After dinner we went walked back to the apartment. Andrew admired the moon. He might have never seen it before! When we got back we experienced giving Andrew his 1st bath. He was scared at 1st. We remembered someone telling us that the orphanages usually spray the children with cold water when bathing them. After we reassured Andrew by spraying his little feet that the water was warm, he giggled his way through his bath time. After bath time we had to delay his bedtime because big sister and brother were calling to anxiously talk to Andrew for the first time. During the delay at one point Andrew cleared everything off his bed and tried to crawl under his covers- he was soooo tired! But mean old Mama and Papa intercepted the tired boy and the little guy was a trooper and made it until 11:30pm our time to talk to his siblings. Heather, Brandon and Andrew had an interesting 1st conversation- all in their own languages. :)