Wew....and we thought he was calm?

Another fun day with Ruslan A.K.A. Clark. We are allowed to spend about 4 1/2 hours with Ruslan every day. We get a morning visit and afternoon visit. Today we did a lot of playing...we are learning that he prefers to take his new toys and go by himself to play. I think it must stem from the orphanage setting where he never has things that truly belong to him. It is really funny. We will hand him a toy...he will take it and usually walk off to play alone. We had a little breakthrough today where we gave him some stacking cups and he actually allowed Ali to sit beside him and play with him. We have to deal with baby steps in our situation. He is learning to trust us and knows the toys we bring do show up the next visit. He loves to be held and is learning what a kiss is...though he doesn't give kisses yet, he does lean to us when we say "Kiss Papa" or "Kiss Mama". Isn't it hard to believe a child can actually NOT know what a kiss is? So sad for us to think about at first. The first kisses were really funny....he would just laugh! Well, today brought a new first....he actually RAN to us when we arrived for our visits today. That was wonderful to see. It was so funny....when we arrived this morning, another child followed Ruslan over to us and after a minute Ruslan walked right behind the child and pushed him all the way back to the rest of the group. Kind of to say "they are mine...."!! Too cute. We got a good chuckle out of that. Well, I appologize that you have to endure my post today....you don't get T.C.'s eloquence. You only get a brain dead MOMMY that is having to adjust to toddlerhood again. Ha!! Shew!!!

To answer a few comments....yes, Sarah....we are relearning all about toddlerhood...the ups and the not so ups. Heehee. Suzanne, yes I FINALLY was able to use my sling after having it for HOW long? It was awesome....he loved it. To all of our Louisville clan...we love hearing from you and I will be bringing the kids there as soon as we can. You know I can't wait to show off the little man. T.C. won't be joining us as he has NO vacation time left. Everyone...Lisa, Lori, Marty, parents, April, Texas friends, etc. we just love reading it all! April, I love reading about your memories from your time in Ukraine. Keep writing....we will sure keep reading.

Please pray as our court date is approaching. The paperwork is being finalized as I type and I will breathe a sigh of relief when the court announces us as parents to little Samuel Ruslan Clark Judd. The child we have prayed so long for. God is so good....and we are so blessed. My heart just melts when I see him. It is a feeling I just can't describe.

Also, the original plan was for us all to return back to the states during our 10 day mandatory wait after court. But, we have had a change of plans....I will not be returning home. I will remain here and continue the daily visits to see Ruslan. Mom will be coming out here to take T.C.'s place when he heads home next week. We just thought it would not be beneficial if he didn't see any of us for almost 2 weeks. I just couldn't do that to him.

Suzi Marshall and TX friends....the baby shower that is scheduled for the 5th....I may or may not be in attendance. I will let you all know as soon as we find out a return date! Also, our baby registry is pretty much no good anymore....as we registered for things preparing for a younger child. OH well, we have to roll with the punches around here. :) But, he does wear about a size 2T right now and probably 3T for the fall. You can email me and I will get back to you.

Here are some pictures from today. It is so hot that we arrived to see Ruslan today and he was wearing.............underwear....yep, that is it. So the pictures from today are a little funny! All the kids were only sporting undies, shoes, and hats...ha! Enjoy....

Orphanage, Album 4