September 2013 Update

I cannot believe that next week is the LAST week of September. Where did September go? Why have we not updated this blog since mid-August? I don't know.
For those of you wondering if we are still alive, yes- we are.
Since I last posted, we had a period of in-activity which turned into crazy, turbo, too-much-activity and is continuing to snowball down a mountain as we wonder how we can fit everything into only 24 hours a day and only 7 days a week. It has been craziness.

I'll start you all off with an OT update (occupational therapy- for any new readers out there):
Do you recall, a couple blogs ago, when I was taking the train back to Ukraine and was a bit nervous because I had bought a supply of medicine in Hungary for one of my patients (legit meds, no worries, it's just a lot cheaper there), and was not sure if customs would search my bags and blah blah blah. So, it turned out that the customs officer, Anya, was really interested in the fact that I lived in Ukraine and did OT and wanted to exchange phone numbers with me AND in the process did not go through my luggage or ask me the standard "customs questions" ("Alcohol?"; "Cigarettes?"; "Pills?").
So- Anya actually did call me. She speaks English fairly well and is a really cool person. She asked me if I could meet a colleague of hers who has a son with cerebral palsy. Long story short, I did meet her colleague, O, and her twin 4-year-olds, D (girl) and G (boy). I did some developmental/physical testing on G, came up with a plan and will start therapy sessions with him next Monday. I met with O this past Monday to talk about scheduling and Anya also stopped by. They are wonderful ladies! I know that God has set this up. And... it can't hurt to have friends who work in customs.
What's really cool, is that both Anya and O are puzzled as to why Mike and I are here and why I refuse to take payment for therapy services. Not only are they puzzled, but they really like us (even though they have not officially met Mike) and really want to be friends with us. Anya gave an open invitation to visit her home and spend time talking and hanging out. I am in awe how God has placed these relationships before us and am excited to see what He will do.
I'll give you a run down of my current OT schedule: Mondays: G (CP); Tuesdays: Children's Hospital in Uzhorrod and then Ludvic (post-stroke); Wednesdays: Children's Hospital in Chop; Fridays: Children's Hospital in Uzhorrod and then Totya Irina (post-aneurysm). In addition to this, I have 2 potential kids and 1 baby up in the air- just waiting to hear from their families.

Mike's schedule has also picked up quite a bit. He has Ukrainian lessons 2 times a week, band practice once a week, plays at the church one evening a week, co-leads a weekly conversational English group and the rest of his time will be divided between the different English classes at the school (he will be a "floating" native-speaker). He is also looking into starting a weekly English bible study and needs to find time to privately tutor 3 other students, potentially 4.

Solomiya had also been quite busy. She has recently mastered the word "Stop", and will walk around the apartment pointing her finger and saying, "Stop", quite firmly and forcefully (not sure where she got that from....... ;) ). She has mastered the art of singing into a "microphone"and will freak-out if the word 'pancakes' is mentioned. Pancakes are her precious.
She continues to speak in her own little language with a few legible English or Ukrainian words here and there.
We also recently celebrated her birthday. I am so behind on the pictures. I'll do some short picture posts after this one.

Glad to update you all on what we are doing. Thank you for reading this. Feel free to comment.
Come and visit us.