Finally time to blog!!!!

I am so sorry it's been so long as I would much rather spend time with Dima than sitting on a computer.  I am sure you all understand.  I feel like I have so many years to make up for!! We have been having a blast the last few weeks with spring in full swing....when it's not raining, but that's been pretty much every day!!  I will try to do the last few weeks justice without making this a book. 

First, I want to show a picture from Ukraine of Dima's old boxing coach with newly purchased boxing gloves that was graciously donated from the Altoona Surgery Center.  Here is a picture:



Dima's last week of track went really well.  He improved his time almost every meet except for two, one was rainy and the other he seemed tired for once.  He has amazing strength!  He qualified to run the 3200m at the Middle Distance Championships last Friday.  He had a great run and beat his best time by about 18 seconds as he finished in 12:09!!! Here is a video of his finish:

The following day, Dima wanted to run a local 10K and finished 1st in his age group! Yesterday he ran in our local 5k race that my work puts on, the YMCA Curve Race and finished in 20:17!! Big increase from his first 5k in April where he finished around 26 minutes!!! I think he found something that he really enjoys and is good at! It seems effortless for him.

As as school is going, I think Dima has the summer bug.  We have to keep on him about his school work, which I am sure every other parent is going through this time of year.  He is very close to not making honor roll so we explained to him that he needs to keep working these next couple of weeks and then he will be able to enjoy summer.  He actually seems bummed that school with be over as I think he will miss being around friends he has made in school. 

Dima has learned how to ride a bike for the first time.  It was a pretty cool experience for us all since he has had many firsts before he has come to America.  As I was watching him learn how to ride a bike, I was sad that he never got a chance to ride a bike before, but at the same time I was happy we were able to be there with him.  The first ride didn't go as well as we'd thought.  Dusty had to run along with him holding his seat for about an hour!! The next day he was so excited to go out.  Dusty had to work so I took him to a grassy area to help him.  I hurt my back so I wasn't able to hold on like Dusty did.  When I told Dima that, he looked at me like....do I have to do this on my own??? I kept telling him he was going to be fine and only had to help him for a little bit while he got used to starting on his own.  Next thing I know, he is riding on his own and catching on.  It was one of the coolest experiences to see him progress so quickly.  Now he loves to have the freedom to ride around and gets better and better each day.  He says he doesn't want a "professional" bike like Dusty and I have, but he also said he didn't want to run at one point either. 

The only issue we are having currently with the whole adoption now is with Immigration.  Talking to other parents that have adopted, we discovered that the parents with a 14 old or older received a letter from Immigration about their child needing to take an oath due to an act that was passed a few years ago.  Well, Dima has received no such letter and Dusty has called different offices and continues to get directed to other offices as they have no idea what we are talking about.  We are frustrated as we don't want to find out years later that we needed to do this and have any issues down the road.  We will continue to figure this out on our own as we know it's hopeless to ask our adoption facilitator that we used because he's already received our money.  Other than this, we are just dealing with the typical teen mood swings, but they are not bad at all.  His English is coming along so well in 6 months. 

We look forward to the next few weeks of planned events and our big trip to Arizona to see his Aunt Lisa again and to meet his cousin, Aunt and Uncle's for the first time.  We are all very excited for the trip!!!



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The last few weeks have flown by due to track and functions that we've gone to.  The track season is almost ending, which I think Dima will be bummed as he has really enjoyed being on a team.  He also mentioned the other day that he was bummed school is going to be over soon!  He has come so far from the night before school and he was so upset about going to school! We have all come so far in just four months.  I think back to when we first got home and how things have changed.  Dima is a different child.  He has gained confidence from conquering his fears.  I hope that he continues to push himself when he faces his fears.  He has become much more calm in situations that before would give him anxiety.  I remember the first few days of school when he forgot his watch as we are pulling out of the driveway and he insisted on going back to get it.  Now he just shrugs and says not to worry about going back to get it. 

Communication has gotten so much better.  We pushed him from the beginning to open up to us if he was upset so he wouldn't shut down.  Now if he gets upset, he will talk to us about what is wrong.  He also used to get upset because he didn't understand.  Between school and track, he can now understand a lot.  He still has a hard time being able to say exactly what he is feeling but he can at least say a word or two now to explain.  We had a campfire the other night and Dima asked what were we going to do with the campfire.  We said we were going to enjoy the warm fire and talk.  He did not shut up for that 2 hours!  We laughed while Dima told us the things they would do in Ukraine, mostly just typical boy stuff.  He told us what some of the really bad kids would do and how much the teachers would use hitting as a punishment.  We learned a lot about Dima in those 2 hours.  It still amazes me as to why he chose not to do those really bad things.  What made him realize right from wrong?  He had no family that ever came to visit him.  He had no one to go to after he would have "graduated" in 2 years?

When we first decided to have Dima go out for track, we thought it would be good to give him something to do after school.  We did not realize how much it would help him.  His confidence has tripled! He has a time with his peers to practice listening and speaking English outside of school.  It also gave him a sense of belonging with being on a team that you can't get any other way.  The coaches and kids have been so supportive and often cheer for him when he is running his events.  He is no longer the orphan at his school and looked down upon, he is just one of them.

This weekend will be my very first Mother's Day! The last few Mother's Day have been extremely hard for a few reasons.  The obvious reason was because I was not a mother, but the other reason was because if I would have had my baby, it would have been due this month.  I would get anxious before this day and depressed.  I would wonder why I wasn't able to be a mom. Now I understand that God had a different route for me and has blessed me in so many ways that I often feel like I have to pinch myself.  Dima has been amazing and such a joy to have as a son.  He has brought Dusty and I even closer than I would have imagined after being together for almost 20 years!  Now I am looking forward to Mother's Day with a smile instead of tears.