Today a Piece of my heart got on an airplane to Ukraine.

Ok, here we are. They day I have been dreading.

I had to take Vadym to the dentist this morning because Dr. Radwan had ordered him a retainer to keep his teeth from moving while we waited for his permanent molars to grow in. He ended up with 4 pulled teeth and some fillings of three appointments. It was pretty cool to see him with a retainer. Dr. Radwan ROCKS!

We then did a stressful trip to Walmart (my least favorite store in the world, bla). I had ordered 450 pictures for our albums, one to send home with Vadym of his trip. I got a couple going away gifts for Bogdon and Vika also. We ran back home and loaded up Serg and Vadym. I did Vadym's album on the way to the airport and stuck it in his backpack. It was pretty cool. He looked at it in the car when I was done and then held it to his chest like he loved it. Anything to keep me from crying today.

First thing Grego said when he got up this morning was "Vadym leaves today". Please don't make me cry!

So yes, holding back tears ALL MORNING and worried about the waterfall at the airport. I joked with Vadym when we loaded the car and did my fake cry "No Vadym leave Mama. No". He smiles.

Oh and by the way. I am not taking pictures today because it's not a day I want to remember.

So we met up with everyone and went through the ticket line then sat down for lunch at the airport food court. All the Ukraine kids were sitting together and laughing and catching up. Vadym came over to check on us a few times. :0). We sat with the other families and traded stories. At least 3 of the 5 kids who hosted in California are getting adopted. Yay!

 So back to the airport.

We then did the dreaded walk to leave them at security. Holding back tears isn't going well at this point. This whole time Gary is pretty quiet and watching Vadym a lot. I know he is heartbroken to see him leave.

Ok, at security..... Eyes are welling up but it seems to be only me. Vadym was hugging everyone and I was sitting back. He came up to me and I lost it...like I am doing again now. (As I am writing this Grego is filling up his photo album with all the pictures and showing me each one and telling me what we did.) I hugged him and held him and kissed his head. When I had to let go he looked up at me and I can see from the look on his face he knew I wasn't joking when I told him I was going to cry at the airport. Then I looked over and all the host mom's were in tears hugging their little angels. Serg gave me his Ukrainian pout lip and shrug and gave me a hug while Gary hugged Vadym. Ugh. Soooooo hard.
(K, Grego is sitting here looking at my tears. I guess he has never really seen me cry before. Or not for a very long time if he ever has. I started laughing and asked him why he is staring at me and he said he has never seen a grownup cry before. Giuliana is kissing my leg then crawled up to give me a hug...lol. I just love my babies.)

None of the kids cried but you can see they are sad to say goodbye but happy to get on the plane. They all waved at us for the next 15 minutes in line. Gary still quiet and watching Vadym. He did talk a little today but mostly about how wonderful Vadym is. During this time all the families did tears and hugs and we talked about different things. Then we said goodbye and Gary and I got a coffee and pastries (comfort food). The drive home Gary was quiet and I tried to stay busy so I didn't cry. We came home and took a nap. I feel exhausted from the tears. Gary must be too.

Well thanks for following our journey. I will post anything I learn about Vadym and our communication. Serg said we will be able to stay in touch with him and send him letters. I will be visiting his orphanage the end of September and be able to visit him if he is not adopted by then.

I am going to back and adding some photos to my older posts now that I figured out I can do that. :0). Be sure to check them out. I also found out we are in the paper. Here is the link
http://ourcommunityfocus.com/bookmark/14878825/article-Visit+Brings+Hope+to+Ukrainian+Children#.TkxBvRXYsmQ.facebook

Sorry for a quick ending but I am so tired. i just want to hold my babies and cry.

We had an amazing 5 weeks with Vadym and though it's hard to say goodbye we will do it again and again.And yes it has changed all of us. I'm not really sure how describe it but I think our family is stronger than ever. We shared our lives with this beautiful little boy and he changed us....and I know he also changed. He has a happy smile, he has been loved, he formed a bond with all of us, and he had an amazing summer. The love and joy we have had the last 5 weeks is priceless.

Gary told me he is looking forward to keeping in touch with Vadym and says he will never forget us. I hope not. Oh he did see the article of Gary in the Business Journal in the car and was so excited to see "Papa" in the paper so I put it in his backpack. He knows us and knows where we live and knows our names and the winery. Gary told me at the airport "we will see him again". There is something so comforting about my husband/best friend's voice when I am hurting. This little sentence meant so much to me and I trust him that we will.