Gotcha!

Well, yesterday was Gotcha Day! We picked C up at the orphanage at 3:00 PM, changed him into his clothes, said goodbye to the caregivers and the orphanage director, and drove back to the hotel. All in all, C did extremely well! He looked a bit nervous, but absolutely loved the car ride. Once we got back to the hotel, he took about an hour or so to explore the room and everything in it. Then we made dinner for him and he ate everything- including all of his carrots! He even asked for more! Now if we can just keep it that way...
Bedtime was difficult for C, but after about 20 minutes of screaming, he fell fast asleep and slept all night. He woke up this morning happy and ready to play. Andrew is loving having his little brother with us finally!
Please continue to pray that C's transition goes well- thanks for all of your prayers so far!!!!!!!

Enough talk, we know what you really want...

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At the orphanage

Last Friday,
we got to watch C with his group (they put on a puppet show for the kids), which was a treat. It was great to see how he interacts with the other kids and his caregivers. We were already in the room with C when his group came in and sat down . They all called to him to come sit down- it was so sweet! As soon as they did that, he ran right over and sat next to a little girl who was patting the seat, wanting C to sit next to her. During the puppet show, the caregivers would occasionally call for group participation, either asking a question, or wanting the kids to sing / clap along to a particular song, and C was completely into it- he just loved it! During all of this, he would look back every minute or so, to make sure we were still there. Oh, my heart felt like it would burst- half sad, because of what C will be losing, and half overwhelmingly joyful because of this mother-son bond that is forming between us.

This past weekend,
the orphanage was closed to visitors, so we had two whole days to explore the city. We started out feeling a little timid, but with lots of time on our hands and a desire to fill it, we decided to jump right in and explore. The weather was quite chilly, but that didn’t stop us! It actually snowed on our walk to the market- Andrew thought that was very funny, given the fact that it is almost June. We had been to the local market twice before, but this time we really took our time and found a lot more to buy (to eat) than we had the first few times! It’s funny to try to figure out exactly what the food item REALLY is- even though I can read the Russian words, I am not always so sure what the package/jar/box contains. Sometimes the picture helps, and sometimes not. All in all, we did pretty well!

We also found the children’s store, which is quite large and sells just about everything you can imagine. cost of the ones at home. D and I were amazed at the prices as well. Even a basic umbrolla stroller goes for about $50.00- we bought one at home for $12.00! Guess Mr. C will have to wait until we get home for a stroller ride (we didn’t bring ours to Russia b/c of weight restrictions on the plane).

Eating out has been an adventure here too! We have mostly stuck with what we know, like KFC, pizza places, and Subway (which are all a bit different than they are at home, but close enough), but we have also branched out and tried the unfamiliar. Our favorite so far has been the Irish Steakhouse. The name may lead you to think this would not be so unfamiliar, but the name is VERY misleading. It turns out the Irish Steakhouse is really a Russian disco/pub. It is fairly dark, there is techno music playing entire time, and none of the food is Irish at all- it is actually Russian. Ordering our food there certainly required stepping out of our comfort zone, but we ended up loving it there- yum! We even went back a second night. On the second night, Andrew and Jeremy got out on the dance floor and danced the robot- they even got a thumbs-up from the D.J. :0)
Yesterday,
we finally got to go see Mr. C again! We had a great visit! I was thrilled to see that the two days away didn’t phase him at all. He warmed up to us right away, and even offered kisses without being prompted. He said Andrew’s name for the first time today too, which really thrilled Andrew. D and I are anxiously ready to take C with us, although we really are trying hard not to wish this time away. We know it will come soon enough, and we really want C to have these last few days to warm up to us just a little more, before he has to leave the place that always been his home and the people who have always been his family.

The more we see, the harder it is for us. We know bringing him home will be a blessing to all of us, but that does not change the fact that there will be loss too- especially for C.

Just four more days…

Today,
We took a break from going to the orphanage today- the ride there and back is incredibly tiring and costly. On top of that, we all need a break from that room. Spending 2-3 hours in the same room every day with the exact same toys will wear on any kid, and both C and Andrew needed a break. We will resume our visits tomorrow.

The weather was much warmer today, so we decided to explore the riverfront down in front of our hotel. It was so nice to be outside! Here are some pictures...

Our Trip So Far In Pictures

Well, we are now in the "uptown" hotel- we have internet and have even had hot showers today! Not that taking a bath in a bucket was so bad- we actually thought it was kinda fun! Our visits with C are going great and we are anxious to keep him for good! We still can't post any pics of our newest addition just yet (tune in next Fri. for those- that's when we will pick him up), but here are some from our trip so far...

Court Successful

Well we both feel like we were cramming for college finals...going over all the notes we took with our facilitator and translator...anyway at 1:52PM Krasnoyarsk time the judge decreed that C was now one of us!!! Andrew was able to come into the courtroom to hear the decree read. When we were done we shook hands with the judge and she held her hand out to Andrew and he shook her hand like he was a grown man and not our little boy. As you can see by the picture Andrew was wearing his new suit which he calls his "business suit."

Here is a picture of us outside the courthouse after our hearing

More to come later....

Today we saw our son

After our long trip here and taking a bath out of a bucket for the first time in our lives we finally made it to the orphanage. As we walked in we saw C being walked down the hall. I told Lyn there he was and she began to cry. We then were taken into the visiting room and began our first visit with C in what seemed like an eternity. He was again very quick, but nervous to warm up to Lyn and within a few minutes him and our son, Andrew, were following one another around the play area. Andrew summed it up the best, "Baby brother is awesome!!"


COURT TOMORROW!!!!!

Well, we’re here in Siberia! Here’s a recap of the last three days…

Friday, May 16^th

Completed our medicals successfully! This adventure consisted of seeing 8 different specialists over a period of about 4 hours. We were required to bring some labs we had completed in the U.S. last month and then spent maybe 5 min. max with each Dr. (with quite a bit of waiting in between Drs.). Once all of the consultations were completed, we received a stamp of approval from each specialist. We were then given the documents with all the pretty stamps to present to the court in our region.

The traffic in Moscow back to the hotel was horrible! Once we got back, we walked to KFC for dinner and had some interesting things to eat- it is not quite the same as back home! No mashed potatoes- bummer!

Saturday, May 17^th

Caught up on sleep and walked to Red Square with the Parks (the other adoptive family here from our agency). It was really hard to grasp the reality that we were actually standing there! It was amazing! After seeing the sights and taking lots of pictures, we ate lunch at McDonald’s- yum! Our 7 year-old son, Andrew, was in heaven! The food at McDonald’s was pretty close to what we are used to.

At 5:45 P.M., we again set out in the crazy Moscow traffic- it was even MORE horrible! Wow, it really rivals any of the big city traffic I’ve seen in the U.S.! As my husband likes to say, it seems as though the traffic lanes are merely taken as suggestions here. This can make the experience quite scary!

We arrived at the airport and went through security without a hitch. Praise God! I was so very relieved- on our last trip we were stopped and questioned about our visas.

At 9:30, we took off, headed for Siberia. One step closer to our baby boy!

Sunday, May 18^th

We arrived here in our region early this morning. Our flight here was uneventful, and we are thankful for that. Just after arriving, we were met by our facilitator here and told that our hotel would not have any hot water all week. No big deal, really, right? Things became a little more concerning on our drive to the hotel, though- especially when we drove right past it! I was quite confused, but remained calm. I have learned to just try to relax here and just go along with whatever is happening.

After we crossed the bridge, leading us to the “south” side of town, we pulled up in front of a different (slightly dilapidated and somewhat seedy-looking) hotel. This is when we found out the hotel we were planning to stay in (and had stayed in on our last trip) is booked until Friday. Our facilitators looked nervous as we checked into the hotel, so I became slightly nervous too. Then we were told there is no internet here and there is no way to call the U.S. from here. That’s when the tears started to form… I had told my girls we would call them when we arrived here. After several minutes, one of our facilitators found out we could purchase some kind of phone card to connect us to Moscow. Once connected, the operator dials your home # for you and connects the call. I’d never heard of such a thing, but we bought the card and called. And it worked! We got to talk to our girls. That made everything right again!

After a long nap, we walked down to the Yennesy River for some air and exercise. The view from our hotel is beautiful, with the mountains framing the river. We can even see a ski resort up on the side of one of the mountains not too far away. It was a pretty day today, sunny and about 70 degrees or so. We could see a lot of people by the river from our window and we were excited to get outside and check it out! Once we got down to the river, though, we were amazed at the amount of broken glass and trash strewn all about-how sad. I had to keep a close eye on Andrew, to make sure he didn’t step on any glass. Not a very nice place for children to play, although there certainly were lots of them down by the river today. Hmmmm…..

On to brighter note… tomorrow we see our son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're HERE!

After 2 years, we are finally here in Russia to get our son! Praise God! It's really quite surreal.
We had a fairly uneventful trip and our oldest son is here with us. He did incredibly well on our trip over! After a 5-hour nap this afternoon, we were refreshed and ready to explore- we were thrilled to find a Sbarro for dinner!. Now it's off to bed- our medicals are tomorrow!

Fun day with our girls

We had a great day today with our girls!

Beans sitt'in pretty!

Ash climbs the rock wall!

2 days and counting...

Well, it's almost time to go! D and I spent Friday evening and all day yesterday at a wedding out of town. It was hard to leave the kids, but the wedding was for a close high school of D's and he was a groomsman, so we went. Even though I missed the kids, I'm so glad I did! The wedding was beautiful and we got to spend some time with another one of D's close friends from high school and his wife (Jason and Sharon- thanks for letting us stay with you guys!). We don't see D's childhood friends very much, so it was really nice to catch up. Thank you, Grandma F. for staying with the kids for us!

We got home late last night (actually it was today already), and I was awakened around 7 A.M. by 3 little cutie pies kissing and hugging me, and shrieking, "Happy Mother's Day!". I was still very tired, but so happy to see them! The first thing that crossed my mind was that I would only have 2 more mornings with them our girls before we leave. Oh, I am going to miss my girls! I just love cuddling with them every morning! What sweeties! I heard Beans praying later, she was asking God to please make the trip to Russia just 5 days. Later, she asked exactly how many days we will be gone. I didn't have the heart to tell her, so I told her tomorrow I will give her the countdown calendar so she can see how many, and so she can mark off each day while we are gone. Time is so hard for a 5 year-old to understand... it's even hard for me to understand sometimes.

Tomorrow, D and I get to go on a field trip with our girls and their class to the zoo. We are so grateful for the chance to spend an entire school day with them just 2 days before we leave. And then tomorrow night, we will have a family night BBQ. This will be our chance to see everyone and spend some quality time together before we go. We are giving the girls heart lockets to wear while we are gone, so they'll get those tomorrow night. I have also written them several letters that will be mailed to them every week while we are gone. I hope these things will help them to cope with our being away. Beans told me Friday (with tears pouring down her face) that she won't be my baby anymore when C comes home. Whoa... that broke my heart! She hasn't said that for awhile. We have had many talks about the same issue, but I guess she just needed reassurance again, so obviously I did just that (and I'm sure it won't be the last time).
I explained that she will always be my baby and that C can never take the spot in my heart that belongs to her- that it belongs to her forever. She smiled the hugest smile right when I said this and the tears immediately stopped. Oh she is so sweet! Ash is too, of course, but she is clearly much more confident in our love for her. And she seems to really get it that God is in control. Wow! I don't even get that a lot of the time!

Oh Lord, please hold my girls close while we are away. Fill them with your love so their hearts won't be hurting. Help them to know how very special they are and that you are in control.
Help them to understand that their baby brother needs his forever mommy and daddy and please continue to fill their little hearts with love for him.
In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen

Russia, Here We Come!

The past few days have been a whirlwind! We have been rushing around trying to get our visas, plane tickets, hotel reservations, and general itinerary ironed out. We're also trying to get the packing done and all of the other errands done that we will not be able to get done for the month we are in Russia. So many little things to think about. For example: I always pictured returning to Russia in March, so I never worried about the grass needing to be cut. But now it is May, and we need someone to cut the grass. Thankfully, we have already found someone willing- thanks, Don! All of this while still trying to leave our daily lives...
I am such a perfectionist that I have a VERY hard time making my mind slow down long enough to relax and revel in what is about to take place. I am trying so very hard just to be still and savor every moment I have with our girls before we leave. It is starting to hit me now how hard this is going to be... And yet we are all excited at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I think about it from God's perspective, there is nothing to worry about. He will hold our girls close while we are gone and He will make everything happen- it doesn't matter if I do everything perfectly or not. Praise God for that!
So for the next week, I will be coming back to read this post at least several times a day, so I can be reminded that our girls WILL be O.K. and that we WILL get everything done that NEEDS to be done. If you see me or talk to me, it wouldn't hurt to remind me to be still and relax. I would be grateful for the reminder!

Our Last Goodbye

Just a few weeks after my husband and I began our adoption journey in search of our son, we were able to tell my grandma the news in person. She was living in an assisted living home several states away at the time, and she hadn't really been quite herself for a few months, so we weren't sure whether or not she would even understand what we were telling her. When we first arrived, she didn't even remember who we were, and my heart sank... I wanted so badly for her to rejoice with us and for her to truly understand that she would be blessed with another great-grandchild! You see, when she was herself, my grandma would have literally jumped for joy at such news. And a great-grandchild from Russia! She would have found that absolutely thrilling! She would have asked me right then if she could go and tell all of her friends (and anyone else- even perfect strangers- she might meet along the way). That's how my grandma was, full of unconditional love and overflowing pride for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She never missed an opportunity to tell everyone about all of us- never in a boastful way, rather in the sweetest and most infectious giggly way. I wish I could have bottled that giggle! And the way her beautiful eyes lit up and sparkled like bright sunlight on crystal blue water...

But on the day I had the opportunity to tell her about our son, I thought I would not get the chance to hear that giggle, nor the chance to see that sparkle. But then, something amazing happened. I saw and sensed a glimmer of my grandma... Maybe it was something in her eyes, or something she said. I really don't remember. All I do remember is I decided to tell her. I smiled at my husband, and he nodded in agreement. He had sensed it too. So I leaned in close, and told my grandma that we were planning to adopt; that she would have a great-grandchild from Russia. She smiled and turned to look at me, and I saw it! That sparkle! What a beautiful sight that was. Then I saw a tear slide silently down her cheek.

What an incredible gift God gave me day. I knew as we drove away that that would be the last time I would ever get to talk to my grandma. I have seen her since, but that was the last time she was ever really herself. I also sensed that she would pass from this world just before it was time to bring our son home. My grandma passed away last Thursday. We got our court date today. Just enough time to say goodbye before beginning to prepare to go to Russia to bring our son home to his forever family. Thank you, Lord, for your perfect timing...

We will miss you dearly, Grandma. Our son will hear so many wonderful stories about you. And best of all, he will hear about how much he was loved and wanted by a great-grandma he never even knew.