Tuesday, August 16, 2011

We're Still Here

Hello Everybody! Yep, we're still here. Sorry you haven't heard from us for a day or so. Yesterday was a very busy day visiting our little guy, then medicals in the afternoon. For those of you who have been here, you know. Most of the time is spent in the car sitting in traffic. We did a lot of that yesterday. Uggh! Here's how things went yesterday and today...

We were picked up by Lana at about 9:00 Tuesday morning. We arrived at the baby home and were taken up to the room where we visit with the little guy. A little while later in comes our adorable, sleepy, weepy son. He had a little bit of a hard time seeing us again but we worked to comfort him and calm him down. It didn't take too long and he was snuggling with mom and then pop. It didn't take too much longer and he was sound asleep with his arms around the little doggie Grandma and Grandpa got for him. It was so precious for Mom to get to hold him while he slept. It was a very good visit and we can't wait to see him tomorrow!

After we said good bye to little guy we headed back to the hotel to pick up our x-rays for our medical evaluations. Just getting to the hotel and then into the city took forever because of traffic (of course). We got to the city around 2:30pm and Irina said that we had some time to kill because our medicals weren't until 4:00pm. So, we went to a mall and had a soda and a slice of pizza for lunch. It was very enjoyable visiting with Irina and having some lunch. The medicals, however, were not that enjoyable. If there was a word to describe it, "weird" is probably the best one. Thankfully, they really are very fast (10 minutes) and the uncomfortable feeling is soon over. We were just asked a few questions and the doctors each gave us a quick once over. It was definitely a little weird but overall quite painless and quick. Thirty thousand roubles ($1200) later and we were outta there.

After the medicals we stopped by the grocery store on the way home. It's fun to pick up some things for the room that can tide us over so we won't be eating in the restaurant all the time. I know Joel and his mom will have a blast getting some things to cook in their little kitchenette. For now, crackers, juice, fruit, sausage, chips (bacon flavored Pringles), and soda help us make it through the day.

We just got back a couple of hours ago from our Wednesday visit with our little one. The sun is finally shining here, so we got to spend our time with him outside on the playground. As usual, he wasn't very happy to see us. Our visits with him are completely different than the ones with his brothers three years ago. He is younger and much more apprehensive to be around us. Clarion held him for a while as our visit began. He cried for at least five minutes. Then he snuggled up with Mama as Papa played Russian stories and children's music on the iPod. After he settled down, it was Papa's turn to hold him. Thus began the crying again. But Papa took him for a little stroll around the playground, sang to him a little bit and he settled down. After he got used to us, we took him to play on various things on the playground. We tried the slide and a couple other things. While he didn't cry, he didn't really get into playing too much He didn't even show much interest in the beach ball today. Oh well, all in all, it was a good visit. We're making progress with him. The more time we have with him, the more he gets used to us. We had the social worker with us today and she seemed very pleased with our visit also.

We have the rest of today and tomorrow to ourselves. Another family from our agency is arriving this afternoon. They have court also on Friday. Lana and Irina will be running them around tomorrow. Today they'll be taking another family to get their daughters' passports. That family will be leaving for Moscow tomorrow. By the way, we had the pleasure of meeting several families yesterday and today. We might make a trek over to the beach later with some folks. Joel can finally have his shashleek (kabobs) now that the weather is pleasant and we can sit outside.

That's about it for now. We'll be spending some time also preparing for court today and tomorrow. We have a list of potential questions (thanks Heather!) that we need to run through a few times. We're expecting it to go smoothly. Your prayers are greatly appreciated! We'll be in touch after Friday's court hearing. Paka paka!

Joel & Clarion




5 comments:

  1. How wonderful that you have seen him two days in a row, and apparently passed your physicals as well. Relax and rest up for your court date and it will be all downhill from there. Our thoughts & prayers are with you all.

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  2. oh my goodness- the photos are PRECIOUS! Praying for your preparations for court.

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  3. Oh, the pringles!!! My personal Rus-fav were the Ribs flavored ones! Oh yum!!

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  4. Hoping court goes well on Friday! Thanks for sharing your journey!

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  5. How was court??! Thinking and praying for you!

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