Lots of news- long post

Hi Everybody-

Sorry for being incommunicado. Lots to tell:

Day 1 at the baby home: after going to the MOE and meeting the lady that doles out the referrals (very nice, very efficient) and answering several questions we were officially given permission to go to the baby home. Our baby home is 2 hours each way from town. So we hopped in the car with our translator Anna and our driver Nicolai for the journey. Siberia is very flat and dusty. We were stopped by the cops at one point -- Nicolai handled it all well and we never really learned what happened as he went into the police building to sort it out.

Arrived at the baby home and met the kiddos. For the purposes of this blog we shall call them Apple and Orange.

The meeting was a bit of a disaster! They took one look at us and started crying. Apparently they never see men and were scared of Aaron and I was a stranger so they were scared of me too. After an hour of tears and not coming near us they started to warm up and we spent 3 hours tentatively playing with them as they were very on edge and scared. We also got some new medical info and had to get that back to our IA doctor for review. Then back to the hotel and got in around 8pm and crashed- hard.

Day two- off to the baby home with our team and our Russia doctor- a lovely lady named Dr. Galina. We got stopped by the cops AGAIN- which apparently never happens- and again Nicolai handled it all very well and we were underway again after 20 minutes of waiting.

We got there in time to see the children participating in their Spring Festival- very cute- Russian dancing, a small skit and some treats. They gave each child half of a pear- core and all and you should have seen them chomp down on those! Both of our kiddos have quite an appetite and there is no messing around with cutting it into chunks for ease of eating- they just go right to town on whatever you give them. After the festival we spent another 3 hour marathon play session with them. This one went slightly better- only two meltdowns per child and I was able to play "tea time" with Apple and Orange warmed up enough to Aaron to play ball and let him hold him for a bit. Then back to the hotel to wait to hear from the docs and make our decision. Finally at midnight we talked to Dr. Davies and got the go ahead- both babies look good and the reports were great. This was a huge relief and we went to bed knowing that we would be accepting the referrals officially today- which was awesome after 48 hours of anxiety and worry!

The baby home is very poor but well cared for. It is obvious the people there take good care of the kids and love them lots. But it is an orphanage so there is never enough love to go around. It is nice though that they are out in the country as Novosibirsk is incredibly polluted and at least they have fresh air. They go for walks every day and even in 70 degree weather (it is warm here) they get all dressed up in snow suits to go outside per the custom here. It is cute and funny.

A bit about each kiddo:

Apple- she is very smart and apparently quite bossy (just like her new mama). She is the leader of her groupa (the kids are divided into groupas- kind of like cabins at camp). She is shy to warm up to strangers- which is good because it means she wont just go with anyone but once she warms up she is great. She is very smart and talkative and can say complete sentences, has great motor skills and all around seems like she will grow up to be very bright and in charge!

Orange- he is a cutey and also very smart and verbal for a 2 year old. He loves Cheerios, cookies, fruit- whatever you have he will eat happily. Toys that make noise are the best and if it has lights that is a bonus. He is running around all the time. I swear when I saw him sitting at the Spring Festival he sat just like Poppy Nick sits when he is concentrating! He is a big boy and very active and will be a handful but is a great kid.

Day Three: Today was good. Only a few tears but lots of play- and we got to hold both of them and comfort them when they were tired and upset towards the end of the visit. Today we brought the family books we made and they went over like a house on fire. They loved them and wanted to go through all the pictures over and over again.

We have officially accepted the kids now and are are now in the waiting period. We have one more meeting with them tomorrow and then we leave Saturday morning - which is sad and terrible to think we will be gone for 6-8 weeks but it is the way it is done and I cannot dwell on that at this moment.

That is all for now. Lots of love to you all!

Sarah and Aaron