Well, you have not lived until you are in a car in the middle of an 8 lane Siberian Highway, when it is 90 degrees outside, after sitting in traffic for 2 hours and your car dies as soon as traffic really starts moving! It was pretty scary for a few minutes but Nicolai, our fearless driver, actually willed (I really do think this at this point) the car into starting again and we made it home safely just an hour or so later. Traffic on Friday nights here is the same as in Seattle- terrible!
Well we are catching our breath today- no visits to the baby home until Monday (BOO! Silly rules) so we are just getting our acts together this weekend. We found out the other day that all of the 6 pairs of shoes we bought for the kiddos are too small (our children seem to have giant tootsies and the outline of their feet I took during trip 1 did not translate into shoes that fit now) so we are on a hunt for children's shoes today! It is good to have a mission- it keeps us from dwelling on our thoughts about being parents who are not allowed access to their children. Lets all just pretend they are at a lovely toddler summer camp- it does help.
Yesterday's visit was good- hot and we decided to play outside on their little playground. This was a so-so idea- it was very very buggy out there and they were in the mood for quiet play so we ended up just playing with small toys and reading a book- all of which probably should have been done inside. Oh well, live and learn! Both kiddos were cute and Apple made my day when she told the caregiver to "go away" (in Russian) when it was time for them to go back to groupa. It was a good change from her tears and "mommy, no, dont hold me" of earlier so I think progress is being made! She is an independent little spitfire for sure!
Orange is picking up more English already- we have "look" and "no" and "yes" so far which is awesome but his previously on the mend cold seems to be developing into a full blown issue so I cannot wait to get custody so we can give him some medicine and lots of love and care!! I want to make him better and hate seeing him coughing etc but we are not allowed to do anything until we have custody- UGGGHHH!
The weather has broken a bit- it is only going to be 88 today! YAY! Of course by Monday it will be back to 100 but lets concentrate on today. And I know some of you are wondering on the summer uniform- much like the winter uniform of short skirts and high boots we have moved into even shorter skirts (or hot pants), tops that truly are barely there and high heel sandels (preferably 4" and sparkly) for all women under 40. I still cant figure out how they all walk long distances in those heels but they do- it must be what keeps them in shape. So I feel frumpy but whatever - at least my feet are not killing me. :)
Hope all is well with all of you - now that court is over and we are counting down the days I am starting to miss home- just want to get there with the babies. Only 17 more days until the Brand family is at home!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
We are parents!
Hi!!!!
We just got back from court. It went well and we are officially parents!!! It was a bit stressfull- Aaron had to give a speech that we had prepared but then we had to change it at the last minute which is always hard. And then they had lots of questions for us about our house, our lifestyle, if we were capable of raising children, why we want to adopt 2 etc. It lasted just over an hour and was a bit nerve wracking but everyone was direct but not mean. Then the judge went out and came back 5 minutes later with the verdict-- we are officially the proud parents of Apple and Orange!!!
Now we are quickly back at the apartment to change clothes from our suits to baby home clothes and then off to the baby home for our first visit as real life parents! We get to visit today, Monday, Wed, Fri and Saturday of next week. The following week is still up in the air but we think we get custody on Weds! That is the current plan- things tend to be a bit fluid here with things like that (UGH!) but Aaron is forcing me to go with the flow and the good news is we are parents!!!
More later,
love,
Sarah and Aaron
We just got back from court. It went well and we are officially parents!!! It was a bit stressfull- Aaron had to give a speech that we had prepared but then we had to change it at the last minute which is always hard. And then they had lots of questions for us about our house, our lifestyle, if we were capable of raising children, why we want to adopt 2 etc. It lasted just over an hour and was a bit nerve wracking but everyone was direct but not mean. Then the judge went out and came back 5 minutes later with the verdict-- we are officially the proud parents of Apple and Orange!!!
Now we are quickly back at the apartment to change clothes from our suits to baby home clothes and then off to the baby home for our first visit as real life parents! We get to visit today, Monday, Wed, Fri and Saturday of next week. The following week is still up in the air but we think we get custody on Weds! That is the current plan- things tend to be a bit fluid here with things like that (UGH!) but Aaron is forcing me to go with the flow and the good news is we are parents!!!
More later,
love,
Sarah and Aaron
Apple and the iPhone
Today we went to the baby home in the morning- which is nice because it is not quite so hot in the car etc if you leave town at 7:30am rather than 2pm. Our visit was overall good- Orange was his usual cuddly bear self- of the 2.5 hours we got with them he was in one of our laps for at least 1/2 of it. SO CUTE!
Apple developed a deep affinity for Apple products yesterday (so naming her Apple on my blog must have been a premonition of some kind!). We had downloaded some Russian children's music onto my iphone and I played it yesterday for them. Dancing and general merriment ensued. Then I showed her pictures of herself on the phone- from the last trip and from yesterday and she really really loved that. She took the phone away and spent quite a while flipping through all the pics and calling out what they were - it was hilarious and she loved it. She also figured out how to change the song at the same time. Very smart girl.
Poppy Nick- you should call Steve J. and tell him he has a new spokesmodel. :)
The rest of today went well- lots of snacking on cheerios, drinking of apple juice, sorting of puzzles etc. Apple is very good at puzzles and she taught Orange how to do a few too. We also played with our Russian/English flash cards and their vocabulary is just amazing.
Tomorrow is court day and we have been told to spend the rest of the day reviewing our dossier, brushing up on our Russian vocabulary (not to worry- we have a translator with us but they like to know we are trying to learn- which we are!) and generally preparing ourselves for our big day! Everyone has been wishing us luck- it is a very big deal because tomorrow is the day the judge decides if our adoption will be final and we will officially become Apple and Orange's parents. So everyone think very positive and good thoughts for us!
The one piece of bad news we received is that they have decided that we DO NOT get to go to the baby home every business day of our 10 day wait- apparently there are other families from other agencies who will be coming in next week to meet children and the baby home feels like too many prospective parents in house at one time is a bad idea. SO, now we get only see the children every other day of our 10 day wait- which is a huge bummer but at least it means we get to see them on a weekend day as well. In the long run this will not be a big deal at all but right now in country it is a big deal to me. We will power through though- keep our eye on the end goal of bringing our kiddos home in August!!
Love,
Sarah and Aaron
Apple developed a deep affinity for Apple products yesterday (so naming her Apple on my blog must have been a premonition of some kind!). We had downloaded some Russian children's music onto my iphone and I played it yesterday for them. Dancing and general merriment ensued. Then I showed her pictures of herself on the phone- from the last trip and from yesterday and she really really loved that. She took the phone away and spent quite a while flipping through all the pics and calling out what they were - it was hilarious and she loved it. She also figured out how to change the song at the same time. Very smart girl.
Poppy Nick- you should call Steve J. and tell him he has a new spokesmodel. :)
The rest of today went well- lots of snacking on cheerios, drinking of apple juice, sorting of puzzles etc. Apple is very good at puzzles and she taught Orange how to do a few too. We also played with our Russian/English flash cards and their vocabulary is just amazing.
Tomorrow is court day and we have been told to spend the rest of the day reviewing our dossier, brushing up on our Russian vocabulary (not to worry- we have a translator with us but they like to know we are trying to learn- which we are!) and generally preparing ourselves for our big day! Everyone has been wishing us luck- it is a very big deal because tomorrow is the day the judge decides if our adoption will be final and we will officially become Apple and Orange's parents. So everyone think very positive and good thoughts for us!
The one piece of bad news we received is that they have decided that we DO NOT get to go to the baby home every business day of our 10 day wait- apparently there are other families from other agencies who will be coming in next week to meet children and the baby home feels like too many prospective parents in house at one time is a bad idea. SO, now we get only see the children every other day of our 10 day wait- which is a huge bummer but at least it means we get to see them on a weekend day as well. In the long run this will not be a big deal at all but right now in country it is a big deal to me. We will power through though- keep our eye on the end goal of bringing our kiddos home in August!!
Love,
Sarah and Aaron
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Baby Time!!
Hi!
We are here in Novosibirsk- we arrived late last night and our apartment is great- very spacious and nice by European standards- it was a good choice and much better than being cooped up at the Sibir for days on end. The best part is the fabulous internet connection and privacy- anyone want to Skype?
So, this morning after a fitful jet laggy night we took a LONG walk around Novo- looking for a grocery store. We thought there would be one in our neighborhood but after walking for quite a while in the direction we were told we would find one we gave up and walked the opposite direction to the main square- where we had visited a grocery on our first trip. Success! Then back to the apartment for a meal and to wait for Katia and Nicolai (coordinator and driver). We went to the baby home around 2pm and first met with the head doctor. She gave us the update on the kiddos and then it was off to the races.
Apple and Orange were great. Some trepidation and tears at first but once they calmed down it was fabulous- we played lots and Orange let both of us hold and cuddle him- he was very snuggly. Apple was excited about the toys and we had a good time romping around. She was also very nice to her brother and made sure he got some 'cookies' and water when we were having snacks and he was snuggling with Aaron.
And here is the BEST PART- they both called us Mama and Papa - for the first time ever. It was awesome- I cant quite explain the feeling.
They have both grown a little bit physically but really they have had a language EXPLOSION- especially Apple- she is chattering away none stop and talking to us all the time. I need to practice more Russian as I was not expecting here to be talking in complete sentences and holding actual conversations. She was patient with us though and repeated things so we could "get it" and Orange was also talkative and he actually said an English word at the end of the play time- FABULOUS!
So, YAY! We get to see the kids again tomorrow and then Friday is Court Day! Hope all is well and love to you all.
Sarah and Aaron
We are here in Novosibirsk- we arrived late last night and our apartment is great- very spacious and nice by European standards- it was a good choice and much better than being cooped up at the Sibir for days on end. The best part is the fabulous internet connection and privacy- anyone want to Skype?
So, this morning after a fitful jet laggy night we took a LONG walk around Novo- looking for a grocery store. We thought there would be one in our neighborhood but after walking for quite a while in the direction we were told we would find one we gave up and walked the opposite direction to the main square- where we had visited a grocery on our first trip. Success! Then back to the apartment for a meal and to wait for Katia and Nicolai (coordinator and driver). We went to the baby home around 2pm and first met with the head doctor. She gave us the update on the kiddos and then it was off to the races.
Apple and Orange were great. Some trepidation and tears at first but once they calmed down it was fabulous- we played lots and Orange let both of us hold and cuddle him- he was very snuggly. Apple was excited about the toys and we had a good time romping around. She was also very nice to her brother and made sure he got some 'cookies' and water when we were having snacks and he was snuggling with Aaron.
And here is the BEST PART- they both called us Mama and Papa - for the first time ever. It was awesome- I cant quite explain the feeling.
They have both grown a little bit physically but really they have had a language EXPLOSION- especially Apple- she is chattering away none stop and talking to us all the time. I need to practice more Russian as I was not expecting here to be talking in complete sentences and holding actual conversations. She was patient with us though and repeated things so we could "get it" and Orange was also talkative and he actually said an English word at the end of the play time- FABULOUS!
So, YAY! We get to see the kids again tomorrow and then Friday is Court Day! Hope all is well and love to you all.
Sarah and Aaron
Monday, July 14, 2008
Chicago, Chicago...
Hi All-
blogging from the Chicago airport. Bored, bored, bored. Not much to report- super ready to be there which is bad as we have over 20 hours to go. :) First flight uneventful- back of the back of the plane.
Really just wanted to post this picture of the crazy amount of luggage that is making this trip with us. Between all of the gifts we must bring, the snacks etc for the kiddos and 2 strollers we are definitely travelling HEAVY for us. But American didnt seem to mind, as long as we paid our overweight fees so that was good- rather pay a fee than have my bag rejected for being ridiculously heavy.
Write more once we are there!
Love,
Us
Monday, July 7, 2008
We have confirmation!
So, we are definitely going in July! Our court date has been set, plane tickets have been purchased, apartments have been rented and we are ready ready ready to go! If all goes as planned we will be home August 5th as a family!!
Just wanted to let those who were wondering if we had gotten confirmation that yes, we are a go for launch. :) Mommyhood here I come!
Just wanted to let those who were wondering if we had gotten confirmation that yes, we are a go for launch. :) Mommyhood here I come!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
WOO HOO!! TRIP 2 HERE WE COME!!
We got tentative trip 2 dates today! I am over the moon excited. It looks like we MAY leave Seattle on July 12th/13th and be in Novosibirsk by the 15th. We would have court a few days later and then have our lovely 10 day waiting period. We would get to leave Novo by the end of the month - with the babies!!! Then off to Moscow for a few days of Embassy paperwork and home by August 5th/6th.
Can you believe it? It is actually happening!!! Now, I just need to sort everything out to leave in 10 days and go across 11 timezones and stay there for 3 weeks- no problem- I am an organized girl and we have been getting ready for 11 weeks now so I think as long as I can find us a place to stay and some tickets we are good to go! I cant believe that we will be parents by the end of July!!!
I will keep you all posted!
love,
Sarah and Aaron
Can you believe it? It is actually happening!!! Now, I just need to sort everything out to leave in 10 days and go across 11 timezones and stay there for 3 weeks- no problem- I am an organized girl and we have been getting ready for 11 weeks now so I think as long as I can find us a place to stay and some tickets we are good to go! I cant believe that we will be parents by the end of July!!!
I will keep you all posted!
love,
Sarah and Aaron
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