Hi Everyone-
Well, we are here. It was very very hard to get here and I am soo soo soo tired but we made it and are officially in Moscow- or so I hear- I havent actually been outside yet.
So, you know how everyone says, "dont worry if your baby crys on the plane- you will never see these people again". Well, that may be true but try staring down 200 angry, grumpy Siberians while your 2 yr old screams like he is being tortured for 35 minutes during landing. Poor Orange- they both did GREAT on the first part of the flight- no problem with take off (thanks to lollipops- shhh) and for most of the flight. Apple was awesome the whole time but Orange had a couple meltdowns along the way. In anticipation of the jaw dropping, cant believe someone who weighs 32 lbs could make this much noise for this long, screams of deathly pain sound less horrible, complete and total breakdown he had for the last 1/2 hour of the trip. We tried everything- and everyone was staring at us and "tsk tsk"ing us and I just wanted to yell at them all. Of course, weirdly, Apple slept through it all as she had fallen asleep about 45 minutes prior to this, even though she was 2 feet away. But we got payback for that later- read on.
Anyway, so once we finally got off the plane and made it through baggage etc and the babies had calmed down we walked for about 1/2 mile (I swear) with the luggage and the babies etc to get where our driver had left his car. Ugh. But thank god for the strollers- they are worth their weight in cold. I think had we not had them I would be sitting in the DME airport crying right now with 2 sad babies because we never would have made it. Then our driver, who spoke no English (which is weird for our agency and highly annoying to me last night- i know, I am entitled and bad etc etc etc but at 1am with 2 kids who are crying and it is late and you are hungry and tired and dirty and when you are expecting someone who does understand you it is hard), couldnt find our apartment- so we drove around. Orange had another fit- which culminated in him completely blowing out his diaper all over poor Aaron - he was just so past tired and so upset and had to go and the diap couldnt hack it. Poor Orange and poor Aaron!! It was almost funny at the time- we were so tired and out of it.
Then on to the super expensive apartment- which we finally found at 1am Moscow time (4am Novo time). It is fine- not as nice as the Novo one, and three times the money, but fine. The kids were so worked up we decided to bring their mattresses into our room. It still took absolutely hours to get them down. Orange went around 3am and Apple at 5:30am- just in time for me to get up at 5:50am - for the Embassy doctor who was supposed to come at 6am to check the babies for their immigration papers. But, guess what- it is 7am and no doctor yet!! Thank god i didnt wake the babies - I had decided that Apple needs as much sleep as she can get (both do, but she way behind) but Mama and Papa are the furthest behind- of course. This whole parenting thing takes some getting used to! I am not familiar with multiple days of no sleep, no food (because I am busy making them toddler food and it seems to hard to make more for us) and travel. Ugh. We are SO ready to be home so we can get them on a schedule and work on the sleep issues and get our lives back to normal- the new normal!
So we are here- YAY! but so tired I can barely function, need to go find a grocery because we have very little to feed the babies for breakfast but tied to the apartment to wait for this dumb doctor to come. I am beyond cranky at this point but I am sure we will survive.
Thanks for reading to my ranty post- I will be better next time. Lets just be glad at least we are in Moscow!
Love,
Us
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Adios Siberia!
Or, it should be das vadanya!
Woo Hoo- in 2 hours we will be on our way to the airport and on the way to Moscow. The gods have smiled on us and we are off to the big city pox free! So, hopefully nothing will develop there but right now we are good to go and the Dr. says we can fly. :)
So, we have spent the day the cleaning the apartment, going for a stroll in the park and all the usual things you do with toddlers- breakfast, play, snack, play, lunch, play, nap, play, snack. Tiring on those of us who are not used to so much play in our day!!
Also, in Moscow it is currently 60 degrees! We cannot wait to not be hot and sweaty all the time. Gotta go- the kiddos need some more play before we leave for the airport! Hopefully they will fly as well as they drive. We can only pray about that one but hopefully!
Love,
Us
Woo Hoo- in 2 hours we will be on our way to the airport and on the way to Moscow. The gods have smiled on us and we are off to the big city pox free! So, hopefully nothing will develop there but right now we are good to go and the Dr. says we can fly. :)
So, we have spent the day the cleaning the apartment, going for a stroll in the park and all the usual things you do with toddlers- breakfast, play, snack, play, lunch, play, nap, play, snack. Tiring on those of us who are not used to so much play in our day!!
Also, in Moscow it is currently 60 degrees! We cannot wait to not be hot and sweaty all the time. Gotta go- the kiddos need some more play before we leave for the airport! Hopefully they will fly as well as they drive. We can only pray about that one but hopefully!
Love,
Us
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Happy - that is what they said today!
Hi!
Last night Orange finally fell asleep at midnight but Apple was having none of it- she was up all night with me- not crying the whole time, just scared and sad and awake- not in the mood for a cuddle but also not in the mood to sleep or anything else so we sat quietly and did baby massage, I sang to her, we tried snuggly, role play- you name it, we tried it! It was hard all around but Papa came to the rescue this morning (I had let him sleep so we would not both be basket cases today) and made breakfast and took over for a couple hours so Mama could get some sleep.
After everybody got clean and dressed we went off to the photo store for some shots for the visa immigration. Apple was a champ (amazing considering the neglible sleep she got last night) but Orange did not like all the strangers at the photo store so his Visa pic will look at bit teary.
But apparently yesterday's good car behavior was no fluke- they LOVE being in the car- it is safe and with us and no one else yet you can see everything.
Then back home for some lunch of yummy Mama prepared Pelmeni and peas and then- nap time. Orange was out like a light, Apple, not so much. No nap for her but she did sit quietly on her bed for 2 hours while Orange slept. Papa went in and sat with her and snuggled with her for most of it - but still no sleep for our little one. I know she will sleep someday- but I hope it is soon! I took a nap at the same time- YAY!
More play- we have been practicing our English vocabulary - slowly but surely they are picking up new words. The words for today are "Yum" and "Happy" - both of which came out after a snack of yogurt and rice cakes this afternoon. We had been saying them at meals and to each other for a few days and they caught on easily to what they meant! This is awesome and their vocabulary is growing slowly everyday.
That is all for now- if all goes well we will be leaving Novo tomorrow for Moscow. Keep your fingers crossed!
Love,
us
Last night Orange finally fell asleep at midnight but Apple was having none of it- she was up all night with me- not crying the whole time, just scared and sad and awake- not in the mood for a cuddle but also not in the mood to sleep or anything else so we sat quietly and did baby massage, I sang to her, we tried snuggly, role play- you name it, we tried it! It was hard all around but Papa came to the rescue this morning (I had let him sleep so we would not both be basket cases today) and made breakfast and took over for a couple hours so Mama could get some sleep.
After everybody got clean and dressed we went off to the photo store for some shots for the visa immigration. Apple was a champ (amazing considering the neglible sleep she got last night) but Orange did not like all the strangers at the photo store so his Visa pic will look at bit teary.
But apparently yesterday's good car behavior was no fluke- they LOVE being in the car- it is safe and with us and no one else yet you can see everything.
Then back home for some lunch of yummy Mama prepared Pelmeni and peas and then- nap time. Orange was out like a light, Apple, not so much. No nap for her but she did sit quietly on her bed for 2 hours while Orange slept. Papa went in and sat with her and snuggled with her for most of it - but still no sleep for our little one. I know she will sleep someday- but I hope it is soon! I took a nap at the same time- YAY!
More play- we have been practicing our English vocabulary - slowly but surely they are picking up new words. The words for today are "Yum" and "Happy" - both of which came out after a snack of yogurt and rice cakes this afternoon. We had been saying them at meals and to each other for a few days and they caught on easily to what they meant! This is awesome and their vocabulary is growing slowly everyday.
That is all for now- if all goes well we will be leaving Novo tomorrow for Moscow. Keep your fingers crossed!
Love,
us
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
YAY We are a family!!!
HI Everybody-
We are officially a family. It is 11:30pm on Tuesday night and the kiddos, while still in their beds are STILL NOT ASLEEP. That is right, they have decided there is no way, no how, they are going to sleep at all. And, if we leave the room then they are unhappy and we dont want that either. So, right now Papa is in there and I will go relieve him momentarily. I cannot believe they are still awake. We started the 'to bed' process at 8pm- their bedtime- and are still at it. Any advice?
But to give a recap of our wonderful day!
First we went off to the vital records office- a boring place, filled with bureaucrats. Aaron filled out some very unofficial looking paperwork and off our coordinator went to the powers that be. A little while later we were called into an office where this lady handed us very official looking -- new birth certificates- naming Aaron and I the parents of Apple and Orange. Wow, seeing my name, in Russian, as the birth mother- for some reason I didnt actually realize you got a totally new birth certificate with all new info. Kind of surreal to be honest but in a good way. Then we got the adoption certificates and decree, stating that the children are now ours and the 10 day period has ended. YAY! We had to sign about 20 different places- it was crazy she kept handing us papers and saying Mama, Papa, sign here over and over again. No idea what we signed because it was all in Russian but hopefully not led astray! Then she gave a lovely speech about family and we were off.
Next it was to the bank to exchange more $$ for donations to the baby home and then some last minute shopping for some other gifts I hadnt known about before. Then we were off to the Baby Home! We got there around 4pm and the kids were awesome- I mean, totally calm, totally happy- let us change their clothes no problem, happy to read a story while we waited etc. I was so worried, and for nothing! There was one moment of tears when we left and got into the car but that was soon forgotten as we whisked down the highway for 2 hours of sights and sounds they had never heard or seen before. They were so great in the car- so brave and cute and good - very proud! Seatbelts were not their favorite thing so who knows what they will feel about car seats but they were so good anyway!
Then to the apartment- elevators are very very scary if they are tiny, old, Russian, noisy and you have never ever seen one before. Once we got over that and up to our 9th floor apartment things were great. We fed them a light dinner and they loved it- had 3rds and 4ths of things but here is a shocker, Orange, who we thought would eat anything, will not eat hard boiled eggs. Nope. Very interesting.
Then onto bathtime- Apple was so awesome- she loved the bath, great at brushing her teeth, combing her hair etc. She didnt even mind me washing her hair. Orange was also a trooper to be sure and cute as a button-- he doesnt like to have his hair washed and brushing his teeth was not high on his list of favorite things but they both love being wrapped in big fluffy towels to dry off. :) So adorable.
Then a story, a snack and a cuddle. Things are going well, right. You are all reading along thinking- Wow, even though Sarah and Aaron have never parented a moment in their life, they are doing a pretty bang up job of it. Well, here is where the wheels come off the cart. Bed time. Yup, at 8pm we put them down- lots of tears, scared, unhappy. Get that sorted out, but no sleep. If we leave the room Orange is out of his bed runnng around and Apple is sitting in her bed crying. She still has not even laid down- she would not even take her shoes off until 10:45pm (she had put them on again with her jammies after her bath- apparently this is common with kids from baby homes- their shoes disappear onto other kids if they do not guard them so she is feeling quite attached to her new pink sparkly sandals). So, at least we have her shoes off now! I will let you all know how it goes if and when we ever go to sleep but for now we are HAPPY, THRILLED, and TIRED.
Love,
Us
We are officially a family. It is 11:30pm on Tuesday night and the kiddos, while still in their beds are STILL NOT ASLEEP. That is right, they have decided there is no way, no how, they are going to sleep at all. And, if we leave the room then they are unhappy and we dont want that either. So, right now Papa is in there and I will go relieve him momentarily. I cannot believe they are still awake. We started the 'to bed' process at 8pm- their bedtime- and are still at it. Any advice?
But to give a recap of our wonderful day!
First we went off to the vital records office- a boring place, filled with bureaucrats. Aaron filled out some very unofficial looking paperwork and off our coordinator went to the powers that be. A little while later we were called into an office where this lady handed us very official looking -- new birth certificates- naming Aaron and I the parents of Apple and Orange. Wow, seeing my name, in Russian, as the birth mother- for some reason I didnt actually realize you got a totally new birth certificate with all new info. Kind of surreal to be honest but in a good way. Then we got the adoption certificates and decree, stating that the children are now ours and the 10 day period has ended. YAY! We had to sign about 20 different places- it was crazy she kept handing us papers and saying Mama, Papa, sign here over and over again. No idea what we signed because it was all in Russian but hopefully not led astray! Then she gave a lovely speech about family and we were off.
Next it was to the bank to exchange more $$ for donations to the baby home and then some last minute shopping for some other gifts I hadnt known about before. Then we were off to the Baby Home! We got there around 4pm and the kids were awesome- I mean, totally calm, totally happy- let us change their clothes no problem, happy to read a story while we waited etc. I was so worried, and for nothing! There was one moment of tears when we left and got into the car but that was soon forgotten as we whisked down the highway for 2 hours of sights and sounds they had never heard or seen before. They were so great in the car- so brave and cute and good - very proud! Seatbelts were not their favorite thing so who knows what they will feel about car seats but they were so good anyway!
Then to the apartment- elevators are very very scary if they are tiny, old, Russian, noisy and you have never ever seen one before. Once we got over that and up to our 9th floor apartment things were great. We fed them a light dinner and they loved it- had 3rds and 4ths of things but here is a shocker, Orange, who we thought would eat anything, will not eat hard boiled eggs. Nope. Very interesting.
Then onto bathtime- Apple was so awesome- she loved the bath, great at brushing her teeth, combing her hair etc. She didnt even mind me washing her hair. Orange was also a trooper to be sure and cute as a button-- he doesnt like to have his hair washed and brushing his teeth was not high on his list of favorite things but they both love being wrapped in big fluffy towels to dry off. :) So adorable.
Then a story, a snack and a cuddle. Things are going well, right. You are all reading along thinking- Wow, even though Sarah and Aaron have never parented a moment in their life, they are doing a pretty bang up job of it. Well, here is where the wheels come off the cart. Bed time. Yup, at 8pm we put them down- lots of tears, scared, unhappy. Get that sorted out, but no sleep. If we leave the room Orange is out of his bed runnng around and Apple is sitting in her bed crying. She still has not even laid down- she would not even take her shoes off until 10:45pm (she had put them on again with her jammies after her bath- apparently this is common with kids from baby homes- their shoes disappear onto other kids if they do not guard them so she is feeling quite attached to her new pink sparkly sandals). So, at least we have her shoes off now! I will let you all know how it goes if and when we ever go to sleep but for now we are HAPPY, THRILLED, and TIRED.
Love,
Us
Monday, July 28, 2008
One more day!
Hi everybody-
well, we just got back from the baby home and we had a great visit. They tell us they are giving us custody tomorrow "for sure" as the kiddos have no signs (knock wood) of CP and they do not think they were exposed now (grain of salt). But the plan is for us to go do some paperwork related to the passports in the morning and then go to the BH in the afternoon- laden with lots of "presents" and such for everyone there. Then we get to change the kiddos into their new clothes and off we go! Then home to the apartment and we spend Weds and Thursday together hanging out and waiting for their passports and then off to Moscow on Thursday night if all goes well!
Today was really funny- Apple had on a bride of frankenstein getup in blood red and gold thread- I wish I could post a pic here! And Orange was his usual cute self, and we all had lots of fun playing with balloons and blocks.
That is all we have to say today- tonight is our last night as parents with no kids so we are going out to dinner.
Love,
Us
well, we just got back from the baby home and we had a great visit. They tell us they are giving us custody tomorrow "for sure" as the kiddos have no signs (knock wood) of CP and they do not think they were exposed now (grain of salt). But the plan is for us to go do some paperwork related to the passports in the morning and then go to the BH in the afternoon- laden with lots of "presents" and such for everyone there. Then we get to change the kiddos into their new clothes and off we go! Then home to the apartment and we spend Weds and Thursday together hanging out and waiting for their passports and then off to Moscow on Thursday night if all goes well!
Today was really funny- Apple had on a bride of frankenstein getup in blood red and gold thread- I wish I could post a pic here! And Orange was his usual cute self, and we all had lots of fun playing with balloons and blocks.
That is all we have to say today- tonight is our last night as parents with no kids so we are going out to dinner.
Love,
Us
Friday, July 25, 2008
1, 2, 3 breathe, breathe, breathe
Hi All-
So we got to go to the baby home again today! YAY! The babies seem to be just fine - they were laughing and we played pretty hard for 2 hours. Today we brought an apple with us (a real one, not just Apple products) and you would have thought it was Christmas and Easter all rolled into one. Those 2 will sit quietly and read a whole book if they know a "yablaka" piece is coming their way. This was super cute. Apple (the child) was not 100% happy when she came in but soon shed that with a cookie and some water and a new coloring book.
And guess what, she said "1, 2, 3" with me as we were counting doggies in one of the books! YES! These are her first English words. It was, of course, followed by a long conversation in Russian about her hair- mostly I think about her desire for a barrette (she arrived this afternoon with a haircut- a mullet- and neither she nor I think it suits her) but I only got about 50% of that down. And then lots of crazy play with the big blocks and puzzles.
Orange had his first real meltdown today- after being told "nyet" about something. But Aaron was a champ and got him through it with yoga breathing and a time in. And then it was all forgotten and off to play.
For some reason the baby home director is "sure" they did not contract the chicken pox and that it will all be fine. Not sure what inside info she has going on but I can tell you that I am going with this info. I know it could all be out the window tomorrow or sometime before we leave but I just need to believe that everything will happen on schedule and we will leave Thursday, with 2 healthy kiddos, for Moscow! So, everyone else- positive thoughts too please!
We have a long weekend of nada in front of us- no baby visits until Monday but we are going to clean the apartment, go shopping for toddler food etc so it should be okay. :)
Love,
Sarah & Aaron
So we got to go to the baby home again today! YAY! The babies seem to be just fine - they were laughing and we played pretty hard for 2 hours. Today we brought an apple with us (a real one, not just Apple products) and you would have thought it was Christmas and Easter all rolled into one. Those 2 will sit quietly and read a whole book if they know a "yablaka" piece is coming their way. This was super cute. Apple (the child) was not 100% happy when she came in but soon shed that with a cookie and some water and a new coloring book.
And guess what, she said "1, 2, 3" with me as we were counting doggies in one of the books! YES! These are her first English words. It was, of course, followed by a long conversation in Russian about her hair- mostly I think about her desire for a barrette (she arrived this afternoon with a haircut- a mullet- and neither she nor I think it suits her) but I only got about 50% of that down. And then lots of crazy play with the big blocks and puzzles.
Orange had his first real meltdown today- after being told "nyet" about something. But Aaron was a champ and got him through it with yoga breathing and a time in. And then it was all forgotten and off to play.
For some reason the baby home director is "sure" they did not contract the chicken pox and that it will all be fine. Not sure what inside info she has going on but I can tell you that I am going with this info. I know it could all be out the window tomorrow or sometime before we leave but I just need to believe that everything will happen on schedule and we will leave Thursday, with 2 healthy kiddos, for Moscow! So, everyone else- positive thoughts too please!
We have a long weekend of nada in front of us- no baby visits until Monday but we are going to clean the apartment, go shopping for toddler food etc so it should be okay. :)
Love,
Sarah & Aaron
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Friday Morning in Novosibirsk
Hi Everybody-
Just a quick post to say no new news yet. We didnt get to see the babies yesterday (we knew that we would not, it was not on our every other day schedule) but if all goes as planned we will get to go this afternoon to see them!
So, no word on the chicken pox issue either- please everyone just keep your fingers and toes crossed that it passed over them- we will know by Tuesday hopefully one way or the other and as you all know I am all in favor of us leaving Novo for Moscow on Thursday as planned.
The good news is that if we have to stay for longer we think we should be able to stay in our apartment (80% chance) rather than have to move someplace else. And, of course, Aaron would get to see the eclipse - Uncle Peter, he will have a full report for you!
So, everybody think positive no chicken pox thoughts and we will keep you posted.
Love,
Sarah and Aaron
Just a quick post to say no new news yet. We didnt get to see the babies yesterday (we knew that we would not, it was not on our every other day schedule) but if all goes as planned we will get to go this afternoon to see them!
So, no word on the chicken pox issue either- please everyone just keep your fingers and toes crossed that it passed over them- we will know by Tuesday hopefully one way or the other and as you all know I am all in favor of us leaving Novo for Moscow on Thursday as planned.
The good news is that if we have to stay for longer we think we should be able to stay in our apartment (80% chance) rather than have to move someplace else. And, of course, Aaron would get to see the eclipse - Uncle Peter, he will have a full report for you!
So, everybody think positive no chicken pox thoughts and we will keep you posted.
Love,
Sarah and Aaron
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