Still the Sweetest Boys Ever!!

Our weather has stayed very warm until just recently. I wanted to share a sweet picture I took just before we went into our Sacrament Meeting at church. It was taken just a few weeks ago. Aren't they just adorable? I love Alexander in his "Southern Fancy Pants", and hope you Northerners will forgive me for dressing him this way. It is a true "Deep South" Southern tradition, and is ACTUALLY Remmy's outfit he wore 12 years ago when he was a baby!! WHAT am I doing with the same exact outfit my older son wore over a decade ago, you ask?? Well....unfortunately, I am a packrat......I told you I needed to clean my house!! I had better get crackin' !!!

Life is What Happens While We are Making Plans!!

WOW!! Is life ever busy!! Between three children in three different schools, one baby still at home. a football player, a cheerleader (cheering for the football games...now for the basketball games...all 112 of them including the 9th grade, the JV and the Varsity), wrestling season (ugh! I hate it when they squeeze, smash, and get sweat all over my son!!), drama club and the two performances so far (Charlotte's Web and the Christmas Pageant), band concerts, band competition and travel performances, soccer season for Kylen (which, by the way....they call "foot ball in Russia),church activities, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and....HOMEWORK!!....working for me (oh, and by the way I took a second job temporarily.....mainly because I was "temporarily insane", and shopping for food, and cooking, etc.etc.etc......OH! Did I forget to mention "cleaning the house"?? Well, that must be because it has NOT been done in a while!! HA!! Oh, I know....I have a day off from work tomorrow....THAT is what I can do in my spare time! I have had so many aspirations for this blog....and all of them have seem to have gone by the wayside......and lost in the flurry and hustle and bustle of everyday lifes schedule. I am hoping to make a resolution to blog because I really want to make a contribution that matters, and provide help for those who are seeking answers, and I know some of you are just plain curious as to how we are all doing. I am thinking now maybe I should just blog to save my own sanity!! Somewhere out there in the world, I have some interested readers.....or I wouldn't have over 10,000 readers looking at my blog!! So...as my Mother would say...."Come on Susan, Get it together!!"

Kitties, and Turtles, and Strawberries......OH MY!!

Ok...I guess I need a little help in the organization department, because after writing all these nice notes on bonding and attachment, and setting them aside for a time when I could post them......I CAN'T FIND THEM!! So...I keep waiting and hoping they will turn up, and then I will discuss the topic.....but, tonight I said to myself "What if I never find the list, and I don't blog again for months??" So, I decided to throw in the towel and write on some other happenings, and as sure as I start to ignore my obsession (trying to locate the lost list)....I will find it!! Right?? Well, that is my new theory and I am sticking to it!! Yesterday when Sasha and I were leaving the house, there was a little box turtle on the cement walkway! This turtle was soon joined by the little kitty that adopted our family this past summer. (There was this kitten that showed up in the garage when we were keeping the puppies there in a little fenced enclosure in the garage). Oh, did I forget to say that in May we had 4 puppies that we sold (finally!!) and so this little kitty would sneak into the garage and curl up with the puppies and sleep with them. It was a wild kitty someone abandoned, but finally now after a couple of months it is finally warming up to us. So back to the turtle.....after waiting 10 minutes for him to pop out of his shell (He clamped down hard when Sasha picked him up and started waving him wildly in the air!!), we decided to get a plastic container and keep him (just for a few days) and then release him again. Sasha was so excited to have the turtle in the container! We gave the turtle a strawberry to eat, and Sasha was thrilled to see this little creature take bites out of the berry. What cute giggling sounds he made! It was such a refreshing sight to see a little boy have this new and fresh experience!

ONLINE AGAIN!!

Whew!! I am so relieved to be back up and running again (in the abstract sense, of course)! I has some problems with blogger, and was unable to sign in to my account. After much toil and testing of my patience, I figured out the problem. Sorry about the delay.....so the next post will begin discussing our successful strategies for bonding and attachment. There are some differences for the different ages, as one might suspect. I hope you will find these useful, and find success as well for your bonding experience.

MY TOP TEN BONDING AND ATTACHMENT STRATEGIES

During my "mission" to adopt, and during my information gathering stage on adoption, I read a lot of literature. This literature was not only from authorities on bonding, including developmental psychologists and their various theories, but also personal stories of other adoptive parents. Some of these stories did not have the happiest of endings, as some of these became disrupted adoptions (children returned.....or sent to another home). Some of these stories with unhappy endings do not progress to disruption, but the bonding didn't occur, and the children did not become attached to the parent/parents. I was very worried about this. Of course, I had my experience with my five biological children, which I am sure, gave me a little insight. However, this situation would be different. In addition to me being a perfect stranger to my newly adopted children, these new children had special needs. They were abused, abandoned, and an inate "self-preservation" mode had taken over. How could I get these children to trust again? This was my quest !! I am so happy to announce that both of my boys are totally attached to me. Little Alexander is "Mama's Baby", and Kylen constantly asks me when are my next days off from work, so I am home with him after school!! They run to me and squeeze me so hard when they see me! I am so happy that we have bonded and attached in this special way! So, I have decided to share my information and strategies with you, in hopes that some of these things may be successful for you as well. I am currently working on the two lists, with some differences, of the top ten strategies for bonding with a toddler, and with an older child. I will share the toddler list first, with the next posting. Oh, and P.S. Today is my BIRTHDAY!! What a wonderful present I have this year.....two sweet, adorable boys that both love to be around me, and love their new home in America!! We are blessed!!

FINALLY PLAYING TOGETHER !!

What fun the boys are having!! When we first came home, they did not know how to play with each other! Kylen had not lived with his baby brother since the baby was 2 months old. He had been placed in an Orphanage boarding school for children age 6 to age 18. He knew how to play with older children, but not a baby or a toddler. Unless one has "grown up" with a baby or toddler in the family, one does not know how to interact with them, nor how to play. The same for Alexander. He was only used to the small toddlers in his groupa. The first week we had them home, they were like two children in the same room, but there was no interaction between them, nor was there really any interest. Not only were these brothers at different ages developmentally, but they were essentially "strangers" to one another!! They did not even know each other! Through the summer they have slowly progressed. Now they play together, and Kylen very often takes Alexander's hand and holds it in his own. These boys are so cute together, and they are finally having the brotherly companionship that was taken from them over two years ago!! What a joy to see them playing so happily together!!

MY TWO SUPERBOYS !!

I am not sure if Kylen and Alexander really know who Superman is.....but they have certainly had fun wearing these P.J.'s and flying around the house with their capes flowing in the wind behind them!! They feel empowered and invincible!! They have a sense of belonging!! That is what families do for you!!

LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHILE WE ARE MAKING PLANS !!

Wow! What a fast and busy summer!! We have been enjoying the boys everyday and they are both doing so well!! I have had so many ideas about successes and failures that I have wanted to share with you concerning our adventures in bonding and attaching with the boys. I have vowed to post two blogs per week on Thursdays and on Sundays sharing helpful hints and suggestions that worked well for our situation. We truly are blessed to have these two beautiful boys, and have certainly had our share of "two steps forward, and one step back". I must say, however, even at the most difficult of times, the journey has been incredibly rewarding, and SOOOOOOOO worth it!! I hope you will continue to share this entertaining and exciting journey with us as we continue bonding with our new children!! Stay tuned for more!!

A Conversation With Kylen

The following is an actual conversation that occurred about one hour after a feeding frenzy with watermelon. Kylen LOVED it and kept eating and eating and eating. Kylen: "Mama (pronounced Maaaaaa-mah.....said in a whine), Hungry!!! Me: "You are hungry?" Kylen: "Yes" Me: " How can you be hungry??? You just ate about one thousand pieces of watermelon!!" Kylen: "Maaaaaaa-mah, no.....not a thousand!!" Me: " Well, OK, not a thousand, but you ate a lot!! How many did you eat??" Kylen: "Ten, maybe." Me: "Dah, (Yes) that is how many you ate.....exactly ten pieces!!" Notice how I am the only one speaking Russian here!!

Kylen's First Day of School !!

Since we arrived home from the Motherland (inserting a little humor here...ha!) we have been able to alternate our work schedules so that one of us is always at home with the boys. This has been working out very well for their attachment to us and it has also given us an opportunity to work on Kylen's English. He has made excellent progress (I'll tell you about a couple of conversations we had earlier this week......I'll try to write about them tomorrow), however, he had really started to be a little bit bored, especially now that Tavia and Remmy are off to various and sundry camps (church, cheer, boy scouts, football, etc.).....so......Kylen has been ESPECIALLY bored with them gone!! I found a little independent school using the Montesorri (wow....I guess if I am going to use it then I should learn how to spell it!!). At any rate, he went today and looked abit displaced as I left him there. I am happy to report that he thoroughly enjoyed his first day of school! He was quite happy and very social with all of the kids. It was truely a successful day!! He can hardly wait to get there tomorrow!! We are thrilled!!

UPDATE ! ! ! !

OK......I am ashamed that I have not kept up with our blog for the last month and one half (give or take a week!!). Time has certainly gotten away from me!! Our life has been more than a little crazy with adjusting to new family members!! Of course, it has not been easy for the boys either!! The front door of our house reminds me of one of those big revolving, circular doors you find at the entrance to a fancy hotel!! Someone is always coming and going......and now one daughter is home from College for the summer, one daughter has moved back home in order to attend college, and one son was here for a short visit once his College semester was over. And.....the poor kids have not even met two of their siblings......an older brother and sister that live in Seattle, Washington!! I know this is a crazy life for them, and I keep waiting for Kylen and Alexander to hug and embrace the mail lady ( in rural Missouri we do not have a mailman...but a lady!) thinking she MUST be some family member, too!! The first thing I want to say is that if you survive the first month home with your newly adopted child/children (and YOU WILL), then you are going to make it!!! The first month was so hard....but I learned some tricks to the trade that made life SO MUCH easier, and I shall share them later!! We are in such a better place now than when we first arrived home, and we are all doing well.......more on that to come as well!! The next obstacle we have overcome that hindered our blogging ability was that dadblasted dial-up!! HOORAY!! We have high speed!! On that note and with our new found technology, I promise to post pictures later this week!! Stay tuned!! There are some really good stories to tell!!

FINALLY !!!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for Dawn and Joe. By way of update, their courtdate is postponed until the 19th...and the decision will be final. So....keep those prayers coming that they will be granted the adoption. The birthmother is only 17 and is 5 months pregnant again, with no job or place to live. She cannot possibly take care of one baby, much less two!! I apologize for my tardiness, but I also thank you all for the support you have shown us. We are so blessed to have our two boys. I got really bummed out last week. I was viewing our pictures of Russia and Moscow on the digital camera, as I was going to take them to the store and print off all the photos....plus Tavia is to give a presentation to all of the 8th grade history classes on Russia.......only the memory card had a "glitch" in it and now NONE of the pictures of Russia come up....(and no, I did not save or download it on my laptop previously!! DUH!!) WOW!! And I am somebody's doctor!! Scarey, huh? OK......so as I am whining and crying about my pictures being gone......I am reminded that we have our little boys at home with us. Many of you wonderful, loving people I have met over these adoption blogs, have lost referrals or had failed adoptions. I realized how lucky I was to have lost the pictures....but to have the boys here in our family. I know so many of you have pain and are trying to heal....because you have the pictures and memories, but not the child. I am so very, very grateful. Suddenly, my loss of some "pictures" in the overall scheme of things, was not so insurmountable!! OK.....so now you all know, I really am PollyAnna. Tomorrow night.......the final installment of our court date!!

Call for Prayer!!

Hello Everyone!! We have had such a busy week! I promise to post tomorrow night. Right now I have an important prayer request!! Please pray for Joe and Dawn who have a court date on the 17th in Kazakstan. They are facing opposition from the birth Mother, who didn't wants her child to be raised in an orphanage rather than live with Americans. Please pray for them!!

Court - The Final Chaper -- Part II

The next person to address the judge was Ludmila, the Director of the Orutukan Boarding School, where Kylen attended school. She told the Judge of our first meeting with Kylen. She told how he was very afraid and frightened. She stated that shortly after coming into the same room with us, he began crying and sobbing uncontrollably. She commented that she was quite surprised at his extreme emotional response. She stated she did not expect this. But, upon questioning Kylen, he stated that seeing us reminded him of the last time he was with his biological Mama and Papa, and that it was very painful for him. Ludmila explained to the Judge how I began to read to him and point to the pictures in the book, to get his mind off of being afraid. She stated that he slowly began to feel more comfortable with us. Then Ludmila began to tell the judge of the abuse that Kylen had endured. She told of when the parents used to get drunk and beat him. She told of the time that he ran away from the father, in the middle of winter, in minus 60 degree temperatures, when he was trying to get away from a beating. Kylen was probably around age 4 to 5. His father was drunk, and when he staggered just a minute, Kylen grabbed his coat, but could not find his boots. He had to flee quickly in order to escape his father’s grasp. He ran out into the snow and his feet sustained horrible frostbite damage. He was treated at a hospital for apparently, sometime. When we petitioned to adopt Kylen, he had to be taken back to the same hospital for a medical examination, required by Russian law. Ludmila stated that about 20 to 30 minutes away, as soon as Kylen realized he was going back to that hospital, he began to get sick, and began throwing up, due to remembering the trauma and stress of his frostbite episode. She then told the Judge that the next day we visited with Kylen, he was very comfortable with us, and told her that he wanted to go live in America with a family and live their with his brother. She told the Judge of the picture album we furnished him with that had pictures of all of our pets, and other children and of our home. Ludmila told the Judge that Kylen had every person and pet in the book memorized, and that he went around the school telling others that this was his Mama and Papa, and told the names of the cat and dogs, and that this was his new home. She stated how he was so happy to have a new home with parents, and that he was happy that he would be living in a home with his brother. Ludmila also stated that he had memorized the names of all of the people and animals in the photo album we had given him. She said he had told all of the children and teachers at the boarding school all about his new family in America and the names of his new dogs and the name of his cat. She told the Judge that she felt very positive about Kylen (Denis) being adopted by us, She also told the Judge that again, no other family had stepped forward to adopt these boys. She again told the Judge that she felt this was a good thing for the boys and that we would be very good parents for them. She stated she based this on the interaction she saw between us and Kylen. She also had observed us in the baby home with both Kylen and Sasha. She stated the way we related to the boys was very good. Then, she looked at me (instead of the Judge) and she told me that she hoped I would try very hard to keep Kylen Denis speaking his native language. She realized that he would need to concentrate on learning English, but she also wanted to preserve his heritage by having him remember about his culture and about his language. I felt the burden of finding a way to keep him reading, writing, and speaking Russian.

Court - The Final Chapter ...Part One

The “Cast of the Court” , as they are called, now give their input. The Judge first began with Svetlana, the representative from the Guardianship Department. The Judge asked her how our first visit went with the children, and what she observed. Svetlana stated that at first Sasha was calm, and sat quietly next to us. She stated that he had a “calm nature” like Wayne had a calm nature ( I don’t know……that is just what she said!!). Then she stated that Sasha then got up from the couch with one of the caregivers and ran and played actively in the living room of the groupa. The representative told the judge that she observed us to be very attentive to Sasha, and that we brought things for him to play with, and little snacks for him to eat. She testified that the child seemed to be comfortable with us and warmed up very nicely to us. She said she observed our meeting together to be very positive and felt that we would be good parents to Sasha. She said she would recommend us to be Sasha’s new parents. She also stated that after all the time that Sasha and his brother had been on the Federal Data Bank, that no Russian families had stepped forward to adopt them, and even though the Guardianship Department had tried very hard to find the children parents, they were unable to find a family to adopt these two boys. She told the Judge that she was in favor of us adopting these boys. The next person to address the Court was the Chief Social Worker for the Baby Home. She stated to the judge how Sasha came to be taken away from his parents, and how he and his brother were placed in a Rehabilitation Home to give the parents an opportunity to be rehabilitated, in order to keep the custody of their children. She told the Judge that when Sasha was only 6 months old, and still in the Rehabilitation Home, that a Russian family saw him, and wanted to adopt him. However, he was not eligible for adoption at that point in time, as the parental rights were not terminated as of yet. The family decided they did not want to wait until he was eligible for adoption. She again stated the point that now that the children are eligible for adoption, and were registered with the data bank, no other families have come forward to express interest in either or both of these two children. The Chief Social worker told the Judge that she felt this was possibly the only chance for Sasha and his brother to be adopted together.

My Second Question

The Judge asked me if I had anything else to add to what my husband had said. I took this opportunity to become the “clean-up hitter”!! I stated again how important family was to us. I told the Judge how much we enjoyed our children now at home, and that we were still very close to them even though they are working jobs or attending college. I also said that keeping Kylen in touch with his Russian heritage was also important to us. I told the Judge that about 2 to 3 hours away from our home was a Russian Center (located in St. Louis). It is actually a museum called the Children’s Worldways Museum. Inside the building is divided into sections for children adopted from Russia, China, Guatamala and South America, Phillipines, and Korea, etc. Each month they hold a special program focusing in on the culture of these countries. It is a fantastic opportunity for the kids to learn all about where they come from. I explained that I planned on utilizing this so that Kylen would continue to learn about Russia. The museum is also managed by a Russian woman. I have met with this woman previously, and she has stated she would help us with our son, and also help him retain his native Russian language. I again emphasized all the positive resources available to us to use with Kylen, and how we were so looking forward to being able to utilize these resources to help him continue with his language skills

My Turn in Court

Wayne had just explained why we wanted to adopt more children, and how he would handle boys differently than girls, since he had two biological children that were girls. He was also asked what type of special tutoring we would provide for Kylen to help him learn English, and get him ready to attend school in America. Then it was my turn. I really was only asked a couple of questions. The Judge asked me why didn't we adopt children from America? I replied there were two reasons why. First, I stated I had five biological children of my own, and generally, young children in the U. S. were given to families that have no children of their own, and therefore, I would not have been chosen. Secondly, in the U. S. it is very difficult to get the parental rights terminated, in the case of caring for foster children that the family is trying to adopt. In many cases, the child will live with you for 2 or even 3 years and then be taken away to give the parents another chance. I told the Judge that being a very close family was important to me. Having a child join our family, and then be ripped away from us after we are all bonded together, is something I could never do to my children, and something I would not be able to endure. In Russia, the parents rights have already been terminated, and if we were granted permission to adopt these two brothers, they would become part of Our Forever Family.

One Child or Two?

I almost wanted to call this blog...."One Lump or Two?" HA!! In our weekly adoption chat online we have through our agency, the discussion came up to adopt one child at a time or to adopt two? My personal opinion is this.....if you are wanting more than one child, then I would definitely go for two children at the same time. Yes, it is a bit harder at first, but besides being more financially economical, it is really, in the long run......A LOT EASIER than having another homestudy by some confused social worker...... redoing all the endless paperwork with notarizing and apostilling.....taking time off (from work, make arrangements for someone to take care of the rest of your family, find someone to feed your dogs and water the plants....etc.) for two separate plane trips to parts unknown (truly where angels fear to tread) and the general hassel and stress of it all, it is easier to bite the bullet and bring home the two kids, than to go back and do it all over again. Well......that is my vote at least. It was right for our family and our situation. Only you can decide what is right for yours.

"Tell Me, Please"

The Judge began her interrogation. She began every sentence with "Ska-ZHIT-tee Pah-ZHA-owl-stah.........which means ....."Tell me, Please". Poor Wayne......he kept answering questions and again she would start with the "tell me, please"!! She wanted to know from Wayne how he would handle boys, since he had only girls biologically. The Judge told him that girls are very different from boys.....and how would he handle this. Wayne stated he had a very calm nature, and felt that calmness would help handle any problem or situation he would encounter with the boys. Again she says....."Tell me, please....." "Why do you want to adopt from Russia?" Why Russia? Wayne stated he has always been fascinated with the Russian Culture, and interested in Russia. He told her that since we have been married we have wanted to add children to our family, and felt this would be a good time to do so. This was our desire, to have more children. She then said "Tell me, please" ....."How do the other biological children feel about bringing these children into the family?" We told her they were very supportive. Although, we had called her earlier that morning to see if our children in Magadan (Tavia and Remmy) could attend court with us. The Judge said absolutely not.....she did not allow children in the Court Room.....but then, that was one of the biggest things she wanted elaboration on......."How did the children feel about adopting these boys?" Now....of course, she could have asked them in person, but she didn't allow them to come to the Court. Ahh....another mixed message!!

Continuing On with the Court Story

Before Court started that morning, Wayne and I had already discussed it and had decided that I should be the one to answer and field most of the questions, as I felt the best prepared for our Court appointment. However, apparently the Judge did not want to hear from me……she directed all the questions to Wayne!! So much for our plan!! After our initial introductions, the Judge asked Wayne what was his impression of the boys. After she heard his answer, she directed a question to me that was “How did you find the children?”. To this question…..I was a bit confused. Surely the Judge knows that families that are adopting can only be referred a child from the MOE…..and surely she knows that our agency, Alaska International Adoptions, is the only agency that has been working in Magadan since the whole reaccreditation deal!!! ???? !!! I mean……I just stood there (you must stand whenever the Judge addresses you). So there I am, standing there…..all of this running through my mind, and I know she cannot be asking me any of these questions……because the answers are so obvious ( and Zoya is right there translating for me!!)!! Finally, I clarify, and say…”Do you mean how did we find the children when we met them?” “Yes”, the Judge replied. Well, that is not what I thought she meant!! I briefly told her about our encounter with the children, and how initially Kylen was afraid and cried, but that he really “warmed up” to us by the second day. Our visit with Sasha went very well, too. I told the Judge that he seemed happy and appeared to be comfortable with us. I told her both the children were very well cared for. The Judge brought up the fact that we both had biological children of our own, and she wanted to know why we wanted to adopt. We explained that we love our children and enjoy them so much. We told her we had a happy family and we wanted to continue to expand our family and share that love with more children. With that explanation, she turned to the page in our homestudy that explained why we wanted to adopt…..and read it word for word ( I guess to see if it matched????) !! Luckily for us, it said the same thing we had just recited in Court!!

More on Court

Something Awesome Happened Today!!

The last two days with the boys have been great!! Admittedly, the last two days have been Wayne's days to stay home.....and my days to work!! Maybe they save the acting our for Mom!! At any rate.....the kids seem to be back on track!! Today we went to our local Community College and met two of the basketball players (on scholarship to the College) who are .......RUSSIAN!!! Is that awesome or what??? You should have seen the HUGE smile on Kylen's face when he heard them " gah -vaht- EE- tee Pah- ROO- ski" (speak Russian)!! We had him ask Kylen if he liked it here in America? "Dah" , he said. We had them ask he if he liked living with his Mama and Papa? "Dah", he said. I thought he would elaborate a little more with someone speaking Russian, but he was kind of shy. But I am really happy because these two basketball players can be his interpreter for his Academic Assessment that the school system wants to give him. It is important for your school age child to have an assessment in their native language (preferentually) within the first 3 months of coming to America. The school system is supposed to provide this......but here in Podunk, USA, we have to provide our own interpreter!! Oh....the school system did offer to pur our child in the Special Education Class this fall!! Whatever!! At any rate.....it is important to have the assessment in their own language so you can determine what is a learning disability, academic deficit, etc...... versus them not understanding the language ( i.e. such as waiting and doing the assessment in English........and them possibly not understanding the English enough to score well, and it would be a false assessment of their true level of learned knowlege. So these guys are going to be helping us out.......cool, huh? Oh, and get this.......(this is HILARIOUS!!)! We were leaving the gym today after meeting Vitaly and Artem, and I smiled at Kylen, and pointed to the boys and said "Ya Roo-ski"! I repeated and pointed to them (meaning they are Russian)! He (Kylen) turned to me, raised up his shoulders ( as if to say "so??") and smiled at me.....pointed to himself and said " Ya ung- GLEE- ski!!" Saying......."I am English... (or American is what he meant!!). The kid cracked me up!! Can you imagine it!! Dear Blogger friends, I apologize for the brief hiatus......but I promise....the rest of the Court story this weekend!!

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back!!

(Late Post) Well, I was warned by some of you that some of the very best days the children have are followed by some very difficult ones. Earlier this week was a trying time….so I apologize for the delay in posts!! The boys had a lot of crying and acting out. But….not to worry…..as I have heard so many of you say……and I have also read comments regarding this……that this is is a good sign. The children are feeling as though they can trust us to still accept them, even if they have bad behavior. I still feel we are making progress……but this is still a hard time right now.

The Cast of the Court

The cast of the Court ( as our agency facilitator, Zoya, called it.....consisted of six people. They were......the Judge ( a female), the Prosecutor, the representative from the Guardianship Department (this was Svetlana, who observed us with Sasha the first meeting), the Chief Social Worker of the Magadan Specialized Baby Home, the Director of the Orutukan Boarding School (Ludmila) where Kylen attended school and lived), and, of course (kon-YESH-nah), the Court Recorder. As we began the proceedings, the Judge asked both of us (through Zoya, our interpreter)......she asked if we accepted that Zoya would be our interpreter for these proceedings, and if we trusted her to interpret correctly and honestly. We both stated that we trusted her and would accept her translation and interpretation as being in our best interest, as well as being honest. With that......we began!!

Court Preview

This week I shall be writing about our experience in Court. It will be divided into several parts as our Court lasted over 3 hours!! Now, we did have a difficult Judge, but she was more the type that was very compulsive and wanted to go over everything in complete detail......I mean she even read pages from our home study!! It really was not that she was doubting our ability to be good parents (although she asked some difficult questions, I thought!!), the long time in court was due more to her wanting to be completely through!! So this week.......will be the story of Court !! Stay tuned!!

HEY!! Still More Progress!!

WOW!! Tonight is the second night in a row that Kylen, our big boy, is sleeping in his own bed!! YAHOO!! Last night I celebrated being in my own bedroom WITH THE LIGHTS ON!! I watched a very scarey movie.....which made my adrenalin surge....so I was up late, and I was trying to catch up on all the blogs I have been unable to read of late. It was really so great to be relaxing in my own bedroom, making all of the noise I want, and flipping the TV channels. Then I came upon the scarey movie (about some kind of exorcism) and so I just keep on reading, and watching TV. I have not done that in forever!! It was a bit tough to put in 13 hours at the hospital today......but I made it. And now......another evening of having our bedroom just occupied by the parents (oh....and two dogs....and a cat.....all asleep on our bed)!! Oh, Well!! It was a good try! We almost made it sleeping alone at night!!

How to Have a Happy Flight

Our boys are super travelers!! They did so well on the journey home, and we had such a long way to go!! The trick to traveling with a toddler on an airplane is to have 2 bags of Gerber dehydrated bananas and strawberries. Those work like magic! They are little tiny bits of fruit that would take forever to fill you up when eating them, and they are so yummy that your little person will be preoccupied with eating them one at a time in his little plastic bowl. The other very helpful item was a bottle!! Even though our boy had not taken a bottle in over a year, he figured it out on the plane, and believe me......it was helpful!! Having your toddler take a bottle, even when they have been weaned from it, is very helpful for attachment issues. It is good for your toddler to see you as the person providing their needs, and to learn how to trust that their needs will be met. I am guessing it helped with the changes in the altitude pressure on their ears as neither of the boys had the slightest problem with it! For our older boy, we took lots of activity books, mazes, and coloring pages to keep him occupied. He made seven trips to the bathroom on the airplane!! I am sure he did not "have to go" that frequently, but he enjoyed playing with the water, and I am sure he enjoyed the new found freedom of going by himself!! Overall, the boys traveled so well!! I hope you journey home is just as successful!!

A Successful Day!!

We are definitely making progress!! Today Sasha came to me three times for comfort!! He also came up voluntarily and hugged my legs for the first time!! (We were outside and I was standing up…..hence he grabbed around my legs). He is sleeping a little more than he usually does, perhaps it is because he is teething and doesn’t always feel that well….but today I had to wake Sasha up at 10:00am and he still took a 3 hour nap…..I had to wake him at 4:00pm, in order to go to pick up Tav and Rem from track practice after school today, and he still went to bed around 8:30 pm!! Unbelievable!! Actually, both the kids are GREAT sleepers!! They have slept through the night….all night, every night since we have had them!! I hesitate to even write about it, because I don’t want to jinx myself!! HA!! Sasha usually goes to bed around 8:30 pm and sleeps 12 hours until 8:30 am the next morning. Kylen still does not want to sleep in his own bed in the room with his brother. We talked about it again tonight, and he said he still wanted to sleep in Mama’s and Papa’s room. I am not sure why he wants to still sleep in our room, since he is OK with taking naps in his own bed….but perhaps him staying in our room will hasten our bonding. However, if he does wake up before we do, like on a weekend and we are wanting to sleep in a little bit, he will just lay quietly on his little floor bed, whispering and playing there quietly. They are really “dream” children!! This morning when I woke up Sasha, I fed him breakfast, and then I held him and gave him a bottle. He has been doing better with this, and he has even been letting me help hold the bottle. He looked into my eyes only a couple of times, but non the less, we are making progress!! Tonight he let me rock and sing to him before I laid him in his crib. It was a standing type rock…as he is not into the rocking chair at all! I will keep trying though! The day was so nice outside that early this evening the kids played outside and they had such fun!! They are both doing so well. Sasha even discovered Rocks!! He carried these three rocks around for quite a while…..and said “ Rah” for rock!! He began to get tired and came to me for comfort. Kylen has made a lot of progress in that when we first had him, he would just get anything he wanted without asking……and now he has learned he must ask permission for everything. He usually gets what he asks for, but I feel it is important for him to ask. Some things he does not get…..like Nintendo DS or The PS2 video game (they belong to Tav and Rem) and I feel he can use his time more wisely right now. Any way, now he is always asking….but in Russian ..”Mama, mohz-nah deal-it?” (Mama, May I do it?) or …May I have …..? So now we need to work on saying it Pah – Eng- GLEE – ski!!

A Day at the Park!!

Today Wayne took the boys to the park. They had a marvelous time! He took a couple of baseball gloves (mitts) and he and Kylen (our 8 year old) threw the ball back and forth. He also tossed the ball to Sasha, who was so enthralled with kicking and chasing the ball. I know Wayne had a dream come true today.....as he has never had a son, only daughters ( which he has truly adored both of them), but I know he had an unfulfilled dream come true playing with his sons today. The boys loved being outside too!! Today is really the first day that the older boy has played with his younger brother (he will be 28 months tomorrow). I guess that he has not been around children younger than age 6 and that he has not seen his brother except for a couple of brief times since the brother was 2 months old, he really has not known how to play with him. It looks as if this is going to change, and they will be interacting more together now that they are getting "settled in". My work schedule has been grueling since returning home. I have had to make up for all that time I had off so Wayne has been "Mr. Mom". In the past 7 days, I have had to work 6 shifts...all of them at least 12 hours, some have been 13 hours long. In addition, I came home coughing with the "Siberian Croup". I have been so tired and exhausted. The boys have been asleep by the time I get home, and I have seen them only for a few minutes in the morning before I dash off to the hospital. This morning, Sasha would not look me in the eye. He kept avoiding direct eye contact with me......not a good thing, but unfortunately, my schedule could not be helped. Wayne has done a fantastic job with the boys, and for now, we are trying to alternate our work schedules. He goes back to work tomorrow, and I am home with them for a few days. I hope we can resume our bonding. I am guessing they had so many different caregivers that they have learned to keep their distance emotionally as a protective mechanism. In the long run, love and persistance will pay off, (we hope).

Adjusting at Home

The boys are soing so well!! They are adjusting to their new life in America quite nicely. The first few days we had a couple of our older girls in college and working, home to help integrate the boys. There seemed to be so much family around, I am sure they did not have much time to notice when someone was gone. For the most part, it was pretty peaceful. We had a few temper tantrums from Alexander. If he got angry about anything, he would throw whatever it was across the room (cookie, cup, toy....you name it), and then he would fling (flow himself hard down on the floor. We just tried to ignore it and get his mind off of it. Kylen did not want to sleep in his own bed. He said Sasha was too noisy, and wanted to sleep on a little palet in our room So far he has done well, with only a few "pouting" episodes when he is corrected or disciplined. Oh....and he asks for Coca Cola Light wherever he goes. Kylen has started to take a small day nap in his own bed in the room with Sasha, and then sleeps at night in our room on the floor. Everyday they wake-up happy and seem to be doing so well!!

One Missing Bag!!

We arrived to Magadan on a Sunday afternoon, scheduled for our court date on that Monday, March 5th. I had heard "horror stories" of people losing their luggage, and had also heard of others who "carried on" their court clothes, just incase they were lost along the way. So, in our carry on luggage, we placed our dress clothes for court. We also had the forsight to "mix-up" the bags, so that in each piece of luggage, there were some of evesone's clothing (that way, if any of the luggage was lost, we would all still have clothes to wear). So we did that with all of the luggage, all except for one bag. This bag was the one with ALL of the boys clothes, socks, and underwear. Of course, THIS was the bag that was lost!! I did have their shoes and coats, warm hats and mittens packed away in another bag!! Delta Airlines said they would try to locate our missing bag, in the meantime, we would just have to make do. After court, in the afternoon, Ludmila brought over all of the clothes we had previously bought for Kylen. We were surprized to see this, as we thought they would stay in the orphanage to be used by the other children. However, everything came with him, so that solved his clothing problem. In downtown Magadan, we found a children's shop and picked up a little outfit for Sasha. It was not my first choice in what to dress him in when he left the Baby Home, but I knew I needed something. I have heard from others that the baby homes and orphanages will not give back the clothes you have given to your child to wear, and that especially on the day you leave the orphanage you must bring the clothing you would like for them to wear. Apparently this is not so in Magadan. We were scheduled to leave for Moacow on Wednesday afternoon. In magadan, since the 10 day waiting period is generally waived, they prefer to keep the child in the Baby Home at night, and you may visit, or get the child during the day. Keeping the child on the same schedule, and not disrupting their sleep patterns helps the child to adjust to the new parents and minimizes the stress experienced. When it was time for us to leave for the airport, we took our newly purchased outfit with us in order to dress Sasha. The caregivers at the Baby Home in Magadan are so loving. They took pride in dressing Sasha, and they picked out the best ourfit he had, and dressed him in it. Now, as I said earlier, I had a new pair of shoes. When I pulled them out (they waved them away), and they put on a pair of cute little snow boots. Then they got this cute hat and coat.....and only when they saw my hat and coat were going to be warm enough, did they decide to use my coat and hat I had brought. The caregivers took such pride in dressing him. They wanted to give him and dress him in the very best they had. WOW!! When he was finally all dressed and ready to go, they all had tears in their eyes. They loved him so much, and would really miss him, and felt sad......but at the same time they were so happy for him to go to a family that loved him. By the time we left, we were all crying!! It was a beautiful experience to see how loved Sasha was by his caregivers!! They truly are sweet, wonderful, giving women!! Oh....and the bag with all of the children's clothes was waitng for us upon our arrival to Moscow!!

HOME SWEET HOME!!!

We are home safe and sound!! The kids were great travelers! For right now we are recovering from jet lag........and fatigue. Later this week I will post other information about our trip and all about our court date!! We are so happy to be home!! YIPPEEE!!

America Here We Come!!!

This afternoon we begin our journey home. Spending time in another country, especially Russia, has made me realize how truly blessed we are to be Americans. I mean, of course I know this, but head knowledge and first hand experience are two different things. I am so grateful for the freedoms we have. We truly are a “land of plenty”. If only more people realized it. It is no secret (for those of you who know me personally…..and even those of you who do not) that I have whined about living in Missouri (remember….I call it “Misery”). A certain set of circumstances placed me here…..and now I am “stuck” here for a while. This second trip made me realize there are a lot of WORSE places to be “stuck” in….so hey Missouri…..I apologize. We have a wonderful home with lots of room for all of our combined children ( now NINE!!), and a huge yard, complete with fleas and ticks in the summer ….yes…..during the summer everynight is “tick check”…..gross!! When I first started pulling ticks out of creases and curves on my children’s body’s, it bothered me…….but now it is just like brushing your teeth before bed ( and if you DON’T do it…..you WILL be sorry!!). It will be so nice to be home again!! There are some things the Russians do better than Americans, though. There have been some who have criticized us for adopting internationally. They have wanted to know why we did not adopt here in the U.S. The main reason is because it is so hard to terminate the parental rights…..no matter what abuse may have occurred. Many times a child is placed into foster care for up to 3 years and then returned again to a dysfunctional or abuse family, all the while to endure more abuse. Meanwhile, the family that wanted to adopt the child is totally disrupted. I could not allow my other sweet children to become attached and bonded to a sibling, only to have them ripped apart from our family. So in that sense, the Russians have a great way of thinking. If they find abuse, the Guardianship Department steps in RIGHT AWAY and removes the child/children from the home and places them into a Rehabilitation Home. They give the parents one year to be rehabilitated……if after that year the parents have not done what is required, a court hearing is held, and the parental rights are terminated. The second thing I think the Russians do better than we do, is make the parents pay child support. Under Russian law, if your parental rights were terminated, this does NOT release you from your obligation to financially support your child!! If you have one child, there is an automatic deduction of ¼ of your salary garnished automatically, and it increases with each child. Alexander and Kylen’s biological parents were ordered to pay support at one third of their income every month. It was automatically deducted into a savings account for them. After court, I was presented with two savings accounts (one in each of their names) that had 500 rubles each in them (saved during a 2 year period). Granted, it is not a lot, but it is accumulated and given to them when they reach age 18 and would leave the orphanage, so that they would have some amount of money to get them started on their own. The last deposit in the accounts was made on February 19, 2007. It blows my mind to think that these parents had money deducted every month from their paychecks to support their children (I guess because it is the law), and never once came to visit them. Under Russian law, when parental rights are severed, one may still request visitations rights if one would like to have them. The parents did not request any visitation rights. It makes me feel sad….but then again, if things had not worked out this way, then Alexander and Kylen would not be on their way to America, and they would not have this new, great life that they are about to have. So….everything worked out for the best, although I am sure they both endured quite a bit of suffering to get to this point. As my Mom always says “All’s Well That Ends Well!!”. By the way…..we donated the amount in both savings accounts to the Baby Home and to the Boarding School.

A Special Sunday

Today we went to church in Moscow. We happened to find a branch of the church we belong to (actually, there are six branches in Moscow). We attended the closest one, and had to walk 15 minutes to the Metro, and transfer twice. Then once we got off the Metro, it was still another 15 minute walk (although we walked for over an hour, because we could not find the building!! HA!) It was important to me to attend church in Russia, because I wanted Kylen to hear the gospel in his own native language, and to attend Primary, our children’s church. We had a wonderful time. Again, I was told that I LOOK Russian!! I think that is so funny! I took it as a complement, as there are some very beautiful Russian women out there. My image of the Russian woman has completely changed. Later that afternoon, the missionaries came over to our apartment and taught the first discussion to Kylen in Russian. It was so cool. They had these little illustrated pictures that were laminated and cut out in shapes of objects in the lesson (like our Heavenly Father, and Jesus, and the world, and clouds for heaven, etc). The Elders were so good with him and spoke perfect Russian!! It was great for Kylen to be able to ask questions and understand now what he will hear in English when we get home (only he doesn’t understand English now…..so that is why this was so cool!!). It was a really enjoyable experience. I am so glad we took the effort to go!!

Alexander's First Bath!!

In the Orphanage, there was this long, enameled bath tub with a small overhead shower hose attached. Apparently, they lined up 3 or 4 (maybe up to 6 kids) in the tub and just hosed them down with a quick spray after they were soaped up, but it was no real bubble bath. Well, earlier this week, (actually the first full day we had him), we gave Alexander (Sasha) a bath. HE LOVED it! It looks like he might be crying, but he is not..........he is SQUEALING with pleasure!! He could hardly stop the splashing!! Of course (Kon-yesh-nah) He blew a gasket when we took him out!! Figures!!

Also.....check out Kylen Denis after he found the clothes pins we were using to hang up our laundry. He had a blast!! The kid is having all sorts of new experiences, and enjoying them all! His new name is going to be "Kylen Scissor Hands"!! HA!! I actually had to place limits on where he was allowed to put those things!! Crazy Kid!!

Hard Rock Cafe .....Moscow !!!! WOW!

Hey !! !! Check out these pictures of our first formal dinner out together as a family at the Hard Rock Cafe on Starry Arbat Street. We had a GREAT time!! The kids were facinated by the helium balloons, and the baby LOVED ketchup!! The boys did so well!! Alexander (we call him Sasha) only had one minor meltdown......it was tolerable! Overall, the kids are getting along famously, so thank you all once again for your good thoughts and prayers!

Kross-nigha-PLO-shit (Red Square) and the Bolshoi Ballet

On a couple of our other brave adenturings into the deep, dark , mysteries of Moscow, we were able to make it to Red Square and view parts of the Kremlin, Lenin's eternal tomb, and St. Basil's Catherdral. They were all so beautiful and enourmous.....even more magnificient in person!! I wish we had more time to spend there and tour some of the armories and see some of the thrones of the Czars and Czarinas........supposidly very ornate and beautiful. Unfortunately, our little man did what I call 'blowing a gasket", but on second thought, he did what I would classify as......BLOWING AN ENTIRE ENGINE!!! If you zoom up on the picture....you can see the face of the little guy is completely red and his scream sounded like the alarm at the Kremlin going off. In fact, these soldiers showed up immediately to protect the Motherland!! HA!! We tried to eat in MacDonalds on Red Square...by then he was really in frenzy! You wouldn 't believe all the looks I got in there holding a SCREAMING baby. I was ready to post a sign overhead stating "Institutionalized Child: Translation-- Does not like to be held or rocked. It was a sight non-the-less! I finally got him halfway calmed down by looking at the display of Happy Meal toys.......it was less than efficient, but worked enough to get some bread crusts down him and refain some control!! The top picture is "Sasha passed out" from being so worked up!! Poor Little Guy!! HEY!! What am I saying??? Poor Little Family!! A blogger friend of mine suggested getting a videotape of his "blowout"....ans she swears when the child "views" the tape and sees their behavior....that it cures it!! Maybe I should try it!!

The Bolshoi Ballet was performing Swan Lake and Tavia and Remmy and I went, while Wayne stayed home with the boys (he said they got along famously!!). The ballet was SO AWESOME!! And......(hold your breath.....and drum roll please.....) We EVEN took the Metro and got there all by ourselves (using our intelligent cyrillic skills interpreting the Russian alphabet, using our incredible speaking skills conversing in Parouskie with the natives (more like Izven-ye-tiah -Excuse me- Gydere blah, blah blah ---Where is....? OR my personal favorite: "Goo-vad-etee Parouskie??" HA!! At Any rate....we rode the Metro ALL OVER Moscow for 3 days and got where we wanted to go!! I am so proud of myself!! (Well. there was this one day we had to call a cab to take us home, because we apparently took the wrong turn out of the metro station and got "turned around" so to speak, and then did not seem to be able to get to where we wanted to go........but Wayne was in charge that day!! HA!! The inside of each Metro station looks like an art museum. I'll post more on that at another time! Wow, did we ever have a fun and interesting time!! OK.....now.....Where is my Navigator???? Smiles!!

More of the Boys!!

Here are some additional pictures of Kylen (Big "D" - Denis - pronounced Denise) and Alexander, with the Russian nickname of "Sasha". We have an "Aunt Denise in our family, and we all liked the name "Kylen", so we decided to call him this name, but keep "Denis" still in his legal name. He likes his new name and seems to be happy with it. Yesterday we went to the American Embassy to process paperwork, and met a couple from Alabama also adopting a boy (age 5) who was named "Denis" also (toe-zhah). He was given the new name of "Sloan", which is a very nice American name, but it means "elephant" in Russian, and the little boy was mad when he was called this!! I told Kylen this boys name, and he burst out laughing!! Hopefully, this little guy will get used to his name! Fortunately for us, Kylen likes his new name!!

Aren't those guys just adorable?? They play so well together, and are doing quite well, considering we have just totally disrupted their lives!!

Our Two New Children!!!

Introducing our new children: Kylen Mikhail Denis Fricke (pronounced Frickey) age 8, and Alexander Gordon Fricke age 27 months!! They are adorable and we are so happy!!

Off We Go!!

We are just getting ready to check out of our hotel and leave for the airport. We are stopping by the Baby Home to pick-up our little guy, and then we are off to Moscow!! Our little man DOES NOT like to be held......this should be interesting!! One thing we have learned about our big boy...........DO NOT GIVE THE KID SUGAR!! He becomes a wild and rapidly moving child!! All morning the only word said has been "Nyet"....and now he is now hiding under his jacket, and pouting. (And he sucks his thumb). I am sure it is his way of comforting himself and settling himself down.....and we have yet to find out what the little guy does to settle himself down.....probably rocking. We shall see tonight. The big boy has his own backpack full of fun stuff for the plane ride to Moscow.....and that is part of the problem, he wants to play with it now. It is for later (POE - zhah). OK....thanks for all the prayers everyone!! We are so blessed!!

Sad Goodbyes

After Court yesterday, we needed to run around and get started on the paperwork for new birth certificates and passports. We asked the judge if the 10 day waiting period could be waived and she said "yes"....so tomorrow afternoon we leave fo Moscow. I can hardly believe this is our last night in Magadan!! The time has flown, but are pretty tired from being so busy!! Today the passports were ready....and we picked them up this evening, as well as the new birth certificates. It is amazing to me that everything stays open so late here. Some of the places we needed to to go to did not even open until 3:00pm, Wow...in our little rural town nothing stays open past about 5:00 pm, and even on Saturday the stores close by 12 noon!! It seems weird that all the stores are open late in the evening here. Nonetheless, we got everything accomplised. We have been just visiting the little one in the Baby Home in the early evening for a little bit of playtime together. He is doing well getting used to us little by little. Tomorrow will be the big day when he leaves the Baby Home forever! He is not used to any strange sounds, or even being in the outside, because it is so cold in this region. Even in the summer, the high temperatures are only in the 50"s......so the children/babies rarely go out into the weather. The noise of the cars and airplane, combined with the strangeness of the sounds in the city I am sure will be enough to cause a nervous breakdown!! We shall see if it is his breakdown or mine!! HA! Speaking of nervous breakdown.......our older boy said "Goodbye" to Ludmila, his caregiver from the boarding school today. Ohhhh, it was so sad!! He cried, I cried, Tavia cried, ...Wayne and Remmy just sat there feeling bad for him. He told Ludmila he was not afraid that we would hurt him, or even that he would not be happy with us, because everything was going just fine, and he and the kids have been playing just famously......but he was sad because this "Goodbye" meant that he would never see Ludmila again. He was very sad. Ludmilla gave him the biggest pep talk ever. After a few more tears ( all around), he was just fine and the kids later went out and built a snowman together!! Oh! Ludmilla said she would like for him to call her at least every other month, to let her know how he is doing. OK.......I guess that is yet another son that is going to run up the phone bill.!! Yesterday we found out we have an official family photographer!! Our older boy has such a fascination with our digital camera that he actually wore out newly charged batteries!!! He took pictures of everything from light sockets and switches to the pages of books!! We have to be careful of what we are doing, because he is definitely one of those candid camera guys!! As soon as we arrive in Moscow and we have high speed internet, I promise to post pictures of the boys. They are a joy and a delight!! We are looking forward to many wonderful adventures with them in our forever family!! More information later!!

CELEBRATIONS ARE IN ORDER!!

HOORAY!! After a grueling 3 hour court session with a scrutinizing judge with an "eye" for extreme detail, we became parents of two sweet Russian Boys!! The judge was very thorough and thoughtful and all of the supporting cast of the court were very positive and supported the adoption. I will explain more of the process and the details later this week. All in all it was a beautiful experience even though a bit long!! We are glad it is over!! We will give the details later this week. When they Prounounced us as the Proud Parents, Wayne started to cry!! He is so sweet and sensitive. As soon as I saw his tears of joy and relief, then I too, joined in!! Everyone present was happy for us. We are physically exhausted from playing with and chasing the boys today. They are both so sweet.......but very active. Wayne and I have decided we will both need to start taking Geritol just to keep up (HA!) In addition, we are emotionally drained from court this morning, so we will fill all of you in on the details later this week. Thank you all for you prayers! We felt your strength and love all the way here in Siberia!! We appreciate all your thoughts, prayers and well wishes!! We are so blessed to have these children in our family now, and to have the wonderful support and encouragement from all of you. Many times you held us up high with encouragement when we were discouraged over some "snag" in the process. God Bless all of you for helping us!! Tonight the whole family is Happy!! More to come........

PRAYERS PLEASE!!!

Court is in one hour....please pray for us!! We are told we have the hardedst judge of the four of them!!

Arrival in Magadan

Hooray !! We are here!! We are all extremely tired.....but are checked into a very nice, but pricey apartment here in the hotel. It has enough room for 2 parents and 4 kids....so that is all that matters, It is Sunday afternoon, and in the morning we have Court!! We are so excited!! After getting checked into the Hotel, Zoya came over to take us all to see Little "A" in the Baby home. We needed to get his passport so we went to do that. He was so adorable and the kids thought he was so cute!! I hope that is a good "omen" that we went to take his passport photo BEFORE the court date......we shall see. The Orphange dressed him in some black knickers and cream colored tights with a tie and vest. He was so adorable! then they put on his black overpants and we were off to take his piC! He did very well and is even saying his first word "DI" which is " give me" (everytime we tried to take his bear away from him for the picture). "D" is on his way driving down from the interior of Siberia tonight for court in the morning!!

Siberia or Bust!!!

Here we are ready to board Delta to fly to Moscow. We had a little bit of difficulty arriving in Atlanta, having to be re - routed.....but we made it!! Our flight is boarding!!! Next stop....is Russia!! We have Tav and Rem with us!! ! Fun! Fun!! Fun!!

Addendum

P.S. I spent all this time using spaces and columns listing the schedule so it would look neat AND be readable......however, blogger just ran it all together. Sorry about that!! I hope you can understand it!

Baby Home Schedule

When we visited little "A" in the Baby Home, his groupa had a schedule posted listing what they did each day. I copied it, in hopes of being able to provide some continuity, that is, provided we survive the "time travel". I will share it with all of you. 7:00 - 8:00 am Awake and dress 8:00 - 8:30 am Breakfast 9:00 - 10:30 am Play and lessons ( We had to wait for "A" to finish his "music class before we met him the first day!) 10:30 - 11:30 am Walk for exercise (in a large upstairs room) 11:30 am Lunch 12:30 - 3:00 pm Day Nap 3:00 - 3:30pm Play 3:30 - 4:00 pm Snack 4:00 -5:00 pm Play, therapy, and walk 5:00 - 6:00 pm Walk 6:30 - 7:00pm Dinner 7:00 - 7:30 pm Play or watch TV ( TV????) 8:00 pm Bedtime until 7:00 am When I asked the caregiver if little "A" slept through the night, or if he awoke at all........did he cry at night or just settle himself back down......etc.. The caregiver told me she only worked the day shift and had no idea what he did at night!! Well, OK then!! I guess I will soon be finding out!!

Rural Countryside of Magadan Oblast

These are some homes outside the city of Magadan. They are small without roads leading up to them. I am not sure how the occupants enter them.....they must have a tunnel they have dug somewhere!!

The Siberian Stroller

Late Post I had problems connecting to the internet the last couple of trys......so this is a late post. The above picture shows a little hand pushed sleigh to use in the snow and ice to transport children. I wish I had gotten a picture of a child getting a ride......it is so cute!! The child is all bundled up in his little fur trimmed coat.....and away they go!! I'll try and get a picture of a child riding. You see the parents pushing the toddlers all around the town. Cool idea, huh?

Fun, Sun, and Sand!!

We have been thoroughly enjoying ourselves here in Puerto Rico!! Unfortunately, the "spray on" sunscreen did not work!! YIKES!! We got a little more sun than planned!! Take my advice .... just use the old fashioned lotion!! I think it works much better!!

Today I had to call my credit card company to approve my expenses. Apparently, a hold was placed on the credit card due to suspected fraudulent activity. It would appear that most "normal" people do not travel to the Caribbean, then 4 days later travel to Siberia!! They thought all of the recent airline ticket purchases within such a short travel timeframe looked suspicious and I was requested to call them!! HA!! I explained the situation, so now we are back in business!! We will travel home tomorrow, and I shall finalize the remainder of the shopping needed for the boys on the return trip home, as well as tie-up all the loose ends before we go!! I had better get that list going to make sure we don't forget anything!!!!

By the way, the picture at the top is a REAL picture, taken by me, and NOT a postcard, even though it is good enough to be taken by a professional photographer!! HEY!! Maybe now that I am finished with this medical degree I could start a new profession as a photographer???? (Just kidding, family!! Smiles!!)!

On Friday it is.....Siberia or Bust!!

Dr. Susan M.D. !!!! WOW!!

YAHOO!! Tonight the Degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon me!! Before my friends, family, and fellow classmates, I took the Oath of Hypocrates and did swear to uphold that high standard as long as I shall practice Medicine! I attended Medical School on the British Island of Antigua, but for the last three years I have been doing my clinical rotations in the United States. I guess a few people forgot to get their passorts (New January 1st law) and that is why our graduation is in Puerto Rico, instead of Antigua (which has 365 different beaches....it is a beautiful island!!) People always ask me "What is it like to go to Medical School in the Caribbean?". I always say "It is a rough life.....but somebody's got to live it!"!! HA!! I am so happy to enjoy this moment, and so relieved to have this degree behind me!! Now it is on to bigger and better things!! This week .......A Doctor!!! Next week.......Mother of two Russian boys!! I really was not kidding about going 105 miles per hour! It is life in the fast lane, and life at it's best!! I am so grateful, and I am so blessed!! Let's get going!!

The Baby Home and Magadan City Housing

Above is the Baby Home in Magadan ( some additional pictures) a.k.a. "Magadan Specialized Children's home, and some housing in the city that is located right next to the baby home. Apparently, the housing in the city is designed more like "flats" or apartments. The housing in the countryside is more like very small, one or two room houses (I will post those later). These apartments pictured above sit right beside the Baby Home. We finalized our travel plans today and we have tickets to travel to Magadan on March 2nd. Some of you know that I had to travel to Puerto Rico on business, a school requirement, which has us somewhat scrambling to get ready for our next trip to Russia. We will only have about 3 days to pack and get organized for the trip. But before we can pack the wool and fur for Siberia, I will need to UNpack the swim suits and sunscreen!! I know you are feeling sorry for me!! We are very much enjoying the beach, sand and warm weather right now. It is so hard to imagine that will experience about a 90 degree temperature change, going from a high of 85 degrees, to dropping to 25 below zero!! I don't care, though. I am so ready to go and bring these boys home!! We can hardly wait!!

More of Siberia

I am preparing myself for more of the cold weather and snow in Siberia, as in about ONE week, we will be traveling on Trip 2 to bring our boys home!! I went shopping a couple of weeks ago to try and find some sweaters and warm clothes to dress them in for the trip home. Of course, (kohn-YESH-nah) once February rolls around, the stores have gotten rid of their warm, winter clothes (for the most part), and start getting in their spring outfits and summer things!! Doesn't anyone know I am traveling to Siberia and I have to dress my boys warmly?? At any rate, I got them both the cutest sets of matching shorts and matching summer shirts!! They will look adorable (here in the States in the fun spring, warm weather)!! But.......I gotta get something warm to bundle them up for the trip home!!

Hold Onto Your Hats, Boys and Girls!!!

COURT DATE!!! Here we go!! We have a court date for March 5th!! There was apparently an original assignment of February 28th, which we tried to see if we could arrange, but we are required to be on an out of town trip at least until February 25th....which made it kind of tight to get to Magadan by the 28th. So now we are to arrive for a March 5th date!! HOORAY!! We are very excited.......not exactly ready..........but whoever is?? We live our life at 90 miles per hour, so I guess it is time to strap on our seat belts, 'cause HERE WE GO!!!!

A Sweet Farewell

We had just finished enjoying a wonderful afternoon with "D". He had really "warmed up" to us and was completely trusting of us dragging him up and down the street, into beauty parlors and coffee shops.....in search of food!! He was very relaxed in the restaurant with us, as well as being sweet and cooperative. After returning to our hotel room we enjoyed more playtime with him. Then we heard a knock at the door. It was Ludmilla, his caregiver and Zoya, our facilitator. They asked him if he had fun, and he said "dah", yes he had. Then they asked him if he would like to come to America to live with us, and for him and his brother to become part of our family. He replied yes (besides, the older man who was the driver of the car bringing him here to meet a potential family wanting to adopt had told "D" "I wish they would adopt me!! I would go with them!!". "D" seemed totally at ease. We gave him a hug and a kiss, and he gave both of us a hug back, and he gave me a kiss, too!! I said to him "Ya LOO blue tib-YAH" ( I love you). "D" said to us " See you in two months" and " I am going to go back to my school and tell all my friends about all the things I saw in town, and about my Papa and Mama and my new family". We hugged again, told him "Pa -kah" (Bye) and he left with his caregiver to return to the boarding school.

I Hope We Can Eat This!!

While we were at the Baby Home earlier that day, our adoption coordinator asked “D” several questions about things that he liked, and she interpreted for us. He told her all about the foods he did and did not like. One of the things he mentioned he disliked was fish (reeba). Nyet reeba!! So as we are looking through the menu at the pictures, “D” sees something that looks like a chicken breast, but it is fish. He points to that and nods his head telling me that is what he would like. I tell him “Etta reeba”(this is fish). He gets an awful look on his face and shakes his head no and says “Nyet”. I am trying to ask him if he likes chicken (I just heard earlier that morning that he did like it. I look up the word for “chicken” in my handy-dandy Russian dictionary with transliterated words……HOLY CANNOLI!! Can any body say “chicken” in Russian?? It has about eleventy-seven letters in it….and I am having a hard time pronouncing it! I mean, I know a lot of long hard words like: pheochromocytoma and vanillylmandelic acid (reminds me of Millie Vanilly- for those of you that remember THAT fiasco) and thiazolidinediones……but I could NOT say “chicken”!! So…. here I am, at the table in the Chinatown restaurant, trying to communicate this to him. I get this idea (some of you remember we brought puppets with us to play with the children) and I pretend I have a puppet on my hand, and I am moving my hand up and down, and saying “BOK !! BOK!!” Now I am using both hands ….and clucking. I guess I am causing quite a stir in the restaurant with my chicken sounds, but he finally gets it and agrees to eating chicken!! I am so glad they did not serve “elephant” because THAT impression is really loud!! HA! The waitress comes and somehow I get the idea across that we would like a dish for the three of us consisting of noodles, chicken, and vegetables. When she hears “vegetable” she says “Oh, dah! Salat?” (Salad). I said nyet, and tried to explain about stir fry vegetables in with the chicken. After some time, she finally nodded her head and left. I looked over at Wayne and told him that we had better brace ourselves, because I am sure she is coming back with “fried eye balls” or something like that!! Alas! The food arrives, and it is really pretty good, to our surprise!! We got something like sweet and sour fried chicken in noodles and vegetables. You should have seen the look on “D”’s face when he looked at the food when it was served. I put some on his plate, he poked it with his fork, wrinkled his nose at it, tried to smell it, took a bite, shrugged his shoulders, and then wolfed it down!! HA!! After we are arrived back at the hotel later that afternoon, he was asked what he had for lunch. He told them he liked what he had very much, but he had no idea what it was!! Our lunchtime with “D” was very pleasant. He was curious about everything. He wanted to try all of the sauces on his food, which I let him, all except the HOT sauce. I did not know how to say “bolshoi spicy”, so I just said “Nyet” with no explanation and he was fine with it. He said his first word in English, too. I held up a fork and said “Vilka”. He looked and me and replied “Dah, Vilka”. Then I said “Fork”. He replied “ffffffffffffffffffffffffork.” “Mal ah dyets” we replied ( what a good boy/child)!! He smiled and seemed pleased with himself. We enjoyed our lunch, and when we were finished, the waitress took away our plates. Then “D” proceeded to start organizing the table, replacing the sauces, salt, pepper, sugar, etc. He then looked over at the waitressing station and saw all the little bamboo placemats all rolled up and stacked. He reached over and took all of the bamboo placemats on our table, and rolled them up exactly as he saw them, and then walked them over and placed them in the stack with the others!! I am thinking….. “Hey, they might want to wipe those down first”, but, I didn’t know how to say it…so we just let him carry on!! He is a very thoughtful boy. It is time to pay and I ask the waitress “Skolka yow dahs-NAH?’ (how much do I owe ?). She brings us the bill, we pay, get our coats and start the journey back to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, we played together for about 30 minutes before it was time to leave. We got out the playdough with a shape press, and he had a blast making different shapes and squeezing the playdough. I don’t think he had played with something like that before now. We played cars and colored, and built another lego (well, we tried to, but Papa needs a little more practice). It was almost time to go, and his caregiver would be arriving soon, and they would be traveling back to the boarding school in the Yagodninsky Village in the interior of Siberia. We will soon be saying “Good-bye”.