Home.  Enid, Oklahoma USA  Sept 8, 2007  7:30pm

We are home. Thank you God.  I have to say that God led us this
entire trip.  Everything we did, was smooth.  Every process, every
document, every person we dealt with, every thing that we needed -
it was all done with ease, expediency, and peacefulness.  I know
that is completely because of prayer. Ours and a ton of you out
there that I know prayed for us on every step of this journey.
Not just during this trip, but everything that lead up to it which
has been over the last, almost, 2 years.  I can’t thank you enough
for that.  It is the most important thing that we ever do.
Prayer.

Thursday, Sept 7 (Yesterday)

Our driver Eugene and our translator Ludmila took us to the
airport at about 9:30am. We had never seen Eugene smile this whole
trip.  He speaks no English.  But as we were loading in, Matt said
to Emma, “Say hi to Eugene.”  That got the first smile and then Matt
handed him a bottle of wine and he got a real big smile.
Finally.  We gave Ludmila and Elena, another girl in the office
boxes of chocolates.  It was about an hour to the airport.
Ludmila got us passed through a security gate without going
through it.  She probably knew the girl there.  Luke was in the
stroller.  We had 3 huge suitcases to check.  Matt, Emma and I
each had a fairly heavy backpack.  Stroller, car seat for airplane
and car later, Luke, rolling small suitcase that we carried on
full of 2 laptops and documents you have to carry on (for the
adoption).

It was all easy, short lines and quick moving through.  We were
done with all that with 2 hours to wait, so we went to the
restaurant and ate lunch, fed Luke in the stroller and walked him
around.  He had a blowout poopy diaper there and I had to throw
away his outfit in the airport bathroom.   Don’t have that many
outfits. I hope he doesn’t continue this.

We got onto the airplane and they switched our seats to the bulk
head with the bassinet.  Yeah!  Thank you God, another prayer
answered.  So Emma, Luke and I sat in the middle three seats and
Matt across the aisle by us.  This little bassinet was cool.  It
hooked on to the bulkhead and we just used it for a different
place for Luke to play during the flight and to change his diaper.
He actually slept in the car seat.  Wow! I didn’t expect that.  He has never
been in a car seat and I’d heard stories of babies just hating them and
crying the whole time in them, but he got used to it really fast.

The flight from Moscow to Atlanta was 11 hours.  Luke slept the
first 2 hours and the last 2 hours.  During the middle he played
in the bassinet, or in the car seat, or we walked around, or I fed
him or Matt held him.  He had another blowout poopy.  Another
outfit in the trash.

The flight attendents are great.  They said they usually had
at least 5 adoptions every flight.  This time it
was just us and one other couple.  I met them. They were bringing
back a 21 month old girl.  They lived in Ft Walton Beach, FL.
Their 2 week period was not waived and they were so glad to be
going home.

We got to Atlanta, had to claim our bags, go through customs and
immigration.  A lady saw Matt carrying the car seat with Luke
asleep in it and all our other bags and called us to her line at
the front with tons of other people in other lines.  Hers was the
special assistance line.  Again, ease.  Then on to some special
immigration area where they take our sealed envelope from the
Embassy, process it while we sit for 15 minutes and then we check
our bags again and are on to the gate to go to Wichita.  Had only
about a one hour wait and got on the next plane.  It was 2 hours
to Wichita and we all slept the whole trip.  It was 6-8pm Oklahoma
time and 9-11am Moscow time after not sleeping all night.   We
landed in Wichita, nice small airport, got the bags and headed
straight to a hotel to sleep.

We all went to sleep at 9pm.  Luke woke up at 1am, so he and I sat
up from 1-3am.  Then I put him back down for his morning nap at
3am and we slept from 3-6am.  Matt and Emma got up at 3am and went
down to the lobby to watch TV.  We all left at about 7am and drove
back to Enid.  Oh it was so GREAT to drive back to our wonderful
town!  After reading A Farewell To Arms about men going to war in
Italy during WWI, I thought we don’t appreciate home like we
should.  Thinking of men going to war, not wanting to go, but
having to go to some random country and do things they would never
want to do and stay there for who knows how long and how much they
must want to come HOME.  They really know what home is all about.
I felt an inkling of it as we drove into town.

I called Evie, my sis, and said we will be home in 20 minutes.  She called
my mom and she was here with the lights on in the house and the
door opened welcoming us home.  Luke rode just fine in the car seat.

We brought Luke in and Evie was so excited to see him.  My mom was
there a few minutes later and then Matt went over to the Dunfords
house (our good friends who kept our other two babies, 6 and 4) to
pick up Meg and Henry.  He brought them home and they
ran up to me and hugged me in the driveway and then we walked into
the living room where Luke was playing and they just started
loving on him.  There we all were.  It was a great moment.
Videotaped too.

I can’t tell you how Luke is just fitting right in like he has been
here all along.  He is happy.  He loves to play in the play pen or
crawl all over the living room floor.  He didn’t mind all the new
people playing with him.  Elaine, Matt’s mom, then came over.  My
mom brought tuna fish casserole (my childhood favorite comfort
food) and orange jello with peaches and bananas (more comfort
food) and Elaine brought Orange cake.  We all had it for lunch.
And we just sat around soaking in the bringing of a new baby.  It
was a very special day.  Mid-afternoon, Jennifer (who kept our
kids) came by to bring the breast milk she has been pumping for
Luke.  She is breastfeeding her own 3 month old baby and has been
pumping on the side for us.  Wow!  What an amazing thing for
someone to do.  I am so grateful for that.  I breastfed the other
three for 18 months and over and was pretty dissappointed that
Luke would not have that benefit for his immune system, but now
with this, he will have, at least some of it.

I tried it with his other formula and he didnt like it, but then I
mixed it in the cereal and he ate that fine, so that may be how he
is going to get it in him.

Luke went to bed at 5pm last night.  I was ready to go to bed and
so was Matt. Emma went down about 5pm also so we took Elaine up on
her offer to have Meg and Henry spend the night since they were
not on our schedule.

Luke and I got up at 2am this morning (That is good. An hour later
than yesterday.) Matt got up about 3am and we have been decluttering
and organizing our house all morning.  We have till 11am when the
OU football game begins.  Matt is finishing painting the nursery
(which he was going to do if he came home 2 weeks before I did)
and getting the shutters ready to be painted.  He also is
polyurethaning the front entrance.  He can get very ambitious!
Evie moved the crib into our room, before we came home, so Matt
could finish the nursery.  So for now, Luke is sleeping in my room
and Matt is sleeping in the nursery until it is done.

Typical for arrivals of new babies.

I’d better get back to my jobs getting this house in order.  Talk
to or see you all soon!

Love,
Allison

PS My friend Gina, wrote me this morning saying I needed to write
one more entry about arriving home.  You were right Gina. Thanks.

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 12 – Russia 2007

Wed Sept 5th 7:30pm

We leave the hotel tomorrow morning at 9:30am.  Our flight leaves
at 1pm.  I guess it is a good hour to the airport.  We still have
some to pack.  We will be in Wichita Thursday night and may spend the
night and come back to Enid early Friday morning.

Today we will talk about poop.  I know lots of you don’t want to
hear about this so just skip on down, but I feel the need to
record it and talk about it.  It’s a mom thing.

He was pooping fine to begin with.  Then I wanted to try soy milk, because I
thought that would help with the nose congestion.  I gave him only
one bottle of it.  I think it made him constipated which I later
remembered also happened to Henry at about that age.  So over the
past few days I’ve tried every kind of other milk – various cows
milk which he HAS been drinking but wouldn’t now.  Also goat’s milk
- hated that.  So he has basically been drinking diluted juice.
Well over the last 24 hours he has made up for being constipated.
He has pooped probably 8 times and now has diaper rash and we are
about to have to be on a long plane ride.  Please pray that this diaper rash
is completely gone by morning.  He is not happy about it and I’ve
had him diaperless for the last 4 hours in our room.  He has peed
on the floor about 6-8 times and pooped on a towel once.  I’m
laughing out loud here (and people are looking) thinking of you
all reading this detailed account of poop.  Especially any guys.

Today Matt and Emma went to the Kremlin on an organized tour for 3
hours.  That was this afternoon.  They had a great time.  I stayed
in the room while Luke slept.  I finished my book, A Farewell to
Arms, while eating my room service Penne Arrabiata, drinking a
little red wine and some cake for dessert.  All the windows were
opened with a nice breeze.  Reading that book and eating that food
I felt like I was in Italy instead of Russia.  Then when Luke woke
up, he had poop in his diaper.  That didnt help, sleeping in it.
Ugh.

This morning Matt and Emma also went to the Consulate to register
Luke.  This is important for when we want to renew his passport.  If he
wasn’t registered it would be very difficult to renew apparently.  They
took the chocolate and wine to the officials and they were happy I
guess.

So we are off tomorrow.  It’s been a great trip, but I miss my
babies at home too.  Ive got to run get some diaper rash creme at
the store and then get back to the hotel room.  No telling what I
will find after giving Matt and Emma instructions to let him be
diaperless.  ”You have to watch him carefully and anticipate his
poops.”  Yeah, right.

Love you all
Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 12 – Russia 2007

Tue. Sept 4, 2007, 7:30pm

After Luke’s nap we got it all together and met our driver
downstairs at the hotel.  He drove us to the US Embassy.
It was a beautiful old Russian building.  Sort of mustard color.  4-5
stories and very wide.  Inside it was pretty sterile and white
with 2-story ceilings.  Nothing exciting.  Very governmental.  It
was all no big deal.  We just went through some pretty good security.
We showed Luke’s passport and then met through a window with
Victoria Wolf.  An American who lived in Enid, Oklahoma and worked
at Vance for 6 years in the late 90′s.  She did something in the
DOD (Dept. of Defense) What a deal!  She wanted us to ship her some
Ceasar salad from Port Lugano with the great croutons. Yum!

Anyway, standing at this window in the waiting room, we had to
be sworn in with right hands raised and then she just explained
that Luke will be a US citizen the moment our plane touches down
in Atlanta.  She gave us some paperwork that was half in English
and half in Russian that she said we keep for life and dont loose
it.  On some of it, we would probaby have to come back to Moscow
to get another copy.  We can’t just mail off for it.  Yes ma’am!

Also she gave us a sealed manila envelope that only the
immigration officer in Atlanta can open.  When we go through
immigration, they will hold us there for maybe 45 minutes to go
through this paperwork.  She said if the baby is crying that may
speed things up.  They had 3 huge bulletin boards in that waiting
room jam packed with pictures of American families and the babies
they’d adopted.  Some were christmas cards, others just photos.
She said, “please send us pictures.”

They seem to be really trying to do what they can to keep adoption
open for Russian babies to the US.  She said that is one reason we
must register with the Russian Consulate tomorrow.  The Russians
want us to register and if we can do what they ask, they are more
likely to keep adoptions open.  She said they used to do 60
adoption interviews a day, but since the accreditation problems
(which seem to be getting taken care of) there are only a few
interviews each day.

I’m trying to plan exactly how to pack for the journey home.  Long
plane ride, etc.  I talked to the flight attendents on the way here
and they were very sweet and said they had lots of adoptees on
their planes and it’s hard but you just deal with it.  Ok.  Sounds
good to me.  Just give me that bassinet please.  This little guy
needs to be on his hands and knees to go to sleep.  That makes me
think of the meaning of his name, Ilya.  ’The Lord is my God’ and
‘Confessor.’  Love that!  Neill means ‘champion’ and Luke
means “talented!”  Good stuff.

That’s it for now.  Love you guys.

Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 12 – Russia 2007

Sept. 4, 2007
Well, Im back at my dingy little internet cafe, but I actually
kind of like it.  Yesterday I paid 40 rubles (that would be about
$1.65) for a hard stool to sit on.  Today I paid 50 rubles ($2) and I
get a comfy couch to sit on.  Worth the few cents for sure.

We have learned alot in the last two days about Mister Luke.
Yesterday after his morning nap, (it was a beautiful day) we got
him into the stroller and walked down to the Moscow River ( a
couple of blocks) and got onto a boat.  It was a double decker
boat with the top part outside with a cover over the top and the
bottom was inside.  It was about 1/4 full of people.  Not too
many.  We rode the boat about 45 minutes to the Kremlin.  Luke
pretty much screamed and cried the whole time.  He does not like
to be confined for very long.  He is ok in the stroller, sort of,
as long as you are moving.  He is ok in the carrier I wear if it
is not for too long and if he is happy to begin with (i.e. not
hungry or tired.)  I had given him motrin for the teething right
when we got on the boat, but I dont think it kicked in until the
boat ride was over.  So Matt and I took 5 minute turns holding
Luke and walking around.  That was fun.

We got off near the Kremlin and found our way to the entrance.  We
entered on the side of St Basil’s Cathedral.  This whole trip we
wanted to get a picture of Luke in front of the cathedral and
maybe use it for an announcement to send out.  There were about
300 people crowded around the cathedral and Luke was not happy at
all.  We got 2 pics I think with Matt holding him and he was
crying.  Oh well.  Lets move.

Oh my.  Neither of them are happy at all!

So we walked the length of Red Square and over to a park.  Luke
was HUNGRY.  I sat in the park and Matt and Emma went in search of
hot water for the baby cereal.  Yesterday when we went out I had
all kinds of access to hot water and no cereal.  Today I bring
cereal and it is the opposite.  BUT, they found it.  I fed him in
his stroller and Matt and Emma went to find food for us.  After that we
walked some more and finally Luke fell asleep in the stroller with
Matt dragging it backward and tilted up so he was sort of lying
flat down on his back.  Whatever works.  It was about 5pm.  Matt
said, “Ok lets go to a Georgian restaurant.”  I said, “You have got
to be kidding.  You want to take Luke to a restaurant with people
in it?”  :)  He said, “This may be our last hope for the day.”  LOL.
At this point I know that Luke is happiest when he is on the floor
or in a playpen able to crawl about.  He has been confined
basically for 4 hours today in the stroller or in the carrier.  A
restaurant will be a disaster!  BUT, I’m going to follow along and
let this play out, because I am being a good wife. :)

This is when we discover that Moscow is not pedestrian
friendly.  We get outside the Kremlin onto the street and all we
want to do is cross the street, but because of the way Moscow is
laid out you have to walk blocks – we never even got that far – to
just cross the street.  We gave up before we got there.  Moscow
has two hiway loops around the city and then all these arteries,
like spokes of a wheel going into the center, but the arteries are
just surface streets with lights few and far between.  Then to
cross these busy streets you find an underground tunnel.  Walk
down the steps, walk under the street through a tunnel  and then
up the steps on the other side.  The problem is these tunnels
aren’t on every block.  Im not sure how frequent they are.  Suffice
it to say it is frustrating to want to cross the street to your
destination and have to walk blocks to do it.  That’s how it is to
go to the grocery story that is next to our hotel.

So.  We just went back to the park.  I think God was taking care of
me in terms of the Georgian restaurant.  And Matt too!  We ate
another bit of food there while Luke finished his nap and then
found a taxi back to our hotel.  Safe at last.  Don’t get me wrong.
I love to travel, but Luke is not yet a baby that wants to just
go with the flow.

Today, after this, I will walk back to the hotel and Matt and Emma
will go out for a bit while Luke sleeps.  Then we go to the
Embassy for that interview.  Wednesday we go to the Consulate and
pray that we can do that in only one day instead of two so we can
fly back home on Thursday.  We will confirm our tickets after our
Consulate visit on Wednesday.  Worst case is we don’t fly home til
Friday and actually get to Enid on Saturday.

Love you all!
Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 12 – Russia 2007

In an effort to finish getting this journal onto the website, I’m going to dispense with pictures for now.  We have a new adoption journey to start writing about!

Sunday, Sept 2, 10:30am

Well, yesterday Luke slept 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in
the afternoon.  I think he is making up for a few days of not so
great naps.  We ventured out yesterday for a 20 minute walk down
to the Moscow river.  It really has turned chilly and windy so we
want to be careful with him.  It is definitely important to get
out of the room.  Oye!

On my two hour outing yesterday while Matt and Emma  stayed in the
room with Luke, I went walking and got 3 DVDs in Russian – Cars, Happy Feet
and Winnie the Pooh.  He should like those.  Then I went into a
department store and bought 2 feety PJ’s, a hat and scarf.  Still
need maybe one warmer outfit for him to feel good about venturing
out more.

Then I went to the fancy grocery store across the street.  I met a
Russian lady in the baby food section.  She spoke a little English
and she helped me figure some things out.  I got a box of bifidus.
Yeah!  Lets get that immune system stronger.  He loved it is the
great news.   Then she said, “I have car.  I take you to pharm and help you.”
She seemed very nice and it was tempting to go, but I did not.

Next I met a couple in their 50′s in the dairy section, from
Canada.  He worked in the Canadian Embassy and they loved hearing
all about our adoption experience.  It’s easy to get into these
conversations because you are always saying to someone, “Do you
speak English,” then someone next to you will say, “I do – can I
help you?” etc, etc.  I would love to have hung out with these people
for a while.

In our lobby, I also met the orchestrator for the
music for the new Vegie Tales movie.  And earlier I met some other
people doing music for another movie.  Apparently they all come here to
work with Mosc-Film.  Even with travel and hotel they can record
their music tracks for movies with the Moscow Symphony for 1/2 the
price as in America.

Terrible grammar and spelling here but I’m rushing because I’m
paying too much to use the internet.  Our laptops, for some reason, have
stopped working in the lobby or that other cafe.  I need to search
for another internet cafe.  Right now I’m in the business office of a
fancy hotel across the street from our hotel.

Our goal for today after the morning nap, is to get to the
Tretyakov museum by taxi.  Metro is too germ ridden for me with
this new little boy.  Usually I’m all about dirt and germs strengthening their
immunes systems, but I’m just not there at this moment.  Ok, I’m going to
be obsessive about it for now.  Thank you very much.

By the way, have I mentioned how much I love having a baby again: )
He is so sweet and I can’t keep from kissing him all the time.

More soon.  Love you all.
Allison

Monday, Sept 3, 2007

Today is Labor day here so there are things closed, like the US
Embassy etc.  Yesterday was a good day because we got out of the
room all together.  After Luke’s morning nap we got him fed and
bundled up and put in the Ergo (the latest, greatest baby carrier
that is ergonomically wonderful.)  He is not crazy about it for
long periods, but for a while it’s ok.  Obviously he just isn’t used
to be carried like that for a long time.   We took the stroller
too.  Got in a cab and drove to the Tretyakov Museum.  What a
wonderful museum.  We went last time we were here but only had
about an hour to see a small part of it.  It is art from about the
14th century on.  Tretyakov lived in the 1800′s and just amassed this
collection that he always intended on giving to the state.  He
would always say “we are collecting for the nation.”

We got there around 1pm which normally would have been about the
time Luke would have gone to sleep.  This was an experiment to see
if he would sleep on the go in the carrier or in the stroller.
Neither worked.  We ate lunch in the cafe and walked around some
more and finally Luke was creating a big disturbance crying in the
museum.  Of course everyone is staring at us.  Very nice.  So we
went back to the cafe and I stayed with Luke so Matt and Emma
could go back to looking at the museum.  Finally after a good hour
or more he sacked out on the booth seat.  It was soft material and
he had to do his rocking thing back and forth on his hands and
knees to get to sleep.  He finally surrendered to the sleep at
5pm.  Then I got to go out for a little bit while Matt sat with
him.

We left the museum at 6pm and got a taxi back to the room.  It was
nice to be back to the room and away from the cold, cruel world.
Concrete, noise, ugh.  I love living in Enid!

After Luke went to sleep last night I finished watching the old
movie with Vivien Leigh that I brought with me, Anna Karinana
written by Tolstoy.  It was great all taking place in St.
Petersburg and Moscow.  But so sad.  I’m also reading A Farewell To
Arms.  Matt finished it and is now reading My Antonia.

Today our goal is to get on a boat on the Moscow River after Luke
wakes up from his nap and take it over to the Kremlin (Russia’s
Washington DC – government)  and see what’s up there.  It is a
beautiful sunny day.  Still a little cool though. (see videos)

I gave Luke another bath today.  I think the only bath he has
ever had is when they would just hold him under the water and
wash him off.  I don’t think he has ever just sat in the water.  He
cries at first, but just for a minute, then he likes it, but is
sort of stymied by it.

This morning I walked down the Arbat (the street that is the
pedestrian outdoor mall area) looking for an internet cafe.  I
said, Father just show me an internet cafe quickly here, please,
in Jesus name.  Literally right after that I heard a guy speaking
English to two (turns out) Armenian girls and I said, “You speak
English, I see?”  ”Yes,” he said.  I said, “Do you have any idea where
an internet cafe is?”  He said, “That is exactly what I’m looking
for.  These two girls are helping me find one.”  ”Great,” I said, “I
will follow along if that is ok.”  ”Sure.”  Nice girls, sisters.  He
was 40ish and looked like a roughed up Mel Gibson.  Very rough.
He was going to the Mongolian Embassy.  Just traveling from Venice
all across Asia to China, Vietnam etc.  Just for about 4 months or
so.  What a deal.  We found the internet cafe and I would not have
noticed it at all if I hadn’t run in to them.  It was all in
Russian and through a little side door off the main street and
down some stairs.  Some might say that was coincidence, but it
happens all the time.

Time to go buy some more diapers, baby food and water.  Matt says
we are running a nursery in our hotel room.  It’s true.  Love you
all.  Talk to you soon.

Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 12 – Russia 2007

Matt in our room.  A nice room.

August 30, 2007  Moscow

9:40pm.  Back in the room we had bread, cheese, salami and wine for dinner.  Ilyusha had oatmeal cereal, tagliatelle cream pasta with broccoli (Russian baby food) and apple-mango with curd cheese.  Mmm. Yummy.  He eats well.  I’m sitting here at the desk looking out the windows over Moscow that spans half our hotel room.

Our hotel room view on one side.

We are on the 17^th floor.  Our hotel and the one in front of us (to the right of the building in the above picture) both have neon lights that are constantly blinking and moving all night long from the bottom to the top of the hotel.  They are vertical lines and there are probably 30 of them across the width of the hotel.  Ilya loves looking at them, but it’s a good thing we have thick curtains.

Babies

I have to say I absolutely, positively LOVE having a baby again.

Me kissing our baby all over.  I couldn’t stop.

It is soooo our nature (women.)  And if there are any of you out there who are debating about another baby in your family (as we did); maybe you have several kids and are wondering if that should be it or if you should have (or adopt) any more – I say do it!  (Obviously :)  God will bless you with the grace to do it.  And if you have older kids – Wow – Emma has been a huge help.  She carries him around, plays on the floor with him for long periods, gives him a bottle.  She will be learning diaper duty too.  (Update:  She and Meg are now pros at changing ALL KINDS of diapers.)

Questions and Prayers

I can’t tell you how I already love this little guy just like I love the other three.  What a God thing.  I was concerned about that in the beginning.  I think many first time adoptive parents wonder about that.  I can only attribute feeling that same love to God’s plan for the parentless and to prayer.  I prayed for his mother’s womb and I prayed that I would love him the same as the others and I prayed that the first picture we would see would be the child that vicerally “moved” us.  I will say that if I hadn’t felt a connection to his picture I would have moved on until I did because I believed that was important.  Apparently 80% of the people who adopt internationally, adopt their first referral.   That is, the first picture they receive.    I think God wants us to adopt and so he blesses us in the process.  He makes it doable for each of us. He says to take care of the orphans and the widows, and if we are obedient, we will be blessed.  I certainly don’t mean to be preachy. I hope it doesn’t come off that way.

Saturday, Sept 1

Well, It is 9am on Saturday morning.  I had a journal entry from yesterday that I haven’t been able to send.  Our lobby internet is not working.  So then I went to the cafe around the corner last night with Emma (so she could have ice cream) and for some reason IT was not working either.  So I figured out that the hotel across the street had internet, but it was closed til this morning.  My last entry was in “Word” on my computer and I am unable to get it from my laptop to this hotel computer.  Oh well. Maybe later.

Germs

It has been an interesting last 24 hours.  Figuring out Luke’s schedule, his congestion, the weather, trying to get out of the hotel room, etc.  The weather has gone from 90 to around 60 now.  We didn’t come very prepared for the cooler weather, but it is not terrible.  Luke has congestion and a rumbly cough.  He is slightly warm, but I think this is due to teething.  He is totally drooling and constantly wanting to chomp on something.  His nose stuff is clear though so that is good.  But yesterday it rained alot and there was a pretty stiff wind so we were reluctant to take him out.  The last thing we want over here is a sick baby.   So we took turns going out.  It can get a little crowded with 4 people in a hotel room feeling like you can’t go anywhere.

Getting Out

My excursions so far have been to the cafe, the shopping mall, grocery store around the corner and now to the hotel across the street.   Matt and Emma walked down to the Moscow River last night and back.

Moscow River

They also walked probably 3 miles to and from Red Square

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square

and looked at some cathedral, and to the grocery for our croissant breakfast, coffee and hot chocolate in our room.  Last night we had bread, wine, cheese and salami again for dinner.  I’m not tired of it yet.

Russian

Ilya is so sweet, but I’m thinking he is probably missing his home he was used to a little.  He is being so good, but with the teeth and the nose and new people and a language he has never heard, poor guy is probably struggling a little.  Once we got to Moscow we had not had the TV on for over 48 hours.  Last night when Matt and Emma went for a walk I turned it on.  Lutia was in the crib. He could not see the TV from there but could here it.  When he heard that Russian language he just stopped and stared at the TV like he was listening to something he completely understood.  That gave me the idea to go get some Russian kid videos that he will be able to watch when we get home.

These Sheets?

At this hotel, they put a bottom sheet on the bed (queen size), then Matt and I each have a folded sleep sheet on top of each space and then a bed spread on top.  Very strange.  I guess you get into the sleep sheet (like a sleeping bag), but it is too confining.  It was this way in Stavropol too.  Also, they don’t want you to have a hot pot in the room to boil water.  They want you to go down the hall (the other end of the floor for us), but that is only 9am-6pm.  Otherwise you have to go down to the 6th floor.  I’m sorry, but I’m just going to have to break that rule.  I try not to break rules, but with a baby, his food 4-5 times a day (he does not like cold stuff) and our coffee in the am etc, etc for a week!  Plus if Matt and Emma are gone and I need the water…Gotta have that hot pot.  So we bought one yesterday and we will hide it when the maid comes in.

Today we will probably take turns going out again.  I really want to go back to the Tretyakov Museum.

The Tretyakov Museum

We will take a cab if we do, because a walk to the metro (subway) would be too cold and germs everywhere for Ilya.  It is still kind of cold out.  Or we may do it tomorrow and hope for a warmer day.

That’s it for now.  My turn to go back to the hotel room.  We do stroll through the hotel, but there is not much to stroll through. Miss you all and can’t wait to see you.

Love, Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007

Moscow

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

Right now it is almost 5pm and Ilya, Ilyusha, Lutia, Luke (we call him all of these things at this point) and I are sitting in our hotel room in Moscow.  Matt and Emma went for a walk.

The Last 36 hours

Yesterday (Wed.) morning, Andrei came by for us to figure out our new plans since our 2-week waiting period was waived.  We had to redo our tickets back to Moscow.  We wanted to leave Thursday (today) because that would give us the 4 business days to do the Moscow paperwork and then we could hopefully fly back with Matt on Sept. 6 and he would, at least, not have to change his plane ticket.

Argh – The Paperwork Never Seems To End

Turned out there were only 3 business class tickets left to get there on Thursday, so we took them.  They were a little more expensive than regular ones, but not that much in the scheme of things.  Then we had to get the Moscow ladies, Ludmila and Elena, working to change our schedule for the US Embassy (that is where we get Ilya’s visa) and something about a consulate registration. We also had to cancel and change our Moscow hotel reservations.  They advised us not to change our plane tickets to the US until Monday afternoon after we knew for sure we had Ilya’s visa.  (You mean there is a question?!)

Picking Our Baby In A Few Hours

So then, Andrei told us we would go pick up Ilya at 3pm.  Oh my gosh!  I can’t believe this is finally happening.  Do I have everything I need?  Guess we’ll just deal with it.  I still need socks and shoes though.  So until then, Matt, Emma and I went to lunch at a nice place up from our hotel.  We had soup, bread and Emma had French fries and, of course, orange Fanta.  That is the big deal here.  I pretty much live on the soup and bread. The soup is always great and anything else is a little too weird.  You just never know what you might be ordering.

My favorite soup is called Salyanka (I think that’s it.) Sort of a beef, reddish broth with veggies and meat and actually who knows what else, but it does have some kind of great flavor.  Russian spices I guess.  They always ask you if you want white or black bread.  I like the black.  Really just dark brown.

The Search For Socks And Shoes

Then we split up and Emma and I went to the huge outdoor market across from our hotel to find socks and shoes.  I’m sure Matt thinks I’ve become obsessed with finding socks and shoes or yocks and yues as Henry would say and I suppose it’s true.  But that’s my job!  Matt went to a fishing store to get lures.  Lures?  He is excited to have Russian fishing lures.  He also got a knife, about 10 inches long opened up, to give to Ilya when he is 15.  I say, “Are you kidding?”  He is shaking his head saying “You have a lot to learn about raising boys.”   Well that may be true.  He says “They will be Eagle Scouts so they have to have a knife.”  Ok. Eagle Scout. That is a good thing.

1 Hour To Go

Emma and I found socks and shoes so we all met back at the hotel.  1 hour til baby time!  It’s like, 1 hour till your scheduled c-section.  In one hour we know, without a doubt, we will have a new baby.  Wow!  So we hurriedly start packing and turning my backpack into a diaper bag.  We have to wake at 5:30am and leave at 6:30 for the airport so we better get this done now before Ilya is here.  It’s so funny, I have this image of being able to do nothing else once he is here, but that is so not true.  Life goes on with a baby in tow.  Anyway, ready to go.

Exterior of Orphanage

Andrei comes to get us and we drive to the orphanage

Matt videotapes everything.  It was amazing.  We walk in his room.

Pretend there are babies in the cribs.  Of course we couldn’t photograph while they were napping.

All the babies were still in there cribs from the afternoon nap.  There was just the one worker there; a wonderful lady.  She brought Luke into the empty playroom, took his clothes off and we brought ours to put on him.

Emma and Luke

He’d pooped so she gave him a quick bath.  She dressed him for us and then I asked her (with Andrei interpreting) all the questions I could think of.  Food, nap routines, cold treatments, fever history, allergies (no), soothing Russian words (just his name), etc.

Andrei looking at me with my new, awesome Ergo Baby Carrier thinking “that child is never going to stay in that contraption.”  He was right!  Darnit!

Then we just walked out of there with a baby.  I felt like I was doing something illegal. Like out of a movie.   I held him on my lap and we drove back to the hotel.

Good gracious, this is a horrible picture of me but it’s the only one of us right when we left the orphanage and that was such a moment!  What WAS I thinking with that awful haircut!

Oh, and the shoes I got were way too big and we haven’t even missed them.  Socks have been fine.

Rocking to Sleep

So we played on the floor of our hotel for quite a while.  Emma was so great.  She played with him constantly.  He acted completely fine.  He didn’t seem scared or upset at all.  He just explored everything.  I fed him some oatmeal for dinner and he loved it and then at about 8:30 I put him to bed.  I put the two twin beds together and slept next to him.  He just rocked back and forth on his hands and knees for maybe 5-10 minutes and then laid down to sleep and slept all night.  Thank you God.

I wonder if that rocking has taken the place of a mommy rocking him to sleep at night?  Those days are gone, my son.  You may continue to love to rock like that to get to sleep, but you will also have a mommy and a daddy to give you everything you need.

And Other Details

Today, we got up at 5:30am.  Ate a little breakfast in the room and headed to the airport.  According to his schedule he should have napped from 8-10am, but that did not happen.   I thought he might take a bottle to sleep in my arms, but no.  Too much excitement and change, I’m sure.  Ludmila and Eugene (the driver) picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel in Moscow; a 45-60 minute drive.

Eugene, Ludmila and Matthew at the airport.

Ilya fell asleep right as we arrived at the hotel, so I sat in the lobby with him asleep on my chest as Matt took care of checking in and dealing with luggage.  As I sat there I met a lady from Ohio with her 3 year-old girl she had just adopted and gotten the day before.  She was a sweet lady and had 3 sons at home.  She was excited to see Americans.  So this afternoon we just hung out in our room.  Matt and I took a nap and Emma and Ilya played.

It is now 6pm and Ilya just sacked out again.  We are way off schedule.  Wonder how this evening will play out.  He is just a very good and easy little boy.  Just loves to explore everything.  He is very content playing in the crib with toys and roaming around the room.

Tomorrow a doctor comes to our room to give him a physical and we will also give Ludmila our Embassy paperwork.  Then we have all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday free.  We plan on going back to the Tretyakov Museum and the Kremlin.  Emma wants to go back to Gorky park. She thinks Ilya will love it.

Oh, right.  Moscow is Expensive!

Ilya woke at 7pm, so he may be up for a while.  At the same time Matt and Emma came back to the room.  They had walked to the Kremlin, several miles, then hit the grocery near us.  Bread, cheese, wine, salami, snacks.  We will be trying to eat in our room or inexpensive cafes this week.  Breakfast for us in our hotel would cost $50 each day!

I walked down to the lobby to get on the internet and it wasn’t working so they told me to  go around the corner to a cafe.  So here I am, by myself, (the others are in the room).  No one speaks English hear so, somehow, we made our way through getting me an internet card.  No idea what it will cost, but I don’t think it will be too bad.  This is a casual place.  Better get back to the baby now.  Talk to you all soon!

Love, Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• No Related Post

This is my favorite picture of Matt in Russia.  Perplexed by the menu.

Tuesday night, August 28th, 2007

Andrei came by at 6pm tonight.  He gave us Ilya’s new Russian passport with his new name on it in Russian.  Ilya Neyl Devis. I guess that is how they spell it in Russia.  That was exciting.  We walked down the street to dinner. We forgot the Russian translation book and no one spoke English so we just pointed to some pictures.  It turned out to be good pizza; wonderful crust with all kinds of random ingredients on it.  We walked back to the hotel and again stopped for that awesome ice cream!  Hey, we are doing lots of walking so hopefully that will help.

We Will Take Nothing But The Clothes On His Back

Tomorrow we have a free day.  We might do a little shopping.  We need to get socks and shoes for Ilya.  He will take nothing with him from the orphanage.  We will bring his new clothes and dress him there and we will take him with us tomorrow afternoon.  I plan on asking the orphanage workers all the questions I can think of about him.  Foods and drinks he likes.  Nap time and bed time routines (probably not much of one), does he like the stroller, etc.

Feeling A Little Nerval and Excital

I must say I feel a little nervous, almost like a first-time mom.  I remember being in the hospital with Emma, our oldest, when I had the c-section and when we were about a day from coming home, I was astounded that they were going to let us take this baby home.  I mean, we didn’t know what to do with her.  Don’t we need some kind of training or something?  That’s what I’ve kind of been thinking today.  My goodness, we don’t even know what he will do or be like or how to keep him happy etc, etc.  BUT, I know it will all be ok and I must say I am thankful that Matt will be here to help carry him around  :)  My precious pack-mule :)

We will also give gifts to the orphanage workers that worked in his room and took care of him for this last year.  We understand that cash in an envelope is best.  They are all so sweet and I imagine there will be tears tomorrow.

Ok, I’m going online to order a playpen from Target now.  More later.

Love, Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007

Exterior of the Russian Courthouse

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks so much for the emails.

It is comforting to stay connected like this when on the other side of the world.

Sleep Is Quite Difficult

Last night we were all tired early.  No one took a nap.  Matt went to sleep about 7:30pm and Emma and I stayed up and watched some kind of NASA science show in Russian.   Science class :)  We went to sleep about 9pm.  I woke up about 11:30pm, then fell back asleep at about midnight.  Woke again at 2:30am and was awake till about 6am.  Ugh!  Then slept from about 6-8am.  Similar with Matt.  We are normally good sleepers, so this is all about the time change.  Again, Emma slept great.

Natalia

This morning Andrei picked us up at 9:30am, then we went to pick up the interpreter who is a wonderful lady name Natalia.  She is a professor at the local university, probably about 50-55 years old.  Speaks impeccable English.  Teaches English composition, literature and creative writing.  Very intelligent. She and Matt really hit it off talking of all sorts of things, mostly about some of the great American writers.

Court Started at 10am

It was very similar to yesterday’s pre-trial.  Extra people there were the DA, Minister of Education, Minister of Health and Director of the Orphanage.

The Orphanage Director

We were prepped again before the trial on additional things to do and say.  They wanted us to basically repeat the questions in our answers instead of just answering “yes or no” to certain things, so they could record that we truly understood what they were saying to us.

Also they wanted us to emphasize our concern for his medical condition (strabismus – crossed eye) to get him home quickly, and to integrate him into our family quickly, and that every day is significant in his developmental process, and that a 2 week delay is a big deal.  Whew!  It is a court full of women and they want to see feeling and emotion.  That shouldn’t be difficult!

So Nerve-Wracking!

Our interpreter and lawyer said we did a great job.  It was nerve-wracking though.  I went in the bathroom outside the courtroom, got on my knees in a stall and said major prayers before walking in there; to not be nervous, to say the right thing.

Our lawyer had a list of things she wanted us to include as we talked about our motivation for adoption.  We each had to discuss this issue.  So on the way to court we memorized acronyms to help us remember all that we wanted to say.

Also they mentioned Emma being here a number of times in the courtroom and how she interacted with Ilya and that she seemed to love him and play with him wonderfully.  I think this was significant in the whole process.   Three different people mentioned it.  They also said that since she had glasses, that was evidence that we understood about taking care of a child’s eyes.

Emma in the orphanage playroom.  The child in the playpen is not ours.  She enjoyed playing with all the babies.

After 1 1/2 hours, the judge left the room to decide.

She came back 10 minutes later and pronounced us Ilya’s parents and also that she would waive the 2-week waiting period.  Wow!  Mommy cried.  It was all so intense and the relief that it was over and the excitement that it was complete.  Really just like a new birth.

Afterward, we talked to the judge with our interpreter.  She was very sweet.  Our interpreter asked if we would like to talk to her and Matt joked that in the US we must say “May we approach the bench.” Our interpreter told the judge this and she laughed and said (in Russian) “You are not a lawyer here.  A parent.   And we and Ilya are all blessed and know you will be wonderful parents.  We can see that.”  What a day!  Wish we could have recorded the trial.

Ahhh….more paperwork….

So, now Andrei, our coordinator is hurrying around to get Ilya’s passport and new birth certificate and who knows what kind of paperwork.   Ilya will have dual citizenship until he is 18.  Tomorrow we will continue doing paperwork and probably take Ilya with us.  He will sleep with us one night here in Stavropol.  Then we will fly to Moscow early Thursday morning to be there one week for, you guessed it, more paperwork.

My Mama WAS going to come to Russia.

My mother was going to come over here when Matt went back to the U.S. next week so that he could get back to work and we could have, at least, one of us with our other 2 children.  She was going to help me here in Russia and we were really looking forward to that time together.  Now that the 2-week waiting period was waived and we are going home early, she will not get to come.  I am a little sad for that.

The Black Sea

Also, Matt really wanted to visit the Black Sea during our 2-week stay and now will not get to.  But with Meg and Henry waiting at home; a month away from Mom was not my favorite thing.  Deep down I did not want to stay that whole time and I didn’t really want to go to the Black Sea, but I didn’t say as much.

If we had to be here I guess we should travel about some, but I think I’ve seen too many Russian spy movies.  I mean, the country of Chechnya is right below us!  I just want to get all my little chicks home under one roof.  I guess that is nature taking over when we become mommies.

Engage!

Anyway I really did not know what to pray for on the whole 2 week thing, so I just said “God, you know the right thing for us to do.  Make it so.”  (As Jean LucPicard would say on Star trek:)  And He did.  We are all in agreement on that.  The Black Sea will be another day.  Maybe when Ilya is grown.  Ah, life is good and God is good!

A Giddy High

During the trial, Emma and Andrei went to the internet cafe and played on the computer.  Andrei was very impressed with Emma and her maturity.  She has been great to have here.  After the trial they were waiting outside the court for us, so we hugged Natalia goodbye and walked back to the internet cafe to wait for Andrei to do more paperwork.

I had 2 cappuccinos and was on a giddy high.  We were all very excited and it was hard to sit still.  Then Andrei took us to our hotel and dropped us off to do more PW (got that?)  We walked to a wonderful outdoor restaurant that we had been to  last time and had a celebration lunch.  Matt and I had Russian champagne and Emma had Fanta orange soda.  After lunch we had ice cream, which rivals the gelato in Italy.  Then we walked to a beautiful little park and Emma and I rode a mini-rollercoaster.

We are now waiting for Andrei to come meet us at 6pm tonight to sign more documents.

We love you all and will talk to you soon.  God Bless and thanks for all the prayers.

Allison

PS I apologize for the not-so-great writing.  I usually end up writing late afternoon and I think that is when my body thinks I should be going to sleep so I try to rush through it quickly so I can go chill out.

Here is the email I sent to my Mama that night.

Dear Mama,

I’m so sorry you will not be coming to Russia.  I totally expected that you would.  I kind of thought it would be like Grandfather and you going to Greece, this time it being you and me.  I was not sure what to pray for in terms of us staying the 2 weeks or not.  Matt wanted to go to the Black Sea and it was going to be neat to be here with you.  But Meg and Henry in Enid for a month is a long time.  So I just prayed to God to do the best and the right thing and so this must be it.  One of these days we will do a neat trip the way your father and you did.  Who knows, maybe it is to Scotland. (Our ancestral country)  I love you very much and so appreciate that you were willing to come all the way across the world.  We will see you very soon.

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007

The view out the window of Ilya’s (Luke’s) room

August 27, 2007

The PreTrial

All is going well.  Yesterday Matt napped while Emma and I had lunch in the snack bar in the hotel.  $20 for a small bowl of soup, 2 pieces of bread (they charge for each piece,) a side of mashed potatoes, a small juice and 2 ice creams.  Mind you, I’m not complaining, just observing.

Then we all slept from about 2-5:30pm and after that, walked through the market across the street.

At about 7:30 we went back to our room and read for a while, then Emma watched Parent Trap on one laptop and Matt and I watched Reds on the other laptop.  What a great movie. We went to sleep about midnight and woke at 3:30am.  Still off on the sleeping.  I went back to sleep maybe an hour later, but Matt ended up going for a 1 1/2 hour walk (after the sun rose.) Fortunately, Emma has been sleeping all through the night.

This morning we went to see Ilya at the orphanage again.

We first met with the director/pediatrician, our interpreter, a doctor and a social worker who was there to observe us with Ilya.  They again went over all medical reports.  Emma sat on a chair behind us and they thought she was cute.  Then we went for 30 minutes to see Ilya.

Another couple from Maryland was in there also seeing their child.  It was their 2nd trip.  They go to court tomorrow too.  We exchanged information thinking maybe someday our two boys might like to meet.

PreTrial Preparation

Next we had lunch at a pizza place and Andrei prepped us for the pre-trial.  He told us what they would ask and what we should say in response.  Things like why do you want to adopt?  Why Russia? Won’t your other children be jealous?  How will your extended family react to an adopted child?  Will the child be given equal inheritance? Won’t four children be alot to take care of? :)

The courtroom was full of women except for Matt

This is typical.  The judge, a different interpreter (Andrei couldn’t go because he had a conflict of interest,) our russian lawyer, the secretary and the DA.  They all want it to work, but they have to do their due diligence.  The judge was very serious.  Our interpreter said she was a good woman, just doing her job.

This is the only picture I have of our courtroom interpreter.  It is terribly out of focus, but I wanted to show you anyway.  She was a professor of literature at the University.  A very interesting woman.  As I look back, I cannot believe I didn’t take more pictures, but I also remember the intensity of this whole thing.  Pictures were definitely NOT on the radar screen.

The pretrial took about 45 minutes.  Andrei took Emma to an internet cafe and had ice cream while we were in there.  Apparently tomorrow it will be similar but with more words and more officials (those are the words of our interpreter.)

They might waive our 10 day waiting period?  You’re kidding?

After the pretrial, we went out to get in the car and our lawyer ran out to us and said she thinks they will probably waive our 2 week waiting period.  We were quite shocked because they NEVER do that in this region.  We don’t know for sure, but Andrei says if the judge asked our lawyer to draw up a motion for it, that must mean she intends on doing it.  We won’t jump to conclusions though until tomorrow.

This rarely happens.

In the last year, the only other time this “10 day waiting period after the trial” has been waived was when the adoptive father and his new son had the same birthday AND it was on their court date so the judge did it for a birthday present. Matt thought maybe she was doing it because of professional courtesy because he is a lawyer, but we don’t know.  Or she might be doing it because she knows we have 2 other children waiting for us a world away.  Regardless, God has definitely got to be involved.  He is looking after the children I believe.  All four.

Inserting God into the Court System

Oh, I did get a little God into the court proceeding when they asked me if our children would be jealous or have problems with an adopted child.  I said we have always taught our kids that God gives us babies in two ways, biologically and through adoption, so no, I don’t believe there will be any problems.

When we were here in June and I brought up God in terms like that to the Minister of Education, they looked at me funny.  Then they asked “Do you believe in God?”  And I said, “Yes.”  They seemed slightly puzzled.  I’m really not sure what they thought, but it seemed to be an anomaly.

Back in the Baby Business

This afternoon we went to buy an infant car seat which we found out we MUST have on the flight back to the US, and baby food.  We are definitely back in the baby business.

Tired and going to bed early tonight.  Love you all!

Allison

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Adoption Journal – Part 17 (Finale) – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 16 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 15 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 14 – Russia 2007
• Adoption Journal – Part 13 – Russia 2007