Waiting for Baby Peterson

In case you want to stay connected to the Petersons...

2010-08-13T12:48:00.000-05:00

http://adventuresinpetersoning.blogspot.com/

The end of this line.

2010-08-12T21:21:00.002-05:00

I think the last post I made into the blog is a great place to end our "Waiting for Baby Peterson" blog and begin a new one about both of our kids. Its proving to be even more difficult to update a blog with 2 kids, let alone 2 blogs with 2 kids. :) I still want to update a blog frequently though and will commit to making it happen!! Once I get the new Peterson Family blog up and running I'll share the info with anyone who wants to keep up with our increasingly hectic life.

I cannot believe the journey we've been on over the past two years. We have been the luckiest people in the world. We started down this path devastated and hopeful. Devastated that our lives were not working out the way that we expected. Hopeful that God would open other doors for us that would allow our dreams of starting a family to come true. I would have never guessed or dared to hope that it would have led us to Maks & Ella. What an incredible, elating, heart-breaking, difficult, long, blessed road this has been. And what a journey we have started now. :)

Wow. Life is going to change tomorrow.

2010-07-01T21:40:00.002-05:00

So Erin did not go into spontaneous labor. So we're going into the hospital tomorrow to get that baby out of her. :) They're going to induce her at 7:15am tomorrow. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and say a few prayers. Its kind of goofy in that Maks has no idea whats about to happen.

To keep things interesting we found out that Maks has the Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. He had a fever the other night and then started getting blisters on his hands and blisters inside his mouth. The poor little guy had such a hard time eating. We weren't able to send him back to daycare on Wednesday and couldn't send him back at all until next Tuesday! Try getting everything wrapped up to have a baby, go on a 6 week leave, put together more stuff from our freshly moved house and having Maks running all over the place. Its been tough! My Mom is going to help us this weekend by taking Maks home with her. He can't be around the baby until his blisters have dried up and gotten better. Lets hope that he's doing better by Sunday. Thanks Mom! :)

Maks' new thing is saying "Hi" to everything. "Hi Mama", "Hi Dada", "Hi Doggy". Its so cute. I love coming home and hearing "Hi Mama". He sits in his crib and yells "Mama, Where is you?". He is seriously the cutest kid ever.

I'm going to wrap it up now. Big day ahead of me.

Little things to remember

2010-06-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

There are so many things that I want to remember about my 2 year old version of Maks. I hope one day when he reads this he will understand what an unbelievable person his is, even at this age. He amazes me every day with how smart he is. Today we were reading the Foot Book by Dr. Seuss and he remembers some of the words in the book based on the pictures for those pages. He knows when it says up and down, when it says over the chair and the little gesture I make for that part. He knows when it says "sick feet" and does this little cough. Its so funny! I don't even read that book very much to him!

Our new bath tub has these little handles on the side. He now grabs the handles and then puts his feet up in the air and holds his little butt up. Like a gymnast on the pummel horse. I swear he's destined to be a gymnast. He already does somersaults on his own, is always trying to do handstands, can hold up his little body weight with his arms... I wish I always had a video camera handy!

Today the social worker from our adoption agency came to our house for our 6 month check up. They start it around 4 months so they can get everything processed, written up and sent off to Russia on time. Maks was very curious about this new lady. Grandma Peterson was here helping us keep an eye on him while we talked with Ellen and Maks kept walking in and out of the dining room to make sure everyone knew he was there and to check out what was going on without him. :)

He's not feeling well today. Last night he had a bit of a fever and today eating doesnt seem to be easy for him. I think his little throat is sore and swollen. But still he's such a trooper. He still wanted to watch "Pooooh" on tv and wrestle on the couch.

Every time I pick him up now he gives me a kiss. And even though they have been snot and bacteria filled lately, I gladly take every one! He's so good at giving high-fives and "pounding" his Dada. I sound like I'm gushing all the time, but I'm telling you (and the future Maks) he really is an amazing little guy. I want to get better at my blog so that he can always know what life was like when he was this age, what his Mama was thinking and what we were all going through together. I would have loved to have that from my childhood. Especially now that I'm a Mom myself.

Updates

2010-06-27T20:28:00.002-05:00

I havent been writing on the blog for a while. Its been such a busy last few months that I havent had time! Maks has been home now for almost 4 months! I can't believe it. The last posting was at the beginning of May and way too much has happened to catch up on everything. Some of the highlights...

-We took Maks to Florida for his 2nd birthday. We went down to Mom and Dad's house with Mom, Dad, Ang, Me, Jason and Maks. We took him to Ohana on his birthday and then Chef Mickeys the next day. We didn't do any parks though. Thought it might be a little much for him and we were only there a few days. He loved the characters. Minnie Mouse was probably his favorite. She spent so much time with him, giving him kisses and hugs. When she walked away he stood up on his chair, pointed to her and cried. I'm so proud of him. He is fearless. We took him over to Daytona Beach to meet his cousins and to see the ocean. He ran right into the ocean and would have kept going if I didn't stop him.

-We've also had to pack up our townhouse to get ready for our big move into our new house. Our closing dates were so close to the new baby's due date but we didn't have much of a choice. The packing, staying in a hotel for a week and then moving into a new house definitely seemed to bother Maks a bit.

-We moved this past weekend into a house in Brookdale in Naperville. Its a great subdivision with lots of families who all seem pretty friendly. A ton of neighbors have stopped by so far to drop off cookies and introduce themselves. I'm hoping we'll be able to stay here for a long time.

The baby is due any day now. Erin is so hot and uncomfortable. The weather has been tough here, nearly 90 degrees every day. We've had some huge storms since we've been here. The very first day we owned the house I was here vacuuming with Shirlene, she left to head home and I decided to finish up upstairs. All of the sudden I heard a really loud noise and saw the trees start to blow sideways. I was almost 100% certain that we were having a tornado! I ran down the stairs (fell is more like it) and got to the basement, all the while expecting the roof to start blowing off. It wasn't a tornado and the roof stayed on, but a big tree came down in our back yard denting the siding and just missing the roof. The weather vain on top of the garage fell off and landed on our front step just 3 feet from my car. We're working on fixing it all. :)

So far everything has been good. We have a lot of work to do on the house. I'm scared to have the baby! :) I'm not sure how I'll handle being a Mommy to 2 little ones. I'm not sure what I should do with my career next year while trying to balance everything. I'm trying to stop worrying and just enjoy life as it is now.

Jason and I are so blessed and so lucky. Our son is amazing. He is the best little man that I have ever met with the best smile, the greatest little heart, a wonderful sense of adventure and even though it makes his Mama crazy, he has a strong fighting spirit. He makes us very happy. :)

More pictures!

2010-05-02T11:01:00.002-05:00

Pictures!

2010-05-02T10:51:00.003-05:00

I know, these are WAY over due. :) Here's a collection from our 8 weeks at home so far!

Chesterbrook

2010-04-30T19:44:00.002-05:00

Somebody posted on the blog today asking why I call Chesterbrook a preschool and not a daycare. I wasn't going to post the question because I thought it would bring a level of maliciousness to an otherwise incredibly joyous site. But then I thought maybe she didn't mean it that way and really wanted to know. I prefer that option. :) So here ya go Peggy...

1. I don't always refer to Chesterbrook as a preschool. I have referred to it as both a daycare and a preschool.

2. Chesterbook is a private school in Naperville that takes infants all the way up until 8th grade. We can keep Maks enrolled for the next 11 years Full Time if we want.

3. All of the lead teachers in the classrooms have Early Education degrees from a four year University/College.

4. Those lovely teachers (and yes they're called teachers) work with the kids on different lesson plans. They have themes that revolve around touch, smell, sight, words, letters, colors, seasons, etc...

5. There is a Principal and Assistant Principal at the school who put together and approve the curriculum. There are periodic parent-teacher nights to go in and review the curriculum as well as the childs progress.

6. We have worked with a Speech Therapist who has sent several additional lesson ideas for a child like Maks to help him with his word development and catch up to the other kids. He is repeating everything these days and has so many more words than before!!

The bottom line is that you can call it whatever you want. Maks is adjusting very well to his new life, including his teachers, his new friends, new language and new Mommy and Daddy. Thank you to all for showing so much concern. :)

Life with Maks

2010-04-20T22:15:00.002-05:00

Obviously I've been a little busy lately and haven't had time to update the blog. I wanted to update it though with some little things that have happened lately. I'm worried that I won't remember all of these little quirks or stories with him when he gets older.

Maks is an unbelievable joy in our family. Not always easy, but an unbelievable joy. The other day I was in the car on the way home from somewhere and thought to myself, can anyone really be this content in their life? I feel so blessed to have a husband that I love, a son that I adore and a little girl on the way. Our first days with Maks were so difficult. I cried and cried that first week thinking, will this ever be different? I can say without a doubt, yes it is different. We still have tantrums, he still hits himself in the head, he still hates going to bed, but as I get to know him those things are so much easier to handle. He went potty in the big-boy potty a few times last week. He was SO proud of himself! Sometimes when he is sitting in his high chair eating he puts his hands out to me for a hug. I always lean in and he wraps his arms around my neck and pats my back. He gave me a kiss for the first time a few weeks ago! Most days when I pick him up from his preschool he looks at me when I first walk in with a bewildered look wondering who I am. A few seconds later he realizes I'm me and he breaks into a big smile and runs to me. (Sometimes calling me Da-Da, oh well I'm working on it) He has started dancing. :) Its the cutest thing. One day in the car he started clapping to music and then starting head-banging to a rock song. It was so cute that I had to whip out my cell phone and video tape it. When I sent it to Jason he wondered if I took while I was driving. No...:)

Maks loves his cousin Rylan. This past weekend we went to my Grandma and Grandpa J's house for dinner and Rylan came over. They spent some crazy time running around through my Grandma's house (who puts a room full of crystal next to the toy room?? we have NO idea how it survived our childhood!), racing lawn mowers across the farm with Papa and Jason (yes we are a little country), and screaming everything they "said". When we got back to my parents house Rylan came in and Maks went running over to him to hug him. He held on to Rylan in a big bear hug while Rylan tried to get away. :) So cute.

His new words are "kitty-cat", "all-done", "Hi" and "Up". Okay, they don't all exactly come out sounding exactly like that but its close!

Overall I am so proud of our little guy. I am such a blessed Mom, he makes my life so much better than it has ever been before. I'm such a gusher now, but I don't care. He's amazing.

I will post pictures soon! I have to find time to connect my camera to the computer without Maks trying to eat it. :)

Busy Week!

2010-04-03T21:53:00.002-05:00

Maks did fairly well toward the end of the week at school. He had some big days of going outside to play in the water, riding a bike (sort of), hanging up a picture of himself on the wall (and looking at it a lot), having rice krispie treats... it goes on and on. I was so worried about nap time but apparently its no problem. He averages an hour & a half or so of sleep every day! Yeah!

Last night we went to Erin & Jims for a cookout. They have a super-big backyard that Maks could run around and a very cool swing set to climb and slide down. Owen gave Maks a ride on his Jeep. As you can see, Maks loved it!

Today we met Aunt Leslie and Cousin Rylan at Portillos for lunch. They both ended up with the same bib (not planned). It was so cute. We went over to Aunt Leslie & Cousin Rylans playland (their house) for a while too. Rylan is so great with Maks. Hes so much bigger and could really just roll right over Maks if he wanted to, but he's always very gentle and lets Maks pretty much do his thing. The only thing that will make Ry crazy is when Maks tries to take his keys away. Rylan ALWAYS has to have keys. I think he's going to be a locksmith. Not a bad thing I guess. :)

Tomorrow is Easter. We got Maks and Ry coordinating outfits. :) Can't wait to see them! I'll post pictures of course!

Chesterbrook Full Time- Yikes!

2010-03-30T20:21:00.003-05:00

Monday was another big day. Maks's first day at Chesterbrook for the full day. I was so nervous and so anxious. When I went to drop him off that day, I'm sure he could sense the nerves. He did not want me to put him down. He started crying and holding onto my next when I took his coat off. Ms. Ashley and Ms. Jenny weren't in yet so I'm sure that didn't help. Finally one of the other teachers who did know Maks came over to help. She took him from me and tried to get him to play with some toys. The last image I had was of him crying and holding his arms out to me. Walking down the hall I started to cry and ran into the Assistant Principal. What a sweet girl. She stopped to give me a hug and tell me I was perfectly normal.

The day was difficult at work. All day I worried about him; how we was eating, was he crying, how did nap time go, did he expect me to come back for him after lunch like the other days... Jason was the one to pick him up. I guess nap time went fairly well. The one teacher rocked him for just a few minutes and then he wanted down to sleep in his cot. He slept for over an hour. I find that amazing considering the fact that he will never lay down on his own at our house. Even when we rock him to sleep and he's snoring! As soon as we lay him down he starts crying again. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know.

Weekend Update

2010-03-28T20:26:00.003-05:00

Lots of fun with Maks this weekend, lots of firsts too!

Saturday- Maks woke up in a crankier than normal mood so while Jason went out to show some houses Maks & stayed home and played here. Erin stopped by for a while and then Jason & I decided to take him to the Riverwalk downtown Naperville. It was a nice enough day and Mommy was getting cabin fever. He did pretty well in the stroller, loved to see the dogs walk by, and was pretty happy at Coldstone Creamery (see picture). I think we asked a lot of him on Saturday. We decided to take him to his first ever church service. Pastor Gary was preaching on Saturday evening, the number of people who attend that service is usually smaller and 5:30pm is usually a good time for Maks. It was the Palm Sunday service and Maks was thrilled to waive around his palm. Mommy & Daddy did their best not to have their eyes poked out by one (see picture). The service was about 45 minutes and he did really well until the last 10 minutes. Pastor Gary announced Maks's arrival in church and a few families stopped by to meet him. This is the point in the night where Mom & Dad made a poor decision, we decided to go to dinner to meet Atiya and Darius. Maks had a long day, we'd already asked him to sit down for nearly an hour, he was tired, crabby and restless. A great time to take him to a restaurant! We went to a Greek restaurant so at least it was loud! Not as many people could hear him screaming. He didn't want to sit at all, didn't want to eat at all, wanted to run all over the place, wanted to hold all of the knives and forks... you get the picture. Luckily Atiya and Darius were gracious and helped as much as possible. They capped the night off well with a bunch of presents. The golf set and basketball are already doing some damage to our walls but at least he's having fun. :)

Sunday- We decided to torture Maks a little more and take him out to look at some houses. Erin came along as our 3rd party adviser and on-the-spot Maks charmer. He did fairly well. He even let us stop by a restaurant for some lunch without a major tantrum! Tonight Grandpa J and Uncle Luke stopped by after Mom & Ang left for Spring Break in Palm Beach. Nice for them!! Maks had his first small piece of pizza and a tiny bit of popcorn. Its a Johnson tradition every Sunday night, pizza & popcorn. We're breaking him in a little at a time. Maks was thrilled to play with Uncle Luke's Cardinals hat. Poor Jason, not sure if Maks is a Cardinals fan or just like the hat. :) Lets hope for the latter.

Tomorrow is a BIG DAY. Mommy's first day back at work. Not sure how either of us will handle this one.

Updates

2010-03-26T19:55:00.003-05:00

Maks did great at preschool over the past few days. Always a champ during drop off time, a strong eater, plays well, sits during circle time, LOVES the gym time and still happy to see Mommy when she picks him up. So far so good!

I go back to work starting on Monday. I'm a little bummed and a little worried. Hopefully we can keep Maks's daycare hours down to 6-6 1/2 per day between Jason & I. He starts doing nap time at Chesterbrook on Monday. I'm really interested in how that is going to go.

We had to go back to Dr. Och's office today for the follow up. It turns out that Maks does in fact have Giardia, the stomach parasite that can cause lots of poops and can stop him from gaining weight. We got the medicine on Wednesday and will be finished with it tomorrow. So far there has been no real pooping progress. But we'll see... We have to wait on confirmation of a few vaccines, Maks ended up having to get 2 today. It went much better than the blood draw. He cried but was over it pretty quickly. The nurse was super quick and already had the band-aid half on before she even gave him the shot!

Tonight I made Mexican food and Jason & I each had a margarita. Maks loved the glasses (which were plastic with little flamingos and palm trees on the bottom). I would keep pouring a little bit of water in his so he could drink from a big boy glass. He loved it. Now that he's feeding himself every day at preschool he is hell bent on feeding himself at home too. Not so strong at that yet, but we're giving it a go!

Twi-Hard

2010-03-24T21:35:00.004-05:00

Maks is a New Moon fan! We were watching the new DVD tonight and he was enthralled. Good to know he has great taste. :)

Maks's First Day at Chesterbrook

2010-03-24T21:22:00.003-05:00

I go back to work on Monday. Yikes. I am feeling a tremendous amount of mommy guilt sending Maks to preschool/daycare instead of staying home with him myself. That's why we like Chesterbrook. It's more of a preschool than a daycare as they have a lot of learning elements built into the day and very separate groups determined by age. Still, its not me. I know that deep down, Maks has to be very scared and unsure of what is happening in his life and now we are going to throw another big change at him.

I am taking him in Thursday and Friday as well for half days. I thought it would be an easier way to start him off instead of full days right out of the gate. I took him in this morning at 8:30am. We met Ms. Nicole the Principal of the school who walked us down to Toddler II. Maks's class has 9 other little kids who are nearly 2 years old. There are 2 teachers, Ms. Jenny & Ms. Ashley. When we walked into the school Maks was very shy and seemed a little bit nervous. Once we walked into his classroom though, he was a changed (little) man. He wanted down right away and ran over to some toys. Within 5 minutes he had played with three other kids, introduced himself to a teacher (a 2-yr old introduction consists of walking over to her and handing her a toy) and made a little girl cry. Very productive first five minutes. He wasn't phased at all that I was walking away. I'm not quite sure how to take that, but was glad for him that he felt comfortable in his group.

I called in at 10:00am to check on him, just as any other completely anal/nervous parent would do. The teacher told me he was doing great playing with other kids and was currently sitting down for circle time. I have a really hard time believing he just sits for circle time. I need to learn their secret.

I went in to pick him up around 12:15pm. The other little kids were going down for nap time. The lights were off and there was soothing music in the background. Maks was sitting at a table "reading" a book. Ms. Jen from the front office told him to "look who was here," he looked up at me and gave me a big smile, put his hands up in the air and ran over to me so I could pick him up. (Yeah! He does at least like to see his Mommy!) We got a great little packet to take home after his first day detailing out how his day went, what he ate (2 plates of food for lunch!) and a bunch of pictures.

He was a little withdrawn in the car ride home but by the time we were in the house and upstairs he was running around like a crazy kid again playing and laughing. Hard to tell how today really affected him but I'm glad outwardly he appeared to have a good time. Lets hope the same is true of tomorrow! And the day after that... and the day after that...

Maks Playing w/ Kitchen Box

2010-03-23T20:56:00.002-05:00

So excited about the box...

Maks at His Party

2010-03-23T15:10:00.003-05:00

Shirlene and Becky (Grandma and Aunt on Jason's side) hosted a small gathering of their family and friends for Maks on Sunday. It was all done so beautifully. If anyone needs help hosting an event or planning one (especially baby showers) you should call Becky Peterson. I can't post her phone number without her permission. :) She is so creative and does such a great job. It was a Dr. Seuss themed event (which is in line with Maks's room). I'm posting some pictures of Maks enjoying his time as the hit of the party as soon as possible. For some reason my computer will not recognize them for upload onto this particular site. I'll keep working at it!

A special thanks goes out to Aunt Judy who had an amazing book put together for us of this entire blog from Day 1 through our first day home with Maks. That was always the original intent of this blog, but to see it in action was incredibly special. Not to mention it took one mammoth "To Do" off of our list.

Maks has been home for the past 2 days playing with everything relentlessly. Luckily most things make noise, so we won't be in danger of boring our ears any time soon. :)

Lots of Fun

2010-03-20T21:52:00.002-05:00

We've been up to lots of fun in the past few days. Thursday we went to the outlet mall with Grandma Shirlene. We got Maks a great little outfit for his first little get together tomorrow. Just a few people who are friends of Shirlene and Roger. He's going to look so cute in his sweater vest, button down shirt and boat shoes. I'm making him such a square. :) He really would look cute in anything.

Friday we went out to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's (Version 2.0). Mom & Dad have been out of town for the past week up at Mayo Clinic for Dad's muscle problems. Great news, Dad got some good answers, they think they know what's wrong and can help fix it! Maks loved playing with Ben (Mom & Dad's German Shepard). Mom and I would kick Ben's ball and when Ben ran after it, Maks ran after Ben. He was laughing and running all over the yard. Grandma & Grandpa Johnson (Version 1.0) got home from Florida this week so we were able to go over to the farm and introduce Maks to them too. My cousins Cory and Blair & Joe Webber stopped by to see him too. He was a little overwhelmed by all of the attention but loved running around with the Fisher Price "Mower" my Mom brought with. He ran right into the rotten beans and the mud. Lovely. Although every time his hands got even a little bit of dirt on them, he would hold them up to me to be wiped off. Those two things will not be able to go together forever. Running into mud/rotten beans and then needing your hands clean all of the time don't mix! He'll learn. We went to McDonalds with Grandma & Grandpa Johnson (Version 2.0) and Maks's cousin Rylan. Maks was his usual hungry self and Rylan was focused solely on playing with the happy meal toy. What a pair they make.

After Maks's nap back at home we met Erin, Elise & Owen (along with Erin's parents) downtown Naperville at the RiverWalk. It was such a beautiful day and Maks loved running after all of the dogs yelling "Arf, Arf". He really has that one down. We hit Noodles & Company for an early dinner as Jim & Jason both had to work late. By the time we got home Maks was exhausted. He fell asleep at 7:45pm and slept until almost 8 this morning.

Jason had a home show all day today so Maks and I were once again flying solo. It was such a crappy day. It had dropped 30 degrees and was now snowing. What a departure from yesterday's 60+ degree day with sunshine!! I could not just sit at home with him all day alone. We headed to the mall to just walk around, found a cool pair of little guy sandals that made the trip worthwhile and then headed home for lunch & naptime. Maks is such a funny little boy. He is so smart, picks up on stuff so quickly and imitates things that I do all the time now. Today he had a paper towel in his hand and I picked him up. He started to wipe my mouth off just like I do when he eats and laugh hysterically. He's testing boundaries like nobody's business. There are only a handful of things he's not supposed to touch at our house. He loves to now walk up to those things, put one finger on them and then look at me out of the corner of his eye to see what I do. I guess Mom would call this karma. :)

Tonight Jason & I got to go on a date night. It was lovely. A grown up dinner that I didn't have to eat at warp speed to make sure I preempt Maks's inevitable tantrum. We went to Hugo's Frog Bar downtown Naperville while my sister and brother-in-law Luke and Andrea watched Maks. They had to give him a bath and put him to bed. Apparently he did very well. Was a little confused after bathtime as to why we weren't around and maybe a little scared, but Ang & Luke must have done a great job distracting him. We were only gone for a few hours, it was a much needed break for us and great to know that Maks did so well. Thanks to Luke & Ang!! :)

I'll try to post more pictures soon!

Play Day

2010-03-17T20:13:00.005-05:00

It has been beautiful weather this week. We wanted to get outside today and let Maks run out some of that energy. We met Erin, Elise and Owen and went to the Morton Arboretum. Erin has an annual membership to the Arboretum and was able to get Maks & I in for free. Thanks Erin! It was a great morning to be there. I'd never been before and didn't know they had so much for little kids to do. It's not all exactly made for 1 1/2 year olds like Maks but it certainly did not slow him down. He had so much fun running all over the place. There was a big hill that Elise and Owen were running up and down. It was a little too steep for Maks to do alone so I would walk up and down with him. Every time Elise or Owen would run by him he would laugh like crazy. I'm attaching some pictures of him in the toddler maze. Those are a great idea, there is only one way in and one way out. :)

Aunt Ang came over to visit Maks tonight. We had made a lovely Irish dinner of corn beef, cabbage, potatoes and Guinness. She and Luke had already had dinner (Mexican!) so she didn't eat, but she got to help feed and bathe Maks. So fun for her... He was having a good time though!

Thursday and Friday are supposed to be beautiful days too. We're going to meet Grandma Shirlene at the outlet mall tomorrow and then hopefully play with Rylan & Grandma Jackie on Friday.

First Haircut!

2010-03-16T21:11:00.003-05:00

Maks did really well again last night, sleeping for nearly 12 hours. I worried that after a Doctor's visit like he had that last night would be a tough night for him. He's such a strong little guy.

This morning we went to my office so I could fax in some paperwork. Maks was able to meet a few of my colleagues and my old boss. They were all in for a meeting so it was great timing. He liked sitting in the swivel office chair at the meeting table. He didn't want to get out of that chair. Little does he know that one day he'll be thrilled to get out of that chair! :)

In the afternoon I took him to Kid Snips in Naperville for his first haircut. When you come in they have DVDs to choose from, I picked a Thomas the Tank Engine one for him. They put Maks in a little car, turned on the DVD and got to cutting. They work very quickly. The entire hair cut took about 5 minutes! Although he really doesn't have a lot of hair to cut. When it was done they took his picture, gave us a certificate with a lock of his hair and a blue balloon. He was thrilled with his balloon! No crying during the haircut, and now he looks like a little man. I'm posting some pictures of his haircut for you all to see. As always, so cute!

Dreaded Doctor Visit

2010-03-15T19:48:00.003-05:00

We were able to move Maks's doctor appointment up to today. We've been working with Dr. Ochs in Chicago who has worked with many internationally adopted kids. He's been so great in terms of responding to the initial referral, responding to questions while we were in Russia and of course now trying to get us in as soon as possible. We drove into Ravenswood this afternoon, Maks did great in the car. We really are lucky as he is very good in his car seat. There are only short tantrums or outbursts so far!

During the Doctors appointment he had to be weighed, measured, have his ears, eyes, and throat checked, give a stool sample (a lot of fun for Mommy), a urine sample (which we weren't able to get) and worst of all...lots of blood. They do a full work up on his blood including a test for all types of vaccines and an allergy test. It was perhaps the most traumatic experience he has had since leaving the orphanage. They had 5-6 vials that needed to be filled and of course when they did the first arm it clotted up quickly so they had to do both arms. While doing the 2nd arm, Maks was able to pull his arm away and rip the needle out causing blood to squirt all over. (Sorry Dad if you're reading this) Jason and the nurse had to do their best to hold him still while they tried to take the blood. It was awful. He looked so terrified and kept looking at us as if he was pleading for it to stop. They were not able to get enough this time so we are going to have to take him to lab near our home for another round. I decided that today was too much for them to try a 3rd time. The people were really great there and very understanding. We have an appointment in 2 weeks to go back for whatever results we can get from today's samples.

The great news is that he has strong little lungs, his heart seems fine, his measurements are very small but all proportional. He should catch up quickly over the next year. He is such a smart little guy. He picks up on stuff so quickly, watching everything we do once and then going back to do it himself. While we were at the doctor today he took a Kleenex after I had wiped his nose and kept wiping it back and forth and trying to blow his nose into it. And after all of his baths now he takes his own Q-tip and tries to clean out his ears! Simple, but so cute for a 1 year old!

So cute!

2010-03-14T13:59:00.004-05:00

We took Maks to Whole Foods last night to go grocery shopping, as you can see he loved wearing his Daddy's hat. A Florida Gators fan in the making! This morning we went to meet Leslie and Rylan at the mall and got 2 coordinating Easter outfits for the boys. Can't wait to post that picture. We thought about giving the Easter Bunny another shot but decided against it. Too much trauma for them both. Maks had a great night last night, went to bed at 7:45pm and didn't get up until 8:15am. Such a trooper! He loves his sleep at night. Not so great with naptimes. He always needs them but never wants to go to sleep during the day.

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to stop a child from drinking bath water. Its almost gotten difficult to give him a bath. He now spends all of his time on his tummy drinking the water. We're going to need some sort of chair to put him in so we can get him to sit up. If you have any good suggestions, let me know!

Visit to the Easter Bunny

2010-03-13T20:13:00.002-06:00

Rylan and Maks were not huge fans of the Easter Bunny, as you can see by the picture. He still had fun! His cousin Rylan has taught him how to bounce up and down a lot. Rylan loves to stand in one place and bounce. All day today after we left Rylan, Maks has been bouncing all over the place. They were trying to break into the locked hallway together today. I asked Leslie if she thought they would ever try to skip school together. She said "over my dead body." I bet they will try. Those two are big into mischief. Should be interesting!!

1 Week In

2010-03-13T19:54:00.003-06:00

I know I haven't updated much. Yes Mom, I'm a little busy now. :) I know you love that. Maks is definitely a busy kid. He loves to get into absolutely everything. Anything and everything that opens, closes, makes noise, etc... Its been a busy first week home. We were able to meet Great Grandma Brockman and La. Maks loved Grandma's house. SO much stuff for him to get into. And most of it was glass. God bless Grandma, she just kept saying "Oh he'll be fine, just let him be, he can't hurt anything." I've only been home with Maks for one week but I can tell you that isn't necessarily true! We were able to play at Aunt Leslie's and Uncle Don's again. We went over to Erin's to meet Elise and Owen and use their toys for a while. Today we met the Easter Bunny and found some Easter eggs. So much going on! One thing I have learned in a short time, Maks is a lot more crabby if he is in the house all day. If we keep him at home playing he gets so restless. When he's out in the world he is much happier when we get him home.

For those of you wondering, no the poop hasn't slowed down at all. We finally have a Dr.'s appointment with the Pediatrician who specializes in International Adoptions this upcoming Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting Maks on some vitamins, figuring out whats going on with his poor digestive system and finally getting some clear answers on his medical status.

A few other things we've learned about Maks this week...

1. He loves to drink the bath water.
2. He loves to lay in the bath tub on his tummy kicking his legs. I think he's going to be a swimmer!
3. He loves cooked carrots more than cookies!
4. He now knows who Mama and Dada are!
5. He is very stubborn (definitely my son)
6. When he stands still with his face down he is either pooping or getting ready to charge.
7. He's not a nice playmate yet. I think this has to do with now knowing some of these toys are his. He's never had anything be "his" before. So he's a little protective.
8. He loves his cousin Cole. Thank you Cole for entertaining him the other day, he went right to sleep that night and slept for 12 hours!! He gave Cole the first hug I've ever seen him give!
9. The ladies love him. Everywhere we go. The ladies love him.

Sleeping at night is getting easier. He is working into his routine. I think he knows bath time means bed time soon. I don't want to jinx us though! He's also feeling better. Not as much green goobley-gob coming out of his nose these days.

I have some great pictures to post. I'll try to get as many on here as possible.

I have never seen this much poop!

2010-03-10T21:03:00.002-06:00

I love Maks. I really do. And I am so glad that he is finally home with us. Every day he gets more comfortable with us and hopefully more attached to us. He will sit with me and look for Jason saying "Da-da, da-da" its so cute! He runs to me while I'm making dinner and hugs my leg trying to crawl up me for attention. My family thinks he's the cutest little guy they've ever seen. He's an outgoing, smiley, strong little man.

There is one little thing that is making me crazy. Poop! Lots and lots of poop! His stomach is really struggling with the transition of foods and taking antibiotics. We have tried every kind of diaper in the world looking for one that will hold everything in. We have yet to find one. We've tried Pampers, Huggies, overnight diapers, active children diapers, leak-proof diapers... nothing has worked yet. If anyone has suggestions, we would be thrilled! Maks is sensing our diaper changing frustration. Every time we go to change his diaper he freaks out. Its like wrestling an alligator in the mud while attempting to wrap him in a diaper that needs to be put on perfectly so it doesn't leak, while the alligator is crying.

Its a hurdle. We'll get through it. But its an interesting hurdle. :) God love you little man. I love you, but wow! :)

First Weekend Home

2010-03-07T20:15:00.003-06:00

An eventful weekend for little Maks! On Saturday we made a trip out to my sister Leslie's house so Maks could meet his cousin Rylan. After that we went to Grandma Shirlene's house. I know they say not to take adopted children away from their new home much or expose them to a lot of new people, but Maks does NOT like being in the same place all the time. He goes crazy. So the other venues were a good distraction.

Leslie's house is better than Chuckie Cheese. Rylan has a ton of toys that Maks LOVED. Mom, Dad, Ang and Luke came by to see both Ry and Maks. It was so cute. Rylan was such a great sharer! He had a little truck that they can drive and Rylan loves it. Maks would not vacate the drivers seat. At first Rylan was upset but then he learned how to ride on the tailgate of the truck and be pushed by Grandpa. Whenever I want to tucker Maks out I'll take him to Rylan's playground!

Shirlene's house was full of more attention for Maks. Uncle Jerrod and Maks's cousins all came over to meet him. Maks is such a showman. Anytime he has new friends to meet he's all smiles. Even if its 10 minutes after a major tantrum! He knows who is Grandma is and was happy to give her hugs. :) Good move.

Today was a little more low key. Breakfast and playing at home. Every day gets a little better with the tantrums and his familiarity with us. He's been sleeping fairly well although every day brings something new there too.

I'm attaching some pictures of Maks from this weekend. SO CUTE!

We're Home!

2010-03-06T19:28:00.002-06:00

Wow! What a day yesterday! We got up early and were ready for Vlad to pick us up at 8am. It took about an hour to get to the airport. When we went inside we had no idea where to go. There are no "check in" counters at the airport there. You basically have to go to a kiosk in the middle of the room that will tell you when your counter opens up. Everyone waits and then rushes the counter at once to check in. Business class status DEFINITELY helped on this one! We took an Aeroflot flight to Copenhagen, Denmark and then Scandinavian Airlines on to Chicago. The Aeroflot flight was about 2 1/2 hours. Maks was able to sleep for an hour of it, which was nice as he screamed for the other hour and a half. The crew was so sweet, they put a bassinet up on the front of the wall and he was able to just fit. It was nice to have him sleep there as we didn't have a seat for him.

We had a 3 1/2 hour layover in Copenhagen and were able to use the Business Lounge. Its very nice there with computers, food, drinks, ticket people and best of all a KID LOUNGE! Thank God! Maks was able to play with toys for 2 hours before we found our gate. Once on the plane he made it known that he was not happy about flying home. Again the crew was so nice to us! The one flight attendant said, "don't worry, I'm sure he won't scream for the entire 9 hours." Little did she know...

He had a really tough time. He screamed for the first 5 1/2 hours of the flight. Nothing would soothe him. Jason and I spent a lot of time in the bathroom with him trying to calm him down and trying to give other passengers a break. For the most part everyone was very kind, but it had to be taxing. He finally was able to fall asleep for the last 3 hours of the flight, but was very restless. He was sleeping on a pad of our coats on the floor in front of me. We didn't get to enjoy any of the perks of business class, but it was worth the space. It really was the toughest time I have ever had. I was in tears for most of the flight, so poor Jason had both Maks and I crying. The poor guy. We landed a few minutes early and I have never been so happy to see Chicago!!! Maks was a US citizen the minute the plane touched down! YEAH!

We got to passport control and they gave us a big packet of info to take to another counter after we got our bags. We walked over there and the lady told us to just sit it down. We thought, great this will take forever! But it didn't. She was able to get us processed in 10 minutes. When we walked out of customs my family was waiting with balloons, cameras and hugs. I started crying the minute I saw my Mom & Dad. I was SOOOOOOOOOO happy to see them. And everyone else of course! Thanks to Luke, Ang and Leslie for all making the trip during crazy Friday night traffic! But I was really happy to see my Mom. I missed her so much and feel so much more confident that life will work out, Maks will calm down and I won't feel this overwhelmed forever just by her being there. Hard to explain. I guess sometimes you just need your Mommy. :)

Maks was all of the sudden the perfect gentleman and little charmer! Boy does he know how to work the drama. :) We rode to our house with Leslie who did a good job entertaining Maks during the ride. I'm sure Rylan has given her LOTS of practice! When we got home Shirlene and Roger were there to see Maks too. He loved his Grandma's attention! And having them both there plus Grandpas, Aunts and an Uncle he was in his heyday. They say not to let adopted children be exposed to too much too soon. But I will say Maks loves seeing everyone. He lights up and just run run runs!

Everyone left around 9pm and I took Maks down to his room shortly thereafter. He feel asleep pretty quickly. He slept until 2 or 3am and then woke up screaming. He was able to calm down in about 20 minutes and go back to sleep until 7:15am. It was lovely to be back in our house with our own bed and own stuff! Not living out of a suitcase!!

We had another great day today. More about that later. Hopefully Leslie or Roger will send me some of the pictures they took today so I can post with those tomorrow!

Going out with a bang!

2010-03-04T05:36:00.003-06:00

Maks has been very irritable lately and developing a rough little cough. So today we decided to take him to a Doctor. Our fear was primarily an ear infection as being on a plane tomorrow for 11+ hours would be very tough on an ear infection. We called Katya our coordinator and asked about taking him back to the American Medical Center where Jason & I had our medical exams. She was able to help us get an appointment and coordinate a driver.

Poor little Maks had a traumatic experience at the Doctor being checked out. Nothing terrible but checking his nose, throat, breathing, height and weight was more than he could bear. The Doctor said that he has swollen tonsils, inflamed nasal passages, bronchitis and dermatitis. He prescribed an antibiotic, body cream, nasal drops and cough medicine. I know in the US they don't normally give kids antibiotics but with bronchitis I don't know that there's a choice?? We're trying to make an appointment for this Saturday at our Doctor in Naperville but we're having a tough time getting him in b/c techinally he's a new patient.

So the trip on the plane that I was already worried about just got a bit more interesting. Last night Maks wouldn't sleep in his crib at all. He slept for 2 hours and then wouldn't go back down into the crib. We ended up bringing him to bed with us and he was tossing and turning all night. More than a few times he would wake up and fling himself across my chest to lay on top of me. It was fairly clear that he wasn't feeling well. He's taken 2 naps today and we're hoping for a good nights sleep tonight before the trip tomorrow.

This will be my last post from Moscow. I'll of course keep you all up to date on how Maks is doing with the transition!

One last tip for families traveling to Moscow for an adoption- bring lots of long sleeve T-shirts, short sleeve shirts and very light sweaters. Don't bother bringing any bulky sweaters. Everywhere is so hot inside that you won't wear them. As we're getting packed to leave I'm noticing some of the sweaters/sweatshirts that we brought that were never worn! Save yourself the packing room!

It's been a long trip, but a good one. One that I'm sure we'll remember for the rest of our lives. Here's to hoping we have a good flight! Talk to you all on the other side!

Our final days here...

2010-03-03T12:16:00.002-06:00

Having only today and tomorrow left here in Moscow we thought we'd get out and about a bit today. After Maks's morning nap Jason ran to McDonalds again to get us some lunch. Maks had his first Happy Meal. He found a way to love fries, dip them in ketchup! We weren't giving him anything tomato because of the strawberry/raspberry reaction. We weren't sure if tomatoes would do the same. They don't seem to though. He loved his Happy Meal box and carried it all over the apartment today. And he of course loved the toy. Jason wants to go to McDonalds tomorrow and buy all of the Happy Meal toys we can for the plane! :)

We walked down Old Arbat street. Its closed off to traffic and has lots of souvenir shops and cafes. It would be a great street to walk down during the summer! When we got back to the apartment we played, had some dinner and then I called my Dad. While I was on the phone with him, Jason went into the bathroom with Maks. Maks has learned to LOVE the bathtub. Jason yelled to me when I was on the phone that Maks was in the bathroom undressing. :) The bathtub wasn't even running yet. He just knew it was about that time! When I went in there Maks was in fact undressing and then was standing at the edge of the tub bouncing up and down trying to get into the empty tub to play. So cute! Once he was in the tub and it was filled up he kept trying to drink the bath water. Yummy.

Tomorrow is our last day here. I think we're going to venture out again to do some last minute site seeing and plane ride preparation, AKA snack buying and toy buying!
I will be home in 54 hours. That is a FANTASTIC feeling! Maks will be an American in 54 hours! WAHOO!!!

MAKS VIDEO

2010-03-03T02:58:00.003-06:00

Renting an apartment in Moscow

2010-03-02T11:12:00.002-06:00

I know some of this may be in direct conflict with other posts. But this is the most up to date info we have.

Renting an apartment in Moscow is goofy. At first we had a good experience. They were helpful and responsive with the rental, the apartment looked nice upon check in, it was a good location, the lady checking us in was very nice, etc...

Then everything changed. We rented the Old Arbat City Side Residence from apartmentsmoscow.com. Sandra and her Mom rented the Old Arbat Italian Residence from apartmentsmoscow.com. Here are a few things that we have experienced....

1. Smelled like a Gas leak in our apartment
2. Water leak in our apartment
3. Water leak in their apartment
4. Washing Machine broken in their apartment
5. No ability to use the outlets in our bathroom- got a new hair dryer, that didn't work either
6. Had a manager from the apartment company come to coordinate our service work and she yelled at us for our son dropping his toy on the floor and told us to have him drop it on the carpet. WHAT?? There is one small rug in the living room and the rest of the apartment is hard wood. Sure.
7. Received an email from Apartment Manager today that there was a noise complaint from the people below and they were going to call the police because of a baby crying. She said we may have to move apartments (even though they don't have any other ones available) and they'll refund that portion of the cost.
8. We had some man come to our door tonight and try to unlock it with a key, when Jason went to the door the man said, "Oh sorry, they told me noone was in here." The apartment people told us it was probably the owner and they could move us to another apartment so we feel safe!?!?
9. The Apartment Manager told me that they were trying to rent the apartment to another person longer term and he was upset that a baby was in here. She also said that if anyone came to the door other than her, don't open it.
10. There are no curtains on either apartment's windows. Only sheers. Its very bright at night!
11. No hot water for shower in Sandra's apartment

The list goes on. Basically I would use a hotel. I know its more inconvenient for cooking, etc. but save the grief. Having a newly adopted child is stressful enough!

Its Official-3 more Days!

2010-03-02T10:54:00.002-06:00

Another eventful day here in Moscow. Got up early again, Maks slept 11 hours and woke up at 7:15am. Not bad! We stayed in the apartment this morning and ate breakfast here. We had made it to the grocery store yesterday and found eggs (not easy) and bread. It was nice to have home-cooked breakfast. Maks took a nap for 2 1/2 hours this morning and by the time he got up we had to get him ready for our US Embassy appointment and head out the door. It was an interesting process. For some reason I thought everyone who worked at the American Embassy would be American. Thats not true. Some were, some weren't. After going through several checkpoints and a few security screenings we made it to the back of a long line. Apparently they set a 2pm appointment for lots of families adopting. There were 2 lines, one for Russians requesting a Visa to travel to the US and then one for Adoption, Family Issues and something else. You have to go to the cashier first (shocking) and pay $400 for the American Visa for Maks. Once we did that we waited in a waiting room with a bunch of other families for our "interview". The interview was a 3 minute process where they reviewed Maks's information, asked that everything we claimed on our forms was correct and explained that someone would be out to speak with all of the families in a few minutes. They also told us it would be a 30-45 minute wait for our Visa.

It was a great room to be in. Made me feel so much better about our struggles. There were probably 15 other families there from the US who were adopting from Russia with their children. We got to speak with several of them. One thing was clear, everyone's path to Russian Adoption was different. Some families waited close to a year for a referral, some waited months. Some families waited a few weeks for their Trip 2 date, some families waited months. Some families had to stay the rest of the week to register at the Russian Consulate (ok, just the Sandras and us) and everyone else is going home tomorrow and registering back in the USA. One thing was very consistent. Every set of parents or single parents there looked just as overwhelmed and frustrated as us. We talked to a couple from Michigan who had adopted 2 twin boys from Siberia near the Mongolian border who said their kids screamed all the time and were always yelling in Russian. They had to take them to the front desk of their hotel to find out what they were saying! Another little boy was screaming throughout the whole group presentation part. It was a nice kinship of sorts.

A lady came out about 5 minutes later to describe the process to everyone. Letting us know to keep the document envelope sealed until we reached the US, where to go, what they would do etc... A few things I didn't know...

1. Maks will keep his Russian Citizenship forever, unless he officially renounces it through the Russian Government
2. If Maks comes back to Russia between the ages of 18 and 35 he could be drafted into the Russian Army, apparently Russia requires all men to spend time in the military. If he comes back even for a 2 week vacation he could be drafted. (So Maks will NOT be coming back to Russia between the ages of 18 and 35) :)
3. If we have trouble with our layover in Copenhagen, we can't leave the airport. It will be like that movie "The Terminal" with Tom Hanks. Maks is traveling on a Russian passport, not an American one and he would need a Visa to visit those European countries and won't be allowed to leave the airport.

Anyway, the good news is that we got the Visa and are cleared to travel. We're still in Russia for the next 2 days to be registered with the Russian Consulate. Many other families do this in the US. Adoption Ark prefers that we do it here so that there are no problems with the process that will affect to outcome of other family's adoptions. Fair enough. So we were able to change our tickets to Friday.

A few notes about that.... DO NOT EVER USE BEST TRAVEL FROM NAPERVILLE- they treated us like second class citizens and would not help us change our tickets. They basically told us that they had already spent too much time on our case and would have to charge us fees. She also said there was nothing they could do. So Jason called Scandinavian Airlines himself and got ahold of some very great people who were able to help us change our tickets to Friday and keep our business class seats. THANK YOU SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES! I would HIGHLY recommend them!!

I'm going to end this post now as its really long. I am going to do another one today though for other families who may be traveling to Russia for adoption soon and are thinking of renting an apartment. There are some things you should know!

3 more days and we will be home!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!

Some Extra Pictures

2010-03-01T08:10:00.004-06:00

Pictures of the street we're staying on. One with Maks wearing Vika's hat. It didn't come through clearly but its still super cute. :)I also attached the picture of the traffic. I couldnt get them all on the earlier post.

4, maybe 6 more days until we're home!

2010-03-01T06:41:00.003-06:00

Maks did sleep in the crib last night (which is actually a pack-n-play). He made it all the way until 4am before he started crying. I put him in the bed with us and he slept until we had to wake him up (again) at 6am. The Doctor arrived around 7am and did a quick general exam. Maks was such a trooper. Didn't cry at all. We got some medical updates. His head is in the 3rd % for circumference. His height and weight aren't even on the charts for kids his age. But he's proportional and the Doctor feels he'll catch up quickly. He didn't hear any wheezing in Maks's chest so he thinks the cold is all in the head still. The Doctor did notice that Maks is getting his 24 mo molars. So that could be another reason for the crabiness. He recommended giving him Motrin, which we did and it seemed to have help his overall demeanor today.

We had to stick around the apartment this morning. Jason and I had McDonalds last night and this morning. Can you tell that we are craving American food? Its a little different here than at home. They don't have pancakes they have crepes instead. And they don't have biscuits, only english muffins. Still, it was nice. I've eaten more McDonalds here in the last two days than I have at home for the past year. :) Katya came to our apartment to pick up the medical info and take it to the American Embassy to set our appointment for tomorrow. We have an appointment at 2pm and will hopefully get our Visa to travel then. Wednesday and Thursday are all for the Russian Consulate registration. We found out today that they will have to take Maks's passport and visa to do the registration. Thats why we can't travel until Friday. So we are waiting to hear back from our travel agency as to whether or not we can do this.

Maks was a bit crabby earlier and he fell asleep at 9am. We woke him up at 11:30am and left to go venture out a bit. We went to Hard Rock Cafe (which is right across the street). It was very empty and Maks did pretty well. Toward the end he got pretty antsy but it was about an hour of sitting. We got him some chicken and french fries. Only gave him little pieces. He was not a fan. He made the funniest little faces when he ate a french fry. I think it was the salt but he would pucker his face and spit it out. We walked down to the grocery store. I took some pictures of Maks and Jason outside of the store. And pictures of the crazy traffic outside of the grocery store. It was at an intersection and people were parked in the intersection and people were trying to get through. Chaos, I'm telling you.

Another funny story from today. Maks and Jason were sitting on the couch while Jason was putting on Maks's socks. Jason burped and Maks started clapping. Then a minute later Maks burped. Not the most polite story, but still pretty funny. :)

I got some great advice from my family, friends and the ladies on the Adoption Ark forum about Maks's tantrums and crabby nature in the past few days. Many of the families who have been through this before experienced some very similar things. One of the Moms said to ignore the tantrums and see what he does. We decided to try that this afternoon when he wouldn't take another nap and the tantrum then only lasted 2 minutes. Jason and I were talking about finding Neosporin in the middle of his chaos. He kept looking at both of us while he was crying like "hello, people? why are you not paying attention to this?" Then he brought me the camera case and smiled. I'm sure it won't always be that easy, but it was a nice change from yesterday. We of course were in the room with him and didn't leave him alone, but we didn't respond to the crying over a no. He's in a better mood so far this afternoon. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

We're having some trouble with our apartment (posted some pictures of it). The kitchen smells like gas, the electricity in the bathroom isn't working so no hair dryer or straightener. A girl can only go so long without that. The refrigerator has a water leak and isn't really cold and neither of the bedrooms have curtains. They only have sheers which let in all the light possible. Ugh.

We're doing dinner in tonight. More to come after our embassy appointment tomorrow.

Honeymoon's Over :)

2010-02-28T06:35:00.004-06:00

We had a great 1st night of sleep. He did so well! He was eating great and playing so well. We knew it had to be a dream... and it was.

I think he's getting more comfortable with us now. He's still a good little sleeper. He sleeps from 9pm-8am. Naps are a little bit more iffy. Today we really messed him up by getting him up at 6am and then getting on a big scary plane to Moscow. The flight was about 5 hours and about 90F. Jason and I were sweating! He certainly DID NOT like being on an airplane. About 10 minutes before take off he realized he was tethered to me and a seat. WOW, he was not happy. When the pilot revved the engines to take off, it scared the begeebees out of him so he was all of the sudden very quiet and loved being tethered to Mom. He fell asleep then for the first hour of the flight. After that it was touch and go. Needless to say we were thrilled when the plane landed. We made it to baggage claim, got our bags quickly, found the driver quickly and got to the Sandras apartment relatively quickly. Basically it was 11:30am Moscow time when we stepped into their apartment or 3:30pm Kemerovo time. So the journey took a little over 8 hours. With only a 1 hour nap and not much to eat, Maks had a really rough afternoon. Combination of lots of things I suppose. Little sleep, not feeling well, another new place, a scary plane ride, a scary new city... he has a lot working against him.

I won't lie. This is really tough. Tougher than I thought it would be. We feel like we are on the other side of the world (we are) and are in isolation. With phone call costs so expensive we haven't spoken to our families much at all. When he's sick, we don't know what the right thing to do is. The medicine here is very different, we can't be sure we're picking the right things at the grocery store because we can't read anything in Russian, we can't get in a car and drive anywhere and Maks HATES wearing his hat and mittens outside. The other day we took a quick walk to Travelers Coffee with him and he kept pulling his hat and gloves off. People were giving Jason dirty looks and one lady stopped to try to take Maks from Jason! What the heck? Tip for families traveling, make sure you bring boots, scarf, hat, mittens, another hat in case the child doesn't like the one your brought, snowpants, a winter jacket with a hood (much easier to keep the hat on that way it seems) and anything else you can think of to not infuriate the locals (oh and keep your child warm) :)

I did get to call my Mom and Dad earlier and Jason got to talk to his Mom. Its funny how important parents are in our lives. Even when we are struggling with becoming parents ourselves. As always they listened and gave good advice. It was just nice getting to talk to someone other than people who have no idea what I'm saying. The poor coordinators are hearing way too much about our issues. They just look at us and smile and try to be interested! :) Thanks Anna and Katya!

Maks is having some medical distresses. I thought I'd actually post some of them on here in case anyone has run into this before and has thoughts or ideas. If you've been in Russia when you've run into this it would be even more helpful, but we'll take all suggestions.

1. Maks is going poop a lot. 4-5 big poops a day. I am not a poop expert, but that seems like a lot. I wouldn't say they're all diarrhea. But sort of? Mom, I could email you a picture if it would help. :)

2. He has a goofy rash looking thing on his face in a half crescent under is eye. It looks like a fungal infection and seems to be getting worse.

3. He has a perpetual fountain of green goobly-gob coming out of his nose. And a lot of it crusts up under is nose which is clogging his nose. I could use that aspirator thing 4-5 times a day if he'd let me. Right now we're down to 1 time since we picked him up.

I'll stop with that for now. Some of the other stuff might be a little person for him when he gets older. And considering all of the personal stuff I've shared on here over the past year or so, that's saying something.

We got into our apartment at 2pm today. We're staying at the Old Arbat City Side Residence in Moscow from apartmentsmoscow.com. You can look it up. Its actually pretty nice. Its a 2 bedroom with a kitchen and a bathroom. It has a washer but no dryer. The kitchen and bathroom look recently renovated and we have lots of space. They brought Maks a crib so it will be the first night we try that angle. Apartmentsmoscow.com is a great company. They've been really easy to work with. I've attached a few pictures of the street outside. Will take more tomorrow in the daylight. Jason just got back from getting McDonalds. I'm so happy to have McDonalds!!! A cheeseburger was lovely. Old Arbat street is interesting. Its an old street that has been closed to cars and is only for walking. Apparently its very touristy, with lots of cafes and American style restaurants (Hard Rock Cafe, McDonalds, Sbarro, Starbucks). There are musicians outside on the street and a bunch of souvenir places. Maks will like not having to go far with a hat on. It will give us a few places to go explore. Tomorrow we have a Doctor coming to the apartment early, between 6:30-7:00am. And then we have to wait here for Katya to set our American Embassy appointment for Tuesday. We're free to leave after 11:30am so hopefully we'll get to the grocery store and save ourselves some money and calories this week.

One nice highlight of the day, we were giving Maks a bath tonight (first night with an actual bathtub) and he loved it! Leslie had bought him some bath toys before we left and I brought a little set with. Instead of just washing him and his hair and getting him out, we let him play for a while. I think he would have stayed in that bathtub for hours if we let him. Jason looked at me and said, "you know, I bet no one has ever let him sit in a bathtub and play before." That really hit home hard with both of us. With 15 other little kids in his group and 150 kids in the orphanage there is no way they let the kids sit in the bathtub and play with toys. A great way to end the tough day. Oh, and he went to sleep tonight in 10 minutes. Lets hope the new apartment doesn't freak him out during the night and he has a great nights sleep and can adjust to the time zone change well. The big one is coming in a week!

2 special pictures for Leslie & Don and Erin!

2010-02-26T04:15:00.001-06:00

Les, I swear I did not set this picture up. He did this on his own! I LOVED IT and couldn't believe it! :)

Erin, I thought you'd be so impressed with the chaos I'm allowing in my hotel room. We'll see if it carries over to home. I doubt it.

Pictures

2010-02-26T04:04:00.001-06:00

Gotcha Day!

2010-02-26T03:44:00.003-06:00

I will never forget February 25, 2010. The best of our lives so far. :) We woke up early, it was like Christmas morning, so excited to get moving and get to the orphanage. Alexei picked us up at 10am and we arrived at the orphanage at 11am. They brought Maks and Vika into Dr. Ludmilla's office. There was an inspector there that day so Dr. Ludmilla was running late. Sandra 1 & 2, Alyssa the translator, Jason and I and Vika & Maks all waited in her office for about 45 minutes. I was able to change Maks (see pictures) into his new clothes and then we worked at keeping him entertained in a small room with minimal toys for an hour. Once Dr. Ludmilla came in we had to do some paperwork and then we were set to leave! Vika was not thrilled to be in that office either for that long, but when it was time to go both she and Maks handled it very well!

We all were in one car for the ride back to Kemerovo. They got us a very big van with 4 rows of seats. At first Maks was a little scared. He just sat on my lap, stuck his thumb in his mouth and silently cried a few tears. It was heartbreaking. I just don't think he knew what was going on. At least with Vika she is almost 4 and they were able to explain what was happening. I guess I don't know which is better. Maybe neither as its very hard for all kids who are adopted, I'm sure. About 10 minutes later Maks fell asleep leaning against my chest with his little thumb stuck in his mouth. He stayed like that for the next 2 hours. An absolutely lovely way for his Mommy to spend his first 2 hours. :) When he woke up we had about 45 minutes left of the trip. He was a very happy little guy playing with Daddy and eating Russian Cheerios from his snack cup.

When we arrived at Hotel Azot in Kemerovo we went into our new room. This time it was much bigger with a living room, big refrigerator, bedroom and bathroom. He pretty much spent last night running around exploring the room and playing with his toys. Jason ran out to get dinner as it was -20F out. Maks ate one of his gerber dinners. This kid will eat anything. He ate every bit and then had a cookie. He is also the most thirsty child I have ever met! He drinks a ton of juice and water!!!

A few things that didn't go as well, bath time and cleaning out his nose (he has a cold). At bathtime we had to use the shower as there are no bath tubs in the whole place. I filled the bottom up with about 2 inches of warm water and then took the sprayer off to use as a hand-held one. He freaked out! FREAKED OUT! At that point he was probably sure some sort of terrorist had come to take him away. Needless to say Mama ended up getting in the shower with him and it only lasted about 2 minutes. But he was clean. We would just completely avoid one tonight if he didn't have the biggest poop I have ever seen this morning. It took 8 wipes, both Jason and I, and a few serious gags to get through it. Not to mention the onesie had to be cleaned b/c it was full of poop too. He's in a competition with is cousin Rylan for the best pooper in town.

By the way, right now Jason is feeding Maks yogurt and Maks is wiping his own face with a napkin between each bite. Its the cutest thing ever. :) He's also mesmerized the girls at the coffee place. They all keep staring at him and giggling.

I put him down at 9pm (his normal bedtime at the orphanage, think we're going to move that one up a bit). After a 2 minute tantrum he fell asleep. And didn't wake up until 8am! :) WAHOO! Not sure if this is another bait and switch ploy, but I'll take it! Sorry Les.

Today was a little bit tougher. Jason had to go with Anna and Sandra to do some paperwork for 1/2 the day. Its too cold to take him out much so I stayed back with him. I think he's starting to realize he's not going back. Its tough to understand and swallow. Tantrums have been numerous today. But really, overall, he's a great little boy. He took a 2 hour nap today and ate all of his macaroni and cheese.

I'm going to post some pictures of our Gotcha Day on this posting. And then I'll do a seperate just-picture one with some of the highlights of our visits from the past week. I don't think I'll post again until Sunday. We have to walk to Travelers Coffee to get online and its a 4-5 block walk in subzero weather. And he hates hats. And boots. And scarves. And mittens. :) We leave for Moscow on Sunday morning early on Siberian Airlines. We start more American paperwork on Monday and then will hopefully have yet another miracle and get out early on Friday!

Thank you for all of the prayers. Yesterday I woke up feeling 50% better than the day before. It was a WONDERFUL day. Miss everyone. Hope to see you all soon. Wait til you meet this little man!

Pictures of Prokopyevsk- the town Maks is from

2010-02-24T08:09:00.001-06:00

Things We Have Learned for Other Adoptive Parents

2010-02-23T23:18:00.003-06:00

1. Bring more cash than they recommend. Things in Russia are very expensive. Especially in Moscow!

2. Be prepared to spend a lot more money than you expect. During our trip we have changed hotel plans, canceled 1 leg of 2 separate flights, paid for a driver 7 more days than we expected to, and had to eat out a lot more than expected because of the hotel change.

3. If you pack more than Siberia Airlines allows (20kgs or 44lbs)you will pay SEVERELY! We paid $10 for every kilogram we were over. And we were over by 22 kilograms.

4. You can buy toys to keep the kids interested at the Wal-Martski in Kemerovo. Save yourself the packing room!

5. Bring more medicine than you expect. Jason and I brought 3 boxes of Advil Cold & Sinus and we are now out of it. Medicine is very different here, you cannot buy the same stuff that we have at home. Either bring it or don't plan on using it.

6. Print out the maps that other families have drawn out. It has been INCREDIBLY helpful to us!

7. Learn a little Russian. It will help a ton. Learn how to say at least; still water, hello, thank you, english menu, no russian, and a few phrases for your kids. They will tell you that your child will adapt quickly and don't worry about speaking any Russian to them (especially if they are 2 or under). But I can say that Maks is visibly more comfortable with the people who speak Russian. We have learned to say "little bites", "good boy", "we love you", "its okay" and a few other small things.

8. Really, truly, be prepared for anything. Here are some examples of what we have experienced in the last 2 1/2 weeks...
-Passport disappeared and Fed Ex could not find them
-Snowstorm, caused Sandra to fly out a day early or miss her flight
-No space for luggage, had to rent a taxi to get us from the airport to the hotel in addition to the car we already had
-We ended up not going back to Moscow and instead went to Novokuznetsk for the 10 day wait. Expected Wi-Fi, laundry, free phone calls and ended up with none of that.
-Moved our Gotcha Day up by one day
-Moved our departure day up by 3 days on the return trip home
-Had to cancel or change 5 plane tickets

9. If you go to Hotel Novokuznia request the 6th floor. You get free Wi-Fi in your room! Only floor in the hotel with that!

10. Bring layers. Lots of layers. It is freezing outside, but steaming inside. Especially at the orphanage. I'm not kidding when I say it was about 85F in the playroom.

11. You need boots with solid tread on them. There are 4 of us here together on this trip. 2 of us have fallen once, 1 of us has fallen twice and 1 of us is waiting for his turn to fall. Ice is everywhere and the fall I took was a hard one!

12. Buy some of your souvenirs in Novokuznetsk if possible. The matrushka dolls were 1/10th of the price in Moscow. The souvenir shop (there is only one) only takes cash!

13. Peace Travel is a great company. We haven't stayed at the apartment yet, but when we had to cancel the original booking, they took care of it in 3 minutes and refunded our credit card within a few days. Very helpful people too!

I hope some of this helps!

Things I've Learned About Russia

2010-02-23T23:00:00.006-06:00

I know our nephew Derrick is learning about Russia in school and we've been trying collect tidbits of information for him. Not to mention now taking pictures of everything we eat (see above for our dinner from last night at the hotel, creamy chicken & a prawn kabob). We get a lot of funny looks when we do that. :)

I thought I would offer up some things I've learned about Russia during the 2 weeks we've now been here. Maks will hopefully find these things interesting and can compare them to what things are like when we come back...

1. The women in Russia are WAY more on top of fashion than back home. I am always underdressed. The majority of them wear tall boots with high heels, dresses, fur coats, etc. Even in Siberia! NONE of them wear jeans. That is very rare to see.

2. They have ice cream kiosks everywhere on the street. I would say there is one every 5-6 blocks in Siberia. Doesn't that strike you as odd? Its -25F today and people are buying ice cream on the street.

3. They LOVE dill. And put it on everything from French Fries to Soups. I never knew that about Russia.

4. They also LOVE sour cream. Again its served with LOTS of the foods and ALL of the soups.

5. The people are very interested in us when we speak English. Everyone in every place we go to stares at us. Sometimes I think it has to do with the fact that many of them are young and do speak English. The girls at the restaurants we go to all "practice" their English on us. They are very sweet and friendly.

6. The highways in Siberia are very good! I don't know what I expected, but apparently they fix them every single summer. Can you imagine the potholes they get with the weather as cold as it is!

7. No one says Excuse Me. Its not that they are being rude, they just allow each other to go ahead of themselves at grocery stores, in doors, etc. I haven't heard one person say Excuse Me in the past two weeks.

8. I think I've said this before, but I'm now INCREDIBLY passionate about this. Children in the USA absolutely NEED to learn a 2nd language. We are one of the only countries that I've been to that do not require their students to learn a 2nd language. We are already WAY behind folks! We need to help our students!! Young Russians all seem to know English and Russian and in many cases another language as well. Everyone we spoke to in Sweden knew English.

9. Service is very slow compared to American restaurants. It seems that many Russian people order multiple courses and multiple drink courses. They have salads, lots of soups, some type of liquor, a glass of wine AND tea.

10. When you eat at a restaurant you will most likely all be served at different times. They bring the food out as its ready. We have not received our meals at the same time at any restaurant we have eaten at so far.

11. The colder it is outside, the warmer it is inside. We were told by our interpreter that they do that to avoid depression during the long winter months. We have absolutely found it to be true.

12. Pigeons are very big here. I mean VERY big. They were the fattest pigeons I have ever seen in Siberia. I think they have to bulk up to be ready for the winter. I don't know why anyone would care about this information, but I found it fascinating.

13. Russian people seem very healthy. We have a lot more people who are overweight in the USA. A lot of their food is fresh here. They order lots of juice and portion sizes are much more reasonable. Good job Russia! I'm impressed.

14. Russia is no friend of PETA. 99.9% of the women have some type of fur on their coat. Many are all fur coats. I am the only woman in Russia right now without fur on my coat. I swear.

Thats all for now. I wanted to get these down before I forgot them!

Bump in the Road

2010-02-23T22:40:00.003-06:00

Sorry I didn't update yesterday. Its been a rough past couple of days. The other night I started getting a sore throat. When we went to see Maks yesterday the rooms we were in were really hot. After being there for an hour, I felt incredibly sick. My throat is nearly swollen shut on one side and I'm achy everywhere. I'm hopeful that it will go away mostly by tomorrow. I rarely have sore throats for more than a few days. I hate to even ask, as I have already asked for so many prayers. But please pray that I'm better in time to get Maks. Which is now less than 24 hours away!

Jason and I both stayed at the hotel today instead of going to the orphanage. We didn't want to get Maks sick and we weren't sure if I was going to go to a Doctor or not. We called Natasha and she said that most of the people who are sick end up calling an ambulance and those people come prepared with mostly anything you would need. I don't think a sore throat and being achy calls for an ambulance.

We also got the sad news that my Mom & Dad are not in fact coming. Dad did something terrible to his back and has been in a lot of pain. Mom coming alone just didn't make sense. Dad could use her help (even if he thinks he can do it alone) and I didn't want her making this trip by herself. If we were in Moscow to meet her that would be one thing, but she would have to come all the way to Siberia alone. I'm really sad about that as we were really looking forward to them being here with us. One day we'll hopefully be able to get bring our whole family back so they can see where Maks is from.

So the BIG news of the day is that we have LESS THAN 24 HRS until our Gotcha Day! Thats what the day of the actual uniting of parents and child is called in many adoptions. Tomorrow morning the car will be here to pick us up at 10am. We'll make the hour long journey to Prokopyevsk, probably meet with Dr. Ludmilla a bit more to ask any final questions and then dress Maks up in his new little outfit and off we go! It will be a 3 hour car ride to Kemerovo. We'll be there until Sunday doing some paperwork for Maks's Russian Passport, etc and then head back to Moscow. We have a small hope that we'll be able to catch a flight home on Friday the 5th instead of Sunday the 7th. That would be such a blessing!

When we get back to Kemerovo, I'll try to get online and FINALLY post a picture of the cutest little boy you will ever see. :) Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and Mommy pep-talks. I appreciate it! I can't wait until we get to Moscow and I can call some of you without being charged $5/minute! I miss talking to my Mom & Dad, my sisters and my friends. I have so much to tell people about!

Keep those prayers coming. Keep your fingers crossed. I would SO love for tomorrow to be nothing but happiness and smiles, no illness. :) Talk to you all again soon!

Another Day

2010-02-22T07:00:00.003-06:00

Not a lot of new things here this week. The week seems to be taking forever! Our day with Maks was cut even shorter today. Again, I'm not complaining, we are grateful for every moment and know this is a rare opportunity. They came to get him at 11:35am this morning. It is the "Celebrate Men" holiday here today, so the staff was very low again. I'm sure having to get 2 children ready each day separately from the rest of the group can be tough and annoying. I know I've said this before, but these women really do deserve a HUGE commendation. Every single one we have met has been fantastic with Maks. He is always excited to see them, has no trouble going to them, and they all look excited to see him too. They are strict with the kids, know them well, keep them on schedule and are very concerned that we know everything humanly possible about them before we leave. I really do appreciate everything they have ever done for Maks.

I think the novelty of two new playmates is wearing off with Maks. The past few days have actually been tougher than before. He looked at me today with a look of "you again?" He didn't want much to do with Jason or I today. We had access to both the music and playrooms and he would just keep running to the one we weren't in. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me. I know this is not a fairy tale and that it will take a significant amount of time for him to bond with us and to really look at us as his Mom and Dad, but that doesn't stop me from wishing for a miracle or magic. Something that would make him know right away that I was his Mom.

It really was a reminder today of what a long road we have in front of us. The days are going painfully slow at this point. Neither of us can wait until we get home with him so we can start to get him comfortable with his room, his bed, his house, bath time, eating with us... It might actually be more confusing for him to see us every day, play for a while and then we leave. On Thursday he'll be wondering why he's going with us this time. I just pray that he isn't very scared and that he can adapt quickly. I want so badly to not mess this up.

It is frigid here again. Today it didn't get above 0 and "felt like" -26 degrees Fahrenheit. We walked to Travelers Coffee today for lunch and our noses froze right away. By the time we got there my ear was so cold it was burning. (Its about 2 1/2 blocks) Natasha the translator came with us again today and after the orphanage took us all to a little souvenir shop. Its the same one we went to the last time we were here. The difference in cost compared to Moscow is astonishing. The Matrushka dolls were 10 times more expensive in Moscow. We were able to buy 2 little ones for 330 rubles ($11 US Dollars) They are hand painted and super cute. I got one for Grandma (don't tell her if you read this and see her) and Jason got one for La.

Another night in our room of a carpet picnic (leftover crackers, etc) and the Olympics in Russian. I do not remember the American announcers ever talking this much, but the Russian ones never stop talking. Ever. A memorable Olympics for us though...

Mom and Dad are supposed to leave for Russia today. My Dad may not be coming after all. He's having some very bad back problems, the flight to Russia and all of the crazy car rides will not be a good idea for him. Pretty bummed that he can't come, but I think maybe one day we'll all make it back to Russia with Maks and our families so everyone can see where he comes from. Mom still wants to come, but we'll see. Not sure that's the best plan either. Either way, we'll know today! Sounds like the snowstorm in Chicago is over for now. I'll let you know how it goes in the next day or so.

Jason's Update

2010-02-21T04:56:00.003-06:00

I thought you all might like to hear a bit from Jason's perspective, so here you go...

Day 5 to visit Maks!

Today we arrived at the orphanage and were ushered into the music room to await Maks' grand entrance as always. With in a few minutes he waddled in-in his usual fashion. Everyday I have the camcorder ready for this grand entrance. He was sporting a big smile, saw his mom and ran with outstretched arms to meet her. The camera man never gets the glory...guess I am just the unsung hero. We brought him some juice we purchased at the local Novokuznetsk grocery store and diluted it with water and poured it into my empty Power Ade bottle. This works much better than a regular water bottle and he seems to really love it. The music room is a bit bland for his personality as their is not much for him to play with. So he decided to have some gold fish crackers/animal crackers/ and a few cookies.

The Sandra's gave Maks a pair of green plastic sunglasses that he loved to wear and run around with. He also loved to put them on mom and dad as well-then laugh at how cool we looked.

At the end of every meeting I turn the camera back on to catch his classic good byes. Paka-Paka means Bye-bye in Russian. As soon as that is said he knows to throw us a big wave.

After the hour long drive back to our hotel, we went to our room and rested a bit before going to lunch. We went to the Russian restaurant next to our hotel for some local Russian fare. Then we went to the grocery store to grab some water and things for dinner. We walked to both places in a blizzard, hard snow accompanied with sideways driving winds. Chicago would shutdown with such snow falls...here in Siberia, life must go on and is an everyday occurrence in the winter. Snow shoveling and removal is an all day and never ending process.

I am attaching a pic of the aforementioned restaurant we have frequented.

Short Visit Today

2010-02-20T03:35:00.002-06:00

Woke up around 7:45am, got ready, ate my Russian Cheerios and we were off again. No translator today, just Alexei the driver and us. Its a Saturday so the Orphanage is primarily closed. We were allowed to come in to see the children, but did not stay as long. We had to ring the bell to get in this time and then were led back to the playroom and music rooms to wait. We had to wait about 15 minutes and then heard the kids coming. Vika came in leading the way with her baby-doll stroller that Sandra brought her. Maks came toddling in behind her. He was wearing the same blue jeans and a little blue t-shirt today. Same Winnie the Pooh shoes. Love those. :) The nurse said something to him that I didn't understand and then said another sentence containing the word Mama (the only word I understood) and he turned and started running to me with his hands outstretched. Melts my heart every single time. I have never loved anything more.

Yesterday when we saw him, his little face had developed a red rash/freckle like appearance. Apparently he has some sort of allergy to fruits with colorful skins like strawberries, raspberries, oranges, etc. The only thing we had given him other than cookies were those Peach Gerber Yogurt Melt things. They must have caused the skin reaction, so we donated them to Sandra and Vika today. His skin looked better today, still had some red spots but they were fading. I brought him some of my Russian Cheerios and he of course loved them! I haven't found anything yet that he won't eat. We brought a Powerade bottle today filled with water, one that has the top that pops up and you drink out of. He loved that and it worked MUCH better than the water bottle, he was actually able to keep the water in his mouth this time. I have some sippy cups but am keeping those until we pick him up.

Sandra had brought some little sunglasses for Vika and Maks loved them. He was so cute, putting them on, taking them off, putting them on Mommy, taking them off, putting them back on and then smiling for the camera. Such a ham. Every time the camera flash goes off, he looks at the camera, makes this rushed noise that sounds like "hi" and smiles a big smile. Keep in mind this is all AFTER the camera flashes. Jason got some video of it because its so goofy.

He had a diaper on today, they must have figured it would be difficult to get him changed if anything happened as they had a lot less staff there today. So no potty-problems. We were only allowed to stay an hour and a half today. We got back to the hotel around 1pm. Jason and I decided to try the "Snack Bar" Cafe for lunch. I ordered some sort of chicken and rice and Jason had beef and an egg. Strange order I know, but the menu was a little strange. These were some of the most "normal" choices. My rice was really odd. It was plain white, but had a very distinct flavor. Jason's beef came out like a small hamburger and had an egg sunny-side up and potatoes with mayo and cheese. It was interesting. After lunch we walked across the street to a little mall. The stores are very different than home. There were 15 stores or so that were all very small, maybe 50 sq ft each. Each store had one type of product, hats or shoes or candy or watches. They are wild about boots and shoes here. Lots of very cool boots. My little sister looked for a pair of black boots that she liked for months, I should have just bought her some here. :)

Tonight we're going to venture back to Travelers Coffee to try it out Novokuznetsk style. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm attaching a picture of the outside of our hotel.

Had a #1 on Day #1, Got #2 Today!

2010-02-19T05:35:00.004-06:00

Yep, it is what you think. The first day we saw Maks after court he was a little nervous/anxious. I was holding him in Dr. Ludmilla's office and all of the sudden felt something warm run down my side. He had peed. The poor little man is in the early stages of potty-training and didn't really know how to say he had to go pee-pee. He was breaking Mommy in right away. They took him back to change his clothes and put on a diaper. Apparently in the orphanage they start potty-training early out of necessity. Diapers are very expensive and they cannot afford them for 1/2 of the orphanage. Maks is only 20 months and is no longer wearing a diaper.

Today he was in a feistier mood. They put us in the "medical room" because there was a music show going on in the playroom and music room. This weekend is a holiday when they celebrate men. Kind of like Fathers Day, but really just men in general. (Women get the same thing on March 8th) Some of the kids were putting on a musical/skit show for the men who have helped the orphanage in any way. Vika was in the show, but we didn't get to watch. Anyhow, the medical room had a lot of glass bottles, beds he wasn't supposed to touch, a cactus (a big one) and some tubing connected to some machines. Basically a potential house of terrors for a little almost-2 year old. Luckily Daddy is very fast and could catch him before he got into too much! (no, there were no children in the medical room)

When we went back into the playroom, Jason picked up Maks to play and smelled something a little off. He handed Maks to me and YEP he had pooped. Poor little guy was again not wearing a diaper, so we had to have someone come in and take him to be changed. We would of course do it ourselves but they don't let you wander the orphanage. I think I'll bring some diapers for him for the next few days so he doesn't have to worry, or hold it very long. Basically the way they potty train is by putting the kids on the potty before and after everything they do. They wake up, go to the potty, eat breakfast, go to the potty, go for a walk, go to the potty, etc... So taking him out of his routine is probably really confusing him. We're going to transition back to diapers for a while when we pick him up. I don't think 3 flights, one of them being trans-atlantic are the best time for him to be potty trained! Although we will have Grandma and Grandpa's help! :)

He was really talking today! Lots of gibberish (or Russian, its hard to tell) but he got close to saying Mom. It came out as Ma. I'm not sure if he was trying to say Mom, or "fix this" in Russian. Every time he said it, he was handing me something to fix, take apart, put together... Either way, I'll take it!

As far as non-Maks time, we have been spending our time watching movies, on the computer or eating. Yesterday was 0 degrees Celsius, which is 32 degrees Fahrenheit. It felt like a heat wave after the weather we experienced last week! Today its -10 Celsius and windier, so walking around is no good. We ate at a Russian restaurant yesterday for lunch that is down the street. I had some beef/mushroom thing with a potato pancake and Jason had a Turkey-Kabob. Both were very good. For dinner we went to the hotel restaurant. We get 150 rubles per day each to spend at the hotel restaurants. They have 2. Right now 30 rubles equal 1 dollar, so basically 5 dollars each. Not too much, but it still helps. I honestly don't know what I ordered for dinner. I thought I ordered chicken, but it was not chicken. It was some type of meatloaf. Jason thought he ordered beef, and it came out a beef stew. So we switched dinners! We had found a little grocery store yesterday and bought some milk (at least we hoped it was milk), some chocolate, and some bananas. We're going to save some $ by eating breakfast in the room every morning. Mine is the Russian version of Frosted Cheerios with milk and bananas. Sort of like home!

Note to the Future Maks- Sorry buddy that I had to post about this, but it was a big part of the 10 day wait. Your first potty times with Mom and Dad. :)

The Great Days Just Keep Coming!

2010-02-18T01:24:00.006-06:00

Today is a wonderful day! We got up at 6:30am this morning, took showers, finished packing up, ate a Nutrigrain bar and went outside to meet Sergei at 7:30am. We were then on our way to the Orphanage to see Maks and Vika again. The 3 hour drive was cut down to 2 1/2 by Sergei's world famous-hair raising driving. :) We waited in Dr. Ludmilla's office for the children and for Natasha, our translator from Novokuznetsk. She arrived around 10:30am.

A few minutes later the door opened and in walked Vika, followed by the most handsome man ever. Maks was dressed in a long-sleeve polo shirt today with a white collar, jeans and those Winnie the Pooh tennis shoes. He looked ADORABLE! As usual!

This time we were able to separate and Jason & I took Maks into the play room while Sandra 1 &2 went with Vika into the music room. It was wonderful to have 2 hours with him by ourselves. Tuesday he was a little bit reserved, almost tired and seemed somewhat anxious. He must have had his Wheaties today because he was ready to play! He was giggling, running, throwing the ball, dunking the basketball with Mommy and Daddy and of course eating anything he could get his hands on. I let him drink out of my water bottle today. He drinks just like my nephew Rylan. He covers the opening with his whole mouth and all of the water goes into his mouth and then comes right back out into the bottle. But he loved it! Sometimes he would keep the water in his mouth and then when I took the bottle, he would open his mouth and let it just run out. :)

We brought him a few new toys today. A teddy bear and a few books. Maks loves books! He loves to look at them, carry them, turn them all around, sit on my lap and read them... He wasn't quite sure what to do with the pop-up book, he ripped all of the pop-outs out. So much for the pop-up books!

When our time was over, we headed back to Novokuznetsk to check into the new hotel. We're not staying at the Guest House this time, we're staying at Hotel Novokuznetsk. From the outside it looks very plain, but when we got to our room we were very happy! We have a desk, king sized bed, nice bathroom, great view, arm chair, refrigerator, towel warmer, etc...Its lovely! The best news is that we have wireless internet in our room for free!! YEAH! And a few English-speaking channels. Thanks to Monica, we found the Travelers Coffee! Absolutely no complaints here today! WHAT A GREAT DAY! :) We'll be here for 7 nights and then headed back to Kemerovo next Thursday after we pick up Maks for good! We're still on track to leave Russia on March 7th. Keep your fingers crossed!

We decided to post a few photos of the hotel.

In Between Day

2010-02-16T23:33:00.002-06:00

Nothing really exciting to report today. We're back at Travelers Coffee this afternoon. Had to update our itinerary and get it back to our adoption agency. We were able to do a few loads of laundry yesterday and this morning. We just relaxed a bit and watched Sweet Home Alabama, poor Jason is going to be watching a lot of chic-flicks. We just don't have a lot of options, other than the Olympics in Russian. Which really is not so bad, they just don't show a lot of Americans (which of course makes sense!)

Travelers Coffee has an amazing selection of desserts. So every time we come we get one, which means we need to stop coming to Travelers Coffee! :)

After this we're headed back to "Wal-Martski" to see if we can pick up some small groceries to take with us tomorrow to Novokuznetsk. We're just not sure where a grocery store is there and thought we should take advantage of this nice, big one!

We'll be headed out tomorrow morning again around 7:30am. We'll be going to the orphanage again (YEAH!) and then after a few hours with the kids, Alexei and Natasha (the new driver and translator from the other part of the region) will be picking us up to take us to The Guest House, the same hotel we stayed at the last time we were in Novokuznetsk. Thanks to Monica for confirming there is a Travelers Coffee there too! If you are reading this, email me back your email address on the forum or on this blog and I can email you more details. And if you're reading this, can you give me more direction to the Travelers Coffee? Is it down to the right when you come out of the gate of the hotel? Or down to the right when you are on that main street in front of the hotel? Thanks!

I have to stop typing now. Its Jason's turn to use the computer. :) More in the next few days!

Mr. Maksim

2010-02-16T07:34:00.003-06:00

Another wonderful day! We got to see our little guy again today! 3 months to the day from the last time I saw him.

We woke up early as Sergei was coming to get us at 7:30am. Alyssa was our translator today. It was a 3 hour drive South to Prokopyevesk and the Orphanage. Jason tried to take pictures of the highway for our blog, but it was bumpy and his phone isn't very good at action shots. It was crazy blowing snow across the road!

We arrived at the Orphanage around 10am. We went directly into Dr. Ludmilla's office to speak with her and ask her more questions. She truly is a very caring, wonderful lady. I feel so blessed to have her watching over my son when I can't be there. I know she cares, and I know the other ladies working there care as well. Its obvious when they're with the children. About 5 minutes into being there, the door opened and in walked a little blonde angel. Ok, a little blonde, I'm not so sure about the angel part. :) He looked a little confused, carrying his little truck that we left him last time. He was so cute in a little brown & white striped shirt and overalls, with Winnie the Pooh shoes! He seemed a bit more timid than the last time we saw him, but still came to us without much hesitation.

We went into the music room with the kids to play for a few hours. Once again, Maks was enamored with our food. We were so much better prepared this time, with lots of variety and lots of cookies! He always kept an eye on where the food was. :) I loved that he loved to be held by his Mommy today. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I am a woman and that was more familiar than a Daddy was. Regardless, I'll take it any way I can get it! The time went by so fast! We were able to play, read a book, and try on some of his new clothes. When we came on the trip we weren't sure of the sizes to bring. He was wearing 9mos clothes today and his 12 mos new clothes fit fairly well. Still a little big, but with that appetite they'll fit soon!

One big change of plans today, due to some unforeseeable circumstances we are going to stay in Siberia for the next week instead of heading back to Moscow tomorrow. We'll be in Kemerovo one more day and then head down to Novokuznetsk to be closer to the Orphanage. Its about an hours drive from there, instead of 3! The great news is that we'll be able to see Maks more! We won't have a laundry, wi-fi or international calls though. All small prices to pay for that little face. So my blog updates might be more sporadic. Not sure how easy it will be to get online. Who knows? Maybe it will be easy! There is a Travelers Coffee there too. Jason checked it out online already.

9 more days until Maks starts his journey home with Mom & Dad! YEAH!

We passed court!

2010-02-15T05:53:00.002-06:00

What a great day! We passed court and are now officially Maks' parents!! Unfortunately the 10 day wait was not waived, so we will be sticking it out here in Russia. We woke up early this morning. Jason had a hard time sleeping. Went into the dining room to eat breakfast (eggs, cucumbers, tomato and bread today) and then were picked up by Anna and Sergei. The ride to court was very short, only a few blocks. Not something we would want to walk in dress shoes though! Once in the court we sat and waited in a hallway for the judge to appear. When she did, Jason & I were called in first.

We each had to stand and state our names and some other general information. Then the judge read through the application for adoption. She asked Jason to stand and asked him a bunch of questions about the adoption. Why did we want to adopt? Why from Russia? What was our post-adoption plan for Maks, etc... Then it was my turn. Similar questions. She read through Maks' personal file and asked us if we had anything else to add. We requested the 10 day wait be waived based on medical information. The Social Worker and Prosecutor had a turn to give their opinion and then we were asked to leave the room while the judge made her decision. A few minutes later we were called back in and she read through her decision to accept our application for Maks' adoption! The whole thing took about 50 minutes. We were so nervous coming into the day. You just never know what can happen. We were so excited to have the court's approval though! Sandra was next and had the same outcome. Smiles all around. :)

After court we went back to the hotel to change. Anna and Sergei then took us to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. After lunch Jason & I were dropped off at a Wal-Mart type place. Other adoption families have dubbed it "Wal-martski". It had a little bit of everything! At least I know where I can find diapers now! :) We went back to the hotel to watch more DVDs and are now back at Travelers Coffee for some dinner.

Tomorrow morning Sergei will pick us up at 7:30am for our trip down to the orphanage to see Maks and Vika! We're going to take some clothes to try on him to see if we are anywhere near the right size. Especially the snow pants. All of the kids here are completely bundled up. It makes sense though, its very cold!!!

I'm attaching a picture of the "Wal-martski" and our picture right outside of court this morning!

Made it to Kemerovo!

2010-02-14T05:07:00.006-06:00

Vlad and another driver came to pick us up last night at 6:00pm from the hotel. We were able to get a late checkout which was really nice. Allowed us to take our time packing and cleaning up. We had so much baggage between the four of us that we needed 2 cars!

It took us nearly 2 hours to get to the airport. You really have not experienced traffic until you've been in Moscow. Chicago, NY, LA, have nothing on this place. Cars park wherever they want. Sometimes in the middle of intersections. There are a lot of nice cars in Moscow. We stopped at a BP gas station with a Wild Bean Cafe on the way to the airport. How weird. It could have been somewhere in Illinois!

We got to the airport 3 1/2 hours before our flight. When we checked in we had a bit of sticker shock. You are only allowed to bring 20 kilos of luggage each. Jason and I had 70 kilos combined and Sandra had more than that. We ended up having to pay $200 in extra baggage fees! We're going to try to find a work-around on that one when go back to Moscow. Maybe we can leave the kid's bags here in the Kemerovo hotel as we will be coming back here when we pick them up. Went to a small cafe, had some interesting kabobs and a Corona. We were sitting right next to our gate but they changed the gate literally when they started boarding. We had to run downstairs to get to the gate. We had to go outside again and get on a bus to take us to the tarmac and the plane. Its crazy madness. No order in boarding, just a rush to get on the bus and then on the plane. Probably because people know how cold it is outside and have learned how to be the 1st ones in line. Smart people! The flight was uneventful. We had an interesting seat-mate (that's all Jason thinks I should say on the blog about it). When you get to the Kemerovo airport, everyone files past the baggage room and into a holding room. Once the baggage starts coming out, everyone rushes back in the baggage room to get their bags. It truly is a learning experience being immersed in another country's culture. Not a bad experience, just a unique one. One thing I will say is that I am convinced Americans need to start learning a 2nd language as a mandatory part of school. We are the only country that thinks its not necessary. It is! We found our luggage and then found Anna.

She took us to Hotel Azot, met with us and helped us understand what court will be like tomorrow morning. We have court at 10am Kemerovo time on Monday, February 15th. Thats 9pm CST the day before. Jason, Sandra and Sandra ran to the grocery store (see picture) thats only a block away for some water, snacks & toilet paper. I went to bed. I ended up sleeping 3 1/2 hours. I finally woke Jason up about an hour later (3:15pm Kemerovo time). We're going to have a tough time falling asleep again tonight. Kemerovo is 4 hours ahead of Moscow, so our time zones are all messed up. You really have to rely on your body to tell you when you're tired or hungry. We walked over to Travelers Coffee for some dinner. Its a cafe that Anna took us to last time we were here. Nice place with an English Menu and good food/coffee. They also have free Wi-Fi! Which is how I can update you guys on our travels!

We're going to head back soon, watch another DVD and study our home study for court tomorrow morning. We feel ready, but you never know! We should be all done with court around 12pm Kemerovo time (11pm the night before back home). I'll certainly update you all on how it goes. We have court and then our 10 day wait, and then Maks will officially be our son. It has been such a long, wonderful, sometimes painful journey that it makes me tear up just to type that. Poor Maks, I hope I don't smother him. :)

Thanks to Leslie for the Rylan email updates! I'm so sad I won't see him for a month! And to Ang for getting our mail. :) And to Erin for sending us baby-bump updated pictures! And to our parents for always emailing us supportive, encouraging emails. It means a lot to us!! We love you and miss you already. Its very weird to be half a world away.

Leave for Kemerovo Tonight

2010-02-13T00:03:00.002-06:00

Wow its cold here! Jason and I walked down to Red Square, the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral yesterday. The hotel we're staying at is only 4-5 blocks away. It was the coldest walk! Luckily we were able to find a beautiful indoor mall right in Red Square that we could get warm in and then come back (yep Dad, I found a mall!). That mall will be a great day trip with Maks when we come back with him. Its a huge place with lots of space for him to run. I think I would like to take a tour of Red Square/Kremlin with someone who knows where they are going. It was a little tricky to figure out what was what.

We had lunch in a "Beer Restaurant" on our way back(that's what it was called in English). Jason had a hamburger and I had chicken wings & onion rings. Very healthy. :) We had our 8 Doctor Medical exam yesterday at 3pm. We saw a dermatologist, neurologist, infectious disease doctor, oncologist, general practitioner, a TB specialist, a psychiatrist and another few doctors that I can't remember. It was so well coordinated. All at this American Medical Facility. Only took 2 hours to see all of the doctors. We had to wait until 6:30pm for our blood, urine and Xrays though as Jason and I had only been in the night before to take those tests. Everything came back fine and we all passed! YEAH! One more hurdle down!

We came back to the hotel to meet up with Sandra 1 and got a recommendation for dinner from the concierge. We went to an Italian place called "Pepperoni". It was only 3 blocks away and had awesome food! I would highly recommend it if you are going to stay near Red Square. I had a nice version of cappelini, Jason had a pizza with ham, cheese, potatoes(yep potato) and onion, and Sandra 1 &2 had some type of other pasta. All very good! We came back to the hotel around 8:30pm. I could not fall asleep though! My sleep schedule is all messed up. I was finally able to fall asleep around 12:30am. We just got up a little bit ago and are headed down for breakfast.

Sandra 1 &2 are headed to the Bolshoi today for a ballet. We're going to join them for another one on the 22nd. That should be fabulous. Even Jason is willing to go for the experience! We lose our internet in an hour or so, so I thought I'd give one last update before we leave Moscow. Jason & I will be keeping ourselves busy today walking around some more.

We got a late check out approved, Vlad will be here at 6:00pm to take us to the Domodedovo Airport. About an hour and a half ride from here. Our flight is tonight at 11:30pm, gets in around 7:00am Kemerovo time. Only a 4 hour flight but there is a 4 hour time difference. I guess we use tomorrow to prepare for court on Monday. Yeah court! We are praying that everything goes well!

I'm uploading some pictures from our adventures in Moscow yesterday (Red Square/Kremlin/Indoor Mall). Talk to you all again soon!

We're Here!

2010-02-12T01:45:00.002-06:00

We have made it! Jason & I got on a flight on Wednesday at 4:25pm from Chicago to Stockholm, Sweden. It was an 8 1/2 hour flight. Pretty smooth, no real issues. It was pretty empty. We were able to get 4 of the middle seats on the plane to ourselves. One of us would sit up and the other then had 3 seats to lay across. The flight was on time and we got into Stockholm at 7:45am their time or 12:45am Chicago time. We had a 3 hour layover and then got on another plane to Moscow. Finally got in around 3pm Moscow time or 6am Chicago time. Both Scandinavian Airlines and Aeroflot were pretty nice.

We got through immigration quickly, found all 3 of our bags laying on a bag carousel together and then found Vladimir our driver. He took us right to the Medical facility for our blood/Xrays. We finally got to the hotel around 6:30pm Moscow time. We were pretty tired! Only had about 3 hours of sleep total in the past 36 hours. We are staying at Peter the 1st. (I'm attaching some pictures of the lobby that Jason just took) Its a very nice hotel only a 5 minute walk from Red Square and the Kremlin. We ordered some room service and went to sleep around 8pm Moscow time. Got about 4 solid hours of sleep and then another few hours on and off. Finally got up around 5:30am. I'm feeling a bit under the weather with a head cold so the dry air and no sleep are starting to take their toll.

The hotel has a nice breakfast buffet thats included in the cost. Had lots of choices, cereal, pancakes, omelets, pastries. I would definitely recommend staying here if you are on your way to Moscow soon. We took a walk to get some rubles and then some water. A bottle of water in the hotel costs $12 US dollars! Down the street its only $2!

We have our 8-doctor medical visit this afternoon and then will be off to Kemerovo tomorrow night on the 11:30pm flight. Only 4 more days until we see Maks! Our court date is Monday morning, hopefully everything will go smoothly and the judge will like us!

Sandra and Sandra made it too! Sandra's flight was cancelled out of Washington DC so they had to make some last minute changes and fly in on the 9th.

I'll try to update the blog again in the next few days! Dosvedonya!

What a Crazy Day!

2010-02-09T17:19:00.002-06:00

We leave tomorrow! But that almost didn't happen. We were supposed to receive our Passports/Visas from FedEx before 10:30am yesterday. 10:30am rolled around and no passports! Jason called FedEx and they said they were in Memphis, TN but still in a container. Apparently the container was the size of a small bedroom and would be difficult to go through to find our package. They would have to wait until our package was sorted through the normal process. 6 hours, 50 phone calls and countless tears later they had sorted through the container it was supposedly in, but our package was not found.

We reached the Administrative Assistant for the CEO of FedEx and she was able to sort out that our package wasn't even in Memphis yet. It was "most likely" still in Washington DC. WHAT?!?!?! How could they not know where our passports were! Mom, Dad, Leslie, everyone was calling anyone they knew to help us. Leslie used to work at Senator Durbin's office, so she connected me with a very nice lady there. They could help us with our passports, but not our Russian Visas. In order to travel to Russia, you have to have a Russian Visa attached to your passport. To get that Visa you need to send your passport to the Russian Embassy in Washington DC. It takes 5-7 business days at the accelerated rate! This is why our passports were caught in transit.

To make a really long story short, the Admin Tanya was able to narrow down the containers that may be holding our passports, and get security and the evening crew on the lookout. They located our package and had it flown to Memphis at 1am. It must have been sorted quickly as it was on the plane to Chicago 3 hours later. It got in right before the airports pretty much shut down! The FedEx man came to our house at 9:00am with our sacred package! WE CAN GO!

We had LOTS of people praying for us. Sandra even had Nuns in Ecuador praying! So now we are hopeful that the snow will slow down and that we will get out on time. And it will be time for our BIG ADVENTURE to begin! I can't wait.

Sandra and Sandra made it safely and are currently in Moscow. We can't wait to join them! Here we come Maks!

Date Change

2010-02-05T21:02:00.002-06:00

We leave in 5 days! WAHOO!!! Its getting closer!

Yesterday was a little crazy. Sandra called on Wednesday and said her VISA paperwork was messed up. They had processed it with her leaving Russia by March 7th. A little tricky considering the fact that we were supposed to leave on March 10th! Understandably it was incredibly upsetting.

The next day I got a call from Sandra letting me know that our caseworker had called the coordinator in Kemerovo and they were going to speed up the process to get Sandra out of the country by March 7th. They were going to include us too! So now our schedule will look like this...

Feb 10th- Leave
Feb 11th- Arrive in Moscow
Feb 12th- Medical Appts
Feb 13th- Leave for Kemerovo
Feb 14th- Arrive in Kemerovo
Feb 15th- COURT DAY! Everybody say a prayer!
Feb 16th- We received permission to go see Maks this day! YEAH!
Feb 17th- Leave for Moscow
Feb 18th-Feb 24th- Hang out in Moscow
Feb 24th- Leave for Kemerovo
Feb 25th- Arrive in Kemerovo and GO PICK UP OUR SON!!!!!! (1 day early!)
Feb 26th- Feb 27th- Process Paperwork
Feb 28th- Leave for Moscow
March 1- March 5- Process Paperwork in Moscow & do all of appointments
March 6th- We could fly home (but couldnt get a flight)
March 7th- Coming home! 3 days early! YEAH!!!

We are so excited to get the date moved up by 3 days but I will tell you, moving everything around was crazy! Our travel agency gave us the wrong info, we couldnt change our flights home, changing the tickets in general was going to cost an arm and a leg, we had to now change apartment dates, it goes on and on...

So what though! We are going to get Maks on the 25th! SO EXCITED!

1 1/2 weeks left!

2010-01-31T18:07:00.003-06:00

We've been very busy the last few days! Finally booked our flights to Moscow and back & forth to Siberia. Jason and I decided it would be best for us to head back to Moscow after the court date to wait out the 10-day waiting period. We've rented an apartment in Moscow for that leg of the trip and another apartment for the 2nd trip back to Moscow after we pick up Maks! Mom and Dad are going to be flying in the day before we head back to Kemerovo. One day Maks will understand how much his Grandma loves him. I can't believe we are getting her to fly to Siberia in the dead of winter! My Mom is perpetually freezing, even when she's in Florida! Good job Maks! :) Mom & Dad came up yesterday to help us remove some of our not-so-kid-friendly tables out of the house. We went shopping and got them some Siberia-capable winter coats.

Sandra and I have been talking nearly every day trying to keep each other's heads on straight. The paperwork and trip planning can be very confusing! Luckily if one of us misses something, the other seems to catch it! Thanks Sandra! (if you read this) I'm not complaining though! We are really excited and just want to make sure we don't miss something.

I watched the video we have of Maks again yesterday. I love to see his little walk. He walks like an umpa-loompa. My favorite part of the video is when Jason is throwing him up in the air and he's giggling. The best noise ever. I can't believe I'll get to see him in 2 weeks (we hope!) and have him with us in 3 1/2 weeks!!

WE GOT THE CALL!!!!!

2010-01-27T21:46:00.003-06:00

Here's the summary of one of the best days of my life (so far)...

I was getting ready to fly back home after being in Detroit for 2 days for work. I was running late to the plane and had been trying to get ahold of Jason to say goodbye and I love you (just like I do every time I'm getting on a plane). I had put my phone in my coat pocket just in case he called back while I was boarding the plane. Just as Southwest was about to call my "A group" I felt my phone ringing. Even though I have been checking my phone every 10 minutes for the past three weeks (really, that is NOT an exaggeration) this one time I didn't expect it to be anyone except my husband.

So IMAGINE my surprise when "Adoption Ark" flashed on the screen. When I answered, Anna said the 6 little words I have been praying for every day "I have some news for you!" and then the 5 best words I have ever heard, "We have your court date!!!!!" The coordinator in Kemerovo received our letter from Moscow yesterday and scheduled our court date for February 15th!!! We leave for Moscow on the 10th- 2 weeks from today!!!

Poor Anna (I think I've said that 200 hundred times on this blog), I could barely get through the conversation, I was standing in that Southwest line with everyone looking at me like I was crazy, crying like a blubbering fool! She asked me twice if I was okay, and I finally managed a "yes". She asked if it was a happy yes, and I said "YES!" :) I was SO excited to find out that we were also going to be traveling with our Trip 1 buddies, Sandra 1 & Sandra 2. EVEN BETTER!

Right before the plane took off I was finally able to reach Jason and tell him the news. We are both so excited! I also had to call Sandra right away! We had been on the phone the night before lamenting about our long wait and hoping together that we would hear soon. As you can imagine, she is as excited as we are! I tried to get ahold of my Mom and Dad, who turned out to be on a plane home from Florida. I talked to Grandpa Johnson, told him the news, found out that Mom and Dad were on a plane and then had to turn my phone off. Thank goodness it was a short flight, I was so excited to call my friends and family!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for this to come sooner rather than later. Please keep praying for us and for Maks. We are starting a crazy journey that will start with a flight to Moscow and last the rest of our lives.

Here is the breakdown for all of those who would like to know...

Feb 10th- Leave for Moscow
Feb 11th- Arrive in Moscow- Go to Hotel
Feb 12th- 8 Medical Doctor Visit- all day for Jason & I in Moscow
Feb 13th- Leave for Kemerovo
Feb 14th- Arrive in Kemerovo- Go to Hotel
Feb 15th- COURT DAY!
Feb 16th- Not Sure-Hopefully to the Baby Home to see Maks again!
Feb 17th- Heading back to Moscow to wait out the mandatory 10 day wait
Feb 24th- Return to Kemerovo (overnight flight)
Feb 25th- Arrive in Kemerovo and hopefully go see Maks again!
Feb 26th- GO TO PICK UP OUR SON! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 1st- Paperwork day in Kemerovo
Mar 2nd- Leave for Moscow, arrive and go to hotel/apartment
Mar 3rd-Mar 9th- Appointments for Maks in Moscow
Mar 10th- HOME TO CHICAGO!

They really aren't waiving the 10 day waiting period anymore but it won't hurt for everyone to pray that it could happen! Of course we will update our trip from Russia, so stay tuned!!!!

Passing Time

2010-01-24T17:59:00.004-06:00

One of the caseworkers at Adoption Ark posted on the forum asking families what they did to wait out the dreaded time between referral and Trip 1 or (in my opinion) worse, Trip 1 and Trip 2. It was very sweet of her to do and a few families replied. Mostly their tips were to plan, organize, get rooms ready and most importantly (again, in my opinion) pray!

Well I've been doing that last one about 500 times a day. And I've been working on the other stuff too. God bless my sister Leslie and my friend Erin. They have both logged some hours with us at Buy Buy Baby helping us get ready for travel as 1st time parents with a new little guy! They've both also let us use their kids to try out strollers, booster seats and car seats. Poor Rylan had to sit in a few car seats while they were still on the shelves at Buy Buy Baby! He was a trooper that day! We've bought what seems like LOTS of stuff, but I think we're just hitting the tip of the iceberg! I went and bought stuff for the downstairs bathroom yesterday. **See picture** Its so much brighter now. I think I'm going with colors and ducks. I seem to love ducks lately.

Tonight I broke out all of the dishes that we bought for our trip (and home) and started washing them. I didn't think about cleaning out the cabinets to find more "Maks dishes" space. I've been organizing away! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love organizing! I've now organized my bathroom cabinets, our linen closet, our bedroom closet, Maks's bathroom, Maks's closet, the garage... it goes on and on. I'm running out of things to organize so I hope we get a call soon! :)

Nothing New-UGH!!

2010-01-21T22:22:00.002-06:00

I think the mail from Moscow to Kemerovo must have been stopped completely, or there was a blizzard, or our letter is lost, or God is testing my patience like never before, or all of the above.

I wish I had something new to report. But there is nothing. All of the communication we have gotten is that all of our paperwork is in, it has been translated, and we are just waiting for this letter to get to the coordinator so we can get a court date. Do you think it would help if I flew to Moscow, went and found it and delivered it myself? I feel like I should do that. I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything at this point. I really thought we would have heard by now. I truly hope that I have some good news soon to report. I just didn't want everyone to think that we forgot about the blog!

Pictures

2010-01-07T17:46:00.001-06:00

By the way, I updated the blog from November finally with some of our trip pictures. Sorry for the delay!

Our Christmas Update

2010-01-07T17:35:00.003-06:00

As I said before, we went to Florida this year on Christmas Eve and got to spend Christmas with my whole family. Even little Rylan!! The day after Christmas we went to Magic Kingdom. So much fun when going with little guys, we cannot wait to take Maks. I thought I would post some fun pictures. Rylan loved it!

Merry Christmas Maks!

2010-01-07T17:34:00.001-06:00

January 7th is Christmas Day for the Russian Orthodox Church! I hope Maks had a great day!! Next Christmas, he will be with us!

To Maks

2010-01-05T19:24:00.004-06:00

I'm sure one day you'll read this and think that your Mom was crazy. I'm also sure it won't be the first time you think your Mom is/was crazy. :) I was reading another Adoption Book (much better than the last one- called You Can Adopt) and one of the Moms said that she wrote letters to her son every week while she was waiting for him to come home. That's what this blog is for me. Our story for you. One day I hope you'll be able to read this and know what I was thinking, doing, feeling during the entire journey.

Its Christmas where you are in 2 days. It was Christmas for us 11 days ago. You got lots of presents and they are all waiting in your room for you. Your Grandmas are already spoiling you! And our first Christmas together is in 354 days. Because of the Russian Orthodox Christmas the government is currently shut down. They open back up in 6 long days. I'm wondering every day what you're doing. What did you eat for breakfast? What time did you take a nap? Who was the first person you saw when you opened your eyes? Did they give you a hug? Did you fall down today? Did you cry? Who wiped away your tears? Were you sleeping with your green blanket? Are they putting lotion on your little dry legs? Did you laugh a lot? Who are your friends? Did you get to play with them this afternoon? What did you play?

I want you to know that I am grateful for every single thing that has happened to me in the past year and a half. At the time, I was convinced that some of them were the worst days of my life or some of the worst information we could have ever received. But now I know they were all just bumps in our journey to you. I would gladly do every single one of those days over knowing that they were preparing me to be your Mommy. You truly are our miracle. We love you and will be there to get you as soon as humanly possible. One day when you read this blog just know how much we are missing you right now.

We will see you soon!

Love Mom

Talked to Anna

2009-12-22T20:03:00.003-06:00

What an angel my caseworker is. She answers the same questions over and over. I called her today to ask what exactly we are waiting on. She said that our letter still hasnt arrived from Moscow and that they may wait to send them in a bulk shipment to the region. There were lots of families who traveled around the same time as us. She said that the coordinator has already translated our documents and when they get the letters things move pretty quickly. Unfortunately everyone is shutting down next week.

Jason and I spent the weekend downtown shopping for Christmas. It was great! I miss the city. Sorry Mom, but one day I would love to move back down there. We were able to meet up with Sandra 2 for breakfast. :) We traveled with her to Russia on Trip 1. Its a great kinship now, makes me feel closer to Maks just seeing her! :) I think all of the families waiting feel exactly the same, anxious and impatient.

We got our crib from Buy Buy Baby yesterday. Our chair is in at Little Deb N Heir and now we're just waiting for the dresser. We put the crib together and put the sheets/bumper/blanket on it. The room is starting to look more and more ready.

We're leaving for Florida soon so I probably won't post any more updates until January. Lets hope that we get some GREAT news in mid-January!!

Other Families

2009-12-18T18:15:00.002-06:00

We received word that the 2 families who had court on Monday both passed. One family even had the 10 day waiting period waived! That is fabulous for them! They will be arriving home on Christmas day. I'm not sure what they did to have the waiting period waived. I'll need to ask when they get home, that would be a dream come true!

Waiting Until the New Year

2009-12-11T17:10:00.002-06:00

One of the families traveling this month was kind enough to take our note and bottle of lotion to Maks. It makes me feel better that they will be there in his baby home. I wish they could see him and give him a hug for us. Or send me pictures so I could see if he's changed much in the past month.

The Russian court system is about to shut down for the year again. They won't open back up until January 15th or something like that. So the earliest we will travel is February. Maks will be almost 21 months by then. I'm so sad that I could miss that much time with him!

On another note, I accepted a new job. Its still with the same bank but I'll be working in a different line of business. It will still give me a good challenge, but provide more flexibility in my schedule. I was reading that parenting book again last night. (I think I should stop) and I got to the section that gives advice on working parents after an adoption. They basically said that you should do whatever it takes to have one parent stay home with the child for a year or two. She said, take out a 2nd mortgage, get a family loan, but try to stay home. Apparently day care is a bad thing (too similar to orphanage life), family care is a bad thing (bonding with someone other than you) and multiple care givers is a bad thing (obvious bonding issues). So Mom, you need to give me a loan. :) Just kidding.

All you can do is live your life and hope for the best!

Updates

2009-12-05T11:18:00.002-06:00

Four families got court dates in Kemerovo for December. I'm not sure if they were families that traveled right before us or not. I talked to our caseworker this week and apparently all we're waiting on is the letter from Moscow to the region. They can't set up the court dates until they get that letter. Apparently that takes between 2 weeks and 2 months.

We got some baby lotion for Maks and are sending it to the orphanage. The lady who is helping us learn Russian translated a note for us to the Orphanage director. Mak's poor little legs were so dry, I don't want him to go through this winter like that. Hopefully they'll get the letter and lotion in a few days. Sending stuff to Russia is super expensive! It cost us $160 to Fed Ex our documents.

Hopefully we get some great news soon!

Back to Waiting

2009-11-27T21:40:00.002-06:00

Jason and I worked very hard to get as much paperwork done as humanly possible before we left for our Court Dossier. When you adopt from Russia you have to submit two sets of documents, one before you receive a referral and one after you meet the child referred to you. All we had to do when we got home was to pick up our blood tests, copy all of the paperwork, have it apostilled and drop it off. I think everything has been sent off to Russia. That is great news!

So now all we can do is wait some more... We were told it could be between 3 and 6 months before we get to go back. Now that we've met him and know his little personality and sizes, I've started to buy him some clothes. I bought his first pair of little pajamas today. I think I'll keep them forever. When he's 20 I'll be showing his dates his first pair of pajamas. Mom came up and we went to get a rocking chair at Little Deb N Heir in Naperville. We'll start getting his furniture soon too. Can't wait to see what it will all look like together!

I'll let you know as soon as we get any more information!

Day 5 (Nov 18)-The Longest Day Ever

2009-11-19T11:00:00.003-06:00

We got up at 4:00am to get ready and met Aloyna and Alexei downstairs at 5:30am to head to the Novokuznetsk airport. This airport was nicer than the Kemerovo airport, it had just been renovated. Aloyna could not come with us past security so she gave us direction to get up and follow the crowd once they started moving toward the door. Really no one spoke English in this airport. Luckily there was only 1 flight at that time so we didn't have any trouble.

Pictures of the Novokuznetsk Airport and my "Ice Field" :)
We were again taken by bus to the plane out on the runway. So surreal to board a plane on what I would say was an ice-field (ok that might be a little bit of an exaggeration) in the dark (it didn't get light outside until 9am in Sibera) at 9 degrees below zero. This flight was on time and we got into Moscow with no problem (5 hour flight).

Our flight was delayed in Moscow to Washington DC causing us to miss our DC to Chicago connection. It was ok though, this was our first delay and it was only a 3 hour delay. This time in the Domodedovo airport we were in gate area A and there were a bunch of cafes. We found a Sbarro, PIZZA! and ate before heading through security.

Our flight home was fine and we were able to sleep for a few hours. Got into DC, caught the 7:30pm flight and landed around 8:15pm CST. We said good-bye to Sandra and Sandra and headed out to meet my Mom & Dad for the ride home. We finally walked in our door roughly 31 hours after we left Novokuznetsk.

What an adventure. I will post pictures soon!

Now we need your prayers that our return is quick and we can bring Maks home where he belongs.

Day 4 (Nov 17)- Seeing Maks Again!

2009-11-19T10:47:00.002-06:00

Jason and I both woke up around 4:00am on Tuesday. Our bodies were still a bit off from the travel. We met Sandra & Sandra at the restaurant for breakfast after trying to get on to our computer in the computer room. If you are traveling soon, don't bother with your computer. Just use theirs. The keyboard is in Russian but it does have English letters on it too. I didn't think about this but they have to have English letters because the Internet is all in English (Aloyna told us this). They can get on to Russian sites but still have to enter the web addresses in English.

The food is very different in Russia. Not bad, just different. The best food advice we received was to bring protein bars and other quick things to take with you. I don't think any of the Russian people we were with ate lunch. We didn't ever stop for food, so bring lots of protein bars, granola bars, cereal bars, snack packs, etc! We had a little breakfast and then met Alonya at 8:40am. She and Alexei our driver, took us back to Prokopyevsk to the Baby House again. We saw Dr. Ludmilla again and asked her any extra questions we had after meeting the children. Dr. Ludmilla is a wonderful lady, so caring and obviously connected to the children. By the way, Victoria was adorable too! She was a little blonde girl with the cutest pig-tails and sweetest face.

The caretakers brought Maks and Victoria in again. He was wearing the same little outfit as the day before and still looked adorable in it! It was a happiness I have never felt to see his face again. Like going home after you haven't been there in a really long time.

We went back into one of the playrooms and spent 2 hours with Maks. Boy does he like his Daddy. Jason is like a big toy that can throw him and run with him, and make him fly around the room. Maks overall was a really quiet little man, but we got a few sounds out of him that day. As Jason says, they were priceless. I love his little giggles. We took Maks some goldfish crackers on Day 1 and some Fruit Loops on Day 2. He loves to eat!! Really the entire time he spent eating (thank you Sandra for bringing those cookies!) and falling down. His walking is still a little unstable. :)

The 2 hours were up SO fast. We didn't get a lot of warning that it was time to leave and the caretaker came to get him. We were not ready to go. It was heart-breaking to hand him over knowing we wouldn't see him again for a few months. I think heart-breaking is too weak of a word.

We met Dr. Ludmilla again and signed the papers that we wanted to proceed with the adoption.

When we left the orphanage Aloyna took us to a small souvenir shop. They had the cutest little Russian nesting dolls or Matryoshka dolls as they are called.

We went back to the hotel and asked Aloyna to take us to another cafe nearby. We found another Russian restaurant to try. They had an English menu and we were able to order some chicken wings, potato pancakes, bellinis (russian pancakes) filled with Chicken & Mushrooms and french fries. So healthy, I know.

We headed back to the hotel and started packing for the long trip home.

Meeting the (little) Man of our Dreams!

2009-11-19T10:30:00.003-06:00

I feel this part needs its own space.

We arrived at the Prokopyevsk baby house around 1:00pm in the afternoon. Prokopyevsk is 13 hours ahead of Illinois time so it was around midnight at home. Keep in mind we had only slept about 5 hours in the past 36 hours!

We met our translator Alonya (a different Alonya than in Moscow) before we went inside. Dr. Ludmilla, the orphanage director was with some of her staff so we had to wait about 10 minutes to meet her. We used the bathroom and it was in a room with an above ground pool and a Little Mermaid mural painted on the wall. So cute! The pool was not filled as the Baby House was being renovated, but they did say they use it during normal times. Its great that they expose the kids to water and swimming in Siberia! Overall the Baby House was very clean and well-kept.

Once Dr. Ludmilla was available we were all brought in to meet with her. She asked if we were ok reviewing the information for both children together and we said of course. They started with Sandra's daughter Victoria. After about 5 minutes, there was a knock at the door and someone asked Dr. Ludmilla a question in Russian. Aloyna turned to us and said, would you guys like to meet your son while Sandra reviews her information with Dr. Ludmilla and we said "OF COURSE!!!!" 1 minute later, Elena (a caretaker) came in with the cutest little boy I have ever seen and set him down on the ground. He just stood there swinging his little arms and looking around.

I don't know how to describe what we were feeling other than "life altering happiness and elation" at that point! I went over to pick him up and he let me. He didn't cry, just looked at me. Their nap time was usually from 1pm-3pm so they had woken him up to come to us. He was a little sleepy but overall just interested in what was going on. I can't post any pictures of him, but let me say...he is perfect. Absolutely perfect. We could not have wished for anything different or better. I'm starting to tear-up just writing this, we miss him so much already.

Dr. Ludmilla went over all of the information they had on Maks with us including how often he had been sick, when he started teething, when he sat up, when he started walking, etc... And then we were taken to the playroom to spend a few glorious hours with him. It went SO quickly. If you are waiting to travel, take your video camera and video as much as possible. We keep watching ours and it just doesnt seem like enough. We have about 45 mins of video from the 2 days, but when you can't see your son for 3-4 months every single minute is precious.

They came to get us and let us know it was time to leave around 3:45pm. Maks went back with his caretaker and we headed to Novokuznetsk, a town about 1 hour away. We had to exchange some money still as we had trouble doing so in Moscow. Aloyna took us to a bank and then to the hotel, the Guest House, it was called. Our room was nice (freezing but nice). We had a bedroom, a bathroom and a separate living room with a refrigerator. There was a restaurant downstairs and Sandra, Sandra, myself and Jason went down to eat around 5pm. At this point I cannot tell you how tired we all were. I literally was falling asleep at the table and went back to bed before dinner was even over. We fell asleep around 6:30pm.

November 16, 2009 is going to go down as the best day of our lives. Really.

Pictures of our Room/Hotel in Novokuznetsk

Day 3 (Nov 16)- The Best Day Ever!

2009-11-19T10:18:00.003-06:00

Siberian Airlines freaked me out. I'm not a good flyer and the thought of flying into Siberia on an airline that only handles Siberia worried me. It shouldn't have. They were great. The service was great. They came around with newspapers, then with food, then with drinks, then with coffee & tea, etc... They did speak limited English. The Russian people definitely fly differently than us (at least the ones on our plane). Someone was smoking on the plane and then they were standing up getting their luggage while we were still on the landing runway. Very interesting stuff. :) By the way, we landed in a blizzard. Not a Siberian blizzard, but a blizzard by any United States standard. My courage was at an all time high. Maks really does help me in that way... :)

We got into the Kemerovo airport (very small but efficient place) and finally met up with the other family traveling with our adoption agency. Sandra Parra and her Mom, Sandra. (not a typo) We knew they were on our flight to Kemerovo but couldn't find them before we took off. They were great! We were so lucky to travel with them, a lot of fun and made the trip even better than it already would have been!

Pictures of: Loading up the car out of the Kemerovo Airport, Our Breakfast of Champions!, The streets of Kemerovo, The highway to Prokopyevsk, The Town Name Sign

The four of us met our Coordinator #2, Anna in the airport. Basically all of our travels were incredibly smooth. All flights on time and all Coordinators/Translators were on time. It really was a blessing. Anna took us to a cafe, Travelers Coffee and got us some breakfast and read through the medical files of Maks and Sandra's soon-to-be daughter Victoria. Overall Maks is very healthy! Yeah!

She then sent us on our way with Sergei our driver down to Prokopyevsk and the baby house to meet Maks! It was a three hour drive through Siberia on snow covered roads. If you've ever been to Jamaica, the drivers drive about the same way. The only difference was that the roads in Siberia were covered with snow and ice. Sergei was an awesome driver!

Finally we arrived at the baby house! We were going to meet Maks!!!

Day 2 (Nov 15)- Moscow!

2009-11-19T10:05:00.004-06:00

The view of Moscow from the plane was non-existent as the sky was overcast and gloomy. No big deal, we were thrilled to be in Russia! We got off of the plane and headed straight to immigration. They didn't speak much English, but it went very quickly. It definitely helped being toward the front of the plane as the lines got long after we were through. We got our luggage after waiting about five minutes and headed out of the baggage area to meet up with our Coordinator #1.

We found the sign saying "Petersons" and met Alonya our Coordinator. She was very sweet, friendly and her English was perfect. One of the other families who had traveled before us gave us the tip to get a room at the nearby hotel after they spent all day in the Domodedovo airport in Moscow. We had emailed our Caseworker before leaving and asked if this was possible. She connected with our Coordinator Alonya before we arrived and set up the plan. I would HIGHLY recommend this to any family traveling in the next month as it was $170 well spent! Our flight arrived at 10:30am Moscow time and our next flight to Kemerovo did not take off until 11:30pm that night so we had 13 hours to kill.

Alonya helped us find the shuttle and went with us over to the Airport Hotel. She got us checked in and up to our room. We said good-bye and then were able to sleep for 5 hours or so before getting up to take showers and head back to the airport. The shuttle picked us up right outside the airport (although they say its every 15 mins I think its more like every 30 mins) and dropped us off. One interesting note, the traffic in Moscow is CRAZY. It took us about 25 minutes to go a 1/2 mile!

We got to the airport and checked in as Aloyna had directed us to earlier. The check in counters are a bit different in that they are not set up for specific airlines. They have electronic monitors above each one and they change as the flight times change! Finding food in the Domodedovo airport was not easy. There are lots of cafes but everything was in Russian and we were surprised by how few people spoke English in the Moscow airport. We were in Russia though and of course Russian people don't expect us to speak Russian everywhere in the USA, so you have to just go with it. We ordered some tempura shrimp and some mozzarella sticks. We had pointed to the Chicken Sandwich on the menu (they had pictures) but the waitress shook her head and said no. :) We didn't know why but, what are you gonna do?

A few short hours later we boarded a bus to be taken to our Siberian Airlines plane. They don't have gates, so you are taken outside to board. We were headed to Kemerovo!

Day 1 (Nov 14)- Leaving for Russia

2009-11-19T09:56:00.004-06:00

Pictures of our pre-trip packing, Jason with the Obamas, Us having a drink before our long flight to Moscow, & Landing in Moscow

Woke up early, Mom & Dad picked us up, we went to breakfast and then were off to O'Hare for our flight on United to Washington DC. The flight was uneventful and quick to Washington (on time!) We had a slight layover in DC of four hours and then were boarded on our United flight to Moscow around 4pm EST. (again, on time!)

A few things about the flight to Moscow...
-We learned our lesson and will do whatever we can to upgrade to Business class in the future. Those little seats were grueling for a 10 hour flight!
-Paying for the annual pass for Economy Plus was the best $$ spent on the trip. Only cost $400 but got us both 5 extra inches of leg room on all United flights. Its good for one year so we can use it for the next 11 mos too! Plus you get closer seats to the front of the plane!
-Never order the chicken :)
-United is a great carrier internationally. The crew was great, gave us free drinks once they knew we were adopting (perfect plan, get the new parents tipsy)

We had our choice of movies and they ran in a loop on the individual screens in front of our seats. We could watch Harry Potter, Julie & Julia, and some other smaller films. I managed to sleep about 1 hour, Jason didn't sleep at all. A mixture of uncomfortable-ness and excitement!

We landed in Moscow right on time.

We're Back!

2009-11-19T09:53:00.002-06:00

So Jason and I landed last night around 8:15pm. I'm updating my blog ASAP today for all of my fellow adoptive families. I know these updates from other families were critical to us when we were planning our trip!

Let me start out by saying 2 things...
1. What an adventure!
2. We love Maks & are now working our bum-bum's off to make sure we get back to him as soon as humanly possible!

I'm going to break up our journey by day so its easier for everyone to follow and so I don't forget anything!

Tomorrow!

2009-11-13T21:24:00.002-06:00

I just finished packing. We went shopping tonight and got big black puffy coats. I think I can use one no matter what, but in Siberia it will be perfect. We are taking tons of stuff for the orphanage and for Maks. We are taking a truck, a bear (that has our voices recorded on it, thanks Aunt Leslie), his blanket (thanks Grandma Brockman!), fruit loops (we're going to bribe him to like us :)), goldfish crackers, and a disposable camera to leave at the orphanage for pictures of Maks in between trips 1 and 2 (thanks Adoption Ark Forum Moms!). I'm sure they're going to look at us like we're crazy people.

Dad is sending 2 John Deere tractors, one for the orphanage and one for Maks, although I'm' sure he'll share!

Tonight Jason and I went out to dinner and realized the next time we make this trip we will bringing him home with us. What a life changing moment and time. My friend Tenny said today there are so few moments in your life that are really earth-shattering and life-changing and how great it is that we are about to embark on one of them. He's right, its such a blessing! I can't wait to tell you all about it! Stay tuned!!

1 1/2 days!

2009-11-12T19:13:00.003-06:00

I'm posting today b/c I don't know if I'll have time tomorrow. We're only going for 5 days but you would think we'll be gone for months with the amount of anxiety I have about packing. Don't want to forget anything! I'm starting to get more nervous about the plane ride, but am headed to the Doctor tomorrow morning for the latest development in pharmacological courage. :)

Our Russian lesson went well. Vera was awesome, telling us all about the dos and don'ts of Russia. She is Russian and lived in Lithuania with her husband. Russian is NOT an easy language. I still have not mastered how to say "hello." I did learn how to say, I love you, My name is Wendy, Whats this, Bathroom, Water, Stop (its the same as stop), Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, and pancakes. :) I should be good. Vera even offered to have a play date with her 4 yr old son when we get back so Maks can keep up with his Russian! That would be awesome.

I don't think I have ever been more excited! No worries, I will post a play by play as soon as we get home!! Thank you everyone for your well-wishes and advice!

Day Off

2009-11-11T17:19:00.001-06:00

God bless the Veterans. Of course they have done great things for our country and I'm grateful, but I'm also grateful that banks choose to close for Veterans day. Today has given me the opportunity to start getting things organized. At the suggestion of others who have gone before us, I went out and bought cereal and power bars for the trip. I also went to NY & Company to buy some of their dress pants. They are super comfy, no belt pants that will be perfect for the last leg of our journey before we get to the orphanage.

Jason and I are going to meet a Russian Language teacher tonight for a Russian lesson before we go. I know, you can't learn Russian in two hours, but I'm betting you can learn some basic Russian to help you get around. We'll see!

A Great Video

2009-11-10T18:43:00.001-06:00

Adoption Ark has posted a video on You Tube that is a montage of "First Moments". The first moments that parents met their children. How fitting considering that is exactly what we will be doing 6 days from today. This one will make you cry...
(cut and paste the link, I don't know how to add them on this blog!)
http://www.youtube.com/adoptionark

4 more days!

2009-11-10T18:33:00.002-06:00

For the past 10 months Maks has been the lifeline we have clung to in a tumultuous, endless sea of challenges and disappointments. No matter what has happened with our pregnancy last year, our inability to carry a child of our own, our failed attempts at IVF, our incredibly challenging and unfair moments with our quest to have a child, Maks has been our sanity, our rock, our chance, our future, our hope. Probably unfair to put that much on the shoulders of one little guy who lives half way around the world and doesn't even know we exist yet. Regardless, he has been the joy and the light that keeps us walking forward. A little guy who helps us believe that we will have a family.

This past week has brought another dose of what feels like insurmountable challenges. So insurmountable that we thought our trip to Russia may not be possible. But Jason and I decided that no matter what, we would find a way to get to him and bring him home. He is already our son. We love him and need him as much, if not more, than he needs us.

It feels surreal that we are leaving to meet him in 4 days. I will finally get to hold him, to hug him, to feel his heart beat and to see him smile! (I hope!) I am so incredibly grateful for all of your support, well wishes, prayers and love. Just know that we are incredibly happy and cannot wait until the day we get to bring him home.

6 more days!

2009-11-08T10:17:00.002-06:00

After months of what seemed like endless waiting, these last few weeks have been flying by. We're working hard at getting our court dossier done and now we only have the medical exams remaining. Last night I started packing. My Mom gave us a suitcase we can take all of the orphanage donations in and then leave in Russia, which will make the trip home a bit lighter. Jason's Mom collected a ton of stuff at her church and it fills up the entire suitcase. Here's our itinerary just in case you wanted to know...

Saturday, Nov 14- Leave OHare at 11:00am, Arrive in DC at 1:59pm
Saturday, Nov 14- Leave DC at 4:05pm, Arrive in Moscow (DME) at 10:30am (next day!)
Sunday, Nov 15th- Hang out in the Moscow Airport until late!
Sunday, Nov 15th- Leave Moscow at 11:30pm, Arrive in Kemerovo at 7:30am (next day!)
Monday, Nov 16th- Travel by car from Kemerovo to Novokusznetsk and MEET MAKS!

I'm starting to feel anxious. Anxious about the flight and anxious about meeting Maks. Of course we are SO excited, but you can't help thinking, "what if he doesn't like us?". Never has there been an introduction with so much build up and anticipation (in my life anyway!) As always, keep us in your prayers for a safe journey and quick return to bring him home.

13 days until we leave!

2009-11-01T19:55:00.002-06:00

Its going by quickly, and thats a great thing! We will officially meet Maks in 15 days. You would think we're going for 4 months instead of 4 days with all of the stuff we are planning to take. One of the first families to travel just got back and she was gracious enough to share her trip details with us. It went well, but was definitely an adventure! It feels like we're part of a small fraternity with all of these other families. We're so grateful not to be going through this alone.

We're having a hard time finding a phone that will work in Siberia. We looked at renting one through a travel company. For $80 American dollars they will meet you at the Moscow airport and drop off/pick up the phone. Apparently though, even their phones have a hard time with signal in the region we are traveling to. Jason and I tabulated that we will be traveling for 31 hours to get to Siberia! I don't like to fly, but I can honestly say I am willing to do just about anything to get to him. Maybe somehow I can sneak him back in our suitcase. :) Just kidding, DCFS.

Less than 3 weeks!

2009-10-27T22:29:00.001-05:00

We've stayed busy trying to prepare ourselves for the first trip and all of the court dossier paperwork lately. Time can't go quickly enough over the next 2 1/2 weeks! :) We are so excited to meet little Maks. One update though, I won't be able to post pictures from our first trip until we are back from the 2nd trip and Maks is legally our son. So I started a website that I can share on Shutterfly. It's password protected and we can post both video and photos for our friends and family to see. If you want the password and website, just let me know and I'll email it to you! Time will be a little hectic once we're in Russia so I don't know if I'll post from there, but I will try to do it the day after we get home.

Say a prayer (or a bunch of them!) for us and for little Maks!

Planning Our Trip

2009-10-22T06:17:00.002-05:00

Now that we've got the date, all of the craziness has begun. Its great craziness though! We just booked our tickets. We leave on November 14th at 11:00am. We're traveling through Washington DC and then on to Moscow. We have to catch a smaller regional plane from Siberia Airlines to Kemerovo. We'll basically land in Kemerovo around 6:30pm Chicago time on November 15th, or 7:30am (November 16th) in Kemerovo. Lots of planes!

Just in case you were wondering, we'll be meeting Maks around Midnight Chicago time on November 16th, it will be 1:00pm-ish in Kemerovo. Seems chaotic, not sure how one's body figures out when to sleep, when to eat, etc... The good news is that the hotel has a 24 hour restaurant, so you could stay on Chicago time if you want.

We're going to try to post a picture or two after we meet him on the 16th so you all can see his cute little self!

Thank you to everyone for all of your well wishes and support. We truly do appreciate it!

TRIP 1!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-16T18:03:00.002-05:00

I have had the BEST day.

Got great news on the surrogacy front- not that it worked yet but that we had a GREAT turnout with Embryos!

And then I got the call we have been PRAYING FOR! We will finally get to meet Mr. Maks on November 16th! I cannot believe it. :)

We travel to Kemerovo, go to the Department of Education to read his medical file and sign off on it, then take a car down to Novokuznetsk. We will then get to meet the little guy.

We'll go to a hotel in the region that night and head back to the Baby House the next day to see him again and officially sign the papers that we want to adopt. And then sadly, we fly home the next day. What a whirlwind it will be! We get to travel with another family, not sure who they are or where they live yet.

A lot for us to do now. Get a Visa, book our flights, buy the gifts for the coordinators, put together a picture book and of course work on our Court Dossier so we can return to get him as soon as humanly possible!!

The typical wait these days between Trip 1 and Trip 2 seems to be 4 months. Let's hope its shorter.

I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!

Keeping ourselves busy

2009-10-10T13:17:00.006-05:00

Letters in Kemerovo were supposed to have been signed on Thursday or Friday, surprise surprise, they weren't. We're still waiting to hear about the first families to travel.

In the meantime we are keeping ourselves busy by going through IVF for a second time with a gestational carrier. The first time did not work as we used a more experimental method called IVM. The worry is that the hormones from the IVF medications would send my brain into overdrive like it was when I was pregnant. Well so far, so good. My follicles are developed, my Estradiol is high but no migraines. We do our retrieval tomorrow morning downtown Chicago. The transfer will then be on Friday and we'll find out on the 24th if it worked or not. Keep your fingers crossed!

Some really great things happening around us lately so I'm optimistic! Two of my close friends just got married, congrats Atiya & Darius (check out their wedding march in New Orleans on YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQOEjVnM8Nw) and Sarah & Kevin! (see picture) My Best Friend from the age of 5 Cara just got engaged-who knew! Good job Brett! And my friends Katie & Scott just had their little girl last night, Leah. Can't wait to see her pictures! Baby #4 for the Beierwaltes's. WOW!

With all of this good mojo flowing out there right now, good things are destined to come our way! I know, I'm positive for once, can you believe it!?!?! :)

Its October!

2009-10-04T19:14:00.002-05:00

When we received the referral in June I thought for sure I would have met Maks by now. Alas, that was not to be. Alina emailed us on Friday and said that the referral letters should be signed around the 8th or 9th of October with the first families traveling 2 weeks after that. As I've said before I think we are #8, #9, or #10 in line so that would have us traveling at the end of November. We're currently working on our court documents in hopes that we can get back for Trip #2 as quickly as possible.

I also just learned that on Trip #2 there will be a mandatory waiting period (they don't waive the wait anymore) and we won't be able to have Maks stay with us during this time. Apparently we will be staying in a town a few hours away from the orphanage to be close to court. We will be allowed to visit the orphanage 2 times during the week for a $200 fee each time.

We are now considering leaving Russia during that 2 week period and traveling to nearby countries. I'm not a strong flyer so if I'm only a few hours away from Beijing why not go? I'm not sure how the Visa stuff works though in that case. I know we have a Visa to travel to Russia but I'm not sure what happens if you choose to leave and then come back without going back to the USA. Lots of questions!

The Latest Word

2009-09-17T21:31:00.001-05:00

Last week Alina emailed us that the Ministry of Education is doing an audit on the Department of Education in Kemerovo. So basically now that they are all back from vacation, adoptions are still on hold while they all scramble around for this audit. The first families wont be scheduled now until October, which means we will probably be traveling in November or December. Really hard to believe and swallow. Everyone keeps saying to be patient, its just a blip in time. I'm trying! The delays coupled with the IVF nightmare are getting pretty crazy. We have stopped planning for anything at this point. Time to just let it happen how its going to happen.

Photography Project

2009-09-03T19:34:00.003-05:00

I heard from Alina again today. No new word. I guess I don't understand what is going on at this point. We're just going to stay positive and hope to hear soon. She is going to send us the information to get our Court Paperwork done which will be good. This will hopefully help us shorten the time between the 2 trips and be better prepared.

On another note I'm going to start taking more photography classes in the next two weeks. (I'm keeping myself busy!) I'm going to be working on a project with internationally adopted children. If any of you know of anyone who has adopted internationally and might be open to having some pictures of their family and their adoption story shared with the public, let me know. They can either reach out to me or I can give them a call if you have their info.

Getting Stickier

2009-08-27T21:23:00.003-05:00

Is stickier a word?

I talked to Alina yesterday. I was giving her until Friday to call me with an update on Mak's before I called and followed up again. I made it to Wednesday. :) Wish I would have waited. So apparently the blacklist is only updated every few months. It will not affect our first Trip to Russia. HOWEVER if we come home from Trip 1 and they are still on the blacklist we may have to 1. wait until they are off of the list (who knows how long that will be) or 2. get a new home study done. Keep in mind home studies take about 3-4 months and cost about $4000.

And to top that off, she said it could now be the middle of September until we hear about our first travel date. This has to be one of the most excrutiating waits of my life.

Adoption Ark on the Russian Blacklist

2009-08-21T21:44:00.002-05:00

We just found out that our agency was placed on the Russian Home Study Blacklist. This basically means that their home studies will not be accepted in Russia. Very scary thing for us. Our caseworker let us know today that they were just notified of this on Wednesday. How it works is that all agencies have to submit post-placement reports for all of the children that are adopted through their agency at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. If those reports are not submitted the agency will be "blacklisted". Alina said that there was an issue with one report that was missing because the Department of Education in the Kemerovo region was on vacation when the Russian government requested all of the documents. Apparently that should be cleared up quickly and everything will move forward smoothly (Adoption Ark will come off of the blacklist). Keep your fingers crossed and pray for us that this is the case. Makes us pretty nervous. We don't want to experience any additional delays. If this doesn't get fixed, it could prevent us from bringing Maks home period.

That simply cannot be the case. God wouldn't be that cruel. I will keep you all up to date when we get more information.

No News...

2009-08-17T21:26:00.003-05:00

I talked to our caseworker Alina today and we have no new news. She's not sure if we will find out about our travel date at the end of August or the beginning of September. She said that two families will probably travel together each week and that it will probably go in the order of "wait time." Bad news for Jason and I as we were on the bottom of the list. So its looking like Trip #1 won't be until October. We're still hopeful though!

Grandma Peterson's church drive for Mak's orphanage went REALLY well. They were able to collect 187 pairs of socks, 19 pairs of shoes, 7 vitamin bottles, 3 sleepers, 7 onesies, 9 blankets, 3 toys and some random clothes. AWESOME! Thank you Fox River Lutheran Church! Aunt Andrea has now been inspired and is going to start a collection at her school. We're hoping to get a bunch of things and ship them all at once.

Thank you Grandma (and Grandpa) Peterson and Grandma (and Grandpa) Johnson!

2009-08-03T21:14:00.007-05:00

Mak's orphanage has a real need for shoes, socks, underwear and vitamins. Any time you need to organize a shopping need, call my Mom or my Mother in Law! They are really good at it. Mom has recently gone on a shopping spree buying little shoes and clothes for the orphanage, not to mention some things for Maks along the way! Thanks Mom!! And Dad for working hard too so Mom can buy these things! :)

Shirlene (aka Grandma Peterson) organized a collection basket at her church and is collecting shoes, socks, underwear and vitamins for the orphanage. She made the announcement last week and they have already collected a bunch of things! We are going to put all of our collectables together and do one big shipment to Russia with love. I'm sure UPS is not cheap 1/2 way across the world, but little boys simply should not be forced to wear pink shoes and purple socks! Thank you Mom P!

Discovery Health TV

2009-07-20T21:27:00.005-05:00

Jason and I discovered (no pun intended) that Discovery Health TV has a show called "Adoption Stories." Its similar to the Baby Story and Wedding Story shows on TLC. There really aren't many recently taped ones but they show different families adopting from different countries. There was one recently about a family that adopted 3 different children from Russia. We saw one yesterday about a family that adopted a little girl from Korea. If we adopt again (likely) we would absolutely consider adopting from Korea next time. Its a great program and the babies are adoptable at 6 months old. Anyway, if you are interested check it out. Gives a good perspective.

You can go to www.health.discovery.com and search "Adoption Stories" for the schedule.

Maksim Vitaliy Peterson

2009-07-14T21:34:00.007-05:00

I decided I would post the name we chose for Vitaliy. After a lot of thought we have decided to change his birth name Vitaliy to his middle name. We really wanted to keep something Russian to help him always connect with his roots, but make it something a bit easier for an American raised little boy. We decided to go with Maksim Vitaliy Peterson. Maks for short.

We have already told our family and we refer to him now as Maks. So I want him to know if he ever reads this when we decided and why. And I want all of his friends and family to know what to call him.

His initials are M.V.P. Couldn't be cooler.

Our Room Construction

2009-07-14T21:26:00.004-05:00

Jason and his friend Gene painted the 2nd bedroom and put up wainscoting. It turned out super cute. We picked yellow paint and the bedding from Pottery Barn Kids with the Dr. Seuss theme. Its not overly "character-y" but is still cute. Don't worry, we haven't completed the whole nursery yet. Just the painting so far! Many of you know that Jason and I are also exploring the use of a gestational carrier. One of my amazing friends has decided to help us also try to have a baby. I would say "baby of our own" but that doesn't seem right. Vitaliy seems as much of "my own" as a genetic child would. The bottom line of my tangent is that we had to choose gender neutral bedding and colors as we don't know if the surrogacy option will work and possibly end with a little girl! Oh to have such problems!! Life would be good.

This has been a rough week for me. Not sure why. Sometimes when I think of Vitaly in Russia I get so excited and sometimes I get so sad. This week is a sad week, just wanting him to be home with us. Not sure what determines which way it will go. Hormones I guess...

Trip Update

2009-07-09T21:11:00.002-05:00

So the latest word from Alina (our caseworker) is that the Judge in the Kemerovo region goes on vacation for the entire month of July. The judge has to approve all 1st and 2nd trips into the region for adoptions. So the coordinator in Russia won't assign dates for travel for the families who accepted their referrals in June until the end of August. The first travel dates will likely be in September. However, there were 10 or so families who accepted referrals around the same time as us and the travel dates will be assigned out. We are hoping that we will be traveling in September for Trip 1. If that happened we would still have a chance to bring him home before Christmas! Jason is very reasonable about the whole thing. I'm sad that this could now be pushed out until next spring or so, but as he told me, that is when we expected from the very beginning. What a roller coaster ride this has all been! And really we are only at the beginning!

We heard from another recently adoptive mom who just traveled to the same baby house to adopt her son, about what she suggests that we donate to the orphanage. I guess they are low on shoes, socks and underwear. When they went to meet their soon-to-be son he was dressed in a cute little boy outfit, but then had purple socks and pink shoes! Poor little guy. The family that traveled with them to meet their 3 year old little girl found that she had underwear on that were way too big underneath her tights. She recommended that we buy white tennis shoes in sizes from 3-9 and socks for children 6 months to 3 years. They will only accept new items, nothing used. Not even gently used. I'm sure we can find LOTS of places though here to buy inexpensive shoes and underwear. I wonder how much it would cost to ship a bunch of those things to Russia?

Where is Kemerovo, Russia?

2009-06-19T18:18:00.006-05:00

Some additional information for those of you who are curious. Vitaly is from the Kemerovo Region of Russia. This is basically in the South-Western corner of Siberia. I attached a picture. Its about a 4 hour flight from Moscow. (love that flying...) Interestingly enough the airports in Beijing, China, Seoul, Korea, and Delhi, India are all closer than Moscow.
I found a website that shows pictures of the Baby Home (or "Detsky Dom" in Russian) in Prokopyevsk, which is where I think Vitaly lives. The same website gives some interesting information about the area too. I would have posted the link but it doesnt seem to be working. Here is the web address in case you want to check it out... http://kemerovo.tripod.com/adoptingfromkemerovo/id16.html

This weekend is Fathers Day. I am so excited to think that by this time next year, Jason will be a Father! Yeah!

The news we've been waiting for!

2009-06-18T21:05:00.003-05:00

I had to go to Rhode Island for work this past Tuesday. The plane landed around 1:15pm (EST) and I immediately turned on my cell phone to text Jason that I was still alive. (I'm a nervous flyer) About 2 minutes later I saw that I was receiving a call from Adoption Ark. For a brief minute I thought, what if this is about our referral... When I answered it was a lady named Maeven who was covering for our caseworker. (She was on vacation) She said they had information to give us about a little boy! His name is Vitialiy. He was born on May 30, 2008 so he is just one year old. We received several pictures, which we can't post until we have adopted him. He is perfect! He has big eyes, he is totally bald and is 100% beautiful! He only weighs 16.9 lbs. He is definitely a little guy!

After speaking with an International Adoption doctor we discovered that there may be a few concerns with his development. He requested more information to help us make a solid decision about accepting the referral or not. I called Maeven and asked her for the update, which she is trying to get. Today though, we decided to move forward with the referral regardless. There is never a guarantee for a perfect child, and really how fun would that be anyway? I told Jason the biggest issue I have is that I already feel like he is ours. I already love him and I hope it all goes well and we can bring him home before Christmas. How fantastic would that be??

Keep praying for us. We hope to receive an invitation to travel for Trip #1 by the end of July. I will update everyone when I get more news!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10 Months Now

2009-06-11T18:30:00.002-05:00

I emailed our adoption caseworker to find out how long couples are waiting currently and where we are at on the waiting list. Not surprisingly the wait time has increased. She assured me the increase in time had nothing to do with the fact that our check had cleared and the contract was signed. Hmmm.... When we started the process they said 6-9 months for a boy and 12-16 for a girl. Now the wait time is 10 months for a little boy and 12 months for a girl. Our paperwork went in at the end of April so 10 months from then would be February. At that point we wouldn't even travel until March for the 1st time and May-ish for the 2nd (final) trip. So its looking like we are about a year out now from bringing our baby home. She also let me know that we have 25 families "in line before us". I guess thats the best way to put it. I bet I'm a pain to work with. I'll email her again in a few weeks and ask her both questions again. Jason thinks I'm going to make her mad and she'll make us wait longer. I don't think so. I'm very polite. :)