Going out with a bang!

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...

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

Renting an apartment in Moscow

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!

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

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!

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.