Our own nightmare travel

This will be short as I am using a computer at our hotel in London.  We did not make it home yesterday, we started the day at 2:30 a.m. and was at the Domodovo Airport in Moscow by 5 a.m. - our flight which was supposed to leave at 7:15 was delayed by almost 3 hrs (while we were sitting on the ground on the plane) and we missed our connection in Frankfurt to Chicago.  No other flights out to Chicago that day but we ran around for 4 hrs. trying stand by on several airlines until we got a flight out to London on British Airways which was supposed to then connect to Chicago.  They were delayed and we missed that connection and had no options out of London to get back to the states that day.  Due to V' russian status - we were in for a rough night because legally she was not supposed to leave the airport.  Thankfully there have been a ton of travel problems in Europe this past month and the Queen decided that emergency 24 hr. visas could be issued on a "case by case" basis.  We pleaded our case to Immigration and also showed them her US Immigration Visa, adoption documents and they physically saw our melting down 6 and 5 year old kids and decided it would probably be best for everyone if we were allowed to go to a hotel - so God Bless The Queen.  We also realized the value of our US citizenship.  We could have gone to a hotel in Frankfurt or London without any problem had we been traveling alone, but even though V is a child and was traveling with her US adoptive parents, it was quite difficult to get an exception (we were told in Frankfurt there would be no chance of us leaving the airport for a hotel).

Hoping to make it home today.  Will write later :)

All systems go

Heading out in 1 hr. for home - can't wait to get back.  We all went to the US embassy yesterday and V got her visa to enter the US.  She will become a US citizen once we clear customs.  They gave us a sealed envelope to take with us that we have to give them in immigration when we land.  We have her Russian passport, birth certificate, adoption decree and a bunch of other forms that I can not read but will get translated to figure out what we need to keep.  There was a HUGE group of adoptive families at the embassy, the biggest of the year but the embassy could not have been nicer.  Have to get moving to go to the airport but will post an update when we get home.

Bad weather in Europe and on East coast = travel nightmare for my mom

Mom's flight was cancelled this morning and our travel agent is trying to get her on a flight out today.  The hard thing is the airport she was supposed to travel out of was closed for a bit and the one she was supposed to fly into was also closed.  Hoping that they can get her on a flight out today as we leave tomorrow (if the weather is ok) for Chicago.
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We did some sightseeing yesterday and shopping and I thought my feet would fall off but we saw a lot :)  Went to Red Square, the Kremlin, St. Basil's, Lenin's Tomb (closed) Arbot street and road the metro with the kids (very interesting) - also road the metra with Mom and our friend Danielle during rush hour, quite an experience.  They give new meaning to crushing in subway cars (and I am used to Chicago). We also took V to the dr's yesterday - mandatory for immigration and are heading to the US embassy today.

Shopping and Circus

The weather was not so nice this morning but we were able to get in some shopping at Arbat street and also went to the Circus this afternoon.  Chase was happy that we found a McDonalds for lunch.  The circus was nice, definetly different than the ones at home but V was thrilled to get her photo taken with a young tiger beforehand.  She also posed with a pair of dogs and a cat/rabbit pair. 

Tomorrow we have medicals and then hopefully the Kremlin and St. Basils.  Hope everyone had a good holiday.

Safe and sound in Moscow

We finally made it to Moscow, did not look like we would yesterday. Got delayed in Khabarask by a snow storm (both in the airport and over 2 hrs waiting on the plane to leave) then we had to circle Moscow for over an hour and landed on an ice storm. We made it to our hotel around 10 p.m. Moscow time which was 5 a.m. Biro time. We did get some sleep - the kids slept well and we are looking forward to an American breakfast at the hotel this morning. We are staying at the Hotel National which is a big older hotel across from the Kremlin. It is very nice though I was hoping for a Westin "heavenly bed" and did not get one. The bed is Huge though and could fit all of us if we needed to. We are headed to Red Square, old Arabat street and the circus today. We are going to the Kremlin and St. Basil's tomorrow. Chase wants to find a McDonalds. Mommy is cranky and hopes a shower will perk me up :)

No sleep till Moscow (ala beastie boys)

Can't believe we leave for Moscow in the morning. The kids are asleep
as is John on the pull out. Most of our things are
packed, not much till morning. The 3 weeks seemed
To drag by and then sped up now. We are all
tired and looking forward to Moscow. It will
Be fun to get some sightseeing in before
going to the Embassy on Monday. We head HOME on
Wed. I can't wait. We have a LOT of flying
before that. It takes about 9 hrs to get to
Moscow (and takes 3 hrs to get to the airport here)
So tomorrow will be a long day as will
Wed. Can't believe it is Christmas tomorrow.
We feel so blessed to be able to spend it with BOTH of our kids. I am
also restful that my mom was able to come and be a part of this.
V has been having a great time getting to know her Babushka.

Happy holidays to all!!

Party Time

We had our going away party today for V - all of the kids seemed to have a good time.  We had it at a local bowling alley in their party room and Tigger made a guest appearance.  The kids got to eat jello and cake and then danced the night away (ok about an hour and 1/2 but they loved it).  We also handed out goodie bags for all of the kids which they loved.  We went shopping with the orphanage director this morning and bought new furniture for the speach therapists room at the orphanage.  I took pictures of some of it, but did not get all of it on film.  They said they were very happy with the gift and we think the kids will enjoy it as well :)  I will add in new pictures in the morning after I download them to the computer.  Can't believe we only have 3 days left till Moscow.

Spent the afternoon at the orphanage

Today was a wonderful day at the orphanage.  We got a full tour (saw most of the rooms and met a lot of the kids) and then we got to spend time with V's group and the other group similar in age to hers while they showed us the show for New Years that they are working on.  It was so sweet.  They had dance routines and songs and the kids were adorable.  It was hard knowing that most of them will not find families, that although they are taken care of at the orphanage, they will have no family when they age out.

We also spent some time with the youngest kids at the orphanage (age 3-4), there was one 5 year old little girl in there who is deaf.  She was shy, but warmed up when I gave her a small doll.  They mentioned she is going to start sign language soon and that she is very healthy.  They are hoping that she finds a family as it would be better for her to be in a home environment.  I have not posted about any of the other kids on here, but this really tugged at my heart.  She was a slight girl with light brown hair and such a sweet smile.  If anyone knows of a family that may be interested or able to handle her special needs, please let me know and I can put them in touch with Cradle of Hope.

Tomorrow we are getting V's new passport and birth certificate.  Her party is Wed. and she will come with us to the hotel on Thurs.  We are also going shopping with the orphanage director on Thurs. to buy our donation for the orphanage.  They are still working on the list of items they want us to purchase.  Heading to Moscow on Saturday, can't believe we are in our last week in Biro.  A new BOH family arrives tomorrow from New Hampshire to kick off their adoption process.  We are meeting with them and the other family who is here for dinner.  I am looking forward to meeting them : )

Biro Photos

Chase in Hotel Lobby in Biro with Father Frost decorations

Glimpse of open air market behind Hotel Vostek

Bathroom in our suite (highly recommend - only ones remodeled!!)

Russian Orthodox Church

Inside of Church - no pews, they stand for the whole service

Map inside Biro museum - sister city in US is Washington D.C.

Outside of Hotel Vostek

Livingroom of our suite

Our bedroom

Baby House 1

Father Frost in front of the orphanage - one of the teachers made this - it took a few days :)

The view from one of the windows in baby house 1

Open air markets and freezing temperatures Oh my :)

There is an open air market behind the hotel which runs year round, you have not lived until you have shopped in freezing temperatures outside :)
Had a very good meal last night at Pheasant which was recommended to us by a 2005 BOH family.  The food was good and we were presented our cokes in the bottle, they were then opened and poured into wine glasses at our table - finally someone who gets how good a cold coke is :)  They also had fresh chilled oranges and apples which were brought out on a tray, such a treat.  We have not found fresh fruit (or any other kind of fruit) at any of the restaurants and this was delicious.  It is also very hard to find veggies here.  Mostly meat dishes and potatoes - all kinds of potatoes, I am potatoed out!!!

We are visiting the orphanage again this a.m. and have permission to go upstairs (where the kids play areas are) and to interact with some of V's groupa - we have only been able to play with Andrei once (another BOH 2010 child who is getting adopted by a wonderful family in Arlington Heights) and have seen 2-3 other kids in her groupa - we asked to meet more of her friends and hope they will let us today.  It is very hard needing permission for everything.  We need permission to go somewhere, need permission to even say hi to other kids.  The orphanage has over 100 children and we are there daily, yet rarely have sight or sound of other kids.  Sometimes it is a bit eerie.

Will try and write more later - hope everyone is doing well.

11 days left in Biro

We had a nice visit with V yesterday morning at the Desky Dom, my mom was allowed to go with us and met the orphanage director.  They hit it off and talked a bit about Boston (the director has visited Boston). We took V shopping in the afternoon.  First stop was to get boots made in Biro.  She was a bit nervous and did not want to walk around in any of the boots to see how they fit.  I don't think she is used to being the center of attention and she had all of us (J, C, my mom, me and our translator) along with 2 shop keepers all tryi8ng to figure out what she liked.  We bought a very warm pair of black boots with white flowers on them and my mom bought C and V each a fake fur Russian hat which they both loved.  Then it was off to clothes shopping which she really liked.  We bought a pair of jeans, two long sleeve shirts and a sweater.  She really wanted this hot pink Juicy Couture sweat suit outfit that I said no to.  She immediately starting calling "Pappa Pappa come" - already realizing that he is more of a push over than momma.  He showed her some books and that took her attention off the sweat suit.  She was so excited to come back to the hotel and try on her new clothes, it was hard to have her change back into the orphanage clothes and take her back.  She won't be able to stay with us until the 24th.  The going away party is going to be on Dec. 23rd and we are going to go shopping for gifts this week and let her and C pick out a toy for each of the kids in her group to get at the party.  I think they will enjoy that. 

I am not feeling so well today.  Got a major headache last night and then got an upset stomach.  Was not fun and I am staying in at the hotel this morning and J, C and mom went to visit V.  I am hoping to go this afternoon.  Feeling a bit homesick and it is hard knowing that we won't be headed home for 15 more days.  I miss my pets, my home, my bed but this is completely worth it.

Grandma arrived today

My mom made it in today from New Hampshire and Chase was thrilled to see her.  She is going to meet Valentina this afternoon when we bring V back to the hotel to try on the clothes we brought.  Tonight we are leaving Chase with Grandma and heading out with another US family to a brewery - can't wait - I definetly need a break and this will be great.  It is back to being freezing here, I think I prefer the snow :)   We had pizza today for the first time, cost us double the price of a normal pizza here but we were able to convince them to double the crust which actually tasted close to home (not exactly but it was warm and good).  We had Valentina this morning but we were not allowed to give her food (they said she did not eat well at the Desky Dom yesterday).   I had bottle water and then gave them some juice. 

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

The weather got a little warmer yesterday which meant that it started snowing last night.  That did not bother us as it was nice to have the temperatures go up a bit.  We had a good time with Valentina yesterday.  We had permission from the director for one of her little friends (Andrei) to come and play with us as well.  Andrei participated in BOH this summer as well and is being adopted by a very nice family in a suburb outside of Chicago.  We know the other family and were able to convince the director to let us visit with him as well.  It was great, the three kids had a blast playing with toy cars, legos and coloring books - There is a toy store across from the hotel and I decided to pick up somethings for the kids.  They also liked the snacks of granola bars and fruit snacks :)  We were able to get pictures and video tape Andrei for the other family and sent that to them last night so they could see how well he was doing.  The orphanage director said he has been asking to come down and visit since he knew us from the summer as well.  He asked us when his momma and pappa were coming and to tell them to hurry up :)

We are very excited about today as we finally get to take V out from the hotel and to Baskin Robbins.  She  loves ice cream and this will be a big treat for her.  We are also going to bring her new coat, hat and gloves to the orphanage so she can wear them out with us.  They are pink and she will definetly like being able to wear them.  My mom arrives tomorrow and we can not wait.  Chase  keeps asking if Grandma is here yet, I know he misses her too.  It will be nice to have an extra pair of hands so that Chase can sleep in or hang out at the hotel playing if we have to run errands.

Greetings from Biro

We finally told V yesterday about the adoption and she was very happy.  She said she wants to go home with us and I think the thing that made her happiest was that Pappa told her that Bailey is now her dog (szabaka) too - she really liked that idea "my Balla" as she says.  She gave us lots of kisses yesterday (first time doing this) and kissed both sides of our cheeks and then did this to Chase who was laughing.  She really relaxed with us and played a lot more with John today.  She would take his hand and hunt for Chase in hide and seek.  She was sad when we left today and kept asking when we would be back, she was not pleased that she was staying behind and Chase was coming with us.  We promised to be back in the morning.  We are going to visit her twice today at the orphanage and have permission to take her on Saturday to a place called Pit Stop for lunch which has a play area and then Baskin Robbins (which is attached to Pit Stop) for a very small ice cream cone.  They have some pretty strict rules on what we can feed her and how long she can be out.  That is ok because we know in 10 days she will be coming with us to the hotel and we don't want to rock the boat for other families.  We also started planning her going away party with the orphanage director.  It is going to be on Dec. 23rd at the bowling alley in town and they are going to let her whole group come to the party.  They won't allow us to give them pizza but said we could do light cake and fruit along with juice.  We hope to get a dj too as the kids love music.  John and I are going to take C and V to a toy store here next week so that they can pick out gifts for all of the kids in V's group so she can give them to the kids at the party.  The orphanage director found out at court that John is a computer programer and was very excited about that.  Now they want his help with the computers at the orphanage.  He is glad to help but said he will need the translator to tell him the alerts that pop up on the computer screen.  I think our donation to the orphanage is going to be computer related :)

We all slept well last night and Chase is still asleep which is good.  John and I were both nervous before court and had not slept well that night.  Court was long and they asked a LOT of questions, especially about religion, why we had not adopted from Mexico (came up a couple of times), why we did not want a healthy baby and also about immigration.  We were drained when done (John did most of the answering and I think that the prosecutor realized that he got nervous and just hounded him).  I handled the religion and immigration questions and there were over 10 of each of those.  The judge walked out of the court after 2.5 hrs. straight of questions and came in less than 5 minutes later with her verdict.  We brought pictures which both the judge and the prosecutor liked looking at.

It's a GIRL - ok you all knew that

John and I are now the offical parents of our daughter V.  Court went well (it was 2.5 hrs long) and at the end of it they declared it in the best interest of V to be adopted by us.  We are so excited.  Just got back to the hotel.  We are going to the orphanage this afternoon to tell V. We now start our 10 day waiting period in Biro before we can get her new birth certificate (with us listed) and her passport, then we head to Moscow to go through the embassy and then hopefully home on the 29th.  Valentina will stay the nights at the orphanage during the waiting period but we will be able to visit her and hopefully to take her out as well.  Still does not feel real that we have two kids.  I am sure it will when they are both melting down on an airplane ride home (3 different planes so odds are that there will be meltdowns at some point).   Thank you all again for your well wishes.  Can't wait to get home.

Court

We have court this morning and should be done at 12:30.  We had our court prep session last night and learned more about Valentina's background (and more about her brother).  We also met with the orphanage doctor and with her head care giver.  They discussed her medical diagnosis (nothing surprising or that we did not already know), went over her routines and wanted to know how we were planning on handling these as we will be asked that in court.  We had two nice visits with Valentina, she and Chase were bouncing off the walls.  It has been really cold here and we have not been able to take the kids outside together.  It is hard for them to be confined to one room as they are still both pretty excited and get wound up quickly (a favorite game right now is a version of tag where one of them runs with a stuffed doggy and the other chases them).  They are like a pair of monkeys.  We are hoping that after court we will be allowed to take V out of the orphanage and to a childrens play area at one of the restaurants.  It would be nice to give the kids a place to play.  We have not told V about court yet, but are planning on talking to her about it after court.  We have been talking to her about the summer, what she remembers and yesterday was the first time she actively wanted to talk about it with us and our translator (she takes awhile to warm up to unknown adults and did not know the translator).  I think she is getting to the point where she will be able to sit and talk about it with us.  It has been a bit hard on Chase, he wants her with us now, can't understand why there are all those rules at the orphanage, etc.

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well at court today.  Thanks :)

Day 4 in Biro - Update

Yesterday was a very busy day.  Started at 9 a.m. and we met with 7 doctors.  Most of the meetings were very quick, the longest one was with the oncologist who wanted to know why they don't use u/s for female exams in the US and what and when do the US doctors recommend women do for exams.  I stumbled along on those questions because I have no idea why they don't use u/s for exams.  For the most part they were all nice.  We had lunch at a place called Pit Stop which has a Baskin Robbins attached to it.  We are hoping to take C and V there tomorrow for ice cream after court.

Our meetings were so fast in the a.m. that we got to go and spend 2 hrs. with Valentina at the orphanage in the morning.  When we got to the orphanage V was all dressed up (shoes, purple skirt, the mickey mouse shirt we had sent her, a bow we had sent and princess accessories we had sent as well.  She looked adorable and promptly climbed into Momma's lap for a big hug.  Then she took Chase's hand and the two of them showed us how to get to a play room.  She spent 1/2 of the visit sitting on my lap snuggled up in my arms not really wanting to talk or to play just wanting to be held.  It was very sweet.  Then she had a granola bar for a snack and started warming up to Chase and John and then played where is the puppy dog with Chase (running all over the room).  We still have not discussed the adoption with her and I think we are going to have to today as we go to court tomorrow.  Hoping that this goes well.  It just has not felt like the right time yet. 

Today we have one more dr's appointment and then court prep.  Court is early tomorrow morning.  Our driver, translator, coordinators, etc. have all been fantastic here.  They have really been taking good care of us.  Will try and update more later : )

Day 3 in Biro

Yesterday was a pretty busy day.  Started with medicals in the morning, blood tests (I ended up with a blown vein and consequently have a very large and swollen bruise on one arm), urine tests, ultrasounds from our necks down to our waists (that was a bit interesting to say the least), tried a few restaurants, bought Valentina hair clips at an open air market (also an intersting feature in Siberia in the winter) and finally got to visit with V.  The visit started off rocky, they woke her from a nap and brought her down to us and she got pretty scared and started crying.  I don't think she thought we were actually there and that is a lot for a 5 year old to take in especially after sleeping.  It took her about a 1/2 an hour to wake up and within an hour she was running full blast with Chase who was thrilled to see her.  He deemed yesterday the  "best day EVER mom" and although they were soaked and exhausted - very hot in the orphanage - he can't wait to go back today.  He was so tired he fell asleep at dinner and did not wake up until this morning.  We started off as Momma, Pappa and Chase and by the end of the 2 hr. visit we were "Her Momma, Her Pappa and Her brother" to anyone who asked. She gave John and I both hugs (but told Chase, Nyet) and kisses when we left.  She did let Chase join in with a hug with all of us though.  The reason was he was too "wet" aka sweaty.  She had given him a hug earlier and told us all that he needed to be dried off.  She also asked us towards the end of the visit what took us so long to get there and if we would come back to visit.   We are not discussing the adoption with her yet, not sure if we will today either.  She needs time to get to know us again and is pretty overwhelmed right now.  We were all so happy to see her.  The orphanage was much nicer than we expected and we could tell she has been well loved there.  We met the orphanage director, the social worker and several of her care givers and you could see how much they care about her and how much she cares about them as well.   One thing that was very surprising to us was that the orphanage has over 100 children and we did not hear them at all while there, nor did we see any other kids while inside - only a small group outside when we left.

Today is Chase's birthday and I need to track down some sweets for after dinner, he wants cake but I don't know if I can swing that.  I think I found eclaires so hopefully those will do.

We miss home but are very happy to be here and spending time with V.

Safe and sound in Biro

Arrived yesterday late afternoon. Had dinner with a fellow BOH family last night and
crashed before 9 pm - Chase slept until 7 am and seems
to be adjusting well. Medicals today and Valentina this afternoon.
It will be our first time visiting while here.

Updates later :)

Sorry so choppy posting from phone no
Internet access at hotel for laptop and Chase
Is attached at my hip - loves his new DSi so big thanks to
Aunt Kelli and Aunt Stacy

Moscow

Taking advantage of Internet access with my phone. We are 1/2 way to Khabarosk.
Have a pretty long layover here so
We are headed to McDonalds with Chase.
Our next flight is 8+hours so we want
him to play a bit. It is cold here
and snowed last night. Passing lots of
accidents on the road. Hoping we get to see
Valentina tomorrow.

Leaving On A Jet Plane.... Don't know when I will post again

Hoping to be seeing our little one again in less than 48 hrs.  C is very excited this morning but now wants to know why we can't drive to Siberia as flying is going to take "so loooong" but if you ask, so are you sure you want to come then you get a big "YES".

My stomach is in knots, my nerves are fried but I think I will calm down by the time we get on the plane (at least I hope so) and if not by the first then definitely by the 3rd plane.

I can honestly say that until we decided on adoption that I never thought I would would be excited to be Siberia bound in December but now it is the only place I want to be.

Happy Holidays

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love you Tomorrow, Your always a day away....

The other song that keeps going through my head is "leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again"

It is finally here, we leave tomorrow.  My lists are down to one page, suitcase are getting filled, housework is starting to get done and the excitement is finally able to be enjoyed.  In a few days we will get to see, hold and finally TELL our soon to be daughter how much we love her and how we want her to be our daughter always. I feel beyond blessed to have been given this gift of both time and family.  A good friend gave me a gift to take with us, something very special and I truly appreciate it.  I will keep it with us for our whole journey.

I wanted to give everyone a heads up that although we will be able to post pictures while we are in Russia, we will not be posting any pictures of Valentina until we are in Moscow and done with the Russian side of the adoption (we have been advised this would be best).  We will try and post some pictures of Biro, Moscow and some of the sights before that.

It's the final count down....

Wow - we are leaving the day after tomorrow and it does not feel real yet.  I washed some clothes for V today to pack and it was weird having girl clothes in with the boy clothes.  Brought back a lot of memories.  We had a pretty long list to get done today and thanks to the help of wonderful friends and family, we got it done.  Still a bit for tomorrow but I am feeling like I can breathe again.  Chase is packed, V's clothes are laid out, I have a list for J and my clothes and they will go in the suitcase tomorrow.  Have most of the travel snacks ready too.

We are very blessed to have such a supportive group of family and friends - thank you all again

Two Days

We leave in 2 days, just over 48 hrs. and we will be getting on a plane.  Chase is really getting nervous, ended up in our bed last night.  He has been preparing for this for months, I wonder how nervous V will be.

I have an ambitious list for today of things to get done, including packing.  Can't seem to find one of our carry on rolly bags and that is frustrating.  Going to look again.  The house is not in the shape I want it to be before we leave, but I may just have to give up on that.  It may look a bit better as I get the documents which are spread out or the travel items all packed (one can hope).