Maddux update!

Jenny and I have been meaning to get on here and update everyone, but with Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Christmas season, it's been hard. I have a little time tonight before Maddux and I settle in to watch the Jayhawks play while Jenny is out with her family at a Tastefully something party. I guess it's like Pampered Chef? Either way it was good for her to get out of the house, and good for the boy and I to have some bonding time watching college basketball. He is, after all, going to play for the Jayhawks someday! :)

Maddux is doing better than we both expected. He's so much like us it's almost hard to believe. He loves to eat, he loves to sleep. When he gets bored he wants to get out and go shopping. He love his Little Tikes basketball hoop that his Uncle Dan and Aunt Stephanie got for him. His best friend is Solly, our cocker spaniel puppy. He can do ANYTHING to that dog and it doesn't bother Solly one bit. I have a feeling they will grow up together and become even more close. Physically he's doing well. He lost a little weight at first, like a pound, but seems to have gained it back. Might be all the McDonald's fries or donuts that he eats?! He knows I'm "da da", and we are trying to teach him "ma ma". No luck yet though. Rylee and Scarlett, his half sisters, adore him. The bonded the first day they were here with him. They were here with us over Thanksgiving and were a HUGE help. They played with him pretty much the whole time. The antibiotics worked for the ear infection. Now he has a cold that's been lingering for a few days. I expect that to be pretty normal though. I remember Scarlett having colds all the time. He has another dr appointment next week, just a check up with a few more immunizations. I'm sure he'll love that!

All in all, it's been great. I've loved him since the day we met him back in July, and can't believe that he's home with us now. It's like he's been here all along. Jenny and I got lucky...amazingly lucky. I look at this little bugger and wonder who the hell wouldn't want him!? He's perfect. He's the son I always wanted and never thought I would have. I said it before and I'll say it again. If you are in the process and frustrated, do not give up. I was there, it's hard, I know. But there is a reward at the end more special than you can possibly imagine. Stay strong!

We'll probably update again around Christmas. Santa pictures to come!

Rich

Home Sweet Home

We have been home for almost a month now, it's been so good to be home!

Maddux is doing well, adjusting great. He is a wonderful sleeper, got to love that!
He normally sleeps 12-13 hours a night and then takes at least a 2 hour nap during the day. He is a great eater also. His favorite foods are doughnuts, chicken nuggets and pizza. He LOVES fries, those are probably his favorite.

The only issue we really are having is he likes to bite. He must of picked that up at the orphanage. We have struggled with it some, we had kids over at Thanksgiving and he kept going to bite if they were playing with his toys and stuff.
We just put him in his crib for a few min and he hates it, hopefully that will solve the problem soon...

We were at the mall today and went to see Santa, it was unplanned but no lines. He didn't really know what to think of him. We will have to take him back when he is dressed up and hopefully get him to smile so we can get some pics!

Attaching some updated photos!

Jenny

Heading home!

Tomorrow will be 30 days in Russia, and our journey back home begins. At 8 am young Vladimir picks us up and takes us to the airport. From there we we fly to Washington DC, then to Chicago, then finally to Omaha. I think it's kinda of fitting that all the paperwork for Maddux was done here in Moscow, and then we fly into Washington DC. Although we are only there for an hour and a half...hopefully enough time to clear customs and such. We got all the paperwork today and packed most everything, we think. I'm sure there is something we are forgetting. I guess we'll find it in the morning?

Thank you to everyone that followed our little story. It felt good to write down my thoughts as the process went on. I hope that we helped future adoptive couples with our advice, insights, and direction. Russia is an amazing place, but it takes some getting use to. I'd like to come back some day, with Maddux. Show him where we were, walk the same streets we walked as we waited for him. Take him to the places that he's only seen in the pictures.

So if you are in the process of adopting, good luck and keep the faith. It might seem like it'll never end or the light at the end of the tunnel never gets closer. Trust me, as a former doubter, it will. The reward in the end is more special than anything in the world!

Rich

The Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb

Today we visited the Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb. They wouldn't let us take our cameras in, but it was totally worth the experience. You enter on the far end of Red Square and walk down the wall. There are a number of black and gold plaques on the wall memorializing cosmonauts and scientists that died. Vladimir, our driver told us that many cosmonauts died because their "space program wasn't that successful". I thought his comment was funny or sarcastic...he didn't. As you enter the tomb, there are guards at every turn. Each one of them direct you either around a corner or down the stairs. The tomb itself is amazing. Lennin looks like he's made of wax. It's very quiet, very respectful. When you leave, you proceed down a row of former Soviet leaders memorials, with Stalin being the next to last. It was a crazy, amazing experience that I thought I would never have in my life. Thank you Jenny and Maddux! It was like I was in high school studying soviet history all over again. I'll remember today for the rest of my life. No way in a million years did I ever dream I'd be there.

After that we went to the Kremlin. It's like a little city. Vladimir said that Stalin wanted to build a tram from one end to the other, but died before he could make it happen. Walking from one end to the other took a little while, but was totally worth the trip. The churches there amazing works of architecture and more amazing on the inside. It's worth the 350 rubles a piece to see.

Many people commented before we left that it was "dangerous" or "crazy" for us to come here. I think it's a generation thing. We saw the wall come down. We saw capitalism invide Russia. Jenny and I ate at a McDonalds yesterday in downtown Moscow. McDonald's! The very symbol of the modern western world. The Russia we have experienced is more like America, and nothing like what it once was. I stood in the very spot where Life Magazine in 1969 put the fear of God in the western world. I stood in that spot with my son today and smiled as my wife took our picture. I'd encourage anyone that had the chance to do the same thing. It's something you'll never forget!

Rich

Visa done!

We spent the day at the US Embassy. Nothing like it looks like in the movies by the way. There is no clearly marked front door. There isn't a big US Government seal welcoming us in. No US officials. It's a building just like all the rest of them, drab colored and not remarkable at all. We couldn't take our phones or cameras in, but I'm sure that's pretty normal with any embassy. We made our way to the "adoption" area, which was pretty clearly marked. Aftering paying the $404, we were addressed by a very American sounding woman. She went over a few key points about why we were here and what we should expect when we entered the United States again. Maddux will be a dual citizen at least until he reaches the age of 18. Then he can decide to either renounce one citizenship or the other, or remain both. There is a catch though. If he is still a Russian citizen and he returns to Russia between the ages of 18 to 35, he could be drafted into military service. Then again, that's 17 years in the future, who knows how things might change between now and then.

After the embassy appointment, our driver took us to the Moscow Zoo. It was a nice day, not very cold at all. The zoo is super nice, they have a ton of animals. We really enjoyed the two hours we were there. Maddux seemed to enjoy it too, but fell asleep at the end. No nap today, but he did great.

Yesterday we ventured down to Red Square and paid 300 rubles for what we thought was a museum. Turns out it was some kind of Russian Orthodox trade show/gathering. Lots of stuff for sale, lots of priests talking to old ladies about Orthodox stuff I'd guess? There was this odd, building looking thing in the middle of the floor with a long line to either light a candle or kiss a picture of something on one of the walls. Jenny was very curious, and stood in line. In the end she kissed the picture along with the other people in line. We still have no idea what it was all about. There were a ton of people waiting though.

Tomorrow we're going back to the Kremlin to see if we can find the entrance and do a little sight seeing. Maybe Jenny can find another picture to kiss?

Rich

Almost done...

It's Tuesday morning here in Moscow, and raining again. It's been cold and rainy on and off since we got here. Yesterday we spent some time down in Red Square again. Can't figure out the entrance to the Kremlin though. Maybe tomorrow we'll go down there again and try to get more pictures.

I chose the picture at the top of the page for one reason. Jenny and I waited so long for a child. Most of you all know all the stuff we went through. For a while there, it seemed like it would never happen. It was hard on both of us. Then our turn finally came, and here we are in an amazing city half a world away with our son. I don't know how it could be any more perfect. This entire experience has changed my life.

Today we are heading down to the US Embassy to sign paperwork. I think we get his visa either tomorrow or Thursday. Then, weather permitting, we'll go to the Moscow Zoo.

Rich

TGI Fridays!

Just a few blocks over and a few up from our hotel is something very familiar. TGI Fridays! We've eaten there twice now actually, and the food is very good. Maddux likes grilled cheese and fries. The balloon was a hit too. Moscow is fairly easy to get around as long as you have the map pointing in the right direction! Red Square is only a few minutes from our hotel, and there is a grocery store just around the corner. So far its been a great stay!

Pharmacy Adventures

Today is rainy and kind of cold here.
The Dr. came and evaluated Maddux. He has a perforation in his ear drum. We suspected that due to the fluid coming from it. We asked in Kemerovo and were told to wait until our Dr. visit. We looked it all up on internet and suspected a perforation. It doesn't hurt him now so that is good. He just had an ear infection in the orphanage that wasn't properly taken care of. Anyway he is just on anti-biotics for it and will heal. He also has a cold so was prescribed some nasal sprays and cough meds. Amoxicilin (sp?) and all meds was over the counter here.
Besides that the Dr. said he was a healthy boy! We were glad to hear that!

So we asked where the nearest pharmacy was and told it was close. Well we got lost and kept making our way back to Red Square somehow. Good thing is Red Square is just 5 min from our hotel, it's super close. We just kept wandering for about an hour and finally found a pharmacy (not the one we were looking for, but it worked). Afterwards, we ate at a McDonald's. It was SOOOOOOOO good! Normally I don't eat it but man was it tasty! Maddux loves fries now, at first he wouldn't eat them but that all changed today! He is a big fan!

So we were heading back to hotel and low and behold there was the pharmacy, like 1 min from our hotel. We aren't sure how we missed it and walked right past it!!!!!

It's the holiday's here so people were out and about today...

Loving our hotel!!! Bed is so comfy!

Well that is it for now! Hoping tomorrow is nice so we can go explore!

Jenny

PS posting a pic of Maddux, he is missing NE!!! Of course he got tons of juice on his shirt, but oh well...

Made it to Moscow

Well, we made it to Moscow yesterday, the last leg of our journey. The flight was horrible. Bumpy, uncomfortable, and long. We had to circle Moscow for at least an hour, so our 4.5 hour flight actually took 5.5 hours. Maddux actually did better than us! He was awesome actually, didn't fuss that much at all. We were very proud of him. Once we arrived we waited 1.5 hours for our bags. Our driver was there, waiting patiently though. I figured the drive to the hotel would only be an hour, turns out I was wrong about that! Traffic was HORRIBLE. It took us three hours. There was a point where we traveled about two blocks in a half hour. If I never made that drive again it'll be too soon. Both of us had problems yesterday. My stomach was a mess, and Jenny almost passed out at the Kemerovo airport. It was probably one of the worst traveling days either of us have ever had.

We here though, and the Marriott is awesome. Jenny really scored with this Marriott Visa card and points thing. It was probably one of the best decisions we made during this whole process. The doctor came this morning and gave Maddux the once over. His head is in the 25th percentile, and his height/weight is a bit low but proportinal. He agreed, being at the orphanage is probably to blame for some of that. Otherwise he's a health boy. He wrote us a prescription for his ear drainage and runny nose. We're heading down to find a pharmacy here shortly.

Overall, I think we got lucky with Maddux. He's a great kid. He only gets mad when we miss a meal or don't feed him enough. Kinda like his mom! :)

Rich

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Smith family!

We didn't do much today, just went and got a stroller from Walmartski and ate at Traveler's Cafe.

Thought I would post some pics of today and Maddux in the pumpkin set we got him.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Jenny

First night

Our first night with Maddux went well. He was super good.
We had a little "Gotcha Party" with the other family. We had cake and some gifts so boys had a good time.

The hotel where we are staying in Kemerovo doesn't have a crib or anything for Maddux so we had to sleep with him last night. Well he is a bed hog! :)
I didn't get much sleep. My husband however never seems to have a problem, it's pretty annoying!

I did something to my back yesterday. Well I think it's a combination of sleeping on the springs of the bed, our mattress is beyond terrible, car rides and carrying him. I thought I was going to pass out my back hurt so bad last night, I think I really pulled something. So taking tons of Advil and trying to fix it. Boy am I getting old or what?! We are buying a stroller today, not waiting until tomorrow.

Well posting some pics of the boys sleeping. Yes, Rich can ALWAYS sleep, and I thought I slept a lot! :)

Jenny

Gotcha Day!!!

Gothcha Day is finally here and we are so happy.

We picked up Maddux today around 11:00. We really think he knew he was leaving, he looked kind of sad. He cried when one of his caregivers said "paka paka" to him.

He did wonderful on the car ride home and we took him to Walmartski this afternoon for formula and stuff and he did great there. He is very curious about everything!

Well going to finally post some pics!


We are so happy and he was definitely worth the wait for us!

Jenny

Wheel of Fortune

So here we are on Day 10 and it's so hard for me to believe Maddux will be officially ours tomorrow!

During this 10 day wait I have been thinking a lot about a conversation my Grandfather Stickels and I had years ago. I was waiting to write about it until the end of our 10 day wait. My Grandfather has been gone now for several years but I have never forgotten this story and being here reminded me of it again.

So on my Dad's side of the family I was kind of the 'odd ball' to them. I was in my late 20's and then 30 and wasn't married and had 0 prospects. I never really dated a lot and brought no one around. Almost everyone else on that side of the family married early and had kids. They were from a small town and that is what most of them did. So I got teased a lot, called an "Old Maid" all of the time and would always be asked when I was getting married, why I wasn't etc. My family would do this a lot, but they liked to tease. I knew I was just on a different path. I bought my house all by myself in my 20s, I traveled, I worked hard and took a leap into consulting which really paid off for me. I just wasn't at that stage yet, but the teasing did get to me at times. It bothered me, especially by the time I turned 30 because I would get down about not having anyone special.

Anyway, so one time when we were back in IA my Grandfather could tell all of the teasing was really getting me to that day. I could tell he felt sorry and bad for me so he started to talk to me about it. He said "Jenny you know you remind me of one of those Son's of B's (that is how he talked and it was funny, his style) on that game show your Grandmother watches all of the time, the one where they spin the wheel (yes Wheel of Fortune). He said "you are the sap everyone feels sorry for the whole game. When it's your turn, you always get 'lose a turn' or 'bankrupt'." He said " I always feel so bad for that person and low and behold at the very last minute that person somehow ends up winning the WHOLE DAMN JACKPOT! He/She wins the whole darn thing. He said "that is you, one day you are going to win it all, the whole jackpot".
I have never forgotten that story and wondered if it would be true. I also liked his comparison of life to a Wheel of Fortune show!

Fastforward to now and my gosh my Grandfather was right. I had to wait awhile but in the end I married a great guy who is my best friend and now we are blessed to have a son who I already love so much.

So looks like my Grandfather was right, I ended up winning the whole darn JACKPOT! :)

Jenny

Sushi in Siberia and Day 10!

Today is Day 10! At close of business today the waiting period is up, and hopefully everything continues to go according to plan. We are leaving Saturday morning at 8 am to pick Maddux up from the orphanage. I think we are both a bit nervous, but in the end it will all be worth it.

The other night we went out with Kevin and Denise, the other couple that is here finishing their adoption. There appears to be two Japanese resturants on the main street, and we ate a the better one according to those two. I have to say, even in the places where they don't speak a bit of english, everyone has been very nice to us. The cashier at the Walmartski still scowls at us when we ask for a plastic bag though. Oh well. You can get a long way just pointing at the pictures on the menu!

I'm sure tomorrow we'll have more to say, and pictures of our boy of course! Jenny got a very funny one with his tongue sticking out and looking all goofy. I'll make sure I post that one! He just happens to be wearing a Cubs shirt too...that wasn't an accident. :)

Oh, and a special thanks to Grandma Carole for taking care of our dogs! They are a handful sometimes!

Rich

Days 8 and 9

We are almost there. Saturday still seems like a lifetime from now, hopefully it goes quickly. We're trying to relax as much as possible during these last few days, because once he's with us everything will change.

I wrote something to Maddux back in July, the day we met him. I don't even think Jenny knows about it. I saved it on our netbook so when the time came, I could share it with both of them.

7/22/2010

Maddux,

Today is the first day that I met you. You were just about a week away from your first birthday. I'm kind of lucky, not many fathers get to meet their son on such an adventure. The country in which you were born is very nice. There are many things similar to the United States here, and likewise many differences. As I sit here this morning and wonder how today will go, I can only hope that you and I are starting a wonderful journey together as father and son!

What's strange is you are there at the orphanage now, probably eating breakfast or playing, and you have no idea we are coming. However, your mother and I have dreamed about this moment for a long time now. In about three hours, both of our lives will change forever. I like to think I'm a strong person, but knowing that I get to see you finally has be excited and terrified at the same time. What if you don't like us? What if you want to stay in Russia with your friends at the orphanage. What if you resent us for bringing to you our country. I pray none of these things are true. You are what we have waited for, you are our son.

Your mother is almost out of the shower, and she'll be ready to go eat breakfast soon. I thought it would be nice for you to someday read my thoughts before the day we met. Someday we'll share with you the wonderful journey that brought us together. I love you already Maddux, and always will!

Dad

Day 6 and now 7

We have made it through days 6 and 7!

We didn't do much yesterday, the weather has been really nice here 40s, so higher than usual. So we took a walk near the river and stuff.

We found out yesterday our "Gotcha Day" will be this Saturday the 30th! Yeah!
What a fun Gotcha Day, right before Halloween. Glad we brought a little pumpkin outfit for him.

We went to the orphanage today for our last visit! Maddux REALLY liked the basketball and liked putting the ball in the hoop. I think he may like basketball more than baseball, sorry Rich! :)

Maddux was good though and had fun playing ball with Luke.

We also tried on Maddux's cubs shirt, took some pics of him in it. He looked very cute!~

On the way home we say lots of stray dogs. I couldn't live here, I would try to rescue them all! One of the dogs was a pretty black with white paws and he was in middle of nowhere. He was walking down the road, staying right by the side to avoid traffic, he looked like he was trecking to the next town.... Poor guy. I hope he makes it there and finds a home... :(

Well Saturday is the big day for us! We can't wait!

Jenny

Not sure what to do with all the down time?

Jenny says that I've told people I'm bored or there isn't anything to do. I said at times it gets dull, but that's not bordom. It's been very relaxing so far, and soon enough we'll be on a plane back to Moscow. We just aren't use to this much down time I guess. The picture above is located in their "town square" of sorts. It's an even bigger than when we first say it from the backside during Trip 1. There is a ton of history here, and you can tell the people that live here are very proud of their city and culture. There are still a ton of symbols of the old communist regime, which is strange because in Moscow they took down all the Lennin and Stalin statues after the end of the cold war.

So tomorrow we go back to the orphanage for what seems to be the last visit. Then hopefully Saturday we pick him up. Things are going to change drastically, so it's best for us to enjoy the time we have, right? I can't wait until he's with us, but I can tell already that I'm going to miss sleeping in!

I'm sure tomorrow's post will be more interesting. Now Jenny says I'm boring to all of you? Feel free to post comments or questions, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Rich

Day 3, 4 and 5

We haven't really done much these past few days, it's consisted of walking around, sleeping, eating, shopping. The sun has been out some though and it hasn't been that cold.

Some interesting tidbits I wanted to document to remember:

- On our Siberian flights whenever we land the people clap and clap for the succesful landing. I kind of like it, I clapped last time too!
Maybe I should clap on a US flight? :)

- All the girls and women here dress so nice. I am definitely underdressed. I have worn sweat pants a few times and definitely stuck out. Most women have high heels and high boots. Even when it's kind of snowy and rainy out they have them on. Most wear nice dresses and skirts.

- We can't take our bags into shops, they make you leave them in a locker in front of the store.

- At the supermarkets, there are ladies that watch as you check out and you have to walk through a security tower as leaving in case you steal.

- The town here really gets quiet on the weekends. It's so busy during the week, it really slows down though on Sat and Sun.

- There is a music television channel that actually plays videos! However, this same channel also plays Top Model all the time too. Like in the evening or on the weekends you can catch Tyra Banks dubbed in Russia!

Well that is it. I have said this before, but will say it again. I have really liked the people here, everyone has been very nice. We could not have better coordinators here. This is an experience I will never forget and really treasure. It's neat to see other parts of the world and really makes you see how at the core we are all alike for the most part.

Well that is it for now. We are half way through our 10 day wait. Woo hoo!

Jenny

Travelers Cafe

Ah...the Travelers Cafe. We've spent a lot of time here, and will be spending more time there in the coming week. It's further than the other cafes, but they have an english menu, and the staff is super nice. I secretly think they like to practice their english on us. A few of them are pretty good actually! They have a pretty big menu, but in the end we always make it back to their donuts. They warm them up somehow and make them extra delicious.

Sounds like I'm missing all kinds of college football fun back home. K-State losing to Baylor?? Iowa St beating Texas!? What the heck is going on?? I have to rely on ESPN.com, there isn't any sports on their TV, and if there was I'd guess it'd be soccer or hockey. I also saw that the benches cleared in the 3rd inning of the Giant/Phillies game, but both teams were too sissy to throw any punches. It made me sad that I was going to miss the World Series, but not now with these teams. Come on, the Rangers??

No word on whether or not we can pick up the boys on Saturday yet. We should know tomorrow. In the meantime we'll have some donuts at the Travelers Cafe to pass the time! :) I guarantee the updates will be more exciting in about a week!

Rich

Missing food from home

That was dinner last night. Looks really good right? Beef shank with potatoes and gravy. How could you go wrong? It's a nice place, ate there twice actually. But their idea of beef and our idea of beef are two different things. It was at that point that I realized I am really missing American style food. The food here is interesting, and I've enjoyed trying different things, but you just can't go wrong with a cheeseburger or pizza. Unfortunately, we haven't found the "American" resturant yet. (Like they'd actually have something like that.)

It's Saturday morning here in Kemerovo and it seems like everyone stays in on the weekends. There is no one out on the street. During the week the streets are filled with cars and the sidewalks with people. On the weekend it's almost a ghost town. Definately not what we are use to. I think we'll head down to the Walmartski today and shop around. Not sure what we need, but it's something to do. It can get dull here in a hurry!

There is an outside chance we'll get Maddux next Saturday, Oct 30th. We'll know for sure on Monday or Tuesday. That'd be great, having him four days before we leave the region! We'll keep everyone posted.

Rich

Our little apartment in Siberia...

Some people have asked about where we are staying and what it looks like. It's a small place, about the size of our living room. The bathroom is actually pretty large, but the shower leaves a lot to be desired. It's ice cold in the morning and takes a long time to warm up. Overall though, it works for us. We'll see how it is when we add Maddux in a week! :)

Rich

Seinfeld Season 9 and snacks

That's pretty much how we have been filling our nights. After dinner we stop by the corner market/grocery store and pick up pops and snacks. Half the time we have to rely on the pictures to give us some kind of indication what's inside. It's fun though. As you can see, they have bacon flavored Lays potato chips! I haven't tried them yet, but what isn't there to like!? I have also discovered my new favorite candy bar. It's made by Cadbury, so there is a good chance we could get it in the states.
We brought an assortment of TV DVDs, and started with Seinfeld season 9. Next will be the first two seasons of 30 Rock, and then who knows what. I normally would look forward to the weekend, but there isn't much to do here. It will be nice when the 10 day wait is over. Then we'll finally have Maddux with us and can start our journey home.

During our visit yesterday, Maddux may have said "da da". In his world that is "yes yes". But for me that's close enough. Jenny had mentioned that he walked for us too. He not only took a few steps, he was full on walking, which leads us to believe this wasn't the first time. But we got it on video, and will tell everyone this was the first time! :)

Jenny has a cold, so we're probably going to take it easy today. Cafe and then maybe the small mall near the grocery store. I'll try and get more fun pictures!

Rich

Day 2

Today we went to the baby house and celebrated Luke's first birthday (the other couple's son). Maddux had fun and really liked the chocolate cake and loved the apple juice!

We found out today Maddux can indeed walk (they said he hadn't started). He was doing pretty well and getting around good.
He did say "da da" but think he was just saying "yes" in Russian, "dah" is Russian for 'yes' here.

We were cramped in a Toyota Corolla for the 5 hours total drive. Rich was lucky and got the front seat but rest of us were on top of each other in the back. Vacilli was our driver and very nice, he drove over 100 at times. Driving is much different here, I wouldn't do so well. I am sure everyone would pass me and would get a lot of people honking! :)

We don't see Maddux again until next Tuesday so will have a few days of just sleeping,cafes and shopping.

Jenny

Day 1

So today is day 1 of our 10 day wait.

I couldn't sleep last night at all, was up probably until 6am. Rich got up at 7am and I think I finally fell asleep. I slept until 10ish while he was reading etc.
It was snowing outside this am and looked really pretty. The sun came out though so nothing really stuck.

We ventured out and decided to go to Subway. Yes there is a Subway here and I thought it sounded good. We just pointed at the stuff we wanted, I tried to learn how to say Turkey in Russian before going but of course forgot by the time we got there. The kids were really nice though and we got our order just fine. It was ok... Afterwards we went to Traveler's Cafe for awhile, we really like it there. We had drinks and donuts. They warmed the donuts up so they were so good!!!!!! Yum.

So we are sitting at the Traveler's cafe and this woman behind us heard us speaking English and asked if we were here adopting. We said yes, and she said we were the first Americans she has seen in 6 weeks. She is from Boston and was such an interesting woman. She adopted her daughter here years ago when she was 11. She found out later that she has a sister who also lived in an orphanage. She tried to get her, but the agency she was with went bankrupt and she lost all of her money. By then the sister turned 17 and she lost her chance to adopt her. I guess here the kids stay in the orphanages until they are 16 (her daughter got to stay until 17 for some reason). At 16 it's time for them to leave the orphanage and are sent on their way. I can't even imagine! She moved here for the time being and also in process of adopting an 11 year old.
The lady also said that the Proko babyhouse we are adopting from is the best here in Russia. The kids are well cared for and loved. We have witnessed that ourselves and know we made the right choice. If we adopt again, we would definitely request this region.

We have enjoyed spending time in our son's country and region so far. Everyone has been really nice and even though we don't speak the same languange we have managed to get by.

We went to the Walmartski again, turns out it has 3 floors. We totally missed that last time. The other 2 floors have different stores. We bought Maddux 2 balls, one Russia one. He loves playing ball with Rich, they roll it back and forth.
We also got him a puzzle and some stacking toys.

I called the Marriott today and I have to say LOVE THEM! We ordered a Visa card through them a few months ago to begin earning points and let me tell you it's turned out to be such a good decision. I must say thanks to me, it was my idea after much researching!!! Rich and I use credit cards a lot. We are smart with them though and earn points or $ back, we don't pay interest. So for signing up we got 3 free nights and along the way we have earned 4 more. So our next stay in Moscow is for 9 nights and we only have to pay for 3. I somehow just earned another night for some promotion and so cashed that in also. SO glad we signed up. We will continue using the card and stay at their hotels when we can. We have been very pleased with them and what we have earned...

So I think tonight we are going to the cafe with the Peanut on it. We heard it has great food so interested to try it.


Tomorrow off to see Maddux again for his first birthday party with a friend. We can't wait!

Jenny

Passing Court...and some misc stuff

It's early in the morning, and for the first time during our visiti there is snow on the ground here in Kemerovo. Not much, just the kind that sticks to the grassy areas and makes the roads damp. The cold here is different than Nebraska or Kansas cold. It's hard to explain really. It's cold, but not unbearable. But we're from the midwest, they'll have to throw a whole lot more than this at us to keep us down!

The picture above is from yesterday, outside the courthouse. The "courtroom" was more like a little office. One desk at the end where the judge sat, then a small table in front for the prosecutor and court reporter. We sat against the wall on the left side, and the lady representing the orphange on the right side. The process was pretty simple actually. They wanted to talk to me most of the time, and I was ok with that. I talk in front of people all the time. Jenny was a bit more nervous, but that is understandable. We've been waiting for that moment for a long, long time. It was finally our turn. The judge asked about Rylee and Scarlett some. Then they asked about a families and if they were excited? Then a little about our house and financial standing. The judge seemed to spend a lot of time looking at the packet of pictures we had to include in the dossier. Note to anyone reading this and working on their dossier, take time on the pictures. I think the detail helps! It concluded with Helen (we think that is her name) from the orphanage talking about how it would be in the best interest of the boy to go with us. The translations were kinda funny and touching at times. She said that during our visits we would "kiss and make hugs with him" and he would smile. She also said that no one ever came to see him at the orphanage. Not his mother, grandmother, brother, no one. That part makes us sad, and reinforces our commitment to making his life the best it can possibly be with us as his parents.

So now we wait. It shouldn't be too bad. We're going tomorrow to see him again, then again twice next week. The ten days will be over before we know it...I hope!

Rich

Wrigley's

So before court today, Denise, the other woman adopting was talking how angels visit her in times of need and times like today. We were like ok, but she said
she gets signs you just have to look. She said she always gets feathers around her(like little angel feathers). I kind of said I would have to see to believe it to her.
So she comes out of her time with court and has a little white feather on her coat. Hmmm ok...

So since Dad has been gone I said, you know I don't have that around me I wonder why? I also said I wish dad would show me something, he never does and it's no fair. I said this out loud to Rich after court going to our cafe...

Ok... so we are leaving Traveler's Cafe today and Rich and I are walking. A white feather comes from the sky and drops right in front of me. It's a white little feather like Denise had on her coat. Hmm ok, Rich and I agreed it may just be from the birds. Of course there were no birds around but still.

BUT, then we go to a restaurant tonight. A little backstory, when I was in college Dad used to send me letters. Included in the envelopes he would include a piece or 2 of Wrigley's Spearment gum, the white kind. It was kind of his thing. I have saved some of those pieces of gum for all of these years, I have them in a box at home along with his letters. So our bill comes and Rich opens it and what is inside? Two pieces of Wrigley's Spearment gum, the same exact kind he would send me. I burst into tears right there in front of the other couple. I know it may sound weird but I knew it was him. I can't explain it but it was....

So I guess he had to prove me wrong today. I asked why he never sent a sign and I guess he had to show me.
I may sound weird but I knew the moment I saw that piece of gum he is around.

I'm saving the gum, it will go in my box. :)

Jenny

We passed court!!!!

We had our court appointment today, I was super nervous. Rich was way more calm than I was.

It all went well though and only lasted about 20 minutes. They asked what we did for a living, our income, education, about our house, family etc. They asked if we were aware of all of Maddux's health issues (which really is just the norm orphange delays). When we were talking we had to stand up and address the judge and prosecutor. It was a little indimatating at first. When I first stood up I kind of tripped over my chair leg, nice. Our orphanage staff represenative was there and said some very nice things about us, so it made me kind of cry some. As I said before, the orphanage staff here is just amazing. She held my hand while waiting for the decision to come in and is just a nice lady...
Anyway we had to wait like 1 min for the decision and it was a YES we were approved!!!

So now the 10 day wait begins! Let's hope it goes quickly.

We get to see Maddux this Thurs and then again next Tuesday and Thursday. We are very excited to go back and spend some time with him.

Oh funny story, we exchanged $ today with our coordinator. They just pulled up though and did it with a guy on the street, it literally looked like a drug deal. It was pretty funny! Hey but we got the best rate we have gotten so far here in Russia. The coordinators even exchanged money themselves. I guess it's all in who you know! :)

Well today was an awesome day, we are going with the Finch family tonight to celebrate! :)

We also hopefully will try to watch some American shows on our DVD tonight. I have been watching Russian tv and actually have been able to find things to watch. There is an MTV like station here and one night they had like an American Idol or something on, I liked it. It was just a bunch of different groups singing and dancing. Then I watched an American movie with Christian Bale in it. It was all in Russian but amazingly enough I was able to understand the main points and was interested in it. It was good.
Rich all of these times has been sleeping! One day he went to bed at 2pm , yes 2pm and slept until the next day!!!

Anyway, that is all for now. Can't believe I can actually say we passed court. It seems like it would take forever, but it was worth all of the waiting.

Jenny

Meaning of names in Russia and other randoms today

On the way to the orphange, our translator told us a few interesting things about Russia. For example, Kemerovo Region produces more potatoes than any other place in the world. However, it isn't operated by Russians. They outsource all of it to Holland. It's been like that since the mid 80s. We were asking her about meanings of names in Russian and she said that Luke (the other couples boy) meant onion armpit. Maddux doesn't mean anything in Russian, or it doesn't translate. I said it meant southpaw, but only Kevin and I laughed at that. The ladies and the driver didn't understand. It was pretty apparent that our translator isnt happy about the fall of the Soviet Union either. Her dad was milliary, so that explained part of the things she said. Kinda strange because she seems young, like our age?

We had the same driver today that we had last time. Same guy that pointed out the prostitutes last time we were here. He is a good driver, gets us to where we need to be in a hurry. Driving in Russia isn't for the weak at heart!

Court tomorrow. Hopefully it all goes well. More fun stories to come I'm sure!

Rich

Seeing Maddux day!

What a good day, we got to see Maddux again!
It's been 3 months and he really hasn't changed much.
He came in and was scared of us again, it took awhile again for him to warm up to us.
By the end of our visit though he was laughing and having fun.
He kept clinging to me which is nice! I keep telling Rich he is going to be a momma's boy! :)
He liked our treats this time, loved the cookies we brought him.
He also was very interested in the other boy and his toys, he had to steal his stuff. It was funny.

He isn't walking yet, he walks with help. He was holding my hand and walking pretty good so we think it will be anytime now. That will be fun to see his first steps.

So tomorrow is our big court day... Hopefully it all goes well!!

Oh I found out today from our coordinator why people don't smile here. She said you just don't do it, it's more for service people (the cashier at a grocery store can smile because it's her job). If a woman smiles at a man walking in town, he thinks you 'like' him and 'want' him. Oh gee, I was smiling at an old man yesterday who was walking with his dog. She said they also think you may be laughing at them etc and wonder why you are smiling.... It's kind of hard for me not to smile at people, I keep catching myself and then try to go to a straight face.
I'm glad I didn't go and pet that dog yesterday, I really wanted too! :) That old guy really would have thought I was interested in him! ha

Well that is it for now... Wish us luck for our court tomorrow!

Jenny

Arrived in Kemerovo

We arrived today in Kemerovo! We left Moscow last night at 11:45pm and got into Kemerovo around 7am ( lose 4 hrs). So we are now 12 hours ahead of NE.

I made a huge mistake yesterday and fried our converter! I plugged my travel hair dryer into it and it began smoking. So we are without one now. I had no clue I couldn't use it. Come to find out from Denise hair dryers can be like that and you have to be careful. She didn't know either until a friend told her. We bought an adapter in the airport, which is just for laptops. We spent $90 on it and of course it doesn't work for netbooks. UGH... Mark and Andrea were nice enough to buy one for us in CO and looked into shipping and it was way high... So Rich and I spent today in Kemerovo going around to different shops. They all have the adapters (which we bought) but nothing we need. So it looks like we will rely on the couple we are traveling with to charge and hope we can find one eventually.

We found the Walmartski here (nickname American's use, it's like a WM). We bought tons of pop and water and some snacks. So when we were checking out the girl didn't bag the items, so I took a bag from behind us and she started yelling at us. Turns out you have to pay for the bags, wish we would have known that! That would have been a helpful tip!!! Now we know!
I bought a cheap hair dryer that doesn't need to be converted!

We go to see Maddux tomorrow and we are super excited to see how he has grown!!! :)

Oh our hotel is nice, it's small only has like 9 rooms. It is run by these nice ladies, they made breakfast for us and it was really good. We like the place so far.

We go to court on Tuesday and were prepped some on it. Turns out Rich does most of the talking, which is fine with me! Seems to be that way for some things. In our Dr's appt they asked what he did for a living but didn't even look at me to ask the question. I guess they thought I did nothing!

Well that is it for now. Will post again tomorrow with our Maddux update!!

Bye from Siberia!

Jenny

Pictures from our first two days in Moscow

Click here to view these pictures larger

Arrived in Moscow!

We successfully arrived in Moscow with no delays. Our layovers were quick and painless as well as the flight from DC to Moscow. After far too long at the Dr offices on Thursday, we checked into our hotel. It is super nice, but so new that most of the taxi drivers have no idea where it is. We have decided to change hotels on the return stay with Maddux. It will just be easier that way. Plus it is closer to zoo and Red Square. Friday we spent three hours at the doctors office again, visiting 8 different doctors. I had a pimple on my shoulder and the dermatologist said I had "much acne". She also told Jenny to "use more sunscreen" for whatever reason. We both had chest x-rays done too, and they gave them to us at the end of the exams. I will be selling peeks at Jenny's to the highest bidder...hehehe!

We celebrated our success at the Hard Rock Cafe on Arbat Street, then headed back to the hotel. I was somewhat hesitant about taking a taxi back that late at night, but it all worked out.

Tomorrow we leave for Kemerovo. Once we get there I will update the blog again.

Rich

Packing almost finished

I have been packing since last week, we can only take 44 lbs which has been a struggle. I managed to get my bag AND a bag for Maddux both weighing in at 46 lbs.
I was HOPING Rich could be under and give me a few lbs. His first weigh in for HIS bag along was 50 lbs. HUH???
The guy has everything in his. He took some stuff out but is still at 40 lbs. So he made up a few... Again, this is just his bag. So not really sure how I have less!

I am excited to go but am going to miss the dogs! A month is a long time to be gone.
They will be well taken care of though, Mom and Dan will be house and dog sitting.
I know they are both excited. :)

I did more shopping for Maddux today, it's fun to buy for him.

Jenny

RIP Shiloh

Today has been a very sad day, we had to put our cat Shiloh down. She had a thyroid disease and it wasn't going to get any better without radiation or major surgery. We had to make the difficult decision to let her go.

This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We kind of always made fun of Shiloh but she was a good cat and we loved her. I always said I thought she came from a trailer park (got her at the pound) because when I got her she had fleas and ring worm. I caught ring worm from her! She always liked mom when she was a kitten and mom would let her sleep with her at night, even with the ring worm. She felt sorry for her... She would never cover her mess when she went in the liter box, poor Sadie would always clean up after her. She was a good cat though and liked attention. She would also pick on Sadie and want to play...

Shiloh was part of our family and I had her for over 12 years. I said my goodbye's today and it was super hard. I had to go to Des Moines for work, so Rich took her in. THANK YOU so much Rich, I don't think I could have gone without completely losing it...

Anyway, Shiloh you will be missed!!! Go find Dude, Taz and Huey for a pet reunion. Our poor immediate family has had a tough year with losing our pets... :(

Bye Shiloh :(

Jenny

Let the packing begin!

We will be leaving 1 week from tomorrow.
I started packing and have no idea how I am going to make the 40lbs limit. I am over right now and don't know how to cut anymore! I am trying to find out if Maddux gets a bag, if not then I am definitely over. Oh well... Guess we will just have to pay a fee.

Mom and I made our last trek to Lincoln to get the last of the new paperwork apostilled. Luckily, we had 0 problems this time and it didn't take long. I took a photo of the capitol where we finished up the paperwork.

Of course, come home and find out we are having an issue with getting some of the brand new bills we need. Trying to work that out now, hopefully it won't be an issue.

In other news, we took Shiloh in for all of her throwing up and losing weight. She seemed to get better when we changed food but it didn't last long. It turns out she has thyroid disease and it's pretty expensive for any option she may have. She would either have to have radiation done, or surgery. Both of which, are very expensive and then could lead to kidney failure. We had to make the hard decision to put her down. Rich is going to do it on Thursday since I'll be away for business. I feel bad for her, but don't think we have much of a choice. We kept putting off taking her in because she didn't seem to be suffering but it's time.
She was a good cat for the most part, kind of goofy but a nice girl.

Jenny

Tight timeframes!

We got notice that we have to extend our trip home to November 12th now. Four of the days we are there will be Unity Day, which is a Russian holiday. All offices are closed for those 4 days so we had to extend our time in Moscow.
That is all fine, but we have no wiggle room now. We have a 30 day tourist visa so we HAVE to leave Russia on 11-12, we can't stay 1 day longer. We were told if for some reason Maddux's visa is not there on time, we have to leave the country to apply for another 30 day visa. BIG PAIN and expensive. But the worst part is we would have to leave Maddux behind, they would have to find someone there to watch him. We have been assured this should not happen and we should be OK but we will be pressing our coordinators and make sure we rush his visas. The other couple we are traveling with are in the same boat so we will work together to ensure we leave!

In 2 weeks we leave, hard to believe!!!

Jenny

We got our trip 2 dates!

We got our trip 2 dates today!
Our iteniary looks as follows:

· October 13 - Depart USA
· October 14 - Arrive Moscow/Stay the night (blood work appointment)
· October 15 - Medical Appointments/stay the night (8 Dr. Med. Appointment)
· October 16 - Depart to Kemerovo
· October 17 - Arrive Kemerovo
· October 18 - Visiting the orphanage
· October 19 - Court
· October 20-29 - 10 day waiting period
· November 1-2 Pick-up Child/Paperwork
· November 3 - Depart to Moscow
· November 4-9 - Moscow Appointments
· November 10 – Depart Moscow

We are VERY excited and there is a lot to do!

Jenny

Court Dossier being sent to Russia

We turned our dossier in last week and Anna is now sending it to Russia!
Yeah. She said they are trying to get us an October court date but we shall see.

We have to send in our update to our home study, it should be done soon.
It will be nice just to be done with all of the paperwork.

We are still working on the room, have to finish that up soon.

We went to NE City last weekend and got Maddux a winter coat. It's cute and we needed one for the cold in Russia!

Jenny

My baby shower

Debbie and Andrea threw me a wonderful baby shower on Sunday.
It was at the Joslyn Castle and everything was so nice.
I got a lot of nice gifts! Maddux is going to have a lot of nice things and a lot of cute outfits!

The cake was from Wheatfields and was so yummy!

We are so lucky to have so many great family members and friends!

Posting a few pics from the shower.

Jenny

Unreal! Dossier needs to be returned to us!

Well we were so happy to have finally shipped our dossier off Friday after all of the corrections and updates our state department had me go after. The NE State depts did forms wrong which I had to go and have them correct.

So Rich and I copied everything and sent it in to our agency. Rich gets a call from the state today letting him know that all of the apostilled pages they did were WRONG!!! They had a glitch in their machine and it wasn't printing the year on them. Just has Sept 9th. That is a huge issue and will have to be redone.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I tell you we have had more problems with this stuff.

We are going to have the dossier shipped back to us and I will have to go down to Lincoln again to get the new forms. I swear it's always something.

I guess it could be worse and our dossier could have gone to Russia wrong.

Frustrated!

Dossier 2 DONE after some fun in Lincoln...

I went down to Lincoln today with my mom to pick up our paperwork from the state. We thought everything was ok since they had already sent the paperwork back to us with a long list of corrections. We made all of those corrections and they told Rich all looked good. So I was surprised when I got there and they told me 4 of the forms were wrong. I literally almost cried.
They fixed one for us and told me how to fix the other 3. Luckily all of the forms I had to correct were from different departments located in Lincoln.
First, we had to fix our NE police clearances, they had to be notarized a certain way and we could not have any attestation on it. So mom and I had to go to the NE Highway patrol. Thank goodness for the new SUV!!! I don't think we would have been able to find the place (it was way out by the airport) without my new Onstar. So we found the place and they corrected both mine and Rich's.
Then we drove back to the Haymarket and got the license we needed for my Accountant. The girl there was super nice but she was surprised her form wasn't right, esp since she said it was a Gov't form.

It took us about 2 hours but we were able to fix everything and the state apostilled all of our docs!!!! YEAH!!!! I was so relieved that it was finally done.
I am glad we took the trip down there otherwise I am sure it would have been another week until we could have submitted our forms.

So we submitted our dossier FINALLY today! Yipee!
Now we do still have to update our home study and some licenses that expire, but just minor updates.

Mom and I went for lunch then in the Haymarket and celebrated! :)

My shower is this weekend so very excited for that!

Jenny

Lost in the mail...

We have been waiting for our police clearances from the state.
I called again today and it appears they have been lost in the mail!
Oh boy! The lady at the state said she mailed them last Tuesday along with our card with our original fingerprints. Nice thing to lose!
She is sending another one out to us.
We have had more problems with the state. They lost our original paperwork for our USCIS and now this. It's very frustrating.

On a positive note, we got the new paperwork from our home study. Our notary expired on all of the HS documents so they aren't valid anymore. Our new caseworker worked fast and got those done for us today! Yeah!
We still have to get an updated HS by 10-15 but these documents will be fine until then and we can submit to Russia and just send new updates.

So it seems like we will never finish, but I think we are getting closer!

Lets hope we can send our court dossier in next week?? Of course I said that 2 weeks ago and here we sit... :)

We also did get the new baby furniture. It looks so good! I think once we paint and get the border and bedding the room will look really cute.

We hope to travel by Nov now but we shall see. Our caseworker said she didn't think we would travel for a few months still so let's hope it's Nov timeframe.

That is it for now! Looking forward to a long Labor Day weekend! :)

Jenny

Errors, Errors, Errors and More Errors!!

Ugh!! It seems like we always have errors when sending information into the state for apostilling.

We sent our paperwork in on Monday thinking we would be able to turn our dossier in this week. Guess not!
We got a call from the state that our CPA license was issued wrong. We got it from the state, so... I contacted that department and she said the apostilling group is too picky but she will fix it.

Then, due to that we had to overnight a new check in. The state can not issue refunds and the dollar amount has to be perfect. Rich told them to keep the $10 but no dice. So we overrnight it and low and beyold Rich gets a call today that our notary on 9 of the documents are wrong! We have used the same notary this whole time. Turns out the date on his stamp was wrong and has been for over 2 yrs and they are just now catching it. So we have to redo all of that paperwork.
Also the Dr. for the girls made an error on their paperwork also so that has to be redone.

So long story short, we have a lot of rework to do and our dossier will not be turned in this week. We hope next week but who knows!!

We did have our home study follow up meeting, we have to update our home study by October as it expires. Hopefully that all goes smoothly. The meeting was simple since nothing has changed but the paperwork will have to be redone and apostilled again when time comes.

In other news, our furniture for the nursery comes this weekend! We have to still paint the room. We do have everything moved to the girls new room, so it is emptied out at least. The girls are also getting a bigger bunk bed, upgraded to a full bed for Rylee. Their room looks super cute, put a cute butterfly border up. We didn't have to paint which was nice!

Jenny

Happy Birthday Maddux!

Maddux turns 1 today! Wish we could spend his birthday with him.
At least we got to meet him a few weeks ago and were able to celebrate a little with him then. He got a birthday hat (thanks to Denise and Kevin) and some gifts he got to open.
Next year we will have a party for him for sure!!

We went last night to NE Furniture Mart and got a crib and dresser.
Mom is getting the crib for my shower gift, thanks mom! :)
It is a cherry wood set so should look good in his room.
Now we just have to get to painting and have the carpets cleaned!

Mark and Andrea sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a little stuff animal for Maddux's birthday. It was so nice and thoughtful and very pretty!!!
We are so lucky to have such a great family!

Maddux happy 1st Birthday!!! I have already started thinking about a party for next year. Yeah Rich thinks I am nuts but I like to plan these things out!
So next year we will be sure to have a fun party and a yummy cake! :)

Jenny

Working on medicals and the home study.... again

Today I went in for my medical exam. They just took blood and did a check ups. Rich goes in on Friday so we will have that done.

Maeven contacted me today and we have to get our home study papers resigned since the license of the social worker expires in Sept. Of course everyone who did our home study has now left. Go figure. So we have to have all of the papers updated and get an updated home study done. So we will begin working on that now.
It is always something! I will be so glad when all of this paperwork is finally done.

We finished registering at Target yesterday. Rich disappeared in the toy section and registered for stuff. He likes that price gun!

Jenny

Registering

My sister Deb and sister-in-law Andrea are throwing me a baby shower!
How nice, I am so excited. They are the best! I'm so lucky to have a great family.
So Rich and I went tonight to start registering. We went to Babies R Us and I think we picked out some cute stuff. I admit, I was confused at some of the stuff. There is a lot out there!
Rich went a little crazy with the price gun! He would disappear and be clicking on all of these things. I guess I will be surprised with some of the items we get!

Of course we got bedding that is a sports theme. Imagine that! :)

In other news, we got word our coordinator Maeven is leaving. We loved her so was sad to hear that. We are finishing up on our court dossier. We have it all done except the medicals and police clearance, both of which we are working on.

Maddux turns 1 on Friday, wish we could spend the day with him!
Oh well, next year we will just plan a big party. :)

Jenny

And the paperwork continues...

Rich and I are still catching up on sleep. Hoping we can fully catch up this weekend.

We are now beginning our Dossier #2. We have a lot of it done already, we just need to do the medicals and do the NE police clearances. We are going tomorrow to be fingerprinted and hoping it doesn't take the 8-10 weeks it has been taking.

Our home study also expires in October, so we are starting to work on that. We want to make sure it doesn't expire and it is all up to date when we do finally travel.

We sent our acceptance letter for Maddux to be apostilled and should have that to Maeven early next week.

Rich and I are both ready to go back! We really enjoyed Russia and are looking forward to spending more time there. We also can't wait of course to pick up Maddux and do some exploring of Moscow with him and of course bring him home!

Jenny

Red Square

Our flight landed at about 9 am Moscow time. Our driver, the son of the guy that took us from on airport to the other at the beginning of our journey, brought us here to the Marriott Grand Hotel. That started our long and sweaty day.

First of all, the Marriott is great. They let us check in 5 hours early! I couldn't tell you how happy we were. This Marriott points thing might be all worth it!
The room is nice, not much on the TV though. Lots of news channels and UK sports. I actually watched Cricket for a while.

About noon we started out towards Red Square. I'd say it took us about 15 minutes by foot. Not bad, but remember Moscow is in the middle of a ridiculous heat wave. More on that in a bit. Once we arrived in Red Square, we were both super impressed. It's an amazing place. I can't explain how amazing it was to walk in the same steps as the Soviet army. St Basil's didn't disappoint either. We paid 200 rubles each to take the self guided tour. The interior is just as amazing as the exterior. We took a ton of pictures of the Kremlin and the other buildings in the area. Check Facebook after we get back home (the netbook isn't very fast sometimes).

After buying more souveniors than I believe is legal, we started the trek back to the hotel. The heat was really oppressive at this point. Interesting metaphor for the old Soviet army huh? We both thought we were going to pass out on the way back!

By the time we reached the hotel we were exhausted. Instead of going out for dinner, we order room service and decided that we've had enough of the heat for the day.

Jenny and I agreed, this was an experience like neither of us have had before. If any of you have a chance to spend a day in Moscow, and Red Square in particular, do it. It's worth it!

Tomorrow morning we take our last plane ride for the trip, from here to NY to Minneapolis, then home about 8 pm central time. I can't believe it's already over!

Rich

Back in the USSR

Ok, well not the USSR really, but downtown Moscow about 10 blocks from Red Square. We're going to head down there in a bit and do all the touristy things.

We had extra time with Maddux yesterday, it was fun. He really started to open up to us. He like to bounce or get thrown up in the air. I think he doesn't get that one on one attention now that he's not really a baby, so he wasn't sure how to react. He was crawling all around getting into whatever he could, and then at the end of our time he pulled himself up and almost took a step. It was super cool to see! I can't wait until we can come back and finish the process. He is going to really fit in with our family. Max, Miles, Rylee and Scarlett will love him!

Ok, we're off to explore Moscow. Marriott let us check in 5 hours early! It's a super nice room.

Oh, I heard the Cubs shut out the Cardinals Friday! GO CUBS GO!!

Rich

Meeting my son.

I was exhausted last night, and fell asleep as Jenny wrote the last blog entry. It's 8 am Friday morning and I can't sleep anymore. I'm ready to get in the van and drive the hour to see Maddux again.

I have a son. What an amazing phrase. I can't believe we are finally here and the paper is signed. It was a long journey, one that seemed like it would never end. There were times where I just wanted to give up. I was done with the whole process. All the paperwork, all the waiting. It didn't seem worth it anymore. Jenny reassured me though, and now here I sit in Novokuznetsk, Russia waiting to so see my boy again. It was all worth it.

Jenny always said she wanted to have a special expereince for the two of us when it came to children. I can honestly say after all the flights, car rides, strange food and odd schedules, it was the most special experience I've ever had with anyone in my life. I'm truly blessed to have he as my best friend and my wife. She is going to be an amazing mom to Maddux!

Hopefully today he isn't as scared of us. You could tell yesterday he had no idea what was going on and who we were. He was scared, and why wouldn't he be? We weren't speaking his language, he'd never seen us before, and we probably looked like idiots to him all smiling and crying. Kids are pretty perceptive, and Maddux is no different. He knew something was going on, just what it was he wasn't sure.

That's enough for now. We'll update this again tonight after we get back. Thanks to everyone for the encouragment on Facebook, we appreciate it! And special thanks to Pat and my team at work, they are an amazing group! You guys are awesome!

Rich

Meeting Maddux

Well today was the big day! We got up and drove to the orphanage, got there around 10am. The town was bigger than I thought it would be and the outside of the orphanage had a lot more playground area.

I was pretty nervous and excited at the same time. So we go in and met the Dr. in charge of the orphanage. She was very friendly and she gave us all of the information she had on our referral and his birth family. We were all ok with the information and all in all he is healthy little guy.
After all of the information was given, they brought him into us. It was a surreal moment, I couldn't believe we were finally meeting him.
Rich captured the moment on film and did a good job, got him coming in from the beginning.

He is a sweet little boy. He has very blonde hair and blue/gray eyes. He was SO scared at first, he didn't know what to think. He was breathing really heavy and wouldn't move. You could tell he thought we were aliens or something. He didn't really cry but was on the verge a few times. We kept showing him the toys we got and after awhile he became more and more interested. He loved the books we gave him. If he heard a caregiver speaking Russian as they were passing, he would perk up and look more comfortable. He is a very curious little guy and was trying to figure it all out. The other family came in and he stole the little one's toy and was curious about them also. He started to then feel more comfortable and crawled some and played ball with Rich. They rolled it back and forth and he finally started smiling and you could tell her was more at ease. We love him to death and he was so worth the wait.

Today was a true test for the Director and the orphanage staff. The couple we were with had to turn down their referral for health reasons. We were glad we were there because how the staff handled it was amazing. They live up to their wonderful reputation! You can tell they truly care about the families. They worked with the family and really found them a little boy that matched up to their family perfectly. He is a sweet little boy who laughed and laughed. We were so happy to see this and just utterly impressed. I can't not speak highly enough of them here, I really can not.

We signed our papers for letter of intent and the staff gave us hugs and were very happy for us.

We get to sped tomorrow with Maddux and then will have to leave him. I am at peace with it. I know he is taken care of and he is bonded with some of the people there so that is nice. I know he will be in good hands. We can't wait to bring him home though and hope the time goes fast.

Oh and as far as the name. We were going back and forth between Major and Maddux. We went in and basically had him decide. He would look up everytime we said Maddux but didn't respond to Major, so we went with his wishes. Ha :)

Tonight we went to Traveler's Cafe for late lunch/dinner, it was good. It is super close and a good place for us to go and hang out and eat. I think we will spend a lot of time there on our next trip.

Well that is it for now, it was a very good day!!! Can't wait to see Maddux again tomorrow.

Oh and all of the food we brought he does not like! :( Oh well, maybe next time..

Jenny