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