Moscow, Day 3

It is Shannon. I'm back - not that Ted hasn't done a great job on here.  He's just reading the Wall Street Journal trying to stay awake for a little while longer!

We had a great day today.  Neither of us slept very well last night, unfortunately (I was up from midnight until almost 4 and he was in and out during that time), but the thought of seeing Kristina this morning got me going.  The weather here is absolutely perfect - in the low 70s and not a cloud in the sky.  Not sure how we lucked out with such amazing weather, but we'll take it and smile!

We met Vlad in the hotel lobby at 9:30 to head to the orphanage.  It didn't take nearly as long as it had yesterday morning because our hotel is much closer to the orphanage than the Department of Education  (where we received our referral yesterday).  We got there a little early and had to wait on her, but it was nice just walking around the grounds of the orphanage.  We also got to talk to the orphanage director again and he answered some more of our questions and cleared up some areas of confusion we had from yesterday. We received so much information yesterday and it is hard since we have a translator and some things we just didn't get right!  It was good to get those issues cleared up.

Her baby nurse brought her outside all bundled up, even though it was probably in the mid-60s by this point.  We got to stroll her around and discovered that she is ticklish!  We got many more smiles today and loved hearing her laugh.  We took turns holding her, although I think that Ted got a little more time with her today than I did.  She is absolutely precious and was very inquisitive - looking around at everything surrounding her.  By the end of our visit (noon), she had fallen asleep on Ted's shoulder.  I got the perfect picture of it.  It brought tears to my eyes.  I think that she is slowly stealing his heart.

We got back to the hotel at about 12:30 and had to push ourselves to go downstairs to eat some lunch.  I was on a little adrenaline kick, but as soon as we sat down at the restaurant, I started to fade.  We ate quickly and came back upstairs and slept for about 2 hours.  Ted made me get up since we had a long walk to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

It was a VERY long walk (especially since we got to a point where we were very close but there was no way to cross this very busy street and had to backtrack about 1/2 mile!) but worth every second.  I will post some pictures below but they really don't do it justice.  The place was huge!  See here for some cool history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Christ_the_Saviour.

Vlad told us that one of the best views of Moscow was from the bridge over the canal behind the Cathedral and he was right.  Definitely worth the walk!!

We ate dinner at the same place we stopped at last night.  It is Italian and has great pizza.  We are not risky/adventurous eaters and have not tried Russian food - not that there is much good Russia food to speak of.

Tomorrow we will go back to visit with Kristina in the morning and may have the opportunity to see her in the afternoon as well.  I hope that we do!  Good night for now!  I'll leave you with the pictures below.

Tower at the Kremlin - Ted got a good one with the Russian flag in front

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

We saw the same one at the Monastery yesterday

the back of the Cathedral - see how big it is!!

picture of Kremlin from the bridge

statue of Alexander II

me by the Lion at Alexander II's statue - thought that Ward and Sam would love this picture!

picture of the Cathedral from the garden below

another shot

Moscow - Day 2

I apparently passed the "blog" test because Shannon said I could write the post again tonight.  Hope you enjoy.

Vlad picked us up this morning around 9:30 to take us to the Department of Education.  There was less traffic than he expected and we got there early.  So, he took us to the Donskoy Monastery, which was around the corner from the DOE.  It's a Russian Orthodox monastery, in the middle of a neighborhood. It's very unassuming, but once inside the grounds it's amazingly beautiful.  We did not get the full story from Vlad, but apparently when they were constructed, monasteries served as fortresses to the city of Moscow.  The chapel/cathedral itself at this monastery appeared to be built in the 1700s or earlier.  We've posted some pictures below.  Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures in the actual church.  Needless to say, there is nothing like in the U.S.  There were some amazing statues in the far back of the monastery, on the back wall, that were taken from the famous Temple of Christ the Savior when it was partially destroyed.  They were amazing and Vlad remarked on how few people knew about the treasure (and how they were not preserved or protected from the elements).  We lit a candle for Kristina and each said a silent prayer for her well being.

Shannon was pretty nervous this morning, so the monastery side trip really helped calm her.

The trip to the Department of Education was pretty uneventful.  We received our official referral and then set off for the orphanage, or "baby house" as they refer to them here.  It was about a 30-40 minute drive, but probably only 10-15 miles from the DOE.  As we said yesterday, traffic here is pretty miserable.  As an aside, I'm struck by how Russians drive basically the same cars that Americans drive, with a few Eastern European exceptions.   There are a ton of Land Cruisers and Audis here, not to mention Mercedes and Range Rovers.  I've spotted a few Tahoe's and Caravans, too.

The orphanage was in a nice part of town.  According to Vlad, it was in an area that the Czars used to hunt centuries ago. Who knows whether this is true, but it definitely was in a wooded area that was quite pretty. It was very quiet and peaceful and did not have the same feel as some of the other "big city" areas where we have been.   In general, Moscow has a lot of green space for such a large city.

We will post pictures of the orphanage later, but for the time being you'll have to use your imagination with the help of my description.  Although it had a cast iron fence surrounding it, it looked like part of a church or school.  The orphanage was surrounded by playgrounds and play areas, complete with yard gnomes.  I half expected to see a putt-putt course.

Inside, it reminded me of a church nursery or childcare center in the U.S.  It was much nicer/cleaner/ more modern than I expected.  According to Vlad, there are approximately 50 children ages 0-4 at this baby house.  Oddly, in the two hours we were there, we saw and/or heard only one other child.

Pretty immediately inside the orphanage we were ushered into a playroom, much like the room Sam goes to at St. Francis.  We had to remove our shoes to keep from tracking dirt on the carpet where the "children crawl", as we were told.  A couple minutes later, a woman brought Kristina into the room.  I captured those first moments on video, which we'll definitely share once we know she's ours.  She was darling.

She smiled and immediately took to Shannon, even reaching out to her hand.  We were able to play with her for about 30-45 minutes in that room, much of the time we were alone with her.  She's teething and loved putting things in her mouth.  She never cried or seemed upset.  The biggest smiles came, though, when we gave her back to the woman who brought her in the room.  I thought this was a good sign; she recognized the love and care given by that woman.

Oddest thing about the visit to the orphanage was that Kristina was dressed as if it was 30 degrees inside.  Seriously, she was wearing 3 layers of [ill fitting] clothes, and a pair of thick tights that were pulled up to her arm pits.  It looked like Sam dressed her . . . out of our dress up clothes!

She really was precious, though, and we hated to give her back.  She had to eat lunch and then take her afternoon nap, which is why our time was limited.

After spending time with her, we met with the head of the orphanage and the orphanage's doctor, who they said was a neurologist.   Of course we couldn't understand what they were saying, but their demeanors were both very friendly and welcoming.  Vlad translated for us as we discussed Kristina's medical history, as well as her parents' history/ the circumstances of her being given up for adoption.

We will get to see her again tomorrow for about an hour or so, and then twice on Thursday and Friday. We can't wait to get our hands on her again.

After we got back to the hotel, checked e-mail, sent medical information to the adoption clinic at UAB, we went back to the Red Square/Kremlin area for some more sight seeing.  We visited a museum dedicated to the War of 1812 - not that war of 1812, but the war commemorating Napoleon's invasion of Russia/Moscow and his ultimate defeat.  Admittedly, neither of us knew anything about this war before going to the museum, but now know what an important role it played in Russian history.  This week is the 200th anniversary of that war.  There were some awesome artifacts in the collection.  It would have been nice if the descriptions were in English, rather than Russian.

We also witnessed the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.  Below are pics of that, along with our visit to the monastery and the museum.  We hope you enjoy them.

We'll send more info. tomorrow.

The Monastery

the enormous statues at the back wall of the monatery

garden near the Kremlin

Changing of the Guards

It was surreal to see them walking like this - taking large steps with their legs parallel to the ground.  We have only seen this in pictures and videos of marches in Red Square.

Some of Napoleon's guns - Ted took some great pictures for Ward!

 



 

Arrival in Moscow

We are going to chronicle our trip(s) through the blog.  Here is the first installment (written by Ted).

The trip over was relatively uneventful.  We left Birmingham yesterday morning around 9:30 and arrived in Moscow today (Monday) around 10 AM local time.  Moscow is 9 hours ahead of Birmingham.  Neither Shannon nor I slept much on the plane.  Other than the lack of sleep, the 10 hour flight from JFK to Moscow didn't really bother me too much.  I did nothing really productive, but I did watch "PJ 20", which is the documentary chronicling Pearl Jam's first 20 years (directed and produced by Cameron Crowe, who directed "Almost Famous" and worked on "Say Anything").  I highly recommend it.  Shannon watched a couple of dramadies, and read Vanity Fair (her new favorite magazine).

Moscow Sheremet Airport was (a) more modern, (b) less smokey, and (c) more organized than I expected.  Our adoption agency in the U.S. had warned us that once we cleared customs, it "will be a zoo", with people aggressively offering us rides and other services.  I envisioned a street bazaar from an Indiana Jones movie.  It was nothing like that.  In fact, it was very efficient . . .  and quiet.

Our driver/translator/adoption agency contact, Vlad, met us at the airport just as we came through "Migration"/customs.  He speaks very good English, and has been working with U.S. families adopting Russian children since 1994 (a year after Russia opened its borders to international adoptions).  Vlad drove us to our hotel, playing tour guide along the way, mainly by pointing out the architecture of buildings constructed during Stalin's reign, and buildings that support various military functions, including missile defense!  I was going to comment that "we had one of those, too; it was called Star Wars," but decided he and I weren't that close yet to joke about the Cold War.

We're staying at the City Center Marriott Courtyard, which was billed as being "on Red Square."  It's a perfectly nice hotel, but it's several blocks from Red Square.  It's kind of like hotels in New York claiming that they're located in "Times Square", when they are actually blocks away from Times Square.  I'm certainly not complaining, though.  It really is a nice hotel, with two Americanized restaurants.  In fact, one of them has a Western theme, with hokey slogans and pictures on the wall (think understated Cracker Barrel decor).  There's even an old Alabama license tag hanging on the wall!

After we took a short nap, we walked around Red Square and surrounding areas.  We took lots of pictures, some of which are posted below.  Other than St. Basil's Cathedral, we really didn't know what we were looking at.  Other than signs for American companies like KFC, McDonalds, the Gap, etc. there is very little written English.  So, we basically wandered around and took pictures of things other people were taking pictures of.

Vlad is picking us up at 10 AM local time tomorrow (Tues) and driving us to the Department of Education where we hope to officially receive our referral for the baby.  Vlad mentioned in the car today, though, that there's a chance we actually won't receive the referral until Thursday.  This made Shannon and me both nervous.  We've e-mailed our adoption agency contact in the U.S. to get a higher level of comfort that things are going to go as planned tomorrow.  Please say a prayer that they do.

We'll check in tomorrow.  For now, here are some of our pictures.

Yes, it is cold - about 50 degrees - but supposed to warm up while we are here.

Pretty amazing to see in person

St. Basil's Cathedral

the front of St. Basil's Cathedral

Ted on some old cannonballs outside of St. Basil's Cathedral

Statue in front of Red Sqaure

This the the Russia version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Tomorrow

I cannot believe that we are actually leaving for Russia in the morning.  I have so many emotions flowing through me it is hard to process.  We have a LONG 24 hours ahead of us, and I am nervous about all the flying.  I am not a good traveler and with the pressure of having to be there on Tuesday for our appointment with the Department of Education to officially receive our referral, I am a nervous wreck.  I am praying for peace and rest.

We arrive in Moscow on Monday around 10 in the morning.  Moscow is 9 hours ahead of time, so to our bodies it will feel like 1AM in Birmingham.  Long day, huh?  We will try try try to stay awake during the day in Moscow to somewhat adjust to the time difference.  Thank goodness there are a ton of cool things to do in Moscow to pass the time and keep us awake!  We have our appointment on Tuesday, September 11, but we don't know what time yet.  After our appointment, we will likely go straight to the "baby house" (i.e. what they call an orphanage) to meet our daughter.  We will get to spend time with her each day - depending on her nap it will either be once or twice a day.  Tee baby houses are about an hour away from the center center - not because of mileage, but because of traffic.  Apparently the traffic is horrendous.  I am sure that will be an adventure in and of itself!

I will not have my phone during the trip, but will have my computer with me.  I will try to post each day, but I can't make any promises.  We are not allowed to post any pictures or videos until she is officially ours so just wait a little longer!!!

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers.  Keep them coming throughout our trip, PLEASE!!!

Moscow bound!!

Ted and I will be heading to Moscow on September 9th to receive the official referral for our daughter. We are on cloud nine!!! We are so thankful and can't wait to get her in our arms.

Please continue to pray for every wall and barrier to be destroyed and that our path is clear. Still a ways to go before we bring her home but this first trip is a major first step!!

Woo hoo!!!!!

Delay

A little bit of bad news from Russia today.  Our travel dates are delayed.  The team is hopeful that we should get them by the end of the week however.  And we still have the referral for our little girl.  So just a little more waiting.  Story of the adoption!!!

Good news!

We got some good news today from Russia!  Our documents were accepted and our referral for the little nine month old girl in Moscow is now official since she came off the registry today.  That means we are on our way folks!!!  We are all on cloud nine and could not be happier.  We should get travel dates from the Department of Education (in Moscow) early next week, but we could be holding our little girl as soon as the week of September 10. 

Thank you to everyone out there who called, e-mailed, visited and prayed for us and for her.  Please continue to pray that the road is smooth and that all barriers are removed.  We truly feel the Lord's presence over this adoption and are just praying that she is the daughter we have been praying about for the past two years. 

For all those DeSoto girls who read this, I have been singing in my head the blessing we would sing on Sundays before lunch: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . . ."  Woo hoo!!!!!

Glasses

My baby got glasses. Still the cutest boy on the block. Really reminds me of his daddy even more!

August 22

Our little angel (or the one we are praying is our little angel) rolls off the Russian-only registry on August 22nd.  We are praying that no Russians step in and express interest in her so we can travel over to Moscow and meet her sometime after Labor Day.  Everything is going so smoothly ever since we switched that I am waiting for something terrible to happen.  Is that bad?  I think that I am trying to guard my heart, but so much of me wants this little girl to be ours.  Please pray that there are no barriers and that things continue on this course.  God has definitely had His hand all over this path and I am so thankful!

I don't know much more about our little angel.  As I may or may not have discussed on here, another one of the differences in going with Moscow is that the referral is "blind."  That means that we travel over to Russia without any real information or a picture.  Once we get there and meet her, we get her entire medical file (as well as any other information they may have on her such as information about her birth parents, circumstances of her abandonment, etc.)  At first this whole blind referral was a little scary to me, but I have so much peace and so much less anxiety than I had before that it does not bother me at all anymore.  I feel confident that this agency would not refer a child that we could not handle.  They have a Russian pediatrician in Moscow who refers the children from them - a woman who has been in the orphanages and has been evaluating these children since the day they came into the orphanage.  They have not had a referral rejected from this pediatrician in over 3 years.  Pretty good in the adoption world.

So that is where we starnd right now.  On August 22, our Russian adoption team will put in a DOE for her on our behalf, telling the Russian government of our intent to adopt her.  At that point, we will get our travel dates shortly thereafter - usually around 2-3 weeks afterwards.  I am thankful that I have so much stuff going on in these next 16 days - picking up Ward from camp tomorrow, back-to-school get-togethers, haircuts, doctor's appointments, and school starting on the 14th (1st grade and 2nd grade!), just to name a few.  I will post if I hear anything else!  Keep us in your prayers!

Oh Alpine!

Here are some more Alpine pictures that we found on the website showing Ward having a great time! So much fun to see.

Canonball!!!!

at store . . . he must be loving that bandana!!

His counselor, Reed, throwing him in the pool

the cabin on Day 1 (they get a real picture in their Sunday whites too)