Russian Adoption: February 2009

Gotcha' Day Anniversary!

I can't believe it! It has been one year since we picked up Roman and Jadon from the orphanage and finally became a family. I cannot put into words how blessed we are to have them in our lives. It almost feels like they've always been here but I can also remember being in Kras like it was yesterday.
Thank You Lord for our precious sons!

Here we are the night we left the orphanage with the boys. The woman in the picture is Galina, the orphanage director, to whom we will be forever grateful for how well she took care of our little boys, and countless others.

Sleepy Head

Yes, my son did fall asleep on the swing. Roman has also done this before, it must be a really relaxing swing.;)

Happy Birthday Roman!

4 years old

5 years old

I can't believe our little guy is 5 years old today! Saturday we had a party with his friends, what a difference from his 4th birthday which we celebrated while in Russia. One year ago today, we were celebrating with tea and chocolate bars. Saturday was cake and pizza, balloons, presents, friends and family. We are so blessed to have this sweet little boy as our son. Happy Birthday Roman!

One year ago today...

...the judge said "Da"! I can't believe it's been almost a year since we've been home from Russia! I can still remember the smells, the extreme heat of the buildings and cars and the extreme cold of the outdoors. I remember walking the streets of Kras while the falling snow stuck to our eyelashes, admiring the beautiful ice sculptures, waiting for what seemed like an eternity in our hotel room to finally pick up our sons. I wonder how long those memories will remain fresh in my mind...
Next post will be about a certain little boy's birthday!;)

1st Valentine's Day

Today we had lots of sugar which is another 1st for us.;) The boys had conversation hearts, of course, and a box of chocolates! They have just crashed from all of the sugar they ate today!;) I made a chocolate cake for my sweetheart and I got a card and some chocolates from him. So, for our first Valentine's Day with the boys, it was very nice and I think they enjoyed it a lot!

I never get political on my blog, I just don't think it's the place...until now. As a parent, this scares the heck out of me. Please go to the above website and read about the very real threat to take away our parental rights. Please get involved, sign the parental right amendment.

Adoption Info Tag

Debbie tagged all of us adoptive mommies out there. Now, I usually don't do this but I thought there may be some people out there that might be interested, so.... here you go.;)

1. How many months (days, weeks, YEARS...) from 1st paper signed to referral? 26 months

2. WAS YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER EXCITED? I think he was cautiously optimistic and also a little shocked. We had received referrals before and lost them so we were both guarding our hearts.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS WHEN YOU GOT "THE" PHONE CALL? Shocked, excited, guarded.

4. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FOUND OUT? I think I was at home when we got the referral call and at work when we got the travel date call 2 days later.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 32

6. WHAT IS YOUR CHILD'S BIRTH-COUNTRY? Russia

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? We called my mom and then called Chris' mom and sister together.

8. DID YOU REQUEST A BOY, GIRL, OR EITHER? We requested a boy and a girl so when we got referrals for 2 boys we were a little surprised but not disappointed.

9. HOW OLD WAS YOUR CHILD AT REFERRAL? 15 months and 3 1/2 years.

10. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU SEE YOUR CHILD'S FACE/PICTURE FOR THE FIRST TIME? We got the call about the referrals and then our FC emailed pics and info to us. We decided that we didn't want to look at their pictures since we got so attached to our first referrals. But, we only lasted a day or 2, curiosity got the best of us and we looked!

11. WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR CHILD? We had been buying here and there for them but after our first trip, we went to Baby Gap and bought them the clothes they would wear on the plane on our way back home.

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Waiting so long and having to re-do paperwork 2 and 3 times!

13. WHEN WERE YOU ABLE TO TRAVEL? 1st trip in October '07 and second in February '08.

14. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, it was beautiful! So many people came and we were humbled by everyone's generosity and support.

15. HOW OLD WAS YOUR CHILD WHEN YOU SAW THEM IN PERSON FOR THE FIRST TIME? 15 months and 3 1/2.

16. DID YOU PACK ANYTHING SPECIAL JUST FOR YOUR BABY? We brought 2 little stuffed puppies that resembled our dog, photo albums for each of them with our family pictures in them and some cars to play with.

17. WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT YOUR TRAVEL EXPERIENCE THE MOST? How much Aeroflot sucked! How absolutely no one spoke english in Siberia! The way the women dressed in the heart of winter, very fashion conscious but not much covering them!;)

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS WITH YOUR PAPERWORK/PROCESS? Mainly just having to re-do everything as it expired but also our USCIS approval was about to expire so our Russian facilitator went to the judge on our behalf to ask for a court date before it did. We got the court date the day before it expired! We love you Yelena!

19. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OR PLACE YOU VISITED IN YOUR CHILD'S BIRTH COUNTRY?THE BEST? I guess going to Red Square and St. Basil's.

20. HOW MANY DAYS/WEEKS WERE YOU IN YOUR CHILD'S BIRTH COUNTRY? 25 days

21. FAVORITE PLACE/THING TO EAT WHILE THERE? The food was awful! We ate lots of Ramen noodles and instant oatmeal and protein bars. The best restaurant was a "german" one right across the street from our hotel in Siberia.

22. FAVORITE PLACE TO SHOP WHILE THERE? Grocery stores?

23. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU ON THE PLANE GOING/LEAVING? roughly 13 hours from here to Moscow and about 5 from Moscow to Kras.

24. WHO MET YOU AT THE AIRPORT? We met our driver, Vladimir, in Moscow and our facilitators, Yelena and Serge in Kras. When we arrived home with the boys in Miami, we met about 30 friends and family that were waiting for us. So cool!

25. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU DID AFTER LEAVING THE AIRPORT? We went home and went to bed!

26. WHAT DO YOU CALL YOUR ADOPTION DAY? The boys became legally ours on our Gotcha Day, February 29th 2008 (leap year)!

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Roman Christopher ( Chris' grandfather's name and Chris' middle name) and Jadon Paul (Jadon is Hebrew for "God Has Heard" and Paul is my step-daddy's name)

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? He is 2 weeks from turning 5 but since we adopted our boys at the same time... our youngest is 2 1/2.

29. ARE YOU PLANNING TO GO BACK TO THEIR BIRTH COUNTRY SOMEDAY? Right now I say never!! But maybe someday when they are much older, we'll see.

30. HAVE YOU STARTED OR ALREADY MADE YOUR CHILD A LIFEBOOK? We have several photo albums but not a lifebook yet.