Baby Shower

We had our first baby shower last Sunday and it was great! My sisters have been planning a surprise shower for a while now and they did a really good job keeping it a secret as long as they did! I finally caught on to what was going on by Wednesday and that was only because everyone was trying to figure out a way to get me there without me knowing, which is ultimately impossible! We got a lot of great stuff and had a wonderful time! I just 'happened' to have my camera with me, so here are a few pictures!

Are these not the cutest things you've ever seen!!!!

I just love this picture! I don't know if anyone else could see me opening up the presents for all my little monkeys gathered around! Aren't they cute! Well, if you could see their faces you would agree!

The clean-up crew! Notice I'm not in these pictures!

The BEST sister in laws in the world!!!

Notice I changed the ticker at the top of the page to countdown to Christmas. I couldn't take looking at the other one any longer, it just kept reminding me that it's been a long time since I've seen my little man. We've got all our paperwork that the judge requested sent in except the FBI fingerprint clearances. We are hoping to get those back tomorrow. We probably won't get back to get him until January, but we are still praying that a miracle happens and we get to bring him home before Christmas.

Finally Home

Life has been a whirlwind since day 2. After day 3 we were whisked away to Moscow and between all the flying, the time differences, and no internet access we've not been able to update the blog. Our final visit went well and he was feeling much better. It was VERY hard to leave that day and I pray that we get to go back soon. At this point we don't know when that is going to be.

We got brave and decided to venture out while we were in Moscow. We went to Red Square which was simply breathtaking! We got lost trying to get back to the train to go back to the hotel which was really scary. We couldn't find anyone who could speak English. We finally found one bus driver who understood Alan's hand motion for "airport" and I knew the name of the hotel so the driver made a motion for "sleep" and we knew we understood each other. You can imagine how funny this was for onlookers! We are so happy to be back in the US where we can understand everybody, but sad that little man isn't with us.

Day 2 from Siberia

Day 2 was much better. A little sunshine, not as much wind, and some good food can make a big difference in your attitude. Our bodies are adjusting to the time difference now, so we don't feel quite as bad as yesterday. Little man was much better this morning and was in a mood to really play and display his personality. We left to go to lunch feeling so much better. The other family traveling with us drug us away from the room and insisted we go out on the town for lunch and eat with them which really helped. The evening visit with him was also good, but his fever had come back so we felt bad for him about that. We spoke to the doctor and she thinks he is experiencing a food allergy along with a bad cold. They assured us they are treating him and he will be fine. With a high fever we are amazed at how well he handles it as he has not even wimpered once. He is a fighter and a trooper for sure. We took him some Gerber graduates sweet corn puffs and thought he would consider it a treat, but instead Alan said he made the same face that I make when I don't like something! He does love the toys that we brought him and the photo album that has his new family in it. Our last day to visit with him on this trip is tomorrow and then we will start the journey back on Thursday. Keep us in your prayers.

First day in Tomsk

I am too tired, so here is a word from Alan about our day......

It was nice to finally change clothes this morning after we had travelled for two days. The trip was even more physically and mentally taxing than we expected. We were able to rest a few hours this morning before Leo our driver picked us up and took us to the orphanage. We met with the head doctor who was a very nice woman and then they took us upstairs to the play room to meet our child. We had a great time meeting him and he looked only a little different than his referral picture. We played with him as much as we could but the little guy had a cold and had just woke up so he didn't feel very good. The weather here is frightful, very cold, windy, dark, and depressing. No one here other than our adoption team speaks English so it is very hard to communicate and we are basically too intimatated to venture much outside our room. We asked Leo to take us to a supermarket so we could get a few things since we were starving. We got some crackers, pepsi, bottled water, chips, and bread. We were so happy when we got to the room until we realized we didn't get any paper plates, plastic knives, napkins or anything like that. We had already packed potted meat, chicken, and things like that. We had to be creative in ways to get the meat on crackers and bread, so Michelle suggested tomorrow morning we would make some oatmeal and eat it with our hooves! Anyway we hope that our little man feels better tomorrow and we hope to get a good nights rest tonight. We'll check back with you later.

Greetings from Moscow

We made it here! I am currently in the airport in Moscow about to pass out from exhaustion. We have 6 hours until the coordinator gets here, so I am going to try to get a little sleep. My 15 minutes Wi-fi time for 60 rubles is about to run out so I will talk to you when we get to Tomsk!

Queen of Procrastination

Less than 2 days to go! One would think that by now I would have our bags packed and sitting at the door, we'll not quite! I am the worlds worst at waiting till the last minute to get everything ready and then running around like a crazy person trying to remember what I've forgotten. I've never forgotten anything important yet, but I'm normally very sleep deprived the day we leave for any trip. I can't get to sleep the night before because I'm checking off the list in my head.
Our travel plans were confirmed by the Ministry of Education today and our passports should be safely back in our hands tomorrow.
I'm going to get packing now! Next time you hear from us we should be in Moscow!
Paka (bye)