Cold and Sunny with a Chance of Giggles

Playing with babydoll down slide with "Papa"

First a quick update on other activities.  Yesterday started at 11 AM with a drive to downtown St. Petersburg to get our visas registered.  On the drive our interpreter also happens to be a tour guide and gave us some history of the city and of the sights.  After our interpreter registered us we next arrived at the Foreign Minister of Education offices, walked up a long winding staircase (the railing was a bit loose but no one fell).  We waited for a bit in the hallway as we heard our in-country coordinator and the Minister talking.  Our interpreter gave us a quick rundown of the types of questions we might be asked such as "Why do we want to adopt? etc."  We then entered the room, which was a bit daunting, with the Minister sitting across from us.  It turned out the Minister did not ask us any questions, asked for our passports and boarding passes, wrote our names down in a notebook, and our coordinator handed us some papers to sign saying we accept the referral.  And that was that piece of cake.

And now for the fun visit of today...here's Mel... 
As usual, we wait inside a room to hear the pitter-patter of her little feet. Today, we waited in the montessori. It had every wooden toy imaginable! Us adults - Michael, our interpreter Kat, and I, thought they were cool and were even  playing with them.
Anyway, in walks our little girl - dressed in her sandals from yesterday, but in a pretty blue velvet dress. She didn't seem as shy today as yesterday, but when you toss a toddler in a room with a bunch of adults calling your name, there is bound to be some tension and confusion.... I imagine. ;)

We started slow, playing with blocks, matching cylinders, rolling the "O" ball we brought her... She thoroughly enjoyed the "O" ball and didn't stop that activity until we almost pried it out of her hands! We then showed her her Forever Family picture book, going over everyone's names. Then we pulled out the babydoll. She can't get enough of the babydoll either! The baby eats for 30 seconds, then pees for 30 seconds.... this process continues on for what seems like 10 minutes. All the while, she has the most intent look on her face.
We decide to change things up a little bit... baby is going to get a diaper rash! Let's talk baby for a ride on the slide! She seemed a tad bit apprehensive about this, but went along anyway. She enjoyed catching the baby at the bottom - then we had her climb the slide with baby, UH-OH! Little "D" got scared after her second ride down...  Let's give baby a bath!


A quick break in between for lunch, and the caregiver gave her an outfit and hair-do change (whoops, hope the baths didn't get her too wet)... and she was back ready to play for more. Our interpreter told us that one of the caregivers said Little "D" didn't want to leave.... Awwwww!

We read a bit after the 20th bath and "Papa" got her to give him some funny looks as he faux slept! We then pulled out a rainmaker and that's where we got to hear her giggle. Mama would shake Little "D"'s hand and she would light up and chuckle. So much, she got the hiccups! Up until this time, we mostly heard a mouse whispering in Russian. One time she yelled "mooska" for mouse when the adults were all talking (I think she wanted to get our attention *hehehe*).

The visits keep getting better and better... and that will make it harder to leave her on Thursday evening.

Amanda commented, asking how old Little "D" is. Well, she's not a baby, hence us not referring to her as a baby anymore. She will be 3 at the end of May. She has dark hair and the biggest beautifulest eyes! We have officially signed the papers accepting her as our referral.

Check out a pic of hubby and I below of us sightseeing yesterday.
We miss you guys,
Paka!

Michael and I sightseeing 3-28

2 comments

Posted by Mel at 1:15 PM

Little Girls and Their Dresses

"D" fixes her dress, then admires Mommy's necklace again

Yesterday we met our daughter... in walked a very timid little girl. We heard tiny foot steps coming down the hallway, holding the hand of the orphanage director's hand. She had been woken up special just for this trip - and dressed up in the cutest dress just for us. But the second she saw everyone in the room, the poor little girl started to tear up.

Once our in-country coordinator calmed her down, she handed her off to me... she gripped onto me reluctantly at first, but after awhile, she did not want me to let her down. Our wonderful interpreter repeated everything back to "D" and told her everything was going to be ok and eventually she let us show her some toys.

But what helped calm "D" relax and play was her mommy's shiny necklace. It was long and had lots of rings on it... and matched her pretty black and white dress perfectly. So mommy took it off and placed it around her neck, a lovely fit!


We played babydoll... a gift from her mommy and daddy. She knew exactly what to do! She fed the baby, rocked the baby, and even had the baby go "pee-pee-pee" on the potty. She has a very good imagination and has a long attention span (Yay!). We also enjoyed books, one about a Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and one about the Care Bears, though I think she preferred the Mickey mouse book. It was adorable hearing her soft spoken voice say "mushka", Russian for mouse. We also colored, she scribbled, but we enjoyed watching her choose bigger or smaller.

We put together a book for "D" to keep of pictures of her "Forever Family". We made sure to go through it with her so she would know we are her Mama, Papa (in Russian) and Hayden (I believe at one point she tried saying his name "Hay") is her brother - and of course that she has 2 kitties! She repeated back "Mama" and "Papa" (and we oohed and ahhed) and then made kitty sounds at the end.


Later on, we sat on the couch after she took a break for snack (and took Mommy's necklace with *hehehe*), we listened intently to "D"'s medical history and her background. Once snack was over, she came back in and we had more time to play. First, we listened to a little concert she put on with her mini-xylophone.  Colored some more with her sitting on mommy's lap. Then we sat on the floor and played ball and we got some smiles out of her. She mostly played ball with our interpreter and Daddy while Mommy snapped pictures this time. But we couldn't help but notice that she would fix her dress almost every time after she threw or rolled the ball. And if she wasn't fixing her dress, she was admiring her mommy's necklace.  Before we knew it play time was over, one of the orphanage workers walked her away, but not before she turned around to wave bye to us, too cute!

Today we are back for a longer visit. More pictures and more videos. We can't wait to share them with you soon!

Missing you all!
Melissa (and Michael) 3 comments

Posted by Mel at 11:43 PM

airports, airplanes, and apartment

Hello all, first things first we are safe and sound in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Left chilly and windy Chicago Saturday night on Michael's birthday and arrived to chilly, windy, and SNOWY Russia Sunday afternoon.  A friend kindly drove us to O'Hare (thanks bunches), and we were able to chill out before loading the packed Airbus.  While I dozed here and there, Mel stayed up watching movies and stretching her legs.  Almost 8 hours of flight later and we landed at Heathrow Airport.  Even though we were leaving from the exact same terminal we still had to follow the purple signs down escalators, to a transit train, up escalators to a security, then to a sprawling lounge filled with perfume shop galore.  Our hearts were pounding as we waited and waited for the screens to post our gate, it kept saying "gate opens at 8:41" yet never mentioned which gate until 8:50 and our flight was supposed to leave at 9:20.  So we trekked past perfume shop after perfume shop before arriving at our gate.  After a brief delay for the incoming flight, we hopped aboard a much smaller plane for about a 3 hour journey to the small airport of St. Petersburg.  Coasted through immigration and customs to find Andre the Driver waiting with a sign with our names on it.  A very friendly man, we lucked out!  He even bought us some water and pop for our apartment and was going to give us some money in case we wanted dinner or to get some groceries.  But I had exchanged some at Heathrow, now I wish I had exchanged it all at Heathrow for a small flat fee, next trip I am so doing that.  Fearing how much "commission" I'll have to pay at a Russian bank tomorrow.

And now really quickly, the two security posts...O'Hare's guards were rude and made us rush through getting our stuff in baskets and then out of the way.  It included a full body x-ray, but no pat downs.  Whereas, Heathrow had us take all of our quart-sized clear plastic bags filled with liquids out of baggage, wanted our computer out of baggage, wanted our coats off and belts off and jewelry off before even making to the security lines.  We were sweating bullets by the time we finally made it there, plus they had us pass at least 8 other security lines before finally having us stop at the very last one...good grief!

Sigh...our tired bodies are telling us it is time to rest as tomorrow is a big day: first sight seeing with Andre, then our interview with the Minister of Education, then a drive to the orphanage to meet the directors, staff and Baby D!

Thanks for all the well wishes!
Dasvidana
Michael 1 comments

Posted by Mel at 12:54 PM

"You say goodbye, I say hello..."

Russian flag, waving in the wind

By the time you read this, Hayden will be in the care of his grandparents, and we will be headed off to the airport!

The past two weeks couldn't have gone by any slower - we have been busy preparing our visas, ordering our plane tickets, making a list of all the things that needed to get done, and then we started packing. But wait! We needed to get it straightened out who was going to watch Hayden, the cats, and feed Hayden's fish and frogs. It has been quite the ordeal.

The timing couldn't be more perfect. Both Michael and Hayden have off for spring break and we have gotten called to visit and meet our daughter for the first time.

We plan to keep you posted during our trip. We will be 8 hours ahead of you, and hope to find decent internet connection - because I won't be able to survive without it. ;) Please keep in mind, due to privacy issues and us wanting to keep our blog public, we will not be posting pictures of Baby "D". You may see an ear, toe, hand, etc... but that's all until she is forever ours. ;)

So, until we touch down on our layover or our destination and settle in (omg!)...

M&M
Over and out! 1 comments

Posted by Mel at 3:00 PM

Happy Birthday Michael!

A cake I did not bake... :(

This a short post because of our busy day but I wanted to give a shout out to my amazing husband, and a great father - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Later this afternoon we will have some very VERY good news for you. I promise it will be worth the wait and suspense. In addition, our spring break will be filled with lots of exciting news, so keep posted!

Happy spring!!!!! @-->--- 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 9:00 AM

"OH Thank You, Thank You, Thank YOU!"

Busy season has officially started in our household. Every house I'm sure has one. And though, just by giving it a name adds more to my plate (and stress)... it means that Spring is just around the corner.
What is busy season? Well... March, April, May, June, and the beginning of July is busy season. And what makes it so busy is birthdays, birthday parties, holidays, school, therapies, and plays. And every little tidbit in between that that crams our weekends. Don't get me wrong. I love the busy season - but sometimes it's just nice to say... "Ah... we have nothing to do today". Know what I mean?

Since busy season is here... that means other "things are near". HA!, that rhymes. Baby D is closer now than we've ever been, thanks to the best phone call we have gotten in a LONG LONG LONG time. We shared our great news with Hayden the other night, and what we heard was something like this: "OH Thank You, Thank You, Thank YOU!" This was accompanied by big hugs. It double-made our day! ;) Although we can't share the news publicly with you guys just yet (except with immediate family), stand by for upcoming posts in the nearby future. ;)

So, what's been going on with us lately? Michael is looking forward to Spring Break. And his birthday *wink wink*. Hayden is starring in a new theatrical play called Aristocats... he will find out his part in the next coming weeks. He has also started a new therapy group for speech/social cues. This is a great opportunity for him to practice and learn everyday behavior when playing and talking with other children. They are currently working on bullying - which is such a huge must these days.
I have been driving myself batty with my new electronic digital craft cutter (thank you hubby!). Now, I consider myself technologically-crafty - but this thing is driving me MAD! I am on my 4th card, and am getting better. I won't tell you how many pieces of paper I've ruined though. LOL I am able to make scrapbook and papercrafts items, crafts for the home (using paper, fabric, and vinyl!), and so forth. In addition I am working on crafting SPRING crafts - got to love the dollar store.
Back to Hayden - though his birthday isn't until the middle of April - he is in the works of "planning" it already. He is like his mom - he likes to be prepared. ;)

Enjoy your day & hope for the warm weather!
Mel 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 11:12 AM

It's Warming Up Around Here!

Notice the date, then notice the temperature. ;)

We call this little guy "Oscar". And usually, he is pretty accurate... except for today when the sun is rising and it is BEAMING off the siding of the house. Santa brought this awesome gadget for Michael, but really, we all use it. It helps Hayden know what he needs to wear outside at the bus stop. It helps us know just how humid it is in the house so we can STOP shocking each other and remember to adjust the humidifier. But overall, it gives us the temperature - at the table or anywhere for that matter as it can be hung - while we eat breakfast or read the newspaper.

This particular morning, I had just finished doing a mile walk on my treadmill and noticed "Oscar" doffed his winter attire. He threw on some stylish shades and some shorts and that was it. Well... in February, that's kinda bold I thought... but the weather man did say it was supposed to warm up... Right?

Yesterday I spent the afternoon driving to the north side of Chicago picking up paperwork, and then driving to Michael's school to get some paperwork for baby D notarized (thanks Jeanne!). On Monday, we will be heading downtown to State St. to get the paperwork apostilled. We are on fire! Things are moving at a pretty fast pace here - but that doesn't mean baby D will be home next week. After we Fed-Ex the paperwork to our agency and they mail it to Russia, we will be waiting for our travel dates to meet our beautiful girl. Once that happens, we can begin preparing our dossier.

If you are wondering about our "Loving Tree", this is the same tree I have used since Halloween. It's become quite the revolving centerpiece on our kitchen table. I simply spray-painted it silver (at winter time) and then cut out heart shapes out of cardstock with funky scissors. We then added sticky foam shapes and hung with a ribbon. This is just one of a dozen crafty and inexpensive Valentine projects I have assembled this year. Besides for being frugal, the stores have a limited amounts of cuteness. And I wasn't going to pay when I could make it myself. ;)

Happy Valentine's Day! 1 comments

Posted by Mel at 10:53 AM

Whistle While You Work

Ahhhh, this is a nice seat. Cold, but comfy! (Blizzard 2011)

As I type, I am currently uploading two groups of pictures, and awaiting a phone call. I am a busy gal... and I'm behind on our blog, again. So once this is published, or shortly after, you should find Hayden's "Honk Jr." play photos, and our fun filled day of playing in the snow during the "Blizzard 2011" on our Daily V's page.

What's new? The past few weeks we have been busy waiting for and filling out our registration papers for baby D. They are now complete, and have been sent to our agency for a quick review. Once we get the ok, we can then get them notarized and apostilled (yah - a trip to Chicago in the winter!!!)... and then mail them to our agency. Once they receive them, they will mail them to our coordinator in Russia who will give them to the adoption committee for processing. This may take anywhere around 3 weeks or so... we hope.
In addition, while going over our paperwork, we noticed our fingerprints expire in June. So if things don't move at a rapid pace from here on out, then we will need to get them redone. Yes, you heard me folks. We will need to be fingerprinted - Again. ;)

What's new with Hayden? He lost another tooth a few weeks ago - but that's not all exciting anymore. His report cards have been beaming with plus signs. He has been growing like a weed and surprising us more and more every day. Every week his teacher sends home a newsletter mentioning what the class works on. She reminds parents that the children may need help with writing in cursive, brushing up on their spelling or recently their math facts. More so, their subtraction facts - but flash cards are just so so so boring. I hit up a teachers store and bought some great little finds. We now toss around a cube like beach ball a couple nights a week that has subtraction facts on it, taking turns answering them, and we play a game called "Number Race". Number Race is set up like a candy land board, however, you make the path with the math facts - it makes math fun - and makes Hayden laugh. PLUS it's helping Mommy brush up on her skills!

Michael and I have been juggling the house - once January hit, I was in full organization mode. I knew baby D's room needed to be done, but I have been going crazy with all the clutter that is coats and boots. We just haven't figured out a system that works and have spent many a minutes looking into Rubbermaid shelving, etc. This huge organization project then branched into my office, junk drawers, the pantry.... whoops! ;)

Well... now that I've caught your attention, I should probably leave you starving for more.
Until next time! 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 1:55 PM

When it snows, it's a blizzard!

Another month's gone by, but this time we have some really good news to report!  We have received a referral for a 2 and a half year old beautiful girl (who we will refer to from now on as baby "D")!  After e-mailing back and forth between our agency's coordinator with the Russian coordinator and the Russian adoption board, we passed all their questions and were approved!  But (seems like there is always a but these past 3 years) there was a problem when they were going through her paperwork.  Turns out another Russian family had visited her, and while they verbally said "no" to adopting her they did not sign the paperwork.  So we had to wait for them to be contacted. The problem with that was they were away on vacation with no way to contact them.  The Russian board then decided to send them a letter saying they had 30 days to respond.  And the wait began again.

After a dinner out with the family on Friday, and some shopping around for some organization ideas for our office and laundry room, we came home to a blinking light on our answering machine.  Hayden hits the play button and we hear our coordinator's voice and listen intently to THE wonderful news.  Hayden does his little jumps with a huge smile on his face, Mel's face brightens up, and my heart starts racing...our coordinator informs us that baby "D" is now our official referral and we can legally proceed to adopt her!

Later that evening, we received our registration papers in our email to fill out and a list of pictures to take of our house and her room.  After filling them out we'll resend them to our coordinator to make sure we filled them out correctly, then get them notarized and return to Chicago to have them apostilled.  After Russia approves them, which may take about 3 weeks, we can travel for our first visit to meet baby "D".  Hopefully, March will be our target month.

In the meantime, a blizzard heads our way starting tomorrow afternoon until Wednesday afternoon.  Predictions say we may get up to 20 inches of snow, with possibly 8 to 10 foot (yes foot) snow drifts!  Excited for a snow day, not so sure I'm too excited about shoveling it all though.

Fingers crossed all goes well from here on out!
Michael 1 comments

Posted by Mel at 8:19 PM

Say Goodbye To Yesterday

It has been months since our last post and there has been a LOT going on around here. In a nutshell, we will be glad when the clock strikes midnight and the year 2010 is gone, done, and behind us. It was a tough year for us, and we hope that 2011 brings us new health, (wealth would be nice), family, and more love.

We apologize for being... lackadaisical with our blog. Maybe that should be part of our New Year's resolution. ;) Regardless, we have "some news" that we can share with you today, that will eventually be worth all the wait.
Though we can't go into too much detail until things are official, we have been working diligently since the beginning of December in the adoption world to move things along. We will be sure to spread the good cheer once we are able.

Us V's had a wonderful Christmas, traveling to and fro. Hayden and Daddy got in some sledding during their winter break, and I got in some relaxation, though I could use some more... *wink wink*. Santa gave us as a family, an early present... and we are praying that we can "open" it soon.

In the meantime, we want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We also ask that you think of us during this very important time - more than ever. Please pray for our family to become whole and for a child to come home to their family. Also, please pray for our middle cat Mints. Recently, after losing our older cat, Chocolate, we found out Mints has cancer. Unfortunately it is not curable, and it is financially out of our means.

Visit our Daily V's page to view the fun we had this December. 

Happy New Year! 0 comments

Posted by Mel at 3:06 PM