As I look back at 2008, I wanted to share what I consider my highlights of the year. I am greatful to have been healthy this year. Most of you know that I was dianosed with ulcerative colitis in 2007. It is a very nasty disease that I unfortunately inherrited from my father (he has been battling it for 30 years). Although it isn't life threatening, it really is a serious and awful thing to have espically for women. The medication I take plus my regular 8 week infusion treatments seems to keep it under control as I only had one flair up in 2008. I am greatful that Tommy's health has improved. Just two years ago he was struggling with heart problems. His heart was only functioning at 19% and was very close to being put on the transplant list. Today, he is up to 60%, which is unbelievable since the doctors said that it would never be possible. He still has blood pressure issues, but his massive pill box keeps that under control. So, given all this our 2008 ended up to be a fantastic year!
In February, we got the "the call" from our adoption agency. Understand the adoption process is always long and difficult road, but we were SHOCKED when we learned that we were already given a referral. Carter (born Ivan (Van-ya)) was 3 yrs 7 months old. He was born July 23, 2004. His orphanage is located in the city of Novokuzetsk in Kemerovo region of Russia. That orphanage houses children from birth to age 18.
March was a very busy month for us. Samuel started his first season of T-ball. It was awesome to see him come out of his shell. He is sooooo shy, I kept my fingers crossed. We traveled to the Bahama's for the yearly Carquest Convention. I know...can you believe the torture... we had to go there? It was a great get-away for Tommy and I and since I love the beach...it couldn't have been any better. Just BEAUTIFUL! We were only home 2 days before leaving for trip #1 to Russia. We traveled across 13 different time zones twice in just 7 days. A total of 40 hours was spent in an airplane while we traveled 6,633 miles just one way. I am including a few entries from my hand written journal from that trip. Of course this was "the highlight" of my year!
THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008
We were excited to get here knowing that we are closer to seeing Carter in just a few days. However, standing in line at immigration with 200 Russian people trying to crowd you out, reminds me why I am always anxious to get home. This really makes me feel uncomfortable.
As we were headed to our hotel, I immediately remember how awful they drive here. I felt like we could have crashed at least 50 times. I just wanted to cover my eyes and scream. So as I sat, half scared to death looking for my seat belt, it crossed my mind how much I can't see Samuel living this way of life as an adult. I guess that is what the good ole USA will do for you.
Anyway, we will head out in the freshly fallen snow here in a while to find some decent food (I hope). Just know that we miss everyone and truly can't wait to get home. To those of you who feel like we are on vacation, shame on you!!! Other than seeing Carter, I would much rather be at work!
Take care and will send more tomorrow, hopefully!!! Hugs and Kisses to Josh, Amanda and Samuel. We miss you and love you very much!!
Love,
Sherry
We went straight back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. I tried to watch a movie but fell asleep about 7:30. We both woke up at 3:00am like it was morning. After a few hours we were both able to go back to sleep until about 9am this morning. Although we are both still tired, we feel much better.
Mala, our tour guide will be by in an hour or so and she will show us around for a few hours. Our flight for Kemerovo leaves Moscow tonight at 10pm and will arrive at 6:30am. (Remember there is an additional 4 hour time difference. It is 8 hr difference from Moscow and then another 4 to Kemerovo. I had forgotten that they didn't observe Daylight savings time). Check in for today's flight is at 4:00 so we will have to sit and wait again.
It is sunny today and appears to be a nice day. It is still cold and I figured out how to open the window this morning and let some cool air in.
Hope everyone is doing good. We are so anxious to see Cater tomorrow. Hopefully he won't be to scared of us. We will take lots of pictures and post them as soon as we can. I hope to be able to send another message tomorrow sometime after our first visit with Carter. Dana, I will ask the questions that you wanted me to and Sherry, I will see if I can see your two boys as well. If if is possible will try to sneak a picture of them if I can.
MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008
Back in Moscow again!
It is Monday about 1:15pm. We arrived back this morning. Sorry there was no Internet available to us in Novokuznetsk. Let me catch you up a bit.
We left Moscow on Friday night at 10pm. The airport was very nice, a different one than we used in 2005. It had signs in English (yea) and was nicer than some airports in the US. We arrived in Novo at 6am Sat. morning. Yes another night without sleep!! It was cold and there was some snow on the ground. Lena dropped us off at the hotel about 7am and said she would be back about 9:30am to pick us up. We were so tired, however, it was not enough time to take a nap so we opted for a cold shower and breakfast. We were very anxious to see Carter so we made the best of it.
We arrived at the orphanage and was led up to the play room to wait for him. Shortly after you heard small heavy foot steps coming in. He looked exactly like the picture and didn't seem afraid at all. As he walked towards me, I held out my arms and he willingly climbed in my lap. It didn't last long as he is a very active boy. He has a very even personality and a bit more outgoing than Sam. He doesn't seem to smile a lot unless you can get him to laugh. He played ball with us for a while and he loved the play cell phone we brought him. (they use them as much or more than we do at home) We couldn't call him Carter (mainly because he wouldn't answer) so we had to call him Ivan (Van-ya). It felt weird to me! He was more drawn to me than Tommy, but he did warm up to him more later. All in all it was a great first visit! It lasted about an hour or so. He called me Mama a few times and was eager to give us both a hug and kiss bye. We were warned about the temperature there and they were right! It was sooooooooo hot in there, at times I felt like I couldn't breathe. We were all sweating including Carter who was wearing two shirts, a pair of shorts and socks and pink sandals (yikes). As tired as we were the heat didn't help! We went back to our hotel and got a 2-3 hour nap before heading back to the orphanage for out second visit of the day. This one was just as good or better than the first. We didn't have the social worker there watching us this time. Not that it bothered Carter or us the first time! He is so full of energy, we may need something real strong in order to make it home with him. We are just so tired dealing with ourselves. This 12 hour time difference is really kicking our butt!!
Later that night we were having dinner at our hotel (Hotel Siberia) and in walks this young guy (maybe 20-25) He starts talking to Tommy in Russian and we just look at him not knowing what he is saying to us. The waitress walks in and you can tell she is trying to tell him to leave. He continues to talk to us and I am sure she has already told him we only speak English. Then he grabs Tommy's plate and starts scraping food from the plate straight into his mouth. We are just shocked!! The waitress is almost in tears. Tommy says, give him some of your food, he is hungry! What??? I feel sorry for him that he is hungry, but giving him more just lets him know that what he did was okay and seemed like egging him on to me. Finally the waitress was able to get him out. Not that it was a huge deal, but when we got our bill we were more than surprised that we were still charged for what that man took. Customer service isn't focused on there apparently. In the states, we would have comped the entire meal!! Oh well. By this time we figured we were going on 36 hours with no sleep, so we really didn't care. We both fell sleep at 6pm that night and slept with the windows open again!!
Sunday we were able to see Carter two more times. You could tell he was starting to wo
nder what was going on. We just played and played!! I was sad to leave him knowing that it would be 3-4 months before we saw him again. We were able to trace his shoe and foot as well as his hand just for fun. I also bought some disposal cameras in Atlanta and left them with the care takers. Hopefully they will take photos of him during this time.
Well, I plan to go take a short nap. Take care and thanks for all your thoughts. We will be so happy to be home and eat NORMAL food.
In July, we took a long weekend and went to the beach with our great friends. It was Samuel's first time at the beach. We had sooooo much fun...flying kites, skim boarding, playing volleyball and of course drinking lots of beer! July 23rd was an emotional day for me...Carter's 4th birthday. I was sad to not celebrate with him, but happy because we also finally got a court date for August 18th.
August 14, 2008
Moscow 11:15 am/Texas 2:15 am
We have arrived safely. No problems at all. We are just tired from lack of sleep. I slept off and on during the 12 hour flight but Tommy didn't sleep at all. We met the family from Ohio that will be traveling with us at the Atlanta airport. Patti and Adam are very nice and are adopting a 2 year old. Its nice to have someone else to talk and share this experience with.
Our friends from Georgetown that had so many problems last week will be headed home tomorrow as planned. (Yea!). We will meet them later tonight for dinner after we catch a nap.
Traffic hasn't changed here at all. It is still slow movin, bumper to bumper with no identified lanes. The weather is great. Warm, no humidity and somewhat cool. Our driver is wearing shorts. If I had know that was okay I would have packed some. I thought I was brave to pack my flip flops!!
Well, I appreciate everyones well wishes for us. I was certainly hesitant to travel but now that were here I am good.
Hope the kids are being good. Hugs and kisses!
August 14, 2008
Moscow 10:45 pm/TX 1:45 pm
Hi all....
We just got back from having a 4 hour dinner with our friends from Georgetown (Rick, Dana and their two new children Jenna, 4, Zach, 1). They were so adorable and we had a good time playing with the kids on a roof top restaurant on old Arbat St. It made us more excited to bring Carter back to Moscow. The weather is great!!! We took the Metro/subway to Old Arabat and did fine. We did, however, get lost on the way back. I haven't figured out how that happened. But between the 4 of us (Adam and Patti went to) we walked back part way. I guess I got lucky because the two people I asked for directions from both spoke decent english. I can't express how much better it is to have another couple with us. It makes it all so much easier and fun. There are several sidewalk restaurants by our hotel so tomorrow we plan to relax there for dinner and drink a few beers. Our hotel is directly next to the Red Square so there is a lot to do.
Tomorrow we head to our medical exam. Hopefully it won't be a big deal. We are heading to bed for some much needed sleep.
Good night from Russia!! I hope everyone is doing well.
August 15, 2008
Moscow 12:35 pm/Tx 3:35 am
We had a very nice breakfast this morning in the hotel. I could use more sleep of course but I think that will always be the case over here. Our room, like always, is too hot for us. The air conditioner is as far cold as it will go. I even broke out my battery operated fan that I brought along, but it was still too warm.
We are at the medical clinic waiting for our turn as I type this. It is a little unsettling because from the outside this clinic/hospital is an old purple building that could resemble an insane asylum. Yikes! We were told it would take about three hours to be examined by the 8 different doctors. Hopefully like everything else here, most of the time will be waiting. We warned of a few questions that will be asked. "Do you own guns?" "Are you an emotional person?". How do you answer that. Either way you could be screwed. I am hoping that Olga (our translator) will help answer the right way.
Moscow 3:30pm/TX 6:30 am
Well we just finished 3 hrs later. We were supposed to be seen by 8 doctors. First we saw 5 doctors at one time. We had to take our shirts off while they took our blood pressure, reflexes, and felt our glands. Yes...awkward! They asked a few questions about our medical history and our families medical all of which we said was fine. Then we saw the "drug" doctor. On the way in Olga whispered to me to be sure and say that we DON'T drink everyday. Tommy didn't hear that part and when we got in they asked us at what age we first tried alcohol. I lied and said mid 20's (I didn't want it to appear that I broke the law). Tommy said 15 or 16 yes old. So then they asked Tommy how often he drinks. He said "I don't drink". They said then "how do you get rid of your depression? Everyone needs a drink". He says "swim". I have to say at that point I almost busted out laughing. I was glad when they never asked me anything cause I didn't know if I should go along with Tommy's answers or not. After that we were done, however all 8 doctors that we didn't see signed off on us. It confirms that this is all a way to collect more money from us. This "exam" cost us $900 each.
Anyway...we are all done with that. We are headed back to the hotel and plan to have a few drinks. (Guess Tommy will watch since he doesn't drink. Lol). Our flight to Novokuznetsk is tomorrow night at 10 pm. So we will have the day to relax and sight see.
August 16, 2008
Moscow 8:50pm/Tx 11:50am
Last email from Moscow. We are currently at the local Russian airport waiting for our flight to Kemerovo. It leaves here at 10:05pm and is a 4 hour flight, however with the 5 hour time change we arrive at 6:30am sunday morning (5:30 pm Sat in TX). This part is very hard because we loose a nights sleep and won't get it back. As soon as we arrive we are taken to our hotel and given maybe an hour to get settled and to freshen up. Then its off to breakfast and then to see Carter. Last time the orphanage was only 2 blocks from our hotel, but this time since its summer the kids are up in the hills/mountains at summer camp. We will have to drive 45 minutes up there for our visit. At least it might be cooler up there than in the 95' room of the orphanage like last time.
Everything is going good. We had to check out today at noon from our hotel but our driver didn't pick us up till 5pm. It was a long, hot afternoon trying to pass time. We layed on the grass in front of the Kremlin with thousands of others just people watching and laughing at the drunk guys in suits passed out drunk. Tommy misses his dr pepper and I would do about anything for a chicken express ice tea. We ordered two beers earlier (Tommy was feeling a bit depressed) and they served us them at room temperature. (I though about you Karri and how much you would have hated that). It wasn't good so I switched to warm coke. Nothing is served on ice it is always extra. They drink everything either hot or at room temperature
Anyway, I hope I still have service in Novokuznetsk but if you don't hear from me in about 6 or 7 hrs then don't panic. I will have to wait till wednesday when we get back to Moscow.
Take care and wish us luck. Court is only a day away.
Novo 12:35pm sun/TX 11:35 pm Sat
Well we just finished seeing Carter. Wow! Let me start from the beginning. We headed for the summer camp up in the hills. It reminded me of the foot hills of Colorado. I almost forgot we were in Russia. Lena told us that we were driving to pick up the kids (patty and adam's son too) and we were taking them from camp back into town to take their passport photos. So we arrived at the summer camp. It was really pretty, cool and rainy. We went inside and they brought them to us. Carter walked from around the corner wearing a pink sweater (yes I said pink) blue pants, sandles again and a baseball cap. He had grown a little. He ran straight to me and gave me a big hug. I picked him up and gave him a big kiss. It was so good to see him. We climbed back into the van and he sat on my lap. He wasn't scared at all of the ride back into town. We played with some toys, he drank all my water from my water bottle and snacked on some crackers. He is very smart. We already taught him words that he picked up right away. He said "bump" everytime we went over a speed bump. He knows shoes and water. We also looked at a small photo album that I brought. We pointed to Sam, Amanda and Josh's name and he said them very clear (except amanda) and even remembered who everyone was. I am very encouraged with the language barrier so far. He is going to be a big boy when he grows up. I loved looking at his hands and fingers. They are very long and thin. The shoes we brought are just a size to big but oh well. We weren't able to try on any clothes but I am sure what I have will be fine.
He did great taking his picture. He stayed still and didn't cry. I can't wait for his hair to grow. They shaved his head.
So now its back to the hotel for lunch and then some much needed sleep. Court is tomorrow morning in Kemerovo City (3-4 hrs drive). We won't get back until late so we will pick him up the next day.
Just wanted to fill you all in. Can't wait to bring him home.
Novo 8:23pm sun/TX 7:23am sun
I still can't believe we are here and that he is almost ours. Well, he is ours in my mind. Our visit earlier today was so good and seemed so natural. I am glad that our visit was outside the orphanage to give us an idea of how he will react with us. He did so well in the car, just sat still and played and talked to us. Once we got to town, he walked beside us, holding our hands on both sides of him. We didn't have much time when we got back, it was just to drop them off since it was their lunch time. He certainly talks a lot, most of which we don't understand. Lena says that he speaks pretty good Russian now, but the small amount of time we had, I have no doubt that the english will come very quickly. I still think he looks so young, like a baby, not a boy of 4 yrs. But now I think its because his head is shaved. All the boys have the same cut (shaved all over except a small spot of bangs that is about an inch long). Yes I will cut that quickly.
Carter doesn't know his name yet of course but soon he will get it. He is still very active and talks non stop just like Samuel. I can't wait to bath him and put him in clean clothes.
So on the way down from camp, Lena our guide/translator (who we can never communicate with just right, I think we just have a different way of life obviously) anyway she asked us if we wanted to stop and get flowers. I honestly didn't know what to say, but I was thinking: for who? I am so glad that Adam spoke up and said "for what purpose". She seemed offended when everyone said no thanks. Why would we want to spend even more money on flowers none the less??? We just down the road, we pull over and she hops out and starts picking flowers. Tommy laughed later because they were all just weeds. Then a short time later (please don't forget we so exhausted and it has been 36 hrs since we had sleep and we are delirious) Lena asks I'd we want to stop at the flee market to buy some fruit. Yes Dana she asked us if we wanted watermelon. NO we don't want fruit, we WANT sleep!!!! But of course we stopped anyway. There were so many people buying all types of fruit, bread, meat, ect. Of course there were flies everywhere landing on all of it. This is where it hit me that we were running all Lena's errands with her. Finally we get back to our hotel and she wants us to meet Olga (our other translator) in a few hrs so she can show us the grocery store and mall. We tried to explain that we needed sleep and would not be interested in those things until after court and after sleep. She seemed somewhat offended but finally allowed us some sleep. I took a 5 hour nap and now I will try to stay up for 3-4 hrs so I can go back to sleep at midnight. We leave for court at 6:30am.
Wish us luck on this last part of making Carter a Farrell. I am sure things will be fine. I will just be glad to be home. I miss all my kids like crazy and miss hearing Sam say "I love you" a dozen times a day. I miss talking to Amanda, and I miss seeing Josh.
I better wrap this one up! Take care everyone!
August 18, 2008
Kemerovo city 10:45am Mon/TX 9:45pm Sun
I wish this message was full of good news and happiness, but we have hit our first (and i hope only) speed bump. We were sitting in the court hallway waiting for our turn with the judge when Lena came out and said that our court was postponed until tomorrow. Apparently some form from the US Embassy was not received. This form is permission for Carter to be given a US visa. Since it is only 6:45am in Moscow at the Embassy we can't call them. We have to drive the long, very bumpy road back to Novokuznetsk and call the Embassy later once they are open. Hopefully they will fax what is necessary for our court now tomorrow. If all goes well, we will stay some extra time in Kemerovo City tomorrow and pick up his Passport all in one trip. Then once we get back to Novo in the evening we will pick Carter up from the summer camp and still be able to fly back to Moscow as planned on Wednesday morning.
Words can't describe how frustrated and disappointed we are. Things had been going so good and now this set back. I guess if all goes well tomorrow the set back will be minor. I just get so angry because our coordinator, Lena has terrible communication skills and your always left asking a dozen more questions that could have been avoided.
I am sorry our news isn't any better. We are just crushed and I am on the brink of tears so I will close for now. Please pray for us to complete this tomorrow without any more problems.
October was a celebration for both Amanda's 15th birthday and Samuel's 5th birthday. It was also Carter's first Halloween. The boys were boxers...Samuel was Rocky while Carter was his rival...the Russian Ivan Drago. The boys cashed in with two buckets of candy...enough to keep them hyper for the next year or so.
Thanks for hanging in there. It's a year of wonderful memories for me and it's like reliving them today as I write this last entry for 2008. Here is to the best year ever........
January started out with an unforgettable George Strait concert, that I treated my best friend, Karri, for her birthday! He was great and although aging a bit, still super cute! January is also the month that we started our adoption journey to bring another precious child home. We hired a private investigator to find Samuel's biological mother. It took a few months, however, we now have photos of her, his grandmother and one of his brothers. I am so thankful to be able to offer this to him someday.
In February, we got the "the call" from our adoption agency. Understand the adoption process is always long and difficult road, but we were SHOCKED when we learned that we were already given a referral. Carter (born Ivan (Van-ya)) was 3 yrs 7 months old. He was born July 23, 2004. His orphanage is located in the city of Novokuzetsk in Kemerovo region of Russia. That orphanage houses children from birth to age 18. March was a very busy month for us. Samuel started his first season of T-ball. It was awesome to see him come out of his shell. He is sooooo shy, I kept my fingers crossed. We traveled to the Bahama's for the yearly Carquest Convention. I know...can you believe the torture... we had to go there? It was a great get-away for Tommy and I and since I love the beach...it couldn't have been any better. Just BEAUTIFUL! We were only home 2 days before leaving for trip #1 to Russia. We traveled across 13 different time zones twice in just 7 days. A total of 40 hours was spent in an airplane while we traveled 6,633 miles just one way. I am including a few entries from my hand written journal from that trip. Of course this was "the highlight" of my year!THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2008
Hello from Moscow!!!!!
It was a very long and exhausting flight. I didn't remember it being so tired the first time during Samuel's adoption. The jet lag really hit us hard this time arriving on 24 hours without sleep. We had roomy seats however, they were right by the bathroom so people in general kept us up. The audio didn't work on any of the movies and this annoying bell kept going off very loud above our head every 5-10 seconds for hours. They didn't know what it was or how to stop it so we had to deal with it. We both were at our wits end at the end of the flight.
It was cold when we arrived and is snowing now. We managed to get about a 3 1/2 hour nap in before sending out this message. Our room is small but nice and it feels like 90' in our room. I am having the maintenance man come over in a while to turn it down or it will be another night without sleep because our window doesn't open. :( Oh and did I mention that since it's Easter weekend hotel prices are outrageous! For this holiday weekend the prices ranged from $600-1200 a NIGHT! Yes, I said night! Thank god we will only be staying for 2 nights. We will be staying at the Marriott Tverskaya and the Renaissance Moscow both of which appear to be very nice hotels. I am not sure where we will be staying while in the region, but from what I hear it will only be about $60-70 a night.
It was a very long and exhausting flight. I didn't remember it being so tired the first time during Samuel's adoption. The jet lag really hit us hard this time arriving on 24 hours without sleep. We had roomy seats however, they were right by the bathroom so people in general kept us up. The audio didn't work on any of the movies and this annoying bell kept going off very loud above our head every 5-10 seconds for hours. They didn't know what it was or how to stop it so we had to deal with it. We both were at our wits end at the end of the flight.
It was cold when we arrived and is snowing now. We managed to get about a 3 1/2 hour nap in before sending out this message. Our room is small but nice and it feels like 90' in our room. I am having the maintenance man come over in a while to turn it down or it will be another night without sleep because our window doesn't open. :( Oh and did I mention that since it's Easter weekend hotel prices are outrageous! For this holiday weekend the prices ranged from $600-1200 a NIGHT! Yes, I said night! Thank god we will only be staying for 2 nights. We will be staying at the Marriott Tverskaya and the Renaissance Moscow both of which appear to be very nice hotels. I am not sure where we will be staying while in the region, but from what I hear it will only be about $60-70 a night.
We were excited to get here knowing that we are closer to seeing Carter in just a few days. However, standing in line at immigration with 200 Russian people trying to crowd you out, reminds me why I am always anxious to get home. This really makes me feel uncomfortable.
As we were headed to our hotel, I immediately remember how awful they drive here. I felt like we could have crashed at least 50 times. I just wanted to cover my eyes and scream. So as I sat, half scared to death looking for my seat belt, it crossed my mind how much I can't see Samuel living this way of life as an adult. I guess that is what the good ole USA will do for you.
Anyway, we will head out in the freshly fallen snow here in a while to find some decent food (I hope). Just know that we miss everyone and truly can't wait to get home. To those of you who feel like we are on vacation, shame on you!!! Other than seeing Carter, I would much rather be at work!
Take care and will send more tomorrow, hopefully!!! Hugs and Kisses to Josh, Amanda and Samuel. We miss you and love you very much!!
Love,
Sherry
FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2008
Hi again!
We ventured out in the cold for dinner last night and found a little bar that looked like an Irish pub. The food was good but everything seems pretty expensive. They had American music playing which was nice. Guess we must look somewhat Russian (NOT) cause they immediately gave us Russian menus until we had to ask for the English version. I went out on a limb and had a burger and chili cheese fries, while Tommy had beer battered fish and some Russian soup. All in all it was good.
We ventured out in the cold for dinner last night and found a little bar that looked like an Irish pub. The food was good but everything seems pretty expensive. They had American music playing which was nice. Guess we must look somewhat Russian (NOT) cause they immediately gave us Russian menus until we had to ask for the English version. I went out on a limb and had a burger and chili cheese fries, while Tommy had beer battered fish and some Russian soup. All in all it was good.
We went straight back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. I tried to watch a movie but fell asleep about 7:30. We both woke up at 3:00am like it was morning. After a few hours we were both able to go back to sleep until about 9am this morning. Although we are both still tired, we feel much better.
Mala, our tour guide will be by in an hour or so and she will show us around for a few hours. Our flight for Kemerovo leaves Moscow tonight at 10pm and will arrive at 6:30am. (Remember there is an additional 4 hour time difference. It is 8 hr difference from Moscow and then another 4 to Kemerovo. I had forgotten that they didn't observe Daylight savings time). Check in for today's flight is at 4:00 so we will have to sit and wait again.
It is sunny today and appears to be a nice day. It is still cold and I figured out how to open the window this morning and let some cool air in.
Hope everyone is doing good. We are so anxious to see Cater tomorrow. Hopefully he won't be to scared of us. We will take lots of pictures and post them as soon as we can. I hope to be able to send another message tomorrow sometime after our first visit with Carter. Dana, I will ask the questions that you wanted me to and Sherry, I will see if I can see your two boys as well. If if is possible will try to sneak a picture of them if I can.
Take care and we will see you all next week.
Love, Tommy & Sherry (yes he is awake and with me this time) :)
Love, Tommy & Sherry (yes he is awake and with me this time) :)
MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008
Back in Moscow again!
It is Monday about 1:15pm. We arrived back this morning. Sorry there was no Internet available to us in Novokuznetsk. Let me catch you up a bit.
We left Moscow on Friday night at 10pm. The airport was very nice, a different one than we used in 2005. It had signs in English (yea) and was nicer than some airports in the US. We arrived in Novo at 6am Sat. morning. Yes another night without sleep!! It was cold and there was some snow on the ground. Lena dropped us off at the hotel about 7am and said she would be back about 9:30am to pick us up. We were so tired, however, it was not enough time to take a nap so we opted for a cold shower and breakfast. We were very anxious to see Carter so we made the best of it.
We arrived at the orphanage and was led up to the play room to wait for him. Shortly after you heard small heavy foot steps coming in. He looked exactly like the picture and didn't seem afraid at all. As he walked towards me, I held out my arms and he willingly climbed in my lap. It didn't last long as he is a very active boy. He has a very even personality and a bit more outgoing than Sam. He doesn't seem to smile a lot unless you can get him to laugh. He played ball with us for a while and he loved the play cell phone we brought him. (they use them as much or more than we do at home) We couldn't call him Carter (mainly because he wouldn't answer) so we had to call him Ivan (Van-ya). It felt weird to me! He was more drawn to me than Tommy, but he did warm up to him more later. All in all it was a great first visit! It lasted about an hour or so. He called me Mama a few times and was eager to give us both a hug and kiss bye. We were warned about the temperature there and they were right! It was sooooooooo hot in there, at times I felt like I couldn't breathe. We were all sweating including Carter who was wearing two shirts, a pair of shorts and socks and pink sandals (yikes). As tired as we were the heat didn't help! We went back to our hotel and got a 2-3 hour nap before heading back to the orphanage for out second visit of the day. This one was just as good or better than the first. We didn't have the social worker there watching us this time. Not that it bothered Carter or us the first time! He is so full of energy, we may need something real strong in order to make it home with him. We are just so tired dealing with ourselves. This 12 hour time difference is really kicking our butt!!
Later that night we were having dinner at our hotel (Hotel Siberia) and in walks this young guy (maybe 20-25) He starts talking to Tommy in Russian and we just look at him not knowing what he is saying to us. The waitress walks in and you can tell she is trying to tell him to leave. He continues to talk to us and I am sure she has already told him we only speak English. Then he grabs Tommy's plate and starts scraping food from the plate straight into his mouth. We are just shocked!! The waitress is almost in tears. Tommy says, give him some of your food, he is hungry! What??? I feel sorry for him that he is hungry, but giving him more just lets him know that what he did was okay and seemed like egging him on to me. Finally the waitress was able to get him out. Not that it was a huge deal, but when we got our bill we were more than surprised that we were still charged for what that man took. Customer service isn't focused on there apparently. In the states, we would have comped the entire meal!! Oh well. By this time we figured we were going on 36 hours with no sleep, so we really didn't care. We both fell sleep at 6pm that night and slept with the windows open again!!
Sunday we were able to see Carter two more times. You could tell he was starting to wo
nder what was going on. We just played and played!! I was sad to leave him knowing that it would be 3-4 months before we saw him again. We were able to trace his shoe and foot as well as his hand just for fun. I also bought some disposal cameras in Atlanta and left them with the care takers. Hopefully they will take photos of him during this time. So we woke up extra early this morning as our flight back to Moscow left at 7:40. We arrived here about 8:30am (remember 4 hour time difference) and are now staying at the Renaissance Hotel. It is very nice and comfortable. All the flight crew from Delta (that we guess will be traveling back with us tomorrow) are here as well.
We will leave here tomorrow at 11:30am and arrive back in Atlanta about 4:30 (3:30 Texas time). We are very anxious to get back. I am really missing the kids. It seems like it has been forever. We haven't had time to shop much this trip but we hope to do more in June when the weather is warmer. It was warmer in Novo than here in Moscow!!
Well, I plan to go take a short nap. Take care and thanks for all your thoughts. We will be so happy to be home and eat NORMAL food.
Love, Sherry
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008
We are finally home!
It was a very difficult trip, however we are back! We arrived back in Austin last night about 8:00pm. Our luggage wasn't so lucky as it didn't make it. We went home empty handed, but Delta should be delivering it to us sometime today.
We are finally home!
It was a very difficult trip, however we are back! We arrived back in Austin last night about 8:00pm. Our luggage wasn't so lucky as it didn't make it. We went home empty handed, but Delta should be delivering it to us sometime today.
Our trip was full of highs and lows. The highs of course were all about Carter and the lows were all about lack of sleep. This trip was so much more difficult on us than when we brought Samuel home in 2005. I believe that it has to do with all the time changes. Stavropol was in the same time zone as Moscow so it wasn't difficult to adjust once you got over the initial jet lag. But Novokuznetsk is a 4 time zones away from Moscow for a total of 12 from Texas and it really killed us. I figured yesterday that we were gone a total of 6 nights and we actually got to sleep 3 of them. I am still trying to catch up, but I do believe that I can function at work today.
Carter is such a sweetie. He is very healthy looking and isn't too far behind developmentally. I believe that he will catch up a lot quicker than Samuel especially since he has the help of another 4 year old. He speaks 100% Russian and only said Mama and Dada in English. (I think that is pretty universal) It will be a challenge for the first few weeks, but I am confident that he will pick it up rather quickly. He is very active, which will make for a long plane ride home. He was born to a young girl who was 20 when he was born. Like Samuel, there is no information about the father. They said that she kept Carter for 1 year and then her maternal rights were revoked and he was put into the orphanage. She apparently was an alcoholic. They said she has only called the orphanage once to check on him since he arrived in July 2005 and that very early on. Since then there has been no contact. Dana, Lena said Jenna and Carter are in the same room and are already friends. That will be great since you live near us and they can continue to be friends once they get home. Wouldn't it be great if we were able to travel at the same time?!
Moscow was uncomfortable at first, but then you go to Novokuznetsk and that makes Moscow feel like home. Novo was so remote and NO ONE speaks a bit of English, where people in Moscow get bits and pieces. I much prefer Moscow. I am so glad that we will be going back during summer which will be nice. The days weren't that cold there, but we were made to wear coats anyway. Our guide would have made us wear hats and scarfs too, but I lied and said we didn't have them. It was just too hot!!
We appreciate everyone thinking of us and Carter. I will keep you posted!
Love, Sherry
Love, Sherry
April brought us some bad news. The Governor of Kemerovo (where Carter is located) has decided to suspend adoptions effective immediately. The reason was because of a recent death of an adopted child by US adoptive parents in Utah. I was shocked and devastated! However, we were lucky that families who were waiting for court or are already scheduled to attend court sessions in Kemerovo are not affected by these new developments. I remember something that someone said during our first adoption and it is so true. "Adoption teaches you faith and patients." I am a "want it now, get it now" type of person so this was especially hard for me to just wait. I have to believe that somehow it builds my character.
In May we took the kids to Fiesta Texas. It was Samuel's first experience at an amusement park. We took him on the Road Runner (a relatively small roller coaster), he was terrified! The bumper cars and kids rides were definitely more his speed. It was such a fun day...wish we would go more often since it's only an hour away.
Samuel endured his first ear drum reconstructive surgery in June. It went great and although we still have one more ear to go, I am happy that he can finally hear better. It has put a damper on our swimming, but at least he can hear better. June was also a m
onth of many pool parties in our back yard. I always said with living in Texas, I wanted a pool. It only took me 11 years to get one. Last summer we had an in ground pool put in our back yard. It's GREAT! Midnight swims are even better! :)
onth of many pool parties in our back yard. I always said with living in Texas, I wanted a pool. It only took me 11 years to get one. Last summer we had an in ground pool put in our back yard. It's GREAT! Midnight swims are even better! :)
In July, we took a long weekend and went to the beach with our great friends. It was Samuel's first time at the beach. We had sooooo much fun...flying kites, skim boarding, playing volleyball and of course drinking lots of beer! July 23rd was an emotional day for me...Carter's 4th birthday. I was sad to not celebrate with him, but happy because we also finally got a court date for August 18th.Wow, August was just an awesome month.... Happy Birthday to me on the 7th...I always love to celebrate my birthday. We went to a local bar and celebrated with a few friends. This is also when we learned about the war that just broke out between Russia and Georgia. Just great....we wait all year to bring Carter home and now there is a war! Tommy and I agreed that regardless, we were going over to get our boy, war or no war. So on August 13th, we headed back to Russia to attend the over rated court system and bring Carter home. Here are a few of the entries from that trip...
August 14, 2008
Moscow 11:15 am/Texas 2:15 am
We have arrived safely. No problems at all. We are just tired from lack of sleep. I slept off and on during the 12 hour flight but Tommy didn't sleep at all. We met the family from Ohio that will be traveling with us at the Atlanta airport. Patti and Adam are very nice and are adopting a 2 year old. Its nice to have someone else to talk and share this experience with.
Our friends from Georgetown that had so many problems last week will be headed home tomorrow as planned. (Yea!). We will meet them later tonight for dinner after we catch a nap.
Traffic hasn't changed here at all. It is still slow movin, bumper to bumper with no identified lanes. The weather is great. Warm, no humidity and somewhat cool. Our driver is wearing shorts. If I had know that was okay I would have packed some. I thought I was brave to pack my flip flops!!
Well, I appreciate everyones well wishes for us. I was certainly hesitant to travel but now that were here I am good.
Hope the kids are being good. Hugs and kisses!
August 14, 2008
Moscow 10:45 pm/TX 1:45 pm
Hi all....
We just got back from having a 4 hour dinner with our friends from Georgetown (Rick, Dana and their two new children Jenna, 4, Zach, 1). They were so adorable and we had a good time playing with the kids on a roof top restaurant on old Arbat St. It made us more excited to bring Carter back to Moscow. The weather is great!!! We took the Metro/subway to Old Arabat and did fine. We did, however, get lost on the way back. I haven't figured out how that happened. But between the 4 of us (Adam and Patti went to) we walked back part way. I guess I got lucky because the two people I asked for directions from both spoke decent english. I can't express how much better it is to have another couple with us. It makes it all so much easier and fun. There are several sidewalk restaurants by our hotel so tomorrow we plan to relax there for dinner and drink a few beers. Our hotel is directly next to the Red Square so there is a lot to do.
Tomorrow we head to our medical exam. Hopefully it won't be a big deal. We are heading to bed for some much needed sleep.
Good night from Russia!! I hope everyone is doing well.
August 15, 2008
Moscow 12:35 pm/Tx 3:35 am
We had a very nice breakfast this morning in the hotel. I could use more sleep of course but I think that will always be the case over here. Our room, like always, is too hot for us. The air conditioner is as far cold as it will go. I even broke out my battery operated fan that I brought along, but it was still too warm.
We are at the medical clinic waiting for our turn as I type this. It is a little unsettling because from the outside this clinic/hospital is an old purple building that could resemble an insane asylum. Yikes! We were told it would take about three hours to be examined by the 8 different doctors. Hopefully like everything else here, most of the time will be waiting. We warned of a few questions that will be asked. "Do you own guns?" "Are you an emotional person?". How do you answer that. Either way you could be screwed. I am hoping that Olga (our translator) will help answer the right way.
Moscow 3:30pm/TX 6:30 am
Well we just finished 3 hrs later. We were supposed to be seen by 8 doctors. First we saw 5 doctors at one time. We had to take our shirts off while they took our blood pressure, reflexes, and felt our glands. Yes...awkward! They asked a few questions about our medical history and our families medical all of which we said was fine. Then we saw the "drug" doctor. On the way in Olga whispered to me to be sure and say that we DON'T drink everyday. Tommy didn't hear that part and when we got in they asked us at what age we first tried alcohol. I lied and said mid 20's (I didn't want it to appear that I broke the law). Tommy said 15 or 16 yes old. So then they asked Tommy how often he drinks. He said "I don't drink". They said then "how do you get rid of your depression? Everyone needs a drink". He says "swim". I have to say at that point I almost busted out laughing. I was glad when they never asked me anything cause I didn't know if I should go along with Tommy's answers or not. After that we were done, however all 8 doctors that we didn't see signed off on us. It confirms that this is all a way to collect more money from us. This "exam" cost us $900 each.
Anyway...we are all done with that. We are headed back to the hotel and plan to have a few drinks. (Guess Tommy will watch since he doesn't drink. Lol). Our flight to Novokuznetsk is tomorrow night at 10 pm. So we will have the day to relax and sight see.
August 16, 2008
Moscow 8:50pm/Tx 11:50am
Last email from Moscow. We are currently at the local Russian airport waiting for our flight to Kemerovo. It leaves here at 10:05pm and is a 4 hour flight, however with the 5 hour time change we arrive at 6:30am sunday morning (5:30 pm Sat in TX). This part is very hard because we loose a nights sleep and won't get it back. As soon as we arrive we are taken to our hotel and given maybe an hour to get settled and to freshen up. Then its off to breakfast and then to see Carter. Last time the orphanage was only 2 blocks from our hotel, but this time since its summer the kids are up in the hills/mountains at summer camp. We will have to drive 45 minutes up there for our visit. At least it might be cooler up there than in the 95' room of the orphanage like last time.
Everything is going good. We had to check out today at noon from our hotel but our driver didn't pick us up till 5pm. It was a long, hot afternoon trying to pass time. We layed on the grass in front of the Kremlin with thousands of others just people watching and laughing at the drunk guys in suits passed out drunk. Tommy misses his dr pepper and I would do about anything for a chicken express ice tea. We ordered two beers earlier (Tommy was feeling a bit depressed) and they served us them at room temperature. (I though about you Karri and how much you would have hated that). It wasn't good so I switched to warm coke. Nothing is served on ice it is always extra. They drink everything either hot or at room temperature
Anyway, I hope I still have service in Novokuznetsk but if you don't hear from me in about 6 or 7 hrs then don't panic. I will have to wait till wednesday when we get back to Moscow.
Take care and wish us luck. Court is only a day away.
Novo 12:35pm sun/TX 11:35 pm Sat
Well we just finished seeing Carter. Wow! Let me start from the beginning. We headed for the summer camp up in the hills. It reminded me of the foot hills of Colorado. I almost forgot we were in Russia. Lena told us that we were driving to pick up the kids (patty and adam's son too) and we were taking them from camp back into town to take their passport photos. So we arrived at the summer camp. It was really pretty, cool and rainy. We went inside and they brought them to us. Carter walked from around the corner wearing a pink sweater (yes I said pink) blue pants, sandles again and a baseball cap. He had grown a little. He ran straight to me and gave me a big hug. I picked him up and gave him a big kiss. It was so good to see him. We climbed back into the van and he sat on my lap. He wasn't scared at all of the ride back into town. We played with some toys, he drank all my water from my water bottle and snacked on some crackers. He is very smart. We already taught him words that he picked up right away. He said "bump" everytime we went over a speed bump. He knows shoes and water. We also looked at a small photo album that I brought. We pointed to Sam, Amanda and Josh's name and he said them very clear (except amanda) and even remembered who everyone was. I am very encouraged with the language barrier so far. He is going to be a big boy when he grows up. I loved looking at his hands and fingers. They are very long and thin. The shoes we brought are just a size to big but oh well. We weren't able to try on any clothes but I am sure what I have will be fine.
He did great taking his picture. He stayed still and didn't cry. I can't wait for his hair to grow. They shaved his head.
So now its back to the hotel for lunch and then some much needed sleep. Court is tomorrow morning in Kemerovo City (3-4 hrs drive). We won't get back until late so we will pick him up the next day.
Just wanted to fill you all in. Can't wait to bring him home.
Novo 8:23pm sun/TX 7:23am sun
I still can't believe we are here and that he is almost ours. Well, he is ours in my mind. Our visit earlier today was so good and seemed so natural. I am glad that our visit was outside the orphanage to give us an idea of how he will react with us. He did so well in the car, just sat still and played and talked to us. Once we got to town, he walked beside us, holding our hands on both sides of him. We didn't have much time when we got back, it was just to drop them off since it was their lunch time. He certainly talks a lot, most of which we don't understand. Lena says that he speaks pretty good Russian now, but the small amount of time we had, I have no doubt that the english will come very quickly. I still think he looks so young, like a baby, not a boy of 4 yrs. But now I think its because his head is shaved. All the boys have the same cut (shaved all over except a small spot of bangs that is about an inch long). Yes I will cut that quickly.
Carter doesn't know his name yet of course but soon he will get it. He is still very active and talks non stop just like Samuel. I can't wait to bath him and put him in clean clothes.
So on the way down from camp, Lena our guide/translator (who we can never communicate with just right, I think we just have a different way of life obviously) anyway she asked us if we wanted to stop and get flowers. I honestly didn't know what to say, but I was thinking: for who? I am so glad that Adam spoke up and said "for what purpose". She seemed offended when everyone said no thanks. Why would we want to spend even more money on flowers none the less??? We just down the road, we pull over and she hops out and starts picking flowers. Tommy laughed later because they were all just weeds. Then a short time later (please don't forget we so exhausted and it has been 36 hrs since we had sleep and we are delirious) Lena asks I'd we want to stop at the flee market to buy some fruit. Yes Dana she asked us if we wanted watermelon. NO we don't want fruit, we WANT sleep!!!! But of course we stopped anyway. There were so many people buying all types of fruit, bread, meat, ect. Of course there were flies everywhere landing on all of it. This is where it hit me that we were running all Lena's errands with her. Finally we get back to our hotel and she wants us to meet Olga (our other translator) in a few hrs so she can show us the grocery store and mall. We tried to explain that we needed sleep and would not be interested in those things until after court and after sleep. She seemed somewhat offended but finally allowed us some sleep. I took a 5 hour nap and now I will try to stay up for 3-4 hrs so I can go back to sleep at midnight. We leave for court at 6:30am.
Wish us luck on this last part of making Carter a Farrell. I am sure things will be fine. I will just be glad to be home. I miss all my kids like crazy and miss hearing Sam say "I love you" a dozen times a day. I miss talking to Amanda, and I miss seeing Josh.
I better wrap this one up! Take care everyone!
August 18, 2008
Kemerovo city 10:45am Mon/TX 9:45pm Sun
I wish this message was full of good news and happiness, but we have hit our first (and i hope only) speed bump. We were sitting in the court hallway waiting for our turn with the judge when Lena came out and said that our court was postponed until tomorrow. Apparently some form from the US Embassy was not received. This form is permission for Carter to be given a US visa. Since it is only 6:45am in Moscow at the Embassy we can't call them. We have to drive the long, very bumpy road back to Novokuznetsk and call the Embassy later once they are open. Hopefully they will fax what is necessary for our court now tomorrow. If all goes well, we will stay some extra time in Kemerovo City tomorrow and pick up his Passport all in one trip. Then once we get back to Novo in the evening we will pick Carter up from the summer camp and still be able to fly back to Moscow as planned on Wednesday morning.
Words can't describe how frustrated and disappointed we are. Things had been going so good and now this set back. I guess if all goes well tomorrow the set back will be minor. I just get so angry because our coordinator, Lena has terrible communication skills and your always left asking a dozen more questions that could have been avoided.
I am sorry our news isn't any better. We are just crushed and I am on the brink of tears so I will close for now. Please pray for us to complete this tomorrow without any more problems.
August 19, 2008
Kemerovo City 3:27 pm Tues/TX 2:27am Tues
GOOD NEWS!!!! We finished with court earlier this morning and it was successful today. Carter is officially ours! The 10 day waiting period was waived for us which is a huge relief. We are still not sure what happened yesterday but at this point it just doesn't matter. It all worked out fine.
After court Lena took us to eat lunch. We ate at Golden Chicken. Tommy was so excited to be eating chicken until he realized there was no fried chicken. It was still good and cost us 320 rubles (13 USD) for two plates of chicken and potatoes and two sodas. It has been so nice this time to eat decent food. Maybe its just us, but I haven't had anything that wasn't good. Of course I would love some Mexican food, but I can wait.
After lunch we went to sign some papers and were given our adoption certificates and birth certificates. From there we went to the passport office. Normally this is a 2 day process but they are trying very hard to get it all done today so we can make our flight back to Moscow tomorrow. Right now we have an hour and half wait at the passport office while they complete everything. So yes, it all worked out. The passports will be ready at 5pm and the we will head back to Novokuznetsk to pick up Carter. It will be about 8pm when we get them which isn't much time before bed and before we leave on a 6:30am flight tomorrow. Oh well, we will take what we can get at this point. Hopefully he won't be to scared of our hotel room, his bed, and all the new surroundings tonight or it could be a very long night.
I will write more later if I get the chance. Depends on easy he falls asleep. Can't wait to be home. Hugs and kisses to Josh, Amanda and Sam!
August 20, 2008
Novo 4:45am Wed/TX 3:45pm Tues+059.JPG)
Well this will be short and I will try to catch up later. We picked up Carter last night at 9pm and arrived back at our hotel at 10pm. It was an exhausting 16 hour day. He was happy to see us. He and the other little boy Aidan were waiting for us in the directors office. They knew we were comming. They were eager to take their clothes off to put on what we brought them. Then it was hugs and kisses to the director and off the two boys walked out of the orphanage hand in hand. It was a very emotional/once in a life time site. As we walked down the walk way you could hear women calling. They turned and from the second floor was several care takers waving good bye to them. They waived of course as we photographed and video this heart touching site. In that moment, everything was worth it. After we arrived at the hotel we changed into PJ's and went pee-sit (that's how you say pee pee) and the fear hit him. He cried for about 30 minutes before he fell asleep on my chest sucking his thumb.
It was a short night and we are heading for the airport in 40 min so I better go. Love to all
Kemerovo City 3:27 pm Tues/TX 2:27am Tues
GOOD NEWS!!!! We finished with court earlier this morning and it was successful today. Carter is officially ours! The 10 day waiting period was waived for us which is a huge relief. We are still not sure what happened yesterday but at this point it just doesn't matter. It all worked out fine.
After court Lena took us to eat lunch. We ate at Golden Chicken. Tommy was so excited to be eating chicken until he realized there was no fried chicken. It was still good and cost us 320 rubles (13 USD) for two plates of chicken and potatoes and two sodas. It has been so nice this time to eat decent food. Maybe its just us, but I haven't had anything that wasn't good. Of course I would love some Mexican food, but I can wait.
After lunch we went to sign some papers and were given our adoption certificates and birth certificates. From there we went to the passport office. Normally this is a 2 day process but they are trying very hard to get it all done today so we can make our flight back to Moscow tomorrow. Right now we have an hour and half wait at the passport office while they complete everything. So yes, it all worked out. The passports will be ready at 5pm and the we will head back to Novokuznetsk to pick up Carter. It will be about 8pm when we get them which isn't much time before bed and before we leave on a 6:30am flight tomorrow. Oh well, we will take what we can get at this point. Hopefully he won't be to scared of our hotel room, his bed, and all the new surroundings tonight or it could be a very long night.
I will write more later if I get the chance. Depends on easy he falls asleep. Can't wait to be home. Hugs and kisses to Josh, Amanda and Sam!
August 20, 2008
Novo 4:45am Wed/TX 3:45pm Tues
+059.JPG)
Well this will be short and I will try to catch up later. We picked up Carter last night at 9pm and arrived back at our hotel at 10pm. It was an exhausting 16 hour day. He was happy to see us. He and the other little boy Aidan were waiting for us in the directors office. They knew we were comming. They were eager to take their clothes off to put on what we brought them. Then it was hugs and kisses to the director and off the two boys walked out of the orphanage hand in hand. It was a very emotional/once in a life time site. As we walked down the walk way you could hear women calling. They turned and from the second floor was several care takers waving good bye to them. They waived of course as we photographed and video this heart touching site. In that moment, everything was worth it. After we arrived at the hotel we changed into PJ's and went pee-sit (that's how you say pee pee) and the fear hit him. He cried for about 30 minutes before he fell asleep on my chest sucking his thumb.
It was a short night and we are heading for the airport in 40 min so I better go. Love to all
Somewhere above Russia
Hi... We are in the skies somewhere between Novo and Moscow. Carter has done very well on the plane. Of course he is 4 so he does get board, but no crying so far thank goodness. We were up this morning very very early to catch a 7am flight out however it was delayed a few hours so I have no idea what time it is or how close we are.
I think he is doing amazing considering we haven't had him 12 hrs yet and he has already experience a plane ride, strange hotel and strange people. He certainly knows quite a bit of russian, I just wish I knew what he was saying. Lucky for me I do know when he needs to use the bathroom but that's it. We have been lucky that he hasn't had any accidents. Olga said it takes kids his age a month to six weeks to pick up english.
I am anxious to see the US Embassy doctor for his cough and breathing/congestion issues that he has always had. The orphanage started giving him breathing treatments a few days before we picked him up. I have medicine but am reluctant to give it to him in case he has a bad reaction to it.
We are ready to be home, sleep in our own bed and see the kids. We miss them all very much but we are on the down side of it now. We will be home late Sat night.
We will be glad to get to Moscow so we can have some relaxing time and some sleep.
Hi... We are in the skies somewhere between Novo and Moscow. Carter has done very well on the plane. Of course he is 4 so he does get board, but no crying so far thank goodness. We were up this morning very very early to catch a 7am flight out however it was delayed a few hours so I have no idea what time it is or how close we are.
I think he is doing amazing considering we haven't had him 12 hrs yet and he has already experience a plane ride, strange hotel and strange people. He certainly knows quite a bit of russian, I just wish I knew what he was saying. Lucky for me I do know when he needs to use the bathroom but that's it. We have been lucky that he hasn't had any accidents. Olga said it takes kids his age a month to six weeks to pick up english.
I am anxious to see the US Embassy doctor for his cough and breathing/congestion issues that he has always had. The orphanage started giving him breathing treatments a few days before we picked him up. I have medicine but am reluctant to give it to him in case he has a bad reaction to it.
We are ready to be home, sleep in our own bed and see the kids. We miss them all very much but we are on the down side of it now. We will be home late Sat night.
We will be glad to get to Moscow so we can have some relaxing time and some sleep.
Moscow 2:00pm Wed/ TX 5am Wed
Back in Moscow again. Boy am I relieved and totally exhausted. We are finally in our room and both Tommy and Carter are napping. I should be too but wanted to update you all. The plane ride was tough. Carter was very good, but we were all so tired. He finally fell asleep when the put the landing gear down to land in Moscow. Ugghhhh!
The embassy doctor will be here at 5:30am tomorrow to examine Carter. Thank goodness we don't have to do anything else. We haven't even had time to play with him really.
Ok, sorry but I am sooooooooo tired. Got to get a nap while I can. Here is a kiss for you Sam! Mmwa! I really miss you and check the calendar, its only three more days!
Great job at winning your game Amanda! I am proud of you. Josh, today is you last day of class. Good luck on the final exam! See you all soon.
August 21, 2008
Moscow 8am Thurs/TX 11pm Wed
The doctor was here very early this morning at 6am. He examined Carter and said that he had rickets that could be resolved with a better diet and a minor case of bronchitis. Rickets show in your knees and flat feet Other than that he said that he looked great. No signs of FAS or down syndrome. He ate a very big breakfast this morning of eggs, bacon, sausage, and yogurt.
We are now waiting for our Moscow coordinator to come by and prepare our documents for our Embassy appointment tomorrow. Then we have borrowed a stroller from the hotel. We will walk down towards Red Square and take some pictures. We also plan to stop at the local grocery store for some juice and chocolate. Hopefully we can find some childrens store so we can buy him a few outfits from Russia. Other than that we plan to be lazy today.
We are counting down the days. Can't wait to be home.
Moscow 4:45pm/TX 7:45am
Well, Carter had his first taste of McDonalds today. I am not sure who enjoyed it more, us or him. Its so funny to watch him try new things. He makes so many different faces. He isn't very eager to try new things but with a little coaxing from me he will eventually try it. He loved his hamburger and fries and ate every little crumb. He even dipped his fries into the ketchup (we had to buy that too). He would lick off the ketchup before he ate the fry. I got him a small sprite but he spit that out. I haven't decided if it was the carbination or the fact that it was cold that he didn't like. He hasn't seemed to like things that are real cold. (Louise, he is like your Samuel that way). But we did get a chocolate sunday for desert. At first he made all sorts of ugly faces but in the end helped me eat it.
We walked down to red square. We took some great pics of him in front of St. Basils and of the Kremlin. It was a very nice day and he really enjoyed looking around at all the busy people and cars.
We got back to the hotel in time for our (yes all three of us) nap. He slept from 1-4 and I had to wake him to get him up.
Well, take care! Only one more full day here and we will be headed home! YEA!
August 22, 2008
Moscow 3pm/TX 6am
Hi...
We just finished with our US Embassy appointment. We have Carters passport with visa. YEA! This means we are completely finished. Now we just wait for our flight home tomorrow.
Carter is doing good. He is such a good boy when its just us. He acts out more when others are watching. I can't believe how much he eats. This morning he loved his coco puff cereal, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, yogurt, and toast. Yes he ate everything. He isn't that interested in fruit and made a terrible face when he tried watermelon.
It is almost dinner time and we plan to head over to TGI Fridays. I am sooo anxious to get home and see everyone and have some mexican food. I feel like we have been gone forever. I am not nearly as worried about the flight home as I was with Samuel. Carter did very well on wednesday so other than just being worn out, we will be fine.
August 23, 2008
Hi all....
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have just arrived back in Austin. It was a terribly long day. We woke this morning at 5am in Moscow (8pm Fri night in TX). Our flight left at noon (3am TX) and we have landed here at 8:55pm. That's 26 hrs of being awake for all 3 of us!!! Carter was EXCELLENT the entire trip. He is exhausted and can hardly keep his little eyes open. He took a few naps on the plane but other than that just played and sat still. UNBELIEVABLE!! We learned at the Atlanta airport how scared of dogs he is. The drug dog walked by sniffing luggage and he screamed and climbed up me in a matter of a second. That's bad news considering we have 3 big dogs at home. If I remember sam was too. Anyway, it's great to finally be home.
Back in Moscow again. Boy am I relieved and totally exhausted. We are finally in our room and both Tommy and Carter are napping. I should be too but wanted to update you all. The plane ride was tough. Carter was very good, but we were all so tired. He finally fell asleep when the put the landing gear down to land in Moscow. Ugghhhh!
The embassy doctor will be here at 5:30am tomorrow to examine Carter. Thank goodness we don't have to do anything else. We haven't even had time to play with him really.
Ok, sorry but I am sooooooooo tired. Got to get a nap while I can. Here is a kiss for you Sam! Mmwa! I really miss you and check the calendar, its only three more days!
Great job at winning your game Amanda! I am proud of you. Josh, today is you last day of class. Good luck on the final exam! See you all soon.
August 21, 2008
Moscow 8am Thurs/TX 11pm Wed
The doctor was here very early this morning at 6am. He examined Carter and said that he had rickets that could be resolved with a better diet and a minor case of bronchitis. Rickets show in your knees and flat feet Other than that he said that he looked great. No signs of FAS or down syndrome. He ate a very big breakfast this morning of eggs, bacon, sausage, and yogurt.
We are now waiting for our Moscow coordinator to come by and prepare our documents for our Embassy appointment tomorrow. Then we have borrowed a stroller from the hotel. We will walk down towards Red Square and take some pictures. We also plan to stop at the local grocery store for some juice and chocolate. Hopefully we can find some childrens store so we can buy him a few outfits from Russia. Other than that we plan to be lazy today.
We are counting down the days. Can't wait to be home.
Moscow 4:45pm/TX 7:45am
Well, Carter had his first taste of McDonalds today. I am not sure who enjoyed it more, us or him. Its so funny to watch him try new things. He makes so many different faces. He isn't very eager to try new things but with a little coaxing from me he will eventually try it. He loved his hamburger and fries and ate every little crumb. He even dipped his fries into the ketchup (we had to buy that too). He would lick off the ketchup before he ate the fry. I got him a small sprite but he spit that out. I haven't decided if it was the carbination or the fact that it was cold that he didn't like. He hasn't seemed to like things that are real cold. (Louise, he is like your Samuel that way). But we did get a chocolate sunday for desert. At first he made all sorts of ugly faces but in the end helped me eat it.
We walked down to red square. We took some great pics of him in front of St. Basils and of the Kremlin. It was a very nice day and he really enjoyed looking around at all the busy people and cars.
We got back to the hotel in time for our (yes all three of us) nap. He slept from 1-4 and I had to wake him to get him up.
Well, take care! Only one more full day here and we will be headed home! YEA!
August 22, 2008
Moscow 3pm/TX 6am
Hi...
We just finished with our US Embassy appointment. We have Carters passport with visa. YEA! This means we are completely finished. Now we just wait for our flight home tomorrow.
Carter is doing good. He is such a good boy when its just us. He acts out more when others are watching. I can't believe how much he eats. This morning he loved his coco puff cereal, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, yogurt, and toast. Yes he ate everything. He isn't that interested in fruit and made a terrible face when he tried watermelon.
It is almost dinner time and we plan to head over to TGI Fridays. I am sooo anxious to get home and see everyone and have some mexican food. I feel like we have been gone forever. I am not nearly as worried about the flight home as I was with Samuel. Carter did very well on wednesday so other than just being worn out, we will be fine.
August 23, 2008
Hi all....
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have just arrived back in Austin. It was a terribly long day. We woke this morning at 5am in Moscow (8pm Fri night in TX). Our flight left at noon (3am TX) and we have landed here at 8:55pm. That's 26 hrs of being awake for all 3 of us!!! Carter was EXCELLENT the entire trip. He is exhausted and can hardly keep his little eyes open. He took a few naps on the plane but other than that just played and sat still. UNBELIEVABLE!! We learned at the Atlanta airport how scared of dogs he is. The drug dog walked by sniffing luggage and he screamed and climbed up me in a matter of a second. That's bad news considering we have 3 big dogs at home. If I remember sam was too. Anyway, it's great to finally be home.
September brought new experiences for our family. Carter and Samuel played their first season of soccer. Although Carter never really got the hang of the game, I think he really enjoyed it. Samuel did well, but baseball is defanitely his game. We also attended our first Texas Tech football game. Josh's girlfriend, Chelsea, is a freshmen cheerleader and she invited us for family weekend. It was so much fun...the boys loved the game. Carter even got into it yelling and hollering with the crowd.
October was a celebration for both Amanda's 15th birthday and Samuel's 5th birthday. It was also Carter's first Halloween. The boys were boxers...Samuel was Rocky while Carter was his rival...the Russian Ivan Drago. The boys cashed in with two buckets of candy...enough to keep them hyper for the next year or so.November was the boys re-adoption. The process is quick and easy and allows the boys to have the same rights as biological children. It also gives them both Texas birth certificates. Originally, I didn't want to do this because I never wanted to hide from them the fact that they were adopted. They have history and heritage which is our job as their parents to preserve, not erase. I am happy that the birth city on the Texas certificates will read the actual city in Russia of their birth. Samuel had his second ear drum reconstruction surgery. This will be a long process, but I am confident that his hearing will be completely restored over the next year or so.
December we celebrated Joshua's 18th birthday. I still find it hard to believe that my baby, who I rocked to sleep in what seems just yesterday is already considered an adult. I use that term loosely because I too used to be 18. Miss Amanda passed her driving test by the skin of her teeth to get her permit. Now the begging begins for her to be my official chauffeur. I will celebrate the day when she can drive away SAFELY on her own. We also celebrated Tommy's birthday rockin at the AC/DC concert. It really was awesome! In all the concerts we have been to (and it's a lot) they put on the best show!
It really has been an amazing year for us. We are truely blessed with our family. We are looking forward to a busy 2009 with Joshua's graduation from high school in May, our two week family vacation scheduled for June, my 20th high school reunion in July, they boys starting kindergarden in August, and Amanda driving in October (watch out). I doubt we will adopt again...although I received a photo of 12 year old, Sasha, who is living in an orphanage in the Ukraine. He desprately needs a home and has just become availble for adoption. So what's stopping me??? $30,000 that's what. Isn't it a shame... he needs a family, we would love to have him in ours but it's not that easy. I just don't understand why it can't be some court costs, and one trip over to bring him home. Here is Sasha's photo if you or anyone you know has the desire to change the life of this little boy. Normally, pictures are not available and your agency choses which child is the best fit for you, however this boy is being hosted by a single parent here in Austin. Sasha will return home next week. The Ukraine will not allow single parents to adopt.
Thanks for hanging in there. It's a year of wonderful memories for me and it's like reliving them today as I write this last entry for 2008. Here is to the best year ever........HAPPY NEW YEAR!
