The best laid plans...

Well... The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray...

We picked up Jacob last night. We didn't know we were getting him until we left the hotel. So we had all of Austin's stuff with us... Ok no problem.

We arrived to find him on the rocking horse eating a bun. After meeting with the doctor to discuss his diet (minced meat anyone?), we finally were able to take him, in their cloths. Pick butterflies underneath with a blue sweater then yellow outer coat. We think the best part was the purple stocking hat (toboggan for those of you that are from the south) they put on his head.

We were off to buy several things from the local market. Formula, rice cereal, the yucky stuff. He didn't like his first bath at all. Not sure why but it was not his favorite thing.

We finally got him ready for bed, and Beth gave him a bottle. It was a good moment. We put him down and then waited for him to fall asleep (8 pm). Guess our schedule is changing.

We are doing well. Our next challenge is getting back to Moscow. It is often (always) rainy and foggy. This delays the flights. The problem is we need to be in Moscow before 10 am on Friday to get an appointment at the embassy. We were planning on leaving on Saturday, but this might change.

Prayers Answered:
1. The couple received their baby after the grandmother mysteriously resurfaced and attempted to get the daughter to claim the child. The next day she refused and the court granted the adoption decree to the couple. (MAJOR ANSWER TO PRAYER!)
2. Jacob is bonding well with both of us.

Please pray
1. It would be sunny tomorrow and we could leave by plane, on-time, and arrive,
on-time.
2 That Austin would bond with us
3. We will be able to communicate with them (especially Austin)
4. That our process would continue to be smooth.

We love you guys!

Read more...

One Step Closer

Today we got one step closer to bringing our boys home. We went to the court with our translator today to pick up the final copy of the court decree of the adoption as well as the boys' original birth certificates. We then took the birth certificates to the registrar's office where they will be destroyed and new birth certificates made with our names on them. Oh, all the paperwork :)
We had a good day with the boys today. Austin continues to be wild and crazy but seems to be beginning to understand rules and tries (at least on occasion) to follow them. Jacob seems to be bonding with us more and more each day and draws us in with his smile. We can see a little hint of his older brother in him as he does not like you to take his toys or crackers from him :).
Tomorrow is the big day...we get to pick Austin up from the orphanage. We decided to pick him up by himself for one night since we anticipate him to have the most difficulty with the transition from the orphanage to life with us. Please pray that the transition will be smooth and that he will understand what is going on and will be able to trust us. Please pray for us as we do not really know what to expect. He has been told he will be leaving "to go to America" with us but aren't exactly sure how much of this a 3 yr old actually understands. We will pick Jacob up on Wednesday and will have him in the hotel with us for 1 day before returning to Moscow. Your prayers are definitely coveted as we transition into life as a family. We will keep you updated and miss each of you and can not wait to return to the US!

Read more...

Birthday

Do you enjoy giving or receiving gifts at parties? I enjoy both, not sure which one I enjoy more...

We brought three 20x20x12 boxes of things for the kids. In two of these boxes were 15 winnie the pooh bears from toys R us. They are a bit larger (about 2' tall), we (or really Beth) got a really good deal!

Austin's birthday is today, he is 3. They celebrate the fall birthdays during this month so there were two birthdays, Austin's and another girl. We arrived early and brought the bears, a truck, bananas, oranges, apples, and sok (juice). We put two bears in the front of the class in a basket for the two children, the rest were hidden in a big sheet that was used as wrapping paper with a bow on top.

They came into the room to a train song, they were moving their arms like the arms of the locomotive moving in a circle. They all sat in their chairs, Austin was in the first (of course). They sang several more songs then presented the two with a plastic cake with candles on top. The intent was for both of the birthday kids to blow the candles out.

Austin blew them all out...

Then we presented Austin with the new machina (really that's car but it works for the truck) and bear. He was thrilled. We presented the little tivichka (girl) with the bear she was happy. Then the best part was when the entire package was opened and all the kids ran for the bears. In some cases the bears were longer than the children.

We returned to the group room where we ate our snack. I was able to video the room and the bedroom where he sleeps. It was great. We played with Austin in the music hall for about 15 minutes after the snack, then it was 10:25 (time to go outside). On come the 3 layers of clothing.

Beth took him outside while I signed a paper stating that we donated the bears to the kids. I went outside to find them walking, and Austin looking at some object on the ground. He is doing better about coming when called. Today Beth would give him a big hug when he returned.

Later he hauled of and hit another child with the truck he was carrying. The translator had left so I was left to discipline in a foreign language. Long story short we had a mini-meltdown.

Later that morning we took both boys for their passport photos. They both were very calm and watchful of what was going on. Austin especially liked riding in the machina.

Prayers are being answered. Our bonding seems to be improving and each boy shows a little progress each day of relating to us more and more. We saw that while Austin is independent he does feel. He is also very aggressive (for aggressive sake) and we need to help him with this.

Please continue to hold us in your prayers:
1. That another couple we know her would receive their court decree tomorrow (there is something strange going on and they are not being told the whole story).
2. They will continue to bond to us
3. We will be able to communicate with them (especially Austin)
4. That our process would continue to be smooth.

We love you guys.

Read more...

Time out for the official grownup

Ok. Many of you know this point, some have yet to cross the threshold. Its the point at which you can no longer truly call yourself a kid and now are an official grown-up. For me this happened today.

Our day usually begins at 10:45 where we catch a ride with our driver to the orphanage. Once there Austin's group is usually outside for their daily walk. We walk around the courtyard until we find him. Sometimes we walk with his group other times just with him. Usually it involves some just the three of us time.

During this time Austin likes to play a game called "I am going to push your boundaries as far as I can". Usually he walks where he isn't supposed to go. Or he runs away and wants to be chased, etc.

We come inside where we pull at least 3 layers of clothing off of him, rather he takes it off himself because there is no helping him. We then go into a music room where we play for some time.

This is a special music room, complete with the stern but caring music teacher. Those who went to Berthoud Elementary, visions of Mrs. Eggbert the art teacher, come to mind. He isn't allowed to touch anything in the room without the permission of the teacher; he knows this.

We bring a backpack everyday with various items, including several toys, camera, video recorder, and the like. He usually tries to pick up as many has he can, until two days ago where we said that he could only play with one toy at a time.

He plays for about 20 minutes then returns to his group for lunch. He returns after lunch for about 15 or 20 minutes more. During the break we spoke with the translator and music teacher. Among other things said the music teacher had told us that another couple came and set very specific rules and was strict with their child and it seems to work well. Thus far we have been afraid discipline because we didn't know what, if any the response from the staff would be.

Too late.

When he returned I explained to him that he wasn't to touch anything in the room except for the toys we brought, AND he could only play with one toy at a time. The consequences for not listening to me would be sitting on a chair for a period of time.

Test1: Play with only one toy.

Austin begin to play with one of the toys then he picked up another without putting the toy back. To the chair he went, for 1 minute. He cried and wondered "what did I do?" I explained why he was there and that he shouldn't do it again, AND that I loved him very much. (parental slip number one, you know I do this because I love you, etc)

Test2: Touch other things in the room

Austin began to wonder around the room and into one of the corners. He cut his eyes toward me then looked down to a plate of shiny moroccos. He pick them up and I stood up. It drop just about as fast, then he was on the chair. This time he wouldn't sit there so (and this parental slip was a bit subtler) I said that he could sit in the chair for 1 minute or return to his group. He said no to both... wait for it please... That's when I said either he was to choose or I would choose for him... (slip number two)

So it would seem that I have become my parents. At least I have said things I vowed to never say and we know that this slippery slope is a dangerous one.

So now, I am an official grownup.

Read more...

Run around in circles

Today we traveled to the orphanage to visit the boys. Austin was outside with his group. Today the care taker (one who takes some interest) was showing the kids all kinds of things outside. Trees, birds, and machines. There was much interest. Austin recognized us and came up and grabbed each of our hands, as we hold hands when we walk.

We did a little less chasing today, this care taker seems to have his number, he responds to her. We played some then he wanted to be pushed in the swing. So we swung some. After about 10 minutes of this it began to get a bit colder. His class was returning inside so we went in.

We were allowed some time to play with Austin by himself in the music room. On every other day there has been other adopting families there playing with their children. It was good to have the room to ourselves.

Austin played with a new toy we purchased, a horn that plays different songs. It will of course not be making the trip back:). He allowed Beth to hold him because she would sit him on her legs then bounce them to the beat of the current song. It was a neat moment.

Later he started the "I am going to test the two of you and see what I can get away with". He begin to walk away and be into everything that he shouldn't be into. When ever he is spoken to in Russia to not do something, then he responds. He seems to know that we cannot communicate well with him, so he just continues on.

He left to eat lunch and Jacob arrived. He seems much better today. He was more awake and his body didn't seem so sick. (Prayer answered!) He played with the stackable cups we purchased at the "department store" across from the hotel. It was good. He vocalized some more with either da for yes or da for da. (not sure) Austin returned after lunch and found the three of us there.

He came in and just sat down near us. We had our translator explain that Jacob was his brother. I am not sure how happy he was to learn that he was going to have to share these "parents". He figured out how to put the cups back in the right order then he decided to test once again. He wondered around the room and found these plastic "wiffle" type balls. He picked them up one by one and put them into a play structure (house). Did we mention that the music teacher is somewhat of a grump and DOES NOT like her stuff touched by the children?

We told him no, but he continued. Our translator told him no, but he continued. He would often cut his eyes at us to see what our reaction was. We then began to ignore. He finally tired of testing and came back over for some more interaction. He picked up the camera and we told him no and to put it down, he then dropped the camera, picked it up and walked out of his way to give it to me rather than Beth (the one closest to him).

Long story short, oh my! It seems that we have a child that is every bit of 3 years old. Additionally he has been raised (and praised) for being independent. The hard part about all of this is we need for him to attach to us as parents... He left for his nap and we were left with Jacob.

Jacob played for a while longer. He enjoyed the cups then he made some motion like he wanted to stand. He grabbed onto both of my fingers (with a stackable cup in his left hand) and we walked in circles. He did very well. He seemed more alert and interactive.

We return tomorrow for another installment.

We are realizing that this is going to be hard. We have the parent aspects but specifically with Austin we believe we may encounter some bonding issues with him.

We have been told that a week from tomorrow we will received the court decree of our adoption. At that point we "own" the children and can take them if we wish. We will need to stay around a couple of days to get the various documents in order for travel. We are now struggling with if/when we should take them. Our hotel here would work but be difficult to have two children in our room. It would be good to get them on our own terms but may require us to be up all night and have one less night of sleep before the return trip home... ugg!

Please keep us in your prayers. They have been seen and I can testify that Jesus is not far from us. We see him move daily
1. Jacob seems more healthy today
2. Austin recognized us
3. We are resting
4. Several of the adopting families attended a church today. This was my prayer that I would have the opportunity to attend church here and hopefully next weekend I will be able to go.

Please pray that
1. We could fly back to Moscow (not ride the train)
2. Our return trip home would be quiet and uneventful
3. Austin will listen to us and trust us
4. Austin will attach quickly to Beth and myself
5. Jacob will attach quickly to Beth and myself
6. We would have wisdom regarding when we should take them from the orphanage.
7. We would have confidence in our decisions

We love you guys and covet your prayers over us.

Read more...

Passing the time

We thought we would post today since we never got it done yesterday. We have officially entered a virtually constant state of boredom (other than the short time we get to see the boys each day). Yesterday we were able to see the boys for a total of 2 hours, basically an hour for each boy. Unfortunately the boys have different eating/sleeping schedules and so we are unable to see them together. Yesterday, we spent an hour chasing Austin around outside on the playground. He would look at us and then run away and wait to see if we would chase him. He is definitely mischievious. Most of the time, when we called him, he would ignore us and keep running. Then, I noticed that it looked like he was trying to pull his pants down (while we were on the playground). I asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom and he said "yes." So, I told him to come to me and we would go to the bathroom. He came immediately without reservation. So, we know he at least will come when he needs something :). Jacob remains very watchful of everything around him. We did get a cry out of him yesterday when we tried to take the wet wipe box away from him. He remains quite weak and appears tired; however, we have found that when he wants something (ie a specific toy) he will work to get it. Yesterday he pulled himself up to stand and moved a few steps holding on in order to get the toy.
Today, as I mentioned above, has been pretty much an uneventful day. We didn't get to see the boys today as you can only visit 1 time per weekend. So, we will go back tomorrow. We slept in. We seem to be sleeping a lot. We ate breakfast at the cafe below our hotel and then did a little walking to the grocery store, etc. John has been doing some computer work for his job this afternoon. Well, hope everyone is well. We miss you guys and can't wait to bring our boys home to meet each of you!

Read more...

WE ARE PARENTS!

We are back at the hotel and heading to bed and thought we would give everyone a update as we know many of you have been praying fervently for us. We had a successful court hearing today. Praise God! The judge and prosecutor were amazingly "friendly" by Russian standards and we even saw smiles on both of their faces during the court proceedings which is pretty rare from what we have heard. We were told the court session might last as long as 4 hours; however, we were only in the court room( it was actually the judge's office) for a little over an hour. They asked us many questions but we were prepared to answer all of them. Afterwards, we were able to go to lunch with our facilitator, translator, the inspector at the orphanage, and the social worker of the orphanage, all of whom which were present in the court room and spoke on our behalf. It was evident from these individuals and with the judge & prosecutor that the interests of the boys were truly top priority. We thank each of you for your prayers throughout this process and continue to covet your prayers as we travel back in 10 days and transition to life as a larger family. Your prayers have truly been seen and felt and God's hand has been evident to us here already. We will keep you updated. We will go to see the boys again in the morning and need to get a little sleep! Love to you all!

Read more...

Court

We arrived in Volgograd at 915am. The train ride was roughly 20 hours long. It was an interesting experience. We rode in our own compartment with two bench style bunks on either side. There was a TV with one station that was playing a badly dubbed version of Overboard. If we listened carefully we could understand the English being spoken.

We were served dinner at 430 pm, it consisted of a broth based soup, fried chicken, french fries, salad, and a pepsi. It wasn't bad but early so we were a bit hungary come this morning.

We traveled to the central baby house where we say the boys for the first time in two months. They look good. Austin has grown bigger and seems excited (in a mild sense) to see us. Jacob smiled at Beth. Both look good, however Jacob stills seams "sickly". We will find out what he has when we return?

Later we spoke with our facilitator regarding court and all that it involves. We attend court tomorrow at 1030 am Local (EST + 8 hrs). We are nervous as we are excited. We must give a short speech followed by a round of questions from the prosecutor and judge. We are extremely nervous about this one... Please hold in fervent prayer,

1. Court would go smoothly
2. We would have a successful finding of the court (IA we can adopt the boys)
3. We would be confident in Jesus and that His spirit would provide us with the words to say and they would be heard by ears of wisdom and discernment
4. The judge and prosecutor would find favor on us.
5. Jacob would be healthy
6. Smooth trip home.

We love you guys, and thank you for standing with us!

Read more...

Tverskaya Hello

We have safely arrived at the Tverskaya hotel in Moscow. Our trip was smooth and we had no real problems. Our flight arrived late into Moscow, just after a large plan from China had arrived. The result was an hour and a half wait in the passport line to get into the country. Of course, we chose the slowest line of all 10, the one next to us cycled at least twice before we went through.

We retrieved ALL of our bagage (6 pieces in all) and headed out to find our ride to the hotel. She was standing towards the back and holding a sign written in pink highlighter... Non-the less we found her and later our driver.

We arrived at the hotel, showered, ordered room service, and went to bed.

We travel by train to Volgograd today. Should be an experience for 10 hours. More rest and studing for our court apperance.

Take care we love you!

Please pray for us:

1. travel mercies and saftey in travel
2. Our court apperance that we would be calm and have the words for the questions asked.
3. For our return trip home, that it would be quiet, smooth, and uneventful.

Read more...

The Next big adventure

Well, we are on the eve of our next big adventure. We depart for Russia in the morning. We currently are living in that tension of excitement and nervousness. We have some big travel days ahead. We arrive in Volgograd later in the week and our court date will occur. Please keep us in your prayers.

Please pray
1. That we would be rested and not suffer from the effects of long travel
2. We would be kind to one another and others on our journey
3. We would find favor in the eyes of the court
4. Our judge would have wisdom and discernment in the proceeding
5. We would have the answers to the judges questions
6. We would be protected from evil

We love you guys!

John and Beth

Read more...

A little slice of Russia, Right Here

Take 1:
We have been making last minute preparations to travel to Russia to pick up our two boys. We have several pieces of our dossier that are set to expire within days of our court date. So we decided to renew them just in case something happened in Volgograd where our court date was delayed enough to invalidate the pieces.

We when through the gyrations of signature, notarization, and apostille. Later our local home-study agency told us that Colorado had removed the $2 / document fee for overnight apostilles. Beth returned to pick up the paper and questioned if we could be refunded the fee for the apostille because of the policy change.

The response was that they had indeed changed the policy but as of the 8th of Nov it was suspended until the 21st of Nov because the computer system was not working with the change and could not be updated until then.

Policy change held up because of technology.

Take 2:
Beth's mom called her at work and said that there was a problem with the last copy of our marriage certificate. It seems that the Sec. of State in Raleigh had no record of receiving or sending the certificate to us.

She was on her way to Raleigh to get another copy apostilled and later she Fedex the copy to us. The next morning Beth received the Fedexed license and that afternoon we received the mailed copy that the Sec. of State had no record of sending...

Read more...

Plane vs. Train

Post to a Volgograd adoption group:

Are you guys going to Volgograd by plane or by train? We found out today
that we have to travel to Volgograd by train....we still don't know how we
will come back.

Can't wait to see you guys!

Beth

Read more...

Advice for the travelers

Thought you would like some insight to the questions we are asking so here is our post to a group we belong to and their responses:

From: Beth B
Date: Wed Nov 2, 2005 7:38 pm
I have lots of questions for those of you who have done all th is before. How many outfits did you take? Is there a place to do laundry or have it done at the hotel? What kinds of food did you take for your kids..we are adopting a 15 month old and a 3 yr old. Should we have boots for the 3 yr old? Realistically, what are the chances of having the 10 day wait waived? How much can you visit the kids during the 10 day wait? What should we wear to court?

Anyone willing to answer, it would be much appreciated :)

Read more...

More detail please?

It would seem that details on the current situation are desired. Well, sorry for the lack of such we have just been trying to get ready to go attend our court date, that is THE adoption of our children. So what does this mean? You should see our guest room, or rather the bed. Its piled high with diapers, toys, medicine, clothes, and various other child related items...

We are doing well. Excited, nervous, and the like. Our court date is on the 17th so we will travel on the 13th arriving in Volgograd on the 15th after one night stay in Moscow. It is cold there, the average high temp for Nov in Moscow is 32F. Volgograd is a bit warmer... I don't know the averages but it is somewhere between 32F and 45F.

We really love each of you walking with us. I know we say that a ton, but it is true. We would not be where we are without you. Please continue to lift us up in prayer. Please pray:

Praise
1. We have received our court date

Request:
1. We would have a judge with wisdom, discernment, kindness, strength
2. We would find favor with the judge and prosecutor
3. Our 10 day waiting period would be "waived"
4. We would have a miraculously quiet trip home

Read more...