The month of December

All I can say is that we had a wonderful month! Christmas was great, first time at home in 9 years! Oliver loved the kitchen Brynn got him and all of the other great toys he got. I am still trying to recover the house. I really need to clean out the toy boxes and get rid of the baby toys. He is now all boy but still a little lover......

This past weekend was a milestone in his life, he has been with us longer than he was in the orphanage! To me that is huge, he is over coming his developmental delays and attaching to us more and more each day. I really don't think we have anything to worry about in the attachment department.

We had fun this past Saturday meeting up with our fellow travelers at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. Oliver and Evan are so different in size but so similiar developmentally. Evan is two months younger than Oliver but they seem to be pretty much doing the same things. Look back to my post in July where we had seen them this summer. The boys have changed so much!

9 Month Gotcha Day

Today Oliver has been with us 9 months. It seems like he never wasn't our son. I feel like he came from my own body.....I always wondered if I would feel that way. I knew I would love him and prayed that God would give me the ability to feel the same unconditional love I feel towards Brynn for Oliver. He saw me through, I guess I never doubted I would but maybe it was when would I feel it. Life is wonderful!

Oliver is doing great! He babbles constantly but we are still waiting for more words than up, mama, dada and ba(bye). We have an evaluation with early intervention on December 3rd to hopefully get speech therapy started. Our health insurance will not pay for us to take him to a private speech therapist. I know it is crazy but thank goodness there is early intervention. I think it will work since they come to your house usually, it will save me a long trip to the other end of town.

Michelle has had big news in the last week, she is returning to the University of South Florida to continue her education. I got an email from her last Wednesday morning with the subject line "I just need to vent" well she had finally been accepted in to USF's BS to BSN accelerated program. She had applied for the summer or fall 2007 term and been turned down. Evidentally she had checked the box to have her application considered in future terms. She wasn't planning on accepting the offer and I told her she was going. The orientation was on Thursday and she even asked me to go with her. A major step in our relationship, I think we are back to pre-February terms! Later when we were talking I said "You didn't send me that email for no reason." Her reply was "I knew you would make me go." I am a big pusher in the girls pursuing their dreams and not giving up. I reminded Michelle that Oliver is my dream and I never gave up. We are excited but not looking forward to the added expenses right now but she has to do this!

Last night we met Michelle and Stephanie for dinner in Tampa on our way home from Orlando. I sat at the table looking at our 4 kids thinking how truly blessed we are. Oliver was so happy to sit on Steph's lap and play with her glass of water and she was only too happy to drink from the cup afterwards. I see the girls all slowly growing to love him and truly care about him! Yes, even Michelle is warming up to him! Brynn and Steph are totally taken with him. I so wish I had the camera to capture the moment and I can never remember I have one on my phone:( God is good to us!

One year ago today Maxim entered our lives

One year ago today we received Oliver's referral, it was the day before Thanksgiving. We had been out and about preparing to leave for my parents house the next morning. I had a message from our agency director that they had a referral for us from Kirov for an infant boy but we would not be traveling until February! We were so excited! Here is the picture that was emailed to us that evening! Such an exciting time it was! Hard to believe we were transformed a year ago today. That little picture tucked in my pocket and put on my night stand to see first thing in the morning! Oh dreams do come true!

Brynn's car

Here is a video of Brynn's suprise on Friday, she got my parents old car. We had it shipped down from Omaha since my parents had it there for a summer vehicle. It is in really great shape, what a nice first car. We are hoping it will last until she graduates from college since it will probably take her that long to pay us back for it. I had to tape the surprise arrival for Don and my mom to watch. She was too funny!

The cutest giraffe you ever saw

Here is Oliver at Trunk or Treat this past Sunday night! He was so good and so sweet. He wasn't even afraid of Mama in her scary costume for the haunted house. My friends were disappointed, they thought he would be afraid of me and he would finally willingly come to them. But no luck there! He is one lil' mama's boy!

Six months ago today

Oliver Maxim became a Baer! It was one of the best days of my life! Sadly, we didn't get to see Oliver that day, which is a long story but he truly became a part of our hearts on February 4th, the day we met him! We knew in the first minutes that Maxim was our son, never a doubt for either one of us!

February 19th:

August 20th:

Walking update

I think this video speaks for itself!

Our other big accomplishment is on the sleep front! We are in the process of doing sleep training, thanks to my friend, Amy! She has been such a great help, she works at an international adoption clinic and will hopefully soon be a new mommy to a baby boy from Russia too! We are making major progress and hopefully nighttime issues will be a thing of the past. Thanks, Amy!

Two months since last post!

We have had the craziest summer! We were pretty much gone for 4 weeks on two different trips. The end of June we took off for a week to Greenville/Spartanburg, SC area and had a great time! Stephanie and Brynn both came and we got to meet Oliver's second cousin-to-be, Malachi. Don's neice, Erin and her partner, Amy are fostering him with the hope of adopting him in the near future. Aren't they so cute together? Malachi is 3 months to the day older than Oliver. We also got to see Aunt Connie, Uncle Dean and Cousin Nick. We also threw some sight seeing in with them and by ourselves. It was vacation and family time all rolled in to one.

This is Oliver and his Kirov buddy, Evan! We traveled to Kirov and back with his parents, Brian and Jackie. Acutally Jackie and I set a world record for talking on a Delta flight. According to Don and Brian, Jackie and I didn't stop talking the whole way from Moscow to Atlanta. Not true we both napped! What can we say but we were excited moms to be! Brian and Jackie have two beautiful older kids from Russia as well and it was great to meet them too! We had a great trip to Greenville!

Oliver learned to climb up and down stairs at our hotel in record time!

We got home on a Sunday and the following weekend Brynn, Oliver and I were off to Omaha for 12 days! Poor Dad home alone with the animals!! My mom and step-dad spend summers there and my dad and step-mom live there year round. Grandpa and Grandma Keech hadn't met Oliver before and Grandma and Grandpa Brittsan hadn't seen him since the end of March. So everyone was new to him. He is finally going through some separation and stranger anxiety, both excellent signs of attachment! So it took a little time for him to warm up to everyone! He got to meet my nephews and nieces, it was so fun. My step-mom had a kids hair salon, Ponytails and Buzzcuts in Omaha and Oliver had to try out all of the "chairs". He doesn't have enough hair to cut but he is practicing!

The final leg of our whirlwind of trips was going to orientation at the University of South Florida in Tampa for Stephanie. She is following in Michelle's footsteps and going to school there! She moves in tomorrow, August 17th! She was just 6 when Don and I started dating, it is so hard to believe she is going to college. While we were in Tampa we got to see our friends Marie and Bryson. The boys are so cute together too!

Happy Father's Day - First Steps

Oliver took two steps for Daddy yesterday unassisted. Here is some video a couple minutes later of Don trying to get him to do it again. In no time flat he will be off and running!

A day in the life of Oliver

We had a fun day today! We went to lunch with Daddy and Brynn then took off for the beach in Naples. After Oliver's nap the power was out and it was overcast and cloudy so we ventured out on his new Little Tikes climber. He and Theo were having too much fun.

Baby teeth

My two boys brushing their teeth together! Don was brushing his teeth yesterday morning when Oliver crawled up to him and said "up". Don proceeded to take him to the bathroom for his own toothbrush and Oliver just brushed away! He now has 8 teeth, all since our first day with him on trip 2, April 19th. For those of you don't know.......when we were on trip 1 Oliver was teething, he drooled everywhere and chewed on anything. I had whispered in his ear "Can you wait for Mama to come back before you cut your first tooth please? I promise to hurry back before then!" and he waited for me! The 1st day of trip 2, I immediately checked and the gum was just barely starting to open up for the tooth to come through! It has been hard for me to have missed Oliver's first 10 months of life, so many firsts came without anyone noticing and documenting and I just want to be able to celebrate everyone that I can with him.

Gotcha Day 3 month anniversary

It is so hard to believe that it has been 3 months since Oliver's Gotcha Day already. In so many ways it is hard to imagine life before he came in to it. But honestly the last 3 months have gone by too fast! He is now saying a few words, besides Mama and Dada, he is now saying "up" when he wants picked up or held. Which of course he loves to do! He likes to be held much of the time especially if we are trying to get something done like cooking dinner or folding laundry. Here he is helping Mama do laundry!

Prom

Today was the junior/senior prom at Brynn's high school. Since she is dating a junior she got to go! Oh my baby is growing up! Our wonderful friends and neighbors, Susan and Harmony so kindly took pictures of the two of them! They are just wonderful pictures.......she is so beautiful!

Our weekend

Just a couple pictures of our weekend. We went swimming in the pool and he really enjoys it! He moved from one piece of furniture to the next on Saturday and Sunday when he was swimming was throwing the ball to Sophie, our cocker spaniel!

He was to the doctor on Wednesday for his 12 month check up. He

is up to 21 pounds and is on the charts for his actual age not adjusted, nice to hear! Last night he only woke up twice and both times laid back down and fell asleep within a couple of minutes! We are making progress but I am back sleeping in his room at night. I really want him to get a good night's sleep too.

Oliver's First Birthday!

Oliver turned one year old yesterday! He had a great birthday party with some of our friends coming for the afternoon. He seemed to enjoy all of it! He had a bunch of kids in the pool with him. What a day!!

The pictures from Penneys

Here are a couple of the great shots they took at JC Penneys! He is just such a ham that none of them were bad!

Ok, now leave me alone

This post is for my friends who are harrassing me for new pictures of Oliver. Things are going really great and he is just a bundle of smiles and happiness all of the time. I cannot tell you how much we are enjoying having him in our lives! Last week we went to Orlando to visit my parents before they left today for Omaha for six months. We also got to see Don's parents and big sister, Stephanie! He found the pool at my mom's so forgive how dirty he is! He and Steph sat at the edge of the pool and splashed forever and then he crawled around outside. Steph says he is "addictive"!

My other baby, Theo in Oliver's big boy chair! And Oliver in his chair, which Theo has taken over!

Rubber Ducky

I just had to post this picture of Oliver in his rubber ducky tub! He just loves taking a bath. Yesterday we went for pictures at JCPenney and I took his tub along and they got some cute pictures of him in it. He was so good and such a ham for the pictures. Of course I took a bunch of outfits along and the girl said it was the most outfits she has ever done (I didn't use one) and the quickest with clothing changes. Brynn and her boyfriend, Michael came along to help me. I should get the digital files emailed to me in about a week so I will post them when I get them. Today Brynn and I are taking him to the mall to see the Easter bunny, hopefully it will go well!

Oliver's baptism and shower

On Sunday March 9th Oliver was baptized and my friends had a fantastic shower for us following the service. My mom and step-dad along with Stephanie (Don's 18 year old daughter), Don's parents and two Don's sisters all came for the weekend. It was fantastic to have so many members of our family and our friends together to celebrate Oliver. He made out like a bandit and charmed everyone there!

He is doing so wonderful! Happy and growing like a weed. He cut his second tooth last week and maybe soon will be eating some chunkier foods. He hasn't figured out any finger foods yet likes to play with the puffs and Cheerios and let Mama put them in his mouth! We are so blessed with a bundle of joy! He is busy and in to everything, see picture below in the laundry room. If only he did laundry instead of creating it!

I finally got announcements done and did a double whammy with them, wrote thank yous on the back of them! I have been so bad with all of it! Sorry!!!

Tomorrow we meet my good friend Marie and her new little Novosibirsk sweetie, Bryson. Marie and I started this journey together a year ago! We were with the same agency and started at almost the same time. We passed each other in the night in Moscow. Hard to believe our boys finally get to meet!

Oliver is doing great!

Sorry that I have been a bad blogger but my priority has been getting Oliver adjusted to his new home and trying to find a schedule. He is sleeping great at night and doing better at naps. His diet is expanding and he is starting to like green veggies! He is happy almost all of the time except when he has to give up and go to sleep! We braved the bath tonight for the first time since Moscow last Wednesday and he loved it. We had gotten a blow up yellow duckie tub and he played in it on the floor for a couple of days first. Seemed to do the trick. Aunt Bell he is ready for a pinch and a sniff! Brynn took pictures and video so I will have to share them soon. He is just doing great!
I got a cold from either an airplane or being indoors in Russia. So I am just trying to keep my head above water at this point with housework and laundry. I spend lots of time on the floor with Oliver! God has blessed us with such a loving, happy baby!

Just a couple pictures of my snowbaby in Russia! He is now a Russian Florida boy and may never see a snowsuit again. This is a loaner snowsuit from my wonderful friend, Donna. Her Daniel left the same baby home in this snowsuit last March!

We made it home!

Yes we are home and doing very well. Of course we are busy adjusting to having a baby in the house. He is just as happy as ever, a real trooper. He did great flying and only had a problem the last 20 mintues of our final flight! We cannot complain. I am trying to make progress on unpacking and laundry but it will take forever to get caught up at the rate I am going. It is more important to lay on the floor and play with Oliver anyway. Who cares that we now where our underwear inside out???? I promise to catch up on all of our goings on in Russia in a few days, needless to say there wasn't a dull moment. Oh maybe the 6 hours we spent in the van one day counts as a dull moment but probably not since we were packed in the van with our 4 fellow families all dreaming of a meal or at least seeing our kids on adoption day.........

Letter from Oliver

Dear family & friends,

You must care deeply for me to be reading this note. I can't wait to meet you, but there are some special things you should know about me. I am learning what it means to have a mommy and daddy and how to be part of a family. For this reason, please allow my parents to do all my caretaking, including holding, comforting, feeding me and laying me down to sleep. You are welcome to play with me and smile and talk to me. My mommy and daddy have been told by experts that this will help me learn as fast as I can how to be a happy and healthy part of my new family. It won't be long and I will be ready to be held by others but for now it is just my family that can hold me. I am already making progress but it will take me time to learn how to trust my mommy and daddy! I am sure they will let you know when I am ready to be held and snuggled by all of you.

Hugs and kisses,
Oliver

Sitting with a little peanut in my lap!

I am sitting here with a little peanut in my lap who is so happy to watch the keyboard and screen! All new to him. Everything is new to him and he is so interested and fascinated by it all. He is already showing great signs of attachment. Following us with his eyes, looking for us when he is with the other one of us, crawling to us and grabbing our ankles to be picked up. In the playroom yesterday he steered clear of the others and just hung with Mama and Papa.

He is eating so much and happy with the new formula. So far everything is going well for him, no digestive issues. His spitting up seems better and he loves his fruits and veggies! He is crawling more on his hands and knees but still does the army crawl a lot of the time. He has cut his first tooth and it is slowly making its way out. He loves to play on the floor or on the bed. A big comfy bed is something new to him, a great place to explore.

Today we went out for the first time in Moscow with him. We went to Red Square and the mall at Red Square for lunch at McDonalds. The first lunch under $50 in a long time! It tasted great. Gave Oliver a french fry but he just mushed it up, doesn't know how to feed himself at all yet. It will be a while before we let him, part of the attachment process. The little Babushkas kept coming up to make sure he was bundled up properly, and he was! Not one said anything. For those of you who don't know the Russian women are very outspoken on care and bundling of babies. Oliver did well out but wasn't too interested in being out. It was windy and cold and his little cheeks turned red even with two hats and a scarf. He also doesn't like that his thumb is inside his snowsuit!

Tomorrow we have our US Embassy appointment at 2:00, all orphan appointments are at 2:00. I am anxious to see all of the adopted children. Everyone says it so fun to see! So far I know of 5 families staying at our hotel. After our appointment we have to go to the Aeroflot office to gt Oliver's ticket. Thought it was taken care but when I called today to confirm his bassinet they said he doesn't have a seat or ticket. Not what the US office said. Whatever just get us home!

Introducing Oliver Maxim

We are in Moscow! And here is a picture of Oliver.

He is just the sweetest thing. The day was long Saturday and the last moments at the orphanage so rushed but it was a dream come true!

Will post more tomorrow! Just know that all is well and he is just a dream baby.

Tomorrow is Gotcha Day!

Tomorrow we will get Oliver and start on forever with him! I cannot wait. Leaving tonight was so tough! He is running a low grade fever and is still coughing, etc. the same as 3 weeks ago and he was not himself tonight. (He starts antibiotics as soon as we pick him up!) He was also obviously hungry too! When I took him up to his playroom the other babies there were also suffering from colds. He smiled at me through the thumb in his mouth and just layed there. Usually he flips over and takes off for the toys. Broke my heart to leave him. Told him "tomorrow is gotcha day, just one more night"! I don't know how my fellow adoptive parents make it through the ten day wait (ours was waived).

We went out to a local department store to buy souvenirs of Kirov for Oliver's Gotcha Day gifts in the years to come. It was crazy and amazing all in one! A whole new world. Each department is gated and you must pay in each department. Not much selection. But we got two beautiful Kirov clay figurines and a Babba Yagga and a little book of fairytales in Russian.

Tonight we need to repack everything! We leave the Ritz at 9:30 tomorrow! So excited then go to the orphanage to meet with caretakers to go over the schedules, feeding and bathing. Today we also visited the baby food store, very intersting only sells baby food, formula, diapers and some feeding items. Odd!

Thank you for all the great comments. So nice to know we are so loved!

Oliver Maxim is officially a Baer

Hello everyone! At 12:05 p.m. Moscow time yesterday, February 20, 2008, we officially became the parents of Oliver Maxim Baer! It has been a whirlwind week so far. Oliver is absolutely adorable and just the happiest little guy. We just love him to pieces. The judge we super nice but serious and asked us many questions about our 3 daughters and how they feel about having a baby brother, etc. She seemed pleased that I am a stay at home mom. When she asked me if I would love him as much as I do Brynn my eyes immediately filled with tears as I said "I already do". Today we were handed a pile of official documents and his Russian passport so we are ready to head to Moscow. However, the sad news is that we will not be heading back to Moscow until Saturday and will not get custody of him until then either. It makes us sad that he will be in the orphanage another day than we had planned but some things cannot be helped. There have been many things happening while we are here that I may someday share but we are not even sure how much of this trip I will choose to share with Oliver in the years to come. We want him to know what a happy time in our lives this is for us, not the stress and frustration we have experienced. When we walk in the orphanage and see his smile, all of it goes away. God has truly blessed us and we are grateful!

We are at the Ritz Carlton Kirov (Vyatka) again and have been downgraded to a regular room with deluxe twin beds this visit! We have made a great discovery....that the smoke comes in from the bathroom vent! So if you close the bathroom door only the clothes at my Chinese laundry smell really bad! The room is worse than last time, supposedly there is a waiting list for rooms here! I wish I could upload a picture of Oliver but this computer is not capable! I will be certain to post pictures as soon as we return to Moscow!

We have eaten in the same cafe everyday so far. Don and I are wishing for a new menu and we have ordered many things outside what we are offered, beef, chicken or fish. I love the Greek salad and my new find today was the fish soup! We have really only been eating the one meal a day plus the occassional granola bar. We have been getting an intersting mini breakfast in the hotel cafe the last two mornings. No matter what you order off the limited American menu you get two over easy eggs with chuncks of ham thrown in. Very interesting. The yogurt is great and I stocked up at the 24 Yaka next door tonight along with bottled water. We are getting a bit braver venturing out!

Tomorrow our wonderful, wonderful translator, Lena is taking us shopping. We truly think of her as a wonderful person and enjoy her! She has truly been our rock the last few days. The other families in our group are great as well but we are all under a bit of stress and tempers can run short but really we are just a team! Tomorrow is shopping and visiting the orphanage and Saturday is an orphanage day with the 8:00 p.m. train to Moscow, we arrive in Moscow Sunday mid morning! We have a free day Monday and then busy days Tuesday and Wednesday.

I will post more later much love to all!

They tried to dump us at the train station again

After a long journey here we met up with a new mom I have been chatting with on my infertility site since last spring. They arrived here over the weekend with their adorable boy, Owen! We had dinner together last night at the hotel. At 9:00 Moscow time Don and I crashed for the night, that is until at about 11:45 our phone rings and it is our translator calling to tell us he will pick us up at 12:30-1 for the train station. I said no, that isn't right supposed to be 4 or 5:00. We told him we will make our own arrangements to get there later. So I took a second Ambien at midnight and fell back asleep. We awoke at 9:40 a.m. Moscow time, I was startled. So now we have arranged for a taxi to take us to the train station. Don is heading out in a bit with my friend, Kelli to see a couple of sites and I am staying here to answer phones and make sure all of the families have transport to the train station which our translator should have taken care of but not left us there for 5 hours again!

We are in Moscow safe and sound with all our luggage

We arrived at our hotel a little while ago after about 20 hours of travel. The trip was uneventful and we are grateful to have all of our luggage. We flew Jet Blue from Fort Myers to JFK, nice way to fly. Extra leg room and Direct TV for each seat. Then we drug all of our luggage from one end of JFK to the other so we could fly Aeroflot to Moscow. We have 4 check suitcases, none are big all under the 50lb limit and two carryone suitcases and then our backpacks. Don say we now know what a pack mule feels like. Thank goodness for baggage carts.

We are both tired and ready to shower and relax for the evening. When we were landing they announced it is -13 degrees below C, no idea what that means in Farenheit but it is colder out than when we were here before. We leave for the train late in the afternoon tomorrow!

Our last day home

We leave tomorrow! I cannot believe it nor can Don. We have spent our day today trying to wrap things up here so we can be gone for 2 weeks. Not such an easy task. Managing Brynn's calendar is a project in and of itself. I think we have it taken care of and she will be fine. She actually would like to be home by herself. Not happening!

We will try to post when we can. Still not sure where we are staying in Kirov, hopefully the other hotel but we know the other one isn't that bad either. What do you want for $160 a night? LOL

Two days to go

Hard to believe we leave in 48 hours for the final leg of this year long journey. We found out that our last IVF cycle didn't work on February 23, 2007. It was a horrible day and I had already been researching adoption for a while and was looking closely at international adoption, particularly Russia and Kaz for a while. Don wasn't aware of it at the time. Somehow I knew that I wasn't going to become pregnant. I know that God had a plan for us and part of that plan was struggling through infertility. I hate to think of how much money and heartache was wasted on it but we had to go through it to find Oliver!

I think of so many people that have guided us through this process. It started with my friends on IVFC, love you guys, helping me find our agency and to make good decisions! Then Don's good friend, Robert and his former wife, Karin, who adopted from Kaz five years ago through Frank and then I found my FRUA friends who have been invaluable. Especially, Donna for her love and kindess through the last 10 months, I truly love her and she is one of my dearest and closest friends. Oliver will come out of the Kirov baby home in the same snowsuit that Donna's Daniel left the same baby home in almost a year ago. She sent it to me long before we knew we anything about Oliver or going to Kirov. I think of Donna as God's gift of guidance to me! I have tears thinking about it!

Worrying about Brynn and our being gone for so long. She is such a good girl and I allow my thoughts back to my own teenage years to influence me too much. I know she will be ok. She is spending this weekend with my good friend, Janet and her daughter Lindsay. Then will be home during the week with Michelle and then the following weekend she will be home with my friend and neighbor, Susan and again at Janet's on Sunday. Then Michelle will return for the school week and we'll be home Friday morning. Feel free to call and check on her while we are gone! If she makes to school everyday on time while we are gone she can miss school on Friday when we get home to spend with her brother. I am hoping Michelle can stay on Friday and meet him and that Steph will be down soon. I might have to figure out a way up to Orlando once we are back since we have some excited grandparents, great aunt and uncle, and sister waiting to meet him! We will see how it goes!

Ok back to my packing and cleaning!

The Latest Schedule

We heard rumors a day or so ago from one of the other families that we were coming back to Moscow with the babies on the train the night of the 22nd (Friday) and we received notice of that today. So our Gotcha Day will be the 22nd and we will arrive in Moscow with him on the 23rd. What a great thing!

New Schedule

Our new schedule:
Saturday 16th fly out of Fort Myers
Sunday 17th arrive in Moscow
Monday 18th night train to Kirov
Tuesday 19th visit Oliver
Wednesday 20th Court
Thursday 21st visit Oliver
Friday the 22nd get Oliver and take train back to Moscow
Saturday 23rd arrive in Moscow
Sunday 24th spend day in Moscow recovering and enjoying the peanut
Monday 25th Oliver's medical exam for embassy
Tuesday 26th embassy visit
Wednesday 27th pick up visa
Thursday 28th fly back to US, stay over night at JFK Marriott Courtyard
Friday 29th arrive home with Oliver in the morning (6:15 am flight out)

Day 5, Moscow

Red Square

We arrive back in Moscow on Wednesday morning. We actually slept on the train and enjoyed the ride. I like the train a whole lot after the Ritz! Not to mention much of our anxiety had faded knowing Oliver was the right baby for us, etc. They dropped us off at the Marriott Courtyard and our missing luggage had arrived while we were gone. Yeah!! Coats for our day of sightseeing. We had previously arranged with Peace Travel to have a driver/guide for the day who spoke English. He was expected at 11:00 but we pushed it back a bit due to our getting to the hotel late. We ran upstairs and put on clean clothes for the first time in days! We had clean underwear the whole time but that was about it.

St Basils Cathedral

We went down and met Constantine, our driver/guide and had a wonderful day with him. We both were dragging and had dreaded going but knew if we didn't we would regret it. We went Arbat Street (tourist area) for souviners, Red Square and then Christ the Savior church. All of which were beautiful. St. Basils cathedral is amazing and the church was awesome. We went in the mall at Red Square (not Gum, too expensive) for a late lunch and had belini, soup, salad and kavas at a fast food place in the food court. Constantine ordered for us and it was great except Dons' belini had beet sauce on it but he liked it. All of the stores had English names. It was neat, all underground. We finished off our day at a market on Tverskya Street. What a day!

Don was sleeping on the bed at 7:30 and I woke him up and drug him downstairs for dinner since I didn't want to lay in bed another night dreaming of a meal! The next day we left Moscow. When we saw our friends, Brian and Jackie. First thing Jackie says is "I take you got your luggage. I don't recognize the outfit." Oh if only it wasn't true! We are proof that even Floridians can survive Russia in the winter without coats!

the Ritz Carlton Kirov

Ok, I don't know the name but it is what Don calls it. My understanding is that there are two hotels in Kirov and the nicer one fills up quickly. We did not stay in the nicer one! So when we got there the lobby was really nice. New tile floors, new front desk, new leather furniture, etc. I turned to one of our travelmates and said "not bad, I can handle this" and she agreed. We get an old fashioned key on a large wooden fob with 407 on the end but I think nothing of it, just not the typical room cards and we are in Kirov. So after checking in on Monday between visits at the baby home, Don and I head to the elevators. They are smallish and behind them are stairs that wrap around. So we wait for the elevator and the door opens but the floor of the elevator is high than the lobby floor so we step up in to the elevator. Not a good sign for my worrisome self. So we push number 4 and wait for the doors to close and wait and wait. Now between the floor and the doors I am thinking "get me out of here". But then some guys comes and pushes a button on the panel in the elevator and the doors close. I breathe a sigh of relief.

The doors open to the fourth floor however I feel like I just got off a time machine not an elevator. There is old linoleum on the floor, curling in places. Old furniture just off the elevator and a display case of goods for sale that I swear are not from this century or even the 90's! There is this long hallway of doors and we proceed down the long hall. I am not sure what I said to Don at this point but I am sure he realized my unhappiness! The doors are mostly old and have many layers of paint on them. However every now and then there are nice brand new doors and jams. We get to room 407 and just past it there appears to be some improvements being made. Don puts the key in the keyhole, yes a real old fashioned keyhole! And turns it and turns it and then turns the old round knob. Finally it opens to reveal a room from 1950, I am just guessing since it was before my time! And the smell in there was a whole other thing. It was a mixture of old smoke, old furniture, body odor and I am not sure what else. The good news was that the windows were new and opened. At this point it really didn't matter, it seemed clean and we have already met Oliver and would do anything for him. So I am not going to worry about it.

Don feels out the beds that Brynn might fit on. The polyfill pad is a couple inches thick at best and it has rough sheets that have a print on them. This is unusual to me since American hotels always have white sheets. The bathroom had old chipped tile and tub and the toliet was very odd. This is gross but all the men decided they had a landing pad in the commode and then a separate place for the water and whole at the bottom. If we go back I will try to take a picture of it. So after checking it out we leave the hotel until evening.

When we get back to the Ritz it is dark probably around 8:00 and we are all just exhausted but many want to email pictures and things to family and their international adoption doctors. Out in the parking lot and maybe in the van we are told to "not open our doors to anyone, no polica or immigration" I think we were told that twice. It scared the crud out of me and some of the other women. So we a few of us head to the internet cafe, they turn on two older than the hills desktops and you can just hear them churning away trying to boot up. So then they keyboard is in cyrillic and Don and I give up and leave. We went up to our room for a bit and went back later and tried to upload photos to email to family but no luck. Someone showed another family how to swtich the keyboard but you couldn't get any photos on there. Don and I were beat so we headed back up for the night.

The phone rang and Don answered it thinking it was one of our travelmates instead it was a girl asking if he wanted some "mu mu"! So he has to keep talking to her! Like he understands what she is saying! He hangs up and I decided to brave a bath, I carefully inspected the tub and it was clean just chipped. You have to take a bath to some degree because there is only a hand held showerhead and no shower curtain. I filled the tub and was very impressed with the pretty color of the water, kind of a pale gold! I am not kidding! But it felt good anyway, that is until the phone rang again! Don didn't answer it but it rang at least 15 times. I crawled in bed and Don put in a movie in the laptop in the sitting room. The sitting room had a lovely couch that was 20 years past its lifespan! I think it was part of the smell. Of course I keep opening windows to try and get the smell out and it is very warm in the room!

I maybe dozed off a time or two the whole night! I got up around 3:00 and played games on the laptop in the dark while watching the door! I was honestly scared but now realize I didn't need to be. I could see out in the hallway from the sitting room. The crack between the door and the jam was so wide that you could see people walk by. I was causing myself anxiety but wondering how the lock could be in the jam with that wide of space!

Finally morning came and we went upstairs to the cafe to grab breakfast! Some people had eaten there the day before and they had an English menu but not this morning! So Don orders us coffees. Some lady was eating a hot cereal, a yogurt and chocolate cake! I told Don to get me one of the those. It appears the girl understands and he order two. For 300 rubles it was a good deal. Out comes two tall yogurt drinks, then some hot cereal (later learned it is kasha), hot dogs, bread with lunch meat, little cake rolls (blueberry HoHo), coffees (2nd ones) and this green drink. All I can say is I am dreaming of breakfast on trip two. The kasha was not my thing, I don't eat hot dogs for breakfast and the green drink was not juice (Don swears it was)! Don was full and I got a granola bar from the suitcase to go with my yogurt drink! The coffee was good!

We then got to check out and all I can say is I was very happy to leave. Don who thinks Super 8 and Travelodge are nice even said "can't they find us something better than this". We are hoping the better hotel is available next week. My stomach churns thinking of going back but I will stay there if it means getting Oliver home! I would stay in a tent in Siberia for that matter.

Meltdown

First thing I have to say is,

I am sorry Mom that I had a meltdown on you today! I love you and I am very very sorry!!

So for the rest of you who are wondering what happened today I will share.....we made reservations on Friday afternoon to depart Ft. Myers on Monday the 18th and return the 28th, the dates we had been given in Russia and again from our agency via email. We made them through a travel agency that a friend of ours at church works at but used another travel agent since he was on a cruise last week. (So Brynn and I were out shopping and running errands Friday afternoon and didn't get home till around 6:00. I was the walking dead and she enjoyed making fun of me!) Anyway, when we got home Friday night I had an email from our adoption agency telling us we have to be in Moscow by 1:00 p.m. Monday the 18th. So we had to move our flights around. Well I ignorantly thought that I had to use the travel agency to change the tickets. Wrong!! I should have called Delta Friday night and made the changes.

So this morning I called our travel agency and left a message that we had to move up the trip by a day. Fred, our travel agent friend, called me back and said he would see what he could do. When he called back he told me to sit down. I told him I was prepared for a big chunk of change. Well I was not prepared for what he said, $5,000! This is to change tickets we already paid $2,000 for, I almost died! So he said he was holding the tickets with Delta to think about it. Well first I call Don and he says "I am in a meeting let me call you back" before I can speak. So then I get online and start searching every site I can find. I then call Delta and cry to some poor woman named Jennifer. Nothing she could do but I have Fred on my cell phone on the other ear. My mom calls the house phone while I am talking to Jennifer and then the cell phone on the other ear where Fred is talking to me. Actually I think Jennifer had me on hold.

Well I finally get off the phone with Jennifer and Fred and am still searching the internet for something a little bit affordable! I called my mom back and she got the short end of my fuse today! No excuses, I was wrong! It is sad that those we feel most comfortable and secure with get the bad side of us when we are stressed. I love my mom so much and have such security with her and I inappropriately took it out on her! I am a jerk, what can I say?

So, after more searching I found a flight on Aeroflot out of JFK on the 16th (a day earlier than we need to travel) for $1400 for both of us online but booked through Fred (he earned it) and then Fred had me book thorugh Jet Blue (he can't) the round trip in and out of JFK from Ft. Myers for $500. He ended up being able to void the Delta tickets, not sure how so we didn't loose the $2,000 for the original tickets. So all in all it was about the same money plus two additional nights in hotels and away from home but sadly with my mother's feelings hurt!

Lessons learned:
1. Never talk to your mom when you are close to a meltdown!
2. Call your airline and find out if they can help you if your travel agency is closed.

A special day

We had such a wonderful morning at church today. First our pastor announced at the end of the service that we had traveled to meet Oliver and are returning to finalize the adoption next week. Don and I stood in front of the church and cried. He said a beautiful blessing and prayer for us. I had already been teary during the service because I know how we found Oliver, God lead us to him. Neither of us ever had any doubt that this is God's will! During the long wait I kept saying that the son God had found for us wasn't ready yet. Thank you PK! Love you!

Then after the service three of our close couple friends gave us a beautiful high chair and Elmo bib and feeding set. For those of you who don't know, I collect Elmos and just love him. Thus Oliver in the Elmo Valentine bib in the pictures. We knew the gift was coming because it couldn't wait until our shower that will be when we get home. I guess they want me to feed this kid! Don't worry no one goes hungry in our house. I plan to have the little guy fattened right up. The high chair is beautiful and looks great in the kitchen! Thank you Luckows, Ladens and Fitz-O'Herns! We love all of you so much!

Day 4, our second day with Oliver

Tuesday was our second day with Oliver, after a long sleepless night for me we were on our way at 8:00 to see him. He was just such a love all morning. He fell asleep on his papa. He must be used to a morning nap. We don't have his schedule yet so that is our guess at this point. It is just so unreal for him to be sleeping on us. Now as I sit in our family room, it seems like it never happened but in just a week we will be on our way back and he will be real to us again. While he was sleeping there was paperwork for us to sign, our petition to adopt, and we had to do the hand-off of the sleeping baby for the first time. Late in the morning we all headed out to the notary to sign some more paperwork. It was exciting to actually petition the court to adopt him, I hope at some point we get copies of that paperwork.

After wards our coordinator dropped the paperwork at the courthouse and then we went to lunch. The same place as the day before, this time I had the chicken. It was interesting, sauteed in garlic. The best thing about the cafe we ate at is that it is the best bathroom in all of Kirov! It could be in any cafe here, maybe better than most! Nice bathrooms are not so easy to come by! We then returned to the orphanage for our final visit this trip. I was teary most of the time, so sad to leave the baby I had fallen in love with! I am teary thinking about it!

The train wasn't until 8:00 so we got to stay at the baby home till 7:00. We got to take Oliver up to his playroom. His porridge was waiting for him. We handed him to the caregiver who layed him in a playpen that was very big with several other children. In his usual happy way, he rolled right over on his tummy and went in search of the toys! He is such a happy boy! His playroom was upstairs and it was interesting to see more of the baby home. It was fairly dark inside since it was long past dark. We tearfully left him there for a few weeks. Don keeps telling me that he is happy there and not let it get to me. Can't wait to get back.

We arrived at the Kirov train station before our train. We played around out in the snow and talked. I got teased because I ate some of the fresh snow. I am still alive, Don & Andy! We then heard that court would be the 21st and we had to be in Moscow on the 19th to take the train back. I guess some converstations were had about the timeframes while we were outside in the snow. We originally were going to be in Kirov for 5 nights, that is now down to 4 nights. We would all rather get the babies and go back to Moscow but this isn't our decision, we have to go with the flow. The train ride was uneventful and we actually slept well! It was much needed!

Day 3, the day we meet Oliver

Us in front of the orphanage!

On Monday morning we arrived in Kirov on the train around 8:00 in the morning. It was funny but none of us slept, everyone was awake with excitement and anticipation of meeting our children. We had been told we would go to the hotel to leave our luggage and then on to the orphanage. As I said there was a ton of luggage so the van was packed and they had an additional car for us. Don and I rode in the car with another couple on the snow packed streets of Kirov and it was lightly snowing. We went about 15 minutes and then down some snow banked side streets and came around a corner and I saw the orphanage. I announced that is where we were and the driver confirmed it. (Thanks Donna for showing me pictures so I could reconginize it!) The van arrived and we all went in to the orphanage which is old and worn but very clean. After we all settled in to the room they slowly brought in the children. Oliver and one of the girls were brought in but no one knew who they belonged to so they took them out and then brought them out and announced "Barr", which is Baer in Russian. I took him from the caregiver and he began to whimper and shed some tears. This is a wonderful sign! We didn't see another tear all four of our visits!

The room where we visited each day.

We spent time playing with him on the floor, just a ton of smiles and then went to talk to the director to have our questions answered. When she spoke to him he really listened and perked up for her. He just loves his thumb! He enjoys cuddling and makes wonderful eye contact with us. After a while he fell asleep while I rocked him on the floor. He loved the few toys we had and played on his blanket which had some rattles and things on it. We was so fun! We had to leave to check in to the hotel and drop off our luggage. We went in two groups. Don and I stayed back at the orphanage and three of us couples chatted while the others went to the hotel. It was nice to all sit and talk about how we were all feeling. We then went to the hotel and dropped our luggage. The lobby was very nice and one of the other gals and I commented that the hotel wasn't bad. All I can say is the lobby was very deceiving. The room was clean but very ancient and in Russian style with small cot type beds. I think it is a typical Russian hotel, not my cup of tea!

We then went on to lunch which was nice and we had soup, salad and main courses. It was different type of food, very simple. I had Pelmeni, which was good! They said the borscht was excellent but I dislike beets so I didn't try it. It was funny but Lena, our Kirov translator, asked "chicken, steak or fish" and then when asked gave us more descriptions. We all enjoyed chatting and we all were a in fog from lack of sleep. It is so hard to explain the range of emotions going through you! Don and I had already made up our minds and didn't need to contact our international adoption doctor but some families did and were not 100% sure like us. I cannot imagine what they were going through. We were so fortunate to know right away. Don said early on in the orphanage that he was sold!

We then returned to the orphanage and visited for many hours with the babies. Oliver fell asleep on Don. We had to write out his name so they could prepare the paperwork over night for us to sign the next day. We had already decided so long as it fit him (which we think it fits him to a T). Our only debate was the spelling of Maxim/Maksim and had decided however it was on the paperwork was how we would spell it. He had on his pajamas for the visit and was so cuddly! He and Don did the Donald Duck routine and he just smile, laughed and shook his back and forth at him. He loves Don's buttons and glasses!

Hotel Kirov (I don't know the real name) will be a post all by itself so more tomorrow!

Just got word we leave the 17th!

After making our plane reservations today, we were notified we need to leave for Moscow on the 17th (the day of our shower). Sorry Tina and Iris! I feel bad but it means we go to court a day early and get Oliver from the orphanage a day sooner so I won't complain too much. Our schedule is now as follows:
Sunday 17th fly out of Fort Myers
Monday 18th arrive in Moscow, night train to Kirov
Tuesday 19th visit Oliver
Wednesday 20th Court
Thursday & Friday visit Oliver
Saturday 23rd get Oliver and take train back to Moscow
Sunday 24th arrive in Moscow
Monday 25th Oliver's medical exam for embassy
Tuesday 26th embassy visit
Wednesday 27th pick up visa
Thursday 28th fly home!!!

Now we just have to pray we can change our flights Monday to Sunday the 17th for less than a small fortune.

Day 2, the train to Kirov

We had received a phone call on Saturday evening from Iliya our Moscow translator that we needed to be in the lobby between 12:30 and 1:00 to be picked up for the train. I thought this was unusual since the train to Kirov is at 6 p.m. But I have been told by every Russian adoption friend I have to go with the flow and let them take charge. So we checked our large suitcase with the hotel and took one small carryon suitcase and two backpacks along with a duffle bag of clothes for the orphanage. We were picked up and got in the mini bus and met Jackie and Brian and then traveled to other hotels to pick up the other four families. We were then all dropped off at the train station for over four hours by ourselves. I will say it was less than wonderful! I do not understand why but will find out.

The train station was a scary place, people everywhere some sleeping in chairs but mostly people just patiently sitting. We were told that on the second floor there might be room for our large group with huge quantities of luggage. So we rode the escalator upstairs and found a table and some benches near a little cafe type place. Cafe sounds way too fancy for what it was! After a while we saw people being run off from the tables if they weren't eating anything or buying food so Don and I and few others ventured to the counter to order. They were very understanding, we pointed and a Russian lady tried to help us! Oh my was it interesting. I saw some interesting beverages that I wanted to try so I am not sure if it was a cranberry or lingonberry flavored beverage. It was a light carbonated drink with an interesting flavor. Due to the bathroom situation I lingered over it!

Eventually we had to brave the bathroom, several of us ladies needed to go. So our Russian lady friend took Fran and I to show it where it was. She was talking the whole time in Russian trying to explain it to us. We stuck our heads in the doorway and saw a cash register! She got her ticket out and pointed at it and shook her head. We guessed you didn't pay if you had a ticket but weren't certain. No one had given us our tickets so we headed back for rubles since the men had all of the rubles! We then went back and oh my is all I can say! Next trip if I go to the bathroom in the train station, which is doubtful, I will take a picture. We just walked right past the cashier since one of our travel mates thought you had to pay for toliet paper and we had our own! We walked past the sinks and in to the stalls. I didn't know what to do! The were about 4-6 inches of floor space then this big raised sink on the floor with a hole in it! We I crawled up and squatted over the whole! The smell in there was sickeningly strong! OMG was it an experience. Then on to the sinks and little pieces of dirty soap and no papertowels or hand dryer. I ran to my stuff and used wet wipes and then hand gel!

Our translator and coordinator, Andrei then arrived around 5 or 5:30 and we chatted for a bit but since most Russians are not supportive of international adoption it was pretty hush, hush. We were told we would board the train then Andrei would come to collect our train fare and in the morning we would check in to the hotel to drop off our luggage then go to the orphanage. The train was remarkable nice and uneventful. We were in first class and each couple had their own sleeping compartment. We were all in a row and it was a lot of fun for all of us.

They came and took our orders, chicken or beef, for dinner. We had the beef and Don ordered piva (beer) and I ordered bella vina (white wine). Don got a Miller and I go a Georgian chardonnay (not to great) but different. They then brought us each a plastic bag with goodies in it, instant coffee with cream & sugar already in it, cookies, chocolate, rolls, butter, cheese, sugar, orange and apple. Then came the first course of Russian bread (brown sourdough), salmon, cucumbers and tomato slices. We were hungry so it was alright. Then they brought us crocks of beef stew. It was good! They put in a movie for all of us in English on the flat screens in our cabins, the Three Burials of ? with Tommy Lee Jones. Don had watched on the Western channel but never watched the whole thing so he finally did. Luckily he had seen it before because all of us women were wondering cabins talking. The anticipation was so much! Finally we retired to bed to try and get some sleep around 11:00.