Baby orphanage #5

About an hours drive.

Krasnoyarsk weather

Warming trend coming.

Scratch n sniff sticker

If there was a way to put a scratch and sniff sticker on here I would. The one thing you notice most is the smell. Not good. Not bad. Just different. Like a strong perfume from another era. Very strong perfume. My sister is coming back with me on the 3rd trip. She might need to get her allergy medicine ready.

Romans daily schedule

Orphanage visit

We have been calling him roman forever, but he knows his name as Sereozah. He is still trying to figure out what the heck we are doing there! He turns his head every time someone speaks Russian. He does know how to kiss. That's a good thing! We visited him during nap time so he was sleepy and ended up falling asleep at the end.

We were being observed by psych. During playtime. I guess we passed. Yesterday we got in trouble for playing the piano because we weren't trained professionals. We were trying to get roman to use his hands and bang on it. Actually, I knew in October he liked that little alligator piano and I couldn't find it anywhere in the playroom. So, this was my solution. A bad one I guess. My rebellious side wanted to show but I made one comment, then shut up. How did they know we weren't trained professionals. I think I'll learn 1 song before I come back. Other than the bear went over the mountain. I can play that and Russ can play the Hill Street Blues theme song. Yeah- we trained!

We met with orphanage doctor who
Showed us his birth pics. We had not seen that before! I had previously looked up his pic on the Russian adoption registry in hopes of a different pic, but there weren't any. I'm so glad I'll get that after court.

This whole process regarding the number of visits before court is driving us crazy. We are still unsure how many visits are required before court. You would think this would be written down. So we are planning to visit every day we are here just to make sure we get all required visits completed to satisfy the judge. The court is supposed to be really tough so we just need to get through it. We have been on the phone/email on and off all day trying to get one single document. Hopefully we will have it tomorrow.

And yes, Russ's baby boy is wearing a shirt that says dancer. Yesterday he had 3 month overalls, today it's 2T. I think he's somewhere in the middle of that.

Krasnoyarsk

View of the city from across the river, our hotel, major landmark in krasnoyarsk(clock) and father Christmas.

I have a hand carved Father Christmas at home that I've had since Russ and I married. Joe Paul and Lynn Bryant sent it to us as a wedding gift since we married around Christmas. They were in Russia as missionaries. I've kept it all these years and this year when I got it out, it had special meaning. I have no idea where they were working in Russia, but I sure am glad they sent me that gift! It will be passed on down as a keepsake.

Running like crazy

In search for a good place to run I found a walking path w no cars and buns of gold. We were "in search" with our winter boots on, but when we came across this path/park I took off running. We were already at least 1.5 miles from the hotel, so I knew this was my chance. Russ thinks I am crazy. I call it fun. I love running in other locations and my favorite time to run is in new fallen snow. I keep a mental map of all the places I've run, so I can add this to the list. It's a fun game and you see lots of interesting things (Steven Tyler of Aerosmith once). On the way over to the park we crossed a mile long bridge over the river. A man was about 10 feet out in the river then he dipped like 5 times. Russ thought I was crazy for taking off running in the park.....but there's always someone crazier!!!!!

After finding the pic Russ took of me from behind with my Siberian coat dragging behind, maybe I am the crazy one. No wonder people were looking at me funny.

Adjusting to life in Krasnoyarsk

Good morning sunshine! It's currently 8:22 and we have been up since 5, but no sunshine yet. It's not too hard to fall asleep but staying that way for 8 hours is difficult. Hopefully we will keep adjusting. If our room wasn't 90 degrees that would help. If we open the window, it's really loud outside. All in all, this studio room (hotel krasnoyarsk)is so much nicer than the apt we had last time. We don't feel isolated and we are in the town center. It feels much safer. Many places to eat and walk around. Other people/travelers are around and some limited English speaking staff. You just have to try really hard to communicate whatever it is you need to communicate and not be scared of them not understanding. Eventually everyone is understood or u go find the translator or Internet translation. That helps. The hotel is clean and the breakfast is good. Internet access is good and Russ enjoyed the ironing room. I needed an extra plug attachment for my hair straightener which our adoption case worker got for me. Last trip I blew up my travel hair dryer so I didn't want to do that to my straightener. We even have English tv here in the hotel. We never had that at the other apartment. I signed us up for Netflix but it doesn't work in Russia so you have to hide your Internet location via Hide My Net. Yes, we are currently in NYC. So, it's not so difficult once you get the system down. We have used Skype with the girls and can call them via Skype for a small 7 cents a minute. It all works. Russ thought maybe if the computer thought we were in NYC, maybe we could fool Skype, but that didn't work. Still 7cents a minute. Russ is so good with technical stuff , I hope I can do this all on my own when I come back in April!

We are going back to orphanage this morning to visit and meet with the doctor about roman's health since we've been here in October.
Thank you all!!!
Jenny

Siberia

Here's what I think of when I think of Siberia ice and snow

Orphanage visit

Roman has grown so much. We had a good visit but he definately knew we were strangers. That is a good sign. Going back tomorrow morning. He's not walking yet!

Well after a restless night we made it to Krasnoyarsk! Took a quick nap and now the best part of the day. Headed to the orphanage. I think I might have slept on the plane if I had not accidently put a court document in my checked bag! Bad mistake!! But, the airline got it here safely!
Jenny

Red Square

Loot

Here's the one item I was instructed to bring home from this trip per lilly and halle jane. Delicious chocolate. It's sooo good.

We arrived safely to Moscow. It's lightly snowing and pretty warm here in the heart of Russia. 30 degrees . Heading out to get a bite to eat and stroll around red square . We are staying at the Marriott grand which I got a few nights for free with a credit card. It was Against Russ and Dave Ramsey advice but it worked . Russ is glad now!! (Marriott premier visa) in case any other adoptive parents find this.

Moscow bound

We are just about to take off. This blog is going to serve as a way to let you know what is going on and a way for me to keep a record of our trip. So, you unfortunately have to endure my thoughts. I'm trying to write my initial thoughts so I have a good journal of our experience which will include lots of pictures .
Jenny

Travel to Moscow

We are ready to fly to Moscow in a few hours. The overnight flight is about 10 hours from Washington, D.C.. flying out at 4:50pm. Last fall, we didn't do a very good job of sleeping on the plane. I am hoping this time to eat dinner, watch a movie and fall asleep. Of course we have learned our lesson - at least fly in Economy plus for that long of a flight. Maybe after this trip we will have enough miles to get bumped to first class.

We look forward to the trip with lots of anticipation. We keep hearing bits and pieces about court from different people as the process is constantly changing. This entire trip is geared toward the court date and preparing for that 2+ hour event. As the changes have taken place in Russia, the courts have gotten tougher. They are asking for more documentation and questioning the families with endless sessions that sometimes result in extending the court into the next day. We have recently heard to brush up on the adoption laws of our state, how a child becomes a US Citizen, the poverty guidelines of our state, and to study your homestudy/financials very, very well. This week one family's court date was postponed so that they could wait for more paperwork. I think I have given them everything they could possibly ask for, but it seems the Russians are trying to figure out this new process as well.

We will arrive in Moscow tomorrow and will do physicals/bloodwork/chest xrays to the tune of about $1000 each. All this talk of suspending adoptions leads me to wonder why they would want to give up the financial gain from the American tourism. They have successfully extended our trip by quite a few days - we have to eat and sleep somewhere.

When we arrive there tomorrow, there is supposed to be a protest happening in Red Square due to the upcoming elections on March 5th. We are staying about 1/2 mile from Red Square this trip, as Russ so well arranged. So, I'm sure we will have to check it out. We blend in pretty well until we open our mouths and speak.

We know we are going to have to roll with the punches on this trip - which doesn't sit very will with some of us (Russ). This should be interesting.

Jenny
Jenny

Our Return to Russia

On Saturday, February 25th Russ and I will travel back to Russia for our 2nd trip. We have a court date of March 6th. The rest of the adoption story will unfold here for all of our friends and family. Thank you so much for your support and prayers as we prepare to travel back to Russia.