Epilogue

We have been home now for a little over two weeks. We thought we'd update you with the activities that have happened since we left Novosibirsk.


We arrived in Moscow on a Wednesday morning and had a full day with doctors appointments for Nick, visa photos and paperwork. We checked into the hotel and basically slept. Thursday, we had the day to ourselves.



This is just a typical view of the kiosks that you would see there.









We arranged a cab to drop us off and pick us up near Red Square and we took a tour bus that showed us all the sights around the city. It was kind of fun and the kids were contained. Best of all, they fell asleep half way through allowing us to listen to the tour guide and focus. While we've been to Moscow before, this was the first time that we felt, at least a little bit, like tourists. Moscow is so large and they have many visitors, we didn't feel like we were standing out. We did impress the other tourists on our bus by even braving taking small children on the trip.






The first stop was the Bolshoy Ballet Theatre which is currently under construction. We caught the bus there. Kayla and Nick were so excited.

We saw some of the homes of famous Russian leaders, many monuments of leaders and artists and a lot of architecture. The Moskva river was beautiful as you can see by this picture. This is the Kremin wall which is definitely an impressive site. We wish we could have enjoyed a boat ride - the weather was georgous and it was truly a beautiful day.


We took this picture on Sparrow Hill which overlooks the city of Moscow. If we're not mistaken, the arena you see in the background was built for the Olympics in 1980. On the other side of the road is the University of Moscow. It is labeled as one of the 'seven sisters' due to its architecture.










After the tour, we hung out near Red Square - it was blocked off that day unfortunately but we wandered outside. We saw Stalin and Lenin look-alikes that you could pay to have your picture taken with. Dan snuck a photo when no one was looking.



We also had lunch at McDonalds at an underground shopping mall right next to Red Square. Kayla was ecstatic to have her beloved "Old McDonald's"!



Next day, Oksana (from the Children's Home Society and Family Services) took us to some of the more popular tourist sites:

Christ Our Saviour Church which was rebuilt after the Communists tore it down.




Red Square is always a popular tourist spot. It was nice to be able to walk into Red Square. They were building a temporary stadium in the middle so the square wasn't totally open as it was the first time we were in Moscow. It is still very impressive. Kayla was very tired at this point and there were several points where she stood her ground and wouldn't move. She really wanted Daddy to hold her:-)


Novodevichy Convent - This is last remining, in tact convent in Moscow. It was built by Grand Prince Vasilli III is famous for housing several famous Russian women including Peter the Great's wife and sister. Next to the convent is the Novodevichy cemetery which has the graves of the likes of Chekhov, Yeltin, and Krushchev. The park across the river makes the convent a beautiful site and there is a neat playground for kids there. There were some bronze ducks that were presented to the city of Moscow by Barbara Bush. You can see Nick and Kayla playing on them.










After all of this, we had lunch you know where only it was on Arbat Street. Then we went to the US Embassy for Nick's visa. Everything went very well and we were able to get back to the hotel early enough. We saw the same cab driver that took us the day before, so we arranged to have him take us to Old Arbat Street for a few hours. We had dinner at the Hard Rock cafe and walked up and down the street. Kayla got one of her most favorite souvenirs - a police hat! It was a nice evening.












Next day (Saturday) was time to leave. We got to the airport. Long story short, the plane was delayed then cancelled and American Airlines put us up for the night in a local hotel and we were booked for the next day's flight to Chicago. We were thrilled to be on American soil!


We've been home for two week's now and Nick is adjusting beautifully! We think Kayla likes him, but we are still not sure. Thanks to everyone who has helped us on this journey - it has been a ride. The interesting part is that the ride with Nick has really only just begun. You will all love him. He's delightful - he has a great laugh and an adorable smile.

Next Stop Moscow

Greetings all,

Well, we've finally made it - and not a moment too soon. In T-minus 12 hours we'll be leaving the "little" city of Novosibirsk to go to the "BIG" city of Moscow. It will be a bitter/sweet departure. On the one hand it's been a real challenge to persevere with our limited mobility, tiny apartment (more especially the bed), a very rudimentary knowledge of the Russian language and getting accustomed to the food we can actually cook. Conversely, on the other hand it's been a real joy to be in an area that is so clearly not our home. To travel around the city by foot and just be so carefree with our time. All the wonderful memories with the deepening frienships we've made here.

We have to get Nick's passport, and all remaining documents -for departure tomorrow- from Nina this evening so we will be leaving for her apartment shortly. We will be getting our second home cooked Russian meal and we can't wait...yummm. Nina's apartment is about a 2o minute walk from ours. It's surprising that with the general disregard of motorists to pedestrians in this country that we haven't been severely injured. You have to be very cautious of the signs, and when the lights change "you better be out of the intersection".

We've posted a few pictures of our our favorite hangouts like: New York City Pizza, KFC (pronounced "rausteeks"), and the ever so famed grocery story around the corner of our apartment. I'm not sure if one of the cashiers generally doesn't like her job at the grocery store or if it's the "Americans" AGAIN. On our travels around the city we passed a couple of "Irish Pubs" that looked enviting, but with our limited language skills we figured it would have been just too difficult. Lastly, NYC Pizza albeit not the same culinary delight that we have back home pushed our patience on the last visit, and we're all too glad to be leaving that behind as well.

We'll be staying at the Moscow Holiday Inn. We're assuming that they have internet access, but we're not sure? Therefore this might be the last post for awhile. Kayla is just so excited to go on another plane ride that she can hardly talk about anything else. In her mind the plane ride is taking us directly to McDonalds. Nick on the other hand has no clue. He's just excited when we go for a ride in Genrich's car.

Next stop... McDonalds, and I hope it's as good as I remember it 3 years ago.

Dan/Sue/Kayla/Nick

The Human Burrito

Greetings all,

Yes, we're still here in Novosibirsk - only three days left! We leave next Wednesday for Moscow. On one level, we can't wait. We will, however, miss Nina and Genrich. Nina has been very sweet and very helpful to us while we're here - we just can't say enough.

The Human Burrito is, of course, Kayla. There is a little quilt (kid-sized), that the kids like to be wrapped up in and then quickly unspun. Not sure if Nick likes it, but Kayla loves it. For those of you who know Kayla, you can't be surprised by this.

On Wednesday night (or Thursday, I can't remember), we went over to Nina's home for dinner. Her mother was there and they had prepared us this lovely meal. It started with Borscht which Kayla loved and they had made some chicken nuggets which Nick and Kayla also pounded down. We had several salads that were made with fresh ingredients from Nina's mother's garden in their summer home. Many Russians have a summer home where they garden, etc. They made several dishes for us including a fish and potato dish, and one that included eggplant and lamb. We brought over a bottle of red wine as a gift, but I'm not sure if Russians drink much wine since it appeared that we drank the majority of it. They were so welcoming and we had a great time.

Nina also had a cat. Every time the cat looked at Nick, he would scream. I'm sure when we get home, we won't see Mitzi for days and Bella will taunt Nick until Nick gets used to it, then we'll see who the alpha cat really is.

On Friday, we picked up the adoption certificate and the new birth certificate with us listed as Nick's parents. At each of these official places, Dan and I had to be present and each representative gave a little speech about wishing us happiness in the future with our new son. We got the passport pictures and suspect that we will be getting Nick's passport on Monday.

We went to Ikea and the shopping mall on Saturday. It was nice to be able to do some grocery shopping (yes, it feels like we do that all the time) to get us through to Wednesday. The kids were able to expend some energy at this point before their nap by running around the play area in Ikea (yes, it is almost exactly like the one in MN except the furniture is meant to fit in smaller surroundings) and the rest of the mall.

Naptime at our house is about 1 or 2pm in the afternoon. Nick had a really hard time getting to sleep both for his nap and for the evening and rocks himself alot to go to sleep. We suspect he spent a lot of time in a crib at the baby home. He goes down much easier with a night light and he is starting to adjust. We bought Nick a little stuffed kittie which he takes everywhere with him. He now calls it his kittie and it really does calm him down when he's feeling upset.

With Nick, there are a lot of adjustments. It is good we have this time with him. He has a skin rash which we think is scabies but it's all over the little guy and he itches a lot. We bought some cream which put him into a froth when we put it on. We think it was because he doesn't like to be without his clothes for any length of time.

He is starting to learn some english words. He knows the words, "car", "bus", "more" and "again". He knows Kayla's name and has called out for her when he's playing - it's so cute.

Kayla's adjusting to Nick. She doesn't like it when he cries and holds her hands over her ears. Many times, she's asked us, "what's wrong with him?" If Nick is on my lap, Kayla wants to be on it as well. If Kayla is hungry, we have to give something to Nick. Getting to sleep is the worst because Kayla keeps waking Nick up. Nick on the other hand, likes to grab for Kayla's toys and has no issue with pushing.

We are on our own for the next couple of days, then it's off to Moscow. Room service - I can't wait. Sorry about not posting pictures. We will get some photos out there tomorrow.

Our new reality

Greetings,

Thursday marked the end of the 10-day waiting period. Now that we have Nick, we have noticed a change, even in this quick amount of time, in how we operate as a family. Here is top 10 list marking some moments of reality for us:

10. We realize that Kayla was not that busy after all.

9. Diapers (ughhh). Now Kayla thinks she needs them also.

8. Two tired and antsy kids feel four times more exhausting than just one.

7. We now have an even bigger audience in the bathroom.

6. Why is it that something's interesting only when the other kid has it?

5. Nick shovels in food faster than he can chew or, more likely, he's hoarding food in his mouth.

4. What is it about light switches and doors?

3. 99% sure it's scabies (here we go again).

2. Kayla and Nick love to play together.

1. A beautiful, sweet smile and recognition that Nick trusts us.

We hope to offer up more wonderful moments with Nick over the course of this trip and as we get to know each other better. We already know he is a very different child than Kayla and will have a much harder time adjusting to our family, but we know he'll be just fine. He is doing extremely well under the circumstances and is very excited about all the new experiences so far.

Love,

Sue

Tigress the Potato

I actually mean 'tomato'. Kayla for some reason keeps calling it a potato. Kayla has adopted a pet tomato named Tigress. We were at the market yesterday and a woman gave Kayla a tomato. Boy, you would have thought it was a new bike. Kayla has played golf with it and informed us that it doesn't like cookies.

So, it has been several days that have past since our last post. The weather here turned for the worse starting on Saturday and today, which is Wednesday, is the first day we have actually seen blue sky. The weather changes very quickly, we have learned.

We went for a walk the other day because it looked like the rain had subsided for a while. We got to NYC Pizza for our almost daily routine of playtime for Kayla when the sky turned pitch black and started to really pour outside. We waited it out for at least an hour before it lightened up enough for us to walk back to our apartment, about six blocks away. The streets looked like lakes. Needless to say, we were soaked when we got home. Our shoes are filthy from the streets and the amount of dust/dirt. We are dealing with the fact we didn't bring the right clothes. It was hot when we got here and now it's freezing.

On Sunday night, Dan and I were up about 3am. Dan heard a noise outside. We realized that one of the cars in the courtyard exploded and was on fire. There was a lot of commotion, fire trucks and police. The next morning, we could still see part of the mess from the night before. It is now Wednesday and the car is still here. We, of course, had to take pictures.

We also notice alot of young people that like to hang out in the courtyard by our building. They are definitely too young to be drinking beer; however, I don't think there are laws here prohibiting certain ages from drinking.

We went to the zoo again with Nina on Monday. We thought it would be fine - however, I realized just how cold it was as I walked around the zoo in my sandals and lightweight jacket. It was drizzling the whole time and Kayla finally got to use her umbrella that we had purchased for the trip. We realized here that Kayla likes lamb shishkabobs.

Yesterday, Nina and Genrich took us to an indoor play area. There was no advertising of the place on the outside of the building. It was on the fourth floor of what looked like an office building - you would never guess that there was an indoor playground there. It had lots of play areas for the kids, a restaurant and tables for parents to sit.

It was September 1st which was the first day of school for the kids in Novosibirsk. Several classes were there with their teachers and parents - the place puts on a little play/skit that included Harry Potter on stilts and a clown act. I understand that a lot of the content was around learning, manners and school. The kids liked it and so did Kayla. We were still there for the second round of the skit/play which Kayla very much wanted to be a part of. It was mildly expensive (250 rubles per kid = $7.50), but well worth it - lots to do and the food was good.

Afterwards we went to the market (where Kayla got her buddy, the tomato) to do a little bit of shopping. I bought a Matryschka doll for Nick and a whistle for Kayla. Nina purchased a beautiful painted, wooden comb as a gift for Kayla. We bought some meat in the market - it is all open and as you can see by the pictures, they butcher the meat with an axe on a stump of wood, all in the open. The market is so very different from anything you would see here in the states. Yes, the fish mostly still have their heads on.

We also stopped by a drugstore in the marketplace to purchase diapers. The drugstore is all enclosed and the size of a large closet. Nina talked to the druggist through a small window. They sell diapers mostly individually because many people can't afford to use disposable diapers all the time. Overall, we found grocery shopping a little cheaper than in the states, but again, that depends on the items.

Today, we are going to pick up some warmer clothes for Kayla and then we go to Nina'a apartment for dinner. It will be nice to see her place. We went once last May after the Russian Folk Dance.

Enough for now. Talk to you all soon.

Love,

Sue

Chips and Grapes

Kayla's latest culinary creation is potato chips and grapes. She askes for them all the time. In fact, she will put a grape into a potato chip and call it a taco. What a goofball.

We visited Kayla's baby home and gave Kayla's former caregivers a chance to see her. Kayla was very shy around all this attention. She didn't remember anything. I've included a picture of Kayla's caregivers. The woman next to me was the head doctor and the woman to the far right we remembered working with Kayla the very first time we met her. They gave her a Russian story book about baby animals - it was so sweet. The play area seemed newer and more updated than when K lived there. Last May, we made a donation to K's baby home which went to the decoration and new tiling of an isolation ward when the kids get sick. The Head Doctor, Ludmilla, gave us a tour when we were there. It was very bright and cheerful.

Nick is doing well. We went to visit him after visiting K's former baby home. He is really starting to know us. Genrich (our coordinator) tried to get Nick to come over to him, but Nick would run to Dan or I. Kayla is very sweet with him. She is so excited to have him for a brother. He would chase after her and follow her. We can't wait until he is with us:-)

Just an update on the M&C. We made the last box. We are now left to our own devices. Wish us luck.

Visiting Nick

Hello again,

It is Thursday. First part of the morning routine, Kayla is thrilled to get out and help Daddy get rid of the garbage. Kayla loves this part of the morning - maybe it's because there is a slide in the courtyard by our apartment. Go figure.

Dan, Kayla and I went for a long walk later that morning as we do every morning. We venture out someplace new each day. We ended up on a very pretty street with some posh shops. We were hungry, but are still finding and going to restaurants is very intimidating. We decided on KFC thinking we would find something for Kayla (don't laugh - if there had been a McDonalds we would have gone there:-). We are still fighting off using our last box of Mac & Cheese even though Kayla shoves the box in our face every chance she gets. It was surprisingly good and we laughed because somehow in our ordering, we found ourselves with three very large sodas and nothing for Kayla to drink.

We got back to the apartment and napped. It is not difficult getting Kayla to nap on this trip. She willingly goes to bed without any fuss whatsoever. Additionally, last night I heard words come of her mouth that I never thought I'd hear, "can we go to bed?".

After we all woke up, Kayla couldn't wait to get out - she had her backpack ready and she helped pack some toys for Nick. We brought a pair of shoes I purchased in the states to see if they would fit him.

We headed out to see Nick about 3pm as usual. Nick was in high spirits when we saw him and very excited. Kayla was in a good mood and very playful. This time, we did some walking and avoided the other children playing. This was helpful - there was one play area that we were able to go to and be by ourselves. It was a much more enjoyable visit - with the exception of the mesquitoes, it was quite nice.

I've included pictures of this visit. There is one picture of Dan chasing after Kayla and Nick - OMG, that is so how it is.

Afterwards, we went to the Russian version of a Target or Walmart, pronounced 'Ashawn'. We found the holy grail of food items (peanut butter)! We got some things that will tide us over for the next several days and hopefully feed Kayla when we run out of M&C. We also bought a new pair of shoes for Nick - the kid has big feet.

Friday's plan is to visit Kayla's old baby home - they will be so excited to see her. Then we will head off to visit Nick.

Talk to you all soon.

Love,

Sue