The Hope Inside

Well, we have completed our official 1^st day with Elijah and our second full week in Krasnoyarsk. Sara’s taking a nice long shower and Elijah’s having what we call “Misha Time”, where he goes in the space between the desk and the wall and plays toys. It’s his safe place in the room here, so we let him go there for little stretches of time to just chill. So I get a few moments to write a little update.

All things considered, things are going really well. Elijah slept in until about 6:30 am, which wasn’t too bad considering that he slept (albeit restlessly) through the night. Breakfast was hit and miss (Banana and applesauce-yes, oatmeal-no). Got him dressed for the day (he looked like a little dude), and then it was off to the business center.

After a failed attempt to upload the video I made, I had to go to the office of vital records to fill out a request form for Elijah’s birth certificate so that we can get his passport to leave Krasnoyarsk for Moscow on Wednesday.

Lunch was a bit more successful, and then we ventured out for a walk to track down diapers (this kid goes through them like they grow on trees!). We stayed off the busy roads as much as we could, and he did great. We practiced our English (bus, car, traffic, congestion, smog, danger) and played with daddy’s Mountain Dew bottle (not the big one, just a small one this time. I’m not an addict….I promise).

After a small struggle, he went down for a nap and I failed in a second attempt to upload my Misha Video to the blog. Snack time and play time in the room, and it was off to Subway for dinner. He sang songs to himself all the way there and all the way back (he’s going to be perfect for this family). Saturday night is a rager here in Kras, especially at the courtyard in front of the hotel. There was music, people dancing, and we busted out the bubbles. We took turns blowing them and busting them in midair and enjoyed some people-watching (trust me, it’s better than Venice).

Dinner time for Elijah went even better than lunch, and bathtime was a blast. So much so that we had a rough time getting out. It took a little longer to get to bed this time around (that rocking chair at home would come in handy now), but at least Sara’s getting bigger biceps.

The end of day one finds us wiser, and more in love with Elijah than the day before. Every little challenge he presents during the day is a chance for us to get a glimpse into his personality and the depth of some of his attachment and trust issues. But so far he hasn’t thrown us any curveballs. He is a little boy that grew up having to take care of himself and without the safety and love of a family. But he’s doing the best he can. And he has such a pure and wonderful heart inside him. When he smiles, we see the hope that every child has, that God loves him and there is a world out there full of wonderful and beautiful things for him to experience. He hasn’t lost that. It is still inside him, and thanks be to God and so many wonderful and supportive people that now that hope will never leave him…

JP

Misha Video

Here's a little tease....

Gotcha Day!

Well, he is officially ours. We can now post pictures and video, so I thought I would put together a little video montage of our trips, up to the day we picked him up from the orphanage (this is what I've done with some of the free time here). Unfortunately, if you are reading this and there is not video, that's because it's been over an hour and the video hasn't uploaded yet. I am going to have to re-think this strategy. In the meantime, here's a detail of our day, and I will follow it up with pictures on my next post (I don't have any with me in the business center) to satisfy for now until I get the video worked out.

Ok, this video is taking way longer to upload than I expected, so I will post a quick few words. We picked up Elijah earlier than expected, at 2pm instead of 5pm, so we had to rush around to try to get things ready for his big trip. We were anxious, but excited about what lay ahead of us. He welcomed us with a few tears when we got there (not a huge surprise), but settled down when we started changing his clothes. He found that pretty fun. He said "niet" again to the shoes, but we put them on anyway and he did fine. A quick goodbye to the orphanage director, and we were down the stairs and out into the open world. He rubbed his eyes in the sun (it felt more like San Diego than Siberia in the 75 degree heat) and Sara held him as we said a prayer for him on the steps of the orphanage.

He greeted the van with arms and legs extended in flight pose. There was no way he was having the inside of the van (he likes to look at them out the window, but getting into one is another story). And after the many near misses on the roads of Siberia we've had thus far, I can't say that I blame him. He settled down, enjoying the ride back to the hotel in the safe confines of mama's arms. No throwing up on the drive! Yeah! It is a pretty common occurance, but we were spared.

We had to make a stop at the photo place to get his passport picture taken. No tears there (thank goodness), and we were off to the hotel. He greeted our room with interest, and was pretty quiet as he explored. We gave him a snack, and proceeded to head outside to see the fountains in front of the hotel. It was very busy and a little chaotic for him (we could feel his nervousness as he clung to Sara's arms), so we headed back inside to the room for the night. Dinner of soup didn't go over too well with him (I guess Uncle Ben's is a little different than orphanage soup), so we added a banana and some bread and called it a night. A little wind-down time, and he was ready to be held by Sara. She fed him a bottle (part of his attachment process), and Sara rocked him to sleep. He slept through the night until 6 in the morning. Not bad for a first night.

Elijah is finally our son. Wow....that's all I can say...

JP

Sippy Cup Games

Took advantage of the morning off from going to the orphanage to call my boys. I miss them a ton, and it is so wonderful to hear their voices. Decided to explore a little, so we walked along the Yenesei River and circled our way back through the streets of Krasnoyarsk. We came across what I can best describe as a mini amusement park along our walk. We paid our 20 rubles each for entry, and walked around what ended up being a huge park filled with various “fair-style” rides and attractions, down to a train that circled the whole park and a Ferris wheel. I can’t say that I was brave enough to try out any of the rides, but there was a huge playground that we can’t wait to take Misha to as soon as he is in our care for good. Even a Spongebob balloon to be purchased if we so desire.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, and we enjoyed a wonderful Italian dinner followed by an UNO tournament, in which Sara was champion, winning four hands in a row and completely annihilating everyone.

Early the next morning, we caravanned again to the orphanage to see our boy. We were happy to see him dressed in some “boy clothes” this time. He is continuing to attach to us, and his comfort level improves every trip. Daddy got in a pretty extensive tickle session this time around. Hearing his laugh is the most wonderful sound in the whole world. We made good eye contact and his ability to relax with me improved as well. He took a fascination with the plastic flute, and I attempted to instruct him in the finer points of music making. Dodging spit flying from the tip of the flute as he waved it in the air, I was soon able to get him to blow into it (at first he would just put it in his mouth and make a noise with his voice, which always got a smile out of him and a laugh out of us). Soon he was making beautiful music (use your imagination here) and we were having a blast!

He got used to the “sippy cup” that we brought for him (we took out the valve on the inside to help him figure it out) and it soon became a fun game (to him alone) to turn it upside-down on his shirt and drip water all over himself (we would say “niet” and he would laugh). Does this sound familiar to any parents out there? The honeymoon doesn’t last long, and it’s time to start being parents I guess ( I have to admit, I would have found it a pretty fun game too, except that the ink on the front of his shirt used to mark it for his group was running all over the place and getting on his pants and anything else it touched). If this is the worst of it (and it won’t be), then I certainly can’t complain.

Spent the afternoon working on the video montage to post on the blog the day we pick him up. We are scheduled to pick him up on Friday evening, and we can’t wait. While we are a little apprehensive about having him completely to ourselves, it’s no different than any new parent the day that they take the little one home from the hospital. And the sooner he is out of the orphanage, the sooner he can start transitioning to his new life at his new home and the sooner all of our roles can be established. Instead of us being those two people that come to hang out for a few hours everyday, we can start being mom and dad. And he can finally start being a son, something that he has never been before…

JP

Angel in Pink Overalls

Wouldn’t you know it, the morning that we have to get up early to head to the orphanage is the morning I have trouble waking up. I feel like I can drive the trip to the orphanage in my sleep now. Sara and I talk about our game plan in the van on the way to the orphanage and just joke around to pass the time.

Misha greets us with recognition and no tears. What a blessing! Straight into Sara’s arms he went, no problems. Smiles started early, mostly on our part. He came walking in wearing a white shirt with pink and purple stripes and little bows on the sleeve, covered by pink courderoy overall shorts, white and pink socks, and of all things, blue sandals. Needless to say, we have pictures to commemorate the occasion (we made a promise to him that moment that these pictures would not make his wedding video…we are not completely cold and heartless).

Misha and papa spent time pointing and looking outside the second-story window of the orphanage, dad showering him with kisses and stroking his hair. We walked in circles around the room dragging toys in tow, and played music together on separate xylophones. I even brought the MP3 player with headphones and introduced him to his first dose of American rock music, much to his mother’s disappointment. If he’s going to be in this family, he’s going to have to start young, right? After days of fighting with him, he let us take of the sandals and try on his tennis shoes. He was reluctant at first, but once they were on he took four steps in them, looked down, then turned and looked at us with a huge smile on his face. I think he likes them.

At the end of the visit, he spiked a little fever (we think he’s starting to get a little sick), so mama held him and rocked him. To our surprise, he fell asleep in Sara’s arms. While we felt bad for him that he was not feeling well, we were very pleased to see that he was comfortable enough in mama’s arms to relax and fall asleep. What an angel he was while he slept. He looked just like I remember my other three boys sleeping at that age. It’s all perfect.

Dinner was at Subway this time (we are so adventurous here). Our “sandwich artist” spoke English, but I pointed and grunted at the tomatoes and lettuce nevertheless and tried to do the conversion from feet to centimeters in my head (what’s a foot-long?). Braved the Mountain Dew out of the tap and was pleasantly pleased at the sandwich.

Got killed even worse this time around in Trivial Pursuit and am considering reading the questions and answers in my room before we play next time to give me an edge. No trip to the orphanage tomorrow, but back on Wednesday, Thursday, and pick him up on Friday. Not long now…

JP

The Robot in Russia

Sunday dawned much like Saturday. Sara sleeping in and I getting up early. As much as I have the ability to sleep in some here, I guess getting up early is ingrained in my system. However, getting up at 7 or 8 is sleeping in for me, so I guess I’m sleeping in some. Sara took a nice hot shower (we have hot water all the time now again…yeah!) and met me in the business center as I posted blog and talked to people on the internet phone.

Lunch in the room, and we were ready to get out. It was cold and rainy all morning, but it broke a little by the afternoon and we ventured out. Past the courtyard outside the hotel and its beautiful fountains, we crossed a street lined with horse drawn carriages. Down the long stone steps flanked by bronze statues and a waterfall fountain, snapping pictures of Curious George sitting on the foot of a 15-foot tall famous Russian statue (since we couldn’t bring the boys, Curious George has been our stand-in for all the pictures that we would have taken of the boys. I have a running story going with George in my e-mails to the boys, and they love to see new pictures everyday. Who knows, maybe there’s a new Curious George book to come out of it “Curious George goes to Siberia”. I sense I bestseller in the making…). Arm and arm, we crossed the busy street and traversed the decrepit stone steps down to the Yenisei River (I think this is the first time I spelled it right).

It was cold, but we huddled close as we strolled down the birch-lined walkway, stopping occasionally to snap a picture or take some video. The beauty and peace of the moment were not lost on us. Spoke of home and boys, and how nice it will be to take Misha down here in a few days. We love to go down to Point Loma to Shelter Island or Seaport Village in San Diego and stroll the boardwalk next to the water and sit in the grass, so this afternoon felt like a piece of home (except for the temperature, or course).

Back at the room, we figured it was laundry time. Blowing up the inflatable pool we got for Misha’s bathtime, we proceeded to wash clothes, Sara in the pool scrubbing and I rinsing in the sink. We were quite a team. Even Curious George got his shirt washed. Now it will only take a week for them to dry.

Dinner found us back at the Irish Pub (KFC was closed for some reason). Sara helped me order fish (it actually turned out to really be fish this time), and the salmon was excellent. The smoky atmosphere, flashing green laser lights, and techno dance music got to my head, and on a dare Andrew (the Franks’ 7 year-old son) and I stood up in front of the DJ’s table and did “the robot” and “the running man”, very much acting the part of stupid Americans. We earned a thumbs-up from the DJ (he even got the smoke machine going for us) and a few smiles from the staff behind the bar (for Russia, I think that’s pretty good). You only live once, right?

After getting creamed by the Franks in Trivial Pursuit, we dejectedly headed back to our room, our pride in tow. Tomorrow we see Misha again in the morning, and we can’t wait….

JP

6 More Days Until We Pick Up Misha

Saturday morning dawned early, much like every morning here in Siberia. It gets dark around 11:30 pm, and gets light about 4:30 am. Makes for a long day, especially a weekend day like today where we don’t get to go to the orphanage. A glance out our 7th story window showed it to be rainy, cold, and cloudy. With Sara dead to the world, I proceeded to the business center to call my boys, but unfortunately it does not open until 10 on the weekends. Three books, the laptop, and the portable DVD player help to pass the time. I just keep reminding myself that I’m not going to have a break from regular life like this for a long time, maybe never, so I’m doing my best to cherish the down time.

Meals are always an adventure. I hate to say it but I didn’t learn as much Russian as I should have. Sara knows more than I do, yet I always manage to be the one that has to communicate. Luckily, the hotel restaurant has English translations of all their dishes, or the best equivalent (I couldn’t quite figure out what “waving bacon” was. I keep picturing the truck of pigs we passed on the way to the Moscow airport, hooves aloft in salute to us). We decided to try the Borsch, a famous Russian soup made mostly of beets, with meat and sour cream mixed in for good measure. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised and found it to be a tasty treat. Russian food has been very interesting for us thus far. What we have come to realize is that to the Russians, everything needs to be the same temperature, or close to it. The cold drinks are lukewarm, and the hot food comes out room temperature. It’s taken some getting used to. Us picky Americans.

We ventured out on the streets to find the children’s store (again, with me getting the directions from the hotel front desk). It turned out to be a big, three story indoor mall with everything from clothes, to DVD’s, to toys, to strollers, and everything in between. The big surprise was the price relative to the U.S.. An umbrella stroller that would run you about $10 at WalMart in the U.S. runs you $50 here in Krasnoyarsk. We didn’t buy anything, but at least we know where to go in an emergency (the highlight was the life-size stuffed ALF from the early 90’s T.V. show).

We met another couple from the U.S. that had just completed their own adoption of an 18-month-old and were heading out the next day for Moscow. We agreed to all have dinner together at the California Pizza Kitchen (yes, the California Pizza Kitchen. Trust me, we’re going to be sick of pizza by the end of this trip). Believe it or not, the California map on the wall had Escondido on it. Wow, it almost felt like being home (ok, not really). The pizza was excellent, and on the way we located the KFC and the Subway, so between these three we should be set for the next week-and-a-half.

The day ended with an authentic Russian ice cream cone from a corner stand, complete with the hammer and sickle on the package. The cone was soft instead of crunchy, the ice cream was fluffier, and it had jam inside. Strawberry. I must say, different but yummy all the same.

Tomorrow promises to be much of the same, with hopefully warmer temperatures and better weather conditions. Sometimes it blows my mind to think about where we are. WE’RE IN SIBERIA! Of all places. And we’ve been in Russia for over a week-and-a-half! It’s crazy to think of the journey that has brought us here. That God would have chosen this little boy halfway across the world for our family, and lead us here to this very moment in time. I know that I easily get stuck in my own little world and all the “important” things that it contains, yet I so often forget that there is so much more going on than what I see or think or feel or comprehend. And to be a part of something that has extended so much further beyond my own little circle of existence has truly been a blessing. I am so glad that so many others of you have chosen to be a part of this journey. To be a part of a much larger plan. All of the little journeys that will begin from this one journey. What an exciting time! I can’t wait to see what God has in store for the lives of those of you that we have hopefully touched with our journey and our story. He’s got big plans for you too, if you just let him work…

JP