We got to Moscow yesterday without any problems...Roman fell asleep before takeoff and slept until right before we landed!! Great plane ride :)

It took us 2.5 hours to get to where we are staying in Moscow from the airport...it is only about 30 miles. Traffic in this city is a nightmare...everyone turning when they want to, running red lights, blocking interesections. WAY worse than NYC or DC!!

Our first 3 days and 2 nights with Roman have been wonderful...he definitely knows us and loves to be with us. At night, he does not want to go in the portable crib...he wants to stay in bed with us. Which, of course, I love because I can snuggle him all night long. He has slept through the night both nights.

This morning, the doctor came at 6:15 a.m.!!! UGGGHH!! He pronounced Roman "healthy" with minor delays, weak muscles and bronchitis...which we knew. But then threw in that he might possibly be anemic...hmmmm...he also weighed him the old fashioned way by holding him in the air and saying he was about 20 lbs.

Then, Andrew (aka Andrei) went with Gregory to the US Embassy to pay our fees and get Roman's Visa applications turned in. We went back at 2:00 for our appointment and lo and behold there were 50 other families there with the same appointment. It was cool though because we got to meet so many other families that had adopted from all over Russia...they were all there for the same thing. And, because we are citizens, we got to skip the line :) HOORAY!! But, it was an hour and a half wait for the Visa...Roman was really good, he just wanted to be active...

So, as of 3:15 today (russian time)...Roman can now officially enter the United States as an immigrant. As soon as he touches American soil he will be a U.S. citizen!! So, Andrew says that we are now officially tourists and have no more official business to do...

Amazing...we are parents...to this wonderful boy...so full of smiles and laughter. We can't wait for everyone to meet him.

TOmorrow, our host and driver, Vidali will take us on a tour of Moscow...he and his wife, Natasha, have been taking good care of us. Natasha has offered to babysit Roman tomorrow so we can shop and sightsee, but we kind of want to take him along so that he will be in all of the photos.

We will be home soon...love too all...see you on Sunday :) ~ gaye, andrew & roman

Yep...that's right. We are officially Roman's parents as of 10:00 am Tuesday morning. We have a birth certificate to prove it, even if we can't read it :)

Boy...did that prosecutor really hammer us with questions. Andrew had to do a speech before the judge & prosecutor first. This was about 15 minutes...he was a star! He had the judge in love with him by the end. Then, the questions started...who do you know in Russia that recommended Kaliningrad? Did they help you? How much money do you make? Do you know the post-placement schedule for reports back to Russia? What agency will help you with that? How many visits have you had with Roman? What kinds of things can he do? Did he recognize you?

Let's just say that our translator was invaluable!!!

During court we had to explain how he has attached to us...we told of how the day before, Roman was getting fussy towards the end of our visit and he crawled up in Andrew's lap and stretched out. Andrew rubbed his head until he fell asleep there. Look out Perkins...you have competition for your favorite spot.

More stories to follow when we get back!!

We will be picking up Roman's passport today at 3:00 and then going to the orphanage to pick him up after that. Can't wait to see and talk to everyone...we have a lot of stories :)

Also...we are flying out to Moscow as scheduled tomorrow morning. If all goes as planned in Moscow and at the embassy, then we will be home as scheduled on Sunday night, April 30th!!

Two more things...Happy Birthday from Russia to Cindy :) and Happy Wedding to Nate & Anna. We are thinking about you and wish we could be there.

~ gaye, andrew & roman

Hello everyone!! Well, it is now Saturday in Kaliningrad and we have just had another visit with Roman. He was in great spirits today...laughing, smiling and throwing himself into our arms :) We actually got to go into the actual orphanage today and wait next door while Roman was finishing his lunch. There was another family there today with their son...they are scheduled to have court on Monday as well. They are from San Diego and were very nice...it will be nice to keep in touch with other families with children from the same orphanage.

Some new news...it looks like we will not have court until possibly Tuesday instead of Monday...we are waiting for an official document from Moscow (at least that is what we can figure out). We might have to change our tickets and fly into Moscow later which would change our arrival date back into the states...we will keep you posted. We are hoping that the later court date will not affect our flights to Moscow...but you never know. Once we get the official word from the courts that we are Roman's parents, there is a lot of paperwork and running around to be done, so it might not get done on time.

All is well here in Russia...Roman still has his perpetual cold that he has had for months, but is such a happy boy. He seemed to remember us and the silver heart bracelet. We should be able to visit with him again tomorrow and Monday before court.

Food is great...we went to a authentic Uzbekhistan Restaurant last night...the food was amazing. Gaye even liked it :)

Havent gone bowling yet...perhaps Yuri is scared of a rematch with Andrew ;)

Will try to post another day once we find out about court and our trip home.

p.s. please post comments...we love to read them

My Mom got us a new sage-green gingham chair & ottoman for Roman's room. We rearranged everything to make room for it and now the room looks a lot different.

Perkins thinks he is King of the Jungle Room...okay...last post...really...my parents are picking us up in less than an hour :)

going to russia, going to russia, going to russia...we're coming Roman. We love you!!

We really are!! We are officially leaving today! We are flying to pick up Roman today! It is 12:02 and our flight leaves TODAY!!! Amazing...all this time spent waiting and now it is here! One week from today, we will officially be Roman's parents...we will be a family!

Here's the map of Russia again for you to look at until one of us posts again...you can think about us over there (as if you weren't already)!!


I miss him so much...I can't wait to see him and snuggle him and hear his beautiful laugh...see his gorgeous smile! My son...OH MY GOSH!! MY SON!!

Okay...I am going to try to calm down because I have to try to get some sleep. I have everything ready except for a few things that are still in the washer/dryer. Roman's bag is packed and zipped up. Ready to go downstairs and into the car. Our bag has a few more things to add...I am trying so hard to just get everything into two, so that we don't have to bring a carry-on (other than our backpacks).

My parents are picking us up tomorrow to take us to the airport...then, we are meeting my sister at the airport to say goodbye.

When we get home, both sets of grandparents are coming to the airport to pick us up and see their grandson for the first time :) I am sure they will have big signs and will be jumping up and down. When we flew in last time after meeting Roman...Andrew's Mom, Beth, had a sign that simply said "Roman's Parents". It was so cute...she just held it up as she was looking for us. Made us really laugh after a long day of traveling.

Beth will be posting for us in our absence...we will try to find a cyber cafe as well, but it is tough in Kaliningrad since we are staying with a family and don't have a lot of free time. Might be more likely in Moscow when we are not sight-seeing and going to the embassy, doctor, etc.

Okay...gotta go switch around the laundry and try to fall asleep...so excited...I can't stand it. Andrew fell asleep at 10:30 and is in there snoring away. But, then he has slept through a hurricane before :)

Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes and love...talk to you soon from Mother Russia.

So, here is a lovely map of Russia that I got from our friends, Elle & D. They are adopting from Khabarovsk, which is on the far right marked with the arrow. We are adopting from Kaliningrad which is the arrow on the far left. Could our children be any farther away from each other?? Opposite ends of Russia.

As I have mentioned before...Kaliningrad is on the Baltic Sea in between Lithuania & Poland. And that is where we will be in just 3.5 days!! With our son!! Amazing!

Rough few days with paperwork and stress levels (mine) and trying to get everything done so we can fly out...you would not believe how much there is to do.

Going out to dinner with some friends in a little bit...really need the distraction and some laughs.

My friends, Elle & D are flying to Khabarovsk next week to meet their son. She and D have made the most amazing video from their last trip there in June 2005. Take a few minutes and check it out. She is flying from Washington state to Seoul to Khabarovsk...and then to Moscow. We will be in Moscow around the same time and we are hoping to meet up.
Same goes for Caroline & Blake, they are travelling for their court date (like us) to become the official parents of their son :) We hope to get together with them as well.

Elle posted a map of Russia on her blog that is so much better than the one I posted a month ago on ours...hers shows all of Russia and then Kaliningrad on the far left side of the map. Khabarovsk, where they are adopting, is on the far right side...our children are a country (plus a few) away from each other right now.

I want to use her map, but I am going to wait for permission from her...and I have to figure out how to do the cool arrow like she did...only pointing to Kaliningrad as well as Khabarovsk.

I haven't really started packing yet...I have all the gifts bought for the host families (one in Kaliningrad & one in Russia), Grey Goose for the facilitator (apparently he likes this brand better than all Russian vodkas combined), more orphanage gifts & caregiver presents. I have all of those laid out with the items for Roman (meds, diapers, wipes, bottles, spoons, toys, books)...not sure if there will be room for our clothes once I get his clothes together. We don't really know what size he is wearing right now...we are estimating 18 months, but I have some 12 months sizes too just in case.

Also...I wanted to correct a previous post that I wrote...the shower that was given for Roman last month, was just for small group of girlfriends that I see & talk to on a daily basis...plus my Mom, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law & Haylee. Sorry if anyone felt excluded...there will be more showers once we get home...family & friends and loved ones :)

Okay...gotta go...going over to Ryan's apartment to have dinner with him and his girlfriend, Amy :)

well, 7 and a half days...we fly to Frankfurt, then to Moscow then to Kaliningrad...

2 weeks from today...We have court and will get custody of our son...their is a 10-day waiting period that we are hoping will be waived so that we will be a family on April 24th...

In 3 weeks, we will be home with our son and the fun will begin :)

Our 4-yr old niece, Haylee drew this picture the other day while her Mom, Grandma & I were getting our hair done. She had drawn it the day before on her own and showed it to her Mom...so, she re-drew it for me. She is so excited about Roman coming...her Russian cousin :)

Apparently, it is a picture of Haylee, me & Roman...Uncle Andrew wouldn't fit :) At first, I didn't have arms...but she remedied that rather quickly. Ignore the fact that there is a big dinosaur drawing on the other side that is showing through...I drew that for her to color while she was patiently waiting for us to get done with our hair. She was the entertainment at the salon that night and was very good until she realized we were not going to Chipotle for dinner.

Is there such a thing? I have heard that pregnant women get "pregnancy brain" because the baby growing inside them uses up some of their brain capacity. Sometimes, women become absent-minded or clumsy...

Well, I know I was those things before we decided to adopt, but it has been getting worse the last few days. Last weekend, while driving a friend to her bridal shower that I was hosting at a restaurant, I kept turning in the wrong directions and making weird u-turns that weren't really u-turns. My friend said I have "adoption brain".

Well, it gets worse...yesterday I fell down the stairs to our basement. Anyone that has been to our house know that our basement stairs are terrible anyways, but I hit the bad step and then missed the bottom step and just went flying down towards the cement wall. And, yes, I hit it...really hard. Apparently, I braced myself with my elbow because it is black & blue and hurts like a banshee. The wall didn't stop my fall though...I kept going towards the 52 inch big-screen in the corner. A was right there standing on a chair changing the halogen bulbs overhead. He just laughed (before he asked if I was okay) and then asked me to carry the long bulbs up to the trash. I said, yeah right...that's all I need is to trip again and then have the halogen bulbs explode and have blood everywhere.

Wait, it doesnt stop there...then, I met E & H for dinner at Chipotle. I couldnt find my keys anywhere...seems I jumped out of the car to greet them and left it running and unlocked. Didnt tell A this...he would probably just scream :)

Hmmm...Adoption brain...I mean it...it exists :)

The plane tickets arrived today!! This is real now...we have a "lap ticket" with Roman's name on it. With his new last name...

Throughout my blogging experiences, I have made many online friends who are going through the same processes that we are. It is so nice to have friends to talk to that are feeling the same things or can answer questions about their experiences. Thanks to all of you :)

Onto other items...Andrew went and picked up our medical forms yesterday. Our doctor's office is the best and they got them done in record time. Only, Andrew got home with them and I looked at them and the notary in the office forgot to put the seal on the docs. Andrew is a trooper and he worked from home today so that he could drive back over to the doctor's office and have the seal put on the form and pick up the blood work results while he was there. Only, he forgot to get the blood paperwork...no big deal, I am having them mail those as they are an extra added bonus.

So, everything was FedExed off to Richmond today to be apostilled. I am hoping we have it back by Friday, but that might be wishful thinking. The facillitator in Russia had originally told us just to bring this re-done paperwork with us when we fly...now, he wants it earlier. Well, that is probably not going to happen because last time it took the papers over a week to get there via FedEx and we will be there on the 19th. Will have to wait and see...Richmond is "behind" on the authentifications (apostilles), so it might be next week before we get them back.

Our Visa paperwork and passports are going to be taken over to the embassy tomorrow. I am going to learn the processes and how to do that part of the step...it seems like something I could do for people who are adopting. I mean, we are right here where the embassy is. When I went to Panama, I walked in and did the Visa thing myself...Russia seems a little more difficult.

Blah blah blah...last night, I had a girl's night with my sister-in-law (best friend), mother-in-law & niece. We went and got our hair done (well, Haylee just had her bangs cut...the rest of us had color and cut). Then, had a nice dinner. It was a fun night.

Until we fly to Frankfurt, 17 more days until we get to Kaliningrad...18 more days until we get to see our sweet Roman again. 22 more days until court...

I can't believe that we will be parents in less than a month...unbelievable!!

Everything is ready to go...still waiting on the Letter of Invitation (little piece of paper that says they want us to come adopt Roman), and the signed of medical forms. Usually, 8 different doctors have to sign this while in Russia being examined by those same 8 doctors. Luckily, our region allows us to have a doctor perform all the same tests here in the states. Then, we had to get a letter from the VA Board of Medicine stating that our doctor was qualified to diagnose in all the different areas. Doc had to go out of town last week on a family emergency...hoping he will come back to the office tomorrow to see the results of our blood tests and sign off on the paper.

Next step...sending (or driving) them down to Richmond for the apostille (state seal). I wish I could just type up that little form and put that pretty gold seal sticker on the paperwork :)

Tomorrow, I have to FedEx our Visa invitations to be processed...fun times, fun times...

Gotta go...Andrew just came upstairs to watch a movie with me. Down time :)