We had a nice first day of our wait in Novosibirsk. I (Linda) am not over jet lag yet and was awake to stay by 4:00. I tried for 2 more hours to sleep, but gave up at 6:00. It was a nice, long, relaxing morning. We certainly don't have all that many of those at home, so we will enjoy them here. We stayed in the breakfast room reading, talking and blogging until it closed at 10:30. Then we hit the town.
It is pretty cold here. The temperature itself isn't so bad, but the wind really bites the face. We walked around quite a bit and then went to an art museum. They have a really nice collection. At 3:45 we were picked up at the museum and headed over to the baby home. It was great to see Ben again!
At the start of our visit he was reserved, but very quickly relaxed. He really likes putting blocks in a box and then taking them out. He plays on his own at first, but then interacts with us more and more. He really likes the run-away-I'm-gonna-getcha game. I love that game, too! He would walk several steps away and then look back at us. Then I would start the chase and he would giggle. He has a great giggle. We tried to capture that on video - check it out. :-)
We heard his first cry tonight! Wow. He had a toy of another girl that was being visited and we asked him to give it back to us. He didn't want to! When we finally got it from him he really cried. This was the first time he has cried around us and it was good to hear. He didn't have a tantrum or anything, just a normal kid cry. Then Ed said "Horshesh peet?" (Do you want a drink?) and he stopped crying immediately! He really likes water. I forgot to bring his sippy cup tonight so he was soaked by the end of our visit, but he really wanted that water.
I just checked my watch and am amazed that I am still awake at 9:25! Maybe my jet lag is coming to an end. More to add tomorrow.
Love,
Linda and Ed
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Countdown has begun. 10...
We're just finishing up having breakfast on Tuesday morning; not your typical American continental breakfast here. My favorite part of the whole breakfast buffet is the black coffee. "It's darker than midnight on a moonless night."
(There's a Russian souvenir in our suitcase for the first person who can add a comment to our blog that can correctly identify from where that quote comes.)
Speaking of darkness, the days are noticeably shorter here. The sunrise was at about 8:45 this morning and the sun sets at 4:00 pm. Siberia is really beautiful right now. It seems like it snows just enough each day to keep the city looking fresh and white. The hoarfrost covering the trees is beautiful as well. It's a winter wonderland for sure.
We'll visit Benjamin this afternoon just as it's getting dark. We'll do our best to get some more photos of him for tonight's update.
Thanks to all for the wonderful comments and emails. This has been a fun way to keep in touch with you all from such a great distance.
Love,
Ed and Linda
(There's a Russian souvenir in our suitcase for the first person who can add a comment to our blog that can correctly identify from where that quote comes.)
Speaking of darkness, the days are noticeably shorter here. The sunrise was at about 8:45 this morning and the sun sets at 4:00 pm. Siberia is really beautiful right now. It seems like it snows just enough each day to keep the city looking fresh and white. The hoarfrost covering the trees is beautiful as well. It's a winter wonderland for sure.
We'll visit Benjamin this afternoon just as it's getting dark. We'll do our best to get some more photos of him for tonight's update.
Thanks to all for the wonderful comments and emails. This has been a fun way to keep in touch with you all from such a great distance.
Love,
Ed and Linda
We're parents!I
Well sort of. The good news is that the judge approved our petition to adopt Benjamin, the bad news is that she did not waive the 10 waiting period liked we had hoped. Bummer.
So we're going to be here awhile and almost certainly won't be home before Christmas. We took this news a little harder than we expected we would. I guess we had rather high hopes based on other recent families all getting their 10 waiting period waved. Oh well, the end result is all that really matters, and another few days over here is something we can handle.
The court process was a bit odd. We met with a translator yesterday who "prepped" us with information about the whole process. She gave us examples of the kinds of questions we would be asked, told us a bit about the judge, and other people that would be present. She gave us good feedback on what would be appropriate to mention and what would be best to omit.
The court proceeding seemed very brief. What is strange is that the judge never looked at us, not once. I'm not sure if she really looked at anyone else in the room either. She was a very stern looking woman, and asked us only one question I think. Our translator said that was because we did such a good job in presenting ourselves. Hard to say why the judge then made the decision she did. Frustrating for sure.
Our translator/representatives were not very happy with the judges decision either. We had brought a small gift with us for the judge, but they did not even want to give it to her after the hearing. They will do everything within their power to get us out of town the minute our 10 days are up. That's good. They'll probably be pretty sick of babysitting us by then.
We'll visit Benjamin every day now until we finally make the last trip to go get him and take him with us. I think this wait will actually make the transition to being with us a little less traumatic. He'll feel a little safer leaving his home if he knows us a little better.
Well we're tired after a long emotional day. We just got back to the hotel after dinner, and Linda is actually sleeping in the chair next to me as I sit in the lobby and type away.
The computer battery is about dead here too, so I think all three of us will go up to our room and try to recharge.
Good night for us, Good morning to you.
Ed
So we're going to be here awhile and almost certainly won't be home before Christmas. We took this news a little harder than we expected we would. I guess we had rather high hopes based on other recent families all getting their 10 waiting period waved. Oh well, the end result is all that really matters, and another few days over here is something we can handle.
The court process was a bit odd. We met with a translator yesterday who "prepped" us with information about the whole process. She gave us examples of the kinds of questions we would be asked, told us a bit about the judge, and other people that would be present. She gave us good feedback on what would be appropriate to mention and what would be best to omit.
The court proceeding seemed very brief. What is strange is that the judge never looked at us, not once. I'm not sure if she really looked at anyone else in the room either. She was a very stern looking woman, and asked us only one question I think. Our translator said that was because we did such a good job in presenting ourselves. Hard to say why the judge then made the decision she did. Frustrating for sure.
Our translator/representatives were not very happy with the judges decision either. We had brought a small gift with us for the judge, but they did not even want to give it to her after the hearing. They will do everything within their power to get us out of town the minute our 10 days are up. That's good. They'll probably be pretty sick of babysitting us by then.
We'll visit Benjamin every day now until we finally make the last trip to go get him and take him with us. I think this wait will actually make the transition to being with us a little less traumatic. He'll feel a little safer leaving his home if he knows us a little better.
Well we're tired after a long emotional day. We just got back to the hotel after dinner, and Linda is actually sleeping in the chair next to me as I sit in the lobby and type away.
The computer battery is about dead here too, so I think all three of us will go up to our room and try to recharge.
Good night for us, Good morning to you.
Ed
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Sunday Night
We just got back from the baby home. We had a great time with Benjamin tonight. We took him out to get his passport photo taken, then went back to his place to play. He was certainly smiley and giggly this afternoon. And his tongue was sticking out at least half the time. Pretty cute.
He's changed a little bit since we were last with him. The most notable change is probably the rate at which he moves and the skill with which he moves things. We were only mildly disappointed to see that he had recently received a haircut. Last week we received photos of him with this blond curly hair. Now his "do" is buzzed.
We both pretty much fell asleep on the car ride home. We're back at the hotel now, and I just came down to the lobby so I wouldn't fall asleep in our hotel room. I'd like to stay awake until at least 10:00 so that I can get on schedule over here.
We have a little preparation to do before our court appointment tomorrow. We met with our court translator this afternoon and she went over some of the questions that the judge and prosecutor are likely to ask us. It's nothing that we need to be too worried about, but we will probably still worry. Tomorrow is a big day for us no matter what, so we pray that it will go as well as possible.
By the way, the "PDA" couple I mentioned in the last post had to be in the mid 50s, but carried on like they were teenagers.
We love the comments. Feel free to email if you wish. So far access has been pretty accessible.
Ed
He's changed a little bit since we were last with him. The most notable change is probably the rate at which he moves and the skill with which he moves things. We were only mildly disappointed to see that he had recently received a haircut. Last week we received photos of him with this blond curly hair. Now his "do" is buzzed.
We both pretty much fell asleep on the car ride home. We're back at the hotel now, and I just came down to the lobby so I wouldn't fall asleep in our hotel room. I'd like to stay awake until at least 10:00 so that I can get on schedule over here.
We have a little preparation to do before our court appointment tomorrow. We met with our court translator this afternoon and she went over some of the questions that the judge and prosecutor are likely to ask us. It's nothing that we need to be too worried about, but we will probably still worry. Tomorrow is a big day for us no matter what, so we pray that it will go as well as possible.
By the way, the "PDA" couple I mentioned in the last post had to be in the mid 50s, but carried on like they were teenagers.
We love the comments. Feel free to email if you wish. So far access has been pretty accessible.
Ed
We're in Novosibirsk
Well after a long trip we're here. Our plane landed Sunday morning at about 5:30 am Novosibirsk time. That's 5:30 pm CST. We were greeted by our two contacts, Nina our interpreter, and Gendrich our reprensatitive. They filled us in on all the "goings on" of this trip, and we did the best we could to take it all in. They got us straight off to our hotel where we checked in and got a good couple of hours of rest followed by breakfast and a shower.
We are now sitting down in the lounge of the hotel, getting a little www time in before we meet a court representative/translator at 2:00. She'll go over the whole court process with us, and then we'll meet Nina and go to the baby home around 3:30, TO SEE BEN! Benjamin will get his passport photo taken today. So we hope to get him styling before the big picture.
Our trip was pretty uneventful really so that was nice. All planes were on time, and all baggage managed to find us on the other end. We sat behind a real "lovey-dovey" couple on the way from Amsterdam to Moscow. Their affections seemed to intensify as the trip wore on the bottle of whiskey was consumed. The flight attendant told them it was not proper to "byob." So they were slighty a little more discrete after that, with their alcohol consumption that is. Their love for each other was expressed with rapid fire kisses from time to time and much running of the hands through the hair and other "PDAs."
Anyway, Linda can't believe I'm typing so much, and quite frankly neither can I. I mean this is really "journaling," and as much as Sara and Martha like to do that, I've always snubbed that.
Perhaps we'll check in again before we go to bed again tonight and even upload a picture of Ben.
Love from Novosibirsk!
Ed and Linda
We are now sitting down in the lounge of the hotel, getting a little www time in before we meet a court representative/translator at 2:00. She'll go over the whole court process with us, and then we'll meet Nina and go to the baby home around 3:30, TO SEE BEN! Benjamin will get his passport photo taken today. So we hope to get him styling before the big picture.
Our trip was pretty uneventful really so that was nice. All planes were on time, and all baggage managed to find us on the other end. We sat behind a real "lovey-dovey" couple on the way from Amsterdam to Moscow. Their affections seemed to intensify as the trip wore on the bottle of whiskey was consumed. The flight attendant told them it was not proper to "byob." So they were slighty a little more discrete after that, with their alcohol consumption that is. Their love for each other was expressed with rapid fire kisses from time to time and much running of the hands through the hair and other "PDAs."
Anyway, Linda can't believe I'm typing so much, and quite frankly neither can I. I mean this is really "journaling," and as much as Sara and Martha like to do that, I've always snubbed that.
Perhaps we'll check in again before we go to bed again tonight and even upload a picture of Ben.
Love from Novosibirsk!
Ed and Linda
Friday, December 7, 2007
Almost ready to go
Well Linda and I are sitting at our local coffee shop not talking to each other, and not even sitting at the same table, as we get our last internet fix in before we head for the airport. Our internet service has been down at our home, so we've been running over here when we need to.
I'm just putting a post here quick to more or less test out my blog setup. I've restricted the access so you'll have to be invited to view it. If you know of someone who you think might benefit from some good random posting, this might just be the place for them.
Actually, we hope to use it in order to update you all from time to time on our journey around the world and our journey to becoming parents. We are so thrilled to be leaving today on our way to get Benjamin. It's almost hard to believe I just typed that.
Anyway, time to leave the coffee shop and our Minneapolis life behind for awhile. We'll post again when we have time and can figure out access.
Bye for now.
Ed
I'm just putting a post here quick to more or less test out my blog setup. I've restricted the access so you'll have to be invited to view it. If you know of someone who you think might benefit from some good random posting, this might just be the place for them.
Actually, we hope to use it in order to update you all from time to time on our journey around the world and our journey to becoming parents. We are so thrilled to be leaving today on our way to get Benjamin. It's almost hard to believe I just typed that.
Anyway, time to leave the coffee shop and our Minneapolis life behind for awhile. We'll post again when we have time and can figure out access.
Bye for now.
Ed
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