Gotcha Day 3/14/08

Detailed version:
The day started like any other. We slept in a little later than usual- Just ‘cause we could.

I went down to the lobby and met Yelena when she was picking up Sherri. One o’clock is when we were to come and meet her to change rooms.

So, we hung out, relaxing, kinda waiting for 1:00 to come around. When it did, we went downstairs. Our Floor Maid had come to our room around 12:30, so we were uncertain with the language barrier if she was telling us we needed to switch rooms now. So, when we couldn’t find Yelena, we went ahead and switched rooms. Yeah! It’s kinda weird, knowing we did it on our own.

We moved all our belongings to our new room- the same one Chris and Penny had been in 2 weeks ago. Has it been that long already? It was here that I had my “mini-meltdown.” I had been looking forward all week to having shelves. I was soo tired of living out of the suitcase. I had it all planned out how I was going to organize everything- but when we got here- no shelves!! No way to organize or baby proof anything! I was beyond frustration at this point- I just wanted to sit down and revel in my angst. Do you ever feel that way?

Tim pointed out, as only he can, that this really isn’t a big deal. It is Siberia after all. I know this rationally, but my mental state had a mini-meltdown. Whew!! Glad to get that over with. Soon, we had everything unpacked and “put away”. I have to say- Tim’s idea to use the window as our dresser was genius!! Our stuff is out of the way and organized. Hmmmm….. No shelf needed after all :0) Only- our clothes are really cold in the morning :0) lol

So, our last meal was noodles and pb and j in the room- we had ½ hour left before we were to meet and travel to the orphanage and pick up our sons- Oh my!! We realized we had no milk. So we walked very quickly to the grocery store to stock us up for a few days. We made it back just in time.

The trip was like another groundhog day. Traveling out to the orphanage- only the mood in the car was different. A different expectation. A charge to the air. No Thomas- he stayed behind with Sherri. As we sped toward our “birth” into parenthood, there were so many emotions and thoughts. Not enough space to record them all.

We arrived and of course, all 4 of us had to use the rest room. Serge teased that he was going to start a new career- taking Americans to the bathroom… hehe

We headed up to the “music room” just as we had so many other times. It was kinda sad in a way, knowing we’d never come here again. I thought of all the children still here- especially the beautiful little Asian girl in our son’s playgroup. Serge said she would probably never be adopted, just because Asian children aren’t requested from Russia. How incredibly sad.

Of course, Andrey was brought right in. After a few minutes settling the tears, Greg and Jeannette were able to change him into his new clothes. Tim was able to record the whole thing for them on their video camera. About 15 minutes later Yelena entered and we looked up expectantly. She asked where our baby was- we didn’t know.

Serge had disappeared, so I thought maybe he had gone to get him. Then we heard the siren’s yell. From the other end of the orphanage all the way up the steps to our room, we followed the progression of tears from our son. He was quite inconsolable and unhappy. We finally resorted to some fruit snacks. Hmmmmm these were new- he liked them. We were able to get him dressed, but he still wasn’t very happy with us. As each article of clothing was removed, he’d cry again. Not a very happy start!

He finally settled down. Since we were going right out to the van, they said we wouldn’t need to put his heavy snow suit pants on. I was so glad. They are very warm. As we left the music room, he cheered up. Who knew- it was the room? The ladies in the kitchen were all saying goodbye. It was very touching. So sad- these wonderful ladies grow attached to the children, so this must be such a double edged sword for them. Love to see the children in families- knowing they’ll never see them again.

Well, our departure was nothing compared to the Dini’s. Theirs was heart wrenching. The caregiver there to say goodbye to their son was a wreck. She said he was like her son and it was so hard to let him go. What a departure! Pray for her as she grieves the loss of this precious little guy.

We got out to the van. Eli was not very sure of the van- not sure at all. We were there first, so we got in the back seat. He was starting to cry- Serge turned up the music. Eli loves the La La- music. He settled right down.

It was so amazing to see him as he saw all these new things. I don’t think he’d ever been beyond the gates of the orphanage, since a few months from birth. He was doing so well. Just looking around. Then he discovered the Machinas cars outside the van windows. I should have known better than to let him watch. It was his only window to the outside world, though, and I wanted him to be able to look out. About 20 min from the hotel, we straightened up a bit, and he leaned back against me. He was getting a little limp- I thought he was falling asleep. Then, suddenly, and without warning, he upchucked. Pucked. Vomited. Spewed. Take your pick, he did them all. We weren’t quite prepared for that. The Elmo blanket, his clothes and jacket, Mama’s jacket all caught the majority of the mess. Amazingly, and wonderfully, he didn’t cry at all. Didn’t even whimper. He fell asleep!!

I must say, can you see the humor in this? I’ve been comparing this to a pregnancy during the whole process. I guess you could say that our water finally broke. Kinda stinky, yet a thorough baptism. My baby was covered in sticky green stuff. You have to laugh at the irony here hehehe

We rushed him in and up to the room when we got to the hotel. So much for not messing with bathing that first night. We had heard horror stories of the first bath and didn’t want anything too tramatic. That decision was removed from our hands. We stripped him down in the “foyer” of our room and went into the bathroom. I held him while we watched Papa blow up the inflatable bath tub rubber ducky. Cutest thing- got it at target- when you squeeze the bill it goes quack quack quack several times.

He was looking very unsure and panicked at this point. I said La La and squeezed the duck’s bill. His head came right around and he wanted to see what was happening. I stood him in the tub and his eyes got really big- not quite sure what was going on. I set him down in the water and he became a little more subdued. I put my hand in the water and splashed a little bit of water on his belly. That was all it took. A smile spread across his face, and it was as if the sun came out in our world. La La he said, pointing to the duck’s head. The duck quacked and we washed and all was right and much better smelling in our world.

We scooped him out and laid him down on the bed to put lotion on. He wasn’t so sure about that, but was soon all ready for bed. We went ahead and fed him a little food, knowing he’d be hungry if he didn’t eat- since he lost his dinner. Around 9 we Skyped our parents to say hi and show video of our son. He began acting a little crazy (as most children do that are up past their bedtime) so we kept our conversations short and around 9:15 put our little guy down. He wasn’t very happy and threw his leg over the bassinet (the cribs were being used by other families). I told him it was bedtime and laid him back down. He banged his head (gently) for a few minutes. I went over and rubbed his back and spoke quietly to him. The head banging stopped, and he began kicking his feet.

After a couple of minutes and both of us gently rubbing his back and speaking to him, he fell asleep. Soundly. We were able to move about the room and do dishes and talk quietly and he didn’t stir. Thank you, God! He sleeps like his Papa :0) We did leave the lamp on- have each night. I had read many families saying this seemed to make a difference. It sure makes it easier to check on him- I’m thinking they must leave a little lamp on in their room in the orphanage.

Short version:
folks you already got it:)