Small Adventures

Today we’re supposed to hear which judge our adoption has been assigned to, and possibly our court date. However, it’s after 4:00 pm, so it’s looking like tomorrow is more likely. That’s the number one thing on the prayer list right now, that we would get our court date and that it would be soon.

As John already posted, we’ve just about decided to come home after court. This is very common in other countries, Russia in particular, and is also becoming common in Ukraine. The length of the average adoption process has definitely increased within the last couple of years, from 2-3 weeks to closer to 7 weeks currently. The governmental agency that’s in charge of adoptions was reorganized last year, and this year there’s a new procedure to get passports for the kids that is taking longer than before.

There are several other very good reasons, too. It’s likely that by the time we get to our court date, John will be about out of vacation days. We’re having fun playing with the kids, and getting to know each other, but we’re also very limited in what we can do with them with so few resources. We’ve been working on teaching them English, and they’re picking up a few words, but they have no real need to learn English when they’re surrounded by Russian speakers. I think John said the expenses would be about the same either way.

Also, since we had no clue when we left how many kids we’d end up with, or their ages, it was almost impossible to do much preparation as far as buying clothes, furniture and equipment, toys, etc. By going home during the mandatory 10-day waiting period after court, we’ll have a chance to get car seats and strollers, set up kid bedrooms, and make all kinds of other arrangements. (Not to mention being able to sleep in our own bed!) This is sounding better and better. It’s hard to believe we’ve been here three weeks already.

Today we had a great visit in the playroom, although we didn’t get to see Vala and we’re not sure why. I was going to try to get her measurements for clothing today, so now I’m hoping to do that tomorrow. Last week when I was getting my tape measure out for Alex Maksim and Talia Ira, I just happened to check the label inside their sweaters – and they were both wearing clothing from GapKids, go figure. She’s a 4T, and he’s 5T. Not sure yet about shoe sizes, it’s kind of tough to catch a moving target!





Today Talia Ira kept picking up all the toys and putting them in the buckets. Not sure this trend will continue, but I like it!











This poor little guy will get a complex if they keep dressing him like this - shorts and girls tights that look like elf bloomers.








We had a minor tantrum from Alex Maksim today. So normal, he didn’t want to give up a toy when it was time. Of course, it was one that made music. He’s starting to figure out that Papa and Mama are not moved by tantrums or the big boo-boo lower lip (too many years of training with sad puppy-dog-eyes at home with Mackenzie and Fritz). We’ve discovered that both he and Talia Ira are almost mesmerized when you whisper in their ear when you’re trying to get them calmed down. It’s almost funny. Apparently they hear people yelling a lot, it just makes them laugh and run away. But if you whisper quietly in their ear, you get their undivided attention and direct eye contact. And it really works to calm them down. What a relief to finally find something that does work, at least for now.

After the visit we had our new driver Sergey drop us off at a pizza place recommended by our translator Marina – Cherry Pizza. We are SO sick of everything on the menu at the hotel, plus it’s expensive. After trying to figure out the menu in Russian, we thought to ask if they had an English menu, and thank goodness they did. We split a smallish thin-crust pizza with salami and mozzarella. It was pretty darned good! The salami tasted just about like pepperoni. They have lasagna and a few other things on the menu, so we may stop there for lunch again tomorrow and try something new. It’s a nice break from McDonalds! Yuck.












So that’s the scoop for today. Even though it will probably be a while before we go to court, we’re encouraged by the thought that we’ll be making plans soon to go home. That sounds SO good. After the waiting period, it will be time to come back to pick up the kids – Marina told us that the return trip would only be about three days – and then the real whirlwind begins back home. It will be so nice to have home court advantage – ha!

JoEllen : >