Hoping and Believing

2010-10-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Valerie had her picture taken at Sears yesterday. She acted so funny. She kept asking the photographer if she was going to give her a shot. I finally convinced her that it was not a doctor's office and there would be no shots! There's a link to the pictures below. I think they're pretty cute. Valerie was very interested in all the props and stuff in the studio but not so interested in having her picture made. After each pose, she would ask, "You done? You done now?" She still doesn't smile naturally for pictures, just gives that big fake cheesy grin, but we got her tickled a few times with a good result.

It's really true that you just don't take as many pictures of your second child as you did of your first. I took a picture of everything Blaine did for the first couple of years of his life! This is only the second time I've taken Valerie to have a professional picture done.

Just click below. Isn't she gorgeous?

http://www.Searsphotos.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?shareID=4833e1d1-9a64-47b3-aaec-48432b8c4e10

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Monday night about bedtime the kids started begging to carve a pumpkin. Temporary insanity set in and I said, "Sure, lets do it!" It wouldn't have taken that long but the kids didn't want me to help. They wanted to do it all by themselves. Blaine even drew the design and did ALL the cutting himself.

It was one tall pumpkin!

Scooping out the seeds and slime!

Carving Away!

The spooky finished product!

We stood on the front porch and admired our work. The kids had so much fun that the late bedtime was worth it!

It's been forever!

2010-09-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Life has been a whirlwind and blogging has not been something I've had time for. I miss it! As I read back through our story of adopting Valerie, there are so many things written there that I know I would never remember if I hadn't written them down. I'm so glad I have that! I want to get back to blogging, not daily, but at least hitting the highlights.

Todd is now the president of Tejas Bank, a brand new bank here in town. They opened in March 2010 in a temporary location and will move into their gorgeous, brand new bank on October 4! I am so proud of him and all his hard work. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears went into this venture but it has paid off nicely. He also stays busy on the ranch and being a wonderful daddy and husband.

I worked last year as a 5th grade teacher. I loved it but I missed out on way too much with my own kiddos. Teaching is a very time-consuming job. I'm staying home this year and love having more time to be with my precious kiddos! I was diagnosed last year with rheumatoid arthritis. This was a big blow to me and I had a really hard time accepting it. I'm responding well to the medications now and am not having too much pain.

Blaine is 8 and in 3rd grade. He is getting so big and handsome! He likes riding his bike, shooting his BB gun, and doing all sorts of boy things! His latest passion is working with the 2 steers he has entered in the county stock show next February. He feeds them every morning before school and in the evenings he brushes them, walks them, and feeds them. He loves it and is doing a great job with them! He shot two dove on his first dove hunt this season! Blaine asked Jesus to be his Savior and was baptized last spring! He is growing up way too fast. What happened to my baby boy?

Valerie is growing like a weed! She just turned 4 and is a beautiful little girl. She goes to Children's Day Out twice a week and loves it! Valerie knows no strangers. She wants to visit with everyone. She goes to dance class once a week as well as speech therapy. Her speech is very much improved! I rarely think about her being adopted anymore - she's just our little girl. Valerie is very coordinated and has little muscles all over. We may have an athlete! She has strong emotions. When she's happy, she's very happy! When she's upset, she's very upset! Drama queen!

We are very blessed in every way! Hopefully I'll update again real soon!

Family Reunion

2009-06-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

We had the best time last weekend at the first ever Family Reunion for my Mom's family. It was in Weatherford at the Texas Star Ranch, which is a beautiful place. Almost everyone was able to make it and it was so fun to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins; hear about their lives, and see their children! We got to swim, play games, eat, visit, and eat and visit some more. The kids had a ball and were exhausted by the time the weekend was over.

My brother, Bryan and me

Valerie and Corey, just a swingin'

Blaine and Valerie hanging out with cousins

Dad and Mom

My sister, Ginger and me

These are some of the pictures Ginger sent me. I don't know why two are smaller. I have some more good ones on my camera so maybe I'll post more later.

A Fabulous Year!

2009-06-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a full year since this little girl became ours forever. And what a fabulous year it has been! Our friend and fellow adoptive parent, Catherine sent us this picture of Valerie on her "Gotcha Day". This is a picture of her on June 5, 2008 in the Baby Home. Her groupa had been outside playing and this caregiver brought her in so we could change her clothes and take her with us forever. Valerie had no idea just how much her life was about to change. And to be quite honest, neither did we! In one year she has adapted beautifully to a new country, new home, new family, new language, and new foods. Her progress has been amazing! Looking at this picture brings back so many memories and emotions. I was head over heels in love with this baby at this time last year but over the past year that love has grown and grown. What would we ever do without her? We are so very blessed!

Here she is one year later, 7 inches taller, 10 lbs heavier, and full of personality. She is totally uncooperative about taking pictures, but so very cute!!

This week 1 year ago...

2009-03-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

We were in Khabarovsk, Russia!at Baby Home #2

meeting this beautiful baby girl

playing on the floor

getting to know each other

and falling in love!

These moments are so etched in my memory they seem like yesterday! We had such wonderful visits with Valerie for 5 days. The joy of meeting our daughter and the pain of leaving her there to come home and wait for a court date made for a very emotional week! Now she has officially been ours for 9 months!

Eeeeewwww!

2009-02-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

Valerie has a really cool battery operated Dora toothbrush. She loves it and loves to walk around the house brushing her teeth. Yesterday, I caught her brushing Champ, our dog's teeth with it. She had his lips pulled way back in a painful looking way and was going to town on his teeth with her Dora toothbrush buzzing away. Yuck! Champ just sat there looking pleasant, maybe he was enjoying the bubble gum flavored toothpaste she had generously applied. I yelled at her, "STOP! NO, NO, DON'T EVER BRUSH THE DOG'S TEETH WITH YOUR TOOTHBRUSH! YUCKY, YUCKY!" She just gave me a look that said "what's the big deal?" I've seen that look before on the face of one of my first graders that I caught drinking out of my water cup on my desk. When I got on to him, he just shrugged and said, "I do it all the time." Eeeww!

Big Girl Bed

2009-02-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

Valerie is now in a big girl bed in her very own room! She has been sleeping in a crib in our room since we brought her home last summer. This was working well for her but not so well for Todd and I. Valerie still bangs her head alot in her sleep and the whole crib would rattle loudly each time. We decided to try to move her to her own room and I worried that it would be a difficult transition. It worked out great and everyone is sleeping better! She pats herself and says "big girl" when we put her in bed. She has gotten up a few times and we just tell her to go back to bed and she does it with very little protesting! I think she is more comfortable and I haven't heard much head banging going on since the switch. I still have the crib up in our room. I feel a little sad because my baby really isn't a baby anymore!
This is the sure sign that Valerie is sleepy. She even sucks those fingers in her sleep.

She is so proud of herself!

Static Electricity

2009-02-02T13:36:00.001-08:00

One Year Ago!

2009-01-28T23:54:00.000-08:00

One year ago today we received our referral for Valerie. I'll never forget that feeling as I read over and over the very tiny bit of information we first received.

The email simply said:

Dear Cindy,

The Department has issued a referral for you - a girl, light featured, Valeria, DOB August 26. According to her referral letter, her diagnoses look average. My question is Valeria is half year older than you requested, will you consider her referral and we can work further on getting more info or would you like to turn her down due to age and ask for a younger referral?

Best Regards, Olga

She was older than what we had originally requested but we had been praying that we would get the referral that God meant to be our child so I immediately emailed Olga back and said we definitely will consider her, please get us more information. Two days later we received another email with her medical report and current pictures. Irina, the coordinator in Khabarovsk had gone to the orphanage and taken the pictures that week! When I saw her, I knew that I could never turn her down. She looked beautiful and scared and I wanted to go get her right then. I read over the medical and it scared me to death with all kinds of horrible sounding diagnoses but Olga assured me they were fairly typical of what they see on most medicals from that orphanage and she also put me in touch with Dr. Skurkovich, an international adoption doctor. He said Valerie seemed to be more light, more fragile, and certainly 4 or even 5 months delayed in development compared to the average US child but nothing that wasn't correctable. He gave a low-risk assessment. She had no physical signs of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Doesn't she have amazing eyes? I blew these precious pictures up to 8 x 10 and printed them off. I stared at them and prayed for her constantly for the next month until we traveled to Khabarovsk to meet her! They say not to fall in love with your referral because you might meet her and decide she's not the one or she might be adopted by a Russian family before you are able to complete the adoption. I heard that advice but didn't heed it. I was definitely already in love!

A Really Nice Day with My Family!

2009-01-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day. There was no school because of MLK Day. We all slept in until about 8:30 and I stayed in my pajamas until after lunch! I played with the kids all morning. I made pizza for lunch and we were all together to eat it. Todd was working at home today so during Valerie's nap, Blaine, Champ (the dog) and I took off on a really long walk in the pasture. It was a beautiful day with warm sunshine and a cool breeze. We had the best conversations about everything in the world. Blaine found a few treasures to bring home. Out of the blue, he said, "I love you, Mama" and it made my day! We stopped off at Mamaw's house on the way home and he wanted to stay and help her with some yard work so I came on home alone. Todd took off to build some fence so Valerie and I went on a walk and had a little special time with just the two of us. While we were walking, she said, "Hand, Mama" which means she wants to hold your hand. She grabbed my hand and kissed it like I always do to her! She is getting to be such a little sweetie! She has also learned to say, "luboo", which means I love you. Todd grilled some burgers for supper and again we were all home to enjoy eating together. I wish everyday could be like this. But I guess if it were, it might not seem so special. I'm counting my blessings tonight!

Cowboys

2009-01-13T06:54:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of my cowboys on one of our cow works in early December. Polly Sue and I were the Chuckwagon Gang and we shot these pictures when we delivered their lunch.Todd

Blaine

The whole crew
Can you spot little Blaine out there with all those big men? He loves to work cows!

3 Generations!

Todd, Blaine, and Larry

4 Generations of Cowboys!

Bub, Larry, Todd, and Blaine

Christmas Cuties

2009-01-12T21:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a few Christmas pics of the kiddos. GranJan got these cute pajamas for them and they both wore them all December. Actually they are still wearing them! We used these 1st two pictures on our Christmas cards this year. Valerie - age 2

Blaine - age 6

We had an extremely fun and very messy time making Christmas cookies. Valerie thought the sprinkles were pepper and she shook them on saying, "pepah, pepah". All of Valeries cookies were completely coated in "pepah"! We enjoyed eating them and Santa must have also because he only left a few crumbs!

I'll post a few more soon.

7 Months Ago.....

2009-01-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

Seven months ago today a judge in Khabarovsk, Russia told us that our adoption was approved and we became the proud parents of this precious little girl! She has grown and changed so much and we are more in love with her every day!

She is much taller and slimmer now and looks more like a little girl and less like a baby.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-30T23:11:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Christmas! As usual it started on Christmas Eve and went on for several days with get-togethers with different parts of the family. We were exhausted (and fatter) by the time it was over but are so blessed to have such a big and loving family! This year was extra special because it was Valerie's first Christmas with us. So fun!!

Christmas Eve we went to Todd's parents and Polly Sue fed us a delicious steak dinner and we exchanged gifts and enjoyed the afternoon together. Christmas morning we had a ball watching the kids discover what Santa brought them. Valerie calls Santa Ho-Ho. Ho-Ho was very good to both her and Blaine! Then Larry and Polly Sue and all of my family came over to our house for breakfast. We all had a good visit, ate too much, and played with the kids' new toys. The whole crew went outside and watched Blaine shoot off his new Coke/Mentos geyser (Way Cool!). Then it was off to my parent's house to open presents and have our traditional Christmas fajitas. Mom and Dad make the best fajitas! We spent the rest of the day playing, resting and visiting with Ginger, Mike, and Bryan. The day after Christmas, Todd's cousins came into town so we went down to Nana and Bub's house and had another round of Christmas with Jami and Todd and their kids, Brooks and Paige, Jason and Jackie and their kids, Jaxon and Connor. Todd's Aunt Jan had cooked a brisket and so we had yet another wonderful feast. The next day Todd's cousin Cy, his wife Meredith and their pretty little Kylie came so we all got together again.

So much fun, too much food, not enough sleep! All of us were spoiled with so many great presents but the best gifts of course are the ones money can't buy. God has given us the gifts of love and family and best of all, our salvation, which is why we celebrate Christmas!

I have tons of great pictures that I am trying to post tonight but my pitiful dial-up connection is not cooperating. I'll try again tomorrow.

A Whole Month in One Post!

2008-10-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've put off blogging for a month. This will be the condensed and very random version of the past month (bullet style)! I think the kids might enjoy reading about our family life someday so I hope to be a better blogger in the future.

The last weekend of September the kids and I went with my parents to a Carrell family reunion in Huntington. It was a 10 hour car trip one way so pretty tiring. It had been 4 years since I'd been to a reunion so it was wonderful to catch up with all of my Dad's family again. I was also proud to show off Valerie! She and Blaine had a wonderful time. Blaine got to meet and play with his cousins and caught a crawdad at Uncle Earl's house! Valerie got tons of attention and everyone let her eat off their plates!

We've been to several volleyball games to watch Shelbi play. She is a middle hitter and is awesome! The Lady Lobo team is great and it looks like they will be District Champs. Can't wait to watch some playoff action! Valerie claps her hands and says lolo (lobo) and ay (yay).

We conferenced with Blaine's teacher and he is doing great in 1st Grade. He made all A's on his first report card! He is reading better all the time and is starting to take Accelerated Reader tests on the computer. In Blaine's words, "Mrs. Coldewey is cool!" She lets them do the smarty pants dance when they do something good. I've got to get some video of this!

Valerie has started going to Children's Day Out and loves it! She cried the first couple of days, now she runs ahead of me to get to her classroom. She is SO social! CDO has had visits from the fire truck, police officers, and EMT's this month. Most kids were afraid of the loud sirens. Not Valerie, she danced to it!

We celebrated my brother, Bryan's 33rd birthday on October 6 and Todd's 36th Birthday on October 20!

Todd's Aunt Martha passed away at the end of September. We really miss her and pray for Bruce during this time. She loved Blaine so much and was already crazy about Valerie in this short time we've had her. Martha was a special lady!

We have had Valerie for 4 1/2 months including our time with her in Khabarovsk. Since June 2, she has grown 4 inches and gained 5 pounds!

We have met twice with the Early Childhood Intervention team. They assessed Valerie last Friday and she does qualify for services with them. She will get Speech Therapy twice a month. This therapy is really training for us to learn how to work with her to improve her speech, especially her articulation. She is consistently saying more than 50 words but she is very difficult to understand. She seems to understand most of what we say. She is a bright little girl and we are so proud of her!

We had a ball at the Heflin's Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. We made a jack 0' lantern with TONS of teeth! Blaine is big enough now that he can help carve. Valerie enjoyed sticking her hands in the slimy seeds! It's so fun to line everyone's lighted pumpkins up outside and admire the creativity.

Todd is going to be changing jobs and we are really praying for direction and guidance. He is a super smart guy and a very hard worker so I know everything will work out fine but I don't like times of unknown. However, I do know Who holds the future!

Valerie and I went to the Sandhills for a playdate with another group of moms and kiddos from church. After she learned to not eat the sand, she had a great time and even went down the dunes on a disc.

Blaine is going to be Batman for Halloween if he doesn't wear out his costume before then.

I'm not sure what I've been doing this month but always seem to be busy and tired! I think it has something to do with the 2 year old.

We are also following our football team who is having a great season. Blaine's teacher's son, Kevin is on the team so Blaine has a new hero to look up to. I love to go to the games but usually feel a little beat up after holding Valerie through the whole thing.

My friend, Donna, gave me a gift certificate for a massage way back before we went to Russia but I never was able to use it. I finally got my massage last week and it was WONDERFUL! I could do that once a week!

I finally got Blaine and Valerie in to get some pictures made. Valerie doesn't yet know how to pose. I would get her situated, tell her to smile pretty, and she would say, "no", get up and walk over to me. I think we got one good one of her when we made her laugh and several of the two of them together. She doesn't understand smile, but if I say "show me your teeth" we get a little fake smile. They should be in tomorrow.

Like I said, random and abridged. Almost all of those bullets should have been a post of their own, complete with pictures and this was just the things I remembered off the top of my head. Here's a vow to do better. Hopefully.

Russian Adoption Playdate

2008-09-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

One Saturday evening recently Blaine, Valerie and I met up in Odessa with 3 other families from this area who have adopted from Russia. Mary was there with her beautiful little Kenzie. We met Dede and Rob and their lively little Liam after following their blog since before we traveled on trip 1! We were also excited to meet Marsha and Brad and their super cute sons Sasha and Dimitry. Sasha has been home from Russia for several years. We met at McDonald's, let the kids play and had a great visit. It was wonderful to chat with people who know exactly what you're talking about when you tell about all the ups and downs in your journey. Each of us had a unique adoption story but we all had smart, beautiful children to show off and share with each other! We had such an enjoyable time and all agreed we need to get together again sometime soon. It's exciting to me that there are other families living so close that have also adopted from Russia!
We worked so hard to get all the kiddos in one picture but it was like herding cats so here's a few different groups. I never got little Dimitry. He was way too fast!

Blaine, Liam, and Valerie in the slide.

Valerie, Kenzie, and Liam trying to be still!

Sasha, Valerie, Liam, and Kenzie

First Day of First Grade!

2008-09-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

What a handsome young man!

Posing with Mrs. Coldewey on Day 1!

These pictures are from Blaine's 1st day of school. That was 2 weeks ago. I'm just a little behind with my blogging! We are so busy and have so many things going on that I'm always too tired at night to sit down and blog about it. Blaine is really enjoying school. He loves his teacher. He has several good friends in his class. His favorite thing is the playground (of course). Our only real problem is getting him out of bed in the mornings!

Splish, Splash, Dump!

2008-09-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Valerie just loves her bath! My bathroom floor is always wet. She kicks, splashes, and loves to dump water over her head. Anytime we walk into the bathroom, she starts pulling her clothes off and yelling, "Bath, bath!" I'm just glad getting clean is so much fun. If only Blaine thought so!

31 Words!

2008-08-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

In Valerie's orphanage Russian was the only language that was spoken. We took her out of the orphanage on June 5. That was less than 3 months ago and she already has 31 English words that she can say! I'm so proud! Some of these she says perfectly, many are not real clear but she says them the same way every time and in the right context. Here's the Big List!

ball

bath

bite

Bubba

bye-bye

cough

cow

cup

Dada

diaper (sounds like bye-bye but points to her diaper and says it when she needs a clean one!)

duck

eye

hat

hot

ice

Mama

Mamaw

moo

Nana (Todd's grandmother)

nana (banana)

night-night

No (this is definitely her most used word!)

nose

num-num (yum-yum)

out (as in "get me out of this highchair, carseat, etc.")

Pa (sounds like ba)

quack quack

up (as in "pick me up")

Yay! (while clapping for herself!)

I realize I'm a little biased but I think this is great progress for only being exposed to English for less than 3 months. She can also point to lots of body parts when we say "Where's your ______?" She knows eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, cheeks, hair, feet, and hands. But her favorite thing to show off is her belly button. She jerks her shirt up with the biggest grin on her face! It is so cute! She seems to understand so much of what we say. She follows directions when we say, "Get your shoes, Throw that away, Give me a hug/kiss, etc." We are trying to talk, talk, talk all the time to help her language acquisition. Narrating every move you make can get kinda tiresome! "Do you want a banana, Valerie? Yes? You do want a banana? Ok, Mama will peel this banana for you. It's a yellow banana. Can you say banana, Valerie? Good girl! Take a bite of the banana. Yum-yum. Bananas are sweet, aren't they? Mama likes bananas too. Hold your banana...... and on and on all day long!

Happy Birthday Valerie!

2008-08-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Valerie turned 2 last Sunday on August 17! Here is the birthday girl all dressed up for church in her pretty pink dress! She had no clue what all the fuss was about or why Daddy, Blaine, and I were all singing a funny song to her but we celebrated anyway.

I have been so happy to finally have this precious little girl! However, Sunday, I felt a little bit of sadness. I so wish I could have been there on the day she was born and seen her teeny tiny little hands and feet and held her. I guess I just was thinking about all the things we missed in those first 22 months of her life. But we have her now and she is 100% ours and we have a lifetime of birthdays and celebrations and everyday memories to make! Thank you, Lord for my precious little Valerie. She is perfect for us!

My Mom was out of town so we waited until Monday night to have a party. Here Valerie is with Nana as we lit the candles and sang "Happy Birthday". She didn't really get it but managed to sneak a bite of icing. You can see the evidence on her lip!

She REALLY loved the cake and ice cream! She had a plate and then finished off a few other people's also!

She had a good time opening gifts. Blaine and Jenna gave her a hand while Grama looked on. This little girl needed absolutely nothing but she enjoyed it nonetheless and got some really neat toys, books, and a little cash for the college fund.

Mamaw showed Valerie how to feed her new baby doll. This baby laughs, cries, blinks her eyes, and goes to sleep. Valerie loves to play with her babies. She covers them up, pats them, and says, "night, night". So sweet! Happy 2nd Birthday, Valerie!!

Fishing with Pa!

2008-08-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

Dad took Blaine, Valerie, and I fishing at Lake Amistad this weekend. We had a great time and it was really nice to get out of town (but not out of the country!) for a little while. Pa had plenty of help driving the boat! Valerie wasn't scared of riding in the boat at all. She seemed to like the wind in her hair. We haven't found much she is afraid of! She kept trying to climb out of the boat the first time we went out on the lake. I just knew we'd be fishing her out before the weekend was up, but we managed to keep her on board the whole time!

The weather was nice, hot but with a nice breeze. We fished hard and tried lots of different lures but didn't catch very many fish. I think it was just too hot. Valerie stayed happy as long as she was eating! Blaine continues to improve his casting. Pa is so patient with all of us, rigging up our poles, getting us free when we get hung up, and not getting upset over spills in his boat!

Pa actually hooked this little bass and told Blaine he needed some help reeling it in. I love the look on Blaine's face. So proud!

Pa let Blaine drive a couple of times and he had a ball. It made me a little nervous!

We went out each morning, fished, swam, and had a picnic lunch in the boat. Sandwiches never taste better than in a boat! We went in for an afternoon nap and then came back out on the lake until dark. Fun times! Some of my best childhood memories are of going to the lake every summer. I'm so glad my kids are getting to do it too!

By Sunday afternoon, this was one tired little girl! She slept about 3 hours on the drive home.

I can't believe we've already been home for 6 weeks. Valerie will be 2 years old next Sunday!

Certificate of Citizenship

2008-07-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

It's official! We received in the mail Valerie's Certificate of Citizenship. It has her passport picture on it and is very official looking with a fancy seal from the Department of Homeland Security. It states that she officially became a citizen of the United States on June 25, which is the day we landed in Atlanta. Now we can apply for her Social Security number. I'm not sure how to do that, but I'll soon be finding out. We've also decided to readopt her here so that she can get a TX birth certificate. We have her original Russian birth certificate as well as another Russian one listing Todd and I as her parents but if we lose this or it gets destroyed we would have to apply to Russia for another one. This way, she will be able to go to any courthouse in TX and get a copy. Considering how many certified copies of our birth certificate we needed for this adoption process, I think it will be a good idea to do this. We don't know how to go about that yet either so I have a little research to do. Any advice would be appreciated!

Valerie Has Been Showered (Spoiled)!

2008-07-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Valerie had 2 showers last week! She is officially spoiled. She will definitely be the best dressed little girl in Monahans! Last Thursday, after lobby hours, we went up to the bank where Todd works and were treated to a great party with a beautiful cake, delicious fruit (which Valerie loved), and punch. It was so nice and everyone did way too much. Todd is lucky to have such a great group of sweet, caring people to work with. They aren't just employees, they're friends!Blaine helped open all the gifts, some of which were for him! Valerie loves a party and being around people so she had a great time!

Valerie had a ball roaming the bank, eating off of everyone's plates, and showing off her new clothes, shoes, hats, etc.

Look at my gorgeous friends! They are just as sweet as they are beautiful! They threw a shower for us at the church on Saturday and went all out to make it really special. The food, cake, decorations, invitations, eveything was so so nice. There was even a slide show playing with pictures of both of our trips to Russia! I am so blessed to have so many great people in my life!

Check out this cool diaper cake. Both pretty and useful! We enjoyed looking at it for several days and then Blaine disassembled it and there were a LOT of diapers in it!

Blaine and several other cute kiddos gave me a hand with opening the gifts. Some of the sweet cards made me cry! Once again, Valerie received so many nice things. I was just overwhelmed by it all and my first thought was that all of this (the showers, the gifts, so much attention) was too much, that we really are being spoiled rotten. But then I think about how there was no joyous celebration when she was born. No one to throw her a party when she turned a year old. No one to celebrate all the special milestones and accomplishments that little ones make and I decided to just enjoy this special time. I am so glad that we have so many people that care about us and who want to celebrate our new "little miracle" and that now Valerie has all these great people in her life too! May we always remember to be such good friends in return.

Something Pretty!

2008-07-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

After the huge grass fire in April that came through and destroyed everything, I got a little down looking out into a pasture that was nothing but sand, usually blowing sand. One day Blaine came across a packet of sunflower seeds in a drawer and asked to plant them so we could have "something pretty" to look at. I am so glad I agreed because they really are beautiful flowers. Polly Sue kept them (and the rest of our yard) alive while we were in Russia. It was well over 100 degrees and windy most of the time we were gone so she had a big job! Something Pretty!

These blooms are huge and you can already see tons of seeds forming in the middle of each one. Any tips on roasting the seeds?

Valerie loves to go out and dig in the dirt when we water the flowers.

This sunflower is over 6' tall!

Nana and Bub's House

2008-07-21T12:22:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday evening we went down to Nana and Bub's house. It was Valerie's first time to go there so she had a wonderful time checking out a new place. How lucky she is to not only have two sets of grandparents nearby but also a great set of great grandparents! She is a well loved little girl.

Valerie posing with Nana

A special moment with Bub

Nana and Bub's Porch

All the grandkids, including Todd when he was a kid, have enjoyed Nana's turtles. I'm sure these two will get out the nail polish and "brand" some before the summer's over!

Our Little Russian Cowgirl

2008-07-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

Turns out our little Russian princess is really an All-American tomboy! She prefers outside to inside, dirty to clean, loud to quiet, fast to slow, trucks to babies... you get the picture. I know her daddy can't wait to get her on a real horse. She sure loves this one. She is always pointing for us to get her cowboy hat for her. If we do, she expects to go outside right then! She is one rough and tumble little girl (which is actually a whole lot of fun)!! However, Donna has started me a hairbow collection and when Valerie finally grows a little hair I plan on making her wear them!

First Fudgsicle!

2008-07-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

Messy

Messier, But Happy!

Messiest!

All Clean!

Every day Valerie is experiencing new things! Things that we think of as ordinary or as simple pleasures are fascinating and delightful to her. It brings me so much joy to watch her face as she experiences eating fudgsicles, walking barefoot in grass, going swimming, holding a kitten, watching fireworks, playing in the sprinkler, and tasting a peach for the very first time! I love all these firsts and look forward to many more!

Home Almost 2 Weeks

2008-07-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

What a busy time we've had! Todd is back in full swing at the bank and on the ranch. I've been unpacking (finally all finished), finishing up adoption details, getting my house back in order (ha-ha), and being a Mama to a toddler. I forgot just what a constant job a toddler is! Valerie unrolls an entire roll of toilet paper and while I'm cleaning that up she dumps a bottle of bubbles, and while I'm cleaning that up..... You get the picture! She is into everything.

We really have had a great time with her since we've been home. She just has the happiest little personality! She smiles, laughs, dances, throws kisses - a real little charmer. I worried last week that we went too hard because we swam, went to parties, shopping, dinner with friends, had our annual 4th of July brunch, all kinds of stuff. But she just seemed to enjoy everything we did so much. We all had lots of fun but we ended up wiped out last Sunday, overslept and missed church, which is not something we ordinarily do. But things will slow down, most of our friends have met Valerie, and we'll get a little more scheduled for the rest of the summer.

How is Valerie doing?

Eating - No problems, she has slowed down a bunch and will eat just about anything we put in front of her. My kind of girl!
Sleeping - I lay her in her crib, she smiles at me, sticks her fingers in her mouth and falls asleep. That goes for nap and nighttime. She naps anywhere from 1 to 3 hours a day. She has slept through the night every night since we've been home. This is just unbelievable for me because I rocked and walked Blaine for hours every night until he was about 3 and he was not a napper. This is awesome! Woo-hoo!
Attachment - I think Valerie is doing great in this area. She is definitely very social and not clingy but she makes sure she knows where I am all the time. She goes to other people but quickly reaches back for me. She is very affectionate and loves all the hugs and kisses. She has great eye contact. She is definitely a mama's girl but when I'm not around, she and Todd have some great times and are connecting very well. Blaine and Valerie wrestle and play like brothers and sisters do. I think the month in Russia we spent as a family was a wonderful thing for us in the area of attachment.
Health - We went to the pediatrician today and got a great report on Valerie! She is a normal, healthy little girl. I already knew that but it was good to hear the doctor say it. She is in the 10th percentile for height, 5oth for weight, and 90th for head circumference. Surely all that will even out as she grows! Blaine had a big head too but it fits his body now. My mom always said it was all the brains in there! Blaine had a check up today also and is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. He's 4 feet tall now and weighs 54 lbs! Valerie weighs 27 lbs and I can't remember exactly how tall she was. I'll have to look it up. She got 4 immunizations today. She had gotten many vaccinations in Russia but it was time for the next dose of some and she got the Varicella vaccine as they don't do that over there. As a matter of fact, chicken pox was going around the orphanage while we were there. We did get a referral today for an eye specialist because there were several notes in her medical about astigmatism and something else having to do with the eyes due to her being born premature. The doctor didn't see anything unusual but wants us to check it out just in case.
Speech - Valerie has about 10 words that she says which I think is pretty good, considering she's only heard English for a little less than 6 weeks. She says Mama, Dada, Bubba, ball, night-night, bye-bye, hi, knock-knock, yum-yum (num-num), and the most frequent: no-no! She gets her little cell phone out and walks around the house saying no-no into it. She shakes her finger at you when she says it. I wonder where she got that? Pretty soon we are planning to contact our early intervention people here in Monahans and get her evaluated to see if speech therapy (or anything else they might recommend) would be helpful. I'm all about giving her every possible advantage to get caught up developmentally.
Communication - Even though Valerie isn't speaking much English yet, she is understanding a lot of what we say and she figures out ways to let us know what she wants. Tonight I asked her if she was ready for her bath and she ran to the bathroom and started pulling off her clothes. She puts on her hat to tell us she wants to go outside. She tries to climb in her high chair when she wants to eat. She has the grunt and point down real well - Reminds me of how we acted while we were in Russia in the market. She flops in the floor and has a fit to let us know she doesn't appreciate us taking something away from her or making her come inside! She gets her point across well!
Social - In a family of pretty quiet and reserved people, Valerie is our little social butterfly. She just really enjoys people, especially other children. She went up and touched and smiled at every kid who came in the doctor's office today! She waves at everyone we pass in the grocery store. She knows when she is being watched and is quite a little ham!
Motor Skills - Valerie wasn't walking at 18 months on our first trip to Russia. This concerned us so we were relieved to see her come walking into the room on Trip 2. She still definitely toddles around and isn't very graceful but she is getting better every day. One thing that is both good and bad is that she is a little daredevil and not afraid to try new things! She is a climber, Lord help me. Her fine motor skills seem about average. She can feed herself pretty well, pushes buttons, manipulates small objects, etc.

We are all just in love with this little girl. I still look at her everyday and have to pinch myself to believe that she is finally here with us. She is an answered prayer and a dream come true!! I thank God for my wonderful family and know they are a gift from Him. I hated the wait we endured to get each of our children but oh how extra sweet it is now!

I got a new camera and will post pictures soon!

Home Sweet Home

2008-06-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

There's no place like home! We are so happy to be back. We just have this great feeling of relief, not just to be home but that this whole adoption process is behind us. At times we wondered if it would ever work out and we would actually get our little girl. This process has pretty much consumed our lives for the past couple of years and it feels so good to have completed it. It was the hardest, most wonderful thing we have ever done and we don't have a single regret! God has blessed us with the most precious little girl and we know this was His plan all along! Our family has shared quite an adventure and it has pulled us even closer together.

The trip home was, in a word, exhausting. The kids did pretty well but by the time we got to Dallas we were all SO tired. Of course, with the jet lag we were all wide awake sitting in Ginger's living room at 3 AM. Gin & Mike didn't get much sleep that night but it was so good to see them. Ginger had treats for the kids and Valerie took to her so quickly. Every kid should have an Aunt Ginger to spoil them! Valerie threw her biggest fit ever right before we got on the plane in Dallas. She flopped on the floor kicking and screaming and would not be consoled. Everyone at our gate got quiet and was staring. They had to be thinking, "Great, we have to get on the plane with them." I wanted to holler out that we just adopted her from Russia and she's been flying for the past 2 days and had no sleep and she's really a good sweet girl, she's just exhausted and scared....But I just smiled and picked her up and kept trying to calm her down. Much to our relief (and everyone else's) she didn't cry once on the plane. It was so good to have our parents pick us up at the airport. They looked great and were thrilled to see Blaine and meet their new granddaughter!

We have had a couple of family get togethers (with amazing food!), some friends have come by to visit, and we made it to church today. Valerie seems to love meeting new people. She is really outgoing and friendly. She was quite a ham at church today because she knew everyone was watching her. I took her to the nursery and worried it might remind her of the orphanage because it was a room full of little ones but she went right in and had a ball. She loved the slide and checked out all the toys. I stayed there with her the whole time but she didn't have much to do with me. However, if another kid came and sat in my lap she would push them out and climb in! She'd stay there about 30 seconds and then she was off to play again until the next kid came along to sit with me. It was cute and made me feel good about her attachment to me. I was glad she felt secure enough to wander off and play but didn't want to share her Mama with anyone else! I know it takes lots of time for the whole bonding and attachment thing to take place but I think we're doing really well. She makes great eye contact and loves to be snuggled and held.

Valerie is eating well, sleeping well, and seems to just be eating up all the attention she is getting. She loves to be outside and has been busy checking out every drawer, cabinet, light switch, etc. in the house. I am just sick because my camera got broken on the plane ride home. When we got to Atlanta, I told Todd to get out the camera and take a picture of our new little US citizen and the screen was cracked. I'm just thankful it happened on the way home and not the way to Russia. I'll be getting a new one this week because I'm missing pictures of a lot of "firsts" right now. I'll post some more pictures of our new little cutie as soon as I get another camera!

Last Post From Russia!

2008-06-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today was a successful day! We went to the US Embassy and had our interview and received Valerie's visa to enter the US. We also got a packet to give to immigration when we land in Atlanta where Valerie will officially become a US citizen! Then we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and registered Valerie there. We are completely through with all the requirements here in Russia!!!

We will be picked up at 9:00 in the morning to go to the airport and our flight leaves at 12:55. We land in Atlanta at 4:30 and leave there for Dallas at 7:05. We land at DFW at 8:21 which will seem like 4:21 am to us since our bodies will still be on Moscow time. That is one long day! We'll spend the night with Ginger and Mike and fly home the next morning at 9:25. We are so close to being home! I dread the travel but can't wait to be home. Well, it's time to pack up the laptop! We'll update later on how things are going with our new family at home.

Moscow: An Amazing City

2008-06-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

This morning we ate a good breakfast at a different cafe near our hotel and then set out to see some of the famous sights here in Moscow. It was such a wonderful day!

This city is huge and busy! You would never make it across some of these busy streets. There are tunnels under the streets so that you can get safely to the other side. I was sure glad I had Todd to carry Valerie and her stroller up and down all those stairs!

Outside the Kremlin there are gorgeous statues, fountains, and gardens. We had fun walking through them and of course the kids loved the water.

This is the famous Red Square. The Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb is on the left, and the rym (pronounced "goom"), a huge old beautiful shopping mall, is on the right. We went in the rym, looked around and had some ice cream. St. Basil's Cathedral was behind us, and I'm sorry to say I don't know what the pretty building on the far end is.

Blaine and Valerie in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. We toured the inside and it is just beautiful.

St. Basil's Cathedral

Lenin's Tomb

I knew the Kremlin was big but I did not realize it was that HUGE. The wall around the Kremlin is so tall. I'll try to find better pictures later. Red Square was really an amazing place. So much history here. Nothing in America even comes close to being as old as the things we saw here today in Moscow. I hope these pictures of Valerie's birth country will be special for her. We have made some great memories here and are bringing home the most precious little souvenir ever!

We ate lunch outdoors today at a neat Italian place. The weather was cool and it was just such an enjoyable day. The Marriot has a children's play room and I took the kids down there this evening and they had a ball playing around. Tomorrow we get picked up for our Embassy appointment at 1:00. Hopefully we'll get to see a few more sights here and then HOME will definitely be a sight for sore eyes! We are all tired and still suffering from jet lag which will only get worse come Wednesday. We're ready to wrap up this journey and begin the journey of raising 2 great kids!

The Comforts of a Home

2008-06-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the doctor came to our hotel and checked Valerie out. First let me say that Andrei was with him and was much nicer today! Anyway, Valerie went to him and did fine until she saw him begin to take his stethoscope and stuff out of his bag. She started screaming and didn't quit until he was gone! He asked me to go sit in the bathroom but it didn't do any good. Anyway, she checked out fine. The doctor told Todd that he would have to get a shotgun to fight off the boys since she has such pretty eyes. He told me she was a drama queen and I shouldn't pick her up so much. Yeah right!

Then we went out and found Todd and Angela's driver who took us to their beautiful home for the afternoon and dinner. That visit was like good medicine for all of us! We had the best time. Todd and Angela looked great, just like we remembered them. Their children, Maisy and Mason were precious. They were so grown up and so sweet the way they played with Blaine and Valerie. They even had gifts for our kids which was a real treat because all the toys we brought are getting very old. It was so comforting to be in a real home again for the first time in almost a month. The kids took advantage of the space to wander and play and Blaine even got to run around outside. The food was awesome, the conversation was wonderful, and it was just so good for all of us! They really blessed us by having us over and their great hospitality!

Yesterday morning Todd and Blaine enjoyed their outing. The couldn't get into Red Square at all because there was some kind of event going on to remember the WWII veterans but it was neat for them to get to see the ceremonies and demonstrations that were going on. They got some pictures from far away and we will all go back today. We have nothing to do adoption wise until Tuesday at 1:00 so today is just a free day for us. We slept well last night and are looking forward to a nice day and hopefully will have pictures for you tomorrow! Here's a happy pic of Valerie and Blaine from early on in the flight. I should have taken one at the end to have a before and after picture. They looked a little different! We'll be in the U.S.A. in 3 days and home in 4!

Here She Is!

2008-06-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here's our beautiful daughter, Valerie Diane Hunt!

Happy times! This was the day we picked her up from the orphanage. She and Blaine hit it off immediately.

Our new family in front of the gold church in Khabarovsk.

Well, we made it to the Marriow Courtyard here in Moscow yesterday afternoon but it seemed like midnight to us because our bodies were still operating on Khabarovsk time which is 7 hours behind Moscow. Valerie did pretty well on the flight but it was still a tough day. She only slept for about an hour. I was wearing a black T-shirt that was new and it rubbed off on the sticky stuff all over Valerie's face and some ladies in front of us had given Valerie a red marker to color with and she had that all over her too. I used a lot of baby wipes but still she was quite a sight. She looked filthy. We all were actually. When we finally landed she wanted to run around the airport so I just let her while Todd was waiting on our bags. After our bad luck last time, I was so relieved to see our first suitcase pop out; however the relief was short lived. Everyone got their bags and left and we were missing 1 suitcase. We could see Andrei our driver and coordinator here in Moscow waiting outside for us. He came through the gates and we told him the problem. After lots of talking and pointing, here came our suitcase. We never knew what the problem was. Then we had another issue trying to get out of there. We handed the girl our boarding passes and some other papers we'd been given at the airport in Khab, but we didn't think they had given us any baggage claim checks. Lena had checked us in and handed us our stuff. Finally Todd opened up our packet of tickets and they had been stuck to the back of them. By this time, Andrei was obviously very put out with us. He grabbed our cart from Todd and took off. He raced through the airport and through all kinds of traffic and parking lots without ever looking back to see if we were following. Valerie was screaming and squirming while I was trying to run after him. We got in the car and took off. Todd tried asking Andrei a couple of questions as we drove through Moscow but his curt one-word answers made it clear he didn't want to talk. This guy is a pretty wild driver. I was feeling sick and I guess Valerie was too. She kept falling asleep and then waking up crying. We finally got to the Marriot and I thought I was gonna die as Todd kept trying to explain to the girl that no, he was not Nathan Hunt, he was Todd Hunt, just like it says on his passport. I was wearing this heavy backpack and holding Valerie thinking she looked awfully pale, praying that we would just hurry up and get a room. Then she began to make some strange noises and began throwing up all over the two of us! Poor thing! I know after all that she was thinking, "Just take me back."

We got up to our room, cleaned Valerie and I up and ordered some cheeseburgers from room service. We weren't up to going anywhere. We were starving and they were marvelous! Then Andrei came back with Catherine and her crew who's plane had been delayed. He sat down in our room with Todd to fill out our Embassy paperwork. Valerie was by the desk and he asked me to "move the child". As he was leaving he told us the doctor would come the next day but he didn't know when. I said that we had plans with friends (Todd and Angela Harris, who now live in Moscow) tomorrow night and it would be helpful to know when the doc was coming so we could plan around him. He rudely informed me that I needed to remember that we were here to complete an adoption. I was tired and cranky and was about ready to spit on him! We had brought a gift for him but he definitely won't be receiving it. After all, we're here to complete an adoption, not to be nice to people. This is the same guy who told us we would just have to do without our bags for the next 4 weeks when they didn't arrive last time we were in Moscow. Not my favorite person. Ok, ok, I got to rant and this probably won't seem like such a big deal later. We really do love our agency and all the employees we've dealt with except this one! He is correct about one thing, we are here to complete our adoption and as long as he gets that job done for us and gets us back to the airport in one piece, that is all that matters. But Dan Gibbs has a sign in his office that says, "Because Nice Matters" and I tend to agree. I guess us folks from west Texas just think differently about that!

As always, things looked brighter the next morning when we all woke up at 4 something. Literally, it was already light outside! Todd went to the fitness center and ran on the treadmill for a while. We showered and hung around the hotel until about 8, then we ventured out for breakfast. We found a neat little place and had some great fruit and pancakes and fresh squeezed apple juice that tasted just like you were eating a green apple, the way apple juice ought to taste, I guess. We were going to walk with Catherine's bunch to Red Square today but Valerie was getting deliriously tired so just Blaine and Todd went and I stayed here to let her have a nap. I bet we'll get another chance to go later on since our hotel is really close. The doctor comes today at 2:00 pm. Todd Harris is sending his driver for us at 3:00 and we are going to their home for the afternoon and for dinner. We are so looking forward to a home-cooked meal, some space for the kids to run, and a good visit with old friends from Monahans! It was so sweet of them to invite us. My Todd laughed and said who would have ever thought that a Grandfalls boy and an Imperial boy would be meeting up in Moscow!

We haven't really been told what we will need to do adoption-wise over the next couple of days. We fly out on Wednesday. We're in the home stretch!

Last Night in Khab!

2008-06-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

We've been packing and packing. It feels like we're moving. At least now we don't have all the gifts and food to carry. However, our suitcases are still full. Just in case our luggage doesn't make it again, we each put a change of clothes in our carry-on bags. We have made lots of good memories here and will always have a fondness for this city because it is Valerie's birthplace. That being said, IT'S TIME TO GO HOME!

Today Todd went and got Valerie's passport so she can travel now. She's never left this city and we're taking her halfway around the world! Her little picture looks so cute. Blaine and I went for a walk this afternoon and had a special time, just the two of us. It's different now sharing my time and attention between two kiddos. Different but good! Then Irina came and brought us our documents that we will need for the US Embassy in Moscow and our copies of her birth certificate, adoption decree, and Valerie's medical records.

Our supper wasn't so great as we were cleaning out the fridge getting rid of everything. It was a little of this and a little of that. I think we should have just ordered pizza. I've heard that we will really miss our kitchen in Moscow but right now I'm thinking eating out sounds great! Our flight leaves tomorrow at 1:30 and we arrive in Moscow at 2:55. Doesn't sound bad but it's actually an 8 hour flight. I'm a little apprehensive about the long flight with Valerie but I guess one way or another, after 8 hours, it will be over with! Until next Wednesday, when we have an even longer one. We are looking forward to seeing the sights in Moscow. I'll update again from there and post a picture of our little cutie!

Another Day

2008-06-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

I think we did laundry here for the last time!!! Today we washed up everything that we even think we might wear again. Things sure don't seem to get as clean in the tub as they do in the washer. We had a good day but really pretty uneventful. Catherine's cousin's wife has a friend who knows someone in Khabarovsk and they went and had lunch with her today. Small world, huh? We kept her kids while they went and had a really good time watching them all play. Todd and Blaine walked to the gold church this afternoon and bought a pretty little cross for Valerie. Blaine picked out a little picture of Mary and Jesus that he's very proud of. Meanwhile Valerie and I went to the store and picked up a few things to get us through the last couple of days here.

Dirty Diaper Duty

This is Blaine at the trash chute in the stairwell of our apartment. Whenever I change a diaper, Blaine loves to run and throw it down the trash chute. I wonder if he'll be so anxious to take them out at home? Doubt it! He likes to listen for it to hit the bottom.
Todd and Blaine walked down the hill to the river again tonight. They enjoy playing around down there and it's good exercise.
This hill is on the way back from the river. Our apartment is a couple of blocks past the blue apartments on the right. Todd and Blaine always race from here to the red and white sign close to the top of the hill.

Valerie is a doll! I love that little girl so much and am so thrilled to be her Mama! I just look at her sometimes and can't believe we finally have her. If I have to get on to her she sticks her lip out and looks like she's going to cry and then runs over and hugs me. Too sweet!

100 Rubles!

2008-06-18T03:30:00.000-07:00

I guess the tooth fairy thought Blaine was a little Russian boy because she brought him rubles for the tooth he lost. I guess it must have been a fine tooth because he got 100 rubles which is equal to about $4! He thought about spending it today but decided he wanted to save it as a souvenir. Today we took a taxi to the children's park. We got a little anxious when he drove by the park, commented on it and kept on driving. It was just a miscommunication and once he realized that's where we needed to be, he got turned around and dropped us off.

Blaine rode the swan rides and he did the kangaroo jump which is trampolines with bungee cords. Boy did he go high! He also went on a giant slide that looked like a tiger and played on a big pirate ship. I would show you pictures of all this fun but I forgot my camera today. I was really disappointed when I realized it. We took sandwiches and chips, bought some cokes while we were out and had a picnic lunch. We had the stroller with us and decided to walk home instead of getting a taxi. It was a hot day and we were all sweaty and exhausted by the time we got home. It might have been a little too far for such a hot day. Valerie did well and had fun until the very end and I ended up having to carry her because she was arching her back and almost flipping out of the stroller. She'd had enough! We all rested well this afternoon and are ready to turn in early tonight. Friday we get to pick up Valerie's passport and we head to Moscow on Saturday. We're beginning to get homesick and can't wait to see all of you! Thanks for your encouraging comments and your prayers.

Rubles or Dollars?

2008-06-17T04:35:00.000-07:00

If you lose a tooth while in Russia, does the tooth fairy leave dollars or rubles? That is the big question here today. Blaine lost another tooth! He wrapped a piece of thread from the complimentary sewing kit here in the apartment around it and yanked it right out. There is already a big tooth poking through underneath. We just can't wait until tomorrow morning to see what is under his pillow!

How much do you think this pretty little tooth is worth? He got $1 at home for the last one he lost.
Not only do you lose teeth when you turn 6 but apparently it's also time to start shaving. Blaine has 3 nice little cuts on his upper lip from Todd's triple-blade razor. I don't think he'll shave again for quite a while! As he was gushing blood he kept asking if I was mad at him. I told him, "Of course not, I'm just sorry you cut yourself." Kids are so funny!

Valerie is "talking" so much. We can't understand most of it but she just babbles and nods her head and really tells us all about something. She actually calls us Mama, Dada, and Bubba now instead of just repeating the words when we say them. She does this especially when she wants something. Today on the way home from the grocery store Blaine was eating an ice cream cone and would occasionally give his sister a bite. When she was ready for another, she'd scream Bu-bu, Bu-bu! It was pretty cute.

Remember how I said that if Valerie was doing something or touching something that she shouldn't be all we had to do was say nyet in a stern voice and she would immediately stop? Well, today she was reaching for an electrical outlet and I yelled, "Nyet!". She looked at me, laughed, yelled "Nyet!" right back at me, and reached for it again. She's beginning to test her boundaries. I guess that means she is feeling more comfortable with us. We are loving every day with her though and can't wait to get her home and watch her as she learns and grows!

Fun Stuff!

2008-06-16T05:25:00.000-07:00

We decided we needed to have some fun today. So we got a taxi and went to the Arliken with some other families here at the Markuel. It is an indoor amusement park/arcade type place near the Amethyst Hotel. We stayed at the Amethyst on our last trip to Khabarovsk. It was a really neat place and we all had a good time! All that driving the Mule around the ranch that Blaine does paid off on the bumper cars. He was an awesome driver and wasn't shy about plowing into everyone else!
He and a couple of his new friends rode this Jumping Star ride.
He looks at home on this horse, doesn't he? He shot lots of bottles off a shelf while he was riding.
All the kiddos and their daddies spent a good while at this game. We all got a big laugh out of the competitiveness, especially in the grown up children!
I just had to take a picture of this game! You kick the hiney on this woman, the harder you kick the higher up the lights go! No one played this one today. I don't think any of the men wanted to kick a girl!

I have some cute pictures of Valerie too, wish I could share them. Just like in America, these places are pretty expensive. We quickly realized that Valerie was just happy to sit on all the little rides. It didn't matter whether we put in a token or not! We ate lunch there then played a little longer. We kept her out way past her naptime and she was a little trooper. There is a whole outdoor part that we walked through today but didn't play anything. It was getting so hot and we needed to head back to the apartments. We may try to go back one day this week earlier in the morning and check out some of that stuff.

Tomorrow Todd and I will go to the Vital Statistics office and do some paperwork to get Valerie's birth certificate reissued listing us as her parents! We are so proud of this little girl and are getting to know each other a little better everyday. She is already doing a lot less rocking at night which to me is a great sign! She is also beginning to give me big hugs, whereas she used to just stand there stiffly when I hugged her. I wish I could get inside her little head and know what she's thinking. Is she missing the orphanage? I know she's enjoying us but that is the only home she's ever known. Does she have any idea that we are her forever family? Does she wonder why we talk so funny? One thing's for sure, in the last couple of weeks we have turned her little world upside down and I know it can't have been easy for her but she has seemed to adjust very well so far considering all the changes she's been through.

As we were getting ready to leave the other day, Blaine looked at Valerie and said, "Come on, ya little runt." I guess they're truly brother and sister now!

5 more days in Khab, 10 more days and we're home!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T04:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day, Dad, Larry, Bub, and all you other great fathers we know out there! Todd and I were blessed with great dads. Dads who spent time with us both in work and in play and taught us so many lessons about life. Where would we be without our dads?! We love ya'll and are so blessed to still have you close in our lives, still teaching us things!

Since we are 16 hours ahead of you at home our Father's Day here is ending as you Sunday is just beginning. We brought Todd the movie, Radio, for Father's Day and he is watching it now. Todd is a great husband and an awesome Daddy! He's the kind of dad that is tough and stern and doesn't let his kids get away with anything but also the kind who picks them up, squeezes them tight and tells them everyday how much he loves them. He's the kind of dad that takes Blaine camping in the pasture behind our house, teaches him to ride horses and work cows, plays basketball out front, and wrestles in the living room. He is the kind of dad that prays with and for his kids. He is the kind of dad that gets big tears in his eyes as he watches his newly adopted daughter sleeping. Love you, Todd!

Today was a hot and humid rainy day. We had to stay indoors all morning. I finished off every bit of chocolate I could find. I did yet another load of laundry in the bathtub. I have a blister from wringing out all the clothes. I may kiss my washer and dryer when I get home! My pants are falling off of me, not because I've all of a sudden gotten so slim and trim but because they stretch out really bad when I hang them to dry. After Valerie's nap today, we were all going crazy cooped up in here. We decided to take our chances with the weather and make a run to the store. I was out of Diet Coke! We got lucky because it began to sprinkle as we got near the store and once we got inside there was a downpour. We took our time shopping and once we checked out, the rain had subsided and we ran home. There was so much humidity today that we were all sopping wet. We might be able to handle the west Texas heat but this humidity is rough! We were so glad not to get caught in the storm. The babushkas here have already lectured us a few times on the street. One lady grabbed Valerie's stroller away from Todd, turned it around, and chewed Todd out while pointing at the sun. Don't know what she said and really didn't see a problem. Valerie even had on the requisite sun hat and everything. We just shrug and smile!

Catherine's sister had to get back to work so her nephew, Nathaniel, has come to join the fun and help out. He is 21 and seems really nice. He and Catherine and the kids came down to our apartment for a playdate this afternoon. It was fun and helped pass the time on this looong day.

Tonight after supper (pelmeni, beans, rice, and garlic toast) the sun decided to come out of hiding. I had just bathed Valerie but we decided to go out anyway. It was a gorgeous evening with a nice breeze. We walked down to the river and all felt much better afterward. It's supposed to be a really hot week here next week, in the 90's. We spend 6 more nights here in Khabarovsk, then on to Moscow for our embassy appointment. We're getting closer!

Too Tired To Blog!

2008-06-14T03:24:00.001-07:00

But here's a cute picture from our day today!

Happy Birthday, Blaine!

2008-06-13T05:24:00.001-07:00

My sweet little boy turned 6 today! We had a nice party complete with cake and candles. Catherine's sister, Gene, made us some awesome pizza which we all thoroughly enjoyed. He had a couple of presents and had a great time! 6 years ago God answered our earnest prayers for a child when he gave us our precious son. How neat to celebrate that while in Russia when God has again answered our prayers for another child! We are so very very blessed!
We found a new little playground today and Blaine really enjoyed monkeying around on the bars.

Another novel thing about this playground was the pig's jaw laying in the middle of it. Interesting.

Valerie's new word today is num-num which means yum-yum. She uses it when she wants another bite of something! She is so funny and cute. I just can't wait until I can post some pictures of her and especially to get home and show her off in person!

Boy's Day Out

2008-06-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

I really should have Todd do the blogging today but he's already gone to bed. It was cool and very windy today so we decided that Todd and Blaine should have a boy's day out. Valerie and I stayed at the apartment, washed clothes, and played. It sounds like they had a great time and even took some pictures so they could tell me about it. Today is Russian Independence Day so there was a lot going on around town for the celebration. Todd met a man who could speak English and they had a nice chat. He told Todd that this celebration is like our 4th of July. Funny how they know about our holidays but we know nothing about those of Russia and most other countries. This guy told Todd that he had seen the movie, Independence Day with Will Smith. Todd got a kick out of that!This is Blaine in front of a fountain in Lenin Square. The big building in the background is the courthouse where we had our adoption hearing. It looks so different here than it did when we were here in March. I'm glad we got to see 2 different seasons! Todd said there was a stage set up today with musicians and speakers because of the holiday. There were many people, flags, balloons, etc.
There was even an Independence Day bike race around Lenin Square!
Next they walked down to the beach and got a Coke and a hot dog for lunch. They they got some ice cream from a street vendor for dessert. Then they walked to a beautiful park with a lake. It had pretty fountains and there were paddle boats and those big clear balls that people can get in and roll around on the water. The guys said they had a really good time here.
At this same park were lots of cool statues and neat things for kids to look at. Blaine posed here with a cat!
This restaurant called the Eternal Cafe was overlooking the lake. It looks like a fun place to eat. The name is in English so we're hoping that means they might have an English menu. We are planning to all return here some day soon when the weather is a little nicer. It was windy like west Texas today! I'm sure Blaine and Todd could have told about their day better than I but thought I'd share their pics with you anyway. I'm glad they got a special day together. Todd laughed and said they had all that fun for a little over a hundred rubles, which is about 5 bucks! Can't beat that! I hugged and loved on Valerie all day today and thoroughly enjoyed it! I don't have any exciting news to share though.

There are several families here with another agency that we've enjoyed getting to know a little bit. It's so nice to speak English with people. The couple in the room next to us have invited us to go bowling on Monday so we'll probably take them up on that. One family has a son that's about Blaine's age and they've played together a couple of times. Tomorrow is Blaine's birthday. My baby boy is turning 6!! We are having a little party with Catherine, Jerry, Gene, Elizabeth, and Peter. Gene is making pizza for us! I was able to find some balloons and party hats at the grocery store here that actually say Happy Birthday in English on them so we're all set for a real celebration!

Thanks, Elle, for the milk tip. Why didn't I think of that?
Well it's just now really getting dark here and I'm beginning to hear a few fireworks. If there's a good show going on, I'm going to wake up the guys to watch it!

One Step Closer

2008-06-11T03:32:00.000-07:00

Today we took Valerie to have her picture made for her passport. That puts us 1 step closer to bringing her home!!!

After that, Lena, our translator, took us to the big grocery store. Lena looks like a supermodel. She is very tall, super skinny, and gorgeous. Today she happened to be wearing a tiny little miniskirt and got many stares. Bryan, I forgot my camera today but Catherine took her picture so I'll try to post it later. I think she lives on carrot juice and she seems to get a kick out of watching us shop. I feel sure she doesn't buy things like bacon and ice cream ever! Of course, we have to ask lots of questions because we can't read Russian and don't know what anything is. The first 3 times I tried to buy milk here in Khabarovsk I got home with either Kefir (fermenty yogurt type stuff that Valerie loves) or really heavy cream. It's all in bags not cartons and we've had a couple of wrecks with that in the fridge. What are you supposed to do with a giant floppy bag of milk after you open it? Anyway, Lena showed me to look for the bags that say Moloko. Sure enough, that's milk! I can even get different fat percentages.

I have a whole new empathy for people who are illiterate because that is basically what we are over here. It is frustrating and at times a little scary to not be able to read anything. However, we know this is temporary. I can't imagine never knowing how to read or write. We've had some great adventures and gotten home with some really interesting things from the grocery. Some of them have been pretty good, others not so much.

Valerie is such a little smarty! She can say knock, knock when she knocks on the door. She can also say Dada, Mama, and Bubba. She actually sometimes calls Todd Dada and Blaine Bubba. Does she ever call me Mama? Nope. Today I would say, "Say Mama" and she would say "Dada" and giggle every time. I think Todd may be secretly sabotaging me!! I play this game with her where I make a buzzing sound and spin my finger in the air and then tickle her saying, "tickle, tickle, tickle" Today she came up and did it to me. It was so cute! She buzzed and waved her finger around. When she tickled me it sounded like, "dig-a, dig-a, dig-a"! We keep saying Monkey See, Monkey Do. She imitates every thing Blaine does. They took a bath together tonight and had a ball but they splashed water everywhere! So now the saying is Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey gets in trouble too!

Valerie is sleeping well both at night and at naptime. She rocks herself in her sleep at night and it is kind of disturbing to watch. She doesn't do it at all at naptime, just at night. This is just a typical post institutionalized behavior and I've read all about it, talked to other families who've experienced it, and understand why she does it. But it's still hard to watch. Basically, it's her way of soothing herself. She learned to do this because she didn't have anyone to comfort her or rock her at night. That just makes me so sad. She not only rocks but also bounces her head against the pillow or mattress. When she starts that I just have to step in. I am so glad she has us now to rock and soothe and love her. I'm so glad we have her.
Other than the rocking and speed eating, her behaviors are very normal. She is so happy and is picking up new things very very quickly. We are so proud of her! Todd said tonight that it was so nice to have a baby around again and it is!

What a Workout!

2008-06-10T03:54:00.001-07:00

We've done lots of walking since we've been here but add in a stroller with a heavy baby and it's a whole new ball game! I've felt like I've gotten some good exercise most days but I'm actually sore tonight! We took off with Catherine and all of her crew on quite an expedition. This city is full of hills, stairs, cracked sidewalks, and huge potholes! Also, Todd and I are both really way too tall to comfortably push one of those little umbrella strollers! When you come to a flight of stairs, you have to pick the whole thing up and carry it. I took a spill today but made a good save. I ended up sitting on my rear holding the stroller up over my head. Real cute! Valerie is safe and sound. Nothing was hurt on me but my pride! These two pictures were taken in a big open area in front of the gold church. The kids all had a ball running free here and feeding and chasing all the pigeons. Today was one of those great days where the air is cool and the sun is warm. Just perfect!Blaine gets lots of stares in his cowboy boots! Don't see to many of those here in Khabarovsk! I used to tell him he could wear tennis shoes with jeans too. I even pointed out other children wearing them. His response? "Yeah, but they're not cowboys." You can tell he's feeling much better in this picture.
You can see the shadows of the pigeons that Valerie just scared off! She didn't really understand feeding the pigeons. She kept trying to pick up the popcorn we were throwing and eat it!
This is a pretty picture of the river taken by Blaine. He loves to get my camera and I always find lots of interesting subject matter on there! He's not bad, is he?

We went to lunch at the Intourist Hotel. Valerie was asleep in the stroller when we went in. She woke up about halfway through the meal. I have to say her restaurant behavior is pretty impressive. She was very quiet and happily ate the cream of broccoli soup we ordered for her. About halfway home (just as we started up the really big hill) we all began to get REALLY tired. We had been out and about for 6 hours! I looked at the faces of my family tonight at supper and everybody had dark circles under their eyes. I bet we'll all sleep hard tonight.

Out for a Stroll

2008-06-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

This is what we did several times today. The weather was cool and it was a beautiful day other than being pretty windy. Valerie is learning new things everyday. She will let me feed her now but if she has the spoon she still eats at lightning speed. She loves her bath now and even pours a cup of water over her own head and giggles. I hug her baby doll, rock it in my arms, and say, "Love the baby." Then she gets the baby, rocks it and says Ooooooh. Too cute! Todd loves to take her for walks and she is getting more confident and sure of herself everyday. She has explored every drawer and cabinet in our apartment and we have lots of things up on high shelves. Blaine and Valerie wrestle and play. He hides under a cabinet and bursts out and growls and she screams and giggles and runs away. If she gets into something, we say "Nyet!" and she gets a guilty look and stops whatever she's doing immediately. I wonder how long that will last! We are having a ball!

She is definitely still on the orphanage schedule:
Wake up at 7:00
Breakfast at 8:00
Snack at 10:00
Lunch at 12:00
Nap after Lunch until 3:00
Supper at 6:00
Bedtime at 8:00
We are sticking right to this for now and she seems to like it.

We hope VBS will go great at home this week. Thresa, Blaine says to share your dollars with Buddy this time! You are so sweet to him! Thank you to everyone for your sweet comments and news from home. It always makes our day!

Sibling Bonding

2008-06-08T03:45:00.000-07:00

Sibling bonding and a little rivalry too! Here Blaine is showing Valerie how funny Tom & Jerry is. This was great until she began pushing all the buttons on the DVD player. I told Blaine he'd better get used to that! Thanks, Donna, for loaning us your DVD player. It's been such a help and we've all enjoyed it.

We are all finally healthy today! We went to a great playground this morning and really wore Valerie out. She took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. It rained and hailed here this afternoon so since we couldn't get outside we went upstairs for some playtime with Catherine and her kiddos, who are also doing remarkably well! The three of them were adorable. I am going to have to start remembering to take my camera with me when we leave the apartment.

This is our kitchen here at the apartment. It's nice and clean but just small. It is a little challenging to cook because it is not a fully stocked kitchen. I miss my cheese grater, sharp knives, measuring cups, etc. But we're getting by just fine. Tonight we had hamburger patties, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I think Valerie would eat anything we put in front of her. Blaine's the same way so I'm one lucky Mama!
This is my clothes dryer! Actually, it's a sideways picture of our balcony where I hung the clothes I washed in our bathtub today. After this, doing laundry at home will seem fun! We were talking to Blaine tonight about how we should be so thankful for what we have. Here, we are missing the conveniences of home but are still so much better off than most of the people in the world.
This is the view from our balcony. We like to sit out there and watch the boats go by on the river. A cool breeze blows in most days so we leave the balcony door open until the mosquitos start invading in the evening.

Today was a great day and it really went by quickly. We've been in Khabarovsk 8 days now. We have a little less than 2 weeks more here, then a few days in Moscow, then HOME! This long stay isn't really what we wanted to do but it is giving us some awesome family time that we would never get at home with work and other responsibilities constantly pulling at us. By the end of this trip, I'm sure we'll have had more than enough togetherness, but I'm treasuring every minute right now!

On The Mend

2008-06-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

We are beginning to feel good again. Poor Blaine had really high fever all night and kept throwing up. He slept almost all day today. His fever went back up this evening but he hasn't thrown up anymore. Hopefully, this bug will be gone tomorrow. It's about 9:30 pm here in Khabarovsk, the sun is still out and it seems like about 6:30. Everyone is asleep but me but I intend to be close behind!

Valerie and I got out this morning and walked to the grocery store to buy 7-UP for Blaine. She seems to like the stroller and kicks her legs the whole time. Todd took Valerie to the playground this evening because he was going stir crazy in the apartment all day long. Even Valerie wanted out. She'd put on her hat and go and stand by the door! Other than that, we've just hung out and played.

That Valerie is quite a character! She has the deepest, loudest laugh! She is getting very comfortable with us. In fact, comfortable enough to pitch a fit if things don't go exactly as she thinks they should. For the most part, she is so happy though! I think she is loving all the attention. We are loving giving it to her! Bathtime started out bad but ended up lots of fun. After she figured out she was ok, she splashed and played, then cried when it was time to get out! She is saying more and more sounds each day. She vocalizes all the time so I'm hoping once she gets used to hearing this strange language we speak she'll be communicating with us soon. This little Russian girl will have a west TX accent before we know it! Speaking of TX, it sounds like we're sure missing a heat wave back home. We are homesick for the peace and quiet of our place. It's noisy 24/7 here. But we are enjoying the cooler weather.
Please pray that Blaine will be feeling good again soon. It makes a Mama worry for her kiddo to get so sick in another country!

Under the Weather

2008-06-06T02:52:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got our girl, got our luggage, and now we're sick. Not terrible but we didn't really feel good enough to get out much today. We woke up this morning feeling great, ate some oatmeal for breakfast and started to get ready for the day. Todd got in the shower and quickly got out. He said there were 2 temperatures, hot and scalding. The cold water was turned off in our building. So we just got dressed and went to the playground for awhile. Valerie seemed to really enjoy it but Blaine was a little whiny and not really himself. We came home and made sandwiches for lunch and all just felt so exhausted. Blaine and Todd went down for a nap in the bedroom. I laid Valerie down on the coach beside me and read a book. About 2 hours later, Blaine came and climbed in my lap and I could tell he had a fever. He said he felt like he might throw up but never did. I went to get the Children's Tylenol but it wasn't there. I had gotten him an antibiotic, an anti-diarheal medicine, and even some medicine for pink eye before we left but I didn't bring the Children's Tylenol. I can't believe I forgot that. I had a new bottle of Infant's Tylenol for Valerie so I gave him a dose of that plus a little extra and he went back to sleep. He woke up feeling ok but after supper his fever was back up again. I went down to the office and tried to talk to the receptionist who didn't speak English for a little advice on what to get at the grocery store. She finally called someone who spoke English, I got on the phone, told her the problem, and she told the receptionist to write me a note in Russian to take to the pharmacy telling them what was wrong. Jerry, Catherine's cousin, was so sweet. He took off walking, found a pharmacy, and picked up some Children's Panadol. I looked it up online and it is similar to Tylenol. It's a pain reliever/fever reducer. Right now, Blaine is cool and asleep so I'll just keep an eye on him through the night. I am so thankful to have something to give him if it goes back up in the night. Todd and I just seem to have a touch of the stomach bug but are not terribly miserable. I guess we all must have a little virus of some kind. Valerie is perfectly fine. Oh well, my motto here lately is "Things could always be worse!" I am sitting here on the fold out couch and Valerie is laying beside me fighting sleep. She doesn't cry or try to get up or anything but her little eyelids are so heavy and she just won't close them. We love her even more today! Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have a happier post and some more pictures. Love ya'll, Cindy

GOTCHA!!!

2008-06-05T03:31:00.000-07:00

We've got our girl!! This afternoon we went to the big grocery store and stocked up on some groceries and diapers. Then we headed to the orphanage to pick up Valerie. We went in and signed a book, then gave our gifts to the caregivers, social worker, director, and doctor. When we walked back into the hall, someone was bringing Valerie in from playing outside. She smiled and came right to us. I picked her up and we went upstairs to her room where I changed her into the dress we brought for her. Many of her caregivers gathered around and were watching us so I handed her off to one of them and we began snapping pictures. They all held her and gave her a kiss. Then we left. It all happened very fast and was really an emotional experience. We are taking her away from the only life she's ever known. She has been loved but we are giving her a family and she has already brought us so much joy! God has answered our prayers!! We are so blessed to have the daughter that God intended us to have. She is a perfect match for our family!

She did great in the van and did not get upset at all. When we got back to the apartment, we played a while. She and Blaine laugh and laugh together. Then I got supper ready. We had leftover chicken soup that I had made for lunch. It was amazing to watch Valerie eat. I put her in my lap and fed her a spoonful. Then she grabbed the spoon out of my hand, bent over her bowl, and began spooning the food into her mouth so quickly. She didn't chew or anything, just gulped it all down. Todd handed her a piece of bread and she held it in one hand while spooning with the other. She was extremely efficient. It's obvious that she had a very limited amount of time to eat at the orphanage and learned how to get it all down before it got taken away. I'll be glad when she realizes there will always be plenty of food and she can take her time and enjoy it.

After supper, we had a bath. That did not go so well. She only gets sponged off at the orphanage so she's never had a bath in a tub before. She was scared and cried some but she finally splashed around a little. She never really enjoyed it though. After bath, we played a little more. Then I got in the bed with her and sang awhile. She laid right down beside me, cuddled, up and sucked on her fingers. She was still and relaxed but it took her about 30 minutes to actually fall asleep. She looks like a little angel laying there!

We had another Gotcha today! We finally got our luggage! All 3 bags! It was like Christmas around here today. We tore into those bags and were so excited to have all our things. Todd went to the airport and picked them up just before we went to get Valerie. Another answered prayer - Thank you everyone! It was perfect timing because all our gifts were in our luggage as were Valerie's dress and shoes. Aren't they cute? We can't wait to send real pictures instead of headless ones but we have to wait until our 10 day wait is over. We are looking forward to tomorrow and enjoying our time with Valerie so much.

Sightseeing in Khabarovsk

2008-06-04T01:57:00.001-07:00

We walked around Khabarovsk all day today. We got to show Blaine lots of neat things and we all had a great time! This is Todd and Blaine in front of the gold church. When we went inside, a wedding was going on. It was very interesting to watch with so many rituals and things that we didn't understand. The priest would sing and then there was a small choir that sounded so beautiful. The acoustics in that giant church were amazing. It was strange to us that others came and went, praying and lighting candles, oblivious to the wedding that was going on. The inside of the church is ornate and absolutely gorgeous.
Then we walked to the World War II Memorial. It was really something to see. This is Blaine and I on one side of it.
This is the eternal flame that burns in the center of the War Memorial. On each side are thousands and thousand of names of men from Khabarovsk Krai who were lost in the war. It is a really beautiful place. Notice the bride and groom in the picture. We saw at least 8 couples of newlyweds around town today. Apparently it is traditional to have their picture made at different places all around town on their wedding day.
Then we walked down to the beach and enjoyed some ice cream. Many of the sunbathers on the beach wore little or nothing. We got tickled that Blaine was totally oblivious to that! He'd say, "Wow! Look at that ship! Hey there's a pretty rock! Check out this shell!" But never one word about the naked women or the men in their underwear! Such sweet innocence!
We had fun climbing around on the rocks and watching some fishermen and watching the boats go by.
Then we climbed to the top of the stairs and Blaine and Todd looked across the Amur River into China through a telescope.Oops, I thought I turned this one. Then we visited the beautiful blue church. Blaine liked the gold church the best. They are both really something to see

After all this sightseeing, we were tired and starving. We went to the Intourist Hotel and had a really nice lunch. Then Blaine saw this cool lion. Then we went to some shops and bought a few clothes for Valerie and a new T-shirt for Todd and Blaine. I wasn't very successful. I guess I'm picky but I also had a hard time finding anything my size. We still don't have luggage and don't know when we will. The 1 bag of 3 that was supposed to arrive today did not. Go figure. Ginger made me laugh today. She has a new acronym for Delta: Don't Expect Luggage To Arrive. There were a few others but that was the best! We've been joking that we are living in a nudist colony. This morning we all 3 were stuck in the apartment with our pants hanging out the window praying they would hurry and dry! Don't worry, I won't post pictures!!

When we got back from our tour, we were greeted with wonderful news from Catherine. She is now the proud mother of Peter and Elizabeth (and Alex back in CA)! We are thrilled for her. Tomorrow we get to pick up all three children and bring them here with us! I can't wait to get Valerie and really start bonding with her. Right now, we are just some fun people who come and play with her. I am so anxious for her to know we are Mama, Daddy, and Brother!

Some of you have emailed and said your comments aren't showing up on the blog. I don't know what to tell you to do differently. If you don't have a google/blogger account, just click anonymous, then type your comment and be sure to sign your name. Please keep trying because a word from home means so much to us! Thank you all for your sweet words and most of all your prayers. We are truly blessed!

Visiting with Valerie

2008-06-03T05:35:00.001-07:00

We had the best time visiting Valerie today! This is us at the front door of the Baby Home. We got to take her outside to the playground and she loved it. We all 4 played and laughed hard for about 2 hours. It was so much fun! She has quite a personality and we are really getting to know her better. She loves Blaine and watches him closely. She obviously has a good relationship with several caregivers because whenever one would walk by outside she would run to them for a hug. They talked so sweet to her and I can tell they will be sad to see her go but are pleased that she'll have a family. I so wish there wasn't the language barrier and I could talk to some of them. We can't get over how big and chubby she is now. She looks so healthy and cute! Her big laugh gets us all so tickled. We have tons of cute pictures and I can't wait to share some with you.

It was so hard to leave her there today now that she's really ours. We don't get to visit her or get her tomorrow because our coordinator will be busy with Catherine completing her case. She got good news regarding a document that needed correcting today! We should all be getting to take our kids with us on Thursday!! We wish we could have Valerie tomorrow but have a special day of sightseeing planned with Blaine and are looking forward to that.

I was so excited yesterday when I talked to Delta about our baggage. I called today for an update to be sure they had made it to Moscow. One bag was on its way to Moscow, the other 2 were in Indianapolis. I cannot imagine why. They were then to go to JFK, then Moscow, then on to Khabarovsk but noone had any idea when that might happen. UGH!!! They were all to come directly to Moscow from Atlanta. That route makes absolutely no sense and why did 1 bag come and the others not? We've been discussing what's in each bag and which one we hope will arrive first. My clothes and Valerie's are packed together. Todd's bag has his clothes, most of our toiletries, and the gifts we bought for the caregivers, coordinator, translator, driver, etc. Blaine's bag has his clothes and lots of food and other things to make us more comfortable while we're here. Right now we're not too comfortable. Come on Delta, get your act together!

Some travel shots!

2008-06-02T05:44:00.001-07:00

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! This is Blaine on his very first plane ride. He was really excited and thought flying was really cool. We took 4 flights total to arrive in Khabarovsk: a 1 hour, a 2 1/2 hour, an 11 hour, and an 8 hour flight.
After the 3rd flight was over, we stood in line forever in passport control and customs, found out none of our suitcases had made the flight, took a very frightening ride through Moscow to another airport, and waited there about 8 hours for our next flight. Not looking so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed anymore are they? We then got on the flight to Khabarovsk and I've never been on a hotter airplane. They only served coffee and hot tea and when I asked for water they would pour me half of a tiny cup. We were so ready to get off that flight! We layed down for a "nap" yesterday at about 5:00 pm and woke up at 1:00 in the morning. We went back to sleep a few hours later for the rest of the night. We are looking forward to a good night's rest tonight and are feeling so good about our court decision and that our baggage was finally located.

Proud Parents!

2008-06-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

We are now officially the proud parents of Valerie Diane Hunt!!! Our adoption was approved by the judge today! We were very nervous before court but felt that we had been well prepared by our agency about what would be expected. The judge had each of us stand and state our names then she began questioning Todd about why we wanted to adopt, why this particular girl, his occupation, our finances, Blaine, Valerie's medical conditions, and our ability to care for her. Todd was so calm and did a perfect job of answering all the questions. Then the judge asked me if I agreed with all Todd's answers and if he was telling the truth. She then asked me about how I would discipline her and that was it for our part. Irina, our coordinator added a few comments, then the social worker and representative from the MOE who had observed us at the baby home spoke on our behalf and recommended the adoption be granted, that it was in the best interest of the child. The judge took about a 5 minute recess and came back with her decision to allow us to adopt Valerie. The whole thing took about 50 minutes. We felt so relieved and are thrilled to now officially be a family of 4!

Then it was Catherine's turn for court and we were asked by the judge to leave the courthouse, not the court room but the entire building. We thought that was very strange. Unfortunately, Catherine's court didn't go as smoothly as ours did. There was some problem with a date on one of the documents prepared by the state representative so the judge wouldn't make a decision today. Her court is rescheduled for Wednesday. I really feel for her but she has a great attitude. This is her second adoption and I guess by now she has become accustomed to all the many bumps in the road that are part of this process. We can't wait to celebrate with her on Wednesday! We will probably not be able to get Valerie until Wednesday because everyone will be busy getting Catherine's problem resolved, which of course is the most important thing right now. We just can't wait to get Valerie here with us and begin bonding as a family.

More good news! I have been calling Delta every few hours and until tonight they still did not know where our bags were. They were finally found in Atlanta, are scheduled to go out on a flight to Moscow, then on Siberia Air on to Khabarovsk, where we should be able to get them on June 4! Hallelujah! It will feel so good to put on clean socks again! I've also been very worried about bringing a baby out of the orphanage without any supplies or clothes for her. This is definitely an answered prayer!

Court in a couple of hours!

2008-06-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

Hello from Khabarovsk! We have court in a couple of hours and are feeling nervous but prepared. Thank goodness I've read so much advice about traveling and decided to bring our court clothes in our carry-on luggage. The travel was pretty hard and it would have been so nice to come into our apartment and settle in. As it is, we have nothing. We bought a razor, a hairbrush, and some deodorant at a little store yesterday. I don't have any of my hair stuff and look horrible but surely the judge won't deny us because I'm having a bad hair day! Catherine and her sister have fed us, loaned us clothes and other necesseties. I don't know what we'd do without them. As Mom said we are pretty frustrated over all 3 of our suitcases not arriving but we've met with Valerie twice now and are reminded that that is why we are here. Blaine and Valerie really hit it off. She was very taken with him and he could make her laugh with silly faces! Our comfort is secondary to the fact that we are about to officially become parents to a beautiful sweet little girl!!! I'm going to grab a bite of lunch then it's time to get dressed and go to court! We'll update afterwards.

Safe Arrival

2008-06-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

From Susan and Calvin
Cindy called at 10:00 this morning our time from the apartments in Khabarovsk to say they arrived safely, but were exhausted and frustrated. Their luggage and that of about 20 others did not arrive in Moscow with them from Atlanta. The airport authorities in Moscow assured them that their luggage would be sent to their home when it arrived in Moscow! Even Andrei, their driver was unable to convince the authorities that it needed to be sent to Khab. So, Cindy called Delta Airlines with the baggage claim numbers and was told their bags would be sent to Moscow then on to Khab. When is the question. Fortunately, in their carry-on bags they had court clothes, a little contact solution, toothbrushes, a few other toiletries, and their laptop. However, the satellite phone is in one of the checked bags, so she was calling from the hotel phone. She said Blaine has been a trooper through it all, that he was able to sleep on the flights and didn't complain about the unfamiliar and often undesirable food. He did a good job pulling his suitcase and was able to keep up. Catherine (who is also there adopting two children) and her sister and cousin have taken very good care of them since their arrival by purchasing them pajamas and preparing food. What a Godsend! Catherine's group arrived earlier via Seoul. Cindy and Todd were able to visit Valerie for about 1 1/2 hours upon their arrival in Khab. She hesitated a bit, but then came to them readily and wanted Cindy to hold her and bounce her on her lap. She has quite a hearty laugh. She is walking/toddling now, and has gained 2 lbs and 1 inch in height! They had nothing to give her to play with as her bag was checked luggage, but Catherine graciously gave them a toy to take. It must have resembled a cell phone because Valerie held it up to her ear and to Cindy's and Todd's too! Blaine will get to visit Valerie at the orphanage before court. Which brings us to their specific request: Court will be at 2:00 pm Monday, June 2 Khab time. That will be 10:00 tonight (Sunday) our time. Irena has advised them about the procedure. Most of the questions will be directed to Todd, but they will both have to speak. Questions include, "What plans do you have for 'thus and such' situation?" It should take under an hour, then there is about a 20 minute wait for the judge's decision. Please pray that they will be rested and have clear minds and that the judge will approve the adoption. We all believe their decision to adopt Valerie is God's answer to their prayers. Romans 8:28!!! Cindy said they would call sometime around midnight (our time) tonight to tell us the results. She would also try to blog at that time too. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and concern for our "kids" throughout the adoption process.

Here We Go!

2008-05-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

We've made the first leg of our trip! Mom took us to the airport last night where Josh and Jill met us and said a sweet prayer for us and told us good bye. We arrived safely in Dallas last night, had a good night's rest here at Ginger and Mike's house and will head to the airport soon. Blaine did great on his first flight! It was so much fun watching him as we took off, he loved it! We won't sleep in a bed again until we arrive in Khabarovsk on Sunday. We go to Atlanta today, then onto Moscow where it will be Saturday morning when we land. Then we leave Moscow Saturday night and arrive in Khab Sunday morning (which will be Saturday night here). We'll try to get on soon after arrive and let everyone know when we're there. We should get to go see Valerie on Sunday! I can't wait to get her in my arms again!
We are about as excited as we can be at 5:30 AM! Please keep us in your prayers. We know they work and appreciate you all so much.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-05-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind of activity around our place lately! Our passports, visas, and tickets arrived today so we can officially travel now. Hooray! We have a lot in suitcases and several piles of things we really want to take. The problem is there is no way all those piles will fit into our suitcases so it's time to decide what's really important. Of course all of MY stuff is important! Ha ha!

The weather could be quite chilly and it could be very hot. Being that we will be gone a total of 4 weeks, we're likely to see a little of both. I picked up a couple of travel umbrellas this morning as we are bound to get some rain there sometime. Speaking of rain, we got some more last night - 3/4 inch!! We are hoping to not come home to the sand dunes that we are living in right now!

We are just so excited to be going back. We miss that little girl like crazy! We are so ready to officially be her Mama and Daddy! This will also be an awesome experience for Blaine. I am a little nervous about traveling around the world with him but mostly just happy that he's going with us and getting to see and experience so many new things.

Blaine graduated from Kindergarten this morning! The ceremony was really neat and we couldn't be more proud of him. He loved every minute of Kindergarten and was always ready to go each morning! He has grown, changed and learned so much this year. Mrs. Cornelius is an awesome teacher and we're a little sad to see this special time in his life come to an end.
Ok, I'd better quit being sentimental and get back to packing! We leave for Dallas tomorrow night!
I have pictures to post but my computer isn't cooperating. I'll try again later.

Itinerary

2008-05-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

We received our confirmed itinerary today. We will not get to Khabarovsk until June 1, the day before our court date. We will fly to Dallas next Thursday night and stay with Ginger and Mike. We will leave Dallas at 9:30 am Friday, May 30 and get to Khabarovsk at 11:10 am on Sunday, June 1. We will not have slept in a bed during all that time! We'll spend June 1 visiting Valerie and being observed with her by a social worker, settling into our hotel, and getting prepped for court the next day. I hope we can sleep on the plane this time! We will ride 3 different planes and it will take around 36 hours of travel to get there. Blaine's never flown before - We're really breaking him in aren't we?

We will be staying at the Markuel Apartments in Khabarovsk. This will be nice because we will be able to cook our meals there and not have to eat every meal out. Because of everything shutting down for Russian Independence Day in the middle of our 10 day wait period, we will be unable to leave Khabarovsk until Saturday, June 21. We will be in Khabarovsk a full 3 weeks.

Then we go back to Moscow for our embassy appointment. We are staying near the Red Square and will be excited to see the sights there! We will leave Moscow June 25, fly back through Atlanta, and arrive in Dallas that night at 8:21. It will be too late to fly home from there so we'll spend another night with Gin who will be excited to meet her brand new niece and fly back to Midland early the next morning.

We have a COURT DATE!!!!!

2008-05-21T00:59:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting at my computer since 9:00 hitting the refresh button every 3 minutes, waiting for some news. Our pretrial was today and we got an email at 12:26 am (4:26 pm in Khabarovsk) that our court date had been scheduled! Woohoo!!! Our coordinator had requested June 4 because our Russian medicals will expire on June 5. June 4 was not available but we don't have to redo our medicals because.......Our court hearing will be June 2!! That is 12 days from now! In just 12 days, Valerie will be ours!! That means we travel in about 9 days. Oh my, 9 days!! Our travel agent had already made us a tentative itinerary but now it will have to be revised and moved up a little. I'll be on the phone with her first thing in the morning getting our tickets and our visas ordered. Talk about short notice - So much to do!

I am crying right now. I think I've been holding my emotions back for the last 3 months worrying that something would go wrong. These are happy, happy tears!! Todd and I have been married 13 years today. This is a great anniversary gift to the both of us!
More details later......

She's a Growin' Girl!

2008-05-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

We got updated measurements for Valerie! What a nice surprise! She has grown 1 inch and gained 2 pounds since we saw her. She must be doing well! It makes me sad that I missed watching her grow and change the last 2 1/2 months but it's a good sign that she's putting on weight. She's a tiny thing! Her feet are 13 cm which I think means a size 5 or 5 1/2. That solves that dilemma.
I'm wondering how much her looks have changed. Has her hair grown any? Will she remember us? Is she walking now? Has she made a special friend or gotten really attached to a certain caregiver? I just can't wait to get my hands on her again! I hope she will come to us as easily as she did last time. Two more days and we'll know our court date!

Time Zones, Temperatures, and Long Days

2008-05-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

I was looking online trying to wrap my brain around the time zones we'll be traveling to and what the weather might be like so I'll know what kind of clothes to take on our trip. Here's what I found:

Khabarovsk is 16 hours ahead of us.
Moscow is 9 hours ahead of us.

We wil be in Moscow during the longest days of the year there! It will only be truly dark for about 4-5 hours each night. I hadn't thought about that. One more thing to totally throw off our internal clocks!

Lots of sites said different things about the weather but in general the daily low in Khab will be in the 50's and the high will be in the 80's. Sounds pretty nice to me. People say it can get a little hot because of lack of air conditioning. Moscow will probably be a little cooler but pretty similar.
So I guess we'll wear pants, short sleeve shirts and take a light jacket for the mornings. I got my outfit for court. It's a black short sleeve pants suit that looks dressy but not overly business like. I mainly liked it because I get hot when I'm nervous and didn't want anything with long sleeves or a jacket. Todd will just wear one of his suits.

A Productive Day

2008-05-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

I went to Odessa today with a big shopping list and got a lot done in preparation for our trip. I bought a car seat that's pink with flowers! I still have Blaine's stroller but I also got a little umbrella stroller to take to Russia with us. I hear you can gate-check the stroller when you fly. I bought sippy cups, bibs, diapers, wipes, Tylenol, Desitin, baby bath and lotion, some super cute girly clothes, and a pair of white sandals with butterflies that I feel certain will fit (I think). I also took Kathleen's advice and ordered a pair of Robeez. I also got some banana puffs and other baby snacks for Valerie and plenty of yummy goodies for Todd, Blaine, and I also!
One of my favorite purchases was a cute little red, white, and blue onesie that says All American Girl on it. Valerie will be a US citizen as soon as our plane lands in America. I'll have to put her in her red, white, and blue for the occassion! My friend Renee passed on some of her daughter's clothes to me and I am so glad because some of them are for cooler weather and we might need that while we're in Russia and you sure can't find warm clothes in the stores right now. However, I noticed the cute little weather girl on the side bar is wearing a sundress and it's 72 degrees right now in Khabarovsk - Nice! We'll just take all kinds of clothes and be prepared for anything. I need to have Blaine start practicing pulling a suitcase - I think we're gonna need his help!
Shopping for the trip and for Valerie was so much fun! There's so much cute cute girl stuff out there. Blaine has cute clothes but I've never gone overboard shopping for him. But for a girl... oh my!

One Week From Tonight We'll Know Our Court Date!

2008-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

I love chubby baby legs! I just can't wait until I can post a real picture of Valerie. My understanding is that we aren't allowed to post any pictures until the 10 day wait after court is over.
See the booties Todd is wearing over his shoes? We all had to put on masks and those booties each day when we entered the door of the orphanage. Todd had the hardest time finding ones that would fit his feet.
A week from tonight we'll know our court date! Our pretrial is May 21 in Khab but since they are 16 hours ahead of us we should get the news late next Tuesday night. I will be glued to my computer waiting for Olga's email and chatting online with Catherine in CA who will also be anxiously awaiting news of her court date, which will hopefully be the same day as ours. Yesterday I sent off our passports and visa applications to Red Star Travel in Seattle. They will be helping us get our visas from the Russian Consulate in Washington and will also make our flight reservations for us. This will all be very short notice as we expect court in early June. Our fingers are crossed for June 4 or before so we don't have to redo our Russian medicals which require us seeing 8 doctors in Khabarovsk. I am so excited!

Some Fun Pics!

2008-05-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

Blaine in his Kindergarten Spring Play, E-I-E-I-OOPS! He 's the one in the blue plaid shirt. He was the Farmer in the Dell. We were so proud of the way he said his lines loud and clear. My super shy kid isn't so shy anymore. He's changed so much this year!

This was the first really hot day this year and Blaine had fun slippin' and slidin'!

Blaine has been helping bottle feed this little blind calf. Aren't they both cute as can be?

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! We had a really nice day but I missed Valerie alot today. We had a baby dedication day at church and there were 17 babies there. I enjoyed seeing all of them and the service was really nice but many of them were around Valerie's age so I guess that's why it really hit home that she should be here with us. We'll be in Russia on Father's Day so that will be a special one for Todd! Before I had Blaine I really had a hard time on Mother's Day. I remember sitting in church trying so hard not to cry as all the mothers were asked to stand and be recognized. Then I would go home and cry all afternoon. Now I have a precious precious son who made me a beautiful bouquet of flowers out of his sweet little handprints for Mother's Day and I am so grateful for him!! I also have a precious precious little daughter in Khabarovsk that we'll be going to get very soon!! I just can't wait!

Todd and I both were blessed with awesome moms. I try so hard to be a good mom. I had a great example and that helps so much! Happy Mother's Day, Mom and Polly Sue!!

We Got Rain!

2008-05-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Todd and I were standing at the back door last night at about midnight thanking God for the rain that was pouring down outside! There was more than an inch in the gauge this morning! Since the fire I have had to vacuum our windowsills and blinds almost everyday because of all the sand and ash that blows in. My house never feels clean. It has been very frustrating and I am so thrilled for this rain to settle the dust. In a few days we should start seeing some green out there again! An answered prayer!!

Many people have asked if we have to go to Russia for the pretrial. The answer is no, we don't. That is just when the judge assigns our court date. We are counting the days (16!) until the pretrial on May 21 when we'll know our court date and can order our tickets and visas and make some definite plans. We are pretty sure that we'll be taking Blaine with us on this trip. 3 weeks is too long to leave him and it will be such an awesome experience for him. He can't wait to meet his little sister! Yes, we know it will also be difficult at times but we think it will be worth it.

Pre-Trial Has Been Set!!!

2008-04-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

We just received word that our pretrial has been set for May 21. Woohoo!! We are thrilled to finally have some word from Russia! Our court date must be on or before June 14 so we will not have much advance notice at all to get tickets and visas and make arrangements to be gone for 3 weeks or more. We are hoping for court by June 4 because our 8 doctor medical that we did on trip 1 expires June 5 and will have to all be redone in Khabarovsk if we don't have court before then. We are going to go ahead and redo our bloodwork here just in case so that we won't be waiting on a lab at the last minute. We are also going to send our passports to the travel agent so she can immediately apply for our visas on May 21 when we get our court date. We've been dying for some news and I am feeling so excited and stressed right now! We were disappointed that the pretrial is not sooner so that we can pin down the exact date and start planning; but we do know that, God willing, by June 14 we will be the proud parents of a little Russian princess!!

Jill and I painted Valerie's room a pretty purple yesterday. I am so pleased with it! Once I hang the curtains and get it all arranged I'll post some pictures.

No News This Week

2008-04-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

We had hoped to receive news that our court date had been scheduled last week. No news yet. Maybe next week. May 1 is a holiday in Russia (Spring and Labor Day) so hopefully the judge will want to clear her desk before then and assign us a court date! We're trying hard to be patient. We're still hoping for court in early June. Hoping and Believing!!

What size is this cute foot?

2008-04-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Look at this tiny cute foot! What size do you think it is? We tried clothes on Valerie while we were on trip 1 so we would have a good idea what size to bring for her on trip 2. All the clothes she wore when we were there had Russian tags so we couldn't read the sizes. The 12 month clothes we brought were a little small, the 18 months were a little big so we thought 18 months would probably work for this summer. We had intentions of tracing her foot but we had this bright idea. We're smart like that. We held her cute little tootsie up to a book we brought and it came right up to the last row of writing on the back cover. This would have been a good judge of length if only we hadn't left the book with her because she liked it so much! Aren't we brilliant!? I'm thinking we'll probably take size 4 and 5 and hope one of those fits. If not, we can donate those to the orphanage and buy her some there. Could her feet be as small as a size 3? Hmmmm.....What do you think?

It's All There!

2008-04-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

We got an email from Olga saying last Friday the judge had summoned Irina, our AIA coordinator in Khabarovsk, to her chambers because we were missing some documents. But the judge had just overlooked them and Irina was able to quickly show them to her! It's all there. Yeah, Irina!!
We are told we could hear something about a court date this week!!! This weekend, we watched the video of our time with Valerie at the orphanage on trip 1. Come on court date! It can't get here soon enough!
I tried to post another picture today but we have super slooooooww dial up and it throws me off everytime I try to upload it. Maybe someday we can get wireless or something more highspeed out here in the sticks.

Adoption Progress

2008-04-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

I actually started this blog to keep people informed about our adoption. We've had so much other stuff going on lately that I've failed to update about our progress. Our last bit of hard earned paperwork was hand delivered to Irina in Khabarovsk last week by another couple with AIA. Our dossier is 100% complete and in the judge's hands. Monday, we were excited to hear that Valerie's release letter had arrived from Moscow. Now the judge has everything she needs. There will be a pretrial where she goes over all our documents and assigns us a court date!! She could (God forbid) request additional documents from us at this time but we are hoping we will hear about a court date soon. We've been told we could travel in early June so that it what we are praying for. I miss that little girl so much. I wonder what she's doing right now, if she's taken her first steps, or cut another tooth. My arms ache to hold her again!
Valerie's bedding and curtains came in this week! It's purple, green, and yellow with flowers and butterflies. I'm so glad that I didn't have them up yet as they would be pretty smoky and smelly now. It is all so cute and I can't wait to get this nasty mess all cleaned up so I can decorate!

Pictures After the Fire

2008-04-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

This is just south of our house. The fire was so hot and high that it burned the wooden platform out of the top of the windmill. Doesn't it look like the desert? That used to be a pretty cottonwood and a pine tree in the background.
This is our backyard. A good part of our lawn is actually under there somewhere. Once all the grass was burned there was nothing to hold down the sand so all that sand and ashes blew up into our yard. I have since raked it all out and built a makeshift fence out of feed tubs to keep the sand out (I hope!). We have worked very hard on the yard since we moved out here 4 years ago. Turning pasture into lawn isn't easy! Please pray that it will rain soon to settle the dust and soot and grow something pretty and green out there again. I'm afraid the fire killed our trees. You can kinda see the frame of Blaine's trampoline to the left of the swingset. The pad is totally gone. The fire was so close that the mop on our back porch caught on fire.

WILD FIRE!

2008-04-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

This is the entrance to our property. At this time last Spring, it was beautiful with thick green grass and lots of colorful wildflowers blooming. We have not had a rain yet this Spring. Last week this area was covered in dry grass. Now it is sand and burned mesquites. There was a fence on each side of the cattle gaurd but all the posts were burned. Luckily our house is still there.

Last Thursday I went to Midland with Nana and Bub. On the way home we drove through a fire that was burning on I-20. As we got closer to my house we realized there was another fire burning in the west. It seemed pretty far off. I unloaded my groceries and went out to look. I climbed up and could see lots of smoke off in the distance. It was very windy so I called Todd. I told him there was a fire and I would call him back if I thought it would get close to the house. I hung up and walked to the back window and was horrified to already see flames in the pasture behind our house! I called Todd back and screamed, "COME HOME NOW!" Blaine and I hooked hoses together and put sprinklers at the edge of the pasture. What happened next is kind of a blur.
I moved my dad's Mule to the front of the house. Melvin Craft was just pulling in so I knew the volunteer fire department was probably on its way. Blaine was crying and I knew I needed to get him to safety so we hopped in the car and drove up to the highway. When we turned to look at the house there was a huge wall of flames and tons of smoke behind it. I didn't think there was any way it could be saved. I realized that I hadn't gotten anything out of the house so I left Blaine with a nice lady on the highway and raced back to the house. I ran inside and began to grab a few things. I got my laptop, several albums and stacks of pictures, our big binder of adoption documents, and our passports. By this time I was beginning to feel panic. Larry, my father in law, ran in and said I needed to get out and asked what else I wanted to take. I grabbed one last framed picture of the 3 of us off the desk and left.
By this time flames were already on both sides of our road as I headed back to the highway. Poor Blaine was so scared and upset. It was incredibly chaotic. Firetrucks were pulling in, firemen were yelling, smoke was everywhere. Soon we couldn't see or breathe and we could feel the heat from the fire that was jumping the highway just to the north of us so we moved down to Larry and Polly Sue's gate. I stood on top of my vehicle and tried to see my house. There was nothing but smoke and flames. The wind was 55 mph. I was so scared for all the firefighters who were now surrounded by fire. I also knew Todd must be there somewhere. I have done lots of praying but I know that I have never prayed so intensely or been so scared in all my life.
Several water trucks were already pulling in as the fire was working it's way to Todd's parent's house.
I desperately wanted to find Todd and thought maybe I could get something out of the house for Polly Sue (who was stuck up the highway at a road block). I left Blaine again with the same sweet lady and ran up the road to the house. It was locked. I looked out toward the corrals and was so relieved to see Todd! He had driven the mule over from our house. He didn't have his keys and mine were in my vehicle on the highway so he told me to take the mule and get my keys to his parent's house and then come back and get some things out for them. I loaded the dogs onto the mule and as I headed back up the road the wind shifted and the air was filled with black smoke. By the time I got back to Blaine who was now sitting in an ambulance because they moved my car further down the highway, we couldn't see a thing. Blaine was screaming, "Let's get out of here Mama! Take me to Nana's house!" I knew there was no way I could leave him again and I couldn't even see Larry and Polly Sue's house anymore. I was terrified that I had taken Todd's ride and that he might pass up a ride with someone else thinking the Mule was still there. Again, some serious praying was going on.
At this point I didn't know if my house was still there and I was pretty sure Larry and Polly Sue's wouldn't make it because they have lots of dry cane behind it that would burn in a minute. I remember seeing a firefighter in the back of the ambulance getting some oxygen. I was feeling panicky on the inside but stayed calm for Blaine on the outside. I told him over and over that we were ok and that's all that mattered. We prayed for Daddy and Papa and all the firefighters and then I decided it was time to get away because Blaine was scared, the dogs were going crazy, and it was just a horrible sight to watch. We drove down several miles to Nana and Bub's house where their phone and my cell phone were ringing like crazy. I was pacing and we kept going out and climbing up on the fence to see the fire. We finally got word that both houses had been saved!! We also heard that Polly Sue had talked to Larry and Todd and they were ok. They had gotten the sprayer truck and were out helping with the fire. I was so relieved!
I have to say that we have an awesome Volunteer Fire Department! I've seen them in action before fighting grassfires, sometimes even on our ranch. But watching them rush into an extremely dangerous situation determined to save our home definitely gives me a whole new appreciation for them. Without them, I would definitely be without a home tonight. This is not their job. They are all volunteers. They do it because they care! We are grateful beyond words.
This fire has caused a lot of work for a lot of people. Several ranches were affected. Miles of fence must be rebuilt. Electric lines and telephone poles were burned to the ground. We have a good bit of soot and smoke damage to clean up in the house as do Todd's parents.
So many people have been so good to us! People have brought food, helped rebuild our fences on the highway, offered materials, and given lots of hugs. We appreciate the prayers Thursday night and since so very much. We know God was watching out for us, our homes, and all those involved. As far as we know there were not any serious injuries. We have a big mess at home but realize we are so blessed to have a home to clean! I'll post more pictures later.

Ups and Downs

2008-04-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! Long time no blog. We have had so much going on here lately. In regard to my last post, we were on quite a roller coaster ride last week trying to complete a few last minute documents regarding licenses from our home study agency. These are the papers AIA requested from our homestudy agency waaaayy back on February 7, but don't get me started on that again! TX puts expiration dates but not issuance dates on licenses for social workers or child placing agency administrators so we needed letters from their licensing boards stating when there licenses were issued. Sounds simple, right? Ha ha ha. I won't bore you with all the details but after many many many emails and calls with me actually begging and crying on the phone, the letters were completed and arrived at our adoption agency in Alaska last Thursday. What a relief! Or at least it was until I got the email from Olga, our director, saying one of the letters was signed incorrectly. Ugh! So after more frantic emailing and phone calls, arrangements were made for the letter to be reissued and signed correctly this time. We just got word that the new document arrived in Alaska today and will be hand delivered in Khabarovsk by another AIA family traveling this week! Hallelujah!!

Todd's dad had a very scary accident week before last. He was injured badly by a bull. He was thrown in the air, hit his head on the fence and then was trampled pretty good. Thank goodness the vet was there to get the bull off of him and call the ambulance. He is still very sore and has a very badly separated shoulder. The surgeon decided not to operate but to try physical therapy first. We hope that will be very successful. It was a bad accident but could have been so much worse. While he is recovering Todd has been doing more of the work on the ranch on top of an already very busy schedule. I wanted to share a neat story with you - Of course in busy times like these, everything seems to tear up or quit working. A windmill had stopped pumping water so after they worked on it all one afternoon, Todd drove back that evening to see if it was pumping. It wasn't. Todd said he was exhausted and frustrated and he just started praying. He said, "Lord, I just don't think I can take much more right now." Right then he looked up and water came pouring out of the pipe. Pretty cool, huh? God doesn't give us more than we can take, but sometimes we feel like he overestimates us a little!!!

My grandfather passed away this week and we had his service this morning. It is a sad time but we just can't help but celebrate. After 91 years, Grandpa Joe became a christian just 3 weeks ago! What a comfort today to know that he is in heaven and in no pain! Praise God!!! This was Blaine's first experience with the death of a family member. He did remarkably well. He was very curious about everything at the funeral home and the cemetery but never seemed scared or overly upset. He said, "The next time I see Grandpa Joe will be when I go to heaven but that won't be for a long time. You'll probably see him before me, Mama."
My cousin Matt and his wife Lyndsey brought their beautiful baby girl with them to the funeral. She's 18 months old and reminds me alot of Valerie. It was such a joy to play with her and watch Blaine interact with her but it made me really really miss Valerie!

The last couple of weeks have been full of ups and downs. Even in the midst of the downs, we have a lot to be thankful for. My next project is Valerie's room. Can you believe we've been home 4 weeks and I haven't started that yet? I'm excited about it though. I'll keep you posted!

The Wait and the Weight

2008-03-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

At times, the wait to go get Valerie almost seems unbearable. I look at her pictures and it physically hurts. We are also waiting on one last document from our homestudy agency. We have been working with them on this for the last 3 weeks and I honestly can't tell if we are one step closer to getting it than we were 3 weeks ago. I prayed today that we would get an answer tomorrow, that we would at least know that it is being worked on. I find it hard to do anything else because I am so consumed with getting this document that is the missing piece of our dossier for court, yet it is totally out of my hands. All I can do is try to send increasingly less-polite sounding emails every day asking if there is any progress.

This wait is adding weight to me. Why can't I be one of those who just can't seem to eat when I am stressed? I am definitely a stress eater and I'm not talking carrot sticks here! I get lost in thought about what I can do to speed things along with that final document and the next thing I know that full sleeve of Chips Ahoy cookies is gone and I don't even remember eating it. My Blaine is so sweet - If he minded that his Mama ate more than half the candy out of his Easter basket, he never even mentioned it!

I made the comment a while back that it will be a miracle for us to complete this adoption. The more I think about it, the more I know it's true. Every child is a miracle, a blessing from God, whether they arrive in your family through the miracle of birth or the miracle of adoption. Please pray that our miracle child will be with us soon! As our blog title says, we are still hoping and believing!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T21:08:00.001-07:00

Here's Blaine at his Egg Hunt at Kindergarten last week. He had so much fun! He also got to enjoy an egg hunt and puppet show put on by our church at the park yesterday. At home, he doesn't want to hunt eggs, he wants to hide them and have us search for them!
We had a wonderful Easter Sunday with an early morning rain, great worship at church, a fantastic lunch at our house with family and friends, and a very relaxing evening at home. We couldn't have asked for a better day (unless Valerie was here with us).
In adoption news, our court dossier was sent to Khabarovsk on Friday! The wild journey around the BIG state of Texas picking up documents and getting them apostilled paid off. We are still missing 2 supporting documents from our homestudy agency that will need to be acquired quickly and sent along as well. But we are thrilled that our paperwork is on its way and we will be filing with the court soon. We were told there would be at least 90 days between trips so we are praying for a court date in early June.
I had all our pictures (tons of pictures!) of Valerie printed at Sam's on Friday and put them in an album. Looking at them all made me relive that wonderful week we spent with her. She is so precious. I'm missing my girl!

One Long Trip!

2008-03-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Did you know it is 530 miles from Monahans to Burnet? Well, it is if you go through Lubbock to get there. On Saturday, I drove to Lubbock to pick up some documents from our homestudy agency. The plan was to drive to Austin Sunday, have them apostilled on Monday, and sent to Anchorage to our adoption agency by Wednesday. But....some of the documents weren't correct. So Monday, Blaine and I drove back to Lubbock, picked up the corrected documents then drove to Jami and Todd's house in Burnet. That is a full day of driving! We won't even talk about gas prices. Todd took me into Austin to the Secretary of State's office to apostille everything and get it FedExed overnight to Anchorage. Talk about down to the wire. Olga, our agency director said she thinks she will have everything to file for our court date. Yay!!!! We are hoping to go back in early June! In the meantime, we are excited to be here in Burnet and Blaine is having so much fun playing with his cousins, Brooks and Paige. The trip home tomorrow should be much better as we won't go through Lubbock to get back to Monahans!

Another Cute Picture!

2008-03-13T05:03:00.000-07:00

Valerie loves looking at books, especially the touch and feel kind with the soft bunny, fluffy dog, and woolly lamb. I can't wait to get her home and read lots and lots of good books!

Paperwork

2008-03-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

There are extreme amounts of paperwork in the international adoption process. We've had a few new documents to sign since we got home saying we were aware of Valerie's medical conditions, power of attorney for the coordinator in Russia, and an application to the court. Then we had to update other paperwork because it is getting close to expiring. It tickles me that they want another marriage certificate and new copies of our passports. These documents don't change! They just want the apostilles from Austin that we must get attached to them to not be more than a year old. I got a little stressed last time I sent things to Austin because I didn't get them back when I expected them. This time I included a picture of Valerie and a very sweet note saying we had met this beautiful little girl and as soon as we get all our paperwork turned in we can receive a courtdate so if at all possible could they please expedite the documents. We'll see if that makes a difference! We are also waiting on our homestudy update that Olga, our agency director, just found out needs to be in a different format. Now the judge seems to be wanting a fully updated document not just an update added to the end of the old homestudy which is what they wanted before. We've killed more than a few trees in this process! We don't really understand all the reasons for everything required but we'll do whatever they want. It will all be so worth it when we get that sweet baby home!!!

We're Home!

2008-03-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Valerie and Todd sharing some Gerber banana puffs! Isn't she adorable!? We aren't allowed to post pictures of her until after we get home from our court trip but I figured I could get away with this.

We were on the flight from Seoul to LA with The Backstreet Boys who I am totally unfamiliar with but Kathy knew them because she has teenagers. They apparently caused quite a stir. It took a while to get through customs at LA and then back through security in the domestic terminal and we were literally running to our gate to catch our flight to DFW. We finally got home after 10:00 on Sunday night. There were storms around Dallas and our flight was delayed. I was about to burst I was so ready to see Blaine. I could see him from upstairs at the airport and when he spotted us he was jumping up and down excited. I was thrilled to finally get that hug and I just teared up all over again! We were gone 11 days and I swear he grew while we were gone. He also has a very loose tooth that he is quite proud of. I am so proud of him for how well he did while we were away. He's a big boy!

It feels wonderful to be home and be in our own bed and familiar surroundings. However, jet lag is rough! I am exhausted but have woken up about 3:00 am for the last two nights and can't go back to sleep. I have never traveled halfway around the world before. I've always heard about jet lag but just really didn't understand how bad it messes up your internal clock.

Thank you to everyone who took care of things while we were gone from covering our responsibilities at church, to getting our mail, feeding the cats, watering the yard, and taking care of and loving on Blaine. Everything seemed to run so smooth as we knew it would because we have so many great people in our lives taking care of us! At one point during the trip Todd commented that everything was really going our way and I said, "Well, look how many people are praying for us!" Thank you most of all for your prayers. We have a good God!

Greetings from Seoul!

2008-03-08T04:13:00.000-08:00

We are thrilled to be on our way home. It's 9:14 on Saturday night in Seoul and we're at the Transit Hotel at Incheon Airport. Our flight today wasn't crowded at all. Noone in front of us or behind us so we leaned our seats all the way back without bothering anyone and had noone laying in our laps. Very nice! As soon as we got off the plane, we headed over to the Asiana desk and requested exit row seats for the long flight tomorrow so that we'll have some leg room. Woohoo!! Now we're not dreading the flight anymore. Our flight to LA doesn't leave until 4:30 pm tomorrow so we'll be doing lots of airport walking. We'll land in LA 5 hours before we take off due to the time change. Talk about jet lag! We'll finally get to Midland at 9:40 on Sunday night and I can't wait to squeeze Blaine!!!
We flew right over the orphanage today as we left Khabarovsk. I wish so badly that we could have taken Valerie with us. I am missing that little sweetie! Todd reminded me that we have a lot to do over the next few months to get ready for her. Priority #1 will be turning our guest/scrapbooking/junk room into a little girly-girl's room. That will be fun though!
Donna, I guess it's too late now to ask you to set me up at the chiropractor on Monday. I'll just call first thing. Go ahead and tell Billy that Todd will need all of those classes on little girls - He doesn't know what he's getting into, does he? He's already a great Daddy so I'm sure he'll get it all down even if he doesn't master the ponytail!

Friday - Visit #5 at the Orphanage

2008-03-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

This morning we went to a notary public to sign our formal adoption petition before our final visit with Valerie. We had a good time with her but it was hard to put her down and let her play because we just wanted to hold, hug, and kiss her as we knew we won't being seeing her for a few more months. She has learned to search through our bag until she finds the food! She loves those Gerber banana puffs. We had to hide them from her to get her interested in her toys! I'm sure they don't have many snacks and certainly not the freedom to eat while you roam around the room. We brought out the bubbles today and she looked shocked. That was definitely a new experience for her. Todd popped them and she just sat there wide-eyed. It makes me think of all the new experiences that await her such as riding in a car and an airplane, strollers, seeing tons of new faces, ice, a new home. Her senses will definitely be on overload for a while. She is living a very routine, sheltered life right now. Valerie has some congestion and a little cough all week but definitely isn't feeling bad. All too soon, Lena came and said it was time to take her back to her groupa. Todd carried Valerie and I followed trying to hold back the tears. When we got to her room we gave one of her caretakers the photo album we have been showing her this week and a disposable camera with her name on it in hopes they'll take some pictures of her over the next few months. One of the caregivers took her from Todd and sat her at a tiny little table with 2 bowls of food and a teacup (no sippy cups here!) Valerie opened wide and the lady began spooning in the bean soup with a huge serving spoon. With so many kids to feed they know how to get it done fast! She was also having cabbage with ground meat. The lady feeding her told us she will definitely be feeding herself when we come back. We watched her eat for a little while and then kissed her goodbye. It was not easy. The ladies in the room told us through Lena that they would take good care of her and to come back soon. They were very sweet. We hated to leave but know that she is safe and being well taken care of. Come on court date!!

After we left the orphanage we had an appointment with a social worker who asked us some questions about our family and our plans for including Valerie. Lunch today was a hotdog from a vendor on the street. Not quite the same as an American hot dog. Tonight we are going to dinner at Scalini's to celebrate with Catherine and Kathy. Catherine met 2 beautiful children this week as well. Kathy adopted from Khabarovsk in 2006 and just came along for the ride on this trip with Catherine. These 2 have become special friends over the course of this week. Having been here before, they have been awesome tour guides! They have shown us so much and made our trip really fun. Tonight we will pack up. Nicolai, our driver will pick us up to go to the airport tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 and our flight back to Seoul leaves at 5:00 pm. We'll post again from there.

Thursday - Visit #4 at the Orphanage

2008-03-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

Each day gets better and better with Valerie! We waited until about 15 after 11:00 and when they did not bring her to us, Irina told us we could go to her groupa room to get her. They were still dressing her when we came in. They get her all fixed up for us each day in velvety little dresses. Today was a red velvet with a white collar with little flowers on it. She looked beautiful. Of course, each day she is wearing several layers and yesterday she really seemed happy when we peeled them all off to try the clothes on her. It is quite warm in there but they keep her bundled up tight. She said Mama several times today. We also taught her how to blow kisses and she did a great job with that. It was so sweet. She smiles, laughs, and plays so freely. She makes good eye contact and likes to be held and loved. The only problem with today's visit was that it ended too soon! Leaving her tomorrow won't be easy. I can't wait until we get her home.

I guess we've brought a little west TX weather to Russia. Irina told us that today was the warmest March 6 ever recorded in Khabarovsk. The high was about 37 degrees. Almost all the snow around town has melted. We had another nice afternoon today. We went to a 5 story shopping mall with a big grocery store inside. We had ice cream at a Baskin Robbins. The sign was in Russian but had the 31 on it! We bought a few snacks for our room. We walked through a neat park that had trees carved into all kinds of animals and people. Kinda like the bears in Ruidoso but more detail. Now we're in the room relaxing. I'm going to the chiropractor when I get home!!

Cultural Experiences

2008-03-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

Despite being homesick and really missing Blaine, we are having a great time and learning so much about Khabarovsk. We have had beautiful weather. Today was actually above freezing. It is very unusual for this time of year. The ice sculptures around town are melting! We've been able to get out and do a lot of walking and see lots of sights. Sunday afternoon we walked to the Amur River. We went down to the beach and actually out onto the frozen river. There was a fishermen's village set up out in the middle of the river for ice fishing. Now there's something you don't see in west Texas. We visited a children's park with a playground and little carnival type rides. Kids could even pay to ride a real reindeer!! I have pictures for you, Blaine. You told us there were reindeer in Russia!

We have visited several shops and have purchased souvenirs such as a music box, some matroyshkas, children's books, Christmas ornaments. My favorite thing was a traditional Russian dress for Valerie. It is blue and will be beautiful with her big blue eyes! We walked through Lenin Square and saw the huge courthouse where we will go to court to complete the adoption. We visited the Blue Church with beautiful blue and gold domes. The inside was so golden and ornate with high ceilings painted blue with silver stars. Lots of beautiful murals were painted on the walls and many people came in and lit candles while we were there. The Blue Church is a Russian Orthodox church. The visitors cross themselves opposite of the Catholic church. We flew over the Gold Church on the way in and have seen it from afar but haven't visited it yet. It's so pretty.

Jeremy, no we have heard about the squatty potties (holes in the ground) but we try to just go at the hotel and the orphanage and they are similar to ours except for you pull a knob on top to flush them! Donna, I have yet to see a Sonic! However I just walk a few blocks to the market and can get a Coke Light out of the cooler there. We haven't been gone that long and have really eaten some pretty good food but a burger or a burrito is starting to sound pretty good. We have eaten in our hotel restaurant, twice at a really good pizza place, a fancy meal at The Rooski, and also at the Intourist Hotel. They brought us shots of Vodka before our meal at the Rooski with a toothpick with a slice of pickle, a pepper, a little chunk of bread and a little chunk of lard! Each thing is supposed to represent something but I can't remember exactly what. I could handle it all except the lard, which went from my mouth discreetly into my napkin! Eeeww!

Khabarovsk is a huge city of 700,000 with busy streets and lots of people walking. We walk almost everywhere but did take a cab once after dark. The women are very stylish and almost every one of them has at least 3 inch heels on their boots even in the ice and snow. I have to say I feel a bit frumpy around all of them! Khabarovsk is quite an interesting mix of modern and old, rich and poor. It is all very different from anything we've experienced before and we've really enjoyed it!

Wednesday - Visit #3 at the Orphanage

2008-03-05T00:21:00.000-08:00

We signed papers today saying that we agree to adopt Valerie!!! Irina came in and asked us if we had made a decision. It definitely wasn't a hard one. We had made up our minds about 2 minutes into the first visit. She is a precious child and we will be so proud to be her parents. Today's visit was really fun. We took fewer pictures and video today and just really enjoyed playing with her. She still loves that cell phone! She made lots of silly noises today. We were looking at our little family photo album with her and naming all the people. I pointed to my picture and said mama and she said mama just as plain as could be. This of course was the highlight of my day! We got her to say it a couple more times but of course would not say it for the video camera! We were in that same tiny little closet of a room today. It is ok but we don't get to see her crawl or help her walk around much because there's simply no room. If we are in the same place tomorrow we plan on taking her out in the hall so we can see her move around a little more. She can crawl really fast and cruise around on the furniture but isn't walking alone yet. She did stand alone today for a little while so I'm sure she'll be walking when we come back for trip 2. I hate to miss her first steps but we'll have lots of other firsts. We tried some 12 month size clothes on her today and they were tight so we'll try 18 month ones on tomorrow. I was so glad that she is larger than we thought based on her referral measurements. Those were just the last measurements on her chart when she was referred to us. We got a special treat today from the social worker. She gave us a picture of Valerie that was taken when she was 8 months old. How wonderful to have a baby picture!! We're leaving a disposable camera and hopefully they'll take some pictures for us between trips. It was another great visit!

Tuesday - Visit #2 at the Orphanage

2008-03-04T02:50:00.000-08:00

We had another great time with Valerie today! We got to the orphanage about 10:30 and were told that she was still having her morning nap so we waited until a little after 11:00. They brought her to us and has us go to a tiny little room with a couch and no toys for our visit today. It was definitely not as fun a place as the big room yesterday but it didn't really matter. We had brought toys with us. Valerie really came out of her shell today! She initiated a game of peek a boo by putting her hands over her eyes and then throwing her arms up in the air! She laughed and babbled more today and was so cute. She still loves the bear but the favorite toy today was the little cell phone that rings and plays music. We would push a button and pretend to answer and she immediately did the same and would say d d d when she put it to her ear. Then she would put it to our ears. We went back and forth with this for a long while and she really got a kick out of it. When the music played she would sway back and forth and laugh and clap. Again today she never got upset or cried even once. She is so calm and such a happy girl. Our visit ended way to quickly because we had to see 4 more doctors today for the required in-country medicals for Todd and I. Irina came to get her and I asked if we could see her room. She said yes but not for long because we needed to get on the road. We saw her room for just a minute but I had time to snap a few pictures of her room and of Valerie with one of her caretakers. I hated to put her down and as I did she reached out to us which made us feel good. I think she is really loving the individual attention instead of just being one of many. Friday is going to be hard to leave! She is in a clean nice place and obviously being well cared for but I just can't wait until she can experience a real forever family! Blaine, when we showed Valerie a picture of you today she said "ooooo" and patted your picture. You two are going to love each other. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and sweet comments on the blog. Todd and I were talking last night and realized that Valerie was born about 2 weeks after my miscarriage in 2006. We know God has always had a plan for us even if we were impatient at times!!!

We met our little girl!

2008-03-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

Todd and I woke up very early this morning with much anticipation and excitement for our first meeting with our little girl. We met Lena, our translator, in the hotel lobby this morning at 10:00. Then we picked up Irina, our coordinator, and headed to the orphanage. Talk about butterflies. We first met with the orphanage doctor who filled us in on Valerie's health over the last 18 months. We got to ask many questions and she was very patient and helpful. Then we waited just a little while and watched Catherine as she met one of her little ones. Then before we knew it, the door opened and in walked Valerie in one of the caretakers arms. She looked a little unsure of what was going on. I snapped a quick picture. I have dreamed about this moment for over a year now and our first meeting exceeded all expectations. The caretaker walked over to where we were sitting and put Valerie down beside me. She reached up with both arms and I picked her up and snuggled her to me!!! It was incredible!!! After I sat there and held her a little while we went over to the rug and sat down and played and she got right up in Todd's lap. She wasn't afraid of either of us and loved to be held. We played with lots of the toys we brought. She looked scared and threw the bear down when we first handed it to her but when we made a game out of tossing it back and forth she loved it - Thanks, Gin! One of my favorite parts of the whole visit was when we went to this blue mat right in front of a mirror. She had a ball playing with herself in front of that mirror. She would kiss and pattycake. She can imitate everything we do. She was very quiet the whole time but towards the end of our visit began to laugh out loud, blow her lips, and make cute little noises. Her little personality began to come out and we think she is precious. She loved to sit in your lap and throw her body backwards and lood around the room upside down. We have some great pictures and video and can't wait to show her off! At the end of our visit she seemed to be getting a little sleepy and I just stood there and held her. She laid her little head down on my shoulder and totally relaxed. It felt wonderful! She really seemed to enjoy Todd today and went back and forth between us often. We could not have asked for a better 1st visit and just can't wait to see her again tomorrow.
Blaine, I miss you like crazy. You are the best son ever and are going to be the best big brother in the world!! You're gonna love Valerie!
Thank you all so much for your prayers. This has been quite a process but today we definitely feel it is all worthwhile. God has truly blessed us in so many ways! We can't complete her adoption for several more months so please continue praying. We love you all!

Kelli, I haven't even been paying attention to the post times! I'm borrowing Catherine's computer and it's on Pacific Time! They just got WiFi here and I'm sick that I didn't bring my own computer as I thought I wouldn't be able to get internet. Anyway, it's `3:59 pm here on Monday, March 3. We went to 2 doctors today for the medicals for Todd and I after our visit with Valerie.

We meet her tomorrow!!

2008-03-01T19:16:00.001-08:00

We are in Khabarovsk, Russia. Today is Sunday, March 2. It is election day here. Russia is electing a new president. We arrived yesterday afternoon and were met at the airport by Lena. The money exchange place at the airport was closed as were all the banks when we got here. Luckily we could eat in the hotel restaurant last night and charge it to our room. We had pelmeni (little meat ravioli type things). Mine was plain and Todd's was in broth. It was ok. I almost said nothing to write home about but I guess that's what I'm doing! We slept really well last night. The hotel is nice. It is so hot inside that we had to open our window to cool off! This morning we walked down the street with Catherine and Kathy to a bank and got our rubles. We got many stares as noone in there spoke any English. Then we walked to this market. That was a really cool experience for me. Part of it is outdoors and a little like a flea market with all kinds of things for sale. Indoors was the food. There is a produce section, meat section, bread, etc.... You pay for each thing at the booth you buy it from. After much pointing, grunting, and exchanging of money, we left with bread, cheese, salami, grapes, apples, and juice. Kathy showed us these little fried pie type things that had potatoes inside. They were awesome! We ate them on the way back to the Amethyst (our hotel). The weather is really beautiful today. It was cold but not at all unbearable and we enjoyed walking around town a bit. We may go out again later today.

Tomorrow is the big day! We will be picked up at the hotel at 10:00 and get to visit the orphanage until 1:00. I can't tell you all the emotions I am feeling. I just can't wait to meet her and can't believe that in less than 24 hours we will! We were told that the kids are being quarantined at the orphanage due to chicken pox and the flu. I hope that she is well for our visit (and always). We have a bag of toys and snacks to take to entertain her and a list of questions we are wanting to ask the orphanage director and doctor. Please pray that our first meeting goes well.

We meet her tomorrow!!

2008-03-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

We are new people this morning!!

2008-02-29T15:51:00.000-08:00

We are still in Seoul but are new people after a hot shower (You're right, Elle!) and a great night's sleep. When I laid down I thought this bed sure is hard and it was the last thought I had for about 9 hours! We are feeling great and ready to get to Khabarovsk and to that sweet little girl!!
We are about to meet Catherine and Kathy for breakfast. It was so nice to just follow them around yesterday since they already know what to do! This is a huge and very nice airport. They had a cultural experience place but we couldn't get Todd to make any Korean crafts!

We are in Seoul, Korea!

2008-02-29T05:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! We've been up 25 hours. This has been one long day! We got up at 4:00 this morning and now it's 5:00 am Central time. We are in the transit hotel here at Incheon airport and about to go get in a tiny little bed but it will feel wonderful!! We flew right over Khabarovsk today. It felt funny to pass it up and then fly back to it tomorrow! Tomorrow it will just be a short flight there. We are so close!! We are excited but tired. Those seats are not made for people who are 6'4"! I was uncomfortable but Todd really was!! We'll post more from Khab. tomorrow. Thank you so much for all the prayers and sweet words of encouragement! Love ya'll!

On Our Way!

2008-02-27T21:28:00.000-08:00

We're in Dallas!! We've completed the first leg of our trip. It was definitely the shortest leg of our trip. Gin and Mike picked us up at the airport and we went out for a nice late dinner. I am so excited that we are finally on our way to meet our baby girl! Saying goodbye to Blaine was very hard and I can't say that I didn't cry. I tried so hard but couldn't help it. He was so sweet and was a big boy! I am going to miss him so much but I know he is in good hands.
We have a very early morning tomorrow. We are going to head to the airport at 5:00 am. I am already looking forward to sleeping on the plane. I'll try to post more when we land in Seoul.
I'm wiped out. Good night!!

Last Minute Details and a Fire

2008-02-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we leave tomorrow! We fly to Dallas tomorrow night and then on to LA early Thursday morning. Then La to Seoul, then Seoul to Khabarovsk (prounounced Ha bar usk) on Saturday. We kinda lose Friday on the way over there but we'll get a day back on the way home. I am so excited!! In about 5 more days we'll have met our little girl!

Our apostilled documents arrived from Austin yesterday. I made copies and then sent them off to Alaska to our agency. It feels so good to be done with all that paperwork. I think there are a few more forms to sign after our trip but no more gathering documents. Yay!!!

Yesterday started off great. Donna and I went to Odessa and I picked up some last minute things for the trip. She bought me lunch for my birthday and we had a good time and got a lot done. Thanks, Donna! When I got home I went to the alltell store to see if our cell phones will work in Russia. I called Todd at the bank to let him know that they won't work and his secretary told me he had left because there was a fire on the ranch. I headed south to look for him and it was a BIG fire. Needless to say, no packing was going on last night. He and his dad fought the fire until late in the evening and got home about 9:00 filthy and exhausted. With the high winds and dry conditions it took forever to get it under control. We are so thankful for our volunteer fire department and all the others who just came out to help! We need some rain in a big way.
I was hoping to get mostly packed last night and just have some good relaxing family time tonight before we leave tomorrow. So.....I guess I'd better get off this computer and get a move on!

2 Down, 1 To Go

2008-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

Yeah!! Our passports with Russian visas and our plane tickets arrived today - It feels so good to have them in hand! Now all we need is our documents from Austin. When I called the Sec. of State's office yesterday, I talked to a girl who said she had just apostilled them that morning and sent them off in the overnight envelope I provided. I tracked the package today on the UPS website and it isn't even in their system yet. Hmmm. This isn't something we have to have before our trip but it must be submitted in order to receive a court date. I really want to have it to our agency before we travel. Todd says, "Quit Worrying!"

I was able to get quite a few things marked off my to do list today. I promised Blaine I'd watch Man vs. Wild with him at 8:00 tonight. I wonder what that guy will eat tonight. I plan on being in bed by 9:00. I am wiped out.

5 more days!

Blaine Loves to Snorkel!

2008-02-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

This boy loves his baths! He can stay in until the water is cold and his fingers look like prunes. Mamaw gave him a snorkel and goggles and he has a ball "diving" for toys in the tub. He has a purple octopus that often attacks things which he has to dive under and rescue!

I am going to miss Blaine terribly while we're in Russia. It's a funny feeling not being able to wait to meet one child and dreading leaving the other one. 11 days is a very long time. I have bought 11 little gifts like books, candy, floam, computer games, etc. He can open one each day we are gone. He will be able to count the gifts that are remaining and know how many more days until we are home. I hope this will be fun for him and remind him how much we love him. I hope this trip won't be too hard on him. It's sure going to be hard on me! Of course, knowing the two sets of grandparents he'll be staying with, he may not be in any hurry for us to come home. Mamaw & Papa and Grama & Pa, don't make him too rotten! Seriously, I can't tell you how thankful we are for each of you. We are truly blessed with our family.

Some of you have called or emailed and said you don't know how to leave a comment because you don't have a blogger or google account. Click on comments at the bottom of the post, write a comment, then just select anonymous and publish your comment. You can still sign your name to your comment so I'll know who you are!

1 Down, 2 To Go

2008-02-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I mentioned 3 important things I was hoping to receive in the mail. 1 of those came today, 2 did not. We did receive our packet of info. from Dr. Skurkovich, our international adoption doctor. It was very informative and came complete with growth charts and a measuring tape. Very useful! We are still waiting on our passports, visas, and plane tickets which were sent Priority Mail on Monday. The tracking results say they were sent from Seattle and nothing more. I keep reminding myself that next Wednesday is still 6 days away (all the while that strange feeling in the pit of my stomach intensifies)! I called the office of the Secretary of State today about my apostilled documents for our court dossier and they were still there. I can be patient just as long as I know they're not lost out there somewhere.

I piled up all the things we have gathered for a donation to the orphanage into a huge pile today. Then I loaded them up into a Space Bag and vacuumed out all the air. I so wish I had taken before and after pictures. It was amazing, just like the commercial! I'm very impressed. I have been reminded that although it takes up much less room, there are still weight limits on baggage.

We were given 5 pictures of the little girl we are going to meet. I blew them up into 8x10's and have spent hours staring at them. She looks so sweet and I can't wait to hold her. Everyone says not to fall in love with your referral and to remember that she's not yours until after court. Too late! Someone will have to tell me how to hold back that part of my heart because I don't seem to have any control over it. That feeling in my stomach is rising into my chest!!
6 more days!

Disappointment at the Post Office

2008-02-20T21:02:00.000-08:00

We were told by our travel agent to expect our Russian visas in the mail today. They weren't there. I was also hoping to receive an important information packet from our IA doctor that we need before we leave next week. It wasn't there either. I also hoped the nice UPS man would bring our very very important apostilled documents from Austin today. He didn't. Ugh!
When you mail off your passports with your visa applications or send off all the documents that you have spent forever obtaining, it gives you a kinda sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you place them in the drop box. When they don't come back on the day you expect them, that feeling gets much worse! I'm trying not to stress too much until tomorrow.
On the bright side, I did get my new boots from Land's End. They are fur lined, toasty warm, and feel really good even if they are quite ugly!

Todd has been so incredibly busy at work that I don't think he's been able to give much thought to this trip lately. He joked tonight that I'll be pulling him away from his desk to go to the airport and he'll be saying, "Wait, I've got to write up one more loan!" Another quote from Todd: "I'm going to have to quit sleeping in until 5:30 every morning if I'm going to get everything done." Crazy!! So much for "banker's hours"! I know that travel and jet lag can be rough but I'm hoping this trip goes smoothly and he can "sleep in" a little later than that each day!

One week from tonight we fly to Dallas. One week from tomorrow, we'll be on our way to Seoul!
(If those darn visas show up!!)

Just 10 More Days!!

2008-02-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

The fact that our trip to Russia is coming up soon really hit home today in the grocery store. I picked up a gallon of milk and looked at the expiration date. It said Feb. 29. and I realized we will be in Russia when this milk expires!! Silly I know, but it just still seemed like a long way off until that moment.

I got to shop for orphanage donations this week and I really enjoyed that. It was fun getting to buy all sizes of clothes and wondering just what size my little girl will be in. I'll have to try some on her while we're there and then guess what I think she'll be wearing in about 3 months when we get to go back and get her. I can't wait to get my hands on her!

I've been thinking alot about how our first meeting will go. I've read so many other blogs and lots of posts about trip 1 on FRUA and everybody has a different story. Some people report that it was love at first sight with the child running into their arms while others say their baby screamed and cried and didn't want to have anything to do with them. Also, many of the children have never seen men before except for maybe a doctor so Todd may seem very scary to her at first. Of course I'm hoping for lots of hugs and interaction so I'm hoping for a good first experience but am also preparing myself for anything! The fact that they have stranger anxiety and don't want to leave their familiar caregiver is a good sign that they know how to bond so that will be a comfort if our little V doesn't take to us immediately. We are going to be armed with bubbles, toys, and some snacks so maybe that will help too!

Some of you have asked us if this is for sure the one we will be getting. The purpose of the 1st trip is to meet the child that has been referred to you and make a decision whether to decline or accept the referral. We feel very good about this child from the limited information we have been given about her as well as a few recent pictures. Did I mention that she is beautiful?! We have been praying for a long time that our first referral would be the child that is meant to be in our family. However, we have also prayed that God would give us the wisdom to know if she is not the one. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to decline a referral but I have visited with people who have and they have ended up with a perfect fit for their family in the end. Another thing we must keep in the back of our minds is that she is not ours until we go to court. It is a very rare thing, but families have lost the child they intended to adopt when a Russian family stepped in and chose to adopt them. This happened more during the long waits for reaccreditation but it is a slim possibility. All this being said, we are feeling very positive about this little girl and are so thrilled to go meet her. When all is said and done, if God intends her to be ours, she will be!

Just 10 more days and we'll be on our way!

My Cutie!

2008-02-13T22:57:00.000-08:00

The main purpose of this post was to see if I could figure out how to add a photo on my blog. I'm not the most computer literate person in the world (understatement of the year)! I want to be able to post pictures of our trip to Russia so I thought I'd better start practicing now.

Isn't he the cutest boy in the whole wide world?! This was Blaine on the first day of Kindergarten.