So, we had our Exit Interview at 2 pm. We had to go through lots of airport-like security taking off coats and bags and going through metal detectors (not east with our hands full). Also,you have to understand that the girls usually nap from 1-3. So, they were exhausted, over stimulated and hungry! They were none too happy to be at the embassy when they should be asleep. We kept them calm with lots of cheerios and frequent walks to play with the water fountain. Once our names were called we went up to a window for our interview. We made sure all the spelling and information was correct and then received all the official documents; birth and adoption certificates, official medical records and vaccination reports, their Russian Passports and American Visas. We were also given a sealed manila envelope for each girl that were are not to open and bring with us to immigration when we get to JFK. The girls officially become American Citizens at JFK. SO, as soon as we left the Embassy we had to hand over all the official documents we were just given to the lady from the Russian consulate who will register the girls with the Russian Authorities. We get everything back at 6 pm on Wednesday and fly out on Thursday!!! Yay.
Enjoy todays few pictures.
First one is of Meredith. She is obsessed with hard rolls. She is teething on them and sucking on them all day long. This morning Meredith she had one in each hand and saw a third on the table and this is what happened.
We put the Russian hat on both girls to get photos today. Danielle thought it was a blast, she played pick-a-boo with it. Meredith did not like it at all as you can see from her expression. 
Back at the hotel the girls DID NOT want to nap after lunch. They cried and cried and I could not stand to leave them in the cribs for too long. They were sobbing. I know they are exhausted but this whole week has been so stressful for them that I think it is all catching up to them. They would not nap so we played and Mike put them in the stroller and rolled them around the hotel for about 45 minutes trying to get them to go down to no avail. We finally fed them dinner and they took their second baths. Still pretty traumatic but they survived. Neil and Lulu helped to dry them off and get them ready for bed. They salined their noses and we had some nice quiet time. They were asleep within 12 minutes of going in their cribs at 7:15. I still hate to hear them cry and rock but hopefully with time the rocking will stop. I cannot wait until we get home and start on a real routine. Our rocking chair is being delivered the day after we get home.
Room service for dinner and bed soon after.
So, the girls slept from 8:15 last night to 6:30 am with about 12 minutes of crying and rocking before passing out last night. We got them up at 6:30 as the Doctor was supposed to be here at 7:15 but he was running late because of crazy Moscow traffic. So we gave them breakfast first. He showed up at 7:45 ish.
Doctor Boris was a very nice Russian pediatrician. He was so good with them. He checked them both out and the physical took all of 5 minutes per girl. He has to be sure they have no communicable diseases before entering the US. He checked them out, listened to their hearts, looked in ears and mouth and measured head and chest circumference. He pronounced them both healthy. Though, they do both show some signs of rickets which is due to the Vitamin D dificency as they received no vitamins in the orphanage and had never been outside before we took them to get their photos taken. Also, Danielle has an umbilical hernia which should go away by itself with the growth of her and the strengthening of her abdominal muscles. Doctor Boris was so sweet with them both, speaking quietly to them both in Russian. They cried and were not too happy to have been poked and proded. He said they were both Drama queens and that they already knew how to manipulate mom and dad, which is totally true on both accounts. He told us to use saline every night for their little noses because they are stuffy mostly because of the teething. Using saline will also be helpful to them before we get on the plane. It is so dry here, the Russians keep all indoor spaces sooooooo hot. He also said not to over feed them and to give them a few smaller meals throughout the day instead of only 3 bigger ones. We have already been doing this because I was told be so many other adoptive parents that the newly adopted kids will gorge on all of the food you put in front of them until they get sick.
So Before Dr. Boris got here were were able to feed them a small breakfast and skype my parents. It was so great to see my parents and have them say hi to the girls. We put the computer on the floor so they could see them playing.It was adorable. Some how Danielle was able to press some sort of buttons on the computer and the entire screen turned upside down. I had to shut down the computer to fix it. Here is a photo of my mom on skype upsdie down:
A little later that morning we had breakfast down stairs in the hotel restaurant and entertained the girls with bread and cheerios while we ate. Mike actually got Meredith to hold a piece of hard bread and suck on it. She was mostly teething on it and not actually eating it but it was great to see her holding it herself and not depending on Mike to feed her every piece.
We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon playing with them and then we changed them and bundled up and headed outside for our first walk with them in the stroller. Doc Boris said that they would benefit from the sunlight so out we went. Lulu had to head to the Aeroflot office to pay for our ticket change and the addition of the twins. The Aeroflot office is not even a block away from the hotel so it was nice and convenient. We walked around the neighborhood for about 25 minutes. We are in a very ritzy part of Moscow close to Red Square. All of the fancy stores are here, it kinda felt like walking on Madison or Fifth Avenue. Not that I would buy anything here. We did a few laps around the hotel and inside the hotel lobby . Danielle fell asleep in the stroller in all her layers of clothing and snowsuit. We did not want to wake her. So we sat in the lobby area on our floor on the sofa’s and let her sleep while Mike walked around the halls with Meredith. Of course it is nap time and our room was in the process of being cleaned so we had to hang out elsewhere. It is nice to lounge for a while though.
We spent the afternoon walking around Red Square. The hotel is so close, only 3 blocks away but you have to go through an underground passage way to get to red square. Mike and Neil had to carry the double stroller with both girls in it down and up the stairs. We looked at all of the vendors and Louise bought Mike a Russian hat for all of ten dollars. It even has the naval medallion on it. We walked all the way through Red Square and got our pre-requisite photos in front of St. basil’s Cathedral. Louise wanted a picture in front of GUM (the very fancy department store in red square.) We would have gone in but Lulu’s knee was hurting and she did not want to walk too much and we did not want to keep the girls out for too long because it was cold and windy. Both girls fell asleep in the stroller, even though Meredith was crying for the first ½ of the ride.
Once back at the hotel we played and played and fed the girls dinner in the executive lounge on the 5th floor. We put them down for the night by 8:00 and they only cried and whined for about 10 minutes. I bet they were tierd as neither of them really napped much.
Neil and Mike enjoyed dinner at the Polo Club tonight and Louise and I just ordered room service in our room while the girls slept. I got to bed around 9:30 and Mike came in around 11 after a nightcap wit his parents.
Here are some photos from the day:
First thing this morning we headed to a big supermarket to buy our supplies for the girls and a donation to the orphanage. The director had asked for juice so Mike and Neil filled a huge shopping cart completely with apple juice. The total bill came to less than $100 but I couldn’t believe how many containers we got. (about 30 huge containers) The orphanage was very happy with the donation so we were thrilled to do it. We also bought pampers and a ton of food, juice and milk for the girls. We also got this baby tea that they drink.
Heading to the orphanage we brought all of our gifts to give to the workers, doctors, director etc and the clothing and snowsuits for the girls to leave in. As soon as we got in the group workers took the clothing to dress the girls, I think they wanted to say their good byes privately to them. Once they brought the girls down they looked adorable in the Janie and Jack outfits Lulu got for them and I was thrilled that they fit both of them. We were able to say our goodbyes to the caregivers and even got a picture taken with them. We had a really nice good bye visit with the doctor who spoke on our behalf at our trial. We also gave our gifts and got may wonderful hugs and well wishes from the rest of the staff. It was almost about 12:30 when we were finally able to get them into their new snowsuits and take them away. Neil took a picture of us in front of the orphanage for the last time! 
Here are photos of us taking them to the hotel with us. Bye Bye Teremok!!!!!!! Paka...
We got them back to the hotel right around when they would normally be napping. We really tried hard to get them to nap but they were definitely over stimulated from the entire event. I am sure it is completely traumatizing for them to be taken away from everything they have known their whole life. Even though we have been visiting them for a number of weeks in a row, we were only able to play with them twice a day and did not have to feed, bathe or get them to nap. So, once they got to the hotel with us and realize we were not giving them back to their caregivers it must have been a shock.
We were finally able to get Danielle to nap for about an hour. Meredith would have no part of it. She was completely awake. Neil and Lulu were gems. They ran to the resturarant and got us lunch while we tried to calm the girls. By about 4 pm we fed them lunch/snack of cheerios, jarred applesauce. Danielle even took some milk in a sippy cup. We played with them and tried to relax in the room until dinner. We didn’t get down to the restaurant until 6:30 ish. The girls were excellent and behaved so well. They both ate great. We ordered semolina and Meredith loved it and ate it up. It is amazing how much that little girl eats. I do not know where it goes right now but I am thrilled to see her eat and hope they she starts putting on weight ASAP, she is all skin and bones right now. Danielle drank some of the tea out of a cup and we all around had a good time with them. The staff loved them too, and it was fun showing them off.
We got back up to the room and though their normal bed time is around 7 pm we did not get them to go down until 9:15. They both cried and cried and fought it so much. It is completely heartbreaking to not know what to do to sooth them. They would be soothed when we picked them up but they would then not go to sleep and want to play. So we had to try to sooth them while they were in the cribs (pack and plays). Not an easy task to sooth an institutionalized child on the first night away from the institution. We had to let them cry a little bit and they did do some rocking/self soothing. But finally they both got down. A couple times throughout the early night I heard and saw Meredith rocking a lot for about 15 seconds and then collapse right back down to sleep. Danielle pooped around 5 am and It stunk but I was afraid to wake her to change her for fear of her not going back to sleep. So, not sure if it was a horrible decision or not but I left her stinky for anther 2 hours. She was sound asleep.
