Another Weekend in Tver

My dad is a silly tourist. This morning he video’d us walking up and down stairs to get to breakfast. He also took video of drive to orphanage. I will be happy to have that in the future but it was really funny while he was doing it.

Since it is the weekend we had a Morning visit only. I am getting anxious about leaving them for one week. I do not want them to miss me, or be upset because they are expecting to see me daily. But I am thankful that next time I see them will be the last time and I will never have to leave them again.

We are doing some good bonding- D gets jealous when I am holding M. She always wants me to pick her up if M is near me. They are going to be a handful. Also D always try's to take toys from M. This afternoon she pulled M’s hair and stole her toy. Once M saw D coming and she grabbed her toy with both hands and kind of braced down to try to hold onto the toy but D is just much stronger. M is so easy going she goes with the flow and just looks for another toy.

Unfortunately, we have No cheerios left. We had gone to the supermarket and completely forgot to buy them. So, I am hiding the diaper bag I always bring with me so Dasha doesn't think she can find any and then get disappointed. There was one really funny instance today where Dasha was just sitting and playing and then all of a sudden she looked up at us and gave us this adorable toothy smile with a wide grin and then went back to playing with her toy. It was hysterical. I would have loved to get that on film but it was just so spontaneous. Too cute!

This afternoon we walked around some more.

I am beginning to get a stomach ache. My body has just had enough of the Russian food!!!!

While waiting for our driver we stood outside the orphanage and got some fresh air. My mom put her handprints in the snow and wrote Mama Lin. I took a photo of it. It was nice to play in the snow a little bit.

Back at the hotel we saw a Bride and Groom. She was a beautiful bride with a big white gown and a white fur stole. They are in room right next to ours. The hotel put a double heart wreath on their door.

Since my stomach is not feeling great we went to 24 Yaca at the Hotel Volga for lunch so I can have some plain white rice. There was a fight outside yaca during lunch and some guy had a really bloody nose.

We walked around to the other baby stores. Nothing exciting. My dad bought lots more souviners.

We had a relaxing evening in room, lots of skype with family because I sent a ton of videos and photos to everyone.

Friday with my Parents

We had 2 great visits today. The girls are doing so well and expanding and developing more and more every day. It is amazing to see them changing right before our eyes. We have been spending so much time with them and giving them so much love and attention and I can tell it is really helping. I am so happy to have the opportunity to wait out most of the 10 days here with them. Masha is coming out of her shell. She is smiling, babbling, and so much more interactive. She is crawling so much more and reaching for different toys. It is great to see. D also has been enjoying the added attention. She is walking so well and has done it herself on a number of occasions for a handful of steps. Such fun. My dad takes tons of photos and has taken over 1 hour of video already. We finished off the cheerios today too. We'll have to buy more for tomorrow.

I had wanted to take my parents to Fortuna for lunch this afternoon but they seem to have had a blackout. Instead we bought lunch at the supermarket- good cold cuts, bread and chips and ate in room. We also found a children's toy store in mall.We purchased a Russian music toy because we only have one good music toy right now and there is a daily fight over it. Masha loves it but if she has it in her hands and Dasha sees it she grabs it right away.

When we arrived for our Afternoon visit they had put Masha in a silly white bonnet. I guess they washed her hair and it was still wet when they brought her to us. She also had some red type medicine on under her nose since she had a cold. It looked silly. And so all the photos from today she has this stuff on her.

We got back to the hotel after our afternoon visit with the girls and arrived to find a blackout in our hotel. No one knew when the electricity would come back. So we trekked up the 4 flights of stairs to our dark room to put our stuff down. My parent’s wiped out their personal sized flashlights (who new they had a survival kit with them) and we lit our way back down the stairs to figure out what we were going to do. W certainly can’t eat at the hotel dining room in a black out. So, we ventured out to the center of town and decided that none of us were especially hungry. So what do you do in a blackout in a frozen snowy place-We decided to have dinner at Baskin Robbins. Two scoops for each of us and a relaxing visit at the Russian Ice cream store. Not sure you can read the sign or the cups but they say Baskin Robbins in Russian.

It was nice to walk around in evening. Lots of people walking around in pedestrian area. I have to say that I always heard that Tver was a very poor town. Looking around tonight we saw so many good looking well dressed people, in beautiful fur jackets and coats, holding designer bags. All the young girls in high black stiletto heels. I do not know how they do not break their necks walking on the ice. Also, no one shovels or clears the snow and ice from the sidewalks. It just freezes, melts, refereezes etc all winter long. In some spots in must but 12 inches higher than the actual sidewalk with all of the ice built up. I have seen some trucks with men shoveling out dirt onto the sidewalks. Not that it helps.

My mom decided that all this walking and braving the cold, ice, steps, language barrier, and craziness of Russia and the orphanage is the “Babushka and Deyadushka test”. If you pass the test and make it through your time in Russia you are ready to be grandparents. Also, it is so funny watching my dad buy all of these souveniers. He bought tons of nesting dolls, and Russian themed things. My mom says it is like the proud dad and granddad giving out cigars after the birth of a grandchild. He is going to go home and say “yay- its twins, have a nesting doll.”

Beautiful Day

Today was an absolutely beautiful and sunny day. So nice to see the sun. When Mike was here it was gray and there was a small snow storm every day.

We had morning and afternoon visits today and had so much fun with the girls.

Today during our visit one of the caregivers took M and swung her all over the place, and threw her up in the air. She did not like it one bit but it reminded us that M is not as small and fragile as we think. Since that time we have swung her around and she does seem to like it.

M has a cold and a runny nose. I think I have caught it. I am sure not the last time that the kids will get me sick, but it is the first.

D knows there are cheerios in my bag so any time she sees it she goes crazy trying to get into it. She will take everything out of it until she finds the cup. She loves them and is so sad when they are ‘all gone’. I cannot wait to be able to feed them myself. Right now we are really not supposed to be giving them anything so it is like contraband that we have to hide when the caregivers come through. I look forward to be able to feed them. Right now the caregiver sits behind M and shovels food into her mouth. She really needs to eat more slowly as she has a tiny mouth. I bet that is why she is so small and why they say she has a ‘digestive problem’ because they do not give her any time to eat and swallow.

They both love to look in the mirror and point. There is a mirror on the wall in the room that we are using to visit with the girls everyday. We have had such fun showing them their reflections.

We enjoyed a few minutes outside of the orphanage after our visit in the sun before our driver showed up to pick us up. The sun felt good, you do not see it that often here. I took photos of Russian kitties outside of orphanage this afternoon. There seems to be about 4 stray cats that hang out outside the orphanage.The picture of my parents in their Russian hats enjoying the sun is great so I added it here too.

During lunch we walked around town and I gave them the official Tver town tour, which take all of ½ hour. I showed them the statue of St. Michael, Lenin, the Volga river and the pedestrian street. We had lunch at a small café because we did not want anything too big. So, we had hotdogs and soda.

The day was exhuasting and we had dinner at hotel tonight.

We really tire out my dad. With all the walking around town, over icy and crazy streets, up and down 3-4 flights of stairs and being busy chasing the girls all day my dad is wiped out. I have lots of funny pictures of him napping any time he sits down.

Yay- My parents are here.

Yay! Our 10 day wait has begun and My parents have arrived.

I had a nice breakfast with the Florida couple and their son before they left for Moscow for the final leg of their trip.

My parents got in around 10 and we quickly got them settled and I got to show them all the photos and videos of the girls. We had plenty of time before the afternoon visit with the girls so we set about to explore town and show them around. My dad was set on getting a real Russian hat so he asked the front desk where to find one. They sent us to a really nice hat shop literally right around the corner from our old hotel. We tried on a ton of hats and all three of us ended up getting one. Of course my dad’s was the cheapest… Now he looks like a real Russian. Especially with the mustache and hat on, he fits right in. My mom got a beautiful full fur one with cute ear flaps and pom pom bottoms. I got a cool trendy one with a big fur top. I love it. It is so warm and fun. I cant wait to wear it a lot. We all took the tags off and wore them right out of the store. Here are photos of us:


Since we were over by hotel Volga I took them to the Volga souvenir shop as I think it is the cheapest in town and also has a great selection. They bought dozens of small nesting dolls as gifts for friends and co-workers. Also a couple of the little wooden mirrors that are a specialty of Tver. We headed to the money changer in the hotel lobby and I was thrilled to have them experience 24 yaca for lunch so they can see what we ate for a week. It was a fun afternoon. We stopped in one or 2 more stores on our way back to the hotel. Rested and played on the computers before heading to the orphanage.

It was SO exciting to introduce my parents to their new granddaughters to see them interact with the girls. It was so much fun and really nice. My dad got some great photos and I took a couple of them with their new granddaughters. They got to experience the baby home, see their groupa and even meet the director and doctor. The doctor commented on how much me and my mom look alike. They were all really sweet.

Dinner and sleep.

ALL ALONE!

Today I am ALONE with the girls.

Mike left this morning for an afternoon flight home. I headed to the orphanage by myself. For my first and only visit with them alone (my parents come tomorrow). Wow, it was exhausting and certainly gave me a taste of what life is going to be like.

Masha only wants to be held and held in a certain way or she fusses and cries. Dasha does not want to stop moving for a second. So, by the end of the visit I was soaking with sweat. Sweat running down my back, my hair was an absolute mess; my tee shirt was wet with sweat, snot and drool. It was a mess. But a fun mess and I did it!

Running after D and trying to contain her and pick her up while holding M is going to have to become an art form that I will master. Thankfully every time a worker or caregiver came through the room it looked like I had somewhat of control over the situation. Most of the times I was holding both and either standing and bouncing with them or sitting and rocking them. Sometimes I was holding M with one arm walking D around the room. I was so happy that the moments where D was putting the disgusting metal doorstop in her mouth or rolling on the ground, or the time M was screaming her head off because I put her down for a second to make sure D did not tip over an entire table full of potted plants were not seen by the staff. Of course once I brought the girls back to their group and everyone saw my frazzled expression and soaked clothing I am sure they knew how the visit went. It was a blast.

I came back and ate lunch at the hotel. Then I went walking searching for the baby store that I remember passing in the car around the other hotel. It wasn’t difficult to find them. There are 4 baby stores 2 blocks away from Hotel Volga. I bought pacifiers for the girls in hopes that M will use one instead of chewing on her tongue and cheeks as she does now. I am looking for cute Russian kids clothes. Something with Russian writing or words on it. Something special that I cannot find in the states but I haven’t been able to find anything. Everything is in English, like it is so cool her in Russia to have English on your clothes!

Back in the hotel I was pooped. I watched 2 DVD’s on my computer ate bread and peanut butter with fruit for dinner in my room and relaxed. It was really nice to be on my own for a little while and I was happy to have the time to recoup before my parents get here tomorrow. I cannot wait to show them around.

Today is the DAY!!!!

Today is the day.
Last night Mike and I went over outlines of everything we wanted to say, after going over our home study and financial documents. We went through all the questions we received thanks to families who already went through court with this judge.

We were picked up at 9:30 and headed with our coordinator and social worker to the courthouse. This time we were in the criminal court floor. It was a larger courtroom and had a jail cell off to the side with a long bench in it. We got settled and waited for our 10 am trial time. We were getting a little worried as out interpreter had not shown up yet by ten and the Judge was ready to come in. Thankfully she showed up 1 minute later and barely had time to take off her coat before the judge walked in. We stood as she walked in. She read the document stating our case and asked us to stand to read us our rights. Once again, we waived our right to remove anyone from the court room. Then she basically said ‘who will speak first?’ Michael stood and she began asking questions. He spoke for about 45 minutes. It was not hard at all. Questions were like: Do you have friends? What do you do in your job? Describe your wife? Who does the chores in the house?

The prosecutor grilled the other couple for 20 minutes about the recent Harrison case of a child dying in a hot car. They got lectured and asked about their thoughts. She didn’t even ask us about it.

I stood and answered all of 4 questions. Describe your husband? Do you have enough love for these girls? Will you have any help when you get home?

Then the Orphanage doctor and the social worker stood to give their testimony. They both stated the girls medicals, their birth family history and their thoughts about us in seeing us interact with the girls. It was so nice to hear that they thought we were so good interacting with the twins.

The judge left the court room for not even 2 minutes and came back to read her verdict. It was a wonderful moment even if it was a bit anticlimactic. I don’t even remember what she said. Basically “congratulations, you are parents” and that was it. Everyone shook our hands and we left. It was over in less than 2 hours.

We were going to go to Fortuna for a celebratory lunch but our coordinator and interpreter had paperwork to finish and it was snowing out so we just headed to the hotel restaurant because we were emotionally drained and just wanted to relax. We changed, relaxed, ate and then headed to tell the girls that we are officially their parents. It was a great visit. I haven’t been taking a lot of pictures lately because we have been so busy just spending time with the girls. I know once my parents come my dad will take tons.

We ate in the hotel for dinner again as we were just too tired to venture out in the dark and snow. We had dinner with the couple who picked up their son today from baby home 2 hours outside of Tver. He is adorable and well behaved. Such a cutie.

Here are some random pictures I have taken today. Just thought I'd share.

This is a Kitty in the window of

one of the old Russian homes near our hotel.

Weird picture of the monkey bath toy that Masha likes to play with, I had no idea that I took this picture, I think it was done accidentally

when she was pulling on the cord on the camera.

This is a weird little kiosk near our hotel. It sells all sorts of sausages and frankfurters. There are kiosks like this all over the city on street corners that sell snacks, sodas, cigarettes etc. But this one looks like it only sells hotdogs!

Lazy Weekend in Tver

We visited with the girls this morning. it went really well. Easy with our driver even through we have a language barrier. We were thrilled to be allowed to feed the girls today. They were a little fussy at the end of our visit and I think they were hungry so we brought them back to their room and the caregivers put them at the little tables and put little chairs next to them so we could feed them first. I was so excited. They had a big bowl of what looking like oatmeal with some pieces of pumpernickel bread mashed up and a mug (like a coffee cup) full of something that I think is tea with fruit juice mixed in. It looked gross and it had thinks floating in it. They use soup spoons and Dasha already had hers in her hand and was shoveling food into her mouth. The spoon was way too big and she couldn’t get most of it in her mouth. I helped her but she had a really tight grip on the spoon. Michael fed Masha and lets just say he was way too slow for the caregivers. Masha has a small mouth. Mike was enjoying it and letting her savor every bit. Usually there are 2 caregivers trying to feel 12 crying and starving kids so everyone gets food shoveled into their mouths as quickly as possible. After finishing the porridge the kids take the cup themselves, hold it themselves and drink everything in the cup. I was worried that they will spill it but then realized, they are in an orphanage, they know to get every last drop of that into their mouths because if not, they do not get any more.

This afternoon we walked around the town. We saw most of Tver, at least center city. We walked to the St. Michael’s statue; he is the patron saint of Tver. We also saw Lenin Square with a sculpture of Lenin, and walked along the Volga River. I bet it is so beautiful in the summer. When the weather is warm and the boats are running. But, it was basically frozen. I took lots of pictures of the architecture. Some of these old homes look like they are going to fall down. We visited some shops and a café for lunch. Of course no one speaks English so it is always fun pointing to random things at the café (deli) and biting in to them. Some have meat, some have veggies, and some have jam!! They all look basically the same.

I am on a Tver yahoo group and put out a post asking if any other families were in Tver. We ended up have dinner with a really nice couple who came back for their son after their 10 day wait. It was great to hangout with other Adoptive families and great fun talking about our journeys and comparing notes. Their son is in a baby home 2 hours outside of the city, so they drive 2 hours, visit for not even 2 hours, and drive back to the hotel for another 2 hours. I am so thankful that the girls are only 15 minutes away. It was a great night and helped mike and I relax before court. Otherwise, we’d be in the room stressing.

Looking forward to getting tomorrow over with...
Here are some Photos we took on our walk this afternoon.