This Date In History 6/19/07 - Our Adoption Story

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Our a.m. visit with Madeline went well despite the fact that we got ourselves into some trouble. Keep in mind that our translator has been in Moscow for the past few days but some things are an international language. When we got to the infants’ home we were directed outside to spend time with Madeline in their courtyard area. We have spent time with Madeline outside before but prefer our indoor visits because Madeline is so distracted when outside. We prefer inside visits because our daily visits are so short and we get more undivided attention from her inside. The first thing that happened is while we were spending time with Madeline other children were also being brought out to spend some time outside. One of the other toddler-aged girls came up to David. She was soooo cute. We both said hello to her and she gave us a big smile…and then started crying her head off. We were quickly moved to a different gazebo with Madeline. While at the gazebo we were told in a language barrier type “sign-language” that we could take Madeline for a walk on the grounds…..so we did. We walked around the outside perimeter of the building (still within the fenced in area). As we came around the last corner it was apparent that they were looking for us…..I think they thought we left the property. We got the big N’yet (NO!)….and we were quickly guided inside to our normal visiting room. In the normal visiting room, there was some time of medical screening going on for someone (employees, maybe??) People were getting their blood pressure taken and Madeline was running around with her tambourine. I guess that’s why they wanted us outside in the first place. They gave us some iced tea when they brought us to the room. They have never done this before so either they felt bad for yelling at us or they were trying to drug us. This was the *longest* hour visit we’ve had! They were the ones that directed us to take a walk…… I guess our visits will be inside from now on, but that’s okay!

We haven’t left the hotel since our visit. David has been doing some work via email and I have been trying to stay cool. The other day we bought some milk to enjoy with some cookies as a snack. David is a milk hound so we had to replenish our supply. The problem was that they didn’t have the same brand as our last purchase. We were back to deciphering Russian labels. We thought we did well until David tried to have some milk this after noon. David shook up the container really good and opened it. As it exploded all over the place he realized that either the milk we bought was carbonated or something crazy happens when the milk goes bad here. Needless to say, the “milk” went in the garbage. We are not having much luck in the grocery department. In order to avoid another “liver patty” incident we ordered a pizza for dinner. As we were brining it up from the lobby I said, “I smell dill”. Sure enough there was dill all over the top of our pizza. Russians put dill on everything – including pizza! I just don’t see the purpose for dill unless it’s in pickles. But as gross as it sounds, the pizza wasn’t that bad and we would actually order it again.

Many emailed us to tell us that they are praying for the other couples here that are going through the process and are interested in the outcomes of these families as well. The one family from St. Louis is going home empty handed. They are the ones that were trying to adopt an older child who told the court that he/she didn’t want to be adopted. Greg and Rebekah, from Lancaster, PA are still jumping through hoops. They had court today. The good news is that they have not been told, “No”. They have another court date on Tuesday. They have to try to get additional documentation that Rebekah is healthy enough to raise children. The problem is that the doctors here are not familiar enough with the disease that she had and the courts are discounting the information that is being forwarded from the States. Greg and Rebekah are doing amazinlyg well under the circumstances. We don’t know were they are getting their strength from! Tomorrow is theirs and our 9th wedding anniversary. We are most likely going out to dinner with them to focus on something more positive. Mike and Cheri from Des Moines had a successful court date today and are flying out tonight. This is their second adoption so they are going home to be with their 1st child during the 10 day wait. Also, a couple from Illinois and a couple from Dublin, Ireland received the referrals for their children today after two days of waiting (they traveled “blind” to Russia without a child identified for them). They get to meet their children tomorrow for the first time. Please continue to pray for these couples.

Our coordinator is flying in from Moscow with another couple this evening so hopefully there will be no more language problems at the infants’ home. Project for this evening…..read Chapter 2 in “Learn Russian” book that my sister, Margaret gave us!

Until tomorrow…
David and Amy