Hope's 1st Birthday

Proud grandma's...they make me proud too;)


Finally got to give my baby a cake & candle. Banana nut that auntie baked especially for Hopee. God Bless you my love xox.

Would you believe..

We arrive in JFK and miss our connecting flight to Ft. Lauderdale! We wern't too bummed though cause we were starving for some strange reason as was Hope. We decided to feed her something completely different and yummy, hence-rice & beans (where is my common sense?)Then we snapped some pics and were thankful that our tummy's were satisfied and that we were on American soil. Then we proceeded to look for flights to catch home..options-One flight left to Ft.Lauderdale, then two to West Palm, and one to Ft. Myers...all through this Hope is lugged around some more in my kangaroo pouch..pretty happy still..her lil head bobbling and peeking around;)

Well, we can't board ft. lauderdale cause its full. Hope then had a wretched stink come from her diapers..of course poor kid it was the beans! Fred looks at me and was like "your job" I'm thinking its no biggie, yet when we get to the ladies room and I strat to undress Hopee I see that its really bad..she's a mess everywhere! I have no experience with changing girls..and so I kinda panicked, like what do I do? I know girls can get infected if they are not cleaned right-so I stripped her down and stuck her lil butt under the sink! While all the ladies put their make up on, a lil butt was starin back at them in the mirror hehe..they all sighed though..and said she had buns to die for;)

Once Hope was all clean and we returned to daddy at the gate, we had already gotten bumped off of West palm Beach..and only had Ft.Myers as an option...ughhhh its 2 hours from Ft. lauderdale..which means we'll have to rent a carrrrrr...groaaaan....hope's just experiencing everything huh? So-we ended up boarding Ft.Myers since it was empty..nd we rented a car & carseat for Hope. She enjoyed the ride...Fred slept..I drove..I was very sleepy..but because I slept some with Hope (yep she slept more too)on the plane..I was better off driving than Fred who slept non on the plane.

Well, we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale by the Grace of God alone, at 2am March 6th. Where we were greeted by balloons, and gifts and a door banner with Hope's name...but everyone was sleeeeeping....though when we entered the grandma's awoke and hurridly came down the stairs to meet the new addition;)

We all went to bed like 3 hours later...our children were in our bed about 2 hours of sleep later..but it was great! Hope was awake too..and the kids hugged and kissed her and were very impressed by her beauty;) She was so delighted by all the attention. We were thrilled to have all of our children together at last...HomeSweetHome.


We really wanted to meet our family at the Ft.Lauderdale airport...and have that wonderful first family meeting after a long journey..but oh well..everyone's tale is different..oh well...ours is humorous..as usual!

Guys, please excuse my spelling errors..I am trying to hurry and get everything posted before Fred comes home...cause he'll complain that I'm not getting enough sleep.(good hubby).

Flight Home

Me wearing the same clothes for like the 3rd day in a row ewwiee?


Alot of the families were leaving Saturday because they thought their Embassy appointment was going to be Friday, so flights were booked. We on the other hand have the opportunity of playing with our flights because of Freddy's senority with continental, so we jumped on flying out Friday-a day that most families were not flying;)

Oh ya-did I end up telling you that we ran out of Motrin? Well, we did! Also, most Veteran PAP's felt horribly sorry for us for not packing Benadryl...guess they knew something we did not...most children freak on planes..especially, recently adopted ones!

We were driven to the airport by Vlad our driver at 9 AM to catch a flight of 12 pm. we said goodbye to Vlad for the last time...we really like Vlad! We call him Mr.Wonderful! He had translated most of our docs, and he was so informative the whole time..and sweet and just so sensitive to us and our daughter and our needs..some might say "well that's his job" but, nah...it was more..he just always gave more.

As we brought Hope out of the car and into the airport I felt so relieved. She was finally, truly mine to keep-forever. we're going to bring our girl home for real this time..she just seemed so happy and unaware of what was going on..as long as she had her bottle..lol..she was fine. It started to snow, and we took one last pic on Russia's snow-Russia's heart-Russia's Princess...our daughter.

We were soon enough called up to board the plane, I felt myself start to worry about Hope's behavior, but tried to keep it together. We were sitting next an older lady (Obviously russian by her Aristocratic appearance) she painfully smiled in our direction-I guess dreading that she was put next to us and Hopee. She looked over once more and said 'cute baby!' I said that thank you. She then said "did you adopt her here in Russia?" I said yes (ughh)..then she said something that just really upset my stomache! She said "did you hear about the scandal that is going around?" I said no? She of course continued.."oh yes, these Americans adopted children from Russia, and now one is dead and badly beaten!" I was soooooo annoyed, saddened..my cheeks felt flush, I didn't know what to believe, but she than showed me the article in the newspaper..and my heart dropped down into my stomache...now what? How is this going to affect future adoptions? Why does this happen? Siggghhhh...why am I sitting next to this lady? The flight attendant came and asked the lady if she wanted a free seat by the window, and she gladly got up and left..good! Hmph!

Well after that weird situation, it was soon take off and Hope had acyually fallen asleep...wow my little girl is a trooper;)

Of course some more time went by and Hope awoke. We fed her and changed her and she was content. Then 'Jovann' popped up! He came and sat near us, he played with Hope's cheeks (guess they looked like entertainment;) She giggled, and enjoyed his company very much! I got to speak to his mother Paige. We spoke quite a bit, it made the time go by so much faster. we spoke about such intense things like meeting our children, our journey to them, our reasons & motivations...the exhaustion and frustrations...our Russian diets (mine sausage and corn & bread)...hers macaroni & cheese...then there was an emergency on board (this is funny). They needed a doctor or nurse on board. No one responded, again they needed a medical person on board-Fred said I had to respond! I'm a Medical Assistant Technician/Nursing Student (though I have not been in school for over 3 years)! I slowly got up and was already expecting the worse...I had just seen this instructional CPR Video in Russia coincidently (only thing interesting in english) and so, my mind was immediately thinking...shoot..this is gonna be bad I'm gonna break ribs! well I get to the back of the plane, and the staff is all panicked 9I'm not supposed to be) so I have this calm face. they already seize me up and assume I'm about 19 lol. They ask are you Medical? I said ya I guess..I look at the lady in the bathroom who is propped on the toilet, with people around her (I think-no blood)then I move everyone out, I take a look at her, she don't look good. We may have to land -if this is as bad as she looks. I just start thinking to myself 'think Jeannie think'...I look into her eyes, pupils are dilated, she was very cold and sweaty and I am thinking this sux! I ask for a blood pressure cuff, cold/wet cloths and garbage bags. he pants were unbuttoned and she obviously was wearing these tight pantyhose (which I thought cannot be helping..they kinda were a distraction). I start to ask her questions but she only spoke Russian. Her daughter was there to translate. So I communicated throught the daughter. The mother was dizzy and sick to her stomache she said she could not breathe and needed a doctor. I said I was here to help. I took her pulse and blood prssure. all seemed fine, just a bit of a rapid heart beat for a lady her age (about 50-55). Again I looked into her eyes (I can see she was not really there) but that is when she started to vommit! Two bags later of vommit, non on me thankfully, she felt better, I asked for some pneumonia salts and opened one (I was now very dizzy) but she was obviously better..sheesh thank you GOD! I told her to remove her nylons and to drink water. she told me she had drank whisky/wine/beer and her daughter said she had taken medication also...I looked at her sternly and said 'NYET'..which is NO..no more alcohol..drink water! Everyone laughed and she was sent back to her seat. I checked on her every once in a while and she was absolutley fine! When I headed back to my seat another drunk lady was in my sight. Only this time she was like 28-30 years old and she was stalking my husband and daughter....hmmm I was not enthused. She had a full glass of wine in her hands and she kept saying 'Hope is soooo pretty' (she knew my daughter's name how annoying)! She had a heavy Russian accent, and she was obviously intoxicated because she wouldnt leave my sight and began dancing! Ha..today cannot be real! Finally the flight attendant told her to go back to her seat (and I added that she too should be cut off of the alcohol)..look at me all bossy;) The flight attendants were very appreciative of my help, and told us this always happens on this flight...yikes! Strangely enough...it was a confirmation that I had experienced enough of the culture and I just really wanted to go home!

The remainder of the flight, Hope slept some more! The girl was an Angel! God is too good.

Fred & I did not sleep a wink...but we did land in JFK where Hope became an American Citizen. We handed customs the menilla envelope and just breezed on by..HOOORAY!

Low and behold, we were accompanied by Paige & Jovann;)

Where I Last Left Off...

I was almost hesitant in opening up my blog and posting..cause you guys have all been so IMPATIENT! LOL! How awesome are you guys, really?

Okay, okay so where did I leave off? Alot has happend, haha..all good of course but the days have literally beaten me up. So-we had our immigration appointment on Thursday because the U.S. Embassy office was going to be closed on Friday. Our translator walked us to the Embassy (she seriously is amazing!) she handed us our invitation ticket and documents and sent us in on our own..ahhhh! We entered only to see about thirty other American families with their Russian children! WOW, what a sight! There was noise;) We took a seat with Hope and just shyly stared (hehe)..there was actually a lady there with a beautiful little girl 'Irina' believe it or not the woman looked at my daughter and said "Hope?" Freddy was confused and said "ya?" she said she follows our blog! HA! so that kind of made us all laugh..it felt good..guess we're all just observing eachother in this process huh? How amazing to be able to connect with one another and help eachother? anyway, I observed so many families, and heard most of their stories (of course we were all dying to share!) What impressed me most were the parents' walks of life...the single mothers who had travelled from Siberia, and taken train after train to reach their son/daughter..they were exhausted too..but oh so happy with thier baby. we all probably wanted to cry if we didn't laugh first LOL! I met parents who were adopting for the third or fourth time from Russia! People who were not only there for babies, but taking in eight year olds and twelve year olds..WOW...who are these people? GOD had brought them and us together from all walks of life..we were all here to bring our children home..the remaining peices of our hearts..about to be brought back to their rightful places...their rightful home in America...this was the finish line! Once we were called up the Immigration officer asked us to state our names and raise our right hands. We were asked to swear that all the mentioned information was true, which we did. Then we had to verify that Hope's information was all accurate; this was the second time that we were reminded this..and so I quickly scanned the computer..female-check...Birthday-check...and so on. Then as we went to sit back down, we waited some more and conversed some more with our new friends;) We exchanged emails and numbers and oooohhhed and awwwwhed over all the many little innocent faces who were destined for this moment. Gosh I wish I can post here every story that we heard, but I cannot..then again, I just cannot end this post without mentioning some..Hope and this other little Kazak beauty were the youngest and the plumpest;) Her and I just seemed to be dying to exchange words, because our daughters looked so similar and we just beamed with excitment about their health! Only her daughter 'Mayumi' had a very very sad beginning;( Mayumi was found in a subway station with a broken arm;( Gosh I had tears with this story..such a gorgeous little darling, anyway-don't mope too hard for this little gem, cause boy does she have an awesome mommy-they are obviously just meant for eachother;) The last story that I will tell, is about an eight year old boy who will be flying to JFK with us on the same flight. His name is 'Jovann' he is a gorgeous brunette little boy with the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, he was just hard to ignore. He was adopted from Petrosavarsk (sp?) and his momma was alone with him (his dad & sis wait at home)she was struggling a bit because of the language barrier, but boy could you tell that he was just enthused to be adopted and very smart! well, when I asked about his history (look at me Ms.Nosybody)she said that he was found wandering the streets at four;(( Sniff* sniff* his parents never even took notice that he was gone! Both alcoholics with drug addictions....how could this boy go un-noticed? Well I guess that is why there are happy endings in life too..

From there-we were informed about the next few steps which included: Holding onto an envelope of docs that were for the Customs officer at the first airport we land in (us JFK). Also, keeping up with our post-placement reports...which as we all know is very important so that future families can adopt from Russia. There you have it..

Prominading in RedSquare with our little Matrioshka

Today there was not much to do adoption related so we slept in with much needed rest. Hope had us up three times last night and it's day 2 with a fever & cough;( NOT GOOD! We're coping with Motrin and eating healthy..but this is hard. I am very tired, and I am starting to get emotional! I miss the boys and my life back home. Its hard to tend to Hope with limited things here..let alone the language barrier (if we need to buy something). Hope seems fine over all..even the doctor said so. I forgot to mention this (or did I?)..anyway, let me touch base one more time with the Doctor visit. He said hope looked great and that she had some rickets, but her medicals and vaccin records were fine and did not think she needed to be revaccinated (I kinda agree on this). I asked him if I could give her motrin for her pain, but he said he didn't believe in doing this..I have been doing it anyway, because I have never observed a child so uncomfortable during teething..the fever is not helping! Hope hates baths! She is such a wiggler! Sooooo, back to where I last was..we finally got strength to get up and eat and go for a walk on Arbat and Red Square with Hope. She loves to be on the move (she reminds me a lot of my eldest son Frederick) as well as her independance! The weather here could not be more perfect! Her cheeks were nice and rosy and she was warm in her snowsuit. though, I must say that I had originally wanted to take a stroller, Fred said no...boy do we regret this! Its perfect stroller weather...do take one! cause the carrier has given us both broken backs!!! She is not a big fan of being strapped and confined either.

We went inside GUM, took lots of pics of our little Princess and just talked over and over again about how Blessed we are to have her finally in our arms! To have these pics with Hope in them is just a Miracle in itself! WoW...we really are almost done!

Tomorrow is our Immigration interview..and then we will pack up and start our process on a flight home..dunno how that is gonna go..it won't be easy! As you know, us PAP'S are always trying to find the signs of the attachment disorder, or orphanage delays or habbits..and I can tell you that Hope has already sparked up and over come what we thought may be an issue. She is standing on her own, climbing, chewing, curious, saying 'MaMa' and 'No' how you like that? She cries when I leave the room and smiles when I enter...she really enjoys chewing, and her bottle, I stress this, because they were only feeding the children mashed/pureed food, and had weaned her from theh bottle which is sad cause when she start to sleep she makes this sucking sound that seems to soothe her;( anyway, I need to sleep when the baby does, cause you never know what time she is going to awake next..tata..zzzzzz

Day 2 with Hopee...

Well today we walked with Hope on Old Arbat Street, where we bought souvenirs and I spent just a little too much on a dress for Hopee..yikes! Guess I was all caught up in the emotions of this being the last trip and finally having a daughter..FRED'S GONNA KILL ME!

Anyway, today we have Hope's passport in hand..she looks so cute in her photo!

She is not hyper today, but she does cry everytime I put her down..hmmmmm? Though, she napped today and went to bed early. hope you like the pics, tomorrow we are going sight seeing..so more pics to come;)

ENJOY!

GOTCHA DAY W PICS!

I'm typing in the dark so bare with me.

Hey guys! This is not the incredible post I was planning on giving you..simply because...we've been busy with Hope! She is only now* fast asleep next to her daddy...sheesh she was an active lil bugger just showing off all day..God Bless her heart! To have Faith like a child..what an awesome thing!

Anyway here are the details without the pics;( I will post them a little later when I get them from the camera that I cannot find at the moment (you gotta see the mess of this apartment!)

We were picked up at 10AM to set off to pay for Hope's passport. Then from there we directly headed to the orphanage..our orphanage is actually located on a road in Russian called (young Childen's street..how ironic is that?). Disapointingly (if that's even a word)..we were told by our driver on the way to the BH that our daughter had been hospitalized for the entire time we had been gone! I cannot even begin to explain the fear and sadness in my body! Apparently here fever was very high and consistant..so they sent her to the hospital in an ambulance;( What made matters worse, was that our driver was 'preparing is' for what she may look like...pale, maybe thinner and still sick...he also, proceeded to tell us that the hospital was not a great place and that the care is very poor...here I am about to see our daughter on our long awaited moment and I get an earfull of horrible fear..where I was almost at the point of just bawling with my fears! I felt so awful again that we had left her!

Anyway, we finally get there...it's a beautiful day, and the ice is slushy and melting everywhere by the way. As we enter, they yell out at us that Hope is not ready (I'm not happy at this point) and again, we are directed to the adoption room (a room I almost dread)..its almost like the room of false hope or of fantasy dreams to me at this point. Turns out, Hope is getting a massage and getting fed?
So we wait, I take out the other donations we brought (bottles & pacifiers) and I prepare her snowsuit and 'gotcha outfit'...then out comes Hope! She looked wonderful! She had lost some weight but not much. She didn't look any paler than what she was...and she was smiling! She remembered us! They handed her to us, where I immediately showered her with all my kisses and hugs..she was alittle overwhelmed by that but happy. We were handed her 'baptismal dress' which I was very elated (because I planned on asking but of course was shy), and they handed us her vaccine records and check book? The government gives them money in their account;) Wow impressive! We started to get Hope undressed..where I spotted two awful vaccine marks on her right arm...she had received those at birth for TB and Heb..ouchie;( Again, she was fine and smiling with her little tummy hanging out;) Freddy asked if it would be possible to take pics of her crib and room of play...but they said no, and offered to snap pics themselves of the room, and we were delighted by that. (I wishe we could have seen for ourselves..but maybe its for the best). We then had Hopee ready to go, and asked if there was anything else we needed to do? They said just give some goodbyes, and that we did with the director & Doctor who were very happy for Hope. There was also a couple from Spain leaving with their little boy, we both had similar faces on display...wanting to cry because this was the final moment of truth, yet too happy and still kinda daysed..lol...all that hard work, all the papers and tears and frustrations..all the hope even...finally, Hope was finally right in my arms staring wide eyed at me! She was all snuggled up in her snowsuit that a dear friend & PAP gave to us for this very moment (in which, I would gladly like to pass on by the way to the next Angel). We took some more pics of the home, and looked back one more time..there was a caretaker in the window who kept staring and smiling and waving at Hope....she seemed genuinely happy and almost sad at the same time...it was nice and I became emotional too...I don't know if Hopee had any idea of what was going on, but I will forever remember this day and its accounts. We got into the car and drove away..Hopee belted in my lap (this gave me some anxiety without a carseat), but she was in very good spirits;) She was smiling and when I'd touch her she'd giggle and our driver said she is so obviously content! Freddy made her smile some more, and we filmed a bit and took more pics of this glorious, heavenly moment, with our little miracle daughter! We were let out of the car at our apartment, and we decided to go to the grocery store on foot with Hope. The day was beautiful, and everything is such a short walk away, why not? We took her to MCDONALD'S FIRST! What is wrong with us? we seriously..lol must be backwards..but anyway, I guess hunger just got in the way and it was right beside the grocery store 9and we still didn't really know what to buy just yet for her...duhhhhh)! We found a highchair and great sitting area with Hope, and we gave her peices of everything! Frenchfries, milk shake, apple pie, chicken...ya ya ya..I know I feel dumb! LOL! She was so giddy and enjoyed everything! What a precious girl! Her little curious face and expressive eyes...gosh, our little Princess is finally with us!

We then took Hope to the grocery store, put her in a basket, and set off all over the store looking for stuff..it was just fun being there. We bought shampoo in pink for babies, and some cereal with bananas, and some juice and water & milk..and cookie..hehe..why am I telling you all this? The funny thing that happend there, was that, they have this lil kind of moving floor (can't think of the name now) that takes you into the dairy section downstairs..I panicked and told Freddy, you can't put her on that? He was like..yes you can! We asked a worker there and they smiled and said you can, in fact, once the cart goes on it, it locks in place...cool! Hope threw her head back and arms back and laughed..oh boy..she's a wild one!

We then made it to the apartment with Hope in tow (this time I carried her), and guess who we bumped into? SCOTTnYUKI! Scott had spotted us, and we got to chatting, all of is in smiles and exchanging stories;) Hope just staring and her head going from one conversation to the next..(girl's are nosy;)! WE FINALLY REACHED THE APARTEMENT! TIRED! Yet feeling, we were once again just beginning..we took her out of the snowsuit and gave her toys..she immediately turned over and started banging away at the cups..goodness gracious..lol. We played with her lots and snapped pics. We skyped! Fred spent a lot of time with her..and she was babblin away..little verbal thing! Then our translator came by, and we filled out U.S. Immigration forms (again) and she explained stuff to come quite clearly, she's very efficient & thorough..we're so proud of our in country team and trust them completely! Then we were later visited by the Doctor! He was very humorus and kind, he thought Hopee looked fantastic and well taken care of! Awesome! Praise God for that he has done for us and Hope!

By the time the Doctor had left we were soo pooped! It was 8pm...Hope was just getting warmed up it seemed..lol. She continued playing..and the little girl, even proceeded to stand up all on her own! Boy is she a SHOWOFF!! I gave her a bottle that she happily took..thought it would make her sleepy..but nope...she continued..okay..we are gonna be so pooped on the plane! We bathed her..that went so so, partly because of me being nervous with her, and her so active, she didn't cry-but wasn't thrilled..I yelled at Fred for help, she was so squirmy. Then we got her wrapped up and smellin yum! She turned over to stand up by herself again!..I'd say about 2 hours from there she finally fell asleep? I know it was hard for her, with the new smells and atmosphere and people..but she finally slept (she doesn't like noise though). I picked her up and put her in the playpen cause I was so tired and worried about her falling..she seemed fine. Though, then the phone rand and I heard her squirming, until she started to cry again..and I don't want her crying or thinking she is going to spend another night on her own..so of course I scooped her up and put her between us, where she happily snored away...and she makes this lil sucking sound, dunno if it is because of the teething or she is in habbit of that...sighhhh, but there you have it.


Sorry, sorry, sorry, it took so long...but I promise to make up with pics..after some good coffee;)


Love ya's.