Our First Trip

Sorry it took me so long to update, we have been busy showing off our little ones pictures and preparing to make our return trip to get him. We left Detroit on June 24th and arrived in Moscow on June 25th. For the most part the flight was smooth. Our driver met us at the airport and took us to our apartment. It was a nice little apartment right off Tverskaya Street and only a 15-minute walk to Red Square. We got situated in our place and then decided to take a nice walk. We ended up walking to the Red Square and eating dinner at a nice little restaurant inside the GUM mall. Had my first Russian meal of beef stroganoff (my mom’s is still the best). After 20 hrs of traveling it was all we could do to not fall asleep during dinner so we headed back to the apartment and called it a night around 7pm.

Sunday was a free day for us so we hung around the apartment for most of the morning. We had lunch at McDonalds and went to the Contemporary Museum of History. It was an awesome little museum that followed the history of Russia from the 1800’s to present time. It was nice that they had English pamphlets in most of the rooms explaining what everything was and what happened in that time period. After a few hours there we walked around town and found a Montessori with some neat little churches in it to take pictures of. We walked around looking at all the buildings and parks before having dinner at TGI Fridays and calling it a day.

Monday we had to meet Sergey (from our agency) at 4:30 to go meet the Ministry of Education (MOE) to turn in our paperwork. Since it was so hot while we were there and we wanted to look our best for the Ministry we hung around the apartment until it was time to meet Sergey. Our appointment went very well and the women were very nice. They informed us that they were accepting our paperwork and they would search for a child that met what we were looking for. They let Sergey know that they would call him and let him know when they found a child and when we should return to the MOE for our referral. We hoped and prayed that since we were leaving Saturday we would get called no later than Thursday. We returned to the apartment and changed our clothes before going out for a walk and dinner.

Tuesday we got up early (well early for us) to go see Vladimir Lenin’s Tomb. It is only open from 10am-1pm so we had to get in line early. Of course when we arrived at 10am there was already a line and we waited about 2 hrs to get in. It is amazing how he looks just like the day he died. It is rumored that it is just a wax figure of him, and I can see why he looks amazing for being dead so long. We then went to St Basil’s Cathedral and walked around the Red Square.

Wednesday we spent the day at the Kremlin. There is a really nice armory with all kinds of artifacts on display, from gold bibles to golden carriages. We also saw some beautiful churches and had a nice walk thru the Kremlin gardens. When we returned to the apartment we had an e-mail from Sergey that we were to be at the MOE in the morning for our referral. We were so glad everything we going as planned and we would be able to spend some time with our little guy before we left on Saturday.

Thursday morning we met Sergey and Vlad at the MOE and received our referral for our little guy. We were so excited that we would be able to go to the orphanage right away to meet him. When we arrived they brought him out right away, he is the most handsome, happiest little one. He came right to me and started playing with the toys we brought. He got to play with his daddy while I went over the medical info with Masha. It was a relief to find out that he is healthy and there are no real concerns. We played with him for about 1 ½ hrs before it was time for him to eat and we had to leave. We were told we could come back at 10am Friday to see him again.

Friday we arrived at the orphanage and he was outside for a walk with his caregivers. They brought him in and changed him and we were able to take him outside and play. The playground in the back of the orphanage is beautiful. They have a sidewalk so we could push him in his stroller, although he preferred being held and we didn’t mind. There are also nice pavilions that we could take him in to play on the blanket. We had a blast playing with him for an hour. He smiled and laughed a lot for us. He loved playing with the stacking cups we brought with us and chewed on everything. He has 2 little teeth on the bottom and I think he has more coming in. After an hour we went to a nearby mall and had lunch before heading back to spend a couple hours with our boy. He is just amazing and we are so in love with him. It was horrible leaving him, but we were told we might be back earlier than expected so fingers crossed we will be back in Russia within the next month or so! Before leaving we met with Masha again and signed our paperwork to petition the courts!

Saturday we left early to get to the airport with plenty of time to have breakfast and settle in before a long flight. Lets just say it was the worst 10 hr flight I have ever been on. We were seated in the front with all the families that were bringing their little ones home. One lady was super excited and very proud to show off her child, which made me leaving my little guy even harder. It has been great seeing family and showing off our handsome son. Now we are praying that we get to go back soon!

Sorry that we cannot show pictures yet, it is for his privacy. After court we will have plenty to show off and I can’t wait!