Amelia Grace O'Rourke
Born: November 20, 2011
Perm, Russia
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Almost home....
This has been one heck of a looooong day! Maxim picked us up at the hotel at 8:30am. After a very busy drive to the airport (lots of traffic as Saturday is a working day there), we made it through bag check in and over to customs. John was worried that the customs people might say something to us but everything went smoothly. They did ask to see her documents but it was no problem at all and they would have asked us that under normal circumstances.
While we were there, we saw the other couple from our agency (from Chicago) and their son so it was nice to say goodbye to them again and exchange email addresses. When we got to our gate, there were 3 other couples that we were with at the Embassy who were on our flight. Everyone was quite anxious to get home and know how lucky we are to have our children.
The 10 hour plane ride went pretty smoothly. Andrew did great again! He is definitely a trooper and never complained or whined about anything! He even slept the last 3 hours of the trip! Although on Russia time, it was 8-11pm that he slept. Baby Girl did great too! She ate and slept quite a bit and "played" the rest of the time. One of the other mothers went around to all of us collecting email addresses. She said she is going to send out an email with everyone's contact information so that maybe someday if the kids want to get in touch they can. She said maybe they will all write a book together "Children of flight 31...the last ones out of Russia". Though, we are definitely praying that they aren't the last ones, and that at the very least those in the process will still be able to get their children.
We arrived in NY and went through customs with no issues. The customs officer who checked us in said "wow, you guys are lucky...have you heard what's going on?" We replied "uh, yes...we got her just in time."
We collected our baggage and made our way to where our hotel shuttle picked us up. The hotel we are staying at is only 5 minutes from the airport which will be nice tomorrow morning for our 8am flight. Everyone is extremely tired and we are actually laying in bed now at 6:45pm.
We are anxiously awaiting our flight to Pittsburgh tomorrow and taking Baby Girl home! Our flight is scheduled to get in around 9:45am for anyone who wants to meet us there :)
Pictures and her name will be posted tomorrow!!
While we were there, we saw the other couple from our agency (from Chicago) and their son so it was nice to say goodbye to them again and exchange email addresses. When we got to our gate, there were 3 other couples that we were with at the Embassy who were on our flight. Everyone was quite anxious to get home and know how lucky we are to have our children.
The 10 hour plane ride went pretty smoothly. Andrew did great again! He is definitely a trooper and never complained or whined about anything! He even slept the last 3 hours of the trip! Although on Russia time, it was 8-11pm that he slept. Baby Girl did great too! She ate and slept quite a bit and "played" the rest of the time. One of the other mothers went around to all of us collecting email addresses. She said she is going to send out an email with everyone's contact information so that maybe someday if the kids want to get in touch they can. She said maybe they will all write a book together "Children of flight 31...the last ones out of Russia". Though, we are definitely praying that they aren't the last ones, and that at the very least those in the process will still be able to get their children.
We arrived in NY and went through customs with no issues. The customs officer who checked us in said "wow, you guys are lucky...have you heard what's going on?" We replied "uh, yes...we got her just in time."
We collected our baggage and made our way to where our hotel shuttle picked us up. The hotel we are staying at is only 5 minutes from the airport which will be nice tomorrow morning for our 8am flight. Everyone is extremely tired and we are actually laying in bed now at 6:45pm.
We are anxiously awaiting our flight to Pittsburgh tomorrow and taking Baby Girl home! Our flight is scheduled to get in around 9:45am for anyone who wants to meet us there :)
Pictures and her name will be posted tomorrow!!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Last day in Russia
Well, everyone woke up a little bit more rested although it was another early morning with the 4 of us up at 5:30. It was then a lazy morning just hanging around our hotel room.
Maxim picked us (John, Laurie & Baby Girl) up at 10:30 to go to the US Embassy for our exit interview. It is comforting to visit a little piece of home while over here and it was the exact same process as with Andrew. While we were waiting, several more families showed up for the same reason. In all, there were 7 families having exit interviews and heading for home tomorrow. Another agency's coordinator said she has never seen more than 2 families there at the same time - everyone is very anxious to be going home given recent events. We were assured at the Embassy that we will have no problems tomorrow at the airport, but everyone will be much more at ease once we are home.
After the Embassy, we returned to the hotel to pick up Andrew & Laurie's parents. Maxim drove us over to the park that has the statue we visited with Andrew (in 2010) of the ducklings. The park was covered in snow and it was a slippery walk but worth it for the photo op :)
From the statue, Maxim took us to an observation overlook area to see the city. It was pretty cold out so we didn't last for too long there. He then took us to Arbat street. This is a road that is closed to vehicles so it is only for pedestrian traffic. We visited a souvenir shop so we could buy some final Russian momentos and then headed back to the hotel. Baby Girl wasn't having a very good afternoon - she was hungry and tired as she didn't really get to take a nap today. We returned to the hotel around 3:30 and just hung around for the rest of the afternoon.
Baby Girl ended up going to sleep around 6:00 and the rest of us ordered room service for dinner. After dinner while we packed, Grammy and BupBup entertained Andrew by playing "Go Fish" - he's becoming quite good at it however he has trouble holding all of the cards in his hands so then he starts putting them in his toes.
We are in for a fun time when we get home because Baby Girl watches Andrew's every move and does her best to mimic him. Since he is a crazy kid, looks like she will be too :) We were worried about him being jealous but so far she is the jealous one. Anytime Laurie is doing anything at all with Andrew, Baby Girl starts crying and does whatever she has to in order to get to Laurie and push Andrew out of the way. He handles it pretty well but then he can just go running to his Daddy or Grammy or BupBup...so, it will probably be a little different once we are home.
Maxim is picking us up at 8:30 tomorrow morning for the airport. Our flight leaves Moscow at 12:35pm and we land at JFK at 2:15pm - gotta love that time difference. Since Delta doesn't have any flights from JFK into Pgh after 2:15, we are spending the night in NYC before returning home. Depending on everyone's mood/level of fatigue, we might try to go into the city to see the Rockefeller center Christmas tree and have dinner. Our flight is scheduled to land in Pgh Sunday morning at 9:45!! So, in 48 hours we should be home!!!
Maxim picked us (John, Laurie & Baby Girl) up at 10:30 to go to the US Embassy for our exit interview. It is comforting to visit a little piece of home while over here and it was the exact same process as with Andrew. While we were waiting, several more families showed up for the same reason. In all, there were 7 families having exit interviews and heading for home tomorrow. Another agency's coordinator said she has never seen more than 2 families there at the same time - everyone is very anxious to be going home given recent events. We were assured at the Embassy that we will have no problems tomorrow at the airport, but everyone will be much more at ease once we are home.
After the Embassy, we returned to the hotel to pick up Andrew & Laurie's parents. Maxim drove us over to the park that has the statue we visited with Andrew (in 2010) of the ducklings. The park was covered in snow and it was a slippery walk but worth it for the photo op :)
From the statue, Maxim took us to an observation overlook area to see the city. It was pretty cold out so we didn't last for too long there. He then took us to Arbat street. This is a road that is closed to vehicles so it is only for pedestrian traffic. We visited a souvenir shop so we could buy some final Russian momentos and then headed back to the hotel. Baby Girl wasn't having a very good afternoon - she was hungry and tired as she didn't really get to take a nap today. We returned to the hotel around 3:30 and just hung around for the rest of the afternoon.
Baby Girl ended up going to sleep around 6:00 and the rest of us ordered room service for dinner. After dinner while we packed, Grammy and BupBup entertained Andrew by playing "Go Fish" - he's becoming quite good at it however he has trouble holding all of the cards in his hands so then he starts putting them in his toes.
We are in for a fun time when we get home because Baby Girl watches Andrew's every move and does her best to mimic him. Since he is a crazy kid, looks like she will be too :) We were worried about him being jealous but so far she is the jealous one. Anytime Laurie is doing anything at all with Andrew, Baby Girl starts crying and does whatever she has to in order to get to Laurie and push Andrew out of the way. He handles it pretty well but then he can just go running to his Daddy or Grammy or BupBup...so, it will probably be a little different once we are home.
Maxim is picking us up at 8:30 tomorrow morning for the airport. Our flight leaves Moscow at 12:35pm and we land at JFK at 2:15pm - gotta love that time difference. Since Delta doesn't have any flights from JFK into Pgh after 2:15, we are spending the night in NYC before returning home. Depending on everyone's mood/level of fatigue, we might try to go into the city to see the Rockefeller center Christmas tree and have dinner. Our flight is scheduled to land in Pgh Sunday morning at 9:45!! So, in 48 hours we should be home!!!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
A snowy Thursday in Moscow...
Today was another bright and early day with Andrew waking up at 3:30am. We kept trying to get him to go back to sleep but didn't have any luck. Baby Girl woke up around 6:00 so that was the official start to our day. Boy oh boy are we ready to get home in our regular time zone and get some "normal" sleep!
John and Laurie's dad took a walk to a nearby convenience store and picked up some yogurt for breakfast. Maxim picked us (John, Laurie and Baby Girl) up at 8:30 and we were off to the medical clinic for her physical. It was the same building and actually the same exact exam room where Andrew had his physical. The doctor checked her out and said all looked good. He didn't weigh her and we didn't think to ask until after we left. Anna, a coordinator from our agency, was there with us and we had to sign some documents for her to present to the Embassy. We will go tomorrow morning for our exit interview and they will have Baby Girl's Visa ready for us.
We asked Maxim to take us to a grocery store so we could buy some things to have for breakfast the next couple of days as the breakfast in our hotel is quite expensive. We returned to our hotel room a little after 10:00 and gave Baby Girl some more food before her nap. She played for a little bit and then slept from about 11:30 - 2:00!
While she slept, everyone else just hung out and Andrew watched a movie. When she woke up, she had some playing time with her big brother. He shared his trains with her again and they crawled around on the floor with her chasing him.
We decided to leave around 3:30 to walk to Red Square and then go to dinner. It's not very cold here (in the 30's) but it is very wet. It has been snowing all day and when we went out, it was a rain/snow mix - so we were quickly soaked. We started out with Andrew walking and Baby Girl in the stroller. We made it to Red Square when Andrew asked to be carried (not bad considering it was a 15-20 minute walk through slushy sidewalks). Everything is decorated for Christmas and was very pretty. We actually were able to walk around inside the squre (it was closed when we were here for Andrew and we could only walk around the outside).
After we walked around, we went to Sbarro for dinner - - pizza and breadsticks sounded wonderful :) Andrew started to fall asleep at the table and we decided it would be easier to carry Baby Girl back and put him in the stroller. So Laurie pushed him back while BupBup carried Baby Girl for the majority of the trek. It's not a bad walk under normal circumstances but with the rain/snow mix, slushy sidewalks and uphill grade - it turned out to be a bit of a workout.
Andrew was asleep for the night at about 6:15 while Baby Girl had some dinner and played for about 45 minutes. We are learning more and more about her every day. She is letting her personality show and she is goofy just like her brother :) She has a good set of lungs and cries every time she doesn't get her way. Andrew is not at all a fan of her crying and it sends him into the other room with his hands over his ears - haha! She is a very determined little girl when she wants something and has an incredibly strong grip! She has great hand/eye coordination and feeds her self Puffs like a pro :) She is now in bed for the day and we are hoping to follow shortly.
John and Laurie's dad took a walk to a nearby convenience store and picked up some yogurt for breakfast. Maxim picked us (John, Laurie and Baby Girl) up at 8:30 and we were off to the medical clinic for her physical. It was the same building and actually the same exact exam room where Andrew had his physical. The doctor checked her out and said all looked good. He didn't weigh her and we didn't think to ask until after we left. Anna, a coordinator from our agency, was there with us and we had to sign some documents for her to present to the Embassy. We will go tomorrow morning for our exit interview and they will have Baby Girl's Visa ready for us.
We asked Maxim to take us to a grocery store so we could buy some things to have for breakfast the next couple of days as the breakfast in our hotel is quite expensive. We returned to our hotel room a little after 10:00 and gave Baby Girl some more food before her nap. She played for a little bit and then slept from about 11:30 - 2:00!
While she slept, everyone else just hung out and Andrew watched a movie. When she woke up, she had some playing time with her big brother. He shared his trains with her again and they crawled around on the floor with her chasing him.
We decided to leave around 3:30 to walk to Red Square and then go to dinner. It's not very cold here (in the 30's) but it is very wet. It has been snowing all day and when we went out, it was a rain/snow mix - so we were quickly soaked. We started out with Andrew walking and Baby Girl in the stroller. We made it to Red Square when Andrew asked to be carried (not bad considering it was a 15-20 minute walk through slushy sidewalks). Everything is decorated for Christmas and was very pretty. We actually were able to walk around inside the squre (it was closed when we were here for Andrew and we could only walk around the outside).
After we walked around, we went to Sbarro for dinner - - pizza and breadsticks sounded wonderful :) Andrew started to fall asleep at the table and we decided it would be easier to carry Baby Girl back and put him in the stroller. So Laurie pushed him back while BupBup carried Baby Girl for the majority of the trek. It's not a bad walk under normal circumstances but with the rain/snow mix, slushy sidewalks and uphill grade - it turned out to be a bit of a workout.
Andrew was asleep for the night at about 6:15 while Baby Girl had some dinner and played for about 45 minutes. We are learning more and more about her every day. She is letting her personality show and she is goofy just like her brother :) She has a good set of lungs and cries every time she doesn't get her way. Andrew is not at all a fan of her crying and it sends him into the other room with his hands over his ears - haha! She is a very determined little girl when she wants something and has an incredibly strong grip! She has great hand/eye coordination and feeds her self Puffs like a pro :) She is now in bed for the day and we are hoping to follow shortly.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Moscow!!
What a day! We all slept much better Tuesday night and woke up around 6:45 - - so 12 hours for Andrew and about 10 for the rest of us. We went down to breakfast and saw the same waitress who sang to Andrew yesterday. She told Laurie's mom that she is so thankful for what we are doing for "their children" and gets teary eyed just thinking about our family. Baby Girl had a little bit more of an appetite at breakfast where she ate 2 bowls of porridge and that was after a jar of fruit. After breakfast, John was picked up by Val so he could go get Baby Girl's passport.
The rest of us took the remainder of the morning to pack and play. The suite was reserved for another family starting at 2pm so we had to be out of it by 1:00. Laurie's parent's room was free for late checkout so we could stay there until our airport pick up at 2:30. Baby Girl went down for a nap around 10:45 and we had to wake her up at 1:00 to leave the room - yes! she slept for over 2 hours!! John returned from the passport office and then ran to the grocery store for more baby food (now that we know what she prefers). At checkout, the hotel gifted us a book on Perm and wished us many congratulations and the best of luck.
At 2:30, Val & Olga showed up to take the O'Rourkes to the airport while Laurie's parents took the airport shuttle (much better than waiting for Val to make 2 trips). Once we were all at the airport, Olga set up our lap seat ticket for Baby Girl and we waited for another couple from our agency and their son (who Val went back to the hotel to pick up). We soon found out that our 5:15pm flight was delayed until 6:20. If anyone can remember, there isn't much to the Perm airport so this news was anything but exciting. We waited it out though and soon it was time to check our bags (they only do it close to the time of your flight).
We said goodbye to Val and Olga and went through security. We ended up waiting until 6:30 to board our flight and the weather in Perm was the worst we had seen it. VERY cold and VERY VERY windy! We had to take a shuttle to the plane and when we got off, everyone stepped aside so we could take the children on the plane first. The plane was about 500 degrees and once in the air, both Andrew and Baby Girl instantly fell asleep. Andrew slept for the entire 2 hour plane ride but Baby Girl woke up to eat. She did very well, only crying a few times (because she was hungry and tired).
We arrived in Moscow around 7:00pm (they are 2 hours behind Perm so we gained 2 hours) but then had to be shuttled to the airport and wait for our bags. We were met by our driver, Maxim, and he had a huge van that fit all of us and our luggage. It was a about a 45 minute ride to the airport but a pretty one with many Christmas lights. Our hotel is in walking distance to Red Square and we could see the Kremlin on the drive in.
Once in our hotel room (we have adjoining rooms with Laurie's parents), the kids got baths and Baby Girl fell asleep after another jar of food. Andrew is hearing a story right now and then we are all off to bed. Maxim is picking up John, Laurie & Baby Girl at 8:30 in the morning to go for Baby Girl's medical exam and then to apply for her Visa at the US Embassy. The rest of the day is free for sight seeing. The weather is much more tolerable that Perm. There is more snow but the temperature is 34 degrees so that makes it feels a little more like home.
The rest of us took the remainder of the morning to pack and play. The suite was reserved for another family starting at 2pm so we had to be out of it by 1:00. Laurie's parent's room was free for late checkout so we could stay there until our airport pick up at 2:30. Baby Girl went down for a nap around 10:45 and we had to wake her up at 1:00 to leave the room - yes! she slept for over 2 hours!! John returned from the passport office and then ran to the grocery store for more baby food (now that we know what she prefers). At checkout, the hotel gifted us a book on Perm and wished us many congratulations and the best of luck.
At 2:30, Val & Olga showed up to take the O'Rourkes to the airport while Laurie's parents took the airport shuttle (much better than waiting for Val to make 2 trips). Once we were all at the airport, Olga set up our lap seat ticket for Baby Girl and we waited for another couple from our agency and their son (who Val went back to the hotel to pick up). We soon found out that our 5:15pm flight was delayed until 6:20. If anyone can remember, there isn't much to the Perm airport so this news was anything but exciting. We waited it out though and soon it was time to check our bags (they only do it close to the time of your flight).
We said goodbye to Val and Olga and went through security. We ended up waiting until 6:30 to board our flight and the weather in Perm was the worst we had seen it. VERY cold and VERY VERY windy! We had to take a shuttle to the plane and when we got off, everyone stepped aside so we could take the children on the plane first. The plane was about 500 degrees and once in the air, both Andrew and Baby Girl instantly fell asleep. Andrew slept for the entire 2 hour plane ride but Baby Girl woke up to eat. She did very well, only crying a few times (because she was hungry and tired).
We arrived in Moscow around 7:00pm (they are 2 hours behind Perm so we gained 2 hours) but then had to be shuttled to the airport and wait for our bags. We were met by our driver, Maxim, and he had a huge van that fit all of us and our luggage. It was a about a 45 minute ride to the airport but a pretty one with many Christmas lights. Our hotel is in walking distance to Red Square and we could see the Kremlin on the drive in.
Once in our hotel room (we have adjoining rooms with Laurie's parents), the kids got baths and Baby Girl fell asleep after another jar of food. Andrew is hearing a story right now and then we are all off to bed. Maxim is picking up John, Laurie & Baby Girl at 8:30 in the morning to go for Baby Girl's medical exam and then to apply for her Visa at the US Embassy. The rest of the day is free for sight seeing. The weather is much more tolerable that Perm. There is more snow but the temperature is 34 degrees so that makes it feels a little more like home.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
A BIG DAY!!
First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! Second of all, we now have a 4 year old - Happy Birthday to Andrew! And lastly, we are officially a family of 4!
The day started out super bright and early. Big naps sounded like a good idea yesterday but it turns out that it wasn't such a good idea. Andrew fell asleep around 11:45pm, soon to wake up at 1:15am for the day! yup, he was up for the entire night! He was so excited that it was his birthday that he couldn't sleep and would just lay in bed singing "Happy Birthday" to himself. Mommy and Daddy both averaged about 3 hours of sleep and were hurting when it was time to start getting ready for the day.
We met Laurie's parents around 7:30 for breakfast. Grammy told our waitress that it was Andrew's 4th birthday and she was really excited to help us celebrate it. She and 2 other waitresses surprised him with a huge piece of cake with "Happy Birthday Andrew" written around the plate in icing. They sang him happy birthday and cheered him on blowing out his 4 candles.
Val showed up soon after (at 8:20) to pick us up for the orphanage. Grammy & BupBup were given strict instructions to not let Andrew sleep while we were gone (no more naps so we can actually sleep tonight). On the way, we picked up Olga and arrived at the orphanage around 9:15. We were given instructions to hurry up and get her dressed (in the clothes that we brought for her) because we weren't supposed to stay long (another thing that we didn't quite understand). So we got her dressed, gave them the gifts we had (some diapers, baby clothes and toothbrush kits from our dentist) and left. We went straight back to the hotel to introduce Baby Girl to her big brother. She slept for the entire 45 minute car ride :)
It's been a day of playing "getting to know you". Learning what makes her laugh and what she likes to eat. Andrew has been a great big brother so far with sharing his toys. They crawled around after each other playing trains for a good bit of the afternoon. Andrew loved that she followed and copied what he did. When it was time to feed her dinner and she didn't like the jar of food we picked out, Andrew picked out another one and she liked it - he was SO proud of himself that he picked out the kind of food that she liked :)
While Laurie, Grammy and Andrew fed Baby Girl dinner, Bup Bup and John ran to McDonalds to pick up everyone elses dinner - yes, Christmas dinner from McDonalds (birthday boy's choice). Soon after we set our food up to eat, Andrew sat on the floor, drank half of his milkshake, took one bite of his cheeseburger and passed out! We are amazed he made it from 1am until 6:30pm and are praying that he (and she) sleeps through the night - we all need the sleep!
So, on that note, it is at 7:30pm that we say Good night and again a very Merry Christmas to all!!
The day started out super bright and early. Big naps sounded like a good idea yesterday but it turns out that it wasn't such a good idea. Andrew fell asleep around 11:45pm, soon to wake up at 1:15am for the day! yup, he was up for the entire night! He was so excited that it was his birthday that he couldn't sleep and would just lay in bed singing "Happy Birthday" to himself. Mommy and Daddy both averaged about 3 hours of sleep and were hurting when it was time to start getting ready for the day.
We met Laurie's parents around 7:30 for breakfast. Grammy told our waitress that it was Andrew's 4th birthday and she was really excited to help us celebrate it. She and 2 other waitresses surprised him with a huge piece of cake with "Happy Birthday Andrew" written around the plate in icing. They sang him happy birthday and cheered him on blowing out his 4 candles.
Val showed up soon after (at 8:20) to pick us up for the orphanage. Grammy & BupBup were given strict instructions to not let Andrew sleep while we were gone (no more naps so we can actually sleep tonight). On the way, we picked up Olga and arrived at the orphanage around 9:15. We were given instructions to hurry up and get her dressed (in the clothes that we brought for her) because we weren't supposed to stay long (another thing that we didn't quite understand). So we got her dressed, gave them the gifts we had (some diapers, baby clothes and toothbrush kits from our dentist) and left. We went straight back to the hotel to introduce Baby Girl to her big brother. She slept for the entire 45 minute car ride :)
It's been a day of playing "getting to know you". Learning what makes her laugh and what she likes to eat. Andrew has been a great big brother so far with sharing his toys. They crawled around after each other playing trains for a good bit of the afternoon. Andrew loved that she followed and copied what he did. When it was time to feed her dinner and she didn't like the jar of food we picked out, Andrew picked out another one and she liked it - he was SO proud of himself that he picked out the kind of food that she liked :)
While Laurie, Grammy and Andrew fed Baby Girl dinner, Bup Bup and John ran to McDonalds to pick up everyone elses dinner - yes, Christmas dinner from McDonalds (birthday boy's choice). Soon after we set our food up to eat, Andrew sat on the floor, drank half of his milkshake, took one bite of his cheeseburger and passed out! We are amazed he made it from 1am until 6:30pm and are praying that he (and she) sleeps through the night - we all need the sleep!
So, on that note, it is at 7:30pm that we say Good night and again a very Merry Christmas to all!!
Monday, December 24, 2012
A lazy Monday....
Well, there isn't much to report for today. The O'Rourkes seemed to sleep better last night waking up at 7:00 but the Morrows had an early morning (waking at 3 and 5am). We met for breakfast around 9:00 and took our time in the restaurant knowing that we didn't really have anything planned for the day.
After breakfast we went back to our suite and just hung out reading and playing on various computers - Andrew of course watching train videos. After a few hours, Laurie's parents decided to return to their room to take a nap. Laurie thought that sounded like a good idea for the 2 with colds so she and Andrew took naps too. John took a walk down to the mall to check out the food court to see if they had any pizza we could eat for dinner and then returned to take a nap too. After about 3 hours (yes, Andrew must be both jet lagged and not feeling well for him to take a 3 hour nap!) everyone woke up hungry for dinner. With help from the front desk (to know how to order it), John walked back over to the mall and ordered us pizza.
After dinner, Andrew played with his trains a little bit and then we got a Skype call from John's sister Kim and her girls. We talked with them for a little bit and then decided to put on a movie and play a game. Bup Bup thought it would be a good idea to teach Andrew how to play "Go Fish". We played 5 games and Andrew loved it! Instead of saying "Go Fish" he said "Gold Fish" and won 4 out of 5 games.
Earlier this afternoon, we received a call from Val saying that he was going to pick us up at 8:20 to go get Baby Girl out of the orphanage. So, it looks like we will have her out by 11am - meaning it will really be 12/24 at home!
We are currently all ready for bed and listening to Andrew's recordable book of Nini reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Ready for a big day tomorrow!!
Merry Christmas eve!!
After breakfast we went back to our suite and just hung out reading and playing on various computers - Andrew of course watching train videos. After a few hours, Laurie's parents decided to return to their room to take a nap. Laurie thought that sounded like a good idea for the 2 with colds so she and Andrew took naps too. John took a walk down to the mall to check out the food court to see if they had any pizza we could eat for dinner and then returned to take a nap too. After about 3 hours (yes, Andrew must be both jet lagged and not feeling well for him to take a 3 hour nap!) everyone woke up hungry for dinner. With help from the front desk (to know how to order it), John walked back over to the mall and ordered us pizza.
After dinner, Andrew played with his trains a little bit and then we got a Skype call from John's sister Kim and her girls. We talked with them for a little bit and then decided to put on a movie and play a game. Bup Bup thought it would be a good idea to teach Andrew how to play "Go Fish". We played 5 games and Andrew loved it! Instead of saying "Go Fish" he said "Gold Fish" and won 4 out of 5 games.
Earlier this afternoon, we received a call from Val saying that he was going to pick us up at 8:20 to go get Baby Girl out of the orphanage. So, it looks like we will have her out by 11am - meaning it will really be 12/24 at home!
We are currently all ready for bed and listening to Andrew's recordable book of Nini reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Ready for a big day tomorrow!!
Merry Christmas eve!!
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Sunday fun in Russia
Well, we were hoping that our sleep pattern the last trip was because of court nerves but maybe not. All 3 of us woke up at 5:00am :( After an hour of trying to get back to sleep, John took Andrew into the "living room" part of our suite so Laurie could get a little more sleep since she's been suffering from a cold and not feeling great. On a side note, the hotel very nicely upgraded us (John, Laurie & Andrew) into a 2 bedroom suite with a living room and 3 bathrooms since we were coming for an adoption (would eventually have 2 children with us) and it was over the holidays. We ended up going down for breakfast around 9am with Laurie's parents to get "fueled up" for the day.
After breakfast, we came back to our room(s) to hang out and Andrew played with the iPad (it seemed at this point that he had caught Laurie's cold as his nose turned into a faucet). He was acting very tired (which makes sense because he was up for 27+ hours with only a 2 1/2 hour nap and then only slept for about 7 hours) so Laurie encouraged him to take a nap. He finally fell asleep around 1:00 and we were able to let him sleep for about an hour and 15 minutes before we had to meet Val. While he was asleep, John and Laurie's dad walked over to the grocery store to get some baby food & diapers (that we didn't want to have to pack). When it was time to wake Andrew up, he was not very happy to need to get up and it was quite a struggle to get him ready. We all needed to bundle up because we were doing some outside things and it was -7 degrees F but the "feels like" was -24 degrees F!
Val picked us up at 2:30 and we went to see the ice village that they were setting up at the center of the city. It was quite a sight but not complete yet so we couldn't walk through it, just around it. Val told us that it gets set up for New Years and remains up for about a month. We didn't make it much more than 20 minutes or so before we returned to Val's car as we decided that we wanted the feeling back in our cheeks. After that, he took us to a very pretty Russian Orthodox church to look around and then back to the military museum that we visited on our first trip.
We didn't last very long at any of the sights as they were mostly outside (other than a short visit inside the church) and it was just too cold out. We then went to the orphanage for a short visit. Since Andrew & Laurie's parents were with us and they aren't allowed in the orphanage, we told Val we only wanted to visit for 30-40 minutes (the heat was on of course and they had the iPad for entertainment but we still didn't want them out there for too long).
Baby Girl hasn't changed too much. She has a tiny bit more hair and her belly looked a little bigger but basically the same. She didn't seem to be feeling well. She only wanted to be held and had really no interest in playing with any of the toys. We heard her cry for the first time and had to wipe away the tears. She seemed a little hesitant toward John and was just over all not very happy for the whole visit.
When we left, we asked Val if he would drop us off at the Ukranian restuarant near our hotel for dinner. Andrew fell asleep on the way to the restaurant and then proceded to sleep on Laurie's lap at the restaurant. He woke up at one point crying that he wanted to go back to the hotel and go to bed (it seemed like jet lag had set in). John decided to leave and carry him back to the hotel. The rest of us hurried to eat our dinner, got John's wrapped up to go (we had gotten Andrew soup that he had no interest in because he just wanted to sleep) and headed back to the hotel. It was only about a 10 minute walk, but it was a painfully cold one. When we got back to the room, Andrew was full of pep and eating a peanut butter sandwich and oranges. John said as soon as the cold air hit him outside he woke up and talked the entire walk back. He was full of energy all evening long after that - we think it was maybe because he was so bundled up and it was really hot in the car and restaurant that he just couldn't stay awake.
We aren't quite sure what the plan is yet for getting Baby Girl but it is still happening on Tuesday. We also haven't been given an explanation as to why. Laurie was upset/sad about another thing happening on December 25 and feeling bad that Baby Girl wouldn't get the special "Gotcha Day" attention that Andrew does on his day (simply because it's also Christmas and Andrew's birthday). That was until Grammy made the point that if we get her in the morning, with the 11 hr time difference, that would still be Dec 24 at home and we could really say that is her "Gotcha Day". So, we are now hoping that is the case. The day changing doesn't affect any of our other plans, we will be able to pick up her passport on Wednesday, head for Moscow later that day and then leave Moscow as scheduled. Val said he would call us tomorrow with the plans but that we have nothing to do tomorrow. With the even colder forcast for tomorrow, it sounds like we will be most likely just hanging around the hotel for the day but might risk a walk over to the mall for something to do :)
After breakfast, we came back to our room(s) to hang out and Andrew played with the iPad (it seemed at this point that he had caught Laurie's cold as his nose turned into a faucet). He was acting very tired (which makes sense because he was up for 27+ hours with only a 2 1/2 hour nap and then only slept for about 7 hours) so Laurie encouraged him to take a nap. He finally fell asleep around 1:00 and we were able to let him sleep for about an hour and 15 minutes before we had to meet Val. While he was asleep, John and Laurie's dad walked over to the grocery store to get some baby food & diapers (that we didn't want to have to pack). When it was time to wake Andrew up, he was not very happy to need to get up and it was quite a struggle to get him ready. We all needed to bundle up because we were doing some outside things and it was -7 degrees F but the "feels like" was -24 degrees F!
Val picked us up at 2:30 and we went to see the ice village that they were setting up at the center of the city. It was quite a sight but not complete yet so we couldn't walk through it, just around it. Val told us that it gets set up for New Years and remains up for about a month. We didn't make it much more than 20 minutes or so before we returned to Val's car as we decided that we wanted the feeling back in our cheeks. After that, he took us to a very pretty Russian Orthodox church to look around and then back to the military museum that we visited on our first trip.
Baby Girl hasn't changed too much. She has a tiny bit more hair and her belly looked a little bigger but basically the same. She didn't seem to be feeling well. She only wanted to be held and had really no interest in playing with any of the toys. We heard her cry for the first time and had to wipe away the tears. She seemed a little hesitant toward John and was just over all not very happy for the whole visit.
When we left, we asked Val if he would drop us off at the Ukranian restuarant near our hotel for dinner. Andrew fell asleep on the way to the restaurant and then proceded to sleep on Laurie's lap at the restaurant. He woke up at one point crying that he wanted to go back to the hotel and go to bed (it seemed like jet lag had set in). John decided to leave and carry him back to the hotel. The rest of us hurried to eat our dinner, got John's wrapped up to go (we had gotten Andrew soup that he had no interest in because he just wanted to sleep) and headed back to the hotel. It was only about a 10 minute walk, but it was a painfully cold one. When we got back to the room, Andrew was full of pep and eating a peanut butter sandwich and oranges. John said as soon as the cold air hit him outside he woke up and talked the entire walk back. He was full of energy all evening long after that - we think it was maybe because he was so bundled up and it was really hot in the car and restaurant that he just couldn't stay awake.
We aren't quite sure what the plan is yet for getting Baby Girl but it is still happening on Tuesday. We also haven't been given an explanation as to why. Laurie was upset/sad about another thing happening on December 25 and feeling bad that Baby Girl wouldn't get the special "Gotcha Day" attention that Andrew does on his day (simply because it's also Christmas and Andrew's birthday). That was until Grammy made the point that if we get her in the morning, with the 11 hr time difference, that would still be Dec 24 at home and we could really say that is her "Gotcha Day". So, we are now hoping that is the case. The day changing doesn't affect any of our other plans, we will be able to pick up her passport on Wednesday, head for Moscow later that day and then leave Moscow as scheduled. Val said he would call us tomorrow with the plans but that we have nothing to do tomorrow. With the even colder forcast for tomorrow, it sounds like we will be most likely just hanging around the hotel for the day but might risk a walk over to the mall for something to do :)
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Back in Russia....
Well, after many hours of travel - we made it back to Russia!!
Andrew woke up super excited to start the voyage on Friday morning. After getting showers and eating breakfast, he went over to the neighbors house so we could get some things ready to celebrate Christmas when we get home :) He did really well on the short flight from Pittsburgh to NYC and was very excited to see BupBup & Grammy (Laurie's parents) when we got there (they had driven to New York earlier in the week and took in some shows/holiday sights for a few days).
After a fairly short lay-over in New York, we boarded the plane for Russia. Andrew insisted on sitting beside BupBup. He anxiously awaited the announcement that electronic devices could be used so that he could watch a movie on the iPad. Between watching a movie, eating dinner and playing games, that kept him pretty well occupied until he (finally) got tired. He asked to sit on his daddy's lap for a little bit and then on his mommy's lap where he actually fell asleep. It was after flying for about 5 1/2 hours (so it was 10:30pm home time) and he slept for 2 1/2 hours. He woke up when they turned the lights on for breakfast and was full of pep - jumping up and down in his seat giggling at silly little things (we think he was delirious). When we landed in Moscow he was very excited to see that there was snow on the ground. He did amazingly well on the flight and surpassed all of our expectations!!
Once we went through passport control, collected our bags, rechecked our bags and went through security in Moscow, we had about 3 hours until our flight to Perm. Andrew sat on a chair the entire time watching train videos on the iPad. Once we boarded our plane to Perm, the adults struggled to stay awake while Andrew played a train game on the iPad the entire 2 hour flight. He truly amazed all of us by being a wonderful traveler.
Once we arrived in Perm we were greeted by a surprised Val as he wasn't informed that there would be extra travelers - even though we made that very clear and were assured on several occasions that it wouldn't be a problem. So, as his car is not large enough to fit all of the people and our bags he had to make 2 trips - first with Laurie, Andrew and Grammy while John and BupBup waited at the airport. On the ride to the hotel, Val informed Laurie that we would be taking Baby Girl out of the baby home not on Monday but on Tuesday! As all can probably imagine, this was not taken very well as that is Christmas Day and Andrew's birthday. Laurie is attempting to get in touch with someone at the agency to get some answers and as you can imagine, emotions are high after being awake for pretty much 28 straight hours.
Our plan for tomorrow is to take a trip to the grocery store and then Val is picking us all up at 2:30 to visit an ice village in the center of Perm and then we are making a short visit to the baby home. Only we will be able to go inside for the visit, meaning Andrew, Grammy & BupBup will have to sit in the car (all bundled up from being outside) so we only plan to have a 30 minute visit - which is actually a surprise anyways because we were under the impression weekend visits didn't happen.
Anyways, more tomorrow as we are completely exhausted and off to bed!
Andrew woke up super excited to start the voyage on Friday morning. After getting showers and eating breakfast, he went over to the neighbors house so we could get some things ready to celebrate Christmas when we get home :) He did really well on the short flight from Pittsburgh to NYC and was very excited to see BupBup & Grammy (Laurie's parents) when we got there (they had driven to New York earlier in the week and took in some shows/holiday sights for a few days).
After a fairly short lay-over in New York, we boarded the plane for Russia. Andrew insisted on sitting beside BupBup. He anxiously awaited the announcement that electronic devices could be used so that he could watch a movie on the iPad. Between watching a movie, eating dinner and playing games, that kept him pretty well occupied until he (finally) got tired. He asked to sit on his daddy's lap for a little bit and then on his mommy's lap where he actually fell asleep. It was after flying for about 5 1/2 hours (so it was 10:30pm home time) and he slept for 2 1/2 hours. He woke up when they turned the lights on for breakfast and was full of pep - jumping up and down in his seat giggling at silly little things (we think he was delirious). When we landed in Moscow he was very excited to see that there was snow on the ground. He did amazingly well on the flight and surpassed all of our expectations!!
Once we went through passport control, collected our bags, rechecked our bags and went through security in Moscow, we had about 3 hours until our flight to Perm. Andrew sat on a chair the entire time watching train videos on the iPad. Once we boarded our plane to Perm, the adults struggled to stay awake while Andrew played a train game on the iPad the entire 2 hour flight. He truly amazed all of us by being a wonderful traveler.
Once we arrived in Perm we were greeted by a surprised Val as he wasn't informed that there would be extra travelers - even though we made that very clear and were assured on several occasions that it wouldn't be a problem. So, as his car is not large enough to fit all of the people and our bags he had to make 2 trips - first with Laurie, Andrew and Grammy while John and BupBup waited at the airport. On the ride to the hotel, Val informed Laurie that we would be taking Baby Girl out of the baby home not on Monday but on Tuesday! As all can probably imagine, this was not taken very well as that is Christmas Day and Andrew's birthday. Laurie is attempting to get in touch with someone at the agency to get some answers and as you can imagine, emotions are high after being awake for pretty much 28 straight hours.
Our plan for tomorrow is to take a trip to the grocery store and then Val is picking us all up at 2:30 to visit an ice village in the center of Perm and then we are making a short visit to the baby home. Only we will be able to go inside for the visit, meaning Andrew, Grammy & BupBup will have to sit in the car (all bundled up from being outside) so we only plan to have a 30 minute visit - which is actually a surprise anyways because we were under the impression weekend visits didn't happen.
Anyways, more tomorrow as we are completely exhausted and off to bed!
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