Two years later

Two years ago today, we arrived home with Lleyton. Although the temperature was cold, the Kentucky air felt more like we were in the Caribbean, having just left the frozen tundra of Russia.

The flight home was exhausting, as both Sara and I were on the rebound from a nasty illness we endured during our last day and night in Moscow. That, accompanied by a little man that didn't want to sit still, let alone sleep on the 15 hour flight, made for a long day. Although he didn't want sleep, he handled the flight relatively well. After a few crying spells, I found that looking at himself in the mirror in the bathroom really soothed him. Most people on a flight that long don't turn to the bathroom as a place of refuge, but we did.

Even with the excitement of just becoming an American citizen, Lleyton had had about enough by the time we got through customs and immigration in New York, so he threw quite the fit as we waited for our plane to take us on the last leg of a our journey to becoming a family, but who could blame him.

Thank goodness the flight from JFK wasn't full, as it allowed Lleyton and I to have a a couple of seats to ourselves in the back of the plane, giving us plenty of room for him to lay on his own seat and take a much needed nap, and it also allowed Sara to get an hour or so of shut-eye herself.

We enjoyed every minute of our time in Russia (except our first meeting with Coffee Talk lady), but were excited to get home and get settled in with our little man (When I say little, I mean little. He didn't register on the growth charts for quite some time, but I am happy to report that after his 3 year old checkup yesterday, he is now on both charts, 7% weight and 10% height).

I know I have mentioned another picture as my favorite picture of all time, but this is a close second.



The last two years have been incredible. We have been places and seen things we could have never imagined. We have welcomed two boys into our family, and hopefully soon we will add a little girl to the mix too. I can't believe Lleyton has only been with us for 2 years, it seems like he has been with us forever. Getting to watch him grow over that time has been a privilege, as he has gone from a little boy that was a sight for sore eyes when we first met him to the cutest boy I have ever seen.

11/20/07 - The day we had dreamt of (until the train ride)

Day 2 with Lleyton was far different than Day 1. There was no visit with Coffee Talk Lady, there was no tossing and turning, there were no nervous calls to the doctor at home, there was plenty of snow, but we were ready for it.

On this day, we entered the orphanage and were greeted by a totally different little boy. The boy we had dreamt of. Lleyton was feeling much better and our time with him, although not nearly long enough, was thoroughly enjoyable. He was the very active, highly entertaining boy that we had been told about.

This picture from that day is my favorite picture ever taken.



Late in our visit, as Lleyton was growing tired, I was able to capture a moment that I will never forget. I can vividly remember feeling that this was the moment that Lleyton knew he was in his mother's arms. It may sound dramatic...for me it was.



The other couple we traveled with and Sara and I were given the option early in the day to forgo flying back to Moscow that afternoon and instead take the train from Samara to Moscow later in the evening, as this would allow us more time to spend with the kids in the orphanage. We quickly voted unanimously to take the train.

After we said our very difficult goodbyes to Lleyton (then named Gorsha), we made our way to a restaurant in Samara for a meal that was undoubtedly loaded with dill (I had enough dill during my time in Russia to last me the rest of my life). Then the fun began, we boarded a 14 hour train ride that would take us through the heart of Russia. Sara and I had a room with two beds, a little table, and nothing else. We were fed some sort of food that I still can't identify, nor can I stricken it from my memory. The saving grace of the train ride was the warm Baltika that came with my meal, and I read the book The Blind Side (which interestingly enough comes out in a movie theater near you today).

I could type for hours trying to recount the uncomfortable nature of the train ride, but I must say that I am happy we did it. It was a mini adventure within a very large adventure. I wouldn't want to do it again, but at least we can say we did it.

The flight home, on Thanksgiving Day, was spent passing the camera back and forth, over and over again, looking at the pictures and videos we now had of our little boy...the boy we had been dreaming of.

Remembering Russia

Two years ago today, Sara and I were in Moscow preparing to take the two hour flight to Samara, where we would be introduced to Georgiy Valeryevich Ivanov (Lleyton). I can remember it like it was yesterday. We were in a faraway land, enjoying every step along the way (other than not being able to figure out how to cross the street).

Moscow in late November, and December, and January is brutally cold. I get cold just thinking about it.

Here are a few of the sights from that day...

The Marriott Grand Hotel, one of the many hotels we stayed at during our weeks in Russia (very nice hotel).



One of the many theatres throughout Moscow. Theatre and ballet, and the arts, play a prominent role in Russian life.



In the distance, you can see one of the Seven Sisters. Joseph Stalin ordered the construction of these seven buildings. The towers were constructed for the glorification of the Soviet State after WWII, and were intended to rival the American skyscrapers that had previously been built. Each Sister was designed according to Stalin’s specifications, in a so-called ‘wedding-cake’ style, that concentrated the eye towards a central tower. Stalin also insisted that all of the Seven Sisters be given a spire, in order to distinguish them from their American counterparts. Who says blogging can't be educational?




Here we are the airport in Moscow, ready to embark on our journey to Samara. You may not be able to tell, but I was a huge ball of nerves (Sara, of course, was cool as the other side of the pillow). Notice, the all black attire. It was recommended that we, as Americans, try to blend in as much possible, so that involved wears black pretty much everywhere we went, as Russians are big fans of dark clothing (and lots of it).

Remembering our first trip to Russia (11/17/07 - 11/22/07)

As we wait for word on our travel plans to Ethiopia, I can't help but reflect back on our trips to Russia. The Russia program requires that you make at least two trips over, one to meet the child and the second trip is to go through the court process. We also had to make a 3rd trip to bring Lleyton home, as the 10 day waiting period between court and the Embassy appointment was not waived.

Our trips to Russia will certainly go down as some of the best times we have ever had. The experience of leaving the land that you are used to and so accustomed to and heading to a completely unfamiliar place to meet a child that you have dreamt of for years is quite surreal.

We were told from the beginning to expect the worst yet hope for the best. We did just that. We were told that the moment your child is handed to you, although incredibly joyful, may also be quite sobering, as many of the children are malnourished, or constantly sick, or just not able to interact the way they have in your dreams. That insight from others that have been through the process proved to be very valuable.

After the long trip that led us from Cincinnati to NYC to Moscow, and then from Moscow to Samara on plane that seemed unfit for the skies, we were welcomed into the orphanage that housed the son we knew so little about. Thank goodness we weren't expecting a bouncing baby boy, because instead poor little Gorsha (Lleyton's name in Russia) was quite sick and sad looking.


After playing with him and getting to know him as much as possible, we retired to our hotel for the evening to soak in the fact that we just met our son. We ventured back to the orphanage the following day to find our little man was feeling much better. What a difference a day makes. (This is my favorite picture of all time.)


Following our second play date/get to know you session with our little Gorsha, we had to say goodbye to the little man and we set off on a journey back to Moscow. Since we chose to stay at the orphanage a bit longer, we were only able to get back to Moscow via train. It was an experience unto itself. 15 hours on a train is bad, but 15 hours on a train in Russia is something I don't need to do again. I am still trying to figure out what they served us for dinner, other than the Baltika #5, which, although warm, was a rather enjoyable beer.

I could recap every detail of this trip. From not being able to figure out how to cross the street in Moscow, to each of the sleepless nights, and to the interview/interrogation we were subjected to by the lady known only as "Coffee Talk Lady" due to her uncanny resemblance to Mike Myers' Coffee Talk character on Saturday Night Live. But I will spare you all of the details.

More reminiscing to come...

One year ago today

It was around 10am local time in Samara, Russia. As usual, there had a been a large snowfall the night before and I hadn't slept well. Nothing against the Renaissance Hotel in Samara, it was very nice actually, I was just a bit nervous/excited. We met up the other family that we were traveling with for breakfast. I ate very little (not because the food wasn't great, but b/c I typically wasn't that hungry at breakfast and maybe a bigger factor was that the breakfast buffet was somewhere around $30/person).

After heading back upstairs to our room to change into our Sunday Best, which mine luckily arrived at Sheremetyevo 2 (Moscow airport) the day before after taking an unwanted detour in Toronto without us, we jumped in a car with our fearless driver and were off to become parents (note to those traveling to Moscow, if your luggage is lost and you don't speak the language, find a translator. I think without her, I would have certainly been wearing jeans and a sweater to court and my luggage would have been lost forever amongst the seemingly thousands of other pieces of luggage in the Aeroflot lost and found).

After arriving at the courthouse, the other couple went first, so we were left to sit nervously in a hallway outside of the room until we were called(note to those traveling to Samara and going to this particular courthouse, use the bathroom before you leave the hotel). When our time came, Sara and I entered into the courtroom along with a translator, a judge, a prosecutor, a representative from Lletyon's (then known as Gorsha)orphanage, and the Minister of Education in Samara. For a period of about 30 to 45 minutes we answered questions such as: Why are you adopting?, Why don't you have children the natural way?, Why are you so young?, How much money do you make?, What does your house look like?, How will you discipline this child?, How will you love this boy?, What do you think about other Americans that have abused their adopted Russian children?, etc. If I remember correctly (it was kind of a blur), I answered most of the questions because it is customary in Russia for the man to speak for the family.

After leaving the room to contemplate whether or not to grant us our wish of being parents to the perfect little boy that was waiting to see us again at his orphanage, the judge reentered the courtroom and informed us that our dreams had come true, and Lleyton was officially our child. Not the old fashioned way of becoming parents, but the way that we took, and we wouldn't change it for the world.



Following that declaration, we were driven to the orphanage to finally be able to hold and kiss and love a child that was officially ours (he had been ours in our hearts since the moment we met him). We were allowed a brief tour of the orphanage during this visit, which was very valuable, because it gave us more insight as to what kind of life Lleyton had lived for the first year of his being. After our tour and playing with our son for about an hour, we had to say our goodbyes and leave our newly minted son in the care of the orphanage for one last time. It was very difficult to leave him there, but after visiting the orphanage on four different occasions, we felt that he was in good hands there and they would take wonderful care of him until we were able to come back and bring him home with us and for good. As I sit here and write this, it's very clear why we haven't left him since.