DAY 23...WERE ON OUR WAY HOME

Well we are finally all done. The embassy here in Moscow was a piece of cake we were in and out in an hour. I can't believe how many people were there waiting for their paper work like us. There had to be at least 3 dozen families who were adopting from all areas of Russia. Almost all of them were from the US. Most seemed to be from the south and CA. So their flight home will be even longer then ours. Nobody else was from NY, but we did find out a lot of the got their 10 day waiting period waived. Doesn't look like the two incidents in the US are effecting the process here much at all. The weather has also warmed up here a lot and a lot of the snow is melting, making for sloppy conditions and more slow roads. Oh and as a side note to yesterdays blog we found out the reason Aeroflots flight out of Volgograd was delayed. It was because there was no plane there. Imagine that, we weren't even waiting on a delay, we were waiting on a plane. So now our return flight is changed and after some serious packing tonight we'll be on our way home tomorrow. Looking forward to see everybody. HAPPY AND HEALTH NEW YEAR

DAY 22 PICTURES

DAY 22...LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT...FOR NOW

Well we lucked out this morning. We awoke at 4 AM to only check and find out that again our flight with Aeroflot got canceled until 11:35, again I was ready to bust a nut. So we called our coordinators about getting a car and getting on the road. They got the ball rolling, but in the process one of them found out there was a local airline that was running flights out of Volgograd but not directly into Moscow. They fly to a smaller airport about 15 minutes out side of Moscow. So we said great, better then driving for 16 hours, right, almost! The flight was leaving at 6:15 AM. So we had 45 minutes to get the kids ready, pack, load 2 taxis, get to the airport buy tickets, go to the cash machine(because they don't take credit cards), and go to security and check in...you get the picture now right. So we do all this, we get on the plane were all buckled up beverages in hand waiting to go...and then the announcement comes. THERE WILL BE A DELAY DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY DECIDED TO SWITCH AIRCRAFTS. Ain't that a kick in the ass. So we go back to the lounge and they tell us it will only be 45 minutes, yeh right. Well that turned into a 2:15 hour delay. Now my mind is already calculating and saying shit if we would have been in the car we would have been 5 hours in already, what if we get screwed again. Why the hell didn't I listen to myself. So we tried to amuse the kids during this time. I went with Max to the computer where I showed him pictures of himself on the blog. He got such a kick out of seeing himself that he pissed and shit himself...and where does it spring a leak, all over me. So now I'm in the bathroom trying to rinse the stink out of my sweater and pants (which already stunk because we didn't have time to shower, and we stayed up all night watching them)and guess who comes knocking at the bathroom door. It's Martha telling me that everyone is waiting on me to board the plane. So now I stink like stink, shit, and piss. But ok it really wasn't as bad as all that sounds. The plane was bigger and had even more room in business class. It was already lunch so we had a decent meal. Even though I ate with my fingers since Max slept the whole flight on my lap. As did Alex with Martha. Alex actually slept most of the day so tonight should be fun. We got into Moscow around 11:30 AM. And after an hour and a half ride got started with our paper work with the embassy. We have a nice room with 2 cribs in the Marriott that we stayed in before. We got the kids fed and they got to try ketchup for the first time. A lot of first for everyone today. We also gave the kids our first baths, there first elevator ride (glass), and they got there first plane ride. Oh and Max is such a piss, he like his hat and coat so much he refuses to take them off. He wore them from 5:30 this morning till about 2:30 this afternoon, until we finally bribed him with food. So the kids are asleep now and we finally have a little time to write this. Oh also Moscow is getting a ton of snow and traffic moves slow here. Tomorrow will be a busy day with medical check ups, and then off to the embassy. Hopefully we will be writing tomorrow night that everything is done and we'll be leaving on Sat. Hope to see everyone soon.

DAY 21...WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT CLOSE

Well with that tone you know it must be me, Hugo writing again. Well like usual it almost worked out perfect today. We got all our Russian paper work done. The children have there birth certificates, they have travel visas and Russian passports. Martha went to the children's home with Elena and picked up the boys and came back. Thank god I wasn't there, we know what a hard ass I am, everyone was an emotional mess saying goodbye to the children they've taken care of and loved almost as there own, and Martha taking home (temporary home) her new boys. I wish I had pictures to post of it but thank god they came out to dark for now. Oh, back to the rest of the story. Thanks to mother nature and her foggy day our flight got canceled to 7:10 am tomorrow and there is supposed to be snow tonight into tomorrow morning, so the chances are it will be canceled again. But hook nook or crook we are getting to Moscow tomorrow and if that is the case we have a driver and car lined up for the trip starting in the morning. If things work out good I will try to post around 11:00 am our time, that we've landed in Moscow. But most likely it around 11:00 pm tomorrow night that we just pulled in. Right now they are both sleeping together like they've got the world by the balls. And they do. Talk to everyone tomorrow

DAY 20…….IT IS OFFICIAL WE ARE PARENTS!!

We received our adoption certificates today but you know not everything goes as planned. The certificate was not ready until this afternoon and that was not enough time to be able to make it to the passport office in time to all have them processed. So tomorrow will be one crazy day….plus the weather is foggy again and all flights were cancelled today…We are hoping that the passports will be ready at 9:00am and if the Visa’s get done right away we’ll head right to the boy’s and pick them up or Hugo will have stay here in Volgograd to finish up and I will go pick up the boys….Then if the weather is bad we will be driving to Moscow (only 16 hours) LETS HOPE NOT!!
So everyone pray that all goes well tomorrow and we’ll be on our merry way to Moscow.

DAY 19…….WE RECEIVED OUR COURT CERTIFICATE TODAY!!

We now have the court approval and tomorrow we will get the rest of the paper work done to finally to get the boys..If it’s all ready in the morning then we will have the boys with us by tomorrow night…YEAH!!!!!!!! If not we will have to get them on Wednesday and then fly to Moscow Wednesday night!! Today we went shopping at our favorite store, Banana Mama (Like “Toys r Us”) for Max and Alex so they have things in hotel room.
Hugo was in his glory today, we found a store called Metro (like our BJ’s, and Costco) thank god we are close to leaving and he couldn’t buy alot!
It’s actually a wonderful time to be here, they are started to prepare for the New Year’s celebration and the street are jumping with music, amusement rides for the children, and fireworks…But it is very very cold.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and we will keep you posted once we have our final departure date.

DAY 12 thru 18…….LONG LAST THE 10 DAYS ARE OVER!!

We spent the last week at Mhailovka with Max and Alex and had a wonderful time watching them change before our very eyes. Max has actually started to speak English words He says Mama, Papa, Sasha (nickname for Alex), what, clock and the best of all is “Happy New Year” and Alex is just walking all over the place and also saying Mama and Papa. It was wonderful spending Christmas with them. The caretakers were having their “Happy New Year” party and wanted us to stay but we had to get back to Volgograd, they are all wonderful women and very caring.

Now for the recap of the last 7 days…Well at first there really was not much to do except hang out at the hotel and watch TV…and what a joy that is, 2 Russian TV stations, no interenet and no telephone. When we asked for a wake-up call we didn’t realize their wakeup call is a knock on the door. We did finally find a different restaurant to eat at besides the hotel, that is called CAMELOT at 8:30 it turns into a Supper Club with dinner and dancing and it’s probably the only place in this town to hang out. It looks like an old Castle and in one of the dining rooms it actually has a table that looks like King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. They are actually carving the beams and posts, it was a very interesting place. We liked it so much we went there to celebrate Martha’s Birthday and we tasted, maybe more than just tasted the Russian vodka, very powerful stuff!! Hugo found a favorite song called Chitty Chitty Bong Bong! The best is we asked for shrimp, we had to special order larger shrimp for dinner, which was also pretty funny because they were a size smaller then our baby shrimp. They came with the head on them and Hugo actually had them bring out ingredients to make his dinner at the table, bedside’s also having to peel the shrimp at the table.. They probably think these American are crazy!!

DAY 11…….MY HUSBAND AND HIS HEART OF GOLD

Hugo has touched us all in the past with the wonderful things he does, but I wish you were all here to see him in action today!! First we went Christmas shopping for the boys, so I thought!! Yes he shopped for his boys, and every little boy and girl in the baby home. He made sure every little girl and boy had a toy to open on Christmas day, but wait there is no Christmas tree to put the toys under so he made sure each group had a tree..and not just a little tree!! And if you have a tree then you must decorate it so we need lights and garland. Then he made sure each caregiver and director also had gifts to open. Of course the day would not of been complete without an adventure, so four carriages full of stuff later the cashier makes a mistake, and it took 2 supervisors to get it straighten out…Finally 2 hours later we were finally off!! back to the hotel in not 1 but 2 Taxi’s!!
This will truly be a Christmas for us and them to remember!!
We won’t be back for a week, so we will not have access to the internet until we get back to Volgograd…

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!

DAY 10…….2 AMERICANS IN RUSSIA

Off to another excursion. We went to the planetarium, yes the stars the moon and astrology are all the same but 2 hours of listening to it in Russian was just too funny!!!
Then back to the room for our daily lunch…looks great doesn’t it?? And yes It’s me crocheting, I know I know but I had to do something with my time!!! Our only excitement is watching our favorite video called crazy frog!! Here is a link to look at it:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/50028/popcorn_crazy_frog_3d/

We had pizza for dinner tonight, dessert which was strawberries and cream, was more expensive than the whole entire meal…guess they must import the strawberries!!!!
One more day before we off to see our boys again, God only knows what could happen tomorrow!!

DAY 9…….MARTHA FINALLY GETS TO WRITE A POST!!!!

Hugo is napping so I get to update everyone today!! Of course nothing will be as exciting as yesterday’s news. We celebrated last night with our translator and coordinator, drank champagne and of course vodka…pretty funny, they drink shots first then they drink orange juice right after (they even called it a screwdriver!!) But as usual with Hugo, we did of course have another adventure today!! We went grocery shopping and found another mall…We had to buy Toilet paper (they must have a shortage here because we keep having to ask for it and they only give you a roll at a time, we all know that is never enough for you know who!!!)And for $18.00 we bought enough food for Lunch and Dinner. The Mall is very similar to our small malls and very big on women lingerie (yes Hugo was in his glory!!) They have a movie theatre right in the mall and Hugo wanted to go watch King Kong in Russian!!! I told you, always an adventure…thank god they were sold out!! We also went to the pharmacy because we both seem to have gotten Alex’s cold and somehow Hugo talked to the pharmacist and we were able to get antibiotics. How the pharmacists understood him I don’t know!! But leave it to him!!!
So long for now maybe I’ll get another chance to post again!!

DAY 8.....LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN

Well as I'm sure you can guess by now court went great, everybody gave great recommendations to the judge. From the social workers, and the minister of education to the prosecutor, they all felt we should have Max and Alex.................And the judge agreed. So now they are officially Iodices. But our journey isn't over yet. As with all court proceedings in Volgograd we still have to wait 10 days for it to become official official. No one can object or change the ruling, so relatively speaking it's a done deal. We won't officially get them until the 27th or 28th, but at this point there is a shot we might make it home for New Years. In the interim we'll be enjoying our birthdays and Christmas with the boys. We will head back to Mihailovka on Monday and get to spend the rest of the time with the boys. Thanks for everyone's prayers and wishes. Dreams do come true.

SOME EXTRA PICTURES

THE NEW CARPENTER IN THE FAMILY

CRACK IS WACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAY 7......THESE KIDS ARE JUST TOO MUCH

Well we'll only be able to spend half a day with the boy's today since were back to Volgograd this afternoon for court tomorrow. There is a lot of paper work we have to go over to make sure we have no problems in court. When we got to the children's home this morning the care takers told us that Max and Alex cried for us when we left yesterday. I would guess that they realize there is some kind of attachment they have to us. I got to take Max outside again and he is a real ball breaker. There is a cat with no tail that he hisses at and a little dog that he barks at and tries to catch, even when the dog is barking back. Makes me look like an angel.
Martha got Alex to stand and play on the floor while we were outside and the boys got to eat lunch together for the first time today .

DAY 6.....ANOTHER GREAT DAY

Well I forgot to tell everyone yesterday that the government representative signed off on our paper work yesterday, and we found out today that the judge is giving us our court appearance on Thursday 12-15 @ 2PM. This is great news. I also got to take Max outside to play in the snow. He looked like Ralphs brother in the movie A Christmas Story, they wrapped him up so much he couldn't put his arms down. Alex felt better today although he still has a bad chest cold. And we actually got him to stand without crying. They are also now both talking up a storm. Alex is all baby talk (it's the same even in Russian). While Max says some Russian words, and thanks to the care givers now know us as mama and papa.