Monday, March 28, 2011

First Visit!

Today was an AMAZING day!!! We finally met our son & holding him for the first time was just like holding our 3 biological kids for the first time. He is definitely ours & we are in LOVE:) When we first got to the orphanage, we met with the director. She asked us some questions about why we wanted another child when we all ready have 3 & don't have involuntary infertility problems. We weren't expecting that & were a little nervous, but we answered everything honestly & that seemed to be fine. Our facilitator & translator were there pulling for us & got our answers across very well. The language barrier is so frustrating, but we're getting used to it! We brought a HUGE suitcase full of donations for the orphanage which she seemed to be pleased with. It was totally voluntary on our part & were able to do this thanks to some friends who donated all of it to us. After that, we went upstairs & met with the orphanage doctor. She went over his medical file & was VERY thorough. That was so great & we only had a few questions for her. Right after she left another caregiver brought our son into the room. She brought him straight to us & he came right to me. The poor guy was shaking & I was in tears. Andrew got the whole thing on video & we got some great pictures which we cannot post at this point. We are strangers to him & were in an unfamiliar room to him. Adoptive families get to have visitation in the music room for the older children. He was very clean & had just had lunch. Anyway, he was okay with me for a few minutes & then I handed him to daddy. He was okay for a minute & then the crying started. We COMPLETELY expected that. They are not used to men around there, he is teething, & getting over a cold. So, I took him back & got him to calm down. We had brought some toys & a teddy bear for him to play with on our visits. He LOVED the bear, but unfortunately we can't leave it there with him because they don't allow stuffed animals (germs). He cried on & off for the first half hour we were with him, & then we figured out he likes to have his feet tickled :) That got him laughing & he let daddy hold him again. We played for awhile longer & then we could tell he was getting sleepy. I rocked him to sleep in my arms & then about 10 minutes later they came in & took him from me for naptime. That KILLED me. We had bonded a little bit in that short time. I am his mom & I wanted to hold him longer while he slept...but they are still in charge & our time was up for today. We get to go back tomorrow afternoon & Wednesday for 2 hour visits. We are hoping he is a little more comfortable with us tomorrow. After we left the orphanage we went to the Ministry of Education office for our appointment. We were supposed to go there first to sign papers & get permission to go to the orphange, but the director had an unexpected meeting that afternoon with an important person & let us go the orphanage first :) She was really nice & friendly. She really seemed to like us & thanked us several times for adopting from there. We could tell she really wants to help these children find families. This meeting was much more casual than our meeting at the orphanage & we were more comfortable at this point with the questions we have to answer. So, that was what happened today & we are happy to be moving forward :) Thank you all for praying & for your support!! We would not be at this point without you!! We've been able to talk to the kids on skype two times since we've been here & are sooooo grateful they are in good hands. The MOE lady was VERY impressed that we have such a great support system & that you all are willing to take care of our three kids. Thank you all again for taking care of our kids while we are in Russia trying to get our other kid home!! We'll give an update tomorrow on how our 2nd visit goes. Keep praying us through this....we come home on Friday & then have SO much to do when we get home to prepare for trip #2. Love from Russia, Andrew & Charity

3 comments:

  1. Yayyyyyy!!! We're so excited for your guys!
    Glad everything went so well.

    We will continue praying for you.

    Steve and Joy

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  2. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! I am soooooo happy things went so well-- he is yours!!! Oh My Goodness!!!! I am just so happy for you guys and I am over the moon that he was so comfy with you. We are praying for you and waiting on pins and needles for the updates.

    Big hugs!!!!

    Christy :)

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  3. It sounds like a great visit and can't wait to hear about the rest of the visits through your blog in the next few days. Can't wait to hear all about it when you get home.

    Love in Christ, Nena

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