We are home!
After an exhausting plane ride - we arrived at JFK on Saturday March 17th! The last 2 weeks have been very busy as we continue to childproof our home and get to know the new member of our family - 2 1/2 year old Andrew. It is quite an adjustment for the little guy but he is doing well and everday gets better and better. Fortunately, the weather has been pleasant so we go for a lot of walks and visits to the park. We took a trip to Babies R Us and purchased a new stroller as the umbrella stroller is not conducive to the cobblestone streets of Newport. We are now working on his nap and bedtime schedule -sometimes this can be quite a challenge!
Well, have to sign off....someone is waking up from his nap :)

Friday 16 March
Today started off early as usual. Andrew wakes up at approx 0630. He wakes up to some very bleary eyed parents due to his restless sleep and infrequent naps. He heads straight to the kitchen, climbs up into his chair and ties his bib on - I guess this means he's hungry. Meanwhile Scott is preparing his porridge and I am getting his milk. He is stumpy after breakfast and it is a beautiful spring day so we decide to go for a walk. We went to the Red square which is very quiet and let him run around. All of the gold on the top of the buildings were sparkling from the sun. After that, we decided to make one last visit to Yelseevs food market and then head back to the apartement for lunch. Andrew gobbled up his lunch and then we prepared for Elena to pick us up for our appointment at the US embassy. There were many other families at the embassy - all of the children were quiet and well behaved except for one - a 2/12 year old boy named Andrew :) (1/3 Russian, 1/3 Aussie and 1/3 American)! Needless to say the interview went quickly! So we now officially have his Russian passport and everything is signed and sealed. Yippee! We went for one final walk through the Red Square to see our little sputnik orbit the square one more time. Time to go back to the apartment to have dinner and pack as we leave Russia tomorrow morning for home.

Thursday 15 March
Andrew woke up at around 6:45 am - after a restless night sleep. Obviously he was still not comfortable in his new surroundings. One of us had to lay down with him from about 3 in the morning. Scott made oatmeal and toast for breakfast. Next, it was nappy change and bath time for Andrew. We have had some success on the potty and have learned that the potty chair that they use in the orphanage and fortunately there is one in the apartment is made by baby bjorn and sold for only 9.99 "the little potty". We plan on buying one as soon as we return home. It was obvious that when he had baths they were most likely bird baths as he seemed afraid of the large bath tub that loomed before him. While standing in the tub we could see the uncertain look upon his face when standing ankle deep in water, so, Scott did what any father would do, and got in the tub with him. This seemed to put him at ease and it was quite amusing for all of us. After a quick rubidedub we threw some new clobber on him and he played with his toys. Elena arrive at 0930 hours, with Lisa, they completed some paperwork for the next few days appointments. Andrew had fallen asleep, so Scott stayed with him as Elena and Lisa went to pick up his passport. Next, we all went to the Izmaylovo market to do some last minute shopping. Andrew was unhappy as lunchtime approached so we had to cut it short and head back to the apartment. After lunch it was clear that he wasn't going to sleep, and the sun was starting to shine, so we decided to return to the Red Square for some physical activity and more shopping. He ran around the cobbles like there was no tomorrow with a giant smile on his face. Once returned to his stroller, he immediately dozed off :) - we took this opportunity to have a coffee and a beer. We then returned to the apartment and knocked up some dinner of roast pork, potatoes, peas and carrots (we don't think he likes peas or carrots). His treat for the night was a quarter of a chocolate marshmallow cookie (he did like that and was snooping aroun the table for more). It was a little easier getting him to quiet down for the night although it was about 9:30 before he was finally asleep. Last appointment is tomorrow - an interview at the US embassy. Our last official appointment in Russia!

Wednesday 14 March
Elena and Alex (our driver for the day) picked us up at 0900 hours. After we got some official business out of the way we stopped to buy a cake for the orphanage staff and flowers for the orphanage doctor/director. When we arrived at the orphanage we quickly changed Andrews clothes as we were running late for his medical appointment. Andrew seemed a bit in awe as we travelled in the car. We arrived at the pediatric hospital and Andrew was given a clean bill of health. We were dropped off at the apartment and had some lunch. He was too distracted and excited with his new surroundings to take a nap so we put him in the stroller and went for a walk. We took him to the Red Square and let him run free (possibly for the first time in his life) - I've never seen a bigger smile as he ran around the square. Next, we took a walk through Gym (Gum) shopping mecca. We stopped for a coffe and bought Andrew a bowl of vanilla ice cream - the look on his face taking his first mouthful was priceless! We returned to the apartment for some quiet time (or not so quiet time) before dinner. Scott made us some chicken, potatoes, carrots and cabbage - which we all enjoyed. Bedtime was a bit of a challenge - we thought he would be tired due to missing his nap but that was not the case (at this stage we were looking for a 1-800 number for suggestions :). It took over an hour, but soon he was sleeping soundly. Thank goodness. Good night to all. We love our little boy, he is Gods gift to us.

Tuesday 13 March

We woke up to an overcast day in Moscow. Unfortunately, we will have to wait until Wednesday to pick up Andrew from the orphanage , so today we had a day off. Scott made us a lovely breakfast and then we mapped out our plan for the day. We decided to visit the Lenin Mausoleum first - for some reason the Red Square was blocked off but the security guard pointed us in the right direction. Upon entering the mausoleum it was very dark and security was there to tell us which way to go. It was very eerie to think about how long he has been there and open for viewing. He was in the center of a large room in a coffin draped in red fabric. It took about 2-3 minutes to walk through. Upon exiting we were directed to a memorial area of former politicians and leaders of the communist era.
Our next stop was to see the Diamond fund. This is a dazzling display of diamonds, gold and silver. The diamonds nearly blinding at the first sight. We also took another tour of the Armory museum, we had done this as part of a tour on a previous trip, but wanted to spend some more time on our own. It wasn't very crowded so it was nice to leisurly view the Faberge eggs, gowns, carriages and armour.
We returned to the hotel for lunch and made plans for the afternoon. We wanted to find the Izmaylovo market so we decided to take the metro - oops....we went one metro station too many and after wandering around the wrong area (we did find a large produce/meat market which Scott enjoyed) we decided to head back to the apartment. That was when we realized what we had done....so back on the Metro. We found the market but by this time they were closing for the day. We will see how things go in the next few days and possibly return with Andrew.
It was great to return to the apartment and relax. Scott made us a delicious roast pork dinner with potatoes, carrots and cabbage. We went to sleep (or at least tried to sleep) as Elena will be picking us up at 0900 hours sharp.

Monday 12 March
Scott woke me up at 0800 hours....I was finally in a deep sleep! Elena picked us up at 10:00 - our first stop was to make copies of our passports - the first place we went to charged .20 cents per copy - Elena said "no deal" and we went down the street in search of a better price. We were in luck, we found a place that charged only .10 cents a copy. Next stop, passport agency to sign papers for Andrews passport (his passport photo is sooo cute!). We then headed to the orphanage. When we found his group, he appeared - happy and with a small wound to his upper left cheek (something about a fall while playing) - they put some green solution on it which must be the Russian equivalent to mercurichrome (?spelling). It was lunchtime, so we waited while he had his lunch of ground beef and potatoes. We were able to play with him for about a half hour then it was time for his nap. It was hard to leave, but just knowing that he will be leaving with us soon is a good feeling. From the orphanage, we returned to the apartment for lunch. Next, we visited St. Basils Cathedral. It is obviously very old, amazing brick work and artistry. From there, we went to the Metropol Hotel to see the dining room where Scotts dad ate during his stay a few years ago. It was very beautiful! We stopped for a glass of wine on our way back to the apartment and met a Canadian guy who is now a pro hockey player in Russia. We had a nice conversation with both he and his girlfriend. We decided to go out for dinner, because soon we would have Andrew might not be able to get out as much. We found a great Italian restaurant near our apartment "Gusto" www.gusto-moscow.ru I think is there website. The food was very good and reasonably priced. From there we went next door to the Posh cafe for coffee and dessert. Then home to sleep!

Saturday, 10 March

Due to spring break, we had difficulty with flights so we rented a car to get to JFK (which is about 3 1/2 hours from Newport). We had a pretty smooth trip although 95S can be a bit of a nightmare! I have not driven to NYC in some time and was amazed that you cannot go more than 5 miles without passing a McDonalds restaurant! We arrived at JFK on schedule, checked in, purchased magazines, etc....
The flight was fully booked. Aeroflot is certainly a no frills airline but everyone was nice and the food was fine. There were no movies on the plane, but we had brought a portable DVD player so had our own entertainment. We arrived in Moscow an hour late due to the backlog of planes leaving JFK. The weather in Moscow was warmer than Newport - about 50 F. Our driver took us to our apartment where Andrei's rep (Peace travel) met us. We were pleased to find a roomy apartment with all of the comforts of home. After settling in, we took a walk down Tverskaya to the grocery store. For the price of breakfast at a major hotel we purchased enough food and beverage for a week! We returned to the hotel where Scott made some yummy snacks. I drifted off to sleep while Scott familiarized himself with the satellite TV stations. Due to the time change, we both woke up at about 1:00 am, watched part of a movie and went back to sleep.

Good morning,
Scott and I have arrived safely in Moscow. I have not posted in a while, so I am going to do some backtracking.
The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind......finishing up projects at work in preparation for my leave of absense and, of course, making travel arrangements. There was some fun involved - I had 2 baby showers! At work, my coworkers surprised me (last minute meeting) and we had a lovely lunch complete with a cake from the Mad Hatter bakery. Andrew received some great gifts (books, clothes, games, puzzles) a little bit of everything.
I also went for dinner with the my friends from the ballet studio. After class, we went downstairs to "Yesterdays" for dinner and they too had lots of very nice gifts for Andrew.
Thank you to everyone!

24 February 2007

Since our return from Moscow we have been busy making plans for our next (and last trip)! Flights were a little difficult because it will be during "spring break" - not a problem for our flight to Moscow - but difficult for the connecting flights. Thankfully, we were able to get a direct flight from JFK to Moscow on Aeroflot (russian airline). We will be in Moscow for one week, returning home on St. Patrick's Day. We have also decided to rent an apartment rather than stay in a hotel. The cost is less and we have a full kitchen, washer/dryer, and even a computer. The apartment is near the Red Square which is a great location. Scott is looking forward to another visit to the mansion style grocery store "Yeliseev's Food Hall" on Tverskaya Street as well. It will be really nice to be able to prepare our own meals.
It is so exciting to finally be able to bring Andrew home!

Happy belated birthday to Bruce!

14 February 2007
It's official! We just returned to the hotel after our court appearance. Thankfully everything went as planned.....we are now officially parents to Andrew Hale Williams :) Unfortunately, we are not able to see him today because of his nap schedule and the availability of our translater Elena. We will be returning to Moscow mid March to take him home.
At the court hearing, the orphanage director gave us his Russian Orthodox Christian baptismal certificate - we will also ask for the cross that was given to him at the baptism on our next visit.
Now we are off to see some more underground rail stations and then to the Kremlin ballet tonight. It will be an early night as our driver will be picking us up at 0430 hours for our flight to Paris, and then on to Boston. Hope the weather cooperates with our travel plans!
We are both very excited and consider ourselves very lucky - what a great Valentine's day gift!
Love to all,
Scott and Lisa