Left Providence for Moscow via JFK - all flights on time. Arrived Moscow half an hour early. Elena, our interpreter, met us at the airport. We were very tired due to little sleep. After settling in at Courtyard Marriott, we went for walk around town. Quick look at Red Square Kremlin, Bolshoi Theatre and St. Basil's Cathredral - as well as GUM department store. Past government buildings with security armed with uhzi guns. Had dinner at hotel and look forward to a good nights sleep and going to orphanage to meet child tomorrow.

Met with Elena and Sergei in morning about 1030 hours. From there, we went to Ministry of Education to get approval to go to orphanage to meet Andrewski. After filing the correct paperwork and a long drive though Moscow we arrived at orphanage. There we met doctors and staff responsible to children. To our surprise, a very cute little boy came through the door - very curious to see what was going on! with him sitting him on Lisas lap we were able to ask about his habits - eating, sleeping, likes and dislikes. We watched him gulp down a teacup full of water to the very last drop. After that, we were able to take him to a play area where we were able to take many photos and watch him mechanically empty a bag of toys and replace them and repeat process several times - he seemed very happy, smiling and laughing and appeared to enjoy our company. We were able to spend about an hour with him by ourselves. He particlularly liked the photo album we had brought for him (surprisingly more than the toy that we brought!) We could see he was tired - he has a mild respiratory problem - and we left him to take a nap. It was a long drive back to hotel through Moscow rush hour traffic. We both can't wait to see him again tomorrow and have organized to visit in the morning. We are both very happy on todays events!

For those of you who are not familiar with the adoption process here is a summary of what will be happening in the next few months. We will make 3 trips to Moscow. On the first trip, which is the end of the month.....we will meet the child at the orphanage, have an International Adoption doctor come with us to the orphanage to review medical records and examine the child, and then we will sign papers to formally accept the child. On the second trip, which is usually about 8 weeks after the first trip, we will go to court. After the court date we will return home and about 3 1/2 weeks later return to Russia to take the child home. Why can't we just take the child home after court? That would make a lot of sense.....but it is not the way things work in Russia.......there is SO much paperwork involved! So, we go with the flow and hope that everything goes smoothly.

We have good news!
We will be leaving for Moscow at the end of the month - we have a referral for a little boy. The last few days have been spent organizing plane reservations, travel visas, hotel accomodations, etc.....We will spend one week in Moscow and can't wait to visit the orphanage to meet "our Moscow baby" as well as take in some culture. Hopefully, we will be able to do some Christmas shopping as well. There is a great thread on the FRUA board that is "all about shopping" and I have been taking detailed notes. We will keep you posted on any new developments.....that's all for now!

Good Morning!
Today I am working upstairs in the attic/loft area.......Scott has finished my cedar closet so now I have to fill it with our out of season clothes. This has also led to the task of cleaning out and organizing other areas. I don't know where to begin....I have Christmas "stuff", wedding "stuff" (from 3 years ago!)....shoe boxes, shopping bags, photo albums, travel bags, etc......
I have, however, thrown out a few things. Fortunately, Scott is better at parting with things than I am - so if I have a question or need convincing to get rid of something I just ask him!
I want to get this completed before I start bringing baby items home. That will be the fun part - decorating the bedroom! We have a meeting with our adoption agency on Tuesday - it will be the first time we meet them in person - they are located outside of Boston, Mass. We are looking forward to it and will hopefully have some news to share soon. I have had some people ask if they could add our blog to their blog roll - by all means- we are happy to share our experience. I enjoy reading all the other blogs as well!
Have a great weekend!

Scott is home! I picked him up at the airport last night at 11:30 ......he has been working in Tortola, BVI for the past few weeks. He has been complaining about how hot it was but I have no sympathy for him as it is very chilly here in Newport. It's so nice to have him home! I had dinner on Thursday with my friend Debbie. We ate at a restaurant called "22 Bowens" - it was a nice change of pace because with Scott away I have been having "healthy choice" frozen dinners most nights. I told her about the pending adoption for the first time and she was thrilled to hear the news! I am going to call to our agency on Monday so hopefully will have news to report sometime this week. Enjoy the weekend!