Any takers for guessing what I didn't do during those years of piano and tap lessons? I didn't practice at 11 o'clock at night...ever...unlike our neighbors upstairs! Are you kidding me? Seriously, I really do think there is a much more suitable time of day to practice Chopsticks and whatever tap moves were going on up there overandoverandoverandover last night. Ugh!
Anyway, on to other topics.
We received excellent news yesterday and I can't believe I forgot to pass it on. Our driver, Pasha, told us that he will be able to pick up Ilya's adoption decree Monday evening instead of Tuesday morning, which is a huge obstacle out of the way a day earlier than we thought. Nothing in the adoption can move forward now without that adoption decree, so we are thrilled we'll have it on Monday. That means that Tuesday we will head first to the vital statistics office for the birth certificate, swing by Ilya's orphanage to PICK HIM UP, and then head to the passport office to get his Russian passport. It may not sound like much, but it's about a 2.5 hr drive from vital statistics to the passport office so it will be a long day for our little guy. The trade off is that Tuesday will be our first official night together as a family! Wow...it seems so surreal. It hasn't hit me yet that we are so close.
Our visit with Ilya today was, as always, wonderful. He is such a little character and there is no sweeter sound in the world than his giggles, cooing and full out belly laughs. I am so happy we decided to wait out the 10 days in Moscow. I know many families struggle with whether to stay or go home, whether to visit their child during the 10 days or not due to the finances involved, and so many other things that must be considered when planning for either 2 or 3 trips. For us, our decision to stay AND to visit Ilya as often as we have has been the absolute best decision we could have made. We have been able to witness many "firsts" for Ilya that we otherwise would have missed, our bonding has increased dramatically, and we have that many more fond memories we can share with Ilya as he grows up. Not to mention the fact that we have made excellent friendships with Ron, Becky, Keith, Dana & Aaron.
Speaking of our little Moscow crew...we all went out to dinner again tonight. Becky & Keith are leaving tomorrow to begin the wait for their court date, so we wanted to spend one last evening together to wish them well. Their little Peanut is adorable and we are all praying for a quick court date. Susan's suggestions for the donughts and roasted chicken have all been spot on, so we decided to go to Mama's Pasta since Susan raved about it during her trip. I'll sum our dinner up like this: YUM!!!!! Apparently Mama's Pasta is a chain because we didn't go to the same location that Susan did (our didn't have the blue elephant) but it was excellent nonetheless. Thanks Susan!
Before we met everyone for dinner, we went down to the 4th floor of our building to meet a couple who is heading home with their precious daughter tomorrow. They are with a different agency but live about an hour away from us. Yahoo! It turns out they are renting their apartment from the same agency as we are, Best Moscow Apartments, so our apartment manager was kind enough to introduce us all. We have plans to get our kiddos together once we're home & both babies have adjusted to their new surroundings. I can't wait to see them again once we're home!
Please keep Becky, Keith and the new family we met this evening in your prayers for safe and uneventful travels tomorrow.
4 comments:
It sounds like you've had a wonderful week playing with Ilya. He sounds so sweet and I cannot wait to see photos next Tuesday. I know you are ready to pick him up and have him in your arms forever. Walking out of the orphanage is bittersweet. You are sad that you may never see these people who helped you in your adoption, but so excited about your journey you are beginning with your son. Take tons of pictures (like you wouldn't) as we all want to help in your celebration!!
Have a great weekend!
Karyn,
The piano player late at night would make another great chapter in your book. Loved the road sign. I will have to see if I can find out what that means. You guys are almost there! What a journey this must be for you. Pasta Mama's is a chain restaurant. They are all over town, but we have only been to the one on Tverskoi Blvd.
Can't wait to see the Gotcha photos.
I'm glad you've had such wonderful visits with Ilya and that you've gotten to visit him everyday. It sounds like he is doing so well with you all, and I hope he has a great transition! I hope you all enjoy your weekend and look forward to seeing Ilya's pictures after you pick him up! :)
I'm glad you enjoyed Mama's Pasta. I think it is one of Pasha's favorite resturants as we ate there probably four times with him. Plus we ate there on our own a lot. The one we went to is next door to the US Embassy. If you are coming from Novy Arbat, it is on the same side of the street as the Embassy. Go just past the Embassy and it will be on your left (same side as Embassy) and if I remember correctly is a brown 2-3 story building. It has a steakhouse in the same building if I remember right is called Goodmans. People say its very good. Mama's is in the bottom floor of that building which is actually a mall and even has a Hallmark store. Anyway, the blue elephant is on the side entrance to that building.
I digress, it sounds like you made a very wise choice to wait out your 10 days in Russia since you are getting so much time with Ilya. I cannot wait to see pictures of the three of you on gotcha day!
PS, when we stayed at the Loft (same one you stayed at) on trip 2 we had some guy that would stay up all hours of the night playing the same bar song on his piano. His wife would scream at him in Russian, which I'm guessing was her screaming at him to stop playing the piano, and he would just bang harder and play louder.
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