The final post is here

Well everyone, the time has come.

This is the actual 100th post, and a symbol that one journey is finished and another is beginning!
I can't leave this blog, though, without telling you all what a very rich plan God has revealed in all of this. One of my friends has a great quote on her website:

"We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." -- C.S. Lewis (Thanks, Em)

Isn't that just about right? There is a lot of suffering and a lot of joy in life. And it's all so unpredictable. Without the Bible putting together the pieces for me - showing me how this all fits together, as confusing as it is - I would be lost. But instead I am found, knowing that God is trustworthy because he came down in my lostness and showed me a glimpse of what he was doing. It involves Jesus. Maybe this sounds a little cryptic, but if you are interested, just ask and you know I will be eager to talk. I would be a strange friend indeed who didn't long for her friends to get this same glimpse.

We have started a new blog to chronicle the continuing journey of our lives with Meredith. You can find it at:

www.magnificentmeredith.blogspot.com

(The explanation for the blog title is on that blog, in the sidebar on the right.)

There are more pics there, but here's another for your enjoyment! She is enjoying her three gifts from Grandma and Grandpa -- a special bracelet (given to Grandma when she was a baby), a music box with duckies that sings "Singin' in the Rain", and a "tag blanket" (because she loves the tags on everything!).


God bless you, my dear friends. It has been a wild ride and we thank you for sharing it with us.

Sarah and Rob

Videos of our Multi-Talented Daughter

And now what you've been waiting for - demonstrations of Meredith's incredible talent. Here are a couple of activities she has mastered. The ball activity is after much practice - it did not work like this the first week we were doing it with her :) The other one...well, that's a new discovery Rob and I each made independently this week. Who knows how long she's had that up her sleeve!

(Note to those not familiar with it: on the bottom of the YouTube windows below, the second button from the right will make the video full-screen if you want)

Meredith and the Ball



Meredith's Special Talent

life at home after the first shots

Meredith had her first pediatrician appointment on Tuesday morning. The good news is, the doctor thinks she is doing very well for a baby born about 3 months early. She clocks in at the 10-15th percentile for height and weight for her preemie-adjusted age of 9 months. This is not bad at all, especially since living in a baby home in Russia usually slows growth relative to living in a home with parents. So she is doing well. The only specialist we will probably see is an opthalmalogist, since her eyes will likely need some help due to her extreme prematurity (apparently they're one of the later things to develop in the womb, and early exposure to oxygen isn't good for them). As far as we can tell, her sight is very functional and she makes eye contact a lot, so we are hopeful that there won't be any extreme issues. However, it is possible she would start wearing glasses at a young age due to likely farsightedness. Good thing little tyke glasses are so cute!

The end of the doctor appointment was not so fun, as Meredith had to get 3 shots and a finger poke. She did what any kid would do and screamed her head off :( She calmed down OK afterward. But then she had the (apparently common) experience of a fever and irritability (soreness maybe?) for the next two days. A little longer than we expected, and it wasn't fun for anyone including Meredith. What happens when a little girl who used to take 3 two-hour naps instead takes - with considerable effort on her parents' part - 3 half-hour naps? Cranky, cranky, cranky! She was pretty exhausting all day Tuesday and Wednesday and part of Thursday.

Yesterday (Friday) I went back to work - without Meredith - for about 5 hours. I actually enjoyed it a lot - it was a good reminder that I have multiple callings in my life. I was also happy to leave her with Rob, both because I think their bonding is equally important and, honestly, because she had been so difficult the previous few days when I was with her almost all day. Also, Rob and I made a deal that whoever is going to work has the privilege of trying to sleep if Meredith wakes up at 3 in the morning and needs help getting back to sleep (which she does pretty much every night) since the person staying home can presumably get in a nap during one of Meredith's naps (again, HA!). So what do you suppose I heard when I got home at 1:30 yesterday afternoon?

Me: So Rob, how was it?

Rob: It was great! She was up from 3:00 to 3:30, but then she slept until 8:00 and was so happy! She didn't cry with a diaper change, didn't whine when I put the bib on her (note: unprecedented), ate lots of her breakfast, and then she was all cheerful and talkative and we played for a while and then she started getting tired so I brought her in for a nap at 10:30 and she woke up at 1:00 and just had her lunch. And now she's here just playing happily.

Me: (moment of silence...) You stink!

Of course, I was happy that she was doing better and so I don't begrudge Rob his great day with her. Hopefully today will be great too - we are heading to an adoption group picnic at Blue Springs Park. I will be sure to get a photo of Meredith in her amazingly adorable bathing suit. You really won't believe how cute she is! We are so excited to finally end our spell as the eternally "expecting" adoptive parents in the group - we've been attending for 2 years and very often were the only people at the meetings without kids. Luckily, we've made such good friends there and learned so much that we managed to keep attending all that time. It's a great group, with several types of adoption situations - international, domestic, interracial, foster-to-adopt, you name it. We are glad that Meredith will have other friends who are adopted so that she does not feel like she is unusual in her situation growing up adopted.

I have some videos I want to post but I will need Rob to help with that, so for now you get a few more photos. Our friend Nate took some amazing shots the other night.

enjoying life at home

I don't have time to write anything tonight, but wanted to post a few pics for you to enjoy!

Trying out the new high chair - it's a hit! Well, as long as she has a spoon to play with.


Trying out the snail rocker - not so sure about it yet....we'll try again later!



Dressed for our first day all together at church.


Asleep. Notice the effectiveness of the crib bumper.

Home Safe and Sound!

We are home and life is good! And actually this doesn't have to be my last post because my friend Matthew discovered that the blog "post counter" that I saw was not quite right - it apparently included a couple of old drafts that were never posted, so I have a few more to go before I reach 100.

Before anything else, I forgot to mention something about the links on the last post. Rob and I noticed when we looked at them that they seemed to emphasize "the mother". If you look at it, please substitute "the parents" there. We are both working hard on bonding well with her.

Our flight from Moscow to Atlanta was not too bad - it was about 11 hours. In the first hour and half on the plane, Meredith got her diaper changed and ate some lunch, and then slept for 2 hours. Wow! We figured this would be a breeze if she kept this up. Well, she didn't. But it was okay...there was just no sleeping again until about an hour and a half before the flight landed. (Sleeping for her that is... for us?... ha!). During the latter part of the flight, she started getting pretty cranky because she was tired and she couldn't quite fall asleep. We were next to the bathroom, which was great for the 7 or 8 diaper changes we needed to do (they actually had a very decent fold-out changing table), and nice because it was near the galley where we could walk a bit. But of course it was also not so nice, because obviously there was a lot of foot traffic, and because the sound of the flushing toilet was unnerving for our sweet girl. It didn't quite make her cry but it seemed to startle her pretty regularly.

Our pattern of trying to get Meredith to sleep went something like this....she's clearly tired, so we rock her or carry her around a big, she starts sort of falling asleep, but then keeps whining and can't seem to calm down all the way. We take a sniff and smell a wet diaper, so we change her diaper. Now she'll surely fall asleep. But then after a while, when she still isn't sleeping, we think, hey, she'd probably like something to eat. So we give her a bottle of formula, which she loves. Surely she'll fall asleep. A little while later, still no sleep, but what do you think? We smell pee again. Basically, we created a cycle by which the twin comforts of feeding and diaper changing were showing their relationship very clearly! But aside from some whining it wasn't too bad - and she made a couple of friends on the plane. One old Russian lady would talk to her when she walked by and one older man would give her a finger to grab. We were also blessed that the guy in the seat next to us (no, we didn't get all three in the middle row) was a young guy - probably our age - who is Russian but spoke English really well and told us he has a 3 year old and that Meredith's age is a good age for flying. He started making faces at her and she was delighted! The flight attendants were also crazy about her, and one of them would always whisper to me if she was delivering drinks and saw that Meredith was sleeping on me. (It wouldn't really have mattered - when she's actually asleep, voices of reasonable volume don't usually wake her).

We've discovered that there are many ways in which Meredith's adoption comes up early in conversation. People say "how old is she?" and we say "she just turned one" and they look a little confused because she's so small. So we say "she was a preemie" and that usually handles it somewhat. But after I told the flight attendant that she had just turned one, she said to Meredith "Did you have a nice birthday? Did you celebrate? I bet you had a cake!" and I just couldn't take it so I said, "Well, we don't really know, we actually didn't have her yet - we just adopted her 8 days ago." Then she was all the more excited - I heard her telling the other flight attendants and everything! So even if adoption comes up pretty often, I don't mind because people are usually really supportive. I think the weird thing that comes up pretty regularly, though, is people then telling Meredith how lucky she is - good gracious, do they not realize how lucky WE are? People sometimes think we are selfless orphan rescuers rather than people who longed to be parents. So I say, "We are all really blessed to be a family."

Our landing in Atlanta was uneventful, but the time it took to get through immigration - which involved a special separate stop for turning in adoption documents - brought us extremely close to missing our plane. Good thing that Meredith likes the stroller and doesn't mind a fast ride because Rob took off with her at full speed to try to catch the plane for us. And he did! They were just about to close the door. Phew! God's grace to some weary travelers.

We were met at the airport by a few very close friends, and then met at home by two more who had a hot meal ready for us. So wonderful!!! And they had bought us milk and juice for the morning too! We ate our dinner after feeding Meredith and laying her on a blanket on the dining room floor (didn't want to put her in a strange crib without us there yet). When I picked her up to bring her to bed (we have a co-sleeper bed that sits right next to our bed) I had never felt her little body so completely limp. She was exhausted! Not a peep - she just kept sleeping. We all were in bed by a little after 10:00. Around 3:30 Meredith woke up and we brought her in bed with us and played (to the extent we could, half asleep!) and gave her a bottle. A little after 4:00 she was drowsy again, thank goodness, so we laid her back down. Then we all woke up at 10:00 this morning. Wow! What a great night that was. Meredith tried out her new high chair for her morning kasha (oatmeal) and then we played for a couple of hours before putting her down for a nap around 12:30. She is being an absolute angel!

Photos will be forthcoming - just wanted you all to know we are home and doing wonderfully well.

the penultimate post!

Rob recently pointed out that this blog keeps track of how many posts I have made. There have been 98 so far. We've decided that it would be perfect for us to end the blog at 100 posts and replace it with a regular baby blog about daily life with Meredith, since the "Hamersma Adoption" will be complete!

That means I've got this post, and then one more after we get home to let you know that we got there safely.

I want to use this post for something important, and that is to provide a couple of links to our family and friends regarding the transition that Meredith is making into our family. In the psychology literature this is called "attachment" and for most babies it is a natural process in which they learn very early on that their parents will always meet their needs. This allows for healthy brain development - especially emotional development. They learn that there are a couple of particular people who are "theirs" and it allows them to feel safe as they make discoveries in their world. When a child hasn't had this experience early on with her parents (or any parents) she usually has some catching up to do, which can mean that adoptive parents need to provide a more intense nurturing experience than might be typical of a child her age and need to be somewhat "jealous" of her attention. It can appear to others like spoiling or coddling, but it's an essential step in building those bonds that every parent and child need to have.

Rob and I found a nice website with some helpful ideas and info for friends and family related to attachment. We hope that Meredith will have a smooth path of bonding with us and won't run into the problems that this website in some ways anticipates - but that is really the key: anticipation. We want to make wise decisions early to prevent later regrets. This will mean things like carrying her around, feeding her, diapering her, and comforting her when she's crying need to be exclusive Mommy and Daddy territory (sorry for all of those longing to change a diaper). The most helpful seem to be these two pages:

Sample Letter to Friends and Family

Dos and Don'ts for Friends and Family

There are other interesting links in the left panel on the website if you find yourself fascinated. We haven't checked them all out but the site seems pretty good and corresponds to the more detailed reading we have done on this topic.

We can't wait to leave tomorrow for home! Please pray for a safe and peaceful (?) journey for us on the long flight from Moscow to Atlanta and the shorter one from there to Gainesville. We'll post again when we are home and awake (in other words, not right away!).

out and about - a little bit

Our time in Moscow has not involved a lot of activity outside our apartment since we are trying to keep Meredith fairly on schedule with her usual eating and sleeping habits.

On Saturday, we tried something a little different. I wrote a journal entry about it (a journal I am intending to put into a baby/memory book for her, so it is written in that style) and I'll post that here for your enjoyment. Sorry, we didn't take pictures (but there are others below taken on other days):

***

"Today we didn't have any jobs to do, so we could have stayed at the apartment all day if we had wanted to. But Mommy and Daddy thought it would be nice to go out for lunch and do a little shopping. So after your first nap was done at 10 am, we started getting ready to go out. It took longer than we expected for us to both get ready, plus change your diaper and feed you and get you dressed. We didn't leave until about 11:30! We knew you would usually take a nap at 12:00 but we thought we would put you in the stroller and see if you fell asleep there. We went to lunch and ate blinis (pancakes stuffed with filling like ham and cheese, or apples and caramel) and you didn't seem to mind at all. Since you were not fussy, we decided to do some shopping on Arbat street. We got a present for a friend and a free matrushka rattle for you, from a nice lady at one of the shops. She really liked you a lot!

As we walked home, you were falling asleep in your stroller and so we though you were ready for a nap. But when you got home, you were just cranky! We changed your diaper and fed you, but you were still unhappy that we had kept you out until almost 2:00. We finally got you down for a nap, but you didn't sleep well and you woke back up in 1/2 hour crying and crying! Daddy and I took turns trying to play with you and feed you but nothing would cheer you up. So Daddy decided to bring you outside to the park to see if you liked that better. You did stop crying, and you went on the swing with Daddy, but you still weren't very cheerful. We felt bad that we had kept you out too long after lunch because now you were overtired! We kept trying to get you to sleep again because you were rubbing your eyes, but again you only slept for a very short while and you woke up crying again. We found that you wanted some yogurt and formula, so then you felt a little better.

It was getting close to nighttime and we started trying to sing to you to help you fall asleep for the night. First, I sang some scales, and then we sang some children's songs. Finally we tried "Sing, Sing a Song" and put you in your crib. We though you were about to fall asleep, but then NO!

You started crying again. We put on some lullabye music and also put some medicine in your mouth to help with your new teeth hurting as they grow in. After a long time of carrying you and rocking you, you finally decided it was time for bed! All of us were very tired.

Mommy and Daddy decided that they would not mess with your schedule again for a long time."

***

So if the pictures only show a sweet, smiley, compliant girl, it's only because we don't have the inclination to grab the camera during the wailing :) That was one rough day. Unfortunately, we will be messing with the schedule big-time by flying her to the US for 8 hours of jetlag! We ended up being unable to arrange to come home early, not because of anything with paperwork but because the plane was simply full. So we'll be heading out (and arriving home) on Thursday July 3. Only a couple more days here! We're ready to stop living out of suitcases after over 3 weeks away from home.

We did much better on the naps/outings yesterday. We wanted to get out once, but we planned ahead so that the moment she awoke from her nap, we were already completely ready and then got her ready like clockwork. Too bad it was sprinkling out - but we could not be stopped. We wanted to go to the restaurant a friend had recommended called "MY MY" (prounounced MOO MOO) - it has a cow theme and is cafeteria style so you just point to what you want (Russian style food). We put the rain shield on Meredith's stroller and off we went. Here are a couple of pics - with a new camera that we got (Samsung S760, which was not much more expensive here than in the US - we like it so far, as a very basic, small digital camera for me to carry around with me -- Rob will probably try to get the other one fixed too when we get home).

Notice that we stopped at Starbucks - a guilty pleasure at $7 for a Mocha. It's the only Starbucks drink I've had this trip though.


This is a picture of us at Moo Moo. It is funnier if you click on it to get the larger size and can see Meredith's expression. Please comment with your thoughts on the perfect caption for it! My candidate is: "I refuse to be a part of this picture". For the foodies out there, I'm eating some kind of fried mushroom and potato ravioli served with sour cream, and drinking "dried fruit compote" which has dried fruit on the bottom of the glass that looks pretty yucky.


Here are another couple of cute picks of a feeding session (we do formula for 2 meals a day and food for the other 3). The first one is the actual feeding and the second is the burping - she's generally pretty happy to be burped. In fact, Rob figured out that she also seems to like being patted rather than rubbed when she's trying to fall asleep or calm down.



And I can't resist putting this picture in. It is in my favorite sleeper outfit that we got for her. She likes to spread herself out when she's asleep, filling up as much space as possible with her little bitty body. What a cutie.

brace yourself for the cutest video ever!

As I noted before, the upside of our digital camera being on the fritz is that we have had to be more creative and use our webcam to capture footage of Meredith. We have moved from still shots to video now. Rob put the camera on the side of the crib and had a little conversation with our girl, in which she was amazingly cooperative with him! (I think it's worth mentioning that it actually took a half hour to get her down for her nap after her apparent compliance here.)

Enjoy!

finally, the backache I've been waiting for!

I had a "to-do" list for our adoption - things to do before this second trip. One of them was "work out upper body." I bet you can guess whether I did that - hah! Well, the Sarah who made that list knew what she was talking about. The Sarah who ignored that item has been lugging around 14 pounds of pure sugar for the last three days and she can feel it! But you don't need to ask if it's worth it :)

Tonight is our third night with Meredith, and our third location. The first night we were still in Yaroslavl at our hotel. Then we took a van to Moscow that we had all to ourselves - there were two bench seats in the van and zero working seat belts :) Gotta love it. So we just put Meredith in her car seat, rear facing, and we both sat with her in the back row. We made it just fine.

Right as we were leaving in the van from Yaroslavl, our facilitator, while saying goodbye, let us know that the first night in Moscow we would be at a hotel and then would move to our apartment the next day. Oh well. Kind of a pain since we hadn't packed in such a way as to make a one-night stop that easy. But we did fine, and the apartment was literally across the street so - with the help our our driver/facilitator here in Moscow (an English speaker!) we just rolled our luggage over as if we were in an airport. Meredith got to try out our stroller for the first time and she enjoyed it. She is so easygoing! But yet she has a lot of personality, enough that we feel like things are going well and we are beginning the bonding process on the right foot. She lets us know when she's unhappy with crying and an arched back, and we are learning how to soothe her as well as to read her signals (rubbing eyes for sleepy, smacking lips for hungry - clearly she is a very bright young lady!). We are also developing a system for helping her tolerate our frequent use of the nasal aspirator....the poor girl is so congested (she was every time we visited her, we noticed then too) so that little bulb has been a lifesaver. If we lift her up a few times (the flying position) we get some smiles, and then we can sneak in one good suck...and then we have to do it again. Maybe our pediatrician in the U.S. will be able to tell us more about how to help her, but for now this is working OK.

This morning in our Moscow hotel, we did our U.S. Embassy doctor visit. This is an English-speaking Russian doctor, accredited by the U.S. Embassy, who comes to your hotel room and takes a look at the baby to verify that there aren't any medical concerns that the Embassy should be worried about. He had her basic medical info already and his brief exam (10 minutes?) revealed nothing beyond what we already knew - she is congested (which might be related to teething, or, he suggested, just living in an orphanage) and she is small but on the growth chart and a little behind developmentally but should catch up. She also may have eyesight issues due to her prematurity (which we also knew) but he pointed out that clearly she can see reasonably well - she makes good eye contact. He said they must have been taking quite good care of her at the orphanage, and that the Yaroslavl orphanages are know for doing a good job. How encouraging to us! So he gave us a report, we paid the fee, and he was done. The only downside is that all of this happened at 6:30-6:45 this morning - ugh!

At noon today we moved over to our apartment, which is fantastic! I guess it is technically a studio, but a very large one, with an L-shaped room that has the bed filling the smaller piece of the L and a nice large living room, and large kitchen. The playpen was already set up. We wondered what Meredith must be thinking - third crib in three days. But she seems to like it fine. Right after she woke up from one of her naps today (she does indeed take all three) she and Rob were playing a bit while she was still in the playpen - which isn't usually for long. He set up our webcam on the edge of the playpen to take pictures - our camera has officially quit working (ugh!) but the webcam photos are quite good quality, at least for taking photos when we're here at the apartment. Here are a few highlights from today's playpen playtime:

She loves her feet! We don't know if she saw them too much, being bundled up in the orphanage.

Shaking her friend the bear. We are naming it Masha, after the bear that is the symbol of Yaroslavl.


She discovered my toothbrush (with a cover on it, don't worry) and found it fun to flick around.


This picture cracks me up because, inadvertently, she is posed just like her bear!


I need to call it a night - the days are very full even without going out too much! Tomorrow we have just one planned excursion - the U.S. Embassy for an interview. I'm looking forward to it because I think we'll see other adoptive parents there - everyone who adopts from any region of Russia has to go through this, and so it is a kind of bottleneck I think (hopefully in a good way).

I'll leave you with a sweet smile from our sweet girl (playing on the bed in our apartment). No she doesn't crawl, but she gets in position pretty well - just a matter of time :)

* GOTCHA DAY !!! *

Today was the big day! After a morning trip out to sign documents, and a delicious lunch at the hotel restaurant, we got to go to the orphanage at 2:30 for the final trip. Finally, not just another “visit” to the orphanage! Meredith was brought to us in the same special outfit we had left for her. We had brought another one just in case, but this orphanage seems very conscientious and they wanted her to be able to have this outfit. They also - to our surprise - brought out the blanket and bear that we left with her in May! I don’t know if they put them away somewhere while we were gone, or if she actually had them during our absence, but either way it was so thoughtful of the staff to hang onto them for us.

Our final time at the orphanage was spent getting some questions answered about Meredith’s eating and sleeping schedule (three 2-hour naps per day, and 5 feedings) and giving several of the orphanage staff a chance to say goodbye to her. We were able to get her photo with one of the care staff, her opthamalogist, her pediatrician (who we’d met on the first trip), our facilitator and translators (both today’s translator – a new one – and the court translator from a couple weeks ago, who happened to be there with another family). We were getting ready to leave and then we were told to wait for one more person: the orphanage director. I was really glad she wanted to come and say goodbye. I have the impression that she is an intense, sort of severe kind of person after having interacted with her on our first trip. But saying goodbye to Nadia brought out her sweet side. She was so happy to have her picture taken with her, and she held her and whispered little things to her. I got a little choked up. Then she started talking to us – she makes eye contact even when though she’s talking in Russian and knows we can’t understand, and then our translator translates. She told us that she knows Meredith will do wonderfully well now that she has a family, that they will look forward to getting photos and letters from us, and that we are invited to return to adopt again in the future. It felt so good to have her blessing.

We don’t think it’s a good idea to show photos of the various people we took pictures with today, since this is a public blog and we did not get their permission to post their faces on the internet. We will be putting these photos in Meredith’s album, so you will have a chance to see them when you are with us. For now, enjoy a few photos of our special day…
Rob and Meredith reunited:

Sarah seeing whether Meredith was okay with being in a carseat – she was!

Rob bringing our little sleeping princess (fell asleep in the car) to the hotel room:

Home sweet hotel room – they brought in a crib for us today! And the cleaning lady – who knew a baby was coming since she helped with the crib – saw us with Meredith and just smiled from ear to ear and spoke in an approving tone. I think what she said was probably something like “Isn’t that the sweetest little girl I’ve ever seen!” At least, that’s what I would say if I were her.

The plan for the rest of our trip is to get Meredith’s passport here tomorrow and then leave for Moscow in a car in the late afternoon (seemed like it would be easier than navigating the train with her). Then Thursday and Friday we will work on paperwork in Moscow and stay in an APARTMENT again!! We loved our apartment there last time, and supposedly the one this time is just as good and more centrally located. Over the weekend, I hope we’ll be able to get out and about a little bit. Given the three-nap schedule, we’ll have to organize each day in little chunks, but maybe this is good for all of us! We think our paperwork will be finished there on Tuesday (or so) and our plane flies out on Thursday. I finally feel like we’re in the home stretch! Only a little over a week left.

We don’t yet know our internet situation in Moscow – we think it will be good – but just be aware that we might not have as much freedom with our time to go find an internet café now that we are MOMMY and DADDY! We’ll try to post when we can, but please assume that no news is good news :)

Soundtrack of Russia

Hi everyone!

We've had an uneventful day here. I got some work done (working on establishing SCHIP thresholds, for those of you who know what I'm talking about) and Rob did some reading. We also went out for blinis (pancakes with filling) so that was fun.

Since there's no news on Meredith - still planning for a Tuesday pickup - I thought I'd post my other reflection on our Russian experiences: the music we hear.

Since I am a “music” person, I have paid special attention to the music around me in Russia. Of course, most of the Russian pop just sounds like pop to me, and I have no idea what the lyrics mean. This means that the things that have caught my ear have been the various strains of American music, showing up in odd places. Let me tell you about a few.

· We ate at a nice restaurant in Yaroslavl (with Russian and Uzbek food) where there was a large TV screen. On the screen was a George Michael video. I enjoyed the novelty of it. Then after that video came another George Michael video. Then another. We realized that this was some kind of George Michael video marathon – maybe on a DVD or something? It had everything from “Careless Whisper” to some jazzy stuff (he can sound a bit like Michael Buble) and his newer duet with Elton John (singing “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”). His hairdo has gotten smaller over time, but his voice is the same. And you know what? It is good. As cheesy as he can be, after listening to his music marathon I have concluded that I really like his voice.

· When riding around in Moscow with our driver, we listen to whatever he finds as he’s flipping through stations. Most of the time it is Russian pop, but there have been a sprinkling of other things as well. For instance, while we were in Moscow at the end of our first trip, after such a roller coaster ride, we heard a sort of Caribbean sounding song in English about the “river of Babylon” and "remembering Zion". The chorus was: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable.” This is a line from an old church confession. It was such an encouragement at a time when we could delight in a reminder of God’s presence. We still don’t know why we were on the “Christian” radio station – it only lasted for a couple of songs – but it was a blessing. Most of the time, we find we are listening to “Retro FM” which usually isn’t recognizable to us except for its English name.

· Last week in Yaroslavl, while riding with our facilitator, we heard some jazz (I think it was a CD or tape in her car and not the radio). The songs were old standards – “Love Me or Leave Me” and others like it – and I realized that it was a non-native speaker singing. He had this very slight but noticeable accent. Perhaps Russia has its own Harry Connick Jr. wannabe. He was OK, but I’m not running out to buy the CD.

· A few days ago in St. Petersburg we went to see the St. Petersburg Men’s Chorus. They are an acapella group of about 20 men with voices ranging from very high (basically alto) to very low (bass profundi). The first half of the program was Sacred music, some by Tchaikovsky. Apparently in Russian Orthodox churches, there was (is?) no instrumentation allowed, and historically women were not allowed to sing in a church’s chorus, and so the churches would develop skilled choruses of men and boys. The choir we saw is trying to recreate some of those arrangements. They were wonderful! Then in the second half they did some secular music and several Russian folk songs. There is one that Rob and I both remembered from our first piano book* – it was called (in our book) “Song of the Volga Boatman”. Of course, it has a real name, and luckily I still have the program so I can check it later. (* yes, Rob and I had the same initial piano books growing up – just one more random thing in common, along with our distaste for peppers and onions.)

· Yesterday in a shop I heard “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles and a song by Chicago (can’t remember which one, since they all sound the same, but I love them all!). Apparently they have access to the lite station :)

· Along with hearing bits of music here and there, we’ve also gotten to see posters for recent and upcoming musical events. A few highlights include: Bob Dylan, Megadeth, Bobby McFerrin, Nazareth (40 year reunion – yikes!), Blondie, Back Street Boys, and…wait for it…the inimitable Julio Iglesias. I asked our driver in Moscow if Julio wasn’t just a little too old by now for touring, but he didn’t think so. Hmmm.

This reminds me that I'd like to ask for your prayers for my family. We have just lost my grandma. (She loved Julio like nobody's business). She was in many ways ready to go - she had said so before - but it was still a shock, and of course we cannot be there to mourn with our family. Something really special, though, is that the last time my parents were visiting her - I guess about a month ago - she gave them her Meredith doll so that they could pass it along to our Meredith! I would have treasured it anyway, but now it is particularly meaningful to me. I am glad Grandma at least got to see pictures of her, and talk to me on the phone when we were between trips. She was really excited to meet her - but I bet she is even more excited to be in heaven.

Thanks as always for your prayers. We will be in touch again soon.

Two-in-one post!

Hi all!

Since we've not had constant internet access, I've been composing blog entries offline. So today you will get a two-for-one deal. First, you'll get a report on our visits with Meredith on Thursday and today. Then you'll get my bonus entry on fashion in Russia!

We got to see Meredith on Thursday but she was not a happy camper most of the hour or so we had her with us. We got to play outside with her, which was nice, but we didn't really know if she's allowed to get dirty or anything, so we mostly just held her and walked around. We got one good smile out of her:


but the rest of the time she was less excited:


or even antisocial:

We don't think she liked her hat - it was a little too tight and we think it was on backwards so it kept coming down over her eyes. (As you might guess, the hat was not our idea! It was warm out!).

Today she was cheerier, but we were busy bringing her to the photo shop to get a passport photo taken, and then she fell asleep right afterward! We tried to take a photo of her but our camera is on the fritz. We'll be trying to sort that out soon so as not to deprive anyone! It may involve real film (ack!).

And now for my second post....some reflections on Russian fashion.

If I wanted to look fashionable in Russia....

If I wanted to look like a fashionable young woman in Russia (I know, I’m barely qualified as “young” anymore), there are a few things that would need to be true.

• I would need to wear a mini skirt. This would be accompanied by nylons with patterns – either fishnet or some other kind of design.

• I would have my choice of two types of shoes. Choice # 1 includes a variety of stiletto heels. They can look like pumps, or fancy sandals, but the key is that the heel must be tiny and the height must be 3-4 inches at least. Choice # 2 includes a variety I will call “ballet shoes”. These are extremely flat shoes that I’ve also seen frequently in the U.S. They are usually decorated with a small buckle or a bow or something. Regardless of my choice of shoes, they should contain studs or sequins.

• I would need to carry a very large, shiny purse. I don’t know what is in those things, except perhaps some toilet paper since it isn’t always provided in the public restrooms. This requires a digression. I’ll have you know that even I – one of the thriftiest people I know – was willing to spring for the more expensive 15 ruble port-a-potty rather than the 14 ruble basic model a few days ago when given the choice. My 15-ruble potty included toilet paper and a quality sink with hand soap. In case this is confusing, it can be hard to find restrooms sometimes when you are out and about, so there are pay-as-you-go (no pun intended) port-a-potties set up here and there in parks and along busy streets. By the way, since I know you are wondering, my choice of the 15-ruble over the 14-ruble model cost me about 4 cents. Soon I’ll be on an out-of-control spending spree I’m sure. It’s a slippery slope. Luckily, back in Yaroslavl, potties are usually only 7-10 rubles. Phew! Back to my fashion list though…

• I would need to have bangs. WAIT A MINUTE! I DO HAVE BANGS!! This is the one thing I have in common with the fashionable young women here. It’s not all of them, but definitely a lot more than there are in the U.S. I understand bangs are “coming back” in the U.S., so I’m happy about that too – since I insist on having them anyway, it’s good to be in style when the cycle comes around. (I tried going without bangs for several years but I never liked it).

I feel very awkward about taking pictures of people directly, but if I can fake that I am taking a picture of something else, and just sneak someone in, I am willing to try it. I also got Rob to help me. So here are a few peeks at the types of outfits I've described:

You can see some heels and a giant purse here:

And this gives you a taste of the mini-skirt with heels and giant purse:

Notice that high standards of fashion do not seem to apply to the boys, who can apparently dress however they want and look much more comfortable!

That's all for today! Our internet cafe time is almost up! The current plan is now to go baby-supply shopping on Monday (diapers and food - we brought everything else) and to get custody of Meredith on Tuesday. Can't wait!!!

hello from St Petersburg, a little late...

*** This posting was composed while we were in St. Petersburg, but when we went to an internet hot-spot the last night we were there, there were some technical difficulties. So here it is, a little late! Another post will be following shortly with more details on adoption news as we learn more. We visited Meredith today (Thursday) and she was a little cranky but it was good to see her anyway, of course! We will hopefully see her tomorrow and then get custody early next week. Until then, enjoy this older blog entry that I have finally been able to post...

Hello from St. Petersburg!

It’s hard to believe we are already leaving here tomorrow, but our tired legs are telling us it is probably a good idea! In the last four days, I bet we’ve spent over 40 hours on our feet. It has been fantastic. We’ve been inside four magnificent churches, gone on a 5-hour walking tour, seen several museums, done a little shopping, and just generally enjoyed the sights and skylines of this beautiful city.

Right now it is near the time of year dubbed the “White Nights” here in the far north. The sun doesn’t go down until very late, and even then it brings things only to dusk for a while and then it is sunrise again. Last night (actually this morning) we took advantage of the opportunity to go on a boat ride to see the bridges opening up over the main river here – the Neva. Since this happens around 1:45 a.m., now is the time of year to do it because you can still see the sights on the early part of the tour (which begins a little after midnight). Our camera has been acting up lately, but here is a picture taken around 1:00 a.m. of the Peter and Paul Fortress – it is a little fuzzy but you can tell that the sun is just setting.

By about 1:45 it is fairly dark, and we could then see the bridges open up for the night traffic of barges. Notice that the one in the background opens from both sides and the one in the foreground just goes up on the one side. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay to watch the barges come through since little tourist boats are way too little to be hanging out with those big guys on the river!

Yesterday was also a special day because it was Meredith’s birthday! We can’t wait to get back to Yaroslavl to celebrate it with her (I think it’s OK now for me to list the city name). Today we got a book of fairy tales by Pushkin (Russia’s most famous poet) and we are still watching for other things to get for her that will remind her of her Russian heritage.

Since we had a rather late night last night (!) we took it a little easier today and didn’t get out of the apartment until about noon. We went to Dostoevsky’s flat (where he lived in the final years before his death) and then to St. Isaac’s cathedral, which is the second-largest in Russia. The largest is one we already saw in Moscow on our last trip! We also bought a lovely watercolor painting from a street market that is focused on paintings and prints, so you can all see that when we get home and get it framed.

Tomorrow we leave on an evening train, but not before spending a day at the Hermitage. We found a tour in English that isn’t horribly expensive, so we decided to go for it tomorrow even though our day will be shortened a bit by our need to head to the train station. We will at least get a taste of the museum with a 2.5 hour tour followed by a couple of hours on our own. According to someone’s calculation in a tour book, if we looked at each object there for one minute, we would be there for 5 years. So we will definitely need to skip some things :)

We found an internet café so that we could post this to the blog and check email. We think our hotel in Yaroslavl will probably not have internet, so we will try to get to a café every 2-3 days to update you on what we’re up to. (Moms and Dads, we had asked our facilitator in Yaroslavl to pick up a phone card for us but she didn’t get it to us before we left for St. Pete…once we have it we will try to give you a call.)

Thanks for following us on our journey!

hoping for a visit tomorrow, then off to St. Petersburg (the real one)

Sorry all my Floridian friends (especially those from near St. Pete), I couldn't resist :)

Today was lots of fun - we moved hotels (okay, that part wasn't so fun) and then our facilitator dropped us off at a small park where there was a festival going on. Her daughter was dancing in it! She is a teenager and involved in traditional Russian dance. It turns out today and tomorrow are Russian holidays - go figure! The celebrations are in honor of independence from the USSR. We watched our facilitator's daughter's dance group, and then our facilitator headed out and we hung out there for a while before heading back to the hotel. I was keenly observing the number of babies and small children with hats and coats - it was at least 80 degrees in the sun out there. Here are some pics!





After that we took a break at the hotel, had a snacky lunch, and walked down to the big amusement park area on a little island in town. The amusement park is always there (at least some of it) but there was a lot going on there today because of the holiday.




Afterward we came back to the hotel and ate at McDonalds.

As an aside: I know you think we always go to McDonalds - so rest assured that last night we went to a fantastic restaurant on the banks of the Volga, where a jazz combo was playing as we sat out on their patio, and I got a fancy coffee drink with a wonderful fish entree and Rob got a White Russian with special Russian style meat-filled pancakes. So we do have some more interesting food experiences here than just Western style stuff. Here are some pics of our evening for proof!






This will probably be our last post for a bit...we leave tomorrow evening for St. Petersburg. We are hoping we will get to visit Meredith tomorrow before we leave, but because of the holiday it's unlikely. Which stinks. When we get back to town (next Thursday early morning) we will hopefully get to visit right away! We will have missed her birthday by just a few days but we will certainly sing "Happy Birthday" and luckily she won't know the difference :) Then the following week, early in the week hopefully, we will be allowed to pick her up instead of just visit! That will surely be a day to celebrate - the day we people in the adoption world call "Gotcha Day"!

WE ARE NEW PARENTS!!!

Court was successful today! I think we were very fortunate - we had a long wait (over an hour I'd guess) before the judge appeared because he was running late, so he did not spend a lot of time on our case when he arrived. It was short and sweet!

Basically, the judge read our petition aloud (one page) and asked us to confirm it, then asked us each to say a few words about why we want to adopt Meredith. After that, the inspector gave her testimony that she had observed us with Meredith and that she knows we will care for her well. After that, the prosecutor (whose task is to "make sure the law is observed") made a statement that all the proper procedures had been followed and that no family in Russia had petitioned to adopt Meredith so that it was in her best interest to be adopted by us.

This all took maybe 15-20 minutes. Then we left the room and waited 5 minutes for the judge to make his decision. He invited us back in and made the statement that we are approved for adoption of the baby, who would now be named Meredith Nadia Hamersma and her documents will reflect that we are her parents! We are done!

Of course, there is still the 10-day waiting period, but this is almost certainly a formality because Meredith was relinquished quite some time ago and we don't expect anyone to suddenly come forward to appeal the adoption. But rules are rules, so we will wait our 10 days without too much complaining.

After court, we got to go visit Meredith - in our court clothes!. Little did we know she would also have special clothes on - the very outfit we left her in last time! They even put on her little hat :) She was not crazy about us right at first - a little weepy, maybe tired or scared, hard to tell. But then she started cheering up. We figured out that lifting her up and down like she is flying is a sure-fire way to get a smile! And her smile now includes a little bottom tooth that is sticking out. Last time it was still a little below her gums. Our little girl is growing up! Can't wait to get her home.

Here are a couple of pics to capture the day. Look for the tooth in the first two!






Here's me trying to get comfy in my court clothes while Meredith checks out a new toy!

tomorrow is the big day

Well, we got a call this morning from our facilitator saying she would call around 3:00 in the afternoon to let us know if we could visit Meredith at 3:30. She was clear that it was a "maybe". We went out for a while to shop around and find lunch (found a pizza place that wasn't too bad, except the lack of sauce!). Then we came back and hung out at the hotel waiting for the call. Unfortunately, when the call came at 3:45 we were pretty sure our "maybe" was a "no", and we were right. Luckily, I think we'd both figured it was unlikely anyway, so we were able to take the phone call, say "oh well", and move on. Seems like God is granting us the serenity to accept that which we cannot change :)

One thing we did while we were out today was find the "flax market" mentioned in one of our travel guides. The travel guide talked about all kinds of wonderful Russian linens at amazing prices. There were some linens there, but actually it was more like a flea market. That's not a bad thing! It is mostly clothing and shoes and purses, with some other stuff mixed in here and there. We were keeping our eyes open for a baby coat for Meredith. After all of our careful packing, and making sure I have layers for her to wear, and hats, I didn't actually bring a *coat*. Granted, the expected temperature is around 65-70 degrees for the day we pick her up, but it is important to show that we will take good care of her by dressing her very warmly. The little cotton jacket we gave her on Trip # 1 is probably mixed in with the orphanage clothes now, so I don't think we can retrieve it. Fortunately, we have time to figure this out because obviously we don't get to take her with us for a couple of weeks still.

Tomorrow is our big day - going to court. Our facilitator is picking us up at 9:30 and we will be dressed for the occasion. Rob has his suit along and I am wearing a nice businesslike dress (Mom, you know the one, you got it for me a while ago -- navy
blue with one button at the waist). We'll try to remember to take pictures (we sometimes forget to take pictures if Meredith's not around!). In court we will be asked some questions, then the "inspector" (social worker I think) will testify on our behalf, and then we will wait for approval. Assuming it is given, our 10-day wait begins. After court tomorrow, we expect we will get to visit Meredith. Hopefully they'll let us change clothes in between :)

We have found that we can get the internet in our room if we sit right by the door or go in the hallway, so hopefully I can stay in good touch the next couple of days while we are here. We head to St. Petersburg on Friday and so there may be a dry spell of 4-5 days on the blog depending on what kind of internet we can find there. We know we don't have it available at our apartment, though we do have something more important: a washing machine!

safe and sound

It was another smooth trip to Russia. We feel so blessed to have had on-time flights and no lost luggage! Given how much luggage we had, that is pretty amazing.

We took the train to our region this time (instead of getting a car ride) to save a little money. It was fantastic - we got the slightly more expensive train tickets that allowed the two of us to have a whole compartment to ourselves, complete with a wide padded bench on each side that doubled as a bed. We both took long naps! It was so good to stretch out after the plane flight.

We had a bit of an adventure with our hotel room, however. The one that had been reserved for us was pretty fancy. It is a different hotel this time, but it was only slightly less expensive than the last one, which was a disappointment. However, Rob decided to see if there was any way to switch to a cheaper room, and it turned out that they had one available for $40 less per night. Nice! So we moved to this room, which is cozy but just fine.

There is internet in the hotel, but only in the lobby, so I am typing this from the room and then will post when Rob is back. He went to try to find some drinks for us at a grocery or convenience store and maybe some food (we brought some as well, trying to avoid eating out constantly). Meanwhile, while he's been gone, it started storming outside and I'm imagining he's going to reappear like a drowned rat! And we have his raincoat here too...he just didn't have it with him (it didn't look threatening before).

Our facilitator said she will call us in the morning (that's Tuesday morning) and we MAY get to visit Meredith! This would be a bonus, since we thought we would probably need to wait until Wednesday, our court date, to visit her again. I'll be honest - I'm a little nervous. It is complicated how much we seem to think we "know" Meredith after such a short time, and I'm sure she won't remember us. So let's just hope she still likes us!

We'll plan to post again after our court appointment. All the advice we have gotten about this region is that the court usually goes smoothly and quickly, so we are trying not to worry about that. We'll tell you more about it after we've done it!

ready, set, go!

I had hoped to write a decent length blog entry today (err, yesterday) to tell you about our preparations for the journey. However, we've done what is typical for us, which is let the packing/preparation process fill all of the time we have available. So while there was no frantic packing today, there also hasn't been much of anything else except packing and finishing last minute stuff. Rob finished caulking Meredith's window and reinstalled the blinds; I tried to get organized in terms of what to pack where.

What we've ended up with is a lot of luggage, but I think we have been reasonable -- we have three checked bags (one for each of us (!)) and one carry-on for the overhead bin and smaller bags for under the seats. What kind of puts us over the edge is that if we want Meredith in a car seat when we are being driven around in Russia, we need to bring it....so that will be our 4th checked item. And we are also bringing a stroller.

So, basically, we will be a sight to see at the airport :) Just wait until we are also carrying Meredith! This is yet another reason we brought the baby slings with us -- it may be important to have our hands free in the airport. We've already determined that our stroller doubles nicely as a carry-on carrier if Meredith is willing to be in a sling! We shall see.

We don't know how often we will have internet access while we are away, but please stay tuned. The itinerary is something like this:

arrive June 9
court June 11 (also get to visit Meredith!)
- the 10-day wait begins -
leave for St. Petersburg for mini-vacation on June 14
return from St. Petersburg on June 18
hopefully get court decree early the following week (June 23?)
*** get custody of Meredith soon after! ***
head to Moscow mid-week
go to the U.S. Embassy and various other places to fill out forms
return home when all that is done -- July 3!

It is possible (though not super likely) that we will have such a smooth process that we have everything done a few days early. If that happens, we may change our flight home (we made sure to get plane tickets where that is possible for a fee).

For those of you who have roles to play on the day of our return - you know who you are - keep an eye on the blog for any changes in plans. Thanks so much!

We will be sure to check in after court, if not before. Da svedanya!

getting ready!

We had a great day of cleaning, yardwork, and home improvement on Sunday. Thanks so much to all of you who came out to help!

We're getting to the final stages. We made an initial packing list last week, went shopping, and then yesterday added more stuff and went shopping again. All kinds of little things - snacks and food for us, random infant medicines (just in case), little plastic bags for throwing away diapers, other various stuff, and even a playpen for my office (yes, that's the kind of cool place I work).

I don't have much time today to write but wanted to post Meredith's (probably) passport photo. She'll be traveling to the U.S. on her Russian passport and then when she arrives on U.S. soil she'll be a citizen and we will get her U.S. passport. Among other things, it will allow her into Canada without a visa (which is required for Russians). We tried several times to get a good shot (actually our facilitator mostly did) and this was our best one -- a little funny but adorable!

swimming joins with cleaning tomorrow

Just a reminder that we are having our "help day" tomorrow starting at 2:00. We'll grill out some burgers and hot dogs in the evening and relax with some board games. You can show up anytime, even just for games if that's what works. We are looking forward to a fun day together. Though no one RSVP'ed on the blog, we do have some people who've told us they're coming and we're excited! But there is still room for others who didn't "sign up" so please stop by if you'd like.

ALSO, I forgot to mention in the earlier post that you are welcome to SWIM if you so desire! So bring your suit and hop in!

can't keep these all to myself...

I said that we were reserving some photos to keep the blog going during our wait. Well, the wait has turned out to be short! So I'd better get posting.

Today's posts focus on Meredith Nadia's strong interest in the new bear that we brought for her.






In this one, it almost looks like she is looking at me. But no, it is the bear!



Today I went with my friend Holli to meet a mom in town who knows lots about baby slings. We will need to work extra hard at bonding well with Meredith (since we're about a year late in her little life!) and so we are planning to keep her very close as much as possible. Hopefully when she's (literally) attached to my body in a baby sling, we can work on eye contact, and then she will eventually become more "attached" in the bonding sense. It may take a while so please don't feel bad if you don't get to hold her right away -- we will want to make sure she understands who her parents are (and that we are specific people who are particularly important for her!) before passing her around.

Leaving in 9 days!!!!! I'd better get back to that work I need to do before we go.

help wanted

So many people have been offering us help lately. We really appreciate your desire to do something concrete for us...and for those nearby, we are creating such an opportunity! On the one hand, we could manage this stuff on our own if we paced ourselves, but on the other hand, if some of you want to help us we'd sure appreciate it:

When:
Sunday afternoon, June 1, starting around 2 pm

Where:
Hamersma house, 2631 NW 33rd Place (call for directions: 352-214-8655)

What:
a "help day" at the Hamersmas, including such fun tasks as:

- finishing some painting in Meredith's room
- putting sealant on her bedroom window and reinstalling her blinds
- vacuuming carpeted rooms and mopping tile
- installing some new outlets where some are loose or old
- making outlets baby-safe
- finishing our upgrade of kitchen cupboard knobs (not related to Meredith, but if we don't do it now we will always have mismatched knobs!)
- helping with some outdoor stuff (possibly some pressure washing)
- raking leaves (let us know if you can bring an extra rake)
- cooking some freezable meals
- dusting (oh my, have I put this off)
- making up the guest beds for visitors coming to see Meredith
- brainstorming about baby announcements
- washing and putting away clothes that have been given to us for Meredith
- other things as they come to mind!

There really is something for everyone! But I promise we will keep the bathroom cleaning for ourselves for later :) It is the Sabbath after all.

Our plan is to work on these things with whoever would like to come during the afternoon, then get some dinner for everyone (pizza? grilled burgers?) and relax for the evening with some board games. To encourage you to let us know if you're coming, let me give you an incentive -- if you make your presence known by commenting on the blog, and include in your comment your board game preference, it will be prioritized on Sunday night!

I know many of you reading the blog are far away - we appreciate your encouragement and prayers, so please don't feel bad that you can't make it to our house. There will certainly be opportunity for you to help out in other ways as time goes by!

Prayers Answered! Court is June 11!

After a very stressful couple of days, our caseworker said that the facilitator in our region is sure that the letter from an attorney will be sufficient. She asked for some changes in wording (the judge wasn't available to talk to her today) but it is just to make extra sure that there is no question about it. Our wonderful attorney friend is willing to sign the new one first thing Tuesday morning and we will fax it over, and then bring it to Tallahassee for (you guessed it) apostilles. We need to send the actual document to Russia ahead of us so that it can be translated and given to the judge before we get there.

In the meantime, our caseworker here in the U.S. said that our court date is certain, and we can go ahead and purchase plane tickets. JUNE 11 !!! For those keeping track, this is less than a month after we met Meredith -- truly miraculous turnaround. It is what our facilitator in Russia thought would happen, but we weren't believing her because it seemed too good to be true.

Our plan is to leave on June 8 to arrive in Russia June 9. That way if there are any flight problems, we should still get there on June 10 at the latest. We will go to court June 11 and get to visit Meredith, and then we have a 10-business-day wait without custody. We plan to go to St. Petersburg part of that time. We will get custody of Meredith around June 24 and then head to Moscow on the 25th or 26th for her passport, visa, and immigration documents. We'll fly out July 3 unless there are unforeseen delays or unforeseen smoothness (apparently sometimes people are ready to go a few days before their flight).

I'll give more info as it comes in -- just wanted to share the GREAT news!!

waiting for judge

Our caseworker just got in touch with us. She has taken the forms we faxed her and faxed them along to our facilitator in Russia, who will show them to the judge - hopefully right away tomorrow (and it is almost tomorrow in Russia). He will tell her if our forms are acceptable or whether we need something else.

Also, the judge wants verification that under Canadian law, adopted children have the same rights and status as biological children. Apparently the judge knows that this is true for the U.S. but, seeing Rob's Canadian passport, he has started wondering about Canada. We may need to request a letter from the Canadian Embassy in Moscow as there does not appear to be a specific "law" that says this, per se. We shall see. There will hopefully be more info on that tomorrow too.

Thanks for your prayers. I think I aged about a year today, but without God's upholding me I know it would have been much worse.

I'd also like to send out a special thank you to our attorney friend Brian who signed our form today, and my friend Kevin in D.C. who has offered to do any needed legwork there if it's needed. People like you - and so many of you I've mentioned before or thanked personally - are going to be stars in Meredith's life story.

keep the prayers coming

It has been a rough morning. We have tried 4 places to get the needed document signed and have ended up with one document that *might* work (not quite what we wanted, but what they could give us). We are now getting a copy of the requested document signed by an attorney rather than a law enforcement agency (which they said was "preferred") because neither the local police nor the sheriff's department nor the county clerk could do what we asked. We are praying that this will be sufficient even though it isn't precisely what we were asked for. We hope to hear from our caseworker soon, as we've left voice mails and emails to try to figure out what will resolve this.

Pray

* that the caseworker will call back very soon to let us know whether what we've done is acceptable

* that what we have done is in fact acceptable

* that I will not lose my mind or temper today, any more than I already have (probably it's not good to be snotty to people at the sheriff's department). I am living on my last nerve right now. Ready to break down at any moment. We don't know the consequences if we can't get this form, but they certainly include losing our preliminary court date (which has actually been set for June if we can get this problem fixed). We haven't been able to enjoy even a moment of excitement for the setting of our court date because it was immediately followed by this fiasco putting it in jeopardy. The fact that our caseworker has been inexplicably out of contact since we tried to get a hold of her over 3 hours ago is not helping.

PRAY PRAY PRAY!!!

call for prayer!

As expected, there is more unforeseen paperwork to be done.

It turns out that the judge in Russia is unhappy that Rob is "Robert Hamersma" on his Canadian passport, "Robert A. Hamersma" on his U.S. greencard, and "Robert Allan Hamersma" on our marriage certificate. It is frustrating that Rob's passport is missing his middle name, as we still have a copy of the passport application where he clearly wrote it - they just forgot to put it on. Of course, we didn't realize this would be a big deal.

We are supposed to get a letter from the police verifying that all of these names refer to the same person. I am awaiting further instruction from our caseworker, but I plan to go to the Gainesville Police Department tomorrow and beg for help until someone will sign this letter for us. It probably needs to be notarized and put on letterhead, so this could be a pain for them. We need them to be full of grace and kindness tomorrow.

PRAY PRAY PRAY! We cannot get a court date finalized until this is resolved.

name that sign

We told you that Cyrillic was pretty hard to read, but there were some things that helped us sort out the pronunciation of the letters. Perhaps you'll enjoy seeing them, and also get the hang of it. I'll start you off with an easy one. We took this picture while in our region (outside Moscow):



From that one you can figure out that the funny-shaped "A" is a "D" and the "C" is an "S" sound, right? If you're adventurous, you can decode the big banner as well, which sounds out exactly like the English version.

How about this one, in Moscow?



You can also figure out what the store next door is selling.

And then there was a place we almost went to eat just to have an English menu:



....and the place I couldn't resist, and thus spent about $7 on the item in the zoomed-in picture below:





And we know you've been waiting patiently for the stories I promised. So this picture tells you what you need to know about hot-dog stands in Russia:



The hot dogs are actually fine, and certainly one of the cheaper things to eat if you are out and about. We had them a couple of times. But we still affectionately refer to them as "crapdogs" :)

I'll leave you with a picture that tells you what movie I am going to see tonight (right behind the statue of Pushkin)!



Here's a close-up:



Hope you've enjoyed your lesson and I'll post again when there is news or when I have thought of another fun post!