the amazing race

What a day!

The morning was spent signing some papers and then shopping for souvenirs and then for an outfit for our little Meredith Nadia, in hopes that we would be able to visit her this afternoon and try it on. We succeeded in finding a baby clothing boutique (read: very expensive shop) and shelled out more cash than we ever plan to spend again on two outfits! We would have bought just one, but kids in the orphanage are always bundled up so we needed multiple layers.

(Fun fact: Russian babies and small children always wear hats outside, even when it is very warm like it was here a few days ago. The children also wear layers and layers of clothing.)

At 2:30 we got the disappointing call that the orphanage was not able to let us visit today. We were so sad and disheartened. After all, we didn't know for sure that she was our baby when we saw her yesterday, and we wanted a chance to be Mommy and Daddy for just a little while before saying goodbye. A bit after that, we got the great idea that hey - our train tickets for the next morning could maybe be changed to the afternoon if there was some way we could visit Meredith in the morning instead. We put in a call to our translator and she said she would check. Meanwhile, we took inventory of our souvenir collection and figured out some additional things we needed to get, so Rob headed out while I waited to hear if we might get to visit tomorrow instead.

Rob was gone about 15 minutes when the phone rang. It was our facilitator calling directly "I pick you up 10 minutes, we go orphanage". I said "20 minutes?" - trying to mean "can we have 20 minutes?" - and we got confused so she had the translator call me. "She is picking you up in 10 minutes and you will just have half an hour to visit, and if you don't go today, you do not get to go at all." I said "I need to find Rob, he's shopping, but we will try!". And off I went!

You'd probably have a hard time picturing me booking down the streets of a small city in Russia with a bag of baby stuff, but that's what I had to do. The race against the clock! I prayed that I would remember where the outdoor market was that we went to earlier (that Rob was going back to) and I prayed that Rob would be there. After all, he could have stopped in anywhere, or been wandering around somewhere else, because we had been told we would not be going to the orphanage today. I alternately ran and jogged (note: running down the sidewalks here is not normal!). I remembered the way to the market and there was Rob - just paying for the stuff! "Rob! We have to go! She's picking us up right now to go to the orphanage!!". It had taken me about 8 minutes to run to the market and I was totally beat - I gave him the bag and said "You run ahead and see if you can catch her in time back at the hotel! I'll come as fast as I can behind."

Bless Rob, he asked no questions, he just took off like a shot and I lost sight of him almost immediately. I alternated jogging and walking, feeling that horrible lung-burning sensation. Oh, did I mention it cooled down to about 40 degrees here today and I didn't have my jacket because I'd left in such a rush? So my ears were also killing me by this point. I knew it would be hard for Rob to explain where I was to our facilitator but I hoped he would find a way to make this work somehow. When I was about a block from the hotel, I saw a car driving down the street toward me that looked like it might be them - and it was! I got in the car huffing and puffing, and we all had a good laugh (with Rob and I also doing a lot of coughing for quite a while.) Don't worry, I think we've fully recovered.

The important thing is that we made it! They gave us at least 1/2 hour - probably closer to 45 minutes, it's hard to tell because we're too busy to watch the time :) They had to wake Meredith from her nap so she was a little subdued for part of the time, and a little cranky occasionally, but we still had a good visit. We also got to dress her in her special new outfit (and its matching hat). If things go the usual way, we won't see that outfit again - it becomes common property - so we had to get the pictures while we could :) Our first "family picture" is pretty funny but I'm sure you'll enjoy it.



Another family photo does a better job of capturing us I think:



We brought Meredith a new bear from home (and we have another there waiting for her so that we don't have to depend on this one making it back). She loved it!

It was rough having to be awake during naptime, so we had a couple of sad moments - probably involving being too hot (since we were trying the Russia-style of layers). Real tears! Oh my.


Meredith loves being lifted up in the air!

That all the photos we'll be posting for today. We have more but we need to pace ourselves and keep the blog going during the time between visits. We were told today that our court date could be as early as mid-June, but we are trying not to get our hopes up. On the other hand, boy, we can't wait to bring our little Meredith home to stay!

We probably won't be posting more adoption-related stuff during our couple of days in Moscow (not sure about internet access) but if we can, we'll post some more of our travel adventures. Some stories to look forward to:

1) another encounter with the movie crew
2) the story of the "crapdogs"
3) the story of room service (not really a story, just a crazy thing we've never done before)
4) the McDonalds coupons
5) photos of interesting food

Until later, da svedanya

- Posted by Meredith's mommy