* 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!