Gotcha Trip Part 2- Moscow

The train ride was... interesting.... ;) Same tiny compartment with an extra little person.  First we grabbed a bite to eat on the dining car- Lina has been all about the starches and not wanting any meats or veggies... which actually wasn't so bad to see.  Oftentimes, newly adopted kids will gorge themselves with anything and everything in sight as quickly as possible since they were pretty much starved at the orphanage and had to eat fast to be sure no one else took it.  This definitely wasn't the case with Lina.  I took her for lunch at the hotel restaurant while we were waiting on Mike at the bank- and the dish I ordered her was GINORMOUS.  Huge plate full of meat, potatoes, and vegetables- and all she was really interested in was the potatoes.  And she took appropriate bites and ate at a nice pace.  Definitely good to see.  She stopped when she was finished- leaving quite a bit of food (including potatoes) behind. :)  She did this on the train also- ate her rice and that was about it.  But had plenty of Cheerios and Goldfish crackers when we got back to our cabin.

Sleep on the train- our first experience getting Lina to sleep.  From what I saw back in the hotel room as she played with her babydolls- bedtime at the orphanage was quite traumatic and abusive.  And now that it is time to go to sleep- Lina cried out, looking quite afraid.  It took about an hour- and tucking all three of us in... Lina laying against my hip so she knew I wasn't going anywhere, and Mike directly in sight across from her.  I believe she was afraid we would leave after she fell asleep and the night staff would come in. :( She did sleep through the night after she let herself fall asleep, and we had to wake her in the morning when we arrived in Moscow.

We were first told that upon our arrival to our hotel in Moscow- a doctor would promptly meet us there for her embassy exam.  All children being adopted need to be examined by an embassy approved doctor to be cleared to enter the United States- making sure she's not bringing any serious, contagious viruses into the country like tuberculosis etc.  Well, when we met our facilitator at the train station, he informed us the physician who typically meets at the hotel to give the exam was out that day and we would have to take her to the health clinic later in the day.  No biggie.

We get settled into our hotel room- Lina had fun playing dress up with my coat (upside down but don't dare try to take it off her to fix it) and Mike's shoes. ;)  And yes, that is Sponge Bob on in the background- we had limited children's programming. LOL

In the car to or from the medical exam- the more time we spent with her, the more alive this little girl was becoming.

In the car she started smothering me with hugs and kisses- absolutely new! Whenever we visited Lina at the orphanage she was always very reserved, displaying no signs of affection and gave no real genuine smiles.  This has all been changing now that she is out of that environment and with us. :)

Medical exam went pretty well- the most traumatic part was getting Lina's clothes off.  The doctor explained that these children don't want to part with their new, beautiful clothes, especially since while in the orphanage- they have no ownership.  Everything is shared community property.  He advised us to lay her clothes where she can see them when she goes to bed so she knows they are still there.  He was very nice, but did make one error we would find out later.... he told us her rash did not appear to be scabies.  He said it looked like dermatitis most likely caused by too many antibiotics prescribed for every little thing, and would be worse if she ate red/orange vegetables as well as citrus.  This made sense to us since her referral we originally received from the orphanage stated the dermatitis and that she was allergic to carrots. We trusted his opinion but found out later it was in fact scabies.  Oops.  Yep, Mike and I got it too since we shared a bed with her. The only way she would sleep was laying against/between us in the king bed.  There was still crying the first night, as well as every time she was ready to drift off for a nap during the day.  The moment she was ready to fall asleep she would get right up and put her shoes back on, refusing to go to sleep.  We didn't push for naps during the day, but were more insistent at night.  The second night she got to sleep without any tears.

Friday, the 20th, we had our appointment at the US Embassy to get Polina's visa- her official permission to travel to the US. :)  All went very smoothly there also- we were there about 2 hours which went by fairly quickly, especially with the aid of our trusty Cheerios/Goldfish. We met a few other adoptive families there, and it was lovely to talk to other Americans!

Saturday the 21st- HOMEBOUND!!  Taken at the airport in Moscow upon departure :) We had quite the traffic jam on the way, and Mike and I were sweating bullets, praying we wouldn't miss our flight!! Thankfully we got there in plenty time.  Whew!

Lina was SO good throughout all our travels- even on the 10 hour flight! She kept herself occupied with the in flight magazines, headphones (more fun plugging and unplugging them than actually watching the Muppets), coloring, and of course eating Cheerios and Goldfish. ;) She tried snuggling in to sleep several times but that lasted about 2 seconds and then she wanted her shoes back on etc... but did finally crash the last 2 hours of the flight.

Long line to get through customs in the airport- Lina was quiet as a mouse in her stroller.  Greeted by a few friends <3 SO nice of them to come out and welcome Lina to the United States!!  Waited for our shuttle to get back to our car- and as soon as I belted her into her car seat- she gave me this huge smile.  It's like she knew this was a brand new start to a new life full of endless possibilities.  We love you SO much, little girl!! xoxoxo

Lina is HOME!!! Gotcha Trip- Part 1

Sorry for the delay- we have been busy bees here!! Our Gotcha Trip went without a hitch- from an empty airport upon arrival at Dulles (as opposed to our court trip when we barely made the plane) to speedy paperwork processing in country, to bringing our babygirl HOME.

Our Gotcha Day was not the romanticized vision we had been dreaming of.... walking out of the orphanage hand in hand, teary goodbyes from the director and staff.... no, that didn't happen.  We were told the orphanage staff would be bringing Lina to our hotel instead since the roads out there are so bad.  This was a bit relieving to me since these roads were a huge concern of mine now that the snow is all melting and they will be a muddy mess.  When we first arrived in Pskov, her region, we were told she would be coming later that day- the 17th.  Then a couple hours later we were told that the staff weren't available to bring her out that day and it would be the 18th.  Another slight let down, though again I had a bit of relief since our teeny hotel room here only had 2 twin beds.  We weren't quite sure how sleeping arrangements would work out!

Another vision that went out the window... we were told she would be arriving at 11:00 and our translator would call us at 10:45.  I had visions of watching her walk through the hotel doors and embracing her etc. etc.... Well we got a call at 10:30 that she was already downstairs waiting for us! ACK!!  We rush down and she is sitting on this couch surrounded by caretakers and facilitators- there was barely any room for Mike and I to squeeze in! But we made our way through. :)

I get to come home with you guys?? No way!!

We only got a few photos- these are pretty much the best ones.  Ah well. I promptly took her up to our hotel room to change her clothes (though we were then told we could keep the clothes- normally everything stays at the orphanage down to socks and underwear and all).  Mike took off with our facilitator and translator to handle Lina's bank account(s).  All orphans have at least one bank account which can have a substantial amount of money, and we were donating a good bit back to the orphanage.  

So Lina and I got upstairs and I quickly started peeling clothes off of her... and had no idea how many clothes I would be peeling!! Good grief!!  Now keep in mind- it was very pleasant outside- in the mid to upper 50's, maybe even in the low 60's.  Here is what Lina had on, not including the diaper she was wearing for the long car ride also:

Panties over diaper, knit tights, socks over tights, jeans, long sleeve shirt, knit sweater, winter coat, snow boots, and knit hat.  Poor thing had to be sweltering in the car for 2 hours!! And I'm sure the heat in the car was jacked way up too.

This was the sight I found under all these layers...

She was actually trying to copy my smile but it ended up looking like a grimace.  She was a lot thinner than I was expecting, and she was covered in this horrible rash.

The blue is medicine the Russians are fond of using on kids.

This rash was HORRIBLE.  And itchy.  And I didn't take photos of the awful fungus on the palm of one of her hands as well as the balls of her feet.  I couldn't wait to get her home to get all this treated.  But pretty new clothes and a healthy dose of Cheerios seemed to make things a bit better in Lina's eyes.

And some coloring

Mike was gone at the bank for about 4 HOURS!!  Apparently, Lina had three bank accounts- one with just one ruble (30 rubles equals about $1.00) and the others totalled a LOT more than we were expecting.  We were so worried about how long this would all take since we had to catch our train back to Moscow that evening, but we made it.  Donated a nice chunk back to the orphanage and set back to the big capitol city to complete the embassy paperwork.

Lina fell asleep in the car on the way to the train station, hence the zonked out look.  This is the first time I have ever seen her with her tongue out- REALLY tired!  At the train station- Goodbye, Pskov! Paka paka!!

Suitcases are packed....

And we are ready to head out the door, baby!!  We're coming to getcha, Lina!!!  :))

I want to send a huge THANK YOU out to my dear friend, Patti... you know, the one who made a post on Facebook a year ago this very month pleading for the whereabouts of Lina's mama?  That post is what lead me to inquire about adopting Lina, and today Patti shared our story on her blog once again.  Love you, Patti!! xoxoxo I promise to give Lina a hug and a kiss just from you. :)

More thank you's!

I just noticed our FSP took a pretty substantial jump today- thank you to whoever donated!! <3 Donations are accepted until we bring Lina home, so if you've been meaning to contribute to her fund you don't have too much longer. ;)

I will be getting a complete list of all the donors after we get her home, so if I have your mailing address (we are only given a list of names and amounts) you will get a note and photo from us- hopefully in a timely manner. :)  Your generosity means SO very much to us, no matter how big or small the donation.  You gave and there was much thought, love, and support behind it.  We are forever grateful for ALL the support given to us during this whole process whether it be financially or through thoughts and prayers.

I was SO thrilled to find a huge piece of Lina's past just the other day- locating the baby house where she lived her first years of life.  I was even lucky enough to get the director's e-mail address and hope to make contact to not only let her know that Lina has a family, but also hoping she may have more photos or info to share about Lina.  I have heard amazingly WONDERFUL things about this dear director and am so thankful that Lina had a good start to life... for an orphan.  Of course a mommy and daddy would be best, but she was in a loving and caring environment which isn't always the case.  I will most likely wait to contact the director until after we get Lina home, so I will hopefully have more to share then.