Finally!! Some pictures!!!

Sorry that it has taken so long to get some pictures up. We've been asked by a lot of you and we have feel horrible that we didn't get this to you sooner. Between the new baby and the new house... the last month has been a blur.

Here are some of the pictures from our first trip to Russia in December 2007. To get a caption describing the picture, scroll your mouse over the pic.:

We're Home!!!

I know this is a very long post, but we have officially been christened into parenthood..

Where to start...My new family is home safe and sound. Of course there were a few bumps along the way, but what would a story be with out a "grand finale". The morning started out great, A.J. slept for 12 hours the night before we left. He must of know his world was about to be rocked upside down. R.J. and I were so excited to becoming home we were up, showered, packed, and ready an hour before our scheduled pickup time. For those of you that know me I am always 10 minutes late for everything. Not this time!!! It was nice to just have some time to play with A.J before we had to leave.

In the short time that we have had him he stays awake in the mornings for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours before he goes down for his morning nap. The plan was to keep him awake, and then let him crash on the plane. He did great waiting for our plane to leave with all the stimulation in the airport. While we waited to board the plane A.J. also played with the children of the adopted families that were on our flight.

We boarded the plane, and were right on schedule, I gave A.J. his Motrin for his ears, the bottle was prepped, we pulled away from the gate...Yeaah we were off, but the plane just sat there...A.J. started to squirm...he had seen the bottle...I had to give it to him...not a problem we would surely start to move, but we just kept sitting...something was wrong...we had to be towed over to the mechanic garage something was not right with one of the engines. This is always great news to hear right before you are getting ready to travel for a very long time (11 hours and 25 minutes, with an infant to be exact!!).

An hour later the engine was fixed and we finally took off, the bottle was finished, and A.J. was sleeping peacefully in my arms...not for long!!! I'd say a half hour into the flight he was wide awake. Let me just say it was a "great flight"...NOT!!! Whoever said the bulk head seats on a plane are the best to sit in with an infant must be crazy. In my opinion they are the worst. The armrest don't fold up. So the only place to lay the little guy to sleep was in our arms or on the floor. The large screen for watching the in flight movies is directly over head - great stimulation for a child that has been in the orphanage since birth, and everyone that has to use the bathroom passes your seats. We could not have had a more busier spot on the plane. Of course people in passing have to ask if he was adopted, and they smile, wave at him, and make funny faces and noises. This is certainly not a calming environment for a child that is trying to sleep!

We did a pretty good job of entertaining him, but after 4 1/2 hours of R.J. and I he was over it, and he was not shy about letting us, and everyone else on the plane know that he was done. R.J. took him for a little walk down the aisle and I figured that all was good they didn't come back for a while. The next thing I know R.J. is telling me to come quickly he doesn't know what to do with him. So now we are both at the back of the plane in the flight attendants galley, and A.J. is exercising his vocal cords quite nicely!! Let's just say that we were "THAT FAMILY" with the screaming baby on the plane. Being that we have never had kids before we have always despised "that family", and now have so much more compassion for them. When you are in this situation you are so helpless - there is no where to go, and we still had 6 1/2 hours of flight time. Luckily I am a person that thinks quickly on their feet - the bathroom!! At least the screaming would be somewhat contain, and the stimulation would be next to nothing. I won't go into details, because what happens behind close doors, stays behind closed doors, but I will say for such a little guy his has the will of a small village.

An hour later A.J. and I come out of the bathroom, him wearing just his onesie and sleeping peacefully in my arms. I guess it is true what they say about being a parent - you will do anything for you child. If you are anything like myself, the less time you spend in a airplane bathroom the better, and you all know what I am talking about - they are gross - the longer flight to worse they get.

A.J. slept for about 3 hours and then he was back up again. He did pretty good the rest of the flight and fell back to sleep again the last hour. Why is it right before you are ready to land children go to sleep.

We were late getting into Atlanta so lucky we breezed through customs, and were able to make our connecting flight to Tampa with about 10 minutes to spare. This was a little closer than I had planned but at least we made it. A.J. could barely keep his eyes open through customs, and I just knew as soon as we would get on the plane he would crash, catch a hour nap, and be wide eyed and ready to meet his Mamaw and Pop. Like I said this is a very strong willed little boy.

The flight to Tampa was a shorten version on our flight from Moscow to Atlanta - we only had to spend about 10 - 15 minutes on the bathroom on this leg of our journey. This is only after some screaming, and kicking the back of the seat in front of us. I do have to give him credit, he is a very smart little boy...he quieted down right away when we walked into the bathroom.

Again, what is it with children and falling a sleep right before you land. After all the time he was awake, and for as long as he fought sleeping he just couldn't last to the end. I kid you not the landing gear was down, and we were minutes away from landing when he zonked out. So of course after the headache we had been through he wasn't going to get to sleep through meeting his Mamaw and Pop. Again, let me just tell you he is a very strong willed little boy. I did everything I could to try and wake this child up, but no such luck! He was in such a deep sleep I even check to make sure he was still breathing.

So, all in all, even though our flight was pure "hell" one really good thing came out of A.J only sleeping about 6 hours in a 24 hour time period. He was so tired he slept straight through to the next morning, and has adjusted to our time change with no problem. I had envisioned being up a lot in the early morning hours, but we have been spared. I guess he figured we were christen enough for the moment and he should give us a small break since we are first time parents.

I Love Being A Mommy...

Well, let me just say this is awesome!!! Sorry I haven't posted since we have been in Moscow, but everything is soooo expensive here. Let just say it just about killed R.J. to pay $25 for a one cheeseburger, fries and a small single size serving bottle water!

Everything is going as scheduled. We are going to the US Embassy today at 2:00pm to pick up Lil' Man's visa and we are out of here tomorrow at 1:00pm. I am not looking back. Yesterday A.J. had his medical exam and the doctor was not what I was expecting when I opened the hotel door. His doctor had a handle bar mustache, that was curled up at the ends, and was wearing a very shaggy fur coat??!!! What's up with that? He said A.J. would kill all the girls with his smile, and he must have been a favorite at the orphanage, because he was a very good size for his age. He also told me that I need to stand my ground and not give into his whimpering, that he will test me to see what he can get away with. He has never had this much attention at one time. I sort of thought this to myself, but with everything I have read about the "abandonment issues" and everything I wanted him to feel comfortable. I have been sticking to my grounds and things are falling into place. I don't thin A.J appreciated the doc selling him out and messing up his gigi.

Well, I need to run and I will post more when we are back in Tampa. At least then may be I can afford his college if I don't spend it all here in Moscow. I will also post some pictures too. I know alot of you are dying to see his lil' face and now that he is ours I can post away. Thanks to everyone for all you thoughts and prays - see you in Tampa....

Good Night's Sleep

Patience is downstairs with A.J., so she let me come and give a shot at this blogging thing.

We got our little boy yesterday at about noon (that's about 2:00am EST) Novgorod time. It realy went without a lot of fanfare. I don't know what exactly we expected, but basically the director came out, told us congratulations and that she was very happy for us and recommended we try to keep him on his schedule (yeah right). Then we sat down for a bit and another woman came and asked us for his clothes and took them off. She was quite perturbed that we didn't bring any pampers with us. We're new at this a didn't know what size he. She took off and about 10 minutes later, the in-house doctor brought him down to us and handed him to Patience. She gave him a big hug and a kiss, we got our picture taken and then we were off. It kind of reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner. You spend so much money on the food, so much time preparing it, and then "BAM!!!" it's over and time to clean up the mess (ie dirty diapers in this case).

I guess I thought that there would be a procession or something... oh well, we'll save that for when he decides to run for President. Yes, I'm grooming him for that after the first 24 hours. I thought that if Arnold can be the Governer of California, then surely he has a chance for President. :) Nobody has to say it, I know that it would require a constitutional amendment... I think it will happen by the time he's ready. Trust me, I still have my grandfathers Reagan button that I wore at 5. He'll look good in it.

The night went well, little dude fell asleep about 8:30pm and slept until 5:30am. We were pretty happy with that. Considering the fact that his whole life (15 months is an eternity to him) has been turned upside down, we were more than pleased. We were selfish and didn't let him sleep in his crib. We put him right between us and both of us touched him all night. I do believe that he was partially annoyed and partially comforted by it. We'll worry about getting him trained right when we get home. He is a good baby boy.

We leave for Moscow today and will be there for two days for a doctors examination and to get his Visa. On Saturday, we FINALLY get to come home. I'm a little worried that his Mamaw and Pop might squeeze the begeezus out him when we get off the plane. Oh well, I guess that they deserve... and I'm sure he'll be fine.

Thank you all for your great posts to our blog. When no one else speaks your language, you start to go stir crazy after a week. It's so comforting to know that people are thinking of us at home and have sent so many positive thoughts our way. It's really neat to hear from some of you that I haven't spoke with in so long. THANK YOU!!!

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to keep everyone up to speed. I gotta run to go get AJ's passport. TAKE CARE!!

Today's the Day!!

Well, the great computer caper was solved and the documents were printed and taken to passport office. In about two hours we are going to get our baby boy!! YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I just really can't believe that it is actually happening. Last night was our last night of uninterrupted sleep for a while, but I was so excited that I kept waking up about every hour. I guess the body has a way of telling you that a storm is coming.... maybe something more like a hurricane. Whatever, bring it on!! R.J. was up at 5:00 am and made me finally get out of bed to go get breakfast at 7:00. He is trying to be more cool and in control, but I know that he is equally, if not more, excited than I am. If that can really be possible.

Last night was fun. We went to dinner with two other families that are here adopting. In a big group, we decided to take a cab and go out for dinner. We had a great time. One was a single woman from D.C. (Andrea) who is adopting a two year old, which will be her second one from Russia. She says that it is a lot more difficult process today than it was 3 years ago. The other couple is from Tallahassee, FL and they are adopting 3 brothers (ages 5, 8 & 12.. I think). Their names are Richard and Jodi. All are really nice people and we had a great time sharing stories.

We are on our way to the grocery store to pick up food and juice for A.J.. We also have to get a crib up to the room for RJ to sleep in, since A.J. will be taking his spot in the bed. (HA HA.. Nobody tell RJ what my plans are, all of his buddies with kids have warned him already, so I think he already knows). Everything is great!! We are so fortunate!! We will be home soon and can't wait to see everyone.

WE PASSED!!!

It's official... We are the proud parents of Alexander Julian Wood. That is provided the judges computer starts working and she can print out our documents... Pretty funny, huh.

Court went great. Our translators and coordinators prepared us well and everything went through without a hitch. It lasted about one hour and there was really no drama at all. At least until we were told this afternoon that the judge needs to print out the approval documents and unfortunately her computer has crashed (or something like that). Anyway, we are hoping everything comes through soon, so that we can get the paperwork, pick up A.J. and go apply for his passport so we can get on a train back to Moscow on Wednesday night.

Funny story (you have probably learned that I like to do this)! As I told you last night, I was the first speaker and had about twice as much to tell the judge as R.J. did. So I got up there and did my thing... then R.J. got up and did whatever it is that he does. :) After court, our coordinator came up to R.J. and I and just raved about how great I did and how impressed he was with my presentation to the judge. R.J. kind of cleared his throat hoping to get some props himself. The coordinator said... "You R.J...... were really tall when you stood up". He said the judge giggled at how tall he was. R.J. has just been beside himself all afternoon (imagine the extended version of the pinched lip--most of you know what I'm talking about) and I have not been able to stop laughing. My husband, who speaks regularly in front of large groups of people, can only get a compliment on his height. He's talking about sending me back to work and he will just stay at home with A.J. and be tall. I guess that may be his first lesson in humility as a parent. I'm sure that there will be many more to come for us both. I LOVE MY REALLY "TALL" HUSBAND SO MUCH!!

We still aren't sure when we get to get A.J.. It's been said tonight... tomorrow... or Wednesday. I really think that it will be tomorrow. We both can't wait.

We Have Court Tomorrow

On Monday morning at 8:00am, the court appointed translator will be meeting us at our hotel room to go over the statements we will be making at our 10:00 court appointment tomorrow (that's at 2:00am EST). We were coached today by our Franks Adoption coordinator and our Franks translator and given a script of what we were to cover. GUESS WHAT?? We're the first family that Franks has had go through the court in this region. They are confident that they have everything in order and we certainly are praying that they are correct.

Both R.J. and I have to make a statement to the court. Mine has over 52 points and R.J.'s has about 30 (I guess I better get used to having more responsibility). It covers everything from explaining that we understand the court process, to why we want to be parents, to the fact that we will treat A.J. no different from any biological child. I have to describe why I want to be his mother... Hopefully I won't tear up. As I've practiced it with R.J., my eyes start watering. I really believe that this is the last BIG hurdle in bringing our baby home. Tonight, we do ask that everyone say one last big prayer for us!

Once court is complete, we still are not yet sure when we get to take custody of him. It will be somewhere between Monday evening and Wednesday morning. We both feel very anxious to be able to hold him whenever we want, rather than the one-hour increments we've been able to see him each day since we have been here.

Speaking of that, we went to see him today. Weird thing.... There is nothing this kid won't lick!! Everything he touches... toys, zippers, watches, carpet, walls... he has to lick. I'm not talking the run-of-the-mill put it in your mouth. It's a full-blown tounge-out lick!! I can't wait until he gets home with the dogs, cats and duck.... not sure how they will respond to being licked... they're the ones that are used to doing that to us. Then again, they will all love it and they will love their new brother!

WARNING!!! He is a very busy little boy. He will not let go of his toys as he crawls across the room. He would crawl on one hand and one elbow. R.J. said he looked like Snoop Dog struttin' with a gangsta lean. We called it the Gangstsa crawl. VERY FUNNY STUFF.

That's all for tonight. We are going back to the room to go over our statements one last time. Take care!!