Today started with Jim hiding in the curtains like the great wizard. I asked what he was doing & he said he was just looking. This was at 6am - so we decided it was time to get moving & go to breakfast. Afterwards we went for a walk around the area our hotel is in & checked out some of the local stores. We had been seeing a little kypula from our hotel room window & we even managed to find the church right next to a nice little park. We had wanted to go back with sandwiches & eat dinner there but unfortunately the chill & some rain prevented that. We also think we stumbled across another orphanage. So after our walk around it was time to head back to the hotel & get ready for our date with Little A. Our driver arrived & we ventured into the morning rush of traffic. Not much different than the gridlock & crowded streets of NYC. Little A was wonderful again today : ) He was more comfortable with us & remembered his toys from yesterday. He let out his little "uh" several times & of course we did lots of laps walking with him around the room. We then had to leave since it was nap time again & so we went to a shopping center nearby to kill some time. We had Makdonald'c for lunch & if it wasn't for the words on the package being different you would've never known it wasn't McDonald's! We then nosed through a few stores, found some Belgian chocolate & our translator promised to take us to a better store tomorrow to get some good Russian chocolate : ) (But don't worry Maa - we'll get you the Belgian kind). Tomorrow will be our last day here. Last day to visit Little A, see the sights & get business done. We will start out at the notary & then visit Little A two more times. And probably pick up a few small souvenirs. Until then - here's a few more souvenir's for you to see now... The day started by Kelly waking up at 4:30 am, "I wanna look out the window." At 6:30 am we decided we get moving. After showering and eating breakfast, we were on our way. The first thing on the agenda was the referral appt. The whole referral appointment lasted about 15 minutes & probably 8 of it was spent waiting our turn. Little A's picture greeted us & it was official! We could now go to the baby house. It was very intense, next was meeting with director of the baby house, then the doctor and finally Little A. The director gave us information on his personal history and some info regarding his current well being. We were then shuffled to another room where we met with the baby house doctor who broke the news that - he JUST got over the chicken pox! We would see a green topical treatment on him & that is their own house recipe for something like calamine lotion. The director had told us that he was a very happy boy & that the staff all agree on that. After the doctor was finished, we were shuffled off to another room where we finally were greeted by Little A. One of the staff workers brought him in & he never cried once. He looked at us inquisitively and somewhat cautious, but warmed up very quick and before you knew it - we were all playing together : ) He walks with guidance & support and it definitely will not be long before he's walking on his own! He gets around really well & he is indeed a very happy boy! And just like his PapPap Miller "uh,uh" - he grunts a little tiny "uh" quite frequently! Tomorrow we will visit him two times, with a break in between for nap time. And most likely we will visit our first Russian "Mahkdonald'c." Note: To insure everyone & every institution's privacy that is involved with Little A's adoption - we will not be posting any pictures or emailing either. We left our house at 10:30am on Saturday 5/14. We arrived at our hotel at 4pm Sunday 5/15 St. Petersburg time (8am Pittsburgh time). We had no problems getting here & all our flights went rather smooth. The one tip we can both give - don't eat the airline food all day long - take a sandwich. We will for our next time since we both paid the price when we got here. Neither of us slept on our way in & so we've only taken a 2 hr nap at this point. We are sitting in the hotel bar on the free wifi, enjoying a couple of Baltika 7's. Our hotel is wonderful - the restaurant here is good & the staff has been great too. Our driver is an awesome guy as well - very fun! The drivers here are nuts & Big Jim would have a heart attack. Can't say much for seeing sights since our days will be very busy - but we took a walk across the Neva after our brief nap & we could see a kypula of the Church on Spilled Blood off in the distance. We did see the Hermitage and Peter & Paul Fortress on our way in & of course Lenin was standing tall too. We saw a bunch of other monuments, parks & other stuff but it will all be on hold til next time. Our day starts bright & early tomorrow, our driver will be picking us up at 9:30am & we'll be off and running to our referral appointment & then to meet Little A. So we are cutting out early here since it's 10pm & we've got to get ourselves in order! After bouncing through 3 flights & not taking the airline food well.... we made our room quite shambled! Here's a few pics to get you started... Getting closer... just a few errands left to finish up. Still gotta pack our bags, but we are getting closer...
Tuesday May 3 at 9am... Jim's phone rings & well... we were sleeping so it wasn't answered. Then immediately Kelly's phone rings & I thought... must be important.
It was : ) We are leaving for St. Petersburg on Saturday May 14, returning on Thursday May 19. A whirlwind of a trip & a whirlwind of preparations have been underway since that phone call. Visas are being processed, airfare has been purchased (OUCH), hotel reservations made & a flurry of other necessities are in progress as well. And to top it all off... Jim has to be in Cleveland for work next week! Our plans for going to the trailer this weekend are now cancelled & we are hoping to head up there when we return from this trip. We will be updating this blog as we have time... pics, details, etc. We do not anticipate being good tourists on this trip as it will be mostly business - but we will squeak in something I'm sure. We contacted our cell phone provider today & while we will have service in Russia it will be VERY expensive - not only for phone calls but also for texting, picture messaging & any other kind of data usage. So we are asking that everyone hold off on using our phones to contact us & email instead. We will have access to the web at our hotel & we will be in touch with our parents via Skype. We will only be in country for 4 days so time will be limited. In the meantime - feel free to check out our hotel... Courtyard St. Petersburg Vasilievsky It is certainly not a secret that we use coupons. It is also no secret that there have been times when coupons are a necessity in order to meet a budgets bottom line. However... it was until about a month ago that we started taking it to the next level. After purchasing "The Coupon Mom's Guide To Cutting Your Grocery Bills In Half" (used on ebay for $4 of course) then we really started to max this system out. We are pleased to report that after 1 month of using the Coupon Mom's tips & methods that we have saved an average off the retail value of our purchases for one month 36% at Foodland, 42% at Giant Eagle 62% at Rite Aid, and the cream of the crop -- 80% at CVS! Yes - a binder is used. Yes - Kelly's been asked "do you work here?" Yes - the calculator & scissors stay in her purse at all times. And a coupon swap has ensued at work. If you've seen the extreme couponing show - you may have learned some tricks of the trade. Of course, we do not have rom to "stockpile" like these folks do, but it's certainly been helpful in preparing for our future needs & what we need now. After all - you really can't have too many toothbrushes... 2 for us at home, 2 for us at the camp, 1 for Little A at home, and 1 for Little A at camp. And after you get one for free once - there's no turning back. Take a look at the video & by all means - get yourself a copy of the CouponMom's book. We'd let you borrow ours - but its already in use by someone else eager to learn! Today's CVS purchase: 3 cases of water for the camp, 1 container of laundry detergent, 1 box of tea bags, 1 can of shaving cream, 4 packs of gum, 2 green bag tags, 1 bag of easter grass, 1 easter egg coloring kit, 1 blush, 4 toothbrushes, and 1 mascara. Total Retail Cost: $64.43 Our Cost $18.49 Earned Coupons Total for Next Purchase: $15.17 "So much to do and so little time." Willy Wonka said that. He sure did hit it right on! We have not gotten our trip dates yet BUT with the onslaught of the trip comes all this other stuff that now must be done before we go... Hmmm... maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try and get windows installed NOW... Hindsight is 20/20. (Yes they absolutely needed done before next winter - but could've waited til later this summer.) And wouldn't ya know - there's another holiday right around the corner! It's also starting to look like we won't be opening up the trailer til sometime in May...
So everyone asks - what's next? We're passing time by investigating hotels, apartments, flights, brushing up on some Russian, shopping, and all sorts of other stuff. We've learned the art of shopping at CVS & getting 80-90% of our stuff for FREE! (And that's a whole other blog entry!) And today we learned about trains... if you aren't familiar with the severity of the love of trains by a good portion of our family - you won't understand how excited they would be to hear that we've decided to include "travel by rail" on the Red Arrow. If you aren't familiar with the Red Arrow... "The Red Arrow is probably the most famous Russian train. In Soviet times, it carried the Communist Party elite between Moscow and what was then Leningrad. It is still one of the most popular trains between Moscow and St. Petersburg. The train even has its own theme song that plays as it departs from the station. The train has Deluxe, 1st and 2nd class compartments. First class consists of a cabin for 2 people including bed linen and a few magazines for free and a hot meal at extra charge, while 2nd class is a cabin for 4 people including bed linen and a few magazines for free and a lunch box at extra charge. Also Deluxe cabins are available including everything as in 1st class as well as a shower. The train also has a nice dining car that serves good meals. For the full Russian rail experience, this is the train for you." (courtesy of expresstorussia.com) We will be reserving a full cabin in 2nd class... if you got a minute Google "Red Arrow Train" and take a look at the images. They are just what you'd imagine! (And - Uncle Charlie - if you want to see another goodie - look up the Grand Express Train!) On Tuesday, March 22nd at approximately 3:40pm we got the call that said, "we have a boy for you!" So Kelly raced off from work & made the 5 min drive down the road to get the pictures. What was inside the folder was absolutely stunning! A boy around the age of 9 months, whom we will refer to from here on out as Little A. To respect his and our privacy we will not be posting any pictures here (or emailing them - sorry!) We can tell you that the thing that was the most stunning - was Little A's very strong resemblence to Kelly's grandfather Pete! In all the pics we received - Little A is happy, strong & very healthy looking. We have had a pediatrician review all the information that we were given & Little A passed with flying colors! We informed the agency this morning that we will be moving forward and we would like to have had Little A home yesterday! LOL! We couldn't be more pleased & excited!
As for what happens next, we must wait for travel dates. When we get them we will head off for a trip that will last approximately one week. We will then get to meet Little A in person & spend some time with him there. And before we leave Russia on that trip, we will make our formal declaration of intent to adopt Little A in front of the Russian government. That'll do for today! |